I was very excited when I got my hands on the book Power Of A Common Man Connecting With Consumers The SRK Way  by Koral Dasgupta. And no doubt the book stood up to my expectation.  The author has done extensive and intensive analysis in the book upon how Shah Rukh connects with people so effortlessly.

I have absolutely loved the Prologue written by the author. There was so much emotion and devotion in it, that any SRK fans heart will start overflowing with Love Potion. After reading the book, I can safely say that it is the mini biography of the brand SRK by a SRK fan.

I have recently read a book Pitch It by Dev Prasad in which parallels were drawn between corporate world and Cricket. While in Power of a common man, the author has tried to explain marketing strategies through Indian cinema. Marketing gurus are coming up with various innovative ways to simplify the marketing jargon.

The author clearly states that SRK neither has the style of Salman Khan nor the substance of Aamir Khan  but in spite of that his film gross money both at national and international level. This is so because SRK know how to market himself and his films. People instantly connects with him. Shah Rukh is also one among us mango people. He comes from a humble background and has a very humble beginning.

We all know Chennai Express is such a gibberish movie of Shahrukh Khan. In spite of that the movie entered into the 100 crores club easily and did stupendous business everywhere the movie was released. Now how come an illogical movies like Chennai Express managed to be a blockbuster. The author has given detailed analysis about the marketing strategy behind the movie Chennai Express. I just wished she also included a case study on Ra.One marketing strategy as well.

We all know SRK is a brand in itself and has a massive brand value.  People who are not big SRK fan, are also thoroughly impressed by his business sense and business acumen ship and there could be few who are not influenced by his brand presence. He knows very well how to win people through his witty and catchy one liner.

Koral has pointed out few factors why we easily connects with SRK. Like SRK has strong family values and is the patriarch of his family. He respects women and he and his family is living and perfect example of secularism in our country. Like a child, he dearly misses his parents.

The author writes a riveting account on micro and macro similarities between Amitabh Bachchan and SRK. There is Salman Khan, Aamir Khan who are equally successful as SRK but latter is consider to be rightful heir of Superstar Amitabh Bachchan. Koral gives some  astonishing  reason for it.

At the beginning of the book, the author gives two case studies. Those case studies were very impressive analysis understanding the consumer behavior. The author has distinguished between Customer ans Consumer. Customers are the one who pays for the product and consumers are user of the product. The mind set of both should be kept in mind before launching and selling any products. SRK understands this difference between customer and consumer very well.

There are case studies about the effect of SRK brand value on the products he endorsed like Hyundai Santro, Lux, Fair and Handsone, Cinthol, Pepsodent etc and company’s whose brand ambassador he became like , Pepsi, Airtel, Videocon, Gitanjali Jewel, D Decor Home Fabric etc. It is quite nostalgia recalling all those ads and also quite mind blowing to know its effect on the people.

The Verdict:

The book will be a paradise for SRK fans. Apart from them, even the Indian cinema and bollywood movie lovers will also love the book. The book has a lot of food to appreciate for cine lovers in general and SRK fans specifically. Marketing guys will definitely find the book very engrossing as it discusses about the consumer habits which will give them some basic idea of market and demand and supply.