‘Live the Thunder’ unlocks the new code of masculanity by launching a campaign shot in Bangkok. The ad opens with four youngsters sitting on the top of a building discussing their plan of action. Mahesh Babu, the main protagonist takes a sip of Thums Up and says, ‘ Aaj kuch toofani Karte Hai ‘ . He jumps off the building, and others follow him. The group does dare devil acts —jumping across roofs, gliding down wires and slipping down pipes. They cut short a 30-minute trip to just three minutes. At the end Babu says, ‘ Tees minute ka raasta teen minute ka bana diya. …, aur kal kuch toofani karte hai.’ For the first time, they have shown a girl indulging in extreme sports. The brand is widening its space to include women. The Thums Up man is no longer ‘chasing the thunder,’ but ‘living the thunder.’
Month: October 2014
Silver Jubilee of Fashion Stalwarts
Suneet Varma, Ravi Bajaj, Madhu Jain, Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla have completed 25 years in this industry in 2012. Ashish Soni, J .J .Valaya, Abraham-Thakore, Leena-Ashima and Rina Dhaka have completed 20 years. NIFT commemorated its silver jubilee in 2011. The industry is expanding, with new designer emerging on the scene every year. The fashion education is expanding too. The retail market is growing. Fashion Weeks have become regular features. More than 200 designers participated in the two fashion weeks in Delhi and Mumbai every season with 100 of them actually presenting shows twice a years. Top designers retail out of their own stores in the high end malls, and multi-designer stores. Still the international market has not been dented. There should be out-of-box thinking. The real estate cost affects the designers adversely. There are many designer schools –almost 1000 across A/B/C towns. NIFT has 15 branches. In India, the business model adopted expects the designer to design and produce and sell. It is a flop model. A designer may not have the marketing expertise and the financial muscle. He should tie up with others to compensate this. He should focus on creating. He may need corporate backing. The heritage design is not supported enough. A whole world is dying out. The indigenous textiles must be used. The industry must build on its strengths. It should borrow from the successful models elsewhere.