MxMIndia

Category: MEDIA

  • The number of visits on the virtual mela as well as time spent surpasses any offline brand activation initiative organised during the festival in India

    GroupM’s Grand Diwali Mela draws huge response

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Grand Diwali Mela organised by GroupM in association with Google, Amazon.in, LINE, Games2Win and Hungama.com met with a huge response with over 55 lakh visitors patronising the event. The ‘Grand Diwali Mela’ saw very high engagement with users, who spent time getting product samples @ Re.1, enjoying movies and videos, playing games and greeting each other via the LINE messenger. The number of visits on the virtual mela as well as time spent surpasses any offline brand activation initiative organised during the festival in India.

     

    The event received an overwhelming response with over 55 lakh visitors, the majority of which came from mobile phones with over 45 per cent women visitors. On October 24th, Diwali day, the mela received over 4.6 lakh visitors. In all mela visitors spent over 125,000 hours browsing various brand and entertainment stalls in the mela besides which many more hours were spent on partner sites – Amazon.in, Games2win and Hungama.com.

     

    The ‘Grand Diwali Mela’ emerged as the largest online sampling platform for brands. Over 150,000 samples were shipped across India, with 70 per cent samples going to Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns. The samples ranged from skincare and household products relevant to both men and women. To celebrate the partnership LINE Messenger came out with a set of special edition stickers for the ‘Grand Diwali Mela’.

     

    CVL Srinivas
    Rajan Anandan

    On the success of the Grand Diwali Mela, CVL Srinivas, CEO, GroupM South Asia said, “We are excited about the success of the first Grand Diwali Mela. We were able to create a great platform for consumers to come and sample products and interact with brands. It is also heartening to see the reach of the virtual mela was not restricted to the metros but filtered down to smaller towns where the digital penetration is growing exponentially. We also have seen a distinct spike in access via mobile phones, a clear indicator that India is opening up readily to mobile data and communication.”

     

    Rajan Anandan, VP & Managing Director of Google India, said “I would like to congratulate GroupM and all the participating partners for the success of the first Grand Diwali Mela. The fact that majority of the users experienced the mela from their mobile phones goes onto show the growing importance of mobile devices in India. With over 150,000 samples being tested on the platform, the initiative is likely to open up newer ways of engaging buyers online for brands and marketers on the mobile phones. Online brand activation during festivals is a brand new territory and I am confident that we will be able to scale this further next year.”

     

  • Sanchit takes on the role after two years as Digital leader for South Asia & South East Asia

    Sanchit Sanga promoted to Head of Digital Services, APAC at Mindshare

    By A Correspondent

     

    Sanchit Sanga

    Mindshare APAC, the global media agency network part of WPP has appointed Sanchit Sanga to the role of Head of Digital Services for Asia Pacific to be based in Singapore.

     

    Sanchit takes on the role after two years as Digital leader for South Asia & South East Asia. In his new role as Head of Digital APAC, Sanchit will focus on the continued development and delivery of Mindshare’s digital services to marketers, working closely with the regional in-market digital leads and global teams.

     

    Mindshare continues to focus on expanding their digital services from digital performance product integration, to working with GroupM partners like Vocanic to offer innovative Social solutions, to building an in-house Mobile Marketing practice – partnering with innovative start ups like Footmarks. As part of the drive to continually raise the quality of the digital product, Mindshare has increasingly focused on aspects such as precise audience targeting and multi-screen planning, working with partners like Crayon Data, Xaxis and the Mindshare Trading hubs.

     

    Ashutosh Srivastava, Chairman, Asia Pacific & CEO, Global Growth Markets, Mindshare Worldwide, commented on the appointment: “We are privileged to have highly talented people like Sanchit in the Mindshare family. Over the years, Sanchit has developed trusted relationships with our clients, which continually assists us to lead the industry in digital thinking. It is an exciting time to be in our business, where our understanding of media, technology and effective data usage is becoming more and more central to brand success.”

     

  • Based in Mumbai, she will lead the Content Team and will report directly to the Cluster Head, Vivek Srivastava

    Sonal Khanduja joins Times TV as VP – Programming, Eng Ent Cluster

    By A Correspondent

     

    Times Television Network (TTN) announced the appointment of Sonal Khanduja as Vice President – Programming of the English Entertainment Cluster which includes channels such as Movies Now and Romedy Now. Based in Mumbai, she will lead the Content Team and will report directly to the Cluster Head, Vivek Srivastava.

     

    Speaking on the announcement, Vivek Srivastava, Senior Vice-President and Head – English Entertainment Cluster, TTN said, “Sonal is a great addition to the team at TTN with a formidable base in the English Entertainment segment. With Sonal spearheading our Content team, we are confident that our premium English Entertainment channels – MOVIES NOW and Romedy NOW, will scale new heights.”

     

    Sonal moves to Times Television Network after a successful stint at Zee Entertainment Enterprises as the Head of Programming & Acquisition for Zee Studio and Zee Café. With over a decade of experience in the broadcast domain, her skills lie in Programming Strategy, Content Research, Acquisition and Production.

     

  • Candidates can either participate individually or as a two-member team

    Zivame.com to host its first Hackathon

    By A Correspondent

     

    In a bid to attract the attention of top notch engineering talent in the country, Zivame.com is conducting its first ever Hackathon on November 14th at its office premises in Bangalore. The all night Hackathon will start at 10am on November 14 and will go on till noon on November 15, when the results will be declared. The applicants can click here to register online for participation. Candidates can either participate individually or as a two-member team.

     

    Shyam Krishnamurthy, CTO, Zivame said, “While Zivame is a lingerie company, what sets us apart is our tech expertise. The entire consumer experience is driven by tech – from the website to the delivery to feedback.  Our technology makes the organization future ready, data driven & poised for scale. Therefore, we are always looking for exceptional engineering talent to be a part of our team. A hackathon helps replicate real life coding problems that we want to test our applicants on, in a fun and engaging, yet professional atmosphere.”

     

    Zivame is looking for both front end and back end developers to be a part of the hackathon. For front end, a team should have PHP, JavaScript, CSS3, HTML5, MySQL, Postgres, Mongo DB, HBase, Cassandra, Linux Operating System, Git, SVN and Magento as part of their stack. For back end, a team should have Python/Java, Scala, API Integration, MySQL/Postgres, MongoDB, Redis, Linux Operating System, Git, and SVNas part of their stack.

     

    The challenge for the hackathon will be announced on the spot. Emphasis of the hackathon will be on a candidate’s coding practices – reusable and maintainable code. Once a candidate applies, the Zivame team will send them relevant material to help them to start preparing for the event. The participants will be Zivame’s guests and will be offered lunch and dinner on November 14. Since the event will require candidates to work the entire night, they are requested to bring their own linen while basic sleeping facilities will be provided by the company.

     

  • Continuing with our extracts from the second edition of the MxMIndia Annual, we present contributions by Prathap Suthan and Gautam Talwar and Kavita Kailas

    What Ticks for Indian Consumers/ Women – Neville Taraporewalla and Sanjay Thapar

    Continuing with our extracts from the second edition of the MxMIndia Annual, we present contributions by Neville Taraporewalla and Sanjay Thapar

     

    Coming-of-age of the online Indian woman

     

    By Neville Taraporewalla

     

    Women have become very active online. They have definitely been empowered. And in my view an evolution is taking place. A recent research report done by comScore in India actually found that apart from threequarters of the online population being under 35, women between the ages 35-44 have become power user’s accessing the internet online through multiple devices – be it the desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile leading to be the heaviest users.

     

    When it came to women, it was always believed to be 18-24 college-going girls or young professionals who were the ones surfing the web. However, we are now seeing a very different demographic accessing the internet. It has expanded quite a bit. In earlier days, we never found any women above the age of 34-35 who were deep internet users. Today, that is not the case. Look at the number of women accessing content related to luxury, lifestyle etc.

     

    They are on the web not only for information, but also for research and convenience. The mobile device is giving them the ability to do a lot of things too. 39 per cent of India’s online population is estimated to be women users. I won’t be surprised if there is data indicating that many more women in rural and semi-urban areas too are getting online and the mobile device is enabling them. Having said that, women transacting and making online payments, micro or otherwise, are largely a metro phenomenon as of now.

     

     

     

    		  

    Targeting Indian women: Are we doing more of the same thing?

     

    By Sanjay Thapar

     

    I often wonder why a group of people is still called ‘target audience’ in marketing. Is it to perpetuate the legacy illusion that marketers are more powerful than the people they speak to? Honestly, I think it is terminology more suited to a military operation than a conversation we need to have today with people who have a (business) relationship with us. On the other hand, having conversations is difficult. It requires give and take.

     

    It needs us to step down from our self-appointed pedestal and work together with the people we once merely ‘targeted’. That is the mistake we continue to make when we as advertisers speak to women today. Not accepting the fact that these women are no longer bound or obliged to merely listen to what we have to say, that they have the option and the power today to shun marketer-speak completely. But look hard at an ad break and you see how newer stories are peeping out from the clutter of the old stereotypes.

     

    The Bournvita mother leads by example while the McCain mom still struggles to provide excitement at the dinner table. Scooty Pep empowers girls to break gender norms while Fair & Lovely still believes that dark skin is the reason for rejection. So while some marketers do more of the same, others are taking bold steps towards defining a new way to start a conversation with women based on a real understanding of what is changing in their lives. A particularly good example is the Dove real beauty campaign.

     

     
     

    For instance, are women booking movie tickets online? Yes, of course they are. We see that all the time. Are they buying on large online ecommerce sites? Yes, they are an increasing breed. Earlier, if we saw the sample of people buying from large e-commerce websites – maybe it was 90 per cent males and 10 per cent females, but today those percentages have changed, and I wouldn’t be surprised if 40 per cent of registered user base on e-commerce websites is women.

     

    Earlier online was looked at very suspiciously – today if you are a responsible and trustworthy brand, people are willing to tell you who they are, as long as you can assure them their details are safe. When it comes to handheld devices, there definitely are more top-end devices in the hands of women today, and I definitely see it further increasing.

     

    There are more and more devices which are getting pervasive. The question is what are they doing with those devices – whether they are transacting or not? There are known devils like Facebook and LinkedIn in the urban areas. But there definitely is much more.

     

     

    		  

    It draws from the conversations women are having behind closed doors. And the campaign no longer just communicates a one-sided message – it actually sparks off many conversations related to beauty and real women. There is a growing realisation that these women are not passive recipients of brand communications anymore. More than ever they are becoming cynical about advertising. They are just not interested in listening to advertisers. They want to be heard and have a conversation with their brands.

     

    And, that really was our inspiration and reason for starting ‘The Mom Project’ at Bates CHI&Partners India. We believe listening is the key to shaping interesting conversations. The Mom Project is primarily a formalised listening post created by us. It is then followed by an analysis of what we hear to help us better understand what the Indian mother is all about. That understanding drives our quest to create interesting conversations that our clients’ brands want to have with these women.

     

    While digital as a medium is inherently more suited to allow such dialogue, the challenge, I believe, is to use traditional media to spark conversations. And the ones who do this first will be the leaders of tomorrow.

     

    (The views expressed are the author’s view and in no way does that mean that the organisation subscribes or endorses the same.)

     

     

    Tomorrow: Tuesday, November 11:  Women – Preeti Vyas and Tushar Vyas and Harish Nair

     

  • India's largest online retailer, Flipkart, could begin another round of mega fund-raising as it expands its product range catering to a widening base of customers.

    Flipkart set to raise $1.5 billion in another round of mega fund-raising

    By Radhika P Nair

     

    India’s largest online retailer, Flipkart, could begin another round of mega fund-raising as it expands its product range catering to a widening base of customers. The Bengaluru-based firm will seek funding of about $1.5 billion and has begun shortlisting potential investors, according to two people with direct knowledge of the developments. “Talks haven’t begun yet and Flipkart is looking to target only a few investors that they want on board,” said one of the two persons directly involved in the process. “The fund-raising process is expected to begin in January 2015.”

     

    Flipkart, when contacted, declined comment on its fund-raising and investment plans. The company has raised a total of $1.2 billion this year and has just completed a round of festival sales marked by steep discounts. “At the pace at which it is making investments, Flipkart will deploy most of the funds it has raised by around mid-next year,” said the source.

     

    Discounting still accounts for a chunk of Flipkart’s monthly costs, with promotions costing it at least Rs 70 crore each month, according to a person who works with Flipkart at a strategic level.

     

    The company has also identified very specific areas to pump in money to ensure its goal of doubling in size by next year.

     

    Post the blockbuster festive season sales of October, when the company shipped around 80 lakh items versus 50 lakh on average, the company has revised its internal targets to reach sales of $4 billion by the end of the current fiscal, according to sources.

     

    A major area of focus is increasing the categories in which they have leadership. “It has built a lead in fashion with the Myntra acquisition. The same push needs to happen across categories,” said Manish Saigal, managing director at advisory firm Alvarez and Marsal.

     

    “Furniture and packaged food will be launched very soon,” said a person directly involved in the process. The teams are being built for these product categories.

     

    Rival Amazon India recently launched its gourmet and specialty foods category with over 155 Indian and imported brands. Amazon is yet to launch furniture. Snapdeal, on the other hand, already has a presence in these segments.

     

    “There are aggressive existing competitors and large offline players could come in very soon. It makes sense to extend its leadership now,” said Arvind Singhal, chairman of retail advisory Technopak.

     

    The seven-year-old company will launch a wider range of lifestyle products and consumer durables. It already has its range of tablets and digital accessories (Digiflip), apparel (Flippd) and home appliances and personal healthcare products such as sandwich makers and hair dryers (Citron).

     

    According to a person directly involved with the process, Flipkart will put more marketing muscle behind in-house brands.

     

    “We have seen how Myntra’s inhouse brands have performed and scaled. That is what will be done with the new brands.”

     

    For Myntra, its portfolio of about 10 in-house brands accounts for about 20% of overall sales. Its biker brand Roadster is already a Rs 100-crore brand.

     

    Flipkart’s stake acquisition in consumer appliances service provider Jeeves Consumer Services should be seen in this light. “When they have their own brand of appliances, they will have to handle servicing, warranties and other such issues.

     

    They can’t do this all on their own,” said one of the persons who spoke on this matter. A Flipkart spokesperson said through this (strategic) partnership, Jeeves will provide exclusive value-added services in ecommerce to Flipkart customers across India.

     

    “Flipkart and other marketplaces will have to invest humungous amounts into logistics and fulfilment if they want to cover even rural areas,” said Technopak’s Singhal. Flipkart has a delivery network of about 300 locations and is intending to expand its reach to even small towns.

     

    In each of these areas, Flipkart is also looking at acquisitions.

     

    When Flipkart appointed former Canaan Partners associate Nishant Verman as its M&A head earlier this year, its HR head Mekin Maheshwari said inorganic growth is a strong component of the vision to make Flipkart a $100-billion company. Snapdeal and Amazon have also made their intentions clear to acquire companies in areas ranging from mobile technology to payments.

     

    “The over-arching theme will be acquisitions as they try to bridge existing gaps and scale up faster,” said Alvarez and Marsal’s Saigal.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2014, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

    Licensed to republish

     

  • A quick chat with Stratagem Media founder and director Sundeep Nagpal on the fifth edition of the Media Rhythm training programme scheduled for November 28 and 29 in Mumbai

    Stratagem Media announces 2-day training for ad sales and media/mktng pros

    By A Correspondent

     

    Leading Mumbai-based media advisory Stratagem Media has announced a two-day open training programme for media practitioners as well as marketers and advertisers.

     

    The fifth in the series of intensive learning sessions under the Media Rhythm banner, under the Media Rhythm series. “I’ve always believed that the media business is a combination of both, knowledge and a skill,” said Sundeep Nagpal, founder-director of Stratagem while unveiling details of the sessions scheduled for November 28 and 29 in Mumbai.  “Once a year, we organise this programme where our endeavour is to contribute to the development of this knowledge and skill and bring participants up-to-date with the latest practices being adopted in the business, as much as make them a bit future-ready, if possible,” he said.

     

    We asked Mr Nagpal a few questions, and rather than let the finer details get lost in the paraphrasing, we present his responses as is:

     

    What will this year’s session offer:

    Sundeep Nagpal : Over the last five years, we have stayed relevant with the Media Rhythm series of programs. The topics have kept pace with the current needs of the industry.  So, this time we felt it would be relevant to combine the understanding of digital media with that of traditional media. I have observed that hitherto, these were quite compartmentalized. So, this program is titled – The Big Fat Media Wedding – Digital weds Traditional Media

     

    Firstly, more than 50 % of the program is devoted to Digital marketing – it breaks up into separate modules on Search, Social, Mobile and Display.

     

    Then there are separate modules on Media measurement, Creativity in Media and even one on ‘How to integrate multi-media for a given campaign’.

     

    Is a two-day programme sufficient for all the topics you have planned?

    SN: We have conceived this more like a workshop. And hence, it’s a two-day programme, so, I think, we will have the bandwidth to deep dive into the concepts, metrics and practices.  And given the variety of topics, we have chosen to have 4 specialist trainers for this programme.  Participants will get a chance to think and do. They will be put through a few exercises – on creativity and strategy development as well as some hands-on analytics.

     

    Who are the trainers?

    SN:  It would not be incorrect to say that all trainers are highly experienced specialists in different areas of the media business.

     

    Mr  R P Singh: who will handle the digital module, has been in the digital space for as long as it has existed in this country. He was with Group M and McCann (APAC for Commonwealth), and now is the CEO of a Delhi-based digital company called Sirez.

     

    Mr  Bharat Kapadia : is the man of ideas and has more than 35 years, mostly as a publisher, with 4 prestigious media houses in this country.

     

    Mr  Suresh Balakrishna: who has spent more than 28 years and has had considerable experience on both sides of the media business – planning/ buying as well as selling. And now heads BPN, part of IPG Mediabrands

     

    And myself:: For most of my professional career of 28 years,  I’ve inter-acted intensely, with media sellers and advertisers, and I feel there’s a lot of scope to bridge the gap.

     

    Ideally  who would you target/ like to see as participants?

    SN:  Well, as such anyone who has anything to do with the business of media or who is in the field of marketing  would stand to benefit from this program.  Also, I’d like to draw special attention to the scope that this programme offers to media planners and sellers of traditional media – I think this would be an ideal opportunity for them to understand how to apply and add the learnings of digital media and marketing in their job profiles.

     

    So, all in all, professionals from media agencies, marketing companies as well as media houses, would stand in good stead with this program.

     

    To register:

    http://www.marketingbelly.com/digitalmarketing/program/The-Big-Fat-Media-Wedding-%3A-Digital-weds-Traditional/events/sucess/2   

     

  • The report is an effort to form the basis of an effective collaboration between the two ends of the Talent Supply Chain

    India Skills report highlights unique facets of the youth

    By A Correspondent

     

    With the PM Modi’s vision on youth and focus on skill development, the second India Skills Report 2015 echoes a similar sentiment where about 72 per cent employers preferring to hire candidates in the age 30 years and below. This preference for the young workforce is good news wherein 60 per cent of population is going to belong to the working age by 2020. This is one of the major findings of the India Skills Report 2015 launched at the CII – 6th Global Summit on Skill Development. India Skills Report is a joint initiative by Wheebox, Global Talent Assessment Company, PeopleStrong, India’s leading platform based multi-process HR Outsourcing and Recruitment Company and LinkedIn. The report is an effort to form the basis of an effective collaboration between the two ends of the Talent Supply Chain.

     

    The 2nd India Skills Report shows an upward trend in hiring spread across 29 states & 7 UTs. The top states with employable skill pool include Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Kerala & Karnataka which have held their positions from last year, and U.P, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal & Orissa are the new entrants. An overall increase of about 23 per cent expected in the hiring numbers per month, the job outlook confirms with the expectation of a growing market in the coming year for India.

     

    Out of about 11 sectors surveyed, Hospitality and travel lead the way followed by BFSI and Core sectors which will see major increase in hiring with more than 25 per cent hiring to be expected and other manufacturing  (excluding Auto, Consumer goods & durables,), Pharma & Healthcare and Telecom and allied , there is an increase of more than 10 per cent in monthly hiring.

     

    The report also brings out a general trend amongst the employers while looking for candidate prefer Internal Referrals followed by Job portal and social media. The trend of choosing candidate with the use of social media has increased from 6% last year to 12% this year.
    Assessing over 3,00,000 students amongst 29 states & 7 UT’s across the length and breadth of country using Wheebox Workforce Skills Test, India Skills Report has helped to create an agenda that can function to solve the talent supply-demand challenge the country is facing.

     

    Nirmal Singh, Founder and CEO of Wheebox said, “We are delighted to yet again bring the supply and demand sides of talent on the same platform. It was heartening to receive such support from both sides for this study. It also resonates with Wheebox’s vision to bring talent demand and supply together using validated assessments and impact economic development of the country and with recent steps that are being taken by the Government, we are confident that all this information would help in transforming the skill landscape of India.”

     

    Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry said” With India metamorphosing into one of the fastest growing economies, job creation and skilling seem to be natural tools to ensure sustainable growth. Realising the urgent need to provide accurate analysis, we have partnered with Wheebox, PeopleStrong and LinkedIn to bring out the India Skills Report which is a conscious one of a kind effort to provide an insight into the hiring trends of the market well understanding the needs of the job seeker and organizations. I am confident that this initiative will give a clear understanding and enable bridging of the talent demand and supply in the country.”

     

  • The TVC marks itself as the first ever tennis super league commercial to be aired on national television

    Inaugural campaign for Champions Tennis League launched

    By A Correspondent

     

    Sony SIX has unveiled its first TVC for their marquee tennis property, The Champions Tennis League. The TVC marks itself as the first ever tennis super league commercial to be aired on national television.

     

    Conceptualized by Havas Worldwide, the commercial is targeted towards sports fans and general audiences alike by igniting the passion for tennis that has been evoked with the element of the tennis ball. Capturing a series of montages of the tennis ball in action, the commercial culminates into the announcement of India’s most exciting all-star tennis league, the Champions Tennis League. Through the commercial, the channel aims to engage with a large spectrum of audience by driving the relevance of the tennis ball in one’s everyday life.

     

    The commercial opens with a quick montage of clips being shown on the tennis ball being put to use. The scenes are supplement with a voiceover narrative of how the tennis ball is being used in India for a wide variety of activities. From being used as an object for amusement in the hands of a juggler in a circus, to being a ball of terror against batsmen playing “gully cricket’ or from being an item of décor used for rickshaws to a vessel for communicating hidden messages of love amongst the youth in the country. The advertisement catches the various aspects of the florescent sphere and how it has made its way into the daily lives of the people. The commercial goes on to depict further instances of the tennis ball in use with a catchy tune that syncs with the jovial feel of the commercial. The commercial ends on a unique note where the ball flies into a house causing disturbance in the house of an elderly man. The man comes out onto his balcony with a presumable rage, blaming the neighbourhood kids for playing cricket all day. At that point the commercial takes an unconventional twist where much to the aged man’s surprise; the kids playing down are holding tennis racquets and are sporting an impish smile. This sync in with the concluding shot of the commercial where the narrative voice over prepares audiences to get ready to witness the best of international tennis superstars compete in India at the Champions Tennis League.

     

    Prasana Krishnan

    Commenting on the launch of the TVC, Prasana Krishnan, Business Head, Sony SIX, said, ‘‘Through the years, the tennis ball has come to be synonymous with a host of activities like cricket, lagori and juggling amongst many other outdoor activities. It presents an autonomous manifestation of sportiness. What we have tried to do through this TVC is not only show the versatility of the ball but connect it to its fundamental use, which lies in the game of tennis, highlighting the first ever international tennis league to be hosted in India.”

     

    Vivek Rao, Executive Creative Director, said, ‘The team came up with a script that had a simple, wonderful insight. In India a Tennis Ball has been omnipresent in our lives since our childhood for reasons other than the game of tennis. Finally here’s a reason to see it for what it’s really meant for – Tennis! And the Champions Tennis League has the right pros to make it a must watch tennis league. The “extreme slow motion” treatment recommended by director Nitesh Tiwari was to ensure that the hero very clearly was the Tennis Ball.”

     

    The TVC will be aired across various English, Hindi and regional news, movies and entertainment channels and will be promoted on various digital spaces.

     

  • If Prime Minister Narendra Modi was really keen on a compact government, combining ministries that could be orchestrated together, he should’ve got Communications and Information Technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to hold additional charge of I&B.

    Mediaah! Why the new I&B ministry rejig is disappointing

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    The near-midnight missive on Sunday that Arun Jaitley was to be the new information and broadcasting minister was disappointing.  To me it appeared more of a sop to the senior BJP leader in lieu of the defence ministry that was given away to former Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. It could of course also be because Olympic awardwinning sportsperson Colonel Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore is too much of a newbie to deal with a crucial ministry like I&B as Minister of State.

     

    But then defence was always an additional responsibility and even Mr Jaitley is reported to have said that soon after taking charge of finance in May 2014 . So there was no real need for a sop.

     

    My concern with the new I&B minister is his reputation of flexing muscles with the media (and editors) unkind to the BJP. Jaitley is smart and I hope he allays all fears… especially the one in some quarters that the regulators could be sent chasing media entities that take on the Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

     

    The other reason for disappointment is that if Modi was really keen on a compact government, combining ministries that could be orchestrated together, he should’ve got Communications and Information Technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to hold additional charge of I&B. Technology and communications are the new drivers of the media and Prasad has led I&B in the past.

     

    And my last peeve: former I&B minister Prakash Javadekar made a statement that “ideologically” and “philosophically” he would work towards the abolition of his ministry. By virtue of this reshuffle-cum-expansion, not only has Modi rubbished Javadekar’s view, but has only added on one more caretaker for the portfolio.

     

    Sigh.

     

    Pradyuman Maheshwari can be reached via Twitter at @pmahesh. The views expressed here are his own.

     

  • Continuing with our extracts from the second edition of the MxMIndia Annual, we present contributions by Preeti Vyas and Tushar Vyas and Harish Nair

    What Ticks for Indian Consumers/ Women – Preeti Vyas and Tushar Vyas and Harish Nair

    Continuing with our extracts from the second edition of the MxMIndia Annual, we present contributions by Preeti Vyas and Tushar Vyas and Harish Nair

     

    Role of Design in establishing a brand that targets women consumers

     

    By Preeti Vyas

     

    Design allows you the framework to assess a context, recognize need gaps and devise possible solutions that will work to address them. So design empathises and attempts to understand the end user and build ideas and products that will resonate with them. While creating products and marketing them to women has been a long flourishing industry it is recently that it has become more sensitive and attuned to the sensibilities and demands of women especially to the socio-cultural context of Indian women.

     

    Indian women have long been more driven by the well-being of their family with less focus on themselves. But there is a shift in focus now and an assertion of their own identity and well being. This means that products designed for them need to highlight these changing perceptions and outlook. A case in point is Women’s Horlicks that created a new category of MFD earlier targeted only at kids. This product addresses the needs of a modern Indian woman who has a more demanding life and therefore needs better nutrition to deal with it.

     

     

    		  

    ‘The next wave will be of women setting and influencing trends’

     

    By Tushar Vyas and Harish Nair

     

    Recently, we were doing a consumer interaction exercise to understand media habits. We met Sujata, a housewife in Mumbai who religiously watches her favourite television serial- without missing a single episode. She was preparing for an out-of-town visit to her in-laws. She knew she would have to miss a few episodes. This however, did not disappoint her, as she knew she could catch the same episodes on YouTube. Digging deeper we found that every afternoon, when her kids are at school, she logs in to Facebook.

     

    Facebook and WhatsApp have become her life management tools besides social networking – she keeps track of her kids’ homework on groups and shares tips with other moms. We couldn’t help but notice that some of the homework sheets sharing were also in form of click and share using mobile phone on WhatsApp! Google Search and Wikipedia are her first port of call if she needs to prepare any school project for her kids. Sujata represents the 60 million women who now make up 40 per cent of India’s online population.

     

     
     

    The product, its packaging etc are all designed to relate to the sensibilities of this new age woman. Horlicks is seen as a brand empathetic to the new age Indian woman. Gillette a very male brand realized that Indian women are as hard pressed for time and more open to solutions that give them quicker personal grooming options. They launched the women’s razor that is designed to suit the ergonomic and aesthetic sensibilities of a woman and help her accept a category earlier synonymous with men alone.

     

    The design and solution has helped Gillette open up a new target segment and marketing opportunity. Newer products are being designed almost every day to make life easier for an Indian woman. Whether it is the Roti-Matic which doles out rotis almost instantly without any time and effort or the Scooty that endeavours to give her the independence she deserves or apps that ensure her safety. Design then enables one to address the gaps and create solutions and establish brands that would make for a happier and more confident Indian woman.

     

    		  

    74 per cent of these women are below 35 years of age and three out of four women online come from affluent backgrounds (SEC AB). Women today use digital media and devices to fulfill three core desires: i) To organize their life better be it taking care of her family’s needs or seeking opportunities to improve herself or her lifestyle. Apparels, Food/ nutrition needs of family, baby care, hair care and skincare feature prominently in her searches online. Five million estimated women shop / transact online annually. Online shopping is highest for baby care in India.

     

    One in four female internet users responsible for buying baby care products make their purchases online. This is higher than in household products where one in six buy online, and around one in ten in all other CPG categories. ii) To connect better with friends and family. Women spend more time on calls (33 percent more) and instant messaging apps ( four times more) than men. Women drive social gaming on Facebook. iii) For entertainment – 40 per cent of YouTube users are women. Music, TV shows, beauty and fashion are the entertainment content most viewed by her.

     

    And women users and usage (of digital media) is only growing higher by the day. Until now the story has been about women catching up with men, whether it’s in the use of Internet or mobile or any new technology. But the next wave will be of women setting and influencing trends-be it casual gaming, mobile content snacking and more.

     

    – Tushar Vyas is Managing Partner at Group M while Harish Nair is National Director – Digital at Group M.

     

     

    Tomorrow: Wednesday, November 12:  : Women – Dhunji Wadia

     

  • Continuing with our extracts from the second edition of the MxMIndia Annual, we present contributions by Dhunji Wadia

    What Ticks for Indian Consumers/ Women – Dhunji Wadia

    Continuing with our extracts from the second edition of the MxMIndia Annual, we present contributions by Dhunji Wadia

     

     

    Inspirational advertising versus aspirational advertising

     

    By Dhunji Wadia

     

    What brands think of consumers will determine what consumers think of the brand. Advertising is mostly inspired from consumer observations and insights and often ends up inspiring consumers. Hence, there is a constant process of evolution. Today, the rate of evolution is at its fastest yet. And brands are changing rules faster than anyone has done before.

     

    Take the case of Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, which broke away from the typical airbrushed, size-zero stereotypes that have been featured in personal product advertising for decades. The aim of the campaign was to celebrate the natural physical variation embodied by all women and inspire them to have the confidence to be comfortable with themselves. The campaign’s mission: “to create a world where beauty is a source of confidence and not anxiety”.

     

    They have gone a step further with the Dove Real Beauty Sketches campaign that illustrates women’s self-esteem and the difference between their self-perception of their looks compared to others perception. There’s an aspirational quality attached to this brand’s point of view. Which, at the same time, is a source of inspiration too. The recent Bournvita ad – ‘Tayyari Jeet Ki’ brings a fresh perspective to the mundane health drink category.

     

     
     

    The mother’s role is not only to nurture, but also help unlock the child’s potential. She plays the role of an equal partner in the child’s journey. Even after getting celebrities on board, the mantra holds true. Plain endorsements are a thing of the past. In the Titan Raga campaign, when Katrina hangs out with her mom as her trip is cancelled, there is a whole lot of inspiration through a fresh perspective. Hema, Rekha, Jaya & Sushma – the Nirma Women, who pushed out a helpless ambulance out of dirt without any hesitation, have paved the way for a whole new era of Indian advertising for women.

     

    Many brands have aspirational value. But when you touch the hearts of your consumers through inspiration, that’s when they will share the ad with their friends, they would like to discuss the idea, debate over it and become unconscious evangelists for your brand. There is no competition here. It’s no longer about Inspirational vs Aspirational advertising. And brands that are constantly moving towards an amalgamation of ‘Inspiration’ and ‘Aspiration’ are poised to be the most successful ones. They will catch your attention, amaze you, make you wonder, bring a smile to your face and go a long way towards creating strong bonding with them.

     

     

     

    Tomorrow: Thursday, November 13: —