In a world where advertising as a concept (and budget) is rising, it has not been concluded which tonality sells which product. And this is just one of the many comparisons.
While Indian advertising is busy concentrating on family values, emotional storytelling, and high-context cultural referencing, North American digital marketing agencies have been busy doing the real job: selling the product. They have a direct approach when advertising. Portraying a want as a need and selling it at once is what they focus on. This makes them people who really stick to the point, along with the ‘No BS’ market. I mean, when advertising came about, wasn’t this the whole point? Sell products or services to cater to people’s needs? However, Indian advertising has gone for a toss, where, to sell one product (or service), we need to study the psyche of an entire family. I mean, really? We are talking about generations living in the same house. How can I sell a laptop to a grandma who is 80? I just cannot, or at least that’s what I think. North America, on the other hand, focuses on individuals, their achievements, what drives them, what forces them to take action, and what kind of lifestyle they aspire to have. It becomes relatively easy to position one’s brand by decoding the probable psyche while also ensuring adequate brand awareness and sales. Indian advertisers and brands are now attempting to enter the ‘address the social stigma, set a great narrative, and position the brand as a good brand’ cycle, which is miserably failing for them. There is one of two reasons behind it. Either because they position themselves as a sustainable brand for the narrative’s sake (the classic Britania’s environment day OOH) and get a backlash, or because they think that this is all the consumers care for. In reality, any social stigma is much more layered than that. A brand strictly needs to follow through on the narrative they put forth. When a North American brand releases a campaign that covers the insight of inclusivity and diversity, they actually mean it (at least most of them do). They ensure hiring and supporting people of all colours, genders, sizes, shapes, and religions. Indian advertising, in hindsight, miserably fails at this (as Indians, we all know how). While the new generation is trying hard to push their peers to think differently, North America already excels at this, as it is an immigrant-first country. This gives them a much deeper understanding of the globe and people’s mindset.
India is a huge country, with a population of 140 crore, stemming from different parts of the country. We all have different dialects, languages and norms. If advertisers wanted, they could also capitalise on this idea of ‘inclusivity and diversity, ’ provided they genuinely followed through. Now, let’s compare how an Indian and a North American brand advertise for a global brand. For instance, take McDonald’s. A recent campaign covered how McDonald’s is offering bicycle drive-thrus. In this campaign, they very smartly show how a customer is going to hold the takeaway bag (holding it with their teeth). This is proof enough of how effective, simple, yet interesting a campaign can be. Indian McDonald’s brand, however, is running a campaign called ‘Khaao Baant Ke’ where a young couple (kids) are shown discussing how boys today are acting like princesses. Let’s not even get to the forceful integration of McDonald’s. I could totally insert an automobile brand and remake the same ad. It did not strike my emotions at all for one. This is almost like holding your nose by holding your hand around your neck entirely. And honestly, do we need that? This is me talking openly about how I feel about a few (too many) Indian campaigns. It is about time we get a bit practical and really focus on driving sales and not just the narrative (for the record, I love advertising, and this is my way of giving constructive feedback because I have been a part of the North American advertising space).
Anyway, if you love advertising too, want your brand to flourish, and are looking for a digital marketing agency or a digital marketing agency in Ahmedabad, to be precise, that can balance both the narrative and sales, reach out to us at https://rioconn.tech/.
