Connect and Disconnect

What makes a good ad? To me, it is proper product exposure, which means atleast 60% of the air-time showing or explaining the product, and proper connect between what the product is for and what is happening in the ad. But then, as they say, there are always exceptions.

With a break at hand and some spare time for the tube, this ad of Havell’s Cables caught my attention. Havell’s is an electronic goods brand that generally relies on humor in advertising, and Lowe never seems to let them down. Their ad for Havell’s CFL lamps is an example. The lamp ad scores well on both the parameters I would rate a good ad on! However, Lowe-Havell partnership this time tried an emotional one for the Cables, and if you ask me, I would say it did succeed, no matter how much it scores on those parameters.

The ad, one of Lowe’s first releases after Balki took over as Chief Creative Officer, revolves around the traditional mother-son relation, and is set in a construction site. It is way too early to have a youtube video I guess, so here’s the storyboard, and more info on the ad from the makers and the clients. You may rate it weird, but you will sure be wired by Havell’s. The next time you would think of fire-resistant cables, am sure Havell’s would enjoy Top of Mind recall. So, full marks to Lowe there.

Talking of disconnect between products and ads, one ad that failed according to me is Mintrox. With a caption of Life eej Hard, there is neither reference to mint as a candy or advantages of mintrox in the ads except mentioning it again and again that mintrox is like a rock. This product of Parle Agro is advertised by CreativeLand Asia. Probably in a bid to be different, the makers lost the connect! It looks more like a desperate attempt to combat the Chlormint, Polo advertising campaigns.