By Malay Desai
A new series of commercials launched recently by body spray brand Fogghave a similar theme. In all the films, one character walks in to a mundane or unusual situation and asks the question, ‘Kya chal raha hai?’, meaning to ask ‘What’s new?’ The answers to this, in all settings, namely a grocery store, hospital, café and the India-Pakistan border, are the same – ‘Foggchalraha hai.’ All the films close with the same message of the brand being the number one perfume body spray in India.
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In the FMCG market, if your product is in a cluttered category, you must either have deep MNC pockets or a really clever idea to disrupt it and be a leader. I remember Anchor White Toothpaste, soon after launching, created a hoopla by calling itself ‘vegetarian’, giving Colgate a short-lived beating. The latter would later come up with a question, ‘Does your toothpaste have salt?’ so successfully, it’s still a running joke.
Darshan Patel, former co-owner of ParasPharma did something similar with Fogg by direct attacks on rivals claiming it had no ‘gas’. Ironic as its name was, the idea stuck and Fogg has disrupted the deo race since, the number was at 20 lakh cans a month when I last checked. Axe Effect, go sweat.
Now, knowing well it’s connected with ‘no gas’ and wanting to boast its leader status, Fogg comes up with an idea so inane and stupid, it might just stick to our minds for a while. The idea is simple – use the omnipresent Indian greeting of well-being ‘Kya chalraha hai?’ and add a response to it, even if it sounds meaningless.
In the films, the response, ‘Foggchalraha hai’ is consistent, no matter what the situation is – a casual stroll on the street or a sly meeting of an informer with an accomplice. The situations are varied, and the common end adds to the stickiness of the campaign. My favourite one is when an old man in an ICU answers the doc’s question with the Fogg line. It’s hilarious in the ‘PSPO nahin janta’ manner.
Not all the films are hilarious, but understand this – if they’re thrown at you from various channels, or even better, during overs of a cricket ODI, you’d either start loving or hating it. Either ways, the marketers will benefit.
The over 2000 crore deodorant market is a slugfest now, with over half a dozen locally conceptualised brands such as Fogg, Wild Stone and ITC’s Engage are taking on the biggie Axe, which is bound to hit back. I’ll be happy every time either of them will go off the ‘chick magnet’ route.
[Watch the Fogg ads by entering this into your browser - ‘bit.ly/FoggAds’]
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Catch the #IPOY2015 buzz on social
It’s time to pick one out of the many game-changers that we have featured in these pages this year and tomorrow at a glittering event in Mumbai, we shall find out who the Impact Person of The Year would be. While you know of all the nominees and their chances in this edition, also know that we’re pumping up the social media volume for this occasion. Check out the hashtags #IPOY2015 for all the conversations and to participate in a contest and win 10k, use #MyIPOYwinner. We are also going to live-tweet the event and post images on our Instagram, ‘instae4m’. And by the way, we’ve been active on Facebook and LinkedIn as well. If you aren’t making it Tuesday night, you have all the ways to catch the buzz.
Arnab Goswami likes this
What did Facebookers talk about in 2015?
The yearender reports are out already, and assuming nothing earth-shattering like the Nepal earthquake occurs in the coming two weeks, we have an interesting list from Facebook on which topics got most discussed. On top is the US Presidential election, which I think is going to retain its spot next year, and its followed by the Paris attacks, Syrian war, Nepal earthquakes and the Greek debt crisis. Good to know that there is no teen sensation’s hairdo or break-up that has made the list. India wise, our Mr Modi makes it to number 9 in the globally discussed politicians list while no athlete has made it in the sports list, which was topped by Floyd Mayweather Jr. Next week, we look at YouTube!
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Parineeti’s PR plan through Twitter/Insta
Parineeti Chopra, whose last major release was over a year ago, last week took to social media in what seems to me like a carefully planned PR exercise to get her visibility and er, work. While it has got her the former (also thanks to sweetly timed newspaper interviews) and I’d rate the digital work behind ‘#BuiltThatWay’ to be a success, I have a problem with her message. ‘4 years ago, a chubby childish girl was introduced to the world,’ it begins, before going on to celebrate her new fitness. All you’re saying, in your quest for your first hit, PC junior, is ‘chubby was bad, slim is good’ – and to millions of youngsters. I suggest you rather get PC senior’s agent to land real work!
Sonam Kapoor likes this
