Mythical perception of communication

September 15, 2010 

Communication strategy can be a funny business and the mythical perception about what constitutes an effective communication makes the job even more ridiculous for the serious practitioners of the business. More often than not the conventional wisdom that communication must aim at creating mutually beneficial relation between the organization and its stake holders goes for a toss, when the client reminds you that there are other agencies waiting to grab the account on the clients’ dotted terms. It may not shock me anymore, but definitely disappoints bitterly with the dogmatic ideas that collective consciousness of the business community carries as far as communication is concerned.
There seems to be a definite lack of understanding of how business relevant and business beneficial communication strategy can be. My failed brain storming with the management of a soon-to-be-launched consumer product reminds me yet again that India Inc communicates more to impress than to express. This lack of foresight results into a complete emotional disconnect with the audience for whom the product has been conceptualized. I fail to understand the point why a metro kid with all the polished Ps and Qs should be the face of a brand which has the least possibility to be consumed by that given segment.
I can understand a “method” into it if the product is aspirational in nature. But with a consumer product that would be mostly consumed by the tier II and tier III kids in their given comfortable budget, such an endorsement hardly reflects any serious thought process or strategy. As Ad man Suhel Seth recently said during FICCI’s “Brand Talk” that marketers who resort to Celebrity Endorsement of their products are the laziest people in the business.
With my academic perspective and market exposure of over a decade now, I often end up arguing, even at the cost of losing business, as to why all the communication (Advertising & PR) should be in the national English dailies. To an extent this is necessary from branding perspective, but the question is how much market share can be earned by shouting in a market where decibel levels are already too high. Based on my experience with TRACK2MEDIA Consulting where we always suggest for a market survey/research before any new communication campaign, I personally feel the Indian businesses still have to go a long way before they bank on expertise at every level.
In the absence of a scientifically evolved methodology, most of the board room decisions are based on perception than ground reality. A friend heading the corporate communication of a pharma major recently shared how they exhaust 80 per cent of the budget in the mainstream media and only 10-15 per cent in the vernacular media. Keeping in mind the fact that major product of the company is prescriptive medicine; this clearly defies any logic in a country where 50 per cent of the doctors are from Bihar.
But the think tank of the said pharma company is not the only one that seats in the ivory towers from where Ground Zero is more often than not invisible. No wonder, many of such management are pretty happy with their advertising in page 1 of national dailies, often with a jacket cover; while the PR campaign fails to take off. I would blame equally to the PR agencies for cutting a sorry figure before the clients. The day they stop overpromising on coverage in the national dailies, they would earn some respect for themselves and the profession as well, even if it means loss of business at times.
There seems to be an obsession of the clients to get published in the national English dailies, even if they don’t have a news value and their product does not address the readers at all. Many of them are not even open to the idea of any out-of-the-box strategy, which can earn them more reputation in terms of brand building, connect directly to the target audience and ensures more market share. But the medium is ever evolving, and it is the job of a brand strategist to make them understand that old school of communication is changing the world over.
If advertising used to be the king of communication till around a decade back, with a lion’s share of 80 per cent of the marketing budget, the rise of the branding tools and methodologies suggest it should not be more than 40-45 per cent now. Public Relations, Corporate Sponsorships, Corporate Social Responsibility, Online Reputation Management, two-way seamless communication to connect with stake holders……the medium is ever evolving. But the moot point is--before we put our foot down and say NO to the clients who believe in self medication, are we as communication consultants convinced that we are strategists and not vendors to the clients? Well, my guess is as good as many others who are in the business of communication consultancy.    

Should communicators communicate self?

As a communication professional our job is to communicate the message of the clients to the right media vehicle. Right? Well, not always. Communicators are paid to communicate the message of others and the conventional wisdom suggests against becoming the subject themselves. However, there is no code of ethics that refrains a communicator to communicate his own message. Is there any? I have my serious doubts, and unlike traditional journalism where objectivity and detached view point are the overtly pronounced parameters for obvious reasons, the nature of other forms of communication, Advertising & PR does not come in the way of a free flowing symmetrical communication.

The question as to whether a communicator should communicate self or not was posed by a journalist friend to whom I had sent the press release of the global tie-up of TRACK2MEDIA with Heusler PR, Australia. I have no doubts that the journo friend got confused with our going-global press release, since he was into the habit of receiving the releases of the clients from our end. The result was a prompt phone call to ask whether I was serious with it to be treated as the press release or it was meant for mere information.

What seemed to be an innocuous question actually made me introspect as to whether I crossed the ethical lines of the communication business. I also started questioning myself as to whether I had a need to communicate to the world in general and media in particular about self. However, on second thoughts I decided to stick to my inner urge to communicate, even if it is about self. I understand a number of journo and even some PR pros will contest the claim, but the fact of the matter is that a larger understanding of media business and ethics is needed in the given context.

What used to be unethical in old school of communication is no longer valid in today’s competitive media world. Cross channel promotion of media houses, self glorified version of impact of the news stories, and in some cases individual journalists being promoted as brands is an accepted reality today. And hence I firmly believe that the question of ethics and integrity crossing the line comes into debate only when one starts taking the advantage of being into the business. But so long one has a valid argument and newsworthy information; there is no reason why a communicator should not communicate about self.

After all, we communication professionals don’t function in a vacuum and unless we have something relevant to share, the traditional media will not entertain us, even if there is an element of personal friendship involved. It is not self glorification that can translate into media coverage, only by virtue of being in the same trade. Now if I probe the issue a bit deeper, I have the feeling that more than living under an enforced code of ethics on us, we have subconsciously relegated ourselves as mere messengers.

Of course, since we feel shy of becoming the news ourselves, there is a genre of media platforms that have emerged to keep the industry well reported. There are portals like exchange4media and afaqs, catering to the industry with a genuine B2B focus. In the mainstream media, even though the television channels have broke the clutter with their financial clout, PR professionals are still treated like vendors. The moot point is whether we take an offence to it, or subconsciously we accept it as an industry reality.

It is anybody’s guess as to what is the ground reality. Some of the best known communications consulting agencies, even the ones that specialise in helping the corporate world go to public, are privately held companies. It seems the dilemma of communicating self makes them feel shy of coming out with their own public issues. Intent seems to be very much there; otherwise some of them would not have been deemed public limited companies. But it is the conventional school of communication that acts as a deterrent and communicators fail to get a face lift by communicating self.

Thankfully, I belong to the new school of communication, feel proud of my job and the industry and will never feel shy of communicating self. Right time, right message, right media…..that is the professional philosophy of TRACK2MEDIA Consulting.

Socia Marketing loses relevance with over dose

An advertising campaign of a telecom company that shows a stripey orphaned tiger cub running for cover urges people to “Save the Tiger”. The social marketing campaign of Aircel has roped in a galaxy of sports icons to endorse the cause. The suggestion is to raise the voice, write blogs….among other things. Well, the compassionate human in me feels tempted to be a part of saving the tiger, and hence write the blog. But on second thoughts, the communication professional in me fails to connect with the cause and the brand. There is a big question mark over efficacy of the suggested methodology here and I am still groping for an answer as to how to contribute the cause constructively.

The Social Marketing has been the buzz word, of late. It is very much the same as the Digital Media & Social Networking Sites have been the handy tool for the PR pros during the last few years. I have earlier written as to how over reliance on social media only reflects strategic PR dilemma http://track2media.blogspot.com/2009/07/over-reliance-on-social-media-reflects.html. However, very much like the Digital media getting over crowded and messages directionless in the PR world, the Social Marketing in advertising is getting vague, directionless and often offers no solution to the questions raised.

Nearly all the Social Marketing campaigns that have hit the newspapers, TV Spots and Billboards have started with a question and have failed to answer it conclusively. Advertising agencies focusing on Social Marketing should probably take a leaf out of Jaago Re campaign of Tata Tea which advocates about compulsory voting. No wonder, the campaign saw 28 lakh registrations on their website.

Even though I deplore voting in a political set-up where Right to Recall the elected representative is non-existent, I feel an emotional connect with the campaign. However, their next campaign that talked about corruption (Khilana Bandh Peelana Shuru) clearly showed conceptual fatigue and had no answer as to how to check the menace of corruption in a society where an honest man and not corrupt one is a liability.

This fine brand and message connect is quite evident in the Amir Khan endorsed Atithi Devo Bhava (Guest is God). It has all the necessary ingredients of a successful Social Marketing campaign-an emotional connect; promoting tourism as a brand and involvement of the TG, that is common man on the streets, while the pre requisite of a moral high ground in such a campaign has also been maintained.

However, there are other campaigns like What An Idea Sirji, where campaign takes off in a Caste Conundrum, changes track mid way amidst criticism and then goes directionless with its Save Paper message. It seems advertisers had no idea as to whether message should be kept at the fore front or the persona of film star as its brand ambassador. While the first message didn’t offer any solution, the second one is a copy & paste solution of successful global campaign of an IT company.

The petrol conservation campaign of PCRA where a school going son tells his father not to keep the car running at red light is more of a brand trying to connect to the TG through children as influencers. The statement of the child that he will open a bicycle repair shop in future may be seen as a threat by a section and is not something that will go down well with the sensibilities in the Indian cultural context. The element of moral high ground, which ideally should flow into two-way channel, is only through the perspective of the advertiser here. Most important, it does not offer a viable solution. In my opinion, such a campaign would have evoked more response if targeted around an option like Car Pool.

An ideal Social Marketing campaign is one that takes the Brand Positioning to a moral high ground, offers a solution to the core of the problem and not just holding a candle to the cause, blends well with the cultural context of the given market and connects instantly with the TG. Unfortunately, Save Tiger campaign fails on these parameters. Even though I whole heartedly support the cause, the brand connect feels like being thrust upon and solution is nothing more than holding a candle to the cause.

My worry, however, is more with the emerging trend in advertising where there is an over dose of Social Marketing campaigns. While the corporates need to introspect with the brand positioning through Social Marketing, advertising will do no harm to their reputation if they offer a judicious use of such campaigns. This evolving genre of advertising is applicable only when the Brand, Message, TG and a legitimate cause blend into perfection. Failing this Social Marketing will not only lose its cutting edge but relevance as well.

Media Forecast 2010

With our primary role in TRACK2MEDIA being media consultancy, a lot of people keep asking as to which way the Indian media is heading to in the year 2010. Different people have different reasons to be curious-journalist friends want to know whether the gloomy picture in the media world will continue in the year ahead. The clients in the corporate world are always curious to understand the behavioral dilemma with the necessary evil called media.
Speaking from the perspective of TRACK2MEDIA as a media consulting agency and from a personal standpoint, what media means to us is something which is our forte, our core competency, and certainly our bread and butter. This is also one of the sunrise industries in the Indian market today. I know this statement will raise quite a few eyebrows in today’s context when the television channels are increasingly attempting to get top thin in their hierarchy and overall management practice.
One of the leading group of television channels has only recently hired a global audit firm to measure the employees’ productivity. With the mandate to roll the heads from the top (read all highly paid), restructuring resulted in many of the professionals being shown the doors. If industry grapevine is to be believed, another leading media house is ready with its own liability list. Country’s leading national daily with a financial daily, a news channel and a business television channel has also went through massive restructuring this year.
However, I am still optimistic and this euphoric state of mind has got nothing to do with the measured advertising expenditure in the year 2009. If I go by the Information & Broadcasting Ministry’s clearance to a number of television channels in the recent past, television as a medium of news certainly seems to be poised for another expansion spree. It may not grow vertically and qualitatively, but a horizontal growth and quantitative growth is certainly on the cards.
Even from the advertising and marketing sustenance point of view, on a macro level hardly anyone will argue against the fact that India has become the global hot spot for any global brand. From FMCG to luxury & super luxury, all roads are leading into Indian market today. India along with China has emerged as the market that is critical in any global brand’s strategy for expansion. However, I must admit here that the idea of advertising is vague. And statistics are just that – statistics.
A more critical look into 2010 for the two media platforms leading the way (television and online) will unveil a better idea of where the media is heading to. The rationale of evaluating only the television and online media is that print has apparently reached its saturation point in this part of the world and there is no major expansion on the cards. Even some of the global newspapers tying up with an Indian partner for the local edition over here have put their plans on shelves for the time being. Television and Internet, however, is heading northwards with more players joining the fray.
Journalist friends in the print media may crib that their intellectual superiority and low pay is shameful as against the triple S and one P (Sex, Sensationalism, Silly & Politics) driven television where PYT (Pretty Young Thing) is all you need to succeed. But television will continue to go some distance as against some other forms of advertising, including that of Internet and Outdoor. Television in India may be ridiculed by the serious but minority audience and academicians but it will never go away, at least not in the foreseeable future.
Actually the footprint of television in India is a case study as to how media is consumed and preferred in this part of the world. In terms of marketing strategy, 2010 may see the Indian television shifting from the traditional Ad-Breaks to that of Media Value. The fine blending of advertising and editorial content seems to be on the cards. In the US, this transformation has started long ago starting with the advent of online videos and digital video recorders. These technologies allowed viewers to skirt traditional advertising and put more pressure on media value and brand integration in the content themselves.
With more advertisers ready but cautious with their advertising dollars, the idea of branded integration will emerge as the new buzz word amongst agencies and content providers. Theoretically good content may be the king but advertisers still need to balance the idea of brand image with that of media value. To be precise, branded content may be more readily available, but media value is not about availability but if its right for the brand.
Internet opened up in India nearly over a decade ago and the new kid on the block immediately got a setback. The dot com bubble burst n late ‘90s was inevitable for two specific reasons- with very low internet penetration the whole idea was ahead of its time; and then everybody thought of making a million or two through the cheapest media vehicle possible with no quality content in the kitty. However, over the past decade the increasing internet penetration has ensured that Indian netizens grow phenomenally and online media is a formidable alternative platform to that of television, and believe it or not, even print. If the largest media baron of the world Rupert Murdoch believes the time has come for the paid content online, he has reasons to believe so.
While Internet advertising revenue growth in the US and some other parts of Europe has reached a saturation point of under 5%, Indian forecast of around 20% growth in 2010 sounds too lucrative. This has also led to digital advertising agencies appearing out of nowhere for the first time in the last couple of years. After all, this is where the key elusive demographic that the majority of global advertisers are salivating to get a chance to market is consuming their media.
For 2010, the big question about online advertising is not about why, but where. Google Analytics has suddenly emerged as much in demand as TRPs are there for television. Unlike television where advertising has more of a defined role of where trends are shaping the industry, online is fast emerging as the happy hunting ground for advertisers looking for low cost and high value medium with a global audience.
However, it seems that the lessons learnt from the first round of dot com bubble burst have been easily forgotten here. What is happening once again is that everyone is a content provider whether legitimate or not. In the absence of any defined regulation and the low cost operation, websites have suddenly mushroomed on anything and everything. This makes the job of serious website companies even tougher to produce more quality content and create the right marketing and promotion campaigns to make online advertising a legitimate success. As a practitioner of brand management I feel the online media will see some serious Off-line branding in order to create a market differentiator.
No wonder, when TRACK2MEDIA did a market feasibility survey for its forthcoming online news venture www.indianewsstreet.com, most of the marketers in this part of the world opined that online is a dynamic but fluid media platform. We do understand that advertisers understand the language of ROI (return on investment) and with constantly evolving platforms without rules and metrics, providing a sustainable business model will constantly be a major challenge. For 2010, it will be a year of proving out the validity of online as content providers, updated & instant platforms, and advertisers converge to figure out the right business model in the Indian market.
Television has an edge over here due to platform convergence because this not just ensures having the content available on both online and television, but utilizing both platforms to cross-promote the content and ultimately enhance the viewer experience. For television, online provides a whole new dimension of watching programs from audience interactivity and behind-the-scenes footage to an e-commerce component and social-networking aspect. The marketing strategy of TV 18 is a case study in this context.
If the serious engagement of both the print and television media with their Live Online Site is any indication in 2009, there will be some really serious competition in the segment. Thus, for the media groups with “Only Online” platform to offer, rich content, distinct market positioning and cutting edge exclusivity is the only answer. In the words of legendary Mark Twain, take the roads less travelled by and 2010 is the year for all of you seriously involved with the Online Media. Despite the ups and mostly downs of the media sector in the year, 2010 only promises a better and optimistic media market in India.