Tag: Dr Bhaskar Das

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Q: A meaningless Friday question: When you hear the word Canne(s) as in Kaan, what comes first to your mind? Cannes, the festival city South of France, Ears, Con mispronounced, a can of beer or cola or the auxiliary verb which indicates the ability to do something?

A: Obviously Cannes is a city of festivals— the Mecca of showcasing global creativity- either in film-making or in the A&M industry. All other possibilities, mentioned by you in your question, are adjacent images/ perceptions that add to the fun and freedom of expression for those who have a creative bent of mind.

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Q: If an A&M professional chooses a cheque to make a payment as against NEFT would you judge him/her as out of sync with the times?

A: I wouldn’t for sure. My thinking can be in sync with the changing times, but why my external behaviour has to symbolise the same. One needn’t prove a point… it’s more about individual comfort and convenience. I also leverage convenience of smart commerce in case of immediacy of my requirement or when there is no option. But I don’t want to be a servant of technology. Millennials or GenZ or geeks per se would differ with me for sure. But you wanted my subjective opinion and I stand by it. Hence, I shall not consider an A&M professional to be out of sync for the proposed action in your question. It’s too sweeping a statement/perception.

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Q: A little too early to comment, but given the tournament so far, do you think advertisers have got their money’s worth with IPL 2024?

A: Who are we to decide, from the outside, whether a marketers have been getting the desired TOI for their investments in IPL 2024. We have no visibility to their  internal metrics. In short, it’s not possible to give any verdict on the subject.

Having said that, one may say that the reach and richness (engagement) of IPL as content for legacy medium or digital medium are very high. Third party data confirm that.

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: Is selecting the Indian cricket team for any bi or multi-later championship as stressful as, say, choosing ministers for a central/state cabinet?

A: It’s complex to say the least. In both cases, expertise/ experience/ proof of capabilities are evaluated. But they might not be enough. That’s where imponderables like interplay of human beings comes to the fore, though quite often covertly. One can’t exactly pinpoint the list of intricacies of human interactions including the politics of it. One can’t surmise on the basis of the intangibilities like the aforementioned ones. There are examples galore, worldwide , about not-so-transparent or partiality of the selection process in both the fields. Come to think of it, hasn’t it permeated in every field of our life?

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Q: May 3 is celebrated as World Press Freedom Day? Wait a minute, can I see you smile at the question. So, do you believe, that there is nothing like a free press in India?

A: You are asking the question and answered it too. Whether you are correct or not is a matter of subjective domain. So, my subjective opinion can’t represent a universal truth. Even if one goes by the Press Freedom Index, as published recently, India ranks 159. Does it leave anything to be explained? But Indian media-owners might not feel compelled in the same way as any western report is supposed to have hidden agendas. So one needs to be sceptical about the rankings. We are hene back to Square One. So best is to leave it to individuals to decide: what I feel as objective and catering to Freedom of the Press, I should go by that. I don’t need to shout from the rooftop.

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Q: Building New Revenue Streams is the theme of the Indian Magazine Congress being held tomorrow, May 3. Any suggestions on what these streams can be? Or are the magazine players waking up too late?

A: As a macro axiom, I would like to say that it’s never too late in business to evolve and pivot to a pragmatic route that makes the business thrive.

In the case of print media in general and magazines in particular, the winds of change have been blowing for some time. But the lack of optimal investment in developing differentiated content in sync with the changing preferences of the audience and over-dependence on advertising have queered their pitch to remain competitive in the changing media landscape. The arrival of digital media has further compounded the problem of the business model of one-to-many non- interactive and non-real-time media formats of delivery.

Before one can even recommend possibly new routes of monetisation or new revenue streams, it is very critical to reframe the business challenge. The magazines (frequency-wise), in their classical format, are just a platform. The focus should be on delivery of content – both in terms of subject and audience cohort –  across formats of delivery. After that, one can plan monetisation through multiple routes that are in sync with the reach and its richness, engagement of audience and an appropriate ROI on the investments. The challenge is how to inculcate insurgent behaviour in an incumbent format.

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Q: How do you respond to accusations that the media perpetuates stereotypes, biases, and lack of diversity in its coverage?

A: I don’t subscribe to broad generalisations. First, you must clarify which media you are referring to. Secondly, in a post-truth and post-generative world, the boundaries of truth and fiction have blurred. Consequently, even stereotypes/ biases / lack of diversity could also be manufactured. When trolling is the new tool of engagement, then even genuine stories could be labelled as agendised.

I was remembering of a quote of Dostoevsky’s which reflects the changing realities of human existence throughout the world: “We live in a time when intelligent people are being silenced so that stupid people won’t be offended.”

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Q: In an increasingly fragmented media landscape, what is the role for traditional, mainstream media can play?

A: I think the media’s role doesn’t change. What changes is the context of the country, society, culture and the environment in which media operates.

Traditional media comes in the form of text, audio, video and experiential formats but in format-agnostic ways. And why has this happened? Because the audiences have been consuming in format-neutral way too, albeit at a different pace of adoption.

At a macro level, the role of media continues to mirror society, inform, educate and entertain audience responsibly. Since the same is quite often evaluated through the subjective prism of beholders, it is difficult to maintain uniform standards across formats of delivery. More often than not, it is left to the discretion of individual stakeholders depending on the imperatives of the relevant time.

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: IPL 2024 is becoming a plundering platform for batters? Enjoyable or do you prefer a more balanced contest of batter and bowler?

A: I completely agree with you. There has to be some intense competition where bowlers and batters should have a see-saw combat. I am not denying that in some of the high scoring matches, the match had gone down to the wire. But in most of the matches, it’s pretty frustrating for the bowlers. If pitches and rules of the game are fair to promoting the game per se (to remain competitive in global cricket) and to the players (both batters and bowlers) , even spectators would enjoy it more.

I know it’s easier said than done. But as fans of the game, we may be irrationally demanding.

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: Earlier it was just the ads, but now with social media offering an easy platform for advertising, do you think there should be a check on creation of harmful stereotypes and unrealistic beauty and fitness standards?

A: That social media in all its hues are used as a platform for advertising/ communication/ paid media / native content (whichever you may mention) us a given in the new digital world. And with generative Ai , the dimensions of their variety of reach, engagement have reached a different stratosphere. Checking the veracity/ distortions of facts has been a challenge for all marketers.

Hence, ideally there must be a check to the same to protect the interest of citizens/ consumers. But how to execute it is a million-dollar question. ASCI does a good job and has also begun to do work in the digital/social media, and with influencers. There is need to crack deep fakes and agendised promotions. I do hope that collective wisdom will find a way to keep a check in collaboration with the government.