Hardsell

VOLUME I

R A V I K A N T H

A Selection of cartoons from Business Line’s

Catalyst, a feature on Marketing and Strategy

THE HINDU GROUP COMPILATION

© Kasturi and Sons Ltd, 2003.
Published by Kasturi & Sons Limited
Copyright © 2003 Kasturi & Sons Limited All Rights Reserved

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 © Kasturi and Sons, 2003.
No part of this document may be Everything must go, a philosopher may
republished or distributed without the
express written permission of
have observed about matters life and
Kasturi and Sons Limited, death. But it took a marketing man to
859-860 Anna Salai,
Chennai - 600002, INDIA. see a selling point in it.

From shop windows and newspaper folds,

hoardings that share prime space along
with the sun and moon, picture tubes and
telephone wires, this Trojan horse called
the Marketing industry wages a war it
doesn’t realise we’re delighted to lose.

Armed to the teeth with a beautiful smile

and carrying a bagful of deals that killed
competition, these men and women fought
hard to crown us consumers as kings.

This is a tribute to the good-spirited war.

We believe the following cartoons will
make you smile broader, if you’re using the
right toothpaste.

– Ravikanth Nandula

Design
J.A.Premkumar
Layout
K. Balaa
 “That’s what smart shopping is about. We buy only those
things that have a fabulous deal going on them.”
Bijoy Ghosh

© Kasturi and Sons Ltd. www.thehindubusinessline.com

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 “It’s basically Nike. But you’ll get free labels of
Reebok and Adidas along with it.”

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 “It’s called practical brand positioning.
The cheapest brand goes to the unreachable top shelf.”

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 “Perfect, the exact colour that I wanted the mixture
to have! Let’s decide if we launch it as a tooth
paste or as a detergent.”

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 “Bats are blocking the sponsor’s logo on the stumps . . .”

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 “It was an irresistable deal. They were offering
Pongal discount during Diwali!”

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 “You may order lunch, youngman. But you’ll have to find
your own business.”

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© Kasturi and Sons Ltd. www.thehindubusinessline.com
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 “Whatever you say, I’m glad that somebody
thought of an image makeover for
chilli powder.”

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 “It’s a new and improved salesman, it seems.”

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 “Year 2002 calendars!”

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 “You have the freedom to choose. Do you want to know
about our product with a jingle or without?”

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 “The following commercials are brought to you by the
commercials following these commercials . . .”

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 “Tell me clearly, sir! Do you want to buy our product or
do you want to be known as the person who sent the
consumer confidence index into a tailspin?”

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© Kasturi and Sons Ltd. www.thehindubusinessline.com
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© Kasturi and Sons Ltd. www.thehindubusinessline.com
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 “This is a follow up to the enquiries you did
not make about our products. . . ”

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 “Of course I know who you are, your Majesty!
You are the customer.”

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 “We have this special marketing event going on
sir –– ‘Extra Salt Week.’”

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 “Our best-selling product. Contains no toothpaste
but there’s a lucky coupon inside.”

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 “This is what I call a great advertisement!
It doesn’t target our household!”

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 “Old wine in a new bottle won’t sell, friends, unless
we value-add with a new bottle-cap.”

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© Kasturi and Sons Ltd. www.thehindubusinessline.com
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 “Dramatic changes have happened with the sub-20,000
income group. Their buying patterns have changed,
surprisingly, to selling patterns.”

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 “Bingo! Our ads have been hitting the target or what?”

© Kasturi and Sons Ltd. www.thehindubusinessline.com

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