Has TV advertising finally come of age?

New Age
Xtra
December 1, 2006

Syed Tashfin Chowdhury charts how a new generation of professionals are inciting a revolution in TV advertising with imaginative concepts, catchy jingles and breathtaking cinematography

As a trawler wades through the murky river, one of its young passengers is missing his mother. A flashback takes the audience to the man’s early life and moments he had shared with her. As he wipes his tears, for the millions looking on, through their television sets, the moment is intensely emotional. The slow yet captivating tune in the background reinforces the images.

Ten years ago, when satellite television first came to Bangladesh, these were the kind of images we would see on foreign channels, and then have to endure the tyranny of low-budget, unimaginative, cheaply made ads that were on the local channels. Pan to present times: and the Bangladesh advertising industry has undergone a revolution.

An old man moves frantically through a crowd looking for mustard oil. The expression on his face and his indifference to the rest of the world intrigues the audience. They wait till the end of the commercial to find out that the search for the oil is a mixture of paternal love and individual triumph as he has been successful at finding residential plots within the bustling Dhaka city that his expatriate children were looking for. The embedded humor, the actor’s performance and the direction in the commercial clings on to the audience’s heart.

Television adverts are undergoing a dynamic evolution, a trend that has been persistent in the industry since the last five years. While ingredients like melodrama, humour, animation and others are being constantly experimented and used in these commercials, audiences from all classes of life are appreciating this new trend.

‘I loved the ‘Maa’ ad by GrameenPhone because of its uniqueness and the emotions,’ says college student Naveed Rahman, who believes that an ad like that can truly influence your choice of something as mechanical as a telecom company.

‘The fisherman ad by BanglaLink has great photography and an upbeat message to give to the audience,’ says Naila Hossain, a student of a private university.

Overall, the entire television experience for the average Bangladeshi seems to have changed. Its not just big money that is funding big-budget ads, say industry insiders. Suddenly there is a flux of creativity and a trend to tag ads to local culture (as opposed to mimicking foreign advertising) that is all too apparent.

Adverts for PHP glass, LabAid, Citycell, Nasir glass, Mojo and many others are being talked about, and inspiring subcultures across the country.

‘When the Citycell ‘Hello Rejwan’ ad came on tv, it was a huge hit at my office, and everyone started calling each other Rejwan and saying ‘etai to boyosh’ if they did anything wrong, if they did anything right, if they did anything at all,’ says Al Amin, an executive at a Dhaka-based chemical company.

Leading advertising firms are competing against each, pushing each other’s abilities to come up with the next great idea, the next great jingle, the next great image, say advertising industry insiders, through massive budgets, scenic locations at home and abroad, heart-wrenching stories and of course, creativity, innovation and extensive research.

‘Without creativity and extensive research, this new trend would not have been born,’ says Rajeev H Chowdhury, Creative Director of Cogito Marketing solutions. Rajeev who was initially a part of the creative team of GrameenPhone (GP), was the forerunner of the ‘Neel Doriya, ‘Maa,’ ‘Moyna Pakhir baccha’ and ‘Ei bhodrolok network khujchen’ ads that became huge hits. Rajeev left GP and started Cogito Marketing solutions in October 2005. The company has already established a name for itself through ads like ‘the fish seller’, ‘Joyeeta Chowdhury’ for Banglalink and the recent cricket commercial for GP.

He explains that this new wave is a cause of an influx of creative ideas in the industry. ‘Although, the industry began thirty years back, it started to roll only ten years back,’ he says. He explains that the transition began with the ‘crisp look’ in advertisements. ‘These were achieved by some toothpaste, fans and household appliance advertisements during the early nineties when some good directors associated good photography with their advertisements,’ he says.

The next stage came in the late nineties through the jingles trend. ‘This went on for quite a while and some firms are still sticking to this trend,’ he says. Finally the ‘age of ideas and brand personality’ arrived five years back.

‘The GP ‘Neel Doriya’ advertisement was the beginning of this new phase,’ he remembers. He also points out the Citycell advertisement of the two children running around in the hill tracts and other scenic ones aided the revolution further.

‘Through these advertisements, these brands created their personality and platform for example GP became an icon of connecting relationships no matter what the distance,’ he says.

He explains that the ‘Maa’ ad was a sequel to the ‘Neel Doriya’. ‘Here GP was again the connector between the mother and her son,’ he says. He explains that platforms for brands are being used extensively currently. ‘That is one of the primary motives of advertisements even now. It is also present in our Banglalink advertisements where times are shown as changing for people from the slightly rural groups whose lives are changing through Banglalink,’ he says.

Under present market conditions, the concept of the brand personality is of utmost importance in increasing market shares, according to Nazim Farhan Choudhury, deputy managing director, AdComm Limited, an advertising firm with 35 years of experience in advertising and with clients like Closeup, Pepsodent, Nokia, Mojo and others. ‘There are so many brands out there selling the same product with slight variations. These brands need to stand out on their own in the minds of the consumers and that is where advertising comes in,’ explains Farhan, an advertising veteran in spite of his young age, and son of industry figurehead Geetiara Chowdhury.

He explains that corporate clients are getting smarter and most of them are seeking the help of advertising firms even before they launch a new product. ‘The whole process of television ad filmmaking has changed drastically and dynamically therefore,’ he says. ‘Earlier, clients came to advertising agencies with their product specifications, some clips of foreign advertisements in their minds, the celebrity they want in their advertisement and wanted the whole process done in as short time as possible. Such clients never cared about the picture quality, the story and other features of the advertisements,’ he says.

But now, the advertising firms are being given the latitude and the time to use their creative skills and experience to research into the brand first. ‘This helps us to obtain the brand essence after which, we visualise the advertisement,’ says Rajeev. At this level, some firms conduct ground work on the print and electronic media and develop an idea which they provide to the clients.

‘Once this is approved, some companies have a post production meeting where clients, the ad firm and the director sits down to discuss the advertisement. The success of this meeting is derived through the overall success of the commercial after its launch,’ says Farhan.

‘The success of the advertisement depends on the uniqueness of the advertisement,’ says Rajeev. He explains that ad agencies are currently able to experiment with humour, animation and emotions in an ad because of this underlying factor.

While explaining the link between advertising and brand personality, Farhan provided the example of Mojo, one of AdComm’s clients. ‘Mojo is just one out of 10 cola brands in the market today. But its success is largely due to the mixture of western style with Bangladeshi norms and culture portrayed in the television advertisement of the product,’ he says. He explains that the consequent ads of the brand had this ‘feel’ to them as well and the connection can be made in the product’s packaging. ‘This is a perfect example of brand personality,’ he says.

Farhan also explains that while ad agencies are being given the freedom to come up with brand personality and essence, that the explosion of television and media outlets, availability and lower prices of some technological factors and changing face of marketing are also a cause of the improving trend in advertisements.

Sharjeel Karim, Creative Chair of Interspeed advertising, a Dhaka-based advertising agency since 1968, however, feels that the changing scenario of television advertisements are due to an upcoming breed of local film makers. ‘Quite simply, the filmmakers are breaking free from the conformist shackles which has dictated the brief history of our films, advertisements and popular culture,’ says Sharjeel who possibly inherited his creative talents from father Enayet Karim, yet another figurehead of Bangladesh’s advertising industry.

Interspeed advertising created and built great brands like Raja, Maya, Wheel and Horlicks in Bangladesh in the past. Currently, their key clients include AP, Banglalink, British American Tobacco, BBC World service, Bombay Sweets, Lafarge, Organon and Unilever Bangladesh.

Mohammad Tanveer Hossain, associate creative director of Bitopi Advertising Limited feels that competition with local and foreign media are also part of the reason for the change. ‘Viewers can now compare and rank local and foreign advertisements,’ he says.

Claiming to be the first advertising agency of Bangladesh, Bitopi has been a pioneer in the advertising industry since 1968. The agency currently has clients like GP, Djuice, Social Marketing Company, HSBC, Rahimafrooz, Singer etc.

Tanveer also points out that the inflow of young and talented people into the advertising profession has been a great influence. ‘Even seven years back, this profession was mostly ignored by the middle class. But this mindset has changed drastically,’ he says.

Samrat Das Gupta, general manager, Grey worldwide, pointed out that differentiation in advertising is causing the change. Grey worldwide is a Dhaka-based agency and part of the renowned Grey Global group. Initiated in 1996, the agency currently has clients like British American Tobacco (BAT), Nokia, Glaxo SmithKline, Dhaka Bank, Citycell and others. ‘Clients are demanding effectiveness while providing the budgets demanded. The success of a commercial depends on its creative execution and its appropriateness for the brand. The ad firms are trying to achieve this,’ he says.

Tanveer also points out that some clients are also opting for big budgets advertisements because of their huge segments. Rumor has it that some recent advertisements cost over Tk 1 crore. The average films produced and directed in the Film Development Corporation (FDC) costs from Tk 25 to 40 lakhs. ‘The corporations know that a successful advertisement will help them to gain a better impression in the minds of their consumer segments. That is why they venture with such budgets,’ he says.

The creative directors of various ad agencies also point out that while directors, concepts and photographers are helping, maximum budgets are being spent after the post-production activities. ‘The industry lacks technological prowess. ‘There is a dearth of 35 mm cameras which happen to be one of the best cameras for ad-film making,’ says Tanveer.

Rajeev explains that while most successful advertisements of this time are shot in village locations, the post-production activities are always done abroad. ‘This is because Bangladesh lacks the technology required to ensure the crystal clear and crispy look in the recent advertisements,’ he says.

Asif Akbar Khan, Creative Head of Mediacomm, another Dhaka-based advertising agency, says that most advertising firms are still sticking to the traditional ad-film making style. ‘They are blocking the revolution of ad-film making in Bangladesh. These people should finally realise that advertising is a game of ideas,’ he says. He further urges motivated and talented advertisers to challenge themselves through better work. ‘Only when one tries to outdo their best work can he or she excel,’ he says.

So will the change continue in the next five years? The talented media personnel all agree to this through varied opinions. ‘Currently, an advertising firm makes 80 per cent of its revenue through print and electronic media advertising. But within the next five years, these media will be saturated. New media will evolve, like cellphones, FM radio, the web, public relations, direct marketing and so on,’ speculates Farhan.

Sharjeel is confident that things will continue to improve. ‘This will occur not just because of better “film-finish” but also because of better creative writing that results from better understanding of brand building on the part of agencies and clients. FM RADIO is going to be the next big thing,’ he says.

‘Grey has already taken up the challenge of adapting themselves to non-traditional advertising. 20 per cent of our advertising is done through this media currently. In the next five years, this amount will increase to 50 per cent,’ says Samrat. He also hopes that agencies will break into other avenues.

Rajeev, however, feels that television advertisements will continue to stay and undergo the next phases. ‘Television advertisements are still successful in the West. Referring to the theory that Bangladesh is ten years behind the western countries, it’s likely that television advertisements will not die out in the next ten years,’ he says. He speculates that the next phase in television advertising will include more humour and creative stories rather than melodrama.

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