Serious Jazz
By: Santosh (June 15th, 2009)
“One life. Why so serious?”.. Goes the latest ad campaign for the much awaited hatchback from the Honda stable, Honda Jazz. Let me take you thru a small history of this car. The car was launched in the year 2001 in Japan and in Europe, US and some other markets the car is known by the name “FIT” and in singapore, and some other markets its known as “JAZZ”.
I don’t have the latest data but On 17 July 2007, Honda announced that more than 2 million Fit/Jazz units had been sold worldwide since its introduction.In the year 2007 J.D powers did a survey among 8600 new car owners in South Africa. The survey covers something like 228 potential problem symptoms, with the lowest scores indicating fewer problems and better quality. The Honda Jazz beat the next best individual model by a full 35 points. An obviously proud Hiroaki Shibata, Managing Director of Honda SA. said: “These results mirror similar results obtained by Honda in other international markets as well as in other local quality surveys and further serve to validate claims about the exceptional quality, reliability and durability of our products.
”Some of the awards that this small hatchback has one over these years.
Now you may wonder if I’m doing a marketing campaign of this car on gracejunction. No I’m not doing that. Today morning when I was driving down to the office I saw this billboard ad of Jazz and the tagline “One life. Why so serious?” Infact the press conference was started this way by the host. “Why groan when you can grin? Why shrug when you can leap? Why plan when you can be spontaneous? Why be careful when you can be carefree? Why not sing a song? Why not tap your fingers? Why not whistle and hum? Why not smile for once? Why not take the world off your shoulders? Why not break out of the mould? Why not stay young? Why not add Jazz to your life?
”The moment I saw the tagline I was drawn into the minds of people who bought this car into the world with exceptional quality, reliability and durability. So much of thought, so much of brainstorming, man hours would have gone into making of this car. People would have taken this project so seriously…
I think if the makers of Jazz where not serious enough to launch this car to the world then probably they would have never done it. Then how come they can come up with such a loose marketing campaign, urging people not to take life seriously, be carefree, be spontaneous. Since we don’t have an immediate outcome of this campaign, but the target segment is clearly visible.
Recently an Ahmedabad born 26 year old boy Maj Rishikesh Ramani got martyered for his country. I was wondering what if he advocated the concept of “Jazz”. People from across the border would have paraded and mauled our motherland and taken everything away. What if we never took seriously about the laws of the land? What if we didn’t too seriously the dignity of our mothers and sisters? What if youngsters freely engaged in everything from drugs, relationship etc thinking of “One life”(which they’re doing)? Why be serious? What if???
Few days ago after reading a news of a man killing his 27 yr old wife and two and half year old son and then hanging himself, I shivered for a moment. He mentioned that his wife was sleeping and it was easy to kill her but “his son of two and half year old gave him a fight for 20 minutes before giving up!!”Dear Jazz campaigners, the two and half year old was serious about his life and that’s why he gave a 20 mins long fight to save his life. I think for the only one reason. His heart was not corrupted by the ways of the world and his umblical cord was still connected to his creator. On the other hand his father’s was not.
Our creator made our life to take it seriously and not to give it away just like that. We’ve to think on each and every aspects of our life. I don’t understand what went to the minds of Jazz campaigners , but I think they’ve kept themselves oblivious of the fact that many such incidents of Maj Rishikesh Ramani and the two and half year old happen in and around them on a daily basis. Still to come up with such a tagline is like blinding our eyes to the realities of life.
In the Bible our first parents Adam and Eve didn’t took the advice of God seriously and ate that forbidden fruit on the instigation of satan. That very satan is very much active in our world and lives and latches on to any loose opportunity that we give him to enter our life and corrupt it. I think we need to seriously keep our eyes and mind wide open ‘coz He has created us with exceptional quality, reliability and durability.
God bless.
Tags: honda jazz, Maj Rishikesh Ramani
June 16th, 2009 at 11:08 am
I believe that marketing campaigns and taglines should not be correlated with the real life situations and circumstances. No individual wish to choose troubled and distressed life. Its the situations and experiences which rules the body and mind. Our motherland India is the developing nation with the population of 1.2Bn and more than 85% plans for their daily bread in a serious and planned manner on day to day basis. Marketing campaigns are country specific and should not misinterpreted. An individual with an open mind would deliver efficiently for his family and nation. No offence to anybody’s feeling and thinking. ” Live and Let Live”
June 16th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Superlative! I would love circulating this among people of my age. Yes, the Honda Jazz campaign is indeed one of the most daft automobile campaigns in quite a few years ever since the launch of the Kinetic Aaho!!
At the same time I would like to clarify that when we give it some hope then it seems as if the campaign only looks at some prospect buyers who are trying to fill the voids in their lives by a hatchback, so does Honda have a moral responsibility to tell these people that, “Look friends and prospects, we must mention before we sell you our car that you can derive the same satisfaction which you get from buying the Jazz through other things like, yoga, social service, community building.”? I don’t think so!
Maj Ramani(may his soul rest in peace) was my age, while I was busy selling media solutions to clients and planning my next leisure trip he was battling the enemy with all might in the grime and dust of the valley aware of the very threat to his life and fighting for a safer place for all of us a place where everyone including people his age could go on with their lives normally!
The 2 year old child who spent the last 20 minutes of his life in trying to protect his life with his small sized fingers from the very man who ironically happened to his father, strange times we live in!
June 17th, 2009 at 9:51 am
RJ, thanks for your feedback.What the author wishes to communicate through this blog is the generic mindset of people and their priorities. You’ll also agree to the fact that India is now the AIDS capital of the world and also it has some of the highest child abuse, female foeticide, suicide rates in the world. This only tells us that how people are mistreating their own lives and others. And media has emerged as a source of influencing our decission making abilities. A recent article said that 70% of the ad campaigns are directly aimed at youngsters and kids below five. How we should react to such situations, when a two year old becomes brand specific about the milk she drinks. I think theirs something not going right.
And amidst all this a campaign which says not to take life seriously. Even if the target segment is considered to be educated young people with enough money to own a hatchback. Its still a dangerous proposition.
I don’t understand the fact that when it comes to our job, making money,maintaining a life standard we seriously think about this but when it comes to our life, the one life that God has given we’re not serious.
I think we need to understand that we where created not for 60 or 70 years of life but God created us for eternity. Even after our detah theirs a life that everybody will feel and realise. This is the concept that people need to understand and then they’ll understand to take this life very seriously every discounting.
Anyways thx for your comment. keep commenting.
June 17th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
With due respect to everybody’s views on this page, but it’s just a 2 month long TV Campaign, if we choose to we can ignore it, so WHY SO SERIOUS??
June 17th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Hi Harold,
Even though the campaign might run for only two months i guess it will leave a lasting impression on many. Many will make it the way of living for themselves…if not in every thing definitely for certain things in life….recently there was a watch co. asking youngsters to ‘move on’…clearly suggesting a way of life….hang on to nothing even relationships…
Most ad campaigns seem to be suggesting at a carefree…no strings attached…’who cares’ style of living…The product sells but at what cost?? Well nobody seems to bother as far as the product sells and they make money…The blog seems to be spotting some subtle moves not obvious to everybody on the street…
Well written..
June 17th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
Hey Navin,
Its too much to ascribe ‘lasting impression’-ability to an ad like this. There are only a few ads in history that have left lasting impressions. I don’t think this ad has the class to be called so. So this ad should be ignored as Harold says.
However, I think, the ad is only being used as a reference by the author. If he saw the watch company ad about ‘Move on’ perhaps he would write a similar blog! And why not, he certainly has a point.
As far as I know, the ad world either ‘creates’ or ‘caters to’. They either create an ‘expectation’ or cater to one. Only that makes business sense. So either they are spending that money to create a need or desire in the viewers or are catering to the ones already existing in them!
We really can’t many times pin point if it is the current trends that motivate ad men to make the ads as they do or is it the ads that influence and create new trends in the society! In either case, it is scary. It means that a select few people, backed by media power, dictate what happens to or is highlighted in society.
I am raising two daughters as of now and God has made them beautiful. But the currents trends do not give me a lot of confidence or hope about what awaits me and them. I admit that it is scary. I can chose to ignore this ad, but I can’t ignore emerging trends in society. I can’t help, but being serious.
June 18th, 2009 at 12:33 am
In their book ‘Positioning: The Battle Of Your Mind’, co-authors Al Ries and Jack Trout say, “It is quite difficult to change a consumer’s impression once it is formed. Consumers cope with information overload by oversimplifying and are likely to shut out anything inconsistent with their knowledge and experience. In an over-communicated environment, the advertiser should present a simplified message and make that message consistent with what the consumer already believes by focusing on the perceptions of the consumer rather than on the reality of the product.”
I agree with the author and Geo that the ad here is just a point of reference of what few want to or try to dictate through such ads. It’s not the ad that needs to be debated upon, rather the message behind it. Yeah, there are times when we need to rejoice and times when we have to be serious. But altogether a fun, carefree attitude for eternity may just be inches away from insanity.
Yet given the current circumstances globally, be it economical, social, philosophical or spiritual, the ad-makers seem to have found the right nerve…lack of fun.
The ad leaves a long lasting impression or not is uncertain. But what is certain is that some people will surely relate to it out of sheer escapism tendency. And that is a matter of seriousness.
June 18th, 2009 at 1:17 am
There are some valid points in the comments above me but I would like to give a passive perspective. Each product is pitched at a target audience and the message given through an advertisement is not necessarily a mirror to society.
Honda generally operates in the niche segment aimed at middle-aged people looking for a second car but for the first time it has shifted to the younger generation. The “One Life, So serious” was coined to give the message that instead of starting with a small car, you can put in a little more and get urself a luxurious hatchback.
While the opinions on the right attitude towards life are true, I don’t think this particular advertisement does anything except pitch its product to the audience. If Honda come up with another luxurious high-end car, you can be sure they will have a different slogan running with it.
June 23rd, 2009 at 8:07 pm
Very well written. It’s something really serious.
Have you ever wondered why the marketing guys called the consumer “the Target Audience”?
It because, in the world every product will find its own market and every brand has a bunch of loyal cohorts. Before identifying a finite set of consumers, a problem needs to be spotted. It can be an overt or a latent need. To further investigate, the research agency brings in their insights regarding the demographic & the psychographic of the consumer. This makes communication, branding, selling and marketing a science. In short every product/brand addresses, reflects or portrays a sect of people, who inturn are their loyal consumers or would-be consumers. Therefore it’s serious, because it reflects the mindset of the target audience in the society. Why so serious? Just chill, everything is in place. Shows the casual way out for a serious consumer involved buying. But a dangerous trend evolving as a mindset. Just think seriously.