MxMIndia

Category: VIEWS

  • A chat with 300-odd marketing and media pros indicated there was much gap between demand and supply…

    Why MxM India?

    Offo, ek aur nayi media website! I can’t promise you a Maya Alagh smile when she mouthed a similar line launching Promise toothpaste eons ago, but I can guess at what’s running through your mind even as you read this.

    Agreed MxMIndia isn’t the first off the block. We are in fact Website #15 if you count the outdoor, digital and telecom sites. I have much admiration for the owners, publishers and editors of many of these. They’ve been pioneers, risk-takers and have jointly created a niche that’s unparalleled in the business-to-business media space.

    So if there’s much mush and gush, why MxM? Why fill your inboxes with more content, when there’s enough of it? Because when I spoke to some 300-odd marketing and media professionals over the last few months, I found there was much gap between demand and supply. Yeh dil surely maange more!

    Also, for many of the players, integrity and ethics are fashionable words but not really put into practice. Stories and covers being sold for ads or cash, awards for favours — past, present and future… there is much decay in the system. In fact the decay has set in so much that it may take a few Annas and Kejriwals to cleanse the mess. So while media houses run high-pitched campaigns against corruption, they happily espouse dubious paid content practices.

    I am a huge believer that it’s possible to conduct business ethically. I also believe that if we ask the world to rid itself of corruption, the media must have a squeaky clean rep.

    Hey, I am not here to sermonise. It’s important for you to know how MxMIndia will conduct itself. But we are no prudes. We don’t think innovative advertising is a no-no. We don’t think that there is a way to do away with fake ads. We just believe, as our good friend Arnab Goswami would say, that the nation wants to know more than just what’s on the surface of the world of marketing and media.

    My one-line advisory to my editorial and business team is: we will write about people and companies regardless of whether they advertise.

    After 25 years of working in various jobs (save for a bit when I tried my hand at blogging and assorted consulting), this is an honest attempt at starting an enterprise. MxMIndia has hired some of the best available talent. We believe this is the only way to start if we wish to be counted as the website of choice for mediapersons and marketers. What you see now is the Beta version of the site. There are still many loose ends and the content will only get richer and the sections under each of channels will open up. Please let us have your feedback.

    MxM in our name stands for Media and Marketing and it was suggested by my friend Prashant Basrur. The logo was designed by his art team at Deadline Advertising. Thanks hugely to the entire Deadline team for bearing with me all these months. The site was developed by Mediology Software in Gurgaon (Merci, Gaurav Bhatnagar and Manish Dhingra… and Arun Nair and team). Thanks to Raj Pandian for showing me the way with the numbers, and Nandita Saikia and Saikrishna Associates for the legalese. Thanks to Mahalakshmi DM for being around in my early days and Deepak Joshi for help with all the paperwork. My sincere gratitude to the various people whom I bugged for advice and all of you who I turned to for support.

    MxM wouldn’t have happened without my family supporting me. A big thanks to each member of the MxMIndia founding team, associates and our star writers present and who have agreed to write in the immediate future.

    We will make it happen. Hum honge kaamyaab. Not ek din, but soon, and ethically.

     

     

     

    Pradyuman Maheshwari

    Email pradyumanm[at]mxmindia.com

    BBM: 23050B5D

    Twitter @pmahesh, @mxmindia


  • Media analysts and experts don't think there's reason for worry as Star News, Ananda and Majha will replace 'Star' with 'ABP'

    Will the name change work for MCCS?

     

    By Johnson Napier

     

    The media has been agog with news of the two looking at options beyond the relationship, only for them to dodge the belief. But all doubts were put to rest on Monday when media giant Ananda Bazaar Patrika (ABP) finally announced it was shedding the Star branding from its slew of channels.

     

    Star India and ABP agreed to discontinue the Star brand affiliation with Media Content and Communications Services (MCCS). Of the many reasons that were doing the rounds, the one that was loud was discontent over editorial content, leading to the two calling it quits. Star had reportedly served notice in January 2012 (see Mediaah!).

     

    As a result of this decision, Hindi news channel, STAR News will now be rechristened ABP News, while Bengali news channel STAR Ananda will become ABP Ananda and Marathi news channel STAR Majha will be called ABP Majha. The three 24-hour news channels are owned by the Media Content and Communications Pvt Ltd (MCCS) – a joint venture between the Ananda Bazar Patrika Group and STAR India Pvt Ltd. MCCS, formed in March 2003, is a 74:26 joint venture between ABP TV and STAR News Broadcasting.

     

    While the move will enable ABP to venture out in the news broadcast space on its own as it wishes to promote and establish its own brands through its subsidiary company – MCCS, for Star the focus will be on building their brand on their core business, i.e. general entertainment. A release issued on behalf of Star Group read: Given the current regulatory environment and structural issues ailing the Indian cable and satellite television market and the news genre in particular, Star took this extremely difficult decision to withdraw its brand from the genre.”

     

    According to the release, the discontinuation will come in effect in phases from a period of 2-4 months and the partners will work together to ensure a smooth transition during this period.

     

    Speaking to MxMIndia Ashok Venkatramani, CEO, MCCS, said, “No, it’s not a set back at all. With the Marathi and Bengali channels, Majha and Ananda as suffixes are unique and have grown in popularity and acceptance. Of course, that’s not the case with Hindi where the suffix is ‘News’ and hence generic. So, yes, Hindi is a challenge on a relative scale, but not so with Marathi and Bengali. (see interview)”

     

    But while the three channels have identified a name for themselves in the respective markets and have been engraved in the minds of the viewers for a long time, it will be interesting to see how a name change exercise will impact the course for the network over a period of time.

    “The first 180 days of a brand name change are the most crucial and critical days. It is in these frenetic days of frenetic brand activity that a name change can be made successful or not,” writes note brank expert and consultant Harish Bijoor in an exclusive analysis on the name change for MxMIndia. “No wonder then that you see a flurry of advertising activity that goes in to establish a new name solidly in the mind of the consumer.”

    Drawing implications over the new announcement, Anita Nayyar, CEO India & SouthAsia, Havas Media said that the popularity of the channels may take a beating if they toy around with the content and if the change is not expressed loudly and clearly to the viewers. “One will have to assess the extent to which the two have called a split in partnership. But if you see the association, Star, as such is a name that has been engraved in the minds of the people for a long time, and therefore it will be tough for the viewers to overnight respond to the change in a positive way. If they announce the change in a big way and do tremendous activity and promotions around it and create awareness levels, then only will the audience respond to the change. Otherwise past examples have shown that no matter how big a brand or name, if the change in name is not relayed properly to the masses, it will see a decline in popularity and fortunes.”

     

    On the impact it would have on the advertisers, she said: “It will be a wait-and-watch game for the advertisers. I feel the current deals will go on as scheduled but new deals will depend on what the change will hold in store for the brand.”

     

    Mona Jain, CEO, Vivaki Exchange, said: “I don’t see the change having any impact on the popularity or the ratings as such. First, one will have to see what is the exact nature of the deal? If the team and other infrastructure related activity remains the same then there wouldn’t be an impact as such. Also, what is important is the quality of content that is played on these channels. If there is no change from the previous deal, then the viewer will continue to stick to the channels the way they used to earlier. We will have to see how it pans out over the course of time.”

     

    According to Tarun Nigam, Executive Director, India North, Starcom Worldwide, this could be an opportune time for ABP to make a name for itself in this arena. “I don’t see this development having any impact on what is currently being offered. If the content remains the same, if there is no breakdown in team and so on, then it shouldn’t matter at all. In fact I think this is a perfect opportunity for ABP to finally make a name for themselves in the news broadcast space, as they already are a big name in the print space. They, anyways, are a very strong and deep-rooted organization and have sustained themselves as a commendable force to reckon with.”

     

    According to Nigam, in a market like Kolkata where ABP are a dominant force, this deal will enable ABP to showcase more regional offerings that they specialize in, which will only catapult the interests of the viewers at large. “One will have to wait and see what will be effects of the change in other markets like Maharashtra,Delhiand others. For all you know, ABP might just emerge a stronger player in these markets as well.”

     

    The ball, for now, seems to be in ABP’s court as they finally get to pursue their dream of going solo and 360-degree in the news space. With healthy ratings and a roster of loyal advertisers willing to cling on to them, the priority for ABP is now to endorse an enduring message to one and all and go loud with their promotional activities announcing the new shift. Till then it is wait-and-watch.

     

     

  • The Aamir Khan mega-show is not about ratings alone – it's about an opportunity to build brand equity, which can be invaluable

    By Invitation: Sundeep Nagpal | Will Satyamev Jayate work for advertisers?

    By Sundeep Nagpal

     

    Much has been said already about this latest attempt at garnering mindshare (no, not that one …. please notice, the ‘m’ is not in caps !). And most of it is reasonably credible and justifiable. For instance, there’s little doubt that the show is a brave attempt by an entertainment channel to create some degree of social transformation, as much as being almost a challenge to its sponsors to leverage its equity for their brand.

     

    There’s also little doubt that both, the anchor of the show and its production values are as superlative as they could be.

     

    But the question is: Will it work?. What are the benchmarks of performance? Should they be just the ratings? And if not, are there any other – for example: any NGOs which can monitor changes in behaviour, attitude, etc. towards the social issues that the programme addresses.

     

    However, until such time that any social transformation becomes evident, here are some thoughts that still intrigue media professionals (especially after seeing the first episode). (Lesser mortals such as us can only look at this prism, in the light of the advertising / media business).

     

    – By any stretch of imagination, and despite being broadly classified under the genre of reality, SJ is far from being an entertainment show (no argument that even KBC was entertaining to some degree, despite basically, being a general knowledge quiz). So, will it work even half as well as KBC?

    – With the backdrop of socially-oriented programs like Aap Ki Kacheri, what can be expected from SJ? Can the host / treatment of this show make it a commercial viability for the channel?

    – In a season where the popularity of the country’s largest entertainment spectacle (the IPL) seems to be on the wane, what can be expected by an advertiser from a social talk show?

    – To what extent could the marketing muscle behind the show have bolstered the ratings of the first episode? (and of course, what, if anything would sustain its popularity?)

    – While there is no doubt that the host/ anchor, production values and the promotional strategy (including the suspense created), have been very favourable for the show, are the time slot, program duration and basic content, favourable enough to create a block buster?

    So, this article is not a shot at ‘philosophical gyaan’. In fact, it is an attempt to understand audience perception as well as an attempt to predict the popularity of the show (yes in terms what the opening ratings are likely to be).

     

    To address the former issue, we at Stratagem Media, undertook a dipstick study of a cross-section of more than a 100 people who had watched the show, in Mumbai only, (needless to say that dipsticks are only meant to be indicative of any patterns that may exist and not necessarily statistically accurate).

     

    Also, we did look at the ratings of a variety of other reality shows quite closely, just to be able to arrive at an educated judgement on what its opening TVR would be on Star Plus (for an All India, CS, 4 + audience).

     

    Here are some of our observations.

    –  To begin with about 25 % of people approached for the dipstick survey had not seen the show (but that’s not surprising, after all people do other stuff on Sunday mornings), and males formed a larger component of the non-viewing audience.

    – 18 % watched for less than 15 minutes, while 27% watched for more than an hour (albeit, not for a statistically valid sample).

    – A majority of male viewers did not even know the duration of the programme, (even after having watched it).

    – Two-thirds of viewers watched the original airing and almost everyone who saw it, did so on Star Plus (in Mumbai).

    – A majority of Males watched primarily because of the host/anchor, while about a third of them were curious about the content. Whereas a much larger proportion of women watched for the content.

    – More than two-thirds of viewers rated content and credibility of the show very highly.

    – In fact, the majority seemed to find nothing wrong with the time slot and expressed a desire to watch it again.

     

    And lastly, while the media fraternity waits with baited breath for this, and purely based on judgment, the opening original episode of Satyamev Jayate on Star Plus, ought to garner a rating of between 3.2 to 3.7 for an All India, C&S, 4 years-plus audience.

     

    However, as has been said before, for advertisers/ sponsors, this programme is not about ratings alone – it’s about an opportunity to build brand equity, which can be invaluable. In fact, it could be about diverting your CSR budget to Television !

     

    So, All the best, Aamir & All the best, Star!

     

    Sundeep Nagpal is director of Stratagem Media Pvt. Ltd, a Mumbai based media agency!

     

  • The Indian Express, Shekhar Gupta and 3 others have sent a legal notice to Vinod Mehta, Open magazine and its key employees asking for them to apologise for an interview and pull it off the Web. Plus Rs 100 crore each as damages

    More Mediaah!: Indian Express, Shekhar Gupta & Co send notice to Open, Vinod Mehta. Demand Rs 500 cr as damages

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    The Indian Express group and four of its senior journalists (including editor-in-chief Shekhar Gupta) have sent a legal notice to Open magazine, its editor and other professionals. And above all to Vinod Mehta. The reason: in an interview to Open, Outlook’s Vinod Mehta rubbished the Express expose of a coup-like situation in the Capital.

     

    The Express is also upset with the publication of reactions that the interview elicited.

     

    I strongly recommend a read of the legal notice (currently posted in a blog that seems to have been created for the purpose — http://nobodyisusingthedword.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/indian-express- shekhar-gupta-threatens-to-sue-vinod-mehta-hartosh-singh-bal-open-magazine-c-repor/ .  Please don’t miss Pages 6 and 7, where the notice highlights a contradiction in Mehta’s statement on how he quit The Independent in the interview (as also made in a speech at the Press Club Bombay awards recently) and his book Lucknow Boy.

     

    The lawyer has asked for an apology, removal of the interview from the site and Rs 100 crore each for her clients. Note the money must be remitted even after the publication of the apology.

     

    Mediaah! view: I think the Express should’ve just let the interview be (link: http://www.openthemagazine.com/ article/nation/the-mother-of-all-mistakes). I don’t think the interview is damning the reputation of the Express or its editor-in-chief. And even if there is a belief that Vinod Mehta ought not to have said what he did and Open shouldn’t have published it especially since the coup story hasn’t been proven to be wrong, initiating a legal procedure is perhaps a bit much.

     

    Moreover, though it has established itself as an independent, gutsy publication, Open isn’t mass-circulated as, say, The Times of India. I must confess that even though I had been told about the interview, I read it only yesterday, after I heard of the notice. There is sure to be a fair bit of buzz in the social networks.

     

    I spoke to a senior member of the Open team who said the company lawyer was planning to respond to the notice and the magazine has no plans to pull the story off the Web.

     

    Final words: It’s imperative that while the media subjects everyone to criticism, it must be willing to take the heat whenever it’s subjected to it. Now, let’s hope Mediaah! doesn’t get a legal notice for writing all of this 🙂

     

    Buzz me if you have a story to tell. Confidentiality assured. There are various ways you can reach me:

    pradyumanm[at]mxmindia.com, BBM 23050B5D, Gtalk pradyumanm@gmail.com, Twitter @pmahesh and of course the mobile: 98338 76278.

     

    Disclaimer: Although he is CEO and Editor-in-Chief of this site, Pradyuman Maheshwari’s views in Mediaah! are not necessarily those of the rest of the team and MxMIndia.com.