The Amateur's Scratchpad

In our everyday lives, we probably stumble upon a thousand brands- all have their own logos, taglines and colour combinations. Colour combinations are vitally important for a brand as it helps in creating the aided and the unaided recall of the brand in the consumers’ mind. Colours evoke meanings and emotions. And this is not only in case of a brand, but in general too. Don’t we feel gloomy when it rains continuously for a long time? And then, we also become happy when finally the sun shows up. This is nothing but a psychological drama of the human mind. Brands too keep these psychological factors in mind while choosing particular colours that would signify them. Let us see some of the colour combinations used by different kinds of brands down below:

• Red and Yellow: Have you ever wondered why all your favourite fast food brands have the colours red and yellow in them? Red, on one hand, is known as the colour which encourages excitement and zeal. It’s an eye-catching colour and is often known to trigger appetite and hunger. Yellow, on the other, is known to incite feelings of warmth, happiness and optimism. Thus, when a brand uses red and yellow as a pair, it wants to catch the attention of the people. It is the same reason why the interiors of our favourite MacDonald’s or KFC or Burger King are all red and yellow.

Green: Green is known to signify peace and comfort. One of the very popular brands that use green in their logo is Starbucks. Despite having changed their logo quite a few number of times, Starbucks has never left the green except the first time when the brand launched. Why is that? Because, the brand promotes international peace. It is the reason why they let you sit inside their outlet and work without any hassle. The brand wants to impart the idea in people’s mind that no matter if it’s a business meeting or a casual hang out, one can simple walk into a Starbucks outlet and do that comfortably in peace.

Pink: Pink is often associated with children which is true. Kids love the colour pink and thus brands like Barbie and Gini & Jony are written completely with pink. But, apart from this pink is also known as colour which signifies fun and liveliness. Thus, dessert brands like Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robbins have a tinge of pink in their logos. It is not only kids who dig these kind of brands but millennials too.

Black: Black is the colour which denotes ultimate sophistication. The colour black also screams the fact that the brand has reached the highest peak of its popularity and has attained a premium status. Thus, it’s a no non-sense colour and it only used to point out the high status of the brand. Chanel, Gucci, Prada are the most famous brands to use black in their logos.

Blue: The colour blue associates itself with trustworthiness, strength and dependability. Blue can mostly be seen in all the tech gadget brands like Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Samsung etc. Not only these gadget brands but social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and even consumer brands like Oral-B and Walmart use blue in their logos. The colour is known to form a feeling of trust in the consumer’s mind.

Although a lot of scientific studies has been done regarding brands and their colour associations, yet there are still debates on the exact impact that colours have on the human brain. Nonetheless, no matter who denies it, colours play a very big role in forming a brand’s perception. Wrong logo with an inappropriate colour can make or break a brand. Different people might perceive colours differently but in the case of brands, they always have to go with the common psychology.

“Ek Coke dena?”(Give me a Coke), can you count the number of times when you have said this or have heard someone else say this in the recent past? We do not even feel the need to take the full name of the brand because we know how familiar everyone is with the brand. But, this branding for Coca Cola did not happen overnight. It took 60 years for the brand to make its mark alone in India. In this blog, I’ll be talking about one of their campaigns from 2003 called “Thanda Matlab Coca Cola” which means “a cold drink always means Coca Cola” and how this campaign changed the perception of the brand in the consumer’s mind forever!

In such a competitive market where there are other giant brands like Pepsi and Thumbs Up, advertising yourselves as the one and only go-to cold drink brand is quite a risk, right? Also, by then Pepsi had already acquired a huge part of the market share and yet Coca Cola went ahead with this campaign. And the biggest part? They were tremendously successful. This campaign was the brainchild of one of the biggest ad gurus of all times, Prasoon Joshi. Now, there’s a very unique story behind the naming of the campaign. It goes something like this…
In India, “thanda” means a cool drink which refreshes you in the sultry summer weather. Hawkers and sodawalas sell cold drinks by crying out, “Thanda, thanda”. Joshi took this as an influence for the campaign. The brand did a little research and an extensive survey, especially in the rural parts of India. The biggest revelation that came out from the survey was that people were not bothered about the brand of soft drink that they were consuming. They would come to the shops asking for a “thanda” and would take anything that the shop-keeper as long as it is cold. Coca Cola, along with Joshi, grabbed this opportunity and twisted this very familiar Hindi word to link it to ‘one and only’ Coca Cola. This resulted in a synonymous recognition in the Indian minds of anything cool means Coca Cola. Now, whenever a person asked for “thanda”, they would be handed a bottle of Coke.

Just with the launch of this campaign, the brand acquired half of the market shares of Pepsi. The entire perception of the brand in people’s mind changed terrifically. The sales outcome? A 36% growth! All these was followed by a string of advertisements for which the brand roped in Aamir Khan as the lead. Khan’s convincing portrayal of the Nepali guide or the Bangali Babu or the NRI led more and more people to change their notion of the brand and place their beliefs of the new one.

Since then, Coca Cola has never looked back. It has come up with amazing campaigns one after one which have only strengthened the position of the brand in the country. They have always perceived themselves as a refreshing drink for the youth. One of their latest very successful campaigns was “Share a Coke”. But, that’s a story for another day. Till then, let’s have a “thanda”. Let’s have a Coke!

“What are the things you want to achieve in life?” – I think, every human being on earth aged fifteen or above has been asked this question in some form. We, at SCoRe, are currently preparing for our upcoming internship interviews and the question that we’ve been specifically asked to prepare for is “What do you want to achieve by the next 5/10 years?”- same question, different form. Honestly, I’ve a range of no idea to some greyish idea as the professional front answer. But, on the personal front, I’ve a little list that I would like to tick off before I turn 30!

1. Adventure Sports: I might not look like a person who likes to go on treks and hike up mountains or take part in adventure sports. But, trust me people, I do like all the above mentioned things and I’m quite good at them! It’s been quite some time that I’ve been intrigued by the different adventure sports that the different countries of the world offer and I plan to try every one of them, one by one. How cool will it be to sit on the Giant Swing in Bali and go to and fro or just bungee jump off the Kawarau George Suspension Bridge in New Zealand!
2. Live in another country: Now, this might sound childish but I guess every girl who has watched “Sex and the City” or “F.R.I.E.N.D.S” has at least once wanted to live in the city of New York and feel the plethora of emotions that Carrie felt when Mr.Big married another girl or when Chandler proposed to Monica. I, for one, have never desired Carrie’s $400 dollar Dior pair or Monica’s cooking skills, but I’ve surely fantasized about the apartments of both. So, for once in my life, before I turn 30, I want to live in the city of New York in my rented out (of course, what did you think?) quaint little apartment and experience the beautiful fall of the city while I take a bit of their authentic hot-dogs.
3. Be a part of an NGO: By 30, I would like to be associated with an NGO which works extensively for the causes of women. Being able to contribute economically and cognitively will help me achieve a step ahead in my personal bucket list as I’ve often felt strongly about the struggles that women go through in this country.
4. Have a home of my own: I’ve always heard about people talking about their “dream” houses that they want to own but I would like to have my own little apartment even if it is rented.  To me, the perfect ending of the day would be coming back to my empty apartment and have a cup of tea and that I would call “home”.
5. Learn to love myself: This might seem weird but this has been the hardest thing for me so far. We come across so many motivational self-love quotes and listen to podcasts which teach you self-love, but how much do we end up learning? So, by 30, I want to be able to learn to love myself and accept myself absolutely the way I am!

Let’s see how much of these I achieve?

It’s been four months for me now in Mumbai. Or should I say, Bombay? Because as they say, Mumbai might be the city of dreams but Bombay is an emotion. Nevertheless, moving on, as I sit in my room, a chain of thoughts form inside my brain. I know I’ve changed quite a lot. I am more punctual, disciplined and hard-working now. Sounds like a brag, doesn’t it? Well, it might but it’s true. The biggest question amongst all those that circle my head is “Have I started loving the city itself?”

Well, this is not my first time in Bombay. I was here in the former part of the year for an internship. For me, it was Mumbai in 90 days. Also, I really cannot write about the beauty part of the city since I haven’t explored even a percent of it. But, I do have my own bits and pieces. Coming from Kolkata, which is quite insoucient, Mumbai is quite the opposite. People, here, are always in a rush. Perhaps, it’s the rush to ‘exist’! Every morning, on my way to work, I had to cross a subway to get to my office and initially I would feel very claustrophobic to get into that subway because it would always be so crowded. But eventually, I got used to the stuffy air inside the subway, the scream of the hawkers, their everyday sales and discounts on cheap shirts, the electrifying sound that they made with those mosquito killing bats, the pushing and the jostling of the people. I was used to their way of survival. I still didn’t know if I loved the city.

It was after three months that I came back here. This time for a post-graduation course. I found out a working women’s hostel to stay in. And quite frankly, I wasn’t happy with this time’s arrangement.  I hated the room I got in the hostel, I despised the vegetarian food they served at the mess. I still do. Despite all the vegetarian food and the inclusion of curry leaves in every god damn dish and the innumerable items made of “pav”, I suddenly feel a connection to the city. Maybe I have started falling in love with the city, maybe not. Who knows?

Maybe, I grew a little bit fond if it when at the first day of work everybody sat down to eat lunch with me. Maybe, I grew fonder when they included me in their office group picture and said, “What if you’re an intern? You’re still a part of our family.” Maybe, I felt grateful when the girl I knew for two months motivated me and hyped me up. Maybe, I had the feeling of satisfaction when my Assamese roommate cooked and fed me “our kind” of daal. Maybe, I fell in love when the maid in my hostel got worried about what would I’ve for breakfast since I wouldn’t eat the idlis. Maybe, I fell in love when the “paanwadi” uncle advised me not to smoke and then handed me my brand, smiling, or when the egg lady outside the hostel gave me my eggs breaking the queue of other people or maybe when the maid cleaned my plates without me asking her to do so. They are all maybe’s.

But, living here alone, doing all the things by myself makes me realize that it’s not always the beauty or the food or the culture of the city that makes you fall in love. It’s mostly the people! I feel gratified when my senior who lives in the same hostel comes to ask me how I am because she feels I often have to stay alone in my room or the time when this another girl from the hostel asks me to join her for a chai-sutta break and we talk randomly about so many things. That’s Mumbai for you or rather Bombay. No matter what time of the day it is, the subway will always be crowded, you will always feel like you are the part of a cattle when you cross that signal in front of CSMT, you’ll always feel like you’ll get killed while crossing the roads, there will always be people waiting for their daily plates of “pav bhajis” and “vada pavs” , always a demand for a cup of cutting chai after their choice of pav, always a group of young people in front of the panipuri stall.  No one has the time to look back or even say sorry if they have pushed you and you have fallen flat on your face because everyone is just busy “existing” or “surviving”! But, there will always be people and no matter how random or how casual your relationships are with them, you’ll always know that you can fall back on them!

And maybe, within this cycle of knowing and unknowing the city, I fell for it too! Maybe, I just didn’t notice.

I went to an all-girls high school until my tenth grade. It was all fun and games until the fourth grade except occasional fights which resulted to pulling each other’s pigtails or throwing water at each other. Contrarily, even in that age there were friendships when one would fight for her best friend if someone else came and touched her. It was a world of our own. Going to school every morning, sitting with people we chose as friends for the first time and intermittently indulging either in little fights or deep discussions about our afternoon plans, which was mostly watching the television. The most rebellious thing to do in that age was to come back and sit together again after the teacher had separated you both for excessive talking. That, was not only the rebellion but also the proof of the undeniable friendship that sparked up between two three-year olds.

Fast forward a few years, and now we were in high school. The dimensions of friendships had started changing. The conversations changed to names of boys from names of cartoons, the skirts went a little higher, the pigtail notching was replaced by eye-rolls. But even amidst all this, there were things that always proved the friendship that remained amongst us. Things like buying you chocolates and making you laugh after a break-up, things like calling your ex-boyfriend up and giving him an earful for what he did to you, things like always being able to ask for sanitary napkins right in the middle of the class, getting ice-cream at midnight, the first stayover, the first PMS, the first party- where would you get all these if not in female friendships?

Female friendships had widely been explored in the series “Sex and the City” created by Darren Star. It was one of its kind. The emphasis of that show lay on sexual freedom, female friendships, independence, and cosmopolitism embodied by a group of young women who lived and worked in New York. I, have often, binge-watched the series with my “gal-pals” and honestly even though we always imagined ourselves in the place of the four lead characters, we were never intrigued by the materialistic things that the show featured. We loved the show for how it portrayed women being so independent, being so free in talking about their sexual desires, being so open about embracing stigmas like single parenting or re-marrying. The show didn’t fill us with aspirations to buy $400 pairs of shoes — my friends and I neither could afford Manolo Blahniks, and nor did we particularly want them. But it did teach us how to mould our female friendships based on Carrie, Charlotte, Samantha and Miranda.

“Over the years there have been multiple pop cultural references, archaic comments, ‘innocent’ jokes and tabloid stories that have perpetuated the belief that women can’t be friends. In reality, nothing is farther from the truth.”, says an article from Scoop Whoop.
But no, I won’t settle down on the fact, “Women are women’s biggest enemies.” Because, women do not base their friendships on virulent grounds unlike men who base theirs on toxic masculinity, women do not urge their friends to keep drinking even after they have puked, they held their hair back, women do not make fun of their friends after they have failed in something, they give them power talks, they hype them up! I grew up amidst the pigtail notches, the eye rolls, the gossips that surround high school, the cruel comments about your hair, and yet, I am grateful to have had that experience because I’ve got some friends who came to my house once when were toddlers and then they never stopped coming. That’s female friendship, right there, for you!

Sources:

10 Famous Female Friendships That Showed Us We Can Conquer The World With Our BFFs By Our Side

My Generation Based Our Female Friendships on “Sex And The City”

We, at School of Reputation and Communication (SCoRe), recently started our course on Social & Digital Media with Akshay Gurnani, the CEO and co-founder of a digital marketing agency called Schbang. He started his first class with some data- the data about the users of different social media platforms. According to that data, there are 300 million active users on Facebook, 290 million active users on Instagram and around 50 million active users scattered on platforms like Snapchat, YouTube etc. So, it can be easily understood that how digital media is growing by day and taking the shape of a giant. Earlier, till 2014, brands used to spend a 12% of their budgets on digital marketing. Today, they are ready to pay 18% and it is estimated that within 2020 and the forseeable future, they will be ready to spend at least a minimum of 24% of their budgets to advertise their brands through digital marketing. Yes, it is that big!

In one hand, new social media platforms are getting created every day. On the other, there are platforms which are losing their relevance. One of the biggest platforms in this category is Facebook. Hard to believe, right? We, the millennials, cannot imagine not being on Facebook but for Gen Z, Facebook isn’t a big deal. Earlier brands could achieve an 80% reach through advertisements on Facebook, now the reach has come down to 1% or less. Also, the organic reach that brands would earlier get from advertising on Facebook has reached its lowest point.

But, isn’t Facebook the biggest social media networking site till now? Doesn’t it still has the biggest active user count? The answer to all these questions would be a big yes. Inspite of that, Facebook is going down a little each and every day. One of the main reasons of Facebook losing its sheen would be the clutter fabricated by itself. Facebook started off as a medium where people could connect with anybody in the world with the click of a button and text and images were the only two forms of that network. But, with time, it started adding multiple things like a wall, a feed, advertisements, games, contests, reactions, and before the audience could grab a bit, came the evil of data privacy breach. And now, especially the current generation cannot care less about Facebook.

Having said all that, Facebook still hasn’t totally lost its grip. It is still relevant to a huge mass of people, especially those who are either from the age bracket of 40-60 or belong from Tier 2 or Tier 3 cities. The reasons are simple:

• The “share” option in Facebook is way easier than any other platform. So, people can share the content easily on their timelines unlike Instagram or Snapchat where in order to share something you need to go through different complex key loops.
• Facebook still gives the options of building pages, groups and communities so that people can communicate and interact with each other on a common ground. This is also very helpful for people who aren’t very tech savvy like housewives who have their own small businesses.
• It still provides the easiest way of “chatting” when you don’t have the person’s contact unlike other platforms functioning on “DMs” (Direct messages) which are quite complex. You can just download the Facebook messenger app on your phone and start texting any one from your Facebook friends’ list.

Digital & Social Media Marketing is growing as the biggest trend right now. Brands are ready to spend hefty amounts in order to advertise their brands through digital marketing and increase their reach, impressions and popularity. As far as Facebook and its popularity is concerned, nothing can be presumed looking at the pace of technology. It’s only a matter of time before we see Facebook become the shark again. Or will it be something else?

At 23, you will have your first job. And at 23, you will realize how beautiful that road to your school was, filled with lilies. You will remember how your grandfather would collect them for you and your little palms wouldn’t be enough to hold them. You’ll recollect all those memories and shade a tear or two and think about how your grandfather would do almost everything for you.
At 23, you will go back home to live with your parents temporarily before you join back the hustle of a bigger city, a corporate life and you’ll finally notice the bougainvillea tree beside your bedroom window. It’s been there always, you just didn’t notice.
At 23, you will realize how happy it makes your mother when you sit beside her and give her company while she gets lost amidst the obnoxious daily soaps. You will realize the happiness that your father feels inside when you gift him his favourite watch.
At 23, your favourite author, your favourite book, your favourite tracks- everything will change and so will your friends and lovers. You’ll finally be able to cut that toxic friend out of your life. You’ll finally be able to block that homophobic bloke. You’ll finally be able to stop missing your high school lover!
At 23, you’ll try to love your body and try on some dresses that you never tried before. They won’t fit but unlike last time you won’t blame yourself for that. You’ll reject the clothes, not yourself. You’ll finally buy your own make-up products instead of using your mother’s and the first time you put them, you’ll look like the clown from MacDonald’s and you’ll laugh it off. You’ll not go to bed with those chemicals on, you’ll remove them, with patience! After all, you’re adulting. You’ll get a new haircut and a hair spa instead of getting red or green highlights. You are changing!
At 23, some days you’ll complain about how the people younger than you are so annoying and how they party every weekend. But, ironically, you’ll be the one joining them the next weekend. Some other weekend, you’ll fall asleep on your hostel bed after you’ve had cheap Chinese and Old Monk.
At 23, you’ll realize what your father meant when he had said “make yourself worth it”! You’ll realize how much you actually love your parents. You’ll realize how delicious home food tastes.
At 23, you’ll realize your job is actually not the dream job you always wanted but you’ll also understand that this is just the beginning. You’ll think about how you’re always broke and you never get adequate sleep but you’ll also realize that this, right here, is life!
You will cry, you will lose, you will fall apart, you will scream until you can’t hear yourself, until you start feeling that sharp pain in your right chest, until you feel like the ground beneath you is moving and then, you’ll fly…fly to some other land to find your ground.

And then at 28, you come back to an empty apartment, decorated with your choice of things and you make a cup of tea for yourself. You sit on the couch and look around, sipping on your tea- loneliness or freedom, you decide?

If there’s one common thing I have heard from professionals in the PR business in the past three months of my academic journey with SCoRe, that would be “going digital”. All of them have managed to tap on this particular point at least once. It must be important, right? So, what is going all digital? According to the current and emerging trends in public relations, digital PR is going to be one of the most significant. Gone are the ages of plain and simple press conferences or dissemination of press notes to the media. The tech-world is evolving and so are we. From finding the newspaper in the morning to read to finding the smartphone to read the e-version of it, we have come a long way. So, why should PR stay behind and keep following the grandfather techniques?

Clients, now a days, are not interested in a same boring pitch which consists of power point slides, charts and bar graphs. They want something new, innovative and most importantly something which is crisp and time consuming. So, a short animated video with all the details of the pitch might be the trick to keep the clients at bay. Not only that, but the scope of publicizing and garnering more audience with digital PR is way easier than it is with traditional PR. If you ask a public relations professional that how many times has he/she bothered a journalist for a media round or badgered a journalist for carrying a press release, I don’t think they will have an answer. But with digital PR, it’s your own free space. You can post your views, your opinions and with just a click it might gather global viewership. Also, there is no issue of space commitment unlike in newspapers. Digital is a free space and you can take up as much as you want.

Another emerging trend that will categorically fall under digital PR is influencer marketing. Now, who are influencers? Influencers are people who have a huge follower base on social media networking sites such as Instagram or Pinterest. But the catch here is, it’s not only celebrities now a days who have a huge follower count. Your next door sixteen year old can also be an influencer if he/she has a similar follower base. These group of individuals can help your brand gain utmost recognition. Also, this influencer integration can be done by any brand- big or small. The way of collaborating with these influencers is simple- it is either barter or money. Most of the times, the PR firms take the barter road where they provide products of the brand to the influencers and they in turn use the products to put stories or posts on their official page. The influencer marketing is rising up in the charts to be one of the most popular digital PR techniques.

It’s not only PR which is taking the digital road. Even newspapers have started following the trend keeping in mind the shortening attention span of the mass. Recently, DNA India (Daily News & Analysis) decided to stop the production of their print newspapers and shift completely to digital. “In this rapidly-evolving market, a very thin line remains between print and digital. DNA will continue to be your preferred news destination as a web-portal”, wrote DNA in their announcement.

The world is changing and the change is rapid. PR, being one of the most dynamic fields has to keep up with the pace of change. But is this change for the good? Does it not come with any loopholes? Time will tell!

Sources: THE FUTURE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS: 10 PR TRENDS FOR 2019

9 Emerging Trends For Modern Public Relations in 2019

Two months into our Public Relations programme at School of Communications & Reputations (SCoRe), we got an opportunity to visit the office of MSL Group, India as a part of our consultancy exposure. Now, what is a consultancy exposure?

A consultancy exposure is where we visit different public relations firms to understand how a typical day in a PR firm functions like. Starting from how a PR professional starts a day with sending the client their coverage updates to following up with the media every alternate second and managing crisis, insights about the day to day activities of a PR person can be learnt from these consultancy visits. MSL Group being our first consultancy visit, all of us were more than excited to know more about the hustle and bustle that goes on inside the office every day.

So, nn the morning of September 17, all twenty of us decked up in our best professional attires turned up at the venue where we were greeted with a warm welcome by the HR head, Vaishali Ramakrishnan. She began with providing us with a tour of their office was very vibrant in itself. The bright blue walls splashed with dark yellow and quirky doodles on them immediately brought a positive vibe. The cutest corner was the one where there was a replica of a vivid pink telephone booth. Apart from the décor, what I liked about their office space was- no cubicles! “We do not believe in hierarchy, so we have a no cubicle policy so that anyone from any level or designation can walk up to each other and have a conversation.”, later explained Vaishali. After the tour, she shared with us the campaigns they did last year and the awards they won which obviously included the Vicks-Touch of Care campaign which got global acclamation followed by the awards that they received. She also gave us a lot of background history about the firm as well as its parent organization, the Publicis Group and MSL 20:20 which is a newly formed part of the MSL Group. Last but not the least, she also gave us bits and pieces about the work culture they follow, the festivals they celebrate and La La Land, their weekly recreational space for their employees. It was quite clear that they try to give their employees a work-life balance which is often found missing in most organisations.

The next session was with Glen D’Souza, Executive Director, MSL Group India. His session was about the most anticipated topic- crisis management! He gave us tips and tricks about how to handle the crisis as well as ourselves in times of need and also shared his own experiences of being in the profession for such a long time. “Use the crisis to your advantage; own up and acknowledge to the crisis!” advices Glen.

Alethea Fernandes, Associate Vice President, shared with us the i3 strategy of PR- Insight, Integration and Impact. Her session was followed by Aashish Mehrotra, Head of Digital PR who educated us about the importance of going digital in today’s age where traditional PR is no longer viable in some aspects. He gave us instances of how digital technology is taking over.

The second last session was Campaign Strategy with Parveez Modak, Executive Director, Strategy and Insights and Divya Khanna who taught us about how the lines between advertising, marketing and public relations are going blur day by day. They also talked about the different types of insights, the Pyramid Principle and how we should never state anything without backing it up with data. The best input by Divya, “When in doubt, cut it out!”

We ended our day long manifestation with a Q/A bout with Schubert Fernandez, the Executive Director of MSL Group, India. As humble and funny that he was, he answered all our questions and told us about how we should never be scared of asking even dumb questions. He also told us how important it is to take initiatives and go accordingly. My biggest take away from his talk? “I joined PR because I hated maths!”

It was almost a ten hour long session and yet at the end it left me wanting more. The best part was the enthusiasm with which every one shared their experiences and insights which now we will be able to implicate when we start working. This was a learning that will stay with us for the rest of our lives and I look forward to such consultancy visits as frequently as possible!