<p align=justify>Our entire business is based on collaboration. So, we have a slightly different model than a lot of European design businesses. According to me, the activity and the effect on businesses and clients would be much more powerful working with somebody who is actually local, well-established, and has a successful business. So, the collaboration route will be much better than opening a very small office with a few people. We are also motivated to bring Indian creativity culture back to our studios. So, I don’t see it as a one-way interaction, but a genuine collaboration.

exchange4media Staff Mar 6, 2009 12:00 AM

Advertisers should be educated with all technical features and benefits Internet advertising offers. Brands are still shying from the Internet largely due to lack of knowledge amongst advertisers with respect to benefits of Internet advertising, even the conventional agencies, barring a few leading media buying agencies, are not investing enough in the resources required to educate clients about the potential of Internet platform. They don’t want to invest time and money in people as return (billing) is still very small compared to traditional media. The small size of the Internet population is another turn off for big FMCG brands.

exchange4media Staff Mar 4, 2009 12:00 AM

Virgin Radio is no longer the iconic ‘Virgin Radio’ brand that was once heard in the UK. The existing radio station appears to have lost a lot of business in a very short span of time. So, you have to say that no one is the winner. It is disappointing that the Virgin brand is not on radio in London, but we could not reach an agreement with The Times of India at that time – middle of last year – and the situation is where it is now.

exchange4media Staff Feb 27, 2009 12:00 AM

Content remains the king. But with changing times, the definition has to be broad based. Primarily, you need good quality content to attract your reader/ viewer. It is good content which attracts the advertiser as well. Hence, advertising follows good content. But, it is a close second. Without advertising (read it as revenues), you cannot spend on promotions, marketing and retaining good talent through salaries. The effect is cascading.

exchange4media Staff Feb 24, 2009 12:00 AM

Strategically, India is one of our four most important countries in the region, along with Japan, China and Indonesia. Our frustrations in India would be similar to others in the industry, which is that our industry for some reason is not held in very high esteem here. There tends to be a commodity view to the business, and I think that is frustrating not just for us but for the other stakeholders of our industry. I think it’s a very bumpy road to maturity.

exchange4media Staff Feb 20, 2009 12:00 AM

Advertising in India is a very different ballgame. Time and again, people have come here and discovered that. Stories are different, the communication and solutions are different. It may not appeal to a lot of people. How would you explain to an international jury that ‘Thanda matlab Coca-Cola’ or ‘Hamaara Bajaj’ are great ideas? Left to me, I will not enter a single award – national or international – and right now I cannot afford awards in any case. I am against the system where I have to pay someone to judge my work.

exchange4media Staff Feb 13, 2009 12:00 AM

In-store radio plays a big role in setting the ambience within a store and enhancing the purchasing experience of consumers. The radio stations get the opportunity to reach out to their listeners at a very effective consumer touch point – retail – which makes a listener’s interaction with the brand as interesting as possible. Future Radio has already started in-store radio in some of these consumer touch points. Over time, Future Media has plans to launch its own in-store radio network.

exchange4media Staff Feb 9, 2009 12:00 AM

"Print and 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 Feb 9, 2009 12:00 AM

One key priority for us is to rapidly deploy knowledge and information sharing. If we look at our business, we have many global clients and also best practices being created around the world. Again, the India team has had many successes in building diversified services and experiential marketing. Part of my job is to see we get the learning together across the markets. The objective of this leadership team is also to really define and agree on global strategic priorities within the agency.

exchange4media Staff Feb 6, 2009 12:00 AM

When there are too many players in the market, consolidation is bound to happen in order to sustain. The same was true for the not so long ago airlines boom in our country. You can expect consolidation in the Chennai FM market, too, and that will happen very soon.

exchange4media Staff Feb 4, 2009 12:00 AM

Both from the domestic and international points of view, I am as enthusiastic about India as I was 18 months ago. There are different sets of clients that are coming, but they are there, and the task is to have that sensitivity and have a good enough product that gives a relevant return on investment to the advertisers. The two characteristics that we see are that a number of corporates are cutting down the number of media partners they are working with, but there are other companies that are increasing their spends even as they are asking for better ROI, accountability and value. That is where we need to be able to demonstrate and articulate the value of advertising on BBC.

exchange4media Staff Jan 30, 2009 12:00 AM

If I said there is nothing happening in the world, everything is fine, I would be wrong. However, the fact of the matter is we are doing very well. In these kinds of scenarios, leadership plays a very important role. If there was a client who was buying 25-30 channels and is buying 10 today, we are fortunately part of that 10, and because we are part of that 10, we are fine. In any media company, it’s the No. 1 and No. 2 that will make money, the rest will lose.

exchange4media Staff Jan 24, 2009 12:00 AM

The media today is very dynamic and we need to continuously delight the reader to grab and retain his or her attention. There is just too much stimuli out there. So, the biggest challenge will be to keep the reader interested month after month. But keeping the reader interested is also an opportunity for us to keep innovating. Creatively, we have lots to explore.

exchange4media Staff Jan 20, 2009 12:00 AM

There would be four buzzwords for the print industry in 2009. These are – you have to deliver impeccable edit quality, you’ve got to be a cost efficient organisation, you have to ensure critical mass circulation, and you have to try and recover the cost of circulation. With so many newspapers now available, the quality of edit could be the key driver for readers to pick up your paper. And at this point of time, even the mightiest organisation cannot think that it would be able to build the extra cost and carry on with the business, you have to be the most cost effective business.

exchange4media Staff Jan 16, 2009 12:00 AM

What I feel is that a lot of agencies win awards for ‘patli gali’ advertising, which no one has even seen. But yes, winning at the Cannes Lions, or the Agency of the Year Award at Effies carries a lot of brand equity with it. It is a recognition of one’s creativity and creates a strong perception about the quality of work done. Unfortunately, people associate creativity with the number of awards won and how extensively it is reported in the media.

exchange4media Staff Jan 10, 2009 12:00 AM

The difference between our India operations and operations abroad is that in India it is largely led by exclusive stores, while internationally we do it through distributors who understand the local market. It is difficult to manage international stores sitting here in India. The Indian leather goods market is still hugely unorganised. There are a number of individual shops selling products made by individual craftsmen. There is regional competition, but no national competitors.

exchange4media Staff Jan 5, 2009 12:00 AM

This economic slowdown is affecting everyone globally, But again, look at it dispassionately. India is not going to grow at 9-10 per cent. Let’s take a worst case scenario – 5-5.5 per cent or 6-7 per cent. But the rest of the world is in recession, so we are ahead of them. The wise companies are saying that this is the opportune moment to get in because at this time you will get valuations that are very attractive. Eventually, I believe this downturn in India will last for a maximum 18-24 months on the outside. We would be out of it faster than the rest of the world. The rest of the world many take more than two years.

exchange4media Staff Jan 2, 2009 12:00 AM

PR is not public relations. In India, it only stands for ‘press relations’. And this too is a misnomer, because it is not about relations at all, but is closer to the ‘sales’ function… Even today, the majority of queries or new business enquiries we get has to do with how much media, where all, when, which page…? Top management meetings with us are about the quantity and quality of media coverage. The truth is that the client or the CEO has no clue whatsoever about what value the function or the corporate communication person can add.

exchange4media Staff Dec 30, 2008 12:00 AM

We are all bound by a certain ambition. It is an unseen umbilical cord in a lot way. We are here for a certain cause, way or a desire to reinvent the agency; to be in the advertising communication space. We also believe that this industry is very far from the next evolution space and that is our biggest excitement. The kinds we are doing in the professional space as well as the organisational space, I don’t think it is usual in the industry.

exchange4media Staff Dec 26, 2008 12:00 AM

For the industry, I would say that all of us in the advertising, marketing and communication business, we need to be aware that there is a meltdown. But I don’t think we need to be too worried about it. I personally believe that things would look up around Diwali. Having said that, you need to be aware of the economic conditions around you and cut your cloth according to the suit you want to wear. The agencies that are able to move on smartly around it would do better than the traditional agencies.

exchange4media Staff Dec 19, 2008 12:00 AM