February 1-15, 2012 Volume 3, Issue 3 `100 30 43 PROFILE Kamal Basu How a long-time adman moved to marketing. 20 7UP ‘UP’timistic The brand has adopted the ‘optimistic’ route. 35 DEFINING MOMENTS Nagesh Alai A journey from finance and pharma to advertising. AIRTEL Friendship Bands 16 WEBCHUTNEY Fully Powered 24 KOTAK LIFE INSURANCE It was mostly bad news last year as many businesses ‘Duplicate’ Success 27 groaned under the weight of a rising dollar. COLORS Sport Potential 40 EDITORIAL This fortnight... Volume 3, Issue 3 EDITOR Sreekant Khandekar he Indian Rupee has been in free fall against the Dollar since August, though the good PUBLISHER Tnews (for importers) is that it has strengthened as we go to press. The depreciation of Prasanna Singh rupee has had some serious impact on the Indian economy for the last five months. The EXECUTIVE EDITOR volatility of the forex market has reportedly led to heavy losses for companies across sectors. Prajjal Saha SENIOR LAYOUT ARTIST Indian media companies are not totally unaffected by this phenomenon. Vinay Dominic With hardly any export earnings to act as a natural hedge, like say for IT LOGISTICS Rajesh Kanwal February 1-15, 2012 Volume 3, Issue 3 `100 firms, the media industry’s domestic focus means they bear the brunt of any 30 43 ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES depreciation, when it comes to their forex expenses, or where they are owned by Neha Arora, (0120) 4077866, 4077837 a foreign firm, in their financial numbers reporting. Print companies in India Noida PROFILE Kamal Basu How a long-time adman moved to marketing. import around 60-70 per cent of their newsprint requirement, usually paid Khushboo Varadkar, (022) 40429702-5 20 for in dollars. In the first half of the fiscal 2011-12, the Indian media print Mumbai companies imported approximately $500 million worth of newsprint. An extra [email protected] 7UP ‘UP’timistic The brand has adopted the ` Marketing Office ‘optimistic’ route. rupee to a dollar would mean an extra burden of 50 crore and in the last six 35 B-3, First Floor, Sector-4, Noida-201301. months the rupee had dropped in value by `10 (a 23 per cent fall), though it Tel: (0120) 4077800. has also recovered by `5 now. Mumbai DEFINING MOMENTS Nagesh Alai 501-502, Makani Center, 5th Floor, A journey from finance and pharma to advertising. AIRTEL Off Linking Road, Bandra (W), Friendship Bands 16 This is not all. The Indian media companies import around $600 million WEBCHUTNEY Mumbai - 400050 Fully Powered 24 KOTAK LIFE INSURANCE It was mostly bad news last year as many businesses ‘Duplicate’ Success 27 worth of printed books, newspapers, pictures and other products for the printing Tel: +91-22-40429 709 - 712 groaned under the weight of a rising dollar. COLORS Sport Potential 40 industry every year. Though print media bore the brunt of the depreciation of Bengaluru the rupee, even broadcasting companies – which have to import set top boxes, S-1, New Bridge Corporate Centre, 777 D, 100 ft Road, Indira Nagar, equipment, and also license content - had to pay that extra buck for the rising dollar. Bengaluru - 560038, India Subscription Enquiries This issue looks at the roller coaster ride that Indian media businesses went through with Garima Agnihotri, (0120) 4077837 more downs than ups to talk about when looking back at 2011. [email protected] Printed, published, and owned by Prasanna Singh, Publisher, 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, Phase II, New Delhi – 110028. Prajjal Saha [email protected] Cover Illustration Tiffin Box CONTENTS 48 PLUS CNBC AWAAZ STARCOM MEDIAVEST Showing the Money 12 More Action A chat with SMG FIAT INDIA honchos, Thierry Diving Deep 12 Jadot, John Sheehy and CVL Srinivas. 34 DIGITAL Marriage Wows 14 SHAADI.COM 32 39 Letting off Steam MTV ROADIES Fighting the dowry menace, Watch Out! 50 shaadi.com style. KFC POV 38 A ‘Good’ Menu 51 Monitoring UGC DOMINO’S POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS Should user generated content Driving Desire Different Poll Game TATA HOUSING be moderated at all? Or will The pizza brand takes the Getting rid of drab monotony Out in the Open 51 such a move backfire? digital route. and caste clashes. afaqs! Reporter, February 1-15, 2012 5 AUTO EXPO Sponsored by or any brand, the consumer is ing its ‘rock-solid’ value. A stage with at the helm of all affairs, and a live rock performance entertained Fto ensure enough attention, the crowd. marketers have to cough up engaging A clique, Born 2 Ride, inaugurat- Amul> The dairy major is eyeing the growing frozen ideas. The 11th Auto Expo, flagged ed its pavilion, which was designed yogurt market in the country. It plans to launch Amul Flaavyo off on January 5 at Pragati Maidan, by 70 EMG. across 70,000 outlets in February. Initially, the product will New Delhi, witnessed automakers According to Sanjay Tripathi, be priced at `35 per scoop. India’s organised ice-cream creating interactive zones such as director, marketing, Harley market is estimated at `1,200 crore and Amul currently gaming zones, Twitter and Facebook Davidson India, the pavilion was commands 40 per cent market share. In the last year, inter- zones, to ensure brand recall. created to reflect the feeling of metal, national brands such as US-based yogurt brand Red Mango The exhibition, which contin- music and bike -- three elements and Canadian yogurt chain Kiwi Kiss have forayed into the ued till January 11, had Hyundai Indian market. Motors building its zone around the positioning ‘New thinking, new possibilities’. It introduced an initia- It aims to acquire SevenSeas Original> After the recent takeover, Merck tive called ‘Catch the Buzz’, creating 10 per cent mar- KGaA now plans to push the brand further in the Indian a Facebook page where consum- ket share of the market through various channels. ers could login with their email ` Raveena Tandon has been appointed addresses. They were then provided 114 crore fish as brand ambassador. DDB Health with a buzz card that could be swiped oil nutraceuticals & Lifestyle will handle the advertis- MARKETING through pillars installed next to all market in India. ing for the brand. According to IMS displayed cars. On Health, the fish oil nutraceuticals market is growing at 18 per cent. swiping, the details of that Harley Davidson the respective models, Experiential stands for - and to cre- including videos, were marketing will ate a stronger connect The private sector air carrier will merge uploaded on the user’s with the consumer. Jet Airways> soon turn out to Jet Lite and Jet Konnect under a single brand by May. It Facebook page. be one of the key Tata Motors and also plans to sell and lease off 77 aircraft to pay off working It divided its zone Ford Motors India capital loans and debt. The company posted a loss of Rs 101 into various sub- elements in the also played with inter- crore in the quarter ending December and will struggle for zones. In the Don2 strategy activity. Designed some more time due to higher fuel prices and depreciating zone, it displayed its and executed by rupee. Jet Airways posted a net loss of `101.22 crore in the SUV Santa Fe, which Imagination Design December quarter of 2011-12, against a net profit of `118.23 was used in the movie. The wind- and Communications India, both crore in the corresponding period last fiscal. screen of the car showed the trailer pavilions reflected the brands’ posi- of Don2. tioning. Ford Motors’ pavilion had Arvind Saxena, director, sales and a gaming zone involving a new type Nestlé India> The packaged foods maker is all set to marketing, Hyundai Motors India, of seat belt. On pressing a button, a launch one of its global programmes, ‘Nescafe Plan’, to sup- says, “The idea was to make the belt popped up with a sound, catch- port coffee farmers and help it optimise its coffee supply Hyundai zone as interactive as possi- ing visitors by surprise. This look chain. It is lauching coffee ‘demonstration’ farms to help ble to create ample buzz. The design was displayed on a nearby screen and farmers improve quality, productivity and sustainability in was based on the international for- later, on Ford India’s Facebook page. Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and to develop agricul- mat that the company uses at every A magician demonstrated the tural practices. Nestle’s research and development teams international exhibition, with a bit of safety of Ford cars. Mark Berrett, aim to provide farmers with high-yielding, disease resistant twist here and there to make it look CEO, Asia-Pacific, Imagination, plantlets suitable for Indian conditions. Indian.” remarks, “In both stalls, the idea was The iconic two-wheeler brand to showcase what the brand stands Harley Davidson requires no intro- for through interactivity.” Genesis Luxury is Louis Vuitton> The French luxury goods conglomerate is duction for bike lovers. It created a Other companies such as expected to open likely to clinch a multi-brand retail deal with New Delhi-based zone reflecting the values that the Chevrolet, Hero MotoCorp, Renault Genesis Luxury Fashion. The group’s discussion with Genesis brand stands for, shunning the use and Skoda India also created various the doors for signals its deepening ties with the Indian of plastic and creating the entire zone interactive zones to cast an impres- LMVH’s subsidiary company after L Capital picked up 25.5 from metal and iron, reflect- sion on the consumer’s mind.