Brand Rahman Worlds envy, Indias pride
February 24, 09
Esha Madhavan
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Dialogue
Brand Speak
I had a choice between love and hate, and I chose love. Thats 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 Rahmans two Oscar wins will be felt for a long time and
also celebrated
by brands that the music maestro endorses. Rahmans 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
Rahmans 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 Lees 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 Rahmans 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 Webbers 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 Rahmans association
with the brand. The
music maestro became Airtels 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 worlds
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
Rahmans 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 Nokias brand ambassador quite a few times. Other than
being associated
with Nokias 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.
Rahmans Oscar wins has Chennai FM stations and other music media in a frenzy
to celebrate the
maestros feat. Big FM Chennai has rolled out programmes where Rahmans 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!
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