BY Malay Desai
TVC: Bicester Village – The New Standard
From: UK,by Just So
An outlet shopping centre designed like a village close to Oxfordshire, England, launched two new spots last week. Part of the campaign ‘The new standard,’ one featuresa disc jockey who is old school in his methods – loves vinyl records, hates MP3 and CDs, writes poems in notebooks and wears immaculate suits and ties. The other film features ‘The architect’ who boasts of his huge studio and his passion for telling stories through his designs and love for feeling paper. Both the films end with the copy, ‘Too much? For style that’s effortless’ followed by the logo and hashtag.
Why we Like?
There are broadly two kinds of men in ad films – those who try hard,runners, jumpers, flirters, pro drivers and jokers; and those who appear effortless yet powerful. The former kind is usurped by automobiles, energy foods and sports brands while the latter, by perfumes, pens, suits and sometimes, in a shoddy way, Pan Vilas Pan Masala. These stories are of the latter, and they are immaculately told.
First let me tell you what a must-visitBicester is. An outlet shopping centre with over a 100 stores, giving a village experience to the ultra-rich and rich shopper. It has luxury coaches, fancy restaurants and even bell boys who carry your bags and occasionally dance.
Now, the men of the film.The well-to-do, self-made man isn’t a novelty, but their treatment here is surely new. Both the deejay and architect here are successful, yet picky and old-school about various things. The deejay, unlike most others in his breed, hates CDs, doesn't dress up loudly and most importantly,exudes class by being serious about his tie, suit and look.
The architect, on the other hand, has a Segway in his studio, but loves feeling paper and reading tomes. He is choosy about his cardigan, suit, socks, jacket and all other accessories, just like he is about his designs.
Both the films are first-person narratives of these uber-professional men. They give out the brand names of whatever the men are wearing, towards the end, such as Dunhill and Hackett. This isn’t about one menswear brand, this is about a place that houses just the right menswear brands for the uber-professional people who are uber-choosy too. If this were the Internet, I’d write #ConsumerismMax.
The British Fall/Winter season is boom time for brands that sell cardigans and jackets et al. Good timing then, by this unique ‘village mall’, and good message too, that ‘we attract only those who’ve made it’. With the kind of rentals they charge brands, it’s only fair!
(To watch the two films,go to Youtube.com/TheBicesterVillage)
SOCIAL NEWSFEED
YOUR REGULAR DOSE ON THE SHIFTS IN THE SOCIAL MEDIA UNIVERSE
More Indians use social for customer service
It’s actually news-you-know-already but when an ‘American Express Global Customer Service Barometer’ (CSB) says so, you must take notice again. The 2015 edition of the research reveals that more Indians have resorted to social media to resolve their customer service issues, ahead than other Asians. From the sample, 71 per cent of Indians have utilised social tools to get a response to their queries, which is way more than people in Japan and Hong Kong. And what are the reasons for this? They range from ‘sharing experiences’, ‘praising a company’, seeking feedback over an issue and seeking recommendations. Among the busiest Twitter handles for customer care that I’ve seen? Vodafone and HDFC Bank.
HDFC Bank likes this
Cab sharing arrives on Twitter earlier than roads
The folks at MindShift Interactive designed a neat social campaign for Meru Cabs recently, called Dil ka Darwaza Kholo. On Facebook and Twitter through the usual carrots on stick, they spread awareness of carpooling and Meru’s upcoming service. Meanwhile, OlaShare is yet to roll out in other cities than home city Bangalore while Uber might not step in to this too early. There’s more carpool talk on social than actual car-pooling happening these days, and it only spikes on days of emergencies or natural disasters. Bla Bla Car the international player works only for out of town rides. Carpooling and social media can be a wonderful marriage, and I cannot wait for the teasers and niggles to subside so we can start pooling regularly.
Ola Cabs likes this
FB posts on LinkedIn to seek India Boss
‘11 hours ago’ from writing this, i.e. Friday evening, I spot a spectacular moment on desi social media. A day after Zuckerburg addresses the folks at IIT Delhi, Facebook has made public its requirement of the head of its project, Internet.Org. The curious bit? This job profile has been posted on LinkedIn! The role’s responsibilities include to ‘identify, monitor and analyse policy issues affecting Internet.Org in India and South Asia (very interesting!) and ‘work in partnership with internal teams on the strategy for building relationships with policy makers, civil society and academics’. This too, sounds to me like ‘get them any how but let’s start rolling!’ It’s a ‘hot on the pan’ job, this, with much of India’s young not too willing to buy into Zuck’s generous arguments. LinkedIn’s bosses in India meanwhile are blushing.
LinkedIn Boss likes this
