The Hindu : Business : Importance of credibility in advertisements stressed

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Saturday, Feb 16, 2008
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Business

Importance of credibility in advertisements stressed

Staff Reporter

Expert says ads go to the heart

KOCHI: Bharta Dhabolkar, theatre person and former managing director of Zen Publicis, Mumbai, has stressed the need to focus on credibility while producing catchy advertisements.

Addressing the valedictory session of the annual management convention of the Kerala Management Association here on Friday, he said brand ambassadors should be able to endorse the values of the brand in real terms; or else, they would become mere models.

Marketing, he said, appeals to intellect, while advertisement goes to the heart. Mind your language is the message for the producer of an advertisement. While appropriate copy will be able to convey the message, one should be careful in choosing the words, especially in a land where religious references can be interpreted in a different manner.

Sarat Babu, founder and chief executive officer of Foodking Caterers Private Ltd., Ahmedabad, described his own story of entrepreneurship. Mr. Babu had started a catering business from scratch. Brought up in slums, he managed to steadily advance in his life through sheer willpower and perseverance. As a brilliant student, he could pass the public examinations with flying colours, but finding money for his studies was no easy task. He undertook odd jobs such as bookbinding, as his mother’s idly shop earned too little for the family to sustain.

After earning a management degree from the IIM, Mr. Babu decided to launch an enterprise instead of taking up lucrative job offers that came his way.

The catering business he started has flourished within a short span of time. It has 6 branches, employing 190 now, and ready to expand further.

Earlier, experts in various management arenas spoke at the technical sessions. Sashi Kumar, Managing Director of Microsoft (India) Global Technical support Centre, Bangalore; P.K. Ramakrishnan, Executive Director, VIP Industries, Nasik; and Madhavi Lall, Head HR (Indias), Standard Chartered Bank, Mumbai, spoke on transformational leadership.

In another session, P.T. Joseph, Director, Xavier Institute of Management Education, Bhubaneshwar; V.G. Somasekhar, chief executive officer, Reliance Communications, Chennai; and Ajayakumar Nair, consultant, Talisma Corporation Private Ltd., Bangalore; spoke on “Leveraging resources for excellence.”

P. Ravindranath, president of KMA, welcomed the gathering. S. Rajmohan Nair, convener, convention committee, proposed a vote of thanks. Anver Dole, vice-president, Institute of Management of Sri Lanka, and Nizar Kochery, president, Middle East Indian Management Association, were among the dignitaries present.

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