By Jaisurya Das
Namaskar and Welcome to this edition of Dear MxM!
A couple of days ago, an acquaintance asked me a few questions on my childhood. My place of origin, and other seemingly mundane details of life.
I told her I come from Punnayurkulam. Someone had to, right?
Seeing her expression, I realised how some people consider all this as significant even in today’s time… Where we come from, where we belong, what language we speak etc are questions still of paramount importance.
And yet, we gloat about how location-neutral we are, how well we blend with new cultures and how all of us now belong to a connected world. I guess all this is only for the books and social media, and in reality its is a completely different.Â
This brings me to my favourite subject, brands and how familiarity plays such an important role in the purchase / consumption decision. Hundreds of brands are launched every week and they vie for space on shelves, and a niche in the human mind.. The marketers eternal battle!
Novelty is a major driver of consumer interest today and probably the reason behind the popularity of e-commerce sites, yet when it comes to purchase, the consumer looks for that fragment of familiarity; Be it colour, shape, design, content, advertising or just a recommendation from a friend.
Browsing through hundreds of pages on shopping sites is a common pasttime now, and yet when it comes to hitting the ‘buy’ button, it’s most often about what we are familiar with in one way, or the other.
Well, that’s the way the brain works, and hence prudent for brand manager’s to to build familiarity in all that is novel !
How can this be done one may ask…?
Here is where I draw a line…. I can’t tell you that since thats my raison d’être at work 🙂
Anyway, for the time bring, we must move to your Questions and our Answers, as always ‘on the face ‘ each week.
Dear MxM; Read on…
Qs this week, from the cities of Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai:
Shouldn’t it be mandatory to have resident doctors in media organisations with employees above a certain number? People don’t get the time to visit a doctor given pressures of work, and they neglect their health. Possibly group of organisations should come together and offer this as staff welfare. Actually not just media organisations, but all organisations! What is your view? Is there a legal view? Shouldn’t the municipal corporation also make provisions for doctors in office areas too?
Thank you, my friend, for such a pertinent question. I completely agree with you on this.
Today, stress levels have accounted for both acute and chronic conditions in professionals across industries. One the most common nagging problems is the lowering of immunity thanks to indiscriminate use of OTC (over the counter) remedies.
You would be surprised to know that the bulk of medicines dispensed by quite a few chemists across the country are non-prescription drugs. These most often include antibiotics, pain-killers, cold and cough syrups etc that are bought with basic usage instructions from chemists etc.
Soon enough, the patients/ customers become immune to a lot of antibiotics resulting in secondary infections which doctor’s struggle to contain.
While there are legal requirements when it comes to factories etc, there isn’t anything that is rigid when it is regarding corporate offices. Yes, some really large organisations have an infirmary and a visiting doctor but rarely a resident one. I guess the logic being ‘we will cross the bridge when we reach it ‘. And, yes, if the employee has a problem, there is always a referral/ approved hospital to take care of them.
Prevention is the answer,and this requires medical professionals. It’s not enough to have a first-aid box or a nurse manning your sick bay. No longer. The viruses aren’t the same, the bacteria doesn’t respond the same way, lifestyles are horrid and medical ignorance is still rampant.
Corporates, industries, governments need to do the extra bit for people. Don’t forget they make you what you are. Provide them with the best care. They deserve it.
I am a graduate in mechanical engineering from a leading institute. Somewhere during my course, I realised my true calling was copywriting, and I switched to advertising. But often I am ridiculed by people who say that I have wasted public money because I didn’t use the knowledge of my engineering degree. Tell me, Sir, do I need to feel guilty? Have I committed a crime? I have started doing social service to atone for my sins… but is this career switch a sin?
Social service is a good thing to do! I wish I could do more than the little I do now…
Ok, now that apart, let me ask you as to who is feeding you with such rubbish? This is your life we’re talking about, and if someone actually believes that making a career choice is a sin, they ought to buy themselves a new copy of a dictionary!
Far from it my friend, and I can tell you from my own experience ; I moved from hotel management to frontline sales (blatantly telling people that they are likely to be sick all their lives, if they didn’t drink purified water etc…) and thereafter to the magical world of media.
I never looked back after 1987 when I started my career in media. For some strange reason, I did well, quite well apparently, and went on to handle profit centres, brands and all other such fancy sounding responsibilities.
In fact, you’re actually saving someone’s money since you realised quick enough and am sure you’re more than thrilled to be writing copy with a careless abandon!
Keep mastering your craft at copy and write copy like no one did. And before you realise it, the career will come asking for you.
Trust me, this happens. And yes, keep the social service going. Its extremely fulfilling.
All the very best,my friend.
I was asked this question at an interview on who I think is the best English news reader in the country? Frankly, I don’t respect any of them. What is your view?
I am quite curious to know what your response was to this question 🙂
Honestly, this is a very relative question, and it really depends on what persona the viewer carries and expects from a news anchor.
Personally, I believe we don’t have great anchors now, since most of them are now de facto business heads of their respective channels. I often wonder what is more significant today, revenue or news ? Thin dividing line. No offence meant to anyone. I am a diehard marketing person and yet believe strongly in the power of content.
Having said this, I think I have to give it to Arnab Goswami! No, I don’t like the cacophony of his predictable annihilation of the guests in the newsroom yet, this man is quite something..
He is a tremendous performer who knows his job. He has to push viewership at any cost. He does it with a brutal élan that is more than unique. Audiences switch channels and then bounce back to him since they know a fresh controversy is being raked up. Often from nothing, yet wielding a double edge sword each time.
This isn’t his persona. He is soft-spoken and quite unlike the Arnab we see. Yes, he’s a performer with interesting talent. Having said this yes, I would love to see a new breed but can we create them !
The other day, a friend in the marketing department of a channel told me that the reason why channels air entertainment shows with regressive themes is that because the public like them. Is this true? Can we not ‘train’ the minds of the masses to like good quality entertainment? Does entertainment have to be vulgar?
Your friend has a point here. Generically, readers and viewers tend to veer towards drama, controversy, domestic discord etc when they need entertainment. It’s really not about being vulgar or crude but more about the kind of stickiness a program can create..
Any channel for that matter, needs high viewership in order to monetise their audience through advertising. Hence, it is fairly obvious that programmes that command high TRPs ( Television Rating Points, the Unit of measure to tabulate viewers preference/ choice of programmes) end up as favourites of the advertisers and consequently the channel.
Good quality entertainment does exist and is aired too. It’s just that we don’t know too much about that, since we rarely tune in when they’re broadcast 🙂
Audiences can be given great fare, but honestly are they takers ?
You need the melancholy, the intrigue, the discord and the deviousness as part of their day’s quota of entertainment.
So, it’s best we sit back, smile, and enjoy the wonderful world of marketing and how it can change the way we think, we read and we watch. Amen.
Well, all good things need to come to a logical end. In this case, the week’s done !
We will be back however with much much more next Thursday, same space . Meanwhile do have a fabulous weekend and eat yourself silly 🙂 Its good for the spirit.
Take good care of yourselves and see you soon !
And yes, before I forget do inbox us on editor@mxmindia.com with ‘Dear MxM’ as the subject. We will read each one of your questions no matter what !
Ladies and Gentleman, we do hope you enjoyed reading this weeks edition of Dear MxM. As always we would be more than happy to hear from you with your feedback, comments and suggestions !Â
Jaisurya Das, the maverick media-evangelist, eats, sleeps and romance’s brands. His cerebral consulting interventions are aimed at making brands powerful and sustainable. He is also the Contributing Editor of MxM India. The views expressed in this column are his own.