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  • Radio Audience Measurement (RAM) on December 2 released its latest radio listenership figures for Week 35-38 and Week 39-42. Some highlights

    RAMcheck: Some surprises in 4-metro stats for Aug to mid-Oct

    By Robin Thomas

     

    On Friday, December 2, Radio Audience Measurement (RAM) released its latest radio listenership figures for Week 35 to Week 38, 2011 (last week of August to 1st three weeks of September, 2011) and Week 39 to Week 42, 2011 (Last 2 weeks of September and 1st two weeks of October, 2011). RAM covers four key metros – Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bengaluru.

     

    According to the latest RAM data, for listeners 12 years and above, from all places of listening and according to share value, Radio City, Radio Mirchi, Big FM, Red FM, Fever FM, Radio One, Oye! FM are some of the top FM stations in the big four metros.

     

    Mumbai:

    In Mumbai Radio City emerged as the number one FM station in Mumbai, followed by AIR FM2- Gold, Radio Mirchi, Big FM, Fever FM, Red FM, are the top six FM stations in Mumbai. The other FM stations in Mumbai include Radio One, Vividh Bharati, AIR FM1 Rainbow and Oye! FM.

     

    If we compare growth of FM listenership in terms of shares from Week 35 to week 38, 2011 and Week 39 to Week 42, 2011 we find that Radio City, AIR FM2- Gold, Big FM, Fever FM, Radio One and Vividh Bharati are the only FM stations to have witnessed growth. Interestingly, AIR FM2- Gold emerged as the fastest growing FM station, with a share of 12.59 per cent. Radio City, number one FM radio station grew 0.63 per cent in shares. Big FM, the fourth most popular FM station as per the latest RAM figures remained stagnant whereas Fever FM saw a marginal growth of 0.88 per cent. Radio One also saw good growth of 6.25 per cent.

     

    The FM stations which saw a decline in their listenership share are Radio Mirchi, Red FM, AIR FM1- Rainbow and Oye! FM. While Radio Mirchi is the third most popular FM station in Mumbai after AIR FM2- Gold then Radio Mirchi saw a decline of 7.19 per cent. Oye! FM on the other hand saw a decline of 11.43 per cent in their listenership share.

     

    Delhi:

    The RAM figures for Delhi too have thrown some interesting figures. Fever FM emerged as the number one FM station from week 39 to week 42 (i.e. Last 2 week of September and 1st two week of October, 2011). Fever FM took the leadership position from AIR FM2- Gold which was number one in Delhi from week 35 to week 38, 2011 (i.e. (last 1 week of August to 1st three week of September, 2011).

     

    Ranked one is Fever FM with a share of 20.7 per cent as on week 39 to week 42, 2011. Fever FM is closely followed by AIR FM2- Gold with a share of 20 per cent. Ranked three is Radio Mirchi with a share of 16.7 per cent and Red FM with a share of 11 per cent as on week 39 to week 42, 2011. While Big FM and Radio One received a share of 5.6 per cent and 5 per cent respectively, Oye! FM and Hit FM received 3.6 per cent and 2.1 per cent share respectively.

     

    The FM stations that witnessed growth in their listenership share (i.e. comparing ‘Week 35 to 38, 2011’ and ‘Week 39 to 42 2011’) we find Fever FM, AIR FM2- Gold, Big FM, Radio One, AIR FM1- Rainbow, Hit FM and Vividh Bharati are the FM stations to have witnessed growth. Fever FM which leads Delhi in terms of listenership share grew 5.61 per cent, Big FM grew 5.66 per cent, Hit FM grew 5 per cent, AIR FM1- Rainbow grew 4 per cent. Radio One emerged as the fastest growing FM station in Delhi with a listenership share of 5 per cent as on week 39 to 42, 2011 which is a growth of 8.70 per cent as against 4.6 per cent share on week 35- week 38, 2011.

     

    Radio Mirchi, Radio City, Red FM and Oye! FM on the other hand saw a decline in their listenership share (i.e. when we compare Week 39-42 as against week 35 to 38, 2011). Fever FM, AIR FM2- Gold, Radio Mirchi, Radio City, Red FM, Big FM, Radio One and Oye! FM are the top 8 FM stations in terms of listenership share.

     

    Bengaluru:

    Radio City continues its leadership position in Bengaluru, it is closely followed by Radio Mirchi, Big FM, Red FM and AIR FM1- Rainbow are the top five FM stations in Bengaluru.

     

    Big FM which held the number one position for a long time in Bangalore is now ranked three after Radio City and Radio Mirchi. However with a listenership share of 18.3 per cent (on week 39 to week 42, 2011), Big FM witnessed a marginal growth of 0.55 per cent as against its listenership share of 18.2 per cent (from week 35 to 38, 2011). The other FM stations to have witnessed growth are Radio City, Radio Mirchi, AIR FM1- Rainbow and Radio Indigo. Radio City received a share of 24 per cent on week 39 to week 42, 2011 as against 23.6 per cent from week 35 to 38, 2011, a growth of 1.69 per cent. Radio Mirchi on the other hand grew 3.65 per cent after receiving a share of 22.7 per cent on week 39 to 42, 2011 as against a share of 21.9 per cent from week 35 to 38, 2011.

     

    The other private FM stations in Bengaluru are Red FM, Radio One and Fever FM which received a share of 11.6 per cent, 5.5 per cent and 5.4 per cent respectively. Red FM for instance in Bengaluru received a share of 11.6 per cent (from week 39 to 42, 2011), week 35-38, 2011, the FM station received a share of 12.3 per cent, a decline of 5.69 per cent. Radio One declined 5.17 per cent after receiving a share of 5.5 per cent on week 39 to 42, 2011 as against 5.8 per cent share on week 35 to 38, 2011. Fever FM on the other hand received a share of 5.4 per cent (on Week 39 to 42′ 2011) as compared to its share of 5.8 per cent on week 35 to 38, 2011, a decline of 6.90 per cent.

     

    Kolkata:

    The top five FM stations in Kolkata are Radio Mirchi, Big FM, Friends FM, Aamar FM and Red FM. While Radio Mirchi continues to lead the Kolkata market with a share of 23.1 per cent (for week 39 to 42, 2011), the second most popular FM station as per week 39 to week 42 data, Big FM is a distant second with a share of 17.4 per cent. Friends FM maintains its third rank in Kolkata with a listenership share of 15.5 per cent, Aamar FM came next with a share of 10.5 per cent and rank five is Red FM with a listenership share of 9.3 per cent.

     

    The other private FM stations in Kolkata are Fever FM, with a share of 8.5 per cent, Oye! FM with a share of 3.9 per cent, Radio One with a share of3.8 per cent, Oye! FM received a share of 3.9 per cent and Power FM received 1 per cent.

     

    Radio Mirchi, Big FM, Friends FM, Red FM, Oye! FM, AIR FM1- Rainbow, Akashvani and Vividh Bharati are the only radio stations to have witnessed growth in the week 39 to week 42 data as against their numbers in week 35 to week 38.

  • Every week, Deepa Gahlot casts a critical eye over media reviews of Bollywood releases… in Reviewing the Reviews

    Reviewing the Reviews: The Dirty Picture

     

    By Deepa Gahlot

     

    The Dirty Picture

     

    Key Cast: Vidya Balan, Naseeruddin Shah, Emraan Hashmi

     

    Directed By: Milan Luthria

     

    Written By: Rajat Arora

     

    Produced By: Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor

     

    The promotions of Milan Luthria’s The Dirty Picture were such that nobody had any doubts about its content-for once the audiences get what they expect-an uninhibited Vidya Balan in a sex-on-toast film loosely based on the life of Silk Smitha, who blazed a trail as a voluptuous siren and then, shockingly, committed suicide.

     

    The film got 2 ½ to 4 star ratings and from all accounts a smashing opening. Which proves once again that sex sells and Ekta Kapoor knows that. If sleaze comes with a big banner attached, it ceases to be ‘dirty’. Everyone is unanimous in praise of Vidya Balan, however, and all awards next year will go to her-she has left the competition far behind.

     

    Shubhra Gupta of the Indian Express was one of those who was left underwhelmed by the film and gave it 2 ½ stars. “What ‘The Dirty Picture’ does is to place Vidya Balan and her heaving bosom, complete with the dirtier, orgiastic ‘ha-aaa’ sound, so much a fixture of so many oomphy ’80s tracks, at the centre of the narrative. Which is fine, and we are quite taken in by the sight for a while. But then we start looking for something more, and find it, only towards the end, only very fleetingly.”

     

    Mumbai Mirror’s Karan Anshuman is equally unimpressed: More Dirty Less Picture is the title and a 2 ½ star rating. “It just doesn’t quite come together. What gets plated is an entre overdone on the outside, and not entirely cooked from the inside. Director Milan Luthria falters. He is just in such a tearing hurry to tell us the dizzying story of the rise and fall of Silk and the hot-and-cold behaviour of her fans, detractors, and co-stars – inconsistent one-liner upon one-liner, the flashback in negative image (why?), just the lack of any buildup or lingering – that he doesn’t take a breath for the audience to appreciate and unravel Silk’s mind until much later. Because the film focuses so much on dressed-up cliches of sleaze in tinseltown and Balan’s carefully constructed look, there is precious little else to take in. Fewer incidents focusing to get the viewer involved would work better than too many repetitive ones packed in for the sake of impact.”

     

    Sukanya Varma of rediff.com gives it 3 stars, but writes, “The Dirty Picture, despite the comprehensive objectivity implied through its title, is not a full-fledged biopic. Instead of painting a layered portrait of Silk, it draws an outline of an unapologetic resident of a flesh-obsessed film industry responsible for her rise and ruin. But Vidya lends her so much transparency, aplomb and sauciness, the outcome is far more awe-inspiring than it deserves to be.”

     

    Commenting on the actors, the usually acerbic Kunal Guha of yahoo.com, gives it 3 and writes, “Vidya is scrumptious as the imperfect and unrestrained Silk, while Naseer is convincing as a superstar out to play shepherd to every newcomer. Tusshar may have dropped his surname for the credits but that hardly undermines the fact that he’s been cast in his home production, again. Emraan’s character gives itself more importance than you or anyone else does. Luckily, his presence is limited and tolerable.”

     

    From Chennai, Silk Smitha’s playground, Sudhish Kamath of The Hindu writes, “The makers (Milan Luthria and writer Rajat Arora) seem a little too afraid to get into the darker aspects of the tragic life of a star like Silk and most of the sadness is limited to showing the dark circles under her eyes. Even when her life is spiralling down, the film wants to go away from the tragedy and show you a love song. Clearly, they don’t want to depress you because depressing films don’t do well at the box office. However, The Dirty Picture makes up for lack of depth with spirit and attitude.”

     

    Rajeev Masand also gives it 3 for Vidya. “What it suffers most from, unfortunately, is lazy writing. With a plot straight out of a Madhur Bhandarkar film, and a screenplay that follows a familiar graph, The Dirty Picture offers a superficial, simplistic view of the seamy, exploitative side of the 80s film business. There is little attempt to treat this material with sensitivity and depth. No sir, this film unfolds as a series of provocative scenes strung together on the strength of their sexually loaded dialogues.”

     

    Mayank Shekhar also comes up with a reluctant 3. “The film however, even when not mimicking its subject, somewhat retains its ’80s feel: excessive dialoguebaazi, often loaded with double entendres, some loud scenes with actors always in a state of emergency, and the ‘serial kisser’ (Emraan Hashmi) who must land a Sufi song, and a girl’s lips to satisfy his core audiences. Sometimes we remain suspended too much in disbelief. It starts to match the film within the film! This irony is oddly intriguing. It won’t be lost on anyone.”

  • In Freaking News, Ranjona Banerji reviews the fare on primetime news and the morning papers

    Raking up Ramanujan

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    How intriguing that several weeks after other newspapers have debated the removal of AK Ramanujan’s essay on India’s many Ramayanas from the Delhi University history course, that The Times of India should not only pick up on it but give it front page treatment. Nothing new has happened on the issue this week and the article reads more like an overview rather than a news story. Many years ago when Mumbai was Bombay and TOI had very little competition in the city, the newspaper’s arrogance seemingly declared that something was not news till TOI carried it, sometimes a week after it happened.

     

    However, it is good that the Times has given so much coverage to the subject, which so far has been largely restricted to edit pages. Ramanujan’s essay upset the Hindutva brigade which pressured the university to drop it. The BVP also apparently targeted the prime minister’s daughter Upinder Singh since she was on the committee which picked the essay. Ramanujan’s academic credentials are impeccable and the essay has been there for four years. The politics of the protesters and those who gave in to them seems to have won the day and this is one more death knell for free thought in India. Now how about a TV discussion on this, with all our usual suspects?

     

    **

     

    NDTV’s Politically Incorrect between Mani Shankar Aiyar and Swapan Dasgupta had an interesting discussion on FDI in retail. In keeping with the programme’s format, Aiyar and Dasgupta batted for opposing sides. That is, Aiyar (Congress) was against FDI while Dasgupta (BJP) was for it. In some sense, that matches the positions which one would expect these two parties to take. It also demonstrates how difficult it is to maintain strict ideological positions in today’s politics – 20th century divisions are now passé and we need new definitions perhaps.

     

    **

     

    Meanwhile on Times Now, it is evident that even the great champion of Anna Hazare, Arnab Goswami, is getting a little tired of this anti-corruption movement’s obstinacy. As the discussion on the Lopkal bill went round and round, the viewer knows this much: Although Team Anna’s desire for an anti-corruption bill is commendable, this constant desire to go on hunger strikes when anyone disagrees with them is getting tiresome.

     

    Medha Patkar, an old hand at such movements, was actually quite honest when she admitted that stridency and supposed stubbornness is a well thought out strategy to keep the issue alive.

     

    **

     

    If you can catch the BBC documentary Secret Pakistan, please don’t miss it.

  • In Freaking News, Ranjona Banerji finds there's confusion everywhere… in the papers and the news channels

    Why need govts when u have anchors & editors?

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    My cablewallah has decided that the only two English news channels I need to watch are Times Now and Headlines Today. I don’t know whether this is a political statement or an indication of what most people watch or general inefficiency. Of the two I (naturally?) chose Times Now. And I was treated to Arnab Goswami in full flow – he had to save the Indian nation on two counts, from China in the East and Pakistan in the West, so you can imagine the passion and intent. Remarkable, almost as good as watching Keeping up with the Kardashians and a darn sight better than Masterchef USA.

     

    The problem with China was of course that it had interfered in the running of a democratic secular nation (India) by warning the West Bengal governor and chief minister not to go anywhere near the Dalai Lama. This affront to Indian sovereignty was not to be countenanced and it is my overwhelming regret that there was no Chinese representative on the panel. Why do we need governments when we have TV news anchors and editors?

     

    (My personal view is that China forgot that there was no longer a tame CPM government in power in West Bengal!)

    Having blustered away at China – and some poor guest who had the misfortunate of having to explain China’s fears – we then turned our attention to Pakistan. Here, the role was of senior statesman, a negotiator if you will between Pakistan and the United States. The subject of course was the NATO attack which killed several Pakistani soldiers.

     

    It is a credit to our news industry that the larger picture of changing US-Pakistan relations was lost in lots of bombast and sharp positioning.

    In between all this, there was a short session between Rajiv Shukla of the Congress and Chandan Mitra of the BJP about FDI, Lokpal and whatever else is creating excitement in our political lives.

     

    Apparently, everyone is similarly confused because sometimes we like something and the next day we don’t and then again and so the circle of life goes on. Mitra was very emphatic that political parties have the right to change their minds, which is good to know.

     

    **

     

    The morning papers have been equally confusing as one day they tell us everyone is under the Lokpal and the next day they’re not and then everyone is for FDI, everyone is against FDI, partly for FDI, was for FDI once but now no more…

     

    The most interesting news then is that this so-called Bharat bandh by petty traders did not apparently amount to much.

    Team Anna meanwhile seems to be as confused as the rest of us and so has seemingly decided to call off its ritual hysterics for a while.

    Here’s to an equally confusing weekend!

  • Tune in, and cash in. The medium that reaches everyone everywhere is here to stay, and grow.

    The Anchor: 5 reasons radio will flourish, forever

    By Sunil Kumar

     

    #1 It is Local:

    People are more curious about or interested in the happenings in their city or town. Interest in local culture is developing and radio caters to that local culture which other media just cannot. Radio is absolutely local.

     

    #2 It is Participative and Interactive:

    Radio is the only medium where people can air their voice… leave a request… and it provides numerous other ways for active listener participation. Increased density of mobile phones is encouraging this interactivity further. Even social media has its own set of limitations…

     

    #3 It has an Abundance of Content:

    Today different kind of music is played on radio. It is not limited to Bollywood. Since it is a local medium, the music played too is in local language and in accordance to local taste. Today large number of music is produced in India, especially local music. ‘Kolaveri Di’ is one example. Bhajans, Sufi music, or hymns are some other music one can hear in different parts of the Country. In addition to these, the availability of sports commentary and multiple frequencies will offer listeners with more even more differentiation of content.

     

    #4 Car Listenership is Rising:

    Nearly all cars today have FM stereo attached, and as the number of cars continues to increase, it will further increase car listenership. More cars on the road also means frequent traffic jams. There are also those who travel long distances, and as a result time spent in listening to radio is also likely to increase.

     

    #5 It’s Free:

    Unlike any other, radio happens to be the only medium which is actually free.

     

    Sunil Kumar is MD, Big River Radio and a veteran mediaperson

  • Lifetime Achievement Award for Kiran Karnik; IT return electronic filing project wins the Pathbreaker of the Year award.

    TCS CEO N Chandrasekaran wins the Dataquest IT Person of the Year award 2011

    By A Correspondent

     

    Natarajan Chandrasekaran, CEO of India’s largest IT Services company, Tata Consultancy Services, has been conferred the Dataquest IT Person of the Year award for 2011-one of the most coveted honours in Indian IT.

     

    The award is given by IT magazine Dataquest every year to an individual for making extraordinary contribution to Indian IT. The jury led by Mr Pramod Bhasin of Genpact (and 2010 Dataquest IT person of the year) unanimously decided on Mr Chandrasekaran who is regarded as the face of next generation leadership in the Indian IT. In the context of most of the first generation leaders stepping down, there was apprehension about a leadership vacuum being created. The jury felt that Mr Chandrasekaran, through his able leadership has proved that any such fear is unfounded.

     

    A TCS insider, Mr Chandrasekaran also stands as a role model for millions of programmers and engineers as he started as a trainee in TCS and rose to become its top leader.

     

    “Chandra’s able leadership is a testimony to the fact that Indian IT companies have it in them to grow extraordinary leadership internally,” noted Pradeep Gupta, Chairman of CyberMedia, the publishers of Dataquest. “The success of Indian IT is not a one-time achievement of only a few individuals,” he added.

     

    Kiran Karnik was awarded for his Lifetime Contribution to Indian IT. Mr Karnik, who led NASSCOM as president for seven years also headed the government appointed board of Satyam that moved fast and in a transparent manner and was instrumental in establishing the credibility of India in the wake of the Satyam crisis. He is also associated with many educational institutions.

     

    The online IT return filing system of the Income Tax Department, Government of India was awarded the Dataquest Pathbreaker Award for 2011 making the lives of millions of taxpayers smoother, while reducing refund time drastically and enhancing overall efficiency. Between 2004 to 2011, there are five government projects/companies/persons who have won this coveted award.

     

    The 2010 Dataquest IT Person of the year Award had gone to Pramod Bhasin, Vice Chairman (then CEO) of BPO company Genpact. And as the winner of the last year Mr Bhasin headed the jury this year that included Pradeep Gupta, CMD of CyberMedia India (as Vice Chairman); Vijay Thadani, CEO, NIIT; Shankar Aggarwall, Addl Secretary, Department of IT; Ganesh Lakshminarayanan, MD, Dell India; Col H S Bedi, CEO, Tulip; Amrita Gangotra, CIO, Airtel; Professor Pankaj Jalote, Director, IIIT Delhi, and Shyam Malhotra, Director, CyberMedia India.

     

    The awards, now in the 19th year, were conferred at a glittering ceremony in the presence of industry leaders and leading CIOs. The awards night this year also included the PC Quest Best IT Implementaation awards, given by PC Quest, another CyberMedia publication.

     

    Dataquest also honoured top manufacturers, service providers and institutions based on their Dataquest Top 20 rankings for FY 2010-11 and their performance in various surveys conducted by the magazine throughout the year.

     

    Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) retained its top position as the No 1 IT company and No 1 IT exporter. It also bagged the newly instituted Top Engineering Services company award.

     

    The Dataquest Top Personal Systems company award went to Dell India for recording the highest combined revenue in sales of desktops and laptops.

     

    Hewlett Packard (HP) India won the Top Server Company award while the newly instituted Top Storage Company award went to EMC India. With dominant market share, HP also won the Top Imaging and Printing Company for 2010 making it a total of two awards.

     

    Cisco India won the Top Networking Company award for recording the highest sales in networking equipment during 2010-11. The IT training pioneer NIIT won the award for Top Training Company for yet another year.

     

    IBM India remained ahead of others and won the top IT Services Company (India Market) award. The pioneering BPO Company Genpact with revenues of over one billion dollars bagged the Top BPO company award. Ingram Micro India bagged the Top Distribution Company award for 2011. SAP India topped the software products sales to bag the Top Software Company award for 2011.

     

    Despite tough competition from new pure play smart phone makers and Indian companies, Nokia continued to lead the smart phone market and bagged the Top Smartphone Company award for 2011.

     

    HCL Infosystems won the Best Employer (IT) award based on its No 1 rank in DQ-CMR Best Employer Survey (IT) 2011. BPO firm, vCustomer won the Best Employer BPO award for the fifth time in a row.IITBombay won the Top T School award based on its No 1 rank in DQ-CMR Top T School Survey 2011. It was the winner last year too.

     

    The winners are selected by a jury of eminent individuals from IT industry, IT user organizations and academicians among others. Some of the past IT persons of the year include Infosys’ NR Narayana Murthy, HCL’s Shiv Nadar, Wipro’s Azim Premji, NIIT’s Rajendra S Pawar, Bharti’s Sunil B Mittal, Genpact’s Pramod Bhasin, Cognizant’s Lakshmi Narayanan and former IT Secretary N Vittal.

  • Holii, a partnership between Future Ventures and Hidesign has announced the appointment of Gilles Moutounet as its Chief Executive Officer. Holii offers a unique range of bags and accessories that combines a distinct Indian design aesthetic with the high production standards of Hidesign.

    Gilles Moutounet joins Future Group’s Holii as CEO

    By A Correspondent

     

    Holii, a partnership between Future Ventures and Hidesign has announced the appointment of Gilles Moutounet as its Chief Executive Officer. Holii offers a unique range of bags and accessories that combines a distinct Indian design aesthetic with the high production standards of Hidesign.

     

    Mr Moutounet brings with him more than 15 years of global leadership experience in Luxury retail and Consulting. A French national, Mr Moutounet has also held senior executive positions with LVMH Group, Aubade, Altios Consulting and Gitanjali group among others.

     

    Ashni Biyani, Director, Holii said, “We are delighted to have Gilles on board and are sure his know-how of brand development and luxury retailing will prove invaluable in delivering on our objective of celebrating the beauty of the Indian woman and bringing luxury into her everyday life.”

     

    Commenting on his new role, Mr Moutounet said, “Holii brings alive beauty, crafted in contemporary designs and an Indian outlook that you can wear anywhere in the world. The brand has tremendous potential in India and overseas as well. The brand has been growing rapidly since its inception and I am now happy to be part of it to take it to the next level.”

     

    The unique ideology of Holii – creating everyday luxury accessories with Indian emotions has been well received since its inception in 2009. Holii’s product offering includes handbags and wallets, laptop bags, iPad and cell phone cases, small accessories and handbag jewellery. It is this Indo-chic appeal which wins the brand its large fan following.

  • Real estate developer from Chennai, X S Real has appointed Aegis Media's Vizeum India as its media AOR.

    Vizeum bags media duties of X S Real

    By A Correspondent

     

    Real estate developer from Chennai, X S Real has appointed Aegis Media’s Vizeum India as its media AOR. Vizeum India will handle X S Real’s media mandate to help them talk to their consumers in as captive a manner as possible.

     

    Having carved a niche for themselves with refreshing home ideas, the three brands of X S Real – xqsit, Vibe and Fairsquare – aim to meet unique requirements of home seekers. The flagship brand xqsit offers luxury thematic bungalow apartments while Vibe focuses on designing mid sized dwellings that are elegant yet vibrant. Fairsquare delivers compact little dreams for the first time home buyers.

     

    S Suresh, Chief Marketing Officer, X S Real said, “This is not one of the best times for our industry and we needed a partner who will understand our business and think on our behalf. With Vizeum, we found their thinking contemporary and their team passionate.”

     

    Commenting on the win, S Yesudas, Managing Director – Indian Subcontinent, Vizeum said, “We are thankful to the X S Real management for considering us worthy to partner them in realising their ambition.” This business, according to Mr Yesudas, will be handled out of Vizeum’s Chennai office.

  • MSLGROUP has announced the launch of a global Crisis Network of 50+ experts, to advise, guide and support clients in troubled times, connected by a proprietary real-time platform.

    Dial MSL if you’e a client in a crisis

    By A Correspondent

     

    MSLGROUP has announced the launch of a global Crisis Network of 50+ experts, to provide the best advice, guidance and support for clients in troubled times. Connected to each other by a proprietary real-time platform, the network is devised to help business leaders prepare for a new normal: today’s fundamental reset in dynamics between individuals, influencers and institutions around trust, power, risk and crisis. Alongside 24×7 access to the platform, the crisis experts are also able to leverage the network’s crisis planning framework and crisis simulation workshop — to help clients plan for and respond to crisis situations effectively. MSL is represented in India by Hanmer MSL and 20-20 MSL amongst others.

     

    Pascal Beucler, MSLGROUP’s Chief Strategy Officer commented, “Today, business leaders must master the three key interplays shaping crisis in the “new normal”: the interplay between mainstream media and social media, the interplay between local and global dynamics, and the interplay between crisis planning and response. MSLGROUP’s Crisis Network is a one-stop shop to help guide companies and institutions to do just that.”

     

    Marking the Crisis Network launch, the team has also published its first report, an e-book titled When Every Crisis is Global, Social and Viral. Section one explores how social media is changing trust, power, risk and crisis. Looking first at the role of social media in societal upheavals in the West, the authors then move to the East and review how social media is changing the news ecosystem in China, eroding the wasta system of personal influence in the Middle East and uniting the Indian middle class in a grassroots movement against corruption.

     

    The second section outlines how corporations can leverage social media to manage risk and reputation. The team of experts then take a look at how social media can play a role at each stage in the crisis curve, describe the art and science of crisis simulation, recommend engaging third party influencers in crisis planning, share lessons from managing the global Crisis Command Center for BP, provide a playbook for handling a crisis on Facebook and end with tips and tricks on crisis management.

  • The so-called old-world creative directors, who have been weaned on TV commercials, will continue to thrive because TV isn't about to die in a hurry in this country. But when it comes to using the digital media for their clients, these TV heroes are zeroes.

    Anil Thakraney: Adland blues – where the ‘uncles’ don’t understand digital & ‘dudes’ don’t know Real India

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    One subject that keeps popping up when I meet senior creative directors from the ad world is the challenge posed by new media. And it’s a bit of a worry for everyone because India, unlike developed nations, is placed on a very interesting media matrix.

     

    On the one hand, we have the so-called old-world creative directors (most of them also chairmen of agencies) who have been weaned on TV commercials. Their entire focus and creativity is concentrated on the tube, they can only think TV (not even print!). And they will continue to thrive for many more years because unlike in the western nations, TV isn’t about to die in a hurry in this country. However, these TV hero ‘uncles’ are zeroes when it comes to using the digital media for their clients, and that’s obviously a big weakness. Their understanding of the opportunities offered by the social media space, for example, is very poor. In fact, both Balki and Piyush haven’t even registered for either Twitter or Facebook, that should give you an idea of their disinterest.

     

    Which is why they rely on the ‘young geeks’ in their offices to figure out the use of the digital media for their clients. The twenty-somethings who live their lives purely in the virtual world. The problem with these nerds, on the other hand, is that they don’t understand the traditional media at all. In fact, drowned in their comps/pads/mobiles 24X7, these techno-wizards are disconnected from reality. Therefore incapable of coming up with ideas that are born out of the nation’s culture and beliefs.

     

    For a Kolaveri sort of viral magic to happen for brands, this twain shall have to meet. Either the senior CDs make sure they spend energies to understand and bond with the digital space. Or, they ensure the bachchas in their agencies spend at least half their waking hours getting to know Real India. There is no third way out.

     

    This chasm is no good for the health of the brands they handle.

     

    ***

     

    PS: A review of Suhel Seth’s book has got the author all worked up. And the feisty man has been busy dissing the article writer, calling him a ‘loser’, ‘unemployed economist’, ‘a lowdown’, etc. Apparently, Seth later deleted the sweet tweets. Here’s the link to the said review. Must-read stuff.

     

     

    http://www.caravanmagazine.in/Story.aspx?Storyid=1189&StoryStyle=FullStory

  • Viacom 18 signs up for capacity on Measat-3a

    Viacom 18 uses Measat for Asia beaming

    By A Correspondent

     

    Viacom 18 has tied up with MEASAT Satellite Systems Sdn Bhd to use the Measat-3a satellite for the international distribution of Viacom 18’s channels across the Asian region.

     

    “With wide coverage and a powerful Asian footprint, Measat -3a is the obvious satellite choice for distribution of our international services,” said Piyush Gupta, Chief Technology Officer, Viacom 18.

     

    “Measat is excited to be working with Viacom 18 to distribute its popular international channels via Measat-3a” said Yau Chyong Lim, Senior Director, Sales and Marketing, Measat. “The addition of Viacom 18’s channels further enhances the assortment of premium channels on Measat’s 91.5°E Asia video neighbourhood.”

     

    Viacom 18 is a 50/50 joint venture operation in India between Viacom Inc. and the Network 18 Group. The joint venture includes leading brands across television, film and digital media to build one of India’s leading multimedia entertainment powerhouses. The brands include MTV, Nick, VH1, Colors and Viacom18 Motion Pictures.

     

    The Measat -3/3a satellites distribute News, Lifestyle, Music, General Entertainment, Sports and Documentary channels across Asia over a bouquet of SD, HD and 3D channels.

  • Corporates like Bharti Airtel, Infosys, Wipro and Microland help staff turn entrepreneurs

    Now, the likes of Airtel, Infosys and Wipro help you turn entrepreneur

    By Peerzada Abrar

     

    When Sanjay Mittal, an employee at Bharti Airtel, decided to take the entrepreneurial plunge this year, his employer was happy to provide him infrastructure, mentoring, funding and even a year’s salary. Bolstered thus, Mr Mittal (not related to Bharti Airtel founder mr Sunil Bharti Mittal) launched UCIT Managed Services, a company that manages video and audio web-conferencing services. His company now employs 35 and Mr Mittal resigned his job as senior vice-president at the telecom company this year.

     

    “I was surprised when Airtel offered me this kind of partnership,” said Mr Mittal, 44, an alumnus of Delhi College of Engineering and Punjab University. Airtel let Mittal pursue his passion, as the company recognised his contribution of starting this type of unified communication business from scratch, while working at the firm.

     

    Bharti Airtel, which has 238 million customers globally and revenues of over 65,315 crore for FY2011-2012, owns no stake in the start-up, but Mr Mittal says his company has a mandate to grow the audio and video web services business and manage the complete infrastructure for Airtel.

     

    He is also in talks with Airtel’s rival telecom operators to provide the service. Six other Airtel employees have also launched their own start-ups, with assistance from their employer, since it came up with a policy seven months ago to nurture entrepreneurial ability among employees. A board comprising Airtel senior management identifies, funds and guides potential business ideas from employees, who want to leave the company and start on their own.

     

    Apart from this, programmes such as Sparkplug help employees turn their ideas into businesses inside the firm. Other programmes like Zing Labaratory and Start Up Weekend are open for outside entrepreneurs to turn their business ideas into reality.

     

    According to Mr K Srinivas, president for the consumer business at Bharti Airtel, the initiative’s aim is to encourage business plans from within or outside the organisation to create new product ideas. It is particularly important now as Airtel ventures out to data services and applications. “This is not going to happen only through Airtel’s efforts. Building entrepreneurial spirit is vital,” said Mr Srinivas.

     

    Observers said that such corporate ‘intrapreneurship’ initiatives could become hothouses of innovation. “Take Google, for instance. Gmail, Google News and Adsense resulted from its Innovation Time Off programme, in which employees are able to devote 20% of their work day to independent endeavours,” said Mr Krishna Tanuku, executive director at Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurship Development at the Indian School of Business.

     

    INSIDER ENTREPRENEURS

    While Mr Mittal left the Airtel fold, another employee, Mr Moloy Kumar Mukherjee, came up with an idea that was turned into a business by a senior team within the telecom company. The product iFasal, which was developed within Airtel, provides real-time access to the prices of crops, seeds, pesticides, weather information and farming advisory to farmers.

     

    The subscription-based service has spread across states such as Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttaranchal and Jharkhand. Mr Mukherjee, who hails from a farming family, thought about the idea when he saw small farmers suffering supply-chain losses and being exploited by middle-men. “This is because they don’t get the information at the right time,” said Mr Mukherjee.

     

    OTHER EARLY ADOPTERS

    Other organisations, including IT firms such as Infosys, Wipro and Microland, have also started initiatives to drive innovation.

     

    “This entrepreneurial culture allows employees to think big and bring new ideas to the table,” said Mr Vishnu Bhat, vice-president and global head for cloud computing at Infosys, India’s second-largest software exporter.

     

    Wipro, India’s third-biggest software exporter, has opened up various technology challenges at the firm, which involves open invitation for ideas to solve critical problems. “This itself is driving the innovation culture and the entrepreneurial shift in the organisation,” said Mr Anurag Srivastava, chief technology officer and senior vice president for Wipro’s global IT business.

     

    The intrapreneurs helped Wipro develop a platform made for the Indian garment industry, which will bring down operational costs and help compete effectively with rivals from Bangladesh and China.

     

    Mr Srivastava said if the business plans of employees do not succeed, they are still valued highly in the organisation because of the risk they have taken.

     

    Mid-tier firms, like Bangalore-based IT infrastructure services provider Microland, are also following a similar path. In Microland, an executive team headed by chairman and managing director Mr Pradeep Kar selects ideas from employees. VM Kumar, chief marketing officer at Microland, said customers these days do not pay for the resources like manpower and infrastructure. They carry out transactions based on the business outcome. “For that, we have to innovate, which needs an entrepreneurial mind-set,” said Mr Kumar.

     

    VENTURE CAPITAL MODEL

    Corporate entrepreneurship has been successfully adopted by some of the world’s largest technology corporations such as Intel, Microsoft and IBM. US-based Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp has started an innovation initiative called Cognizant Capital in India. It follows a venture capital model within the company, where it incubates innovative business ideas suggested by employees. The main objective of the model is to create new types of IP-based service offerings that are complementary to their business model.

     

    There is an internal board that screens business plans and allocates funds in a staged model patterned after Silicon Valley venture capital firms, said Mr Sukumar Rajagopal, SVP and Global Head of Innovation at Cognizant.

     

    “Innovation in the current context is increasingly important because customers are going through structural shifts in their business,” said Mr Rajagopal.

     

    CHALLENGES

    Mr Jagdish Kini, former CEO and executive director of Bharti Airtel’s mobile phone operations in India, feels though these are good initiatives to boost the ecosystem, large Indian firms should consider entrepreneurs as partners. “A professional approach is required. They should not portray they are providing some kind of help,” said Mr Kini.

     

    An entrepreneur, who did not wish to be named, was collaborating with Airtel to provide value-added services for entry-level mobile users. However, he said, he had to close down the start-up due to differences with the management at the telecom major. A spokesman for Airtel said that they are trying their best to grow the ecosystem, but it is not necessary that every business scales up and becomes successful.

     

    ZING LABORATORY

    Airtel has now also built a ‘Zing Laboratory’ that helps outside developers and entrepreneurs to test, experiment and simulate various mobile technologies revolving around the 3G platform. Started last year, around 21 entrepreneurs and developers have set up applications that they tested prior to the actual deployment of the solutions in the market.

     

    Last month, Airtel also announced the ‘Start Up Weekend 2011’ in association with SingTel Innov8, a corporate venture capital arm of telecom major SingTel Group. This competition invited individuals to participate and share their new start-up ideas.

     

    Jobs Bolega, a voice-based social network for blue-collar workers, won the competition. The team will join the SingTel Innov8 2012 boot camp in Singapore and get seed funding as well to make their ideas a reality. Tanuku of ISB believes corporate entrepreneurship, which is still at a nascent stage in Indian companies, needs faster adoption.

     

    “A few years ago, if you would do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got. But now it is not possible to even keep what you have unless you drive innovation by having entrepreneurial culture inside the firm.”

     

    Source:The Economic Times

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