MxMIndia

Category: MEDIA

  • The worst thing corporations can do during a crisis is clam up as the golden rule of communicating even more during a crisis is usually forgotten, notes Jaideep Shergill

    Jaideep Shergill: Six ways companies can deal with a crisis

    Jaideep Shergill

    By Jaideep Shergill

     

    Of the various corporations that can be hit by crises, food, pharma and energy majors are the most vulnerable. Gargantuan brands, built over decades, can be reduced to a pile of rubble quickly; all it takes is one operational mistake or a quality slip-up.

     

    The worst thing corporations can do during a crisis is clam up. The golden rule of communicating even more during a crisis is usually forgotten. We’ve seen that during the recent storm around a noodles brand. When the management did decide to host a press conference, it was several days after the controversy broke.

     

    Here are a few things that I would keep in mind during a crisis —

    1. Choose the Right Spokesperson: The higher his/her rank, the greater the credibility of the message. Temperament is important. Your spokesperson will face hostility; s/he will need to keep his/her cool and stay on the message.

    2. Act Quickly: Recall the product if there’s a fault and fix the problem quickly. Initiate a fact-finding process and institutionalise the corrective measures. Your reputation is top priority; it’s the currency of business today. Owning up if you’re wrong and apologising is a virtue, and would go a long way in helping your brand claw back to the top.

    3. Get the Message Right: Remember, it’s not about the money or liability. You are accountable to your customers and other stakeholders, such as employees, vendors, the communities you serve and the government. Put people first. Also, ensure that your messaging is consistent.

    4. Be Open: Acknowledge the seriousness of the problem right away. Decide on the frequency of your updates and stick to it. Detail what you are doing and its progress. Put somebody in charge and designate points of contact for those affected and others, such as the media. Full disclosure never hurt anybody.

    5. Media as an Ally: Many corporations treat the media as adversaries. If you’re transparent and proactive, they can be your allies in communicating with key audiences. Be an advocate, not an adversary.

    6. Be Prepared: The best time to deal with a crisis is when it hasn’t yet hit. Anticipate and be prepared for all that can go wrong. Have response mechanisms in place and refresh them regularly. Many corporations insist that their top and middle management go through crisis communications training. This is smart thinking and money well invested.

     

    Never have brands been under greater scrutiny than now. All stakeholders – from customers to employees – are demanding more from businesses, not just in terms of value for their loyalty but also on the corporate responsibility front.

     

    Unfortunately, most brands turn a blind eye to it. Be part of the minority; you’ll be happier for it.

     

    Jaideep Shergill is co-founder of Pitchfork Partners, a strategy consulting firm. Previously, he was India CEO of MSLGROUP, a strategic communications network. A slightly shorter version of this appeared in ‘dna of brands’ dated June 8, 2015

     

  • Relative to pre-IPL weeks, the genre finds itself on a stronger footing thanks to the work of high TSV, genre reach having seen a drop from 77% pre-IPL to 76% in Week 23, as per analysis done by the S-Group, the strategic consulting arm of TAM Media Research

    Hindi movie channels more robust in Week 23 vis-a-vis pre-IPL weeks: TAM

    Relative to pre-IPL weeks, the genre finds itself on a stronger footing thanks to the work of high TSV, genre reach having seen a drop from 77% pre-IPL to 76% in Week 23, as per analysis done by the S-Group, the strategic consulting arm of TAM Media Research.

     

     

    :: With IPL completely out of the picture in Wk 23 – 2015 (31st May – 6th June), Hindi Movie Genre went down by 6% as compared to Wk 21.

     

    :: Top 6 channels of the genre have all been on an increasing trend; Movies OK emerging as the star performer being one of the three channels in the Top 6 to have increased their viewer base post-IPL. It breached the 40% Reach mark in Wk 14 (for the second time in 2015) and has stayed above that since then. The other two channels to have grown in terms of Reach are Sony Max and UTV Movies.

     

    :: Movies OK has seen its Reach and TSV growing hand-in-hand with each other over the past 10 weeks. There are a select group of titles that provide high ratings on a consistent basis, like ‘Kick’, ‘Jai Ho’, ‘The Real Jackpot’, ‘Singham’ series; all of these belonging to Action genre.

     

    :: Across editions, IPL hasn’t disturbed the movie genre in a major way. In fact, this year, the genre (comprising of 16 channels, excluding Sony Max) grew during IPL weeks and this growth has continued in Wk 23.

     

     

    :: In Wk 23 – 2015, gap between the genre leader and second ranked channel has dropped to 7 GRPs and the competition is expected to get fiercer in coming weeks. Other rankings remain the same.

     

    :: Z Cinema and Star Gold saw a rise during Prime-Time. Z Cinema got 20 of its 40 Prime-Time GRPs from the premiere and repeat airing of ‘Lingaa’. Star Gold aired Action movies during evening prime-time all seven days of the week and reaped benefits mainly from South Dubbed titles like ‘Jeene Nahi Doonga’ and ‘The Real Jackpot’.

     

    :: Growth of UTV Movies can be attributed to ‘Bhool Bhulaiya’ and ‘Khiladi 786’ during prime-time and ‘ABCD (Any Body Can Dance)’ during rest-of-day-part.

     

    :: Apart from Sony Max, UTV Action saw a high drop, decreasing during Prime-Time as well as Off-Prime. In Wk 18 ’15, the channel had ventured into the Action/Thriller space by introducing the dubbed version of ‘NCIS Los Angeles’ at 2000 Hrs. However, the slot viewership has more than halved since then.

     

    :: Weekend continues to rule the top rating list with ‘Lingaa’ and ‘Heropanti’ grossing the highest ratings.

     

     

  • Started by FMCG stalwart and a serial entrepreneur, A Mahendran, Global CP is a ‘’synthetic’’ start up all set to make its foray in to the FMCG market

    MEC wins media mandate for Global Consumer Products

    By A Correspondent

     

    MEC India, a leading media agency,  have been awarded the media duties for Global Consumer Products. The account will be led from MEC’s Bangalore branch.

     

    Started by FMCG stalwart and a serial entrepreneur, A Mahendran (former MD Godrej Consumer Products), Global CP  is a ‘’synthetic’’  start up all set to make its foray in to the FMCG market with product offering in chocolates, confectionery, beverages (juices, mineral water) as well as snacks. Incepted a year ago with an investment of Rs. 315 crore from Goldman Sachs and Mitsui Ventures, the company has built its management team with FMCG professionals from reputed multinational and Indian organizations. The first brand to roll out is LuvIt – a new brand in the chocolate market with an extensive portfolio of 9 variants and 14 SKUs.

     

    Commenting on the win, T. Gangadhar, MD, MEC India said, “It is a privilege to be partnering Global Consumer Products on this exciting journey. We have a ringside view of Mr Mahendran’s grand vision and it is absolutely inspiring”.

     

    Anuradha Narasimhan, EVP – Sales and Marketing says, “As a start-up, we are looking for agency partners who will think proactively for our brands and will work with us to grow our business. We are delighted to be working with MEC who bring in media as well as activation expertise in the offline and online spaces”.

     

     

     

  • Letsgomo Labs provides end to end mobility solutions to businesses that are looking to harness the power of mobile

    Snapdeal acquires Letsgomo

    By A Correspondent

     

    In a move to further strengthen its leadership in the m-commerce domain, Snapdeal has announced that it has acquired Letsgomo Labs, a mobility solutions company.

     

    Letsgomo Labs provides end to end mobility solutions to businesses that are looking to harness the power of mobile. Founded by Manav Kamboj and Vikas Banga, the 76 member team with expertise across mobile technologies, design and strategy; consults businesses right from building mobile strategies to conceptualization of applications and mobile sites to implementation and hosting. The company also works with leading e-commerce companies to help them strengthen their mobile capabilities.

     

    With the acquisition, Letsgomo team, now a part of Snapdeal family will focus on further strengthening the organisation’s mobile technology capabilities. Mobile is one of the key growth drivers of e-commerce in the country and building a robust mobile commerce platform has been a key focus area for Snapdeal. With the acquisition of Freecharge in April 2015, Snapdeal has become the largest m-commerce company in the country. Already, 75 per cent of the orders on Snapdeal come via mobile based transactions. The recent acquisition of Martmobi – a mobile technology start up, was also a step towards further strengthening Snapdeal’s mobile platform.

     

    Rohit Bansal

    Speaking about this, Rohit Bansal, Co-Founder, Snapdeal said, “Mobile is one of our key focus areas and in a span of just 2 years, the medium has proved to be one of the biggest growth drivers for the company. Delivering a great user experience across varying data connections and numerous handsets being used in the country is the guiding principle for our mobile initiatives. Over 75% of our sales now come through mobile platforms and Letsgomo team becoming a part of our family will further propel our efforts in this direction.”

     

    Manav Kamboj, Co-Founder, Letsgomo said, “Snapdeal is focused on building strong mobile capabilities and we are truly excited to be a part of the Snapdeal family. We strongly believe that new age technology innovations will happen here. Mobile will continue to drive e-commerce in the country and how companies utilize this platform will be a key success determinant. We look forward to building world class mobile technology at Snapdeal and set new benchmarks for the industry in this space.”

     

  • Suhana's first ever Brand TVC clearly defines their positioning strategy of Unified Diversity

    Suhana unveils brand TVC with ‘Tastemakers of India’ credo

    By A Correspondent

     

    Suhana, in their latest Brand TVC, emphasize their positioning as the ‘Tastemakers of India’. The concept of the TVC, devised by Setu Advertising, focuses on the message that Suhana was a brand that knew and understood local flavours and empowered people from all over India to recreate these flavours in their own kitchens.

     

    “Diversity is India’s greatest characteristic. It is also an advertiser’s biggest challenge, because every 100-200 kilometers tastes, preferences and cultural nuances keep changing. And when it comes to food, this ‘change’ was even more distinct. For a brand like Suhana, which was so closely associated with food, this was the barrier that needed to be breached,” said Rugwed Deshpande, Director (Setu Advertising).

     

    The TVC features four families, one each from the North, East, West and South of India. Each family is composed to allow the expression of different relationships – mother and daughter, newlyweds, an expectant couple and a father, mother and son. Food, and exploring new flavours, is the central theme that binds all these families together. And the narrative further draws us in, ending with strategic thought process summed up in one line – ‘Aab Jab Chahe, Jo Chahe, Banayega India. Dil Khush Kar Dala Kahega India’.

     

    The TVC is currently being aired across primetime slots of several popular GEC channels like Star Plus, Colours, Sony and a few news channels as well.

     

  • The Jagendra Singh case in UP represents total contempt for the law by the police and the political class as also the great difficulty of confronting those in power, writes Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji: Damn the government, and get damned to death

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Jagendra Singh used his Facebook account to post his articles: he was a “social media” journalist based in Shahjahanpur. Apparently several “mainstream” reporters in UP checked with his page regularly for updates. Singh had put out several stories about allegations of the gangrape of an Anganwadi worker against Samajwadi Party member and minister for dairy development Ram Murti Verma. He also posted stories about land grabbing and illegal mining by the minister, a Kurmi strongman for whom the SP is his sixth party. Incidentally, the gangrape story has also been covered in the mainstream media.

     

    Singh was hounded and harassed by Verma and his men until on June 1 he was doused with kerosene and set alight, apparently by five policemen and Verma’s supporters. Singh remained alive long enough to record a dying declaration, accusing the minister and the police for his death and asking why indeed he was burnt when he could have been beaten up.

     

    Singh’s son Rahul says that people from the party have since offered him money and a government job to hush up the case.

     

    On one side, this incident represents total contempt for the law by the police and the political class. On the other, it shows the great difficulty of confronting those in power. Both sides tell a terrifying story. And yet one that is hardly new or unknown.

     

    In any other world, the minister would be made to resign pending an enquiry. Here, it took a week of public outrage after Jagendra Singh’s death for the five policemen involved to be suspended. The minister remains not just on the run but in power and it seems will continue to have support from above.

     

    To make matters worse, another journalist in Pilibhit, Haider Khan, was thrashed and then tied to a motorcycle and dragged along the road for 100 metres on Sunday. His “crime”? Stories on dubious land deals. He is in hospital in a critical condition and the police have started “an investigation against four people”.

     

    This is when you realise the importance of a forum for and of journalists. We do not need special laws. But we do need someone who can take up the fight for the Jagendras and Haiders of the world. Because even if you assume that Jagendra was wrong in his allegations, his punishment cannot be being burnt to death by policemen loyal to a politician. We know what can be expected from the UP government when the state’s horticulture minister ParasnathYadav refers to Jagendra Singh’s death by saying, “There are some incidents that happen in the course of nature and destiny.”

     

    I was going to write that we also need a society where accountability is taken seriously but it sounded like a clichéd joke when faced with such a legal and political system. The only hope is to keep covering such stories relentlessly.

     

    **

     

    A number of Twitter handles covering media gossip and news popped up last year using the word “Lutyens” to signify that they were focused in and Delhi politics. We all followed them and after titillating and entertaining their followers, most have petered out. @LutyensInsider remained strong however with its 40000+ followers.

     

    However, when @LutyensInsider started attacking journalist Swati Chaturvedi with malicious, pernicious and slanderous tweets, you knew both gossip and anonymity had gone too far. Chaturvedi, rather than laugh it off or ignore the abuse as so many of us do, decided to do take the anonymous handle on. She filed an FIR against the handle, complained to Twitter India and did whatever was necessary. The brave anonymous handle deleted all tweets and closed the account, shifted to another and then closed that as well. All power to Chaturvedi and every support for her case which she assured her followers she will pursue to the end.

     

    Does the employer of @LutyensInsider have any role to play here? He or she was presumably using information picked up in his or her line of work to share on Twitter. Was the anonymity of the handle licence enough for no one to be responsible?

     

    There is caveat here for all of us who use Twitter for salacious gossip. Twitter is an open forum and this is where its benefit lies. Trolling is one of the disadvantages but there is a difference between a sad lonely person trying to annoy people and working journalists using anonymity to settle scores.

     

    We also have the piquant situation where Chaturvedi is also accused of calling people names on Twitter. However, this “defence” of LutyensInsider has been put together by another anonymous Twitter handle which runs a website that attempts to critique the media. It is obviously not run by a journalist and it is nothing but a series of rambling rants on journalists the blogger does not like. It appears to be run by one of India’s millions of rightwing social media defenders of the current Central government. Irony? What’s that?

     

    Expression is free and good luck to such websites. My beef here however is with journalists who pretend that such websites are credible and post links with self-righteous zeal as if blogs about your personal likes and dislikes are equal to proof. No one can be that innocent, surely? Or, er, foolish?

     

  • Addition of premium sports channel further strengthens Discovery's portfolio across the region

    Setanta Sports acquired by Discovery Networks

    By A Correspondent

     

    Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific (DNAP), a division of the #1 pay-TV programmer Discovery Communications, announced its acquisition of Setanta Sports Asia Limited, a premium sports channel specialising in rugby.

     

    Reaching more than 42 million homes across 16 countries, Setanta Sports Asia is one of the fastest-growing sports channels in Asia. It super serves passionate fans with some of the best rugby league and union events from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The acquisition is bolstered by Setanta’s five-year renewal of SANZAR  (South African, New Zealand and Australian Rugby) rights, including all home international matches, plus Super Rugby – both of which represent some of the most sought-after rugby union properties. In addition to the SANZAR rights, key programming includes European Rugby Champions Cup and Challenge Cup, National Rugby League, Aviva Premiership and Guinness Pro 12.

     

    “The acquisition of Setanta Sports Asia is an important investment for Discovery as we further build scale and expand our business in Asia. Just over a year ago, Discovery gained a controlling interest in Eurosport – a bold play that took our company into the exciting arena of sports,” said JB Perrette, President of Discovery Networks International. “Similar to the strategy we have adopted for Eurosport, we will look to build on the strengths of Setanta and fortify its leadership as a must-have sports channel across Asia.”

     

    In total, Setanta Sports Asia airs more than 500 rugby matches per season on HD and SD feeds across the region. The channel’s multi-device player, Setanta Sports Plus, is widely accessible through online, tablets and smartphones.

     

  • The mobile app is currently available on android and iOS platforms

    ASCI launches mobile app to curb misleading advertisements

    By A Correspondent

     

    Continuing with the mission to address misleading advertisements, Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI) has launched India’s first consumer complaint mobile app – ASCIonline, to provide consumer complaint services on a mobile app besides providing the facility online. The mobile app is currently available on android and iOS platforms.

     

    Speaking on the occasion, Narendra Ambwani, ASCI Chairman added, “One of the goals of ASCI is to provide convenient access for lodging complaint and hence this launch of mobile app. Today mobiles devices are more widely used compared to desktops. With growing use of smart phones consumers want apps to put power of doing transactions in their pocket. ASCIonline Mobile App is consumer friendly and can be freely downloaded. It will be very useful as one can track the status of the complaints which he or she registered on our portal with the help of the App.”

     

     

  • The TVC has been launched on popular social platform YouTube. It will be followed by a high decibel promotional drive on TV and social media as well

    With YouTube Offline, ‘buffering’ will no longer be a suffering

    By A Correspondent

     

    In it’s endeavor to improve user experience, YouTube has announced the launch of ‘YouTube Offline’ feature on their mobile app. This new feature allows users to offline their favorite videos on YouTube mobile app and enjoy their favorite videos, whenever they like, on the go without having to worry about poor data connection or data cost and enjoy a buffering free life.

     

    Buffering can actually ruin the whole experience for an online video watcher as it drives the fun out of watching videos. This was the starting point of the campaign conceived by Lowe Lintas Delhi.

     

    Commenting on the campaign, Sandeep Menon – Director, Marketing, Google India said, “Indians love watching videos online, and YouTube is the go-to destination for any video content online in India. We wanted to offer our users a great new way to enjoy their favorite content without having to worry about poor data connections and high cost of data. That’s where YouTube Offline feature plays an integral role and allows users to access content at their own pace. We are excited with the way our new film has turned out and hope that the audiences’ will relate to the common issue we all face on our mobile phones and embrace the offline way to enjoy YouTube.

     

    The TVC is a quirky take on buffering and how it can get people to react in a strange manner while they wait for their videos to download. The reaction from people across the country was captured in the communication, just to re-emphasize how buffering can drive the fun out of you and get you to do strange things.

     

    Commenting on the creative thought process, Shriram Iyer, Executive Director, Lowe Lintas commented, “YouTube, with its Offline feature, has made the experience even richer. Watching videos online comes with a glitch called ‘buffering’. The stalling of a video spoils the experience. The idea really stems from there‎. Our team explored the idea of visually exploring the ‘buffering’ graphic, in a symbolic manner. Human heads rolling in circles, in a way, aping the buffering sign going round and round, was our comic tribute to the problem all of us face every day while watching videos online. The commercial takes a potshot at the problem and then presents YouTube Offline as the solution to this daily grievance.”

     

    The TVC has been launched on popular social platform YouTube. It will be followed by a high decibel promotional drive on TV and social media as well.

     

  • By choosing to do so, the Advertising Standards Council of India has failed in its duty, writes Pradyuman Maheshwari in Mediaah!

    Mediaah! Why is ASCI mum on CNBCTV18-ET Now issue?

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

    The stakes are high in the news television business. The winner – in this the leader of the pack – generally takes it all – and given that it’s not an easy business to run, there are just too many claims on counter-claims on which is the #1 channel.

    Earlier this month, ET Now released large ads in The Times of India claiming it’s the No 1.

    On Monday, June 15, we received a mail from a PR agency claiming to represent CNBC-TV18 that ASCI asks ET Now to withdraw the misleading ads.

    Quality journalism requires some no-brainer rigour. You don’t trust the source even it may otherwise be credible. If Company X says it has won a case in the courts, you want to see the Court Order. Ditto with an FIR with the cops.

    But for some, publishing is pure commerce. Like that phrase we’ve been hearing in the ongoing political drama: quid pro quo! This is not the time to shout out loud about the rigour we follow. On to the case…

    So I called the ASCI secretariat on Monday and asked if the advertising self-regulator ever gave out individual dispute orders. The person taking my call said “No”, and was surprised that the channel had done so because ASCI normally discourages the winning party from going to the media about winning a certain dispute.

    In fact the outcomes of each complaint is made public only after allowing enough time for a review request by the losing party.

    I thought it was fair.

    What this basically meant is that while CNBC-TV18 may have had its complaint upheld, the order was conveyed officially but privately to both parties (CNBC-TV18 and ET Now) and not expected to go public… ASCi would do that after two months (on June 2, we received info on upheld complaints of March 2015).

    I asked ASCI if it had indeed issued the order restraining ET Now. I got no comment. I could approach either CNBC TV18 or ET Now for more, I was told. I thought that it was a strange reaction, but then ASCI is esteemed Self-Regulator.

    We dug into ASCI’s CCC reports over the last six months and did not find any complaints against both channels.

    The story was simple until Tuesday evening. Yesterday, that’s Wednesday, June 17, The Times of India’s Mumbai edition had an ET Now ad under the paper’s masthead (on Page1) claiming the channel is #1. It was similar to the earlier one which was contested by ASCI. Now. while technically, ET Now is required to withdraw ads by June 22, the operative word is ‘by’ and not ‘after’.  In all fairness, after hearing of the ASCI order, it should have stopped carrying the dispute ad.

    My immediate response was to write to ASCI, the Advertising Standards Council of India.

    My questions:

    1. What steps does ASCI take if and when an advertiser violates its advisory and continues with its advertisements even after the advisory has been issued to the advertiser?

    2. Has ET Now contested the ASCI advisory/order on withdraw advertising that was found to be misleading.

    I waited all day only to be told by the Secretary General late evening by mail that I will not get the answers. The reason: “In our last conversation I have very clearly indicated that as a policy, ASCI does not comment on individual cases. Your query below not being generic, it would not be right to comment on the same. Our request would be to not quote ASCI since this news has not been issued by ASCI.”

    Needless to say, I was surprised with the ASCI response. At MxMIndia, our intent in approaching ASCI was simply this: “If CNBC-TV18 made a false claim on Monday, it must be exposed and if ET Now has mocked at an ASCI advisory and gone ahead with an ad, then it must be exposed too.”

    By not responding to our query, and possibly because it doesn’t want its name dragged into a controversy between two powerful media groups, we are being compelled to look at motives behind ASCI not being transparent on the incident, even if there aren’t any. As my namesake ACP Pradyuman would say in the serial CID: Kuchh toh gadbad hai!

    Also, clearly, ASCI – as a body needs to be vigilant in its attempt to lay standards in the business and craft of advertising. Perhaps it makes sense for ASCI to have in its fold some non-advertising/media industry biggies who would not be soft on erring members of the fraternity. And be strong and aggressive with advertisers who are incorrect and do not honour the ASCI code in letter and spirit.

    By not doing so, it’s only doing great disservice to the industry that has set it up.

    Remember, it was not very long ago that a minister of the central government had raised questions on ASCI’s efficacy. Some industry commentators had even raised questions about whether ASCI can deliver.

    We believe it can, but not if chooses to stay mum on key decisions such as these.

     

    Here’s the press release we received from a PR agency representing CNBC-TV18:

    ASCI asks ET NOW to withdraw misleading ads

    June 15, 2015, Mumbai:

    The Advertising Standards Council of India, (ASCI) has upheld CNBC-TV18’s complaints against the advertising campaign released by ET NOW news channel on May 31. ASCI has advised ET NOW to withdraw or modify appropriately the said ads by 22nd June 2015.

    Their campaign, launched on 31st May, 2015, was declared to be based on BARC data and their ‘internal data’.  In its ruling, ASCI made the following observations:

    On ET NOW’s claim – “India’s No. 1 Business Channel.”

    ASCI has upheld the complaint against this claim. Firstly, the data provided by the Advertiser is for leadership among English Business channels only and it does not consider the other regional business channels. Hence it was concluded that this declaration is misleading by omission on the advertiser’s part and contravenes Chapter I.4 of the ASCI Code.
    Secondly, the source quoted is of BARC covers only two weeks of data. It refers to TV audience in the 10 to 75 lakh town class and this does not constitute the whole of India and this contravened Chapters IV.1 (b) & (d) of the ASCI Code.
    On ET NOW’s claim – “Built on Expertise. Monthly Positive Stock Calls: ET Now – 1044 CNBC TV18 -326”

    ASCI has upheld the complaint against this claim. The proprietary data source quoted for the claim, “Monthly Positive Stock Calls: ET Now – 1044 CNBC TV18 -326” was “Research – Consult Kraft | Period: Nov ’14 to Apr ’15 | Based on Avg.  Monthly Positive Stocks recommendations All Market Days, 7:30am to 3:30pm. This data period does not overlap with the viewership data period referred to in the advertisement.  The data provided therefore, was likely to mislead by implication and ambiguity and this contravenes Chapter I.4 of the ASCI Code.
    On ET NOW’s claim – “Built on Speed. 6 out of 10 Business Stories Break on ET Now”
    ASCI has upheld the complaint against this claim. This claim was not substantiated with evidence to prove that the Advertiser was indeed able to break more stories / break stories faster than others and was therefore misleading. This contravened Chapters I.1 and I.4 of the ASCI Code.

  • The report also finds that the top 4 Metros continue to account for almost half of the Social Media users in Urban India

    Rural India outperforms Urban India in Social Media Usage

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    Usage of Social Media in Rural India has grown by an impressive 100 percent during the last one year with 25 million users being recorded in rural India. On the other hand, Urban India registered a relatively lower growth of 35 percent with the total number of users at 118 million as on April 2015. According to the Social Media in India 2014 report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India [IAMAI] and IMRB International, there are 143 million social media users in India as on April 2015.

     

    The report also finds that the top 4 Metros continue to account for almost half of the Social Media users in Urban India.

     

    According to the latest report, the largest segment accessing Social Media consists of the College Going Students with 34 per cent followed by Young Men at 27 per cent School going children constitute 12 per cent of the social media users. College Going Students and Young Men still form the 60 per cent of the Social Media users in Urban India.

     

     

    The report further finds that 61 per cent of these users access Social Media on their mobile device. The fact that almost two thirds of the users are already accessing social media through their mobile is a promising sign. With the expected increase in mobile traffic the number of users accessing social media on mobile is only bound to increase.

     

     

    According to the report, maintaining a profile on social networking sites are a top activity of users followed by updating status.  Commenting on a blog site is the third most popular activity among users in social networking sites.

     

  • The focus of our news media has shifted progressively over the last two decades from reporting the news to owning the news, writes Shailesh Kapoor

    Shailesh Kapoor: Lalit Modi: A Scam-Starved Media’s Saviour

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    The first 11 months of the Modi government at the Centre haven’t been the most eventful ones for the news media. In UPA-2, the media had the problem of plenty. One after the other, new scams would emerge, competing with each other for attention and news space. But that dried up May last year, after Narendra Modi came to power.

     

    The Delhi elections and the exciting, sometimes dubious, brand of politics by the Aam Aadmi Party ensured that there was some fodder for news channels to provide their viewers with their daily dose of political voyeurism. The occasional foot-in-the-mouth statements from the fringes in the ruling party also helped. But overall, it has been a lean, scam-free year.

     

    Till last week only, though. Starved for scams, the news media took to the Lalit Modi story like fish to water. It was like a homecoming after being away for an extended period of time. Five days down, the relentless coverage continues across channels and newspapers. And we know we haven’t seen the end of this ‘scam’ yet.

     

    Compare this controversy to 2G, Coalgate, CWG and other such big stories from UPA-2 and you would agree that this one is much weaker in content. There’s no real sense of loot after all. And lobbying and politician-corporate nexus have existed from times even before any of us were born. But, as they say, never let facts come in the way of a good story. Or in this case, never let facts decide how big a story it can be.

     

    There are many elements that make the Lalit Modi-Sushma Swaraj-Vasundhra Raje revelations newsworthy and highly entertaining too. First, the protagonist itself. Lalit is a media character in his own right. He’s not exactly the most pleasurable listening experience, but his unapologetic display of defiance makes it tough to ignore him. He gets journalists to fly to far-off Montenegro to interview him, and while a couple of them are in-flight, tweets that he will have to cancel the interviews because his ‘UK Lawyers’ advised him so.

     

    In many ways, Lalit is the face of crony capitalism that the Prime Minister has been accused of encouraging. It’s difficult for the Congress to launch a full-blown attack given the Robert Vadra precedent, but the controversy offers a delicious opportunity to the opposition nonetheless. I’m surprised no one has connected the common surname of the two Modis yet and tried to create a story out of it. Or may be I missed it.

     

    That the other two protagonists are women who have risen to powerful positions gives the story even more teeth in a country where politics is still a male bastion. This is a heady cocktail of powerplay, IPL, family ties, women empowerment, lifestyle of the rich and the famous, and even cancer. Our media would have to be too naïve to not lap it up.

     

    How this story has developed is also a good commentary of the state of our news media today, where the focus has shifted progressively over the last two decades from reporting the news to owning the news. There is bound to be impact and a head or two may roll in this case. And since the next scam may not be in sight, this story will be dragged for as long as it can sustain.

     

    So you know which industry you want to join if you want free trips to Montenegro and the likes.