DELHI - 0

Here’s a contemporary example of a product failure despite great advertising and publicity efforts. I am talking of the movie, Delhi-6.
The movie is directed by Mr. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra (Award Winning Director of Rang De Basanti) and the music is by Oscar Winner Mr. Rahman. Cast is good with additional flavors of Hrishi Kapoor and Waheeda Rehman. And not to forget, the Integrated Marketing Communication used has been great too. The best visibility factor has been the PR activities, including participation in Indian Idol.
Despite all these, movie failed badly. It is because the content, the story and the entire concept was pathetic. In a nutshell, the product is not worth. The movie has created so much of expectations and then, the movie failed to live up to those expectations.
Now, if we look at the larger picture, what is the consequence of this classic failure? Well, setting up expectations and not living up to them creates Customer Dissonance. People are irritated and disappointed. Now, they won’t be able to easily believe the director and cast again.
This reminds me of a quote by Mr. David Ogilvy, “Customer is not a moron. She is your wife”. This means that we should give the customers something genuine, that is worth their money and time.