This post is nothing to do with Music. But if you really think – in SRGMP C2005 – there were many things which had nothing to do with music. This post is about conscious and unconscious marketing went behind the contestants, what worked, what didn't and implications of talent hunt on the 'mob' psychology. I don't know anyone related to Zee or contestants – all I got here are theories. I'll try to write this without any bias or prejudice.
For the readers – if you think this is not something of your choice – please move on – there plenty of great posts around, but please don't dilute the topic.
For the Moderators – I am perfectly aware of the fact that this post is nothing to do with Music – if you think digging the past is unhealthy for the forum – please close the topic – no hard feelings – I have complete faith on you people.
Where to start from? Let's start from Himesh-ji and Vinit (that's the only way for me to get some reader for this boring post). Now honestly – I am a big fan of Himesh ji in another perspective – as a great Marketing person (There is NO sarcasm here). The person who decides to produce TV serial to get into the music industry at the age of 18 – you must realize there is a great strategic and innovative thought process behind his every move. Look where is he right now. Ok – like many of you – I don't like his music and singing either – but we can't deny the way he moved forward within a very short span of time.
Enough of prelude – let's get into SRGMP. What HR ji did right to promote Vinit?
- Identify the right product. To be honest – unfortunately, he didn't have much choice, I must say he had the weakest team overall. HR ji identified Vinit as the best singer from his gharana – that's a first step to success.
- Find 'sticky' stories. To much talk about this already, but this time I am saying this with great appreciation of HR s marketing strategy. Vinit's love affair, His Sanskar, His Maa – ka – Payar – all are well articulated and well marketed sticky stories.
- NB: To start with Vinit had to 'inbuilt' sticky stories with him. One his middleclass background and his age – both are great for associating the audience (target market / voter) with him.
- Brand Signature: Vinit's Topi. No joke here- I am serious. Every person, even from the enemy-camp associate Vinit with his Topi. That's a brand signature of Vinit.
- Consistent Messaging: Can you identify these terms – 'consistence performance', '8-9-10', well… I can go on – but I think you got the point. HR never changed the terminologies – classic marketing 101!
So what went wrong with Vinit/HR – why they lost in the final? Now Vinit supporters -you can always brag about the fact of "Assam's Votes" – but there is a particular reason of the immense support from the home-ground of Debu. Also he got enough vote from other parts of India too (not as much as Vinit) apart from East zone. Why that happened?
I can identify couple of reasons here.
- When Zee started showing the regional voting pattern – Debu reached the 'Tipping Point'
- HR, despite of his great knowledge of marketing, violated a golden rule of Marketing 101 – NEVR TALK BAD ABOUT THE COMPETETOR. By bragging about the 'Assam's Votes' – he actually helped Debu a lot. Adesh ji was his partner in crime in this. More he (as well as Vinit) bragged about this issue – 2 things went wrong – 1st NE people got more angry (naturally it hurt their ego) and voted more for Debu, 2nd people from other parts of India who thought it's unfair got pissed off too and voted for Debu.
Now for Debojit. I must say – for him it's a classic example of Marketing 2.0, where evangelists take the control instead of marketing strategies. His mentor, Ismail ji, is not a great strategist. But luck favored him a lot.
- Two of the main points I mentioned before : gifts from HR to Debu!
- He got 'filtered down' votes from Nihira and Hemu fans. That's my theory – got this impression from the this forum posts
- His modest attitude grabbed lots of votes. Many people actually liked him as a person more than as a singer.
- He also had some 'installed sticky stories' to start with
- His middleclass background
- His wife Bandana/ Their struggle at Mumbai
- Now here comes the most interesting part – but this requires a little theoretical prelude. In his book 'The Tipping Point" Malcom Gladwell identified some required factors to reach the tipping point for an Idea / Person / Fashion statement / trend. Most important 2 things are –
- Sticky 'Compelling' Stories
- 3 types of people supporting the Person / Idea
i. Maven – who collect all the useful information / positive points about the person or idea
ii. Connectors – who have a tightly knit social network to spread the idea
iii. Sales person – no explanation required.
Now – if you look at Debu – he got all 3 in form of evangelists. Forget others – in this forum only many people volunteered for Debu as Maven/Connector/Salesperson. Why they did it? Not for any vested interest. Many were mesmerized by Debu's attitude, others were tired of Himesh ji's 'Overselling'. Whatever it is it worked.
Now the last part – why Debu and Vinit reached the final? First – they were most controversial of all (Vinit for HR, Debu for Asaam). That's another great mind boggling part of what reaches the tipping point. CoThis is getting too long – let me cut short by just pointing out a diagram by Kathy Sierra.
Morale of the whole story – If you need to find GREAT talent – use judges in the old format. (Don't get me wrong – I am not saying Debu or Vinit doesn't deserve to be in the final. At the same time I will refuse to accept if you want me to believe that they are better than Nihira – that's my opinion)
But if Zee / Gajendra ji needs to make money out of the show – voting is the only way to go. It's very easy for us to say – 'They should go back to the old format". But honestly – what you will do if you were in his shoes?
CID
Ishaani
