Ek Ad. Ek Kalam.

Yesterday, I was riding to work in an autorickshaw and saw a Surf Excel detergent ad on the back of the driver's seat. Curious, I wanted to find out how Hindustan Lever (maker of Surf) does its auto-channel marketing campaign because it was quite effective: I - with my limited interests in the sparkling marvels of laundry - noticed it. There are about 150,000 auto rickshaws in Mumbai - though the backs of the canopies are used for film ads, the insides are hardly ever used. The autorickshaws are predominantly used by burgeoning middle-class and can be a good channel for consumer-oriented communication strategies.

Responding to my WIFM (what's in for me) question, the driver said, "Ek kalam dete hain"...I thought I didn't hear it right...he repeated, "Ek kalam - pen, pen - dete hain...aur woh chalta bhi nahin hai!" [They gave a pen that doesn't even work!]. Amazing! I'm not sorry for the auto-driver; I'm just impressed with HLL for the simplicity in its execution.