Will there ever be an India Philharmonic orchestra and what that means for brands
Watching one of the massive western classical music orchestras playing, with a wide diversity of instruments, a collection of highly talented musicians, all playing in marvellous unison, makes one wonder why Indian music does not lend itself to a similar format.
We have a wide variety of wind, string and percussion instruments; many talented musicians and we have structured music that could form the basis of such an orchestra. It is argued that our musical tradition has within it both the structured and the spontaneous and therefore lends itself better to the individual performance. Jazz has a similar structure yet there are legendary jazz bands. |
| Rupin Jayal |
Why does an orchestra playing Indian music sound far less inspiring as compared to an individual performance of the same raga? And is there something here to learn for the brands?
Whether you consider our dominant faith – Hinduism or our music, there is an omnipresent creative tension between structure and improvisation. The tension is not adversarial but one that actually helps create a sense of proprietorship. The structure provides comfort and security while the space for innovation and improvisation allows for personal ownership. This may well be one of the major reasons why Hinduism continues to flourish while most of the religions of the world that existed during the dawn of Hinduism are now extinct. This ability to combine an overall structure with the freedom to improvise enables infinite interpretations and a sense of integration rather than mere adherence. Interestingly that seems to be the direction towards which brands, internationally, are moving. Whether it is user-generated content, mass customisation, engaging people to contribute towards product innovation, CRM, etc marketing the world over is increasingly looking outwards for inspiration, involvement and hence deep engagement between brands and the people they seek to attract.
Is there a way that we can take lessons from our ancient heritage of music and create some simple guidelines that could be used for brands?
Familiar structure refreshed by continuous inspiration
Indian music provides a structure but allows for individual interpretation. It is able to symbiotically combine a formal framework with spontaneity so that every performance of the same raga is familiar and yet different even when played by the same artiste on two different days. Hence there is continuous innovation within a familiar form. The structure is the skeleton and improvisation is the flesh and brain that creates individuality and distinctiveness. So the first lesson is to provide an underlying set of values but to keep refreshing and innovating features and services. The first step therefore is to set down the immutable core of the brand. This needs to have three characteristics:
1. The core must distinguish your brand’s values from those of its competitors. Words and phrases such as "leading", "best in class", "providing customer delight", etc must be avoided at all costs. Whether it is the soul of craftsmanship for Rolls Royce, imaginative simplicity for Apple, driving delight for BMW, institutionalised iconoclasm for Virgin, trust and reliability for Toyota, delightfully innovative engineering for Honda, outlaw for Harley Davidson, high performance engineering art for Ducati, you can usually describe for yourself what distinguishes a brand you respect versus the grey mass of its competitors
This forms the basic structure of your brand - just like the basic formal structure of a raga
2. It must be able to withstand the test of time. In a world of evanescent brands it will be those with immutable, resilient, differentiating and inspirational core values that will be the aristocracy while the others will merely be visitors; here today, vanished tomorrow. This brand lineage must be rigorously protected by all employees regardless of their role within the company. They must accept, internalise and safeguard the core just like succeeding generations of musicians have done with our rich heritage of the ragas
3. Whatever your favourite raga—the notes that distinguish it are very familiar. They delineate the core of the raga with great simplicity allowing the musician to weave in complex interpretations. The more complex the core structure, the less room there would be for creative improvisation and interpretation. The nucleus of your brand must be simple so that it can allow for the maximum creative interpretation by its custodians as well as those who form a relationship with it. Hence Porsche’s simple core design philosophy has created a wide diversity of vehicles cutting across categories, many of which Porsche purists would baulk at, yet achieving a clearly identifiable and distinctive Porsche "look" to them—from the classic 911 to the Cayenne SUV a true "sports" utility vehicle, to the Panamera sports saloon. Each vehicle is a sports car first and whatever category its fits into, is merely a way of classifying it. An inspirational case of structure and innovation symbiotically coexisting.
The need for continuous improvisation
India is a young country in so many ways yet as the cliché goes it has an ancient soul. Again an inherent duality. The ancient soul represents the immutable structure that has flourished through thousands of years despite the challenges of huge ethnic diversity and continuous clashes with invading civilisations. It has flourished through constantly being refreshed by reinterpretation and improvisation. It has helped to spawn other faiths and spiritual philosophies that continue to maintain an umbilical link to it. It has allowed for assimilation rather than exclusion. Being a young country we seek continuous improvisation as the evolution of mindsets and attitudes accelerate and also as a propeller of burgeoning optimism and the sheer excitement of change. Hence strictly adhering to a rigid core and not changing is a death knell. Changing just for the sake of it without an anchoring brand "soul", similarly so. Hence while Maruti continues to provide great value for money hatchbacks, its portfolio today is at the absolute cutting of design innovation for hatchbacks in India. While the Swift is fairly economical and practical, what has sold it is its distinctive look. Yet what has also kept the waiting lists long is Maruti’s adherence to its core principles of service that it pioneered when it started operations in India and where (as succeeding JD Power survey results have proven) it continues to lead the industry despite its massive volumes.
Interaction
In the world of western music you respect the musicians and the music they are playing by sitting silently even during the breaks between movements within a particular concerto, sonata or symphony. In India you enthusiastically applaud while the musician is playing. Sitting silently would rob the performance of half its value. When many Indian audiences watch a western classical music program they applaud between movements much to the frustration of the performers. When many foreigners witness an Indian classical music performance they may even applaud when the musician is tuning his or her instruments, much to amusement of the Indians present.
This interaction and vocal "inter-performance" between musician and audience is critical for a truly inspired recital. A silent audience would sap the performance of vital energy. It also exemplifies the need for the artiste to really understand his or her audience to ensure the maximum delight for them and elicit the most enthusiastic response.
The same is increasingly true for brands. The days of mass brands, mass programs and limited choices are long gone. People increasingly desire to be active participants in the evolution of the brands with which they feel a sense of affinity. Pepsi Foods have demonstrated their enthusiasm for inclusion by actively campaigning for people to contribute recipes and flavour ideas. Other food brands have done so too. Luxury automobile brands allow such an infinite variety of options that the prospective owner virtually "designs" his own car. The iPhone is merely a platform - the huge variety of applications ensures that every iPhone owner can actually customize it depending upon her passions and interests.
Interaction creates engagement which if nurtured leads to brand loyalty leading to some brands actually becoming soulmates.
Adaptability
In western music, even for individual performances, most artistes adhere to "scripted" written music. When performing a raga, the artiste uses his or her memory, countless rehearsals and practise and the guidance of his or her guru as the foundation. However this also allows for adaptation to the audience’s mood and to the emotions within the performer. The script is guidance but not commandment. In a society where mores are evolving so rapidly, being driven even faster by the catalyst of technology, brands need to adapt. What was opposed is becoming more acceptable. Nowhere is this more evident than with our increasing comfort with sexuality. Brands that used to promote enhancing fairness as a means for women to get married now focus on how a blemish-free complexion can help achieve career success and men have been brought into the ambit of fairness solutions too. Brands are taking on activist platforms reflecting the growing discontent with the various deficiencies and dysfunctionalities that impact the daily lives of the people. While brands have espoused understanding of their audiences as being intrinsic to the building demand and long term values, have also claimed to continuously evolve to meet their needs and desires; the direction and speed needs to change. This adaptability first of all has to really demonstrate sensitivity to their audiences and not just pay lip service to it. Secondly, it needs to be truly symbiotic as people get more aware and knowledgeable—the "I know what’s better for you" school of branding is increasingly obsolete.
Never before has there been such a need for brands and the people they address to, engage with each other for real long term brand harmony and engagement. Perhaps attending a concert of Indian music might bring more illumination on how to do so effectively, than an army of so-called "strategists".
The author is Director-Strategic Planning at M&C Saatchi.
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written by Gucci outlet, July 03, 2010
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