Tag: Bhaskar Das

This was a tricky question, but we couldn’t have not asked it. Here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the May 9 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…

Das in the May 5 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…

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Q. What’s your view/stand on Gavaskar and Sehwag starring in a Kamla Pasand ad?

A. I know that public opinion (social media too) is abuzz with adverse reactions about national cricket heroes endorsing an alleged harmful category. I use the word alleged because the product being promoted is elaichi which is not a harmful substance.

I must add  here that Sunil Gavaskar is very discerning in all that he does and thinks a hundred times before taking an endorsement decision. Am sure he has done his due diligence.

Having said that, I think sportstars – more than anyone else – must be more responsible about their endorsements. There are a million people who adore and emulate Messrs Gavaskar and Sehwag. I am sure they are aware of their responsibility. I hope they are.

We’ve asked questions on CMO tenures in the past. But this one quotes a recent study. Without further ado, here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the May 8 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…

Das in the May 5 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/

Q. According to a Spencer Stuart study, average CMO tenures dropped to 3.3 year (or 39 months) in 2022, a drop of a month since 2021. Are you surprised?

A. I am not surprised. In fact when I interact with students, I refer to this on the basis of empirical evidence (neither through representative sampling nor through exhaustive research like Spencer Stuart) as I encountered in the real life marketplace. I must admit that I can’t generalise saying a definitive period of short lifespan of CMOs. It differs by sector, by legacy or start-ups, by individual etc. And one would get examples of both prolonged stay or short stay , depending on a combination of factors, I mentioned above.

I may list a few factors:

1) the pressure of VUCA and a concurrent pressure of performance, irrespective of sectors, 2) the imperatives of business and marketing have undergone significant shift including competitive dynamics , seismic shift in geo- political situation and shift in consumer behaviour,

3) the marketing function have also undergone tangible changes due to the need for leveraging technology and catering to a variety of customer cohorts,

4) the new age marketing guys need to be adept in multiple roles to deliver measurable marketing metrics,

5) fortune change in case of Startups ( read valuation or winter of funding etc) are also causing early exit,

and 6) asymmetry between velocity of aspiration for career growth of individuals and organisation’s plan for the individual.

These are some of the immediate reasons, which are affecting the life span of CMOs. The writing on the wall has been, however, looming large in the horizon for quite some time.

The last in our series of questions coincide with World Press Freedom Day (which was on May 3). This one obviously to provoke our Wizard with Words. Without further ado, here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the May 5 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/

Q. In large legacy news media entities in India, who actually calls the shots:

1. The Editor

2. The Owner

3. The Sales Head

4. The Government

5. The Advertiser

A. In any organisational setup, one can’t take a siloed view of its functioning. It’s like asking which part of human body calls the shots. It’s a collective and well-synchronised functioning.

As an enterprise, the buck stops with the investor/entrepreneur, as s/he has taken the risk of investment. But it’s the people in various functions who work in tandem to make the organisation successful. And in today’s operating environment, viewing any function in silos is a sure recipe for failure.

One more question to coincide with World Press Freedom Day. Here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the May 4 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/

Q. What do you think is the biggest misconception that people have about the news media? And what can the media do to correct it?

A. I fundamentally believe that today’s consumers are more aware than what they used to be. The reason is simple: more options across formats and hence more choices and consequently more discerning audience/ consumers. Of course, they also become a victim of misinformation, quite often.

Even amongst options amongst news sources, newspapers still enjoy highest credibility. Reuters research has confirmed that, apart from other research reports. This is expected as a plethora of options have created in its trail a pandering of sensationalisation of news and polarised logic for manufactured consent. In a ubiquitous social media, everyone has an opinion and for every news item there is a fractured societal response. It is difficult to arrive at a generalised verdict about misconception of any news source.

The route to its correction lies with the news source who have to introspect what is good for citizens at large, instead of participating in agendised versions of news. Citizens need to be also vigilant about the source of news and cross-verify the source, before forming an opinion and forwarding to their known circle.

The current times remind me of Charles Dickens’ memorable line in The Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way–in short, the period was so far like the present period that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”

One more question to coincide with World Press Freedom Day. Here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the May 3 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/

Q. Would you say that the Indian media has:

1. Failed us

2. We get what we deserve

3. Turned itself meaningless

4. May be going through a low now, but will spring back

5. None of the above

A. I am feeling like I am answering a question paper with an option to choose an answer from multiple choices.

My answer is: None of the Above. The options are so skewed at one end that none of the options, apart from the last one, represent the realities of life. For, more often than not, the truth lies in the intersections. Besides, we can’t generalise a deviant example as a deterministic option.

Here’s a philosophical answer to an issue that concerns the day-to-day functioning of the legacy news media. Without any ado, here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the May 2 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/

Q. It’s World Press Freedom Day tomorrow (May 3). It really is. We aren’t joking. Given your four decades of experience in the media, the bulk of which has been in the news business, tell us: Can there really be a true free press in India? Esp for the legacy players?

A. This question can degenerate into a polemical debate and camps can be divided in the verdict. The conclusion can be based on heuristics with each camp having loads of evidence to justify the hypothesis.

So let me look at your question, clinically and delve into the ‘\basics’ of what constitutes Free Press. Can there ever be any free press? Even if one reports objectively, the affected party will always cry foul saying that the reporting is biased. And in the post-truth world, decoding the truth is as good as finding a needle in a haystack. The subject is so subjective that the objectivity of an issue is difficult to substantiate. As they say, we see the world as we perceive, and not as they are. So, I feel there is nothing called absolute free press like there is nothing called absolute neutrality. We are born free and everywhere in chains. I am not saying this. This was opined by Rousseau in the 18th century and seems to me to be relevant even today.

So perhaps an incorrectly worded question, but we are playing both the question and answer as is. Here’s the April 28 edition of Das ka Dum with Dr Bhaskar Das. Read on…

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/

Q. Every successive May 1 marks the shedding of more staff in our workforces. Sad way to observe Labour Day?!

A. I don’t think that “every successive May 1, marks the shedding of more staff in our workforces”, as your question refers to (may be it is understood by me wrongly). Having said so, I agree with your articulated sentiments as every other day, one comes across news items that mention “rightsizing” (euphemism for reduction of staff strength due to pressure on bottomlines for businesses). So, your sentiment is valid. The only point I may mention is that news media rarely talks about new recruitments. Management schools have been claiming 100% placements. And some others get new jobs, thanks to start-ups specially, after losing their job. I am not justifying any job loss, but we rarely get the full picture. The glass may not be full empty. So, a celebration of May Day need not be futile and I am sure the tide would turn once the global economic sentiments improve. The show must go on as even this phase would also pass.

This is a question which came in response to what our Wizard with Words wrote on April 14. Here’s the April 27 edition of Das ka Dum with Dr Bhaskar Das. Read on…

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/

Q. You’ve written about the need to equip oneself with various digital bells and whistles. But what’s finally important is the skill of marketing/ sales/ creativity/ journalism, right. So, why the fear of going irrelevant?

A. May I suggest that one must not think learning can happen in silos. It creates a myopic perspective, in many cases. One loses the knowledge that emanates from the intersection of disciplines. Every discipline has the advantage/ requirements of leveraging digital for expanding possibilities of knowledge including the so-called creative professions. One can’t say this is my area where digital is irrelevant and my job can remain insulated. So, no job gets irrelevant. Rather, over-dependence or rigidity on/with existing skillsets is what creates redundancy. Instead, one should be adaptive and learn how to harness technology to enhance one’s skill. This mindset would increase one’s relevance in the job market.

We knew we would upset him though (thankfully) he hasn’t quite taken our case for even asking a question like today’s. Here’s the April 26 edition of Das ka Dum with Dr Bhaskar Das. Read on…

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/

Q. Just around a month to go for Goafest. It’s going to be horribly hot in Goa at that time of the year. Why do you think we (as in the average A&M-er) register and buy the tickets to Goa?

A. Get one fact straight: Goafest is the Mecca for celebrating excellence in creativity in communication. So it has nothing to to with weather conditions. Anyways, the whole event would be in an air-conditioned environment. So heat won’t affect people, unless the sea beckons delegates and they can’t resist the fun of a seaside experience. Evenings would be better for networking till a camaraderie coma sets in. Besides, there is award-giving ceremony every evening. There are great speakers that can stimulate the cognitive appetite of the delegates. So, I strongly feel that seasonal vagaries can’t dampen the spirits of the participants. You may book your ticket too.

We thought we could get our Wizard with Words to give a provocative answer, but that’s something that can never ever happen. Here’s the April 25 edition of Das ka Dum with Dr Bhaskar Das. Read on…

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/

Q. There is a lot of brouhaha about Apple opening two stores in India. Is it really that big a news development or is there more you would like to see from the digital giant?

A. It’s too early to predict all the possible outcomes of the launch of Apple stores in India. The buzz is in sync with the cult status of the brand globally. So, the brouhaha is expected. Mr Tim Cook, through his perfectly orchestrated meetings with both VIPs and not-so-VIPs, has further accentuated the aura of Apple as a brand and Tim Cook as the CEO-as-good-as-a-Head-of-a-State.

I can imagine some immediate macro gains from these micro store openings. One immediate benefit is pretty straightforward viz more quality job opportunities for Indians (public domain reports suggest that Apple employees are more qualified than a typical retail outlet and their salary levels are also higher than the usual ones). Secondly, the arrival of official Apple retail stores in India is expected to have impact on the country’s economy too. As more Apple Stores get opened, across the country, more workforce ate expected to be required to operate them, and hence more people will get job opportunities in the country. Besides, these initial steps might be followed by starting production of their phones in India and reduce over dependence on China.

I admit that these possible developments are going to happen in future and might be dependent on how the two retail outlets perform. But why not be optimistic as India is the new flavour for business destination in the global market?!

The awards that Sidharth Rao won over the years do not truly reflect the greatness of the man. For the April 24 edition of Das ka Dum, we asked Dr Bhaskar Das a question on Rao. Read on…

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/

Q. The country has lost one of its brightest digitally first creative whizkids. Your memories of Sidharth Rao?

A. Honestly, I can’t claim to know Sidharth Rao very closely but interacted with him, off and on, in industry body and in some industry event where his appearances were few and far between.

But whenever I met and engaged with him, I found him to be a very straightforward guy who dreams, lives by anything that is digital. His views had always been futuristic. He might have looked casual in his appearance and in his outfits too, but the quality of his thinking was in a different stratosphere, compared to many other professionals in the domain. His dream gave birth to Webchutney and his agency won many awards in Cannes, apart from Goafest, if I recall right. His humility, his straightforward and humane approach made his personality an extremely endearing one. These are rare qualities these days. Even if I have a very limited interactions with him, he left indelible memories with me.

We thought we would have some fun with this Friday question. Our Wizard with Words gave it a very propah response. Here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the April 21 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/

Q. It’s World Creativity and Innovation Day today. Isn’t having a day to observe this so very uncreative and uninspiring? Or would you say it’s fine?

A. Creativity and innovation as concepts will always be relevant. Imagine one has creative ability, but no innovation capability or vice versa—isn’t it absurd? To my mind, they go hand in hand. One would be meaningless without the other. It depends on how one interprets each term.

This day highlights the importance of applying creativity and innovation to problem-solving with respect to economic, social, business and country/ global contexts. Needless to say, it’s not a one-day activity. It needs to be practised every day.