advertising in kerala. prt-2

Word of mouth rules in Kerala. Advertising in the way the rest of the world thinks is paralyzed in Kerala. The uncrowned kings of kerala advertising: the real people who have helped shape the identity of kerala as the best test market in india. Please welcome into our midst Saboo Coloniaa, Gayatri and Rehman and their predecessors- the film poster designer.

They design poster that foil warp kerala. Over the years their posters helped shape the mallu's dismissive attitude towards advertising and publicity. Flop film posters consistently claim superhit status, numbing the senses and trust of the market. “ You cant trust these printed words “, says madhu- who sells among other things lolly-pops from his rickety pavement shop near chittor road in Cochin. He had over heard our plans for the matinee show of ‘taskaraveeran’ , the just released mammooty flick . The poster is screaming ‘SUPERHIT’ in the fifth colour. These posters are mostly final struggle of a sinking producer trying to keep nose above the waters. (These guys are overlooked by watchdogs that are on the look out for false claims in publicity materials.)

These people are not seen in the award functions or the seminars of Cochin advertising club- the official union of the advertisers. Rahman or Saboo or Gayatri have no clue about the theories of advertising. These guys follow their gut. They have their protocol, their set of rules and process. Family posters- to woo the family audience, title poster to announce, action posters mend to curdle the young’s blood, ‘glamour posters’ with the mandatory ‘A’, ‘the class posters’ done in white space… these rules have set the ground rule for advertising in Kerala. Any one at Cochin Ad Club listening!

Coming soon- IMAGES that set the rules.