Two campaigns launched a few days apart; one riding on arts and another on culture both unfolding along the shores Bay of Bengal in Chennai. The first campaign had much needed star cast brew the perfect storm, while second campaign without a star cast was expected to fizzle out. When launched, the first one remained a storm in a tea cup, while the second one turned viral garnering state-wide support across age-groups, religion and gender. As a Marketing Communications professional, I decided to understand the similarities, differences and why one of them had larger reach and desired impact.
Music and Activism
The first campaign was jointly launched by Nithyanand Jayaram and TM Krishna. TM Krishna is a leading Carnatic Vocalist is the recent recipient of the prestigious Magsaysay Award, often considered Asia's Nobel Prize for "social inclusiveness in culture". He is the second musician to win this coveted award after a gap for four decades. While Nithyanand Jayaram, a writer and researcher based in Chennai investigates and reports on corporate abuses of environment and human rights, and is part of an anti-corporate collective called Vettiver Koottamaippu (Collective).
What happens when music and activism join hands? Well, a melodious song Poromboke is born to save the Ennore Creek and the Kosasthalaiyar river. The song tuned in medley of ragas with a dash of satire highlights the rampant development and encroachment of Poramboke lands making it a public responsibility to reclaim encroached lands.
Culture and Activism
Two days after Pongal festival, a handful of students gathered at Marina Beach demanding the ban on Jalkikattu, a traditional bull taming festival in rural Tamil Nadu be revoked permanently. Due to animal cruelty, PETA had reached out to Supreme Court of India, which banned this activity in May 2014.
Without a leader, this campaign seeking to revoke the ban was ignored by politicians in both state at center, who made it a part of their poll promise failed to fulfill when voted to power. When students organized themselves demanding the ban to be lifted, crowd started to swell and the campaign eventually turned into a state-wide protest. People across gender, age-group and religion joined hands to reinstate the cultural tradition of Tamils.
Staying relevant is Success
Both Music and culture are inseparable and firmly rooted in history and tradition. Nevertheless, both need mass appeal and relevance for its survival. Staying relevant to the current needs of the society and willingness to amend and upgrade ensures long-term success.This probably explains why Carnatic Music has a dwindling appeal and why some cruel traditions like sati have vanished.
When I came across TMK's tweet a few hours after his video launch, I watched it and honestly tweeted that their efforts would fail to reach larger audience as a result of poor segmentation. Though the messaging in the song to save Ennore Creek and raise awareness around encroachment is noble, clear and relevant, but using Carnatic Music as a medium was a poor choice. While TM Krishna is still waging a war to make Carnatic Music more inclusive and accessible to all sections of the society, using it to create awareness among the larger sections of the society is too soon and shortsighted - a poor marketing strategy. As a result, the shock value from this video failed to gather adequate steam, become viral and morph into a protest. As usual, the Brahmin population appreciated the musical aspects of the song and moved on to the next venue for the next tukkada.
What I admire the most
On the other hand, Jallikattu campaigners (read as students) with no one leader, used popular faces like RJ Balaji, Lawrence Raghava to tear into bureaucrats, politicians, PETA, AWB and Supreme Court of India. They brilliantly turned the ban on Jallikattu as an attack on Tamil identity and tapped into their ire and helplessness to recruit Tamils for the cause. Urbanites who are often accused by rural for swaying away from tradition were leading the protest. Those who didn't have a clue about Jallikattu and bulls were now ambassadors. Unbelievable, huh?
Honestly, I couldn't bear my educated colleagues arguing how Jallikattu is the only way save 37 varieties of bulls from becoming extinct, as a way to fight against increasing cancer from consuming A1 type milk and the only way to save culture and tradition without addressing their poor behavior and lifestyle choices. Isn't this shear stupidity?
Dwarfing differences
Carnatic Music is very much a part of our tradition and culture, but how we use it to fight a larger cause must be intelligently crafted and executed. In spite of addressing a common problem that marooned Chennai city in 2015 December, they picked the wrong target audience and wrong medium to deliver the message that resulted in only 108,00 views on You Tube.
Jallikattu campaigners picked an issue irrelevant to urbanites, yet made them rally for a rural cause, turned the city into and epicenter of protest. To engage with millennials they churned out memes and witty limericks and shrewdly kept politicians and film fraternity away, who could steal their show and weaken their protest. By acting peacefully and responsibly on the ground they also won the appreciation of police and admiration of fellow Indians.
Changing the words in the first Charanam of the Poromboke song... Jallikattu pona pinne kathutathu yenna...? It is time for crusaders like TM Krishna and Nithyanand Jayaram to join these protest to understand why it succeeds and take a leaf or two to make their future campaigns fail-proof and successful.
Music and Activism
The first campaign was jointly launched by Nithyanand Jayaram and TM Krishna. TM Krishna is a leading Carnatic Vocalist is the recent recipient of the prestigious Magsaysay Award, often considered Asia's Nobel Prize for "social inclusiveness in culture". He is the second musician to win this coveted award after a gap for four decades. While Nithyanand Jayaram, a writer and researcher based in Chennai investigates and reports on corporate abuses of environment and human rights, and is part of an anti-corporate collective called Vettiver Koottamaippu (Collective).
What happens when music and activism join hands? Well, a melodious song Poromboke is born to save the Ennore Creek and the Kosasthalaiyar river. The song tuned in medley of ragas with a dash of satire highlights the rampant development and encroachment of Poramboke lands making it a public responsibility to reclaim encroached lands.
Culture and Activism
Two days after Pongal festival, a handful of students gathered at Marina Beach demanding the ban on Jalkikattu, a traditional bull taming festival in rural Tamil Nadu be revoked permanently. Due to animal cruelty, PETA had reached out to Supreme Court of India, which banned this activity in May 2014.
Without a leader, this campaign seeking to revoke the ban was ignored by politicians in both state at center, who made it a part of their poll promise failed to fulfill when voted to power. When students organized themselves demanding the ban to be lifted, crowd started to swell and the campaign eventually turned into a state-wide protest. People across gender, age-group and religion joined hands to reinstate the cultural tradition of Tamils.
Staying relevant is Success
Both Music and culture are inseparable and firmly rooted in history and tradition. Nevertheless, both need mass appeal and relevance for its survival. Staying relevant to the current needs of the society and willingness to amend and upgrade ensures long-term success.This probably explains why Carnatic Music has a dwindling appeal and why some cruel traditions like sati have vanished.
When I came across TMK's tweet a few hours after his video launch, I watched it and honestly tweeted that their efforts would fail to reach larger audience as a result of poor segmentation. Though the messaging in the song to save Ennore Creek and raise awareness around encroachment is noble, clear and relevant, but using Carnatic Music as a medium was a poor choice. While TM Krishna is still waging a war to make Carnatic Music more inclusive and accessible to all sections of the society, using it to create awareness among the larger sections of the society is too soon and shortsighted - a poor marketing strategy. As a result, the shock value from this video failed to gather adequate steam, become viral and morph into a protest. As usual, the Brahmin population appreciated the musical aspects of the song and moved on to the next venue for the next tukkada.
What I admire the most
On the other hand, Jallikattu campaigners (read as students) with no one leader, used popular faces like RJ Balaji, Lawrence Raghava to tear into bureaucrats, politicians, PETA, AWB and Supreme Court of India. They brilliantly turned the ban on Jallikattu as an attack on Tamil identity and tapped into their ire and helplessness to recruit Tamils for the cause. Urbanites who are often accused by rural for swaying away from tradition were leading the protest. Those who didn't have a clue about Jallikattu and bulls were now ambassadors. Unbelievable, huh?
Honestly, I couldn't bear my educated colleagues arguing how Jallikattu is the only way save 37 varieties of bulls from becoming extinct, as a way to fight against increasing cancer from consuming A1 type milk and the only way to save culture and tradition without addressing their poor behavior and lifestyle choices. Isn't this shear stupidity?
Dwarfing differences
Carnatic Music is very much a part of our tradition and culture, but how we use it to fight a larger cause must be intelligently crafted and executed. In spite of addressing a common problem that marooned Chennai city in 2015 December, they picked the wrong target audience and wrong medium to deliver the message that resulted in only 108,00 views on You Tube.
Jallikattu campaigners picked an issue irrelevant to urbanites, yet made them rally for a rural cause, turned the city into and epicenter of protest. To engage with millennials they churned out memes and witty limericks and shrewdly kept politicians and film fraternity away, who could steal their show and weaken their protest. By acting peacefully and responsibly on the ground they also won the appreciation of police and admiration of fellow Indians.
Changing the words in the first Charanam of the Poromboke song... Jallikattu pona pinne kathutathu yenna...? It is time for crusaders like TM Krishna and Nithyanand Jayaram to join these protest to understand why it succeeds and take a leaf or two to make their future campaigns fail-proof and successful.
