For all the noise it made, what did that Boat ad REALLY achieve?

The ad has polarised viewers. Some say that it is unnecessarily offensive and a little wannabe, while others have hailed it as a bold and brave ad by an Indian brand which is not afraid to stand up to a big international brand - very Desi David against Firangi Goliath! Many observers are even saying that the very debate it has sparked is proof that the ad has worked for Boat, as it has got Boat attention and also got the Indian brand mentioned in the same breath as the mighty Apple. Rather than talk about the design of the ad and its messaging, we only have a single query: Has this extremely expensive exercise (ToI front page ads cost a bomb) actually helped Boat in any way?

For let's be brutally honest, while the ad has undoubtedly got Boat attention, was the brand short of attention? I mean, the "2nd largest wearable company globally" would hardly attain that position without getting attention, right? The brand has Ranveer Singh as a brand ambassador and an investor and has tied up with the likes of Daljeet Dosanjh and Hardik Pandya, and has run very high profile ad and marketing campaigns. No matter what the positioning, Boat is no tiny outfit taking on a giant. It is actually a pretty huge company itself - the "2nd largest wearable company globally" as it itself points out. So yes, attention has been grabbed, but the problem is that it was never missing!

This is not the first time an Indian brand as poked fun at Apple. More than a decade ago, Micromax did the same. But it was a brand that had very little attention in a market dominated by MNCs and needed the controversy and noise the ad generated to be noticed. Boat honestly does not. It is the top wearable brand in the country, has multiple celebrity tie-ups, is selling in large numbers and has a high profile corporate leader. Micromax was not part of the top smartphone brands in India when it poked Apple. Boat is actually ahead of Apple in the India! Will the ad make people stop buying Apple? Unlikely. Will it boost Boat's market share by making people believe it is better than Apple? Once again, very unlikely. The two brands have radically different audiences who have very little in common. There is some chance that the ad might make people move from Boat's rivals in India, but Boat is well ahead of them anyway.l

There is a belief in some circles that being talked about is better than not being talked about and hence, any coverage (even negative) is good coverage. Unfortunately, this rationale works only in the case of brands that do not get media attention and need to be noticed at all costs. Boat does not quite fall into that category - it frequently releases devices, has high profile brand ambassadors and has a very visible presence in both market and media.

So, what do we think of the Boat ad? Well, call us old fashioned but we believe that ads are actually designed to benefit brands or causes. And for the life of us, we cannot see what benefit Boat has derived out of spending a bomb on this ad. Had it come out with this advertisement when it was still a minor player, we would have totally got it as it would have got it in the public eye. But now? All it has done is generated some debate, got some praise, got some criticism and been part of the online conversation - great for an unknown brand, not much use for an established one.

The clumsiness of the ad itself has not helped - "Fanboy" is a term used as often for Android users as Apple ones, as the term refers to fanatical following, rather than devotion to Apple. So when Boat asks you to be a Boathead, it is actually asking you to be a Boat fanboy. Then there is the recommendation to not think different but think better. We get the need to play on Apple's epic tagline, but the fact is that you will be thinking differently even when you think better. The Indian brand mantra is also undercut by market sources who accuse Boat of manufacturing extensively in China and sometimes even rebranding Chinese products.