Is Rahman still associated with Airtel? On Tue, Feb 24, 2009 at 12:18 PM, Gopal Srinivasan <catchg...@yahoo.com>wrote:
> > Brand Rahman – World’s envy, India’s pride > February 24, 09 > > Esha Madhavan > A+ A- > > Report a problem > > Print this page > > Email this page > > Dialogue > > Brand Speak > > “I had a choice between love and hate, and I chose love. That’s why I am > here today.” – AR > Rahman on winning his second Oscar. > > The Mozart from Madras created history on February 23, 2009 in Los Angeles > and sent entire > India into a euphoric frenzy. A special mention here for the hugely > talented Resul Pookutty as > well, who brought home the third Oscar for Sound Mixing. > > The reverberations of Rahman’s two Oscar wins will be felt for a long time > and also celebrated > by brands that the music maestro endorses. Rahman’s association with these > brands has been long > and epoch making. He has given them a lot of credibility, respect, immense > value addition in > terms of brand positioning and a lot of social causes that the brands got > associated with > through him. > > Congratulating Rahman, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Group CEO, Bharti > Enterprises, said, > “The global acclaim for ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ mirrors the growth story of > India. This signals > the arrival of India on the world entertainment stage. In particular, AR > Rahman’s unique double > Oscar win has made all of us very proud. Airtel has shared a long > friendship with Rahman, who > composed the Airtel signature tune, which is synonymous with the brand > today. Our heartiest > congratulations to Rahman and the entire ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ team.” > > Nearly two years back, the opening song of Spike Lee’s movie ‘Inside Man’ > had made many in the > audience feel that a wrong soundtrack was being played. But as the air > cleared, it made every > Indian who watched that movie enjoy the magic of Rahman’s music in a > Hollywood flick for the > first time. > > The song was ‘Chaiya Chaiya’, originally from the SRK-starrer ‘Dil Se’. > Rahman had also > enthralled the London West End with his music for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s > musical ‘Bombay > Dreams’. > > Thus, even before the Oscars, Rahman had introduced the world to his unique > brand of melody. > The Golden Statuettes are just a culmination of that popularity. The road > to the Oscars was > paved with wins at the British Academy Award (BAFTA) and Golden Globe. > > An exclusive note from Airtel gives a brief history of Rahman’s association > with the brand. The > music maestro became Airtel’s brand ambassador in 2002. The brand campaign > for Airtel in 2002 > featuring Rahman was the first time he appeared in a television commercial. > When Rahman > composed the tune, Airtel had two million customers. Today, Airtel claims > to have over 90 > million customers. The Airtel signature tune composed by Rahman is stated > to be the world’s > most downloaded piece of mobile music with over 60 million downloads. > Incidentally, this tune > has made its appearance in several forms, including car reverse music. > > Chandrasekar Radhakrishnan, Senior VP - Marketing, Airtel, said, “We would > like to congratulate > AR Rahman for winning the most coveted prize in world cinema and setting > new benchmarks for the > Indian music industry. Our association with Rahman goes back a long way. He > embodies the Airtel > value of leadership and trust in his field of music. Music is a key > platform for Airtel to > express the brand – exhibited through various products and associations. > With time, he has > become synonymous with the music of our brand through the evergreen Airtel > tune, background > scores for key advertising campaigns and his presence in music > sponsorships/ associations. > Rahman is without doubt one of the finest artists that our country has seen > and Airtel is proud > of the achievements of its brand ambassador in the world arena.” > > Speaking on Rahman as a brand ambassador, Ramnuj Shastry, CCO, Rediffusion > Y&R, said, “AR > Rahman’s Oscar feat is just a worldwide acknowledgement of something that > we Indians always > knew – that the man is a genius. Rahman, who has scored the Airtel tune, > has been a brand > ambassador of Airtel for the longest time. Through the universal language > of music, he has > always done what Airtel stands for – breaking barriers. And these awards > shall just > re-emphasise the fact that both the brand and the brand ambassador are > world class.” > Rediffusion Y&R is the creative agency for Airtel. > > Rahman has also been Nokia’s brand ambassador quite a few times. Other than > being associated > with Nokia’s various products and features, he had taken up the social > cause of eradicating > poverty and facilitating education for under-privileged children by joining > hands with Nokia > NSeries. > > Rahman’s Oscar wins has Chennai FM stations and other music media in a > frenzy to celebrate the > maestro’s feat. Big FM Chennai has rolled out programmes where Rahman’s > songs are being played > on-air throughout the day. Listeners are invited to call up on-air and wish > Rahman, RJs are > meeting listeners during outdoor shows and taking their wishes on-air, and > celebrities, too, > are dropping in with their wishes for Rahman on-air. > > Talking about their programmes dedicated to Rahman, Niladri Bose, RJ Guru, > Hello FM, Chennai, > said, “We have just concluded a two-week celebration on Rahman quite > differently from the other > stations here, who had decided to rather wait till the Oscars. We were very > confident about his > win and, therefore, we celebrated the culmination of the two-week long > programme on the Oscars > evening by organising a programme at the Madras Race Club, where we had > performers like Naresh > Iyer and Deva. Now, the second phase starts as there is no end to > celebrating Rahman, and all > the more because he is our hometown boy.” > > Jai Ho Rahman! Jai Ho India! > > > http://www.exchange4media.com/e4m/news/fullstory.asp?section_id=1&news_id=34025&pict=5&tag=28997 > > >
