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Volume 4 Issue 45 28April - 4May. 2008 • Rs 30

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IMPACT FEATURE

IPL marketing - a runaway success
Jury still out on the format

By Anushree Bhattacharyya

A few months back when the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) announced its new venture IPL (Indian Premiere League), the success of the format was debated much – after all, India watches cricket when India plays cricket. But would the passion be displayed much in the same way when the nation angle is taken away and only the sport stays? Many would say that the jury is still out on this one, and perhaps it is. However, the verdict is out on IPL marketing for sure. The first indications have more positives for this new format of cricket, which translates into the fact that the Indian audience was
excited and curious enough about this format. Television ratings, which would be one of the key parameters defining the success of the game per se, have given a thumbs-up for the first ratings of IPL. Industry observers nonetheless have cautioned that while the beginning is good, there is much that IPL needs to still be worried about.

The ratings scenario

The ratings scenario The Indian Premier League entered the ratings battleground last week. TAM Media Research has so far given the ratings for the first two days of the game. The best scorer amongst the three matches played in the first two days has been King Khan’s team Kolkata Knight Riders, which also has been one of the most aggressively marketed team, against Vijay Mallya’s Bangalore Royal Challengers. The match scored an overall 7.2 TRP in the C&S 4+ for the all- India market. Not that this is as good as the highs that the likes of Sa Re Ga Ma have seen when Salman Khan was a guest on the show, or even the first episode of KBC-SRK, the third season of the show that was as high as a 12+ TRP. However, market observers are quick to state that for these numbers to come over a period of three hours, is indeed a big deal.

The second match where India Cement’s Chennai Super Kings battled it out with Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia’s Kings XI from Mohali grossed a 4.5 TRP and the last match that was between GMR Sport’s Delhi Daredevils and Emerging Media’s Rajasthan Royals grossed a TRP of 5. For the industry observers, these are great numbers. Some even go
on to say that this may spell another shot in cricket’s arm, given that India playing or the country’s performance would no longer be the deciding factor for a match’s fate.

(Full report in impact) more…

SPOTLIGHT

Industry leaders delve on the Indian entertainment economy

The NAB Show 2008 had devoted a Super Session to India, wherein industry leaders discussed more on the status of the Indian entertainment economy. Prior to the session, David Rehr, President and CEO, NAB, unveiled the NABcommissioned Ernst & Young report on the Indian entertainment economy. Rehr reiterated the focus that NAB had placed on the Indian market this year.

Farokh Balsara, National Sector Leader, Media and Entertainment, Ernst & Young moderated the Super Session. Balsara took the audience through the growth in the Indian economy, informing that India’s GDP was growing at twice the pace of the mature markets.

He said that the growth was more services-led than rural, as it had traditionally been. India is the second largest English speaking nation, urbanisation is happening at a fast pace, and there is propensity to spend today. Balsara further explained that India was a high volume market, and so the large numbers made up for the low value per customer. He said that most of the content consumed in India was produced in India and the country was embracing digitisation in a significant way bringing in distribution efficiencies.

Digitisation high on the Indian agenda

One key point that came from the discussion was when the Jt Secretary, Information and Broadcasting Ministry, Government of India, Zohra Chatterjee stated that digitalisation was the priority for the Indian Government at present. She said, “We are looking at how to do it, given the costs that it entails. We are learning from our experience of the CAS rollout. We are encouraging platforms like HITS. Also, 74 per cent FDI would be allowed for these initiatives. End of the day, it is the broadcasters and the Government, who would benefit from these initiatives. The consumers who are poor won’t be able to afford this. That coupled with the last mile operator problems have thrown as many takers for these initiatives as the Government would like to see.”

(Full report in impact) more…

MAGSCENE

Blender Tales

By Ruchika Chitravanshi

The readership and revenue numbers may be swinging both ways, but that does not desist those with interest to foray into this ever-burgeoning sector. The magazine market in India has been witnessing several launches in the past few months, and after much hype, it is the turn of Media Transasia to make a foray into the Indian magazine market with ‘Blender’.

Blender will be launched in the first week of May in all the major metros of the country. The monthly magazine is targeted at the young modern urban Indian. India is the first place to have the first licensed version of Blender in the world, which according to Simon Clays, Editorial Director, Media Transasia, says a lot about India. After having launched Maxim India, Clays is geared for the launch of music and lifestyle magazine Blender in India. “Maxim is two-and-a-half years old now. It is a long going development. We know we have a very good product, we just have to work harder,” said Clays. And as for Blender he feels, “For Blender it’s interesting, as I don’t think we do have a full-fledged music magazine in the Indian market. We hope to fill that gap.”

Class apart

For Clays, what would set Blender apart is the way it would combine the elements of music and lifestyle. “Blender is not just about music but about everything associated with it, like gadgets, fashion... Our magazine differentiates in the way it speaks to its readers,” said Clays.

When quizzed on the way they intend to speak to its readers, Clays explains how the readers today are exposed to so many different mediums and are using internet, mobile, television and print – all at the same time. They are used to interacting with seven or eight devices simultaneously, he states. “We appreciated that and felt we have to deliver a product on many platforms and deliver a product that also delivers content. Now we are not talking about the reader anymore, we are talking about the viewer. So the magazine has to look like that,” he stressed.

Majority of the content for the magazine will be generated in India, states Clays. “All magazines pick up content from their parent company and so will we in some part, as they are the benchmark,” said Clays.

(Full report in impact) more…

For articles by industry leaders from the Third Anniversary Issue of
impact, click here

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