Scam ads have became a global phenomenon ever since they were promoted by a few creative directors many years ago. Small countries like Singapore led the charge towards scamming, thanks to some influential creative directors who were placed there. The justification for scam ads was that it pushes the envelope on creativity and keeps creative people happy. Advertising is perhaps the only art that encourages scam for recognition by the profession. You can't win an Oscar with a scam film. It has to be real.

exchange4media Staff Jun 19, 2009 12:00 AM

There is a need for quick information in sectors like business, finance or new products, where people will be relying more on the Internet. But there are magazines such as lifestyle or that have aspirational subjects, where people would want to go through the emotional experience of reading a magazine. In special interest or niche segment, the demand for print will still exist. However, even for the Internet, there will be a need to move to paid content, where one can access exclusive news.

exchange4media Staff Jun 12, 2009 12:00 AM

Gaming is one of the stickiest mediums available today for users. Websites have to build social interaction among its users, which helps them to make friends and thus forces them to come back and consume its content. Loyalty can’t be forced, but an environment has to be built for users where they feel attached to the system, so features like virtual gratification, gifting under loyalty programme, team building, avatars, challenges and tournaments are important.

exchange4media Staff Jun 10, 2009 12:00 AM

As an industry, especially from an Indian perspective, agencies have always been underpaid for their true contribution. Ideas have been our only asset, and for ages, our short-sighted and self-obsessed agency heads have subsidised the cost of our valuable ideas in the fat media commissions that agencies made. Which was all very well till the media companies smelt the opportunity, re-engineered their lives, and scurried away with most of the money that was to be made. Leaving a whole school of gifted yet naïve advertising professionals (both servicing and creative) flopping on barren sands.

exchange4media Staff Jun 5, 2009 12:00 AM

The Indian advertising industry needs to acknowledge the role of execution and, therefore, needs to put in a lot of effort in that regard. I have noticed that as an industry in India we put in lesser effort on execution as compared to international agencies. Hence, this could be one of the reasons that India scores lower than normal in the international awards front.

exchange4media Staff May 22, 2009 12:00 AM

The PR industry is reeling under a perception problem, notwithstanding the fact that many disciplines that are offshoots of PR, such as Opinion Research, have gained the desired respectability and credibility, much more than PR itself. The stumbling block to PR’s full-fledged growth has been the peripheral approach of practitioners. Devoid of substance of a certain calibre, the focus of self-styled PR pros continues to be the ‘column-centimetre’.

exchange4media Staff May 19, 2009 12:00 AM

India is a one-trade pony nation when it comes to sports, and that is cricket, as we all know. Cricket is so huge, and the amount of money that it attracts, I feel, there are very few sports in the world that fortunate. It is a big challenge to attract advertising and marketing to any other sport, not just for us, but for everyone in the industry. The sports governing bodies and federations need to think of how to create a voice and share, how to make that sport attractive from a fan point of view, as well as make it commercially viable. That is where we come in.

exchange4media Staff May 15, 2009 12:00 AM

Creativity is the connective tissue in the world of communication and ideas. We are a creative agency and are focusing all our efforts behind the people and their behaviour, as we all know that creativity has the power to transform human behaviour. So, that’s our focus going forward… We need to be and are being very aggressive in hiring the best talent and study the need of acquisition that makes sense and thus, behave in the way of making the company stronger and be in a better position to grow faster when the recession ends. This would be the future post the recession.

exchange4media Staff May 8, 2009 12:00 AM

There are too many scam ads! John Hegarty, who had visited India recently for the GoaFest and was also at the AdFest in Thailand, was appalled at the extensive scam work that was entered and what’s more, those entries were being awarded. So, I think that’s a real problem in Asia generally. Because when creative people don’t care about doing real work well, then the real work is never going to be done well enough. If you want to do scam, it is fine, but when you enter in a creative show, the show should have a separate category for it, called ‘Scam’. So, let’s not pretend.

exchange4media Staff May 1, 2009 12:00 AM

As the center of gravity in the world is shifting globally from the US and Europe to Asia, there is a shift in India, too, especially on the media front. Foreign multinationals have started understanding India much better now, and as their penetration rates increase, they are encountering the Indian language media.

exchange4media Staff Apr 30, 2009 12:00 AM

Print and the other mediums as a percentage, are loosing share to the online media, though they are all growing but, as the market expands the increase has taken up more by online than by any other traditional forms of mass communications.

exchange4media Staff Apr 27, 2009 12:00 AM

India is one of our focus markets and we are completely focused on growing the dedication to digital. India as an emerging market is the beneficiary of our global network consisting of mature market as well. India has huge potential in terms of growth and in terms of web allocations, too, it has immense opportunity to capitalise on mobile growth. Although mobile population in India is small – around 300 million with rich media capability – but if we can devise a way to effectively communicate to the masses through mobile, then mobile can also be a very effective advertising vehicle in India.

exchange4media Staff Apr 24, 2009 12:00 AM

It’s very difficult to create and maintain loyalty as loyalty in our target audience is a very different construct. There is absolutely no reason for them to come back to Fastrack tomorrow if they have bought a watch today, and if something else has caught their fancy. There is so much of pressure on that pocket money – be it tech product or fashion accessory – as the market is flooded with those. Unless each brand is reinventing product or communication constantly, there is no reason for youth to come back to the brand. So, the challenge is much higher as compared to the older age groups.

exchange4media Staff Apr 22, 2009 12:00 AM

I view the digital media scene in India as ‘early’. There is a certain part of the population that has access to the computer and the phone, but everyone still doesn’t. Computer access needs to be more affordable, and also TV and games more technologically advanced. It needs to become more accessible for everyone and not just part of the population that has access to digital technology, who find it useful.

exchange4media Staff Apr 10, 2009 12:00 AM

We are recently experiencing the trends seen 10 years back coming back in new avatar – categories like boutique stores, furniture stores, PSU banks and insurances, and real estate, localised brands are suddenly seen on outdoor mediums. In January 2009, we witnessed less inventory and more bookings. I predict this trend will continue, though the industry will still be ruled by telecom, financials and media - entertainment. Moreover, inventory balancing will be done by localised advertisers.

exchange4media Staff Apr 9, 2009 12:00 AM

The quality of magazines in India is the same as international titles. I think the Indian editors, the designs, the production people, the content – all are as good as any other country. The quality of Indian magazines is excellent; I have no doubt that India can have magazines of every kind. The ability of Indian journalists and the design teams is unquestionable. There is nothing to worry about.

exchange4media Staff Apr 3, 2009 12:00 AM

The key issue for India, which I feel very strongly about, is that Indian product and services should very largely be seen coming from India. One of the biggest weaknesses that China has (which India does not have) is that although it has a huge manufacturing base, almost all the brands that the Chinese make are not their brands, but are somebody else’s brands. However, the situation in India is different. The best Indian companies in the world – Infosys, Wipro, Tata and a few others – are all known to be Indian. If you associate that brand with the country of origin, it can have a huge beneficial effect.

exchange4media Staff Mar 27, 2009 12:00 AM

The truth is that Mumbai leads and dominates the creative arena. However, having said that, it does not mean that Delhi does not have talent. Some of the best names have emerged from this market. Also, if you see the International or Effectiveness Awards, Delhi has been showing a steady and robust performance, so one wonders why this perception is so acute… While in pure size Mumbai is still a bigger market, Delhi is one of the fastest growing markets in India. But as of now, Mumbai is bigger.

exchange4media Staff Mar 20, 2009 12:00 AM

In the early days of radio, it was seen as a medium for dissemination of information, and there was always a community which wanted to propagate radio as part of the media plan. Today, things have changed. Radio is part of majority of the clients. The way they look at radio is also different. However, I feel it is still a challenge for many to understand how to use radio effectively.

exchange4media Staff Mar 16, 2009 12:00 AM

<p align=justify>Let’s be clear, this downturn is going to end, and in India, it is a slowdown unlike in other parts of the world. Budgets are under pressure, but we see this as an opportunity and not a massive threat as now is the time to have an intense dialogue with our clients, really understand their business challenges and explore new areas to have greater interaction and dialogue with their consumers.

exchange4media Staff Mar 13, 2009 12:00 AM