MxMIndia

Tag: Rajan Bhalla

  • MxMIndia caught up with some industry players for their views on the evolution of print advertising, the road ahead for the medium and their reactions to HT Media's 'The Magic of Print'

    Video: Good effort to evangelize print: Vikram Sakhuja, Shashi Sinha & Josy Paul. Sequel planned: Rajan Bhalla

    By Robin Thomas

     

    On the sidelines of the HT Media event to unveil the book – ‘The Magic of Print’, MxMIndia caught up with some industry players for their views on the evolution of print advertising, the road ahead for the medium and of course their reactions to ‘The Magic of Print’ and whether such initiatives really help the industry?

     

    1. Vikram Sakhuja, Global CEO, Maxus

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”220″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gleSCF4K05A[/youtube]

    Your reactions on the book – ‘The Magic of Print’…?

    It’s a great book, it’s a beautiful production, it’s got some very good tips. There are some twelve tips to re-create the magic of print and an absolutely mind blowing compilation of ads. I think Rajan Bhalla has done a brilliant job.

     

    Does the industry need more such initiatives?

    Yes, absolutely. The good thing about these kind of initiatives that it makes you stop back and think, reflect and when you are tuning with some great minds and if something comes out of it, is always nice.

     

    2. Shashi Sinha, CEO, Lodestar UM

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”220″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vILEEM6PeQ[/youtube]

    Your  reactions to the book (‘The Magic of Print’)…?

    It’s a lovely book, and it’s got a combination of some great ads, and there are some simple tips. Copywriting is one area which is very difficult for a beginner in advertising to enter into and the ones that have managed to enter into this field can also learn quite a lot from this book.

     

    On whether the industry needs more such endeavours?

    There are so many business schools, but no one teaches you the craft of advertising. So I believe this is a great endeavour and for a publisher in-house to do this initiative and to inculcate the spirit, I think it’s a great opportunity.

     

    Does the industry need more innovation for better growth?

    I won’t be worried if innovations happen or not because ultimately if there are a lot many ads on print, innovation will automatically happen. Innovation is something you do for the long term, so I won’t be worried if innovation happens or not. The fact is that advertising in print will continue to grow and as television rates go up, automatically people will come back to print. Whether it takes two years or five years, I won’t be able to predict, but, this will happen.

     

    A word of advice for print media…?

    Keep providing great content, contents which are engaging and the rest will follow.

     

    3. Josy Paul, Chairman and National Creative Director, BBDO India

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”220″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h83bzcVtlck[/youtube]

    Your reactions on the book – ‘The Magic of Print’…?

    It’s a good book, well printed, it’s got some nice images and makes me want to spend more time with it and share it with my team and may be even have some discussions on which of those are fantastic work.

     

    And does the industry need more such endeavours?

    I think more discussions are good because a discussion makes you think about the medium a little more. Basically it is about focusing on the medium and what makes the medium a little more interesting and exciting. So I think that conversations are good, always.

     

    Does the print industry need more innovations for better growth?

    I am not sure about the word innovation in print because as a reader if I find people coming in the way of my news, I do get irritated. I believe true innovation is when within the context of the page and with respect to the page you can still create magic and still have a point of view that will make people think again or get excited or share things or put it up on their board, then that’s great. However this whole thing of irritation to the reader is not innovation, in fact is suddenly makes the news a nuisance.

     

    Where do you see creativity in Print media, five years from now?

    Creativity can never die, it’s forever. I expect newer things to happen, more beautiful things, and younger people will bring in more filters to print and we will see beautiful things that we never thought about. So one cannot really predict, creativity in fact evolves.

     

    What about print as a medium five years from now?

    I think print will take a new avatar. We all know that education is a big necessity in this Country and newspapers will become an integral part of education and it will start finding new audiences and I think it will further penetrate into the different strata of the society. So, newspapers or print media is like a river that will grow very deep and I don’t think it will just die like that.

     

    4. Rajan Bhalla, Head, Corporate Marketing and Magazines, HT Media

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”220″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P8utJgX-EA[/youtube]

    On the idea behind initiating- ‘The Magic of Print’?

    Well, I think the magic of Print is our contribution, our effort to help everybody in the industry associated with print advertising to understand how to create the magic in print advertising. I think it is absolutely clear that print is an absolutely great media vehicle from the point of view of showcasing brands and above all lending a lot of credibility to the message. It is time that we all started looking at how great print advertising can be created and this is our effort in that direction.

     

    On the process that went behind creating this initiative?

    It was a tedious process that lasted us almost a year. We first identified the content of what we wanted to present in the book. Once we had the content right, we then started scanning for the best examples we could find across the globe to fit into that category. We were not so concerned about picking brands from India, we just looked at global advertising as a market place and we looked at just the best in class advertising that was created under every single theme that you will see.

     

    How have the advertisers responded to the book?

    The book has just launched, so I am very positive that both the media fraternity as well as the creative fraternity is going to view this as a great initiative, which is also going to help clear a lot of thinking that they put into creating great advertising that works for them. So, it is just the beginning and we would like to probably move on this path as we go forward, year on year.

     

    So, will there be a sequel to this book – ‘The Magic of Print’?

    Absolutely yes; so we would be looking at various genres in which we can actually help impact the print industry, impact print advertising and help our advertisers in different ways. So you can look forward to another such initiative one year from now.

     

  • HT Media Limited has 'upped the ante on design and content' with the new avatar of Brunch Weekly. Brunch is the popular weekly lifestyle and entertainment magazine from Hindustan Times launched in 2003.

    HT revamps Sunday supplement Brunch

    By A Correspondent

     

    HT Media Limited (HTML) unveiled the new avatar of Brunch Weekly on February 19. Brunch is the popular weekly lifestyle and entertainment magazine from Hindustan Times launched in 2003. It is currently circulated complimentary with HT and select editions of Mint on Sunday, and is the largest read English lifestyle magazine in India with a circulation of 13.1 lakh and growing.

     

    Poonam Saxena, Editor of Brunch Weekly, commented on the launch: “Brunch has an unmatched reach and a large bank of extremely loyal readers who have enjoyed the magazine over the last eight years. It was time to give our readers something new, something unexpected and something fresh. Readers will be delighted with what they find on their doorstep every Sunday morning. It is the same magazine we all fell in love with all those years ago, but with an exciting new look and feel, and more entertaining and interactive content. Brunch just made Sundays better!”

     

    The brand promises its readers “The Good Life” week after week with gripping content that covers various lifestyle and entertainment-related genres. The revamped Brunch includes several new features including weekly contests and feature series, celebrity columns, and stories with web codes that can be scanned for exclusive supplemental content. The lineup of Brunch columnists includes Vir Sanghvi, Rajiv Makhni, Seema Goswami, Shikha Sharma and Sanjoy Narayan.

     

    Rajan Bhalla, Head – Corporate Marketing & Magazines, added, “We decided to give Brunch a makeover for the benefit of our readers. More than three million people across the country read Brunch because we give them an exemplary reading experience. Brunch is a Sunday ritual for them; something they eagerly look forward to. We wanted to give our readers a clutter-free, sharp, witty, entertaining, and interactive start to their Sundays. All the favourites are still there, we have simply upped the ante on the design and content. The new, arresting masthead and crisp and clear pages give Brunch a contemporary edge. We are certain readers will love Brunch’s new style.”

     

  • With Hindustan's launch of its 9th edition in the state of UP from Aligarh, the daily is now printed from 17 centres across the states of UP, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand and Delhi.

    Hindustan launches 9th edition in Aligarh

    By Akash Raha

     

    Hindustan Media Ventures Limited (HMVL) launched its 9th edition in the state of UP from Aligarh on December 10, 2011. With the addition of Aligarh, Hindustan is now printed from 17 centres across the states of UP, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand and Delhi.

     

    Commenting on the launch, Amit Chopra, CEO, HMVL said, “Aligarh is a unique region, culturally rich and prosperous. Its traditional segments like manufacturing and agriculture trade have made the region prosperous. And, education adds to its cultural heritage. It is the perfect setting for a progressive newspaper like Hindustan to enter. The team at Aligarh is setting the stage to making this a success right from the start.”

     

    Hindustan has launched in Aligarh with a strong 75,000 circulation that is unsurpassed in that zone. Aligarh edition launch comes a year after the launch of Gorakhpur edition which has continued to progress strongly.

     

    Shashi Shekhar, Editor-in-Chief, Hindustan said, “This is the city of Sir Syed and Maulana. We are honoured to have Aligarh as a key part of our network. For long, readers have had limited choice. Hindustan will offer a refreshing change for Aligarh and its surrounding region. High standards of integrity and journalistic reporting have made Hindustan a much loved and read newspaper in other areas. I am confident that Aligarh will respond to us in the same manner. We will understand and partner with the residents of this belt in their march towards progress.”

     

    Speaking on the launch Rajan Bhalla, Head-Marketing, Strategic Businesses – HT Media said, “The core proposition of Hindustan is ‘Tarakki ko chahiye naya nazariya’. We have approached Aligarh with the respect that the ‘Mecca of Education’ commands. Recognizing this we sought participation from college and school students in a unique initiative. We asked them to express themselves on the topic of ‘Aisa ho mera naya Aligarh’. Needless to say the response was overwhelming.”