The Thin Line

The core of advertising today lies heavily on Cognitive Dissonance, according to me. Cognitive Dissonance in Advertising, if I were to concisely put it, is the process of making the customer feel incomplete without your product. Through a flurry of PoP materials, TVCs and other advertisement channels, pre-purchase intentions are created in the customer's mind by creating a sense of incompleteness in the customer without the product. To me, an amazing example of Cognitive Dissonance well used in the Indian context is the Tata Safari's campaign of 'Reclaim Your Life'.

But many people I have met and spoken to tend to associate Cognitive Dissonance with 'Emotional Appeal' in Advertising. This is more so, I guess, because Indian Advertising hasn't been bold enough to employ Cognitive Dissonance for long and has always relied on the Power of Emotions to bond with the customer. Both Cognitive Dissonance and Emotional Advertising use the basic premise of attacking human emotions. While Cognitive Dissonance creates guilt, regret, want or will in the customer, Emotional Advertising strikes a chord with every emotion in the book and makes the customer bond with the product. It is important for Direct to Consumer Advertising to have an emotional element, but it could choose between creating a dissonance or just plain appeal to the customer's emotions. But, with marketers trying hard not to even dream of making the customers unhappy, Cognitive Dissonance has taken a backseat and Emotional Advertising has been ruling the roost.

At the first look, we tend to look at the Emotions and by default tend to file them under the 'Emotional Appeal used in Advertising' Category. This is also because Cognitive Dissonance is slowly setting in in Indian Advertising, and isnt too blatantly used as of now. Dissonance has also set into the market because of the wider Customer base and his nascent needs and his unexpressed realisations of incompleteness which he doesn't let out into open for the fear of embarassment. While Fairness Creams segment has long relied on Dissonance creation, there are several others entering the fray big time now.

There was always Dissonance creation through Advertising, more so because many products need it to be created to be sold but we never realised them clearly and always took that to be Emotional Advertising. One campaign I feel that uses Cognitive Dissonance is Ambuja Cement, while many feel its Emotional Appeal. In fact, probably it is one of the advertisements that ends on The Thin Line that separates Cognitive Dissonance and Emotional Advertising.

Rather, I would file Cadbury's Diary Milk under the Emotional Category for it touches not the product, but the emotions of life, that of happiness, and joy. Ambuja Cement more or less speaks only of the product, and makes you look at your own walls. It could have been in the Dissonance category, but it is a product that is purchased only one at least in the Indian market. We dont cement our walls every year.

The Thin Line between Cognitive Dissonance and Emotional Advertising must be clear when we compare similar but Emotional ads with the already mentioned Tata Safari Dicor ad. The ads that fall into a similar category are that of Smirnoff - The Life is Calling. Where are you? campaign- and Bajaj Avenger - Feel Like God campaign. These products portray emotions of celebration and ego, and they do not put the customer into guilt or grief. They put the customer into thinking what he could have been doing now had he had that brand.

The bottom line is that an advertisement falls into the Cognitive Dissonance or Emotional Appeal categories not based on where the customer or viewer puts the ad or brand, but where the ad or brand puts the customer! :)

Small and Standing Tall

Thats what I felt after I witnessed the little wonder - Tata Nano. The Media Day of the 9th Auto Expo was jam packed right from the first hour, and the only stall everyone was very eager to get into was that of Tata Motors. The Nano was unveiled by Mr. Ratan Tata, in the company of Mr. Kamal Nath.

The Press Conference was amazing. Everyone was so keen to have a look at the car, and there was one man everybody was in complete awe of - Ratan Tata. He is one person who stood by what he started out to deliver. With the launch of his One Lakh Car, I thought he would be touted as the Robin Hood - II of India Inc, with the first being Dhirubhai Ambani, but he turned out to be an entirely different thing with what he said and what he gave. When he said he has compromised on profits despite shooting raw material prices, and sealed the answer with "because a promise is a promise", the nation bowed in respect to him.
Coming to the car, it surely is a Common Man's Dream. In the Auto Expo itself, when we were on way to the stall where the Nano was on display, we stopped at AMW Group stall, and seeing a deluxe autorickshaw model there, we thought the Nano would be something like that. Many in the country speculated that the Nano would be a li'l better version of the omnipresent Bajaj Auto Rickshaw. But, Tata surprised everyone for Nano comes second to no car in styling. Though when you study the interiors, you feel like it isnt as tough as most of the other cars are. But, for a car of one lakh, we dont expect an SUV, do we?
One main question I wanted an answer for was the category of the vehicle. Was Tata a dreamer or a visionary? Is he a man who had a dream of a one lakh car and produced it for just about anyone or is he a visionary who looked to expand the car market exponentially? The answer was very clear. He definitely is a visionary who has opened the gates for a gigantic growth in Indian Car Market. For all those, like me, who wondered if Tata Nano could be a second car, the answer is a clear NO.

The pricing, the styling, the fuel efficiency and every other parameter goes on to say it is for everyone of us who wanted a car but couldn't afford it. For families tired of carrying kids on their bikes, for bachelors who saved less and spent more and hence could gather enough dough to buy a car for themselves, for the elders who had little savings but wanted a decent journey with no hassles. The car is entirely for city. Decent performance parameters, and good looks.

All in all, a total winner. Make way for the Nano. :)

Small Wonder

As the clock ticks and the date draws closer, excitement is in air and no one can wait for Ratan Tata to pull the sheets off his dream project - The One Lakh Rupee Car. Much has been talked about the car and the dream of Ratan Tata across newspapers, TV, blogs and the anticipations knew no bounds. The auto industry in India is abuzz with so much of activity of late, and the one lakh car could only mean it getting spicier and spicier. The choice of models, price points, companies and configurations could only mean tougher sales, but challenging opportunities.

Coming back to the One Lakh car by Tata Motors, there have been innumerable debates on what its effects on the Indian passenger and traffic would be. I shall keep those for another day though. The most fascinating thing to watch out for in the One Lakh Car would be the magnitude of its effect on the Indian Consumer. Will it be another Maruti 800? It is being touted as the "People's Car", and there has been a reported slump in bike sales in the previous quarters. To me, that is an indication that the market is ready to lap up a car that is priced marginally above the bikes and they are ready to forego bikes for this one car, if it delivers on what it promises to be.

Speculations are rife about the design of the car. The implications of the car being rear engine, the expected mileage etc etc have been beaten to death. Autocrust gives a neat detail of what the car is about here, and also carries an image that looks authentic. The implications of the car on the Tatas shares would be another interesting thing to track. The Tatas are a group that shall be unfazed through anything that happens to the car though. But, Ratan Tata could turn a Dhirubhai Ambani with this by giving the common man affordability for a car. He might just provide a choice to put in the money Ambani made the common man save.

The advantage Tata carries is his ease of operations, distribution, marketing and sales because of the gargantuan group that he has. The production plans for the car are impressive, and there needs to be nothing said about Tatas ability to sell and the acceptability they enjoy in the country.

With the car made and done, comes the question of making it closer to the public. People's Car would make it sound cheesy, and Janta or something similar would make it sound like Laloo has made it, not that he cant make cars but lets keep him to the trains for now. Speculation is one for the name too, and it remains to be seen what it shall be called. In fact, even if it would be named something, I feel people will still call it the One Lakh Car for a few months to come! With the price at one lakh, it could as well be called IndiOne, like the hotel venture of Tatas.

The One Lakh car obviously means an entirely new market, an entirely new segment of customers who could be in newer geographies, definitely newer social segments where the car marketing never treaded into. That would mean Tata has to come up with a strong, yet economically feasible marketing plan. The first step would be through proper and prompt advertising. Rediffusion has already bagged the contract, and it remains to be seen what they do of it. Another important aspect would be the effect this one lakh wonder could have on other Tata offerings like Indica, Indigo etc...

All said and done, this is the most-waited unveiling of any product in the country in the recent years. And if you thought, this was the only car in this range, think again and read this.

More action is slated at the Auto Expo 2008, Delhi to be kicked off on the 10th of January 2008 at Pragati Maida, Delhi. Do look at Maruti's soon to be launched concepts - The Swift Sedan and The A Star. And people, automobiles and Auto Expo is not all about cars, and it could be a surprise, shock or just a piece of news but there's going to be a 1.68L cycle.