I.Venkat, Director, Eenadu Group

"Media has seen a lot of change for better. Media planning & Buying has shifted to Clients with Buying becoming an important aspect."

Ushodaya Enterprises (promoter of Eenadu, Newstime and ETV) is a growing player in the media industry and has presence in both publishing and television domain. Mr. I Venkat, Director, Ushodaya Enterprises, who has been with the group for the last 26 years as part of all initiatives both at Eenadu and ETV, in an interview with exchange4media content team shares his views on the changing media scenario and initiatives at Eenadu & ETV.

Q. FMCGs and Durable companies are increasingly moving their spends on TV. In your opinion, does Print offer some salient benefits in the communication process such as credibility of offer etc. ?

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The FMCG and the consumer durables have already shifted to TV. With the satellite TV boom, there is nothing to loose further for print. However, print has more to offer on its part. It has less clutter and is segmented very well to cater to the niche segments.

Q. As a media veteran, what impact do you see of the consolidation on buy side-formation of Mindshare and several other media buying companies. Do you anticipate increase in negotiations?

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From the Agency point of view or Media Buying point of view consolidation is good & it benefits the clients. There have been cases of arm-twisting. Negotiations will become a buying selling phenomenon. Depending on the strengths/weaknesses, the rates will fluctuate.
On their part, the media houses will have to introspect and come out with value additions to offer. Media houses also have to get into partnerships. Another possibility is inter-media & intra-media collaborations as in the case of agencies.

Q. As a regional language newspaper, how are you tackling the bias amongst media Planners in favor of English newspaper ?

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Yes. The language press has to fight a two-way battle. The TV on one hand and the English bias on the other. We at Eenadu have been using the readership analysis to showcase our strengths. A recent success of the Mercedes Benz campaign, Rado Watches etc. have been some of the success stories we illustrate to the planners. To illustrate this, our three Ad campaign also helps in addressing the bias.

Q. Speaking of your readership, inspite of a very strong regional presence and multimedia presence, as per NRS 01, Deccan Chronicle is still number 1 in highest SEC category- A in Hyderabad (Eenadu has 42.9% reach while D.Chronicle has 46.9% reach). How do you plan to tackle this?

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Deccan Chronicle has been a part of Hyderabad for over 60 years now. Moreover, the bias for English is National. We highlight the duplication between Language & English, which is 46%. The other factor being the cost effectiveness.

Q. In June this year, you had initiated the combination-advertising package with Hindu. Have you gained incremental revenues to offset the package discount?

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Yes. We have gained from the package both in value & volume, and so has The Hindu. It is a mutual benefit package. We have gained by roping in new clients, which were specifically "only English clients". The Hindu has gained with the Regional advantage.

Q. How has the media environment changed in the last decade? Have clients actually gained from media proliferation set about by satellite channels and multiple print editions?

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Media has seen a lot of change for better. Media planning & Buying has shifted to Clients with Buying becoming an important aspect. Yes, they have gained tremendously during the last decade from hard bargains. On Satellite channels, barring an exception or two, rates are negotiable. With the advent of Multiple Print Editions, even buying space in Print has become easy, though not as bad as in TV. Print has still sanctity for ratecards.
The Advertisers have witnessed more opportunities for the growth of their business. To maintain & increase it's readership Print also has undergone a sea change. This has been initiated with the Satellite channels coming into place and forcing Print to improve and look for new opportunities. Print on its part has come into Multiple Editions, improved the reproduction facility and started catering to different segments of readers with specialized supplements

Q. You must be aware that readership of most magazines is declining. What do you attribute this to? How can this be prevented?

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We can attribute the decline in Magazine readership to increase in TV viewership. The second possibility is that dailies have increased their bouquet of offers day to day. They are touching upon every subject with supplements & keeping their readers informed. However, some important Magazines will survive & are aware & responding.

Q. Eenadu has launched several regional language television channels including an Urdu channel. Are you happy with the progress made? To expand the bouquet futher, are there plans to launch a Hindi channel?

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ETV Network has launched Bangla, Marathi, Kannada and Urdu channels in the last 16 months. ETV Bangla, launched during April 2000, has today grown to be no.1 satellite channel. ETV Marathi and ETV Kannada have made considerable progress and are considered to be the fastest growing channels.
ETV Urdu was launched on August 15th 2001 and the initial trends received are encouraging. ETV Network is planning to launch exclusive channels like ETV MP for MP and Chattisgarh, ETV UP for UP and Uttaranchal, ETV Bihar for Bihar and Jharkand, ETV Rajasthan for Rajasthan. These channels wil be packaged innovatively to provide infotainment in their local dialect capturing the culture and spirit of these states.
Our Hindi channels will deliver the local entertainment requirements retaining the regional sensibilities. These channels will be state exclusive in their appeal.
During January 2002, along with ETV-MP, ETV-UP, ETV-Bihar and ETV Rajasthan, ETV network is also launching ETV Gujarathi and ETV Oriya. The simultaneous launch of 6 channels on one day is unheard of in the broadcasting history.

Q. In your current ad campaign - Eenadu Pradesh- you have stressed that 'SEC A animal' is different from the perceived stereotype in Andhra. Could you elaborate?

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Our campaign is aimed to dispel the notion that SEC A live only in Metros. In AP the purchasing power & lifestyle of the people is no different from the defined SEC A. It is this fact that we state through our campaigns. We also draw the advertiser's attention to the opportunities in AP.

Q. The latest advertising campaign of Eenadu directed at media planners/advertisers is focusing a lot on emotive, qualitative appeal apart from quantitative data. Is it Working?

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Measurement of the campaign cannot be immediate. However the reactions have been fantastic both from the creative side and the media planners. Senior professionals in the industry including Mr. Gopinath Menon have congratulated us saying that it is a fantastic campaign, excellent job done and it would win some awards.