ITV

Category: Special Report

  • The SME Revolution starts in Dubai and GCC

    The Western economies realised decades ago that small and medium enterprises are really the main drivers of the economy. While big businesses are necessary to preserve and maintain structure within the economy, surely they have considerable problems of their own. Mega corporations of the earlier era have increasingly lost their edge to smaller, nimbler organisations, which have spouted all over the Western landscape. The Middle East is now a new turning point for SME’s to begin a grassroots revolution.

    Four Driving Forces –

    The Critical Mass

    Middle East and particularly the super-charged Gulf-Cooperative Council known as a GCC region, the current GCC members are Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, Qatar and Oman. This also ripples into bigger Middle East and Middle East and North Africa known as Mena regions.

     

    GCC nations are in a major transition, something so dramatic and so powerful that when it comes to new business formation front then all this is pointing to a mass incubation of new enterprises all over this region. Dubai is now such a dynamic place and unmatched by any other region on this planet; the examples set by Dubai provides the fuel to this expansion, and brings a brand new high level of confidence.

     

    The speed and operational level is dramatically high, and it may continuously re-charge in a way that was similar to the 1990 American e-commerce boom, which erupted in a chain reaction of one success leading into several others, simultaneously. Though, at times, we refer to this American boom period as ‘irrational exuberance’, but still the dotcom boom followed by a long bust was still only a small hiccup towards the long haul of the e-commerce revolution. There is a similar pattern emerging, this massive growth may get a bump here and there but it is gathering momentum and amassing its own critical mass with signs of longevity.

    The Integration

    The shades and colours of extreme diversity combined with variety of loose floating ideas can become an awesome force, sometimes only the crude differences and wild ideas germinate great original concepts. This region is like an extraordinary bazaar of strange concepts, traditions, styles, personalities, and nationalities, parked in various geographies. Isn’t the same reason why the open diversity of America in the later parts of the last century made it a hot spot for innovation and the introduction of hundreds of new concepts to the world? This is what is in the making. Here the diversification and cultural integration is becoming the nurturing ground and technology is offering the tools to produce such concepts in a world-class manner. The SME sectors all over the GCC countries are poised for big gains.

     

    The Image and Branding

    Today, and all throughout history, no matter what, everyone is being branded, either for their origins, ideologies, presentations and interactions, plus hundreds of many other reasons. Everyone is branded. From mega personalities to little individuals, from Governmental institutions and big organisations to small businesses, nothing is left untouched.

     

    Though nothing wrong with this, but the most important part is to acquire tactical and highly-trained skills to develop a deeper understanding of this external branding force so as to combat all the undesired images with a professionally executed counter-action plan, aimed to continuously achieve a sharper and a desired image along the way. The smart ones know this very well and this smartness is now slowly creeping throughout the region rapidly. This image building is going to create some new standards to be adopted by the rest of the globe. The culture is becoming image-savvy along the way, just like the West was all along.

    The Nationalization

    The GCC countries are facing population and foreign workforce imbalances and therefore want to create and train their own nationals to be in the forefront of all sectors and also to become the driving force behind the business and corporate sectors in their own countries.

     

    The issues of nationalisation are being discussed at all levels; this also is creating a positive interaction among nationals to take direct, active roles rather than passive ones. Nationalisation is fueling education and active engagement. This, when blended with a foreign workforce creates a new kind of energy of its own, and this energy is what the new business climate needs, a blend of integrated highly efficient working environments. Nationalisation is a very good thing, and sooner the localisation picks up steam it will be better for all sides.

     

    Opportunities for the World

    Today Dubai and GCC opens golden opportunities to the global business communities of the world. The business activities in the region are increasing at record pace by the day, Dubai now sets the standard, and every other city in the region wants to catch up fast. Right now, Dubai International Exhibition Centre, the largest centre in Middle East, has 365 days of bookings for major fairs, exhibitions and conferences, millions of people are coming in to interact, exchange ideas to form alliances and sellers form all over the globe in search of business from this super-rich region.

     

    “We are the gateway to the world now, and we can show it in technicolour. Just come and see what we have done here in last 10 years,” says Sateesh Khanna, an Indian born expatriate in Dubai since last the last 30 years, and now General Manger at Al Fajer Information and Services, the largest exhibition company in the region and also the organizer of the SME Expo in Jan 2007, www.gogcc.com www.semeexpo.com. Sateesh further adds, “Easy access to ownership of your own business, property and no taxes have made this the top location now, and SME’s are coming in huge numbers.”

     

    Some 15,000 members of the SME community will visit this SME Expo from this region and the world. There will be some 300 SME related businesses showcasing their strengths and innovative ideas. In the Golden Opportunity for SME in GCC Conference, there will some 1000 delegates who will hear the top 20 speakers in this field. The theme is to offer a platform to create new alliances and to team-up for greater exportable opportunities throughout the Middle East and Mena. “Finally, we are ready to tackle this new frontier and we invite businesses from all over the world to come and explore the golden opportunities this region has to offer to SME,” says SME Expo Event Manger Winnie Lugon.

     

    The tourism and general traffic to Dubai is at a frantic pace, and people from all over the globe are exploring this to make a major branch operation or Asian head quarters, and this alone has brought a boom to the real-estate markets and foreign investments. There is a certainly a brand new SME business revolution starting in Dubai and spreading all over the GCC countries. Right now, everybody is talking about being Dubai-bound or going GCC. Al aboard.

  • I’ve got the power

    The free hand – a mythical concept which has been in existence ever since the term ‘management’ was invented by a group of orangutans figuring out how to nail a bunch of bananas (ok, I lied about the orangutan bit, but there were definitely some bananas involved). It is meant to be an empowerment tool that serves to motivate and nurture employees and prepare them to assume more responsibility. However the chances of this definition actually being implemented in the real world are as remote as the odds of the orangutans returning those bananas, even it there is a world famous card and a curvaceously crafted star actress being waved in their faces.

    “Never trust boss who says the decision is your own, soon the issue will come back and you will cry and moan.” The high pitched, heavily accented oriental cackle, and Chai-La, the mystical Chinese tea boy, had disbursed his morning ascetic pearl into the unsuspecting ears of Ram Shankar, as always with the customary tea cup, nestled in Ram’s fingers.

    Vikas (Ram’s boss) had been away, incommunicado for a week. The office speculation was that the (in) famous Russian pole dancer who he used to chat with, was in town and Vikas had felt it was an opportune moment to learn the ‘Russian tongue shuffle’. Thus, he had excused himself by saying it was merely a case of paying lip service to some pressing issues for a while (which it was) and had zoomed off into an unspecified direction leaving behind an excessively overburdened and outrageously confused Ram Shankar in his wake. His parting words to the young chap were, “Don’t wait to get in touch with me for any decisions, act like you are captain of the ship and just move ahead. I am backing you all the way.”

    Those words, after rather lazily tracing some motivationally challenged, elliptically orbital paths in Ram’s mind, had settled and resonated in meaning, inflating Ram Shankar’s ego and chest dimensions almost to match those of his stomach. He felt wondrously alive and detected a distinct surge of electricity running through his veins making his hair stand on end, until he realized that he had absent mindedly inserted his pen into a three pin socket.

    Nevertheless thus ‘charged’, he had attacked each day with a ferocity that would have done a pack of teen age girls entering a shoe sale proud. And the days, as also the various assignments, had zipped by.

    When Vikas resumed, looking a little odd with puffed and bruised lips, the first thing that he did was ask for a status update with Ram. Ram felt, for once, that he was in for some praise. Everything over the last few days was running extremely smoothly.

    “Things will change when boss is back, as things need to get back on track,” Chai-La’s sermon for the morning had Ram a little bewildered. What could possibly go wrong? He had performed a minor miracle over the week. Even PP (the creative director of the hideous moustache fame) had a few good things to say about him, and if you were in servicing that was as rare as a meeting ending without an exhortation for the need of ‘out of the box’ thinking.

    “What has been the progress on the market research brief that we were supposed to initiate?” asked Vikas, scratching his head in a bellicose manner.

    “Well the research has been initiated, it began three days ago,” answered an elated Ram.

    “What?” screamed Vikas, touching the high octaves, causing an ageing Indian ex-captain to momentarily take his eyes off the ball and nick yet another one into the waiting slips.

    “I only asked you to initiate a research brief.”

    “But you told me to take decisions; I was in charge you said.”
    “You don’t know the sensitivities on the account, now talk to the research agency and stop whatever has been initiated.
    Figure out how the costs will be absorbed.”

    “Don’t you even want to see what the brief was?”

    “At my level, I don’t need to. I just can sense things becoming issues.”

    Retorted Vikas, with his mood visibly uplifted. Ram felt his morale sag like the male interest in a Ms. World pageant after the swimsuit round is over.

    “What about the new press ads needed for the Gujarat market? Can we see the creative? When are we looking at releases?”

    Ram’s mood perked up again.

    “We have already begun the campaign, one ad has already appeared and the others are due over the next few days.” Ram replied, beaming ear to ear like a reality show participant waiting for the audience vote to come in Vikas’s clapped his hand to his forehead and slumped back into his chair.

    “Why do you take these decisions? How much do you know of the brand?”

    “But I presented it to Mr. Bose (the client), he approved it, in fact he said this was the most incisive idea that the agency has created over the last year.”

    “Mr. Bose wouldn’t know an idea if it stood up and slapped him, get PP over here.” Interrupted Vikas, then seeing PP pass by hailed him.

    PP sunny disposition vanished the moment he set his eyes on Vikas.

    “PP, our boy here…”

    PP brightened and slapped Ram on the back, “has come a long way, I never knew he was that smart, he hardly gets in a word when you are there. He has helped create and sell some cracking work.”

    Vikas was clearly unimpressed with the endorsement.

    “I was going to say that he has caused enough mayhem and was going to tell you to stop work on the campaign, we will give you a new brief.”

    “Why?” boomed PP, always eager to combat his nemesis.
    “Because I head the account and it’s my call.”

    “Its better for the account when you are away, take leave more often.”

    “This account is with this agency because of the relations that I enjoy at the client end. I have the final say on everything!”

    They were standing toe to toe, just when the referee, oops sorry, the President motioned them both into his room in a manner that meant that the rest of the afternoon was gone.

    “I want all the releases stopped by the time I get back, also you better reverse all the bright decisions you have taken when I was away,” hissed Vikas, closely resembling an extremely agitated viper as he left the cubicle.

    PP offered Ram a sympathetic smile, and a wink of encouragement.

    Ram sat in his chair, a little stunned by the course of events. His brain seemed to have shut down. He was trying to contemplate what all he would need to do to reverse the ‘Vikas effect’ and the ramifications on his esteem and his job list were immense.

    “Never take decision when boss is away, when he is back he will make you pay,” those wise words of wisdom, the express delivery of the teacup and Chai-La had vanished into a page of a textbook on empowerment that was lying on Ram’s table. The page was titled. “How to use empowerment to keep subordinates motivated.”

  • Television looks ‘Outdoors’

    There’s no escaping now, everywhere you go it follows, across buses, trains, kiosks and more. Striving to use every possible object within its reach to grab eyeballs. Such is the impact of outdoor advertising!

    It is estimated that currently, the outdoor space availability in metros is ‘zero.‘ With festivity around the corner, television channels are beefing up their programming and the most opportunistic way to utilize advertising appears to be via this medium.

    The outdoor business is estimated to be growing at 20 per cent and the size of the organized industry alone has been pegged at Rs 11 – 12 billion by industry experts. These figures are proof that advertisers‘ dependence on outdoor has significantly increased.

    The biggest players this year among television channels are the ususal suspects Sony, Star and Zee. The average spends among these channels is estimated to be close to Rs 700 – 800 million annually on outdoor advertising. 30 per cent of these spends are dedicated to the festive rush spanning September – December, says Star Sight CEO Sanjay Shah.

    Bright director Yogesh Lakhani opines that spends usually go up by 15 – 20 per cent during the festive period. Jhalak Dikhla Ja got the ball rolling for Sony but now Kaajal and Extraaa Innings from the same stable are straddling Mumbai city. It is believed that more than 50 per cent of Sony‘s spends in launching properties is dedicated to out of home.

    Star has followed suit with its three big launches Antariksh and yet to be launched Paraya Dhan and Sathi Re. Naach Baliye was also given this life-size value during its launch period.

     

    Slide Show: Different mediums used in Outdoor

    Zee went all the way with Betiyann and is planning to use outdoor to build the buzz for the Sa Re Ga Ma finale on 28 October, as well as the newly launched youth block Klub. Zee alone is estimated to spend about 15 to 20 million on each property.

    In addition to these big players, other contenders currently in the outdoor space include Disney Channel with its latest local offering Vicky Aur Vetaal and Tata Sky‘s DTH platform battling it out with Dish TV. Primesite head GM West Aneil Deepak remarks that channels usually adopt a dual strategy, whereby 30 – 40 per cent of their spends go to permanent sites on an annualized basis, however in promoting certain properties they will increase their spends depending upon its significance.

    Outdoor is consistently used by channels as it not only acts as a reminder medium but it also gets people to sample a new show. Ogilvy Activation country head – Landscapes and Signscapes Nabendu Bhattacharyya opines, “Outdoor builds quick awareness and is the most cost efficient option. It is beneficial because it can be city specific and have a customized plan by which campaigns can run from 7 days to months.”

    Though the outdoor industry falls short of a common currency measure, individual specialists with the likes of Star, Sony Entertainment, Zee TV, Times Now and Sahara that use outdoor all the year round, have their own proprietary tools to derive accountability from the medium.

    Besides TV, the biggest spender this year are from the Telecom sector says Aaren Initiative president Vivek Lakhwara. Reliance and Airtel have a pan Indian presence, adds Shah. “Normal medium vacancy level of 20 per cent during the year becomes zero during September to December as brands like telecom, finance, press, automobiles, radio are also fighting to grab the available spots,” says Bhattacharyya.

    Going beyond billboards and bus shelters out of home as a category is fast expanding into areas like retail and entertainment. With emerging technology like LED screens, interactive facia at malls, backlit air blimps and large building wraps, Bhattacharyya forsees, “Airport advertising will take on a much greater significance with clients. Technology driven platforms like bluecasting will see the emergence of different options available to advertisers which will add to the array of the outdoor armament.”

    The future is bright! On a rather optimistic note, Bhattacharyya predicts that this year will prove to be a watershed year for the outdoor advertising industry. “The area of consolidation both from a buyer and the concessionaire‘s perspective, is around the corner. It has happened the world over and India will prove to be no different. The outdoor specialists will control about 75 to 80 per cent of the entire outdoor market in India in two years time and consolidation amongst them will also happen very quickly. Alliances and mergers will take place, media groups will broaden their services, bandwidth will be built in order to deliver efficiencies and scale, and the big buyers will only get bigger.”

    He also sees foreign investors and large media groups waiting for an opportunity to lunge into the Indian market. He says, “The big daddies like Viacom, Clear Channel and Decaux know it‘s a profitable business to get into. They are just hoping and crossing their fingers that tighter legislation and better regularities come into play, for them to invest long term in India.”

    Of course, one such biggie has already made a quiet landing on Indian shores. News Outdoor India (NOI), the local arm of News Corp’s OOH subsidiary News Outdoor Group (NOG) and headed by a former senior executive of Star India Sumantra ‘Sumo‘ Dutta, has been operating in the country for the last six months.
     

  • Television looks ‘Outdoors’

    There’s no escaping now, everywhere you go it follows, across buses, trains, kiosks and more. Striving to use every possible object within its reach to grab eyeballs. Such is the impact of outdoor advertising!

    It is estimated that currently, the outdoor space availability in metros is ‘zero.’ With festivity around the corner, television channels are beefing up their programming and the most opportunistic way to utilize advertising appears to be via this medium.

    The outdoor business is estimated to be growing at 20 per cent and the size of the organized industry alone has been pegged at Rs 11 – 12 billion by industry experts. These figures are proof that advertisers’ dependence on outdoor has significantly increased.

    The biggest players this year among television channels are the ususal suspects Sony, Star and Zee. The average spends among these channels is estimated to be close to Rs 700 – 800 million annually on outdoor advertising. 30 per cent of these spends are dedicated to the festive rush spanning September – December, says Star Sight CEO Sanjay Shah.

    Bright director Yogesh Lakhani opines that spends usually go up by 15 – 20 per cent during the festive period. Jhalak Dikhla Ja got the ball rolling for Sony but now Kaajal and Extraaa Innings from the same stable are straddling Mumbai city. It is believed that more than 50 per cent of Sony’s spends in launching properties is dedicated to out of home.

    Star has followed suit with its three big launches Antariksh and yet to be launched Paraya Dhan and Sathi Re. Naach Baliye was also given this life-size value during its launch period.

    In pictures: Different mediums used in Outdoor

    Zee went all the way with Betiyann and is planning to use outdoor to build the buzz for the Sa Re Ga Ma finale on 28 October, as well as the newly launched youth block Klub. Zee alone is estimated to spend about 15 to 20 million on each property.

    In addition to these big players, other contenders currently in the outdoor space include Disney Channel with its latest local offering Vicky Aur Vetaal and Tata Sky’s DTH platform battling it out with Dish TV. Primesite head GM West Aneil Deepak remarks that channels usually adopt a dual strategy, whereby 30 – 40 per cent of their spends go to permanent sites on an annualized basis, however in promoting certain properties they will increase their spends depending upon its significance.

    Outdoor is consistently used by channels as it not only acts as a reminder medium but it also gets people to sample a new show. Ogilvy Activation country head – Landscapes and Signscapes Nabendu Bhattacharyya opines, “Outdoor builds quick awareness and is the most cost efficient option. It is beneficial because it can be city specific and have a customized plan by which campaigns can run from 7 days to months.”

    Though the outdoor industry falls short of a common currency measure, individual specialists with the likes of Star, Sony Entertainment, Zee TV, Times Now and Sahara that use outdoor all the year round, have their own proprietary tools to derive accountability from the medium.

    Besides TV, the biggest spender this year are from the Telecom sector says Aaren Initiative president Vivek Lakhwara. Reliance and Airtel have a pan Indian presence, adds Shah. “Normal medium vacancy level of 20 per cent during the year becomes zero during September to December as brands like telecom, finance, press, automobiles, radio are also fighting to grab the available spots,” says Bhattacharyya.

    Going beyond billboards and bus shelters out of home as a category is fast expanding into areas like retail and entertainment. With emerging technology like LED screens, interactive facia at malls, backlit air blimps and large building wraps, Bhattacharyya forsees, “Airport advertising will take on a much greater significance with clients. Technology driven platforms like bluecasting will see the emergence of different options available to advertisers which will add to the array of the outdoor armament.”

    The future is bright! On a rather optimistic note, Bhattacharyya predicts that this year will prove to be a watershed year for the outdoor advertising industry. “The area of consolidation both from a buyer and the concessionaire’s perspective, is around the corner. It has happened the world over and India will prove to be no different. The outdoor specialists will control about 75 to 80 per cent of the entire outdoor market in India in two years time and consolidation amongst them will also happen very quickly. Alliances and mergers will take place, media groups will broaden their services, bandwidth will be built in order to deliver efficiencies and scale, and the big buyers will only get bigger.”

    He also sees foreign investors and large media groups waiting for an opportunity to lunge into the Indian market. He says, “The big daddies like Viacom, Clear Channel and Decaux know it’s a profitable business to get into. They are just hoping and crossing their fingers that tighter legislation and better regularities come into play, for them to invest long term in India.”

    Of course, one such biggie has already made a quiet landing on Indian shores. News Outdoor India (NOI), the local arm of News Corp’s OOH subsidiary News Outdoor Group (NOG) and headed by a former senior executive of Star India Sumantra ‘Sumo’ Dutta, has been operating in the country for the last six months.

  • News channels – shifting gears, positions

    News channels – shifting gears, positions

    And charging down the back straight is Star News, snapping at the heels of leader Aaj Tak but still not quite there yet. Early pacemaker NDTV India, meanwhile, seems to have run out of steam and has dropped two places down to fourth behind steady stallion Zee News…

    It’s been a topsy-turvy nine months in the Hindi news space as TV channels tried different programming innovations to woo audiences and advertisers and gain market share. What has clearly been demonstrated is that improvements being shown by some news channels and the addition of fresh blood makes the news channel ratings race a roller-coaster one. Media observers term this period of upheaval as a time when the rules of the game are being cast and recast.

    That this upheaval has been more for the positive is indicated by the fact that the news broadcast industry, which two or three years ago was worth just Rs 1 billion, has grown into a Rs 5 billion market with the potential of growing further. However, as a media analyst points out, a shakeout is bound to happen through consolidation. But till that happens, these “frequent ups and downs in the ratings charts will continue” to take place through the ways events are covered or, maybe, just on innovative presentation.

    Revenues in this sector grew 13 per cent, which is about even with the growth rate of the Indian TV industry as a whole, according to the TAM Media Research. Is there room for further growth? It would appear so. A recent study conducted by Synovate, the market research arm of Aegis Group, indicates that a majority of Indians (78 per cent) trust a lot of the news stories they see or hear. It is that trust and appetite for news that the current players and the upcoming wannabes are banking on to sustain growth going forward.

    Entering the last quarter of calendar 2005, it has clearly shaped up into a two-horse race for the numero uno position between long time leader Aaj Tak and the year’s biggest gainer by a mile Star News. A sea change from 2004 when it was NDTV India that was doing all the running to catch up with Aaj Tak.

    According to TAM, the Hindi news segment witnessed a spike with respect to certain channels in viewership during the calamity that hit Mumbai on 26 July and in its aftermath. And if there is one single event that really gave the Mumbai-headquartered Star News its critical forward thrust, it was the manner in which it managed its coverage of the catastrophic Mumbai deluge. Conversely, NDTV India’s dip in channel share is also partly linked to its coverage of the Mumbai floods and serves to highlight that things are still in the evolution phase as far as channel rankings go.

    Consulting firm KPMG’s associate director Anindya Roychowdhury offers what can be taken as both a cautionary note and one of hope to those who have seen a downswing in their fortunes in the recent past. Says Roychowdhury, “Although there has been a shift in (channel) positions, nonetheless it needs noting that news channels have sticky eyeballs, which is unlike entertainment channels.” Roychowdhury’s point is that because news channels extract more loyalty, if a channel manages to get its act together again, viewers that have been long hooked to its offerings earlier would like as not return (or if the rival channel loses some of its sheen on the content and presentation front).

    Adding to what Roychowdhury said, another financial analyst states that the channel which has a grip on robust content will survive in the long run.

    An overview of data for the last nine months (January-September) provided by TAM (C&S, HSM, All Adults, 15+) shows the country’s subse tez (fastest) news channel Aaj Tak continuing to stay ahead of the pack in this space, despite witnessing highs and lows.

    Aaj Tak
    Jan
    Feb
    Mar
    Apr
    May
    June
    July
    Aug
    Sep
    29%
    28%
    25%
    25%
    25%
    26%
    27%
    25%
    25%

    What has Aaj Tak to offer on its position?

     

    According to Aaj Tak executive news director QA Naqvi, the channel is undoubtedly the market leader and “shall remain so to create history.” Says Naqvi, “Aaj Tak has been able to retain its position as India’s leading news and current affairs channel primarily because it has stayed steadfast with its core principles — credible, authoritative and insightful.”

    Pointing out that viewers have always chosen to watch Aaj Tak during major news events, Naqvi adds, “We recognise that the appetite of the audience for news has changed and we have changed to accommodate these without changing our basic values.”

    So does this mean that the other channels do not bring the same facets on air? Naqvi refuses to take the bait. “I’m here to speak of Aaj Tak and that’s about it,” he counters.

    But the seasoned news manager does admit that with eight Hindi news channels already on air, any further additions – as is being projected by various companies – would further segment the already fragmented news space. “Competition is intense,” he admits.

    Completing five years of a successful run, Aaj Tak is now looking at consolidating its position. “In the first year (2000) Aaj Tak’s share of audience was 55 per cent (Zee 31 per cent and Star News 9 per cent). We were number one then, which was no mean achievement, and we are still at the top. This is an even greater accomplishment,” avers Naqvi, but doesn’t forget to add that these days nothing should be taken for granted.

    That media planners buy into the Aaj Tak story and swear by it is a given, more so since it has proved its efficacy over five years and counting. Says Meenakshi Madhvani, CEO of media audit outfit Spatial Access, “Aaj Tak is a great reach builder and in certain SECs even works as a frequency delivering mechanism that compares with the mass general entertainment channels (Star Plus, Sony, Zee TV).” In terms of comparable value in a targeted media plan, about the only channel that delivers similar results to Aaj Tak is Cartoon Network, points out Madhvani.

    While Aaj Tak has managed to retain its leadership position, it is Star News that has been hogging the headlines. Over the last eight months, Star News has witnessed a phenomenal climb from 18 per cent in January to 24 per cent in September, coming within sniffing distance of Aaj Tak that remains ahead by a nose at 25 per cent channel share.

    Star News
    Jan
    Feb
    Mar
    Apr
    May
    June
    July
    Aug
    Sep
    18%
    17%
    17%
    17%
    16%
    16%
    20%
    24%
    24%

    Explains a justifiably elated Star News CEO Uday Shankar, “Well, it is not a sudden turn around. It is an endeavour that has been going on for a long time, which is now visible. It has been a gradual process.”

    The former Aaj Tak news head does not shy away from admitting that a cloud of uncertainty over its news uplink licence and the row with the government in 2003 over shareholding pattern in Media Content & Communications Services India Pvt Ltd (MCCS), which is the holding company for Star News and its sibling Star Ananda, had “taken a toll” on the performance of the Hindi news channel earlier.

    “At that point, more than the growth, the company’s survival had become the focal point,” Shankar points out.

    But after the running battle with the government — some say instigated by rivals — got sorted out it was time to concentrate afresh on building the channel and making it more responsive to people’s aspiration and needs.

    “Our aim had been to make Star News a channel that sets the agenda of news (for other TV channels as also print),” Shankar says, giving a glimpse behind Star News’ philosophy that revolves round ‘keeping the viewers abreast of news’. To quote Shankar from a recent release. “We strive to give our viewers stories and news that affect their lives, and this has led to Star News’ steady growth throughout the past year. Our success has been built not only on attracting new viewers, but in keeping them interested enough to keep coming back.”

    “That the slow process of building a channel and a relationship with viewers can bear fruit is evident from Star News climbing to the No. 2 spot in the month of August,” asserts Shankar.

    He acknowledges the fact that the Mumbai deluge gave an entirely dimension to disaster coverage and the information imparted by Star News turned out to be remarkable. The visuals put out by Star News, Shankar gushes, “expressed something that words failed to and the coverage simply reflected the true face of the devastation.”

    And what of NDTV India? TAM data shows that Prannoy Roy’s channel has been on a downward spiral ratings-wise. According to media analysts, NDTV India’s loss has been Star News’ and Zee News’ gain.

     

    NDTV India
    Jan
    Feb
    Mar
    Apr
    May
    June
    July
    Aug
    Sep
    21%
    21%
    21%
    21%
    20%
    19%
    17%
    17%
    16%

    And that’s another tale in itself. Zee News, the first Hindi news channel, has withstood the storm of new players in the space for over a decade, The channel that started 2005 with a 15 per cent channel share has steadily increased it to a high of 19 per cent in the months of June and July, and plateaued out at 18 per cent in August-September. Presently, it occupies the third slot.

    Zee News
    Jan
    Feb
    Mar
    Apr
    May
    June
    July
    Aug
    Sep
    15%
    15%
    16%
    17%
    18%
    19%
    19%
    18%
    18%

    Zee Telefilms news group director Laxmi Goel reiterates, “Zee News has been in this space for over a decade from the time when there was only Doordarshan for news and to the present time when there are eight to 10 news channels. Still, Zee News is going strong and it will continue to run the race with its philosophy — Haqeekat Jaisi Khabar Waisi.”

    How does he view the ratings race? Goel adds, “Zee News has seen growth and consolidation in its viewership numbers this year. We have seen a healthy growth in the cluttered news space despite marginal up and down movements on the ratings chart.”

    Goel, however, pointed out that though the number of players have increased “there is little difference amongst the front runners.” There are the top four and then there are the rest is his contention.

    One of those “fringe players” is Sahara Samay Rashtriya. Despite a number of news channels in its stable — both region-specific and a national channel — Sahara Samay continues to remain on the outside looking in.

    Sahara Samay
    Rashtriya
    Jan
    Feb
    Mar
    Apr
    May
    June
    July
    Aug
    Sep
    6%
    6%
    6%
    6%
    5%
    5%
    5%
    7%
    6%

    Still, Sahara Samay Rashtriya vice-president Prabhat Dabral has a different theory. Sahara had adopted a different strategy altogether, he empahsises, adding, “We have a game plan wherein the media company will first strengthen the regional channels. As this happens, their combined strength will push up the national channel.”

    When his attention is drawn to the numbers, Dabral, however, admits the national news channel is not doing well in the rat race, but is hopeful it will “pick up steam very soon.”

    Another of the also rans is India TV. After completing a year, the Rajat Sharma-promoted India TV is now gearing up for some action. The company has roped in Universal McCan president Chintamani Rao as India TV CEO with an aim to strengthen the channel’s brand equity as it gets ready to launch two regional news channel in the Gujarati and Punjabi markets.

     
    India TV
    Jan
    Feb
    Mar
    Apr
    May
    June
    July
    Aug
    Sep
    5%
    6%
    8%
    7%
    7%
    6%
    6%
    5%
    6%

    And what about India TV’s performance on the ratings meter? The channel really picked up steam in March through a series of steamy sting operations that resulted in its hitting a high eight per cent market share.

    In April and May, India TV maintained a 7 per cent share, which dipped to 5 per cent in August bringing it to a level from here it had started this year in January.

    Yes, casting couch stories did create a buzz and they did reflect on the ratings chart. As per TAM data, on 13 March, India TV mounted right at the top of the heap with a never-before channel share of 22.4 per cent. This was the day when India TV caught on camera film star Shakti Kapoor in a queasy corner that fanned the casting couch issue anew.

    That the expose had the charts rocking could be gauged from the fact that even market leader Aaj Tak on that fateful Sunday (13 March 2005) dropped to 20.2 per cent, while NDTV India stood at 18 per cent, Star News posted 14 per cent and Zee News 13.4 per cent. Sahara Samay and DD News were lower down in the order with shares of 6.2 per cent and 5.9 per cent, respectively.

    Then there is also newer entrant, Channel7, which has managed to emphatically establish one point: it’s no pushover.

    Coming from the Jagran newspaper stable, which has a wide network of newspaper editions, Channel7 is cashing in on its strength in the Hindi speaking belt of North India and the state that it’s headquartered in: Uttar Pradesh.

    But the new kid on the block too is grappling with distribution problems. Though Channel7 is “paying a carriage fee,” some challenges still need to be overcome.

    Channel7 CEO Piyush Jain says, “If you compare week-on-week, then certainly there would be a little volatility. It is always better to look at trends over a three to four-week period. We are very delighted with the overall performance of the channel till date.”

    Distribution Front:
    Distribution still remains an important aspect for all the news networks. Shankar asserts, “Distribution is very important. You may have the best of product, but if viewers or the target audience (TG) do not get to see it, what use is the product.”

    Admitting that Star News did face some hitches in a few pockets of the country that needed fixing, Shankar said, “We first built our content, ramping up the quality and then turned our attention to the distribution side of the channel.”

    Concurring with Shankar, Zee News’ Goel offers a related perspective on the distribution game — that of placement of a channel. “Zee News did not suffer from the malady of low connectivity, but on some cable networks the news channel was not anywhere near tunable bandwidth,” Goel says, adding from the day that problem was fixed, dividends have started accruing.

    With the news market getting more fragmented, Dabral acknowledges the challenge increases. “As a strategy, we have decided to distribute Sahara Samay Rashtriya only in those markets where the reach of the regional channels does not exist.”

    Almost everyone concurrs that carriage fee is an open secret of the industry and news channels do pay up to get carried on cable networks. “It is a two-way process; one pays a carriage fee and the other accepts it,” Goel says candidly.

    Present programming strategy and looking ahead:
    Strong position of a news channel is a comprehensive mix of content, marketing and distribution. All going hand in hand.

    Having gained in ratings, Zee News, a pay channel in sharp contrast to the others that are free, will have to strive harder than the rest to maintain its gains.

    That’s why Zee News is attempting to broadbase its ‘thought’ leadership with out-of-the-box programming strategy. An example is Jinnah vs Jinnah, a documentary on Pakistan’s founding father who is still creating political turbulence in modern India. “A timely film (Bharatiya Janata party president LK Advani came under fire for terming Jinnah a secularist), Jinnah established our editorial maturity and thought leadership further,” Goel claims.

    Quite a few prime time shows too were refurbished on Zee News this year with the discontinuation of News at 9 pm and making the Prime Time 9 as a one-hour definitive news package where the first 30 minutes are dedicated to top stories of the day and the latter half devoted to a special story on weekdays.

    On the other hand, Star News is attempting to create a programming line-up, apart from news bulletins, that is reflective of innovations like developing new time bands. Shankar names shows like Wah Cricket!, Sansani and Insaaf ka Taraazu on different time bands in this regard.

    “None of the news channels associated afternoon viewing with news channels. We were the first to develop this time band by introducing a show like Saas Bahu Aur Saazish to drive traffic during the afternoons,” Shankar explains, adding, “Suddenly afternoons have grown to be a strong time band.”

    Aaj Tak too is giving itself time and options to experiment with news-based programming, though it refuses to spell out the details. “Obviously I would not like to go into the specifics about our strategy, but we will be experimenting with new subjects and fresh treatments of some existing programmes,” Naqvi states.

    In the recent past, Aaj Tak has re-branded news segments such as Dus Tak, the late bulletin at 10 pm and Aaj Subha in the mornings. “Not only have the look and feel of these shows been changed, but the focus too has shifted to give the news coverage more depth,” Naqvi elucidates.

    Pointing out that Aaj Tak’s new programming initiatives have yielded results, Naqvi claims, “The success of newer shows only strengthens our conviction that news has a wide appeal that has to do more with the inclusion of a variety of subjects in news programming, rather than sensationalising or trivialising news.”

    Advertising Income:
    Has the change in channel positions started having its impact on ad revenues on the various players as yet? Not as of now but when rates come up for renegotiation, it likely will. Says Starcom South Asia CEO Ravi Kiran: “Normally we have bulk annual deals done in the industry. So the present turnarounds, basically issue-driven, will not affect the rates. A smart media planner should always be ready to handle such risks. But when the rates come for a revision, such factors may play a role.”

    Concurs the CEO of another big media agency: “It is a supply-on-demand market and such changes wouldn’t have a dynamic impact on the rates. We should wait and watch to know what such changes would do to the rates. Yes, when the rates come for the annual revision, the market positions and rankings would play an important role.”

    Conclusion:
    In a nut shell, it has been largely observed that natural or man-made disasters do help the news channels in attracting newer audiences, but this effect is temporary. The gain in viewership has to be sustained through convincing programming, otherwise stray viewers go back to the channel they are used to viewing.

    (Despite several reminders, NDTV and India TV declined to offer any inputs to this report)

  • Optimystix has format down pat; looks to widen view

    From being the first Indian production house to tie up with two international format owners to foraying into fiction, Optimystix has been experimental. The production house will be completing six years of their existence in October this year. And with a total of 11 non-fiction shows and one fiction show telecast on leading broadcasters like Star, Sony, Zee, Nick and Pogo, over six years of their existence, Optimystix this year, has its kitty full with a reality talent hunt show to be launched in October. The production house also plans to venture into film production and set up an advertising division by early next year.

    Sanjiv Sharma, cofounder of Optimystix

    On entering the Optimystix office, located at a suburb in Mumbai, the first thing that catches your eyes is the office décor, which highlights the colour used in the logo of the production house. Saffron, Blue, Green and Golden…

    Ask the “Optimistic duo” or the founders of the production house, ad film director Sanjiv Sharma and writer director Vipul Shah, about it and pat comes a reply, “It is a simple logo. Four bands of colours in the logo depict four earth colours. Saffron is the colour of India, Blue-the colour of water and sky, Golden depicts wheat and Green is nature. And as all these elements of nature don‘t meet, similarly the edges on the logo don‘t meet. It is symbolic to wide varieties of programmes that we have been making, which has no similarity with each other.”

    Sanjiv is quick to quote a line from Shakespeare, “Greatness is thrust upon you,” and this is what happened with Optimystix. While working on Khul ja sim sim in 2001, we got the understanding of the business. It wasn‘t the hottest formats like KBC. Yet it managed to capture the Indian audience. So the point is that it is not necessary that we get the most popular formats. It‘s about understanding the Indian mindset and getting the best format for adaptation.”

    Vipul adds, “Khul ja Sim Sim gave us the recognition as a production house in format business.”

    Optimystix tasted success with Indian Idol part one

    But it was Indion Idol part one in 2004 which reinforced their position in the market. At that time, Optimystix had a three-man leadership team that included Rajiv Vyas as well. Vyas joined Optimystix as its CEO in October 2003, soon after he quit cable MSO InCableNet where he was CEO. Vyas was with Optimystix till March 2006. It was during that period that the production house not only produced Indion Idol, but also struck a deal with two international format owners, Sparks Network and Zodiak International.

    Queried as to the reasons for Vyas‘ departure, Sanjiv says, “He got better opportunities and decided to move on.”

    While Indian Idol was a sort of watershed landmark in Optimystix‘s evolution, the production house could not be a part of the second series of Indian Idol. So the Vipul-Sanjiv duo continued their efforts to remain in the position of format owners.

    The Road To Victory:
    Founded by Sanjiv and Vipul in October 2000 with an aim of producing world class programming for Indian television, the production house has come a long way.

    Vipul started his career about a decade ago as writer with sitcom Dekh Bhai Dekh, after which he went to write popular shows like Philips Top Ten, Battle of Bollywood, Zee Horror Show, BSA Star ki Pasand and I Love You to name a few.

    It takes two to ‘tango‘, Sanjiv Sharma and Vipul Shah

    Sanjiv has had a successful stint as an ad filmmaker with nearly 1,000 ad campaigns to his credit. The talented twosome met during the making of BSA Star ki Pasand and since then there has been no looking back.

    Six years down the line, the production house has undoubtly managed to attain the objective of bringing quality entertainment into the television industry.

    And when asked, why a name likes Optimystix Sanjiv says, “Why not Optimystix?” Vipul then explains the meaning. He says, “Optimystix is a combination of two words. First is Optical, which deals with optics and the second are Mystix, which means mystery. Therefore, we relate story telling as being mystical.” The camaraderie between the two is such that that you are tempted to call it endearing.

    From format shows to reality shows… including fiction, the production house has done it all. A sneak peak into Optimystix through the eyes of its creators.

    Formats: Format shows are currently in vogue in the Indian television market, with every broadcaster having one or more reality format shows running. Optimystix has also managed to carve its own space by being the first production company in India to tie up with two international format owners to exclusively market their formats in India. Both tie-ups were announced at MIPCOM, Cannes October 2005.

    One is Zodiak Television, which is a leading international TV-format distributor based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Kam Ya Zyaada launched on Zee Television on 12 December 2005 was based on a format owned by Zodiak TV, and adapted for India by Optimystix. And the other is Sparks network. But as Sanjiv puts forward. “With Sparks‘s network, it was not a tie up. Rather it was getting on board with 12 independent producers from Europe and one from South America. Optimystix, being the only Asian company in its network.”

    ‘Khul ja Sim Sim‘ was the first format show from Optimystix

    Some of the formats adapted from Sparks were Khul Ja Sim Sim (Let‘s make a deal) on Star Plus, Kismey Kitnaa Hai Dam (Night fever) on Star Plus, Indian Idol (Pop Idol) on Sony, Dum Dum Dum on Nick and Bum Bum Bum Gir Pade Hum on Pogo.

    And this year at Cannes, they plan to go a step further by not only buying formats but selling its indigenously developed format to production houses in France and USA.

    With their shows, Kam ya Zyaada (Zee) and Jet set go (Star one) coming to an end, with a lukewarm response this year, there has been a decline in the programming hours of Optimystix.

    But in 2007, Optimystix will once again be adapting a “Zodiak Format” (Stars on the Stage), which will be launched on Star early next year, “In this show, a trained singer would train a celebrity. For instance, Sunidhi Chauhan will train Ronit Roy and both of them will perform together. They will be judged on the basis of their performance. Besides this particular format two other formats will be locked soon,” informs Sharma.

    Stills from ‘Yeh Meri Life Hai‘, the first fiction show from Optimystix

    Fiction: The production house forayed into fiction with Yeh Meri Life Hai in 2004. The serial had a run of 323 episodes from May 2004 to November 2005. “It ran parallel to Jassi Jaisi koi Nahi, which was considered to be the most successful property on Sony,” says Sharma.

    Future plans on fiction: Plans are afoot to launch two fiction shows by March 2007. And each show will be targeted to a 600 episode running. As put across by Sanjiv, “Our team is already in place. Vipul, being a writer is working on the shows.”

    Film Production: In all these years, Optimystix have established themselves as major players in format shows on Indian television. With a script writer and director at home, Optimystix plans to get into film production next year. “Our objective is to be in every genre of entertainment,” asserts Sharma.

    Without revealing much, Vipul says, “There are two subjects that we have worked on. One would be a crossover film and the other film would depict a journey of a middle class girl.” But if given a chance Vipul says that, as a team they would like to make a comedy film. “A comedy film with a message-to be more precise… Something like Lage Raho Munnabhai.”

    Take on the Optimystix team:

    The optimistic team of ‘Optimystix‘

    We are a team of around 40 people. “We believe in having the best people with us… not necessarily experienced, but definitely bright people. The stress is on the creative mind,” says Vipul. Sanjiv adds quickly, “As a result of which we are proud to have a fantastic team of creative people as well as a management team. And as far as the production team is concerned, since most of them are with me since my advertising days, they have an eye for detail. And all of them have a hunger to prove a point.”

    Motto: To be the best… “We work as a football team and not a cricket team. As in a football team when you know that you pass the ball down to someone… the person will try to the best of his capabilities to take it to the net. Its teamwork and trust put together. “

     

    Future plans: There are three major divisions of Optimystix right now. One is the TV (India), the other is Focus (which deals with International projects and development work) and the third is the Emerging media division. Sanjiv elaborates, “Our plan is to set up an advertising division by January next year. In the next few months, say six months from now, we will tie up with Dentsu on a few productions. We will also be getting into a partnership with an Australian company Ambience Entertainment. It doesn‘t stop here. It‘s like an organic process. More people, more creative minds and better output at the end of it.”

    There are six ideas on which the creative team of Optimystix is working and by March end next year, Optimystix plans to have eight international properties in its kitty.

    On Cine star ki khoj 2: Zee has awarded the production duties of Cinestar Ki Khoj 2 to Optimystix. The shooting schedule has started and the show will be launched in October. We are involved largely in two key areas, “Production support and format. The set this time will be different from the one in first series. We have worked with Umang on the sets,” informs Sanjiv.

    Five years from now: Next to Walt Disney and Pixar. Sanjiv says, “Creative leadership propels the company, not the desire to amass wealth and going by our approach and vision will lead us to that position. After five years we see ourselves as an entertainment company working in association with a creative team which becomes the cynosure of media at that point of time.”

    Vipul Shah, cofounder of Optimystix in conversation

    Finally Sanjiv on Vipul:
    We are totally different but our goals and objectives are the same. When two people stand and look at a horizon and dream of reaching it one day following two different paths, the result will be unexpected. He is the man who understands the need of television as a medium better than anybody else. My advertising background gives him technical support.

    Vipul on Sanjay: It‘s about aesthetics. Latitude between two people. When two sets of values cojoin to the same people… the success rate is higher.

  • Diwali rush for concepts, slots and TRPs

    Indian television‘s Hindi general entertainment space is at its aggressive best.As the market is about to enter its ‘harvest‘ season — with the big stakes game of Diwali placed just a month away — there is a thunderstorm brewing on the programming battlefront.

    Late last month, when Zee TV pointed a finger at Star India, making a serious charge of copyright infringement, the incident had given away the plot of the big fight coming up. Zee Telefilms issued a notice to Star demanding it withdraw all activities around its upcoming soap, tentatively titled Betiyaan, claiming ownership of the concept. Zee said it was in fact gearing up to launch its big ticket soap Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann, produced by Creative Eye.

    Star dismissed Zee‘s charges, asserting that the show‘s writer Rekha Modi had registered the titles and the concept with various copyright bodies well before Zee made its own registration.

    According to market sources, the issue finally got resolved through an out-of-court settlement. Zee retained its original title Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann title, whereas Star chose the name Betiyaan apni yaa…Paraaya Dhan.

    Now, compare the storylines, as offered by both the channels:

    Betiyaan apni yaa…Paraaya Dhan is the story of six daughters and one son born into a Zamindar family of Neelkanth Chanda Rana. It is the story of a father who rebukes his daughters because for him they are a burden. They have come into his life only for want of a son. Krishna, the eldest daughter and the protagonist, is based on Lord Krishna‘s character and personifies his depth of wisdom and understanding. A simple, honest and principled girl, she is the balancing factor amongst her sisters. Paraaya Dhan may be considered the story of many a home in India where it is believed that a son will take the family name further and a daughter is Paraya Dhan, states a Star India release.

    According to the Zee official communiqué, Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann is Zee TV‘s steadfast attempt to address the ever-persistent issue of gender discrimination in our country. The show highlights certain myths that exist in our society today. States Zee TV programming head Ashvini Yardi on the Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann, “With Ghar Ki Lahsmi… we are trying to highlight the serious issue of gender inequity that is prevalent in our society.”

    And it is again strategies and counter strategies. On 19 September, Zee TV conducted a press conference to announce its plans to launch Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann — set in a Gujarati household — on 25 September. On 18 September, Star made the smart move of talking to the media about its October launch Paraaya Dhan well in advance. Apart from the plot, what was revealed was the time slot of 9 pm, Monday to Thursday. The result: Star could let the market know about the development a day in advance.

    What makes both these Betiyaan shows keenly fought properties? With Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann, Zee TV is attacking one of the two most crucial time slots of Star Plus – 10 pm, where the long running soap Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki is playing. Letting the Zee TV do what it had done in the 9 pm – 10 pm slot (with success stories Saath Phere & Kassamh Se) would be suicidal for Star Plus and the channel understands that fact very well.

    “Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki is an old show with a dedicated viewership and we are confident of the soap overcoming any new challenge in its way. But we will make efforts to protect the show. I am not hinting that we will be doing stunts to keep the viewer glued. We will be taking liberties that the story line would allow and accordingly, we will be creating twists and turns in the plot to fight competition,” Star India senior creative director Shailja Kejriwal says.

    “The main strength of Ghar Ki Lakshmi… is its content and we have full faith in it. The soap is very important for us. Creative Eye is producing the show; it has been placed in the 10 pm time slot; and more importantly, we believe that the concept is very unique but very relevant. No counter strategy would be able to stop this soap,” retorts Zee TV‘s Yardi. She adds that Zee wouldn‘t be resorting to any exercise such as simultaneous premiere on its network channels to expand the viewership.

    And one show that will be making its best efforts for not getting caught in this exchange of fire would be Sony‘s brand new celebrity dance show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa. Reason: Jhalak.. again has been placed in the crucial slot of 10 pm, Wednesday and Thursday.

    It seems the leading channels are almost done with their key Diwali arrangements. With the introduction of Ghar Ki Lakshmi… in the 10 pm slot, Zee TV has revamped its 10 – 11 pm slot. L‘il Champs will now air Friday-Saturday at 10 pm. Shabaash India has been shiifted to the Monday -Tuesday 10.30 pm slot, while Johny Aala Re will now air on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 10.30 pm.

    Star One is meanwhile revamping its prime time band as well, with the entry of Nach Baliye 2 on 25 September (placed in the 8:30 pm slot) and the launch coincides with the Ghar Ki Lakshmi… launch in terms of dates. In October, two other soaps Saathi Re and Betiyaan apni yaa…Paraaya Dhan will mark the launch of new primetime programming band, with Saathi Re airing at 8:30 pm followed by Betiyaan apni yaa…Paraaya Dhan at 9 pm.

    After Jhalak.., Sony‘s Diwali plans would revolve around two upcoming properties: a prime time soap Kaajaal and a reality-based show titled Big Boss. Though the channel is yet to reveal its plans about these two shows, indications are that they will be placed in the 9 to 10 pm slot.

  • Diptrix.com: Virtual reality grabs kids

    Has anyone heard about the Adventures of Trix Rabbit? Just click your way through the hip hoppity town, to the habitat of the super energetic Trix Rabbit, Diptrix.com. It exemplifies a world of freebies and games galore, a kid‘s haven!

    As marketers look for new ways and means to connect with their consumers, the task becomes doubly hard when the target group is a bunch of kids. In what appears to be an emerging trend among brands today, marketers are increasingly using the concept of community based websites. This provides a medium to directly reach out to each consumer via active engagement with the product, thus strengthening the ‘connect‘ between the two.

    The Dip Trix homepage

    Following this path, General Mills latest offering Dip Trix Cookies ‘n‘ Cream launched diptrix.com simultaneously with its national rollout in March this year.

    To make a big noise around the new product, the brand aimed at creating a “virtual playground” – a space for their little consumers to have fun through games, sharing stories, trivia and downloads.

    A key hook used to build participation was the oft used collect points proposition (in this case virtual currency “cookies”), which can be exchanged for real life merchandise.

    Additionally, the ‘Hall of Fame‘ announces the names of participants with the highest scores. The leader in this currently is a kid who has gathered more than 10,000 “cookies”.

    Diptrix.com also provides a learning experience for kids via quizzes and an opportunity to express their point of view. The brand mascot Trix Rabbit befriends each visitor guiding them through every section of the site and through a story narrates the Dip Trix experience.
     
     

     

    General Mills, India marketing director Gayatri Yadav believes, “Children of today are increasingly technology savvy, requiring marketers to think of new ways to connect and communicate with them. The traditional modes of TV and print media are no longer enough. It is important to explore new media options that allow not just a one way communication, but a two way dialogue and interactivity. The key is to go beyond brand exposure to brand engagement.”

    Brand mascot Trix Rabbit narrates his story

    It is estimated that the average time spent on the site by the TG (kids between the age group of 6-14 years) ranges from 20-25 minutes. Within the first five months, the site had more than 10,000 registered users, with the monthly average of page views nearing 300,000.

    Unlike other community websites that boast of a huge user base, Diptrix.com is content with its set of loyal visitors. This fulfills one of their key objectives which is to increase frequency of visitors rather than expand their reach. The site epitomizes fun for kids with its cute look and feel and it has been calculated that on an average, kids log on to this site to play the games more than thrice a week. The games differ in complexity making it appropriate to the wide TG, although it may be said that the average age of visitors are approximately 10 year olds.

    The key idea was to provide kids with a space of their own to learn, play and be rewarded for their efforts. This subtly acts as a sphere of empowering the ‘little fellows‘, giving them an incentive to keep them coming back for more. They can redeem these “cookies” for a whole range of branded goodies offered at the online store, from Trix Rabbit caps, T-shirts and bags, to lower value items like stationary and stickers.

    The Krissh and Trix game

    Moreover, the launch of the website was also co-ordinated with the release of Krissh. During a promotional period, the official mask of the Indian superhero was distributed on purchase of Dip Trix Cookies ‘n‘ Cream. Currently, a Krissh ‘advergame‘ has been posted on the site, which allows kids to put on the mantle of their hero and outrun the ‘silly‘ rabbit thus, redeeming cookies for the mask. This has served as an effective tie-up as the buzz around this has driven traffic to the website.

    The creative team, Hungama.com (Virtual Marketing (India) Pvt.Ltd) handles the website and has worked on several brand websites including Coca Cola and Axe. However, in this case the challenge for them was to develop an online solution for a kid‘s centric category that had to be exciting and addictive. As a result of being a new entrant in the Indian market, the website had to be an integral part of the entire communication mix.

    Kids voice their opinions on Kid Speak

    Besides the buzz sparked off with Krissh, the website was also promoted via on-pack messaging and TV. However, much ideation went into the initiative as kiddies are no longer passive consumers. The creative team tells us that various competitive kids‘ websites and other consumer engagement websites were analyzed while preparing the content strategy for the Dip Trix website. To keep a tab on the activity on the site, Hungama.com has an in-house tracking and reporting application and follows web trends to monitor page views and visitor analysis, in order to study the behaviour of registered users. “To have a set of loyal visitors to your website, community building is one of the best tools available.”

    To sustain the hype around diptrix.com, content is regularly updated to keep the interest levels high. Two new games are added every month while other sections are updated on a weekly or fortnightly basis.

    Besides, there are plans to introduce new branded merchandise like watches and umbrellas in the coming weeks, as a trend has been observed whereby, kids are accumulating a huge amount of “cookies.” To prevent stagnation, these new items will be of higher value thus allowing kids to redeem the bulk of points collected.

    Kids can download wallpapers & more

    What is also interesting is that this activity also allows for a ‘sharing experience‘ among kids and their parents. As parents guide their kids through the site, it creates for quality time spent and includes parental involvement. Parents are even kept informed about their kid‘s activities and the freebies they win on the site.

    As every brand attempts to give its customer the value of an emotional connect, Dip Trix Cookies ‘n‘ Cream believes, “The website is not about generating brand sales but about building an enduring and vibrant relationship with the Indian child. We see this as a long term channel to interact and engage with the child, and build a brand via a relationship, not just messaging, via creating a community and not just communication.”
     
  • Trai’ng hard but falling way too short

    Trai’ng hard but falling way too short

    Some like it; some don’t. But there’s no denying that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai)-mandated pay channel prices in CAS areas (Rs 5 for all pay channels) is going to stir up much more than just a storm in the proverbial cup.

     

    It’s like those weekly village markets that are quite popular in India where the refrain is har maal paanch rupaiya mein (every product priced uniformly at Rs 5). The actual price may differ a bit, but the concept adopted by Trai is the same. Reason: low and uniform prices attract buyers.

     

    Faster the adoption of a technology like CAS, sooner more transparency will come into the Indian broadcast and cable industry, which has been plagued by massive under-declaration by cable ops
    _____****_____

    A low price entry point for a new technology — about which myths abound still for the general public — is certainly a good way of incentivising its quick adoption. And, faster the adoption of a technology like CAS, sooner more transparency will come into the Indian broadcast and cable industry, which has been plagued by massive under-declaration by cable operations and other such ills in the absence of any regulation.

     

    But in attempting to keep cable TV as a mass service —- which it is, anyway — and having the prices of all pay channels uniform, Trai has forgotten one important aspect of regulatory process: the cost factor while deciding tariff for a service.

     

    The real boom in the Indian cellular phone market came when players clipped price lines and made the whole process of acquiring a mobile phone connection so cheap and attractive that even a domestic hand found it hard to resist. Who can forget a certain Indian telecom player’s offer of a mobile phone connection with unlimited talk time for a certain period of time and the handset thrown in for Rs 500 under the Monsoon Hungama or monsoon bonanza scheme some time ago?

     

    Trai, which also oversees the telecom sector, may actually take pride in claiming that it facilitated massive growth in cellular phones in the country. The numbers say it all. There are more cellular phone connections in the country compared to fixed line connections. But broadcast industry cannot crow like its telecom counterpart.

     

    Though cable TV service, unlike some others like transport (especially capital intensive railway transport), cannot be categorized as a natural monopoly, the cost of putting together that service cannot be overlooked.

     

    In forcing an entertainment broadcaster to sell its product at a ridiculously low cost, Trai is trying to say Indian consumers don’t appreciate high quality production values.
    _____****_____

    Not as capital intensive as power or transport sectors, cable TV nevertheless does need investments to be made by all stakeholders of the value chain. By presuming that all types of content can be acquired comparatively cheap and revenue generated through volume sales (after all, India now boasts of 68 million C&S homes with all TV homes standing at 110 million), the regulator has highlighted its partial ignorance of how the broadcast business is conducted.

     

    Imagine the plight of Nimbus, for example, which has bought Indian cricket rights for over $ 600 million hoping that the content would help it to price its proposed channel at a premium. But now it would have no option but to price a pay channel at Rs 5 and look at rejigging the whole business model.

     

    There is no denying that the programming costs in the sports, movies and entertainment segments are higher than news or infotainment channels segment. In forcing an entertainment broadcaster to sell its product at a ridiculously low cost — when compared to the input costs of aggregating content — Trai, probably, is trying to say that Indian consumers don’t appreciate high quality production values and can be served shoddy work. Class comes with a price tag and the price decided by the regulator is unlikely to encourage quality.

     

    Could Trai have gone in for differential pricing for some genres of channels? Yes, of course it could have, and displayed a visionary flair in the process.

     

    But as long as regulators like Trai remain hostage to a government’s whims and fancies, it would always open itself to the criticism of pandering to politicians’ wishes, which are mostly based on populism.

     

    Still, there is no gainsaying that the last word on this tale is a long way away from being written. And, if the way the currents are flowing are anything to go by, it could well be on this critical point that Trai’s efforts to usher in the CAS era could fall flat!

  • Meet the Big C

    A consultant: – An outside entity who is paid to bring objectivity, expertise and insight into a client’s working. However, the only skill that he seems to employ is the art of collating comments made from diverse sources, processing and polishing then a touch and then presenting them as his own, with aplomb. This insidious transference of the source of an idea, many a times results in its full throated approval.
    (For all those of you who make a career doing this, kudos to you, I wish I was in your place, and in case anyone is hiring I have my id at the bottom)

    “Old Chinese Proverb, words spoken by someone who is being paid through your nose always sound better, though a little nasal,” the hushed Chinese accent, the express delivery of the tea cup in Ram’s hand and Chai-La (the mystical Chinese canteen tea boy) had vanished into the absurdness of his comment before anyone could pause to notice.

    The agency team had gathered in the client’s office to discuss the impending launch of a multinational competitor. Since this was typically the kind of news that sends thorn rimmed shivers down the spines of the marketing department, the client had decided to call in the cavalry. Word was sent out to the Big C, the clients marketing consultant.

    The Big C was almost a reverential name in the industry. People swore by his name-at errant laser printers, red card happy referees and overindulgent accountants. His appearance was immaculate. He always seemed to have gadgets that were a few years ahead of everything else present in the room (a minor alteration on the system clock did help).

    He was a master of business models and never passed up a single opportunity to know them better. This had resulted in three divorces at last count. He featured regularly in media. His opinions were sought after by all and sundry, whenever the economy twisted in its slumber. He was a man who had a reputation, which wasn’t something that anyone from the agency team could honestly claim.

    When the Big C entered, a feeling of awe swept across the room. Immediately the concept of the ‘awe continuum’ came to the fore. The clients marketing team, featuring Mr.Bose (the marketing head) and Mr. Lele (his external organ), stared tongue tied as the Big C strode to the head of the table. The agency’s brand management team (Vikas, Dharti and Ram) were also awed, but to a lesser degree and PP (the creative director with the trademark moustache) was very low on awe. In fact he was staring with some amount of hostility at the consultant.

    “Welcome friends, we have gathered here to discuss our future strategy, especially given the competitive scenario. Let us try and have a constructive discussion to arrive at a long-

     

     

     

    term solution. I must thank the Big C also for kindly consenting to grace us with his presence and hopefully we will all get inspired to think better in his August company, even though this is September.”

    Mr. Bose paused to see if his wisecrack had gone down well; the Big C smiled back boosting his confidence multifold.

    “And now let’s just begin the discussion, let it be a free flowing exchange of ideas without fear of who is getting hurt by what is being said, let’s be brave, let’s think different. Let’s question the conventions. Lets just pull out all the stops to finding a winning solution,” he concluded red faced from the exertion of talking passionately, short of throwing down a blood stained handkerchief on the table he had pretty much set the mood. As it was wisely said it was too ‘let’ to turn around.

    “I would like to hear what the agency has to say on the issue. They are after all your brand custodians. They will be in touch with the pulse of the consumer,” began the Big C in a voice that demanded instant respect, attention and clearance of outstanding bills. He then unraveled a space age looking gadget that made the usual laptops look like elementary level slates. As everyone else looked on in envy he began punching keys with the ferocity of a circus clown going through his comic routine.

    “Well, we believe that we really have nothing to fear,” began Vikas, in his confidently cherubic tone, and then realizing he had hit a brick wall kicked Dharti under the table.

    “The reason for that is that we have created new niches in the market and have sustained our value proposition across non homogenous audiences across the years, so we are prepared for any eventuality,” Dharti, the agency’s curvaceously crafted account planning head, chipped in while maintaining unwavering eye contact with the Big C.

    The Big C met her gaze and a wicked smile began to form on the outlines of his lips that made Ram feel distinctly jealous.

    “The only thing we need to do is keep advertising, so what is they are multinationals, this is our country, different rules apply here. We must increase our presence in India, possibly even create new more relevant communication that has international overtones” boomed PP, reaching decibel levels that rearranged data on Big C’s wonder gadget.

    The Big C was studiously at it on his machine when the others were speaking. From time to time he was checking the temperature in the room and was drawing imaginary triangles of influence across the various speakers in the room. He had an all knowing grin permanently plastered on. Ram found all this very strange.

    “Why should we advertise? We should just stop and see what they will do.” That was Madhur Lele, first name courtesy parents, the last endowed by the general public.

    “Absolute nonsense,” exploded PP.

    “That’s completely short sighted,” exclaimed Vikas.

    “Such mediocre thinking,” commented the receptionist (though outside the room and in a completely different context)

    “Lele you better clear your marketing fundamentals,” ended Mr. Bose, relishing the opportunity to make his subordinate squirm.

    The Big C remained silent and did not raise his eyes above the wonder gadget.

    “We need a promotional scheme to keep the consumer loyal initially,” murmured Mr. Bose, “the propensity to switch might be high initially.”

    “Yes that’s true Mr. Bose, research shows that if morality is falling, brand loyalty is never something that should be taken for granted,” cooed Dharti in a manner that immediately made her appear intelligent, or was it the lighting in the room?

    “Well, what do you have to say?” The Big C suddenly asked Ram, emphasizing on the underline. To say that the question had caught Ram in the cold would be detrimental to the idea of an understatement.

    In his bewildered state he glanced down at Vikas’s cell phone and drew inspiration from the logo.

    “Maybe we need a motto,” he said with uncertainity.
    The rest of the room erupted in laughter, the loudest guffaws emanating from Madhur Lele who was thrilled to get the opportunity to mock someone for a change.

    As the mirth subsided, Mr. Bose asked the Big C the inevitable question.

    “What do you have to say, sir?”

    The Big C motioned him to be silent and upped the tempo of his interaction with the wonder gadget, lights were flashing and techno sounds were squealing in digital agony. Finally he triumphantly raised his eyes and looked at the room. He paused for a full minute and then stood to his full height. He casually sauntered around the room in a manner that made everyone uncomfortable. Then he stopped dead center.

    “This is an interesting and challenging problem, luckily my years of experience and cutting edge technology have enabled me to come up with the right tool that we must follow for success,” he paused briefly to caress the wonder gadget almost sensually.

    “The tool is my trademarked model ACPM, a brand defense module against aggression in the marketplace. This is inspired by the ICBM, which famously formed the bulwark of the security programs of many nations around the world.” He paused again drinking in the awe, for those who keep status; even PP was jumping up in intensity level on the ‘awe continuum’.

    “A stands for await. Wait and watch first what the competition will do, C stands for Counter or make our approach more Contemporary and relevant. P stands for Persevere with this strategy and if in doubt fall back on Promotions and M stands for motto, we need something that will drive morale within and outside the organization, a kind of rallying call that will inspire people to greater things. Something that the agency will surely develop given their expertise.”

    He concluded as he triumphantly scribbled the acronym on the board, adding the trademark symbol almost mechanically.

    There was a hushed silence in the room as everyone sat transfixed taking in those alphabets. They seemed to have hypnotized the room.

    Mr. Bose was the first to recover, “Thank you sir that makes so much sense. We will all get down to it. That was truly inspiring, ACPM, such a brilliant model. We are very keen to apply it from today. You have given us so much hope.”

    The agency personnel grudgingly admitted that they were floored by the new strategic initiative.

    “We will start work on the slogan,” offered Vikas helpfully, knowing full well that his remark would cause PP’s blood pressure to rise like a salmon out of water.

    Ram excused himself to leave the room, he deliberately walked behind Big C’s chair to sneak a peek at the wonder gadget and what he saw made his jaw drop beyond the confines of his face. There was nothing on the other side of the impressive shell. It was just a sophisticated game of ‘0’s and X’s’ that the Big C had been playing all along. The Big C caught him looking at his little secret and shot back a refined but decidedly dangerous glance that made Ram scurry to the men’s room even faster.

    Back in the office, Ram sat stooped in his chair. Trying to write the minutes of the previous meeting, still feeling slightly robbed on the whole.

    “Your ideas make for meaningful meal, but if you aren’t careful someone will steal,” the high pitched cackle, the express delivery of the tea cup and Chai-La disappeared in the words typed out in bold on Ram’s screen. ACPM