It?S time for our annual stock-taking of the media, marketing and advertising industry. In our first year-end edition, we examine the developments in the advertising industry and also, bring you a snapshot of the best television ads of the year selected by an eminent jury. Despite the fears of an imminent slowdown looming large, the year 2011 has been good for the industry. The year got a headstart with the Cricket World Cup at the beginning of the year followed by the fourth season of the Indian Premier League. Both the events saw brands, big and small alike, splurging big monies, amounting to around R1700 crore, on their marketing communications right at the beginning of the year. The telecom sector kept the industry abuzz with its advertising blitzkrieg for the 3G services and the mobile number portability campaigns. It is not surprising that four among the top 10 ads this year come belong to the sector.

Again, despite the misgivings about consumer sentiment, the festive season brought in a lot of cheer in the industry as retailers, consumer electronics and FMCG marketers and auto makers spent big bucks on their efforts to reach out to consumers. Within the industry, the wave of veterans leaving big agencies to chart out their own journey and explore creativity on their own terms continued. The result was the birth of agencies such as Curry Nation launched by Preeti Nair, Salt Brand Solutions launched by Mahesh Chauhan and Minakshi Achan, and Hyphen by Prasanna Sankhe and Alok Nanda. The industry yet again made its presence felt at international foras such as the prestigious Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity by bagging 24 Lions; shared both by big agencies such as Mudra Communications, BBDO India and Ogilvy India and start-ups such as Out of the Box and Sorento Healthcare Communications. The industry also saw some action on the merger and acquisition front as Dentsu Inc bought Sandeep Goyal’s 26% stake in Dentsu India and Omnicom Group bought 51% stake in Mudra Communications besides a strategic alliance between Havas Media’s MPG and Rediffusion Y&R’s TME.

According to Pitch Madison Media Advertising Outlook 2011, the Indian ad industry has grown by approximately 17% in 2011 and is expected to add about Rs 4,000 crore to the R 23,646 crore ad pie of 2010.

This year’s top ten ads include the ‘Har ek friend zaroori hota hai’ launch ad for Airtel which was created not by Airtel’s creative agency on record, JWT, but by Taproot India. A second ad from Airtel too figures on our list. Ads of two other telecom brands ? Vodafone and Tata DoCoMo ? also are among the top 10 ads of 2011. Vodafone’s egg shaped creatures Zoozoos were back during this year’s Indian Premier League and the ‘Zoozoo-Superman’ ad, which was created to launch Vodafone 3G services in India, is among our top ten ads. Cadbury, quite a regular on our list, made it this time too with its ‘I love you’ spot. Tanishq’s second ad with celebrity couple Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan TV spot is also one of the top ten ads.

Seven leading lights from the advertising industry have helped us identify the top 10 ads of this year. They are: Lynn de Souza, chairman and chief executive officer, Lintas Media Group; Punitha Arumugam, group chief executive officer, Madison Media Group; Pratap Bose, chief operating officer, Mudra Group and chief executive officer, Mudra Max, Ajit Verghese, managing director-South Asia, Maxus and motivator, Group M; Ajai Jhala, chief executive officer, BBDO India; Man Jit Singh, chairman, Multi Screen Media and Santoshi Padhi, co-founder of Taproot India.

Happy reading.

Friends in need…

n Campaign: Har ek friend zaroori

hota hai (Launch TVC)

n Brand: Airtel

n Company: Bharti Airtel

n Creative Agency:

Taproot India

The Film: ?Har ek friend zaroori hota hai?, a one-off project that Taproot has done for Airtel, has created a new positioning for the brand to target the youth. With the help of a jingle ‘Har ek friend zaroori hota hai’ and various snippets, the launch campaign talks about various kind of friends that one has in life and how each of them are important in unique situations. The campaign has now branched out into smaller TV spots

with specific vignettes about how each friend is important, with the jingle going on to become a youth anthem.

The brand has got a whiff of fresh

air after this new positioning. This became one of the most talked about campaigns of the year. Now we will have to see which agency gets to do the next campaign: Taproot or JWT.

Sweetly yours

n Campaign: I love you

n Brand: Cadbury Dairy Milk

n Company: Cadbury India

n Creative Agency: Ogilvy India

The Film: Cadbury came out with quite a few films this year including Lonely Maa which was released during the festive season. I love you continues with the brand’s consistent theme about emotional relationships and the role of Cadbury Dairy Milk in people’s lives.

The film opens on a couple who is having dinner at the dining table when the wife asks the husband, ?When was the last time you said ‘I love you’ to me??. When the husband looks confused, she repeats the question. He then walks up to the refrigerator and brings back a Cadbury Dairy Milk bar with him, gives it to her and says abhi (now). The wife asks him what does he mean by ‘now’ and he replies that he just said ‘I love you’ to her by giving her the chocolate. She then realises that he gives her Cadbury Dairy Milk everyday to express his love

for her.

What?s on her mind

n Campaign: Bangles

n Brand: Tanishq

n Company: Titan Industries

n Creative Agency: Lowe Lintas

The Film: This campaign, sequel to the first Tanishq campaign featuring the celebrity couple, carries the story forward beautifully. Tanishq, like Cadbury, has been consistent about weaving light-hearted stories around relationships and it has worked well for the brand.

The ad opens with Amitabh Bachchan thinking about the fact that after 38 Diwalis, he is finally sure about what gift to get for his wife, which is a pair of diamond bangles. He goes to a Tanishq showroom and asks the salesman for diamond bangles. The salesman tries to explain the quality of the diamonds but Bachchan tells him to keep quiet as he already knows about it and that is why he has come to the showroom. When he goes home with the bangles, Jaya Bachchan is putting on a similar set of bangles. Bachchan wants to surprise her with his gift but hesitates as he realises that he has picked up a similar set of bangles. When his wife tells her that she picked them up herself, Bachchan tells her that he bought two more of the same for her. While she accepts the gift, she expresses concern over how she would not be able to tell the difference between the bangles that she bought and the bangles that her husband bought and it would be better if he had bought her a ring. Bachchan looks at the camera and whispers ‘what to do’.

Survival of the fittest

n Campaign: Survive the world

n Brand: American Tourister

n Company: American Tourister

n Creative Agency: Contract Advertising

The Film: This campaign is a sequel to the Survive Istanbul and the Survive Mumbai campaigns of the brand. All the films highlight the toughness of the brand under extreme conditions and situations.good luck charm as she embarks on a new phase of life.

This ad has been shot in Jodhpur. It opens on a tourist who is stuck in a massive traffic jam on his way to the airport. Finally, he decides to grab his four-wheeler American Tourister and find his way through the jam. He hurls through the traffic and zooms through a number of narrow zig-zag lanes in the city, much to everyone’s amusement. He finally manages reach his destination on time, along with his American Tourister suitcase.

Aliens in town

n Campaign: Zoozoo- Superman

n Brand: Vodafone

n Company: Vodafone

n Creative Agency: Ogilvy India

The Film: One of the most endearing creations of advertising, Vodafone Zoozoos were back this year. Even though the excitement level about each film in the new season might have gone down a bit, the Zoozoo 3G films were instantly the talk of the town. It was one of the best 3G campaigns of 2011.

Part of the Vodafone 3G campaign, the film opens on a Zoozoo who enters a phone booth. The phone booth starts shaking and as the door flies upon, a Super Zoozoo emerges. And he is a superhero in every sense of the term. He flies into the sky and starts performing heroic acts such as rescuing a Zoozoo from a lightning attack. He breaks and throws the lightning bolt at a cloud. He then saves a female Zoozoo from a building which about to fall and starts flirting with her by giving her a rose. After this he takes on the task of helping some Zoozoos with a computation problem by providing the solution with laser beam from his eyes. He continues more such miraculous tasks before he is shown to spin the earth faster around its axis. Finally he flies off and then comes the tagline: “Faster. Smarter. Better. Vodafone 3G is here.?

When in doubt…

n Campaign: Poochne mein ky jaata hai (Parade TVC)

n Brand: Tata Sky

n Company: Tata Sky

n Creative Agency: Ogilvy India

The Film:This Tata Sky campaign does not feature the brand ambassador of the company ?Aamir Khan, who almost guaranteed instant popularity of the campaigns. However, even without Khan, the brand has managed to grab eyeballs with this campaign with an interesting idea and storyline. Rival brand Dish TV tried to leverage the popularity of this campaign by creating a spoof campaign.

In this Tata Sky ad, two friends are watching a military parade pass by. One of them tries to coax the other to ask something but he refuses. The first friend then decides to ask the question himself and when an officer comes riding an army tank, he asks, ?Can I get a lift till Victoria Hotel??. Happily surprised when the officer agrees, he quickly jumps onto the tank. Now, cut to the two friends at a Tata Sky outlet when the second man asks the shopkeeper if he will get something free with a new Tata Sky box and the shopkeeper’s answers in the affirmative. The film ends with a voice-over, ?Poochne mein kya jaata hai. Pooch dala to life jhingalala? (You don’t lose anything by asking. Life’s smoother when you ask).

Wheels of fantasy

n Campaign: Fly boy

n Brand: Volkswagen Jetta

n Company: Volkswagen

n Creative Agency: DDB Mudra

The Film: DDB Mudra has managed to do an extremely good job of keeping the brand Volkswagen in the limelight with its advertising campaigns and through various innovations. This film is

another feather in the agency’s and the brand’s cap.

This campaign was created when Volkswagen launched an upgraded diesel version of its sedan Jetta. The film opens with a boy who is born with wings. He leverages his wings to help people out of difficult situations and rescuing them. This makes him a celebrity and people often queue up to take the boy?s autograph. Then one day, the boy spots a Volkswagen Jetta in a showroom. Enamoured by the Jetta, he is ready to discard his celebrity status, and thereby his wings, to get behind the wheel. Excited, the boy shed his wings and drives off in his new car. Then the super appears, ?The all new Jetta, you?ll do anything to drive it?.

Call for change

n Campaign: Spark the rise

n Brand: Mahindra – Spark the rise

n Company: Mahindra and Mahindra

n Creative Agency: Strawberry Frog

The Film: This is a call-to-action film from Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) for its new initiative ‘Spark the rise’ where people can send in ideas which could have the potential to bring about some change. The film shows various snapshots where people are all set to do something empowering. The film ads with the voice-over: ?Do you have an idea that could bring about real change? Submit your ideas at sparktherise.com for a chance to make it a reality.?

Created by US-based creative shop Strawberry Frog, the film is part of the larger digital initiative by Mahindra and Mahindra and supports the launch of its website sparktherise.com. The main reason behind any call-to-action film is to motivate its target audience for “action” and this film manages to do that.

Seeing is believing

n Campaign: 3G video calling

n Brand: Airtel

n Company: Bharti Airtel

n Creative Agency: JWT India

The Film:The film opens with a soldier fiddling with his phone. Then suddenly a window opens at one of the temporary walls with a woman on it. The two start chatting. He then asks about a mole that she had on her neck and she retorts that her mole, unlike his temporary check-posts, does not change position everyday. She then turns her head to reveal the mole which is on the other side of her neck. While he stares mesmerised, she mocks him by saying that a military person’s eyes should never look down. At this point, his colleagues call him and and he bids goodbye to the woman. He then disconnects the video call on his phone. The voice-over then says that you can now make video calls from anywhere with Airtel 3G.

Anytime is good time

n Campaign: No getting away

n Brand: Tata DoCoMo

n Company: Tata DoCoMo

n Creative Agency: Draftfcb+Ulka

The Film: The spot opens at a wedding where the groom and the bride are going around the sacred fire, when the groom suddenly gets a phone call from his boss. Asking the priest to stop chanting for a moment, the groom picks up his officer?s call who asks whether it is okay to call. The groom, ever attentive to his boss, replies that it is a ?good time? to talk. The film ends with the voice-over: ‘No getting away from the network that always connects, everywhere.’

A lot of films have been released under the same campaign but not all of them manage to tickle the funny bone. This one does.