BOLLYWOOD : 7 months and not even 7 hits!!! WTF #

Well lets talk about bollywood. This is the 7 th month of the year in running and if we would like to count the hit films of the year till now, then we can name only a few films. the year started pretty dull with B grade movies like "Manthan... Ek kashmakash" in the opening week. Unfortunately for the producer, the movie which targeted the piracy menace was not even touched by the pirates. The following week saw two well hyped movies releasing Rajkumar santoshi's Ajay Devgan Starrer 'Halla Bol' and E niwas's ' My name is Anthony Gonsalves'. While the Halla was lost in somewhere and the whole pre release chit chat about the debutant Nikhil Dwiwedi being shahrukh Khan duplicate went unnoticed by the audience. The coming week is of only SUNDAY. Yes it was an average flick from Ajay Devgan which did a little business in metros. Producer Kumar Mangat can write it in his profit Diary. Though Movie buffs didnt take much interest in it. In this month some Experiments were also in air as Brilliant Director Nagesh Kukunoor experimented in making romantic comedy and came up with 'Bombay to Bangkok'. But Viewers refused such a boring and long travel and the film resulted as a flop. The whole January passed but ALAS!!!! No hit... unlike Jan 2007 when the years biggest hit GURU was released.
February was blessed by a few hits which can be listed in biggest hits of the year. To name some there was 'Mithya' which drew some crowd and gathered a very good critics attention. Delayed due to various reason the month also saw the release of much awaited ' Jodha Akbar'. This epic love story between King Akbar and Jodha Bai was the head turner. The film not only was the first hit of the year but also it was the most debated film of the year. Because of the screenplay of the film the Rajput community protested against it and that is why theaters in U.P. and Rajasthan could not run it. Despite that it was a hit. As I said above this was the month of experiments, there came another experiment of showman Subhash Ghai as " Black and White'. This Anil Kapoor and debutant Anurag Sinha starrer that revolves around a suicide bomber got mixed reviews and no audience. And the following week saw one of the biggest hits of the year so far - Race. Race was a pretty big hit. It got one of the best openings in recent times. The fim collected around 60 crores. The rest of the month saw mediocre fares like 'One two' three'.
April was by far the funniest month of the year. After 4 years Samar khan came with 'Shaurya'. The low cost movie recovered its price. But trade punditsrule out that it was a hit. And then comes the big date for YRF and they come up with WTF of the year that was 'TASHAN'. Starred by Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali khan, Anil Kaporr and Kareena Kapoor sank without a trace. This gave akshay his first flop in more than two years. Even Kareena's Bikini could not allure the audience. So people the year got its biggest flop with it. This month the film with three Item songs but named KRAZZY 4 also went unnoticed. Then comes a film which was though noticed but was a flop. Ajay Devgan's Directorial debut 'U, Me and Hum' was a nicely paked melodramatic and funny entertaining kind of film, but luck was not in favour of ajay and the film sank. And guess what another hit of the month was not from bollywood. Yups it was 'Khuda ke Liye' which drew not only critics comments but also audience. In May Bhatt camp was badly in need of a hit and got it in the form of "jannat'. Imran hashmi starrer and Directorial debut of Kunal Deshmukh clubbed cricket, romance, crime, fixing and above all great music trapped audienc. But another debutant Mimoh Mithun Chakraborty's 'Jimmy' was a big flop. The same month also saw another new comer Sikandar Kher making his debut with Hansal Mehta's Woodstock Villa. Then comes Amitabh Bachchan's Bhootnath. It was appreciated by kids. June the last month for the first half saw the comeback of Ramu. After being burnt by AAG.....(another WTF) he comes up with so called Sequel of SARKAR with the name 'SARKAR RAAJ' . Starring Big and small b and the newbie in their house Aish , the film did quite well in multiplexes. This month came as a surprise was Rajeev Khandelwal starrer 'AAMIR'. Directorial debut of Raj Kumar Gupta, not only got critics attention but also gave girl fans of rajeev a sigh of relief that their hero's film was a hit. And then YRF's another mistake of the year was a big flop in the form of 'THODA PYAAR THODA MAGIC' . Kunal kohli this time could not repeat the magic of HUM TUM even though he tried it with the name. Well second half has been started and there are hopes still alive because, A few weeks ago bollywood saw a cool breeze in the form of Jaane tu ya Jaane na. there are some highly awaited films coming up like 'Singh is King' , 'Bachna Ae haseeno', Ghajini, Rab ne Bana di Jodi, Yuvraj and Dostana. Lets wait and watch.........

Advertising! A promising career beckons

If words, concepts, creativity, selling, client servicing and doing something beyond obvious is your passion then advertising field is a promising career for you. Advertising as a career is a growing trend among today’s youth. A lot many universities in India and abroad are offering advertising courses. Plus everyday there are new job openings in this sector. As present era can be called an age of communication, so the need of advertising to grow your business via any of the communication is increasing day by day. That is why this sector is expanding at a rapid growth. The need for new advertising professionals is increasing. If you think you possess the qualities which this field is demanding, then just go for it. Adverting as an industry
Advertising is a service industry geared towards the communication of information and ideas to and on behalf of others. It is the main arm of marketing, involved in the communication of information and ideas to and on behalf of others for promoting goods and services in order to optimize sales or levels of awareness. An advertising is not an end in itself but a means to build relationship between the product and the consumer.

Education in Advertising

In India many universities are offering graduate and post graduate courses in advertising. Some are listed below.

1. Indian Institute Of Mass Communication, Aruna Asaf Marg, JNU, New Campus, New Delhi - 110 067 URL : www.iimc.nic.in

2. MS University of Baroda, Fatehganj, Vadodara - 390 002, Gujarat URL: www.msub.edu

3. Mudra Institute Of Communications (MICA), Shela, Ahmedabad - 380 007, Gujarat URL: www.mica-india.net

4. Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, V.L.Mehta Road, Vile Parle(West), Mumbai - 400 056, Maharashtra URL: www.nmims.edu

5. National Institute Of Advetising, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, New Delhi - 110 002 URL: www.nia.org

6. National Institute Of Design 9NID), Paladi, Ahmedabad - 380 007, Gujarat URL: www.nid.edu

7. Sir JJ Institute Of Applied Art, Dr. DN Road, Mumbai - 400 001

8. University Of Delhi, College of Art, Tilak Marg, New Delhi - 110 002

9. Wigan & Leigh College , New Delhi 86-A Central Avenue, Sainik Farms , URL : www.wiganindia.org Email: mail@wiganindia.org

10. Xavier's Institute Of Communication, St. Xavier's College , 5, Mahapalika Marg, Mumbai - 400 001 , Maharashtra URL: www.xaviercomm.org

11. Symbiosis Institute of Mass communication Pune

Job prospects in advertising
After getting a degree, you can apply for jobs in advertising agencies. Many institutes arrange campus selections. You may have to serve various purposes in an advertising agency. It depends on your personal qualities. In advertising agencies, you will find creative people, researchers, production specialists, media experts, management people, account planners and so on. These various functions call for different types of talents, skills and training. Similarly, job opportunities are there with the advertising departments of Companies, with the media, in Public Relations, TV Software Production etc.

Different job profiles of advertising
In India Advertising work is handled by Advertising agencies. Agencies can be of various types, some big, some small. But there motto is all the same.

Sales Promotion: To persuade people to buy a particular product or service.

Public Relations: To create a positive image of a company.

Education: To influence social attitude on matters of general concern and inform people about welfare schemes through public interest campaigns inititated by government or private organizations.

Following are the main areas of work in the advertising field:

• Client Servicing
• Creative Department
• Media Department
• Production
• Television and Film
• Photography
• Market Research
• Exhibition and Event Management
• Promotion and Direct Marketing

Words are magnet to attract money in an ad.

Ok, so this being the first post of my blog, I would talk about something, which I find most interesting and creative in the field of advertising. That’s also because I myself being a copywriter would advocate copywriting the most. And obviously an ad with the best copy would be the best selling ad. So in short, in advertising copywriting somehow directly deals with sells. So, it can be called an important aspect. So for a powerful ad, you need a powerful copy. So lets first understand what a copy is? Remember, words are magnets that attracts money in an ad. So your copy must posses that magnetism.

A copy in an ad is everything which is in words. Whether it might be features of the product or it might be benefits & it might be the catchy punchline. Writing advertising copy begins, as you might expect, with defining objectives -- of the campaign, of the marketing program, of the specific ad. These objectives will be unique to you and your firm, to each campaign, and to each ad. They dictate that the copy -- as well as all other elements of the ad -- are focused and relevant.

Lets start.......

Ok, now lets start copywriting, Ads seem to work best when you...

• Knowledge of purpose-. First and foremost thing to keep in mind is the knowledge of purpose of the ad. Know Not only who your prospect is, but what kind of service your prospective clientele really wants, and what kind of problems they'll depend upon your service to resolve.

• Know your service. Know your service in terms of what the prospective client is willing to buy, not what you're offering to sell.

Copy Structure

The purpose of a headline is to attract attention and to bring the reader to the ad. A headline that offers nothing to the reader in terms of either benefit or interest may effectively mask the cleverest ad, and one that's offering the most useful service.

The text should spring from the headline, and follow through the promise it offers. It should explain and clarify the facts and claims. It should be a logical progression of ideas, covering all of the points you mean to cover, even if it's done only with an illustration.

Copy can appeal to the intellect and reason, or it can appeal to the emotions, or it can do both.

The text of an ad designed to cause action should lead naturally to a call for action. What precisely do you want your reader to do? Call now? File for future reference? Send in a coupon? Send for a brochure? Remember something? Experienced copywriters know that the call for action works. It's not so much that when readers are told to do something they do it. It's that when they're not told to do something they're less likely to do it.

The copy usually ends with a logo and a signature for identification and impression, and sometimes also a slogan.

The Copy Platform

The professional copywriter usually develops a concept, sometimes called the copy platform, which is a clear statement of the copy objectives, focus, and approach. This is an attempt to articulate, as clearly and as simply as possible, what the copy shall say and how it shall say it. Shall it be extensive or brief? What tone shall it take? Shall it be breezy and light, or formal? What message shall it try to convey? What is the rationale behind the approach?

The purpose of this copy platform, whether it's specifically articulated on paper or merely understood in the copywriter's mind, is to serve as a guide to actually writing the copy. Many copywriters use it to present to their clients for a clear understanding of how the ad will come out.

Writing The Copy

The artistry of advertising lies in the ability to manipulate symbols and ideas in order to inform and persuade people. As in any art form, there are no rules that can guide you in doing this, except to list those factors that seem to work most consistently. And yet, remember, some of the most successful ads are those that violate the rules.

Two universally accepted axioms are that an ad must be simple, and it must look and sound as if it's worth paying attention to. And obviously, it must be complete -- it must contain all the information you want to convey. These axioms -- if indeed they are axioms -- spring from the fact that few ads are successful when these rules are ignored. Beyond that, clarity is essential. No matter how an ad is written it must be understood and easy to read.

It should be grammatical -- despite the fact that there are many examples of successful advertising that are clearly ungrammatical. A breach of grammatical rules, however, should be deliberate, and designed to serve a specific purpose. The rules of grammar are not arbitrary, nor are they engraved in stone. But the purpose of the rules of grammar is consistency, understanding and clarity. Unless there is a conscious reason to do otherwise, copy should be grammatically sound.

There are some other guidelines that professional copywriters also find useful ...

• Talk to the reader, the listener, or the viewer. Don't announce, don't preach. And don't get carried away by words and lose sight of the message.

• Write short sentences, with easy and familiar words. You want the reader or listener to do the least possible work to get your message. Even when you're talking to very bright people, communication is of the essence, not language manipulation.

• Don't waste words. Whether you use three or a thousand words make sure each is exactly the one you need. Make sure each word is exactly the right one to convey your meaning.

• Try to avoid being formal. You're talking to people as people. You're not writing an insurance contract for lawyers. An ad is information and persuasion.

• Use the present tense and the active voice ("All professional copywriters have extensive experience in preparing material," rather than " ... extensive experience in the preparation of material."). If you do want a formal style it should be deliberate, and you should have a clear idea of why you are using it.

• Punctuate correctly. Punctuate to help the reader, and not merely to follow specific rules. The less punctuation the better, within the bounds of clarity, but don't be afraid to use it if it helps the flow of an idea. Don't be afraid to use contractions and personal pronouns, just as you would in chatting informally with a prospect. After all, that's what you're trying to accomplish in your ad.

• Watch out for cliches. They turn some people off. More significantly, people don't hear them as they pass mindlessly off the tongue without bothering to visit the mind, and the point you're trying to make is lost. (Again, unless you're doing it deliberately.) Try to use bright, cheerful language that keeps the reader alert and maintains attention. To be enthusiastic and exciting is to be well along on the way to being interesting.

Writing is not the manipulation of words -- it's the expression of ideas. Words, grammar and punctuation, are merely the tools and devices we use to express ideas most clearly. To think of copy as a configuration of words is the same as thinking of a symphony as a configuration of notes.

Why do ads that seem well written sometimes not work? Because they miss these points of advertising. Because they attempt to merely translate somebody's idea of persuasive talk into the ad medium, which can sometimes be like wearing a tuxedo to the gym.

And because somebody didn't recognize that the art of advertising copywriting is not the art of literary writing. Different medium, different art form.

Dushyant .....