Market Pulse

Switch on the idiot box (wonder which idiot named it after himself/herself). Keep a stop watch handy. Chances are that within 30 minutes of mindless surfing, you would have encountered the Tata Indicom ad featuring the Devgan couple - the sexy Kajol and the suave Ajay in an uncharacteristic scenario.
A totally vernacular scene of a couple who make it big on the lines of the life of the erstwhile patriarch of their biggest competitors: Dhirubhai Hirachand Ambani. A vegetable vendor who makes it big in life. An advertising campaign that makes you wonder: what the hell were the Devgan's thinking whilst signing on the dotted line?

If there was a poll of the most irritating ad campaigns of the year, I think that it would be right up there with the very best(???), if not at the top!
Poll 10 people whom you know on what they think of the ad and there is all likelihood that 8-9 of them must have either
   -- muted the audio
   -- changed the channel
   -- switched off the TV
I wouldn't blame you for having done either of these as I have listed the above from experience. It is one of those ads that compels you to question the wisdom of all those who were responsible...Tata Indicom itself besides the creative team.
While I am not an authority on creative matters...but nevertheless...HOW COULD THEY???
Agree with me? Then. let me share with you an important piece of information that I picked up.The revenues of Tata Indicom have seen a steep surge ever since the first ads of this series were rolled out. The Insaan phone leta hai baat karne ke liye jingle seems to have really hit it big! A little birdie tells me that the revenue surge and the jump in the number of connections have been to the tune of 60-70%. This is something that is heresay and unfortunately cannot be substantiated with hard data. However, one thing is for sure. It seems to have caused a sort of panic amongst the competitors. Players like Airtel, !dea and Reliance have been forced to come with schemes on the lines of those provided by Tata Indicom.