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Eleven minutes that could change your life.
Smoking, Sex, SanskaarANTI SMOKING
PLUSIAPC
A Caring Hand 14
FLIPKART
Spinning a Good Tale 26
VIACOM 18
Show Time 31
MOVEMENTS/APPOINTMENTS
A Round-up 31
How Star Sports turned a native Indian sport into a glamorous, high-octane televised spectacle.
The HUL brand continues to push the advertising envelope.
Everyone is HappyBROOKE BOND
Madison’s founder on BARC and the road ahead.
30
Sam BalsaraINTERVIEW
THE NEW CROWDPULLER
`100March 1-16, 2016 Volume 4, Issue 18
16PRO-KABADDI LEAGUE
editorial
Volume 4, Issue 18This fortnight...EDITOR
Sreekant Khandekar
PUBLISHER Prasanna Singh
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Ashwini Gangal
SENIOR LAYOUT ARTISTVinay Dominic
PRODUCTION EXECUTIVEAndrias Kisku
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“Kabaddi, kabaddi, kabaddi...”
How many of us have gone blue in the face canting – yes, it’s canting, not chanting, I’ve been told - this word as kids? When my boss took a quick poll in an edit meeting last week, surprisingly, two out of the six present raised their hand. Kabaddi is very much “part of India’s collective childhood memory,” as the author of this Cover Story puts it, ever so Carl Jung-esquely. Okay, I’ll admit, of two who raised their hand, one was me. As a child, I played it extensively, with kids from the neighbouring slum.
Despite the memories it evokes, making it watchable for the modern day television viewer, who’s used to a staple sports diet of cricket and football, was the biggest challenge facing Star, the official broadcaster of the Pro Kabaddi League. The team worked hard at packaging this homegrown game in a manner that helped it transcend its ‘rural sport’ tag and appeal to all kinds of audiences, even the snooty, upmarket ones.
How did they swing it? That’s precisely what this story is about. This fortnight, we take a hard look at how kabaddi gained popularity that trumped that of football (Indian Super League) and was second only to that of cricket (Indian Premier League).
A lot of it has to do with the way the experience of watching the game has been enhanced – for an indoor sport the ‘camera density’ is very high and some players have mikes attached to their backs. The mat on which the game is played also has mikes embedded in it. No single grunt, huff, puff or roar goes uncaptured.
In a recent interview, Ronnie Screwvala, who owns UMumba, the team that was crowned champion of the Pro Kabaddi League 2015, said, “Kabaddi is a gladiator arena sport...” While that’s the sort of sentence headlines are made of, I’ll tweak that to - Kabaddi is a rowdy sport with roots in desi mud and a bright future on a synthetic mat.
Eleven minutes that could change your life.
Smoking, Sex, SanskaarANTI SMOKING
PLUSIAPC
A Caring Hand 14
FLIPKART
Spinning a Good Tale 26
VIACOM 18
Show Time 31
MOVEMENTS/APPOINTMENTS
A Round-up 31
How Star Sports turned a native Indian sport into a glamorous, high-octane televised spectacle.
The HUL brand continues to push the advertising envelope.
Everyone is HappyBROOKE BOND
Madison’s founder on BARC and the road ahead.
30
Sam BalsaraINTERVIEW
THE NEW CROWDPULLER
`100March 1-16, 2016 Volume 4, Issue 18
16PRO-KABADDI LEAGUE
CONTENTS
Ashwini [email protected]
3afaqs! Reporter, March 1-16, 2 0 1 6
The CNN anchor talks business.
ADVERTISINGCampaign TrailA round up of some of the noteworthy advertising on various media last fortnight.
12
The oat brand is trying a new experiment. Will India bite?
8
24
The apparel brand comes up with a cheeky activation.
Prabhakar Mundkur on the big bang flop.
BLACKBERRYSInner Secrets
FREEDOM 251The Fiasco
AMUL
Reel to RealAmul raises a toast to Neerja Bhanot with a flashback to a 1980s ad featuring the braveheart.
2214
INTERVIEWRichard Quest
14
SAFFOLASnack On
Death, sex and drama. What else can the viewer of a Hindi film ask for? Especially, a public service ad film which seeks to
discourage people from smoking? And, one which has the startling cast of Sunny Leone, Alok Nath and Deepak Dobriyal?
The 4 minutes 40 second-long film was released at the Cinepolis theatre, Mumbai on February 23.
The story is set somewhere in rural north India and is about a young man, played by Dobriyal, who is critically ill. The local quack reckons that he doesn’t have long to live. Dobriyal’s family, led by his father Alok Nath, dutifully set about inquiring what his last wish is.
Dobriyal is dying, but nevertheless delighted as he slyly produces the photograph of a woman. His father, his family and even the family goat are horrified by his request but a last wish cannot be
denied. The father sets off on his trusty scooter to manfully do his duty.
He returns with a shapely, veiled woman who is, of course, Sunny Leone. She walks into Dobriyal’s room, shuts the door and begins to shamelessly flirt with him. Dobriyal’s character, who can’t believe his luck, can barely breathe in his excitement. And sure enough, he soon ceases to.
What could this have to do with anti-smoking,
you ask yourself? Therein lies the twist in the tale that is bound
to have viewers in splits - even smokers. Even the American short story writer, the late O Henry, who built a reputation for tales with an unanticipated end, would have been impressed.
The video, released on YouTube on February 23, has so far fetched over 2 million views.
It has been directed and produced by Vibhu
Puri and Dileep Nair respectively; the story, screenplay and dialogues are by Ankit Sharma, Manish Bhatt and Vibhu Puri. Business of Ideas and Scarecrow Communications are the creative agencies behind the ad. Escaping Elephants is the production house. Singers Aditya Gadhvi and Vatsala Patil have lent their voices to Rooshin Dalal’s composition. n
ANTI-SMOKING
What could Sunny Leone, Alok Nath and Deepak Dobriyal possibly be doing together in an anti-smoking ad titled ‘11 Minutes’? By News Bureau
Smoking, Sex and Sanskaaradvertising
4 afaqs! Reporter, March 1-16, 2 0 1 6
The film was released at the Cinepolis theatre in
Mumbai on February 23.
What turns you on about your man’s underwear? ‘Without is better’,
‘underwear with snakes or emoticons’, ‘tight and not baggy’ were some bold answers to this comparatively less bold question posed to unsuspecting girls.
While women accosted with such a question in public spaces would probably understand that the intent is to promote a brand, one of the last names that would occur to anyone though is the name of a 25-year old legacy brand which began its journey in the bylanes of
Chandni Chowk - Blackberrys.Men’s apparel brand Blackberrys
from the Gurgaon-based Mohan Clothing, which addresses all wardrobe needs for men including suits and jackets for formal occasions, khakis, shirts, shoes and
accessories, recently forayed into the innerwear segment. Moving on from the sleaze and sexual innuendo associated with men’s innerwear advertising, which has almost always
Inner SecretsBLACKBERRYS
The apparel brand recently forayed into the innerwear space. By Ashee Sharma
continued on page 8 >>
If you were one of those eager beavers like me who was waiting for India’s $4 smartphone wonder
and madly prancing around after seeing the two full-page ads in your morning newspaper, and rushing to their website to book yourself the world’s cheapest smartphone, you were in for a rude surprise.
Because a $4 phone was what everybody wanted and eagerly waited for even if you were a snobbish iPhone 6 plus user. A $4 smartphone even for the snob is reverse snobbery at its best. A good way to show you are not infra dig.
The first ad that appeared promised the Indian masses that it was going to deliver them into the digital age (even those who were denied of Free Basics a month ago). The headline boldly said ‘Sabka Haq’, which translated in English as ‘Everyone’s birthright’. It was followed by a sub-head that said ‘ Sapne Sach Hongey’ or ‘your dreams will come true’. But oh, what a nightmare! The generous use of the Indian tri-colour was also unfortunately misplaced.
Funnily enough it was sad that the name of the manufacturer was Ringing Bells, because all the wrong bells were ringing for the poor phone manufacturer this morning. Its baseline read ‘Everyone’s just a call away’, but they were some distance from a click away.
While I madly rushed to my computer dropping everything else in sight, I thought I had managed to book myself one, only to be disappointed at the buy stage. After filling in my details like millions of Indians and pressing the buy button you were either directed to a blank page or re-directed to filling in your personal details again, and again, and again. After going through the process a good five times, I blamed Apple for its Safari browser which doesn’t work well with all the websites. I then went on to Firefox and Chrome but with no better luck, and only to find that Freedom#251 was already trending on Twitter with the disappointed millions having fun at the expense of
the poor manufacturer.In fact, customers were so
unprepared that if you were to enter 0.5 phones as the quantity, what showed up was a phone at half the price. The delivery price also got halved from `40 to `20 in the process. Logical after all. Half a phone must have half the delivery charges, shouldn’t it?!
So, technically, you could buy half your phone at half the price.
The second ad had the brand promise ‘Stay Ahead in Life’. Most inappropriate as you felt you were in reverse gear while struggling on their website. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a shame because what could have been the pride of India quickly turned out to be a fiasco for Make In India, Digital India and Skill India, the three entities the brand was paying obeisance to.
You were almost reminded of Internet 1.0 when over anxious start-ups were hastily launching their products only to be disappointed by their servers crashing.
It was actually such a big blow
that one couldn’t but help feel bad for the manufacturer. In New Delhi, in the meantime, the brand was getting ready to be launched with VVIPs from the Government with the Defence Minister and a Member of Parliament.
SO, WHAT WENT WRONG?
There is no doubt that here was a company in a hurry which had
not done its due diligence before its launch. Proving that all the painful trouble that global companies go through before launching their products, and all the criticism they draw for being slow and stodgy, there is merit in being well-prepared and right, rather than quick and wrong.
In the afternoon, the manufacturer issued an apology on its website, but it was a matter of too little, too late. For most Indians, the disastrous launch may mean that the product may need some time to take off, although `291 including postage seems like a steal for a smartphone.
Vikas Mehta says, “This has been a disappointment. Given that both Nano and Aakash Tablets failed despite jaw-dropping prices, this brand hasn’t learned a thing.”
Professor Anand Narasimha says, “You seldom get such disruptive opportunities and to squander them with poor preparation is sacrilege. Remember Flipkart’s first Big Billion sale?”
The Economic Times, meanwhile, claimed to have seen a letter that the Indian Cellular Association had written to the Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, saying the IT department should go into the depth of the issue, adding that the price could not be below `291 even after it is subsidised.
The phone could also have copyright infringement problems because its app icons look like they have been copied from iPhone.
Ringing Bells, I am sure, has learnt its lesson and understood that it was dumb in launching the world’s cheapest smart phone in such a hurry.
If there is one marketing lesson in this, it is that speed is good, but never at the cost of detail, and slow and steady usually wins the race as the good old adage told us. And, as our previous experience shows, the cheapest in the world is not necessarily the best!
digital
Freedom 251 Turns into a Fiasco
FREEDOM 251
6 afaqs! Reporter, March 1-16, 2 0 1 6
“Speed is good, but never at the cost of
detail.”PRABHAKAR MUNDKUR
How and why the world’s cheapest smart phone flopped with a big bang. By Prabhakar Mundkur
Born on September 7, 1963, Neerja Bhanot who was awarded the Ashok Chakra
- India’s highest civilian award for bravery - needs no introduction today, thanks to the movie ‘Neerja’.
Coinciding with the release of her biopic starring Sonam Kapoor on February 19, dairy brand Amul has released a vintage ad from the 1980s which featured the braveheart. In the six-second-long ad when a little boy sings, “I am too old for tricycles, too young to be a pilot,” his mother, played by Bhanot, replies, “But, I think you are just right for Amul chocolate”.
A purser with the Pan Am (Pan
American World Airways), Bhanot was martyred at a young age while saving the lives of passengers aboard the Mumbai-Frankfurt Pan Am flight 73, which was hijacked in 1986 in Karachi.
In October 2004, the Indian Postal Service released a postal stamp to honour her supreme sacrifice. She was also awarded the Tamgha-e-Insaniyat by Pakistan.
A little known fact about Bhanot is that she was also a popular model, having featured in ads for brands such as Binaca toothpaste and Godrej Besto detergent powder. n
8 afaqs! Reporter, March 1-16, 2 0 1 6
advertising
Reel to RealAMUL
As the respect for the Ashok Chakra awardee soars with the movie ‘Neerja’, Amul raises a toast to the braveheart with a vintage ad. By Ashee Sharma
objectified women, Blackberrys carried out a cheeky, on-ground activation #BangOn, for the launch. The brand’s agency Grapes Digital, along with Indiatimes, executed the activity in Gurgaon.
Speaking on foraying into the category and how the move is in line with the ethos of brand Blackberrys, Nitin Mohan, director, Blackberrys, says, “We have largely been in the formal space for 25 years now. People appreciate us for our fits, and in the innerwear segment ‘fit’ is the
most important attribute. So, this was a natural progression for us.”
But, why was no sub-brand created for the new offering? “Blackberrys has matured and
has been accepted very well as a specialised menswear brand. Entering into the segment under the mother brand was therefore obvious. It completes our product portfolio,” says Mohan.
The product falls in the affordable premium category, and according to Mohan, its closest
competitor in the market will be Calvin Klein. Jockey is nowhere close, he asserts.
The brand also sees this as an opportunity to communicate with the younger set of customers. “Blackberrys has been seen as a formal and fairly straight-jacketed brand. This is an opportunity for us to break the mould and loosen up a bit for the fashion forward, vivid and confident young customer,” shares Mohan.
Blackberrys has 200 exclusive outlets, besides a presence in 1,100 multi-brand stores and 130 large format retailers such as Shoppers Stop and Lifestyle. It is accessible across the country in Tier I and II cities. Currently, the innerwear range is available across all brand outlets. n
Inner Secrets<< continued from page 4
The product falls in the affordable premium
category.
CNN Worldwide has announced the expansion of its CNNMoney brand internationally,
across both TV and digital, with the addition of staff in Hong Kong, New Delhi, London, and Dubai. This venture will have Richard Quest, CNN International’s foremost anchor and international business reporter, serving as editor-at-large. Edited excerpts:
Your style of presenting is unique, it’s said to be a performance, and you also use props. What’s the thought behind this?
The word is authenticity - it’s not planned. Do I sometimes ‘perform’, do I exaggerate? Well, it’s all about the tele-visual. Be it business, general or entertainment news, I’d get engaged and involved. It’s about - ‘Have I explained what is happening in the best possible way?’ Some say it’s over the top. My answer to them is - I’m not putting on an act.
You’ve been with the BBC for nearly 15 years and CNN, for 15. How differently do these two approach news?The fundamental difference doesn’t exist. BBC focusses more on what the UK thinks, we focus on what Washington thinks. But, both organisations are huge, have a high level of bureaucracy, chaos and dysfunctionality. The first thing I saw was how similar they were with a large number of management and the rest of the staff complaining about them. But, both are deeply committed to getting it right. The American audience likes news more racy with more graphics, but things are changing in the UK as well.
How do you rate business news coverage in India?
I have seen 24-hour news networks here and I can’t think of any other place in the world which is more dynamic when it comes to journalism. The other night I was watching this debate on the JNU story and the reporters were
brilliant, they were shredding people. Journalism here is thriving. Of course, journalists sometimes could forget that politicians, business leaders and CEOs have to make complex decisions that do not lend themselves easily to 15 seconds of a sound byte. I’m not running a company with 30,000 employees, I’m not a minister who has to come up with a policy affecting a 100 million people.
You seem to be a ‘details’ editor?I have to be. I’m 53 and I haven’t
got that many years left of doing this. I need to make sure that the next generation loves this, and they are not weighed down by the technology or overwhelmed by management.
You spoke about big overwhelming management.
How do you play out that conflict of interest when reporting about the owners’ businesses?
Oh it’s delicious! There’s nothing nicer than putting the boot into your own company - they expect it. I worked on Time Warner, the parent company of CNN, at the time of the worst merger in corporate history -- AOL Time Warner, which destroyed shareholder value like nothing has done ever before. Here’s where you’ve got to be fair, you can’t be harder on them than you would be to others just because it’s your own company. When I’ve had the CEO of Time Warner on the programme, my producers start hyperventilating. Jeff (Bewkes) tells me to ask what I like, and I always do.
You’ve been doing this for almost 30 years. How do you think the
business news segment has evolved?
Yes, it’s always been ‘boring business’ and most general news editors would much rather cover politics. But, they learned in 2008, that ‘business’ can threaten global stability, so ‘we better cover it’. Also, it all depends on who your readers/viewers are - if it’s Mr and Mrs Ordinary, you won’t get into the details of IMF lending money to Kazakhstan. You’ll look at subsidies or pump prices. Also, business news is not about when the DOW went up or the dollar went down - it’s about why you bought that phone or chose that shirt.
The news media business in India, digital has been the buzz word for some time now. What kind of trends do you foresee?
Let’s be honest. All we know is that mobile is going to be big. In India, it’s bigger because you have leapfrogged the landline, and people will leapfrog the desktop too. We are getting an idea of the range of things that the consumer wants. You can look at original page-views or click-throughs or how long a video is watched. That’s great, but you and I have to write for an audience. I’m shown numbers and statistics, but I have to remember that it’s a human being, and rely on my gut.
So you don’t go by ratings?If I really want ratings all I have
to do is put cage-fighting topless women on. I can put in tech stories and movie clips that will attract the lowest common denominator, but that won’t help the person understand what’s happening in the global economy. It’s all about a balanced diet in programming. Top editors need to pick the right people to do this. Your approach should be - ‘this is important according to the financial world’ and ‘ if you’re interested, you should know this, here are our views’, but not ‘this is what you need’. You are not giving an opinion, but an assessment.n
RICHARD QUEST> CNN ANCHOR AND HOST OF QUEST MEANS BUSINESS
interview
Quest on his inimitable style of presentation, and his journey in the news business. By Shweta Mulki
“In no other country is journalism more dynamic”: Richard Quest, CNN
1 0 afaqs! Reporter, March 1-16, 2 0 1 6
Finding Digital India in Jhumri Tillaiya,’ is an interesting leisure read on how Flipkart
has waded through the remote town changing people’s lives there. But, the catch is that it is not covered by any media platform, but Flipkart itself.
Surprised? Well, don’t be. The entity in question is a dedicated website created by e-commerce giant and is aptly titled ‘Flipkart Stories’. It is not a company blog as anyone would assume, in fact, the company is pitching it as a ‘digital media website’.
Launched in October 2015, Flipkart Stories claims to stand apart. Styled like a digital media website using the same format and techniques, the website carries company news, customer and seller stories. Each story also comes with sharing buttons across LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, WhatsApp, Pinterest, Digg and Instagram.
With the aim to create a dynamic editorial platform, Flipkart Stories has gathered steam on social media with a Twitter following of 11.4 thousand and over 25,000 Facebook likes.
For the record, other marquee players in the Indian e-commerce industry also have content platform in the form of blogs. Snapdeal comes closest to Flipkart Stories with its initiative called ‘Snapdeal Diaries’.
The initiative has a social media presence (Twitter, with over 2,500 followers, and Facebook with over 7,000 likes), and is being described as a “new platform to have a conversation with you, get insights into what we do, and meet our people to listen to their stories” on Twitter.
Unlike Flipkart Stories, Snapdeal Diaries stories are hosted on Snapdeal’s company blog.
Zomato’s blog, too, usually carries posts around the company as well as posts by its top management, while Amazon India’s blog promises updates on products, the website,
and engaging content.Lifestyle and fashion e-commerce
players also run similar blogs. One such is Myntra’s Freshly Mynted, which churns out content around fashion and brands at the platform. Jabong, on the other hand, has both web and print presence through its The Juice property.
Meanwhile, the eBay India blog has been discontinued. The page takes the user to eBay Community where one can discuss and ask
questions.What sets Flipkart Stories apart
is its constant engagement and updation of the site, as well as a significant social media presence.
Some of the stories currently hosted on the site include recent appointments at Flipkart, heart-warming human stories on company’s employees and sellers, as well as brand-related content.
Flipkart Stories is the brain child of Senjam Raj Sekhar, head - corporate communications, Flipkart, who feels that the concept of company blogs has already crossed its sell-by date.
“Readers, today, are attracted to content that is more engaging and authentic. While Flipkart is a much-discussed company, there are many aspects that are not known to the outside world. Our intention is to tell the Flipkart story in a compelling manner while maintaining authenticity and objectivity,” he says.
Headed by the former travel
editor of Yahoo Bijoy Venugopal, Flipkart Stories currently functions with a team of five and is scouting for writers and designers. The platform is following a dual content approach with a judicious mix of original and source stories from external contributors.
Sekhar informs that Flipkart Stories follows the same stringent editorial standards of a global independent media platform.
“All stories have to go through the editorial filter of quality, authenticity and readability. We actively encourage our readers to share and comment. They are free to comment about the story and the comments are not moderated by the editorial team,” he explains.
Apart from the standard text and images, Flipkart Stories will use other story-telling formats such as animation, infographics, video, and photo-features. The platform also employs social curation platforms like Storify to tell its stories along with Facebook, Twitter, Flipboard, and Instagram to propagate sharing.
The platform also publishes brand-related articles without charging any fee from the brand. The only condition is that the story must have authenticity.
Currently, Flipkart has no plans of monetising Flipkart Stories, nor does it intend to get into the business of content.
Flipkart Stories, highlights Sekhar, is clocking around half a million visits a month. He believes that readers are visiting the platform because of the good mix of compelling human stories as well as information that they can use. The platform carries company related announcements. Sekhar, however, denies that the platform is a PR machinery of the company.
Interestingly, one of the biggest Flipkart re-structuring was broken on Flipkart Stories’ Twitter handle. The news was about co-founder Binny Bansal replacing Sachin Bansal as the new chief executive officer. n
1 2 afaqs! Reporter, March 1-16, 2 0 1 6
digital
Spinning a Good TaleFLIPKART
“Readers, today, are attracted to content that
is more engaging and authentic.”
SENJAM RAJ SEKHAR
Flipkart Stories, a dedicated website for company stories, stands apart with a significant social presence and diverse content. By Saumya Tewari
Flipkart has no plans of monetising Flipkart Stories, nor does it intend to get
into the content business.
marketing
1 3afaqs! Reporter, March 1-16, 2 0 1 6
ADVT
.
Saffola from Marico, the health and beauty-based consumer products company, is trying to expand the consumption window for oats,
an item one readily associates with breakfast. The brand’s latest ad campaign for its Masala Oats range persuades the Indian consumer that oats can be had through the day.
The research for Saffola Masala Oats has been done by Anand Varadarajan, independent brand consultant. When asked about what prompted this expansion, he says, “There is a clear shift in snacking from the normal traditional meal. The trend now is to have either two traditional meals or snacks during the day, or people have just one traditional meal and snacks during the day, and so on. There is more health awareness and people don’t want to have pizzas and other snacks which is not the traditional home-cooked food. It is, therefore, a function of need and desire.”
When asked about what would have prompted Marico with a move like this, Anisha Motwani,
business strategist and founder - MarketBuzzar.com, says, “Marico is a company which doesn’t do anything without human understanding and research. It has been in the market with this product and I am sure that it is the experience of the product performance in the market with respect to who is eating and at what time they are eating that would have prompted them.”
Sharda Agarwal, co-founder, Sepalika, says, “It is to get more shares of meals across the day. It is just
Snack OnSAFFOLA OATS
The oat brand from Marico is trying to expand the consumption window for the product. Will India bite? By Suraj Ramnath
trying to increase the frequency of consumption or trying to provide more opportunities in a day for people to consume oats knowing fully well that you cannot replace the main meal. The lunch and dinner are almost sacrosanct in India.”
The strategy works well, feel Motwani and Agarwal. According to them, Saffola is opening up more opportunities for consumers by getting Masala Oats as a mid-day snack rather than looking at sandwich, pakoda or noodles as an option, which is not healthy.
“Saffola is a good option for a consumer such as the house wife, giving her the option of offering the Italian or Chinese version of oats to the family as a snack during the day,” says Agarwal.
Motwani and Agarwal both feel that since the product launched has Chinese and Italian flavours, it would be snacky, and had the liberty to move outside the breakfast space.
Motwani says, “I personally think it will work far better than their breakfast meal.”
Agarwal says, “If you look at the pasta from ITC, or the noodles that comes from Nestle, they are all snacks, and therefore, when I move oats out from a porridge form, then I have taken it outside the breakfast occasion and it no longer becomes the limiting factor.”
But, Varadarajan is quick to point out that Kellogg’s, too, has been positioning its oats as snack for a number of years. n
From a native Indian pastime to a glamorous high-octane televised spectacle, from a dusty mud ground to a made-
for-TV, graphic-laden mat, from school-children breathlessly chanting the name of the game to A-list movie stars cheering from the front rows, the game of kabaddi has made quite a leap, all in a span of three seasons.
In 2014, the centuries-old sport of kabaddi took flight with the introduction of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), a franchise system that had eight teams and 96 players (26 international ones) in glittering arenas that almost rivalled the IPL. PKL also had the might of Star India, the official broadcaster and a majority stakeholder in the league. Now in its third season, how did kabaddi
become the nation’s second most watched sport in its very first season?
GLUED TO THE ACTIONPKL’s first season in 2014 reached 435 million viewers over its five-week run, while the IPL, in its 2014 edition was viewed by 552 million. Football-oriented Indian Super League’s (ISL) first season in 2014 had 429 million viewers. Figures for Season 2
were not comparable because of the BARC-TAM changeover. So far, in Season 3, PKL’s reach in two weeks is already 189 million viewers and, according to Star, it has gained 36 per
cent viewership over last year. “Star Sports Pro Kabaddi had a
vision to galvanise a traditional Indian sport and transform it into an aspirational game for players and fans. The league’s bi-annual plans for 2016 reflect the nation’s choice and hunger to be associated with an Indian sport that we have successfully modernised,” says Uday Shankar, CEO, Star India.
In its first season, PKL was telecast on Star Gold, Star Sports - 1 to 4, FTA channel Star Utsav and regional channels (Plus Suvarna, Maa Movies and Asianet Movies). In season 2, six
channels (Star Gold, Star Sports - 2 and 3, Plus Suvarna, Maa Movies, Star Pravah) beamed out the action. At present, PKL airs on five channels (Star Gold, Star Sports - 2 and 3, Plus Suvarna, Maa Movies). Star also claims a 33 per cent growth in total minutes viewed on Hotstar, its digital platform over the first 11 days of Season 3.
THE GENESISIndia has won the Kabaddi World Cup for five years in row, and has done well in other global sport meets. In early 2006, cricket commentator Charu Sharma was called for the Doha Asian Games as a commentator for the kabaddi matches.
Sharma observed that it was the first game to sell out there. He says, “I had to do my research. That
The New Crowdpuller
1 6 afaqs! Reporter, March 1-16, 2 0 1 6
How Star Sports played a hand in attracting audiences to kabaddi. By Shweta Mulki
So far, in Season 3, PKL’s reach intwo weeks has already touched
189 million viewers.
PRO-KABADDI LEAGUE
coverstory
the sport had immense popularity throughout India - from the street to the national level - was an eye-opener. I wondered why the game hadn’t been made more available to us.”
Sharma approached the International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) to do something about it and recalls talking to industrialist (and brother-in-law) Anand Mahindra to consider bringing in some corporate might. Calling it a ‘crazy crusade’ he says, “In 2010, at the Guangzhou Asian Games, the story began again where I spoke to both J.S. Gehlot (president of IKF) and the Amateur Kabaddi Federation’s Devraj Chaturvedi.” Mahindra and Sharma founded their sports marketing
company Mashal Sports, in early 2011, to take the initiative forward.
While Mahindra put in his
personal funds, Sharma did the “running around”. Rajiv Luthra of Luthra and Luthra Law also helped
out. “We got the rights from the Amateur Kabaddi Federation. They gave us long-term rights in full trust - 10 years plus another 5 plus 5 further, with built-in escalation. The next step was live TV. For six months I approached various channels, but no one was convinced. Dealing with the commercial and ad sales people was crushing,” recalls Sharma
According to Sharma, the big change came when Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox acquired ESPN’s 50 per cent stake in its JV, ESPN Star Sports. Post this, the Star Sports brand came under Star India, which now owns a 74 per cent in Mashal Sports. Sharma then went looking
1 7afaqs! Reporter, March 1-16, 2 0 1 6
A MAKEOVER THAT CREATED A TRP JACKPOT
Kukreja and Sharma: succeeding on all fronts spectacularly
Experts feel that PKL is a good example of how a sport can occupy mindspace if packaged well. Says Nitin Kukreja, president - Sports, Star India, "The traditional mindset was that it is for rural audiences. Our goal was to make it aspirational and upmarket for all of India, across age groups to see, consume, and love. That’s the lens through which it has been packaged for on-air production and marketing.
With a view that ‘All modern sports have high-quality broadcast at their heart’, the team at Star Sports focussed on the narrative that this was a sport which millions of Indians have played growing up. The broadcast had to renew that experience, create a sense of re-discovery and re-ignite the passion. Kabaddi is usually played between teams of seven players each on a court (normally 13 m by 10 m for men and 8 m by 12 m for women) that is divided into two halves. The game is played over 40 minutes. The players raid the opponent’s half and attempt to ‘tag’ or ‘capture’ opponents (without being captured by the latter) and must hold their breath while running, repeating the word ‘kabaddi’ to show that they are doing so. So, how did Star create a broadcast experience that took viewers to the very edge of the field of play?
TWEAKING RULESCompressing the ‘raid block’ For PKL, the rules were tweaked to limit the raid block to 30 seconds. This led to heightened viewership interest frequently. Sharma says, "Long raid times (usually 45 seconds or more) slowed down games for TV viewers." A `25,000 cheque is handed out to the ‘best moment’ of the day’ which could be a ‘super raid’ or a ‘super tackle’.� A ‘Super Raid’ rule refers to tagging more than three opponents in a single raid. In a ‘Super Tackle’ a raider has to be tackled or captured by three or fewer than three players of the defending team.
Changing narrativeSeason 1 and 2 was about Kabaddi as a ‘raider’s sport’, as also seen by the fraternity. But this season, defence strategies evolved faster, and the role of the defender became very important. If three or fewer defenders manage to catch a raider, they get double the points.
INNOVATION IN PRODUCTIONThe matThough mud in an artificially dug pit was a consideration, Kabaddi had to be positioned as a modern sport. In the Asian Games, it was played on a mat. Star also put a black bonus tape on the mat to help first time watchers. If a raider touched the tape, the team gets one point (the defending team has to have six or more defenders). In season 3, the purple colour of the mat was enhanced to look better on TV.
Camera placementsPKL has a high camera density, with 18 cameras trained on the 13 m by 10 m rectangle of action. At any given time, this action takes place on only on one half of it. The challenge for the network’s director is to rapidly choose from those 18 feeds at any given moment.
The ReplayMost sports see a standard set of replays - action replays, opponents’ reactions, crowd’s sentimental reaction and then back to the ‘hero’. In the fast and fluid sport that Kabaddi is, Star had to create opportunities to enable replays. So it worked with referees too. Moments like the ‘big tackle’ meant deliberated disentanglement and then begin the next raid in a more choreographed manner. The opportunities for referees to be on camera also lifted their status, and enabled
them to talk to the players with some gravitas.
GraphicsThis has become an integral part of sports coverage at present. The broadcaster needed to offer deep analysis for viewers to understand the basic framework of the game. The appearance of graphics on the mat took the analysis one level deeper and guided the viewer in terms of what the opportunities and stakes are for that moment. The graphics also offer analyses on individual player performance.
THE USE OF MIKESThe iconic part of the game is the Kabaddi ‘cant’. Beginning with Season 3, Star has ‘miked’ the players, employing audio technology from rugby. These mikes capture the grunts and cants of the men in action. The mat too has mikes (there are 10 tiny pinhole cameras embedded) to capture the sounds of play.
And some more...n Commentators had to be trained from scratch, and the commentary is delivered in four languages - English, Hindi, Kannada and Telugu. Women experts and commentators came on for the first time. In season 2, commentators were seen as great engagers of the game and taken into the line of camera on the edge of the field, making them great crowd pullersn To create a good stadia experience on-feet and on-air, Star has worked on special lighting and also has LED boards for sponsors. The broadcaster has also looked into the seating in most venues to get rich frames with spectators in it.n Star has introduced the concept of ‘Kabaddi Quick’ to engage people. During breaks, schoolchildren in the stands get to play a game at half-time. The four-minute game involves two teams of five players each. Each team experiences the thrill of the sport by making three raids alternatively for a maximum of 20 seconds. n Team logos and mascots were designed to appeal to the younger audience (five years to early teens).n PKL has a caravan format - the entourage travels from one participating city to another, playing seven matches at a venue. Each team plays four games at its home ground.
“We have not only seeded a multisport culture but also presented India with its very own sport and heroes.”
UDAY SHANKARCEO STAR INDIA
continued on page 22 >>
Hindustan Unilever (HUL)’s happy hijras (Hindi slang for eunuchs) are back, this
time with Sonu Nigam, and a much higher branding quotient. ‘Brooke Bond Red Label 6 Pack’, India’s first transgender band, which debuted with an amusing number ‘Hum Hain Happy’ last month, has released two new videos titled ‘Sab Rab De Bande’ (original and acoustic).
The videos conceptualised and executed by Y-Films (Yash Raj Film’s youth films wing) tell two real-life stories of transgenders who were initially ostracised, but accepted by their neighbours later. While the original version has a lot of colour and an international feel to it, the second is completely acoustic, quite Indian and stark.
Much like the debut feat, the ‘Sab Rab De Bande’ tracks have profuse audio-visual branding. In addition to the red cups and Red Label packs, the brand and its philosophy have been integrated into the lyrics which go, “yeh pattiyan koi zaat na dekhein, rang na badlein dharam ko le ke, aa is se kuch to seekhein...chal chai peetey hain” (Tea leaves do not discriminate on the basis of caste, creed or religion, let’s learn something from them...Let’s have some tea).
Commenting on the brand association, Shiva Krishnamurthy, category head, tea, Hindustan Unilever, had in an earlier communication, said, “Red Label is HUL’s warmth brand which stands for brewing togetherness. We encourage people to live those little moments that bring us all closer by breaking barriers over a cup of tea. This time, we chose the medium of music to spread this message.”
Ashish Patil, business and creative head and vice-president, Yash Raj Films, says, “HUL has come on board as a partner and sponsor as it sees a great thematic fit with Brooke Bond Red Label. It is
also our promotional partner for the project.”
Brooke Bond Red Label is part of Hindustan Unilever’s tea portfolio, along with three other brands, namely, Taj Mahal, Taaza and 3 Roses. The company’s competitors include Tata Global’s tea brands
such as Tata Tea and Tetley. Other players in the market include Wagh Bakri, Godrej, Pataka, Society, and Duncan.
The 6 Pack Band will release a total of six tracks as part of this initiative which is aimed at furthering the cause of gender equality in
India. The Hijra community was officially recognised by the Indian government in 2014 as the third gender, and given a special status under the Rights of Transgender Persons Bill for the purpose of education and employment.
Talking about the next video that will be out soon, Patil says that Asha Bhonsle’s 14-year-old grand-daughter will debut with the song. “It will be a very interesting collaboration. For the song, we have used a genre of music called ‘Stomp’. The music will be composed without the use of any musical instruments, but with objects such as tea leaves, buckets and utensils,” he says.
The 6 Pack’s debut number ‘Hum Hain Happy’ that went viral with over a million views was a rendition of the popular English song ‘Happy’ by American singer Pharrel Willliam. The ‘Sab Rab De Bande’ (original) feat seems to be a bigger hit with close to 3 million views on YouTube so far. The second one ‘Sab Rab De Bande’ (acoustic), released a fortnight later, is nearing 2 million. All three tracks have been composed by Shameer Tandon. n
BROOKE BOND RED LABELadvertising
The videos tell the real-life stories of two transgenders.
1 8 afaqs! Reporter, March 1-16, 2 0 1 6
Krishnamurthy and Patil: all for equality
Everyone is HappyThe HUL brand continues to push the advertising envelope with the second transgender video created by Y-Films. By Ashee Sharma
BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council) India recently announced the completion of its joint venture with TAM Media Research, with the latter
making an exit from the television ratings business effective February 29. The JV, which has been christened the Meterology Data Ltd (MDL), will start operations in the next few weeks. This now renders BARC as the sole television ratings measurement agency in the country.
We caught up with Sam Balsara, founder, chairman and managing director of Madison World and Madison Communications for a quick chat on this. Edited excerpts:
What are your first thoughts on BARC and TAM formally completing their merger?
Ever since BARC was initiated, this was in the air and over six months ago an in-principle agreement was reached. Recently, this agreement
has been consummated. It’s good that the industry will get the benefit of resources of TAM, and ADEX data from TAM will continue.
With BARC data as the only currency, how does that change the dynamics among planners and advertisers? Is it a reason to rejoice or would one still tread with caution? Is this the big resolution that the Indian TV industry was looking for?
At the best of times, media research is contentious, and the media owner who is not shown in good light always complains and feels that the sampling either is inadequate or misrepresentative, or suspects it to have been subjected to foul play. BARC is supported by all big media owners who have substantially funded BARC, and also installed equipment for watermarking. This will go a long way in ensuring that commitment to BARC continues.
The reservations that the industry had with TAM (be it the stakeholders, the technology, or conflict of interest vis-a-vis its ownership) -- how does that come into play post this JV?
The systems, processes, methodology, software, etc., will continue to be that used by BARC, and my understanding is that the meters that belonged to TAM will now be put to good use.
Reportedly, some advertisers and planners were still looking at TAM data until a couple of weeks ago, while some found it a bit difficult to adapt to BARC software. Do you see that issue being taken care of now?
Yes, BARC has had some hiccups. But, this is not unusual for a new system. The main issue now is that there are large variations between going-in plans and actual output. But, agencies are working feverishly with BARC executives to see what is causing the variance and addressing it.
Rural measurement has been the big feather-in-the-cap for BARC. What kind of an impact do you think it has had, and the changes it will bring about going forward?
The availability of BARC rural data is welcome new arsenal in the marketer’s bank of armoury for market warfare. However, the data needs to be used with caution, especially when it comes to the selection of TV channels in a TV plan since the majority of brands that are advertised on TV are either not available or have extremely poor distribution in rural markets.
On the other hand, the availability of this data opens up a new avenue of growth for data-conscious marketers who now have a good estimate of viewership in rural markets, which was hitherto only the subject of conjecture and most advertisers used Doordarshan as the ideal TV channel choice for reaching smaller and rural markets.
Now that we have a good fix of how many TV viewers are there in rural markets and who watches what and when, it would be good
a. For marketers to:Launch new products/variants specifically for rural markets, and use those channels with high rural market viewership
b. For advertisers to:Take concrete steps to extend their distribution in those markets with high rural viewership, so as to make their advertising work harder.
However, for those brands which are essentially urban and have distribution only in top cities and towns, they need to continue to use the urban viewership data in deciding on their choice of channels, and not get carried away by the huge absolute numbers thrown up by BARC data. n
SAM BALSARA> FOUNDER, MADISON
interview
Madison’s Sam Balsara comments on BARC India becoming the sole TV ratings agency. By Shweta Mulki
“Availability of BARC rural data is welcome new arsenal”: Sam Balsara
2 0 afaqs! Reporter, March 1-16, 2 0 1 6
2 2 afaqs! Reporter, March 1-16, 2 0 1 6
coverstory
Viacom18 has just announced its foray into the Hindi movie genre with its new channel
‘Rishtey Cineplex’. It is the first movie channel from Viacom18. According to an official statement, it will offer a “holistic entertainment experience with multi-genre films from the network’s library of blockbuster movies including latest audience favourites such as Bajirao Mastani, Airlift, the still-to-be-released Force2, Kapoor and Sons and many more.”
The statement adds that the channel’s launch further paves the way for new film acquisitions in order to offer quality film-based entertainment and big television premieres to viewers.
Commenting on this venture,
Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO, Viacom18, says, “With the launch of Rishtey Cineplex, we are entering the large Hindi movie genre, thereby, filling a pivotal whitespace and offering a holistic Hindi entertainment ecosystem from our stable.”
Vats further adds, “The movie channel will bolster the networks reach across India and help us dial-up our engagement levels with viewers. It will also enable us to offer
360-degree value to our advertisers creating more opportunities for on-air promotions enabling optimisation of ad inventory across the network”.
Raj Nayak, CEO, Colors and Rishtey, says, “We have scripted a great success story for brand Colors, with it being extended into regional languages and English entertainment. Each of these channels has helped us cater to an intrinsic viewer demand.
We are now all set to give impetus to brand Rishtey with the launch Rishtey Cineplex.”
Viacom18’s portfolio currently has Hindi general entertainment channels like Colors, Colors HD, Rishtey, and a bouquet of regional entertainment channels The launch date for Rishtey Cineplex is yet to be announced. n
Show TimeVIACOM 18
‘Rishtey Cineplex’ will be the Group’s first movie channel offering. By News Bureau
Nayak and Vats: another dimension
for the teams. Explains Sharma, “For team
owners we wanted to get high networth individuals with a good reputation and understanding of India.” Ronnie Screwvala was among the first to join in. Other franchise owners include Abhishek Bachchan (Jaipur Pink Panthers), Uday Kotak (Puneri Paltan) and Kishore Biyani (Bengal Warriors). Their ‘network’ led to high profile faces attending matches and adding to audience pull.
‘GAINING NEW GROUND’As popularity soared, sponsorship got better. Season 2 had new categories such as automobiles (TVS), e-com (Flipkart), apparel (VIP Frenchie), banks (SBI), beverages (Thumbs Up), electricals (Bajaj Electricals) and government bodies (Department of Atomic Energy), with Britannia and Radio Mirchi as partners. Season 3 saw TVS Motors, Bajaj Electricals, Flipkart, SBI renewing their deals. Five new sponsors - Gionee Mobiles and Idea as associate sponsors, and Fair & Lovely Men’s Face Wash,
Indo Nissin and PepsiCo as partners - came on board.
Says Nitin Kukreja, president - Sports, STAR India, “Between the league and the franchise we’ve got 68 sponsors. Since it is not an FCT- or inventory-heavy sport like cricket, there is limited space. In Season 2, we had 46 brands. But there are two significant health
metrics - the number of brands has grown season to season, and brands have renewed their sponsorship.”
Says Vinit Karnik, business head, ESP Properties (a Group M company), “There is great traction from Tier 1 Tier 2 towns. The fact that people are coming to the stadium in cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai and Jaipur is a good indicator. This also helps in getting in the big boys in advertising like a Flipkart or a Thums Up.“
TALE OF TWO SEASONSThis year, PKL opted to go in for two seasons - the ongoing one (from January 30) and a second one to follow in July-August 2016.
Explains Kukreja, “In other
sports, whether it’s football or cricket you get the opportunity to follow your team and your ‘heroes’ through the year. In Kabaddi, there was a limit to start off with. For instance, the opportunity for someone in Andhra to follow a Telugu Titans is limited. So we needed to expand volumes. While we will look for longer seasons as
we go along, the starting point is to have two seasons in a year. In 2013 and 2014 we had just 34 days - this year, we will be doing 70-80 days.”
Supratik Sen, chief executive officer of U Sports (owner of Mumbai team U Mumba) sees some merit in this. “Brands are loving the two seasons in a year concept. We are in talks to tour in countries like Germany, the US and UK and brands are liking these associations too.”
On profitability, Sen adds, “We broke even in second season. The third season will stay the same. We are still in investment mode because we want to do more with the sport. If I do my season-to-season, revenue-to-cost analysis, we spent `6-7 crore in
the first season, our spends between the second and third seasons, is around `12-15 crore, and we plan to take it up to ̀ 20-25 crore by Season 5. We’ll aim for profits after that.”
Commenting on the overall performance of the league, Karnik says, “Building a league is building a business model. No business gives you returns in two or three years or seasons. Kabaddi is a very controlled environment in terms of investments.”
THE NEXT TACKLEKarnik believes that a robust fan base needs to be developed. “Leagues are clubs,” he points out, “and clubs are as good as their players. So the next level would be to see how the fans are following a particular franchise, and the players they like. For emerging leagues like PKL, ISL or HIL, having a mature fan community is the second stage.”
Looking ahead, Kukreja says, “We will make the sport bigger and classier. It’s showing potential, and will need investments in the next year or two years to start delivering the fan base that other sports across the world provide. This is not a flash-in-the pan league, or a flash-in-the-pan sport.” n
The New...<< continued from page 17
As popularity soared, sponsorships got better and new categories joined in.
New campaigns across television, print, out-of-home and digital media.
Got some great campaign that has been published recently? Upload it on afaqs! for the world to see.Visit: www.afaqs.com/advertising/creative_showcase
campaigntrailpresents
SHOPCLUES.COMThe online managed marketplace has come up with its latest campaign #MallNahiMarket which offers an experience of an Indian street market with competitive pricing and a wide assortment of products and services.
Creative Agency: Enormous Brands
DABURSkin care brand Dabur Gulabari has tried to motivate girls to break the stereotypes they grow up with by using a set up for a social experiment where several students are shown an image of a young girl and asked to guess her hobby.
Creative Agency: Contract Advertising
ARIEL The detergent brand’s new ad for ‘share the load’ campaign encourages men to help their wives with the laundry. It emphasises on gender inequality as seen by a man, who is also a father.
Creative Agency: BBDO India
OLX.INOnline classifieds marketplace Olx.in in its latest ad ‘Dekhte Hain’ featuring film composer Amit Trivedi asks people to stop procrastinating and replace old goods with the new ones right now.
Creative Agency: Lowe Lintas
MUMBAI MIRRORThe English daily’s print campaign ‘Hated By Some. Thankfully’ thanks the depraved and sick individuals of the society for hating the publication’s fearless stance on reporting stories about sexual abuse, molestation and rapes.
Creative Agency:Taproot
MAGICBRICKS.COMThe online property portal’s print campaign ‘With you at every step to help you find your dream home’ tells about the website’s three features - maximum listings, in-depth info and expert advice that aid in finding one’s dream home easily.
SPCAThe Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has come up with a print creative ‘Don’t betray the faith’ which shows a human and an animal standing together, and urges people to never abandon their pets for any reason.
Creative Agency: Chirpy Elephant
VIDEOS
AMAZON.INThe online market place teamed up with stand-up comedian Gaurav Gera who while adding his own humorous streak to the #ApniDukaan campaign answered questions on online shopping.
AMWAYNutrilite, a brand of vitamin and dietary supplements from Amway has released a TVC featuring a super active avatar of Bollywood actor-director Farhan Akhtar who runs through his day, sipping and taking the dietary supplement on the tunes of ‘khul ke khel’ (open up and play).
Creative Agency: Rediffusion Y&R
afaqs! Reporter, March 1-16, 20162 4
There are not many people who know what exactly palliative care is. The healthcare communications agency,
Medulla communications, has therefore, released a new campaign titled ‘Last Words’ for the Indian Association of Palliative Care with the aim to make people aware about palliative care.
Directed by Rahul Sengupta of A Nineteen Films, the campaign was released by the Human Rights Commissioner at the Indian Association of Palliative Care conference held between February 12-14, 2016, in Pune, before an audience of more than 500 healthcare professionals and healthcare agencies.
The campaign was released digitally on February 24, and may be released as a TVC as well, depending on the agency.
Palliative care or care during one’s last few days is not a known concept in the country with just one in 100 patients actually receiving it. To create awareness about it, or in this case, the lack of it, has been the biggest hurdle for the association, and this film is an attempt to popularise it.
The film highlights the role of the nursing staff that happens to be present to hear the last words of dying patients, which even the patients’ family members sometimes don’t. When nurses across India recount the last words they have heard, it raises the all-important question -- do not the dying deserve dignity? Should not the quality of death be as important as the quality of life?
The creative agency had to interview nearly 200 nurses who shared their unique real-life experiences about palliative care. After scrutinising the stories, the agency went ahead with some nurses who appear in the video to share their own experiences about it. The campaign is more of an initiative with the aim to educate the masses about this particular medical concept. The video revolves around a conversation whose main subject is palliative care.
Speaking about the campaign, Amit Akali, chief creative officer, Medulla Communications, says, “This is certainly not just an ad project, it’s a cause that’s very close to our heart. In fact, the ‘recipe’ incident in the video is inspired by what happened to our mother. At that point, my family had no clue that anything like palliative care existed - if we did, we would have offered it to her.”
Even today, most people have no clue about palliative care, informs Akali. “This project is a tiny attempt to question the current medical system, get people to start a conversation on palliative care, and finally pledge to opt for it. The campaign has garnered very good responses until now on social media, and we hope that it would be more popular among the audience,” he says.
According to Praful Akali, founder director, Medulla Communications, “The whole process
was vast and is a part of a bigger extensive initiative. We interviewed 200 nurses who narrated their experiences regarding palliative care. We had to find out the authenticity of these stories. Few nurses were then selected and showcased in the video. This is more of a social awareness campaign rather than a promotional one.”
Medulla Communications is a healthcare and pharmaceutical communications agency which was started by Praful Akali seven years ago. Its client portfolio includes healthcare and pharma companies such as Johnson and Johnson, GSK, Novartis, Pfizer, P&G, among
others. Last year, Amit Akali joined as chief creative officer of the agency. Praful and Amit together also started What’s Your Problem, a digital focused full service agency. WYP, along with its sister agency Medulla, provides services in strategy, social media, SEO, SEM, digital media planning, analytics, YouTube marketing, web-development, art and design, UI/ UX, copy and content, video production, and animation.
The Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPC) was set up in 1994 in consultation with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the government of India as a national forum to connect, support and motivate individuals and institutions involved in palliative care. The 23rd International Conference of the Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPCON) was held from February 12-14 at Hotel Hyatt Regency, Pune. n
A Caring HandINDIAN ASSOCIATION OF PALLIATIVE CARE
advertising
Titled ‘Last Words’, the campaign aims to educate the masses about the form of specialised medical care. By Snehojit Khan
2 5afaqs! Reporter, March 1-16, 2 0 1 6
“This is more of a social awareness campaign rather
than a promotional one.”
PRAFUL AKALI
“This project is a tiny attempt
to question the current medical
system.”AMIT AKALI
The agency interviewed nearly 200 nurses who
shared their experiences about palliative care.
people
McCann Worldgroup India has announced the elevation of its three top level executives.
Jitender Dabas, who joined McCann Delhi as executive vice-president, strategic planning in 2011, has been elevated as chief strategy officer, McCann Worldgroup India. Suraja Kishore, who had joined the agency’s Mumbai office as executive planning director in November 2013, has been promoted as national head, planning - Truth Central, and Punit Kapoor, who joined MRM McCann in May 2006 and was heading its Delhi operations, has been elevated as vice-president and general manager, India operations, MRM McCann.
The Asian Federation of Advertising Associations (AFAA), currently based in Taipei, has elected Advertising Council of India (ACI) and R K Swamy BBDO’s chairman Srinivasan K Swamy as the new vice-chairman of the Association. Along
with this, Raymond So, who represents the Taipei Association of Advertising Agencies (TAAA) has been elected as the chairman of the Association’s executive committee for a period of four years. Ramesh Narayan also representing the ACI, was elected as the chief strategy officer. n
A round up of some major people movements in the last fortnight>> MOVEMENTS/APPOINTMENTS<<
Sh e m a r o o E n t e r t a i n m e n t ,
the integrated media content house, has roped in Kaushal Nanavati as vice-president -- International Business. Nanavati will be responsible for driving the company’s business across international markets, and scale up Shemaroo’s international business on television, as well as digital platforms.
Before joining Shemaroo Entertainment, Nanavati was with Disney India as director - International Distribution and Syndication. Prior to that, he worked with several other media companies including UTV and Zee Telefilms.
With an experience of 18 years, of which more than 15 years have been in the television space, he has handled duties in the international channel distribution, content syndication, and domestic distribution areas.
Rajasthan Patrika has elevated Hemant Bamgude as vice-president - marketing. Bamgude has over 12 years of experience in media sales and marketing, and has previously held positions with several media companies.
His last assignment was as assistant vice-president with Rajasthan Patrika during which he handled the business operations of several verticals of the publication. His expertise and experience has brought positive growth to the overall business in the western region.
Havas Media Group has announced some senior level appointments. Kunal Jamuar re-joins the Group as managing partner, Havas Media, West and South. He was previously with the Group as executive director, West, and later, took on the role of chief planning officer at mediaReach OMD for the company’s West and Central African markets.
Chanchal Shaktawat has been roped in as v i c e - p r e s i d e n t , planning, West, Havas Media India. Prior to this, she was general manager at OMD. Shaktawat’s experience spans across agencies such as OMD, Allied, Mindshare Fulcrum, and Carat, while her brand experience portfolio includes Nissan, Toyota, Standard Chartered Bank, Unilever, Future Group, and Medimix.
Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific has announced that Rahul Johri, executive vice president and general manager - South Asia, has resigned, effective February 24, 2016. Johri will continue to work with Discovery until the end of the year as a senior advisor to Arthur Bastings, president and managing director, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific. Discovery has commenced the search for Johri’s replacement. In the interim, Bastings will additionally manage the South Asia business and day-to-day affairs from India. n
MEDIA
Kirthiga Reddy, m a n a g i n g
director, Facebook India, has decided to step down. She will move to the USA in the days ahead.
The UK-based e - c o m m e r c e venture Koovs.c o m , h a s appointed Gaurav Nabh as its new marketing director . He will be based in India and operate from Koovs’ h e a d q u a r t e r s in Gurgaon. In his new role, he will be the head of the marketing division. Nabh will take care of the company’s brand communications and content, digital marketing, and consumer engagement programmes. He will also head the current on-going marketing strategy of the brand. n
DIGITAL
After being part of the Fastrack
family for over 11 years, Hemal Panchamia, head of marketing, has decided to quit the organisation. Panchamia, who has been a part of the brand’s evolution through the years, joined the organisation in June 2004, right after he completed his MBA.
LIC Nomura Mutual Fund Asset Management Company has announced the appointment of Rajesh Patwardhan as its chief marketing officer with immediate effect. Patwardhan’s experience spans over 28 years, which includes 22 years in the financial industry. Previously, he was with Deutsche Asset Management (India) as head of sales for banks and national distributors for 12 years. n
MARKETING
ADVERTISING
2 6 afaqs! Reporter, March 1-16, 2 0 1 6
HEMAL PANCHAMIA
GAURAV NABH
KIRTHIGA REDDY
RAJESH PATWARDHAN
KAUSHAL NANAVATI
RAHUL JOHRI
HEMANT BAMGUDE
KUNAL JAMUAR
SRINIVASAN K SWAMYJITENDER DABAS
MY FM RADIO A GAME CHANGER
Tell us about your favorite campaign? What mediums were used to execute it?One of my favorite campaigns that we did on the radio was for Nirlep. An idea cracked by our copywriter at curry-nation, Sushant Dharwadkar, and executed brilliantly by none other than Manohar (lingo), of course. The client had come up with a unique non-stick. It was a two-way non-stick pan. The idea was so simple that it was awesome. The names of dishes were just turned around and said ulta. And as you repeat them constantly it becomes seedha. So saido saido saido saido sai or peethtahli peethtahli peethtahli or letteom letteom became dosai, thalipeeth and omelette. The connect was ab koi cheez palti karene main asanni. The whole production done by lingo on these spots took them to another level. Manohar was so passionate that he added several different relevant textures to each of the spots. He called musicians to record live. These are things we had not thought about when we conceived the idea. And you realise how much value all this detailing can do to make a brilliant idea shine. We used only radio as the medium.
Please tell us about a campaign where you used Radio as a medium.There have been several other brands where we have used. But usually, when TV is the main medium the radio, unfortunately, takes a back seat and only becomes a reminder medium, which is sad. A particular one I truly remember is where we used Radio differently was Surf Excel. For the first time, we used one medium to talk about the other. This was during the boy-girl puddle commercial for Dirt is Good. The TVC became so popular that the radio spots we created were people discussing the TVC. It was absolutely a breakthrough at that time as no one had done something like that before. But for that, you need a TVC popular enough.
How do you analyze the success of a Radio
Campaign?It is difficult if it is in a media mix of other communication. Most of the times if a post research throws up about hearing about the brand on Radio or, then, of course, awards tell you if you have done a creative enough job.
According to you, how important is a good script in making a radio campaign successful?It is paramount. The idea is important. And that you write for the audio medium fully juicing it out, is important. Most writers forget that. They write a TVC for Radio. They forget there is nothing a person listening can see.
How can a marketer leverage radio as a medium to reach out to his target market?Marketers need to be more open to being creative on Radio. Most of the
times they want to say everything. The cost, the reach and therefore, giving out all information becomes a mandate. The point is with no support of visuals a radio spot with just information becomes a drab.
Its effectiveness and ability to reach out to the masses in tier II and III cities have always attracted marketers towards it. Any other benefits that marketers targeting these areas can look at leveraging through radio advertising?I feel interactivity and content are something marketers are still not experimenting fully with. It is a medium that allows you call in live. It is a medium that can create long standing content and hook the audience.
How does your approach
change when creating advertisements for Radio in a particular campaign?It has to completely change. The challenge is how you can keep the brand communication alive and crack the medium. Creation of word pictures using different facets of audio. It is an entirely different way to look at the communication.
How do you see the growth of Radio industry in India?I feel Radio has to start differentiating on content for it to grow. Currently, most people have apps that live stream their favorite music for them without any ad breaks. In a scenario like this, I feel Radio channels needs to look at how to be different from each other. Also, how do you take along an advertiser within your content is going to need to eventually do. There has to be a new way of thinking on music entertainment. l
INTERVIEWPRITI NAIRCHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER, LOWE LINTAS
