What is an insight?

Irfan explained an Insight as a learning or an understanding related to the consumer. When used in communications, it will pierce deep into their souls thus evoking the strongest form of response. Now it is our responsibility then as advertisers and custodians of our brands to guide those reactions in a way that is beneficial to our brands.

With this, the definition of marketing was somewhat transformed by Irfan into “Planned manipulation of the target audiences behavior to evoke a desired response for making profit”. So now we can understand that an Insight is a Pithy nugget of understanding about human actions, preferences or desires that leads to more effective stimulus. Insights are crucial as, it is at the heart of what we do, and it leads to better communication and Innovations.”

Finding an Insight is not rocket science, it does not require you to read pages and pages of management books with the BCG Matrix, the GE matrix and a whole alphabet full of matrices. No, you only need to observe, listen and be topical. Insights can be found drawing on, attitudes, behaviors, inner motivations, world views, & relationships. The key to finding an insight is to put yourself in the customers’ shoes; you have to look at the world from the consumers’ perspective.  A simple way to see if your understanding is in fact an Insight, is to put it through the 3 R’s Test.

1.       Reality – Is there a deep truth in the Insight?

2.       Relevance – Is the Insight relevant to your brand personality?

3.       Resonates – Does the Insight strike a chord with the target audience?

Another thought shared by Irfan was that an Insight will not always be some sort of Holy Grail that is hidden so that only the most deserving of us can find it, sometimes revolutionary insights might be there in plain sight waiting to be identified.

Conflict is another area that was spoken about in detail as a great method to identify & unearth Insights. Any story worth telling is formed due to conflicts; conflicts are Yin & Yan the balance that keeps order. Conflicts occur in Human beings at the very heart of their being. Conflicts occur within us due to forced compromises between competing “Human Truths” and “Cultural Truths”.

Human truths are the fundamental needs & wants, hopes & dreams, and concerns & fears of people these conflict with Cultural truths of what is viewed as correct in society and what is done according to tradition.

“I want to look beautiful but I don’t want to be seen as vain” – Human Truth conflict

“ I Like to spend time on my grooming but I have to take care of my family first” – Human Truth conflicting with Cultural Truth

“ It pains when you get hurt but real men don’t cry” – Human Truth vs Cultural Truth

Now once the insight have been identified using conflicts how we manipulate it to fit the Brand Idea becomes crucial. By merging the Consumer Insight with the Brand offering we can come up with ground breaking creative ideas.

I would like to sign off with this nice Insight I came across, Maruti Suzuki in India positions its vehicles for the millions of Indians who are concerned about cost.

“ Maruti Suzuki, for a nation obsessed with mileage”

“Intuition over Information”

My fellow presenters have been sharing different perspectives of the impact of research on their marketing strategies. My task is no different, other than for specifically addressing the assessment of the merits and demerits of research on brand communications. At the very outset I would like to establish the significance of research and the importance to understand the limits to which this information is used to influence strategy. There is a definite line between me and research once the creative development process begins.  I have been asked to address two specific objectives which I have defined as follows:

• The repression of creative standout value in an overly expressive media regime.
• The challenges faced by marketers to decide between effective reach and idea impact.

I have come across two types of marketers during the span of my career: one who is led by the most important “I” in marketing – The Intuition Led marketer. The other, is one who is led by research and makes it a bible to build his strategy.  Whilst there is nothing wrong in being either, the latter type prevails in marketing society more than the former. Whether it is the internet, TV, print or the activation space media clutter is here to stay. It’s not going to get any better and at best it will get worse. 40 years ago a scholar by the name Herb Simon said “an abundance of information creates a scarcity of attention” what will he say about our media environment today? Caused by excessive media proliferation, the marketing tragedy of today is that there is greater emphasis on the fragmentation of media by clients and agencies than to understand how to deal with the fragmentation of the consumer’s mind. Exploring the mind using the power of intuition must take precedence over the literal use of information from research. This does not mean we ignore research but use it as information to base our judgment. It is likely that competing brands hire equally competent research companies that are in all probability speaking to equally similar consumer profiles in an attempt to mine insights. This could be one of the bigger contributors of brand parity than other known factors.

To break media clutter marketers have little choice other than to engage the consumer with a proposition through a compelling idea. The problem is not breaking through media clutter but the creation of compelling ideas and I believe the former is a consequence of the deficiency of the latter. One of the fundamental reasons is that ideas are regularly audited by research that sometimes contributes to the repression of ideas. I am a confessed believer of most forms of research but I am yet not convinced if we have mastered a “sure method” of researching ideas which often restricts the spirit of the creative process. To answer the objectives set by MTI, it’s not important what I have to say as much as it can be answered through real examples. I will be sharing two examples where a client defied the results of a pretest of a campaign and went on to score heavily in the market. The first example comes from Unilever one of the world’s most disciplined marketing companies where research is a very critical process of brand communications.

Lipton Ceylonta Tea, was a brand that was hanging-around in the market at just under 4% market share in 2003. It had a comparatively small but very loyal base of consumers who were ageing with the brand. The brand was reformulated and was on course for re-launch. When the agency began sifting through the research we discovered that tea drinkers were consuming the beverage as a relaxant and as a post-activity drink. We analysed all the competitive tea commercials and discovered that the category itself was endorsing and encouraging this consumption habit. This trend was consistent with the stagnant consumption of tea. We wanted to change it and engage the consumer with a new proposition and we identified an opportunity to re-position the brand as a pre-activity drink on the platform the “day maker”.

The idea was pretested and it scored far below approval levels at Unilever to be even considered for airing. This was largely attributed to the fact that the creative campaign was forcing a behavioral change which the research could not pick-up as a potential opportunity.  We responded with a few alternative ideas based on what research had highlighted but we continued to believe in the campaign that research condemned. What was condemned is what we wanted to recommend and this is where Intuition took over. A very bold Brand Director went up to the board and re-presented her case in favor of the rejected campaign. She not only put her neck on the line but years of credibility as a marketing professional. She had two options- she could have quoted research and probably been safe even if the campaign failed. The other option was not to take refuge in research and to put belief in her intuition. She did the latter and the brand recorded phenomenal growth for three consecutive years and continues to do well today.

Result:

• Vol growth from 2003 to 2006 was 87 %
• Growth in 2003 was 40%
• Growth in 2004 was 50%
• From a 143 million brand in 2003 to half-a-billion brand in 3 years. And much bigger today

At no point did the agency not believe in the research. It did! But the research guided us to a position and then we had to leave it to our intuition to make the right move for the brand. Where we mostly fail is we expect research to tell us how to act and think to the point it begins to control all our decision making. We are hired to make decisions and set new standards in the roles we perform and not translate research information to action. If the sentiments are to only go by research then we should hire a full service research company that provides brand management and advertising as value added services. It just doesn’t work that way and I personally feel we are unfair by our research partners as we expect them to predict the outcome of a campaign’s acceptability. What I am saying goes against the grain of most “traditional” MNCs but it is time that somebody in marketing starts breaking the rules or else we need to resign to the fact that standout-value and media clutter will coexist making no impact.

Here is an example where standout value was in conflict with media clutter for a cellular brand and the former prevailed. It’s also an example of how a client broke the rules.  It was our 23^rd presentation to launch “2 minutes in-coming-free” for Cellcard- a mobile company. Nearly exhausted by the continuous rejection of the campaign by the client and almost at the cost of losing the account we presented a campaign that would have failed any pre- test, done by any research company by miles. It depicted Death, a Funeral and a Cemetery. There is a single influence that supersedes all research, all professional experience and qualifications – “Superstition” and this script was shrouded by it from start to finish. Independent of my belief of superstition but going by past experience, connotations of death and symbols associated with it have bombed in research and have not gone beyond the boardroom. To our relief the client believed in his intuition and this idea went beyond the boardroom, it went beyond superstition and eventually went beyond market expectation.

Result: We had to stop the advertising in two weeks as we could not cater to the demand. But what was most encouraging is that it was awarded  Sri Lanka’s most loved commercial across every target classification as per AC Neilson in that year- Professionals, Housewives, Youth and Children. Would research have passed it? I am not so sure. But the client did and most importantly the consumer did. In a category that is inundated with standardised and unbelievable Telco offers, I attribute the success of this campaign to its emphasis in dealing with “mind fragmentation” over “media fragmentation” through the power of an idea which research would not have passed.

In conclusion, I would like to leave these 4 points for you to think about.

Firstly know that the repression of creative standout value is not always determined by media clutter but by its limitation of the creative expression of the idea. The overly expressive media regime for advertising is going to get worse and one of the critically defining moves you will ever make is through your brand idea.  A good advertising idea is the new currency for consumer engagement. So the point is! – be driven by Initiative using research but do not be driven by research to take initiative.

Secondly, the challenges faced by marketers on how to decide between effective reach and idea impact will no longer be a decision but a solution through the potency of your idea. To me idea impact equals effective reach and is definitely not an Either / OR situation. In the digital era you will see consumers seeking your idea out, more than you having to reach them.

Thirdly be a believer of research and use it selectively in assessing brandcom ideas in pretesting- our industry likes to believe in figures and then act. I think what we ought to do is stop believing in figures and start making figures that we can believe in.

Finally, we all need to be responsible for our decisions. Most often than not, I have seen marketers taking refuge behind research when campaigns fail because they have fulfilled their pre and post-test obligations. But what I would urge you to ponder is your role as a decision maker using the “I” in you – Intuition…..because research leads you to the edge and the decision to fly or fall is both in your hands. What choice will you make?

At the outset, the writer would like to thank everyone who contributed with their valuable ideas with regard to the Part I of the Dual Sim Chronicle.Be it the Mega Sim or the Chinese Dual Sim Phones , it is very much evident that there will be more than one service provider present almost in every mobile phone via different technological frameworks in the near future.On this note , let us begin the finale of the Dual Sim Chronicle.

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It was established that the Dual Sim owners’ choice of network would depend on

:a. Where? (The location of the consumer)

b. When? ( The time of day and the respective call charges)

c. Who? ( The intended caller and their network)

d. What? ( The most sought after Value Added Services – VAS)

What are the implications of this theorem to all the marketers in the telecommunication sector? Is there an opportunity for small players to take on the big guns? Would the traditional marketing techniques still work? The writer wish to approach this in 3 aspects.

1. Low bargaining power of service providers

2. Opportunities for small players

3. The need for innovative marketing tactics to stay on top

1. Low bargaining power of service providers

With the advent of the Dual Sim phenomena , the consumer could switch between network providers with consummate ease. They will choose the appropriate network depending on where , when , who and what they want to do with their phone. Such flexibility would result in lower bargaining power of the service provider. If the service provider fails to deliver what the consumer wants , a network switch would be the result.

An ideal strategy to negate this “switch” would consist of Four main attributes where the success of each attribute will be determined by the communication campaign the respective service provider adopts.

a. Island wide coverage

If every network could deliver 100% Island wide coverage , it will directly eliminate the reason to “switch” from one network to another as there will be no network failures at any given location.

However , here lies a question mark of how could small time operators could survive? Would a “niche” market operation highlighting the superiority of coverage in a particular province be the way forward? Would this mean that the future of telecommunication advertising be provincial based?

Certainly , an interesting point to ponder upon.

b. Best call charges

If a service provider could offer the lowest call rates throughout the day, it would eliminate another reason for a Dual Sim user to switch.

However , here lies another issue in practicality. Could any service provider be the lowest cost operator and still remain profitable? Does this mean that the way forward would be to own a certain time belt of the day and support that claim via a consistent media campaign ?

c. Highest number of subscribers

If a service provider could own more than at least 70% of the market share , it would mean that roughly 7 out of 10 people that a Dual Sim user would want to call be belong to a single operator. This would eliminate the need to “switch” .

However , there is hardly a single operator who could stake a claim as such. Hence, does this mean that the service providers would have to select their allies and start offering special rates from “Network A” to “Network B”?

Or could a single operator unleash the equivalent of the “Hiroshima Bomb” and be the superior entity? If so , what would this “Hiroshima Bomb” consist of?

d. Best bouquet of Value Added Services

If a service provider could provide the best bouquet of VAS , then the need to “switch” could be eliminated.

However , how could any service provider have each and every VAS a user wants? Even if they could offer everything , would it be profitable? Does this mean that each service provider has to dig deep into their core target market and identify what VAS they really want?

Or ,just as how the aviation industry has their own networks among other airlines , would we witness an association of mobile service providers sharing their Value Added Services among all mobile phone users?

2. Opportunities for small players

The advent of Dual Sim phenomena would certainly bring about many opportunities for all the small players in the category.

Just as how Easy Jet, Air Asia revolutionised air travel the advent of Dual Sim Phones would create market gaps for small players to operate in.

Niche marketing strategies focussing on specific profitable provinces would be a strategy of choice in time to come among many small time service providers in the country. This would not only help them differentiate from the “big guns” but also carve out a niche in each of their selected geographic location.

It won’t be surprising to see 5 years down the line , when entering the Northern Province , a huge road side gantry saying “ Welcome to Jaffna – the land of Network A”. A clear indication of geographical focus in communications would be mandatory to survive.

Or , would the small players get-together and roll out Dual Sim packages to the masses? Would it be as effective as the strategy above? Imagine, a Dual Sim package from two different operators covering the whole country with the best call rates coupled with the best bouquet of Value Added Services. Wouldn’t that be just awesome?

3. The need for innovative marketing tactics to stay on top

All the factors discussed above would boil down to one pertinent question. What would be the marketing strategy?

Would geographical focus pave way for different breed of marketing? Tapping into deeper consumer insights and understanding what they really need?

A simple example out of many would be , there are over 200,000 migrant workers who enter Western Province every week. Would it profitable to identify where these workers come from and offer specific packages linking Western Province and the state of their origin?

i.e. “Outgoing calls only 30cents per minute between Southern and Western province on Network A”Opportunities are …… indeed…. Endless.

Conclusion

The Dual Sim phenomenon is here to stay in Sri Lanka. The low cost of owning a phone would drive the masses to purchase such a phone. The added aura of “superiority” of now having the choice to switch between service providers would also play a major role in this.Service providers would need to challenge their status quo and question , whether they are ready to face this paradigm shift? Would traditional marketing strategies still hold true will be a decision they would have to take fast.

Small players have a tremendous potential to grow in the backdrop of the Dual Sim phenomena.Presence of multiple service providers in a phone will bring about major changes in the telecommunications sector.

However , one thing will always remain the same. That is… the consumer will always be the King!

Availability of multiple service providers…… As the “remote control TV” revolutionised the world of media in the 20^th century , would the Dual Sim Phenomena revolutionise the telecommunication industry in the 21^st Century?

Your guess is as good as mine.

The End

Prelude

A small grocery shop situated right next to a paddy field. Sarath, a 19 year old school leaver enters the shop and orders a “plain tea” and sits on a stool to play a game of checkers with his friend, Saman.

Whilst playing, Sarath gets a call on his mobile phone. As soon as he finishes,

Saman : “WOW! , a new Nokia E71 phone!! , let me see!”

Sarath: “Here you go”

Saman: “This even has a TV antenna! And it’s Dual Sim!! Never knew this phone had all these cool functions!”

Sarath: (smiling) “You don’t , it is not a Nokia Phone. It is made in China with the exact features of the original Nokia phone, plus more”

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Welcome to the latest phenomena in the mobile industry of Sri Lanka. The invasion of the low cost Chinese mobile phones.

Introduction

To a youngster ,a mobile phone is an aspirational product. It makes them feel as if they are “in-style” or in other words , makes them “cool” individuals. Hence there is a strong correlation between becoming an owner of the latest phone and being regarded as a “cool” person within their respective circle of friends.However , gone are the days where a teenager had to go through the hardship of convincing their parents to buy them a phone or skip meals to save their pocket money in order to buy their “dream phone”. An exact replica could be bought for almost 1/4^th the cost of buying an original phone.After all, “who cares whether it is original or not, this has the same features and much more… and it is Dual Sim!”

The Dual Sim Phone

A Dual Sim phone can be described as a phone where two Phone Sim cards could be used simultaneously. In other words , the user could now use two different phone numbers on a single mobile phone. The writer foresees four game changing areas as a result of the Dual Sim phenomena.

1. Boosting consumer choice

2. Low bargaining power of service providers

3. Opportunities for small players

4. The need for innovative marketing tactics to stay on top

1. Boosting consumer choice

As discussed earlier , the Dual Sim phone will enable the user to select the service provider as and when he/she pleases.

This selection will depend on 4 factors. I.e. Where? When? Who? What?

The “Quadruple W Theorem”

a. Where? (The location of the consumer)

It is a well known fact that every service provider has their own weak link in terms of coverage.

E.g. Take “Network A” and “Network B”

“Network A” has a strong coverage in the Southern and Western Provinces of Sri Lanka. However, its coverage in the Northern and Eastern provinces is weak.

“Network B” has a strong coverage in Northern and Eastern provinces but is weak in the southern and western province.

This would result in the fact that , when the Dual Sim user is in the Southern and Western provinces , he/she will use “Network A” and when in Northern and Eastern provinces, “Network B” will come into play.

The Dual Sim phone has now enabled the user to select the network with the best coverage depending on their location.

b. When? ( The time of day and the respective call charges)

Another contributing factor would be the time at which the Dual Sim owner is going to use the phone. This is due to the fact that each service provider has their own pricing mechanism where certain service providers have lower “night time call rates” and certain providers have “a standard charge” throughout the day.

E.g. Take “Network A” and “Network B”.

“Network A” offers a phone call for only Rs:2/= for an unlimited duration during 12midnight and 6a.m. However , their daytime chargers are high.

“Network B” offers a standard Rs:2/= per minute throughout the day.

This would prompt the Dual Sim owner to use “Network B” during the day and “Network A” during the night. In essence , the Dual Sim owner would choose the lowest cost service provider at any given time.

c. Who? ( The intended caller and their network)

Another factor would be the network which the intended caller is using. This is directly related to the call chargers as it is a fact that outgoing calls to a number within the same network will always be cheaper than to a number from a different network.

E.g. Take “Network A” and “Network B”.

Saman is a Dual Sim phone user. He uses both Network A and B on his phone. When he wants to make a call to Sarath , who is using a “Network B” Sim , Saman would use the same network as the call charges are low.

In essence, there is a direct correlation between the choice of network and the network to which the intended caller belongs to.

d. What? ( The most sought after Value Added Service – VAS)

A mobile phone today is not used solely for the purpose of conversation. It is used to fulfil various other wants of the consumer.

i.e. To surf the internet , to make an appointment with a doctor , to make dinner reservations , to book movie tickets , to subscribe and receive news alerts , to reach a destination using real time GPS maps , to keep track of your loved ones using network enabled tracking devices etc.

The amount of value added services are limitless. The network which best identifies which VAS the consumer is looking for and fulfils it would benefit a great deal.

In essence , there lies a strong correlation between the Dual Sim users’ choice of Value Added Service and his/her network selection.

The “Quadruple W Theorem” brings forth 4 aspects which a Dual Sim owner would consider when deciding which service provider to choose. As discussed above, these 4 factors are:

a. Where? (The location of the consumer)

b. When? ( The time of day and the respective call charges)

c. Who? ( The intended caller and their network)

d. What? ( The most sought after Value Added Service – VAS)

Having identified the Dual Sim Owners’ basis for the selection of the service provider, it is certainly interesting to explore the implications it holds for all the service providers of the country. How would they tackle this?

Would they still focus on improving share of market or try to capture share of phone?

In our next blog post , the writer will be exploring these implications under 3 broad categories. Whilst inviting our readers to post their comments on this edition , we invite all of you to stay tuned for the part II of

The Dual Sim Chronicle
The two timing mobile generation of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka was defending the onslaught of the Tigers under the brand of “Democracy” adopting various strategies, politically and militarily only to see the Tigers expand their brand to gain market share in world opinion. This steadily increased Tiger funding and saw them acquiring more and more territory geographically. Psychologically they wielded a greater demarcation that virtually touched the boarders of the south affecting tourism and foreign investment which stunted the growth of the country for many years. Apart from the military arsenal they possessed they effectively used the world media to garner a growing wave of sympathy from the west.

What then, caused the sudden and rapid disintegration of this once invincible brand? In retrospect when you analyse the dramatic collapse of the Tigers you will realise that the weak points in the brand’s lifecycle were left unattended, and laid bare to a series of events that were taking place in the global market, exposing the vulnerability of the brand.  The Tigers can only blame themselves, for the short sightedness and complacency of their brand managers who trusted too much, and basked too long in their brand superiority. They failed to realise that their run of success was coming to an end as a result of a series of global events compounded with stunning attacks to the heart of the military and political establishments. Their brand “terrorism” had three compelling warning signals that went unheeded just before the final death blow was delivered. 1. The loss of consumer loyalty 2. The faltering distribution channel and 3. The erosion of brand value.

The first alarm rang immediately after 9/11 when consumers in the West woke-up to the bitter truth that  the brand they had hitherto called  “liberation struggle”   was merely that which is otherwise called,   “terrorism” marketed under a different and more  appealing brand name.   Having been at the receiving end of Terrorism,   the western world was fast in denouncing the brand they had once been partial towards.  .  Although the brand continued to command loyalty from the Diaspora, global sentiments from opinion leading politicians and the media began to wane.  This resulted in the Tigers steadily losing market share in world opinion.

The second alarm rang when Sri Lanka seized the moment, post 9/11 and swung into action to strangle the Tiger distribution channels to raise funds. This limited the buy-in of the brand as Western nations began banning the Tigers. This was Prabakaran’s second big but unheeded warning that Terrorism was going out of vogue and was not going to be easily accepted even under the banner of a liberation struggle. Interest in the brand limited its influence to a relatively small but monetarily powerful Diaspora.

Thirdly a significant part of the Tiger brand value that was carefully nurtured and built over two-and-a-half decades fell apart with the Eastern Command of the LTTE breaking away in 2004. The Eastern command joining the government akin to a marketing manager joining a competing brand armed with a treasury of intelligence on the brand. This was the third and final warning to Prabakaran that his brand was under serious threat. This too, went unheeded.

The arrival of the Rajapakse regime in 2005 began setting a new agenda in motion to win the war when the Tiger outfit was still living in a world of complacency. The manner in which the President went about drawing his plan, in business terms was like an astute CEO drawing a business frame work to re- launch the brand Democracy by using a combination of PR and innovative military strategy. There will be inevitable questions of what was ethical or not in the strategy but that is certainly not the scope or objective of this article, neither am I competent to answer them. However, from a marketing perspective, one thing can be clearly assessed, that is the “Single mindedness” of the County’s CEO. Like in the brand world where brands are buffeted and challenged by things within and outside the control of brand managers the President was challenged by world leaders, opposition from political parties, the media, funding agencies, threats of sanctions, calls for war crime charges, rising expenditure, and what have you in response to his aggressive battle plans. All of this was also turning –up unfavourable economic indicators and adding to the woes of the brand Democracy. But the strength of his single minded ambition, impeccable consistency and unwavering conviction, eventually prevailed and the brand of Democracy was restored.

The debacle of the Tigers was clearly a combination of advanced military strategy and renewed courage of the Sri Lankan forces. Renewed, by a single minded vision set in motion by the Commander-in-chief himself.  In a marketing sense Prabakaran succumbed to his own strategy based on “insights” when he actually should have been focussed on “outsights”. The topic of “outsights” however, is a whole new discussion.  My article on this topic has been addressed at length in an article I wrote for Business Today in August 2008. Alternatively visit the JWT blog by following this link http://blog.jwt.lk/?p=81  to get more information on the frailty of insights in the new brand world. At the very least the Tiger brand should have realised that a portfolio of terror, wrapped in a product called terrorism and packaged as a liberation struggle was losing appeal steadily in the west  and the brand had no purpose with consumers who once believed in it. The Tiger supremo ignored changes in the geopolitical environment and to evolve with the times and he became outdated in his communication to the world. As a colleague put it “his strategy was like operating a gramophone in the era of the ipod”. Prabakaran did not understand that the world went through a massive “opinion overhaul” at 8.46am on the 11th Of September 2001. He missed two other subsequent alarms which eventually led to his and the demise of thousands of his cadre.

 The lesson we can learn is to be single minded with a brand’s vision and not waver under pressure. Many brands that operate in Sri Lanka disseminate multiple messages and stand for many things thereby lacking uniqueness and relevance to the consumer. Consumers at most are capable of processing a single message at a time. In the case of restoring the brand Democracy the simplicity of a “single minded” focus was understood by the brand’s stakeholders the armed forces and public. Their commitment and opinion mattered and the CEO of Sri Lanka won overwhelming approval to win a 30 year battle which the country almost lost. Regaining Sri Lanka will perhaps be one of the sensational comeback stories that will be related for years to come. The lesson for the marketer is to be consistent in adopting a single minded proposition for their brand. It must be one with simplicity and relevance that will make the brand steadfast in the face of economic adversity or even in boom times.

To achieve this, firstly break free from the shackles that prevent us from evolving. The brand’s evolutionary process is inclusive of changes in consumer behaviour and the category it operates in. Something the Tiger brand ignored post 9/11. In circumstances such as an economic slow down a brand has little choice but to find its true relevance with the consumer and the category as a matter of priority. The analogy here is the Rajapakse regime rode on the call for the “Global war on terror”. The timing of the thrust was perfect. There was little resistance and more approval from the West until the latter months of the war.  Secondly enjoy past success but remember to leave it in the past for complacency is all around where success is. Past success does not necessarily mean it’s the strategy for the future. The analogy here is that the brand of Democracy actually had little success it could harp on from this 30 year war until it recommenced in 2007. This was quickly recognised and a new strategy was mapped out on a clean slate. The failure of the marketer in most instances is that they are trapped with old success modules to conquer a new world of changes that impact brands. This is where intellectual innovation is most required. Thirdly and most importantly is to be single minded and consistent with the vision once it’s determined. There is no greater power than to have an unwavering vision for a brand through its journey towards its objective. The analogy here is that the army and public rallied around the vision to liberate the country and believed in the vision set by the Rajapakse regime, despite set backs the government had to deal with in world opinion.

In summary, your own army-the sales force and your own public-the consumer will get behind your brand and will respect you if you hold the course firmly. Wilting under pressure to change your vision now and then in a recession or even in boom times to suit varying market challenges send wrong and confusing  signals to your internal and external customers.  The army that restored the brand of Democracy used a combination of sophisticated air, sea and land weaponry to achieve the end. But I believe that it was a single weapon far less sophisticated than the ones that were used that eventually won the war. A weapon, which hit the once invincible Tiger brand to oblivion. It was the weapon of “single mindedness” that drew the war to a conclusion on the morning of the 18th May 2009.  

Last week , we explored what clients think of Chillies. This week , the blog features prominent advertising personalities in the country and what they think of chillies.

They were given 4 common questions where the answer should not exceed 5 lines.

Here are the questions.

Question 1

As the Chairman/CEO/ECD of a leading advertising agency, is the final outcome of the Chillies Ad awards help your agency to win new business? Yes! or No! and Why?

Question 2

Does the Chillies awards benefit the ad industry at all? If yes/no, in what way does it have a positive or negative impact?

Question 3

Has advertising in Sri Lanka seen an improvement in standards over the last 5 years? Yes/No and Why?

Question 4

Is the process of management, judging and implementation of the awards fair?Yes/No and Why?

Neela Marikkar , Grant McCann

Question 1

Does the final outcome of the Chillies Ad awards help your agency to win new business?

Not really. Over the years we have not seen dramatic shifts either way. If at all it raises the profile of the agency’s creative reputation in the short term. Its how the winning agencies manage it in the longer term that will impact on winning significant business.

Question 2

Does the Chillies awards benefit the ad industry at all?

Yes it does as it motivates the creative people in the industry to raise the bar. Agencies should maximize the opportunity this creates. There is no doubt that winning creates an adrenaline high but also egos

Question 3

Has advertising in Sri Lanka seen an improvement in standards over the last 5 years?

The quality of ideation is improving. There is better technology available that has enhanced the creative execution.

Question 4

Does the process of management, judging and implementation of the awards are fair?

Mostly fair. Creativity is subjective and participants will always have to take that into consideration. Judges although given guidelines will be subject to their own personal likes and dislikes and that will have an influence on their final decision.

Lilamini Dias Benson , LOWE

Question 1

Does the final outcome of the Chillies Ad awards help your agency to win new business?

Winning awards does add to lustre to an Ad Agency. But a true results-oriented brand-building Agency will always be respected and will in the end be the criteria for new business. Nowadays (in crunch times) even more so than before

Question 2

Does the Chillies awards benefit the ad industry at all?

The Chillies has in past years brought out the worst in the ad industry. And we have been guilty of washing our dirty linen in public as well!! But then it has also brought out ingenuity and resourcefulness and has seen many people flexing their creative muscles very productively. Even if only in pursuance of scam. THE IMAGINATION WHEN STRETCHED TO NEW LENGTHS NEVER RETURNS TO ITS ORIGINAL DIMENSION. So its always good to stretch!

Question 3

Has advertising in Sri Lanka seen an improvement in standards over the last 5 years?

Yes. And NO NO NO. Recently we’ve all been guilty of cheap and dirty! Largely because clients DO NOT recognise that a great, memorable, relevant idea lifts his brand sky high above the reaches of other ordinary brands. And you can run it just a few times and everybody who sees will remember. It needs much less media investment. We badly need clients who recognise this. They are too few

Question 4

Does the process of management, judging and implementation of the awards are fair?

I think the judging is inevitably pretty subjective, based on personalities and personal taste and opinions. But I cannot answer this truthfully because I have never seen what items were in the running for any particular award.

Ranil De Silva , Leo Burnett

Question 1

Does the final outcome of the Chillies Ad awards help your agency to win new business?

It is not necessarily a new business winner but it does influence the decision making process. However, I might add that our success at The Chillies last year resulted in us getting 2 new clients

Question 2

Does the Chillies awards benefit the ad industry at all?

It certainly does as it helps to showcase our work and the creative standards and it helps each agency to make a statement for itself for its creative product. It also serves as an aspiration to the people in the industry to do better work and helps to uplift the standards of the industry as witnessed by The Chillies since its inception in 2006

Question 3

Has advertising in Sri Lanka seen an improvement in standards over the last 5 years?

This is quite obvious when you see the work and how it is improving year after year as well as the regional and global recognition we are gaining.

Question 4

Does the process of management, judging and implementation of the awards are fair?

It is fair as it can be and there is no fool proof method for it. However, the current system seems to be the best available solution. If more agencies and people got involved with The Chillies and genuinely contributed towards its management, it certainly will help a lot more and result in even better management and operations.

Dilith Jayaweera , Triad

Question 1

Does the final outcome of the Chillies Ad awards help your agency to win new business?

No, because clients are very much aware of the reality. And especially thanks to campaigns launched by loosers time to time, The Chillies has now more known to be an award show of scams than a proper award show among the marketing fraternity.

Question 2

Does the Chillies awards benefit the ad industry at all?

Yes, because it helps the industry to improve the quality of its core product “The Creative Product”.

Question 3

Has advertising in Sri Lanka seen an improvement in standards over the last 5 years?

Yes, because Sri Lanka has started producing more and more locally relevant communications campaigns, therefore , now we see something called Sri Lankan ads rather than irrelevant ”international quality ads”.

Question 4

Does the process of management, judging and implementation of the awards are fair?

No, yet it really doesn’t matter to people who believe in their work.

Thayalan Bartlett , JWT Colombo

Question 1

Does the final outcome of the Chillies Ad awards help your agency to win new business?

A strong win in any award show can fuel your reputation. However when it comes to the Chillies, I think we are a long way off the mark. The Chillies has a lot more to prove in terms of its credibility as it has little significance on a client’s choice of an agency . But I sincerely hope that the Chillies will enhance its reputation so that it becomes a decision making tool for clients.

The essence of the Chillies must be to identify those Ideas that have the ability: To sell more product in more places to more people on more occasions ie: Creativity = Effectiveness = Client respect = New business. That is all that matters.

Question 2

Does the Chillies awards benefit the ad industry at all?

It certainly does in terms of motivating agency staff. Whilst there are a few pieces of good work which is gaining us recognition locally and internationally they are largely being delivered on insignificant brands which sometimes begs the question of its authenticity and credibility. The Chillies will come of age when we start delivering big awards on real brands.

Question 3

Has advertising in Sri Lanka seen an improvement in standards over the last 5 years?

There is far too much of bad advertising that shrouds the few pieces of good work that make it. Overall I say No! …… because there is too much client influencing that prevails than creative freedom. Its important that client’s expose themselves to international work as much as the agencies do. Sadly very few clients are tuned into global trends in advertising. The few clients who know this are pushing their agencies to deliver. The way to go!

Question 4

Does the process of management, judging and implementation of the awards fair?

The process and management outlined in the blue print is pretty robust. Beyond this it is our actions and conscience to ensure its fairness. Most often I see actions and conscience not in sync with the blue print. We must work to an “industry agenda” that will benefit all and not a “personal agenda” that benefit a few.

Chandini Rajaratnam , ECD – JWT , Colombo

Question 1

Does the final outcome of the Chillies Ad awards help your agency to win new business?

No, I cannot remember Chillies or SLIM or any award bringing new bis in. Unfortunately clients take a dim view of awards because they consider it and creativity, ad agency ego massage. I believe strongly that creativity enhances effectivity and especially in tight economic situations it helps brands in many ways. Clients differ in their opinion of this. Added to this, most clients think the Chillies are a bit of a circus.Having said this, I would love to see the day when a Chilly win means more bis.

Question 2

Does the Chillies awards benefit the ad industry at all?

It has had a terribly negative impact on the industry because of the scam issue. Clients and people in general think we have hit a new low and they cannot comprehend the extent to which some agencies have gone just to win an award. Now when we take an ad to a client on a genuine innitiative they tend to view it suspiciously. Sadly, it has erroded the respect won by professionalism. The Chillies could benefit the industry when it showcases kick ass work on tough, real brands with sharp clients. Then the overall standard of the industry will go up.

Question 3

Has advertising in Sri Lanka seen an improvement in standards over the last 5 years?

When scam wins, it cannot improve standards. This is because the ‘template’ set by scam ads don’t do anything to improve creative thinking or hone skills. It’s easy to do ads for a nonexistent client who will not question why there is no body copy or contact details or why the brand and the logo are both next to invincible or how it will bring in sales. Also the tendency to scour award books and the net and copy trends in winning work inhibits originality that could help set our own new standard.

Question 4

Does the process of management, judging and implementation of the awards fair?

Let me just say that I have stayed out of all of it.

Trevor Kennedy , ECD – LEO Burnett

Question 1

Does the final outcome of the Chillies Ad awards help your agency to win new business?

I think it does because people and brands want to be associated with success even if they don’t want creative work. They want to think the best people are working on their business even if it is just a small ad.

Question 2

Does the Chillies awards benefit the ad industry at all?

Yes it does. Because everyone wants to win it makes them more aware of what is being produced globally. This has to be good as you are also looking at different strategies.

Question 3

Has advertising in Sri Lanka seen an improvement in standards over the last 5 years?

Yes. The better work entered this year was of a higher standard and there was more of it.

Question 4

Does the process of management, judging and implementation of the awards are fair?

I think the judging was fair but I would like to see more focus on the good work we produce and less on scam and finding reasons why some work didn’t win.

So , we have now looked at what the clients and the agency individuals have to say. What do you think?

Is Chillies, really Hot? or Not?

From marketing heads of the largest FMCG companies to the CEOs of the leading advertising agencies, Blog Crew spoke to some of the most senior marketers and celebrated agency heads to find out how “hot” they think the chillies is…

Imal Fonseka of Hemas , Bertram Paul of Chevron , Rienzie Martinez of HSBC along with Ruchi Gunawardena of Sting Consultants gave us an insight into how hot the clients find chillies.

They were asked these three common questions where their answers should not exceed more than 5 sentences.

Question 1

Do the results of the Chillies Ad awards help you in choosing the right agency partner?

Question 2

Has the Chillies awards benefited the ad industry at all? How? (Please explain) in what way does it have a positive or negative impact?

Question 3

Has advertising in Sri Lanka seen an improvement in standards over the past 3years? ( big ideas, execution, innovation etc)

This is what these prominent individuals had to say.
Bertram Paul , Chevron

Question 1
Do the results of the Chillies Ad awards help you in choosing the right agency partner?

YES – Somewhat.

Question 2
Has the Chillies awards benefited the ad industry at all?

YES – Somewhat.

Question 3
Has advertising in Sri Lanka seen an improvement in standards over the past 3years?

Feel Chillies has led to division & ill feeling among members of the Ad industry and although some members have benefitted in terms of self promotion, image & hype – it has not favourably impacted client businesses.

Imal Fonseka , Hemas

Question 1
Do the results of the Chillies Ad awards help you in choosing the right agency partner?

We don’t select agencies based on how many awards they win. This is a myth. This misunderstand is perhaps what drives the plethora of counter- productive media releases, articles and interviews which attempt to restate various opinions. There is no such circus after the marketing awards, packaging awards or airline awards. Grow UP !.

Question 2
Has the Chillies awards benefited the ad industry at all?

We don’t reward creativity for the sake of art, we reward it because we recognize that Creativity sells. But it needs a deep understanding of the clients business and the clients customer from the agencies side combined with strong intuition and guts from the clients side to father creativity that sells. Those agencies and those clients who are enlightened enough to understand this and hence use the Chillies week to learn have truly benefited. Others have only complained and will stay complaining and boycotting.

Ruchi Goonawardena , Sting Consultants

Question 1

Do the results of the Chillies Ad awards help you in choosing the right agency partner?

NO.

The Choice of an Agency is very much dependent on the brand, the scope of the work and the core strengths of the Agency.

Question 2

Has the Chillies awards benefited the ad industry at all?

It has a positive impact in that it gets the industry together and provides a common forum or platform to project itself. This shows the commitment and enthusiasm within the industry. However, it has not resulted in a maturing of the industry, as there is still too much infighting and conflict, too much scam and it has not resulted in better quality advertising.

Question 3

Has advertising in Sri Lanka seen an improvement in standards over the past 3years?

NO.

The owners of agencies are still running their businesses in all but a few cases. Until this changes and CEO’s of agencies are selected purely based on their capabilities the local ad industry will not mature. Further, I believe the industry must focus on education. Until they get this right, with a properly structured curriculum we will not create the right minds to think innovatively and strategically. These are the two reasons why Indian advertising is far superior to ours.

Rienzie Martinez , HSBC

Question 1

Do the results of the Chillies Ad awards help you in choosing the right agency partner?

No. It has not stimulated me to choose the ad agency

Question 2

Has the Chillies awards benefited the ad industry at all?

From the positive side of it – I think it has as it will help the industry to revisit their Marcom work annually. From the negative side of it – when the agencies trying to cheat and win awards, it hurts the agencies that are ethical and genuine.

Question 3

Has advertising in Sri Lanka seen an improvement in standards over the past 3years?

I have not seen much improvement when compared with the others in the south East Asia.

Both client and agency need to work together. Agency should be able to take bold decisions and take steps to persuade the client to support it. The industry must move in to performance based agency remuneration system.

Nextweek , the blog will feature key Ad-industry leaders….stay tuned….

1. Talking down to consumers
2. Consumer phobia
3. Category traps
4. Advertising realism.

The excercise was a bold initative never attempted before. To benefit from the entire presentation you are advised to follow the steps suggested by the blog crew.

Background: The local advertising industry has been showing little progress in recognising award winning ideas that contribute to building brands. Whilst marketers in Sri Lanka, appreciate the quality of ideas from international markets there is apprehension to implement similar ideas locally. This is largely led by the belief that Sri Lankan audiences are yet not ready or may not understand ideas that are “sophisticated”. Celebrated award winning creative ideas can really make brands prosper in markets and should not be disregarded as superfluous initiatives of award crazy agencies. To give authenticity to this belief we embarked on a project to research globally award wining ads with a cross section of consumers to find out who really was responsible in demarcating boundaries that prevent the conception of good advertising ideas – the marketer or the consumer?

The Objective: To determine the threshold of award winning international advertising ideas, its comprehension and relevance with local audiences with the hope that the findings will encourage marketers and advertising professionals to be bold in ideation.

The following adverts were incorporated into the research.

Motorola Video Messaging TVC

Yawn – It’s simple to communicate TVC

Shera Ceiling Sheet

Top Leaf

Life is shit without Music – MTV

The following are the PowerPoint slides , the transcript of the workshop and the summary of the presentation which includes the crux of this bold initiative by JWT and Quantum Strategic Services. Please download below:

Idea VS The Marketing Man Supporting Slide Presentation

Idea VS The Marketing Man Supporting Slide Presentation

Idea Vs The Marketing Man Transcript

The crew caught up with our busy Creative Director to make a video documentary. We forced him not to use technical jargon so that everyone would understand this “game changing” thought.

Johann Latiff on Composition