An advertising campaign of a telecom company that shows a stripey orphaned tiger cub running for cover urges people to “Save the Tiger”. The social marketing campaign of Aircel has roped in a galaxy of sports icons to endorse the cause. The suggestion is to raise the voice, write blogs….among other things. Well, the compassionate human in me feels tempted to be a part of saving the tiger, and hence write the blog. But on second thoughts, the communication professional in me fails to connect with the cause and the brand. There is a big question mark over efficacy of the suggested methodology here and I am still groping for an answer as to how to contribute the cause constructively.
The Social Marketing has been the buzz word, of late. It is very much the same as the Digital Media & Social Networking Sites have been the handy tool for the PR pros during the last few years. I have earlier written as to how over reliance on social media only reflects strategic PR dilemma http://track2media.blogspot.com/2009/07/over-reliance-on-social-media-reflects.html. However, very much like the Digital media getting over crowded and messages directionless in the PR world, the Social Marketing in advertising is getting vague, directionless and often offers no solution to the questions raised.
Nearly all the Social Marketing campaigns that have hit the newspapers, TV Spots and Billboards have started with a question and have failed to answer it conclusively. Advertising agencies focusing on Social Marketing should probably take a leaf out of Jaago Re campaign of Tata Tea which advocates about compulsory voting. No wonder, the campaign saw 28 lakh registrations on their website.
Even though I deplore voting in a political set-up where Right to Recall the elected representative is non-existent, I feel an emotional connect with the campaign. However, their next campaign that talked about corruption (Khilana Bandh Peelana Shuru) clearly showed conceptual fatigue and had no answer as to how to check the menace of corruption in a society where an honest man and not corrupt one is a liability.
This fine brand and message connect is quite evident in the Amir Khan endorsed Atithi Devo Bhava (Guest is God). It has all the necessary ingredients of a successful Social Marketing campaign-an emotional connect; promoting tourism as a brand and involvement of the TG, that is common man on the streets, while the pre requisite of a moral high ground in such a campaign has also been maintained.
However, there are other campaigns like What An Idea Sirji, where campaign takes off in a Caste Conundrum, changes track mid way amidst criticism and then goes directionless with its Save Paper message. It seems advertisers had no idea as to whether message should be kept at the fore front or the persona of film star as its brand ambassador. While the first message didn’t offer any solution, the second one is a copy & paste solution of successful global campaign of an IT company.
The petrol conservation campaign of PCRA where a school going son tells his father not to keep the car running at red light is more of a brand trying to connect to the TG through children as influencers. The statement of the child that he will open a bicycle repair shop in future may be seen as a threat by a section and is not something that will go down well with the sensibilities in the Indian cultural context. The element of moral high ground, which ideally should flow into two-way channel, is only through the perspective of the advertiser here. Most important, it does not offer a viable solution. In my opinion, such a campaign would have evoked more response if targeted around an option like Car Pool.
An ideal Social Marketing campaign is one that takes the Brand Positioning to a moral high ground, offers a solution to the core of the problem and not just holding a candle to the cause, blends well with the cultural context of the given market and connects instantly with the TG. Unfortunately, Save Tiger campaign fails on these parameters. Even though I whole heartedly support the cause, the brand connect feels like being thrust upon and solution is nothing more than holding a candle to the cause.
My worry, however, is more with the emerging trend in advertising where there is an over dose of Social Marketing campaigns. While the corporates need to introspect with the brand positioning through Social Marketing, advertising will do no harm to their reputation if they offer a judicious use of such campaigns. This evolving genre of advertising is applicable only when the Brand, Message, TG and a legitimate cause blend into perfection. Failing this Social Marketing will not only lose its cutting edge but relevance as well.
11:22 PM
.........to hell with nationalism
“To hell with nationalism…..” I said in reaction to a friend’s overt criticism of attack on the Indian students in Australia. My agitation has less to do with his nostalgic patriotism and more against the moral high ground in a society that is widely responsible of reverse racism on more than one account. Of course, it hurts to me also when I find an innocent Indian being under the racial attack for no fault. However, the question remains as to whether we Indians as a collective society are left with any moral right to condemn the kind of xenophobia that we too have subconsciously inculcated in us.
What kind of nationalism do we talk about in a country which is largely xenophobic within itself? People from Delhi and western UP think Bihar is all about labour class, Maharashtra gives a clarion call to ban the entry and work of people of UP and Bihar, a singer & a politician is asked to apologise for speaking as an Indian and not Marathi, a film star is victimized in his own Karmabhoomi for speaking the language of peace and harmony with a neighboring country, there is widening north-south divide, people from North East are victimized in north India, and a minister in Andhra Pradesh asks cricket team to boycott tournament since Hyderabad is not selected as venue for game….the list is endless suggesting aloud that we are all racists.
India as a society has the legend of championing the notion of nationalism much before the world knew the concept of nationalism as a fall out of French Revolution and Nation State. The claim may be challenged by the western historians but the fact remains that the legendary Chanakya of country’s first and mighty Magadha Empire had espoused the cause of nationalism much before the French Nationalism came into existence. The war rhetoric of “Kashmir se Kanyakumari tak sarvatra bhoomi hamari hai” is something that goes into the folk lore for its overt nationalist pride.
However, the friend of mine who has all the soft corner for the fellow country men being thrashed in Australia has no knowledge of the historical fact that the state of Bihar in its primitive stage of Magadha Empire has the credit to teach the nation what nationalism is all about. Being born in Muzaffarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh and brought up in Delhi, he has no idea as to what nationalism is and what it should be in a modern progressive society and economy.
The migration of labour class from the vary same state of Bihar which taught the world what nationalism is all about, makes him think that Bihar is all about labour supply chain, with no academic excellence. This inherent superiority complex makes him overlook the fact that Bihar has been centre of academic excellence since ages and Nalanda along with Taxila had been the only universities to begin with and torch bearers of academic excellence since ages. Even today sixty percent of the country’s premium service, including the IAS, comes from the very same state of Bihar.
The places like Banaras and Allahabad might have produced some of the best talents in the country, but for a section of Maharashtra the state of UP is all about Bhaiyyas and milkmen. This regional profiling is an inherent reality in today’s India suggesting that perception is larger than reality. As per the records of the National Crime Records Bureau, Muzaffarnagar may be the crime capital of India, but perception backed by myopic and xenophobic mindset would love to believe that it is Bihar that is producing all criminals. When I find people in Delhi and some other parts of the country taking a moral high ground on the issue of Marathi versus the rest, I feel as if we are not just racists but shameless too. Our sense of self-righteousness awakens only when we are confronted with someone who is more racist, more xenophobic and more unethical than us.
The fact of the matter is that racism is, more often than not borne out of our own incompetence and hence helplessness. Had it been the case of Maharashtrians excelling in the competition with incumbents from other states, the issue of Maratha pride would never have snowballed into political spectrum. The same goes true for Delhi as well. If the second-generation Delhi residents would have competed ahead of first generation migrants there would have been no sense of hatred. But high academic institutions like the JNU and Delhi University are being filled by the students of Bihar, UP and now South and North East. Not coping with this meritocracy, racism is the only undemocratic low that people often stoop to.
Let us face the facts. We as the collective consciousness of the society are all bloody racists. And till the time we live in the glass houses, we should refrain from throwing stones. To champion the cause of nationalism we must first get rid of bigotry, persecution complex, jingoism and conspiracy theory.
What kind of nationalism do we talk about in a country which is largely xenophobic within itself? People from Delhi and western UP think Bihar is all about labour class, Maharashtra gives a clarion call to ban the entry and work of people of UP and Bihar, a singer & a politician is asked to apologise for speaking as an Indian and not Marathi, a film star is victimized in his own Karmabhoomi for speaking the language of peace and harmony with a neighboring country, there is widening north-south divide, people from North East are victimized in north India, and a minister in Andhra Pradesh asks cricket team to boycott tournament since Hyderabad is not selected as venue for game….the list is endless suggesting aloud that we are all racists.
India as a society has the legend of championing the notion of nationalism much before the world knew the concept of nationalism as a fall out of French Revolution and Nation State. The claim may be challenged by the western historians but the fact remains that the legendary Chanakya of country’s first and mighty Magadha Empire had espoused the cause of nationalism much before the French Nationalism came into existence. The war rhetoric of “Kashmir se Kanyakumari tak sarvatra bhoomi hamari hai” is something that goes into the folk lore for its overt nationalist pride.
However, the friend of mine who has all the soft corner for the fellow country men being thrashed in Australia has no knowledge of the historical fact that the state of Bihar in its primitive stage of Magadha Empire has the credit to teach the nation what nationalism is all about. Being born in Muzaffarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh and brought up in Delhi, he has no idea as to what nationalism is and what it should be in a modern progressive society and economy.
The migration of labour class from the vary same state of Bihar which taught the world what nationalism is all about, makes him think that Bihar is all about labour supply chain, with no academic excellence. This inherent superiority complex makes him overlook the fact that Bihar has been centre of academic excellence since ages and Nalanda along with Taxila had been the only universities to begin with and torch bearers of academic excellence since ages. Even today sixty percent of the country’s premium service, including the IAS, comes from the very same state of Bihar.
The places like Banaras and Allahabad might have produced some of the best talents in the country, but for a section of Maharashtra the state of UP is all about Bhaiyyas and milkmen. This regional profiling is an inherent reality in today’s India suggesting that perception is larger than reality. As per the records of the National Crime Records Bureau, Muzaffarnagar may be the crime capital of India, but perception backed by myopic and xenophobic mindset would love to believe that it is Bihar that is producing all criminals. When I find people in Delhi and some other parts of the country taking a moral high ground on the issue of Marathi versus the rest, I feel as if we are not just racists but shameless too. Our sense of self-righteousness awakens only when we are confronted with someone who is more racist, more xenophobic and more unethical than us.
The fact of the matter is that racism is, more often than not borne out of our own incompetence and hence helplessness. Had it been the case of Maharashtrians excelling in the competition with incumbents from other states, the issue of Maratha pride would never have snowballed into political spectrum. The same goes true for Delhi as well. If the second-generation Delhi residents would have competed ahead of first generation migrants there would have been no sense of hatred. But high academic institutions like the JNU and Delhi University are being filled by the students of Bihar, UP and now South and North East. Not coping with this meritocracy, racism is the only undemocratic low that people often stoop to.
Let us face the facts. We as the collective consciousness of the society are all bloody racists. And till the time we live in the glass houses, we should refrain from throwing stones. To champion the cause of nationalism we must first get rid of bigotry, persecution complex, jingoism and conspiracy theory.
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