Colloquium- Mr. Ramesh, , March 23, 2007
General Manager, Media Direction
Requiem for a Million Dreams
“Oh no! Not today!” groaned the whole lot of us when we saw yet another notice announcing a colloquium by Mr. Ramesh from Media Direction. It was the day of the India vs. Sri Lanka match and all of us (or at least most of us) desperately wanted to watch the match. But still grumbling and groaning, we walked into SKH in the evening. As most of us tried to keep track of the score on our mobiles, our guest for the day walked in and to our surprise asked us for the score!! He then asked all of us to pray for the “men in blue”. Just when we thought we were face to face with a hard core cricket fan he told us that his reasons for doing so were pretty selfish. While we were wondering what those reasons could possibly be, he showed us a short film that was made to cheer the Indian team for the World Cup. Although the film was launched on 13th March, the day of India’s first match, it didn’t have the desired effect as India lost. If India lost against Sri Lanka, it would mean not running the film anymore. That would in turn mean 31 failed deals with 31 TV channels and 31 possible fights to handle. Although deals with TV channels sound pretty glamorous, the real picture is far from rosy, he said.
Mr. Ramesh then went on to talk about his company, which is a part of RK Swamy/ BBDO. He then talked about the essential qualities of a good media planner. To become a good media planner it is essential to be acquainted with the geography of the country as this decides how much money is to be spend on a particular market. A media plan is always done with a particular audience in mind and so before taking the big leap it is always essential to study what your plan would mean to your target audience. It is of utmost importance to have a clear picture of who the consumer is since this decides what means of communication is to be chosen. He also said that the process of media planning had changed drastically in the last two decades especially with new channels coming up like mushrooms.
As far as recent media trends were concerned, Mr. Ramesh started off by saying that 70% of the total media revenue is in the hands of just 6 media groups. Most groups have been following a trend of spreading ownership over all forms of media like Times of India and Sun network. Other major trends include increasing C&S (Cable and Satellite) penetration, vinyl outdoors replacing the traditional ones, privatization of the radio, revival of cinema with the growth of multiplexes, growth of internet etc.
Mr. Ramesh pointed out that media in India was a 13,000 crore industry. With the opening up of the economy and the presence of more players, the industry is bound to grow further. Print and TV still retain the chunk of the market. At the same time, the cost of media has also gone up. Today, the top spenders include HLL, Tata, P&G, Bennett Coleman etc.
Mr. Ramesh also talked about the latest scenario as far as the Television industry was concerned. He said that considering the huge number of players in the industry, planning for TV had become a nightmare. And as the number of players grows it becomes harder to ensure returns. He also talked about the concept of scientific media planning. He said that it was pretty much a reality now. In the past planning was purely based on numbers but today it is not just numbers that matter but also relevance. He said that these days media had become the most expensive part of a marketing plan. The only glitch in the whole scenario being the absence of a rigid system to measure viewership.
Mr. Ramesh also gave us a brief history of the Television in India- about how colour TV first came to India, about the incidence of Cable TV, about satellite broadcasts etc. He then talked about the present scenario in India. With around 300 plus channels and a total viewer base of around 40 million the industry is still growing. The major benefit of the growth of so many channels is the concept of choose and advertise which was formerly not possible.
Mr. Ramesh concluded his talk by talking about the recent trends like Infotainment, growth of sports channels etc. On the whole he succeeded in giving us a bird’s eye view of what media planning is like. I must say that there was not even a single boring moment during his talk and being interested in media myself, his talk only strengthened my resolve to become a media planner myself. And I’m sure I’m not the only one who relished this colloquium.
Poornima Rajan
1st MBA.
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