MxMIndia

Category: NEWS

  • DNA T20 has always positioned itself as a non-professional cricket carnival that brings with it a month-long dose of entertainment

    High five in DNA T20 season V @ New Delhi

    By A Correspondent

     

    With four successful seasons in the past, DNA gears up for its fifth season of what is popularly known as ‘DNA T20’ amongst top media agencies, at the Jamia Hamdard
    University grounds, New Delhi from March 31.

     

    DNA T20 has always positioned itself as a non-professional cricket carnival that brings with it a month-long dose of entertainment for the participating teams as well as their families, who come to cheer them up.

     

    The tournament offers to be a platform for DNA’s business associates, to know each other better beyond the boundaries of their offices, indulge in friendly banters over food and beverages, share spaces in pictures together and display their passion for the game on-field. It is that time of the year when ‘celebrating together’ is top priority on everyone’s mind and not trade, which is generally a routine throughout the year.

     

    With 12 participating teams facing against each other at an entirely different echelon, one need not be as talented as Tendulkar or as dedicated as Dravid. The DNA T20 raises the spirit of Cricket.

     

    Furthermore, lofty passions and the excitement of experiencing something ‘live and unrehearsed’ during the T20 matches spices up the game to a whole new level.

     

    Supported by Citibank and Frito Lays, with Carlsberg as the beverage partner, Crystal Mirage as the trophy partner, DNA T20 – Season V promises to be one fascinating event.

     

  • With 5 editions of Divya Marathi, it now covers complete centralMaharashtra. Divya Marathi, Solapur is also the 65th Edition of the Group

    Divya Marathi launches fifth edition from Solapur

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Dainik Bhaskar group announced the launch of the fifth edition of its Marathi newspaper, Divya Marathi, from Solapur.

     

    Solapur with an urban population of more than14.7 lac and a high per-capita income of Rs61,700 is one of the major cities of South-western Maharashtra. The first edition of Divya Marathi from Aurangabad started in May 2011 and soon other editions from Nashik, Jalgaon and Ahmednagar were launched. With 5 editions of Divya Marathi, it now covers complete central Maharashtra. Divya Marathi, Solapur is also the 65th Edition of the Group.

     

    “Through the Solapur launch of Divya Marathi, we continue to steadily enhance our footprint in Maharashtra and we now have 5 strong Marathi editions along withAurangabad, Nashik, Jalgaon and Ahmednagar, said Sudhir Agarwal, Managing Director, DB Corp Limited, commenting on the successful launch.

     

    The key proposition of Divya Marathi  Solapur launch campaign continued to be based on presenting an unbiased and fearless newspaper – “Na Ravanchi, Na Sahebanchi, Aata Chalel Tumchi Marji” (Neither influential class, nor Politicians, now public opinions will matter! ) – a theme that was central to the launches of the other 4 editions of Divya Marathi.

     

    Commenting on the success Nishit Jain, State Head; Maharashtra said: “The success is a reflection of the critical role brand building can play for a new entrant. It reflects across our processes. Our planning has been meticulous, including our strategically classifying city to understand its demographic nuances. This sharp focus on planning, management, marketing and branding has resulted in a successful launch of Solapur edition.”

     

  • Despite a hundred 100s, Sachin Tendulkar scores a duck with new endorsements

    Is Sachin’s brand aura on the wane?

     

    By Binoy Prabhakar

     

    Even if you are cricket’s greatest overachiever, there is no escaping pressure. When Sachin Tendulkar recently collected his latest superlative – a century of centuries – the deed helped banish the pressure of ‘when’ that had been building up for a year. No sooner did he say “phew!” than a new pressure took the earlier one’s place: his retirement.

     

    The answer from the man himself, though “in a not Tendulkar-like way”, according to Mr Suresh Menon, editor, Wisden India Almanack, was: “When I retire is something I will decide…” Mr Menon broached the subject in a rather unflattering article earlier this week. “… the pressure on Tendulkar now is to keep playing so his minders can squeeze the last drop out of his huge commercial value,” he wrote.

     

    Mr Menon called this the “flip side of the millions”. “High earning sportsmen make a Faustian deal with the money devil; they are paid sums beyond the dreams of avarice for a decade or two… the devil demands his part of the bargain. Keep playing. Keep bringing in the money,” he wrote.

     

    Brands Tendulkar Endorses…All the deals are pre-existing, no new deals since the ‘Century of Centuries’Aviva, Adidas, Amit Enterprises, Audemars Piguet, Boost, Coca-Cola, Canon, Castrol, Sach (private label Kishore Biyani’s Future Consumer Products Ltd has created with Tendulkar), ITC Sunfeast, Jaypee Cement, Kaspersky, Luminous, RBS, Reynolds, S Kumars, Tohsiba

    Moot Question

    It still does not the answer the critical question: when will Tendulkar call it a day? But if endorsements were the deciding factor, as Mr Menon suggests, the answer would be 2014. All the 17 endorsement contracts in Tendulkar’s kitty run until then, according to his managers, World Sport Group (India) Pvt Ltd. Tendulkar remains among the highest-earning sportsmen in the country, second only to India captain MS Dhoni. But at least for now, there is no prospect of brands prolonging his career beyond 2014. No company has signed him up since his last milestone, belying the widely held expectation in the advertising fraternity.

     

    The only marketing event commemorating his achievement has come from beverages major Coca-Cola, which announced a rollout of 7.2 lakh cans featuring the cricketer. Sportswear major Adidas is preparing to launch a new marketing campaign featuring him in the first week of April. But both are existing sponsors of Tendulkar.

     

    Is it still early to rule out new sponsors, given that Tendulkar’s feat came about only on March 16? Advertising executives don’t think so. The buzz in the industry is that many companies were in talks with Tendulkar’s managers to make the most of his 100th century. Mr Harish Krishnamachar, senior vice-president and country head of World Sport Group (India) had said the feat will not have any impact on Tendulkar’s valuation. But no name has arrived on the scene.

     

    That’s because Tendulkar has always been selective about his endorsements, according to Mr Krishnamachar. “And we have never seen a milestone as a short-term opportunity given that our focus has been on creating a sustained long-term value for him,” he says.

     

    Tendulkar, says Mr Krishnamachar, has been very categorical about what categories he will be associated with and what he will not. “We have a very good assessment of what he is comfortable with and we have stayed true to that.” The brands that Tendulkar has said he will not endorse are tobacco and alcohol, says Krishnamachar. Tendulkar is said to have turned down a multi-crore deal with liquor baron Mr Vijay Mallya’s UB Group two years ago.

     

    …And Those That Haven’t RenewedContractsPepsi, Action Shoes, MRF, Britannia, Fiat, TVS, Airtel, G-Hanz, Colgate-Palmolive, Philips, VIsa, Ujala Techno Bright

    No New Deals

    Mr Krishnamachar says as far as any other category is concerned, it is something they “will consider as the opportunities present themselves”. But for now at least, there are few on the horizon.

     

    And all the existing contracts are many years old, even as much as 20 years in the case of Boost. The ‘newest’, if one can call that, is a deal with Coca-Cola signed in early 2011. Tendulkar’s last deals of note too were signed around then – a Rs 9-crore contract with Pune developer Amit Enterprises and another with apparel maker S Kumars for Rs 13 crore.

     

    Mr Prashant Singh, director of Octagon India, a sports and entertainment marketing company, says it is true that there has been no frenzy over Tendulkar’s latest feat. “There won’t be any until companies realise what his [retirement] plans are,” he says. Mr Singh says in one sense, Tendulkar, who turns 39 next month, is restricted by his own persona. “He has become the grand old man of Indian cricket… a la elder statesman than a player. That restricts more brands coming.”

     

    Mr Singh says what is keeping new brands away could also be the sheer number of endorsements. “He is endorsing 17; where is the scope for more?”

     

    Yet, many brands have not renewed contracts (see adjoining chart) with Tendulkar. He also now has few brands that cater to the young, except Coca-Cola and Adidas, an important segment for marketers. This is the upshot, says Mr Krishnamachar, of changing his portfolio of brands to reflect maturity and high-value categories.

     

    What about his brand value? Mr Santosh Desai, MD and CEO of Futurebrands India, says it isn’t what it was a few years ago. “Clearly, Tendulkar is in the evening of his career.” Mr Desai says the cricketer’s performance of late has been below par and because his century took a long time coming, there was fatigue associated with his feat. Taken together, it explains why Sachin hasn’t received new deals, he says.

     

    Whether Tendulkar wins new deals depends on how he evolves as a brand ambassador, says Mr Desai. “We have to wait and see… there is no clue from his current endorsements.”

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

     

    Photograph: Fotocorp

     

  • The latest offering from Magna is the 'The Ultimate Bible for Men'

    Every man’s new ‘Mandate’

    By Archita Wagle

     

    Saturday saw the launch of Magna Publications’ latest offering Mandate. The launch was held at the yet-to-be-opened F Bar and Lounge (The F Mumbai). The event was attended by well known personalities from the corporate and entertainment world.

     

    The magazine’s tagline ‘The Ultimate Bible for Men’, tells all about Mandate – the team is not promoting it as just a magazine, but as a way of life, commitment to understand what the new age man wants.

     

    The magazine will carry detailed profiles of famous male personalities, spinets about upcoming gadgets, fashion labels and automobiles. The magazine also promises ‘break through features, international personalities, exotic holiday destinations and hard-talks with legends across fields. Mandate will also feature columns on issues related to business, sports and sex columns, all penned by well-known celebrities.

     

    Speaking to MxMIndia at the launch party, Yuvraj Juneja, editor, Mandate brushed aside any concerns over other similar lifestyle magazines which are already present in the market: “Our magazine covers what a man desires, but more importantly it tells him what he should desire, we are giving him options. That’s where Mandate stands differently from other magazines. In the market there are magazines which are content heavy, some are picture-oriented and some are very layout-oriented. But Mandate has a correct balance. We cover everything from fashion to gadgets to holidays in-depth. Our magazine is targeted at the men belonging to the age group of 20-30.”

     

    The launch issue of the magazine seems to living up to its promises. The cover features Virat Kohli, Ranbir Kapoor and Yash Birla and the inside pages carry in-depth interviews with the three, the magazine also features styling tips, a picture heavy feature on the “Man’s most desired” cars and some other interesting features.

     

  • For the immediate future, Mr Ghaswalla has plans for the company going Digital

    Hoshie Ghaswalla takes charge as CEO, Cybermedia

    By Archita Wagle

     

    The winds of change are blowing at premier technology publishing company Cybermedia India. Senior mediaperson and old company hand Hoshiediar Ghaswalla has been appointed Chief Executive Officer. When MxMIndia spoke to Mr Pradeep Gupta, chairman and managing director of Cybermedia, about the reorganisation, he said: “Earlier only the information and communication technology (ICT) and speciality media group had been reorganised. But now our entire media business has been reorganised and Mr Hoshie Ghaswalla is now CEO of Cybermedia.”

     

    Earlier this year, Cybermedia had reorganised its information and communication technology (ICT) and specialty media group (SMG) in four units Mr Ghaswalla’s charge. The move was for better functioning, faster decision-making and better customer interaction and the new organisational changes were to come in effect from April 1.

    Said Mr Ghaswalla on his appointment, he said: “CEO is just a title, but I am certainly glad to be given this opportunity to head the entire  media business. These are challenging but extremely exciting times for the media industry”.

     

    On his plans, Mr Ghaswalla said: “We had hired a leading consulting firm last year  that worked with  various internal and external stakeholders to come up with a plan  for the future which  I will now focus on executing.  For the immediate future we are going Digital first – we will provide content to our audiences where they want it, when they want it and in the format they want it. For advertisers and sponsors, we will be moving a lot more towards the solutions approach. As a group we have always innovated and are therefore looking at some game changers which will give us tremendous scale in the mid-term.”

     

  • 'The profession is filled with people who are aggressive, over-confident, self-assured and egoistic' – that's how Clea PR's CMD Vinod Nair describes the state of the industry today. This and more, in a free-and-frank with MxMIndia.

    [PR] We’re still a bunch of pimps: Vinod Nair, Clea

    There was a time when a client didn’t have to think twice when it came to selecting an agency of choice to handle their PR account as there was only a single name that was a dominant force then – Clea PR. That was about two decades ago. But much has changed since then and the PR industry has undergone a tectonic shift that has given rise to newer and challenging agencies offering a range of solutions. But even now Clea doesn’t hesitate to go on record saying that most of the CEOs of today have been former trainees of Clea. Such has been the inspiration that it has cast on the sector over a period of time.

     

    But times have changed and after a brilliant run the agency has pulled back and is going slow with its run in India. But the differentiation still exists, as Vinod Nair, Chairman & Managing Director of the agency assures MxM India. In conversation with Johnson Napier of MxM India, Mr Nair opens up on the agency’s past, on the state of the industry today, on the issue of talent, on his new venture and forecasts his mantra for the future. Excerpts:

     

    Q: Clea has had a spectacular past so to speak, but how would you sum up the agency’s standing in the marketplace today?

    Clea PR started as a division of Clea Advertising and Marketing. Over a period of time we built it into one of the largest PR agencies in the space. In those days, even though there were many other PR agencies much older than us we were the ones that were responsible for bringing in a “planned approach” to the business. Also, we were the ones that started the concept of Brand PR in this country. We were handling some of the biggest brands at that time and slowly as the company grew bigger, I bought over the company from the promoters and moved out from the fold. We are into our 17th year right now. In due course of time, after having attained size and numbers I guess I lost interest and the business became a bit boring for me. So we decided to pull back and thereby cutback on our size and clients as a result of that.

     

    Q: What were the factors the led you to pull back and move away from the authoritarian grip that you once commanded in the space?

    I don’t think that PR has progressed the way I would have liked it to progress. As a tool being used by a marketer or as a corporate strategist, we are still media release peddlers. I call ourselves a bunch of “pimps” who are still calling up editors and pushing for a press release or some interview to be featured. Also the fact is that Clea was also the place that every single person who is heading a PR agency today has been a former trainee. What was happening was that the knowledge that one had, which was the USP of a planned approach of how to do brand PR etc – once these guys started going out they started doing it on their own accord. What I observe from the client’s end is that when it comes to paying a PR agency everybody starts shitting bricks. I stopped working for a paltry Rs 50-60,000 a month almost a decade ago and today, you still have big agencies who continue to charge that rate. Also, what has been happening is that anybody who realizes that he is good in this space, they venture out and start their own business. So one witnessed a sudden burgeoning of 1-man, 2-man PR agencies in a short period of time. At last count, there are more than 2000 PR agencies existing in India today. This sudden mushrooming of agencies has led to undercutting of rates between agencies.

     

    Q: While such is the commotion that exists in the marketplace, what is the equation that Clea shares with its clients?

    With Clea, you’ll see that the average age of my client is minimum eight years. Some have been around for even a longer time. So we have clients to whom we have been delivering quality services day in and out. Therefore we have never felt the need to go out and compromise retainer fees with clients etc. In fact I must be one of the few agencies that actually reject business. Also, we were amongst the first that actually started telling clients to pay us for taking part in a pitch and also insisted on asking for a retainer budget that matched our expectations. What was happening is that despite all the efforts that were being put in all it boiled down to was what was the rate that was going to be charged. That was one of the reasons that I cut down on chasing clients aggressively.

     

    Today the effort that we are putting in is by providing value-added services to our clients. Today we handle over 100 brands and for most of them we are part of the marketing planning team. So before a marketing plan is in place and a company finalises it, we are consulted for it. There are many other innovations that we do too, but that doesn’t mean that we ignore traditional media; we also do that and it will continue to remain integral in our plans.

     

    Q: As an agency, how are you scattered throughout important markets across India and which are the disciplines that are in hot pursuit by you?

    Our key branches are spread across six cities and for the rest we use stringer networks. The other advantage that we have is that we have 30-odd branches around the country where we have our own people. So they are involved in a more personal way than most other agencies do. Today, 90 per cent of our clients are brands. One of the trends that has caught the fancy of clients is e-tailing. We’ve bagged four new e-tailing clients recently and I think that is going to be the game-changer as far as PR is concerned. While there are many clients who already offer this service, the difference can come in the marketing and positioning strategy.

     

    Q: While e-tailing is a burgeoning trend what do you gather from the impact that digital is casting on the medium of PR?

    Around five years back when digital hadn’t become as big, I had started Clea Digital that was based out of the US. We were able to offer our clients facebook and twitter strategies even before it was known here. But I think that digital is a big bubble. Let me tell you why. If you see today, there are two professionals with whom you can never argue: doctor and lawyer. That is because you are scared of them. And when you are afraid of something you are willing to pay anything. And so, social media is just a hype today. Nobody understands the medium; suddenly a viral becomes a hit and everybody wants to imitate that instantly – that is not possible. I genuinely believe that the medium is just hype and I do not think it is delivering the kind of value that it should. Today I could easily get about 10 clients who could pay me loads of money to do nothing except set up a fan page, do some mobile blogging, do tweets, some youtube and that’s it. That’s not what it is really about; it’s got to do more about analytics etc.

     

    Q: Tell us a bit about your new venture Talentube?

    Talentube.com is going to be India’s largest community of talent. So whether you are a singer or an actor or a dancer or a lyricist etc you become a part of the community. On the other end, I have tied up with some of the biggest directors in Bollywood like Sudhir Mishra, Mahesh Manjrekar etc and then we will produce movies. We will be employing talent only from this community. We’ve already got $12 million funding for the first two years. The project will be officially flagged off in the first or second week of April.

     

    Q: What according to you is the solution for the rising attrition rate that currently confronts the medium of PR?

    Talent is one area that I consider Clea to be heads and shoulders above everybody else simply because we have never poached anybody from any other PR agency ever. Whereas every single employee from Clea has been poached by other agencies. Therefore I keep making this statement that 9 out of 10 CEOs of PR agencies today have been trainees from Clea PR and almost all of them have come from non-communication backgrounds. Clea has seen attrition that you cannot even imagine. That’s because the training programme by Clea is considered the best in the industry. Since our inception, more than 3000 people have gone through then annals of Clea and most of them are leaders in the industry today. So Clea has always seen attrition and today if I require say 10 people I hire 25 people because I know half of them will quit because they won’t be able to handle pressure and some even may be useless. So I know that by the time the churn happens, I am still left with around 8-10 and these will be effective for me. At Clea, there has never been a botheration at the top level; they have been with me for a very long time. It is only at the mid and entry level that we face attrition issues.

     

    Q: To what do you attribute the highly disorganised state of the industry?

    I keep saying that if you pay peanuts you will get monkeys and the other thing is that the client deserves what they are asking for. But if you decide to go to a one-man army because they are charging some 10 per cent lesser than the others then why do you expect to get miracles from them. It is actually the fault of the bigger agencies because they haven’t been able to address this issue. In fact every industry across the world goes through a consolidation phase but PR industry has never seen that happen. I’ve never seen bigger agencies buy out smaller agencies like the other sectors. When it comes to selling they quote over-the-moon rates; each one of us is aggressive, over-confident, self-assured and egoistic people.

     

    Q: What is the growth that you are looking at as you move forward?

    My growth every year is only going to be between 18-20 percent. I want to beat inflation. That’s been my growth for the past seven years. At the earlier stages we were growing over 100 percent and above but after I pulled back every year it’s going to be nothing more than 18-20 percent.

     

  • With the downturn having affected the retail sector as anticipated, it has been a steeper uphill task to recover and surge ahead. Govind Shrikhande tells MxMIndia how Shopper's Stop is tackling the challenges of today and the future.

    Focus on increasing number of formats: Govind Shrikhande, Shopper’s Stop

    As was predicted of the sector, retail did take a beating at the hands of slowdown, especially the second half of FY 2011-12 where growth was difficult to come by. But the downturn is not as bad as it seems and good tidings are being predicted for the medium for 2012-13. Much will depend on how the large players will be geared to tackle this difficult phase including undertaking risky yet calculative decisions that will either see them in the red or see them walk away with pots of money.

     

    Govind Shrikhande, Customer Care Associate & Managing Director, Shopper’s Stop Ltd is all set to take his company to new heights and feels that expanding its product offerings across the country could work in favour of the company as there are always new markets and consumers who are waiting to savour variety. Mr Shrikhande opened up to Johnson Napier of MxM India on the sidelines of Mindshare-Brand Equity Compass 2012 on how his company is geared to tackle the challenges of the future and what the retail industry needs to do to overcome the downfall scare that’s had everyone on tenterhooks.

     

    Q: It’s been a shaky 2011-12 for the retail industry in India. How is Shopper’s Stop handling the slowdown conundrum?

    2011 has been a mixed year for us – the first half went pretty well, but Q3 which is the biggest quarter for the retail sector witnessed a slowdown. We expect some recovery to take place in the second half of 2012-13 while the first half of 2012-13 will be a little slow.

     

    Q: How have you grown organically across the multiple formats that you are present in?

    We have grown very fast in the last one year. We added around 13 stores in the main format; overall we added more than 20 stores in all the big formats that we have. So it’s been a very fast-paced expansion drive for us. Going ahead, we plan to add atleast eight stores every year. I’d like to state here that the opportunity for retail community in the future is big, so it’s important that you expand today. Though there could be some short-term difficulties of sales growth not being as high as one expected it would be but if one prepares oneself so well that the model is good, the consumer traction is strong and the assortment is very good then one can be in a good position to perform well and really be ready to face challenges of the future.

     

    Q: Are you contemplating expanding your product offerings apart from the staple departmental and hypercity formats that you currently cater to?

    We have enough formats today like Shopper’s Stop in the department store format, Hyper-City in the hyper-market format, Crossword in the books store format…so we have enough formats currently by which we can expand and we are doing that.

     

    Q: What do you derive from the changing FDI stance between the government and the retail industry?

    I think FDI is getting a new meaning every season now. The Indian government did announce FDI in multi-brand retail and took it back. Also, the concept of cash-and-carry has been around for some time but now it’s getting into a different kind of a situation. I think the industry as such is waiting for the government to come up with some concrete plans around FDI but yes, once it does come in it will definitely help the whole retail industry to expand faster than what it has been able to do right now.

     

    Q: What is the impact that digital will cast on the retail sector? A lot of brands are taking the e-tailing route to increase product traction…

    Digital will help drive growth of retail because it is has been found that globally, a lot of consumers first check details on the internet and then go to a shop to buy stuff. It plays a support role where shopping is concerned. The fact is that almost 30-40 per cent of shopping that happens in a physical store has already been researched about before by people on the digital platform. So I do not see it posing any competition or threat; it would be self-supporting.

     

    We too have started our own websites for Shopper’s Stop and Crossword which will further ensure that a customer will get a multi-channel delivery whether through physical store or a digital store.

     

    Q: Apart from talent, what is the other big challenge facing the retail industry as of today?

    Apart from people, the other big challenge for the retail sector is the availability of quality space and rental. This in fact is a bigger challenge than people. As for the people challenge that we face, we are trying to overcome that by building new programs like Fashion Associates, which should help us to face this crisis in a much bigger way. But availability of quality retail space at reasonable rent is still a big challenge.

     

    Q: As you move forward, what would be your main objective for 2012?

    We have enough happening in the company right now. The key driver would be expanding into more cities and growing the total number of formats rather than getting into new formats.

     

  • It's now official. Jagran Prakashan Limited has announced its acquisition of NaiDunia, the leading daily of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

    Jagran announces NaiDunia acquisition

    It’s now official. Kanpur-based Jagran Prakashan Limited has announced that it has acquired Suvi Info Management (Indore) Private Limited. Naidunia Media Limited is a subsidiary of Suvi and is engaged in publishing the leading daily NaiDunia in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

    Launched in 1947, NaiDunia has over the years become a major player in the Central Indian states. It has multiple editions — from Indore, Gwalior, Jabalpur and Bhopal in MP and Raipur and Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh.

    Said Mr Mahendra Mohan Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director of Jagran, “This was a logical market expansion for us and enables  us to strengthen our presence in Central India. Nai Dunia is a newspaper with a very strong team and has demonstrated editorial excellence over the last decade.”

    According to a Jagran communique, NaiDunia’s current circulation base is around half a million copies per day with the readership growing 2.6 times over the last five years.

    For the cash-rich Jagran group, the NaiDunia acquisition follows that of Mid-Day two years back. The inorganic growth process will continue, a source close to the development had told MxMIndia last week. “We are well on our way towards implementing our strategy for inorganic growth through mergers and acquisitions as on the one hand it allows to begin with a sizeable scale with much lesser investment and on the other hand, it saves long gestation period typical of print industry. The acquisition will enable us to leverage our existing network and will have significant operating synergies.”

  • Come FM radio phase III, Radio GupShup hopes to further expand to newer markets. Besides, the FM station which has only recently re-launched its website hopes to reach not only the online community, but also the media agencies.

    We plan to expand to newer markets: Radio GupShup

    By A Correspondent

     

    Launched in 2005, Radio GupShup is the radio arm of Purvy Broadcasts Pvt. Ltd. (PBPL). The Guwahati based private FM radio station is said to have its presence in districts of Kamrup, Darrang, Morigaon, Nalbari, parts of Baksa, Udalguri, Barpeta, Goalpara, and Nagaon districts in Assam as well as Ribboi District of Meghalaya and Samdrup Jongkhar in Bhutan.

     

    While Radio GupShup aims to further consolidate its position in the year 2012, achieving break-even may still be a distant dream. Come FM radio phase III, Radio GupShup hopes to further expand to newer markets. Besides, the FM station which has only recently re-launched its website hopes to reach not only the online community, but also the media agencies. In addition to these developments, Radio GupShup is said to be in a strategic sales alliance with Radio Mirchi which not only helps the Guwahati based private FM station (Radio GupShup) get exclusive business assistance but, also helps the FM station to enhance its sales capabilities (Radio Mirchi has its network across 14 states with 32 stations). Currently, Radio GupShup plays Assamese hits, Hindi and English hit music.

     

    In conversation with MxMIndia, Mr S Wassim Ahmed, Station Head, Radio GupShup spoke about the growth targets of Radio GupShup, break-even targets, the FM phase II plans and much more.

     

    Q: How would you rate the year 2011-12 for Radio GupShup?

    The year 2011 – 12 has been good. Both the programming and sales team have done a decent job and we want to further consolidate our position across markets.

     

    Q: What are your growth targets for 2012?

    As I have already said in 2012 we will look forward in consolidating our market position as a name to reckon with in the FM radio in Assam

     

    Q: What are your break-even plans?

    Break even would not happen within a couple of years as the FM radio business is not an easy money spinning business. As the saying goes … FM radio investor got to be a ‘laamba race ka ghoda’.

     

    Q: What are your phase iii plans?

    As and when Phase III happens, we at Radio GupShup would definitely go in for an expansion.

     

    Q: What about the website? How active are you on your website? Any specific plans for the website i.e. listening online radio etc.

    We have recently re-launched our website. This had been our weak point.

    We would be interested to reach out to the online listenership base, provided we have get link or some knowhow. More over as per my knowledge this concept would take some time to materialize because of I & B Ministry’s clearance has not yet happened.

     

    Q: And what was the thought process behind re-launching the website…?

    To keep in touch with the media planners since we need some kind of connect with the people outside the state vis -a- vis our radio sound, kind of shows we have, music we air etc. The media agencies also get a hang of our station. In nut shell it helps to pitch in for national commercials.

     

    Q: Has there been an increase in the ad rates?

    This ain’t petrol price where the rate can go up. In fact the rates at times go down below the Rs.100/spot mark. So you can imagine how competitive the market is.

     

    Q: What about the advertising categories on Gupshup?

    In my opinion the advertisers/media planners have gradually become more aware about the cost effectiveness of FM radio medium. Since TV and Newspaper advertising rates are humongous, Radio advertising as you might know is a good ‘sasta aur tekao’ medium

     

    Q: Do you have a creative and media agency?

    We do not have a creative agency, we produce our own stationalities.

     

  • Star India's winning the rights to broadcast Indian cricket for six years is a significant development in the Indian sports arena. Star will also have the rights for internet and mobile, besides TV.

    Starry starry rights from BCCI

    By Rishi Vora

     

    Star India’s winning the rights to broadcast Indian cricket for six years – from 2012 to 2018 – is a significant development in the Indian sports arena where cricket is the only celebrated sport, and the one that attracts the maximum moolah.

     

    Though Star has won the rights much to the joy of the senior management team, the fact is that it has come at a staggering cost of Rs 3,851 crore for 96 matches.

     

    What this means is – for every single match played in India till 2018, Star will pay BCCI Rs 40 crore as part of the contract. The contract also says that Star will also have the rights for internet and mobile besides TV.

     

    Mr Uday Shankar, CEO, Star India said in a prepared statement, “BCCI is a great property and we are overjoyed to have an opportunity to develop it further. It was decided amongst ESPN Star Sports, ESPN and Star that Star would bid for the rights and if Star were to win the rights it would be exploited in collaboration with ESS.”

     

    So while it is great news for Star India for it augments its position as a network, there are some murmurs within the industry on whether it is a viable deal as far as profitability is concerned, especially when Indian cricket has seen one of its worst ever phases of late.

     

    A broadcaster of a sports channel who requested anonymity said, “It’s a move from Star to dissuade MSM from its cricketing interests. MSM already have the Indian Premier League which is one of India’s biggest properties, so the BCCI rights would have put them in a superior position in the industry. Hence it’s a setback of sorts for them, especially when they’ve been in the news on launching a sports channel.”

     

    He further said, “The price Star is paying is on the higher side. But it’s not very surprising that they’ve won it for the price they have, as they have the strength and the clout to pull off a high-value deal such as this one.” MSM came second to Star with a bid of Rs 3,700 crore.

     

    T Gangadhar, Managing Director, MEC India commented on the development: “Sports is a rights-driven genre and channels compete on that basis. As faras exploiting rights is concerned, Star India has announced they will collaborate with ESPN-Star Sports, an already established player. To that extent, life is as usual. However, going by the size of the winning bid, it is clear that Star is betting big on digitisation and increasing subscription revenue therefrom.”

     

    With the BCCI deal, ESS has now become a significant player in Cricket. They’re the official broadcasters of ICC matches, plus Australian and England cricket. Ten Cricket – the channel from the Zee stable airs matches played in South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies.

     

    Neo banked on World Series Hockey after having lost the rights for Indian Cricket. They however continue to own Bangladesh rights – the Asia Cup which was recently concluded was aired on Neo Cricket.

     

    Neelkamal Sharma, COO – Buying, Madison Media Group said, “For sports as well as for Star, it is really a big news – Star TV acquiring the rights for Indian Cricket for next six years. Since rights are with Star TV and not ESS, there could possibly be some more development on the way forward and time will tell what will those developments be.

     

    He further added, “There will be some consolidation of sports companies in the near future to leverage this opportunity. I will not be surprised if Star becomes a dominant player in sports as and fiction”

     

    According to Mr Mahesh Ranka, it will take some time before the investments could be recovered. “I can say that by the end of six years, Star will make money out of this deal on the back of subscription plus advertising revenues. It’s just not the Indian market. There are a lot of viewers who follow Indian cricket in other countries. Plus they have the mobile and the internet rights too. So it seems to me that it’s a good win for Star.”

     

    On what it means to other players in the sporting arena, Mr Ranka said, “Sadly cricket is the biggest game in India and quite clearly, other players such as Neo and Ten Sports would face a bit of a setback. They’ll survive, but that’s not the big question. The big question is whether they will be able to grow and build from where they’re now.”

     

    Advertising revenue may not be much in the first few years, and experts predict price points to range from 2 lakh to 3 lakh per 10-second spot. Profitability will be an issue.

     

    Star Network is poised to gain more strength. But will the Star shine yet again?

     

  • CNN's Ali Velshi shares his sentiments around the political and business scenario bracing several economies and suggests patterns that would emerge as countries try and lift themselves out of the slowdown dilemma.

    Single biggest role is accountability: Ali Velshi, CNN

    Being associated with a network that prides itself on coverage being different from the clutter as well as being responsible for making the people and authorities accountable for their actions, are roles that many journalists would hanker after during their lifetime. And this is where Ali Velshi of CNN holds himself in high stead as he embarks on an enduring journey of bringing about accountability and response from the viewers in a way that affects the functioning of an economy. Whether it is connecting the news through finance, global issues, contemporary governance, education and big ideas, CNN’s Ali Velshi executes several roles across CNN as the network’s chief business correspondent and anchor of Your Money and World Business Today on CNN International.

     

    In a short yet crisp conversation with MxM India, Mr Velshi shares his sentiments around the political and business scenario bracing several economies and suggests patterns that would emerge as countries try and lift themselves out of the slowdown dilemma.

     

    Q: There’s talk of an ongoing slowdown that’s said to be impacting growth of several industries across the globe. How do you view the current economic crisis?

    The biggest differentiator between what the world is going through right now and what it went through in 2008-09 is that the current crisis has not evolved into a global credit crisis – that’s what made the last economic crisis substantially different in the sense that we learnt that we are all interconnected and that credit arrears that started in the US froze up the flow of money globally. Here we have a situation where we still have a great deal of uncertainty about Europe but you have stronger-than-expected economic growth in the US and weakening but still very strong economic growth in Asia. So we are not on the threshold of a disaster like we were globally in 2008-09; the general view is that the economic growth story is much more positive. It looks like the global economy is going to move forward heavily dependent on emerging economies and on strong growth in China & India.

     

    Q: What role will Asia play in helping the world rebuild its growth story?

    A lot of what happens to global growth is going to depend on China and India. We do see some slowing of growth in both of those markets for different reasons – in some cases because of the inflation and in the other cases because of the slowdown in spending in Europe. So the sum total of what happens in 2012 will probably have more to do with politics and inflation and oil prices then it’s going to have to do with organic growth. There are a number of things that are going to happen in the coming months particularly with respect to Iran and oil prices that will have an impact what 2012 will end up looking.

     

    Q: At CNN, what are some of the new viewership trends that’re redefining the way you cover news?

    The biggest trend that we’ve been witnessing at CNN and in the world of news is the remarkable surge in digital consumption of news, especially business news. Digital consumption of business news has been high for several years but the thing that is becoming important in financial news and economic analysis these days is context. And that’s where we can shine at CNN and that’s where we can gather the experts to add context to simple numbers or political results or debates as we have a strong stable of excellent analysts and commentators who can bring colour to the discussion. And that’s what is important; digital has given us access to development and news. But in the end, regardless of how our readers or listeners consume their news the value of the content and the context remains our major advantage in the market.

     

    Q: Don’t you see digital challenging the traditional medium where accessibility of news is concerned?

    As a journalist, I am highly agnostic to how people consume our product and one thing I have learnt at CNN is how to be agnostic. So I have to be able to report through TV, through social media, through blogging, through videos, etc. There are different types of audiences for these mediums, but ultimately if you are trying to get news and analysis out it should be relevant to the audience. I don’t think digital takes away the sheen from traditional media; in fact it adds to it as it allows us instant access to our audience and allows us to respond to them more quickly etc.

     

    Q: How according to you does CNN stand out from its peers in the highly competitive news market?

    Our reach continues to grow at CNN because it’s a must-have product for people who want to stay informed about global events and happenings. Whereas the Indian market is concerned, it’s fascinating how much news there is, how much broadcast there is…the growth of newspapers, etc. So Indians are clearly national consumers of news but where we stand apart is that CNN is a key channel that offers global perspective. We only see an upside potential in terms of busy, crowded, noisy world where people need to understand context in digestible portions.

     

    Q: Apart from being just a disseminator of news, how do you ensure you play a larger role in impacting the lives of people?

    The kind of initiatives that we take up like CNN Heroes etc we see to it that it really creates an impact because what ends up happening is that we can throw a light on corrupt practices and the plight of people who have no other voice. We can influence bad policy and have an impact on changes in an effective way. Also, the other thing is that using the strength of CNN we can get accurate reporting where sometimes a smaller organisation that doesn’t have a similar reach is not able to do so. As a result, we can hold people accountable. In media, the single biggest role that we can play is that of accountability. It makes for a more honest and fair world and I think that’s what our viewers appreciate.

     

  • Dutta will report to Alok Agrawal, Cheil Worldwide SW Asia.

    Cheil appoints Vivek Dutta as VP-Planning

    By A Correspondent

     

    Vivek Dutta joins Cheil as the Vice President-Planning after spending almost five years at Hakuhodo Percept where he was VP and National Planning Head. He has also worked for JWT in the past and in brand and marketing functions at Dainik Bhaskar, LNJ Bhilwara Group (Mayur Suitings) and Mahindra & Mahindra.

     

    Commenting on the development, Alok Agrawal, COO, Cheil Worldwide SW Asia, said: “Vivek has the right credentials to provide the required momentum in the planning function. His experience across diverse categories from automotive to consumer electronics; to health, lifestyle and sports; to social development, makes for the perfect choice of a seasoned partner for the Cheil India team.”

     

    Dutta has been in the industry for over a decade and a half and has had extended brand experience in the automotive sector having worked on the Maruti Suzuki range. He has also worked with Daikin, Carrier, Panasonic, Sharp, Toshiba, Sony and the like in both the HVAC and consumer electronics categories. Other career brands include Yakult, Hindware, Sukam Power Solutions, Unicharm, Citizen Watches, Top Ramen noodles, UNICEF, ILO, GAIL, Apollo Tyres, ESPN Star Sports among others.

     

    Confirming his appointment, Vivek Dutta said: “It’s a great time to be a part of Cheil. Contrary to popular belief Cheil is not just a Samsung agency. The intention here is to exponentially grow to be one of the top agencies in India. The fact that in the past few months Cheil has acquired a slew of varied business is a testimony for this. My intention is to be a part of this movement and provide momentum for growth.”

     

    Cheil India has been on an aggressive growth plan over the last 2 years, almost doubling its size its employee strength and billings. Significant expansion and growth has been seen particularly in BTL and Digital areas, making Cheil one of the largest fully integrated single agencies in India. Cheil set up the agency office in India in 2003 with just 12 team members and today has over 85 talented and passionate team members.

     

    Cheil Worldwide Inc is Korea’s largest and one of the world’s leading advertising groups. Established in 1973 with headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Cheil operates 49 offices in 27 countries with about 3,000 employees. Cheil offers a full portfolio of marketing communications services including advertising, PR, sports marketing, exhibition and display production, and production of large-scale performance events.