What can we learn from Rajni?

(With liberal references from Search god: google!!)

Having been party to plethora of SMS and jokes about Rajni’s supernatural abilities made me wonder what is this all about? How can a simple actor like Rajnikanth can pull out something so great and so extraordinary. And the answer that comes to my mind is powerful branding. May be it is unintentional. Who knows!! 

I do the same thing everywhere - Consistency  

The crux is living the brand. Every action in his movies (although I cannot boast to have seen a lot of his on screen gyrations but I believe he would have done them in all) depicts what Rajni as a brand is.

Your brand is built and conveyed, with every action you take, with every product/service you offer, with every piece of communication you send, and with every contact you make with your customers.

Successful but very well connected on the ground

I was watching a few interviews of the legendary actor and found the guy humble, simple and well connected to the people on the ground.

Its people like you and me who have built stories about him although in lighter vein, these things demonstrate a sort of consistency in Rajni’s action. Consistency in delivery and performing out of world miracles on screen.

Prof Thiru always says “in the long run, companies which have stories to tell will survive”

Customers build brands piecemeal. They build a story about you based upon their experience. Your customer owns your brand - you do not. Your job is to behave as consistently as possible.

Single minded dedication to do the unthinkable – Character fixation!

The other day, I was watching Siva and watching some trailers of Robot. The guy is consistently doing things which normally is: unthinkable.

Attribution theory is at work here:  This theory says that people ascribe characters to the people they meet based on a very few clues around which they spin elaborate stories. So from a gesture, or a turn of phrase, or an intonation of voice, they quickly come to a conclusion as to the sort of person they are dealing with (often within 20 seconds of meeting the person, in fact). These judgements are made not only of people, but also of animals, and even of inanimate objects (what human characteristics do you ascribe to your laptop when it crashes?).

Brands, which function as fictional people, are also ascribed human characteristics. (God in our case of Rajnikanth!!)

In conclusion, brands can therefore be analysed along two key dimensions based on our understanding of Rajni’s actions:

• The level of intimacy they have with their customers (viewers in our case)
• Their level of stature in the world (how the world sees him)

And what is going to take us there?

• The central organising thought of the brand
• The personality of the brand
• The values the brand embodies
• The tastes/dress of the brand, including how it speaks
• The emotional benefits the brand satisfies
• The hard benefits the brand delivers