WAN-IFRA 2009
PRINT: Surviving the current, challenging the future

By Dipali Banka & Johnson Napier

"Today, 20 per cent of all dailies in the world are sold in India surpassing China as the largest market for newspapers across the world,” were the opening words of Gavin O’Reilly, President of WAN-INFRA at the 62nd World Newspaper Congress and the 16th World Editors Forum held in Hyderabad from November 30 to December 3, 2009. Strong words for an economy that is said to be the blazing ahead at breakneck speed, outpacing the other countries by miles. But despite such a progressive move, it is a dismay that India is not in the thick of action when it came to harnessing the potential of digital to further the growth of the print medium – something which the West and other developed countries are putting to good use.

With digital as the mainstay, the focus of the conference was harnessing multi-media alternatives to extend the growth of existing brands, audiences and revenues. Though the conference could not beat last year’s record attendance of Sweden where 1,800 participants from 113 countries had participated, the conference this year saw an attendance of only 900 delegates from 87 countries.



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‘It’s a value game’

By Dipali Banka

“A category that has quadrupled its share of market in two years, where the customer acquisition cost is very high and where competition is getting severe day by day – that broadly is our DTH industry. We have also witnessed aggressive advertising and promotions strategy among the players in the segment, and one of those powerful brands is Tata Sky. Tata Sky entered in the urban markets as a strong differentiator and value provider based on its interactive services and customer support. It roped in Aamir Khan and has been raising the bar of its campaigns time and time again, the recent one being Aamir Khan playing the role of a ventriloquist. Thanks to its value added services, Tata Sky today remains the top ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) in the country.

Vikram Mehra, Chief Marketing Officer, Tata Sky believes that at the end of the day, the brand that will provide the best value to the consumer at the lowest cost will survive. Mehra has been with the brand since its inception. In fact he was on the project a month before the government had given the notification of launching a DTH service in Jan 12, 2001. A computer engineer from IIT Roorkee and a MBA from IIM Lucknow, Mehra started his career with Tata Consultancy Services and other Tata Group companies before joining Tata Sky. In a chat with impact’s Dipali Banka, Mehra talks about the brand, its propositions and the category on the whole.

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Solutions, Digitally

In an era where consumers are living in a much faster world and people are becoming increasingly in control of time and space, many experts propound the need to adopt change. Today, instant access has become instant gratification. And the next level is reaching out to the digital revolution which is already underway across the globe.

To explain the changing dynamics and the importance of new age branding, Seth Solomons, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Digitas Worldwide and Mark Beeching, Chief Creative Officer, Digitas Worldwide addressed a host of marketers, those involved in digital advertising and media professionals in Mumbai last week. The focus of their discussion was ‘Marketing in the age of now’.

Beeching stressed that marketers need to be aware of the speed at which the market place is changing, and that the consumers were increasingly taking control over brands given the digital growth. Adding to Beeching’s point, Solomons said that marketers have to make sure that consumers get brand experiences in an ‘on-demand’ manner. “Brands should recognise that if a consumer wants to buy a product, the brand message should pass through the right channel to facilitate the purchase, and thus the need to be proactive in engaging consumers, rather than simply talking to them.”

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