• Peer Pressure?

    Yesterday, Contentsutra carried a story about Times Business launching a professional networking site called Peer Power. The post also mentioned that the new site wouldn’t be leveraging Times Jobs.

    Like I commented there, I’m still trying to understand why they are (seemingly) adamant about not leveraging their existing properties in print, on a new media platform. I look at Times Matrimonial vs Simply Marry, Times Ascent vs Times Jobs vs (now) Peer Power, Times Property vs Magic Bricks, and i wonder.

    As Nikhil had replied to my comment there, I’m not even thinking of sales teams… a bit of branding, yes, but not just that. I see a lot of content that the different properties have, I also see the equity they have managed to create, and then I don’t see them leveraging it enough on the www. I somehow can’t agree to the differentiated target audience logic, because even given the ‘Metromonial site’ tag that Simply Marry has, the very fact that the group advertises the net properties heavily on print means that a large proportion of the TG can still be found among the publications’ readers.

    For me, its more of a long term strategy thing. While newspaper readership in India is not going to end in quite a while, new media is definitely on the rise, and the Times Group is in a perfect position to utilise all the properties offline as a bridge to enter the web, simply because it has all the relevant content. So, why do both Times Ascent and Times Jobs exist? Why does Times Property have a fair, why not magic bricks? And if they both do, why separate ones?

    The only reason I can think of is a kind of valuation game which involves a separation of entities in the two media platforms (BCCL and Times Business Solutions). In that case, having synergies between the two sets of properties would work against them, but that still doesn’t answer Times Jobs vs Peer Power. Or does Shine have anything to do with it?

    While on the subject of old and new media, this is a great read. (via this)

    until next time, so, where does this entity fit in?

  • Empty V ?

    Despite myself, and despite ‘knowing’ the result, I actually sat down and watched the entire finale of MTV Roadies 5.0!! No, please don’t judge me, even when i say that i was completely engrossed and matched the MC, BC, F*** (for the tasks) that the participants indulged in, much to my wife’s annoyance, i think. Well, to be fair, won’t seeing people kiss an iguana so that someone else can walk away with the prize money make you talk that lingo?

    Roadies must definitely be attractive to the target audience for it to spawn a total of five versions.  I remember writing a post a while back on MTV’s customised solutions for brands. Roadies is a perfect fit for Hero Honda, and I’m sure Superstar would have bettered Ibibo’s brand recall at least a little bit. And sometimes the reverse happens too, like the ‘hijacking’ of Youngistan on MTV every morning. Everything from the RJ to the ticker screams MTV, even though its a Pepsi catchphrase.

    Meanwhile, this is an interesting point of view on the programming. But I think the programming also shows the evolution of MTV. My first recollection of MTV is a music channel, along with VJ Nonie 🙂 Do i still see music on MTV? Of course, mostly Hindi music, which in itself is a change from the initial English only programming. That, i think is only because it stands for Music Television, for i somehow feel that quite sometime back, MTV changed its core DNA component from music to youth. Maybe, even at the time of origin, music was only the best way to reach out to the youth. And having built a brand like MTV, its really risky to go for a name change.

    MTV now is more a huge bunch of reality shows each giving youth a platform for showcasing their talent or 15 minutes of fame, whichever way you see it, and each working on different verticals – Bollywood (superstar), Adventure(?)(Roadies) It makes sense because music is more of a commodity now, available across multiple platforms, easy to replicate. But continuously shifting gears to keep in touch with the target audience, like MTV seems to be doing, is difficult. Which could be the reason why, (at least to me) Channel V’s attempts with Get Gorgeous have not appealed much. That and the fact that their shows are more based on the VJ, the music remains the same. So, other than, say a V on Campus, its just repackaging. Or maybe that works too?

    until next time, is reality a musical?

    Zemanta Pixie

  • Fairytale Endings

    We hurried, after all it was not everyday that we could listen to a Lord. We didn’t make it early enough because there was already quite a crowd in attendance, most of whom were not pleased to see latecomers trying to squeeze their way in between. The lord came on time, and had his audience spellbound with his anecdotes and immense sense of humour. He promised to autograph every book that his audience had brought, but there was a twist in the tale. The peasants at Landmark wouldn’t let us near unless we’d made a purchase then and there. So we left, with the satisfaction that we at least got to see him.

    But that wasn’t the only reason we left early, we had one more audience left, a Prince, no less – Prince Caspian. There’s a reason why i was eagerly waiting for this film. Unlike the modern day children’s tales of magic, this one is absolutely fairytale. Good and evil are clearly defined and there are no greys in between. It takes you back to a time when you would believe in talking animals, magic, witches, wise kings and all the folk who appear in fairytales in all their innocence. Its a completely different world, and as i read somewhere, some things have to be believed to be seen.

    until next time, back to reality

  • 3 Storys

    I used to visit the place quite regularly when my workplace was around the area, but those were for the executive lunch. Its located off Lavelle road – when coming from MG Road, take the left on to Lavelle Road, and take the right just before the turning towards Airlines Hotel/Corner House.

    3 Storys offers three stories of seating options and specilaises in Goan/Mangalorean/Coorgi/Kerala cuisine. The best thing about this place is that its almost ‘Empirical’ in terms of being able to hog multiple dishes, thanks to the adequate portions and value for money.

    The top floor is a good option if its not raining, but since it was, we opted for the second floor. The seating is very comfortable on all the floors and has options for largish groups as well as cosy couples 🙂

    We started with a Caldo Verde soup, perhaps the only veg soup I don’t mind having. They make it quite well here and the by-two portion is almost as large as a normal full portion. We wanted to have the Sear Peri Peri but unfortunately, they didn’t have any fish available. That also meant no Kana Rava fry. Inspite of that, there were still plenty of starter options, so we finally settled for a Coorg Fried Chicken, and I’ve bookmarked the Goan Sausages for next time. The Coorgi chicken was delicious and had a distinctive flavor. Now I’m no expert on Coorgi cuisine so i dont know if it was a Coorgi flavor, but whatever it was, it was awesome.

    For the main course, we ordered Malabar Erachi Chops and Brown Chicken Stew and to go with it one plate of Idiappam and one plate of Appam. There are lots of options for seafood lovers. even if you aren’t (like me), phikar not, because the options available, that too from multiple cusines will make you wish you had a larger appetite. We also ordered one Malabar Porotta (yup, we spell it that way there 🙂 ) and a plate of Sannas. We’ve always liked the brown stew here, but this time, the Eratchi chops was just leagues ahead. Except for the Sannas (which were a little harder than usual) everything else was just great. I would also recommend the Mutta Porotta (thats Kerala porotta with an egg bullseye on top). There aren’t too many dessert options available though you could try the Bibinca, if you haven’t tasted it before. Anyways, there’s Corner House nearby, and now Mocha too.

    Meanwhile, 3 Storys is the place to come to, when you’re in the mood for a different, but value-for -money food experience. All of the above cost us about Rs.600, and thus ends this story. 🙂

  • Brand recycles

    The concept of product lifecycles is a pretty old one. I’ve read a few articles on brand lifecycles too, like this one. But something I’ve been thinking about recently is the customer lifecycle. I’ve been googling a bit and found a few notes like this and this, but that doesn’t quite say what i had in mind.

    The thought came to me when i picked up the latest edition of Outlook Money. This magazine has, for the last year so, exhibited an uncanny ability to give me exactly the kind of stuff I’d been thinking or discussing about say, a week before, and everytime i pick up the magazine, I have this ‘Truman Show’ feeling. 🙂 It means that somehow they’ve been able to understand the needs of the reader completely, and build an extremely good mass customised product. Notice that they have been doing it for at least a couple of years now.

    My needs have changed in those years, as have my financial planning, consumption patterns etc. But OM has kept in touch with them correctly. Is it following my life? Okay, lets stop getting personal, is it following the life of the demographic that i fit into, which is also their target audience? If it is, then that’s what i mean by a customer lifecycle, which means that the brand by itself does not have a dna, but follows the needs of the consumer through his life, in the space that the brand operates in – in this case, personal finance.

    One advantage I can immediately think of is that the customer’s bonding with the brand will definitely be very high because it never loses relevance. The brand can then decide to either start another version of itself targeting the next generation (Outlook starts a sub brand for the younger set after say, 5 years, when the needs of the original and the new set can be clearly defined and are distinct) or if you’re say a Beverages brand or Apparel brand then you create sub categories (like you already have Coke Lite). So in a sense, the brand gets recycled all the time in an avtar thats always relevant.

    Do you have any more examples like Outlook? Do you feel there’s potential for some brands to work this way?

    Meanwhile, there’s this excellent brand tag experiment being done. I thought I’ll replicate it here at first, but since people answering me here are too less, it really didn’t make sense. But do try it out here.

    until next time, recycle anyway