Iam pretty sure people will be perplexed if I declare that I’m “Banashankari ka gunda” out of the blue, however I’d love to meet the “Indiranagar ka gunda” and congratulate him on breaking out of his comfort zone and proving to the world that we all have a hidden fun and quirky side. Still not able to figure out what I’m talking about? Well I’m talking about the CRED ad that made Rahul Dravid the talk of the town just because he was asked to portray something that is the exact opposite of his image and how people perceive him to be. I must say that he did a fantastic job for the ad and I was quite amused at how good an actor he actually is. But what’s more surprising (and started to pick my brain) was how we tend to have a ROCK SOLID impression and give something undisputed attention when something is against the ordinary or has broken the image we carry of
others. Hence this piece.
What’s in an ‘image’?
The image of ourselves that we create in the minds of others is what tends to be our identity. If I consider Sigmund Freud’s concept, our image is the SUPEREGO. Though our ID and EGO are collectively responsible for our superego to develop, it is this aspect of our personality that is responsible for us to perfect our behaviour based on who or what we aspire to become. It is also equally responsible for how civilised we tend to be and how well we function in society. An image that we fuel throughout our lives is very important as it is not only what we are portraying to people, it’s the impression that we want others to have about us. How we are perceived by others is also instrumental in aiding us to achieve our GOALS and ASPIRATIONS.
Branding max
Though it’s quite saddening to say, we’re nothing but COMMODITY in today’s world. How well we BRAND ourself is what opens doors to opportunity today. Hence the term INFLUENCERS. This is also one of the reasons why we tend to see people fake it till they make it or go overboard and even rack up debts just to maintain a certain image. Yes! I reiterate, but it’s sad that the world works this way. Whether it’s right or wrong is debatable but the way we brand ourselves is what helps us create and sustain the image that we choose or want. And for all this to happen, the first step is to market ourselves. To do this effectively, we need to be clear about which path we have decided to pursue in life or what we expect people to expect from us as the way we brand ourselves is what keeps people’s attention focused on us.
Going viral? Yes!
I’m not referring to the Coronavirus, I’m sure you all have figured that out but what most of us haven’t is that COMMANDING ATTENTION is actually the most crucial aspect of branding.
Day by day, the attention span of all of us is decreasing and our patience level seems to have taken a big blow. Thanks to so much of different content options available along with advancements in media consumption, we’re used to getting WHAT WE WANT and if we don’t like something all we need to do is SWIPE. In such an environment, wherein its proving almost impossible to command one’s attention, the only thing that tends to work in our favour is CREATIVITY. The height of creativity lies in BREAKING NORMALCY. The Vodafone ZooZoo ads brought back the focus of the advertising industry to animations when it went against the tide. Rahul’s ad for CRED too broke the normal and not only did it catch people by surprise but also went into a infinite loop of SELF-MARKETING by making other content creators and inspiring memes. The ad went on to even inspire magicpin to take a dig at the ad, thereby making it go more viral.
To sum it up, Image + Branding + Strategising (Commanding Attention) is effective and efficient when CREATIVITY + EXPERIMENTATION gives out positive results. I’m planning on doing something quirky soon. But haven’t quite figured out what yet. Do ping me with some ideas on telegram @thecoachab. Until next time, stay home... Stay safe!
With Regards,
Adarsh Benakappa Basavaraj
‘The Coach’
