By Archita Wagle
There was no press conference announcing the deal. The Kanpur-based Jagran Prakashan Limited (JPL) simply did it by notifying the stock exchanges. The acquisition of Nai Dunia was done via Suvi Info Management (Indore) Private Limited which in turn owns Naidunia Media. It was an all-cash deal.
What it does for the Jagran group is significant as its hold on the Hindi belt becificant, a factor that could help strike better contracts with advertisers. In fact, as an analysis with IRS 2011 Round 4 numbers shows, the Nai Dunia acquisition has helped JPL become the numero uno print media group in the country (see accompanying story:Â Saala Jagran No 1 print media group ban gaya…)
According to an analyst from a domestic brokerage firm, this deal makes sense to JPL as the enterprise value assigned to Nai Dunia is Rs2.25 billion and had JPL planned a greenfield expansion in MPC, the total cost could have run into at least Rs3 billion.
In an email interaction with MxMIndia, Mr Amit Jaiswal, Company Secretary, JPL clarified that JPL has acquired only Nai Dunia. NewsX and Webdunia are not a part of the deal. Talking about the changes after the deal he said: “Mr Vinay Chhajlani will continue as Advisor to Board. His vast experience of print and knowledge about the market will be quite useful for us. We will add some new members to the team at senior level in sales, marketing and editorial. Our corporate brand team will help in branding and communication. As far as the staff, the erstwhile promoters have already rationalized the staff strength to a large extent.”
Commenting on the acquisition in a communique, Mr Mahendra Mohan Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director of Jagran said, “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.”
Nai Dunia is the flagship publication of Naidunia Media Limited, which was launched June 5, 1947. Nai Dunia features amongst the top 10 Hindi dailies of India and has multiple editions in MP and Chhattisgarh and is the third largest read newspaper in Madhya Pradesh and the fourth largest read newspaper in Chhattisgarh (IRS Q4 2011). According to a Jagran communique, Nai Dunia’s current circulation base is around half a million copies per day with the readership growing 2.6 times over the last five years.
The industry is almost unanimous in saying that the deal is windfall for both the parties involved, especially JPL, which can now enter the Madhya Pradesh-Chattisgarh (MPC) market. JPPL, controlled by GD Gupta family publishes the Jagran editions in Bhopal and Rewa in Madhya Pradesh and JPL, promoted by the PC Gupta family, has been barred from using Dainik Jagran banner in MP as it has been in litigation since 2007. But with the Nai Dunia acquisition, the other option for JPL, they are entering the MPC market with an established newspaper, which is the second largest newspaper in terms of readership and business volumes in MPC.
“JPL will benefit in terms of circulation and readership as it gets two new territories, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh, with the acquisition of an established and well-known newspaper. JPL couldn’t enter Madhya Pradesh as per the agreement in the family, but now taking over Nai Dunia has opened the MP market for them,” said Mr Vijaydutt Shridhar, senior MP-based journalist and ex-editor of Navbharat.
Mr Abhishek Karnani, Director, Free Press Journal which also has an edition in Indore, echoed Mr Shridhar’s sentiments: “The takeover deal is a windfall for both, JPL and Nai Dunia. Entering the MPC market was the next logical move for JPL. Initially the market had only Dainik Bhaskar and Nai Dunia but several local new publications with strong backing were launched in the market. Nai Dunia made a smart move in selling out rather than being marginalised in the market.”
Says Mr Sundeep Nagpal of leading media consulting firm Stratagem, “This is in line with what other leading groups have done – like the Times of India group did with Vijaya Karanataka.” According to Mr Nagpal, the acquisition is a win-win for all parties involved.
“With Nai Dunia’s acquisition, JPL has gained foothold in an important and growing market for Hindi publications. Nai Dunia never grew much beyond Indore, though they had launched editions in other cities. But with an aggressive player like JPL taking over we can expect to see Nai Dunia growing in other centres too. JPL has now entered Dainik Bhaskar’s territory. We can now expect a good fight,” said Mr Janardhan Pandey, associate VP, DDB Mudra.
Stockmarket analysts though are a little cautious about this face-off as they believe that DB Corp will not be impacted because of the entry of JPL from a short to medium term perspective. But they say that Patrika would be impacted as Jagran would become aggressive to win back the No. 2 slot in MPC. The analysts also feel that the price paid (net of tax benefits) is inexpensive and should derive benefits in the medium to long-term.
For the cash-rich Jagran group, the Nai Dunia acquisition follows that of Mid-Day two years ago and the management plans that Nai Dunia will be consolidated once a year just like Mid-Day. Saala Jagran No 1 print media group ban gaya… By A Correspondent
Question: Until last fiscal, which was the largest print publishing house in the country? Answer: No, the answer is not Dainik Jagran. It’s Dainik Bhaskar, In fact, Jagran was at No 3 until two days ago, just behind the BCCL group. But with the buyout of the Nai Dunia group, Jagran now becomes the largest print media group in the country. Check tables below:
Note: MRUC does not share detailed IRS numbers with the media. Given that we had adequate time for the confirmation of the Nai Dunia buy, we collected the information from what MRUC shared with us and from respective media entities.
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Category: NEWS
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Jagran Prakashan makes giant entry to Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh with Nai Dunia buy With Nai Dunia in the bag, Jagran is #1 print group
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Flavoured and frozen yogurt is a new food category to India. The market for yoghurt of all types is pegged at almost Rs2,500 crore Can flavoured & frozen yogurt replace the good ol’ dahi?
By Preethi Chamikutty
Dahi that went abroad and came back. That’s how Swati Jain chooses to describe the latest flavour of the season: frozen and flavoured yoghurt.
“Flavoured is just a nomenclature,” said the head of marketing at Danone India, which recently forayed into the frozen category after debuting with the flavoured variety. Danone isn’t the only brand taking this more contemporary form of good old curd, or dahi, pan-India. Go Dahi, a frozen yogurt brand launched by Parag Milk Foods two years back, is now available in Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru.
And it has plans to enter North India. So what about east India then?
“Kolkata already has mishti doi!” says Devendra Shah, chairman, Parag Milk Foods very matter-of-factly. He goes on to say mishti doi is quite entrenched in West Bengal and making consumers there switch to frozen/flavoured yoghurt could be difficult.
It’s not just Kolkata that has a local variant of curd; Maharashtra has shrikand, Punjab lassi, Kerala taire and Tamilians still swear by curd rice.
Flavoured and frozen yogurt is a new food category to India, just two years young. The market for yoghurt of all types, including flavoured, frozen and regular curd, is pegged at almost Rs2,500 crore by euromonitor International – and one that grew 35 per cent in 2011.
Clamouring for a scoop of the action are a clutch of brands, from Parag Milk Foods’ Go and Amul Flaavyo of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF); to Nestle Real Fruit Yoghurt, Mother Dairy Yoghurt and Danone Cremix Yoghurt. The second set in this space include retails brands like Cocoberry, Red Mango, Kiwi Kiss and Yogurberry which sell flavoured/frozen yoghurt through exclusive outlets that only stock the respective brands.
Most non-retail brands are using modern trade, institutions, college, school and office canteens, airlines, five-star hotels and independent kiosks to reach out to its potential consumers. Danone is also looking at kirana stores to reach customers and Jain says they provide Danone coolers to shops for stocking products. The target customers are young, urban and health-conscious people. Ms Jain of Danone points out: “Women tend to pick it up more than men, as psychographically they are more health conscious than men.”
Adds GCMMF managing director, RS Sodhi: “This is a new product category being adopted by middle and upper middle class people who are health-conscious.” Nestle is trying to position its yoghurt as an ‘anytime nourishing snack.’ Kumaran Nowuram, general manager – dairy, Nestle India, says: ” Consumers consider flavoured yoghurt a western concept and, as they do not quite understand it, there really is no specific consumption pattern yet.” Nestle Real Fruit yoghurt has been available in the market for the past few years and the brand will soon add Junior Daheez (for children) and Fruit Daheez to its portfolio.
These are still early days of trial and error. For instance, Go has withdrawn its banana variant for lack of adoption. Mango, strawberry and pineapple variants, which are common to all brands, are finding takers. Mother Dairy also has yoghurt in raspberry, blueberry and plum flavours.
Munish Soni, DGM marketing at Mother Dairy’s dairy products division, says blueberry is quite popular among its customers. The retail brands have a larger range of flavours – as many as eight in the case of Cocoberry. Cocoberry also offers the largest pack size of 300 gm and even provides the option of home-delivery. Go, says Shah, will soon launch a 400 gm pack.
The way forward clearly is to grab share from other snacks and desserts. Ina Dawer, research analyst at euromonitor International, says: “Frozen yogurt has already started to replace ice cream to a certain extent. Consumers have also already started to look at it not only as a healthy snack but also as a healthy replacement for meals.”
Companies tying up with corporates to target office employees, adds Dawer, will also help in increasing consumption by making it a quick, convenient and healthy substitute for meals. “I will not be surprised if frozen yogurt sees growth of 70-80 per cent each year over the next two years,” predicts Dawer.
There are a few obstacles to such robust growth. The lack of adequate cold chain infrastructure is the biggest roadblock, which restricts distribution to cities and towns away from the manufacturing facilities. This also makes building loyalty difficult as consumers tend to lap up whichever brand they can get their hands on. Says Suman Srivastava, cofounder of Marketing Unplugged, a brand consultancy: “While there are a number of brands in the space, someday I eat one brand and the next day I pick up another. This may be because not all outlets are stocking all brands.” Srivastava also thinks for the category to become bigger there has to lot of innovation: “When Britannia showed its cheese as equivalent to a glass of milk, it was unique way to position the product. Similarly if brands are able to create some parallels for frozen/flavoured yoghurt that could help increase adoption,” he says.
Source: The economic Times
Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved
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Starting early evening before the show was supposed to premier on Colors prime time, a video was seeded through Twitter medium. The campaign took the help of celebrities to seed in the video as a teaser. Twitter goes ‘laplap” for Center Fruit
By A Correspondent
The last evening of the financial year saw the start of something unique in the media space: celebrities using Twitter to seed in a viral video of a TV show which was scheduled later the same evening. The unique thing about it was that it was not only to promote the show tune-in, but to actually create awareness of a branded content segment by Center Fruit in the Mirchi Music Awards.
Perfetti Van Melle India is credited with introducing some catch phrases through their advertising which have gone on to become common lingo amongst the Indian youth. After Center Fresh’s Zubaan Pe Lagaam and Mentos’ Dimaag ki Batti Jala De, this time Indian audiences were witness to something unique for Center Fruit on Mirchi Music Awards which was aired on Colors on Sat-Sun.
Starting early evening before the show was supposed to premier on Colors prime time, a video was seeded through Twitter medium. It was not just a plain seeding. The campaign took the help of celebrities to seed in the video as a teaser. The video had the host of the award show Shaan being interviewed just before he was about to take the stage. In the middle of the interview, the journalist holds up the jar of Center Fruit, and off goes Shaan with his tongue-wagging act. This was similar to what happens in the brand commercial where a singer competing with a tabla player wins the battle when Center Fruit makes the singer go non-stop laplap with his jeebh (tongue).
This was probably the first time a FMCG brand used the Celebrity tweet route to create a teaser online for amplifying a TV show scheduled later in the day. Commenting on the initiative, Sudarshan Saha, Client Leader, Maxus says that the idea came to his team when they saw top trending topics in the evenings in India recently tended to pick up what was being shown on Television. The agency team decided to turn the tables around, and used Twitter to seed in a tease before the show went on air, in this case. Sample this: Sophie Choudhrytweets – Does Darrling Luscious Lopez make your #Jeebhlaplap? or Poonam Pandey tweets -Shaan’s exclusive #jeebhlaplap backstage footage from MMA. Eesha Koppikar tweets -Enjoyed Shaan’s laplap secret. Watch Colors to see what makes Usha Uthup’s #jeebhlaplap.
Perfetti Marketing Director Nikhil Sharma feels that the quality of innovation executed for Center Fruit pushes the benchmark further on how to use multiple mediums, especially Digital along with TV for FMCG brands. He leads marketing mandate for an array of impulse purchase brands in Perfetti, and treats Maxus as a long term partner to drive the growth agenda for his brands.
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Ms Rishi will join Max India as executive director, brand and human capital. She will report to Max India MD Rahul Khosla Max ropes in Vibha Paul Rishi for brand building & HR ops
By Ratna Bhushan & Khomba Singh
Healthcare and insurance group Max India has roped in Vibha Paul Rishi to take care of its brand building and human resources operation, two people aware of the development said.
Ms Rishi, who quit retailer Kishore Biyani’s Future Group last month, will join Analjit Singh’s Max India as executive director, brand and human capital, later this month, they said. She will report to Max India MD Rahul Khosla.
A person close to the development said since the company’s executive represents the image of a firm, the company decided to bring both the verticals under Ms Rishi. “Our people are the best ambassadors of the group,” a top company official said, defending its decision to make Rishi responsible for building the group’s brand as well as managing its talent, career and succession plans.
Despite repeated attempts, Rishi could not be reached for comments. Max India too declined comment.
Max India’s existing human capital director P Dwarakanath, who retires shortly, will continue as an advisor to the human capital function, the official said.
Rishi, who worked with beverages maker PepsiCo for 17 years, returned to India in 2010 after close to seven years overseas and joined the country’s largest retailer Future Group as its executive director for customer strategy. But her stint at the firm lasted barely two years. “She had some issues and her decision to exit was mutual,” a Future Group official said on condition of anonymity.
A mother of two, the 50-year-old Rishi was heading PepsiCo’s marketing in India before she relocated to New York in 2003. She had led Pepsi’s ‘Nothing official about it’ campaign during the 1996 cricket world cup, which took cola wars to a new high.
An MBA from Delhi’s FMS, Rishi quit PepsiCo in 2007, after which she was associated with NGO Pratham.
In the last few months, Max India has elevated Mohit Talwar to the position of deputy MD and appointed Rahul Ahuja as the group financial controller.
Its hospital subsidiary Max Healthcare also appointed a new chief executive officer, CFO and chief services officer, while elevating two senior doctors to the post of vice chairmen. During this period a few executives including CEO and CFO of Max Healthcare left the group.
Source: The Economic Times
Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved -
It's literally 'aisa mauka aur kahaan milega' as stakeholders go all out to promote IPL 5 starting next week Five days to return of IPL mega-carnival
By Tuhina Anand
The annual IPL event is no less than a carnival or a circus and the TVC featuring the two kids with the Eena Meena Deeka song playing in the background aptly sums it. As the countdown begins for the circus to visit our cities or beam in to our TV sets, we take a look at the various marketing activities planned around the IPL.
Once touted as the biggest property for marketers, the game lost some sheen because of the negative coverage it got in its last avatar. Fully aware of the situation, those involved with the IPL have now gone all out to woo audience and it’s no surprise that lately, especially in the last two weeks, one has seen and heard a lot about IPL on various medium.
Eena Meena Deeka- Carnival- Ye IPL Hai Boss [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2lDDabuGLs[/youtube] Rohit Gupta, President, Multi Screen Media (MSM), the official broadcaster of DLF IPL, talking about the inventory sold on MAX said: “We are in the process of closing deals and it’s been a regular sellout process. The start was a bit slow, but once our marketing campaign kicked off we have managed to rope in most of the key brands. In fact, we have not dropped our rate which is Rs5.5 lakh for a 10-second spot.”
Mr Gupta, in fact, is confident that the rates will go up once the game begins and more audience comes in to watch the matches.
Talking about the campaign, Gaurav Seth, Senior VP, Marketing and Communications, MAX, said: “We have reached the end phase of a very long campaign that was kickstarted on February 23 with Aisa Mauka Aur Kaha Milega and April 4 will see the culmination of all the activities we had undertaken as the IPL begins. As for sustenance, we will take a call on the basis of the viewership and address the issue accordingly.”
[youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXQsIgN_530[/youtube] Some of the activities that MAX has undertaken include a partnership with Radio Mirchi for 40 stations across India which will include radio spots, RJ mentions, and IPL contests. For OOH, they have taken over 700 units across 70 towns including billboards, bus shelters and various other innovative OOH panels. The print engagement includes both English and vernacular newspapers. They are also engaging the audience through mobile and FB along with BTL activation. It is learnt that the budget earmarked for IPL 5 is almost Rs30 crore.
Mr Seth said: “We are reaching out to our audience with one million printed schedules which will be distributed through multiple outlets. We have planned flash mobs across 10 IPL towns. The mobs will give info on IPL by disruption and the sequences will be uploaded on YouTube which we hope will go the viral route.”
“This is the 5th year of IPL so people know what it is. The challenge is to create something that is innovative and appeals to the consumers. Aisa Mauka is perfect as it talks about IPL being an opportunity to bond with family and friends. It invites people to enjoy the IPL experience,” he added, on marketing IPL which has definitely been a mega exercise.
[youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkBVlfisg88[/youtube] Extraaa Innings T20 2012 on MAX has also come out with a special video featuring its presenters on the theme of Aisa Mauka Aur Kaha Milega.
Here’s a look at some of the marketing initiatives taken by various IPL teams:
Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians has taken the digital route to connect with its close to 2.5 million fans. The unique marketing campaign by O&M is being digitally driven on Facebook’s MI fan page ‘MIPaltan’. The campaign ‘Players become Friends’ is aimed at increasing the interactivity quotient between the players and the fans in the digital space. The fans can get to be friends with Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Rohit Sharma, Munaf Patel and other team players and know about their real lives, practice sessions and much more.
https://www.facebook.com/
mumbaiindians?sk=app_ 358303457535779 MI has also unveiled its new website www.mumbaiindians.com, which offers a fresh view for the fans to know more about the team. The new website presents dynamic online tools, easy navigation and is rich in its contents. The fresh look and feel of the website, designed in keeping with international standards, echoes the value which best epitomizes the team – ‘Play Like One’.
Mumbai Indians has recently signed a brand alliance with Walt Disney India, which marks the first time Mickey Mouse will be associated with cricket. The Mumbai Indians Disney merchandise is available for sale in India.
Delhi Daredevils
Delhi Daredevils, in its bid to engage its fans, signed four remarkable flagbearers of daredevilry as Delhi Daredevils Superfans. These include India’s only IronMan athlete, Anuradha Vaidyanathan; the youngest Indian climber to summit three peaks beyond 8000m, including Mount Everest, Arjun Vajpai; India’s only ultramarathon runner Arun Bhardwaj and the only Indian woman to ski her way to South Pole, Reena Kaushal Dharmshaktu.
It also launched the team’s Hindi website, making it the first IPL franchise to create an online destination for cricket fans who would like to follow the game in the language. The English website too had been redesigned. Also on anvil is the launch of mobile version of the website. Smartphone users can download a mobile App to get scores and updates. DD also launched its new official song titled ‘Munday Dilli Ke’ to herald the coming season of DLF Indian Premier League.
Chennai Super Kings
CSK took its ‘Whistle podu’ further by launching a brand new participative cheer video. Titled ‘Chennai Super Kings ku Raise Your Hands’ this video too is a tribute to the unwavering fan support that the team enjoys. The one-minute video captures a fan formation that gathers momentum, with supporters joining in to form a Mexican wave cheering their favourite team. The video was uploaded on YouTube late evening on March 25, and in less than 12 hours it had already generated over 10,000 views.
In another unique initiative, Washington Apple have partnered with CSK as ‘Official Fruit’ for the upcoming IPL season. South India is India’s largest market for Washington Apples and Chennai, in particular, is the key port of entry and distribution hub and also a key market for the company, hence the association.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Venky Mysore, MD & CEO of KKR on the marketing initiatives said: “KKR recently unveiled its new marketing campaign, ‘New Dawn, New Knights’. The campaign is about the new team that we have formed and its new attitude and intensity. It signifies the new winning spirit that has been brought in by our new players and the new coach. All of these go a long way in ensuring a new beginning.”
He also said that their digital community exceeds 700,000 and before the start of the latest season of IPL, they are confident of reaching a million. The marketing would be mostly done through merchandising on the digital platform as well as through ticketing. “Contrary to public perception, we don’t go out and buy media, because we don’t need to. We have a brand that we constantly work on. Part of how we do that is to ensure the team is doing well, and we also try to be a part of mutually beneficial associations that can be leveraged. Hence, we develop marketing programmes that allow brands associated with us to activate themselves. For instance, we created a lot of content with our sponsors on digital and electronic media last year which they utilized advantageously,” Mr Mysore said.
KKR is working to create new revenue streams like merchandising and licensing. Since various third party reports indicate that KKR is the most valuable brand franchise, they are looking at ways to strike licensing agreements to monetize on the same. As a result of multiple merchandising deals, they have made available a number of branded KKR merchandise like T-shirts, hats, head bands, fridge magnets, pens, ties and so on.
“The market segment that IPL attracts is very different from that of a Test and One Day format of the game. I think it depends on the product. If you look at toothpaste today, you have hundreds of brands, but it all depends on how you package it and how you market it. So the challenge for us is to keep working on the product, its packaging and delivery, and if we do a good job, then we would be successful as a franchise,” he added.
Rajasthan Royals
Rajasthan Royals has again tied up with Sanskar School for their annual inter-school Kanni Thahryamal Tournament to develop, nurture and motivate young talent at the grassroots level. Various Rajasthan Royals players, including Rahul Dravid, scouted for talent at the tournament and. RR also supported the Ambuja Jaipur Marathon 2012 as Official Fitness Partner.
They recently unveiled the pink-coloured training jersey dedicated to the city of Jaipur, the team’s home. On the digital front, the focus is on interactivity and their fan zone on the website encourages fans to express themselves through content, videos, images, forums or polls. Points are awarded based on interactivity on the website which can be redeemed for exclusive memorabilia and merchandise.
UltraTech Cement Limited is the team’s Principal Sponsor for IPL 5. The cement brand has been associated with the squad since 2008.
Kings XI Punjab
This IPL team hosts the Kings XI Punjab Cup, a tournament organized to provide a platform for young guns to showcase their talent. Through this annual tournament, KXIP aims to nurture talent at the grass root level by giving them an opportunity to display their talent.
Kings XI Punjab has initiated an activity with Institute of Fashion technology at Punjab University. As a part of the initiative, the aspirants were given an opportunity to design their favourite local team’s merchandise. The chosen designs have been used in the merchandising of Kings XI Punjab.
The team associated with Indraprastha All India Sports Foundation to launch the one-of-a-kind reality show ‘Cricket Champs’. This reality show is being powered by Kings XI Punjab and a number of players from the franchisee are also part of the proceedings. This pan-India initiative is featuring on UTV.
Deccan Chargers
Emirates International has come on board as the Team Sponsor for Deccan Chargers. DC also kick-started its Blue Campaign in Hyderabad with ‘its gotta be blue’ line celebrating food, music and cricket. Some Tollywood films have also associated with Deccan Chargers for promotional campaigns. DC is also taking the digital route to connect and interact with its fans in a better way.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
RCB launched its new website earlier this month, which is aimed at making navigation easier for its fans. The site has new collection of photos, videos and other downloads for its followers. Most of the initiatives are on the RCB site.
Pune Warriors
This IPL team has been focusing on interacting with its fans with its website. In keeping with the name, the site has sections like ‘Our Warriors’ which give information about the players, War news and Warrior Club Updates. The Bhartiya Nrityanganas or the cheer queens with the Indian flavour will be encouraging the team on field. The team has also associated with Bookmyshow for buying tickets for the games.
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Mumbai Indians, Pune Warriors Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils are doing good business according to bookmyshow, the online agent for five IPL teams IPL 5: Online ticket sales picking up pace
By Ameya Chumbhale
If ticket sales of the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League are anything to go by, India is certainly not cricket fatigued.
Mumbai Indians, which began its online sales on March 1, claims to have sold close to a third of its tickets already. Some of these tickets are priced as high as Rs40,000 – the most expensive among all teams.
Pune Warriors (PWI) and IPL winners Chennai Super Kings (CSK), as well as Delhi Daredevils are also doing good business, said bookmyshow’s chief executive officer Ashish Hemrajani. Bookmyshow is the online agent for five IPL teams, including Mumbai Indians (MI).
Online sales are critical to the success of the IPL as stadium sales usually commence only a few days before the match. “Last year, we sold close to 60per cent of our ticket inventory online through thermal printing which enables us not to have restriction on quota for online sales. This means the system allows us to print tickets similar to international practices and also allows the Mumbai Indians fans to choose their own seats,” said an MI spokesperson.
Hemrajani says bookmyshow has already sold 50,000 tickets this year. “Mumbai and Pune are doing really well, while ticket sales of Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab have picked up over the last two days,” he added.
The inaugural match on April 4, between the CSK and MI in Chennai, is sold out. Chandrabhan, general manager, marketing at Chennai SuperKings said online tickets for the second and third matches are also sold out. CSK has kept 60 per cent tickets for on-ground sales as “Chennai is known for fans queuing up to buy (movie and cricket match) tickets,” he added.
Since the first IPL season, on-ground ticket sales and television viewership have moved in tandem, say media planners. “Both went up for the first three years of IPL, and both came down last year. The link is very strong between the two,” said Ajit Varghese, managing director (South Asia), media agency Maxus and Motivator.
Multi Screen Media, the company that operates Sony Max, which broadcasts IPL matches, has signed six sponsors till date. Among them are Vodafone, Pepsi, Hyundai, Idea and Tata Photon. It had nine sponsors last year. MSM, according to sources who did not want to be named, has sold only about 50-60 per cent of the ad inventory until now as against 75-80 per cent around the same time in 2011.
According to industry sources, MSM is charging around Rs5 lakh per 10 seconds and they expect it to rise if television viewership goes up in the first seven to eight matches.
MSM president Rohit Gupta confirmed that the company had signed six to seven sponsors and some of them have come on board for deals valued at over Rs40 crore.
“We have sold nearly 70 per cent of the ad inventory and expect it to reach 80 per cent before going into the tournament,” said Mr Gupta who is confident of filling up the ad spots, as it will take only a sponsor or two more to do so.
Generally, associate sponsors get a certain percentage of the ad inventory as a part of the deal.
Source: The Economic Times
Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved
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Hemal Jhaveri, Business Head of Star Gold, on acquisition strategies, cost versus profitability, and more. Monetising big ticket movies isn’t easy: Hemal Jhaveri, Star Gold
Movies on TV are, no doubt, a hot business now especially for general entertainment channels who often do premiers of big-ticket movies to spur GRPs and in the process move ahead of the competition. Recently Star has acquired the rights of Kahani and Dabangg 2 while Zee has acquired Don 2.Last year Star acquired the Viacom library as a strategy to become the largest player as far as the sheer number of movies is concerned. Now the network enjoys a rich library of movies that it showcases across channels.
MxM India’s Rishi Vora speaks to Hemal Jhaveri, Business Head of Star Gold on acquisition strategies, cost versus profitability issue and much more.
Q: What is Star India’s strategy as far as acquisition of movies is concerned?
We have been very aggressive on movie acquisitions. In fact, Star Gold, where we do a lot of premiers, is in the forefront of movie acquisitions. In the recent past we’ve acquired movies like Singham, Ra.One, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and Rockstar, to name a few.
Q: Do you normally sign deals even before the movie goes on ground for the shoot?
It is Dabangg 2 that we signed before the shooting began. A few acquisitions we’ve done – some of them are under production. While the stars do matter, what we do as a practice is put a strict content lens on it, so we try to minimise the risks in that fashion.
Once you buy a movie it has to deliver the same amount of returns over seven to 11 years. That’s the length of time we look at while acquiring movies. So it’s clearly beyond the premier game. If a great movie comes our way and we feel that it’s not apt for the television audience, we will not go for it.
Q: In case of Dabangg 2 – you’ve acquired that at a significant price. So, why make that kind of an investment when you don’t really know if it’ll deliver?
It’s Dabangg 2. It’s Salman Khan.
Q: That’s the only factor?
Yes. See, Dabangg 2 is a great franchise to earn. After acquisition of the Viacom slate where we have Dabangg and now Dabangg 2 – we’ve acquired the whole Viacom library. All of their 500 movies are ours.
Q: When did this acquisition take place?
We acquired that in December last year. With this, it just makes us the largest movies library in the country.
Q: Huge monies are spent on movie acquisitions at times. Dabangg 2 in this case. Is it a risk worth taking?
It depends on what you’re buying and at what price.
Q: 3 Idiots got acquired in about Rs 30 crore by the network which owns the rights. They’ve milked it well and the buzz is it has made about Rs 200 crore or even more.
Yes, 3 Idiots did very well from the standpoint that it made a lot of money.
Q: The buzz is that Dabangg 2 has been acquired for Rs 50 crore.
I will not like to make a comment on that. The cost of acquisition is higher than 3 Idiots considering the latter was acquired some three to four years ago. And the fact that inflation plays its part.
Q: What is your view on ROI for advertisers who buy spots on big-ticket movies that premier on TV?
Well, I can only talk about Star Gold and the advertiser response we get. Singham rated 8.7 TVR, Bodyguard set the new record at 10 TVR and Ra.One was 6.7. All of these movies have done well on the ratings front.
From the standpoint of an advertiser, these movies are a fantastic platform. So it’s really a win-win situation.
Advertisers need to look at it from a portfolio approach and not just a single movie. There are movies which may or may not do well on TV. It’s not easy monetising big-ticket movies. The cost continues to go up. The cost of movies has gone up close to 30 per cent since the last two or three years. Advertisers should look at the portfolio of movies and the duration period till we own the rights. We have movies to which we own the rights for 11 years.
Q: But if you keep playing the same movie again and again, how much will you be monetising on that anyway?
We’re in the business of repeats. First and foremost there are not many movies that get made, and out of the movies that are released, there are only a few that do well. So the universe of movies keeps getting smaller and smaller. For example this year there are going to be only two Salman Khan movies and one Aamir Khan movie from what I gather.
Q: But what I’m saying is that if you’re running a movie say for the 20th time, the revenue in terms of ad sales on that 20th run will not be much.
Not really. Say a channel which does 140 to 150 GRPs, there are a good set of audiences that come on to the channel. So yes, we may have movies running many times on the channel. What we attempt to do is make enough profits. And the revenue that eventually gets generated is not bad.
Q: What movies are we going to see from Star this year?
The movies for 2012-13 which we have acquired are Bol Bachchan, Kahani which will be aired soon, and Housefull 2.
Q: When was the acquisition done for Kahani?
Kahani we acquired four months ago. I can’t tell you exactly when it’ll be aired on TV.
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The account, worth upwards of Rs20 Crores, will be handled by MPG Delhi Sleepwell appoints MPG as its media AOR
By A Correspondent
MPG India, a flagship brand of Havas Media, has been appointed as the media AOR for Sleepwell.
The account, worth upwards of Rs20 Crores, will be handled by MPG Delhi. On MPG’s appointment, Manoj Sharma, Head of Marketing, Sleepwell said: “We are happy to partner with MPG. We found their approach very thorough and insightful. Their strategic thinking is driven by MPG proprietary tools which provide a holistic communication perspective. Most importantly, their extremely passionate and enthusiastic team made us choose them as our media partners.”
Commenting on the win, Anita Nayyar, CEO of MPG South Asia said: “It is a great privilege to be working with Sleepwell. One of the key factors that helped us win this business was our strategic approach to communication using our proprietary tools. It’s a great win for MPG to kick-start the second quarter.”
Sleepwell is a flagship brand of Sheela Group, it is ISO 9001 certified as well.
For the records, Sleepwell was erstwhile with Motivator (Group M).
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As the Indian Premier League begins today, the MSL Group has taken a step back and given the game, the quickie format and the hype around it a good, hard look. Brand IPL needs to play innings of its life: MSL Group report
By A CorrespondentMSL Group’s executive report on the Indian Premier League, its ups and downs and the viability of continuing, concludes that if Brand IPL has to remain a smash hit, it must work its strategy carefully.
When it began, the league made a splash and wowed India with the razzle-dazzle of intensively commercial cricket. Then came the slide downwards with slackening viewer interest leading to falling ratings, followed by the scandal that surrounded allegations of favouritism and money-laundering.
“There’s no denying that Brand IPL is on choppy waters. It will have to steer clear of fresh controversies, reflect on mistakes and rectify the damage as much as it can. Most importantly, it needs to win back the confidence of stakeholders. As Season 5 unfolds from April 4, 2012, the BCCI will need a stronger game plan to rejuvenate the brand,” says the report.
Quoting media sources including reports from MxMIndia, the MSL report mentions instances of prominent sponsors pulling out, questionable ownership patterns, and the big one – runaway costs. “Keeping the wage bill in check and managing revenues will mean the difference between survival and falling by the wayside,” says the report.
Brand IPL has other problems too, such as controversies galore, falling TRPs, and overly high ad rates. Yet, the report concludes, “There must be something right with a sports property that, despite a fall in valuation, is worth more than $3.5 billion. By its second year, the IPL was thought to be the fifth largest sports brand, just smaller than FIFA and bigger than Wimbledon and F1.”
An integrated communications approach, the sheer advertising benefit of being on the IPL bandwagon, the fact that sports sponsorships do work well, and the Indian cricket fan’s conveniently short memory are opportunities in the IPL’s favour, the report remarks.
In fact, while other sports such as hockey and wrestling are trying to emulate cricket’s league success, the fact is that India has been loyal to cricket for far too long, and grabbing those eyeballs will be a “massive challenge”.
The full report can be read here:
http://www.slideshare.net/mslgroup/indian-premier-league-still-a-smash-hit-for-advertisers
Image courtesy:Â http://www.facebook.com/IPLSTARS
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Every Thursday, Ranjona Banerji will write about a grouse. Either spewing venom or tongue-in-cheek [MJR] Breakfast with Bollywood and other abominations
By Ranjona BanerjiSuppose (warning, blasphemy follows) you’re the kind of person who doesn’t manage to read a newspaper in the morning before you leave for work so you keep the TV on to get the latest through “breakfast news”.
This is what I found out today: Katy Perry sang and danced and was looking for curry and something in India, said NDTV. IPL season 5 starts with a match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. Ravi Shastri said Chennai was going to win and Moody said Mumbai was going to win, both on Times Now. Headlines Today said that Akshay Kumar is acting in a new film directed by Prabhu Deva called Rowdy something.
Given the high drama on TV the night before over the $10 million bounty on Hafiz Saeed’s head placed by the US, I foolishly thought (it’s amazing how foolish I feel when I watch TV) that there would be some more on that. Not on Times Now at any rate.
NDTV had a thought-provoking report on trafficking of young girls and women from West Bengal, being led into brothels in Pune, Mumbai and Delhi. Anderson Cooper 360 was largely focused on the Republican primaries. The BBC was on Newsday, so that’s bits from here and there, with plenty on China and something on the new James Bond film (I didn’t stop long enough to watch that, had had enough of films thanks to Headlines Today).
That left CNN-IBN who told me everything I wanted to know about Hafiz Saeed and Pakistan’s reaction to the US bounty.
My grouse therefore is that I was wrong yesterday for castigating newspaper websites for being too full of cricket and Bollywood and giving TV a clean chit. Or is my grouse that websites are deceptive? Something like that.
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Contests2win.com is one of the oldest and most recognized Internet Brands of India Rohit Nair is COO of C2W
By A CorrespondentContests2win.com India Pvt. Ltd announced the appointment of Rohit Nair as the COO of the company. Previously, Rohit was the co-founder of ‘QuizWorks’ – one of India’s premier quizzing Companies.
Alok Kejriwal, Founder of Contests2win said: “c2w has changed rapidly over the past 12 years. From being a Company set up to replace the Indian ‘contest postcard’, to becoming the first Internet Company from India to set up shop in China, we have come a long way. In this age and time, we see a brand new, global opportunity beckoning us. We own a great brand; have over 2 million registered users; possess over 10,000 pieces of original content, and enjoy blue chip, global brand relationships.”
“Rohit and I have known each other for some time and we both share a common, unique vision for c2w – that will unveil itself in the months to come. I am thrilled to have Rohit on board and believe him to be truly capable of leading c2w into its new chapter of future wins,” he added.
Rohit Nair said: “As an entrepreneur who has built one of India’s leading quiz companies, I am now ready for my next big career challenge. Contests2win provides the ideal platform to demonstrate how consumers and engrossing content can create an unparalleled dimension in engagement. As COO, I assume responsibility of the complete business and will strive to make c2w an outstanding example of how delightful global brands can be built out of India!”
Contests2win.com is one of the oldest and most recognized Internet Brands of India. Best remembered as a Company that created a media industry around contests and prizes, c2w (as the brand is better known) also famously survived the gruesome 1999-2001 Internet meltdown and emerged as a winner. c2w is responsible for introducing almost all the Fortune 500 brands to the Internet in India and making millions of Indian Internet users win prizes ranging from Movie tickets to cars.
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In a multi agency pitch, Jabong.com has awarded its Media Mandates to Mindshare North. Mindshare wins media mandate for Jabong
By A Correspondent
Mindshare North has won the media consulting and deployment duties of Jabong.com, following a multi-agency pitch, which took place in Delhi.
“We are aware that we need sustained communication, delivered creatively in order to become the single “go-to” destination in our customer’s mind, when thinking fashion and lifestyle. Therefore the priority was to align with agencies that would be able to deliver that promise. Mindshare was certainly a strong runner right from the start, and we have finally decided to go with them for media deployment advice,” commented Manu Kumar Jain, Managing Director, Jabong.com.
Says Rahul Thappa – Client Leader for Mindshare North India, on the win, “This win underscores our understanding of the e-tailing market consumer which we as Mindshare have been evolving over the last couple of years. We’re quite excited and proud to have been entrusted with helping to grow Jabong.com’s business model in India using our consumer and media knowledge and we’re looking forward to a long and fruitful association with Jabong.com in the years to follow.”
The pitch to Jabong.com was led by Saket Sinha, Partner – Client Leadership and his team at Mindshare. The team’s grasp of consumer insights in the space of e-tailing coupled with targeting recommendations based on information from both proprietary studies such as TGI and that from external industry research helped Jabong.com understand the India market a lot better and swung the decision in favour of Mindshare Delhi.
