The year 2009 was tough for us, especially for the Mumbai branch, as we handle many financial and retail clients out of here, which were the two sectors that were mostly affected... But at the same time, we fortunately had some good business wins, and as a result the McCann Worldgroup India did really well... our unconventional advertising streams generated a lot... As far the growth target is concerned, we are cautiously optimistic. So, we are trying to grow as much as possible. But we know that it cannot be the way it was two and a half years back, where things were looking beautiful and good. We have to be careful, solid and serve our clients well.

exchange4media Staff Feb 26, 2010 12:00 AM

We don’t want to be a magazine of record, we don’t want to give the re-run of stuff that the reader already knows. That is the way all good weekly magazines in the world are headed… Days of the traditional weekly newsmagazine are over. For that, there’s Google News. We will not put the week’s news on the cover unless it is a very significant event. Then also, as far as possible, we will try to look at it from a fresh and interesting perspective so that it stimulates the reader’s mind.

exchange4media Staff Feb 25, 2010 12:00 AM

Performance should not be seen as just driving clicks or leads, but driving quality clicks and leads, even if performance is the only mix. Today, media planners ask for cost per click and drive it from wherever they can at the lowest possible rates, which is not the right solution. I think logical media planning, which drives qualitative performance, is very important and not mere high volume performance.

exchange4media Staff Feb 19, 2010 12:00 AM

The paradigms have changed, more is no longer merrier. Less has become more. There’s a new set of rules; earlier, it was ‘leave your mark on it’, now the winner is ‘the one that leaves no mark’. It’s the death of the metrosexual and the birth of the ecosexual. Progressive organisations have been quick to decipher the signals and have proactively started reporting their environmental and social performance along with their economic performance. This triple bottom-line reporting is termed as sustainability reporting and this new emerging communication is called sustainability communication.

exchange4media Staff Feb 12, 2010 12:00 AM

The changing patterns of the mindset, coupled with the multiple choices and expansive knowledge, will drive the PR industry in India to reorganise the services. Those with the mettle of establishing the mechanics to meet and manage the fast-track information dimensions will lead the way. PR in India is not new, but the way of practising PR in the current realms of the market is yet to be fully established, and this will change the importance of the PR services being provided and financial returns to the agencies in the coming years.

exchange4media Staff Feb 10, 2010 12:00 AM

Mass media isn’t cost effective, but there are certain films for which you want to use outdoor more, but otherwise, it doesn’t pay off. Radio and online does well. We also have on-air spots on channels that have a similar target group. Most of the movie channels are not promoting their websites too much, but we are revamping our website and making it more interactive. The new website will be launched in the first week of February.

exchange4media Staff Feb 5, 2010 12:00 AM

Effectiveness of PR can be best measured by perception audits with key stakeholders of clients. The essential qualities that one needs to possess to become a successful PR professional are a good understanding of issues relating to the business environment besides excellent written and oral communication skills… PR needs to keep pace with the changes in media. Given the emergence of social and digital media and citizen publishers, clients would need to increasingly move to campaigns which integrate both offline and online initiatives – we call these as Inline Campaigns. When it comes to managing online conversations, PR and reputation would have a greater role to play as opposed to other forms of communication.

exchange4media Staff Feb 1, 2010 12:00 AM

One of the great things of working in India is that the competition here is good. In my opinion, some of the magazines that are being published now would not be there in two years’ time. I love competition – ‘Condé Nast Traveller’ would be helped by the fact that ‘Lonely Planet’ travel magazine is coming out from the BBC. ‘Lonely Planet’ is a backpacker’s magazine, so it is not the same readership as ‘Condé Nast Traveller’. But all those 18-20 year-old backpackers who swear by ‘Lonely Planet’, once they don’t need to walk around permanently with the backpack and are able to afford hotel rooms with locks, then they can start reading Traveller.

exchange4media Staff Jan 29, 2010 12:00 AM

The Internet is increasingly becoming the medium for customers to research travel products, even if they end up buying the product, offline. Cleartrip offers inherent benefits of convenience, transparency and comparative shopping that enables customers to find what they are looking for, in the quickest possible time. This is reflected in our traffic data. Over the past one year, the total unique visitors to Cleartrip have more than doubled. We also see the number of new visitors steadily increasing.

exchange4media Staff Jan 27, 2010 12:00 AM

Yes, we do get involved in pitches, but we are selective. However, we have never believed standing in the queue and pitching… We believe that we are consultants and need to be given that respect. People who don’t give us that respect, we don’t pitch for them. Hence, we are very selective. But again, there are certain categories where we would want to be a part of. So yes, as an agency, this is where we focus on pitches.

exchange4media Staff Jan 22, 2010 12:00 AM

The respect that brand Zee commands in an average Indian family is huge and that respect no one can take away from us. We will not show any programme that will make anybody in the family uncomfortable as we are truly a family-oriented channel that values culture and we build on that strategy. We will always honour and respect the Indian value system. That is our strength and not limitation, and we will build our equity on that.

exchange4media Staff Jan 15, 2010 12:00 AM

The main weak point in the Indian advertising industry today is that it continues to feel that somehow the western ways or methods are superior. Creative is developed on the lines of creative in the West and evaluated in the same manner. There is no reason to feel this way. After all, India has art and culture which is distinct and different from anything elsewhere. In fact, this is being borrowed and internalised by others and will soon be played back to us as the original way. Perhaps then we Indians will begin to pay more heed to it!

exchange4media Staff Jan 8, 2010 12:00 AM

The Indian consumer is increasingly more affluent, discerning and aware of high-quality personal care products. Given all these strong fundamentals, the Indian body odor market is likely to continue growing at a pace far faster than most other markets. Despite the global economic downturn, India remains one of the fastest growing personal care markets globally, growing at 13 per cent per annum and valued at $6.3 billion. The market offers extensive opportunities for domestic and international players.

exchange4media Staff Jan 6, 2010 12:00 AM

There is no doubt that the game has changed with this recession, all of a sudden all of my clients such as P&G, General Motors, Coca-Cola, Fiat, etc., have changed their conversation. I have to pursue growth and growth is in Asia and the growing markets. I think it’s not about power shifting for big companies, because they get only 15-20 per cent from the growing markets, which means 80 per cent still comes from the developed markets. But yes, Asia features in every single conversation now as never before.

exchange4media Staff Dec 31, 2009 12:00 AM

Milestones are not set or based on numbers -- they only show you the direction. The reach also matters. It’s easy to aim 350 GRPs, but what does it really mean? It means nothing if you don’t know what kind of audiences you are looking at - the stickiness they generate and the kind of shows they watch on your channel. When we said we have to be one of the Top 3 players, we did not aim for 350 GRPs. We were the 11th player in the game. We clearly said that from No 3 we have to be No 2, from No 2 to No 1 and from No 1 to a consistent No 1. The next thing was to consolidate our position and widen the gap. But we never really targeted 350 GRPs.

exchange4media Staff Dec 24, 2009 12:00 AM

The way Zee works is that we are clear that we have to deliver value to our shareholders and stakeholders and on a constant basis. We are not here for six months, one year and go somewhere else. Unless, I sell the company, where would I go? But executive-run companies can burn money. For an executive, it doesn’t make a difference – they will move on to another job and at double the salary again. What are they losing? But the bottom-line of what I am saying is that is there anything wrong and right about these things. Success is mostly in hindsight, it is not guaranteed.

exchange4media Staff Dec 18, 2009 12:00 AM

I would say the biggest challenge for GroupM in India at the moment is talent motivation, because all agencies are under pressure in retaining talent and this is one challenge even we have in India at the moment, and motivating and providing incentives to them. I believe the management challenge is about motivating people who work very hard, when you’ve got very limited goodies to give a handout because financially things have been tight.

exchange4media Staff Dec 11, 2009 12:00 AM

I have this curse that I only see what we are doing wrong every time. I don’t see all the great things that we do. I am just the complaint department. I go to the problem; I am paid to deal for the things that don’t work, not for the good things. I don’t get to enjoy as much as I’d like to the pleasure of a relationship like the one with UTV. Instead I am always saying ‘How come Ronnie we aren’t doing this’, or ‘should we do that’. The pressure is to be excellent in all the various areas and to meet the deadlines that we journalists live with. It is not the nature of our work to relax – it is one deadline to another...

exchange4media Staff Dec 4, 2009 12:00 AM

The industry is evolving fast and so are the OOH media options and technologies. Internationally, one can witness extensive use of large format LED screens, networked screens with remote content scheduling and management, use of LEDs as light source, interactive screens and use of ‘cold cathode’ in place of neon signs. Technological advancements have also been used for measuring the media effectiveness and consumer-centric innovations, which let the consumer experience the advertiser’s product in many different ways. The key challenge for any technological advancement is its adaptability and adoptability, apart from the cost implications.

exchange4media Staff Dec 1, 2009 12:00 AM

The future should also see opening up of more channels in Phase III. With the coming of more and more licenses, we are expecting a lot of new players to come on board. Existing players are expected to become more aggressive as they have been really burdened by the previous license fee structure and have borne the brunt for the last 2-3 years. The expected regulatory reforms that are likely to improve profitability and stimulate foreign investments should also give the industry a much needed fillip. Multiple licenses per station will also help in better utilisation of resources and better profitability. News in the coming times will be seen as stream of revenue.

exchange4media Staff Nov 30, 2009 12:00 AM