P James Magic Show

schematic

If this guy spends half as much time on his act as he does scrawling his name and number on every vacant square foot of concrete wall in the city, he could be the next Houdini.

Still, I'm strangely intrigued. Anyone else?

Nick-H

It must be one of the world's most effective advertising campaigns!

I think it has stuck in my head since my first trip to Chennai.

Well, I once met someone who said she had seen him perform, and it was good....

__________________
.


Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

Penri

I think I've subconciously memorised his number.

schematic

Banarasi at heart

Ha! I recall this clearly. Every wall in Chennai has this. I recall seeing him one (but do not remember where). Rather short and in his late 40s or early fifties.

Gabahd

I love P. James! I Google searched for him as he was bound to be some sort of Internet cult figure...

nuclear

I've seen P. James, not once, but twice. He is quite popular for birthday parties.

Anyone who tells you he's "good" has never actually seen his show

Gabahd

Is he Indian or an expat magician?

nuclear

100% Indian.

hal2004

He must use the same advertising strategy as the Pink Floyd Hotel in Pushkar.
Riding out to the "desert" on a camel, every electrical post had their logo scrawled on it.

I guess they've both taken a lesson from TATA/Indicom who would probably paint their logo on the Taj Mahal if they were allowed.

Nick-H

That'll be the Tata Mahal, then, I suppose?

Gabahd

Good one!

I saw a slightly different tag today, but it was the same handwriting. It said something like A to Z event, Balloon decoration... It's on Venkatanarayana Road near TTD temple. I'll take a picture next time I walk there.

Other thing, I forget where because I was fairly new in town, but I remember seeing other ads for another magician trying to compete with P. James. Both ads were alternating on the wall, in the same area. I am digging my brain out trying to remember where it was... Any ideas?

Nick-H

No, sorry.

I don't seem to see P James's name as often as I used to either.

Gametotravel

An article as culled from www.madrasmusings.com
The Magical P. James


In 1984, Jay Conrad Levinson coined the phrase ‘guerrilla *marketing’ to denote creative, compelling, low budget marketing strategies. Guerrilla marketing is an unconfined, unplugged ‘monkeying’ around to get the message across. The basic ingredients for guerrilla marketing are a high level of creativity and passion for the product or service. However bizarre the idea, however high the brand recall, the brand does need to deliver on the implied promises made.

On an electrical junction box on the roadside, one would expect to see a helpline or emergency telephone number. But some junction boxes and visible areas in Chennai sport a new message from Jack the magician. Is it James’ nemesis or is it a campaign variation strategy to retain market share? A simple call to that number would solve the puzzle. But beware, you would fall prey to the shadow marketing tactics of the undercover marketer!

In Chennai, the greatest ex-ample of guerrilla marketing is the marketing campaign of James the Magician.

James Senior was a magician. The Senior’s junior, Kennedy, continues to use his father’s name to tout his services. In a burgeoning middle class society, entertainment for private events, children’s birthday parties, etc. has gained momentum and, hey presto, P. James, with a few tricks under his hat, got into providing the entertainment. Whether the need came first or the service is hard to gauge. P. James launched his guerrilla marketing campaign by painting the words, ‘P James Magician, Phone no 98410 72571’ all over the walls, on bridges, etc. around Chennai. His scrawls on the walls have become a part and parcel of Chennai’s graffiti. The graffiti also evolved with technological advents. His message with the phone number got upgraded with a mobile number once this handy walkie-talkie hit the world. Now P. James is reachable directly, instantly.


There are an estimated 30,000 instances of his advertisement. He had spent about 14 years painting the graffiti, by himself, in the night. He uses a mixture of black oxide and Fevicol adhesive for the paint, as this is cheap and rainproof. Aggressively contested for wall-space by political parties, commercial products and cinema posters, James has managed to achieve a very high ‘graffiti-density’.


His campaign was fast gaining eyeballs and resulting in winning deals but the magic campaign soon came to an end. Chennai city authorities came down heavily on huge hoardings and illegal banners that choked the city’s skyline. P. James’ graffiti sales pitch came down as the Commissioner of Police instructed him to call off his campaign. Yet, he is the local ‘mom-and-pop’ entertainment outfit that the whole city talks and blogs about. Blogs are the shortest cut to the other side of the world. P. James and his marketing are discussed even in the US and have got listed in Wikipedia. There are some electronic versions of newsletters featuring the smart magician.

In a data driven world, the prospective customer base is huge and the venues for marketing are numerous. Amidst this constant bombardment of sales pitches, there is too much noise and nothing is heard at all. It is the occasional P. James’ of the world that are heard. (Courtesy: Matrix, the journal of The Sanmar group.)