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There were times when social causes or issues were picked in advertising only with the purpose to add some creative awards to your kitty. Very few ads involving social messages were made by mainstream brands. The reason was simple: clients were not willing to take the risk. They are always scared of entering into any sort of controversy that such ads may lead to. For example, if a brand started addressing the issue of reservations and says that reservations should be abolished, it becomes controversial and the brand may have to face some opposition from a certain set of people in the society.
However, in the recent past there have been numerous changes in the advertising landscape. Marketers are now ready to take a little risk and they are picking up realities of Indian society and incorporating them in their communication. This is a huge step and a very welcome change that the advertising fraternity is taking. I believe that marketers and advertisers should incorporate social message in their communication, instead of restricting it to a plain vanilla selling exercise. However, ads like this have a risk of eliminating certain set of people from the usage of the brand. Take the recent Idea commercial (featuring Abhishek Bachchan) for that matter. There is a risk of alienating sections of society, especially fundamentalists. However, gradually a minority of clients are waking up and incorporating such issues in their commercials. But it’s a silent minority. What we should do is that we should create a forum where we can discuss issues like this. Once we start discussing such issues as planting trees, education, corruption, we will surely go a long way.
Another reason why marketers usually shy away from incorporating social issues in their ads is that advertising is something that is used to sell a product or service. So people might get the impression that you are using a social cause to sell your product. It may give the consumer a feeling of being conned, which can prove fatal for the brand. But, if treated correctly, such ads have the potential to generate immense goodwill for the brand and for their marketers!
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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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