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Category: Year Enders

  • #Retrace2021: Associating with marquee properties on TV helped us take a quantum leap on digital: Arjun Mohan

    #Retrace2021: Associating with marquee properties on TV helped us take a quantum leap on digital: Arjun Mohan

    The only ed-tech “to have a ‘donkey’ as its brand ambassador”, upGrad has been hitting all the right notes, starting from its eye-grabbing ‘Don’t lick ass, instead kick ass’ 2020 ad to its fortune-teller donkey ad in early 2021 to drive across its “Sirf Naam Ki Nahi, Kaam Ki Degree” messaging. Having achieved the desired impact with its former campaign, the edtech consciously shifted its brand positioning to ‘Fast Forwarding’ one’s career with upGrad’s online courses, ending the year with a striking print campaign that took on CAT, while also tackling with humor the perception of ‘online’ MBAs not being effective.

    The seven-year-old start-up, known to make full use of its marketing channels to amp up the reach has crossed a subscriber base of two million learners at last count, and the jump from one million to two million came about in approx. eight months.

    As the person at the helm of upGrad’s India operations, Arjun Mohan has steered the edtech unicorn and helped put it on an upward trajectory. An experienced industry professional, Mohan has worked across domains spanning sales, marketing, and product development for over 15 years.  Before upGrad, Mohan worked with edtech major Byju’s as marketing vice-president and later as the chief business officer (CBO). A gold medallist from IIM Kozhikode, Mohan has worked with brands like Titan and Tata services.

    In a free-wheeling conversation with IndianTelevision’s Anupama Sajeet, the upGrad India CEO Arjun Mohan talks about steering the edtech brand through a post-pandemic world and on the key marketing innovations adopted by the brand in the past year. He also shares his thoughts on being a ‘hardcore optimist’ and the trends that might dominate the edtech industry in 2022.

    Edited excerpts:

    On looking back at how the year 2021 fared for upGrad

    In a growing industry, every year is a good year. So, from a business perspective, 2021 was a good year as overall business metrics have been quite good. But it was pretty challenging considering the multiple waves of Covid which struck us – the lockdowns, the inconsistencies of when to come to the office, and the problems that our consumers were facing. As a result, decisions were getting delayed. But then it was these challenges that pushed us and I believe as a result of that we were able to carve out several good ideas on all three aspects of business i.e. products, sales, and marketing. Hence we were able to create an impact in the market.

    On key innovations adopted by the brand in 2021

    Yes, between 2020 and 2021, there have been a lot of changes in the way upGrad communicated. That change is a testimony to consumer behaviour, where the association between education being something ‘serious’ is a thing of the past. And that is why we positioned the brand differently.  We realised that learning, upskilling, lifelong learning- all these aspects are no longer constrained to a few. There are guys who want to learn, upskill, and constantly improve themselves but at the same time, they want to enjoy life. We started talking to our consumers in a lighter vein, started communicating with working professionals in a language they connected to.

    One of the initial communications we did was on office politics- on how one should stop bothering about office politics and focus on specialisations and upskilling that will take your career ahead. The second campaign we built upon was ‘Sirf naam ki nahi, kaam ki degree’. We continuously heard from customers that “we would definitely think of doing this course, par ye degree koi kaam ki honi chahiye.” In India, a degree is associated with – a better job, a promotion, a better salary, a future, and so on. So, we worked on those insights and repositioned the entire company into offering courses that will actually be life-changing. That’s where we moved to our positioning of ‘kaam ki degree’.

    In 2022, we moved into phase two of it. Rather than just talking about online learning, we started focusing more on the value proposition part of it- On how the upGrad course/ degree is better than whatever options you have in the market. Thus, if you see our communication, it has also been based on the life-changing impact that upGrad courses have, followed by two or three shorties or 15-second films where we talk about the USPs. This format has been really helping us with the consideration part and we have been seeing that the conversion on the lead has been on the uptick. So, if last year the donkey was the high point from an ‘awareness’ perspective, then this year the MBA campaigns we did focusing on the ‘value proposition’ – that would be the highlight which saw a lot of impact for us. That’s been a big change in 2021. 

    On launching campaigns sans any celebrity endorsements

    While we do joke about it that every edtech out there has a celebrity brand ambassador- Byju’s has a SRK, Great learning has Virat Kohli, now Vedaantu has got Aamir Khan- and we have a donkey (!), it’s not been a conscious decision. If at a point in time we feel we need a celebrity vehicle we would do that. Currently, we are at an early stage of our brand building and the aspect we have been focusing on, as well as the TG we are talking about, is very different. This is not for mass India; this is for a smart audience. We didn’t see working professionals as the right vehicle for getting a brand ambassador. Even if you look at who or what they follow on OTTs or YouTube platforms – the kind of influencers these people follow are not celebrities. They are very individualistic and iconoclastic in that they follow what they think is right- they don’t believe they need to follow the crowd. And that’s why we stuck to the basics and the donkey!

    On exploring influencer marketing and subsequent ad-spends

    The way we look at brand marketing is that there are three pillars- The first pillar for us is ‘Content’ which includes social etc. Then comes the ‘Mass media’ which is where the TV and Print comes in and finally the ‘PR’ and all other aspects.

    For Content- we focus a lot on the content creators: influencers on YouTube, Instagram, OTT platforms, etc because our TG, especially the knowledge worker who is in IT/ ITES follows this segment a lot. We have started by working with multiple content creators like BeYouNick, Dhruv Rathee, who are very popular with this TG. We work with them on bringing Upgrad into their content very organically.

    Apart from relying on other content creators, we have also started creating our own original content called ‘the office canteen’. This again revolves around the theme of office politics, along with BeYouNick and YouTube, Google and has been a big success for us (trending with ten mn views).

    On the brand’s ad spend across TV, digital and print

    When it comes to mass media like TV and Print, rather than a ‘spray and pray’ our strategy has been focused on large properties.  When we do it, we do it big because we want to work on those properties which have a huge reach. So, we worked on IPL, the Test championship, UEFA, Wimbledon, and such. You can also see the sports association- as sport is connected with winners and ambitions so that works for us. Even in newspapers, our ad was an impact ad. It was more like moment marketing in that we took a dig at CAT, saying ‘CAT is so yesterday’. So that’s the kind of ‘big bang’ approach we are taking with mass media.

    We do digital marketing all the time and we’ve our leaps coming at particular CPL (Cost per lead) and traffic coming with a particular threshold. I want these brand properties on mass media to be at a point where I’ll get a quantum leap on the digital side of it. We plan it in such a way that our traffic moves a threshold and comes to a new benchmark. That’s been our larger strategy.

    Digital is where we get to do direct marketing. And we keep using large-scale marketing properties to get quantum jumps. Because, the kind of scale these properties give, digital will take years to reach there. We are also seriously looking at OOH. We shall do a clinical campaign, once our TG is back in the office, by trying to focus on places where we know our TG is- for instance, an IT park- and then do BTL inside such premises along with hoardings etc.

    So, all of this mass marketing is important to us, and we have a way to measure their impact. For that matter, even ‘Shark Tank’, where we are the title sponsors, we are quite sure that is the direction large-scale mass media is moving into. Rather than doing a couple of ads in between programs, writing your brand into the story is what really works. So that’s something we have really worked on and we have big plans for the show.

    On rising competition in ed-tech space and strengthening their USP

    We have complete confidence in our product. This product took almost five years to develop after multiple iterations. We were always clear that if we are able to get our customer to at least try our product then we can change his/ her perspective and even convince them that online is better than offline. There has been a lot of influx but if you see what’s happening today is that the players with a strong product, and sales & marketing capability are finally emerging out of this. So, I feel the solution for us is just to have our ears to the ground and keep on listening to the customer and then be ready with a solution that they will love. And that’s what we have been doing with our products, sales and marketing.

    On upcoming plans for 2022

    I am a hardcore optimist so I am sure 2022 will be superb for the brand. We are very clear we want to be the largest integrated edtech in the higher education space (post K-12) across the globe. Our international operations, which we started in 2021, is panning out well. We have our offices in the US, APAC and India where we have set up our subsidiaries. Post-India, our focus market will be the US- we really want to crack that market. So really looking forward to 2022 when we can take this to the next level.

    On key trends that might dominate the industry this year

    I think most of the ed-tech players in the K-12 segment will ultimately stabilise with the hybrid model, wherein there’s an offline component to it and an online component. But in higher edtech I don’t see that happening. Higher online learning has gotten established as a clear option or a side-by-side alternative to what used to exist earlier offline. There’s a very clear value proposition that you can continue upskilling even when you are working: ‘Learn while you Earn’.

    Hence, I believe, online education will be the preferred mechanism, at least from a Masters-degree perspective in India. The majority of Indians do not do a Master’s today because they are not sure whether thereafter, they will be able to get a job with that kind of a package. Even from a NNation-building perspective it is important for a country like India, with such a young population that we have highly skilled people. That’s when the country’s economy will move to the next level.

    Also, as we keep getting feedback from our learners, there has to be some social component to even online learning. So we are working to build a social module where learners can share their ideas, meet their lecturers, and have a session offline also. So that’s the way we see it and we will keep improving on it in 2022.

  • #Retrace2021: Inching towards a connected future of audience measurement

    #Retrace2021: Inching towards a connected future of audience measurement

    Mumbai: It was for the first time since the 1960s, that Nielsen’s measurement lost a “seal of approval” from the industry that uses it, as leading advertisers and TV networks sought alternate means of counting their audiences. The TV measurement company had long faced criticism from the Video Advertising Bureau (trade organisation representing the advertising sales departments of networks and distributors) over undercounting the TV viewing during the pandemic, and the exclusion of broadband-only homes. The months-long feud culminated in the suspension of accreditation of Nielsen’s national and local TV ratings service by the Media Ratings Council, effective mid-September 2021.

    Also read: Nielsen loses accreditation for TV measurement service

    Matters were further compounded by NBCUniversal launching a measurement RFP in August, calling for “measurement independence”. In September, even as Nielsen CEO David Kenny acknowledged the gap and bias in measurement as a result of the exclusion of broadband-only homes representing nearly 30 per cent of TV households in some local markets, ViacomCBS announced its partnership with software and data platform, VideoAmp for TV measurement data. The move opened the way for other networks to explore alternative means of counting their audiences.

    Also read: ViacomCBS teams up with VideoAmp for TV Measurement after Nielsen loses accreditation

    At the centre of this growing dissatisfaction with the panel-based measurement system was the Connected-TV revolution and the under as well as misrepresentation of the large universe of the audience that has either completely cut the cord or is consuming both linear and CTV across devices and platforms. The industry was clamouring for a unified identifier that could bring about fundamental changes in the current measurement system which oversimplifies viewing across CTV by extending linear TV measurement standards to it and/or combining two viewing data sets that do not have common metrics.

    Hopes were now pinned on Nielsen ONE, Nielsen’s single cross-media product providing reach and frequency metrics by delivering a holistic, deduplicated view of both content and ad performance regardless of screen, device or platform.

    Laying the groundwork for implementing the new flagship currency across local, national and digital measurement towards the end of September, Nielsen announced the “Impressions First Initiative” for impression-based buying and selling in local markets across the US, as well as the integration of Broadband-Only Homes into local measurement in January 2022. The impression-based currency will deliver a more complete, precise and representative audience measurement, along with the added benefit of enabling cross-platform audience measurement, it said. 

    Going full-throttle on its digital transformation, in October Nielsen unveiled a new brand campaign, including a new identity, reflecting the company’s focus on delivering digital-first and global-first media solutions in three areas—measurement, audience outcomes and content services. The shift signaled the combining and enhancing its measurement solutions into the single cross-media measurement solution, Nielsen One.

    Announcing the year’s biggest development and the culmination of a long wait, on 21 December 2021, Nielsen unveiled the first iteration of Nielsen ONE, ‘NielsenONE Alpha’ with Disney and MAGNA as participants. The newest deduplicated ad-measurement will continue to evolve with new feature additions, enhancements, and model improvements leading up to the launch of the final product in the fourth quarter of 2022.

    Aligning India with the global digital shift  

    While the connected TV/OTT ecosystem in India is not as well developed and deeply entrenched yet, it is relevant here to recall Barc India’s intent to initiate ‘one video view’ measurement, announced in September 2020 by ex CEO Sunil Lulla. At the height of the TRP scam that broke out around the same time, a section of the industry had expressed doubt regarding some stakeholders derailing the ratings agency’s efforts and intentions to bring forth a unified, cross-platform measurement system.

    Also read: Nielsen to launch new commercial metrics to track individual ads on TV

    The TRP committee formed in the aftermath of the scandal recommended measures to reinstate faith in the current rating system by strengthening corporate governance within Barc India at the board level through independent technical oversight, term limits, and wide representation that minimises conflicts of interest. The 39-page report also pushed for the formation of multiple rating agencies in competition to Barc India and creating a specialised regulator to oversee all of them.

    Even as it addressed the pitfalls in linear TV measurement, the four-member panel led by Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati laid down the framework for a comprehensive transformation and democratisation of the country’s rating systems and standards in line with the global shift towards digital.

    Considering the increasing convergence between STBs and smart media devices and the emergence of hybrid boxes capable of both CAS compliant linear TV viewing and internet streaming-based OTT viewing, the committee recommended a Return Path Data (RPD) mandate in all future STBs deployed by Distribution Platform Operators (DPOs). It also noted the emergence of smartphone-based apps capable of interacting with such hybrid boxes as paving the way for additional avenues for RPD data capture and relay.

    Further, it suggested the government/regulator examines incentives and policy interventions including FDI norms in the media audience measurement technology space so that India emerges as the hub for global innovation in this sector.

    Acknowledging the growth in digital advertising as well as the trend of linear TV viewing over interfaces other than traditional televisions and beyond the threshold of conventional households, the committee stressed the need for regulatory interventions to foster innovation while allowing for value chains to evolve, keeping pace with global trends and local market dynamics.

    “A hallmark of digital innovations over the past few decades has been disintermediation within value chains and disruption across industry domains, leveling the playing field and spurring competition. The world of linear television ought to be no exception to such disintermediation between buyers and sellers of media. There are no reasons why new models of advertising such as platform-based advertising, location-based advertising, programmatic advertising, etc must not emerge,” it said while adding that the guidelines prescribed must not privilege any one business model over another, nor create barriers to the emergence of more efficient business models.

    The above recommendations are both practicable and necessary considering the pace at which television viewing is evolving in India. As per mediasmart’s India CTV Report 2021, CTV viewing in India is on a significant uptick and increased by 31 per cent, compared to 81 per cent globally. Even though India is still a young market, it has tremendous potential for CTV adoption by consumers. In April 2020, 21 per cent of CTV viewing households were cord-cutters (households who cut the cord within the past five years), whereas 22 per cent were cord-nevers (households with no cable/satellite subscription in the past five years).

    Ormax Media research pins the Indian OTT audience universe at 353.2 million people, translating into a penetration of 25.3 per cent. According to various other estimates, the figure including YouTube is roughly 500 million. As regards CTV adoption, Madison’s Q2 report revealed that smart TV shipments grew by almost 65 per cent, claiming an 80 per cent share of the total TV shipments. Their massive adoption was fuelled by starting price points as low as Rs.15000.

    Given that TV as a medium still has considerable scope for growth in India, preparing for a connected future may seem like a long shot at this juncture. However, the Indian market which is often typecast as ‘underdeveloped’ is also a curious one where the digital revolution is being brought about by smartphones that have outmaneuvered PCs as the primary or base medium. With the current regulatory regime that seems to accelerate the clear segmentation of audience between Free Dish and streaming services by allegedly disincentivising Pay/Cable TV, we might be in for more surprises. 

  • #Retrace2021: Content and advertisers return to TV, AdEx remains elusive

    #Retrace2021: Content and advertisers return to TV, AdEx remains elusive

    Mumbai: 2021 was the year of the paradox. The return of LIVE sports and original programming on TV continued to attract new and more advertisers to the medium ensuring a phenomenal growth in ad volumes over 2020 and 2019. While it seemed like the marketers catering to ‘revenge buying’ consumers were on a ‘revenge spending’ spree, the decline in ad rates that had set in as a result of the pandemic, failed to rationalise through the year except towards the end of the festive season.

    Effectively, this meant that despite the economic recovery, positive consumer sentiment, availability of fresh content, and willingness of advertisers to spend, the 2021 AdEx could not reach pre-Covid levels. The negative trend was witnessed across categories.

    Also read: New advertisers make up 19% share of TV ad volume in Nov : Barc India

    According to the third edition of Broadcast Audience Research Council (Barc) India’s yearbook titled ‘The Year After 2019’, TV viewership grew by nine per cent in India in 2020. Yet given the circumstances, advertisers reeling under economic losses used the medium either sparingly or judiciously, mainly to maintain brand recall in anticipation of the reopening. With re-runs of old shows dominating the scene, almost all of television was functioning on a second-tier channel level in the context of content as well as ad rates.

    Picking up from the previous festive, 2021 began on a positive note with some fresh programming and the IPL motivating advertisers to place bigger bets on the medium. The second wave in May-June, however, postponed this recovery to the second half. Even as the rush of new FTA channels launched in 2020-21 and regional ones were making a significant contribution to ad volumes, broadcasters were now equally focussed on achieving pre-Covid ad rates.

    In addition to leveraging their leading IPs to negotiate a ‘fair’ deal once again, channels sought to up the ante with new shows (fiction and non-fiction) and seasons, as well as with LIVE sports programming. According to media planners, AdEx recovery started from July, surpassing 2019 levels in September-October. Contingent upon the possibility and severity of the third wave, it is hoped that this momentum aided by government spending on election campaigns until March 2022, will very soon lead to a full-fledged recovery for the industry.

    Content makes a comeback

    The efficient content strategy of regional adaptations like Star Plus’ ‘Anupamaa’ and ‘Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin’, and reruns implemented by broadcasters to tide over the pandemic turned out to be a success. Buoyed by the TRPs of the reruns, many channels brought back their popular shows and stars with new seasons and narratives in 2021.

    While ‘Sasural Simar Ka’ and ‘Balika Vadhu’ returned on Colors, SET launched season two of its popular series ‘Kuch Rang Pyaar Ke Aise Bhi’ and ‘Bade Achhe Lagte Hain’. Star Plus came up with the new edition of ‘Sasural Genda Phool’. After premiering the second season of ‘Saath Nibhanaa Saathiya’ in October 2020, the channel also re-launched the much-loved mother and daughter-in-law duo of Giaa Manek and Rupal Patel in ‘Tera Mera Saath Rahe’ (August 2021). Star Bharat chipped in with ‘Mann Kee Awaaz Pratigya 2’ in March.

    Also read: Shark Tank to get an Indian adaptation, set to air on Sony TV

    Beginning the year with ‘Teri Meri Ikk Jindri’, Zee TV introduced six new fiction shows this year and a history-based series ‘Kashibai Bajirao Ballal’. On the non-fiction front, apart from bringing back ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa’, it launched the new music league championship ‘Indian Pro Music League’. ‘Dance Deewane’ on Colors TV, ‘Dance Plus’ on Star Plus, ‘Super Dancer’ on Sony TV further added to the non-fiction list. Bringing new formats to the reality TV genre were Colors’ visual-based quiz show ‘The Big Picture’ hosted by Ranveer Singh and SET’s business reality television series ‘Shark Tank’.

    Also read: Viacom18 eyes a bumper festive season, with new show ‘The Big Picture’ set for launch

    Return of LIVE sports

    The return of LIVE sports further bolstered the recovery, with a host of new advertiser categories banking on TV to build reach. Whether it was the cryptocurrency brands, gaming, ed-tech or D2C brands, Television saw the ad volume rise across channels. While the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was halted mid-way due to the second wave, it made a comeback in September, with the T20 cricket World Cup. It was followed by the India-New Zealand Test series.

    The year also saw other major sporting events, including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics which was held amid Covid restrictions, and set the stage for India’s spectacular performance across different sports. Not only did India win its first-ever Gold in Athletics (Neeraj Chopra), it witnessed brilliant performances in Hockey, Boxing, as well as weightlifting. Over 48 million viewers watched EURO 2020 on its official broadcaster Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPSN), as per the data shared by the network for its entire coverage of the first 36 matches of the tournament from 11 to 25 June.

    Also read: Over 48 million viewers tuned into SPSN to watch UEFA EURO 2020

    Also read: Star Sports Network logs 3.8 million AMA for 1st India vs England Test

    Then, there was the India-England Test cricket series, ICC World Test Championship Finals in June, India-Sri Lanka series, India-Australia women’s cricket series. The year ended with the return of the Pro-Kabaddi League (PKL) in Bengaluru. 

    Phenomenal recovery in ad volumes

    An analysis of Barc’s monthly data reveals that TV showed a strong recovery in ad volumes since the beginning of 2021, and a noticeable growth over 2020 and 2019 levels. In 2020, TV ad volumes contracted by three per cent over 2019. However, in 2021, ad volumes grew over the last two years for most of the months except March (data not shared), May which saw a marginal de-growth of 3.5 per cent, and December (data unavailable).

    Also read: October records highest TV ad-volume in 2021

    According to media planners, the growth in ad volumes was supported by the launch of new channels in 2020 and 2021 which led to an increase in inventory on TV. Several new channels were launched to cater to the free-to-air audience including Ishara TV (FTA), Dhinchaak TV (FTA), Enterr10 Rangeela (FTA), Sun Marathi (FTA), Zee Pichar (Pay), Zee Thirai (Pay), Shemaroo TV (FTA), DD Retro (FTA), Dum TV Kannada (FTA), Azaad TV (FTA), Colors Cineplex Bollywood (FTA), Dhinchaak 2 (FTA), Republic Bangla, Times Now Navbharat HD (Pay), ET Now Swadesh and Gubbare TV.

    Regional channels also scripted their growth story in 2021, with several Southern languages, Marathi, Punjabi, Gujarati, and Bhojpuri recording a consistent growth in ad volume, not only over 2020 but also 2019 levels. In Q3’21 (July-August-September) almost all language channels saw growth over Q3’19. 

    Also read: Regional TV channels ride the growth wave, show surge in ad volume

    Also read: Television welcomes over 850 new advertisers in July 2021: BARC India

    While the launch of new channels increased the advertising inventory on TV, their contribution to the overall spend is not significant, according to media planners.

    Another reason for growth in ad volumes on TV is the emergence new advertisers in the second half of 2021. As per Barc data, in H1’21 FMCG advertisers dominated on TV accounting for 65 per cent share of the total ad volumes (springing back to action, were also hit by the pandemic, ad spends not as before). But starting from July new categories (compared to H1’21) started advertising on TV. The data for Q3’21 shows that new advertisers comprised 54 per cent of TV ad volumes compared to 41 per cent in 2020 and 45 per cent in 2019. (Note – new advertisers: not present in previous quarter). Similarly, new advertisers had 22 per cent (not present in Jan-Sept) and 19 per cent (not present in Jan-Oct) share of total TV ad volumes in October and November, respectively. 

    Also read: #Retrace2021: The emergence of new advertiser categories in sports genre

    The AdEx paradox

    A like-for-like comparison of top channels on TV show the AdEx trend for 2021 compared to the last two years. The graph below shows that TV ad spends began recovering in July and only increased over 2020 and 2019 levels beginning in August.

    Why compare only the top channels? “The 80/20 principle applies to TV where the top 20 per cent channels get 80 per cent of the ad spends,” explained a media planner. “It was only in the second half of the year that we saw AdEx recovery starting from July, with spends matching 2019 levels during the months of September-October. Otherwise, most of the year was lagging in terms of spends compared to 2019, except in April during IPL, just before the second wave of Covid-19 struck.”

    Also read: Global cost of TV advertising up by 5%: Zenith

    According to E&Y estimates, TV advertising revenues declined by 21.5 per cent in 2020 from Rs 320 billion to Rs 251 billion. The Madison Advertising report estimates that TV AdEx was down by 11 per cent. (Note: TV advertising revenues is different from TV AdEx; TV AdEx may look only at top channels to exclusion of others)

    “The festive period this year has given the much-needed boost to businesses across sectors, including the television industry,” remarked Carat India vice president – digital media planning Megha Ahuja. “The strong growth was driven by two sporting events (IPL and ICC T20 World Cup), GECs and news.” Ahuja expects this growth in AdEx to continue for the next couple of months. “We have elections next year. The government has already started spending on ads, and will continue to do so till March 2022,” she reckoned.

    According to OMD Mudramax senior partner–client lead Sri Harsha, TV adex is expected to make a complete recovery by the end of 2021 and show slight growth over 2019 Adex levels, despite, most of the advertisers losing first-quarter advertising due to Covid second wave.

    “Advertisers still acknowledge the fact that TV is the go-to medium for mass reach. Gone are the days when FMCG, Telecom, Auto, BFSI & Consumer durables contributed the lion’s share to the overall TV Adex. This scenario has changed with the advent of new categories like E-commerce, Fintech, Online education leveraging hugely on TV leading to the growth of Adex. A lot of advertisers are still in the anticipation of current news channels ratings which are not available for over a year now. This will help advertisers apportion definite budgets to news leading to the future growth of TV AdEx,” said Harsha, adding that the average time spent by the consumers watching TV hasn’t dropped either- maintaining 3.5 -4 hrs a day as per BARC – reinstating confidence among the advertisers.”

  • GUEST COLUMN: How D2C brands can level up their digital marketing game in 2022

    GUEST COLUMN: How D2C brands can level up their digital marketing game in 2022

    Mumbai: In today’s times, Direct-to-consumer is an extremely exciting space, primarily because there are so many interesting brands coming up in multiple industry verticals. Right from food to technology to health and many others, there are home-grown D2C brands making it big while raising investors’ money handsomely. And we are seeing some very interesting products and services rolled out for the end-users.

    Here are some focus areas on the top digital marketing activities that the D2C brands need to keep in mind when they want to market their products and services in 2022 –

    Advertising on Google, Facebook, and Instagram

    While this is something that most D2C brands are already doing to a very large extent, there is still a big gap in the way these campaigns are executed. Funnel wise break up of your ad campaigns on these platforms is going to be very crucial to be able to run profitable ad campaigns for your brand. In our experience of working with D2C startups, we have always advised having – remarketing campaigns right from the start, campaigns focused to maximise conversions, and using lookalikes as much as possible.

    Retention Marketing

    I primarily would like to talk about the usage of user engagement tools that help you retain. You want to focus on the lifetime value of your customers and while you do that the prime objective of your campaigns should be to use sophisticated tools like Webengage to bring the audience over and over again to your website and to have them purchase from you more than once in a year as per your product life-cycle.

    Conversion Rate Optimisation

    While D2C brands have spent quite some money in the acquisition game, the bleeding cost of sale has always been quite an important matter of discussion. In today’s time and age when the bottom line is super important from day zero, it becomes imperative that you focus on the conversion rate of the website as much as the number of conversions on your website. Reports which will help you understand where your users are dropping off and where you probably need to do a quick fix need to be generated regularly.

    Do not take an SEO any less seriously than earlier

    SEO is still one of the primary factors that will give you a long-term arbitrage on your cost per sale or cost of acquisition. This is primarily because when you are spending a lot of money in your acquisition campaigns using advertising models there is a very good chance that your organic growth will help you lower the overall cost for acquisition in your acquisition spree and help you remain sustainable in the long term. In our experience working with several D2C businesses, long-tail keywords with high intent and medium competition work best.

    Social Media Marketing

    Connecting with your customers is going to be much more important in 2022. With customers determining the persona of a brand depending on the kind of content they publish on their social media handles. If you want to be a cool brand you will have to have cool content on your social media channels for your customers to take interest and be connected to your brand in the long term. Start talking to your customers like a real person and not a suited-up brand.

    Similarly, the kind of influencers that your brand intends to associate with is going to matter a lot. The kind of content your influencers have been pushing is going to also affect the kind of personality you’re going to build for your brand in front of your customers. Personalisation, thought leadership, and focusing on building a strong brand image will separate you from the crowd.

    Being present omnichannel

    Being present omnichannel is going to be as important in 2022 as never before. This is primarily because of the kind of user behaviour that customers today have started from checking out a product online but probably going off-line and purchasing the product. You have to be in sight so that you are in the top of mind recall for your customers And hence being available at their favourite offline or local stores is going to impact your sales numbers more than ever.

    Creative Packaging

    Having great packaging for your products will be important. This is primarily because no matter how good or bad the eventual product is, the way it is packaged paints the first impression for the customer.

    (Deep Mehta is the co-founder of DigiChefs. The views expressed in this column are personal, and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them.)

  • #Retrace2021: A look back at print ad campaigns that stood out in 2021

    #Retrace2021: A look back at print ad campaigns that stood out in 2021

    Mumbai: Reeling under the aftermath of the pandemic, the Indian print industry began its road to recovery in 2021. According to the latest Magna Global Forecasting Report released in December, overall, the print industry grew +12 per cent from a low base (2020: -40 per cent), despite the slowdown in business in 2021. Maximum growth came from Retail, Durables, Finance, Real Estate, and Government spending.

    After witnessing a tumultuous period of plummeting circulation, and advertising revenue, the industry also began pivoting fast to strengthen its digital presence. The projections paint a heathier picture, with 2022 growth expected to be broad-based, with most categories increasing spends and elections in a few large states helping to drive an increase of +14 per cent. However, a rise in cases of the new Covid variant could prove to be dampener.

    Nonetheless, Print remains one of the most trusted mediums to influence brand perceptions on critical factors like quality, price, and trust. This explains why 2021 saw the return of traditional, as well as newer brands, and advertisers to print to create some stand-out campaigns. As we begin 2022, we take a look back at some of these campaigns …

    TRUECALLER

    While the businesses were beginning to reopen, the Truecaller print ad in January 2021 set the tone for the rest of the year. The in-your-face, unmissable ad carried by the app on the front pages of leading national dailies, talked about the issue of phone harassment women face. It mentioned how women could block these numbers on the app and should step forward and report these callers. The campaign #ItsNotOk has been running for four years now. But it caught everyone’s attention, courtesy of the latest print ads. Thinkstr, the Gurgaon-based independent agency for the campaign said they were “a little jittery about spending money on print” because they “knew the circulation was down”. But the print ads outdid itself “more than any other medium we’ve advertised on.” 

    NESTLE

    When in doubt, choosing ‘Print’ seems to be the mantra of marketers. Whenever there was a need to emphasise a brand’s credibility or build trust it was the go-to medium. Nestlé India’s print campaign launched in June 2021 did just that- reinforce the brand’s assurance of offering quality products, while talking about its long-standing legacy of 100 years and ‘family-like’ trust. The FMCG conglomerate switched to the damage control mode, coming out with the print ad campaign to rebuild consumers’ faith in the brand, only days after news reports questioning the ‘healthiness’ of the company’s products surfaced.

    FORTUNE

    A similar approach was followed by the Adani Wilmar Group’s Fortune oil brand. The brand’s claims of ‘a healthy oil for a healthy heart’ suffered a beating after Sourav Ganguly, the brand’s endorser, suffered a heart attack. Prior to this, he was seen in an ad for the brand’s Rice Bran oil which promotes the oil’s heart health benefits. Fortune faced severe trolling on social media as netizens chose to highlight the irony of the situation. To salvage the situation, the brand came out with front-page ads across leading publications with the caption ‘Today seems to be a good day to talk about the heart’, which had a fit-looking Ganguly dismissing the talk about his ill-health and tackling the subject of heart health head-on. The long format copy presented as a signed letter from the former cricketer himself, pushed heart health conversation to the fore, was the brand’s comeback after the stretch of online trolling.

    INDIAN OIL

    Nothing beats the traditional medium when you want to create an impactful awareness about a social cause. Indian Oil wanted to create awareness around the ill effects of excessive honking ahead of World Environment Day 2021 (5 June). It came out with a creative print campaign, conceptualised and executed by Mumbai-based agency, Grey Group that showed the life-threatening impact honking had on other living creatures. The artwork by Vaibhav Bhilare replaced the body parts of various animals with sound waves to depict the hazardous effect the loud noise had on them.

    MANFORCE

    That Print media allows a brand to tell its brand story effectively with no excessive drama is a known fact. To simply and effectively convey its message of protected sex and to educate people to use condoms as against ‘messy’ scenarios related to the consequences of indulging in unprotected sex, the Condom brand come up with a campaign, #DontMessAround. The series of tongue-in-cheek ads which appeared in leading newspapers creatively nudged people not to engage in unprotected intercourse as it can come with bigger problems such as STDs and unwanted pregnancy, even as it drove its brand message through.

    SEBAMED

    After the famed Cola ad wars, this year saw the battle of the soaps, with major soap brands taking on one another, directly targeting their rival brands in their ads. Sebamed kickstarted the creative sledge-fest at the outset of 2021, going after other popular brands like Lux, Santoor, and Dove, by comparing them to a detergent bar. The German skincare brand made quite a splash launching a series of print ads in leading dailies, with shocking claims alleging that each of these leading soaps had pH factors (ranging from 7 to 10) that rivaled that of the detergent soap Rin, to highlight the harshness of these skincare products, as against its own which it claimed stood at ‘an ideal 5.5’.

    The brand has launched another campaign ‘Conditions apply’ with print ads taking on other anti-hair loss shampoos. The campaign sought to discredit the ubiquitous disclaimer ‘Conditions apply’ used by these products while making tall claims. It has, however, refrained from naming any brand this time.

    DOVE

    The HUL brand of skincare, Dove chose to respond to Sebamed’s ‘pH’ allegations with a print campaign that reiterated its gentleness, falling back upon its familiar messaging –that the soap is mild and comprised of one fourth ‘moisturising milk’. The print ad seen in major newspapers Dove responded to the jabs that Sebamed’s ads have taken at it, coming hot on the heels of the Sebamed campaign. The ad copy in a prominent font stresses that ‘Dermatologists have put something strong in Dove’s bar – their trust’.

    The beauty soap launched another print campaign titled ‘Stop The Beauty Test’ that attempts to call out the stereotypes associated with Indian matchmaking and goes against unrealistic stereotypes of beauty in our society. Conceptualised by Ogilvy India, the campaign urges one to look at the beautiful aspects of a person’s personality and not their shortcomings. “Khoobiyan dekho, khaamiyan nahin” says the ad released across print and other media. The print ad, written in a long format, tackles in-depth how a girl is subjected to these beauty stereotypes and biases right from childhood, only getting worse as she becomes of marriageable age.

    And it is not just traditional categories that see the profit in the printed word. Newer advertiser categories like the edtech, crypto, and several digital-first brands are also opting for the mass medium, even going full-throttle with full pager, front-page displays in major dailies. For newer categories like crypto exchanges who are in their next phase of growth in India, it becomes even more crucial to target beyond the early adopters of this digital world by associating with traditional mediums like television and print, the study noted. Thus, making print a viable medium to build credibility and trust.

    COINSWITCH KUBER

    One such platform, which has been investing heavily in print is CoinSwitch Kuber. Building trust is key to the category as a lot of uncertainty and risk have been associated with cryptos in the past. The crypto brand came out with full front-page ads in leading newspapers in the last few days. “While digital media enables us to target a certain set of audiences, print has the accessibility to the most basic audience group which finds credibility in the print news,” said CoinSwitch Kuber chief business officer Sharan Nair explaining the brand’s decision to go aggressive on print advertising.

    UpGRAD

    With eye-catching full-page ads in leading dailies, edtech brand, upGrad launched the campaign for its online MBA programs to ‘fast-forward your career’ because ‘CAT is so yesterday’. The two-page managed to grab eyeballs for the brand with its effective use of empty spaces and an attention-grabbing caption.

    TINDER INDIA

    In another resounding endorsement, a millennial and Gen Z brand like Tinder released a series of print ads, acknowledging that print still carries ‘trust and maturity’ which digital is yet to achieve. The new age dating app’s ad is indicative of how serious it is about educating its existing and potential users about consent, serving as a lesson on how many times we misinterpret our partner’s words to consider it a ‘Yes’. Tinder India’s front page Bombay Times ad is a primer on consent and what all doesn’t equate to a ‘Yes’. This ad is the latest installment from the dating app’s ongoing campaign around consent, emphasising that only a ‘Yes’ means a ‘Yes’. Nothing more, nothing less.

  • #Retrace2021: How streaming wars re-shaped the global M&E industry in 2021

    #Retrace2021: How streaming wars re-shaped the global M&E industry in 2021

    Mumbai: Beginning with the blockbuster M&A deal between Discovery and AT&T in May which created the world’s second-largest media company by revenue after Disney, intensifying streaming wars reshaped the global media and entertainment industry through 2021. At the heart of this transformation was the mindboggling demand for content.

    According to research led by European economic consultancy Frontier Economics manager Clive Kenny, OCC (Online Curated Content) providers directly invested $25.7bn (Rs 1.8trn) in OCC content worldwide in 2019, including original and licensed titles. This sum is likely to soar to $61bn (Rs 4.3trn) by 2024. Significant increase in content investment in the pipeline includes: The Walt Disney Company’s plans to invest $14bn-16bn (Rs 985bn-1,126bn) per year in global OCC content by 2024; ViacomCBS’s plans to ramp up investment in OCC content to $5bn (Rs 352bn) in 2024; WarnerMedia’s parent company, AT&T’s, pledge to invest $4bn (Rs 282bn) in HBO Max in the three years through 2022; and, Netflix will spend $28bn (Rs 1.97trn) a year by 2028.

    Driven by tech, worldwide changes in viewers’ media consumption habits in the context of more genres, newer formats, and platform choices are here to stay and grow further, and the scope for this growth is immense. The importance, as well as the urgency of sourcing content to satiate this rather ravenous appetite for entertainment, will continue effecting similar shifts in the sector going ahead. The equation will balance out between global giants wanting to create worldwide media behemoths and (comparatively) ‘local’ players striving to maintain their individuality and independence in the market.

    Here’s a look back at some of the biggest industry deals that made news in 2021. Even though not driven by the streaming wars, the $5 bn acquisition of Yahoo (formerly Verizon Media) by Apollo Global Management finds a place in this list for being the culmination of Verizon’s persistent efforts to establish itself in the online media space.

    AT&T and Discovery: Announced in May 2021 through an all-stock transaction called the Reverse Morris Trust, the AT&T, and Discovery merger deal aimed at giving rise to a content powerhouse to be led by Discovery president and CEO David Zaslav. The merged entity will bring together brands like Warner Bros., HBO, Discovery, DC Comics, CNN, Cartoon Network, HGTV, Food Network, the Turner Networks, TNT, TBS, Eurosport, Magnolia, TLC, Animal Planet, and ID.

    The emphasis on the D2C aspect of the business was clearly spelled out in the official statement which read “the new company will compete globally in the fast-growing direct-to-consumer business, bringing compelling content to D2C subscribers across its portfolio, including HBO Max and the recently launched discovery+.”

    Televisa and Univision: In April, Mexican and Latin American media giant Televisa and US Hispanic network Univison merged their media, content, and production assets to create a global Spanish-language powerhouse. The combined entity Televisa-Univision will be led by Univision CEO Wade Davis. It will have the largest Spanish-language library of owned content, serving two of the world’s largest Spanish-speaking markets the US and Mexico.

    According to the Television Business International, the “merger was designed to enable the new company to address what it believes is the relatively nascent global Spanish-language streaming market. The pair said that the Spanish-language market, which represents around 600 million people globally, and an aggregate GDP of about $7 trillion, is significantly underserved from a streaming perspective relative to other major markets. They cited the stat that fewer than 10 per cent of the Spanish speaking population currently use an OTT video product, compared with the English language market where nearly 70 per cent of the population has at least one streaming service.”

    The deal brought together Televisa’s four free-to-air channels, 27 pay-TV networks channels and stations, Videocine movie studio, Blim TV SVOD service, and the Televisa trademark with Univision’s assets in the US including the Univision and UniMás broadcast networks, nine Spanish-language cable networks, 61 television stations, 58 radio stations in major US Hispanic markets and Puerto Rico, and digital assets, notably the recently launched AVOD streaming service PrendeTV.

    TF1 and M6: With a view to providing a “French response to the challenges from global platforms” Groupe Bouygues and RTL Group announced the $4bn merger of leading French commercial broadcasters TF1 and M6 to form a new “French total video champion” in May. The resulting entity will bring together the strengths of the companies’ D2C streaming businesses operating under the brand names MyTF1 and 6play.

    Said the companies, “This market where linear TV remains a powerful media is undergoing a structural transformation with a strong shift towards on-demand consumption. The combination of these two players, of the know-how of their employees and of their strong brands, would allow the new group to invest more and to step-up innovation. The proposed merger is critical to ensure the long-term independence of French content creation and to continue to offer diversified and premium local content to the benefit of all viewers.”

    Amazon acquires MGM: In the same month, global tech giant Amazon acquired Hollywood studio MGM for $8.45 Bn. MGM is behind classics such as ‘Gone with the Wind’, and ‘Rocky’, the famous Bond franchise, ‘Singin’ in the Rain’, ‘12 Angry Men’,  as well as popular reality TV shows like ‘The Voice’ and ‘Shark Tank’.

    Amazon has been ramping up its content spend to stay competitive amidst the fare being churned out by Netflix and Disney. “The real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of IP in the deep catalogue that we plan to re-imagine and develop together with MGM’s talented team,” said Amazon Studios and Prime Video SVP Mike Hopkins. 

    Fox Entertainment buys MarVista: With an aim to develop content for its digital outlets including the ad-supported streaming platform Tubi, Fox Entertainment closed the year with acquiring MarVista Entertainment in December. Founded in 2003, MarVista specialises in production for digital platforms. Having created an average of 80 titles across different genres, the studio boasts a content catalogue of over 2500 programming hours.

    “With these key strategic advantages, acquiring and investing in MarVista aligns perfectly with Fox Entertainment’s long-term vision for streaming and diversifying our in-house capabilities and infrastructure, as we expand our portfolio,” said CEO of Fox Entertainment Charlie Collier.

    The deal was most recently in the series of Fox’s attempts this year to bolster its streaming and digital capabilities. It follows the September acquisition of celebrity-focused news outlet TMZ from WarnerMedia and the launch of Studio Ramsay Global, a production entity focused on culinary and lifestyle programming with restaurateur Gordon Ramsay.

    RTL Group and Talpa Network: The merger of RTL Nederland and Talpa Network assets was announced in June this year with the intention of creating a strong Dutch cross-media group across TV, streaming, radio, print, and digital, as well as to the benefit of audiences and the Dutch creative industry. The plan spelled out a “clear ambition to further expand Videoland” –  the leading Dutch streaming service with one million paying subscribers.

    According to the agreements, Talpa Network will contribute its TV, radio, print, digital, e-commerce, and other assets to RTL Nederland and will receive a 30 per cent stake in the enlarged RTL Nederland in return.

    In addition, Talpa Network’s content units (Talpa Concepts, Talpa Entertainment Producties) – which are not part of the deal – and RTL Nederland will enter into a content agreement for newly developed formats for linear TV channels and for the streaming service Videoland.
    The annual content spend of the combined group amounts to more than €400 million.

    ZEEL-SPNI merger: The Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) and Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) mega-merger announced in September combined the two media giants’ linear networks, digital assets, production operations, and programme libraries to create one of India’s largest media and entertainment entities (close to $2 billion in revenue) in terms of market share.

    In an investor call, Punit Goenka, managing director, and chief executive officer of the merged entity, revealed that it will target overall growth with a focus on sports and digital. As part of the deal, Sony agreed to infuse $1.6 billion cash which will enable the merged entity to accelerate its digital platform and significantly invest in premium content including sports.

    Both SPNI and Zeel had been on the lookout for a partner that could bring in mutual synergies, while minimising clashes, to fend off competition amid growing consolidation in the media and entertainment industry.  With this, the Zeel-Sony merged entity will compete in the market with market leader DisneyStar India, Viacom18-RIL, and the only standalone, player Sun TV Network. Given their relative strengths in scripted, factual, and sports programming, respective distribution footprints across India, and iconic entertainment brands, the combined company will try to meet the growing consumer demand for premium content across entertainment touchpoints and platforms.

    Under the terms of the definitive agreements, SPNI will have cash balance of $1.5 billion closing, including through infusion by the current shareholders of SPNI and the promoters (founders) of Zeel, to enable the combined company to drive sharper content creation across platforms, strengthen its footprint in the rapidly evolving digital ecosystem, bid for media rights in the fast-growing sports landscape and pursue other growth opportunities.

    Content Partnerships: While there were fewer major acquisitions happening in India, multi-year content partnerships between streaming platforms and mainstream production houses emerged as a significant trend through 2021. Under the Netflix India and Excel Entertainment deal inked in September, the Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar-owned production house will produce a variety of stories under its series banner Excel Media & Entertainment for Netflix members in over 190 countries.

    More recently streaming platform Zee5 entered into a strategic partnership with content and IP studio Applause Entertainment, a venture of Aditya Birla Group for a multi-show association. The two content companies will collaborate to create a robust original content slate of new Zee5 originals in Hindi to entertain viewers across the globe.

    Apollo acquires Yahoo (formerly Verizon Media): The $5 bn deal involving Private equity firm Apollo Global Management’s complete acquisition of Yahoo (formerly Verizon Media) from Verizon was announced in September this year. The group’s assets including titular Yahoo properties and the TechCrunch, AOL, Engadget, and RYOT brands encompass around 900 million monthly active users globally under the umbrella brand which is currently the third-largest internet property, per Apollo’s figures.

    Even though not driven by the streaming wars, the acquisition is significant for being the culmination of Verizon’s years-long strive to establish itself in online media, specifically adtech. It was preceded by the telco’s $4.4 bn acquisition of AOL in 2015 and Yahoo in 2017 for $4.5 bn. 

  • #Retrace2021: From Nykaa’s Falguni Nayar to dentsu veteran Ashish Bhasin, who all made news in 2021?

    #Retrace2021: From Nykaa’s Falguni Nayar to dentsu veteran Ashish Bhasin, who all made news in 2021?

    Mumbai: The year that began with the slowdown of pandemic cases, and phased opening of businesses across the country, is ending with another Covid variant rearing its head. The new cases of Omicron are spreading faster, even as the industry struggles to hold on to its post-pandemic revival after braving a deadly second wave in May early this year.

    Amid all these challenges, there were signs of resilience, that highlighted the advertising industry’s slow yet significant recovery this year. If 2020 was the year of ed-tech, 2021 only took the game a notch higher. E-commerce dominated headlines, and several D2C brands rose to success with their innovative advertising and marketing strategies. The year saw the largest number of startups joining the unicorn league, of which many of them are internet-based companies, including Flipkart, Nykaa, Zomato, and Paytm. The agencies too, adapted to the new normal, brainstorming newer ways to strengthen brand connect and retain audiences across media channels.

    With the curtains falling on this eventful, yet resilient year, we take a look at some of the biggest names that made headlines, and created a buzz in the world of brands, advertising, and marketing this year.

    1.      FALGUNI NAYAR, NYKAA FOUNDER

    An entrepreneur at 49 and a billionaire at 58, Nayar made waves with her company’s chartbuster initial public offering (IPO) in November. The ₹5,352-crore IPO of her FSN E-Commerce Ventures Ltd was oversubscribed nearly 82.5 times. On the same day, the company’s market capitalisation touched the ₹1 lakh crore mark, making Nayar who owns a 52.56 per cent stake in the company, India’s richest self-made woman billionaire. An investment banker, Nayar launched the beauty and fashion e-commerce platform Nykaa in March 2012 after quitting her job at Kotak Mahindra Capital. Today, Nykaa Fashion is a multi-brand platform with close to 1,500 brands—of which five are its own brands- two acquired and three it has built from scratch. Nykaa Beauty and Nykaa Fashion are separate businesses.

    Falguni Nayar: The billionaire founder of Nykaa who dared to dream at 50

    2.      BYJU RAVEENDRAN, BYJU’S FOUNDER-CEO

    Byju Raveendran-owned edtech, Byju’s has been on a dream run. The company, which saw its business grow rapidly during the pandemic, ramped up its user base and saw a swift growth in revenues. It also announced several deals around the world over, acquiring a number of its competitors, eight of which were this year. With this, Raveendran and his family have also expanded their fortunes, making them the 67th richest Indians, according to the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2021. The home-grown edtech startup is now the 13th most valuable start-up in the world, as per CB Insights’ latest unicorn tracker. Currently valued at $21 billion, the Bengaluru-based start-up is also the world’s most valuable ed-tech start-up. It is also the only Indian name to feature in the list of the world’s elite unicorns as of December 2021. Recently, the ed-tech giant was in the news for its advanced discussions to go public through one of Churchill Capital’s special-purpose acquisition companies (SPAC). While an announcement could come as soon as January, the negotiations are not final. 

    3.      PARAG AGARWAL, TWITTER CEO

    2021 was also the year when Indians were taking over coveted leadership roles in the global forum. The first to mark his name was Indian-born Parag Agarwal, who was appointed as the CEO of the micro-blogging platform Twitter in November. An alumnus of IIT-Bombay, Agarwal had joined Twitter in 2011 and worked his way up the ladder to becoming the chief technology officer (CTO) by 2018 and was reportedly one of the ‘first choices’ of the company’s co-founder Jack Dorsey in the line of succession, after the latter announced his resignation. In a staunch endorsement of 37 years old Agrawal, Dorsey wrote: “He’s been my choice for some time, given how deeply he understands the company and its needs. Parag has been behind every critical decision that helped turn this company around… My trust in him as our CEO is bone-deep.” Before Twitter, Agrawal had briefly worked at Microsoft, AT&T, and Yahoo. He did his bachelor’s in engineering in computer science here, before moving to the US for further studies, his doctorate coming from Stanford University.   

    Jack Dorsey steps down, Parag Agarwal named as Twitter CEO

    4.      LEENA NAIR, CHANEL CEO

    In another proud moment for India, Maharashtra-born Leena Nair joined the list of Indian-origin CEOs of multinational brands in December. Her appointment as the CEO of the French luxury fashion house Chanel was unprecedented, given that Nair was a rank outsider with zilch experience in the fashion industry, not being a part of the Paris fashion scene.

    Before this, the 52-year-old had an illustrious career that spanned 30 years at Unilever, becoming the first female and youngest-ever chief human resources officer at the global company, in London- a position she resigned from to join the 111-year-old luxury group. Nair rose through the ranks of Unilever having started out as a management trainee. Under her watch Unilever achieved gender parity across global management. With the latest win, Nair is being hailed as a “serial glass-ceiling breaker”. An electronics and telecommunications engineer from Walchand College of Engineering in Sangli, Maharashtra, she did her MBA in Human Resources from XLRI Jamshedpur in 1992 before joining as a trainee at HUL.

    5.      PIYUSH PANDEY, OGILVY

    An advertising industry veteran with over three decades of experience in the industry, Pandey has donned several hats, representing Rajasthan in Ranji Trophy cricket during his younger days and being a tea taster are some of them before discovering advertising as a career choice. This year, the ad guru added one more feather to his cap when he took on the role of global creative chairman at WPP Plc. owned creative agency Ogilvy in May. He continues to serve as chairman of Ogilvy India helping brands understand their consumers.

    6.      ANITA NAYYAR, PATANJALI AYURVED COO-MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS

    The year 2021 saw life turning 360 degrees and completing a full circle for former Havas media India boss Anita Nayyar in the advertising and media industry, as she joined Patanjali Ayurved as COO- Media & Communications in July, after a brief stint with Zee5 from May 2020 to March 2021. An industry veteran, Nayyar had an eventful two years, with transitions circumscribing the client-side from the agency side, before settling finally on the brand side, having managed many portfolios of brands across sectors in a career spanning three decades.

    #Retrace2021: Cautious optimism will drive industry growth in 2022

    The year also saw some of the country’s biggest agencies undergo senior-most level executive shuffles and the arrivals and departures of some of advertising’s top talents. In recent months, dentsu India network parted ways with many of its key leaders in an exodus that began in January. The exits were announced as part of its restructuring process to usher in the dentsu India 2.0 vision. The rejig, brings together its creative agencies under one umbrella, including Dentsu Webchutney, Taproot Dentsu, WATConsult, Perfect Relations, Isobar, Dentsu One, Dentsu India, and Dentsu Impact. The high-level exits from its India leadership team included veterans like Santosh Padhi, Shamsuddin Jasani, Vivek Bhargava, Rubeena Singh, Haresh Nayak, Gopa Menon, and the India CFO turned CEO Anand Bhadkamkar. After almost five years of being the CEO at the digital-first media agency iProspect, Rubeena Singh started new innings as the country manager at the short-video app Josh in October.

    7.      ASHISH BHASIN, DENTSU

    Ashish Bhasin -stepped down as dentsu International- CEO APAC & chairman India in November. An industry veteran with over 30 years’ experience, Bhasin had joined Aegis Media in June 2008 and was tasked with launching the business in the market. He was promoted to CEO, Dentsu Asia Pacific in September 2019. Earlier this year, Bhasin had resigned from the board of directors and Audit Committee of Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC India) sparking the retirement rumours.

    Ashish Bhasin steps down as dentsu International CEO APAC & chairman India

    8.      SANTOSH PADHI AND AGNELLO DIAS, TAPROOT DENTSU

     

    The news about Padhi’s sudden exit from the agency he founded with Agnello Dias in 2009 shocked everyone in the industry. Padhi ended his historic innings with Taproot dentsu in September. An art graduate from Mumbai, Padhi began his career with DDB Mudra. He then moved on to Leo Burnett, where he was an executive creative director and later became the national head of art.

    Earlier in June, Taproot made some leadership level rejigs and announced that Agnello Dias (Aggie) will move on to a role as a consultant for key brands, but he too put in his papers around this time. Dias began his advertising career in 1989 and after working with many local and international agencies, including Dart, Interpublicity, Lowe and Leo Burnett, he joined JWT India in 2005, where he soon became the chief creative officer. It was in 2009 when the art and copy duo Padhi and Aggie, decided to together launch their independent creative boutique Taproot India — a bold independent setup. Over the last 12 years, Taproot dentsu rose to become one of India’s most prominent creative agencies, notching up several accolades along the way.

    9.      AJAY GEHLAUT, DENTSU CREATIVE

    Industry veteran Ajay Gahlaut joined dentsu Creative as group CCO in the midst of Dentsu India’s transformation journey towards dentsu India 2.0 and Ajay’s joining is a critical part of the plan, the agency said. Gahlaut, with over 27 years of experience in advertising, was with Publicis Worldwide, India, as chief creative officer and managing director till June 2020. He wrote the line ‘Do Boond Zindagi Ki’ that anchored the famous Pulse Polio Immunisation campaign with Amitabh Bachchan and the ‘Make It Large’ tagline for the whiskey brand Royal Stag. He was also the man behind the ‘Men will be men’ series of campaigns for whiskey brand Imperial Blue and the creator of the character ‘Mr. Murthy’ for Voltas air conditioners.

    10. SHAMSUDDIN JASANI, WUNDERMAN THOMPSON

    As Wunderman Thompson chairman and Group CEO South Asia Tarun Rai moved into a new role as executive director Strategic Initiatives, APAC, Jasani was roped in to take on the mantle. Before this, he was with Isobar as Group MD South Asia. Jasani is a veteran of the industry, having launched Isobar in India in 2008, growing it from a two-person team to over 300-strong across South Asia.

    Isobar’s Shamsuddin Jasani joins Wunderman Thompson South Asia as CEO

    11. PRITI MURTHY, GROUPM

    Priti joined GroupM India as president, GroupM Services India this October, which the network described as a ‘homecoming’ for her and strengthening of the GroupM India leadership team. As an industry veteran, Murthy has spent a large part of her 22+ year career with GroupM. Her last held role with GroupM was as the chief strategy officer at Maxus Global.

    Priti Murthy joins GroupM as president, GroupM services India

    12. ANISHA IYER, OMD India CEO

    Iyer was elevated to OMD India chief executive officer in December. With nearly 18 years of experience in the advertising business and a niche in digital and technology, she joined OMD, a subsidiary of the group, in 2019 as the managing director for Malaysia. Her previous stints include working in companies such as Mindshare, Madhouse, and GroupM in a career spanning two decades.

    13. ANUPRIYA ACHARYA, PUBLICIS GROUPE 

    Anupriya Acharya, a veteran in the media and advertising world, was re-elected as president of the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) for the year 2021-22 in September this year. Hailing from Dehradun, Acharya has worked with Ogilvy & Mather, McCann (then McCann Erickson), media agency Mindshare Fulcrum and The Media Edge in her 20 plus career. She has also remained the Group CEO of Zenith Optimedia (part of the Publicis Groupe), where she was elevated to lead the India business of Publicis Media in 2016 with a 900-plus strong team.

    14. SWATI BHATTACHARYA, FCB INDIA

    This year also saw the FCB Group India announce the restructuring of its creative agencies and a new three agency structure – FCB Ulka, FCB Interface and FCB India. FCB India, the newest agency in the fold, which’s led by Swati Bhattacharya as the creative chairperson, announced its newly elevated C-Suite leadership team. A noted industry professional, Bhattacharya has been the only woman CCO in India when she joined FCB Ulka in 2016. The brains behind award-winning campaigns like Sindoor Khela for the Times of India, Horlicks, Maggi sauces and noodles, Close up, Airtel, Kit Kat, 7Up, Pepsi, Pizza, UNICEF, Sunrise and Slice are some of her other note-worthy works.

    15. RAMESH NARAYAN, CANCO ADVERTISING

    Canco Advertising founder and Indian advertising doyen Ramesh Narayan was inducted into the prestigious Asian Federation of Advertising Associations (AFAA) Hall of Fame at the AdAsia conference held at Macao in December. “The AFAA Hall of Fame sets out to recognise those who’ve defined a generation of advertising, those who we look up to, who inspire us, and who have done what few others have ever done or could ever do; for those who have pioneered- the very few we can call legends,” said outgoing AFAA chairman, Raymond So about Narayan’s inclusion in the prestigious hall of fame. Earlier this year Narayan also released his book titled “A Different Route to Success”, which gives readers a ringside view of his professional life, having retired at the age of 50, after running Canco Advertising, an advertising agency he founded and ran for 24 years.

    Ramesh Narayan inducted into AFAA Hall of Fame

    16.  ARJUN MOHAN, upGrad CEO

    upGrad CEO ArjunMohan is an experienced industry professional having worked across sales, marketing, and product development domains for more than 15 years, before helming upGrad. One of the most creative edtechs in the country, when it comes to utilising marketing channels to amp up its reach, Mohan helped script a remarkable success story backed on innovative services and out-of-box marketing activities. The upGrad CEO is on a high this year with education going digital-first due to the compulsions brought about by the pandemic.

    17.  VINEETA SINGH, SUGAR COSMETICS CEO

    Singh famously gave up a crore-rupee job offer from an investment bank while she was still in her twenties because she wanted to dive into entrepreneurship. Sugar Cosmetics, a digital-first brand, is her third start-up—the first two did not take off but the second startup, Fab Bag, a subscription business that offered women an assortment of beauty products every month for a small fee- gave her enough data and insights to kickstart her third one. Unlike most digital-first brands, Sugar was early to develop an omnichannel presence and her mantra to make cosmetics for Indian skin tones and suited to the Indian environment paid off. In 2020-21, the D2C firm achieved Rs 130 crore in revenue, and raised $21 million (Rs 160 crore) in venture funding, bringing its valuation to Rs 750 crore.

    From the verge of closing shop, Sugar Cosmetics delivers 49x returns to investors

    18. GHAZAL ALAGH, MAMAEARTH CO-FOUNDER

    Baby and mother care brand Mamaearth turned unicorn after raising close to $80 million in a new round at unicorn valuation led by Sequoia. One among the few startups to turn unicorns with a woman co-founder, the five-year-old D2C brand took birth after Ghazal Alagh and her husband, Varun became parents. In 2016, the couple launched the brand under the parent company Honasa Consumer Pvt Ltd, in Gurugram using natural, plant-based or manmade ingredients, which are both certified safe as well as effective.  In just four years, Mamaearth became Asia’s first brand to get the MadeSafe certification for its toxin-free products. The company recently acquired a female-centric content platform, Momspresso, and associated influencer-engagement platform, Momspresso MyMoney to further accelerate engagement with consumers and strengthen content-to-commerce.

    19. ANIL KAPOOR, AD VETERAN

    Finally, taking a stock of all that we lost this year, there are some losses which cannot be restored ever in any manner whatsoever- and that’s the lives of people lost. This year saw the demise of many eminent names and talents of the industry, many of whom were lost to the Coronavirus.

    FCBUlka chairman emeritus Anil Kapoor passes away

    One such name is that of DraftFCB+ Ulka’s late chairman emeritus Anil Kapoor, who passed away after a prolonged battle with cancer, in April this year. His passing marked the end of an era in the advertising industry. Kapoor joined a struggling Ulka in 1988 and scripted one of the greatest turnaround stories in advertising. He was given charge of the situation to stop the exodus of clients and is credited with bringing in a fresh set of talent, including from institutions like the IIMs. Clients who had left returned and he built a leadership team that stuck together for decades. Kapoor’s career in the ad industry extended to over three decades, and under his guidance, Ulka group emerged among the top five advertising agencies of India. He was conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the AAAI in 2013. His death leaves a huge void in the realm of India’s advertising industry.

    In memoriam: Anil ‘Billy’ Kapoor

  • #Retrace2021: The year of regulatory challenges and no TRPs for news channels

    #Retrace2021: The year of regulatory challenges and no TRPs for news channels

    Mumbai: The year 2021 began with a rather chaotic legacy handed over by 2020. In the aftermath of the TRP Scam, TV ratings for the news genre remained suspended throughout the year. The legal tussle between Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) and broadcasters over the rollout of the New Tariff Order (NTO) 2.0 continued to dominate the headlines.

    Adding to this, was the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules, 2021), announced in February which set the ball rolling for regulation of digital and social media. This was followed by the Cable Television Networks (Amendment) Rules, 2021 (CTNA 2021) and the proposed amendments to the Cinematograph Act, 1952, all of which sought to regulate content across media including digital, and align it with ‘public interest’.

    Also Read: SC refuses to grant interim protection to Tandav makers

    The year began with the controversy over the Amazon Prime web series ‘Tandav’ which became the tipping point for the government which was already deliberating the regulation of digital media including social. The show and its star cast was accused of hurting the religious sentiments of a particular community prompting the show’s director Ali Abbas Zafar to issue an unconditional apology on social media. The spate of FIRs and threats continued unabated despite the omission of two ‘objectionable’ sequences, and apologies from the platform and its then country head Aparna Purohit.

    Also Read: Tandav : And the future of storytelling

    While the hitherto pampered OTT-verse was bracing itself for government oversight, the pay-TV universe continued to be cannibalised by it and DD Free Dish at the top and bottom tiers. Even as distribution players worked on diversifying their offerings to embrace the imminent digital takeover and on building new ones to challenge Free Dish, they kept pushing for regulatory interventions to tackle the issue at its core. Though well within its rights to strive for survival, in the process of manoeuvring these challenges, the industry ended up creating another flashpoint between the regulators/government and itself.

    2021 closed with a trailer to the next big fight with Trai questioning the availability of linear channels on OTT and telco apps which, it said, is in violation of Clause 5.6 of Policy Guidelines for Downlinking of Television Channels dated 5 December 2011. Broadcasters, on the other hand, invoked section 37 of the Copyright Act 1957 known as Broadcast Reproduction Right (BRR) to justify their channels’ presence on their own OTT platforms and third-party aggregator apps. Also because they are not licensees under Trai Act, they do not fall under the scope of Trai Act or Interconnection Regulations or Clause 5.6 of Downlinking guidelines.

    Here, we take a look back at the regulatory events and challenges that re-defined the Indian TV industry in 2021.

    Legal tussle over NTO 2.0

    One of the biggest developments of the year was the pronouncement of the Bombay High Court order on the NTO 2.0 case on 30 June. After a legal tussle that lasted over a year, Trai had managed to get a green signal from the court on the implementation of the amended rules. While the HC upheld the constitutional validity of NTO 2.0, it termed one of the twin conditions “arbitrary”, according to which the maximum retail price of an a-la-carte channel could not be more than one-third the maximum rate of a channel in the bouquet.

    Also Read: NTO 2.0 Verdict : Who Wins What?

    Following the notification of NTO 2.0 in January 2020, several broadcasters under the umbrella of the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF) and a couple of other private channels challenged the amendment terming it “arbitrary and in violation of their fundamental right”. The NTO 2.0 prescribed linkage between a-la-carte price and bouquet via the imposition of twin conditions on bouquet pricing, and reduction in price cap from Rs 19 to Rs 12 for pay channels, thereby incentivising a-la-carte alone.

    Having recognised the adverse impact of NTO (2019) on all stakeholders including consumers, broadcasters and distributors refused to accept the judgement and challenged it further in the Supreme Court in July. After a series of adjournments, the apex court, on 30 November, posted the matter for hearing on 15 February 2022.

    Meanwhile, in November, Trai moved the deadline for implementation of NTO 2.0 from 1 December 2021 to 1 April 2022. Distribution platforms like DTH and cable will now have to seek subscriber choice till 31 March 2022, it said. The deadline for broadcasters to come up with their new reference interconnection offers (RIOs) and simultaneously publish the required information about channel and bouquet offerings, as well as their MRPs on their websites was also extended to 31 December.

    Also Read: Trai extends NTO 2.0 implementation to 1 April 2022

    Several large networks including ETV, Discovery Communications, Sun TV, Times Networks, ZeelL, SPNI, and others had come out with their new RIOs in October-November. In what looked like a refusal to back down, the broadcasters preferred to pull their popular channels out of the bouquets instead of reducing the price to Rs 12. Their move flies in the face of the regulators’ assertion and intention of preserving the interest of customers.

    Despite the short-lived benefits of incentivising à la carte and changes in NCF for broadcasters and distributors, the attempt to regulate channel pricing was soon recognised by all stakeholders as being counterproductive. Aside from having an overall negative effect on reach and viewership for broadcasters, it led to the shutting down of many niche channels which became inviable as a result of NTO implementation. The impact for distributors was felt when customers gravitated towards either OTTs or Free Dish to counter the increase in their monthly subscription bills.

    Also Read: DTH operators write to Trai over broadcasters offering pay channels on DD Free Dish

    The implementation of NTO 2.0 will further hasten this migration. Foreseeing the detrimental scenario, Direct-to-home (DTH) service providers including Tata Sky and Airtel Digital TV wrote to Trai in September asking the regulator to address the issue of broadcasters making their pay channels available on DD Free Dish. Alleging that this goes against the current tariff regime which mandates the designation of channels as either pay or FTA and prohibits their bundling together, they once again raised the demand for such designation to remain constant across distribution platforms.

    Also Read : There needs to be a level-playing field : Tata Sky CEO Harit Nagpal

    Further, in a letter dated 28 December written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Delhi-based All Local Cable Operators Association alleged that the Trai and broadcasters are “forcibly pressurising” MSOs to implement the new tariff order, which will lead to cable TV operators, national MSOs and independent MSOs incurring huge losses. The NTO 2.0, if implemented, will lead to the unemployment of lakhs of families connected with the cable TV industry, it said. Several other representative organisations have also raised the issue with the government and regulators frequently.

    Also Read : Trai vs Broadcasters : Impact could be larger than expected

    IT Rules, 2021 & Cable Television Networks (Amendment) Rules, 2021:

    The introduction of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 by the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) in February sought to regulate social media, digital platforms, and streaming services in the country through a three-level grievance redressal mechanism.

    The “soft-touch regulatory architecture” comprised Level I – self-regulation by broadcasters, Level II – Self-regulation by registered self-regulating bodies of the broadcasters, and Level III – oversight mechanism by the central government. Later in June, the government extended this framework to Cable TV with the Cable Television Networks (Amendment) Rules, 2021.

    Also Read: MIB amends Cable TV rules for redressal of broadcast related complaints

    Also Read: Trai issues new consultation paper to regulate monopoly in Cable TV services

    The new regulations, along with proposed amendments to the Cinematograph Act, 1952, brought together all forms of media in the country barring newspapers under the three-layer regulatory mechanism. Consequently, they also ran into troubled waters with broadcasting associations like NBA and IBDF and some independent players filing several petitions in various high courts.

    News Broadcasters Association (NBA) president Rajat Sharma wrote to the then I&B minister Prakash Javadekar requesting the exclusion of digital news platforms owned and run by traditional news media from the purview of the provisions of the new IT Rules, 2021. In July the organisation approached the Kerala HC with a writ petition contending that the oversight mechanism gives the executive “unfettered, unbridled and excessive powers to regulate the content of TV channels of news broadcasters.”

    Also Read : No exemption for mainstream media from IT rules

    The IBDF, Sun TV Network, and SJ Clement filed separate petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Part III of IT Rules 2021 and CTN Amendment Rules 2021 in the Madras high court.

    In May, IBF had renamed itself as IBDF bringing all digital/OTT platforms under its purview. It also announced plans to form a new subsidiary – an industry-led Self-Regulatory Body (SRB) called Digital Media Content Regulatory Council (DMCRC) to serve as a second-tier mechanism at the appellate level specifically for digital. The DMCRC is similar to Broadcast Content Complaint Council (BCCC) which IBF had successfully implemented for the linear broadcasting sector in 2011. 

    Also Read: Former SC judge Justice Vikranjit Singh Sen appointed chairman of IBF’s new self-regulatory body

    Overhaul of TRP ratings

    The committee on TRP ratings formed by the government in the aftermath of the 2020 TRP Scam came up with its recommendations pushing for the formation of multiple rating agencies in competition to Barc India and creating a specialised regulator to oversee all of them. The 39-page report submitted by the committee early this year was shared with Broadcast Audience Research Council (Barc) India and other broadcasters in November to take the discussions forward.

    Led by Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati, the four-member team also included – IIT Kanpur, professor of statistics, department of mathematics and statistics, Dr Shalabh; C-DOT executive director Dr Rajkumar Upadhyay; Decision Sciences Centre for Public Policy professor Pulak Ghosh.  After consultation with stakeholders such as Barc India, MDPL, Zappr Media, Nielsen India, and Tata Sky AMS, the committee had issued several specific and sweeping recommendations on the technical aspects of TV rating measurement in India.

    Observing a broad consensus among industry stakeholders in favour of leveraging return data capabilities, it recommended that RPD should be made mandatory for set-top-boxes (STBs) deployed by distributed platform operators (DPOs). The collection of viewership data by DPOs is to be governed by privacy norms prescribed by the government/regulator. 

    Also Read : Govt committee seeks to set up specialised regulator for media ratings

    The report noted that crowdsourcing approaches could be economical alternatives to RPD and should be open to rating agencies to enrich panel-based measurement. The committee also batted for an open data ecosystem allowing academics and independent researchers access to algorithms and raw datasets to analyse, validate and enrich them.

    The television rating system in India had come under scanner in October 2020 when Mumbai Police claimed in a press briefing that they have probed a case of manipulation of TRPs and found some incriminating evidence. The police said the accused were allegedly bribing the households to keep a particular channel running, leading to several arrests. Three news channels, Republic TV, Fakt Marathi, and Box Cinema were named in an alleged TRP tampering scam. BARC had also temporarily suspended the publishing of weekly data for news channels, which remains in limbo to date.

    Also Read: MIB to implement TRP ratings recommendations soon: Anurag Thakur

    Making satellite-broadband services cheaper

    The cost of satellite-broadband services continues to remain on the higher side in the country, posing a major challenge to its wide adoption by the end-users. The issue was also taken by India’s telecom regulator which is looking for ways to drive down the rates of satellite broadband. Early this year, Trai also floated a discussion paper and sought views to make satellite communications more affordable in the country. 

    Among other issues, Trai also sought views on whether satellite service licensees should be allowed to obtain bandwidth from foreign satellites for providing IoT connectivity. Also, whether any specific or all bands should be permitted for provisioning satellite-based IoT connectivity. It also invited suggestions on whether a new licensing framework should be proposed for the provision of satellite-based connectivity for low-bit-rate applications or the existing licensing framework may be suitably amended to include the provisioning of such connectivity.

    Also Read: Trai seeks suggestions to make satellite broadband services affordable

    5G roll-out and spectrum clash:

    Earlier in the year broadcasters expressed concern over the rollout of 5G at a near-clashing frequency. Their apprehension was that the spectrum range of 3.0-3.6GHz identified for 5G does not allow for a buffer or ‘guard band’ before satellite television operates at 3.7 to 4.2 GHz. This could lead to disruption in television and radio services in the country. Even though welcoming of 5G has held great opportunity for the M&E industry in the era of convergence, broadcasters said that in the event they had to move to a higher frequency, the government should intervene with subsidies to offset the cost incurred.

  • #Retrace2021: Same passion for global content in Tier 2 & 3 cities as in metros: Zeel’s Amit Shah

    #Retrace2021: Same passion for global content in Tier 2 & 3 cities as in metros: Zeel’s Amit Shah

    Mumbai: With a career spanning over two decades, Zee Entertainment cluster head – North, West, and premium channels Amit Shah has amassed experience in sales and marketing from two leading FMCG organisations – Dabur and Mondelez.

    In his current role at Zeel, he spearheads a cluster of premium channels and regional channels in the North and West regions. He is responsible for delivering the P&L for the cluster and individual channels along with respective business heads. Leading a team of nearly 200 people from different functions like programming, content, research and insights, marketing, on-air promotions team, and more, Shah is also responsible for new market entries and tapping other channel opportunities in existing North and West markets along with the premium channels segment.

    As the year draws to a close, Indiantelevision.com got into a freewheeling conversation with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. cluster head – North, West, and premium channels Amit Shah who speaks about the evolving content trends in Zee English cluster in 2021, programming, and growth in viewership in

    Edited excerpts:

    On any changes in content consumption patterns

    With increased learning of English and foreign languages, India has become more welcoming and adaptive to foreign content. The same is reflected across its content consumption pattern. With the advent of OTT, the audience base for foreign movies has increased. Today, foreign language movies are not just for the audiences living in metros, but also for Tier II, Tier III cities where we see the same level of passion for global content.

    On any innovation that the channels adopted in 2021 to build viewership

    As a channel, we try to understand the needs of our viewers and innovate and come up with content matching their tastes and preferences. For example, we were early to recognise the growing affinity of viewers towards Korean content. So, we collaborated with Korean Cultural Centre India (KCCI) to treat viewers to Korean content across Zee Café, &flix and &PrivéHD. Zee Café has added over 300 hours of content post-lockdown to offer relevant content to the existing consumers along with walk-ins.

    While, &PrivéHD targets the niche audience with its premium content. Foreign language content has been an important part of the programming of &PrivéHD for its foreign language movie block ‘World Box Office’. Another disruption in the category was bringing premieres of the biggest Hollywood blockbusters within months of their theatrical release. We launched several properties that allowed TV audiences to watch Hollywood movies in the language of their choice.

    The non-fiction category has been an important part of the Zee Café programming line-up. Foreign shows such as the ‘The Drew Barrymore Show’ and ‘Masterchef’ have been an audience favourite. Indian originals ‘Chef Vs Fridge’ and ‘Dance With Me’ programmed in Hinglish for a wider reach amongst Indian audiences have also managed to build a good base for themselves. A successful season 2 of ‘Dance With Me’ recently concluded, garnering an encouraging response from the viewers on TV as well as social media.

    Our aim has always been to reach out to the right section of the audience basis programming. Hence, we involve a lot of backend research to define the target group. However, in the recent past, there have been multiple changes in the consumption patterns which has evolved the traditional media landscape.

    On the viewership trends for the English language content

    At a macro level, interest in English content is seeing a steady rise and the same is being reflected in the form of viewership numbers. This growth can be attributed to deeper penetration of the English language in various parts of the country. As a result, the acceptance of English content and its consumption has seen an exponential rise. During the lockdown, the TV industry witnessed significant growth in viewership. This was majorly led by more walk-ins, however, the time spent on television has increased too and the same has continued post lockdown as well.

    On the co-existence of TV and OTT

    TV and OTT are here to co-exist. While both mediums sometimes have a consumer overlap, they are quite different in terms of approach. OTT comes with an opportunity of ‘me-time’, television brings ‘we-time’. Also, the audience is always on the lookout for fresh and relatable content. Hence, to satiate the demand both mediums complement each other.

    On the marketing initiatives launched this year

    Consumers have become more adaptive to digital media, and multiple mediums have emerged offering the same. For instance, our ‘First Day First Show at Home’ campaign featuring comic José Covaco garnered an overwhelming response with over nine million views on YouTube. We also hosted a unique interactive live session on the premiere day with José which garnered great engagement on Instagram.

    Moment marketing has found its relevance and context has become the key element in any integrated marketing strategy. To further drive engagement and build visibility for Korean shows on Zee Café, the channel collaborated with ‘Supaarwoman’ fame Supriya Joshi for Diwali special reels with a twist of K-Drama.

    The brand also engaged in consumer connect initiatives such as the recent Flix First Screening contest organised across five cities – Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad. As a part of the contest, 350 winners received two tickets each for the special screening of ‘Spiderman: No Way Home’ in their cities. To ensure maximum awareness of the contest amongst the Spiderman fans, we associated with José Covaco who uploaded a video with his daughter garnering 27,000 views on Facebook and 58,000 views on Instagram. Our ad film with Deepak Tijori, Renuka Shahane, and Rohit Saraf also garnered attention exemplifying the need of the right message with the right resources and how simple themes can be molded into clutter-breaking outcomes to fuel consumer engagements.

    Tags: #Retrace2021, Year Ender, 2022, Amit Shah, Zee English Cluster, &flix, &PriveHD, Zee Café, year-ender, Retrace 2021, English channels, English content on TV.

  • #Retrace2021: The long road to recovery for the travel sector

    #Retrace2021: The long road to recovery for the travel sector

    Mumbai: ‘Tis the Season! To be jolly and ring in the holidays. Except that it is not.

    Just when it seemed like life was returning to normal, the spread of the omicron variant has once again put a question mark over the travel plans. The new restrictions being announced across states and countries have dashed hopes of a cheery festive season for many, including the travel sector that had just begun its road to recovery in 2021.

    “The year ushered in significant opportunities for the brand to leverage, but it remained challenging nonetheless,” summed up Thomas Cook president and group head, marketing, service quality, value-added services, and innovation Abraham Alapatt. “A big win for us is that it gave us the ability to rapidly accelerate our digital journey – to build scale and create a contactless journey through digital means for both our B2C and B2B customers.”

    The company worked on its conversation and brand messaging which underwent a major shift from price to safety-first and ease of travel.  Digital became the new normal, as companies experimented with online tools – self-service apps, AI-enabled chatbots, build-your-own holiday platforms for personalisation, and CRM connectivity across business lines to its leisure and corporate travelers. “We decided to educate customers on the most credible and updated travel restrictions and guidelines and become the first point of contact for our customers. We organised virtual events to showcase travel experiences in the new normal in Europe, Dubai, and the Maldives to encourage customers to travel,” he elaborated.

    From launching a series of campaigns to building consumer confidence, travel companies and hotels also invested in strengthening customer safety. There was continued emphasis on vaccinated hotel staff, drivers & co-travellers, offering facilities of flexible rescheduling and cancellation when required and travel insurance that covers Covid related quarantine and/or hospitalisation, with some even going the extra mile by offering 24×7 doctor-on-call and contactless Covid-negative certification services with doorstep delivery.

    Continued to pump money into advertising

    The year saw the travel-booking platforms pumping money into advertising across all media channels, and leveraging social media. There was a significant shift from print to digital/social media which was not only used to inspire travel, but more importantly to spread positive news on travel and thereby build customer confidence. Online travel brand Goibibo rolled out its campaign ‘Apna Rule Toh Full Vasool’, announcing ‘Daily Steal Deals’ for hotels and last-minute flight bookings on its platform. While, My Trip roped in the hit-duo of Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt for its campaign ‘JoHogaWOWHoga’ to encourage travellers to plan, book and travel once again without any worries arising out of cancellation or hassle of refund claims.

    Club Mahindra, the flagship brand of Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India also reached out to travel enthusiasts through its ‘Jaana Kahaan Hai’ campaign starring the ‘Shershah’ actor, Siddharth Malhotra. The campaign captured people’s desire to travel and explore new destinations and indulge in newer adventures in the new normal.

    “Our 2021 visibility is almost back to the pre-pandemic levels while our share of voice in print has almost doubled to that of pre-Covid levels,” said Thomas Cook president. 

    2021: The year of domestic tourism

    As most foreign destinations remained out of reach due to restrictions, 2021 emerged as the year for domestic tourism. There was a growing appetite for non-standard elements and a rising trend for deeper exploration of smaller yet undiscovered locales and a pronounced shift from micro-cations to in-depth stays. The trend also shifted from emergency travel to leisure travel, according to industry experts.

    “India’s growing appetite for outdoor and adventure is fuelled by the desire to get away from crowds,” said Alapatt sharing insights on the changing consumer behavior. “We are seeing a strong uptick for our camping, hiking, trekking, and biking trips; jungle and safari experiences too. Our biking trips are in high demand – equally from millennials as India’s C-suite, with routes across rugged yet spectacular terrain from Kashmir, Leh-Ladakh, Rajasthan, Sikkim to South India’s Madikeri, Yercaud, etc. and the option of riding your own bike or hiring a premium Ducati, Harley Davidson or equivalent.”

    According to Cleartrip chief business officer Prahlad Krishnamurti, there was at least 25 per cent improvement over 2020. “We have approximately doubled our user base from August to December which corresponds to a 30 per cent increase in conversion rates. There was a sharp recovery at almost 70-80 per cent pre covid levels in H2 2021. This recovery was stronger than what we saw post first wave in 2020,” he added.

    Apart from the metros commanding the usual high share, the leisure destinations preferred during the festive season during the second half of 2021 were Goa, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Guwahati, and Srinagar- making up for nearly 15 per cent of the market share on the ClearTrip portal- with Goa and Rajasthan having the lion’s share in hotel bookings.

    “However, there was and still exists a lot of anxiety and uncertainty around travel due to the pandemic,” said Krishnamurti. But he remains optimistic about the prospects for next year. “ClearTrip spent 2021 ramping up and investing in building our flight and hotel products, with the goal of making travel simple for customers. We are looking to gain larger mindshare with our customers and expect this to translate into a sizable market share.”

    High hopes for 2022

    Despite the challenges, the industry remains hopeful that the pent-up demand for travel could drive rapid growth in travel ad-spend over the next few years, but it will no doubt, be a long road back to pre-pandemic spending.  According to Zenith’s latest Travel adspend forecast released in November, the fastest growth in travel advertising is expected to come from India, but it will take until 2023 for the travel ad spend to be 31 per cent above the 2019 baseline.

    Looking ahead at 2022, sustainable tourism could become a very important factor as travellers become environment-conscious.  According to industry experts, the post-pandemic travellers are going to be characterised by discerning, detail-driven, and discovery-oriented – seeing more value in depth of experience rather than whistle-stop ‘photo-op’ travel. Travellers will continue to depend on technological advancement to ensure reduced physical contact, even as safety and hygiene will remain the top most important factors in their 2022 travel decisions.

    So, here’s looking forward to a stronger and safer 2022.