MxMIndia

Tag: Apurva Purohit

  • Well, almost. Meanwhile, Radio Mantra, a venture promoted by Jagran promoters, is like to be merged with Music Broadcast Private Ltd

    Radio City is now a Jagran company

     

    By Sandeep Puraname

     

    It was an Ispat group and  Star India-funded station. And then private equity player India Value Fund Advisors bought a controlling stake in radio station network Radio City. But PE companies normally do not have much of a long-term emotional tuning with their investments. So, after ensuring that Radio City delivers with some success, they’ve sold the station and allied ventures to Jagran Prakashan.

     

    Subject to government approvals, Radio City will be a Jagran Prakash Limited subsidiary. Music Broadcast Private Limtied (MBPL), the company that owns Radio City, will be run independently by its board, and for the now, it’s business as usual.  More importantly, Apurva Purohit will stay as CEO.

     

    With reason: Radio City has demonstrated good revenue growth combined with a strong operating performance, current EBITDA margins of 28% approx will positively impact JPL’s operating margins, according to a communiqué.

     

    Radio City is a leader in the FM radio sector with a presence in 14 of the top 16 advertising revenue generating markets of the country. It has 20 stations across seven states. MBPL’s FY14 revenues were Rs 161.8 crore and the H1-FY15 (unaudited) revenues exhibit healthy growth of 28% in ad revenues.

     

    Although it’s being touted as JPL’s entry into radio, the fact is that the promoters of the Jagran group made an entry into radio with stations in Tier 2 and Tier 3 India way back in 2007. Radio Mantra has a presence in eight markets, and will be merged into MBPL eventually, in fact in this financial year itself.

     

    The acquisition, which happened through an all-cash deal, is expected to provide strong return on JPL’s invested capital. The foray into the high growth radio media segment which is increasing its share of advertising expenditures in India. This ensures that save news television, a sector it exited after it sold most of its stake to Network 18 some years back, Jagran Prakashan Limited has an exposure to all media domains.  According to a senior executive, there are no plans to invest in News TV, as it continues to feel that it is an unprofitable investement.

     

    On Tuesday, the board of Jagran Prakashan Limited (JPL) approved the entry of the company into the radio industry via acquisition of Music Broadcast Private Limited (MBPL). The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals, including from Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and execution of binding agreements. As part of acquisition the company is acquiring MBPL’s holding company and fellow subsidiary that provides activations.

     

    Said Mahendra Mohan Gupta, CMD, Jagran Prakashan Limited: “The radio business has witnessed significant growth in recent past and is expected to grow at more that 18% CAGR in the coming years, per KPMG FICCI, This deal will catapult JPL into a leadership position in the radio industry and enable the company to benefit from the rapid growth in radio advertising. Acquisition of Radio City further consolidates our position as India’s leading Media and Communication Group. The radio business will complement our print, outdoor, activation and digital businesses and enable deeper inroads with advertisers both at national and local level.”

     

    Talking on the announcement, Apurva Purohit – CEO, Radio City 91.1 FM said, “JThis augurs well for all stakeholders. Both Jagran and Radio City have been pioneers and leaders in their respective space and this partnership will help augment the growth aspirations of the brand. We look forward to exciting times ahead.”

     

    As part of acquisition the company is acquiring MBPL’s holding company and fellow subsidiary that provides activations. The acquisition will primarily be funded from internal accruals and investments. This acquisition will not impair the company’s ability to distribute dividends.

     

  • Musicians can send in their entries from 3rdNovember 2014 to 17th November 2014

    2nd Edition of Radio City Freedom Awards announced

    By A Correspondent

     

    After the positive response and support received in the inaugural year, Radio City 91.1 FM has announced the 2nd Edition of Radio City Freedom Awards. Entries are now open & Radio City invites all the independent artists to submit their compositions.

     

    Radio City Freedom Awards invites entries from Indian artists across the globe in 8 categories viz. Best Hip-Hop Rap Artist, Best Folk Fusion Artist, Best Pop Artist, Best Rock, Best Metal, Best Electronica Artist, Best Video, Best Album Art. The 2nd Edition of Radio City Freedom Awards goes a step forward in encouraging fresh talent across diverse music genres by adding 3 new categories! The new categories that have been added are, ‘Best Young Indie Artist/Band’, ‘Best Indie Collaboration of the year’ and ‘Indie Genius- Person of the year’.

     

    Musicians can send in their entries from 3rdNovember 2014 to 17th November 2014. Aspirants can upload their entries on www.planetradiocity.com/rcfa or alternatively submit CDs of their compositions at any of the touch points across the eight cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore.

     

    Shortlisted entries will be judged by the esteemed panel of judges comprising of Atul Churamani, Yotam Agam, Luke Kenny, Nandini Srikar, Subir Malikand Suneeta Rao. The winners will be felicitated on the RCFA award night in December.

     

    Apurva Purohit

    Speaking on the 2nd Edition of Radio City Freedom Awards, Apurva Purohit, CEO, Radio City 91.1 FM says, “Radio City Freedom Awards were instituted to celebrate the immense talent of independent music composers.The awards epitomize the consistent integrated effort to unveil the hidden talent that forms an important part of the Indian music diaspora. Post the immensely successful debut last year, we are sure that the 2nd Edition will see a much larger participation.Radio City Freedom Awards is the breakthrough that independent musicians have deserved for longand we hope that this initiative encourages tons of aspiring indie musicians to come out and showcase their skills.”

     

    Radio City Freedom Awards is a pioneering effort to applaud the independent singers & musicians, who have pushed the boundaries to create musical breakthroughs in the independent music diaspora.

     

  • The brand gears up to introduce the pioneering 'Loyalty Programme' as part of its engaging 'City First Aap First' nation-wide campaign

    Radio City launches its first ever Loyalty Programme – City First

    By A Correspondent

     

    In a bid to further enhance the ideology of its ‘City First Aap First’ campaign, Radio City has launched the first ever loyalty programme by any media house in the country, for its consumers. Titled ‘City First’, Radio City 91.1 FM has set a new benchmark of being a pioneering media brand which reaches out to a millions of listeners who connect with the brand on a daily basis. The brand will engage, gratify and celebrate loyal listeners.

     

    ‘City First’ loyalty programme registration open from the 6th October for anyone who participates in a contest or sends an SMS to Radio City or gives a missed calls, or interacts through IVRS or On- Ground. The journey begins with the first interaction though any of these mediums with Radio City which act as a gateway to the ‘City First’ loyalty programme. Subsequently, every time a listener sends in an SMS to Radio City, points get added to their mobile number making them eligible for the various forms of gratification.The mobile number acts as the interface and the points can be redeemed at Radio City offices.

     

    Apurva Purohit

    Talking about the breakthough innovation, Apurva Purohit, CEO, Radio City 91.1 FM said, “Radio City has always attributed its success to its listeners. They are the driving force for us. To celebrate their continued loyalty, we launched our ‘City First Aap First’ initiative and have now introduced a new dimension, bringing into play the ‘Loyalty Programme’ with ‘City First’. While the idea is to gratify listeners, who engage with the brand on a daily basis, with great offers and gifts and make every SMS they send count, the larger objective is to talk to the listeners and interact with them. I believe the loyalty programme will mark the beginning of a new era of interactivity between broadcaster and consumers.”

     

    The gratification in term of points is based on the level of participation. For instance, if a listener has sent 3 SMSes to which the cost he incurred was Rs 9, the gratification in form of points will be 12. Similarly, if the cost incurred was Rs. 60 or 120, the gratification in the form of points will be 75 and 150 respectively. Listeners can send upto 40 SMS per month and points redeemed in a 3 month window. The points enable consumers to win rewards like talk time, shopping vouchers, movie vouchers, meal vouchers, concert tickets, interaction with their favourite jocks and opportunity to meet their favourite celebs etc.

     

  • Media and entertainment stakeholders on what the twin sectors are hoping the Narendra Modi government will deliver

    M&E expectations from Modi & Co

     

    By Shobhana Nair

     

    With the new government set to assume office in a few days, the media and entertainment sector is also hoping to see its ‘achche din’. MxMIndia spoke to a few stakeholders to know how they see this change of power and what they are hoping to get from the new government.

     

    Ashish Bhasin

    Ashish Bhasin, Chairman & CEO South Asia Dentsu Aegis Network, Chairman Posterscope and psLive – Asia Pacific

    From the Media & Entertainment point of view, what one wants is a strong and stable economy which depends upon a government that takes decisions and takes them forward. A clear majority government is much required as there seems to be a paralysis for the last few years on decision making. To that extent, whatever is good for the economy is good for the media and entertainment sector. From that point of view, having a stable government with a clear majority will be a good change.

     

    Nagesh Alai

    Nagesh Alai, Group Chairman, FCBUlka

    There is a lot of hope after the 10-year Congress mishap.  There are no industry specific expectations from the new government other than doing away with insidious muzzling of freedom of speech. I would like to see the new government walk the talk on eradicating corruption, have a zero tolerance on corruption and bring about probity and accountability in public life – to start with their own elected candidates and then amongst corporates and avoid crony capitalism. Once this is done, the rest will fall in place.

     

    Jehil Thakkar

    Jehil Thakkar, Head of Media & Entertainment, KPMG

    The Media & Entertainment sector is enthused about the fact that there is a majority verdict in this election. A majority verdict will hopefully mean a decisive government and movement on the regulatory front. This government will take office with the weight of a lot of expectations – including the expectations from the M&E industry. There are several areas that the industry will expect movement from the government which are:

     

    1. Speedy implementation of Phase III licensing in Radio and associated regulations (networking, multiple station ownership, etc.).

    2. Greater friendliness to FDI in Media. The industry is hoping that the government will raise the FDI caps in several areas including Cable to at least 74% if not 100%, DTH to 100%, Radio to 49% and progressively higher than 50%.

    3. The industry is also hoping that the government will allow the radio industry to carry news. It does not make sense that news is restricted to AIR in radio but allowed to be privatized for all other media.

    4. Solving the service tax issue for the media industry where due to content being on the exception list, a pass through option is not available. This will provide great relief to the industry.

     

    In addition, there are other issues that are not specific to media but will certainly help the industry. Rationalisation of customs duty, implementation of GST (assuming entertainment tax is part of GST) and increased focus on infrastructure development.”

     

    Apurva Purohit

    Apurva Purohit, CEO, Radio City 91.1FM

    We are happy with any government that promises to end the policy paralysis that has been operational for the last few years. The good news is that with a decisive victory of this nature there will not be in any internal pulls that will prevent the government from moving ahead with sectoral reforms. We hope to see good governance, an end to the policy paralysis and a focus on development, specifically infrastructure and thereby job creation.

     

    As far as the FM industry is concerned, we have been waiting for the last 3 years for the implementation of Phase 3 and the policy that was announced in July 2011. Unfortunately the previous government chose to do nothing; resulting in the stagnation of the industry, a failure to expand FM beyond the current 90 cities and thereby create job opportunities in the 300 more cities where Phase 3 has been planned for. This failure to expand has harmed not only job seekers, potential listeners but also small businesses and retailers who do not have the choice of a cost effective medium to advertise on to expand their businesses in these towns. We expect the government to urgently help kick start and proceed with Phase 3 of the FM deregulation – a process which by the way has the consensus of all the constituents but has not seen light of day due to the inertia exhibited by the previous government.

     

  • The research highlighted reviews of about 1000 women from across the country on the current work scenario in India

    Research offers insights on challenges faced by women at work

    By a correspondent

     

    Apurva Purohit

    Research conducted by team LYNAM that embarked on a quest to understand real life challenges faced by working Indian women has revealed some interesting insights. The research, inspired by the book ‘Lady You’re Not a Man – The Adventures of a Woman at Work’, authored by Apurva Purohit highlighted reviews of about 1000 women from across the country on the current work scenario in India.

     

    Some interesting observations emerged about what single women experience, working mothers want, and how women feel about issues in different parts of India. For instance, 60 per cent women have been asked at interviews whether they will quit if they get married? Also, women in Delhi are more comfortable with a male boss, when compared to the rest of the country. As for working mothers, almost 60 per cent would be relieved if their workplace had childcare facilities. 27 per cent of women also believe that working women take advantage through “lost babe in the woods”, “sexy diva”, and “emotional blackmail” syndromes. Women are also most offended by not being taken seriously by men in a workplace, even more than having their cleavage stared at.

     

    The researched set comprised of 84 per cent women and 16 per cent men. Around 66 per cent of the respondents belonged to the age bracket of 25-34 years. The research was undertaken in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad.

     

    Apurva Purohit, author of ‘Lady You’re Not a Man – The Adventures of a Woman at Work’, said, ” For many years we have only heard through anecdotes what working women are thinking and feeling about their workplace. This is the first definitive study which actually tells us about the biases they face, the issues they have to deal with, and the expectations they have, if we want them to continue to be part of corporate India. The success of the book was a testimony to the desire Indian women have to achieve their goals both at work and at home and this research tells us how we can create an eco-system which looks at what is going through their minds and helps them achieve this desire.”

     

  • Exclusive pre-release chat with the Radio City CEO whose book 'Lady, You're Not A Man!' is being released on Aug 1.

    Accept, adapt, achieve: Apurva Purohit

     

    By Ritu Midha

     

    ‘Lady, You’re Not A Man!’ authored by Apurva Purohit took me back to year 2005 when I was working with a leading corporate as an AGM, setting up its online operations. All was well till one fine day in the appraisals, I got the rating of a consistent performer after having been an outstanding achiever for the two years prior to that.

     

    I decided I was a misfit in a male-dominated marketing function since was poor at networking and quit the organization at the first opportunity. In hindsight, I realised that I had just been moved from MD’s office to Marketing (on my own request), neither the marketing head nor the MD (who had just joined the organization, the CEO who had recruited me had moved on) knew hands-on what I had delivered, and what I was capable of. Moreover, not everyone in the organisation was rated as consistent performer. And that has been my only regret in life, leaving the organisation, without thinking through the decision smartly. A bad idea!

     

    I did not only find characters I could relate to in the book, but also myself. Written in a lucid, conversational style, Apurva Purohit’s book is laced with humour as it takes us through real situations in corporate and everyday life.

     

    While on one hand it deliberates on work-life balance, on the other, it effectively discusses office situations – and how to deliver to one’s potential.  She effectively brings to fore situations and circumstances that influence their career, and insists that these are not insurmountable.  Some of these in a gentle, funny way.

     

    Divided into three parts – Acceptance, Adapting and Achievements, ‘Lady, You’re Not A Man!’ discusses the nuances of being a woman, demolishes the myth that it is man’s world still, and nudges the women to accept their reality: the differences between men and women that are a given, and which are not a barrier for the women who know their worth, adapt and persevere.

     

    The first thing that catches attention is the book’s tagline, “The Adventures of A Woman At Work’. Smiles Apurva, “From the onset I desired to make it clear that the book was neither about feminism and bra burning, nor about projecting women as downtrodden objects of pity. The book is a positive manifestation of working women – of course there are challenges, but there is fun too!”

     

    The inspiration for the book came from the various lectures that well-known organizations and institutions invite the Radio City 91.1 CEO to speak at. “While lecturing, there was a lot of resonance with the audiences and many of the women wrote to me long after the talk about how it impacted them, ” she says. “But one can only reach a limited number of people through lectures.The thought of penning a book that would reach a much wider set of people germinated from there.”

     

    Her view on women in corporate India: “While there might be 39% women at the junior management level, at middle management it reduces to around 15%, and on top management level, it’s just 3%. Women just drop out while climbing up the ladder. There are a multitude of reasons. They have to realise that everybody’s life is nearly same. You need to find solutions, and not give up.”

     

    Marvelling at the way various characters in her anecdotes come to life, I can’t resist but ask her if she started observing people more closely once she decided to write the book. “No,” she exclaims, “It was really amazing. A number of stories were already there in my mind. There were sub-conscious learnings from these anecdotes. In the 25 year of my career, I have worked and interacted with so many women. They have shared things happening in their personal and professional life with me. I have even advised many of them on how to tackle a situation. So it was all there – some vivid, and some in my sub-conscious that came out when I sat down to express myself.” Some of the more interesting anecdotes have been pulled from her personal life.

     

    Moving to the three sections of the books – Acceptance, Adapting and Achievement – though it seems like a logical flow, can really there be three phases in life cleanly divided. “Of course not”, states Apurva, “All the three run parallel. One might be in acceptance state for something, while we are already adapting to something else – all the three can happen simultaneously. What I have discovered, that in many cases while acceptance happens, adapting does not come easy. To gain achievement, adapting is critical.”

     

    Quite a few times in life, women have the potential, they continue with their jobs too, but fail to deliver to their full potential. Apurva reacts to this with a “Yes”, saying: “The biggest reason for this is lack of self-esteem. They always think of themselves as lesser than their potential. You need to have a high self-esteem! A lot of what you achieve is a reflection of your inner positive self. If you calmly observe the situation, you can overcome the bias from within.”

     

    And what is the biggest motivation for Apurva Purohit herself? She states, “It is how to influence as many people as possible to deliver to the best of their potential. I am happy with what I have attained so far professionally and personally. However, the dreams are never-ending.”

     

    Venturing into a territory, which she believes is blown out of proportion – sexual harassment, I tell her that there is also reverse sexual harassment in corporate these days. “Bosses sometimes take advantage of their junior females colleagues and women find themselves in a tight spot. There are also women professionals at junior levels, who try to incorrectly approach their bosses to get things done. In such cases, bosses should just ignore the advances. Seeing through and walking away is the thing to do However, in my entire career, I have not seen reverse sexual harassment.”

     

    She discusses these, and many other topics of great interest to working women in ‘Lady, You’re Not A Man!’.

     

    As a woman, one can relate to many anecdotes she brings forth and, yes, it’s about time more of us adapted and geared ourselves to attain greater heights.

     

    ‘Lady, You’re Not A Man!’ – The Adventures of A Woman At Work

    By Apurva Purohit

    Rupa Publications

    Pages: 184 paperback, Price: Rs 195

    On sale at bookstores, online and on Kindle from August 1 onwards

     

  • The 20-station Radio City will celebrate its 12th anniversary with 'I Love My City', a special initiative celebrating what's special about each city

    Radio City 91.1 FM completes 12 years

    By A Correspondent

     

    Radio City 91.1 FM, India’s first private FM radio station, has completed 12 years of existence this month.

     

    Apurva Purohit

    Speaking on the milestone, CEO Apurva Purohit said: “RadioCity has come a long way since it pioneered the concept of private FM radio in India. Be it content, innovative marketing campaigns or web radio, we have ensured that we maintain the highest standards. Our unique identity has managed to etch a permanent mark in the audience psyche. Our employees, the most important resource of our organization have always delivered beyond expectations and industry benchmarks.”

     

    RadioCity has announced its 12th anniversary celebrations with ‘I Love My City’, a special initiative across cities celebrating what’s special about each city.

     

  • Salwar suit = behenji. Short skirt = hot young thing. Apurva Purohit is dismayed that when representing women, Indian advertising is still stuck in the dark ages

    By Invitation | Apurva Purohit: Seeta and Geeta

    By Apurva Purohit

     

    Yesterday I saw a commercial for a car which bothered me a bit. It was not a great piece of communication, either in strategic intent or in execution. But that was not the reason for my dismay. It was the stereotyping that goes on in Indian advertising even to this day that alarmed me.

     

    The story line, if it indeed can be called that, went something like this – A cool dude is shown driving the car in question. He sees a girl waiting by the kerb for a lift and veers to offer her one. She comes forward when suddenly he swerves away, and takes a violent u-turn. Why? Because he has just spotted a girl on the other side whom, we presume, he is more attracted to, and turns to offer her a lift instead.

     

    To showcase that the second girl is more attractive than the first, she is shown wearing a short dress versus the salwar suit the first girl is dressed in, and has smartly bobbed hair versus long hair and so on.

     

    This typifying continues to be prevalent in ad commercials, ad nauseam. So if you wear a sari you are an aunty or a mummy, if you wear a salwar suit, you are a behenji, and if you wear a dress, you are hot and happening and thus attractive to men.

     

    It reminds me of one of our management trainees who came back from doing a survey in a small town, and was very shocked at seeing women in saris driving two-wheelers there! To this day I haven’t been able to figure out what shocked him more; that women were driving two-wheelers or that women wearing saris were driving two-wheelers. And in case it was the later, what then should be the ideal dress code for women if they do want to drive?

     

    Thankfully, unlike advertising commercials, real life is neither linear nor typical. It has interesting people like Usha Uthup. If she had been living in the imaginations of our advertising buddies, she would have been wearing short black dresses, to go with the western songs she sings, you see. But look at her – Kanjeevarams, gajras and Adidas keds redecorated to match her saris. Wow!

     

    Although in the confines of our creative friends’ minds, I am sure she only materializes to sing classical bhajans!

     

    Apurva Purohit is CEO, Radio City. This was first published in her blog, Women at Work (http://www.womenatwork.co.in). Ms Purohit views and essays on women striking the balance between work and home is being published in a still-untitled book in the next quarter by Rupa Publications.

     

  • The 5th Youth Marketing Awards, hosted by the Global Youth Marketing Forum, felicitate outstanding achievement and brand recall among youth

    Radio City 91.1 wins the ‘most popular youth brand’ award

    By A Correspondent

     

    Radio City 91.1 was named the ‘Most Popular Youth Brand’ of the year at the 5th Youth Marketing Awards held recently. The awards, hosted by the Global Youth Marketing Forum (GYMF), felicitate outstanding achievement and brand recall among youth, across various sectors.

     

    Apurva Purohit

    Radio City CEO Apurva Purohit said, “We are elated at winning the ‘Most Popular Youth Brand’ of the year. The award testifies to our efforts in establishing a youth connect. It reflects the top of the mind recall that Radio City has been able to establish amongst its target audience.”

     

    Radio City has engaged the youth through their pan-India properties like Gully Premier League and Radio City Super Singer. Streams like ‘Radio City Freedom’ or ‘Radio City Indipop’ on its web radio, PlanetRadiocity.com, are also popular with the youth.

     

    The Youth Marketing Awards are celebrated annually to recognize and appreciate outstanding contributions by young individuals, groups or brand in the areas of business, leadership and development. The selection of winners is done by the research cell which constitutes researchers and senior professionals from the industry.

     

  • Apurva Purohit, CEO, Radio City 91.1 FM explains the rationale between 'Women at Work', Radio City's networking initiative for working women

    Jaldi 5 with Apurva Purohit: ‘Great networking with fantastic women’

    The lack of networking is also seen by women themselves as one of the top three impediments in their progress. Leading radio station netword Radio City decided to make building connections between women easier by launching a forum where the women can all come and spend time with one another. Apurva Purohit, CEO, Radio City 91.1 FM explains the rationale of starting ‘Women at Work’.

     

    01. Do tell us more on Women at Work all about?

    Women at Work is a platform where women from all walks of life can come together and optimize their networking time to further their professional and personal growth. It is a networking forum where the members use the platform to connect and explore possible opportunities related to their profession/ business.

     

    02. And how did Radio City get down to developing this forum?

    As an organization, Radio City has quite a few women leaders, who fulfil their responsibilities equally or sometimes better than their counterparts. While it is a fact that men have several occasions to interact with each other through formal or informal networks, women don’t have such opportunities. Whilst multi-tasking with their responsibilities at work and at home, there is no room left for after-office networking. Women also often do not find a support group to seek solutions to their problems or enough networking opportunities to excel professionally. The senior women at Radio City thus decided to create an opportunity for women to interact and this was in fact the driving factor behind developing this online forum.

     

    03. How many forums is ‘Women at Work’ planning to hold, and in which cities?

    Our first on-the-ground networking session was held in Mumbai a few months ago and witnessed participation from nearly 100 women. It was amazing to experience the energy it created, through re-forging old connections and building new ones. Many women who attended the forum shared intimate parts of their lives with each other, and this turn helped them forge important relations. The next on-ground forum is being held in Delhi on December 1, and we are looking forward to some great networking with some more fantastic women. Though we are all virtually connected with each other, we plan to conduct one such on-ground meeting in different cities once every quarter.

     

    04. So how many women have become members of Women at Work?

    The forum has more than 800 users from across the globe and many more joining in daily. In fact, we have started receiving proposals from like-minded women from the US to start an international chapter too.

     

    05. What can one expect from the Women at Work forum?

    Apart from building connections, the members of the forum can look forward to sharing successes and learnings from each other. The forum has been created with the motive of building a bridge, an umbrella where working women across different cross sections can come together and talk about anything related to our work lives – from bad bosses to office spouses, from stilettos to mojitos, from babies to boyfriends!

     

    Interviewed by Ananya Saha

     

  • Law & Kenneth COO remembers the advice he received from his boss at Radio City, Apurva Purohit

    Life’s Lessons… Rana Barua on the ‘Tough Love’ advice he got from Apurva Purohit

    By Rana Barua

    I have spent enough time in the industry and have worked with a variety of people, talent and professionals across all levels in various streams – marketing, sales, programming, creative, planning etc – both in Advertising and in Radio. And always found that the biggest challenge is on how to retain people once you have invested in them and made them part of a core team. With the belief that if the core team sticks together, it will deliver success month on month, year after year. Yet I never understood how till I joined Radio City and worked with probably one of the finest leader, mentor and a fantastic boss – Apurva Purohit.

     

    In this article, I would like to highlight one of the greatest learnings I picked up from her in the four years I worked as part of her core team. There are amazing things one can learn from Apurva but this is her trademark which makes it different and makes her stand out as a true Leader. The team she has built is absolutely one of the best core leadership teams supported by a fantastic senior and middle level who have stuck together for years – thus ensuring success for the company year after year.

     

    How does she Retain all the key people. Simple – ” Tough Love”. That’s what she explained one day to me when I was bitterly complaining about people and how difficult it was to retain them and how attrition was hitting us. In her calm way, she answered: Tough love, Rana! Seemed like an oxymoron but then one understood the meaning and how impact full these two words were. This is what she explained:

     

    Apurva Purohit

    Be TOUGH with the people, set clear goals/targets, push them for the unattainable, don’t take no or cannot be done as an answer, ask them to be leaders, tell them to challenge oneself before others, be clear in their thought process, implementation always over strategy for results. She was clear about this and I thought in my mind that – I was doing all the above and yet people thought I was a tyrant and leaving! Then came the LOVE part which stumped me!

     

    At every “tough” step, be comforting, applauding, appreciating, helping, guiding, mentoring, motivating, rewarding – openly in forums, on mails or one-on-one. Let each member know that you are there for him/ her as a boss, 24×7. Stand up, support, defend, own up for the team which works with you. Fiercely guard them, but do not be defensive! The team will rally around you. So be a leader when you lead teams.

     

    And did they? Well I led one of the most amazing teams across Marketing and Programming with the concept of Tough Love. It worked wonders. I have moved on from City but use it as my mantra in the work space. It works most of the times.

     

    Owe it you, Apurva, for sharing with me and am sure all who work or have worked with you one of the finest leadership traits. And to all who read this: Practise it if you can – and be genuine about it. As a Leader you owe it to all the people who believe in you and look upto you – and no one can exemplify this better than Apurva.

     

    Rana Barua is Chief Operating Officer, Law & Kenneth. Life’s Lessons appears on MxMIndia every third Friday of the month. This monthly series has senior professionals and captains from the industry reminiscing about something that was told to them by their bosses, mentors or colleagues that dramatically changed their outlook to work… and life.

     

  • Although contents across all radio channels are more or less restricted to music, it is believed that once FM phase III is rolled out and multiple frequencies allowed by the government, it will lead to more innovations in content and differentiation within the medium itself.

    @FF12: Phase III will bring more innovation in radio

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    Radio has often been criticized for lack of content innovation, that all radio stations sound the same and that there is no differentiation in the medium currently. Although contents across all radio channels are more or less restricted to music, it is believed that once FM phase III is rolled out and multiple frequencies allowed by the government, it will lead to more innovations in content and differentiation within the medium itself.

     

    One of the sessions at the FICCI-Frames 2012 was on ‘Radio: Innovations in Content’ wherein industry veterans discussed at length on the innovations in content radio is witnessing currently and the enormous innovation opportunities FM Phase III would allow. While the session was moderated by Apurva Purohit, CEO Radio City, the panel members included Rabe Iyer, Business Head, Big FM; Abhijit Avasthi, Executive Creative Director, O&M; Bhavna Somaaya, Columnist and Writer; and Charles Falzon, Chair of The Radio and Television Arts School of Media, Ryerson University.

     

    Ms Purohit kick-started the session stating that radio currently is in a schizophrenic stage wherein on one hand the medium is witnessing immense growth, it has a huge reach in the country and the FM listenership has also further increased with higher number of mobile phones, whereas on the other hand the overall ad pie of the medium is merely 4 per cent. Ms Purohit also pointed out that in the next two years the industry anticipates another phase of growth which will bring news, sports commentary, multiple frequencies, besides further expansion into towns and cities.

     

    According to Ms Somaaya, “Innovation is a very subjective term and the definition changes from person to person and the state of mind one is in. I believe innovation comes only in content because technology has been exhausted and there is a whole rainbow waiting for us as there could audio books, short stories, debates, helpline etc. Radio therefore is much more immediate that any other medium.”

     

    Speaking about the strengths of radio Mr Avasthi first admitted that out of all the media, it is the toughest to write radio spots. He explained, “The strength of radio I believe is one can conjure up a world in the listener’s mind. What you hear on radio today is mainly restricted to Bollywood music. There are so many kinds of music still to be explored and so many types of content that can be experimented, and to break this format I believe the industry requires some amount of courage to do so.  The moment programming in radio opens up then there will be plenty of interesting opportunities for advertising in radio itself.”

     

    Mr Falzon highlighted the use of digital medium as a complement to engaging the listeners, “We are all experiencing a paradigm shift on how entertainment is being consumed, across the world. India has infact a better opportunity especially with the phase III expansion coming that too at a time we can think about how to use the digital medium. Digital and social media in Canada for example is being used in many ways wherein the entertainment experience of radio has been extended beyond radio.”

     

    According to Mr Iyer, although 80 per cent of content on radio is music and 20 per cent on the packaging of music, there has been some innovation in the medium and with the phase III launch it will bring with it immense opportunities especially on the innovation and differentiation front. Speaking on the reason radio being left out at times during advertising campaigns, Mr Iyer believed the possible reason could be because the industry has not encouraged radio creativity which in itself is a huge opportunity.

     

    The Q&A session which followed the panel discussion saw many people questioning the lack of innovation and the dominance of Bollywood-centric music on radio. The panelists more or less agreed that radio in India has seen lack of innovations primarily because of government restrictions which is most likely to change with FM phase III is rolled out.

     

    Photograph: Fotocorp