Tag: Dr Bhaskar Das

What’s your view on the issue? For the December 15 edition of Das ka Dum, we asked Dr Bhaskar Das a question for 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 or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/

Q. The British government has put off the decision to ban junk food advertising. Do you think India should also consider such a policy?

A. It’s a good intention which is yet to be implemented (may be effective 2023 so far I know). But I doubt if they would go the whole hog on the same. There will be some stipulations or the other, perhaps. Public domain reports suggest so.

There is no doubt that health has been a global scare due to various factors like climate change, frequent epidemics etc. Food habits accentuate that. Junk food habits among the young (not only age but mindset wise) and adolescent obesity has been a global phenomenon. I am not suggesting stopping advertisements would result in behavioural transformation overnight (as we have seen in case of cigarette and alcohol bans) , but at a societal level spreading of awareness/ consciousness has to happen and we have to start somewhere. I am always in favour of initiatives that augur well for citizens in the health and welfare space. We ought to advocate working towards a healthy society/ country.

We were surprised with the remark by a well-known film-maker, but when made on social media, it was sure to go viral. Here’s the December 14 edition of Das ka Dum where we asked Dr Bhaskar Das a question on the comment. 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. A recent ad by Dream11 has been found to be disrespectful to musicians. Would you say that Indians have lost their sense of humour?

A. What to say? In the age of ubiquitous digital and social media presence, one can discern an erosion of funny bone density and intolerance to creative liberty. I have no view on that as an opinion of ONE is also important and has to be taken into account. Societal emotions need to be accepted, whether one likes it or not, and follow a middle path that abjures any possibility of polarisation.

Am I suggesting a bland approach to communication or anything that goes in public domain? I don’t know but I am certainly suggesting the path of least controversy. Why waste energy on combating something on which one has no control? Bland diet is good for health. In an environment of a majority of 1, how will I comment generically about 140 million people and their sense of humour. I love humouring myself in my cocooned domain where no media can enter.

How do you describe a corporate leader like Elon Musk? His actions and utterances often leave us speechless. So we ask Dr Bhaskar Das for his view on the man and his doings. Here’s the December 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 or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/

Q. It’s been a few weeks since Elon Musk took charge at Twitter. Your view on his style of management?

A. Mr Elon Mask has a very unique and interesting style of management that is apparently contradictory. There is no denying the fact Musk is a visionary, dreamer, transformational, ahead of time, path-breaker, audaciously ambitious, aggressive target-setter, maverick, iconoclastic, antagonist to bureaucratic systems and all that represent anything typical of corporate cobwebs.

Actually one may get exhausted of finding possible adjectives to describe Musk. At the same time, if one goes by his operating management style, as is known from various public domain descriptions, he could be a huge micromanager, much against any bureaucratic corporate ladders, a great advocate of Theory X, a no-nonsense, hard taskmaster and someone who can set highly ambitious targets for mediocre employees to survive.

Hence, I find it difficult to pigeonhole Mr Mask’s style of management to a specific adjective: Brilliant, idiosyncratic, maverick or whatever. But one fact is clear: his style is not taught in Harvard Business School. And if he is successful in transforming Twitter, as he wants to with his unique style, present and future MBAs might have to add a new chapter in their management pedagogy. And why not? Nothing succeeds like success.

By now you know how much we love the Fifa World Cup. And how much our Wizard with Words tracks it. Here’s what Dr Bhaskar Das has to say on our question in the December 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 or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/

Q. First, Germany and Spain. Then Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, England.  Who are you betting on now?

A. I didn’t bet on any of the names that you mentioned. In fact, in my last week’s Q&A, on the same subject, I mentioned that this year’s Fifa World Cup has been dominated by disruptions from the Davids. But with a legacy (and emotional) mindset, I hazarded a guess for Argentina as I am a Messi Fan. So my preference for Argentina to lift the Fifa World Cup remains unchanged.

But now that the number of contenders of the World Cup has been limited to a few teams, and the Davids who are left in the fray, I can put forward a second guess and I would love that to happen: looking at the hunger and fighting spirit of two teams viz Morocco and Croatia, I won’t be surprised if they play at the final and Morocco wins the Cup. Let Africa enjoy a new glory. Rationally too, I think they have exemplary indomitable spirit to take on the best in the game and even if they have no so-called star/ nranded player, their collective commitment is palpable in each match and it continues to improve. Ultimately, I find it to be a clash of Entitlement Owners v/s Disruptive Insurgents.

Disclaimer: this answer is a personal analysis and may not actually be the reality. Even if it proves to be true, it would be a fluke. Any game is a testimony of skill and not an outcome of prediction of analysts.

Not the easiest of questions to answer, but we love asking these once in a while. Here’s what Dr Bhaskar Das has to say on the issue in the December 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. We now know the election results. As someone who has spent quality time in Gujarat in the early part of your career, and now as an academic and even a student, what’s your Wish #1 from the new government for Gujarat?

A. When it comes to Politics and Polity, Das ka dum bhi nikal jaata hai, as I am a very apolitical person. I only believe that any sustained delivery of consumers’ / voters’ (in this case) expectations can ensure success either in business or in elections. Incidentally, a few years of stint in a state market cannot impart any expertise in anyone to decode a definitive result where multiple expectations amongst various stakeholders play a big role in the voting pattern. In a big country like India, with so many factors at play in various states, the results are expected to be divergent , and national and local issues collide in impacting the verdict.

Now that the results are out, it is clear that the leading national party has delivered in Gujarat in spite of competitive challenges and no anti-incumbency theory has worked. It shows that customers have been happy with the delivery. There are other factors which have played a different role in impacting results. For that, one has to write an edit piece on that. I don’t want to engage in that.

Fundamentally, the basic principles of marketing/ business have also worked in those states, albeit on different strategies of populism, as it happens in sales-boosting incentives used by marketers. But that may not be sustainable for building brand loyalty for repeat performance.

Leadership is about delivery. And in these elections, delivery or promises to deliver have been reflected in the result and I am not surprised. Marketing principles also work in elections. One needn’t be a poll pundit to predict. The strategy of both the winners and losers needs a strategy that is dynamic and incorporates the rising expectations of the market.

Tough question given that the last few months have been not great shakes for revenues. So we asked Dr Bhaskar Das a question for the December 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. I know you have said it’s all continuum. But if you have to evaluate the progress of the adspends in the last 11 months, how would you rate it vis-a-vis the pre-Covid 2019?

A. During the last 11 months, the advertisement spend level has certainly reached the pre-Covid level, albeit it would differ by media formats and by industry sector. I agree that the growth has been led by digital and TV dominantly but growth has been experienced by market leaders of various formats except in movies. That has also been impacted by the rise of popularity of OTT consumption and fast adoption of connected devices. Besides, India could counter the global trend of stagflation through deft balancing of its economic and fiscal policies, as of now, is expected to maintain a GDP growth level of above 6% which isn’t a mean feat , given the VUCA syndrome in various operating environments, globally.

If it’s an election result, Dr Prannoy Roy always scored high with the results coverage and analysis. So we asked Dr Bhaskar Das a question on Dr Roy’s contribution to news television on the eve of Gujarat/HP/MCD results for the December 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. It’s difficult to think of election results coverage without Prannoy Roy and Dorab Sopariwala. We don’t know what they are going to be doing next, but a word on the contribution of the Roys to news television?

A. I think in the craft of news journalism, Dr Prannoy Roy’s name would always get a prominent reference. This may be my personal opinion but I shall stick to it as it’s my subjective opinion and detractors are most welcome to differ. Elections would come and go and the final verdicts would be a reflection of voters’ preference, irrespective of the quality of analysis. So the show would go on. But the real contribution of a craftsperson is setting standards of journalism in news television and how many professionals s/he could inspire to excel in their task. I think that most of the branded anchors of various news channels had at some point of time had worked with Dr Roy and NDTV. But as the adage goes, the old order changeth, yielding place to new. (‘The old order changeth, yielding place to new’ is a line from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s classic poem, ‘Morte d’Arthur’. These dying words of King Arthur were his realisation  that there would be a change in generations with views different from his. I found its relevance to your question, however inappropriate. This may be my frailty to relate appropriately).

Unfair question to ask, but then who said that we are always fair. He he. Let’s hear it from Dr Bhaskar Das in the December 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 or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/

Q. You would’ve seen the performance of all the teams in the 2022 Fifa World Cup. So which team are you rooting for?

A. This would be a hazardous guess as in this Fifa World Cup as we have seen how some of the Davids (eg Belgium and Germany could not make it for the knockout stage) have inflicted unanticipated defeats on the Goliaths of world soccer. My guess is Argentina (may be I am biased as this World Cup may be the last for Messy) followed by Brazil with Spain, England and France not so far behind. Having said that, on the day of the final, how one team plays with strategy and luck (I believe in the luck factor a lot), would be very difficult to predict. From this point of view, this World Cup might have some more surprises left for us. Frankly speaking, this has kept us glued to the World Cup this year as no one is invincible. I can’t be more precise than this.

It’s perhaps something that ought to happen. Even if it’s not in the form of an ombud~. So we asked Dr Bhaskar Das the question for the December 5 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. There have been cases of ad agencies clashing over credit for work done. Do you think there is need for an ombudsman?

A. With the tight cash flow position in the market due to variety of factors in global and Indian markets, it’s a Catch-22 situation for both creative and media planning and buying agencies. When clients have business headwinds, they generally expect their agency partners to empathise with them. At the same time, agencies survive dominantly on intellectual capital/ right brain capabilities (without jettisoning left brain capacity completely) and that’s their real Capex. When there is supply-side squeeze, how would they invest in talent to offer superlative services?!

I wonder if a mutually agreed ombudsperson can mitigate the challenge completely. I wonder if an idea of credit rating agency evaluating credit worthiness of a client would be acceptable to both the partners.

But whatever may be the solution, it should be mutually agreed upon for genuinely appreciating the interdependence of their relationship and agencies need to be united in combating this challenge, if you may will. This is not the time of any frictional loss. It’s the time to be collaborative and symbiotically face the challenges of PERMACRISIS ( not my coinage but the chosen word of Collin’s dictionary to reflect the state of the business environment).

We won’t be surprised if this is a thought that has struck others as well. Well, even if it has, it’s not been very vocal, yet. So we asked Dr Bhaskar Das the question for the December 2 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. Will the fact that international media platforms like Meta and Google are so large and influential impact India’s geo- and socio-political interests?

A. Answering this question is challenging as in a flat world, where information and data flow are geography-neutral, the possibilities of its misuse, both for individual or nation-states, could not be ruled out. There are already enough empirical evidences of algorithm-led predictive analytics, dominating our choices across the spectrum of human life. Citizens don’t even understand the implications of every click. Countries have not yet been able to converge on a unified policy regime to mitigate possibilities of misuse of massive data flow that are gathered by tech giants. One can’t deny the benefits of the internet and social media in consumers’ life but they also, in its turn, create a vicious circle of surveillance of users’ choices.

But if the internet is expected to be a global public good, then its governance should also be globally conceived and shared.

A critical challenge is how to facilitate creation of publicly oriented enterprises to play an active role and ensure that internet becomes an egalitarian public sphere activity, as it was originally envisioned. But I wonder if there is any political and social will, globally, to move in that direction?

While I understand your concern, as expressed in your question, I have no answer to it.

It’s a question we generally ask closer to the end of the calendar and fiscal year. So here’s Dr Bhaskar Das and his response in the December 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 or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/

Q. It’s the beginning of the last month of the calendar year. Your response (and why): Phew, Sob, Bring it on!

A. To me there is no difference between months (apart from a seasonal change). Philosophically, time is a non-spatial continuum in which events occur in apparently irreversible succession from the past through the present to the future. This is not my funda, but I believe in it. So, the end of the calendar year or financial year are part of corporate lexicon, and do not belong to the realm of philosophy.

I know you would not be satisfied with the philosophical jamboree. So another way of answering your question is: though December is the last month of the year, it also gets us excited about new hopes and possibilities of 2023. The last three years have been quite challenging for India Inc through various headwinds, but everyone hopes that the India Growth Story would augur well for the coming year and our collective wish would take India upwards in terms of prosperity. Amen to that.