Brand HR

Branded Entertainment is the buzz word today, and more than being the ‘in thing’ it has fast acquired the highly unwanted status of being the ‘in your face thing’. With the able aid of a zillion touch-points, which in turn do translate into being competing media, a suave marketer chooses the perfect Media Mix, primarily to avoid this inter-media competition and mainly to use these multiple touch-points conveniently to his advantage, and build his Brand. The same is the case with the man in question, the newest brand in Bollywood, Brand HR, aka Himesh Reshammiya.

He rocked an entertainment deprived mass of people with his Hit music, which sans his own voice does actually sound nice. This by the way is a personal observation, and in no way reflects on either the man’s talent or his popularity. This isn’t a critique on his nasal crooning, but is an attempt to acknowledge the conscious efforts which the man has put behind his own branding, and the flick Aap Ka Surroor (grant me the spelling mistakes if any, as I haven’t acclimatized myself to Himesh’s lexicon) is the latest marketing tool from his Pandora’s Box.

Needless to say it is an inane offering and the silliness of the screenplay, is perhaps sillier than the lose script of Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. But nonetheless what needs to be acknowledged here is the fact that the man has carved his niche. From S.D. Burman and his son, the great Panchamda, to Shankar Jaikishen and the latest Shankar Ehsaan Loy; Bollywood has had several great music directors, but how many of them can we identify merely with a glimpse? Any typical tanga song will only make one think of the legendary O.P.Nayyar, but how many of us associate him with his hat, the way we associate Himesh with the cap? So what is it that makes HR special?

If we consider HR The Brand, well he has a signature packaging (The Cap etc.) and a signature jingle tune (The nasal twang which makes every HR song sound the same); a never ending stock of media at his display (largely due to the excellent hammering technique implemented by T-Series) and most importantly a well arranged Target Group (Not to forget their effective use, even in the film. Otherwise why on earth would one take auto rickshaws to Germany?)

Gone are the days of a pan India blockbuster, they say, as the Metros are getting fragmented into two divergent groups; one which is following the age old Hollywood inspired and nowadays marching towards Hollywood, multiplex and urban cinema and the other which detests Hindi cinema altogether and takes refuge in the audience group for Hollywood movies. While Indian cinema’s quest to be akin to the global sentiments on silver screen has not only alienated several moviegoers from it, but has actually created an entertainment void for that sector in several centers, which got the cash registers ringing all these years. And though every second hero today can’t become Shahrukh Khan, each one of the top-line actors is in his own way is aiming to be there, do that and be the next Hero of the global masses, than just focus on the few Indians, who made their ancestors the stars that they were. Thus, there is a need and also a want so to say in the market, for such entertainment, which caters to the sensibilities of the money spending aam janta in India, especially the not so shining, non-metro India.

And if you ask me, HR the brand delivers. His antics, his emotions, the twists in the plot; the role is made considering all the attributes which the TG members would want to see in their Brand, their Hero, their HR.

In the history of Bollywood, even Amitabh Bachchan never played Amitabh Bachchan and neither has Dilip Kumar or even for that matter Shahrukh Khan have played their own respective selves on screen. But here Himesh plays Himesh, and however silly it may sound, but even his lady love calls him HR while exchanging the love messages. Now that is what I call creating a brand identity. The brand already has a loyal set of buyers, who have got hooked on to the gung ho (supposedly) quality of the brand’s music. In the film, the hero, a rather superhero very cleverly named HR exhibits all the traits of an honest and successful man. With the stress on realistic grey characters, this is a rarity of late. HR doesn’t ditch the music company which helped him, when he was nothing; just like Raj in DDLJ, he gets the girl back to her father, and marries her only with his consent; and the list of his virtues is endless.

More than deliberating on whether it is great cinema or not (Anyone can, in half a viewing say that it is definitely not, but that opinion is again personal, and yours truly doesn’t really feature in the TG of Brand HR.) one must definitely congratulate the makers for their excellent business sense, as they have minted money out of a lucrative TG. From Radio, to TV Shows, to Music Videos, to Songs, to now finally the silver screen, HR the brand has arrived, and in a big way. Now whether we acknowledge his greatness or not, his TG is definitely going berserk over him.

There was a time, when a Dilip Kumar and a Raj Kapoor appealed to everyone. Then there was a time when an Amitabh Bachchan moistened the eyes of the masses, and was also liked by the classes. But with HR, the divide in the opinions of the people is obvious. While India is genuinely on the brink of a new beginning, the fragmentation in the audience tastes and preferences is definitely giving the marketers a better chance to create more brands.

Now how far do these niche brands like HR, or for that matter even Rakhi Sawant last remains the most pertinent question of the day. Is being different the only basic key to successful branding in Bollywood today, considering it is always blamed for being extremely stereotypical and monotonous and how far does this ‘being different’ route help in creating brands with sustainable competitive advantage are the issues in question.

What happens to these brands in the future will definitely be an interesting thing to track, but the entertainment space is definitely diversifying, if not in a good way, at least it is, and the monotony in these new found ‘different identities’ is surely on its way.