Chitra Aiyer

The 2 brands that my young children always manage to recognise, irrespective of where they see them, are the Kingfisher airlines and Shahrukh Khan - yes, he is a celebrity, but the way they identify him is the way you would identify a brand.

It so happened that we took a Kingfisher airlines when my daughter was about 3 yrs and 9 months, and they gave this tiny book of flight schedules. It was red in color with the logo and small enough for her to make it her own. And make it her own, she did! She always carried it with her and used a pen to scribble around on it and invariably was extremely familiar with the Kingfisher airlines color and logo. She started recognising the little Kingfisher bird wherever she saw it. And from her, my son caught the logo-identifying-bug too.The seriousness with which they take it upon themselves to recognise the Kingfisher bird logo makes me want to talk to Mallya about making them his brand ambassadors. LOL And since that flight onwards, she never asks when we are going to fly out of town again, instead she always asks, when we are going to take a Kingfisher flight again! And in airports too, because of the red colored Kingfisher flights, they are always pointing those out in glee!

And with Shahrukh, when we moved back to India, we stayed for a bit at my folks’ place where they would watch KBC. And it was what, an every night affair (?) . Soon, both of them would yell out ‘Shahrukh’ whenever they saw him on KBC, and slowly on every ad he was on, on every billboard he was on, every mag/newspaper he was on. Well, where dont you find Shahrukh here in India?And the thrill with which they yell out amazes me! Shahrukh really has the staying power. In the late 80s, when we were in school and Shahrukh was on ‘Fauji’ and we spoke too much about it after every episode in school the next day. One of my friends then liked him sooo much, she couldn’t stop talking about him for the entire week until the next episode and then it would start again. Then it was my cousin’s daughter’s turn. She was such a huge fan of his from when she was 6 years old!!! This was from about ‘94 onwards. She was completely swept over! And then it was another cousin’s daughter who has had this huge crush for him from when she was about 8, I think! And that is from 2000 onwards. And now, my own kids from 2007 onwards. Do you see the time frames? And the age-groups? I mean, it is really something. I was smitten too, just for a brief while after watching him in DDLJ, in ‘99, was it? Not sure. (But of course, I was no child then! )

So, if you are a brand manager and want to sell something to children - either make it bright red and give a little something, small enough for the child to always carry around (like the Kingfisher airlines’ flight schedule book) or use a super-star like Shahrukh with whom practically every child seems to be able to identify with! Well, my 2 cents.

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Filed under: KBC, DDLJ, Fauji, red, brands, Kids, Family, Kingfisher airlines, Shahrukh Khan, Children

“This Sunday is a ‘Car Free Day’, which is not an attempt to take cars off the street. It is a pattern break. On the lines of the International Car Free Day, it is aimed at encouraging people to think about the impact of their transportation choices and how cleaner, more effective forms of transport can enhance our quality of life.

On the Sixth anniversary of ‘GoCycle’, join the ‘Car Free Day’ movement and contribute to the momentum that will help create a more sustainable future.”

Here are the details:

The specific starting points are given below.

On April 27th, cyclists from all parts of the city will get an opportunity to cycle from one of the four corners of Bangalore city and come together at The Chancery, off M.G. Road where various cycling activities will take place, including a cycling and environmental quiz, cycling races and games. The event will start at 8:30 a.m. and finish by 12:00 noon

Specific starting points:

Jayanagar: It starts off at the entrance of Jayanager Stadium. The cyclists will pass through Ashoka Pillar, Double Road and then finally MG Road.

Sadashivnagar: It starts off at Sankey Tank. The cyclists will pass through Vasanth Nagar, Infantry Road and then finally MG Road.

Kormangala : It starts off at Bethany School Grounds. The cyclists will pass through Viveknagar, Residency road and then finally MG Road.

Cox Town: Starts off at Wheeler Road (opp. Food World, front of Gymkhana). Cyclists will pass through Wheeler Road, Ulsoor Lake and then finally MG Road.

Please use the registration form on the gocycle website to participate.

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Filed under: koramangala, Cox town, apr 27th 2008, sadashivnagar, jayanagar, Cycle, No car, car, Bangalore