MxMIndia

Category: NEWS

  • MxM Mondays speaks to a cross-section of industrypersons on the issue…

    MxM Mondays: Can regional dailies withstand the pressure from national biggies?

     

    By Ananya Saha

     

     

    It’s not unusual that national dailies (or dailies which have a large footprint in the country) have tried to make a mark in markets where there have been strong, well-entrenched regional players. The Times of India, for instance, set up successfully in Bengaluru many years back, but found the story different with Deccan Chronicle in Hyderabad. In Chennai and Kolkata earlier, it did not outwit competition entirely, but was successful in shaking up the market.

    Earlier this month, the TOI group enterted the Bengali newspaper market, taking on the Ananda Bazar Patrika group in possibly the country’s most culturally aware market.

    But it is not about one newspaper group spreading its tentacles and the issue we are looking in MxM Mondays today is: Do regional newspapers have it in them to face the competition and clout of national newspapers. We spoke to a cross-section of industrypersons on the issue:

    (in alphabetical order of their last names)

     

    ?

     

    Anwesh Bose, Senior Vice President, DDB MudraMax Media

    Anwesh Bose

    The Times of India’s success in Bangalore has a lot to do with Bangalore evolving from a sleepy and quiet retirement paradise to a bulging at the seams metropolis. With Bangalore becoming a metropolis, the swell of urban to urban migration came prominently from Delhi and Mumbai wherein Times of India was already an established brand. The resident Bangalorean is still not satisfied without his Deccan Herald and coffee. Barring this example Times of India has not been able to create a significant dent among any other regional market. The trend of emergence of regional parties (Didi, Amma, Behenji, Nitish ji, Karuna ji, Mulayam ji, Patnaik ji, Abdulla ji, etc) who are calling the shots in the country also mirror the fact that not only are regional entities more relevant than they ever were but are here to stay & dominate. India as a country was, is & will remain to be culturally diverse and local will always be more prevalent than national. To conclude, Vijay Vani is already on its way to unseat the position of Vijay Karnataka… keep watching!

    Mitrajit Bhattacharya, President-Publisher, Chitralekha Group

    Mitrajit Bhattacharya

    I think we should not look at it from the individual brand point of view.

    It is actually more from the portfolio point of view from the groups, for example, the English traditional groups like the TOI are expanding into regional markets. Similarly, regional biggies are launching in English. ABP group has launched magazines and got licences for magazines like Fortune. The larger groups are getting larger, and are consolidating by having as many products to cover all the gaps in their portfolio. It is not as simple as saying that the regional biggies are outdoing the English biggies or the English biggies are outdoing the regional biggies.

     

    If you really look at the percentage of advertising which the English media garners vis-à-vis their readership, it’s totally lopsided compared to the regional media players. Now the thing is that even if the regional player has much larger readership, they still get much lesser advertising. This was the traditional format. It also happened in television. This format is changing and regional players with their smart marketing moves in the last five years have started garnering a lot more advertising than they used to get probably 5-10 years ago. That shift is happening and that shift will sharpen.

     

    Now there is another point. It is also happening because the tier 2 and tier 3 towns are becoming more and more critical in the marketing mix of most organisations. So when tier 2 and 3 cities become more important the regional players’ share of advertising is bound to go up.

     

    Manajit Ghoshal, MD & CEO, Midday Infomedia Ltd.

    Manajit Ghoshal

    I am a firm believer in the saying ‘Change is the only constant’. As much as some of our predecessors in the media would like us to believe that brand loyalty is sacrosanct (especially in newsprint reading habits), I beg to differ. Yes, newspaper reading is a habit-forming phenomenon, but like all other things, this is changing and it’s changing at an accelerating pace.

     

    The English print readers are migrating to digital. The newly educated in vernacular languages are adding to the regional language print readership, but these readers are going to be increasingly brand neutral. The regional newspapers have an increasingly older readership profile and these newspapers need to reinvent themselves if they are to appeal to the regional youth as they once appealed to their forefathers.

     

    Having said that, the national newspapers will have to spend huge sums of capital to break the iron grip that some of the regional newspapers have over their markets. The financial resources and the timelines required to do this is naturally an entry barrier and will give some breathing space to the regional newspapers to catch up, but not for long.

     

    The national newspapers have clearly realized that they cannot have ‘one size fits all’ type of content and are playing this round smartly by having increasingly localized content and are challenging the hyper-local content strategy of regional newspapers by playing their own game and beating the regional newspapers through bigger and better resources.

     

    It is up to the regional newspapers to invest in their brands and protect their turf, but the consolidation game has already started in right earnest and it might already be too late for them.

     

    Bharat Kapadia, Chairman, Whatuwant Solutions, and Founder at ideas@bharatkapadia.com

    Bharat Kapadia

    We do not have any real national newspaper in India. One shouldn’t confuse regional languages with regional papers. Among English language papers, TOI has done very well but it is 5-6 editions that are significant, and it just barely features in the top 10 read newspapers. TOI had started a Gujarati newspaper which they closed down. Their Maharashtra edition is growing well now. In Western countries, for example in the USA , Wall Street Journal will have a national presence but everywhere else it will be NY Times, LA Times Chicago Tribune and so on. There was no national newspaper till the time USA Today was launched!

     

    Speaking of the advertising trend, about 10 years ago, 70-80 percent of advertising went to English newspapers even when English newspapers had limited editions and readership. Today, this percentage stands has come down at less than 60 percent for English newspapers. Surprisingly DAVP also gives importance to English newspapers which as per their policy have to get 30 percent ads and at a premium. Hindi gets 35 percent and all the regional newspapers put together get 35 percent of their advertisements, which is ridiculous.

     

    However, the growth of tier II and III cities, and lower penetration of English (less than 5 percent) will result in advertising buck to follow the regional newspapers. Literacy levels are also rising. When the person gets literate, the chances are it will be in his/her own regional language. Hence, you see, unlike anywhere else in the world, regional newspapers are growing in India when it comes to readership and circulation.

     

    For me, it is definitely in favour of regional media for some time at least.

     

    Basant Rathore, Vice President-Strategy, Brand and BD, Jagran Prakashan Ltd

    Basant Rathore

    To my mind, there is no one national newspaper in India. There are papers that are available in various languages addressing individual markets and audience segments within each individual market.

     

    If we were to structure the print market, there are there are the South states, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab, West Bengal, Orissa, Assam and North East. Then we have the Hindi belt comprising UP, UT, Bihar, Jharkhand, MP, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Haryana, J&K, HP, Delhi, Rajasthan – this is by far the largest geographical belt, and the Hindi papers have the highest readership in India. Five of the Top 10 papers of India are in Hindi. The reach of any Hindi daily is 3.4 X of the next language – and this No 2 language is not English. Marathi and Malayalam dailies have a higher reach than English. So therefore, this entire segmentation of newspapers into National and Regional dailies has no basis.

     

    Over the last few years, there has been a significant amount of marketing attention shifting to the tier 2 and tier 3 markets. As benefits of development percolate down the tiers, interest in different geographies is increasing. Marketers want to reach out to a wider market and media that reach these markets are the natural choices. Therefore, these markets will have competition across sectors.

     

    Having said that, each newspaper has its own strengths, on the basis of which it competes. Today there are brand leaders in different languages and different geographies – all of them have a connect with their readers and their marketing strategies are something that are customized based on the individual market conditions. So when a brand which operates in a particular geography launches the brand in another market, to my mind, there is a level competitive playing field for all. Each brand would leverage its existing strength, and the reader chooses to buy the brand or brands he/she wants. So when a so-called “national newspaper” launches in a “regional stronghold” of another daily, it’s competition as usual. Eventually, the brand that strikes a better local cultural connect will win and just credentials alone aren’t enough to guarantee success.

     

     

     

    Anita Nayyar, CEO, Havas Media, India & South Asia

    Anita Nayyar

    The answer is: Yes and No, It depends (on the approach and method). Newspapers as a medium form a relationship and habit patterns with readers. Also here you don’t have a new one dropping in every day as it does in your inbox, so you open it once in a way.

     

    Culturally, India is diverse and its languages without the dialects are vast; 438 as per the Economist. IRS has consistently shown how the top five publications and dailies are not English. Tier 2 and 3 cities are new ports even for luxury brands with their old wealth and new-age entrepreneurs.

     

    Today marketing is getting more footprint-mandated and more segmented as brands are launching many sub-brands catering to these segments to increase revenue and market share. Print traditionally is sustained by this advertising. This is a climate all publications are very aware of. Growth is coming from regional markets, making the national biggies focus on these and in the process expand their footprint. Smaller towns are becoming welcome targets for brands and their consumption is leading to market expansions which are a welcoming sign for publications to reach and target.

     

    Hindustan Times (HT) when only in Delhi did not have the geographical reach and lost in advertising economies of scale to Times of India (TOI). Even the south-based Hindu has focused on increasing its Delhi readership as essential to command ad-rates and advertiser perception. So many major publications will use the strategy to go across and cross region; but readership will belong to those who are able forge either a relevant position or sufficient connect with the customer.

     

    TOI in Bangalore focused on the incoming new audience at the time of the IT boom, its inherent position of youthful and buzzing rendering a profitable mix with the upcoming economic and cultural mindset. The south, however, becomes complicated with its languages and dialects. In Hyderabad, TOI has not been able to penetrate the landscape to reach number 1 while local publications, even new ones launched like Sakshi, are doing well. Even the regional biggies have multiple editions to penetrate the cities, not such an easy infrastructure to follow.

     

    Anand Business Patrika’s Kolkata-based Telegraph has used a regional strategy in its expansion focusing on the east so it has established many roots to be severed before it is de-throned. Ei Samay in Kolkota has definitely made an impact with the shift of some of the editorial team, launch at 79 pages and TOI bundled add on packaging of Rs.150-Rs.200 making it most lucrative. But ABP too has responded in a way it has not done before, by dropping rates and being open to deals even in an approaching festive season when ad sales, down this year are expected to pick up.

     

    Yes, Hindu is the Mount Road Maha Vishnu, but TOI is the old lady of Bori Bunder and she did ‘awaken’ the Lord to an aggressive ‘Good Morning Chennai’; but also, she learnt, has muscle and a flexible attitude. The recent Kerala TOI launch with elephants was theatrical but then TOI does know how to get heard. It also knows how to get inventive, readers can save Rs 50 per month by subscribing to TOI and Mathrubhumi, packaging English and Malyalam, a good idea for a family speaking both. Also the old lady attracts innovation – the aromatic coffee newspaper with ‘Bru’ and ‘Hide & Seek’ or the newspapers with a voice by Volkswagen.

     

    Hence my answer, ‘Yes and No, It depends’. Either way neither national dailies nor regional biggies can afford to get complacent but will have to be aggressive, proactive and inventive to protect their territories or make the break-through, and it will be over time.

     

    Relevance is a very important factor here. Talk to me in my language and you become more relevant. Be present in my environment and you have more retention, customise to my needs and you find a place in my life and get a share of my wallet. This is what brands need to do irrespective of whether it is a publication or any other product category.

     

    PN Vasanti, Director, CMS India

    PN Vasanti

    I do not see the difference between regional and national biggies. There is no difference when it comes to tactics, strategies, and manoeuvring. It is only that regional newspapers have local advantage, which national newspapers miss. We are in competition era and in media space for next generation everybody will try to establish themselves. And survival of the fittest is going to matter. Everybody, hence, will try to launch as many products to see where they can survive and fit, and where they cannot.

     

    There will be competition. But where there is enough market potential, one will have to enter otherwise one would not be able to survive.

     

  • Mr Sinha will be CEO of IPG MediabrandsIndia, a new role created, with Initiative, BPN, Reprise and the outdoor company now reporting in to him, in addition to Lodestar UM, which he leads. Ms de Souza has decided to move on

    Shashi Sinha to be CEO, IPG Mediabrands. Lynn de Souza to turn ‘social entrepreneur’

    By A Correspondent

     

    Shashi Sinha

    It’s a decision that was seen coming ever since IPG Mediabrands formally entered India in March this year. The idea was to set up a more federal (and if we may add, Group M-like) structure with one CEO and a singular objective of growing marketshare, salience and the business.

     

    IPG Mediabrands was set up with two co-chairs in Shashi Sinha and Lynn de Souza. With more than 17 per cent marketshare, the group comprises: three media agencies – Lodestar UM, Initiative and the all-new BPN, Reprise, a jv with Interactive Avenues, Magna Intelligence and the outdoor business. Going forward, IPG Mediabrands Analytics will also be set up and the outdoor activity will see renewed vigour.

     

    Lynn de Souza

    Magna Intelligence was launched to further improve the group’s buying capabilities and IPG Mediabrands also brought its unique consumer panels to the market. With more than 16000 contacts in India alone, the consumer panels fuel proprietary tools such as Matrix.

     

    To lead this exciting journey, a new role of CEO of IPG Mediabrands India has been created with Mr Sinha playing that role. Initiative, BPN, Reprise and the outdoor company will all now report to him, in addition Lodestar UM, which he leads currently.

     

    According to a communiqué, this represents the commitment IPG Mediabrands has made to the Indian market, and also recognizes that Mr Sinha, an IPG veteran of over 20 years, has contributed greatly to that growth. He has rapidly expanded and developed Lodestar UM over the past six years, led the way for the foundation of many new offerings in the market, and has remained actively engaged in various industry forums. Currently, Mr Sinha is also the President of The Advertising Club.

     

    IPG veteran, Lynn de Souza, Chairman and CEO of Lintas Media Group and an active participant in the non-profit space for several years, has expressed her desire to become a social entrepreneur, the communique adds. “She will announce the launch of a pioneering new initiative for the development sector in early 2013,” it notes.

     

    MxMIndia learns that Ms de Souza has already proceeded on leave and will be back only on November 25 to work till the end of the month., and will be leaving IPG Mediabrands at the end of November. Mr Sinha has taken charge as CEO, with the various heads reporting into him from yesterday.

     

    Although there has been a buzz for a few weeks, even some of the top brass in the group agencies got a confirmation of the developments only on Monday. Mr Sinha was at his alma mater, the Indian Institute of Management in Bengaluru. He was only the 12th awardee of the ‘Distinguished Alumni Award’.

     

    Much reason to cheer for Shashi Sinha.

     

  • Recently, Vijayavani brought out a special 208-page supplement christened Anand Lokha with its Gangavathi edition, to mark the birthday of Shri Anand Singh, Karnataka's tourism minister and Bellary's 'in-charge' minister

    Vijayavani publishes a ‘colossal’ supplement

    By A Correspondent

     

    Recently, Vijayavani brought out a special 208-page supplement christened Anand Lokha with its Gangavathi edition, to mark the birthday of Shri Anand Singh, Karnataka’s tourism minister and Bellary’s ‘in-charge’ minister.

     

    The elaborate 208-page supplement, a record of sorts, consisted of 13 pages dedicated to Anand Singh’s achievements through his years in office.

     

    Vijayavani is the newest daily in Karnataka, launched by VRL Media Ltd. under the aegis of ‘logistics baron’ Anand Sankeshwar. It is the only daily in Karnataka to print all pages in colour, across all its nine editions in a span of just six months.

     

  • Christened iMusicSpace, the application brings 24X7 WorldSpace radio programmes to the TV set through the touch of a button on the remote

    WorldSpace Radio is back, via Airtel

    By A Correspondent

     

    Bharti Airtel has announced the comeback of Worldspace Radio as iMusicSpace on Airtel digital TV, the DTH service from the company. DTH customers can now listen to an extensive collection of latest and retro Hindi songs, popular ghazals and their favorite regional music channels on the new avatar radio. Customers can now enjoy 24X7 radio on their TV in their native dialect be it Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada or Telugu. Comprising of 12 channels including devotional and kids channels, iMusicSpace is now available to customers at an affordable cost of Rs 35 per month.

     

    Speaking on the launch, Shashi Arora, CEO- DTH/ Media, Bharti Airtel, said, “At Airtel, it’s been our constant endeavor to offer innovative, versatile, and interactive life enriching services to our customers that enhances their overall TV viewing experience. The launch of Worldspace Radio on Airtel was an industry first and we are ecstatic to re-launch the new and evolved iMusicSpace application today on Airtel Digital TV. This service is yet another step by Airtel towards making TV a wholesome entertainment package for customers and we look forward to our partnership with Timbre Media for the WorldSpace Radio service”.

     

    The service has been launched on the DTH platform in association with Saregama and Timbre Media whhich will jointly provide the content for the application.

     

    Mathewkutty Sebastian, CEO, Timbre Media, a company formed in 2010 by the erstwhile employees of WorldSpace India, said, “Timbre Media is happy to be able to offer Airtel DTH subscribers the music experience they enjoyed in the past on this platform, brought to them by the very same dedicated team of radio professionals who pioneered genre based programming in India for WorldSpace.”

     

    Airtel digital TV customers can easily access the application by just clicking the iTV button on their remote. The new channels include Magikbox – Kids, Shraddha – Devotional, Farishta – Retro Hindi, Falak – Ghazals, Sonar – Bengali, Umang – Gujarati, Surabhi – Marathi, Tunak – Punjabi, Thenisai – Tamil, Madhuri – Malayalam, Sparsha – Kannada and Spandana – Telugu.

     

    Saregama, formerly known as The Gramophone Company of India Ltd, owns the largest music archives in India. The ownership of nearly 50 per cent of all the music ever recorded in India makes Saregama the most authoritative repository of the country’s musical heritage. Saregama has now expanded into other branches of entertainment, and also runs studio facilities in Dum Dum, Kolkata.

     

    Timbre Media Pvt Ltd, set up in 2010 by a group of erstwhile employees of WorldSpace India Pvt Ltd, offers radio/music programming, sound packaging and studio services to platform owners in the DTH, Telecom, Internet and FM industry, and to corporate and retail clients. Headquartered in Bengaluru, Timbre Media specializes in genre-based radio programming in different languages and is the official licensee of the WorldSpace brand.

     

  • With the final round of 'Crack the Case' just two days away, the Dainik Bhaskar Group is all set to welcome the five finalist teams. The contest has received an overwhelming response with 340-plus registrations across organizations and top B-schools

    Dainik Bhaskar Group announces top 5 finalists for ‘Crack the Case’ contest

    By A Correspondent

     

    With the final round of ‘Crack the Case’ just two days away, the Dainik Bhaskar Group is all set to welcome the five finalist teams.

     

    This is the first time the group has created this opportunity for management students and the industry to provide a solution. The case study has received an overwhelming response with 340 plus registrations for the contest – across organizations such as Maxus, Rediffusion, Deloitte, Network 18 Media, O&M, IMRB, Titan, and HDFC, and from top B-schools like XLRI, IIM Bangalore and Kolkata.

     

    The five shortlisted teams for the final round are one each from leading media agency Maxus and renowned research firm IMRB International, two from IIM Bangalore and one from XLRI.

     

    Commenting on this venture, Sanjeev Kotnala, VP, Dainik Bhaskar Group said, “It was a difficult task to shortlist 5 from the lot, we found that a lot of entries have really made efforts to understand the business nuances of newspaper and have used secondary data beyond what was provided in the case. The final 5 made the cut after lot of debate within the Round 1 Jury. The jury placed extra focus on the logic and process of arriving at the decision than on the decision and presentation style. I do look forward to some interesting analysis and logic”.

     

    In the final round participants will have 20 minutes to present their solution in Mumbai on October 31st, to a jury which includes Prof. Seema Gupta from IIM Bangalore

     

    In the contest, participants are asked to suggest which new territory Dainik Bhaskar Group should address next, based on the case study by IIM Bangalore titled ‘Aspiring Growth’ focusing on the Maharashtra success of the Dainik Bhaskar group.

     

  • Jaldi 5 with Ankur Warikoo, CEO, Groupon India, on Crazeal.com’s first anniversary and the e-commerce explosion in India

    Jaldi 5 with Ankur Warikoo, CEO, Groupon India

    By Johnson Napier

     

    India has witnessed huge growth in e-commerce in the past one and a half years where customers online have been bombarded with innumerable offerings. But while many see the space as being crowded there are a few that are making a mark by way of their positioning. Like Crazeal.com, a portal that operates in the daily deals category space.

     

    As Crazeal.com celebrates a year of existence in India there are a lot of things that are going right for the portal like it has managed to sell more than 5 lakh deal vouchers and the fact that it has worked with more than 3000 unique merchants across the country.

     

    As it enters year two of operations, Ankur Warikoo, CEO, Groupon India is clear on the strategy to take the company far ahead. The strategy, he says, is to focus on the quality of deals as only then can it be in the business for a long time. “If you give the best quality of deals, customers will stay. We focus on one deal a day and make that special.” In an interaction with MxMIndia.com, Mr Warikoo says that Crazeal.com is in the market of products, travel and local services – and all three of them are growing at such a pace that for the next 1-2 years we are simply looking at consolidating base in the three.

     

     

    1 How inspirational has been the journey for Crazeal in India as it completed a year of existence in India recently?

    We entered the market just last year and have grown tremendously to reach the #1 rank in the daily deals category (as per ComScore data). We are experiencing super-normal growth quarter-on-quarter and repeat buying pattern of close to 50%. Additionally, we are recognized as the best destination for high quality deals, by our consumers, which is a fantastic achievement in just 12 months.

     

    We have attained this mark within one year of our existence in India because of the deal quality! Groupon globally works with the best merchants and offers the best deal structures to our customers, while solving business problems for the merchants. This has been the same philosophy India has worked on.

     

    We are strongly committed to the Indian market and are also launching our global robust technology to cater the needs of the merchants in India. The Merchant Center is an intelligent application that provides merchants a platform to evaluate and track their performance. The launch of this technological innovation in India will mark yet another milestone in our growth trajectory while setting unmatched global standards for the Indian e-commerce industry.

     

    2 How would you analyze your growth – both organic and inorganic, over the past year?

    I would like to present some key milestones:

    Featured more than 15,000 deals in 12 months

    Average transaction value highest in the category

    More than 5 lakh deal vouchers sold

    Worked with more than 3000 unique merchants across the country

    Sell a voucher once every 33 seconds

     

    3 The space has seen a sudden spurt in activity with a number of players stepping in with their offerings. How uniquely is Crazeal positioned among its competitive peers? 

    Competition is always healthy as it leads to the overall growth of the industry. For me, the real competition for Crazeal are other Groupon countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Hongkong. India has witnessed a huge growth in e-commerce in the past one and a half years and customers online have been bombarded with innumerable offerings. India became too crowded too soon and has been molded into a discount deal chasing set-up where merchants do not really understand how their businesses can benefit. The main objective of our channel is marketing. From day one, we have focused on having the right set of merchants on board. We start with city planning, doing merchant reviews followed by personal visits to experience what the merchant has to offer before closing the partnership deal eventually.

     

    4 Will you be laying more emphasis around marketing & promotions activity going forward? What is the budget that you have allocated for the same?

    Our strategy is to focus on the quality of deals as only then can we be in the business for a long time. If you give the best quality of deals, customers will stay. We focus on one deal a day and make that special. We are in the market of products, travel and local services – and all three of them are growing at such a pace that for the next 1-2 years we are simply looking at consolidating our base in the three.

    We will continue to entice consumers with our experiential marketing campaigns. For the birthday week we launched a special consumer campaign to surprise consumers with irresistible raffles every day. Up for grabs were 5gm Tanishq Gold Coins, iPads, Shoppers Stop gift vouchers, Sony Bravia- LED TV, Tata Nano and more.

     

    Previously, we have run ‘larger than life’ raffles including an all paid trip to Las Vegas for 2 at the Bellagio, and a free Harley Davidson bike which saw tremendous enthusiasm from consumers across the country.

     

    We recently hosted a special screening for Hollywood blockbusters – Spiderman and The Dark Knight Rises across 9 cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Jaipur, Chandigarh & Pune) and gave consumers and exclusive preview of our ad campaign. The special screening involved Crazeal team manning the ticket booking stalls, addressing the entire crowd before the start of the movie and steering on-ground activities to give them a flavor of Crazeal’s personalized services. Multiple on-ground touch points were also created to increase its brand presence and engage with consumers in a fun way. The tickets were priced at a 50% discount and the hall was booked exclusively for Crazeal consumers!

     

    Tell us a bit about your just-announced application Merchant Center. What is its USP?  

    As a commitment to the Indian market and to drive efficiency in operations, Crazeal has launched an intelligent application to provide merchants with a platform to evaluate and track their promotion performance.

     

    Each of our vouchers are bar-coded and have a unique QR code that helps merchants recognize customers who have bought their deal. It can also be done through our merchant mobile applications available on the iOS and Android platform.

     

    No internet company in India offers this kind of technology to their partners, free of cost!

     

    Merchant Center enables merchants to

    Track the number of vouchers their deal sells daily

    Check how many vouchers are redeemed in each of their outlets in different locations

    Get real time feedback from customers on their experience at the merchant’s outlet

    Determine how many customers would recommend the merchant to others

    Redeem the vouchers to enable their payments, on a real-time basis

     

    5 How do you see the e-commerce space panning out in the near future in India?

    Everyone is craving an eShare these days; corporates are looking at diverse product mix, merchants joining hands to offer strong value propositions and consumers shifting to online purchase for obvious reasons. This ePie surely has an opportune slice for all. And with 100 million internet users supporting the e-revolution, the total number of transactions in India is set to take a leap from the present 8-10 million to 40 million by 2015.

     

    The daily deal websites comprise India’s fastest growing web vertical. The coupon business is 16.5% of the total e-commerce audience in India, growing at the rate of 629 per cent with 7.6 million unique users a month in November 2011, as per comScore report. This clearly shows that Indian consumers who were earlier apprehensive about shopping online are now browsing more often to make high value purchases and avail experiential offers.

     

    Internet has played a silent but important role in giving a boost to India’s consumption story. With the advent of 3G, telecommunications and high mobile penetration, e-tailing in India has intensified closing many gaps between urban and rural consumer’s tastes, preferences and consumption patterns. Currently 60 percent of our sales come from six metros with remaining 40 per cent from non-metros. We see this trend catching up fast as consumers increasingly aspire to purchase brands and lifestyle products like never before.

     

    Tier I cities has already seen an explosion in travel and products related e-commerce. They will now witness the next big thing called local commerce. If one thinks of it, this new category is the most frequently consumed category in offline retail, which will now move to online.

     

    Tier 2 and 3 cities are lagging behind, but not in terms of growth. Products e-commerce has made major inroads driven by the ease of buying online and the massive assortment. Travel is following suit. However, local services might take some time as for that to develop as it requires a minimum number of high quality merchants to be present. With large restaurant chains now expanding and the food, wellness industry growing substantially there is a huge scope here.

     

  • The sports content provider giant reinforces its position as the ‘Home of Football’ with a stellar list of premium football events

    ESPN Star Sports scores with FA English football rights

    By A Correspondent

     

    ESPN Star Sports (ESS), Asia’s biggest sports content provider, has delighted football fans once again by securing exclusive broadcast rights for all Football Association (FA) Cup matches, The FA Community Shield and all Senior and Under-21 England Team home matches for the next six years until 2018 for the South Asia Region including India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Maldives, Bhutan and Nepal.

     

    The multimedia platform deal, which allows the content to be made available across television, internet and mobile, was made with international media rights company MP & Silva.

     

    Starting from November 3, ESS will begin broadcast of the first round of matches all the way up to the Final in May next year. Chelsea are currently the holders of the FA Cup but are likely to be challenged for the prestigious title by the other Premier League teams including Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City, among others.

     

    This latest agreement further strengthens ESS’ network as truly being the ‘Home of Football’ for the South Asia region, with an unbeatable list of the biggest football properties including the Barclays Premier League, the Spanish Liga BBVA as well as the Italian Serie A, whose exclusive broadcast rights were recently secured from MP & Silva.

     

    The FA Cup is recognised as the oldest and most famous domestic knockout competition, which traditionally begins in November and culminates with the final in May. It is also one of the most viewed football matches in terms of global television reach and the pinnacle of the English football calendar. The FA Community Shield is the English football season’s high-profile curtain raiser, held a week prior to the kick-off of the Barclays Premier League season in August and is played between the winners of The FA Cup and the Barclays Premier League from the previous season. The England national team will play approximately five games per season, including England’s home qualifiers for the FIFA 2014 World Cup in 2014, and England’s home friendly games until 2018.

     

  • Hansa Outdoor, part of the R K Swamy Hansa Group, conceived and created a billboard with a large cutout of an aircraft that has neon tubing around it, to announce Air Arabia’s festive VFR (Visiting Friends and Relatives) programme

    Aircraft cutout in Hansa’s new billboard for Air Arabia

    By A Correspondent

     

    Hansa Outdoor, part of the R K Swamy Hansa Group, conceived and created a billboard with a large cutout of an aircraft that has neon tubing around it, to announce Air Arabia’s festive VFR (Visiting Friends and Relatives) programme.

     

    Hansa Outdoor also created billboards that can be seen on the Western Express Highway, Mahim causeway, Worli, Peddar Road and near the Santa Cruz domestic airport.

     

    Tyronne Devdros, Vice President, Hansa Outdoor, said, “Over the last three years of our association, we are constantly looking for new ways to highlight Air Arabia’s offering, and this is one of the innovations.”

     

  • With big-budget marketing spends, attractive offers and easy payment options woo on offer, is it a customer’s Diwali this year?

    This Diwali, spend some more!

     

    By Tuhina Anand

     

    Come festive season and the consumer durable giants go all out to woo their prospective customers. After all, this is the time when consumers are amenable to the idea of getting that new refrigerator or purchase that LCD notwithstanding the dreaded economic slowdown or high inflation. All the leading players in this segment have worked out elaborate plans to get customers to opt for their brand and spending mega bucks to seeing their plan materialize and reap in benefits.

     

    LG India has planned big budget spends on marketing to attract customers this festive season. Giving a peek at their plans, L K Gupta, Vice President, Marketing LG India, said, “This festival season we are offering a true 0% finance scheme on selected products to encourage consumers to upgrade to latest products and enhance their lifestyle. There are many other exciting combo offers like BD blu ray player+ 3 3D movies with Cinema screen 3D TV, another offer is 3D camcorder & 8GB USB with 55 & above Cinema screen 3D TV, 3D blockbuster movies in 8GB USB with Cinema 3D TV and many more exciting offers . In the Home Appliance Category LG is offering 10 years warranty on the compressor of the select models of Refrigerators. This offer is also valid on the motor of front load and selects models of top load washing machine.”

     

    So there is a mix of attractive offers like exciting combos and then finance schemes to woo customers. Sony India has allocated a budget of Rs 150 crore (Sep-Nov 12) towards marketing activities for this festive season. In fact, the company is expecting revenue of Rs. 2,850 crore, during the period of September and November 2012 period from the Indian market and hopes to achieve 50% sales growth over last year’s festive sales. These numbers were shared by Kenichiro Hibi, Managing Director, Sony India.

     

    Sony India has introduced an extravagant lucky draw for its consumers- This Diwali Bond with Sony. Sony’s has tied-up with Sony Pictures Entertainment for the much awaited James Bond action thriller – Skyfall as a part of its marketing initiative for the festive season. Besides, attractive offers and innovative products, Sony India has a dedicated multi-media marketing campaign for its flagship product category. The campaign has been created keeping in mind the flavour and zest of the Indian festive season. This campaign is on-air from mid October till end of November, 2012.

     

    To top it all, to ensure that all the offers are even lighter on the customer’s pocket, the payment procedure is made convenient and affordable by Zero Percent Finance Offer and Zero Processing Fee. Sony is offering attractive EMI offers on Select Credit Cards as well. Some of the popular Sony products line up that has offers include- Cyber-Shot, VAIO and Bravia. These products also make for a great gifting option.

     

    For another consumer durable major Samsung, it is focusing on ‘smart home celebrations’ for this festive. The company is targeting around 25% growth for the festival season and there are gifts with the purchase of Samsung audio visual and home appliance products.

     

    “Smart Home Celebrations” offers attractive gifts on the purchase of Samsung audio visual and home appliance products. Mahesh Krishnan, Vice President, Consumer Electronics Business, Samsung India said, “It is our endeavor to make the auspicious festive season even more special for our consumers by giving them exciting gifts with their purchase of a Samsung product. The gifts available to consumers range from Samsung tablets for our hi-end Series 7 and 8 in Smart TVs and select Side by Side refrigerators to mobiles for select Home Appliance products.”

     

    The consumer promotion and Samsung’s innovative product range will be supported with a multi-media advertising campaign as well as below the line marketing activities during the auspicious period of Durga Puja and Diwali.

     

    “Based on our strong product lineup and festival offers, we are looking at a 25% jump in sales during the festival period,” said Mr. Krishnan. The Samsung ‘Smart Home Celebrations’, promotion is valid from October 01 till November 30, 2012 nationwide, and for West Bengal, Orissa, Assam and North Andhra Pradesh from September 29 till November 18, 2012.

     

    There are offers that include that in the Home Appliances category, the Samsung Side-by-Side refrigerators will entitle consumers to a free Galaxy Tab 7.0, while on the purchase of frost free and direct cool refrigerators, front and top loading washing machines, or the Samsung dishwasher, the Company will give away a free Samsung mobile phone. On the purchase of 46″ and above size Samsung Smart LED/ Plasma TV models in Series 7 and 8 will entitle consumers to a Galaxy Tab 7.0 and an 11 by 1 easy consumer finance scheme. So offers are in plenty that is sure to appeal to the customers.

     

    Panasonic India is betting big on this festive season and has rolled out a range of special offers under its nationwide campaign ‘Celebrations for Life’. These offers announced by Panasonic in presence of their Eco brand ambassador Dia Mirza promises assured gifts for consumers looking for new purchases to commemorate the spirit of festivity. Panasonic is confident that this appealing campaign will play a big role in lifting the dampening sentiments created in the consumer durable space throughout the year with rupee depreciation and price hike.

     

    Daizo Ito, President, Panasonic India said, “It is well known that no other country holds so many festivals of antiquity with such joy as does India and this is what makes it a great nation. Panasonic is committed to the Indian market and that buying new products during this time is considered auspicious. Thus we are announcing a variety of consumer schemes and offers on purchase of a wide range of products.”

     

    Manish Sharma, Managing Director, Consumer Product Division, Panasonic India too added, “As the season of celebrations is about to start, we at Panasonic India are delighted to add to the festive spirit with several enthralling schemes for our customers. We have announced various offers so that our consumers can enjoy the festivities with the latest Panasonic offerings in a pocket-friendly manner. Through these offers, we are targeting a turnover of Rs. 1200 crores nationally this festive season.”

     

    As part of channel support programme during festive celebrations, Panasonic has also designed special offers that will enable channel to get maximum benefits from Panasonic products.

    Whirlpool of India has unveiled its festival promotion called ‘A Kitchen In Your Honour’. The consumer promotion for the festive period promises to give real value to its consumers and is expected to generate excitement and a heightened desire to purchase Whirlpool products during the festival season. Apart from a gift on every purchase, the consumer will also be entitled to a scratch card through which 1200 lucky customers stand a chance to win Whirlpool kitchen appliances. Additionally, the company is also offering a bumper prize of Kitchen makeover worth Rs 2.5 lakh to fuve lucky customers. Further enhancing the festive spirits, Whirlpool has also introduced new products and giving away gifts. The Diwali promotion and the newly launched products will be supported in print and radio and through a host of innovative activities such as OOH, Digital and Outdoors. The total advertising and marketing spend earmarked for the Diwali promotion this year is in the range of Rs 10-12 crore.

    Commenting on Whirlpool’s offers during the festival season, Shantanu Dasgupta, Vice President- Corporate Affairs & Strategy, Whirlpool India said, “Whirlpool believes in  understanding and launching  innovative products, which would delight our consumers, thus this festive season, we are happy to launch ‘A Kitchen In Your Honour’ promotion for all our customers.  Our new premium range of products has been specially designed keeping in mind the needs of a homemaker.  We intend to give our consumers best in class products and offers that would bring magic to their homes this Diwali. The brand is targeting a growth of 20% over last year and aims for sales of around 900 crores during this festive season.”

    So there are deals galore and attractive offers thus enticing the consumers to get that bigger screen or the better camera. So get ready to loosen your purse strings this festive season.

     

  • The internet radio platform is getting ready to launch the special interest paid channel.

    Now a Lesbian & Gay radio station from Radiowalla

    By Ananya Saha

     

    Internet radio is increasingly gaining prominence in India, but special interest channels are still limited. Internet radio service – Radiowalla has been aiming to provide a service that offers a variety of special interest-internet radio channels that indulge niche audiences worldwide. The service that launched in April 2012 globally, boasts of offering Internet audio channels (music and non-music).

     

    In a conversation with MxM India, Radiowalla recently announced that it will be launching a ‘gay and lesbian’ station on its platform. On the initiative, Anil Srivatsa, Co-Founder and CEO of Radiowalla, said, “The gay and lesbian community is almost 30 million of the population in India. Is there a representation in any media for them? I wish to create a special interest channel for them.”

     

    “There are so many pet lovers in the country. And they want access to information on how they can take care of their pets. And they are willing to pay for it if I give them expert advice. Today, the mainstream media is not representing these special interest groups,” said Srivatsa.

     

    Srivatsa aims to make his internet radio channel an instrument to amplify passion, whether it be classical music or gay and lesbian community channel. “The gay and lesbian community has a need to belong, a passion to be mainstream but they do not have a voice among themselves,” he opined.

     

    The channel will broadcast music and non-music programmes. The 24/7 channel will be subscription based, and will not depend heavily on advertisers. On the advertisers that might shy from coming on the channel, Mr Srivasta said, “While I want advertisers, my content creation will not depend on the monies from advertisers. I prefer my revenues from paid-on-demand.”

     

    Going forward, the internet radio plans to introduce a Muslim station as well.

     

     

  • The third season of the ground event will have 20 teams battling it out for the top position and a prize money of Rs 1,00,000.

    MiD DAY is back with 3rd season of corporate soccer championship

    By A Correspondent

     

    The tabloid newspaper MiD DAY has launched the 3rd season of its MiD DAY Corporate Soccer Championship. The third season of the ground event will have 20 teams battling it out for the top position and a prize money of Rs. 1,00,000/-. Also 1 player will get a chance to win the prestigious Golden Boots Award along with cash prize of Rs.20000/-.

     

    Registration fee is set at Rs. 15,000 per team for the tournament and matches are scheduled to be held on 03rd and 04thNovember, 2012. These matches will be held at Western Railway Ground, Lower Parel. Apart from the prestigious trophy of supremacy, the winner will also get a prize money of Rs. 1,00,000/- whereas the runner-up will get Rs. 50,000/- and the winner of the Golden Boots will receive Rs. 20,000/-.

     

    Organizations like HDFC Bank, Bigtree,Serco Global Services,Standard Chartered Bank, British Airways World Cargo, NCO India Pvt Ltd, Xoriant Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Hutchinson Global Services PVT LTD, TATA Consultancy Services and many more will compete for the top position of MiD DAY Corporate Soccer Championship 2012.

     

     

    Speaking on the launch of the 3rd season of MiD DAY Corporate Soccer Championship, MiD DAY Infomedia Limited MD & CEO Manajit Ghoshal said, ““MiD DAY Corporate Soccer Championship is back with another season giving the corporate executives a quintessential break from their hectic schedule. Also MiD DAY is committed in engaging its core target audience,i.e, the Young professionals of the city through such initiatives. The best of the corporate world will be on show and all are invited to witness the football frenzy.”

  • Nickelodeon’s recently launched new show Motu Patlu in its bid to get kids hooked onto its second home-grown animated show has started its on-ground initiatives and promotional campaign.

    Nickelodeon’s Motu Patlu engage kids through innovative promotions

    By A Correspondent

     

    Nickelodeon’s recently launched new show Motu Patlu in its bid to get kids hooked onto its second home-grown animated show has started its on-ground initiatives and promotional campaign.

     

    Apart from Motu Patlu being the top priority for promotions on the network, the campaign will ensure optimal reach though an extensive media bouquet that includes various on-ground activities and strategic promotional partnerships.

     

    The retail sector sees a huge increase in consumers in the festive season of Dussehra and Diwali. The campaign will make most of this though its partner Pantaloons and be actively present across 18 Pantaloons outlets in Mumbai and Delhi to ensure maximum brand visibility.

     

    In an attempt to be present everywhere kids are, Nickelodeon has also tied-up with exclusive gaming outlet – Timezone. Here kids can participate in the Motu Patlu contest through the Kiosk’s at Timezone and also sample the show, while they win cool Motu Patlu merchandise.

     

    Making the consumer ‘Eat, Drink, Sleep’ the brand has been taken literally, as Motu Patlu’s Signature dish Chole Bhature will be available and promoted across Bombay Blue outlets in Mumbai. Kids can also engage with the interactive Motu Patlu tray mats at all the outlets. Promotions will also be a part of the on-going Nickelodeon workshops at Hobby Ideas where kids will be exposed to the unique flavour of the show while they participate in ‘Art Jam’ workshops and bring out their creative side by making Motu Patlu chocolate boxes and more. The activity spans across 5 cities and over 7 centres.

     

    Commenting on the innovative marketing strategy, Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Executive Vice President & Business Head, Sonic and Nickelodeon India says, “This experiential marketing campaign brings alive Motu Patlu, engaging kids through innovative initiatives at multiple touch-points. Our unconventional campaign connects with kids and reaches out to them wherever they are. Thus, tangibilizing and creating awareness for Motu Patlu.”

     

    It was essential that the campaign focused on the width as well as depth through its media. Hence, while a lot of efforts have been made to target the urban kids, the smaller towns are not too far behind. Nickelodeon has planned engagements through Van Activations in over 30 towns like Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Agra, Mathura, etc. in Uttar Pradesh and Gwalior, Khandwa, Indore, Ratlam, Bhopal, Jabalpur, etc. in Madhya Pradesh. Kids can enjoy Motu Patlu games and watch the episodes while wining Nickelodeon merchandise. The Van Activation has been designed to give kids the right flavour of the show and make show and its characters familiar with the kids.

     

    To ensure the right connect with the tech-savvy generation Nickelodeon has also launched Motu Patlu’s official website – Motupatlu.in. The site will host a strong content mix that includes numerous Motu Patlu games, contests, download-ables and a lot more. In addition, motupatlu.in will also be promoted through a comprehensive digital campaign that entails banners on kid gaming websites, video banners and innovative rich media banners that allows the users to interact on the banner itself. The show will also be promoted on Nick India’s official page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/nickindia) and on twitter @nicktvindia.

     

    As a part of the ATL promotions, Motu Patlu will also be promoted across various General Entertainment Channels and print advertisements in leading comics. Adding yet another innovation to this home-grown animated show, Nickelodeon has roped in legendary lyricist Gulzar to create a title track composed by acclaimed musician Sandesh Shandiliya and sung by renowned singer Sukhwinder Singh. The title track of the awesome twosome’s jodi will be played on all radio stations across Mumbai and Delhi and several other cities in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

     

    Motu is aired every day at 6.30pm on Nickelodeon.