By Jaisurya Das
Greetings and a Warm Welcome to this last week of 2015, a year that seemingly went by faster than normal.
A year which has seen epic battles in the social media and internet space. Battles over internet ethics, equality and the like. From internet.org to Free basics we have seen it all! It’s interesting how social media has been adopted by a host of brands as the primary marketing medium, relegating the brick and mortar to the back burner.
I wonder though if this makes pertinent sense considering that serious brand choices don’t seem to be taken courtesy social media, from what I have seen and experienced. Indeed, it’s a good reminder medium and does help in registering recall but not too much more. Most of us still buy thanks to the print, television and online mediums.
Yet, clients want maximum focus on social, irrespective of what category they are in. Advertising agencies grapple day in and day out to deliver ’x‘ number of pageviews to their client. A number which means nothing more than a random number of people, who have presumably seen the page. The age old dictum of seeing is believing doesn’t hold good though 🙂
Are they the target audience? Will they buy? Are they prospects for future conversion?
Sadly, there is very little credible data to back any of this.
Yet, competence in delivering page views, would determine the duration and comfort of the client-agency relationship. How does it matter if the agency has excellent strategy for the brand or has used all its planning skills to create a formidable marketing plan?!
May be it’s time to bring back media-multiplier and evangelise how effective print + television has been in comparison to television or print alone.
Social media is exceedingly powerful. Be social to it, but don’t expect brands to be built by the society alone. It takes more…
Traditional + Social can build and sell effectively.
Let them work for you. In tandem.
Having said this, it’s about time I go beyond the monologue and jump straight onto our last set of questions for the year 2016.
Ladies and Gentleman: Presenting our answers for the first time in a 53rd week in a calendar year.
Do read on..
Sir, my new year resolution for 2016 is going to be to watch less of all the fights on news bulletins. Why can’t we have some fresh thinking on the format?
Hey, thanks for writing in to Dear MxM.
So, I gather you’re all set to switch channels and wean yourself from the din of news… It’s a catch 22 situation believe me. You want the action without the masala, but you forget that food gets insipid without the liberal use of spice!
I must confess that I keep cribbing about some channels despite visiting all of them quite unabashedly. It’s finally about what entertains, what informs, and what empowers me with conversational material.
And contrary to what the intelligentsia says, entertainment is critical and of primary importance.
After all, news is ‘right in ones face’ through the day, like it or not. Having said this, yes, formats must change but that can happen only when we become mature consumers of news and analysis. Often pure news is considered ‘so damn boring‘ that soon enough the channel loses ground in ratings.
Think of it my friend; It’s tough to find a format that can deliver news and entertain, all in one.
And unfortunately, that’s was the world wants!
So if you do have a solution, I am waiting to hear about it. It may just be the answer that will change the way news is presented on television.
And yes, till then, happy viewing.., Mirchi Masala et al.
Sir, I’ve found that portals like Instagram and Facebook actually leave a lot of room for strong storytelling… unlike what I consume in print. Do you think there is scope for a print edition borrowing from those digital formats?
I am reminded of the days when satellite television was coming into the Indian media scene, in a big way and there was this whole bogey about it signalling doom for print. Media soothsayers predicted complete annihilation of the publishing business, but in reality, it was merely a dent made in advertising revenues. Magazines were probably the most affected since time was crucial for consumption and that got divided between print and television.
Far far away in South Africa, a medical doctor who ran a large newspaper group (Caxton) Dr Noel Coburn thought differently when faced with the same challenge. He propounded the left brain theory and explained (using his medical acumen) how TV is a left brain activity and print is a more immediate medium absorbed by the right brain.
Hence to reach and be retained, advertisers will do better using a combination of Print and TV rather than only Print or only TV. The rest is history. Today, his newspaper group is one of the largest in the African continent. I must add that I have had the honour of meeting Dr.Coburn and discussing neural networks and how they work and respond to stimuli. Amazing lateral thinker he is.
I know I have digressed from your question, however it was important to give you a perspective of the macros of media.
Yes, there is major storytelling in any visually strong medium, be it Facebook of Instagram.
Our brains respond to visual *stimuli easily and we draw our own story maps basis what we see.
(*It may interest you that it takes all of 750 milli-seconds to identify what we see!)
The online social world is largely self-propelled, and it is we that make it exciting for ourselves, and our community, With the newspaper, it is about formats, journalists and editors who decide what goes and where.
Maybe, it’s time we have a graphic newspaper. I must add that, two of us from the industry (we run a consulting company together ) actually worked from scratch to set up a new magazine in the city of Hyderabad for a business couple. The concept brief was really brief, and they essentially wanted a pictorial magazine brought out in true international standard. Audience was to be the creme de la creme of the city.  The entire product is just lovely photographs and is event-led. A glossy pictorial Page 3 in magazine format.
Five years later, ‘You & I‘ is a household name in Hyderabad, and people vie to be featured in it.
Graphic media brand is Possible.
So, the field is open. We have tested it, and it’s a live example. Indeed the challenge is to make it interesting and ensure high degree of interactivity that is today the mainstay of the online world.
If you’re launching a graphic-led media brand, we would be more than happy to help!
Storytelling is an art. If you can do it well, nothing else matters.
Some years back, I had heard that Digital OOH was a big draw, especially TV screens at retail outlets and even housing complexes. Is that still a profitable business?
That’s a question you should be asking Ishan Raina! He powers the largest firm in this business. To be honest, it’s a medium I never understood or believed in.
I somehow couldn’t fathom anyone actually standing and watching this display while they were shopping or travelling in a lift with 15 others! Yet, presumably this medium is good and it’s just that advertisers didn’t get enough bang for their buck.
OOH (Digital Out of Home) was probably too early for its time. Â Audiences needed to get over their latest toys like their smartphones and attain ad-exposure maturity.
No, I can’t imagine it being profitable unless you have a phenomenal number of screens and advertisers to match it. And if it is profit-making, I would love to see the Economics!
Sir, I do not understand terms like P/L, PE ratio, etc etc. Do I need to know all this to make a career in media sales?
Do you actually think you need to know hieroglyphics to write a letter ?
Ok, jokes apart the answer is No.
You don’t need to know, however it helps knowing what these terms mean.
The assumption I am making here, is that you are the kind, who would do your homework before you pitch to a client. Deciding on who is prospect would be significantly easier, if you had an idea of how their company is performing.
Now, these are the indicators you will find in their P/L (Profit & Loss) statement. The P/L summarises the major heads of revenue and expense and presents the declared profit before tax, after tax etc.
If it’s a listed company, the P/E ratio is a good indicator of overall performance as well as its ability to build shareholder value. By definition the P/E ratio is the ratio of a company’s share price to its per-share earnings.
If you are confused reading all this, then you can be rest assured you’re on the right track my friend. Go out there, use your craft and sell like never before.
What finally counts is YOU, not a ratio !
It’s that time of the year, when we throw caution to the wind and party like never before… Yes, party and party hard but do take care of yourself. Have a fun-filled eve with family, friends and enemies alike. After all, it’s the last time you’ll see them this year !
And yes, it makes great sense to take a taxi after that party. Don’t forget, there are thousands of policemen, cabbies and others sacrificing their celebration, just to give you a safe new years eve, all the way back to your doorstep. If not for yourself, do it for them.
And for God’s sake , please don’t drink and drive !
Believe me, there are easier ways to kill yourself..
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Here’s wishing all my readers an absolutely brilliant New Year !!!! Much happiness, good health and prosperity for you !
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God Bless and see you next year, same day, same space !
Do keep those questions coming at editor@mxmindia.com mentioning ‘Dear MxM’ in the subject line.