by Suman Gupta
Mumbai, Dec 5, 2017: McDowell’s No.1 Soda has been synonymous with touching stories of Yaari and has been an enabler of many a friendship through its intriguing and captivating storytelling amongst masses in India. Keeping in tune with its philosophy of strengthening the bonds of brotherhood, McDowell’s No.1 Soda is introducing its new sonic asset through ‘No.1 Yaari Jam’, a music platform that is being launched with the release 5 enchanting Yaari sound tracks. Shaped by ace music directors Salim & Sulaiman Merchant along with distinguished and renowned music artists from across India, these exhibit the spirit of Yaari that McDowell’s seeks to evoke amongst its customers across India.
McDowell’s No.1 Soda’s sonic asset is a musical rendition of the brand’s iconic tagline ‘Yeh No.1 Yaari Hai’ which was also converted into an extremely popular song that released in 2014. No.1 Yaari Jam takes the brand’s association with music to the next level as it becomes a first of its kind platform that will provide inspiration and platform for artists and bands from across India to join the brand on its journey to tell the enthralling stories of Yaari through music.
The musical opus unfolds in 5 languages with Swarathma leading the jam in Karnataka, Mame Khan and band replicating their spellbinding symphonies in Rajasthan, Ishq Bector fashioning a foot tapping number from Punjab and Siddharth Mahadevan and Soumil Shringarpure weaving their magic in Maharashtra. The nationwide musical caravan concludes with Salim- Sulaiman and one of their oldest yaar Shaan creating a soul stirring melody oozing the essence of “Yaari” that binds millions all over the country.
The musical tracks are deep, meaningful, culturally rooted yet relatable renditions that manifest brotherhood, loyalty and “coming of age” moments amongst close friends. The inspiring tracks enable the listeners to relive the tales of friendship that the chosen artists experienced in their extraordinary journeys of becoming musical legends. The tracks have been produced by Qyuki Media and creatively supported by DDB Mudra. Commenting on their latest collaboration, music mavens, Salim- Sulaiman said, “Music always gets a lot more interesting when we collaborate with other artists. Most of them become our friends forever & the music we make together has a special meaning for all of us. Music around the theme of No.1 Yaari, in itself, was a brilliant concept for both of us to be invested in this novel endeavour from McDowell’s No.1 Soda. We truly enjoyed the opportunity to collaborate with all the cool artists from across India as lent their flavour to the much-revered theme of Yaari.”
They further added, “We’ve had our own fair share of ‘Yaari’ tales and it was a delight to have Shaan be a part of the Hindi song as he has been our constant No.1 Yaar for over two decades now. We hope the ‘No.1 Yaari Jam’ continues to be a path breaking endeavour that brings together musicians from across the country and binds them to the common theme of Yaari.”
Amrit Thomas, Chief Marketing Officer, Diageo India said, “We believe in building brands with purpose and for us to truly connect with the consumers, we need to be a part of their cultural narrative. No. 1 Yaari Jam is not just a campaign or platform, but it is our attempt to curate and create content from across India that defines the new sounds of friendship among millennials. We are grateful to Salim-Sulaiman and Qyuki for being amazing partners on this journey and helping us bring alive McDowell’s No.1 Soda’s sonic asset through this fascinating compilation ofmusic videos which embrace India’s rich and charming regional tunes.”
Samir Bangara, Founder of Qyuki Media said, “This has been a labor of love for us on many counts. The McDowell’s No.1 Soda team has been incredibly helpful and empowering and working with Salim-Sulaiman has always been a pleasure. Swarathma, Ishq Bector, Mame Khan, Siddharth & Soumil are all young incredibly talented musicians and each brought a flavor to the project that was inimitable and glorious. The teams have worked hard to ensure that the tracks are a treat both sonically and visually and we hope the audiences appreciate this with the same passion that it has been created with”
About Diageo India: Diageo India is the country’s leading beverage alcohol company and a subsidiary of global leader Diageo plc. The company manufactures, sells and distributes an ouztstanding portfolio of premium brands such as Johnnie Walker, Black Dog, Black & White, VAT 69, Antiquity, Signature, Royal Challenge, McDowell’s No.1, Smirnoff, Captain Morgan and Four Seasons.
Headquartered in Bengaluru, our wide footprint is supported by a committed team of over 5000 employees, 60 manufacturing facilities across states and union territories in India, a strong distribution network and a state-of-the-art Technical Centre.
Incorporated in India as United Spirits Limited (USL), the company is listed on both the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in India. For more information about Diageo India, our people, our brands, and performance, visit us at www.diageoindia.com. Promoting responsible consumption of alcohol is at the core of our business. Visit Diageo’s global responsible drinking resource, www.DRINKiQ.com, for information, initiatives, and ways to share best practices. Celebrating life, every day, everywhere.
About Qyuki Media: Qyuki is a cross-platform media network across digital, live, TV and film founded by AR Rahman, Samir Bangara and Shekhar Kapur. The Company uses proprietary technology and analytics to discover and promote digital super stars and manages the end to end value chain for them across traditional and new media platforms. Recently, in association with YouTube, Qyuki launched Jammin- India’s largest digital musical property, where legendary Bollywood composers and India’s top internet youth icons collaborate to create original tracks. Fronted by legendary composer and maestro AR Rahman, Bollywood biggies such as Salim Sulaiman, Clinton Cerejo and Mithoon team up with digital stars SANAM, Shraddha Sharma, Maati Bani and others
In a recent ranking by YouTube India, Qyuki had two of the top 3 fastest growing channels in the country while on Facebook, its’ managed talent FunkYou grew over 1500x to 7 MILLION fans in one year. Qyuki prides itself in being a creator focused company with SANAM Band, FunkYou, Shraddha Sharma, Motorbeam, and Powerdrift being some of the largest digital brands managed by Qyuki. The Company’s Agency business has also executed some of the largest branded content projects with clients like Coca-Cola, Olx, VW, Mercedes-Benz, Colgate, Moneycontrol amongst others.
