Sincere & passionate: Fourth Dimension's Shankar Bala

Fourth Dimension is a Media Outsourcing firm, a first-of-its-kind in South India. It is a valuable option for all media brands to outsource their sales division. Fourth Dimension was launched with a small team on 7th February, 2011 with vibrant individuals and is now one of the best in the field of Media Sales with a large team spread across offices in Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi on its completion of 2 years.

Adgully caught up with Shankar Bala, CEO, Fourth Dimension Media and Bharath Vishwanathan COO Fourth Dimension to understand the remarkable journey that they have been through.

Sharing key milestones of the journey, he said, “We started on 7th of February and the journey has been fantastic. The company started with 2 employees and now we have 28 employees working in the company. Our first milestone came on 21st August when we launched Puthiyathalaimurai TV-a milestone not only for Fourth Dimension but a milestone for the whole television industry itself.”It is the Number One News Channel in Tamil Nadu, across all TGs outperforming all the other news channels in the market. Since its launch it has been growing exponentially in viewership week after week. It is the only channel in the Tamil Nadu television history without a political alignment to become the Number One channel and sustain its position for several weeks.

The other milestone was Chennai Live 104.8 FM – Chennai Live FM 104.8 is the only English FM in Chennai with a weekly listenership that exceeds 6 Lakh plus audience. It is also the only English radio station in Chennai that has a separate niche audience for itself, which an advertiser cannot ignore. Chennai Live 104.8 FM apart from being different in the language also has a different approach to content. While the other players in the vernacular space are moving towards more music per hour and less of jock talk, Chennai Live 104.8 FM has almost a 50:50 split on music and talk. It is more of a talk radio, which has meaningful conversations between the jock and the audience.

Sathiyam News - Sathiyam 24X 7 News & Current Affairs Channel was a milestone in 4D’s journey. Positioned number Two among TN news channels its news & current affairs reaches public through different mediums such as debate, comedy, story and so on with the focus mainly on the concern and the effects of the day-to-day life.Some successful and key clients in their kitty are: Puthiyathalaimurai Magazine, Puthiyathalaimurai Kalvi Magazine, Chennai Live 104.8 FM, V6 News, media-to-win and Sathiyam TV.

Bharath Vishwanathan says, “I am really happy that we have completed 2 successful years of operation and we are stepping into the third year. Looking back at the 2 years I feel immense sense of achievement in the way we have taken the outsourcing business with the highest degree of professionalism and have created a great brand value for Fourth Dimension as a pan India brand. As a brand we attract the best talent in the industry and would continue to do so in the coming years.”

He added, “We have also re-modified the definition of outsourcing business from ad sales representation for channel partners to being more- consultant in their business. As far as growth on absolute value, we are happy that we have grown beyond our original estimates and would continue to do so in the coming years. I take this opportunity to thank all our stake holders, channel partners, the entire Fourth Dimension team, for the trust and faith they had in the model. We would strive hard in the coming years to maximize the value for all our stake holders."

When asked to enlighten key business strategies that have helped 4D maintaining this interesting portfolio, Bala said, “Sincerity and passion has been our best factors. Each brand we represent has the involvement of all the members, and we work with all the passion and creativity each time. The team is also phenomenal.”

Bala’s answer to the kind of development at 4D in the near future was, “Currently a lot of brands are talking to us and we have a lot more to come out with. We are on the verge of closing deals with clients all over the world. The focus would remain on strengthening the current clients first and moving on to the others with the same passion and commitment.”

He further said that, “Media outsourcing as an industry is a new terminology altogether but the market is really robust. If we see Indian television industry, most of the revenue comes from the Southern part. The retail clients in this part of India have become international leaders.

If we see the bouquet it’s more of southern centered company.

Speaking about entering in the other markets, Bala told us that they are already present in the other markets. “We have tied up with brands like E-18 (which is a part of network 18) so we are there but frankly these two years have passed in understanding and shaping our business.”

Well, the journey seems quite interesting for Fourth Dimension, with passion and pace it will surely go a long way. | By Aanchal Kohli [aanchal(at)adgully.com] & Rabab Rupawala [rabab(at)adgully.com]   

Media
@adgully

News in the domain of Advertising, Marketing, Media and Business of Entertainment

More in Media