Advertisement review

In this section, people in the industry are asked about the concept of various brand advertisements and their impact on consumers.

In this issue, the advertisement featuring cricketer M.S.Dhoni for Big Bazaar is the subject. The advertisement was aired recently.

Big Bazaar

The first and foremost is that a brand tries to inform and lure customers to buying its products. The important thing is to see that the brand - through its advertisement including idea conceptualisation and brand ambassador - is able to put the message across to consumers.

Harish Bijoor, Brand-specialist and CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc., says, “The message is simple and crisp. The nation has changed. Change your attitude to fashion and the clothes you wear. The point is being put forward to Indian middle-class, which does not pay too much importance to dressing and personal grooming. Big Bazaar is positioning itself clearly towards its target audience and is using a telling embarrassment device as a way of waking up a somnolent set of consumers.”

While Shalini Singh, Director, Galvanise PR firm, says, “Big Bazaar provides hi-fashion clothes and value for money to the mass.”, Rajan Malhotra, CEO, Big Bazaar, says, “I believe that it establishes or reinforces big bazaar as a fashion destination.”

Idea put across to consumers

Commenting on the message put across to masses, Mr Bijoor said, “I do believe that it works cogently.” Sharing her observation, Ms Singh said, “I see that the advertisement targets the masses. Yes, it is a compelling advertisement, it does send the message asking all to dress up well and be fashionable. It conveys the message, the need of always adorning good and fashionable clothing, which plays an important part in our personality development.”

Could it have been better?

In any work, there are always rooms for improvements. In the case of advertisements too, the work can be improved over and over again. Commenting on the advertisement in question, Mr Bijoor says, “I believe that it is done well. It has not played the price game at all. That is a good thing for Big Bazaar for, in the fashion market, price matters, but it must not be upfront. If you do that, you would think Big Bazaar as an emerging ration shop for clothes.”

Substitute for M.S. Dhoni

Brand ambassador is ‘the one person' for any brand who becomes the face of the brand and a consumer can relate the brand to him and through him. A brand ambassador is chosen after much pondering over the brand philosophy and the message the company wants to put across to its target audience. Hence, it is of the utmost importance that the company carefully decides on its brand ambassador and is able to put across the message that it wants to deliver through the advertisement.

Mr Malhotra states his reason for choosing MS Dhoni as their brand ambassador. He says, “We believe that Dhoni and Big Bazaar had a lot of similarities in terms of representing the common man and his aspirations. Coming from a small town, Dhoni still believes in his values and he was very much influenced by the brand idea. I think, if you look at the character of Dhoni, he has gained so much success in little time and yet very grounded. I think that he is a master in his own field today and he reflects the same values of Big Bazaar and this is what appealed to us.” Commenting on the choice of M.S. Dhoni and elaborating on an alternate choice, Mr Bijoor says, “I would pick Sreesanth as well. He represents an aggressive young India. Maybe, I would go even for Saif Ali Khan.” Adding to it, Ms Singh says, “Given that cricket is viewed as religion in India and people identify themselves with it, having MS Dhoni as the icon is a good choice. The advertisement is targeted at the masses and it is the youth that embraces fashion, faster than other age groups. So, any young celebrity who has the pull of the masses could be featured.”