Category Archives: Commonwealth Games

The Impalling Vuvuzela Effect on Indian Media

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I happened to watch the opening ceremony of the 19th commonwealth games in the orange capital of India. I also happened to watch with a bunch of people who were what any one will call us average Indians. Ordinary people who work hard, who are successful in what they do, and who live in the smaller towns of India. It was amazing to watch the ceremony with them. The feeling of pride at what India had dished out at that evening was really infectious. Most of us watched the ceremony with our jaws open and were taken in by the opulence and pizzazz of the ceremony.

This led them to ask the most obvious question, is this event being held in India or this is some other country? Where are the stadiums that were about to collapse? Is this aerostat which was creating all the controversy? But this balloon looks fantastic. So what was the entire cacophony all about?

These are the people who we in our world say chasing the rating points. Coming from the heartland of India they make up the numbers and the channel content is geared to them. The more I spoke with them, the more it looked like that the news channels are suffering from the Vuvuzella effect.

Vuvuzella became popular at the FIFA world cup in South Africa. The make an awful lot of racket and people love to blow it. The louder it is the better is the instrument. However the instrument only produces one kind of sound and when they are blown collectively it sounds like a zillions bees have come swarming into the stadium. They make a lot of noise but they make a noise that can’t be differentiated

Vuvuzella allows people to whip up frenzy. It forces people to blow harder so that they make noise that is louder than the other. This sounds strangely similar to what we are seeing happen in the world of news media

The media generally is blowing harder and harder to make more and more noise. News is being turned into entertainment. Comedy shows and daily soaps get more prominence than what can be called is news. The headlines in newspapers look like titles of upcoming serials. More cricket being played on news channels than on field. The viewer or the reader is left asking where the news?

The Vuvuzella mindset is destroying the credibility and authenticity of media as a whole. There is a strange disconnection from reality that media has started to display. Media above all has a very big responsibility. They are the watchdogs of the society. They are supposed to be thorough, sensitive and diligent. Sadly the media has started to speak within itself and not to its audience. You can see it happen with almost every event that happens in the country is reported in a shrill and insensitive manner. Somehow the, media has started to lose its edge, and it’s losing it with what it calls its prime audience.

Enough has been said about media getting closer to its constituents and reflecting their views. It seems that media has decided to become more populist than an expert. While there are a few good men in there, and they are well respected, but the rank and file is simply blowing the Vuvuzella and not making music.

It’s time that the media introspected and decided to banish their Vuvuzellas. The audience is waiting for a symphony. I suspect that the media itself may be surprised by the audience reaction.

Now the big question: will they?

101 New Heroes

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Between 3rd and 14th October 2010, India has seen birth of 101 new heroes. These heroes are ordinary Indians like you and me, who through their talent, determination, grit, hard work and dedication have made the country proud. Each one of these 101 new heroes is a symbol of the new resurgent India that the world is watching with awe.
One of the ways of defining the richness of any culture is the number of heroes that they have. Heroes infuse new thoughts, show an alternate path, shape new rituals, and become role models. They are leaders in their own right, they are epitome of excellence. For a long period of time we have had just a handful of the role models. Cricket has contributed a few, and movies have contributed a few more, and the world of business too has had its share. Unfortunately we have had just a handful of icons. More so the world of advertising and marketing has always felt this lacuna where icons from popular culture help in creating engaging messages. It has always fallen short of the role models and has ended up choosing either cricketers or glamour stars from world of movies. Once in a while there have been odd beauty queens or glamorous tennis players.
Clearly the new heroes have caught the nations fancy. People came out in large numbers cheering for them. They braved many negatives and inconvenience to come out and connect with their new found idols. The cheering and the celebration every time they won indicated that there is public following for them. For once India stepped out of their homes to cheer for players who are not cricketers, and also who are not hockey players. Shooters, wrestlers, squash players, athletes, boxers all were adopted willingly.
For once we have a host of icons that can be leveraged to push a new agenda for the society. These are icons that will have far greater credibility, power to engage and power to craft opinions. One of the biggest issue that any brand faces is the credibility of the icon it wants to use and more often than not the communication fails to work due to poor fit of celebrities.
So what are the new possibilities? Here are a few
Haryana has redefined success in sports, and not just men, women have been leading the charge. How about the state of Haryana launching a campaign to promote gender equality, adopting the girl child with open arms and giving the infamous Khap Panchayats a new agenda to follow. Who can say it better than the winning grapplers and runners from Haryana?
The anti smoking lobby can do with a host of heroes who can motivate the impressionable young minds to kick the butt and kick some ball. Kicking the ball is in reality far cooler than lighting up.
Strength is a big dimension for many brands. There are a very few icons that represent strength in a real meaningful way. We have icons now that represent strength in the best possible way. Who can better personify strength than the boxers and wrestlers who have nerves of steel?
Commitment is another huge dimension that the brands strive to build. There are a host of heroes who represent commitment in ample measure. The relay runners, the discus throwers, the gymnasts and even the swimmers are great examples of heroes who are symbols of commitment
There are many more dimensions that the 101 new icons collectively can open up. Team work, pride, passion, nimbleness, triumph over adversity, unconventional path to success and above all a never say dies spirit.
By learning from and working with the new icons the world of advertising and marketing should start a completely new conversation. Conversation that is more real does not have cynicism and drives new behaviour.
The 101 new icons have opened up possibilities of shaping a new India. Let’s not lose the advantage. And let’s also build on their success to create a new culture of success.
Published at http://www.mediaworldbuzz.com

CWG: Everybody is a player

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The 19th edition of Common wealth Games to be held in Delhi are in midst of a huge crisis. Obviously the brand CWG is floundering under the sustained media pressure and this in turn is knocking at India’s equity too.

The media has been running a sustained and high pressure campaign dubbing the Commonwealth Games as common stealth games. Everyday there is a new revelation about a misdoing or corruption. The key opinion makers too have had field day writing about what is wrong with the games.

One leading writer of popular fiction has called for the boycott of games, called it the tool of repression and has gone to the extent of saying that the games should be used a tool to overthrow the current Government and install a new regime. In saying so he is only furthering the views of the ex sports minister of India. The jingoism has sunk to a new depth.

As it happens in any prolonged debate, the facts get muddled and perceptions start to become reality. A lot of the facts and figured that are being quoted by various people are more fiction than reality. The Indian Express story on tracking the expenses is possibly the only contrary voice in the debate.

The debates are now slipping into a very predictable pattern of raising a lot of issues but offering no solution. Interestingly the Winter Olympics in Vancouver and even the impending London Olympics are not beyond criticism. There was a very harsh criticism of estimated $6Bn (yes 6Bn Dollars, and by a first world country where supposedly the infrastructure is not a problem) spent by Canada in hosting the games, and London is facing criticism on its entire branding programme, which they say isn’t ‘British’ enough.

The only fact that is absolute truth in this debate is that there has been corruption in hosting these games. It also seems that entire logistics management for hosting the games has seen a collective brain freeze.

So let’s compartmentalize the whole issue.  There are the games to be hosted and there are issues in hosting the game. Should we allow the issues to overtake the event? If the brand manager messes up with the distribution should the brand be withdrawn and consigned to dustbin? Or maybe even close the company down which owns the brand? It’s become a classic case of throwing out the baby, but keeping the bathwater.

Now this raises the crucial question: who owns the brand CWG? No, it’s not the organizing committees, it’s not the sports ministries, and it’s definitely not the Governments. The brand is truly owned by the ordinary citizens of the participating countries and the host country has a special interest in the brand for a definite period of time. The athletes who will compete in the games have special interest in the brand, so do those who have competed in past and those who aim to compete in future. Unlike what the critics may be saying about who bothers about the commonwealth club, the special interest group bothers about it. We must see the brand from this prism.

The common public of India, however skeptical it may be, wants India to hold the most spectacular games ever. For its not only the athletes who would be competing in these games, it’s the whole nation that will be competing in these games. The pride, identity and value system of a whole nation is at stake. If the games are all about triumph over adversity, hard work, dedication and going for glory than the time to display all that is now.

We all own the brand, and we must ensure that we pass the right set of legacy and heritage to the next set of trustees. For that to happen, we have to ensure that we as a nation win, and not score a self goal.

http://www.mediaworldbuzz.com

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