Monthly Archives: August 2010

Story of our times

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India has always had two kinds of heroes, those who rule and those who are performers. These two are the royalty and performers. In any kingdom the King has always wanted to be in touch with reality of his kingdom. The performers have always been the pride of the kingdom.
In the ancient times the royalty went a great distance to be connected with their kingdom. The Open Durbars were their way of listening to the public. They were really the original crowdsourcers.
The performers were the people who caught the public’s eye and were always treated with awe and respect
This is how it used to be even in modern times. We have put two sets of people on the pedestal, the politicians and the performers. The performers include film stars and sports stars. It’s the performers who furthered the brand equity of the nation.
Earlier the politicians really lead a public life, where they mingled with the public and reflected their sense of moment. They were interested in what the public was doing, feeling and speaking. The politicians were really public figures and lead a public life
The second set of people is the performers. They have always leaded a private life. This helped them in creating the right myth and it increased their brand value. The myth was the critical for them to stay in limelight.
This whole dynamic has changed in recent times. The politicians have increasingly become the reclusive people and the performers have become the connected public figures.
The performers have really used the social mediums to become public figures. It is now very easy for the general public to interact with their heroes and role models. Twitter and Facebook have brought them out of the silver screen to our mobiles. The fans no longer need to wait outside the homes of the stars to get a glimpse of them. They are around, always.
The politicians on the other hand have become the isolated islands. They rarely want to connect with public and even more rarely do they reflect the sentiment of public. And a few who have wanted to connect and reflect popular opinion have been pushed to the fringe. They do appear in media only to ensure that the public does not forget them.
This is a strange paradox where those who should be connected are not, and those who can do without the connection are!
Are there any implications on the world of branding? Clearly there is a connection. Brands too are about creating a myth around them, by generating authentic stories around them.
For a longtime the brands have played the reclusive game. They have allowed people to peep into their world but in a very limited sense. Even when they signed up with a ‘performer’ they have not opened themselves up completely. This has started to change now. The rising consumer power is forcing the brands to open up and truly become public. They are now forced to create communities, give up control and really become friends with consumers. They are discovering that it pays to be open about the brand myth, make their audience an insider and be open. They are willingly giving up practices that used to infuriate their audience and bringing more and more and more truth in brand communication. I agree that this trend is not really a dominant theme, and many brands are still in reclusive mode. It’s only a matter of time before they catch on.
Earlier the politicians used to Crowdsource to increase their appeal, now the brands are doing the same.
Wonder why the politicians are not learning?

http://www.bestmediainfo.com/2010/08/story-of-our-times-naresh-gupta/

Games we will play

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The motto of Commonwealth Games Federation is Humanity, Equality, and Destiny. Who would have ever imagined that destiny will become the major driver of Games when India will host it! There is a lot that is being debated and written about the games. There is still suspense about the state of readiness, and about the infrastructure and about our ability to conduct them. The campaigns have started with the baton travelling across the world and the city trying to learn civic sense. There is a lot said about by various stakeholders, including a politician openly saying that he will be happy if the games are a failure.

Looks like Destiny will have a key role to play in the success of the games.

I am not joining the debate about success or failure of the games. Let’s for one moment assume that India will host the most spectacular games ever in the history of the Games. Let’s also assume that spectators in India and possibly around the world will remember these games for the spectacle it will provide.

Now if this really happens what can happen? Are there trends that the games can trigger?

The commonwealth games are the biggest branding exercise that India has undertaken to build its brand imagery. The games will trigger a new wave of interest in India. India will become the theme for many brand campaigns across the world. The interest in tourism in India will go up many folds and our share will see a sharp rise.

We would also remember the games for clever marketing by the brands. Years later we will be discussing how one brand upstaged the other, how we were forced to change our credit cards because the games had an official credit card, or how we decided to change the car we wanted to buy because the games had an official car.

“Official” would be a fashionable word in more ways than one. As usual there would be official brands, and as usual there would be ‘officials’. So would the word unofficial be as fashionable, as we would have the unofficial brands, and the unofficial (read players)

However these are not the trends that we will remember the games by. Possibly we will remember the games for some very interesting things, and they will be outside the ambit of brands and sponsorship deals. They would be the things that the spectators, players and possibly the coaches will spark off.

The first thing we will remember the games for is Twitter. The games will truly prove to be the tipping point for Twitter in India. If FiFA world cup is anything to go by, Commonwealth Games will truly revolutionize the micro blogging habit. The players will be Tweeting their opinions. The coaches will be Tweeting their reactions. And the spectators will be Tweeting their experience. People will follow their stars without boundaries any time, all the time. Twitter will go main stream in India and will rival every other social networking site. The impact of Twitter will last way beyond the games.

The second thing we will remember the games for is for user generated content. The real story of games will not lie with what is being telecast on TV, but in what the players, coaches and spectators are saying. The ‘insiders’ point of view will always carry more weight than the telecast version of the games. The viewers will be spoilt for choice as they would get to see very vantage point that is there to see or experience.

The third thing we will remember the games for is Mobile Phones. If the 1982 Asiad was about colour televisions than the 2010 Commonwealth games will be about mobile phones, apps on phones, streaming videos on phones, videos shot on phones and a virtual medial networks created by phones. I agree none of this about mobile phones is new, but the scale would be radically different. There would be a massification of the mobile apps.

The New Delhi Games motto of come out and play can have completely different meaning. Now if only the basic assumption holds true