Is making commercials in a regional language a smart strategy?
When you speak about India and its markets, the first thing
that probably strikes you about this vast and wonderful country is its
diversity in language, culture, customs and even religions. While that is
probably true for some other countries like the USA as well, let me speak about
our own country. This column for instance is written in English as it caters to
a specific audience that is familiar with that language, that speaks and writes
in it with fluency and perhaps even thinks in that language. The reality,
however is this category of English is a small percentage. When we speak about English,
we are talking about say a mere 11 per cent of the population as a recent study
revealed. We should also remember that even in affluent households; say in
Kerala the primary newspaper is in Malayalam even if they may read an
additional English paper. So it makes eminent sense to talk to the consumer in
their language more so in markets like Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal. What this basically means is that as a
marketer, I am trying to segment the market on the basis of language and take
into account the culture, the tradition and the customs of that region and
creating communication in the mother tongue whether it is in Tamil or Bengali.
What this means also is that Bengalis wherever they may be, get to see my
communication which is in their mother tongue wherever they may live in India.
This is thanks to the growing phenomenon of satellite TV which enables people
to watch programs in their mother tongue wherever they may be living. Before we
talk about the pros and cons of such a strategy, let’s quickly look at a
current example of a commercial created specifically around a festival for a
particular market in the mother tongue of that region Tamil.
Pongaloo Pongal
A few days ago Tamil Nadu resonated with the sounds of “Pongaloo
Pongal” in every household. While the harvest festival is celebrated in other
parts of India, I can say with a fair amount of confidence that it is the most
important festival for Tamilians probably vying with Diwali in terms of importance
say with North Indians.
Here is a link to the commercial
for a brand from the TVS Motor Company for one of their
brands TVS Star City featuring MS Dhoni who is a household name in India not
only because he is the Indian captain but who is almost the boy next door
because he used to lead Chennai Super Kings till recently. Prabhu Deva too is
no stranger to the South having acted and danced in several Tamil films. As the
commercial shows MS Dhoni appropriately clad in a dhoti opens a new showroom
for TVS, admires the Star City on display there. When the dealer requests him
to take the first ride in the bike as it is an auspicious day, he is hesitant
because riding a bike with a dhoti on is an art. As he looks around helplessly
Prabhu Deva comes to the rescue and demonstrates how to knot the dhoti
stylishly even as they sing and dance as they do in typical Tamil films. It is
a racy commercial, nicely choreographed in a manner that appeals to the youth of
Tamil Nadu. I expect the commercial to be a hit for two reasons - one it
captures the essence of Tamil Nadu albeit in a cinematic way but also because
it has two celebrities that each and everyone recognises and many love. The
logic for this commercial is simple. It tries to demonstrate that Tamilians are
unique, different and best respond to messages when they are in their own
language.
This strategy of recognising that Pongal is an important
festival or that Tamilians need to be addressed
separately is not new and my mind goes back nearly three decades to another
commercial for Pongal done for Asian Paints. This was a landmark commercial of
those days done by my friend Rajiv Menon where for the first time a race was
targeted in their own language rather than with a translation of a national
message.
Is this a good strategy?
In my own parochial way, I feel this strategy is a good one
but then the important thing to remember is that strategy invariably is
sacrifice and can be costly. Today, it costs a lot of money to create
commercials in one language alone rather than doing it in Hinglish as most
brands are doing. Translations too may prove laughable when not properly executed.
Remember that marketing money is not unlimited and the smarter ones use their
resources sensibly. But the bottom line is if a market is big enough for you,
then you must create in that language, but in a manner that appeals to people
of that region.
Think about it, you may have a different solution to the same
problem.
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