Tag: Das ka Dum

For someone who is very active in the business of media, we know it was an unfair question. But ask we must. So do check Dr Bhaskar Das’s response. Yet again: an all-new day 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 not just the news media which is experiencing the fruits of these VUCA times. Media agencies are also facing tough times, and there are question marks on their very existence. If you were a big advertiser, who would you choose to handle your spends – a media agency like Mindshare, Lodestar UM etc or a consulting firm like Accenture?

A. VUCA is socialistic in spreading its viper-like grip on all players in every space of business, directly or indirectly because we are all interconnected. There is no perfect answer to it. So it’s not about one type of organisation versus others. I feel one should replace the VUCA with another VUCA ie Vision, Understanding, Clarity and Agility. Any internal organisational initiative or an external facilitation need to be imbued with these perspectives across the entire spectrum of an organisation. Abnormal times need abnormal response. Hence the new VUCA. Cribbing about the old VUCA will not lead us anywhere.

Welcome to yet another week of Das Ka Dum with Dr Bhaskar Das. Some serious questions this week. Don’t miss any of them. 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 so good at spiritually interpreting stuff that we face in our everyday lives. How would you describe what happened in Maharashtra politics last fortnight?

A. Thanks for your kind words about me in the question. Just a little clarification: I don’t interpret spiritually. As a spiritual being I try to decouple issues from perception and judgementality. Consequently, clarity happens. Now about Maharashtra politics, I am not an expert on the subject but agree with what Franklin D Roosevelt once opined: in politics nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet that it was  planned that way. Now this quote succinctly captures my view on the subject.

Okay, this has nothing to do with the star-studded Republic TV conference held earlier this week. Or perhaps it does. So we asked this question. Without further ado: Dr Bhaskar Das in 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. News-based media organisations organise conferences and conclaves to shore up their bottomlines. Or simply put: make an easy buck. But aren’t there possible problems in doing this: for instance, if I hope to get the Prime Minister and his A-team, I can’t be too critical of him forever. Similarly, if I or a group publication is organising a film award event, a damning review of a film or an expose could kill the event.

A. Conceptualisation and execution of custom content has been a source of garnering adjacent revenue for a long time. You can be rest assured that it has never been an easy source of revenue. In fact the task is more complex than you can conceive as the investment allocated for such conclaves are generally outside the typical media planning consideration set. Secondly, when an event is conceived, it’s generally around a brief from a customer. Hence whatever may be the genre of the format of delivery, the content of a conclave would be around a utilitarian concept. Therefore, the question of the alleged anti-establishment comment in the conclave would be asymmetrical with the client brief. Besides, such conclaves are generally apolitical and hence irrational and unrelated content architecture would only queer the pitch of incremental revenue generation.

So we have asked this question before, but here’s it again in the light of fresh questions being raised about the future of the news media. Without further ado: Dr Bhaskar Das in 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 the light of the way the news media is run and the overall gloom, if you were 23 all over again and had the opportunity of restarting your career, would you choose the news media or would you rather be selling soaps or mutual funds?

A. In this question (also) I find your obfuscation about content, delivery, device and business models. Each one is a separate beast. Addressing them as news media industry  would lead to over-simplified answers. Coming to a throwback wish: my only wonderment is that as if the suggested industries by you don’t ever suffer from the hubris of success or any corporate astigmatism. In every industry, there can be such instances where ‘ fixed mindsets’ lead to a corporate stupor. Now to paint lethargy of a corporation to the whole sector would not be fair. And when a particular sector is experiencing discontinuity due to consumer-led disruption (aided by technology-led empowerment), the aspiration should not be to go to another sector but to read the writings on the wall and quickly adjust to acquire new capabilities to remain relevant for the same industry as industry usually does not vanish, business models do.

Those of you who were at the INMA South Asia Conference will agree with us. It was superbly curated. So we asked him this question, half in jest. Without further ado: Dr Bhaskar Das in 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 did a terrific job at curating the INMA South Asia conference last week. Ever thought of it as an alternate career? Or a possible business?

A. As usual you have been generous in showering compliments on my curation at the INMA South Asia conference. It’s the audience and the speakers who make a conference a success. As a ‘sutradhar’, I played my role to the best of my capability. Anything that is cognitively energising excites me. In a sense it’s an adjacency to my professional career which happened to me. So no conscious plan for an alternate career for sure. There are other professionals who are cut out for it. I don’t want to get defocussed from my path..

It’s a Friday, and we thought it would be good to have a fun question. Presenting: Dr Bhaskar Das in 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 real life, is Bhaskar Das a carefree ‘BinDAS’ person or a brave and bold ‘VirDAS’ or a pensive ‘DevDAS’ or a realistic about life  ‘JankiDAS’? We do know you have the ‘miDas’ touch and are able to achieve all your ‘agenDas’ and effectively drive away all the real-life ‘anaconDas’…

A. Your punditry revealed to me that I have so much of Das capital. I know it would get poor Marx from you. But ultimately you have tried to label me into myopic adjectives that only fuel egocentricity. It’s not my declared status, but it seems it’s a deducted perception. In reality, I am not so Das-hing. I can’t deny that you like my Badass… but humbled by all your epithets��. Das Vidaniya!

Okay, today’s question is unfair. But the idea of ‘Das ka Dum’ is to ask all possible questions – including some that people may think are unfair. So without much ado, Dr Bhaskar Das in 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 05. In your last two or three work assignments with media companies, you’ve played second-fiddle to CxOs who would’ve been in their chaddis when you were riding high in the media. Why do that? Rather than take up executive-like titles, isn’t it better for someone like yourself to go in as a consultant/advisor… something that would befit your stature better?

A. Nature has various seasons and they seamlessly get reflected in life.  In fact, metaphorically, all the seasons are present in every moments of our existence, if one wants to feel it. Human beings love to stay in a denial mode because of Me-Channel and Ego- personality bondage. It has its own  addiction. When one wants to find oneself, one has to first lose oneself. I have closed down my Me-Channel for good.  Consequently, I now enjoy the journey of life in its full potential. In this journey, there is no judgment, no attachment. I am now just a witness and cheer-leader for humanism at large.

And what is a stature?  — materialism, huge salary, kickass designation, huge bubble chamber, astronomical bonus, so many people report to me… I am on the cover story of every media? If attachment to all the above give real happiness to someone, it’s fine. Let others be happy with that. Nothing good or bad about it.  I love my own stature, which doesn’t need any endorsement from anyone – apart from me. I am reminded of a song by John Lennon. The last few lines resonate with my belief: Imagine no possessions/I wonder if you can/No need…

Okay, today’s question is unfair. But sometimes good to needle BD, no? But his response is, as always, excellent. Without much ado, Dr Bhaskar Das in 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 interesting that you’re holding the Ad Club’s Marquees at The Prince of Wales museum complex. Does this by any chances indicate that the winners are all museum pieces?

A. In today’s ecosystem, organising an award is a commoditised activity. But when it is contextualised to a context and a storyline, a brand mythology gets created. This is true for Marquee Awards’ venue at the Prince of Wales Museum. I agree that only a cognoscenti of brand mythologies would understand it. Otherwise, the conclusion would be only literal or sardonic.