Rs 40 THE January 16-31, 2009 The fortnightly from www.thebrandreporter.com 26 Media companies are trading their inventory for equity in companies big and small. How large will media-for-equity get? PLUS 34 36 30 OOH 8 Saying it with Style 12 CYBER CAFES Desktop Potential 22 HONDA The Ultimate Stunner 24 PRINT PROFILE COFFEE CHAINS BIDAAI Battle for Bengaluru 25 Maheshwer Peri Ad-less Show The Winning Card ADVERTISING All set to tap the knowledge How a Rs 1,000-crore business The serial that helped STAR Tackling the Slowdown 40 market with Pathfinder. grew without mass advertising. stay at the top. EDITORIAL The fortnightly from afaqs! This fortnight... Volume IV, Issue 12 What a difference just 10 years can make to a business that is more than 100 years old. EDITOR Sreekant Khandekar 1999: print was regarded in the West as a solid, dependable – if slightly boring - business with a steady revenue stream; in India, it still had to emerge from its local cocoon and excit- PUBLISHER ed no one except publishers themselves. Prasanna Singh 2009: newspapers are gasping for breath in the West whereas in India, publish- EXECUTIVE EDITOR ing companies are raring to go. It’s not just about circulation: the West seems M Venkatesh exhausted by its troubles whereas in India, there is an anything-goes attitude. No Deputy Editor business idea is too outrageous to consider. Sanjay Gupta The difference between the two is optimism about the future. CREATIVE CONSULTANTS That is possibly one explanation why an exceptional idea such as ‘private PealiDezine treaties’ was born in India and not in the West. The idea of ‘private treaties’, creat- LAYOUT ed by Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd (BCCL), publisher of The Times of India, is Vinay Dominic this: help high-growth entrepreneurs grow brands by giving advertising support and LOGISTICS take equity in return. Rajesh Kanwal The cover report in this issue is the most detailed look yet at the phenomenon of ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES private treaties. Hansika Koli We have chosen to look at it now because, following the lead of BCCL, which Noida: (0120) 4077834 has invested in more than 200 enterprises, a number of major media companies 4077837 Gaurav Prabhu have dipped their toes in the business. Last fortnight, afaqs!, The Brand Reporter’s Mumbai: (022) 40429702-5 sister brand, also reported an attempt to launch Morpheus, a Rs 900-crore media [email protected] equity fund, which will try to arm mid-sized companies with advertising space. GroupM’s media agency Maxus is advising Morpheus. Marketing Office B-3, First floor, Sector-4, Is private treaties a fashion that will go away or does it mark a big shift in the nature of Noida-201301. media companies and the way they operate? Read inside to find out. Tel: (0120) 4077800. Mumbai 39, A to Z (Industrial) Premises Co-op Soc Ltd, Lower Parel, Mumbai - 400013. Sreekant Khandekar Tel: (022) 40429701-5. Subscription Enquiries Sakshi Kohli be utopian but the execution is done Tel: (0120) 4077837 LETTERS so brilliantly that it makes me feel all [email protected] this might be possible someday. Shikha Sharma Registered Office Unique Spoof Ghaziabad Banyan Netfaqs Pvt Ltd, 494, The piece on makemytrip.com Mandakini Enclave, Alaknanda, spoofing Ghajini with its viral What Guidance? New Delhi 110 019. ©2004 ‘Gajodhar’, to promote oktatabye- This has reference to the story on Banyan Netfaqs Pvt Ltd, all rights bye.com, was quite unique. It’s government guidelines for news reserved throughout the world. encouraging to see Indian creative channels. It took an event of the scale Reproduction in any manner without minds making the best out of things of 26/11 for the so-called guidelines permission is prohibited. Printed and in fashion and news, to leverage their to be issued. However, in the dog- published by Sreekant Khandekar on brands. An illustrious international eat-dog media world, it would be behalf of Banyan Netfaqs Pvt Ltd at example being Wonderbra spoofing interesting to see how much strain 7-A/13, Ch. Ratan Singh Complex, the award-winning Cadbury ‘Gorilla’ the ‘leash’ can take when similar Jawala Heri Market, Paschim Vihar, ad to promote itself. Learning from Ghajini future events unfold. Media houses New Delhi-110 063. Kusumasab The marketing of Ghajini story indeed got away by saying that since there Printed at Paras Offset Pvt. Ltd., Kolkata reveals how big the showbiz is getting were no rules, we broke none. Of C-176, Naraina Industrial Area, with each mega release. The estab- course, self-restraint and common Phase I, New Delhi 110 028. Inspiring Idea lishment of multiplexes, presence of sense were forgotton in the battle for Exclusive distributors in India: This is regarding the story on the multiple media organisations and eyeballs. Now that there are rules, India Book House Pvt. Ltd. recent Idea TVC ad. Though I innumerable marketing gimmicks have surely some smart person would be New Delhi: (011) 23313014/5, understand what Raghu Bhat of meant that the public just can’t ignore looking for loopholes. Mumbai: (022) 24925651, Contract Advertising means by say- a big-budget film. It’s quite another Chand Nawab Kolkata: (033) 22498096, ing that the general mood in the matter that marketing or hype cannot Jaisalmer Bangalore: (080) 22261305, country is full of cynicism towards change the fortunes of a third-rate Chennai: (044) 28275217 our politicians, I must say these social movie. theme ads do instil a feel-good factor Arvind Jagdale Cover Illustration in viewers like me. The idea propa- Mumbai Readers can mail their feedback to Google gated by the telecom company might [email protected] The Brand Reporter, January 16-31, 2 0 0 9 5 MAGICBRICKS.COM NEWSBULLETIN Golden Opportunity Sponsored by Bookmyshow.com> India’s largest online entertainment ticketing service provider announced an alliance with I-mint for the first ever l-mint customer reward programme. This first-of-its-kind ‘Earn and Burn’ initiative offers entertainment buffs the chance to earn loyalty points on their I-mint cards when booking tickets for movies and plays. The automobile Hyundai Motor> Following the giant launches phenomenal success of the i10, Hyundai Motor India launched its latest model – i20, a premium the i20, a premium compact car for its compact car. discerning Indian customers. Focussed on being fuel-efficient, the Hyundai i20 comes with a 1.2 litre, Kappa, DOHC petrol engine with a max power of 80PS@5200 rpm. Similar to its predecessor the i10, the i20 will be manufactured exclusively in bout 87 per cent potential real BrixResearch surveys are aimed at India at Hyundai Motor India's Chennai plant. estate buyers see a slow drawing out recent trends in the real MARKETING Amarket as an opportunity to estate market so that our users can be Tata Teleservices> Taking the first-mover position in the buy their dream home at discounted served with the latest updated VoiceSMS space, Tata Teleservices recently unveiled its unique prices. Just 13 per cent of the information to aid their decision VoiceSMS service. The new service will allow all Tata Indicom respondents feel otherwise. These making process.” subscribers nationwide to send VoiceSMSes directly from their were the results of an online survey Respondents welcomed measures stored contacts in the phonebook, cutting out the need to conducted by Brix Research, the such as differential home loan remember any number and key in long and complicated Knowledge Centre of interest rates for budget homes. The numbers. MagicBricks.com – a survey by Brix leading property Research revealed that Movies and More Excel> In an effort to go pan-India, the movie retail arm of portal, promoted by market revival will have 40 Mumbai-based Excel Productions Audio Visuals, Movies and Times Business measures such as a cut More, plans to have 40 outlets across the country in the next The survey outlets across the one year. With 10 Movies and More outlets in Mumbai Solutions Limited. in home loan interest country in the Conducted to assessed“ the rates do prompt users currently, the company plans to expand its footprint by setting assess the impact of to consider buying next one year. up 30 more outlets across the country by year-end. As part of impact of the plan, the company is targeting metros. lowering home loan property. The interest rates on lowering home participants of this Meridian Mobile> Meridian mobile has affordable housing, survey belonged to loan rates on launched three new models under the Fly brand, respondents from affordable varied social and Fly V 120, V 110 and SL 120 at the beginning of metros such as economic the year in the Indian market. Fly V120 and Bengaluru, Kolkata, housing. backgrounds. About V110 are the latest additions to the � Victory� Delhi NCR, Mumbai, 40 per cent of series range and SL 120 to the � SLIM� series Hyderabad and respondents were in range. Fly phones are designed by the Chennai as well as the age group of 20-30 company’s R&D in France. smaller cities such as years while another Kanpur, Ahmedabad, ” 38.2 per cent belonged The online travel OkTataByeBye.com> The online travel Nagpur, Mysore, to the 30-40 age group. community community launched an innovative comparison widget for Jamnagar and Haridwar participated. Of the respondents, about 57 per hotel bookings. With this application users can compare hotel Some responses also came from cent said that they had purchased empowers its rates across multiple travel websites and then book directly overseas Indians in Oman and the property or owned property. The users with a on the site.