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What would you define as the breakthrough
moment in the media and advertising industry? |
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I would say that the launch of Tata Sky was a key milestone
in my career. It was a new category and Tata Sky was a startup
company. I remember we had not even finalized the brand name
for our DTH service when I joined the company about 4 years
back. It has certainly been a satisfying journey to see Tata
Sky established as one of the leading brands in the country. |
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What has kept you going in this industry for so many
years? |
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Well, I have never seen my career as an endurance or stamina
test. So it has not really been a challenge to pursue my interests
professionally as I have always managed to find something interesting
& stimulating in all my jobs. I have been lucky to work
for organizations and with colleagues who have provided me with
opportunities to learn & grow. Also the fact that I have
managed to work in different industries has meant that there
was always something new to learn. |
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Where do you see yourself five years from now? |
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Job titles can often be misleading. Nowadays, we all know
of 30-year-old CEOs, Directors, and Senior Vice Presidents etc.
So I will not hazard a guess about what my designation will
be in 5 years. I would be more satisfied leading a team of solid
professionals in a profit centre head position, most probably
in a consumer marketing organization. However, as Tata Sky is
a relatively young (just 3 years old) organisation, I believe
that enough growth opportunities will exist for a long-term
stint in my current job. |
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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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While one could name a lot of people, I would like to pick
out a few individuals. Ankush Arora (currently Vice President
– Sales & Marketing at General Motors India), the
first person to interview me at General Motors India and realised
my passion for cars. He played an important role in ensuring
that I became a key member of the select team that handled a
number of new launches. It’s a different matter that while
he was keen on me joining as Sales Manager, I eventually ended
up joining as the Brand Manager. Later it was Anisha Motwani
& Johnny Oommen in the Marketing function at General Motors
India with whom I enjoyed working. However, I certainly feel
that the extent of responsibility & support provided to
me at Tata Sky by Vikram Mehra (Chief Marketing Officer) &
Vikram Kaushik (CEO & MD) has helped me in handling things
independently like never before.
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You are amongst the many industry professionals who
have seen the industry in its absolute boom to this present
slowdown. What were the first signs of slowdown that you noticed? |
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I am told that that it might be a little late to discuss this
issue as we already might be seeing some signs of recovery.
Although I personally feel that it will take some more time
(another 6 months to a year) before things start moving upwards
in a tangible fashion. However the fact remains that the last
10 months have certainly seen a slowdown that few of us have
experienced in our professional lives. While one can debate
how much of it was sentiment driven and how much was based on
fundamentals and go on to draw a distinction between Recession
(US & West) vs. Slowdown (India), in a globalised economy
almost everyone is likely to feel the impact in such circumstances.
Whether it was the stock market performance, headline stories
in the media, discussions between friends & colleagues,
NRI’s returning back to India, real estate prices stagnating
and later falling, empty shopping malls (or at least with just
window shoppers), the signs were there for everybody to see.
On the advertising & media side, Ad sales teams from TV
channels offering value-adds & later absolute deep discounts
and increasing number of vacant billboards meant that the slowdown
had hit the advertising industry as well. |
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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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I think the question is a bit one-sided and assumes that it’s
only the agency that needs to brave the situation. What I would
like to ask is how my agency will help me brave this situation
and vice-versa. Having said that, the DTH industry in India
has not been severely impacted by the slowdown and has continued
to grow at the expected rate. However issues pertaining to price
sensitivity of the consumer, overall profitability, long break-even
periods, taxation & regulation issues has meant that we
need to very conscious about out cost structures for the short
& medium term as well. We have taken a number of steps with
respect to rationalisations of budgets and spends and expect
the same from our agencies. We continue to support our agencies
and believe that adequate investments in talent and their services
is a must for our marketing programs; we have jointly adopted
a more cost conscious approach. |
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What do you attach most importance to?
Numbers - Viewership - readership
Quality - Environment
Impact – Buzz |
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I think it’s difficult to just choose one of these
as the most important. All of these parameters matter and can
be equally important in a given situation. In fact the absence
of one or some of these can dilute the impact of the other.
However, the hierarchy of priority can be basis the kind of
solution that achieves the brand and campaign objective at a
given point of time. Eventually, it’s all about a business
objective and a strategy to achieve it. So for example, a new
brand launch might focus more on impact & buzz creation
than maybe the environment. |
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Your views on growing the advertising pie... |
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Growth of the advertising pie is obviously linked to market
growth and therefore the growth of brands in those specific
markets/categories. It will also depend on some fundamental
factors such as the economic health of the country, increase
in the consumer’s purchasing power, emergence of new industries
or segments very often supported by government policies. Brands
then need to play their role in creating & increasing demand
as well as consumption supported by advertising. Agencies need
to do their bit by providing media neutral solutions. Media
partners need to think like brand owners and suggest innovative
and contextual options that deliver the right audience and right
number of audience. The business solution approach will always
help in the overall growth of the advertising pie. |
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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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Well, I have been lucky to be part of one of the bigger changes
in the media industry in the last few years, which is the creation
of DTH as a category with the launch of Tata Sky. There have
obviously been other changes such as the growth in the number
of media options, more significantly seen in the number of new
TV channels. Radio as an industry has definitely evolved over
the last several years. Internet has been the fastest growing
medium with an ever-changing face making it almost impossible
to come up with any predictions for the online space. While
media fragmentation is an issue that all advertisers face now,
unfortunately the increase in quantity has often been coupled
with a decrease in quality of content. The news media, particularly
news channels and their increasing tabloidisation with trivial
sensationalism is a case in point. |
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Any experience that you really would want to go back
in time, and change? |
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It’s a theoretical question. While it can lead to interesting
wishful thinking, one will soon realize that you can end up
with a number of such experiences (significant or trivial) that
you may want to change. I think it’s more important to
try & make mental notes or take lessons, if any which come
in handy for the future. |
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What would you say was the most proud movement for
you at work? |
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Having spent most of my professional life in marketing &
brand management I have been lucky to have had a few achievements.
However I think one of my most proud moments at work has been
in one my stints as a Sales manager. While working at Jumbo
Electronics in Dubai, I had suggested the creation of an independent
sales team for the Appliances division which had earlier been
combined with the consumer electronics division. As one of the
youngest manager in the organization, I went on to head this
new team which saw our market share increase from 15% to about
45% in just 2 years. I still have fond memories of the camaraderie
shared with my sales team sweating it out literally on the streets
while doing sales calls. |
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What is the motto or the guiding principle with which
you lead your team? |
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Lead by example – I firmly believe that you will get
the support and respect of your team only if they see you as
an able & competent leader. If you are fair and just with
them, they will return the favor. |
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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: Tarannum Alam Associate General Manager
India Media Exchange |
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GenNext
Media Magnate: Imran Karim National Buying Head TME |
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GenNext
Media Magnate: Soumya Acharya Investment Director – Nokia,
Maxus |
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GenNext
Media Magnate: Himanka Das Associate Vice President, Lintas
Media Group |
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GenNext
Media Magnate: Samir Khanna –Vice President, Mudra Communications |
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GenNext
Media Magnate: Prerna Singh AVP – Media, Reliance ADAG |
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GenNext
Media Magnate: Deepak Netram General Manager, Lodestar Universal
|
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GenNext
Media Magnate: Andrew Williams Group Brand Manager, Asian Paints
Ltd |
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GenNext
Media Magnate: Nitasha Narad– AVP – Marketing Communications,
Tata Teleservices, Mumbai |
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GenNext
Media Magnate: Divya Gururaj – Making a difference, not
a nest |
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