Tag: Das ka Dum

It’s a Friday question, though we weren’t joking when we said that we in the A&M world love to gossip a helluva lot. Right? Well, let’s read what Dr Bhaskar Das has to say in the August 27 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. Why is that people in advertising and media love gossiping so much?

A. Is it? But if that be the case (I am inclined to rely only on statistically significant data points for any generalisation), the reason must be human preference for pickles/ spice in food. So long as it is benign, a little bit of so-called ‘gossip’ adds fun to life. We must not take life so seriously.

Those in the industry know the context of today’s question. Those who aren’t in the industry, well, needn’t know. Some of the organisations and people they are much in awe of are the biggest ‘rubbishers’ of the audience measurement systems. So, we posed this question to Dr Bhaskar Das, our Wizard with Words and also an industry captain who, thanks to his presence at decision-making positions in the trade for over four-odd decades, knows all that he needs to be known about the practice and politics of audience measurement – in print, television, radio, digital and the rest. Here’s the August 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.

Q. Given its actions, do you think our media industry deserves audience measurement?

A. In a data-driven ecosystem, even doubting the relevance of audience measurements tantamounts to blasphemy. Whatever may be the alleged action you are referring to, it can’t be used as an excuse to throw the baby with the bath water. In fact we need to make it more and more sophisticated to mitigate instances of happenstance or shooting in the dark.

In a data-driven ecosystem, even doubting the relevance of audience measurements tantamounts to blasphemy. Whatever may be the alleged action you are referring to, can’t be used as an excuse to throw baby with the bath water. In fact we need to make it more and more sophisticated to mitigate instances of happenstance or shooting in the dark.

We thought he would give a more profound answer, but in the simplicity of the response lies the complexity. You get the drift. No? So, let’s dive right into the August 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.

Q. What should be on top of the new BARC CEO’s agenda?

A. Continue to focus on the core objective for which BARC was conceived/ created and excel in it in the interest of the served community.

The questions kind-of convey our sentiments, but that’s not what our dear Wizard with Words believes. So let’s hear it from Dr Bhaskar Das in the August 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. Your friend and industry leader Nakul Chopra takes charge as BARC CEO tomorrow. If you were to greet him today, what will you say:

1. Congratulations

2. Take care, Zara sambhal ke!

3. Are you crazy to have taken this up?!

4. All of the above

A, Option a (Congratulations) with an addendum: best wishes for the new journey

He turned down all requests for tributes to Pradeep Guha. Understandably. As someone who was among his closest confidantes and colleagues, Dr Bhaskar Das was devastated with the news. But we couldn’t not have asked him a question on PG as part of the 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. You worked with Pradeep Guha for ever and ever. A lot has been written and spoken about him. As someone who has known him as a friend and a boss (and as someone who has seen so many more A&M industry leaders), what’s one quality of PG that you would say stands out most?

A. To me he was (can’t believe it’s already WAS) perpetually a Friend, Philosopher and Guide. My 38 years of journey with him is encapsulated in these three words. All other memories are subsumed under these superordinate qualities of my most endearing Boss. Ever grateful to him.

If you haven’t read Vir Sanghvi’s ‘A Rude Life’, you must. Don’t wait for the cheaper, paperback edition. It’s written in his easy, inimitable style. Is he really rude? Well, not quite. But, yes, saying DNA (the newspaper) was called by VRS was a bit much. This is not about Vir doing a brave act, but about why our own Wizard with Words would title his memoirs, if he were to write one. Let’s see what he responds in the the August 20 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.

Q. Vir Sanghvi has titled his memoirs ‘A Rude Life’. If you were to write a similar tome, what would you title it?

A. You must be joking. I am nowhere in the league of Vir Sanghvi. In fact, I am a fan of his writings. Hence look forward to reading his book. So far as a similar tome for me is concerned, as you mentioned, I can only say that I want to remain unnoticed and I have nothing to share.

Okay, okay, we don’t know why we asked this question. But since we did, here’s an answer, which we must say, got even our Wizard with Words thinking for that extra second. Here’s the August 19 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.

Q. Tomorrow, August 20, is World Mosquito Day. So how should we be celebrating it? For instance, should we avoid putting on a repellant for a day?

A. Ha ha. I wasn’t aware of such a day for a flying insect. And your way of celebrating is very interesting. Though I am an advocate of non-violence, in this case, my lord, I recommend strongest of counter-insurgency attack as every year, various avatars of this insect inflict miseries on human beings in the form of deadly diseases. So, on this day we should resolve to eradicate the harmful effects of this insect.

So this is a question which is often raised by observers, but with no solution coming forth. So we asked Dr Bhaskar Das this question for the August 18 edition of Das ka Dum and here’s what he said. 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 same (old) names continue to head our ad associations. Speaks about their desire to dominate these bodies or are newer faces too busy minding their own business?

A. I am really flummoxed by your skill of asking questions and incorporating answers in it. Hence, I have no scope of countering your answer except saying that every industry association has its system of election of officebearers and they work towards the strategic objectives of respective associations. Your insinuations seems to have been affected by distractors who have sub-optimal understanding of the functioning of industry associations.

Taking off from the question we asked yesterday, here’s one more on what many think is tokenism, but obviously there’s a method to it. Presenting the August 17 edition of Das ka Dum, and Dr Bhaskar Das with his view. 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 many brands doing ads around various days – Independence Day, Doctor’s Day, etc. Tokenism or would you say there’s a genuine connect with the special day

A. I find a connection between your question of yesterday and today so far as Moment Marketing (MM) is concerned. Literally, various days, as mentioned by you, may be termed Day Marketing, but fact remains that Moment Marketing is a subset of the same. Let’s get the doctrine of MM clear: “Moment marketing is the ability to take advantage of ongoing events and creating communications and marketing collaterals around such events. This is used by brands to insert themselves in the ongoing conversations bring relevance to how they market”. From the doctrinal  point of view, one can’t consider any association with a topical event as tokenism. Even if it is so, today’s smart consumer can see through it. Hence, any such effort would be self defeating. Sometime, as an outsider we might perceive such an association as a fad or tokenism, but communication specialists do apply mind to find a relevant link. If the message fail to leverage the linkage, it may be an execution issue but couldn’t be termed as irrelevant.

So it’s something that’s been much discussed in the marketing and advertising fraternity. Now that the dust has kinda settled, we thought we’ll ask this question in the August 16 edition of Das ka Dum. So here’s Dr Bhaskar Das with his view.

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

Q. Now that the dust has settled, what’s your view on all the brouhaha about ‘Moment Marketing’? Are brands justified in celebrating the success of our sporting heroes?

A. I think your clarity about the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) code has raised this question in mind. ASCI code states: “Advertisements shall not, without permission from the person, firm or institution under reference, contain any reference to such person, which confers and unjustified advantage on the product advertised or tends to bring the person, firm or institute into ridicule or disrepute. If and when required to do so by ASCI, the advertiser and the advertising agency shall produce explicit permission from the person, firm or institution to which reference is made in the advertisement”. In the context of this clause, using an Olympic winner’s name to link with a brand without explicit permission from the player or a celebrity, however tempting it is from the creative point of view, is inappropriate. If permission is not  in place, reference to the game might be made (I presume), but any direct reference should be strict no-no,  unless one pays to the concerned player her/his legit professional fees. I feel there is nothing wrong in moment marketing.

It was meant to be a light, naughty, Friday question. But even jokes generate a thoughtprovking response from our Wizard with Words. And of course set us thinking. So here’s Dr Bhaskar Das with the August 13 pre-I-Day 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. What’s your sentiment when you find a national holiday like Independence Day on a Sunday or Saturday. Curse your luck? Or be happy that a holiday is saved?

A. I don’t have a calendar obsession disorder, as of now, though I enjoy holidays. But if a legit holiday coincides with a Sunday, I don’t feel either distressed or elated. In my mind, there is no duality during such a coincidence. For me, work can be a celebration and holidays can be a work — all enmeshed in one reality called the journey of life… just enjoy it. The moment must not be wasted in polemical or existential dilemmas as everything is temporary.

Ha ha. You can’t get a question as pointed as this. Right? But not so with our Wizard with Words. Here’s Dr Bhaskar Das with the August 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. Apropos the Rediff ad, it’s so good to see an agency talk about someone who is now with a rival. Can one ever expect this in the news media? Or a marketer? A P&G ad acknowledging a former exec who is now in HUL or some such?

A. You are in a mood to migrate to Aristotle’s ideal state (only as a literal pun). In life everything is a matter of choice. There is nothing right or wrong about anything. These observations are always post-facto, when data points are different. If a certain creative initiative is taken by an organisation, it could be evaluated, but if it is found to be distinctive, it can’t be extrapolated to a normative behaviour for others to adopt. Usually that’s called a ‘copy’. Others can always execute another distinctive initiative to take up the overall level of creativity of the industry. I am sure every organisation has its share of an ‘aha’ moment in its business journey.