AgTalk | Indian consumers have always been difficult to attract: Cinemax's Sunil Punjabi

Sunil Punjabi, a veteran in the media and entertainment industry for several years has come on board Cinemax India Pvt. Ltd recently as their CEO. At Cinemax, Sunil Punjabi brings a mix of strategy and execution experience. He shoulders responsibility that is all encompassing, which entails the company's growth of multiplexes and theatrical distribution. He specializes in identifying new opportunities to increase shareholder wealth through better use of customer insight, product and business model innovation and asset exploitation. His exposure in Corporate Planning and Strategy for Film Distribution has prepared him to lead the business team at Cinemax more efficiently. In an exclusive conversation with Adgully, Punjabi speaks about his vision and passion for excellence. Excerpts:

Adgully (AG): Tell us about some key achievements in your career...

Sunil Punjabi (SP): I would say that I have been very lucky in these terms as I have got so many exposures to work on and also got many opportunities. My career started with a very conservative and a contrasting stage in terms of investment, planning etc. I learnt a lot as a management trainee in the city of Mumbai. The big achievements were at Fame India where I did the IPO and it was a learning experience for me about how a single multiplex grows to a 12 multiplexes and how to manage challenges and stress and how to handle the need of capital. Then moving to STAR, where capital was not a matter of discussion. Working with Fox star studios was again a challenging phase keeping in mind film production and the distribution perspectives, setting up a studio model, working on Slumdog Millionaire, doing the JV Twentieth Century Fox. Then Launching of My Name Is Khan, working with Shahrukh and taking care of how international content and Indian content gets distributed and was the biggest eye opening. Then working with Sony Entertainment, Fashion TV has also been a great achievement.

AG: What may be the size of the industry and your share?

SP: The total spread of the industry is approximately around 1050 screens we get hold of around 12 to 13% of its share. If talking about the revenues when we track top 4 multiplexes and their shares then we will be at 18% to 20% of the range.

AG: Tell us some challenges that you faced in this field¦

SP: One challenge is to maintain the continuous growth and the passé at which you grow because of the way the industry is and as we are dependent on the infrastructure the mall gives and mall itself is an eco-system and that too such a capitalistic eco-system. Our dependency is high on them. At some level I think that if we had better margins then we would have dragged more and more people towards multiplex screens.

AG: What is today's ratio of the association of the brands and also how much interested brand are to get associated with you?

SP: Right now in terms of revenue the ratio is 90:10. 10% of the revenues come through ad-sales and in terms of profitability around 23% to 24% profits are from advertisements. Yes the brands have now started showing more interests than earlier because now we are able to reach more different markets like earlier our presence was zero in Delhi and now we were establishing presence in Delhi, Bangalore, second location coming out from Hyderabad and most probably by this yearend we will be starting with Chennai and Pune. All these things have given us a reach which advertisers demand. The advertisers have also started appreciating the fact the reach of the digital screening is increasing.

AG: What categories of brands have been more effective for you?

SP: There are three four categories which are really dominating and work with us in different types of markets. One would be Telecom industry, which is a big platform then Media and Entertainment, then FMCGs like we have been working with Dove, many Liver brands but have not been successful that much in cracking large deals with them, then if talking about BFSI space we have got phenomenal response.

AG: The growth path of the group...

SP: The mantra for our company has always been how to become a more profitable company. Our team work has been very effective. The focus has always been to be number 1 and with 36 locations the idea has always work not as a consolidated company but to look at each and every unit and see how each unit is working. We make the Business head align more towards revenues, market shares and also we have given the heads the responsibility of promoting and selling the combos and promoting the company.

AG: Tell us some new initiatives or any new and innovative approach that you have implemented.

SP: Long back we started with a scheme of wherein people used to get a combo of 90ml coke and a popcorn tub for just 120 ' 150 rupees and actually people are not spending too much. So the basic idea was to make them consume before they go for the movie and I took the bet that lets promote it right at the security level with a 50rupees half broken piece of paper which says that you can buy this combo before the movie starts. The entire organization then got aligned towards saying that nobody will be consuming it but today it does 17 to 18 per cent of our sales. So this act has actually helped us jump to mature platform.

AG: What are your expectations from the industry?

SP: Rationalization of entertainment tax is something that is massively expected.

AG: Any word of advice or caution for the new entrants...

SP: I guess there are very few people who are entering in this business. Even I have seen since the last decade as far as this space is concerned you cannot skill up quickly. In capital intensive businesses you have your hits and misses but in multiplex kind of business you need a portfolio like in acting career etc. every unit cannot be profitable. Also entertainment consumption in India is a slow and gradual process. Indian consumers have always been difficult to attract.

With his vision and passion for excellence, he hopes to take Cinemax's corporate identity to next level and ensure a revived and refreshing movie experience for all patrons. | By Aanchal Kohli [aanchal(at)adgully.com]