Madras Week – A growing opportunity for customer engagement?

-- by Varsha V.

Chennai is basking in the afterglow of yet another lively Madras Week which saw a vibrant line-up of events to celebrate the city. What began many years ago as a fledgling initiative has arguably grown into an annual festival that belongs to the people. Madras Week is seeing growing participation across various age groups and demographics, which in turn has helped create space for a fabulous variety of public exchange on topics civic and cultural – or example, Madras Musings hosted ‘Queering Chennai’, a panel discussion moderated by Jaiveer Johal that explored the ways the LGBTQIA+ communities have carved out spaces and lives in the city; the Press Institute of India hosted ‘The Anglo-Indians: Curating a Fascinating Culture’, a panel discussion moderated by Harry MacLure; and there were several food walks exploring myriad street foods and cuisines, including a much-appreciated trail through Kasimedu fish marketled by food blogger Shabnam Kamil. While it is true that Madras Week has since inception received steady support from a few iconic Chennai institutions – The Hindu and the Murugappa Group come to mind – it appears that its increasing popularity is attracting a handful of organizations who recognise it as an engagement opportunity.

Promotional campaigns marking Madras Week seem to range from the simple to the elaborate – some organizations are content with a simple shout-out on social media while others go to greater lengths to showcase their bond with the city. Last year, the NASDAQ-listed firm Freshworks released a short, fun video for the occasion titled ‘Freshworks, Proudly Made in Madras’; this year, the Sheraton Grand Chennai Resort and Spa at Mahabalipuram organized a Madras Day Brunch to highlight the flavours of the region; Surana and Surana International Attorneys hosted a Madras Musings event in their office premises; the Taj Connemara held a special event at the historic Connemara Bar where guests could enjoy signature cocktails from the bar’s hoary past; the Murugappa Group, in addition to producing a series of videos on the city, held the Madras Quiz which has now grown into a cherished tradition of Madras Week; there were social media mentions from diverse companies and institutions such as the Rane Group, TVS Electronics, Easwari Engineering College, the Chennai Super Kings and more; even the MTC (Metropolitan Transport Corporation) collaborated with ITDP India to celebrate its buses through a photography contest. This list, of course, is just a sample – there were many other Chennai institutions, both large and small, that either helmed or sponsored Madras Week events.

Given that businesses are eager to find their spot in the conversation, it is safe to say that more storylines can be expected to emerge in future formats of Madras Week – after all, the city’s business and trade communities have a rich past and equally bright present to be rightly proud of. Besides its considerable sway in the manufacturing, medical and software sectors, Chennai has also fostered brilliant start-ups that have put it on the global map. Their stories and ties to the city stand to enrich the narrative. Much the same goes for administrative and local bodies too – after all, Madras Week has become a fresh platform for public service announcements and community engagement. In this vein, it must be said that the MTC campaign this year was a rather nice effort. MTC’s photography contest invited people to share pics from their bus travels (one such theme was ‘Chennai from the ‘jannal’ seat), and the participants appear to be significant in number. Not only was MTC’s bond with the city successfully communicated, but the narrative also helped promote the usage of public transport. Other administrative bodies may find it worthwhile to emulate such efforts. In fact, the Madras Week buzz offers scope to organize more active engagement campaigns too – for instance, communities in many parts of the city launched clean-up drives in their localities, a Madras Week activity that the Chennai Corporation can well adopt. The possibilities are diverse.

Madras Week has already found its way into the promotional calendars of a clutch of companies and local bodies. This number will hopefully increase with greater public participation. It will be interesting to see the variety of creative campaigns that stand to emerge in the future.

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