AKARSH SHEKHAR
Door...Door..
DOORDARSHAN
HAI WONDERFUL
In 1959, Doordarshan began as a humble radio channel.
Today, it's the ultimate source of 80s and 90s nostalgia
among Indian millennials. Why have the sounds of iconic
Doordarshan advertisements withstood the test of time? Is it
because of the catchy music and the memorable lyrics or is it
the fact that those sounds encapsulate fond memories?
Before talking about the tunes of its different ads, let's talk
about the tune of Doordarshan itself. In 1973, during the
inauguration ceremony of the Doordarshan Television
Channel at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi, shehnai maestro
Ustad Ali Ahmad Khan’s 1.5 hour long recital gave birth
to the famous melancholy Doordarshan tune, which was
accompanied by the famous swirly video footage. The tune
was composed by the sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar
who worked with Ustad Ali Ahmad Khan. The tune was
supposed to be based on Sarey Jahan Se Acchha but Ravi
Shankar decided on a shorter version of the famous tune by
Mohammed Iqbal. Until the cable tv revolution of the late 90s,
that was India's unofficial ‘National Tune’.
Over the course of time, the national tune started being
accompanied with a flurry
of wonderful ads
which featured
unforgettable
music.
Mention
the
names Cadbury, Amul, Nirma, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Nerolac and
almost every Indian millennial will be able to hum along to
the tune of their classic commercials. This was no accident.
Doordarshan became India’s largest broadcasting
organization in 1982. From there it slowly transitioned into
a television powerhouse. Until 1975 only 7 cities in India had
access to television service. All of this was about to change.
On 15th August 1982, metropolitan and regional India woke
up to colour TV with the live telecast of Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi’s Independence Day speech. If her father
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was a visionary, Indira Gandhi was
definitely a tele-visionary. Her efforts were instrumental in
bringing colour television to the Indian masses. During the
same year, New Delhi hosted the Asian Games and Indian
citizens got to watch the best Asian athletes sweat and toil in
colourful glory.
Doordharshan marked an array of technological
advancements in India. Well produced television sets and
studios meant well produced serials. Shows like Hum Log,
Ramayan, and Mahabharat made people sit in front of the
TV for a long time. All that tv-time opened the doors for
advertisers to enter the airwaves.
Brands and marketing teams recognized this and ran with it.
India's triumph in the 1983 Cricket World Cup also helped the
cause. It led to a flurry of advertising during sports telecasts
also. It was about that time when the classic advertisements
we remember and sing along to, started becoming vibrant,
fresh and ubiquitous.
According to a study, emotional stimulus such as music,
when inserted into an advertisement stimulates purchase
motivation. This emotional component most likely affects
purchase intent through brand attitude. It is thought that
music stimulates emotions, which may affect the brand
attitude and lead to brand purchase and usage (Rossiter &
Percy 1991).
Researchers are also learning now that its not just our
emotions that guide us . Methods such as recall, recognition
and brand attributes measure consumers’ thoughts, but
not their feelings or their total range of emotion. Humans
think and feel, and both processes influence their behaviour
(Zajonc, 1980; Zajonc & Markus, 1982).
The power to recall brands with just a tune and to feel
the emotions attached with the sound, changed India
economically and socially. It helped us grow as an economy,
and as people. No wonder the music from those days still
resonates with our soul.
The
Score Magazine
highonscore.com
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