As the season chan-ges to winter, is n’t it also time to sit back in your rocking chair and take a quick trip through memory lane? The endless seasons that have passed have seen the demise of not only old species but also of old schools of thought. From a meri biradri (clan) to mera kutumb (family) to sirf main (only me) is a progression that we have all been watching from the banks of life. I sit up in alarm as I visualise a sea of humanity which holds just isolated individual islands, so lonely and so forlorn…
And then like a breath of fresh air, I hear my daughter’s must-watch-every-day repeat soap title’s lyrics blaring away — I’ll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour; I’ll be there for you, like I have been there before... Oh yes, from Krishna and Sudama to your special group of pals on Facebook, this is one season which lives on for eternity and beyond. The medium of communicating about yaari or dosti might be different, but the premise remains so similar and so constant.
Kahani dosti ki…from the mythological tale of Krishna to the fictional tales of Laurel and Hardy, Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes, Shrek and donkey and the eternal dosti between Anand and Babu Moshai — the unflinching support and the golden warmth of friendship is like sunshine that we all love to bask in. The heartrending tales of Hachiko and Richard Gere and Marley & Me never fail to bring both a tear and a twinkle to the eye as you mourn the loss and rejoice in the hope of friendship. The spirit of friendship could be sacrificing as it was for Jai and Veeru in Sholay or the trust and faith could be unquestionable as it was in the case of Circuit and Munnabhai or DJ and gang in Rang de Basanti. Whatever the case, the box office does not stop jingling for the buddy.
Sargam dosti ki…If there is music friendship be far behind? The mood could be nostalgic with, We had joy we had fun we had seasons in the sun or exuberant and fun with yaaron ji bhar ke jee le pal daur apna aayega; of reassurance with koi jab raah na paye with meri dosti mera pyar or of salutations and homage with yaari hai imaan mera yaar meri bandagi. The road to eternity and beyond is not love but friendship with yeh dosti hum nahi chodenge to yaad karegi duniya tera mera yaarana…
The observations thus are simple and the gyan for our dost, the marketeer quite straightforward.
Dosti funda#1: Whenever the mood for consumption for the consumer is collective then you have to tell him like Samsung that everyone is invited and khub jamegi mehfil jab mile bethenge teen yaar, aap, hum aur Bagpiper.
So if it is celebration time aur kuch meetha ho jaye then it’s time to share your Cadbury bar with your friend. You know what they say about a shared joy being a double joy and shared sorrow being half a sorrow…
Dosti funda#2: If you are in the business of servicing, whether you are a fast food joint promising college pals about the dosti ka naya adda at KFC or the aapka saathi, a financial solutions company or happy to borrow talk time scheme from Vodafone pals; the friendly neighbourhood spidey theme works well to befriend the customer with a har pal mein saath nibhane wala friend pitch.
Dosti funda#3: We humans are a little contrary in nature, we are selfish in our consumption and yet we seek approval/ advice from others. Thus, whether it is advice on bidding on flipkart.com or puchnein mein kya jata hai for a deal on Tata Sky the accompanying comrade helps hugely in the decision risk. In fact even a popular game show on television offers you a lifeline which is appropriately called: phone a friend.
And at the end of the day whether it is grouchy parents at home who wonder what happened to their Pappu or the sadistic Hari Sadu boss who tears into his staff everyday — if you can soothe them with the song of friendship... a beautiful medley about the chai and toast, from the karki mein sharing kare to the chaddi buddy and the every buddy, sab buddy, the long lost Airtel buddy; rest assured my marketeer friend you have bonded with all these folk for life as they sing in unison: Kyonki har ek friend jaroori hai yaar!
The writer is professor, marketing, IMI, Delhi