The Trinity & The Art Of Branding
By K.T. Mukund
CHENNAI, March 22: Much before the marketing and management
gurus could come out with advanced scientific tools to garner
the mind and valet of 21st century consumers, the famed Trinity
of Carnatic classical music appeared to have adopted the so-called
modern day techniques while composing kritis, so as to reach
out to rasikas of assorted sorts.
Communication, induction process, brand loyalty, market segmentation, niche marketing, individual branding, family branding and the like are oft-heard jargons in the international corporate scene these days.
In an interesting lecture here on Friday at the Mini Hall of Narada Gana Sabha, Prof. V. Sivakumar of Washington led a motley audience to a peep into the minds of the Trinity to discover the managers and marketers in saint composers.
Frederic W. Taylor (1856-1917), an American inventor and engineer, was considered the father of ``scientific management’’. His influential theory helped the industry to move away from ``rule of thumb’’ management to become efficient and prosperous. Much before Taylor , the Trinity composers had couched their compositions in such a language akin to what the modern managers/marketers would do to sell their wares, Prof. Sivakumar said.
Picking select compositions of the Trinity, Prof. Sivakumar explained how the Trinity’s kritis satiated the needs of assorted rasikas, who had different characteristics, moods, perceptions and the like. They had done this much the same way a marketing and management experts in an organization would do to sell their products, he pointed out.
Though an oft-used term these days, niche marketing was successfully employed by Saint Thyagaraja. Prof. Sivakumar said most of Saint Thyagaraja’s compositions were in praise of Lord Rama. This appealed to a niche audience, he pointed out.
Giving the examples of Ford and General Motors, who employed right terms to describe their variant cars, Prof. Sivakumar pointed out how Dikshithar used precise words to describe the attributes of various Gods on whom he had composed kritis. Much in vogue these days, the positioning concept was admirably used by Dikshithar while describing `Ishta devatha’ (favourite deity). Kamalamba Navaavaranams along with Neelothpalaba and Abhayamba Vibhakthi kritis of Dikshithar fell in this `niche’ category. The Navaavaranams, especially, saw Dikshithar employing segmentation technique effectively through the use of meticulous words to describe the attributes of the principal character mentioned in a kriti. The segmentation approach adopted by Dikshithar helped to bring 100 per cent customer (rasika) satisfaction. ``Dikshithar fulfilled the individual and collective needs,’’ he pointed out.
Just the way the marketers focused on the uniqueness of a product in their selling strategy, these great composers were also fixed on bringing out the special attributes of characters in some of their compositions. Marketers used this to position their products. In this context, Prof. Sivakumar pointed to the ``Sri Subramanya Namastee…’’ a Dikshithar composition in rag Khamboji. Here, the composer brought out all the positives of the central character of the kriti – Subramanya. In ``Sujana Jivana…’’, a Kamas raga composition, Thyagaraja used words specifically to describe the attributes of Lord Rama. Prof. Sivakumar also pointed to the kriti ``Sabapathikku …’’ in Rag Abogi by Gopalakrishna Bharathi. In all these, the composers had highlighted the specialty of individual Gods, much the same way the modern ad guys focused on the USP (unique selling proposition) of a product for their sales pitch. A product was sought after by different people at different time zones for varied reason, Prof. Sivakumar said. Coffee might be consumed by some for the caffeine content, others to pass time and still others to fight headache. The individual branding helped to bring out the special characters, he pointed out. This had appeal to many for different reasons, he added.
The Trinity, too, were aware of the utility of `family branding’. Citing the examples of GE, Kellogs, Crompton and The Hindu, he said each had different products. These were, however, part of the family brand. Each product had its own attributes. (Crompton is the family brand. It has products like fans, bulb et al). Prof. Sivakumar said the family branding concept was in full evidence in Thyagaraja’s ``Kshirasagara …’’ in ragam Devaganthari. He also pointed to Dikshithar’s ``Mamava Pattabhirama…’ in ragam Manirangu and ``Ranga Nayakam…’’ in ragam Nayaki. In all these, the lyrics were full of `participants’ and `stories’, sketching out the full picture rather than portraying the focus on individual characters. In a family branding, a scientific marketer would put everything about a product in its sales campaign. This was what the Trinity had done in the aforesaid kritis.
Prof. Sivakumar also spoke of `benefit segmentation’ concept practiced by Dikshithar in Navagraha kritis. These kritis were composed in a special context. Thambiappan of Tiruvarur, an ardent sishya of Dikshithar, had acute stomach pain. Doctors were unable to cure him. On hearing this, Dikshithar sought his horoscope and found that his sufferings were due to adverse influence of Guru and Shani. He instantly composed a kriti on Guru and Shani and advised Thambiappan to sing them with devotion. It was said that Thambiappan was relieved of the pain because he recited the kriti. This seemed to have inspired Dikshithar to compose Navagraha kritis. Prof. Sivakumar saw in this a `benefit segmentation’ exercise by Dikshithar.
Thyagaraja’s ``Vasudevayani vedalina…’’ in ragam Kalyani, he said, contained a lesson or two on how managers should treat their subordinates. The kriti was about ``dwara balagas’’. Thyagaraja showed his humility in this particular kriti while treating `dwara balagas’. Here he taught the modern managers how to respect their subordinates, Prof. Sivakumar pointed out.
In modern concerts, such branding was in full play with artistes singing listeners’ choice numbers. In the face of brand insistence, the artistes could do very little but to dish out what the audience wanted, Prof. Sivakumar said.
Prof. Sivakumar dedicated the day’s lecture to music critic late Sulochana Pattabiraman, whom he described as a critic with ``strong musical sensitivity’’.
Salem Gayathri gave intermittent music support to the lecture of Prof.Sivakumar by rendering select kritis of the Trinity.
Communication, induction process, brand loyalty, market segmentation, niche marketing, individual branding, family branding and the like are oft-heard jargons in the international corporate scene these days.
In an interesting lecture here on Friday at the Mini Hall of Narada Gana Sabha, Prof. V. Sivakumar of Washington led a motley audience to a peep into the minds of the Trinity to discover the managers and marketers in saint composers.
Frederic W. Taylor (1856-1917), an American inventor and engineer, was considered the father of ``scientific management’’. His influential theory helped the industry to move away from ``rule of thumb’’ management to become efficient and prosperous. Much before Taylor , the Trinity composers had couched their compositions in such a language akin to what the modern managers/marketers would do to sell their wares, Prof. Sivakumar said.
Picking select compositions of the Trinity, Prof. Sivakumar explained how the Trinity’s kritis satiated the needs of assorted rasikas, who had different characteristics, moods, perceptions and the like. They had done this much the same way a marketing and management experts in an organization would do to sell their products, he pointed out.
Though an oft-used term these days, niche marketing was successfully employed by Saint Thyagaraja. Prof. Sivakumar said most of Saint Thyagaraja’s compositions were in praise of Lord Rama. This appealed to a niche audience, he pointed out.
Giving the examples of Ford and General Motors, who employed right terms to describe their variant cars, Prof. Sivakumar pointed out how Dikshithar used precise words to describe the attributes of various Gods on whom he had composed kritis. Much in vogue these days, the positioning concept was admirably used by Dikshithar while describing `Ishta devatha’ (favourite deity). Kamalamba Navaavaranams along with Neelothpalaba and Abhayamba Vibhakthi kritis of Dikshithar fell in this `niche’ category. The Navaavaranams, especially, saw Dikshithar employing segmentation technique effectively through the use of meticulous words to describe the attributes of the principal character mentioned in a kriti. The segmentation approach adopted by Dikshithar helped to bring 100 per cent customer (rasika) satisfaction. ``Dikshithar fulfilled the individual and collective needs,’’ he pointed out.
Just the way the marketers focused on the uniqueness of a product in their selling strategy, these great composers were also fixed on bringing out the special attributes of characters in some of their compositions. Marketers used this to position their products. In this context, Prof. Sivakumar pointed to the ``Sri Subramanya Namastee…’’ a Dikshithar composition in rag Khamboji. Here, the composer brought out all the positives of the central character of the kriti – Subramanya. In ``Sujana Jivana…’’, a Kamas raga composition, Thyagaraja used words specifically to describe the attributes of Lord Rama. Prof. Sivakumar also pointed to the kriti ``Sabapathikku …’’ in Rag Abogi by Gopalakrishna Bharathi. In all these, the composers had highlighted the specialty of individual Gods, much the same way the modern ad guys focused on the USP (unique selling proposition) of a product for their sales pitch. A product was sought after by different people at different time zones for varied reason, Prof. Sivakumar said. Coffee might be consumed by some for the caffeine content, others to pass time and still others to fight headache. The individual branding helped to bring out the special characters, he pointed out. This had appeal to many for different reasons, he added.
The Trinity, too, were aware of the utility of `family branding’. Citing the examples of GE, Kellogs, Crompton and The Hindu, he said each had different products. These were, however, part of the family brand. Each product had its own attributes. (Crompton is the family brand. It has products like fans, bulb et al). Prof. Sivakumar said the family branding concept was in full evidence in Thyagaraja’s ``Kshirasagara …’’ in ragam Devaganthari. He also pointed to Dikshithar’s ``Mamava Pattabhirama…’ in ragam Manirangu and ``Ranga Nayakam…’’ in ragam Nayaki. In all these, the lyrics were full of `participants’ and `stories’, sketching out the full picture rather than portraying the focus on individual characters. In a family branding, a scientific marketer would put everything about a product in its sales campaign. This was what the Trinity had done in the aforesaid kritis.
Prof. Sivakumar also spoke of `benefit segmentation’ concept practiced by Dikshithar in Navagraha kritis. These kritis were composed in a special context. Thambiappan of Tiruvarur, an ardent sishya of Dikshithar, had acute stomach pain. Doctors were unable to cure him. On hearing this, Dikshithar sought his horoscope and found that his sufferings were due to adverse influence of Guru and Shani. He instantly composed a kriti on Guru and Shani and advised Thambiappan to sing them with devotion. It was said that Thambiappan was relieved of the pain because he recited the kriti. This seemed to have inspired Dikshithar to compose Navagraha kritis. Prof. Sivakumar saw in this a `benefit segmentation’ exercise by Dikshithar.
Thyagaraja’s ``Vasudevayani vedalina…’’ in ragam Kalyani, he said, contained a lesson or two on how managers should treat their subordinates. The kriti was about ``dwara balagas’’. Thyagaraja showed his humility in this particular kriti while treating `dwara balagas’. Here he taught the modern managers how to respect their subordinates, Prof. Sivakumar pointed out.
In modern concerts, such branding was in full play with artistes singing listeners’ choice numbers. In the face of brand insistence, the artistes could do very little but to dish out what the audience wanted, Prof. Sivakumar said.
Prof. Sivakumar dedicated the day’s lecture to music critic late Sulochana Pattabiraman, whom he described as a critic with ``strong musical sensitivity’’.
Salem Gayathri gave intermittent music support to the lecture of Prof.Sivakumar by rendering select kritis of the Trinity.
