Markathon Nov'11

MARKATHON
MARKETING MAGAZINE OF IIM SHILLONG VOL 3, ISSUE 5
NOVEMBER 11
Cover Story
Media Regulation in India

Atul Sobti, Former CEO & MD, Ranbaxy Labs Ltd.
VARTALAAP
Sudhir Voleti, Resident Faculty, Strategic Marketing, ISB
FROM THE EDITOR
Dear Readers,
Todays world is cluttered with marketing messages which reach out to us no matter what we are doing. Media impacts us in more ways than we even realise at times. The Socio-cultural impact of Media has only been expounded by the rise of technology. Today, media is more powerful and far reaching than it was a decade or so ago. Public voices are more prominent in the newer media forms and revolutions have taken shape using these platforms of communication. The scope of these media is wide and since they are immensely powerful, regulation is paramount Cover Media and specifically the Press have always served as the Fourth Estate keeping a watchful eye over the functioning of the states. Media regulation has come into the picture because of the growing use of media in an often derogatory manner and also to further ulterior motives. The eternal question remains Quis custodiet ipsos custodies? the Latin phrase which translates to Who will watch the watchmen? Our cover story for the month on Media Regulation aims to answer just that. We look at some forms of the media, and how they are regulated. The story also charts out how the need arose for such regulations in media and how the regulations differ across the different media platforms right from television to the Internet. The regulations also address false claims which companies make about products in their marketing communications. We hope you enjoy the story. Our Vartalaap for this month is a tete-a-tete with Mr.Atul Sobti, who gave up a corporate career as the CEO & MD of Ranbaxy Laboratories and ventured into the world of Media. Mr.Atul Sobti founded Friday Gurgaon weekly newspaper serving up local news for the residents of Gurgaon. Were grateful to Mr.Sobti for his wonderful interview. Our academic Vartalaap for this month has Mr.Sudhir Voleti who is an Assistant Professor in the Marketing Department at the Indian School of Business. He talks to use about his work in the world of branding and Market Research.
Our October 2011
We also have a refreshing article which talks about the sensation of this season Why This Kolaveri Di, which is arguably the biggest viral hit ever on Indian Media. The number of views this video has amassed keeps growing exponentially every second. Team Markathon has dissected its success from a marketing point of view and analysed what the song and the video got right. We are sure you will enjoy this article a lot. Team Markathon is also proud to welcome on board the magazine team for 2011-2013 comprising of G S N Aditya, Piyush Agarwal, Mayur Jain, Sowmya R, Swati Nidiganti and Umang Kulshreshtha. In the design team, we have Priya Agrawal and Rushika Sabnis. We are sure they will ensure the magazine keeps scaling new heights. Happy Reading! Jitesh
Jitesh Pradeep Patel
THE MARKATHON TEAM

EDITOR
Jitesh Pradeep Patel
SUB EDITORS
Gaurav Ralhan Kaustubh Rawool Rahul Mantri Ritika Nagar Sria Majumdar
CREATIVE DESIGNERS
Yashwanth Reddy Mandipati Sana Parvez Akhtar MEMBERS G S N Aditya Piyush Agarwal Mayur Jain Sowmya R Swati Nidiganti Umang Kulshreshtha Priya Kumari Agrawal Rushika Sabnis
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CONTENTS
markathon | november 2011
FEATURED ARTICLES STRATEGIC ANALYSIS

How Globalization changed the Industry?
ALISHA WADHWA |NMIMS
4 7
PERSPECTIVE
Impact of Recent FDI Regulations on the Retail Sector in India
SIDDARTHA PRASAD | ARIJIT PARIAL | IIM A
PERSPECTIVE
Online Media Marketing: The Next Revolution in Indian Politics? SABAREESH MEENAKSHISUNDARAM | IIM S
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13 16 22 25 26 27 29 30 31
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VARTALAAP ATUL SOBTI
FORMER MD & CEO, RANBAXY LABS LTD.
COVER STORY MEDIA REGULATION IN INDIA

PIYUSH | UMANG | SOWMYA | IIM S
VARTALAAP SUDHIR VOLETI WAR ZONE EYE 2 EYE
RESIDENT FACULTY, STRATEGIC MARKETING, ISB
Is the merger of Tata Indicom & Tata DoCoMo right for Tata Services?
MOON GARG |JP MORGAN SERVICES INDIA PVT. LTD., ARITRA NAYAK| IIM S
SILENT VOICE
Wipro's re-launch of the newly acquired soap Aramusk
SPECIALS KOLAVERI
RUSHIKA SABNIS, SWATI NIDIGANTI | IIMS
GAURAV RALHAN
ADDICTED
RADICAL THOUGHTS
JITESH PRADEEP PATEL
UPDATES
G S N ADITYA
Strategic analysis perspective
How globalization changed the industry

Alisha wadhwa | nmims
You get up in the morning to the alarm on your Finnish Nokia phone, brush your teeth using your American Pepsodent toothpaste, wash your hair using your French LOreal shampoo, slip into your British Lee Cooper jeans, drive your Korean Santro to work, on the way listening to the tunes of the Spanish heartthrob Enrique on your Japanese Sony stereo. This is what globalization is all about! Subconsciously, we have stopped thinking of these products as foreign. We see Santro everywhere on the roads around us, it is promoted by one of our famous actors, it caters to our needs and preferences in terms of performance, design, etc. Santro has penetrated so deeply into our mindset that it is one of the first names that comes to our mind when we are asked about cars on the Indian roads. That is what marketing in times of globalization is all about! So how did we move from dantmanjan to Pepsodent? Lifeboy to LOreal? Fiat-Premier to Santro? In short, how did we suddenly get sucked into the world market becoming a part of global consumers consuming global products? Globalization in a way was pushed upon India. In 1991, India faced a major Balance of Payment crisis and was bailed out by the IMF but economic reforms were forced upon it. These reforms were badly needed to unshackle the economy. Controls started to dismantle, taxes and tariffs lowered, state monopolies broke, the economy opened to trade and investment, private sector enterprises and competitions were encouraged, leading to true globalization
But, what enabled the process of globalization, not only for India but for the entire world?
One of the major enablers was the development of technology. Costs of transport, travel, and above all the communicating information had fallen dramatically in the postwar period, almost entirely because of the progress of technology. Now, Honda can assign two teams based in Japan and US to design a new car round the clock, taking advantage of the different time zones. The difference in the resources among countries had always existed but due to relaxation of various policies in many economies this could be taken advantage of. Along with movement of manufacturing to countries that provided cost advantage, there was also movement of service providers. India has emerged as a major center for back-office services through call centers. Design facilities and accounting departments are also being set up to take advantage of low cost but highly skilled labour.
The success of the Asian tigers (Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore) that were amongst the earliest to push for international trade after US, Europe and Japan, sent strong signals to other developing countries. Another factor that led to globalization was Preferential Trade Areas. Success of the European Union, NAFTA, ASEAN and many others helped the world to slowly move towards global free trade. Then, the realization that solving global problems required peaceful cooperation among countries further fuelled the need for globalization. Be it fighting swine flu or Al Qaida terrorists, globalization has played a major role.
not be willing to sell in other countries, he must compete with the American behemoth-Wal-Mart, planning to set up an outlet in his backyard. The business environment today mainly comprises MNCs having market capitalization greater than the gross national products of a number of developed and developing countries. Here the examples of US companies Wal-Mart, Microsoft, General Electric and General Motors are appropriate. The new face of the MNCs is becoming truly global as more and more cross border alliances take place. So be it the case of Tata acquiring Corus, Airtel acquiring Zain or Daichi acquiring Ranbaxy, the phenomena is not restricted to any particular industry.
In the wake of globalization, the world has become a much smaller place. While, for the consumers this has meant more choices and competitive prices, for the manufacturers there have been as many thorns as petals on the rose. Newspapers regularly report on the firms exploring new business opportunities around the world. Indian software firms have established their reputation as high quality and competitive players in several countries and the benefits can be seen in the increasing job opportunities for skilled youth around the country. At the same time, when a multinational fast food company opens another outlet in an Indian city, there are protestors who fear local small food outlets will be wiped out. Thus, there are winners and losers and which makes globalization a hard pill to swallow.
So what must the management of a globally successful corporation do?

To be successful in the changing global environment, it is important for the management to develop a global mindset. Large companies have made a conscious effort to build such a mindset. For example, Smith Klein Beecham follows a policy requiring its senior managers to have a 2+2+2 experience, namely, experience in two businesses, two functions, two countries. The idea is to have a management that is broad minded and has a more encompassing worldview. Economic Times, dated 4th September 2010 carried a report about Toyota cars becoming too expensive to compete effectively in the increasingly cut-throat global auto market due to Yen being at a 15 year high against the Dollar and at a nine year high against the Euro. This allowed Toyotas foreign rivals to make big inroads around the world. Volkswagen of Germany, Hyundai of South Korea and the Detroit automakers all benefitted from their relatively weaker currencies. This shows how management has to adopt policies that can cushion its sales in times of such fluctuations in the global financial market. The above example also drives home the point of increasing threat from competition. When we think of the world economy as being globalized, in a sense it means that whole of the 5
What does globalization management?
mean
for
The nature of management of an organization has changed to take into account this emerging context. The traditional view was that you needed fairly large resources if you wished to market your goods worldwide. It was expensive to set up offices and agents around the globe. Today, an individual who operates from his house is instantly global when he sets up a website offering his products and services. Even the local grocery store owner realizes that although he may
world is behaving as if it were a part of the same market. This means that the management has to operate in the face of growing competition both for its products and resources. In order to create a niche for its products the management has to go in for aggressive marketing keeping in mind the local needs. In terms of a companys human resources, as the company moves to newer locations and hires the natives, HR policies have to be tailored accordingly. They have to be sensitive to the local work culture. For example, an American corporation will face resistance if it gives night shifts to women in India. Globalization calls for standardization in areas of corporate governance and accounting standards. As companies list themselves in several national stock exchanges, they see a need for common standards. But the management cannot expect to successfully sell the same product in every country. It would be a good idea to customize the products keeping in mind the tastes and preferences of target consumers. This is particularly important in the hospitality sector. For instance, KFC was banned in India because it used beef in its products, so it had to revamp its product line to be more acceptable to the Indian culture.
Cross Border Alliances
Acquired by
Acquired by
The way a firm manages in the global market place has called for varied and innovative responses. In countries like India where managers were accustomed to working in a protected market for a very long time, adjusting to global environment has been very difficult. In some cases, business leaders have preferred to sell their businesses to leading companies and look for other niches. An example is the sale of Parle to Coca Cola. Among other instances, like Bajaj Auto, the local response has been to strengthen skills and competencies to challenge the newcomers. In the end, the survival of a company is dependent solely on it performance and its ability to adapt. May the best man win!
Acquired by
perspective perspective
markathon | November 2011 markathon | november 2011
Impact of recent FDI regulations on the Retail sector in India

Siddartha Prasad, Arijit Parial | IIM Ahmedabad
Industry Segments: The retail industry can be primarily segmented into organized retail and unorganized retail. Organized retail: Organized retailing refers to trading activities undertaken by licensed retailers, that is, those who are registered for sales tax, income tax, etc. Organized retail in India forms 5% of the total Indian market. However it is expected to grow at a galloping rate of more than 20% per year. Considerable amount of investment has been planned by multiple organizations in various parts of the country across various formats (Exhibit 1&2). Exhibit 1: Planned investments in various cities
AAA AA A 2% 7% 6% 30%
* includes apparel,footwear, watches,furniture &furnishing, toysetc. Source: Impact of Organized Retail on Unorganized Sector (Joseph, 2008, p. 86)
This indicates the focus of the organization to increase both the market penetration and market width. Exhibit 2: Planned investments on various retail formats.
Supermarket Department Store Other Formats* Hypermarket Warehouse
23%
34%
9% 2%
32%
B+
23%
The organized retail refers to the following formats: Cash and carry (C&C): These are large stores carrying several thousand stock-keeping Units. They cater to needs of other businesses having bulk buying requirements rather than end-customers. The players in this category are bullish about the growth potential of this segment which is expected to be worth $22 billion in India by 2017. Major players like Bharti WalMart Pvt. Ltd, Metro AG, Reliance Retail Ltd. and Tesco Plc plan are likely to open at least 20 C&C stores which is nearly three times the current count. Multi-brand Retail (MBR): This category encompasses hypermarkets and supermarkets which carry multiple brands. They mainly target the Indian family who are price sensitive and provide them ample choices within any product category. The major players in this segment are Spencers Retail, Big Bazaar, Reliance Retail and 7
17% 15%
AAA cities will include the markets of NCR Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata, while AA cities will include the metros including Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, and Ahmedabad. A typical A-class city will include cities like Surat, Nagpur, Indore, Vadodara, etc., while B+ cities will be represented by Nashik, Rajkot, Agra,Jallandhar, etc. Kota, Bhubaneswar, Bilaspur will be a B-class cities, while Sonepat,Alwar, Tumkur, etc will categorized as C-type and D- type cities. (Joseph, 2008, p. 85) Source: Impact of Organized Retail on Unorganized Sector (Joseph, 2008, p. 85)
perspective perspective Aditya Birla Group. This segment has seen a lot of investment by corporate houses. (Exhibit 1&2) Single-brand Retail (SBR): These are stores which carry a single brand. They primarily target consumers who are highly brand loyal and quality conscious. Over last few years India has witnessed multiple international and national brands opening stores in various industry verticals. Nike, Reebok, Tommy Hilfiger are few of them. Unorganized retail:
markathon | November 2011 markathon | november 2011 retail businesses. 100% FDI is also allowed in business to business (B2B) E-Commerce. According to the Government of India FDI policy document the following routes are available for Foreign Direct Investments: 1) Cash and Carry wholesalers can set up stores to cater to retailers and shop owners. These stores are not allowed to sell to end consumers. German retailer Metro AG was the first foreign retailer to open C&C stores in India. Prior to 2006 foreign wholesalers needed Government approval, this restriction was removed in 2006. The Government of India FDI policy document defines C&C as:
Unorganized retail typically consists of small stores kirana which form a major chunk of Indian Retail (Exhibit 3). This section is projected to grow by about 10% per annum and would become a US $500 billion by In the new FDI policy circular which took effect from 1st 2011-12. Interestingly we see that the rapid growth in October 2010, government has made the following the organized sector is not coming at the expense of changes in C&C trading: unorganized sector. The unorganized retail is highly WT [Wholesale trading] of goods would be permitted fragmented and there is no single player that stands out among in this section. The Exhibit 3: Share of various segments in the Indian unorganized Retail companies of high level of sector. the same penetration, personal group. thrust and ease of However, such access to the stores WT to group are the differentiating companies factors of this taken together segment. The cost should not sensitive customers exceed 25% of are its main target the total audience. turnover of the wholesale Current FDI policy: venture. The genesis of Indias This change FDI policy in retail dates back to 1997 effectively allows retailers when the Indian Source: Impact of Organized Retail on Unorganized Sector (Joseph, 2008) with foreign tie Government allowed ups in their 100% FDI in C&C wholesale/cash wholesale businesses, but the investment needed prior Government approval. and carries businesses to sell products sourced from In 2006, the FDI policy was changed to allow investment their in-house wholesale business. For example Bharti through automatic route in C&C stores. The same year, Retail Pvt. Ltd. can now source up to 25% of its goods 51% FDI was allowed in single brand retail stores sold in its stores from Bharti-Walmart C&C joint venture. This was done to restrict the foreign investors subject to government approval. The current FDI policy from entering the Indian multi-brand through indirect does not allow any foreign investment in multi brand routes. 8
perspective perspective 2) Foreign retailers are allowed to own up to 51% stake in single brand retail stores, subject to Government approval. The Government of India FDI policy document lays down the following conditions: FDI up to 51% in retail trade of Single Brand products would be subject to the following conditions: (a) Products to be sold should be of a Single Brand only. (b) Products should be sold under the same brand internationally (c) Single Brand productretailing would cover only products which are branded during manufacturing. The condition branded during manufacturing prevents foreign grocery chains with private labels from entering India through this route, since these stores source their products from producers and dont manufacture them. Also, manufacturers with multiple brands have to get permission from the Government for each brand separately and set up separate outlets for each brand. Government road map for FDI policies in Retail Industry: Recently India has witnessed intense discussion among various stakeholders on amending the FDI policies in the retail industry. SBR: Financial times reported about the changing mindset of the Indian government. The government is considering permitting 100 per cent foreign direct investment in single-brand retail... It will create jobs in India. MBR: On July 6th 2010 the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) decided to release a discussion paper on FDI in multi-brand retail trading with a purpose of getting feedback from multiple stakeholders to enable better policy decisions. Many industrial organizations such as FICCI, CII, various international retail players such as Metro, Carrefour
markathon | November 2011 markathon | november 2011
and few key wings of the government like the finance ministry, the department of consumer affairs, the PMO, agriculture ministry and the Planning Commission have supported the idea of liberalising FDI in multi-brand retailing. Contrary to this many trade unions, bodies like Kisan Jagriti Manch have raised concern against this policy. An inter-ministerial panel set up to review the feedback received by DIPP and make recommendation, is likely to propose wider consultations on the issue of FDI policy. Only 36% of the 180 respondents agreed to the idea of opening MBR for FDI. This shows that the government needs to undertake more confidence building measures among parties who feel threatened by the new proposed policy. Impact of FDI policy: 1) Impact on Single Brand Retailing: In the period between 2006 and May, 2010 government of India had received 94 proposals out of which 57 proposals were approved. During this period, the FDI inflow into this sector was $ 194.69 million which amounted to 0.21% of the total FDI inflow. The 51% restriction on foreign partnership has significantly dampened foreign investment in this sector. In 2009, IKEA had planned to open stores in India with an investment of about $1 billion, but the governments 49% FDI ceiling held it back... Major single brand retailers in India like Samsung, Sony, HP etc. have entered primarily through the franchise route and are unlikely to switch to the FDI model in near term. One of the key roadblocks to enter through the FDI route is finding a reliable Indian partner with enough expertise of the local market to guide the foreign investor. However, with the expansion of organized retail in India it is becoming easier for the foreign players to find Indian business houses with the requisite knowledge of the retail sector. The 450 billion 9
perspective perspective Indian retail market offers huge opportunity for investors. One of the key attractions of the single brand sector are the loyal consumers, since this sector caters primarily to the high end consumers who have a predisposed affinity to the brand and are perceived to be brand loyal. Even though the response has been muted in the past, we are seeing an increased interest in FDI investment in this sector, with Calvin Klein, FCUK and French Connection setting up shop recently in India. The Indian Government is also considering opening up this sector completely, which should give an extra incentive for the foreign retailers to invest in India. 2) Impact on Wholesale Retailing: The C&C trading sector has witnessed FDI inflow of US $ 1.779 billion between 2000 to 2010. The sectors share of the total FDI inflow was about 1.54% during this period. British retailer Tesco, Germanys Metro AG, Australian retailer Woolworths Ltd and Walmart are the major players in this segment. Technopak Advisers Pvt. Ltd. estimates an investment of US$ 35 billion in the organized retail sector over the next five years, out of which approximately 40% (US$ 14 billion) will be invested by foreign retailers like Auchan, Tesco, Walmart etc. Due to the limitations imposed on FDI in the front end (multi-brand) retail stores, FDI in wholesale retailing was slow to start off in India. Recent policy changes like the approval of the automatic route for investment and allowing retailers to source up to 25% of their goods from foreign wholesalers within the group company have been helpfulin liberalizing the retail sector. A wholesaler has 2-3% margin in a typical supply chain whereas a front end retailer commands a margin of 1015% which may go up to as much as 35% for certain categories such as apparels. Foreign retailers want a part of the lucrative front-end retail market and restricting their investment to the wholesale format has resulted in less than optimal investment in infrastructure. They find it difficult to recoup their investment through the lower margin C&C/wholesale businesses. The foreign retailers are also facing stiff competition from traditional wholesale distributors. A kirana store owner finds it more economical to order from a local
markathon | November 2011 markathon | november 2011 distributor as they offer doorstep delivery of the products. The transport cost of procuring goods from a wholesale warehouse which is typically situated in the outskirts of the city negates any gain from lower cost. The C&C stores are attracting the small retailers by offering larger selection and wider varieties of products but it may take a long time, anywhere between 6-10 years (Exhibit 4) for them to turn profitable. However despite the challenges, the global retailers are planning to invest a lot of money in the C&C business as they expect the opening up of the multi-brand retail market to FDI investment. Exhibit 4: Table depicting the gestation period of various formats.
Source: Business World (Wholesale_Hopes, 2009) Investment in the C&C business is typically done to bolster the backend supply chain before the retailers can enter the more profitable front end retail business. 3) Impact on Supply Chain: One of the major reasons cited by the government for opening up single brand and wholesale sector was the prospect of improving the supply chain and distribution network with the help of the foreign investment and expertise. Supply chain infrastructure with respect to roads, cold chains, electricity and trained manpower is lacking in India. Given these constraints the retailers and kirana stores have to depend on a lot of intermediaries which prevents them from procuring goods directly from the manufacturers or through a single distributor. This results in a loss of margins for the retailers and higher prices for the end consumer. A 10
perspective perspective supply chain of a typical FMCG product is shown in Exhibit 5. The foreign retailers in the wholesale businesses have brought in international best practices and technological expertise but low returns and government restrictions have hampered investments. Exhibit 5: Supply Chain of an FMCG product in India. 5) Political impact
markathon | november 2011 markathon | November 2011
FDI in single brand retail has faced the least protests from various sections of the society as they are perceived to be rich mans stores and are not a direct threat to the kirana stores. However the C&C stores have faced a lot of challenges in the form of protests and demonstrations as they compete directly with the local wholesalers and distributors who are a very powerful political lobby in India. Recommendations: 1) Even though the Indian retail market offers huge potential for growth, substantial investment in supply chain, infrastructure and employee training is necessary. A company should invest with a long term view because organized retail in India is at a nascent stage and is a very capital intensive industry. 2) Foreign players looking to enter India through the FDI route should be aware of the long term implications of their joint venture agreements. As and when government allows 100% FDI in the multi-brand or single brand retail they should be able to dissolve the agreement and launch their independent businesses if they desire to. 3) There is a strong possibility of the opening up of the whole retail sector to foreign investment, but policy changes might take a long time. The Indian partners of the joint ventures should try to adopt global best practices and gain technological expertise from their foreign counterparts. 4) The C&C stores should adapt to environment to compete effectively wholesale businesses. They should look primary customers, the Kirana stores and businesses like hotels and restaurants improve their cash flows. Indian retail with local beyond their cater to local in order to
Source: ICRIER (Joseph, 2008,p.76) The inadequacy of Indias supply chain is highlighted by the wastage of fruits and vegetables due to lack of cold storage facilities, with industry estimates of5-7% wastage for food grains and 20-25% for fruits and vegetables. Despite allowing 100% FDI in cold chains the investment has been minimal, but with the gradual opening up of the retail sector, firms are looking to invest in infrastructure to secure their supply chains. 4) Impact on the manufacturing sector The manufacturing sector especially the FMCG sector is witnessing a greater demand for their goods because of the increased streamlining of the supply chain, which enables them to cater to big wholesalers instead of multiple vendors. However, they are also experiencing more price pressure as larger players demand lower prices in exchange for larger volumes. Private label products introduced by the retailers may also result in volume loss. For example Bharti Wal-Mart has launched their private label Great Value. Easy Day Bhartis front end retail store sources as much as 15% percent of their private label products from backend partners Bharti Wal-Mart.
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perspective
Online Media Marketing: The Next Revolution in Indian Politics?

SABAREESH MEENAKSHISUNDARAM | IIMs
It was early 2008. Recession loomed large over the US. Fear of impending doom encompassed clients big and small. All over the world, companies had tightened the purse strings of their marketing spend. But then, there was one lone savior that the Indian advertisement industry will thank for its survival.
Luckily for them, it was election time in India. To put things to perspective, the election campaigns are the costliest marketing campaigns in the country. They involve all aspects of marketing from content promotion to PR management. For those elections alone, the political parties pumped in Rs 800 Crore to advertise their political party. The amount made for almost 7 percent of the total annual advertisement spends in India. Regional and entertainment channels were targeted like never before for their customized reach leading to new television channels cropping up left and right. Of particular note was one big change that happened during those elections. The majority of the voters this election were the Indian youths. The media agencies could whiff a change in trend. They needed to explore the options that the Internet provided in order to target this new audience. Google India came up with an online community called the The Voice of Youth in Orkut. News channels like NDTV created official sites for spreading awareness about the voting rights of the people. The internet was flooded with many websites like IndiaVoting.com and Jaagore.com. The ever-smart entrepreneurs, one of the main pillars of rejuvenated India joined the bandwagon. Examples include companies like TringMe which provided localization of languages across all online platforms so that the politicians could access the rural youth. But, this is not where the story ends. The online media has struck a chord with the Indian polity at the right time. The money spent on elections seems to be increasingly unaccountable. The election commission finds it a phantom which is not only difficult to map, but also wreaks havoc with the entire system as the more corrupt politicians could easily edge out the lesser corrupt ones by pumping in unaudited money. But, the increasing marketing prowess of online media like Facebook and YouTube has in it the power to change this scenario. The usual rhetoric is that marketing in social media based on peoples opinion can make or break a candidates legitimacy and integrity. This is certainly one aspect of the change that this media can bring about. But, there is more to it than this. Something far more important. A radical change in the way the money is pumped in. The kind of transparency in election campaign spends that online media marketing can bring. This could be crucial to wiping out the vice grip of corruption that is strangulating the Indian political scenario. The election commission has for long been trying to figure out ways to monitor and put a cap on the amount put into elections by the parties. Going to online media which is essentially controlled by players outside the easy reach of the corrupt politicians makes the money that is spent on the election campaign transparent, white and open to scrutiny. This is in stark comparison to the regional television channels that is completely under the grip of the high-clout politicians. When the majority of the marketing spend is audited, the election commission has far better oversight of the campaign spends of the parties. This makes it easy for the commission to put a cap on the amount spent and also create avenues for monitoring the flow of the money spent. This will ultimately make the elections a level-playing field for all the candidates as the corrupt, black-money rich politicians will not be able to splurge their way to victory. These changes can have far-reaching effects on the political system. With the vicious cycle of spend more-win, electionloot back the money you put in vanishing, a new outlook will take over. A new system that believes in target the right people with rational spends-win election-do good as they are monitoring and judging you through the same social media. The politicians will not be in any need to loot the people to win next elections. Instead, they will be expected to perform better to win in a fair manner the hearts of the people of India. Thus, the online media has the revolutionary power to change the performance level of the entire political system of India. These views may seem overly optimistic or even far-fetched to some. But that is the way the new generation of India operates. It believes in an India that embraces technology with consummate ease in order to power it ahead. So, to the optimistic Indian, the scenario is not too far off. Every Indian will be glad to dream of a next generation India where elections will be fought and won on merit over anything else!
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Vartalaap
markathon | November 2011
An Interview with atul sobti
Founder Friday Gurgaon, Former CEO & MD Ranbaxy Labs Ltd
Atul Sobti was the CEO & Managing Director of Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. He was Chief Operating Officer for over 2 years before taking charge as MD & CEO. Prior to Ranbaxy, he was the Executive Director Business Operations at Hero Honda Motors Ltd. (a joint venture with Honda Motors, Japan, for two-wheelers). As Executive Director, he was in charge of sales and marketing, finance, and HR. He has a total of over 34 years corporate experience.Atul is a postgraduate (MBA) from the prestigious Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad. his graduation is in Economics (Honours), from St. Stephens College, Delhi; and schooling from the The Lawrence School, Sanawar (Simla Hills). Atul gave up his position at Ranbaxy to pursue his passion the world of newspapers and launched a weekly Friday Gurgaon in August 2011.
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Vartalaap Markathon: Tell us about one incident/moment from your college days at IIM Ahmedabad that will stay with you forever. How did your education and experiences during college shape your career? Mr. Atul: Well, I guess it would be the D grade I received in Computers. It has not left me since. Funnily, I sold computers for a couple of years. But perhaps I was the only person in a Ranbaxy global force of thousands, who did not use a laptop! Do not still. On college influence, being an IIM (Ahmedabad) graduate does promote your career, and in different ways your work life. However, the habit of listening, reading, and learning well, is perhaps what has best helped me. As also a structured, rational, professional way of approaching and resolving problems or issues especially those directly impacting people. Markathon: What was the motivation and idea behind Friday Gurgaon, the weekly publication especially designed for Gurgaon which you recently launched?
markathon | November 2011 paper. Our website is fridaygurgaon.com. Markathon: How has Friday Gurgaon been different from your past experience at companies like Xerox, HCL, Hero Honda or Ranbaxy where you have worked? Mr. Atul: Too early to say. It is a whole new ball game. More passion and fun, definitely. More do-it-yourself. And much more direct responsibility for the 20 members in the Team, and for the newspaper. No more ties! Markathon: As CEO of Ranbaxy, what was the most challenging task for you? Mr. Atul: 2 separate big challenges: First, to take charge as a professional MD & CEO of a 50 year old family run organization, amidst turbulent and extra-ordinary times. The transition was calm and positive; and well within a year and we were stable and performing well. Second, to effectively resolve the issue with the US FDA. This is still on-going.
Markathon: What lies ahead for the Indian Pharma Mr. Atul: Starting a newspaper (publishing, editing) has industry? How can Indian companies develop a been a passion for long for promoting the habit of competitive advantage in the sector? reading; and for the opportunity Mr. Atul: The Indian to influence Pharma industry makes us Gurgaon today deserves its own paper; it is no fellow society for very proud. Even before IT, longer just a suburb of Delhi. It is a modern city the common it had globalized, and is a good. It was really of almost 20 lac people - and a happening city, global force to reckon with now or never. without any government whether for residence, commerce, or industry. help. Most of the top Indian Gurgaon today Local is becoming more acceptable and Pharma players are robust, deserves its own relevant and have very good paper; it is no opportunities globally, in longer just a suburb different forms. Japan, and of Delhi. It is a Biologics, are frontiers for the modern city of next decade. We are recognized almost 20 lakh people - and a happening city, whether well for our cost, delivery and quality. In India, we for residence, commerce, or industry. Local is becoming anyway do well; and will continue to do so. The more acceptable and relevant. We offer a challenge, outside of India, is when one has to compete comprehensive Gurgaon 360 coverage, in a 32 page all with other local and global big players, in their backyard colour compact weekly paper. It is a family paper, for as Indian pioneers. This has great learning for India, as adults and children. We offer a special Kids section; as we step up on the global ladder. For new molecule R&D, well as a unique Global coverage. It is also a very visual
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Vartalaap it is better to partner global Pharma companies. It is also time the government recognized and supported this global, high investment, high employment, high R&D industry - at least as much as it does IT. Markathon: You have been the Executive Director of Sales and Marketing at Hero Honda. What is your take on the spilt? What do you feel about Hero MotoCorp s new identity? Mr. Atul: Although I am not aware of the details, the break-up provides good opportunities and challenges for both. India still is a top 2 wheeler market. And there is a decent third world global market too. Consistent and effective R&D and Quality is what would challenge Hero; recognizing the value of Sales and Marketing, and effective people and administration management, would challenge Honda. The new identity is good a focus on Hero, but keeping the core emotion (dhadkan) intact. Markathon: Many marketers in the industry look to shift into general management after gaining some experience in the industry. You are one of the few who have made the shift quite naturally and with perfect ease. How can one make the shift? Does it make sense to have a marketer at the head of a company? Mr. Atul: For a marketer, it is critical to have Sales experience also as early as possible. It will pay off in spades later. There is nothing better than interacting with people as employees, customers, dealers, vendors etc., and hearing their voice directly. A marketer, with sales experience, can be a great leader. He/she brings the voice of the customer to the organization, and should understand it the best to then deliver an effective business strategy and action plan. Customers bring the revenue and that starts the journey to profit on a consistent basis. For me, having decided not to go to competition, it always meant changing the industry. This was difficult in the 80s and 90s it should be easier today, with multiple opportunities, and having your own roof at a young age. But I relished change and challenge. And you
markathon | November 2011 slowly realize that, despite every industry believing that it is unique, there is actually more in common basically, delivering value to customers, on a consistent basis in a given environment (SWOT) with the help of a product/service range, and a cross-functional team, of which you are a part. Finally, it is all about people listening, managing, adding value, bring out the best, leading. No specific function can help here. It is about you, your values, your influences and your experience. Markathon: What is your advice for graduates in Bschools looking to make a career in sales and marketing? Mr. Atul: Sales & Marketing starts the business cycle. You must have drive; and an ability to listen well (talk is easy). Be genuinely customer and service oriented. Differentiation and Segmentation are concepts that will stand you in good stead, for ages. Overall - listen, learn, interact to/from/with all kinds of people, across India. Be genuinely open in heart and mind. Your values, your academics, your experience the rational and emotional - It will all come together.
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Cover story
markathon |november 2011
Media Regulation in India

Piyush| Sowmya| Umang
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Cover story|Media Regulation in India Cover story
markathon | November 2011 markathon |november
7:00 am- Time to rise and shine, and maybe listen to some soulful music to start the day 7:30 am- Yet another day has gone by, what does the newspaper have to say about it
9:30 am- In office-Quite a pile of letters and couriers today 10.30 am- Checking mail is essential-may be there is a new employee benefit scheme, or uh-oh another meeting with the boss!
Sounds familiar?
This is a typical day for many of us- one thing that is common throughout is our usage of Newspapers, Television, Books, media that it the media, in one form or another! Our lives have become so interspersed with Radio and now is Internet, different facets it!! difficult to even imagine how things would be withoutof media today, have one
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Newspapers, Television, Books, Radio and now the Internet, different facets of media today, have one unified purpose- to share information. Media is undoubtedly the most vital link between man and his environment and envelops us in its kaleidoscopic attire, changing form and color with every passing moment. The present age media encompasses hundreds of television channels, multilingual newspapers by the dozen, scores of radio channels, innumerable magazines, movies and books. This apart, the number of social media and websites are reaching immeasurable figures. And just when you think, media has reached its state of maturity, bam! Crops up a new one. Given the growing need for information and entertainment (now jointly referred to as infotainment), it is gratifying to see how media has been scaling and is even commendable to see the effort the industry is putting in to see that every user is offered the information he/she seeks anytime and anywhere. But with this rising myriad of the media mix, comes a bigger problem- Media Regulation.
nothing is amiss. There should be someone to moderate the actions of these instruments so that they compete in a healthy manner, divulge content such that no one is hurt in the bargain. Regulation is therefore a prime necessity given that not everything is hunky-dory in the media sphere and it is pertinent to determine how much is just enough?
Challenges
The biggest challenge one faces on engaging in media matters is the ambiguity that exists in the realm of media policy and legislation, more so with respect to the broadcast sector. This situation is made even worse by the dearth and disjointed nature of information in this area. Currently there exists a labyrinth of multiple media regulation agencies which are involved in framing and executing policy, drafting and enforcing legislation. To exasperate things even further, they are hardly aware of each others functioning and seem to work at cross agendas.
Need for Media Regulation:

The new chairman of the Press Council of India (PCI), Justice Markandey Katju, has raised a hailstorm across the media with his sweeping remarks about the poor quality of the Indian media and its low intellectual standards. What is surprising though, is the support which his view garnered among the citizens of the country. A survey on one of the television channels showed that 74% of viewers agreed with Katjus views, also the social media had an overwhelming response to the same. Peepli Live, a satirical comedy on the daily farce enacted on national television, had captured, with chilling accuracy the drama in the name of breaking news. With a zillion modes and forms of media co-existing and vying for that coveted top spot, it is rather ridiculous to assume that the invisible hand will ensure that
Print Media
The Press Council of India, established in 1966 is the quasi-judicial body set up for media regulation in our country. It aims to preserve the freedom of the press, maintain and improve the standards of newspapers and news agencies in India. However, the regulator has proven to be largely incapable as the only power it possesses is to inquire against complaints against print media and journalists, but doesnt have the framework of penalizing those who err. The most it can do is ask the newspaper to publish the details about the inquiry against itself, but cannot levy a punishment or enforce its guidelines. Among the recent controversies, the most alarming is the sale of space in print and time in electronic media. The dominance of marketing and advertising over the
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editorial side is very apparent now. Those journalists who opposed were either pushed into th e background or let go. The pervasive phenomenon of 'paid content has become structured and highly organized going beyond the corruption of individual journalists and media companies. Paid content has been defined as: 'Any content or analysis appearing in any media (Print & Electronic) for a price in cash or kind as consideration. The problem is that this content is not labeled as advertising so that the readers and viewers know, but it tries to create deception my masquerading as legitimate news. The worry with paid content is that it breaches ethics by deceiving the readers and viewers. There have been instances where politicians have paid for space in the newspapers raising the critical issue of coercion and malpractice which undermines the very basis of our democracy. For example, the same write-ups praising chief minister Ashok Chavan were carried in three different newspapers during the 2009 Maharashtra state elections. The paid content is not just limited to politics, but sports, cinema and businesses too are indulging in the same. The concept of the so called private treaty, giving business advertising space in exchange for equity stakes in the firms is highly concerning. This mutual exchange has nothing intrinsically wrong with it, but when the Chinese wall between editorial and advertising is breached, serious conflict-of-interest implications may arise.
advertising. Advertising is a vital and acknowledged means for a marketer to rouse interest for his product. Advertising industry in India has been expanding from quite a number of years and has now turned into a big business growing at a considerable rate. However, its growth needs to be checked due to the prevalent malpractices carried out by advertisers. For long, regulation on advertisements was through courts, tribunals, or police as per the nature of the case involved. Added to it, the absence of a single legislation made it very ambiguous for the industry to follow one particular code. In order to ensure ethical practices in the field of advertising, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) was established in 1985. Warnings were issued to MTV which aired a vulgar advertisement of New Axe Deodorant that directed the channel to run an apology scroll for three days. Under the ASCI code a complaint can be registered by any person against the advertisement if he finds it to be false, offensive, misleading or unfair. For instance, a complaint was registered against the TVC (TV Commercial) of Ponds Age Miracle Cream, ASCI considered the promotion of the cream in two media i.e. TV and print. The TVC asked its viewers a question - Can your cream do this in just 7 days? Take up Ponds Age Miracle 7 days challenge. If in 7 days you dont start looking young, then you will get your money back. The print ad carried the statement - Ponds Age Miracle cream does what no other anti-ageing cream can. It reduces age spots and brings about a visible change in wrinkles in just 7 days. If it doesnt work, you get your money back. It was clear from the two versions of the promotion that this claim was based on clinical tests which were carried out on untreated skin i.e. consumers who were not using any form of skin cream. But the statement Can your cream do this? assumes that the consumer does currently use another cream. ASCI concluded that the claim was false, directly condescending and discrediting the effectiveness of 191
TV and Advertising
Even with the growth of internet, Television has held the tag of the largest mass medium used for
similar products that were available in the market. A warning was issued by ASCI following which Ponds removed the ad from TV as well as print. What we live in, is a culture bombarded with promotional messages and in the present scenario
Considering the content that appears in the electronic medium, television in particular, the regulatory structure currently in place is highly inadequate certainly not blemish-free. At the government level the I&B Ministry regulates content. At the self-regulatory level, News Broadcasters Association (NBA) and the Broadcasting Content Complaint Council (BCCC) are the two basic Self-Regulation Organizations .Television channels would obviously like to be in the selfregulation mode but is it effective? Consider two extreme situations and one starts to question the whole concept of self-regulation. The furore over the media coverage of the deadly, tragic attack in Mumbai in November 2008 was only one in a series of media-related controversies, the other being, the media coverage of the double murder of 14year-old Aarushi Talwar and her family helper, Hemraj, in May 2008 had also drawn criticism not only from media critics, but also public and judiciary.
advertising has taken an aggressive, ruthless form where it has become more like a war, its open and direct. Comparative ads just create a brawl when not underpinned by factual data bringing the advertisement and the brand(s) into the eyes of the public. One such example is the tiff between Rin and Tide. Rin detergent of Hindustan Unilever sparked direct whacks in one of their advertisement at the Procter and Gambles Tide Naturals portraying quite prominently the Tide Natural pack without masking the logo. The annotation, Tide se kahin behtar safedi de Rin (Rin washes much whiter than Tide) clearly shows how highly competitive and complex the market has become. That said, comparative ads arent new to India. Once earlier, an ad was made by Trikaya Grey for HCL Photocopiers in which they directly named Modi Xerox. The feature-tofeature comparison particularly brought into light the supremacy of HCL. In this case of HULs Rin and P & Gs Tide, the comparison is not feature based, yet it amounts to an act that is unwarranted. Presently, numerous regulations exist to assess the display of obscene and misleading advertisements in India. However, it is not rare to notice various advertisements which are patently fake and misleading promoting dubious products and making claims without substantial backing to it. In reality, most such ads are neglected by the consumers and go unnoticed by the statutory bodies.
Internet
The internet is surely the new face of media, and with the rising levels of computer literacy and internet penetration, the reach and impact of information available on the net would indeed be colossal. For instance, social networking sites, websites of various organizations and even blogs need to be restricted. But, this has definite roadblocks, primarily owing to the view of the web as a medium of expression, where one is free to share and express his views on any and every topic. Needless to say, this has not gone down very well with users across the globe. Critics warn the new law could de facto curtail freedom of speech in the world's largest democracy. In June 2009, the authorities blocked a highly popular adult cartoon site called Savitabhabhi without giving the creators any lee-way to
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INTERNET FREEDOM STATUS Obstacles to Access Limits on Content Violations of User Rights Total
2009 Partly Free 12 7 15 34
2011 Partly Free 12 8 16 36
Population: 1.2 billion Internet Penetration: 5 Percent Web 2.0 Applications Blocked: No Substantial Political Censorship: No Bloggers / Online Users Arrested: Yes Press Freedom Status: Partly Free
Conclusion:
defend themselves, raising concerns about the arbitrary nature and scope of the governments control in this area. The following year, Google reported government requests for data and content removal and by then, India ranked third in the world for removal requests and fourth for data requests. Blogs today are a huge medium to share information and a commonly referred source for people seeking to make a purchase. Say, you want to buy a new phone. You would check out social media sites that have user reviews and opinions about the product, and this would be an influential factor in your purchase decision. But what if these reviews , are in fact not those of the actual users but instead of the companys employees themselves, posing as users? The Federal trade commission is one of the organizations institutionalized to prevent such activity. For that matter, what is the proof that any review or product evaluation is actually the voice of the customer? This form of media warfare is not exclusive to online customers alone. Take the example of Habitat, which was found indulging in unscrupulous activity by posting content about a rival on Twitter or Hondas manager who went out of his way to show a new product in good light when it was being lashed at by everyone else. Social media is a two-way interactive platform and it is high time they shift from being mere broadcasters of information to becoming facilitators of conversation. Clearly self -regulation in such a context is not a viable option, and yet there has to be a regulation in place that does not compromise on the level of freedom offered to the end user.
Although a regulation of media could be viewed by some as a restraint on creativity and an unnecessary impediment in reaching out to an audience, it is evident from the discussions above that media regulation, at least to a certain extent is a requisite rather than an option. Self-regulation clearly is not the way out, for if that is the case then politicians, bureaucrats, and so on must also be granted the right of self-regulation, instead of being placed under the Lokpal. Does the broadcast media consider itself so chaste that there is no need for anyone but themselves to regulate them? If that case, what can be said about the Radia tapes, paid news,etc.? The phrase self-regulation, is essentially an oxymoron. When the pillars of executive and legislature come under the Judiciary control, so should the fourth pillar of democracy, namely Media, for what is a democracy wherein a body is not accountable to the public? The more important question therefore, is who should regulate media?. Leaving it to the political forces of the country would only make the system more biased and unclean. The press council has almost become a voiceless leader, and hence, there is a pressing need to create more adequate systems with punitive powers that can help foster a vibrant media in our country. Yet another consideration would be regarding the level of consistency in content regulation that is to be maintained across all delivery media such as films, radio, print, etc. and stringent rules should be in place to counter unwarranted content. With the line drawn on how far one can go , media regulation would aid the spread of media, in a manner analogous to being the wind beneath a birds wings, guiding its flight even as it reaches greater heights and that would be Freedom, in its truest sense.
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Vartalaap
An Interview with Sudhir Voleti Resident Faculty, Strategic Marketing, Marketing, Indian School of Business, ISB
Sudhir Voleti is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Indian School of Business (ISB). His research interest is in Branding, focussing on the conceptual and estimation frameworks of brand equity, brand valuation, brand structures and architecture, branding in services, and branding and the Internet. He is also interested in the area of retailing, particularly store brands and store choice, retailing formats, channels, and the spatial models of intra-store brand competition. Professor Voletis research also explores modelling and methods such as choice models, spatial models, risk and hazard models, multi-category analysis, and the empirical estimation of games. At the ISB, Professor Voleti teaches a course in Marketing Research which underscores real-life problems, solutions and best practices in Marketing. Prior to joining the ISB, he was with the William E Simon Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Rochester, from where he had obtained a PhD in Management and an MS in Applied Economics. He has a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from the IIM, Calcutta and a Bachelors degree in Engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi. Professor Voleti has over 5 years of industry experience including stints at Accenture, SmithKline Beecham Industries, and Cognizant Technology Solutions. He worked for a while as a research analyst with Special Projects, Consumer Insights Division at Daymon Worldwide Inc. Professor Voleti has a number of commendable achievements to his credit such as being the winner of the Zyman Institute of Brand Sciences (ZIBS) Doctoral Dissertation Competition. He also received a Doctoral Fellowship from the William E Simon Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Rochester. He was a Fellow of the AMA Doctoral Consortium at the University of Maryland.
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Vartalaap
Markathon: You have been interested in estimating brand equity. Could you throw some light on the method you have used in your doctoral dissertation? What framework works best according to you?
Mr.Sudhir: That depends on whether we can get accountants and regulators to agree on one definition to hold true for all product categories in all industries and sectors for all time. Hard to see that happening anytime soon.
Mr.Sudhir: There're various Markathon: How can one account frameworks or approaches to for the varied brand perceptions defining and measuring brand in different geographies, I take an empiricist's viewpoint equity. Depending on the given that the business world problem's context and the and use only secondary data is globalized but brand decision-maker's perspective, (scanner data on sales) to perceptions are often not? different methods are more measure brand equity. The appropriate for different essence of the method is this: Mr.Sudhir: The best way is to situations. So it's hard to Sales are a result of a number of use a similar set of measures generalize on any one 'best' factors in action including, and assess brand equity at method. primarily, the 4 Ps of the different geographies marketing mix (MMIX). If we remove separately. Once that is done, I take an empiricist's viewpoint the sales impact of the MMIX and cross-sectional analysis of and use only secondary data of other control variables (such as spatial data can be performed (scanner data on sales) to to see if there exist spatial environmental factors, measure brand equity. The patterns in the data and seasonality etc.) then what essence of the method is predictions for 'dark' or remains must be (a residual form this: - Sales are a result of a unmeasured regions can be of) brand equity number of factors in action performed at will. including, primarily, the 4 Ps of the marketing mix (MMIX). If we remove the sales impact of the MMIX and of other control variables (such as environmental factors, seasonality etc.) then what remains must be (a residual form of) brand equity. Based on this premise, I estimate the residuals left over after all other observed sales effects are accounted for. Further, I impose the constraint that brand equity must be non-negative (either zero or positive only) because otherwise, firms would rapidly withdraw brands having negative equity. With these two conditions in mind, I estimated residual brand equity using an econometric technique called stochastic frontier analysis for my doctoral dissertation. Markathon: Given the variety in the methods and frameworks for measuring brand equity, do you think it is practical to expect brand value to feature in the balance sheet of the company soon? It should be no surprise that the same brand has different recognition, awareness-recall and price-premium in different places even within a country, what to say of cross-country situations. There's no one size fits all, again. Markathon: What interests you in the field of Retailing? Your comments on the future of the Retail Industry in India. Mr.Sudhir: Any researcher interested in studying B2C issues has no choice but to study retailing. It provides an excellent source of hard data, brand-customer interactions and marketing mix variations that we see around us. Retail in India is hobbled currently by regulatory and institutional issues. Only about 4-6% of the total retail market is organized. The unorganized market is fragmented and hard to generalize across. The prevalence of the MRP [Maximum retail price] which
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Vartalaap
becomes the de facto list price of any item prevents observation of price variations and their impact in sales data. The routine fudging of figures to evade taxes by most unorganized channel members further complicates matters because reliable estimates of margins, logistical challenges and trends are hard to come by. All in all, it's a perfect storm out there. But it certainly makes the Indian market too hard a nut to crack for most foreign mass-merchandisers. Markathon: We recently covered private labels in our cover story section. What do you think about the effect of private labels on branded products in a multi brand outlet? Mr.Sudhir: Private labels the world over are having national brands for lunch. In the UK private labels make up two-thirds of the market. Its about a third in the US now by some estimates and post-recession, things are only looking up for private labels (PLs). PLs as a rule don't advertise. Yet they offer comparable and often better margins to retailers than do national brands and are hence pushed aggressively by retailers. National brands (NBs) have their job cut out for them - retreating more to the premium and luxury segments or differentiating themselves radically (in an IP protected manner to discourage imitation) from PLs in the other segments. NBs will be around for quite a while, however. PLs may come more into their own when the millennial (people born in this century), that is anyway alienated from traditional advertising media such the TV come into their own. Markathon: Is it good to have a strong corporate brand and relatively weaker product brands? Or are product brands more important than the corporate or company brand? Mr.Sudhir: No single, simple answer. It depends on the context, product category and industry. Never hurts to have a strong corporate brand name, though. Unless you're launching a flanker brand (cheaper version) and do not want NB name association with it.
Markathon: What has been the key learning from your academic and industrial career? Mr.Sudhir: Change is the only constant. What was trending a decade ago is already obsolete. Constant updating of one's product line as well as one's skill set is the only way out. Markathon: Marketing research is often not the preference of MBA students when looking for a job. Based on your experience, what would be your advice about marketing research as a career? Mr.Sudhir: A lot of Marketing research (MKTR) involves tedious grunt work and is easily outsourced to specialized service providers. Much of the analysis etc is done by specialized software. At the MBA level, managers are more interested in how MKTR can support their decision making in the face of uncertainty in the business environment. So MKTR itself as a career is relatively a rare thing to see in MBA students. I think MKTR should be a skill-set or competency (like statistics, for instance) that MBAs should develop and be able to work with, in their managerial careers.
Change is the only constant. What was trending a decade ago is already obsolete. Constant updating of one's product line as well as one's skill set is the only way out
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war zone | eye 2 eye
Is the merger of Tata Indicom & Tata DoCoMo right for Tata Services?
Tata Teleservices Four brandsTataIndicom, Tata DoCoMo, Tata
Tata Teleservicess recent initiative is welcomed by customers and the company alike
photon, Tata walky, all under one name Tata DoCoMo. Tata Teleservicess recent initiative is welcomed by customers and the Moon Garg, company alike. The integration JP Morgan Services of all brands under one umbrella India Pvt. ltd. will help the customers and the company since all the services namely mobile telephony and data will be brought under one roof. On the one hand company can leverage its current retail presence for all the services and achieve significant cost savings and on the other hand customers can get one shop stop for their entire mobile and data services needs. For instance TataIndicom has a network of 3000 plus stores across India which can now be used to sell other services and vice-a versa. The extremely cluttered cellular services space, with all major competitors having a strong image and customer experience made it necessary for the brand to have one website and enhance customer experience to make its mark among customers. It will help the company to focus its marketing efforts on a single brand. Presently the company is unable to create strong brand image in minds of consumers which it seeks by creating a single brand. The company has taken a right step since its CDMA base is stagnating and future depends on investments made by the company to come up with new products in the segment. By integrating all under one brand name, the company can better explore emerging market opportunities in other segments.
The merger of Tata Indicom and Tata DoCoMo was a move for merging both the CDMA and GSM service platforms to provide uniform and better services to its users on both the platforms. But Aritra Nayak then this strategy to rebrand IIM S an already popular service which was successful in a particular segment could be a risky move. Tata Indicoms CDMA service was very popular with the rural masses who valued their money while TATA DoCoMo was more for the urban class. Hence, launching a single brand is deemed to create confusion in the consumers mind and it shall be difficult for the new brand to remove the previous notions associated with the brand name DoCoMo. It shall most likely result in the loss of both the rural market segment who might feel that the new services could be overpriced and not tailored for their needs. Plus the costs of launching a new branding strategy that portrays both the services under a single umbrella shall cost the company some fortune. Technically too, the merger of the brands will incur the company extra costs for the synchronization of unified services. The introduction of MNP in India will make switching costs cheaper; hence the option to change brands will be more likely from TATA to Reliance or Airtel, rather than from GSM to CDMA. Hence the move to have a merger of two distinctly successful brands by TATA Teleservices doesnt seem very good on the long run.
A merger of two distinctly successful brands doesnt seem very good on the long run.
Topic for the next issues Eye to Eye: Do you think Government intervention and equity infusion can save the Indian Aviation industry players who are reeling under huge losses? Your opinion (view/counterview) is invited. Word limit is 250-300. Last date of sending entries is 10th December, 2011. Include your picture (JPEG format) with the entry. 25
war zone | silent voice
Silent Voice
LAST MONTHS RESULTS

WINNER: Brijrajsinh Gohil | NIPER Congratulations!!!He receives a cash prize of Rs 500!
Theme: Wipro's re-launch of the newly acquired soap Aramusk
Articles are invited

Best Article: Siddartha Prasad, Arijit Parial | IIM Ahmedabad They receive a cash prize of Rs. 1000 & a letter of appreciation. We are inviting articles from all the B-schools of India. The articles can be specific to the regular sections of Markathon which includes: Perspective: Articles related to development of latest trends in marketing arena. Productolysis: Analysis of a product from the point of view of marketing. Strategic Analysis: A complete analysis of the marketing strategy of any company or an event. International Column: Articles covering latest marketing trends, innovative practices, branding strategies etc. in the global perspective. Apart from above, out of the box views related to marketing are also welcome. The best entry will receive a letter of appreciation and a cash prize of Rs 1000/-. The format of the file should be MS Word doc/docx. Were inviting photographs of interesting promotional events/advertisements/hoardings/banners etc. you might have come across in your daily life for our new section The 4th P. Send your self-clicked photographs in JPEG format only. NEXT THEME FOR SILENT VOICE: Horlicks Oats- Three Way Health Advantage The last date of receiving all entries is 10th December 2011. Please send your entries marked as <ARTICLE NAME>_<SENDERS NAMES>_<INSTITUTE> to markathon.iims@gmail.com.
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special
Why this Kolaveri over Kolaveri Di?

Rushika Sabnis, Swati Nidiganti | IIM Shillong
Having appeared as the top Indian trend on Twitter as on November 21, Kolaveri Di has come to be the first regional film song to be played by radio stations all over the country. Even as we write, it has generated over 8 million views on YouTube in a span of less than 10 days and is still counting. What is the magic that this Kolaveri Di has created? Why has this suddenly become the buzz word? Why is everyone everywhere humming this one song? Why this Kolaveri Kolaveri Di? It all started a week back and the craze is still on. Facebook walls to date continue to get updates of a (then) certain Tamil movie song, being shared virally by users, their friends, friends of friends and so on. Youth love it; they hum with it, tap with it and laugh at it. It created a Kolaveri Killer Rage in such a short time that it raised only a few eye brows when it made to the front page of The Hindu. This soup song (love failure song) has broken records of not just the regional but the entire Indian music industry. Let us review the success of this failure song. The Kolaveri Di Phenomenon The song, written and sung by Tamil movie star Dhanush, from the upcoming Tamil movie 3 was initially leaked on the 16th of November and was later officially released on the internet in order to capitalise on the situation. Within a day of its release, the Kolaveri Di phenomenon engulfed the young and the old alike. It spread like a virus and hijacked all our minds in spite of making no sense logically or otherwise. The things which worked were 1. Tune The tune is light- hearted and extremely catchy. It is new, refreshing folkish and Indian. Although it lacks the musical finesse of a professional, the live recording setup, devoid of a flashy music video worked 2. Lyrics The lyrics are peppy, simple, hip and relevant. The no brainer broken English lyrics are so catchy that they make you stand up and take notice immediately. 3. Language The Tanglish song presents the informal avatar of a rather formal English language. You will either laugh at or laugh with it. And to see an English song in a Tamil accent, giving it an Indian touch was just what the Indian audience was waiting to see.
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special 4. Unconventionality The song is sung straight from the heart which gave it a differential advantage over others in its category. Although the lyrics literally mean "murderous rage, the funny broken English and the situation makes most youngsters identify with it. A heartbroken guy is expected to sing sad, sentimental songs, but Kolaveri Di gives us just the opposite and hence a welcome change from the usual. 5. Media Internet is one of the major factors behind the success of Kolaveri Di. It was social media marketing at its best and it helped capture the attention of the Tamil and Non-Tamil audience alike. Likes led to more likes and more likes led to it being the talk of the town which manifested into a phenomenon within a week. The fact that celebrities like Amitabh
3. Dare to be different Being a first timer may not be a very bad idea. Taking the road less travelled may pay off. Explore. Experiment. Give your consumer something interesting, something different, something out of the box. 4. Domino Effect Works Social media success works as a gateway for success in other media. In this case the online success of Kolaveri Di gave it a front page coverage in newspapers and also led to it being popular on radio due to its high demand. Conclusion Nothing succeeds like success. Strategy to succeed in the market is no rocket science. It may have certain dos and donts, but once in a while comes a product which takes the entire marketing world by storm. Kolaveri Di is one of them. At the end of the day, it will be a record breaker in more ways than one. However, it would remain a mystery if its success is due to its catchy tune, unconventional lyrics, whacky situation, apt usage of media or just the Rajni effect, Dhanush being his son-inlaw!
Bachchan tweeted about it stamped it with a Super Hit ve rdict. Lessons for marketers 1. Give the consumer what he wants An ideal marketer must focus on the latent needs of the consumer. Like the Kolaveri Di song instantly connects with the We are like this only Indian attitude, products and services must be able to strike a similar chord. 2. Use the right media Marketers should study their target market. The media used should be in lines with the target consumer. Social media works well with youth to create a buzz. Likes on Facebook and YouTube lead to good Word of mouth publicity especially if the product is unconventional.
28
specials | ADdicted
Ad-dicted
Gaurav Ralhan | iim s
PRODUCT #1: Tata Nano 2012 TARGET AUDIENCE Youngsters aged between 20 to 25 years POSITIONING: Ab chal pado bas yun hi !! AD AGENCY Rediffusion Y&R waiting for another friend to join them. The friend approaches in a brand new Tata Nano, everybody hop in to the car and demand for a party. The friend offers a long drive just for a cup of tea. While driving to their destination, when they are having fun the new features of the car are indirectly explained through their conversations. All the way they go comfortably, pulling each others leg. Off and on they appreciate the ground clearance, top speed, suspension and the car's mileage. Finally they reach the destination, have fun there and then a voice over introduces the new Tata Nano to the audience and explains about the new features of the car. VERDICT: Catch/Miss Catch I liked the TVC; it portrays the emotional benefits along with all the functional benefits of owing the car in the same TVC; a perfect blend of functionality with emotions. The problem that Tata Nano is facing is that the hype about the Nanos low cost ended up making it less attractive to its target audience. Theres a kind of stigma attached to it, as though you cant afford anything else. The TVC is focused on college goers which is an attractive segment for Nano as it is the time when youth wants freedom and parents seek safety for their children that a two wheeler cant provide. The TVC is good, hoping that it will improve the sales as well. But one thing that the TVC has been able to ensure is to change the perception of customers towards Tata Nano and has struck a right chord with the audience; the new TVC is getting noticed.
PRODUCT #2: Dominos Triple Cheese Pizza TARGET AUDIENCE: Cheese Lovers, age no bar
POSITIONING: 'Khushiyon ki home delivery' AD AGENCY: Contract Advertising CONCEPT: The TVC opens with a women making
pizza in her kitchen. Suddenly three birds enter in her kitchen and she hushes them away. Then a globe is shown indicating towards Australia, and there a man is shown making pizza in his shop. All of a sudden outside the window, he sees three women riding a bicycle waving towards him, without noticing what they are trying to convey he gets back to his work. Next on the globe is New York, a cook throws up a dough when suddenly a rare incident occurs. He sees a lighting strike a place three times but just like others he also ignored the hidden meaning behind the incident. In the next shot God is shown sitting with a man and saying 'They're just not getting it'. The man sitting beside god then waves his hand and in India a utensils falls on the head of the cook and he is struck with the magical idea of three cheese pizza for the cheese lovers. VERDICT: Catch/Miss 50-50 The advertisement is unconventional and is different from the regular run of the mill pizza delivery ads but the concept goes too far in the chase of being different. The TVC would have suited the brand better had it been just an Indian Pizza delivery chain but Dominos has its presence in more than sixty countries in the world and the concept of triple cheese pizza just striking Indian pizza makers and not anyone else indirectly attacks its own image as a global brand. The concept is different, with a ting of humour so all in all a 50-50 from my side.
CONCEPT: The film opens with a group of friends
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specials | radical thoughts
the pitfalls of social media marketing

Jitesh patel | IIM S
Social Media is the newest form of communication today, and every marketer wants to have a social media presence. There cannot be a brand without a Facebook page or one which doesnt desire to have a massive following on twitter. The amount of money being spent on Social Media marketing has grown at a rapid pace and the trend doesnt seem to be slowing down at all. There are however risks in taking the Social Media way in marketing, especially to the Indian consumer. There is a danger that Social Media might end up being irrelevant if it is not used appropriately. Let us look at some of these dangers and how theyll affect the companies. The genesis of Social Media as a marketing tool lies in the fact that it offered companies an unconventional medium to showcase their products and reach out to them. It was unconventional because only a handful of companies used it and gained an advantage from it. Today, it has become the norm rather than an innovation. Marketing through Social media therefore is much tougher, because you are not the only one using it anymore, even your competitors are. It is difficult to create an advantage through just a Social Media presence; companies have to do more. Social Media is a medium which allows for a 2 way communication to happen rather than just broadcasting a message like the traditional print, radio and TV. The advantage companies have is that they can engage in conversations with their customers and learn immensely from these interactions. Companies are spending indiscriminately on Social Media without treating it differently. Social media cannot and should not be treated like a broadcast media. If a company uses its Facebook page to only broadcast messages and release information snippets, it is missing out on the power of Social Media. A lot of companies use Facebook as an advertising platform, not as a communication platform and this completely undermines Social Medias relevance in their marketing budgets. Social Media lets the companies personalise messages according to the target audience. The segmentation is far more detailed than any other media can provide and therefore the companies need to create multiple messages. Specific, customised messages for different sets of users are the need of the hour. Unfortunately, companies still depend on the one size fits all mantra which is not how Social Media should work. Social Medias advantage also lies in the fact that it is frugal; using social media doesnt require huge budgets. This advantage wont stay for long. The way companies are spending on Social Media, the levels will soon match the traditional media without giving companies the same reach. Companies should be averse to this indiscriminate spending on Social Media and make it more focussed and tight. There are wonderful examples of Social Media successes. Starbucks came out trumps with its My Starbucks Idea campaign which brilliantly engaged the consumers and made them a part of their business ideas. Ford managed to launch a car in U.K using just Facebook to considerable success. These campaigns are too far and few in between the hordes of Social Media marketing campaigns that have flooded the internet today. It is a tough battle and only few brands will emerge winners once the dust settles down.
30
specials | updates
Brand Watch
Coca-Cola to invest $2 bn in India over five years
Coca-Cola has announced that it would invest $2 billion along with its franchisee bottlers in India over five years. This would catapult the country to its sixth largest market (currently ninth) in the world in terms of volumes. The company plans to invest $30 billion across the world in the next five years. India will account for 6.6 per cent of that. Rationale behind this investment is that the Indian beverage market has been barely tapped. The per capita consumption of soft drinks of Coca-Cola in India is 11 compared to the global average of 89. In an emerging market like Mexico, it is a staggering 675. Even in China, it is 35. Hence it expects to double the number of outlets where Coke brands are available from 1.5 million to three million in five years and in turn double its volumes in the country. The money would be used to expand bottling plants, set up more plants (it already has 50 units), build cold-storage assets, expand rural and urban distribution and consolidate its trucking strength.
site. Yahoo! will also leverage advance display advertising capabilities on its premium media and communication properties to help OLX grow its brand and consumers in India. OLX intends to make people aware about the OLX brand proposition and offer them the best options to buy, sell, and rent products and services within their city.
VEMB Lifestyle and Apple Companies acquire Promart
Group
of
Provogue India has sold its retail chain business, Promart, to VEMB Lifestyle and Apple Group of Companies. The two companies have come together to acquire the brand name from Provogue to expand their footprint in India. Promart is a multi-brand household retail chain and value format brand which offers premium products at discounted rates under one roof. The companies will be targeting Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV towns where people are becoming more fashion conscious.
Titan to acquire Favre Leuba for Rs 13.6 crore

Titan Industries on Wednesday announced that it will acquire Swiss watch brand Favre Leuba for Rs.13.6 crore. The company has signed a binding offer with Valfamily SL Spain and Maison Favre Leuba, Switzerland, for the acquisition of brand Favre Leuba. The strategic rationale behind the above acquisition is to complement and strengthen the existing watches brand portfolio of the company with a Swiss heritage brand.
Benetton scraps pope-imam kiss ad after Vatican protest

Italian Clothes Company Benetton terminated its photo montage showing the pope kissing a leading imam from its new global ad campaign called UNHATE following a stern condemnation from the Vatican. The campaign contained a series of photo montages of political and religious leaders kissing. The montages included the US President Barack Obama kissing Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu kissing Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas.
Al Jazeera English to be available in India

Qatar-based Al Jazeera Network on Thursday announced the launch of its news channel Al Jazeera English across India on Dish TV and plans to tie-up with other direct-to-home (DTH) platforms to spread its reach. The network is also considering launching a Hindi news channel in the country. Besides enhancing distribution, the network is also strengthening news gathering capabilities in the country
Yahoo! India and OLX.in enter annual advertising partnership

Yahoo India has announced an annual advertising partnership with OLX.in, the free online classifieds portal. As part of this partnership, Yahoo India homepage will feature a permanent OLX link under the featured partners section directing users to the OLX
31
specials | updates
Google Unveils Google Music Service

Google Inc. said it will soon begin selling music online and to Android smart phone users, and will enable buyers to share their purchases with friends on the Google+ social network. Around 13 million songs will be available under licenses Google has in place. People in the music industry predict that prices will be comparable to the 99 cents to $1.29 charged by Apple Inc.'s iTunes Store. Google also will let independent artists create their own pages for $25, where they can sell music at prices they set, keeping 70% of the sale price
GETIT, Indias leading information services provider, has announced the launch of a special section on its website dedicated to cars and car enthusiasts. The site will contain reviews both from experts as well as other consumers; information on loans, dealer lists, offers, insurance providers, accessories etc. Similarly, for selling a used car, the site offers ability to place free classified ads which are made available through GETIT FreeAds the leading site for free classifieds. The community is also powered by Facebook which makes sharing effortless. While the site will have its own experts and editors, any enthusiast can apply to be an expert and field queries from other consumers.
Brand Launch
Huawei launches cloud-based phones and data services in India
China's Huawei Devices will provide its own cloud services and cloud-based mobile phones in India. Starting at Rs 9,000, the two new handsets - Huawei Sonic and IDEOS X3 - can download and enable content sharing, while backing up information on the cloud. They offer cloud+ service, which provides a 16 Gb net drive, integrated social phonebook and claim to have richer messaging and phone finder services which would make cloud phones smarter than existing ones."
Danone launches yogurt variants

French dairy major Danone on Friday announced the launch of its creamy stirred yogurt in select markets in the country priced at Rs. 20 for 100 gm and Rs. 37 for 250 gm. The product is targeted at the health conscious people and will be available in three flavors - plain sweet, strawberry and pineapple - at 1,000 outlets in Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, and Bangalore selected based on its socio economic demographics.
Skoda Rapid launched at Rs 6.75 lakh

Car manufacturer Skoda Auto launched its first csegment sedan Rapid priced at Rs.6.75 lakhs. It is designed to fills the gap between Skoda Fabia and the current Laura. The company claims to have positioned the car as a family car, compact enough for the city and spacious enough for longer trips.
MediaValueWorks India launches Cloud PR services

MediaValueWorks India has announced the launch of Indias first cloud based service for Global Public Relations enabling Local Businesses to Communicate Effectively with Global Media. Designing the solution to meet with the current needs of Enterprises, MediaValueWorks plans suitable PR Campaigns, Oneto-One Press Interactions, Virtual Press Conferences, Distributes White Papers and Company Backgrounders for the information of media and the analyst community.
BSNL launches Bharat Berry push e-mail service

State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) Monday tied up with Bharat Berry Technologies to provide push e-mail services to all its mobile subscribers of all circles in India. The mobile communication service Bharat Berry works with most of the mobile phones and provides an advanced push mail with over the air backup of the user's contacts, tasks, calendar and notes. BSNL in alliance with Bharat Berry is targeting this service for all range of handsets carrying
GETIT Launches an Exclusive Microsite for Cars
32
specials | updates
BlackBerry, Symbian, Android, Windows Mobile and J2ME which will cover all major mobile handsets.
Nokia launches Lumia family phones

Finnish handset giant Nokia launched the Lumia 800 and the Lumia 710, the first devices from its partnership with software major Microsoft. The phone will feature Windows Phone 7.5 - Mango operating system. The
place on Facebooks platform. Miramax has also launched its own movie rental service on Facebook a few months ago.
VideoSurf Bought $70 Million
By
Microsoft
For
devices will be made available in the country by midDecember. The Nokia Lumia 800 comes with floating glass display, 8 megapixel (MP) camera with dual LED flash and 16GB internal user memory. Globally, it is priced at $ 580 (about Rs.29,000). The Lumia 710, on the other hand, has a 5MP camera with LED flash, 8GB storage capacity with 512 MB RAM, exchangeable back covers and is priced at $ 380 ( about Rs.19,000) internationally.
Microsoft recently announced its acquisition of "video discovery technology company" VideoSurf. Microsoft intends to integrate VideoSurfs technology into its XBOX live. The acquisition is pegged at $70 million by experts. Microsoft wants to couple VideoSurf's backend technology with the integrated Bing voice search coming soon on the Xbox 360 platform.
Ad Watch
Chivas launches 'Here's to..' campaign
Academy Award winner Joachim Back has directed two online films for Chivas Regal as part of the brand's new 'Live with Chivalry' campaign. Created by Euro RSCG London, the films star four male friends who recount various escapades over a glass of Chivas whisky. The online films will be supported by global TV, print and digital activity.
Media
Marketers target social games as a branding tool in India
Social gaming, a concept that promotes social networking via online games is a new phenomenon in the Indian community. The games are getting more realistic as each day passes and further entice user participation. It is estimated that more than 10 million or over 50 percent of Indias Facebook users play social games. Games like Farmville and Pet Society are quite a rage. The relatively large audience pool and the revenue growth forecast have made social games a potent branding tool for marketers.
Justin Timberlake to Relaunch MySpace in 2012

The popstar-turned-actor recently bought an ownership share in the company when it was sold by NewsCorp to Specific Media. Justin Timberlake has confirmed that he would work towards reviving Myspace in the online media business. A talent show on the social networking website to develop new artists might be in the offing.
Mission Impossible Facebook
to
be
aired
on
Paramount Pictures has left no stone unturned to market the latest instalment of the Mission Impossible Franchise. They have made all the previous movies of the Mission: Impossible series available for direct viewing from the movies Facebook Fan Page in the United States for a cost of 30 Facebook Credits ($2.99). Paramount took a similar initiative for the last Jackass film and this is by far the largest movie initiative to take
Tanishq launches Mia; positions it as everyday jewellery for the working woman
Tanishq has added a sub-brand called Mia to its collection. It is positioned as a brand for daily use for working women. Lowe Lintas, the advertising agency for Tanishq has created three new TVCs titled, Parking, Increment and Workshop for the launch.
33
specials | updates
Please send in your comments/feedback to: markathon.iims@gmail.com Visit: www.iims-markathon.in
Team Markathon, IIM Shillong

Markathon Nov'11

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MARKATHON

MARKETING MAGAZINE OF IIM SHILLONG VOL 3, ISSUE 5

Media Regulation in India

FROM THE EDITOR

Jitesh Pradeep Patel

THE MARKATHON TEAM

markathon | november 2011

FEATURED ARTICLES STRATEGIC ANALYSIS

VARTALAAP ATUL SOBTI

FORMER MD & CEO, RANBAXY LABS LTD.

COVER STORY MEDIA REGULATION IN INDIA

VARTALAAP SUDHIR VOLETI WAR ZONE EYE 2 EYE

RESIDENT FACULTY, STRATEGIC MARKETING, ISB

Strategic analysis perspective

markathon | november 2011

How globalization changed the industry

Strategic analysis perspective

markathon | november 2011

So what must the management of a globally successful corporation do?

What does globalization management?

Strategic analysis perspective

markathon | november 2011

Cross Border Alliances

markathon | November 2011 markathon | november 2011

Impact of recent FDI regulations on the Retail sector in India

markathon | November 2011 markathon | november 2011

markathon | november 2011 markathon | November 2011

markathon | november 2011

Online Media Marketing: The Next Revolution in Indian Politics?

markathon | November 2011

An Interview with atul sobti

Founder Friday Gurgaon, Former CEO & MD Ranbaxy Labs Ltd

markathon |november 2011

Media Regulation in India

Cover story|Media Regulation in India Cover story

markathon | November 2011 markathon |november

Cover story|Media Regulation in India Cover story

markathon | November 2011 markathon |november

Need for Media Regulation:

Cover story|Media Regulation in India Cover story

markathon | November 2011 markathon |november

Cover story|Media Regulation in India Cover story

markathon | November 2011 markathon |november

Cover story|Media Regulation in India Cover story

markathon | November 2011 markathon |november

2009 Partly Free 12 7 15 34

2011 Partly Free 12 8 16 36

markathon | November 2011

markathon | November 2011

markathon | November 2011

war zone | eye 2 eye

markathon | november 2011

war zone | silent voice

markathon | november 2011

LAST MONTHS RESULTS

Theme: Wipro's re-launch of the newly acquired soap Aramusk

Articles are invited

markathon | november 2011

Why this Kolaveri over Kolaveri Di?

markathon | november 2011

markathon | november 2011

CONCEPT: The film opens with a group of friends