We watch - we criticize; we enjoy – we thrash… We continue to talk about the matches, the players, the team owners, the opening & closing ceremony every year and that is nothing but IPL fever. It is the dough mix of glamour & sports, style & spirit and money & unity.

IPL from season 1 to season 6 has enthralled the masses not only in India but also abroad. From corruption to cheerleaders, from teams to brawls, from ads to after parties almost everything is in the Newspapers, TV news and not to forget Social Networking.

Ever wondered how much does the production of a TV ad costs? And once it is created, how much does it cost to promote it? No idea, well one can make an ad anywhere from few lakhs to crores (depends on creative & technology required) and promotions on TV can be unlimited. It actually depends on brand’s spending capacity. However minimum requirement for a brand to spread its message amongst masses is in between Rs. 5cr to Rs. 10cr.

*And how much are these advertisers spending to be a part of this IPL season? It is between Rs. 4.5 lakh to Rs. 5.5 lakh for ten seconds slot. And in-case the brand is one of the main sponsors (Like Pepsi & Vodafone) then the brand is shelling out nothing less than Rs. 60cr on ads. For other sponsors like Micromax, Godrej Eon, Usha, Parle, Samsung the cost is between Rs 25cr to Rs. 30cr.

An interesting data comes from CRIC study for developing strategies for advertising during IPL:

Basis the above points, let us analyse:

To build a complete case study, let us first find out the brands advertising in IPL6 – Total of 25 Brands (what I can recall and are prominent)– Pepsi, Samsung, Vodafone, Coke, Voltas, Panasonic, Rasna, Parle, Bisleri, Micromax, Godrej, Airtel, Videocon, Limca, Hero, Sony, Cleartrip, Hitachi, Usha, Cadbury, Docomo, Karbonn, Arise, Havells and Berger Paints - Now that seems BIG show & whooping money.

For a minute, can you visualize the ad for each brand? If yes, then that brand is successful in creating a space for itself in the consumer’s mind. If no, then despite spending so much money it is not helping the brand.

Now let us connect the pieces by taking individual brands with scores of GOOD, BAD & OK:

The GOODs

The OKs

The BADs

Many other brands (Asian Paints, V Guard, Sprite, Kent, Quicker etc.) are taking a step in the end to advertise so that they do not miss the bus and also that the last few days have higher visibility as per the data by TAM (TV Audience Measurement)

Summarizing the above with a very strong view point and facts – If only 7 out of 25 i.e. close to 30% of the brands are GOOD such that they have grown in the consumer minds, interacted not only through TV ads but also taken it online, mall activations and outdoor then why are the other brands splurging their monies. 

Close to 30% of the brands are OK advertisers, then they need some improvement be it the creative or be it a push on media or taking the message beyond TV and for rest 40% BAD advertisers, it is time that you as a marketer sit with creative and digital agency and co-create a content which is worth the consumers.

*Source MSM (Multi Screen Media (MSM), the official broadcaster of the IPL). The image is used from CRIC study by Domor Communication Consulting and Vivaki Exchange on Marketing by brands participating in IPL.

Does Montoo deserve my Blog Post, may be Yes or May be No. Coupled with reasoning and my mind is debating - What he did was right or wrong?

So I thought let me hit the keyboard and get things sorted. To all who don’t know, Montoo was our maid at house. He was 17 when he came from a bureau to my parent’s place and he was 22 when he left back.

Young, naughty, workaholic and sincere to the job were his few qualities and like any other kid he mingled easily with the family. My father was more dependent on him than anyone else among us because Montoo would help him walk and exercise everyday considering his limitations after two surgeries.

My mother would leave the house to him at any hour. He was also a part time at my house. Both me and my husband, Rohan thought that we are comfortable with him and even he would get an extra salary to support his old father back in Assam.

He would live, eat, play with my niece like a family member and to my knowledge has never said no to any work we gave him. He used to watch TV and movies with us and was very happy. One problem, which we had seen in him, was that he used to lie, which was rare but it used to happen. Not because of his intentions but he was scared. So if the glass had broken, he would keep it back as it is and when found, he would say ‘I accidentally broke’. We always told him not to hide but I believe it was in his nature.

We unintentionally had got ourselves addicted to him. And then came the time for his visit to his home town. He was going after two and years and got the tickets (even return) from us. He has gone in past too. And since his family was very needy, he was giving them good money back home.  Every-time he went, it was ensured that all his money was transferred to his father’s account.

Two months passed away, sulking with the temporary maid, may be because of the quality of the work and also because back of our mind we had no issues because it was all the matter of just two months.

In these two months, he gave us calls so many times that he misses us and that we would be facing lot problems because of his absence at work. Even we inquired about his know-how many times. He called two days before boarding the train that he is coming with one of his cousins who was looking for work.

Yesterday was the day of his arrival, and he did not come. Phone switched off, father’s phone says he is not well and is in Assam itself. May be the truth or may be not. His father was old and we understand that he must have faced his pressure of staying back. We do not blame him. All we expected was a phone call – that I would not come or I am not well and would take some time to come.

Trust is something we invested in him, to an extent that he was in our house for three months when my parents were in USA under our presence. And we are left with nothing but an expectation of one phone call that he could have made.  

Ending it with the same line – I don’t know whether I am right with my judgement that maids value only money. Since he was helping his father setting a small business of selling fishes and small raw tea leaves in these two months, my judgement could be right. But if he is truly unwell or is planning to come back then probably I am wrong. But trust is broken; a call was the least he could manage and not take us for granted.  Papa awaits him though we are getting back to our daily chores without him but it was an association of five years and hope of mutual requirement.

Wherever he stays, may he be happy and prospering as he was always!

Since last two years, there has been a drastic change in the PR Industry. The traditional PR (Give a Press Release and it will appear) is giving a way to the Integrated PR (Reviews, Story research, Social Media Integration).

Story appeared in newspapers / magazine read by ‘X’ people is getting shifted by Story shared by a Blogger or a Journalist on Facebook, Twitter & Blog which is shared by, re-tweeted by, liked by and favorite by ‘X’ users.

PR Agencies are hiring Digital Marketing people.  Reasons

Gone are the days when Press Conference was the only way to network with the Media. Now there are so many ways. You can tweeteract with them, you can have ‘Bloggers Meet’. Bloggers Meet – Genre based bloggers, Hybrid journalists and the brand connect with each other on informal note where the company shares the information and audience tweets, blogs, publishes pictures.

The answer to why PR agencies are hiring Digital Marketing professionals is – INSTANT PR is generated through this medium whereas a reviews or release in the newspaper may or may not appear, read or unread by the audience.

Also a 'social relationship' is developed between a brand & the journalists; which sometimes with better connect can be a healthy relationship.

Off lately, I have come across executives who say forget connecting with journalist through twitter, we ourselves are not present there. I was dumbstruck for a while.  Traditional PR is the only way they work. And I was not amazed with the agency’s growth story!

Education is one social cause I truly support. With recent increase in Rapes/Harassment/Eve-Teasing/Dowry in the city, it is very important that education of the society is treated as whole and not a girl child or male child.

Resident of both a metro city and a tier II city, I can feel the difference in the mind-sets of people. There are three types of people (especially referring to the topic)

Cause of worry is the type 1 and equally type 2. Type 1 is the roots of the bigger problems like Population, Poverty, and Rapes etc. however Type 2 are more vulnerable to the overall society because they give rise Dowry, Society show business and harassment etc.

Incidents like below are on rise: A bank executive staring a women customer

And I can write more and more about these sensitive issues which we all are well aware. With the recent case of malfunctioning of a shelter home in Gurgaon, people have started to do charity at home.

A deed of my close relative who has adopted 4 young girls and provided lifetime education is more worthy to me than signing a cheque of lac for a sanstha.

If you can afford then do not look beyond your HOME – Give education to the children of your guard/driver/ office boy. They would always remember it for lifetime and you are contributing to a very large social cause which is affecting the Indian society.

And above all ‘Educate your kids’ – Give them exposure and let them experience the Job or Business. Never ever restrict their education to a level that they may never be able to think beyond what you think.

This blog is about a social cause I strongly support and has been written to dedicate it to ISB iDiya http://www.isb.edu/idiya/

Saw this line on Twitter & thought this could be my next small blog – To get more followers on Twitter, start following relevant people. 

I do not completely agree with this statement. But since it came from well-known social media expert, I thought let me debate with my mind for some time.

By following relevant people, I would just get to know the content they are talking about or topic of their blogs. It will not guarantee me a “follow back”.  

Follow-back will only happen if I produce a content which is actually relevant to them. It will also happen if I converse with them through my tweets. They may or may not follow me back, but their followers might just like my blog or tweets. Even your peers who understand your domain are your direct followers but only if they agree with your content.

So engaging with relevant people is more important than just following them. Yes of-course, I would not suddenly expect celebs to converse with a person who just started but gradually it is your content, knowledge of the domain & your conviction not your age that matters. (By celebs I do not mean Bollywood but people who are pro in their work area and have high followers and decent readership on their blog).

Lastly, a piece of advice: Tweet & Engage wisely not only for the heck of gaining followers but passion for what you know and what you want to reach out to people.

Experienced both sides of the coin – Agency & Client, and therefore this blog is for all the Account Managers, Account Directors, Creative Team, Head of Agencies, Marketing Teams and last but not the least Chief Marketing Officer. Some of the key findings are from Adtech 2013, New Delhi!

Questions (Agency) – Why does the client always reject my idea? Why they never like our creative? Why do they prefer offline agency over digital agency? Why so many changes in the creative?

Questions (Client) – Why don’t they understand? Why can’t they get a viral idea? Why they always bring ideas which are expensive? Why can’t they think 360 degrees?

A small background dipstick to understand the agency – An agency hires an account executive or Manager who caters to an average of 3-4 clients. They work from 10 am to 7:30 pm at-least and sometimes on Saturdays. They do brainstorm but that is limited to that account and the brief received. 

Now let us understand the Brands – All the Marketing Heads are offline guys who very well execute ATL and BTL activities, they understand the potential of Digital and thus hire either a Digital Marketing Manager or a team for building Digital Strategies. But offline is priority to them.

One thing and the most important thing which I believe the difference is, that the agency people are 24/7 engaged in doing routine tasks. The priority for Agency Head is BD (Business Development) and not learning & evolving the employees. There is no brainstorming and absolutely no reference to case studies of what is happening beyond the existing clients and outside India. They are extremely irritated of the daily routine & BD and therefore there is no freshness in ideas that they bring to the clients.

One point which I would like to make to the agency people is “Invest in yourself”. One day in at-least two weeks you all should see the case studies and discuss within the team of what can be pitched to the client. Also, agency heads should take their employees for such seminars or bring new ideas to them so that the same ‘Tab’/ ‘Contest’ is not pitched to all the brands.

On the other hand, even the brands are also at fault. If considered that the agency works only on the brief and does not give external references or broad ideas then it is the brand also to be blamed. How?? Let me explain – I recently visited Ad-tech New Delhi 2013 where there was a wonderful session called “Marketing Master”. It was back to back case studies based on what they have done on Digital platform. Learning was many but a point which has stayed in my mind was from Manisha Lath of Axis Bank. She said for the recent brief for Viral Videos of ProgressTogether.in, we called our creative and Digital teams together. This insisted that whatever idea that comes out is executable on both offline & online. It also meant that the entire brief was equally shared between the agencies and they together brainstormed over the idea.

Most of the brands follow the other route – They brief the creative, they wait for the idea and after the idea is perceived, they call the digital guys and tell them the brief. There is no going back for the client even if it is not possible to execute it on Digital medium. And then who is blamed – Digital guy obviously!

Marketing teams should also analyse that there is a huge potential in Digital Marketing. And fresh ideas gonna be expensive. If Domino’s Pizza does 10% of delivery sales through mobile app(data from adtech presentation), then it was possible only because they acted timely on building the app and off-course the invested in the app.  However, sometimes agency should also consider the budgets of the companies and accordingly mould the current ideas. Rather than scrapping the idea which client cannot afford, present with a twist which he can afford.

Again sharing an example from Adtech, Citi Bank did a campaign Dil V/s Bill. It was sky-vertising integrated with a Twitter Campaign. Check Google for details of the campaign but it was one the most thoughtful campaign for the TG. And unlike brands which prefer FB over Twitter, this was a different ball game all together.

Ending it with a piece of advice – “Blaming each other will continue and will not benefit either. It is the time for co-creation of content. Integrated campaigns performs best only if all the agencies along with the Brand’s Marketing Team sit together, ideate, debate and conclude together”.