Exclusive | MP mein Sau Tarah Ke rang Hai: Raghwendra Singh

Bandar dekha, hathi dekha,
baarasingha aur cheetal dekha,
mowgli ke junglon mein sher khan ko dekha,
aankhe phad phad ke dekha.
Pachmarhi satpura ka ajooba,
bhopal lake mein sooraj dooba,
mandu ka jahaz-mahal aur marble ka pahad dekha,
sab kuch malang ho ho ke dekha.
Mahakaal mandir mein pooja,
Vishwa mein na kahi aisa dooja,
Gwalior ke kille mein bhatka,
khajuraho ne de diya jhatka,
phir bhi mein bilkul nahin atka,
MP ko dang ho ho ke dekha.
Train ki chhuk-chhuk sunte-sunte, aa pahuncha main sanchi stupa,
sanchi ki shaanti mein aakar
khud ke andar jhaank ke dekha
hindustaan ka dil dekha…
MP mein sau tarah ke rang dekha!!

(The lyrics are a combination of two campaigns with the writer’s own words included too)

If these words and quirky visuals had made you pay a visit to MP, you are not alone. Everyone was compelled to sit up and plan a trip to MP after Ogilvy and Mather released their ad campaigns for MP tourism and the statistics speak for it clearly. If 1.1 crore tourists had visited MP in 2006, 5.3 crore visited in 2012. That’s a huge number and all this was possible with the efforts of team Ogilvy who established the brand MP in the minds of all Indians with themes like Hindustan ka Dil Dekho, Ajab hai Sabse Gazab Hai and now in 2013 they are saying Sau Tarah Ke Rang Hai.

Domestic tourists are coming in from Gujarat, West Bengal and Rajasthan in great numbers. Religious tourism indeed speaks of high numbers with tourists all over from India visiting MP for the Mahakaal aarti. But Madhya Pradesh Tourism would definitely want all types of tourists to grow. Speaking to us exclusively Raghwendra Singh, Managing Director,Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation said, “Frankly, speaking we will like to have a surge in the number of foreign tourists visiting MP. But we would also want the same for domestic tourism. We are under talks to have captions included in the campaign to help understand the destinations better by the foreign tourists.”

MP does not have many metro cities to boast of but it has many places of great historical importance in the rural regions to boast about as well as an environment that will provide peace and solace away from the hustle bustle of city life. If this is so then it does not matter whether a tourist is visiting a metro city or a small town. Raghwendra Singh mentioned that infrastructural connections to the destinations in MP whether by rail, road or air has been improving year after year. They are confident of carrying out more infrastructural development in the future which will definitely boost tourism in MP.

The indigenous industries of Madhya Pradesh have never been promoted in any of the campaigns before. Speaking on this Singh said, “In a one and half minute TVC it is difficult to show everything. we are  trying to create a kind of enigma about MP through the campaign by revealing only a few aspects of the state, leaving the rest for the tourists to come and explore. We have collaborated with National Geographic and created a show of 22 minutes around six months back, which talks about eight to nine destinations in detail taking every aspect of the place: art, culture, skills, indigenous industries and these are shown very well in that show.”

MP tourism ads have used various artistic formats to depict the destinations in MP. Techniques like shadowgraphy and the use of bioscope was showed in the previous TVCs. This time therefore the brief given to the agency was that the campaign should be a fine blend between concealing a few things and revealing a few so that it creates a healthy kind of curiosity in the minds of the viewers to come and explore the state.

Revealing more information on this aspect, Singh said that, “Ogilvy and Mather has extremely creative people working for them. They are extremely humble despite their knowledge and experience. They are always willing to listen to your ideas and opinions and take them into account. MP tourism had given them complete creative freedom to create the campaigns and we had lots of discussions with them throughout.”

It’s been nine months for Singh to join MP tourism and it has already been a fantastic journey with great learning experience. In his short tenure he has created a great rapport with Ogilvy and Mather team. He would like this relationship to continue and grow in a healthy manner in the years to come.

While other states are making a beeline after top celebrities for endorsing their state MP continues to go promoting the tourism without star power behind its back. The reason for this Singh explained was the team with which they are currently collaborating. “I believe we have taken the right decision to promote MP tourism differently and it is going great guns from one phase to another,” said Singh.

MP tourism is also present on the digital front and their presence can be felt on facebook, twitter and youtube. MP tourism also has its own website where they continuously promote their good work. Singh said that, “We are trying to use the digital medium as a platform to promote ourselves much more and will definitely make the most out of it in the future.”I By Rabab Rupawala [rabab(at)adgully.com]