ITV

Category: Executive Dossier

  • Garnier survey showed 90% Indians want to be more sustainable: Zeenia Bastani

    Garnier survey showed 90% Indians want to be more sustainable: Zeenia Bastani

    MUMBAI: With the world waking up to new realities amid the onslaught of the pandemic, the year gone by seems to have accelerated the agenda for a greener and cleaner Earth. Sustainable living and environment-friendly actions are top of the agenda for brands and consumers alike across the globe. A Garnier commissioned international survey found that a substantial proportion of global consumers expect brands to facilitate this.

    Recently, the global beauty brand launched its transformative Green Beauty initiative set to radically reduce its carbon footprints and global environmental impact, while also declaring that all its products are now officially cruelty free. In the wake of the announcement, Garnier India General Manager Zeenia Bastani spoke to IndianTelevision.com’s Anupama Sajeet, where she revealed what inspired the brand to go all-out green, the company’s growing investment in the digital space and takeaways from the past year that it would like to build on in the future.

    Edited excerpts:

    On what the brand hopes to achieve through the Green Beauty initiative.

    Covid2019 has accelerated interest in sustainability conversations and urged consumers for a sustainable transition. While Garnier as a brand has been committed to sustainability for years; producing more natural formulas, using sustainable and fair-trade ingredients, even being the first to bring certified organic products to the mass skincare market, with the launch of its sustainability program Garnier Green Beauty, we want to go further, to shift the way the beauty industry operates and lead the change for all of us.

    The Green Beauty initiative is a complete end-to-end approach to sustainability and through it we aim to achieve the following goals:

    ·         Plastic & Packaging:

    –       By 2025, Garnier will aim to use Zero Virgin Plastic in packaging, saving 37,000 tonnes of plastic every year. 

    –       By 2025 all packaging will also be either reusable, recyclable or compostable.

    ·         Product & Formula:

    –       By 2022, all plant-based and renewable ingredients will be sustainably sourced.

    –       By 2025, 100 per cent of Garnier’s new products will have an improved environmental profile.

    ·         Factories & Manufacturing:

    –       100 per cent carbon neutral industrial sites by 2025, using renewable energy.

    –       The CO2 emissions of industrial sites have already been reduced by 72 per cent.

    ·         Solidarity Sourcing:

    –          By 2025 Garnier will have empowered 800 communities worldwide as part of our solidarity sourcing programme.

    We are also delighted to receive the stamp of approval from the Cruelty Free International Leaping Bunny programme, the leading organisation working to end animal testing and the cruelty free gold standard.

    On the findings of the Garnier commissioned international survey on global consumers.

    Garnier’s One Green Step Report showed how much consumer mindset is progressing when it comes to sustainability. The findings indicated that 2020 was a significant wakeup call for many for the need to take further green steps to protect our planet. While the research looks at eight countries, across four continents, referring to the India statistics – we saw over 90 per cent of those surveyed want to be more sustainable in 2021 whereas 77 per cent cited a reduction in their use of plastic products as their number one green priority in 2021. In addition to this, over 53 per cent feel differently about their actions and behaviours because of this year's pandemic and 51 per cent of those surveyed in India said that Covid2019 had made them re-evaluate their priorities.

    On Garnier’s marketing strategy during and post-Covid.

    Our strategy has always been consumer focused, and that is what we continued to do during the pandemic; paying attention to what the consumer needed and wanted.

    For example, the pandemic has resulted in increased washing of hands, leading to dryness issues, which is why we responded with a hand cream. During the lockdown, since salons were closed, people needed their self-care solutions at home, which is where we emphasized DIY hair colour solutions and sheet masks for a facial like glow in the safety of their homes. With increased screen time and video calls, we understood the need for more attention to eye care and launched our eye masks.

    On the key learnings from the past year.

    However challenging 2020 was, it also taught us a lot. The interlinked trends we see that will continue to deeply influence business in the future are –

    – Digitisation and e-commerce: As we have all witnessed, the need for a low touch economy saw the boom of digitisation and ecommerce. This digital and e-commerce revolution is bringing with it an awareness of global beauty brands and trends. Today, a young India has access to global brands, bypassing the hurdles of traditional distribution.  Online purchasing habits are evolving, presenting new opportunities for brands. 18 per cent of people bought personal care or beauty products online for the first time during this crisis.  

    -BeautyTech: With the fast adoption of digital and tech, came the awareness and development of BeautyTech – beauty augmented by technology. As a beauty tech company committed to digital transformation, we have been focused on deploying new technologies to enhance our products and customer experiences. For example, Garnier ColorMatch is a virtual try-on tool that allows our consumers to virtually try on different hair colour shades to enable her to choose her hair colour.

    -Consumer behaviour/awareness: The last year saw an acceleration in consumer awareness and behaviour, be it for a better brand experience via BeautyTech, more socially and environmentally responsible products, brands with a real purpose or more representation of what beauty stands for.

    Young Indian consumers have made a significant shift to digital media in the last few years. Digital has always been an integral part of our media plans even pre-Covid and will continue to be so.

  • Depiction of women in ads matters, but their absence also tells a story: ASCI’s Manisha Kapoor

    Depiction of women in ads matters, but their absence also tells a story: ASCI’s Manisha Kapoor

    MUMBAI: The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) and Futurebrands have announced the launch of their first-ever deep, immersive dive into gender depiction in Indian advertising. The study titled ‘GenderNext’ aims to provide actionable insights that can positively shape the gender narratives in advertising. It is the first of several initiatives that ASCI will undertake this year. The full report is expected to be out by September.

    In a free-wheeling discussion with indiantelevision.com’s Anupama Sajeet, ASCI secretary-general Manisha Kapoor talked about the skewed portrayal of women, gender roles in Indian advertising and the idea behind the initiative.

    Edited excerpts:

    On the objective of the study.

    We wanted to examine the portrayal and the narratives around women in advertisements and their roles, the vocabulary that is used – whether they are shown to be with family, friends, or alone, at home or at work. Then, use this information to bring about a much more positive depiction of the narrative. We felt that advertisers need to be given a different starting point to explore gender narratives in advertising, in a more relatable way that’s also inspirational and progressive. It is not just for advertisers, but policymakers, for academia, the government, and civil society. The study is not an audit. We are not trying to audit advertising, we are trying to learn through observations of what could be a better way of saying things and open up newer ways this conversation could be taken ahead.

    On whether the ad industry is losing connect with consumers with changing times.

    Advertisers and brands do realise that consumers have changed. However, the change is complex, it is not simple to understand. To illustrate my point, why is it that every time we need to show something traditional we resort to showing a homemaker – a homemaker today may not necessarily see herself as traditional. This points to an indirect manner in which advertising has thought of women. Some brands have tried to break the mould and succeeded.  There is a larger shift that’s happening globally and the idea is to bring that larger shift into focus. Society and ads- both influence each other. Ads will show the truths that they pick up from societal changes and vice-versa. So, there is a need to be more responsible as well as progressive. 

    On plans to deal with the continued objectification of women in ads.

    ASCII already has guidelines that say that ads cannot be derogatory or demeaning to women. So in cases where it is quite evident, we process complaints against these ads. Depending on what has been said or depicted we could uphold the complaint against such an advertisement. Now the challenge lies in what is permissible and what’s not outright derogatory.  So within that, what are the positive narratives that we can pick up?; it's not just about correcting a wrong, we are trying to move the needle in terms of more aspirational, relatable, positive depiction. We want advertisers to make better ads.

    On tackling ingrained, stereotypical gender roles in Indian ads.

    There are five enquiry frameworks that we are using in the study. First, we will culturally decode advertisements. We will look at ads from different regions and different categories over some time and try to understand what is the gender dynamics that are being depicted in the ad. This involves decoding advertisements that are already out there in the public domain. Second, we will talk to consumers about how they perceive certain ads. We’ll do in-depth qualitative research across 10 centres with groups of consumers to this effect. Next, we’ll talk to the creators of the ads- to the brands, advertisers, leading creative voices in the industry, to understand their perspective. The fourth part will be to talk to the policymakers, social activists and those who have worked in the gender space.

    Finally, we will look at what our partner in this initiative – Futurebrands – brings to the table. Futurebrands has an ongoing primary study for 11 years now, which has covered more than 200 small and large towns in India. It’s called Bharat Darshan and it maps the changes in Indian society. This will provide the foundation on which we will review some of the information which we assimilate now.

    On guidelines for the ad industry post the study.

    We may draft certain guidelines in future which could be helpful to advertisers to navigate this space. Our code already provides for the fact that advertising should not be derogatory to women, but we may offer more by way of explanation, examples and illustrations and certain more specifics. We are looking at a broad spectrum of categories, it includes categories that have traditionally spoken to women, as well as, those which have not. Thus, even the absence of women in certain categories of ads is something to be noted. While the presence of women and their depiction matters, the absence also tells a story. Hence with GenderNext, we hope to provide an insight that will help advertisers navigate these conventional tropes.

    On ASCI’s plan to focus on gender initiatives.

    Gender is the big focus and our flagship initiative this year. To further this agenda, we are looking at the formation of more alliances and collaborative efforts with other organisations, like the kind we have done with Futurebrands, which will be revealed in time. This is only a beginning. We will have much more coming up as the year goes by. Companies have stepped forward to fund the study. Nobel Hygiene is one of our principal sponsors. GenderNext is a first-of-its-kind study and expected to be of significant value to advertisers and creative agencies, as well as academia, policymakers and advocacy bodies.

  • Fintech is going to be a major disruptor for rural: Impact’s Sanjay Kaul

    Fintech is going to be a major disruptor for rural: Impact’s Sanjay Kaul

    MUMBAI: It is said that India lives in its villages. With more than 65 per cent of its population residing in rural areas, it would not be a stretch to state that Bharat represents the real India – that is, more than 800 million people. It is little wonder then that ‘Go rural’ is the marketer’s new slogan and companies, both Indian as well as multinational, have their vision firmly set on the rural markets.

    In a free-wheeling conversation with indiantelevision.com’s Anupama Sajeet, Impact Communications founder & CEO Sanjay Kaul, who also serves on the advisory board of Rural Marketing Association of India (RMAI), talked about some of these issues including the challenges, the possible disruptions in the market and the way forward for the industry when it comes to rural India. Kaul has recently stepped down from his position after leading the marketing agency for over two decades.

    Edited excerpts:

    On how rural marketing has shaped up over the last two decades.

    The transformation is tremendous. Rising incomes, the advent of new technology, and the increase in media penetration have fuelled the demands, consumption, and aspirations of rural India. Earlier, the content dissemination was slow because of the low penetration of mobile phone technology. We just had wall paintings or billboards. The reach of newspapers was limited. All this has changed now. The advent of technology, banking, ATMs, government initiatives like Jan Dhan Yojana, have changed the way a rural marketer now approaches these areas.

    On the investments witnessed by the rural market from FMCG and BFSI sectors.

    FMCG is a $1.1 trillion sector in 2020, out of which 30-35 per cent comes from rural areas. Companies like Unilever, Dabur, Colgate – up to 50 percent of their sales come from rural areas. Even Maruti, Hero MotoCorp – more than half their sales happen in rural India. So those who got on to the rural bandwagon early have an advantage. Most of the major FMCG companies see rural as their “next growth” destination.

    The rural FMCG market in India is expected to grow up to $220 billion by 2025. The opening of accounts by the government proved to be a game-changer for the BFSI sector. Next, fintech is going to be a major disruptor in the future for rural. Most of the banks, even traditional ones – whether it's HDFC or SBI – all have tie-ups with fintech companies to enhance their rural reach. Especially in these uncertain times, BFSI has a great future in rural areas with fintech collaboration.

    On consumption trends and the march of e-commerce.

    There is a misconception, that rural areas have not been able to keep up with the urban areas when it comes to e-commerce. In fact, both Amazon and Flipkart have got a majority of their sales coming from tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Consumer aspirations are shaping up and there is a demand for more and more branded products. Since most brands do not have all the range of products available in stores in small cities and towns, a lot of the transactions take place through these e-commerce channels. Experts are pegging rural as the major driver for the next fiscal.

    On the challenges faced by brands trying to expand their rural footprint.

    There are two major issues – trust deficit and logistics. The companies are trying to overcome these hurdles. Amazon has tied up with post offices for logistic support, which helps service certain inaccessible pin codes. The trust barrier still exists when it comes to online shopping. One way out would be to create hub models locally for trust fulfilment, then maybe the deficit factor can be reduced. The logistics challenges can be overcome through micro-distributors who are already supplying to village outlets. They can be used as fulfilment centers, which these big e-tailer companies can leverage. Myntra, Flipkart and Amazon have already tied up with large distributors who serve as their last-mile fulfilment centers.

    On the next big opportunity in rural and the way forward for the industry.

    Earlier, we used to do BTL activations by aggressively reaching out to people. Now, the ‘digital first’ strategy has to be leveraged along with a physical presence. We saw how the local kirana shops took off during the pandemic. There is a lot of investment the companies can do to do to build up these channels and not just be dependent on the wholesale distributors. Technology-enabled solutions will also make a difference. One can scale the communication, marketing operations, distribution in a feasible manner when it's technologically enabled. Today the challenge for brands is not just to make the product available to the rural user. Consumers are spoilt for choice in every brand category. Brands need to remain engaged with the customer constantly.

    On his future plans.

    My new journey would entail a technology-enabled rural market development company. One needs to create a demand for the brand in the rural market areas and then grow the brand with persistence. It will all be technology-based and an aggregate model for all the brands, which will be a first of its kind in rural areas.

  • Influencer marketing ready to explode in India: ClanConnect’s Kunal Kishore Sinha

    Influencer marketing ready to explode in India: ClanConnect’s Kunal Kishore Sinha

    MUMBAI: Even as the economy and businesses were reeling under the global upheaval in 2020, there were some that saw an opportunity in the disruption and took off during this tumultuous period. One such business was ClanConnect, a start-up born during the lockdown. Inspired by the growing investor interest in the digital and influencer marketing sector and the sustained visibility of brands on it during the lockdown, the ClanConnect team decided to take the plunge six months earlier than they had initially planned. In an in-depth conversation with Indiantelevision.com’s Anupama Sajeet, ClanConnect COO and co-founder Kunal Kishore Sinha talked about the booming influencer marketing industry, the impact of the recent ASCII guidelines, and how the fledgling firm plans to transform the digital marketing landscape with artificial intelligence and machine learning.

    Edited excerpts:

    On ClanConnect’s business model and what it means to be ‘India’s only AI-driven influencer marketing agency’.

    Influencer Marketing (IM) is in its infancy in India right now. It has opened up lots of opportunities for brands to connect with their consumers. But, it remains largely unorganised, which also led to fraudulent activities as creators began exploring unethical means to increase their followers. There was no scientific method to decide which influencer would be most suitable for a brand or campaign.

    We started ClanConnect to make this entire process more scientific with the help of machine learning. We came up with a marketplace where a brand has all possible tools to discover the right influencer for its campaign, engage with them online and also help them to manage its entire end-to-end campaign in an automated form.

    The technology engine is an amalgamation of some of the leading influencers across scale, categories, and geographies. Our AI recommendation tool can pull out any data point of any influencer with a following of more than 1000, across any geography in less than 24 hours. It also distinguishes between genuine and fake followers. We are trying to build an ecosystem where technology becomes the big differentiator.

    On the size of the influencer-driven market in India and globally.

    A global survey done by Business Insider on 5,000 marketers showed that 80 per cent of the marketers budgeted 10 per cent of their total advertising spend in influencer marketing. Globally, the influencer marketing spend was $9.7 billion for 2020 and it is expected to go up to $13.8 billion in 2021. It can be more in the case of some categories like online gaming. In 2019, the ad spend on gaming influencers in the US was $849 million. In India, companies engaging in mobile phones, automobiles, fashion, lifestyle, entertainment use a huge chunk of their ad spend on this segment.

    Two platforms have emerged in a big way – Twitch, an online game streaming company, and TikTok, though the latter has been banned in India. There are Indian companies like Rooter which provide a platform for online gamers to stream their game. With the increasing number of user-generated content platforms, there will be more and more content creators and this will translate into more advertising budgets. So this market is only going to explode.

    On the Tiktok ban effect.

    We were going live with our Instagram and YouTube and our next platform was TikTok. But, by the time we were ready with the TikTok platform engagement, it was banned and our six months of technology development work went down the drain. By far, TikTok is leading in the global IM space in terms of ad marketing spend. We are hopeful that other equivalent players will emerge. In short video format, we already have Instagram Reels, Mitron, Chingari, Moj, and some other local players. Each of them has some share of the market. The scale of the market is huge and I am sure brands are not going to wait to invest in it.

    On the new ASCII guidelines and challenges it entails for the industry.

    ASCII came out with these policies because they realised that influencer marketing was becoming a mainstream advertising space. We welcome this move because it highlights the potential of this market. We do not expect the guidelines to affect the influencer business per se, because most influencers anyways tag the brand while sharing a post. Instagram had, in fact, started this concept of tagging the brand when it’s a paid content much before ASCII came out with the policy.

    Also, I do not think any brand wishes to short-change their users by pushing something as organic when it’s a paid content. The influencers too want to ensure authenticity in their content. Now, if the influencer can provide visibility and awareness to a product that helps translate into sales, it generates RoI. It does not change if they mark it as a sponsored content. I believe this is going to help the market to become better. The problem, however, lies in implementation as there is still a grey area as to what is organic and what is paid content. How will you define the transaction between two parties when it’s a self-regulatory guideline? That will be a challenge for ASCII.

    On the way ahead for digital IM trend for consumers and brands.

    We are starting to see brands – be it hotels or cruise companies – who want to get their customers back after a year of bad business and less revenue. But they want to do it at a cost that has a larger RoI. They are following a cautious, focused approach. We have also had brands that had not experimented with influencer marketing until the lockdown happened. They saw the impact of the campaign on digital and increased their budget for influencer marketing.

    There are many young start-up d2c (direct to customer) brands, whose influencer spend is as much as 50 per cent of their total marketing spend. This is only going to grow. The pandemic opened up opportunities, which were previously not considered by the brand managers. Even in a back to pre-Covid scenario, the immersive valuation that an influencer could bring about a product or service would be difficult to achieve through say, an outdoor campaign, internet banner, or a newspaper ad. So there will always be space for all categories of advertising, including influencer marketing, in times to come. And just like digital marketing fought for its place in the past, this is a digital disruption that will eventually become the mainstay.

  • BBC World News’ Liz Gibbons on the importance of a free and impartial media

    BBC World News’ Liz Gibbons on the importance of a free and impartial media

    NEW DELHI: Audiences the world over count on BBC News to provide an accurate account of global events. Its illustrious legacy has been bolstered by a multitude of journalists reporting from almost every nook and corner of the world. On 11 March 1991, it launched its global English news channel- BBC World News with a half-hour news bulletin. Within months, it expanded operations in Asia and became a 24 hour news channel. Every day, for the last 30 years, the channel has attempted to bring compelling stories from different countries – stories that got the world talking. During the pandemic, the BBC saw an overall higher growth in APAC than the global average with a 48 per cent increase in unique visitors in 2020. Its Indian audience rose to 60 million people per week, according to the Global Audience Measure 2020.

    On its 30th anniversary, Indiantelevision.com spoke to BBC World News, head of news, Liz Gibbons about the transformation that the English news channel has undergone over three decades, the challenges it faced during the pandemic, and how it is adapting to the digital demands of the 21st century.

    Edited excerpts:

    On the transformation that its newsroom underwent since it started operations in 1991.

    The way we gathered global news 30 years ago was completely different. We were reliant on satellite technology, but the news gathering has completely revolutionised now. The cameras that we use are much lighter and easier to mount. There is mobile phone technology and Wi-Fi to enable us to file a story from almost anywhere in the world. We use AR/VR technologies to explain some of the complicated stories. It was something we could not do before. We are much nimbler than we ever were. We are using the content generated by our audience much more. When a big story breaks, it is not the BBC journalist who is first on the ground. The first material that we play out on TV is now of somebody who has witnessed the story and broke the story to us. Of course, we first verify and ensure that it is correct. So, it is a completely different landscape. Except for the values and the way we approach journalism, I think everything else has pretty much changed.

    On digital news and the stiff competition with emerging digital news platforms.

    BBC News is adapting extremely well. We have got the BBC.com news website which has got 151 million users a week globally, 53 per cent up on last year. BBC News is reaching over 400 million people a week globally, which is also higher than last year. Our digital offering is at the front and center of what we do, both in the UK and globally. Our audience has also been stable and increased in the past year. The big events such as the pandemic which affected us all in different ways have brought those audiences to us in record numbers.

    On how the channel pivoted during the pandemic.

    The big change for us was the way we get our guests on air. People have adapted to the idea, that they can just do interviews from wherever they are and that means we can get a huge and broader range of guests than we could before. We also sent fewer journalists from the UK and other parts of the world to cover the US elections, which was one of the biggest stories last year. We had to find different ways to cover it. We also had to restructure the workflows and get a lot of people out of the building very quickly. Many did not have the technology to contribute from home. Lot of people had to self-isolate. The world news channels were brought together more closely than before. We had presenters presenting the programmes from their homes. It was extraordinary.

    On combating the demon of fake news.

    Fake news is one of our biggest challenges. It only goes on to illustrate how important it is to have a news service that is impartial and free from political or commercial influence. We have got a reality check team, whose job is to look at the claims which are being made by politicians or within the social media space and to challenge them with facts. We have also got a programme that we run every day at BBC World News called Outside Source, which plays a similar role. It looks at the way stories have been reported around the world, their social media impacts, and draws conclusions based on facts.

    On the demands of search engines, and issue of clickbait headlines, and meta tags.

    It is very important to understand your audience in the digital world. You can instantaneously see how many people have clicked on a story and you can get a sense of where they are in the world. This is something helpful only to a degree. You have to guard yourself against the idea of framing a story in a certain way that may be misleading, just so that more people will read it. These are the kinds of challenges we face all the time. We need to make a balance between the two.

    On the government criticism faced by public broadcasters for coverage of sensitive issues in countries and the latest ban in China.

    The role of a free and impartial news channel that reports news without fear or favour has never been more important. It is a fundamental part of what we do and what we stand for as journalists and as an organisation. There are multiple examples all over the world on why we need to do this. We have had instances of our journalists being intimidated in various parts of the world and that is absolutely unacceptable. But, we continue to report news in a free and fair manner. It is at the heart of our mission.

    On the impact of budget cuts and any change in the universal funding model.

    At the moment, BBC World News is commercially funded by distribution and advertising. But, we are always looking at different ways to innovate and open to all kinds of potential options. The director-general has made it clear that maximising our commercial funding is incredibly important. There is also a debate going on in the UK around the future of license fees (which every household with a TV set must pay). It funds the public service arm of what we do, including a lot of our international services. That debate is likely to continue. But, I feel confident about the future, even though there are pressures on streams of funding for almost all major media organisations.

    On which way the world will go – text news vs video news online.

    Perhaps, there was an assumption that we were going in a specific direction. In the future, we have to consider the digital output of most of the material we generate. But it is interesting, that linear TV channels are alive and kicking and that people are buying big-screen TVs all around the world. That is a trend and people are obviously watching the time shift. But they are also watching global news channels. It will be a mixed economy for some time to come.

    On the Indian audience and any changes in programming planned for 2021.

    Our audience in India is stable and going up. We are seen as the number one international media brand in India which is fantastic. We do have a lot of programmes that are made for Indian audiences that will continue. We had the Indian sportswomen of the year outcome. I think it will continue to be an important part of what we do and how we serve our Indian audiences. Thank you to people in India and we hope they remain our audience for the next 30 years too.

  • Why Viacom18’s Ravish Kumar insists on innovation in non-fiction shows

    Why Viacom18’s Ravish Kumar insists on innovation in non-fiction shows

    MUMBAI: When it comes to growing a brand with differentiated content or rejuvenating legacy brands, Ravish Kumar is a commanding voice in the game. In his role as the head of regional entertainment (Kannada and Marathi Cluster), Kumar works towards elevating the Viacom18 network’s regional broadcast portfolio consisting of Colors Kannada, Colors Super, Colors Kannada Cinema and Colors Marathi to the stature of Hindi mass entertainment channels. He also aims to drive industry trends through innovation and building a cost effective yet vibrant eco-system in the regional markets.

    Under his leadership, Colors’ Marathi and Kannada offerings have a strong market presence. Colors Marathi has remained stable in past few months, and according to BARC India week nine data, is at the second spot in urban+rural market. The channel has launched three fiction shows and two non-fiction shows over the last two months. Despite strong competition in this space, shows like Shree Swami Samarth and Sundara are doing well for the channel, while Balumama still remains number one. Colors Kannada, too, is at the number two position; however, the top five programmes in the Kannada market are from the channel’s staunch competitor, Zee Kannada.

    In a candid conversation with indiantelevision.com’s Shikha Singh, Kumar shared insights on both the Kannada and Marathi market, growth in these sectors, advertiser response and much more.

    Edited excerpts:

    On whether the ad market in Kannada and Marathi market recovered & have advertisers returned to TV

    Yes, after we resumed original programming, we saw advertisers return to TV July-August onwards. This gained momentum during Diwali and after that advertising has only gotten stronger. I am happy to say that we are back to pre-Covid2019 level, there's not a hand-off record. So, advertisers are back, we also are back in a big way and the market is very robust right now.

    On the important of local brands for regional channels

    Local advertisers have been extremely important especially when it comes to reality shows. They are the one who show a tremendous amount of interest in sponsoring non-fiction properties. For example, the current season of Bigg Boss Kannada (launched about a week ago) has an equal mix of national and local advertisers. In Marathi, we are on the cusp of a few big launches and we are seeing very strong interest from the local advertising community as well. However, when it comes to fiction shows, national advertisers tend to be more in play, because their GRP requirement tends to be huge. Overall, when the lockdown was relaxed local advertisers were a little slow to come back, but then as the months progressed, they have returned stronger than before and are as robust as they can be. They tend to favour specific properties which air on weekends or for a certain duration of time, whereas national advertisers are present round the year and they tend to buy in bulk.

    On content plan for both channels

    In the Kannada market, we were a distant number four but now a strong number two. We are catching up with Zee Kannada and we hope to go past them soon. And from our mind map, we are lining up the best of fiction, non-fiction, events and movie premieres.

    From a content line-up perspective, it is business as usual. Earlier people were holding back or were shifting stories or getting dubbed stories but now none of that is happening. We are racing back into original programming in a big way. We are focusing heavily on really strong stories that are relatable. We are focusing on non-fiction properties, many of which are in multiple seasons right now. For instance, Bigg Boss Kannada is in its eighth season, Majaa Bharatha is in its fourth season. These are our legacy properties which are demanded by both viewers and advertisers. From the movie premiere's point of view, things were a little slow during the lockdown, but we are happy to report that we are back in business.

    As far as programming hours are concerned, on weekdays, we typically have a programming line-up that starts from 6.30 pm depending on the market, and goes on till about 10.30 pm or 11 pm. It is your base weekday programming. We recently opened up morning slots on Colors Kannada that have devotional content. We will continue to experiment with afternoon original programming as well in these markets. Currently, we are looking at five hours of original programming a day during weekdays. This increases by another four to five hours of programming during weekends.

    On the level of interest for Bigg Boss Kannada

    We launched Bigg Boss Kannada last Sunday, it overall rated 4.8 TVRs. If you start looking at Urban ratings, it was 6.8 TVRs. These are strong numbers for a five hour show. If you split it to half an hour slot, the level of time spent on any half hour slot was actually 16 to 17 minutes, which is kind of the level we see in a fiction show. To  see this for a non-fiction show is a strong sign. If you look at co-related viewership numbers on Voot I would say we are looking at very strong leadership there in line with  previous years as well. Additionally, we are doing a lot of new innovative tactics for the first time. There is live feed on Voot Select, additional footage, etc. Over and above our shows  are available on digital before it goes on television.

    On the viability of remaking or adapting Hindi content for regional audiences

    Whether it's Hindi or other Asian markets, I think the strategy is very fluid. Good content is working brilliantly across languages. In our experiences, good content made without significant deviation is the one that is really resonating with viewers. The setting can be localised for the broad stories, and in many cases, the scenes and the promos tend to remain similar. Earlier, it was a one way street. Hindi was giving shows to regional. Now the wheel has turned full circle, and regional is giving back stories. Irrespective of the channel, you have strong success stories across the board, where shows are remade not just in Hindi, but also in other languages. There is a tremendous amount of cross pollination happening. I believe the lockdown has accentuated the whole process.

    On viewer consumption patterns post lockdown

    Fiction shows have always been the backbone of any channel, while non-fiction is what gives it variety, spices it up, and brings a lot of star value. So, non-fiction is something different whereas fiction is a staple diet. I believe that remains unchanged. Post the lockdown we have seen a greater acceptance of dubbed shows or shows from other languages. We've also seen a great respect for cross pollination, shows brought in from one language remade into another. The definition of prime time has also changed. Now, late night shows are far more acceptable and more productive than it was earlier. There was a time when post 9 pm or 10 pm, we would hesitate to put out originals. We don’t hesitate anymore and our original shows are on all the way till 11 pm. Shows that are broadly appealing to all the sensibilities across age groups are the ones which are working brilliantly.

    In terms of non-fiction, I definitely see a lot more innovation happening, rather than the same shows repeatedly happening over and over again. If the format becomes very predictable, I think that's when you start to see a steady decline over time on the ratings of the same show. So whether it's a new property over the existing one, there will be a great demand for non-fiction shows. Now the question is, how do we tap into that demand? And how do we continue to keep it relevant and continue to track viewers? The challenge before us is to keep the viewers hooked and the excitement alive.

  • Adaptability & speed key factors to get through tough times: SBI General’s Shefali Khalsa

    Adaptability & speed key factors to get through tough times: SBI General’s Shefali Khalsa

    MUMBAI: That India’s banking and finance sector has witnessed explosive growth and expansion ever since the era of economic reforms was launched nearly three decades ago is not news. That this growth also fuelled new windows of employment opportunity for women in the BFSI sector is however not so well known. Stats show that roughly half of the annual intake of trainee bankers in institutions like SBI comprise women, with more and more women rising to top positions in the banking industry shattering the infamous glass ceiling. The Banking and financial services industry is clearly stealing the march from its contemporary sectors, not only when it comes to aggressive hiring of women employees but also for nurturing and mentoring talented women – another factor crucial for an individual’s progress.

    In the run up to International Women’s Day on 8 March 2021, we caught up with SBI General Insurance’s head – brand and marketing Shefali Khalsa for a freewheeling discussion on the challenges and opportunities in the BFSI industry for women, and how the women workforce is changing the face of the industry. Having spent close to 14 years in the industry, of which nine years were with HDFC Ergo before taking on the mantle for brand, corporate communication and online sales at SBI General, she would know. While India ranks a dismal 112th on the gender parity index, Shefali Khalsa shares her views on whether the banking and finance sector has evolved on gender and pay parity for its women workforce. She also shines a light on how SBI General tackled the trials and tribulations that the pandemic wrought on the industry. 

    Edited excerpts:

    On challenges and opportunities in the BFSI industry for women today.

    I believe the BFSI industry is a wonderful service oriented industry, with equal, merit-based and immense opportunities for women. Of my total 17 years of work, I have spent 12 in the BFSI industry- of this, nine years were in my last organisation at HDFC Ergo. In these nine years I have come across several women in leadership roles, both in the boardrooms as well as in management positions. I myself got the opportunity to head the department, after joining as a team member.

    On gender discrimination and pay parity for women in leadership roles.

    Personally, I have not seen or experienced any sort of discriminatory attitude or bias against women leaders. In fact in banking especially, in recent times we have had so many women as CEOs in leading banks, driving the business and spearheading its brand. I would go so far as to say that the women workforce is changing the face of the BFSI industry. Talking about SBI General, we have about 18 per cent of women representation in the leadership role. If we compare that with the worldwide women workforce stats, the average comes out to be 27 per cent while in Asia it's 13 percent.  

    When it comes to pay parity issues, I am aware that India ranks 112th on the global gender parity index – that would be based on data across different industries. However, as far as BFSI is concerned, in my ten-years-plus experience I have yet to come across any disparity in pay, solely because of gender. Yes, it differs from role to role, but definitely not based on gender.

    On how SBI General dealt with the pandemic.

    The first quarter of the last financial year was such that everyone was caught unawares – nobody was prepared for such a situation. Insurance being a service industry and more so, we being in health insurance largely, it was all the more imperative for us to keep our customers informed and give them the confidence that we are there for them.

    The predominant platform for customer outreach was social media. Our core messaging was ‘we are with you in these difficult times’. A parallel campaign was about SBI General remaining uninterrupted titled ‘Being you, Uninterrupted’ – which literally translated into the company is uninterrupted in our day-to-day functioning. Offices may be shut but that did not mean the work has ceased. All of it shifted overnight onto digital platforms. In fact, the lockdown phase turned out to be quite productive for us work wise, with employees across all regions being well-connected, synergised – you didn’t feel the distance.

    On customer outreach and marketing perspective in 2020.

    We were getting lots of queries from customers, especially to check whether Covid2019 will be covered under the health insurance or not. So to align the expectations with the service offered, we doubled our communications on all spheres– the customer communication, employee communication, channel partner communication et al.  

    We were also working at double speed from the marketing perspective, exploiting all possible digital platforms. All the campaigns were re-aligned to digital domains. We did quite a lot of ideation into campaigns, a lot of home-made videos were also floated, especially using our employees. Which becomes a win-win for both the employee- who gets recognition and feels motivated- and for the brand, as well. For, it increases the virality of the campaign, as the video would be further shared on at least five to six of the staff’s private networks/ groups. So those kinds of ideations, usage of influencers had increased a lot, and that should continue into the coming financial year too.

    On SBI General’s marketing strategy for 2021.

    Largely our campaign would be on social media and other digital platforms driving digital business like Google Ad Words and so on- that will remain the core focus. But looking ahead with businesses slowly opening up, in 2021’s third and fourth quarters we might turn to traditional media as well. Q1 is usually a lull period with businesses closing the financial year and strategising for the coming year. So while on the digital front campaign planning and execution continues, the ad spend we are looking at, for the upcoming year across all media will definitely be higher than the year gone by. 

    On #ChooseToChallenge lessons learned. 

    I would say adaptability and speed are crucial lessons I have picked up along the way. Every woman has to #ChooseToChallenge the status quo, whether working out of home or not. Every day is a challenge. On the work front, of course we face many unprecedented situations where one has to think on our feet and deliver. This is especially true on the marketing front to manage the timelines of channel expectations. So I choose to challenge myself by being adaptive and quick to respond to challenges. Which was the clear cut motto even during this pandemic lockdown from the marketing perspective, when so many brands had to curb their regular spend on traditional media and had to adapt to the digital medium. This could only be accomplished if one acted with speed and was adaptive to changes around us.

  • My focus is on creating a happy and passionate team: Monaz Todywalla

    My focus is on creating a happy and passionate team: Monaz Todywalla

    NEW DELHI: One of the most skilled, innovative, and capable marketing professionals active in the country right now, Monaz Todywalla began her third decade in the field with possibly the biggest achievement she could have asked for; she was made the CEO of PHD India in September this year. Rather than balk at the challenge, she is taking by the reins the fastest-growing and successful agencies in India amidst a global pandemic that has the industry at a big inflection point. In a recent conversation with Indiantelevision.com’s Mansi Sharma, Todywalla talked about her role, her strategies, and what 2021 bodes for the industry as a whole. Edited excerpts follow:

    On her new role

    I am very excited to begin this new phase of my career and it has been the best experience of my life, thus far. I am becoming a CEO for the first time but I somewhere knew what to expect from this role. However, certain unexpected things also happened, making it the fastest learning experience of my life. The lockdown came with its own challenges and my first and foremost priority was to support the new team and I think all of us have emerged victorious. I am looking forward to more such learning experiences. 

    The thing that I am enjoying the most here is that PHD is a young agency and doesn’t have many traditional roots, unlike my previous organisations. The team here is relatively younger and the culture is more enthusiastic, promoting rapid learning. 

    On her short-term and long-term goals

    For any leader, obviously, the long-term goals are building new businesses, talent building within the organisation and skill appreciation. But for the short-term, my whole focus is on taking care of the mental and emotional well-being of my employees. I believe that a happy and passionate team is far more capable of delivering great things and I want to create a positive work environment for all of them. 

    Secondly, Covid2019 has transformed our industry massively. Trust has become a very large factor impacting client-agency relationships. So before we go on getting newer clients on-board, I want each of my existing clients to believe that they can count on me and the agency. 

    On her inspiration and role models

    I was always very passionate about being on the agency side of things and worked really hard to reach there. I was hired by Lodestar during a campus placement drive at my alma mater NMIMS and there has been no looking back since. I was very fortunate to have worked with some of the best bosses in the industry, be it Sam (Balsara), Shashi (Sinha), and Karthik (Sharma). 

    What influenced me personally a lot was the fact that I was trained under a number of kickass female bosses like Punitha Arumugam, Apurva (Purohit) and Vanita (Keswani), who remain my role models to date. 

    All of them gave me an understanding of the business and especially how to build and maintain client relationships. The top lessons that I would now be adopting as my personal style are going to be: clarity of thought – knowing what to do and how it will be done; collaboration – working as a team; leading from the front – your team should be comfortable in approaching you with any problem and you should be able to demonstrate the solutions; most importantly, telling it like it is.

    On the future of the industry

    As I said, Covid2019 has impacted our industry immensely and things are going to be different from here on. Digital, obviously, has grown manifold, offering a lot of opportunities to agencies like ours. The pandemic has also changed consumer behaviour in a massive way, and for good. Our focus is going to be on helping clients connect better with their consumers online, as well as offline. There is definitely a need to relook at e-commerce too. 

    Next, purpose-led commerce is going to only accelerate from here. Products have become much more than just a commodity and it has made a lot of clients go back to the drawing board. We want to partner with them. 

    In terms of working models, hybrid working is going to stay. Agencies will collaborate with skilled professionals more. There is also going to be a big focus on in-house skill development. 

    On her 2021 resolutions

    Personally, I want 2021 to be a period of hyper-learning and new experiences. For the agency, I want to create improved business models based on the core competencies of media, creativity, innovation, and science. 

  • Focused on building a unified APAC data & product offering across dentsu network: Gautam Mehra

    Focused on building a unified APAC data & product offering across dentsu network: Gautam Mehra

    Growing at around 25-30 per cent year-on-year, digital marketing is sailing the boat of popularity and recognition for many brands these days. The investments are pouring in and the role of data and analytics is spanning beyond just digital marketing. What used to be a throwaway thought for marketers just a few years ago, is now at the core of every planning and strategy meeting.

    And leading the field in delivering data-driven marketing solutions are stalwarts like dentsu programmatic CEO & chief data officer of denstu– south Asia. Gautam Mehra. Now, as he takes on additional charge as chief data &  product officer – Asia Pacific (APAC) for the agency, he spent some time with Indiantelevision.com’s Mansi Sharma, sharing his thoughts on the industry, how it has evolved, and his plans to navigate the diverse APAC market.Excerpts from the interview:

    ·        On the evolution of digital marketing over the years.

    Digital marketing has been one of the most dynamic and vibrant components of the realm of advertising. I remember when I had started, we used to buy keywords for twenty dollars a month (back in ’99) and that was digital marketing. Then it came down to brand heads and CMOs telling us to put out say 12 Facebook posts a day and 10 tweets a day (around ’05-‘09). Next was putting the ad on Facebook ads section, which my then agency Ignitee was the first-ever agency to deliver in this country. Their only intention was to make it visible to the higher management of their organisations. I remember a period when brands would quote 2 lakh rupees for an account that we had quoted Rs20 crore for.

    Today, in a world of high-touch customer experiences driven by technology and strengthened by the volume and veracity of consumer data, digital advertising continues to dominate. There is no dearth of funds when it comes to driving improved ROIs and brands are willing to invest as much as is required. Over the years, I’ve seen digital marketing move from a “needs to be sold” to a “must-have” avenue of client investment.

    ·        On his new roles and responsibilities.

    APAC is a very unique and diverse region. There are so many cultural differences amongst the markets within the cluster. Even if you just look at south east Asia; China is a completely different market from the rest, Singapore is very different from, say, Vietnam or Indonesia, and ANZ is again distinctively placed. So, APAC is not just one big region but 15 very different markets and that is very exciting for me to dive into in my new remit.

    I would be focused on building a strong and unified APAC data and product offering across the dentsu network in the region and establishing data-led solutions to localised client challenges.

    Read more news on dentsu

    On digital marketing’s position in the APAC region.

    Digital marketing in APAC is the most vibrant and fastest-growing in the world with the largest players in bigtech heavily invested in driving their next level of growth. I suppose the common perception is that we often set Europe or the US as the benchmark when it comes to digital marketing. But as for mobile and conversational marketing, many APAC countries are leading the charge. The  Philippines and Indonesia have a vibrant conversational commerce ecosystem and WhatsApp commerce is exploding in India. As a matter of fact, a dentsu report shows a leading majority of voice searches are coming from India. So, it is a very unique time and place for APAC.

    On whether the education system in India and APAC needs to change to facilitate the development of data and analytically skilled (wo)manpower.

    Speaking specifically for a market like India, I think there is a huge gap in the Indian market when it comes to vocational training. We are still teaching the same curriculum that was meant for the German manufacturing industry. It definitely needs a wave of future-proofing and I suppose the new changes to the system is but a first step in that direction. Interestingly, when it comes to women in tech, India has 32 per cent women in engineering education, compared to just 20 per cent in the US and 28 per cent in the European Union, according to Catalyst. I’d say there is a definite drive for women to take up more leading roles in tech in India and other markets in the region.

    On how the next generation of professionals can be trained better to take up these roles.

    We need to develop a culture of learning to learn. Digital is an evolving medium and no amount of training can equip you for the changes that keep on happening. You earn a new skill today and it will be non-relevant in the next three months. Therefore, we need to develop this spirit of constantly learning and evolving and only industry leaders can drive that change.

    On his  short term and long term goals.

    With the start of every new specialisation, step one would always be to take stock and consolidate. I have already been in touch with our teams across the region via the dentsu Marketing Cloud (DMC) ecosystem that we have built and scaled across the globe. Having grown a team of in-house experts who are thinking beyond just providing data solutions or providing a dashboard, and actually creating software like dentsu Marketing Cloud, dentsu Play, denstu True Value, that solves numerous challenges uniquely. We are going to add more to the list as we discover areas of opportunity to solve client challenges in the region. There are social media platforms apart from Google, Amazon, and Facebook, that are popular in APAC markets. We want to extend our solutions for marketers to analyse their marketing performances on them as well.

    On his experience of being assigned a new responsibility during the lockdown.

    Fortunately for me, I had already been interacting with 32 global markets for our dentsu Marketing Cloud (DMC) ecosystem and have already travelled extensively within the region for numerous pitches. With the advantage of already being in touch with our teams and having known them for quite some time, it has not been a really big challenge to me in connecting with teams during this lockdown phase as we progress in creating new solutions even during the lockdown.

  • Shereen Bhan differentiates business news for digital-first audience

    Shereen Bhan differentiates business news for digital-first audience

    NEW DELHI: The managing editor of the top business news channel in India currently, Shereen Bhan is one of the most prominent journalists active in the television industry. With a career spanning over more than two decades, the lady has been behind creating some of the most prominent, renowned, and revered properties like ‘We The People’ and ‘Line of Fire’, 'India Business Hour', 'Restarting India' among many others.  Also the anchor and editor of Young Turks, one of India's longest running shows on entrepreneurs, Bhan, to her credit, has a great bouquet of path breaking work in the business news space. In a candid conversation with Indiantelevision.com, Bhan talks all about her journey in the industry, the changing dynamics of television news production, and the new ‘Clutter Breakers’ programming of the channel.

    Please tell us about your background. How did you end up getting into the journalism business? 

    So, my childhood was pretty much all over the place (chuckles). My father was a fighter pilot in the Indian air force. So, I had to travel a lot and start afresh every two years; new school, new friends, new routine. I spent my childhood across several Indian cities and a few years in Iraq, too. It made me quite adaptable, flexible, and taught me not to take things for granted, and not be complacent. And I think all these qualities have helped me in my professional career as well. 

    How I landed in journalism is a different story. I wanted to be a doctor when I was in school, being heavily influenced by a large part of my family, who were medical professionals. After my class tenth board exams, I did a short stint with my aunt at her nursing home and realised that it was not meant for me. 

    Then I always had an interest in arts and I was always a part of school editorial boards and debating clubs, and I was looking forward to a career in documentary filmmaking. But it so happened that while I was doing my masters, I ended up doing an internship with Sidharth Basu. I was working on a current affairs show that he was anchoring and I got a chance to do some mock interactions with the live audience. I realised that this is what I wanted to do. Basu also told me and motivated me that I had the flair, and it has been more than two decades since. 

    How did your family react to it?

    My family has always been very supportive of what we do. They just want us to excel at whatever we are doing and give our hundred per cent to it. Both, my sister and I, have chosen our careers independently. She is a dancer and has her own academy in San Francisco. Our parents have always supported us. 

    Read more news about CNBC TV18

    So, was business journalism a conscious choice or it just happened? Did you never feel like doing the mainline political reporting? I mean, you have a very small and niche audience in business beat. 

    My first job was with Karan Thapar as a political journalist but when I joined CNBC TV18, 19-years ago, I just happened to fall in love with the work. I was very clear what I wanted to do then. 

    We assume that business news is only for people who are active in business but it is certainly not the case. Business impacts all of our lives in so many different ways. Be it the government reforms or the business of education, or the business of healthcare. So, it is also a human story. It doesn’t need to be seen only from the prism of profit and loss. So, even when I became the managing editor at CNBC TV18, my aim was to expand the crucial view of what gets covered in the business news. 

    Our viewership might be small in comparison but it is more about the influence that we have, for me. Who are the people who are watching CNBC TV18; they are the biggest politicians, biggest entrepreneurs, biggest CEOs. And that is the testament of our credibility. 

    Apart from reporting and anchoring, you have also conceptualised a great many shows during your career. Can you share with us how you go about planning and creating such properties?

    Whenever planning a show, we are very clear about two facts; our programming has to be different, and it has to serve the audience and give them what they are looking for. We have to stay relevant to our consumers. 

    Additionally, TV is all about fieldwork. It’s all about complete alignment and coordination. You have to bring on the same page the anchors, the writers, the graphic teams, the camera team; so you must be able to communicate your vision very clearly to them. 

    If I talk specifically about our new line up called Clutter Breakers, we noticed that TV news viewership is rising in the lockdown. People are locked up inside home and what they are looking for is not just news but reliable and credible information. So, the whole programming was done keeping in mind this very fact and we said let's bring in the most influential voices together, get the premium leaders across industries together and then give a historical perspective to the situation, and then sought out what the future would be like. 

    Read more news stories on Shereen Bhan

    And what are the differentiating factors for this new lineup from other offerings on TV news?

    It is about the content and presentation both. As I said, with the content, we are bringing in the most credible and influential voices within the industry interacting with the audience. We are doing deeper investigation as to how different companies will react to the market situations bound to come. We are bringing in top investors and analysts on board to help people make more informed decisions. 

    In terms of presentation, everything is bite-sized. So, you no longer have to navigate through a half-hour show to get the relevant information out. 

    So, there has been an impact of the digital revolution on TV content too?

    Absolutely. We have to think about the digital-first audience and that’s why bite-sized properties help. We also have to keep in mind that the content remains accessible to those people too who can’t watch us on TV and primarily consume our channel through digital channels and apps. It also helps us take real-time feedback and make our products more relevant to the consumer. 

    What are your thoughts on the current state of journalism in the country? Do you think that a mad race for the TRP justifies the content we are seeing on TV news? 

    I think we are not in the news business anymore; we are in the infotainment business. And that is the sad reflection of our newsrooms today, which are overtaken by a single story. There is a uniformity in content, virtually very little differentiation in the presentation too. It has all become so much studio-driven. And I don’t think that the audience wants only this type of content. If that would have been the case, we might not still be enjoying top position in our category.