Do not divide - and rule!

Will haphazard surveys and questionable findings continue to drive the Rs 10,000 crore print advertisement industry? Or are there alternatives available to this, asks Manajit Ghoshal, CEO, Mid-Day Infomedia. INS has taken steps in the right direction to set this anomaly right by constituting a committee to give guidelines for such surveys to the National Readership Study Council, which conducts the NRS.

Consumers have always been considered a powerful communication channel. It is not a new phenomenon. They formed interest groups and discussed various topics of interest. What is new is the speed and ease of getting connected to millions of similar-minded individuals by just the click of a few buttons, observes Atrayee Chakraborty, Business Director, Lintas Media Group.

It has been the most shocking tragedy that Mumbai has ever seen, and this city has had its horrific share of terrorist activities. S Yesudas, CEO, RK Swamy Media Group, urges the advertising fraternity to come together to help the kin of the brave non-officer ranking policemen on duty and others who lost their lives at locations like CST/Cama Hospital.

It’s election season once again, and this time BJP seems to have a winner of a campaign with ‘Mehngi Paregi Congress’. Swapan Seth, CEO, Equus Red Cell, takes a look at political advertising in India, comparing the advertising strategies of two of India’s largest political parties – the Congress and the BJP.

The viewership monopoly enjoyed by Star Plus, Zee TV and SET has met with a challenge recently. The entry of some potentially strong players has seen a whirl of dynamic activity. For years the triumvirate ruled with gusto; no one attempted to upset the applecart till the entry of Colors, NDTV Imagine and 9X, argues Indranil Datta, VP, Mudra Radar.

Indranil Datta, Vice President-Knowledge, Mudra RADAR, provides a holistic view on the rising popularity of reality talent shows on the leading GEC channels. He analyses TRP data and marketing efforts behind these shows to show what has made some of them more successful than the others.