| 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: XV |  |
June, 2008 |
In these hyper charged times where news comes in as fast as it becomes
outdated, we need a source that can keep track of what matters to us. At
ZenithOptimedia we have created Wavelength to apprise all of us of the happenings
in three areas i.e. 1. Trends in Digital, Retail, OOH, Consumers and
the International 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.
Environment Watch: Advertising & Media
TV
21. Entertainment takes over information when it comes to TV commercials – June 10
The
television advertising has undergone a sea change. Instead of selling
products or its features, the ads now sell attitude, aspirations and
emotions. The transition is from information to entertainment. Marketers
feel that there are always other media to cover up for the product
information and features. Print media does the intellectual job, and TV can
supplement the brand campaign with the ‘recall' job.
Source:
Agencyfaqs
Radio
22. Radio channels use mobile and online technology platforms to ensure
wider reach- May 19 - June 15
The
current trends witnessed in the radio industry point towards increased usage
of mobile and online platforms as dissemination mediums to generate a larger
audience base. In 2007, Big FM was the first radio channel to launch pod
cast services, while Radio City was the first to provide a mobile
interactivity platform. Another trend being witnessed in the industry is
usage of radio by digital service providers to improve their existing
services portfolio such the tie-up between Idea cellular,
a
wireless telephony company in India, and Geodesic’s Mundu Radio, an
innovative mobile internet radio service, to launch Idea Radio. However,
availability of technology infrastructure, costs, and lack of skilled
manpower, remain the key issues in the implementation of the new technology.
Source:
India Radio Bulletin
23. Content integration and creativity drive radio advertising - May 19 - June 15
Segregation
of consumers in today’s world makes it difficult for mediums such as
television, to reach the masses. Radio is a mode which is known to build
personal relationships, but is generally referred to as a secondary medium.
The key to an effective brand communication is creativity and content
integration, which helps in “appointment listening” and audience engagement.
Source:
India Radio Bulletin
Others
24. Indian Premier League showcased a 360 degree all pervasive advertising strategy – May 16-May 31
With
the Indian Premier League (IPL) catching up with the pulse of the nation, it
sure struck the right cord with the marketers.
Besides the novelty and the
freshness that was evident from the advertising and marketing approach, what
surfaced was the amazingly low marketing cost, and phenomenal media coverage
that the event had garnered. Leaving no stone unturned for advertising
seemed to be an all-pervasive branding strategy of the league, IPL made sure
that it was the buzz word everywhere. Its advertising paraphernalia included
everything from the internet to the mobile. It used SMS and
“caller-back-ring-tones” (CBRTs) to promote the series. In a pre-launch
initiative, a campaign powered by SMS 2.0 service was launched. The SMS 2.0
service from Affle, a UK-based mobile media company, is a text messaging
application for GPRS based mobile phones. The service differed from a
default SMS application as it showed a banner ad at the bottom of the screen
while composing or reading a message and displays a full screen during the
process of sending the message. In addition to the mobile initiative, the
league tied up with content providers such as Indiatimes.com and
Cricinfo.com to showcase its cricket-related content such as ring tones,
wallpapers and match scores. In another phase of its mobile advertising
initiatives and SMS service by the name of SMSGupshup.com was launched. This
was a free group messaging service available on the mobile and the internet
and allowed users to send free messages.
Source:
The
Brand Reporter
This tracker has been compiled from external sources and
does not necessarily reflect the views of the company.
Links provided will take you to the full articles appended at the end of
the file.
© 2008 Zenith Optimedia.
Full Articles
Business Standard
June 10, 2008
The television advertising has undergone a sea change. Instead of selling products or its features, the ads now sell attitude, aspirations and emotions. Consider the Indigo CS ad. There's office tyranny, pettiness and you only get to see the car at the tail end of the ad.
It doesn't bore you with the mileage bragging, power window or any other feature. Just a vindictive smile on the employee's face and only one line in the ad, ‘at the end of the day, it's the style which matters'. Pure entertainment and statement anchored on youth.
Or be it the Fastrack ad. A couple breaking apart, without speaking a single word through out the ad. Both of them make smirking faces at each other, returns each other gifts — Fastrack articles — and moves on. No product message, the ad just has one thing to sell ‘move on' attitude. Many such ads make to the list. You rarely get to see adds which will punch ‘sabse sasta', ‘sabse achcha' catch lines, or ads communicating ‘in new pack'. It's all passé`. ‘Move on', ‘Dar ke aage jeet hai' are ‘in'. TV ads have seen a lot of innovation in the past couple of years.
Advertisement on TV is no more informative, it's entertaining. What's the idea behind keeping features at a bay and infusing entertainment? Emmanuel Upputuru, national creative director of Publicis India, says, "true, the age of talking of features is out, most products are parity products."
Almost all the products come with more or less same features. It becomes difficult to establish a ‘very distinct' image of the product in the minds of the audience. Cult ads like Fastrack, Virgin Mobile and MotoYuva have a great recall value even if the features of the brands are not talked about. But does that serve the aim of advertising? Creative directors feel that there are always other media to cover up for the product information and features. Print media does the intellectual job, and TV can supplement the brand campaign with the ‘recall' job.
As Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar, national creative director of Rediffusion India puts forth, "TV ads have time constraint, so product features can't be talked. It will complicate the ad. And a complex ad holds no recall value. Print ads allow the space to talk of features. Entertainment has better influence."
Bobby Pawar, chief creative officer of Mudra group says, "Entertainment is all emotions, be it humour, love and care. And TV is an emotional medium, being both voice and visual medium, and does justice to entertainment or emotions better than any other medium."
Radio and print media lack that scope. A 10-second ad can't be cluttered with product information, which will only complicate the message. Today, TV ads might not be as informative as they used to be five years back, but they have better recall value.
How cool is the recall
value of such ads? Anil Kakar, executive creative director of Percept/H,
says "it's a strategic change. A serious message does not evoke as much
response as humor does. One run of humor ad equals ten runs of serious ads."
The statement can be best realized if you compare Orbit's sugar-free,
informative ad when it was launched in India a few years back with its
present bizarre humor ad of ‘yellow yellow dirty fellow'.
India Radio Bulletin
May 19 - June 15
As listeners become more mobile, FM stations in India have kept up with the trends by using the mobile phone technology to bolster listeners’ ties to radio stations. And radio is the best medium to spread its reach to more people.
According to Sunil Kumar, managing director at Big River Radio (India), “with almost all cars, all music systems and a substantial number of cell phones coming in equipped with an FM receiver, coupled with the availability of the medium free of cost, stations can achieve a reach no other medium can match.” For the industry to expand, FM players understand the need for the medium to keep up with technology. Rana Barua, national head – marketing and programming, Radio City, believes that a lot more experimentation needs to be made for the medium to grow.
“The other trend is going to be newer modes of distribution for the medium, whether it is through your mobile phone or the Internet, which will fuel the penetration of FM in the country,” notes Barua at last year’s India Radio Forum. One year on, it seems that many stations are moving beyond mobile phones by going online.
The Internet gives radio stations the opportunity to reach a wider audience. By having a web presence, stations are able to give their advertisers a better mileage for their investments, says Kamal Mohandas, station head, Big FM Bangalore when she spoke to India Radio Bulletin about her station’s podcast launch late last year. As the first radio station to offer podcast back in October 2007, Big FM has been a believer in adapting to the technology.
Mohandas shares that one of the benefits of having an online presence is “it doesn’t restrict my station to being local,” as the podcast service gives a wider reach and exposure. Apart from Big FM, MY FM and Radio City are among some of the stations, which have leveraged the digital technology to bring themselves closer to their listeners. MY FM has been an avid user of the mobile technology in increasing the station’s accessibility to its listeners. Through its set up of a SMS short code service, it has managed to drive interactivity with its audience.
“Through this service, listeners are not just able to connect with the RJs, but they are also able to participate in improving our station, by sharing their opinions and suggestions with us,” says Harrish M. Bhatia, business head, MY FM. In January this year, MY FM launched its website at www.myfmindia.com. Bhatia says the unique features on the site have also helped the station to develop a closer relationship with the listeners.
“We have a feature called MY SPACE that lets our listeners’ blog about a topic or an issue they feel strongly about,” shares the CEO. Of course, the station’s podcasts of some of its programmes help to increase the station’s accessibility. Apurva Purohit, CEO, Radio City, claims her station is “constantly evaluating various technologies and platforms, which will be the enabler of convergence for a unified consumer experience in the years to come.”
When it launched its WAP portal last year, in association with Hungama Mobile, Radio City was the first station to use technology in creating a platform for interactivity in the mobile domain. Through the WAP portal, Radio City listeners are also able to directly connect with the station’s RJs, proving yet that by harnessing technology, the station was able to provide a seamless interactivity with the “Whatte Fun” brand, says Purohit.
The CEO adds that the harnessing of digital technology by FM stations is not without its own set of challenges. “As seen internationally, there is much more that can be done in the web domain by way of streaming content online. However, the quality of this experience depends on the broadband capabilities at the listeners’ end. Since such capabilities vary from place to place, it may limit the intended brand experience, which is undesirable,” she says.
Explaining the kinds of backend mechanisms required to enable stations in “going digital”, Gyanranjan Mohapatra, technical in-charge, Radio Choklate, says, “Mobiles commonly tune into a VHF signal, as does FM, which is alike to audio and vice versa. As it is audible to FM, the voice on the mobile can be transmitted on air.
That’s why it is one way to harness itself to the digital era. At Radio Choklate, Mohapatra reveals that any calls to and from mobile phones are connected to telephone hybrid equipment, and the digital signal (AES/EBU) is connected to a console for on air purposes. Through the Internet, stations are able to transmit such events as sports commentary, happenings around the Internet and also vice versa can be broadcast as per Radio Choklate requirements and programming needs, he adds. A station’s ability to harness the power of technology depends on the availability of infrastructures and readiness, costs and talent.
“The service providers in this field are not equipped locally,” says Mohapatra. “And for a ‘c’ station like Radio Choklate, the costs will be an enormous burden.” He adds, “There is also a lack of skilled manpower in the technical background with less experience in FM technology.” Apart from FM leveraging on the mobile technology, the digital world has also harnessed the potential of FM.
In February 2008, Cellular tied up with Geodesic’s Mundu Radio to launch IDEA Radio. Built on Geodesic’s award-winning Mundu Radio technology, the service enables the provider’s 20 million subscribers to seamlessly tune into a range of entertainment channels without the need to carry a separate device, or to be within the limited range of FM radio stations.
“Mobile devices are the preferred mode of entertainment today, and the Idea Radio implementation is representative of Geodesic’s stated strategy to provide innovative, revenue-enhancing mobile solutions to service providers,” comments Kiran Kulkarni, managing director, Geodesic of the tie-up.
Through these station
examples, it appears that Indian FM stations are on the right track when it
comes to delivering high quality content through the most advanced digital
means possible. The only question is whether or not the infrastructure is
readily in place to allow for a high Internet interactivity to happen. MY
FM’s Bhatia has no doubt that the user base of SMS and online will increase
with time, given “the Internet penetration increasing and more growth of
Internet users recorded in the tier two and three towns.” Gyanranjan
Mohapatra
India Radio Bulletin
May 19 - June 15
Consumers live in a cluttered world. Whether they are at home, at work or on the road, they are always bombarded with a spectacle of media frenzy vying for their attention. And advertisers, aware of the all-consuming media around its target audience, find that they are always fighting for the consumers’ mind space through the multiple media platforms available: print, television, the Internet and radio, among others.
With television, there is a further segregation of audience, which aggravates this clutter further. The “fight with the remote” among households – with the women gunning for their Saas Bahu serials, the men for their sports and the kids for their cartoon fix – multiplies the hurdles that advertisers have to overcome to reach the masses.
Then there’s radio, a medium, which stands away from the above. As a mass medium, radio is free-to-air and more readily accessible than its visual counterpart. The FM medium has been claimed to be able to build personal relationships with its listeners. However, radio is also known to be a background medium, which means that it is often played as a secondary activity, either while traveling or working.
Traditionally, consumers tune into radio to catch their favorite radio programmes, or to get up to date with the latest news. It provides relaxation to the listeners, and hence, he is more receptive to communication in an engaging manner. Given the circumstances, when tapping into the radio medium, advertisers must understand its inherent nature to best maximize its potential in the minds of the target audience.
Hindustan Unilever Limited and Mindshare Fulcrum, a strong believer in the merits of the FM medium, have attempted to go a few steps ahead of the regular 30-second radio spots, which are run at a frequency of eight spots per day.
A few months ago, Mindshare Fulcrum designed the creative for Close-Up toothpaste. As a leading oral brand care from HUL, the brand targets the youth and the radio promo for this was created with this objective in mind. The brand already had a good recall value through its popular television commercial (TVC), Kya Aap Close Up Karte Hai, which adopted a retro image.
Extending on the TVC, we partnered with GO FM, Mumbai, which has now become Radio One, and did a creative content integration with the station’s morning programme, Good Morning Mumbai, hosted by popular RJs Jaggu and Tarana.
There were two aspects of the creative integration. Firstly, the Close Up jingle was integrated as the signature tune for the morning show. Secondly, the RJs followed up with an interactive contest with the listeners, wherein they were given unique situations, which they could improvise through singing a “limerick” of the Close Up jingle.
The integration was on air for one month. Due to the high creative quotient, the limerick contest garnered a good response from the listeners, as it provided them with a platform to show off their creativity.
Another initiative from Mindshare was done for the Pepsodent toothpaste. This brand, which is another HUL property, targets kids and mothers. The brand’s objective was to inculcate the habit of “night brushing” among kids. The brand had a strong TV creative based on the popular Aarti, a prayer to Lord Ganesha.
The underlying theme for the Pepsodent creative was three-fold: The brand is an oral health ally for mothers to care for their children’s dental concerns; mothers look upon other allies in society to help their children brush their teeth at night; and radio stations find their allies in school teachers, policemen and dabbawallahs (Tiffin carriers).
The above sections of society, thus, rallied with mothers by singing the Pepsodent jingle on air in their quest to get children to brush their teeth at night.
Radio stations initiated contests urging parents to sing the Pepsodent tune to their children, asking them to brush their teeth before bedtime. The children state their compliance by singing back to their parents. The uniqueness of the above communication is that the brand Pepsodent, was not mentioned anywhere but the creative execution with the tune struck home the brand message. The tune became so popular amongst its listeners that Radio One adapted it as the tune for their popular afternoon show.
From the above
examples, it is clear that creativity and content integration lead to
“appointment listening”. Advertisers should remember that radio listeners
are attracted to the medium’s highly interactive features. Hence, when doing
a radio creative, it is important that the campaign should have the
objective of engaging the consumers. As a result, this will help to create a
lasting and more effective brand communication.
The Brand Reporter
May 16-31 2008
GroupM's digital agency, Maxus Interaction, is handling the mobile marketing initiatives for the Indian Premier League (IPL) series. According to Vinod Thadani, regional mobile director, India and South Asia, GroupM, “The client briefed us to create a non-intrusive and disruptive campaign and we are using SMS and caller ring-back tones to promote the series”
To begin with, a pre-launch SMS campaign was carried out from March 18 to April 16, to inform people about the tournament. The campaign was powered by the SMS 2.0 service from Affle, a UK-based mobile media company.
SMS 2.0 is a text messaging application for GPRS-based mobile phones. A user
can download the application - currently, available on Airtel only - from
his mobile operator's portal for free. It differs from a default SMS
application as it shows a banner ad at the bottom of the screen while
composing/reading a message and displays a full-screen ad during the process
of sending the message.
Anuj Kumar, executive director, South Asia, Affle, says, “We tied up with content providers like Indiatimes.com and Cricinfo.com to showcase and sell their cricket-related content like ring tones, wallpapers, and match scores.”
Kumar adds, “All SMS 2.0 users, who are interested in cricket, were shown a
banner advertorial at the bottom of the mobile screen when they composed a
message. The advertorial consisted of ad and IPL-related content. When a
user sent an SMS, a detailed description of the advertorial came up on the
full screen. The user was allowed to click for options like ‘Read more',
‘Download ring tones' and ‘Check live score'.”
Affle served 16, 36,902 impressions (the number of times the ad is being
shown) and 35,939 users downloaded the ring tone.
The revenue earned through this campaign was shared between Airtel, Affle
and content providers.
Another phase of mobile advertising began on April 17 and will continue till
the end of the series. In this phase, an SMS service, called SMSGupshup.com,
from Webaroo Technologies is being used to engage people with the IPL
series.
SMSGupShup.com is a free group messaging service available on mobile and the internet. It allows users to join any existing group or create their own and send free messages to all the group members. A community called DLF IPL has been created on SMSGupShup.com, which already has about 13,500 users. Members receive news alerts related to the IPL series on their mobile phones and interact with each other by sending text messages to the group members. SMSGupShup.com also has cricket- related pictures, which can be sent to others. The IPL series' theme song is being offered as a caller ring-back tone (CRBT), available as an optional service on the mobile portals of various operators such as Tata Indicom, Airtel, Vodafone and BPL Mobile.