3 Great Ads of 2011

Every new year, we think of nice things that went by the previous year. It becomes important to think about and relish nicer moments of 2011 given the curious case of speculations on 2012 including end of the world. As in any given year, there were happenings around the world in 2011 that made me feel good, smile, strong, sad, angry and sometimes even helpless. Remembering only the 'cool' stuff, I come to think of 3 ad campaigns that scored high on the 'feel good' factor. They may not be among the best rated by branding gurus nor the most popular ads nor even have the highest no. of hits on youtube but they made me sit up and say 'great!'. I have listed them below in no particular order. All of them are equally great. Ads like these would be remembered and do contribute a lot to their respective brand images.

1. The first in the list is the world famous "There are reasons to believe in a better world" ad of Coke. Undoubtedly this one belongs in the roll of honor of ads that Coke has made ever since WW2. It is no surprise that this ad comes from a company that grew large on the goodwill created by supply of beverages to American soldiers in the great war.

"There are reasons to believe in a better world" - Internationl Version

Appreciating the greatness of thought behind the original ad, I however like the Indian version more. The song has a nice pitch, good lyrics and the ad has issues relevant to an Indian audience.

"There are reasons to believe in a better world" - Indian Version

2. The second ad in the list was inspired by the real story of G. Rajendran, an artist from Tamil Nadu who used the web to bring the dying art of "Tanjore" paintings back to life and became a successful businessman in the process. It was made and released by Google titled "The web is what you make of it". This ad simply did not promote a product or service. Instead it conveyed a message of the potential a medium of communication had, showed substance, hit the right chords with the right audience. The conceptualization scores a full hundred for showing that a web store is not very different from an ordinary store. Background score, colors, all brilliant!

"The web is what you make of it" - Google

3. The third one is the most popular made by an Indian company for a service in India. The interesting part is that this ad broke the records of another ad made by A.R. Rahman for the same company. ;) "Har ek friend zaroori hota hai" for Airtel is the ad we are talking about. It has already been rated among the top Indians ads/campaigns for 2011 by most business magazines and ad gurus. The scoring point was the way it reflected on its target segment.. the youth in this case. It also went a long way in giving brand Airtel a youthful image. Just wish that Airtel matches the expectations it creates in ads with its service delivery. ;P Enjoy the video...

"Har ek friend zaroori hota hai" - Airtel