August 1-15, 2012 Volume 1, Issue 6 `100 24

DEFINING MOMENTS Anand Halve Chlorophyll’s co-founder is an intellectual explorer. 16

HCL The Partner A new positioning, but with the same characters. 42

PROFILE SMOOTH Nima Namchu Cheil’s ECD-to-be looks beyond designations.

AGENCIES SAILING Funny Tags 12 How a city supplement inspired a NLP CAPTCHA Learning to Play 20 wave of similar products and changed MALAYALA MANORAMA newspaper journalism. Clock Work 37 34 GEMINI TV Afternoon Surprise 44

EDITORIAL

This fortnight... Volume 1, Issue 6 EDITOR Sreekant Khandekar ver since the UK-based tabloidSun, went ahead and registered Page 3 as a trademark in 1970, and PUBLISHER Estarted publishing photographs of topless models on that particular page, the name stuck. And other Prasanna Singh publishers moved in quickly to cash in on a trend that was pushing up sales. Mumbai-based Mid-day in EXECUTIVE EDITOR India was one of the first in this country to embrace the concept. The only difference was that Mid-day’s Prajjal Saha attempt was a more sober one keeping the Indian sensibilities in mind. SENIOR LAYOUT ARTIST Vinay Dominic However, in India, ‘Page 3’ has an entirely different connotation even now. It has PRODUCTION EXECUTIVE become a vehicle for Indian paparazzi that follows the socialites and the celebrities – Andrias Kisku and glamorous happenings in the city in which they live in. The Indian Page 3 started August 1-15, 2012 Volume 1, Issue 6 `100 ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES 24 with Bombay Times - an entertainment supplement which was introduced free with Neha Arora, (0120) 4077866, 4077837 the main edition of The Times of India, Mumbai in 1994. Interestingly, the need for a Noida Khushboo Varadkar, (022) 40429702-5 DEFINING MOMENTS Bombay Times came from the marketing side. In those days the mainline editors found Anand Halve Chlorophyll’s co-founder Mumbai is an intellectual explorer. 16 ‘entertainment content’ to be too frivolous to be included in the daily as it was supposed to cover only serious news – politics, finance or crime. Even for the supplement, the [email protected] editors opposed the coverage of such news in the front page, which is why it occupied MARKETING OFFICE HCL The Partner B-3, First Floor, Sector-4, Noida-201301. A new positioning, but with the same characters. the third page. In fact, the first issue of the supplement only gave space to hardcore city Tel: (0120) 4077800. 42 specific social and political issue on its first page. MUMBAI Bombay Times changed the way newspaper publishers looked at celebrity reportage. 501-502, Makani Center, 5th Floor, PROFILE Off Linking Road, Bandra (W), SMOOTH Nima Namchu Cheil’s ECD-to-be looks beyond designations. It set the trend for the ‘Page3-isation’ of news. Today, entertainment news has made Mumbai - 400050 AGENCIES SAILING Funny Tags 12 Tel: +91-22-40429 709 - 712 How a city supplement inspired a NLP CAPTCHA its way to the first page of not only the supplement but of the main newspaper as well. Learning to Play 20 wave of similar products and changed MALAYALA MANORAMA newspaper journalism. Clock Work 37 BENGALURU 34 GEMINI TV Page 3, as a culture, has been adopted by English, Hindi and regional language dailies. Afternoon Surprise 44 S-1, New Bridge Corporate Centre, Even ‘serious’ newspapers tried their hand at it, especially as it proved to be crucial 777 D, 100 ft Road, Indira Nagar, for success in both existing as well as newer markets. The Page 3 kind of coverage Bengaluru - 560038, India accommodated new advertisers and a newer set of readers. It was observed that the younger lot picked up the SUBSCRIPTION ENQUIRIES publication for the supplement, not the main paper. Akhilesh Singh, (0120) 4077837 [email protected] The current issue of the magazine analyses the success story that is Bombay Times, a city supplement that Owned by Banyan Netfaqs Pvt Ltd and turned 18, recently. The story of Bombay Times is important because for many years, it was the lone crusader Printed and published by - Delhi Times and HT City came in five years after the first edition of Bombay Times. Prasanna Singh, at 7-A/13, Ch. Ratan Singh Complex, Jawala Heri Market, Paschim Vihar, New Delhi-110 063.

Printed at Cirrus Graphics Private Limited B-62/14, Naraina Industrial Area, Prajjal Saha Phase II, New Delhi – 110028. [email protected] Cover Illustration Gogol CONTENTS 52 18 PLUS

JOCKEY HAVELLS Flowery Proposal No Compromise 20 The mixer-grinder STAR PLUS plays a vital role in making really soft Sunday Flavour 30 idlis too. CHANNEL V Prime Property? 36 KEITH BELLOWS 36 60 Digital Angle SAMBAD AKHON Magazines will have to go Just-in-Time News 48 digital - and pay. BY INVITATION POV 28 Suprio Guha Thakurta 50 Google Social KBC YOUTUBE BUS Has Google missed the social Re-casting the Spell Support Drive DISNEY media bus? The industry Kaun Banega Crorepati’s A bus that will follow Indian Fantasy World 56 discusses. regional versions are a hit. players’ fate in the Olympics.

afaqs! Reporter, August 1-15, 2012 5 MNP 1(:6%8//(7,1 ,W¶V$GGLQJ8S Sponsored by

obile Number Portability resents slightly more than 5 per cent M(MNP), a service that allows of the total subscriber base. a mobile phone user to change his While subscriber figures have service provider without changing increased, the rise in MNP figures his number, now seems to be gain- is steeper. In January 2011, India had McDonald’s> The world’s largest fast-food chain, is expected to cut prices of more than half the items in its ing popularity. The service, which 806.13 million mobile subscribers menu by up to 15 per cent to arrest a slide in its growth was launched by the government in which has now increased to 921 mil- and push expansion. As part of the plan, the burger and- January last year, initially saw a very lion which a 12 percent increase. On fries chain will slash prices of entry-level and core products few takers. the other hand, MNP witnessed an within categories like extra value meals, breakfast products However, customers are now increase of almost 100 per cent. and desserts. Along with this, McDonald’s will also launch increasingly using the service. A major reason why MNP did McEgg burger. According to recent data issued by not take off initially could be attrib- the Telecom Regulatory Authority uted to lack of awareness about the of India (TRAI), MNP requests have procedure of the service, which is increased from 45.89 million sub- increasing due to word-of-mouth. Eicher Motors> The company has signed a strategic scribers at the end of April 2012 Another reason could be the joint venture agreement with US based powersports major, increasing maturity Polaris Industries, to set up a greenfield project in the automotive sector. The joint venture company will design, among mobile phone develop, manufacture and sell a full new range of personal users. An average vehicles suitable for India and other emerging markets. The mobile service user MARKETING production is expected to start in 2015. now wants to stick to his number as it is linked to his identity. This probably was not In 2009, the Yardley> Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting (WCCGL), the the case earlier as most company had maker of Santoor, has bought Yardley in the UK and several consumers were first other European countries, excluding Germany and Austria, acquired Yardley making it the company’s first acquisition in a developed time users of mobile in Asia, Middle services. market. In 2009, the company had acquired Yardley in Asia, Middle East and certain African markets for $45.5 million to 50.16 million at India has cur- Moreover, the East and from UK-based Lornamead group. It plans to push Yardley the end of May 2012. recently unveiled certain African rently 921 million agressively in India, primarily in the deodorant space where In the month of May mobile subscrib- National Telecom markets. it competes with its own brand Enchanteur from another 2012 alone, 4.27 mil- Policy by the acquired company Unza. lion requests have been ers of which Government of India made for MNP. 50.16 million has emphasised on In comparison, on full mobile num- an average 2.7 mil- users have used ber portability which MTR> The Bangalore-based mixes, spices and desserts lion MNP requests the service to if implemented will maker plans to increase its revenues to `1,000 crore over the per month have been further give a boost next three years. Acquired by Norwegian firm Orkala Brands made since the service switch operators to the MNP service. in 2007, MTR Foods reported sales of `350 crore in fiscal was launched in India Currently in India, 2011-12. Additionally the company has forayed in the meal while for the first year (January- only mobile phone users are allowed mixes category with the launch of Rasoi Magic brand. The December 2011), the average was to change their operators through mixes have been launched in powder format. It had acquired just 2.4 million per month, before the MNP facility within the same the Pune-based Rasoi Magic Foods last year in April 2011 and this. In fact, the average number of network. With full MNP, users can claims to be bullish on the category. adopters of MNP was even lower for change operators irrespective of their the first six months - just 2 million network area. per month. For example, an Idea user in The company has Samsung India> The electronics major has set a target India has currently 921 million Delhi can change the operator to set a target of 35 of 35 per cent market share in flat-panel television (FPTV) mobile subscribers of which 50.16 Airtel Kolkata without changing his category and 60 per cent market share in the smart TV seg- million users have used the service number with full mobile number per cent market ment in India by the end of 2012. The company which recently to switch operators. This rep- portability. share in the launched the Smart TV in Kerala is flat-panel televi- looking at a turnover of `225 crore sion category. during the Onam festival season QUOTE OF THE FORTNIGHT from the state. ‘‘The next wave of growth in packaged consumer products Whirlpool> The subsidiary of Whirlpool Corporation, will come from community- has announced the launch of an innovative range of built- in kitchen appliances for its customers during the Onam specific and regional-focused festival. The Whirlpool built in Kitchen comes equipped efforts. Many companies are with a fully automatic chimney and a premium oven that working closely with us in this cooks up to three dishes at the same time. The new kitchen appliances also include built in hob burners, dish- direction.’’ washers and water purifiers.The company has targeted a DEVENDRA CHAWLA, PRESIDENT (FOOD & FMCG), FUTURE GROUP, ON turnover of `180 crore during Onam season this year as FOOD AND PERSONAL CARE SECTOR GOING LOCAL, IN THE ECONOMIC TIMES. against `130 crore for the same period of last year.

6 afaqs! Reporter, August 1-15, 2012

NETWORK 18 1(:6%8//(7,1 $OO8QGHU2QH5RRI Sponsored by fter being in the offing for a of CEO, Network18 Publishing. while now, Network18 has “If you look at the available data, Aannounced the demerger of the clear indicator is that special Infomedia18’s publishing business. interest magazines are going up, in With the development, the publish- terms of readership. While general Patrika Group> The Indian Postal Department ing business has been demerged interest and entertainment magazines has issued a stamp, honouring the memory of and consolidated within Network18 may have been witnessing a drop in Karpoor Chandra ‘Kulish’, the founder of the Patrika under ‘Network18 Publishing’. numbers, the bigger story usually Group. Born on March 20, 1926 in a relatively The special interest magazines comes across as magazines are suffer- unknown village called Soda in Rajasthan, Chandra and business directories portfolio has ing,” he says. is best remembered for his journalistic skills. He been aligned under the new entity. According to Khosla, the growth started Rajasthan Patrika as an evening newspaper in 1956. MEDIA The printing press business will con- strategy ahead will depend on diver- He was a journalist, a thinker, a philosopher and a poet. tinue to remain with Infomedia18. sifying across media such as digital, Network18 Publishing will on-ground and other value added encompass three divisions of services. He cites the examples of Aidem Ventures> Independent media consulting, Infomedia18 - business to consumer the auto magazines published by the marketing and advertising sales company Aidem Ventures (B2C) magazines, business to busi- company, which has delved into vari- has been roped in to handle the advertising sales duties for ous available channels Aidem will digital marketing company Getit for the next five years. With and even began pub- handle ad-sales this, Aidem will market Getit’s synergistic product suite to lishing Hindi versions duties for brands, agencies and corporates. The product suite includes to serve a larger audi- Getit for the a free-deals site, www.Getithotdeals.in, mall locator www. ence. Next in line, he next five years. Getitmalls.com and B2B platform www.tradeget.com, along says, are the photogra- with micro-communities in key verticals such as automotive, phy magazines. weddings, young-moms, gadgets, travel, fashion and food. ness (B2B) magazines “Considering and business directo- At the helm the strong traction ries division (BDD). of things will of our brands in key News X> Information TV, owned by ITV Group and The B2C maga- be Sandeep consumer and busi- its associates, has acquired INX News, which owns the zines include nine ness communities, English news channel News X. News X was on the market titles such as Better Khosla, earlier our focus will be to for a while now. The channel was originally owned by Interiors, CHIP, T3 CEO, publishing, leverage this across INX Media. It was launched in March, 2008. It was taken and AVMAX, amongst areas including print, over by Indi Media Network in January, 2009, which is a partnership between then Nai Duniya CEO, Vinay Chhajlani others. While in B2B, Infomedia18 who new media, on-ground and Jehangir Pocha. Pocha, erstwhile CEO and editor-in- there are 11 titles which he will now be activation and value- chief of News X, will continue to work as editor-in-chief. include Search, Auto CEO, Network18 added services,” says Monitor, Chemical Khosla. World, Modern Publishing. On the develop- Machine Tools and ment, B Sai Kumar, The agency VML Qais>VML Qais, a full service digital agency, so far others. The Business Directories group CEO, Network18 says in a has been based in Singapore, has announced the launch of its India include multi-city editions of Yellow press statement, “We believe that operations with its office in Mumbai. VML Qais is the Asian handling major arm of the VML Network, WPP Group’s pure play digital Pages Business Directories, Machine the special interest and B2B spaces Indian brands Tool Guide, apart from four others. will be one of the key drivers for agency network. The agency has been handling major Indian brands such as Mahindra & Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Revlon, Network18 Publishing will also publishing in India, both in print although from Tata Motors and manage production and circulation and new media. With Network18 Singapore. Mahindra two-wheelers. operations for titles from the Forbes Publishing, we’ve aligned our assets India stable, which currently includes to capitalise on this trend both from Forbes India and Forbes Life India. a community building as well as a At the helm of things will be commercial perspective. Going for- Sandeep Khosla, earlier chief execu- ward, as publishing models develop, ESPN-STAR Sports>ESPN-STAR tive officer, publishing, Infomedia18; this alignment will significantly Sports has bagged the telecast rights for the Sri Lanka Premier League, making it he will now hold the designation enhance our market proposition.” the sixth Twenty20 format series in the broadcaster’s bouquet. ESPN-STAR Sports will be the exclusive broadcaster of the league in India, while QUOTE OF THE FORTNIGHT it has also acquired broadcast rights for 16 other South Asian countries including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Hong ‘‘We have observed that Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Nepal and Macau. although the family continues to be at the centre of all the Creative Channel>The Sahib Chopra-promoted Creative shows in Hindi GEC, the focus Channel Advertising and Marketing has launched a channel has shifted from dealing with in the Hindi music space, christened Khushboo TV. The family problems to social company also offers the Hindi movie channel, Manoranjan TV. Initially, Khushboo TV will be available on cable and satellite issues.’’ connections. However, it may be extended to DTH platforms NITIN VAIDYA, FORMER BUSINESS HEAD, HINDI CHANNELS, STAR INDIA later. The free-to-air channel’s official launch was on August ON HINDI GECS HIGHLIGHTING SOCIAL CAUSES ON TV IN INDIAN EXPRESS. 1. Khushboo TV will telecast music, mostly from the pre-2000 era targeting the non-metro audiences.

8 afaqs! Reporter, August 1-15, 2012

TAPROOT 1(:6%8//(7,1 7DSSLQJ1RQ0DVV Sponsored by gnello Dias and Santosh led by Purushottam Joshi, direc- Padhi-led Taproot has tor. It will function mainly from Aannounced the launch of its Mumbai, and in case of national level new unit, TRIP. The new division execution, it will work through its specialises in non-mass media and multi-city network tie up. Larsen & Toubro> Larsen & Toubro Finance (LTF), production activities and will there- “There is a disconnect between a subsidiary of Larsen and Toubro (L&T) in the financial fore focus on solutions such as POS, what kind of state-of-the-art technol- services space, is currently on the lookout for a creative brand signage, in-shop displays, mer- ogy is available in the market versus agency. The pitch process that began recently is underway chandise, exhibitions what’s being used, or in Mumbai. As per market estimates, media spends are and events. rather how it’s being pegged at `40 crore. L&T Finance was incorporated as a The duo, Dias and used to reach consum- non-banking finance company in November, 1994. It offers a Padhi, co-founders ers. In fact, ventures range of financial products and services for trade, industry and creative direc- like TRIP can bridge and agriculture. tors of Taproot India, the divide between says, “The industry brands and consumers spends on retail/on- across non mass-media The brand first Louis Philippe> Louis Philippe, ground/merchandise touch points in a more advertised on the premium apparel brand from are already steep but relevant and effective Madura Garments, is in the process TV in 2000; of meeting creative agencies in Bengaluru. The team plans sadly, the quality needs way,” says Joshi. the TVC was to rope in an ad agency that is based in Bengaluru or one to improve much more Joshi, who has over that has prominent presence in the city. Contract Advertising to honestly justify 25 years of experience, created by Ogilvy Bengaluru. Bengaluru has been involved with the creative duties of Louis those spends. This sort holds a diploma in mass Philippe in the recent past. The brand first advertised on TV in ADVERTISING of service does exist in communication from 2000; the TVC was created by Ogilvy Bengaluru. international markets, Mumbai University. where once the big Purushottam Joshi He started his career N K Proteins> Edible oil company N K Proteins is The new division currently scouting for a creative partner. The process is specialises in non-mass anchored in Ahmedabad. The pitch is specifically for a new set of brands that the company plans to add to its product media and production portfolio. These upcoming brands belong to the edible activities such as POS, oil category, a space in which the company already has prominent presence. The new brands will be launched in the brand signage, in-shop market soon. Currently, Mudra handles the creative duties for displays, merchandise, the company’s existing oil brands. exhibitions and events. It will be led by >> ACCOUNT MOVEMENT Purushottam Joshi > From Here On Communications has won the PAVITR SAITH as director. creative and media duties for eyewear company, Aureole (L) Santosh Padhi and Agnello Dias Inspecs, a JV between Aureole India and British eyewear idea is arrived at, the creative services with Mudra Communication (now company Inspecs. This is the first time that the company execution team, with their practical DDB Mudra Group) as production has assigned its media planning and buying duties to an knowledge of on-ground and retail manager in 1989. Over the years, he agency. Previously, the media duties were managed by space, takes the idea forward in a was promoted as senior production an in-house team. The size of the business is in the range of 12-15 crore. The account was earlier managed by more engaging, entertaining and controller. After 10 years, he moved ` Innocean Worldwide India. effective way. To the extent that at to Euro RSCG as head, production. times, most clients do brief the set of He made his next move after five and teams independently, like one does a half years, as he joined JWT, where to a research or a digital agency.” he held the position of senior direc- > Grey Bengaluru has been awarded the The new outfit will be tor, creative services. creative duties of Pigeon Home Appliances, manufacturer of professional kitchen appliances, a brand from the stable of Stovekraft. Media spends QUOTE OF THE FORTNIGHT are pegged at about `40 crore. The win is the result of a multi-agency pitch process. The upcoming ad campaign is likely to break in a couple of months. Conventional media vehicles such as TV, print and outdoor will be mobilised. Mindshare handles the ‘‘We can design new types of media mandate for the brand. media inventory, called ‘trust ads’, an opt-in pull marketing > DDB Mudra has bagged the creative mandate for Royal Challenge, the liquor paradigm where people can brand from United Spirits, a part of the Bengaluru-based UB (United Breweries) Group. Royal Challenge is a whisky brand that is commonly referred to as ‘RC’. The pick the brands they want in agency’s Bengaluru branch will handle the business. As per market estimates, the their digital lives.’’ media spends are in the region of `15-20 JUDY SHAPIRO, CEO AND FOUNDER, ENGAGE SIMPLY AND CHIEF BRAND crore. The development is the result of a ADVISOR, CLOUDLINUX, ON CONSUMER CONTROL OVER ADS, IN ADAGE.COM multi-agency pitch process that concluded recently.

10 afaqs! Reporter, August 1-15, 2012

1(:6$'9(57,6,1* AGENCIES Funny Tags In the communications industry, designations say it all, especially when they are funny, entertaining and even daring. afaqs! Reporter explores the story behind these quirky designations. By Ashwini Gangal

or long, the corporate world has used des- ahead with ‘CEO’ or ‘MD’, instead chose the title ignations as an ego-boosting tool for its ‘Founder and Soundsmith’ when he started his Femployees. The advertising and media agency BrandMusiq, a sonic branding company. industry was no different. This serves a larger purpose - it not only But of late, the Indian advertising and media embodies the nature of his own role at the agency industry has found a new functionality to designa- but more importantly, sums up the agency’s role tions. They are not just funny and entertaining, they in the market - the company plans music strategies are daring as well. For instance, a senior member of a popular digital agency is called ‘Hunterwali’ on the official card. “Initially, it didn’t Designations like ‘Brandsmith’, ‘Son of a make sense for Glitch’, ‘Media Evangelist’, ‘Head Maven’, ‘Chief Incelligence Officer’ and ‘Brand parent, friend us to have cards and nurturer’ have become commonplace of late. with ‘CEO’ and and soundscapes for brands. And interestingly, the trend is not restricted to the “We are in a unique space. Had we gone for the junior and mid-level employees. People who’d ‘CD’ since there usual designations like ‘Founder-Director’, we’d otherwise be called ‘CEO’ are making no bones were just two of have missed a trick. This way, we stand out and about calling themselves ‘Right Brain’. us in the agency.” get to explain what we are all about through our On the international circuit, there have been designations,” Raja explains. ROHIT RAJ innovative titles - remember Neil French, the He tried to capture the novelty of what the ‘Creative Godfather’ of WPP? And more recently, RIGHT BRAIN agency does through his designation. The high Peter Vesterbacka, creator of the super hit video FOTOCORP recall value of the title is just an added bonus, game Angry Birds, who goes by the title ‘Mighty he insists. Raja’s partner J Mani is ‘Founder and Eagle’ at Rovio Mobile. Brandsmith’. So this way, their respective roles are As for designations, Indian communication “This way, we also clear to clients; Raja crafts sounds and Mani agencies have taken a turn down Funnyville. stand out and get does the brand thinking part. afaqs! Reporter unfolds the story behind these quirky designations and finds out what motivates to explain what REFLECTION OF PERSONALITY professionals to take to such bizarre yet innovative we are all about.” TRAITS and sometimes entertaining gimmicks. RAJEEV RAJA or Naren Multani, director at Equinox Films, Fhis former designation of ‘Chief Happiness SUMMING UP THE JOB ROLE FOUNDER AND Officer’ at McCann Erickson had a lot to do s it turns out, these designations are more SOUNDSMITH with his fun-loving nature. “Prasoon (Joshi) gave Athan just bizarre words. They often reflect the me this designation because I am a cheerful and job role of the person in question. quirky person by nature. It was like labelling my FOTOCORP For instance, at The Glitch, a digital marketing personality,” he says. Besides handling the films and creative agency, co-founders Rohit Raj and “Prasoon gave department at the agency, he was also responsible Varun Duggirala go by the designations ‘Right for spreading happiness in the organisation. Brain’ and ‘Left Brain’, respectively. As the titles me this designa- Did his colleagues take this part of his job suggest, Raj heads the creative department and tion since I am a description seriously? “Yes,” he says, “They’d Duggirala heads the business side. actually come to me with their problems.” Multani “When we first started pitching for work, it cheerful person. adds that often such bizarre titles are a means to didn’t make sense for us to have cards with ‘CEO’ It’s like labelling motivate people internally and bind them. Besides, and ‘CD’ because anyway, there were just the two my personality.” such designations can make an agency a fun place of us in the company. So we thought this was the to work at, especially if it is a start-up. NAREN MULTANI best way to define our roles,” explains Raj. When the staff strength grew, this culture got CHIEF HAPPINESS DOUBLE MEANING carried forward. Employees coming in, insisted OFFICER lso, sometimes, the quirky designation has

on similar designations and weren’t satisfied with FOTOCORP Atwo meanings, that is, it doubles up as a seri- titles like ‘Producer’ or ‘Copywriter’. Initially ous, descriptive job title as well as a light-hearted all the senior level producers were called ‘Son “We play as a and entertaining label for the person. For example, of a Glitch’. Gradually this became the culture Mogae Media’s Tushar Dhingra is the company’s of the company. Today, the agency even has a team of equals. ‘Chief Delights Officer’. While the title sums up ‘Postmaster’, the authority who heads post-pro- Ideas don’t the nature of his job, namely, to look after the duction work. acknowledge discounts, deals and delights space at the agency, it also tags him as someone who is responsible for CONVEYING THE AGENCY’S ROLE hierarchy; they spreading joy within the premises. ig a little further and there are a few other can come from Dpurposes that these fancy designations serve. ARE CLIENTS COOL WITH IT? For some, resorting to innovative titles is a anyone.” ntertaining as they are, clients can react quick way of conveying what the agency has MAHESH CHAUHAN Eto this trend in one of the two ways: A to offer. Rajeev Raja, who could’ve easily gone NO DESIGNATION FRQWLQXHGRQSDJH>> FOTOCORP

12 afaqs! Reporter, August 1-15, 2012

1(:6$'9(57,6,1* HCL From Provider to Partner Through its new brand campaign, HCL has been positioned as an innovative IT solutions partner. By Ashwini Gangal

fter a brief hiatus, global technology and IT enterprise HCL has launched a new cor- Aporate multimedia advertising campaign. Following a quick teaser film, the new TVC that has been launched brings about a strategic shift in the brand positioning from ‘a regular IT services provider’ to ‘an innovative IT solutions partner’. The brand’s core value proposition, ‘Technology That Touches Lives’ has, however, been retained. The ‘conceptual campaign’, as Draftfcb Ulka calls it, aims to position HCL as an innovative, out-of-the-box technology solutions organisation. The film features the familiar characters ‘Mr. HCL’ - the brand brand was positioned as an IT at every stage in our lives. It was critical to com- advocate through whom HCL’s and tech conglomerate. Over the municate this in a manner that did not dilute the product benefits are usually dem- years, the two characters ‘Mr. mindshare of the previous campaigns. This made onstrated - and ‘Mr. Banker’ HCL’ and ‘Mr. Banker’ have us retain the two central characters, while giving - a character that represents the been featured in several ad films the theme a cerebral twist.” HCL customer, who becomes for the brand. Through their the primary beneficiary in the relationship, the brand has been DOES THE SHIFT WORK? communication. conveying that it handles cus- ccording to Jitender Dabas, executive vice- Saurav Adhikari, president, tomer relationships in a humane Apresident and head, planning, McCann corporate strategy, HCL, says, and empathetic way. Erickson, ‘Mr. HCL’ is an advertising property “While we still retain our core From a communication per- that the brand has not leveraged optimally. “The brand proposition of creating spective, through this current character is well established and they could’ve solutions that impact lives, the campaign, HCL has transitioned pushed the envelope much more here to demon- new campaign highlights the from the ‘who’ - that is, giving strate ‘innovation’. The example used to deliver ‘HCL way of thinking’, namely, consumers information about the the message (the part where ‘Mr. HCL’ starts a instantaneous and resourceful.” Singh: the cerebral twist company and conveying the scale life-saving fire using gadgets) also falls short of This is a shift from the previ- of the company’s business, to the showing ‘innovation’; it shows more of ‘ingenuity’ ous campaigns that primarily shared information ‘how’ - that is, explaining how things are done at and ‘cleverness’ than ‘innovation’,” he adds. about the brand’s tech- HCL. Therefore, keeping this shift in mind, the Dabas prefers the previous campaigns, particu- nological expertise. ad paints HCL as a company that understands the larly the ones in which the character was created. HCL had launched needs of its customers and solves them with smart, “I thought that was quite a smart and effortless way its first television brand effective solutions, as portrayed (albeit figuratively). of personifying a service brand,” he reasons. campaign in 2007. At Shiveshwar Singh, group creative director, Also, he is unsure whether consumers will the time, the tagline Draftfcb Ulka, explains, “The need was to take grasp the intended strategic step-up (from ‘an IT ‘Technology that touch- the brand to the next level and position HCL as es lives’ was used. The a technology partner that continues to impact us FRQWLQXHGRQSDJH>>

<< FRQWLQXHGIURPSDJH differently.” weird. It should be subtle. The sub- OTHER WAYS TO BE “Fun, youth brands in particular tlety brings forth the underlying DIFFERENT love such stuff. Yes, sometimes it creativity,” Bhattacharya addresses as nd then there are those prefering Funny... can be a culture shock, but a pleasant a warning. Ato stay away from designations one,” he further adds. Raj (Right Brain) says, “It gives altogether. At creative start-up Salt whimsical, out-of-the-box desig- He, however, cautions that things clients a certain amount of confi- Brand Solutions, no one has a des- nation can either be an active ignation, not even the founders. demonstration of the agency’s Co-founder (a title that germinated creativity and tip the scales in For some, resorting to innovative titles is more in the media than at the agency) favour of the agency at the pitch Mahesh Chauhan explains the rea- stage, or it may be interpreted as a quick way of conveying what the agency son behind this, saying, “We play as a an indication of the agency’s flip- team of equals. Ideas don’t acknowl- pant and casual attitude towards has to offer. edge hierarchy; they can come from business. So which one is it? anyone. We prefer to let respect be Ekalavya Bhattacharya, head, digi- like funky visiting cards only or dence in us. Once, I handed my commanded, not demanded.” tal, MTV India, says, “It’s a great whacky designations work well when visiting card to a CEO. He just Either way, looks like resorting to conversation starter. And it makes executed properly. smiled. Later, I found out that he such tactics is an upfront, daring and the agency come across as a company “It’s important not to be in-your- was adamant that we must handle risky attempt at showing self-belief that does things differently and has face with it. If it comes across as too their brand. His son loved my card and standing out in the crowd. „ taken the trouble to position itself forced, it can be risky as it may appear and title.” [email protected]

16 afaqs! Reporter, August 1-15, 2012

1(:6$'9(57,6,1* HAVELLS Flowery Proposal Havells’ new television campaign is based on the idea of demonstrating the advantages of a product, in this case the newly launched mixer-grinder. By Anushree Bhattacharyya

roduct demonstrations always stand a better chance of leaving a mark. The new cam- Ppaign from Havells India, which promotes the newly launched mixer-grinder, showcases the advantages of the machine in a typically Havells way. The television commercial (TVC) shows a housewife steaming idlis (rice cakes) - one of the most preferred breakfast dishes in South India. The idlis are then carried by a small boy and to

describe idlis which are as soft as jasmine flowers. And for such soft idlis, the batter has to be very finely ground. For this, one needs a mixer-grinder. It is here that the mixer-grinder from Havells plays a very pertinent role.” The TVC is currently on air across various channels.

TRUE TO PROMISE ndustry experts give thumbs up to the television Icommercial and feel that the TVC depicts the product value interestingly. Sambit Mohanty, executive creative director, Bates opines that Havells has stood out as a brand largely due to its quirky advertising. According to him, this advertisement is a proof that product windows do not make a commercial, rather an idea does. “Everybody wants their idlis soft and fluffy, so ‘phool jaise idli’ is a nice idiom and it’s been used well in this television commercial for Havells mixer-grinders. What I liked is the over-the-top execution and the funky Carnatic sax - makes it just perfect,” adds Mohanty. “A wonderful and sharp insight that trans- forms a very regional insight into an equally fantastic creative. It’s memorable and effective at the same time, and manages to capture the

everyone’s surprise, the idlis are used by the fam- “As 70 per cent of ily members as a substitute for flowers, to decorate the entire house for an auspicious occasion. the mixer-grinder “The thumb rule A Vijay Narayanan, vice-president, Havells market is domi- for all Havells India, says, “Basically, the idea was to promote the newly introduced mixer-grinder, which has nated by South advertisement is a powerful motor along with a tougher grinder. India, the TVC to talk about the As 70 per cent of the mixer-grinder market is mainly targets dominated by South India, the TVC mainly targets product benefit.” women down South. Idli is a very popular dish women there.” SRIRAM IYER there and hence we further toyed with the idea.” VIJAY NARAYANAN Sriram Iyer, creative head, Lowe Lintas & Partners, Delhi, explains, “The thumb rule for all Havells advertisement is to talk about the product functionality of the category in an effective yet benefit. In this case, it was the mixer-grinder that Industry experts interesting manner. The new age twist to a tra- the company wanted to promote. Being South feel that the TVC depicts ditional Carnatic soundtrack is the icing on the Indian, has some benefits, especially in case of cake. All in all, a fantastic creative piece!” says knowing the food of the state. In Tamil Nadu, the product value Vivek Dutta, vice-president, planning, Cheil people want very soft idlis, so much so that there Worldwide SW Asia. „ is an expression, ‘Maligapoo Madiri’, used to interestingly. [email protected]

18 afaqs! Reporter, August 1-15, 2012

1(:6',*,7$/ NLP CAPTCHA JOCKEY Learning to Play No Compromise The new campaign positions Branded Captcha player NLPCaptcha takes its offering to the next the brand as an ultimate level, introducing Captchas that require no typing on the part of the innerwear brand through the user but plays on the principle of action. By Biprorshee Das tagline, ‘Jockey or nothing’. By Anushree Bhattacharyya

hen one thinks of an innerwear or lingerie brand, one either visualises Wa macho Indian man trying to win over his girl or a sexy woman trying to seduce her man. Traditionally, innerwear brands have been associated with mainly two words - sex or machoism. The new campaign from Jockey breaks away from the old classic approach and shows the innerwear brand in a new avatar, as it positions the brand as ultimate innerwear, saying ‘Jockey or nothing’. The TVCs, titled ‘Dog’ and ‘Football’, show-

ver found those verification N-Gage, Amit Mittal, co- “The brief we procedures wherein you are founder, NLPCaptcha, says, got from the Erequired to type a set of distort- “Effective user engagement is company was this ed letters that appear on your screen, the key to long lasting, posi- irritating and distracting? Captchas, tive brand recall and N-Gage one line, ‘Jockey as they are commonly known, are Captchas provide a perfect or nothing’.” tests - a spam verification tool used to platform for the same. It helps RAVI DESHPANDE ensure that the user is a person. the advertisers to actually and NLPCaptcha, a Captcha-based truly engage with their target

advertising platform by Noida-based customers. We have already FOTOCORP Simpli5d Technologies launched ear- filed a patent for these new lier this year, attempts to monetise the format of Captchas and with case two extreme conditions. While the first tool, incorporating brand messages in the digital advertisement space TVC shows the girl and the dog’s unconditional Captchas, rather than offering the tra- growing at a rapid pace, I am love for each other, the second one, ‘Football’, ditional type-in model for advertisers sure NLPCaptcha is set to gar- shows the spirit of young players whose ultimate and publishers. ner a substantial pie of these goal is to ‘play to win’ or not to play at all. Besides the above mentioned digital spends.” Explaining the concept, Ravi Deshpande, opportunity, NLPCaptcha has pushed According to NLPCaptcha, chairman and chief creative officer, Contract the envelope, introducing its new line besides being a pleasing user Advertising, says, “The brief we got from the of action-based Captchas - ‘N-Gage’. experience and a unique company was this one line, ‘Jockey or nothing’. The new format attempts to turn the platform for consumer engage- We then used the line to elaborate the meaning, tool that is often seen as a security ment, the technology also which is either the best or nothing. We added nuisance into a fun activity. provides for much more secure further meaning by creating conversations and The N-Gage line of Captchas and stronger spam verification. showcased metamorphic situations, where one follows a different format for spam NLP Captcha’s new Captcha, The company has recently is not ready to compromise.” verification. Rather than a traditional N-gage launched a campaign based on Interestingly, type-in Captcha, wherein a user has the aforementioned idea for throughout the films, the to first interpret the tricky, distorted Reliance 3G, wherein the user agency has refrained from alphabets and then type them in for is required to click on a mov- displaying the product - verification, N-Gage plays on the ing Blue Bot in the Captcha to a usual format followed principle of action. The user will see complete verification. by most brands. “While an interactive graphic/video in the While working with pub- working on the concept, Captcha. lishers and brands such as we made sure that we The user is then required to Toyota, Aircel, Lufthansa, avoided the usual pattern perform a specific action - click on Indian Express Group, India followed, which is mainly something in the Captcha or drag Today Group and Times related to machoism, sex- the cursor. This action completes Group, among others, Mittal is ual overtones and finally, good looks. The idea the verification process and the user confident that the technology here was to bring out the playful character of the gets a chance to experience product will catch on and looks good to brand, creating a healthy conversation - basically communication, which the advertiser change how the Captcha space ensuring that the brand can be discussed com- wants to convey. operates. „ Explaining the advantages of Mittal: brand recall [email protected] FRQWLQXHGRQSDJH>>

20 afaqs! Reporter, August 1-15, 2012

35(6(176 &$03$,*175$,/ New campaigns across television, print, out-of-home and digital media. TELEVISION

CLEAN & CLEAR SERVO (INDIAN OIL) CADBURY DAIRY MILK The brand has used the winners of the Clean & Clear Engine oil brand Servo, from Indian Oil, has released a new With Friendship Day around the corner, the new ad in the Times Fresh Face Contest as the faces of Clean & Clear in TVC underlining its promise, ‘Add Servo. Add Life.’The TVC Cadbury Dairy Milk Shubh Aarambh series is now on air. their communication where they replicated the best friend shows a sleepy child who drops his stumps on the toy car, The ad shows a young man and woman meeting for the morning story. set it in motion. first time at a wedding, and bonding over similarities in the Agency: Draftfcb Ulka eccentric relatives in their families. Creative Agency: DDB Mudra NCD: K S Chakravarthy Chairman & CCO: Sonal Dabral Creative Team: Haresh Moorjani, Mehul Patil, Ranjit Agency: Ogilvy Mumbai Executive Creative Director: Louella Rebello Debnath and Jitesh Ramakrishnan National Creative Director: Abhijit Avasthi Group Creative Director: Hanoz Mogrelia Production house: ‘No If No But’ Films Group creative directors: Manoj Shetty, Vijay Sawant PRINT VOLKSWAGEN STAYFREE ITC MAURYA JETTA TSI The ad is about the Master Chef The print ad simply talks cause that Stayfree Koisumi arrives at of the speed in of the is supporting. It The Pavilion for a new Jetta. 0 to 100 in shows a woman with food festival. The 11.9 seconds. a young girl and talks communication is for about how hygiene, all the Delhites to health and a happy get excited about the life is every woman’s same. right. The campaign tried to build up the confidence of all rural women or girl who are face various kinds of inconvenience during their menstrual period. Creative Agency: DDB Mudra, Mumbai Chief Creative Officer: Sonal Dabral National Creative Director: Rajeev Raja Creative Agency: McCann Erickson, India Creative Agency: Aspiration Advertising, Bengaluru, Creative Directors: Sreejith Kodoth, Ranjit Sasidharan Chairman and CCO: Prasoon Joshi India Copywriter/Art Director: Sreejith Kodoth Creative Director: Anshumani Khanna Creative: Team Aspiration India OOH DIGITAL SANANDA TV The creative showcase the host of the show Mir Afsar Ali, highlighting the launch of the show Jabab Kinte Chai. The team has done various media-mixes like billboards, foot over bridges, bridge VODAFONE panels, flyover pillars The out-of-home (OOH) innovation display 3D cut-outs of among others to catch AIRTEL various singers. One of the cut-outs moves up and LED- the attention of the In a run up to Friendship Day, Airtel is attempting to embedded hoarding makes it more attractive. The creative audience. Temporary create the world’s biggest live digital friendship band. highlights the song catcher service offered by the brand. cut-outs of the creatives were also placed at the strategic An Airtel Friendship app on Facebook has been created junctions of the city. inviting people to join in by tagging their friends.

Agency: Bates Landscape Agency: Outdoor Advertising Professionals (OAP) Exposure: Delhi Exposure: West Bengal Agency: JWT

Got some great campaign that has been published recently? Upload it on afaqs! for the world to see. Visit: www.afaqs.com/advertising/creative_showcase

22 afaqs! Reporter, August 1-15, 2012 DR FIXIT LW+ A Strong Bond The company plans to roll out the on-ground activation, Shaadi Ka Atoot Bandhan, in 68 other cities. By Jhumur Nandi

of marriage in general, interwo- ven with bonds between the two products. Later, a demonstration audio visual recording was project- ed along with LW+ commercials. Anil Jayaraj, chief marketing officer, Pidilite Industries, said, “The brief to the agency was to create a high impact activation to

haadi Ka Atoot Bandhan, an on-ground activation high- Marriage was Slighted the main feature of Dr Fixit LW+, Pidilite’s advanced shown as an liquid waterproofing material for concrete, mortar and plaster. It is a inseparable bond cement additive that makes the con- crete resistant to moisture ingress, between cement which in turn prevents rusting and Dr Fixit LW+. establish the message that when- of rebars. ever, wherever you use cement, The objective of this activation adding Dr Fixit LW+ is a must. was to engage with the end users get group and invited them to the I believe Shaadi Ka Atoot Bandhan and give them the message that event. A ‘lucky dip’ contest was has been critical in connecting with whenever one uses cement, Dr also organised. This was followed the consumers and driving the Fixit LW+ must be added to it. To by an actual marriage event of Dr core message.” establish this core message, the con- Fixit LW+ with Cement, wherein Commenting on the activ- cept of Shaadi Ka Atoot Bandhan was a pundit spoke about the concept ity, Amrita Kumar, managing created, wherein a person was made partner, Candid Marketing, said, Dr Fixit and the other, ‘Cement’, “The Shaadi concept was an inno- and both got married to each vative way of communicating the other. The marriage was shown product proposition and worked as an inseparable bond between very well for Dr Fixit LW+. We cement and Dr Fixit LW+ that was aim to reach over 68 cities through designed as a core creative strategy out the year.” to attain the set of objectives. The activation was concep- Actual invitation cards for the tualised and executed by brand ‘marriage’ were distributed among activation agency Candid Marketing dealers by traditionally dressed in Lucknow on July 19. „ promoters who educated the tar- Kumar: playing match-maker [email protected]

Stories featured on this page highlight innovative marketing techniques using various media vehicles like print, digital and out-of-home. 1(:63(23/( '(),1,1*020(176 The Mental Musafir ANAND HALVE the 20th of the month when you have no money for breakfast, it doesn’t seem very noble after all”. CO-FOUNDER, CHLOROPHYLL I eventually did make it to IIM Ahmedabad and when I met the people there, I was struck by how, the heart of the monster lay in the academic background. People would introduce themselves as “IIT Delhi, Gold thinkthink the first thingthing I must mention is that medallist”. After I heard a few of them, I said, “I am Delhi University. thethe time when I was in college, if yyouou were Rank 143.” This taught me something important. I learnt that ‘background I doingdoing decently well in studies, you did claims’ are of no consequences. I think the Die Hard character John medicinemedicine or engineering or, maybe, IAS. McClane said it best, ‘It is what you do that makes you the man.’ ThereThere were very few other profes-profes- The third important thing that happened to me was joining Enterprise. sionalsional options people pursued. I had worked at Lintas for eight and a half years and it was great fun. When DoingDoing reasonablyreasonably ookay,kay, I endedended up in medicalmedical school.school. I thinkthink that was the first mile-mile- stone event - not joiningjoining but I discovered that good quittingquitting medical school in creative people and good strategists lessless than a year. It was thethe first time I realised do not have arguments. thatthat ‘if you are notnot enjoyingenjoying something,something, I was joining Enterprise, people dissuaded me. I was told how Mohammed dumpdump it’. Khan (the founder) is a quintessential creative person - the right brain guy A friend,friend, - while I was the analytical left brain person and that we would find no manymany yearsyears meeting point. However, I found that the left and right do meet. I discov- later,later, gavegave ered that good creative people and good strategists do not have arguments. meme a phrase. It is insecure creatives and bad strategists who have fights. HeHe said, “If you Another thing, I must add, which definitely is a defining moment hap- dodo thingsthings you pened a few years ago. For a long time, there has been a notion that people believebelieve in, even ifif from management schools - especially IIM-A - are not entrepreneurial. youyou fail, at least youyou are Thus a book - Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish - written by Rashmi Bansal that the victim of youryour own bias-bias- featured 25 alumni from the Institute who had done their own thing. It was es.”es.” I went ahead with mmyy requested that the email IDs of these 25 were put at the end of the book BScBSc at the end of which, so that people knew how to get in touch with them. The reality of what I was just as confused as is actually turning on India would not have come through to me as richly I was when I quit medimedi-- and as authentically as it has, thanks to the people who have written having calcal college.college. ThatThat was a found my email id in that book. timetime when managementmanagement I am what I call a ‘Mental Musafir’. I love the idea of intellectual explo- educationeducation and the IIMs ration. Across my work experience, I have come across three people who were justjust beginning to get have had an intuitive sense about what communication is. One was Alyque popular. I wanted to be Padamsee, at Lintas. Then, there was Khan at Enterprise. And briefly, a lecturer but my father between the two, I worked in a start up agency called Fulcrum, set up by hadhad beenbeen one andand hehe Kersy Katrak. What I learnt from all of them is not to get carried away, not said,said, “Lecturing is great to be burdened with the desire to be intellectual and not intelligent. „ FOTOCORP fun.fun. It is noblenoble butbut by As told to Biprorshee Das

1(:6',*,7$/ STAR WORLD Cooking up a Digital Storm The app, created and conceptualised by Grey Digital, allows netizens to wear the chef’s hat and create their own dishes to make the longest buffet table. News Bureau

n an attempt to tap on the popularity of MasterChef Australia, Star World India has Ilaunched a Facebook campaign called the Social Buffet. As part of the campaign which is conceptualised and created by Grey Digital, STAR has launched a Facebook App Game which requires netizens to don the chef’s hat and create chance to cook the dishes they love their own dishes to make the longest buffet table, with the people they love.” albeit with a MasterChef-like twist. Commenting on the drama of Fans are each assigned a virtual ‘kitchen’ and are competition and the broadening of prompted to create a buffet. The only way they can culinary horizons through the app, complete a dish is by inviting friends from their Sudhir Nair, senior vice-president Facebook network, who become various ingre- and head of Grey Digital India, adds, dients that come together to form a dish on the “We Indians are social by nature. Part buffet table. The one with the longest buffet table of big families, we love eating togeth- stands a chance to win a return trip to Australia. er and we love drama. With this basic Saurabh Yagnik, business head, English insight, social media was the obvious channels, STAR India, says, “Our research and choice. This is where the inherent social nature of Facebook came to life as participants used their social con- nections to fuel participation.” consumer preference The result is the proof of the proverbial mapping showed that MasterChef pudding. Social Buffet has seen over Indian audiences for 75,000 game plays, with more than 5,000 dish- MasterChef Australia es. Navin Kansal, group creative director, Grey truly love the food, Digital India, says, “What is mouth-watering about especially watching it these numbers is that players of the game alone being cooked and are were responsible for approximately 2,00,000 direct extremely involved social connections, which resulted in an average in the journey of the connection request conversion of 22 per cent - a contestants as well as reflection of the high organic spread the campaign the judges. Hence we has effectively managed to achieve.” „ (L to R) Yagnik, Nair and Kansal: the social buffet sought to give them a [email protected]

<< FRQWLQXHGIURPSDJH years, tends to put pressure on the one’s favourite whipping boy, eh?” the previous positioning more than storytelling front, especially while If one were to view this ad and the new one. “It strengthens the From... trying to say something different. tick-mark a checklist of all the things ‘IT services provider’ part more, services provider’ to ‘an innovative Satbir Singh, managing part- HCL is involved in, says Singh, the adding ‘in all walks of life.’ The IT solutions partner’) because the ner and chief creative officer, Euro mission is accomplished. ‘innovative’ part is rather muted,” presence of a strong familiar char- RSCG India, quips interrogatively, However, he adds that the TVC, he says. „ acter across the campaign, over the “The investment banker is every- quite ironically, serves to reinforce [email protected]

32,1762)9,(: Has Google Missed the Social Media Bus? Despite its efforts on social media, Google has - barring YouTube - not met with the kind of success it would have liked. Has it been left behind in the ‘social media race’? By Biprorshee Das

6$1-$<0(+7$ 6+8%+26(1*837$ /$.6+0,3$7+<%+$7 Joint CEO, Social Wavelength Independent Consultant Vice President, DraftFCB Ulka SUSHIL KUMAR YES, IN THE TRUE SENSE OF THE GOOGLE HAS CERTAINLY LOST IF THE ‘SOCIAL MEDIA BUS’ WORD, GOOGLE HAS MISSED THE THE RACE AGAINST FACEBOOK. IS DEFINED NARROWLY AS SOCIAL MEDIA BUS. BUT THEN, THERE’S MORE PLATFORMS THAT ALLOW WE HAVE HAD ERAS OF THE TO SOCIAL MEDIA THAN INSTANT SHARING OF DESKTOP, THE BROWSER, SEARCH FACEBOOK, AND A FEW YEARS OBSERVATIONS, COMMENTS AND and now Social. Each era was domi- from now, who knows? links, then Google clearly hasn’t been a nated by a different player. The only Google is the Internet, as we know it. It runaway success. exception was when the desktop domi- is still early years for social media, and put But let’s not forget YouTube and nator Microsoft managed to react late together social search, android (Facebook is its role in creating and sharing content and came back to win the browser war. struggling on mobile, at least perception-wise), that populates the above platforms - be Otherwise, it has been a different player, sexier email and video and things could just be it Facebook or Twitter. So, they really straddling different spaces. different, very different. haven’t missed the bus in that sense. Google had search. It does not have There is another thing, from an advertising YouTube has been tweaked over the Social. Period. That said, it could have point of view. Brands are increasingly feeling years to make it a must-visit aspect of had a role in the social-dominated world, that Facebook’s ROI is a little more compli- your social media activity - from ease of if only it would focus there. Instead cated than it should be, compared to Google. posting content to sharing. of striving to be a player in the social That could affect Facebook, revenue-wise. So, Google may not have realised how space as well, if Google declares peace Google’s work is cut out: just keep building big and game-changing Facebook or with all social players (mainly Facebook social elements into whatever it is they are Twitter will grow up to be. And when and Twitter) and creates great search doing, buy out smaller specialists when they they launched their own versions ini- skills that enable the social world to be can (Twitter), and they will own the social eco- tially (Google Buzz, Wave), they seemed searched well on real time, then, we may system at some point. to lack the simplicity and ease of use of have a game here. What will help Google is that its ecosystem choices available. With Google+, I think Otherwise, today, a lot of the search is fairly open to innovators like TapIn (local they have the potential if they keep at it. needs are also going away from Google news + Google maps + social media). But for With the dominance of Android mobile (breaking news gets searched on Twitter, now, social media is Facebook. platforms where Google services are for example). critical and the positive reviews of Nexus 7 tablet, Google has all the more scope to make Google+ ubiquitous.

28 afaqs! Reporter, August 1-15, 2012

1(:60(',$ STAR PLUS Sunday Flavour The new show, Lakhon Mein Ek, which will replace Satyamev Jayate, is based on real life inspirational stories, in a dramatised format. By Raushni Bhagia

he Star Plus-Satyamev Jayate (SMJ) part- sodes, while the consistency will as per the industry sources. nership helped the Hindi general still depend on the stickiness of However, the industry Tentertainment channel (GEC) space wit- the show. Also, there is a vast apparently supports this differ- ness the revival of the dead 11 am slot on Sundays. difference in the marketing entiation in treatment. Experts Now, as SMJ gets ready to come to an end, Star efforts put in by the channel reason that earlier, the channel Plus has decided to keep the slot alive with its new for the two properties on the was not only about to launch a property, once again in the non-fiction genre. same slot. new kind of show for a GEC, Christened Lakhon Mein Ek, the new show will While Satyameva Jayate was but was also trying to bring alive be launched on August 5 and will aim to depict all over the media and social a dead slot. Now that the stage is true and inspirational stories through dramatisa- networks two weeks before its set, the content of the new show tion (quite like Crime has to do the magic. Patrol does for crime Experts unanimously laud the value cases on Sony). The It targets addition through the stories of real life 13-episode series will heroes. However, the industry has mixed opinions have real life stories the same about the charm of the newly awakened Sunday from the common man, audience set morning slot, especially in the celebrity-deprived about the people who format. have done something as SMJ, the A senior media observer opines that it will extraordinary in their obviously be tough to replace Aamir Khan with no lives. It targets the same age group of loss. But yes, STAR has a good marketing network audience set as SMJ, 15-34 years, and it can at least push for the best possible sam- the age group of 15-34 pling of the show. “Now, merely 20 days ahead years belonging to SEC SEC A,B. of the launch, we don’t see any buzz around the A and B. television network, out of home or even on the As per the market launch, Lakhon Mein social media. While it is true that there can be only experts, the channel Ek is evidently set for one tent-pole property for any channel, the show expects the new show a comparatively silent is not even in the farthest mention, as of now.” to garner an average launch. The channel Another media expert appreciates the channel of about 2.5 TVRs. spent approximately ` for taking the dead slot to a higher level. However, the indus- 6 crore to market the A media buyer, on condition of anonymity, try expects Satyameva former, while the latter mentions, “All the shows of a channel can’t be Jayate’s viewership to has been marketed for rub off in the initial epi- not more than a crore, FRQWLQXHGRQSDJH>>

THE HINDU BUSINESS LINE Colourful Weekends The weekly supplement deals with lifestyle, technology and management - related subjects. News Bureau

he publishers of Chennai- based English daily, The THindu have introduced a weekly supplement along with its sell more than Coca-Cola in India?’, business newspaper Business Line, ‘Why is the Amul girl suddenly titled Weekend Life. The eight-page pushing milk, instead of butter?’, pullout will be distributed free of ‘What made a music channel stop cost with Business Line across all airing music?’ and ‘Ever wondered keting. nology companies and offer views centres, every Friday. why European kitchen equipment The eWorld section in the sup- of the top executives from the cor- The content mix of the week- stores are popping up everywhere?’ plement will talk about the latest porate world. ly will deal with the business of The pullout will have a section trends, fads and analysis from the Another section, titled Life, will brands, lifestyle, technology and called Brandline that will deal with world of information technology. have travel writers informing the management-related content. It will the stories, insight and analysis from It will also offer insight into the cover topics such as ‘Does Horlicks the world of advertising and mar- changing business strategies of tech- FRQWLQXHGRQSDJH>>

30 afaqs! Reporter, August 1-15, 2012

60$57,'($

NOKIA Musically Engaging Nokia Mobile Antakshari is available on the RockeTalk application, which allows a number of users to participate in the game simultaneously. By Jhumur Nandi

aking the mobile medium for fit to connect consumers with advertising one step ahead Nokia Asha smartphones. Nokia Tfrom the regular ones, Nokia Mobile Antakshari will enable has partnered with RockeTalk, a millions of music lovers across mobile social networking applica- the country to engage with their tion, and Maxus India to launch favourite game.” Nokia Mobile Antakshari, a unique RockeTalk, which has designed audio game show. and hosts the game, is a mobile The game works on RockeTalk social network where primary user application and allows a number of interactions happen using voice users to participate simultaneously and video. The RockeTalk app in Nokia Antakshari using their also allows multiple innovative mobiles. To participate, one has promotional tools, ranging from to download the application first, audio-enabled banners to multime- wherein various banners run on it. dia broadcasts and free programme The user needs to click on the ban- subscriptions. ners and immediately gets an audio “These days, when most social message in the inbox. After listen- platforms offer nothing more signif- ing to the audio message, the user iicantcant than babanners,n likes and posts, RRockeTalkockeTalk ddifferentiatesi itself by ccreatingreating cuscustomisedt engagement ssolutions,olutions, brabranded social program- mminging and mmultimedia activities. NNokiaokia MobiMobilel Antakshari is just The application is supported oonene sucsuchh exaexample,m albeit something we believe willwi be a trendsetter,” is required to sing a song with the on most phones that are GPRS- said Sameer AAgarwal,ga chief marketing last word of the previous song. The enabled, including both Nokia oofficer,fficer, RockeRockeTalk. song gets to the community and UUnnynn Radhakrishnan, gets propagated through banners. feature phones and Nokia nnationalat director, digi- The application is supported tatal, Maxus India, on most phones that are GPRS- smartphones. ssaid, “At a time enabled, including both Nokia wwhen digital market- feature phones and Nokia smartphones. with digital music in this ccountry.ountry. ining is growing more The campaign highlights how mobile can be We have pioneered manyy initiinitia-a- aaggressiveg on ‘social’ monetised, indicating the mobile marketers to tives in this space startingg with prpresence of brands, go beyond the connect of TV, towards a con- pre-installed music, launchaunch tthishi signals an interest- nect between brands and users that only a social of music albums on mobileobile iingng shift towards social media app can do. phones, Nokia Musicsic mmediaed engagement, In an official communiqué, Viral Oza, direc- Unlimited and now Mixix wwhereher Maxus India, Nokia tor, marketing, Nokia India elaborated on Radio for our Lumia smart-rt- aandnd RRockeTalko are breaking Nokia’s innovative effort to bring India’s most phones. Mobile Antakshariari nnewew ggrounds with Nokia loved game, Antakshari, on the mobile plat- is an interesting concept andnd Radhakrishnan: MMobileobi Antakshari.” „ form. He said, “Nokia has been synonymous provided us with the perfectrfect talking engagement [email protected]

Stories featured on this page highlight innovative usage of media using various vehicles like print, broadcast, digital and out-of-home.

32 afaqs! Reporter, August 1-15, 2012

TRENDCOVER STORY

Bombay Times started something that many others followed. Here’s how a city supplement changed newspaper journalism. By Nisha Menon

with snickers from its many fashion-based magazines for first-time retail and local detractors, both consumers for celebrity-related news. advertisers, readers found the as well as the competition. Bombay Times dished out content inviting. hy is celebrity news termed as Page 3 news? Whatever the global A Page 3 publication was the same stuff faster and the Wdefinition might be, for the TOI it was a technical problem that not a newspaper, felt many. concept clicked with adver- CITY LIGHTS forced it to put up celeb photographs and news on Page 3. Former But the snickers gave way tisers and young readers. According to a media expert, president Guha has an interesting tale to tell. to reluctant admiration as The editorial empha- TOI realised, over time, In the mid ’90s, the TOI did not have the printing capabilities to Bombay Times entrenched sis was on upbeat, youth- that young people just read come out with an all-colour edition for Bombay Times, an eight-page itself. The competition too ful, celebrity news. Comic the free supplement, not supplement. The machine could print colour only on page 1, 3, 6, and 8. followed suit with alacrity. strips, puzzles and health- the main paper. The man- TOI realised that a celebrity page had to be in colour if it had to related news followed. agement, sensing a golden catch the attention of the reader and make him come back for more. The PERFECT MODEL Malavika Sangghvi, former opportunity, believed that if editorial staff’s view was that page one should not carry these stories. Till about two decades ago, editor, Bombay Times, says the frequency of the sup- The response department did not want page 8 to be crowded with one had to wait for fort- that the aim was to cover plement was increased, the pictures as this page was a favourite with advertisers. Left with Page 3 and Page 6, Guha chose the former. In fact the nightly or monthly style or the city holistically. “How chances of youngsters pick- page itself was called ‘Page 3’ (now it is ‘Mumbai is Talking About’). THE BOMBAY TIMES LEGEND

hen Sushmita Sen terms, that means adulthood. and Aishwarya Rai For all these years, Bombay GAME-SEALER Wwere crowned Miss Times has unabashedly been India (Universe and World the purveyor of news that respectively) way back in covered style, glamour and January 1994, few would celebrities. afaqs! Reporter have dreamt that they were explores how a city sup- destined for bigger things. plement triggered off a Blink-and-you-miss sto- new genre of news, swept ries appeared in newspapers the youth off their feet and marking their achievements changed journalism. since much of the space in newspapers was given over to THE KICK-OFF ‘serious’ reporting. The reforms announced About the same time, by then finance minister he year after Bombay Times was launched, the Pradeep Guha (now manag- Manmohan Singh in 1991, TTOI decided to host a small bash, which turned ing director, 9X Media), who also had people looking at out to be a big success. Guha (in photograph above), The first issue of Bombay Times the mastermind behind the party, decided to make was the man in charge of the new forms of consumerism. these an annual featurfeaturee and scaled it up. The party was an invite-only affair and invitations Times Group as president This was a chance for brandsbrands TheThe second edition,edition held in 1996, were sent out to a very select group of people, happened to be visiting the - local, national andnd global - was much biggebiggerr and it sealed which included biggies from Bollywood, politics and New York Times’ offices, to make hay. The thinkthink tanktank tthehe acceacceptanceptance ofo the supplement the corporate sector. As the Bombay Times parties where he caught a glimpse of at the TOI, led by Guha, aamongstmongst the WhWho’s Who of the became popular, it was rumoured that people paid for a new genre of news - celeb- realised that retail advertisersadvertisers ccityity who turned upu in droves. the invites for a chance to be seen there. rity reportage - and how pop- would jump at thee opportu-opportu- ular it was becoming. That nity of a lower-costost alterna-alterna- was the beginning of the idea tive to the main paper.aper. Mumbaikars live, breathe ing up the main paper was for Bombay Times. Bombay Timess was ini-ini- entertain, do up their homes, better, thus increasing the “The immediate catalyst tially published twice buy their stuff, travel, work, readership. was that when Sushmita and a week - Tuesdayay and dress, unwind, eat, love, pray Rahul Kansal, chief mar- Aishwarya won their crowns, Friday - for a year.ar. For - all of it was our purview,” keting officer, Bennett the main edition gave it lit- the first few months,nths, it she says. Coleman & Co, says that the tle coverage. The fact that did not do well. TThingshings The business model was main paper was designed to our own sister publication were so bad that thosethose simple. Run it only if it pays be an information-oriented was not in favour of fea- in charge used to sit for itself. The company put product, whereas Bombay turing entertainment news, and calculate whetherher in force, a flagship advertising Times was introduced to the need for a retail advertis- they have made prof-off- rate card that was modified bring the readers closer to ing platform and the idea of it or loss, at the eendnd with special rates exclusively the city they lived in, through celebrity reportage together of each week. Apartpart for Bombay Times. It was news that was from the per- gave birth to Bombay Times from the businessness also decided that Bombay spective of entertainers and in 1994,” recalls Guha. questions, the supple-ple- Times would be a free sup- entertainment. “It proved India’s Page 3 pioneer, ment had to putt upup plement and distributed as a to be an excellent tool to which started off as a tenta- part of the main paper. get more readers and they tive offering, stood its ground Kansal: bringing readers While invitation pricing became point of entry into and is 18 now. In human closer to the city they live in made it even more attractive the youth market for us,” SUSHIL KUMAR

34 afaqs! Reporter, August 1-15, 2012 IMITATION IS FLATTERY (Some supplements that followed in TOI’s wake)

English Hindi

1999 2005

SETTERafaqs! Reporter August 1-15, 2012 2005 2007 2001

recalls Kansal. they shared media space service designed to allow The acceptance of the with. A well-established companies to buy edito- THE PAPARAZZI content was recognition of brand would not want its ad rial space in its supplements. n India, the term Paparazzi was unheard of during the early and mid the fact that readers were to be seen next to that of a Calling it the next phase of I’90s. It was a phenomena restricted to the West. When Bombay happy to read about the news local saree shop or a jewellery newsgathering, TOI argued Times launched in 1994, the management struggled to set up teams of beyond politics and econom- showroom. However, this that advertisers no longer reporters and – more importantly – photographers, as ics. “The growing consum- doesn’t hold true any more. wanted to depend on con- it was an unfamiliar beat and totally new territory. erism, along with a change in Says Ravishankar N, media ventional measures. That is when it hired Sudharak Olwe (right) attitude of the younger peo- partner, Media Planning It triggered off an uproar. and S N Kulkarni as its official photographers. ple towards life, made it clear Associates, “Because of the Journalists claimed that this According to Guha, celebrity reportage was new that the youth would be the nature of the content, life- in India and the two were clueless about how to dominant consumer class. style brands started adver- tackle it. They learned it on the job. These two And, as a newspaper, we had tising in these supplements. HORSES FOR COURSES were the first official paparazzi in India. to tailor our media offering The clients today choose Recalling the early days, Olwe says, for them,” adds Guha. the main paper for its brand (Choosing the right work was more direct and there was no Kiran Khalap, co-found- communication, whereas vehicle) involvement of PR agencies. ‘‘I remember standing for hours in front of houses er of Chlorophyll, is of the supplements have become Main newspaper of celebrities for a shot that was more view that such a supplement the tools for tactical commu- }Financial services personal. We were told to click pictures represents the democratized nication like announcement }Real estate that had people in their own, natural version of an illusion cre- of sales, offers or launch of }Cars environment and not at some event or ated by films. “These sup- new showrooms.” }Politics function.’’ plements,” he points out, The initial period was “brought that illusion into a tough for agencies, planners Supplement person’s hands. The supple- and clients as critics labelled some sections of mainline approach. Apparel, clothing labels and ment became a part of the the Bombay Times as flip- } editions. Thomas sees a posi- TOI reacted quickly. In high-end fashion brands reality.” pant and trivial. The chief tive rub-off. “Earlier, music 2004, it launched Zoom, a }Jewellery worries were: ‘is this the programmes or reviews were 24-hour entertainment chan- MARKET GROWTH }Accessories (watches, kind of content I would like sunglasses, footwear) restricted to Hindustani and nel that was based on the As Bombay Times attracted to be associated with?’ and }Restaurants Carnatic classical. Western print version. However, the more local and retail adver- ‘are these supplements being }Films classical hardly ever made it. TV model wasn’t as success- tisers, the model was copied read?’ Once the agencies }Healthcare services Now you get pop too. It is ful as the print version. The by many of its competitors. were convinced, local adver- }Local events the same with dance forms. exponential growth of the For retail advertisers, this tisers made a beeline. Recalls So, in other words, art and digital medium has pushed was a boon. It gave them Sangghvi, “Be it beauty, fit- culture with commercial the print medium to reinvent more than one option to ness, entertainment, event would result in the com- value gets its due and that itself to match the real-time be seen along with other management or styling, we moditization of news. Sonal is a beneficial effect of the prowess of the former. national brands - at much were there while it was hap- Kalra, editor, HT City P3-fication,” he says. Social media added cheaper rates. Such sup- pening and covered it.” The (Hindustan Times’ supple- Between 2002-03 and another dimension to dis- plements became the ideal advertisers loved it. ment), says, “The competi- 2006-07, ad volumes for semination of news. Updates platform for lifestyle brands, tion in the market makes it Bombay Times grew by are becoming news. Does garments, educational insti- WHAT NEWS? imperative for us to cover the 89 per cent, while between this mean that a Bombay tutions and healthcare ser- Another significant conse- same kind of parties and fea- 2006-07 and 2011-12, it grew Times - or any newspaper vice providers. Strangely quence of the rise of the ture pictures of people who by 157 per cent. According to for that matter - will lose its enough, it failed to attract entertainment news genre are ‘celebrities created out of media observers, the ad:edit relevance sooner than later? national brands, despite the was paid editorial. In March page 3 reportage’.” ratio for supplements in the “The focus needs to lower rates. 2003, as advertisers demand- John Thomas, former TOI stable has changed dra- change from people’s faces to MMediaedia planners sasayy tthath ed more prominent exposure chief of bureau, Deccan matically. When Bombay style statements. That’s the initiallyly natinanationaltionnal - anandd nonott jjustust HHerald, says, “In the process Times was launched in 1994, only way this genre can sur- branbrandsds were warywaary ddisplayisplay ads - of catering to the flashy seg- the ratio was 70:30 in favour vive,” says Kalra of HT City. of tthehe comcompanypaany tthehe Group mment of the society, such of editorial. It changed to Now that they have tasted llaunchedaunched its susupplements dented their 60:40 in 2000 and, at pre- blood, the supplements will ccontrover-ontrover- owown credibility and that of sent, is 50:50 and there are rise to the occasion. „ sial offerinoffering,g, otothers. Anybody who gets days (which have retail ads, [email protected] SUDHARAK OLWE MMedianet.edianet. It sosomething done for money announcing sales and offers) wawass a wwill want to tell a few others when ad content goes up to Based on additional hohow they swung it. So the 60 per cent. interviews with: Arunabh wword gets around that Page 3 Das Sharma, BCCL; cocoverage can be bought.” SCREENED OUT Debraj Tripathy, Mediacom; Another aspect is that the With time, the entertain- Harish Bijoor, Harish Bijoor rrisei of this genre of news, in ment news genre seeped into Consults; Mallikarajunadas iitsts own way, helped evolve television too. The success CR, SMG; Mandir a different kind of report- of such supplements meant Tendolkar, Dainik Bhaskar aage that found its way into that the business model was Group; Shripad Kulkarni, copied not only by other Allied Media; T Gangadhar, Sangghvi (left) and Guha: leaving newspapers, but also televi- MEC, Nandini Sardesai, no stone unturned in the quest for sion.This genre was made Sociologist; Vanita Keswani, entertaining news for TV’s visual sound-byte Madison Media Sigma

FOTOCORP

afaqs! Reporter, August 1-15, 2012 35 KBC Re-casting the Spell Suvarna TV has witnessed 47 per cent jump in slot viewership with Kannadada Kotyadhipatii (KK). KBC’s Tamil and Malayalam versions, too, are successes. By Anindita Sarkar

aun Banega Crorepati (KBC), the inter- Christened Neengalum national game show format that swept Vellalam Oru Kodi, the show Kthe Hindi general entertainment channel launched with 5.1 TVR market with its Indy-version, seems to be casting (C&S 4+, Tamil Nadu) dur- its magical spell on the South television audiences ing Week 9, and closed withh as well. 7.1 TVR for the week ended Julyuly Suvarna TV, the STAR Network’s Kannada 14 (Week 28). The show averagedged at general entertainment channel, has witnessed a jump of as much as 47 per cent during its 8 pm slot viewership, post the launch of Kannadada The Tamil and Malayalam Kotyadhipati (KK), or KBC in Kannada. Consider this: Before the launch of KK on versions averaged 4.4 and March 12 (Week 11), the 8-9.30 pm (Monday- Thursday) slot on Suvarna TV (the time-run for 11 TVRs, respectively. KK on the channel now) was averaging at 3.6 TVR, while the 8 pm slot aired the one-hour cookery- 4.4 TVR, wherein the season high stood at 8 TVR. based reality show, Kitchen Khiladigalu. At 9 pm, As for Asianet, which began airing the the channel aired the fiction property, Preetiyinda, Malayalam version of KBC - Ningalkkum Aakaam which has now been shifted to 7.30 pm. Kodeeswaran (NAK) starting April 9, the show However, once KK was launched, the slot’s aver- averaged at 11 TVR. Not to forget, before NAK, age TVR moved up to 5.3 (C&S 4+, Karnataka). the 90 minute slot beginning 8 pm was garnering During its launch week, KK was viewed by 6.66 an average TVR of 8 in the C&S 4+, Kerala mar- million people, thereby capturing as much as 48 ket. Also, as of now, the show’s season high on the per cent of the total Karnataka TV audience; and as channel stands at 12.35 TVR. for the week ended July 14, the cumulative reach For the record, while KBC on Vijay TV was for the show stood at 11.11 million, a jump of hosted by superstar Suriya, Puneeth Rajkumar is almost 67 per cent. hosting the show on Suvarna TV. NAK on Asianet And it’s not just Suvarna TV. The TAM data is anchored by popular Malayalam actor Suresh provided by various media agencies suggests that Gopi. Interestingly, the logos for all these proper- Vijay TV’s KBC version (Tamil), too, has scored ties have the same format as the Hindi version. „ well across the Tamil Nadu market. [email protected]

[ ] Dharma Yudha and Bhagonwali-Baante the channel offers covers a variety of CHANNEL V Apni Taqdeer at the 6-7 pm band. fiction flavours,” he adds. Prem Kamath, head, Channel The channel has also reduced the V, states that the early prime time music content to merely 2-3 hours Prime Property? slot, 6 pm onwards, is a strong a day, while being relaunched as a band for the younger youth GEC. After its relaunch as a youth GEC in June, Channel generation, which is The first fiction show the target audience that was launched V is trying to redefine the prime time band, with for the channel. on the channel was focus on the 6-8.30 pm slot. By Raushni Bhagia “The consump- Roomies in August, tion of television 2009. Kamath also is higher by the mentions that the he newly transformed youth while post 9 pm, the channel tel- younger audi- channel, on an aver- general entertainment chan- ecasts repeats of these shows. ences in the age garnered 10 Tnel (GEC) from the STAR This is in contrast to the Hindi evening time GRPs in 2009, against stable, Channel V has redefined the GECs, which have the prime time band. The pro- the current GRPs of prime time band with the launch band stretched from 8 pm to 10.30 gramming mix that 50. of its new fiction show, The Buddy pm. Sometimes, the prime time flex- The channel’s new Project at 6 pm. With this, the chan- ibility is exploited by extending the strategy to re-conceptualise the nel is set to focus on the 6 pm-8.30 band up to midnight. prime time band to start as early as pm time band as prime time for its A few GECs have also tried to tap 6 pm aims for higher GRPs. afaqs! target age group of 15-24 years. the pre-prime time band, when Zee Reporter tries to explore the pos- The channel already has original initially launched Chhoti Bahu at 7.30 sibilities. programming such as its major fic- pm. The other GECs then took a cue Market experts believe that the tion properties Humse Hai Life, Dil to launch more of original program- channel must have re-evaluated the Dosti Dance, Gumraah, Love Kiya To ming at 6.30 and 7 pm slots. Later, in TV viewing habits of its TG (target Darna Kya and Suvreen Guggal in November 2010, Zee launched other the time band of 6.30 pm to 9 pm, shows such as Apno Ke Liye-Geeta Ka Kamath: five fold increase FRQWLQXHGRQSDJH>>

36 afaqs! Reporter, August 1-15, 2012 1(:60(',$

MALAYALA MANORAMA << FRQWLQXHGIURPSDJH Sunday... Clock Work star-led shows and it is not necessary that one celebrity-driven show will Introduced as a quarterly title, the Indian edition of the Watch Time be replaced by another celebrity- magazine has a cover price of `100. News Bureau driven one. But still, the calculations work for the best combinations.” It is really tough to carry a format he Malayala Manorama Group has introduced WatchTime India will offer write ups on watches show. There has been Crime Patrol an international title in India, called WatchTime and lifestyle. It will have insights from experts and which has done very well while there Tmagazine. The Indian edition of the magazine watch writers like Joe Thompson, editor-in-chief of have been many others which have has been launched in collaboration with WatchTime WatchTime USA. Neha S Bajpai will edit WatchTime failed. USA. India. It is learnt that Lakhon Mein Ek Introduced as a quarterly title, the magazine has been In an official communiqué, Riyad Mathew, sen- will be promoted through 20 TV launched with a cover price of `100. The magazine is ior assistant editor and director, Malayala Manorama channels, including the STAR net- targeted at watch enthusiasts and watch collectors. work, and the leading national and The content mix of the magazine will aim to popu- regional dailies. A Facebook page larise and celebrate the watch culture in the country. The content mix of the maga- exists in the name of the show but zine will aim to popularise there isn’t much buzz about it; even Twitter hasn’t seen much mention of and celebrate the watch cul- the show title. „ ture in the country. [email protected]

Group, says, “We are happy to bring WatchTime to India. It will cater to the connoisseurs of luxury watch- << FRQWLQXHGIURPSDJH es. This is one of the fastest growing segments in India.” Dominik Grau, managing director and publisher, Ebner Publishing International, says, “WatchTime’s Colourful... India edition is a great new magazine. We look forward readers where to go, what to do and to expanding our cooperation with Malayala Manorama how to indulge during a holiday. The into other media channels in India and beyond.” supplement will also touch upon For the record, WatchTime was founded in New subjects like food and wine, insights York in 1999 by the Ebner Publishing Group of Ulm, into gender issues, health and fitness. Germany. Ebner is one of Europe’s leading publishers For the record, Kasturi and Sons of consumer wristwatch magazines. It publishes four publishes The Hindu since 1878. consumer wristwatch magazines and more than 100 It started as a weekly and later, in magazines and journals in categories such as comput- 1889, became a daily. The daily is ers and the internet, music, film, TV and video editing, printed from 13 centres including fashion, architecture and lifestyle. Chennai, Coimbatore, Bengaluru, Malayala Manorama was founded more than a cen- Hyderabad, Madurai, New Delhi, tury ago, in 1888. Today, it owns 44 publications. The Vizag, Thiruvananthapuram, group also runs FM radio stations, internet portals and Kochi, Vijayawada, Mangalore, television channels. „ Tiruchirapalli and Kolkata. „ [email protected] [email protected]

<< FRQWLQXHGIURPSDJH and the content must click for the “We can consider what Satyameva says that the channel, as it is, does not audiences to get the ratings. Jayate has done to the Sunday morn- see not much of appointment view- Zubin Tatna of MEC says that ing band. The time slot is awakened ing but of unique viewership. Prime... it is more about revamping a time across all the channels/genres. However, Mona Jain, CEO, band for the entire television view- Likewise, if the content is strong VivaKi Exchange emphasises that group). Neel Kamal, COO, buy- ing, rather than redefining it for a enough, the channel might be able to India has single television household ing, Madison India states that the single channel. bring alive the 6 pm time band.” He culture. most important part is that each “Post 8.30 pm, the television strategy must deliver numbers. He offering starts stagnating with all the explains that scientifically speaking, Hindi GECs. I believe this should be each genre has a different prime time a good idea to tap the young audi- band. ence. GECs, too, have time and again “Prime time band is defined as the tried to stretch the prime time bands maximum TV viewing by the tar- on both the ends, so as to tap the pre get audiences of the channel/genre. and post prime time viewing.” Ideally, it is possible that the TG for Ultimately, all the media experts Channel V, that is the youth, is tun- unanimously opine that the show ing into the TV sets in this evening must have the requisite pull and time band.” must be promoted well, so as to grab

He adds that the advertising deci- SUSHIL KUMAR the expected audience. „ sions, too, are governed by the TRPs, Jain, Kamal and Tatna: sounds good [email protected]

afaqs! Reporter, August 1-15, 2012 37

352),/( _1(:6 NIMA NAMCHU I ECD I CHEIL WORLDWIDE << FRQWLQXHGIURPSDJH No... The ‘Write’ Way fortably by the consumer,” explains Deshpande.

NO MORE CLICHÉD ndustry experts approve the con- Icept and believe that the innerwear brand has succeeded in talking about its product, without making it the centre of attention. Vandana Katoch, founder, Clayground, says, “The idea of ‘all or nothing’ is edgy and fun and has loads of attitude. It feeds off the same irreverence in the youth that Fastrack’s ‘Move on’ campaign does. Of the two films, I find the one with the girl and her dog edgier because it almost says ‘I prefer my dog to my boyfriend.’ Not sure how many young girls do, but they would cer- tainly look up to a girl who does!” “I like the simplicity of the execu- tion. No storyline, no dialogue, no rejoinders - just well-shot films with a message at the end. I think it brings the brand closer to the youth and By Anushree Bhattacharyya calm and cold approach towards the game that made gives them another reason to flaunt me give him the name. It is funny that while nobody he newly appointed ECD of Cheil Worldwide remembers the names of the other players, ‘The Wall’ believes that a designation should reflect the role as well kind of stuck to Dravid,” he chuckles. T as the work, not just be a few letters on a visiting card. Everything was going fine at Burnett, suddenly Beri “I moved from Kalimpong to Delhi as my sister quit to join Capital (now Capital Publicis). Namchu and my friends were working here,” declares Namchu, followed soon after. The agency’s work on the Great who started as an illustrator with First City magazine, Jawan Fund for the Kargil war, which was funded by while also pitching in with a column or two whenever Maruti Suzuki, led to it being invited for a pitch. At there was an editorial crisis. One day, egged on by a the same time, Capital also got a call from Hyundai. friend, he decided to try his hand at copywriting. “I “Surprisingly, we won both and were in a dilemma,” went for a copy test to Saatchi & Saatchi (then known he notes. Unable to arrive at a decision, the director as Sista’s). While my work was liked, the agency did called the staff and announced both wins. Everybody not have space for someone fresh.” voted for Maruti. The agency has Around five months later, Saatchi The big network bug bit again and called him back and thus began his Namchu quit. He met Prasoon Joshi refrained from dis- career as a copywriter. The agency’s At Cheil, and joined McCann Erickson. It was a Delhi was office was small and JK different experience as Santosh Desai playing the product. Tyre was the biggest account. Within he wants to and Joshi introduced him to a whole a year of Namchu’s appointment, the new way of talking to the masses. But the Jockey tag just above their low- copy supervisor, the senior copywriter experiment as Namchu decided to take a break, soon slung jeans,” she adds. and the creative director quit in quick and resigned without a job in hand. Naresh Gupta, managing part- succession. “It was difficult for close well as create One day, he went with a cousin to ner, Bang in the Middle calls the to a year, as there was no one to guide see a few apartments in Gurgaon as the commercials delightful. “For once, me,” he remarks. new ideas. latter was planning to buy one. “By the the brand has broken away from Soon, Namchu moved to Anthem time we returned, I had booked one. showing guys and girls wearing their (now TBWA). The agency was going So from the very next day I was in underpants. The TVC with football through a great phase as it had just acquired the desperate need of a job,” he jokes. Luckily, he received playing dudes is really fun, with true Bombay-based agency, Radeus. “I also made my first a call from Sanjay Nayak (now president, McCann ‘guys will be guys’ kind of thing. In TVC - for Sony,” says Namchu. However, he felt a Worldgroup), the head of McCann Erickson Delhi. the end it’s cheesy, but that adds to growing need to join a network and moved to Leo “I went back to McCann but moved to Publicis soon the whole charm of the commercial. Burnett in 1997. after, where I only worked for a year.” The girl and dog commercial is dif- “Nitin Beri (the creative head) was one of the hot- Next, he met Ravi Deshpande and joined Contract ferent. Brands rarely show girls in a test creative directors to work with. I got to work on where as the creative head of Delhi office he worked solo set up (that is always left to guys brands like Reebok and re-launched the telecom brand on developing and strengthening Domino’s Pizza as lone warriors) and her interplay called Escotel (acquired by Idea in 2004),” he recalls. besides guiding the teams working on various brands. with her pet is quiet cute.” While working on one of the campaigns for Reebok, During this time the Contract team discovered the As per Gupta, for an innerwear the agency was asked to coin names for cricketers like tagline, Khushiyon ki home delivery, and also won the brand like Jockey, it is a bold shift to Azharuddin, Srinath and Ajay Jadeja. Namchu says Spice Jet account. move away from showing its product that he was the one who came up with the nickname, At Cheil, Namchu wants to experiment as well as and yet be a bit basic in its story. The Wall, for Rahul Dravid. “I was watching him play create new ideas. „ “Works for me!” he concludes. „ during a test match in South Africa. It was his focused, [email protected] [email protected]

42 afaqs! Reporter, August 1-15, 2012

1(:6',*,7$/ MTS MBLAZE GEMINI TV Afternoon Now Always On Surprise ‘Always on’ is the new proposition for MBlaze that focuses on making people spend more time online. It also includes roadshows, The slot was averaging at about digital and out of home. By Jhumur Nandi 1.3 TVR for the channel, prior to the show. The launch of Boxlo TS MBlaze will now be ‘Always Bangaram has doubled that on’, whenever and wherever. The figure. By Anindita Sarkar Mnew proposition for the brand, which has moved from the earlier position of ‘High Speed Internet’, will be communi- f the Telugu GEC (general entertain- cated through a 360-degree campaign with the ment channel) market deems that it’s theme ‘Always on’, which includes roadshows, Ithe cookery-based shows and fiction digital and out-of-home (OOH) media across that drive viewership during the afternoon, major cities in the country. maybe it’s time to think again. With the launch of the latest campaign espe- Gemini TV, the Telugu GEC from Sun cially targeted at youth, the logo for MBlaze Network, has witnessed a major upswing in has also been re-designed in a contemporary its afternoon viewership following its deci- and youthful look. The new MBlaze logo has fresh design styling, with an italic font depict- ing speed, progress and technology, along with a new message, ‘Always on’, that conveys the core promise. The new proposition intends to make the consumer more category-pro, and aims to make people spend more time online. The creative thought behind the campaign is to Musatov: technology is oxygen ‘Stay online - surprise the world’, moving away from the popular belief that ‘Baithe their usage patterns.” baithe kuch nahin hota’ (you don’t get success if “The thought of challenging the cultural you just sit around). context of ‘Baithe baithe kuch nahin hota’ was To establish the thought, true stories of an interesting space. But one needed strong two ordinary individuals are showcased - inspirational stories that would challenge Anupam Mukherji, the fake IPL player; and the same to prove that ‘Ab baithe baithe bahut cyber rockstar Shraddha Sharma, who kuch hota hai’. The search led to finding some leveraged the interesting, unique and inspiring power of social real stories of online celebrities - media, instead of Anupam Mukherji and Shraddha blindly following Sharma. These celebrities have the world. made it big only by best utilising Leonid the power of social media.” Musatov, chief The agencies behind the cam- marketing and paign are Rediffusion-Y&R sales officer, (creative agency); MPG (media sion to launch a talent-based reality show MTS India, says, agency); Portland, a unit of targeting women in Andhra Pradesh. “This campaign Kinetic India (OOH agency) and Christened Boxlo Bangaram (Gold inside focuses on Rediffusion (digital agency). the Box) and launched on June 18 (Week today’s youth In the digital marketing initia- 25), the reality show has helped the channel who believes tives, an ‘Always on’ challenge is to significantly increase its gap with compe- that staying logged planned, along with other social tition during the 12 noon -1 pm slot from on opens up a world media engagements, interactive Monday to Friday. of opportunities workshops and an opportunity The TAM data provided by various media for them, thinks of to create online content. agencies suggest that the slot was averaging technology as their A two-month, high impact, at an approximate 1.3 TVR for the chan- oxygen and increas- innovation-led media blitz will nel, prior to the show launch. Now, after ingly spend all their be unleashed across major por- the launch of Boxlo Bangaram, the slot has unused time online. tals as well as on social media moved up to an average 2.3 TVR, evident- We understand the sites to ensure maximum vis- ly doubling the channel’s slot viewership. need of our TG and ibility and awareness. Meanwhile, the average TVRs of the slot The OOH initiatives will for ETV, Maa TV and Zee Telugu (after leverage existing sites and target new high vis- the launch of Boxlo Bangaram) stand at To establish the thought, ibility sites. Also, LCD screens in IT parks as 0.9, 0.7 and 0.5, respectively. Not to forget, true stories of ordinary well as road signages will be used to enhance prior to the launch, the average TVRs for product visibility. „ individuals are showcased. [email protected] FRQWLQXHGRQSDJH>>

44 afaqs! Reporter, August 1-15, 2012

1(:63(23/(

A round up of some major people movements >> MOVEMENTS/APPOINTMENTS<< in the last fortnight MEDIA

he media indus- channels across India. founder at UTV Ttry witnessed Dwivedi moves in from Software (now a Walt several ups and downs. the Mahuaa network, Disney company), has Vivek Bahl, former where he was regional decided to put in her network advisor (con- sales head, North. papers as chief creative tent) at Viacom18, has Moving ahead, officer, UTV Group. taken up a new role at Joy Chakraborthy, With this, Mehta ends Sony Entertainment chief executive officer her 27-year stint with Television (SET) as (CEO) at TV Today the company. Earlier, chief creative director. Network has moved to Mehta was COO, In his new role, Bahl VIVEK BAHL ZEEL. Chakraborthy NITIN VAIDYA ZARINA MEHTA Hungama, then the will be responsible for had joined TV Today kid’s channel from the the overall programming of the channel and will in December 2011 in place of G Krishnan who had UTV stable and now a Disney channel. She also report to Sneha Rajani, senior executive vice- quit the organisation in led the launch of TV brands such as UTV Bindass, president and business head, SET. September 2011. UTV Stars and UTV Action. „ TV18 roped in Harsha Vardhan Dwivedi as At STAR, Nitin retail sales head for the network’s Hindi regional Vaidya - who joined channels that includes ETV Uttar Pradesh, ETV the company in May Rajasthan, ETV Bihar and ETV Madhya Pradesh. 2011 - quit as business head. Vaidya headed MAINLINE the Hindi channels of the network - Star Plus, he advertising fraternity was comparitive- STAR Utsav, STAR Tly quiet this time. Nima Namchu (see

SUSHIL KUMAR Gold and STAR One profile) former executive creative director TONY D’SILVA (now revamped as Life (ECD), Contract Advertising moved to Cheil OK). He joined STAR Worldwide in the same position. after a 10-year stint at Zee, where he last worked At Mindshare as chief operating officer (COO), national chan- Exchange, which is a nels at Zee Entertainment, and business head at GroupM-promoted Zee TV. media planning HARSH VARDHAN DWIVEDI JOY CHAKRABORTHY Tony D’Silva, CEO, Sun Direct has moved and buying agency, out of the organisation. He joined Sun Direct in Rohan Noronha, September 2007 as COO, DTH business. D’Silva partner in Exchange Based in Delhi, he will report to Mukund Setlur, plans to relocate to Mumbai and continue in put in his papers national sales head, TV18 Broadcast Network. the distribution space. He is currently based in and moved to Komli As a part of his new mandate, Dwivedi will cover Chennai. Before joining Sun Direct, D’Silva was Media. At Exchange, the north, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. associated with STAR India. he was looking after He will also take care of the clients of the four In another development Zarina Mehta co- ROHAN NORONHA planning and buying for several brands including ICICI, Castrol, Kellogg’s, HSBC and Sony PlayStation (PSP), among others. DIGITAL MARKETING In another agency Saatchi & engaluru-based okia India has roped in P Balaji as Saatchi, Vidhya Bmobile adver- Nvice-president and managing director Sankarnarayanan tising network for India. Balaji joined from Sony Ericsson, joined as VP, inte- InMobi appointed where he was managing director, Sony Mobile grated brand strategy Shrikant Latkar as Communications, India. At Nokia, Balaji will at Mumbai. She will vice-president (VP), expand Nokia’s work closely with global marketing. mobile phones Sourabh Mishra, As a part of his new and smart devices chief strategy officer, mandate, Latkar business in India Saatchi & Saatchi. will lead all aspects and provide stra- As strategy head, VIDHYA SANKARNARAYANAN of marketing for SHRIKANT LATKAR tegic direction and she will drive brand InMobi along with operational focus. solutions and cre- aligning the marketing strategy and brand posi- His responsibility ate brand opportunities through multi-channel tioning to embrace a new phase in the growing will also be to build experiences. Sankarnarayanan comes from mobile advertising industry. Latkar, who has and consolidate the SapientNitro, where she was working as direc- more than 18 years of experience in the tech- company’s presence tor, marketing strategy and analytics. nology industry, was earlier working with the in the Indian mar- P BALAJI Gautam Rajagopal had put in his papers at Aricent Group. There he was responsible for ket. While at Sony MPG where he was vice-president, investments marketing all products and solutions for the Ericsson, he was responsible for growth strategy (West). Rajagopal has been with MPG India three strategic business units of the group that and established strong operator and distribu- since May 2011, before which he was working included product engineering services, carrier tion partnerships, as well as driving sales for the with Beehive Communications as vice-presi- services and solutions. „ company. „ dent, media services. „

46 afaqs! Reporter, August 1-15, 2012

1(:60(',$ SAMBAD AKHON Just-in-Time News Sambad Akhon will have 10 main pages and an eight-page daily supplement. By Sumantha Rathore

newspaper titled Sambad Akhon hit the newsstands in Kolkata on July 25. The daily A was officially unveiled by Angel Cinevision and Media, a division of Angel Agritech Group of Companies, which is based in Kolkata. The newspaper was launched by Mukul Roy, railway minister of India. The Bengali newspaper has been launched with an initial print run of one lakh copies and has a cover price of `2 per copy. It is the maiden project of Angel Cinevision and Media; the group plans to launch a Bengali movie after this. The Kolkata edition will also be circulated in Delhi, Mumbai, Agartala, Guwahati and Silchar.

Sambad Akhon’s official unveiling

chief executive officer, Sambad Akhon, says, “This new publication will give Kolkata a new experi- ence in the print industry. We strongly believe that a newspaper has the capability to compel positive transformation in the social order.” The launch function of the newspaper was also attended by Arup Roy, MIC, agriculture marketing; Rachpal Singh, tourism minister; Pirjada Toha Siddique, Furfura Sharif ; and Madan Mitra, minister of state for sports, among others. Commenting on the new publication, Sk. Hasibul Haque, editor, Sambad Akhon, says, “Today, Bengali newspaper readers are very mind- ful when it comes to choosing their newspaper. We will meet their requirements by providing Sambad Akhon has 10 main pages and an eight- infotainment and unbiased news.” page daily supplement. Apart from regular news It is the maiden project In an official communiqué, Sk Najibulla, pub- reportage, the supplement distributed along with lisher, Sambad Akhon, says, “The content of the newspaper focuses on a range of topics such of Angel Cinevision and Sambad Akhon will attract readers across all the as literature, astrology, lifestyle, movies, health, Media. The group also age groups.” To market the product, the company travel, education and entertainment. On Sundays, launched a campaign spread across outdoor that the newspaper carries a magazine that having cur- plans to launch a Bengali includes a mix of hoarding and events that started rent affairs and infotainment-related content. on July, 25. „ Talking about the launch, Sumantra Banerjee, movie after this. [email protected]

<< FRQWLQXHGIURPSDJH TVR rose to 2.7. Yes, the rat- GRPs for ETV and 49 GRPs for shows and fiction. ings did witness a fall during the Zee Telugu. The reason for the While Gemini TV aired Aha immediate following weeks (2.4 shoot up in the slot viewership Yemiruchi (cookery show) and Afternoon... TVR in Week 26 and 1.9 TVR in for the channel is evidently and Maainti Adapaduchu (fiction) at 12 Week 27) but nevertheless, the chiefly because of the latest dif- noon and 12:30 pm respectively, the channels were 0.7 for ETV, channel continued to maintain ferentiated content being served Maa TV had the one-hour long 1.1 for Maa TV and 0.8 for Zee the significant gap with the rest. during the time band. Until the Maavurivanta (cookery show) tel- Telugu, demonstrating that the Also, for now, the slot ratings launch of Boxlo Bangaram, the slot ecast at 12 noon. For ETV, it was respective channel performances stand at 120 GRPs for Gemini witnessed the airing of only two the hour-long Abhiruchi (cook- remain almost stagnant. TV, 66 GRPs for Maa TV, 58 kinds of genres - cookery-based ery show) at 12 noon and for A better detail: if during Weeks Zee Telugu, it was My Name Is 21, 22, 23 and 24, the slot was Mangatayaru (fiction at 12 noon) garnering TVRs of 1.3, 1.3, 1.5 The slot viewership has doubled and Meeintivanta (cookery show and 1.1, respectively, for Gemini chiefly due to the latest differentiated con- at 12:30 pm). The channels con- TV, then in Week 25, when the tinue with the same properties. „ show was launched, Gemini’s slot tent being served during the time band. [email protected]

48 afaqs! Reporter, August 1-15, 2012

%<,19,7$7,21 Well-known professionals write on issues that they feel passionately about

SUPRIO GUHA THAKURTA The ‘Brief’ Life

was lucky to have joined adver- will start and the downward spiral tising in the days when people will continue. in agencies actually discussed All for the agency stalwarts’ lack of briefs (no, think again). I have focus on what is truly the heart of the Ispent hours discussing the nuances business: creating the perfect brief. of the lines that will describe the And, their failing to back that person problem the brand was facing. The whose job it was to. exact line that will form “what’s the I would love to have a meet- one thing we want to communicate”. ing where I sit back and listen to That was the most important part of the agency dissecting my industry, my job. All of servicing was judged showing me how consumers are on one’s ability to distill the client’s buying, telling me how competition problems to the magical document is playing the game and suggesting called the brief. alternative strategies for my brand. Then, once we had rigorously However, in the current environ- finished each of the questions in ment of network agencies ruled by the briefing document (after hav- quarterly results and global boards, ing survived the boss’ sarcasm and suggesting any idea of investment in multiple corrections), we had to get people and research is a surefire way it approved by the client. We then of committing career hara-kiri. briefed creative and more often than I wonder if someone out there not, good, sometimes brilliant, but is putting together an agency which never mediocre work. goes back to the old days and has I have been a client for close to account servicing, creative (offline five years. The agency has created and online) and media in one team. great work for us, moving markets ,VHQVHWKDWPRUHDQGPRUH&(2V Where servicing and media sit and winning awards (amazing but together to understand the industry, true). Have I seen a single briefing ZLOOEHGLUHFWO\WDONLQJWRFUHDWLYH the consumer, the client’s business document? Nope. All the campaign objectives and his marketing strategy. briefings have been done practically From that fount of knowledge, the directly to the creative team and the are the key stumbling blocks, what their own. More and more boutique servicing person will create briefs. work presented directly by them. is the role of communications in the agencies run by creative duos will I certainly hope that there is that So, what’s the problem? business, and figuring out the com- spring up and walk away with big someone. Otherwise, the agency The problem is that most client munication mix before starting on business. And, in most cases, bar a business as it exists right now has a CEOs haven’t been agency servic- creating an ad is critical. My guess is few exceptional creative people (who very short life span. Or should I say: ing people. They come from various that this is not happening very well. are great instinctive planners), they ‘brief’. „ backgrounds: sales, finance, HR, I sense that more and more CEOs will start producing great looking marketing and today, a large portion will be directly talking to creative. totally off-strategy work which will of them are entrepreneurs. Making More and more creative people will not move products. After the honey- (The author is managing director, India, sense of what their business is, what feel (rightly) that they can do this on moon period, the business of pitches The Economist.)

.(,7+%(//2:6 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER From Print to Print Plus Digital

Talking to afaqs! Reporter, Keith Bellows, editor-in-chief, National Geographic Traveller and vice-president, National Geographic Society says expanding into the digital space is the inevitable road ahead for magazines. By Biprorshee Das

fter the launch of the Indian edition of National Venkatraman says. don’t want to get into a situation where once Geographic’s travel magazine, National The digital strategy of the magazine, too, is again, we have to rely more on advertising than the AGeographic Traveller (NGT) in India, the to not merely to reproduce the print version but revenue stream we get from consumers,” he adds. team is well braced with its strategy for the Indian to adapt to platforms and the available potential Bellows suggests that besides offering content market. In a brief chat with afaqs! Reporter, Keith accordingly. This could mean a particular story in across media, there could be other means like a Bellows, editor-in-chief, National Geographic Traveller the magazine being featured with more visuals on book being developed around a particular concept and vice-president, National Geographic Society shares a website or a different mobile version. or trips organised to reach the consumer at differ- his thoughts on the trends in Indian travel, the reading This also leads to the question if consumers ent touch points. habits of the traveller and how the magazine strives to are willing to pay for digital content.ontent. National GeoGeographicgra Traveller India is targeted marry both to serve the best purpose. Bellows is of the opinion thatat ata famfamily holiday planners, primar- ACK Media launched National Geographic they are. iily SEC A and B in the metros Traveller India earlier this month. The monthly “We have absolute proof inin aand mini-metros, with around title that launched with an initial print run of the United States that con-n- 775 per cent of locally generated 60,000 copies is available across the country at a sumers do (want to pay foror ccontent.o cover price of `120. With the strong brand name digital content). It dependsds Venkatraman says that there that National Geographic is and the local edition on content that is compel-l- eexistedxi a gap in this particular of the magazine sporting the familiar yellow- ling enough for them to wantnt ssegmenteg that catered neither to bordered cover, it probably would not need much to buy. We don’t want to bee the luxury nor the backpackers time to find favour with the loyalists. However, giving away content or under-- aandnd the lower-end consumers. with a medium that is being seen as losing out charging content; that is what NNationalati Geographic Traveller to other channels available, what does the future happens with the internet,” IIndiandia attempts to fill the very need hold? Bellows says. ggapap aand being a storytelling maga- Bellows is quick too accept that the best way “WeWe have to really work zzineine rrather than just a guide book. forward is to embracee technologytechnology whilewhile giving ttowardsowards thatthat bbecauseecause we BeBellows finds a hunger among content its due. ppeopleeo to see their own country. “What we are doing in the United States, and it HHee once again cites the example of is our strategy everywhere,here, is valuing our content “Giving away or theh traveller in the United States, and then looking at waysways to extend it into other who travels more within the coun- media,” he says. undercharging try than outside. According to Bellows,ws, the current period is one “From the price point and the of transition, where onene makes the best possible content in the proximity point of view, as Indian switchover from the traditionaladitional to modern.modern. travel gets a little more sophisti- “Print is not going to bebe tthehe ddominantominant memedi-di- digital space cated, a little more curiosity about um in the next five yyears.ears. Most probably,probably, the various parts of India is built, it digital platform is goingng to be the one to become would be a would translate into a significant much more powerful. But it is not ggoingoing to haphap-- boost in domestic travel,” he says. pen overnight. We aree lookinlookingg at somethinsomethingg of mistake.” He attempts to contribute with a five-year transitionall period. We are trying to his bit, creating travel content that figure out the best wayay to market in the digital reverevealsa stories about the country, about a market space. Print will be a major contricontributorbutor to hhee finfinds very exciting. our revenue. It is howw we transition oourur ““Typically,T and you will see this manifest in revenue stream from pprintrint to pprintrint ppluslus tthehe nnewspapers, travel journalism is about service digital and may be, digitaligital mostlmostlyy and iinformationnfo and pretty straightforward guide- some print,” he explains.ns. bbookoo information. Where you should go, where Niloufer Venkatraman,man, editor-in- shoshouldu you stay, and how much you should pay. chief, National Geographicaphic Traveller ThThisi is pretty boring actually. This is something India says that nichee magazines you can get online or on your mobile phone,” have a significant spacee in InIndia.dia. ssaysays Bellows. “Everybody has to staystay abreast WWith people increasingly wanting to relate to towards technology and have the ccontent,o travellers wanting to actually be at the a game plan to use digital.digital. We placplacee while reading a story, it is difficult to do so will launch the digital versionversion of by mmerely supplying information. National Geographic Traveller IInstead,n a destination must be illustrated, the India in a few months. TThehe planplan narrnarrativea made interesting enough to excite the is to keep up with thee tectechnol-hnol- travetraveller to explore a place. „ ogy and not get rid of print,” [email protected]

52 afaqs! Reporter, Augustgust 1-15, 22012 0 1 2

1(:622+ DISNEY - FORUM VALUE MALL Fantasy World The week-long activations comprised Disney-themed workshops, storytelling sessions, art classes, games, Disney princess makeovers and photo opportunities as well. By Jhumur Nandi

ids along with their families in Bengaluru experienced the entire family. the magic of Disney at Forum Value Mall in Whitefield. Tattoo painting, caricature zones KThe activation named ‘Thrice as Nice’ Carnival was and photo opportunity zones were organised to celebrate the third anniversary of the mall. It began planned to enable Disney fans to on July 14 and continued for one week. show love for their favourite Disney At the carnival, kids and their families met with gadget cat, characters and get themselves pho- Doraemon. Disney Princess fans got ‘princess makeover’, par- tographed with the characters such ticipated in the grooming and etiquette workshops and learned as Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, the art of ballroom dancing. Kids also attended interactive story- Donald Duck and Goofy. telling sessions featuring Disney Princesses and Mickey Mouse On July 22, art and craft enthusiasts Club House. participated in a creative workshop In addition, several Disney zones were created across the with Gaurav Juyal, the host of the art mall, featuring fun-filled activities such as ‘Save the Damsel in and crafts show, Disney Channel’s Distress’ that included artificial rock climbing for kids under the Art Attack. supervision of experts. Another activity, called Mickey’s ‘Minute Commenting on the third anni- to Win It’, featured numerous fast-paced, time-based games for versary of Forum Value Mall, S Raghunandan, chief executive officer (CEO), Prestige Retail, says, “Whitefield’s Forum Value Mall has transformed itself into a popular family destination for food, leisure and shopping. This year on our anniversary we decided to give an opportunity to two lucky families to visit Disneyland, Hongkong via a contest.” Two lucky families could win the trip Hong Kong Disneyland, on the purchase of `3,333 at the Forum Kids participating in the workshop and getting Value Mall. „ princess makeovers [email protected]

the innova- TATA PHOTON+ tion, Anupam Verma, COO, Tata Teleservices, On the Move Maharashtra, says, “We believe in The dongle-shaped robot was fitted on a movable platform doing innovation as a key differentia- that was operated by the promoter. By Jhumur Nandi tor to establish the product proposi- t stops when you stop, walks A three feet dongle-shaped robot consumers’ tion in the market. when you walk, goes left, goes was fitted on a movable platform doorsteps. Photon Robot is a Iright. You stop and look at it with wheels. It targeted the cus- The robot smart way to attract with a little amazement, it starts tomers and started following them. was backed the attention of the making circular movements around Whenever a prospective customer by the sim- consumers. The you! Tata Photon’s Photon Robot of Photon Plus entered moving Photon amazed mall visitors and increased the mall, the Photon created a surprise buzz around the brand at two malls robot started follow- element among the in Pune. ing him/her. The shoppers at two Visitors at Central Mall and robot was operated by leading malls in Kumar Pacific Mall in Pune were a promoter behind the Pune. In this case, amazed to see a Photon following curtains and after a few The photon robo followed the the innovation was and moving around them. In a bid minutes of this game, customers wherever they went carried out in an to generate business and at the same the promoter came out unconventional time, to increase buzz around the of hiding to greet the way.” brand, the moving Photon innova- customer, explaining ple technology that is The activation started in the first tion was executed by OOH agency the features of Photon. used to control toy week of July and was carried out for Milestone Brandcom and Fabricated The promoter also take cars. two weeks. „ by Yash Industries. requests for demo at Speaking on [email protected]

56 afaqs! Reporter, August 1-15, 2012

1(:622+ NOKIA Raising Hopes The four day long activation saw promoters shouting on the streets demanding a high end phone at an affordable price. The 10-minute activation ended with retailer engagement. By Jhumur Nandi

andset manufacturer Nokia koi Asha’; ‘Janta karein ek pukaar, launched its latest offering, full touch phone humara adhikaar Hthe Nokia Asha-305, among humara adhikaar’; and ‘Dual Sim its business partners, that included smartphone hai humari maang, retailers and distributors, through an humari mang, Jeb ki bhi na nikle jaan, ‘Janta ki Pukaar’ activation. na nikle jaan’. The activity started with a group The act went on for 10 min- of promoters holding placards and utes, with the retailer being involved shouting slogans outside the retail towards the end, answering to these shops, making demands for a demands, answering to these demands full touch phone with fast internet by unveiling Nokia Asha 302. facilities and other features. Keeping the connect of the product with the masses, the slogans used were The promoters ‘Dheeme internet se humein bachao humein bachao, Hai koi Asha , Hai and the retailers had their own set of slogans.

“The thought behind this idea was to engage retailers and the customers in the main markets of Delhi-NCR. The promoters were really shouting for the feature-filled phone at their pricing,” shares Padmaja Singh, crea- tive head, Pathfinders. The four-day activation start- ed on July 14 and was executed by Pathfinders across different locations throughout Delhi-NCR. „ Singh: building hope [email protected]

KIMAYA When it Rains... The creatives of the campaign communicate the brand’s monsoon sale offer through hoardings at strategic locations. News Bureau

ashion house Kimaya has rolled The hoardings have been placed at out an out of home (OOH) strategic locations for maximum Fcampaign to promote its mon- exposure. soon sale offer. The campaign targets Sanjeev Gupta, managing direc- high-end customers and has a two- tor, Global Advertisers, says, “The point objective - to increase footfalls impact of the campaign has matched The challenge was to break the and spread awareness about Kimaya’s our expectations. Our research team The creatives clutter of advertisers at single junc- monsoon sale across Mumbai. spent some time to choose suitable showcased Kimaya’s tions as it is the season of sale for The message is being communi- hoardings to help generate sustained various apparel brands. cated through large hoardings that footfalls over the sale period. We glamorous offerings The campaign executed by out effectively showcase Kimaya’s glam- were helped in our efforts by the of home agency Global Advertisers orous offerings. The creatives show glamorous creatives that further available on started on July 12 and continued for a glamorous model with a message enhanced our reach and helped us one week. „ about the 70 per cent monsoon sale. connect with the target consumer.” monsoon sale. [email protected]

58 afaqs! Reporter, August 1-15, 2012

1(:6%22.6 5HDGLQJ5RRP ORMAX MEDIA SABYASACHI GHOSH VP, Bengali Magazines, ABP Group Matching Stars urrently, I am reading Linchpin by To be called Celebritix, the new research metric CSeth Godin. The author defined a new ‘class’ in today’s information economy allows brands to evaluate the fit between the through this title. Moving on from the dual pillars of industrial economy defined by brand and the celebrity. News Bureau Adam Smith and Marx, Godin has intro- duced the concept of a new team at the elebrities have always had will allow the workplace, ‘linchpins’ – distinct from the an influencing impact on a users to create ‘management’ and the ‘labour’. So, who are Cbrand’s image and sales over a brand profile the ‘linchpins’? several years; and therefore, choos- by assigning Linchpins invent, lead (regardless of ing the ‘right’ celebrity is critical to weights to title), connect others, make things happen, realise the real potential of celebrity different attrib- and create order out of chaos. They figure out what to do when there’s no endorsements and film associations. utes that best rule book. The three themes that make linchpins stand up and be counted Based on this insight, Ormax describe the are ‘be an artist’, ‘overcome (internal) resistance’ and ‘implement quality Media has launched Celebritix. The desired per- projects and ideas’. new research metric allows brands to sonality of the What I like the most is the thought of people generating value through evaluate and select the right celebri- Shailesh Kapoor brand. Based ‘emotional labour’. Also, a sense of urgency prodding the reader to decide ties for endorsements based on the fit on this, the soft- about the future and pointing out his/her potential to make a huge differ- between the brand and the celebrity, ware will recommend celebrities that ence in a chosen field. Seth advises us to becomee the company claims. best fit the brand, using a propri- fearless - not just work in a factory, ‘a place wheree To begin with, Celebritix will etary metric called the OCX (Ormax people go to do what they’re told to, and earnn feature a total of 36 celebrities from Celebritix) Score. a paycheck’. But I missed the usual Bollywood and cricket. Every quar- The OCX Score can also be used understated humour that is a Godin ter, up to 10 new celebrities will for selection of films for associations. hallmark. be added to the tracking, based on Shailesh Kapoor, CEO, Ormax Three of my all-time favourite books market trends, box office and cricket Media, says, “Celebritix will allow are The 7-Day Weekend by Ricardo performance. the brand teams to make informed Semler, When the Penny Drops by R The research covers 4,000 celebrity choices, based on consum- Gopalakrishnan and Steve Jobs by Walter respondents every quarter, across 20 er research. For brands which have Isaacson. I also find suspense thrillerss attributes, in the target group of 18-44 signed up specific celebrities already, – Hitchcock, McLean, Christie, Wallace,e, years, SEC ABC across Mumbai, it allows them to look at their profile Forsythe - fun to read. „ Delhi, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and and identify ways of using them to As told to Raushni Bhagiagia Lucknow. the best advantage of the brand.” „ According to Ormax, the software [email protected]

YOUTUBE BUS Support Drive With 10 television screens, headphones and internet connection, the Youtube bus will showcase 10 different games at a time. By Jhumur Nandi

ollowing the live stream- simultaneously on the television ing of the Indian Premiere screens. People can go into the bus FLeague and the French Open, and watch their favourite players or YouTube has now taken a step for- games live in action. Google promot- ward to promote sports in India. ers in the bus will guide the visitors. Through an initiative titled ‘It’s Time Lalitesh Katragadda, country nered with the International Olympic You Cheer’, it has launched a drive head, India products, Google, says, A special theme Committee (IOC) to bring live cov- that invites all Indians to encourage “As a company, we are committed erage of the London 2012 Olympic the Indian Olympic squad. to invest in products and initiatives song has been Games to India and 63 other coun- As part of the initiative, YouTube that help us to create awareness and tries and territories across Asia and flagged off the YouTube Bus on demonstrate the benefits of the inter- composed. sub-Saharan Africa on IOC’s chan- July 26 from Gurgaon. It will travel net in everyday lives. And what could only 14 days of the event,” he adds. nel, www.youtube.com/olympic. through villages of athletes who have be better than combining this effort The bus will move fur- It has also launched a special participated in the Olympics across with an initiative to gather support ther to Sonipat, Bhiwani, Hissar, theme song composed by Shantanu Punjab and Haryana. The bus has 10 for all the top-tier Indian athletes.” Kurukshetra, Dera Basi, Patiala and Moitra and lyricist Swanand Kirkire, television screens with headphones “The bus will cover villages main- Faridkot, staying for one day at each titled ‘Aap Agar Sath Hain. To Jeet Bhi and internet connection. Ten dif- ly from northern India including place. Saath Hai’. „ ferent games will be streamed live Punjab and Haryana, since we have Moreover, YouTube has part- [email protected]

60 afaqs! Reporter, August 1-15, 2012 VIVEKVIVEK DUTTADUTTA ViceVice PresPresident,ident, PPlanninglanning CheilCheil WorWorldwideldwide SoutSouthwesthwest AsAsiaia

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f there is one placeplace youyou can keekeepp ggoingoing back to for a holiday,holiday, As a Bengali I am a born foodie. So, generallygenerally I am not ‘surprised’ bbyy Iwherewhere would it be? thethe taste. Having said that, TokyoTokyo has some interesting food stuff. Mauritius. Really a beautiful and peaceful place. What and where has been your best bazaar bargain so far? Tell us three good things about travelling. SomeSome Doc Martens and an Axio backpack that I bought from Dubai. It’sIt’s always a good thing to break monotony because it recharges you. ItIt gives you time to introspect andand is fantastic for experiencing new WhichWhich hashas bbeeneen thethe most unique destinationdestination thatthat you everever ccultures.ultures. visited. When and whwhy?y? ItIt would be a place called Chopta in the Gharwal region.region. Had visited WhenWhen youyou travel, what is a must carrycarry for you?you? therethere with a local friend and had the opportunitopportunityy to stastayy with his famfam-- My music and a good book! ily.ily. Really gave an amazing insight into their simple life.

WhenWhen and where did your best holiday happen? TellTell us how have you managed to make a journey funfun.. DuringDuring my collegecollege days,days, an awesome roadroad trip to LadakhLadakh withwith my StrikeStrike a conversation withwith a stranger andand makemake a friend.friend. My allall time friends.friends. 15 daysdays of mayhem!mayhem! favoritefavorite is to observeobserve people.people. Everyone hashas suchsuch unique manners thatthat iitt is justjust so entertaining to watch and listen to them. AsAs a traveller, what’s youryour tiptip for the others?others? Travel lightlight on baggagebaggage and expectations. Be curious.curious. A gourmetgourmet gaffegaffe that youyou would like to share. OnlyOnly once when I ate the decoration on some exotic Japanese dish. A colleague/co-worker from your industry with whom you TheThe host politely pointed out the fact that it was meant to remain on wouldwould likelike to go on a holiday.holiday. thethe side of the serving plate Sugato Roy from Contract and Ashish Chakravarty from McCann for a hholidayoliday in tthehe hhills.ills. WhatWhat hashas beenbeen your worst traveltravel moment? Why?Why? ThatThat would be when I overslept and reached the airport exactlyexactly 12 HaveHave youyou ever been surprisedsurprised byby the taste of food, outside hourshours late without enough monemoneyy for buyingbuying tickets. Had to get India? Where? moneymoney wire transferred. „ -2%6:,7&+ JOBSWITCH Post: General Manager - Media Location: Mumbai Profile: Responsible for leading a Sales Email: [email protected] team who are based in Delhi but Company: Mogae Media Pvt Ltd ...... acquire and manage clients on a Pan Profile: Will be accountable for Post: Asst.Manager - New Business India basis. business development by analyzing Acquisition Exp: 2-3 new possibilities of business growth Company: Edge Brand Architects Location: Delhi and expansion in Media and India Pvt Ltd. Email: [email protected] Advertisement field. Profile: Responsible for generating ...... Exp: 10-12 revenues by working closing with Post: Manager Marketing & Sales Location: Mumbai the planning team and providing Company: Planet E-Com Solutions Email: [email protected] brand solutions to the clients. Pvt Ltd...... 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TO ADVERTISE, CONTACT: ability to work under deadline and ...... Exp: 1-4 Abhilash Singh should know above the line and Post: Event Manager Location: Bengaluru/Bangalore (Delhi & Mumbai) below the line activities. Company: De Eventopia Crafts Pvt. Email: [email protected] Ph: 09999989454 Exp: 4-5 Ltd ...... Email: [email protected] Location: Delhi Profile: Accountable for the Post: Sr.Executive - Sales Sidharth Chittur Email: [email protected] production of events like Company: E Adsoft Technologies (Bangalore) ...... exhibitions, fairs, festivals, Profile: Accountable for lead Ph: 09964091407 Email: [email protected] Post: Business Development conferences, promotions and generation, back end work and Executive product launches. managing leads database as well as [email protected] Company: Strategic Designs Exp: 2-4 providing assistance in sales and To view other jobs in Marketing, Profile: Graduate in any discipline Location: Delhi marketing related tasks. 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62 afaqs! Reporter, August 1-15, 2012