Author: Dr Bhaskar Das

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Q: It took a social media activist Food Pharmer to get a popular ‘health drink’ to reduce its sugar content. There are many others brands and genres who are also in the eye of a possible storm. With an ad revenue-dependant legacy media not asking the right questions, do you think it’s left to independents to make life safer for you and me?

A: Unfortunate! In spite of all homilies about customer-centricity and superordinate mission and vision statement, an individual takes initiative to most the myth.  You are correct in your observation about the collective dereliction of responsibilities to pinpoint such factual inexactitides.

In a social media-dominated post-truth world, consumers are, more often than not, passive recipients of agendised content. Since shallow is the new depth, no one has time to deep-dive to explore what is truth. All of us are victims of word peddlers and content gimmicks. We have no time to pause and examine.

Hence, some individuals take the trouble to expose such purveyors of camouflaged truth, ignoring what is good for consumers.

The reality is what the Bard said:

The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,

But in ourselves, that we are underlings.

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Q: From May 23, Bark Air, a flight service for dogs and their owners, is set to launch in the United States. Do you think it should launch in India as well?

A: Launching a flight for dogs/ pets/ furry friends is certainly a great/ pawsitive initiative but I can imagine that it can’t be availed of by the hoi polloi. I am sure that the entry barrier (read hefty fare) for availing of such a privilege would be pretty high.

The concerned airlines can’t be a regular fleet operator,  as economies of scale would not permit the cost of operating such services. Besides, the decision to fly pets has to be followed by other concurrent facilities. A regular and large fleet operator usually can’t afford to offer such facilities, especially in the Indian context. While I shall personally welcome such a step in India, my business instincts can’t reconcile many questions that crop up in my mind. Business can’t be run by emotions but it needs cold shower of logic and economic prudence.

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Q: Goafest in Mumbai is like having Cannes Lions in Mumbai. Yes, the sun, sea and the beaches are there, but the x factor? Your sentiments as the fest gets to Mumbai?

A: Someone mentioned that we were living in a container culture. We focus more on the container and not on the content. Your question reminds me of the same in the context of Goafest being held in Mumbai.

There was a situational imperative for taking such a call by the two leading Industry Bodies — The Advertising Club and the Advertising Agencies Association of India  –who have been organising the festival for many years. So, there is not an iota of doubt about the quality of the programme being compromised. The venue is different. It is better than not maintaining the continuity of the event due to date-specific macro-environment reasons.

I am excited as I shall continue to experience the high octane cognitive environment, combined with a complementary fun-filled engagement, besides networking with industry friends.

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Q: Just a random question. No context to anything, definitely  not one of the IPL teams. If a newly appointed CEO performs badly do you continue with him/her, or replace and bring back the old, popular leader?

A: I understand a coincidental drift in your question. As they say in the movies, the character in the movie is purely fictional. Evaluation of performance in corporate sector is done over a period of time (usually three to five years), subject to any other exceptional circumstances. Secondly, there is no set pattern (precedence-wise) of corporate response to sub-optimal performance of a leader (read CEO). A leader like Bob Iger or Howard Schulz or Sam Altman have been called back , but they are exceptions to the practice and in most cases, this is not generally done. So, it’s not a one-trick pony situation. More often than not, a new leader is selected, either from inside or outside, for the job and the displaced leader is not necessarily called back.

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Q: Earlier it was just the ads, but now with social media offering an easy platform for advertising, do you think there should be a check on creation of harmful stereotypes and unrealistic beauty and fitness standards?

A: That social media in all its hues are used as a platform for advertising/ communication/ paid media / native content (whichever you may mention) us a given in the new digital world. And with generative Ai , the dimensions of their variety of reach, engagement have reached a different stratosphere. Checking the veracity/ distortions of facts has been a challenge for all marketers.

Hence, ideally there must be a check to the same to protect the interest of citizens/ consumers. But how to execute it is a million-dollar question. ASCI does a good job and has also begun to do work in the digital/social media, and with influencers. There is need to crack deep fakes and agendised promotions. I do hope that collective wisdom will find a way to keep a check in collaboration with the government.

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Q: IPL 2024 is becoming a plundering platform for batters? Enjoyable or do you prefer a more balanced contest of batter and bowler?

A: I completely agree with you. There has to be some intense competition where bowlers and batters should have a see-saw combat. I am not denying that in some of the high scoring matches, the match had gone down to the wire. But in most of the matches, it’s pretty frustrating for the bowlers. If pitches and rules of the game are fair to promoting the game per se (to remain competitive in global cricket) and to the players (both batters and bowlers) , even spectators would enjoy it more.

I know it’s easier said than done. But as fans of the game, we may be irrationally demanding.

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Q: In an increasingly fragmented media landscape, what is the role for traditional, mainstream media can play?

A: I think the media’s role doesn’t change. What changes is the context of the country, society, culture and the environment in which media operates.

Traditional media comes in the form of text, audio, video and experiential formats but in format-agnostic ways. And why has this happened? Because the audiences have been consuming in format-neutral way too, albeit at a different pace of adoption.

At a macro level, the role of media continues to mirror society, inform, educate and entertain audience responsibly. Since the same is quite often evaluated through the subjective prism of beholders, it is difficult to maintain uniform standards across formats of delivery. More often than not, it is left to the discretion of individual stakeholders depending on the imperatives of the relevant time.

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Q: How do you respond to accusations that the media perpetuates stereotypes, biases, and lack of diversity in its coverage?

A: I don’t subscribe to broad generalisations. First, you must clarify which media you are referring to. Secondly, in a post-truth and post-generative world, the boundaries of truth and fiction have blurred. Consequently, even stereotypes/ biases / lack of diversity could also be manufactured. When trolling is the new tool of engagement, then even genuine stories could be labelled as agendised.

I was remembering of a quote of Dostoevsky’s which reflects the changing realities of human existence throughout the world: “We live in a time when intelligent people are being silenced so that stupid people won’t be offended.”

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Q: Building New Revenue Streams is the theme of the Indian Magazine Congress being held tomorrow, May 3. Any suggestions on what these streams can be? Or are the magazine players waking up too late?

A: As a macro axiom, I would like to say that it’s never too late in business to evolve and pivot to a pragmatic route that makes the business thrive.

In the case of print media in general and magazines in particular, the winds of change have been blowing for some time. But the lack of optimal investment in developing differentiated content in sync with the changing preferences of the audience and over-dependence on advertising have queered their pitch to remain competitive in the changing media landscape. The arrival of digital media has further compounded the problem of the business model of one-to-many non- interactive and non-real-time media formats of delivery.

Before one can even recommend possibly new routes of monetisation or new revenue streams, it is very critical to reframe the business challenge. The magazines (frequency-wise), in their classical format, are just a platform. The focus should be on delivery of content – both in terms of subject and audience cohort –  across formats of delivery. After that, one can plan monetisation through multiple routes that are in sync with the reach and its richness, engagement of audience and an appropriate ROI on the investments. The challenge is how to inculcate insurgent behaviour in an incumbent format.

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Q: May 3 is celebrated as World Press Freedom Day? Wait a minute, can I see you smile at the question. So, do you believe, that there is nothing like a free press in India?

A: You are asking the question and answered it too. Whether you are correct or not is a matter of subjective domain. So, my subjective opinion can’t represent a universal truth. Even if one goes by the Press Freedom Index, as published recently, India ranks 159. Does it leave anything to be explained? But Indian media-owners might not feel compelled in the same way as any western report is supposed to have hidden agendas. So one needs to be sceptical about the rankings. We are hene back to Square One. So best is to leave it to individuals to decide: what I feel as objective and catering to Freedom of the Press, I should go by that. I don’t need to shout from the rooftop.