Shift from newspapers to TV

Deccan Herald in its edit page carried an insightful article on "The Fourth World" links. According to NRS 2006, the country's 230 million TV viewers (in 112 m TV homes) now exceed its 203.6 million newspaper readers, while the number of cinema-goers has declined from 51 million to 39 million a month. FM radio listeners now total 119 million. Indian language newspaper readership is fast growing, especially in the Hindi belt, while the comparable figure for English dailies has been stagnating around 21 million.

For me the figures reflect an unhealthy development. Why is TV viewership increasing? Does it reflect lack of investment of time in reading or is it the advancement of technology so much so that news is better viewed than read? Quite startling is the fact that readership of english dailies has been stagnating, which makes me even more skeptical about the declining reading habits.Worse, what happens when an increasing number of people shift to news on the move? Imagine the complexity of controlling messages being disseminated...

World Cup 2006

It has been over 2 weeks since Italy trounced France in the final of World Cup 2006, yet there is so much being written about it as if the greatest sporting event is still on. Well, every event will be remembered for something special. And, if there's anything negative, all the more better for it to be imprinted in ones mind. This world cup final will be remembered forever for Zizous head-butt. And, Zidane will go down memory lane as not only a great player but one who has a fiery temper. Like Mike TYson is remembered for chewing Foreman's ear...

Network Effect

The effect of "networking" is enormous.I have personally experienced the network effect through the modern communication tool - e-mail. What I have observed is that it is effective, participatory or intelligently interactive only if the topic is open and provides room for people to extend their expertise. "What should a company do to ensure effective re-branding?" The topic elicited abundance of thoughts that for a moment I thought the mail box would collapse. Remember, it's a one-line question which attracts response that gradually evolves into a 1 page document or more. HOwever, a 3 paragraph comment on "business model of IT companies" with 3-4 questions elicited limited response. The fact is that if one can initiate a topic that is simple and interesting, the attention it receives can be leveraged to plant "key messages" discretely to influence the participants. Imagine the power of planting "key messages" in a network run by the Harvard alumni. In the age of personal media, when consumers are increasingly becoming prosumers (producers and consumers), the need for PR professionals to devise intelligent campaigns that effectively influence the right audience is a challenge.

Elections sans PR strategy

The much awaited results are out. And, for a change the exit polls got it right. Yes, Karunanidhi, the 83 year old is at it, yet again. What is evident is that people are not really concerned about continuity, which will enable the State to undertake progressive measures effectively. Even more evident is the fact that the ministers aren't bothered about continuity. A sneak peek at the elections over the last couple of years will reflect 'election campaign' sans any direction or focus. What was the theme for AIADMK or DMK for this year? Except for competition bashing, there hasn't been anything concrete to take back for the citizens. With credibility hitting the trough, it has become imperative for the dravidian parties to first, establish credibility among the masses. And, in this light, portraying leadership and their track record should have been a priority. Secondly, conceptualizing a theme which is close to the masses and periodically seeding it within the masses, could be the next step. And, finally, reflecting upon the successes hitherto. The campaign has to have a professional approach, which has been conspicuously absent from the elections. The Jayalalitha government would have realized this by now and hopefully will chalk out a robust strategy to come back to power.

PR ploy in politics

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power," said Abraham Lincoln. We have winessed this in Indian politics, not once, but many times across various States. I can't recall any leader who had any inclination to genuinely serve the masses. The pre-election campaigning, laced with unbelievable and unachievable promises continues to reverberate in the constituencies gearing up for election. With unfullfilled manifestos glaring at wannabe leaders, the campaigning ought to be packaged differently. And yes, don't they do it in style. Let's revisit campaigning in Kerala. The UDF and LDF were running neck to neck in the race to the elections with infighting and pandemonium rocking both parties. A new twist was certainly required to gain prominence, in the media and in the minds of people. News about one of the most respected and the architect of LDF, the veteran V.S.Achuthanandan, being deprived of a ticket to election rocked the State. A clever ploy to gain significant mindshare and if the exit polls were to be believed, the strategy has paved way for the LDF.

Dance Bars' brand equity

The euphoria about legalising or shutting down dance bars has achieved one thing for sure - recognition for "dance bars." While the awareness was earlier restricted to Mumbaikars and frequent travellers to the commercial capital, the increasing number of print and electronic coverage has taken the concept of dance bars even to the conservative towns spanning India.The members at these bars who have been at the receiving end all this while will also be feeling elated remotely as their recognition would also go up to some extend. Well, am talking about the girls who would want to market/position themselves and leverage this opportunity. Many of these girls would go back to their respective home towns and get into some trade they know well. Obviously, the first priority would be to dance, where they can certainly command a premium as the "Mumbai Returned." And, even if they enter the oldest profession, the return will be a premium.

Came across an interesting report by Tanzeel Merchant,which reflects the risk-averse investment preference of Indians. Quite startling that only about 1.4 per cent of retail assets are in equities or related instruments. The average Indian invests the remaining 98.6 per cent of assets predominantly in fixed income instruments, life insurance, real estate, gold etc.While the fixed income assets yield only about 6% returns, the high returns possible through equities seems to have very few takers. Look at countries like Japan & US, Investors there have a significantly higher ratio of their assets invested in equities, either directly through the purchase of stocks and mutual funds, or indirectly through pension plans. Equities as an investment option are well accepted in these markets and their ownership widespread.A look at some of the companies by m-cap throws some interesting facts - the avg Indian owned very few shares.Be it TCS, Wipro, HLL, ITC or Reliance.

Can PR play a role here? Guess, the awareness levels amongst young Indians commanding high disposable income will have to significantly go up. Your thoughts...

Finally, the media seem to be turning in favour of PR. A meeting with the Bureau Chief of a leading business daily witnessed watershed events in the PR/media fraternity. In the Chief's words,"We have finally come to terms with this growing profession, PR."With competition looming large and pressure to produce breaking stories, relationship building seems to be the only way out for journalists. Yet another development noteworthy is the new initiative by leading US dailies to produce one news to the world. Yes, they are doing away with the hitherto strong strategy of creating separate content for print and online media. The challenge for PR pros is simply going to sky rocket what with the need to extend exclusive news for several journalists spanning diverse media platforms.

"PR is still in a nascent state." Well, when is it expected to mature? I've been hearing this for over 6 years now and given the rapid progress that the country is witnessing, one can be confident in pointing out the enormous contribution made by PR. Many PR practitioners still flay journalists, getting back the same from them. They belittle clients and the point of contact. Why does this repeatedly happen? I had the privilege of working with a veteran marketing wizard who once told me that,"you create what you think." I think, it holds true for PR as well. No, I don't think but it is indeed true. Indian PR practitioners try and target only one application, and that's invariably the media - print media, 99.9%. They (ideate, conceptualize) dissect client organization and it's departments for possible news stories getting 1-30 clips of print. Is it a one time effort? Do they broadly think of setting of a campaign. The answer is no. Most of the practitioners try and work out one month or one day PR solution - be it a launch or corporate results. There is absolutely no objective behind any exercises.

I think, practitioners of this trade will have to come out of the "media" coccoon and weave their networking strength to encompass "word of mouth" and new technology application. Consider the mobile phone, blogs, movies, matches,competitions etc. Can't PR play a role in reaching directly to the TA? As long as the practitioners depend solely on journalists, they'll continue to receive brickbats.

Quite intriguing! can money entice journalists to pen down reports that will transform their own nation into pits? Well, it certainly seems so going by the recent events that shook America. One of the prominent newspapers there has reported US govt funding a PR agency to plant favourtable reports in Iraqi newspapers. The PR agency reportedly paid journalists to write about US funding and rebuilding initiatives in the country. If money can buy anything,PR can create anything.

Picture this, how would Ford sell a million cars in India without planned promotion, i.e, sans ads, PR,DMs and other below the line marketing activities. How about Oracle and SAP? Well, the world would have been genuine. Technology will sell for what it is worth and not for its brand value. People will get hired for demonstrated success and not based on pfaff.
Well, am not crazy to come out with weird imaginations and then sending it out to even weird readers. The other day, while speaking to some Oracle professionals, I gathered that an Oracle Apps suite is available for 75 lakhs(it could also be in crores). However, another colleague brought me a letter where the same application was "hard-sold" for 20 lakhs. Well, if I delve further, am pretty confident of getting the same at rock-bottom prices. How is this possible? Well, it is how cleverly you package your product and present it to a particular target audience. In this case, a corporate was charged nearly 4 times more for the same "cd" than an SME. Delve a little further and you'll see how cleverly the communication professional enabled Oracle to package a "cd" and earn 4 times more.