We are talking about two people – a taxi driver from Pakistan who has the best Google ad integration ever and an auto driver from India who promotes his services with the help of a website.

Asif Hussain Shah, a taxi driver from Pakistan is promoting his book “For Hire” which comprises of his experiences behind the wheel using his taxi itself. Google for Asif Hussain Shah and you’ll notice YouTube links to his book. Amazing way of promotion, don’t you think? BTW, the book is in Urdu and I’m sure he’ll have a website for himself and an English version of the book in no time! Like Alexia Tsotsis from San Francisco Weekly, Asif can be sure that I’ll use his services if and when I come to Islamabad or Rawalpindi.

Samson from Chennai is an auto driver with a difference. He has his own website – TukTastic through which he interacts with his national and international customers. Quoting his website -

My name is Samson and I am an Auto-Rickshaw driver here in Chennai, formally known as Madras. You can find me outside of the Taj Coromandel Hotel in the heart of the city.

I am a very safe driver and can take you anywhere you would like to go. I know Chennai very well so whether you are looking for a tour of the city, somewhere to eat and drink or wishing to venture further afield then I would be happy to assist. I can also help you to find almost any type of goods from curtains to clothes and silver to stationary, just name it! And the Tuk-Tuk is far more fun and cheaper than a taxi too!

Please look around my site and when in Chennai – Just ask for Samson!

His website is pretty extensive with testimonials from happy customers like Chris who works at British Airways. Chris says “I always use Samson when I come to Chennai, his service is excellent. We have been to Fisherman’s Cove and Mallamapuram many times and I wouldn’t travel any other way!”.

Asif and Samson, different from the usual crowd, don’t you think?

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Apple recently filed a patent about an advertising method.

The patent in question states:

Among other disclosures, an operating system presents one or more advertisements to a user and disables one or more functions while the advertisement is being presented. At the end of the advertisement, the operating system again enables the function(s). The advertisement can be visual or audible. The presentation of the advertisement(s) can be made as part of an approach where the user obtains a good or service, such as the operating system, for free or at reduced cost.

Unlike conventional advertising, where advertisements are passive and need not be noticed, these advertisements compel you to pay attention to them, by refusing to go away until interacted with. Such interaction could be pressing a button to indicate that the user has seen the ad, or it could involve typing the answer to a question, even.

Apple says this would enable manufacturers to provide devices or services at a reduced or no cost. If the user wishes to rid themselves of the advertisements, they could pay a fee.
This is not very different from the ad-supported services we have today. All it would do is encourage the user to pay up by taking the ads to an intolerably annoying level.

The patent application says the tests “can be made progressively more aggressive if the user has failed a previous test”, which, as the New York Times suggests, could mean making the ad box smaller in size after a certain period, meaning the user requires more concentration to banish the ad, or, the user could be asked to type in a answer to the ad, maybe some key combinations or the current date, or the name of the advertiser.

Don’t get too worried yet

Of course, just because Apple has filed a patent, doesn’t mean anyone’s going to incorporate that idea into their products soon, or even that Apple will be granted the patent.

It’s just the idea that is worrying, that such a method of advertising will be more annoying than what we have at present and will be a major intrusion into our lives.

Is it really Steve Jobs who filed this patent? Unbelievable.

Someone sent me a link recently which led me to a page which caught me taken unawares. I was surprised to see that Colgate has started promoting it’s products online targeting India. It’s good to see companies in India promoting online and it would be interesting to see which other Indian companies follow suit.

Currently Colgate has two offers on their website, both are toothpastes – Colgate Total 12 and Colgate MaxFresh.

Order a free Colgate Total 12 and/or Colgate MaxFresh toothpaste online. Remember that this offer is for only people living in India.

Most of us are internet junkies and therefore end up missing out on the wonderful print ads that still make a big impact on the public. This is primarily because most of us (me included) have quit checking out print ads and our life is spent amidst banner ads of different sizes.

Here are 20 ads that appeal to me a lot! Check them out, especially the one by Simply Marry – all of them are very creative ones!

1. Unicef

2. BMW

3. NFB

4. Simply Marry

5. On Female Infanticide

6. Animal Planet

7. Cancer Aid Society Of India

8. Dubai Traffic Police

9. Plant More Trees

10. Cancer Society Of India

11. Global Warming

12. Trivandrum City

13. Kripa Foundation

14. The Indian Association for Promotion of Adoption and Child Welfare

15. Horlicks

16. Girl Child

17. XEROX

18. Times Of India – Teach India Campaign

19. C.R.Y

20. Defi Pour La Terre

In India, an outdoor campaign has been launched (OOH, TVC, Print) recently, asking users ‘Kyaa Aapko K.I.L.B hai?’ What is K.I.L.B is something that no one has any answers for, just that it seems short for Kill Bill . Indians have started searching the web left right and center wondering what  K.I.L.B refers to. Here is a sample of the ad.

On 5th August K.I.L.B is among top 10 search terms in India (when i checked) according to Google Trends (yesterday its a 18th rank). I guess that’s a considerable number keeping in mind that K.I.L.B is promoted primarily using OOH (Out Of Home media) and rare TVC’s (Tele Vision Commercials). (Click on the images for more clarity)

I have a feeling the people behind this viral campaign did not expect the audience to go online and search for it on the web as I see no online marketing in the same lines. A Praneeth puts it, “Online/offline integration happens when advertisers/marketers look at bigger picture, gauge what different mediums can do to the campaign and execute it in a mix of mediums(if needed) than push one over the other. But in many cases agencies/advertisers end time and energies arguing the pros and cons of one medium over another.”

Here are some samples of very creative advertising by Ziploc. Here, their advertising agency has used different fruits and vegetables to depict the quality/usage of Ziploc.

For those who don’t know what Ziploc is, Ziploc is a brand of disposable, re-sealable zipper storage bags and containers originally developed by Dow Chemical Company, and now produced by S. C. Johnson & Son.

Here is a photo uploaded (on July 18, 2008) by marialgullickson on Flickr of a Portland Movie Theatre – CineMagic. Looks like the theatre management got caught halfway through changing the sign from “Hancock” to the latest Batman movie, “The Dark Knight” and as you can see from the photo, it became “The Dark Cock“!!

Great pic marialgullickson! By the way, this is not photoshopped

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