You go, disco Dada

Rebel. Movie star. National award winner. Disco dancer. Lover boy. Hotelier. Along the way, he got involved with politics and brands too. Mithun ‘Dada’ Chakraborty is back on screen countrywide in a campaign for technology provider and web-hosting company GoDaddy.

An unusual choice? Rajiv Sodhi, GoDaddy’s India Managing Director and Vice-President, is not so sure. Three things stood out in the decision to feature Mithun in the campaign — he is not the brand ambassador… “it’s too early for GoDaddy to talk of one” — there is a “terrific connect” with him across generations; he has great mass appeal; and there is a synergy between “Go, Dada!” and GoDaddy, which is expected to attract small and medium businesses to build their online presence with the company.

There are two commercials, one set in a bakery and the other in a leather goods store. In the first, the baker’s goodies have no takers, while in the second the store owner wants to run his business 24x7. In steps the star, in a silver-coloured suit and dark glasses, hair gelled, and surrounded by dancers in true ’80s filmi style, explaining how a website can help them get more customers. The TVCs end with him doing a “signature GoDaddy dance move” — symbolising success and celebration — accompanied by the business owners, who are now thriving after taking his advice.

Mithun is someone who has made it entirely on his own and is a role model for many, irrespective of the industry they are in, says Sodhi, giving another reason why he was chosen for the campaign. The ads are in English, or Hinglish, to gain a wide appeal and attract SMB owners in Tier-1 and 2 towns as well.

There are over 30 million such entrepreneurs, says Sodhi, who will not reveal the size of his company’s business in India. The campaign aims to educate them about the benefits of getting a website, and is integrated with search, display, email and social media marketing mechanisms.

GoDaddy entered India in mid-2012 and its business grew by 86 per cent in the next year or so, he says. This Arizona, US-based company has been selling .in domain names since 2009 but had no customer support or India website.

Mithun Chakraborty has endorsed other brands previously, but this is probably the first countrywide campaign in a long time. He is currently brand ambassador for Ankit Metal and Manappuram Gold for the eastern region.

A spokesperson for him says he was the first Indian star to become an ambassador for an international product, National of Japan, in the Eighties when he was riding on the popularity of cult films such as Disco Dancer and G9 . On the film front, he has several upcoming releases, including Kaanchi , Kick and Entertainment Entertainment as well as one each in Bengali and Tamil.

Sodhi has high hopes for the signature dance move as it is designed to tie the GoDaddy brand, Dada and success together. “The common man should be able to copy it; we hope people will actually mimic it,” he says.

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