Kolaveri Di is fast becoming a case study on how viral marketing can create a cult following for a product. Shelly Walia analyses the strategy that went into making this song an instant hit.
It’s a classic case of ‘viral marketing’ gone wild, says brand expert Harish Bijoor about the far-reaching impact of the song Why this Kolaveri Di. This quirky Tanglish (a portmanteau for Tamil and English) number, which became an instant hit as soon as it was digitally released by Sony Music India in the second week of November, has now entered the lexicon of one and all. Three weeks on, the song has received a whopping 19 million hits on YouTube, has been on the playlist of 43 radio stations across India and has been ‘shared’ by over 6.5 million Facebook users.
However, according to actor, lyricist and singer Dhanush, one shouldn’t take the song so seriously. “What probably made the song connect with the masses were the simple English words that are the part of every language,” he says.
But Bijoor believes that there is a little more to the success of the song than just the simplicity of the lyrics. “The song, undoubtedly, has a rustic touch to it that appeals to the base instinct of masses. However, at the same time what boosted the song’s popularity is the consumer-to-consumer technique, rather than the marketer-to-consumer one. Moreover, geography is history now. The digital world allows access to everyone.”
Along with its social media agency, Jack in the Box, Sony Music India marketed the song in phases. The song was first showcased for a Tamil audience and was then gradually taken to national and international levels. “We first posted the song on our Sony Music south pages on Facebook as well as on Twitter which are followed by lakhs of people. Through word-of-mouth, we tried to spread awareness about the song and get as many fans. After the song showed signs of gaining momentum, we launched it on Sony Music India and international pages,” says Arjun Sankalia, director (special projects), Sony Music India.
In fact the video of the song, which was shot overnight by Sony Music India, was specially targeted at the online networking sites. “It was deliberately kept simple and informal just like the song itself. It has a raw making-of-a-video touch to it. Besides, we decided to introduce sub-titles to make it accessible for the non-Tamil masses,” Sankalia adds.
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True to its meaning (Kolaveri means murderous rage), the fervour attached to the song does not seem to end anytime soon. Type Kolaveri Di on YouTube and you will get over 30 versions inspired from the original. “It has taken me by surprise how this song has become such a rage. I thought it would connect with the youngsters here in the south but not this far,” says Dhanush.
Creative minds all across the nation have created and uploaded different versions of the song on YouTube. A Gujarati one goes Why this Chokri Kharcha-Di or why does this girl make me spend so much, while the Marathi rendition is called the Kolhapuri Mix. The Malayalam version, in support of the Save Mullaperiyar Dam Campaign, has been created by the students of TKM College of Engineering in Kollam, Kerala, and questions the kolaveri of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.
“I don’t remember the last time a song became a rage like this. Probably it was Prabhu Deva’s Mukkala Muqabla which garnered a similar response from across the country. But, it was different as that was not the age of social networking,” says Sankalia.
One of the most popular additions to the scores of related videos on YouTube is a spoof (in German with English subtitles) on Adolf Hitler who is infuriated with the song’s success. This is part of the Hitler Gets Angry Series which features hilarious subtitled parodies of Hitler getting upset over various events and issues. It is for the first time that an Indian song has been featured on the series and that is quite an achievement in itself. In the video, the leader is concerned about ‘the most viral thing in India, beating even swine flu’. He wants to believe that it is just a fad and it will pass, but even his own men have betrayed him by posting the link of the song on their Facebook profiles. He is enraged at the song being featured on BBC and with Sir Winston Churchill’s helplessness as even the Queen has ‘liked’ it. He is ultimately ready ‘to surrender to Rajini Sir’ and ‘sync the song on his iPod’.
Among the most viewed version is the Pawar Slap Song, which features the video grabs of the recent attack on Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. The latest to join the bandwagon is Kolaveri Di Milk version by Sonu Nigam’s four-year-old son, Nevaan.
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Marketing experts like V S Sitaram, the former marketing head at Dabur, believe that though the lessons from this case study don’t apply to all products, there is definitely something for those that target the youth. “The song caught the attention because it is simple yet sophisticated. But the popularity also has to be attributed to the viral marketing on social networking platforms,” he says.
The popularity of the song also has something to do with the changing music landscape. “Regional music has huge acceptability now. The market is growing at the rate of 20 per cent every year. The success of the song is an endorsement of this phenomenon,” says Sridhar Subramaniam, president of Sony Music Entertainment (India and Middle East).
And guess who else is cashing in on the song’s far-reaching appeal? It is none other than the Chennai Police which is using the catchphrase as a message for rash drivers. And how can dairy brand Amul get left behind? Its latest print ad reads Kholo Every, Kholo Every, Kholo Everyday showing Amul’s mascot, the little girl, enjoying a slice of buttered bread with what appears to be actor Dhanush.
But, unlike commodities and products, how do you monetise a song? “Profits can be raked in by building on Kolaveri Di’s iconic status; by introducing collaterals such as mugs, t-shirts etc. It was done with Quick Gun Murugun, the character created for television promos at the time of the launch of the music network Channel V. A similar icon can be built around this song,” says Bijoor.
Sony Music India wants to keep the song fresh, buzzing and alive till each person has heard it. “It is now our conscious effort to long-tail the Kolaveri Di concept by creating and distributing official dance mixes of the song,” says Subramaniam.
This song, which has now acquired a cult status, has been written for the upcoming Tamil movie 3 (Mundroo). The film, which stars Dhanush and Shruti Hassan, is slated for a January release. It also marks the debut of 21-year-old Anirudh Ravichander as a music director.
Dhanush, who has been in the industry for over eight years now, having won the national film award this year for his role in Aadukalam, says, “Such things cannot be planned. If one could anticipate how popular a song would become, we would all become superstars.”
