Maal

Baawara Maan dekhne chala ek saapna!

Baawre se Maan ki dekho baawri hai baatein!! …..

Some melody in these lines almost forcing me to hum them in front of my lap-top. So what is so great about these lines and why do I get reminded of them, because as per my knowledge airtel is not airing this ad currently.

The first and most immediate context could be (emphasizing could be) my mobile bill which I received through a very neatly written sms. The amount exceeds 6.5k. (Ohh my GOD). But that’s not so bad given the context that I am in guwahati away from all my friends and have a team of 20. The only thing I have at my disposal most of the times to solve most of the sales issues like:

‘Boss, wholesaler ‘maal’ nahin le rahe hain’, ‘Boss, market bahut down hai’, ‘Boss, rusk soft ho raha hai’, ‘Boss, Quality complaint bahut aa rahe hain’, ‘Boss, orange flavour rectangle ke bajaye, round shape mein chahiye’

and my standard responses

‘Kitne dukaan mein ‘maal; daala hai tumne’. ‘Kya visibility status hai, Koi ‘maal’ dikh hee nahin raha hai’, ‘Tum to jaante hee ho, jo dikhega woh bikega, aur tumhara ‘maal’ to andar hee pada rehta hai’, ‘Saale, Kaam karo kaam’

Please don’t misunderstand any of this. This is how we sell biscuits and this does not have anything to do with baawara maan and uski baawri si baatein.

Other context could be the marketer which is slightly below the immediate depths of my heart. I was in marketing till a few months back and would have done a detailed and incisive analysis of these lines.

But I strongly believe that a great tune and a great song are one of the strongest platforms from which an advertising campaign can be launched. I also made an attempt in this direction with 'Britannia MarieGold Badal gaya re' which to my mind was not the best of the things to have my name upon. And I know that most of the readers would not have seen the ad also, which is the greatest face saving grace for me.

But the learning from that campaign was that, having a good add is a bonus, but having lots of money to put behind your add is a necessity. These words might sound ludicrous in these times of recession, but consumer does not understand recession.

‘Maal to bechna hee padega, nahin bik raha hai to distributor ko thok do’

This the month end yaar

ak