The dignity of a mass brand

It's been touted as the longest commercial to ever run on our TV screens -- but that's not the reason I am writing about it. I am writing about it because it is one of the nicest commercials I've seen in a long time. It's wholesome, true to its target audience and offers a moving justification for low airfares.

Air Deccan has done to air travel what Reliance IndiaMobile did to the mobile phone market. Both of them entered a very elitist and high priced market with radically accessible rates and threw the segment open to one and all. Just like Dhirubhai's "Make a phone call cheaper than a postcard" mission, Air Deccan too makes it possible for the average middle-class Indian to dream of doing something it never thought it could ever afford to do -- fly.

I applaud the creative team for its extremely tasteful treatment of the brand's 'Everyone can fly' baseline. There was a time when the sight of an autorickshaw driver chatting on his mobile had an entire segment of population speechless with indignation. Today, you can see the same reaction at airports that are fast filling up with co-travellers whom you never dreamed of flying with.

Yet the remarkable storytelling style of this commercial takes the sting away from this breaking down of social\price barriers and gets the critical 'richer' segment to buy into the justification for low fares with an extremely effective tool -- a simple, universally appealing, heart-tugging father-son tale that offers a humane reason for a marketing strategy.

So rather than positioning Air Deccan as a 'cheap' airline, it has transited it into the 'affordable for all' slot. I am not sure whether the ad/short film will have the cash registers ringing, but it has accomplished a task- it has invested an everyman's brand with dignity.

What I've Learned
The fine art of 'insuring promptness'

TIP, I am told could be an acronym whose expansion we seem to have forgotten with time. It apparently stands for 'To Insure Promptness' and traces its origins to the eighteenth century English coffee houses, though etymologists have debated the source of this little word for years.

But there is one thing that most seem to agree on -- it's definitely a hangover from the British class system. I wouldn't know how true all this is but what I do know is that it would benefit us hugely if we remembered its expansion every time we belatedly dole out some TIP.

My tutor in this fine art was a remarkable gentleman called Manubhai Seth who was Reliance's first employee. In the early days of my career, I used to be extremely impressed by the way the staff at all the hotels we used to stay in rushed to his bidding. He just had to flick his fingers and they would respond as if he were a very, very important 'Someone'! Curiosity got the better of me and I finally asked him how he managed it, to which he laughed and replied, 'Simple. By tipping of course.'

'But I tip them too', I protested puzzled at why I wasn't given the same service for the same tip! 'Ah, that depends on when you tip, not how much', he replied. 'You must be tipping them after they did the job. By which time, they've already given you mediocre service. Your tip is a "thank-you tip" and mine is a  "please-get-the-job-done" tip. That is the difference' he told me with all the wisdom of a self-made man.

Little lessons no doubt, but yes, we do need tutoring in them. Manubhai's lessons have guided every tipping routine of mine to this day and I have to admit it works every single time.