Mobile:The new secret formula of hit Bollywood songs

 

Bollywood New Releases with Mobile phones in song lyrics

Today morning, i was driving my car and listening to a local radio station. I realised that 3 out of top 5 chartbuster songs of Bollywood for the week have a peculiar similarity. All the 3 songs have at least one phrase containing “mobile phone” in the lyrics.  

 

Hit Song No. 1: Fevicol Se, Movie Dabangg 2 (pipped to be a Rs 200cr+ grosser)

“Haaye main toh kab se hoon ready taiyar
Pata le saiyan miss call se
Mere photo ko seene se yaar
Chipka le saiyan Fevicol se

Fevi Fevicol se Fevicol se
Nain hum ladayenge baby doll se
Ho laundiya patayenge miss call se
Bat-ball se, Cinema hall se
Are marriage-hall se, Overall se”

 

Hit Song No. 2: Bhawariya, Movie Khiladi 786 (Rs 100cr+ grosser)

“Mujhe samajh ni aata kaise dooriyaan mitaaun
As tere liye main ye geet likhta jaaun
Din raat hi main inhe gungunaaun
Phone me photu dekhu teri baari baari
Jee karda main aa jawaan maar ke udaari”

Bollywood movies and its songs are integral to Indian consumers. For a marketer, Bollywood is a mirror to ongoing and future trends of Indian culture, fashion, linguistics & things people will adopt. Hence, I was very interested to check out whether this new word is really becoming an integral part of Bollywood lyrics and what are its implications? By doing a smart Google search on upcoming hit songs, I found that two more songs also contain the word ‘mobile’.

Hit Song 3: Do Nishaniyan, Movie  Jhootha Hi Sahi

“Ek dor se bandhi kaise do kahaniyan, ek taar se jurr gaiin kaise yeh do zindaganiyan
is phone ke saaz par meri aawaaz bhar mujh pe hansti hai khamoshiyan”

 

Hit Song 4: Oye Boy Charlie, Movie Matru ki Bijlee ka Mandola

“Oye boy oye boy CharlieTune dil ki baazi maar li. O my baby babyTera chakkar chala jalebi Aadhi raat bulata hain
Phone on pe jo oo hmm hmm.., Warna gandi gungi telphone pe aa jo oo hmm hmm”

 

Analysis of the lyrics and the inclusion of mobile in them gives the following insights.

 

1. Most of the songs are rustic and portray the importance of mobile as the mode of connect

2. Mobile is an important element of romance especially for the fairer sex

3. Mobile is not only used for voice, but also for value added services like mms, social networking

 

Reminiscing some old Bollywood hits i still remember the nasal voiced songs “mere piya, ho mere piya gaye rangoon
kiya hai wahaan se teliphoon” and the very hummable “Telephone dhun mein hasne wali” in the film Hindustani.

 

As a telecom marketer in India, my constant challenge is how to make mobile relevant in rural belt and for women. I have some learning of mobiles becoming a new gift item in marriages for the newly wed bride to stay connected with her paternal home.

 

Bollywood has lapped up this evolution in its songs. Is Hollywood listening??

 

 

 

Joypratip Sengupta is a telecom marketer with specialisation in the diverse Indian market. His twitter handle is joypratip

Thanks my friend Google

Hi tribesmen, It’s Christmas time and so I utilise this opportunity to thank my dear friend Mr. Google. I read an article

stating that the latest fad for marriage breakups is the mobile phone. But I vehemently protest and proclaim that “agar biwi se ho pyaar, phir kaise karein Google se inkar?” (meaning if you Love your wife, then how can you ignore Google?). So let me share the latest incident where my friend Google made me a hero 🙂 I recently got transferred to a new place & naturally it takes a heavy toll on my family to adjust and settle down. To add to that, the new job for my wife and me ensured that there is constant stress. We both were itching for a short getaway. We got an unexpected leave due to state elections wherein the office announced an off, but but at the last moment on Friday. My rebel brain immediately started to work out an impromptu break with my beloved. As luck would have it, most of the resorts nearby were full and those with rooms started hiking the rates. I quickly summoned my friend Googlebhai and it threw in new outing options which I didn’t think of earlier. It also suggested the best places to stay, the best things to do and the thing I love most for my wife : the best place to shop at. I recommend tripadvisor as the best place for suggestions on planning any trip anywhere in the world. So with this help from my friend the trip got planned in the twelfth hour. However, the best was yet to come. Being new to the city, I didn’t have any clue about the best route to take and was very apprehensive on an unknown road trip with my wife. Needless to say, the last minute arrangements didn’t give me an option to take up any other mode of transport. So I filled up fuel on my Ford Figo, checked the tyres and engine oil and prepared for a 4 hour drive. Luggage packed and prayers said, we set on our much awaited 3 days rejuvenating trip. But what about the route & directions? So I set my Samsung Note on the car dashboard, opened Google maps and searched for the resort. Of course I’m using 3g data on my phone. Prompt comes the best route between my home and the resort: the exact 250 km driving direction. I use the navigation option with the voice control on. I also set the map layers as satellite. I also recommend connecting the phone to the car charger because using navigation seriously drains the battery. A fully charged phone on navigation mode will last for an hour max. With this arrangement, my car navigation system got setup as shown in the picture. I realised the accuracy of google map and its precise navigation utility as I never got lost in the entire drive or stopped to ask direction from anyone. The satellite view helps further to gauge terrain & whether you are approaching city or highway. Once I did stop to ask a local grocery store since I wasn’t sure whether navigation was giving the right direction. To my surprise, the grocery store asked me to follow the route given by the navigation. I used the navigation to tour the entire city and trusted the direction blindly. I did reach all the places of interest and even went for shopping inside narrowest of lanes which only locals would be aware of. The place I went didn’t have 3g coverage and I was connected on Edge. Though much slower in response to searches, the navigation was getting updated on almost real time basis as our car scanned the city roads. I do recommend keeping the GPS option on for accuracy. End result: happy wife, refreshed mind and soul, total independence in seeing a new city as per your own pleasure and leisure with no help of local guide or time bound conducted sight-seeing packages. The resort staff did give me a paper map of the city, but once I was back to our home, I found it tucked inside the ruck-suck and it went too the garbage can! so much on my part to save paper and go green, use your smartphone and its map. Thanks my friend Google 🙂

The Anthropology of Mobile Phones

Do you know what every person in the world definitely carry in their bags or pocket? So what are the top 3 bare necessities of human beings now and in the coming future?

I happen to witness a very inspiring Ted Talk by principal Nokia researcher Jan Chipcase, “The Anthropology of mobile phones”. His work is to study what people across the globe carry with them. His research proves that the three things which people in any culture or place will definitely carry are – Keys, Money and Mobile phone. The reason for this is related to Anthropology or human behavior. The common thread among the three things is that all are necessary tools for survival and feature in the lowest rung of Maslow’s hierarchy. Mobile phones are considered to be thr most important tool for recovery. It transcends space and time and in addition its personal & convenient. Jan further proves how the illiterate population uses & adapts technology via the art of delegation.

So how does the mobile marketing tribe use this path-breaking study? More specifically how is it relevant in the future of Indian mobile Industry?

The major takeaway from the above research is that mobile is like an essential service for the survival of mankind. I am sure most marketers would have heard these questions “Why do I need a mobile?” followed by “mobile is expensive!” I believe that the above research is going to help marketers solve these issues. The current mobile penetration in India is at 70%, with less than 50% in rural areas which in turn constitute to 70% of the targetable base. merging Jan’s research & my experiences of Indian streets I have noted down the critical 5 mantras for targeting the remaining unconnected masses in India to the mobile revolution.

1. Mobile as a Tool for survival: marketers need to educate the mass how mobile is one of the three things necessary for survival. How it can help people access things which they could never afford or deemed eligible for. Example how mobile can be used as an ATM via mpaisa. I have interacted and learnt from vegetable vendors how mobile has helped them establish the home delivery concept which in turn increased their business and generated loyal customers. Other ideas are mobile as tool for education, irrigation and agriculture needs.

2. Influencer first: The Indian rural and the mass have a stronger sense of community. They follow a strict hierarchy of obeying and adopting ideas. Hence the role of the influencer is more critical for the segment because decisions are mostly taken by a non user. Moreover, since mobile is a tool of money transaction and business needs, trust is important. The is no central authority who dictates rules here. Thereby, marketers need to identify the influencer for the segment and adopt a direct one on one interaction. Once the heart of the influencer is won, the next step is easier. Example of influencers in Indian market could be the sarpanch, the grocery store owner who owns the only mobile in the slum, cable TV operators, etc.

3. Build trust: this is cliche but I guess we marketers neglect this aspect the most while targeting the unreachable segment. No promotion, gimmicks or high decibel activity will form an impression. We need to be doubt sure that we deliver what we promise. I have sat in boardrooms and devised the most expensive and fool proof plans to cater to the high value customers and opining that we can’t lose their trust. However, it’s perhaps more important to build and sustain trust with the other segment which we categorize as LVC (Low value customers). This is because as Jan suggested the identity for these people is mobile and hence it’s the most important factor in their life to go with the operator they trust.

4. Keep listening: I have no doubt in my mind that no one can devise a fool proof plan of STP for the mass segment because this is and will be the most dynamic market whose rate of adoption of technology is going to be far faster than rate of thought of marketers. Hence it’s important to invest disproportionately in staying connected and listening to them always. Here too I find boardroom discussions and budget spends mainly on researching HVC. I strongly recommend hiring and investing on professional research and listening posts to keep the learning coming.

5 . Leave rest for street innovation: streets are the biggest source of inspiration for learning innovation. Whatever resource any operator possess they cannot match street innovation and their ability to reverse engineer every process that’s built in high tech labs or boardrooms. I sincerely belief that if we do the first four things right then street will innovate and adapt the best. After all, customer and street is the king!