MxMIndia

Category: NEWS

  • A weekly column by Paritosh Joshi, until recently CEO, Star CJ. Given his varied experience in the media and industry bodies, Mr Joshi will analyse issues concerning the business of media, measurement and research

    Paritosh Joshi: How to make a really spectacular mistake

    By Paritosh Joshi

     

    In all our lives, there are tales of misadventure that we bury away deep and try our darndest to forget all about. Today it’s time to ferret out just such a story from the not so distant past and see if there’s something, anything, we might learn from it.

     

    The year was 2007. Private Television broadcasters were trapped in a financial vice. Costs were on a tear as good content: entertainment, sports or news, commanded big premia. Revenues crawled as new entrants into every genre constantly expanded advertising inventory and made price increases difficult. While advertising revenues were still growing, a lot of the increase was attributable to ever-laxer controls by broadcasters on advertising duration leading to flat, or even declining, yields. As an advertising sales person myself, back then, I asked for an analysis of Average Spot Rates (ASR), a very commonly used and easy to compute yield metric, across key genres and channels for the previous three years. My hypothesis, which proved agonizingly right, was that the bulk of revenue growth for channels was coming from selling more inventory and little or none from better ASR. Obviously, I wasn’t the only one seeking such analyses and soon the issue began to dominate all conversations between broadcasters.

     

    Here was what the broadcasters were seeing:

    • Television penetration was galloping along, adding up to 10 million new homes, up to 45 million viewers of age 4 and above, every year.
    • Cable penetration was growing by almost an identical figure, having moved up from under 30 million homes in 2005 to over 47 million in 2007.
    • GDP was up 9 per cent for 2007 over 2006 and maintaining healthy buoyancy.
    • Distribution revenues were not a source of any joy as platforms had begun to seek carriage fees to monetize the chronic scarcity of capacity on a decrepit analog network. In the meanwhile, TRAI was binding broadcasters hand and foot where it came to wholesale pricing of their content to platform operators.
    • Media agencies were relentlessly using the dreaded CPRP (Cost Per Rating Point) to pummel advertising prices down. Even category leading broadcasters were unable to exercise pricing power in the face of CPRP maths.
    • While more broadcasters constantly entered the market, the demand side represented by the media buying agencies was getting ever more consolidated. Already, the top two agencies controlled very nearly two-thirds of the advertising spend on TV between them. They had achieved this, primarily, on the back of their ability to extort low prices using their virtual oligopoly combined with the willingness to drop commission rates to low single digit percentages. While the standard terms of trade indicated a 15 per cent agency commission on TV advertising, the media majors were actually working on less than 5 per cent, passing on the spread as additional discount to the advertisers.

     

    It was clear to broadcasters that the situation could no longer be permitted to drift but what were they to do and how? A team of planners from across broadcasting organisations was asked to develop a recommendation. Everything had to be done with considerable secrecy, lest word get out and the project be stillborn. The plan was in. Voila! We would all, every last one of us, collectively impose a 25 per cent surcharge.

     

    Needless to add, the plan asked for way more resilience from broadcasters, particularly the small and vulnerable ones, than they could muster and in a classic predator-prey drama, they were arm-twisted on the pain of the death-of-a-thousand-cuts by M-this and M-that into abject capitulation. The plan unwound within 72 hours leaving a lot of us with unpleasantly puce visages. An awful mistake had been made. I could tell you the whole ugly story of who shafted whom, when and where but sadly, in a reversal of the trope, if I told you, someone would have to kill me.

     

    Now here is the really terrible story. Most everything that made the revenue story look grim in 2007 for broadcasters still looks exactly the same in 2012. Indeed worse in many cases, like for the anæmically bloated Hindi News genre for instance.

     

    What is the broadcast industry doing about it? Can something be done about it at all?

     

    First, until TV advertising is valued based on a relative, rather than absolute currency, pricing power will remain solidly with the buyers. Until we shift from the iniquitous CPRP to the universally accepted and economically fair CPT (Cost per Thousand contacts), this will not happen.

     

    Second, all stakeholders in the BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council) process would be well advised to apply their might to moving it from idea to execution.

     

    Hmm. Someone will have to kill me after all.

     

  • Globosport's Brand Advisory Business is slated to beIndia's first ever talent procurement and content management company for brands

    Globosport to get global glitter with Platinum Rye stake

    By A Correspondent

     

    Globosport, the integrated brands solutions agency, announced on July 25 that Platinum Rye Entertainment from the US has picked up a 50 per cent stake in their Brands Advisory Business. Mr Aditya Hitkari will take the reigns as CEO of the new Globosport – Platinum Rye joint venture, with Ms Kavita Bhupathi Chadda continuing as CEO of the Globosport Group.

     

    With this Globosport’s Brand Advisory Business is being billed as India’s first ever talent procurement and content management company for brands. It is said to leverage the best opportunities (talent, endorsers, influencers, properties) for brands across sports, entertainment and new media, giving them the best possible innovations from viral video content, AFPs to in-film product placements, marketing tie-ups to celebrity endorsements.

     

    Kavita Bhupathi Chadda
    Aditya Hitkari
    Mahesh Bhupathi
    Ryan Schinman

    In conversation with MxMIndia, Ms Kavita Bhupathi Chadda, CEO, Globosport Group spoke about the idea behind the joint venture: “We have been in the business of servicing brands for their requirement of talents and content for a while now. The idea was to provide our clients with a bigger and wider market, wherein it will have access to not only Indian talents, but also international talents. In addition to this, international brands will also be able to have access to Indian talents and contents.”

     

    Speaking on the same line with MxMIndia, Mr Aditya Hitkari, CEO, Globosport Brand Advisory Business explained: “We are a talent agnostic company, as we are more focused on the talent procurements for brands. Currently we are managing close to about 45 to 50 brands across segments in India. We are India’s exclusive talent procurement agency, and Platinum Rye Entertainment has been doing the same globally. Since we are now connected to the world’s largest talent procurement agency, we can now procure talent from across the world. For example, we are currently procuring a Hollywood star for an Indian brand and also placing Indian products in Hollywood movies. We are also working out creative and marketing solutions for them once the film launches in India.”

     

    Globosport which currently has offices in Delhi, Pune, Bengaluru, Chennai and Mumbai now aims to set up an office in Kolkata. “We have our presence in many big cities and now our next target would be to set up shop in Kolkata. We will continue to grow as the number of brands we service also grows. We are seeing a lot of interest coming out of the Kolkata market as well, so we would soon see a dedicated team in Kolkata as well in the near future,” added Ms Chadda.

     

    In a prepared statement, Mr Mahesh Bhupathi, Managing Director, Globosport said: “We have transitioned from a seller of talent to a buyer in the last few years. We represent brands and we couldn’t ask for a bigger or better partner than Platinum Rye. Their global offices, teams and processes will add a lot of value to our clients here, who are constantly looking for innovative ideas involving both Indian and global talent.”

     

    Globosport works with brands to help maximize the reach of their communication from celebrity utilization to in-film tie up’s to branded content on TV to other media platforms. Apart from advising brands on sport and entertainment solutions Globosport also runs three significant businesses in the entertainment space – Digital Content, TV production and Films.

     

    Ryan Schinman, Founder and CEO of Platinum Rye Entertainment said: “India is a fast developing market for celebrity endorsements. We are looking forward to using Globosport’s local expertise to serve our global clients in addition to helping the Indian business accelerate using our growing global network.”

     

    Founded in 1998, Platinum Rye now represents dozens of Fortune 500 companies, either directly or through their marketing communications agencies. PlatinumRyeis an entertainment marketing consultancy specializing in the procurement of celebrity talent and the licensing of music and other copyrighted properties for use in advertising, public relations efforts, special events and promotional campaigns.

     

    Some of the key brands Globosport has worked with are Olay (Kajol & Madhuri Dixit), Ariel (Yuvraj Singh & Dr. Kiran Bedi), Parle (Aamir Khan & MS Dhoni), Pantene (BipashaBasu & Sonakshi Sinha), ITC Vivel (Hrithik Roshan & Kareena Kapoor), Appy Fizz (Saif Ali Khan), to name a few.

     

    The association with PRE will now help Globosport advise international Brands on Indian Celebrity Endorsers and Indian Brands on International Celebrity Endorsers.

     

     

  • Story telling in advertising has been a worldwide trend. Though today its noticeable that the advertisers are moving from a virtual world to the real feedbacks from consumers

    Storytelling through the years

    By Shubhangi Mehta

     

    The trend of storytelling in an ad began with actors in the campaign sharing a fictional story that connected with the masses and now taking it a step ahead, advertisers are trying to connect directly with the masses and asking them to tell their original stories in the campaign.

     

    Storytelling commercials capture the emotional side of an audience.

    How beautiful or charming your story is depends on the imagination of the creator. How beautifully and effortlessly it’s told, depends on the media plan.

    Some stories need more time, some don’t. While one understands that media comes at a price, one often forgets that the  poorly told story, even if it fits the budget perfectly, is money down the drain as it won’t reap half the rewards as a beautifully told story will.

     

    KV Sridhar

    As KV Sridhar, NCD, Leo Burnett India, explains, stories are a “means of communicating to the world in an interesting manner and advertisements are no different. The only challenge is to tell a story in 30-60 seconds. Products have become brands and household names because of use of this concept in our commercials. The concept provides a benefit for the brand as it establishes an emotional connect with the consumers, it’s not just a sales message, but about narrating a story. In other words, we can regard a story as a sugar coated medicine. Initially, story telling in commercials was a one way process -brands created a virtual story to connect with the masses – but today it has become a two-way communication. And due to the popularity of social media – Facebook, Twitter – it’s become easier to interact with the consumer. Brands no more control the story, consumers do.”

     

    Sumanto Chattopadhyay, ECD, Ogilvy & Mather, cites an example: “Pond’s created a very successful series of TV commercial a few years ago. It was a love triangle starring Priyanka Chopra, Saif Ali Khan and Neha Dhupia. These episodic films spun a classic love story with all the trademark melodrama of a top-rated TV serial.”

     

    Sumanto Chattopadhyay

    The only downside of episodic commercials is the high budget required to make and air multiple TV spots. But if made with skill and backed by deep pockets, they can be a worthwhile investment. The international trend in contemporary popular culture is marked by a penchant for realism combined with a desire for the limelight.

     

    From reality shows that hunt for talent to advertising that is crowd-sourced, it is all about letting people step into the light to tell their own stories in their own voice. Andy Warhol was prescient when, decades ago, he said: “In the future everybody will be world famous for fifteen minutes.” Today, that is the mantra of many – offering the people the chance to have their names, faces and stories in the spotlight – which is also a shrewd strategy for brand success. The resulting authenticity has an inherent appeal to the modern mindset.

     

    Storytelling is the means by which our culture has been passed down

    Storytelling is the means by which our culture has been passed down from one generation to the next. Sometimes, through stories expressed verbally by our elders; at other times through pictures drawn on cave walls and later through sophisticated dance drama. So it is hardly surprising that we took like ducks to water to story telling in movies, TV serials and TV commercials.

     

    Rahul Matthew, ECD, McCann Erickson said: “Storytelling, to get a point or ideology across, is not a creation of advertising. Stories have been used forever to sell ideologies, morals, and wisdom to people. Panchtantra or Mahabharata are all illustrations of the same. The only difference is that in advertising we use it to sell brands. It’s probably because story-telling makes anything less preachy and we’re always ready to hear a good story. A story also makes things more relate-able since it borrows from life; the same life that our brands and products have to be a part of. This so-called real story-telling has always been there. What’s called testimonials is just that. We used to use models to give the impression of a real-life consumer sharing his/her experiences with the product. And today instead of models we are recruiting real consumers to tell us what they feel or think.”

     

    Mr Matthew further states that it’s more a reflection of a change in consumer behaviour than a change in advertising: “We are reaching out to reviews from unknown people through blogs/social media to make our choices, and at the same time proactively sharing our views for others to consume. And advertising has always merely reflected consumer behaviour.”

     

    Minakshi Achan, co-founder, Salt Brand Solutions feels that storytelling has kept us riveted for centuries as it is part of popular culture and has shaped and defined us for the longest time through religion, entertainment, history and music. “Brands have simply adopted the art and used it to tell stories and shed light about their products and services. There is no better way to connect with your consumers and the greatest of brands know the profound impact it has on people. Brands are the greatest story tellers and if you count religion itself as a brand, we know the power of story telling, and the continued effect on us. The big change has not been in the concept of storytelling, but in the way we communicate because of the platforms available to us. In the yester world, there were no platforms for two-way communication or rather it was difficult to do so. Today’s world is open and the exchange and engagement with a consumer is far easier. Far greater possibilities exist thanks to social media – whether it is the internet or mobile,” she added.

     

    Co-creation is the new way

    Consumers have stories to tell and today brands can listen to them and have their contribution to impact their brands. This apart, the stories are more real, straight from the horse’s mouth, which lend great credibility to brands. Since the engagement models have changed, I think there is far more meaningful conversations possible today, feels Ms Achan.

     

    All in all, we can say that stories surely are for everyone and quite naturally work across categories and consumer types. The length of time, the canvas of the medium may change but the premise is the same, and the objective for brands is just to impact the brand and consumers with this format. Whether it s a 3-hour movie or a 30 second commercial, the principles of storytelling remains.

     

     

  • Asianet launched its first-ever round-the-clock movie channel, Asianet Movies, last week

    Prime focus is to gain supremacy: Asianet Movies

    By A Correspondent

     

    Asianet launched its first-ever round-the-clock movie channel, Asianet Movies, last week. And in its first week’s itself the channel scored 124 GRPs across Kerala among CS4+ TG.

     

    However, one question still lingers on one’s mind: for a state that’s obsessed and churns out some of the greatest cinematic experiences, isn’t it a tad late?

     

    John Brittas

    No, came the prompt reply from the business head of the Asianet Network, John Brittas: “It is a known fact that Malayalis love their politics and films. And that is the reason why we have a dozen news channels. However, there hasn’t been a channel fully dedicated to films. So, we are hoping to fill that vacuum with the new channel.”

     

    He further explained that the reason behind the launch is also the size of the market. “We don’t have a Bangalore or Chennai or Hyderabad. So, we cannot act like other channels in other states. We have to look for appropriate time and market to launch a channel.”

     

    Narendra Kumar Alambara

    According to Narendra Kumar Alambara, a South media observer, every time a new genre is introduced, it only boosts the overall industry. “To be frank, the round-the clock-movie channel phenomenon is not new down South, other languages like Tamil and Telugu already have them. Asianet is doing so to up its ante and to be more innovative in the state. And I’m sure it will only take the market a notch up. Also, advertisers will be happy with the new channel as they’ll get more airtime to target their audience.”

     

    Asianet Network enjoys more than 50 per cent share among Malayalam GECs and the network’s prime agenda has been to gain supremacy. “For the past few years, our focus was on consolidating all our channels and establishing supremacy. And only after doing so, that we decided to launch another channel,” said Mr Brittas.

     

    Asianet, today, enjoys an average of 850+ GRPs for four weeks in the CS4+ category whereas another change by the network, Asianet Plus, sees an average of 150+ ratings for the same.

     

    When asked about the competition for the new channel, Mr Brittas said that they were ready for any competition: “We are expecting a few more similar or other channels being launched by other networks in the next few months. So, we aren’t worried about any competition. On the contrary, we think if more channels are launched it will stabilize the market.”

     

    Vijay Subramaniam

    Vijay Subramaniam, deputy general manager, Madison Media Omega, feels that the previous learnings have also played an important role in the launch of the new movie channel. “Networks launching a movie channel has become a trend these days.  Asianet, which come under the Star group umbrella, launched its second Hindi movie channel recently. For any network, starting a movie channel is more viable than a GEC because one can easily recover its yield, since movie channels come second to the GECs in the rating business. And also, GECs need more investment, unlike movie channels.”

     

    “I’m sure it’s going to be a win-win situation for all – network, advertisers and of course, the viewers,” said Mr Subramaniam with confidence. The new channel already has a string of big advertisers like ITC and is available across the country and in the Middle East. Apart from telecasting old and new Malayalam movies, the channel also has a wide range of cinema-related programmes like news from the tinsel world, interviews with film personalities and discussions.

     

    A late launch or not, the channel as well as the industry experts are very optimistic about it helping the network gaining more viewership.

     

     

  • Kartik Iyer and Praveen Das of five-year-old Bengaluru-based agency Happy Creative Services insist on not compromising on results

    Happy route to success

     

    By Tuhina Anand

     

    When they are not playing successful admen, Kartik Iyer and Praveen Das, are dutiful husbands and loving fathers. Five years back, the duo joined hands to launch Happy Creative Services and there’s been no looking back since. Interestingly, the duo had never partnered before and their first work together was at Happy. What makes Happy an interesting story is that these men were no celebrities before they started their venture unlike many on the entrepreneurial road who have reached at the helm of an agency and then decide to go on their own. So pretty much a risk that Iyer and Das took but a risk definitely worth taken.

     

    L to R: Praveen Das, Kartik Iyer

    Happy was first noticed for its work on Lee which came to them when they set shop. Since then they have gone on to do many notable work. Their association with the e-commerce behemoth Flipkart has won them both awards and accolades. In fact, Flipkart works have catapulted Happy if one may say in a ‘Happy state’ as these works have been noticed by many. Besides, the works have helped Flipkart in debunking many myths related to online shopping and the biggest achievement being that it helped in creating the brand Flipkart. If people know of Flipkart today the credit to a large extent also goes to Happy for helping in creating the brand.

     

    Mr Iyer in fact pointed that with changing economies and new age companies being launched, there has emerged a need for new age agencies. He said, “The world is changing at a rapid pace.  While there are old school companies that are married to their agencies and the creative team might come and go or the quality may differ but it would not impact their relationships as they are pretty much set in stone. But in an era when new businesses are being born not from HUL and Tata, there also is a need for new age people and new age thinking.”

     

    “In any market one is willing to try anything that is new but the key is that you should be good to succeed. Initially when we launched, I think we were like a new packet of juice in the market, every client wanted to meet us especially after the Lee campaign but the challenge is to take new businesses and delivering quality work which is superior and consistent.”

     

    The Bengaluru-based agency has recently expanded its footprint to Mumbai. However, the decision to be in Mumbai has to purely do with the fact that it helps them in servicing their clients better who are based in the city. The base camp very much remains Bengaluru. In fact, their inspiration to set shop and be successful in the laidback city of Bengaluru which is known more for its IT than its creative prowess comes from the city’s other success story- Nirvana Films. Nirvana has done several successful big brands films even though they are based in Bengaluru  so pretty much a good example to follow for Happy.

     

    When Messrs Iyer and Das who were both at Ogilvy decided to start on their own, they pretty much didn’t have a plan in place but oodles of energy and enthusiasm. They chatted and discussed for almost 30 days and from there emerged Happy. Mr Iyer said, “That’s the secret of our story that we didn’t have any plan. But yes as we talked, we became clear how we will be different, what will be our offering, what will be special about us and that’s how a broad framework emerged. Even today we are totally open to learn and adapt. I think the uninformed choice is much better which we followed when we started.”

     

    Mr Das, the quieter of the duo however added, “It’s definitely not been an easy run but both of us are ambitious as well as driven to make Happy happening. If we were to start all over again today and knowing what all we had to do in the process, I don’t know if we could do it.”

     

    The agency takes pride in the fact that almost 80 percent of their clients have come back to them for more work in future. As any business, there have been hits and few misses but the key has been to move away as quickly as possible once realizing that it’s a bad deal they have got into.

     

    On the Happy edge, Mr Iyer pointed, “We try and work on big ideas. We are good at building brands and that’s our forte.”

     

    Mr Das too added, “There is no bigger joy than creating a brand from scratch. We can always do campaigns for existing brands but to create something new is where we excel and that is our difference. We bring enthusiasm and new energy to brands we work on.”

     

    The agency has 35 people on board and that’s been a conscious decision on their part to not grow mindlessly but be small and be involved personally with their clients brands. Focus being to deliver work that is result-oriented after all that is what matters – creativity that is geared towards achieving results for the brand.

     

    As for the duo and their equation with each other, as Mr Iyer puts, “There are no arguments or fights, that’s not a culture we endorse in our agency. We listen to each other but there are no ego clashes. If there were any, we wouldn’t be Happy people!”

     

  • The agency is the brain child of Ajay Gupta and Raghu S

    Circuit9 lights up in Bengaluru

    By A Correspondent

     

    Circuit9, an integrated marketing communications agency, has just been launched in Bangalore. The agency is the brain child of Ajay Gupta and Raghu S. Mr Gupta’s last assignment was with Group M’s Quasar Media while Mr Raghu has worked both on the client as well as agency side before taking a plunge as an entrepreneur.

     

    Interestingly, the name Circuit9 comes from the basic thought that it takes a live wire to get the bulb glowing, and carrying the same analogy the agency sees itself as the live wire that connects across all advertising disciplines that helps in increasing a brand’s recognition in the market.

     

    As Mr Gupta pointed that the agency works on three principles that include big ideas, perfect execution and most importantly delivering results.

     

    The agency has its head office in Bengaluru.

     

  • MxMIndia announces special volumes to celebrates its first anniversary, plus one big editorial or business initiative every Friday… starting tomorrow

    Special volumes to celebrate a year of MxM!

    Yes, MxMIndia will soon be a year old. We launched on Onam Day 2011, that’s September 9, and in these last 10-odd months, we believe we have gained much with your faith and patronage. And our team and associates putting in a lot of toil.

     

    To celebrate our anniversary in September, our team is putting together three special volumes:

     

    1. The Annual celebrating the One Big Idea. A collector’s issue, comprehensive and uputdownable.

    2. The MxM M-List. A first-of-its-kind who’s who of media planning and buying professionals in the country.

    and

    3. A compilation of our most popular ‘anchors’. The anchor has been an integral part of MxMIndia. A must-have companion for every media professional

     

    All of this and more.

     

    In addition, starting tomorrow and until the anniversary on Septmber 9, await the announcement of one or more new editorial and business initiatives. Every Friday. Enjoy!

     

    If you would like to participate in any of our initiatives, write to:

    For editorial: editor@mxmindia.com

    For sales: sales@mxmindia.com

    For booking your copies: subscribe@mxmindia.com

     

     

  • Continuing with the internationally adapted concept of 'Dirt is good', Lowe lintas has devised another campaign for Surf Excel

    Lowe Lintas unveils new Surf Excel campaign

    By A Correspondent

     

    Detergent powder brand, Surf Excel, has historically stayed away from making laundry problems and solutions the hero of its communication. This started in 2005, when Surf Excel launched the unique concept of “dirt is good” in India with the iconic puddle war ad. And every year since, Surf Excel has come up with commercials propagating this brand philosophy – whether it is to make a little sister smile, or stop a raging fight between adults, or being a bigger person and forgiving friends. Surf Excel repeatedly demonstrates to mothers that children experience and learn about life through dirt.

     

    The new commercial conceptualized by Lowe Lintas and Partners is set in the context that kids today are exposed to lots of violence and anger and grow up believing that this is the way of life. With this commercial, Surf Excel demonstrates the value of “baddappan” and how a situation can be turned around without any negative overtones by a child who thinks and behaves differently

     

    We see a team of young kids engrossed in their post-school cricket match, when a team of seniors enters the pitch and bullies these kids to abandon the ground in the middle of their session. While a heated brawl is underway between the bowler and the senior, a member of the younger team calmly walks up to the two of them and attempts resolving with reason. On being met with a violent response, the kid then takes adopts a unique path – he cheekily offers to make peace with the elders by offering them a muddy hug!

     

    Since most of us may have been in a similar scenario of bullying at some point in our lives, this ad leaves us with the good feeling that not always do we need to resort to violence. The ad in its own tongue-in-cheek way communicates the good of being the bigger person in a situation.

     

    CREDITS

    Creative: Arun Iyer, Ramkrishna Gopi Yadav, AP Zeth, Aarti Srinivasan, Sushant Joshi

    Business: Virat Tandon, Tarannum Romani, Suchana Sarkar, Haripriya Mishra

    Planning: Saji Abraham, Mani KB

    Films: Riddhi Mehta

    Production House: Footcandles Films

    Director: Vinil Math

     

  • The primary objective was to design a policy ecosystem in which new ideas would be integrated into the mainstream and get converted into policy initiatives by the government

    MIB looks ahead as Sectoral Innovation Council recommends embracing tech & new media

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Sectoral Innovation Council of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, under the Chairpersonship of Ms Asha Swarup, Retd Secretary, Government of India, on July 26 submitted its report to Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Ms Ambika Soni.  The primary objective was to design a policy ecosystem in which new ideas would be integrated into the mainstream and get converted into policy initiatives by the government.

     

    Ms Soni said that the issues deliberated upon by the Council would be looked into by the Ministry in the policy domain. The recommendations made by the Council in different Media and Entertainment sectors would act as a roadmap in the future. The Council, in its report, analysed the growth potential of the media & entertainment industry by recommending changes in critical areas such as broadcasting, print media, animation, gaming and VFX, Media education and films.

     

    The Council has made 64 recommendations in seven areas concerning the media and entertainment sector. Some of the key recommendations are:

    1. A comprehensive policy media policy that integrates all existing media segments and addresses the emergent issues. The council has recommended bringing out a National Media Policy that addresses the new media landscape.

    2. The government may look into the existing licensing procedures and requirements to ensure further liberalization and reforms in the broadcasting sector.

    3. Content innovation is required in the radio segment which would be possible only if the government comes up with a separate licensing model for niche channels.

    4. Ministry of I&B, as the policy head of public service broadcasting and community radio service could come out with a formal arrangement by which CRS could provide community based programme content to AIR and AIR could provide capacity building and training to CRS workers in content creation, management and operation of stations.

    5. The process of digitalization in DD and AIR was likely to release airwaves which after due utilization in house could be used for creating a public service broadcasting fund in line with USO fund of telecom sector. This fund could be utilized exclusively for public service broadcasting.

    6. In view of the potential in the films sector, the Council has recommended a National Film Policy that will address the role of the government vis-à-vis the private sector.

    7. Film Institutes in the country may be upgraded to ‘Centres of Excellence’. In the long term, these Centres of Excellence could become part of a Central University of Films, Broadcasting and Animation by an appropriate legislation.

    8. The government must have a National Policy for Animation, Gaming and VFX.

    9. The government should go for co-production treaties in the animation sector to ensure flow of international projects toIndia. Ministry could also consider giving responsibility to the Children’s Film Society and Doordarshan to produce animated content and create Indian IP.

    10. Reliable Single Source Data on all mediums of advertising should be made available by the government so that advertisers are able to take decisions on reliable data.

    11. Government should interact with key stakeholders and expedite a consensus on developing an alternative to TAM so that an appropriate mechanism is developed with industry participation to study audience viewing and listening behaviour and bring out reports on weekly basis.

    12. Government should regulate media education to ensure orderly growth of the discipline as part of higher education.

    13. Like medical education and technical education, Media Education to be regulated by a new organisation known as Media Education Council. The Media Education Council should be assigned the task of setting up curriculum for all levels, so that standardised curriculum with national accreditation becomes a possibility.

    14. There is need to make IIMC, FTII and SRFTI into real centres of excellence.

    15. The government should reformat the course curriculum, improve faculty of the institutes. These institutions could either be separate universities or become a part of one central university.

    16. National Awards for Innovation in different segments of M&E Sector be instituted by the ministry.

    17. New Media should be utilized for media campaigns by the government.

    E-mode transactions should be a priority for the functions of DAVP, RNI, CBFC and licensing activities of the Government for ensuring transparency.

     

    The Sectoral Innovation Council was set up on July 28, 2011 as part of the Government of India’s initiative of declaring 2010- 2020 as the Decade of Innovation. Accordingly, the Government set up a National Innovation Council with Mr Sam Pitroda as Chairman and 16 distinguished members. The members of the I&B Sectoral Innovation Council comprised of Chairperson, Ms Asha Swarup, retired Secretary, Government of India and 10 other distinguished members from the field of media and entertainment.

     

  • Rohan Chandran jons Big FM as Station Head in BLR

    By A Correspondent

     

    Big FM has announced the appointment of Rohan Chandran as the station head for its Bangalore station. In his new role, Mr Chandran will report to Mr Ashwin Padmanabhan, Regional Head – North and South, Big FM and will primarily be responsible for the overall running of the Bangalore station along with revenue generation.

     

    Mr Padmanabhan said: “We are very excited to have Rohan on board who comes with a pedigree of success from his previous professional stints and has sharp insights on the consumers in Bangalore and South. We are confident that with Rohan at the helm, 92.7 Big FM will further cement its position as the leading media brand in Bangalore and Karnataka.”

     

    An engineer by education, Mr Chandran brings with him over nine years of experience. After his MBA from Management Development Institute in 2003, he joined Maruti Suzuki India, as the Territory Manager (Sales) for Kerala. In 2007, he moved to Reebok India where he was the Regional Manager-South for Sales and Retail operations.

     

    Mr Chandran said: “I am very positive about the opportunities which lie ahead of us. The team in Bangalore is young, dynamic and focused and we will together be able to further fortify the standing in the market. I look forward to working with 92.7 BIG FM in the next phase of my professional journey.”

     

     

  • Rajesh Mani comes on board as Executive Creative Director at Commonwealth Mumbai Hub

    Rajesh Mani joins Commonwealth as ECD

    By A Correspondent

     

    Rajesh Mani has come on board Commonwealth as Executive Creative Director at the Mumbai office. Mr Mani has moved to Commonwealth from Leo Burnett and has 12 years of experience in creating distinct and memorable work.

     

    He co-created, with Rajiv Rao, the hugely popular Blackberry Boys version 1 and also wrote the much loved song for Blackberry Boys. He has also done some acclaimed films like Hutch callertunes, Vodafone 60P/minute film and was also part of the core team that launched the Zoozoos. His other internationally acclaimed work was for the global launch of Lenovo X300 laptops with a film that was showcased during the Beijing Olympics titled ‘The Flying Sumos’.

     

    Mr Mani, or Mani as he likes to be called, said: “Leo Burnett was a leap of faith. At Ogilvy, I worked on one of the best brands in the country, Vodafone. Commonwealth offered an exciting prospect of working on one of the biggest car brands in the world at a global level and a rare opportunity to interact and imbibe from the best in the business – Prasoon Joshi, Jeff Goodby, Linus Karlsson and Washington Olivetto. On a global platform like Commonwealth, it is important to understand the finer points of cross-cultural communication challenges and pegging ideas on simple human truths that are geography agnostic.”

     

    Prasoon Joshi said: “Am really pleased that Rajesh Mani is a part of Commonwealth. He has tremendous experience and talent which will further strengthen the operation. I am positive that Rajesh will be instrumental in creating and delivering stellar quality work.”

     

    Commonwealth is a first-of-its-kind 50-50 joint venture, combining San Francisco-based Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, an Omnicom Group company, and New York-based McCann Erickson Worldwide, an Interpublic Group company. In forming the joint venture, Commonwealth combines a wealth of creative talent, extensive global automotive experience and strategic business leadership that is unique in the industry.

     

     

  • The latest season of KBC is expected to commence by the end of August or beginning September with nearly 52 episodes and duration of 1.5 hours

    Sony rolls out 360-deg campaign for KBC’s Sept launch

    By A Correspondent

     

    Kaun Banega Crorepati is back, and with the tagline – ‘Sirf Gyaan Hi Aapko Aapka Haq Dilata Hai’. This year’s theme revolves around the power of knowledge. The campaign which has been conceptualized by Leo Burnett will have four TVCs, each of which have a different story to tell. Two of the commercials are already on air, the second TVC was aired on July 26, the third TVC will be aired by next week and the fourth TVC will be aired around August 10.

     

    This year’s campaign is said to be an extension of KBC’s previous two seasons, namely, ‘Koi Bhi Sawaal Chhota Nahi Hota’ and ‘Koi Bhi Insaan Chhota Nahin Hota’. The idea is about giving the audience a hope irrespective of their circumstances and the discrimination they faced, and that through KBC they will be able to get their due.

     

    A 360 degree campaign will be rolled out wherein nearly 40 per cent of the marketing budget would be skewed towards cinema and television; 30 per cent will be spent on Out-of-Home and Print campaigns and the remaining 30 per cent will be spent on Digital, Radio and other BTL activities.

     

    Following the television commercials, by mid-August, digital and other media campaigns will also be aired. The details of the campaigns were not known at the time of filing the report; however it is learnt that Sony wants to create a different user experience for the online users through its digital campaigns.

     

    While the execution of the digital campaign is said to be completely different from television commercials, the story and the theme of the campaign will continue to be the same across media vehicles. OOH campaign for KBC also promises to be highly innovative and engaging to the audience. WhileMedia Circleis the OOH creative agency, Leo Burnett is the creative agency and OMD is the media agency for Sony Entertainment Television.

     

    The latest season of KBC is expected to commence by the end of August or beginning September with nearly 52 episodes and duration of 1.5 hours. In addition to this, KBC 2012 is said to have witnessed a record 1.5 crore registration in the phase I of the campaign as compared to 46 lakh registrations last year. In fact, last season KBC is said to have received an average TVR of 4.8 per cent. Cadbury is the presenting sponsor of KBC 2012, powered by Idea.

     

    Danish Khan, Senior Vice President and Marketing Head, SET said: “This year’s KBC campaign celebrates the power of knowledge. Our brief to Leo Burnett was to bring this thought alive with real people in real context. The campaign’s philosophy is a common man’s philosophy and is relevant to today’sIndia. The campaign thought captures the value of the show. We aim to reach out to a larger set of audience and provide common man a unique chance to change his destiny.”

     

    Nitesh Tiwari, National Creative Resource, Leo Burnett, Mumbai said: “Having done two successful campaigns in the past – ‘Koi Bhi Sawaal Chhota Nahi Hota’ and ‘Koi Bhi Insaan Chhota Nahin Hota’, it wasn’t an easy task for me and my team to come up with something equally interesting, if not better.  The thought is delivered in its characteristic style, will pan out with four films each with a distinct story talking about the biases of gender, lineage and language, showcasing different characters and their situations in life that will engage, entertain and bring alive the core thought of this season.”

     

    Mr Anup Vishwanathan, Executive Vice President, Leo Burnett, Mumbai said: “The KBC campaign identifies with the hope that people have in them. And that’s the factor we wanted to leverage in our campaign. This also in sync with brand SET that is all about positive emotions.”