A 2 day workshop conducted by Devdutt Patnaik, renowned mythologist, for United Spirits Limited on Mythmaking and Branding.
The proposition itself sounded like a paradox to me. It just didnt seem to go together. Mythology and Selling Alcohol. Devdutt Patnaik and USL. Agency and Client. Mythologist and Marketers. Deconstruction of Communication Codes and Mythological Narratives as a backdrop.
The first day of the workshop was quite interesting. The kind of stuff that I was interested in hearing. The kind of stuff he was most comfortable with. I enjoyed it thoroughly, especially because I have recently gotten interested in the broad topics he was talking about. Extremely knowledgeable, and even more amazingly simplistic in his explanation. He makes his thought flow seem so seamless that even a child could understand what he is talking about. It all made perfect sense.
After reading his books on Vishnu, Shiva, Devi, Myth = Mithya and Jaya, I have now decided to read more of his books.
The second day, as I had feared, and as is the case with other such eminent personalities who have tried to club such topics with branding, was a let down. There was not much that was helpful for any branding professional. There was not much that was giving us a direction to follow or any paths to explore.
Another issue that seems to happen in most such forums where a group exercise happens, is that the place is filled with north indians. Even though we were sitting in a South Indian city, working on a brand that is based out of South India, with a large part of its empire in South India, we still had to depend on North Indian stereotypes and references from Bollywood to understand the social context as well as the category context.
Well anyway, pretty used to it by now.
But I guess Myths are absolutely fascinating, and decoding and simplifying these myths are even more fascinating. The commercial application of the same, well, I guess that is a different story altogether. It falls under the broad term 'Maya'.
The proposition itself sounded like a paradox to me. It just didnt seem to go together. Mythology and Selling Alcohol. Devdutt Patnaik and USL. Agency and Client. Mythologist and Marketers. Deconstruction of Communication Codes and Mythological Narratives as a backdrop.
The first day of the workshop was quite interesting. The kind of stuff that I was interested in hearing. The kind of stuff he was most comfortable with. I enjoyed it thoroughly, especially because I have recently gotten interested in the broad topics he was talking about. Extremely knowledgeable, and even more amazingly simplistic in his explanation. He makes his thought flow seem so seamless that even a child could understand what he is talking about. It all made perfect sense.
After reading his books on Vishnu, Shiva, Devi, Myth = Mithya and Jaya, I have now decided to read more of his books.
The second day, as I had feared, and as is the case with other such eminent personalities who have tried to club such topics with branding, was a let down. There was not much that was helpful for any branding professional. There was not much that was giving us a direction to follow or any paths to explore.
Another issue that seems to happen in most such forums where a group exercise happens, is that the place is filled with north indians. Even though we were sitting in a South Indian city, working on a brand that is based out of South India, with a large part of its empire in South India, we still had to depend on North Indian stereotypes and references from Bollywood to understand the social context as well as the category context.
Well anyway, pretty used to it by now.
But I guess Myths are absolutely fascinating, and decoding and simplifying these myths are even more fascinating. The commercial application of the same, well, I guess that is a different story altogether. It falls under the broad term 'Maya'.
