This document summarizes an observational study of persuasive communication cues in Indian TV commercials. It discusses creative experts in Indian advertising, major client companies, and TV networks that air commercials. Key findings include that commercials often try to "indianize" foreign brands by respecting Indian culture. Many ads use humor, family relationships, or patriotism to emotionally connect with viewers. Computer graphics are commonly used to demonstrate product attributes like stain removal. Punchlines, jingles, and emotional storytelling make many commercials highly memorable to Indian audiences.

1. An Observational Study by:
Dr. Sandeep Solanki, Sr. Lecturer – Marketing and
Management Strategies (M.Com, MBA, Ph.D.); E-mail:
sandeep.victory1947@gmail.com

2. The objective of this part of the chapter is to highlight the key and distinct persuasive
communication cues & capabilities of the Indian TV commercials. Key players in the world
of advertising production are creative experts like Piyush Pandey (Ogilvy India), Sam Balsara
(Madison World), Lynn De Souza (Lintas Media Group), Shashi Sinha (Lodestar UM), Josy
John Paul (BBDO), Ravi Deshpande (Contract Advertising), Prasoon Pandey (Corcoise
Films), Prasoon Joshi (McCann Erickson), Ambika Srivastava (Zenith Optimedia), Ambi
Parameshwaran (Draft FCB-ULKA), R Gowthaman (Mindshare South Asia), Mahesh
Chauhan (Rediffusion YR), Pops and Arvind Sharma (Leo Burnett), Rohit Ohri (JWT), Balki
(Lowe India), Madhukar Kamath (Mudra Group) and Hemant Mishra (Publicis); and major
client companies are HUL, Garnier, P&G, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Cadburys, Airtel, Idea, Amul,
ITC, Infosys, LG, Samsung, Videocon, McDonald’s, LIC, HSBC and many more; aired on
national television network of Zee, Star, Colors, Sony, V-TV, M-TV, Zing, Pogo, CN, AXN,
Discovery, CNBC 18 etc. during prime hours between 07:30 pm to 09:30 pm.
Since creativity do not have any expiry date or copyright, therefore out of the numerous
TVCs aired every day pointing key differences effectively, the researcher have referred a few.
It has been observed that as more and more MNCs are welcome in Indian market, the attempt
of TV commercials is to indianize the brands. Many ad experts believe that advertising must
respect Indian culture and audience. The brands are positioned as a cultural asset that plays an
important role beyond mere functionality.

3. For instance, in an advertisement of Kellog’s (cornflakes), the daughter-in-law is conversing
with her friend on mobile about how handsome is the bridegroom but the mother-in-law is not
so good. Ignorantly she is speaking on a mike, and waiter asks her to switch-off the mike. The
daughter-in-law feels an embarrassing situation because everyone in the marriage reception
has heard it. And then a product – Kellogs’ cornflakes is highlighted, to be beneficial to
enhance ‘mental attention’ of the daughter-in-law and used at the time of break-fast the very
next day. In this ad, Kellog’s has conveyed the value of its product – cornflakes in handling a
delicate relationship of daughter-in-law and mother-in-law, but at the same time highlights the
importance of Kellog’s cornflakes as a break-fast for a family. The ads of Everest and MDH
spices highlights that a tasty food is not possible without such spices and adds prestige to the
family in society. TVCs of Kurkure has always highlighted the joy of sharing snack to make
the family happy & humorous, as it punch line says, ‘tedha hai par mera hai’. Similarly, in a
recent TVC of packaged beverages, a high concern for the health of family members is shown
with the use of 6 layers of protection of packaged juices & milk of Tetra brand, thereby
enhancing the level of trust for purity.

4. TVCs related to skincare significantly carries the quotient of ‘rationality’ in buying products
such as facial cleanser, fairness creams, cold creams, scrubs, body lotions etc. because such
products have essential ingredients like beauty oils, petroleum jelly, glycerin, fruit vitamins,
etc. to keep your skin blemishing, glowy, soft and radiant. Particularly the TVC of Fair &
Lovely shows the sense of accomplishment & belongingness; in a TVC of Fair & Lovely Max
Fairness – for men, connects fairness with employee confidence and the ability to achieve a
charismatic personality to impress prospective employers. The TVC of Lakme Fruit Moisture
highlights the ability of the product to keep your skin soft & smooth for longer hours. In an ad
of Vaseline moisturizer, a newly married lady impresses her husband by keeping the skin soft
& smooth for 24 hrs. TVCs of Clean & Clear Daily Scrub shows that if a girl need to date
with her favorite boy and is facing with problem of blackheads on the skin, then she must use
this product which cleans the blackhead in three days. TVCs of Dove Moisturizing Cream
demonstrates the 07 day test of using the brand by the three ladies and everyday they can feel
the softness on their skin but can see the mirror only after 07 days, not before, resultantly they
are happier. TVC of Neutrogena Deep Clean elicits that the brand is able to clean out the
impurities of the skin very deeply as compared to other product.

5. Interesting TVC message series of Cadburys’ chocolate says in its puchline – pappu pass ho
gaya, kuch mitha ho jaye; aaj pehli tareekh hai, kuch mitha hai khana, and recently one
which says Shubh-aarambh and kuch mithaas ho jaye. The TVC of Cadbury highlights
different resolutions for the new year 2011 such as not to be carefree in throwing rappers on
the road by a youngster, wanting to learn swimming at the age of 65 plus and taking out the
dusty sports shoes for physical exercise by a middle aged man.
TVC of Center Fresh is very humorous and memorable, it gives the message that this
chewing gum keeps control only on tongue and not on the hands, because when a son shows
his report card as a failure in examination, is beaten by his father. Similarly the ads of Fevicol
is so humorously logical when it shows a 2yr baby sitting on an empty bottle of Fevicol, and
remain sit there for a longer time while his mother can cook food without any worry.
TVCs of noodle snack by Sunfeast, Knorr, Maggi and Foodles has shown intense relation of
mother & son, in which mother is concerned about untimely hunger of her son but want to
give nutritious food at the same time, and chooses such brands as they contain grains like
wheat, corn, bajra and rice; thereby ensures taste & health both.

6. TVCs of Thums Up – a cold drink, elicits the way of being passionate about the brand by
endorsing film celebrities like Salman Khan and Akshey Kumar with their action expertise. In
an ad, Akshey Kumar is so crazy for Thums Up that he jumps from a high building and
windows directly to reach the truck of Thums Up supplier on the road, just to get the next
bottle, with a message that there can never be a last bottle of Thums Up; off course there is
warning label that the actions should not be imitated by children. The frequency of telecasting
the TVC of Thums Up is so high that it has aired it four times in a commercial break on a
music channel Zing, implying to let the consumers remember the brand even when the
temperature is minus 2 degree in Mount Abu, Rajasthan in the month of December 2010.
Sometimes it is interesting to observe that even soft drink can be related to sensuality by
using film celebrities, for example Katrina Kaif in the ad of Slice. The TVC of Kinley mineral
water, paints the dilemma that we are faced with in our daily life: to trust or to not? And
ultimately choose trust over distrust when a civilian offers mineral water to an alert soldier in
a curfew area. It’s a smart move to bond emotionally with the consumers in low involvement
product category (water).
TVCs of Tata Salt and Tata Tea has used the feeling of patriotism very effectively; in a TVC
of Tata Tea there is a message of not to give bribe to get the work done from the government
officers but to offer Tata Tea; similarly Tata Salt is said as the ‘salt of the nation’ and one
should be honest to one’s own country.

7. Computer Graphics for creative visualization of product attributes, is highly used in almost all
advertisements in TVCs, especially for detergents like Wheel, Ariel, Rin, & Nirma to show
the functional abilities of the brands to remove the stains, effectively, from the clothes. Ads of
Surf Excel has gone far by showing that ‘stains are good’ as far as it increases friendship by
helping each other and being unworried about it because Surf Excel is there to clean.
Similarly, TVC of Tide detergent claims that half amount of detergent is enough; when a
housewife starts washing her clothes in a chaal, where many neighbours can easily watch the
activity of each other. In the TVCs of hair care products like Bajaj Almond oil, Nihar almond
oil, Hair & Care, Amla, Chik, Clinic Plus, and L’oreal, there is high competition in showing
the superiority of the product in making your hair stronger, shiny, silky and dandruff free. In
the TVC of Clear, the shampoo is shown as ‘license’ to wear black dress, as it ensures Zero
Dandruff, endorsed by film celebrity Shahid Kapoor. Also the TVCs of toothpaste like
Colgate and Close-up uses computer creative to visualize the intensity of removing tooth
decay and enhancing mouth freshness after using such brands. In an effective ad of Pepsodent
– pappu & papa, father warns his son that if he does not paste daily with Pepsodent to remove
germs, then he will not be able to eat his favorite chocolates & snacks.
Punchlines and Musical jingles & pieces of Nirma detergent, Lijjat papad, ECE bulbs, Maggi
tomato ketchup, Intel P4 processors, Airtel, are few of the unforgettable stored permanently in
the mindset of masses.

8. Sometimes few TVCs fall into controversies through comparative advertising and destroys
credibility; especially when one is a market leader, it is harmful; for example, the game of
one-upmanship took a dirty turn when Hindustan Lever’s Rin washing powder directly
attacked Proctor & Gamble’s Tide Naturals. The ad openly and boldly claims that Rin
provides more brightness in comparison to Tide Natural.
The information presented, herein, is the result of personal observation of commercials on
television by the researcher, noted especially during occasions such as Diwali & Christmas
and New Year- 2011. The TV commercial expresses the combination of emotional and
rational quotient in a very intelligent and convincing manner. The TVCs emphasizes universal
appeal of fear, humor, sensuality, and scarcity. The executional framework with a message
theme, cute story board & irresistible experience is excellently blended together to put an
impactful impression on the audience. The TVCs are successful in portraying consumer’s
sense of excitement, freedom, fun, happiness, love, personal accomplishments, pleasure,
security, self-respect, sense of belonging, social acceptance and wisdom in a realistic way.
The Indian TVCs are not only attractive & simple but are also ethical, memorable, and
convincing – taken from the slice-of-life of a common man while integrating social values of
Indian culture with fun & excitement; and are immediate attention grabber. The TVCs
incorporates value of family relations with the presence of a powerful idea.

9. Undoubtedly, the Indian TVCs are very effective in serving brand communications objective
of building brand identity, brand awareness & familiarity, brand comprehension, brand
association and brand image. The TVCs develops an association of feeling with the brand to
build & sustain customer loyalty with profitable ideas. The ads are so distinct that it helps,
beat ad clutter, immediate recall, precipitate brand choice and develops higher speed of
retrieval of attitude from long term memory.
MANY THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENT READING!!