No News here ..
News as I remember began as a half hour of power packed no-nonsense coverage on national television. Later on with the advent of cable television, independent 24*7 news channels came into being.
The face of the Indian News channels has since undergone many make-overs. It began with the war between channels to bring the latest news first, followed by providing distinct personalities as news analysts and then came the war of sensationalising. The objective was not about providing the true picture and real breaking news, it was about bringing in viewership…the capsule of daily news steadily replaced by a mix of news-entertainment.
I increasingly see comedy routines, videos available on the net and bollywood trivia seeping through the news segments. There is nothing on the news channels that is not available faster or with greater covergae either on the internet or on print. Very few channels can today boast of exclusivity , be it the news or the insight with which it is covered.
In an attempt to be everything to everybody the news channels seem to be losing out on the loyalty of a valuable section of the market.
This choice that the channels seem to have willingly made is cause for concern. Great channel, great people, existing loyal viewers … and yet following that path that others take. What if you stuck to the original concept of providing truly exclusive first hand information.
What have you been great at? What if you continued to excel? What if you stopped being just another channel?
Redundant
If you are not going to make the best use of a resource, then why build/hire it?
Walk inside the compound walls of most of Hyderabad’s apartment complexes and you will know what I mean. There will be a huge, shallow, clean swimming pool strategically placed for constant visibility to visitors and residents, and that is where its functionality ceases (almost).
What is the point of this pool? Women residents do not use it as there is zero privacy, men probably don’t use it because it is too shallow and kids mess the whole place by turning the pool into a giant puddle of dirty water.
What appears as a benefit on the brochure, does not necessarily translate into a benefit for the buyer or the seller. Is your business also suffering from the swimming pool syndrome? Are you promising too much in theory but not able to render the product useful?
An apartment with a well designed pool that addresses the issue of privacy, standard dimensions and specific timings for men, women and children, will definitely be more beneficial to the residents. To gain visibility the pool can be placed within a recreational zone where visitors are allowed.
Takeaway: Provide service that truly matters. If you are going to promise more than what you deliver, do not kid yourself into believing that the customer is the loser. Providing no service is better than forcing redundant, over hyped services which carry a fee.
In-site advertising
An offshoot of my previous post.
In-site advertising - to know what I mean follow this link on the NDTV Good Times site and click on the hyperlinks ‘married’ and ‘relationship’.
Simple and highly effective this form of advertising has been around for a while. The concept assures a click from almost every reader and hence sure shot visibility for the brand.
Another bonus is the amount of information the reader is lead to. Unlike its television counterpart in-site advertising allows the reader to explore the product.
However, a clutter of hyperlinks with tangential relevance to the article can ruin the reading experience causing damage to the site.
While discretion and choice of brands is absolutely essential, the trick lies is maintaining the quality of the article while keeping the brands few and far between.
In-program advertising
It is not enough to have a 10 second commercial aired every 5 minutes in the commercial break slot. With almost every brand, churning out commercials with great storyboards, memorable punchlines and characters, visibility is a constant battle. Celebrities’ endorsing multiple brands also dampens the exclusivity and uniqueness of the product.
The most obvious approach in such a scenario is to catch the audience’s attention by creating opportunities in the untapped prime time segment – the serial itself. Forget commercial breaks, welcome in-program advertising.
Although the concept of in-program advertising is no news, its presence on Indian television is greater now than ever before. While the Indian idol judges on Sony television channel sip Pepsi and Aquafina water on and off for 30 minutes, would the audience really remember the 10 second Coca Cola commercial?
Whether it is an anchor eating Maggie on a adventure show in a lifestyle channel or the Get Gorgeous girls checking their own pictures on Yahoo.co.in, in-program advertising is here for now.
So is television viewing minus the commercial breaks a possibility? Are brands, ad-agencies ready to take on this situation? More importantly, how are the viewers going to react to this?
Although it would be interesting to see how products are incorporated into the program, I don’t see many takers for a complete shift in how brands are advertised.
If cleverly done in-program advertising fetches the brand greater coverage and recall value, however how much of the brand to use is eventually the decision of the television channel and the writers.
An overkill may cause some harm to the brand but the negativity of the television viewing experience may keep the viewers away. Remember the movie Yaadien, which got a lot of flake for “over endorsing” and an eventual damp box-office response.
Jack of all ideas !
Brands are increasingly using tried and tested formulas for their media campaigns. The footnote of choosing storyboards seems to be ‘It worked for XYZ brand, no reason why it should not work for my brand’.
In the process the essential difference between the products and their brand values are neglected.
Children are increasingly used in ad campaigns, women continue to promote products targeted for men. Garnier fairness cream, Rin advanced detergent soap and Fair and lovely use the same ‘ Proof of whiteness’ theme.
Ideas that click for others need not necessarily work for you.
Before and after works for weight loss, but matrimony sites .. really??
Fortune lost at the bottom of the organisation pyramid
That is one of the tragedies of owning a business empire…and then overlooking the staff’s induction as part of the organisation.
Despite the principles of customer delight that govern the operations of the brand, big names in the service industry are losing money, customer confidence and loyalty to their competitors.
Some of the reasons for this – Poor point of sale service, inability of the front end employees to grasp the real meaning of the brands guidelines and their underestimation of the competitor’s .. well .. competitiveness.
Employees higher up may be working towards wealth creation, while cases of fortune lost through the bottom of the organisation pyramid go unnoticed. Where then, is the difference in the customers experience while shopping at the countries leading retail chain or at a local kirana store?
The cases of this happening may be few and far, but thats no reason to stop its occurance entirely.
Child friendly homes.
Almost every brand has a child artist in its ad- campaign. A child’s inherent cuteness and the parents/guardians vulnerability is leveraged to its maximum. Organizations are increasingly banking on this tried and tested formula to sell.
In such a scenario, a statement like ‘Child friendly home’ appearing on a real estate firms Billboard advertisement seems like another sales gimmick.Probe further and you would be surprised (pleasantly) at what you discover. I asked the realtors what exactly a ‘child friendly home’ meant, and here’s what they had to say:
1. Low seating options, for the child to climb on to at different places of the home (Living room, bedrooms)
2. No sharp edges in the furniture and counters provided
3. Anti-slip tiles in the child’s room
4. Playground within apartment premises
Loved the whole idea, here are a few points I would add:
1. Slip resistant tiles in all areas of the house where water is used frequently (Kitchens and washrooms)
2. Facility to accommodate a small safety gate at all staircases.
3. All electrical fixtures should be child safe and away from the child’s reach
Also, if the home is made ‘Child Friendly’ why not make it ‘Elderly friendly’ as well? – this would mean additions like grab bars ( of this kind and this kind) in the washrooms, easy to clean and maintain surfaces, easy to use security/alarm systems etc. .
My take – It is very refreshing to know that local players in the real estate market are paying attention. A little more detail and insight would do wonders to ensure that the buyers don’t have to keep shelling out for home improvements.