Tag: Das ka Dum

How about an award for the best award? Well, you could soon have one for that. Let’s hear it from Dr Bhaskar Das in the July 6 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. Does the conduct of so many awards dilute the reputation of all awards? For instance, one could well now have an award for excellence amongst left-handers? Or the first born?

A. Your point is valid but there is an over-abundance in many areas of our life. Every award or for that matter wherever there is surfeit of options, they are seemingly differentiated at some level. Winners and their contributions differ too. The moot point is that every award is an acknowledgement of a unique contribution and it gives an impetus to the winner. So what if such acknowledgements energise the relevant population!

Now this is a question that’s disturbing us. The extent of work that goes on at organisations like NY Times is amazing, and what do we have here in India? So we asked Dr Bhaskar Das the question for the July 5 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. Why is that while media companies like New York Times in the developed world have reinvented themselves for the digital era, most Indian giants are still groping in the dark?

A. The NYT case is one of the exceptional cases of successful transformation of a legacy company in sync with the evolution of consumers. NYT reframed what business they were in and recalibrated their business model in a fundamentally new way. There is no use comparing the NYT case with anyone as operating contexts are different and all M&E players are taking actions to respond to both demand and supply side of their business by adopting innovative ways of acquisition, retention and monetisation of audience. The media companies are balancing the change and continuity imperatives adroitly.

A serious Friday question. But should get you thinking. Here’s the July 2 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. Has the changing ecosystem with digital media gaining ground also meant that editorially the newspaper needs to be curated differently? For instance, a sharper and more aggressive editorial stance like we see in newspapers like Dainik Bhaskar and Telegraph?

A. It’s better be done. But I shall start with the changing culture/ habit of news consumption. And consumers have many shades, depending on which cohort they belong to — demographic, psychographics and technographics. While curating content, the centricity of cohort-based content has to be uppermost in mind (scouted through social listening, interaction with various stakeholders of the same news, what is trending, etc) and then design it in sync with the format of delivery. The homogeneity of content generation needs to complemented with the divergence of execution. The aesthetic of design must support the content keeping in mind the cohort and its surfacial and subliminal expectations. So, the exercise needs balancing of both the science and art news generation and dissemination in a platform agnostic way.

Coming to editorial stance, whether sharp or soft, is a matter of editorial prerogative and I can’t comment on that. Every narrative is a matter of choice and audience market is the arbiter. Deep social listening (without subjective filters) might give a cue but ultimately it’s an edit judgment. When the aforesaid is laced with the serendipity of presentation, without vampiring the gravitas of truth, it should appeal to the consumer. Today, technology allows us to get a whiff of them through application of AI and ML for recognition of pattern of preference and predictive analytics of consumer expectations. A data-literate newsroom/ organisation can engender a culture of informed gut across a news organisation.

We are in the second half of the calendar year and so we asked Dr Bhaskar Das on what we thinks about the past and the future. Simple question, simple answer. Here’s the July 1 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. We have entered the second half of Calendar Year 2021 today. How would you say was the first half of the year? Optimistic about H2?

A. H2 should be better than H1. That’s what I pray. The pandemic is already 15 months’ old and India Inc has already changed gears to face the new realities with varying degrees of success. The reason of my optimism for the H2 is this.

The question is what it is. So we posed it to Dr Bhaskar Das for the June 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.

Q. In what way would you think the media should brace itself for the impact of the Third Wave?

A. Media are not outside society. So what applies to society is also relevant for media. Society needs to adhere to Caution, Consciousness about self and others and Collaboration with all to combat the Third Wave or Delta+ or any other pandemic-led threat. Media along with others have to join forces to confront a never-before menace facing the humanity.

We were wondering whether what this agency said in some forum made sense. So we asked Dr Bhaskar Das the question for the June 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.

Q. We were reading the comment by an agency head saying marketers should use AI, ML-based models for the right media mix. But isn’t that’s what media agencies are supposed to advise marketers.

A. A common human frailty is to treat issues in silos. But in the new ecosystem, every action of every business function has repercussion on each other. So instead of wondering about where to fix the responsibility, one needs to focus on collective ownership on what would create, optimise, integrate and upgrade diverse businesses by building scalable and custom-built solutions to deliver compelling customer experience. All these are functions of digital transformation of people, process and culture of corporations.

Okay, it’s not a fun question as one would expect from Das ka Dum on a normal day, but we’ll reserve that for some other day. Meanwhile, let’s read Dr Bhaskar Das’s response to our question in the June 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.

Q. Your comment on the performance of Indian advertising agencies at Cannes Lions 2021?

A. I think the performance of Indian advertising agencies in Cannes Lions 2021 has been good if one goes by the medals tally. India has surpassed 2019’s tally by bagging 22 metals, as compared to 18 in 2019 and 21 in 2018. In the backdrop of the pandemic and a challenging business environment, it’s definitely a commendable performance. Since you are part of the same industry, I am sure you might be feeling the same.

Stupid question, good answer. Actually not stupid. You know who we are referring to… seen more in ads than films. Let’s read Dr Bhaskar Das’s response to our question in the June 25 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. Given that some of our filmstars are seen more in ads than films, so you think the Filmfare awards should also have an award for best performance in a video commercial?

A. Interesting thought. Not a bad idea keeping in mind that the efficacy of an advertisement is dependent on the credibility of the protagonist (and the brand too). There are some awards, if I recall right, being  given for the most effective brand ambassador by some advertising industry body. So, the trend has started. Perhaps MxM can take up the subject with the film magazines and make it happen.

We strongly believed that the creative fraternity in advertising and film ought to have done more, but we changed the believe to believed, after reading what Dr Bhaskar Das has responded. Without any further ado, here’s his response in the June 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. Would you say our creative gurus haven’t done enough to get citizens to maintain a Covid-appropriate behaviour and vaccinate themselves?

A. This question reflects the common human frailty to pass the buck to another source to absolve oneself from one’s own responsibility. Why should creative gurus have to take up this onus? I am not against their taking up the cause. Even if they would have taken up the task on themselves, how would one amplify to remove widely prevalent vaccine hesitancy. Our government has been continuously communicating about both Covid-appropriate behaviour and about the need for vaccination. Even after that, the behavioural transformation is slow. We are culturally resistant to any significant behavioural shift which is the need of the hour for pandemic. We need to stop looking for sources to pass the blame. What we need is responsible behaviour at an individual and community level for collective good.

We’ve asked a similar question in the past, and, no, we aren’t asking this question with reference to anyone in particular or anything that we’ve read in the recent past. But we asked Dr Bhaskar Das the question and here’s his response in the June 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. What would you say about an organisation which doesn’t pay its people on time? Salaries, vendors and service providers…

A. it’s an unfortunate situation and one can’t be judgmental about it. When due compensation isn’t paid to employees, it causes heartburn and existential misery (more often than not). On the other hand, organisations have also their challenges on their supply and demand side of the business due to market- and economy-led headwinds. The pandemic has accentuated these miseries. Otherwise, who, in their rational senses, would like to deprive their employees/ vendors  of their dues. I am not glossing over the existence of some deviant behaviour in this respect due to sub-optimal management expertise, but they are more exceptions than the rule.

Frankly speaking, I have no solace to offer to anyone suffering from such an eventuality. Words are insufficient to fill up the mental and physical agony of the sufferer.

It’s a question that’s been disturbing us since Day 1 of this special Test. Shouldn’t cricket administrators be smarter and schedule cricketing events only in geographies given the weather conditions So we asked Dr Bhaskar Das the question and here’s his response in the June 22 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. Aren’t cricket administrators doing a great disservice to the game given the scheduling of games when it’s the season when it rains in England?

A. Why disservice? These days even seasons don’t follow protocols, thanks to global warming. Hence the classical concept of “season” needn’t be relevant. Anyway, all schedules of cricket have gone haywire due to the pandemic. Even if matches get disrupted by the Rain Gods, they provide a relief to the players, spectators, organisers and finally keeps the wheel of the economy moving. All forms of games engender optimism amongst humanity in the midst of prevailing gloom due to Covid.

Okay, so we do observe ‘Father’s Day’ but wonder why so many brands have woken up to the Day now. So we asked Dr Bhaskar Das the question and here’s his response in the June 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.

Q. Just so many brands had special Father’s Day creatives. Does such advertising achieve anything at all? After all, who really wishes Happy Father’s Day here in India?

A. Any excuse for celebration is always welcome, specially these days when there is a collective grief due to loss of normalcy. It’s not easy to be a Father. So if children want to celebrate, let them. It is a brand dharma to be in sync with consumers’ dominant and topical sentiments. Here also there are economic implications as celebratory mood stimulates consumption. Life is not solely about ROI. It pays to be emotional and irrational sometimes. Incidentally, look at the social media. You would be surprised to note how many people wish their Father or remember their Father. It’s the sentiment that matters and not how many people actually wished. It’s a personal matter and crowd participation is not a precondition for measuring its success.