Branding the Goddess

Brand associations and the intervention of the social media have become as important a part of the Pujas as the traditional dhunuchi naach on an Ashtami evening. “We have around 20-25 sponsors that include media partners,” says Sandip Dasgupta,assistant secretary of the Naktala Udayan Sangha Puja in the fringes of south Kolkata. While a lot of sponsorships still come in,thanks to glib para youths,who go from house to house collecting subscriptions,young Kolkata has also discovered social networking. Case in point,the Behala Nutan Dal Puja. More than 40 years old,the spotlights were turned on this Puja roughly three years back after it bagged some of the most prestigious awards in town. Conceptualised by an art college graduate Rono Banerjee,the Puja is popular with the city award juries. Soon after,the organisers came up with a sleek website,complete with photo archives of the previous Pujas,e-cards with their pandal and deity pictures,wallpaper downloads and advertisement rate charts. “It’s important to professionally manage the Pujas. It’s the biggest festival in the state. Crores go into it. It’s only fair that the memories are saved for all to see throughout the year,” says Sandipan Banerjee,member of the organising committee.

City-based public relations firm Carpe Diem has been on a roll this season. Hired by two of the city’s biggest Pujas — the over-70-year-old Singhi Park and the CK-CL block,Salt Lake Pujas,the firm has been using every trick in the book,and out of it,to make sure the Pujas “are a grand success”. Success though,does not imply the lakhs of people who will throng the pandal over five days,but the number of corporate sponsors who will make a beeline for hoarding space next year. “When you spend close to Rs 40 lakh on a five-day affair,it only makes sense to channelise the funds properly. What we have done for these Pujas is give them organised media coverage so that they are mentioned in the right places at the right time. When a Puja budget shoots up,the organisers don’t profit. It’s the economy around the Pujas which gets a boost. Be it pandal decorators,idol makers or just people who put up food stalls,the bigger the Pujas,the better it is for these people,” says Dolon Das Bhaumik,COO and co-founder of Carpe Diem. So,from co-branding exercises to star-studded inaugurations,the firm will be doing it all. “Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will inaugurate the Singhi Park Puja and Universal Music will launch its Puja compilation of the best Bangla bands at the CK CL block pandal. Five of the city’s most popular bands will be present at the launch,” she says.

The benefits of the Brand Durga Puja are for everyone to reap. Bhabatosh Sutar is an antithesis to the stereotype of a Bengali idol maker. A snazzy mobile phone with a Spanish folk song as ringtone and a cigarette in his hand — Sutar is at work in the Naktala Udayan Sangha pandal. His idol — made from 100 cubic feet of mahogany wood and 550 kilos of copper — will probably find its way to an art collector’s opulent drawing room after the Pujas are over. “This idol costs Rs 8 lakh. Till a few years ago,that used to be the budget of an average Durga Puja. But now it is an event which exhibits Brand Bengal to its fullest,be it art,industry or Bangaliana (the Bengali culture),” says Sutar,who is the “visualiser” of two other popular Pujas in town,albeit with budgets lesser that Udayan Sangha’s Rs 40 lakh.

There’s truth in the marketing mantra that Sutar espouses,and even institutions like Max Mueller Bhavan are quick to catch on to it. The Bhavan has tied up with the popular Ekdalia Evergreen Puja as part of their commemoration of 60 years of Indo-German ties. The Maddox Square Puja,a popular destination for the young,the single and the fashionably turned out has at least six fan pages on Facebook,some with more than 1,000 members. On an average Puja day,Maddox Square flaunts everything from roadside chowmein stalls to the latest international car. “When a car company puts up a stall here,it blends with the snazzy eye-ball grabbing nature of the Puja,” says a patron.

MTS,a national internet provider,has come up with a unique concept of a virtual Durga Puja,that is becoming popular with the Bengali diaspora outside the country. The Durga Puja has been recreated online,complete with a 3-D thematic pandal and a walk-through. “The Puja rituals will also be performed online. The deity in our virtual Pujo will be given form by our team of graphic designers the way idols are made in Kumartuli,” says Keshhav Tiwary,chief operating officer,Kolkata and West Bengal circle,MTS India. “We have chosen social media to highlight our brand and create a connection with our audience,” he adds.

It’s a sentiment echoed by Joyjit Roy,brand manager with software firm iCore which has tied up with several Pujas as sponsor and is also giving out close to 10 awards. “These days people come to see Pujas not just from Kolkata but all over the country and at times,even from abroad. What better way to connect with customers than participate in the festival,” he says. An idea probably shared by most corporate houses and even civic bodies,given that the number of “awards” instituted for the Pujas have shot up from two to three to at least 25 in the last few years. From national biggies like Asian Paints and local brands like I Core and Chirag Computers to civic bodies like the Kolkata Police and Kolkata Municipal Corporation,everyone has jumped on to the Puja brandwagon. “There’s no better way to catch people’s attention than when they are in the best of moods,” says Sudeshna Mitra,a marketing trainee in a pharma giant.