After months of research (and procrastination) I picked up a wireless broadband connection for my laptop. The final trigger was in the hope that it will help me put my insomnia bouts to good use. So last week, I was handed a complimentary piece of Reliance to broadband Netconnect +
It’s small. Fits snugly in your hand And packs in speed not experienced before (equivalent with high speed access you get at office)
But that’s not what got me hooked to write this post. It’s rather a peculiar challenge which advertisers face in a category like this where the product differentiation is not there. In this case, the selling point is the speed of access. And it’s interesting to see how the players have had different renditions of speed for the same audience.
The wireless broadband market saw three high profile launches in the last few months back to back.
1. Reliance Broadband Netconnect
2. Airtel Broadband
3. Tata Indicom Photon
Reliance and Airtel have TVCs running for their brands. Haven’t seen Tata Indicom’s TVC yet.
Both the ads focus on the same target audience who is
1. upwardly mobile professional
2. Always on the move
Both the campaigns emphasise the same product promise – Speed. But what is remarkably different is the way it is pitched.
Let’s look at Airtel first.
The ad turns a negative virtue (Impatience) found in today’s generation into a positive one. The TVC accepts the fact that the youth of today are in a hurry, can’t wait for their turn to come and wants everything at a click of a button. They want the world to keep pace with them and the other way round. And Airtel promises to deliver that speed with their broadband.
How many times have you been in a situation where you wanted to experience/check out something while on the do the move? You wanted to listen to your favourite Kishore kumar Song while you experience the rains but could not do so while watching the rain on the move?
Reliance promise to deliver the same, right here and right now. It explores situations which we always want to do the right things at the right time in the wrong place. It takes out the time factor out and also promises to deliver it at great speed.
So there you have. Two different brands in the same category. Same product promise with no differentiation. But different executions. Personally for me both worked.
So, which one did you like?
hehe , interesting this one ..... no product differenciation ,that is true ,and therefore difficult to promote !!
ReplyDeleteI do not like the impatience ad , not because impatience is negative as such but because of two reasons:
1. the ad focuses on the younger generation being impatient etc. and therefore limits the products' appeal within that customer segment.
2. it is more than impatience per se , that makes us want to get that product. Using impatience as a motivating factor is akin to belittling the true need for the rpoduct.
I like the reliance ad :) it has captured different reasons appealing to various segments which would need the product.
Also in todays age , ads need to communicate not the direct benefit of a product but go quite a few steps ahead and identify with personalities and lifestyles.I think the Airtel ad fails to do that.And if it is trying to say that impatience is a lifestyle , then well........ too obvious ,too mundane, too random , i dont know.
Impatience ad is quite engaging. The current generation makes everything obsolete within hours of its introduction whether it is a new mobile phone, new film music, new film ... This ad capturing that thought made it quite interesting.
ReplyDeleteTo me the reliance ad comes across as a generic category benefit which is with the net you can get instantly.
The reading from both the communication would be that the airtel might appeal to the younger generation and the Reliance might touch a chord with the responsible set and a slightly older age skew may be 28 +..
right said subbu. but i tend to agree with what Romina says about making impatience as a route. it is defintely engaging but trivialising the 'rebel' thing. i guess the agency thought they will pull off a 'youngistan' la pepsi but failed thankfully!
ReplyDeleteI think there's a differentiation. Reliance is harping on the core, which is the 'mobility' aspect of wireless internet, where as Airtel is driving 'speed' as the value proposition. So it's speed vs. mobility. After a few months, you should be seeing Reliance running its 'speed' ad.
ReplyDeleteHi INXS,
ReplyDeleteboth the ads promise the same speed of 3.1 mbps at the end of the day. speed without mobilty is nothing and vice versa.
Of course both promise the same speed. But the way they are positioned is different. Speed and mobility are the product features. Here we are talking about advertising and positioning? Aren't we?
ReplyDelete