MxMIndia

Tag: Jaldi 5

  • It's US Presidential Elections week and we asked Amith Prabhu, who currently works with a leading PR firm in Chicago and is a keen follower of Indian and American politics, on the role of image management in the campaigning in the US and whether there is scope for the same as the general elections here draw closer

    Jaldi 5 with Amith Prabhu: Only so much ‘spin doctors’ can do in election campaigns

    It’s US Presidential Elections week and given the importance that United States of America affairs have on India (apart from family and friends in all parts of that country), it’s not surprising that our media too is working overtime to bring you comprehensive coverage over the next few days.

     

    Having read the tweets from Chicago-based Amith Prabhu, former head of communications at VivaKi and co-founder of the Promise Foundation and co-chair of the upcoming PRAXIS 2012, we asked him a few questions on the US Presidential elections and how much of a role the campaign managers of President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney played in their respective campaigns.

     

    Mr Prabhu keeps a keen eye on Indian and American politics and hopes to manage his own campaign someday. The views here are personal and do not represent that of any organization Amith is associated with.

     

    01. Having tracked the run-up to the US Presidential elections closely, how much of the campaigning do you think is a creation of the respective campaign managers?

    Matt Rhoades and Jim Messina have definitely played a big role in shaping the campaigns of their bosses Romney and Obama respectively. Unless the machinery is run with exact precision and thorough planning there is no way for a fight to be as close as it has been.

     

    We read that Obama’s campaign is aided by the way he handled Hurricane Sandy. Obviously perception-management at play? Or he did work to ease the plight?

     

    Hurricane Sandy was able to influence a few undecided voters who are certainly crucial. Obama is a politician at heart and he knows how to do the right things at the right time. That won’t change the decision of staunch supporters of either party. It definitely had a small role to play.

     

    It’s obviously naïve to say that the Presidency of the world’s strongest nation is won thanks to spin doctors? Or, is that how it really is?

     

    American voters are educated and understand the difference between the ideologies of the two parties. There is only so much the so-called spin doctors can do. The rest is what is done and what is seen by the well-informed citizen who finally takes the call on whom to vote for.

     

    02. With general elections round the corner in India – 2014 or earlier, do you think our political parties too should appoint professional image management practitioners for their positioning?

    Indian political parties have been working with professional firms but like in the US most of the marketing and communications is managed in-house to have better control and for ease of management. I don’t think image management is a positive term. The phrase has been abused and people mistake image management for spin doctoring. What Indian political parties need is a panel of mentors who have great credentials and solid values to guide them to do not just the right things but everything right.

     

    03. We know that you were at the Obama rally in the early hours of today (India time) and we also figure from your tweets that you actively follow Indian politics from your base in Chicago. As a PR professional, is there an Indian politician whose image you would like to work on?

    I would prefer never to work on individuals but rather would prefer to work for an organisation. I was a summer intern in the Congress party media office way back in 2003 and I subscribed to some of that party’s ideology and had the option of working there in the future but I chose not to, since I wanted a decade of corporate experience. However, two interesting men who have fascinated me are Nitish Kumar and Arvind Kejriwal. I would like to work with the former someday. Another politician who knows how to be in the news is for wrong and right reasons is Lalu Prasad Yadav and is a case study on his own.

     

    Rahul Gandhi?

    Not likely because from what I have gauged he is not keen on running a government unless push comes to shove. He would prefer to operate like his mother where he runs the party and appoints a PM who can manage the government.

     

    04 Is there an Indian politician who could do well with US-style image management?

    I think Arun Jaitley and Jairam Ramesh could do very well if they build a mass base, which is not difficult for them to do if they choose to.

     

    05. Narendra Modi, for instance, seems to have got his ‘image’ in order?

    Narendra Modi had two options after 2002. To either let it all crumble or go the other extreme and focus on building a solid positioning based on development and an iron-hand. He chose the latter, which was a smart decision. He has a bunch of excellent IAS officers with whom I have had the pleasure of working who drive a lot of what is seen and heard about him. Unfortunately, his support base is restricted to his state and to sections of citizens in various parts of the country and on Twitter. His image problem is within the party and that is something he needs to focus on.

     

    PS: We also asked Amith Prabhu one last question: Your gut feel… Obama or Romney? And his response:  Obama all the way.

    Ah, well. Psephologist, loyalist or just a good observer of political trends?

     

  • Summary: Indus Sports CEO Mahesh Ranka on the current sports sponsorship scene, Sachin Tendulkar being back in runs and the money in other sports

    Jaldi 5 with Mahesh Ranka: The Tendulkar impact is waning

    Okay, the ghost of the Champions Trophy T20 is behind us. The India team for the first two Tests has been announced. Cricket will soon be back on the front pages of the newspapers and essential chatter in the metros and local trains. And above all: Sachin Tendulkar (SRT) appears to be in good form. Since matters off the field (especially on monies in the game) get as discussed as matters on it, MxMIndia asked Mahesh Ranka, CEO, Indus Sports and Sponsorship, a few questions which every sports enthusiast would like to ask.

     

    01. Now that Sachin Tendulkar is back in the runs (albeit against Railways) in the Ranji Trophy, do you think the interest in cricket will rise again?

    Interest in cricket isn’t related to interest in Sachin Tendulkar alone… anymore. However, this will get all enthusiasts to sit up and take notice of his performance in the upcoming series… should he play. The fact that we are seeing cricket after long (CLT20 without Indian teams qualifying ahead was forgotten by people), and the holidays/festive season may enhance interest to some level.

     

    02. From the sales point of view, is it true a lot of viewer interest goes up and down given the way Sachin plays?

    It was the case until 2005-6. Post that, interest connected to SRT has really been achieving the 100th 100, 50th 100 in one format… and when he hit the first 200 in ODIs. Even today, many enthusiasts out of sheer expectancy of a good innings from the master batsman will switch off their TV sets if and when Tendulkar is out cheaply. The SRT impact however is waning thanks to a decent balance in performances (forget the last England-Australia tours).

     

    03. We’ve seen a lot of cricket this year, and we’ve also seen the interest go up and rock-bottom with Champions League. What’s your prediction for the rest of the cricketing season?

    The rules have always been simple… India performs (read wins or stages a heroic effort) and the nation watches, India performs badly… and no one’s happy… viewers, advertisers, media… even experts! We are very emotional about the performance, and that reaction is clearly visible across the spectrum.

     

    04. Over the last few years,other sports have gone up the popularity charts. Tennis, F1, Football and even hockey? Which sport do you think will be next to cricket in terms of sponsorship monies?

    Next to cricket, F1 seems like the strong one, thanks to the Airtel Indian Grand Prix. Football is creating its own ecosystem which generates a decent amount of sponsorship monies. The popularity of Indian football, however is limited. TV viewing is skewed to European football and Indian football has big enthusiasm in traditionally strong pockets only.

     

    Tennis had the makings of being #2, but it didn’t?

     

    It was a lot of media-created and fuelled. That probably pushed opinion. Tennis was getting popular thanks to the exploits of Saina…. and of course consistent performance of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi. Monetarily, it was never a big business spinner. Many companies invested and failed to raise the necessary sponsorship and other revenue options to run the effort successfully. Apollo’s 10-year plan worth Rs 100 crore crashed within two years of inception, Kingfisher Open, Sunfeast Open… never found support after the first round of deals (three years or so). So much so, that Globo Sports did not continue with the events they had created. Only Chennai open has survived all these years, and that’s thanks to the support of the Tamil Nadu government.

     

    05. Lastly, any truth in sponsors/endorsements playing a role in player selection or staying on even if he or she may not be in top form?

    In my position, I wouldn’t know the dynamics that go on in ‘selection’ of players or ‘staying on’ as it’s nowhere close to my function. Neither do we represent athletes nor do we manage their commercial interests. In the past, there have been cases that have been argued on the above, not only in India but also in foreign markets. It’s probably as true and as visible as betting in sports in India.

     

  • Keertan Adyanthaya, MD – FOX International Channels, talks to MxM India about digitization, localized shows, and more…

    Jaldi 5 with Keertan Adyanthaya on Fox Traveller’s first anniv

    On October 30, Fox Traveller completed a year in India, billing itself as India’s number 1 Travel and Lifestyle channel. An HD channel and clutter-breaking content such as ‘What’s With Indian Men’, ‘Twist of Taste’ ‘Freaky Traveller’, ‘It Happens Only in India’ and ‘Life Mein Ek Baar’ making the channels focus on locally made productions very high. MxMIndia interviewed Keertan Adyanthaya, MD- FOX International Channels, on the channel’s first anniversary and its plans for the year ahead.

     

    01 How would you see the travel and lifestyle genre changing in the recent past? Where do you see it heading to in India?

    I think we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg as far as the genre is concerned. There’s so much more to experience and invite people to immerse in.

     

    02 The channel has a lot of localized shows like ‘What’s With Indian Men’, ‘It Happens Only in India’, ‘Life Mein Ek Baar’, etc. Given that high-profile presenters would obviously increasing your programming costs, how is easy is it to get advertisers to buy in such content?

    We believe that it’s the tone and tenor of the show that really matters and that’s why we have always looked for celebrities who can seamlessly integrate into the fabric of the show. Advertisers look for various things when it comes to sponsorships – Channel, Relevance of the programme concept, Marketing & Communication Plan, Show entitlements, Talent associated with the show etc etc.

     

    03 Do you see digitization impacting a niche channel like Fox Traveller?

    Digitization will have a huge impact on many aspects of the TV channel business.

    o Until now, subscription was a B2B-led vertical, we will now need to re-calibrate our thinking to it being a B2C vertical.

    o Channel communication was strongly dependent on show-led marketing. This will need to change to a marketing strategy where we ask people to subscribe to the channel

    o Co-marketing with MSO / DTH platforms will gain even more importance

     

    04 Given that there exist opportunities for channels like ‘Fox Traveller’ to get picked ‘a la carte’ post-digitization, are you looking at adding on more content that will attract people to subscribe to the channel?

    We are always on a quest to bring innovative, differentiated content that will help us engage better with our audiences. That’s an on-going process. There will not be any change or further bolstering on that front.

    05. Any new shows and activities that we can hope to see on the channel in the immediate future?

    There’s David Rocco’s Amalfi Getaway coming up this week and next month, we start What’s with Indian Women?, which is a sequel to our popular show ‘What’s with Indian Men?’ that was aired last May.

    Interviewed by Meghna Sharma

     

  • Jaldi 5 with Vasant Gokhale on the ABP Group's recent digital offerings for non-resident Bengalis.

    Jaldi 5 with Vasant Gokhale, Head, Mobile Services, ABP

    Vasant Gokhale

    The Ananda Bazar Patrika Group recently announced its digital offerings for non-resident Bengalis. Though three months old, the platform is already gaining traction. MxM India caught up with Vasant Gokhale, Head, Mobile Services, ABP Pvt Ltd to know more.

     01. The digital offering is targeted at non-resident Bengalis. Is Indian market not ready for such platforms?

    We have plans to eventually reach to that point. The back-end plans are already at work. Also, we have our digital websites that are live currently in India. So, we have enough content here online for the resident Bengalis. We will launch the digital offering on same scale in India within this financial year.

    2. What are your subscription models?

    We have two subscription models. One is, standard that is offered for $5 per month and then we have exclusive premium content.

    03. How has been the response from advertisers?

    We do not have advertising options on the My Anandabazar Mobile App on iOS. Current focus is to increase paid subscriptions for overseas market. We already have over 1000 active subscribers MoM without spending a dime on marketing, and once we reach the critical numbers, advertising options can be looked at.

    04. What will be the marketing strategy?

    We will launch a robust marketing plan shortly. We have acquired the current subscriber base all on hearsay, and without spending a penny.

    5. When do you plan to break-even with the digital property?

    All I would like to say is that we are on track as far as investment and other targets are concerned.

     

    As told to Ananya Saha 

     

  • Jaldi 5 with Ankur Warikoo, CEO, Groupon India, on Crazeal.com’s first anniversary and the e-commerce explosion in India

    Jaldi 5 with Ankur Warikoo, CEO, Groupon India

    By Johnson Napier

     

    India has witnessed huge growth in e-commerce in the past one and a half years where customers online have been bombarded with innumerable offerings. But while many see the space as being crowded there are a few that are making a mark by way of their positioning. Like Crazeal.com, a portal that operates in the daily deals category space.

     

    As Crazeal.com celebrates a year of existence in India there are a lot of things that are going right for the portal like it has managed to sell more than 5 lakh deal vouchers and the fact that it has worked with more than 3000 unique merchants across the country.

     

    As it enters year two of operations, Ankur Warikoo, CEO, Groupon India is clear on the strategy to take the company far ahead. The strategy, he says, is to focus on the quality of deals as only then can it be in the business for a long time. “If you give the best quality of deals, customers will stay. We focus on one deal a day and make that special.” In an interaction with MxMIndia.com, Mr Warikoo says that Crazeal.com is in the market of products, travel and local services – and all three of them are growing at such a pace that for the next 1-2 years we are simply looking at consolidating base in the three.

     

     

    1 How inspirational has been the journey for Crazeal in India as it completed a year of existence in India recently?

    We entered the market just last year and have grown tremendously to reach the #1 rank in the daily deals category (as per ComScore data). We are experiencing super-normal growth quarter-on-quarter and repeat buying pattern of close to 50%. Additionally, we are recognized as the best destination for high quality deals, by our consumers, which is a fantastic achievement in just 12 months.

     

    We have attained this mark within one year of our existence in India because of the deal quality! Groupon globally works with the best merchants and offers the best deal structures to our customers, while solving business problems for the merchants. This has been the same philosophy India has worked on.

     

    We are strongly committed to the Indian market and are also launching our global robust technology to cater the needs of the merchants in India. The Merchant Center is an intelligent application that provides merchants a platform to evaluate and track their performance. The launch of this technological innovation in India will mark yet another milestone in our growth trajectory while setting unmatched global standards for the Indian e-commerce industry.

     

    2 How would you analyze your growth – both organic and inorganic, over the past year?

    I would like to present some key milestones:

    Featured more than 15,000 deals in 12 months

    Average transaction value highest in the category

    More than 5 lakh deal vouchers sold

    Worked with more than 3000 unique merchants across the country

    Sell a voucher once every 33 seconds

     

    3 The space has seen a sudden spurt in activity with a number of players stepping in with their offerings. How uniquely is Crazeal positioned among its competitive peers? 

    Competition is always healthy as it leads to the overall growth of the industry. For me, the real competition for Crazeal are other Groupon countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Hongkong. India has witnessed a huge growth in e-commerce in the past one and a half years and customers online have been bombarded with innumerable offerings. India became too crowded too soon and has been molded into a discount deal chasing set-up where merchants do not really understand how their businesses can benefit. The main objective of our channel is marketing. From day one, we have focused on having the right set of merchants on board. We start with city planning, doing merchant reviews followed by personal visits to experience what the merchant has to offer before closing the partnership deal eventually.

     

    4 Will you be laying more emphasis around marketing & promotions activity going forward? What is the budget that you have allocated for the same?

    Our strategy is to focus on the quality of deals as only then can we be in the business for a long time. If you give the best quality of deals, customers will stay. We focus on one deal a day and make that special. We are in the market of products, travel and local services – and all three of them are growing at such a pace that for the next 1-2 years we are simply looking at consolidating our base in the three.

    We will continue to entice consumers with our experiential marketing campaigns. For the birthday week we launched a special consumer campaign to surprise consumers with irresistible raffles every day. Up for grabs were 5gm Tanishq Gold Coins, iPads, Shoppers Stop gift vouchers, Sony Bravia- LED TV, Tata Nano and more.

     

    Previously, we have run ‘larger than life’ raffles including an all paid trip to Las Vegas for 2 at the Bellagio, and a free Harley Davidson bike which saw tremendous enthusiasm from consumers across the country.

     

    We recently hosted a special screening for Hollywood blockbusters – Spiderman and The Dark Knight Rises across 9 cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Jaipur, Chandigarh & Pune) and gave consumers and exclusive preview of our ad campaign. The special screening involved Crazeal team manning the ticket booking stalls, addressing the entire crowd before the start of the movie and steering on-ground activities to give them a flavor of Crazeal’s personalized services. Multiple on-ground touch points were also created to increase its brand presence and engage with consumers in a fun way. The tickets were priced at a 50% discount and the hall was booked exclusively for Crazeal consumers!

     

    Tell us a bit about your just-announced application Merchant Center. What is its USP?  

    As a commitment to the Indian market and to drive efficiency in operations, Crazeal has launched an intelligent application to provide merchants with a platform to evaluate and track their promotion performance.

     

    Each of our vouchers are bar-coded and have a unique QR code that helps merchants recognize customers who have bought their deal. It can also be done through our merchant mobile applications available on the iOS and Android platform.

     

    No internet company in India offers this kind of technology to their partners, free of cost!

     

    Merchant Center enables merchants to

    Track the number of vouchers their deal sells daily

    Check how many vouchers are redeemed in each of their outlets in different locations

    Get real time feedback from customers on their experience at the merchant’s outlet

    Determine how many customers would recommend the merchant to others

    Redeem the vouchers to enable their payments, on a real-time basis

     

    5 How do you see the e-commerce space panning out in the near future in India?

    Everyone is craving an eShare these days; corporates are looking at diverse product mix, merchants joining hands to offer strong value propositions and consumers shifting to online purchase for obvious reasons. This ePie surely has an opportune slice for all. And with 100 million internet users supporting the e-revolution, the total number of transactions in India is set to take a leap from the present 8-10 million to 40 million by 2015.

     

    The daily deal websites comprise India’s fastest growing web vertical. The coupon business is 16.5% of the total e-commerce audience in India, growing at the rate of 629 per cent with 7.6 million unique users a month in November 2011, as per comScore report. This clearly shows that Indian consumers who were earlier apprehensive about shopping online are now browsing more often to make high value purchases and avail experiential offers.

     

    Internet has played a silent but important role in giving a boost to India’s consumption story. With the advent of 3G, telecommunications and high mobile penetration, e-tailing in India has intensified closing many gaps between urban and rural consumer’s tastes, preferences and consumption patterns. Currently 60 percent of our sales come from six metros with remaining 40 per cent from non-metros. We see this trend catching up fast as consumers increasingly aspire to purchase brands and lifestyle products like never before.

     

    Tier I cities has already seen an explosion in travel and products related e-commerce. They will now witness the next big thing called local commerce. If one thinks of it, this new category is the most frequently consumed category in offline retail, which will now move to online.

     

    Tier 2 and 3 cities are lagging behind, but not in terms of growth. Products e-commerce has made major inroads driven by the ease of buying online and the massive assortment. Travel is following suit. However, local services might take some time as for that to develop as it requires a minimum number of high quality merchants to be present. With large restaurant chains now expanding and the food, wellness industry growing substantially there is a huge scope here.

     

  • Jaldi 5 with Tripti Lochan, CEO-Asia, VML Qais on the Cannes winning agency’s foray to India and plans ahead

    Jaldi 5 with Tripti Lochan, CEO-Asia, VML Qais

    Tripti Lochan

    By Tuhina Anand

     

    1. Does the tag of ‘Cannes Lion winning network’ make it easier for VML Qais to make inroads into India?

    Winning Cannes Lions is a fantastic achievement – because being recognized for something like Cannes is a validation of one’s work. But in India clients are looking for our local portfolio as much as they are looking at what VML has achieved globally. To that end, awards are great – but equally important is the context of work you do in that market for brands that are recognized.

     

    2. How do you perceive the Indian digital advertising space and the opportunities here?

    The Indian digital advertising space is an extremely interesting place to be. There are fantastic opportunities, and brands that have global aspirations. But, digital is still at the “lets experiment seriously with it” stage. As brands get successful with their digital initiatives, we will see the real opportunities open up.

     

    3. What will be your focus for the next year in India?

    Continuing to build a solid company, hiring the right people, delivering against the promise we have made to clients, and ensuring that best practices from around the world are show-cased to our clients.

     

    4. What is one factor that differentiates VML from others in India operating in a similar space?

    It’s our insights-based strategic thinking. What we recommend to clients is based on real knowledge of what users want from specific brands. We create actionable insights through research that drives strategy. We have a full research team that does 360-degree research that drives strategy. This is our differentiation.

     

    5. What is the biggest drawback in India that is holding back the progress of digital advertising/marketing making the most of its potential?

    Frankly, India is like the rest of the world in its evolution of digital. The budgets put against digital advertising do not reflect the amount of time consumers are spending online. When this imbalance gains equilibrium, that’s when we will see the real potential of digital unfold!

     

  • MxMIndia interviewed Tarun Rai, CEO, Worldwide Media, as Good Food, the BBC magazine published by WWM, completes a year

    Jaldi 5 with Tarun Rai: Beaten a new path with Good Food

    Good Food, the popular BBC magazine published in India by The Times of India group’s Worldwide Media, completed a year of publishing last week. And a very successful one at that, having achieved the mindshare of the discerning Indian when it comes to food-related content. MxMIndia interviewed Tarun Rai, CEO, Worldwide Media, a day after it celebrated the Good Food Day at Mumbai’s ITC Grand Central hotel.

     

    01. When you spoke to us on the eve of the launch of ‘Good Food’ last year, you had said: “We are going into uncharted territory and we are beating a new path. There are dangers but as I said, somebody has to do it and we believe that the potential is huge”.  Now, a year later, as you celebrated your second ‘Good Food Day’, how do you look back?

    It is good to be the first. While there are no precedents at least there is no baggage. The territory was unchartered but we believed the potential to be huge. We believed the timing was right too. The food sector in India was buzzing. People were experimenting with different cuisines both in their homes and while eating out. And we had a powerful magazine brand in BBC Good Food. And the last twelve months has borne that out. The response to the magazine has been fantastic from readers, the industry as well as advertisers. It, therefore, gave us immense pleasure to celebrate Good Food Day on October 21.

     

    02. Was it tough walking a new path in a slowdown year?

    We went about our plans and investment behind the launch. We were not going to pull back because of any perceived slowdown. We even invested in our 2000 square feet kitchen and studio to test all the 100-odd recipes in the magazine, three times. Triple testing of recipes is the promise that we make and we needed our own kitchen to test the recipes and to create new, original ones. At the end of twelve months we are ahead of our revenue targets.

     

    03. Does it help having a surfeit of television food shows and food channels? Would you say they have fuelled the demand (and need) for an international-level food magazine like yours?

    The shows on TV are another indicator of the new interest in food. Yes, they do help in creating the excitement around food.

     

    04. Will you be looking at extending the ‘Good Food’ franchise to other areas like television shows and even food stores as well? (There’s a ‘Good Food’ food channel in the UK.)

    The Good Food brand has a lot of potential beyond magazines. We are looking at various possibilities of extending the brand. We hope to launch a big property sometime early next year.

     

    05. Now that a year is past us, what are the things that we can look forward to in the next year?

    We are going to keep investing behind the brand in our second year. We will continue to work with the industry and our clients to promote our common agenda to encourage people to try out new cuisines. The Good Food kitchen will become the hub of a lot of activity be it Master Classes with chefs or other food events. The Good Food application and site, which is hugely popular in UK, will also be launched in the year. We have beaten a new path and it has turned out to be a very exciting one.

     

  • In the run-up to the first phase of Digitization, we spoke to Anuj Gandhi, Group CEO, IndiaCast about the ground realities and beyond

    Jaldi 5 with Anuj Gandhi, Group CEO, IndiaCast

    1. We have a little less than a month to go for digitization in the four metros. If the government estimates are to be believed, by now over 70 per cent of four metros have been digitized. Is that the case?

    The data does not take into consideration that homes have 2-3 TV sets now. That is the only gap I see, which will have to be plugged probably in the first month. Other than this, we think that the numbers are in line with what the situation is on the ground.

     

    2. With digitization, audiences will be able to choose channels. Would IndiaCast channels lose out?

    It depends on what packages the channels are on. Of all the packages that have been declared, I am pretty pleased that our channels are very well-placed. I do not think that is a worry at all. Packages have been announced. we have done deals with most operators in the market and we know where the channels are being carried.

     

    Have you signed the deal with all the operators?

    We have signed deals that cover 70-75% of the market. Our intention is to sign with each and every operator.

     

    3. There is a worry that there will be some piracy in the form of pilferage of signals after November 1.

    In any transformation or reset in the industry, there is always going to be chaos or piracy. We will have to deal with it. Of course, I am not saying that there will not be. But I do not think it will be on large scale and we will have to deal with it when it comes.

     

    4. What more would you like the other stakeholders to do to ensure 100% digitization?

    The critical work that needs to be done, has to be carried out by ground personnel. The last mile operators and MSOs have to ensure that there are enough boxes available on the ground, and that the right communication is going to the final customer.

     

    5. Will digitization cause paradigm shifts in how media brands create value in the future?

    Absolutely. Most of the big media brands have been under-monetized with the subscription revenues for a very long time. And once we start getting our fair value of subscription, I am sure better part of the money will go into making better content and putting more money in the channels.

     

    As told to Ananya Saha

     

  • Veteran adman Gopi Kukde believes there do exist some professionals in our awards-crazy advertising world who believe in the movement to change perceptions on the girl child as a social responsibility

    Jaldi 5 with Gopi Kukde: No gender bias in advertising

    Veteran adperson Gopi Kukde was one of the mentors invited by Population First for the creative thinking workshops engaging mass media students on gender issues. Although the International Day of the Girl Child was celebrated last week, Mr Kukde has been travelling and he completed this interview via email over the last week.

     

    01. It was good to see the first ever International Day of the Girl Child being celebrated last week. How do we prevent it from being mere tokenism (as in, what are the steps that need to be taken to avoid it being just another ‘day’)?

    It always happens that a ‘top-of-mind’ event is spoken about and celebrated for a few days. Unless we feel for the cause from bottom of our hearts it is difficult, rather impossible to convert it into a revolution. Nevertheless one must keep on trying!

     

    02. In your experience with interacting with marketers and advertising agency professionals, do you think they are sincere in their attempts to appreciate the responsibility towards the ‘girl child’ in a society like ours?

    Yes and no. While most of them look at it as an opportunity to win an award, which is why you see most shallow attempts time and again, there are some professionals in this award-crazy world who do it as a social responsibility.

     

    Though I feel that a lot of professionalism and science needs to be added to our attempts for, the task is a mammoth one. It is an issue that is spread across the country for centuries, in different levels, sometimes absolutely contradicting each other.

     

    Do you think self-regulation bodies like ASCI and Advertising Club and AAAI should also take it upon themselves to promote the cause?

     

    Although I believe that advertising is a smaller part of the pie in such a movement, the larger part depends on the government, the media and the social leaders. In this situation, the more the merrier, without making it a case of too many cooks complicating matters. For this we need a systematic approach and a strong belief in the cause. The more systematic we are better the results would be.

     

    03. Your views on gender biases in today’s advertising?

    For the last 35 years I have not come across any instance like this, which is why I am proud of advertising as a profession!

     

    04. One view of marketers is that they need to sell to consumers given the prevailing behavioural patterns and they can’t be correcting those. How do change this view? (Marketers often feel that they need to sell according to prevailing Indian consumer attitudes and mentality and that there is little they can do to change that. How do you think this can be tackled?)

    I don’t think so. Advertising has changed many perceptions. Yes, it might take time, but constant efforts will definitely show results.

     

    05. Television serials, television and print media content also further aggravate this image of women. What is your view on this?

    You are right, our television serials and some other media do portray a woman the way she shouldn’t be. The ultimate goal they look for is TRP and sales. This would automatically reduce once this small effort becomes a movement.

     

    (Interviewed by Fatema Rajkotwala)

     

  • Acquired five years ago, Hanmer & Partners is today MSL India, a fully owned Publicis Groupe company and part of leading international public relations major, the MSL Group. Jaideep Shergill, CEO, MSL India spoke to MxMIndia on the new identity

    Jaldi 5 with Jaideep Shergill: Good PR is good storytelling

    Jaideep Shergill

    01. One presumes that other than part of the acquisition plan of Hanmer PR by Publicis Groupe, the switchover to MSL India also indicates that the various MSL policies are now being adopted and totally internalised by the team here. What are the specific MSL Group values that people who deal with you (clients, press etc) can look forward to?

    To be honest, the internalisation has been going on for the last five years. We joined MSL in 2007 and it has been five years since that happened. I do not think that anything is new for people at Hanmer as people here are working as part of MSL for five years. We are already a part of the vision and the brand already.

     

    I do not think anything is going to change as far as our vision and values are concerned. It is not going to change, rather get more aligned, sharp and focused.

     

    What is/are the key differentiator(s) between the agency as it was five years back and now?

    Lots of things have changed over the last five years. When Hanmer joined MSL, the two agencies had a lot of common things. We are focussed on our people, our clients. We have a very transparent structure and open culture. And I think those things are still going to remain.

     

    What has changed is that we have grown from an independent small agency to a global brand today. Today we are working across borders. We have best practices from all over the world. The infrastructure is better. We moved to a new location in a brand new building, which houses all the MSL group agencies. We have focused a lot in the last 3-4 years on digital.

     

    02. Other than the identity, it is interesting that you have moved to an upgraded office. And we thought we were in a stressful slowdown. Evidently you are doing very, very well?

    The company is doing well in any case. But I would say that moving into a new location is not necessarily because of performance but more about the plan that we have spelt out for ourselves.

     

    03. How has this year been for MSL India (including those months as Hanmer MSL India)? In an interview with us last year, you had said: “If there is a slowdown this time we will be better prepared because we have a gameplan”. Are things going as planned?

    Things are going as planned. In the announcement we made last week, we articulated our gameplan for the next three years, and what we want to accomplish over the next three years. Of course we understand that there will or can be difficult times ahead in the market.

     

    We are going to focus more on digital and much more on strategic communication.

     

    In an interview to us last year, you had said ‘Two years to be No 1’ (http://www.mxmindia.com/2011/12/we-are-happy-being-no-1-as-msl-group/). One year has nearly passed since you said this. Are we on course?

    I would say that MSL group is number 1 in several respects. Hanmer or MSL India may not be number one but definitely, among the top two-three. The group, which is the entire umbrella entity, has Hanmer MSL focused towards reaching the number one position.

     

    04. Perceptions these days are created not just by the traditional media, but also by social media… over Facebook, Twitter and thousands of bloggers. Your agency was among the first to start a full-fledged social media division. In the months to come, do you see social media PR integrating with traditional PR?

    In our case, it has already integrated. We have over 50 people in our team dedicated to doing social media full-time. At some level, everybody is engaged in digital PR. We have a global hub, which we call social hive. Within our PR team in India, hundreds of people have been trained to deliver on social media.

     

    05. Tell us more about the ‘storytelling motif’ that your communiqué talks of…

    We believe that our job is of storytelling. That is what today’s PR does. Today it is about communicating more creatively and effectively. We believe in our vision of being advisors to our clients and a source of creativity when there is so much competition. It is not those days that there is only newspaper and television, you have internet, magazines, FM coming into play and conversation happening every time. We have to be in play and be good storyteller. We have to call ourselves creative storytellers because that is the job that we do every day.

     

    (Interviewed by Ananya Saha)

     

  • Raj Datta, Senior GM, MPG-Kolkata on his first impressions on the new TOI group daily Ei Samay and whether it will be able to dent the market

    Jaldi 5 with Raj Datta: TOI has a strong youth connect but ABP is undisputed leader

    It was launched with much fanfare in Kolkata yesterday. But will Ei Samay from The Times of India stable be able to create enough impact in the Ananda Bazar Patrika-dominated Bengal market? We spoke to Raj Datta, Senior GM, MPG-Kolkata for his first impressions on the new daily.

     

    Raj Datta

    On the qualitative front a lot of the editorial team has moved from ABP to TOI, almost to prove a point as DNA had done to TOI, giving ABP a run for its money. So they know the market, its people and the competition, a heady combination. Editorial content being good, the case would be to develop their weekend content and other sections.

    On the quantitative front, Ei Samay is offering very competitive introductory pricing. For a  six-month subscription, the package is Rs 175, as also special and bumper pricing helping to increase circulation potential and get  hold of those initial eyeballs. Re-subscription would remain to be seen, but undoubtedly they will garner a captive audience for the first six months, really quite a bit of time for a reader to get habituated to style and format.

     

    02 Will a Bengali newspaper from The Times of India stable will be able to dent the market?

    Historically and in numbers, ABP has been the undisputed leader in Kolkata with a sticky brand loyalty associated with them. TOI has had marketing muscle, been innovative and agile with a strong youth connect and flexibility to changing technologies and trends.

    Whether Ei Samay will dent the market or not remains to be seen but certainly they will dent the method of operation of the ABP group making them more aggressive, reactive and proactive. Already there has been a review in its pricing, something they have not with other entrants and Ei Bela launched to target a younger segment in a compact newspaper format akin to a Mid-Day.

     

    03 How was the response  for the launch issues= of Ei Samay?

    The first issue was out at an inaugural 72 pages, a first-timer for a newspaper anytime, anywhere. The editorial content was very good and it had some great innovations, like there was a French window on the front page which opened half way on both sides. It certainly hit you in one shot as it aimed to do. The response would have to be a wait and watch but certainly it’s something ABP will respond proactively to.

     

    04 About Ei Samay, Times group editorial director Jaideep Bose wrote, “It will be Ei Samay’s endeavour to champion its readers’ causes in every possible way — be it to enhance their quality of life, or help rejuvenate Bengal, or create opportunities for the young, or simply provide a platform for ideas and solutions.” Do you think the product epitomises this thinking?

    The recent IRS confirmed that ABP’s youth profile is poor, something which Ei Bela is positioned to counter-act to balance the absolute number rule with the problematic youth area panacea.

    Traditionally, TOI has had a strong youth connect with experience in marketing initiatives and the ‘power of ideas’ involving a younger audience. It knows how to bring in the celebrity and style, talk of where the next party, poetry reading or art show is happening; or come up with editorial sections by student or experts. It knows how to create events and awards to take center stage.

     

    05 How are advertisers responding? 

    Ei Samay’s pricing is extremely competitive and the packaging very attractive with add-on rates at just Rs.150-Rs.200 making it a value-for-money part of the advertising offering. It is essentially targeting Kolkota city over the rest of Bengal. Ei Bela by ABP is also targeted to the city and is offering competitive advertising rates as are the ABP group publications but TOI is being extremely aggressive on this front.

    The corporate business should be easy for TOI to garner with most of the companies having offices in other cities too, but the real fight is in the retail business, which is huge… like saris, jewellery, etc. And there are other Kolkota publications like Bartaman and Sambad Pratidin too.

     

    As told to Ananya Saha

     

  • Anil Garg, Chairman & Managing Director, Explore Travel Channel on whether digitization will help smaller channels

    Jaldi 5 with Anil Garg: No industry body to take care of smaller channels

    While digitization is supposed to help bring in greater transparency into the broadcast ecosystem, the real beneficiary will be the small broadcaster who could well be on a near-equal playing field as a big broadcaster. But does the small channel-owner really feel that he or she is going to benefit. While there are several independents in the business, we approached one who is indeed completely unattached to any ‘big’ force and is not part of any major broadcast association or pressure group.

     

    We spoke to Anil Garg, Chairman & Managing Director, Explore Travel Channel.

     

    01. Is there renewed hope for small channels such as yours given that digitization will see access fee being eliminated?

    I don’t know if the access fee will be eliminated completely, but yes it will be in cases where the distributors ask a channel for the signal! The good news is that if digitization is implemented in the manner that has been mandated by the government, it will help many specialized and FTA channels to be a part of the FTA package. But most importantly, we should appreciate that the biggest beneficiary of this historic switchover to digital is going to be the consumer. They will have more choice, better quality of signals and a transparency in billing practices.

     

    02. So is it goodbye to carriage fees wef November 1?

    No, I don’t think so. But there will be some rationalization since the operators have more bandwidth unlike what was the case in the analogue space. Also there is really no prime band kind of placement. With the increased number of channels on the digital platforms, channels are typically grouped by genre. With all this, we will see carriage fees being re- negotiated.

     

    03. Are there areas where you think the government can still step and clear the mess?

    I am not sure if there is a mess in the digitization proposal mandated by the government. This is a serious attempt by the government to shift the nation to digital and this is the only way to grow the industry and all the stakeholders in this ecosystem be it broadcasters, advertisers or the distributors among others. Everyone needs to work together at this important and historic juncture in time.

     

    It is important that the rollout be implemented in time and as fast as possible to ease the perceived pain in implementing, as I said earlier, perhaps the first major step towards improving service levels and bringing in transparency and an element of fairness in this business.

     

    I am sure that once the rollout starts, there will be many suggestions on how to improve the process and am sure that the government and the various stakeholders will be open to discussing such suggestions and sorting them out.

     

    04.What’s your view on ratings? Should TAM be suspended in the early days of

    digitization?

     

    As we are aware, there is already pressure on TAM Media Research to suspend television ratings data on account of digitization rollout in the four metros. There is always resistance to change; in this case we hear that in such a situation the advertisers are concerned on the methodology that will be used by media planners and broadcasters in their pricing mechanisms due to lack of an alternate viewership metric.

     

    It is a fact that the TAM (analogue home) sample size in these four metros is substantial. Therefore, there is bound to be inaccurate viewership data till such time TAM transitions totally in the digital markets. Till such time, using such inaccurate data will be rather unfair to all stakeholders. The other grouse is from the advertisers in that they would like to be cautious about spending large sums on advertising on television without any accurate data on the returns on such spends.

     

    Again as I have said, all the stakeholders must take a call in this matter in the bigger interests of the industry and the consumer in particular. My own personal view is that no one should use inaccurate data.

     

    05. Are industry bodies able to take care of the interests of small channels like yours?

     

    I don’t think any industry body exists to take care of the smaller channels. Neither is there any industry body helping promote the growth of pro-social channels. Nor has the government built any mechanisms to support television channels, large or small; I feel it is high time the government came out with a plan to support media channels, especially if they are in the pro-social domain.

     

    There is an urgent need to build a body akin to NASSCOM for the television industry in this country.