Advertising Spends on Different Media

According to CI-KPMG Indian Media & Entertaiment Report, 2014, marketers in India are spending more on print than on TV. This was so in 2013 as well. This is likely to continue till 2018.

In 2013, the total advertising spend across all media was Rs 36,250 crore. The share of the print was Rs 16,260 crore. It was the highest. TV stood at Rs 13,590 crore.

In 2014, the projected spend was Rs 41,000 crore, of which Rs 17, 900 crore was the print’s share. The political advertising boosted print’s share. Besides, there was sports advertising on account of FIFA Football World Cup. Even vernacular print media attracted good ads.

Print overtook TV in 2010, and its lead widened in 2014.

Print has four to five times more advertisers than TV.Print is expected to grow at 17 per cent and TV at 15 per cent.

In future, advertising is likely to move to digital platforms. Both print and TV will lose out to digital platforms.

In 2018, the projected ad revenue is Rs 70000 crore of which print will account for Rs 28000 crore, while TV will account for Rs 25000 crore.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the professional networking site. It is a tool where Indians executives and employers register their presence. Executives are using it more to build their networks and seek jobs. Employers are using it as an online enployee contact source, a publishing platform and as an avenue to look at passive candidates. Globally, LinkedIn has 332 million users. LinkedIn, can well become a hangout, for companies to check out for talent, provide the talent with useful content. It makes finding people easier. The right candidate may not  be looking for a change  — this is the USP of LinkedIn, helping employers to scout for candidates who may not be actively looking for a job. The site makes the passive candidates visible.The site has more content than the jobs. People share ideas and read the ‘ influencers’. It has 500 influencers on its panel. LinkedIn builds an economic graph of its users. It maps the candidates from their student days and then through different stages of their career. LinkedIn is monetized by hiring or talent solutions, marketing solutions and subscriptions. LinkedIn users in India get it free, but it does not want it to be a freemium. HR heads finds that some profiles remain un-updated and do require background checks. India still has a large unorganised workforce.

Biosimilars

In the field of pharmaceuticals, biosimilars are biological products that are similar or highly similar to the original products and have the same level of efficacy and safety.

The The Drug Controller of India has approved a biosimilar drug for the treatment of auto immune diseases. It is being made by Zydus under the brand name Exemptia. It is similar to the innovative product Humira by AbbVie Chemicals. The drug is Adalimubab. It is indicated in four areas — rheumatoid  arthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, psoriatric arthritis and ankylosing arthritis.The approval is sought for three large indications — Crohn’s disease. ulcerative colitis and plaque psoriasis.Its global sales is estimated to be $12 billion.

White-Label Automatic Teller Machines (WLAs : ATMs )

WLAs or White-Label ATMs are not owned by a specific bank but by an independent entity and can be used by the customers of various banks. About 70 per cent of all ATMs in Canada and half of those in the US are WLAs.

In India Tata Communications and Payment Solutions is installing 15000 such machines. Muthoot Finance intends to put 9000 WLAs, out of which 4000 will be at its own branches. By 2015, there will be 10000 to 15000 WLAs. Srie Infrastructure Finance and Vakrangee Software intends to enter this field. There will be an addition of 1.5 lac machines in the next three years, as against 1.18 lac bank owned-machines.

In India, there are fewer than 100 ATMs per million Indians.There are 1390 per million in the US, 530 per million in the UK and 211 per million in China.

Tata manages 15000 ATMs and 12000 POS, and 55 per cent traffic of all POS. By 2016, it expects to manage 50000 ATMs.

WLAs get Rs 15 per withdrawal and Rs 5 per balance enquiry from the card issuing bank.

Elsie Nanji — Red Lion, Publicis

Elsie Nanji is now the managing partner at Red Lion, the design wing of Publicis Communications. She hails from Chennai.

She had internship at Chennai, and the switched to Ogilvy. She was called by Mohammad Khan of Enterprise, and she learnt advertising there by working hands on. She left a few years later to patner Ashok Kurien at Ambience. She headed Ambience at 30. She designed some iconic campaigns at Ambience — Lakme to Garden Sarees. She gave a new twist to the commercial of Sil Jam. And the ad of Milind Soman and Madhu Sapre for Tuff shoes, who wore a snake and shoes and nothing else.She spent 20 years at Ambience.

Publicis, Paris took over Ambience and wished Nanji to stay back. They asked her to head its design unit Red Lion in India.She thus diversified from advertising to design. She brings fresh approach to everything creative she does.

Radiotracers in Pharmacy

In drug discovery research, radiotracers have been playing a unique role. Their detection is easy. Minute quantities are adequate for investigation. The system’s chemical, pharmacological and biological equilibrium remains  undisturbed. The chemical structure of the radiotracer and its non-radioactive counterpart is the same. Modern biology’s two pillars are instrumentation and radiotracers. In drug discovery, these are used in basic science, ADME studies, bioavailability, tissue distribution, target evaluation, mass balance, pre-clinical studies, metabolic study in humans and during clinical trials. Radiotracers are non-invasive and sensitive research tools. Nuclear imaging of small animals for drug evaluation is popular for pre-clinical study of drugs.

George Hevesy was the first scientist to study the distribution of radioactivity labeled phosphate in animals to follow the course of a metabolite in living organism. This was in the 1930s. Kamen and his co-workers used carbon isotopes 11C and 14 C in the 1940s as radiotracers.

A radiotracer is a molecule in which one of the atoms is replaced by its radioisotope. It has the same chemical and biological properties as that of its non-radioactive counterpart. Radiotracers are easily detected by radiation detectors due to their alpha, beta, r, lamda or positron radiations.

Radiotracers are used in two ways.

  1. Based on chemical reactions the radiotracer undergoes, there are chemical products generated. These are chemical products, generated. These contain the radio active label. The analysis of radioactivity indicates the mechanism of such chemical reactions. In vitro biological investigations thus can be carried out.
  2. A radiotracer is administered into a living organism and imaging is taken. We can trace the distribution of the compound and its reaction products. This is called scintigraphy.

In vivo radiotracer techniques are applied in ADME or adsorption, metabolism, excretion studies. Autoradiography enables us to assess drug safety. Micro-dosing points out one of the major causes of failure of drug-leads during development. Maybe, there is unsatisfactory pharmacokinetic ( PK ) or ADME parameters. The entity can be evaluated prior to Phase I Clinical Trials. Nuclear imaging enables us to assess to the drug efficacy. It also plays a role in clinical trials to evaluate whether a drug has reached the target organ and its possible effect.

In vitro, radiotracers are used in target evaluation, drug-binding to receptors, bio-markers, drug analysis, delivery evaluation. Radio-receptor assays are used to identify and characterize enzymes.

Geet Ramayana by G D Madgulkar

Geet Ramayana is a musical epic penned in Marathi by poet G.D. Madgulkar , which turns 60 in 2015. It was broadcast for the first time on AIR, Pune starting from April 1, 1955 which was a Ram Navmi day. It has been thus celebrating its diamond jubilee. The epic has been set to music by Sudhir Phadke. Geet Ramayana is the climax of the collective geniuses of Madgulkar and Phadke.

Geet Ramayana consists of 56 ( Marathi ) songs describing the events from the epic chronologically. Its broadcast on AIR continued between 1955 and 1956. Each week there was a new song. They were aired on Friday mornings and were repeated on Saturdays and Sundays.

Though based on the Valmiki Ramayan, the format is totally different. It showcases 32 characters. The lead character Rama gets 10 songs and Sita gets 8 songs Ravana has not been assigned any song.Valmiki the writer, gets one song. The narration is that of Lava and Kusha, the two sons of Rama.

It has been widely translated — in nine languages. There are five Hindi translations. It is available in Braille.

The ‘raga’ and ‘taal’ of the song are dictated by the time and narrative mood of that song. Each character gets a unique tone.

There is a Facebook page — https:// www.facebook.com/egeetRamayana. There is one Android mobile application too.

Many singers have contributed — Manik Varma, Lata Mangeshkar, Yogini Joglekar, Vasantrao Deshpande, Suresh Haldankar, Appasahab Inamdar, Gajanan Watve and Sudhir Phadke himself.

Depth Interviews in Marketing Research

Depth interviews are conducted generally at the site of the research agency. People are invited telephonically, and are paid some amount by way of an incentive for participation.

Prior to being subjected to depth interview, the respondents are expected to fill up a questionnaire eliciting the background data. The interview room is well-appointed and has facilities for observation and videography.

The initial questions are simple, and are designed to break the ice between the interviewer and the respondent. The interviewer may talk about children or weather. Soon afterwards, the interviewer presents a brief introduction to the interview. He may say, ‘ I have some pictures of consumers shopping at a departmental store. I would like you to react to them.’ The interviewer then shows a picture of a woman taking a sari from a counter, and puts the question to the respondent what thoughts come to his mind on seeing this picture.

If the respondent responds to the stimulus, saying that the someone is buying a sari, the interviewer waits to get further comments or might probe in a non-directive manner by asking what more you have got to say. The interviewer may want the respondent to focus on a specific part of the stimulus.He can ask, ‘ What kind of a woman shopper is she ?’

Projective stimuli are not always necessary in a depth interview. The discussion can be set rolling by asking a question as to what type of customer drinks Pepsi or what are the occasions for you to use Pepsi. The idea is to make the respondent talk about the desired topic.

There are two approaches after the discussion starts. The discussion is not interrupted by changing the topic. Non-directive probes like ‘ Please tell me more’ or ‘ Why do you say so’ are used. Another approach expects the interviewer to cover pre-specified topic, and intervenes if some topics are left out. But here also the intervention comes late in the discussion.

The depth interview lasts for half an hour to one and a half hour. When the time is up or the topic is exhausted, the interview is closed. The respondent is thanked.

A depth interview with an executive is conducted at his office. Instead of monetary compensation, he can be given a copy of the report.

Interview Guide

Depth interviews are conducted by an interview guide.

Paired-Depth Interviews

Individual depth interviews are costlier than a focus group. It helps to conduct Paired-Depth Interviews with two participants.

Merits and Demerits of Depth Interviews

Depth interviews, as the name itself indicates, provide depth — they explore the subject deeply. It enables us to have a look at the respondent’s world. Thus another strength of depth interviews is that they give as a point of view.

Depth interviews have some demerits. As compared to surveys, they are costlier. The sample size is small, and it is not representative. Surveys generate homogeneous data. Depth interviews generate heterogeneous data  — each respondent discusses different issues, in his own diction, as per the sequence he likes, and with varying levels of depth. The analysis of depth interview is thus subjective. The emphasis is on interpretertion rather than counting.

As compared to focus groups, depth interviews have greater depth and flexibility.But the weaknesses are the higher cost per person, less vivid, and no advantage of group interaction. The vivid nature suffers as depth interviews are generally not observed and videotaped. Executives rely upon the reports of the individual interviews.

Uses of Individual Depth Interviews

  1.      They are useful to understand the product usage.
  2.      They give us a better picture of consumers lives.
  3.      They enable us to measure the bases of brand image.
  4.      They are the first step in developing a structured questionnaire later.

Between Focus Groups and Depth Interviews

Sometimes focus groups may not be possible. It is difficult to gather a group of CEOs to discuss Executive Class air-travel. It is then advisable to conduct a depth interview. Sometimes a topic is a taboo, e.g. sexual preferences. The focus group is then not advisable.

Expert Depth Interviews

These are individual depth interviews which highlight the emerging new markets or marketing trends. Experts also provide clues to the behaviour of individual consumers. The experts are technically qualified persons from their respective fields, e.g. automobiles engineers for cars, beauticians for cosmetics, chemists for OTC products and agents for financial services.

Individual Depth Interviews

An individual depth interviews is an unstructured conversation between a respondent and interviewer. Its objective is to elicit attitudes and feelings about a product, which would not emerge from a structured interview. In this respect, it is similar to focus group. There are two occasions to use depth interviews, when opinions are to be obtained from all participants on the same topic and when participants are expected to react to physical stimuli such as projective measures. Let us understand the team projective measure. It is a stimulus which prompts respondent to project their thoughts and feelings. Some commonly used techniques are:

 

Drawing Pictures Respondents might be asked to draw pictures of a good doctor and a bad doctor to identify the cues that ultimately affect the quality of service.

Situation Description Respondents might be asked to describe the situation in which they will eat Uncle’s Chips.

User Description Respondents might be asked to describe the type of person who would use a particular product. For example, Femina might be read by a young working woman.

Picture Interpretation Respondents are asked to interpret an ambiguous picture.

Completing Missing Links Respondents are asked to look at a scene, and complete the missing links. For instance, respondents are asked to look at an incomplete list of cosmetics and asked what else should be included.

We have already given you some projective measures for use in focus groups and theses could also be used in depth interviews. But mostly projective measures are used in depth interviews.

 

 

Era of Algorithms

The e-commerce companies on Internet take advantage of the algorithms to become more and more customer friendly. These algorithms predict and influence human behaviour. As soon as the home page of an e-commerce site is opened, we get to see the offerings of those products in which we are interested. As users of internet, we leave behind a digital trail and our data is captured. Algorithms pick up our digital footprints, and synthesize them to give us customarised choices. Based on this data, the algorithm decides the right products for us which we are likely to buy. A significantly large percentage of sales is governed by algorithms, say 35-40 per cent.

Algorithms do big data analytics in real time. On Facebook algorithms decide what news the users will get in the Newsfeed. The Newsfeed algorithm is called EdgeRank. It identifies what users enjoy most. The results are different in different geographies. Indians are interested in ABCDs or astrology, Bollywood, cricket and divinity. Basically, on Facebook you see more of what you like and less of what you hide.

Advertising is targeted based on the user data. Even the comments written on updates signal your choices. The sharing too indicate your likes and dislikes. These signals are the proxies for relevance. Search habits of the users also provide a lot of valuable information.Surfing habits also provide valuable inputs.

Algorithms make marketing specific rather than randomized. Algorithms also decide the delivery of the products through a set of couriers. That courier is chosen which best suits the customer needs Package routing is done through algorithms.

One such open source programme to process big data is Hadoop developed by a Yahoo! engineers, in 2005. There are other proprietary softwares.

LinkedIn matches job openings with candidates. Credit Card companies use algorithms to detect fraud. Since they know the user’s spending pattern, any major deviation is detected.

Algorithms do require scale to work better. They analyse big data. The more the data, the better the result. At lower levels, the accuracy is lower. At higher levels, the accuracy is to the extent of 98 per cent.

Algorithms are not very useful in all situations, e.g. new product launches, organising a flash sale, and analysing the first time visitors to a site. Here there is paucity of past data. Moreover, everything cannot be predicted. Machines process large volume of data but do not understand the natural language. Ultimately it is a combination of man and machine. Machines lack the human touch. They cannot replace the human judgement. Some companies, therefore, blend man-machine approaches. But these days, algorithms also do self-learning. A one of search or comment on social media may give a false positive. Algorithms could be cruel too, say a year’s review in Facebook may incorporote the death of your child.

Companies keep on buying the algorithms. LinkedIn bought Pulse in 2013, and Bizo in 2014. Google took over Deep Mind, an AI start up, in 2014. Snapdeal acquired Wishpicker. Flipkart invested in Giviter, a gift recommendation platform. Microsoft proposes to roll out Cortana, a digital assistant.

 

Peoplemeters

TAM was set up in 2000 by the Joint Industry Body, which represented broadcasters and advertisers. TAM collects data by installing devices called peoplemeters in randomly chosen homes. It collects data from 35,000 respondents in 8,150 homes in 165 cities and towns.It represents the country’s viewership of 148 million homes.

Its ratings are called GRP ( gross rating points ) for a channel and TRPs (television rating points) for a programme. These are the percentages of the audience that actually watched either the channel or the show respectively.

A bigger sample, though better, would be more expensive. TAM gets its revenues through subscriptions. Its turnover stands at RS.50 crore. The industry spends 0.4 t0 0.5 percent on research.

The industry has set up the Broadcast Audience Research Council ( BARC ) which aims at having an independent audience measurement system across all digital platforms. BARC expects to commission this work to vendors such as TAM.

Number of TV Homes 148 million

Number of cable & satellite homes (C&S homes ) 126 million

Number of digital homes ( including DTH ) 42 million

Number of peoplemeters 8,150

Source : TAM 2012 estimates.