Each ad is a chance to build a brand. The demarcation between tactical and brand communication exists only in the mind of a strategist. The ground reality is entirely another ballgame; the consumer views each piece of communication much like a corporate or a brand profile and retains it for a long time to come.
Herein lies the opportunity. When you look beyond merely communicating an offering and instead build on it as a re-affirmation of a brand’s core-values, you end up producing what I have chosen to coin as the multiplier effect.

The theory of the multiplier effect is based on the principle of integration, which holds that all communication emanating from a single strategic platform will generate a bigger bang for the client’s hard earned buck, as opposed to traditional independent media executions.

Case in point:

Option A: You walk up to a girl at a bar and ask her if you could buy her a drink.

Option B: Or you walk up to the same girl and tell her, “I think I’ve lost my phone number…do you mind if I borrow yours?”

Irrespective of the outcome, if you go with Option A, you’ve lost the opportunity to communicate the kind of person you are. Whereas with Option B, you’ve driven home the point that you’re a fun person to be with, you’ve kind of managed to forge a rapport and chances are she might just ask you to join her for a drink. (Ok, in all fairness, I must admit: it’s perhaps a miserable, nah, lousy, a much hackneyed pick-up line, but then again, that’s another story and I’ll leave it to you, dear reader, to figure that one out.)

Thus, the point I am trying to make is that successful brands all over the world do not look at tactical communication as merely a means to announce new packaging, new offers or new products.

Wieden and Kennedy’s launch commercial for NikeAir Max 360 does not hard-sell a sensation akin to walking on air. Rather, Nike has elevated its image by conveying a savvy aura of coolness and athletic accomplishment. The spot is almost entirely composed of a montage of images of athletic superstars such as the New England Patriots Tom Brady and track and field Olympic gold medalist Liu Xiang waking up all over the world and engaging in some form of morning exercise, ranging from swimming to basketball and, of course, running. But only once during this spot do we see an actual shot of the new Air Max 360, and it’s a fleeting one at that. While the bulk of the commercial continues to spawn consumer connect and loyalty that Nike is famous for, the fleeting shot of the shoe actually goes on to raise the product’s coolness factor.

Therefore, when we were faced with the brief for Fedex, which recently introduced additional flights to key business destinations across the world, we decided to apply the multiplier effect. Instead of merely announcing the new services Fedex had to offer, the campaign communicated a visual story of the commitment to go beyond the call of duty, thereby re-inforcing the core brand essence.
Did the campaign actually work for the client?
Absolutely, positively

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Anil started his advertising career 13 years ago. Before joining Percept, Anil worked with agencies such as Leo Burnett, Enterprise Nexus, Ambience Publicis and SSC&B Lintas. Along the way, he’s created campaigns for The Times Of India, Femina, The Economic Times, Brand Equity, Indiatimes.com, Pierre Cardin, Thums Up, Lakme, Vicks, Nerolac Paints, Park Avenue, etc. Anil has been a finalist at several award shows and he has won over 35 awards, some from The Asia Pacific Adfest, London International Advertising Awards, The New York Festivals, The Abby Awards, CAG and Montreux. He has won the Campaign of the Year award at the Asia Pacific Adfest and the Abby Awards.

Last year, Anil was a member of the film jury at the New York Festivals, a member of the print jury at the Abby Awards and a member of the outdoor jury at the Outdoor Advertising Convention (OAC) Awards.

Manish Ajgaonkar started his career 8 years ago at JWT. After spending a year he moved on to Ambience Publicis, Enterprise Nexus, SSC&B Lintas, Saatchi & Saatchi. He has worked on brands like FedEx, Planet M, Be:, GM, NECC, Vicks. His work for Planet M has won a Clio Nomination, D’Arcy Worldwide Silver and has also been published in The Showcase of Indian Advertising. He represented Ambience D’Arcy in the 49th Cannes Advertising Festival, France, in the year 2002.