Context is decisive

For most Indians brought up on a staple diet of Bollywood, Mohammad Kashif Memon doing a Hrithik Roshan on “America’s Got Talent” show, would probably be seen as ridiculous, crazy, stupid, weird or anything else that’s equally dismissive. But, when the audience is mostly those who have little or no idea about Bollywood, “talent” can take a whole new meaning.

Interestingly, given this context, I found I was hooked onto the videos myself. If I had seen him on Indian TV, I’d have probably changed the channel in 3 seconds.

Moral of the story: Context is decisive.

PS: And, for those who haven’t seen the “real” thing (Hrithik Roshan in the movie “Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai”), here goes…Enjoy!!!

Music that listens to you

(A quick break from the 20*7 schedule that we’re on currently…)

I just LOVE Yahoo’s ‘LaunchCast’ (aka ‘Yahoo Music’). I’ve been listening to Launch since Sep ‘99, well before Yahoo acquired them. And after having rated close to 1000 songs/artists, I know Launch does really listen to me.

Wannabe ‘value added services’?

With so much competition in the mobile/telecom space these days, service providers seem to be getting desperate with “value added services”. I get this message from Airtel today…

For the young at heart, Airtel brings BackgroundMusic! Set a Romantic/Funny tone in background when U talk on ur mobile. Call 676 @ Rs.2/min to avail. Monthly-Rs.30

Maybe it’s just me again, but who would want to listen to some “romantic/funny tone” (in other words, noise?) while you’re trying to have a conversation over the mobile? It’s bad enough to deal with network connectivity issues and the noise while you’re outdoors.

On the other hand, I really like the ‘missed call alert’ service. For Rs.15 a month, you get an SMS from Airtel whenever somebody tried to call you and your cellphone was either ‘out of range’ (unreachable) or was switched off. Of course, the message also tells you the number of the person who called, so you could call them back.

While on the topic, incidentally, the upcoming Mobile Monday in Bangalore is about Mobile VAS trends. Still figuring out if I can make it for this one.

Sounds like…

Overheard in a conversation (while checking out few ringtones on the cellphone), “Don’t play that ringtone, it reminds me of my ex-boss!” With many folks using fancy/crazy/outlandish ringtones these days, it’s not surprising we now associate ringtones with the person after some time. Which made me realise how we associate sounds and other senses with people, objects, incidents, brands, etc.

Of course, music has always been a popular marketing tool. Found this piece of info on the some of the most well recognized sounds in marketing history…Intel, Microsoft and THX.

Austrian KLF fan Walter Werzowa had never heard of Intel when they asked him to compose a 3 second jingle for them. Last year alone (2004), they spent $350m promoting the sound he created in his home studio by paying PC companies to use it in their ads. It’s played once every five minutes somewhere around the world.

…

Ten years ago, Microsoft spent $300m launching Windows 95 (just under $3 per copy sold). A tiny slice of that money went to Brian Eno, who recorded the startup sound on a handful of ageing synths in his studio.

Seems like a full fledged industry by itself! With the rapid boom of the cellphone ringtone business, I can only see this trend becoming more significant.

Thinking back at the use of music/sound in the Indian media over the years, Coke’s recent ad (in India) really tries too hard to associate burping (of all things) with drinking Coke. How weird is that? The Britannia sound (at the end of the ad) is one of the older brands in India that’s got good positive recall. And, who can forget the ‘Malgudi Days’ theme music? (I hope Coke does some serious re-thinking with that ad.)