MxMIndia

Tag: Loud & Clear

  • Ritu Midha wonders why we see no innovations on television – where the opportunities are far larger than print

    Ritu Midha: Could we see more innovations, please?

    By Ritu Midha

     

    As a media journalist, I keep analysing ads and classifying them under various categories: clutter-breakers, innovative, where is the brand etc. While most ads of a category are more or less on similar lines, a few leave a mark. It might be for their creativity, use of media or purely because they are innovative, and different.

     

    The first print innovation that made me sit up and take note in a decade was the Bombay Times false cover on August 27. It was for the movie Boss. For a minute, I though Bombay Times had changed its layout. I picked the paper and opened it in the way advertisers would have expected it to be opened.

     

    I wished a brand had done this. Think of the brand recall enhancement it would have created .A brand which is not semi-perishable like a movie, has a longer shelf life. Which is not made or broken by the response of audiences on a Friday.

     

    Talking of audiences, they are thronging theatres again РChennai Express and Madras Caf̩ are proof. Advertisers, one is sure are taking note, and one would soon witness more and more of them re-entering cinemas or experimenting with them. In the course of my discussion with a senior industry professional, he mentioned that multiplexes are for upmarket audiences. And with more and more movies catering to these audiences, upmarket brands are bound to go there. Another interesting mention was to the fact that cinema perhaps is the only medium all family members are interested in. Interestingly, they might even watch the same movie but with a different set of companions.

     

    Coming back to innovations, I wonder why we see no innovations on television – where the opportunities are far larger than print. Does television feel it doesn’t need to innovate – or is it that we fail to notice innovations on television! The only close-to-innovation thing I can recall is the one-hour Eid show on Colors. Once again for a movie: OUATIMD.  Something different from the stars visiting reality shows.

     

    To be honest, I have no Idea whether after the cap on FCT, brands are allowed to create such programming or not. My reasoning if it can be stars of a movie, why not brand ambassadors and endorsers hanging on a channel for an hour?

     

    Each genre should look for innovations not only in advertising, but also in terms of programming. However, it being the year of news channels (what with falling rupee, floods, rape cases, border insurgencies, and the run-up to the mother-of-all-elections), perhaps they need to look at innovations far more closely.

     

    Considering the shouting (and hence parched throats) that happen on Prime Time news, perhaps a water brand can come in.

     

  • If one looks at year-on-year growth, which as per AC Nielsen, saw a growth of 18.5% (2012 over 2011) the picture for the FMCG does not look that dismal, notes Ritu Midha

    Ritu Midha: The price paid for inflation

    By Ritu Midha

     

    India’s GDP growth is down to around 5.5%. And though the government has pushed everyone spending more than Rs 32 in a day in urban areas above the poverty line, it has not really been able to force them to increase their spends.

     

    The fact remains that Rs 32 a day is barely enough to scrape through the day and people can buy much less in that amount now than they did last year.  Blame it on price rise and inflation!

     

    And it is not the story of people just bpl or apl, but across the middle class. FMCG, the fourth largest sector in the country has faced the brunt of it with sales in the quarter ending June 2013 not matching the expectations in most cases. A few examples: HUL 7% (slowest in last three years), ITC 10% (Non-cigarette FMCG 18.4%), Dabur  9%, Colgate Palmolive India 9% and Nestle India 9.8%.

     

    However, if one looks at Y-o-Y growth, which as per AC Nielsen, saw a growth of 18.5% (2012 over 2011) the picture does not look that dismal. Though, one must mention here that not all companies did well.

     

    For the purpose of understanding what really works for FMCG companies, Nielsen study looked at the top five (Hi5) and bottom five (Lo5) of the 20 fastest growing FMCG companies in India. The average value growth of the hi5 was 28%, while that of Lo5 was 18%.

     

    The following are the factors, as per Nielsen that worked for the Hi5 FMCG companies:

     

    A. Focus not only on quantity of distribution, but also on quality of distribution. ITC Yippee Noodles, the study states, expanded its reach through right outlets and improved its weighted distribution to 60% in two years.It managed to garner 10% of the category share in same duration.

    B. To grow value companies need to focus on growing volumes among other things. P&G, for instance, launched Tide Naturals at RS 10, making it affordable to all. This move helped the company in increasing its market share substantially.

    C. Innovative new launches definitely help. A good example here is of P&G’s Gillette Guard – which through research got the insight that in rural areas most men had to balance mirror in one hand, while shaving from the other. Hence Gillette Guard razor was launched with a better grip at affordable Rs 15. It garnered a market share of 44% in rural India.

    D. Consciousness about consumers’ price sensitivity, more so in the times of  economic slowdown. ITC biscuits is an interesting example. It expanded its presence to multiple price points with a focus on popular segments – thus increasing its market share.

    E. To understand that modern trade is an important retail medium. It is not enough to be present at traditional sales outlets. The Hi5 companies got a bigger share of their sales from modern trade than Lo5

     

    Evolved FMCG companies are going that extra mile to cater to Indian audiences across the spectrum – and those which are not are in for rough weather. We often talk about lessons politicians can learn from marketing – and here lie two big ones: one, adjust your sails with the changing winds in the country, and, second, be all-inclusive, focus on one segment, and you are in for trouble.

     

    Ritu Midha is a senior journalist and web strategist based in Mumbai. She is also Consulting Editor and Editor – Special Projects, MxMIndia.

     

  • It is the same reality show across news channels, with nearly similar participants on all of them. What changes is the anchor or the NJ (news jockey), writes Ritu Midha

    Ritu Midha: News channels must build differentiators

    By Ritu Midha

     

    The event of the week for us in the advertising and media fraternity was the Publicis and Omnicom merger. In the ad world, it doesn’t get bigger than this.

     

    However, when one looks at a broader picture, the merger in its broadest terms would make difference to less than 1% of India’s populace. 0.1% or 0.01% perhaps

     

    There are, nonetheless a few pressing matters that are top-of-mind for the ad and media professionals (professionally) and the people they want to engage and connect with!

     

    While in an average year it would be a festive season that’s occupies centrestage in the media calendar, this year it is jostling for space with the general elections, most probably scheduled for the second quarter of 2014.

     

    While the marketing and sales teams of news channels and news publications might be going in circles to get as big a share of advertising pie as possibly this festive season, sponsored sections and supplements being one nice way to achieve the numbers.

     

    News watchers among us are willy-nilly set for the election drama for the next 10 months, and if it is a hung Parliament with loads to buy and sell, even longer. It is the same reality show – with nearly the same participants on all news channels. What changes is the anchor or presenter or should we call him or her the NJ (news jockey)

     

    Instead of putting the content and intent of news channels under scanner, my concern is more on the differentiators – why would people hang on one channel, and not move to the other. With measurement issues more or less resolved, and all the stakeholders on the same page, ratings would once again call the shots. Would the NJ be the only differentiator? Alas there can be no judges here, save the viewing masses of course.

     

    Differentiation is a must, come what may. And the faster it happens, the better it would be for the news channels, and of course, audiences. Let’s face it, Elections 2014 are emerging as the mother-of-all elections – and credit for the same, to whatever extent, goes to new channels as wells, the number of which has grown exponentially in the last five years.

     

    Another observation is news channels look similar on the social media too. Whey they need to make the most of interactivity, they seriously need to look beyond their followers’ tweets and comments scrolling on their channels.

     

    To their credit, newspapers manage to create differentiators – even if the key headlines are often the same or similar. Interestingly, their social media presence too is, in most cases, better than news channels.

     

    News channels have to realise that the game needs to move beyond ‘The louder I shout, the better I am’.  And remember that they would have just twelve minutes of ad time per hour – if audiences keep surfing from one news channel to another, ad breaks would be the first calamity.

     

    By the way do you think there can be in-programme product placement opportunities on news channels this Election Season?

     

    Ritu Midha is a senior journalist and web strategist based in Mumbai. She is also Consulting Editor and Editor – Special Projects, MxMIndia.

     

  • One does tend to tilt towards broadcasters here – and wish that any decision pertaining to FCT is implemented only after the complete post DAS roll out, writes Ritu Midha

    Ritu Midha: Of FCT, CPT and data frequency….

    By Ritu Midha

     

    July is an important month in television advertising. The first TV ad – aired on the WNBT channel in the US in 1941 – was for Bulova, a watchmaker.  The 10-second spot, showing the picture of a clock with a US Map, had a voiceover ‘America runs on Bulova time’.

     

    That was 73 years back, and the face of television and advertising on it has  seen a complete makeover since. It would be interesting to take note of the changes… some other time though. At the moment, any thought on television advertising immediately brings to mind FCT and measurement, issues the industry is grappling with.

     

    FCT first: ad time per hour to be precise! While in the US, it is (or was till 2011 – as per the information I could dig out on the web) 15 to 18 minutes per hour, in Europe it is 12 minutes. Australia too averages out to 12 minutes per hour – but interestingly, there it is not about ad minutes per hour, but ad minutes per 24 hours – these can be split as per the requirements.

     

    In India, the decision is to bring the FCT down to 12 minutes and it is already work in progress with gradual reduction of ad minutes per hour. It, obviously, is a cause of concern for broadcasters. It is anticipated that some of the revenues channels would be made up by the subscription fee. However, for that DAS has to be on schedule, and roll out be completed by December 2014. One does tend to tilt towards broadcasters here – and wish that any decision pertaining to FCT is implemented only after the complete post DAS roll out.

     

    And then too, why not try out the Australia model, with an upper cap on ad minutes in the prime time? And perhaps, gradually settle at something that works for India, and not necessarily what Britain does!

     

    As for marketers, they must look at in-programme placements more aggressively – to reach not only a more involved audience, but also not to feel the pinch of changed demand-supply equation commercially, and otherwise.

     

    The second issue bogging television advertising at the moment is measurement – data frequency on one side (weekly/ monthly/ rolling weekly/ fortnightly) and CPRP vs CPT on the other. Battlelines are drawn with buyers and sellers on either side of fence!

     

    An argument here is that daily ratings are the way forward, and we should not regress to monthly ones. Just curious, are media plans and buys based on a week’s ratings? Or for that matter, predictions?  The discussion, however, is said to be headed towards a compromise formula – fortnightly, and rolling weekly being the two models flaunted as the best options by many.

     

    By the way, if marketers are so keen to continue with weekly ratings for perfect planning and buying, why are they hesitant to adopt the CPT model? Wouldn’t cost per thousand help in getting the exact numbers?And is it not what the world is headed towards?

     

    A totally disjointed thought here, would the reader experience not be enhanced in print too if the number of ad column centimetres in a publication is pre-defined by a Government body – and the publications are disallowed from putting more than a fixed number of ads on every page – including their ‘prime’ pages?

     

    And, at the moment, is print hoping some spillover from television if its current troubles continue for an extended period of time – many an advertiser would have after all put aside a chunk of their budgets for festive season and elections precursors.

     

    Ritu Midha is a senior journalist and web strategist based in Mumbai. She is also Consulting Editor and Editor – Special Projects, MxMIndia.

     

    This column by Ritu Midha was written before the consensus formula between the ISA, IBF and AAAI with TAM was worked out

     

  • The day marketers get the right media mix to reach the elusive upmarket male, they would go after him full throttle, writes Ritu Midha

    Ritu Midha: Are marketers targeting men at the expense of women?

    By Ritu Midha

     

    Women are the focus of most marketing communication, for most product categories. The evolution of modern urban Indian women is the topic of discussion at many a marketing forum – more true, perhaps, of upmarket women.

     

    I would be the last person to object to women being in the focus of marketers’ attention, but are marketers reaching them at the expense of men?

     

    I intend to restrict my musings to SEC A and A+ male. Aren’t men, with due apologies to the ever-increasing tribe of single, ‘doing well’ females in the country, still the main bread- (and health food in many cases!) earners of 99 per cent of the families, even in this strata of society? And, by default, the key purchase decision-makers?

     

    To my mind, it is a conscious attempt by many marketers to connect with women even in the categories where they are not the purchase decision-makers but only the influencers. And the reason for the same is simple: it is far too expensive to reach men as compared to women.

     

    Women are on television – some men are on television too, but the fragmentation there is way too high! Courtesy the number of news and movie channels. Also, remember that women wield the remote at primetime too, the time when men might choose to settle in front of the television, if they could control the remote. When it comes to sports channels, there is lesser worry – cricket hai jahan, marketers hain wahan!

     

    As for newspapers, and barring weekends, men are supposed to be much bigger consumers of the same than women (at least the main paper), one tends to see education, retail, real estate and entertainment ads largely. Do marketers of male-centric categories feel that men don’t read newspapers, or do they feel that even if they read them, they don’t really notice the ads there?!

     

    Is digital the right option then? Social media? Mobile? Radio? Niche magazines? Ground events? Small events targeting premium audiences are gaining momentum globally and are gradually picking up in our country too.

     

    One thing is sure: the day marketers get the right media mix to reach the elusive upmarket male, they would go after him full throttle. He is the key decision-maker in purchase of most high ticket items, and where he is not, he is the key influencer.

     

    Though elusive he is, he cannot be ignored by marketers. Is it time platform-agnostic content providers experimented and engaged these audiences across platforms culminating it on his handheld device, and where it delivers a good RoI, into an event?

     

    Ritu Midha is a senior journalist and web strategist based in Mumbai. She is also Consulting Editor and Editor – Special Projects, MxMIndia.

     

  • CPT could well be the common thread measuring the consumer's media consumption behaviour on a single measurement platform, writes Ritu Midha

    Ritu Midha: Deliberating CPT with a twist!

    By Ritu Midha

     

    While researching CPT and CPRP, I stumbled upon an interesting article in the September 9 , 2009 issue of Brand Equity. The article indicates that the cause of concern if any in implementing CPT-based pricing for FCT would be raised by the channels, while the advertisers and agencies would rather prefer it. Well, things sure have changed in the last four years with television owners in favour of CPT as agencies and advertisers are, as per reports, favouring CPRP.

     

    In internet advertising parlance, Cost Per Thousand is about number of impressions an ad placement generates.  However, as online advertising is coming of age, CPT or CPM is increasingly giving way to performance-based parameters – most basic of them being CPC or cost per click.

     

    CPT is a key factor in print measurement too with readership numbers being the main measurement force here.

     

    And now the push by media owners for CPT instead of CPRP. To an untrained brain like mine, none of these are really performance metrics for the ad, they are plain vanilla viewership metrics. Though it might be an uphill task to convert per cent ages to actual numbers or vice-versa, and hence the CPRP and CPT debate.

     

    Having said that, if CPT does not take into account time spent and stickiness, how does one know whether the ad has really been viewed or not. It, then, comes close to CPT in print medium.

     

    But what if CPT really takes into account the viewership profile – which from whatever I have read on the subject is going to happen – mapping the numbers to the target audience for a brand. If a brand wanting to target 18- to 25-year-old males can really identify that its ad was actually viewed by 20,000 men that age – and that’s how CPT is worked out! Utopia!

     

    That is how it works in the digital world when there is a call for action attached to the ad! Specific demographics and, in some cases, psychographics too!

     

    In the case of television, this is impossible as it is not a personal medium. But can the digitised universe now make it possible to track the actual number of households watching a show instead of it just being a sample survey? Even if it is only for 25% of the universe to begin with? Of course, factors like who is watching can be captured on a small sample size – like TAM does now – and be extrapolated.

     

    It might sound quixotic to many, but imagine if the same could be done, the amount of wastage that can be avoided is just not funny! And the planners too would have to put in a lot more effort just to figure which programme they should go for… as it would no longer be a small sample size-based reasonable error quotient, but nearly the entire universe.

     

    And if that is a possibility, we can then look at CPT being the common thread when measuring the consumer’s media consumption behaviour on a single measurement platform.

     

    Ritu Midha is a senior journalist and web strategist based in Mumbai. She is also Consulting Editor and Editor – Special Projects, MxMIndia.

     

  • If we can develop single platform to track the media consumption habits, it would take consumer-centricity to a new level, writes Ritu Midha

    Ritu Midha: A single media measurement platform, anyone?

    By Ritu Midha

     

    Earlier this week, I had an interesting conversation with a friend who was stuck in traffic in Mumbai’s Western Express Highway. Jammed close to a hoarding of ‘New Woman’ magazine which read ‘She is just like you’, his reaction ‘Only if she (HemaMalini/new woman) knew who she is being compared to…’

     

    Though I found the comparison amusing at that instant, the media journalist in me immediately said, ‘spill over and wastage’.  To be honest, Outdoor has been off my radar for quite a while, and I have no clue how its effectiveness is measured.

     

    However, I’ve been interested in measurement currencies of other media – be it Print, Television, Radio or Internet. And often I find myself wondering if it was possible to measure all of people’s media consumption habits instead of measuring each media individually. The consumer, after all, is the focus of all marketing communication – and key is to reach him/her effectively and cost-effectively – the medium being just the vehicle.

     

    Coming back to various media, the measurement data for each one of them is available digitally, and that is where similarity ends.  Frequency, sample size and delivery platform are completely different. Nonetheless, while currencies for all mediums are different, they are identical in a sense that they target consumers’ media consumption habits and patterns.

     

    A disclaimer here: my blog this week is just an outcome of my curiosity and quest for knowledge, rather than a statement.

     

    Moving on, is it not possible to merge all these currencies together and create a single media consumption currency? What if it could be done at the industry level?  Technology majors like IBM and Wipro are well-equipped to take care of such a system. During my stint with a telecom giant, I have witnessed how various systems on different platforms can be effectively merged together. Multiple data sources and systems are merged into one with customer-centricity as the driving force. Whatever marketing and service delivery could imagine, IT delivered.

     

    An industry body delivering data that reflects the media and product consumption habits of people.  Awesome!!!

     

    Can we find out what the media and product consumption habits of SEC A person in a small town in Uttar Pradesh are on a single platform?

     

    It’s not an easy task, and could see many glitches to start with. But if it can be done, it would take consumer-centricity to a new level.

     

    And most important of all, would it not save several manhours and monies for media agencies?

     

    Ritu Midha is a senior journalist and web strategist based in Mumbai. She is also Consulting Editor and Editor – Special Projects, MxMIndia.

     

  • In Loud & Clear, Ritu Midha laments the lag in mobile marketing, which has not evolved in tune with the promises it heralded.

    Ritu Midha: The second screen… or is it the first?

    By Ritu Midha

     

    Three screens – television, computer and mobile put together devour Indian urban populace’s maximum waking hours. And, then of course, there are tablets and cinema screens.

     

    Television, of course, continues to create maximum engagement – and hence the centrepiece of most marketing strategies. In spite of its measurement currency being marred in controversy at the moment – it would continue to be the key medium to reach us.

     

    Computer as a medium of advertising communication is on the upswing – innovations, interactivity and measurement system all working for it. To add to it, there are learnings from other markets.

     

    Interestingly, it is the third screen – mobile – that is not delivering on the expectations it has raised as far marketing is concerned. Mobile, in my view, is the first or the second screen for many of us – I would define this target group as SEC A B, male skewed, 18+ populace, studying or working. Though they spend considerable time in front of a computer, they are not really glued to it when out of home, and are hardly home.

     

    One has been hearing for more than half a decade that mobile would change how the brands engage with consumers. And how mobile marketing would be the ‘in’ thing shortly. However, one daresay there is not much evolution in mobile marketing. Leave aside marketing, it has not even emerged as a powerful advertising medium.

     

    It is still ‘good morning, I am calling from xyz and your number has been selected for XYZ’. And 99 percent of the time the cold call gets a cold shoulder. In the best of scenarios, mobile advertising is a clone job of television and computer advertising.

     

    And this despite mobile consumption increasing by the day. As per TRAI data for February 2013, there are 861.66 million mobile connections. Add to it the numbers thrown by Nokia Siemens Networks’ MBit Index study, and the picture becomes all the more interesting.mobile data traffic generated by 3G services increased by 196 percent between December 2011 and December 2012, while mobile data traffic generated by 2G services increased by 66 percent over the same period.

     

    On to the smartphone users. As per the recent ‘2013 Internet trends’ report by Mary Meeker, partner at the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), India ranks the fifth with 67 million subscribers. The four above it are China, the US, Japan and Brazil. However, when it comes to smartphone penetration it is just 6 percent, pushing it to number 30. Whatever be the case 67million is not a small number – specially if you take into consideration 52 per cent yoy growth rate.

     

    Despite the staggering numbers mobile fails to be a unique medium – and can be personalized like none other. Do we believe mobile, after all, is not the right marketing medium? Has it got something to do with the screen size, or lack of efficiencies with the agencies and marketers alike? Or, are we reluctant to experiment?

     

    One of the youngest countries in the world, with more mobile phones than television sets, can definitely do better than agar aapka answer A hae to ekka button dabaen – though one must admit that media owners are doing a far better job of using mobile as the medium of engaging people than others including FMCG behemoths and telecom operators themselves.

     

    Ritu Midha is a senior journalist and web strategist based in Mumbai. She is also Consulting Editor and Editor – Special Projects, MxMIndia.

     

  • In Loud & Clear, Ritu Midha visualizes life without TAM, and sees a murky picture.

    Ritu Midha: If no TAM TAMming, then what?

    By Ritu Midha

     

    Flashback to October 2012. DAS was rolled out in the metros. TAM organised workshops – made quite a few modifications in its universe size and otherwise, so that it could keep pace with the changes brought in by DAS.

     

    LV Krishnan, CEO, TAM Media Research, explained that there could be quite a few changes in television viewing pattern – fall could be seen in the numbers, mainly of big channels. After the initial turmoil – set patterns were expected to emerge again.

     

    We spoke to many a media professionals – everyone was happy about DAS, and in sync with TAM’s readiness for the new universe. Interestingly, a handful of media professionals pointed out the difficulties faced by them due to the number dark period of 30 days – when TAM chose not to release data for certain markets as DAS was settling in. In a world where television is bought and sold based on TAM ratings – it indeed was a difficult scenario to work in.

     

    And now suddenly the media space is abuzz with ‘news’ (newsy gossip) that Sony Entertainment television, Times television and NDTV have bid adieu to TAM, while Star, Zee, Viacom18 and Network18 are all set to do so in the next few days. And if everyone does quit, these biggies will not return to the TAM fold in a hurry. As I understand it, they will not subscribe to TAM data, but TAM will continue to measure them!

     

    To put it in a nutshell, the carpet is all set to be swept from under TAM’s feet this week. The biggest soap opera of the television industry is heading towards a climax.

     

    One might remember there was TAM and there was INTAM. They ran parallel for nearly eight years (throwing different data sets) before they merged. And as for measurement system, It took quite some time for the industry to see the virtues of people meter, complete roll over from diary system to people meter! And now while BARC is asking for a tender for the new television measurement system globally, the new system will not be in place in a hurry. Considering the sheer size of the country, even if it does not require seeding of people meters in every home and for every television set – it still will take substantial time to capture the width TAM is capturing now.

     

    Jumping again to early DAS days, all the constituents – channels, media agencies and marketers found it difficult to manage life with 30 data dark days – how will they then manage till BARC gets the new system in place? While every agency has its own optimising and predicting models – the key currency continues to be the data provided by TAM – and television continues to be the backbone of most media plans.

     

    I distinctly remember seeing ads of competing channels – both claiming to be No 1. And they would be both correct too! TG, markets or some other parameter would be different. Important thing, I assumed (and rightfully) was to prove oneself to be No 1 based on TAM numbers.

     

    Moving to now, whether the channels are right or not – is not under the purview of this piece (and neither do I, by no stretch of imagination, understand the numbers game better than the media professionals on either side of the fence). My concern is how will television be sold? Do the channels have a Plan B? Or, will the channels sell only on qualitative – which will not mean much, unless and until these are syndicated studies encompassing all channels of a specific genre.

     

    Digressing a little, on one side we have print – where quarterly research is considered to be a good option – and till it happens, half yearly numbers too are good enough. Collecting this data is a cumbersome process despite the recent changes – and print really does not change that frequently in content- and one does not have the luxury of changing newspaper by pressing a remote button.

     

    Web, meanwhile, spins numbers real time – and one can track data till previous day on most web tracking systems.

     

    Television, of course, releases weekly data. And with digitization – possibilities of more accurate, micro, and higher frequency measurement are unlimited – out of these frequency, obviously, does not really need to be enhanced. Transparency, cited everyone, was one of the key advantages of Digital Access System – which also implied more transparent and accurate measurement. And it is the same accuracy of data that is being questioned now – culprit, of course, is said to be the methodology or one can say data slicing.

     

    Back to my concern: how will the channels sell in the period between the TAM era and BARC system era:

    1. Projections based on historical numbers: What about the ‘coming up’ and ‘upcoming’ shows? Will the new shows be sold based on the previous shows in that slot?

    2. IRS data: Till the time the new system comes in – dependence on IRS data for television viewing pattern – it is a different issue many a show might have ended by the time the data comes out, or an event be long over – changing the entire paradigm

    3. Yearly deals are already closed – so less worry – only thing is the clients would never be convinced they are getting the value committed till they see numbers in their mailbox at regular intervals

    4. Or, they are just hitting TAM – where it hurts the most. Commercially! As media agencies and marketers will continue to subscribe to TAM – there is no need to worry. And continue they will till the time a better system is in place, and it manages to convince everyone that it is a better system

    5. Ironically, convincing agencies and marketers that TAM numbers do not project the complete picture might be the hardest battle channels would need to fight – unless they have a more plausible proof of their pudding being better than others.

     

    As a parting shot: I believe the most interesting will be the battle of news channels in a GRP-, TRP-, CPRP-free world – the year ahead is going to be the year of news channels courtesy the elections, flip-flopping economy, unfolding mysteries of IPL, and of course the gore! What will it be: my anchor was better than his… or Narendra Modi was on my channel for 30 seconds longer than his channel?!

     

    Ritu Midha is a senior journalist and web strategist based in Mumbai. She is also Consulting Editor and Editor – Special Projects, MxMIndia.

     

  • In Week 3 of her new column, Loud & Clear, Ritu Midha makes a case for truly surprising newspaper advertising – which does not include the now-ubiquitous false covers.

    Ritu Midha: Off with the false covers!

    By Ritu Midha

     

    To begin with a digression, even as I have print on my mind I mentally think ‘Facebook’ alongside. Facebook has succeeded in conditioning many a mind by the simple questions it asks in its status update field. The new kid on the block – changing consumer behaviour with tiny masterstrokes! But this is just an off-the-cuff observation. On my mind at the moment – really – is print.

     

    What is with the false covers on newspapers! Frankly, now if a newspaper lands on your doorsteps without a false cover – it, err, in a weird sense of way appears nude! Now tell me – if you are 30+, and if I ask you which was the last false newspaper cover that made you take note, and your answer is still Indya.com – Well I already rest my case!

     

    I am sure there must be plenty of customized research proving that noticeability of products promoted on false covers is higher than that on inside pages… and more! But is RoI (whatever be the measurement) directly in proportion to the monies spent on it? Does noticeability mean higher brand recall? Is yes, then what is all this noise about contextual advertising?

     

    One, of course, remembers a few print innovations that had nothing to do with false covers, but worked extremely well. Be it product sampling, a car promotion, first creative innovation for a soap with bubbles on the page (it has become mundane now), or experimentation with aroma!

     

    However, these innovations are increasingly taking a back seat as the false cover syndrome takes over. So much so that on occasion, a newspaper is endowed with not one, but two false covers! If I might add, I would love to understand what spiel do sales guys give for the second false cover to be sold. As effective as the first false cover – but at 50 percent rate? Some research to prove the same would be a big help, please!

     

    Print, at the moment, is in the danger zone. However much we shout from the rooftop, the fact remains. There is an effort on increasing reach and distribution – focus on smaller towns, and one does hope it works well for the newspaper industry.

     

    But does it imply that run-of-the-mill advertising in newspapers (including false covers) will become far more effective? At the risk of sounding risque – one needs to check out fake ads to realize what print advertising can be all about!

     

    It is time print woke up and smelled the coffee! And strove towards creating advertising that is far more effective!! The wow factor has to come back! Indya.com has to cease being the benchmark. The clients have to give right brief, ask right questions and push for right solutions. Let go of the false covers – return to me my newspaper, where the headlines that shocked and surprised stared at me when I picked it up. And I promise to take note of ‘noticeable’ ads in my morning newspaper and all the supplements it comes with.

     

    Ritu Midha is a senior journalist and web strategist based in Mumbai. She is also Consulting Editor and Editor – Special Projects, MxMIndia.

     

  • In Week 2 of her new column called Loud & Clear, Ritu Midha writes on three controversies that have been discussed much in the media over the last few weeks

    Ritu Midha: Thriving on controversies

    By Ritu Midha

     

    Three big events in the recent past became large media events – the IPL of course, Phaneesh Murthy’s office romance gone sour, and, interestingly, the Cannes Film festival- not for what we won, but for what Indian female stars wore at the red carpet!

     

    Though the media tried its best to give Naxal killings a frontbench too – mysteries of a life alive won over the macabre of murder and gore.

     

    Perhaps a nation – tired of mutilated human lives in form of rape and murder- looked for an escape – and media dished out more of what they wanted. As a friend loves to say, ‘you deserve what you get, you get what you deserve!’

     

    And after all, how long can one continue to watch one single genre! 😉

     

    First, the IPL final – the stadium was full, Srinivasan bulldozed his way to give the trophy, and social media was set ablaze with criticism. Chennai lost, controversy won.

     

    Mumbai Indian’s victory lap and dance – looked like putting up a brave front, even Bhajji could not pull it off convincingly!

     

    One wonders if the only option news media had was to cry hoarse about it – and show things-gone-wrong 200 times a day. Wouldn’t a blackout by media send a much stronger message? But then, ratings would be a calamity – and they matter much more than any moral responsibility that we in the media might pretend to have!

     

    And on to the Phaneesh Murthy case. Not to say what he did was right – it definitely was not! And if the corporates are rewriting their code of ethics in this backdrop – they are doing the right thing. But my question is why did the lady in question keep quiet till the time she became pregnant? What was she waiting for? Why can’t we as women create noise when it is truly required? Are we so insecure? If one raises the voice, it is heard – if not the first time, one needs to shout a bit louder second time around. But shout one must – if one doesn’t,one may well be considered a partner in crime. More so, when it comes to well-educated women professionals at senior positions.

     

    Media took a moral high ground here! A massage to female employees of media houses – your organisation is anti-sexual harassment, anti-complying to your boss’s overtures, you can raise your voice – time is now! If the iGate lady (Araceli Roiz ) could do it – why can’t you? Come on… now!

     

    It would be great to see media companies setting an example here, and resolving all such cases in their own organisation. Be the example, and maybe see your brand salience go through the sky. Good CSR is a big audience puller too.

     

    Have no knowledge of what should be worn at Cannes Red Carpet – so would pass it!

     

    IPL would be back next year – too much money riding on it. Perhaps, about time, betting here is made as legal as in horseracing, with everyone betting, everyone would watch it with a hawk’s eye for fixing signals – and help clean it. We already have players are bought and sold in auctions, so nothing really wrong about betting?

     

    Office romances converted into sexual harassment would continue -and media would play the Pope.

     

    As for women at Cannes, it is none of my business – and I kinda enjoy them being rated on what they wear in the biggest film festival in the world, instead of their histrionics in front of the camera! As long as it does not reflect on my organisation’s, my nation’s and my pride, why should I care!

     

    Meanwhile, waiting for the next controversy to break – survival ka sawaal hai!

     

  • Are the audiences listening to you, asks Ritu Midha in Loud & Clear, a new weekly blog on MxMIndia which will appear every Thursday

    Loud & Clear. A new weekly blog by Ritu Midha

    By Ritu Midha

     

    I had a delightful experience the other day. My neighbours’ grandchildren are down from Delhi, and as is common up North dropped by to meet me and my ‘family’ (consisting of two small dogs and a maid). As I usually work from home, I am found on my laptop for the large part of the day, and same was the case that day too. The elder one – a ten year old girl had some interesting queries about Internet, however, it was the younger one, a boy about seven-eight years, who bowled me over, “Aunty aap computer pae Internet karti ho?” Me: “Haan beta.” He,”Aur Internet pae?” Me: “sab kuch.” He: “Sabbb Kuchhhhh? You are even crazier than papa!”

    Well!

    Makes me realize that I spend most of my waking time in front of the computer – and more than 70 percent of it on Internet – Googling, researching, mailing (increasingly lesser and lesser – long live smart phones), and the biggest chunk on social media. Some time goes on news websites also – especially to follow up on news I find on Facebook updates, or in early morning newspapers. The biggest calamity is television – and though it sounds ridiculous – barring IPL. I do realise I am an exception rather than a rule – untypical of my age and gender. My being in the digital space for more than 15 years, being an extremely nuclear family and staying in Mumbai, can be blamed for it.

     

    But then, there is another generation – addicted to the Internet.

     

    The irony, however, is that one still notices the ads on television the most – clutter be damned, remote be damned – and even if the creative is not that good, most of the ads I remember are audio visuals. Some print ads too seldom go unnoticed – electronics – when they are full page and offering discounts, and of course, automobiles. Here, I guess, I am more typical of my generation if not my gender.

     

    Coming back to the Internet, what was the last ad you noticed on Facebook – and when was that? Caught you there! A highly involved environment – engagement at its best – but the users are engaged with each other, and not with Facebook. And so, notice what other people are saying much more than what the advertisers are saying there.

     

    If not today, in less than a decade – one would notice that quite a few audience-dense media options are not effective advertising vehicles – and those that are, would suffer from thinning audiences. A catch 22 for advertisers!

     

    Not trying to be prophetic, and predicting doomsday. Just thinking out loud! Are the advertisers and media professionals not realizing this? Am sure the concerns are being raised in many a boardroom. But, sadly, we would keep looking outwards – wait for another region, another country, another market to find a solution – and then adapt it to Indian market.

     

    But this time around it might be a recipe for disaster – we would be the youngest country in the world by the year 2020. And the solutions we need might be mighty different from what other countries are looking for. Is it time to spread media budgets thin – and ‘hope’ to take a person by surprise by being at a place least expected? Or, to go extremely mass once again – at least someone would take note? Or, to really plan a strategy that enables you to reach your target person – and not target group in an effective manner?

     

    The solution lies in making advertising more effective in high involvement environment, and in making effective advertising media more audience-dense. How? If I knew the answer I would be working in a media agency of repute!

     

    Ritu Midha is a senior journalist and web strategist based in Mumbai. She is also Consulting Editor and Editor – Special Projects, MxMIndia.