Category: MEDIA

Not a child’s play

By Amin Lakhani

While much advertising is aimed at a broad spectrum of children, it should be recognized that there are wide differences in cognitive and emotional development between younger and older children. Kids can be segmented into three distinct age-groups defined by the way they communicate with their parents and the world at large. Babies & Toddlers (0-2 years) use distinct crying patterns to indicate whether they are hungry, in pain or just need plain attention.

Pre-schoolers (3-5 years) meanwhile begin talking and forming complex sentences, the magical words “No” & “Why” become firm part of their vocabulary and like to be involved in decision making. This gives them a sense of being a “Big Kid”. School Age kids (6-11 years) are purposeful, thinking in advance what they want and often have a plan on how to get it. At this stage they also start getting rebellious, often questioning or criticizing their parents. They do not like being treated in a manner they think is “babyish”.

They also tailor their communication to their surroundings. In a country like India, with complex regional and socio-economic diversities; conversations that marketers want to have with these segments often become tricky. While children strongly influence brand choice for many high price family purchases, a one-target marketing strategy may no longer be enough. Consider one strategy that appeals to children, another that appeals to children and their parents, and a third that focuses just on adults.

The truth about kids and social media

By Sanjay Mehta

Everyone seems to be getting on to social media – young men and women, middle-aged persons, senior citizens, teenagers…yes, just about everyone.

But what about kids? Would one consider them to be active on social media? From a brand’s point of view, is the kids’ market still elusive, where social media is concerned? Or are there opportunities that exist for brands? Let’s try and understand this intersection of kids and social media! There are four defining factors at play here:

1. The device: Social Media is no more accessed only from desktop computers. We are seeing enough statistics to show how there is increasing usage of social media, from mobile devices. While this phenomenon is strongly validated for on-the-move adults, how it impacts kids, is by way of the tablet device! The iPad, for example.

It is a fact that kids take to the iPad very easily, and seem to figure out the controls and the mechanisms, including the swipes and the pinches and what not. And that marks the beginning for them to access for example, content on YouTube.

Children pay more attention to adverts than adults, particularly when they include jingles, cartoons, humour, and elements borrowed from popular culture. This generation is internet-savvy, and can appreciate interactive campaigns. Kids hate to be sold to, but love to be respected. They want to be listened to, heard and understood. Spend time with them, listen to them talk, discover how they dream…

This is critical given that a significant chunk of these children will be digital natives. While many classic marketing approaches will still apply, interactive communication means that future campaigns are likely to run in real time. Flexibility to change direction, media, tools and message will be key. Teams of marketers will need to operate 24/7, constantly monitoring their marketplace.

So if it’s a Chhota Bheem video that appeals to the kid, parents are comfortable to set it up for the kid on the iPad, and let him be engaged on it. What happens next? There would be advertising placed within the video content there, and which also the kid sees, and gets attracted to. It would not be a surprise if the kid starts demanding the particular candy or the specific toy that might have been featured in that video!

2. The content: We must understand that social media is not just about engaging on Facebook or tweeting or blogging. If those were the cases, then perhaps the kids are a certain distance away from participating here. A particular behavior demography on social media is also called being a ‘consumer’ - a consumer of content. And they too count, who consume such social media content, and are in turn, influenced by it.

This is exactly where kids come in. There are many content producers that are delivering exciting content, both educational and entertaining, for kids, and by consuming such content, there is participation from the kids, in this space.

3. The parent as a conduit to the kid: When it comes to products and services for kids, it is not necessarily the kids who are looking for it, finding it, interacting around it, engaging around it, etc. There are a lot of parents who lean on to this medium, in order to become well, ‘better parents’.

And most certainly, via the parents, there is large- scale influence of the media, on to the kids. In terms of choices that are made, finally, for the kids! It is clear then, that kids are also getting increasingly ensnared into the world of social media, and brands would want to keep this in mind, as they plan their strategies.

Realisation among consumers would continue to grow

By Dr. M G Parameswaran

The definition of family in India is changing and it would continue to change. Single biggest change is that women now have a more forceful presence in the family and they are becoming increasingly articulate. If one looks at broad numbers, percentage of working women in urban India in SEC A, B might not have dramatically increased but the role that they play in the family has changed dramatically. From being housewives, they have now become home managers. They handle a lot of finances and many other things.

It can, to a large extent be attributed to the fact that women are getting better educated. As a large percentage of women in SEC A, B, C become graduates, they tend to have a bigger voice in how the family is going to be run, what stream of education the child should follow and so on.

As for nuclear families, we always had them. If we look at our cultural history, the eldest son tended to stay in the house, while the younger ones moved out. The trend is far more obvious now, to the extent that number of families with three generations staying together seems to be coming down. Interestingly, what one also notices is that while the son, his wife and children are moving into a new house, they tend to stay within a kilometre or so of the parents house.

Regional has to be more contemporary

By Anuj Poddar

adly, regional entertainment is falling S into the trap of the same TRP battle we are seeing in the Hindi GEC space. There is too much of focus on GRPs for my liking. The focus needs to be more on innovating, on creativity, and while you do that – it’s about being relevant and connected to the regional audience. The biggest USP of regional is that it is able to connect with its audience far better than Hindi.

Culturally and socially, it is so much closer to its audience than Hindi. I think Hindi is the lowest common denominator as far as content is concerned because it appeals to so many different people. It is more mass, it is national in a way that everybody watches it. But regional isn’t mass. It isn’t made for everybody. It is made for a certain audience, therefore, the focus is that much better.

You know your audience so much better as against a mass audience that you cater to in Hindi entertainment. That allows regional to do things that national or Hindi television can never think of. We have seen a lot of regional content being picked by Hindi GECs. But, we haven’t seen that happening – from Hindi to regional. And I do not think it will happen as a big trend in the future.

Rural vs. Urban

In rural India, one needs to look at R1, R2 differently from R3, R4. R1, R2 which is the upper 20 per cent of the rural society is quite similar to urban society. Women are educated and they want to educate their children. They use modern gadgets like DVD players, mobile phones etc. But if you go to R3, R4, the lower part of the rural society, which is probably 70 per cent of rural India, the woman is still in a ghunghat and lives in a controlled and suppressed environment, which might take some more time to change.

In rural India, there are still some attitudinal differences in terms of how a girl child should be treated vis-à-vis how a boy child should be treated, what is the right profession for a girl, what kind of education she should have etc.

One thing that integrates all the segments of society whether in urban and rural India is intense belief in spirituality and religion.

India as a collective or an individualistic society

Hofstede had done a lot of work on individualism, collectivism and power distance. He had surmised that societies like the Indian and Chinese ones are a lot more collectivist in approach as compared to Europe, which is far more individualistic.

In my view, in one or two generations we would not move from being a collective society to an individualistic society. In India, even today, when one goes for interviews, questions about where one hails from and father’s profession etc are quite common. While in the US, questions about one’s family are never asked in an interview. These things are deeply ingrained in our psyche and they would not change in a hurry.

Purchase decisions

Teenagers have always been more individualistic, and it is not only about purchase decisions. However, as far as big purchase decisions are concerned like which car or TV to buy, everyone in the family gets involved. In fact, when it comes to technology products, it is the younger individuals in the family that have a point of view. For instance, when buying a laptop for the home or upgrading a mobile phone, the teenager’s opinion is sought. A fair amount of collective decision making happens.

Evolution of the Indian consumer

The Indian consumer has swung from one end of the choice behaviour to the other. Twenty years ago, there was a very limited choice of products – probably one or two brand of cars, two-wheelers and television sets. Today the choice is dramatic, be it cars, two wheelers, music systems, mobile phones, readymade garments or any other product category. Therefore, in many categories consumers behave like a child in the candy store. They want to sample almost everything, and also get swayed by the options available.

Today, there is a fair amount of realisation among consumers that if it is a foreign brand it does not necessarily mean it is better. This realisation would continue to grow. Also, the consumers are becoming far more balanced in their decision making and do not want to buy every new product in the market. Good thing is that they ask a number of questions before buying a product.

The fastest changing consumer group

Young women in the age group of 18-19 to 25, in my view, is the most dramatically changing demographic in this country. As they are continuously evolving, they are the most difficult to reach as well. To communicate with them, to establish a dialogue with them is quite a challenge. Unlike 25 to 45 year old women who can be largely reached through television, this particular target group is far more multimedia oriented. Whether it is digital, TV, print, radio – there is a huge gamut of media that they consume.

Changing consumer expectations

Indian consumers are becoming a lot more knowledgeable and demanding. They are willing to pay more as long as marketers are willing to offer better quality and service. If marketers just want to charge more and offer poor quality and service, they are in trouble. Indian consumers are very value conscious, so marketers need to balance value with service and quality. Some marketers and brands hit the sweet spot and attain dramatic results, while some others tend to fail.

Are marketers future-ready?

Consumers are changing at a faster pace than marketers overall. Marketers tend to underestimate consumer. They say the consumer will not pay five rupees for a biscuit, or two rupees for a candy, but maybe the consumer will. Marketers tend to underestimate the limits to which they can push the consumer to buy. At the same time, there is issue of realistically balancing what marketers can offer to the consumers.

Social media is another front where marketers need to keep pace with consumers, and not everyone is doing so. Consumers, especially of premium product categories, post things on social media and create a lot of negative word of mouth. Every company should track social media buzz – it is free consumer feedback, free market research.

Companies need to understand what consumers are saying about their brand, about their competitors. Consumer is evolving in many ways. While some marketers will be able to keep pace with the evolving consumer, some will not be able to do so. They will probably continue to see the consumer through yesterday’s eyes. 21 – (As told to Ritu Midha)

That’s where I believe regional entertainment has an edge over Hindi. For me, if regional has to evolve in the next five years, it has to be more contemporary. Just because it is regional, doesn’t mean it cannot be contemporary or modern.

So today, sufi music is not classical old sufi music, it has evolved to some extent and has started to appeal to a lot many audience that were not fans of sufi music. So the evolution has to happen in terms of the way it is presented – more contemporary and modern which cuts across genders and demographics. As regional broadcasters, we have to look at that rather than just concentrating on ratings every week.

Yes, budgets in regional media are lesser than the budgets in Hindi entertainment, but I don’t think it’s a big constraint. We have seen the budgets in regional entertainment increase in the past two to three years. They are not as smaller or tighter as they were three years back. And people associated with regional entertainment understand that.

The creative talent in regional understand that they have a far better chance to succeed in regional than in Hindi entertainment where there are more pressures and expectations. Because in Hindi, you are either super-hit or flop. The scope of experimentation is minimal as stakes are higher. On the other hand, regional allows you to settle down and experiment as the stakes are relatively lower.

‘Men have always been a critical segment for any newspaper’ 

By Rahul Kansal

The Times of India (TOI) is a newspaper that is read by all consumer segments – men, women, young adults, senior citizens and even kids/students for that matter. If I were to choose one consumer segment which has a higher affinity for the brand – that segment would be men.

That, however, does not mean women, kids or young adults do not read the Times of India. If you look at kids as a segment, they’re always hungry for knowledge; they want to he heard, they have an opinion and their opinion is based on a lot of reading which they do at schools, colleges, even on the internet while they are home. Most kids also have access to smart-phones today, so that allows them to stay connected 24×7. So yes, kids are an important segment for a newspaper.

Engaging men: A challenge for Indian media

By Meenakshi Menon

As any woman will tell you engaging men is easy. Keeping them engaged is tough. Keeping them engaged and involved is near impossible. What women know intuitively is what media has discovered much to its dismay.

Sports and News have always been the two broad genres that delivered more males than females. But these two genres were not happy with missing out on the FMCG money! So what did they do? Look at IPL; it is less cricket and more entertainment. In a desire to get large numbers of the female audiences hooked onto cricket, content was modified. Mandira Bedi and her noodle straps became the main draw for female audiences.

Talking about men, they’ve always been a critical segment for any newspaper. In most households, even today, men shoulder the responsibilities of the family – be it income generation, financial planning and security. We have seen a rise in the advertising (in the newspaper) coming from brands that cater to men and that is evident from the number of real estate and financial services ads in the newspaper. How do we engage with our readers on a day-to-day basis? One way of doing that is by making optimum use of media platforms. Print, yes. But also digital. I feel newspapers have a distinct advantage over television.

That is it allows you to create the necessary buzz/impact for a product launch or a major announcement which a company intends to make to the public at large. This, we offer clients via clutter-breaking innovations. Once these innovations are out in the market, we take it online and really get the people talking about it on Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp etc. We have done quite a lot of innovations in the past and in all the cases clients have got a terrific response.

That’s what TOI delivers. Social media, I believe, does a far better job of building the brand’s prestige than any other medium. And as we all know, everybody is on social media today. At TOI, we try to strike a conversation with our readers across media platforms. In the next six years, I think there will be more brands that would go print plus digital as their core marketing strategy.

If she can become a cricket commentator, I can jolly well join her was the mantra. What started out as a strategy to get the girls has in my opinion backfired because it started boring the boys! The very first IPL delivered a 25+ male audience of 23 million (average of all matches), with the 6th IPL this was 19.53 million. It could be that some men decided to stay away because sports is about guts and glory not waxed chest and manicured eyebrows! The attempt to widen the appeal of IPL and bring in female/family audiences has had some subtle but dramatic impact on male audiences.

The kind of advertising you see on IPL has also changed dramatically. The FMCG brigade is not just present but is moving into a dominant position. You are as likely to see ads for sanitary towels as you are for condoms. Test cricket on the other hand is still a male bastion and the environment is not yet sullied with “Family/ Female” product advertising. Which is why male audiences are still engaged and involved in cricket while IPL is now family tamasha, and thus its ability to engage and involve male audiences is on the decline.

F1 and Tennis on the other hand continue to be male dominated sporting events. These have been able to attract female audiences but in relatively smaller numbers. Globally sports has been a great way of delivering involved male audiences but in India our desperate need to be all things to all people has ended in moving the only sport that we view as a country into a family drama! If you think I am being cynical take a look at our news channels. From promoting movies to fashion houses, tete-a-tete’s with film stars and astrological forecast for the day – everything to bring in the women.

Why is it that our media owners need to soap up every genre? When was the last time you saw a film starlet on a promo tour on BBC, CNN or Al Jazeera? Here again it has been a desire to tap into ad dollars. The appeasement policy of the media has resulted in a situation where genre/channel character is so diffused that very soon every man in this country would prefer to watch the soaps on the GEC channels. In fact the GECs with their new programming strategies are now going to grab the male audiences so women you would end up seeing a lot more men in your TV neighborhood!.