This is as much the story of Indian advertising as it is about India. Ad veteran Ambi Parameswaran looks at how advertising has evolved, reflecting the country’s culture, politics and economy in the last fifty years. From sartorial taste and food habits to marriage and old age, music and language to celebrities and censorship, Ambi examines an exhaustive range of ads to study how the Indian consumer has changed in the past five decades and how advertising and society have shaped each other.
Combining anecdote and analyses to give us a slice of modern history, Ambi evaluates the relationship between affluence, aspiration and desire in India. Exploring trends and impacts, he covers the ads that captured the imagination of the entire country. From ‘Only Vimal’ and ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’ to ‘Jo biwi se kare pyaar’ and the controversial Tuffs shoes campaign, the book is a memorable journey through brands, consumers and the world of advertising.
About the Author :
Ambi Parameswaran is Brand Strategist and Founder of Brand-Building.com. He spent a large part of his thirty-five-year marketing sales and advertising career in helping build FCB Ulka into one of India s biggest ad agencies. An engineer from IIT Madras and MBA from IIM Calcutta he completed his PhD from Mumbai University in 2012 and the Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School in 2014. He is a visiting faculty member at leading business schools and a sought-after trainer at corporate seminars and programmes.
He has served as the President of The Advertising Club Bombay and the Advertising Agencies Association of India. He has been a speaker at TEDx Kellogg India Conference and Jaipur Literature Festival. Ambi writes for various business publications and has authored and co-authored several books on topics ranging from brand building and advertising to consumer behavior and religion.
‘Phenomenally well-written’ - R. Balki
‘His sharp observations scrutinize and his insights illuminate the trajectory of our society and industry’ - Prasoon Joshi
‘An insightful commentary on how Indian society has changed, told through an analysis of iconic advertisements over the years. The first of its kind’ - Rama Bijapurkar
‘For anyone who wants to understand the constant interplay between societal changes and advertising’ - Piyush Pandey
‘Combining sharp analysis with deep wisdom … both enriching and accessible’ - Santosh Desai
‘A great chronicle of Indian advertising … an amazing insight into a complex, seething, changing Indian society’ - Prahlad Kakkar, Ad Film-maker, Serial Entrepreneur
‘A fascinating story of Indian society in transition … informative, instructive and enjoyable, all at once’ - Harish Bhat, author of Tata Log and Member, Group Executive Council, Tata Sons