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Volume 5 Issue 22 17Nov. - 23Nov. 2008 • Rs 100

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Cover

IMPACT CHAT

Janakiraman Murugavel :’You need a Business Model that is Innovative and Disruptive’

J Murugavel, Founder & CEO of Consim Info, (formally BharatMatrimony.com) is one among the few young Indian entrepreneurs who actually pushed the envelope and tapped the potential of the internet to the hilt. While the others approached the medium with much disdain, Murugavel kicked off bharatmatrimony.com in 1997 with a member base of 4000 and today, the matrimony major is making waves as the No.1 Indian matrimonial portal with a record number of marriages to its credit. The Group today has 15 regional linguistic portals under its fold and has won the trust of over 12 million members worldwide. Though Consim pioneered online matrimony in India, it later diversified into several business models successfully launching clickjobs.com, indiaproperty.com, IndiaAutomobile.com, IndiaList. com, and the others.

In a freewheeling chat with Judy Franko, Murugavel speaks at length about the transformation of Consim Info from being just a matrimonial-related company to a conglomerate offering diversified services.

As he opens up on matters concerning the company, the 37- year-old entrepreneur says that he does not want his company to be identified as an online matrimony company anymore. “Matrimony is of course our flagship brand, but it’s not just about matrimony anymore.

(For Complete Story) more…

INFOCUS

THE GUNN FIRES; INDIA SLIPS TO NO.17

By RISHI VORA

Celebrations were rife and Incredible India was the buzzword internationally when India had swept its first ever Grand Prix at Cannes Lions Advertising Festival 2008.As it stands today, Lead India (the entry that clinched the Grand Prix) has become a case study for the rest of the world, and is seen as a classic example of using advertising as a tool to empower individuals. Luxor, amidst a host of controversies, too has emerged a creative jewel from India and continues to surprise ad juries across festivals to no end.

But even as the laurels keep coming, the Indian ad frat would be a tad disappointed as the just-released Gunn Report 2008 marks a dip in the India ranking from number 15 to number 17 in the list of world’s most awarded countries. Gauging India’s performance vis-à-vis some of the Asian countries, there are three other Asian countries who have outperformed India in the rankings - Japan that came 5th (same as ‘07), Thailand that came 8th (same as ‘07) and Singapore that came 13th (down from 10th in ’07). Some of the countries that India managed to beat include Malaysia (18, up from 23), China (21, same as ’07) and Hong Kong (25, not in top 25 last year).

Donald Gunn, in a chat with impact, expressed his reasons for India’s not-so-good showing this year. He said, “I think that perhaps the reason for the slight slip in India’s ranking is because although there have been great strides forward in TV and Print, it is still early days in terms of categories such as ‘Interactive’ and ‘All Gunns Blazing’. This was indicated by India’s total tally of 33 points being made up with 19 from TV, 11 from Print, 1 from Interactive and 2 from All Gunns Blazing.”

(For complete Story) more…

IMPACT COVER

BEWARE THE SHINING SUN; THE STAR IS SET TO RISE

By JUDY FRANKO

Has Sun TV finally got a formidable match on the South India media scene? Maybe, maybe not; but that ‘maybe’ itself is a big step away from the situation that the South has seen in the last many years - Sun’s undisputed power is now challenged. And the very fact that the recently announced Star Jupiter Entertainment Television Ltd, a joint venture between Star India and Rajeev Chandrasekhar’s Jupiter Entertainment Ventures, has been able to achieve this, is a positive opening for the JV. The India media and advertising fraternity is never in a hurry to cast the decisive vote, and are still waiting to see whether STAR can build on the presence that it has managed in the region with this partnership with the Asianet brands. But for many, even though Star Jupiter may not change the South GEC landscape in the near (or even the distant) future, it would certainly shake and stir things up.

Star Jupiter has become a majority shareholder of Asianet Communications Ltd (ACL), which currently broadcasts channels in Kannada (Suvarna), Telugu (Sitara) and Malayalam (Asianet, Asianet Plus). Vijay TV, the Tamil general entertainment channel currently operated and owned by Star, will also come under STAR Jupiter.

The JV is expected to make additional investments towards developing and launching new channels in South India in the coming months. The current management team of ACL, including Vice-Chairman and Managing Director K Madhavan, would continue in their roles under the JV. Madhavan has built a team at ACL and established Asianet’s presence beyond India in the Middle-East, the UK, the US and South-East Asia.

(For complete Story) more…

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