Gaana.com: Striking a chord with love

In its second campaign, 'Dil Ka Gaana', Gaana.com gives a peek into an upcoming series of episodes capturing the musical journey of two people in love.

Music has always been an essential ingredient in love stories. Gaana.com, a music streaming platform owned by Times Internet, is all set to woo its users through a delightful musical story. Titled 'Dil Ka Gaana', the new musical advertising campaign captures the love story of two characters - Ayaan Khanna and Rhea Bajaj.

Gaana, in true Bollywood style, has rolled out a teaser of the campaign featuring both the protagonists which also marks an extension of its first ad 'Bas Bajna Chahiye Gaana'. Using a series of episodes capturing the musical journey of the two lovers, Gaana will weave a romantic tale of two strangers coming together because of music.

Pratik Mazumder, VP - marketing, Times Internet, believes that brands need to move forward in their storytelling as they mature. "This campaign shows how music connects and brings people together. The long format suitably showcases the various moments, moods and phases of life, and highlights the role that Gaana plays in bringing them together," he says.

The musical campaign has been composed by Amit Trivedi and sung by Ash King and Neeti Mohan.

Produced by Gaana Productions, the trailer of the short film hit television on World Music Day, June 21.

Gaana currently boasts of over 12 million registered users. In terms of app downloads, the total installed base is over 21 million across platforms (windows / iOS / Android).

Mazumder informs that in terms of genres, Bollywood rules with over two thirds of the consumption, followed by Pop, Devotional and International. Gaana also offers music in regional languages such as Telugu, Tamil, Punjabi, Bengali and Kannada. On an average, a Gaana user listens to music typically twice a day on its platform.

​With a focus on the regional markets, Mazumder says that the new campaign will also be released in two regional languages other than Hindi.

Gaana, which claims to have over 10 million songs across 21 languages across web and mobile, uses television as the brand driver supported by digital and outdoor in its media mix.

After creating the much popular 'Bas Bajna Chahiye Gaana', M&C Saatchi New Delhi wanted to delve deep and connect with users. The agency worked on the insight that the first sign of true love is when you discover a common interest.

Anjali Nayar, president, M&C Saatchi New Delhi, says, "Our entire campaign this time was based on how music can bring two people together. The insight was how the first signs of true love happen only when you discover a common interest. And one of the most telling signs of compatibility is if you love the same music. Because 'I love his playlist' actually goes deeper than 'I love his eyes'."

Nirmal Pulickal, managing director and creative head, M&C Saatchi New Delhi, adds, "We decided to look at young love, but not just the initial attraction bit. We looked at all facets of love - attraction, intimacy, estrangement, trust and commitment, and all the emotions one experiences - from the initial adrenaline rush to anguish and the euphoria of the reunion. We decided to step back and look at this not like an ad campaign, but like a Bollywood movie about love."

The film has been directed by ad filmmaker Ravi Udyawar. The female lead is Piaa Bajpai, while the male lead is a Spanish model and actor Miguel Herran.

Gaana directly competes with Saavn and Airtel's Wynk. Some other players operating in this space are US-based music streaming service Rdio and Australian streaming service Guvera.