From the desk of Strategic Resources For any query, discussion or feedback, please contact Pavan Chandra, Head of Strategic Resources at pchandra@zenithoptimediaindia.com, +91-124-4195100. Office Address: 10th Floor, Vatika Tower, Block-B, Sector 54 Gurgaon -122002, Haryana, India.

Volume: XIII

April, 2008

In these hyper charged times where news comes in as fast as it becomes outdated, we need a source that can keep track of what matters to us. At ZenithOptimedia we have created Wavelength to apprise all of us of the happenings in three areas i.e. 1. Trends in Digital, Retail, OOH, Consumers and the International Advertising 2. Media & Advertising Research 3. Environment

Also included here are innovations and news that ZenithOptimedia is making across its network globally, under three sections 1. ZO Zone 2. Fast Forward 3. Touchpoints.

Simply click on any of the sections on our snazzy control panel and you will have the latest updates at your fingertips. Wavelength will reach you in the first week of every month so that you have information that leads to insights.

Drop in a mail at pchandra@zenithoptimediaindia.com with your suggestions and comments.

 

Emerging Trends: Digital

 

1. Virgin Mobile unleashes a website and an online campaign to target youngsters– March 13

Virgin Mobile is using an online paltform, www.VirginMobile.in, to reach out to youngsters in India. The site, which will initially provide regular information such as tariffs, ringtones and game downloads exclusive to Virgin mobile handsets, will eventually become more interactive. Virgin Mobile has also rolled out an online campaign by launching banner ads across major portals such as Yahoo!, MSN, Rediff, Indiatimes, Sify and social networking sites such as Facebook, which takes users to the Virgin website.  

Source: Agencyfaqs

 

 

 

Emerging Trends: OOH

 

 

2. Kotak Life Insurance first to use in-tunnel advertising in India – March 14

Kotak Life Insurance is the first to use “reverse movie” concept-based advertising in Delhi Metro Rail tunnels. According to Rahul Sinha, head, marketing, Kotak Life Insurance, “The medium helps the advertiser to reach out to the audience, which is captive, and with no other diversion, will pay attention to the commercial. There is no clutter and the impact created is impressive.”

 

Source: Agencyfaqs

 

 

 

Emerging Trends: Retail

 

 

3. Marketers face challenges to engage consumers in their communication due to media fragmentation – March 05

According to Bharat Patel, chairman of Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) and Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care, it has become challenging for marketers to engage consumers (in the modern retailing format) in their communication because of media fragmentation. The cost of effectively reaching consumers has also become an issue due to media proliferation. Compared to traditional kiranas, in modern retail, consumers have more choices at competitive prices and experience more pleasant shopping.

 

Source: DNA

 

 

Emerging Trends: International

 

 

4. Building better online brand awareness using multiple forms of media – March 18

According to Scott Symonds, executive media director, AKQA, marketers can leverage the web to raise brand awareness but the campaign needs to be part of an integrated strategy that is benchmarked using diverse metrics and multiple forms of media, including TV, print and out-of-home. For example, Scion used buzz tracking to help generate online awareness of an offline event. Instead of putting an ad online for the event (a party with DJs), they identified the influencers and turned them into brand advocates by inviting them to a party. This helped spread the message not only through blogs and message boards, but also through offline hangouts.  

 

Source: MediaPost

 

 

5. BIGresearch Simultaneous Media survey reveals the growing influence of new media amongst the Hispanics and the African Americans– March 10

A survey by BIGresearch Simultaneous Media revealed that while traditional media still dominates in influencing purchases, many new media options have also shown double digit growth. Compared to 2007, Instant Messaging and Blogging experienced double digit growth for purchase influence of electronics, while Broadcast TV and Cable showed a double digit decline, for the same.

 

 

Source: Centre for Media Research

 

 

6. PQ Media projects the branded entertainment marketing sector to grow at 12.8% CAGR (2007-12), exceeding $40 billion mark– March 07

According to a research released by PQ Media, spending on branded entertainment marketing grew 14.7% to reach $22.3 billion in 2007, nearly doubling in size over the last five years. This was due to a shift in budget by brand marketers from traditional advertising to alternative marketing strategies including event sponsorship and marketing, product placement, advergaming and webisodes. While spending on event sponsorship and marketing increased by 12.2% to $19.18 billion in 2007, product placement spending grew 33.7% to $2.90 billion in 2007, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 40.8% from 2002-07.  In an effort to reach the 18- to 34-year-old demographic, spending on advergaming and webisodes increased 34.8% to $217.0 million in 2007. Advergaming and webisodes is the smallest but fastest growing branded entertainment segment, recording 51.7% CAGR (2002-07).

 

Source: Centre for Media Research

 

 

7. Social networking moves to the cellphone – March 06

The market is teeming with companies that are bringing the phenomenon of social networking to cellphones. The New Media Age magazine in Britain identified 10 such “mobile social networking” companies. A report (February 2008) by market research company Informa Telecoms revealed that approximately 50 million people, or nearly 2.3% of all mobile users, already use the cellphone for social networking, from chat services to multimedia sharing. While most mobile social networks such as GyPSii, seek to capitalize on location information, Bliin, another network that started in Amsterdam, allows users to update and post their whereabouts every 15 seconds.

 

Source: The New York Times

 

 

8. According to eMarketer projections the $40 million US web widget and application ad spending is just 2.5% of the $1.6 billion US online social network ad spending, in 2008 – March 03  

 

Source: Business Week

 

 

Emerging Trends: Others

 

 

9. Springboard Research forecasts India’s market for mobile TV services to reach $360 million in 2008 – March 07

A report by Springboard Research forecasts that in the first year of operation, mobile TV could reach a penetration level of 5% to 6% of the total mobile subscriber base in India (taken as 233 million). Mobile TV is a technology that allows people to view regular live television content on their mobile phones. According to the report, 84% of mobile phone users are interested in using Mobile TV service, provided the service is commonly available and affordable.

 

Source: Business Standard

 

 

10. Screen Digest report predicts 2008 to be a difficult trading year for TV advertising, with ad spend growing at only 1.9% in Europe and 1.5% in the US– March 04

According to a research report from media analyst firm Screen Digest, the outlook for global TV advertising market is sluggish for 2009.  With some improvement, particularly online, from 2010 to 2012, TV audiences would continue to fragment, and online advertising would take a greater share of marketing budgets.

 

Source: Indiantelevision, The Broadcast Buyer, Marketing Charts

 

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Media & Advertising Research Watch

 

11. Media and entertainment (M&E) industry to grow by 18% over the next five years to reach Rs 1.16 trillion by 2012: FICCI-PWC 2008 report – March 18

According to the FICCI-PWC 2008 report, the media and entertainment (M&E) industry registered a 17% growth in 2007, reaching an estimated size of Rs 513 billion up from Rs 438 billion in 2006. The industry recorded a cumulative growth of 19% on an overall basis, during 2004-07. 

 

Source: Exchange4media

 

 

12. Use of MP3 players and FM/AM radio on mobile phones increased by 78% and 140%, respectively, in 2007 – March 13

TNS, a global market research company, in its study, ‘TNS Global Telecoms Insight,’ studied the use and accessibility of music features such as MP3 player and radio on mobile phones.  The study found that, of the total 482 respondents surveyed in India, 16% use digital MP3 player on their mobile phones, 36% use FM radio player and only 17% download music on their mobile phones.  The study also stated that consumption of mobile music is highest in West Asia (with 74% of the 1,356 respondents surveyed listening to music on their mobile) and lowest in North America (where only 19% of the 1,245 respondents surveyed listen to music on their mobile). Demographic diversity, differences in culture and taste, have made India an ideal breeding and testing ground for many mobile value added services (VAS). Though India is quite behind in terms of contribution of VAS in overall revenue, the country is much ahead of many developed countries in terms of variety of VAS for consumers. However, the report states that the presence of music features on a mobile does not imply use and there is a gap between availability and use of the FM radio and MP3 player on the mobile.

 

Source: Agencyfaqs

 

AdEx Findings

 

 

 

13. Retail sector advertising on TV registered 8% rise in 2007 as compared to 2006.

Source: Indiantelevision

 
 

14. Print media reports a 4% growth in ad volumes in Q1 ’07 as compared to Q1 ’06, with publications from South, West & North zones constituting 87% share of the ad pie. 

Source: Exchange4media

 

 

15. Print advertising of IT sector recorded a 6% dip during 2007 compared to 2004.

Source: Exchange4media

 

16. Personal Care industry witnessed a 23% rise in TV advertising and 12% rise in Print advertising during 2007 as compared to 2006.

Source: Indiantelevision, Exchange4media

 

 

17. Real Estate Industry reported an 82% increase in Print advertising during 2007 as compared to 2004 and a growth of 73% in TV advertising during 2007 over 2006.

Source: Exchange4media, Indiantelevision

 

18. Consumer Durables sector registered a rise of 22% in TV advertising in H1 ’07 compared to H1 ’06 with Vacuum Cleaners reporting the highest growth in advertising in H1 ‘07.

Source: Indiantelevision

 

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Environment Watch

Regulation

 

19. TRAI releases recommendations on the “3rd Phase of Private FM Radio Broadcasting” allowing FM broadcasters to broadcast news taking content from any authorised news agency – March 17-April 13, 2008

On 22 February 2008, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released its recommendations on the “3rd Phase of Private FM Radio Broadcasting”, stating that FM broadcasters may be permitted to broadcast news taking content from AIR, Doordarshan, authorised TV news channels, UNI, PTI and any authorised news agency. However, no other source of news is permitted at present. Even though TRAI has removed some important barriers for growth, such as permitting the broadcast of news and current affairs, increasing the FDI limit, and allowing multiple frequencies in a city, the FM industry, represented by the Association of Radio Broadcasters (AROI) feels that the industry is not able to offer a richer content choice for listeners as the government has restrictive FM policy.

 

Source: India Radio Bulletin

 

 

20. I&B issued notification to broadcasters to stop all forms of surrogate advertising by liquor and tobacco brands on traditional media– March 17

Following the ban on surrogate advertising on traditional media by liquor and tobacco brands, the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry has issued a notification to broadcasters to stop all forms of surrogate advertising. However, brand extensions are exempted from this ban, and brands such as Kingfisher and Wills may continue with mass media advertising. Brands such as King Cobra, White Mischief Holidays, Red and White Bravery Awards and Bagpiper Soda are under scrutiny.

 

Source: Exchange4media

 

 

Environment Watch: Advertising & Media

New Media

21. Yahoo! Inc. launches “Yahoo! Buzz”, a portal to track internet content that is most read by online visitors – Feb 27

Yahoo! Buzz (http://buzz.yahoo.com) will now showcase news articles, blog posts, photos and videos in order of their Buzz Score, which is calculated based on the popularity of search terms, votes by users, and the number of times the item is forwarded through email.

 

    Source: Agencyfaqs

 

 

TV

 

22. Broadcasters and advertisers join forces for the creation of Broadcast Audio Research Council (BARC), to determine the television rating for the 76 million cables and satellite televisions in the country – March 03

Starting with a corpus of Rs 80-85 crore, BARC is a combined effort of the Indian Broadcast Foundation (IBF), Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA). By 2010, an investment of Rs 900 million will be used to set up 500,000 people meters across the country with a mix of urban-rural households.  This move may have an adverse impact on the business of TAM Media Research, the only agency providing the ratings for television channels to both broadcasters as well as the advertising and media agencies.

 

Source: Indiantelevision

 

Others

 

23. Starcom MediaVest Group launches a new media planning tool “Abacus,” which claims to improve advertisers’ net effective reach to their target consumers by 9% by doing away with the duplication of information– March 06

‘Abacus’, by Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG), aims to improve advertisers’ net effective reach to their target consumers by 9%. Using all three media (television, print and radio) often leads to duplication of information as consumers view the same information through all the three media. Earlier, there was no tool that could measure the duplication. ‘Abacus’ combines the respondent level television viewership data by TAM media research for television, with the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) data for newspaper, magazines and radio consumption, and gives the overall effect on a target consumer through all the three media.

 

Source: Agencyfaqs

 

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Touch Points

 

Touchpoints is a unique tool for ZenithOptimedia clients that provide clear actionable metrics for all contact points used in marketing products and services.

 

For a detailed presentation on Touchpoints contact Mr. Pavan Chandra at pchandra@zenithoptimediaindia.com or call at +91-9899-3767-68
 

 

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ZO Zone

  

Viewership Analysis of Cricket Matches for 52 weeks for the period of 4th March 2007 – 29th February 2008

 

Major Series Covered by Each Channel in this Period

 

 

 

Top 2 Cricket Programs Across Sports Channels

 

Source: TAM

Period: 4th March’ 07 – 29th February’08
Market :All India
TG: 15+ Male ABC ALL

 

Channel Wise Cricket Viewership Share 2007 - 2008  

 

Source: TAM

Period: 4th March’ 07 – 29th February’08
Market: All India
TG: 15+ Male ABC ALL

 

Top 5 Program Ratings Across Various Target Audiences

 

 
 

Source: TAM

Period: 4th March’ 07 – 29th February’08
Market: All India
TG: 15+ Male ABC ALL

 

Advertising Spend Analysis for Laptops/ Notebooks Category for the Year 2006 & 2007

Laptops/ Notebooks Category – Monthly Media Expenditure

 

Source: IMRB & AC Nielson
 (Reported Figures)

 

Laptops/ Notebooks Category – Brandwise spends

Source: IMRB & AC Nielson
 (Reported Figures)
 

Medium Breakup

 

 

Source: IMRB & AC Nielson
 (Reported Figures)

 

Genre Breakup

 

Source: IMRB & AC Nielson
 (Reported Figures)

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Fast Forward

   

Tips for multi-media messaging

  

By Janel Landis

 

When a major TV event refers viewers online, the sponsors of that event need to be prepared. Find out how "Idol Gives Back" advertisers fared with their integrated efforts.

 

American Idol's 2008 "Idol Gives Back" program on Fox drew an audience that was 34 percent smaller than last year's event. While final results will be released in May, current reports reveal that $60 million has been raised to date. This marks a 21 percent drop from last year's $76 million and leaves the "American Idol" producers short of their $100 million goal.

 

With less people watching the show and more people watching their wallets, it is increasingly important for Idol advertisers to make the most of their ad dollars. During the show, viewers were urged to donate via phone or web. With such a heavy call to go online, integration of online efforts with offline television sponsorships was extremely important, especially considering that the participation of major brands in "Idol Gives Back" was unlike most traditional advertising efforts.

 

Taking part in "Idol Gives Back" was about community involvement and public relations, and executing an integrated and coordinated advertising strategy across various channels was the key to maximizing positive brand exposure.

 

The advertising partners of this year's show included ExxonMobil, Ford, Coca-Cola, AT&T, iTunes, Allstate and M•A•C AIDS Fund. This analysis evaluates how four of these major advertisers tried to get the most out of their dollars during this charitable event.

 

"'Idol Gives Back' demonstrates the vital need for marketers to integrate online and offline initiatives to effectively reach consumers, while also optimizing branding opportunities," says SendTec CEO Paul Soltoff. "The sponsors who prevailed were the ones that maintained high visibility through implementing multichannel marketing strategies."

 

Ford—missed branding opportunities
Ford runs several commercials during each episode of "American Idol" over the course of the season. During "Idol Gives Back," Ford featured prominent display advertising throughout americanidol.com and paid search ads in search results for keywords like "drive on," which was the television spot catch phrase. However, Ford did not incorporate any messaging that referenced "American Idol" or "Idol Gives Back" in its paid search ad copy or landing pages the night of "Idol Gives Back."

Missing the chance to capitalize on this marketing opportunity, the company's participation in "Idol Gives Back" was not carried through to any other online initiatives. While this approach provided consistency with Ford's everyday advertising campaign, it did not capitalize on the opportunity to further build on brand perception.

 

Coca-Cola -- failed for disconnected efforts
Coca-Cola is also a significant "American Idol" sponsor, whose first television ad promoted its contribution to college scholarships for promising students and featured a unique website: Coca-Cola.com/JoinUs. Attempting to connect its online home to its television spots, this website contained links to the commercial and additional information about it, but no reference to "American Idol" or "Idol Gives Back" was made. As a result, Coca-Cola appeared completely disconnected in its multi-channel efforts.

 

iTunes -- could have done more
iTunes is the exclusive provider of "American Idol" performance downloads and a portion of each "Idol Gives Back" performance download is being donated to charitable causes. While parent company Apple aired Mac versus PC commercials during the broadcast, the iTunes sponsorship was solely promoted by repeat references from Ryan Seacrest directing viewers to download the night's performances from iTunes.

 

Surprisingly, iTunes had no presence in search results for Idol downloads or American Idol performance and no display ads on americanidol.com. The only connection iTunes had to "American Idol" was the homepage of its website, which featured a picture of the top 12 contestants and links to performance downloads, but no mention was made of "Idol Gives Back."

 

ExxonMobil -- a passing grade for follow through
ExxonMobil did not run commercials during "Idol Gives Back;" instead, the company ran a sponsored segment within the show about preventing malaria in Angola through the Malaria No More organization, which received $9 million of the $76 million raised during the "Idol Gives Back" 2007 program.

 

Many of the Idol contestants were wearing t-shirts promoting different charities, and immediately following the ExxonMobil segment, Jason Castro received some camera time wearing a Malaria No More t-shirt. Search results on Google for malaria no more yielded both a paid and an organic listing for malarianomore.com. The paid listing reiterated the message heard in the show: "Every 30 Seconds a Child Dies of Malaria. Please Help Today."

 

Further integrating its campaign, the ExxonMobil logo on americanidol.com linked visitors to the corporate page within exxonmobil.com, which contained information about the "American Idol" partnership and other charitable sponsorships, like sendmyteacher.com, maximizing exposure for all of the corporation's community goodwill participation. In addition, Ryan Seacrest mentioned ExxonMobil several times, which positioned the brand as one of the leading companies involved in this charitable cause.

 

Conclusion
All of these brands attempted integrated strategies on some level. Of the nationally run commercials, 59 percent featured a visible website address. However, all major brand advertisers were off-tune by not bidding on the show-related keywords such as American Idol, Idol Gives Back or donate now.

 

Implementing impressive SEM tactics, One.org was the only advertiser that appeared in sponsored listings for "American Idol"-related searches, and "ABC News" heavily promoted on these keywords as well. ABC did this in an effort to promote the broadcast of Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture," which aired immediately following "Idol Gives Back."

 

All things totalled, ExxonMobil was this year's winner by executing a multi-faceted campaign reaching the audience through various channels that each integrated its messaging.

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This tracker has been compiled from external sources and does not necessarily reflect the views of the company.
Links provided will take you to the full articles appended at the end of the file.

© 2008 Zenith Optimedia.

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Full Articles

 

1. Virgin Mobile goes online to attract youth        

March 13, 2008

 

Virgin Mobile, which entered the Indian telecom market recently by forming an alliance with Tata Teleservices, is using the online platform to reach out to youngsters in the country.

To begin with, the Richard Branson owned company has launched a website for Indian customers, www.VirginMobile.in. Initially, the site will provide regular information such as tariffs, the different models of mobile phones on offer, and other features such as ringtones, wallpapers and game downloads exclusive to Virgin mobile handsets. Later, Virgin has plans to make the site more interactive.

Prasad Narasimhan, chief marketing officer, Virgin Mobile, India, says, “Once the site gets traction, we will introduce engagement in it and make it more interactive. We will launch Zones on the site which will let users generate content on their own.”

 

The site has been designed by the interactive agency, BC Web Wise. Chaya Brian Carvalho, managing director and chief executive officer, BC Web Wise, says, “We had to connect with the youth and bring out the essence of the brand, and the site had to be best in its class, out of the box, and appeal to the youth, whether it be through visual or copy cues. Hopefully, we have managed to do that.”

Besides the website, Virgin Mobile has also rolled out an online campaign which includes both display and search marketing. Mindshare Interaction (Delhi) is handling the online promotion for Virgin Mobile.

 

According to Saikat Mohanthy, business manager, Mindshare Interaction, “To begin with, we have launched banner ads across major portals such as Yahoo!, MSN, Rediff, Indiatimes, Sify and even social networking sites such as Facebook, which will take users to the Virgin site. Search marketing is also carried out with youth related keywords such as ‘music’ and ‘games’.”

Mindshare Interaction is working on a viral campaign for the brand and has plans to use social media as well.

 

Apart from the online campaign, Virgin Mobile has rolled out two TV commercials which feature the URL of the Virgin site and it plans to air two more TVCs in April. A print campaign was carried out in newspapers, including The Times of India front page. There are plans to use OOH advertising, especially near colleges in major cities.

 

 

 

 

2. DMRC, Kotak first to use in-tunnel advertising in India

March 14, 2008

 

The out of home business seems to be attracting a number of investors and, more than that, a lot more avenues to explore. New in India is in-tunnel advertising, a virgin space. C2E Technology Labs, in collaboration with the Delhi Metro Rail Corp. (DMRC) and Submedia, a US based company which patented the technology for this kind of communication, spotted an opportunity in the dark tunnels through which Delhi Metro trains run.

The company has tried the concept of a 'reverse movie': The audience is moving, while animated film frames are lit up in the tunnel spaces. C2E provides the technology for such endeavours. The first advertiser to try this new kind of advertising is Kotak Life Insurance.

The technology consists of two sets of processes. The first is a specially designed display box, which houses the images, placed frame by frame next to one another. The other process consists of changing the images in such a manner that when installed in the displays and watched by a moving audience, they appear to move without any blur or distortion.

The design of the boxes incorporates variables such as speed of the train and distance of the viewers. The software consists of modifying the images in a manner consistent with such variables. Both these, along with the moving audience, creates the motion picture effect.

With the help of this technology, DMRC can use tunnels and station walls to put up commercial films.

As this technology is suitable for use even at low speeds of less than half a metre per second, it can also be installed along escalators and travelators (moving pavements). This would find extensive use in malls and other enclosed public spaces. 

A Rabindranath, chief executive officer, C2E Technology Labs, says, “For a long period of time, advertising focused only on print, channels and outdoor hoardings. In-tunnel advertising will revolutionise the thinking of advertisers and the perception of people towards a brand.

 

In-tunnel is the first of many avenues this new medium of advertising will allow companies to embark on. Advertising will no longer be the same as people will now look for more creative twists in every advertisement. ”

Anuj Dayal, chief public relations officer, DMRC, says, “The idea of in-tunnel advertising seemed exciting to us. DMRC has always been seen as a pioneering entity, and this initiative is one more feather in our cap.”

 

Rahul Sinha, head, marketing, Kotak Life Insurance, the first advertiser to use this medium, says, “This medium is a fantastic initiative from C2E Technology Labs and wins on many counts for an advertiser. We are very excited at the prospect of being the first and I am sure we will be able to reach out to lot of our audience through this medium.

 

The audience is captive, and with no other diversion, will pay attention to the commercial. There is no clutter and the impact created is impressive. All these put together make advertising on this medium very exciting for us, and thus we chose to be the first ones to try it.”

 

 

 

 

3. ‘Media fragmentation big challenge for advertisers’

March 05, 2008 

 

Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA), along with World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), are organising the Global Advertiser Conference ‘Effective Consumer Engagement’ in Mumbai. The event would feature keynote sessions from major advertisers such as Unilever, Nokia, Vodafone and Procter & Gamble besides advertising agencies.

 

Bharat Patel, chairman of ISA and also chairman of Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care, shared with DNA Money his views on challenges in effective consumer engagement.

 

How fast is the Indian consumer changing because of the retail boom, media multiplicity and change in lifestyles?

 

Modern retailing (MR) in India is leapfrogging the normal stages of evolution just like telecom and airlines. However, it is not moving as fast mainly because FDI is still not allowed in it and getting lands for stores is an issue and also costly. But MR will change not only the environment in which a consumer buys things but also what and how she buys things.

 

How challenging has it become for marketers to engage consumers in their communications in such an environment?

 

The bigger challenge faced by advertisers is not coming out of MR but fragmentation of media with a huge increase in number of vehicles in print, TV and radio and, the dreaded TV remote. Cost of reaching consumer in impactful ways in mass media is increasing and reach and frequency is becoming an issue with media proliferation. The WFA/ISA conference is going to discuss how to impactfully engage consumers and also how to measure impact of this engagement.

What are the learnings from modern retail versus the traditional kiranas for consumer engagement, particularly for FMCG companies?

 

Modern retail is going to increase consumption as consumers get more choices at competitive prices and experience more pleasant shopping. Shopping is going to be pleasant and will no longer remain a chore as perceived now. From the manufacturer’s point, there will be leading brands in each of the categories because big players will be overwhelmed by the shop’s own brand. Focusing on building brand, so that MR cannot ignore them, becomes even more critical. From in-store perspective, availability and visibility becomes more important because if your brand is not available and visible then it will not sell.

 

Globally, companies have been tapping virtual communities such as MySpace and Second Life. How effective is online consumer engagement?

 

Online consumer engagement is important and is growing. Because of relatively low penetration of regular internet use, it is not of much significance at least for mass consumer products segment.

How different is consumer engagement in terms of gender of the customer? What are the insights from your experience in dealing with both?

 

Consumer engagement for women, especially for housewives, is relatively easy through mass media. On the other hand it’s not as significant in media such as outdoor and internet.

Is sampling a better way than traditional advertising for attracting consumers to premium products?

 

Sampling works for products which have demonstrable and clear superiority over other products in the category. And it works for all kinds of products and not necessarily for premium products unless of course if products are higher priced products and perform better. P&G does sampling of its products like Whisper, Head & Shoulders, Ariel and Pampers extensively because they are the best in their respective categories.

 

 

 

 

4. Building Online Brand Awareness: It's All About Integration

March 18, 2008

 

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- Marketers can leverage the Web to raise brand awareness, but the campaign needs to be part of an integrated strategy that is benchmarked using diverse metrics and multiple forms of media, including TV, print and out-of-home. That's according to Scott Symonds, executive media director, AKQA, one of the execs on the Online Brand Awareness Simplified panel at OMMA Global Hollywood on Monday.

 

"I don't think anyone tries to build a brand exclusively with TV or print, so I don't know why you'd want to try it with the Web," Symonds said. "We're as good as anybody in the world at creating brand awareness, but we don't like using the Web exclusively. It's an exciting opportunity, but not the only one out there."

 

Symonds and others on the panel said that integration is non-negotiable when it comes to generating online brand awareness successfully. For example, Scion used buzz tracking to help generate online awareness of an offline event, according to Bill Stephenson, Nielsen Online's vice president of client services.

 

"Scion is Toyota's youth brand, and they'd planned an offline event--a party with DJs--and instead of putting an ad online, they asked us to identify the influencers in their segment and reach out to them." Stephenson said that Scion contacted those influencers and turned them into brand advocates by inviting them to the party. "The message intended to make recipients feel like 'the brand came online to where I hang to invite me to a VIP party' so that they'd go to blogs, message boards and offline hangouts telling their friends about the party and spread the news about how cool Scion is," Stephenson said.

 

This integration also extends to the metrics and mediums marketers use to measure the campaign's effectiveness. According to Drew Lipner, senior vice president and group director at Digital Measurement Group, the metrics don't have to be transactional just because the campaign is running on the Web. "You don't have to analyze an online campaign with conversion-specific metrics. It really depends on what the brands' goals and objectives are, and things like whether they're trying to communicate with a broad or niche audience," Lipner said. "You can use attitudinal barometers like purchase intent, and make metrics like click-throughs or page views secondary." Lipner also said that some brands were interested in linking transactional stats like keyword searches or site visits to lifts in brand awareness after the fact.

 

The panelists also said that there was an opportunity to use social media properties like MySpace to assess the efficacy of a branding campaign. "You can use them to measure what we call a 'buzz sentiment'--or the perceptions and attitudes about the brand," Stephenson said.

For example, General Motors could compare itself against Toyota in terms of perceived "greenness" by monitoring how many times the brand name was blogged about and what kinds of statements were made on user profiles and discussion boards. "Brands can listen to consumers online and then analyze whether the campaign performed as it was intended, whether to scrap it, or even how to proceed before a campaign even gets started," Stephenson said.

 

 

 

 

5. New Media An Important Place To Be Seen

March 10, 2008

 

The most recent BIGresearch Simultaneous Media Survey shows that, while traditional media still rank on top in the influence of purchases, many are declining in influence and some are showing double digit losses over the previous year. At the same time, says the study, many new media options are showing double digit growth. For example, when compared to a year ago, Instant Messaging and Blogging experienced double digit growth for purchase influence of electronics while Broadcast TV and Cable showed a double digit decline. Not only is influence of new media growing, it is much more influential among minority groups, says the report. Influence of new media is higher for Hispanics and African Americans across all new media forms compared to all adults. Alternatively, influence of new media for Caucasians is lower than the general market for all types.

 

Gary Drenik, President of BIGresearch, concludes that "It's no longer enough for marketers to advertise only a slogan... (they) need to better understand the changing dynamics of the consumer media market and develop new marketing plans that integrate new media to replace the erosion of traditional media for influence to purchase... "

 

 

 

 

6. Elusive Consumers Create Marketers' Needs For Branded Entertainment

March 07, 2008

 

According to research released recently by PQ Media, spending on branded entertainment marketing grew 14.7% to an all-time high of $22.3 billion in 2007, nearly doubling in size over the last five years as brand marketers continue to shift budgets from traditional advertising to alternative marketing strategies which include:

 

·          Event sponsorship and marketing

·          Product placement

·          Advergaming and webisodes

 

This marketing strategy that integrate products into entertainment venues that provide high engagement and interactivity, represented approximately 8 cents of every marketing services dollar spent in 2007, according to PQ Media. And the market for branded entertainment is projected to expand another 13.9% in 2008 to $25.41 billion, despite slowing overall economic growth. Patrick Quinn, President & CEO of PQ Media, said "... there are strong secular trends driving investment from traditional advertising media to alternative marketing strategies... Americans are spending more time outside their homes, online at work, communicating via wireless devices and multitasking with various media, which has created a generation of elusive consumers for brand marketers to reach... (leading) to increased investment in alternative marketing tactics."

 

Key trends impacting each segment of branded entertainment include: Spending on event sponsorship and marketing, the largest segment of branded entertainment, rose 12.2% to $19.18 billion in 2007. Event sponsorship and event marketing attract new customers by using face-to-face engagement.

 

Paid product placement spending grew 33.7% to $2.90 billion in 2007, and at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 40.8% from 2002 to 2007.

 

Spending on advergaming and webisodes increased 34.8% to $217.0 million in 2007, fueled by efforts among marketers to reach the elusive 18- to 34-year-old demographic. Advergaming and webisodes, while the smallest branded entertainment segment, is the fastest growing, climbing at a 51.7% CAGR from 2002 to 2007 Branded entertainment is expected to grow at a doubledigit pace in 2008, driven by nearly $9 billion in event marketing spend, robust product placement spending, particularly on reality programming, at $3.5 billion, up nearly 25%, and growth in webisodes of 46%, as major networks begin to produce full-length online episodes in an effort to tap the coveted youth market. The outlook for branded entertainment marketing through 2012, says the report, is for double-digit growth overall, despite slower economic expansion in the period. The sector is projected to grow at a 12.8% CAGR from 2007 to 2012, exceeding $40 billion.

 

 

 

 

7. Social Networking Moves to the Cellphone

March 6, 2008

 

PARIS — Social networks may be nothing new to habitués of the Internet. Several years of competition among Facebook, MySpace and Friendster have generated tens of millions of members.

 

But now the market is teeming with companies that want to bring the same phenomenon to the cellphone. There are so many “mobile social networking” upstarts, in fact, that when New Media Age magazine in Britain tried to identify the “ones to watch,” it ended up naming 10 companies.

 

Some of those in the thick of battle are resigned to having a lot of company. “If there weren’t competitors, there wouldn’t be a market,” said Dan Harple, founder and chief executive of GyPSii, a mobile social network based in Amsterdam that is a contender. “Maybe there are 30 or more now — in three years, there will be 5 that matter.”

 

The prize, as these start-ups see it, is the 3.3 billion cellphone subscribers, a number that far surpasses the total of Internet users. The advantage over computer-based communities, they believe, is the ability to know where a cellphone is, thanks to global positioning satellites and related technologies.

 

The market research company Informa Telecoms said in a report last month that about 50 million people, or about 2.3 percent of all mobile users, already use the cellphone for social networking, from chat services to multimedia sharing. The company forecast that the penetration rate would mushroom to at least 12.5 percent in five years.

 

Most mobile social networks seek to capitalize on location information. The SpaceMe service from GyPSii, for instance, will show users where friends and other members are in real time.

A GyPSii search will show users a map of their environs dotted with photos, videos and information from other members.

Bliin, another network that started in Amsterdam, lets users update and post their whereabouts every 15 seconds.

 

But for other networks, geography and “presence” information is not as critical. MyGamma, a social network run by BuzzCity, based in Singapore, draws most of its 2.5 million users from developing countries in Asia and Africa, its chief executive, Lai Kok Fung, said.

 

“These are countries with low Internet penetration — they are not PC-centric,” Mr. Lai said. “For our members, the mobile phone is the only way to get on the Internet.”

 

For that reason, Mr. Lai is not overly concerned with the big Internet names — like MySpace and Facebook — and their plans to invade the cellphone universe.

 

AOL, Yahoo and Nokia have initiatives to create discrete communities out of cellphone users.

 

“We don’t think any of them will make a big splash in the mobile space,” Mr. Lai said. “They view mobile as an extension of the online site, while we know our members use mobile much differently.”

 

According to a BuzzCity study, members usually gain access to the mobile social network from home or work, and they use their cellphones first, even if they can get to the network from a personal computer. For most users — 62 percent — each myGamma session lasts 30 minutes to an hour.

 

Itsmy.com, a social network run by the Munich-based GoFresh, also exists only in the mobile world. Itsmy, which says it has more than a million registered users, opened its Italian-language service on Wednesday. It was already available in English, German and Spanish, and a Japanese version is planned.

 

GyPSii announced a version of its software for the Apple iPhone this week, and last month it concluded a contract with China Unicom to start GyPSii during the Beijing Olympics.

 

Mr. Harple, an American technology entrepreneur, does not consider it unusual that so many mobile social networks originate outside the United States, which has dominated the Internet business.

 

“I moved to Europe because I thought the U.S. venture capital community — which I was a part of — was myopic,” he said. “They can’t see the global significance of what is happening.”

Mr. Harple predicted GyPSii “could have more users in one year than Facebook had in three.”

 

 

 

 

8. Building a Brand with Widgets

March 03, 2008

 

The cards were stacked against A&E Television Network as it tried to generate positive buzz about its new series, Parking Wars. For one, it's a reality show about meter readers. Two, the show doesn't feature celebrities. "We thought if we could find a clever way of increasing consumer interaction with the concept behind the show that we would increase curiosity in the show itself," says Lori Peterzell, A&E's vice-president for consumer marketing.

 

So A&E hired area/code, a multimedia game developer, to build an online game based on Parking Wars. Played on the social network Facebook, the game has users park virtual cars on friends' profile pages, or "streets," while slapping tickets on cars parked on their own page and avoiding tickets themselves.

 

Grand Theft Auto it's not. What makes Parking Wars unique is how it's distributed. The game is passed from one person to the next by way of widgets, small bundles of software that users can download, customize, and forward to a single pal or an entire contact list with the click of a mouse. Widgets like Parking Wars, which are designed for a specific social networking site, are typically referred to as applications. Since its Dec. 17 introduction, Parking Wars has attracted more than 198,000 unique users, many of them repeat players, and generated more than 45 million page views.

 

     Raising Brand Awareness

 

"It's surpassing our expectations," Peterzell says. A growing number of companies hope they'll be wowed by widgets, too. Electronic Arts (ERTS), Viacom's (VIA) Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Gap (GPS), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Hallmark, and Blockbuster (BBI) are among the businesses hoping to spread a marketing message or raise brand awareness through these modules of content used by millions of social network users to customize profiles or communicate with friends.

 

Interest in widgets is rising as marketers become disaffected by other methods of online advertising, especially on social networks. Google (GOOG) executives said in January they're not generating as much revenue as expected (BusinessWeek.com, 1/31/08) from placing ads on News Corp.'s (NWS) MySpace.

 

Some marketers say widgets may do a better job engaging users than, say, so-called banner ads emblazoned across the sides of social network profiles. "Content and functionality are the new creativity—it's not about whether you have a whiz-bang rich media banner running," says Andy Bateman, CEO of brand consultancy Interbrand New York. "Are you doing something that's actually helpful and useful to people?"

 

     Some Facebook Campaigns Have Fizzled

 

There's plenty of anecdotal success. Sony Pictures promoted its Resident Evil zombie flick by running a sweepstakes in conjunction with Rock You's popular Zombies application, which lets people send virtual zombies to bite their friends. Sony Pictures had hoped 10,000 people would sign up for its contest, and instead got 1 million takers, says RockYou CEO Lance Tokuda.

 

But there are even more examples of branded Facebook applications from household names such as Blockbuster, Hallmark, and Verizon (VZ) that have fallen flat. The market for ad-related widgets is still in its infancy, as evidenced by eMarketer projection that U.S. Web widget and application ad spending in 2008 will amount to $40 million, just 2.5% of the $1.6 billion in U.S. online social network ad spending. The verdict is out on whether widgets will become an integral part of social networking marketing and ad campaigns or whether they are, as some critics say, a passing fad.

 

The potential audience is vast. MySpace has some 110 million active users worldwide, and Facebook has a little more than 66 million. Yet of the nearly 17,000 applications on Facebook, only 138 had more than 1 million installations on Feb. 25, according to Adonomics, a firm that tracks Facebook statistics.

 

     A Short Shelf Life for Many Widgets

 

To do well, branded widgets typically must engage users often, piggyback on existing popular applications, and be aimed at the right audience. "It's very challenging to maintain someone's interest over a long period of time," says Debra Aho Williamson, a senior analyst at eMarketer. "Applications and widgets have a pretty short shelf life."

 

In fact, the adoption rate of many applications on social networking sites looks something like a steep bell curve, typically with rapid adoption at the outset and a quick drop when the enthusiasm ebbs. Depending on the application, that lifespan can be days, weeks, or months. The applications with the longest life tend to be those where developers constantly add new features to get users to come back.

 

Another recipe for success is joining forces with an already popular application. Independent widget makers Slide and RockYou have mastered the art of building applications that hook users and get passed liberally from one person to the next. One of Slide's most popular Facebook applications is SuperPoke, a communication tool that lets people do everything from send virtual hugs to throw virtual objects at friends. At one point, Samsung Electronics (SSNGY) sponsored a tool that lets users throw a picture of an HDTV at pals.

 

     Reaching Out to a Younger Audience

 

Many adults may not immediately see the appeal of throwing a sheep or an HDTV at a friend. Then again, they're probably not the target demographic. RockYou, for instance, designs applications that appeal to teen girls. "Our goal is maximum reach, and teen girls are the most viral people on the planet," RockYou's Tokuda says.

 

In creating applications for Facebook, TripAdvisor wanted to reach a younger audience than its traditional 35-44 demographic. It has tried a mix of buying advertising on other applications and creating its own. "You can spend a lot of money buying installs if your application is not viral," says Christine Petersen, the company's senior vice-president for marketing.

 

Petersen would rather create her own applications and hope for organic growth. In-house application building is less expensive. It's also a better way to build a brand, she says. The efforts don't always pan out, but the stakes are sufficiently low that it can afford some flops. TripAdvisor's Cities I've Visited, a map where people can show where they've traveled, has been very successful. At its peak, Cities I've Visited was installed by 7.8 million people. It took two people about three days to build that application. Another app, a quiz called What Obnoxious Traveler Are You?, launched on Jan. 29, fared considerably worse, and has garnered only 500 installations as of Feb. 26. "It's been a dud," says Petersen.

 

     Developers Are Lining Up to Make Widgets

 

Peers at other companies concur. "The great benefit of doing a Facebook application that only took three weeks to build is that it's very inexpensive and your opportunity to experiment is very high," says Neil Young, group general manager at Electronic Arts. Young says that Electronic Arts has spent less than $200,000 over several months with developer Context Optional to build and run a trivia game called Smarty Pants, a pared-down version of a Wii game by the same name that EA sells. He estimates that many independent developers charge between $15,000 and $50,000 a month to build and maintain branded applications such as Smarty Pants.

 

There's certainly no shortage of programmers willing to make widgets. Facebook has attracted more than 150,000 active developers since May, 2007, according to Developer Analytics, a company that tracks the Facebook developer community. One draw is that Facebook lets indie developers sell advertising on their applications and keep the profit. Yet some social networking sites, including MySpace, were initially reluctant to open pages to an influx of third-party widgets (BusinessWeek.com, 5/22/07). MySpace is now offering developers the opportunity to make money from their applications.

 

The same goes for social networking site Bebo, which officially opened to third-party developers on Dec. 12. Already NBA, Yahoo! (YHOO), Gap, and other brand marketers have created applications for the site. About 5,000 Bebo users have added the Gap's ModelMaker application, where they can become virtual Gap models by adding their photos and choosing outfits, a pose and a scene.

 

     Plagued by Lack of Standard Metrics

 

RockYou's Tokuda says he also expects social networking sites hi5 and Orkut to give developers tools to create third-party applications within the next five weeks or so.

 

Still, it may be a while before widgets become an advertising and branding force to be reckoned with. Because of a lack of industry standard metrics, it's difficult to compare the relative success or failure of widgets, and just how much a widget is worth (BusinessWeek.com, 1/7/08). What's more, many users are getting turned off by advertising on social networking sites (BusinessWeek.com, 7/7/08). "I think application fatigue is real, and it will force people to look at what they're developing and how much they're spending," says TripAdvisor's Petersen.

 

Others wonder if advertising widgets can work at all on social networking sites. "Frankly, I'm very skeptical about the whole thing," says Ben Kunz, director of strategic planning at Media Associates, a media planning firm. Part of the problem, says Kunz, is that a person has to be receptive to advertising, and that's not the case with many people when they're surfing around social networking sites. "There's so much talk about viral marketing, but if it were really that easy to do, then everybody would be doing it."

 

Still, that isn't deterring A&E from going to the ad widget well. The company is considering widgets for shows besides Parking Wars, Peterzell says, adding: "We're in the middle of looking at concepts for returning series and for some other shows and titles being launched later this year."

 

 

 

 

9. Mobile TV: The next big thing

March 07, 2008

 

You need not have to wait for the re-run of your favourite serial just because you’re on the move. Indians are now warming up to the idea of mobile television (TV), says a recent report by Springboard Research that predicts 12 million subscribers will use the mobile TV service in the first year of its launch.

 

It estimates that in the first year of operation, mobile TV could reach a penetration level of 5 to 6 per cent of the total mobile subscriber base in India (taken as 233 million).

 

Mobile TV is a technology that allows people to view regular live television content on their mobile phones or other mobile devices that they get through traditional cable or pay TV subscriptions at home. Springboard estimates that in 2008 India’s market for mobile TV services to reach $360 million (approximately Rs 1,440 crore).

 

“Mobile TV marries the two dominant consumption trends of entertainment and mobile telephony in India,” says Ravi Shekhar Pandey, manager – Syndicated Research at Springboard Research.

 

“The market is ripe for the launch of Mobile TV services and we believe that India will have around 12 million mobile TV subscribers within the first year of launch of service,” he added.

Currently in India, only Doordarshan offers mobile TV service, however according to the report, in recent months the market has seen increased activities from various stakeholders including technology providers, network equipment vendors and mobile service providers like Nokia, Spice Telecom, Qualcomm and Samsung.

 

Both telecom companies as well as broadcasters will have to invest in proper infrastructure and a congenial environment to provide such services,” says Pandey.

 

“Mobile telephone operators will have an advantage over standalone mobile TV operators in that the former already have users subscribing to their value-added services. However, the success of either operator will be dependent on content offered and price charged for the service,” he adds.

 

According to the report, 84 per cent of mobile phone users are interested in using Mobile TV service provided the service is commonly available and affordable. Close to 60 per cent of these will prefer watching the same content that they get on TV at home.

 

“A majority of mobile users in India are interested in trying out mobile TV and would invest in new handsets for using the service. This willingness is definitely a positive sign for those considering offering mobile TV in one of the world’s largest and fastest growing mobile services market,” says Pandey.

 

 

 

 

10a. TV ad growth to be sluggish in 2008-09: Report

March 04, 2008

 

MUMBAI: In 2008-09, traditional forms of advertising will suffer as TV audiences fragment and online advertising continues to take a greater share of marketing budgets, says a recent Screen Digest report that examines the outlook for the global TV advertising market to 2012.

 

As the economy looks set for a downturn, Screen Digest senior analyst and advertising specialist Vincent Létang expects to see sluggish growth to 2009, with the outlook improving from 2010 to 2012.

 

Létang says, "Advertising spending tends to amplify economic cycles - and in some instances, it actually anticipates downturns. Although we're not expecting advertising budgets to be affected this year, thanks to the quadrennial events, Screen Digest believe we'll experience the real impact in 2009, which will be the toughest year for advertising revenues. Whilst the overall picture for ad revenues is flat or in decline, two areas will enjoy growth - online will continue to grow at a pace, buoyed up by a strong search advertising market and digital TV channels will be taking a larger proportion of ad budgets by 2012, at the expense of the traditional broadcasters."

 

The research predicts that 2008 will be a difficult trading year for TV advertising, with spend growing at a lower rate than the economy at only 1.9 per cent in Europe and 1.5 per cent in the US. However, TV advertising revenues will enjoy a welcome quadrennial boost from key events that happen only every four years - including the Beijing Olympics, the European football championship and the US elections.

While these events will help avoid a recession for TV ad revenues in 2008 by neutralizing the effect of the slowing economy, their effect will be temporary and certainly will not be able to bolster the fragile advertising environment in 2009.

 

The report forecasts that advertising revenues will grow below average GDP growth between 2008-2012, with annual growth rates of 3.6 per cent in Europe and 3.7 per cent in the US.

 

The growth rate in 2011-12 will be higher as the economy picks up after 2008/2009, at 5 per cent in Europe and 6 per cent in the US. Most of this growth will come from online advertising, which is expected to grow on average by 17 per cent every year until 2012.

 

By 2012, advertising will be a three-tier market with online at the top, TV in the middle and traditional media bringing up the rear.

 

Online advertising, when both search and display are combined, will have enjoyed double-digit growth every year to 2012. TV advertising will have retained its 2007 market share, but the traditional broadcast channels will have seen their share of the ad budgets slipping.

 

The research contrasts the growth rate of the European traditional channels of up to 2 per cent per year, with the digital channels that are expected to experience advertising growth rates of 20 per cent per annum.

 

 

 

 

10b. TV Advertising Faces Hard Times In 2008 & 2009

March 03, 2008

The latest research from media analyst firm Screen Digest examines the outlook for the global TV advertising market to 2012.

 

As the economy looks set for a downturn, Screen Digest Senior Analyst and advertising specialist, Vincent Létang, expects to see sluggish growth to 2009, with the outlook improving from 2010 to 2012. In particular, traditional forms of advertising will suffer as TV audiences fragment and online advertising continues to take a greater share of marketing budgets.

 

The research, presented at a seminar on Friday 22nd February in London, predicts that 2008 will be a difficult trading year for TV advertising, with spend growing at a lower rate than the economy at only 1.9% in Europe and 1.5% in the US. However, TV advertising revenues will enjoy a welcome quadrennial boost from key events that happen only every four years – including the Beijing Olympics, the European football championship and the US elections.

 

Whilst these events will help avoid a recession for TV ad revenues this year by neutralising the effect of the slowing economy, their effect will be temporary and certainly won’t be able to bolster the fragile advertising environment in 2009. By this time, Screen Digest predicts marketing budgets will have been slashed, especially in the US.

 

Screen Digest forecast that advertising revenues will grow below average GDP growth between 2008-2012, with annual growth rates of 3.6% in Europe and 3.7% in the US. The growth rate in 2011-2012 will be higher as the economy picks up after 2008/2009, at 5% in Europe and 6% in the US. Most of this growth will be come from online advertising, which is expected to grow on average by 17% every year until 2012.

By 2012, advertising will be a three tier market with online at the top, TV in the middle and traditional media bringing up the rear. Online advertising, when both search and display are combined, will have enjoyed double digit growth every year to 2012. TV advertising will have retained its 2007 market share, but the traditional broadcast channels will have seen their share of the ad budgets slipping; the research contrasts the growth rate of the European traditional channels of up to 2% per year, with the digital channels that are expected to experience advertising growth rates of 20% per annum.

 

Rather than increasing overall spending, companies will eat into their traditional media advertising budgets to divert the money to online and digital TV. As a result, Screen Digest forecast that traditional media will suffer a decline in budgets – particularly in print, radio or cinema campaigns. Minimising the impact for outdoor and cinema will be technological advances, in terms of digital signage for outdoor advertising and the introduction of digital screens in cinemas.

 

Vincent Létang, Screen Digest Senior Analyst and author of the research says “Advertising spending tends to amplify economic cycles – and in some instances it actually anticipates downturns. Although we’re not expecting advertising budgets to be affected this year, thanks to the quadrennial events, Screen Digest believe we’ll experience the real impact in 2009, which will be the toughest year for advertising revenues. Whilst the overall picture for ad revenues is flat or in decline, two areas will enjoy growth - online will continue to grow at a pace, buoyed up by a strong search advertising market and digital TV channels will be taking a larger proportion of ad budgets by 2012, at the expense of the traditional broadcasters.”

 

The research in this press release is taken from Screen Digest’s TV Intelligence online service. It was presented to an audience of industry executives and media on Friday 22nd February in London. Screen Digest's advertising research is undertaken in partnership with global media investment agency GroupM, part of the WPP group.

 

 

 

 

10c. TV Advertising to Confront Hard Times in ‘08 and ‘09

March 04, 2008

 

The outlook for the global TV advertising market is sluggish growth to 2009 - but with some improvement, particularly online, from 2010 to 2012, as TV audiences continue to fragment and online advertising takes a greater share of marketing budgets, according to research from Screen Digest.

 

Outlook for 2008/2009

 

·         2008 will be a difficult year for TV advertising, with spend growing at a lower rate than the economy: that is, just 1.9% in Europe and 1.5% in the US.

·         However, TV advertising revenues will enjoy a boost from key events that happen only every four years, including the Beijing Olympics, the European football championship and the US elections.  

·        Though those events will help avoid a recession for TV ad revenues in ‘08 by neutralizing the effect of the slowing economy, their effect will be temporary.

·         By 2009, a fragile advertising environment will have been created, with marketing budgets being slashed, especially in the US:

 

 “Advertising spending tends to amplify economic cycles - and in some instances it actually anticipates downturns. Although we’re not expecting advertising budgets to be affected this year, thanks to the quadrennial events…we’ll experience the real impact in 2009, which will be the toughest year for advertising revenues,” said Vincent Létang, Screen Digest Senior Analyst and author of the research.

 

Outlook to 2012

 

·         Advertising revenues will grow below average GDP growth between 2008-2012, with annual growth rates of 3.6% in Europe and 3.7% in the US.

·         The growth rate in 2011-2012 will be higher - at 5% in Europe and 6% in the US - as the economy picks up after 2008/2009.

·         Most of that growth will come from online advertising, which is expected to grow on average 17% every year until 2012.

 

“Whilst the overall picture for ad revenues is flat or in decline, two areas will enjoy growth - online will continue to grow at a pace, buoyed up by a strong search advertising market and digital TV channels will be taking a larger proportion of ad budgets by 2012, at the expense of the traditional broadcasters,” said Létang.

 

Ad budgets to remain unchanged, but more to be spent online

 

·         By 2012, advertising will be a three-tier market, with online at the top, TV in the middle and other traditional media bringing up the rear.

·         Online advertising, when both search and display are combined, will have enjoyed double-digit growth every year to 2012.

·         TV advertising will have retained its 2007 market share, but the traditional broadcast channels will have seen their share of the ad budgets slipping; the research contrasts the growth rate of the European traditional channels of up to 2% per year, with the digital channels that are expected to experience advertising growth rates of 20% per annum.

·        Rather than increasing overall spending, companies will cut into their traditional media advertising budgets to divert the money to online and digital TV.

·         As a result, traditional media will suffer a decline in budgets - particularly print and radio, as well as cinema campaigns.

·        Minimizing the impact for outdoor and cinema will be technological advances, in terms of digital signage for outdoor advertising and the introduction of digital screens in cinemas.

 

 

 

 

11. India’s media & entertainment industry to be worth Rs 1.157 trillion by 2012: FICCI-PWC 2008 report

March 18, 2008

 

India’s media and entertainment (M&E) industry is poised to grow by 18 per cent over the next five years and become a Rs 1.157 trillion industry by 2012. This was revealed by the FICCI-PricewaterhouseCoopers 2008 report on the M&E industry. According to the report, the industry registered a 17 per cent growth in 2007 over the previous year, reaching an estimated size of Rs 513 billion in 2007 up from Rs 438 billion in 2006. The report furthered said that in the last four years (2004-07), the industry had recorded a cumulative growth of 19 per cent on an overall basis.

 

The country’s television industry grew by 18 per cent in 2007 and currently stands at Rs 226 billion. It is projected to grow to Rs 600 billion by 2012. In the case of print media, it is poised to reach Rs 281 billion by 2012 from the current Rs 149 billion. Print media grew by 16 per cent in 2007 over 2006.

 

Radio is projected to reach Rs 18 billion by 2012 from the current Rs 6.2 billion, while filmed entertainment is projected to reach Rs 176 billion by 2012 from the current Rs 96 billion, as per the report.

 

The report is a run-up to FICCI Frames 2008, which will be held in Mumbai from March 25-27. Delegates from 17 countries have already registered for the mega event, viz., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Italy, Malaysia, Pakistan, South Africa, Thailand, UAE, the UK, the US, Korea, Switzerland, and New Zealand.

 

With nearly 30 sessions on topical themes, FICCI Frames 2008 would capture the essence of where the industry is positioned today and show the way forward. The topics that would come up for discussions include ‘Changing face of TV news’, ‘Resurgence of the language media’, ‘Developing animation content’, ‘New Age technology and emerging production pipelines in animation’, ‘Raising capital’, ‘Linguistic diversity in Indian cinema’, ‘Radio for the masses’, ‘Scope of international co-productions’, ‘Talent crunch in the industry’, ‘Film marketing & distribution’.

 

Importance of digital cinema’, ‘Animation’, ‘IP creation, protection and life cycle’, ‘Visual effects’, ‘Mobile entertainment’, ‘Sports as entertainment’, and ‘Revenue streams in multiplexes’, among others.

 

Amit Mitra, Secretary General, FICCI Frames, said, “With Frames, we monitor the growth of the entertainment industry on an annual basis. Growth in 2007 has indeed been robust, with expansion of radio and TV recording a compound annual growth rate of 22 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively. We can proudly say that our networking with the Government and industry segments is paying rich dividends. It is now for the industry to fan out and have a global outreach. FICCI Frames, of course, would hand-hold the players in their quest for becoming world players.”

 

 

 

 

12. 36 per cent Indians listen to FM radio on mobile: TNS report

March 13, 2008

 

Consumption of music on mobile phones is on a fast track in Asia. TNS, a global market research company, studied the use and accessibility of music features such as MP3 player and radio on mobile phones in its global study, TNS Global Telecoms Insight.

According to the study, use of MP3 players and FM/AM radio on mobile phones has risen by 78 per cent and 140 per cent, respectively, across the globe in 2007.

In India, 16 per cent of the total 482 respondents surveyed use the digital MP3 player on their mobile phone, while 36 per cent use the FM radio player. Only 17 per cent of the total respondents download music on their mobile phones; most transfer music from their PCs.

 

The study points out that consumption of mobile music is highest in West Asia, with 74 per cent of the 1,356 respondents surveyed listening to music on their mobile. Consumption of mobile music is lowest in North America, where only 19 per cent of the 1,245 respondents surveyed listen to music on their mobile.

Parijat Chakraborty, vice-president, technology, TNS India, said in a release: “Demographic diversity, coupled with differences in culture and taste, has made India an ideal breeding and testing ground for many mobile value added services. Though India is quite behind in terms of contribution of VAS in overall revenue, the country is much ahead of many developed countries in terms of variety of VAS for consumers.”

However, the report states that the presence of music features on a mobile does not imply use and there is a gap between availability and use of the FM radio and MP3 player on the mobile. For example, in India, out of 18 per cent of total respondents, 16 per cent use the MP3 player feature. Similarly, 50 per cent of the total respondents surveyed have access to FM radio, out of which only 36 per cent listen to FM on their mobile.

TNS also studied whether the consumption of mobile music was increasing over a period of 18 months (June 2006-November 2007). For the purpose, it interviewed 439 SEC A and B respondents in India. The results show the increasing trend of using the mobile to listen to music. The percentage of people using their mobile’s FM radio increased from 16 per cent in June 2006 to 38 per cent in November 2007. Similarly, the percentage of people using their mobile’s MP3 player rose from 10 per cent in June 2006 to 17 per cent in November 2007.

A total 16,000 respondents from 29 countries, including India, Russia, Japan, Hong Kong and Thailand, participated in the study, including 482 respondents from India.

 

 

 

 

13. Overview of Retail Sector advertising on TV during 2007

 

·         Retail sector witnessed 8 per cent growth on TV advertising during 2007 compared to 2006.

·         High advertising in Retail sector during the fourth quarter across 2006 and 2007.

·         Independent Retailers led with 84 per cent share of overall advertising share of Retail sector on TV during 2007. 

·         Subhiksha Trading Service Ltd was the number one advertiser in Retail sector during 2007.

·         Subhiksha Mobile topped the chart of new launches in Retail sector on TV during 2007.

 

 

 

 

14. Snapshot of Print advertising trends in Q1 2007

 

·          4% growth in ad volumes in Print in Q1 2007 over Q1 2006Publications from South, West & North zones constituted 87% share of ad pie.

·          One of the fastest growing sectors in Q1 2007 was Telecom products.

·          Educational institutions remained at the No. 1 position in Q1 ’07.

·          Maruti Udyog jumped from Rank 10 to Rank 1 among advertisers.

·          Automobiles recorded the maximum number of new brand launches.

·          Advertising in Fashion & Lifestyle magazines exhibited remarkable growth of 137%

 

 

 

 

15. Print advertising of IT sector dip of 6 pc during 2007

 

·          Print advertising of IT sector saw a dip of 6% during 2007 compared to 2004.

·          ‘Laptops/Notebook' leads in IT sector advertising in Print during 2007.

·         ‘Information Technology’ Magazines had prominent share of 57% of IT sector advertising in Magazines.

·          ‘Hewlett Packard India Ltd ' was the number one advertiser of IT sector in Print during 2007.

·          ‘Lenovo Y410' topped the chart of new brands of IT sector launched in Print during 2007.

 

 

 

 

16a. Snapshot of Personal Care industry advertising on TV during 2007

 

·         Personal Care industry witnessed 23 per cent rise in TV advertising during 2007 compared to 2006.

·         Personal Hygiene' segment garnered a high share of 43 per cent of overall Personal Care industry advertising on TV during 2007. 

·         'HUL' leads in the Personal Care industry advertising on TV during 2007. 

·         'Ponds Age Miracle' was the number one in the new brand launches of the Personal Care industry on TV during 2007.

 

 

 

 

16b. Personal care industry advertising in Print peaks in 2007 with 12 per cent growth

 

·          Personal Care Industry advertising in Print grew by 12% during 2007 over 2006.

·         'Personal Healthcare’ segment had the largest share of 60% of overall Personal Care Industry advertising in Print during 2007.

·         'Ratan Ayurvedic Sansthan' topped the advertisers list of Personal Care Industry in Print during 2007. 

·         'Cipla I-Pill' was at number one position in the top 10 list of new Personal Care brands advertised in Print during 2007.

 

 

 

 

17a. Boom in real estate reflect in rise in properties/real estate advertising in print

 

·         Properties/Real Estate advertising has seen a rise of 82% in Print during 2007 as compared to 2004.

·         ‘Omaxe Ltd', 'Parsvanath Developers' and 'Sahara Infrastructure & Housing' were the top 3

·         Real Estate firms with marginal difference in their share during 2007.

·         55% share of Properties/Real Estate was advertised in Metro Newspapers during 2007.

·         Properties/Real Estate advertising in Main Issue and Supplements was in the ratio of 62:38.

 

 

 

 

17b. Overview of Real Estate Industry advertising on TV during 2007

 

·         Real Estate Industry advertising has seen a growth of 73 per cent in TV advertising during 2007 over 2006. 

·         Real Estate category advertising contributed maximum share of 91 per cent compared to other segments. 

·         Arun Dev Builders Ltd and Suncity Projects Ltd shared the first rank in the Real Estate advertisers list during 2007.

·         Real Estate firms saw a rise of 74 per cent in average ads/day on TV during 2007 as compared to 2006.

 

 

 

 

18. Snapshot on Advertising by Consumer Durables on TV in H1 2007

 

·         Consumer Durables sector advertised maximum in the second and fourth quarter of 2005-2006. 

·         There was a rise of 22 per cent in advertising by Consumer Durables Industry on TV in H1 2007 over H1 2006.

·         Air Conditioners had a 14 per cent share in the overall consumer durable sector advertising.

·         Vacuum Cleaners stood out with the highest growth in advertising in H1 2007. 

·         Consumer Durables followed a ratio of 64:36 on National and Regional channels.

·         Hindi News and Regional GECs saw the maximum advertising by Consumer Durables.

·         'Godrej' topped the advertisers chart.  Prime time was the preferred time band.

 

 

 

 

19. FM responds to TRAI’s proposal

March 17-April 13, 2008

 

On February 22, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released its recommendations on the “3^rd Phase of Private FM Radio Broadcasting.” These recommendations would serve as guidelines for the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) in their attempt to incorporate modifications to the FM policy guidelines for phase III of radio broadcasting.

 

In its recommendations, TRAI outlines the benefits of such changes in the radio policy as the permission of news and current affairs, the increase in the FDI limit and the allowance of multiple channels in the same city.

 

Station heads agree that the permission of news and current affairs is a move in the right direction. TRAI recommends, “FM broadcasters may be permitted to broadcast news taking content from AIR, Doordarshan, authorised TV news channels, UNI, PTI and any authorised news agency. No other source of news is permitted at present.”

 

Ismail Dabhoya, vice president, finance-commercial, Big 92.7 FM, highlights the importance of live radio in playing an effective role to disseminate news, adding that with news becoming allowed on radio, “content on the medium will become far richer.”

 

Harrish M. Bhatia, business head, MY FM, agrees with Dabhoya, stating, “Information requirements of large section of the population lacking access to information through other means like the Internet and television services can be conveniently met without any cost to the receiving population only through FM radio services.”

 

The inclusion of local news becomes a paramount issue, as highlighted by Amit Mathew, senior general manager, Radio Mango. Besides adding value to listeners, Mathew hopes that local news would also be permitted, “so that it is relevant to listeners in the B, C and D cities, too.”

Monica Nayyar Patnaik, director, Radio Choklate, echoes the sentiments, agreeing that by function, radio is an infotainment medium, and the inclusion of national news on the stations would be an added advantage.

 

Apart from offering a more varied content, the inclusion of news and current affairs on private FM is also expected to “increase the overall growth in revenue and profitability of the radio industry,” says Apurva Purohit, Radio City’s CEO and president, AROI.

 

The increase of the FDI limit is another welcome recommendation, agree station bosses. Dabhoya says the move to increase the FDI limit from 20% to 26% is a move that has been long overdue, citing the industry’s nature as a reason.

 

“Radio is an industry that takes a long time to break even, so this increase would help fuel further industry growth,” adds Big FM’s VP – finance – commercial.

 

To this, Bhatia adds, “Radio is still at its nascent stage, and its growth should not be hindered.”

 

Another long-awaited recommendation is the permission of additional channels in the same city. In its recommendations, TRAI states, “The number of channels for FM radio broadcast in category A+, A, B, C cities, now changed to districts basis, which may have been reduced to non availability of frequencies during Phase II bidding, may be restored as envisaged in Phase II, subject to technical feasibility.

 

According to Mathew, additional channels would bring about differentiation in content, allowing for new genres and formats to become available to listeners.

 

Dabhoya believes that multiple frequencies should be allowed to broadcasters with certain caps, and that the national cap of 15% is not required, citing the Competition Act as the reason. He says the Act, which was passed by the Parliament, would not allow a monopoly of any radio station and “its provisions are not the same for any other industry in the media space.”

 

Some of the other recommendations presented by TRAI include the fixing of the floor price of the bid to 50%; a provision for automatic renewal of permission; networking of FM radio programmes across entities and the augmentation of private FM broadcasting.

 

In summary, Purohit credits the government for focusing on extending the medium’s coverage services in the country. “This radio expansion is making the medium reach the smallest towns and cities,” she notes.

 

 

 

 

20. Ban on surrogate ads implies a dent in broadcast industry revenues

March 17, 2008

 

With Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss urging stern action against surrogate advertising, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has sent a notification to all broadcasters amending a Section of Rule 7 of the Cable Television Network Rules, 1994, relating to the prohibition of advertisements of cigarettes, tobacco products, wine, alcohol, liquor or other intoxicants, either directly or indirectly. While the notice was effective from March 10, 2008, which is the date of issue, the I&B Ministry gave an additional week to all channels to stop all forms of surrogate advertising. The deadline now is March 17, 2008, and all channels are ‘confused’.

 

Jawahar Goel, President, Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) explained that this notice was only for advertising that might not have got clearance from the Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC). Nonetheless, to get clarity on the matter, the IBF has sought time to meet the I&B Minister on the matter.

 

In the meanwhile, broadcasters say that the notice creates a lot of confusion. SET India’s Revenue Head, Rohit Gupta, said, “This is definitely creating a lot of chaos as there are genuine brand extensions of corporates that are also in the liquor or tobacco industry. How do we decide what is surrogate and what is brand extension? There has to be further clarity on this.”

 

Joy Chakraborthy, President-Revenue, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, said, “This would definitely be a hit on revenues, and since the deadline is upon us, we need to have clarity on the matter soon.”

 

The notice, dated March 10, 2008, had said, “It was brought to the knowledge of the Government that there are widespread violations of the Advertising Code by promotion of surrogate advertisements in respect of the mentioned prohibitive products. Keeping in mind the sensitivity involved, especially the impressions that such ads create on minors, the Government has amended the existing rule by providing that ‘No direct advertisement shall be permitted, which promotes directly or indirectly production, sale or consumption of cigarettes, tobacco products, wine, alcohol, liquor or other intoxicants.”

 

It may be recalled that a similar ban was seen in April 2005. However, the I&B Ministry then had said that brand extensions were exempted from this ban, and the likes of Kingfisher and Wills continued with mass media advertising after this. Also, at around the same time, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), which monitors advertising, was made a part of the Cable Act 1994.

 

With a dual check on the industry for the past two years, off properties like White Mischief Holidays, Red and White Bravery Awards, Bagpiper Soda, amongst many others, have been seen on television, or even in other mediums like print and outdoor. The industry still doesn’t seem to know more on what the new notice would mean, and which advertisers would now only have to look at mediums like print and outdoor for their marketing.

 

 

 

 

21. Yahoo! launches Buzz to track user trends

February 27, 2008

 

Yahoo! Inc. has launched a portal called Yahoo! Buzz (http://buzz.yahoo.com), which will track the Internet content that is most read by online visitors. On the portal, Yahoo! will showcase news articles, blog posts, photos and videos that appear on the page in order of their Buzz Score. The score is calculated based on the popularity of search terms, votes by users and the number of times the item is forwarded through email.

Yahoo! has tied up with 100 publishers, including portals such as WashingtonPost.com and blogs such as Wordpress, whose content will be tracked on the site. Yahoo! has provided these publishers with an online badge through which their readers can vote for the story on Buzz. The company will integrate some of these stories on the Yahoo! home page.

 

In fact, the Yahoo! Buzz model is similar to that of Digg.com where users submit stories which are then voted on by other users. Google has a similar trend tracking initiative called Google Zeitgeist for search terms. Yahoo! plans to evolve this model by building an “open ecosystem” of publishers, advertisers and consumers. Through syndication of the content, Yahoo! plans to monetise Buzz by connecting advertisers to content that users find interesting.

Eventually, Yahoo! will link its home page, Yahoo! Mail and Yahoo! Search with content that is chosen by users, making it more relevant for advertisers.

“Yahoo Buzz is a good example of how we are continuing to innovate and open up our key starting points to third party publishers, making Yahoo! more socially and personally relevant for our half a billion consumers,” said Jeff Weiner, executive vice-president, Yahoo! Network Division, in a statement.

 

“Consumer engagement with the Yahoo! homepage has increased nearly 20 per cent year over year, evidence that continuing to open up and provide consumers with direct links to third party publishers keeps people coming back to Yahoo! again and again,” said Tapan Bhat, vice-president, Front Doors and Network Services, Yahoo!

 

 

 

 

22. News channels, Government welcome BARC; no to weekly ratings

March 03, 2008

NEW DELHI: News television channels have welcomed the formation of the independent, media-run rating agency, Broadcast Audio Research Council (BARC), saying competition will be good. However, they also insist that this will be meaningless unless weekly ratings stop.

 

The government, meanwhile, says competition in the rating sector will be good, provided the BARC partners are serious about implementing their stated goal.

 

Currently, TAM gives weekly ratings of channels, and it also provides programme ratings each Friday, and this, according to one editor, is "what is polluting television news."

 

BARC is a combined effort of the Indian Broadcast Foundation (IBF), Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA). Over the next two years, it will invest Rs 900 mn to set up 500,000 peoplemeters across the country, with a mix of urban-rural households.

 

IBN 7 managing editor Asutosh says, "Broadbasing the households is going to be good and we shall get a much clearer picture. If they are going to bring in those many boxes and spread across the country, that will have a positive impact."

 

However, he adds, "So long as the Friday blues remain, there will be unnecessary competition and chasing TRPs will remain as usual, so that has to be done away with."

 

Asked whether the channels have taken the issue of weekly rating up with TAM Media Research, one editor said, "No we have not, because we have only recently figured this out, and this is the real polluter."

Aaj Tak news director QW Naqvi says, "The core issue is weekly ratings, and I do not see why it should be like that because if that remains, there will be no change in the scenario."

 

Naqvi wants staggered rating announcements, arguing, "The newspapers are not judged daily, and the NRS just comes out once a year, stating simply how much each paper sold and what was the market share.

 

"This is a must, but look at us; we are judged weekly, programme-wise and even story-wise, and whatever clicks becomes a holy grail to be chased by the rest, so it spoils the whole ethos."

 

"Even if someone does credible work, like a report on the possibility of life on Mars, and next Friday's report says that was a hit, everyone will start going to Mars and Jupiter, distorting the whole scientific issue, and this is what is spoiling news television," adds Naqvi.

 

B.A.G Films & Media Ltd MD Anurradha Prasad, who launched Hindi news channel News 24 last November, says, "It is good that a second currency is coming up, and I agree that weekly ratings is a big problem, but we cannot have just an annual report on ratings and channels share."

 

She stresses while the weekly rating system must go, there could be monthly reports, saying that even a biannual rating announcement would be too long.

 

While Trai is scheduled to hold a meeting on rating system on 7 March and finalise its recommendations latest by April third week, sources said that the I&B ministry is happy with BARC being formed. "Let there be competition, that is good," said I&B officials.

 

TAM had remained absent at the meeting with a Parliamentary Committee on broadcasting that met in Mumbai last year, and the officials said that this was not looked upon kindly by the ministry.

Though admitting that weekly ratings end up skewing the news television scenario, officials say that the ministry itself was not doing anything; it has left the issue for Trai's recommendations, expected next month.

 

In the meanwhile, officials added that once there is competition, "even TAM will start behaving like a good boy".

 

But they also asked, "Is BARC a serious thing? We had heard of this company in a meeting here at the ministry itself, but this is the first time something has actually come out of it."

They added, "If the channels and advertising agencies have got together and if they are serious, this will be a very positive thing."

 

 

 

 

23. Starcom develops tool to get higher reach via ads

March 06, 2008

 

Advertising firm Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) has developed a new media planning tool that claims to increase the reach of advertisements by 9 per cent.

 

Advertisers looking for a bigger bang for their buck to use the tool, that calculates the net effective reach of advertisements through the main media — television, print and radio.

 

“When advertisers use all the three media to reach their target consumer, it often leads to duplication of information. The consumer views the same information through all the three media. However, there was no tool that could measure the duplication. This tool, named “Abacus” combines the respondent level television viewership data purchased by Starcom from TAM media research for television and the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) data for newspaper, magazines and radio consumption data. The combined data gives the overall effect on a target consumer through all the three medias” explains Ravi Kiran, Chief Operating Officer, SMG.

 

Television, print and radio form nearly 90 per cent of the total advertising pie. However, in the recent time, growth in number of media has led to an inflation in media costs for the advertisers. Experts in the advertising business points out that to deliver the same reach, companies today need to spend 30-40 per cent more than they would spend in a couple of years ago.

 

The average reach of each ad has decreased with the growing fragmentation in the media industry. If the companies set a target of showing the advertisement of their product to a given set of consumers, they would then have to increase the frequency of their ad to reach all those consumers.

 

In this scenario, Abacus will help the company to make better decision on how to improve their net effective reach to their target consumers.

 

The tool would be used in-house by Starcom for its clients and free of extra charge. Initially, developed by Starcom’s Hong Kong-based regional technology team for China, Abacus has now been adapted in India.

The technical testing of the tool, has been completed over the last twelve weeks and intensive training of planners of use the tool will begin now.

 

“We will start using the tool for live client cases in or before the first week of April,” said Kiran. Some of Starcom’s clients in the country include Kotak Mahindra Bank, Jet Airways, Future Group and Heinz.

 

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