Mumbai: The power of movies on television often referred to as the ‘big picture’ has impacted how we consume entertainment, making it an essential part of our lives. Not only that, the synergy of movies and TV has also grown to be lucrative for brands who want to reach India at large and impact the general consumers' daily lives. In a series of chats with marketers and media veterans, Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO & editor-in-chief Anil NM Wanvari discusses all things related to marketing, media and especially movies with ITC Ltd head of media & PR Jaikishin Chhaproo.
Edited excerpts
On early life and experiences
I was born and brought up in Mumbai and did my schooling, and college here as well. I am also an engineering graduate. Then I realised that I can’t do this for the rest of my life. My friends were preparing for MBA and in the office during lunch hours they used to grab their food in 10-15 mins from the window and then they used to appear for the prep test for CAT. Once I was alone and one of my colleagues was doing this test, I picked up a book from the table and gave one aptitude test. When the test got over and this guy started rating me and he was like you have got beginner's luck and you have scored better than me; also you did one level more advanced whereas I haven't reached there. So I just took his notes and photocopied them like it used to happen in those days. I then appeared for my entrance exam, got admission and got into my MBA. I cleared from Somaya in ‘97. Somewhere during my MBA course, I decided that I have to make a career in advertising and choose media as a field. Out of 27 years that I have been working almost 17-18 years I’ve been at FMCG. Sometimes in broadcast and sometimes in e-com and telecom.
The experience is good so far, nothing to complain about. Even today it's said that if you enjoy your work it doesn't look like work. For me every day is like a fun time even if I'm sitting at my home and opening up my laptop, the moment I get into my work it's like I am a different person and for most of my friends, the worst person to call during working hours is me because most of the time my answer is I will call you back later.
On engineering background helping your media career
Somewhere education helps you everywhere and aids you in whatever you do. Having a background in engineering helps you be more analytical in numbers. From that perspective, it has been a comfort to be in the media. The newer experience helps you, being the best teacher.
On your milestones so far
In the last 27-odd years, I have been lucky enough to work in very good organisations and the bosses that I was put under. So I started with a company called Star Plus Channel which falls into the production of TV serials. I was into backend research and acquisition for new serials that the company would air. It was fun to work on the movies which were aired on Friday nights on DD. Then I moved to Wipro where it was undergoing a change of corporate identity to the new sunflower logo. Then I moved to Godrej, Unilever and then continued with Star in the middle east and continued to work there, moved back to India with Star and then Snapdeal and ITC.
I remember one statement where one of my ex-bosses used to say that if you are really good at your work then you should work for Unilever. And the day I joined Unilever, I dropped a message to him saying I joined Unilever today.
On being part of some memorable campaigns
We did a first-of-a-kind advertiser-funded feature for one of the brands. At that time Surf had a tagline called “Each child has a right”. There was this concept that came from a renowned filmmaker and we just tweaked it around and released a movie around it. That was a satellite release.
On being a movie buff and watching Hindi cinema
I'm a hardcore movie buff. There are plenty of times I would pick up references from Hindi cinema, probably people would have watched it but when you kind of narrate that example and you are like “oh ya ya I remember this” stuff like that and I will remember songs on contextual incidents or some situations or stuff like that. Right now the definitions from movies has changed. Long there was a scenario where movies were used to showcase the reflection of the society. So you kind of have a situation where you are kind of taking inspiration from movies, at the same time learning from them. I think it works both ways.
On leveraging movies in marketing by brands due to record-breaking box office title films
There are two or three approaches. One is that some of the titles will not let themselves to allow you to do films in time, because some of the stories are cut in some manner that you wouldn't want the brand to be seen in that space. The other thing is to do an association within the promotional level of the movie wherein you have co-branded promo with your brand, you end up promoting that and you have access to the stars and other things for getting a customized brand message. Then you support it in the cinema screens when the movie is being released.
On TV being important for creating brand awareness
Television continues to be an important medium for us. While digital is picking up and gaining traction, television still continues to kind of hold the roof for us. Another thing is, while digital is growing leaps and bounds it is also having its own set of challenges for marketers whether it's for FMCG or non-FMCG. Everything needs proper syndicated data and ROI calculation to come in. Today on digital one of the key challenges continues to be that the maker, checker, and executor is the same person. If I have a plan to deliver 10 million impressions, I start an activity and I am still dependent on the platform to execute the campaign when it gets over. Also, the moment you start getting into a bit of sharp targeting, the challenges come in terms of frequency because you operate a frequency of 6 say for example, and you end up seeing the frequency reach is going to two or three digits. So those are the challenges that the media keeps facing. However, television over a period of time has evolved and you know that the data is not too wrong.
On dividing market spends between all of these as prices are not that high
There is no winning formula or a template for breaking down your spirit because depending on the category you're operating in, If you're in a mass category, your mix is most likely to be around 60 to 65 per cent television and the balance would be driven by digital today, you can kind of shave off two - three to five per cent, for some other activities, whether it's print, whether it's out of home or whatever. Within television, you can follow basic breakdown, again, depending on your category or breakdown could be parked 10 to 15 per cent for tactical buys, 5 to 10 per cent for your impact buys, and balances for your GRPs if I will put it that way. But as I said there's no rule for anything. So if your TV spend is 100 rupees in total, ideally about 10 to 12 per cent is parked for an impact. 5 to 10 per cent is parked for tactical buys or something that you want to kind of consume as things happen. So, I would say about 75 to 80 per cent is your regular buys is that your regular plan.
