ENCORE RAMBO (17-Mar-2020)


Rambo the Hollywood movie, in 1988, in its trilogy till then was a blockbuster hit worldwide.  Stallone in the sensational Rambo role was a house-hold name and elevated to a cult status.  Our own Indian film industry produced its own flavors, with the implicit understanding that anything Rambo brought instant success!

Around this time, I interned for a liquor company that had set up its shop in Bangalore.  We were a group of friends tasked to undertake a survey of the retail outlets here to learn the psyche for their soon-to-be launched product(s).  An exhaustive questionnaire and we toiled to cover the entire urban area.  Later, it was my turn to compile this data to put together a comprehensive report.  The company’s marketing team pieced together various promotional campaigns to fulfil the gaps as highlighted in the survey.  I was retained to work for this company with an offer that put a smile on my face.  I had to liaison with an Ad firm to execute few campaigns.

Rambo was one of our products morphed in playing cards avatar with no need for introduction, or so I thought!  All products need to be sold and deft execution of creative advertising campaigns help.  The challenge we encountered was products like cigarettes, alcohol, etc. carried certain prohibitions which prevented direct and indirect promotions.  Two of the campaigns stood out from a branding perspective and created awareness.

The 1st campaign had boys and girls from the ad agency, dressed in jeans and t-shirts with the product details.  Clad in this attire, they took a procession on two-wheelers of those days and displayed posters to attract the by-standers attention.  The procession ran through the city vantage points.  This campaign was a hit; brought traffic to a halt but then set the pace for this brand.

The 2nd campaign bore the stamp of ingenuity from the time it was conceptualized.  A male model was carefully chosen to be the flag-bearer for another envisaged road-procession.  Only this time the model was a tall hunk with chiseled features.  A few distinctive features of this campaign included the model was half-naked with a bare chest, had put on a long-haired wig, and stood in the back of an open jeep with a machine gun look-alike - a la Rambo!  The open jeep carried banners and posters on display.  It caused traffic chaos as the vehicle with Rambo-like model drove around the city, it etched an impression due to its eye-catch quotient!

When Rambo was being paraded, there were instances where people walked up to the jeep to talk to him and needed an autograph. It was instant thrill for many when they witnessed him pull the trigger of the toy-gun!  One day I witnessed the funniest sight as we passed by a famous stadium.  A few good men stood answering the nature’s call by the roadside as they relieved into a stormwater drain, with their backs towards us on the road. Our parade attracted them, and they slowly started to turn-around in a clockwise direction without a change of posture!  Why? To witness Rambo!  We did not carry mobile phones to click pictures to post it on social media; instead we had a hearty laugh!  Only a Rambo could have done this – Encore Rambo!

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