Chirping of birds, hissing of the wind, thunder of the clouds are the natural sounds we hear in the movies without any surprise. Beyond that the sip of the tea, the fizz of the carbonated drink and the swish of the sword could be heard. Movies have been made lively by the fidelity of the sounds incorporated. However, we forget that there were times when the movies were silent. The silent era in India started with the screening of Raja Harishchandra made by Dadasaheb Phalke on Saturday, 3rd May, 1913 in Mumbai’s Girgaon-based Coronation Cinema. In those days, the technology to synchronize the sound and visual was not available. The experiments had been continuing to do so since the last decade of the 19th century. William Dickson made a 21-second audio-visual reel at the lab of Thomas Edison, in 1895. It was made on kinetophone. It was the pioneering effort to wed the sound and the visual. De Forest developed around this time ‘phenofilm’. However, to make a full-length feature film with sound had to wait for 32 years. Warner ‘Brothers’ Jaaz Singer using vitaphone released this movie on October, 1927. It was screened at Flagship Theatre of New York. The visuals were on film, and sound emanated from a different disc. Some portion of Jazz Singer was silent, and some portion with sound. It was the first attempt of audio-visual synchronization. It is considered a milestone.

In the 1920s, the silent movies were given live sound by an orchestra sitting in the theatre.

India’s first takie was realsed on 14th April, 1931, at Majestic Cinema in Mumbai. It was Imperial Movietone produced and Ardeshir Irani directed Alam Ara. In the next nine months on 23rd Jan,1932 Prabhat Film Company made and V. Shantaram directed Ayodhyecha Raja, a musical talkie film was released. Vishnu Pant Damale used his own developed sound recording system to record the dialogues and songs. There was no playback system, and the characters used to sing themselves.

The movies got colour in the 1950s. Sound too improved. Sets were erected in the studios. They were called sound stage as they were sound proof. Later outdoor shooting led to the concept of dubbing to eliminate unwanted sounds. Jack Folley developed the system of recording the movements. Till the 1960s, the source of the sound was one — monophonic. Then stereophonic sound came. Ultimately, movies adopted Dolby.

WPP is a colossus. It own more than 100 marketing and communications firms — including the likes of J.Walter Thomson and Ogilvy, as well as Y & R and Hill +Knowlton. It has 2 lac employees making ads for companies such as Ford and Dell. It is the biggest of five advertising holding companies that control a significant portion of world’s advertising, marketing and communications firms. The others are Omnicon and the Interpublic Group in the United States, the Publicis Group in France and Dentsu in Japan.

The emergence and expansion of these companies represented a shift in power from the creative experts of advertising to financial experts such as Sorrel. Perhaps marketing personnel building up a firm may not be suitable for managing money. This is where WPP came in. It is a reaction against the indiscipline of Mad Men days.

In the last decade, the entry of digital platform have put a question mark on the utility of such holding companies at the entry level. These are cost-focussed companies who jeltison creative people. The mammoth size also comes in the way while trying to be responsive to the needs of the client.

Over a period of time advertising planning has evolved. In the late sixties, planning emerged as the research department of an agency. The first Account Planning team was set up in JWT so that systematic process takes over the gut feeling while dealing with the clients. The whole of seventies was about research for insights. In the eighties, there was focus on culture rather than mere benefits. In the new millennium, the social media led to purpose-driven brands. Planners took cognizance of the social issues which brands can serve.

Still we search for insights into human nature. The insight is sourced by keen observation of people, of life itself and of media consumption. Algorithms do point out behavioral pattern which can be converted into insights. Behaviour is mapped. Data is processed into information and information is translated into insight.

Segmentation is done at the micro level. A few psychographic slots are not enough. There are micro segments. Marketers look at new moms, at pregnant women at different stages of pregnancy.

There is one holy grail of insight that sustains the brand, and makes up its ideology. Such discoveries happen a few times in the life of a brand. This is an era of algorithms. The key insight can be the backdrop and can lead to contextual behavioral insights.

Creativity influences behaviour. Algorithms further enhance this power. One cannot stop at ‘know your audience’, but should further consider what one can do further after knowing the audience.

Biochemistry plays a vital role, as life sciences tell us, in the way we behave Biochemical algorithm can be used to stimulate the feel good factors so that people can buy holiday’s tourism.

Generation Z are now 22 or younger or post-millennial generation born between 1995 and 2012. They are familiar with the Internet from a very young age. Let us examine their content consumption. It is a mobile-first generation, which consumes much of their media on smartphones. On an average, they are connected 10 hours a day. Gen Z prefers short videos and prefers ads of 10 or less than 10 seconds. Gen Z is skeptical towards advertising and finds branded content appealing. Despite consuming content on TV they also access Netflix and YouTube and OTT services. They engage with the community through apps. It believes in planning. They express their opinion on anything and everything. They are design conscious and pay attention to ad aesthetics. They like innovative ads. They do not like encroachment on their personal space. They like skip options. They are not comfortable with fake news.

In the decade beginning with 2020s, science fiction will become reality. Autonomous cars, plant-based meat, kidneys from our bio-material which are 3-D printed, gene editing for disease elimination, nanobots for drug delivery and blockage removal, hypersonic jets — all this will be possible in the next 10 years. Ideas such as AI, universal translators, sex robots, driverless cars, gene editing and quantum computing are at the cusp of maturity.

Future robots may not be built from steel, silicon, metal, plastic or other non-biodegradable synthetic materials. The living robots, have been built with stem cells drawn from frog embryo. These can replicate human actions. The design is proposed by the computers. The cells are termed xenobots. They were given pre-loaded nutrients. It is virtually creation of life. A frog has been re-purposed into a different organism. It could lead in future to synthesizing of body parts and repairing dead tissues. Xenobots could scrape plaque from arteries and could collect microplastic in oceans. These are biodegradable bots.

Such manipulation of biological systems is fraught with risks. These could keep evolving and could be a menace like viruses. AI-driven xenobots can be weaponised against humans.

Advertising, as we know it today, had its genesis in the US at the turn of the 20th century. It essentially helped to differentiate commoditised products after mass production. Quaker Oats started using the image of the Quaker male, Pear’s Soap, Campbell’s sop and Coca Cola were quick to associate visual imagery with the products. This created ‘brands’ with image which may not align with the physical features of the product. That invested the products with a personality. Soap manufacturers overdid this on radio and later on TV and created a genre of programmes called soap operas. Ad agencies emerged out of this to communicate the brand values to consumers and to ensure proper placement of ads in the media, both print, and radio. They created print layouts and radio jingles. Later agencies provided services to the emerging cinema and TV media.

In the mid 1980’s, the first disruption came about. The founding icons such as Ogilvy, Young and Rubicam hung their boots. Their place was taken by finance-oriented new breed such as Martin Sorrel. They leveraged the agencies and created holding companies. The aim was to generate enough surplus to pay off the debts. Instead of brand management and positioning, the key words were profits and cost management.

As years rolled by, the full service agencies disaggregated. There were separate agencies for creatives and for media. There were PR agencies, and Internet media companies. They took up even the planning and buying role. Publishers started running full-fledged departments to create ads altogether bypassing the agencies.

Internet brought about disintermediation in many other industries, e.g. travel, recruitment, shares and securities.

Media audience has massively shifted to mobile phones.

Ad agencies are being reinvented. In fact, the whole of media is being reinvented.

Storytelling is an ancient art form very common across the countries and cultures. However, as a stand-alone art form, it is yet to be recognised. It is put under theatre. These days participants organise story festivals to share stories, tales or legends from the past, present and or the future. These encourage the oral tradition of storytelling. The oral tradition has diversified into forms such as film, theatre, web series, photo stories etc. Technology has enabled people to narrate stories in different ways and forms. However, the key components remain constant — the storyteller and the audience. The oral tradition is effective because of the direct connect between the teller and the listener. People are being trained in storytelling.

Stories are being used as learning tool in schools and corporate organisations. These stories make concepts and subjects interesting. A storyteller has the unique ability and power to shape the mind of the listener.

In corporate organisations, these days they appoint ‘chief storyteller’. The job holder tries to unearth unexpected connections and bring together internal and external voices to communicate company’s vision, values, purpose, strengths and capabilities. A storyteller has to be a good listener too to unearth unexpected connections.

There are corporate strategies for which stories should be told. It is more than marketing communications. It is a leadership skill. The job holder uses stroytelling as a strategic tool to influence the customers, employees and teams. The job holder simplifies complex subjects and makes them shareable. The job involves improving market perceptions.

There are brand stories. It is a combination of the story the organisation puts forward and story as the audiences perceive. Here comes the role of strategic story telling. It should have a continuity, and yet there should be freshness.

Employees are told stories to persuade them and to change their attitudes. The stories connect employees to the brand. They can become brand advocates.

Millennials are also called Gen Y and are born between 1982 and 2004. They constitute 27 percent of global population and 34 percent of Indian population. They play an important role in driving consumption demand in consumer markets in India. Out of their monthly income, they spend a large portion on necessities, and education utilities. They spend the extra money on entertainment, dining, outfits, accessories and electronics. Accommodation on Airbnb is mostly booked by millennials. They prefer customised brands and personal experience. They are after fitness apps and health pursuits. They prefer personal care products which are organic and natural. They like value-for-money products, but value time, and for the sake of convenience they are ready to pay a premium. Older millennials invest in real estate. They have low-attention span and prefer short messages. They also adopt sharing economy.

Spiderman was introduced by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in 1962, some 58 years ago. Spiderman first appeared in Marvel Comics. An orphan boy Peter Parker (15-16 years old) stays with Uncle Ben and Aunt May. He was sharp and struggler. Once a radioactive spider bites him in the lab. A series of events follow. Peter’s transformation into Spiderman and the complexity of his life is the story of Spiderman.

Three different actors enacted Spiderman in the last 17 years. He is a popular superhero.

It is to be noted that the target audience of the comics was school-going teenagers. In the comics, there were no characters who can appeal this age group. Spiderman was the first character in alignment with this target audience. As Spiderman he maintains the law and order by capturing criminals, while as Peter he is supposed to come back home before 7 in the evening. It is a tight-rope Walk. It makes him appealing.

The recent Spiderman movie is Far from Home. However, in this movie, the audience has not established that emotional connect with him which they had established in the previous movies. Marvel had sold Spiderman rights to Sony Pictures in 1990, except the comic rights. Sony revived Spiderman to take advantage of the success of superhero movies. The present Spiderman is contemporary. In the previous versions, he was worried about the world. Here he says, ‘There are Avengers to save the world.’ He is content with his schooling and young life. This version has been brought by Marvel Cinematic Universe. Of course, he has created a new audience too for himself.

Bob Kane and Bill Finger’s 1939 creation Batman turned 80 on March 30, 2019. On September 21, 2019 DC Comics celebrated Batman Day by lighting up the skies of major cities across the world with the iconic Bat Signal. He was created in response to the rapid popularity of Superman. Finger’s designs gave Batman his distinctive look. Kane, however, maintained that Finger is not the creator, but merely an illustrator. Finger expired in 1974, and long after that Kane acknowledged his fault in denying him credit. In 2015, DC worked out a deal with Finger family and he was mentioned as co-creator.

Several other artists too made Batman’s every new birth relevant for their times. Fox added Barbara Gordon as Batgirl. Lorenzo (1966) made him flamboyant and stylish. Neil and Adams brought Batman to his old ways in the 1970s. Dark Knight is their notable work. Batman moves on the unforgiving streets of Gotham, and uses his wits and will as tools against organised crime.

Miller and Nolan made Batman a superb detective. Thus Batman has been created and recreated a number of times. He remains a strategist. He uses his body to overcome his opponents. Gotham is an extended metaphor for some of the most contemporary problems. Batman wins, as well as loses. The hero is always vulnerable. He oscillates between chaos and order.

As we know Bob Kane created Batman. He is the most successful superhero of DC Comics. He was created through The Detective Comic#27 in March, 1939. An ordinary boy Bruce Wane gets transformed into Batman. He is popular even after 80 plus years.

Batman is based on fear. Batman feels the fear of darkness. In childhood, he had fallen into a deep pit. There was total darkness there. There were many bats. It affected the psyche of Bruce. He developed a phobia for darkness. He then overcomes that fear. After his parents death, he went to the same pit to relive the experience. Batman uses the darkness to catch the criminals. Batman’s secret to success is his phobia. Once you overcome this fear, you move on in life. The complete control on mind is the prerequisite.

Bruce Wane was an ordinary boy. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Once his parents were assassinated. That changes his life. In childhood, we feel parents are there to protect us. As we grow up. we realise how wrong we are. The protective shield of parents is temporary. And when we loss the parents at young age, it influences us. Bruce also was a such a child. However, he controlled his emotions. Batman uses his pain as his strength.

There is a variety of villains in Batman. They all are the negative images of Batman. Batman and the villains differ in one thing — the objectives. These villains spend their energy to destroy the city of Gotham. They want the society to compensate for their anguish. Batman strives to prevent the pain from others. Batman survives the struggle.

Batman’s two movies were flops — Batman vs Superman and Justice Loage. Robert will be seen as the new Batman.