The rules of engagement

Imagine this. A classroom full of 12 or 13 year olds open up their mathematics textbooks and for a few minutes, work furiously at solving the following problem:

Rahul and Nikhil both want to buy a cool new pair of sneakers made by name famous athletic shoe brand here that cost 5,000. Rahul manages to save 25 per day, while Nikhil saves 20 per day. How many days will both of them take to save enough money to buy the repeat famous athletic shoe brand here sneakers, and who will win the race to wear the coolest new sneakers in school?

OK, breathe. In India at least, your child is unlikely to come upon something as insidious as this. At least not yet.

But this kind of under-the-radar advertising has been gaining ground in western countries for some time now. Big companies have started sponsoring textbooks for large state public school systems, and embedding their brands in the content. Branded educational content does two things at one go. First, it puts a brand in front of an impressionable audience’s eyes when they least expect to see it, and second, when they can do absolutely nothing to escape it.

No television to change the channel, no pop-up web banner to click the ‘Close window’ tab, no magazine to turn the page. Just a textbook, and a teacher making sure you’re paying full attention.

Oh, whoopee!

As advertising goes, it’s unbeatable. Stick your message about ‘being ‘cool’ to a child in the one environment where it matters most, throw in subliminal cues about peer pressure and social acceptance, and smile all the way to the bank!

What I’m wondering is this: do these brands realise that more often than not, perhaps the only thing they manage to achieve with absolute success is to irritate consumers?

Why is no space off-limits anymore? Television, radio, print, outdoor, mobiles, the Internet. What’s next? I wouldn’t be too surprised if I open up my Facebook account one of these days, and see a FarmVille link on my homepage saying “Vineet and 7 other friends found 4 bags of big fertiliser brand name here on their farm, and want to share their good fortune with you”.

In the battle for consumer mindspace, in the world of share of mind and top of mind, of aided and unaided recall, where we fight for inches, small percentage points of progress, I too believe brands should reach out to consumers at a greater number of touch points. But how far are we willing to go before we draw the line?

More importantly, at what point did we unconsciously cross it? Advertising is supposed to be a celebration of a consumer’s right to choose. Not the forfeiture of his right to ignore or reject.

At the end of the day, one simple rule remains intact. Brands will usually be more successful if they aim for advertising that’s unforgettable, rather than just unavoidable.

(The author is Executive Creative Director, Dentsu Creative Impact)