Touchpoints - As we call it

Struggles of a nation

Here I am struggling with a common problem

I grew up in Shillong often referred to as the Scotland of the East. Ever since I moved out of for my education and then a job I have lived across most metros in India - Chennai to start, then to Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai for a brief time, a couple of years in Kolkata and then Delhi.

My job took me places and during the first few years of my career I found myself waking up in a new town every other day. I got busy, enjoyed the frills that a metro life had to offer, squeezed out time to explore each of them but I never seem to connect to this life that I was living.

The tin roofed cottage that I had lived in, the polished wooden floor, the fireplace, the smell of pine, the garden in front often call me back. Growing up in a hills has its own charm, small cities in which you can practically reach from one end to the other in half an hour. A few climbs and you are away into the jungle, pick cones from the ground and practice a few catches. So many a times we would have full fledged cricket matches with a log and pine cone. The polluted air in the city I live today (Delhi) lead me to ask the question if it was all worth.

We had enough time, we would sit down and allow our thoughts to wonder. Moments such as these are something we often long today but with all the distractions and screens around we have forgotten the process to reflect and gain clarity. We are in the age of finding solution instantly and as a generation have lost patience.

The comfort the hills provide draws me to submission, what would I have done had I not grown up in the hills.

Towns and Villages as per the popstrata -

Just compiled the list of towns and villages across pop strata, A difficult job to get the data right. This data is prepared from the dump files of census 2011.

Our way of gathering information is fast changing- Google VS Facebook

Just sit back and think for a while, how much time have you spent searching for something on Google to the time that you have spent reading articles, updates, information that are shared by your friends of pages you liked on facebook. A recent question being passed on about the top three websites that you visit each day, Facebook leads youtube and google comes third.

This brings us to the believe that there is a drastic shift in the way information would travel and be consumed. What does this trend mean to the a marketeer? A marketeer can no longer wait for the consumer to come to him feed him with the message. From the whole set of people present online, there are a few enthusiasts that do the search and share, then there are a few who share the information searched by others and a large chuck of the online population just consume the information. Hence it has become imperative for a marketeer to create content that urges or inspires a consumer to share.

For the consumer that stays online the triggers to google search comes from social networking platforms like facebook, twitter etc. Hence it is imperative today for a brand to make a presence on the digital platform and create content that are worth sharing.

Organizations have over the years relied on the hitherto communication mediums and have spent huge amount of money on them but it is now time to look at the digital platform with more seriousness.

What is behind the Enfield Thump!!

I came across this print ad in the latest issue of Rolling Stones that lead me to find this amazing film that I thought I should share.

This ad sure draws that attachment to the Enfield, outlines the true essence of an Enfield being made. And the film captures the true essence of Chennai without a word spoken. We have always associated The Royal Enfields with those evangelist who own and drive them. And this film and ad pays tribute to those behind making the machine, a tribute to the place where it comes from.

And it certainly has been able to strike a different chord. A new way of looking at what is an age old principle of advertising started by Ogilvy. Let people know the product, where it comes from and how it is crafted.

Coke Studio: A new Road for Music

I have often written and believed that music is a platform that can unite and has the power to serve a motive (Highway 61, Rock On) . We have had a plethora of realty TV shows from Indian Idol, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa to a number of regional ones. This has certainly been instrumental in bringing out talents like Shreya Ghosal, Abhijit Sawant and many more, but what has worried me over the years is the dominance of Bollywood music over independent albums. Though I have great respect for Bollywood music but somehow feel that there exists a lot of talent outside that industry that needs to be brought out.

Music Entrepreneurship/Management and Sports Management are perhaps some things that have not caught up in India as yet, but I am a strong advocate of such concepts in India.

Some of the reasons for the rather slow growth of the independent music label industry:

1. Lack of a proper professional and organised mechanism to market independent music labels.

2. Lack of professional approach of bands or individual artists as they lack the necessary PR skills.

3. No one buys music!! Though the internet has been instrumental in allowing artists to have a greater reach, but piracy has been killing the industry.

4. The concept of live shows has picked up over the years but the consumers are still not ready to give it the same status as other entertaining forms like movies and eating out. With places like Hard Rock Cafes, High spirits in Kolkata, Curve in Pune etc. have surely been a platform for live musicians but still not a sustainable business opportunity for a band.

This brings me to the show that I wanted to share with you “Coke Studio” a show that has entered into its season 3. The underlying ideology of the show is to bring people closer, bridge gaps between societies through powerful music.

It encompasses the concept of live recordings and performance so that consumers can have a sense of involvement in the process of making music rather than just consume it. The music evokes a gamut of feelings with music ranging from traditional eastern, modern western and regionally inspired music. The platform has been provided by Coco Cola with the philosophy of peace an harmony which I feel is a great branding activity in a county like Pakistan.

Concepts like these can revolutionise the music industry in South Asian countries and replicating a similar model in India would perhaps take the industry on a new route or form a successful industry parallel to the existing Bollywood.

Facebook: Coke Studio

Highway61 will take Indian Rock to another level IF...

I had earlier blogged "We need music to spread its tentacles and serve a bigger responsibility in nurturing the minds of the people, the youth and foster a sense of awareness for the problems that have wrapped the nation." And this band was perhaps, exactly what I was referring to then.

I have been following Highway 61 a Pune based band for a couple of years now. Their music can be categorised under Hindi,Sufi, Urdu and Ethnic Rock. They have risen by playing at various college fests. Recently they won the Battle of Bands at SCMHRD and they would also open Bryan Adams on the 11th FEB 2011 in Pune.

This band has almost the right mix that is required for a band to be commercially successful. This band has risen purely on the basis of their music. They have the ability to take Indian Rock to another level if marketed properly. 50% of the Indian population is below 25 and considering the fact that they sing in Hindi there is a huge audience for the kind of music that they produce.

Their compositions are strongly rooted to what they stand for, they believe that they are the voice of the resurgent youth and it is necessary to make their voices heard, their song Jagoo Zara tries to capture just this essence.

Not too many music band in India have had really great commercial success, may be they have always been overpowered by Bollywood music. I believe that this kind of music has great potential to be commercially successful and give the Indian Rock a new definition. It would be interesting to see how these bands market themselves and what opportunities and business models come up so that bands such as these have sustainable commercial growth.

Follow them on Facebook and download their music: Highway61