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ANIMATION IN ADVERTISING

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Advertising is a way of promoting products, services or information, a form of

communication (between manufacturer and consumer), a physical commodity, an

integral part of pop culture, an important economic force, a part of our urban

landscape where a firm spend large sums of money on advertising that sells a

product or service.

The part is the history of advertising where it talks about how and why there was

the need of advertising. Why it was important to advertise. And the growth of

advertisement. The past and the present scenario of advertising.

What does the advertising do i.e. creating wants, creating job prospects, that

shows the importance of advertising. It also states the positive and the negative

effects of advertising.

The next part is what animation is. Its use in entertainment world. Why animation

is considered a form of art. Its use for educational purposes, animation has a place

in learning and instructional applications as well. Why animation is costly and

time consuming.

The next part is the animation technique. That what is 2D animation, how it is

made, and where it is used. What is 3D animation, how it is made and where it

can be used.

How animation works. That is how the pictures are made and moved and shown

as if the pictures are really walking, talking, smiling, etc.

The next part is the history of animation, how it was born, how and when and by

whom the first animated picture was shown. Today in which areas the animation

can be used. How 2D and 3D animation can be used in the entertainment world.

The use of animation in advertising is not a new trand, development in technology

have however made animations a more flexible and artistic tool to attract the

customers and sell the products. As the advertising world is becoming more

challenging, animated characters are increasingly being used as the face of the

brands. Animation have some unique attribute that prompts the advertisers to tap

into the capabilities of this dynamic medium. Use of animation also helps to

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portray visuals that cannot be photographed thereby helping to grab the customers

attention.

How one can market its products through computer animation. There are various

reasons and unique attributes that which a computer animation has and why a

company should go for computer animation

What was the Indian scenario of animation market in past and what is it in

present. India has become a hot spot for animation industry due to various reasons

such as presence of well equipped animation studios, low cost animation services,

the growing it sector, etc.

This part includes what is clay animation, what are the techniques of making clay

animation, how it is produced, what are the types of clay animation.

Now how to clay animation is describes in this part. How to make story

characters, what are the equipments required, how to make set or background,

how lightings should be done, how can one make these characters move and talk,

then comes the editing part.

There are various tips and tricks in making clay animation. First how to make a

story, turning that figure into a character and brings it to life, then animating a

character to talk, way of making use of wires to make characters move, getting

source for the voice of the character.

How the animation is effective in television commercials. Right from the outset

advertisers where quick to grab upon the opportunity and advertising possibilities

that animation put in front of them. There are various examples through which we

can explain that animation is an effective tool in television commercials. The

various ads such as Fido Dido in 7Uo ad, Amul girl in Amul ad, the the kelloggs

ad. but it not easy as many animator faces problems while making animated ads.

How the Amul girl and the Amul ad has become popular by using the catchy and

charm lines and the perception and views of the people about the ads.

What was the Amuls animated advertisement strategy. How it first displayed in

the city of Mumbai and what was the response of the viewers. how the brand

Amul is managing to promote its products through such ads and how it has gained

a huge success

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But animation is not always suitable for all ads. This we can see with the help of

the recent ad of Vodafone. The stick-like figures with egg-like heads that appear

in TV ads for Vodafone and have become all the rage in India. The popular Zoo-

Zoo ads seem to be animated but are not. Actually the scenes were shot and the

set and background were created. These ads were created by O&M. and why the

decided to shoot and not to make computerized animated ads is discussed.

There are various reasons why a company should go for animation. like popular

models or actors are expensive to hire, it is difficult to make ads if they are very

busy, etc.

Pillsbury is also a popular animated character that promotes flour, pancake mixes,

cereal, and bakery items, etc. it had become popular

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WHAT IS ADVERTISING?

Advertising is a form of communication used in helping sell products and

services. Typically it communicates a message including the name of the product or

service and how that product or service could potentially benefit the consumer. In short

we can say that advertissing is promotion of goods, services, companies and ideas, most

often through paid messages. However, advertising does typically attempt to persuade

potential customers to purchase or to consume more of a particular brand of product or

service. Modern advertising developed with the rise of mass production in the late 19th

and early 20th centuries.

Many advertisements are designed to generate increased consumption of those

products and services through the creation and reinvention of the "brand image". For

these purposes, advertisements sometimes embed their persuasive message with factual

information. There are many media used to deliver these messages, including traditional

media such as television, radio, cinema, magazines, newspapers, video games, the carrier

bags, billboards, mail or post and Internet marketing. Today, new media such as digital

signage is growing as a major new mass media. Advertising is often placed by an

advertising agency on behalf of a company or other organization.

Organizations that frequently spend large sums of money on advertising that sells

what is not, strictly speaking, a product or service include political parties, interest

groups, religious organizations, and military recruiters. Non-profit organizations are not

typical advertising clients, and may rely on free modes of persuasion, such as public

service announcements

Marketers see advertising as part of an overall promotional strategy. Other components of

the promotional mix include publicity, public relations, personal selling, and sales

promotion.

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http://knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Public_relations/

http://knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Publicity/

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_signage

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_marketing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand

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HISTORY OF ADVERTISING

Advertising is generally agreed to have begun with newspapers, in the

seventeenth century, which included line or classified advertising. Simple descriptions,

plus prices, of products served their purpose until the late nineteenth century, when

technological advances meant that illustrations could be added to advertising, and colour

was also an option.

An early advertising success story is that of Pears Soap. Thomas Barratt married

into the famous soap making family and realised that they needed to be more aggressive

about pushing their products if they were to survive. He launched the series of ads

featuring angelic children that firmly welded the brand to the values it still holds today.

He took images considered as "fine art" and used them to signify his brand's quality,

purity (i.e. untainted by commercialism) and simplicity (cherubic children). He is often

referred to as the father of modern advertising.

However, it was not until the emergence of advertising agencies in the latter part

of the nineteenth century that advertising became a fully fledged institution, with its own

ways of working, and with its own creative values. These agencies were a response to an

increasingly crowded marketplace, where manufacturers were realising that promotion of

their products was vital if they were to survive. They sold themselves as experts in

communication to their clients - who were then left to get on with the business of

manufacturing.

World War I saw some important advances in advertising as governments on all

sides used ads as propaganda. The British used advertising as propaganda to convince its

own citizens to fight, and also to persuade the Americans to join. No less a political

commentator than Hitler concluded that Germany lost the war because it lost the

propaganda battle: he did not make the same mistake when it was his turn. One of the

other consequences of World War I was the increased mechanisation of industry - and

hence increased costs which had to be paid for somehow: hence the desire to create need

in the consumer which begins to dominate advertising from the 1920s onward.

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Advertising quickly took advantage of the new mass media of the first part of the

twentieth century, using cinema, and to a much greater extent, radio, to transmit

commercial messages. This was beginning to show signs of working effectively in the

1920s. The Great Depression and World War Two meant that it was not really until the

1950s that consumers had enough disposable income to really respond to the need

creation message of advertisers.

The 1950s not only brought postwar affluence to the average citizen but whole

new glut of material goods for which need had to be created. Not least of these was the

television set. In America it quickly became the hottest consumer property - no home

could be without one. And where the sets went, the advertisers followed, spilling

fantasies about better living through buying across the hearthrug in millions of American

homes. The UK and Europe, with government controlled broadcasting, were a decade or

so behind America in allowing commercial TV stations to take to the air, and still have

tighter controls on sponsorship and the amount of editorial control advertisers can have in

a programme. This is the result of some notable scandals in the US, where sponsors

interfered in the content and outcome of quiz shows in order to make their product seem,

by association, attractive.

Unhappy with the ethical compromise of the single-sponsor show, NBC executive

Sylvester Weaver came up with the idea of selling not whole shows to advertisers, but

separate, small blocks of broadcast time. Several different advertisers could buy time

within one show, and therefore the content of the show would move out of the control of

a single advertiser - rather like a print magazine. This became known as the magazine

concept, or participation advertising, as it allowed a whole variety of advertisers to

access the audience of a single TV show. Thus the 'commercial break' as we know it was

born.

"[The advertiser articulates]...a novel magic which offers to meet the familiar

pains of a particular society and history, to soften or to sharpen ambition, bitterness,

solitude, lust, failure and rapacity." —Fred Inglis

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WHAT DOES ADVERTISING DO?

Advertisements create false wants and encourage the production and consumption

of things that are incompatible with the fulfillment of genuine and urgent human

needs.

Advertising is economically necessary and has brought many benefits to society.

Advertising is an irrational system which appeals to our emotions and to anti-

social feelings which have nothing to do with the goods on offer.

Audiences are completely free to ignore advertising therefore it cannot brainwash

people.

Advertisements usually suggest that material gain is the only route to social

success and happiness.

Advertising increases the sales of mass-produced goods and therefore stimulates

the economy.

Advertising creates jobs and prosperity

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POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF ADVERTISING

Positive Effects

The positive side of advertising is that it makes you aware that a product or

service is available. New and improved products are developed all the time and we can't

be expected to keep track of these developments ourselves. So its manufacturer helps us

in our lack of awareness and tells us: "Our new and improved product is now even better!

Go out and buy it!".

This happy message really pleases the consumer in us and if the product is one

that we use we are pleased that it has now been improved (again) and is even better. Even

though the message is the same as it was the last time it was improved, chances are, if we

were using it before, that we will continue to use it and that we react positively to the

latest improvement. So far so good. When a good product is improved it does become a

better product, right?

The ad will tell us in a variety of ways that it is any or all of the following:

better than the competitor's product

cheaper than the competitor's product

easier to use than the competitor's product

has more prestige value than any similar product

lasts longer the competitor's product

it's made of superior parts or ingredients

it's healthier for you

it's wholly organic

it's stronger, faster acting, larger, shorter etc. etc. and so forth.

So we are grateful for advertisements because they keep us up to date on the

improvement of existing products and the creation of new ones. This is all very good.

Unfortunately many advertisements, despite rigorous guidelines, rules, laws and

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consumer magazines and organisations, tell us a product or service is good only to find

out after purchase that it is not good at all. And this is definitely not good.

Before, in those good old days (when everybody complained), we got to

recognize certain brands and products as good quality and we stuck by them. Reputation

is important and when a company sticks to its original success formula we can trust them

and continue to use their products or services without having to worry about it too much.

And that is good because in our busy modern lives we have plenty to worry about

already.

Negative Effects

The negative side of an ad is that it is not usually a neutral and objective

statement. The ad is made by the product's manufacturer and that already tells us that it

will never be objective. According to the advertisement every product is the best after all.

No one can deny that unbelievable quantities of bad products are for sale.

Depending on the power of the manufacturer it can be blatantly obvious that we are

dealing with a bad or substandard product. But if the manufacturer has a lot of power,

the ad is so sophisticated in its execution that, we are wholly convinced with what we are

dealing is genuinely great product.

In retrospect, after the sale in other words, we can find out that the ad failed to let

us know any or all of the following:

it's made of substandard materials

it tastes bad

it's badly made

it's made from leftovers and rejected materials

it's made by someone undergoing forced labor

it's far too expensive and should cost 10% of what it does because it is made

much cheaper somewhere else

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some of its ingredients or additives such as preservatives, colorings, etc. have

been banned in your country for at least 30 years because of their carcinogenic

effects (cancer inducing)

there's really nothing in the product that is in the least bit beneficial to your

physical or mental health

it could be dangerous to your children

it's made up of animal byproducts

they are destroying a rain forest to produce it

it's been designed exclusively to use all those other bits and pieces they would

otherwise be stuck with

It’s made from organic materials, not mentioning that those organics are animal

byproducts and leftovers, bio-material even an experimental laboratory would

label bio-hazard etc. and so forth.

The list is quite endless once you get going the reality of it is quite depressing.

The only thing we can do is learn from our failures, i.e., never buy a product or anything

else manufactured by that company, or use that service again, until we are absolutely sure

it is now really worth our hard earned money and time.

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WHAT IS ANIMATION?

Animation which derived its name from the Latin word 'anima' meaning soul can

be defined as the art of breathing life to a character.

Animation is a type of optical illusion. It involves the appearance of motion

caused by displaying still images one after another. Each image contains a small change,

for example a leg moves slightly, or the wheel of a car turns. When the images are

viewed rapidly, your eye fills in the details and the illusion of movement is complete.

Animation literally means "the state of being full of life" or "lively’’ and in terms

of its practical application it denotes "the techniques of filming successive drawings or

positions of models, to create a film giving an illusion of movement". It is the art of

bringing something to life by using special effects, unbelievable graphics and exotic

technologies. It is a world of amusing news, a world where even vindictiveness seems

harmless.

Animation is a unique genre. With its universal language, it is becoming

important as it gives soul to the character and creates moving images. When used

appropriately in your application’s user interface, animation can enhance the user

experience while providing a more dynamic look and feel. Moving user interface

elements smoothly around the screen, gradually fading them in and out, and creating new

custom controls with special visual effects can combine to create a cinematic computing

experience for your users. Often, animation is used for entertainment purposes.

In addition to its use for entertainment, animation is considered a form of art. It is

often displayed and celebrated in film festivals throughout the world. Also used for

educational purposes, animation has a place in learning and instructional applications as

well.

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Cartoon animation is often considered to be animation in its classic form. The

animated cartoon made its debut in the early part of the 20th century and calls for the use

of 24 different drawings per second. In traditional animated cartoons, frames are hand

drawn.

Animation is both time-consuming and costly to produce. For this reason, most of

the animation made for television and film is produced by professorial studios. However,

there are also many independent studios. In fact, there are many resources, such as lower-

cost animation programs and distribution networks that make the work of the independent

animator much easier than it was in the past.

When animation is used for films or movies, each frame is produced on an

individual basis. Frames can be produced using computers or photographs of images that

are either drawn or painted. Frames can also be generated by altering a model unit in

small ways and using a special camera to take pictures of the results. No matter what

method is used, the film or movie that results fools the eye into seeing continuous

movement.

Persistence of vision is often projected as the reason the eyes can be fooled into

seeing continuous movement that isn't really happening. Basically, the brain and the eyes

cooperate, storing images for a mere fraction of a second. Minor jumps or blips are

automatically smoothed out by the brain. Since animation frames are shot at very fast

rates, most individuals see the movement without stoppages.

Though the work of producing animated movies and cartoons can be intense and

laborious, computer animation can make the process much faster. Computer technology

is steadily improving, and professionals are able to create life-like characters using

computers and special animation software. However, skilled animators are still necessary

for producing quality animations. After all, computers are not yet capable of making

artistic choices and bringing real passion to simple images.

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Technically speaking, animation refers to a sequence of frames which, when

played in a systematic sequence, at a particular speed, presents a smoothly moving image

as in a film or a video. An animation can be in the form of digitalized video or computer

based graphics, or a combination of both. Its application is varied and ranges from special

effects in films and television to modeling and animation for computer games, for

engineering or legal studies, etc.

Animation is certainly not a child's play. Besides meticulous planning and

coordination of several activities, hours are required to create a single second of

animation film. That is why; a typical Hollywood movie needs the services of 700-800

animators.

The advent of animation took place in Hollywood first, when blockbusters like

'Batsman' and 'Stuart little' attracted the eyeballs of public. In India, few animated

characters like 'Moogli', 'Chacha Chaudhary' made their mark in early 90's.

But, with the release of 'Krrish', 'Koi Mil gaya', 'Hum Tum' where actors

performed amazing feats, is an eye opener for what animation and 3D modeling stands

for.

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ANIMATION TECHNIQUES

Basically, there are two kinds of technologies used in animation i.e 2D and 3D

techniques:

Introduction

In simple words, 2D means two dimensional. By using this technology, image can

be seen from two dimensions only. 3D refers to three dimensions, by the help of which,

an image can be viewed from three dimensions. To understand it in a better manner, we

can say, 2D refers to a square drawn on a piece of paper where only the length and

breadth of it can be seen while a cube is an example of 3D figure which shows its length,

breadth as well as height. In other words, "the creation, display and manipulation of

objects on computer in two dimensions" is called 2D. Here, objects can be seen when

constructed from two dimensions only (height and width, rows and columns, etc.).

On the other hand, 3D technology helps in animating objects that appear in a three

dimensional space. They can be rotated and moved like a real object. Earlier, animated

images could be viewed in two dimensions only but advent of 3D technology has

revolutionized the world of animation.

2D Animations

2D Animations or Cel also known as classical animation, 2 dimensional

animations deals more with drawing and framing. 2D animation is a series of images

viewed one after the other in a very short time that creates an illusion of movement. It

work mostly on paper, creating frames to define a sequence that are then moved at

varying speeds to create the illusion of motion. This has been one of the oldest yet a very

effective medium. 2D animation has helped to simulate actions and movements that give

the user a realistic experience. To animate means to bring to life and communicate

feelings through story telling. The use of other medium such as sound adds another layer

of meaning. It is the base for making 3D animation. The process involves creating large

number of drawings, and scanning them into the computer and importing them into the

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software that helps in setting the timing and layers for the scanned sequence of images.

Toonz Harlequin, Adobe Flash, CelAction, Anime Studio, Toon Boom Animation,

Animaker are some of the software's used for creating 2D animation characters.

The production Stages include :

Pre-Production (Storyboard, Character Designing, Backgrounds)

Coloured Background

Key Animations

Clean-Up and In-between

Post -Production (Professional Voice recording and integration, Music

composing, Animation Compilation, Special Effects)

2D Animated Movies

Usage: 2D Animated Movies, TV Serials, TV Ads, Cartoons Films, Home Videos,

Games, Engineering demos, Websites, etc.

3D Animations

The creation of moving pictures in a three-dimensional digital environment is

done by sequencing consecutive images, or "frames", that simulate motion by each image

showing the next in a gradual progression of steps, filmed by a virtual "camera" and then

output to video by a rendering engine. 3D or three-dimensional animation, which has

more depth and is more realistic, are a series of images/ objects created using computers

or any other digital media. In addition to the skills in drawing, composition and character

design, 3D animators deal with modeling, rendering, texturing and lighting. The texture,

lighting and colour of the 3D objects are modified using software programmes and virtual

cameras are used to focus, resize, zoom and illuminate the figures. This digital animation

has the power to create effects not possible with Classical animation. Film, advertising,

video and gaming are the fast growing fields for 3D animation. This technique makes

extensive use of animation software programmes. The eye can be "fooled" into

perceiving motion when these consecutive images are shown at a rate of 24 frames per

second or faster. It helps us view any object or place in all angles and it gives a visual

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treat to the eyes. It also helps to depict certain scenes that are not possible to view in the

real world, such as, what is happening inside a boiling hot furnace, how a gearwheel

moves inside the motor etc.

3d Animation Production stages include:

Pre-Production (Storyboard, 3D Character Designing, Backgrounds)

3D Set Designing

3D Character / Object Animation

Camera Animation

Post-Production (Professional Voice recording and integration, Music composing,

Animation Compilation, Special Effects etc.)

3D Animated Movies

Usage: Engineering, Walkthroughs, Films, Cartoons, Games, TV Ads, logo animation,

textual effects, character animations etc.

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HOW ANIMATION WORKS?

Prior to the advent of computer, artists used to sketch the figures on paper first

and these hand-sketched frames were then moved very fast in front of a projector so as to

give the impression of fast and uninterrupted movements. But, the process faced a

limitation of being confined to the particular scene within a given space.

Another drawback was that the details of movement could not be drawn. Also,

this process was very tedious. The artist had to hand draw the scene character numerous

times and he could not afford to be inconsistent even to a small degree. But, now these

sketches are made on computer thereby enabling the artist to make drawings in an

effortless manner. After the structuring of models, they are textured, titled and finally

animated as per requirement of the story. And then, animation is rendered or processed as

a picture (or frames) which are coupled with the audio and final product is ready

Use of modern animation techniques have widened up its scope. Now, animation

is not confined to movies. It has entered the numerous fields where opportunities for

upcoming animators are likely to grow up exponentially.

As per a study conducted by National Association of Software and Services

Companies (NASSCOM) study, the Indian animation industry is at $550 million and is

expected to touch the growth rate of 30 % annually by the year 2008. This study reveals

that India will receive more than $2 billion worth of animation business in next three

years.

To meet the demand of industry, more than 20,000 job opportunities are waiting

to come up in the next three years. Wide application of animation, right from the movies,

entertainment to education and other areas like TV, business, product promotion,

websites, architecture and virtual reality has contributed a lot to its growth.

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HISTORY OF ANIMATION

Every one knows Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Tom and Jerry and Stuart little -

some animated characters that always delight and entertain us. How these characters

were born and how it is possible to create wonders with the art of drawing. And the

answer is 'animation'- one of the fastest growing and most in-demand industries

in the world. Multi media and Animation are among the major hunted jobs of the 21st

century. Multimedia alias multiple media as the name suggests is an enormous field that

uses more than one medium of communication. It is an art that merges text, images,

graphics, animation, audio and video to create virtual magic. Animation is only a

component of multimedia.

The art of animation started with the cavemen who used to draw pictures on the

rock surfaces. Though animation was formally demonstrated in 1828 by a Frenchman,

Paul Roget, the first animated film 'Humorous phases of funny faces' by J. Stuart

Blackton was made in 1906 by drawing comical faces on a blackboard, photographing

them, and then erasing it to draw another stage of the facial expression. It was in 1914,

that the first cartoon named 'Gertie, the Dinosaur' by Winsor McCay, consisting of

10,000 drawings, was shown as a film in the theaters. In the early twenties, traditional

animation techniques were developed and more sophisticated cartoons were produced. It

was during this time that Warner Bros and Walt Disney studios came to exist. Computer

animation, started during seventies and eighties, had a greater impact and with the

passage of time, more and more advanced techniques were developed.

A blend of entertainment industry and technology, it is concerned with design,

drawing, layout and production of graphically rich and attractive multimedia clips. In

other words animation is making of movies, games or cartoons by moving the drawings

or models of animals or people with the help of computers or other electronic means.

Time and space play a critical role in animation.


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Animation is a field that could be pursued by those who posses excellent

creativity and drawing skills. Animators are the talented artists who create characters for

a variety of projects like movies, television, advertisements and so on. An animators task

is to read the script carefully, study the storyboard and try to get into the character. In

other words he needs to know and understand the character.

Creating an idea, developing it into a story script and giving technical assistance

to it, are the procedures in making an animation. Besides the most commonly used

animations , i.e. two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D), there is also puppet

animation, clay animation, sand animation, vegetable animation etc. Both 2D and 3D

animation can be created digitally. Two-dimensional images are shallow in appearance,

while three-dimensional images have a feel of depth to them, thus making them look

more real.

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ANIMATION IN ADVERTISEMENT WORLD

Animation made its entry in the field of advertisement in early 90's and has been

gaining popularity since then. Whether it is buttery 'Amul' girl or famous 'Fido Dido' in

7up's advertisement, animation is making its presence felt in a big way. Popularity of

animated characters among youngsters has made animation hip and cool.

Animation is considered to be the biggest advantage to the advertisers in this

scenario because it helps tom successfully deliver the concerned message to the audience

without breaking any of the advertising rules. For a country like India, animation thus

serves as a unique medium. This is because, it forms a common language that can be

easily understood by diversified customers. Also this medium helps to reach the rural,

semi-urban and urban markets simultaneously. The best example for animation in India

would be 7Up character, Fido. The first thing that strikes the customer about the soft

drink 7Up is not the bottle colour or its taste but the animated ambassador, Fido.

Although there have been many commercial having different celebrities like Mallika

Sherawat with Fido, the actual celebrity for 7Up has always been Fido. There are

numerous such animated characters appearing on the television screen. Many such

characters are in the form of human or animals or the product itself. These animated

character talk for the product. Of course, today’s customers have enough product

knowledge. Despite that, advertisers use animations as tools to create an emotional appeal

to the customers.

Some experts’ opinion suggests that it is a nice way of doing a script. Besides, the

visual appeal, many complex issues such as stunts, can also be done away with modern

animation techniques. It is also a cost-effective method as a simple animation ad is

comparatively less expensive than a commercial with celebrity's presence.

Earlier, advertisement industry believed in presenting common man in

advertisements because he is the ultimate user of the product. Gradually, the focus shifted

towards celebrities.

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And now it is tinting towards animated characters as ad world has realised that

animated or clay items have a longer shelf life than celebrities and also the concept of

brand ambassador is tends to fade away. For example, take the instance of Sunil

Gavaskar in Dinesh suitings advertisement. When it was aired Sunil was an icon. But

when his cricketing career coming to end that commercial lost its lusture. Similar is the

case of Big B Amitabh Bachchan, whose varied roles played in films may confuse the

viewers.

Moreover, some experts feel that, at times there is a problem with celebrities

promoting products through advertising because of their religion. As such it is desirable

to use animated characters because they are creed less and without any religion and evoke

no malice or can't hurt anyone's feelings.

Another benefit of animated advertisements is their appeal to the common man.

For example, Chintamani, (an animated character) of ICICI credential bank represents

common man in the same way as Laxman's cartoons used to do. These kinds of

characters have unique look but same approach, that is why whether it is upper or middle

class, everybody can associate himself/herself with these characters.

The use of animations in advertising is not a new trend, developments in

technology have however made animations a more flexible and artistic tool to attract the

customers and sell the products. As the advertising world is becoming more challenging,

animated characters are increasingly being used as the face of the brands. Animations

have certain unique attributes the prompts the advertisers to tap into the capabilities of

this dynamic medium. Besides establishing the company as a tech-savvy one, use of

animations helps to portray visuals that cannot be photographed thereby helping to grab

customer attention. Animation can explain whatever the mind of man can conceive. This

facility makes it the most versatile and explicit means of communication yet devised for

quick mass appreciation.

- Walt Disney

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Animation was prevalent even before 1910. It was considered to be a tedious task.

That was because thousands of drawings were required to portray the movement of an

animated character. So, apart from creativity, the drawing part involved lot of

complexities. But today, thanks to the development in information technology,

everything in animation is predefined a computerized. The advertisers just have to

arrange everything and get involved in the final refinement before presenting the product

to the audience. The technological interventions and specialist in the animation field have

made this job very simple. Advertising has its own ethics. Unlike in other countries,

Indian advertisers have to encounter numerous challenges in the form of cultural

diversities, multiple languages, regional barriers, etc.

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MARKETING WITH COMPUTER ANIMATION

There are seven Reasons Why the Company should go for computer animation.

Computer animation in marketing and advertising is in a class by itself, as a

communications medium. While it shares some characteristics of other visual mediums

such as video, it has unique attributes that no other marketing medium can equal.

1. Quick visual summary:

Perhaps no other medium can match 3D animation to show a quick visual

summary of even the most complex product idea. It's the visual equivalent of a "sound

bite". Ideal for packing the most information into the shortest T.V. air time. Infomercials

are a perfect example. What about industrial marketing? In boardroom presentations to

high - ranking executives, 3D animation is scoring major points. "Big - picture"

generalists like CEOs often have little patience with a slow build - up of detail and data.

They demand of anyone who communicates with them to get to the point quickly.

Animation does exactly that.

2. Dynamic, time - based medium:

Like video and audio, animation communicates over a time line. It is a dynamic

medium that uses motion to tell a story or make an impact in some way. This capacity

clearly puts it ahead of print for demonstrating any product or system that either moves or

evolves over time. For example, the parts of a complex truck suspension system rotate,

shift and bend. Animation reveals these dynamics far better than print, which is static.

3. Easily grab attention:

A startling or unusual sequence, a sudden move, the shimmer of computer

generated special effects; all of these animation techniques grab attention effectively.

And that's the number one prerequisite to communicating with your market. Remember

the classic advertising formula? A.I.D.A. Attention, Interest, Desire, Action.

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4. Show what cannot be photographed:

This is truly where animation shines; there are no limits to what can be shown

with computer animation! Hollywood is irrefutable evidence of this. 3D animation can

fly through the solid steel of an automobile engine into the cylinders and pistons, do an

extreme zoom from outer space down to an atomic nucleus in 3 seconds, anything…if

you can imagine it, an animator can create it. (With enough budget, of course). For

marketers this means you can demonstrate a product in ways that are way beyond what

conventional photography can show.

5. Show what has not been built yet:

Related to the above, massive engineering and architectural projects are sold long

before construction begins. Computer animation techniques such as ray - tracing and

radiosity contribute photographic realism to "walkthrough" animations, so the audience is

made to feel like they are looking at a film of the real thing. And with HD TV technology

and huge flat panel displays, 3D animation can make the viewer feel like they are truly

inside the space.

6. Position a company as technologically sophisticated:

3D animation can take an ordinary, mundane product and impart an intense "high

- tech" look and feel to it. A Gillette razor becomes ultra - sleek like a jet plane in recent

ads. Supporting graphic design elements as well as a touch of Hollywood special effects

help make this work, but pace of movement, lighting and camera work contribute as well.

No other medium elevates a product's perceived qualities in quite the way animation can.

7. Emphasize style and glamour:

The cosmetics and auto industries are some of the most experienced practitioners

of marketing with computer animation. They use it to create an aura of mystery and

excitement (in the case of auto makers) or glamour and chic (cosmetics). In the TV

advertising of auto makers, 3D computer models take the place of actual cars much more

often than the public knows. Combined with slick video editing and photography,

animation can be used to enhance the appearance of any product. And when much of the

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appeal of a product is its appearance, animation adds major value to the broadcast

marketing of the above industries.

Those are just a few of the many compelling reasons to use computer animation in

your marketing. There's no other medium quite like it!

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INDIAN SCENARIO

In the past, Indian animation market was not as big as it is now. The activities on

this front began only in the late 90's when animation studios made their appearance in the

country and the industry developed an expert outlook. Now, our country is waking up to

host the enormous opportunities that promise a bright future.

NASSCOM study depicts that the availability of technical manpower to meet the

2D and 3D animation requirements, lower costs of animation production, desirable real

estate, increasing demand of animation in entertainment industry are some of the forces

that is going to shape the development of animation industry in India.

India - A Hot Spot For Animation Industry

India has sufficient English knowing manpower. This is particularly beneficial

when the work is outsourced to India. Moreover, numbers of initiatives are underway in

the country for producing skilled English speaking manpower for the animation market.

1) Presence of well equipped animation studios :

Many metro cities in India have hi-tech animation studios and their number is steadily

increasing. These studios have all the world class facilities with appropriate hardware,

software and communication infrastructure. These studios are successfully meeting the

deadlines of the projects from overseas companies because of sufficient creative and

skilled animators.

2) Low cost of animation services :

As compared to countries like US, Canada, Korea and Philippines, Indian has relatively

lowest cost in terms of animation techniques. NASSCOM study reveals that the rate of

production of half an hour TV animation program is around US$250,000-400,000 in US

and Canada while it is only. $ 60,000 in India.

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3) India's growing entertainment sector:

Owing to the prolific entertainment segment, India has a huge potential to expand

the use of animation techniques in this sector. Hence, animation has a bright future in

entertainment world too.

Animation has been a major money churner in most of the countries and India has

taken a lead in 2D and 3D computer generation animation with an added advantage of

cheap and English speaking workforce. Gradually, our country is turning to be a hunting

ground for the western world. And, the international animation industry is looking

towards Asian nations as the cost of real estate, studio space and outdoor location in their

country sky rockets.

Credit goes to India's IT expertise and creative manpower, combined with the

entrepreneurial drive, making it well positioned to grasp the attention of this fast growing

industry. The rapid growth of mobile devices, increasing number of personal computers

and the greater use of animation in movies are contributing to the growth of domestic

market. As such, trained man power is in demand for achieving such initiatives.

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WHAT IS CLAY ANIMATION

Clay animation is one of many forms of stop motion animation. Each animated

piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance,

usually Plasticine clay.

All traditional animation is produced in a similar fashion, whether done through

cell animation or traditional animation or stop motion. Each frame, or still picture, is

recorded on film or digital media and then played back in rapid succession. When played

back at a frame rate greater than 10–12 frames per second, a fairly convincing illusion of

continuous motion is achieved. While the playback feature creating an illusion is true of

all moving images, the techniques involved in creating CGI are generally removed from a

frame-by-frame process.

Technique

In clay animation, one of the many forms of stop-motion animation, each object is

sculpted in clay or a similarly pliable material such as Plasticine, usually around a wire

skeleton called an armature. As in other forms of object animation, the object is arranged

on the set (background), a film frame is exposed, and the object or character is then

moved slightly by hand. Another frame is taken, and the object is moved slightly again.

This cycle is repeated until the animator has achieved the desired amount of film. The

human mind processes the series of slightly changing; rapidly playing images as motion,

hence making it appear that the object is moving by itself. To achieve the best results, a

consistent shooting environment is needed to maintain the illusion of continuity. This

means paying special attention to maintaining consistent lighting and object placement

and working in a calm environment.

Production

Producing a stop-motion animation using clay is extremely laborious. Normal

film runs at 24 frames per second (frame/s). With the standard practice of "doubles" or

"twos" (double-framing, exposing 2 frames for each shot), 12 changes are usually made

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop-motion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuity_(fiction)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_frame

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_animation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasticine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop-motion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer-generated_imagery

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frame_rate

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_media

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_motion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasticine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_motion

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for one second of film movement. For a 30-minute movie, there would be approximately

21,600 stops to change the figures for the frames. For a full-length (90-minute) movie,

there would be approximately 64,800 stops, and possibly far more if parts were shot with

"singles" or "ones" (one frame exposed for each shot). Great care must be taken to ensure

that the object is not altered by accident, by even slight smudges, dirt, hair, or even dust.

For feature-length productions, the use of clay has generally been supplanted by rubber

silicone and resin-cast components. One foam-rubber process has been coined as

Foamation by Will Vinton. However, clay remains a viable animation material where a

particular aesthetic is desired.

A subvariation of clay animation can be informally called "clay melting”. Any kind of

heat source can be applied on or near (or below) clay to cause it to melt while an

animation camera on a time-lapse setting slowly films the process.

Types

Clay animation can take several forms:

"Freeform" clay animation is an informal term referring to the process in which the shape

of the clay changes radically as the animation progresses. Or, clay can take the form of

"character" clay animation, where the clay maintains a recognizable character throughout

a shot.

One variation of clay animation is strata-cut animation, in which a long breadlike loaf of

clay, internally packed tight and loaded with varying imagery, is sliced into thin sheets,

with the camera taking a frame of the end of the loaf for each cut, eventually revealing

the movement of the internal images within.

Another clay-animation technique, one that blurs the distinction between stop motion and

traditional flat animation, is called clay painting (also a variation of the direct

manipulation animation process), wherein clay is placed on a flat surface and moved like

wet oil paints (as on a traditional artist's canvas) to produce any style of images, but with

a clay look to them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_manipulation_animation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_manipulation_animation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_painting

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strata-cut_animation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time-lapse

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animation_camera

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HOW TO MAKE CLAY ANIMATION

The Story

First, one should draft a brief outline of what one wants to happen during the

movie. Having the basic ideas down, one can use his own ideas and input from others to

further develop the storyline and script a dialogue.

Characters

To make any ads successful, the story and the characters have to work together. The stars

of most clay animation pieces tend to be vibrant and full of life. These pictures show how

the character came to life from a drawing and was assembled.

I added various physical features in these steps. And this is the finished

product.

Equipment

If one is using a computer, one should use a digital camera. Regardless of the camera

used, in order to keep the shots consistent one should mount the camera on a tripod.

Make sure that one is having plenty of light. If one is not having extra lights around,

make sure that one should shoot in sunlight with as much light as possible.

The Set (Background/Props)

Using a simple background and setup the characters would stand out. A bright, colorful

background would detract from the character. One can use solid black backround,

although sometimes it looks gray in the lighting. These pictures show the props in the

movie.

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Lighting

When it comes to filming the movie, lighting is one of

the most vital factors. One should never use enough

light. Bad lighting creates unnecessary shadows. The

character’s appearance should be even without shadows

across the body. The color should flow together and

look smooth. If the lighting setup is too bright, then the

character may not be visible and there may be a glare in

the picture.

Movement

Adding movement to the characters of the movie is very tedious. This is the point where

one needs the most patience to complete the finished product. Movements have to be

slight and in very small increments. Even though large actions require many frames, be

aware that the smaller actions don't need to take up as many frames or as much time in

the movie. For example, when a character walks across the room, it may take 15+ frames.

BUT, when a character blinks its eyes, it only needs to take 2 to 3 frames at most.

Dialogue

There are numerous ways to do dialogue with a character.

In the beginning, one can use a method where different

mouths are created and replaced during each frame. Below

is a shot of the mouths for the character.

Editing

After the filming process is completed and all of the shots are stored into the computer,

now, this movie is ready to import into a program that allows one to adjust the duration of

each shot. This is also where one can add sound and effects to the movie. One can use

wires to support the characters.

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In Detail: Tips & Tricks

Preparation

Preparing to do a clay animation movie may be one of the hardest parts in the entire

process. Once the story board is drawn out and completed along with the tools, the rest of

the process is relatively simple. Yet, the tools that one uses in the movie can prove to be

very important. Now, the word "tools" doesn't necessarily mean whatever one can buy in

a local art store. Tools can be whatever one wants them to be. Most clay animators find

new things to use with each idea.

Creation of a Character

Once a character has been created and developed, then one has to turns that figure into a

character and brings it to life. Many different techniques may be used to do this. Try

adding movement to a character, or making your character talk. Keep scrolling down to

see just how to add presence, personality, to the character.

What exactly should a character say?

Animating a character to talk can be very long and boring work. There are different

methods and approaches to doing this. For starters, one might just try squishing the

characters lips into the position that wants it to be in for each frame. The problem with

this it may become disfigured and mess up. The above method can be the most useful one

as it is explained in more depth and is the one that is used for the movies. This method

involves creating different mouths for different sounds and simply substituting them in

each frame. After it is finalized that what the characters has to say, try saying that same

thing in real life. This way one would be able to tell what one wants the figure's mouth to

look like when it says 'clay.' This will help to make the figure's mouth look as realistic as

possible when talking.

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Wires Are Your Friends

Once the characters start moving around in movies, wires will tend to become a required

tool. By inserting them into the actual clay (e.g. lengthwise across the arm) one would be

able to position and maneuver the clay much easier. Another way of making use of wires

is for holding up the clay (e.g. a foot is in the air). They are easier to edit out than a finger

or some large object. If a character is supposed to walk, let someone else to walk slowly

across the roomin front of the animator. Note the body position and the motion. Then, try

it using the clay. An objective in clay animation (and in most types of animation) is to

make the movements and overall appearance look clean, realistic, and fluid as possible.

As you progress in skill, there will be less jerky movements in the clay animation film.

Talking doesn't mean anything if there is no expression on the face. This

includes everything from where the character's eyes are looking to the

position of the eyebrows. One has to make the eyes move in different

directions or make his ears wiggle. This is essential to make the pictures

look more realistic.

Sound: Not Just Noise Anymore

Since the character is doing so much talking, that's nothing more than his lips

moving. There has to be a source for the voice of the character. What if the character

pops open a can of soda? A sound effect would definitely fit in here, and it would add so

much more to a movie. How about a dancing ballerina as a character? In this case, one

has to choreograph the character to the movie. This method is more the opposite of using

special effects, because the process of using the sound is backwards. Voices are pretty

easy. Record a voice into a microphone speaking the script and that’s all. Work on the

right voice for the character. One has to eexperiment using other people to talk or

changing the tone of the voice. Sound effects tend to be a lot of fun. Many computers and

movie-editing programs already have sound effects within the program, but sound effects

can easily be created on your own. Try using common household items to use sound

effects.

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THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ANIMATION IN TV

COMMERCIALS

Bryant & May were the first British company to utilize animation for advertising

purposes. In 1899 animator Arthur Melbourne-Cooper was hired to produce a stop-

motion short in which matchstick men move along a ladder and paint an appeal on a wall.

The 22nd September 1955 gave birth to commercial television broadcasting in the United

Kingdom. Right from the outset advertisers where quick to seize upon the opportunity

and advertising possibilities that animation put in front of them. During these early years

up to a third of television advertising was animated such as the “Murray Mints, the too-

good-to-hurry mints,” or Snap, Crackle and Pop,” for Kellogg’s Rice Krispies which both

debut in 1955. The Kellogg ads brought to life hand drawn characters that had been used

on the packaging of cereal boxes since 1928 and the campaign still runs to this day. The

Murray Mints commercial, which featured soldiers in bearskin hats march in time to a

jingle, won best ad of the year in the inaugural year of British television advertising.

J Walter Thompson who had handled the Guinness account since 1929 set about

bringing to life; through the process of animation, the extremely popular Gilroy posters

that had become an institution and started a ‘Guinness culture.’

If advertisers were keen to use animators in their campaigns then animators where

certainly keen to encourage receive the work. The two industries formed a symbiosis

which was characterised by the overnight emergence of a whole new market in the

advertising industry meant that there were a lot of new opportunities for young animators

to set up new companies with the minimum of capital and experiment with new

techniques. Companies such as biographic which was set up by Bob Godfrey who

produced ads for various companies such as Nestle.

The use of animation in commercials certainly proved popular with advertisers,

and with home viewers but it was the “Homepride flour men” who proved that it could

also be an effective tool. The “Homepride flour men” ad debut in 1965. The ad featured

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two men in black business suits and bowler hats standing in between two packets of flour.

A sieve is placed over the head of one of the men and flour poured into it. The processes

is repeated with Homepride flour which sieves much quicker as it is graded and the

second man is instantly covered in flour turning his black suit white. The reason is

explained by the man in the hat; voiced by Dads Army star John Le Mesurier; and his

words produced the slogan ‘GRADED GRAINS MAKE FINER FLOURS.’

The campaign succeeded in making Homepride a market leader within four

months. These characters became so popular that a leader (Fred) was named by the

advertising brains to give a name to the uniform faces. Merchandise such as aprons,

peppermills, fridge magnets and various other kitchenalias were produced as ‘collectors’

items. Fred’s image spurned a whole range of sub products for the company and it is still

used to sell a variety of Homepride products today. To keep up with changing times made

retain a sense of tradition; various comedians such as Richard Briers and Paul Merton

have voiced Fred, he is today voiced by Nick Frost from Spaced.

Homepride have managed to infuse their brand identity with that of Fred, their

iconic mascot. They have used his effigy on other products such as sauces and kitchen

utensils to place the home pride brand firmly into people’s kitchens. However the

runaway success of a particular ad campaign does not guarantee an increase of sales of

the product it is supposed to promote.

The affinity between model animation and the physical world in which it is filmed

means that it is to a certain extent confined by the physical laws of our world in order to

remain recognizable and believable. Of course these laws can are being flouted, model

characters can talk and discuss everyday matters like members of the general public, but

the relationship between the animated models and the world they inhabit means that

when physical law is flouted a sense of the uncanny or the fantastic is achieved.

This is why the shorts or so engaging but it is also why they failed as ads. Despite

the fact that the campaign reached number 4 in a 2000 poll of ‘The 100 greatest TV ads,”

the common misconception is that the ads were selling gas. As Nick Park himself

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explains it, “People still refer to them as ‘the gas adverts.’ Although the ads were highly

memorable they failed to link the commercial and the product.

Successful animalised advertising campaigns are based entirely on the same

principles as successful live action campaigns. “Advertising’s central function is to create

desires that did not previously exist.” A miss-judged campaign such as the creature

comforts campaign may not be deemed successful if it does not stimulate within the

consumer a desire to consume a given product. Where as the Kellogg animated mascots

for frosties, rice krispies and coco-pops have succeeded in becoming intrinsically infused

with the products that they are selling.

One of the main advantages of using animation in advertising is the ability of

animators to create environments and worlds that could not be accessed or reproduced by

a live action camera crew. These artificial environments can be used to stimulate

imagination and desire, to create a fantastical world of possibility, which can then be

realised by the purchase of a given product. Coco-pops are advertised by a variety of

jungle characters that inhabit a fantastical world of imagination and fun that is extremely

appealing to young children.

Also when advertising medical products such as toothpaste, animated medical

presentations can be employed. These usually take the form of a split screen with the

advertised product on one side of the screen and a leading competitor on the other. The

animation will then demonstrate just how the product works and is more effective than a

rival brand.

Another appeal of animation to the ad man is the classlessness of the form.

Characters such as the Homepride’s Fred and the Fairy liquid baby are free from the class

constraints of traditional British society. They bridge the class gap and appeal to

proletariat and privileged alike.

Animation can also be a relatively inexpensive process. Pioneers such as Peter

Sachs of Larkin studios and Bob Godfrey of biographic, found quicker cheaper animation

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methods than the traditional fluid aesthetic style of Disney. They employed jagged and

rough stylings that borrowed from German expressionism. The theory being, to use

limited animation to maximum effect. By emphasising certain details advertisers can

allude to certain qualities that can be associated with the product. For example the

Michelin Man’s rounded tyre body alludes to the strength and durability of the tyres but

also their malleability.

The problem facing animating advertisers is a problem, which faces animators in

general. The immediately obvious thing about animation is that it is an overtly fake

diegetic form; that is unlike live action, which is often concerned with replicating the real

world to achieve mimesis; the artificial process of creating narrative form is emphasized

by the fact that the viewer is witnessing inanimate drawings brought to life through

motion. The difficulty here is that advertising is the process of creating desire within the

consumer; it suggests that there is a more desirable reality available to its audience

through the consumption of a product. Successful animated adverts must therefore

reconcile the fact that they are presenting to the consumer a fiction by alluding to an

underlying truth.

This is not necessarily problematic; Aesop's fables were moral tales that spoke of

ethical truths through anthropomorphic parable. Stories like the lion and the mouse or the

wolf in sheep’s clothing took well-known anthropomorphic traits of certain animals and

moulded them into cautionary tales about how one should live their life. In the same way

animation selects certain details to present to the viewer to create abstract meaning that a

consumer can readily identify with.

So why has animation become an effective tool in animation? The answer to this

question lies within the concept of brand and brand identity. If the aim of the advertiser is

to communicate the identity of a given brand as quickly and as succinctly as possible,

then animation is an ideal medium.

In the book ‘Ad worlds: Brand, media, and audiences.’ Greg Myers defines

branding as “the attachment of meanings to a labelled product.” That is to say those

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semiotic associations are associated with a given brand through the way it is produced,

placed, promoted and priced. For example Guinness is a uniquely produced stout that is

ubiquitously placed in almost every pub of the nation. It has a history of promoting itself

through humor as a traditional drink to unwind and relax with and it is priced at a slight

premium to give it a hint of exclusivity.

Regardless of if an animated character is an animal or human, animators rarely try

to completely reproduce natural form. As such the problem is that they are presenting

viewers with unnatural looking beings. If the viewer is to accept the characters shown

before them, the characters themselves must be presented as believable. This is why

animators rely on exaggeration of individual features to suggest certain character types.

Characterization is achieved by the distortion of shapes and forms – big eyes, big mouth,

big nose, large head small body etc. What the animators are stressing are the gesturing

parts of the body, particularly the features of the head. The eyes, nose, mouth and ears are

all vital in creating the illusion of human emotion.

Anthropomorphic qualities in animals such as the strength of Tony the Tiger can

be used promote a product as healthy or enabling strength.

There is a general rule of thumb with regards to which shapes go with what

characters: kind gentle characters tend to have soft rounded faces with wide smiles and

large rounded eyes. The Pillsbury Dough Boy is a great example of this principle. He is

the embodiment of the jolly fat man. Generalizations such as this one serve as visual

shorthand for the viewer; they optimise the impact of the character through economy and

allow the viewer to make semiotic connections and process narrative information about

the characters more quickly. In the words, animation “manages to compress a high degree

of narrative information into a limited period of time through a process of condensation.”

This method of economy and condensation in animation characterisation was born

out of functionality as much as anything. Partially it was due to the fact that

advertisements are extremely short. As such narrative information has to be delivered

with great speed. In the medium of the television commercial, advertisers have anywhere

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between ten and thirty seconds in order to convey their message. As such the visual

shorthand that animation design employs is perfect for the fast and accurate

communication of the advertisers message. With television being the dominant domain

of the animated short, characters have to be easily recognizable on a small screen. It’s

much easier to do this by recognizing one or two strong individual characteristics than

several small ones. Most importantly however the simpler that a character is to draw, the

quicker they become to reproduce.They rely on caricature and stereotype to relay

narrative information quickly and succinctly.

The Homepride flour men discussed earlier in this essay are a great example of

how an understanding of characterisation in animation can give rise to a successful

marketing campaign. They had a simple uniform design that was all at once, striking,

memorable, unique and simple. The business suits and bowler hats stood for a business

like British attitude, that at the same time was overly extravagant for selling flour and as

such was self mocking. The characters were taken to the heart of the nation. With the

effigy of Fred on all sorts of kitchen utensils his rightful place became the kitchens of

British homesteads, and as such so did the Homepride brand.

The twin process of animated character development and product branding both

strive towards condensing as much narrative information into the least amount of detail

possible and the shortest amount of time available. Animation is an intrinsically

imaginative medium. The human mind goes through a thought process of abstracting

meaning from an animated diegetic aesthetic. It inspires thought in the way that

advertisers wish to inspire thoughts of desire. It can be a pleasing experience in the

example of Homepride’s Fred commercials, or it can be disturbing in such a way that the

NSPCC have employed, either way the reaction provoked is one of individual thought

and identification which in turn promotes the consumer to consume.

Utterly Butterly Delicious!’ hummed a thumb-sized girl, dressed in a polka-dotted

frock and just like that, a star was born -- a ‘pun’ loving star, who with her bold tongue-

in-cheek topicals, made way directly into the hearts of millions. The history of the Amul

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girl can be traced back to 1967, when the first hoarding of Amul came up in Mumbai, and

became an instant hit, especially with housewives.

For 30 odd years, the ‘utterly butterly’ girl has managed to keep her fan following intact.

So much so that the ads are now ready to enter the Guinness Book of World Records for

being the longest running campaign ever. The ultimate compliment to the brand came,

when a British company launched a butter product last year, and called it Utterly

Butterly. And the brand has managed all this despite spending less than one percent of its

revenues on advertising.

It all began in 1966 when Sylvester daCunha, then the Managing Director of the

advertising agency ASP, clinched the account for Amul butter, and the agency has been

handling the campaign since. All the credit for the brand’s tag line ‘Utterly Butterly

Delicious Amul’, the moppet and the yummy spoofs goes to daCunha.

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CURRENT POSITIONING: CONSISTENCY IN THE CHARM OF

THE CATCHY LINES

It is interesting to note that the Amul girl has always been flying high on the

hoardings but never seen on television. Amul followed the umbrella branding strategy in

its advertising. Amul is the common brand name for the company’s products across

categories -- the Amul girl has also been used to advertise Amul ghee and milk. Its ad

campaign ‘Amul doodh peeta hai India,’ conceptualised & created by Draft FCB-Ulka,

was drafted to proclaim its leadership position, and was targeted at people across all

income categories. The corporate campaign ‘The Taste of India’ caters to people

belonging to all walks of life and across cultures.

The Amul girl, apart from promoting a $1-billion brand, has been bringing smiles

to millions. Where does Amul’s magic actually lie? Many believe that the charm lies in

the catchy lines, which revolves on humour that anyone could enjoy.

Rahul daCunha, Creative Director, da Cunha Associates elaborated, “Amul’s

advertising has become a little edgier, a little more satirical in the last few years. We tend

to focus more on popular culture and Bollywood now. My favourite in the last year was

‘Pow Bhajji’ when Harbhajan Singh slapped Shreeshant, and ‘Jhoota Kahin Kaa’ when

the shoe was thrown at George Bush. The Amul ads have been loved so much because

the idea is so simple and usually, the topic deals with something that everyone is thinking

about, hence instant identification. I have loved every minute of working on the

campaign, deciding every week on the topic, and how to visualise the issue, the line, the

cartoon along with writer Manish Jhaveri and illustrator Jayant Rane.”

The importance of continuity is reiterated by the client too. Jayen Mehta, GM

Marketing, Amul explained, “Amul’s products have evolved over the years. The creative

for the butter is released without the client’s approval to ensure that topicality is

maintained. And there’s the same continuity in Amul Taste of India as well.” He

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informed that there’s no fixed budget for Amul advertising, and that the spends vary

every year

An Onlooker’s Perspective: The ‘Indianness’ Works

Prabhakar Mundkur, Chief Executive Officer, PerceptH, said, “Amul’s

advertising has been memorable; people were moved by it. Amul butter has followed the

same tradition that it had followed in the past. You look forward to Amul Butter ads, and

you want to know what the next thing they would say is -- they are entertaining. The

‘Utterly Butterly Delicious’ baseline has gone unchanged for the last 40 years or so -- I

am not sure the other Amul brands have the same impact.”

For Prathap P Suthan, National Creative Director, Cheil Communications,

however, The Taste of India line is “more meaningful”. He noted, “The brand has

perhaps deliberately not explored the potential of the line. Amul has entrenched itself to

be the basic milk foods brand of the country, much like what State Bank of India is to

banking.”

Speaking on what makes the ad so endearing, Mundkur observed, “They

connected with the people. The Amul girl is one of the oldest mascots in Indian

advertising along with the Air India Maharaja. By incorporating current events in Amul

butter advertising, the brands remains fresh and evergreen.

Suthan agreed, and added that the Indianness of the campaign allowed it to

connect so well with the people. He explained, “The Indianness is what they should be

continuing to build. Amul is the essence of everything that stands for milky goodness

made in India. It's out and out Indian. It's in a strange way the broadest niche brand ever.

They can never be a modern contemporary brand with global cues of Haagen Daaz or

Bryers etc.”

“The Amul Butter billboards have become a culture by itself. I do not think there

has been any Indian moment of significance - whether its sports related, film related,

politics related, personality related, achievement related, etc that has not been celebrated

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cheekily by Amul Butter. I once saw a take on India Shining too -- they called it India

Dining. I was touched. It was like getting an award,” stated Suthan. With advertising and

marketing expenditures amounting to less than one percent of its total revenues, Amul

stands out for its quality and variety.

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AMULS ANIMATED ADVERTISEMENT STRATEGY

In 1966, Sylvester DeCanha, who was the managing director of the advertisement

agency, ASP, got the account for AMUL. The country saw the birth of a campaign whose

charm has endured fickle public opinion, gimmickry and all else. Eustace Fernandez (the

art director) and Sylvester decided to create a character that would charm the attention of

every house wife in the country. They thought of a little girl and so it came about that the

famous Amul Moppet was born. And she has always remained the cute little 4-year-old

girl eating butter.

In October that year,in the city of Mumbai on many lamp kiosks and the bus sites

the ad of the little moppet on a horse were displayed. The baseline said 'Thorough bread,

Utterly Butterly Delicious Amul'. It was a matter of just a few hours before the daCunha

office was ringing with calls. Not just adults, even children were calling up to say how

much they had liked the ads. And that was a clear indication of how successful this

campaign was going to be.

Through all the events taking place in the

country, Amul always had a reply to it. It is up to

date with current affairs. The first escalator in

Mumbai in 1979 was celebrated with a slogan

‘Automatically Amul’. When the city witnessed a

power shortage, the Amul girl said ‘Ta ta power?,

Amul, Unlimited Supply’. When the Mumbai police

were dealing with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s sister Haseena Parkar in cases

ranging from extortion to cheating and forgery in May this year, the hoarding simply said

‘Haseena Maan Jayegi?’ In the early ‘90s, when the colas were getting popular, the

tongue-in-cheek remark was ‘Eat the Real Thing’. When the world feared a collapse on

Y2K, Amul girl interpreted the phenomenon as ‘Yes to Khana’.

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The Amul girl, apart from promoting a $1-billion brand, has been bringing smiles

to millions. And this smile has spelt a huge success and changed the livelihood of over

2.5 million Gujarat farmers. The sales figures of Amul butter have jumped from a few

lakh rupees in 1966 to over Rs 500 crore now. Apart from rapid growth and

trustworthiness, the four-year-old girl has also ensured a virtual monopoly for Gujarat

Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMF) that sells Amul brand of dairy

products.

In the last four decades, the girl has dealt with all the contemporary issues - be it

politics, sports, society, entertainment, art, weather, infrastructure, science or technology.

But despite the cut throat competition in FMCG sector, GCMMF is not spending more

than Rs 2 crore on Amul butter advertisements annually on the country’s oldest running

campaign. The agency, daCunha Communications, which gave a face to brand Amul,

doesn’t need to run to the client every time for getting the art work approved. The agency

claims that even the top management comes to know about the art work when the

advertisement goes on the hoardings.

From the Sixties to the Nineties, the Amul ads have come a long way. While most

people agree that the Amul ads were at their peak in the Eighties they still maintain that

the Amul ads continue to tease a laughter out of them.

Where does Amul's magic actually lie? Many believe that the charm lies in the

catchy lines. That we laugh because the humour is what anybody would enjoy. They

don't pander to your nationality or certain sentiments. It is pure and simple, everyday fun.

The success story of Amul says one thing to all the other ad campaigns that did

not manage to last too long or had to get a whole new look in order to stay in the market.

Its a mixture of keeping with the times, humor and understanding the need of the hour of

the people. Amul boardings are a thing of attractions in India.

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Amul Advertisemnent in Mumbai

In the year 1967. A Charni Road flat. Mrs. Sheela Mane, a 28-year-old housewife is out

in the balcony drying clothes. From her second floor flat she can see her neighbours on

the road. There are other people too. The crowd seems to be growing larger by the

minute. Unable to curb her curiosity Sheela Mane hurries down to see what all the

commotion is about. She expects the worst but can see no signs of an accident. It is her

four-year-old who draws her attention to the hoarding that has come up overnight. "It was

the first Amul hoarding that was put up in Mumbai," recalls Sheela Mane. "People loved

it. I remember it was our favourite topic of discussion for the next one week! Everywhere

we went somehow or the other the campaign always seemed to crop up in our

conversation."

Call her the Friday to Friday star. Round eyed, chubby cheeked, winking at you,

from strategically placed hoardings at many traffic lights. She is the Amul moppet

everyone loves to love. How often have we stopped, looked, chuckled at the Amul

hoarding that casts her sometime as the coy, shy Madhuri, a bold sensuous Urmila or

simply as herself, dressed in her little polka dotted dress and a red and white bow,

holding out her favourite packet of butter.

For 30 odd years the Utterly Butterly girl has managed to keep her fan following

intact. So much so that the ads are now ready to enter the Guinness Book of World

Records for being the longest running campaign ever. The ultimate compliment to the

butter came when a British company launched a butter and called it Utterly Butterly, last

year.

It all began in 1966 when Sylvester daCunha, then the managing director of the

advertising agency, ASP, clinched the account for Amul butter. The butter, which had

been launched in 1945, had a staid, boring image, primarily because the earlier

advertising agency which was in charge of the account preferred to stick to routine,

corporate ads.

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In India, food was something one couldn't afford to fool around with. It had been

taken too seriously, for too long. Sylvester daCunha decided it was time for a change of

image.

The year Sylvester daCunha took over the account, the country saw the birth of a

campaign whose charm has endured fickle public opinion, gimmickry and all else.

The Rebecca Mark favourite

For the first one year the ads made statements of

some kind or the other but they had not yet acquired the

topical tone. In 1967, Sylvester decided that giving the

ads a solid concept would give them extra mileage,

more dum, so to say. It was a decision that would stand

the daCunhas in good stead in the years to come.

In 1969, when the city first saw the beginning of the Hare Rama Hare Krishna

movement, Sylvester daCunha, Mohammad Khan and Usha Bandarkar, then the creative

team working on the Amul account came up with a clincher -- 'Hurry Amul, Hurry

Hurry'. Bombay reacted to the ad with a fervour that was almost as devout as the Iskon

fever.

That was the first of the many topical ads that were in the offing. From then on

Amul began playing the role of a social observer. Over the years the campaign acquired

that all important Amul touch. India looked forward to Amul's evocative humour. If the

Naxalite movement was the happening thing in Calcutta, Amul would be up there on the

hoardings saying, "Bread without Amul Butter, cholbe na cholbe na (won't do, won't do).

If there was an Indian Airlines strike Amul would be there again saying, Indian Airlines

Won't Fly Without Amul.

There are stories about the butter that people like to relate over cups of tea. "For over 10

years I have been collecting Amul ads. I especially like the ads on the backs of the butter

packets, "says Mrs. Sumona Varma. What does she do with these ads? "I have made an

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album of them to amuse my grandchildren," she laughs. "They are almost part of our

culture, aren't they? My grandchildren are already beginning to realise that these ads are

not just a source of amusement. They make them aware of what is happening around

them."

Despite some of the negative reactions that the ads have got, DaCunhas have made it a

policy not to play it safe. There are numerous ads that are risque in tone.

"We had the option of being sweet and playing it safe, or making an impact. A fine

balance had to be struck. We have a campaign that is strong enough to make a statement.

I didn't want the hoardings to be pleasant or tame. They have to say something," says

Rahul daCunha.

"We ran a couple of ads that created quite a furore," says Sylvester daCunha. "The Indian

Airlines one really angered the authorities. They said if they didn't take down the ads they

would stop supplying Amul butter on the plane. So ultimately we discontinued the ad,"

he says laughing. Then there was the time when the Amul girl was shown wearing the

Gandhi cap. The high command came down heavy on that one. The Gandhi cap was a

symbol of independence, they couldn't have anyone not taking that seriously. So despite

their reluctance the hoardings were wiped clean. "Then there was an ad during the

Ganpati festival which said, Ganpati Bappa More Ghya (Ganpati Bappa take more). The

Shiv Sena people said that if we didn't do something about removing the ad they would

come and destroy our office. It is surprising how vigilant the political forces are in this

country. Even when the Enron ads (Enr On Or Off) were running, Rebecca Mark wrote to

us saying how much she liked them."

There were other instances too. Heroine Addiction, Amul's little joke on Hussain had the

artist ringing the daCunhas up to request them for a blow up of the ad. "He said that he

had seen the hoarding while passing through a small district in UP. He said he had asked

his assistant to take a photograph of himself with the ad because he had found it so

funny," says Rahul daCunha in amused tones. Indians do have a sense of humour,

afterall.

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ANIMATION NOT SUITABLE FOR ALL

Zoozoos have become all the rage in India so much so that Vodafone plans to air

30 different commercials featuring the character during the Indian Premier League

Mumbai: Meet the Zoozoos, the stick-like figures with egg-like heads that appear in TV

ads for Vodafone and have become all the rage in India.

So much so that the company’s plans to air 30 different commercials featuring the

Zoozoos during the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) Twenty20 cricket series seems like a

strategic masterstroke, although it is likely to come as a surprise to viewers that the ads

aren’t animated—there are really people inside those Zoozoo costumes.

But this much is known: Zoozoo is definitely anthropomorphic, and was created

by the creative team at Ogilvy and Mather (O&M) India. The ads, 13 of which have been

aired until now, have become popular with viewers. So much so that one of them, an ad

for beauty tips over the phone, was viewed 13,000 times last week on YouTube. The

Zoozoos have also taken Facebook by storm. They have nearly 35,000 friends.

That’s quite a bit more than the 1,200 and 4,000 India’s prime ministerial

candidates in the ongoing elections, L.K. Advani and Manmohan Singh have

respectively.

“With approximately 300 seconds of media being spent each day (on IPL), we

had to figure out a way to communicate as many services as possible in a way that would

not cheese off the customer,” said Harit Nagpal, director (marketing and new business) at

Vodafone Essar Ltd.

Each of the 30 ads will promote a different value-added service on offer by

Vodafone, from maps to stock alerts. Several characters were drawn up and considered

by executive creative director (South Asia) Rajiv Rao and his team at O&M India, before

they settled in on Zoozoo.

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“We were very close to what you see as the final version of Zoozoo. The only

difference was that we had two options, one that looked more like Mr. Potato Head, a

completely round body with thin limbs… the other, a thinner version with a big head and

scrawny limbs. We picked the latter as it was easier to have head and body movements in

that costume,” says Rao.

And then, in two-and-a-half months, the agency had to come up with the films,

each of which is 20-30 seconds long.

“We had to shoot, edit and finish sound recording for 30 different television

commercials in 10 days. The whole thing, pre-production included, took a little over a

month and was shot completely in Cape Town, South Africa,” says Rao.

There were other challenges as well. The characters, all local theatre actors, had to

perform in costumes, which came with their own set of problems. Wearing an enlarged

headpiece, for example, meant that all the actors were practically blind.

“They couldn’t see where they were going, so we had several funny instances

where the actors would walk right out of the frame during shooting. Also, it was very

difficult for them to breathe with those headpieces on, so the actors would take them off

every few minutes for some air. But after the first few days, we got into the groove of

things and managed just fine,” says Prakash Varma, director at Nirvana Films.

And because the shooting schedule was punishing, the film-maker had to use

adult actors—all slim-built women—as opposed to children, who would have been better

suited to play the part of the Zoozoos. As a result, to make the characters look tiny, all the

sets and props had to be larger than life. The expressions on the faces of the Zoozoos,

deliberately simplistic and limited in number, were all made in rubber and pasted onto

their heads. While the change in expression and the characters could have been animated,

it would have taken several years to finish 30 television commercials and come at a huge

cost to the advertiser.

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According to Nagpal, the entire shoot cost approximately Rs3 crore. The rising

popularity of the Zoozoos can also be attributed to the platform provided by IPL, which

garnered two billion eyeballs in its inaugural season last year. “There’s also the curiosity

factor piquing viewers who wonder, who are the Zoozoos really? Are they alien?” says

Prasanth Mohanachandran, executive director (digital) at OgilvyOne Worldwide. On the

Zoozoos Facebook page, people can view new commercials, download images and

wallpapers, and participate in a “What kind of Zoozoo are you?” contest. In the pipeline

are a spot, titled “A day in the life of Zoozoo” on Twitter, and merchandise such as key-

chains, mugs, T-shirts, and mobile phone stands.

However Mahesh Murthy, founder and chief executive officer of Pinstorm, a

digital agency, sounds a word of caution. “While their media strategy to blast these ads

during IPL has worked for the brand, the downside is that the characters are bigger than

the story being sold. People have a limited capacity to remember features, so it may have

worked to release the ads in a phased manner rather than hammer them out one after the

other.”

Still, on TV, the Zoozoos have come as a breath of fresh air providing a much-

needed respite from the staple diet of cricket and politics that most viewers are living on

—one of the objectives of the agency and the film-maker.

“We wanted to create something unique. A character that would always be

memorable… somewhat alien and yet, very human,” says Varma, who made the films.

“When we started out, the idea was to ensure that no one should be watching cricket.

Everyone should be talking about Zoozoo.”

Curiosity drew bankers, e-learning, IT and mortgage industry specialists and

‘visual computing’ entrepreneurs to a half day seminar on “Indian Intellectual Property -

when will it have local and international following” organised by Nasscom Animation

and Gaming Forum in Chennai. The forum’s chairman Biren Ghose, who is also

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/dir/ghose,/biren

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Executive Director of EROS International Films and CEO of animation studio Kahani

World, moderated discussions on how IP owners can secure their designs, addressing

budget constraints by releasing animation movies and serials not just in domestic markets

but international ones and the current lack of branding and merchandising in the Indian

animation industry.

Mistakes By Little Krishna; Why ZooZoo Was Not Animated If Little Krishna

took Rs 50 crores to make but only returns 3-5% of investment, or even 10%, how is it a

hit? This question brought out the issue that the animation industry is facing - high

investment for low returns. Producing an animation movie typically costs 15 times that of

a camera based movie, which is why ZooZoo, the funny egg like characters in

Vodafone’s ads, are not an animation, according to Ghose. Want proof? In the case of

animation TV series Little Krishna, its creators, according to Ghose, committed several

mistakes, one being that it was made for a very specific demographic - only India - and

not the global market. “It would not work in Dubai or Kenya or Germany. Its name is not

very pronounceable, the colour palette was too dark,” he said. Little Krishna was

developed by Reliance ADAG’s Big Animation. Jumbo & Roadside Romeo;

Merchandising is key another example of a flopped animation is Jumbo, in which starred

Akshay Kumar. Roadside Romeo could have avoided being depicted as just another

movie, Ghose said, adding that the absence of buzz and collateral marketing was an error.

With high initial costs for animation production, creators must start looking at

other avenues than just box office success to bring in the bucks - such as merchandising,

which is not very popular in India. “Understanding the market, and developing a bouquet

of products that will make the brand and movie linger on in people’s minds is important”

Ghose said. Going from “Local to Global”, Budget constraints are a nightmare in the

animation and gaming industry - it not only requires heavy initial investments but also

continued support through the launch to ensure it becomes a hit. A failure could be

disastrous for the makers, since crores are spent in making animations. A way of

increasing revenues is to cast a wider net - create for the global market, Ghose says. But

for this, there are many aspects makers should consider.

http://www.disney.in/movies/roadsideromeo/

http://www.jumbothefilm.com/

http://www.biganimation.com/

http://www.vodafonezoozoo.in/

http://www.biganimation.com/littlekrishna/familyentertainment.html

http://www.kahaniworld.com/

http://www.kahaniworld.com/

http://www.erosplc.com/

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Universal Appeal: The failure rate for products targeted at the global markets is high and

only a few companies such as Youtube have succeeded at building a universally

appealing brand. How did they do it? By ignoring traditional marketing pillars such as

age, gender, ethnicity and region; by getting insights into how to connect to the

consumer; by finding opportunities where there is customer frustration and by innovating.

Indian mythological characters are becoming popular across the world, as can be judged

by the video “Sita Sings The Blues” by Nina Paley, an American cartoonist. The video,

done with a singularly impressive combination of narrative and jazz, is being shared

openly online and can be viewed here.

Quality: We ask - could this be a matter of quality? The animations produced in India

currently are just not up to the mark and this is probably why broadcasters are not picking

up and paying more for them. Companies may not need to look at making games and

animations to suit global audience but instead work on how they can make it look good

and like a world-class product for the domestic audience.

Spare No Expense: The ‘make it cheap’ mindset Indians have is a good way to run a

business but it can not be used to build a global brand, Ghose said, saying ‘Spare no

expense’ must be the mantra for animation and gaming firms today. Aesthetics, the

colour pallette, getting the ‘Wow!’ factor and easening out the customer’s experience - in

all these ways the brand has to move beyond just being appealing to the eye and enter the

realms of other senses. Calling it creative energy, he said it is what makes the brand’s

value become more than the sum of its components.

Usability: Many firms are yet to tackle basic challenges, however, such as making

software or games simple to use and responsive so users do not waste time in loading

them, or ingraining relevance while building a product that will give it added value. This

seems to be more of an innovation related problem - there are companies that are coming

out with friendlier gadgets and software every day that are changing the way we will

watch animations and play games in the future.

http://www.thirteen.org/sites/reel13/blog/watch-sita-sings-the-blues-online/347/

http://www.youtube.com/

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WHY GO FOR ANIMATION?

There is an increasing trend for businesses to gravitate towards using animation for their

commercials, and for good reason too. The more popular reasons why business marketers

are going for animation in advertising are as follows:

1. ‘Live’ adverts require actors and models, and they can be hard to schedule if they are

popular. This can be a problem if they fall ill, go out of the country or busy with other

assignments.

2. Popular actors and models can be expensive to hire. Some of their managers may

charge according to where the advert is shown, meaning an extra fee per location.

3. Using actors and models may have many red-tapes due to consideration for their image

and many concepts may not be fulfillable.

4. Actors and models are susceptible to popularity upheavals. Artistes are just humans

prone to scandals and scandals can easily cause a wane in their popularity.

5. Animated adverts using animated characters on the other hand do not suffer from the

above issues live TV adverts face. As far as a make-belief character is concerned, its

popularity can be timeless. Just look at Fido Dido!

6. With animation, the sky’s the limit! Animation can achieve the most bizarre special

effects and be presented in the most abstract environments without any worry about the

logistics and possibilities. One can go as far as Mars or as high as the Heavens! One can

make an entire city black out or make the Sun go nova! Go wild with animation!

7. Animation can be combined with live environments or actors to create a really cool

commercial. But a ‘live-shot’ commercial is just that - a plain old boring commercial!

Just look at all the cool mobile hand phone ads combining special effects with live

elements!

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8. Contrary to popular belief, animated adverts are usually cheaper to produce than ‘live’

adverts if you deal directly with the animation house and not through a third party like an

advert agency. Many times, advert agencies sub-contract the work to animation

companies and utilize their concepts instead of coming up with their own, charging a fat

fee for their ‘trouble’! As you can imagine, the charges of an animation company alone

without the intervention of an advert agency can be much lower, and in many cases more

affordable than a ‘live’ advert.

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PILLSBURY DOUGHBOY HISTORY

In 1869, Charles Pillsbury went to work for his Uncle John. John Pillsbury lost his

business and entire inventory in 1853 when a fire destroyed the business. His quick

recovery really impressed his peers so they offered him the presidency of Farmers &

Mechanics Bank. He went on to become a prosperous banker with diverse business

interests that included land, railroads, timber, and a sawmill. By 1869, he was ready to

expand again, this time into milling flour. He called on his nephew to join him. Charles

and his father, George, purchased a one-third interest in a failing Minnesota flour mill.

Charles Pillsbury installed a new purifier in the mill and they made $6,000 profit in the

first year. He used the profits to start his own business, C. A. Pillsbury and Company, in

1872.

The Pillsbury Doughboy was created by an ad agency called Leo Burnett. Pacific

Data Images, a pioneer in the world of computer graphics for film and video, created the

animated version of the figure for the commercials.

In October of 1965, Pillsbury debuted the loveable 14-ounce, 8 3/4-inch character

in a Crescent Roll commercial. The original voice of the Doughboy was performed by the

actor Paul Frees (1920-1986) - more than 50 people auditioned for the job. The

Doughboy's costar in the commercial was Maureen McCormick. "It originally cost

$16,000 to create the doughboy. To make a one second film of the Doughboy the first

time took them 24 different shots. He was made of plaster and foam rubber."1

Other trivia about the Pillsbury Doughboy: his formal name is Poppin' Fresh, the

only music he ever performed was rap but he played the accordian, electric guitar, bugle,

violin, and harmonica. He is all dough, he has blue eyes, he always wears a bakers hat

and scarf, he originates from Minneapolis, MN, he loves to bake and back in the late 60's

he appeared with a wife and two pets and Uncle Rollie and Grandmommer and

Grandpopper.

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During the 1920s and 1930s, the company expanded its line of products to include

pancake mixes, cereal, and bakery items. But Poppin Fresh, the Pillsbury Doughboy with

the well-known giggle, is responsible for making the name a household word. He was

created in 1965, and by 1968, more than 87 percent of Americans were familiar with the

character.

Dough, Boy! Pillsbury's Squishy Success Story

Pillsbury Doughboy "Poppin' Fresh" could very well be the hardest-working

mascot in television history. He's appeared in over 600 commercials and has been poked

in the belly on television over 30,000 times. He's also appeared on 30 billion Pillsbury

packages, making him one of the best-known icons of all time -- as well as being one of

the most collected.

Created by the Leo Burnett Company's ad man Rudy Perz, the Doughboy was an

instant success when his stop-motion, clay-animation commercials debuted in 1965.

According to Ad Age, the first Doughboy cost $16,000 to make -- which was a lot of

dough in 1965!

Although there were a few premium plush dolls

available earlier, it wasn't until 1971 that the first mass-

marketed Doughboy vinyl figures were licensed and sold to

the general public. After a successful year as a vinyl

bachelor, a dough-mate named Poppie Fresh was introduced.

Not long after, a whole dough family popped up including

Grandmommer, Grandpopper and Baby Bun Bun.

Poppin' and Poppie were sold in the millions for many years, and can still be

found at yard sales and flea markets. One can usually pick out the earlier editions of the

Pillsbury Playthings line, as the vinyl tends to be yellowed and a little sticky to the touch;

the newer pieces were made with a more stable material. The other family members are a

http://advertisingiconmuseum.org/inside/c6/3265070a.html

http://advertisingiconmuseum.org/inside/c5/3265067b.html

http://adage.com/century/icon06.html

http://www.leoburnett.com/

http://www.doughfan.com/

http://www.pillsbury.com/aall/?subpage=dancin

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little harder to find and were sold in much smaller numbers or in special sets like The

Pillsbury Playhouse.

Many of the hundreds of Doughboy items available over the years have been mail-away

premiums. There have been several cookie jars, figural mugs, puppets, aprons, clocks,

watches and figures that could be swapped for a handful of box tops and a few dollars.

These premiums were increasingly available from the mid '70s and remain an incentive to

this day.

The '80s became the salad days of the Doughboy Empire. A variety of kitchen

products were produced specifically to be sold in retail stores. More cookie jars, egg

timers, magnets, spoon holders, soap dishes, tea pots, pot holders and even ki... are still

being manufactured and sold. Figural key chains were also found in novelty shops for

many years as well as plush Doughboy Beanie Babies (in more recent years).

Since the Dot-Com revolution of the late '90s, there has been a whole other set of

products sold exclusively in the Doughboy Shop on the Pillsbury website. Some of the

more popular items are ceramic figures, Christmas ornaments and toy trucks with the

Pillsbury Doughboy image. There are also plenty of kitchen accessories, plates, and

cookbooks too.

Another special classification of Doughboy collectibles are the high-quality items

sold by the Danbury Mint. These items are mail-order only, but are made in collectible

series and are among the highest valued items bearing the Doughboy's image. I generally

stay away from items that are created especially to be collectible, but I confess I couldn't

resist subscribing to the 1997 series of small porcelain Doughboys depicting the months

of the year.

The Pillsbury Doughboy remains as popular as ever, even in his mid-40s.

Doughboy products are abundant, easy to find and inexpensive. More importantly, an

instant (and tasty) collection can be cooked up just by visiting your local grocery store.

http://pillsburybakery.com/Products/

http://pillsburybakery.com/Products/

http://pad39a.com/sue/doughboyd.html

http://www.danburymint.com/collectibles/?source=WG03&cm_mmc=google-_-collectibles-_-home-_-danbury_mint

http://www.pillsburystore.com/ProductList.aspx?Ntt=collectible&Ntx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&N=0&Ntk=All

http://www.giftapolis.com/pillsbury.html%5D

http://www.giftapolis.com/pillsbury.html%5D

http://pad39a.com/sue/doughboy.html

http://pad39a.com/sue/doughboy.html

http://users.stargate.net/~glshir/PREMIUMS.HTM

http://users.stargate.net/~glshir/PREMIUMS.HTM

1


QUESTIONNAIREANIMATION IN ADVERTISING

1. Do you watch advertisement or you scroll over to other channels? Yes No

2. What kinds of ads influence you the most? Emotional humorous logical

3. What kinds of ads do you like the most? Ads with: Human characters Animated characters.

4. Do animated ads influence your buying behavior? Yes No.

5. Do you like ads with purely human character or mixture of human character and animated sequences?___________________________

6. When the word “animated ads” comes, which brand first clicks to your mind?___________________________

7. Which brand first clicks to your mind recently aired on T.V?___________________________

8. Can you differentiate ads which are not computerized? Yes No

9. Do you think animated ads only attract children? Yes No.

10. Name your favourite animated character on T.V.________________________

1

97%

3%

YES

NO

5%

54%

41% EMOTIONAL

HUMOROUS

LOGICAL


The survey was conducted from randomly selected 40 people. The majority of the people

were from the age group of 18 to 25. Few of them were entrepreneurs, teachers, and

employees. Majority of them were the students. Few questions were asked to them and

the results are as under:

Q1. Do you watch advertisement or you scroll over to other channels?

Conclusion:

From this diagram it can be concluded that 97% of the people do not watch advertisement

i.e. they scroll over to the other channels. Only 3% of the people watch advertisement.

Q2. What kinds of ads influence you the most?

From this we can conclude that majority of the Indian people i.e. 54% like to watch

humorous ads. Only 5% of them like to emotional ads. While the rest of 41% of the

people like to watch logical ads.

1

45%

52%

3%

YES NO BOTH

62%

38%

HUMAN CHARACTER ANIMATED CHARACTER


Q3. What kinds of ads do you like the most? Ads with:

62% of the people prefer ads having the human characters and rest 38% like ads

having animated characters. So we can say that majority of them like to watch ads

having human characters this can be because of popular models or their favourite

actors.

Q4. Do animated ads influence your buying behavior?

52% of the people said that animated ads doesn’t influence their buying behaviour and

45% of them said that animated ads does influence their buying behaviour whle the rest

of 3% sad that sometime animated ads influence their buying behaviour. Hance, it can be

conluded that majority of the people don’t buy products with the influence of the

animated ads.

1

33%

67%

PURE HUMAN CHARACTER

MIXTURE OF HUMAN AND ANIMATED CHARACTER


Q5. Do you like ads with purely human character or mixture of human character and

animated sequences?

Conclusion: Majority of the people i.e. 67% said that they like ads which are having only

human character and not the mixture of them. So, it can be concluded that people like ads

which has pure acting and not that which are computerized.

Q6. When the word “animated ads” comes, which brand first clicks to your mind?

Majority of the people like to watch Vodafone Zoo-Zoo ads which was recently aired on

t.v during IPL season, then comes the Aaegon Religare insurance, Mentos ad where an

ape man and a donkey is shown and Amul ads, and then comes dairy milk ad, alpenliebe

sunfeast, 7Up and Big Babool ad.

From this we can conclude that in animation ads Vodaforne Zoo-Zoo ads are most like by

people. And ten comes the rest.

Q7. Which brand first clicks to your mind recently aired on T.V?

1

82%

15%3%

YES NO SOMETIMES


When this question was asked the majority of the people replied that Aegon

Religare insurance ads first clicks to their mind. Then comes the Vodafone Zoo-Zoo ads,

rest of them likes the Pepsodent, Surf, Mahindra Bike Ad, Airtel, Hdfcslic, New Honda

City, Miranda, Coke, Hide & Seek, Big Babool, Colgate, Mentos, Pepsi, Religare,

Kurkure, Cadbury.

Q8. Can you differentiate ads which are not computerized?

82% of the people said that they can differentiate ads which are computerized and ads

which are not computerized. 15 % of them said that they cannot differentiate ads which

are computerized, and 3% of them said they sometimes recognize whether the ads are

computerized or not. And from the above question majority of them said that they like

Vodafone Zoo-Zoo ads. But that ad is not computerized. So it can be concluded that

majority of them sometimes recognize the ads which are computerized.

Q9. Do you think animated ads only attract children?

1

30%

70%

YES NO


Majority of the people i.e. 70% of them said animated ads not only attract children but

they attract the masses. And 30% of them said that animated ads attract only children.

It can be concluded that animated ads attracts people of all age groups.

Q10. Name your favourite animated character on T.V.

Most of tem like the Zoo-Zoo character aired by Vodafone, then comes tom and jerry, Micky Mouse, Religare, Sunfeast, Doremon, 7up, Videocon, Uncle Scruze, Noddy, Pokemon, Mentos, Superman, Clinck Plus, Alpenliebe, And Airwick

new format of advt (1)

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