Mazda CX-9 'Versatile' Campaign

[shantyarow]

Agency: IKON, Dubai
Copy/Art/ECD: Shantesh Row

[Ek Kanya]

excellent! thats the leats I can say! Wonderful copy and very very well designed layouts! Great work as usual, Shanty! Who did the Art?

[basant kumar]

excellent! I have no more words to say!

[Jamwal]

You may have been able to establish with this buzz that this car like featured people is versatile, though i find it sad, as none of the features of car could be included and neither any of these people have had ever made any statements like that. I understand i should not go in literal meaning of it but I did not like the whole idea of using someone else's achievements and then comparing your product to them, its kind of ridiculing these greats.....

[shikharkamat]

All i can say is, i would certainly go take a look at the car.

@Jamwal
Dude if thats how you feel then all advertising is a sham.

Is Bachchan being ridiculed when he endorses the reliability of a Parker pen saying "A Parker is in the details"?

Does Dhoni become less of a star cricket player when he zestfully endorses Pepsi declaring "Yeh hai Youngistan meri jaan"?

on the other hand...

Does the Parker endorsement pay an ode to the reliability that millions feel for Bachchan?

Does the Pepsi endorsement celebrate the determined and powerful youth that is Dhoni?

Comparison to others is something humans have done even since before they were human. If you are a social animal, you will compare. Thats one of the most basic scales of measure we all were born with. And i guess thats the basic funda that Advertising rests on.

Like this little gem that I Stumbled Upon:

When the Chinese invented Kung Fu, they specialized their martial arts into five styles like the dragon, the leopard, the tiger style and so on.

Why?

"If you have a leaner body type you'd go for the Leopard style since it focuses more on preserving the body which is also true of the leopard in nature...."

What is that but an advertisement? Does it reduce any of the leopard's glory?

a link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f0gyoBIji8/

PS: After saw the second ad posted above, I ended up googling and invariably sending an fb message in Hindi to Ziad Youssef Fazah: "Ziadji, kya aap sach me 59 bhaashaen bolna jaante hai?"

PPS: Please dont judge me.

[shantyarow]

@EK: Thanks dear. Art and copy were both done by me.
@Basant: Thanks.

[shantyarow]

@Jamwal and then@Shikhar:

Guys, a couple of points here. Firstly, I look forward more eagerly to critiques than praise, brickbats than bouquets simply because one learns and grows more with criticism. So, Jamwal, I appreciate your comments. Having said that, I do disagree with you.

Like Shikhar said, advertising is all about metaphors. CB Fry, Ashrita Furman and Ziad Fazah are extremely versatile people in their own right. What I have merely done, is take a light-hearted look at how CX-9 is an ode to versatility, by using the inherent attrtibute of these personalities. This is not meant to demean them, but in the contrary, glorify their versatility.

And if you still think these ads are about ridiculing greats, please do read through this classic VW ad from the past. I hope it reattunes your mind.

Thanks, Shanty

[shantyarow]

The VW Ad for Marty Feldman. Is this disrespectful or tongue in cheek?

[shikharkamat]

The copy isnt legible...

[shantyarow]

Sorry Shikhar, had a low-res file.

Copy is as follows:

HEADLINE:

If he can make it, so can Volkswagen.

COPY:

No disrespect intended, Mr Feldman.
But no one would ever mistake you for Gregory Peck. Yet you've made it right to the top.
On talent.
And that's the kind of reassuring when you make a car that looks like ours.
The Volkswagen isn't pretty, Mr Feldman. But it's got talent.
It has an air-cooled engine that can't boil over in summer.
Or freeze up in the winter.
It's the kind of engine that can go on and on and on.
We know one person who went right on for 248,000 miles.
And for a little car it's got a great talent for fitting people in.
There's more headroom than you'd expect. Over 37.5 inches from seat to roof.
If you were 6'7" Mr Feldman, you still wouldn't hit the roof.
And because there's no engine in the front, there's room to stretch your legs in the front.
We've even got a space behind the back seat where you can sleep a baby.
In a carrycot.
So, you see, Mr Feldman, looks aren't everything, are they?

[shikharkamat]

Waow. BRILLIANT copy! So beautifully written! Im sure Mr. Feldman didn't take offence.

[Saumya]

You may have been able to establish with this buzz that this car like featured people is versatile, though i find it sad, as none of the features of car could be included and neither any of these people have had ever made any statements like that. I understand i should not go in literal meaning of it but I did not like the whole idea of using someone else's achievements and then comparing your product to them, its kind of ridiculing these greats.....

Abhishek, please please get out of the thought of showcasing the products benefits.
Rational benefits can be easily duplicated. Emotional ones cant be.

You sound like you are an MBA. When will you learn. When was the last time you saw an Apple (The world's largest brand today) ad with product specs? When? Do you remember the campaign saying 'here's to the crazy ones'???

Great brands are built on 'image' not on product specifications. Thats the job of sales. Please understand advertising is NOT equala to marketing or sales. If thats what you have been taught, please change your thinking.

I love the ads Shanty! I love the fact that uou have created such excellent ads for a catwgory where its very easy to fall into the trap of showing a mud covered car.

[Jamwal]

@Shanty Arrow, I like your work in VLCC2 really i like the whole idea about it, But ofcourse as i said i did not like the whole idea behind these Ads(Mazda), Yes and as rightly said by you its my take, and thats my opinion.
Will like to see more of your work, Continue doing great work, Love and support from ma side....

[shrutigoyal]

Fantastic job Shanty.. Really loved it ..Desicreative is meant for appreciating all Superb n Aspiring Indian creatives like you..superbbb Art and Copy ya..

[shantyarow]

@Saumya: Thanks. Yes, it's easy to go with the mud covered cliches. But on another note, the CX-9 though being an SUV is not so desert friendly. It's versatile in the sense that it looks and performs like an SUV with the interiors being top-notch and also the fact that it can seat 9.

@Jamwal: Dude, it's always your take and will be respected. But as you can see from the comments here, advertising isn't really about selling features, it's about creating an aspirational benefit. Give a customer what he or she needs, not what he or she wants. Yes, sometimes, all of us creatives go overboard and do lateral intelligent OTT advertising. But as Saumya so rightly put it, Apple is the world's biggest and most aspirational brand without once it having to sell the size of its hard disk or memory. People buy an iPod or iPhone or iPad or MacBook not because they want to use an Apple product (sure they do) but because they want to be seen with an Apple or noticed with an Apple or simply because Apple creates a happy state of mind. The more a product gets into the emotional psyche of a person, the lesser hard sell it needs to do. Advertising is not salesmanship; it's salesmanship with a human touch...humankind as the gurus put it. I think you seriously need to look at as much advertising as possible, read the best books from the greats and see the way a 'Love Mark' can create wonders as opposed to a brand that merely lists its features as bullet points. Cheerios, Shanty