Times signs equity-for-ad deals
Bennett, Coleman & Co's (BCCL), the publishing house that owns India's most-read English daily The Times of India and financial daily The Economic Times, is quietly sewing up exclusive long-term advertising deals with clients, locking the competition out of their media plans in the process. And it is taking the "equity participation" route to do so.
Bennett, Coleman picks up stakes in companies to lock in advertising.
Bennett, Coleman & Co's (BCCL) rivals, beware. The publishing house that owns India's most-read English daily The Times of India and financial daily The Economic Times, is quietly sewing up exclusive long-term advertising deals with clients, locking the competition out of their media plans in the process. And it is taking the "equity participation" route to do so.
Earlier this month, BCCL struck deals to pick up equity stakes in two companies. In Chennai-based Celebrity Fashions, that owns the menswear brand Indian Terrain, BCCL is acquiring a 12 per cent stake.
In the Rs 650-crore Pantaloon Retail India, it is taking a 4.53 per cent stake. As a trade-off, BCCL is expected to push and promote the companies' brands through its media products including The Times of India, The Economic Times, Indiatimes, Zoom and Radio Mirchi.
BCCL is said to have spent Rs 70 crore to acquire a stake in Pantaloon in return for which it is expected to earn a similar amount of advertising over five to seven years.
The Celebrity Fashions deal is a barter deal of sorts in which BCCL will acquire its stake in return for Rs 21 crore worth of advertising over three years.
BCCL's Director, Finance, Probal Ghoshal and Director, Corporate, R Sundar haven't stopped grinning ever since the first deal, that took over six months to close.
However, having signed up some clients, they are flooded with calls from other interested parties. By July, they hope to seal about 40 such deals, though it is difficult to say how much the new business model would contribute to Ghoshal's Rs 2,000-crore advertising revenue target for the year ending July 2005.
A similar barter deal has just been struck with a company where BCCL is picking up some of its shares ("and more", says Sundar) in exchange for advertising space in its newspapers and other related benefits. Predictably, Ghoshal and Sundar are zealously guarding the client's name till the deal is made public next week.
Ghoshal does not see taking equity in companies as a deviation from Times' core business. "It's a different design in the same business -- selling media solutions," he says.
Adds Sundar: "We have the wherewithal to take the idea forward -- there's indiatimes, events management company 360s, 70 Planet M stores, Radio Mirchi and a TV channel ...other than our newspapers."
The deals have involved a great deal of due diligence -- it took six months to work out the first one with Celebrity Fashions. Both companies were chosen for being in stable but booming industries with sound promoters.
Kishore Biyani of Pantaloon insists that it is not an advertising deal. "But there are synergies between the two companies," says Biyani.
Sundar says its deal with Pantaloon may be structured slightly differently. It could take the form of special supplements that will, in turn, help improve footfalls in Biyani's stores.
Commenting on why Celebrity Fashions allowed BCCL to pick up equity in the company, its managing director V Rajgopal says: "Unique problems require unique solutions. We have a brand-building requirement and they (BCCL) have the expertise. I would not have gone into a similar deal with any other newspaper, for instance."
Also, equity participation makes the partnership active. "They are bound to go that extra mile to build the brand."
Besides, for companies which find advertising an expensive proposition, there is no immediate cash outlay.
Media marketing experts across television and print space have already declared the scheme to be another winner from The Times of India Group. Says marketing head of a news channel: "It's a zero-risk strategy."
Times can "hype" the brands it picks up through its media products including Medianet.
"The company will use both its advertising and editorial space to push the brand and make a profit when the company goes public. Through these stakes, Times is sitting on a pile of cash."
The exclusive nature of these contracts also affects Times' rivals like Hindustan Times since it locks out advertising from high-spending clients.
That's not all. Times consumes its unused inventory. Observes the news channel marketing head: "Times' unused inventory can be used for the business." Experts say that the arrangement will benefit Times as like airline seats, its commercial space is also perishable.
Sundar refutes the assumption pointing out that BCCL can easily reduce the number of pages in its papers if advertising shrinks. "It is about partnering the clients to build their brands. You could call us the venture capitalists for building brands."
On his part, Ghoshal says he will have to expand BCCL's treasury operations to manage the growing number of deals.
The question is whether rivals can emulate this strategy. Sundar thinks not: "You need criticality of mass, I mean some scale of operation to do this." For the time being, only BCCL has that mass.
Win-win scenario: Equity participation makes the partnership active. The companies feel Times is bound to go that extra mile to build the brands. Times locks in advertising
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E4M Our strategy is to target younger audiences through Sports: Rajiv Dubey, Dabur
The Head of Media at Dabur India spoke exclusively to exchange4media on the World Cup, associating with Indian Idol, the company’s digital spending and much more
With quirky campaigns, memes and moment marketing, timed with the ongoing World Cup and particularly the India-Pakistan matches, Dabur India has got considerable consumer attention for its popular brands – Red Paste, Cool King Hair Oil, Chyawanprash, Dabur Vita and the recently launched Bae Fresh Gel toothpaste.
The 140-year-old company is going big on key sporting events, World Television Premiere (WTP) movies and reality shows. It is now gearing up to become the title sponsor of popular talent show ‘Indian Idol’ on Sony TV for the first time, shared Rajiv Dubey, who leads the media strategy at Dabur.
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Swapan Seth's new book 'COOL' is out
The book is a reflection of the author's 'eclectic taste across categories'
Advertising professional and art collector Swapan Seth has announced the launch of his new book COOL. The book is described as "a ready reckoner to the hip and the happening, of the known and the very unknown."
The book is a reflection of the author's "eclectic taste across categories: from boltholes to exotic hideaways."
COOL has been published by Simon & Schuster India and is available on Amazon.
Seth is an ad veteran with a long and illustrious career in the industry. He became the youngest-ever Creative Director at Clarion at age 24. He was VP at 26 at Trikaya Grey. Two years later, he started his agency Equus.
He writes for publications such as The Economic Times, Hindustan Times and India Today. This is his second book and he has previously published THIS IS ALL I HAVE TO SAY.
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Disney Star signs 9 sponsors for Asia Cup PAK
Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up come on board
e4m Staff Disney Star has signed nine broadcast and digital streaming sponsors for the upcoming Asia Cup.
Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up have come on board for the upcoming tournament.
As reported earlier by exchange4media, Disney Star has sought Rs 26 crore for the co-presenting sponsorship on TV and Rs 30 crore for Disney+ Hotstar.
According to industry sources, the associate sponsorship on Star Sports has been priced at Rs 19.66 crore, whereas for the ‘powered by’ sponsorship on Disney+ Hotstar, the broadcaster is seeking Rs 18 crore.
As per the information available with exchange4media, Disney+ Hotstar has three sponsorship tiers-- co-presenting (Rs 30 crore), powered by (Rs 18 crore) and associate sponsorship (Rs 12 crore). The broadcaster is offering an estimated reach of 120-140 million for co-presenting sponsors, 90-100 million for powered by and 60-70 million for associate sponsorship.
A spot buy for 10 seconds has been priced at Rs 25 lakh for the India vs Pakistan matches, while for the non-India matches, the ad rate for 10 second is Rs 2.3 lakh. The India matches plus the final for ODIs has been priced at Rs 17 lakh per 10 seconds.
Asia Cup is scheduled to be held from 30 August, 2023, to September 17, 2023.
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Sorted 360 wins creative & social media mandate of Reliance Mall
The agency will manage offline and online campaigns for Reliance Mall
Sorted 360, an integrated creative and social media agency, has won the mandate to providing brand solutions for Reliance Malls across India.
“Sorted 360 is set to enhance Reliance Malls' market presence with their unparalleled creative prowess and strategic thinking,” read a press release.
“Sorted 360's commitment to pushing the boundaries of creative communication aligns perfectly with Reliance Malls' ethos. With a pan-India presence spanning across 19 cities and growing, Reliance Malls has consistently captivated customers by offering an array of Reliance brands and third-party fashion & lifestyle brands. The mall has established an unparalleled connection with its patrons through superior quality, a remarkable value proposition, and an unmatched shopping experience,” it read further.
"We are thrilled to welcome Sorted 360 as our trusted partner in advancing our brand presence across the nation," said the Head of Marketing at Relaice Malls. "Their proven expertise in retail, shopping center management, and innovative creative strategies make them the perfect fit for our vision."
"Partnering with Reliance Malls is a testament to our commitment to shaping extraordinary brand experiences," remarked Prerana Anatharam, Co-founder of Sorted 360. "We are excited to leverage our strategic and creative acumen to further elevate Reliance Malls as the epitome of convenience, choice, and excellence."
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KlugKlug onboards Hemang Mehta as Country Manager for Indias
Mehta was most recently Head of Agency Relationships at Network 18 Media & Investments
KlugKlug has appointed Hemang Mehta as its Country Manager for India.
Mehta will play a pivotal role in driving KlugKlug's growth and expansion within the Indian market and be responsible for Sales & GTM Strategy
Prior to that, he has also represented organisations like Exponential (now VDX.tv), India Today Digital and Rediff.com. His expertise spans various domains including digital media sales, mobile marketing, media planning, and buying, social media marketing, and more.
Hemang Mehta expressed his enthusiasm about joining KlugKlug, saying, "I am thrilled to be a part of KlugKlug, a forward-thinking platform that is reshaping the influencer marketing landscape. As much as I look forward to collaborating with the exuberant team at KlugKlug, I am super excited to interact with the brands to deliver powerful data-backed Influencer solutions that will guarantee business outcomes."
Commenting on the appointment, Kalyan Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO of KlugKlug, stated, "We are excited to welcome Hemang Mehta to our team as the Country Manager for India. His extensive experience in digital media sales and marketing will be instrumental in driving our efforts to provide influencer marketing solutions to our clients. We believe Hemang's leadership will be key in scaling our operations and expanding our reach within the Indian market."
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