Tag: Bhaskar Das

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 new Budget will be presented soon. Any steps that you think can help marketers turn buoyant?

A: The Finance Minister is gearing up to present the first Union Budget of NDA 3.0/Modi 3.0 this month. There are high expectations from various quarters for steps that would accelerate growth in topline and bottom of India Inc (including growth in employment opportunities). The upcoming full Budget has to balance between fueling growth, curbing inflation, and ensuring fiscal discipline and generate employment.

With crucial support from key allies, the Finance Minister faces the challenging task of delivering strategic initiatives that will stimulate sectors such as defence, railways, infrastructure, renewable energy and digital infrastructure and its progression. Inflationary pressures have to kept under check too.

I hope the above steps would also, in turn, result in the buoyancy of M&E sector.  With a stronger opposition, the populist demands have to catered to with a few state elections round the corner. Economics and politics have to be mingled adroitly by the finance ministry – not an easy task. But good economics can result in good politics too. Am I dreaming of a utopian world?

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. Any advice to the new leadership of the two news networks that have seen changes at the top

A: Leaders generally know what they have to deliver and they don’t need lecturing on the same. So, I won’t walk into that path.

Having said that, I may hasten to add that leadership tasks in any organisation and in any sector have become more complex than before as one has to be ambidextrous in balancing external volatilities of the market and expectations of various stakeholders with internal cultural alignment. Not an easy task. Hence, leadership by example to deliver outcomes as per the shareholders’ vision is an imperative. The media landscape is evolving continuously, thanks to accelerated technology-led transformation and changing consumption behaviour. These have made it imperative to reinvent organisations multiple times to survive and thrive.

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. We all know you are very fond of cricket. And now there’s the India tour of Zimbabwe starting later in the week? Overkill?

A: Fatigue on a frequently exposed event/ occurrence is usually an individual level occurrence and might not be an emotional epidemic at a collective level. Secondly, for any commentator of an episode, there is a tendency to extrapolate individual sentiment to the universe. In the instant case of your question, there is a seemingly brahminical level of quality consciousness equivalent to a T20 World Cup or any such intense emotion-evoking event. The racial undertone (pejorative in today’s world) of the boredom for a cricket match with Zimbabwe can also be discerned.

Given the above, a  meta majoritarian perception might not be a reality of the universe of cricket lovers. We shall be able to see how some budding players rise to the occasion of proving their skill of the game. In the process, we might find out some hidden gems amongst the young team. That would be good for Indian cricket.

Finally, if one is exhausted by frequent cricket matches, one has the option of watching other programmes. If one de-averages markets for consumers, there is always a market in such a niche audience. Let them enjoy it.

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. Amul was sponsor of the South African cricket team. Should such associations be avoided especially since Amul is decidedly India’s biggest homegrown brand?

A: Let us get a  few facts straight before I answer this question: Amul exports to almost 50 countries in the world, if not more, and they intend to increase their base, going forward, in different parts of the world. So, Amul is not just an Indian brand, but a global brand now.

Secondly, when a brand has global market, it has to customise all its communication strategy (including brand endorsement strategy) to reflect its integration with local sentiments and cultural moorings.

Thirdly, sports-led spectator emotions are universal in nature, albeit at a different magnitude. From that sense, it’s myopic for a marketer to identity with only its place of originating country. As someone once commented that sports doesn’t build character, it reveals it. It’s as true for players, spectators as for brands. After all a brand is an aggregated human emotion also.

Given all the above realities, I would not find any omission on the part of Amul in partnering with South African cricket team. It is better not to mix up patriotism with nationalism. The difference is that: patriotism implies that when love of our own people comes first. Nationalism, on the other hand, implies (more often than not these days) when hate for people other than our own people comes first. It’s not my quote… this is what Charles de Gaulle said once, resonates with my beliefs when it comes to global marketing.

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. Fortune favours the brave, said captain Rohit Sharma after winning the Men’s T20 World Cup. For you, what was the Big Takeaway from Team India’s Big Win?

A: Can’t agree more with Rohit Sharma. However, cliched the adage may sound, but the Indian team under Rohit had demonstrated on Saturday night how to maintain bravery and composure in the face of significant competitive challenge throughout the tournament.

My takeaway from Team India’s win are:

1. In T20s, individual uniqueness and collective accountability can co-exist as part of a shared belief.
2. Consistency (bordering on conservatism and boldness to experiment) might not always be bereft of virtue. Eg Indian team remained unchanged throughout the tournament inspite of a few lacklustre performance of a few players and a significant bench strength.
3. Rohit perhaps ticked all the boxes of inspirational leadership, but the glorious uncertainty of cricket, especially in T20 format, needs dynamic and real-time experiment with decision like bowling change or batting order which even a coach can’t predict always. So, ability to take risk or make experiment might be a visceral instinct and is not an algorithm.
4. Baggage of a past moment could be a liability. One has to see beyond the last ball or last stroke, as one is as good as the last one and a fresh approach to the next ball or the next catch ensures a perpetual focus on the next moment (future focus mentality).
5. Finally, phlegmatism or equanimity to any situation and remaining positive are the hallmark of a winner, almost always. The Indian team demonstrated it amply in many crunch games including the last Saturday’s one.

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 the 20-game version, past reputations don’t really matter. Given that, your sentiments as India plays South Africa in the Final tomorrow?

A: Why in T-20 ? It’s true for most aspects of our life- past has no Future. Extrapolation of past success to future is no longer a game even. In case of T-20, a team has to be in the present always. The record of past performance is no guarantee for its continuance. Eg: look at Virat Kohli and Jadeja or Shivam Dube for that matter. Nothing is working for them. At the same time, Hardik Patel’s performance has dramatically improved when one compares it with his IPL performance.

May be Rohit & Co need to revisit their fetish for continuing with the same team. Some good players are sitting on the bench. I doubt in the final match , the Indian team would take the risk of experimenting with the team structure.

Sentiment-wise I would like India to win the Cup which has eluded India for 13 years . South Africa has a good team. They are unbeaten also. The pitch seems to be the real hero and bowlers have a field day. Each pitch is unpredictable and on Final day, how one adjusts to the new pitch and respond would be critical. The India captain is playing an exemplary role. The ability of the Indian team members to adjust the new operating ecosystem has yielded dividend. There is no choking. New heroes have come like Axar Patel and Arshdeep Singh. Rohit, SKY and Hardik have been generally consistent and delivered at the crunch. Ultimately, the best team would win at the end of the day.

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: Given that climate change and extreme weather conditions are playing havoc with life in India, do you see a growth in weather-wise marketing growing in India? Are the winds of change blowing in that direction?

A: I would emphatically say that concern about deteriorating impact on climate has reached alarming proportions. Time for expression of interest on the subject is over now. Now is the time to act decisively. But what we lack is crisis of leadership and absence of political will to initiate decisive step. The time for platitudes on the subject is over. We are collectively responsible for where we have reached today, in India and globally. A marketing campaign can at best create consciousness of the problem and goad citizens to act but if the policy-makers don’t initiate steps to show a clear path of actions to be adopted by every citizen including punitive actions, we can’t make measureable progress.

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 better for the growth of the game of cricket: a one-side batter-friendly IPL or a balanced, more bowling-friendly T20 World Cup?

A: Any competitive situation demands a balance approach. The objective can’t be solely winning a game but develop the specific sport so that we remain globally competitive and aim to be amongst the best in the world. It is true for business segments too. A monopoly or an oligopoly only contributes to a lopsided growth in innovation, quality of product and a stunted growth in employment opportunities. Now, look at the democratisation of cricketing talent post the introduction of IPL and WPL (for women). Protectionism in a borderless world is a sure route to concentration of power and is not beneficial for universal good.

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: At Cannes Lions, a PepsiCo CMO said that (ad) agencies must invest resources and get the best talent early on. But in India, agencies can’t really afford to hire top B-school talent. So, is it a lose-lose game?

A: Two instant questions that come to my mind: 1. How do you define best talent, and 2. Business school students are perceived to be an epitome of talent.

Talent is overrated, to my mind. Of course talent is important but without discipline, smart work and the right attitude, one can’t achieve sustained success. Talent needs to be nurtured and a culture of pursuing excellence in a sustained manner can’t be achieved by a few platitudinous intentions. One has to work towards it constantly.

Management education certainly helps but there is no guarantee that their presence would automatically ensure birth of an elusive talent in an organisation. A good MBA degree from a renowned institute could be good calling card , but on its own, it can’t guarantee success as context and challenges are unique to sectors and organisations. In today’s hyper-competitive ecosystem, one needs to constantly innovate (not necessarily disruptive) and adjust business strategy to the unfolding challenges. A business school can teach a process-rich framework, but in a world of future backwards strategy formulation, it is important to be flexible enough to work with multiple scenario building and navigate it adroitly and with cognitive agility. A business school can’t teach every possible eventuality.

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: India brought home just 18 metals at Cannes Lions 2024, its lowest tally since 2019. Does this say anything about the status of creativity in advertising in India?

A: It is too sweeping to conclude anything about the status of Indian creativity in advertising on the basis of how many metals have been won. It’s like saying that Australian T-20 team is worse than Afghanistan team. Sometimes it happens. But one can’t paint the universe of a country’s creative capabilities on a year of the so-called medal tally. During the last so many years, medal tally has gone up too on many an occasion. At that time, we never concluded that creative industry standards in Indian advertising had gone up. It’s all in the game.

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 killing of two youth in Pune by a drunk teen is being called the Pune Porsche case? In your view, what does this labelling do to Brand Porsche and Brand Pune?

A: My first response is “not necessarily”. We need to first segment the ‘highs’ and ‘lows’. For high identifiers with the brand and if their affinity with the brand is strong, surely the brand identifier/ affinity index won’t go down. Also, for those who are not in the catchment area of the brand, their affinity going up or down would be inconsequential for the salience of the brand.

So far as the brand value of a city is concerned, it is in effect absolutely inconsequential. By that logic, the whole of India would be unattractive for investors or tourists. A war or some black swan events like Covid can dissuade travel to a destination due to uncertainties associated with each eventuality, but an accident can’t erode the confidence of the city as a brand user.

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 food and beverages industry in Maharashtra has been severely hit after the Pune Porsche incident. But the fact is rules were being flouted. Your sentiments?

A: What to say? It’s a grace matter of angst and the incident/ similar such (another one in Chennai recently) incidents shows that driving in an inebriated state affecting individual’s life is as good as an inalienable right of the privileged few (more often than not). What is more sad and pathetic is that the country’s law appears to be on the side of the affluentials.

Those who have access to the powers that be,  protect these individuals, ensuring they have nothing to worry about. We may also soon hear another ridiculous statement questioning the right of “lowly people” to sleep on the pavement in the first place (as in the film Jolly LLB or Damini—reel reflects real life).