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  • Ranjona Banerji reviews the fare on nightly news and the morning papers

    Of Tarun Tejpal’s travails

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Last night on Times Now was terribly entertaining. The media’s romance with Mamata Banerjee as Bengal chief minister seems to be over and Arnab Goswami exchanged nation-saving passion for sarcasm while discussing with Banerjee’s rather odd decision to enter a police station to rescue party workers. Trinamool Congress’s spokesperson Derek O’Brien also bore the brunt as he spluttered and exploded his way through the discussion.

     

    He also made some strange digs at Arati Jerath, editor with Crest (and a former colleague I must admit). Arati very graciously laughed it all off but O’Brien did not show himself as a gentleman. Goswami put up a spirited defence and all the other panellists seemed quite amused.

    **

     

    Sadly, Wednesday mornings’ newspapers largely ignored Banerjee’s police station search and rescue but they did focus on the high-octane pull out threat on Friday which has now dwindled into a ‘if you ever do it again we shall think about it again’ damp squib.

    Sometimes you wonder why India needs Bollywood at all when it has our political masters for entertainment.

    **

    Having reported that LK Advani and Narendra Modi were at loggerheads on Monday, by Tuesday, the Times of India decided they were not – but then added the rider that the negative publicity had made the two BJP leaders decide to put up a united front. The Hindustan Times also reported the same thing so now everyone appears to be on the same page.

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    Deccan Herald reported that the Think Fest organised by Tehelka last week in Goa had run into all kinds of problems, starting with a controversial comment made by Tehelka founder and editor Tarun Tejpal, apparently exhorting his guests to drink and “sleep well with anyone you think of”. There was much outrage, either because he advocated sex or he insisted that they do it well or indeed because he implied that that’s why people go to Goa.

    Apart from this, Tejpal is already in trouble with Goa’s environmental activists and journalists for his apparent closeness to the government and the mining lobby.

    As a result, not must has appeared on the thinking that was done – if indeed there was any time for it amidst all these other admittedly more interesting activities.

    **

     

    Speaking of sex (well, in a manner of speaking), Indian politicians are very lucky that the Indian media does not chase or publicise their sexual escapades. Like most US presidential candidates, Republican Party hopeful Herman Cain finds himself tumbling down the ratings as at least four women have accused him of sexual harassment and misconduct.

    Perhaps one day the day will come?

  • It’s as much a part of our lives as dal-roti. Read on for more reasons!

    5 reasons why the Amul Butter Girl advertising is still relevant

    By Jayen  S Mehta

    #1 It’s topical.  Amul advertising is a comment on any recent development that has happened. It captures the flavor of the current scenario and then moves on to next subject that is making news. Also our brand ambassador, the Butter girl continues to remain young thus managing to remain relevant to many.

    #2 It’s not too intrusive. The advertising, while being topical, is not in-your-face.

    #3 It’s funny. There is wit and humour in the lines, which brings an immediate connect. The pun is always clever. It’s advertising that doesn’t try too hard to be funny, so it is subtle yet humorous.

    #4 It’s on time. The advertising is always on time, managing to capture what’s trending or the topic of conversation.

    #5 It’s available across media. This advertising has gone beyond the hoardings and is available across media platforms to better engage with consumers.

    Jayen S Mehta is the General Manager (Planning & Marketing), Gujarat Co-Operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.

  • Aaren Initiative Outdoor fully acquired by Lintas Media Group, to be renamed Lintas Initiative Outdoor.

    Aaren is now a 100% LMG company

    By A Correspondent

    Lintas Media Group has completed its acquisition of Aaren Initiative, the country’s premier OOH agency that works for Hindustan Unilever and Nokia, among other blue chip accounts. The 50 percent stake held by the joint venture partner, Aaren Advertising, has been recently purchased by Lintas in an amicable settlement. The name of the agency will be changed to Lintas Initiative.

    Aaren Initiative Outdoor was set up as a 50-50 joint venture between Lintas and Aaren ten years ago when the presence of media agencies in the medium was still unknown.  Aaren Initiative was a pioneer in the space, professionalizing media planning, buying and monitoring in this relatively unorganized medium, and grew rapidly into a large agency billing over Rs 150 crores annually, with offices in 28 cities and a network of over 100 employees.

    Lynn de Souza, Chairman and CEO of Lintas Media Group and Chairman of Aaren Initiative will continue to be the Chairman of the wholly owned agency. She said, “Through this acquisition we hope to work with many more global clients and have made plans to invest in the right tools and people to transform Lintas Initiative Outdoor into a future ready OOH and retail player. We are grateful to our erstwhile partners, Aaren, for all their counsel and support during the formative years of the agency”.

    Hemanth Shah will continue to function as the Managing Director. Elaborating on his role, Mr Shah said, “The team shall have the independence to function and nurture non-network clients and the network clients shall experience seamless deliveries. The acquisition allows for the company to plan holistic solutions and integrate them into its offerings right from creative to all-media.”

  • Optimistic about newspaper business, Ravi Dhariwal says challenges can be overcome if industry joins hands and collaborates to find solutions.

    The future is rosy, says Ravi Dhariwal

     

     

     

    By Tuhina Anand

     

    Newspapers have a strong future ahead, says Ravi Dhariwal, President, INMA Worldwide and CEO, The Times of India. Sharing his views with the audience at INMA: 5th South Asia Annual Conference on the Global Newspapers and South Asian Opportunities, he said that the industry can unitedly face down the challenges confronting it, and continue on the growth path.

     

    Print players in developed markets when faced with pressure on profitability coupled with losing their revenues started focusing on the cost. The result was a cut in journalists, cut pages, and cut quality. They got seduced with the argument that the business was not well balanced, circulation not earning enough money and being too dependent on advertising to recover the cover price. On the other hand, the consumers have tons of option, multiple platforms while the truth of newspaper also exists that the brand has slimmed down from 48 pages to 24 and journalism was not of the same quality that they were used to. Consumers had to pay double the amount for a newspaper so the value equation particularly in the US got horribly wrong. This led to increased pressure of people but Dhariwal pointed that the situation is stabilizing now particularly on accounts of circulation, balance sheets and profitability pressure.

     

    He said, “I think the industry went through a phase of evaluation where they were came to a basic conclusion that digital is where the growth is and they must invest heavily there at the expense of print. That difference led them to doing things first for the digital and at the expense of print because they didn’t have monies to put both sides. They said all growth will be in digital so let’s invest there.”

     

    After making this point, Mr Dhariwal said that this assumption has a few problems, the first being that Digital at best in most advanced environment comprises only 10 per cent of the revenue, the rest being still from print. He said, “So if you put all your money in 10 percent and neglect the 90 percent there is a problem.” He also said that digital for a news media company is an inherent problem because very little of a person’s time on digital gets spent on news. As a result digital for a news company will always be the country cousin. Also the demographics in South Asia, with increasing urbanization, literacy, income and a young curious democracy, works as a great combination for newspapers to grow. He said, “The industry does grow in our country by 4-5 percent per annum. Readership doesn’t grow as fast, though it is not declining, but it doesn’t get reflected because of the way readership is measured in India currently.”

     

    Another reason why he remains bullish about the growth of newspapers is because the newspaper adds fantastic value to households. He said, “It’s a medium that allows an individual to spend 20 minutes of their quality time for less than Rs 3 and if you have a thrifty wife like mine you will get a rupee back at the end of the month by selling it in raddi. So for Rs 2 you get a newspaper at great pricing but what is even better is that it gets home delivered.”  Another reason for growth is because the editorial quality has improved. He said, “I think our editors are increasingly aware of what is happening to our readers and the newspaper reflects the interest of the readers – politics, local, community. Increasingly quality of newspaper is getting better and I am confident that the paper I read is getting better every day. Also in our country people in newspaper business are ambitious, they are not happy with just influencing people but want to see their business grow. They have brought multiple editions and geographic expansion; like it’s astounding that Dainik Jagran has 295 editions. Even at TOI, we have many editions but there lies tremendous opportunity in markets like Kerala, some big city in TN, AP. In expansion we not only give our readers great value but also great choice.”

     

    What one should worry about, he said, is how to manage cost and how to continuously innovate to give more to advertisers. He said, “As long as we invest behind innovation, quality of editorial product, keep price low, and the product is home delivered, then we don’t have to worry. We have a reason to celebrate.  The opportunity is that we have an editorially curated product which is now being able to be displayed and expressed in different platforms. We should go after that because the reader is going after that. I have always maintained that for us it’s not digital first or print first. It is not print dollars and digital dimes but Its Print and Digital.” Even media companies have realized this and have become multimedia companies, adapting to this change.

    The biggest of the challenges, he said, is that of managing cost, newspapers not being attractive to FMCGs who are the biggest advertisers and have turned to TV, environment where the government tries to create misunderstanding and rift among employees and lastly lurking fear of ‘what if’ digital expands dramatically and affects print. However, to a large extent he said that these challenges can be overcome by collaborating as an industry to find solutions and bring about a change.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Naming no Names is the mid-week column by well-known novelist, columnist and counsellor, Gouri Dange.

    Gouri Dange: Dealing with journos hungry for quotes

    Do you really want to be that rent-a-quote person?

    They’re polite, of course. And young. And completely unaware of how tiresome they can be. The phone call goes something like this: “Hello, I’m writing a story on thisthatandtheother, and I was hoping to talk about it to you.”

    At first, in the early years, you feel quite pleased to be called up in this way. You drop what you are doing, and whisper urgently to anyone who is sitting around you, “It’s The Press, they want My Opinion”.  People around you immediately go dead silent in deference to this Moment – it’s almost as important as if you were invited to address the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Republic Day. [The woman who works in my house says that Republic Day is when there is good circus to watch on TV (the parade) and Independence Day is when all phaltus go on doing bud-bud on TV, and Budget Day is when some ‘chassmister’ (erudite looking person in glasses) gives you the bad news about fuel and vegetable prices so that your idle boozard husband can tell you that you need to pick up a few more dirty-dishes-doing jobs to stay ahead of prices.] But I digress.

    So, in the early years of being contacted by journos to give them ‘expert quotes’, you are inordinately happy to oblige. You proceed to hold forth on your subject, while the journo at the other end furiously scribbles or keys in as you speak. The rude shock comes a few days later when you ring up 60 friends and tell them that you are being Quoted, and not to miss reading the relevant article that day. You have made these calls before you have opened the paper and actually read your quote. Three things can now happen. A) The journo who you waxed eloquent to for 20 minutes has simply not used your quote – either she didn’t understand a word of what you spoke or there was no space for your quote. B) Worse, she may have misquoted you comprehensively, where you end up sounding like an envious whiney loser who hates everyone else in your field; as a bonus, she has got your name wrong. C) All your pearls of wisdom have been used, in fact what you spoke constitutes the whole article, but you have been given no credit. Your name is not mentioned at all. It is as if this article was born via immaculate conception.

    A few such incidents, and you get older and wiser pretty quickly. You’re at the next level of the rent-a-quote market. Someone calls, and you first get a good sense of what this journo is going to be saying in his/her article first. Then you carefully choose your words, keeping it all very very simple, and hope for the best. You are also now smart enough to request:  can you please call and read out or email me what you’re quoting from this conversation? This way you can clarify, I said ‘intuition’ not ‘tuition’ and other such things. But there’s nothing much you can do about being described by the journo as a music listener who “bubbles over with names, when asked about her favourite musicians”. Or being described randomly as ‘unputdownable’ or ‘peripatetic’ or ‘intrepid’ – all favourite journo adjectives. Makes you sound like some wandering pest.

    Some journos send you a list of questions to reply to by email. This may sound better than having to gabble on the phone and then get thoroughly misquoted. However, the level of detail required from you in replying to these questions would surely be the equivalent of writing the entire story yourself, and also perhaps could be that PhD proposal that you’ve been postponing writing.  Too much hard work.

    Some of them will pop up on Gchat and say the following: Hiiii….I need quotes from celebs, psychologists and young people on ‘Long distance marriages: Is it workable or a recipe for disaster?’ …need the quotes along with high res images in 3 hours. Can u help pllleeez??”  Your only option is to quietly log out.

    Here’s another double-edged thing about being quoted in newspapers and magazines, though. Whatever garbled version of your quote appears, the lay reader immediately takes you very seriously and your stock rises dizzily in your field. However, colleagues tend to go nudge-nudge and deduce that you are rather idle and/or have friends in the Press and are a bit of a Quote Bank. So it’s a bit of a toss-up – to be quoted or not to be quoted?

    If you choose not to be, then here are some ways to duck out. Tell the journo to call you four hours later. They’re usually plugging in quotes at the last minute, and it is likely that they don’t have four hours, plus you sound busy and important. So you’re safe. Or come up with something exotic. Huff and puff on the phone and say you’re climbing Kilimanjaro. The poor dears will hurriedly get off the phone so as not to cost you roaming charges.

  • The Times of India Group launched TWeek, first of its kind digital magazine at the INMA platform.

    TOI launches TWeek at INMA

    By Tuhina Anand

     

    The Times of India Group launched TWeek, first of its kind digital magazine at the INMA platform. The weekly will be released every Friday and can be accessed from iPhone, iPad or any Android tablet device.

     

    Elaborating on the product, Rishi Khiani, CEO, Times Internet Ltd, said, “The idea to launch this came seven days ago and digital provides the platform where content can be put together at such a short time. TWeek is largely sourced from content that is available on our blog verticals that we put together. Its content that has long shelf life and brings out the flavor of a week.”

     

    He added, “Its content that is repackaged in a format that works on iphone, ipad and whatever other android tablet devices available. It allows interactivity associated with the medium but at the same time is low on cost of production.”

     

    Mr Khiani calls TWeek the first digital magazine that doesn’t have print counterpart in India. However, he did add that the print version of the magazine could be planned in future. The magazine will cater to the youth. Apart from content that is available in form of blogs, it will also have original content like its cover story to attract more consumers to access it.

     

  • INMA aims to reach a wider audience, says the outgoing president, adding that falling readership and rising ad costs are a two-pronged challenge the industry has to tackle.

    INMA 2011: Membership targets in sight, says Tariq Ansari

    By Tuhina Anand

    At the concluding ceremony of INMA’s 5th South Asia Annual Conference, MXM India caught up with Tariq Ansari, INMA South Asia’s outgoing President and Managing Director, Mid-Day Multimedia Ltd. From Mr Ansari, Sanjay Gupta, Director, CEO and Editor, Jagran Prakashan Ltd takes over as President INMA South Asia.

    Mr Ansari has played a key role in bringing INMA to South Asia and has held the position of President for the last two years. Talking about his task at INMA, he said, “I have been responsible for running the INMA platform in South Asia, making conferences happen and ensuring we build a significant membership.  On all these, I think we have progressed significantly.  The idea is to be of use to the industry and give back to the industry. As past president I remain on the board and I am available when required.”

    Explaining why the INMA membership remained confined to just 13 organisations even though there are many players in this category, he said, “INMA had the target of going after large newspapers first. While we have only 13 newspaper organization members, there are around 500 people in this country who have access to INMA through these companies. As we come of age – and we haven’t been here for long as this is the 5th conference in South Asia – there will be conscious effort to build our membership and deliver its benefits to a larger audience.”

    Mr Ansari said he hopes that INMA delegates after attending the seminars would take away some questions on what is going to be the future of their enterprise and directions it can take both in terms of strengthening the business and where future opportunities might lie.

    Talking about what ails the print industry, he said, “Speaking from the perspective of an urban English newspaper, I think the readership is getting stagnant but on the other side the cost of inputs – the cost of journalism, newsprint, running the business – is driving the rate of advertising very high. So we have got a situation where readership is not growing but advertising rates are going up. That is the fundamental problem to the business to my mind.”

  • Mindshare appoints Ashok Lalla as Leader, Digital, South Asia

    Lalla on board with Mindshare

    By A Correspondent

    Strengthening its senior leadership team, Mindshare, the flagship media agency of GroupM has appointed Ashok Lalla as Leader, Digital for Mindshare, South Asia. Mr Lalla takes over a world class operation that has won Mindshare a large number of awards over the last 3 years, and was also Digital Agency of the Year in 2010. Based out of Mumbai, Mr Lalla will report to Ravi Rao, Leader, Mindshare South Asia.

    Mr Lalla is an award-winning Digital, Brand and Social Media Marketing leader with over 18 years of agency and client business experience on brands that cut across the spectrum from one-cent candies to million dollar hotel stays. He moves from Euro RSCG, where he was President – Digital, and worked with several blue-chip clients including Unilever and IBM. Earlier, he was Director of Internet Marketing at Taj Hotels where he led worldwide Digital strategy and Ecommerce for the hotel chain for 9 years.

    Welcoming Mr Lalla, R Gowthaman, Leader, Mindshare South Asia, said, “Ashok Lalla, joins Mindshare at a time when our digital businesses is well poised to grow manifold, not only on the basic services, but also across Search, Social, Mobile, Creative and Performance Marketing. We are delighted to have him on board to take Mindshare to greater heights in the Digital Marketing space.”

    On his move to Mindshare, Mr Lalla said, “I am excited to join Mindshare, an agency with a mouthwatering array of clients, a great Digital team and a fantastic track record of doing breakthrough digital work. I look forward to taking Digital to the next level for our clients, and growing our team into an even stronger unit that does even more spectacular Digital work, and sets new industry benchmarks.”

    Mr Lalla is a compelling presenter and a visionary keynote speaker on Digital Marketing, Social Media and Brands at leading events and B-schools. He is also the Author  and  curator  of  “The  Future  of  Digital for  Brands”,  a  highly  regarded  online global community of over 1900 Digital, Marketing and Brand experts and enthusiasts from 38 countries.

    Mindshare is a global media and marketing services network with billings in excess of $27.8 billion (source: RECMA). The network consists of 114 offices in 82 countries throughout the North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific.  Mindshare is a member of WPP, the world’s leading communications service group, and is part of GroupM, the world’s leading full service media investment management operation.

  • I find it appalling that the Bachchan-baby-obsessed media has so quickly forgotten the humiliation of the recent past.

    Anil Thakraney: Why the media must boycott Abhi-Ash baby birth

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Aishwarya’s yet-to-be-born baby has become national news. Front pages of newspapers and prime time programming on television carry minute details of the event. Astrologers have been consulted to predict the sex of the baby, and the whole nation knows which hospital has been chosen for the historic delivery.

    Well, I am not going into the importance of the story vis-à-vis more pressing matters, that’s for Shri Katju to worry about. I just find it appalling that the Bachchan-baby obsessed media has so quickly forgotten the humiliation of the recent past. Remember the Big Wedding? When journalists waiting outside Pratiksha and Jalsa for days together were completely ignored by the Bachchan clan. When some photographers were beaten up by Amitabh’s then chhote bhaiyya Amar Singh’s goons. When the newly wed couple didn’t even extend the courtesy of emerging for a single photograph.

     

    Yup, it’s all forgotten. The media is back to cover the baby birth with full gusto. And the journos are ready to get humiliated all over again. Have we no shame? Have we become so beygairat? In fact, according to Mumbai Mirror, a guideline has been issued by the Broadcast Editors’ Association on how TV channels must conduct themselves during the event! And to think this sort of a guideline ought to have been issued during the 26/11 terror attacks, and who knows… some lives could have been saved. Tells you how jumbled up our priorities are. While to some extent I can understand the junta’s interest in the new member’s arrival inside India’s ‘first family’ household, if we in the media have any self respect left, we should boycott the event.

    Of course, that’s not going to happen. Kya karein, we are like that only.

     

    ***

     

    PS: Speaking of Beygairat Brigade, here’s the whacko Pak band with their popular number titled ‘Aalu Anday’. An otherwise ordinary track that became a rage courtesy the social media. Intersperse faces of the lads with those of our popular TV anchors and the song works marvellously!

  • The key to growth is for newspapers to transform into newsmedia, says Earl Wilkinson.

    INMA 2011: New Oxygen, New Growth

    By Tuhina Anand

    Earl J Wilkinson, Executive Director and CEO, INMA spoke on New Oxygen, New Growth at the INMA-5th South Asia Annual Conference, titled ‘Roots and Wings – strengthening our core business and exploring new opportunities’. During his presentation, Wilkinson spoke about the transformation from being a newspaper to newsmedia which is where the opportunity for growth lies. The key is to identify the platform values of each medium be it newspaper, Smartphones  or tablets and use them accordingly.

    Wilkinson said, “The consumer view of newspaper is changing today as they are accessing news from webs or apps. With the changing view there is also need of new skill sets for the new media including next generation data analysis and deep understanding of consumer behavior among other factors.” He pointed that culture change is the foundation for growth story line.

    He listed three challenges that publishers are facing today- identify growth, how to remain relevant and manage complexity. He also listed the growth levers for news publishers which include operational efficiency, superior competitive strategy, best practices, sales excellence among others but what is relevant is that in this list culture change has moved up the ladder and become a key lever for growth.

    On Culture Change, he underlined the importance of listening to the market, focus relentlessly on differentiators and prioritize expenditure while putting away the rest. Wilkinson said, “Culture change is the only path to growth and in the new ecology to succeed one needs to prioritise platforms and diversify revenue streams.”

    He also talked about integration being the future and pointed how many print people are touching digital but not vice versa. He added, “While culture change is crucial to revenue, there is also a need to speak, understand and invest in readers and not indulge in one way conversation with them.”

    Opening the session and giving an overview, Tariq Ansari, INMA South Asia President and MD, Mid-Day Multimedia Ltd said that the sessions over the two days will look at imparting pointers on ways of strengthening existing business , understanding verticals where investments can be made and at the same time think on new horizons and take their business forward.

    I Venkat, Conference Moderator and Director, Eenadu talked about reinventing the print medium. He mentioned how print has undergone change with segmentation with introduction of city supplements and focusing on its target audience. He also highlighted the example of Filmfare and Femina which have enlarged their purview with awards and beauty competition. The newspapers are leaving no stone unturned to reach its TG by getting into festivals, awards, educations and job fairs too.

    He also talked about localized newspaper where Eenadu has gone beyond city, district, zone to constituency. He concluded by saying that for a newspaper every column is an opportunity. He added, “The print advantage is that while you can zap an ad on television, same is not possible in print.”

  • Has readership growth reached stagnation? CEO Roundtable discusses.

    INMA 2011: Readership, Rate Cards & a small newspaper’s success

    By Tuhina Anand

     

    On Day 1 of INMA-5th South Asia Annual Conference, there was a CEO Roundtable which saw discussion on the topic: ‘Have we reached an end to readership growth?’ The session was moderated by Bhaskar Das, President, The Times of India Group and on the panel were Sanjay Gupta, Director, CEO and Editor, Jagran Prakashan Ltd, KN Tilak Kumar, Joint Managing Directorand Editor, Deccan Herald, Shahrukh Hasan, Group Managing Director, Jang Group Pakistan and Tariq Ansari, MD, Mid-Day Multimedia Ltd.

     

    Mr Das started the session by saying that it’s a known fact that the newspaper business is undergoing challenging times and one of them is about finding a balance between a content that caters to a diverse age group at many Indian homes and remaining relevant. He also remarked that if one is bothered about physical readership when a consumer is accessing media through various touch points, shouldn’t virtual readership also be considered? He also questioned the merit of measurement vis -a-vis frequency and periodicity.

     

    Mr Ansari said, “The truth is that the readership of urban English newspaper has reached a plateau and the growth in terms of numbers in SEC C and D but the question is if that category is also the one which advertisers would be interested in and then the answer becomes doubtful.”

     

    The session also looked at growing readership in a new market with an old product as well as raised question on the need to show yoy growth of readership where in actuality it should be yoy growth of advertiser?

     

    In all this grim scenario, Titak Kumar of DH brought the example of Karnataka language daily which has been seeing growth since both income and literacy levels have gone up.

     

    Another staggering point that gives players to think about is the pricing of a newspaper. While in India, the you can get a newspaper even at Rs 1.50, Shahrukh Hasan from Jang Group pointed that in Pakistan the paper would cost anywhere between Rs 15-23 and yet not cover its production cost.

     

    The idea that emerged was to innovate and seize the opportunity in the industry today. Also if multiple touch points is the new reality how does one update, upgrade and monetize from these various platforms.

     

    In another session, the panel discussed, ‘The Advertising Challenge: Space Selling in the Age of Multiple Platforms and Vanishing Rate Card’. On the panel were, Ambika Srivastava, Chairperson, ZenithOptimedia and Vivaki Exchange, Bijou Kurien, President and Chief Executive, Lifestyle, Reliance Retail, Jayen Mehta, GM, Marketing, Gujarat, Co-Operative Milk Marketing Federation, Rohit Gupta, President, Sony Entertainment Television, Bhaskar Das, President, The Times of India Group and Aritra Sarkar, VP, Strategy, ABP Pvt Ltd.

     

    The panel discussed if the rates cards have a value and Ms Srivastava endorsed this view along with Bhaskar Das though he differed that the rate card can be in different format and packaged differently to create a value proposition. Mr Gupta however giving the TV industry side of the story was of the opinion that in his industry rate cards doesn’t apply as the window of opportunity is less in television and rates vary from deal to deal and client to client.

     

    There was another session on ‘Good Editorial Content and Credibility are Good Business Also’  where Harisvansh, Chief Editor, Prabhat Khabar took the audience on the journey of success of the newspaper which is through doing hard hitting, pro people stories that have brought transformation in the lives of a common man. For them its trust and credibility that has paid off and just like Indian Captain MSD who is also from Ranchi like Prabhat Khabar both have emerged victorious by being dependable.

  • Bharat Kapadia makes a case for the print industry’s premier event.

    The Anchor: 5 reasons you shouldn’t miss INMA if you’re a print professional

    #1 The theme and agenda of the INMA conference has always been useful to the print industry. Unlike other conferences where there is lot of gyaan and conference is reduced to either networking or picnicking, INMA’s focus is the industry. I am not running down anyone but the interest of the newspaper industry is really met at INMA, and therefore every publisher should attend.

    #2 There are about 30 speakers who will share their views over a period of two days. These people are experts in their field and present different aspects of publishing. So it’s not restricted to just one aspect of advertising or revenue but circulation, readership and other aspects are also discussed. At some conferences, the agenda is only one-dimensional but that is not the case here.

    #3 Newspapers themselves have treated various functions within their organization as compartments and not departments. There is little communication happening across functions but the way ahead is to change this way of working. This conference can give that kind of perspective and help people in the industry to practice collaboration within their organization and take advantage.

    #4 At INMA, subjects are not just discussed but opportunity is given to clarify and understand what is being said. It’s fairly interactive.

    #5 The conference is a good opportunity to network and the food is excellent. So why miss it!?

     

    Bharat Kapadia is the Chairman of Whatuwant Solutions.