MxMIndia

Category: NEWS

  • Which are the most popular FM stations among women? MxMIndia shifts focus on women listenership trends in the four RAM (Radio Audience Measurement) – Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Kolkata.

    RAMcheck: What women listen to…

    By A Correspondent

     

    Which are the most popular FM stations among women? MxMIndia shifts focus on women listenership trends in the four RAM (Radio Audience Measurement) – Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Kolkata. The data consists of women who are 12 years of age and above, all places of listening from WK 47, 2011 to WK 6, 2012. The most popular FM stations among women in the four metros are Radio Mirchi, Radio City, Big FM, Red FM and Fever FM.

     

    Delhi:

    Fever FM is the most popular FM station among Delhi women listeners, followed by Radio Mirchi, AIR FM2 Gold, Red FM and Radio City – the top five FM stations for women in Delhi. The listenership share of Fever FM has in fact moved slightly higher on Wk 3 to Wk 6 as compared to Wk 47 to Wk 50. The top five FM stations in the city have managed to sustain their listenership rankings from wk 47 to 50, 2011 to Wk 3 to 6, 2012. The other FM stations in the city are Big FM, Radio One, Oye! FM, Hit FM, AIR FM1 Rainbow, Vividh Bharati and Akashvani.

     

    Mumbai:

    For the women listeners in the commercial capital, Radio Mirchi is the numero uno FM station, at least in terms of station share. Radio City is the second most popular FM station among the women listeners of Mumbai followed by AIR FM2 Gold which is ranked three. The other two FM stations in the top five category are Fever FM and Big FM, which are ranked four and five respectively. While these top five radio stations have received a double digit listenership share, the other FM stations in the city are Red FM, Radio One, Oye! FM, Vividh Bharati, AIR FM1 Rainbow and Akashvani.

     

    Bengaluru:

    The Bengaluru women listen to Radio City the most. Radio City has maintained its leadership position among women listeners from Wk 47 to Wk 50, 2011 to Wk 3 to Wk 6, 2012. Ranked second is Radio Mirchi followed by Big FM, the third most popular FM station of the city. Ranked four and five are Red FM and AIR FM1 Rainbow. The top four FM stations have infact witnessed their share per cent in double digits. The other FM stations in the Bengaluru market are Radio One, Fever FM, Radio Indigo, AIR FM1 Vividh Bharati, Akashvani and Gyan Vani.

     

    Kolkata:

    Radio Mirchi is clearly the most popular FM station for Kolkata women. The FM station has maintained a significant lead in the city with 25 per cent of the market share as on Wk 3 to Wk6, 2012. Its nearest rival in Kolkata is Big FM with a share of 17.2 per cent followed by Friends FM with 13.5 per cent of the share. Aamar FM and Red FM are ranked four and five with a share of 10 per cent and 9.5 per cent respectively. The other FM stations in the city are Fever FM, Oye! FM, Radio One, Power FM, AIR FM2 Gold, AIR FM1 Rainbow, Vividh Bharati, and Akashvani.

     

  • Radio City, Radio Mirchi, Big FM, Red FM, Fever FM, Radio One, Oye! FM were some of the top FM stations in the big four metros.

    RAMcheck: No changes in top rankings in four metros

    By A Correspondent

     

    On Friday, January 6, 2012, Radio Audience Measurement (RAM) – which covers four key metros, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bengaluru – released its latest radio listenership figures for Wk 43-46 (last two weeks of October and 1st two weeks of November 2011) Vs Wk 47-50 (Last two weeks of November and 1st week of December 2011).

     

    According to the latest RAM data, for listeners of 12 years and above, and according to radio channel shares, Radio City, Radio Mirchi, Big FM, Red FM, Fever FM, Radio One, Oye! FM were some of the top FM stations in the big four metros.

     

    Mumbai:

    In Mumbai,Radio City further strengthened its leadership position in Wk 47-50 as against Wk 43-46 with a growth of 3.92 per cent in its channel shares. Radio Mirchi was rated the second most popular FM station in terms of channel shares followed by AIR FM2 Gold, Fever FM, Big FM, Red FM and Radio One. The other clusters of FM stations in the city are Oye! FM, Vividh Bharati, AIR FM1 Rainbow and Akashavani Mumbai.

     

    Besides Radio City, Red FM, Radio One, Oye! FM, AIR FM1 Rainbow, Vividh Bharati and Akashavani Mumbai are the only radio stations to have shown growth.

     

     

    Delhi:

    Most radio stations inDelhiwitnessed growth in the channel shares in Wk 47-50 as against Wk 43-46. AIR FM2 Gold emerged as the number one FM station inDelhi, its channel share however remained stagnant. Fever FM slipped to the number two position in Wk 47-50 after its channel share saw a decline as compared to Wk 43-46. Fever FM and AIR FM1 Rainbow were the only two FM stations inDelhito have seen a decline in channel shares on Wk 47-50 as against Wk 43-46.

     

    Radio Mirchi was the third most popular FM station followed by Red FM, Radio City, Big FM, Radio One, and Oye! FM. The other clusters of radio stations inDelhiinclude AIR FM1 Rainbow, Hit FM, Vividh Bharati and Akashavani Delhi.

     

     

    Bengaluru:

    There was no change in the station rankings in Bengaluru.Radio City continued to lead Bengaluru followed by Radio Mirchi and Big FM. While Radio City showed neither growth nor decline in its channel share, Radio Mirchi and Big FM saw marginal growth. Fever FM, however, was the only FM station that showed decline in its channel shares.

     

     

    Kolkata:

    Kolkata too saw no change in its station rankings. Radio Mirchi, Big FM, Friends FM, Aamar FM and Red FM were the top five FM stations in Kolkata in terms of their channel shares. Radio Mirchi, the most popular FM station in Kolkata has further strengthened its leadership position with a growth of 1.75 per cent in channel shares in Wk 47-50 as compared to Wk 43-46.

     

    While Radio Mirchi’s nearest rival in Kolkata, Big FM came a distant second with a slight decline of 0.59 per cent in terms of its channel share, the third most popular FM station in Kolkata, Friends FM remained stagnant. Besides Radio Mirchi, Fever FM, Oye! FM and Radio One were the only private FM stations in Kolkata to have witnessed growth in channel shares.

     

  • According to RAM (Radio Audience Measurement), the OOH listeners include listenership in cars, at work and other out of home places

    RAMcheck: Most popular FM stations heard out of home

    By A Correspondent

     

    Unlike our regular RAMcheck reports which didn’t differentiate between any places of listening, this time MxMIndia decided to concentrate exclusively on radio channels’ out of home (OOH) listenership. According to RAM (Radio Audience Measurement), the OOH listeners include listenership in cars, at work and other out of home places. TAM Media’s Radio Audience Measurement from week 40-43, 2011 to week 52- 3, 2012 reveals the most popular FM radio station out of home. RAM is currently present in four metros – Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Kolkata.

     

    Mumbai:

    According to the RAM data for OOH listenership, the top five FM stations for Mumbaikars are Radio Mirchi, Big FM, Radio City, Fever FM and Red FM, excluding the government-owned AIR FM2 Gold. The radio stations, from week 40- 43, 2011 to week 52 to 3, 2012, have not seen much variation in their channel shares.

     

    Delhi:

    In Delhi AIR FM2 Gold is the most popular FM station followed by Fever FM, a strong number two in OOH listenership share. While the number one and two slots have a clear position in OOH listenership, there is no clear winner for the number three position. There is a close fight for number three position between Radio Mirchi, Radio City and Red FM. However in Wk 52′ 2011 to Wk 3′ 2012, both Radio Mirchi and Red FM received 12.4 per cent station share whereas Radio City received a station share of 11.1 per cent. The other FM stations in the Delhi market include Big FM, Radio One, Oye!FM, Hit FM, AIR FM1 Rainbow, Vividh Bharati and Akashavani Delhi.

     

    Bengaluru:

    Radio Mirchi is the number one FM station in Bengaluru followed by Radio City, Big FM, Red FM and Radio One. Between Wk 40- 43, 2011 to Wk 52, 2011-Wk 3, 2012 the radio channel share for Radio Mirchi was at its peak in Wk 40 -43, 2011 with a share of 23.1 per cent. Radio City, the second most popular FM station in OOH listenership, was also at its peak in wk 40 – 43, 2011 with 21.2 per cent share. However in week 52, 2011 – Week 3, 2012 the station share for Radio Mirchi dropped to 22 per cent whereas Radio City’s share was 18.9 per cent. The other clusters of FM stations in Bengaluru are Fever FM, Radio Indigo, AIR FM1, Vividh Bharati, AIR FM1 Rainbow, Gyan Vani and Akashavani Bengaluru.

     

    Kolkata:

    Kolkata has a clear number one and number two FM stations in Friends FM and Radio Mirchi. Ranked third is Red FM. The gap between the top three FM stations is significant. While Friends FM received a market share of 23.4 per cent in Wk 52, 2011 – Wk 3, 2012, the same week saw Radio Mirchi receive just 18.3 per cent market share and Red FM receive 12.4 per cent share. The other clusters of FM stations in Kolkata are Fever FM, Aamar FM, Air FM2 Gold, Oye! FM, AIR FM1, Rainbow, Radio One, Power FM, Akashavani and Vividh Bharati Kolkata.

     

  • Is FM radio losing out? Media agencies have their say.

    RAMcheck: Media agencies on new FM listenership numbers

    By Robin Thomas

     

    The latest RAM data on radio listenership for the month of September to mid-October has thrown up a few surprises in radio listenership. New leaders have emerged in cities that were once strongholds of their rivals. Barring Kolkata where Radio Mirchi continues its leadership position, the remaining three markets – Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru have new No. 1s.

     

    Take Mumbai for instance, once a Radio Mirchi bastion, the latest RAM figures (category: all people 12+, all places of listening, shares) show Radio City as the number one private FM station in the city, slightly ahead of Radio Mirchi. However this time (i.e. week 38-42, 2011) Radio City had to share the No. 1 slot with the government owned FM radio – AIR FM2-Gold. Bengaluru where Big FM held its number one status for a very long time is now overthrown by Radio City. In Delhi Fever FM has become number one taking over from AIR FM2- Gold, Radio Mirchi which was number one in the city for very long time has slipped to number three position. These figures are according to RAM, All People 12+, all places of listening and all daypart (i.e. Sunday to Saturday 12 am to 12 am).

     

    In addition to these developments we find that when we compare week 35- week 38, 2011 (last week of August to 1st three weeks of September, 2011) and week 39- week 42, 2011 (Last 2 weeks of September and 1st two weeks of October, 2011) not all FM stations have witnessed growth in their listenership. When asked whether FM stations have reached a stagnation point in listenership, Mr Janardhan Pandey, Associate VP, Mudra Max explained, “It has not reached a stagnation point, but a period of stabilization. To further increase listenership, FM stations will have to take the quality of content and programming to the next level along with higher-level product promotions.”

     

    Mr Ajay Rao, Vice President, Dentsu observed, “FM stations do not have novelty working for them any more. It is today a force of habit for people who find themselves without a smartphone to keep them going. For the young people FM is losing out to other more engaging past times. Can one differentiate basis the content? Listeners tune in for music and switch channels during breaks.”

     

    AIR FM2- Gold which has been growing strong in listenership particularly in Mumbai and Delhi where it has emerged as a strong number two contender. What remains to be seen is whether this trend continues or will it see a decline or stagnation in listenership. Media planners are however of the view that since AIR FM2- Gold offer only specific contents it is not considered as often as the private stations. Mr Narendra Kumar Alambara, Vice President, Starcom Chennai was of the view that, “Since the entertainment content is limited in AIR, the advertisers do not consider AIR as often as compared to the private stations.”

     

    “AIR FM- Gold has been consistently delivering impressive numbers, this suggest that the music is most important content of a radio station and RJ/ innovations and promotions alone cannot keep you on top,” said Mr Janardhan Pandey.

  • It has been more than a week since newspaper distribution in Kerala has come to a stop due to demands from the Newspaper Agents & Distributors Association.

    KAAA asks govt to end Kerala newspaper distribution impasse

    By A Correspondent

     

    Continuing with the situation that has been created by the newspapers vendors in Kerala, T Vinay Kumar, President, Kerala Advertising Agencies Association (KAAA) has addressed the issue. In a letter to its members he has mentioned how the strike has affected the advertising agencies and the loss of considerable amount of business in the last one week.

     

    As both the parties including the vendors and the publisher cartel being adamant with no signs of issue being resolved, KAAA has been left with no option but to interfere to safeguard its interests, and has made a statement in mainline dailies requesting the CM and the involved parties to take a stand to end this impasse.

     

    They have also planned a symbolic distribution of newspapers near Ernakulam Public Library today (March 29), followed by a meeting in front of the residence of Justice VR Krishna Iyer who will share his views on solving the issue.

     

    It has been more than a week since newspaper distribution in Kerala has come to a stop with Newspaper Agents & Distributors Association demanding 50 percent commission of the cover price of the newspaper, pension, medical insurance, extra payment for advertising supplements, and stoppage of inserts, among other things. The Hindu, Mathrubhumi and Malayala Manorama have vehemently opposed these demands while Indian Express has agreed to 40 percent commission.

     

  • Tata Motors' main aim behind this campaign is to make both personal and commercial segment consumers aware that there is an all-new Sumo variant (Sumo Gold) with a new, powerful CR4 engine.

    DDB Mudra Max OOH takes Tata Sumo Gold pan India

    By A Correspondent

     

    DDB Mudra Max OOH carried a pan-India Out of Home (OOH) campaign for Tata Motors latest car- Tata Sumo Gold. The out of home campaign had commenced on February 28, 2012 and will conclude by the end of March, 2012. While the creative message of the campaign was ‘The Most Powerful Engine Ever’, its target audience are SEC A, B, those in the early 30s and living in the semi-urban and rural areas. The OOH campaign for Tata Sumo Gold is a pan India campaign spread over 200 plus markets. The OOH media vehicles used in each city were – Bill Boards, Unipoles, WallWraps, Walls for Paintings and BQSs.

     

    According to the brief from Tata Motors, the main aim behind launching this campaign is to make both personal and commercial segment consumers aware that there is an-all new Sumo variant (Sumo Gold) with a new, powerful CR4 engine. It allows Sumo Gold to take on different (rough and tough) terrain with ease.

     

    Since most of Tata Sumo’s TG is said to live in the semi-urban centres and that they mainly travel to outside the city to work, one of the strategies was to project Tata Sumo Gold as the vehicle that is adaptable to all kinds of roads and any circumstances. Hence whether it is travelling through difficult and bad roads, small lanes, traffic jams bad patches and other extreme situations, Tata Sumo Gold helps one travel with ease.

     

     

    Locations such as major entry and exit points, national highways, railway stations, religious destinations, bus stands, taxi stands etc were incorporated so as to reach the potential customers at all possible touch-points. For markets where OOH options were not available, Wall-Wraps and Wall painting were done to increase the reach. Cut-outs and LEDs were also installed in various markets to further enhance the appeal of the campaign.

     

    Ashesh Dhar, Head-Utility Product Group, Tata Motors said, “The new Tata Sumo Gold is a result of extensive consumer studies and field tests. The product has been designed to fulfill various requirements, long-awaited by the new generation customer. At the heart of every Tata Sumo Gold, lies a growling engine that thumps out vicious power. The Tata Sumo Gold goes a step ahead in putting the reins of power in the customer’s hands that suits his driving experience, delivering the best-in-class acceleration, power and an excellent torque aided pick-up and pull power. To communicate this message, DDB MudraMax OOH really helped in reaching out to the nooks and corners of the country with the traditional and unconventional outdoor spread.”

     

    Arun Rogha

    Arun Rogha, Group Account Director, DDB MudraMax OOH said, “It was a daunting task to execute a campaign of such a magnitude. While ensuring the optimum geographic spread we all had to take care of the intensity in each market. Strict Roll out schedule along with streamlined logistics helped us keep a check on the timelines. We had to live upto the benchmarks set by the previous launches of Tata Aria and Tata Sumo Grande. Tata Sumo Gold launch was more important considering the TG we had to reach to, throughout the country.”

     

    Adille J Sumariwalla, Head, DDB MudraMax OOH said, “Tata Motors have been the pioneers in the UV market in India. With the launch of the new Sumo Gold, we had to effectively communicate the new features and powerful engine, the car comes with. To effectively reinforce the message we had planned the media at important consumer touch points. Creative and Medium led innovations were also executed in important markets to break away from the clutter.”

     

  • Fans can participate for a chance to win a trip to a 2012 NBA Finals game.

    Ten Sports and NBA launch ‘Biggest Fan Contest’

    By A Correspondent

     

    The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Ten Sports will kick off the first-ever NBA Biggest Fan contest on March 31. NBA fans who tune in to NBA games on Ten Sports will be able to answer trivia questions for a chance to win the title of NBA Biggest Fan and a trip to the United States for a 2012 NBA Finals game.

     

    From March 31 till April 26, a trivia question will be asked during each NBA game broadcast on Ten Sports. Fans will have 24 hours to respond to each question via SMS, and will become eligible to win after registering on Tensports.com. The two fans who answer the most questions correctly will be named NBA Biggest Fan and win a trip to the U.S. to experience the NBA Finals.

     

    The NBA will promote the contest across its digital and social media assets in India to engage more fans. Ten and the NBA will produce a series of vignettes highlighting the winners’ experience at the NBA Finals which will air on Ten Sports and NBA.com/India during The Finals.

     

    “We are happy to be part of the NBA Biggest Fan contest to find the most dedicated fans of the NBA in India,” said Atul Pande, CEO of Ten Sports. “This contest reaffirms our commitment to grow NBA viewing in India through various marketing initiatives.”

     

    “We are excited to launch the first-ever NBA Biggest Fan contest with Ten Sports to provide our fans with the chance to win a trip to witness live NBA action,” said Matt Brabants, NBA Senior Vice President, International Media Distribution. “Thanks to our partner Ten Sports, we were able to create an exciting way to actively engage fans and reach out to new audiences while driving viewership for NBA broadcasts on Ten.”

     

    The NBA has comprehensive television coverage in India this season. Taj Television, which operates the Ten-branded sports channels, televises up to three live games per week on Ten Sports. Live games air each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday throughout the season with replays of each game in prime time. Ten Sports also televises the NBA’s marquee events live, including NBA All-Star, the NBA Playoffs, the Eastern Conference Finals and the NBA Finals.

     

    The NBA has been actively developing basketball in India since first visiting in 2008 with the Basketball without Borders program. Since then, the league has staged a number of grassroots basketball development programs in the country including Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA and the Mahindra NBA Challenge, the largest, multi-city, community-based basketball league in India. Approximately15 players and legends from the NBA and WNBA have visited India to conduct basketball clinics and engage fans including NBA All-Stars Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol and Baron Davis.

     

  • Hathway Cable and Datacom Ltd has applauded the Delhi state government's stand on 'No postponement' for the deadline mandated by the government to convert to digital signals via set-top-boxes by June 30, 2012.

    [94 days to D-Day] Hathway applauds Delhi govt

    By A Correspondent

     

    Hathway Cable and Datacom Ltd has applauded the Delhi state government’s stand on ‘No postponement’ for the deadline mandated by the government to convert to digital signals via set-top-boxes by June 30, 2012.

     

    The Commissioner of Taxes and the other state officials of the State Government of Delhi had recently called a meeting of all cable TV service providers in Delhi. The purpose of the meeting was to confirm the readiness of cable TV service providers to roll-out Digitable Addressable System (DAS) to consumers across Delhi and review the current progress of implementation. The commissioner directed the service providers to deploy set-top-boxes in consumer homes by June 30, 2012 and reiterated that there will be ‘no postponement’ whatsoever in this deadline.

     

    As per The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2011, the cable TV industry is required to convert all subscribers from analog signals to digital.

     

    Commenting on the directive by State Government of Delhi, K Jayaraman, Managing Director and CEO of Hathway Cable and Datacom Ltd, one of the leading MSOs, said, “The industry is happy with the decision. The digital roll-out will enable consumers to watch high quality digital television channels of their choice.”

     

  • BIG FM launches 'Big Indian League' for IPL5; is exclusive radio partner to Kings Xi Punjab and Deccan Chargers.

    IPL 5: BIG FM takes on mania with ‘BIG Indian League’

    By A Correspondent

     

    BIG FM aims to create an overwhelming experience for cricket fans across the country with the ‘BIG Indian League’.  This campaign brings golden opportunity to listeners across its 45 station network, to not only relive their passion for cricket on radio by supporting their favorite teams, but also a chance to win a grand cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh and tickets to the IPL finale. BIG FM has already partnered exclusively with two leading IPL teams Deccan Chargers and Kings XI Punjab promising listeners exclusive and interesting entertainment updates on these teams.

     

    BIG FM is said to give T20 on radio a new exciting twist built around the game, wherein listeners have to conclude the answer by putting forth a maximum of 20 questions to the RJ. The game will have four listeners representing one of the teams playing in the IPL that respective day with BIG FM RJ. The person who guesses the right answer using the lowest number of questions wins cricket goodies and also gets a chance to win the grand prize of Rs 1 lakh.

     

    In addition to this, BIG FM will recreate the magic of IPL with the BIG Indian League championship in metros including Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bangalore, Delhi and Chennai. The cities will witness a mall activity to shortlist top 8 teams of the city. These eight local teams will then fight for the title of BIG India league Champion for the city. In Hyderabad and Chandigarh, the winning team will get to play a real match with the respective city IPL teams. BIG FM will also include live updates and insights of the cricket including toss and scores updates and players’ performance for all the matches.

     

    Leading cricket expert Aakash Chopra will share the insights on the matches being played and give out player trivia while leading comic Surendra Sharma will add effervescence to the cricket fever with his witty one-liners.

     

    The initiative will be promoted aggressively across mediums and all the updates will have their digital foot print across social media platforms of BIG FM.

     

    This property offers a an exciting and extensive platform to all the marketers who are keen to showcase their brands around this cricket season and ride on its multi-media promotions and massive scale of BIG FM.

     

    The Company Spokesperson said, “In our country, cricket is the national passion and as a brand that celebrates people’s passions, BIG FM is going all out to entertain listeners during this cricket season like never before on air, on-ground and digitally. We are committed to delivering highly engaging cricket-listening experience on radio with innovations in programming and marketing. Our scale and ability to drive quality content during this season is sure to make it deliver huge value for consumers and customers alike.”

     

  • The Times Internet CEO tells MxMIndia that indiatimes.com plans to take its IPL tieup to more interactive lengths in the 2012 season.

    IPL 5: Indiatimes to make experience better: Rishi Khiani

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTWC38mFJB0[/youtube]

    By Shruti Pushkarna

     

    The Indian Premier League (IPL) has signed up with indiatimes.com to be its official online broadcaster for IPL 2012. Addressing the media in New Delhi, Rishi Khiani, CEO, Times Internet Limited shared the enthralling online cricket experience indiatimes.com is set to roll out with its unique new features this year. This is indiatimes’ second IPL season as official online broadcaster.

     

    Mr Khiani shared the new product features that have been added to enrich the viewers’ experience this season. Citing the differentiating factors from last year, he said, “We have taken a lot of social features that we played with last year and the Facebook integration that we did last year and moved to a whole new level. We’ve got something called the IPL Battle Ground which is a far more community driven game-ified version of the Facebook chat that we had last year. So the whole community element is a big differentiator. We have taken the offline experience of watching cricket with friends and made it even more interactive. We have added far more features to the player this season. We have added cue points and a video scorecard below the player. Another functionality that has been built into the player this year is the DVR, Digital Video Recording, this allows you to go back in time to watch something you have missed.”

     

    Indiatimes observed a 79 percent increase in viewership in India last season, and is expecting a similar increase this season as well. Statistics suggest an equal split between the male and female viewership ratio online. To make this season bigger and better, certain innovations have been made to add to the wholesome IPL experience. The homepage is designed in a way that it has everything in and around IPL which makes it in a way, ‘destination IPL’, with all the touch points of IPL in one place. Other innovations include an interactive scorecard, DVR, a high definition video player and a Video on Demand (VOD) section. The VOD page will have a lot of editorial packaging in the form of celebrity moments in the match, fun moments in the match, packages of all Fours or all Sixes and so on. Some of the other content features that have been added this year are, latest tweets, Match key moments, Fun Facts, Player interviews, Pre-match shows and TOI RSS feeds.

     

    Addressing a concern on connectivity issues while viewing live feed online, Mr Khiani said, “The video player is built in with an adaptive streaming as per network availability. We have created a stream that would work for broadband connection but also work really well for people who have narrowband connections, so connectivity shouldn’t be an issue.”

     

    Mr Khiani also said that their idea is to create a 360 degree experience, a holistic experience which is something that TV cannot create. Indiatimes has partnered with All India Radio (AIR) for IPL commentary, so all cricket fans can tune into AIR to listen to commentary of IPL. The commentary will also be available on an IVR which will have the advantage of giving a recap of sorts every time one dials in.

     

    Mr Khiani stated that the total spends for this season would amount to around $6 million. Talking about the overall investment this year, Mr Khiani said, “We will probably spend less this year in marketing because last year it was just ten days before the tournament and we had to make sure that we got all eyeballs onto the site, but this year we know what works and what doesn’t work. We have a community base that’s already been built up last year that we can do some sort of targeting to. So the costs have actually come down in terms of marketing.” In terms of revenue, he said that a 40 percent increase has already been recorded from last year and they are expected to break even this year.

     

    Sponsors for this year who have already signed up include Coke, Samsung and Maruti as presenting sponsors. Out of these, Maruti and Samsung are repeat sponsors from last year. HUL and Hero have signed up as the co sponsors for this season, again both are repeat sponsors from last season. Sponsors under the New Partner Categories include, E Bay, Kotak Mahindra bank, Citi Bank and Karbonn Mobiles.

     

    Mr Khiani said that Indiatimes has observed a clear growth in terms of both page views and monetization through the sponsors. He also said that a tournament like IPL has a ‘halo effect’ in terms of returns on investment. He said, “The halo effect is something that we see not just from current monetization this season but from annual deals we do, like the video inventory that we sell. We also introduce new formats for potential advertisers who then get introduced to the Times Network and once they are introduced to the Times Network and they have seen return on investment, they are bound to advertise with us. We’ve seen them advertise with us through the year. So that halo effect kicks in. So in terms of monetization, it is a good investment and in terms of the brand association with IPL and the halo effect, it’s even better.”

     

  • Powder juices perform well in these markets as they are economical and nourishing, says the boss of packaged instant refreshment biggie Rasna. Piruz Khambatta tells MxMIndia what's not to love about Rasna, and why colas and 'dark' drinks are not a threat.

    We’re after the hot, poor countries: Piruz Khambatta, Rasna

    In a day and age where cola beverages have captivated the attention and pockets of the youth and masses to a large extent, there are still a handful of juice-based companies like the old-yet-strong Rasna that are still posing a threat to the cola players. In fact, if Mr Piruz Khambatta, Chairman and Managing Director, Rasna Pvt Limited is to be believed, the volumes of colas are seeing a downfall while juice-based drinks are churning out highest volume consumption.

     

    On the sidelines of the Mindshare-Brand Equity Compass 2012, MxM India’s Johnson Napier got Mr Khambatta to reveal the secret behind the company’s strong and consistent growth showing, on the need for regular product innovations and what the future augurs for brand Rasna.

     

    Q: Rasna has been around for quite a long time. What are some of the new trends that the soft drinks market has thrown up in the recent past?

    We’ve been the market leader for more than 20 years. To be a market leader you’ve got to have 2-3 facets right like the need to have a good product, a good distribution chain and a good marketing practice. All these three cannot exist without proper customer insight and knowledge. For example, earlier people wanted soft-drinks, today they want fruit drinks. Earlier, people were looking at drinks only for enjoyment but today they are looking at drinks for the nourishing value that it can bring. There were days when it was believed ‘deeper the colour better the drink’, if it was dark, it was good. But today the reverse is true. Today, if it is dark that means you have put more colour in and as a result the consumer doesn’t want to pursue such drinks.

     

    The question that arises is: how do you create a new product, how do you do proper marketing, how do you do proper distribution without customer feedback and knowledge? So I believe that today it is the duty of the top management (decision makers) to be in touch with the customer and know what is the customer’s requirements. Also, it is about doing research in a way that you interpret it correctly. Like I always say, if you are a good doctor you will interpret the X-ray film or the CT scan film yourself; you should not wait for a report card that will tell you what the outcome is. In the same way, companies should be able to read the data themselves – collect the data and find out the problematic areas. All this has to be done in record time as well, as most of the time when the issues are identified and sorted out the trends have changed. So management has to push for research and have it done in quick and record time.

     

    Q: At a time when cola products are flooding the market in a heavy manner, how are juice-based soft-drinks manufacturers like yourself keeping pace?

    I would say the sales of colas are actually going down. If you see market data, cola volumes are either in the negative or at the least. The highest volume data today is from juice-based drinks. At Rasna, we have never believed that we compete with a cola or a juice company; our actual competition is with water. That’s because the price-point is starting from Rs 1 a glass to Rs 5 a glass while competition starts from Rs 5 a glass. In fact the competition should thank us with folded hands because we are converting people from water to a beverage in the first place so that they can go and reap the benefits of it later.

     

    Q: How essential is it for beverage companies to keep innovating products to adapt to the changing palates of the consumers?

    At Rasna, based on what the customer wants we have made our products more juicier and fruitier and with more vitamins, glucose, calcium, and so on. I believe that as we have to dress with the times, so also, products too have to keep pace with the times. I could proudly say that most of our products have kept pace with the changing times and most importantly, the heart of Rasna is the value-for-money proposition that we offer our consumers. People consume Rasna because they find it value-for-money. Even today after so many years, we still remain one of the most value-for-money soft-drink companies in India. In Rs 2 nobody can give you as much vitamins and calcium and a juice which is as fresh as a freshly squeezed juice. In fact I think the biggest challenge is to keep the price-point at Rs 2 itself. My products have been priced at Rs 1, Rs 2 and Rs 10 for the past ten years and they haven’t changed as yet despite the slowdown and rising inflation. That is the strength of our strategy and the direction that we want to take as a company.

     

    Q: What is the growth that you have put up in the past year and what do you anticipate for 2012?

    We have always been growing at a double digit rate which is higher than the average growth rate of the market. In fact we have been growing more than the carbonated soft-drinks market. I always push my team to acquire a larger growth number. It also depends on the intensity of the summer as the soft-drinks market are summer-dependant. For the current year we have two major campaigns, one is with Genelia D’Souza and the other is with Virendra Sehwag. Sehwag will be seen promoting Rasna as an energy drink and not just a soft-drink juice.

     

    Q: What are your core mediums for carrying out promotional campaigns? Is digital being considered as an active medium by Rasna?

    We do not want to take the digital route as yet for our campaigns. As for Rasna, the vanilla markets could best be reached by television. In fact I am a big fan of television and films and I would also like to put my money on cricket. As for digital marketing, I will only use it as a tool to know what the customer wants but I wouldn’t be pursuing the medium aggressively as yet.

     

    Our budgets for television campaigns this year is about 50 per cent more than last year and would be in the range of Rs 30-35 crores. Right now we are going big on Hindi GECs; cricket is something that we are waiting for the broadcast players to quote the right price. I believe the prices will come down and maybe we could look at associating with IPL more seriously.

     

    Q: How have you grown across the many international markets that you are present in?

    We have our presence in more than 40 countries and we are doing localized marketing across each of these markets. Multinationals who make one ad and try to run that across countries have failed miserably and we do not do that. Some areas we do not advertise as distribution does it for us but in some areas we are on television, in-store etc. It all depends on the needs of the market.

     

    Q: Any plans to venture into new and emerging markets in the coming days?

    For Rasna, it is the hot and poor countries that we are after. Countries like Vietnam, Egypt etc are our key markets as I believe that powder juices perform well in these markets as they are economical and nourishing. Probably it is not as fun for the sales workforce but for the top management it is fun to be present there.

     

    Photograph: Fotocorp

     

  • According to sources the deal may be announced formally before the fiscal year-end

    Nai Dunia acquisition set to be announced

    By A Correspondent

     

    The much-awaited Nai Dunia acquisition by Jagran Prakashan, which is reported to have been inked a while back, is set to be announced. Nai Dunia insiders tell MxMIndia that discussions with Jagran insiders on sales planning and execution has been happening for around a quarter.

     

    The Indore-based group has also suspended its Delhi NCR-Ghaziabad edition which, according to reports, the Jagran group wasn’t keen on acquiring since it is still in investment mode. “The objective is to dominate the regional space and not the high cost Delhi market,” said a source close to the development. “That Nai Dunia was making losses in Delhi NCR is not a negative against the group… even today some high profile publications are in losses, but the promoters continue to invest in them given brighter future prospects.”

     

    The deal may be announced formally before the fiscal year-end, the source said. The Delhi NCR-Ghaziabad edition suspension is effective today. The March 29 edition carried a short announcement.