Keep it cool
In today’s day and age, being cool
is important for the existence of anything. An entity will survive the test of
time if it is perceived to be ‘cool’. What exactly is ’cool’? I think at the
core of it, it is about acceptance. There are various aspects which make an
entity cool.
Look at Coffee for instance. I do
not think there is any other beverage around which is perceived to be as cool
as coffee and I am not talking about its temperature ;). Here, the coolness is
lent by its association with other accepted entities. From film stars to life
coaches to students, everyone endorses coffee. That is the reason why you see
many coffee stores around. I love tea but it is not a beverage which is
perceived to be cool. If it were, there would have been as many branded tea
shops as there are coffee shops!
Now let us look at various
professions. There are certain professions which people want to get in to –
Architect, Author, Painter, Actor et al. All these are cool by definition. This
is the reason why they are aspirational and hence much sought after.
What about Nationalities? There are
nations which are considered to be cool. For instance, being a Latin American.
Being someone from a non- descript south Asian island might not be so. Being
someone from a remote middle -eastern country which still relies on stone age
rules can be the exact opposite of being cool.
About various products – something
known for quality is cool. This is exactly why Brands are so popular and well
received. People associate it with goodness.
Uniqueness is quite cool. So is
Novelty which explains the mobile phones’ sales hitting roof top. Imitation is totally
uncool. This is why people do not want to lay their hands on Chinese goods.
For all our pseudo unmaterialistic
views, a cheap entity is not perceived to be cool. Look at Nano. It wasn’t
perceived as cool by anyone. In spite of all its merits, it was looked down up
on by people. It was too cheap for a car.
Hindi movies have come to be
perceived as cool. Because of this, more number of youngsters visits cinema
halls which in turn drive the film industry’s revenue and thus its survival. The
day regional cinemas manages to achieve this, they will also thrive.
Arun Babu.