MxMIndia

Tag: Suresh Balakrishnan

  • All eyes on the Times of India group as it is set to launch Gujarati daily 'NavGujarat Samay' from Ahmedabad tomorrow

    Times gets gung-ho on Gujarat [Updated]

     

     

    By Shobhana Nair

     

    The cries of ‘Kai Po Chhe’ could be heard across the streets and skies of Ahmedabad yesterday. Kites of all hues – literally – dotted the sky as Amdavadis celebrated Uttarayan. Kites are popular across the world, but no where is it a religion like it’s in Gujarat’s premier city.

     

    But this Uttarayan – that’s yesterday (Tuesday, Jan 14) – there was reason for another form of excitement, at least amongst media circles. Two days later, on January 16 to be precise, the six million-odd populace of Ahmedabad will wake up to a new Gujarati newspaper from the Bennett, Coleman stable. Called ‘NavGujarat Samay’, the paper will complete with existing players like Gujarat Samachar, Divya Bhaskar and Sandesh which have a loyal readership. Says Suresh Balakrishnan, CEO of media agency network BPN: “It is going to be a bit challenging since it is a broadsheet though they have chosen the right market – Ahmedabad. I don’t know how successful it will be since there are intense competitors but it’s indeed good news for advertisers.”

     

    The general belief is that Gujarat is an untapped market and hence the decision of launching a regional newspaper would only mean that the pie will get expanded. In fact, there are some who believe that there’s scope for two more regional newspapers.  Says Bharat Kapadia, Founder of ideas@bharatkapadia.com who spearheaded Divya Bhaskar at the Dainik Bhaskar group and was editor and publisher of Chitralekha: “Henry Ford was once quoted saying that ‘The market never gets saturated for a good product but it can get saturated by a bad product. That means there is a scope when you come up with a good product.”

     

     

    NavGujarat Samay launched in Ahmedabad

     

    As a part of its strategy to aggressively extend footprint in languages, The Times of India Group has launched NavGujarat Samay in Ahmedabad.  This launch comes on the heels of a slew of launches like Ei Samay in Kolkata, seven new editions of Maharashtra Times (Pune, Aurangabad, Nagpur, Nasik, Kolhapur, Jalgaon and Ahmednagar) and one new edition of NavBharat Times (Lucknow) in the last couple of years.

     

    The paper is positioned as a new voice for a new Gujarat and focuses on the new age media, that are especially popular with the ‘under-40’ readers. For instance, it is the only Gujarati daily that launches alongwith a wide array of digital platforms – apps, a WAP site and a website (www.navgujaratsamay.com). Going forward, NavGujarat Samay will continue to engage readers via its print, digital and social media innovations and offerings.

     

    The paper will have a strong industry, business and SME focus with a highlight being two front pages, a “first ever innovation in any daily in Gujarat, that delivers double the value for our Gujarati newspaper readers”.

     

    Said Rahul Kansal, Executive President, The Times Group: “The Times Group is well-acknowledged as a thought leader in the English newspaper space as well as for its language brands – NavBharat Times, Maharashtra Times and Ei Samay. Now we are all geared up to achieve the same milestone in other languages as well.

     

    Added Ranjeet Kate, Director Response, BCCL “NavGujarat Samay will provide the right platform and context for the advertisers to creatively engage the Amdavadis in their own language. With a ‘print plus’ approach and a whole lot of brand activations planned over the whole of 2014, NavGujarat Samay will usher in a new era of newspapers in Ahmedabad, that will delight the readers and advertisers like.”

     

    The news of the launch appears to have made media agencies happy who are forever vying for prime positions for their clients at good rates. “The market size of advertising and promotions in Gujarat is Rs 3,500 crore which includes the total 360 degree activities of the clients. And hence everyone wants a prime position. This newspaper will add to our choice,” said Jalpa M Dave, Principal Consultant, View Finder, a Gujarat-based media buying agency.

     

    Welcoming the buzz in the marketplace, Krunal Amin, CEO, Saini Production, a local media and entertainment agency said: “Publicity may not have started in a big way but people are aware because of the brand.”

     

    There are some though who believe that the Gujarat urban market is becoming increasingly aspirational and the challenge would be to be look at growing despite a large number of readers going in for English. Mr Kapadia though feels Gujarati continues to be the dominant media, and the real challenge is about the product.”Production & distribution are not rocket science but the ultimate test is that of the brand.”

     

    This is of course not the first time Bennett, Coleman and Co getting into the Gujarati newspaper marketing. In 1993, it launched Times of India Gujarati but the paper was shut after a couple of years. In 2006, BCCL picked up a 12 percent stake in Gujarati daily Sandesh. BCCL and the publishers of Sandesh – The Sandesh Ltd had also signed a business cooperation and arrangement agreement for cooperation in advertising sales, marketing and printing. However, sometime around December 2012, the stake was sold.

     

    Gujarat is a value-conscious market, said an industry observer requesting anonymity. While smart subscription offers like the one NavGujarat Samay is offering will work, in the longer run what is desired is overall editorial quality and smart business strategies.  “The Times group is known for its strengths in both areas, and will use every rule in the book to ensure they outwit competition on both fronts.”

     

    The question then is who will suffer the ‘Kai Po Chhe’ first.

     

  • General entertainment channels needn't worry much about the big live sporting events

    Games on, but GECs not worried

     

    By Meghna Sharma

     

    The UEFA Euro Cup has made the Europeans forget all about the economic crisis; London, along with the whole world, is eagerly waiting for the world’s biggest sporting event – the Olympics – to begin. The world is buzzed about the various sporting events coming up in the next few months.

     

    Sports, around the globe, generate a major interest and channels – sports or otherwise – fight each other out for viewership and advertisements, and brands try to out-do each other through advertisements and activations to leave a mark on the public’s mind.

     

    The last event of such a stature in India was the recently concluded IPL which saw the entertainment channels fighting for eyeballs. With the next three-four months choc-o-bloc with sporting events, MxMIndia takes a look at how channels in the country are gearing up.

     

    Event Period Channel
    UEFA Euro Cup June 8- July 1 Neo Prime
    Wimbledon June 25-July 8 Star Sports
    India-SL series July 22- Aug 7 Ten Cricket
    Olympics July 27-Aug 12 DD/ESPN or Star Sports

    Time to worry?

    According to the media planners, for GECs and other channels, there is nothing to worry about. “Non-cricket fare is still appealing to a small niche segment and hence, its popularity is not reflected in ratings. India in the months of Jul-Aug has always been a moderate performer and not as high profile as some others and so this will also not have a major impact,” feels Shubha George, COO -South Asia, MEC.

     

    Suresh Balakrishnan

    And she is not alone. Suresh Balakrishnan, CEO, Brand Programming Network, agreed with her and added that though cricket is more than a sport in India, even IPL, which has both cricket as well as entertainment and was telecast at primetime, hasn’t been able to affect channels, especially the GECs in the recent past. “Lately, IPL has been able to get a rating of 2-3 which has hardly affected any GECs, so I’m sure other sports won’t matter to them at all. However, there is no denying the fact that viewership for other sports is increasing in the country. And major events might be able to at least reach the ratings which cricket gets, in the coming years.”

     

    Mr Balakrishnan, however, feels that sports channels don’t have much to worry about as there are many male-focussed brands which help them generate enough ad revenue. “Having said that, I also feel that channels showing sports other than cricket know that recovering money isn’t an easy task,” he added.

     

    The television behaviour showcases the interest of the masses which obviously tilts towards popular entertainment channels. However, most media planners agree that sports viewership is growing in the country and soon things might change but until then channels will have to make do with what they have/get.

     

    Amin Lakhani

    Amin Lakhani, principal partner, Mindshare said: “All leading newspapers and news channels have special coverage of important events, take Euro Cup for instance, but how much of it is being converted into viewership or readership? Even then, that hasn’t deferred them from covering the events because they know that, though tiny, there is a loyal following. Even brands are doing activations for sports which are gaining popularity in other sectors apart from Sec A&B – Pepsi is doing activations for football.”

     

    Business as usual

    Akash Chawla

    Entertainment channels continue to enjoy the largest share in the viewership pie. Although, they continue to compete with each other, when it comes to other genres, nothing has been able to write them off.

     

    Akash Chawla, Zee Entertainment Enterprise (ZEEL) marketing head – national channels, said: “Just like IPL, we are ready to combat any other sporting event. Our programming strategy does not depend on these events.”

     

    “For us, it will be business as usual. The channel is backed with strong and fresh content for its viewers, irrespective of the programming on competing genres,” said Hemal Jhaveri, general manager, Movies Ok.

     

    Hemal Jhaveri

    Other genres which focus on the same target audience as the sports channels are youth and news. But many in these genres believe that such sporting events don’t affect their viewership. Nikhil Gandhi, executive director, youth channels, media networks, Disney UTV claimed that most of the sporting events attract a majority viewership of urban youth, whereas they, as channels, focus on the HSM belt which includes 62 cities. Hence, such sporting events won’t affect their viewership.

     

    A broadcast veteran from a Delhi-based news channel too felt that news channels give enough coverage to the various sporting events, so there is no question that the events might eat into their viewership pie. He said that though both cater to the same TG, they are different genres and people might shift between the two, if needed.

     

    Nikhil Gandhi

    On the other hand, Neo Prime, the sports channel which is currently telecasting UEFA Euro Cup 2012, is aware of the competition within and between other genres and risk involved, but is still optimistic. “Sports is still a male-dominated genre, whereas other genres (read GECs) enjoy female viewership. But during big events, there are chances of a shift in the remote control. Sports do get eyeballs. And as for the advertisements, the brands which advertise on sports channels are different from the ones in GECs or other channels. Hence, nothing overlaps each other,” said Prasana Krishnan, COO, Neo Sports Broadcast.

     

    Prasana Krishnan

    Hopefully, as said by various media personalities, sports other than cricket in the coming years will be able to generate same interest among Indian citizens across sections and help sports channel to boom and enter the main TRP race as well.

     

     

     Imaging: Rafiq, Pictures courtesy: London2012.com

     

     

  • Along with Manappuram, an existing account, this makes LMG a serious player in the Kerala market, says Suresh Balakrishnan.

    Lintas Media Group wins Jayalakshmi Silks

    By A Correspondent

     

    Kochi-based Jayalakshmi Silks, one of the largest readymade textile retailers in Kerala, has awarded its Media duties to Lintas Media Group. The account, estimated at an annual spend of Rs20 crores, was handled by a local media agency prior to this.

     

    Suresh Balakrishnan, CEO, LMG said, “Vidya Nandakumar has just taken over as the head of the Kochi office and we have won Jayalakshmi Silks. We are extremely delighted to win this business which, along with Manappuram, which is an existing account inKochi, makes us a serious player in the Kerala market.”

     

    Govind Kamath , Managing Partner, Jayalakshmi Silks said, ” The retail market in Kerala is extremely vibrant, especially in the textile and jewellery categories. We have been growing and expanding at a healthy pace. In the last 18 months, apart from ourKochioutlet, which is more than 50 years old, we have opened huge outlets inCalicutand Thiruvanthapuram and are opening our largest outlet in Trichur in April. We realized that in order to help us in the expansion process we need credible partners having an international pedigree. We are very excited about appointing Lintas Media Group as our Media AOR. We are hoping that they will enable our growth in the years to come”.

     

  • It's announcement time at LMG: Suresh Balakrishnan returns, Premjeet Sodhi to replace Sathya and Sudha Natrajan elevated

    Suresh Balakrishna to join LMG, Premjeet Sodhi likely to replace NP Sathyamurthy (who is joining Mudra)

    By A Correspondent

     

    Senior mediaperson and former chief operating officer of Mail Today, Suresh Balakrishnan is getting back to the Lintas Media Group fold. He is likely to be CEO of one of the agency’s arms and will report to LMG chairperson Lynn de Souza.

     

    Confirming the news to MxMIndia, Mr Balakrishnan said he’s looking forward to returning to LMG after a gap of nearly a decade.

     

    In his 25-plus year career, Mr Balakrishnan started his career in publishing with The Times of India group and spent a fair amount of media agency business at Initiative Media. After he quit Mail Today last year, he took a sabbatical and taught media management at the Symbiosis Institute of Mass Communications amongst others.

     

    Meanwhile, as reported by MxMIndia on December 15, N P Sathyamurthy is moving to Mudra. He is likely to be replaced by Premjeet Sodhi who is currently with LMG as president, The Collaborative. Yesterday, LMG also announced the elevation of Deputy CEO Sudha Natrajan to CEO of Lintas Initiative Media.

     

    Image courtesy: Stratagem Media