13 events bidding adieu to 2013

2013 has been a year of lots of ups and equal number of downs. Just like every year, there have some major things to talk about, while some just to thrash out. As the year heads to its closure, team Adgully brings to you, 13 events / activities that we believe were the things that stood out in the constantly buzzing media, marketing, advertising, branding and entertainment space. Following are activities that we took to notice in 2013.

1. March 2013 – Set Top Box in, Cable TV out!

Although 2012 had set the process of digitisation rolling, it was only in 2013 that the true effect of the procedure was seen. In what should be considered as a mammoth task, the digitisation formula which began with the metros, made its way to other cities and towns as well. As per the data regarding the progress achieved till the end of the first quarter of 2013, 67% of the digitization targets had been achieved in 38 cities, set for digitization by 31st March, 2013. As per the data received from the DTH operators and the MSOs, as on 23.03.2013, a total of 108 lakhs Set Top Boxes (STBs) had already been installed in Phase-II cities against the target of 1.60 crore, registering overall achievement of over 67% digitization. Analysis of the data further reveals that out of 38 cities to be digitized in Phase-II, 28 cities have achieved more than 50% digitization individually, while four cities, namely, Hyderabad, Amritsar, Chandigarh and Allahabad, had achieved nearly 100% digitization. 75% digitization had been achieved in 8 cities viz. Jodhpur, Thane, Aurangabad, Jaipur, Pune, Faridabad, Nashik, and Ghaziabad.
As every coin would have two sides, the digitisation process brings with it, the good and the bad. Setting aside the bad, with the process taking a concrete shape, broadcasters, amidst advertiser concerns, now see new doors opening to their channels. This, as certain, would widen their viewer base, thus consequently assisting in garnering more numbers. However, how these advantages are explored and utilised by broadcasters, advertisers, MSO’s and audiences will be clear only in the coming months.

2. March-April 2013 – The ‘oops’ moment in advertising!

Well who would have thought that ‘oh not so harmful’ (pun intended) Kardarshian sisters would become nightmare for Ford Motors India, its ad agency JWT and one of the most well known creative officers of India advertising, Bobby Pawar. While we know that scam ads are an acute problem in the ad-land, it persists to be a dark underbelly of the industry where agencies and individuals working with the agency try to win awards and submit a piece of work that's never been approved by a client or run more than a couple times. A case – in – point, the scam ad for Ford’s small car Ford Figo dragged both the client and the agency into controversy leading to the resignation of Bobby Pawar, then JWT’s Managing Partner and CCO. Although, Ford Motors India made efforts to damage-control by issuing statements, however negative publicity didn’t seem to cease. Bizarrely, the agency’s entry into the Abby’s suggested that the parties involved sis know about the ads. While the ad-world beamed viewpoints and statements, the matter to see how it impacts the reputation of agencies today and map the ways that clients are put at risk.

3. July 2013 – Broadcaster – TAM Row

Midway this year, the television rating system in the country entered a turbulent situation when the big broadcasters had grouse that weekly rating data apart from being unrepresentative of the universe were much too erratic. This had led to big broadcasters unsubscribing TAM data. This group included Times Television, Viacom18, Network18, STAR, MSM, NDTV, Prism (Eenadu), BAG Networks and Zee. Subsequently as per a settlement, TAM decided to release monthly ratings from August 1 for these big broadcasters, while for the rest of the 102 channels it will release weekly data. The immediate fallout of TAM Media Research’s decision was that the advertising agencies and large ad spenders were unhappy. It had been expected already that the industry bodies, namely The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) will object to the monthly rating system and find the same as a unilateral decision. Industry sources stated that instead, the channels would press ahead with their own proposed viewership measurement system under the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC).

4. July 2013 – The ‘baap’ of all mergers!

When France-based Publicis Groupe, then ranked as world number three, announced its merger with then world number two US-headquartered Omnicom Group about six months back, the ad and media world went abuzz with what was touted as the ‘merger of equals’. The $35 million merger of the two power-houses of the media and advertising space was followed by a few acquisitions that the Publicis’s India outfit carried around the year. The merger was in principal aimed as an attempt to unseat and take over the No. 1 position from the current ruling agency - WPP. However, WPP maintains a good hold on its numero uno position in India, making Publicis-Omnicom fit in at No. 2. In what can be easily termed as the “‘THE’ deal of deals’, the merger was followed by a ‘buying spree’ that the India outfit went on to make, thus leaving no stone unturned to be in the media eye all around the year!

5. August 2013 – Bringing in the moolah via Chennai Express.

While the media went all afire about the Deepika Padukone’s Tamil accent and Shah Rukh’s efforts to tickle the audience’s funny bone, Rohit Shetty’s Chennai Express was raking in the moolah. Backing on the star power, a hit director, a popular and credible production house, foot tapping music, Chennai Express broke all records set by SRK’s colleague cum rival cum friend Aamir Khan’s 3 Idiots. While the latter was named as the ‘Highest Grossing Bollywood film worldwide standing with Rs.392 crore, the former made Rs. 395 crore making way to the top. A similar act was done in the Highest-grossing Bollywood films in India also. With no big release around Chennai Express, the film ought to have made good of the opportunity. Alike its performance on silver screen, Chennai Express toppled the TVT charts when it premiered on television, two months post its release. That goes to say, the men with the ‘midas touch’ (read SRK and Rohit Shetty) are a ‘jodi’ to look forward for more firecrackers at the box office. 

6. October 2013: ‘24’ comes to India

The years gone by have seen India television audiences being repeatedly exposed to and offered Indianised versions of various international non-fiction shows. But 2013 was a different year in the television space. Bringing ‘home’ the American TV series 24, a fairly new player in the competition, Viacom18’s Colors made a two-fold bold step; one to bring the ‘series format’ to Indian audiences and second, to carve a position for itself as the producers of one of India’s first international fiction properties. Made at mega production budgets, the show, which was co-produced by Anil Kapoor Film Co, and Ramesh Deo Productions, directed by Abhinay Deo and adapted by Rensil D’Silva, might not have gained superlative number on the TVT charts, but has definitely managed to roll a new beginning for television programming in India.

7. October 2013 – Walmart – Bharti snap ties

In what could have changed an Indian shopper’s experience, the year 2013 stood in contrast to this major potential deal. Putting an end to a five year long troubled saga this year, Bharti Enterprise and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. called off the joint venture, of the company that runs wholesale (or cash-and-carry) stores called Best Price Modern Wholesale across India. Ending speculations over future of their partnership, the parties said that they would be going separate ways for operations in the Indian retail sector. With the two companies going their separate ways, the industry’s attention is now focused on whether or not Wal-Mart will seek a new partner, or enter the supermarkets business here, or both, and what’s on Bharti’s own retail plan map. Following the announcement, a joint statement was issued to the press which said that the companies have reached an agreement to independently own and operate separate business formats in India and discontinue their franchise agreement in the retail business. The agreement is subject to finalisation of definitive agreements and receipt of the requisite regulatory approvals, it said. Industry rumours and theories state that this alliance has been dogged by allegations of breaking Indian investment rules and mismanagement, and also bad timing. However, one also notes that the break-up had been in the air, especially after statements by Bharti chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal and Wal-Mart Asia CEO Scott Price asserting that the two foreign partners were evaluating the joint venture.

8. November 2013 – Star Sports rebrands to fall under one umbrella

Refresh’, ‘Assemble’ and ‘Revamp’ were tags that ruled the India television space in 2013. But in what can be called as ‘the baap of rebranding’, STAR India, in one single move described and lived by these tags! The network had taken calculated steps by unifying all its sports channels under one brand name STAR Sports, shedding off the tag ESPN. STAR, unveiled a new brand for Star Sports across 6 TV channels -- StarSports 1,2,3,4, HD1 and HD2 and starsports.com. The brand is aimed to highlight Star Network’s ambition to change the face of sports broadcasting in India and provide world-class sports coverage to fans across the country. Hence, to signal the change to the consumers, STAR India has brought all the 6 diverse TV channels under one brand “Star Sports”, with one purpose “Believe”. The campaigns undertaken to ‘let the world know’ (quite literally) involved massive acts ranging across media and platforms. This we ‘believe’ has definitely managed to gather the requisite buzz for the network, but what remains to see is how well does this huge tactic go down with the audience.

9. November 2013 – 10+2, not a miracle number!

While for a layman 10+2 may seem an achievement (12th grade), that is not the case with the media business. In the middle of the year, several major broadcasters of the likes, E24, B4U, Sun TV, 9XM along with various regional broadcasters had moved a petition against the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) order of 10+2 ad cap seeking relief from the regulation prescribed by the TRAI. The regulation makes it mandatory for broadcasters to air 12 minutes of advertisements in a clock hour, including self promotion, under the Quality of Service (QoS) norm, which is part of the Cable Television and Network Rule (CTNR), 1994. The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) which has filed a petition against Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) 10+2 ad restriction is being heard by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT). Earlier, while sources state that the major GEC players Viacom18, ZEE and STAR sought to file as respondents in favour of TRAI’s decision on the 10+2 ad cap, however, in a change of scenario, the Tribunal postponed all the hearings to mid November. Following this, in the next hearing the tribunal is said to have dismissed the appeal in the wake of a recent judgement by the Supreme Court which stated that TDSAT does not hold any authority to hear cases challenging TRAI regulations. While the judicial matter takes its course, the matter is of severe concern for broadcasters and advertisers and many of them have mentioned the 10+2 regulation to affect the business in a bad way. The final shape of the case and the repercussions it will cast on the parties involved will be known only with the dawn of the next year.

10. December 2013 – Reliance Industries and Bharti sign telecom infrastructure deal

Reliance Communications for sharing their existing and future telecom infrastructure, which was soon followed by another agreement in June on mobile tower sharing. Heading towards the year-end, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio Infocomm and Bharti Airtel headed by Sunil Mittal announced an inclusive arrangement for sharing telecom infrastructure, a a move that has the potential to create India’s biggest shared telecom network and charting a new course that may lead to substantial cost savings. This (arrangement) will include optic fibre network inter and intra city, submarine cable networks, towers and internet broadband services and other such opportunities identified in the future, a joint statement by the two companies said.

For records, Reliance Jio Infocomm is the only company which has pan-India airwaves that can be used for 4G services very high speed wireless broadband services, while Bharti Airtel is already one of the largest telecom operator in the country with a subscriber base of over 19 crore. In a statement issued to the press, Ambani stated that the Reliance Group was open to collaborate with Bharti Airtel inorder to improve telecom network for 4G services in Punjab. In a move that in a way has put underlying rivalry between India’s biggest business groups to an end, industry forecast suggest that the partnership would not only benefit individual businesses but also in a large way scale up the much needed thrust for the telecom services in the country

11. December 2013 – Sahara loses out to Star as sponsor for Indian team.

In the wake of what was said to be a weak and ineligible bid, Sahara lost out to Star India Pvt Ltd having the latter been awarded the Team Sponsorship Rights covering BCCI Events, ICC Events and ACC Events, for the period 1st January 2014 to 31st March 2017. Rights include the right to be called the “Official Team Sponsor,” and to display a commercial logo on the team clothing of the Sr. Men’s Cricket Team, the U-19 Men’s Cricket Team, the Men’s A-Team and the Women’s Team.

The tender document, which was available from 11th November 2013, was picked up by 7 prospective bidders. At the time that the bids were opened and evaluated, two bidders – Star India Pvt Ltd and Sahara India Financial Corporation – were in the fray. However, the former won the race! Following huge investment into a complete rebranding activity, Star surely has pulled up their socks to bring in the moolah. While the deal size runs into millions, from the surface of the case-in-point, one would have no qualms in stating that 2013 looks like ‘rope in big deals and stay abuzz’ year for STAR India.

12. December 2013 – Mary Barra appointed as CEO, General Motors

When the world goes gung ho about women power and equality, very little actually reflects in acts. However, what could be a breath of fresh air was the appointment of Mary Barra as the new CEO at General Motors. In a ‘firsts’ of sorts, General Motors Co. (GM) named Barra to succeed Dan Akerson as CEO, completing the GM insider’s rise from a factory-floor worker to the industry’s first female CEO after more than a century of global auto-making. Spending nearly 33 years with the auto giant, Barra appointment made her the first woman to head a major auto firm. Some lessons to learn India?!

13. December 2013 – AAP is sarkar via social media!

When Social media is the big buzz word in and around India and the world, how can political parties stay away from it. The latest elections held in four states, indicates just a head-start to the upcoming general election. Taking a case in point, in metropolitan Delhi, the newest entrant, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is riding an online wave. Its then CM candidate Arvind Kejriwal is far ahead of rivals when it comes to toting up the big numbers on social media. He has over lakhs of followers on Twitter, while BJP's Dr Harsh Vardhan is trailing far behind in thousands. In stark contrast, now Delhi's ex - CM Sheila Dikshit does not have a verified Twitter account! Where the other big daddy of social media Facebook is concerned, Sheila Dikshit's page puts up a stronger showing with regular updates, flowed by Kejriwal's page and Dr Harsh Vardhan.

Mobile Internet, broadband, smartphone and social media have played a major role in the debut win of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its chief ministerial candidate Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi. Throughout their campaign, AAP members used social media, text messaging, voice, and mobile internet to mobilize voters. Their success was visible in the number of likes and shares each page of the party and its candidates got on Facebook. The campaign also saw videos of candidates’ open forum going viral through YouTube and other social media platforms. AAP, which is around one year old, has used popular social media networks including Twitter,

Facebook, Google Plus, YouTube, etc. to communicate on the party’s latest announcements. This does not end here, post their win in the election, Kejriwal also asked voters and citizens to SMS their opinions and choices as to which party should AAP join with in order to form the government in the capital city. With all these unique, unusual yet successful tactics being utilised, we can only say that optimum use of the medium and platform has been done with and holds hope in continuing the same.