ITV

Tag: Madison Advertising

  • UTV COO Varma quits; Monisha Singh rejoins as VP – TV content

    UTV COO Varma quits; Monisha Singh rejoins as VP – TV content

    MUMBAI: After a 14 month stint, UTV COO Vikas Varma has put in his papers and is currently serving his notice period. Former UTV creative director Monisha Singh, who put in her papers at the company in July last year, has returned to UTV as vice president – television content.

    When contacted by Indiantelevision.com as to the reason for his exit, Varma expresses, “It’s time to move out of production and join the broadcasters. The experience at UTV was a learning curve.”

    Varma said he was in conversation with many broadcasters, and is yet to make a final decision.

    As COO, Varma was roped in to guide the TV division’s business strategy and operations along with business development.

    Prior to UTV, Varma was formerly with Touché Communications as MD and has 16 years of advertising and entertainment expertise both in the brand building and advertising space.

    Varma has wide-ranging experience spanning 16 years in advertising and media and has worked with top ad agencies such as Frank Simoes Advertising, Madison Advertising and Touché Communications where he served as MD. He has been instrumental in strategising for and launching a number of durable, FMCG and entertainment brands during the course of his career.

    On the other hand, after quitting UTV, Singh joined Miditech as vice president programming and headed the production house’s fiction and entertainment division.

    An economics graduate and mass communications post graduate, Singh began her career with Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Telefilms as a creative director at a time when India’s premier soap factory was still a fledgling production house.

  • Commercial breaks – ‘ad’ing value to business?

    The best performing channel in India is also the most disciplined.

    A recent study by Madison Advertising lauds Star Plus for having the shortest ad break lengths, giving advertisers the best value for money while rivals Zee and Sony falter on the ad break length owing to commercial compulsions. The study, undertaken to analyse how the audience behaves during TV ad breaks, has come out with some pertinent observations. The study’s conclusions assume greater significance in view of the recent decision by both Zee and Sony to drop the system of selling commercial time based on anticipated or cost per rating point (CPRP).

    Some highlights of the study –

    • Viewership of ads is lesser than that of the programme.
    • The extent of ad viewership is determined by the rating of the programme and not by the genre of the programme.
    • The higher the rating of the programme, the lower the drop in ad viewership.
    • Non C & S households and small town classes have higher ad viewership in comparison to C&S households and metros.
    • Recall of ads deteriorates with the length of the ad break. Star Plus has the shortest ad break length.
    • Corrector factor has been determined to calculate realistic CPRP benchmarks.
       

    Using primary viewership data supplied by ORG Marg’s INTAM, the study found that the last two ads in any break were the most advantageous from the advertisers’ point of view as these are the most watched. People tend to ‘shift out’ of the programme with the commencement of the commercial break and also towards the end of the programme. The build up of audiences takes around three minutes and then a dip is observed at the commencement of the ad break. Ratings then build up after a programme restarts.
     

    Position in break
    High Rated Programmes
    Others
    1st and 2nd ad
    100
    100
    Middle ads
    88
    83
    Last 2 ads
    103
    102

    The data analysed establishes the relation between ratings size and media effectiveness. Consequently, says the report, higher rated programmes are worth higher CPRPs. The statistics show that high rated programmes kept 87 per cent of the programme audience through the ad, while a low rated programme kept only 65 per cent.

    Interestingly, the report notes that drop in ad ratings is lesser for audience with no access to cable and satellite channels. The average drop for non C & S homes is eight to 10 per cent while it is in excess of 20 per cent for C & S homes, necessitating differential media weights to be fixed for C & S and non C & S homes by advertisers.

    Afternoon programmes, the study notes, witness less of zapping than prime time shows. The trend is favourable, says the study, for targeting re-runs of popular programmes aired in the afternoon slot.

    Another pertinent observation of the study is that viewers in small towns have higher level of ad viewership. This, the study attributes to cable ops in smaller towns carrying lesser channels than their big city counterparts.

    Another pertinent observation of the study is that viewers in small towns have higher level of ad viewership. This, the study attributes to cable ops in smaller towns carrying lesser channels than their big city counterparts.

    Special interest channels like National Geographic and Animal Planet do not have high ratings but register only a 10 per cent drop in ad viewership. The study concludes that the channels have an advantage in their ability to narrowcast programmes and are able to convert audience interest in niche programmes to continue through the ad breaks too.

    Providing a historical perspective, the study compares the trends in India with those in other countries. Commercial air time in India is bought on a property basis, while elsewhere, broadcasters sell on ‘audience delivery’ basis and hence are forced to ensure high ratings for the commercial. Madison Media though is hopeful that intense competition and emphasis by broadcasters to shore up their subscription revenue will eventually lead to a similar situation in India.

    The study has also culled some observations from international resources about audience behaviour in other countries.
     

    • Viewers do not prefer channels with absolutely no advertising. Most viewers see ads in moderation as a welcome diversion.
    • The optimum ratio for well established channels is 50:10 – ten minutes of advertising in every hour.
    • Ad recall deteriorates with the length of the ad break.
    • Recall is higher if there is lesser number of ad breaks in a programme. Two ad breaks in half an hour is found to be tolerable.
    • Predictable and non intrusive ad breaks cause the minimal negative impact on the ratings for the break.
    • US and European markets usually see a synchronisation of ad breaks by most broadcasters, a practice not followed in India.
    • In India, feature films have the longest ad break length possibly due to the fact that film are popular among fringe advertisers. Longer breaks in return are not likely to be watched by viewers; consequently, the study notes, it might not be a good idea to advertise during feature films.
  • “We will do deals for our clients as long as they are cost-effective” : Punitha Arumugam Madison Media (West) COO

    “We will do deals for our clients as long as they are cost-effective” : Punitha Arumugam Madison Media (West) COO

    She has been played a large role in taking the Sam Balsara promoted Madison Advertising , a 14-year old agency with capitalsied billings of Rs 4 billion, to the heights it has over the past few years. And she has gained a reputation as a media professional par excellence.
     

    Madison Media West‘s COO Punitha Arumugam oversees accounts such as Kinetic, the Essel Group, P&G, Godrej and BPL among others. Arumugam combines the best of research experience with a flair for understanding the psychographics of various media.

    Indiantelevision.com caught up with Arumugam for her views on the forthcoming World Cup cricket 2003.

     

    Excerpts –

    Which clients will Madison leverage for the World Cup?

    Madison Media will leverage all its brands/clients for the World Cup cricket 2003 as long as the deal makes cost effective sense. If it is not cost effective, then none of our clients will use it.

    Will you prefer Doordarshan or Max? Why?

    There is nothing like a preference for either of the channels. Our clients use both DD and MAX to advertise their brands regularly. The choice of the channels for the different brands is a function of their target audience/markets/budgets/activity requirements.

    What do you think is the size of the total advertising spend?

    During the last World Cup 1999, both DD and ESPN/STAR Sports mopped up over Rs 2.5 billion. Therefore, it would not be surprising that the current World Cup should garner ad spends of around Rs 3.5 billion. The industry is already talking about these figures and they don‘t seem so unrealistic.
    “The choice of either DD or MAX for different brands is a function of their target audience, markets, budgets, activity requirements”

    Can brands afford to ignore the World Cup?

    From my perspective, there are three type of clients :

    Type 1 – “MUST” USE CRICKET :

    These clients could include the durables; the two-wheelers; the soft drinks companies; and others. These are the sort of clients who believe that cricket is a unique vehicle that gives that big dhamaka required to woo their consumers. These clients prefer to be on cricket broadcasts; come what may! They will also be willing to pay a premium for being present. They will be the early birds who will be the first to tie up for the World Cup Cricket (WCC).

     

    TYPE 2 – “MAY” USE CRICKET :

     

    These clients could include the typical FMCG clients; to whom cricket is another programme available in addition to the numerous soaps/movies/other genres to reach their consumers. These clients will be on cricket only if the buy makes cost effective sense when compared to their regular buys. These will be clients who will be amongst the last to tie up with MAX and are likely to be the “distress buy of left over FCT ” clients.

     

    These will be clients who will also adopt smart scheduling – prepone/postpone campaigns because of World Cup or avoid taking programmes that clash directly with World Cup telecast

     

    TYPE 3 : “HOW TO” USE CRICKET :

     

    These clients could include those who look at cricket as an opportunity to break away from the regular clutter and create
    innovative / stand out ways to reach their consumer. These clients will associate with cricket depending on the “big idea on cricket ” that
    their agencies work out for them / channel is able to work out and produce for them. These will form the bulk of the second level clients who will tie up with WCC

     

    Therefore, the type 2 and type 3 clients can ignore the World Cup. Also, given that most of the cricket matches are getting over by 9.30pm and the fact that some of the best prime time programmes on channels like STAR/Sun are after 9.30pm, these clients do have options to advertise other than World Cup

    Which brands have already jumped on to the WCC bandwagon?

    I shall mention the categories first: soft drinks, two-wheelers; durables; telecom; paints; FMCGs, textiles, banking and insurance. One keeps hearing about the certain brands and companies such as Pepsi, Hero Honda, LG, BSNL, Asian Paints, Cadburys, ICICI, Raymonds, HLL etc. I won‘t be able to give any specific details at this point of time.