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: XIV

May, 2008

In these hyper charged times where news comes in as fast as it becomes outdated, we need a source that can keep track of what matters to us.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

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

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

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

 

Emerging Trends: Digital

 

1. Companies resort to Web 2.0 to raise the efficacy of their marketing efforts by generating sales leads, recruiting talent and testing and improving products – May 02

To fulfill the aspirations of a young workforce, continuously asking for seamless, real-time interaction, companies are allowing the use of Web 2.0 applications such as Skype, LinkedIn, Facebook, Joomla!, and Second Life for business purposes to generate sales leads, recruit talent, and test and improve products. Cisco India, a leader in networking for the Internet, uses a broad suite of social networking tools such as blogs and wikis. It also uses applications such as TelePresence to connect and collaborate. Infogain, a technology solutions company, has also joined the league by using its internal as well as external blog sites to connect communities of dispersed knowledge workers for collaborative benefit. The technology is being used across the world for automation of sales and marketing tasks, for research, lead generation and prospect management. Companies are using blogs, wikis, discussion forums, shared calendars, shared project-tracking tools to collaborate on leads, projects, problem resolution and branding. These companies aim to use Web 2.0 with a view to raise the efficacy of their marketing activities.
 

Source: Business Standard

 

 

 

Emerging Trends: OOH

 

 

2. OOH geared up for a big leap with street furniture gaining precedence as an advertising medium –May 05

According to the 2007 Pitch-Madison Media Outlook report, the out-of-home (OOH) media stands at third position with a 7.2% share of the Rs 17, 690 crore advertising pie, after print and television media’s respective shares of 47.9% and 40.2%. The OOH industry is expected to grow at a rate of 14% to touch Rs 1,454 crore in 2008. With the out-of-home space moving to provide effective consumer-centric innovative solutions, street furniture format will be in vogue. According to Jayyant Bhokare, Vice-President—Business Development of Big Street, the out-of-home (OOH) media and advertising arm of the Anil Ambani Group, the next five years, till 2013, will witness a steady growth in street furniture advertising. Street furniture is paving the way for the OOH business with the worldwide appeal of light-emitting-diodes (LEDs). The future also sees the OOH going interactive, where the consumer can download a song from the billboard, among other utilities.

 

Source: Business Standard

 

 

3. With a breakthrough in OOH, ads will be displayed on computerised backpack screens. The screen, part of a backpack with a computer, DVD and other accessories, will be carried by individuals (ambassadors) to locations where the brand is most likely to find its target audience – March 31

 

Source: Agencyfaqs

 

 

Emerging Trends: Others

 

 

4. Mobile navigation market set to scale new heights – May 14

The booming Indian mobile market has compelled vendors to come up with new technologies and different products to lure customers. Cellular handset manufacturers and service providers are offering navigation products and solutions to enable the users to search addresses with their mobile phones rather than using conventional print-outs. According to global market research firm Canalys, this transition will be facilitated by smart mobile devices (SMDs). Sales of SMDs in India increased by 28% to touch 849,100 units in the first quarter of 2008. The market is expected to touch 7.9 million units by 2010. Apart from in-car navigation, the handsets will also focus on pedestrian guidance and social aspects such as helping users create and share mapping data with others. With all major mobile players joining the bandwagon, and with convenience and exhaustive information being available at the customers’ disposal, the demand in the navigation market is expected to be high.

 

Source: Business Standard

 

 
 

5. With the increase in the number of social networking sites, marketers have found a new space to target consumers – May 08

As the number of social networking sites increases by the day, a new space where marketers can target their consumers has been created. “The wisdom of the media space crowd is increasing rapidly and hence we need to spot our targets through this new area," said Amit Somani, Google India Product Management Activities head. He added that social networking sites provided advertisers with the option of measuring the profile of the target groups, enabling them with targeted campaigning options. With the upswing in social media advertising, behavioural targeting is also gaining precedence. E-marketers further believe that to create brand immersion, brand perception, brand adoption, brand loyalty and brand advocacy, current trend spotting is a must, and that trend can be easily spotted across all the social networking sites.

 

Source: Indiantelevision

 

 

Emerging Trends: International

 

 

6. Mobile banner ads produce the same level of brand recall as a typical 30-second TV spot – May 15

According to Stephanie Bauer Marshall, the mobile advertising leader for Verizon Wireless, small banner ads on mobile devices produce the same level of brand recall as the typical 30-second TV spot. She added that mobile banner ads produced click-through rates (CTR) that were "exponentially higher than online" banner ads, where CTR had fallen to about 0.3%; mobile banners produced an overall CTR of 2%.

 

Source: MediaPost

 

 

7. Newspaper websites are emerging as the fastest growing medium for local advertising – May 02

According to the online revenue survey by Borrell Associates, a media research, consulting and project firm specializing in local Internet advertising, newspaper-owned websites maintained a three-to-one lead over other local competitors in the advertising market share in 2007, capturing 26.9% of the market. With revenues over $2 billion in 2007, the local online advertising market captured 27% of the total online ad market. The survey indicated that video, the fastest growing segment of local online advertising, generated $363 million in 2007. The Newspaper Association of America (NAA) had similar estimates for newspapers' 2007 online ad expenditures, with newspaper websites generating $3.2 billion in ad revenue.

 

Source: Center for Media Research

 

 

8. According to the Nielsen Company, mobile Internet extends the audiences’ reach to Internet websites by 13%. Consequently, the company launched TotalWeb, the first cross-platform Internet measurement service - May 01

According to the Nielsen Company, mobile Internet, as compared to the conventional methods of accessing the Internet, extended the audience’s reach to Internet websites by 13%. The company stated that mobile Internet increased the frequency of visits to a website. According to Nielsen, 87 million US mobile users subscribe to mobile Internet services, and more than 1 in 10 mobile subscribers (13.7%) actively use mobile Internet each month. This allows marketers to reach out to a cross-platform audience. Nielsen released data that show how mobile traffic increases, or "lifts," Internet audience levels. Weather sites got a strong lift from mobile, highlighting the fact that there are people who access weather sites from their mobile phones, but not through their home PC. Shopping sites, conversely, had a mostly duplicated audience, meaning that mobile users who accessed shopping sites on their phone likely also do so over their home PC:

 

 

Source: PR Newswire
 

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Media & Advertising Research Watch

9. Despite the ad avoidance on TV being as high as 78% in 2006, ad spend on TV continues to grow – May 15

A research by Lintas Media Group, titled Engross, reveals that in 2006, ad avoidance on television was as high as 78%. Analysts say that despite ad avoidance, the ad spend on TV was growing because the advertisers were compelled to spend more on TV advertising. With the aim to grab more eyeballs, advertisers bought multiple ad spots to attain a top-of-mind allocation with the consumer.  According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report on the Indian entertainment and media industry, the CAGR of advertising on television was about 20%. In 2005, the growth rate was about 15% and in 2006-2007, it recorded a 21% growth rate. In terms of market share, television advertising lost 1% and stood at 41% from the previous 42% in 2005.

 

Source: The Financial Express

 

 

10. AdEx India affirms the rising celebrity endorsement trend accounting for higher sales – April 09

A study by AdEx India, a division of TAM Media Research, says that there has been a 49% growth in celebrity endorsement ad volumes on TV during 2007 compared to 2006. Celebrities from the film industry accounted for 81% share of the overall celebrity endorsement ad pie on TV during the year. According to AdEx, celebrity endorsement on TV had been on a growth curve, growing six times in volume terms between 2003 and 2007. The study found that the top 10 product categories endorsed by celebrities aggregated 40% of the total ad volumes of celebrity endorsement on TV during 2007. While aerated soft drinks, cellular phone services and toilet soaps were the three categories with the highest ad volumes of celebrity endorsement during the year, Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Shweta Tiwari (Prerna) were the celebrities with the maximum number of advertisers.

 

Source: The Hindu

 

AdEx Findings

 

 

11. The Skin Care category saw a 68% rise in ad volumes on TV in Q1 2008, compared to those in Q1 2007.

 

Source: Indiantelevision

 

 

12. Hair Care category witnessed a 48% growth in print advertising and a 37% growth in advertising on TV during Q1 2008 compared to Q1 2007.

 

Source: Exchange4media, Indiantelevision

 

 

13. TV advertising rose by 29% in Q1 2008 compared to that in Q1 2007.

 

Source: Indiantelevision

 

 
 

14. Print advertising by the travel & tourism sector dipped by 11% in during 2007 compared to 2006, but saw a 49% increase in advertising on TV during 2007 compared to 2005.

 

Source: Exchange4media, Indiantelevision

 

 
 

15. Services sector saw a 7% growth in print advertising during 2007 compared to that in 2006.

 

Source: Exchange4media

 

 
 

16. Print advertising by the financial industry grew by 10% during FY 2007-08 compared to that in FY 2006-07.

 

Source: Exchange4media

 

 
 

17. The innovative ad layouts in print increased by 3% in 2007 compared to that in 2006.

 

Source: Exchange4media

 

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Environment Watch

Regulation

 

 

18. TRAI has told broadcasters to provide direct-to-home (DTH) service providers their channels at a price which is at least 50% less than the price they are charging cable operators in non-CAS (conditional access system) areas. – April 09

 

Source: Indiantelevision

 

Print

 

19. Newspaper industry in India is set for a strategic overhaul to face the digital storm – March 28

According to Earl J. Wilkinson, Executive Director of International Newspaper Marketing Association (INMA), the newspaper industry in India should resort to a revamped strategic framework to face the brimming digital storm. Stating an example of the growth in online advertising, he added that newspapers in the US lost 21% market capitalization, while their online editions outside the US gained 25%. He anticipates a similar state of affairs in India. The rapid technological advancements have made it imperative for the newspaper industry to resort to alternate access points for information. In the face of growing abundance and affordability of the middle class, newspapers will have to provide relevant content that meets the expectations and aspirations of the middle and lower middle classes. The industry will have to bear in mind that the consumers are reading more than ever before, but in smaller bites; the wealthy consumers are shifting their sources of interest—be it websites or the mobile phone—signalling the need for newspapers to also allow access to multi-media formats.

 

Source: The Hindu

 

Radio

 

20. Radio entices advertisers with its affordability and no-wastage attributes, emerging as a much preferred advertising medium – April 14-May 11

Radio is emerging as a haven for local advertisers because of its inherent affordability and the fact that allows for minimum wastage of resources. Categories such as telecom, automobile, FMCG, consumer durables and local governments are patronizing the radio and aim to use sponsorships coupled with promo spots for higher brand recall. Apart from “Free Commercial Time” (FCT)-based advertising, there are also a host of non-FCT advertising options available to advertisers, such as plugs by anchors, RJ-led activities or live reads. Unlike print or television, content integration can be taken to a wholly different level on the FM. The local nature of the FM too seems to be the focus of advertisers’ attention as they wake up to the medium’s strength, and use it to their advantage.

 

Source: India Radio Bulletin

 

 

21. Radio is a great reminder medium that enhances the awareness generated by TV and print– April 14-May 11

According to Hari Krishnan, Vice President and Client Services director, JWT India, “Brands benefit immensely from the radio, especially for generating enquiries and footfalls.” He added that the radio serves as a great reminder medium that multiplies the awareness generated by TV and the print media. A major flaw in advertising on the radio is that the target audience is not able to see the product; it is therefore imperative for advertisers to think of the theme and the message that has to be put forth. It has to be ensured that the advertisement should be read by the right person, presented in the right time slot and broadcast the right number of times.  The interpretation of the message too is left to the listener; hence, it is vital for the advertiser to make sure that the ad should be able to build curiosity within the consumers’ minds.  Though the radio lags behind in the visual facets of the other media, it plays an important role to reiterate recall and impress the brand qualities that have already been established via the visual media.

 

Source: India Radio Bulletin

 

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Touch Points

 

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

 

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

 

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ZO Zone

  

Viewership Analysis of Sports Channel (Other than Cricket) for 4 weeks for the period of 22nd April 2008 – 17th May 2008

Top 2 Programs Across Sports Channel

 

 

Source: TAM

Period: 22nd Apr 2008 – 17th May 2008
Market: All India
TG: 15 + All Male
 

Change In Channel Share 2007 vs 2006

 

 

Source: TAM

Period: 22nd Apr 2008 – 17th May 2008
22nd Apr 2007 – 17th May 2007
Market: All India
TG: 15 + All Male
 

Top 5 Program Ratings Across Various Target Audiences  

 

Source: TAM

Period: 22nd Apr 2008 – 17th May 2008
Market: All India
TG: 15 + All Male
 

Advertising Spend Analysis for Life Insurance Category for the Year 2006 & 2007

Life Insurance – Monthly Media Expenditure

 

Source: IMRB & AC Nielson
 (Reported Figures)
 

Life Insurance – Brandwise spends
 

Source: IMRB & AC Nielson
 (Reported Figures)
 

Medium Breakup

Source: IMRB & AC Nielson
 (Reported Figures)

 

Genre Breakup

 

Source: IMRB & AC Nielson
 (Reported Figures)

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Fast Forward

   

The Future of Email Marketing

 

Contributing Editor Janet Roberts and I (Larry Chase) interviewed four of the leading email marketing gurus to see what this still-vibrant medium holds in store. Janet filtered these extensive interviews down to their essence. LC

 

Email Marketing Forecast: Mostly Sunny

 

Don't believe the naysayers and media pundits who proclaim email is either dead or on the ropes. The medium that roared to life as a viable commercial channel in the 1990s has plenty of life left in it, as long as email marketers themselves don't kill it through misuse or abuse.

 

That's the word from four of the smartest people in the marketing field today. During interviews with Web Digest for Marketers, they sketched a generally positive view of email's future in the marketing mix, but also noted marketers must abandon the "one-size-fits-all" mentality and upgrade their tactics to meet audience expectations and keep the channel healthy.

 

Our panel of experts:

Ken Magill, who writes the weekly Magilla Marketing column for DIRECT magazine

Stefan Tornquist, MarketingSherpa's Research Director

Julie Katz, email marketing industry analyst for Forrester Research

Bill McCloskey, President and co-founder of Email Data Source, an email research

firm specializing in marketing

 

We asked this group during individual conversations to look into the future and tell us what they see happening to email marketing and the people who practice it, as well as to provide examples of who's doing it well and what not to do.

 

We learned enough to fill two issues of Web Digest for Marketers. Here is Part One. Look for Part Two in a future email marketing issue.

 
 

1. It's time to expand your definition of email beyond the messages in your inbox.

 

"Email is electronic messaging," says DIRECT magazine's Ken Magill, the take-no-prisoners media watchdog who reports on the good, the bad, the awful and the silly in the email marketing universe. "Be it text, cell phone to cell phone, whatever – if it's sent electronically, it's email, and it's not going to die."

 

Some say social networks such as Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace and Facebook threaten email because of closed-loop structures limiting communication among members. However, our gurus say social networks actually have vital email components.

 

"Email is actually highly integrated into social networking as a marketing channel," says Email Data Source's Bill McCloskey, whose company specializes in "competitive intelligence" for email marketers and keeps a close eye on what works in the email space. "People call them social networks but they are driven by email. If a social network doesn't have good email, I don't go to it."

 

There is a digital divide brewing, however, as younger users spurn email for text messaging and social networks.

 

"They seem to absorb more and more media, but they're not wild about email," says MarketingSherpa's Stefan Tornquist, who guides the research that drives much of the information-sharing on MarketingSherpa. "The 18-to-24s are not as likely to subscribe to email newsletters."

 

However, email use may change as this "hyperwired generation," as Tornquist calls them, sees their email use evolve.

 

"If they get into the workplace, their email use will rise, whether they want it to or not," he said. "Sooner or later, you're going to have Outlook, you're going to have a BlackBerry, or both. Mobile devices are more important, but if you're the kind of person who produces a lot of paperwork, you've got to have a laptop or desktop to produce it."

 

The takeaway: Be sure your email messages are readable on different platforms and other formats. What looks good on your high-powered desktop may be a big blank white space on a cell phone.

 
 

2. Spam won't kill email as a commercial channel. Marketers themselves might bring that about by over-mailing and sending irrelevant messages.

 

"To keep the channel viable, and to not have users defect to other channels, it's important to be more responsible with the channel," says Forrester's Julie Katz.

 

"What we're hearing is marketers saying, 'We are sending a lot because we can't slow down.' They're sending a lot because their competition is, but it's clear that their customers are getting frustrated with the volume of email. That shows in the declines in clickthrough rates and revenue per email sent. They need to scale back a little bit and be more responsible or they're going to kill the channel."

 

Tornquist draws a parallel between email marketing and revitalized oil drilling in Pennsylvania thanks to high overseas prices.

 

"If you think about the early days of the oil industry, we drilled too many holes and pumped too fast and reduced the oil presses," he says. "We still have all of these wells producing oil, but they got slower and less efficient. In the last 10 years, that's how we've treated email lists. We sent email to anyone who opted in any time we needed revenue."

 

All this electronic over pumping has helped to push down CTRs several percentage points, from 15% a few years ago to an average 9% currently. However, conversion rates are holding steady, he said.

 

The definition of spam has shifted, too. Once it was strictly junk mail; today, it's "anything (subscribers) don't want," Tornquist said.

 

The symbol of this discontent? The "Report Spam" button, which is now found in almost every email client. Marketers might hate this development, but Magill urges them to learn from it rather than fight it.

 

"It's the most beautiful invention in email's 10 years, because it lets the users decide what is spam and what isn't."

 

Not that Magill has fallen in with the anti-spam crowd. Instead, he sees easy reporting as a wake-up call to get marketers to clean up their acts and keep the channel healthy.

 

"ISPs are under no obligation to deliver your junk," he says. "You are taxing someone else's resources and someone else is paying employees to handle your stuff, so the ISPs have every right to block your garbage if they want. You will be closed to that channel, and you will have no recourse but to clean your list."

 

The takeaway: Clean up your act yourself, or your subscribers will defect and the ISPs will either route your emails to their junk folders or block them completely.

 
 

3. What do pizza vendors, food marketers and ski resorts have in common? Subscriber-focused email marketing programs that give readers more control in what they receive.

Bill McCloskey:

 

"The pizza (delivery) industry has incorporated integration. They try things early and are heavy experimenters. I have seen very elaborate email campaigns. Email is great for driving people to specific events. You order your pizza online, get your pizza order in for the next ballgame, and it costs less online than over the phone. The pizza industry has embraced all channels and drives it with great email delivery."

 

Ken Magill: "Intrawest ski resorts. They let you tailor your profile and do multi-pronged email campaigns. They have two constituencies: visitors and locals. You can sign up for alerts when the snow reaches x number of inches. Someone has to compile that report every day anyway, so why not put it in an email? ... They don't just make money from skiing and lodging but from spas and shopping, too. They dropped a lot of their direct mail and have a program that sends countdown email. Not daily, but messaging that's specific to their stay (such as) directions and lists of events because there are other options for these people."

Julie Katz: "Kraft Foods. They ask for a lot of feedback from their newsletter subscribers to modify how their email program is run. They insert surveys in their email messages and then share the results broadly across the subscriber group. For example, they asked if subscribers would be interested in receiving Kraft updates via mobile when they're in the store to help with food shopping, recipe lists, etc., and you could see from the responses that over 95% were not interested. Being open like that, collecting and sharing data, this is interesting."

 
 

4. If you're a B-to-B vendor, try to think like a publisher, who has to consider what readers want to read, not what you want to tell them.

 

"Newsletters play an important role in B-to-B," says Tornquist. "If you are producing a house newsletter for current customers, they might well find occasional updates useful to them. For prospects, if they're reading your newsletter, it's because they're interested in your take on the work.

 

"You need to think like a publisher, to provide relevant content. For a house newsletter, the one job is to keep the lines of communication open. This does not mean pummeling subscribers with news like, 'Here's who we're working with.' In a world where there's a lot of content, differentiate yourself by thinking like a good reporter and looking for what would be most useful to your readers and your prospects."

 

The takeaway: Wrap your news or offers in useful content, which delivers higher value, makes you look more authoritative and increases the email's shelf life.

 

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

© 2008 Zenith Optimedia.

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Full Articles

 

1. Web 2.0 helps firms innovate, allows closer monitoring of marketing spend

Business Standard

May 02, 2008

 

To fulfill the aspirations of a young workforce, continuously asking for seamless, real-time interaction, companies are allowing the use of Web 2.0 applications such as Skype, LinkedIn, Facebook, Joomla!, Second Life and S for business purposes to generate sales leads, recruit talent and test and improve products.

Subash A K Rao, director, human resources, Cisco India — a leader in networking for the internet — says the company uses a broad suite of social networking tools like blogs and wikis. It also uses richer applications like TelePresence to connect and collaborate.

Infogain, a technology solutions company, uses its internal as well as external blog sites to connect communities of dispersed knowledge workers for collaborative benefit. Eddie Chandhok, president, global delivery organisation, Infogain, says: "We expect to leverage the power of collaboration by getting innovative ideas from individuals, who are free to send theirtechnology/business ideas to the our CTO office directly."

Soon, the company is planning to use these communities (through Infogain Blog, Infogain Wiki) to get feedback on new services feedback. This will help in raising the efficacy of its marketing.

APC-MGE, a leading global provider of critical power and cooling solutions, (a part of Schnieder Electric) uses mashups besides wikis, instant messaging services and others.

 
Subodh Tagare, marketing director, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh region, APC-MGE, says: "Our employees use mashup to manage leads emanating from diverse sources. It helps in consolidation and tracking of leads and to ensure closures."

Salesforce.com is another hit among sales and marketing employees across the world for automation of sales and marketing tasks. Anand Dhand, director, Salesforce.com, India, says: "Though Salesforce applications are used across all the verticals, Business-2-Business, Business-2-Customer, Salesforce Automation (SFA), partner — and customer- relationship management are the most widely-used services."

Vineet Tyagi, associate director, engineering, Impetus Technologies, says his company's sales team in the US extensively uses Salesforce.com for research, lead generation and prospect management. "Our recruitment team uses a variety of social networking websites to narrow down on talent and communicate about the work options the company offers.

Not only this, Impetus marketing and communication team makes wonderful use of social content sites such as YouTube and Wikipedia for branding," he says.

Sunil Mangalore, CEO, Datacraft India Ltd, a leading IT services and solutions provider and a strategic partner of Microsoft, concurs: "We use blogs, wikis, discussion forums, shared calendars, shared project-tracking tools to collaborate on leads, projects, problem resolution."

Sundararaj S, Partner, Anantara Solutions, a provider of business and IT consulting services, says: "We use sugarCRM for customer relationship management, basecamphq for managing and tracking projects, LinkedIn for business connections and as a recruitment aid and Skype for messaging and for tele-conversations." Anantara has an office in Second Life and uses this extensively to socialise and connect.

Here are inherent risks like data privacy, application security, information integrity and information silos in using Web 2.0 applications, note experts. There is a chance that inaccurate, or occasionally even offensive, information may get out. But social networks can help monitor and control this situation. "Over time, we think the social norms around these collaboration tools will develop and become second nature.

For example, there was a lot of concern around abuse and misuse when email was first deployed in enterprises. Now, people know what is acceptable to email and what is not," Rao from Cisco says.

 

 

 

2. Big to invest Rs 150 crore in out-of-home business

Business Standard

May 05, 2008

 

Big Street, the eight-month-old out-of-home (OOH) media and advertising arm of the Anil Ambani Group, will invest close to Rs 150 crore this financial year to expand into various cities in India, including Kolkata.

Currently the company is present in seven cities – Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Cochin, Chandigarh, and Chennai.

 

Speaking to Business Standard, Jayyant Bhokare, vice-president-business development of Big Street, said, "We plan to bring international quality to India and that is just the route that Big Street plans to take. The next five years will witness a steady growth in street furniture which will help in clearing the clutter of the billboards visibility. We want to be a leader in the out-of-home space, providing quality and effective consumer-centric innovative solutions."

 

Big Street plans to use its 'street furniture' format to establish its presence in the out-of-home (OOH) media space. "We make use of bus shelters of the buses to advertise on them. Street furniture is the way forward for the OOH business with the world-over trend of bus shelters and kiosks quickly replacing billboards to make way for city aesthetics. We also plan to make OOH media interactive where consumers can download a song from the billboards, among other utilities," Bhokare pointed out.

 

Big Street has activated 172 hi-tech bus shelters in Bangalore, and 500 bus shelters in Chennai. With the largest network of LED (light emitting diode) in Bangalore, the latest innovation in the field of OOH, Big Street aims to change the face of OOH in India and is in the process of installing seven such displays at the prominent places across the city. In Mumbai, Big Street owns an inventory of 575 pole kiosks on the Western Express Highway, 217Airoli bridge pole kiosk and 4 Airoli gantries. In Ahmedabad's Ashram Road, it owns 35 hoardings and five gantries.

 

Big Street has bagged the advertising rights for Chennai IT corridor, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation's 10 underground stations and ad rights for 417 Chandigarh Transport Undertaking buses in Chandigarh. Strengthening its inventory base down south, BIG Street has installed five Hydraulic mobile vans in Hyderabad and 10 mobile Hydraulic mobile vans in Cochin respectively.

 

According to the latest Pitch-Madison media outlook report, the outdoor media will grow at 14 per cent in 2008 to touch Rs 1,454 crore. The outdoor media bagged the third position with a 7.2 per cent share of the Rs 17,690 crore advertising pie in 2007 after print and television at 47.9 and 40.2 per cent shares respectively.

 

 
 

3. Now humans will carry screens out of home

Agencyfaqs

March 31, 2008

 

Canada based Pixman Nomadic Media has signed an exclusive agreement with Mass Media Makers to bring nomadic advertising in the out of home section to India. The ads will be displayed on a screen which is part of a backpack. The backpack includes a computer, DVD player and accessories. The screen will be carried by individuals (ambassadors) to locations where the brand is most likely to find its target audience.

 

Mass Media Makers has been in talks with Pixman Nomadic Media for four years, but the legalities that needed to be completed in order to receive a pan India licence took time. Currently, there are 16 nomadic advertising units in Mumbai. These units are the Pixman monitors which will carry the ads. The product can be modified with a projector and fitted upon any substrate.

 

Cristina Romero, vice-president, sales and marketing, says, “Major brands in the industry are looking for new ideas to create relationships with consumers. They are investing significantly in out of home media due to the lower penetration and effectiveness of traditional mass media.” Romero continues, “Because Pixman systems are worn by local brand ambassadors, they will offer advertisers the ability to specifically target consumers and overcome the challenge of India’s large diversity of languages, religions and income levels.”

 

The president and founder of Mass Media Makers, Pravin Chudasama, is confident that the alliance will benefit both in setting new benchmarks in outdoor advertising. Chudasama says, “Many brands that we have been talking with are very interested in this method of below the line advertising.” By next month, Mass Media Makers will be on ground with the nomadic media. “We’ve been employed by an agency to carry out the activity, but don’t know about the brand yet. But it is an FMCG brand,” reveals Chudasama.

 

Pixman has offices in 30 countries around the world, including France, Spain, Britain, Tunisia and now India. The nomadic media company has Vodafone, Chanel, Coca-Cola, MTV, Adidas and some other brands as its clients. As and when the company they work with comes to India or the next contract is issued, Pixman’s existing clients will carry out its outdoor activities through Pixman and Mass Media Makers. It will also set up office in India soon and conduct research and development here.

 

 

 

4. Mobile navigation market set to boom

Business Standard

May 14, 2008

 

Visualize this: Your mobile phone playing guide while you navigate the streets of a new city that you have descended upon!

 

Well, that will soon be reality in India as cellular handset manufacturers and service providers get ready to cash in on the country's booming wireless market by offering navigation products and solutions. In the near future, more people in the country will be using their mobile phones to search addresses instead of taking print-outs of maps from desktops or asking passers-by for assistance.

 

This transition will be facilitated by the increase in sales of smart mobile devices (SMDs). According to global market research firm Canalys, sales of SMDs in India increased by 28 per cent to 849,100 units first quarter of 2008. Regarding end users of SMDs, 85.5 per cent are individuals and the rest are small, mediium and large enterprises.

 

The market is expected to touch 7.9 million units by 2010 and of this, nearly 45 per cent will be global position system (GPS)-based phones. "The surging numbers are a pointer to the tremendous potential for the navigation solutions market," said Rachel Lashford, manager, Canalys APAC, here on Tuesday.

 

The booming Indian mobile market has forced technology vendors to come out with new strategies that would lure the phone users to use new applications. Nokia, for instance, has announced that it will release 2.0 version of maps on its high end handsets on May 23 in India. Nokia, which enjoys 90 per cent of the mobile navigation space in the country, was the first company to launch devices that are maps' compatible by launching the 1.0 version in March 2007.

 

"Till now our maps were focussed on places, but that will change now. We will now focus on people. Nokia devices will record and facilitate sharing of life," said Nokia's director (GTM software services — maps and search) Thomas Leliveld. Apart from in-car navigation that will help a person drive from one destination to another, Nokia handsets will focus on pedestrian guidance and social aspects like helping users create and share mapping data with others.

 

"A person need not carry a portable navigation device if he is moving around in a given area, he can use the map on the handset to navigate," said Leliveld while dropping hints about Nokia's plan to make maps part of the handset instead of a paid software. "If we give something for free, there will be an impulse to buy the handset," he said and added that the technology vendors can monetise by allowing advertisements on the maps.

Daryl Chiam, mobile phone industry analyst at Canalys, said India presents a good market opportunity as it is going through an infrastructure development phase. "Major Indian cities are growing rapidly and sometimes even locals are not aware of the new places that have been added. More people spend a lot of time navigating traffic while reaching office from home or vice-versa and they do not have access to information regarding traffic flow. As the navigation devices address these problems, business opportunities are good here."

 

However, gaining a foothold in the navigation space it is not bereft of challenges. Bharti Airtel's marketing manager Guninder Singh said issues like accuracy of maps, regular updation of maps, putting more points of interest and simplifying the maps are some of the issues that need to be addressed. Airtel, which had introduced mobile navigation on its Blackberry devices in July 2007, wants to take mobile phones beyond sending e-mails to help users navigate locations. The maps should be designed in such a way that they work in the Indian market.

 

Joining him, Rachel said the main inihibiting factor so far in the growth of India's navigation market is that although most of the country has been digitally mapped by local players, leading navigation brands have not yet taken the plunge into the Indian market. As a result, consumers have not been fully exposed to the benefits of GPS, she contended.

 

That, however, turns the spotlight on Indian mapping companies like CE Info Systems (MapmyIndia) and SatGuide. Said Rakesh Verma, managing director of MapmyIndia: "It is a myth that digital navigation maps for India are not available. We have maps that cover 1,000 cities and 600,000 villages and towns. Our maps cover 1.7 million road kms and have one lakh points of interest in 52 categories." His company has introduced maps that can be downloaded or activated like it is done for recharging mobile phone currency.

 

Similarly, SatGuide has gone in for expansion of GPS navigation space by introducing maps in eight Indian languages. SatNav Technologies founder and CEO Amit Kishore Prasad said: "We are tapping those mobile phone users whose comfort levels may not be that high. We plan to prvide 120,000 navigation solutions this year."

 

In the pursuit to make fast money from the navigation space, the industry has favoured newer applications that interest youngsters. "If we have to reach the mass market, we have to come out with products that appeal to youngsters," contended Wayfinder CEO Magnus Nilsson. With nearly 40 per cent of India's population to be aged between 20 and 44 by 2010, demands pertaining to navigation technologies is expected to be high.

 

 

 

5. Social media creates marketing space for advertisers

Indiantelevision

May 08, 2008

 

MUMBAI: Social media space is currently the new buzzword that is pulling the eyeballs of all the e-marketers across the entire advertising industry.  With the number of social networking sites increasing day by day, social media sites have created a new space where marketers can target their consumers.  

 

"Social media sites are encouraging huge participation, conversation and the feel of interconnectedness all across the platform. There are approximately 175,000 blog sites which are being introduced on a daily basis; these blog sites call for at least 18 posts a day. Hence, it makes a lot of sense for the advertisers to tread this new space," stated Yahoo! India Research and development VP product management Ramkumar Narayan while speaking at Web Innovation 2008 here today.

 

With the social media space expanding, e-marketers believe that now is the time when the users of this space need to be treated as a community, the web as a platform and software as service. "Today, on U tube, 10 hours of video is being uploaded every minute. And who is watching them…the media space user of course.

 

The wisdom of the media space crowd is increasing rapidly and hence we need to spot our targets through this new area," said Google India product management activities Amit Somani.

 

"Ad spends on social networking sites in the US currently have raised to $2.7 billion. Social networking sites provide advertisers with the option of measuring the profile of the target groups thereby enabling them with targeted campaigning options," added Somani.

 

Also, in reference to advertising on social networking sites, industry experts believe that advertisers need to understand the importance of behavioral targeting. "There are 2.6 billion yahoo groups that exist currently. This means there is a huge consumer potential that exists on the networking sites.

 

Now, to build the brand of your product and communicate that very brand to the target consumer one has to segment the market first. To segment the market, advertisers need to understand the needs of one any individual on the networking site first and then address the other individuals through that one individual," said Somani.

 

Furthermore, e-marketers believe that to create brand immersion, brand perception, brand adoption, brand loyalty and brand advocacy, current trend spotting is a must. And that trend can be easily spotted across all the social networking sites. "Presently there are 250 million users on social networking sites all over Asia and this number is expanding day by day. As long as the brands are offering some value added service to the users without being intrusive, advertisers can draw in huge brand engagement from these sites," said OMLogic Consulting Pradeep Chopra.

 

 

 

6. Mobile Banner Ads Have Same Brand Recall as TV Spots

MediaPost

May 15, 2008

 

On average, small banner ads on mobile devices produce the same level of brand recall as the typical 30-second TV spot, according to Stephanie Bauer Marshall, the mobile advertising leader for Verizon Wireless, who shared some of the telecom giant's data at the Mobile Advertising Degree conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

 

Along with executives from mobile ad agencies and other mobile service providers, Marshall made a strong case for mobile advertising, but also had to concede that the medium hasn't been growing as fast as it should.

 

"The banner ads work really well, and that's where you have the greatest reach," Marshall said, adding that she "was blown away" by IAG data showing they were on par with TV spots in terms of brand recall. (IAG used the same method for measuring brand recall that it does with TV ads.) Mobile banner ads also produce click-through rates that are "exponentially higher than online" banner ads, where CTR has fallen to about 0.3%; mobile banners produce an overall click-through rate of 2%, even "slightly higher for entertainment brands."

 

But Marshall conceded that click-through rates are increasingly viewed as insufficient measurement by some advertisers, and described a variety of additional measurements used by Verizon. In addition to IAG, Verizon has commissioned brand recall studies by Insight Express and Dynamic Logic, and customer insight studies by GfK Starch.

 

Marshall also acknowledged that there is confusion among advertisers and media buyers on the issue of pricing--an issue that was also touched on by Ben Kennedy, director of business development for GroupM Kinetic's mobile advertising operation. Kennedy cautioned that CPMs, while fluctuating, will be higher on average for mobile than other media because of the high level of engagement, evident in the click-through rates. Marshall assured the audience that "over time the market's going to find out where the balance is."

 

Currently, CPMs range from $20-$30, and she opined that "around $20 or so is probably reasonable." Finally, Dag Olav Norem, a senior analyst with M:Metrics, noted that the United States lags far behind other parts of the world in terms of penetration by mobile marketing. Altogether, just 20% of U.S. mobile users receive an SMS marketing message at least once a month, versus 75% in Europe. But there is also an "opposite correlation between penetration and response rates": In Europe, of people receiving SMS marketing messages, 4.9% respond, compared with 12.4% in the U.S. Looking to the future, Norem said "the trajectories are all headed in the right direction" for the expansion of mobile marketing in the U.S., but added "that all depends on you."

 

 

 

7. Newspaper Web Sites Bash Other Media in Local Advertising

Center for Media Research

May 02, 2008

 

According to data from Borrell Associates' fifth annual local online revenue survey, newspaper-owned Web sites maintained a three-to-one lead over other local competitors in advertising market share last year, capturing 26.9 percent of the market.

 

NAA President and CEO John F. Sturm, says "This survey provides further proof that local advertisers recognize newspaper Web sites as an indispensable way to reach their best customers... “Newspaper-owned Web sites earned more than $2 billion in local online advertising revenue in 2007, says the survey, a figure that surpasses all local online media companies combined and represents a 27 percent share of the total local online ad market.

 

Local Yellow Pages and television Web sites were next with 9.5 percent of the market each, while radio stations captured 2.1 percent. The survey indicates that video, the fastest growing segment of local online advertising, generated $363 million in 2007, with local online advertisers expected to spend $1.2 billion in 2008 (nearly a four-fold increase).

 

Newspaper-owned Web sites have seized a foothold in this area as well, with a 26 percent share of all local online video advertising - more than any other local competitor. National advertising also impacted newspapers online. According to the study, newspaper Web sites earned $1.1 billion in national online advertising revenue throughout 2007, bringing the combined total to $3.1 billion.

 

NAA had similar estimates for newspapers' 2007 online ad expenditures, with newspaper Web sites generating $3.2 billion in ad revenue. According to the survey, the largest newspaper Web sites achieved a majority of revenue from non-print advertisers for the first time. The online-only advertisers accounted for 59 percent of the total ad revenue generated by newspaper sites.

 

These changes come as newspapers have doubled their online sales staff since 2005, adding an estimated 3,800 sales employees nationwide who are dedicated to developing, managing and selling new online products at their properties. John Kimball, NAA's senior vice president and chief marketing officer, notes "... the survey found that newspaper Web sites who employ at least one salesperson dedicated to selling online advertising averaged 87 percent more revenue than sites that relied solely on print representatives to sell online ads."

 

In a sample of 61 markets covering the full range of market sizes, Borrell Associates compared the number of online-only salespeople at each market's largest newspaper site with the number at its largest TV site.

The numbers demonstrate the medium's commitment to generating revenues by meeting the needs of online advertisers:   Across all markets, the largest newspaper Web site had an average of 2.4 times as many online only salespeople as the largest TV site.  Among the 20 largest markets, the largest newspaper site averaged 5.1 times as many online-only salespeople as the largest TV site.

 

Among the 50 largest markets, newspapers averaged 3.1 times as many online-only salespeople as the largest TV site.   In several markets, the main newspaper's online only staff of 12, 18, or 22 is competing against TV station online- only staffs of two, one or 0.3 people.

 

 

 

8. Mobile Internet Extends the Reach of Leading Internet Sites by 13%; Nielsen launches TotalWeb as the first cross-platform Internet measurement service to report total Internet audiences

PR Newswire (U.S.)

May 01, 2008

 

NEW YORK and SAN FRANCISCO, May 1 /PRNewswire/ -- The Nielsen Company today reported that mobile Internet extends the audience reach of many leading Internet sites by an average of 13 percent over home PC traffic alone. For some categories, such as weather and entertainment, the extended reach can be even greater.

 

The cross-platform insights come from TotalWeb, a new report from Nielsen that integrates data from Nielsen Mobile and Nielsen Online to show the unduplicated, unique audience for more than 200 leading Internet sites across the PC and mobile Internet space. Nielsen's data show that for many Internet publishers, mobile Internet increases the overall size of their audience.

 

"The data demonstrate that the mobile Internet can not only increase the frequency of visits to a website, but also grow the overall size of the pie," said Jeff Herrmann, Vice President of Mobile Media, Nielsen Mobile. "Publishers can now monetize their total cross-platform audience, and advertisers will better understand the efficiency and incremental value of mobile Web traffic."

 

Nielsen released data that show - by category - how mobile traffic increases, or "lifts," Internet audience levels. Weather sites get a strong lift from mobile, meaning there are people who access the sites over their phone but not over their home PC, while shopping sites have a mostly duplicated audience, meaning that mobile users who access shopping sites on their phone likely also do so over their home PC:

 

 

Source: TotalWeb Q4 2007, The Nielsen Company. Based on 200+ Internet sites measured across both Home PC and Mobile Internet. (1) To be read: In Q4 2007, weather sites measured by TotalWeb averaged a 22% lift in overall audience reach through mobile web traffic, over home PC traffic alone.

 

According to Nielsen, 87 million U.S. mobile users subscribe to mobile Internet services, and more than one in ten mobile subscribers (13.7 percent) actively uses mobile Internet each month. TotalWeb integrates data from Nielsen Online and Nielsen Mobile to report how this growing segment uses both mobile devices and PCs to access the Web.

 

Nielsen collects TotalWeb data through a survey of active mobile Internet users in Nielsen Online's MegaPanel, the world's highest quality metered Internet panel. Members of the panel have their Internet access and behavior via mobile devices and PCs analyzed to provide site-level reporting of unique audience, active reach, unduplicated audience, audience overlap, and demographics across platforms.

 

"Unduplicated measurement of the total Internet audience will help AccuWeather.com show advertisers the value of our cross-platform audience," said Dave Wrieden, Executive Director at AccuWeather.com, which received a 43 percent audience lift from mobile Internet users. "Nielsen's TotalWeb service is the only product that gives us that number and so is an important advancement in Internet audience measurement."

 

 
 

9. Ad avoidance on TV fails to dampen spend

The Financial Express

May 15, 2008

 

Mumbai, May 14: The Indian television industry is becoming a bit like the 'K-serials' - a web of complications. While media planners are worried about the growing ad avoidance on television, advertising spend on television is also on the rise and it is the primary revenue for each and every broadcaster.   

 

A research done by Lintas Media Group titled 'Engross', reveals that in 2006, ad avoidance on television was as high as 78%. According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report on the Indian entertainment and media industry, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of advertising on television is about 20%.

 

In 2005, the growth rate was about 15% and in 2006-2007, it recorded a 21% growth rate. In terms of market share, television advertising has lost 1% and now stands at 41% from the previous 42% in 2005. Even then, television advertising enjoys the maximum market share. The question that remains unanswered is, how can both, ad avoidance on television and ad spend on television grow simultaneously?

 

Analysts say that despite ad avoidance, ad spend on television is growing because advertisers are now forced to invest more on television advertising. Earlier, advertisers could book just three ad spots (30 seconds each) in a day and create brand retention in the mind of the consumers. Today, the same advertisers need to buy multiple ad spots with the hope that the commercial may gain some eyeballs.

 

Said Yogesh Shendye, vice-president, Lintas Media Group, "Ad avoidance is increasing and that is for sure.  But the media planning community don't work on ad avoidance. We work on the number of people exposed to a particular channel. We measure the number of people sitting in front of the screen when a particular ad is running irrespective of the fact whether the person sees the ad or not. The increase in the number of channels has led to an increase in the number of audiences. Today, the number of two-television homes is also on the rise. All this has increased the advertising pie on television."

 

 
 

10. ‘Celebrity endorsement ads on TV up 49% during 2007’

The Hindu

April 09, 2008

 

 

Our Bureau

Chennai, April 8 If you ever got the sneaky feeling that you were being bombarded with endorsements featuring the latest celebrity selling everything from health beverage to cars, surveys can confirm your doubts.

 

A study by AdEx India, a division of TAM Media Research, finds that there has been 49 per cent growth in celebrity endorsement ad volumes on TV during 2007 compared to 2006. Celebrities from the film industry accounted for 81 per cent share of the overall celebrity endorsement ad pie on TV during the year, an official statement said.

 

Aerated soft drinks was the top category, with maximum ad volumes of celebrity endorsement during 2007, the study reveals. Shah Rukh Khan ruled the celebrity endorsement space with the maximum number of advertisers in his kitty.

 

In fact, celebrity endorsement on TV has been on a growth curve, growing six times in volume terms between 2003 and 2007.

 

Film celebrities accounted for 81 per cent share of overall celebrity endorsement on TV during 2007, with male actors accounting for 50 per cent share and female actors 31 per cent. Sports and TV personalities followed the film celebrities the endorsements race with 14 and 5 per cent share respectively.

 

The study finds that the top 10 product categories endorsed by celebrities aggregated 40 per cent of the total ad volumes of celebrity endorsement on TV during the year. While aerated soft drinks, cellular phone services and toilet soaps were the three categories with the highest ad volumes celebrity endorsement during the year, Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Prerna (Shweta Tiwari) were the celebrities with the maximum number of advertisers.

 

Saif Ali Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan had the maximum visibility among celebrity endorsers on TV during 2007.

 

 
 

11. Overview of Skin Care products advertising on TV during Q1 2008

·          68 per cent growth in advertising volumes of Skin Care category on TV during Q1 '08 compared to Q1 '07.

·          'Fairness creams' lead in Skin Care category advertising on TV during Q1 '08.

·          'Acne Preparations' has been the fastest growing segments of Skin Care category during Q1 '08 compared to Q1 '07.

·          'Ponds India' topped the advertisers list of Skin Care category on TV during Q1 '08.

·          'Ponds Flawless White' lead the new brand launches under Skin Care category on TV during Q1 '08.

 

 

12a. Hair care ads in print jump 48 pc in first quarter of 2008

·          Hair Care category witnessed 48% growth in Print advertising during Q1'08 compared to Q1'07.

·          Hair Care brands advertised more in West zone Publications during Q1'08.

·          ‘Shampoos' lead among all the segments of Hair Care category in Print during Q1'08.

·          ‘Ban Labs Ltd' topped the advertisers list of Hair Care category in Print during Q1'08.

·          ‘Ratan Satritha Plus ' topped the chart of new launches under Hair Care category in Print during Q1'08.

 

 

12b. Advertising of Hair Care brands on TV during Jan-Mar'08

·          37 per cent growth in advertised volumes of Hair Care category on TV during January – March 2008 compared to January - March 2007.

·          'Shampoos' brands were advertised maximum among the Hair Care brands on TV during Q1 '08.

·          National Channels had the largest share of overall Hair Care category advertised pie on TV during Q1 '08.

·          'Hindustan Unilever' was the top advertiser under the Hair Care category on TV during Q1 '08.

·          'Dove Therapy Conditioner' was at number one position among the Top 10 new Hair Care brands launched on TV during January - March 2008.

 

 

13. Snapshot on TV Advertising in Q1 08

·          29 per cent growth in TV advertising during the Q1'08 compared to Q1'07.

·          'Cellular Phone Service' category leads in TV advertising during the 1st quarter of 2008.

·          'Hindustan Unilever Ltd' was the number one advertiser on TV during the first quarter of 2008.

 

 

14a. Travel & Tourism sector advertising in print dips by 11 pc during 2007

·          Travel & Tourism sector advertising dipped by 11% in Print during 2007 compared to 2006.

·          Private advertiser’s accounted for ¾ share of overall Travel & Tourism advertising in Print during 2007.

·          ‘Cox & Kings India Ltd' was number one advertisers in the Travel & Tourism sector.

·          ‘Ireland Tourism' topped the chart of new launches of the Travel & Tourism sector in Print during 2007.

 

 

14b. Overview of Travel & Tourism sector advertising on TV during 2007

·          49 per cent growth in Travel & Tourism advertising on TV during 2007 compared to 2005.

·          52 per cent of advertising by Government* Tourism Department in Travel & Tourism sector during 2007.

·          Ministry of Tourism was the top advertiser in Travel & Tourism sector on TV during 2007.

·          Vibrant Gujarat International Kite Festival 2007 topped the chart of new brands in Travel & Tourism sector on TV during 2007.

 

 

15. Overview of Services Sector advertising in Print during 2007

·          Services sector witnessed 7% growth in Print advertising during 2007 compared to 2006.

·          ‘Properties/Real Estates' with 33% share led in Services sector advertising in Print during 2007.

·          ‘Tata Sky' was at No. 1 position in the top advertisers’ list in Services sector in Print in 2007.

·          'www.ezeego1.com' topped the chart of new launches in Services sector in Print during 2007

 

 

16. Financial industry’s advertising in print up 10pc in FY08

·          Print advertising of 'Financial Industry' up by 10% during FY 2007-08 compared to FY 2006-07.

·          ‘Banking & Financial services' segment had the largest share of 63% of 'Financial Industry' in Print during FY 2007-08.

·          ‘SBI' was the number one advertisers in 'Financial Industry' advertising in Print during FY 2007-08.

·          Metro and Non Metro Newspaper together accounted for 90% of overall Financial brands advertising during FY 2007- 08.

 

 

17. Innovative ad layouts in print increase by 3 pc in 2007

·          Innovative ad layouts in Print increased by 3% in 2007 compared to 2006.

·          ‘Figured Outlined' was the most preferred Innovative ad layout in Print during 2007.

·          ‘Telecom Products’ sector accounted for 40% share of overall Innovative ad layouts used in Print.

·          ‘Publications/Books' category had used maximum number of Innovative shapes in 2007.

 
 

 

18. TRAI fallout: DTH to get channels at lower cost

Indiantelevision

April 09, 2008

 

MUMBAI: Broadcasters will soon have to offer to the direct-to-home (DTH) service providers their channels at a price which is at least 50 per cent less than what they give to cable networks in non-Cas (conditional access system) areas.

 

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has warned that it would step in to regulate the tariff if broadcasters do not comply with the pricing that would in the regulator's terms push forward digitalization.

 

TRAI has also told broadcasters that they would have to offer to DTH similar number of bouquets that they were giving to cable operators in non-CAS areas.

 

"We can't be offering single bouquets for DTH. We will also have to soon bring down our rates for DTH," says the head of a broadcasting company. The sector regulator held a series of separate meetings with individual broadcasters over the last few days to assess the problems and express its firm stance. TRAI had ordered that to help DTH take off and give it a level playing field, broadcasters would have to reduce tariffs to at least 50 per cent of the non-Cas rates.

 

Broadcasters had submitted to Trai a pricing of their channels which was higher than the cap suggested by the regulator. They had also offered single bouquets for DTH, contrary to what Trai had stated.

 

 

 

19. Gear up to digital storm, newspaper industry told

The Hindu

March 28, 2008

 

‘Consumers are reading in smaller bites’

 

HYDERABAD: The newspaper industry in India should be geared to face the ‘digital storm’ and change its business model accordingly, says Earl J. Wilkinson, Executive Director of International Newspaper Marketing Association (INMA).

 

Making a presentation on newspaper trends worldwide and Newspaper Outlook 2008- Creating value in a multi-media landscape, he spoke about a strategic framework for growing audience, revenue and profits in a fast-changing market place here on Thursday.

 

Giving an example of growing online advertising, he said newspapers in the US lost 21 per cent market capitalization while their online editions outside US gained 25 per cent. A similar situation may not be too far away for Indian newspaper industry, he said. Newspapers faced two value disruptors during the past half century- technology and abundance.

 

Fast developing technology makes it imperative for newspaper industry for creating alternative access points for information. Similarly in the face of growing abundance and affordability of middle class, newspapers will have to provide relevant content that meets the expectations and aspirations of middle and lower middle class.

 

Content
 

Mr. Wilkinson said newspaper industry has three core value levers- audience, brand and content. “Audience is the core value proposition and we have to fall out of love for content and develop love for audience. Consumers are reading more than ever before but in smaller bites and the wealthy are shifting their consumption, be it website, mobile, signalling the need for newspapers to also access multi-media format.”

 

Calling the newspaper industry to gear up for cultural change, he said quality was not infinite. “Consumers can identify when a product is ‘good enough’ to meet their needs. Beyond that it is only publisher’s ego that imposes quality,” he felt.

 

Growth
 

Predicting enormous growth for newspaper industry in India with 360,000,000 literate consumers not reading newspapers and only 0.34 per cent of GDP spent on advertising, he said there was huge potential to be tapped before India reached the situation in the west.

 

A newspaper as it reaches end of its product cycle, should capitalise on its ‘hidden assets’, reinvent itself as a multi-media company creating new platform for advertisement generation.

 

Positioning

 

More importantly, it is all about positioning ones brand amid technology and abundance. He also emphasized spending on market research to deliver the content the audience wants.

 

 
 

20. Live and Local

India Radio Bulletin

April 14, 2008 – May 11, 2008

 

In the digital age, consumers are bombarded with messages in many different ways. In the West, viral and direct marketing are becoming an intrinsic part of daily life. And this includes radio advertisements. As with any other media, advertising has become part and parcel of the programmes that fill the airwaves. And seeing that radio is a highly localised medium, FM should be a great marketing vehicle for the local advertising fraternity. But is this the case in India?
 

Nabhojit Kuila, director of sales, Radio Indigo, says, “Radio is a local medium and around 30 to 40% of the business comes from local advertisers, as they find the medium more relevant to the local audience, and also affordable since there’s no wastage as in the case of the national media.”

 

Echoing Kuila’s sentiments, Ashit Kukian, executive vice president and national head – sales, Radio City, emphasises that the geographical expansion of the FM radio means that the medium is entering newer cities and markets. He feels that local advertisers, which mainly comprise real estate, mainline local retail and education brands, have been jumping onto the FM bandwagon.

 

Local advertisers view FM as a localised medium that offers immediate response for them. Stations who offer time brand programming, such as MY FM, have found that this format has yielded good results. Retail advertising forms a major chunk of MY FM’s clients, shares Harrish M. Bhatia, business head, MY FM. Categories like telecom, automobile, FMCG, consumer durables and local governments are patronising the station.

 

“Advertisers are realising the potential of radio and are extensively using radio in innovative ways,” explains Bhatia. “Sponsorship of shows gives a certain edge to the advertisers on radio, and when coupled with promo spots, it increases the brand recall value,” he continues.

 

While advertisers are open to such kind of advertising inputs, the onus remains on the station to regulate it and not to tamper too much with the content. This may put off a listener and even bring down a station’s credibility.

 

Apart from FCT-based advertising, there are also a host of non-FCT advertising options available to advertisers, such as plugs by anchors, RJ-led activities or live reads. Unlike print or television, content integration can be taken to a different level on FM.

 

Abraham Thomas, COO, Red FM, adds that the cost-effectiveness of the radio medium is an appealing factor for some of the local advertisers. He believes that local advertisers who actively consume the medium have a strong point of view of what works for them. Hence, they’ve been better able to exploit the medium than some of the big national advertisers.

 

Local advertisers are responding to the medium in the big and smaller cities, however the quantum of the business in each case is dependent on the number of local players that are present in the region. FM in the bigger cities are also becoming the preferred choice for local advertisers, such as in the case of Red FM, which is available in Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi, and attracts 25% of its monthly advertising volumes from local advertising.

 

Although the bulk of advertising revenue for many FM stations comes from national advertisers, no FM player is just satisfied with the ‘big boys’. As the inherent strength of FM is being local, which other established electronic media like television is not, nobody seems willing to ignore the medium’s strength and focus on everything else.

 

For Radio City, 70% of its advertising revenue comes from national advertisers, while the balance comes from the local counterpart, says Kukian. However, as more local advertisers are considering radio, they are contributing to the growth of the ad pie.

 

Bhatia asserts that national advertisers are not only attracted to FM in the big cities, as his station has proven its ability to attract national advertisers and put their brand across the smaller cities.

 

“Since we believe in offering local flavour in content, listeners in each of our stations consider us ‘the station of their city’. It will not make sense for advertisers to advertise on a radio brand because the station is doing very well somewhere else. The grass root situation is very different,” explains MY FM’s business head.

 

 
 

21. Brand Power on FM

India Radio Bulletin

April 14, 2008 – May 11, 2008

 

“A great brand raises the bar…and adds a greater sense of purpose to the experience”, says Howard Schultz, CEO, Starbucks Corp. And it is no doubt that branding is important for anyone and anything that wishes to create a lasting impact in the business world. While the concept has worked well on the visual medium, has this worked on FM, which ultimately relies on capturing listeners’ imagination through sounds?

 

According to Hari Krishnan, vice president and client services director, JWT India, “Brands benefit immensely from radio, especially for generating enquiries and footfalls. This is not to say that brands with thematic messages should not use radio. It is a great reminder medium that multiplies the awareness generated by TV and print.”

 

In addition to Krishnan’s inputs, two young MBA graduates also contributed to our brand building discussion. Given the fact that 65% of India’s population is under 35 years old, 24-year-old Sharmishtha Dey and Priyanka Malhotra offered fresh perspective from the younger generation of marketing professionals.

 

According to Malhotra, “The major flaw in radio advertising is that your target audience is not able to see the product.” She suggests that it is important for brands advertising on radio to particularly think of the theme and the message to put forward. The advertisement should also be read by the right person, presented in the right time slot and broadcast at the right number of times to create an effective brand recall.

 

Dey adds that when advertising on radio, advertisers should be able to “create an image [of the products] in the minds of listeners.” The ad should also be able to build curiosity within the consumers’ minds, which could be a teaser, provoking him or her to reach out for the product, she says.

 

Krishnan points out the importance of a radio ad to sound like a “blind man’s film”. By listening to a good radio ad, listeners should be able to make out the set-up, the environment from the amibient of sounds and the responses of the characters in the film.

 

“Needless to say, humour and music work like magic, as there’s nothing like a good joke to brighten up a dull moment of driving or cooking,” he adds.

 

Recent brands that have worked wonders on radio include Virgin Mobile, LIC and Cycle Agarbatti, he opines. Their success lied on the fact that “these brands have entertained people, rather than interrupting them. Advertisers should remember the fundamental concept that listeners switch on the radio for entertainment, and not to listen to commercials. Hence, the creatives for radio ads should be borne out of this in mind,” he advises.

 

As an aural medium, it is important to remember that radio advertising cannot be done on its own, as it is by and large a reminder medium, continues Dey, stating that brands created on radio should also be coupled with visual branding so that the target audience can relate the two.

 

However, Malhotra stresses, “No branding is effective until the time it reaches the minds of the people, regardless of whether it is aural or visual branding.”

 

She agrees that visual branding has an added advantage in that the audience is able to see the product and the message with effects. With aural branding, its effectiveness can be increased if the message is combined with the right music, “because this will be the one thing that will linger in the consumers’ minds, which in turn will help to build the brand.”

 

Krishnan echoes Malhotra’s sentiments, adding, “Contrary to conventional beliefs, repetitive brand messages may simply become ‘auditory blind spots’ instead of being embedded in the listeners’ minds. While people may not put off whatever they are doing to listen to a radio ad, but they will definitely get a little more attentive if a good ad plays.”

 

The JWT VP believes that brands across categories can and must use radio for effective purchase facilitation tasks, price announcements and highly tactical and localised initiatives.

 

“It would be futile for a car brand to showcase its great looking interiors but effective for announcing its test drive centres,” he says. The same goes for cosmetic brands. “While they cannot visually showcase new shades of lip colours, but they can surely announce a combined offer,” adds Krishnan.

 

The bottom line is that brands can only be built if the product lives up to its promise. And the role radio plays is simply to reiterate recall and impress the brand qualities that have already been established via the visual media.

 

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