Category: MAM

MUMBAI: Mudra India has roped in Gopal Krishnan as VP for North and East. This is Krishnan‘s second stint with Mudra who will report to EVP and Head – North & East Ajay Naqvi.
 
Prior to this, Krishnan was business head at Rediffusion Y&R.

As part of his new mandate, Krishnan will strengthen key client relationships and lead organic and inorganic growth. 
 
Said Naqvi, “We have just about finished setting up a formidable creative team, and our account management function is getting bolstered as we go. Gopal will play a very important role in rallying our creative and planning resources.”

Added Krishnan, “My main goal here is to make Mudra North & East a powerhouse of creativity, servicing and planning. I have seen some very good work coming out of the agency and now it is time to push the envelope and explore new horizons.” 
 
Krishnan brings with him nearly 2 decades of experience working with agencies such as Rediffusion Y & R and TBWA, apart from the Mudra Group. Krishnan has played an instrumental role in establishing the Airtel brand in the country.
 

MUMBAI: Though there is enough positivity reining the global economy, world‘s top executives feel that there exists fragility in the market as consumers remain demoralized while challenges across the digital landscape are only increasing. 
 
Additionally, the executives who have gathered at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference believe that small-sized acquisitions and strategic buys will be the next lookout for the media moguls.
 
The conference, which is said to be the birth place of a number of major deals in the sector, is expected to see more hectic deal talk this year as there is approximately about $500 billion of private equity cash ready to be put into investments, state various media reports.
 
Reports further state that the focus of the conference this year is more about challenges rather than cheque books, with the need to monetise digital operations.

MUMBAI: DB Corp, publishers of Hindi news daily Dainik Bhaskar and Divya Bhaskar, has hiked its advertising rates and expects to clock a 14 per cent growth in revenues in FY’11.

“We have hiked our advertising rates by 10 -12 per cent since 1 May. We expect a substantial boost in our ad revenues from this move,” a senior DB Corp official said on condition of anonymity.

For DB Corp, the ad growth at over 15 per cent has been faster in May and June than the previous quarter.
 
 
“Until the slowdown, ad rates always underwent an annual hike to offset inflation. And now as the economy is back on pace, it was time to up the rates,” the executive added.

DB Corp had posted an 11.5 per cent ad revenue growth to end FY’10 at Rs 8.08 billion while net profit almost quadrupled to Rs 1.8 billion.

“While FMCG and telecom have been advertising consistently, national corporates, energy, automobile and education sectors also have begun to spend a bit more lavishly,” the executive said.
 
 
The company, which went public earlier this year, plans to enter Bihar, Jharkand and Jammu & Kashmir. While the plan is to launch the Jammu edition by July-end, Jharkhand should come up in August.

“We will launch the Bihar edition next year. Although these editions will take two-three years to break even, they will boost our revenues,” the executive added.
 
 
DB Corp publishes in three languages (Hindi, Gujarati and English) across 11 states in India.

“The increasing number of middle and higher income households has made Tier II and Tier III cities attractive markets, thereby resulting in growth in regional advertisement. DB Corp is likely to garner a major chunk in regional advertisement pie as most of its editions enjoy leadership positions in these cities,” according to a media analyst.
 

MUMBAI: Entertainment Network (India) Ltd has agreed to sell its out-of-home (OOH) subsidiary to parent company Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd (BCCL) at valuations that has visibly upset investors.

ENIL, which holds 83.44 per cent in Times Innovative Media (TIM), is selling its stake for a cash consideration of Rs 450 million.

The total deal, which includes debt, values TIM at Rs 1.1 billion. This is way below the price tag of Rs 12 billion that Goldman Sachs and Lehman Bros. had attached in 2008 when they acquired 16.56 per cent stake in TIM for Rs 2 billion.

The current deal with BCCL works something like this: BCCL agrees to repay ENIL‘s loan to TIM and also absorb the obligations under the financial guarantees provided by it on behalf of the OOH company. As on 8 July, the loans advanced by ENIL to TIM and the financial guarantee obligations of ENIL on account of TIM were Rs 425 million and Rs 312.3 million respectively.

Explains ENIL CEO Prashant Panday, “The total valuation of TIM stands at Rs 1.1 billion. For our 83.44 per cent stake, we get a direct cash Rs 450 million from BCCL, while the debt of Rs 560 million of the OOH business will also be borne by BCCL. So we will get Rs 1.01 billion cash on our books.”
 
Shares of ENIL plunged 15.55 per cent to close Friday at Rs 198.25 on BSE. Several broking firms that Indiantelevision.com spoke to said OOH was a high-growth area and the valuation arrived at for the transfer to the parent company was unjustifiably low.

Panday offered a different view to the whole issue of valuations.”The OOH business is strongly dependent on the contracts that you have. Two-thirds of the revenue of our OOH business is coming from the Delhi and Mumbai airport contracts, of which Mumbai contract is going to expire on 26 July. Delhi is now with a joint venture. We do not know what‘s going to happen, and thus, it makes sense for us to focus on our core business,” he explained.

Panday, however, agreed that the investors were deeply dissatisfied. “I am not unduly worried about the stock price. We will explain to them how the move is beneficial for ENIL,” he said.
 
ENIL reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 153.2 million for the fiscal ended March 2010 as against a loss of Rs 602.9 in FY09. Consolidated net income dipped marginally to Rs 4228.2 million, as compared to Rs 4270.9 million in the year-ago period.
 
Now with the surplus cash, Panday is looking forward for phase III to arrive. “We are going to keep this Rs 1.01 billion aside for investing in Phase III,” he said.

In FY‘10, TIM‘s net loss stood at Rs 325.4 million on an income of Rs 1.56 billion. Expenses stood at Rs 1.71 billion.

ENIL had engaged Morgan Stanley to advise on the transaction.
 

NEW DELHI: The first major step towards nation-wide audience research was taken today with the Indian Broadcasting Foundation announcing the formal registration of the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) which is expected to begin work within the next few months.

The BARC has been set up as a joint venture between the IBF and the Indian Society of Advertisers on a 60:40 ratio and initial investment of Rs 300 million.

Subsequently, every channel which wants to receive the ratings would have to subscribe to the BARC, the format of which would be decided by an eight-member Technical Committee headed by the ISA and having an equal representation from both the IBF and the ISA.
 
The registration of the BARC under Section 25 of the Companies Act 1956 was announced at a joint meeting addressed by IBF President Jawahar Goel, ZEEL managing director Punit Goenka, Star India CEO Uday Shankar, Times Television Network managing director Sunil Lulla, Star CJ CEO Paritosh Joshi, and Network18 Group CEO Haresh Chawla.

Noting that BARC will not conduct audience measurement directly and instead will commission independent specialist research vendors, Goenka said that requests for proposal will be invited and he could not deny that Tam, which presently covers 8000 homes, may also be one of the vendors.
 
 
Preliminary clearance has been received from the concerned authorities and the necessary formalities for incorporation of members and operations are expected to be completed over the next few weeks.

The primary objective of BARC is to conduct and commission market research using appropriate research methodologies, to provide accurate, up to date and relevant findings relating to broadcast audiences, including TV Ratings, “without fear or favour in a completely transparent, sustainable and objective manner.”

With the formation of BARC, the quality and scope of TV audience research in the country will get upgraded, the findings will be more robust and financials more transparent, Goel said.

Answering a question, Shankar said BARC, which was modeled on the lines of the UK-based Broadcaster’s Audience Research Board (BARB), may draw from the final report of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India when it comes.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni had recently said the Trai report on BARC was expected around September.

Goenka said after the Technical Committee finishes its work, there will be a base line study of rural and urban India to see the methodology for measuring audience research.
 
Goel said all broadcasting modes – Terrestrial, Cable & Satellite, DTH, analogue and digital platforms, developing and new platforms such as IPTV and Mobile TV – will be covered in the research. Though no decision had been taken on who will head BARC, the chairman will be a director of the IBF. The Board of the council shall initially comprise seven members, four members from the IBF and three members from the ISA.

A professional corporate executive team headed by a CEO will be responsible for running the council. The CEO and executive team shall be responsible for the conduct and management of BARC including requesting industry inputs, contracting process, developing service standards and guidelines in conjunction with the technical committee, coordinating operational requirements, maintaining quality standards, financial affairs, and technological development.

BARC shall shortly engage in extensive industry consultations with stakeholders, specialist research consultants, existing & potential measurement service providers to identify the key concerns and requirements with regards to audience measurement. This may be followed by an R&D exercise to evaluate potential solutions including technologies & techniques.

BARC will put forth an “Audience Measurement Blueprint” for audience measurement in India. The blueprint will capture key concerns, requirements and a proposed roadmap to the new measurement service.

The research parameters shall be regularly updated so as to reflect developments in delivery platforms, growth in viewership, while ensuring financial viability of the service. A key activity would be to identify and use technology capable of capturing data over different platforms and constant up-gradations of the same as required.

MUMBAI: Global market research company Synovate has named Ben Llewellyn as managing director, Malaysia.

Prior to this, Llewellyn had been the acting head of the company‘s business in Malaysia since 2010 April-end. 
 
Formerly at TNS and Mori in London, Llewellyn joined Synovate in Malaysia in 2003. In his former role as research director, Llewellyn worked closely with some of the region‘s largest clients, consulting as well as designing and implementing research projects across all industry sectors. 
 
Said Synovate strategic units & global business planning CEO Brent Stewart, “I‘m very confident that Ben‘s commercial skills and knowledge of the Malaysian market will cement our position in Malaysia as well as form an integral part of our commitment to our business in this key region. His local and international experience and his extensive expertise in brand and communications and customer experience is a great asset to our clients‘ businesses.”
 

MUMBAI: 61 million viewers have tuned in to the soccer World Cup on ESPN Star Sports (ESS) for the first 60 matches and the opening ceremony.

In 2006, 40 million viewers had tuned in, according to Tam data.
 
The average TVR was 0.8, a fall from 1.1 in 2006.

The most-watched match in 2006 and in 2010 stayed common: Argentina versus Germany. While in 2006 the match got a TVR of 4.06, this time it got a TVR of 3.

The top three football-viewing markets – West Bengal, Assam and Kerala – got an average TVR of over 3. Among males 15+ SEC A,B, the average TVR this time was 1.52 with a cummulative reach of 9.9 million. While the Argentina versus Germany match crossed a TVR of 5, the Netherlands-Brazil quarter final got a TVR of 4.52.
 
67 per cent of viewers are male, as is to be expected. Contrary to some expectations that it is the youth who watch this event the most, 47 per cent of viewers have come from the 35+ TG.

SEC B has contributed 33 per cent of viewership. The women viewership also stayed at 33 per cent, like in the previous edition of the World Cup.
 
The top advertisers this time around were Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar, Nokia, Samsung and Hero Honda. The brands were Vodafone Cellular Phone Service, Nokia E72, Hero Honda Karizma ZMR, Airtel Cellular Phone Service and
Spice Video Phones.
 

MUMBAI: GEC flock leader Star Plus that had sky-rocketed to cut through the 400 plus GRP mark has shed 50 points for the week ended 3 July to pocket 362 points (411 GRPs previous week).

The plunge was primarily led by a drop in its weekday primetime and weekend movie viewership, as the channel lost 21 GRPs (139 GRPs against 160 GRPs in previous week) from the former while the latter could fetch a mere 13 GRPs (22 GRPs previous week) into the kitty.

While almost all primetime shows either dropped in performance during the week or remained stable, it was only Sasural Genda Phool at 7.30 pm (Monday to Friday) that saw a slight upswing in its viewership. 
 
Bidaai, though the top rated show for the week, fell to 5.3 TVR (6.6 TVR previous week) while Yeh Rishta is at 4.9 TVR (5.9 TVR previous week) and Pratigya is at 5 TVR (5.4 TVR in previous week). Also, the Saturday 8 pm special rated 4.2 TVR. Meanwhile, Saathiya remained stable at 1.8 TVR.

Also, the recently launched Balaji show, Tere Liye, at 10 pm has dropped to a TVR of 3.7 (3.9 TVR previous week) while the IIFA Awards Sri Lanka Curtain raiser (Sunday 10 pm) is at 0.8 TVR over its one-hour slot.

Chand Chupa Badal Mein (Mon-Fri 8 pm), on the other hand, opened with 1.8 TVR on Monday and averaged 1.5 TVR for the week.

As far as movies are concerned, Star Plus had the world TV premiere of Paathshala (Sunday 6.30 pm) that delivered a 1.3 TVR while Kal Ho Na Ho at 1 pm on Sunday delivered 0.8 TVR.

Colors, on the other hand, has added 16 GRPs over the previous week to pocket 269 points. The win is principally on the back of weekend movies as the genre has added 22 points to the channel scorecard (39 GRPs over 17 GRPs in precious week).

The channel showed five movies during the weekend. Kites on Sunday at 8 pm delivered a 2.1 TVR and Ajab Prem on Saturday at 6.30 pm earned 1.8 TVR as the movie ran break less while My Friend Ganesha-3 on Sunday at 11.30 am fetched 0.9 TVR. Welcome ran twice during the week – Saturday 3.30 pm with 0.8 TVR and Sunday 11 pm with 0.6 TVR. Baghban was aired on Sunday at 4.30 pm to register a 0.7 TVR.
 
The channel‘s weekday primetime also saw an upswing. Uttaran has once again moved up the ladder to deliver 4.2 TVR (3.8 TVR in previous week). Balika Vadhu too has moved upward to deliver 4.1 TVR (3.7 TVR previous week). Laagi Tujhse Lagan has grown to 3.2 TVR (2.8 TVR).

Colors afternoon show Kitchen Champion (Mon-Fri, 1 – 2 pm) is steady at 1.6 TVR (in the third week since launch).

Third in command Zee TV (228 GRPs) too has seen a growth of 18 GRPs for the week, chiefly fuelled by weekday primetime that added 115 points (99 GRPs) to the channel scorecard.

Pavitra Rishta is at 5.2 TVR (4.4 TVR previous week), while Agle Janam is at 3.1 TVR (2.9 previous week), Chhoti Bahu at 2.5 TVR (2.2 TVR), Jhansi Ki Rani at 3.7 TVR (3.5 TVR previous week), Yahan Mein Ghar Ghar Kheli at 3.2 TVR (2.7 TVR previous week), 12/24 Karol Bagh at 2.1 TVR (1.9 TVR previous week) and Do Saheliyaan at 1.1 TVR (0.9 previous week). 
 
The channel showed Taare Zameen Par on Sunday at 7 pm that delivered 1.2 TVR and Karz on Saturday 4.30 pm delivered 0.4 TVR.

Overall, the channel genres which have grown during the week are – Hindi movies 498 GRPs (446) and Marathi GEC 143 GRPs (134). The genres which dropped are: Hindi GEC 1301 GRPs (1323), sports 138 GRPs (171), kids 231 GRPs (246).
 

MUMBAI: General Motors India has elevated Sumit Sawhney as vice president – sales, marketing & after sales with effect from 1 August, 2010. He will replace Ankush Arora, who has been transferred to GMDAT Korea as vice president – sales, service & marketing.
 
Sumit Sawhney will be responsible for VSSM (vehicle sales, servicing & marketing) function for the Indian subcontinent. He will be based in Gurgaon and will report to GM India president and MD Karl Slym.

“India is one of GM‘s most significant growth markets and we are happy to have Sumit Sawhney to head our marketing, sales and service operations to maintain the growth,” said Slym.
 
“Sumit in his current role as director (sales) has done an excellent job to increase sales of the company and he will continue to do his best to help GM India emerge as a volume player in this market,” he added.

Ankush Arora, meanwhile, will be based in Seoul, Korea. 
 
“During his tenure, Ankush has made significant contribution for the growth of GM‘s business in India. He has established Chevrolet brand in India and done a remarkable job in introducing a number of innovative marketing strategies to increase sales and dealer footprint,” said Slym.

MUMBAI: The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council, a US based organisation dedicated towards connecting marketers at a common platform, has announced the launch of CMO Asia. The CMO Asia is brought in India by Dr R L Bhatia who is also the founder of World brand Congress and Asia Retail platforms.

The aim of the council is to provide guidance, vision and leadership to marketing professionals and the marketing industry.
 
The CMO Asia (India Chapter) has been structured as-

Bhaskar Das of Times group as national president

Alok Bharadwaj of Canon as president (north region)

Prasad Bagri of Intel as president (south region)

Sanjay Behl of Reliance Communications as president (west region)
 
Said Canon India SVP and CMO Asia president-north region Bhardwaj, “With this, the marketing fraternity in India will see a new pattern of collaborations within highly competitive world. The members will now be able to share ideas, global best practices, address concerns and find solutions to business challenges at a common platform. This is an encouraging step towards the future of this industry.” 
 
“Through this network, we hope to generate high level knowledge exchange, thought leadership and peer networking amongst decision makers across industry segments,” he further added.