We thought it would be good to get the views of our Wizard with Words on this development. Here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the June 1 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…
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Q. The BBC is hiring its first ever Chief Brand Officer to brace itself as it looks at a digital-first future. Do you think Indian broadcasters should be getting inspired?
A. Hiring a Chief Brand officer (CBO) – may be under different designations – has been a practice for eons, especially in multinational FMCG/ durable companies. The arrival of a digital ecosystem has only created more urgency for it as consumer activism is getting articulated (true or fake) through a ubiquitous presence of social media and earned media.
Usually a CBO is expected to play a critical role in driving value for the consumers, across the value chain of the company’s operating environment so that the brand’s core integrity resonates in each and every activity of the Brand. In case of BBC , I can imagine that the CBO will work pan-BBC, across all Content (TV , audio, video and website) platforms. The audience / consumer value is evaluated on the metric of whether the present and potential consumers are willing to pay to enjoy the services of the Brand ( BBC, in this case). This evaluation would permeate both supply side and demand side of the business. As a specialist function, CBO can really orchestrate ( if other departments allow- hence the CBO must directly report to the CEO) a homogeneous brand message for each and every activities of the Brand. This is a good move, specially in india where BBC is increasing its footprints in multiple languages and the CBO has to be highly alert about relationship with host country regulators.