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  • 9X Tashan has highest uptake In music genre on mobile TV

    9X Tashan is mobile topper too

    By A Correspondent

    After registering an unprecedented growth of over 100 GRPs in the opening week of its launch across the PHCHP Markets, 9X Tashan has set yet another milestone in the television industry. The Punjabi music channel has garnered over 1 million video views on Zenga Mobile TV across India. 9X Tashan is also available on Apalya & Mundu TV platform.

    Speaking about this, Ms Vibha Gosher, VP- Digital, 9X Media Pvt Ltd, said, “Today the viewers consume music through various platforms besides television. It’s the age of convergence. Mobile TV being an easy-to-access platform, it makes it possible for the digital natives to watch their favourite channels. We are ecstatic that just within 10days of the launch of the channel, 9X Tashan has managed to break the 1 million video views on mobile TV with Zenga, the highest in the music television space.”

    9X Tashan is available through various mobile TV platforms including Airtel Mobile TV (SMS TV to 54321), Vodafone TV (SMS TV to 111 (toll free), Zenga TV (visit http://tv.zengatv.com on your phone), Mundu TV (SMS TV to +919212401234 or visit http://m.mundu.tv on your phone) and Apalya TV (SMS TV to 58888). The 9X Tashan theme song can be set as a caller tune by dialing 505999951 from the mobile phone on operators such as Idea, BSNL, MTNL (Mum), Vodafone, Airtel, Tata GSM, Tata Docomo.

    Viewers can also access the channel online on 9xtashan.in.

  • Getit introduces dedicated websites for information on upcoming festivals

    Dussehra, Durga Puja go online

    By A Correspondent

    With Dussehra and Durga Puja coming up, Getit has introduced new websites for the two festivals. These websites provide knowledge and connect people with the splendour of these festivals. The websites, http://mysoredussehra.getit.in/ and http://durgapuja.getit.in/, have information about the festival, the background, recipes, rituals etc, and the Durga Puja website also gives an insight into the top Puja Pandals. The site has integrated search, allowing users to find companies offering services related to the Puja festivities.

    The ‘Mysore Dussehra’ website showcases the grandness of this festival in most parts of Karnataka. Getit, through the special site, aims to provide a platform for users to find all information related to the festival, as well as conduct a search to find suppliers/products that one needs.

    Commenting on the launch, Mr Sidharth Gupta, CEO, GETIT Infoservices Pvt Ltd said, “Festivals are the best time to get closer to our customers by giving them the right solutions to help them celebrate with ease. Based on the success and acceptance of our Onam webite, we have launched these two sites for Dussehra and Durga Puja. The fact that we can provide search solutions integrated into these sites, significantly enhances their utility.”

  • : Business outlook of PR industry in 2011 stays positive, while retaining existing talent and robust hiring remains a challenge

    PRCAI 2011 Report Unveils ‘Talent Crunch’

    By A Correspondent

    The Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PRCAI), in their first ever report on the public relations consultancy sector, has reported a positive business outlook for the PR industry in 2011. More than half the PR industry expects an achievement of 15-20 per cent revenue growth, despite majority of respondents being conservative with their revenue forecast indicating the underlying degree of competition and uncertainty of retaining existing clients.

    The report further outlines that with economic growth becoming broad-based, tier II & tier III cities will become relevant for most PR firms in India. In fact, nearly 55 per cent of the respondents acknowledged hinterland as an important area of growth in terms of business in the selected categories of premium products.

    Mr Sharif D Rangnekar, President, PRCAI said, ”While industry is looking towards expanding horizons, PR firms in India are finding it difficult to fill vacant positions despite the recovery in job markets due to a talent mismatch and lack of requisite skill-sets. Nearly 80 per cent people believe that the Indian education system is not geared up to cater to the PR industry needs.

    Similar to other industries, the hiring mood has been positive and showed an upward trend for the Indian PR sector. In spite of the dampening global economic reports, the industry is witnessing a tremendous spurt in the recruitment drive. Nearly 30 per cent respondents had been thinking of giving salary hike in the range of 20-30 per cent.”

    Hiring is the top priority for PR industry at the moment and improving the writing skills of the PR executives is the focal point of training for most companies. Basics like meeting client’s expectation and increasing efficiency come second. Talent management has emerged as the biggest impediment towards growth in the PR industry.

  • Air, Food, Water, Internet – Cisco study reveals just how important internet and networks have become as fundamental resources in daily life

    The net is as important as air – Cisco finds

    By A Correspondent

    Demonstrating the role of the network in our lives, an international workforce study announced today by Cisco revealed that one in three college students and young professionals consider the Internet to be as important as fundamental human resources like air, water, food and shelter. The 2011 Cisco Connected World Technology Report also found that more than half of the study’s respondents could not live without the Internet and cite it as an “integral part of their lives” – in some cases more integral than cars, dating, and partying.

    These and numerous other findings provide insight into the mindset, expectations, and behaviour of the world’s next generation of workers and how they will influence everything from business communications and mobile lifestyles to hiring practices, talent retention, corporate security companies’ abilities to compete.

    Overview

    The second annual Cisco Connected World Technology Report examines the relationship between human behavior, the Internet, and networking’s pervasiveness. It uses this relationship to provoke thoughts around how companies will remain competitive amid the influence of technology lifestyle trends. The global report, based on surveys of college students and professionals 30 years old and younger in 14 countries, provides insight into present-day challenges that companies face as they strive to balance current and future employee and business needs amid increasing mobility capabilities, security risks, and technologies that can deliver information more ubiquitously – from virtualized data centers and cloud computing to traditional wired and wireless networks.

    Key Findings

    Internet as One of Life’s Fundamental Resources

    Air, Water, Internet: About one of every three college students and employees surveyed globally (33 percent) believes the Internet is as important as air, water, food and shelter. About half (49 percent of college students and 47 percent of employees) believe it is “pretty close” to that level of importance. Combined, four of every five college students and young employees believe the Internet is vitally important and part of their daily life’s sustenance.

    In India, 95 percent of college students and young employees surveyed admitted to the Internet being as important in their lives as water, food, air and shelter.

    Life’s Daily Sustenance: More than half of the respondents (55 percent of college students and 62 percent of employees) said they could not live without the Internet and cite it as an “integral part of their lives.”

    The New Way to Get Around: If forced to make a choice between one or the other, the majority of college students globally – about two of three (64 percent) – would choose an Internet connections instead of a car.

    The New Social Life: Internet over Love and Friendship?

    First Love: Two of five college students surveyed globally (40 percent) said the Internet is more important to them than dating, going out with friends, or listening to music.

    Social Life 2.0: Whereas previous generations preferred socializing in person, the next generation is indicating a shift toward online interaction. More than one in four college students globally (27 percent) said staying updated on Facebook was more important than partying, dating, listening to music, or hanging out with friends. Within certain countries, including India, updating Facebook was ranked as the highest priority, even more than hanging out with friends.

    The Use of Mobile Devices for Accessing Information…and the End of TV and Newspapers?

    Importance of Mobile Devices: Two-thirds of students and more than half of employees (58 percent) cite a mobile device (laptop, smartphone, tablet) as “the most important technology in their lives.”

    For young employees, India came second globally when it comes to importance of mobile device usage (71 percent), behind the UK (74 percent), but ahead of Australia (66 percent), China (62 percent), and the US (62 percent).

    Continued Rise of Smartphones: Smartphones are poised to surpass desktops as the most prevalent tool from a global perspective, as 19 percent of college students consider smartphones as their “most important” device used on a daily basis, compared to 20 percent for desktops – an indication of the growing trend of smartphone prominence and expected rise in usage by the next generation of college graduates upon entering the workforce. This finding fans the debate over the necessity of offices compared to the ability to connect to the Internet and work anywhere, such as at home or in public settings. In the 2010 edition of the study, three of five employees globally (60 percent) said offices are unnecessary for being productive.

    In India, 68 percent of young employees surveyed prefer using smartphones and consider it as their “most important” device.

    TV’s Decline: Both surveys indicate that the TV’s prominence is decreasing among college students and young employees in favor of mobile devices like laptops and smartphones. Globally, less than one in 10 college students (6 percent) and employees (8 percent) said the TV is the most important technology device in their daily lives.

    Paper Route’s Dead End? Only one of 25 college students and employees (4 percent) surveyed globally said the newspaper is their most important tool for accessing information.

    Saving Trees: Two of five students (21 percent) have not bought a physical book (not textbooks required for class) in a bookstore in more than two years – or never at all.

    Influence of Social Media – and Distractions in Daily Life

    Facebook Interaction: About nine of 10 (91 percent) college students and employees (88 percent) globally said they have a Facebook account – of those, 89 percent of college students and 73 percent of employees check their Facebook page at least once a day. One-third (33 percent) said they check at least five times a day.

    Of all the countries surveyed in the studies India ranked highest in the frequency of Facebook interaction, with 92 percent of students and 98 percent of employees checking it daily

    Online Interruption or Disruption? College students reported constant online interruptions while doing projects or homework from IM, social media updates and phone calls. In a given hour, more than four out of five (84 percent) college students said they are interrupted at least once. About one in five students (19 percent) said they are interrupted six times or more – an average of at least once every 10 minutes. One of 10 (12 percent) said they lose count how many times they are interrupted while they are trying to focus on a project.

    Work Is Life: Seven of 10 employees “friended” their managers and/or co-workers on Facebook, indicating the dissolution of boundaries separating work and private life. Culturally, the United States featured lower percentages of employees friending managers and co-workers – only about one in four (23 percent) – although two of five friended their co-workers (40 percent).

    In India, 85 percent of employees surveyed confirmed adding their colleagues and managers on Facebook.

    The Work Grapevine: Of employees who use Twitter, more than two of every three (68 percent) follow the Twitter activity of either their manager or colleagues; 42 percent follow both, while one-third (32 percent) prefer to keep their personal lives private.

    About the Study

    The study was commissioned by Cisco and conducted by InsightExpress, a third-party market research firm based in the United States.

    The global study focuses on two surveys – one centering on college students, the other on a group of young professionals in their 20s. Each survey included 100 respondents from each of the 14 countries, resulting in a survey pool of 2,800 people.

    The 14 countries include the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Russia, India, China, Japan, and Australia.

  • APCO Worldwide, RiceHadley Group Form Strategic Partnership

    APCO partners with Condoleezza Rice’s consulting group

    By A Correspondent

    APCO Worldwide has announced a partnership with RiceHadley Group, formed in late 2009 by former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former US National Security Advisor Stephen J Hadley and Anja Manuel, former special assistant to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs at the US Department of State. The firm assists CEOs and senior executives at major corporations in expanding their businesses in key emerging markets such as China, India, Latin America and the Middle East.

     

    “We see in APCO a great opportunity to grow our global scope of services,” said Ms Rice. “We look forward to working with their seasoned consultants as we continue to expand our business.”

     

    “APCO brings the right mix of services, along with a global footprint and a strong reputation,” said Mr Hadley. “This partnership leverages our expertise with APCO’s on-the-ground resources in 20 countries.”

     

    APCO and RiceHadley will work together to assist corporations in their home and destination markets, partnering with them to address the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities that arise from a global corporate presence.

  • Elephant Design's Ashwini Deshpande on 7 design points to keep in mind when refreshing a brand.

    The Anchor:Ashwini Deshpande on 7 points to remember while refreshing brands

    #1 If the CEO is “too busy” to attend a re-branding meeting, don’t do it. Branding is an important business tool. Branding has the power to create far more value than the goods it can sell. If the CEO seems reluctant to acknowledge the power of branding or rebranding, it may at best be a whitewash exercise. Just cosmetic.

    #2 Express only what you believe you can deliver. Visual expressions can make your brand younger, sexier, fun, dynamic, innovative… There is no limit to what graphic design can do. But express only and exactly what you believe you will be able to deliver through every touch-point, every time.

    #3 Rebranding is for creating Gods & Angels. God is the person who unhesitatingly pays a premium to buy the brand you created. Angel is the person who goes to the next shop to buy it if it’s not available here.

    #4 Be sensitive to the culture, geography and economy. Some colours and icons are considered inauspicious in certain cultures, magenta fades in our harsh sunlight, special colours are not economical and/or feasible to reproduce in tight budgets… Know the limitations and possibilities before you begin.

    #5 A brand is multi-sensorial, multi-dimensional. It is not just a logo. Today’s technology allows for infusion of sound, smell and touch, over and above visual expression… Go beyond the visual to create an experiential delight.

    #6 A logo refresh is not a quick-fix solution for bad balance sheets: It requires long-term conviction and dedication from all stake-holders to get the brand embedded in the hearts of its intended users.

    #7 Acknowledge (others’ and your own) good and bad work, and learn from it. There is no need to discard all for the sake of rebranding. Take ahead what worked for the brand in the past. Also learn from other brands that are loved or ignored.

     

    Ashwini Deshpande is Director, Elephant Strategy + Design

  • As information and broadcasting minister in 1980-84, Vasant Sathe fought many battles to bring in colour television to the country

    RIP, Vasant Sathe, grand patron of colour TVs in India

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    Not many amongst mediapersons and marketers may know that former minister and veteran Congress leader Vasant Purshottam Sathe, who passed away last Friday, was the man who fought with a variety of lobbies and brought colour television to India in 1982.

    I still recall the news reports on Sathe in the very early ‘80s where as information and broadcasting minister had a tough time with the black-and-white television lobby. Finally, it was the Asian Games and World Cup Hockey that did the trick. Guess the fact that Rajiv Gandhi was general secretary of the Congress then and was actively involved with the Asiad would’ve also helped.

    Sathe was also instrumental in spreading the Doordarshan network by setting up low power transmitters. This eventually led DD introducing the National Network.  He is reported to have faced opposition to introducing sponsored programmes, but later the pubcaster was receptive to the concept. And how!

    I don’t remember much about this, but I read on a bio on his website that he also helped in clearing the controversies around Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi.

    While it’s true that colour television would’ve eventually entered India even if Vasant Sathe had not intervened, but surely it wouldn’t have happened in 1982.

    1990 possibly.

     

    Photograph: Image of his book cover on vasantsathe.com

     

    **

    My Delhi trip and MxMIndia.com’s code of ethics

     

    Met the awardwinning CEO of an awarding winning channel at the Delhi airport while I was on my way back yesterday. I was in the Capital to meet the MxMIndia team and interview a few possible recruits as also attend a luxury magazine’s awards do. The event was at the Jaypee Greens Golf and Spa Resort which is located some 20 km from Noida in Greater Noida.

    I accepted the offer for a night’s stay because while Jaypee Greens is an excellent place, it is in the back of beyond. Plus I wanted a sneak peek at some of the facilities being created for the F1 next month.

    So how does a junket like this work with your Code of Ethics, the CEO asked me. One, our report on the event will clearly carry the disclosure in the story that we are subjected to the hospitality. And, two, while any degree of hospitality extended would amount to it being a junket, the only reason I accepted it was that I believed that attending the awards would help me understand the high-end luxury content space better as also interact with the people who matter in the business. Which I did. As a bonus, I also met a few senior mediapersons at the do.

    Had to trek back to South Delhi for my meetings and finally to the airport.

    However, having been quizzed by the CEO and realising that MxMIndia and I are going to be subjected to some scrutiny on this count, I guess there is need to be even more vigilant in ensuring that we adhere to the Code.

    Aatma chintan, as the BJP calls it.

  • UTV Stars becomes No1 within 4 weeks of launch

    Meteoric rise for UTV Stars

    By A Correspondent

     

    The recently launched channel UTV Stars – The Official Channel of Bollywood, which went on air on August 19, 2011, has garnered a phenomenal response from audiences nationwide in a very short span of time. In just 4 weeks, UTV Stars has acquired the No1 spot in the Bollywood genre.

    Within four weeks of its launch, the channel is ahead of its competition in the Bollywood Entertainment genre, with 23.5 GRPs (HSM 1MN+ 15-24), which makes it the leader in the genre as per the TAM data for Week 38. From the time of launch, the channel has enjoyed a robust audience loyalty (derived from the TSV measure) which is already 30 per cent above the competition.

    Chalking the achievement up to superior content on the channel, Nikhil Gandhi, Business Head, UTV Stars said: “We got the formula right and implemented it bang on. Right from the brand campaign to the shows, to the eclectic programming mix, we planned meticulously and were therefore confident of becoming leaders.”

    The channel is the sixth addition to UTV’s bouquet of channels in the entertainment space, and aims to bridge the gap between superstars and their fans.

    With Preity Zinta hosting one of the prime shows of UTV Stars ‘Up Close and Personal’ and fans getting to live a starry life on ‘Live my Life’, UTV Stars has caught viewers’ fancy.

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

    Reviewing the Reviews: Mausam

    By Deepa Gahlot

    Mausam

    Key cast: Shahid Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor

    Written and directed by: Pankaj Kapur

    Produced by: Sunil Lulla and Sheetal Vinod Talwar

     

    Pankaj Kapur’s debut film as director seems to have done the near-impossible—united critics across the board, with harsh-to-gentle panning and ratings from one and a half to two stars. All except the Times of India, of course, that rarely drops below three, and NDTV. Everyone agreed that the film fell fall short of its epic pretensions, and went on and on till the audiences were bored to tears.

     

    The film, with the pompous tagline: A Love Story Beyond Romance (means what?), has its Punjabi hero and Kashmiri heroine meet and separate over several countries and calamities, till the pathos is wrung inside out to become farcical. All that fuss about the Air Force was needless, the bloke need not even need to be a pilot. Shahid gets to wear a uniform, a moustache, a still expression and pretend for a few minutes that he is Tom Cruise in Top Gun. Sonam Kapoor looks pretty, giggles, screams, weeps and dances in Scotland!

     

    Sudhish Kamath of The Hindu titled it “Epic Disaster”. “Think of all the possible clichés that have kept star-crossed lovers away in Hindi cinema over the years and put them all in one movie — jilted lover, jealous rival, death of father, change of address, call of duty, misunderstandings, unread letters and those riots every few years,” he writes.

     

    Mayank Shekhar of Hindustan Times gives it one and a half stars and writes, “There’s an old, popular Shailendra ditty in this movie that goes, of course, Ajeeb Dastan Hai Yeh, Kahaan Shuru, Kahan Khatam (It’s a weird legend. Not sure where it begins. Not sure where it ends). The second time they play that Shankar Jaikishen song on this screen, you’re convinced this is some kind of an inside joke between the film’s director and his drooping audience. He’s ushered you into the theatre all right, seated you comfortably with popcorn, Coke and other supplies for the day, it’s been over three hours (has felt like multiple mausams, seasons, of a television series), you’re still not certain when this epic tragedy will end, or if it will at all.”

     

    According to India Today’s Kaveree Bamzai, “Every scene is beautifully shot, the romance is meant to grow on you with its artful glances and coy exchanges. But instead of a slow burn, it’s just plain exhaustion.”

     

    Raja Sen on rediff.com echoed the sentiments of many, “This is a love story gone awry purely because of under-communication, and while that seems fine enough on paper, it’s rather hard to swallow two lovers cleaved for well over a decade simply because they don’t have each other’s forwarding address.”

     

    IBN Live’s Rajeev Masand calls it an unfortunate mess and says, “Plodding along for close to three hours, Mausam loses steam early on. By the time the film hobbles to its end at a riot-stricken Ahmedabad fair, all you can do is gasp. Gasp in complete shock at the inconceivably embarrassing climax that involves a Ferris wheel, a crying child, and a horse. This one scene alone hints at just how desperately this script was begging for a rewrite!”

     

     

    Aniruddha Guha of DNA quips that the only thing epic about Mausam is its length. “Two lovers separated by circumstances repeatedly would be acceptable if the situations were at least believable. But the story demands you to suspend belief repeatedly, and gets convoluted beyond repair eventually.”

     

    The Reuter’s Review headline says “Mausam is several seasons too long,” and then, “If director Pankaj Kapur hadn’t gone to pains to establish that Mausam plays out between the mid-’90s and the early years of this century, you’d be forgiven for thinking this film takes place in the ’20s — when there was no internet, no phones and no technology. Why else would two, reasonably well-off, intelligent people who obviously have access to technology be unable to trace each other? It makes no sense, and instead of feeling sad for them, you feel frustrated.

     

    The usually kind Taran Adarsh of bollywoodhungama.com surprisingly dubs it a “colossal disappointment,” and comments, “The screenplay, to put it bluntly, is unengaging and what makes it worse is the fact that it seems like a never-ending saga. The film just goes on and on and on, moving from one city/country to another, till the viewer gets jetlagged and exhausted by watching this saga unfold on screen. With a running time of close to 3 hours, Mausam has a few sequences that do stand out, but the weak script blows the efforts away.”

     

    And the usually sensible Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gives it an uncharacteristic two and a half stars, saying, however, that “Mausam starts like a dewy-fresh spring morning, where everything is familiar yet new. It then wilts, autumnal overtones taking over. And then never quite recovers, falling into a dreary never-ending winter.

     

    One of the few who recommends the film is NDTV.com’s Saibal Chatterjee. “To conclude, Mausam could quite easily have ended up being a stodgy, strenuous and self-conscious drama. Writer-director Kapur, the accomplished actor that he is, orchestrates the emotional ups and downs of his tale with a commendable degree of moderation for the most part. Mausam is certainly worth a viewing.”

  • The number of complaints by industry self-regulator ASCI leapfrog

    Are ads crossing the line too often these days?

    By A Correspondent

     

    Sinful minds must be at work in the advertising world these days. Or we are simply not getting it. Of late, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has been deluged with a flurry of complaints about “offensive” ads.

     

    This year the council has received 777 complaints regarding 190 ads, a steep jump over the 200 received last year about 153 ads. The most vociferous complaint has been about increased sexual content, with parents saying it is difficult to watch the ads in the company of children.

     

    They cite the recent Tata Docomo ads for their suggestive content and alleged class bias. One of the ads shows a rocking SUV which stops when a cellphone rings. “How do I explain that ad to my daughter when she asks me what it means?” asks mr Sunil Krishnan, a media executive in Chennai.

     

    Another father, Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan, has the same problem with other ads. He says he cracks a joke to divert the attention of his children. “The deo ads can get naughty,” he said. “Like the one that showed a batsman getting out. But the girls run after him rather than the fielder who’s taken the catch, because the batsman’s wearing a particular deodorant.” Incidentally, the star says he “turned down a deo ad because he didn’t like the idea of women chasing him.”

     

    Obviously, it doesn’t work that way in real life. An aggrieved user, Mr Vaibhav Bedi, took Unilever to court in 2009 saying he’d been using the Axe deodorant for seven years and not one woman had found herself inescapably attracted to him.

     

    Do the parents have a point? The problem, says Mr Anand Halve of the brand consultancy firm Chlorophyll, is that a number of ads have begun to use sexual attraction gratuitously. He cites an SUV ad in which “the woman is so taken in by the driver that she tries to hide her mangalsutra from him” . He adds, “In such cases the use of sexual attraction is built on the assumption that, ‘Arrey, audience ko sex achcha lagta hai’.”

     

    But that does not work every time. According to ASCI secretary-general mr Alan Collaco, there’s only so much leeway a company or its advertiser should take. Not for moral reasons, but financial. He cites the earlier Fast Track ads – “which depicted young men and women being promiscuous” – that were shown to college students to elicit their opinion. Mr Collaco says the students turned around and told him, “But that’s not us” .

     

    Which is why Mr Collaco believes that “an ad which grabs eyeballs when it is first released might at best garner some sales but all future sales will depend on the quality of the product, not the ad” .

     

    Flying Machine recently ran into trouble with its latest ad campaign for jeans. The tagline said: “What an Ass!” It punned on the word for bottom, then went on to say the “ass” was “the man who didn’t call me after the first date” or “the friends who wanted to give me a makeover” . That wasn’t how women’s rights activists saw it. They protested to the National Commission for Women (NCW) saying the ad was “vulgar” . The complaint is now with the ASCI, which will decide on the case next month.

     

    Mr Arun Iyer, national creative director of Lowe Lintas, defends his ad for Flying Machine, saying the idea was to grab attention. “The ad is tongue-in-cheek and progressive,” he says. “It shows a woman with attitude.”

     

    Just as nonplussed is adman Mr Prahlad Kakkar, who was recently sent a notice by the Information and Broadcasting ministry for his tagline in the Lilliput children’s wear ad – “There’s another man in every woman’s life.” Once the suspense has built up, you realise the “other man” in every woman’s life is the son. “I really don’t understand why they’re objecting ,” he says.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2011, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

  • Clients want specialization but without siloization: Ashish Bhasin

    Clients want specialization but without siloization: Ashish Bhasin

    By A Correspondent

    Non-traditional media is picking up, and even at a time when ad spend projections are being corrected downwards, digital is being looked upon favourably. Little surprise then, that Aegis Media India, in its pursuit of a creative agency opted for Doosra, agency gaining ground in non-traditional brand communication area. Net result: creation of Doosra Brand Communications.

    The surprise element in this deal, however, is that it is perhaps for the first time in India that a true blue media network has brought a creative agency into its fold. Does one hear the returning footfalls of an integrated communication agency here? Not quite the same, explains Mr Ashish Bhasin, Chairman India & CEO South East Asia Aegis Media. “Integrated communication as we knew it earlier is neither feasible nor practical in today’s world. Clients do require and demand specialization – for instance, one needs a specialized digital agency to meet the clients’ specific needs in that area. The same is true of every specialized field. However, clients no longer want to deal with 20 people. Our ‘One country – one Aegis’ policy gives them all the benefits of specialization, without the disadvantages of silos.”

    The creative agency’s role, he says, cannot be undermined, as no media plan can be effective without an effective message. He elaborates, “We need to understand and value the creative agency’s role in achieving clients’ communication objectives. In each of Aegis’ specialized areas, we require creative expertise – be it activation, digital or tradition media.”

    The buzz has been on for some time that Aegis is looking for a creative agency. Why the decision to get into equity partnership with Doosra? “Doosra is an excellent fit for us – Zahir Mirza and his team’s creative excellence spans beyond traditional – they are about much more than TV commercials, and they would definitely bring a new dimension to Aegis Media’s holistic ‘integrated marketing’ approach,” explains Mr Bhasin.

    Doosra Brand Communications will operate out of Aegis Media’s office at Poonam Chambers, Mumbai, and in fact have already moved in.

    Picture: Fotocorp

  • The Anchor: Sanjay Reddy on 7 reasons why regional GECs should be treated differently

    #1 Ethnicity and Culture: India is a multi-cultural society, where every state has its own culture and language. Shows that do well in Hindi Speaking Markets (HSM) might not do so well in Tamil Nadu or even Andhra Pradesh. The GECs of the market need to show content that is in tandem with the culture of the masses.

     

    #2 Identification & Familiarity: Viewers like to feel associated with content that they can identify with and which feels familiar. Any major shift from this safe zone can sometimes (not always) lead to the viewer leaving the show. Most of these regional markets have their own movie Industries, showcasing their need for differentiation and attraction to what seems familiar.

     

    #3 Targeted Advertising: Most retailers look for the most cost-effective way to reach their target audience. If the TG is based only in Maharashtra, it does not make sense to advertise on a Hindi channel as the spillover would be tremendous. Thanks to the presence of Marathi channels in the region, the ROI is high and the spillover is limited. Having a strong GEC with content targeted at the regional market makes it a more appealing and value-for-money proposition for the advertiser.

     

    #4 Continued Experiments with Programming: Regional GECs speak to a smaller audience compared to the Hindi GECs. Hindi GEC need to provide content that caters across HSM giving it the chance to experiment with content and create shows that might not appeal to masses in small towns but might end up doing well in metros and big cities. In case of Regional TV GECs, yes sure here also people can experiment but anything too over the top might not go well will the audience and as most brands look at regional TV for targeted advertising, there are only a few mistakes that a channel can make, a typical chicken and egg situation.

     

    #5 Relationships in South and North GECs: When it comes to relationships, North and South India have a few differences. In AP a man can get married to his sister’s daughter – something that is totally unheard of in the north, similarly a marriage between a man and his bhabhi is an accepted fact, something that won’t be taken well in AP. This was just a small example but surely both GECs need to have different treatment in story structure and relationships.

     

    #6 Production Costs: Given the kind of advertising spends a regional channel sees, compared to a national Hindi GEC, it would be unfair to compare the two. Sets from the top Hindi shows are too high-maintenance for regional channels. There are regional channels that have spent a lot on their sets and shows but there can be only one show in the channel that can get such lavish budgets.

     

     

    #7 Influence of Western Culture: HSMs are more prone to western cultural influences, something that can be seen with successful shows like Indian Idol, India’s Got Talent, KBC, Big Boss, Masterchef India etc, which are remakes of popular international shows. Shows with a contemporary packaging haven’t done too well in regional markets.

     

    Sanjay Reddy is EVP – South Cluster, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited