ITV

Tag: ORG

  • Rasna’s most trusted beverage brand: ORG Marg survey

    MUMBAI: Its the largest selling soft drink concentrate in India, or so says AC Nielson ORG-MARG survey. According to the survey, Rasna is currently commanding 90 per cent volume share of the Soft Drink Concentrate (SDC) category and is also the top brand in consumer confidence.

    Voted as the most trusted brand in the beverages category, above majors including Pepsi, Coca Cola and Horlicks, Rasna has also been declared as the number 15 most trusted brand in the country. The brand has raised four places from last year.

     

     
    Domestic brands usually battle for recognition on equal terms with global brands. But in the case of Rasna Private Limited, the Most Trusted Brands Survey 2003 proves otherwise, says a company release.
    According to Rasna, chairman and managing director, Piruz Khambatta, “We have always strived to provide the best quality and value for money products to our consumers and it is heartening to see that we have succeeded in earning their trust and loyalty. Having risen four places from last year to being the 15th most trusted brand in the country, Rasna aims to enhance its efforts to further increase customer satisfaction. Our goal is to have the soliloquy ‘I love you Rasna’ on the lips of a billion satisfied Indians.”

    The excellence of the products is a quality products to suit every socio-economic segment and a widespread distribution network comprising over 11 lakh outlets, say the release. Rasna’s consumption has increased to two billion glasses per year and its products are available in six million households in the country. T

    Recently Rasna has also launched products in SDC like ‘Rasna’, ‘Rasna Juc-up’ and ‘Rasna Utsav’and milk additive categories ‘Rasna Shake-up’. Rasna embarked on a unique initiative to expand the SDC market with its extremely affordable product ‘Rasna Ek ka Do’, a two glass soft drink sachet priced at Rs 1, which had popularised it in rural and semi-rural markets. The company has also laid out an extensive retail strategy to make this product available in the remotest corners of the country.

    The single biggest attempt by an Indian company to grow the market has resulted in a significant expansion of the category with a 65.9 per cent increase in the rural and 25.4 per cent increase in the urban market.

    ‘Rasna Shake Up’ is available not only to the SEC A and B but also lower income households because of very competitive pricing and an extensive distribution network.

  • 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.
  • Consensus eludes CAS task force

    Consensus eludes CAS task force

    NEW DELHI: As they say in cricket, something’s about to give way.

    Either the Indian government will buckle under pressure from various factions of the broadcasting and cable industry on the issue of basic tier’s price, or it may just go ahead and declare the price. The likelihood of the latter happening on Tuesday is high.

    The task force meet on conditional access held today, once again, failed to arrive at a consensus on the issue of pricing of the basic tier and the parameters taken to arrive at various figures being bandied around.

    The chairman of the task force is understood to have conveyed to other members, specially cable ops, that if there is no unanimity on the pricing issue in the meet tomorrow, then the government would have no choice but to go ahead with the figure cobbled together by the finance ministry- Rs 45.90 (exclusive of local and entertainment taxes) — even if certain sections feel the figure is far removed from ground realities.

    The government has also told all stakeholders that the details of costs, backed by relevant documents, should be submitted for a final round of hearing on the cost issue by 11 am tomorrow.

    The frustration and confusion in the task force is evident from the fact that a survey undertaken by an independent body- Becil/ORG Marg- too has not been able to bring smiles on everybody’s face. Rather the report done at the behest of the government and the industry was today literally shredded to pieces by the cable operators in the task force.

    According to Rakesh Dutta, an independent cable op and a task force member, “The way things are moving, it is becoming increasingly difficult to arrive at any consensus. The cost of the basic tier being suggested by the government and others would not be acceptable to cable ops who’ll have no option but to down shutters and suspend cable services.” Other cable operators also echoed similar sentiments.

    Some of the figures and data presented in the survey are quite contrary to what the cable industry has been representing, it seems. For example, on the issue of cable ops use using standardised equipment, the report states that in cities like Delhi and Kolkata mostly local equipment sans the ISI mark are used, while in Mumbai in certain pockets branded products are used.

    The survey, according to some figures made available to indiantelevision.com, states that a franchisee cable operator in Mumbai on an average has 2,555 subscribers per sq. km, while the corresponding figures in Delhi is 1031, Kolkata 1266 and Chennai 1383.

    It seems the ORG-Marg conducted survey for Becil is highlighting the fact that cable operators do have large subscriber bases, but their cost is not much as being proclaimed. Reason: standardised equipment is not used by all. In case of Chennai, for example, the report states that no details were forthcoming where equipment and their standardisation was concerned.

    Though some representatives of broadcasting organisations did raise doubts over the authenticity of the survey and its findings, the doubts were laid to rest quickly as the chairman is understood to have said that the terms of reference for the survey was limited and decided upon earlier.

    Interestingly, the lone person representing free to air channels in the task force, Sahara TV president Mahesh Prasad, raised an important issue: carriage fee for free to air channels in the basic tier.

    Prasad, rightly so, pointed out that post-CAS it should be ensured that free to air channels don’t have to pay carriage fees (mostly to MSOs) considering the minimum number of channels in the basic tier is being specified at 30.

    Though the issue did not receive the attention it should have, in days to come carriage fee would rear its head as channels would jostle with one another to occupy limited bandwidth and capacity of an average TV set to receive the number of channels.

  • Net4India announces registration of .INFO domain names for Rs 650

    Net4India announces registration of .INFO domain names for Rs 650

    Net4India, India’s leading and the single largest domain name registration company in South Asia, today announced that their customers can now own a dot INFO domain name. .INFO is the first top level domain after .COM, .NET and .ORG in over a decade and will allow classification of information on the the web.

    .INFO is poised to change the way information will be categorised and will allow companies and individuals to classify information further. It will also give an opportunity for corporates to book domains which may not have been available with a .com, .net or .org extension and use it to build their online presence. .INFO is available to corporates and individual’s on a “first come first serve” basis.The other six high-level domains announced are .biz, .name, .co-op, .pro, .museum and .aero.

    Speaking on the occasion Jasjit Sawhney, CEO Net4India said: “Dot INFO is truly an opportunity to reach the world wide audience for the next phase of Internet’s evolution. It will help in bringing an element of classification on the Internet making it easier for customers to access information. We expect that out of the two lakh domian names booked this year 15 per cent will be .INFO.”

    Worldwide the anticipated demand for domain names is expected to reach over 40 million by the end of 2001, with sustained growth expected for 2-3 years.

     

  • CNBC India ‘blows the lid on confidential TV ratings’ system in India?

    CNBC India ‘blows the lid on confidential TV ratings’ system in India?

    Business channel CNBC India today broke a story casting doubt on the efficacy of television peoplemeters in India, saying it was “not foolproof, not confidential and definitely open to manipulation.”

    CNBC reporter Naomi Dutta had with her the full list of 627 households supplied with peoplemeters that make up the sample population used by the two market research agencies – ORG MARG’s Intam ratings and AC Nielsen’s TAM data – to calculate television ratings points (TRPs) in the city of Mumbai.

    The business channel’s viewpoint is that the ramifications of a reporter getting hold of the list of members of the peoplemeter sample are enormous. “The reporter had no devious intentions,” is the channel’s view. “A motivated person getting hold of the list could doctor the ratings as and when they please.”

    Dutta was shown on CNBC today morning entering some selected households in Mumbai which had the elusive peoplemeters installed. The family members interviewed on the channel were quite comfortable with the use of the meters and most of the households shown had had the meters in their residences for at least two to three years.

    Asked what benefits the they got from having the meters in their homes, the people interviewed said they got gifts from the ratings agencies during the festival season. Another observation is that the people interviewed were certainly not from the SEC A & B households that most media planners are sold on.

    Among the industry people who were interviewed for their reactions was MTV India MD Alex Kuruvilla.

  • ‘We are targeting the late night, breakfast and weekend slots’ : Sunita Rajan- BBC World Deputy Director Airtime Sales

    ‘We are targeting the late night, breakfast and weekend slots’ : Sunita Rajan- BBC World Deputy Director Airtime Sales

    As BBC World‘s deputy airtime sales director (a position she was promoted to in March 2001), Sunita Rajan provides the strategic direction for the 24-hour news and current affairs channel‘s commercial growth in the region. She overseas BBC World‘s operations in Asia and the Middle East.

     

    Rajan heads the region‘s six BBC World offices – Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and the three India offices, Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore – and is responsible for spearheading the channels‘ airtime sales through the Asia Pacific footprint.

     

    Rajan‘s experience in satellite television means she has a pretty good handle on what goes where when it comes to Asia‘s cable and satellite revenue models for news networks.
     

     

    Rajan takes credit for BBC World‘s strong showing in the past year. Previously regional sales director Asia, Rajan now has a wider role which includes global issues relating to the development of business relations in the Asia Pacific as well as handling BBC‘s staff development internationally.

     

    She joined BBC World in 1999 from Star‘s Channel V where she headed the channel‘s sales, marketing and distribution. Rajan was part of the start-up team that set up Star TV in 1992 and in 1994 moved on to head Channel (V) when it was launched in India.

     

    The BBC has a reputation of being rather staid and slower than its rivals but changes are taking place and the Beeb today presents a more aggressive marketing face of which Rajan is an integral cog.

     

    Rajan‘s career in media sales began in 1989 with Time Inc in India as a media concessionaire for Time and Fortune. Rajan holds a Masters degree in Economics from Bombay University and speaks eight languages.

     

    Indiantelevision.com‘s Thomas Abraham met Rajan when she was in Mumbai recently. Excerpts from the conversation.

     

    How do you demarcate the Asian territory, as one block or as multiple blocks?

     

    We look at Asia as two feeds, linked to the two satellites under whose footprints BBC World beams. There is the South Asia feed that includes the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East, covered by Panamsat 4, and the South East Asia feed covered by PAS-2. The PAS-2 beams on SE Asia and the Pacific Rim and includes Australia and New Zealand.

     

     

    Which is your most important market?

     

    For BBC World as a whole, Europe definitely. BBC‘s penetration in Europe is 50 million strong. In this region, it is India where we have a viewership of 11.5 million.

     

    What sort of advertising does BBC World attract?

     

    BBC World‘s target advertisers are information technology companies, consultancy companies, banks and financial institutions and FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) companies. Leisure and lifestyle is another important area. Travel companies, airlines and automobile manufacturers fall in this category.

     

    And what is your target audience?

     

    The SEC A and B category. BBC World is the English news channel of choice for decision makers. Last year we commissioned market research agency ORG-Marg to do a survey for us and this was amply borne out. The Horizon 2000 survey covered 4,500 people who hold key positions across 13 cities in India. Horizon 2000 provided us a benchmark for understanding India‘s leading consumers and decision-makers. We will also be using the survey in international markets as companies there are eyeing India in a big way.

     

    CNBC India has really made an impact in the short time that it has been around. How has the BBC been doing growthwise?

     

    The last two years have been very healthy for us. Our advertising revenues have more than doubled in this period.

     

    Any numbers on targets, revenues?

     

    We don‘t give those out.

     

    There has been a general slowdown all around. How do you see it affecting your bottomline?

     

    We are just into the new fiscal. It will be at least two months before any clear figures emerge where we can make an assessment on that score.
    I can say this though. There are new opportunities opening up and we are looking at new categories of advertising. Sponsorships and vignette programming are two such where we are putting in a lot of effort.

     

    (Of the total revenue growth over the past year, 75 per cent was accounted for by air-time sales, while the remaining was through sponsorship. Virgin Atlantic, JK Tyre, Microsoft and Home Trade are some of the sponsors who have come on board. BBC Worldwide took over marketing and sales in India in 1999.)
    We have an interesting series one-minute vignettes created around medical developments using BBC archives which Cipla has sponsored. (Similarly bazee.com has sponsored The Smart Minute vignettes which track the developmental leaps in science and technology). The Chequered Flag is another vignette series based on F1 formula racing.

     

    How much advertising does India generate percentage wise?

     

    Sixty per cent of ad revenues from the South Asia feed is generated from India.

     

    Are there any particular time bands that you focus on?

     

    As far as our current affairs programming is concerned, there are three important time bands that we target. The late night (10 pm to midnight and later), the breakfast and the weekend band. Appointment viewing is what it is all about.

     

    What of India-focussed programming? How many hours of it do you produce?

     

    We produce five-and-a-half hours of original programming every week.

     

    Any plans to increase on that?

     

    Not at the moment, no.

  • Zee clear No. 2 in channel race: INTAM data

    Zee clear No. 2 in channel race: INTAM data

    Zee TV is now the confirmed No. 2 channel on Indian television in prime time, more so among women, figures released by the company indicate.

     

    The statistics are derived from market research firm ORG-MARG’s INTAM data calculated for a three month weighted average beginning 22 January through till 23 April.

     

    While both men and women sampled gave Zee an edge over Sony it was women who were tuning in more to Zee than men, the data shows. The women sampled were in the 25 + SEC AB category – seen as havin tghe maximum advertisement attracting power – in 10 cities. For men the target group was 15 +.

     

    It is between 8 PM to 9 PM that Zee has made the maximum impact, claiming to have even gone ahead of Star during this prime band.

     

    Zee TV emerged the market leader from 16 April in the 8 PM time band. The lead increases in the 8:30 PM time band and it remains a close No 2 in the 9 PM time band, the data reveals.

     

  • Entertainment and Media research: Viewing the viewer as a consumer

    Entertainment and Media research: Viewing the viewer as a consumer

    Lakshmi Seth, vice-president of Quantum Research, tried to explain the need to understand the need of the consumer and more specifically the movie consumer.

    By citing extensive case studies (done for their client to find out the different types of movie consumption patterns among specific target audiences of regular movie goers between the age groups of 16 to 22 yrs) Seth detailed what she felt were some emerging changes in the consumer mindset. “It is not only the name of the star but other brands attached to it like who the producer is or who directed the film which makes a difference for the consumer.”

    The study revealed how attitudinal differences can create segments among the consumers. “We have arrived at seven broad categories of consumers – obsessed, critical, timepass, etc and studied there responses towards films, the way they expressed it i.e. behavioral approach and the hidden needs that are fulfilled.”

    “Now the film industry is treating viewers as consumers who have specific needs and around whom movies are tailored, says Seth. As movies become more and more like consumer products, other factors like branding, packaging and marketing are becoming increasingly important. “The segregation and understanding of the audience will not only help the filmmaker to know his target consumer, what their needs are and whether the film is providing that or not, but also make it fairly clear how to reach to them,” she says.

    The survey has also revealed that both males and females showed the same mindset towards movies.

    While elaborating more on qualitative research, Seema Khanvalkar of ORG-Marg, put forth the semiotic analysis which is the study of text used in media right from advertising to TV serials to the movies.

    “Every text has got some hidden message, so it is important to decode it to understand what it is trying to convey,” says Khanvalkar. Cultural background and ideology has to be understood to know the impact of the text. She also stressed the need to understand the image, status attached to the particular product like a person going for an English movie has got some specific expectations while a person going for a Govinda movie has different expectations. One has to take into consideration all these things before making any product.

    Media buying strategy was covered by Sam Balsara, chairman of Madison Media. “The mammoth growth in the advertising time on television from 20 million seconds two years ago to 50 million seconds today has increased the responsibility of the media buyer. There are around 70 channels catering to different segments of a vast population in India,” says Balsara.

    Earlier, the belief of ‘bigger the agency, better the rate’ is no more relevant as there is something beyond mere rate that decides media buying. Astute media buying, strategic media planning and efficient media operations are the three things that will decide the return on media investment of the client.

    So the onus is on the media buyers to choose the spots taking into consideration the type of the product as well as programme and depending on the target audience, media buying will be decided.

    Tapan Pal, president and CEO, Zenith Media, went into details of the efficacy of the rating system. Citing the example of significant deviation between TAM and INTAM rating for the same programme, he suggested that both agencies should segregate areas among themselves and try to concentrate on that area which will widen its coverage. “The increase in numbers will give more realistic results.” High accuracy and the speed at a low cost is the very essence of data collection. As more and more channels come into the picture and audiences get further segregated, the need for accurate data will be needed as never before.

    Meenakshi Madhvani, CEO Carat Media, stressed the need to make better use of available data by advertisers as well as media buyers for a better understanding of the market.

    Pravin Tripathi, MD, Starcom, was the moderator of the discussion.

    Session:Entertainment & Media Research
    Moderator:Pravin Tripathi, MD, Starcom
    Speakers:
    Laxmi Seth, vice-president, Quantum Research – Understanding the Movie Consumers
    Sam Balsara, chairman of Madison Media – Media buying strategy
    Tapan Pal, president and CEO, Zenith Media – Efficacy of rating system
    Meenakshi Madhvani, CEO Carat Media
    Seema Khanvalkar and Indrani Vidyarthi,ORG-Marg – Qualitative Studies