i had heard someone say a long time back, that there is no such thing as a bad advertisement…if you are able to recall an ad after a considerable duration, then perhaps that advertisement did make an impact, and its purpose got solved..you recalled the brand/ad. i partly agree to this chain of thought, as i may recall a brand due to the extremely horrible nature of its ad, but that would not be reason enough for me to purchase…i would like to mention here a few companies, who are fairly consistently seen on TV, and have been able to build fairly good brand recall, but as a critic, i can only say that their advertising sucks…

The call has been waiting for months, and finally number portability has been able to connect. September 20 is the big day, when you’ll have the freedom to choose the telco operator, while retaining your number…This small step has big ramifications. A lot of people i know have changed their operator, due to the lure of a number which stands out, is easy to remember etc. Assuming you now have a number which you liked, get ready for the next step…which allows you to choose the provider who gives you the best service, the best network, flexibility, and an overall pleasing experience. 2009 is going to be a particularly challenging year for operators due to following considerations:

Have you heard the new my airtel my offer campaign by airtel?
the sequel to the love story that started last year…? I heard it a few times yesterday, while IPL was on, and coudln’t help wonder about the stupid error in the script! Watch it to hear Vidya Balan say: “Duniya bhar me sun raha hu, har jagah cutbacks, aur tum ho ki….”
Mademoiselle, do you think you should have said “duniya bhar me sun rahi hu” and not sun raha hu?
Was the spot originally written for madhavan uttering this line and not balan? and the roles got reversed at the very end?
assuming airtel has amongst the best marketing brains and a fairly good agency on its rolls, is this mistake too obvious to not be caught by anyone?
As it is, vodafone with its zoozoo is taking away all the glory from other telecom operators this season, with a brilliantly designed campaign, and then airtel comes up with repeated telecasts of the same ad, and when you have caught a mistake once, you just keep on waiting to catch it again and again right…that’s what’s happening with me!
vidya ji, thodi savdhani barki hoti aapne to aaj ye din dekhne ko nahi milta

a snippet from Om Malik’s writings:
“Cablevision, the Bethpage, N.Y.-based cable and Internet service provider, has continued its tradition of being a cable industry innovator by introducing 100-megabits-per-second service in Long Island. The service, dubbed Optimum Online Ultra, utilizes DOCSIS 3.0 technology to deliver the ultra-broadband experience over cable’s wires and comes with ability to send data upstream at 15 Mbps. It starts at $99 a month, will be available starting May 11 and will be the fastest service from a cable provider anywhere in the U.S.’

Here’s what happens 2 months in a row…
> Airtel alerts me to pay by due date for my landline/broadband connection
> I go to www.airtel.in and dutifuly pay through my hdfc credit card
> Airtel displays on the site in red that payment was unsuccessful
> At the same time, I get an SMS from HDFC which says (verbatim): Thank you for using your HDFC bank credit card for 996.00 in BHARTI AIRTEL LTD – B& @ 10-Apr-2009 10:46 AM
> I get 2 more alerts from Airtel on next 2 days which say (verbatim): The payment for your Airtel fixedline bill is due on 13-APR-09. Kindly make the payment of Rs. 996 to avoid the late fee charges. Pls ignore if paid.
> I call up Airtel customer care, and am blatantly told that you last made a payment last month, and this month’s payment has not come in yet. I told them about the HDFC message, and I was asked to call in 2 days to verify again (2 days would have meant after due date)
> I then call up HDFC customer care, and am reassured that payment has been made to Airtel already, and am also told that this happens very frequently with Airtel.