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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 wouldknock 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 maturedto 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

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