Click to play videoChennai: Sabhas wear a new look in Chennai during this Kutchery season. Corporate banners and hoardings have sprouted up everywhere, trying to maximize their profits.
Sudha Raghunathan is not only the face of Carnatic music but now also a brand that corporates want to cash in on. Sudha is the brand ambassador for Pothy's Parampara pattu, a role that only film stars and models took on earlier.
"It is a dual purpose. One, it is doing a service to the society, to art form and the second is that they also get a mileage and pride out of it. It's something they can pat themselves about," says Sudha Raghunathan, Carnatic Vocalist.
Many local brands like Nalli and RmKv have been patrons of the Chennai music festival for years now. Not only does it serve their purpose to promote art, it also gives them a platform to reach out to their potential customers, who are the NRI’s.
"People attending the music festival, mostly 100 % of them are potential customers. They buy silk saris for some occasion or the other at their houses," says Nalli Kuppusamy Chetty, Managing Partner, Nalli Silks.
"Previously one particular year-NRIs didn't visit India and our sales fell down nearly 50 per cent,” he adds.
However, it's not just sari and jewellery brands. This time sponsorships have come from National brands as well and the Sabhas say this season has seen almost a 40 per cent increase in advertising revenues. And sponsors haven't just stopped at advertising on hoardings and banners. It now extended to sponsoring entire shows of renowned musicians.
"It's a top class mileage we get out of this. In a Kutchery like Sudha' or Nityashree's, the number of people, the kind of people that we see there and the selling that happens there gets us a great mileage," says CP Rangarajan,President, Axis Bank.
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