BSNL signed up Deepika Padukone in August 2008 apparently ‘to identify itself with the youth…’, Deepika having shot to a ‘youth icon’ status right after her first movie release. She replaced an equally out-of-place Preity Zinta, whose last act in favour of BSNL was a refusal to marry someone who didn’t have a landline connection.

So in times when brands like Airtel, Idea, and Vodafone are relying on brand campaigns for a service that is as ‘FMCG’ and competitive as it gets, why does BSNL choose to continuously come up with unbelievably unreal advertising? It is almost the ‘Bingo’ of telecom advertising – except that BSNL is not really trying to be funny at all. They are being seriously archaic and disconnected from the consumer.

Two-thirds of TV advertising for the Indian telecom segment was for telecom services in 2007, a growth of over 100% over the previous year. Not a surprise. It is truly fascinating to see each of the leading brands invest significantly in creating strong and distinct brand identities, largely successfully. Even a new entrant in nationwide telecom advertising like Aircel is using Dhoni fairly well in telling their hardcore product story well.

One close look at the competitive advertising will set the benchmarks fairly high for BSNL – or are they not looking?

Airtel’s SRK campaigns, the Vidya-Madhavan campaign, the ‘across-the-border’ football commercial, the ‘Delhi-run’ commercial, and the most recent ‘toy-phone’ ad – all seem like answers to different communication requests, from what could be completely different ads. The logo and the signature tune stay. But each campaign / commercial is memorable, and in some ‘can’t put a finger on it’ manner build the brand story. Perhaps a clear result of two things – deep pockets and good individual ads (some of the SRK ones were bad, but their average is pretty high).

Vodafone set new standards in Indian advertising. You don’t need to show a man on a cell phone to sell telecom services; a loyal dog can serve as a good metaphor! There are distinct campaigns for Hutch / Vodafone brand and services; the ‘warmth’ of the brand campaigns; and the ‘simplicity’ of the services communication is consistent. And yet there is a commonality in the two sets of campaigns that are almost always running simultaneously.

The Idea cellular campaign scores on consistency again. What could have been a done-to-death idea – ‘what an idea’ for a company called Idea! – wins simply because someone decided to stick to it. Honestly, I don’t completely get the campaign or what it really means to consumers at all. But Idea with just 9% of TV advertising among the limited number of telecom services brands, stays with me. Of course, the campaign would be nothing without AB’s celebrity presence.

Even Tata Telecom and Reliance have made attempts to connect with audiences. Whether it’s through the Kajol-Ajay endorsement, or an improvisation on the cliché bollywood formula. Check this Reliance one out which definitely stands out in the telecom crowd

So this being the competitive landscape, what is BSNL’s answer? Pretty girls using cell phones, and telling others to do the same!

The worst I would think is the most recent Deepika Padukone TV commercial. The most ridiculous use of a celebrity – the plot seems to have been developed irrespective of the heroine featured. Deepika definitely does not come through as a ‘youth icon’, the very reason BSNL gave for signing her on. Terrible acting and absolutely no connect with audiences. And a tagline ‘hindustan bol raha hai’ which is a straight lift from Reliance’s ‘bol India bol’.

Reports say that BSNL lost 4.4 million landline customers in 2007-8 alone. Time to question what they have been doing wrong - beginning with advertising.

From another perspective, don’t celebrities have a say or a point-of-view on how foolish they are willing to look? BSNL’s Preity campaign set new standards in terrible celebrity advertising. Having seen that, wouldn’t any intelligent star insist on knowing how they will be used? Why would Deepika agree to repeat Preity’s glaring mistake? Stars like Aamir Khan are said to take a serious interest in even their ad scripts. Rightly so! Their salability and credibility is at stake after all, and it should be.

The flaw with the BSNL approach seems to be the entire approach. ‘I want to make an ad. I will show all I can do in my ad. To catch attention I will use a celebrity. Deepika Padukone is hot and happening. Let’s sign her on to tell all my stories. Since she is an actress, let’s make her act multiple roles to show all our services’.

Alternative? ‘Wake up. Landline connections are not linked with ‘respectability’ any more. But they are more reliable than mobile phone services in terms of crisis. And BSNL has the longest and soundest history in landline telephony and therefore the best equipped to deliver these services’. Now that maybe a worthwhile proposition to a customer. Or, with BSNL’s reach and network, internet connectivity will not be an issue in the remotest of places. All of us who have used other service providers know that in the middle of the jungle or the top of the mountain, the only service provider who might still connect is BSNL. So use that, and use that well.

BSNL is not starting with articulating their honest, unique proposition. Which might actually define what the ads will say, and also who would be the best spokesperson for it. Perhaps a strong, well-respected public figure is more relevant than a ‘youth icon’ for these propositions?

The truth is that your choice of a service provider is actually a very high-involvement decision. Besides the fact that mobile connectivity is so critical in our everyday life, the Idea ‘number identity’ commercial touched on another interesting truth. While you can’t identify people by their cell phone numbers alone, the first few digits do set an impression. A 93xxxxx number is definitely less preferable to a 98xxxxx. So to make the 93s more desirable, BSNL needs to rethink their communication pitch and ‘talk’ to the consumer; not just ‘advertise’, somehow.