“At the time when the Bhaskar Group decided to foray in the radio industry, everybody else followed top-down approach while we followed bottoms-up approach. The strategy was to cater to the audience where the brand already has a strong hold. Moving along the same ideology 94.3 MY FM was incepted to cater to the Tier-II cities of the nation because we knew these markets and had strong connect through Bhaskar’s presence.”

exchange4media Staff Feb 7, 2011 12:00 AM

“If you want people to notice what you say, it has to be done slightly on the edge. Our whole perspective, is not that he is ruined or he is destroyed; it’s a mental trauma and not physical. I think we have been sensitive to that and I think we are talking to a much more mature and media savvy audience, than we were 5 years back. The fact that it is edgy implies the fact that people are noticing it. In fact, we are getting calls at our call center asking about the life ‘Insurance Week’, we have never got that kind of a response for our campaigns.”

exchange4media Staff Feb 3, 2011 12:00 AM

“I am not gunning to be the number one agency, I am looking to be a good, respectable and profitable agency. We start with knowledge and the first thing I am doing is strengthening our knowledge resources. Because that, I believe is the starting point of our demonstration. We will look forward for integrated communication solutions. I think we are best with challenger brands and that is what I want to focus on.”

exchange4media Staff Feb 2, 2011 12:00 AM

For clients, apart from media agencies, there are at least 150 other companies in the marketplace that can offer an array of solutions -- web, tracking, search and so on. There are many stakeholders who approach clients -- ours and competition’s. This is a challenge because it means marketing managers have more than their own agencies, to discuss communication problems today. We believe if we are able to understand digital domain well and start giving clients due recommendations, we can earn our respect back from where we are today.

exchange4media Staff Feb 2, 2011 12:00 AM

So the thing that we are most careful about is to match expectations from both ends, and create a high value ecosystem where we carefully screen out a lot of advertisers to ensure the best experiences for our members. In a way, a deal on offer from Deals And You is not just a discount, but also a recommendation. We carefully curate the best experiences, create packages for our members, like putting together a deal from a restaurant, and a taxi service and a club to create a full experience for a Christmas date.

exchange4media Staff Jan 24, 2011 12:00 AM

“We have always been an outdoor brand and very much in tune with nature. Whatever we do, it will never be against the environment but rather in consonance with it...Woodland plans to leverage this association more strongly to further strengthen the brand by changing over its entire range of shoes and apparel to quality eco-friendly products — made with materials and chemicals that don’t harm the nature; by making the manufacturing process less harmful to the environment...The intent is to make eco-friendliness the brand recall.”

exchange4media Staff Jan 22, 2011 12:00 AM

The current ratings system is the biggest disservice that broadcasters have done to themselves. I don’t believe our rating system is universal; it is focussed around a few large pivots and the niche channels suffer as a consequence. The parameter of our rating system is based on the Chief Wage Earner who may not necessarily be the target audience. There is no language or genre preference. Our concepts of measurement in this country are limited. They need to be challenged. They need to expand into many more markets and recognise the size of the television industry.

exchange4media Staff Jan 14, 2011 12:00 AM

The whole English entertainment channel space is much smaller than the English movies space. The biggest seller on Star World is ‘Koffee with Karan’, which is a Bollywood celebrity show. Movies Now, again is a library channel. They will show the movies that have already premiered on other channels. Our USP is if you want to see a movie for the first time, come to HBO. We have premiered movies which did not even get a theatrical release in India.

exchange4media Staff Jan 7, 2011 12:00 AM

Advertisers do not want to go beyond their set platforms of media planners and buyers. But this divide (between English and Hindi news channels) is ending. And if they can’t read the writing on the wall, then there is something wrong. Today, an aware person does not mean that he has to be an ‘English’ person. Media planners and buyers have to get out of this misconceived notion. They need to understand that buying power is in the Tier III and IV cities. They cannot be ignored.

exchange4media Staff Dec 31, 2010 12:00 AM

“You can’t be a leader and be modest. But I do feel that generally, we all should be modest. If you’ve got good upbringing, some modesty should be there in you, but leadership is about confidence, and about communicating that confidence. It depends on who your audience is and who is listening to that communication. It may very easily be the case where a confident assertion is misunderstood for arrogance, and sometimes while communicating that confidence a knock on your head teaches you a lesson. So it’s always good to trip once in a while. I don’t think we as a Star Plus team are more modest or anything. It’s about being more agile. Leadership cannot be taken for granted. And that is where the agility comes from.”

exchange4media Staff Dec 24, 2010 12:00 AM

Keeping that in mind we either had to create a kick ass product that would be a differentiator in the brand space for which we needed tons of money or go through the grind on our core capabilities, which is sales and business development. That is the sole reason we got into a space where we could shine from day one and touch wood it has. We were the first to go to market with an open proposition and not just being a blind ad-network, created a new format called ‘hybrid ad-network’ and testimony to that is not only the market welcomed us but we also ensured that the competitors in the space followed us, which to me is the biggest testimony in any business.

exchange4media Staff Dec 22, 2010 12:00 AM

“If I am able to convert an analog guy into a digital one, I am creating a revenue stream for the government and they should reward me and not punish me. So there is a case for substancial rationalization of the tax structure. Nonetheless we continue to struggle on, so we deserve to get more encouragement than that. But that said and done, the momentum is firmly in. The last piece of the puzzle needs to fall into place is the role of these rating agencies which is dubious to say the least - even as we speak we have 29 million homes in DTH. The guy who buys a DTH is a better customer than the guy who buys analog cable. The entire digital platform in the eyes of noble rating agency has got only 11 per cent weightage. This is an anomaly which needs to be corrected.”

exchange4media Staff Dec 17, 2010 12:00 AM

<p align=justify> “Believe me, all the emotional outburst is natural. This is what we need to convey to our viewers. I can sense that people think there is lot of scripted stuff that is going in the reality formats but for FremantleMedia reality means- all natural. If we had to do formats in terms of scripts then I think formatted shows would die. People would have no faith in them. It’s totally unscripted and real.” </p>

exchange4media Staff Dec 10, 2010 12:00 AM

It’s not about looking at the whole account and doing the full thing. The way BBH works is that we tend to work on the high end of the brand idea and like to work closely with the client in cracking that big idea. We could well bring in other partners to work on different areas, for instance, in the area of specialist design or direct marketing… It’s more of a collaborative model and I think collaboration is the future mantra.

exchange4media Staff Dec 3, 2010 12:00 AM

“Life Insurance is a long term business and thus long term sustainable profitability is the key. The industry is already very competitive with 23 players and in the new challenging scenario; I would expect consolidation and productivity being far more important than break-neck growth. In the coming years, companies that can strike the balance between creating value for the customers and the shareholder capital will sustain and achieve the break even mark.”

exchange4media Staff Nov 29, 2010 12:00 AM

“360 degrees is the most abused term, in my view and I think it is completely archaic. As you have pointed out it is a crutch used by the old world creative agencies in pitches only. In reality they do not implement it. The new world, however, is beyond 360. The challenge now is 365. The trick lies in being in touch with you consumer 365 days of the year through various media, particularly using the ever evolving Digital and social media because the consumer is making choices about the brands he or she will buy 365 days of the year.”

exchange4media Staff Nov 26, 2010 12:00 AM

"Biggest learning I have is that if you can provide a product with an assured guarantee and which is a known brand at a value that is unmatched then everyone shops, regardless of which geography you belong to… All tiers have disposable incomes and they are hungry for good quality products but access to products was missing earlier. Today even the best of brands normally distribute their products to 30-50 cities. But India is all of 5000 cities and there are consumers in each of them. The reach of television surpasses the reach of any mall or retail chain one can think of."

exchange4media Staff Nov 19, 2010 12:00 AM

“The motorcycle market in India is like no other with millions of young riders craving relevant global experiences, and with vast highways and variations in terrain, the potential for leisure riding is endless. Whether one looks to the north to ride into the mountain ranges, south on the endless coastal roads, to the west in to the deserts or even East through the greenery – we have a bike for every terrain.”

exchange4media Staff Nov 17, 2010 12:00 AM

Each ‘conversation’ will be relevant and contextualized to the needs of the consumer. The initial opt-in provides the first level of information, which can then be enhanced by third-party intelligence based on the consumer’s mobile usage and behavioral traits. Lastly, and most importantly, each consumer’s response during the conversation with the brand will provide the latest and up-to-date consumer information. In effect, this third stage is real-time consumer profiling. And when applied to the power of messaging, becomes the ideal channel for brands and businesses.

exchange4media Staff Nov 17, 2010 12:00 AM

"DDB has always believed that 'creativity is the most powerful force in busines'. Today, people are more empowered and connected than ever before - they are the most important media - so creativity itself needs to change. Today, we use our creativity to produce ideas that people play with, participate in and pass on. Ideas that connect people with people, not just people with brands. We call this Social Creativity."

exchange4media Staff Nov 12, 2010 12:00 AM