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  • Spirituality is on the path of marketing with Baba Ramdev, Art of Living and others foraying into the consumer space

    Trusts of Baba Ramdev, Art of Living etc emerge as large consumer product makers?

    By Writankar Mukherjee & Sarah Jacob

     

    Spiritual gurus and ashrams are widening their reach among the populace not just through their teachings but through products as well.

     

    If Osho slippers are a craze among fashionable youngsters, Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali line of personal care and packaged food products and Art of Living’s body lotions and ayurvedic energizers too are finding takers beyond their followers.

     

    “These products have the potential to challenge some of the top FMCG brands in the market,” Sanjiv Goenka, chairman of hypermarket chain Spencer’s Retail, says.

     

    Industry observers say spiritual trusts such as Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living, Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved, Aurobindo Ashram, Pujya Bapuji’s Sant Shri Asharamji Ashram, Coimbatore-based Isha Foundation and the organisation that runs Swaminarayan Akshardham are all on the cusp of emerging large consumer product makers.

     

    Some of them plan to widen distribution of their products-so far largely sold at their ashrams-through kirana stores, supermarkets and online retailing. Some are entering into back-end integration for commodity sourcing and are building distinct brands.

     

    Spencer’s plans to sell such products at its outlets-there are more than 200 of them-and is open to offer larger shelf space than even some mainstream brands.

     

    “These organisations have huge brand pull and Ayurveda products always do well. It is a potent pull factor,” says Mr Goenka.

     

    Advertising veteran R Balki thinks it would take a while before these products compete with the established brands, but says they can create a niche for themselves. “These products have a great base or personality-they tend to connote health, nature and purity,” says Mr Balki, chairman of advertising agency Lowe Lintas & Partners.

     

    PROFITS FOR CHARITY

    Baba Ramdev started retailing his Patanjali line of FMCG products via through kiranas and modern retail in April. Acharya Balkrishnan, promoter of Patanjali Ayurved Products and a close aide of Ramdev, said this would allow the firm more than quadruple its sales to 2,000 crore this fiscal from 455 crore in 2011-12. If achieved, this would make Patanjali larger than Fair & Handsome and Boroplus-maker Emami and at nipping distance of Colgate-Palmolive. Patanjali Ayurved says it achieved a net profit of 100 crore last fiscal.

     

    Being not-for-profit organizations, spiritual trusts plough back all their profits to sustain their organisations and charitable work.  If Patanjali has decided that none of the board members will earn from the company’s profits, others too say profits from sales will be used to support their activities.

     

    “Through the sale of the products, Art of Living funds its various service initiatives like the 185 free schools which it runs in the Naxal and the tribal belts of India,” says Umesh Pradhan, trustee at Sri Sri Ayurveda Trust, the FMCG arm of Art of Living. The trust makes creams, shampoos, body care lotion, scrubs, cleansing milk, soaps, ayurvedic energisers and juices.

     

    Isha Foundation, which has recently ventured into the FMCG space, says the foray is to support its various activities. Pondicherry-based Aurobindo Ashram, which forayed into FMCG products as vocational development for its inmates, now retails incense sticks, soaps, candles, perfumes and furniture through Khadi Bhandar and even in overseas.

     

    HOME, AWAY & ONLINE

    Consumer goods companies take years to build a distribution channel and consumer base while devoting large investments into branding. Big ashrams already have a loyal consumer base among their devotees running into millions.

     

    “Our devotees are our primary consumers,” says Mr Pradhan of Art of Living, which claims it has more than 300 million followers across the world. It sells its products through ‘Divine Shops’ set up at locations where it organises its programmes, as well as through the world’s largest online retailer Amazon.

     

    Ahmedabad’s Sant Shri Asharamji Ashram sells its products through outlets at ashrams, mobile vans and at devotees’ homes.

     

    Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), the socio-spiritual Hindu organisation that runs Swaminarayan temples and Akshardham in New Delhi and Gandhinagar, retails at 800 temples across India, US and UK. Its chyawanprash, honey, oil, tea, shampoo and dental care products, sold under BAPS Amrut brand, are also retailed online.

     

    Baba Ramdev, meanwhile, has big-ticket plans for rural India. His Patanjali Ayurved plans to launch swadeshi seva kendras with self-help groups by August.

     

    “We hope to open around one lakh swadeshi kendras, especially in villages with less than 3,000 people so that they become self-sufficient and empowered,” says Mr Balkrishnan of Patanjali Ayurved.

     

    BETTING ON HEALTH, CULTURE

    So what ties spirituality with consumer goods? “Once you come into the spiritual path, you understand how it is connected with the body and mind. You tend to become conscious of chemicals being used on your body and prefer more organic food,” says CR Sudarshan, a volunteer at Art of Living’s ayurvedic clinic and its retail chain Divine Shop in Bangalore.

     

    Sant Shri Asharam ji Ashram’s brochures say its products extend the benefits of “the pristine rishi culture to the masses at lowest cost possible”. Patanjali Ayurved is pitching its products as “swadeshi,” claiming they are at least 30% cheaper than national brands.

     

    Inputs from Sagar Malviya in Mumbai

     

    Source:The Economic Times

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

     

     

     

  • Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will be chief guest at the Aaj Tak Care Awards to be held in the Capital on June 6

    Aaj Tak Care Awards to be announced tomorrow

    From the MxM Infodesk

     

    Leading Hindi news channel Aaj Tak will host the Aaj Tak Care Awards on June 6 at Hotel Taj Palace, New Delhi. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will be chief guest at the awards which will honour leading companies in the corporate sector who have contributed towards inclusive and sustainable development keeping in mind the society as the focal point

     

    Aaj Tak Care Awards will be given in five different categories: Education, Empowerment, Environment, Health & Livelihood. IMRB and FICCI partnered the event.

     

    Commenting on the awards Joy Chakraborthy, CEO, TV Today Network said, “It is a matter of great pride for all of us to honour the real champions of corporate India who have positively impacted the society. We looked at companies who have gone beyond their corporate objectives of growth & profitability and have put a society centered approach at the centre of everything they do.”

     

  • The classic before/after trick may just have worked for a tea brand, but for a deo brand, the idea sucks, writes Anil Thakraney

    Nivea Fresh Active: Totally off-putting

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    I want to congratulate the Nivea brand manager for finally smashing that done-to-death route of men’s deo advertising: There are no hot babes in hot pursuit of our Nivea dudes. What we see in the new commercial are only men. So far so good.

     

    But from hereon, things go horribly wrong. There are many ads in India (and am sure the whole world) which bore and irritate us. But there will always be a few that piss us off so much, it leads to a rise in blood pressure with a burning desire to demolish the television set. Sadly, Nivea has managed to achieve that.

     

    In the commercial, a group of men yawn very loudly, offensively and repeatedly. And then they use Nivea Fresh Active and starting aaahing, as if suddenly refreshed. This classic before/after trick may just have worked for a tea brand. For a deo brand, the idea sucks. And as for the execution, it never occurred to the ad’s self indulgent creators that listening to men yawn crudely is NOT entertaining or funny in the least. In fact, it’s extremely annoying.

     

    Disastrous advertising. Guaranteed to get you agitated. I keep the remote control on the ready the moment I hear the first bloody yawn.

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 0.5 Rubbish deo ad. But half a mark for not using swooning babes.

     

  • ESPN Star Sports bags a seven-year multi-platform contract with the English & Wales Cricket Board making the twin channels’ cricket offerings very impressive

    English cricket board hits slowdown for a six by selling cricket rights to ESPN Star

    By A Correspondent

    ESPN Star Sports (ESS) has inked a new seven-year contract with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for exclusive multi-platform rights to broadcast its domestic and home international matches across Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. Although there are no official figures available, British media reports suggest the deal is worth over Rs 850 crore.

     

    The deal, which runs from 2013 to 2019, incorporates exclusive rights for television, online, mobile and radio, covering major cricket markets of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh among others across Asia; the broadcast arrangement also includes territories in North Africa. ESS has been ECB’s current broadcast partner in the region, having held the contract for the past five years.

     

    David Collier

    ECB Chief Executive David Collier’s statement indicated how the deal would help the game and the Board: “In a challenging economic climate with all sports facing tough competition for funding streams, it will also provide an important source of additional revenue for funding the development of our game at all levels,” he said.

     

    Said Manu Sawhney, Managing Director, ESPN Star Sports (ESS): “We are delighted to further extend our partnership with ECB with whom we have shared a very strong relationship over the past two decades.”

     

    Manu Sawhney

    “This new agreement demonstrates the enormous appetite for cricket worldwide and the global pulling power of a successful England team and a vibrant County game,” Colliers added. Note: in January this year, the ECB had renewed a broadcasting agreement with Sky Sports for four-year cycle of 2014-17 and with BBC Sport for radio rights to broadcast live commentary on international cricket from 2014 to 2019. The ECB’s agreement with Sky Sports also includes an option to extend for a further two years, which would encompass tours by India in 2018 and Australia in 2019. In a separate arrangement, Channel 5 has been signed on to show highlights until at least 2017. The ECB-Sky Sports renewal  is reported to have been inked at around Rs 2200 crore.

     

    With this partnership, ESS continues to be the leading cricket broadcaster with the most comprehensive calendar of premier cricket events covering all formats of the game, including exclusive global telecast rights from the International Cricket Council events, the Champions League Twenty20, as well as major international and domestic events from the Cricket Australia. Adding to this impressive line-up of cricket content is BCCI cricket, which will be showcased in partnership with ESS.

     

    ESPN Star Sports will feature a packed cricket calendar over the next 13 months, showcasing a wide and varied mix of cricket action of over 400 match days starting with the ongoing West Indies’ tour of England  to all the way to ICC Champions Trophy in England in June 2013. In addition to the exciting line-up of international cricket, cricket broadcast will cover over 200 days of vibrant domestic cricket action from India, Australia and England featuring some of the top domestic leagues.

     

    As a part of the agreement with ECB, ESS will broadcast more than 300 days of live International cricket action, including 47 Test Matches, 63 One Day Internationals and 15 Twenty20 games. Major test playing nations will be competing in England, including New Zealand, Australia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa. Key highlights of this new agreement include India’s next two tours to England in 2014 and 2018 as well as three iconic Ashes series in 2013, 2015 and 2019.

     

    In addition, ESS will broadcast 60 days of ECB’s domestic cricket every year, including the Friends Life t20 competition, the CB40 tournament, the LV County Championship, as well as England Lions, England Under 19s and England Women’s cricket. Specifically for the Indian subcontinent, the exciting cricket action will be available during primetime making it an interesting proposition for fans and advertisers alike, a communiqué added.

     

    Meanwhile, although there have been media reports on the ESPN and Star India joint venture ending, there is no official confirmation or denial of the development.

     

  • Even though hiring may not have stopped entirely in some sections, there is gloom all over

    Jobs Not OK Please!

     

    By Johnson Napier

     

    If you’re among those contemplating switching jobs given growth constraints at your current place of work or just the sheer temptation to move on to a job more thrilling, you better think twice. Going by the reactions drawn from the Indian media and entertainment marketplace and from consultancy firms dealing with manpower issues, companies are in no mood to go on a recruitment drive, unless of course, there is a dire need for the same.

     

    With 2012 starting off on a sluggish note and with the crisis making a fresh comeback, the growth forecast for the media and entertainment sector is being questioned unabatedly by all and sundry: will media will touch the 12% ballpark growth figure that was estimated for year 2012. This in turn will dictate whether there are enough opportunities for brands and clients to go talent hunting or whether they’ll have to make-do with internal makeshift arrangements to handle extra responsibilities.

     

    But the prevailing sentiments definitely don’t appear inspiring on the jobs front, be it for clients looking to source great talent at the senior level or for those wanting to explore opportunities beyond their current realm. Explaining the current sentiment in the marketplace, Abha Kapoor, Executive Director, K&J Search Consultants that specialises in placement services for media executives reckons that after 2008-09, the M&E sector has become a lot more conservative in terms of both headcount and pricing. She observed, “The trend being observed currently is that mid-level people are being involved to do high-level jobs. There is also lack of funds coming in from P/E, venture capitalist firms into the sector. For example, our firm K&J is used to working for three start-ups simultaneously including mid- to CEO level. We’ve always had a television start-up, a radio start-up, an internet start-up but that’s because the money was coming into the sector. Right now that is not the case.”

     

    According to Ms Kapoor, this trend has led to a shift in paradigm. “First there was lot of chasing that was done for talent, and salaries too were high, but right now there is lot of talent that is available but the headcount is not that high,” she reasons. According to her, there are no new jobs being created and there are also not enough replacement requirements.

     

    Agreeing with Ms Kapoor’s observations is Pankaj Raj, Managing Partner, Search Value, a firm specialising in placement services for senior media execs. “Earlier, people were not willing to accommodate new talent due to financial constraints but right now they are saying, do not go overboard with the hiring; do so only if extremely critical or make-do with internal replacements only,” he said. “So the current trends suggest internal movements as the in-thing and also, salaries are not being hiked to the levels that it was done earlier.”

     

    Reasoning the recurrence of the slump, Sarabjit Sachar, Founder and CEO of Aspirations said, “My reading is that it is a consolidation phase; it’s not going to go away easily. If you assess the media in the recent past, there were several takeovers that took effect like that of Nai Dunia being taken over by Jagran Group etc. This led to many senior people looking out for options at other places. Many organisations felt that they could either absorb them or give them roles as per the necessity. But what happens in a takeover is that the roles are not that enriching. Secondly, there is a lot of realignment that is taking place where the whole organisation’s business is being realigned into certain other businesses or products. Here the trend is that they want to retain the same resource and not hire anybody from outside. Thirdly, it is also about consolidation where most units are facing shutdown due to larger plans by parent groups. So while the falling value of rupee, hike in petrol prices etc have played some role more than that it is solely about consolidation.”

     

    According to Mr Sachar, it is due to consolidation that there is a shortage of senior positions in organisations. “Due to this, senior executives will find themselves in two situations, one is where the role is not enriching and therefore they would want to leave, or they would not be left with a choice and therefore would leave the organisation.” According to the response that his firm has been eliciting, there has been a big drop in senior positions within organisations. “There are a lot of candidates at the top level who are not able to shift jobs due to lack of decent availability. I think the figure is somewhat in the range of 30-40 per cent. Even amongst the media companies, what they would’ve hired at the top level is down by 25-30 per cent this year.”

     

    Industry in caution mode

    On the strains being felt across domains, Mr Raj opined: “Sector-wise if analysed, radio isn’t hiring anyone right now, print is on a business-as-usual kind of hiring while television is almost zero. That said, digital is the best performing of the lot and is seeing hiring taking place in full swing. Overall the mood is of caution and being sensible.”

     

    Providing an insight on the trend being felt in the broadcast space, Yannick Colaco, COO, Nimbus said, “From what I understand, the MIB has recently issued licences for new channels and more channels means more jobs. Also, with the digitization drive in full swing that should act as a boost for the industry as it will increase monetization abilities of all broadcasters. All these factors will lead the industry to its next phase of explosive growth. Today, everything is a function of demand. If you have more number of channels coming up it will only have a more positive impact on the overall growth of the industry.”

     

    Throwing light on the trend at his organisation, Colaco said, “There are specific functions in the company for which we are hiring people. For example, World Series Hockey that was taken up by us was a new project and we went ahead and hired a whole bunch of people for the job. So as business grows, we will obviously need more talent. The thing is that when you have explosive double digit growth one year and when you move to single-digit growth in the next, it is considered to be a bad thing. So even if the growth is not what was expected from the medium, it is still a good single digit growth and that is what should be considered by the industry.”

     

    The status at the Discovery Network is also not gloomy. Said Discovery Network, Rahul Johri, Senior Vice President and General Manager (South Asia): “Discovery continues to expand its business in India. We have a robust portfolio of eight distinct brands satisfying curiosity of millions in India. We recently announced our foray in the kids genre with the launch of Discovery Kids that offers entertainment embedded with learning. Discovery is committed to the Indian market and will continue to invest here.”

     

    Jaisurya Das, COO, Sakal Media Group expressed concern with the current situation as he said that the print sector was indeed experiencing rough weather. This had to do with the rise in oil prices, fall in value of the rupee and global uncertainty. But that didn’t have to do anything with his organisation which has been recruiting people as and when the need arises. But things are not that rosy for the sector, going by what Alok Sanwal, Project Head & Editor, iNext had to say. He said: “From what I have heard it is not an extremely upbeat mood where recruitment is concerned. As far as new recruitment drives are concerned, they would be faced with a challenge but then again I haven’t come across organisations that’re on retrenchment mode or anything like that. So the jobs scenario too is on a cautious and alert note, so to speak.”

     

    The tide is not as bad for media agencies, it seems. Lara Balsara, Managing Director, Madison Media said that they were recruiting people for replacements and new positions because they had won some new businesses. Similarly, Sujay Ghosh, Senior Vice President, DDBMudra South said, “We are still recruiting as per our plan, because we don’t see any major dip in our revenues. Also, our involvements with clients have gone up significantly, so we can’t afford not to hire. But I have heard that in some industries, hiring freeze has started.”

     

    A similar sentiment was felt by radio players like Red FM who prefer to see an upside to the whole issue. B Surender, Senior Vice President and National Sales Head, Red FM seemed confident as he said: “The job scenario is still very good within the radio industry and it is not facing any extreme situation. In fact, radio tends to retain quite a lot of talent and it is handling the current situation quite well compared to other mediums and thus is better prepared to handle the slowdown than any other medium.” Echoing his thoughts, Prashant Panday, CEO, Radio Mirchi said: “At Mirchi, we continue to attract the best in the industry. We recruit our senior management cadre from FMCG, telecom, durables, auto and allied industries. We have no problems in hiring excellent quality talent…”

     

    So while caution is the name of the game, recruitment will be an exercise that the industry will engage only if essential. Those seeking an exponential growth in salaries and designations in the shortest possible timeframe may have to hold on to their wishes, unless, of course they bring exceptional value to a company. For the others, it is about waiting for the right moment to take the leap.

     

    With inputs by Robin Thomas

     

  • While Ranjona Banerji commends The Times of India's for focusing on environment and getting Sunita Narain as guest ed, the stories were 'same old, same old'.

    Gimmicky, unappetizing green times

    Ranjona Banerji

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    What is the general feeling on the pista-green shade adopted by Bennett Coleman newspapers for World Environment Day, June 5? To me, not only did it look unappetising (not that I have anything against pistachios, quite the contrary) but it also seemed gimmicky. The giant Fiama de Wills ad which ran horizontally from top to bottom and half the page on TOI did not help either.

     

    The effort has to be commended – Sunita Narain of Down to Earth as guest editor and a whole slew of stories on the environment. However, the kind of stories chosen were “same old, same old” and that, even for an interested party like me, it was a bit yawn-inducing. Wagging fingers about environmental degradation and human iniquity is now passé. The movement has progressed since then and practical applications and answers would have perhaps been a better track to follow. An opportunity lost, unfortunately.

     

    Most other newspapers just paid basic lip service to the day, so plaudits for Bennett Coleman there.

     

    **

     

    Sachin Tendulkar taking his Rajya Sabha oath should have been a fairly simple matter, with a requisite press presence suitable for a star. But this propensity for national hysteria can get a bit boring. Yes, we have already discussed in great detail the whys, wherefores, whens, hows, what-ifs and wisdom of this move. So apart from breathless coverage we also had some laboured debate on NDTV about Tendulkar and the Rajya Sabha.

     

    When there are no major issues at hand then TV’s desire for “scintillating” discussion (can’t find the sarcasm emoticon) falls a little flat. Even Arnab Goswami’s going round and round the mulberry bush over India against Corruption and Baba Ramdev’s on-off love affair was uninteresting since there were very few answers that India actually demanded from either of them.

     

    **

     

    Watching a press conference with Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee after the Congress Working Committee meeting on Monday was fascinating. If he were not so busy being the main trouble-shooter, the Congress could have used him as their chief TV debater. His breadth of knowledge is so large and understanding so acute, he sort of stops people in their tracks. I suspect that journalists are a little frightened of asking him the frivolous questions they usually do of others. Imagine what Mukherjee would do to Nirmala Seetharaman or Ravi Shankar Prasad in a TV debate?

     

    **

     

    Since the French Open is into its second week at Roland Garros, it is a pleasure to see so much coverage on so many sports pages. I take the Hindustan Times and the Hindu off the hook here – they have always given fair play to tennis. But even the Times of India which barely manages a nod to other tennis tournaments has clearly decided that a Grand Slam is worthy of its venerable attention. So too the Indian Express, which gives a little nod to sports and focuses on cricket, has been covering events in Paris.

     

    However the cynic in me says that since some European football tournament is due to start this week, tennis may soon be back in the briefs sections.

     

  • Is there life beyond Sachin and Dhoni and Shah Rukh and Abhishek? Yes, says Manish Porwal, recommending six faces that could be tapped.

    The Anchor: Manish Porwal on 6 celebrities who marketers have ignored till now

    Is there life beyond Sachin and Dhoni and Shah Rukh and Abhishek? Yes, says Manish Porwal, recommending six faces that could be tapped.

     

     

     

    Gautam Gambhir: One of the most consistent youngsters in the Indian team, Gautam was accused of being puny, under-confident, reserved and almost a misfit for any proud brand. In spite of his reasonably good looks and much better cricketing records, he was, at best, fitted into one-in-many celeb kind of brands. I remember how difficult it was to get work for him, off the field. Today, the king of Kolkata, he is a knight both off and on field. I hear his price is going to double and that still is a fraction of Dhoni’s. Grab him, India Inc!

     

    Kamal Haassan: I guess he waited so long to marry a brand that the brands no longer see him as an eligible groom. Initially wary of brand endorsements, Kamal, is now not also being approached. Next only to Rajni Sir, he has the power to change governments, not just brand choice. He lost an opportunity to stand for a brand so far. Or shall we say, brands lost the opportunity to make Kamal stand for them?

     

    Rajeev Khandelwal: Aamir Khan of television and Aamir of films, his acting prowess and his success also couldn’t get him to endorse many brands yet. A part of it was his choice, as he wanted to be discreet and away from media but for his core work. Rajeev is almost anti-social [not on social networking sites]. A sure loss for FMCG brands wanting to woo the quintessential housewife.

     

    Rakhi Sawant: Are you raising an eyebrow? That’s fine. The queen of entertainment and TRPs was too controversial to be used by the safe world of advertising. Understandable that most brands would not want to touch her with a barge pole, as an endorser. But hey, advertising folks, I thought you were smarter and cuter than that. What about an anti-hero in a low involvement and impulse buy brand wanting quick recall? Rakhi still gets attention, good or bad!

     

    Abhay Deol: Too niche for the mass brands and too mass for the niche brands, Abhay didn’t get slotted well for brand endorsements. A potential, good-to-grab, keep-and-see-grow, Abhay is hitherto unexplored by the big daddies of advertising and endorsements. Holds more promise than sirji, for sure.

     

    Chetan Bhagat: The person who rules the social networks and college canteens of young and Tier 2 India, doesn’t feature in a single TV commercial. He touches the hearts and computer screens of more than a million youth. He knows his worth but do brands? A gross mismatch of expectations keep him away from the ad world

     

    Manish Porwal is Managing Director at Alchemist Talent Solutions

     

  • …but the Top 3 most liked ads were: Gems – Raho Umarless, Sprite – Raasta Clear Hai and Mazaa – Har Mausam Aam

    Vodafone, Pepsi & Kingfisher most recalled brands in IPL 5: Ormax

    From the MxM Infodesk

     

    The top recalled brands during IPL 5 are Vodafone, Pepsi, Kingfisher, Volkswagen and Hero, according to the findings released by Ormax Media’s Cricket Advertising Recall & Effectiveness research – Day After Cricket (DAC),

     

    The last week of IPL 5 however saw Pepsi lead the recall charts, touching a score of 44% on Unaided Recall, the highest achieved by any brand this season.

     

    Volkswagen and Kingfisher were the only brands which feature among the Top 10 brands in terms of both Unaided Recall and Ad Likeability.

     

    The Top 3 most liked ads were: Gems – Raho Umarless, Sprite – Raasta Clear Hai and Mazaa – Har Mausam Aam. Interestingly, none of these three campaigns featured a celebrity.

     

    The most recalled innovation sponsorship asscoation recalled was Karbonn Kamaal Catch. DLF Maximum Sixes and Vodafone Star Of The Match are a distant no. 2 & 3.

     

    IPL 5 Top 10 Brands Recalled

    Rank

    		 Brand

    1

    		 Vodafone

    2

    		 Pepsi

    3

    		 Kingfisher

    4

    		 Volkswagen

    5

    		 Hero

    6

    		 Coca-Cola

    7

    		 DLF

    8

    		 Idea

    9

    		 Nokia

    10

    		 Tata Docomo

     

     

    IPL 5 Top 10 Most Liked Campaigns

    Rank

    		 Brand

    1

    		 Gems

    2

    		 Sprite

    3

    		 Mazaa

    4

    		 Volkswagen

    5

    		 Cadbury’s Dairy Milk

    6

    		 Yatra.com

    7

    		 Kingfisher

    8

    		 Mountain Dew

    9

    		 Lays

    10

    		 Slice

     

    Day After Cricket is a consumer based day-after recall study, conducted among IPL viewers across six cities: Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata. The TG for the study was Males 15-40 years and Females 15-34 years old.

     

  • What the media giveth the media taketh away… Ranjona Banerji on how the movement against corruption is desperate to get back what it lost in Mumbai

    Poonam Pandey for Anna movement?

    Ranjona Banerji

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Urgently required: new media managers for the Anna Hazare movement against corruption. Applicants must have prior experience in rebuilding lost reputations, soothing over internal fissures, creating mass hysteria and taking the Internet by storm. No bar on people who have fudged a few travel bills or Income Tax returns here and there. However, no one with any links to the Congress Party need apply. RSS and other “social organisations” are permissible. Chances of yoga gurus being admitted is at this moment ambivalent.

     

    Okay, they haven’t put out such an ad, but they might do sometime in the future. Because Anna Hazare, Prashant Bhushan, Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Baba Ramdev are back on TV screens, desperate to get back some of what they lost when the movement fizzled out in Mumbai the last time.

     

    Oh, all those heady weeks of being on prime time TV night after night. Imagine the fun, rushing to buy new outfits, putting all that makeup on, practising your best self-righteous pursed lips pose in front of the mirror for hours, bristling with sanctimonious rage when anyone questioned you, trying to hide your contemptuous laughter when anyone had another point of view – where had it all gone?

     

    Sadly, in spite of their best efforts, it doesn’t appear to be coming back in the same force. What the media giveth the media taketh away. Often without any sense or pattern. One day, you’re god’s answer to India’s problems, the next day your own problems are headline news. Instead of focusing on the wicked prime minister, the media is looking at fights between Ramdev and Kejriwal – don’t they know that Kejriwal is a diabetic and that’s why he had to leave the stage on Sunday after being rebuked by Ramdev? Diabetics, it is well-known, don’t like to be crossed. Especially if their name is Kejriwal. Or even, Arvind.

     

    The need for help is glaring because according to wicked media reports, Kiran Bedi even wants Poonam Pandey, the starlet (actually I don’t know if she ever “starred” in anything) who took off all her clothes after the KKR victory as she had promised, to join the movement. The mind boggles. Apparently, Pandey’s many twitter followers were Bedi’s reason, not supposedly Pandey’s shapely derriere which she revealed to the world. Barack Obama and Ashton Kutcher also have millions of followers. Bedi can approach them next. And, Sunny Leone, porn star turned Bollywood hopeful, must be feeling quite bad.

     

    Even more tragically, a do-gooding film star has jumped into the fray, tackling social issues plaguing our nation. (Not corruption yet). Once this film star was on the movement’s side. Now he seems to be stealing all the limelight.

     

    Yes, that ad is badly needed.

     

  • The writing is clearly on the wall that all OOH will one day become digital, writes Rajan Mehta, founder and CEO, LIveMedia

    The Anchor: Rajan Mehta on 5 ways how Digital OOH is revolutionizing Out-of-Home

    By Rajan Mehta, Founder and CEO, LIveMedia

     

    One day, all media will become digital and OOH is no exception. Although still in its nuptial stage, digital OOH is quickly revolutionizing the OOH industry and has brought forth the following added advantages which are hard to ignore.

     

    1. Precise Targeting of your Consumer Segment:

    LCD Screens have been installed in places like restaurants, coffee shops, clubs, gyms, salons, office cafeterias, college cafeterias, hospitals etc wherein the profile of people visiting them is easily decipherable. Coupled with this is the fact that we know the geographical location of each of these places and the context that each place has to offer. Advertisers don’t have to advertise on the entire network but can pick and choose screens based on demographic, geographic or psychographic profile of the consumers they want to target, thus enormously improving the efficacy of their campaigns. This kind of sharp-shooting has never been offered before.

     

    2. Different Strokes for Different Folks:

    In today’s world one size does not fit all. Therefore, you have to communicate differently with different customer segments. You may want to show a Blackberry Bold with a pink casing to young ladies while at the same time in a black casing to young professionals. This can be done easily on a digital screen network wherein you can show the creative with a pink Blackberry casing in places like salons etc where young women are present, while in office cafeteria’s which are more male dominated it could be shown with a black casing. Not only this, you could run the creative in Kannada in Karnataka, in English in Delhi and in Punjabi in Punjab. This ensures that we are communicating in the most effective and targeted manner with our potential consumers.

     

    3. New Genre of Entertainment:

    We all know people are very discreet when it comes to media consumption. If there is nothing in it for them they would not consume it. Digital OOH has pioneered a new genre of content which is crisp, trendy and fitting into the lifestyles of people, thereby giving them a reason to look at the Screens while they are out of home. It’s truly like “Get entertained. Wherever you go”. You just need to step into a restaurant, gym, office cafeteria which has a LiveMedia Screen to see what we are talking about. Out-of-home advertising has now become entertainment-/ infotainment-based just like TV and Press, and not simply thrust upon people.

     

    4. Context has been added:

    We all know anything told in a context has a better impact. Imagine someone sitting in a hospital lobby with a Screen in front of him and an Advertisement for a Medical Insurance product comes up. The person would definitely take notice and think about it. The rest depends upon the creative. Similarly, advertising for lifestyle products in a coffee shop makes a lot of sense as these places are all about lifestyle. In addition to the above there are various programmes (content) that run on these screens which also create a context while people are watching. For example, if there is a programme on sports and an advertisement for some sports goods is placed next to it, then it works well as the person’s mind is already tuned into sports.

     

    5. It’s Finally Measurable:

    The bane of OOH has been that it’s not been measurable. Well, digital OOH is changing this paradigm! Since digital OOH is present in controlled environments like restaurants, cafeterias, gyms, salons, colleges, hospitals etc it is easy to reach out to people in these places and subject them to a survey, the data from which can then be used to measure the impact of the medium. Companies like IMRB have been doing this research for quite some time and have developed robust methodologies to collect, analyse and report the data. The current research is done to understand four parameters – demographics being addressed, noticeability of screens, engagement pattern and finally recall of various advertisements.

     

    The medium still has a long way to go but the writing is on the wall that all OOH will one day become digital!

     

    Rajan Mehta is Founder and CEO, LIveMedia

     

  • Deepak Lamba's rise to President of Bennett, Coleman and Company Limited is phenomenal and inspirational to young media professionals

    The Rise and Rise of Deepak Lamba

    By A Correspondent

     

    When MxMIndia broke the story of Deepak Lamba joining Bennett, Coleman and Company Limited as President, the news spread like wildfire (see link http://www.mxmindia.com/2012/06/first-on-mxm-deepak-lamba-joins-bccl-as-president/). As it spread amongst media circles, it was decidedly the most read story on MxMIndia over the weekend.

     

    Mr Lamba is one of the youngest professionals in Indian media to occupy the position of President of a large Indian media conglomerate like The Times of India group.

     

    Until end-April, Mr Lamba was with Bloomberg UTV as business head. He made a sudden exit with no indicator of his next port of call. Except that it was to be with a leading media corporation with diverse interests.

     

    Although Mr Lamba was not available for comment and nor was it officially announced at BCCL until Friday evening, MxMIndia learns that did join the company on June 1. There is no word on his portfolio except that he is likely to be heading a few new ventures that the group proposes to enter. MxMIndia also learns that the proposed venture may not be in television, the business he has been working with at Bloomberg UTV and MTV, though there may be some linkages.

     

    Mr Lamba’s rise and rise has been phenomenal and is in fact inspirational to those without any godfathers in the business and/or no Ivy League education. A student of Pune’s premier St Bishop’s School later the Wadia College, he did his MBA from the Pune University thereafter. He was business head of Bloomberg UTV from January 2010 to April 2012 and prior to that was Director – Viacom Brand Solutions and worked with MTV India for five years.

     

  • It's appalling to see the Indian Medical Association and many doctors take offence to the Satyamev Jayate episode on medical negligence, writes Anil Thakraney

    Anil Thakraney: Doc, Aamir ain’t your PR agent!

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    I find it appalling that the Indian Medical Association and many other doctors have taken offence to the Satyamev Jayate episode which dealt with medical malpractice. And these docs are demanding an apology from the progamme host, Aamir Khan. I would term their reaction a joke, but we are dealing with a serious issue out here, so let’s just say this sort of a response shows up our doctors in a poor light.

     

    To understand why Aamir did no wrong, let’s first understand the format of his TV show. SJ is not a ‘breaking news’ format, the show isn’t highlighting stuff that we don’t already know of. Female child murder, dowry deaths, honour killings… they all exist in our society, they are a sad reality. And so is medical malpractice. There are many doctors and hospitals that do dhandha rather than practice, and this too is well known. The objective of the Sunday morning show is to bring the rats out from under the carpet, and to discuss them and introspect on them. It’s as simple as that.

     

    Nowhere in the episode on medical ethics did Aamir suggest that ALL doctors are corrupt. Rather, I vividly recall him assuring the audiences that he isn’t pointing a finger at the entire medical community. Just as all of us don’t ask for dowry or indulge in foeticide, obviously all doctors aren’t corrupt. That’s a given. But for the rats to be brought out, naturally the show will discuss issues where criminal minds have been involved. This makes people aware of their own rights and alerts them about the safety precautions they need to take in various situations. The show won’t work if the entire duration is spent featuring all the good guys of the nation, will it? Who will deal with the rats then? In addition, SJ did invite the good Dr Devi Shetty (and a few other good men) to the show, so I just cannot understand why the med frat is up in arms.

     

    Here’s what I suspect has happened: The doctors, who are almost always treated with huge amount of reverence in this nation, aren’t able to deal with a situation where suddenly someone has decided to openly discuss medical malpractices on a public platform.

     

    Dear docs, hire a PR agency if you want paeans to be sung in your honour. And dear Aamir bhai, please bash on regardless.

     

     

    P S: Now THIS is what Mr Nandan Nilekani ought to be doing to get the junta interested in his Aadhar card yojna. The Aussies have created a simple little film to encourage citizens to participate in the census collection process. Notice that it’s basic level, entertaining and is packed with cool graphics. Even the lowest denominator would get it. Nilekani should sanction a film like this. So much better than all that confusing, complicated talk on TV chat shows.