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  • Two new Bhojpuri channels launch wanting a slice of around a Rs 100 crore (and growing) adspends market

    Boom in Bhojpuri broadcast

     

    By Ananya Saha

     

    It started in right earnest in August 2008 when Mahuaa TV defined the advent of Bhojpuri broadcast media. The 24-hour general entertainment channel wanted to identify with and meet the needs of the Bhojpuri-speaking community through its programmes, which have a strong local essence and mix of aspiration and entertainment. The channel offers a potpourri of serials, feature films, reality shows, news etc.

     

    The media market, however, is not restricted to Mahuaa anymore with newer channels and programming wanting to cater to this dialect, and audience.

     

    Earlier this month, CNEB and Launch Pads launched music channel Hummra M. Delhi-based production house AAP Media has taken a plunge into television broadcast with the launch of Anjan, a Bhojpuri GEC. Big Magic, the regional entertainment for the Hindi heartland from the Reliance Broadcast Network, launched a Bhojpuri music band, titled ‘Hamar Des Hamaar Sangeet’ in January 2012. And very recently, starting August 18, the channel started airing Bhojpuri movies in its weekend band – ‘Superhit Bhojpuri’. Then there’s Sangeet Bhojpuri and Dabanng – the channel from Sri Adhikari Brothers that features Hindi content with a flavour of the Bhojpuri region.

     

    Opportunity

    Probal Gaanguly

    Talking about the size of the Bhojpuri broadcast market, Probal Gaanguly, Partner, Launch Pad, which consulted CNEB to launch Hummra M said, “The only Bhojpuri channel so far was Mahuaa, which is a general entertainment channel. All other channels are a mix of Bhojpuri and Hindi language content. Hence, the past has very little relevance for future. You must reflect on what happened to markets like Bengal, Maharashtra, Odisha, Assam etc to see that till such time content is not well-packaged and developed in own mother tongue, the viewership always goes to Hindi. The only exception being Gujarati.”

     

     

     

    Nikhil Sheth

    Nikhil Sheth, President, Mahuaa Network pegs the market size of Bhojpuri broadcast media market at Rs 100 crore. He said, “Unlike other regional markets, Bhojpuri cuts across the state of Eastern UP, Bihar and Jharkhand. The sheer population is close to 12 crore, which is one-tenth of India. Therein lays the potential.” He is glad that Mahuaa had the first-mover advantage in the market.

     

    Outlining the growth of the segment, Anand Chakravarthy, Business Head, Big Magic, said: “Bhojpuri is a different socio-cultural market, with Bihar being a key market. It was a traditionally media dark market, and relatively poor. But in the last 5-6 years, it has evolved. The Bhojpuri area is culturally rich and has a distinct language. Even the Bhojpuri film market is of decent size. The people in this region have local sources of entertainment. And now, we have advertisers who want to reach out to this Bhojpuri audience.”

     

    Anand Chakravarthy

    Mr Chakravarthy also said that while Mahuaa had a good run when it began, it has seen a steep decline recently. But just as Big Magic saw the opportunity, other broadcasters are reach out to this audience. “Advertisers now can actually connect much better with their consumers. And this will be a cultural connect, an attitudinal connect, an emotional connect, a chance for the brand to speak their own language. The opportunities are endless,” said Mr Gaanguly, adding, “Bhojpuri is centrestage on most of the lead GEC channels today through their content. It is only a matter of time before Bhojpuris will have their own basket of channels to choose from eclipsing the hold of Hindi.”

     

    Not hunky-dory

    It is, no doubt, a huge market potential that is currently underserved and underserviced due to daunting marketing and media logistics. But the market is becoming a strong consumer market of FMCG, durables, jewellery and education, according to Mona Jain, CEO, VivaKi Exchange.

     

    Mona Jain

    The traditionally male-dominated viewership has skewed towards an equal gender ratio in this market. Interestingly, even as reality shows like Sur Sangam on Mahuaa, and Bhojpuri music shows continue to draw audiences, urbanised serials and quiz shows does not get much audience.

     

    “India is a young country and so is the case with the Bhojpuri-speaking. But youth is not just an age group. The manifestation of youth as understood by brand marketers are more to do with people who are seeking better life & life style. In fact the hard coded market data puts Bhojpuri people from Bihar and Jharkhand are as upmarket as an average urban Indian. Our incessant effort was to unearth it and then design a channel for them (Hummra M), and they loved it,” said Mr Gaanguly.

     

    Even as the entry of various players does show the interest in the market, the Bhojpuri broadcast media is also marred with challenges. TAM is restricted to Patna, and includes the area in Hindi-speaking market. “It is difficult to explain the advertiser that Bhojpuri is not an area, but a socio-cultural audience that speaks this particular dialect,” said Mr Sheth.

     

    Another challenge, according to Mr Chakravarthy is quality content. His view is supported by Satyajit Sen, CEO, ZenithOptimedia who added, “Even as the advertisers seek to reach the audience, it remains to be seen which channel emerges as primary and which one a secondary option for advertisers.”

     

    Sundeep Nagpal

    Sundeep Nagpal, Director, Stratagem Media, opined, “Bhojpuri is a widely spoken language. Given that there are so many channels for other languages, I see no reason why more players should not enter the Bhojpuri market. And yet, it’s not as if this market can accommodate anybody and everybody.  It’s as though several media houses seem to have identified the potential of this market at the same time, which might result in chaos and anarchy. Almost as though the potential of other language channels has been exhausted, and media houses are now planning to explore this untapped market. It may also result in a race for genres, in say, news, music, movies etc., within Bhojpuri itself..”

     

    The perception of Bhojpuri market as serving B-Grade content needs to be altered too. As the market grows, the advertising has grown too. While nobody shared the numbers, the interest of everyone to capitalise on this market shows the potential. And it is of course a win-win situation for the audience, who are now being catered content in their local language, and advertisers who need not spend on national GEC’s and expect their TG in this market to respond.

     

    “National GECs in India began with Doordarshan in 1969. But thanks to geo-linguistic pressure today even the best of GEC channels are producing soaps with the protagonist as Bhojpuri-speaking. Besides the number of songs movies and jokes in Bhojpuri are huge signifying the huge importance of Bhojpuri as a language. I have a feeling in this day of fragmentation we are about to see launch of many language channels, which are defined by language and not geography,” concluded Mr Gaanguly.

     

    And we thought we had one too many already 🙂

     

  • PR is clearly the main aim, as the WPP statement contains a number of legal flaws, NDTV notes, asking WPP to correct its "badly damaged and dishonest ratings system in India"

    Battle of courts spills to media statements, as NDTV rubbishes WPP claims

    By A Correspondent

     

    It was meant to be a battle fought in the courtrooms, but not unexpectedly, it’s now got down to the streets. It started with a statement issued by WPP on Wednesday, and on Thursday, news broadcaster NDTV too issued a statement.

     

    We publish it as is, so that none of the finer details are lost:

    NDTV is baffled and amused by the PR effort by WPP. PR is clearly the main aim, as the WPP statement contains a number of legal flaws.

     

    It is indeed strange that they term the suit as hypothetical as it is available for everyone to read in full on the website of the Supreme Court of New York (as reported first by the Hollywood Reporter and read by many since). In fact it appears as though WPP must have read it too as they refer too many details in the NDTV complaint and respond with several false denials!

     

    Moreover, while they claim that the suit has not been served, they surely know, or should know, that service was indeed made on the 10th of August in New York, and processes under the Hague Convention are also underway as is the normal procedure. Moreover, the lawyers for Kantar Media Research (UK), have already confirmed to NDTV that the service on their client was acceptable in New York. In fact, matters have progressed much beyond ‘service’; the lawyers for Nielsen have been in touch with our lawyers and have requested for an extension. In addition, the CEO of Kantar has been in touch with us and has acknowledged receiving the complaint. NDTV has affidavits to substantiate this.

     

    While many may attribute sinister motives to WPP’s Statement which is full of factual and legal errors, NDTV would give them the benefit of the doubt and assume WPP has made a silly error which simple cross-checking through their internal systems will soon correct. If all else fails, for details of the complaint we suggest they visit the Supreme Court of New York’s website where the “non-hypothetical” complaint is detailed in full.

     

    We suggest WPP refrain from using their massive PR machine to make baseless threats against NDTV. Instead we request that WPP should focus on honestly fixing (for want of a better word!) their badly damaged and dishonest ratings system in India – which in their Statement they acknowledge they have control over and is their responsibility.

     

  • The CBI ought to have known that Times Now (and Arnab Goswami) before leaving Suresh Kalmadi’s name out, writes Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji: Watch out wrong-doers! Times Now is watching

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    All hail Times Now which has single-handedly managed to get Suresh Kalmadi’s name included in the latest CBI chargesheet as part of the investigation into the Commonwealth Games. The CBI had earlier left Kalmadi’s name out, only to find that the wrath of the nation-saver fell upon it. How it had the courage to leave Kalmadi’s name out in the first place beats me. It should have known that Times Now was watching. In fact, let this be a lesson to all wrong-doers across India: Times Now is watching.The rest of the media must now follow suit.

     

    Yet I distinguished some slight self-mocking in Arnab Goswami on Thursday night as in the middle of a debate on free speech versus hate speech he said with a wry smile that he had been accused of chairing kangaroo courts. I can see that he will fight them on the beaches and never surrender.

     

    Suhel Seth – for all that he can be annoying and is on my list of TV guests I don’t want to see again – was quite funny too. As Goswami and guests kept talking about the “Laxman rekha” between hate speech and free speech, at the end of the show, Seth asked Goswami if he had joined the BJP. Goswami was non-plussed. Seth answered words to the effect of “you keep saying Laxman rekha. Why don’t you say Moses’s foot?” Rahul Ishwar of the Sabarimala Trust looked really upset at this but luckily the programme was over before we could break into a huge fight.

     

    As far as free speech is concerned, by the end of the show, everyone agreed free speech is good, hate speech is bad and something needs to be done. I am not sure myself about using the term ‘Laxman rekha’ in this situation because one could see the line drawn by Laxman to protect Sita as circumscribing women and she breached it anyway.

     

    **

     

    We seem to be absolutely unclear about how to tackle hate speech in this country. While we have defamation, slander and libel laws, we are quite lax about them in general and we have not worked out how to transfer them to cyberspace. Clamping down arbitrarily on freedom of speech and expression is our normal way of dealing with content which spreads hatred.

     

    Therefore, the blocking of the twitter handles of journalists Kanchan Gupta, formerly of Pioneer and Shiv Aroor of Headlines Today received widespread condemnation, as did the blocking of the website of Pakistani journalist Faraaz Ahmed. The irony is that it is Ahmed who had researched, investigated and concluded that the images of Muslims being attacked, tortured in the video clips doing the rounds were doctored. Blocking him therefore made no sense.

     

    I do not know Aroor but have had some twitter conversation with Gupta and we are both columnists for Mid-Day. He is undoubtedly right-wing but that is hardly against the law. Nor can being right-wing per se be construed as being given to hate speech. If there are specific instances that Gupta and Aroor put up content that sparked communal violence they can be booked for that. But by just blocking them, the government has been both high-handed and arbitrary and has to be condemned.

     

    **

     

    The apparent squabble between Indian cricket captain MS Dhoni and former India batsmen VVS Laxman over a phone call, a retirement and a party seems to have divided the Indian cricket media between the two. However, it seems unlikely that this will become as big an intra-media battle as the Bhupathi-Paes tiff. Still, it’s quite amusing to watch it play out. My gut is that even though Laxman has been called a  gentlemen” and whatnot, Dhoni will win this one. He has more support and Laxman has retired

     

    Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She is also Contributing Editor, MxMIndia. The views expressed here are her own.

     

  • Travel website Goibibo.com tracked the trend of travellers on their frequency of change in their plans, based on insight from its buyers' data

    25% Indian travellers change plans post booking confirmation: Goibibo.com

    By A Correspondent

     

    Travel website Goibibo.com has found that 25 per cent of travellers change their travel plans after booking. The website tracked the trend of travellers on their frequency of change in their plans, based on insight from its buyers’ data. The report adds that 20 per cent more women change their travel plans compared to men.

     

    According to the research report, the top routes for travel plan changes have been found to be Bengaluru-Delhi and vice versa followed by Mumbai-Delhi. The top five reasons are said to be: ‘Change in business travel plans’, Extension of stay at destination’, ‘Travellers’ health issues’, ‘Personal or family emergency’ and ‘Change in flight timings’ by the airlines. Women have been found to change their travel plans more frequently than men. It has also been seen that Bengaluru has the highest number of women travellers followed by Mumbai, Hyderabad and Delhi.

     

    Ashish Kashyap, Group CEO, ibibo Web said, “At Goibibo.com we are obsessed with data and analytics and thereby leveraging the same to drive a superior user experience. We publish travel insights based on real data that we study every hour of the day.  With the insights of large volume of changes in a travelers plan, Goibibo has enabled the traveler to access the fastest re-scheduling, cancellation and refund processes.”

     

    Goibibo.com, which was launched in September 2009, is a part of the MIH India Group. It enables travellers to buy air, bus tickets, hotels and holidays.

     

  • Digital solutions agency FoxyMoron has bagged the duties to handle the Digital portfolio of L'Oreal Paris in India, replacing Jack In The Box

    L’Oreal appoints FoxyMoron for Digital duties

    By a Correspondent

     

    Digital solutions agency FoxyMoron has bagged the duties to handle the Digital portfolio of L’Oreal Paris in India. According to an industry source, prior to FoxyMoron, Jack In The Box was the incumbent agency handling the digital duties for L’Oreal Paris – India.

     

    Harshil Karia, Online Strategist at FoxyMoron said “It’s a huge opportunity for us to do something innovative with a legendary brand. We’ve also got a great canvas to work with. A brand that works in hair care, hair color, skincare and makeup is almost a dream and we’re sure it will always have something meaningful to say online.”

     

    Manashi Guha, Marketing Manager, L’Oreal Paris said, “For a beauty brand like L’Oreal Paris, the digital medium is a great storytelling platform.  We are excited to be working with FoxyMoron to evolve and execute our digital strategies for 2012 and beyond.”

     

    With its key focus on the current campaign, a large number of unique activities are said to have been planned out, to optimize the digital presence of L’Oreal Paris’.

     

    L’Oreal Paris has businesses in hair, skincare and makeup. While makeup and skincare will be led digitally, the hair business is said to see a lot of integration as far as campaigns are concerned. L’Oreal Paris has products like Total Repair 5 and Fall Repair which are said to be mass market products and here digital is said to play a role where it engages and educates the younger audience.

     

    It is also learnt from sources that McCann erickson is handling the mainline creatives for L’Oreal while Maxus is said to be handling its media duties.

     

  • Footwear manufacturer Relaxo has signed Katrina Kaif as the brand ambassador for its casual fashion brand Flite

    Katrina is brand ambassador for Relaxo’s brand Flite

    By A Correspondent

     

    Footwear manufacturer Relaxo has signed Katrina Kaif as the brand ambassador for its casual fashion brand Flite. The name Flite coined from the words ‘fashionable’ and ‘light’ itself says a lot about the brand and its promise.

     

    Gaurav Dua, Executive Director, Relaxo Footwear Ltd said, “Flite has carved out a niche for itself by becoming a brand symbolic to youth, comfort and elegance. And to carry this brand persona a step ahead, we could think of no one better than Katrina Kaif. With a fan following that is hard to describe in mere words, Katrina is looked upon as a fashion diva and icon. Her vibrant and unconventional style is often imitated by girls across the country. Which is why Katrina Kaif was the perfect match for Relaxo Flite’s new campaign. We are extremely proud to associate with her and we are sure her charismatic appeal in the ad will win hearts!”

     

    Katrina Kaif said “It’s like an integral part of your life, an everyday staple that you need. It’s how you don a pair of Flite with what you wear every day, and you are ready to go.”

     

    Katrina Kaif will soon be seen in a 30-second TVC for Flite created by Arms Communications.

     

  • The billboard is two-sided and front lit, with adverts on both sides, hence visible while approaching and while exiting the airport area

    Mediascope Publicitas OOH creates India’s largest billboard in Bengaluru

    By A Correspondent

     

    Mediascope Publicitas has created the largest billboard in India measuring 100ftx100ft, located at the airport approach road, welcoming travelers to Bengaluru. This puts Bengaluru in the league of global cities like New York, Dubai and Singapore with extraordinarily huge advertising media.

     

    The billboard is two-sided and front lit, with adverts on both sides, hence visible while approaching and while exiting the airport area.

     

     

     

  • Celebrated South Indian playback singer Mano, popularized with the hit television music series Super Singers on Vijay TV, performed to packed audiences in Johannesburg and Durban

    Vijay TV’s Mano thrills fans in South Africa

    By A Correspondent

     

    Celebrated South Indian playback singer Mano, most recently popularized through the hit television music series Super Singers on Vijay TV, performed to packed audiences in South Africa last week with smashing performances in Johannesburg and Durban. The hugely successful concerts were organized by Vijay TV – the leading Tamil general entertainment offering by the Star Network available on TopTV’s Top Star bouquet.

     

    The star, who has over 20,000 songs in 15 languages and has over 3000 live concerts to his credit wowed audiences at his events in Johannesburg and Durban. Fans of the superstar arrived hours prior to the events hoping for a glimpse of him before his mind blowing shows.

     

    The South Indian community of South Africa enjoyed a three-hour-long special performance by Mano who belted out hits back to back for his fans at the premier shows at Johannesburg and Durban exclusively for subscribers of Top Star, TopTV’sIndian bouquet.

     

    Mano also made a special public appearance at India Club’s Incredible India Day where hundreds of fans had the opportunity to meet him personally with an opportunity for photographs and autographs with him and a live performance at the 66th Indian Independence Day festival in Gauteng. A surprise duet performance of his hit song, Mukala Mukabla with P Susheela’s grand-daughter, Keertika Ponugupati, had fans roaring for more.

     

    The superstar rose to stardom with his hit songs Muqabla Muqabla from the film Kaadhalan with music composed by A. R. Rahman, the movie was recreated in Hindi and Telugu due to its popularity. Thereafter hit songs ‘Shenbagme Shenbagame’ followed and when the highly successful ‘Velaikkaran’ was released, Mano became one of the most sought-after South Indian singers in the industry.

     

    Sarika Shankarnarayan, Assistant Vice President, Marketing for Star, said, “We are delighted with the tremendous response to Mano’s concerts in South Africa. This is the first of many more interactive initiatives that the Star Network will bring to the Indian community in South Africa.”

     

  • Fearing a possible drop in viewership, ESPN Star inks long-term deals for advertising for long cricket season

    ESPN Star derisks on cricket viewership by signing long-term ad deals

    By Vijaya Rathore

     

    In what could be seen as a fallout of falling television ratings for cricket, broadcaster ESPN Star Sports has for the first time ever forged long-term deals with advertisers that will help protect itself from any further drop in viewership.

     

    Ahead of a long cricket season that kicks off with the India-New Zealand series on Thursday, ESPN said it entered club deals on almost all cricket events in its kitty for the calendar year like the T20 World Cup, Champions League, England’s tour of India and the Australia series. Broadcasters were until now only signing tournament-specific deals.

     

    “Nokia, Havells, Maruti Suzuki and Tata Docomo have already come on board as sponsors for the entire cricket season,” says Sanjay Kailash, executive vice president, ESPN Software India. Mr Kailash did not share numbers, but industry sources with direct knowledge of the deals said ESPN has already managed to get advertisements worth Rs 2.8 billion through these deals.

     

    Following the advent of T20, a shorter 20-overs-a-side form of the game, viewership for the longer 50-overs-a-side one-day internationals and Test matches have dipped. TV ratings for ODI matches during the year averaged 2.5, while TVR for T20 tournaments were around 4, according to a company that quoted data given by TAM India.

     

    Mr Kailash said the four brands put together have bought around 40% of the total cricket advertising inventory for the calendar. “We are talking to a few more and plan to have around five-six long-term sponsors from categories like two wheelers and broadband services, besides doing deals for individual events.”

     

    However, ESPN has not included the India-Pakistan cricket series to be played in December. “We expect a large number of people to watch that tournament and will work out separate deals,” said Mr Kailash, who expects to get premium rates for that series.

     

    Advertisers also welcomed the move towards long-term deals. The country’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki, for instance, believes long-term deals help a brand improve its media planning. “We can time our launches and other advertising events accordingly and reach out to the right set of consumers through cricket,” a senior Maruti Suzuki India executive said.

     

    Similarly, electrical goods maker Havells India said it expects its advertisements to grab a large number of eyeballs when India plays against high-profile teams like Australia and England. “The amount of cricket that is going to be played is huge and we expect good return by investing in it,” said Vijay Narayan, vice-president of marketing at Havells India.

     

    Media planners said the consolidation of major cricketing events on one platform enabled ESPN to work out such deals. “Earlier cricket was fragmented and different tournaments were being shown by different channels. Now that ESPN has all major events till March, it becomes easy for an advertiser to work out value-enhancing deals,” said Basabdutta Chowdhury, chief executive of Platinum Media, a division of media buying group Madison World. She said brands looking for a long-term association with cricket will consider such deals.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

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

     

  • In a new fortnightly series on industry backgrounders, Hemant Jain takes us through the journey of the current boom in the travel media sector

    Backgrounder | Hemant Jain: What makes online travel so sought after?

    By Hemant Jain

     

    Back in the good’ol days, setting out on a vacation with family was not less than a whirlwind! Not only the options were scant but also the hassles of lack of hotels and commutation modes made it less alluring. But the phenomenon of tourism since 1950 has been remarkable in terms of growth, spread and diversification. The international tourist arrivals since then have grown from mere 25 million to reach 940 million in 2010. The fast growth and spread has not only resulted the globalization of people’s movements as never before but has also contributed in creating a vibrant industry and opportunities for millions of people. Little wonder that almost 20 million people are employed in India’s tourism industry.

     

    So what are the factors that have triggered the era of consumerism in the travel industry?

    Advent of Low Cost airline- Earlier air travel was considered to burn a hole in a traveller’s pocket. But with the emergence of low cost airline in India in 2003, air travel, which was just a dream for a traveller with minimum resources, turned in to a possibility. This also opened up gates for many private players who offered better services to the consumers at competitive prices. This was one of the major revolution from a consumer’s point of view because it all together explored a new avenue of travel besides roads and railways.

     

    Increase in travel agencies: The Indian market was introduced to the concept of planning and booking travels in early 2000. The travel industry had not achieved momentum yet but there were surely some signs of hope. IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) had proven to be a success and had demonstrated that Indians were warming up to booking online and ready to pay a premium for convenience. There were a couple of websites that offered air tickets but none could comprehensively claim to cater to travel needs across categories. But Innovation and differentiation are key drivers of growth today. While OTAs have gone beyond online travel to provide end-to-end travel and holiday planning solutions, innovation is the need of the hour. Cross selling of products is on the rise. Again OTAs have to engage with customers and listen to what they have to say. There is a need to make inroads into the customers’ life, without being intrusive and understand their needs better.

     

    Promotion by Government: The government’s ‘Incredible India campaign’ for boosting India’s image as a global destination has promoted tourism in a big way. It has promoted the destinations in India and abroad in countries like UK, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Russia, Australia and New Zealand. This concerted effort has not only attracted a consumer’s attention at destination in India like Leh, Kerala and Sikkim et al but also towards international destinations. Today, the top International destinations are UK, Pataya, Singapore. Moreover the involvement of state government in projecting their state as a favourable tourist destination has also escalated the inbound tourism. States like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Kashmir and Chhattisgarh et al spends millions on their marketing and advertising efforts in a year.

     

    Boom in Online Travel Industry: Initially online travel was marked by several challenges. Low Internet penetration was the major one. Another challenge was habit. The habit of buying an air ticket was through a travel agent and booking a hotel room was always through calling the hotel directly or by showing up. So it was a habit change that OTAs were dealing with and changing a habit obviously takes a long time. Also, there was limited confidence on online transactions. But eventually, online travel industry grew impressively. The travel boom, emergence of low cost carriers, proliferation of Internet and the growing acceptance of e-commerce, are key factors that have contributed to the emergence of this sector. The online travel industry is certainly marked for growth in coming years. The best is yet to come for the sector with broadband penetration just starting to take off. India is all set to become among the top three online travel markets in the world over the next decade.

     

    Increase in the No. of Woman Traveller: A study by Nielsen in 2011 tags women as the key decision makers for around 85% of all consumer purchases including everything from autos to health care and this includes the selection of preferred holiday destination also.  The study also highlighted that around 91% of the female booked trips with their friends and only meagre 8% travelled with their families. Also, shopping as an activity is widely preferred by woman enabling them to travel at far-flung areas.

     

    Change in Travel accessories: It is believed that the travel accessories (be it suitcase, briefcase, bags or pouches et al) a person carries during his travel says a lot about his personality. Gone are the days of bulky, ugly suitcases that threw a major challenge to passengers in terms of its handling. Today on consumers demand there is a host of lightweight travel accessories in different sizes, shapes and colours available to choose from. While female travellers can pick from the range of unusual colour palette in luggage including pink, purple and yellow, the males on the other hand can look out for cleaner and organised travel gear. There’s also a lot of innovation happening on other travel accessories in general beyond luggage. Like a travel Toothbrush that is a toothbrush and toothpaste rolled into one making a minute but simple travel accessory.

     

    Spurt of technological gadgets: Ever wondered what was it like to travel before the age of technology precisely gadgets like cell phones, laptops, e-Books, Music Players? Quite unimaginable, huh! Earlier books were the only tool that was used to pass away the time during long and tedious journey hours. And on top of it, a letter was the only medium to communicate to your near and dear ones about your safety arrival on a foreign land. But today, thanks to technological advancement there is a pool of gadgets that one carries during his travel. Gadgets like cell phones, laptops are not only a great mode of communication but are also used professionally. Besides gadgets like music players, e-books, cameras and all are a great source of entertainment for a person on a trip.

     

    The Social Media Influence: The social media plays a big role in travel. Earlier consumers use to book through travel agents. Now people use travel sites Cleartrip.com, makemytrip.com among many others. Sites like Facebook, Twitter are big influencers for travel. People post comments on travel sites, research on Google about place they visiting. Travelling in groups has been promoted in big way by websites like Thomas Cook. Even when people visit the destination, Google maps play a big role. Even the Internet on mobiles play a big role and people don’t get stuck in midway. Seeing other friends posting pictures on Facebook influences travellers. Travel blogs play a big role in making the decision where to go for a holiday.

     

    New avenues of travel options: This is an emerging sector with consumers moving towards more advanced forms of travel options including a helicopter, yatch or a cruise. Although the primary reason for its access remains cost but with the increasing purchasing power of the consumer’s the newer forms of travelling are gaining momentum in a big way.

     

    Undoubtedly there has been a magnum of changes in the travel industry over the past few years, but there is more to look forward.  According to a travel research firm, Indian travel industry is expected to grow by13% to $23 billion by next year. And by the year 2014, Indian tourism industry will contribute atleast US$16.3 billion.  The $4 billion online business is also expected to grow faster, at 28% to touch $7 billion. Now there are number of factors that can augment this phenomenal growth in coming times. Mobile penetration has increased considerable in the past few years and people are accessing the internet through their phones. Exploiting the mobile platform hence becomes very essential and going forward we can expect an influx of applications for mobiles. Application like Zomato.com, Yatra.com have already paved a way for the increased use of mobile platform for consumers to plan their leisure activities. Be it a dine out with family or planning a vacation abroad, the online travel industry is certainly marked for growth in coming years, especially through mobile platform. The best is yet to come for the sector with broadband penetration just starting to take off.

     

    India is all set to become among the top three online travel markets in the world over the next decade. By 2015, it’s estimated that shoppers from around the world will spend about $119 billion on goods and services bought via mobile phones, according to a study by ABI Research. Also identification of new growth sector like medical tourism is pivotal as the number of medical tourist arrival within few years is expected to cross two millions mark. So pack your bags and set out for your dream destination as the travel industry is witnessing a change that has never happened before and in a good way!

     

    Hemant Jain is Senior Vice President & Head – Domestic Business @ Hungama Mobile

     

  • The News Broadcasters Association has asked to I&B Minister Ambika Soni NBA to order an independent third party time-bound audit by a reputed agency to evaluate and measure the TAM systems and make the audit report public

    NBA urges Soni to suspend TAM data reporting until system probed, made robust

    By A Correspondent

     

    The News Broadcasters Association, the apex body of news broadcasters in the country, has written to I&B Minister Ambika Soni on TAM Media’s TV viewership measurement system suggesting actions to “protect” the industry and all its stakeholders.

     

    We publish the letter  (link: http://www.nbanewdelhi.com/images/uploadfile/36_PRESS-RELEASE-23-8-12.pdf):

     

    “We appreciate and welcome your voicing support for broadcasters and coming out openly with your thoughts about the TV viewership rating system of TAM.

     

    Certain media reports have highlighted ‘widespread corruption amongst broadcasters’ in light of the recent allegations made on TAM measurement systems, which in our view is completely misplaced.

     

    In this regard we wish to draw the attention of the Ministry to the “Code of Practice in relation to Measurement Based Studies” adopted by the NBA and adhered to by its member broadcasters. This Code was formulated and approved so that the use of measurement based studies by member broadcasters is carried out in line with highest ethical commercial practices (Copy attached)*. As you are aware TAM has been reporting viewership data to the industry despite serious concerns over their systems and methodology of measuring TV audiences. Data continues to be skewed and is seriously affecting broadcasters and their business. While IBF was instrumental in the formation of the BARC, the responsibility of implementing BARC will see the light of the day only if the ISA and the AAAI jointly take serious efforts to launch it in the immediate future. Content and its quality no longer is a creative judgment or product of talent or ability but has been severely compromised with the sole aim of gaining viewership ratings. Your dogged pursuance of this issue and your keenness to aid broadcasters in resolving this malaise with the intention to protect the industry and all its stakeholders’ interest, prompts us to request the Ministry to:

     

    1. Order an independent third party time bound audit by a reputed agency to evaluate and measure the TAM systems and make the audit report public.

     

    2. Efficient steps to correct deficiencies in the system.

     

    3. Help build a robust, transparent and dependable rating system.

     

    4. Direct TAM to suspend reporting data until the above is undertaken.

     

    5. Continue to engage and work together on this issue and give the industry and all its stakeholders i.e. broadcasters, advertisers, distribution companies etc., the confidence to be able to consume data derived from such system.

     

    We believe these measures and initiatives from the Government will go a long way in addressing this long pending concern and we offer you our complete support in this journey”.

     

    * Available on website of NBA www.nbanewdelhi.com

     

  • What the government needs to do, is to come up with two solutions, one technical and the other political

    Anil Thakraney: Blocking websites is stupid

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    And, we Indians are back to doing what we do best: Try to cure malignant cancer by prescribing a dosage of Crocin tablets. This is exactly what the government has done, by threatening to block social media sites and by blocking many URLs. And by enforcing a rationing of SMSes. All this to deal with communal tensions present in the nation.

     

    Well, here’s what will happen: More web pages will be created. And mischief-mongers will figure out innovative code lingo to abuse social media. And the tamasha will simply carry on in this juvenile cat and mouse game. Totally ridiculous.

     

    What the government needs to do, is to come up with two solutions, one technical and the other political. There has to be continuous, smart monitoring of the internet, in collaboration with the website hosts, to regularly keep track of hateful and illegal content. This will ensure the culprits are quickly identified, and punished, if possible. And this will leave the 99.9999 perceent of the rest of the users to continue enjoying the internet freely. This is exactly what happens with offline crimes. If there are rapes happening in Delhi, you nab the rapists, you don’t lock up all Delhi men inside their homes. The truth is, the government hasn’t kept pace with the tech revolution, and is now trying to combat it like a headless chicken. There has been no comprehensive policy drafted in this matter, they’ve been caught napping.

     

    Secondly, and more importantly, this nation has a serious fault line, and it shows up again and again. Which is that, encouraged by the divide and rule policies of the various political parties, India is forever sitting on an active communal volcano, which can (and does) erupt now and then. This is where the metaphor of malignant cancer comes in. Our politicians should be investing their energies into solving this deadly disease. Because all the rest of the nonsense that happens is a symptom of this. You quit the divisive agenda, and with time, communal hatred will get diluted. But is there a political will to get to the root of the problem? Nope, there isn’t.

     

    Which is why threatening to block the social media is a joke. The time has come for the super-excited chicken to get its head back.

     

    ***

     

    PS: Ah! Finally, a cool way to test a person’s creativity skills. Here’s what I suggest you do, if work in an agency creative department: All those clients, client servicing dudes and account planners who think they are more creative than you, ask them to take this test. If they score high marks, great! If they f miserably, they’ll quit telling you what to do. 🙂

     

    Link: http://99u.com/articles/7160/Test-Your-Creativity-5-Classic-Creative-Challenges