Tag: Das ka Dum

Not an easy question to answer in a Q&A series like this, but we asked nevertheless. Here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the September 5 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…

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Q. Even though streaming has picked up, the large media campaigns are still on linear. Not just in India, but even in markets like the US. As someone who interacts with marketers and media agencies all the time, what do you think will help them (advertisers) make a switch?

A. I mentioned in this column a number of times that in an omnichannel environment why does one think format-centric while communicating given that audiences have different tastes and preferences depending on the age cohort and technological affinity. The key question here is for advertisers is to where the premium audience is going and hence communicating with them. Wherever data is available in public domain helps in determining the ROI before going ahead with the format-led decision. And it has to always be a mix to my mind as there are different types of consumers available in the audience set. I think agencies would play the role of decoding these through deep analytics and better understanding of the consumer’s preferences. Hence there is no requirement of even thinking when things will switch. What is happening in the western world might happen here also with the lag effect. But fundamentally consumers are consumers so they would be experiencing a variety of screens while consuming various forms of content.

So I personally feel that the decision or the decision of the marketers will not switch one way or the other although the skew may be more towards one format than the other depending on the product category.

A straightforward question, and a straightforward response. Here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the September 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. Uday Shankar is betting big yet again on cricket by bagging rights for BCCI fixtures for five years. Too much of a gamble, or is this the only way to go for a streaming-led network?

A. Yes, in business you need to bet big of course with its associated risks, but Uday Shankar has a track record of creating magic out of unexpected business opportunities. And with the backing of Viacom and the Reliance group ,I think this should be a gamechanger for Viacom18. Simple hisaab hai: ishq hai toh risk hai… and if there is no risk, there is no gain.

This is not a gamble at all because of the fact that cricket still has a very trustworthy stickiness among audiences and cricket continue to do well. More importantly, the ancillary benefits for the network – whether for streaming or for linear TV would all be beneficial. So net-net, I feel it’s a fantastic decision. It may be too early to guesstimate the possible benefits, but it is definitely a good decision.

This was meant to be a googly, which he has responded with care. Here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the August 31 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. Given Uday Shankar taking charge at Viacom 18, a lot of his trusted lieutenants have joined Viacom18. It’s happened in the past as well. Many from BCCL joined DNA when it was set up in 2005. Your views on this trend?

A. I strongly feel that your conviction about an individual joining Viacom18 has resulted in a significant exodus of executives to the new organisation is a sweeping conclusion because the factual data that I have from the public domain does not support the conclusion. Assuming that it happens, you have to accept that it’s not the individual that attracts another senior person to a new organisation. It is the volutional decision of the joinee also. There can be an element of comfort at both levels but there is no guarantee of success as the case of DNA has proved. One must accept that the landscape of any future competitive scenario is not only determined by an individual, but collectively on the response of an organisation to counter any competitive missives.

The kind of exodus that happened at the launch of DNA was quite unprecedented to my mind because of the relevant compulsions at that point of time. The calculation obviously went wrong as the response from the market leader was more on the offensive and the assumption about legacy player couldn’t dance to the new competitive dynamics proved to be wrong. Hence success of an organisation is surely influenced by the leadership, but ultimately it is the team that makes the difference in terms of response to the competitive challenges. So I don’t agree with any migration of unorganised to another as a viable competitive response.

So we thought he would give us a politically correct answer. And tell us that our data is perhaps wrong. But, while he hasn’t taken names, he does some plainspeak here. Enough to make you wonder what he has said? Here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the August 30 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. Advertising volumes in the television news genre in H1 of 2023 have degrown 6% from 2021. Doesn’t look too good for a sector that expects to make hay with a big election year coming up?

A. I agree with the concern expressed by you in the context of H1 2023 growth of advertising business. But you know it is more a systemic issue as opposed to a specific sectoral issue or a specific issue for a part of the year. I think one has to accept that advertisers are under pressure because of multiple environmental factors and performance-led evaluation of investment has become the order of the day. The media owners have to understand it that they have to get used to an omnichannel environment where an inter-category comparison of delivery would always happen, including individual priorities for particular formats of media depending on the category of business. Media owners need to invest in research, both quantitative and qualitative, and ensure a more customer-centric approach to give assurance to the advertisers about a better value for their investment. I don’t see any major effort in that direction. When the external environment has changed, the practice of media owners continues to follow the same route and same root of promotion. The sales team needs upskilling to understand and internalise the new world order where there must be better understanding what the customers – in this case advertisers – expect from them to deliver. Because advertisers have also a compulsion to deliver to their customer, to their stakeholders to ensure that there is a better business outcome and better customer experience vis-a-vis. Till that  is understood, the volatility of investment in advertising will continue. The advertising and media industries need to come together or work independently to reconstruct their way of viewing the new world order.

Not an easy question to answer given that marketers – unless backed by their Boards or owners – are forever looking at RoIs and data. But it’s good to know viewership numbers rising. Here goes Dr Bhaskar Das in the August 29 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. Globally viewership of women’s sport has grown 131%. I’m sure the number is similar for India as well given the low base. Do you see our marketers biting?

A. Your question contains the answer though in the form of a question about women’s sports viewership. There has definitely been a rising interest but there is no use comparing it with our obsession with cricket which controls perhaps more than 80% of the eyeball share and of course monetisation share as well. That women’s IPL has been sponsored already shows that there is rising interest but it’s not yet across the board for all categories of sports.

The major segment of Indian population has been culturally suppressed and economically oppressed and in spite of that we might women have been showing continuous courage and resilience to come up. If you look at other sports categories from various states like Haryana, North East, the rising inspiration level to play on the national and global stage has been rising.

Sponsorship and no sponsorship, there has been obsession of sponsorship about cricket. I’m sure there are many sponsors who would be interested in getting exposed to a de-cluttered environment that where their brand would be more visible compared to being overshadowed in a cluttered environment. This should give encouragement to women and ultimately will result in women empowerment, not as platitudes but as actual performance and actual improvement.

In the Indian context, women’s empowerment is quite often reduced to some platitudes only but the time has come for giving them a real push and I’m sure that once that happens, the viewership would also increase and there will be more interest in terms of monetisation. It is a positive sign and I hope that it happens in this country so that the untapped potential of a major part of Indian population is fully realised.

Welcome back to Das ka Dum with Dr Bhaskar Das. Apologies for being MIA for a few weeks. But we are back with renewed enthusiasm. Here goes Dr Bhaskar Das for the August 28 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. Is there too much being made out on the Air India identity? Do you think it will just grow on us? Like various others have in the past?

A. Frankly speaking, I am not an expert on the re-branding exercise of any brand from creative standpoint but that Air India needs a refurbishment of its perception globally and locally is beyond doubt. The current rendition of the new identity can have multiple viewpoints. Only the future will see if it has worked. Ultimately, the market has to decide if the performance delivery is in sync with the brand’s new commitment. However, it could have been a great opportunity for crowdsourcing or involving the crowd for evolving the creative design… just to create some excitement and awareness. But this is speculative and need not result in the best possible. So best is to wait and watch and as you have mentioned, that even the new identity will grow on us over a period of time. The previous one got enough lead time to develop that affinity and I’m sure with Tatas giving its professional commitment behind the world customer experience, I’m sure some day we shall also appreciate the new design.

It’s too early fall in love on a subjective matter which cannot be deterministic at this juncture.

It’s a contentious issue that can’t be dealt with in a Q&A forum like this. But here’s what Dr Bhaskar Das has to say in the August 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 or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/

Q. The Association of National Advertisers recommends marketers take a more active role in media buying. In India too, the Indian Society of Advertising is flexing its muscles. Your view?

A. Any professional marketing company plays anyway an active role in media buying with active involvement of their agency. So, from where is this flexing of muscles by advertisers is coming from? As if advertising agencies are shortchanging their clients through suboptimal services. The agencies generally win an account through evaluation by a client from amongst multiple pitches. Besides, the agencies bring on the table specialised and state of the art capabilities for ensuring optimised media planning and buying by using both quantitative and psychographic analyses.

Our Wizard with Words is truly deserving of every recognition of a lifetime’s service to the industry. Last evening, the India chapter of the International Advertising Association felicitated him at its annual leadership awards. So it was only appropriate that we ask him a question on his sentiments on the occasion. Here goes Dr Bhaskar Das in the August 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 or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/

Q. Congratulations on being felicitated with the IAA Lifetime Achievement Award. So very well-deserved.  Your sentiments on receiving the Award?

A. Words may not be enough to articulate my feelings in exact words. I feel blessed and I am grateful to the jury of IAA for nominating me for this Hall of Fame award. I also feel privileged that the marketing and advertising fraternity have given me the opportunity to serve the industry.

An issue that has been discussed much in marcom circles. Here goes Dr Bhaskar Das in the August 9 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. Another question on P&G: Its CFO has said the FMCG major will be “100% ROI-driven” in terms of marketing budgets. But the problem is what if the choice of media where monies are spent is wrong?

A. This is an absurd and contradictory statement, if read in isolation. ROI, ipso facto, presupposes that it’s left brain, algorithm-based and can’t be generally wrong in statistical terms. But ROI’s efficacy is predicated on many other factors of business and marketing decisions eg product, pricing, distribution etc. So, when ROI calculation goes awry, some heads would get chopped or the Boss has to go back to the drawing board to check which assumption have queered the pitch and take corrective action.

Not an easy question to answer, but as we’ve said before, we never promised to ask easy questions. Hehe. Here goes Dr Bhaskar Das in the August 8 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. P&G and some other big marketers are reported to have increased their marketing spending as per quarterly reports released month. Do you sense similar winds blowing in India as well?

A. One can’t generalise on the basis of one company’s decision to increase spends on marketing. That optimal communication (including other marketing spends) are a ‘given’ for any business in a marketspace of cacophony of parity claims. They are important for developing brand affinity and usage amongst ones’s served market. That one has to constantly evaluate the ROI of all promotional investments is stating the obvious.

Even today most of the consumer-facing businesses (or communications directed for other corporate objectives or for statutory reasons) are engaged in regular communication with their stakeholders, albeit at different intensity (depending on the PLC of their brands or for their corporate/ business imperatives). This is evident from the rising ATL investments in India. I am not taking into account BTL investments as there is no authentic public domain database on the same. So, no new winds of change are required in the conviction of the marketers in india.

Having said that, there is much headroom for growth if we compare advertising spend as a percentage of India’s GDP vis-a-vis other developed countries.

We’re happy to be back with a week, with a question that’s left a large number of people divided. Here goes Dr Bhaskar Das in the August 7 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. Air-India is rumoured to be mulling dropping the Maharajah as its mascot or perhaps pushing it to the background. What’s your view? Old is Gold or time to look at things afresh?

A. There are empirical evidences of validation of both the approaches, as mentioned by you. The latest example being the change of name of Twitter to X after 17 years without any classical calibration. Will it be a super success? Only the future would prove that.

I agree that the mascot of Air India has been iconic and legendary. But as a brand, the sheen of Air india in all aspects of marketing including business outcome and customer satisfaction has been dwindling in a sustained manner. I am reasonably convinced that with the takeover by the Tata Group, the image dimension would be refurbished in every area of the brand’s business. With changes all around of Air India’s ecosystem, looking at things afresh might be good idea to get rid of legacy negative perceptions of the brand.

What’s your view on Twitter changing its identity? We asked our Wizard with Words for his views, and here goes Dr Bhaskar Das in the July 28 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. Your view on X? It’s finally more than just a change of name and identity. For many, it’s a way of life…

A. I recall that when Musk bought Twitter October last year, he laid out a vision for an “everything” app called X, where users could communicate, shop, consume entertainment, and more. Last June — prior to his takeover — Musk told Twitter employees that the platform should be more like China’s WeChat, where he said users “basically live on” the app because “it’s so usable and helpful to daily life.”

So, I agree with you that this move is more than a mere change of name and identity. According to Twitter CEO. X is the future state of unlimited interactivity — centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking — creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities. Powered by AI, X will connect all in ways which the audience is just beginning to imagine.

If we see the change from the above prism, I think Musk has a mega-plan. That he has an obsession for X as a letter is well-known by now.

But I can imagine Musk would face quite a few challenges on the way to match the brand provenance of the blue bird with X. Besides, the letter is so common that I won’t be surprised that there would be legal challenges for getting an exclusive right of the letter X. Secondly, analysts perceive that Musk’s move would wipe out anywhere between $4 billion and $20 billion in value. I don’t have any supporting data on the same. I am going by public domain speculations.

Now, one has to wait and watch if loyal users of Twitter would switch their loyalty or a new set of users would come. Would the Brand Musk be stronger than the Twitter Brand? Only the future can answer this question. But as the adage goes, if one has to be a path-maker, one has to be path-breaker.