ADVERTISEMENTS IN NEPAL

There are no records of any kind that tell us about the origin and history of Nepali advertisements. The earliest form of advertising may thus be taken as the trumpet blowing tradition of kings and maharajas to disperse royal messages. The advent of Mass Communication in Nepal can be said to have been through such official proclamations, which were usually accompanied by the use of musical instruments like drums or trumpets. The age-old oral tradition of promotion by vendors selling their wares in the market can also be taken as another early form of advertising. Even today, Nepalese advertising industry is still in its neo-natal period. Unlike some Indian and western advertisements, we rarely see Nepalese advertisements that would take us by surprise, a masterpiece that would knock our socks off with its divergent thinking. Nepalese market is filled with copy advertisements. The fact today is - we are lagging behind in this creative field. One of the reasons might be because of our limited resources to execute a perfectly conceptualized advertisement. Another reason could be we are too complacent and turn a blind eye on the power of communication or we just love copying and this is cost effective, no matter how effective the advertisement would be to our context. Many advertisements that we come across on FM stations or watch on television are a dubbed version of an Indian advert. This is the first stage where we compromise in terms of creative thinking as we fail to touch base with one of the basic characteristics of Marketing Communications Mix which means dramatizing companys product through artful use of sound, color and print. In context of Nepal which bears little resemblance to that of an Indian setting, the same advertisement is dubbed into Nepali and broadcasted regardless of the demography and the economic orientation that influences consumer behavior. How something researched in India can be assumed to be true for the Nepalese consumer market, is something to be given a
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ADVERTISEMENTS IN NEPAL

serious thought to. We are just operating under a hypothesis that if some data has come from the Indian market research, it can be sure shot target for Nepal as well. An equally pertinent question is whether or not the Nepalese consumers can relate themselves with the Indian characters and that might be where the advertisement loses its essence or impact power. These advertisements simply dont connect with the Nepali target audience. As long as we continue to use these advertisements, well be in a state of complacency and seldom will we encourage our minds to think out of the box. Though in the last few years, with the advent of some internationally-trained local creative minds, it has been evident that Nepali agencies have matured to a large extent. There are a couple of very well-planned campaigns that have reflected better understanding of the fundamental concepts of advertising. But, the battle with innovative foreign minds will require us to promote our ideas and not replicate theirs. Changes have to come in perception, work ethics, methods and technologies. The path ahead is challenging, but we should think out of the box to better match our advertisements to our culture, society, demography and context.

References The Himalayantimes Daily, Article Nepali Advertisements dated 2010-12-31 http://marketingadvertisementconcept.blogspot.com/ http://adnepal.org.np/viewcontent.php?mainid=299&content_id=182