ere�s a quick one. What is common to Louis, Lacto King, Fido Dido, Doughboy and Tony the Tiger? Well, their claim to fame is that all of them are part of a raging trend of using animation in advertising. Marketers and agencies are using animated characters in television commercials (TVCs) to sell everything from candies and soft drink to car batteries and insurance services.

So what is the idea behind this surge? Explains Anil Warner, vice-president and executive creative director at JWT: "Animation is used to break clutter. It can put across the brand message just as well as live action can." The concept, however, is not new to India. Twelve years ago, Crest Animation Studios was one of the first to use this technique with its Kawasaki Bajaj morphing into a cheetah. Some of the other characters - Fido Dido, Louis, Doughboy and Tony the Tiger - are international properties which set the pace for Indian brands such as Lacto King and All-Out. "Advertising needs to follow the AIDA (attention, interest, desire, action) model. Animation addresses the first two. Once attention and interest are created, the other two follow," says AK Madhavan, CEO, Crest.... more