MxMIndia

Category: BLOGS

  • Without intending to be preachy, here's a word of advice for Gen X: While it's great to have an attitude, it must be channelized into your work and NOT into your interpersonal interactions.

    Anil Thakraney: Save the attitude, kids

    ‘By Anil Thakraney

     

    As part of my journalistic job that covers all beats including movies, sports, politics, crime, etc, I have to often deal with young people. I also conduct guest lectures at various colleges and institutions, which gives me an opportunity to interact with youngsters. And I really enjoy these meets, it gives me a chance to discover first hand what Young India thinks and feels. And while I admire the ambition, the adrenalin and the energy, I also get alarmed when I notice young people with what we often disparagingly call an ‘attitude problem’. The belligerent, arrogant, ‘I know it all’ outlook on the world. The attitude that reflects scant respect for seniority and experience. For just about anything, for that matter.

     

    Usually, this attitude appears pretty cute and cool. After all, who wants our young people to be subservient, low self-esteemed and unconfident? That’s so damn boring! We want our guys to be bubbling with passion and the ‘can do’ spirit. However when the ‘attitude problem’ is taken to an extreme level, it can get very infuriating and off-putting.

     

    Without intending to be preachy, here’s a word of advice for Gen X: While it’s great to have an attitude, it must be channelized into your work and NOT into your interpersonal interactions. Also, while attitude should reflect confidence in one’s abilities, it becomes self-defeating when it extends to closing one’s mind to other people and other ideas.

     

    Let me illustrate this with some examples. Both Sachin Tendulkar and S Sreesanth have an ‘attitude problem’. While Sachin employs that attitude into his batting skills, Sreesanth uses it to provoke and offend his rivals and teammates. Whom do you respect more? Who of the two will achieve more in life? Who do you want to be like? Only you can answer these questions.

     

    Here’s another one: If Hrithik Roshan throws attitude at you, how will you react? And if Harman Baweja does ditto, how will you react? Chances are, quite differently. Perhaps it’s a good idea to prove your worth, do something substantial in life, before baring your fangs? Bad attitude display from a nobody, a non-achiever, is even more difficult to deal with. And if you are wondering who Harman Baweja is, then that only proves my point.

     

    Finally, I am quite aware a few of you, after reading this piece, will react with: “Oh, come on man, who the hell is this old fart to tell me what I should do and think? I know my shit and don’t want an uncle to lecture me.”

     

    Well, okay, it’s your life after all. Good luck!

     

    ***

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEsnb3kUDAw[/youtube]

    PS: Crew members of Finnair celebrated India’s Republic Day with a bit of dance and masti. And the video has gone seriously viral. I am quite certain the top bosses at the airline wanted exactly this to happen. I’m not sure how kicked they were about January 26th, but they must be really happy with all the free publicity. Think about how many more people know of Finnair now. Good work.

     

  • Most brands have seen increased purchasing power in smaller markets, and these audiences can be tapped effectively using OOH, feels Vikas Nowal.

    Anchor: 5 reasons OOH must shift focus to Tier 2 & 3 cities

    By Vikas Nowal

     

    #1 There is considerably less OOH media clutter in Tier II and Tier III markets, which means that messages do not get lost in the proliferation of communication targeting the target consumer.

     

    Media is more noticeable in these markets, so any innovations done are highlighted, and receive local media coverage as well as become talking points among the TG.

     

    #2 The relative cost of media is less, therefore, spending more rational amounts of money can help cover the city, rather than spread yourself thin due to high per unit outlays. It is possible to capitalize on the “build” and perception “spillover” quality of OOH, by retaining sites for a longer duration, since the costs are rational.

     

    The limitations of too-short campaign periods, which have become almost a norm in metros, can be rectified and the campaign has the ability to register and be internalized by the TG.

     

    #3 Business potential across categories is rising in these markets, therefore an investment in media in these cities results in better ROI for the client. Most brands have seen increased purchasing power in smaller markets, and these audiences can be tapped effectively using OOH, whereby the returns will typically be higher than in metros.

     

    #4 Media absorption power in these markets is more limited, therefore the possibility of optimally covering the entire city costs less than a Mumbai or a Delhi. For eg: spending Rs100 in Mumbai / Delhi may yield a less than optimum coverage whereas even a lesser spend in a smaller market with a comparable geographical spread may result in overkill.

     

    #5 Malls and multiplexes are gaining traction in smaller markets as destinations, and media available at these locations provides a controlled OOH visibility option closer to POS, thereby driving purchase decisions. Activation undertaken at these locations also helps in multiplying the effect of static OOH done across the city.

     

    Vikas Nowal is Vice President, Mudra Max OOH.

     

  • In Freaking News, Ranjona Banerji reviews the fare on primetime news and in the papers

    Making fun of Page 3 culture

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Have to say, I just love the new Hindu ads. Making fun of your competition is not just unexpected from India’s most sober newspaper but it is also rare in India. Are these ads a direct response to The Times of India’s Chennai campaign, where the ads alleged that the Hindu put people to sleep? Perhaps not, since the Hindu campaign seems all-India and directly accuses the Times of dumbing its readers down. There is nothing implied in the Hindu ad – we can clearly see that all the idiots being quizzed on their knowledge (or lack of it) claim to read The Times of India, bleeped out though the name may be.

     

    The print ads include one which says “we also have pages 1,2, 4, 6” and so on, a clear dig at The Times’s introduction of society and celebrity news on Page 3 of the Bombay Times many years ago. “Page 3” culture is now part of our lexicon and indeed Madhur Bhandarkar even made a film about it, almost as scathing as the Hindu’s ads. The funny thing is that we always have had a society-celebrity media, what Bombay Times did was to both magnify and expand it. The even funnier thing is that almost every other publication in the country was quick to copy the TOI. Even the Hindu, which may not have a celebrity circus page, was increased its light feature content.

     

    It’s also curious that DNA ran a very similar campaign to the Hindu’s recently – interviewing young people who knew nothing about anything except Bollywood and then it turns out that they only read DNA After Hrs! In DNA’s case, there was apparent pride in ignorance; Hindu mocks it.

     

    In these times, when the media itself has become the news, the Hindu ads – done by Ogilvy – are bound to get attention and approval. There are many who believe that trivialisation of the media is dangerous and that there is cynical marketing manipulation of our apparent obsession with Bollywood. The Press Council of India chairman Markandey Katju is probably nodding away happily, especially when he sees line like “Because government malfunctions matter more than wardrobe malfunctions” – another of the Hindu’s print ads.

     

    For my money however far worse than the trivialisation of newspapers is the fact that all celebrity news and gossip is actually fake – paid for by the stars, studios, sponsors and so on. The readers are fooled into believing that what they are reading is the result of some digging up by journalists – as it used to be in the old days, even film news. The truth of course is that it is handed to newspapers by public relations companies or by the marketing department to the editorial staff.

     

    Bad enough that we are trivial, we are also, it seems, foolish and exploited!

     

  • I think The Hindu is on the right track. And the ads have quickly gone viral because the content is super fun. Great work.

    Debrief: Repositioning The Times

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    The action’s really hotting up in Chennai. Great stuff from The Hindu. Rival Times of India had run a hard-hitting campaign which showed people dozing off while reading their regular newspaper (read The Hindu). And The Hindu has hit back even harder, and in their campaign they reposition the challenger (read The Times) as a newspaper for the dimwits. For people who lack general knowledge but are totally clued in on Bollywood masala.

     

    ‘Stay ahead of the times’ is the tongue-in-cheek slogan. The commercials feature youngsters being asked questions on current affairs/general knowledge, and they fail miserably. But the moment a question is put to them on filmi issues, they get excited and answer correctly.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXLsi_Vmtw4[/youtube]
    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ckzsh9SpUAQ[/youtube]

    I think The Hindu is on the right track. For three reasons: One, they have played to their own core strength, which is the brand’s serious, no-nonsense image. This would make their current readers very happy. Two, the campaign attempts to reposition The Times as a newspaper for the floozies. And this hits the Times where it hurts, because the latter is renowned for its filmi coverage. Truth is that The Times also does serious journalism, but in an all-out ad war, these considerations don’t count. And three, The Hindu has been able to pull off a power campaign that must have cost peanuts to produce. And the ads have quickly gone viral because the content is super fun. Great work.

     

    The ball is now in The Times’s court. All eyes on Chennai!

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 4. Powerful, funny and happening!

     

  • Ajay Kakar, CMO – Financial Services, Aditya Birla Group on when the time's right for you to say ta ta to your agency

    The Anchor: 8 indications when you know it’s time to bid goodbye to your agency

    By Ajay Kakar

    These are the views of a person who has invested 15 years at the agency end. And for the last six years he has been at the client side.

     

    These are the views of a marketer who strongly believes that the role of an agency partner is invaluable to his success and the success of his brand.

     

    #1 When you have the frequent need to say all the best to exiting key members of the agency: A brand is built over years. Passion and consistency are two critical pillars in this journey. And if an agency loses/shifts your key team members frequently, that’s bad news.

     

    #2 When you have many people servicing your account but you do not remember the name of any: You do need mere hands and legs. To quote David Ogilvy, you need people who know more about the brand than even the client. People who leave an impression on you and make an impact on the brand. People you can’t afford to forget. Nothing less will do.

     

    # 3 When you have meetings only at times of a brief initiated by you: You need Brand Custodians and Brand Stewards. People who are thinking of your brand all the time. And not only when you have a felt need. Else you will always feel compromised.

     

    # 4 When your agency only discusses advertising or 30-seconders with you: In today’s world you need to surround and engage your fickle and distracted consumer at all times. And if your agency doesn’t help you with that they may be contributing to your losing your customer.

     

    # 5 When your agency does not meet you after a campaign to enquire about the results: A marketer does not need advertising. He needs advertising that sells. He is evaluated on results. If your agency is not helping you get there faster, cheaper or better, why will you value them?

     

    # 6 When your agency doesn’t ask for an annual hike with confidence and more so if your agency does not propose a performance-linked incentive plan: A true partnership must be a win-win for both parties. And if your agency is contributing to your success, why would they think twice before asking for your just rewards. Is it because they are not performing?

     

    # 7 When an agency doesn’t meet you at regular intervals to seek a structured

    feedback/evaluation: If your partner doesn’t have a road map with clearly defined milestones, there is a good chance that you are not headed in the right direction.

     

    # 8 When an agency does not aspire to win industry recognition/awards on your brand: In our business passion is everything. And if your partner is not excited to do pathbreaking work for your client work that gets noticed and talked about the brand is possibly not in safe hands.

     

    Ajay Kakar is CMO – Financial Services, Aditya Birla Group

     

  • A lot of information today is lost in business jargon which business papers must stay away from.

    The Anchor: 6 things for the publisher of a business publication to remember

    By Vivek Khanna

     

    #1 One of the most important things that the publisher of a business paper – or, for that matter, any publication – has to keep in mind is the content. Accuracy and genuineness of information is critical to the success of any newspaper.

     

    #2 It is extremely important that the content and business sides of a paper are always separate, especially in a business publication. There has to be a wall between the content and business side so that no one can influence the other.

     

    #3 Checking for errors is extremely important. Business news can make or break an economy, hence it is critical to keep many level of checks before any news goes into print. In our organization, we have several levels of checks to ascertain that the news which goes to print is genuine and credible.

     

    #4 Journalists and Editors for a business publication have to be handpicked as they are meant to have a very special skill set and knowledge of the business world.

     

    #5 Business news needs to have more clarity. A lot of information today is lost in business jargon which business papers must stay away from.

     

    #6 In a market where there is a plethora of publications, it is of importance that a business publisher finds the differentiating factor for his product. A differentiated product with credible content is the only way to success.

     

    Mr Vivek Khanna is the Publisher and Business Head of Mint, HT Media Limited.

     

  • There is something so touchingly innocent (kind word for daft/gormless) about some authority that bleeps out offensive words, but is totally oblivious to the risque, shall we say indelicate, nature of the entire script of some of the American serials we're watching, observes Gouri Dange.

    Gouri Dange: The monkey manning the bleep machine

    By Gouri Dange

     

    I wonder who is in charge of bleeping out words on Z Cafe and a few other channels. Didn’t have it before. Now it’s on. There is something so touchingly innocent (kind word for daft/gormless) about some authority that bleeps out offensive words, but is totally oblivious to the risque, shall we say indelicate, nature of the entire script of some of the American serials we’re watching. Which leaves you feeling like a 10 year-old-kid who incredulously and amusedly watches as his parents carefully spell out ‘s-w-i-n-e’ and ‘y-o-u-r-b-l-o-o-o-d-y m-o-t-h-e-r’ in the middle of a nasty fight with each other.

     

    I mean you can bleep out words all you want from Two and a Half Men or $#*! My Dad Says, and have a sentence going something like this: “Oh dableepmn, I thought she was nice and slubleeputy, but she didn’t want to fbleepk around, so what the hebleeepell, I’ll just have to use my iflatbleeepable dobleeepll.” But it is still clear that much of the humour is generated by constant and casual reference, to acts like sebleeeepx and masturbleeeeption, body parts like brbleeeepsts, bubleeeptts, penbleeepses, asbleeeepoles, and suchlike. Interestingly, one word that passes muster (probably because the bleepers don’t know what it means) is ‘kiester’, which means backbleeeepside. Kiester is used left right and centre, quite unmolested by the bleep. However, when anyone uses ‘ass’, it is cleaned up with the refined replacement ‘behind’.

     

    It’s intriguing how the subtitles are cleaned up too. Sometimes there is the use of the good old asterisk ***** and sometimes words are delicately replaced. So for some reason when the character is saying ‘pervert’, the subtitle primly uses ‘deviant’. Ba*ls becomes ‘guts’. Sl*t and bi**h becomes ‘witch’ (yes, I’m not making this up as I go along; I sat and noted them down). Homo is fully bleeped out, and in the subtitles it is replaced with the more politically correct ‘queer’.

     

    On Comedy Central, there is a smudge and the Cc logo pasted over ‘offensive’ images like someone smoking. Again, the story itself that day (That Seventies Show) may be all about two women desperately enjoying their smoke, and even my dogs understood that, but noooo, we’re not grown up enough to actually see them lighting up their ciggies. Ah comeon, really? I mean really? What crableepp.

     

    But let me not protest too loudly, in case someone decides that this is ALL inappropriate content for our innocent and pious country with its faiu-thousand year tradition peopled only ever by selfless heroes, brave women, and wide-eyed children and utterly functional families. I can’t even say that last phrase with a straight face, but hey, it’s a great delusion-illusion that we feed ourselves when we talk sweepingly about how ‘The West’ is soooo bad. (But of course we do our damndest to see that our children go to college there and then earn nothing but daallerrs for the rest of their lives.) But I digress.

     

    A serial like Nurse Jackie goes unbleeped, because the monkey with the bleep machine hears no gaali-galoch. And yet…and yet…take a look at the content; it would make all toes – pious as well as non-pious – curl. The woman works in a hospital, is addicted to drugs – uppers or downers or something. She buys her stash from some guy in a restaurant (who routinely meets her, they hug, he slips them into her pocket for everyone except for some reason any cop to be able to see); she hides them in her shoes, she hides them in the light fixture in the lift, she hides them in the cookie jar at home. Firstly, this serial needs to be bleeped for stupidity – why is she buying stuff from someone when she has a whole hospital full of it? Or am I missing something – is it cocaine in capsule form? We are never actually shown this Psychedelic Florence Nightingale taking the stuff or ever looking at least briefly a little happy. Secondly, for reasons never made clear to us, she is unfaithful to her husband who slaves away at home with the kids. Why this grim, sad-eyed chick has this back-story is not clear, however many episodes you watch. Whenever I catch her, she’s just loitering in hospital corridors or getting into some storeroom for a moment to herself and her demons, you’re supposed to understand.

     

    So while someone is really busy with the bleeper, really absurd as well as soul-destroying messages march right through. What dumbleepery.

     

    Naming no Names is the mid-week column where novelist, columnist and counsellor Gouri Dange presents her tongue-in-cheek view of our world.

     

  • If the businessmen aren't going to learn anything from the nation's biggest, mind-numbing financial scam, they never will

    Anil Thakraney: Time for clean up the 2G scam

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    The Supreme Court’s judgment on the 2G spectrum scandal is horrendous news for the telecom industry, the entire corporate world and the end consumer. The court has cancelled the 122 spectrum licenses issued in 2008 by the great A Raja, the then telecom minister. Fresh auctions will be held later in the year, and new allotments made.

     

    This means the cost of the licenses will shoot up, and the additional expenses will be passed on to the subscribers. What impact this will have on the telecom boom, you can easily imagine. Not just that. This judgment finally confirms the massive corruption involved in the 2G scam, and this is going to damage the overall business sentiment in the country. Foreign investors are going to think many, many times before parking their funds in this maha corrupt nation. Where, first you are expected to bribe to get licenses, and then one day you could be back to square one, your business model sent for a toss. Basically, it’s a lose-all situation.

     

    However, one hopes this huge scandal and its fall-out will serve as a starting point for a massive clean-up operation. Quite obviously, blatant corrupt practices such as these cannot be allowed to go on. If a huge shake up doesn’t take place this time, we will see this happen again and again. To begin with, Shri Chidambaram, who was the finance minister when Raja tore into the cookie jar, must accept moral responsibility and quit. And if he doesn’t, the mantri ought to be immediately sacked. Even if he was in the dark on the then telecom minister’s nefarious activities, he must be held accountable. Because at the very least, Chidu fiddled while Rome burnt. This is important. It’s not enough that Raja is in jail, the big heads must roll.

     

    And secondly, corporates in the telecom sector must take equal blame for this mess. Because if they had refused to bribe Raja, this scale of corruption wouldn’t have happened. The scam should be a lesson for all suits that they must play an equal part if the nation has to be rid of graft. In any shady deal, at least two shady partners have to be involved.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw9ZeXB2uKs[/youtube]

    So even as the telecom industry gets busy and studies the exact impact of the SC’s judgment, it’s time for all corporates to wake up and smell the coffee. And swear to run a clean ship from now on. If the businessmen aren’t going to learn anything from the nation’s biggest, mind-numbing financial scam, they never will.

     

    ***

     

    PS: TV serials based on vampires have been a rage in the US in recent times. Audi has capitalized on their popularity, and has released a hilarious commercial. Damn cool!

     

  • In Freaking News, Ranjona Banerji reviews the fare on primetime news and in the papers

    Headlines Today scores on 2G

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    The fault is mine: I got to the television two hours late on Thursday – after the Supreme Court ruling on the 2G licences. The punishment was purgatory: I knew something had happened but I had no idea what. Every TV news channel showed a press conference addressed by the BJP’s Arun Jaitley reacting to the court ruling but no one told us what the ruling was. I travelled up and down the channels that my cablewallah allows me and learnt nothing. Jaitley could have been ranting or talking sense but since I had no context I could not fully appreciate or understand him.

     

    After 10 minutes of fruitless frustration I did the sensible thing: got online and read the latest updates by print journalists. Till Thursday evening, the whole thing was only about “reaction” on television, sometimes from small-time party functionaries and sometimes by bigwigs like Kapil Sibal who had to counter Jaitley with his own spin. One poor reporter even ran after the judge AK Ganguly as he retired and asked him how he felt. The honourable judge ran away as fast as he could. All through the day they broadcast a reaction from some telecom honcho but never told us who he was.

     

    It says something about the way television journalists operate that they cannot explain events or interpret them for viewers themselves. Something as important as this 2G ruling requires reporters and anchors to get all the facts themselves and tell the viewers exactly what has happened before playing the “reaction” game. Also, instead of telecasting every single press conference live in its entirety, they could edit or cut back to studio to explain what was happening mid-way.

     

    Business channels were, sadly, no better since they are all obsessed with the stock market and cannot consider implications beyond that. But one would imagine that the cancelling of 122 licences would have huge impact on their constituencies. I guess one imagines wrong.

     

    The most sensible TV debate on the subject was a surprise – it was not at prime time and it was on Headlines Today. Thanks largely to Paranjoy Guha Thakurta as well as to Sandeep Bamzai, we got a clear idea of the economic and political implications of the judgment.

     

    The rest of debates seem to have the usual suspects who talk about everything – Chandan Mitra, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Mahesh Jethamalani, Nirmala Seetharaman, Renuka Chowdhury and perhaps Suhel Seth was there somewhere but I didn’t catch him.

     

    Niira Radia and Ratan Tata were not there.

     

    * * *

     

    This round once again goes to newspapers who explained the matter in every detail from the political implications for the UPA government to the business implications for the telcos to the fortunes of A Raja and P Chidambaram and so on. However, while every newspaper and TV channel said it was 122 licences, The Times of India decided on 121. No idea why.

     

    Most newspaper editorials did raise the question of the unfairness meted out to telcos which were being punished for following government laws. This is a tricky one. It would be interesting to see whether there’s more discussion about the dangers of corporate lobbying and the role played by journalists in getting A Raja the ministry of his choice.

     

    I’m not holding my breath, actually.

     

  • India's English speaking-population, urban and elsewhere, and the amendment to the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act make it a good time for an English movie channel, says Ajay Trigunayat.

    The Anchor: 5 reasons why it’s the best time to be in English movies

    By Ajay Trigunayat

     

    #1 India has the largest English speaking population.

    India has one of the largest English speaking populations in the world, and as a result has been a potential market for all things English! English enjoys the status of subsidiary official language but it is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication. English speakers inIndiaoutnumber those in all of Western Europe, not counting theUnited Kingdom. And Indian English speakers are more than twice the UK’s population.

     

    #2 Amongst English channels, English Movie Channels have the maximum viewership.

    Amongst the English TV category, it is the English movie channels that comprises of 35 percent of the market share. This is the highest in this category. The English movie category also has a reach of around 27 percent of the total television viewers. These numbers definitely move the genre which was earlier seen as niche, to be highly influential.

     

    #3 English urban audiences.

    Yes, English is everywhere in India. Urban population: 33 percent of total population and 95 percent of all households have a TV. 2012 will also see Times Television Network launching new English channels in a bid to strengthen the overall channel bouquet. The timing could not be better at the pace which theEnglish Channelspace is growing.

     

    #4 Digitization.

    • Indiais riding on robust cable and satellite growth. The television household universe has grown from 134 million homes to 148 million homes over two years.
    • Within this cable and satellite has grown from 103 million to 126 million. The media and entertainment industry is at an inflexion point with digital being the buzzword. Rightly so, every segment within the media and entertainment ecosystem is getting impacted by digitization in a significant way.
    • Digitization, where the feed will be received through set-top boxes, is expected to be executed in phases and the four metros ofDelhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai have to shift to digital addressability by March 31, 2012.
    • Increased Digital penetration will lead to parity in audio-visual reception and experience. Thus, channels which are on hi-frequencies which has distorted channel reception will tend to gain in viewership.
    • With CAS being mandated soon, the carriage fee should go down and subscription revenues should take a leap.
    • Currently the digital viewership contribution to the English Movie Channels is 31 percent which will go up to 50 percent by the end of 2012.

     

    #5 Increasing footprint.

    Transition of viewership from 5 – 8 metros – 1 mn.+ markets: 35 markets as per 2001 census to 53 markets as per 2011 census

    • Having expanded the horizon from 5/7 metros to 8 metros: All 1mn.+ towns is the next big opportunity
    • With the perception change amongst the viewers’ mindsets and the recent news about Lok Sabha passing the second bill to amend the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act 1995 has opened newer avenues for the English movie channels.
    • With the target audience no longer residing only in the metros and moving into the Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, there is an opportunity to penetrate into the smaller cities, thereby expanding the overall viewership.

     

    Ajay Trigunayat is the CEO, English Entertainment Channels, Times Television Network.

     

  • In Freaking News, Ranjona Banerji reviews the fare on primetime news and in the papers

    Yuvraj cancer news first lead?

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    The unveiling of Justice OP Saini’s verdict on the petition filed by Subrahmaniam Swamy to make P Chidambaram a co-accused in the 2G spectrum case on Saturday was fascinating. Times Now gave us second by second coverage about nothing at all happening outside Patiala Court. The other channels thankfully limited themselves to studio panel discussions about the possible implications of this verdict.

     

    The BJP was very cocksure that Swamy would succeed. The Congress was largely invisible, relying on a few of its friends to state its case. The old telecom companies were part of the discussion. The new ones (and now licence-less) were invisible.

     

    As Navika Kumar talked about the butterflies in her stomach waiting for the verdict (why?), she conceded that Chidambaram may have bigger airborne insects inside his digestive organs. This waiting outside this courtroom was apparently the most exciting journalistic assignment ever! Wow!

     

    Anyway after hours of pointless speculation and some interesting debates on other channels, the judge then called Swamy for a private discussion and cleared the courtroom. Immediate outrage at this ill-treatment of the media! But then someone pointed out that the judge wasn’t in the courtroom at all. More inconsequential details followed. Then the judge just said the petition was dismissed.

     

    Suddenly, we were told that actually Swamy looked deflated when he came out of the private discussion with the judge. This, however, was not noticed before the petition was dismissed, a sort of after the fact observation.

     

    As expected the BJP tried to put up a brave face and then vanished and the Congress, to its credit, did not go too far in its victory dances. Swamy appeared “first” on Times Now but refused to answer who finances his penchant for litigation. By Sunday his bravado was back and in Monday morning’s papers he was saying the judge was good but his judgment was bad (damned with faint praise?) and Swamy would be going higher up the judicial ladder.

     

    * * *

     

    Sad as the news of cricketer Yuvraj Singh’s cancer is, am not sure whether it is first lead news, but most Indian papers seem to think so.

     

    * * *

     

    The divorce between Sahara and Indian cricket also appears to have come as a surprise to our intrepid sports journalists and here again Yuvraj Singh’s health seems to be have been an issue. Some further investigation here may be a good idea but whenever a big money player is involved, the media’s newsgathering resources seem to shrink.

     

    * * *

     

    Press Council of India chairman Markandey Katju is apparently on twitter with the handle (@mark_katju. There is some speculation on twitter whether this is a genuine account or not but today’s newspapers seem to think it is. I’m following it anyway just to check.

     

  • The coming years will see massive newspaper wars because the category is on the decline curve. And each brand will have to be very smart and proactive to survive.

    Anil Thakraney: So then what must The Hindu do?

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    The Times is on a rapid expansion drive. They’ve recently launched multiple editions in Kerala, including in small towns. This is quite understandable. Newspapers are in a slow death mode in large towns, and it makes sense to penetrate as many towns as possible to delay the inevitable demise of the newspaper as we know it.

     

    And this portends a serious challenge for incumbent brands. How can they protect their turf? How can they retain their readers in the face of stiff competition? It’s not going to be an easy task. The Times, which is a powerful challenger, has many strengths – the group has deep pockets, tremendous marketing fire power and the newspaper is wholesome; a healthy mix of serious news and entertainment. If the local brands remain lazy and complacent, they will struggle hard, that’s for sure. Deccan Herald learnt this lesson the hard way in Bangalore.

     

    Let’s take the current battle raging between The Hindu and The Times in Chennai as an example. The ad war between the two has already been discussed, and I mentioned in the Debrief section of this portal that I quite like The Hindu’s spirited fight back. But in terms of the content itself, what can the newspaper do to stay alive and relevant? This is a tough one; but allow me to put forward two critical points: The Hindu must NOT dump its image of an ultra serious brand. This is the newspaper’s core strength, it has been so for many decades, and it must be protected.

     

    If they attempt to emulate Times’s please-all mix, they will become a me-too brand and quickly lose the battle. Sticking to their core values will ensure they don’t disillusion their loyal readers. However, at the same time, they have to win over the hearts and minds of younger readers. Already, there is pressure from the internet, so this is going to be a huge problem. The Times is, anyway, particularly strong in its youth appeal. The trick here is not to dumb down the content and dive into a full on filmi and party coverage.

     

    The youth of India aren’t dumb. Yes, they enjoy entertainment coverage, but they also have their own serious issues to worry about, which include education and career opportunities. And this is what The Hindu must tap into very aggressively.

     

    The Express tries to do that but they haven’t achieved much success, and that’s because they are pretty clinical in their approach, and don’t make enough song and dance. The style of presentation and the marketing of youth-related stuff is critical. Features on career prospects don’t have to be boring; they can be made to rock. And marketed in such a way that the youth of Chennai perceives The Hindu to be a newspaper that understands their needs and concerns.

     

    As I said, it’s going to be a tough one. And I used The Hindu only as an example. The coming years will see massive newspaper wars because the category is on the decline curve. And each brand will have to be very smart and proactive to survive. Interesting times await!

     

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    PS: I am not a huge fan of authors who parade themselves at Litfests. And an even lesser fan of authors who tweet. I have always believed writers must remain enigmatic and should be known only through their books. That, the mystery enhances a writer’s appeal. Here’s an interesting article from The New York Times, it  explains the authors’ obsession with Twitter.

     

    Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/books/review/why-authors-tweet.html?_r=2&smid=tw-nytimes&pagewanted=all