Are Punchlines Necessary for Ads? Essay

Punch lines are the need for advertising the product as they are necessary for a product to be unique and be different. For example: â€Å"The complete man† which makes us remember the company Raymonds. Punch lines are important to make the customer remember about the product identity. It helps to recall a product easily. But it cannot rule the advertisement as ultimately the customer remembers quality and cost. Customer only sees whether he is getting the satisfactory service or not. Also after service of a product offered by company is important if the company is good, gets reputation and rules the market. Only attractive punchlines will not help. For example, if I say â€Å"Paanch matalab chota coke†, it will suddenly remind you the ad of coca cola (even though it’s not on air now). So, this way punch line increases the recall value of the ad but if your ad or positioning of the product is not perfect then you can’t expect your advt programme to be successful just on the basis of punchlines. It is very difficult to find out the right Punchline. Marketers have to select right words to form that sentences which can correctly express the positioning strategy of the brand. A bad Punchline can kill a good ‘ad’. If the Punchline strikes customers as attractive due to repeated exposure it ‘changes’ the mindset of the customer creating new set of beliefs. The Punchline represents the values of the company, benefits, attributes, features, quality, cost, special technology. If we really want to appreciate the value of Punchlines, then imagine an advertisement without any Punchline. It looks like a dumb. So basically the Punchline is the voice of the brand, which primarily gives out the minimum momentum, thrust to push the brand in the mind of the customer. A punch line has to have an element of surprise in it. Humour is also an essential aspect of advertising because a dose of laughter instantly connects the masses with a campaign. The main objective of advertising is to appeal to the consumer and a punch line should always be linked with the product. Also, there has to be something new, something which the people can connect with instantly. The best punch line strikes a chord with people and creates magic. But, certain good companies such as â€Å"Colgate† don’t have got a punch line but still it is ruling the market for years. Basically, the work of punch line is to own a space in the minds of customer and create some easy recall of the ad. But it takes a lot of imagination to come up with something as simple yet as effective as gale ki khichkhich from the Vicks campaign. Such was the power of this simple line that now, irritation in throat is called khichkhich by a majority of people. And it instantly connects the feeling to Vicks. This linking of products, or brand recall, is what makes a punch line successful. Products come and go, but punch lines always stay.