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Raymond deserts Complete Man and Sonic Branding

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Our guest writer analyses the brand's advertising.

Raymond understood sonic branding long before it became fashionable to apply it as a discipline to
brands. In the UK they are called sonicons. Closer home my friend Rajeev Raja who runs his own
company called BrandMusiq calls it mogos, an abbreviation for musical logos. Says Rajeev Raja,
"Creating a sonic identity connects with consumers at a deeper, more subliminal level. And this is where
the MOGO™ or 'musical logo' plays a crucial role."

Raymond deserts Complete Man and Sonic Branding

Prabhakar Mundkur

There have been many famous mogos or sonicons in the history of Indian advertising. But the most
memorable from my childhood were brands like Lifebuoy, Saridon and Anacin. The sound of - tandurasti
ki raksha karta hai Lifebuoy, Lifebuoy hai jahan tandurusti hai wahan! - still rings in my ears. Or take the
famous Saridon" Sirf ek Saridon aur sar dard se araam." Those were the innocent days of advertising
when we still referred to them as jingles rather than mogos.

There have been several after those old memorable ones, including Britania's - Ding, ding de ding - but I
always felt that sonic branding went better with words that could be sung or remembered. It just made
the brands more memorable. Paul McCartney was once known to have said that a good tune was one
that you could sing or whistle to soon after you have heard it. Neuroscientists have now analysed the
brain mechanisms relating to memory and found that words set to music are the easiest to remember. A
strange and unfamiliar piece of instrumental music playing every time I open my bank's website is not
necessarily memorable. In fact, it can be downright irritating, because internet banking needs to be
done in silence

One of the most endearing tunes to be associated with a brand on the Indian advertising scene has
certainly been Raymond's Complete Man. The musical phrase which stood by Raymonds for many years
was taken from Traumerei from Kinderszenen Op 15 by Schumann. The piece first became famous at the
end of World War II as radio stations all over the world played it to signal the end of the war. This
version by Horowitz might bring back some familiar memories of previous Raymond films for example.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=qq7ncjhSqtk

The tune said something about the person who wore a suit made out of Raymond's fabrics. That he was
a man of the world; that he was sophisticated; and that he was gentle and successful. And most
importantly, that women found him sensitive.

Film Noir

Raymond's latest film, however, has proved to be a complete departure from the previous tone and
personality of the brand. Almost like moving from an opera house into a hard rock concert without a
transition to adjust to the change.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=fQ40RkjyKyI

The new TVC from Raymond had everyone complimenting the brand for their brave gesture of using
visually impaired Canadian singer and writer, Jugpreet Singh Bajwa, as the hero of the film to give his
interpretation of black for the new Black Collection of fabrics. Advertising has been using differently
abled people in their commercials for a while now. Bajwa recites some slam poetry which goes like this:

'Black is a like a silence that everyone can feel. When it finally speaks, it deafens the world with its
powerful words. It's time to unravel."

Having been in advertising all my life, I thought my view of Raymond's new film might be biased and
intellectual. So, I decided to expose the film to a few advertising and non-advertising people.

Ranjan Malik an innovation consultant said, "The problem with it is that it is trying too hard. This disease
has afflicted many brands these days - trying too hard to connect with a higher cause. They come across
as insincere or clumsy. Often both."

Vikas Mehta a consultant who now lives in Dehradun and spent most of this life in advertising said, "The
film left me confused. I had no idea who the blind guy was and just found it a bit too esoteric to signify
black".
Well-known author and writer Milan Vohra said, "It seems gimmicky without making an impactful
statement. Also, about the slam poetry, I find that the performance distracts me from the poetry".

But I thought the most poignant view came from the advertising and marketing person, Lata
Subramanian, who said that black, was not necessarily about being dark and menacing. She recalled the
beautiful all-time favourite, Sounds of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel - "Hello darkness my old friend, I
have come to talk to you again".

Sumit Roy, long-time trainer and innovation consultant, however, felt differently. He said, "The
Complete Man worked because women actually chose suiting brands, not men. Apparently we men
can't decide on suits without having a woman at our side. While I am always for long-running campaigns
"The Complete Man" is now over 25 years old. Do women like "sensitive men" any more or do they
relate to Rupi Kaur more? Times may have changed."

The views expressed so far were specifically on the Black commercial and how it relates with Raymond’s
broader positioning. As this was essentially an outside-in perspective, I decided to check with an insider -
Rajeev Raja of BrandMusiq, the sonic brand consultant for the brand. Here’s his perspective:

“In the recent Raymond Black commercial, since the creative idea involved a monologue we relied more
on sound design, but you will clearly hear the Raymond MOGO™ at the end along with the Raymond
Logo. Raymond has not deserted either the Complete Man theme or the sonic branding.”

Fair enough, in hindsight we all noticed the MOGO. A classic case of stimulus-response mismatch?

(The author is an independent brand strategy advisor)