MUMBAI: Political satire Ghadlay Bighadlay, which allegedly provoked NCP party workers into storming the Zee office yesterday, continues to air.
Undeterred, Alpha Marathi, the Zee channel that telecasts the show, will focus tonight’s epiosode on yesterday’s incident. “We are a news channel, just like any other media company our duty is to report and we will continue to do that. People cannot get away with taking the press rights from the media,” says Essel Group’s vice-president, corporate brand development (CBDG) Ashish Kaul.
Says Kaul, “We aired it yesterday as well and will continue with it. Like every other programme on the channel, we have an internal screening process, which is more than enough.” Alpha Marathi business head, who rushed back to Mumbai from Kolhapur yesterday, after hearing about the ransacking, says spoofs on television should be taken in the right spirit, as did the others who were satirised in the same episode.
“Political satires have been on screen for a long time now. Does the attack mean that you have to chuck the satire genre altogether?” Kaul queries.
As for the damage incurred at the Chintamani Plaza offices of Zee, the valuers have already made an assessment of the damage, and the financial estimate of the loss should be available later today. Kaul says the guard who was hospitalised yesterday after he suffered injuries during the ransacking has been declared out of danger; another staffer Carol D’souza is now recuperating at home. As for the rest of Zee staffers, it’s work as usual today.
Meanwhile, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation has condemned the attack on the staff and office of Zee TV, saying it is an attack on the freedom of expression.
“All the political parties need to appreciate the gravity of such unruly, undemocratic and rowdy behaviour by a group of people, allegedly supporters of a political party. We demand that exemplary punishment be meted out to these people both by the law of the land and the concerned political party so that such shameful incidents do not recur,” the IBF says in a release.
Tag: CBDG
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Attackers’ butt of ire continues undeterred on Alpha Marathi
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All Essel companies to have common media, branding plan
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: Having had to go through many downs – remember the stock market scam few years back involving Ketan Parekh where Zee Telefilms was also named initially and had to confront some bad press? – the Subhash Chandra promoted Essel Group has now embarked upon a refurbishment plan.
Not only will there be a common branding policy for all the 18 Essel group companies, but also a common media policy.
The thinking behind this is that such a move would help promote individual brands in the stable, which range from real estate to theme parks to TV channels to packaging material, as also provide a common source for information for shareholders and outsiders and employees would be in place to project the right image.
Managing all this will be Essel’s Corporate Brand Development Group (CBDG), a division formed in June as part of a major communications overhaul within the group.
As part of this effort, the CBDG has created an in-house visual identity manual, encompassing some 400 pages, for the Essel Group brands spanning 33 brands in the 18 companies, says CBDG head Ashish Kaul. This has been approved in-principle by the management, says Kaul.
The manual is being created in a phased manner starting with primary instruments of communication. Stationary is being given the prime importance. The standardization for the other applications will follow in subsequent months.
The importance of a visual identity manual:
“Once we ‘know’ the product, then we don’t read it but convert that product into a ‘Picture’ in our mind and hence when you see the same product in a different country with different packaging, it actually becomes a different product to the human mind. Same way, a company is nothing but a lifeless form. How it looks and behaves on paper and other aspects is what actually creates a company that has emotions and feelings sought by or aspired to by the buyer,” says Kaul, explaining the rationale behind the manual.
If Zee Tele’s example is taken, then the network is a combination of 14 brands ( Alpha, cinema, music, etc.) . So, one relation is at sub-brand level, the second is at corporate level and finally the relationship with the Essel Group. This manual would seek to establish the relationship pattern among various corporate and sub-brands with the Essel Group brand.
Why form CBDG?
Very few groups in India have felt the need to internally manage the reputation of the group. Reliance, for one, does it.
As far as the Essel Group goes, it had been spending a huge amount of money on hiring these resources and, as Kaul points out, the group “suddenly realized that the return on the substantial investment was inadequate.”
“Considering that we are in diversified businesses, it was prudent to have an internal group, which could meet the needs of the Essel Group,” he adds.
The motive/ objective to do this overhaul were the following:
@ Synergise communications to build brand equity for the Essel Group of companies.
@ Optimize group’s communication efforts
@ Leverage internal resources to optimal level
@ Offer centralised communication services
After CBDG came into existence, the idea came to retire all the communication agencies. The whole purpose of this exercise was to synergise the communication efforts. Retiring of all the agencies was not a reflection on the work they were doing. The idea was to have a single agency “and not have scattered accounts” – a focused approach and single source monitoring works.
“Next in line is a comprehensive media policy, which we are putting together for the group. The concept of streamlining the messages and one spokesperson for distinct and critical businesses is also what we have been trying to achieve,” Kaul says.
Can the CBDG pull it off, considering the whole Essel group is a maze of bureaucracy, leave alone Zee Tele? The answer to that will be known soon enough.
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Essel creates single division to handle all corporate communications
NEW DELHI: In a major communications overhaul, the Subhash Chandra-led Essel Group has decided to create a signature group under Corporate Brand Development Group (CBDG) for all the brands in the group as a corporate brand.
Ashish Kaul, till recently the corporate communication head of another Chandra company, ASC Enterprsies, would be heading this newly-formed group at the corporate level as well as for each brand as vice-president. Kaul, who was working with the Agrani group for over four years, has been transferred to Essel Group to lead this mammoth exercise.
This discipline is distinct from the marketing activity currently being handled by the marketing team of each business/brand. This function would be fully operational towards the end of July 2003. The brands that this group will handle will include all Zee brands, Alpha brands, Playwin, Zee Education, Essel World, Water Kingdom, Fun Republic, Essel Propack Ltd., and the Agrani group.
Considering the sheer size of the Essel Group and the number of brands and sub-brands that the group has, it is perhaps the largest communications overhaul exercise ever undertaken by a company of this size.
Essel Group has interests in old and new economy businesses ranging from packaging, theme parks, multiplexes, cable distribution, content/broadcast, telecom infrastructure, IT retailing, satellite infrastructure and wireless services.
Presently, a team is being put in place and preference is being given to nourish and upgrade in-house talent. “The theme of this exercise would be to reach a situation where my communications audit tells me that every individual in the entire group has become a brand ambassador of the group.
We would also strive to streamline the messaging systems of the group and our attempt would be to align the message with experience. This cannot be achieved only by effective external communication management but impetus will be given to developing internal communications in association with the various HR divisions of the group,” Kaul told indiantelevision.com.
Corporate Brand Development Group would be responsible for external and internal communications of the Essel Group. The current arrangements of the group will continue till the transition is completed in a phased manner. Corporate Brand Development would access the needs of each brand and sub-brand within the group and deploy a person or a group of people to service that brand or group of brands. The representatives of these brands would be allocated to respective companies for administrative purposes and policy-wise the CBDG would report directly to Chandra.
In a career spanning about 10 years Kaul has been exposed to telecom, satellite infrastructure, chemicals and petrochemicals, media and IT sectors. As an assistant manager, corporate communications with IndusInd Media ( Hinduja Group ), Kaul has been exposed to various brands like the CVO Movie Channel and Gulf Oil. Apart from media management on national and international level, Kaul has been associated with event management on behalf of his organisations and has been instrumental in launching a Social Communications programme in Uttar Pradesh promoting Social Forestry schemes and Rural medical programmes on behalf of SVC Superchem.