MxMIndia

Category: COLUMNS

  • I hope the early success of &TV encourages more GEC launches, writes Shailesh Kapoor, adding: Sound business models can ensure good profitability at even 80-120 GRP levels.

    Shailesh Kapoor: Hindi GECs: There’s Space For More… &More

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    March 2 saw the launch of &TV, the second mainstream GEC from the Zee stable (not counting the highly differentiated Zindagi and the rerun-based Zee Anmol). The first ratings yesterday confirmed that the channel has managed to make its presence felt within its first week. It launched at 42 GRPs, making it one of the best channel launches in the last decade, close on the heels of Colors, Life OK and Imagine.

     

    The ratings universe has widened since 2008. &TV’s 42 GRPs would easily have been 55+ in a pre-LC1 environment, in which other GECs mentioned above launched. Also, the ratings are based on five-and-a-half days of content, which means a natural growth next week is expected anyway. We should see the channel comfortably crossing the 50-mark next week, and with a sizeable reach potential still untapped, it may be looking at the century over the next quarter.

     

    What interested me even more was to see if &TV got its initial numbers from other GECs or if it could grow the category. The top six GECs lost only 21 GRPs this week combined, which &TV got exactly half its viewership by growing the category. Its early days yet, but one could safely assume that in a more stable state, at least 30% of &TV’s ratings would be category growth, which could mean that channel would have managed to grow the already dominant Hindi GEC category by 3-5% by the time it crosses the 100 GRP mark.

     

    Yet, there has been persistent talk around there being no space available for one more Hindi GEC. Every time someone comes up with the idea of launching a new Hindi GEC, promoters or investors treat the thought with immense skepticism.

     

    It’s not a surprising response, however. You won’t expect most investors to be core GEC viewers themselves, and from the outside, it would indeed seem that all the GECs are essentially dishing out similar programming. I have voiced my concerns regarding lack of innovation on the GECs over the last two years, but lack of variety has never been an issue. The consumers see genres and sub-genres in what the non-viewers can just pass off as “daily soaps” or “saas-bahu serials”.

     

    Identifying strategic need gaps in the Hindi GEC space can be a tough ask today. But tapping the right genres and creating new sub-genres within them can indeed push the category viewership ahead. The size of investment may also be a deterrent, but for someone with deep pockets, a well-planned GEC business has a far lower risk than, say, a news or a niche channel today.

     

    The rise-and-fall stories of 9X and Imagine have often been used as an example of how a GEC business is high on risk. But there have been the success stories in Colors and Life OK too, the former a lot more significant than the latter. I hope the early success of &TV encourages more GEC launches. Sound business models can ensure good profitability at even 80-120 GRP levels.

     

  • The shift toward digital is a Darwinian evolutionary moment. We can naturally expect creative expertise gyrating and focussing in it than on other mediums, writes Sanjeev Kotnala

    Sanjeev Kotnala: The Darwinian Evolution in Advertising

    By Sanjeev Kotnala

     

    Darwin’s Theory explains the evolution of living beings. It hints that we tend to discard and lose control of a skill or expertise if

    1. We rarely use it
    2. We are conditioned to think that it is of no use
    3. We find better alternatives

     

    Similarly, on the other end, we evolve, create, discover, develop and further strengthen important skills essential for our survival. Business evolution demonstrated this effect in form of services and formats. And advertising is no different.

    Let us for a moment consider the art of print advertising. There was a golden period when print was the lead medium. We had senior creative resources proudly involving themselves in campaigns that were primarily created for print. We had long copy, short copy, smart copy, engaging copy, brilliant headline and in sync visuals. The still shoot pre-production meets were a demonstration in the art of detailing. If the visual did not give you professional orgasm, copy teams would wield magic and the campaign would came alive.

    In those days, you had not many ways to alter or Photoshop. If you had to do it, it was extremely expensive. With the introduction of ‘System’, the first causality was detailed planning. Now you could think of driving with eyes off the road. The art director remote supervised knowing corrections could be handled cheaply on the system.

    At the same time, the affair of creative with the new girl in town ‘TV’ was finding new pleasure spots. Slowly with TV, and then with the mobile, the focus shifted to audio-visual or at least visual centric. The same people who would eulogise copy started questioning who reads it anyway.  In a Darwinian way, copy started getting limited to headlines and maybe some body copy. The copywriter’s role was now restricted to provide a single sentence cryptic clue to an overtly over layered visual communication.

    Further evolution banked on ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’ making copy almost extinct. In many cases if tag lines was the copy.

    Additionally, no one in the industry noticed or applauded print work. But even a mediocre TVC could get better exposed and remembered. Creative did not carry clippings with them. The TVC was seen and easily referenced.

    With print ads still being released and newer categories evolving with it overall revenue continued to grow.  The gamekeepers in media (print owners) failed to notice the sudden drop in interest in print. They never  reacted, not even to do damage control.

    We are currently witnessing similar evolution from traditional (read TV) to Digital. The creative is happy with the extra time they get. There is no pressure to make every frame count and deliver the story in 20 seconds. The format is easy and low cost. The cost of experimentation and failure is low too. More so ‘Digital’ is highly responsive interactive ‘System’. It allows tweaking and corrections online instantaneously.

    I fear that soon creative will forget the art and science of making smart TVC. They will make AVs, six-second story statements, three-minute films, interactive audio and many more equally engrossing formats.  The idea of storytelling, engagement, and involvement will find its true solution. TV will feel the pinch sooner than expected both in media deployment, creative quality and client’s interest. Internet may become the lead medium much earlier than we think. Remember, this is a vicious cycle. Inefficient creative makes low impact, gives low ROI and in turn kills the interest, involvement and then the  medium.

    Moreover, this is one industry that may boost having highest number of professional and support bodies per 1000 people engaged but does not discriminate on qualification and experience. Everyone is welcomed to test his or her hand. There is no real licensing or professional requirement. No qualification is required in this nomadic profession, which is insecure about next revenue slice. It has been trained to quickly shift and adapt to the newer opportunities. It makes it easier if it needs lessor expertise and effort.

    We have seen it happening to Strategic Planning and Communication given the strategic role they used to play. These were roles that agencies performed and were respected for. In the period when advertising agencies were splitting like the Russian federation, they let go of many advantages to seek glory in niche areas. They forgot the need for consolidation and scalability. Other than few smarter larger bodies, most failed to see the multi-brand multi-vertical structure in their clients and learn from it. Result, slowly they stopped questioning briefs and market dynamics. Waiting for this opportunity, in walked consultants and advisors. Most of them were the rigid unaligned senior resources from advertising industry itself.  This led to ‘vendorization’ of the profession.

    In a Darwinian evolutionary shift, client servicing and planning got listed in extinction list. They had lost their importance with every passing campaign. Their role been taken over by laptop carrying care-for-business creative leaders. It was also the survival of fittest that required cost cutting where the axe first fell on defunct departments and people.

    The two tectonic plates were pressing against each other. One was the plate of decreasing roles, responsibilities, accountability and expectations. As clients saw less and less reason to pay premium for the service, the fight for revenue became intense. Agencies went on to undercut and bend their back for every possible thing. Naturally the senior management in client saw the opportunity to get the right department ‘Purchase’ come into act.

    The law of attraction works. ‘If you really passionately believe and seek something, the whole universe aligns itself to make it happen’. Today, when some of the large dominant creative and media agencies been promoting digital with that fervour, it is working. Creative is willingly moved towards a larger canvas that is magical. It allows them to play at a very low cost with a low cost of experimentation and lower risk of failure. Guaranteed is the god-like online control to change and tweak.  So, there is no way the digital train will stop. It has built the momentum and will gain speed.

    Traditional media meanwhile can try not only to try delay the inevitable but also maybe re-create it to include them. There is no point fighting digital. The worry still remains the dwindling skill sets and expertise within creative resources to effectively exploit traditional media. The excitement and involvement with it is rapidly decreasing. Maybe, this is a battle print may have lost some time back and TV seems to be on the way.

     

    Sanjeev Kotnala is Head Catalyst at Intradia and believes the best way forward for an organisation is to enhance its interanal team’s potential and capabilities instead of depending on external resources. He is a Management, Marketing and Braand consultant and conducts specialised workshops in the area of IDEATION (Harvest and Liberate) and Innovation (InNoWait). To contact email sanjeev@intradia.in  or tweet at s_kotnala visit www.intradia.in  www.sanjeevkotnala.com.

     

  • One understands that journalists based in Delhi are under tremendous pressure, almost as much as bureaucrats are. But is this enough reason for the sort of sycophancy and cowardice some of these journalists display, asks Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji: Stand-outs in the world of selfie-taking journos

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    The conversation continues to be about internet sites which provide a higher class of journalism than many mainstream newspapers. This is mainly because so far they run on investor money and not advertising or corporate pressures say the cynics and cynics are usually right. The focus for all journalists therefore has to be how to find a better mean between money and good journalism. The money is necessary, no point pretending that it is not and taking a Commie-leftie position on it. A state-sponsored media is no media at all (I leave aside for now all jokes about how many senior journalists and media houses have become de facto PR agencies for the current government).

     

    Meanwhile, congratulations to Supriya Sharma of scroll.in for winning the prestigious Chameli Devi award for an Outstanding Woman journalist for 2014-15. Sharma is the first online journalist to win this award and has done some ground breaking work for scroll on election coverage, the “ghar wapsi” programme of Hindutva rightwing outfits and workers’ security. Scroll.in has been praised here and elsewhere for the excellent job it has done in promoting old-fashioned journalism based on hardcore reporting. The future is here.

    http://scroll.in/article/713959/Scroll.in’s-Supriya-Sharma-wins-prestigious-Chameli-Devi-Jain-award

     

    **

     

    The Indian Express stands out as a newspaper which has been doing great stories, sticking to news gathering and taking difficult positions. This is not new for the Express which has a long reputation of being effectively and consistently anti-establishment. But the recent months have seen the paper step up the ante when others have succumbed.

     

    One understands that journalists based in Delhi are under tremendous pressure, almost as much as bureaucrats are. But is this enough reason for the sort of sycophancy and cowardice some of these journalists display? It is particularly disappointing to see middle level journalists – those ready to handle the reins – falling to the level of autograph hunters. How else would one describe this trend of taking “selfies” with politicians?

     

    The poor Aam Aadmi Party must be wondering however why it can never get that level of “luurrrve” which Narendra Modi and Amit Shah of the BJP manage to garner. AAP, having built up expectations in the media and with the people of Delhi is under very close scrutiny from journalists. Modi, Shah and the BJP however have been given a comparatively longer rope.

     

    The tragedy which these middle-level journalists have not understood yet is that eventually, the rope will win. And all those selfies may not be quite so useful then.

     

    I decided when I started writing this that I would not either take on or mention Arnab Goswami of Times Now. But I do it now to agree with him – the cosy club of Delhi journalists is one which needs to be challenged and taken on by all those in the media who live and work in the rest of this vast and wonderful nation.

     

    **

     

    Having started off by praising internet sites for the new blood and enthusiasm they have transfused into traditional journalism, I end with a complaint. Those websites which expect people to write for free and those journalists and columnists who succumb for the sake of publicity are doing a great disservice to the profession as a whole. They are the equivalent of scabs which are brought in by the management to break strikes and trade unions. I don’t mean to sound like a Commie-leftie so I’ll end like a good right winger instead: they are traitors to the profession. To loosely translate a good old desi phrase, they are kicking those who write for a living in the stomach.

     

  • As Sanjeev Kotnala takes off for the Adfest at Pattaya in Thailand, he lists some of the standout sessions he plans to attend

    Sanjeev Kotnala: What’s hot and not-so-bad at the Pattaya Adfest

    By Sanjeev Kotnala

     

    As you read this, I should be on way to Pattaya answering the Adfest  war cry ‘BE BAD’.  With Pattaya that sounds just great. On deeper thoughts it is asking you to be bad in a good way. Quoting from the fest site ‘Take up the rallying cry and take your clients out of their comfort zone. Shake it up. Be bold. Get them in your corner, fighting for provocative work and the art of creativity. Join together and make something you are proud of and that makes them great. “Be Bad” more often, for the sake of your clients and for the hearts of their customers and aim to win awards….. Success demands commitment and bravery from both clients and agencies. It needs the conviction that finding a new angle will disrupt the status quo; an instinct that bucking the system will shake up the market; the passion to challenge the norm, the average and the mediocre. It needs more of us to “Be Bad” – in a good way!’ I am always impressed by long copy and such powerful speak to say ‘Have Balls’.

     

    Now, the best way to take most out of such engagements is to pre-lock-in the sessions you plan to attend. Here is my interesting initial short pick.

    1. WE WILL FIX IT IN POST by Adam Tunikowski (CEO & Creative Director), Michal Dwojak-Hara (Head of Animation & Creative Director), Michal Misinski (Art Director) and Natalia Lasota (Producer).

     

    Something we always hear during projects.  Session will us help understand the importance of postproduction and the value of the Creative Agency team working closely with the postproduction team. We in India know that already. My interest is anchored on a statement ‘It’s not always the truth that if you make something for a smaller budget, in a shorter time, you will have to compromise on quality, they promise to present a fourth element, which makes it possible to create great quality projects in a short time and with a small budget. And we will explain why we have to be bad to make it happen;. Something we all would want to know.

     

    2. ROI OF THE BAD: DO SHOCKING ADS REALLY WORK?’ by Hando Sinisalu, Ceo Estonia. Addressing  a long due debate on  award-winning ads. Do shocking ads really work. Do they actually harm brands?  My interest lies in the session promise to share the secret ‘what kind of ads are actually harming the brand’. See the ROI on Pattaya improving with each session.

     

    3. STORYTELLING IS THE NEW BLACK.   By Jonathan Samway. I would personally agree with the thought ‘We’ve moved further and further away from our most important job, to tell stories that engage people. We’ve been seduced by quantity over quality. How many eyeballs did we collect? How much media space did we have to buy to collect those eyeballs?’… the days have changed  ‘We watch what we wanna – anywhere, anytime… and in this time btands are better telling stories that the people chose to engage with’. And you know its all about the art of storytelling that pulled me in.

     

    4. YOU ARE THE HERO NOT A TARGET. THE NEW ERA OF STORYTELLING. Creative directos Kazuaki Hashida and Takahiro Hosoda  are going to expand on the thought ‘It’s no longer appropriate to consider consumer to be a “target” that simply accepts or receives something. Instead, we should conceive of them as heroes who actively live out rich narratives, which we call lives… we need a story for our hero: Not media to communicate, but a stage on which our hero can act’

     

    5. THE TIDAL WAVE OF TRANSMEDIA. Chung Chung Chan, HK Design Institute.  ‘All media are merging while the lines between the technology sector and the entertainment, media and communications sectors are blurring thus context of media today is evolving a methodology called Transmedia’. Transmedia storytelling encompasses a range of factual and fictional story forms including stories with multiple strands that take place across diverse media platforms, including film, television, internet and mobile devices as well as live events and alternate reality game, Transmedia acts both as a creative technique for story extension and as a marketing tool to reach a broader and more diversified audience.’ I agree this been mismanaged. THIS WILL BE PRIME LEARNING TIME.

     

    6. LET’S GET REAL WITH AUGUMENTED REALITY. Exciting advertising opportunities that Virtual & Augmented Reality bring to brands . Playing real blind in this one.

     

    7. CIRCLE OF TRUST. Sidharth Loyal; Brand Strategist. My most favourite subject and issue within the industry. ‘The enemy within is trust, and it is a key ingredient missing from most client/agency relationships, which causes and explains inconsistent work, frequent pitches and high people rotation in the industry. The session expects to create that awakening to make us  “Be brave” in widening our circle of trust; giving people credit; and sharing ideas.

     

    In the time that is left- which is quite a lot. I AM GOING TO BE BAD… NOT TOO BAD. There is the ‘Pattaya International Music Festival’. May be scuba. May be another skyjump.  When I come back I will have stories that could begin with, Once upon a time in Pattaya…..

     

    Sanjeev Kotnala is Head Catalyst at Intradia and believes the best way forward for an organisation is to enhance its interanal team’s potential and capabilities instead of depending on external resources. He is a Management, Marketing and Braand consultant and conducts specialised workshops in the area of IDEATION (Harvest and Liberate) and Innovation (InNoWait). To contact email sanjeev@intradia.in  or tweet at s_kotnala visit www.intradia.in  www.sanjeevkotnala.com.

     

  • The theme BE BAD represents a dedication by creative professionals everywhere to produce great ideas that stretch boundaries and buck trends.

    Sanjeev Kotnala @ Adfest: India not Bad enough as Pattayafest kicks off

    By Sanjeev Kotnala

     

    Adfest 2015 started today in right earnest in Pattaya with the objective of celebrating and raising the standards of creativity. The theme BE BAD  represents a dedication by creative professionals everywhere to produce great ideas that stretch boundaries and buck trends. One must give credit to the organisers for taking that to heart with a ‘street graffiti’ style design using corrugated metal sheeting and spray paint around the event location . The Adfest 2015 icon, designed by Maud in Sydney, brings ‘Be Bad’ to life by showing that rewriting the rules can deliver surprising great  results. It will be interesting to watch how the 38 invited speakers integrate the “Be Bad” theme into the content for their sessions. If they are successful; in driving home the point it will be just great.

     

    As with any of the festivals the buzz centres around the LOTUS awards, where India hasn’t reported many shortlists. On the evenings of Friday March 20 and Saturday, March 21, the results will be announced and awards presented. This year, there are 18 different awards categories being judged, as well as Special Awards. One new Lotus Award category is announced this year for Branded Content and Entertainment. There are more than 3200 entries vying for the Lotuses this year with 56 judges, including 8 Jury Presidents from 19 different cities invited to join Jimmy Lam, President of Adfest and guardian of the Lotus Awards.

     

  • We have half a dozen sports channels besides Star Sports, and all of them have ignored the World Cup emphatically and whole-heartedly, writes Shailesh Kapoor

    Shailesh Kapoor: World Cup Coverage: The Ticks & The Crosses

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    It’s the World Cup season and cricket is back into the forefront, leading conversations and consumption across media. The ratings of some of the key India games in this year’s World Cup have proven that the issue with declining ratings of ODI cricket in recent years is not about a loss of interest in the sport as such, but a rejection of meaningless cricket series that are played to generate revenue for the sport.

     

    A lot has changed on the broadcasting and technology front since the 2011 World Cup. The host broadcaster (Star Sports) has four sports channels, and for the first time, watching cricket online has been promoted as a genuine viewing option. Commentary feeds are available in multiple Indian languages, and more than 50 ex-Indian cricketers have been gainfully employed by Star Sports to cater to India’s linguistic diversity. All matches are available in High Definition, and we even have the 4K-technology option available.

     

    So, all’s well when it comes to live telecast of cricket. Despite match timings not being primetime-friendly in India, Star Sports has done a fair job of putting across a clinical performance on-air.

     

    But there’s a lot left to be desired outside the live hours. And here, I go beyond Star Sports. We have half a dozen sports channels besides Star Sports, and all of them have ignored the World Cup emphatically and whole-heartedly. In a healthy competitive environment, you would expect other sports channels to do strong guerilla programming around a big tournament such as the Cricket World Cup, to capture viewership in the non-playing hours.

     

    Star Sports attempted that in the 2003 World Cup. They had no access to match footage. But they created pre- and post-match shows for the purists, who would rather watch Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar discuss the game with Harsha Bhogle, than watch the Mandira Bedi show. The idea may not have a runaway success, but it was an excellent attempt at building equity around a big sports event within a reasonable cost.

     

    That we have no such ideas this year is the collateral damage of a monopolistic environment. Star Sports has gained every inch of the sporting turf over the last five years, acquiring all possible rights that have come their way. If they manage to bag the IPL rights when they come up renewal next in a couple of years, their dominance of sports broadcasting in India will be complete in every respect.

     

    Sports broadcasting has not been the most profitable business in India, and it is understandable that a giant like Star can pump in the investments which stand-alone brands like Ten or Neo struggled to.

     

    But the one area where Star Sports too may have missed the trick is the non-playing hours programming. All four channels play the same shows every night, which are essentially based on over-analysis of already over-analyzed games. The ancillary programming content in magazine formats is not more than 15-20 hours, I suspect. And a lot of this is content that’s not even fresh.

     

    Star Sports currently resembles a multiplex when a Salman Khan film releases. You may have six screens, but all you get is one film, one type of content. More channels don’t always mean more variety!

     

    News channels, meanwhile, have gainfully employed another 50-60 ex-India cricketers, including some very obscure ones, to run the same format which Star Sports runs on its channels – talking heads discussing today’s game and then tomorrow’s game.

     

    Come 2019 World Cup, that’s one change I’d hope to see, whereby the non-playing hours experience of a viewer is a more enriching one. And if some other channels don’t stand up to get their pound of flesh from the event, I hope there will be online options beyond ESPNcricinfo that would achieve the same.

     

  • TV news in India may have made a mockery of the word "exclusive" but in newspaper parlance it is supposed to mean that no other publication has that particular story, writes Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji: Exclusive, Lesser, Uggh!

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    I’m picking this up straight from an observation on Twitter by a friend and senior journalist. She remarked that people seem to think “the media” is a single organism when it is rather a collection of rivals. Most people who make comments about “the media” are well-read, informed and intelligent. And yet, they cannot seem to comprehend that all outlets of journalism are in competition with each other.

     

    Moreover, newsrooms are full of competing journalists, each trying to give their own story or their choice the best chance. Edit meetings can be contentious at times, with raised voices and intense arguments. If it’s that bad within a newsroom, it should not take much imagination to figure how bad it can be in a rival newsroom.

     

    Those who subscribe to The Times of India in cities which also have a Mirror tabloid might consider how the Mirror often trumps TOI with great local stories. The two newspapers may be distributed together and presented to the reader as a package, but they work as separate entities.

     

    In the days before Bombay Times became a Medianet operation run by the management, it also ran a rival newsroom to the Mumbai edition of the Times of India within the same building.

     

    TV news in India may have made a mockery of the word “exclusive” but in newspaper parlance it is supposed to mean that no other publication has that particular story. You might ask, why do so many newspapers carry the same story as lead then? Surely there is some collaboration. However, it can easily be seen that the same story is the lead because it is the biggest story of the day – and perhaps that journalists think in a similar manner. There will always be differences in the other choices on the front page.

     

    As far as 24-hour TV is concerned, channels pick up from each other because they are involved in a vicious minute-by-minute competition for rating points. They have the viewing percentages of the day worked out to a fine calibration – people under 20 who wear shorts to bed and watch TV only between 3 am and 4 am and 50-year-olds who smoke cigars and watch news from 8 pm to 10 pm and so on. If rival news channels have the same story then it is the nature of the beast.

     

    If there is a secret nightly meeting of all editors across India to decide on the uniformity of the next day’s top stories then I must confess that I have never heard of it. Mea maxima culpa.

     

    **

     

    I am taking the liberty to rant about my favourite bugbear: the misuse of the word “lesser”. (I have given up on the misuse of apostrophes.) The current ad running on TV for the detergent brand Henko features film star Madhuri Dixit talking about her clothes being ruined in the wash. Henko is good she says because there is “lesser lint”.

     

    Dear copywriters for Henko, “lesser lint” implies that the lint from Madhuri Dixit’s clothes is of an inferior quality not that using Henko means “less” lint. That is an insult to the beautiful and well-dressed Madhuri Dixit.

     

    This addition of “er” is an interesting Indian suffix, like “sponsorer” as even the Union finance minister used in his Budget speech and “neighbourer” which so many of our “neighbourers” refer to themselves as…

     

  • Sanjeev Kotnala reports on sessions by Sidharth Loyal, Chung Su Ko, the Juice team from Poland and Marcel Wiebenga at Adfest, Pattaya

    Sanjeev Kotnala at Adfest: Warming up in Pattaya

    By Sanjeev Kotnala

     

    After what looked like a dull fest what with hardly any energy and vibrancy, Adfest 2015 seems to be warming up and that is because the speakers are making relevant practical points.  The audience is usual a tad laidback and there are hardly any questions and that helps the show go on schedule. I have at least not seen any sign of technical glitch which I am so accustomed to back home.

     

    Brand strategist Sidharth Loyal in his sharp talk on Circle of Trust poked the audience to  “Be brave” in widening their circle of trust, giving people credit and sharing ideas. It is his belief that  a majority of client-agency relationships suffer from acute trust deficit. Clients do believe that agencies are slow in response and do not really understand their business environment and needs. They are willing to go to anyone and everyone who can show them the next wave and step, he said. In this situation, the  advent of creative hotshops and independent freelancers who are showing the next wave and way to clients are one of the reason. But there is really a need to look inwards and question this change in order. Maybe the agencies need cool hunters who have the toughest job that demands them to be interacting across markets with the consumer in the brand product usage environment and work as the first point of reference, trust and insights.

     

    We will fix it in Post was a real visually driven presentation by the team at Juice (Poland). It was a well-planned and orchestrated relay presentation between Adam Tunikowski (CEO and Creative Director), Michal Dwojak-Hara (Head of Animation & Creative Director), Michal Misiński (Art Director) and Natalia Lasota (Producer) where everyone had something different to contribute. They did venture to point out that Trust between each part of the development team is one of the critical ingredient. If the three verticals end product triangle are Time, Quality and Money, then Trust is the core. The point was simple- Yes, it is now possible to do the correction and enhancement in post. But if we keep the old tradition of detailing and shooting the best way possible and include the post-production teams in the initial stage, then the enhancement will be that much enhanced. It will also be faster and need lessor funds. Point taken. This is one area where within the agency complacency has been growing as we know, we will fix it in post.

     

    Cheil Worldwide’s resident expert on Brand Experience, Chung Su Ko, weaved his magic with the a seamless evolving presentation. The idea was simple. Bad is contextual. And the context is defined by Economic Viability, Connect with local community, brand power Marketing strategy, and most of all Timing.

     

    The most energetic PERFORMANCE ( using presentation will be demeaning it ) was the last session before coffee break. The Good, The Bad and The Punk Rocker turned Music Supervisor by  Marcel Wiebenga  of Sizzer Amsterdam. His take: create relevant music, stretch boundaries, use real instrument and above all don’t go by the notes and the music that the CEO or his wife likes or approves. Push and go for what is best for the film and or the brand. And I somewhere heard the word Context while he said that.

     

    Oh,  by the way, I saw adaptation of lot of Indian work done by agencies in Thailand and Australia and sometime for different brands too.

     

  • Adfest 2015 lived up to its promise of providing a creative forum and stimulus for learning, reports Sanjeev Kotnala

    Sanjeev Kotnala@Adfest: Well-choreographed storytelling


    By Sanjeev Kotnala

     

    ‘Seamless Storytelling’, ‘You Are The Hero’ and ‘Jury Crossfire’ were the central thought pieces theme that ran through Day 2 and 3 at ADFEST 2015 Pattaya. Amply demonstrated with engaging presentations that ran like clockwork. Hats off to the team behind the scene.

     

    The thoughts that kept echoing long after the presentations were over and were too loud to be ignored, I share a few of them with you…

    ‘INVOLVING’

    If you tell someone – he will soon forget it, if you show someone he may remember it but if you are able to involve him – he will understand it. First coined by Confucius remains as relevant as ever. As communication heroes we need to be doing that.

    ‘STORYTELLING’

    To do that, we need to be able to use the art of storytelling. A smart beginning, introduce character, middle where things get complicated, a turning point and a satisfying end. Sound even though art of storytelling is a natural art not everyone is good in it. Get a good storyteller in your team.

    ‘MAKE IT MEMORABLE’

    You have your own world and if you look in your life, you will have few distinctly memorable points of reference. That is your world. And we should operate in our world.  Our job is to make things memorable. As in life you get more in return for surprises and unexpected than for doing the expected. It is true for the communication, event, trigger you press with the audiences. And while you are at it- try thinking how will you create personally unforgettable experiences for your own life to expand the world you live in. Go ahead and in the next 180 days – do what has never been done before.

    ‘THE NEW REALITY’

    ‘Virtual Reality’ and ‘Augmented Reality’ seems to be a medium that is set for explosions in terms of advertisers to adapt and the consumers to be delighted with. They truly engage the customer. In a way they have the capability of creating captive audience by drawing complete attention, focus and engagement. The way forward with software that is becoming of superior quality day by day and the ease of delivering it like- Google box- is giving that force needed to take it to another level.

    SELLING AN IDEA

    Clients live and die by how well their brands are ding in the marketplace. Empathize with them. Use logic and reasoning to back up your sell. Clients are really wanting to be assured that they are doing the right thing. Show them the case studies and trends to convince them how other brands have succeeded doing something similar and how we could lose out if the competition beats us to the idea. But reassure them with a contingency plan. At the same time, you must demonstrate how passionately you believe in your idea. If even you are not 100% convinced wit your work, why should the client believe in it.

    ‘YOU ARE NOT AN ADMAN’

    This was a title devised a long time back, when all you did was Advertising. Now you are hardly doing that. You are doing a lot more, lot more defined, at times niche but hugely more practical, relevant, engaging, involving and strategic. So, first change yourself in your approach to work. Try doing unexpected; bring in the most unexpected solution to an expected problem.

    ‘WORK LIFE BALANCE’ – Pum Lefebure Idea

    May not work till you see them as two compartments. Pum shared that at the start of the year she takes a cube and places the most important thing for her life (this year she shared it was health). On two sides she places two things that make her happy. Like Family and Creativity. Then on the other two sides she places the two things that make her professionally happy. Like Travel and something. And at the base she places her goal. Because it should be the foundation and not something you are trying to jump and access. And the most important thing should be at the top, without which nothing would really matter. She says she plays with that Cube a lot and it helps her keep her focus.

    Adfest lived up to its promise of providing a creative forum and stimulus for learning. By showcasing every entry (not just the shortlist), the great cultural diversity of work was available to be absorbed. Some of it was stunning and one believes will continue to get more applauded as the year goes by.

    Learnings from: Andrew Petch, Executive Creative Director of Ace Satchi & Satchi Manila, Gosling of Happy Finish- Augmented reality, Jonathan Samway, Executive Producer at Moth Projects, Sydney, Katsuaki Hashida (Hakuhodo Kettle, Tokyo) & Takahiro Hosoda (TBWA Hakuhodo, Tokyo, Lotus News, Oz Dean, Creative Director- We Are Social Australia. Pun Lefebure, Co founder of Design Army and Sa’ad Hussein, Chief Creative officer & executive Director of TBWA\Kuala Lumper

     


    Sanjeev Kotnala is Head Catalyst at Intradia and believes the best way forward for an organisation is to enhance its interanal team’s potential and capabilities instead of depending on external resources. He is a Management, Marketing and Braand consultant and conducts specialised workshops in the area of IDEATION (Harvest and Liberate) and Innovation (InNoWait). To contact email sanjeev@intradia.in  or tweet at s_kotnala visit www.intradia.in  www.sanjeevkotnala.com.

     

  • It was a rare journalist who questioned Ujjwal Nikam because in today's India that can be akin to sedition, writes Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji: When journos fried community believing cooked up claims

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    When public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam revealed at a conference recently that he had cooked up the story about Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab demanding and being served biryani in a Mumbai jail, there was understandable shock and distaste.

     

    But let us set aside for now Nikam’s professional integrity or the smug satisfaction with which he revealed how he had in effect demonised a community in order to stop a sympathy wave for Kasab. Instead, let’s ask just why Nikam became such a media hero that no one thought to question his claim in the first place.

     

    Nikam first sprang into the limelight as the public prosecutor into the March, 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case. The case took so long that by the time the sentence was pronounced most of India – and many of the young Mumbai reporters I worked with at DNA – thought that the bomb blasts preceded the post-Babri Masjid demolition riots of December 1992 and January 1993. Such is the curiosity of the “patriotic” journalist of today – and we can see the result on our TV channels. Indeed, it mattered to few that there had been no justice at all for those who suffered in the riots. Bollywood films like Black Friday, for all its good intentions, further cemented the myth that the bomb blasts caused the riots. I met reporters who used the script of the film as the basis for their reports.

     

    Nikam capitalised on this sentiment and thus sprang to prominence as the public prosecutor who fought for justice. It was a rare journalist who questioned him because in today’s India that can be akin to sedition.

     

    It was hardly surprising that Nikam was public prosecutor in the 2008 terror attacks case. However, when it came to Ajmal Kasab, there was no doubt about his involvement or his guilt. The world had seen him on television, there were many witnesses and policeman Tukaram Ombale made the ultimate sacrifice in making sure that Kasab was caught alive. By that one act, India had proof that Pakistan was involved in terror activities against India – whether by the state or by “non-state” actors. Whichever you prefer to believe.

     

    Nikam therefore had little to do. In fact, what his large group of admirers in the journalistic community prefer to forget is that the only two Indians who the investigation managed to charge were acquitted. Nikam and the police investigation therefore failed to convince the judge except when it came to the open and shut case of Kasab.

     

    So what were our reporters doing? If Nikam was lying about the biryani, then a simple questioning of the jail authorities should have been enough. In fact, we had a huge media uproar about how much Kasab cost the government and why was the government feeding a terrorist from across the border a choice dish like biryani and a clear belief that this was some sort of appeasement policy of Muslims by a Congress government.

     

    By these insidious means, Nikam managed to demonise a community – Muslims and their supposed undying attachment to biryani – by creating a “meme”. And parts of the media helped him. For those who claim to be too innocent to get it, the connection is clear: Kasab is a Muslims; Muslims like biryani. The lens therefore shifts to all Muslims, especially Indian ones. This connection was used by the BJP in their 2014 election campaign as well.

     

    In a superb piece for Mumbai Mirror, its editor Meenal Baghel reveals that Kasab’s last meal was a tomato: http://www.mumbaimirror.com/mumbai/others/Dum-lagaa-ke/articleshow/46648313.cms

     

    I reserve the right to chuck tomatoes at my fellow journalists who use jingoism as an excuse to ignore their primary responsibility to their profession.

     

  • While omissions like not paying attention to the eligible date for awards is not right for an agency which marketers think has an eye for detail, writes Sanjeev Kotnala

    Sanjeev Kotnala: Let’s have a last date to withdrawn award entries

    By Sanjeev Kotnala

     

    An agency withdrawing an award entry is neither something new nor a regular occurrence. There can be many reasons for it including the official one. But one has every reason to believe that the right reason normally remains uncovered.

     

    At AdFest 2015 last week, JWT India withdrew its entry of Nutribic Biscuits titled  ‘Burberry Vs. Louis Vuitton, ‘Virgin Vs. British Airways’ and ‘Ferrari Vs. Lamborghini’ in ‘The Best Of Confectionary And Snacks Category’ and work titled ‘Music Sore’ and  ‘Antique Store’ in ‘The Best Of Electronics’ for Godrej Security Solutions. These entries were withdrawn after the jury had deliberated on them and recognised them with ‘Finalist Status’. So what went wrong?

     

    As per Meen Lachaniwatan, Press Relation at Adfest, it was a non-issue. Just a date problem. The official reason being ‘the first launch date does not make it eligible to submit’. To me this is not a non-issue. It’s a respected agency with respected senior members; a place that is supposed to be systems-driven and it misses this simple detail! A company that the marketers believe has an eye for detail. Yes, the slip is technically a possibility.

     

    I know doubtful ‘release date’ cases are hugely debated and the first thing one checks. The entries are rushed in at the nth moment. How the entry boards are done. Most of the time at the final stages when entries are being rushed, seniors are not available. No doubt, once in a while unintentionally an unintended entry moves in. So, the onus to explain rests with the agency.

     

    Maybe agencies would appreciate another deadline between the  entry submission and the Jury meet… The Last Date to Withdraw, if one may call it. It is  already in place in  few award festivals like ‘Performance Marketing awards’.

     

    There is too much at stake. It not only affects the agency but also the festival. It may impact someone else’s chances of winning. Hence the shout out for The Last Date to Withdraw. Once it is in place, harder punishment and decisions like embargo for few years on the entrant will be easy to take and implement.

     

    It is interesting to note the Cannes Festival policy that defends agencies and blames individuals:  “We believe that banning agencies from entering on a wholesale basis is unfair on blameless individuals. There are many people who work in agencies who may not be involved with an erroneous entry and therefore should not be penalised. Our policy will be to ban the individuals named on the credit list if a scam is discovered.”

     

    At D&D they are very precise in the process and transparent action. The D&D rule book says ‘the offending Entry shall be immediately suspended from the Awards and referred to the D&AD Executive Advisory Group on Awards Rules and Standards. The Rules and Standards Group is tasked to establish facts relating to any alleged breach and to advise the Executive Committee of Trustees of D&AD on further action or sanctions against the Entrant. In addition to any other sanction referred to in the Awards Rules, D&AD reserves the right to: 1. Remove an Entry from the Awards; and/or  2. Disqualify an Entrant from the Awards; and/or  3. Bar an Entrant from submitting Entries to further Awards; and/or 4. Revoke or suspend an Entrant’s membership of D&AD

     

    Goafest is next month and I hope we will be spared the horror of withdrawn entries and scam. Hopefully we have process in place to deal with such an evtuality. It would be good to know and share publically.

     

    ……………………………………………………………………………………….

    Here is a short checklist for the next time you send an entry.

     ……………………………………………………………………………………..

    Sanjeev Kotnala is Head Catalyst at Intradia and believes the best way forward for an organisation is to enhance its interanal team’s potential and capabilities instead of depending on external resources. He is a Management, Marketing and Braand consultant and conducts specialised workshops in the area of IDEATION (Harvest and Liberate) and Innovation (InNoWait). To contact email sanjeev@intradia.in  or tweet at s_kotnala visit www.intradia.in  www.sanjeevkotnala.com.

     

  • You would expect the media, a pillar in a democracy and all that, to be one step ahead of the masses on the maturity curve. Surprisingly (or maybe not-so-surprisingly), the venom and the viciousness came from the media, writes Shailesh Kapoor

    Shailesh Kapoor: India’s World Cup Exit: When Fans Scored Over The Media

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    After 44 days of intense (and some not-so-intense) cricket, the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 finally ended last evening, with Australia emerging winners in an underwhelming finale. The tournament reached an absolute high on Tuesday, when New Zealand ousted South Africa in a thriller. But Australia’s dominance in the semi-final on Thursday and the final on Sunday ensured there were going to be no more thrillers.

     

    India’s exit from the World Cups has always been a subject of media attention, from way back in 1987, when media was very different from how we know it today. 2003 was the only time when the exit (in a one-sided final against Australia) did not fuel any criticism or demand for heads to roll. Otherwise, it has been the same story, in 1987, 1992, 1996, 1999 and 2007.

     

    Ironically, the reactions have tended to be extreme when we have lost a semi-final (1987, 1996 & 2015), unlike the low-key 1992 and 1999 campaigns. Evidently, losing on a single day in a do-or-die game can attract a lot more wrath from the media and the fans than a slow death over a long tournament, where life moves on. 2007 was an early exit, but we were playing a virtual knockout there too, vs. Sri Lanka, and the reactions were as extreme as they could be.

     

    But something has changed in all these years, I realised on Thursday. India were unbeaten in the World Cup till that point of time, when they were outplayed by Australia. In many ways, this was similar to 2013, where we lost only to Australia, twice that year, but beat everyone else in great style. There seemed more maturity among fans on Thursday evening as the semi-final drew to a low-key end. On the two ends of social media (the mass Facebook and the somewhat elitist Twitter), the reactions suggested that cricket fans have matured over years, or at least India’s performance in this World Cup has not been something that brings out the worst in them. Dejection and criticism were on display, but largely, the tone was not abusive or vicious.

     

    You would expect the media, a pillar in a democracy and all that, to be one step ahead of the masses on the maturity curve. Surprisingly (or maybe not-so-surprisingly), the venom and the viciousness came from the media. Orchestrated pictures of TV sets being broken (rickety CRTs to save budget) and fans burning random effigies (that didn’t even resemble anyone in particular) were quickly put on-air. One could pass that off as Hindi news jingoism that one has got used to seeing for almost two decades now.

     

    But the English media surprised me with its misjudgment of the public sentiment, where they confused dejection with anger. The headlines in some of the leading newspapers the next day were not entirely in good taste. No prizes for guessing what the headlines in New Zealand on Monday morning will be (they will be out by the time you read this). I can assure you they will be whole-heartedly in favour of the Blackcaps and its brave leader Brendon McCullum, even though it was his dismissal in the first over that set the tone for Aussie dominance in the final.

     

    Enough has been written and discussed about Times Now’s approach to the semi-final exit, including on this website. Generally, Arnab Goswami has a good sense of the pulse of the nation. He tends to pick topics that would strike a chord with the audiences, because they tap into their anger, sometimes latent, about the issue. On Thursday though, he got the pulse horribly wrong. Whether it was a one-off or a sign of things to come on the Arnab front, only time will tell. But Times Now would do well to erase that one day from their broadcasting history.

     

    Star Sports replaced its #WeWontGiveItBack campaign with a #Respect campaign. The former was a rather average ad film, which got going only because the Indian team got going in this World Cup. There were similar sentiments by many others, including the Prime Minister. But some other sections of media clearly missed the beat.

     

    We follow sport because we know we can lose on the day, as much as we can win. No fan expects to win every single time, yet no fan hopes to lose either. I think the exposure of fans to cricketing greats via commentary and news channels has led to this simple truth finding its way into the conscience of what essentially is a non-sporting culture. Hope things get even better in the years to come. Because like always, only one team will win in England 2019.