We have to be mindful of competition. We are in a competitive environment in virtually every market we operate in. But Discovery has been in these markets much longer than anyone else and we are much better established in terms of relationships with viewers and the industry. India has particularly been strong for us. We have a strong game plan in place. Competition is something we pay attention to but not something we get distracted by.

exchange4media Staff Apr 13, 2012 12:00 AM

We keep brand reputation at the epicentre and work backwards to calculate every activity from there. Often people think corporate communications is about press releases and media mentions, but it’s not true. We have to calculate what benefit a coverage gives and what effect it will have on the business or in brand perception. If the answer is none, then the coverage is nothing more than a piece of paper. Managing communication is the job of a storyteller, and we clearly define when to speak, what to speak and to whom to speak. It is an art of telling a story in an interesting manner.

exchange4media Staff Apr 13, 2012 12:00 AM

“Airport retail business in India has undergone a substantial and rapid growth in the last few years, and this means two things. First, the number of passengers has gone up and second, the innovative ads at the airports are really attracting passengers to buy those products. This will augur well for OOH businesses this year, provided the advertisers are ready to take advantage of the rapidly changing profile of the air traveler in India. They should realise that today’s air travelers are not limited to the high flyer category, but belongs to a category that covers a broad range of decision-makers with real purchase capabilities.”

exchange4media Staff Apr 11, 2012 12:00 AM

<p align=justify>We are more focused on investing on TV content and also access such content through digital platforms, PCs, tablets, smart phones. It will be more about how we are creating more content on the digital platforms. We are not only interested in increasing our TV content, but making the same content available on different platforms. These are the two areas of focus for this year. </p>

exchange4media Staff Apr 9, 2012 12:00 AM

The Indian pizza market is worth approximately Rs 1,300-1,400 crore out of the Rs 8,000 crore organised food sector of India, as per Euromonitor data last year. Domino’s enjoys 54 per cent share of the pizza market, and 70 per cent share if you look at the organised home delivery space.

exchange4media Staff Apr 9, 2012 12:00 AM

Building strong, multidimensional characters is the most important element to attract kids across the globe. Kids need to be able to relate to characters irrespective of geographical, social and cultural diversities. Minimal language eases out the challenge of language translation.

exchange4media Staff Apr 6, 2012 12:00 AM

“A statement made by a consumer – ‘A treadmill is a dreadmill’ – has always stayed with me. This line sparked off the entire thought process for the CrossFit campaign. We don’t have any treadmills in Reebok CrossFit gyms.”

exchange4media Staff Apr 3, 2012 12:00 AM

Awards boost creative excellence and give us a sense of what can be achieved when we push ourselves to do better. However, I believe that this should not be done in an unhealthy way. McCann will never promote anyone who does not contribute to clients, their growth and their business but just keeps providing a few metals. Metals are a creative director’s personal glory and it is all good as long as it is pushing them to do better work.

exchange4media Staff Mar 30, 2012 12:00 AM

In 2012, not just big brands like HUL, even SME and niche area marketers and advertisers will look beyond metros, that is, small towns for all product launches and promotions as the metros are getting saturated. This will happen for all lifestyle, cosmetic products and electronic gadgets. Technology will play a vital role in OOH for monitoring and control.

exchange4media Staff Mar 29, 2012 12:00 AM

“Introducing Fiery Grilled is another milestone on the journey to providing new flavours and formats to our consumers. Taking inspiration from the Indian consumers’ love for spicy and flavourful food, this product is spicy, juicy and truly irresistible.”

exchange4media Staff Mar 26, 2012 12:00 AM

I am excited about my role. I feel privileged and honoured to be part of an iconic media legacy that is expanding into new verticals. My role will evolve into more defined functions over the next few weeks.

exchange4media Staff Mar 23, 2012 12:00 AM

The way TV has fragmented, marketers will surely realise that their spend in print delivers. Marketers need delivery on-ground and they need response, and on that count, print will score higher any day. Television advertising overall is growing also because of the multiple platforms with many channels launching, but the question is whether they are delivering? I don’t think so. There are maybe 50 television channels of any substance. Advertising on the rest is wasteful.

exchange4media Staff Mar 16, 2012 12:00 AM

The fee structure is difficult to address. When people promise too much for too little money, it will fail. The problem does not solve itself. It is a fiercely competitive market out there and price undercutting is rampant. Unfortunately, there is no policing system in place. In that sense, India is the toughest place to do business in.

exchange4media Staff Mar 13, 2012 12:00 AM

‘Differentiate or Die’ is the mantra that drives the marketing team at ABD. All our brands have their foundation on a very strong consumer insight

exchange4media Staff Mar 9, 2012 12:00 AM

I’d say Percept is an integrated sport and entertainment company rather than just a sports management or an event management company. When we look into a particular business, it’s important that we take on an area that we can completely create into our brand of entertainment and sports - where we can holistically take it on, invest in it, build it, nurture it and take it to a different level altogether.

exchange4media Staff Mar 9, 2012 12:00 AM

Whatever we do must bring in many viewers and if we bring viewers, we should bring in a lot of money too. I don’t believe in doing anything that loses money, that is just lazy strategy and bad business. But the sad part is that any incremental viewership doesn’t get aggregated right now.

exchange4media Staff Mar 2, 2012 12:00 AM

The industry will move to some kind of SOP outlined by IOAA, which will bring system and procedures in the industry. We have seen some stray activities in blu-casting and augmented reality in 2011. Technology will be used more in 2012 to enable OOH media. Ambient and transit media will evolve because of infrastructure development. Clients will move from making decision based on excel sheets to strategic planning with 360 degree solutions, which will involve outdoor, retail and activation too. Their focus will also be innovation.

exchange4media Staff Mar 1, 2012 12:00 AM

Here’s how PR helps businesses: it improves revenue, profitability, customer base, shareholder perception, competitive edge, media exposure and awareness. It is a powerful business tool. The need of the hour is to stop functioning as media relations experts and turn into strategic communications consultants, using all the various tools we have – including social media and creative services – in an integrated manner to deliver business outcomes rather than mere media coverage. Only then will clients realise the value of PR and pay the right price for it. At this point, the average PR retainer is Rs 20 lakh per annum. In comparison, the average advertising retainer is Rs 2 crore.

exchange4media Staff Feb 27, 2012 12:00 AM

For Punjabis, PTC is a brand synonymous with Pride, Faith, Respect and Punjabiyat. The presence of Gurbani on our channels elicits a huge base of loyal viewers. The channels have so far been aggressive through Internet and social media. This year, we will be actively looking for opportunities of content availability on mediums beyond television. It is the demand for our programmes, both in India and abroad, which will enable us towards that side of the business.

exchange4media Staff Feb 24, 2012 12:00 AM

We don’t believe that Hollywood entertainment is all about action movies, a mix of genres is essential from a programming and scheduling perspective. Month on month we hand pick our movies to maintain a healthy movie mix. This clearly shows in the channel’s performance and the market share we have been able to garner. With such a strong line up of films PIX has beaten HBO all through the year of 2011. Now we want to move ahead and take the No. 2 position. We would need to do lot more things for it. There will always be latest blockbusters, animation, some Indian films, rom-coms, thrillers, horror on PIX to keep our movie mix strong."

exchange4media Staff Feb 24, 2012 12:00 AM