Sucheta Dalal :LMN: Desperate methods
Sucheta Dalal

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LMN: Desperate methods  

May 11, 2010

 There are just too many soft drink brands in the market and the window to build the brand AND rake in returns is quite short. While viewers may recall the ad, they could connect it with another brand

 

Don’t be surprised if you find too many cold drink ads being reviewed of late on this site. It’s that scalding time of the year when makers of chillers make serious hay while the sun shines. There’s near domination of the TV channels by cold drink ads this summer.
 
The latest to jump into the heated fray is a lemon drink called LMN (guess they are hoping consumers will connect that abbreviation with ‘lemon’). And they have flown as far away as the Kalahari Desert to make the point of acute dehydration and the torture thereof. Currently there are as many as five commercials on air featuring a couple of African lads (Bushmen).

 

The idea is this: The commercials revolve around the trials and tribulations the boys go through in the hot, hot desert land to be able to get their hands on one drop of water. Of course, they’ve tried to be funny in the execution… they had to… acute water shortage and malnutrition in that part of the world is no laughing matter, so the creative had to be ‘cooled down’.
 
And so the dudes chase un-ending water hoses, mistake taps for digging tools in their desperation, try to kill each other for water. They even attempt to suckle a she-cheetah to quench their thirst! Yup, totally whacko stuff, but works on the principle that raising the temperature bar on thirst to phenomenal levels can help position LMN as the ultimate liquidifier. Also, using African kids helps them differentiate the brand from other Indian rivals, which is a sound idea. Of course, they run the risk of upsetting some sensitive folks for parasiting on the miseries of impoverished nations, but when you do mad things, you don’t ponder over such minor details.
 
And madness is the order of the day. The LMN ads must have cost them a bomb, but these are desperate times for soft drink makers. There are just too many brands in the market and the window to build the brand AND rake in returns is quite short. Come June, the monsoons will arrive in many parts of India and then consumer interest will begin to taper off.

 

However, if there’s one issue I have with the campaign, it’s this—the branding is very poor. Somewhere along the way, the team went overboard trying to be whacky and lost sight of the fact that while viewers may recall the ad, they could connect it with another soft drink brand. They forgot the most important piece of advertising gyaan: The seed of the idea must always emanate from within the brand’s genetics, not out of it. — Anil Thakraney

 


-- Sucheta Dalal