Advertisers have always found new ways and mediums to reach their intended audience. It is important to find the right method in which your message is conveyed to your audience. Whether it be billboards for your movies or small pamphlets for your local restaurants, how you reach your audience impacts your overall reach. Especially with the digital era we live in today, brands are constantly finding new and innovative methods of content delivery. Although we are making strides towards new platforms, Television has always been and is the world’s favorite video platform. Television has been remarkably resilient to the changing nature of content consumption. Despite the emergence of online video platforms such as YouTube and Netflix, TV remains steadfast around the globe. TV continues to be at the top as it remains the most trusted form of advertising, viewers are more likely to trust the advertisements they see on TV as compared to the ones they see on online platforms.
Brands have always tried to capitalize on the effectiveness of TV advertisements and give their audience entertaining and compelling ads. TV has limited time to spare on advertising, so brands need to come up with quick ways to introduce their products and entice the viewers to buy the products. Because of the limited time, TV ads usually end up being about 30 to 40 seconds. This restriction of time forces advertisers to become innovative with their storytelling and find creative ways to sell their products. One such company that pushed the TV advertisement space forward is Creativeland Asia (CLA). Founded in 2007, CLA is an Indian Advertising agency headed by Founder and Creative Chairman, Sajan Raj Kurup. Kurup is a firm believer in creativity and aims to bring out the best version of his client’s products to the screen. Ever since its inception in 2007, Kurup and CLA represented several multinational brands and designed many creatively compelling ads. These ads range from funny to downright iconic. Ad campaigns like the Audi A8 series campaign showed innovative use of CGI to depict the comforts of a sedan. The A8 series is a luxury sedan aimed at customers who want a comfortable ride, and to showcase this Kurup and the team used CGI to visualize the experience. They created a 40-second ad in which we can see an entire corner office smoothly gliding down a road as the man inside sits in comfort at his desk, the camera quickly pans across the office and watches him step out of a door, revealing that indeed he was sitting in a car. This clever visualization used CGI to great effect and illustrated that the Audi A8 is a luxury experience. Another ad campaign that showed great use of CGI was the ‘MTS Internet Baby’ campaign. The internet baby ad is a 60-second spot that shows a mother giving birth in the hospital, the ad starts off frantic but quickly comes to a halt as a completely animated baby crawls out of the doctor’s hands and starts using a mobile phone. This funny little ad manages to create a strong impression on the viewer’s mind. Seeing a baby immediately starts to walk out of the womb and go viral on the internet will surely make you remember the MTS brand. Ads like the HomeShop 18 spot also used CGI to great effect. This ad campaign showed two completely animated cats as father and son. Both the cats sit at their desk and talk to the camera explaining the process of ordering something from HomeShop 18. CLA also had great success with visualizing beverage brands such as LMN (or lemon), a lemonade brand. The whole conceptualization, packaging, and branding of LMN were handled by Kurup and his team. They crafted several stories of ads revolving around thirsty people looking for a drink. One of the iconic ones was ‘Dehydrated man’. It showed a 12-inch tall man stranded at the beach looking for a drink in the scorching sun. The man tumbles through groups of people, trying not to be crushed by these giant humans, finally finds a vendor selling LMN, drinks the beverage, and turns back into a fully grown man. The ad is exciting, chaotic, and overall very comic. It grabs your attention and sells the product while keeping you entertained. Another beverage brand that CLA worked extensively on was Frooti. For Parle agro, one of their marquee clients, CLA rebranded Frooti as an exciting and fresh drink. Their ‘Crazy Mango Fun’ comprised of two videos, one was a mango-themed outdoor game show and another was a string of pranks done on pedestrians. The prank videos comprised of huge mangoes showing up in unexpected places like falling from a tree, rolling down a street, or in people’s baggage claim at the airport. The objective of these ads was to enforce to the community that Frooti is made with fresh and natural mangoes. Over the past 14 years, Sajan Raj Kurup with CLA has worked with over 30 clients and made hundreds of TV advertisements. Their talents and creativity have boosted sales for their clients and promoted artistic content on the Television platform.
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Adman Sajan Raj Kurup is quite possibly the most sought-after and talked-about person in the creative industry in India today. Founder and Creative Chairman of Creativeland Asia (CLA), Kurup works with some of India’s most famous multinational brands to help them communicate their product to their users. Some of his clients include names like Parle Agro, Mercedes, Hippo, Amazon, Cafe Coffee Day, Kalpataru, and Taj just to name a few. With over 14 years of experience and a huge roster of famous and iconic Ad campaigns under his belt, he has elevated the status of his clients through his work. Here are some of Sajan Raj Kurup’s Best Ad campaigns.
Audi: When Audi India wanted to launch their brand new Audi A8 series, their premium luxury sedan model in India, the job fell to Kurup and his team at CLA. The brand wanted to showcase premium comfort and details with their new sedan and CLA was right on the mark with their 90 second Ad spot. The Ad shows a man floating in the air as the Audi A8 slowly and one part at a time assembles around him. The Ad uses CGI to great effect as each intricate detail of the car assembles and the man sitting observes. We cut out of the car as the assembly finishes and the previously weightless car suddenly drops to the ground with a satisfying contact. The camera quickly shows the suspension system taking the hit and the man inside looks as comfortable as ever. Appy Fizz: CLA’s ‘Appy Fizz & Grappo Fizz’ Ad campaign aimed to introduce Appy Fizz’s new flavour Grappo Fizz made from grapes. The new flavour had to fit right in with pre-existing lineup while creating hype. The campaign showed the two distinct flavours as cousins, to state that they are indeed different but from the same family. Appy Fizz was already popular for portraying its bottle as an animated character who could move, talk, and hang out with people, so Grappo Fizz, its cousin was the newer and cooler kid on the block. Showing up in a video ad, Grappo Fizz was a loudmouth, cool, and laid back friend who was fun at parties. MTS: The ‘MTS Internet Baby’ campaign by CLA for the telecom giants MTS was a highly debated and controversial Ad. The 60-second spot showed a newborn baby take control of its own birth by using the internet. The baby comes out of the mother’s womb and through a mobile phone researches how to cut the umbilical cord before posting on the internet about his arrival. The ad caught the attention of many people quickly becoming one of the most viewed online ads in India. Bloggers and international media quickly started to discuss the implications of the ad showing a new generation of people that view the internet as their ‘birth right’. AMG: AMG is the high-performance subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz brand. AMG is synonymous with high-performance motoring and cutting edge innovation. So to introduce the AMG brand to the Indian market, CLA connected AMG to the clever creative expression - ‘Ah My God’. It denoted the strong feelings one gets when driving an AMG vehicle. A TV commercial promoting the expression ‘Ah My God’ sees the brand’s then-new CLA 45 AMG model alongside images of fast-paced sports such as surfing and snowboarding. Pizza Hut: A fairly recent collaboration between CLA and Pizza hut sees Kurup and the team completely reinvent Pizza Hut’s image. The Pizza Hut campaign for the brand aims to show the brand as an on-trend, cool and crazy pizza company. Heading the campaign is internet celebrity Bhuvan Bam. Commercials for the campaign see Bhuvan Bam getting frenzied at the thought of eating a pizza, accompanied by a catchy jingle. Bhuvan then dances his way to a Pizza Hut to full fill his wish. The jingle ‘Pizza Hut Javenge 99 Mein Khavenge’ repeats the brand’s name and mentions the hard to resist offers while staying catchy and memorable. Creativeland Asia (CLA) is one of India’s most awarded and recognized advertising agencies with several multinational clients. They serve brands like Audi, Hippo, Cinthol, Frooti, and Godrej just to name a few. Founder and Creative Chairman, Sajan Raj Kurup believes in creativity above all else. His goal is to provide his clients with a creative and innovative platform on which they can build a lasting and proactive relationship with their customers. CLA’s activities involve advertising, brand management, film production, digital media, and even brand incubation. Since founding CLA in 2007, Sajan Raj Kurup has consistently pushed out great campaigns for their clients, winning them countless awards along the way. Here is a look at some of the Advertising campaigns CLA produced and the awards they won.
Hippo - Plan-T
Audi - A8L 3D Campaign
Frooti - The Magic of Frooti
In marketing, the consumer base is divided into segments. Segments that help brands to sell their products to different pockets of people seamlessly. One segment of the market which is often overlooked and underdeveloped is Women. This might be surprising because women make up almost 50% of the market. Companies often consider women in a homogenous group with predictable behaviors, but that is far from the truth. It is important to think of women as individual buyers. Women make the major decision in a household, they influence at least 80% of all household spending's. So it is of course profitable for companies to focus their efforts towards a female-centric audience. Above all else, what female consumers really want is to build a relationship with the brands they use. Companies should gather intelligence and personalization tools to target female consumers with specific messages to help build these relationships. Women often do extensive research before buying a product, so by promoting added value, such as after-sale services, companies can help women buy the right products. It is also crucial for brands to avoid stereotypes when it comes to women and promotes positive ideas instead of negative ones.
Faith Popcorn, one of America’s consumer trend experts, in an interview quoted “Companies think they're marketing to women - but they're not. They really don't realize that women have a separate language and a separate way of being.” It is important for companies to realize how to market their products specifically to the women sector of the market, without being stereotypical and patronizing while empowering Women and building a healthy relationship with their customers. One such company is the sanitary napkin brand ‘She Comfort’ by Emami. The Emami Group is a Home-grown FMCG that acquired the sanitary napkin brand ‘She’ in 2014 from Mumbai-based Royal Hygiene Care. The brand under Emami has been silent since then. Although the brand had its presence in selective pockets, it could never reach a broader scale of people especially when the female hygiene segment is dominated by companies like Procter & Gamble, Hindustan Unilever, and Johnson &Johnson. It even gathered rumors of Emami selling the product in 2018. The brand needed a dire refresh, and the task fell into the hands of Creativeland Asia (CLA). CLA is an Indian multinational advertising agency that took on the task of relaunching ‘She Comfort’ with creative ads. Apart from integrating marketing communications, CLA will be creatively redesigning and revamping the brand including its packaging design to empower and elevate the brand. It is to be seen how CLA brings the product back to life with their 14 years of industry experience. For now, the product page on CLA’s website just reads “Emami's She is an innovative sanitary napkin brand that has a new story to tell. As a brand that truly understands women and their discomforts, She has a warm new message for them. Advertising is a field of business unlike any other. It is one of the chief divisions of any industry that ensures a brand’s relevance in the corporate setting. It is an exponentially expanding field with constant opportunities for success, especially for women. The key element for success in advertising is communication, and women are often considered to be better communicators in a social environment. If you are a woman and are unsure if you want to start your career in advertising, then here are five enticing reasons to consider that leap.
An In-demand Profession: The advertising industry is unique when it comes to its functioning as it is an integral part of any industry that sells products and services. It is an essential wheel that ensures the presence of a brand in the public’s eyes. The importance that advertising holds in the market has made it a very alluring career option. With such a fast-growing economy, advertising jobs for women are continually increasing as companies are always looking to grow their presence in online and offline spaces. Whatever form of advertising career you may choose, whether it be digital, e-commerce, or multichannel, you will be entering a flexible industry with diverse career opportunities. Diverse Career Choice: The advertising industry offers a very unique blend of opportunities as a career. It is perhaps rare to find other industries with such a wide-ranging group of individuals under a single roof. You could work for client servicing and represent the agency to your clients to act as a sort of bridge between the two. Or you could work for Media Planning to plan, schedule, book, and purchase space for print or digital media. If you are a creatively driven individual, you could work as a copywriter whose job is to send across a message through words for press ads, dialogues, blog posts, or articles. If your interests lie in art and visual content, join the art department to craft visually appealing ads through graphic design. If you have a background in mathematics and statistics, you could become a market researcher and provide the media planners and creatives with the mathematical data to measure the effectiveness of an ad campaign. The possibilities for a career in advertising are plenty and diverse. Creative and Collaborative Environment: As you select the right career path, you will be introduced to several like-minded and creative individuals. If you are a creative individual, you will love bouncing ideas off of your peers to achieve a common goal. Creativity is a key to success when it comes to brainstorming around peers. Women are often considered more creatively driven than men and if you can communicate your ideas effectively with your team, then you are set to be successful in this environment. Work-Life Balance: A job in Advertising comes with many benefits and for many women, the flexible work environment allowing them to pursue their regular lifestyle is reason enough to consider a job in advertising. As the majority of the work can be done on an online platform, it allows women to enjoy a flexible work schedule. A work schedule that can be on your terms allows you to maintain time for your family, avoid burnouts and stay creatively motivated, or even pursue an education. In many cases, an advertising job places more emphasis on deadlines rather than time worked. Opportunity to head your own business: Women today are making their mark felt in almost every field and advertising is no different. To start your own business in advertising is a huge risk. What works is determined by the right combination of relevance for the customer. With the right inspiration and guidance, you too can take the leap of faith to start your own venture. One such inspiring figure in the industry is Sajan Raj Kurup, who at the age of 30 started his own advertising firm from his dining table with 4 people. Surely it is a tough task but if you are willing and motivated nothing is impossible. If you are a woman with great communication skills you will be a great fit in the advertising market. Advertising is about communicating ideas to your audience and peers. Whatever your interests and career options might be, if you have a creative flair and good communication skills you will surely gain a satisfying career in advertising. Ventureland Asia, the Mumbai-based Investment advisory firm has recently announced its acquisition of the controlling stake in MW.Com India Pvt Ltd (MIPL), The publisher of magazines like Rolling Stone India and Man’s World (MW).
Ventureland Asia’s Founder Sajan Raj Kurup announced on the 6th of September 2021 the acquisition of MIPL, which was previously owned by the publishing company Spenta Multimedia. Kurup, in a statement, said that Ventureland Asia plans to use its strong presence in areas of marketing, brand building, visual communication, and new-age technology to chart an omnichannel digital-oriented growth strategy for Rolling Stone India and MW. MIPL is a Mumbai-based publishing company that was started in the year 1999. The company’s first magazine Man’s World was launched in February 2002 as India’s first men’s luxury lifestyle magazine. MIPL’s other major publication is Rolling Stone India, the Indian edition of the world-renowned Rolling Stone Magazine. Rolling Stone is often appraised as the world’s best-known music and pop culture magazine for youngsters. Sajan Raj Kurup and Ventureland Asia have been busy in 2021 as they expand their business in India. Earlier this year, the firm bought a 40% stake in the gaming organization Revenant Esports. They also launched an e-commerce based end-to-end organic food market venture named Saintfarm. Kurup’s Ventureland Asia firm has been known to invest in small startups to fund, partner, and guide their marketing efforts. Before Ventureland, Kurup launched Creativeland Asia (CLA) in 2007. CLA is a multinational advertising agency promoting creative content through advertising, film production, branding, and licensing. His experience in the creative field has alluded him to invest in media, e-commerce, education, healthcare, Agritech, and esports – with technology innovations as the common investing theme. Sajan raj kurup investment in MIPL, Kurup has entered the pop culture market. He believes that at this moment in time, media as a whole is undergoing a massive change, with increased interest in pop culture. “If you look at the history of the pandemics, right after the Spanish Flu, there was a boom in pop culture,” Kurup said “This is also the time when the society, as a whole, resets its cultural tone. There is also a reset happening in the content space, with people looking beyond Bollywood for popular content.” He added. Sajan Raj Kurup, Creator-Investor and Founder, Ventureland Asia, the investment arm of Creativeland Asia, I have closely witnessed transformation in media consumption, media buying and media marketing. Rolling Stone India and Man’s World enjoy high levels of credibility and loyalty among its target audience. Piggybacking on that, we will bring in advanced tech interventions, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to better understand the reader and transform the hardcopy publishing to an omnichannel digital-first magazine.” He believes that the content we consume is moving over to OTT platforms and going beyond Bollywood and Televised content. He says there is also an emergence of esports and gaming, so, the whole entertainment industry is in an interesting space of reinvention. Kurup explains that his focus for these publications will solely be on the digital wing as “...the print numbers are not as high as they used to be...We’ve all been living in our caves for the last 18 months and our cellphones have become the window to our world. Now is the right time to bring the legacy of print to handheld devices.” Kurup said. The art of conveying a message to the masses is called Advertising. It is one of the chief divisions of any industry, ensuring the brand’s influence and competitiveness in the corporate setting. In today’s rapidly growing Indian economy, a career in advertising is highly lucrative and extremely competitive. If you are an enthusiastic, independent, and optimistic type of person, you will feel right at home in the advertising industry.
In recent years the focus of advertisers has greatly moved to cater to the youth. 60% of the population of India is under the age of 30 and roughly half of the Asian population is in that group. This statistic hasn’t changed for about a decade now and doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon. More than the statistic, it’s a mindset. The world is getting younger through the internet. Brands and companies are morphing their traditional methods to better suit the current environment and to be creative is to be current. One such company promoting its content to a youth-centric audience is CreativeLand Asia (CLA). CLA is a multinational advertising agency looking to promote creative content through advertising, film production, branding, and licensing. Founder and Creative Chairman, Sajan Raj Kurup has been adamant about positioning his content to cater to a younger audience. His belief is that a younger audience provides us with better metrics for the future. In advertising, you need to be constantly positioning yourself to the current and most relevant environment, you can't be rigid in your thinking as the terrain is ever-changing and ever-evolving. In Sajan Kurup’s own words, “there are no long-term horizons in marketing only medium-term horizons” Kurup also believes that there is a high level of interest in the youth of India to partake in the creative industry . As a budding entrepreneur himself, he started CLA on his living room dining table with 4 other people. CLA commenced its operations back in 2014 and has since been recognized as one of India’s leading advertising agencies. Kurup believes that there is no shortage of young talent in this industry, he says that India is a very creative environment and Indians have always been taught to think ingeniously which is an important aspect of creativity. Alongside creativity, an interest in brand design and communication is very inherent to the youth of India. Kurup has always been an advocate of promoting and motivating young talent to start their careers in advertising. In 2014, he set up youngcreative.org, a student arm of CLA that promoted and offered guidance to up-and-coming young talent. He says its more than a responsibility to share experiences and knowledge with the people trying to get their foot in the door, Kurup was quoted saying “When I was young I didn’t know who to learn from, I think I learned from all the accidents that have happened to me along the way. All I’m doing is sharing that with a few people if I can, and giving them a chance to nurture their creativity”. He also launched a scholarship program called Creativeland Fresh Picks. CLA proposed to send one final year student from art and design schools to attend the seven-day festival at Cannes. The student will also be awarded a one-year contract to work with CLA. The objective of the trip is to hone modern talent at a very young age and familiarize them with the way of work done internationally, which is otherwise hard to get. An experience like this is sure to get the student’s career in advertising kickstarted. Sajan Raj Kurup has been a great promoter of young talent in the advertising industry as he sees the future of this industry ride on the backs of these youngsters. He has been an inspiration for many young talented people that have a keen interest in creativity and advertising. Awards are a token of recognition. They are a badge of excellence that recognizes an individual or a brand’s contribution to their work. They act as symbols of excellence in a certain field that motivate and appreciate a person’s work. Awards help individuals gain the recognition they deserve as this could lead to further opportunities, they also motivate individuals to strive for better results creating competition and camaraderie. Awards exist in all sorts of fields to honor excellence, and the advertising field is no different. Advertising festivals like Goafest, APAC advert festival, and Spikes ASIA hold yearly festivals to award the latest and greatest talent in the industry. One of India’s most recognized and awarded advertising agencies is Creativeland Asia (CLA).
CLA was founded in 2007 by Adman Sajan Raj Kurup. Founder and Creative Chairman, Kurup is a firm believer in the power of creativity. Over the past 14 years, CLA alongside Kurup has driven and nurtured many famous multinational brands such as McDonald’s, Toyota, Appy Fizz, Frooti, Cinthol, Hippo, and Godrej to name a few. CLA has also gained a great number of awards through the years. They’ve been a frequent contender for the top spot at the Goafest for several years in a row, gaining multiple silver awards for their campaigns for Frooti and Hippo. Their complete redesign for both these brands was highly recognized by the community and secured them several awards. The Hippo ‘Plan T’ campaign also won them two Grand Prix at the FAB awards in 2012. Their ad campaign for the Audi A8 L that presented a 3D model of the Audi A8 being assembled around a man, won them two Grand Prix at Spike Asia and GoaFest in 2011 and 2012 respectively. The Audi campaign named ‘The Advanced State of Mind’ was also accompanied by what CLA claimed to be India‘s first 3D microsite, where users can further explore the intricate detail within the vehicle. In 2011 CLA was also awarded the ‘Independent Agency of the year Award’ alongside a ‘Bronze Spkie’ in digital marketing. They were recognized as the best advertising agencies that amassed the most points across all categories that year. Apart from these, the agency has been finalists at many festivals such as D&Ad, Cannes Lions International, Spikes Asia, Asia Pacific Adfest, and Abbys. Sajan Raj Kurup himself has been a frequent Jury member at the aforementioned international festivals. He has been recognized as one of the most enterprising entrepreneurs in the business of creativity. Although Kurup and CLA have enjoyed many awards recognizing their talents over the years, in 2013 Kurup made a personal decision to opt-out of judging the Goafest awards. Kurup believes in authentic recognition creativity and found that brands were ‘faking’ their success just to achieve a gold medal. With many controversies surrounding the categories of awards that year, Kurup decided not to attend in an attempt to stand up against the scam culture plaguing the industry, calling it an “award hunger strike”. Sajan Raj Kurup says, “Awards are nice. I have nothing against awards, but I think the credibility of an award is very important.” He believes that the status of winning makes recognition a mandate for many people. It makes people think that the award is a measure of success and not winning one means you failed to make an impact. This affects people’s creativity especially young talent in the industry and creates a “generation of hollow creative people” Kurup quotes. |
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