AG Krishnamurthy
Business Standard
26 November 2004

There's a magnificently grand L&T (sorry, I should be saying Ultratech)
"name change" commercial on television. I like this TV commercial because it simply and beautifully articulates two things - the bigness of the company and the change of name.

The Ganesh shlok speaks volumes for the company - its desire for auspicious beginnings, its humility even though it seems omnipresent. And its Indianness, among others.

Beautifully shot, the TV commercial gives the viewer the impression that the company spans the length and breadth of the country. By using a very one simple everyday device like painting over the existing name it reinforces its campaign thought - except for the name, nothing has changed. And its omnipresence and bigness are heightened by workers changing the name across every conceivable medium known to the Indian advertiser!

Yes, this TV commercial definitely works. Size, grandeur, change - it ties up all these difficult concepts so efficiently that even though it looks simple, there is no doubt that masterful craftsmanship is definitely at work here. Moreover, it has that mesmerising pull that all advertisers yearn for. We have seen a lot of name changes happening over the past year, but very few of them have managed to get us to stop and stare. This one will definitely be a benchmark in its category for a long time to come.