RELEVANCE: 3/5
ACADEMIC QUOTIENT: 2/5
RESEARCH: 3/5
ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 3/5
“It is better to burn out than rust out”
“My motto is early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise!”
“Success is never final, and failure never fatal”
“If by doing a serial I can get even 20 people to switch on the TV, I’ll have repaid my debt to Doordarshan” – Femina, 1992
[perfectpullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“I am just an employee of the Shah Rukh Khan myth”[/perfectpullquote]
As you must have already guessed, all the above quotes were worded by none other than the famous Shah Rukh Khan, the larger than life Bollywood star whose fans are generously spread not just in India but throughout the length and breadth of the planet.
There have been many books on the superstar, whose claim to fame cannot be contented by anyone else. But among the varieties of works authored on him, this book by Koral Dasgupta stands out in quite a differentiated way.
This is because the author, who besides being a die-hard Shah Rukh fan herself, also happens to be a marketing management professor.
Thus her interest in Shah Rukh and her deep knowledge of the subject enables her to pull together a book which so beautifully captures the essence of the subject of consumer behaviour.
Thus, the book not only talks about Shah Rukh but does so in a way which gives deep insights into consumer behaviour and how Shah Rukh has ridden his way to success by gaining such knowledge of consumer behaviourism.
The varied and multi-hued topics of marketing management like consumer behaviour, branding, competition analysis, target marketing, psychographic analysis, cultural influence, consumer connection and motivation, perception, diversification, innovation, positioning, consumerism etc. are all very well explained throughout the course of this book.
Moving on to the finer aspects, for a fresher, newly introduced to marketing, this book is quite an easy and interesting way to gain inroads into the subject knowledge.
The ease of writing style and the familiarity of examples makes the book easily comprehendible. But for a serious learner, I am afraid, this is not the book one will be looking for.
For a Shah Rukh fan, like myself, this book will be one of the most interesting ones, because it is full of information about his films and other associations.
The best part I liked in Power of a Common Man was its easy language and the smooth flow of chapters. I also liked the generous use of illustrations and pictures to supplement the text and drive home the points which the chapters were based upon.
Though at times, I was a little anxious about the length of the chapters and sometimes felt that there was a lot of unnecessary information which could have been best left out.
Overall, the book is okay and one time read. One which can be read as a light read and not something to go back to and refer when the need arises.
I definitely recommend Power of a Common Man to all Shah Rukh Khan fans and people who like to read about marketing. Because in the end, we all are part and employees of the Shah Rukh Khan myth.