urf the airwaves and chances are, sooner or later, you�ll come across commercials for Saint-Gobain and AIS (earlier Asahi India Safety Glasses) jostling for space amidst the host of soap, detergent, toothpaste, soft drink and automotive ads.

On the face of it, there�s nothing out of the ordinary about these ads for Saint-Gobain and AIS - after all, they�re just well-made commercials that sell a product and a brand like any other. What makes them worth mentioning is the fact that the two advertised brands operate in a category with probably the lowest degree of consumer involvement in the country, and is among the most commoditised ones around - glass. To serve as an indicator, the per annum-per capita consumption of float glass in India barely crosses the 0.50 kilogramme mark - which is but a fraction of the consumption of glass in the West. The fact that both Saint-Gobain and AIS are individually spending upwards of Rs 6 crore on mass media advertising in such an environment, is indicative of the brand-building efforts that the two have set their sights on. ... more