"There are also a lot of training programmes that we are conducting for doctors. Earlier, the only knowledge that doctors received was from medical schools. But with times changing so rapidly, today adding to their knowledge has become a necessity. Probably 10 years ago, many doctors who had graduated from medical school did not know about AIDS. Training nurses, doctors and providing medical understanding to our clients' customers is an important step for us. Our educational programmes and campaigns are trying to bring the consumer to a level of awareness such that he or she is at par in the understanding of medicine, just the way manufacturers are."

exchange4media Staff May 11, 2007 12:00 AM

Every medium of entertainment relies on its content to get attract its target audience. Our differentiators such as music, RJs, utilities, etc. will help us achieve a substantial stand in the market. It is important to give listeners fresh and innovative content that they can relate to. Our content is very local and has been designed keeping consumer tastes and preferences in mind.

exchange4media Staff May 5, 2007 12:00 AM

"As a group, we are completely committed to make Prabhat Khabar grow from a 14-lakh readership, which has taken 18 years to achieve, to probably double that in the next three years by developing the existing editions and growing naturally into the neighbouring states. Of course, these will be governed by the economic viability of such ventures, but we are seriously looking into expanding the Prabhat Khabar brand."

exchange4media Staff May 4, 2007 12:00 AM

I believe that the age of the niche has arrived in India. The business model is very different from that of the mass circulation paper, so I would like to differentiate between mass paper and class paper. I regard The Pioneer, Asian Age, and Indian Express as class papers. They have a committed readership, our readers know exactly what these papers stand for and what they get out of it, so they don’t mind paying more.

exchange4media Staff Apr 30, 2007 12:00 AM

<p align=justify>"We have found that Zed has created a good focus within the organisation and it provided a clear recognition to our clients. We got the best people in the digital space market. We are making the right investments to get people on board. Having Zed in the market, it allows us to have a focal point, which will help us to make acquisitions in this area. That's certainly what we have done in other leading markets: we have made significant and several acquisitions. By having a separate identity like Zed, it makes us much more adaptable and easy to have an acquisition we make."

exchange4media Staff Apr 27, 2007 12:00 AM

Most of the advertising agencies had tried to have an interactive agency in 1999-2000. but most of them floundered and shut down shop… We hope they will surely do a better job this time. Interactivity is not like where you can put a business head and 3-4 guys and have an interactive business. The Internet is far too vast to be considered that frivolous. Even we or any of the specialist players in the medium cannot say that we fully understand this medium. The Internet continuously keeps changing. It seems as if all the advertising agencies have a single-point agenda in their 2007 or 2008 plan – that they want to set up an interactive agency. But I don’t think that is the way to look at Internet. Do Indian (offline) agencies have the appetite to do something dramatically different? I don’t think so.

exchange4media Staff Apr 23, 2007 12:00 AM

"If I ask you to name the top 30 pieces of work you like and if you start listing them category after category, my bet is that of the first 100 brands, 50 or 60 would be works from JWT. That's the reality. I'm not saying O&M has not been doing good work. It's just that JWT has one of the highest numbers of brands and good creative work has been presented by JWT."

exchange4media Staff Apr 21, 2007 12:00 AM

"There is no question that real estate is the fastest growing and a big business. If you can imagine 26,000 executives wearing dark suits and ties, along the beach in Cannes, but working very hard - real estate is the most important area for us."

exchange4media Staff Apr 13, 2007 12:00 AM

“Logically, things should improve when you come out with better products. Eventually, you will have to look at advertisers as consumers. I think outdoors should become the Maruti 800 of the business. It has to be a volume business. Things will only improve if we have research.”

exchange4media Staff Apr 10, 2007 12:00 AM

"I admire the DNA of our Indian operations and I hope to carry that forward. We are looking at providing more and more people with exposure to the Western markets. Madison Avenue or London is considered to be the seat of advertising in Western markets. We want to change that outlook as we believe that the world is changing and is moving to other centres."

exchange4media Staff Apr 6, 2007 12:00 AM

We are uniquely positioned as a brand. I personally think nobody has this kind of technology to offer, we have a heritage where the consumers see us as sporty.<br> One of the hallmarks of Timex worldwide as a brand is that they bring in really good technology to make it accessible. There is no other brand in the market that can offer that combination of design, technology and pricing.

exchange4media Staff Apr 4, 2007 12:00 AM

"We are very interested in India, otherwise we wouldn't be here. India is a complex country with various religions and languages. Entering Indian market primarily requires finding a very good partner who has some local knowledge and understands each market. Given the additional complexities in India, I think we have to go in with a partner."

exchange4media Staff Mar 31, 2007 12:00 AM

"The way the younger generation wants to interact with brands has changed. It has become increasingly a two-way process. Consumers no longer just believe everything that is said. They want a better understanding; consumers are becoming proactive. India is a prime example. The youth often ask questions such as how will it change my life?... Today, even marketers and advertisers realise that there is less finance to spend. Every dollar spent needs to be justified."

exchange4media Staff Mar 24, 2007 12:00 AM

"People still don't look at advertising with respect. I don't think advertising is still designated as an industry. Industry status is required since advertising plays a very significant role in our lives. We hope to be earning respect for the industry, earning respect for its professionals. Shrinking revenues from advertising industry is another big problem that we are facing. It has to be addressed on an industry forum level."

exchange4media Staff Mar 17, 2007 12:00 AM

"The challenges that the digital media is throwing up right now will probably get accelerated five years from now. Our openness to dabble in spaces which are not comfort areas for us but probably comfort areas for a fresh college graduate is going to define how well we shape up in times to come. These are days when one can learn a lot from juniors."

exchange4media Staff Mar 10, 2007 12:00 AM

"Today, a client is open to new media as long as it is relevant to the cause and to the idea. I think the need of the hour is for agencies to become more idea-centric. If it is genuinely an idea and not just an ad, it will be extendable. The problem is that very often we tend to confuse between an idea and an advertisement. A good advertisement could be a work of craft but not necessarily a good idea."

exchange4media Staff Mar 10, 2007 12:00 AM

India is a very important market for us with huge potential and we expect it to become an Asian powerhouse. In fact, last year, we were 11th or 12th among Adidas’ global business, this year, we are No. 6. We expect to be in fourth place by the end of next year.

exchange4media Staff Mar 9, 2007 12:00 AM

<p align=justify>The Indian outdoor market looks positive in comparison to the global market, it contributes 10 per cent of the advertising expenditure and has been growing at 20 per cent for the last couple of years as against in the US where it is growing at a mere 2.2 per cent and Europe where it is growing at 6 per cent. Standardisation of the medium, aesthetic structures and scientific research will decide the quality growth of the medium.

exchange4media Staff Mar 7, 2007 12:00 AM

"The online is real and here to stay. I see more media plans around the world, in the right markets, where digital becomes the foundation of the media plan and the traditional media gets to be on top to punch it up. When that starts happening, we'll know that we have evolved in the right world that is more digitally oriented. We aren't there yet and the only good news is that my competition is not there yet!"

exchange4media Staff Mar 2, 2007 12:00 AM

"In markets like the US and UK, the focus now is not on the traditional media people but people who understand touch-point planning...You can't necessarily separate the big creative idea from the media -- it is not about having the big idea and then deciding on which media you want to put it. You can take the buying process away in an agency but the actual planning process should get closer to creative."

exchange4media Staff Feb 24, 2007 12:00 AM