9. • Coca-Cola in China:
Ke-kou-ke-la
“bite the wax tadpole” or “female horse stuffed
with wax”
10. • Pepsi in Taiwan
“Come alive with the Pepsi Generation” came
out as “Pepsi will bring your ancestors back
from the dead”
11. • KFC in China
“finger-lickin’good” came out as “eat
your fingers off”
12. • Nova in S.America
No va means “it won’t go”
• Pen in Mexico
“It wont leak in your pocket and make you
pregnant”
13. Universal imperatives
• A sign of progress
• Don't just talk, engage
• Speaking to the target audience
• Tap in, tune in
14. Current Scenario
• Better understanding of the impact of local
language on advertising
• Talking with your audience V/S engaging them
in a “BRAND CONVERSATION”
15. • Local Indian partners for international
advertising firms
• Mumbai, no more the centre of advertising
business
16. Not a new concept
• Horlicks- East and South
• Kaya- 'need-based communication‘
32. The rise of regionalism
• With increase in consumption, demand
for local increases
• Media rates are much higher in the
metros, the shift in spends is significant
33. • National brand decides to go 'regional' to take
market share away from strong local players
or price warriors
• And vice versa
38. If you talk to a man in a language he
understands, that goes to his head
but
If you talk to him in his own language it goes to
his heart
39. ???
Do you find "great deals",irritating when they
Does it become any less "exclusive packages"
and speak to you in yourany more persuasive
"today only" offers own language?
when they are in your dialect?
41. Idea trumps language
• How about a bad concept in immaculate
regional language?
• If a concept is right, let's not debate language
44. The common way
• Keep the plot similar, change the protagonist
• L'Oreal- Penelope and Aishwarya
• Thanda matlab Coca Cola Campaign- Aamir
and Vikram
45. Reasons for poor
adaptation
• An advertising agency do not have a rainbow
team to cater to a rainbow nation
• Translators are hired and not ‘adaptors’!
47. phase study
• Phase I: Qualitative research
Five 2 hour focus groups
• Phase II: Quantitative research
400 Ad hoc study
48. Outcome
• Respondents did remember seeing vernacular
content, news being the most cited example
• Top of mind vernacular advertising was almost
non-existent
49. LSM A’s response
• 46% of respondents claimed to see vernacular
advertising
• Almost half could not remember what ads
they had seen
• Few did mention vernacular but what they
remembered was an eclectic mix
50. LSM B’s response
• 50% claimed to see vernacular advertising
• Nearly all (87%) could verify by recalling the
exact advertisement and brand
51. No formula
• Don't translate from English, create
proper vernacular scripts instead
• Use the right dialect
• Simple language is best - don't confuse
consumers
52. …
• Use the right characters
• And make it catchy/entertaining
58. Active categories
• FMCG & Colas
• Talcum powder in South India and skin care
products in West Bengal
• Luxury brands- Rural Punjab
59. Straight from the horse’s
mouth
• Vernacular advertising is considered
non- premium
• Does not work with certain categories/
brands/ images
• Depends on whether you want to be
aspirational, confrontational or
congregational
62. What do you do when an
advertisement comes while
watching T.V?
Watch the advertisements if the 16
product is meant for me
Watch the advertisements 13
Put the medium in mute mode and 5
start doing my work
Zip the channel 7
63. When did you last see an
advertisement in your
regional language?