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: XX

February, 2009

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In these hyper charged times where news comes in as fast as it becomes outdated, we need a source that can keep track of what matters to us.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. The virus called Facebook – Feb 15

Source: AgencyFaqs

2. FICCI Frames: Conversation, not content, is king – Feb 19

Various members of the digital world discussed the future of the new media at the 10th FICCI Frames, held at Mumbai, whose theme is entertainment. There are about 700 million users on social media, he said, with 6 lakh being added everyday on Facebook alone. Shailesh Rao, managing director, Google India spoke about how, despite low broadband penetration in the country, YouTube India has had a fairly successful run. He added that the online community has the potential of growing to be a broader community. Ankit Maheshwari, CEO, Instablog Networks, was of the opinion that social media requires a new kind of advertising that is more engaging and interactive.

Source AgencyFaqs

3. ICC gets Yahoo! as the official Internet partner– Feb 19

India and the International Cricket Council (ICC) have announced a three year partnership, during which Yahoo will serve as an exclusive online partner for all the ICC events. Events such as the Twenty20, ICC Champions Trophy and ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 are included in the partnership. This website will have images, videos, interviews and other exclusive content from ICC. Krishna says that over time, cricket enthusiasts will be able to watch live cricket matches on Yahoo.com. India announced that it will launch new verticals to facilitate top of the mind recall for the brand.

Source AgencyFaqs

4. Will the slowdown turn out to be the 'big chance' for online media? – Feb 17

As per a study commissioned by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and conducted by IMRB, the number of active urban internet users in India went up from 36 million in March 2008 to 42 million in September 2008. In the context of a slowdown, given the advantages of the online media -- in terms of its measurability and growing influence among the youth (who are now targeted by a growing number of marketers) -- it can turn the tide in its favour if it plays its cards right. There are many in the industry who believes that when it comes to trimming ad budgets, most advertisers would go for where it hurts most rather than look to the web

Source AgencyFaqs

5. Microsoft launches its online ad-network in India – Feb 27

Source AgencyFaqs

6. HT Media extends its classified advertising business online– Feb 25

HT Media has tied up with US-based OLX.com to launch a generic, online, classified advertising website called AskHT.com, which is an extension to its print classified advertising business. According to the deal, OLX will be responsible for the development, maintenance and hosting of AskHT.com, while HT will provide ads from its print classifieds sections and will also promote the website across HT Media.

Source AgencyFaqs

Emerging Trends: OOH

7. BEST buses lend seat backs to brands– Feb 13

Article tools sponsored by After bus panels, bus backs, grab handles and TV screens inside buses, BEST (Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport) buses have now lend its seat backs to advertisers. The new advertising platform is being offered by Mumbai-based Tinta Media Creations, a sister concern of Emnet Samsara Media. Emnet Samsara, which has already installed TV screens and CCTV cameras in BEST's buses, provides advertisers the plastic moulded bucket seats that have replaced the old metal-and-cloth seats in BEST buses.

Source: Agencyfaqs

8. Bausch & Lomb catches eyeballs outdoors– Feb 17

An article tool sponsored by Eyecare brand, Bausch & Lomb’s new outdoor campaign urges people to make a statement with their eyes. The creative has the snapshot of a woman wearing a pair of Bausch and Lomb contact lenses; her eyes have been placed in double quotes. Some of the creative also invite the viewers to visit their nearest optical store for a free trial. With this campaign, the company intends to suggest that contact lenses are a better alternative to spectacles. Gadgil informs that thanks to the buzz that the outdoor campaign has generated, so far, Bausch & Lomb has conducted free trial sessions for 6,000 people across the cities.

Source: Agencyfaqs

9. Sprite wows with in-tunnel advertising in Sprite Xpress campaign– Feb 23

This time, the beverage giant has used transit advertising to give a push to the on-the-go beverage culture that it established with the launch campaign. As part of the outdoor campaign, the tunnel of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) from Kashmere Gate to Chandni Chowk has been used for executing a transit innovation. Specially designed display boxes, which house images of a Sprite campaign, frame-by-frame, have been placed one after the other on the wall of the tunnel. The images are known as ad cards, which are film negatives coated with silver halide.
As a train enters the tunnel, the ad cards provide passengers with the experience of watching a television commercial, whose picture quality is bright and undistorted.

Source: Agencyfaqs

10. Platinum Outdoor creates rotational innovation for Bingo– Feb 24

Recently, ITC Foods jumped onto the bandwagon to attract its target group by coming up with a creative OOH innovation for its snacks brand, Bingo Mad Angles. The outdoor campaign, created by Madison's specialist outdoor agency, Platinum Outdoor, had a cut-out of a Bingo Mad Angles triangular chip mounted on a billboard. The hoarding carried the tagline, Har angle se Mmmm, conveying the idea that the snack is a mouth watering treat and one can enjoy it from any angle.

Source: Agencyfaqs

Emerging Trends: International

11. Survey finds layoff trend easing– Mar 06

Laying off workers isn’t the only way to save money in a recession. With the economic downturn dragging on, the Watson Wyatt global consulting firm has found that employers are looking to other options. Of course, that comes after more than half of the big US companies surveyed have already done at least one round of layoffs.

Source: Radio Business Report

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Media & Advertising Research Watch

AdEx Findings

12. TV ad volumes of 'passenger vehicles' increased by 29 per cent in 2008 compared to 2007.

Source: Indiantelevision

13. 'Hindustan Unilever' was the number one advertiser for the consumer durables brands on TV during 2008.

Source: Indiantelevision

14. National channels had contributed maximum in advertising of two wheelers on TV during 2008.

Source: Indiantelevision

15. 'Tata Motors Ltd' was the top advertiser in 'passenger vehicles' category advertising on TV during 2008.

Source: Indiantelevision

Television and Media

16. Great expectations: Slowdown might garner good viewership for IPL – Feb 10

According to the media planners, the slowdown has seen people cut down on the time spent outdoors, instead preferring to stay at home with their families. They feel that this was one reason why IPL Season 2 might see high ratings. Even brands would not want to miss being noticed during this time. There are some beliefs that with the slowdown, people prefer to stay home and spend less time out, therefore, they will watch more television.

Source: Exchage4media

17. ‘Billu Barber’, Hungama Digital join hands to rekindle old friendships – Feb 12

Just like the old friends from upcoming Shah Rukh Khan-starrer ‘Billu barber’ come together, now even people can connect with old friends using the Billu ‘Dosti Ke Rang, Shahrukh Ke Sang’ application and recreate one’s old gang from school, college, etc. One lucky gang planning a reunion using this application would have SRK attend the reunion in person, to make it magical..

Source: Exchange4media

18. Slowdown hits ICL, Grand Championship postponed till October 2009 – Feb 13

Source: Exchange4media

19. Cartoon Network gets cricket closer to kids with Toon Cricket – Feb 13

Source: Exchange4media

20. Pond’s Age Miracle gets a Candid touch – Feb 14

Source: Exchange4media

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Environment Watch: Advertising & Media

Regulation

21. Indian consumers least bothered about environmental issues: Nielsen study– Feb 13

In a recent global food packaging survey, the Nielsen Company has found that despite a growth in eco-friendly living, a shop’s environmental friendliness is the last consideration for Indian consumers (21 per cent) in determining where to spend money. Value for money (65 per cent) ranks as the number-one influencer of store choice. Conducted in mid 2007, the study surveyed 26,486 internet users in 47 markets from Europe, Asia Pacific, the Americas and the Middle East, on the factors that influenced their choice of grocery store.

Source: Indiantelevision

Retail

22. Chacha Chowdhary in theatres, stores and TV– Mar 02

Source: Agencyfaqs

Radio

23. Spiritual programmes giving FM stations a headstart to the day – Feb 2

Source: Exchange4Media

24. Music royalty issue delays Phase III FM bidding- Feb 06

The music royalty issue is snowballing into a serious situation, serious enough to bring about a delay in the Phase III of bidding for FM licenses. The Information and Broadcasting Ministry is hesitant to announce Phase III of bidding given the current financial situation of the radio industry due to high royalty charges in smaller cities. The demand for royalty in smaller cities exceeds 100 per cent of the revenue of such radio stations. Therefore the Government, the Ministry of HRD, and the I&B Ministry are taking up this issue seriously.

Source: Exchange4Media

25. FM stations wired for love this Valentine’s Day- Feb 14

Even as the moral brigade is threatening to put a spanner to all things Valentine’s this year, FM stations are singing their own Valentine tune and finding innovative ways to engage with their listeners. Launched on February 12, 2009, Red FM is on the lookout for RJ Malishka’s biggest fan. For this, listeners need to send an SMS to the station if they think they are the one, and if selected, they have to complete the dare that Malishka announces on the show, every morning of the Valentine’s week. The biggest ‘Deewana’ would get to meet the RJ herself and also win various prizes.

Source: Exchange4Media

Others

26. Turning shoppers into buyers– Feb 12

Source: Hindu Business Line

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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

TV Viewership Analysis of Reality & Talent Hunt Shows On Hindi GEC In 2008

Source: TAM

Period: Jan Dec 2008
Market: HSM
TG : 10 +AA ABC CS

How effective have these Reality & Talent Hunt Shows been across audiences

Source: TAM

Period: Jan Dec 2008
Market: HSM

Advertising Spend Analysis for the Year 2007 & 2008

Source: MAP
Down weighted fig.

Category Players – Brand wise Spends: HP leads the category with highest media activity in 2008.

Source: MAP
Down weighted fig.

Medium Breakup

Source: MAP
Down weighted fig.

Genre Breakup

Source: MAP
Down weighted fig.

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Fast Forward

Effective Online Marketing - Leveraging Best Practices from Offline Advertising

As measurability goes, online marketing is hard to beat but advertisers can often get too caught up in the alphabet soup of CPC (cost per click), CPL (cost per lead), CTR (click through rate), etc, sometimes forgetting the basics behind good campaigns. Online marketing offers true convergence of text, relevant banners, videos, interactive games and more, and can build consumer loyalty and awareness like no other marketing medium can. Unfortunately, many online campaigns focus on just bits and pieces of the puzzle. The few online agencies worth their salt invest well in strategy, design, execution, tracking and analytics - for the ROI (return on investment) and to better engage consumers. Let’s forget ROI for a moment and focus on how the best agencies do it:

1. Get educated – get to know your client’s business landscape, product, target consumer, competing or replacement choices, competitive positioning, advertising, pricing etc. – stuff they teach you in B-School.

2. Get strategic – talk to your client about where he is today, where he wants to be in one year, how he plans to get there – have an open discussion with him about his business landscape, gently argue with him if need be – intelligent clients like that.

3. Get honest – is online marketing really a good option for your client? If yes, to what extent and with what channels? Clients want online marketing but can’t justify the investment and mostly end up throwing a few peanuts at the monkey, not enough to get him to perform. Tight budgets restrict creative options and self-fulfillingly cause performance angst within a few months. If your client’s budget is too low, have the courage to tell him so and walk away from the project. Don’t take on projects for short-term revenue goals – the project won’t succeed, your client will be unhappy, your employees will be unhappy – most importantly, your agency will be on the painful path of sustained failure – not worth it!

4. Educate – online marketing is no magic bullet, results take time but the investment pays handsomely over the long haul. A well-integrated and executed online marketing program can effectively build lasting relationships through consumers’ lifecycles. Three month pilot projects rarely give satisfactory results; advertisers need to invest in at least six month pilots to see results, and even then they will only see the tip of the iceberg. Over sustained periods of time, well run programs deliver solid competitive advantages.

5. Get cerebral – if you get the project with the right budget, think of compelling ways to build integrated programs that engage your client’s online audience over the long term, come up with creative strategies and back them up with careful planning, design, execution, tracking and analytics. This step will make or break your project so invest your time well on this one.

6. Failure is a great option – provided you are geared to recognize it and immediately take action. In fact, this is where online marketing scores. Once your analytical engine is in place, have the courage to accept that one (or all) of your bright campaign ideas just isn’t catching fire and quickly move to experiment with changes – text, image, positioning, messaging, usability – don’t just dump it but figure out what’s not working, share your learning’s with advertisers, gutsily experiment then track your results – you might just have a superb winner that needed a little nudge in the right direction. If not, have the courage to move to something else. If your advertiser is cool, he will thank you for stemming the money flow down the drain and the learning’s will surely be worth the money spent.

7. Get ROI – if you have executed well on the steps above, the ROI will come. When it does, figure out what channels are working, accordingly increase your budget on channels that are working and improve your ROI.

8. Freshen up – if something is working, great! Energize and freshen up your content so folks associate dynamism with your client’s brand, get bolder, experiment more and revel in the results. (Now is also a good time to ask your client for a testimonial.)

9. Build case studies – there is a lot to be learnt from success and failure. Document your findings, iron out your processes, glean interesting trends and understand patterns.

10. Let’s do it again – invest your learning’s into improving future campaigns, strengthen your weaknesses. Present your successes and failures, educate the world and leverage online marketing for what it’s worth and no more (don’t push something that’s not going to deliver results for your clients just so you can book some extra revenue).

Online marketing is wildly exciting but is often incorrectly used and under-funded to be an effective marketing channel. Companies that have the courage to leverage this channel well will see tremendous returns on this investment, and now is a great time to start.

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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.

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Full Articles

1. The virus called Facebook

Feb 15

Agencyfaqs

For those who were oblivious of Facebook.com, the Pink Chaddi campaign has served as an introduction to the social networking site. It has also demonstrated the viral power of Facebook to many marketers.

Interestingly, the viral impact of Facebook.com, which has about four million members from India, is not restricted to online boundaries.

The Pink Chaddi campaign was started as a blog and then extended as a Facebook group. Later, it was picked up by various journalists, who could have been Facebook members. The campaign thus received wide coverage in major newspapers, websites, radio stations and TV news channels in India and abroad.

The awareness created by the Facebook group and media coverage led to the delivery of close to 2,000 panties at the Sri Ram Sene office in Hubli, Karnataka.

Another recent example is of the Mumbai terror attack. Facebook acted as an influential medium to generate buzz for offline activities protesting against the attacks.

Kushal Sanghvi, managing director, Media Contacts, India, says, “Around 50 groups were created in five days after the Mumbai terror attacks. They were either protest groups or sympathy groups and are still live. The groups played their role in generating momentum for the protest march, which took place at the Gateway of India on December 3, 2008.”

One of the prominent groups, with 22,401 members, is “One million strong for Bombay – I want my city back, enough is enough”.

Post the terror attacks, another Facebook group called “Can u please take Barkha off air!” gained prominence. Facebook members, who were unhappy with the reporting of the Mumbai attacks, started spreading the news about the existence of the group. The group has 4,800 members as of now.

The birth of buzz
The buzz machinery works on Facebook.com mainly through the newsfeed page or the homepage. On the top of the homepage, a text-box is provided where a member can enter any information which will be displayed to all his friends on the network. Members can also write comments on newsfeeds received through their friends.

Pink Chaddi Campaign
On February 5, 2009, Nisha Susan, a journalist with Tehelka magazine, started a group on Facebook.com called “A consortium of pub-going, loose and forward women” as an extension of a blog named Thepinkchaddicampaign.blogspot.com.

The blog was created to mobilise women and men to directly courier pink colour panties to Sri Ram Sene activists on the eve of Valentine’s Day. This initiative was a protest against the Sene and its chief Pramod Muthalik, for their misconduct at a Mangalore pub in January 2009.

Within the eight days of its creation 38,298 members have joined the group. Susan claims that close to 2000 panties have been delivered at the Sene office.

Members have also uploaded around 150 photographs and 170 links to newspapers, websites and TV coverage on this controversy on this group.

The newsfeed page also reports about all that a member has done on Facebook, such as joining a group or participation in any event. Marketers have now started using the newsfeed service to generate buzz. Bloggers share the URL of their blog posts through it.

Sanghvi believes that it is an easy and quick way to create buzz. It is faster to key-in information on the text-box on the homepage of Facebook.com and share it, rather than creating a group, which is more methodical and process oriented. “The group only catches the attention if it appeals or is relevant to a large number of people.”

Karl Gomes, national creative director, Digital, Rediffusion Y&R points out that, “Facebook is inhabited by real people and by virtue of human tendency, it is natural that they will converse and share information about anything which is relevant and different.”

Gomes adds that people like to share information about anything which is topical and related to them. They talk and spread information related to important events, parties, relationships and even generate support for social causes. “Pink Chaddi was picked by women, as they can easily connect with it,” he says.

The offline buzz

How does the information created on Facebook cross over to the offline world? Rajesh Lalwani, founder of Blogworks, a social media agency, explains, “When Facebook.com started, only early adopters joined it. Later, the site attracted more users, younger and older people belonging to different types of professions, including a lot of influential people, which has now reached a critical mass.”

Among the latter group are traditional media journalists, who pick up relevant and newsworthy information they receive through their friends on Facebook and run it in their print publication or TV channel. So, a small movement of online conversation started becomes big and crosses over to the offline world.

It is believed that anything that impacts a large number of people will move to the offline world. For instance, issues related to the nation, politics and cricket could move beyond Facebook.com.

Is it for brands?
Lalwani says that people are interested in talking about their lives and lifestyles on social media sites such as Facebook.com, rather than discuss things related to brands. They don’t prefer to support brands that try to impose messages or sell products on Facebook.com.

He suggests “If brands effectively want to use this growing platform to their advantage, they should learn the art of integrating their brand messages in the lifestyle conversations of the members of Facebook.com.”

2. FICCI Frames: Conversation, not content, is king

Feb 19

Agencyfaqs

Various members of the digital world discussed the future of the new media at the 10th FICCI Frames, held at Mumbai, whose theme is entertainment. The issue under discussion was whether or not user generated content is the real future of entertainment.

Gopal Krishna, VP and head audience – emerging markets, Yahoo! India, started off the discussion with certain figures. There are about 700 million users on social media, he said, with 6 lakh being added everyday on Facebook alone. About 34 million photographs are being shared on social media. There are 500 million users who are connected via blogs.

"Thus, social media is about connecting, conversing and sharing, and therefore, social media is taking over," said Krishna.

Krishna belongs to the group who think that social media isn't a new media, but an evolving one. He validated his theory with a few examples of communication and its subsequent evolution. He cited that earlier, festivals and fairs were a means of social networking, which then gave way to pigeons or messengers on horsebacks, which moved on to pen pals, then phonebooks. In the 1990s, email came in, followed by user groups and chat rooms on the Internet. Eventually, social networks such as Orkut, Facebook and Myspace made a grand entry.

Similarly, blogging has its origins in the past, where clubs/ rallies, letters to the newspaper and radio shows were followed by TV shows, web forums, ratings and reviews, and gradually, to blogs.

Francisco Cordero, general manager, Australia and New Zealand, Bebo, on the other hand, does believe that social media is new. “Like a poet who rearranges words like never before, social media rearranges and uses media like never before,” he stated. According to him, Web-specific content, similar to what Bebo has created, is the way ahead in the social media space.

Shailesh Rao, managing director, Google India spoke about how, despite low broadband penetration in the country, YouTube India has had a fairly successful run.

He said that in order to be successful in India, one needs to invest in social media. This is because in India, the medium is a means to interact and connect, as against a means of dispensation of knowledge in the US.

“Indians, in their offline life, are people who will resort to another person when looking for a restaurant or a place, instead of looking at a guide or book,” said Rao. He added that the online community has the potential of growing to be a broader community.

Hugh L Stephens, senior vice-president, international relations and public policy (APAC and Canada), TimeWarner, emphasised that in the present cluttered and chaotic media world, the audience is overwhelmed with options. Therefore, reputable brands bear the onus to introduce newer things in the media space. Stephens cited the instance of Myspace, which is a wholly owned entity of News Corporation.

Ankit Maheshwari, CEO, Instablog Networks, was of the opinion that social media requires a new kind of advertising that is more engaging and interactive. This is because in the social media space, people are the real content. “Content is no longer king, but conversation is,” said Maheshwari.

3. ICC gets Yahoo! as the official Internet partner

Feb 19

Agencyfaqs

Yahoo! India and the International Cricket Council (ICC) have announced a three year partnership, during which Yahoo will serve as an exclusive online partner for all the ICC events. Events such as the Twenty20, ICC Champions Trophy and ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 are included in the partnership.

Rahul Dravid, the chief guest of the evening, unveiled the new, exclusive property, called iccevents.yahoo.com, created by Yahoo. This website will have images, videos, interviews and other exclusive content from ICC.

Haroon Lorgat, chief executive officer, ICC says, “In today’s technology-driven world, this is a massive boost for the ICC and cricket. Not only do we get another vibrant and committed commercial partner onboard, but this deal also ensures cricket fans will benefit from Yahoo's reach across the cyber world.”

Gopal Krishna, vice-president and head of audience, emerging markets, Yahoo! adds that the portal intends to attract more users worldwide towards cricket, and hence, they have launched a global cricket website (cricket.yahoo.com). This new website has a host of sections such as live scores, match highlights, match schedules, photo albums, player profiles and mobile updates.

According to a ComScore research data, which was released in October 2008, Yahoo! Cricket was adjudged as the No. 1 cricket site in India with 1.97 million users. This initiative will further help Yahoo increase its reach globally.

Krishna says that over time, cricket enthusiasts will be able to watch live cricket matches on Yahoo.com.

In December last year, Yahoo! India announced that it will launch new verticals to facilitate top of the mind recall for the brand. This initiative is a step in the same direction.

4. Will the slowdown turn out to be the 'big chance' for online media?

Feb 17

Agencyfaqs

Consider the scenario. Growth projections are being revised downwards too often, the government is constantly working out stimulus packages and companies continue to take a close, hard look at where they put their marketing monies.

Not an ideal time for being too optimistic, it would seem.

But there’s one business – online – that’s pretty hopeful of doing well this year. Living in the shadows of print and television, and still referred to as ‘new media’ after a decade-long existence, online advertising is better poised to ride the current slowdown than other media.

Not that online advertising is immune from the existing economic environment, but it may indeed be set to ratchet up its position in the advertising pecking order. This is because both India’s internet penetration and the share of online in the overall advertising pie continue to grow.

As per a study commissioned by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and conducted by IMRB, the number of active urban internet users in India went up from 36 million in March 2008 to 42 million in September 2008.

Another factor in favour of online advertising is that, according to GroupM estimates, it is expected to grow by about 34 per cent (from Rs 575 crore in 2008-09 to Rs 770 crore in 2009-10) – much better than the growth rates of 11.3 per cent and 7.4 per cent for TV and print advertising, respectively.

In the context of a slowdown, given the advantages of the online media – in terms of its measurability and growing influence among the youth (who are now targeted by a growing number of marketers) – it can turn the tide in its favour if it plays its cards right.

There are many in the industry who believe that when it comes to trimming ad budgets, most advertisers would go for where it hurts most rather than look to the web. Santosh EG, digital marketing director, MRM Worldwide, the interactive arm of McCann Worldgroup, for one, says, “Advertisers are already spending very little on the internet medium. They would rather cut big spends on the traditional media and save a lot than reduce puny online expenditure and hardly save anything at all.”

Rise of the new advertisers

Traditionally, as much as 60 per cent of online advertising comes from the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) segment together with online services such as travel, jobs, real estate and matrimony. The remaining 40 per cent comes from offline real estate firms, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), technology companies, consumer durables and mobile manufacturers, among others.

With the slowdown hitting certain types of advertisers the hardest, like those in BFSI and real estate, the mix of advertisers in the online realm has seen a marked shift over the past two-three months. So, even though there have been cutbacks in online spends by BFSI and realty firms, there’s a new breed of advertisers – mainly FMCG, automobile and tech companies – who have started to emerge as big backers of the internet.

Digital agencies are optimistic that this influx of new advertisers will more than make up for lost revenue from old faithfuls. “The FMCG companies, especially the snacks and confectionery brands, are more active online than they used to be,” says Prasanth Mohanachandran, executive director, digital services, Neo@Ogilvy, the interactive marketing division of O&M. And even a small spend from FMCG advertisers, which usually have large ad budgets, will make a big difference to online publishers.

According to Mohanachandran, other categories that have also begun to take the online medium seriously include telecom, consumer durables, DTH, education, automobiles and information technology.

At the same time, there are those who believe that not too many advertisers will start adopting the internet because of the slowdown. Subrat Pani, business head, Kotak Credit Cards, for instance, says that even though the online medium is more driven by return on investment (ROI), it has “its own learning curve and advertisers take time to learn and optimise their online spends”.

Shifting signs

Online advertising is mainly categorised into two types: search and display. Over time, the trend worldwide has been to put more emphasis on search marketing – and the same is percolating to India as well. While the current ratio of search to display roughly stands at 30:70, share of search is expected to increase significantly this year. In fact, it is believed that search will account for much of the shift that is likely to happen from offline advertising to online.

The Measurability Factor
With the current economic slowdown, advertising budgets across all media have been affected. However, the internet as a medium will grow close to 30 per cent in 2009, while TV and print will only see a 10 per cent increase. Measurability is internet’s bane in the short term, but in the long run, it will become its biggest asset. It is only a question of volume. With the medium gaining ground, volume will come.
The internet is the most accountable medium that allows real-time monitoring, mapping and adjustment of campaigns.
This allows fine tuning of the campaign based on response and feedback to reach the desired goal. An advertiser looks at traffic based on unique visitors and click-through rate (CTR) for the measurability of a campaign on the internet, while TV offers TAM ratings and print provides circulation numbers to indicate traffic. Measurements of online campaigns are thus the most accurate.

The overemphasis on the measurability factor of the online space will, in fact, prove to be beneficial to the medium. With advertisers experimenting with video content, TV campaigns are now test-run on the internet before they are launched as television commercials.
– Sanjay Trehan, Chief Executive Officer, NDTV Convergence

Citing examples of such a shift, Vivek Bhargava, chief executive officer of search marketing firm Communicate2, says that Vodafone and Raymond, which used to spend the majority of their budget on traditional media, are now carrying out search marketing campaigns.

Another emerging trend is that of clients using online as a test bed for their television commercials. “In the slowdown phase, traditional advertisers may use the online medium to test their TVCs, by first posting them as video ads and getting the audience feedback on the same, and then releasing them on TV,” says Kushal Sanghvi, managing director, Media Contacts, the interactive agency of Havas Digital. The idea, says Sanghvi, is to minimize their monetary risk.

The slowdown is also putting a sharper focus on ad networks, which aggregate content from several online publishers to serve up a larger but more focussed audience to their clients. This is in contrast to the big portals – who currently sell their inventories directly to advertisers and account for a big chunk of display advertising. Now ad networks aim to change the way online media is bought, by using advanced behavioural targeting and by combining the reach and relevance of several online destinations.

“Ad networks can reach out to more people through their tie-ups with sites. They possess the technology to target consumers based on their behaviour, context and demography. To top it all, they are offering ad inventory at cost-effective rates,” says Mohanchandran. Ad networks are also considered more capable in offering rich-media advertising to engage consumers and in better measuring the impact of online campaigns.

Akshay Garg, business head, Komli Media, an ad network, believes that the demand for such networks will increase because some of the facilities or technologies like behavioural targeting are “not even available” to some of the major portals in India.

Behavioural targeting enables an ad network to identify and track the consumption pattern of a surfer even as he or she keeps moving on from one site to another. This is largely done by positing a cookie (a short computer program) on the user’s computer. (Explaining how it works, Garg says that if a brand, say, Coke, serves an ad on any site, then the behavioural targeting technology of the ad network enables it to tag a cookie to the user’s computer or, in other words, identify the user whenever he clicks on the Coke ad on the website. Now onwards, whenever the same user visits other sites that have a tie-up with the ad network, the Coke ad or other promos can be shown to him if the brand so desires.)

Focus on measurability

Currently, it is estimated that about 70 per cent of the display advertising purchase deals are performance-based, which include deals done on the basis of – in increasing order of cost – cost-per-click (CPC), cost-per-lead (CPL) and cost-per acquisition (CPA). Much of the rest comes from cost-per-thousand-impressions or CPM deals, mostly meant for brand-building activities.

With growing topline pressure on several portals and increasing propensity of clients to go for performance-based advertising, the CPM rate on the home page of a typical large portal almost halved from Rs 80-85 in August 2008 to only Rs 40 in November 2008. As a result, even the portals have started to offer deals on a CPL basis.

Cracking the Consumer

IAMAI and IMRB International released some data in September 2008 on the usage of internet in India. It was based on a primary survey conducted across 30 cities amongst more than 90,000 respondents. Some key findings:

Out of the total internet users in urban India (50 million), 37 per cent of them stay in top 8 metros and 30 per cent in towns with populations below 5 lakh.
37 per cent of the total internet population in urban India belongs to SEC A and 32 per cent belongs to SEC B categories.
Among the active internet users in 30 cities (17.9 million), 30 per cent are young men below 35 years who are not school or college students, and 27 per cent are college-going students.
12 per cent are school-going kids while 11 per cent of the active internet users in 30 cities (17.9 million) are working women; only 6 per cent are non-working women.
37 per cent of the 17.9 million active internet users surf the net at cyber cafes, 26 per cent surf at home while 27 per cent surf at office.
91 per cent of the surveyed consumers use internet primarily for e-mail, 76 per cent prefer to use it for general search, while 49 per cent consumers are looking for educational content.

Measurability is nothing new to internet advertising. But with the slowdown, when advertisers demand some accountability and exercise caution even in their above-the-line spends, it will play a more critical role in expanding the online advertising pie.

Earlier, many advertisers did not pay much heed to the analytical aspects of online and were not ready to focus on the parameters used to measure campaigns, but now they are beginning to take the analytics bit quite seriously. “We have observed a ten-fold increase in the interest of advertisers towards analytics,” says Bhargava.

Advertisers are likely to go for more stringent controls in running and monitoring internet campaigns. “It is expected that many of the advertisers will not only analyse their campaigns at the end, they will now also do some real-time check even as the campaign is running live – so that they can optimise it well in time and get higher ROI,” says Santosh.

Not everyone is rooting strongly for measurability, though. Divya Radhakrishnan, president, The Media Edge (TME, which is affiliated with Rediffusion Y&R) believes that it is unfair to expect measurability only from the online media. “Since the internet also offers a wide reach, it should also be treated as another medium like TV, print and radio. Measurability should be treated as a value-added service of the medium and it should not be considered as its core USP.”

Radhakrishnan’s views may be reflective of many in the online industry who say that the players have oversold the concept of measurability to their prospects in their eagerness to sign them up. And while many companies were converted, the money spent online remained disproportionately small compared to the effort put in by digital agencies in running and tracking the campaigns. It’s as if once they have quoted low prices for highly measurable campaigns – and got many clients hooked – it’s difficult for them to get premium pricing along the lines of other media.

On the whole, digital agencies do not think that there is a need to change their value proposition, which remains accountability and higher ROI. “But we are ready to add services such as social media marketing, which add exceptional value to clients at little or no media spends,” says Leroy Alvares, head, Tribal DDB India, the interactive arm of Mudra.

But the ball, which had been set rolling on ROI by online agencies, is now in the advertisers’ court. According to Santosh, “Advertisers will not bother much about CTR anymore; they will concentrate on the parameter of action taken by the consumer after viewing the ad as a measure to judge the success of their online advertising campaign.” So, if earlier the advertisers’ objective was to generate leads, says Mohanachandran, now they will only accept a higher quality of leads (though what constitutes ‘quality’ remains contentious). If the objective was to generate traffic, they will now want more clicks on the banners. And if they wanted to use video ads for promotion, they will want to know the time spent on the video rather than be content with how many people click on it. The slowdown can turn out to be an opportunity in disguise for the online medium to prove its worth in the eyes of advertisers, who are in the mood for measurability

5. Microsoft launches its online ad-network in India

Feb 27

Agencyfaqs

Microsoft Advertising, which offers online marketing solutions, has soft-launched its international online ad-network, called DrivePM (Performance Marketing), in India. The company claims that it has already tied up with 25 Indian websites or publishers, excluding any of the MSN web properties, and is currently managing 28 online advertising campaigns.

DrivePM enables advertisers to carry out online campaigns based on pay-for-performance basis. This implies that advertisers can sell their advertising inventory on cost per click (CPC) or cost per lead (CPL) basis and pay only when users click or submit specific information through their online advertising campaigns.

Speaking to afaqs!, Richard Dunmall, general manager, Greater Asia Pacific, Microsoft Advertising, reveals that the company sees an opportunity in the Indian online market, which has not matured yet as compared to other regions in the Asia Pacific. “In countries such as Japan, Korea and Australia, advertisers are spending between 9-20 per cent of their total advertising spend on digital marketing while in India, the average spend by advertisers on the digital media is still low and restricted to 2.5-3.5 per cent.”

According to an industry estimate, about 7-8 per cent of the total amount of display advertising market, which is worth Rs 400 crore, is supported through various online ad-networks in India.

Other online ad-networks which surfaced include .FoxNetworks, launched by Fox Interactive, the digital arm of News Corp and NetworkPlay.in by the interactive agency Webchutney. Both networks were launched in the third quarter of 2008-09. Reliance Big Entertainment is also working on an online advertising exchange named Kyphy.

Some of the old players in the ad-network space are Komli Media; Tyroo, which belongs to the Quasar Media Group and Yahoo!; Ad Magnet, owned by Interactive Avenues; Ozone Media and Ad Chakra, run by Percept Knorigin, the digital arm of Percept Holdings.

Microsoft Advertising is also evaluating the options to launch its search marketing facility called Ad Center in India.

6. HT Media extends its classified advertising business online

Feb 25

Agencyfaqs

Media has tied up with US-based OLX.com to launch a generic, online, classified advertising website called AskHT.com, which is an extension to its print classified advertising business.

According to the deal, OLX will be responsible for the development, maintenance and hosting of AskHT.com, while HT will provide ads from its print classifieds sections and will also promote the website across HT Media.

Speaking to afaqs!, Rashmi Chugh, business head, Hindustantimes.com says, “Classified ads posted in our print publications will be made available on AskHT.com. No extra money will be charged from advertisers for this. In future, we will also allow advertisers to book for print classified ads through AskHT.com.”

Earlier, the advertisers booked print classified ads through HTClassifieds.com, which is now integrated with AskHT.com.

Apart from offering the online classified advertising platform to classified print advertisers, the site will be opened to online consumers, who will be allowed to post their ads for free.

As with other online classified sites, on AskHT.com too, users can post ads in Hindi or English, across various categories, such as matrimonial, jobs, real estate, household services and courier services.

HT Media claims that within the two weeks of its soft-launch, the site has received 1.25 lakh ad listings.

Chugh explains why HT launched its classifieds site with a new URL. She says that HTClassifieds.com is a product from an earlier era, which was not suited to retail online classifieds and could not manage individuals posting or interactivity. Hence, there was a need to upgrade it. “We have gone with a new simple and short URL, new look and feel, in order to leverage the HT Media brand name and make the online classifieds product contemporary and competitive,” she says.

No paid or premium ad posting services are available on AskHT.com, as of now. However, Chugh indicated that the company might review this later, once the site gains acceptance and traction. Currently, HT Media is only relying on corporate advertisements to monetise the site.

In the next phase, the company plans to boost interactivity among the users of the site and enable them to contact each other through the phone. Also, a mobile version of the site, named m.askht.com will be rolled out soon.

Another media company that has recently ventured into the online classified space is NDTV, through NDTVClassifieds.com, which is created through a tie-up with Quikr.com (formerly Kijiji.in).

OLX is also present in India as an independent online entity, OLX.in. Other players in the generic online classified advertising space in India include Sulekha.com, ClickIndia and Click.in.

7. BEST buses lend seat backs to brands

Feb 13

Agencyfaqs

After bus panels, bus backs, grab handles and TV screens inside buses, BEST (Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport) buses have now lend its seat backs to advertisers. Similar innovation has been tried earlier in private buses, but for BEST buses, this is the first time.

The new advertising platform is being offered by Mumbai-based Tinta Media Creations, a sister concern of Emnet Samsara Media. Emnet Samsara, which has already installed TV screens and CCTV cameras in BEST’s buses, provides advertisers the plastic moulded bucket seats that have replaced the old metal-and-cloth seats in BEST buses. The project will be implemented over a period of 18 months.

Shonak Gholkar, CEO, Tinta Media Creations, tells afaqs!, “The BEST management has opened up many new concepts for generating non-operating revenue for reducing transport operating losses. They were keen to promote this concept and have commissioned us to replace the conventional BEST bus seats with new plastic-moulded seats with branding rights on the seat backs.”

The company started installing these seats in June 2008. Currently, these seats have been installed in approximately 700 buses of the 3,900 BEST buses plying the roads. In 650 normal buses, 41 seats have been fitted, while in 50 double-decker buses the number of seats is 62.

Each seat’s back is used as an ad medium where vinyls can be stuck. The size of each ad is 27 cm wide at the top and 30 cm at the bottom; and the height is 31 cm. Clients have to provide the creatives/vinyls; on request, Tinta Media can refer printers who can get the creative work done for advertisers. The seat back advertising activity will cost an advertiser approx Rs 4-5 lakh for 50 buses (excluding service tax) for a month.

“This medium is very communicative and can describe the product in depth,” Gholkar says. “Advertisers are impressed by this medium that has a personalised impact on the branding, as the matter is very close to a person sitting on the bus seat.”

As far as reach goes, BEST, on its 3,700 buses, transports about 4.8 million passengers on an average weekday. The average travel distance traveled by an individual on BEST buses is seven km everyday. With a traveling time of four minutes per km, each individual spends approximately 28 minutes on a BEST bus per day, thus giving an advertiser value for his money spent.

Some of the brands that have already experimented with this medium include RED FM, CROMA, Bank of India, Bank Of Maharashtra, Jet King, Just Dial, Idea, Surf Excel, 9 XN, Rajshri Production, Minute Maid, HDFC, ICICI and TATA SKY.

8. Bausch & Lomb catches eyeballs outdoors

Feb 17

Agencyfaqs

Eyecare brand, Bausch & Lomb's new outdoor campaign urges people to make a statement with their eyes.

As part of the campaign, a common creative was splashed on bus shelters, hoardings and mobile vans. The creative has the snapshot of a woman wearing a pair of Bausch and Lomb contact lenses; her eyes have been placed in double quotes. The copy reads, “Let your eyes talk”. Some of the creatives also invite the viewers to visit their nearest optical store for a free trial.

The campaign has been ideated by DraftFCB Ulka and executed across Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Chandigarh by Outdoor Media Integrated (OMI), a division of Laqshya Media, the OOH partner for this campaign.

This is the first instance when Bausch & Lomb has used the outdoor medium significantly. The campaign was launched in the last week of December and culminated by the end of January.

The TG for the campaign comprised youngsters in the age group of 15-24 years from SEC AB, who are either studying or are about to start their careers. The company used a total of 90 bus shelters, mobile vans and hoardings across the 10 cities. In addition, 200 LCD screens were installed in optical shops, playing loops of the Bausch & Lomb ad.

Shiveshwar Raj Singh, creative director, DraftFCB Ulka feels that contact lenses are still perceived as a lifestyle product in India. He explains, “One of the reasons for this can be the high-fashion environment of stores where they are available. The other reason is that people choose to wear lenses occasionally to kill the boredom of putting their spectacles on.”

With this campaign, the company intends to suggest that contact lenses are a better alternative to spectacles. “In fact, most people use contact lenses and spectacles alternately. Also, by considering eyes as the ultimate form of expression, we have tried to do away with the prescriptive quality attached to contact lenses,” Singh points out.

The DraftFCB Ulka creative team, which worked on the campaign, include Ginny Diwan and Shiny from art and Richa Wadhera from copy. The client servicing team was headed by Akash Sharma, general manager, DratfFCB Ulka and included Shruti Tandon Deb, Ragini Sharma Banik and Shekhar Nautiyal.

The contact lens category in India is worth more than Rs 120 crore. Sunil Gadgil, general manager, vision care, marketing, Bausch & Lomb says, “The target consumer of the contact lens category is someone who is aware of the product, but does not feel the need to opt for it. One of the main objectives of the campaign was to build the relevance of contact lenses to a bespectacled person. Our campaign regards eyes as a pure form of expression and this is not possible when you wear spectacles. We communicated this universal insight with the outdoor campaign, which provided a larger than life canvas.”

He adds that Bausch & Lomb has placed vision care counselors in 130 top-end optical stores across cities, who give free contact lens trials to potential customers visiting the stores. Gadgil informs that thanks to the buzz that the outdoor campaign has generated, so far, Bausch & Lomb has conducted free trial sessions for 6,000 people across the cities.

The company has also taken radio spots on Radio Mirchi, Hit 95, Red FM and Fever 104 in Delhi and Mumbai.

9. Sprite wows with in-tunnel advertising in Sprite Xpress campaign

Feb 23

Agencyfaqs

In September 2008, afaqs! reported on Coca-Cola’s innovative outdoor campaign for the launch of Sprite Xpress – a new pack variant of its clear drink, Sprite. This time, the beverage giant has used transit advertising to give a push to the on-the-go beverage culture that it established with the launch campaign.

As part of the outdoor campaign, the tunnel of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) from Kashmere Gate to Chandni Chowk has been used for executing a transit innovation.

Specially designed display boxes, which house images of a Sprite campaign, frame-by-frame, have been placed one after the other on the wall of the tunnel. The images are known as ad cards, which are film negatives coated with silver halide. As a train enters the tunnel, the ad cards provide passengers with the experience of watching a television commercial, whose picture quality is bright and undistorted.

The advertising displays in tunnels are a series of static images that appear to move as a train rolls by. Passengers looking out of the windows get to see what seems like a silent movie clip.

As the train enters the tunnel, the box senses the speed, acceleration and de-acceleration of the train. Microprocessors control the illumination of each box on which the ad is mounted and it is lit for a fraction of a second as the train zips by. The boxes are lit exactly when a passenger window is perfectly aligned to it. The display design varies with each tunnel, based on factors like distance from the window, train speed and average viewing distance.

This in-tunnel technology is used essentially for playing television commercials and has been used internationally by brands like Cadillac and Gatorade.

For Sprite Xpress, the technology was modified by EncycloMedia Networks. Mukesh Manik, man-in-charge, Encyclomedia Networks says, “While usually it is TVCs that are rendered to such in-tunnel advertising, we created an animation film for Sprite, especially for this medium.”

The company has designed and rendered a 15-second animation for Sprite Xpress. This animation has the new and improved 350 ml bottle engaging in all sorts of outdoor sports, to convey the message that the new pack is for the on-the-move consumer.

The animation was split into 280 frames, which were then used for the innovation. Thus, when the train passed through the tunnel, the passengers could see a short animation film on the walls of the tunnel, which had the new Sprite Xpress bottle skateboarding, surfing and breaking through glass panels.

While the creative communication of the campaign has been handled by EncycloMedia Networks, the media and technology has been provided by C2E Technology Labs. The campaign was kicked off in mid- January and will run up to the first week of March.

A Rabindranath, chief executive officer, C2E Technology Labs says, “We partnered with DMRC four years ago to develop in-tunnel advertising. Kotak was our first client, who came onboard in March 2008. The company used the media for close to four months.”

He points out that one of the best aspects of using this media is the accountability it ensures. On an average day, more than six lakh commuters pass the section from Kashmere Gate to Chandni Chowk. He confesses that though the media requires large investments, it is an option that ensures eyeballs, because it catches a bored passenger's attention instantaneously.

Srinivasan Murthy, general manager, marketing (Flavour Brands), Coca Cola says, “Outdoor media has worked well for our brand due to two main reasons. One is that the media can be customised for different markets we are present in. Second, it works as a perfect reminder medium for the soft drink category. It was a conscious decision to use outdoor innovatively right from the first Sprite Xpress campaign. In-tunnel advertising is an extension of that decision.”

The monthly rental for this media is steep, at approximately Rs 2,500,000. Additionally, the advertiser has to bear the cost of the ad cards too. Interestingly, Coca-Cola has also used in-tunnel advertising in the US. This OOH format is also widely used in Paris, Moscow, Barcelona, Istanbul and Kuala Lumpur.

10. Platinum Outdoor creates rotational innovation for Bingo

Feb 24

Agencyfaqs

The popularity of hoardings as a clutter breaking medium for carrying out OOH (out of home) innovations has been increasing. Recently, ITC Foods jumped onto the bandwagon to attract its target group by coming up with a creative OOH innovation for its snacks brand, Bingo Mad Angles.

The outdoor campaign, created by Madison’s specialist outdoor agency, Platinum Outdoor, had a cut-out of a Bingo Mad Angles triangular chip mounted on a billboard. The chip, connected to an electric motor, rotated in a slow and steady motion. The hoarding carried the tagline, Har angle se Mmmm, conveying the idea that the snack is a mouth watering treat and one can enjoy it from any angle.

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The main campaign was ideated by O&M Bengaluru, which had created a TV commercial with the idea, Har angle se Mmmm, set in a boardroom. The hot topic in the board room was to decide the best angle for consuming the snack. The boss consumes the chip and states that it is ‘Mmmm’ from every angle.

The challenge for the outdoor campaign was to communicate the brand promise in an innovative and effective way on the traditional OOH format – the billboard.

Platinum Outdoor, along with the ITC Bingo brand team, discussed various concepts and ultimately zeroed in on the innovation. They chalked out the production process, created a prototype, experimented and arrived at a standard operational process.

“The simplicity of the idea, the production quality and the strategic positioning of the billboards were the key reasons for its success. People do not spend more than three-five seconds gazing at a hoarding and therefore, it had to be eye-catching,” says Lokesh Kumar, vice-president, Platinum Outdoor.

The campaign kicked off in January and ran till mid-February, executed across Mumbai at locations such as the Bandra Station-Turner Road junction, the Chembur RCF junction and Marine Drive. In addition, hoardings with the same creative, without the mechanical innovation, were put up in Haji Ali, Bandra SV Road, Airport Road, Borivali, Andheri and Vile Parle Station. The innovations acted as a point of reference when people saw the hoardings with the plain creatives.

VL Rajesh, general manager, marketing, ITC Foods, sees outdoor as a very crucial part of Bingo's marketing mix. Though he refused to disclose the company's OOH spends for the campaign, he says, “We believe that outdoor innovation is a clutter breaking format and we will continue to use it effectively. At the same time, we need to do this in a manner that is cost effective. Though we have used outdoor in the past, this innovation is certainly the most noticeable of the lot.”

Bingo Mad Angles was launched in March 2007 and is available in three flavours - Tomato Mischief, Chilli Dhamaka and Achari Masti. In terms of consumer spends, the branded snack food segment in India is pegged at approximately Rs 3,000 crore.

11. Survey finds layoff trend easing– Mar 06

Exchange4Media

SLaying off workers isn’t the only way to save money in a recession. With the economic downturn dragging on, the Watson Wyatt global consulting firm has found that employers are looking to other options. Of course, that comes after more than half of the big US companies surveyed have already done at least one round of layoffs.

“Companies have come to terms with the fact that this recession is going to last and that they can’t slash their way out of it,” said Laura Sejen, global director of strategic rewards consulting at Watson Wyatt. “Many companies are putting the drastic cuts behind them and are now focusing on smaller, more sustainable cost-cutting actions,” she said.

According to the survey of 245 large US employers conducted in February, 52 percent have made layoffs, up from 39 percent two months earlier. However, the number of companies planning layoffs has fallen 10 percentage points from 23 percent to 13 percent. Additionally, 56 percent now have a hiring freeze in effect, an increase from 47 percent in December’s survey.

There has been a jump in the number of companies that have put into place other changes as well. These include salary freezes (up to 42 percent of respondents now from 13 percent in December’s survey), reductions in 401(k) matches (up to 12 percent from 3 percent), a shortened workweek (up to 13 percent from 2 percent) and travel restrictions (up to 69 percent from 48 percent).

The survey asked the companies about 16 different cost-cutting options. The least popular appeared to be salary reductions and offering early retirement, but all had been used by some of the companies surveyed.

In addition, the survey found that planned merit increases are now 1.7 percent, less than half of what companies originally planned before the recession hit. Of the 69 percent who have revised their budgets, 58 percent did so in the last two months.

Survey results also show that the majority of companies (61 percent) expect the current downturn in their performance to last at least until the end of 2009. Approximately half of companies (51 percent) plan to increase their cost-cutting actions in 2009 and beyond.

“As the business outlook remains challenging, employers are buckling down and making hard decisions,” said Laurie Bienstock, US strategic rewards leader at Watson Wyatt. “This may be good news as companies move more toward cost-cutting efforts other than workforce reductions in an effort to hold on to the workers they will need when recovery eventually comes,” she said.

Here are the survey results for cost-cutting human resources programs.

Companies continue to change a variety of HR programs in response to cost pressures

HR program	Already made change			Expecting to make change
	Feb 2009	Dec 2008	Oct 2008	Feb 2009	Dec 2008	Oct 2008
Add/increase restrictions to company travel policy	69%	48%	34%	10%	16%	21%
Hiring freeze	56%	47%	30%	10%	18%	25%
Layoffs/reduction in force	52%	39%	19%	13%	23%	26%
Eliminate or reduce the hiring of seasonal workers	44%	28%	17%	9%	16%	18%
Salary freeze	42%	13%	4%	14%	19%	12%
Eliminate or reduce training programs	35%	23%	10%	15%	18%	18%
Organization-wide restructuring	31%	23%	14%	20%	21%	23%
Increase communication to employees about their benefits	31%	32%	35%	27%	35%	35%
Increase communication to employees about their pay	28%	16%	18%	31%	43%	37%
HR function restructuring	23%	14%	15%	22%	21%	19%
Reduce/eliminate other employee programs (tuition reimbursement, subsidized dining facilities, etc.)	23%	12%	8%	18%	12%	11%
Raise percentage that employees pay for health care premiums	22%	20%	21%	24%	17%	25%
Reduced workweek	13%	2%	4%	8%	6%	4%
Reduce employer 401(k)/403(b) match	12%	3%	2%	12%	7%	4%
Salary reductions	7%	5%	2%	4%	6%	4%
Early retirement window	6%	3%	4%	6%	6%	5%

Source: Watson Wyatt

16. Great expectations: Slowdown might garner good viewership for IPL

Feb 10

Exchange4Media

In the follow-up to the report on the Indian Premier League (IPL) dropping the exclusivity tag, exchange4media spoke to media planners on their expectations from Season 2 of IPL. Most are positive about the tournament garnering good viewership numbers, thanks to the slowdown.

According to the media planners, the slowdown has seen people cut down on the time spent outdoors, instead preferring to stay at home with their families. They feel that this was one reason why IPL Season 2 might see high ratings. Even brands would not want to miss being noticed during this time.

Sandeep Lakhina, MD, India - West and South, Starcom Worldwide, said, “After tasting success in Season 1, and with India also doing pretty well in cricket, I believe that the IPL Season 2 will be bigger and better. Pakistan’s absence from the game will have no effect on the numbers, but the slowdown has got its own mixed bag. There are some beliefs that with the slowdown, people prefer to stay home and spend less time out, therefore, they will watch more television.”

Sudha Natarajan, President and COO, Lintas Media Group, said, “We have big expectations from this season of IPL. Firstly, because of the delivery of Season 1, which was worth all the hype, therefore, we believe that Season 2 will be very good. Given the current market scenario, it is believed that the consumption of all external media will be stagnant and the consumption of television is on rise. And at this time with a product like IPL Season 2 coming on, it can only mean very good viewership.”

“People are still gung ho about the property that they are fairly keen to spend on it. There are certain sectors that have got affected in terms of employment and pay cuts, the rest of India is reacting with caution because of the overall sentiment. There are still enough brands for whom IPL is a huge opportunity loss if they do not get on the bandwagon, so there will still be more brands being part of IPL irrespective of who prefers to stay back. In fact, had this scenario not been there, then IPL would have been a difficult property to buy,” Natarajan pointed out.

According to Prasanth Kumar, Managing Partner CTG, GroupM, “IPL is a pretty good property, and after the success of Season 1, the expectations are really high over Season 2 and it is looking good. However, I believe that it will perform the same as last year, but it all depends on how they package themselves, therefore, their challenge lies on the novelty factor, which was high last year.”

No doubt, media planners are high on IPL Season 2, and thanks to the economic slowdown, there may be much higher viewership for the game this season as compared to last year. Even if there are brands that have preferred to stay out of the game this season, there are still several others waiting in line, and had there been no slowdown in the market, IPL would have been a difficult property to buy.

17. ‘Billu Barber’, Hungama Digital join hands to rekindle old friendships

Feb 12

Exchange4Media

Lost touch with some of your old friends? Wonder how you can re-connect with all of them? Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Pvt Ltd has taken the concept of social networking to the next level by giving people a reason to connect and rekindle old friendships over the popular social networking sites on the Internet.

Just like the old friends from upcoming Shah Rukh Khan-starrer ‘Billu barber’ come together, now even people can connect with old friends using the Billu ‘Dosti Ke Rang, Shahrukh Ke Sang’ application and recreate one’s old gang from school, college, etc. One lucky gang planning a reunion using this application would have SRK attend the reunion in person, to make it magical.

Hungama is creating a collision of the film world of Billu and the digital world of social networks. Just like the film ‘Billu Barber’ is about two worlds coming together to create special moments between two great friends, Hungama Digital has created an application to help create a special reunion between old friends over the web. Once the Billu ‘Dosti Ke Rang, Shahrukh Ke Sang’ application is downloaded, one can create a group photograph of the gang with pictures that could be uploaded, or from one’s social network profile.

Khan would be a part of this gang at the centre of the picture and each picture would be signed by the superstar. The application also allows the user to interact on a designated message board with one’s gang. Furthermore, Khan will pick one lucky gang himself and attend their actual reunion hosted by Hungama Digital.

Neeraj Roy, Managing Director and CEO, Hungama Digital Media, said, “With the film ‘Billu Barber’, Hungama has taken the theme of the movie and created a relevant product for the digital platform. The application ‘Dosti Ke Rang, Shahrukh Ke Sang’ brings alive the theme of the film on social networking sites, which – in a manner of speaking – are catalysts in reconnecting old friends. Today, digital marketing has moved beyond just movie websites and blogs, to using the medium to get a connect with the stars and movie concepts.” Hungama has also developed four other products as part of the digital promotion for ‘Billu’ for the digital and mobile space.

18. Slowdown hits ICL, Grand Championship postponed till October 2009

Feb 13

Exchange4Media

The political scenario revolving around the recent terror attacks that took place in Mumbai has taken its toll on cricket as well. Essel Group’s Indian Cricket League (ICL) on February 12 announced that the Grand Championship, which was scheduled for March 2009, had been postponed to later half of this year along with World Series Twenty20 tournament. Now, the Grand Championship has been packaged the World Series Twenty20, to be played in October-November 2009.

The absence of Pakistani players of the Lahore Badshahs team and the current economic slowdown have been cited as the prime reasons for postponing the tournament.

Following this decision, the sponsors of the game are also likely to take a hit. However, the domestic tournament of ICL will be held as scheduled in Chandigarh from March 6-19, 2009.

Himanshu Mody, Business Head of ICL, said, “The non-availability of the Pakistani players of Lahore Badshahs, who are the ICL’s biggest draw, is a other major reason for the cancellation of the March tournament, which will be replaced by one involving Indian players. The October edition of the World Series is on schedule as of now.”

19. Cartoon Network gets cricket closer to kids with Toon Cricket

Feb 13

Exchage4media

Cartoon Network is bringing, what it calls, India’s first day and night match in the Toon world – ‘Toon Cricket - The Battle for the Omnitrix’ – in Hyderabad on February 15 and Mumbai on February 22. Toon Cricket combines Indian kids’ two biggest passions – cartoons and cricket.

The two teams playing Toon Cricket are Bentastic versus Maximojo. In its sixth successful run, Cartoon Network’s most celebrated event promises maximum action and excitement as the popular Toons captained by the youngest superhero Ben Tennyson from Ben 10 and the evil Mojo Jojo from The Powerpuff Girls get ready to battle at the pitch.

Adding to the excitement and experience will be the celebratory inaugural ceremony with a sound and laser show and a live-performance by the pop band Aasma at the beginning of Toon Cricket.

This year’s Toon Cricket is a quest to find the true keeper of the Omnitrix (the mysterious watch that gives Ben Tennyson his super hero abilities) and each inning will have five overs of four balls each. In an effort to fulfill his desire to take over the world, Mojo Jojo has stolen the Omnitrix from Ben Tennyson. As a result, the young superhero has challenged Mojo to T-20 style cricket match. The winner will be announced as the true owner of the Omnitrix.

Speaking on the signature event, Monica Tata, Deputy General Manager and Vice President - Entertainment, South Asia, Turner International India Pvt Ltd, said, “It’s a tradition at Cartoon Network to consistently innovate and think out of the box to keep our fans entertained and engaged. Instituted in 1999, Toon Cricket has successfully managed to create an irresistible combination of two Cs – Cartoons and Cricket – a winning formula for Indian kids and adults. As Cartoon Network’s most famous and adored toons gear up to sweat it out, Toon Cricket - The Battle for the Omnitrix is ready yet again to be the ultimate sporting extravaganza for kids.”

Kids can also play the toon cricket game on their mobiles and can get a chance to win invitations to the match. A Toon Cricket micro-site on http://www.cartoonnetworkindia.com has been created that has wallpaper, icons, video clips of the toons gearing up for the match apart from information on teams that will play Toon Cricket.

20. Pond’s Age Miracle gets a Candid touch

Feb 14

Exchange4Media

Below-the-line promotion agency Candid Marketing recently executed a BTL activity for Pond’s Age Miracle to coincide with Valentine’s Day, from February 5-15. The activity was designed to introduce women to the micro derma process of Pond’s Age Miracle products and induce trials.

Commenting on the initiative, Atul S Nath, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Candid Marketing, said, “This promotional activity has been designed to create awareness amongst our TG, that is, SEC A, A+, B, B+ housewives and working women, and to introduce the micro derma process. The brief was to introduce the full Pond’s Age Miracle regime to the TG and recommend usage for the same on daily basis.”

Nath added, “This activity was undertaken basically to communicate the Pond’s Age Miracle Valentine’s Day offer – to buy and get an assured gift on the spot – to the TG and convince them to buy the product. The activity is being carried out at Lifestyle, Spencer’s, Shoppers Stop and Hypercity at Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad.”

He further said, “An activity in the above mentioned activation points and cities have been designed to match the set objectives. Thematic kiosks with product branding have been created, and the brand ambassadors hired and trained to communicate the special/ongoing offers. A complete procedure on approaching, educating, registering, giving a skin analysis, introducing the regime and availing the special offer have been laid out and explained to the brand ambassadors to achieve the brand objectives.”

21. Indian consumers least bothered about environmental issues: Nielsen study

Feb 13

Indian Television

MUMBAI: In a recent global food packaging survey, the Nielsen Company has found that despite a growth in eco-friendly living, a shop’s environmental friendliness is the last consideration for Indian consumers (21 per cent) in determining where to spend money.

Value for money (65 per cent) ranks as the number-one influencer of store choice.

Conducted in mid 2007, the study surveyed 26,486 internet users in 47 markets from Europe, Asia Pacific, the Americas and the Middle East, on the factors that influenced their choice of grocery store.

Environmental friendliness was the least important factor for Indian consumers among others such as price, product quality, convenience and location, when determining where to shop for groceries. However, 44 per cent Indian consumers are willing to sacrifice packaging for hygiene if it’s environmentally harmful.

21 per cent of Indian consumers as compared to 28 per cent of world consumers, ranked environment-friendly stores, using recycle bags/package as the most important consideration for their grocery store choice. However, 65 per cent of the Indian consumers as opposed to 85 per cent of world consumers, considered good value for money the number one influencer in their choice of store.

Nielsen director (client solutions) Rajshree Dave says, “Despite several campaigns all across on being environmental friendly and growing consumer demand for shops to be environmentally friendly in conducting their business, consumers don’t necessarily make this a priority when choosing where to shop.”

Nielsen’s survey further gauged consumers’ attitudes towards environmental friendliness in their shopping decisions and what aspects of packaging they would be prepared to give up if it meant it would benefit the environment.

At one end of the continuum of responses was the environment and at the other was packaging. The preference of consumers in India was in line with the Asia-Pacific average.

The Indian consumer was also willing to trade off convenience in form of "reusable," "stackable," and "easily transportable packaging." They were found to be more likely to trade off most aspects of packaging than consumers in
other countries in the Asia-Pacific region. 10 per cent of the people would not think of giving up any aspects of packaging even for the environment.

“The Indian consumer is quite used to buying open and unpackaged (loose) fresh products and other commodities. The hygiene perception offered by packaging is still not a well-established driver of choice for buying packed products. Moreover, Indian shoppers placed less priority on packaging that help them to store food because out here we still shop
more frequently and don’t tend to buy products with a long shelf life,” added Dave.

Interestingly, environmentally-aware New Zealanders topped global rankings as the nation most prepared to give up all aspects of packaging for the sake of the environment. This may in large part be due to high levels of "eco-consciousness," including in-store reminders and recyclable bag merchandising by supermarkets, and weekly recyclable rubbish collection instituted by local authorities in most cities.

The dichotomy of the Indian consumers is seen in their willingness to trade off convenience (in step with highly developed and modern cultures like New Zealand and Australia) and at the same time not being very averse to trading off any form of packaging that promises "product hygiene" (in line with consumers in countries like Vietnam and
Indonesia).

“As global concern and awareness about the need to preserve the environment increase, consumers around the world are demanding greater responsibility from retailers and FMCG manufacturers. And while eco-friendly packaging might not be the top priority for shoppers today, it’s certainly a growing consumer demand the food industry cannot ignore,” concludes Dave.

22. Chacha Chowdhary in theatres, stores and TV

Mar 02

Exchange4Media

Comic legend Chacha Chowdhary will soon make his way into television sets and theatres. Chacha Chowdhary sportswear, toys, stationary products, apparels and other licensed merchandise will be reality by the end of the year. Diamond Comics, the publication which gave birth to the cult comic characters such as Chacha Chowdhary, Sabu and Pinki, has tied up with License India, a division of Franchise India Holdings.

Diamond Comics, which has been in existence for more than five decades, had tried the animated cartoons route on Doordarshan some years ago. Not satisfied with the effort, Gulshan Rai, chairperson and managing director, Diamond Comics, wanted a wider reach and decided to partner with License India.

License India will oversee the expansion of the brand from print to television and films, and in various merchandised avatars. The merchandise licensing business in India has been growing at 50 per cent year on year and the character licensing segment is pegged at Rs 500 crore.

License India foresees that brand Chacha Chowdhary has the potential to create a following among kids. With the influx of popular international characters such as Spongebob Squarepants, Spiderman, Ben 10, Barbie and Pokemon, Chacha Chowdhary may face stiff competition.

It’s a brand that has existed for decades and hasn’t been very popular among the current generation of kids. Many new characters have become big in India in the last few years, with the launch of kids’ entertainment channels. Players which have a strong television presence, such as Disney, are also strong players in the merchandising business. “It’s the time for the Indian comic characters to become popular worldwide,” says Rai.

Will Chacha Chowdhary and Sabu be able to beat the popularity of Batman and Spiderman? Anupama Bindra, business head, License India, believes that it’s the history behind the character that will be leveraged.

“Kids may not be interested in Chacha Chowdhary because they don’t know about him but parents have a sentimental value attached with the character, which they would want to pass onto the kids,” she says. Besides, she claims that brand loyalty is not very high in that age group. License India is actively looking at targeting the NRI audience as well.

The readership of comics is substantial in the rural areas, where it is still a preferred pastime. However, the same is not true for urban areas. “The kids in the Tier 2 and 3 cities are very interested in reading comics but the ones in urban cities don’t prefer to read, unless it is Harry Potter type story books,” says Bindra. For this, efforts will be made to bring the character alive and package the content in a way that is appealing to the kids, while retaining the essence of the comic series and the peculiarities of each of the characters.

Currently, License India is in talks with production houses and broadcasters to create television series and animation films. The channel will tie up with retail outlets across the country for merchandise such as clothes, toys, stationary, and mobile, computer and video games. By the end of 2009, Diamond Comics and License India will come out with the first offering. The resurrection of the characters will be announced by an extensive marketing and promotional campaign.

23. Spiritual programmes giving FM stations a headstart to the day

Feb 2

Exchange4Media

Spiritual programmes are not new in the FM space, with most FM stations beginning the day with their own devotional slot. Over the years, spiritual programmes have gained in popularity and listenership, prompting the FM players to undertake special initiatives to drive listenership. The advertisements are usually limited, but mostly inclined towards the spiritual category. exchange4media takes a look at the programmes bring aired.

Big FM airs its devotional programmes across the country. Nirupam Sonu, Vice President – Programming, Big FM, said, “We air spiritual programmes across Big FM stations from 5 am to 6 am, which has got good response from our listeners. It is national for the Hindi speaking markets, called ‘Seher’ by RJ Shweta, while the South Indian listeners are provided with different programmes, because of the different languages spoken. We air special shows on special days/ occasions. We have got good response from across the country and it is the need of the hour. Every show is based on the mood of the listeners.” Moreover, Big FM also airs special programmes on special occasions, for instance, on Navratri, the station airs live ‘aarti’ from the Vaishodevi shrine.

Radio City Bangalore airs ‘Shubodaya’ (Monday-Saturday, 6-7 am) with RJ Maya. ‘Shubodaya’ takes off with specifying the ‘rahukalm’, which help listeners plan the day better. In the current scenario, where people find it hard to connect with their roots and get the right intake of spiritual quotient, ‘Shubodaya’ aims to provide all this and more. The show provides messages from the Bhagvad Gita, conveyed in a simple yet effective manner. Views from spiritual gurus like Swami Vivekananda, Shri Shri Ravi Shankar and Sarvagna are showcased with their relevance to the current lifestyle. This is coupled with the best of devotional melodies.

My FM’s devotional programme is titled ‘Geetanjali’, which is aired from 6 am to 7 am, during which the FM station plays morning aarti (prayer service), which is a day-specific aarti across its stations. The FM station also plays live aarti from famous temples of the city where it operates in, based on the theme of that day. Harrish M Bhattia, COO. My FM, said, “Our spiritual programme, ‘Geetanjali’, is aired across the seven states and 17 cities. We target anyone who is spiritually or religiously inclined. This show helps us connect better with our listeners.”

Radio Choklate airs ‘Sabko Sanmati De Bhagwan’ from Monday to Saturday live from 5 am to 7 am. Each day, the devotional programme is dedicated to a separate deity, for instance, Tuesdays are dedicated to the Hanuman Chalisa. The FM station also airs devotional programmes in the evening, before sunset during festivals.

Monica Nayyar Patnaik, Director, Eastern Media Ltd, said, “In Orissa, people rise very early in the morning and their day begins with bhajans, and this was our main objective in launching a devotional programme, which has been doing wonders. In the past few months we have given this devotional programme a name – ‘Sabko Sanmati De Bhagwan’ – although the slot was already there.”

Radhieka Kale, Corporate Ad Manager Tomato FM, said, “Kolhapur being a religious place and city of Lord Mahalaxmi, people have always given a very good response for the devotional programme ‘Morning Mantra’. Hence, there are a lot many devotional listeners. We also air a short 10-minute programme on Vaastu, besides giving daily tips on health, yoga, fabric of the day, etc. We have a mature and serious listenership.”

With religion being a sensitive issue in the country, FM stations stress more on the spiritual, steering clear of giving religious discourses. Some FM stations, like Radio Mango have preferred to stay away from spiritual programmes altogether. While this category is quite popular among listeners, there are very limited advertisements in this slot compared to other programme slots during the day.

24. Music royalty issue delays Phase III FM bidding

Feb 06

Exchange4Media

The music royalty issue is snowballing into a serious situation, serious enough to bring about a delay in the Phase III of bidding for FM licences. The Information and Broadcasting Ministry is hesitant to announce Phase III of bidding given the current financial situation of the radio industry due to high royalty charges in smaller cities. The demand for royalty in smaller cities exceeds 100 per cent of the revenue of such radio stations. Therefore the Government, the Ministry of HRD, and the I&B Ministry are taking up this issue seriously.

It may be recalled that exchange4media had reported on January 27, 2009 that the Indian Performing Rights Society (IPRS) had filed a criminal case against Radio City President Apurva Purohit and other officials of Radio City for copyright violation despite the fact that a civil case is already going on in the Bombay High Court and the matter is sub judice.

Though music royalty has been a contentious issue for quite a while, some headway seemed to have been made on December 15, 2008, following the meeting called by the I&B Ministry between the music and radio industries along with the Registrar of Copyrights and Secretary, HRD, to start a cumulative process for nationalising music royalties for radio.

25. FM stations wired for love this Valentine’s Day

Feb 14

Exchange4Media

It’s that time of the year again when the world sees ‘red’, albeit in the shape of hearts, when card companies look forward to a surge in sales, and a thousand romances bloom to a different commercial beat. And adding to the Valentine’s Day spirit are FM radio stations, which are planning to woo listeners with special shows and contests.

Radio City’s Valentine’s Day celebrations begin from February 8 and continue throughout the week leading to February 14. The FM station’s RJs will be hosting city-specific programmes in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore and Lucknow. Only two programmes – ‘Salam-e-Ishq’ and ‘Dil to Shair Hai’ – will be played in all four cities.

‘Salam-e-Ishq’ will have tips from Love Guru on how to get a date and Love Bytes, which is a feature on celebrity couples. ‘Dil to Shair Hai’ is a contest, which begins on February 8 and will continue till February 13, where listeners will be invited to send their best ‘Babbar Shers’ or couplets on ‘Dil vil pyaar vyaar’. The four funniest entries will be aired on Valentine’s Day. Celebrities will also recite some ‘shers’ with others commenting on them.

In Delhi, Radio City will air ‘Love Bytes’ as part of the day’s celebrations. An IVRS-based contest, this programme invites listeners to leave messages on what is the best way to propose. The most interesting ideas will be aired on the radio station on February 14 and winners of the best two entries will get an opportunity to propose on Radio City as well as win freebies.

Radio City in Bangalore will air ‘Bangalore’s sweethearts, more than love stories’ starting February 6 till February 14. This will feature couples from interesting and different backgrounds, for example, an IAF pilot who fought at Kargil and his wife, a couple married for 25 years, a young couple, newly weds, etc. These people will participate in the contest to prove their compatibility. The couple that wins will be declared as ‘Bangalore’s sweethearts’.

The ‘Love coupons contest’ on February 14 will invite listeners to SMS love letters to their loved ones.

In Lucknow, Radio City will have a segment, ‘Dil da mamla’, featuring hit romantic songs. ‘Be my Valentine contest’ will give listeners an opportunity to meet their favourite RJ by answering simple questions. On February 14 Radio City will air ‘V-Day Specials’ through its popular shows. The week’s highlight would be the ‘Jodi No. 1’ contest starting February 10 till February 13 on RJ Anirudh’s show, where he will search for the best couple by testing them through a series of questions called ‘Ek duje ke liye’.

Listeners can participate in this contest by sending the number of their partner via SMS. On February 14, RJs will take the shortlisted couples on air across all shows and ask them questions about each other. The most compatible and understanding couple would be announced the ‘Jodi No. 1’.

Not to be left behind, Go 92.5FM will begin celebrating Valentine’s Day on February 7 with the second edition of Flirty@7.30 speed dating special at Zenzi. It involves up to 10 mini-dates, which last 5 minutes each, and participants who indicate that they would like to see each other again will be given each others’ contact details within 24 hours of the event.

Shariq Patel, Station Head, Go 92.5FM, said, “After the overwhelming response we received last time, we are convinced that the concept of speed dating has now found its acceptability, which is very encouraging and hence, we have returned with the concept and bettered it. Earlier, you’d probably associate a concept like this with loners devoid of social skills, who have to resort to such extreme means to get a date. Of course we ensure quality more than quantity, so the last time saw an attractive mix of young professionals from all spheres of life from advertising agencies, to investment bankers… from lawyers to fashion designers.”

Patel added, “The excitement and the challenge this time around was to offer something more than the usual speed dating event so that participants and event goers can have a super time.”

Go 92.5FM has thrown in a lot more elements like a special Salsa performance by the Salsa India Dance Company, and once participants pick up a few tips in the art of Salsa they can practice them with actors Dino Morea and Onjolee Nair, who star in the film ‘Holiday’. Participants can also win exciting movie merchandise, CDs and movie tickets of the film.

Go’s programme ‘Good morning Mumbai’ will have a Valentine’s Day special called ‘Aao guess karey’. The show’s RJs, Jaggu and Tarana, will describe the plot of a movie and listeners have to guess the movie’s name. The show’s winners can bag love song CDs, roses and dinner vouchers.

Listeners can talk about their first crush and request a song on ‘Pehla Nasha’. ‘Horn OK please’ will have a special love song countdown where the 10 best love songs (Hindi and English) will be played.

Jose Covaco, RJ and Creative Head, Mumbai, Red FM 93.5, said, “We have decided to keep things very simple this Valentine’s Day. We will start promoting our two special Valentine’s Day shows on February 7.”

Red will have a ‘Love Test’ every hour on February 14, where ladies can request RJs to call their boyfriends or husbands. Red will then call these people and tell them that they have won a bouquet or some other gift and then ask them whom they’d like to give it to.

Covaco said, “The fun part is that the respective girlfriends or wives will be secretly listening to this conversation and hear what the men have to say. This will make the show very interesting.”

Red also has a contest where listeners can call or send a message and the winners will get to dine and dance with Dino Morea.

Radio Mirchi was not available for comments about their programmes for Valentine’s Day.

26. Turning shoppers into buyers

Feb 12

Hindu Business Line

A few months ago, I was wary of switching on the television and being bombarded with ads on where to spend my money, how much to invest and which insurance scheme gave you a bang for your buck. But in recent weeks my fears seem to have been dispelled as most of these ads have gone into hibernation (hopefully until the economy recovers). What one sees now are ads sending out a different message to the consumer.

From buying and spending, the focus of many banking and financial services ads is now savings and secure credit. A number of ads in the US Snow feature debit cards as opposed to credit cards. Bank of America has linked its savings scheme with credit card usage and has been promoting the same by showcasing an old-fashioned cookie jar half-filled with dimes and nickels in its television, print and Web site promotions. The concept is this — every purchase you make with a credit card will be rounded off to the next whole number and the small amount required to achieve this round number would be deposited in your savings account. This way your savings account builds up with every credit card purchase. That notwithstanding, ads featuring the bank’s credit card have dipped and have been replaced with debit cards and the benefits it entails such as tracking your savings and reward points.

MasterCard too has been promoting its Debit MasterCard and will also offer pre-paid options to consumers this year to help them manage expenses. “In 2009, we’re positioning our brand to help consumers responsibly outsmart the times and make life easier,” says Jon Schwartz, spokesperson of the US Markets Communications of MasterCard World Wide.

Speaking to BrandLine, Schwartz says the company would continue to use its 11-year-old ‘Priceless’ marketing platform. “We found that the theme of our campaign — “there are some things in life that money can’t buy ... for everything else there’s MasterCard” — continues to resonate with consumers, especially in this economy,” he adds, which is why it is currently airing a well-loved past TV ad called ‘Icons’. The ad features popular American animated brand mascots such as the Pillsbury Dough Boy, Green Giant of the frozen vegetables brand, Charlie the tuna and Mr. Clean gathering around a dining table for a home-cooked meal. This experience is portrayed as fun and inexpensive and apt for current times.

Wallet strategy

MasterCard research indicates that about 50 per cent of Americans are re-thinking their wallet strategy. There is a shift from discretionary spending. Drastic changes in the housing market, financial sector and gas prices over the last year have made consumers pragmatic about their purchases. And this has had a significant impact on other sectors too.

The shopping trips per household are downan AC Nielsen reports say. The decline in discretionary expenditure has taken a toll on mid- and high-end department stores such as Kohl’s, Macy’s and Nordstrom. Retailers carrying more “need-to-have” and less “nice-to-have” products have fared better as consumers downscale from premium to mid-tier or value brands, the report says. Bargain shoppers are shifting spending to value channels — making 35 per cent more trips to super centres (supermarkets), 10 per cent more trips to club stores and 9 per cent more trips to dollar stores to stretch their budget.

Despite such a change in consumer behaviour and spending patterns, some brands have managed to register positive sales growth thanks to innovative marketing strategies. Wine posted the greatest unit sales growth of any category over the previous year, purely through innovative strategies like finding new distribution outlets, says another AC Nielsen report. This growth was fuelled by many factors — Wal-Mart expanding the number of stores selling wine by 24 per cent, movie placements and celebrity labels that showed wine as a sophisticated yet healthy alternative to other drinks.

“It is important to understand what consumers want and value in an economic crisis and be receptive to that,” says Ravi Dhar, Professor of Management and Marketing and Director of the Yale Center for Customer Insights, Yale School of Management. For instance, when people are stressed out, they still want to spend on small items say those under $15-$20. Little wonder then that price cuts have lifted sales.

AC Nielsen reports that Supermarket Winn-Dixie’s ‘Good ’Til’ programme reduced prices on over 1,000 items while retail chain Sam’s Club offered a limited membership costing $10 for 10 weeks. Regular memberships cost between $35 and $100. Catering firm Hy-Vee priced a meal for four at $8 a day and KFC recently unveiled a meal for five at $3 each. Meanwhile, soup maker Campbell’s had a ‘10 cans for $10’ offer (a regular can costs about $2).The reason why only a handful of companies have been able to crack this market is because others have not understood the real impact of the economic crisis on consumer psyche. “This recession, we have realised that unlike previous occasions, there is no correlation between job cuts and consumer spending,” Dhar contends. In the past only those who lost their jobs would cut down on their spending. But this time even those with jobs have reduced their expenditure. “They probably feel guilty making purchases. And, therefore, marketers must look at ways of reassuring people that it is ok to spend,” he adds.

‘It’s ok to spend’

He shares the case of the luxury goods industry where many trends saw sales plummeting by as much as 20 per cent last year. Firms such as Gucci, Chanel and Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy have made their logos less prominent on their products. The bling too has disappeared and products look more functional than dressy. Jewellery brand Tiffany’s and Co. has unveiled an under-$150 Valentine’s Day collection and other gifts for under $100 — price points which would have been difficult to see a couple of years ago. The products meet with Prof Dhar’s observations — silver, white gold, small engravings and simple daily-wear designs. Some of these products are also featured on the company’s online discount store Tiffany Line, which offers items for as less as $30. When contacted, the company did not wish to comment on its marketing strategy or share further information.

Another industry that is getting its act together is real estate. A few years ago people’s chief reasons for buying a home was space and connectivity to work. Now it is value — how much will it sell for in future? Some firms have quickly come up with schemes such as one-year free maintenance, free membership to a nearby gym for a limited time period, reduced broker/real estate agents’ commissions, reduced price per sq.ft. and other freebies, informs Dhar.

But the most interesting example of good marketing is that of Wilmington Trust Direct, an Internet bank that is offering customers a 2.81 per cent interest rate on savings accounts. Regular banks currently offer between 0 and 1 per cent rate of interest on savings. This is smart marketing that directly benefits the customer, Prof Dhar says. “A lot of firms are currently contemplating a cut in their marketing expenses to reflect better bottom lines. This won’t lead to benefits because for the time you stop marketing, the consumer’s mind is occupied with another brand, probably a competitor. And when things look up consumers will continue to favour that brand.”

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