Tag: Dr Bhaskar Das

Ah, we couldn’t not ask our Wizard with Word this question. Without much ado, here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the November 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. In an interview with Financial Times, Gautam Adani has said his acquisition of NDTV wouldn’t impact media independence? Should we believe him?

A. Why should we not believe him? We are believing Jeff Bezos for Washington Post, Rupert Murdoch for Fox News, Times of London and Wall Street Journals. The litmus test for success of any media organisation is its loyal audience base. So long the media organisation enjoys its stickiness, no amount of external criticism can justify the point of view of detractors. Please don’t underestimate the audience’s intelligence. As they say, yeh public hai sab janati hai.

Even in India a lot of media houses have interest in other industries but that haven’t affected their audience loyalty or market dominance. I would like to add that a media organisation has to be managed as a business also. There is nothing pejorative about it. The second richest industrialist knows the principles of managing multiple businesses successfully and the same principles ought to be applied for the media business too. And audiences are prudent enough to act as judge of the credibility of its content. And in the ultimate analysis, that’s what matters for any media organisation.

The question is self-explanatory, and the answer, well, puts an interesting spin on the entire issue. Here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the November 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. A speech by a news media big boss has gone viral and it exposes heavy duty sycophancy towards a political party. While there may be business interests at play, should media owners stay away from such overt attempts to please political rulers?

A. I am an ardent advocate of freedom of speech. Hence any communication in public domain has to be respected. Human minds loves to dissect and deduct as per their proclivity towards a point of view. There is nothing right or wrong about a standpoint. So it is everyone’s fundamental right to align with a viewpoint that coincides with a political party. By your logic, the whole country is aligned to a political party, dominantly. What’s wrong in it if the electorates feel that the promised delivery has been happening? Other political parties are not barred from promising deliveries as per expectations of the electorates. They have been trying and biting the dust, more often than not.

The normative approach that you recommended about media owners abjuring the path of appeasement of ruling class, appears to me to be a case of realised perception and were not purported to be a strategic intent of the media owner. One can’t be objective in subjective matters. What say? I shall be happy if you don’t agree. That’s the Intoxication of Democracy.

The question is self-explanatory, and the answer, well, makes sense. Here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the November 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. Small to big retailers went to town last week with a Black Friday sale. Bizarre isn’t it, with no Thanksgiving observed in India, and the fact that Diwali, amongst a few others, is bigger? So perhaps a month before Diwali…?

A. I understand from where you are coming. I agree that Black Friday is a western concept. But if one shifts focus away from geography to triggers of consumer demand, apart from the usual ones like Diwali etc, in the current context of tepid consumer sentiment towards consumption, I feel a periodic bahaanato splurge isn’t a bad idea. In a global marketplace, borrowing of ideas need not necessarily be a counter-culture.

These figures were highlighted in well-known journalist Vanita Kohli Khandekar’s column in Business Standard. We couldn’t not have asked him a question on this, which we did today. Here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the November 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 or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/

Q. Meta is said to be India’s largest media company. Should we surprised?

A. I am not surprised. It was on the cards for quite some time as India emerged as one of Meta’s biggest markets. But it’s an unfair comparison as Meta is a global company and has been pumping resources to increase userbase to a point that it could leverage the platform for  advertisers. This is the sunny side.

But even Meta has started feeling woes in Indian market due to dominantly male userbase and women reportedly avoiding it on content issues. Meta investors have also started questioning its dwindling revenues. I am not suggesting that Meta’s Number 1 status in India would get diluted by the aforesaid challenges. These challenges are encountered by any leader at some point of their upward journey and I am sure the organisation would respond to it to ensure market dominance.

We know he loves print, so we had to provoke him with another question. Without any further ado, here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the November 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 or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/

Q. The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) figures are said to have shown a sharp decline in the circulation of newspapers which have reported their numbers? But very few newspaper companies have reinvented themselves. So, I guess it was expected. Your view?

A. I wonder if report of one ABC period can be taken as a representative sample to support a premise that print circulation has gone down. One has to view the figures over a few periods and then compare. It would be unfair to compare the numbers with pre-Covid periods. When one compares apple with oranges, you would get skewed outcomes. Secondly, in terms of the total footprint of various newspaper brands, they have aggregated significant numbers in their digital versions (including e-papers) and one can’t ignore the role that each brand’s provenance plays in expanding its sphere of relevance & popularity. May be, ABC authorities may like to consider releasing certificates of phygital editions of each newspaper brand in future. In an omnichannel media environment, it may make logical sense. Finally, I don’t agree with your assumption that print media companies have not reinvented themselves which has resulted in decline in sales of copies. It’s no longer valid. If you scan the environment and investigate the leading newspapers of India, you would notice many initiatives to ensure interactivity and reader participation. Look at the changes made by The Hindu, for instance. One can always debate if the extent of transformation could have been more dramatic, but that’s always a subjective perception and it has to be evaluated in the context of cost-benefit analysis.

We know he loves print, so we had to provoke him with this question. Without any further ado, here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the November 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 or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/

Q. Television and digital may have greater reach than print, but Jio Cinema still took a jacket ad to promote its Fifa World Cup coverage? Your views?

A. That’s the power of the print media in the Indian context, where algorithms are not the only factor that help determine media vehicle selection process. Let’s face one fact: in India, the print media is still the most trusted medium and it exerts disproportionate (compared to its reach) influence on the population. As the print audience is placed in the upper echelons of Indian society (because of the requirement of literacy to access it and the range of news and depth of analysis that it provides), to get rub off effect of trust, etc, any topical announcement/ launch/ has to keep leading print titles into the media consideration set. Why just Jio?! Look at the WhatApp campaign that is running now in print or Google’s as well when it advertises.

It’s the richness of reach and the quality of trust that print media enjoys in the age of Fake News that distinguishes the medium from others. So the decision of Jio Cinema to release the campaign in print media makes sense.

There’s been a mini-furore on the decision to disallow Budweiser beer being available at the Fifa World Cup 2022 statdia. So we Dr Bhaskar Das a question for the November 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 or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/

Q. If you were CMO of Budweiser, how would you react to the organisers banning sales of beer at the stadium, at the eleventh hour?

A. When it comes to FIFA World Cup Football, one can’t just look at only the marketing side of things. And this year’s Cup has its share of controversies and a plethora of opinions. I don’t want delve into that.

I must highlight that Budweiser has a relationship of over three decades with FIFA and just one incident can’t perhaps affect its popularity. Yes, if one talks about ROI of the investment, there can be their internal measurements and since I have no visibility on the same, I can’t comment on that.

Having said that, you must not forget that it is a controlled restriction at the venue and its immediate surroundings and not ban of Budweiser sales completely. And Budweiser’s non-alcoholic beer, Bud Zero, will continue to be sold at all eight of the country’s World Cup stadiums, according to FIFA officials. So no brand person should be devastated by this decision. Sometimes disruptions do happen in marketing activities, but that need not be apocalyptic.

Advertising on Twitter isn’t very high in India, but there are people who do rely on it considerably for outreach to a certain set of people. Here’s what Dr Bhaskar Das has to say on the issue in the November 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 or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/

Q. Many global brands are stopping to advertise on Twitter. Should Indian brands also do the same?

A. The key principles of branding viz brand safety, avoidance of controversial content environment/ disturbing editorial environment/ polarised hate-mongering etc in a platform, are the same all over the world. Hence, if global advertisers are shunning the said social media platform, Indian brands would follow the same trend too, I presume. Advertisers in general prefer, inter alia, reach (amongst relevant audience), cichness of content and audience engagement. A celebratory contextual environment is perceived to be a facilitator for fuelling consumption. Hence a disturbed content environment drives away advertisers. These are early days of Twitter reorganising its content and is in the process of reducing its over-dependence on advertising, but will the organisation be successful in doing so? It’s too early to say.

In India, Twitter reach is small compared  to other social media platforms. So advertisers have a lot of options to select. But rumblings of disillusionment about social media in general can be heard in little corners of marketing jungles, though their performance-focused delivery is still one of best for the marketeers. Having said that, ROI may not be the only metric for selection of a platform. There are subjective factors that are taken into account when brand safety becomes paramount. This space is dynamically volatile, and to say the last word on the subject is fraught with flawed assessment.

We know he’s a huge fan of all sporting action. So we couldn’t have not asked this question. So here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the November 18 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. FIFA World Cup starts in Qatar from Nov 20. Your sentiments on the biggest sporting action in the world? Goodbye, cricket?

A. There is no doubt that World Cup football creates a platform for countries, all over the world, to share a sporting moment together and engage in possible constructive negotiations amongst Nations. If I recall, FIFA commented once that “Football can again be a vector for unity and peace amongst people.” With Russia being banned from participation, and Ukraine still aiming to qualify for a spot, there is an opportunity to see resiliency on display from Ukrainians on the field and solidarity from other competing nations. Besides, regional football enthusiasm could get a boost.

But the above are more macro factors. All of us are aware that there have been controversies and debates about Qatar holding the the FIFA World Cup. This column is not a forum to debate on that. I think audience (read fans of soccer) would be glued to the screens for the matches , apart from those at the stadiums at Qatar. Indirectly, economies of the world would get a fillip as there would be lot of travel and tourism around the event.

I don’t think FIGA would mean goodbye to cricket. Each has its individual and collective passion but fundamentally fans of sports are fans and they are obsessed with the games, and not substituting one sporting event for the other. There can be exceptions but that proves the rule.

The question was meant to provoke and get a philosophical spin to our answer. The former didn’t happen, the latter did. As you’ll figure by reading Dr Bhaskar Das in the November 17 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 World Philosophy Day today. Which means it’s your day given that you can put a philosophical spin on anything under the sun! How do you do that?

A. It has nothing to do with me , but I personally feel that a philosophical perspective is very crucial to get out of the mediocrity emanating out of perfunctoriness.

Philosophy, I feel, opens the mind for new concepts and innovative ideas. It engenders critical and independent thinking. It is true globally. It’s importance has never been so important, as it is today, thanks to myopic thinking that is plaguing the world due to increasing global conflict, reverse globalisation, rise of narrow nationalistic jingoism, climate crisis, sabre-rattling and lack of compassion and tolerance etc. Global leaders need to pause and reflect how to prevent this harakiri of human and the planet’s existence by evaluating all issues from a philosophical perspective and then act in the larger interest of humanity. But it can’t certainly be done by observing a day. It has to be a global credo and the comity of Nations have to collectively commit to its daily observance. Easier said than done, to say the least.

No better person than a print veteran like our Wizard with Words to comment on the Association of Indian Magazines angst. Here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the November 16 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 Indian Magazines (AIM) has petitioned the I&B minister that even though it has 20% of print readership it gets less than a percent of government spends. Fair ask, would you say?

A. So far I know, the advertising rates, as approved by government, are always below commercial rates of any publication and, more often than not, the rates are not high enough to cover DVC even. So govt advts can’t shore up the beleaguered fortune of the commercial viability of magazines. Secondly, most of the government ads are topical in nature. With a variety of frequency of magazines (ranging from weekly, fortnightly to monthly), the scheduling becomes a challenge specially for topical ads. Some magazines do publish state features and they get support from concerned state governments.

For magazines, it’s better to give more quality content for readers to experience and justify higher cover price to improve profitability. Finally, magazines generally offer high production quality and high profile advertisements. The advertising copy of government communication appeals to its functionality and not necessarily on creative aesthetics. That might bring down the overall environment of the magazines for high profile brands to participate. These are my top-of-mind thoughts and I feel it’s in the interest of magazines of some stature to avoid this path in their own interest.

Do we have a view on Amazon Prime Video hopping on the cricketing bandwagon. So we asked Dr Bhaskar Das the question for the November 15 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. Amazon Prime Video is now into cricket. But cricket is about rights, and spending huge dollars. Fraught with dangers to the P/L, would you say?

A. It’s a good game to back in the Indian context for sure. The fact is that cricket has maximum following in this country. Amazon Prime would certainly introduce unique experience of the audience including immersive engagement, commentators of repute etc. With their AI/ML power and the power of commerce, if content is synergistically leveraged on top of that and that too in multiple Indian languages, I feel it’s worthy of an investment. At an overall level, the P&L might well be impacted positively, if not directly, but indirectly. And if the CX catches the imagination of the audience, it can create a new benchmark of consuming cricket content. If one takes into account a macro view of Amazon Prime Video’s India business, I feel it’s worth a try. It’s too premature to give a final verdict on the decision, but if one doesn’t try, one doesn’t know. And Amazon need not get too hassled about each P&L in the larger scheme of a business gameplan.