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What was your breakthrough moment in the
media and advertising industry? |
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I’ve had many ‘moments’ to keep me going
in this industry, quite a few challenges to overcome, with the
highs that followed… but the breakthrough moment is yet
to come. |
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What has kept you going in this industry for so many
years? |
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The nature of the industry – dynamic, ever-changing,
irresistible. A few years into this industry and you are addicted!
I guess, what also helped is having a persistent attitude, open
to learning new skills and confidence in myself. |
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Where do you see yourself five years hence? |
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Successfully managing a business. |
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Who are some of the people from the industry that
you think have played a role in shaping your experience here?
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I have been fortunate to have had the guidance and support
of some really nice people, who have been masters in their field.
It is very humbling to know that they had the faith in me to
enable me to give my best. |
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You are amongst the industry professionals who have
seen the industry in absolute boom to this present slowdown.
What were the first signs of slowdown that you noticed? |
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While there were warning signs all around us – crash
in stock markets (both Indian and world) leading to depressed
company valuations (including media companies), the media industry
per se did not go into a complete loop. Media friends in the
industry did tell us about some sectors that had completely
cut budgets, and how some deals were going kaput. Everyone said
they were exercising ‘caution’. |
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What are some of the steps that you are taking now
to help your agency brave the situation? |
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As an advertiser, it is crucial for us to plan for this year
by being focussed and taking active steps to realise our objectives.
A few steps were: 1) Do more for less – make the money
more accountable, remove the fluff, be prepared for opportunity
buys and be flexible; 2) Look at alternative means of reaching
the same audience; 3) Strengthen our partnerships with our key
media partners in a mutually beneficial manner. |
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What do you attach most importance to:
a) Numbers - Viewership - readership
b) Quality - Environment
c) Impact - buzz |
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All of them are important, depending on the objective. However,
the current wave is more towards all analysis being of a quantitative
nature, excluding the contextual needs of the plan – which
is extremely dangerous for media planning.
Personally I would go for a balance of the first two, with
emphasis on impact depending on the objective. |
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Your views on growing the advertising pie… |
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It would be quite a challenge to grow the ad pie in these
times of economic slowdown. Having said that, here are some
thoughts:
1. Concentrate on high growth
media that have still not reached optimum levels of investments
– radio, Internet. I believe these media have not got
their due. Make the Internet more buyer/ advertiser friendly
– it is not so difficult for advertisers to spend once
they understand what they are buying into, and it is not just
a pay for clicks phenomenon anymore.
2.
Industry investment in research. A lot of media options do not
have measurement metrics, because of which they are being used
sub-optimally. BTL, cinema and other OOH options could get a
tremendous boost if there was a way to showcase their importance
in any plan.
3. Use of the leading
media – print, television – more constructively.
This is a difficult one. Focus on content, regional flavours.
Make it more of a communication-solutions approach.
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What are some of the biggest changes that you have
seen in the advertising and media industry in your time spent
here? |
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The changes have been both good and bad. The good ones –
which also make me proud to be a part of this industry –
have been the growth and expansion of the industry, the adoption
of many key learnings and trends from the world over and customising
them for India, Indians being recognised as invaluable talent
in media offices across the globe and their fantastic achievements,
the reach of media and multitude of media options across India…
the list could go on and on.
Some more changes would be the shying away of talent from media
agencies, the sameness of content in media, DTH, television
launches and carriage fees, the rise and fall of reality shows.
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Any experience that you really would want to go back
in time and change? |
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No. I would rather use the experiences that I have to make
my future better. |
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What would you say was the most proud moment for you
at work? |
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Moments of pride would be whenever a calculated risk pays
off, whenever my team’s work is appreciated, whenever
a process that has been put in place by my team and me is fully
functional, whenever my seniors call to appreciate me on anything
I did that caught their attention. |
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What is the motto or the guiding principle with which
you lead your team? |
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Give the team the freedom and the responsibility to be accountable
for their actions. Every person in the team has a strongly defined
role, which (s)he has to understand and appreciate to be able
to perform to the best of his/her capacity. |
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The GenNext Media magnate is chosen by a
committee comprising the exchange4media editorial team in consultation
with Raj Nayak. |
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Archive |
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GenNext
Media Magnate: Divya Gururaj – Making a difference, not
a nest |
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