In the family way

Simple insights can go a long way to help brands and businesses be a success.

What I've Liked
Romancing the wife!

So we all know about the age-old boy meets girl saga. Especially as advertising professionals, we are closely familiar with the nuances of almost every form of romance that leads up to, what we hope is, the state of "happily-ever-after". But there is one interesting television commercial on air right now, the ad for Ponds Age Miracle cream, which explores what happens after "happily-ever-after". A proverbially grey area that is shut away by marketers till the children arrive, which is when most couples qualify for attention as "happy families". So it caught my interest when I saw a strikingly good-looking thirty-something couple romancing and flirting with each other and realized they were husband and wife!

Most of us are inured into believing that we need to look after ourselves only till we find our Mr or Ms Right. Taking the trouble to look good after the Big Day is something that still has to catch on in middle-class minds. But this ad, I am sure, will start changing all that. Wouldn't be surprised to find middle-aged executives rushing off home early to revive long-forgotten courting rituals!

Extremely well-produced with just the right levels of innuendo, and some very astute casting have contributed to making this ad a true-blue pioneer, an ad that will get referenced and benchmarked long after its run. Long may romance live, age notwithstanding!

What I've Learned
Service with a smile, pays!

This is an incident that happened in the lives of me and my team very recently. And it brought home to me a maxim which we often read about in management literature, but very rarely come across in real life. Service, of the genuine kind... with a heartfelt smile.

We were in Ahmedabad recently for a critical launch, and as is the case when there are too many critical things that need to be done at the same time, something or the other invariably goes wrong, and, we were no exception. So with Murphy's Law in full play, we found ourselves at 11 pm, a few hours before our deadline, in dire need of a studio complete with man and machine. I remembered an old friend, and one phone call later, our entire team (about ten of us) descended on his modest little studio and quite literally took over. His people were there, in the usual habit of agencies, trying to complete their work, but when they saw our team and our plight, they graciously stepped aside and gave us not only the use of their machines, stationery and office space, but their staff too, all of whom pitched in seamlessly with our team, helping us finish our project. All this for no fee at all! It was just an old friend, helping another out.

So, as I sat there at 3 am, surrounded by a bustling team that ranged interestingly from presidents to managers to finishing artists, being plied with plates groaning under biscuits and Gujarati snacks and an unending flow of steaming hot tea, I couldn't help wondering that this was what a business relationship was all about. My friend's cheerful smile, despite being severely imposed upon, taught all of us that night the secret of successful business practice. Service with a smile especially when it was needed the most.

It was something that I am sure will reward him hundredfold, with no questions asked. And it is definitely more powerful in ensuring a steady flow of business, much more than well-designed office spaces or fancy visiting cards can ever hope for.

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