Dear TV Trolley, RIP!

It’s quite interesting to reflect, how evolving technologies impact the business of home furniture. Be it phone tables, hi-fi music systems ensconced in the safety and compactness of a wall unit or Television trolleys.

I still remember the year 2005, when I bought my first 21 inch Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) TV, ONIDA Black. Buying it from an online shopping portal was much easier than searching for a befitting TV trolley (Back in 2005, I did not come across any online shopping portal that sold home furniture).  And trust me, the joy of watching those colorful satellite channels soon faded when the reality of buying the TV trolley from a brick & mortar store struck me.

From locating a shop in NOIDA’s (Uttar Pradesh, India) atta market (local lingo for Sector 18 Market in NOIDA) that sold TV trolleys, to choosing the right trolley was an arduous task.

I had to bear in mind the mental map of the apartment floor plan, that decided the length X breadth X height of the trolley and also the other factors like weight of the TV; future upgrade projections like, if it is supportable for 25 inch/29 inch TV; cost benefit analysis of custom built versus off the shelf; with wheels or without wheels; glass & steel versus wood & laminate; match color of the trolley with TV or home décor; additional utility as VCD/DVD player stand etc., all these weighed heavily on my purchase decision.

The experience drained me so much that I wrote an e-mail to V Chandramouli, then VP Marketing & Sales, MIRC Electronics, requesting them to bundle TV trolleys with TV, as an optional standard accessory. Now I do not exactly remember the content of his reply e-mail, but I vaguely remember him mentioning that they would contemplate this request for 29 inch TVs.

As they say, good times never last; my TV trolley lost her beautiful black wheels and couple of long legs during her first relocation from NOIDA to Mumbai, and left us forever during our second relocation from Mumbai to Bangalore. The fact, that we never factored whether she’ll survive those long bumpy rides during our relocation, sitting quietly wrapped inside the truck and never complaining while she suffered, will always haunt us L

As said by one wise man, All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move, we have decided to move on the path of austerity and next time will save the trauma of losing a TV trolley and those precious 9 square feet of real estate by going in for a slick, fancy, hi-fi*, HD*, LED*, LCD*, Plasma*, Smart*, 3D* wall hung TV J

*I hope I have not offended any TV advertiser by not including their latest TV offering over here…yup I watch TV ads on TV J

Mobile Video Commercials (MVCs)

On 8 December 2011, I caught the press release "Personalized Video Mobile Message Solutions", from a Delhi (India) based organization, Clk2c.

As the solution communicated by Clk2c vide their Press Release, seemed to be on similar lines as my earlier post, Wedding Cards and Mobile Applications (August 2011) it was but natural to have a look at the website of Clk2c.

If you still wonder what Clk2c is all about, well, it allows brands/marketers to send audio/video/textual (PowerPoint) commercials to the mobile devices of their Target Audience. Clk2c calls it Mobile Video Commercials (MVCs). How do brands send MVCs to mobile devices? It could be in response to a short code to which the user SMSes a keyword and receives the download URL, a forward/viral from a user who has received MVC, a SMS containing the MVC download URL sent by the brand, etc.

At a very fundamental level, the solution is about appization (mobile enablement) of digital assets created by brands for communication on media vehicles such as Internet, TV, Radio, Print etc. The mobile enablement of digital assets has been in vogue for quite some time now. In fact services such as Didmo allow users to create their own mobile apps for free (ad supported) or at a fee (free from ads) and publish them on app stores. It also provides certain credits to push the app URL as a SMS to the mobile numbers of the intended recipients.

Unlike Didmo's cloud based self service delivery model, Clk2c does mobile enablement vide its own studio, thus allowing creation of media assets for delivery as MVCs or mobile enabling / repurposing, existing media assets created by the brands for media vehicles other than mobile.

As a marketer / creative agency / media agency, it helps to commit spends if one knows:

 1. What are the services provided by Clk2c.com studios? – Apart from production of MVCs does it also re-produce or alter an existing media asset held by the brand, for publishing on Mobile Phones? E.g. in case of video assets, edit long shots and retain close shots, insertion of tele-text in font and colors to make the copy readable on a mobile screen, etc.

2. As a marketer what should be the ideal duration for the video advertisement on mobile, so that it does not take a long time to download.

3. Is the video file compatible on all mobile phones? What is the device coverage?

4. How do power point presentations play on mobile? Does Clk2c provide voice talent and voice recording facilities in its studio to accompany audio with power point presentations.

5. What are the metrics employed to gauge the efficiency of the campaign?

6. How different is the solution from MMS or publishing the brand video on app stores? Cannot the brand do a MMS campaign similar to a SMS campaign for distributing MVCs?

Introducing a new media solution is followed by lot of questions and comparison with old school learning before graduating to mass adoption.

With the number of mobile subscribers inching close to 900 million, hours spent by smartphone users @ 2.5 hours per day (a proportion that surpasses time spent on television), internet users on mobile surpassing users who access internet on desktop computers by 2013; are we going to see a trend where marketers / creative agencies create media assets specifically to communicate with the mobile audience?

As always, I'll request the readers of this post, if you have time, please drop a line.

Movie Promotion Then and Now….

As I write this post, my mind reels back to good old days of single screen theatres. I can still remember the color and feel of the yellow cellophane in which popcorn was sold. Yes popcorn was just popcorn and not the mind boggling variant of chocolate or caramel, with or without butter, salted or sweet….and how I can forget the clinking of bottle openers on the soft drink glass bottles in wooden crates, inviting one to have thanda!

But how would people know in those days if a movie is worth watching?

The first Don (starring Amitabh Bachhan, Zeenat Aman, and Pran) was released in 1978 without any promotion and was initially a flop. But later it was a hit mainly because of positive word of mouth publicity. Movie producers of that era neither had the luxury of modern technologies for heavy promotion nor did they have tech savvy street smart professionals who could understand the nuances of marketing. Though it sounds clichéd; Content was the king. The staple fare available to spread the word about movie were Film magazines, newspaper, radio, theatrical trailers, movie premieres and hand painted posters. I still remember those hand painted movie billboards and posters, showing a prominent pink on the cheeks of the leading lady and a hair lock falling delicately on her forehead!

Contrast it with present times where the brush that painted the poster (FYI…M.F Hussain started his career painting movie posters) got replaced by the swift mouse strokes on Adobe Photoshop.

Today, movie industry is more organized, is growing at a healthy pace and is expected to touch INR 137 billion by 2014 (as per industry estimates). There is a whole array of artillery available to fire the imagination of the movie crazy nation. Consider the recent example of Bollywood flick Ra-One, from digital to traditional, no stone was left unturned. 

Typical means of digital media promotion widely employed by film studios in India and elsewhere in the world are; official website for the film, static and gif/flash ads on various websites, mobile value added services, online internet games, console games based on movie characters, buzz in the social media, online contests etc. Digital media gives so much flexibility to experiment, that execution of the promo strategy is just limited by imagination.

Promo elements employed in traditional Print and TV/Radio media include paid advertisements, paid press releases, interviews,  appearances on TV shows, behind-the-scene clips, viral videos, theatrical trailers….to name a few.

Brand associations, movie merchandise, on ground activations, Retail POS (I came across a Ra-One burger combo in the theatre that was showing the movie!) are some of the other important promotional activities.

From an era of Golden Jubilees and Silver Jubilees to times when success parties are thrown if the movie survives a weeks’ time with a good opening, underscores the importance of movie promotion in a decade of hyper competition, media fragmentation, and reducing attention span. And yes, Content is still the king!

The Mutton Song and Ad Jingles!

During my association with a Record Label, one thing that I enjoyed most was to pitch the catalogue to Brands and Agencies for synchronization in their advertisements on various media such as TV, Radio etc.

As a liberalized economy, we have seen how commodities have turned into Brands. Examples from our shopping cart include Wheat Flour, Chicken, Sugar etc. Though I have not come across advertisements where songs from Bollywood were used in the TV commercials of these branded commodities, however here is a pick of the songs that I would have pitched to the BRAND OWNERS of the following commodities.

Well this is my own list, however I’ll request the readers of this post if they can also pitch in with alternatives ;-) Let’s make the forum interactive!
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Product: Fried Chicken
Song: You are my Chicken Fry
Film: Rock Dancer (1995)

Scenario/Context: It’s the year 2020 when all the hand pushed karts that sell chicken have become the franchisee of KFC. An executive on the way back  home, frustrated, hungry and tired after a hard day at work, looks at the chicken in the hand pushed kart…and starts to croon this song..

Voice Over: in a world where you can have no one to call as your own….KFC chicken is your only choice!
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Product: Frozen Mutton
Song: The Mutton Song…Mein Hoon Taaza Mutton Mutton
Film: Luv Ka The End (2011)

Scenario/Context: It’s an animated film. In the fight between Frozen and Fresh, frozen mutton is crooning this song to make a case for buying frozen mutton..Woh hai baasi mutton mutton..arre mein hoon taaza mutton mutton..kholo dil ke button button..

Voice Over: Maanein Ya Na Maanein….Yahi hai asli taaza mutton. Toh kholenge na aap apne dil ke Button?!
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Product: Chikki (Peanut Bar)
Song: Lonavla mein Chikki Khayenge…
Film: Ghulam (1998)

Scenario/Context: It’s again Year 2020. FMCG companies have branded this last bastion of the unbranded FMCG commodity. Chikki is a global snack now. But the global economy is reeling under yet another financial crisis and the best our guy can afford for his girl is a humble chikki.

Voice Over: Lonavle waali chikki ka wahi swad ab aapke karibi store mein uplabdh..vaccum packed to preserve Lonavla freshness and added with Vitamins..jab wahi swad yahan par mil sakta hai toh Lonavla kyun jaana, kyun hai na?!
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Well this is a humorous take on the world of crazy Bollywood songs and the present reality where mundane commodities from ginger paste to chapatti are being turned into glitzy brands by FMCG companies in a race to deliver higher shareholder value.

As always, I’ll request the reader of this post, if you have time, please drop a line.

Record Labels and Media Monitoring

As a fledgling Record Label, the biggest challenge is to ensure a high utilization of the catalogue across different media such as Television, Radio, Internet, Synchronization in Ad Films, Mobile downloads etc. 

In the case of Television, the Record Label can either do an annual deal with the Television Channel or “pay as you use”. In an annual deal the Channel pays a lump sum amount on an annual basis for the utilization of Record Label’s library (catalogue and upcoming titles), whereas in a “pay as you use” scenario the Channel pays each time it utilizes the track owned by the Label.

W.r.t “pay as you use”, there are two scenarios:

Scenario 1

The TV Channel’s Business Operations Manager gets in touch with the Record Label, informs them about the track that the Channel wants to use in Soap/Reality/Event etc., and confirms the License fee. Upon positive confirmation from the Operations Manager, the record Label is good to prepare the invoice, receive payment against the same and issue the License for Telecast of Songs/Music.

Scenario 2

The Supervising/Executive Producer of the Soap/Reality/Event etc. utilizes the Song/Music owned by the Record Label and miss to inform about its usage to the Business Operations manager. The said usage comes to the notice of the Record Label.  Although utilization of the track without the permission of the Record Label amounts to infringement of copyright, in the interest of business and to develop a long term relationship with the Television Channel, the Record Label approaches the Television Channel and informs them about this usage. However the Operations Manager requests the Label to provide exact details like Name of the Album, Name of the Track, Name of the Programme in which the track was utilized, Time of telecast etc. to confirm the usage.

Providing video recording of the claimed usage by the Record Label to the Channel sufficiently confirms the claimed usage. The big question is:

How can a Record Label obtain the Video recording of a Programme that has already been telecast?

OK, I can hear the clamoring of Youtube, Hulu etc..but what if it’s not there?

Enter the world of Media Monitoring Services..

Television Monitoring is one of the services provided by Media Monitoring Agencies. The Monitoring Agency records, retrieves, transcribe, translate, and deliver reports in various formats. They also provide archived recordings of telecast on various Television Channels.  The Record Label can employ the services of these Monitoring Agencies to obtain customized reports on the usage of its catalogue by various Television Channels.

Some examples of Monitoring agencies are Esha News, Perfect Monitoring, TAM etc.

The purpose of employing the services of monitoring agencies by Record Labels is to ensure the compliance of the contract terms between the Record Label and the Television Channel apart from checking unauthorized usage of the tracks owned by the Record Label.

Commercials – Build or Buy

Typically a half hour recording for a single channel costs anywhere from INR 175/- to INR 500/-,(could vary from agency to agency). However if the requested recording is more than a year old, one has to pay a premium.

In case the requirement of the Record Label is to get a monthly report on the usage of its tracks, a single report say Song Report By Brand or Trailer Report by Brand typically costs INR 30,000/- to INR 50,000/-.

Illustrated below are typical costs involved in setting up Record label’s own monitoring infrastructure. Though the estimates are illustrative the Bill of Material mentioned in the estimate will give the reader of this post a fair idea of the actual costs involved. Also note that the estimates do not cover the cost of sophisticated software employed by professional monitoring agencies to keep the human intervention minimal. In the below estimates, the capability of the employee manning the monitoring desk is critical to mark instances wherein the tracks from Record Label’s library are played. It will be fair to assume that the employee has sufficient knowledge of the tracks owned by the Record Label.

Please note that the cost is proportional to the number of channels to be monitored.




 I hope the information provided in this post will be helpful to the readers and will aid them in a similar situation.

As always, I’ll request the reader of this post, if you have time, please drop a line.