International Trade Forum - Issue 3/2009
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Rolling Stone India & JWT: Traditional arts bring modern
brands to life.
When Rolling Stone launched its new Indian edition in
2007, the creative team at JWT were presented with one of the most
intriguing creative briefs an advertising agency could imagine. How
to make the iconic magazine look familiar - but still be
iconic?
Referred to as the "bible" of music journalism, Rolling
Stone is one of the most respected media brands and
distribution channels in the world. And its iconic status is as
much about the magazine itself as the artists it profiles. At the
time of the launch of Rolling Stone India, the US edition
had a cult following on the streets of the subcontinent with an
underground culture built upon the second-hand copies being passed
around. But the arrival of an Indian edition with local music
content had the potential to transform the landscape for a billion
music-lovers across the country.
As the Chief Creative Officer of JWT India at the time, Agnello
Dias was the architect of the campaign's creative vision. Mr Dias
and his team - working for the world's biggest advertising agency
on the world's most famous music brand - took a surprising
approach.
"We wanted a sense of permanency to the campaign. We didn't want
to produce just another piece of advertising material that lands on
the trash heap once its job is done. Instead we wanted to produce
something that would become a collector's item and have meaning
beyond its shelf life - just like the original editions of
Rolling Stone had," Mr Dias said.
Inspired by the long-standing heritage of Rolling Stone
itself, his team looked to the traditional arts of India. As one of
the most ancient civilizations in the world, the country has some
of the oldest surviving forms of traditional art in existence.
Artisans today still practise arts that have passed from one
generation to the next for centuries. Mr Dias and his team
commissioned
artisan communities to reproduce four of the most famous Rolling
Stone images in traditional art forms. Jim Morrison was recast in
kantha embroidery, Bob Marley in batik and Madonna in zardozi
(another traditional form of embroidery), while rapper 50 Cent was
painted in the Madhubani style. The resulting images were a fusion
of East-meets-West design that became the focus of a vibrant
contemporary outdoor and print advertising campaign across
India.
Rolling Stone India hit the streets bringing modern
iconography and Indian folklore together. For the artisans of
India, the modern campaign brought not just an income but access to
a world of new markets and mass communication that they could never
have dreamed of.