The Brilliance That Is MTV Coke Studio

One of the best things happening to Indian television, and to music more broadly speaking, is MTV Coke Studio. It has everyone, who has ever seen it, gushing about it. And the show gives every reason to do so.

MTV Coke Studio itself is brilliant concept- bringing together singers and musicians from both mainstream and non-commercial fields together to make music that is soulful, melodic, and most importantly, absolutely enjoyable.

MTV Coke Studio premiered on Indian television in the summer of 2011

The show's wide-appeal is a sure shot factor contributing to its success- because of its eclectic music, it caters to different segments of the audience. Today, MTV Coke Studio is most certainly a brand that has: credibility, authenticity, visibility, trustworthiness and is definitely differentiated. It's a brand you know that will deliver a great 'product' (in this case, music/entertainment) experience.

But if we had to use our analytical thinking skills, could we also attribute the brand's success to its sponsors? In this case, obviously I'm talking about Coca Cola or as its popularly called, Coke, and MTV.

Think about it. Both these two brands are strong, they've been around for long and they're highly visible brands. I think it's highly likely that as the main sponsors for the show, not only did these two brands transfer, to an extent, their popularity to the show but also aspects of their brand identities.

Lets start with Coke. Today, it's one of the top 10 brands in the whole world in terms of strong brand equity, according to the 2012 Interbrand report.

The brand believes in opening happiness

What makes it such a top-notch brand? To quickly jot down a few reasons-

One, its packaging. The Coca Cola bottle is perhaps one of the recognized and popular packagings any brand has ever seen;

Second, longevity- the brand of cola has been around for years now (it was first introduced in 1886!), making it not only credible but also a brand consumers in over 200 countries can trust;

Third, is the brand's personality and identity- what it stands for, its values, how these resonate with consumers across markets, irrespective of linguistic, social and a multitude of other differences.

And fourth (this is linked to the third reason) is the way the brand has been positioned today- 'Open Happiness'. The brand is associated with happiness and everything that that entails- celebration, entertainment, fun, enthusiasm. The positioning says that with every bottle of Coke that you open, you're actually opening a little bit of happiness.

While Coca Cola is all about spreading the joy, MTV on the other hand is a little too hardcore in comparison. Started as one of the few (probably the only) television channels dedicated entirely to music. Of course, over the past few years, the brand has significantly moved on from music and ventured into products like reality shows. However, the fact that music continues to be its core product adds to its credibility.

The brand's all about keeping it real

Another reason for its popularity is its focus on the youth of India. It is, unequivocally, a youth-centric brand. The youth today is perhaps the most important audience segment any brand wants to target- it's a market that as a brand, you want to tap into and make a mark. What gives the brand a certain longevity (in terms of its focus on its primary audience) is the fact that it has always been a youth-oriented brand.

While a lot of brands are now realizing the potential that this market holds, MTV is not just in a 'been there, done that' mode but is using its position rather interestingly (the channel put together a study on how the youth can bring about a change as part of the Youth Marketing Forum in 2012).

The brand has evidently worked on positioning and repositioning itself in the market. Its recent positioning ('Stay Raw') rings truer to what the brand stands for today- a no-nonsense approach, devoid of all the jazz and shmazz- just being real and raw, exactly the way the youth of the country sees itself.

So when these 2 big brands come together to sponsor a product, what happens? One can only assume that the product will be nothing shot of something that will definitely hold your attention and keep you talking for quite some time.

Coke and MTV as individual brands, transfer some of their brand attributes when they come together to sponsor a product.

Longevity, credibility, the cause for celebration, it being a product that everyone can use- this comes with Coke and expertise in music, longevity, its focus on youth, its celebration of being different comes from MTV.

As a result, what you have is a product that is perceived to possess few or all of those attributes. Which is when promos for MTV Coke Studio began to air on TV, it stirred up a lot of attention simply because it was being endorsed by two well-known and 'good' brands.

But of course, it goes without saying that MTV Coke Studio is without a doubt, a show that will feed your souls with great music. So if you haven't seen it yet, catch hold of an episode NOW!