Tag: Bhaskar Das

The question is simple. The answer: nice and detailed. Our Wizard with Word is a pro at these questions. He won’t make a stray aside. We know, but it’s our job to keep trying. Here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the November 24 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.

Q. Just so much movement at the top in the media. Comments?

A. Where do you see do much movement? Good candidates always operate on a seller’s  market. A few such candidates in top positions get options that give a boost to their career progression. Sometimes, the bug of entrepreneurship prompts some candidates to pivot. It used to happen in the past, is happening in the present and would happen in future too. Such mobility is good for a dynamic industry like media. Why get concerned about that unnecessarily?

This week, we pose a slightly off-the-beaten-track set of questions. Some of them are inter-connected, yet they could get internet responses. Here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the November 23 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.

Q. If you compare it with any other industry sector, the size of M&E in India is insignificant. Still share of voice and glamour is huge. Aisa kyun?

A. Media attracts attention, historically for its built-in perception of providing escapism, whether in terms of glamour, entertainment (genre-wise), gossip and infotainment. It doesn’t mean it’s not a serious business. The trend is dominant globally. Otherwise, Rupert Murdoch would not have been to build his media empire. Or for that matter New York Times’ migration to a transformed company from its legacy perception. There are other examples too. Secondly, it gets a larger-than-life perception only amongst us as there is a shared community feeling. To the world outside of the media, I doubt if such a “huge” perception is there. We as practitioners would love to believe that, as you have mentioned.

A Friday Question and A Friday Answer. Enjoy. Have a Great Weekend. Without further ado, here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the November 20 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.

Q. There is always pressure on us to bowl you a googly, that is, ask a provocative question. Unfair no?

A. Why unfair? Whether you bowl a googly or reverse swing, it’s your choice. I may not be able to negotiate the ball and take it on my pad or leave the ball. That’s my choice. So why should it be unfair? Follow what would interest your audience.

Another serious question, addressed to Dr Bhaskar Das, the academic guru. So let’s hear it from him in the November 19 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.

Q. Your Ph D thesis was about social listening. Now isn’t that (soc~ list~) just a lofty term for something that’s common sense. One obviously can’t be oblivious of what’s being said/ written about you.

A. One can’t put a tag of “normal sentiment” to rationalise a narrow perspective of a statistically insignificant and unrepresentative sample.

It is trite to say that common sense isn’t so common (courtesy Voltaire to Nielsen). I don’t want to trivialise the subject or the term by writing a sentence what it constitutes or consists of. It’s both a science and art. And in the age of earned media, social listening has assumed critical importance. Hence IMC (integrated marketing communications) is incomplete today without incorporating the learnings of social listening into it.

Is it a serious issue? Please check with Corporate India which has has been grappling with it. Then one can decode what is common or uncommon sense.

So this is a serious question, and not around our industry. It’s to BD, the industry boss, but Dr Bhaskar Das, the academic guru. So let’s hear it from him in the November 18 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.

Q. The normal sentiment is that marketing is essentially about advertising and communications. Whereas it’s actually loads more. Can you offer our readers a quickie definition to dispel this myth?

A. One can’t put a tag of “normal sentiment” to rationalise a narrow perspective of a statistically insignificant and unrepresentative sample.

There are many definitions of Marketing. I don’t want to take a class on that. I love late Peter Drucker’s observation on the subject: the purpose of business is to create a customer.  The business enterprise, he opined, has two basic functions: marketing and innovation. For Drucker, marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Anything that embraces the whole range of activities for creation and sustenance of customers, concerns Marketing. Period.

Welcome back. Now that Diwali 2020 is past us, it’s a question we thought we’ll ask Dr Bhaskar Das. Especially since many put up lights and diyas with a vengeance. Could the oil in the diyas have been saved for the needy? Could the spends on electricity have been donated to charity. Here’s the November 17 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.

Q. A question which bothers us: Is it better to celebrate Diwali with lights etc, or save the money and donate to charity?

A. Any day it’s better to donate to charity. It brings light to others’ life. Celebration is important. But when one brings cheer to others, the happiness gets multiplied. Inclusivity is important for the dispossessed class.

It’s also Children’s Day tomorrow. A question for Dr Bhaskar Das for the November 13 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.

Q. It’s also Children’s Day tomorrow. Any memories of Bhaskar Das Junior that brings a smile on your face?

A. From hindsight, childhood is the best period of life with its innocence, happy-go-lucky bindaas life. But at that time feelings were a kaleidoscope of fun (sometime irrational even)  and emotional turbulence (examinations, not-so-good results etc). But net-net all memories were good for me. They were not episodic in my case.

Soft Diwali question. To those celebrating it today, Happy Dhanteras. Here’s Dr Bhaskar Das and the November 12 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.

Q. Among other things, Diwali sees the celebration of ‘dhan’ and ‘lakshmi’.  What according to you is the greater wealth: health or money in the bank?

A. Very clear choice: health. When health is sound, wealth can be earned. But I would hasten to add that this binary sequence need to be interspersed with dynamic knowledge acquisition as survival probability of knowledge workers in post-industrial ecosystem is higher. So the equation is : physical well-being + dynamic knowledge acquisition = wealth creation.

This is a question for the morning after the IPL final. Presenting Dr Bhaskar Das for the November 11 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.

Q. You are a big cricket watcher: would you say that former cricketer-turned-commentators are better than those who have no cricket-playing past?

A. There should not be any such hard and fast rule. You have examples on both sides to defend a stand. The moot point is what the listeners or viewers prefer and consider as authentic. One can’t have a codified legislation on the same. In fact those who don’t understand the intricate nuances of cricket ( like me), they would never be invited to be a commentator. Commentatorship is an art and is based on sound understanding of the game and not about only commenting.

Readers of MxM would know that this is a question we’ve asked often. Why this special love for television? So we asked this question to Dr Bhaskar Das for the November 10 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.

Q. The government has instituted a special committee to look into TV audience measurement, when no such effort is made for print or radio or digital. Why this special love for television?

A. Even I have wondered like you. I can speculate an answer: first, TV is the largest medium. Second, as a visual medium, it has larger outreach and impact. Third, as big advertising monies ride on it, it might have been felt that measurement metrices need to be established robustly and without any controversy. I am sure tomorrow advertisers would ask for more data on other medium too where they have to invest, as performance marketing/ ROI would be a dominant norm for any marcom activity.

As an afterthought and come to think of it, one needs an authority on the subject to comment on your question. And I am not an expert.  But the advantage of a democratic country is that one can comment even if the understanding on a subject is suboptimal . But then the issue is: why did you ask the question? So, I was compelled to answer.

Of course we are going to watch the IPL final. But we asked the question to Dr Bhaskar Das for an insert in the November 9 edition of Das ka Dum series. Read on…

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar.

Q. Nov 10 would see the IPL final as well as the Bihar elections results analysis at primetime. Watching which of these will give you greater joy and why?

A. I am a cricket fanatic… IPL will get preference for sure. I am apolitical. So, I have less interest in politics. The choice is clear