Advertising is a tool to make people know about your products and services. There are specialized courses in Advertisement and Marketing ... that people flock to ... to help the companies that they join ... to market their products and Build Brands out of their products ... so as to ensure that the Profitability of Companies are increased and Companies manage to get some loyal customers for their products and services.

Indian institutes like Indian Institutes of Management specialize in such Marketing courses. And also Mudra Institute of Communications and Advertising is one more note worthy institute, in this highly "glamourous field".

Marketing is one of the basic functions in a business. It is marketing and advertising that help customers/consumers to know about the new products  and services that are on offer in the market.

As and when ... a product/service gets appreciation by its customers/consumers ... then instantly a "Brand" has being created. Hence, we see some of the hugely successful "Brands" in India like Infosys, Tata, BJP, Colgate Palmolive, Godrej, Reliance, etc. ... one might wonder why i have put BJP in this highly successful "Brands" ... well, it is a "Brand" in politics ... and this political party has its own "Identity" in Indian Politics ... isnt it ?

And in todays globalized world, wherein Indian Companies are successfully taking over many companies worldwide ... which was contrary to the expectations when the Indian Economy was opened up in 1991 due to liberalization process and opening up of economy by the PV Narsimharao Government and due to the the praise worthy efforts of then Finance Minister and Current Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ... India has suddenly emerged as the most liked darling of the world economy ... and that we can see in the "welcome gestures" that our country and our people get world wide. Cheers to the PV Narsimha Rao Government and Manmohan Singh for their efforts ... for the ground work they have done in opeing up of the economy.

Well, why am i talking about the efforts of the government of 1991 in this "Indian Advertising" blogpost of mine ? ... its because it is largely because of their efforts to open up the economy that we have had this great spurt in Foreign Investment and Expertise in every field ... and that has obviously led the Indian Companies and "Advertising Industry" in India to gain world recognition ! ... also in "Marketing and Advertisement" !

Now, it is well recognized that Indian Marketing Executives are very competent ... perhaps the many varities in Indian Culture and Religions that exist in India ... give them the edge in trying out many different approaches to try to improvise and create new "Marketing Literature" and "Marketing Techniques" ... and the result is that we see many successful Brands are being built ... and many products are becoming successful.

Wonderful people they are ! Cheers to them !

But, there are some Advertisements that appear in the Indian Televsion Channels that perhaps reflect the attitude of Indian People ... who are fun loving people ... bindaas ... and never mind in laughing at themselves when there is an opportunity to do so !

One such advertisement is that of BINGO CHIPS. Remember that ad of this Bingo Chips ... which starts with a foreign lady who tries hard to in her office ... but luck seems to illude her ... and she opts "Colorful Bangles" ... which eventually bring luck to her ! ... but the advertisement team quite skillfully manages to divert the attention of the viewer ... about the "misconceptions about indian beliefs" ... like wearing colorful bangles would bring lot of luck ... and quite bluntly conveys that message that BINGO chips donot contain such "addons" ... and they are meant to just eat some nice chips ! ... Well, this ad reminds me of "Sprite" advertisement too ... This does create some Brand to the chips in contention !

And also, that latest advertisement of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Saif Ali Khan ... selling chips ... asking people to show their tongues !

The variety of Indian Marketing can be seen in many other ways ... Many Local Theatres in small towns and villages ... let people know about the latest Film release in their theatre ... by using a cycle rickshaw which has "mike" ... and this cycle rickshaw travels the length and breadth of the village to annouce the new film release ... like we see in the film "Nanhe Jaisalmer" ...

Consider this ... the advertisement of BIGFIX the movie rental servie ... whereing a young man "dresses" like Rangir Kapoor in "Saawariya" ... with only a Towel ! ... and when the song "jab se meri naina" appears on the TV ... gets very much mesmerized ... remembers the married lady who stays in his opposite flat ... goes near the window ... and shamelessly shows all his "Diamonds and Rubbies" to her ... in the presence of her somewhat dumb husband ... the lady sees him, downs her eyes with "Sharam" and the pallu of her saree drops by itself ... as a result of this romantic act of her lover ! ... Well, i guess this also creates some Brand for the Movie rental service ! ... and i am sure that people would remember this ad for a long time !

But there are some advertisements that might look wonderful ... but are quite out of place ! ... i am talking about the ad of TOSHIBA products endorsed by Vidya Balan ... which i find very hilarious ... in one such advertisement she endorses a "Laptop" ... but if one looks into the tone and tenor, and the general mood of the advertisement ... one gets the impression that she is not selling some "Business or Personal Laptops" ... but she is talking to her saheli about her likes and dislikes in regard to the latest "Bangles or Sarees out in the market" ... and she cooly telling that "She likes that Laptop" gives me the impression as if she is choosing her prospective bridegroom from a bunch of photos of handsome boys who have made themselves "available" to her ! ... Arey yaar, this is supposed to be an advertisement for Electronic Goods ... please dont give the impression that TOSHIBA sells their products like they are selling some Bangles or Sarees ... or they run some Matrimonial Service ! ... and also dont tell me that Japanese like to market their products like this in their country !

The newest craze in India is IPL ... and the marketing machinery of Lalit Modi seems to have worked very efficiently ... and the fact that many Indian Institutes are now "Studying" the Marketing Gimmicks of IPL and Lalit Modi ... underlines the fact that "Marketing and Advertising" has virtually spread itself in many spheres of Money Making ... that were unthinkable untill now ...

The bottomline is that Indian Marketing Industry is quite innovative ... and we find such many "Shades" in advertising ... and trust me ... i find more it interesting to see those advertisements than using the products or services that they market !

Great guns you are Marketing guys ... and keep us entertaining like this ... looking forward to more of your advertising shades !

Vamsi Krishna Karra
http://vamsikarra.wordpress.com