Do not dilute yourself till the last mile: Rajesh Kamat's advice to start-ups
BW Businessworld and BW Disrupt held the Mumbai edition of the "Disrupt Dialogue Series" on Wednesday where Rajesh Kamat, MD of Emerald Media and Vivek Raicha, Executive Director and Investment Head at Emerald Media, spoke about hybrid models evolving in the digital space, the start-ups that attract consumer attention, cloud computing, integration of tech, media and telecom, and AR and VR
BW Businessworld and BW Disrupt held the Mumbai edition of the "Disrupt Dialogue Series" on Wednesday at the ISDI Ace campus in Lower Parel. The event had Rajesh Kamat, MD of Emerald Media, and Vivek Raicha, Executive Director and Investment Head at Emerald Media, speaking about hybrid models evolving in the digital space and the kind of start-ups that attract consumer attention, among other things. The session was moderated by Anurag Batra, Chairman & Editor in Chief at BW Businessworld.
The session started with Rajesh Kamat giving a brief backgrounder about his journey as an investor as well as some of the major trends being seen right now. As a respected investor in diverse start ups such as OML, Amagi, Endemol and YuppTV, Kamat also spoke about what he felt were the key things that successful start ups should incorporate.
Speaking about the early days in his career he recalled how his first brush as an entrepreneur came when he left Coca Cola to start a dotcom company in 2000. However a few months later the dotcom bubble burst. The learning he talked about from his experience was that it is not about getting a chance but taking a chance. He gave the example of his next stint at Star TV to highlight one of his guiding principles, which, he said, was to always try and get out of the comfort zone.
Speaking about his stint at Colors TV, Kamat reminisced about the launch of Fear Factor, which had a unique concept for its time and, which, he admitted, many members of the board felt would fail. On his current job as a private equity investor, Kamat compared it to the job of someone who has to sieve through all manner of things to uncover the rare valuable piece.
Kamat also highlighted some of the key things that investors always look for before investing. According to him, these include that the space be scalable and (being) a strong and credible promoter. "How competitive is the space? Are we buying a top player? Is he a trend setter in the space," he asked, speaking about the third key element.
Some of the factors, which he said is enabling growth of the digital medium in the country is the advent of high speed mobile internet and the decline in data tariffs, which we are currently seeing. He pointed out that though data consumption per user was currently quite low at 0.7 GB/user/month, this was expected to grow between 7-10 GB/user/month. He also called digital content as the biggest enabler of the internet industry's growth.
Speaking about the importance of content and social media he said, "Content has evolved from linear to real time. Today announcements happen on Facebook, campaigns are run on Facebook, so clearly, social is the way forward." He also pointed out the importance of personalised content and the increasing trend of content being consumed across multiple devices. "Targeting is the next buzzword in both the traditional and digital medium," he added.
However, Kamat also cautioned that some of the trends being seen could be a double-edged sword for investors. He gave the example of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). "These concepts are definitely the future but what we have seen is that currently after 10 minutes of watching VR or AR content, motion sickness sets in," he said.
Another trend that he felt would become a serious game changer is cloud computing, which he said removes restrictions that were a part and parcel of traditional medium.
Calling for intelligence within apps, he gave the example of WeChat to highlight that the world is moving towards single apps that come with a number of different functionalities rather than having separate apps for everything.
Kamat then spoke about the importance of integration of tech, media and telecom, saying that all telecom providers now want to be content creators. Taking the example of Facebook, he said that Facebook should no longer be considered as a social media platform since it has now become a media platform. From an investor's perspective, he feels that sooner integrations happen, it is better as it gives a chance for the investor to exit the investment while leaving it in good hands.
Anurag Batra and Vivek Raicha then joined Kamat for a more in-depth discussion on what it takes to be a successful company. On being asked about deals that did not happen despite them wanting them to, Kamat said one of the reasons why deals sometimes do not happen is because during the review process, they determine that the actual growth of the company does not match what the company expects. Another important reason, he said was the promoter himself.
When asked for some interesting case scenarios he had seen, Raicha said, "It is true that a lot of times when we look at companies, from the time we start looking at them to the time we make the investment, there is a big change in what they promised us versus what we actually see. Every single time that we think about an investment we think about the risk. A lot of time is spent on how we do not lose money. Making money is great but this is also important."
He further added that a lot of times companies have ideas that are far ahead of their time even though the ideas were not bad. "Some of the digital content companies at that time made projections that were not meaningful and did not tank with the macro environment. Probably they would make sense now but at that time the market was not ready for them."
On being asked for his advice to start-ups that are still at a very small ticket size but have the potential to grow, Kamat said, "If I were to sit with any of these companies (start-ups) as a friend, I would tell them that till the last mile do not dilute yourself. Bootstrap. Try and hold on and keep it alive for as long as possible. If someone comes in at a very early stage then you will end up just becoming a glorified employee." The idea being that once a start-up crosses each milestone in its life journey, the owners have a much better chance of negotiating deals with investors.
Batra asked both the gentlemen what changes in their attitude when they are at the point of exiting a company as their role now goes from being a buyer to becoming a seller. Kamat agreed that it is not easy but it is something that needed to be done. Raicha said that these days exit conversations are held with promoters right at the start, which makes the process easier. Also, with the market more mature now, he felt that promoters are also willing to grow their company and then exit after a point.
On being asked why Emerald Media has never made an investment in an audio tech company, both Kamat and Raicha agreed that sometimes valuations run ahead of their time based purely on hope and that the investor needs to be cognizant of the fact. Speaking about the audio space, Raicha said that the tipping point for the industry has now arrived so all benchmarks need to be made keeping this in mind.
"As part of our mandate, if it is considered then definitely yes but as part of our ticket size I don’t think we are ready to pay for an existing GEC or network. But by virtue of our lineage or heritage in India, if there is any such asset that ever comes up then it is definitely up our alley," said Kamat, when asked about whether his firm would ever consider investing in a GEC.
Speaking about their investment in Amagi, Raicha informed that they had first got in touch with the company back in 2011 when it showed a lot of promise but was doing just 10 per cent revenue. Given the disruptive nature of the company, they decided to stay in touch and follow their progress, while Amagi also grew its revenues. "The time of technology has now come, there is no way around it. TV has to innovate. When it is threatened with digital, targeting has to happen. What is important is the right model, which is where the struggle is," said Raicha.
"The model was dependent on both the MSO and broadcaster. If you are sandwiched between the two there is no point which is why we backed out. Now the technology that Amagi has developed talks directly to the broadcaster so your relationship is with the broadcaster. This is the first thing that changed," informed Kamat. "The second thing was that they started growing at a good rate. Also, in any space, competition coming in is good news because it is an endorsement that the space is growing. Is the product needed? Yes. A lot of times disruptive technologies are great but the model and who does the sales becomes a question mark. The logistics of how the model plays out is what takes time. Whether the broadcaster sells it, does the company sell it- all this takes time.," he further added.
"If you think about it, companies like Microsoft are investing in the cloud in a big way. The maximum utilisation of the bandwidth of the cloud is going to be through content. Broadcast guys are still not on cloud in a big way. It is a matter of time before these media guys will move and the big guys will invest behind it, otherwise it is just a waste of bandwidth," added Raicha.
Talking about one of their investments that failed, Kamat told the audience how they had invested in a mixed martial arts league in Hong Kong for amateurs, which shut down.
Raicha also opined that for broadcasters who are getting into OTT (Over the Top) services, the important thing might not be to make money but to gain an understanding of the consumer, which is not something that they would want to do through a third party platform. From this perspective, he said, this makes complete sense for them. "I personally feel that live sports is the biggest opportunity in the OTT space," he said.
He further added that telecom operators are entities that can be most successful with a subscription model if they can bundle it up with data. He took the example of Amazon which has bundled its OTT service with its Prime delivery service and said this makes it very likely that it will succeed. "For OTT players customer acquisition cost is itself very high. On top of that to get audience to pay will be very difficult," he said.
On being asked by an audience member, whether he sees the entry of Facebook and Youtube into original content as a challenge to the likes of Hotstar and Netflix, Kamat opined that there is enough space in the market for the existence of multiple players. He pointed out the scenario in the US where there are a number of players co-existing in the OTT space. "When businesses assume a certain scale, they can always find a way around," he said.
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Social Beat wins SEO mandate of Tata CLiQ tag rss
The account was won after a multi-agency pitch
e4m e4m Social Beat has won the SEO mandate for Tata CLiQ, one of the fastest-growing omnichannel marketplace in India. Social Beat has been entrusted with optimizing existing content, as well as launching new, optimized category pages systematically on Tata CLiQ’s platform to scale monthly organic traffic by 2x over the next year. The account was won after a multi-agency pitch and will be serviced by Social Beat’s offices in Mumbai.
Shishir Kataria, Director - Marketing, Tata CLiQ, “Shoppers, e-commerce or otherwise, continue to heavily rely on search and discovery throughout their shopping journey, be it engaging with the latest fashion trends or hunting for the best buys. No wonder a platform's ability to be a part of this journey organically drives significant consideration for it amongst potential shoppers. We, at Tata Cliq, are confident that Social Beat will help us develop and optimise content that is highly discoverable to grow our engagement and revenue. Our goal continues to be to drive more and more shoppers to our platform with optimised and curated products and relevant content.”
Vikas Chawla, Co-Founder, Social Beat said, “We are thrilled to partner with Tata CLiQ in their growth journey. We aim to scale traffic to the Tata CLiQ platform manyfold over the next year. Our team of specialised SEO and Content strategists will be working closely to achieve this”
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ShareWill OOH dazzle this festive season?
As the celebrations begin, experts tell us the trends and challenges for the OOH sector this season
Be it the flower-clad taxis in Mumbai for Made in Heaven Season 2 promotion or Zomato’s ‘kheer mangoge kheer denge’ billboards, India's OOH advertising sector has undergone substantial transformation and expansion in the recent years. Even though the medium was severely hit during the pandemic years, it has now managed to rebuild its status. Now, with the onset of the festive season, elections and the cricket world cup, OOH is expected to see more and more advertisers come on board.
Amarjeet Hudda, Chief Operating Officer, Laqshya Media Group, believes most of the clients spend a lot of money during the festive season, especially for Durga Puja, Dussehra and Diwali, targeting their customers in a festive mood. The categories that spend heavily during these months are Auto, Consumer Durables, Real Estate, Organised retail, and E-commerce.
According to Dipankar Sanyal of Platinum Outdoor, there was a huge surge in the festive season last year, and he expects the same this year too. “Last four to five years have turbulent for outdoor. It was picking up in 2019, but then Covid came and everything went flat for two years,” he mentioned.
According to EY-FICCI’s M&E Report 2023, OOH media grew 86 percent in 2022 to Rs 37 billion. The value includes traditional, transit and digital media, but excludes untracked unorganised OOH media such as wall paintings, billboards, ambient media, storefronts, proxy advertising.
Sharing the brand’s perspective, Shivam Ranjan, Head of Marketing, Motorola-APAC, said, “We are going into this festive season with a strong mix of media, including OOH. Within OOH, we are focusing on digital OOH, due to its capability of programmatic serving, measurability, and near real-time insights that allow us to be agile with the communication and optimisation of our campaigns.”
With urbanisation, improved infrastructure, rising consumerism and an increased spending power, clients' expectations from OOH advertising too have evolved. “The clients expect better ROI on every investment, best in class innovations, tech-led planning and execution. Today, technology plays an important role starting from planning the campaign, to measuring metrics to ROI,” Singh explained.
Another trend that Sanyal has observed is that traditionally advertisers looked at spending on OOH nearly two weeks prior to the festivities, but now, most advertisers have now started advertising a week earlier so that they can get maximum eyeballs. Additionally, the digital OOH advertising (DOOH) has also emerged big. The digital OOH screens increased to around 100,000 and contributed eight percent of total segment revenues.
“Now with digital, there is more space for advertisers to come in one frame. Because of this, you can see it is getting more attractive. The innovations too are coming in at a much lower cost and creating a greater impact,” shared Sanyal.
The only challenge with the medium, according to Ranjan, is OOH being a fragmented industry with lack of measurability and agility. This becomes a serious issue for ROI-centric brands. However, the growth of DOOH, which is dynamic, agile and measurable, is giving marketers the confidence to invest in the medium backed by relevant data and outcomes.
Adding to this, Hudda highlighted that availability of good media spots is the biggest challenge in this season as media assets are limited and demand is very high. Due to the gap in the festive season, many clients are not able to fully optimise their campaigns. Rather sometimes, clients are even compelled to divert their budget which adversely impacts the industry, he shared.
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Banking on positive consumer sentiment: BFSI optimistic on doubling festive AdEx : Cache
Some categories within the sector, however, may spend more in the quarter that follows the festive season
The BFSI sector is expecting a surge in demand for loan during the festive season and is looking at increasing its ad spends to cash in on the celebration spirit. Industry leaders say they are hopeful of witnessing a good growth in the number of applications for auto loan, home loan, credit card and health insurance during October, November and December due to positive consumer sentiment this year. However, though most of the BFSI players are planning to double their advertising budget this time compared to the previous year, there are some who are not investing too heavily on marketing during the festivals as they plan to save the money for the fourth quarter.
According to Shailendra Singh, MD & CEO, BOB Financial, they witness incremental growth every year during the October-December quarter, and they anticipate an increase in consumer spending as well as new enrolments for cards this year too. “There remains a surge in customer demand for credit during the festive season,” said Singh.
Singh shared that the company is fully geared up for the launch of #FestiveShoppingRewards on all Bank of Baroda credit card variants under the theme ‘Reimagine Festivities’. They would kickstart festive offerings with the start of Navratri.
The festive season does not just see the demand for credit go up, but there is an increase in applications for health and motor insurance too during this time of the year.
Aabhinna Suresh Khare, Chief Digital & Marketing Officer, BajajCapital Ltd, shared that among insurance products, health insurance and motor insurance reign supreme during festivals. According to Khare, the demand for mutual funds and SIPs too sees a hike.
“Overall, the festive season presents an opportune moment to secure insurance coverage. A plethora of attractive products and services are on offer, with financial institutions extending special discounts and promotions to entice new customers,” said Khare.
The company launched #BlessMeGanesha campaign during Ganesh Chaturthi. “Our goal for this festive season is not only to provide financial solutions but also to create memorable experiences and deepen the connection with our customers,” said Khare.
Though all major sectors spend heavily on advertising during the festive season, within the BFSI sector, some categories spend more in the quarter that follows the festive season.
Explaining the trend, Samir Sethi, Head of Brand Marketing, Policybazaar.com, said that the festive season has varying impacts on the BFSI sector. In the banking sector, for instance, the demand for loans surges as many individuals purchase items and undertake home renovations. Conversely, in the insurance category, the festive season doesn't result in significant changes. Instead, the insurance industry experiences its peak season after the festive period, particularly during the fourth quarter of the financial year.
“As the festive season approaches, there is a noticeable increase in car sales though, leading to a surge in the demand for motor insurance. Consequently, we see a significant uptick in the requests for motor insurance policies. During the festive period, there is an upswing in demand for various categories, such as electronics. However, in the insurance sector, this period doesn't significantly affect us, so we don't run specific campaigns targeting festivals. Nevertheless, we do roll out multiple campaigns throughout the year, and some of them may coincide with the festive season,” said Sethi.
According to the TAM AdEx report on BFSI sector across media for H1, the advertising volume of the sector grew on TV, radio and digital, but declined in the print medium. The report indicated that ad impressions on digital saw 91% rise during Jan-Jun '23 over Jan-Jun’22. The increase was 32% for radio and 4% for TV. The ad space of the BFSI sector decreased by 7% in print.
Speaking on media mix, Singh shared that BOB Financial has a good mix of customer segments belonging to Tier I, II and III. So, understanding their needs and preferred form of media channels, the company will reach out to them through relevant media promotions. “For the easy discovery of our offers, we shall have a dedicated offers page with regular promotion of top offers on our social media and other digital channels,” said Singh. Without disclosing the figure, Singh shared that the company’s promotion budget has surely increased from last year and it will be visible through their multi-channel promotional activities.
According to the TAM report, in the BFSI sector, life insurance is the leading category on TV and radio whereas mutual funds is the top category on digital.
Khare highlighted that in recent times, Bajaj Capital has observed a significant growth in audiences on online platforms and the changing preferences of their clientele. “This observation led us to recalibrate our marketing approach, placing a heightened emphasis on digital avenues,” said Khare.
He further added, “Our promotional efforts are primarily digital-focused, accentuating areas like social media engagement, search engine outreach, content-driven marketing, and targeted online advertising. As we approach the festive season, we've fine-tuned our online approach. By harnessing the insights from data analytics, we aim to grasp our clients' needs and inclinations better, ensuring our content is both tailored and pertinent.”
Khare also mentioned that Baja Capital has doubled its advertising budget compared to the previous year.
“This increase in our ad spend signifies our confidence in the opportunities this festive season presents. This impressive surge in our budget allocation underscores our dedication to maximizing the potential of this festive season and driving significant expansion within our business. We firmly believe that this increased investment in advertising will not only elevate our brand presence but also lead to an exceptional uptick in customer engagement and sales.”
For Policybazaar.com, the media strategy primarily involves a blend of television and digital platforms, an approach that has remained consistent in recent years and is expected to continue in the foreseeable future.
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OMD appoints Dileep Raj Singh as Head of Digital for APAC
Singh will report to Charlotte Lee, CEO of OMD APAC
OMD has added a Head of Digital (HOD) to its Asia Pacific (APAC) regional leadership team with the hiring of Dileep Raj Singh.
Singh is a digital native and brings with him a wealth of experience across product, media agency and client side in APAC, North America and the United Kingdom. His last 10 years have been spent building diverse digital marketing teams covering areas like performance marketing, digital media planning, ad/martech, product marketing, branding and measurement.
As HOD, he will accelerate OMD’s digital leadership agenda, rooted in helping clients address their business challenges and digital ambitions. He will be supporting OMD’s local teams in APAC on operational excellence, and digital transformation frameworks and roadmaps; and the development and implementation of our digital leadership agenda. He will also be working hand in hand with both our regional and global networks to initiate complementary workstreams for our clients in APAC.
“We will continue to invest and win in digital as part of our wider goal to be our clients’ most trusted business transformation partner,” said Charlotte Lee, CEO of OMD APAC.
“It is our global ambition to continue our leadership position in digital, data and technology. In line with this ambition, we are excited to have Singh come on board the OMD APAC leadership team. His background of agency, in-house and start-up experience position him perfectly to understand and address our clients’ business needs,” added Lee.
“Digital media and access to our audience, as we know it, is changing quite rapidly around us. This puts most of us in a delicate but remarkable position, a position from which we can shape and contribute to conversations about the next evolution of digital media. As we embark on this journey, I want to leverage the strength of the OMD network – people, technology, data, tools and platforms – to help our clients pivot and navigate through all the new and evolved possibilities in digital media. With this, I aim to position OMD as an unrivaled partner for our current and future clients; to dominate and succeed in this incredibly competitive and multifarious digital realm,” said Singh.
Singh will report to Lee, and work closely with the team including Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), David McCallen, and Chief Client Officer (CCO), Sadhan Mishra, to drive and support APAC local markets as well as regional clients on digital, data and technology needs.
Mishra was promoted to CCO of OMD APAC recently in June 2023. He will continue to be CEO of OMD Singapore, a position he was promoted into last August. Mishra has been with OMD for over 13 years and in his concurrent new role as CCO, he will focus on key client relationships, understanding their business needs and ensuring we remain a critical partner on their transformation journeys.
McCallen was elevated to the role of CSO of OMD APAC in April 2022, and was previously the CSO of OMD New Zealand for five years where he helped the agency to attain the top place in the market for new business, overall billings and award wins. Since starting in the APAC role, his focus has been on connecting and elevating strategic best practices across the region, building capabilities across a range of strategic outputs, and supporting new business growth both regionally and locally.
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Chandrayaan 3: Brands over the Moon
Some of the best moment marketing posts on India's crucial lunar mission
The nation is in a celebratory mood with its moon mission Chandrayaan 3 making its smooth landing on the lunar surface on the evening of August 23, 2023. The Pragyan rover is in pursuit of discovering water on the moon and is a vital feat for India's ambitious space research.
To celebrate this momentous episode in Indian space research history, netizens have taken to the internet to express their excitement, hopes and fears for the nation's lunar mission. Joining them are brands who have crafted creatives to mark the historic occasion and capture the emotions of the nation who have their eyes set on the moon. Here is our pick of some of the best Chandrayaan 3-moment marketing posts.
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BCCI rakes in Rs 4670 cr in Women's Premier League team auction: Jay Shah 26 Jan
WPL has broken the inaugural auction record of Men's IPL in 2008, tweeted Shah
As expected, Wednesday turned out to be another historic day in Indian women's cricket with BCCI having a windfall gain of Rs 4,600 crores by auctioning five team franchises for the first season, a higher sum compared to what men’s IPL franchises offered to the cricket body during the launch in 2008.
Adani, IndiaWin Sports, Royal Challengers, GSW- GMR cricket and Capri Global have won the bid, BCCI secretary Jay Shah tweeted.
Shah shared in a series of tweets, “Today is a historic day in cricket as the bidding for teams of inaugural #WPL broke the records of the inaugural Men's IPL in 2008! Congratulations to the winners as we garnered Rs.4669.99 Cr in total bid.”
“This marks the beginning of a revolution in women's cricket and paves the way for a transformative journey ahead not only for our women cricketers but for the entire sports fraternity. The #WPL would bring necessary reforms in women's cricket and would ensure an all-encompassing ecosystem that benefits each and every stakeholder.”
“The @BCCI has named the league - Women's Premier League (WPL). Let the journey begin…”
The country's top corporates had bid aggressively for the league. Over 16 groups including IPL franchise owners, Adani group, Torrent and Haldiram were believed to be in the fray.
Given the popularity of IPL in India, the event is touted to be a big draw for all stakeholders involved.
The BCCI was reportedly expecting ₹4,000 crore gain through team auction.
It’s noteworthy that Viacom18 has won the Women's IPL media rights for Rs 951 crore for the next five years creating euphoria around the league whose first season will be held in March.
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