By Papri Das

When South Korean expat and Shop CJ head of marketing Donald Kwag first came to India in 2007 for a market analysis, he was blown away by ?diverse cultures, legacy of great freedom fighters and beautiful landscapes.?

In a tete-a-tete with Indiantelevision.com?s Exec Lifestyle, Kwag opens up on the challenges he faced in understanding the Indian consumer, and his tryst with Hinglish

What made you come to India?

I was working in the marketing and new business development team for CJ O Shopping in Korea, when the company decided to expand their business overseas. And India was one of the important markets.  I was sent here in 2007 with my other CJ colleagues. We studied the market for about two years, and what we saw amazed us about this country. Based on our research, we launched our channel in 2009.

What are your chief responsibilities as the head of marketing?

In my current role as the head of marketing, Shop CJ India, I am responsible foR strategising business plans for the channel and the website. I am also responsible for analysing sales and marketing activities of the business vis-?-vis advertising, sales, promotion, public relations, product development, pricing and channel distribution.

How difficult was it to understand consumer behaviour in India? 

It was a challenging job because unlike other countries, in India, if you travel 100 kilometres - you see people with different language, culture, festivals etc. Needless to say the buying pattern also varies. When we came to India for the first time, we had a very limited understanding of Indian consumers; hence it baffled us even more.

To compensate for our lack of understanding, we did a lot of research, studied market reports from recognized agencies, travelled beyond Mumbai, and even visited festivals like the Kumbh Mela. That gave us a first-hand understanding of Indian customers and their behaviour.

How important is culture in dictating the buying pattern of a place?

Yes, culture is an aspect, which affects buying behaviour. Factors like buying season, decision influencers and product configuration etc. are a part of culture.

We have observed that especially in the case of female category products like saris, jewellery and cosmetics.

For example, Indian women tend to discuss and buy a product together with their sisters, aunts, neighbour or female colleagues. This helped us build a product configuration. We started making a multiple pack deal like a pack of 10 saris to sell on our channel. One would think that something like that would fail. However we started getting a very good response for the same.

How did you adjust to the work culture here? How different is it from that of Korea?

I work with a wonderful team here, even if there are language and culture barriers, they understand my vision and work expectations. 

South Koreans are workaholics, punctual and compliant. We work for hours and with pin drop silence at the work place. Also, in South Korea, people do not switch their jobs too often. Their average time spent in a company is at least five - seven years. Still, I like the kind of professional mind-sets and ownership that Indians have and hence it was not very difficult to adjust with respect to daily work life here.

How do you spend time beyond your work hours?

Shop CJ is growing with a fast pace and I always need to be on my toes. Hence most of my day is occupied with work. I spend around 12 hours in office on weekdays. I even come to office on weekends. I enjoy my work thoroughly. On Sundays, I make it a point to visit the church and sometimes I play golf with friends and colleagues. We used to hang out at the  Wellington Club in South Mumbai, and often visit Chinese and Korean restaurants in Bandra.

Have you adjusted to the local cuisine?

I would say that overall food flavour in India is similar to S. Korea. We also eat spicy food made with multiple stages of preparation. Hence it was not very difficult to cope up with Indian food. So yes, I have tried them. Moreover, my wife had been cooking Korean food for my family, so we enjoy the regular Korean cuisine at home.

Did you learn any Hindi during your stay in Mumbai?

Yes, if course. It was important for me to understand Hindi as our channel is Hinglish. I am familiar with frequently spoken words like Namastey, shukriya, thik hai etc. I even use them often.

Success has a different meaning for every individual, and every successful person has a different value system that has helped them reach where they are. While some believe in their own will power to plough through any challenge others stress on having a positive outlook in life and learning from mistakes. Check out these established executives share their life?s mantra with Exec Life.

By Papri Das

Celebrated playwright George Bernard Shaw?s famous quote: ?A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing,? resonates deeply with TravelXP HD and Media Worldwide Limited CEO Prashant Chothani, who began his career as a cable operator.

From climbing numerous floors every day to set up cable connections in houses, pioneering the movement to get cable TV legalized, formulating the revenue system for film and music advertisement in television, to launching a TV channel on a patriotic spur ? his last two decades in the industry have shown him some dramatic crest and troughs.

In this heart to heart chat with Indiantelevision.com's Exec Lifestyle, Chothani opens up on his early days in the industry, launching India?s first HD travel channel, and why he will always be a "Zeeian," even after parting ways with the Zee Network.

Excerpts:

You are credited with launching India's first and only High Definition travel channel TravelXP. How did you come up with the concept?

TravelXP is close to my heart for more reasons than one. When we conceived the concept of an Indian travel channel, we didn?t see it as a business venture. The idea came to us from an unfortunate personal experience that my family and I faced while travelling in one of the European countries. There, we came across someone who had strong negative opinion about India and was unabashedly vocal about it. This left a lasting impact on us, specially our son, who naturally asked me why others have a very one dimensional view of our country.

After some thought, I realized it wasn?t the foreigner?s fault for not being informed about India?s beauty, when most international and even national media show us in bad light. While there is a need to report the bad, there should be a platform, which focuses on the good, beautiful and updated India as well. TravelXP comes from this very thought. 

What challenges did you face when launching a travel channel in India?

Since a travel channel was far removed from what we had been doing so far, it was a huge risk to take with so much at stake. We needed to understand the market well and also the viewers. Getting the right infrastructure to create content that is at par with international standards was the first of many challenges. We travelled across India extensively, and shot big - small, known - un-known, all kinds of places. In the process, I was surprised to find many hidden gems of sites that India has to offer to travellers.
This came through to our viewers both here and abroad through our shows. I am proud to say that TravelXP is probably the only Indian travel channel, which has a vast international reach with a completely Indian production team.

Many don?t know that you left home to pursue your dreams. Tell us about your early days in the industry.

Following the tried and tested career path didn?t sit well with me, so I left home and started working as a cable operator. Those days, I used to climb 300 floors every day, to fix networks for different providers in Mumbai. It was around that time that the film industry started raising issues over screening movies on the small screen, and the matter even went to the court. I was part of the group who stood up against the film industry?s monopoly over entertainment and rooted for legalizing cable TV. In 1988 a case was filed in the Mumbai High Court -- film industry and others VS me and others -- on the same issue. After a long struggle, the court ruled in our favour that cable television was not illegal and cable operators would have to get a copyright license to air movies on their network. That was a crucial decision that determined the future of cable TV, and was also a turning point in my career.

After seeing the industry going from being  legalised to organised, I should have been in the broadcast business since the legalisation of cable TV, why only in 2004? I question myself on this sometimes. But looking back now, it was worth it. 

Who is your role model in the industry?

I always consider Subhash Chandra from Zee network as my role model, and a father figure. When he launched Zee Television Network, Subhash ji was of the opinion that we should be supportive of the film industry. He was of the opinion that a lot of talent would flow to Bollywood from the television industry and that is exactly how it is today. What he envisioned years ago has fallen into place now. His show Dr Subhash Chandra Show on Zee News is one of the shows I watch even today. Not just in media, but anyone who wants to be inspired to do something special must watch the show.

You had a long standing relationship with Zee Network before launching your own channels. What was working with the Zee Network like?

Another landmark in the broadcast industry was when Subhash ji launched Zee Television network, and I had the opportunity to associate with it since day one. Since Zee was facing similar challenges that we faced with cable TV legalization, they approached me with an offer to address the problem together. My suggestion was to formulate a system that assured the industry that television and films could co-exist. Providing air time to film trailers at a cheaper rate to promote films was one of them. We introduced the concept of airing trailers and songs from movies on television. The feedback was tremendous and production houses soon realised that rather than fighting against us, accepting us and making use of the platform to their advantage was a wiser decision.

This started our long running association with Zee Network, till 2006. I and my wife who joined me later, were never employees of Zee, but independent associates by the name of Celebrities Management Private ltd (which runs TravelXP now), and looked after the film and music business of the entire Zee Network, including the regional ones. But Zee was like home to us.

Are you emotional about parting ways with the Zee Network?

In 2006, when we parted ways with Zee, it was an emotional moment for me and my wife. We felt like kids whose parents have kicked them out of home. It was one of the saddest moments of our lives, and it took us a month to get over it. During our long running stint with Zee, we had offers from other channels to provide the same service that we did for Zee, but we felt morally committed to Zee. So not as employees but as another independent company, we held on to Zee. Now, from a business point of view it might have been a naive decision, but I don?t regret it. We could have continued the same business with a different network, but we chose otherwise. We wanted to keep that moral commitment to Zee intact. And then we entered into broadcast on our own with Music India.

What is your current equation with Zee Network?

My relationship with Zee, Subhash ji or Puneet (Goenka) never soured. We never had differences on a personal level to begin with. It was more functional. And after 15 years, you can?t call them disagreements. Granted, people did try to take advantage of the situation, but by God?s grace, we never got taken in by that, and neither did anyone in Zee. I always say that a Zeeian dies a Zeeian.

How did Sangeet Bangla and Sangeet Bhojpuri come about?

While I was still with Zee, there were many occasions when I would fly to Kolkata and meet producers like Shree Venkatesh Films, SK Movies etc. I had always found Bengalis very musical, and was surprised to know that almost every household had a harmonium. It always made me wonder why there wasn?t a regional music channel there. In fact, I even suggested to the then business head of Zee Bangla Aditya Ray, to consider starting a Bengali music channel under Zee?s banner. But the plan never saw the light of the day. When we wanted to start something of our own, we called back on that idea and zeroed down on a Bengali music channel.

I called for a meeting in Kolkata with artists, producers and people from media, and asked what they expect from a Bengali music channel as a platform to showcase their talent. I could feel their excitement and after a discussion we soon crystallized the concept for Sangeet Bangla. The biggest challenge was to turn the young Bengali?s attention to their regional film music instead of Hindi songs and Bollywood. It took a great deal of effort but I can proudly claim that over the last 10 years, Sangeet Bangla as a channel has been instrumental in shaping Tollywood and Bengali commercial films to what it is today.

Our idea behind the other venture, Sangeet Bhojpuri was also the same, which has yet to show the same result like Sangeet Bangla, but we are working on it.

This episode of Talking Point with your new host Papri Das, gets you up and personal with the dynamic Chief Marketing Officer of Housing.com, Pratik Seal. Well-known for his successful stints in varied platforms like technology and broadcast media, Pratik shares how he closely relates to the brands he has represented so far -- be it Micromax, Vodafone, Star India or Housing.com.

In this candid chat, he opens up on his efforts to get more family time, how working with a young team can be both fun and challenging, why he dislikes the word ?advice?, and how a Chemistry graduate from Kolkata ended up in marketing.

The seventh episode of Talking Point with Ritwika Gupta features someone who clearly defies the notion that creative minds cannot run a successful business. Ratish Tagde, has not only carved niche in Indian classical music as a violinist, but is also the CEO and managing director of Insync, India?s first non-Bollywood music channel.

A strong supporter of Indian classical and independent music, in this episode of Talking Point, Tagde shares how his passion for the violin and music in general led him to give a platform like Insync to his fellow musicians.

So let?s get up and personal with this violinist with triple majors in music, who also holds a law degree and runs a music broadcast channel.

By Papri Das 

Corporate lifestyle and meetings go hand in hand. Where there?s a bunch of suited executives, there are bound to be conference rooms. Because it is behind these closed doors where execs brain-storm multi-million dollar strategies for brands and companies. In a day and age when time is money, efficiency is of utmost important and from there arises the question - How does one organise an efficient meeting? This crucial question was posed recently by J W Marriott chief sales and marketing officer Peggy Fang Roe.  Roe went on to introduce a new concept by the hotel called ?Meetings Imagined? - a website and app that assists event planners and organisers in putting up that perfect meeting.

Taking a leaf out of Roe?s discussion, Indiantelevision.com?s Exec Lifestyle decided to ask a few media executives and event planners on the challenges that they face in organising an efficient meeting and how they overcome those challenges. Here?s a list of common but crucial issues faced by executives in calling a meeting and their remedies:

1) Know what you are walking into:

Most executives unanimously agreed that nine out of 10 of their worst meeting experiences were because they were agenda-less. Well known venture capitalist, investor and entrepreneur Mahesh Murthy shares, ?It is very essential to call for an objective oriented meeting, and see to it that the objectives are fulfilled by the end of it.? Now, how does one go about doing that? ?A little planning and exchanging information prior to the meeting is all it takes,? he puts simply. Staying prepared with the content of the meeting will definitely help you wrap your head around the meeting.

2) Technology should be seamless and invisible:

Dealing with technological shortcomings in a meeting is a big ?No? specially when there is some actual ideation happening in it. Just imagine yourself ready to give that perfect presentation and the projector lamp starts acting up. Technological glitches in a meeting shift the room's attention from the agenda at hand taking away from the creative process. It almost leaves you at the mercy of the tech guys, who miraculously come and fix things in a jiffy. To avoid this, one needs to check if all the gadgets in the room are up and running, because more often than not it?sthe minor setup issues that cause the most trouble.

3) Keep a stopwatch:

How often have you found yourself in a meeting where a speaker drones on and on. Five minutes into it and they have already lost your attention. You can?t help yourself from frequently checking the time and asking yourself, ?When will this be over?? Unfortunately, it?s a common practice to let a speaker finish all they need to (or don?t need to) say specially if they are your bosses. However, our execs beg to differ. ?It?s perfectly alright to time the speakers in a meeting, as people tend to make more relevant points when they have limited time,? quips Twitter India head of communications Rohan Vyavaharkar.

4) Bridge that gap:

Another common problem faced by executives in a meeting is to get people involved. When it comes to ideation, more often than not, we find only one person delivering while others hesitate and shy away from sharing their ideas. Several CEOs pointed out that doing away with the podium and hand held microphone is the first step to reaching out to the other attendees in a meeting. This will encourage them to contribute more. SeekSherpa CEO Dhruv Raj Gupta adds that having a feedback session after every meeting, where one shares what they have personally gathered from the experience, is a healthy way to invite opinions.

5) Tickle those grey cells:

?Have meetings without chairs,? says Murthy. ?It takes people off their comfort zone and in turn brings their attention to the matter at hand. It also makes you more alert and attentive.? Games2win CEO and co-founder Alok Kejrival derails himself from the tried and tested measures and suggests something out of the box. ?I see potential in gamifying meetings and even allow jesters and entertainers to come and break the monotony. Honestly, there are endless possibilities in this arena.? Others believe that a little change from the same old board room setting, or simply changing the furniture of the place can be a great way to inspire people in a meeting. So, board meetings on bean bags are more than welcome!