11

2

The

Advertising

Mess

BRIDGE’ing the gap for accountable MarCom

Bipin Mundhwa & Amit Nevrekar

Published by Sci-MO

Includes incisive consumer insights from India’s leading expert and best-selling author on customer experience branding - CYRUS M GONDA

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The Advertising MessCopyright © 2012 by Amit Nevrekar & Bipin Mundhwa

The ‘Bridge’ ModelCopyright © 2012 by Amit Nevrekar & Bipin Mundhwa

DISCLAIMER:

Due care and diligence has been taken while writing, editing, printing andpublishing this book; neither the authors, nor the publisher, nor the printer holdany responsibility for any mistake that may have crept in inadvertently. Neitherthe authors, nor the publisher, nor the printer shall be liable for damagesarising here from.

No part of this publication or the ‘Bridge’ model included therein may bereproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a databaseor retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the authors. Theconcept of the ‘Bridge’ Model cannot be commercialised without the prior legalpermission of the authors.

All names, characters and brands appearing in this book are hypothetical andfictitious. Any resemblance to real people, living or dead is purely coincidental.

The opinions expressed in this book reflect the personal views of the authorsand are not intended to represent the views of their current and/or pastemployers. The purpose of this book is not to create any controversies, but toeducate the industry about the prevailing loopholes that can be plugged fordeveloping robust and scientific media measurement systems.

The fact that an organisation or website is referred to in this work as a citationand/or potential source of further information, does not mean that the authorsendorse that information. Further, readers should be aware that internetwebsites listed in this work may have changed or been withdrawn between theperiod when this work was written and when it is being read.

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Acknowledgements

In our journey to accomplish this work, we had a number ofindividuals who have directly and indirectly supported us whom wewish to thank:

Our parents for their blessings and prayers.

Kshitij, Aditi and Payal for their love and patience.

Prof. Cyrus M Gonda for his valuable guidance.

Mats Isenberg for his thoughts and deliberations.

Paritosh Joshi for sharing his wisdom and encouragement.

Onkar Vaidya, Pavan Bhatia, Percy Adajania, Manushreshth Sharma,

for their support.

Mitesh Thakker and Dr. Anar Rupji for technological advancements.

Mrs. Seema Sharma for her kind generosity.

Dr. Bhaskar Das who gave us inspiration to publish this book.

Ashwin Jhadav for the cover page design.

And last but not the least,

We thank The Lord above for enlightening us to walk this path.

- Bipin Mundhwa and Amit Nevrekar

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On the average, five times as many people read the headline asread the body copy. When you have written your headline, youhave spent eighty cents out of your dollar.

- David Ogilvy

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Contents Page no.

Foreword 10

Testimonials 12

1. The Unknown Urban Territory 24

2. The Unexpected Mutation 34

3. The Jumbled State of MarCom 42

4. The Bitter Truth 54

5. Industry Black Boxes 66

6. The ‘Bridge’ Model 93

7. Enhancing MarCom – The ‘Bridge’ Way 121

8. In Pursuit of ROI 128

References 135

Glossary of terms 137

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Preface

The need for this book was strongly felt due to a vacuum existing innecessary practical literature, coupled with the recent controversiesin audience measurement and advertising industry currencies inIndia, which gave an impetus to this publication.

A constant refrain of industry professionals is that since investmentsin media research currencies are not forthcoming, adequate samplesizes for surveys are not financially feasible, and it is this lacuna insample size which is leading to the distortion of the research results.The implication being, if adequate sample size is assured, all MarComproblems would disappear.

We would like to raise the question - Are there no other problemswith the fundamental philosophies underlying the entire MarComprocess? Is sample size the ONLY issue to be addressed?

Currently, a lot of practices in the MarCom domain are being done ina mechanical manner. This is mainly due to the fact that most ofthese procedures and processes are now computerised and thepeople working on them are generating results without reallyunderstanding the logic and rationale of the steps they areperforming.

Huge amounts of money and time are currently being invested(maybe ‘spent’), in advertising activities. The size of the advertisingindustry in India in 2011 was over INR 279 billion.

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And guess what? There is not one single dedicated structured modelavailable to evaluate and analyse the efficient utilisation of this hugefigure. Of course, there are stand-alone currencies which claim to dotheir bit, but as this book reveals, they suffer from severe short-comings and lacunae.

This book is structured around such a model which is the need of thehour. In fact, the model came first, and then the book evolvedaround it.

We have termed the model as ‘Bridge’. It is elaborated in depth inChapter Six of this book. We recommend maintaining the flow of thebook for better understanding of the model. The entire book hasbeen developed in a logical sequence which explains the evolution ofMarCom, the behavioural patterns of different segments of targetaudiences, the current state of MarCom (which needs drasticimprovement), the bitter truths and realities which are part andparcel of this industry. After this, follows the chapter where thecurrent industry currencies are evaluated in a neutral manner. Theevaluation will lead to the understanding that many of thesecurrencies are incomplete or outdated, and that the need for a singleholistic currency, which incorporates the vital element of consumerbehaviour (currently ignored as a factor in most existing currencies),along with the latest available technology for capturing behaviourand patterns and analyzing them in real-time, is greatly needed.

We hope that this book is appreciated and taken in the spirit inwhich it has been written. We, being from the industry ourselves,have a deep passion to ensure that the industry moves with thetimes, and any loopholes which can be plugged, should be done, notonly by us, but by all MarCom practitioners who feel that theindustry needs to constantly evolve and progress. We do hope thatthis beginning which we have initiated in our own small way is taken

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as a starting point and carried forward by stalwarts of the industry,for whom we have the utmost respect.

We would value and appreciate any feedback from our readerswhich would help us in fine-tuning this model further, as we wantnot only our industry to grow, but also our advertising clients tobenefit to the maximum.

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Foreword by Dr. Bhaskar DasGroup CEO - Zee Group (News & Digital)

For some time now, the media-scape in India and the globe havebeen undergoing tectonic changes that are led by the acceleratedpace of change in technology and consequent transformation ofconsumer behaviour. In fact, the evolutionary pace of consumershas gone far ahead of the changing behaviour of marketers andmarketing communication. The asymmetries are clearly visible when,in the process of planning communication, one notices thedependence of marketers on inventory occupancy and exposurerather than working on matrices emanating from behavioural andconsumer engagement data.

The book by Bipin Mundhwa and Amit Nevrekar aims to bridge thisgap. In fact, they have called their unique model itself ‘Bridge’. Theauthors have tried to rationalise the media audience measurementthrough a unified model score across media formats called ‘B-Score’.The emphasis of ‘Bridge’ is more on consumer behaviour and theirvarious levels of emotional engagement by day parts across differentmedia platforms as against mere exposure. The authors have delvedinto the communication receptivity of even one-to-one mediavehicles, such as YouTube and radio on mobile. Other approach ofdata capturing for Bridge is primarily through online panel and realtime reporting. This enables them to showcase unique advantages ofonline platforms as against conventional survey methods.

Bipin Mundhwa - with over 7 years of diversified experience in mediaplanning, audience analytics, quantitative forecasting, media

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research - and Amit Nevrekar - with over 12 years of experience inbrand management, consumer Insights, marketing & mediaresearch, media strategy, segmentation and positioning - aredistinctively empowered by their academic and empiricalexperiences in developing an approach for an adaptive media mixmodelling and accountability by measuring ROI (returns oninvestment or involvement) through a unique method of Ad trackingthrough call-for-action, i.e. clicks, inbound calls, SMS keywords, etc.

I strongly feel ‘Bridge’ will usher in a futuristic marketingcommunication, and any practitioner of marketing and advertisingcannot afford to miss the application that helps account for everydollar that is invested in advertising and communication. Toemphasise on how difficult it was to reach potential customersthrough advertising John Wanamaker had quipped: "Half the moneyI spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know whichhalf." John would have been happy today had he been here, as heneed not worry about wasting advertising budgets.

Welcome to the ‘Bridge’ !!

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Testimonials

Cyrus M Gonda– Best-selling author and thought leader in customer experienceand communication management.

Logically inclined individuals have always been justified cynics of therampantly haphazard and thoroughly unstructured manner withwhich the Ad industry as a whole has been functioning in the Indiancontext.

Considering the humongous ticket size of this industry as whole,levels of professionalism in functioning are at an abysmal level. Evenaward-winning advertisements have seldom generated reasonablerevenues for the client, who ultimately foots the bill for them. Thecreative agency literally gets a free flight all the way to Cannes.Crores are wasted in securing the easily available services of starbrand endorsers who wouldn’t mind lending their name to a rottingpile of garbage if the price was right. The price, of course, is paid bythe client. A sister concern of the Ad agency recommending the starendorser often has the contract of ‘managing’ the star’s variousendorsement engagements, so it doesn’t require intelligence orvision to see why many Ads focus on star endorsers, even when abetter Ad could have been made and aired at a fraction of the costwithout them hogging the limelight at the brand’s expense.

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When the money is not your own, it is always easy to play andgamble, and this is the supreme art that most Ad and media agencieshave mastered with royal élan.

On the other hand, consumer brands are not without blamethemselves. They have been constantly seeking empathy andunderstanding from consumers by playing the ‘poverty card’ when itcomes to investing in much needed business essentials such asupgrading infrastructure and investing in employee development,which would result into enhanced service and experience levels fortheir loyal customers. Reputed brands (in the businesses ofconfectionery, oral hygiene, hair care, and the like), go to greatlengths to cut ‘costs’, often by surreptitiously and sneakily reducingthe net volume of their packaged product offerings by a few measlygrams, simultaneously thumping their branded chests with loud tom-tomming of the fact that they have kept their price íntact’, or haveonly ‘marginally increased’ the same in the interests of theircustomers. (As an example, a renowned toothpaste brand recentlyreduced the size of its 200 gram pack to 190 grams. This was broughtto my attention by my mother, who like most housewives, observessuch brand tactics with an eagle eye.)

Brands have every right to reduce the original size of their productofferings without highlighting the fact to unsuspecting customers.Brands are, and need to get, increasingly cost conscious. And rightlyso. But cost cutting should be looked at not from the viewpoint of ajaundiced eye, but from that of a clear one.

Thus, indulging in such penny pinching size-and-volume reductionchicanery could be best expressed by resorting to the colloquialIndian term – ‘chindigiri’.

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Also, such perverse actions dilute hard-won brand credibility amongvaluable consumer segments such as the ubiquitous housewife. Andas David Ogilvy, the true father of modern advertising often stated –‘The consumer isn’t a moron, she is your wife.’

The point of this entire sordid example and introduction is – the verysame ‘cost conscious’ brands which scrimp and save a few grams attheir customer’s expense, pour millions down the proverbial drain ofever-more expensive, possibly wasteful advertising, withoutattempting to verify whether the evaluation (if any), of the return-on-investment on such humongous, colossal expenditure is beingscientifically funnelled or evaluated.

The advertising industry in general appears to have deep-shelved theinvaluable lessons imparted by David Ogilvy as being impractical topractice, while continuing to hypocritically worship his name, whichstill carries enormous face-value brand equity.

The entire media planning industry has been functioning in anincreasingly sloppy and arbitrary fashion, literally playing black-jackwith their client’s (the advertiser’s) hard earned money as though noreckonings were to ever follow or no answers were to be everprovided after this Bacchanalian orgiastic media-manic feast. Andindeed, up to now, such has been the sorry state of affairs, whereneither were any pertinent questions asked, nor were any honestanswers forthcoming. On reading some of the facts highlighted inthis book, I was stunned into stupefied silence. For instance, ad-media being a 279+ billion INR industry in India and as of date noteven a single semi-reliable methodology or model to authenticatethe efficacy of the investment. Stunning. Frightening.

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Soon, thankfully however, this nonsensical status quo will have tosummarily cease and desist.

And the full credit for this positive paradigm shift in MarCommethodology will be due to two intelligent, creative, courageous,forthright, and practically inclined professionals from this industry,who have developed a world class MarCom model which could leavesenior industry practitioners positively red-faced.

For decades, most practitioners have been indulging in the morally, ifnot literally, criminal activity of flaunting and squandering theirclient’s funds in a manner which can at best be charitably termed as‘unprofessional’.

Once the model developed by these two gentlemen is understood,adopted, applied, and taken to heart by a grateful client base, it willput a full-stop to the prevailing errant insanity.

Advertisers (FMCG, telecom, insurance, et al), should be singingpaens of ecstasy and hosannas of joy, congratulating these two fine,outstanding professionals for the yeoman service they haveperformed by ensuring that every rupee that will now be invested inadvertising would have to be scrupulously accounted for.

Now with this much awaited model in place, the client gets a firm legto stand upon, and irresponsible agencies will perforce have tojustify every Rupee they induce the client to invest into advertising,and some semblance of sense and sensibility will finally seep into themad bad ad world.

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I would rate Bipin and Amit as the sane voice bringing succour to thebeleaguered client, who till now has been at the mercy of the bigbad mad Ad agency wolf.

If media agencies will henceforth find their every media relatedrecommendation searchingly queried by their clients, they will haveonly themselves to blame.

David Ogilvy would have heartily approved of this client-centricmodel and would be smiling his blessings from above. And that, isthe highest possible accolade any genuine media related model intoday’s client discounted world could hope to achieve.

God Bless, Bipin and Amit. You’ve done a fine job.

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Sandip Tarkas,- CEO, Future Media | Chairman, MRUC TechCom ( IOS )

In an era of constant innovations in media and new media beingborn every day, media consumption habits have been the mostaffected and increasingly less and less understood subject.Unfortunately the measurement of these habits, which forms thecurrency for buying and selling media hasn't kept pace with the rateof change in media itself. This book by Amit and Bipin makes anattempt to take a step back and understand some of these trendsfrom ground up and offer possible solutions to a new media mix for anew world. A vital read for all practitioners of media.

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Paritosh Joshi- Provocateur Advisory | Chairman, MRUC TechCom (IRS) |

BARC TechCom

We live in times of ever accelerating change. This impacts everyaspect of life; where and how we live, what we eat, our sources oflivelihood, politics and governance; and impacting all these andeverything else, the central role that burgeoning, pervasive mediaplay in our world. It is no surprise therefore that authors,experienced and newly minted, find the media, irresistible subjectmatter.

Social scientists delight in unravelling the complex relationshipsbetween creators and consumers of content; business analysts traceinvestment, growth and opportunities for profit; informationtheorists develop ideas about signal and noise. And every once in awhile, practical minded writers address themselves to the challengesfaced by thousands of unglamorous professionals involved in buyingand selling media advertising inventories.

Amit and Bipin belong to this small and indomitable tribe.

Having themselves been in media AOR for a considerable period,they understand the pleasures, and more crucially the painsassociated with the process. Unlike most of their peers, however,they abhor resigned acceptance of status quo and in so doing,develop novel approaches to decoding, measuring and planningmedia.

The thought provoking book you now hold in your hands came out oftheir realization that these new ideas may benefit their peers even

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as it provokes further deliberations that could evolve them further,to the advantage of the profession.

If the art and science of planning, selling and buying media has tokeep pace with their accelerating metamorphosis, we need moreand more thought leadership of the sort that these two youngstershave chosen to volunteer.

I heartily commend this book to you, dear reader. But don’t just readit. Debate, argue, challenge and transcend its ideas.

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Sanjay Tripathy- Executive Vice President, Marketing - HDFC Life

Amit's and Bipin's smart, sincere and thoughtful approach modelsthe insights they advocate in this book. They have a remarkablysimple way of appraising the journey of Indian media and socialnetwork over the years and take a critical look at the cookie-cutterapproach that is often adopted by Indian advertisers and mediaagencies.

The authors dip into their experience of marketing and mediaresearch to put forth a model that attempts to ‘Bridge’ the gaps bytaking into account the dynamic state of new age media, theinherent need to allow for fluidity in measurement and the over-arching business need to weave in accountability. The tools andinsights shared in this book have been instrumental in elevating myleadership. It is a required reading for any marketing leader lookingto play to his or her strengths and inspire others to win.

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Rana Barua- Chief Operating Officer, Law & Kenneth

Very refreshing and thought provoking content for the media-space.The authors have successfully pointed out not only the voids andprofessional crimes being committed in MarCom space but alsoprovided solution in form of a unique model. This model is not onlyuseful for quantitative side of media but also very useful for creativeside. Model ‘Bridge’ can rightly be useful with certain riderquestions for measuring the impact of the creative and campaign.

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Mats Isenberg- CEO, Nepa India

As a market research professional, it has been a great pleasure tofollow Bipin and Amit journey of writing ‘Bridge’. Their greatestachievement lies in the switch from a media focused perspective toone of the consumer. Their holistic approach examines the actualreceptivity of the consumer rather than the inhered nature of eachmedia. Bridging the gaps in cross-media comparison, day-parteffectiveness and of course, most importantly, engagement levelbrings a whole new set of tools to the media planning industry.Integration of the insights from the ‘Bridge’ will allow media plannerto minimize waste which is beneficial to all stakeholders beingadvertisers, media agencies, media owners and the consumers.

It is with great anticipation that I see the media planning industrytransform into its new breed based on theories and tool setdescribes by Amit and Bipin.

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Mr. Mitesh L. Thakker- President, Sci-Mo | CEO & Founder - AdoRoi Inc.

"The Advertising Mess" is the true depiction of the state of MarCom,where-in not just the MarCom processes but even the fundamentalcurrency it-self is in question. This book reinforces the challengefaced by esteemed marketer John Wanamaker in 1880's who said,"Half the money I spent on Advertising is wasted; the trouble is Idon't know which half". In the times of John, it was a question ofHalf the money. In India it seems it is much, much more than half. Ireally appreciate the passion and commitment Amit and Bipin haveshown to correct the state of MarCom and solve the century olddilemma facing of Wanamaker. I wish them all the very best andwould like to assure them of all possible support in their pursuit tohelp the Advertising Industry cross the ‘Bridge’.

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Martin Radford- Director - Billetts Media Consulting | Ebiquity plc UK

Advertising’s job is to impart information, David Ogilvy said. Today,we witness an ever increasing list of ways in which brands canapproach this task and also in which the consumer’s reaction can bepredicted and quantified. But many of the classifications andmeasurements are rooted in a time when Don Draper roamed theearth. A new approach is very much welcomed, it will createargument and counter-argument but hopefully advertisers, agenciesand consumers will all benefit. It’s a Herculean task pulling thatamount of work together; I wish you both every success!

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Seema Sharma- General Manager, The Times of India

Bipin and Amit have invented what is genuinely needed forbehavioural media planning today. The book has provided thebreather for indefatigable media houses looking for ROI to helpadvertisers. The thoughtful application of the proposed model‘Bridge’ will help the advertisers and media-owners forappropriateness of content for the relevant audiences in differentday-parts. I congratulate the authors for doing a great favour to theindustry.

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Malini Bhupta- Associate Editor, Business Standard

Media consumption has been changing at a rapid pace in India, butthe mechanism to it remains as primitive as ever. The consumer hasmoved on to multiple screens from the erstwhile television screen,but measuring systems haven't evolved to capture this shift. Nobodyquite knows what the Indian consumer really consumes and how andin what quantity. In short, the traditional ways of measuringaudiences have to be shown the exit door. It is high time that wegenuinely ask the relevant questions, as is being done by Bipin andAmit, to address the issues of contemporary dynamic media-space.The passionate authors have depicted the scenario that stakeholders need to address.

I recommend this book to all industry practitioners across hierarchy.

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Bedraj Tripathy- Sr. General Manager, Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd.(Div: Godrej Interio)

In an era where consumers’ preferences are changing at a fasterpace than they ever have, media usage of brands to connect with theconsumers seems to remain in their archaic fiefdom. So much so,that the new media also follows the footsteps of traditional media –unfortunately. Secondly, the quality of marketing talent inorganizations – brand side or agency side – is going southwards andthis is slowing innovation in the industry.

This book by Amit and Bipin is a modern day guide to everymarketing professional in this industry. A new chapter on thinkingand application that is much needed for every layer of the marketingtree. This is one book that aims at literally bridging the gap betweenbrands and consumers – relevant for both B2B and B2C. A mustread!!!

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Dheeraj Ahluwalia- General Manager Marketing - South Asia, Standard Chartered

Adapting to the 21st century’s marketing & communication is morethan necessary. Authors have not only pointed the outdatedMarCom planning approach but also effectively attempted toaddress it through their model ‘Bridge’. I anticipate that the ‘Bridge’model which provides engagement score could be effectively usedby organizations in service sectors too.

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Shashank Sinha- General Manager Marketing, Eureka Forbes Limited

Welcome to Real time Marketing.

While Marketers across the globe have endeavoured to reach out toconsumers and get a quick feedback on the consumers’ response totheir Marketing effort, it has never been a cake walk. The process isriddled with assumptions and challenges in the absence ofimmediate and accurate information.

Enter Response Led scientific media marketing with its Ad Trackcodes and real-time connects Solutions. Over the last 2 years I haveexperienced the power of this medium and its ability to optimizemedia planning and deliver enhanced value. The real-time responsetracking coupled with ethnography not only help in media planningbut also help provide creative inputs.

Amit’s and Bipin's work provides great insight into the tools availableto the marketers today that will help ‘Bridge’ the GAP and greatlyimprove ROI.

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Manish Advani- Head, Marketing & PR, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (SSG)

This book seems to be a game changer. Mahatma Gandhi said “Bethe change you wish to see”. In Marketing, there is a great need forus to be the change what our customers want to see. This book byAmit and Bipin will teach you how to be the change based on time,place and circumstance.

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1. The Unknown Urban Territory

A day in Asmeena’s Life…

Asmeena, a 28 year-old housewife, wakes up at 6:30 am. Sheimmediately switches on her radio in her living room and movesaround the house to complete her daily dozens. After getting ready,she has a quick glance through the newspaper. She then startspreparing the lunch-box for her husband. Somehow, the radio in thebackground, although playing, does not get her attention as she isabsorbed in the eye-catching headlines in the newspaper. Shefinishes preparing the lunch-box for her husband and sees him off by9:00 am.

After a while she goes to the market to purchase some vegetablesand starts preparing lunch around 11:00 am. While preparing lunch,she also listens to the radio, moving between the kitchen and theliving room. Around 12:45 pm, she starts having her lunch and alsoputs on the TV for her daily dose of general entertainment serials.She is intensely engaged with the TV series she is currently following.She in between occasionally switches to another generalentertainment channels when the advertisements come on, to viewthe other series which she also likes to follow.

During the afternoon around 2:30 pm she listens to the radio on hermobile phone, but this time she is in her bedroom, relaxing. She

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dedicatedly enjoys the radio and then sleeps for a couple of hours.After she wakes up, she logs on to the internet for some quick emailchecking. She also takes this opportunity to log onto her favouritesocial networking sites and does some quick chatting with herfriends.

In the evening she flips through some magazines. She is at this timein a very relaxed mood. Around 7:00 pm, as she starts choppingvegetables for preparing dinner, her mind goes to the prime-timeserials she is following regularly on TV. She switches on the TV,watches the serial till the first commercial break, and then moves tothe kitchen. She keeps shuttling between the kitchen and the livingroom as per her work in the kitchen and the commercial breaks onTV. In addition she doesn’t forget to check with her husband on hisphone when he is expected to arrive home. She also mentallyprepares to give up control of the TV to her brother-in-law who stayswith them and who is sitting alongside, waiting for his turn to watchhis favourite programme. Both Asmeena and her brother-in-lawhave different choices of programmes and genres on TV.

A day in Ameet’s life…

Asmeena’s husband Ameet, who is 30 years old, wakes up at 6:30am. He reads the regional and English dailies while having hismorning tea around 7:00 am. He is a little worried about his meetingtoday at office on the issue of sales targets. He passively listens tothe radio station that his wife has switched on.

After 9:00 am he leaves for office and drives through a road whichhas a lot of outdoor hoardings on both sides and also listens to theradio and suddenly his mood swings into the orbit of entertainment

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while listening to a song which he likes. Once he reaches office, up tonoon he attends meetings and also continuously surfs the net foroffice related work and simultaneously surfs various socialnetworking sites either on his office computer or on his smart-phone.

In the evening he drives back home and on the way takes a small haltfor a cup of tea with his friends. He also sees a lot of road-sidehoardings while driving home and listens to the car radio. He is nowin a somewhat tired but happy mood, having had a good day at theoffice.

Once he is back home at 9:30 pm, he quickly takes control of theremote and surfs through news channels for the latest news of theday. However he is not in a mood to see any commercials andquickly switches between news channels and sports channels whencommercials come on. In between all this, he has to respect hiswife’s choice as well for her favourite TV programmes when theycome on and at such times he surrenders the remote to her. He iseagerly waiting for control of the remote, once his wife finishes herviewing. At the same time, while passively watching programmeswhich his wife has switched on, he is hooked on to his smart-phonevery actively on social networking sites and also web-surfs.

So there now starts some mutually agreed switching of channels ashe also wants to switch to some news channel to catch the latestheadlines. He is not really paying attention to what is happening onthe TV while his wife has her serials on. Therefore the engagementof both Asmeena and Ameet for TV viewing is in reality not absolute,although this is considered as ‘prime-time’ by MarCom practitioners.

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A day in Mayank’s life...

Mayank, the 21 year-old younger brother of Ameet, who is anengineering student, wakes up in a very energetic mood at 7:00 amand immediately grabs his high-end smart-phone. He quickly surfsthe news on his mobile apps. He also quickly checks his personal mailand browses through a few of his favourite social networking sites.He also at the same time passively listens to an FM radio station thathis sister-in-law (Asmeena) has put on. He is very intensely hookedon to whatsapp, facebook, etc. While getting ready for college, heputs on his favourite music channel on TV.

He leaves for college while listening to FM radio through his hands-free ear-plugs. His mood suddenly swings once he enters the collegecampus and meets his friends. He starts working on someassignments.

During lunch time he does a lot of Google searching, facebook chat,gtalk, etc. with full concentration. His attention is very much dividedbetween his academic assignment search results and his socialinteractions on his smart-phone or laptop during the entireafternoon. After college hours, he along with his friends visits thefood-court at a nearby shopping mall as that is where they regularlyhang-out. While in the mall, he is exposed to in-mall advertisingdisplays, some ground promotions, etc.

After he finishes his regular mall hang-out around 6:00 pm, he rusheshome to catch up with his favourite sport on TV. He is in a mood forsome exciting viewing but is also at the same time very much hookedon to his smart-phone for his ongoing social interactions. Once hereaches home, he requests his sister-in-law Asmeena to let himwatch his favourite sport on TV. Asmeena after some hesitationagrees to let him watch. Mayank is very much hooked on to his

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sports channel. However, during commercial breaks, Asmeenarequests him to switch to her GEC channel to catch up with her dailyseries. After a while Mayank again switches to his sports channel.Clearly both of them are not very much into viewing full commercialspace but they are exposed to it in bits and pieces while not being ina very attentive or receptive mindset.

The implications of all the above for effective advertising

The characters that we discussed above will behave differently onweekends and also may behave differently on certain weekdays, asno two days are the same. We have just described here a typicalweekday in a typical urban Indian middle-class household.

We have already mentioned that the weekend scenario in the samehousehold may be completely different e.g. on weekends, the coupleAsmeena and Ameet may wake up a little later in the morning. Theymay spend more time than on weekdays in reading newspapers;hence their receptivity for newspapers may be at its peak. In theevening they may go out to a nearby shopping mall and may getexposed to some below-the-line (BTL) advertising activity. At nightthey may both be hooked onto a movie on TV but with good focusand no switching between channels, as Mayank is out with hisfriends and Ameet does not find any interesting programme towatch on news channels.

Therefore on weekends, multimedia touch points have differentemotional engagements since work pressures are reduced.

Another important aspect of in-home and out-of-home scenarioneeds to be understood because our at-home activities and outdooractivities are different. Therefore our emotional engagement varies

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for in-home and out-of-home activities; thereby receptivity levels forabsorbing advertising messages are different.

Summary …

Now let us summarise the above mentioned typical scenario of asingle TV household in India.

Asmeena the housewife has got a certain pattern of watching TV,listening to the radio, reading the newspaper, internet surfing, etc.during different parts of the day. However, her mood and emotionalengagement also differs by time bands. She is not the same personin terms of her mood during the afternoon as she is in the earlymorning and is also not the same in the evening. This simply meansthat her attention and emotional engagement, which play a criticalrole for her receptivity for any advertisements, differ according tothe time bands of the day e.g. she watches a TV programme in bitsand pieces in the evening while cooking, where she may or may notget exposed to commercial space.

As per the people-meter technique of recording the audience, shemay be recorded as an audience. According to the current techniqueof data capturing, she is considered as a viewer no matter how lowor high emotionally she is engaged, as after all she is considered bythis technique as a prime time viewer. On the other hand, duringafternoon time as we observed she is a very active and passionateviewer without much disturbance (as compared to evening time),but that afternoon viewing is not considered as prime-time for thepurpose of media planning.

Why?

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Unfortunately, the way the advertising industry currently operates isbased purely on numerical in terms of exposure to the medium andnot considering the emotional state of mind of the audience, whichvaries according to the time bands of the day.

“One hundred dedicated viewers would be a far better audience forcommercial exposure as compared to five hundred distractedviewers.” But this is not what current practices say.

Similarly, multi-media consumption for different parts of the daywith varying emotional engagement can be explained for Ameet’sand Mayank’s day patterns. In simple words, this means that even ifyour desired audience is exposed to your message they may not beattentive or receptive to it.

It can safely be said that different parts of the day have a differentmedia-mix in terms of the different media that holds people’sattention at these different times. These further vary for the lifestyleof a typical housewife, working men, students, etc. Therefore media-mix consumption in general varies during different parts of the dayfor different audience segments. Put simply, different combinationsof media have a different impact on different segments of theaudience who are in their different emotional engagement states.

The important issues that we raise here are:

Can media-mix investment decisions be made on one singlecombination of media-mix at the macro level only, which iswhat usually happens at the start of any advertisingcampaign?

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Are we ensuring at what level our audience is emotionallyengaged to media platforms, while our advertisement isbeing showcased on different platforms?

Have we considered that while we count an audiencemember as being exposed to our advertisement simplybecause he is engaged with the media on which ouradvertisement is aired/displayed, he could also be involvedor paying attention to another medium/media at the sametime, thus rendering our advertisement message as uselessor diluted? e.g. Asmeena, the housewife listening to theradio passively, while reading her newspaper in the morning.

Have we taken efforts to calculate the different media-mixcombinations by parts of the day, for weekday vs. weekendwith their desired impacts? As of now, this is not being done.

Do our marketing and communication plans take care of thefiner points that we have raised above, as withoutconsidering these points, our media plans would be faultyand flawed.

Can we calculate the immense leakages at the message leveland the investment level, which have happened in the pastand are continuing to happen in the present due to lack ofprecise answers to the above questions?

Can we imagine the number of potential brands which havebeen destroyed or have drastically underperformed theirpotential due to lack of adequate information on the aboveraised points, in spite of the brands having excellent creative

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but being shown at the wrong time on wrong medium toaudience in wrong frame of mind? We can just imagine howmany brands were misplaced and misread because of thelack of information on the above questions in spite of havingsome brilliant marketers and planners working round theclock. All efforts and investments on building these brandscan go down the drain as basic answers to the abovequestions have not been sought or clarified.

And finally, we can wonder how the 279+ billion INRadvertising industry, which has to operate under thishandicap and be satisfied with the limited and grosslyinadequate information in syndicated research space onwhich they base their entire media investment decisions.

We can just imagine how much extra money is being spent tomeasure the effectiveness of campaigns individually by advertisersand agencies, yet not giving the desired results because the toolsitself are inadequately designed and fail to consider importantaspects highlighted above without which media planning decisionscan only be at the best guess-work.

In fact, none of the above is really news to people experienced in thefields of brand management, marketing, media planning & buying,media research or market research in India.

The industry professionals are well aware of the issues raised above,but no holistic, concrete model has yet been created to addressthese crucial issues.

There is a great need for action to join the multiple dots raised in theabove questions so that a syndicated research study can be createdfor media planning. This model can be used by media agencies,

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advertising agencies, and most importantly by the client who isinvesting his hard earned money to build his brand.

Note - The hypothetical scenario in this chapter is based on ethnography study andqualitative research conducted in August 2012.

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2. The Unexpected Mutation

Firstly, let us take a quick glance at the environment which existed inIndia a couple of decades ago, with relation to media, media usageand media exposure. This chapter forms the nucleus of this book andour proposed model, as it actually establishes the fact that thoughmedia expansion in all dimensions has occurred by leaps andbounds, correspondingly the methodology and refinement in mediaresearch and measurement has almost remained stagnant.

Understanding of this chapter will lay the foundation for ourproposed, developed concept and current deficiencies in the spaceof media research. This will help MarCom professionals understandwhether media research has really been transformed as it should be.This will provide answers as to whether any obvious looking changesand new media research products are genuinely answering thecurrent confused and cluttered scenario.

Socio-Economic Environment in India in the 1980’s andearly 1990’s:

The job psyche in general during this era was to be occupied in a9am to 5pm job. Securing a steady, government job was top priority

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for most educated people. People primarily had the mindset offocusing on family, social activities with their relatives and socialgatherings of community members. During those days, the generalpsyche even in urban areas was to stay put in community ghettosand celebrate festivals en-masse. The frequency of visiting friendsand attending all community events without a miss; whethermarriage, engagement, etc. was extremely high.

This was a typical single-screen theatre population. The socialisingenvironment that we follow today was very different just two-threedecades ago. Glamorous socialising with a cosmopolitan friend-circle, groups heavily involved and hooked onto digital platforms thatare common today were non-existent then. Because there were nosocial networking sites available, neither had internet penetrationnor multiple TV channels had evolved. For couples, having childrenwas a necessity, while cars, telephones and video players were aluxury.

Therefore the environment was neither complex nor cluttered forpurposes of marketing and communication. People religiously readnewspapers, magazines daily for at least 1 – 2 hours, that being themain source of information. Newspapers also had a maximum size of8 – 16 pages, with fewer advertisements.

Similarly, on TV, there was only one government owned nationaltelevision channel. The TV content which was broadcasted duringthe evening time-band mainly consisted of entertainmentprogrammes with a social message reflecting the issues then beingfaced by the common man. Overall, lack of multiplicity of channelsand predictable TV content made the MarCom professional’s life fareasier in those days than in today’s era. People usually in those daysused to wind up viewing TV by 10 pm at the latest.

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Furthermore, late-night radio used to be the common media habitamong the masses. There used to be popular radio programmeswhich are still fresh in listener’s memory (such as Binaca Geet-Malaor Bournvita quiz contest) for those listeners who grew up in thosetimes.

Switching between media platforms during the same time-band byaudiences was not a prevalent practice those days. Clearly, this wasan era of single time-band, single media platform exposure, withalmost the same level of audience involvement throughout. Thismeant that unlike in today’s era, cross-media engagement withmultiple-genre exposure did not exist.

Interestingly, media planning and buying during that era wasamazingly manual in nature. The media planners used to refer tocirculation figures provided by Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) asNRS was irregular in its reporting, usually with a gap of 5-8 years.

The ABC data did not contain any individual readership figures forspecific newspapers or profiles of readers. The first ever NationalReadership Survey was initiated by Indian Society of Advertisers andThe Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) in 1970. Lateron in 1995 three industry bodies namely, ABC (Audit Bureau ofCirculation), AAAI and INS (Indian Newspaper Society) formedNational Readership Studies Council (NRSC) to make NRS reportingmore regular.

However, Pre-NRSC era, NRS was not regular in its frequency ofreporting. Therefore, planners used to apply their own judgement ofreadership growth to previously reported readership figures by NRSfor their day-to-day planning activities. In the absence of recentreadership numbers, planners used to calculate the readers per copy

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(RPC), by considering the latest available circulation figures andderived readership figures basis the above described method.

Also, these readership numbers were provided in the form of aprinted report. One can just imagine the amount of labour thisrequired to analyse. But, this makes today’s veteran plannersfundamentally so strong (as they grew up working in that tough era)that even today they have the capacity for accurate numbercrunching without using sophisticated computers and software.

TV ratings also used to come in printed reports provided by one ofthe golden-era research agency, Operations Research Group (alsoknown as ORG). Unlike today’s planners, 1980’s planners used to doa lot of manual number crunching since computers as well as click-and-go systems were virtually absent. Obviously there were nopeople-meter machines to capture viewership data. Weekly diarymethod was used for capturing viewership and this was reported ona monthly basis in the form of printed reports.

It is surprising to note that plan hygiene (robustness, accuracy ofdata) and optimisation used to be done with the help of researchagencies as well. This factor is almost missing these days. Many ofthe media planners used to send the plan to the research agency foroptimisation and hygiene checks.

As compared to this, typically nowadays management trainees aretrained on how to directly generate software output and are taggedas ‘Planners’ with no conceptual and statistical understanding.

This means that nowadays, generating output from software is whatplanning has been reduced to. Operating the software which hasbeen pre-programmed is the limit of their knowledge as planners.

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Environment in the late 1990’s:

Now let us gradually move on to the late 1990’s. This was an era ofintroduction and adoption. The environment of the liberalisedeconomy with fruits of LPG (Liberalisation, Privatisation andGlobalisation) was actually being seen by the common man.

Consumer segments started seeing multiple brands in products andservices and this was also the case with print and TV. There was arapid launch of new newspapers and magazines creating their ownspace, genre and specialty. New TV channels with multipleprogramme genres mushroomed. The privately owned televisionchannel industry, which started with Zee TV and Star TV in 1992 and1993 respectively, saw a spurt of national and regional channels. Thisled to multiple genres and hence multiple options for MarComprofessionals to choose from. This was a thrilling start to thecomplex multiple options available on Indian TV space.

All of a sudden, the media space was looking action-packed andjuicy. This was an era when advertisers, media agencies and mediahouses came together to form a Not-for-Profit organisation called‘Media Research Users Council’ (MRUC) in 1994, which startedIndian Readership Survey (IRS), for providing uninterrupted andcontinuous readership reports.

Similarly, in 1998, TAM Media Research was formed in partnershipwith joint industry body comprising ISA, IBF (Indian BroadcastingFoundation) and AAAI for TV audience measurement through latestpeople-meter technology.

This was just one side of this complex era.

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On the other side, there was one formidable and potential platformsecretly shaping up. And that was the introduction of cellular phonesand the internet. The common man started using cellular phones inIndia in 1995 and since then this industry has not looked back. It hasonly grown rapidly in its features and offerings.

Adding fuel to the fire, another electronic machine that was makingwaves in the middle class households and in offices was the desktopcomputers and portable computers, popularly called as laptops. Infact the second half of the 1990’s laid the foundation forcontemporary electronic media platforms. Internet accessibility andconnectivity for communication was exciting and all over the place. Itderived its huge appeal for younger audiences due to easyconnectivity, access and the sharing of knowledge from across theglobe.

The traditional media was not quiet either. In the year 1997, thegovernment gave permission for the first ever FM radio channel tobe launched. This added Times FM/ Air Rainbow to the almost dry-looking radio space in India. This actually brought back the attentionof many professional media houses to enter the radio space andcreate huge value for audio media properties.

Environment in the early 2000’s:

After the much hyped year of 2000, there was a rise in infrastructuralprojects and hence there entered a culture of shopping malls,multiplexes, food courts, flyover networks, residential colonies withmultiple sky scrapers, etc. This changed people’s behaviour forspending their leisure time, outings, eating habits and cinemaviewing. This also led to growth of multiple and valuable space for

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outdoor billboards/hoardings. In fact, OOH, from being just ahoarding on the roadside, moved to bus-shelters, shopping malls,kiosks, airports, petrol pumps, flyovers, food courts, etc.

There started privately owned FM radio stations mushrooming inIndian radio space. This added a new dimension to compete with theexisting highly competitive Print and TV industry. There were 108and 338 FM radio licenses issued in phase I (2000) and II (2005)respectively. Private FM licenses attracted professional mediahouses; as many as 9 broadcasters in phase I and 40 broadcasters inphase II to offer contemporary audio properties and hence createdmore options for MarCom professionals.

Environment in the late 2000’s:

Welcome to the recent past which moved from hesitant shoppingmall masses to frequent visitors of shopping malls, hyper markets,and multiplexes. This led to innovations in traditional andcontemporary media platforms, which we all directly or indirectlywitnessed. This was an era of the touch-screen smart-phone,internet access at the finger tips, multiple apps on phones, viewingany favourite audio-video content on YouTube and so on.

But the real game changer was different breed.

This was the initiation of the revolutionary social networking sites.This created more options for MarCom professionals on a differentdomain called social media.

But, what was happening to TV and print media in all this while?

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TV was witnessing newly defined genres called reality shows andcricket which entered in the shorter form of entertainment for theentire family called T-20, and many others. Print media witnessedforeign specialty magazines entering the Indian market. Moreover,TV as a medium got a new definition for reception called Direct-to-Home (DTH), Digital Video Recorder (DVR). This set the climax forMarCom space which is really thrilling and complex development forMarCom professionals and advertisers.

This was the time when gradual but firm voices from the advertisersfor visible Return-On-Investment were raised to justify their MarComexpenses. This is rightly a matter of major concern for clients whoare spending unheard sums for increasing small amount of visibility.This is definitely going to be the question which will shape thedirection of MarCom in the future.

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3. The Jumbled State of MarCom

The marketing and communication process, or MarCom in itspopular abbreviated form, has been associated with manystakeholders. These stakeholders include and range from marketingexecutives at the advertiser’s end, to media agencies, to creativeagencies, to media owners and their offerings, to market researchagencies.

Unfortunately, despite so many professional stakeholders involved inthe MarCom process, it has been observed that the interest of theclient (advertiser) which should be the primary concern and focus foreach of these stakeholders, gets diluted somewhere. Thus, the roleof ‘Brand Custodian’, which these stakeholders should primarily beplaying, is not being done effectively.

Also, since so many ‘middle-men’ are involved, the budget for theclient to receive the benefits of genuine research rises far beyondwhat would have been otherwise necessary, with dips in quality ofresearch output frequently occurring to add insult to this budgetinjury.

Interestingly, all these stakeholders bring with them their ownunique perspective and insights for brand communication and mediaexecution.

Each of these mentioned parties feel that they are contributing thebest to the final output within the budget allocated to them. Usuallythey may have to settle for a limited budget and have to limit their

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offerings. Advertisers may show some flexibility in terms ofenhancing the budget and offerings after considering the pitch madeby these parties such as media agencies, creative agencies andmarket research agencies. Most importantly the advertiserscurrently depend a lot on competitor activities and industryadvertising pattern to decide their advertising budgets. This is atypical scenario prevailing across the industry and also acrosscontinents.

On the other hand, media agencies too depend a lot on observingindustry trends and competition to see how best they could matchthe leaders of the respective industry and competition within theindustry, to take their decisions.

The various stakeholders are supposed to primarily act asconsultants, and provide professional, ethical advice, which shouldbe in the best interests of the advertiser.

It is not necessary that industry patterns and competitor actions arethe best guide to deciding ad spends. If this were the case, theadvertiser could well have taken the decisions by himself without theneed of professional agencies, just by observing what hiscompetitors were doing. Yet it is often observed that these agenciesencourage the advertiser to increase Ad-spend simply because theyfeel that his competitor is doing so and he should not be left behind.

Market research agencies and media agencies focus their data-capturing efforts and advisory efforts for MarCom on the advertiser’scompetitor’s efforts. They give little attention to innovative andproductive methods which could provide the advertiser with farmore value for money. Overall the entire thrust is mainlycompetition-centric and thus leads to conveniently copying what isgoing around in the industry.

At the first glance, this method appears to be the logical thing to do.But are we missing something here?

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Let us understand this process in the context of the two mainstakeholders involved.

MarCom at the advertiser’s end

As we know, advertisers initiate their media campaigns for existingor new product and services. The budget that they allocate for thecampaign largely depends on industry standards prevailing at thattime of the year. This is mainly influenced by how much their nearestcompetitor is spending on his campaign. Almost every advertiserapplies a mix of their own wisdom and logic for deciding the budget.Within a specified budget, they use their own qualitative judgmentto split this budget between various media platforms. They maysometimes call for a media reach split from their media agencies todecide on what budget allocation would go into each of theplatforms, viz. TV, print, radio, digital, below-the-line activities, andso on.

But the critical questions that need to be addressed are:

Is the ‘Ad-expenditure report’ of the industry (competitor’sad-spend), a sufficient logic to answer the question of yourown media split?

Whether just relying on ‘reach’ as a tool is sufficient enoughto decide the split of media budgets across platforms?

Have we understood the media-mix modelling that can helpus on scientific media-split and investment or is this modelrarely applied in practice?

According to Schultz and Swallen (2000), both advertisers as well asmedia agencies lack the scientific logic and the data insights that canbe utilised for deciding the media-mix investment split. Schultz and

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Swallen further expressed that simply depending on reach andfrequency may cost the advertisers dearly at the time of post-evaluation of the campaign as the campaign may under-deliver ofover-deliver.

In fact, media-mix modelling, which should ideally be used as one ofthe main scientific tools to decide on media-mix investment split, is atool which is conveniently ignored by most agencies. Since, if thetool were used, the end results could vastly differ from the one thatis suggested by the agency, and the advertiser could question theagencies for incorrect advice.

Interestingly, these days many media agencies conduct research,develop media-mix models and try to implement them in theirplanning process, but more for the purpose of showing that they aredoing it and not with genuine intent. This activity is still not populardue to the complexities involved, non-continuous data feed (lack ofrelevant research and model building) administered as and whenrequired explain the casual approach adopted by the agencies. It isnot imbibed in their process.

Finally, a few pertinent questions need to be clearly answeredbefore initiating investment in advertising budgets:

Are we taking care of the media-mix based on different day-parts?

Are we addressing the ‘mood swing’ of audiences by day-parts and hence their differing receptivity at different timesof the day?

How do we know that a particular media-mix is the best for aparticular day part?

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How do we know the effectiveness of a particular media-mixfor a brand in a day-part, as compared to competing brandswhich are also advertising in same day part? Is it better toselect a non-cluttered day-part where your competitors arenot present or should you join the herd? No current currencygives these answers.

Have you optimised your media plan to cater to the localaudience, at the same time maintaining a national scale?

Are your plans and your execution taking care of thedynamic receptivity of your brand’s most desired audiencesegment, e.g. young and affluent, or may be the middle-classyouth brigade?

More importantly, do you still believe that your targetaudience is exposed to the same media-mix in the sameproportion across different day-parts at the same level ofreceptivity?

We doubt the answer to the last question will be an affirmative fromeven the most learned and informed of advertisers.

And further, are your current media plans and correspondingexecution taking care of weekday v/s weekend, in home v/s out-of-home with different media-mix and emotional hang-ups ofindividuals?

MarCom process at the Media agency end

Almost all our friends in the media field would agree that themanner in which media planning and execution at the agency end iscurrently done is extremely predictable and pre-decided at any givenpoint of time. Whether it is the media budget split for popular and

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traditional platforms such as TV, print and radio, or conducting somebelow-the-line activities.

Media-planners have pre-conceived notions about each platformand budgets (these are mostly decided by advertisers and mostlyagreed by planners without change). It just follows the establishedgeneral trend of TV as receiving the maximum investment, followedby print, radio and internet, with a pre-defined excel format to besent to their respective clients.

Often, the highest break-up is recommended for TV with specialpreferences to specific channels, not because that would suit theadvertiser’s needs the best, but because most media agencies haverebates understanding with TV channels, provided they give them acertain volume of advertisements.

This process at the media agency end is so prevalent, that the otherday we were discussing media planning and execution with one ofour friends from European market research agency, and to oursurprise he said he is well aware of how media planning andexecution is haphazardly done in most Indian agencies. He describedto us that in his experience with Indian media planners, most ofthem appear to be middle-men negotiating with media owners onrates and asking for value additions.

They seem to be focusing more on CPRP and value-addition but lesson the strategic needs for the brands they represent with respect tothe changing dynamics of media space, divided audience attentionand its impact. We had to agree in the affirmative.

So what exactly happens at the media agency end?

Agencies typically analyse category and competition spend to arriveat the media-mix spend. To provide some consumer analysis, the

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agency may use Target Group Index (TGI) and IRS data. This analysison the consumer ranges from consumer psychographics, to mediaconsumption pattern, to product consumption.

But finally, spends for the brand is decided mainly on the basis ofcategory and competition media-mix to have a higher share of voice.This by itself is not sufficient as highest share of voice does notguarantee results as it is only exposure-based and not engagement-based.

What if the category and competition spends throw up a differentpicture than what consumer psychographics and consumer mediaconsumption tells? Will a typical media planner have the courageand the ethics to propose and advocate to their advertiser, thecorrect media spend break-up attributed to consumer analysis(which is the right way of doing things), and not base his decisions onthe category and competition spend mix alone? The answer to thisquestion is very well known.

Today, media buying has become like a housewife going to themarket to purchase vegetables. “How much is this cauliflower? Anydiscount? Okay, give me so much worth”. No intelligence is applied.

Therefore we say that currently, the media-mix spend proportionsfor any brand are extremely predictable. (Typically 60 percent for TV,35 percent for print media and 5 percent of the leftovers or crumbsfor radio, internet and others, irrespective of what the actualresearch would show).

Additionally, while making a media plan, duplication of audiences forthe same content across different media platforms is usually missedout (deliberately?) A simple example for this can be - readership ofe-papers, news’ portals; YouTube channels. There seems to be no

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answer for capturing this behaviour of audiences. Furthermore,browsing YouTube accidentally could also act as a catalyst orinfluencer for attracting viewership permanently, similarly for othermedia.

As another example, a viewer of a popular TV serial may view a fewrepeat episodes on the internet during his/her free time. This maybecome a habit and may lead him/her to watch most of the episodeson internet and less on TV in future. Because, the TV serial episodeson the internet are uninterrupted, free from commercial time plusconveniently available at any time of his choice.

There can also be a case of a male member who just happened tobecome a general entertainment channel (GEC) viewer because ofhis wife’s viewing habits. He might find a particular GEC serialinteresting once he starts viewing it passively. He then later on findsthe internet to be a handy medium to follow the episodes onYouTube as he is unable to reach home after office on time to view iton TV.

Similarly, a working woman in urban India may watch a popular TVserial on the internet as well as on TV as she is not able to watch thecomplete episodes because of disturbances arising from channel-switching by other family members. However, watching TV serials onthe internet may lead her to watch episodes of other similar serialsthrough available online links.

How basic logic is being overlooked by planners can be explainedwith the help of an example in cluttered media space and advertisingon such platforms. For hypothetical example, by category andcompetition spend, if the media mix for bathing soaps is 75% : 25%for TV : Print.

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Planners may argue that the bathing soap category in the aboveexample is TV and Print driven, so it is logical to invest on theseplatforms. They can also cite the example of competition spends.The logical question arises, why is the utilisation of radio, which is acompletely uncluttered medium for the mentioned category in thiscase not being suggested by planners? A brand could most probablyget the highest exposure on an uncluttered radio platform for thecategory.

For example, the recall of the new range of Cinthol’s bathing &shower gel products was driven by the word association of “It’sAwesome”. A similar jingle could be created for radio to attract moreears and increase frequency for driving more awareness,consideration for brand, etc.

According to Collins, Mallett, Traub (2002), usually the budgetallocation among different media platforms are pre-conditioned tomedia planning and media portfolio proportions. Within individualmedia platforms too, vehicle-wise relative budget allocations turnout to be predictable. Following such a process of pre-decided orpredictable media allocation, some media platforms suffer a negativebias, whereas other media (such as TV), enjoy more advertisingspend than can be justified logically. The same applies for within-media platform vehicle-wise spend allocation.

Leakages at cost and message level/spill over,under-utilisation of media platforms

Needless to say, adopting the above mentioned process typicallyleads to spill over, under-reach, negative connotations, and many

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more negative avoidable scenarios in the media planning andcommunication process.

Let us understand this with an example of a hypothetical automobilebrand we have created called ‘Furious’. The brand ‘Furious’ is aninternational brand well established in India since the last 3 years.The brand is coming out with its new variant in the luxury sedansegment. The advertiser decides on a media budget with a split of 40: 35 : 15 : 05 corresponding to TV : Print : Radio : Outdoorrespectively.

The advertiser decided this split based on what his nearestcompetitors were spending on various media. He briefs the mediaagency on his choice of budget and split. The media agency agreeswith his split logic and supports it with the advertising expenditure ofcompetitors and some basic media mix from IRS. The media agencythen goes on to prepare an attractive looking media plan whichwould provide the required reach and frequency. The advertiserseems to be a little sceptical at first but agrees with minor editingand there on the media agency mainly focuses on value addition anddiscounts with media property owners. The media plan is designedfor a period of 4 weeks, and is well executed by media agencies withfairly good creative on hand.

Now it is time to evaluate the executed plan. And the result is notbad. The brand manager from the advertiser’s end (car brandFurious), seems a little conservative in displaying his pleasure but hethinks he himself did a great job by guiding his agency and achievedthe desired results on the parameters of reach and frequency. Thereis not much difference between the delivered reach and frequencyand what was depicted in the media plan before execution.

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BUT:The top management at ‘Furious’ doesn’t seem to be agreeing andpulled up the brand manager/marketing GM. The reason: thereseems to be very little impact on sales and brand recall as thecampaign neither resulted in Top-of-Mind nor did it motivate theaudience for purchase enquiries for the vehicle as per independentresearch actioned by ‘Furious’ top management.

The pertinent question that hits the mind is what went wrong. Theadvertisers as well as the planners had thought that the plan wasvery well thought of with a good budget split, good creative, almostperfect execution and it achieved the desired reach and frequency.The answer lies below:

Was the budget scientifically decided?

Was the budget figure optimised such as that anythingabove it would be a waste and anything below it would besignificantly low to achieve the desired reach and frequency?

Was the deciding base for the media-mix right?

Was the media-mix based on detailed consumer insights?

Did that media-mix and execution reach to the actualaudience who were potential buyers of that segment of car?

Was it flexible enough to take care of all day-parts?

Did it cover emotional receptivity with a particular media-mix?

Has it considered possible disturbances for the targetaudience while the advertisement was being telecast?

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Was the brand’s USP delivered by creative across mediaplatforms?

Was the creative message delivery backed by researchinsights?

Let us learn how to address these questions in a practical and aprofitable manner in the forthcoming chapters.

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4. The Bitter Truth

There are a few bitter truths which need to be understood about theway MarCom is currently operating.

These could be termed as ‘open secrets’, in the sense that mostpeople involved with MarCom are aware of these. Some industryexperts may term them as inevitable, unavoidable truths of theMarCom space.

These truths are that the way in which certain processes are run isnot in the best interest of the advertisers. Yet they are done becausethey are easy-ways-out, and they could also generate more revenuefor the agencies. They started off as the default mode of operatingmany years ago when MarCom in India was in its infancy. Over time,they became habits, bad habits.

Despite all involved being well aware of these truths, yet there aredenials from the side of media agencies, from research agencies endand from media owners’ side.

Let us now examine what these ‘open secrets’ pertaining to MarComare all about from the various stakeholders’ perspectives.

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Biased approach (whether consciously orunconsciously):

While planning, ideally the classic approach of striking the rightbalance between rational forces and conventional wisdom should beadopted. Unfortunately, it has been seen in our experience with themedia industry that planners and buyers do have their biasedinclinations, for and against specific media properties for reasonsother than advertisers’ benefit. Then they usually go ahead anddefend the selection of property they have illogically done.

Media planners/buyers may give reasons in the context of whatmakes them choose these media properties over others, but thereasons may not be logical. This is how they become biased towardsspecific properties over time, and may miss the good plot for thebrand they are representing by giving more weightage to theirpersonal likes and dislikes.

Hastening the planning process:

Response within the deadline or before the expected deadline isalways appreciated. However, blindly following and applying thisprocess and making what should ideally be a thoughtful process amere deadline oriented mechanical output is hazardous to theadvertiser’s interests.

This is so common an error across the MarCom fraternity thatprofessionals have become almost immune to such madness. Thereason it is dangerous is that every campaign has a specific objective,and this objective requires a careful marketing and communication

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approach. Within the framework of this approach, planners have toidentify and select media properties which are available in ATL, BTL,and in the New Media space.

Most of the time, in a rush to hasten the entire process, MarComprofessionals tend to blindly copy what was done in the previouscampaign and maybe tweak it a bit to make it look new.

In reality there is so much to choose from, so many innovative ideasto offer. Isn’t that what a typical media planning exercise should befocusing on? Rather, media planners have turned into ‘speedmachines’ in order to produce the fastest delivery and feel satisfiedwith it. Ideally, if the advertiser gives an unrealistically shortdeadline, it is the duty of the MarCom professional to advise theadvertiser that more time would be needed for a quality job.

But because MarCom people are scared of losing business they donot give their clients the correct professional advice, which is whatthey should rightly be doing.

By right, it is the job of the media planner as a brand custodian tostand up for the brand they represent and speak to their client aboutthe unrealistic deadlines.

Blind, blanket, creative application across media:

Readers will agree that every individual media platform has its owndistinct advantages and also its own unique way of delivering theadvertiser’s message.

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However, it is an open secret that literally the same creative is beingrun for a brand across media platforms many times.The television commercial which is an audio-video creative issometimes played on radio as audio minus the video. Here we missthe basic fact that the TV commercial is the net result of audio andvideo work. Whereas, the radio creative should be devised to createvisual images in the mind of the listener, as radio is known to be ‘thetheatre of mind’. So logically, the same audio which is part of the TVcommercial should not be taken and used as the audio content forradio advertising.

Surprisingly, television commercials are recklessly translated toonline platforms without any change. Interestingly, online is aninteractive media and could well be utilised for a call for the purposeof driving action/creative message.

It does not take rocket science to say that brands that could haveutilised each unique media platform effectively miss the opportunityto exploit the individual media to their fullest.

Inflexible post-evaluation benchmark:

We are all aware that the current media environment is extremelycomplex. We can all very well distinguish between above-the-line,below-the-line, new media activities, etc., but do we really keepthese in mind while performing post-evaluation of MarCom?

Usually we have fixed post-evaluation criteria such as reach andfrequency with pre-estimated CPRP/CPT. However; there are somany things that change or happen during the lifespan of the

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campaign that require readjustment of pre-decided post evaluationcriteria.

It may require post-evaluation to be done as a mix of qualitative andquantitative criteria, depending on the changes which haveoccurred. It may also require changing the benchmark according tomany geo-political environmental factors ranging from naturalcalamities, big political news-stories; major events which took placein the film industry or may be the release of a movie thatunexpectedly became a hit or flop, etc.

In totality these factors do have a major role to play in the netdelivery and hence the receptivity of the completed campaign.However, as they were not factored into consideration at the timethe campaign was planned, typically the post-evaluation criteriawhich were also planned in advance are now not changed to includethese media highlights. No care is taken to revamp post-evaluationcriteria, nor is such advice given to the advertiser, who thus losesout.

Not understanding the appropriateness of mediaproperty well before inclusion:

Planning is a science of combining logic, numbers and creativity witha modern and non-conventional approach.

However, in the process of hastening, it has often became the habitof planners to include media properties in a campaign without fullyunderstanding the suitability for the specific brand, just going on the

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basis of the popularity of the high-impact property. (e.g. Big Boss, IPLmatches, etc.)

Wouldn’t our readers agree with us that understanding the basiccharacteristics of media properties and their audiences is essential tocreate sync with the brand for which they are buying? Wouldn’t it besensible to understand and hence anticipate the future deliveryprospects of selected properties with the brand for which it is beingpurchased at a heavy cost?

There are everyday examples for such haphazard occurrences as wehave explained occurring in the MarCom space today.

Blanket, fixed duration of campaigns irrespectiveof product cycle:

Another bitter truth relates to campaign duration. This is somethingthat is known to everyone irrespective of whether it relates toestablished brands, newly launched brands, different productvariants, life cycle of a brand, path-to-purchase cycle with respect toMarCom, etc.

Typically, planners will have their own standard campaign durationto suggest, such as 4-6 weeks for every campaign.

However, each product category will have its own path-to-purchasetime cycle. To effectively address this path-to-purchase cycle, thenature and the duration of the media campaign need to be carefullyplanned. Sadly, we often see a blanket campaign approach byplanners across product categories.

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Deal focused approach:

Perhaps the most talked about and commonly practiced bitter truthcould be the deal-focused approach adopted by agencies. This is tosay that many of the agencies may not be working in the bestinterests of their client but certainly work in the best interests oftheir own balance sheets.

Deals are often struck between the agencies, the media owners (TVchannels, newspapers, etc.), and the unfortunate advertiser is alsodragged into this deal as a party.

The deals consist of agencies buying media space in bulk volumeswith a media owner to be consumed during the year. These dealsoften have hidden goodies for agencies and this is not a startlingrevelation as professionals in the industry know this very well. It islike doctors getting goodies from Pharmacy companies to push theirmedicines to patients. The biggest proof that this happens is thatadvertisers are now hiring media-auditing firms to evaluate whetherthe agency has acted in their best interest. The very fact that suchmedia-audit firms are in existence proves the point mentioned by us.

How does the advertiser lose out on such deals? Very simple.Because a certain volume has been committed to the media-ownerby the agency, it has to be consumed by the agency, irrespective ofwhether the media continues to perform well or not during thecourse of the year. They will make their advertiser consume and payfor it.

The smart brains in the industry will ask who does not do that. This ispart of the profession or professional hazards. But, does that make

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the agency sustainable in the long run? No wonder clients shufflingbetween agencies in MarCom space is rapidly increasing.

Irrational proposals by agencies to conductcampaign bursts and levels of impressions:

Usually the proposal during the new business pitch or proposal toexisting clients would have a certain number of bursts during a yearand also the level of impressions/GRPs. But, how do agencies arriveat a specific number of bursts during a year and what is the rationalefor deciding a particular GRP level?

The answer to the above question would always be – ‘It is theindustry standard’, or, ‘Competition is doing it so you cannot be leftbehind’, or sometimes it is a purely intuitive decision without anydata or rationale supporting it.

This means that competitors in the industry, as well as irrationaljudgment drive the number of ad bursts and impression levels. Thatcould also mean that the pattern of audience behaviour, anticipationof upcoming properties, analysis of clutter and visibility, etc. areeither completely ignored or given less weightage, whereas theseshould be the prime reasons for decision.

Typically, it has been observed that decisions regarding burst, pulseor maybe pure BTL activities are taken on the basis of industryjudgments, benchmarking the nearest competition rather thanevaluating the audience and media scenario afresh.

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It requires a fresh approach re-evaluation as media platforms andinnovations are multiplying and rapidly evolving these days.

Misplaced understanding on equating Contentexposure with Commercial exposure:

It has been universally taken for granted in media that mediareach/vehicle/property is the question that is being asked anddiscussed whenever campaigns are planned. This question is broughtup with the anticipation and misplaced confidence that commercialsplaced in such media properties will also have high exposure.

With regard to print media, publication exposure/readership doesnot equate commercial exposure, (as is wrongly thought). The sameis the case with radio quarter hour listenership and also for TV asviewership measurements are done for a minimum time-span of 1minute, whereas the average commercials are of 20 secondsduration. So the benefit of doubt is always wrongly attributed thatlistener/reader/viewer has listened/read/viewed the advertisement,whereas there is an equal chance that he may not have done so.

Lack of communication between agencies andadvertisers:

Often, media planners and buyers get instructions from their clientsto develop some innovative ideas for their upcoming campaign.Sometimes, clients may say that they want to quickly decide andclose on the media properties that they wish to freeze on. In such ascenario, planners and buyers typically call all possible media owners

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and push them to quickly send across proposals on innovativecampaigns; sponsorship related upcoming media properties, orcreative ideas, etc. Media owners deliver as directed in anticipationof big business. However, it has been observed thatclients/advertisers suddenly may not respond or get completelysilent on what they had asked inputs for.

On the other hand, media planners and buyers avoid responding tomedia owners on providing feedback or some answers as to whatthe client is planning or whether he has dropped his plans.

Such uncommunicative behaviour proves costly in times of genuineurgency when clients really want something quickly delivered. Atsuch times, the media owners take them casually, not knowingwhether this is a genuine inquiry or just fishing for information.Therefore, media planners and buyers need to respond and reply tomedia owners, whether the response is positive or negative or onhold, as constant and clear communicating with media owners helpsdevelop sound relationships and credibility. The current non-communicative method makes all lose out.

Blur briefing:

Perhaps, the briefing element of the MarCom process may requirethe maximum attention. Often, the briefing to media owners fromthe agency side happens before any specific or concrete action planhas been decided by the planner. Most media planners and buyersjust rush for the briefing and give a directionless briefing about theproposed campaign to the media owners. Such briefs are oftenlacking in specific objectives or even in the budget range that they

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are looking for their client. In such cases it is difficult for mediaowners/vendors to deliver information without precise objective andbudgets to make proper decisions.

Basically, in such a blur-brief, the media owners lack basic answers asto Why, What, and how of the campaign. This would project a wrongand unprofessional impression about media planners and buyers asbeing ill-informed practitioners.

Over-focus on price aspect during meetings:

Usually a business development team of the media owners visits themedia planners and buyers. This is a very common business practicein the MarCom industry e.g. the sales team of a channel visits aplanner’s office. Many media planners and buyers do not leveragethis opportunity to strike new ideas/innovations as they are tooinvolved in negotiating cost competitiveness.

Most media planners and buyers take these meetings very casuallyand do not brain-storm with business development teams oncreative issues which could help the advertiser. This casual approachmay hinder their learning and updates about available mediaproperties in the market.

It may be possible that the owner’s business development teamwants to showcase something genuinely new and cost effectivewhich would be appreciated by advertisers. But this is lost due tofocus on only cost negotiation by planners. Therefore, beingattentive to matters other than price negotiations at meetings withbusiness development teams is important. This rarely happens.

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Nothing good about ‘Make Good’

Once upon a time a learned gentleman said, “We are wonderfullyunorganised”. This unorganised way of life slowly and graduallybecame a habit with wide spread acceptance. Earlier, MarCompractitioners would agree that dropping of a TV spot from a plannedTV programme was seen as an occasional error. Over a period oftime this has become so common that MarCom practitioners haveaccepted it as a way of life, which is ‘compensated’ with somethingwhich the media owners call as ‘Make Good’. The term ‘Make Good’means the TV channel would compensate the dropped/missed TVspot which was committed by accommodating the committed spotsomewhere else (other programme during day parts) or during thesame programme a few days later. Ideally this should be a rare andoccasional error committed by media owners, however; it has almostbecome a standard industry practice indulged in by channels on adaily basis. This is definitely not in the best interests of the client.

...Such are the bitter truths in practice today visible to andexperienced by every MarCom professional. They only demean theprofessional levels of the industry, and such bitter truths occurringwith repeated frequency are one of the primary reasons why theneed for this book has been felt.

To comment on this chapter SMS <AB4> space <your comment> to 08080445599OR give a missed call on 08080445599 to post a like

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5. Industry black boxes

In India, each of the media planning currencies has got their own setof limitations. There are currencies for individual media platformssuch as IRS for the readership and demographic data, TAM for TVviewership, RAM for radio listenership, and other related studieswhich are used as add-ons. In India, these are the media planningcurrencies that have been predominantly used for many years.

There are clearly visible gaps that need to be filled to avoid situationslike the case study of ‘Furious’ that we discussed in a previouschapter. However, planners, buyers and media property owners aremuch occupied with taking briefs and making plans, involved in ratenegotiations and offering value adds. Therefore in all this, thefundamental gaps that are critical to be filled for the brand’seffective communication and long term health are forgotten or insome cases are not known at all.

Interestingly, during one of the casual discussions related to theMarCom industry between the authors of this book and colleaguesfrom a European market research industry, we as authors weredefensive of these practices. While our defensive strategy was moreof a face-saving exercise to defend the self respect of Indian MarCompractices, in reality we agreed with what they said. Unfortunately, inIndia, MarCom in many cases is more about discount negotiating and

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value add broking for the clients rather than an insight drivenapproach, which is what it should really be.

So let us start bisecting some issues, which if re-examined wouldimprove the efficiency of our existing planning currencies. These willbe eye openers to many naïve and extremely ‘busy’ media plannersand marketers.

Separate currency for every medium

Traditionally, media planning is more to do with individual mediaplatform planning, each done separately. The synergies of anadvertising campaign cannot be brought about effectively byconsidering individual platform deliveries (reach and frequency).

In today’s complex multi-media interconnected world, MarComplanning should ideally deal with integrated multiplatform planningwith the critical aspect of ‘message receptivity’. This is because ofmultiple media being consumed at the same time by an individual,the rapidly changing engagement space, proliferation of mediavehicles across media platforms, changing lifestyle, etc. And this listis endless.

So the question that arises here is, have media planning currenciesand brand solutions adapted to the aspects described above andconsolidated on to a single currency?

The existing currencies such as IRS for Print, TAM for TV, RAM forRadio, TGI for Psychographics, etc., could be handy tools for micro-level planning for individual media platform. However pre-planningand post-planning MarCom synergies cannot be addressed byindividual currencies in an effective manner.

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Certain currencies leading to incorrect estimationof audiences

There are currencies that can be taken as ‘so called’ multimediacurrencies as far as MarCom research goes. For example, one suchcurrency, IRS, is a currency traditionally meant for medium such asprint. The major problem with currencies such as IRS is the under-reporting of other major platform’s reach. For example, current IRSdata show radio listeners (weekly reach) in Mumbai to be around 39lakhs. At the same time, another currency specifically meant forRadio medium, RAM, shows radio listeners in Mumbai to be around1.04 crore. Which currency should we believe? Which currencyshould be used for making high level MarCom decisions? Why dosuch major discrepancies occur?

One reason could be that IRS being primarily a currency to promoteprint media could be biased against other platforms (e.g. radio,internet), or possibly the methodology of one currency is notdesigned to capture and present other media platforms realistically.

These currencies where we have shown that major discrepanciesexist are very much used to conduct pre-planning media portfoliodispersion. If the numbers reported for individual media platformsby such currencies are highly biased or inaccurate, how can weexpect them to do justice to pre-planning media investment split?

Audience research methodologies being misusedfor commercial gain by media owners

Traditionally, newspaper readership is being captured with themethodology of showcasing the masthead (Newspaper Header) to

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respondents and asking them “Have you read or looked at thenewspaper?”

This means a mere ‘masthead’ exposure is assumed as readership asper current readership measurement surveys.

This has also led to incorrect practices for influencing readershipnumbers in order to get a bigger pie of ad revenue. In the lastdecade, few newly launched publications seemed to have benefitedfrom these loopholes in research, such as low cost yearlysubscription to generate higher subscription numbers to enhanceadvertising revenue (selling newspaper’s ‘raddi’ fetched more moneythan the yearly subscription fees of Rs.99), OR providing a free copyof a newly launched newspaper along with an existing newspaper toride piggyback on the popularity of the existing newspaper.

One of the oldest ‘National Survey’ on readership used to conducttheir field work (data collection) within a short time period (around 8weeks), unlike IRS which is continuous and the field work duration isspread across the year. Also, the fieldwork period for this survey wasknown to the publishers. Therefore, it provided comfortable groundsfor the publications to influence their readership during thefieldwork period by providing free copies, promotional offers,advertising, etc.

This would mean that instead of genuine readership of a publication,field work (data collection) would capture temporary spikesinfluenced by the publications. Many publications have misusedthese artificially enhanced readership figures for their advertisingrevenue.

We strongly believe that there should be a minimum time-framenecessary for any individual to be classified as a reader of any

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publication. For example, individuals who have spent at least ‘5minutes’ on a particular newspaper/magazine (yesterday/ last 1week / as per periodicity) should be considered as a definition forclassifying as a ‘reader’ (Average Issue Reader / Claimed Reader).

Also, it is imperative to realise that “Issue Exposure” does not equateto “Advertising Exposure” for that particular publication.

Reporting Errors

Erroneous/unbelievable findings reported by audience measurementcurrencies are not news for the MarCom industry. However, theprint readership figures reported by a ‘Nationwide ReadershipSurvey’ that closed down in 2006 were laughable and ridiculous. Theresearch and fieldwork for the same was conducted by the ‘reputedresearch agency’.

The survey reported illiterate individuals to be the readers of manypublications. And such warped results showed up for leading Englishlanguage newspapers. Other ‘howlers’ which were reported showedup individuals below 20 years as ‘retired’ in their occupation. Wasthat survey focussing on child labours?

Another gross population estimation error was reported in this‘Nationwide Readership Survey’ of 2005, where the population ofGhaziabad (a booming suburb near Delhi) was shown to be NineLakh Fifty Eight Thousand. And in 2006, the very same surveyconducted by the same ‘reputed research agency’ showed thepopulation of Ghaziabad to be a mere One Lakh Six Thousand.

A wonderful recipe for population control.

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The icing on the poisonous cake is that in August 2012, MRUC(Media Research User’s Council), a body of advertisers, agencies andmedia houses, (a kind of third party media research organisation),has AWARDED the same ‘reputed research agency’ to conduct theNEW IRS. Hopefully, this ‘reputed research agency’ will utilize thisopportunity given to them to bring back the ‘gold standard’ inreadership surveys.

Such are the follies of these surveys which are unfortunately highlyrespected by the industry and they form the basis on which most ofthe MarCom investments are made today.

Different methodologies lead to different resultswith disastrous consequences (Diary v/s DAR)

Different methodologies for the same objective appear to providedifferent results in research surveys. Each of these methods has theirown disadvantages and advantages and that includes how themarket perceives them. The different numbers emanating from theusage of different methodologies mean different opportunities toadvertisers, broadcasters and agencies for revenue impact, visiblereturn on investment and content formulation.

Obviously all these methodologies cannot be giving the accurateresults. Let’s take an example of MRUC which started India’s firstradio listenership survey, ILT (Indian Listenership Track). MRUC hadconducted a research to evaluate which methodologies out of DAR(day after recall) and Diary were the most robust and with minimumerror. It was found that DAR reported a 55% inaccuracy, whereasDiary reported 85% inaccuracy.

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Post the results of these findings, TAM media research released thefirst round of Radio Audience Measurement with Diarymethodology, pitching hard for real-time capturing of data.

The radio station which according to ILT was the undisputed marketleader for two consecutive years, suddenly dropped to number fourposition according to RAM, whom do we believe ILT or RAM?Further, this discrepancy occurred when there were only a total of 7private FM stations available.

The question is whether real time capturing of data (Diary), whichwas developed to overcome the inaccuracies of the previousmethods (DAR), truly presents the actual picture.

Another example which can be looked at is a famous radio stationwhich recently converted from 100% Hindi content to 100% Englishcontent in Mumbai. When comparing three months of Hindi content(Pre-Launch) with 3 months of English content (Post-launch), theexisting listenership survey conducted by a ‘renowned mediaresearch agency’ reported NO significant changes in eitherdemographic consumption of the station across age groups, genderand socio economic class OR in tune-ins and time spent. On thecontrary, lower socio-economic class showed growth for 100%English content for the same radio station.

This either shows that all listeners are deaf or it shows how real timecapturing of data could mislead due to some lesser known reasonsor leakages in validation process or it shows that the data capturingand analysis are being done in a thoroughly unprofessional manner.Or could it be that there is a short-coming in the methodology itselfand that fresh, new methods are urgently needed?

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Universe Projections and a well-knownListenership Survey

The existing Radio listenership survey from a ‘credible andtrustworthy research organisation’ has shown utter carelessness andtotal lack of responsibility which has hindered the growth of thisnascent medium.

The listenership survey, which launched in 2007, used NRS 2005universe estimates without applying growth rates for the interveningtwo years, which means its figures were two years out of sync withreality. This lethargic output was produced after charginghumongous fees from the client for subscriptions.

Logically, in any such media currency, the critical factor is the‘estimation of the universe’, which needs to be done as accurately aspossible. This can be done by using the latest available census figuresand applying the intermediate growth rate to arrive at the currentuniverse, OR by using IRS figures (since IRS provides updateduniverse estimation by demographics on a quarterly basis.)

Moreover, this listenership survey continued to report these wronguniverses for the next 3 years till the end of 2010. Not only was theuniverse underestimated but the radio penetration figures were alsowrongly reported as compared to the baseline.

When this ‘credible and trustworthy research organisation’ finallyupdated the universe in January 2011, some markets showed growthin population by 143% over the previous year. (Obviously, since forfive years, the research agency had not bothered to update universe,now there was a sudden leap).

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The basic demographics such as gender ratios changed almostinversely for male : female from 57 : 43 to 41 : 59, socio-economicclasses observed stark differences. For example, upper socio-economic class demonstrated a drastic drop where as lower socio-economic classes showed significantly unrealistic rise over theprevious year.

Conventional wisdom says that the demographic proportion takesalmost one full decade to show the kind of change in proportion thatthis listenership survey showed in a single year. Such drastic changesin gender ratio were last witnessed during World War II, whenmillions of members of the male population were killed in a singleyear of warfare at the front. They cannot radically change in just oneyear.

Can we expect such blunders from an organisation which is lookedupon as the ‘Messiah’ of media research in India? Unfortunately,YES.

New age television viewership and measurement

TV audience measurement through the ‘people-meter’ is acceptedas the most appropriate technique among others, for measuring TVaudiences. (It may be the most accepted, because there is currentlyno alternative. In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king).

However, the capability of the people-meter is completelydependent upon external factors such as continuous humanintervention. Viewers need to press their respective button on thepeople-meter remote (as assigned to them) to let the system capturethe data on who is viewing what. Which means it is safe to say that it

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does not automatically capture the viewers and their viewingpatterns. It requires the viewer to keep in mind that they have topress the respective button every time they leave the room andenter the room.

In an age, where people forget to turn off the switches while notoccupying the room or even turn off the water taps after use, do youthink people will remember religiously to switch on and off theirrespective people-meter remote button every time they enter andleave the room?

There are high chances that the viewer may get interrupted bysomething and leave the TV room or for a while take an exit to dosome other household activities without pressing the exit button. Insuch situations, the people-meter does not stop capturing theviewership of the audience, even though he/she is no longerviewing. What could be more erroneous than this?

In the current people-meter, if the TV is ON but none of the panelmembers have logged in the system (i.e. pressed the people-meterbutton), then the people-meter would prompt for an input toregister the viewing occasion for the respective panel member.

But what if the panel member has logged in the system and is notpresent in the room. Is there any kind of validation thought about?

This is why we say that each media currency tends to be biasedtowards the specific medium.

However, today’s technological advancement allows us to makeevery impossible thing ‘possible’. There are Pyroelectric ("Passive")InfraRed sensors that can detect whether a human has moved in orout of the sensors range. And undoubtedly, these are veryinexpensive chips.

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Another such technology is used by Microsoft in their Xbox 360game console, ‘Kinect”, which is a motion sensing input devicecapable of facial recognition along with full-body 3D motioncapture. Which means if incorporated in the people-meter, will notonly sense the individuals present in the room, but also identify ifthey are viewing the TV along with their engagement through facialexpressions.

Also, a very interesting point crops up, which ideally should havebeen raised by MarCom professionals. Bear with us as we elaborate.

With the new Digital Video Recorder now commonly available alongwith most of the DTH providers, individuals have now got into thehabit of not watching programmes live, but recording theirprogrammes of choice and watching at their convenience.

For example, if a working individual chooses to record a programmewhich was telecast from 4 - 5 pm, reaches home at 8 pm, andwatches this recorded programme from 9 - 10 pm.

ANOTHER PROGRAMME BEING TELECAST FROM 9 - 10 PM ON SOMEOTHER CHANNEL IS ALSO RECORDED BY HIM AT THE SAME TIME TOVIEW AT A FUTURE TIME OF HIS CONVENIENCE.

The critical point we are making is, most people with DVR facilityhave now got into the habit of recording almost all programmes theywish to view, and while viewing the recorded programmes, most ofthem would forward and skip all the ads.

The question is, at 9 pm in the case of the above example, what willthe people-meter capture as viewership?

Will it capture the 4 - 5 pm show which is being watched between 9 -10 pm or will it capture the 9 - 10 pm show which is being recordedfor future viewing at the same time?

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And will the people-meter be able to gauge whether the Ads havebeen skipped by the viewer while watching the recordedprogramme, which is bound to happen in most cases?

BECAUSE THE 10-MIN AD BREAK CAN BE FORWARDED AND SKIPPEDIN A MATTER OF FEW SECONDS..

Thus this DVR facility has the potential of making the people-meterdefunct and useless.

Definitely, the currencies such as TAM should be keeping up withthese advances in technology. We are very sure they have an answerfor the questions we have raised above.

BUT, we are also sure the industry and MarCom professionals wouldlove to see a practical demonstration, if they claim that the people-meter can take care of these issues. Speaking is so much easier thandoing.

According to research paper published by Andrew Green (2010), thepeople-meter is only capable of capturing what is being displayed onthe TV screen and not the actual behaviour of viewers.

Very interestingly, TV broadcasting would be going digital in comingdays. It has already gone digital in the four metro cities of India as onNovember 2012.

In future, there could be options of pay v/s free channels, where thepay channel will have only programme content and noadvertisements, similar to the current HD channels.

DVR (Digital Video Recording) technology is also expected todominate in the near future, which means there would be moreflexible and enhanced TV viewership. This would also include storing

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of favourite TV programmes by viewers who would watch them attheir convenience while skipping the commercial breaks.

There is also an increasing trend of VOD (Video on Demand) indirect-to-home households. Would this mean lower viewership forrepeat telecast of TV content? Because as the name suggests, VOD isTV content that can be viewed at anytime as per the convenience ofthe individual viewer. More sob stories for MarCom due todigitization.

The new-age television viewership will include CAS (set top box), aswell as others like DTH, DVR, IPTV/VOD, internet TV, TV programmesvia YouTube and mobile TV. Conventional wisdom says thatsubscribers of these technologies will have vastly differing lifestylehabits. As we say, “necessity is the mother of all invention”. For thefirst time, the audience will be in the driver’s seat for choosing theiroption of technology of reception. So is the case with TV channelsthat they wish to subscribe to.

Now, looking at the traditional TV measurement system, theviewership base will be determined by subscription packages, asnow the option of choosing a specific channel is available to theviewer. In the recently phased-out analogue system in 4 metros, fora fixed monthly subscription fee, subscribers got access to ALL TVchannels.

This means the sampling frame for estimating TV viewership is basedon the audience pool that recently had access to all the channels fora fixed subscription fee.

Whereas, the new technology of digitalized reception will make thesubscriber’s pool asymmetric for sampling. There are bright chancesthat the universe (the channels which an individual subscribes to),

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will fluctuate depending on basis of favourite channel/popularprogrammes/sports seasons or a new series, as people may changetheir channel subscription from time to time.

For example, let’s consider a household which has recently switchedto the DTH system from the old analogue system. Now this particularhousehold has not subscribed to a particular GEC channel becausethey felt it was not worth paying an extra fee as they were casualviewers of only one programme on this channel, as against otherGEC channels where they watched multiple programmes.

Now after a couple of months, this household again decides tosubscribe to that GEC channel they had abandoned because of a newprogramme of interest to them, along with a sports-pack for theupcoming IPL cricket season. Post the IPL season, they againunsubscribe the sports-pack.

This means the channel’s universe has now changed beyondrecognition. This will keep happening as now it will be directlyrelated to pay for what you watch.

In such situation of switching subscription plan from analogue todigital, peoplemeter may capture the audience movement fromanalogue to digital. However, within digital, the viewership forchannels may fluctuate significantly (as these are sample surveys,where 1 panel member’s viewership is extrapolated to around20,000 audience or more). This could result into vague and half-hearted understanding of channel viewership as practitioners wouldnot know the reason for volatility in channel viewership i.e.Subscribed but NOT viewing OR Channel NOT subscribed.

Until now in analogue mode, the same set of channels that ahousehold with a people-meter had was also the same set of

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channels that all other households had, so the household with thepeople-meter was representative of all other households in theuniverse, at least as far as availability and access to channels went.

But now, with households free to choose and reject individualchannels, it is not necessary that a household which has a people-meter will have similar channels as other households in the universe.

In fact there could be thousands of permutations and combinationsof households with different sets of channels. So how would onejudge whether the people-meters households are trulyrepresentative of the universe.

Now with due respect to the existing people-meter technology forcapturing TV viewership data, can we ask ourselves how geared upare we to take on the future challenges of capturing TV viewershipdata in light of the above mentioned technological advancement.

The story does not end here. The real challenge is still to beexplained by us. TV as a medium was largely an ‘at-home’ medium.However, TV as a medium is now becoming highly portable. How arewe going to measure the audience on portable TV?

E.g. Most of the working population may watch IPL out-of-homesuch as at office, at a common friend’s place, on their laptop, etc. Onweekends they would also go to restaurants and pubs to watch thegame in a social gathering and cheer for their favourite team. Theirreceptivity to the programme may be higher but it does not getcovered as the people-meter is not capturing out-of-homeviewership.

This may influence viewership of popular sports seasons and theymay get under-reported as compared to actual viewing figures.

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According to Horrell (2008), IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) couldoffer some encouraging answers to audience measurement such asreal-time audience measurement through return-path-datatechnology from TV owning households itself. Moreover, it allowsbroadcasters to divide audiences based on socio-economic class,geographies and basic demographics. This would enable advertisersand media planners to showcase lifestyle, socio-economic class andgeographic location based Ad streaming. One can avail thetechnology now as this is reality.

One of the sophisticated devices according to Pellegrini, Pasqualeand Purdye, Ken (2004), for measuring out-of-home TV viewership isArbitron’s Portable People-Meter for capturing passive viewershipdata based on encoded audio signals, embedded in the TVprogrammes being watched. This pager-like device would have to becarried by selected individuals to enable this device to capture theencoded audio signals. However, it could prove to be misleading ifthe audio signals are being captured in the vicinity but the individualis actually not watching it. For example, in a coffee-shop, the PPMmay record TV viewership for an individual but the selected individualis engrossed elsewhere.

What does all this mean for advertisers? How will they optimise theirmedia investment?

In totality, TV as a medium which even today is highly fragmentedwith 700+ channels will have very tough and challenging days aheadas far as measurement goes. And, so for the media planners and themarketers.

According to Canadian Advertising Research Foundation 2005 –

‘The Future is now, but Measurement is Yesterday’.

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Corruption Simplified

In analogue days, if a channel wished to ensure that a householdwith a people-meter had to be moulded to its liking, the channelwould identify the people-meter household (not directly, butthrough the research intermediary), and with some good gifts andgood wishes, manipulate his ‘choice’ of viewing to benefit the saidchannel.

Now, with digitalization, this money for corrupt practices can besaved, thus reducing bad karma. To tweak findings in its favour, all achannel has to do is to ask the research intermediary to identify andrecruit households for placing people-meters which have subscribedto its channel and not competition. Or if the household wishes towatch competing channels, the channel would be happy to gift asecond TV set to that house-hold on which they could view whateverthey wished. Or the channel could ask the research intermediary tomake the household stop subscribing to competing channels. Somany varieties available for corruption due to digitization. Progress iswonderful.

No currency for emotional engagement by day-parts for complex multi-media

There is almost unanimous agreement that in today’s world no singlemedium is actively consumed by any audience for a major part of theday. Audiences are bound to get exposed to plural media platforms.A simple example can be smart phone connectivity which is rapidlygrowing in penetration and virtually present with us 24x7. In additionthere are other media platform exposures that come and go in thespan of 24 hours. Moreover these platforms come in certain

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combinations and at certain times of the day depending on ourlifestyle. Therefore it can safely be said that today’s era is a complexmultimedia era.

According to Plummer, Cook, Diforio, Schachter, Sokolyanskaya,Korde and Heath (2007), Roy Morgan International attempts tomeasure the audiences ‘Engagement’ that can help advertisers andagencies to understand which media platform could be used forbrand persuasion. For instance, Roy Morgan International capturesTV viewers with broadly three levels of engagement metrics such asinvolvement, attention and attitude to the programme content. Theyaim to identify whether the advertisement of any brand has engagedtheir target audiences and persuaded them in making a brandpreference.

However, it would be interesting to see the actual behaviour ofrespondents and then derive the emotional engagement and notsimply measure the engagement on the basis of what respondentsfeel about their engagement. This is another urgently neededinstrument which is currently missing in the MarCom armoury.

In today’s fast-paced and mostly stress-driven cities including semi-urban areas, audiences display mood swings, which mean they havea volatile emotional engagement with these complex media mix.

Let us refresh our memory of the story in the first chapter of thisbook, where Asmeena the housewife is busy during TV prime-time(8:00 pm – 11:00 pm) cooking and serving and cleaning up after herdaily family dinner. This gives an opportunity for other familymembers to watch their favourite TV programmes, and henceAsmeena’s (the housewife’s) attention is diverted, leading tointerrupted TV viewing.

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Therefore Asmeena is not as much emotionally involved at what TVchannels perceive as prime-time as compared to what she is duringnoon-time when she watches the similar TV programmes with arelaxed and peaceful frame of mind without any disturbance orinterruptions. (Unfortunately, noon-time is not considered as prime-time by channels and agencies for purposes of MarCom.) Clearly, heremotional engagement is different for two different day-parts.Similarly, when Asmeena listens to the radio in the early morningalong with performing various other daily morning chores, she isactually a passive listener, with diverted attention. However, whenshe listens to radio during the afternoon/early evening time, she is avery active listener and has fewer disturbances.

This again proves that no single media platform can be consumedwith the same emotional engagement and same quantity duringdifferent day-parts.

Therefore it can be said that ‘Each day-part is a day in itself’

Clearly, the MarCom industry has already understood these lacunae,but in the absence of a suitable tool or instrument to measure theseday-part wise engagement, the out-dated method of considering allday-parts as equal for purposes of MarCom is still being used.

What if a better and more suitable tool were made available?

No Currency with wide sample spread along withreal-time capturing/reporting.

Looking around, it is more than evident that the changing life-styleand rising time crunch result into research surveys being answeredless truthfully and completely by respondents. In most cases, the

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results are more of a formality than an honest response. We tend toask, do our media research products understand this short-comingwell while claiming to capture robust data? Are we moving with thetimes? Are we doing justice to this more than INR 279+ billionadvertising industry?

For example, there are currencies that still capture responses withmanual pen and paper, there are currencies that still capture data onthe basis of the manual diary method and there are currencies thatcapture data on the basis of leave-behind physical questionnaires.These methods of data capturing were useful at a certain point oftime in history but the larger question is are these still relevant in atechnology-driven era?

The question yet remains, is there scope for media research forcapturing robust data in terms of media-mix consumption along withemotional engagement?

Can we have research that can capture data and simultaneouslyprovide results to the user in real-time for cross-media platforms,which is the need of the hour?

The concept that we are trying to discuss in this space is to have amedia research product that is wide in its reach as well as quick in itsreporting, almost like real-time. There is a gap in this space as theexisting media research products either have a wide reach or delivera quick report such as weekly reporting. For example, IRS is wide inits coverage with urban and rural markets. However, the reporting isdone quarterly. Whereas, TAM for TV research captures data only inurban India, but gives quicker weekly reporting.

But a combination of wide reach and quick reporting is missing in allthe currencies currently available.

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Is Manual method of capturing data still the bestoption?

One of the most famous and oldest media planning currencies inIndia (IRS), claims to be the world’s largest sample survey, capturingdata through face-to-face methodology.

It has still not evolved and progressed in its core data capturingmethod which is still face-to-face, which is the same methodology ithas followed since its inception about fifteen years ago. The datacapturing for this currency happens via door-to-door visit andadministering a lengthy questionnaire to the respondents.

Which actually means that if a respondent were to honestly answerthis lengthy questionnaire (Household & Media consumption), itwould take them easily over two hours to do so. And therespondents are not paid for their time and effort. Does any sensibleindividual feel that these questionnaires would all be filled honestlyat the respondent’s place, the way they claim to be? Whichrespondent would give so much time (that too without priorappointment), without being compensated for it?

Apart from all other considerations, it would lead to high fatiguelevels of the respondent. And the method used by surveyors in mostcases is to knock the door without prior appointment, say we areconducting a ‘small’ survey, enter, and then proceed with thelengthy questionnaire.

These days consumer behaviour indicates that the time compositionin a day of the average consumer’s life is changing. There is rapidurbanisation and decline in disposable time for responding toresearch questionnaire or to be noting down media consumptionpatterns in a diary for research based on diary-methodology.

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Furthermore, computer aided personal interview (CAPI) is beingtalked about these days for capturing responses and administeringthe questionnaire with less effort. This will definitely reduce the datapunching effort and typo errors but will it help to ease therespondent’s fatigue, which is a major factor leading to incorrectreporting by respondents in these methods? How would theseexisting face-to-face or diary or leave-behind questionnairemethodologies adapt with the existing huge interview time needed?

Also, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that radio audience measurementis still a problem in most of the countries across the globe and inIndia specifically. The Indian MarCom industry still has not agreed onthe methodology of capturing radio audiences. The industry opinionis split between two methods, namely, the diary method and theday-after recall method.

Both these methods have their own drawbacks. Diary method ismore of an interruption and a disturbance for sample respondents asthey have to note down details in a diary about their listenershippatterns. It is also considered to be a more expensive method. Theday-after recall study stresses more on respondent’s memory and itcannot provide accurate listenership data, apart from the othertypical drawbacks related to face-to-face questionnaireadministration during an interview.

Can we still claim that these are among the most effective androbust methodologies for capturing data?

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Going beyond reach and frequency (opportunityto read/listen/view)

Most of the media research and planning products deal with thereach and frequency of the plan. Predominantly, the success ofplanning is measured on the parameters of reach and frequency.This in no way answers the effectiveness of the advertisement interms of awareness, liking and purchase intention.

To attract all these advertisers, media agencies still conductcustomised research separately. However, by the time the researchstarts getting responses to the campaign, the actual synergy ofresponse on awareness, liking and purchase intention gets diluted.

The question that arises here is, are we falling behind thetechnological advancement which is currently available to us andwhich can be explored for data capturing and reporting along withmedia planning currency? Agencies can tell us the reach frequency ofan ad or campaign, which is fine, but can they tell what were thereader’s/listener’s/viewer’s awareness levels, liking and purchaseintentions while the advertisement was on the shelf? Is this reallyrocket science that we find this issue extremely difficult to address?

Surely with technological advances as we have today, such issuescould be answered fairly accurately using an intelligent model.

Additionally, platforms like OOH are still out ofreach for MarCom purposes

Out-of-home is one of the very critical platforms which is usuallymissing from number-driven scientific planning for MarCom

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purposes. A few years ago, MRUC started with outdoor mediaplanning currency; however this currency seems to have vanishedfrom the market space for some reason. Which means that at thetime of writing this book, we do not have a single, standard,syndicated, out-of-home media planning currency?

Agencies and advertisers have their own individual outdoor sitedata-bases to rate outdoor sites. There is no industry standardagainst which to benchmark. The passage data for these outdoorsites are also not updated regularly by agencies and hence thedynamics of road traffic, new shopping-mall footfalls, and new placesfor socialising are not captured properly. There is a huge gap incapturing of outdoor data as well as in reporting it systematically atregular time intervals.

All this, despite the huge monies involved in OOH, where a singleprime hoarding is priced at over 10 lakhs for a week’s space.

The question that arises in the mind is, don’t our advertisers (ourclients), deserve at least sufficient passage data (OTS) to understandthe outdoor media space for which they are paying huge rates?

Don’t these amazing brands deserve informed media planning forbetter synergies in the MarCom space?

No currency provides media consumptionPATTERNS for In-home v/s out-of-home forweekday v/s weekend

It takes a simple understanding to say that the weekday andweekend behaviour of audiences differ visibly. So do their mediaconsumption habits. The time spent by audiences on professional

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space, friends, family, personal relaxation, entertainment, etc., areall different for weekdays and weekends.

For example, take the typical case that we discussed in our firstchapter. Ameet, the working individual, during a typical working day,is a passive radio listener at home, glances through his newspaper onhis smart-phone in hurry and rushes to the office. Whilst commutingto office he gets exposed to the outdoor medium too. However, hisfocused activity is to reach office.

The same individual on a typical weekend when he is not at work,listens to the radio actively, reads the newspaper very attentively,and spends the day with family over a movie at a Multiplex and atshopping-malls. Therefore his receptivity of media messages acrossplatforms would be different for weekdays and weekends.

A result of the above example is the classic, confused, real-worldscenario which occurs in the case of radio. According to radiolistenership data, weekend/Sunday listenership is higher thanaverage weekday listenership. However, as per AdEx report, theadvertising volume on weekend/Sunday is much lower than averageweekday. Why does this happen and who is to blame for this faultyplanning?

Which means that even analysis of available data is not being donein a sensible manner and MarCom funds are being wasted?

Data accuracy level v/s Population diversity

India is famous for its multicultural diverse society. In India we donot have a unilateral culture across the country unlike in the

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Western world. In fact most of the Indian metro areas are populatedwith multi-linguistic audiences. For example, in metros such asMumbai and Delhi, we can find many people with differing mother-tongues and cultures. This could have a significant influence on theoverall media consumption behaviour.

Therefore, selection of an individual as part of a sample would needto be very intelligently done. For example, if there is only one Tamilspeaking person in a locality which is predominantly Maharashtrianand he is the one who is random selected by the research agenciesto represent the audience of that locality? Based on his mediaconsumption /lifestyle patterns, wrong results would be obtained onextrapolation of this one individual for over 20,000 people and theirviewing/reading/listening habits. The individual selected could easilybe an outlier and not representative of the majority population ofthat geography as his lifestyle and media consumption pattern issignificantly different from the majority in that geography.Currently there is no practice to identify whether this error is beingcommitted. As of now, for television and radio, no currency is takingthe effort to report the consumption at the mother-tongue level.

On the other hand we have audience research currencies that claimto have sample sizes sufficient to report 90% to 95% accuracy level.The question that arises here is, has this sampling frame beendecided on the basis of population diversity of a particulargeography? As explained above, within a specific geography therecould be a vastly differing multi-linguistic population with diversecultures, especially in a metro environment. Can we state withconfidence that the sampling frame selected by these currentlyexisting currencies is sufficiently robust to represent all the diverse

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groups in this geography? Else the accuracy level they claim of 90%to 95% is pure fiction.

The reason these questions arise here is the foundation on whichthese concepts of confidence levels and confidence intervals arepracticed. Industry practitioners basically started practicing this inthe Western world, where a unilateral culture exists and hencetown-wise/geography-wise sampling to capture confidence levelsand confidence intervals would be a good idea. Whereas in India, thesituation is totally different from the homogenous Westernenvironment; as we have multiple different small ‘countries’ within asingle town or geographical area.

The question which arises here is - how are we taking care of theabove lacuna in the Indian context?

And if at all we are addressing the issue, then who is validating therobustness and how robust are these validations?

To comment on this chapter SMS <AB5> space <your comment> to 08080445599OR give a missed call on 08080445599 to post a like

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6. The ‘Bridge’ Model

We have elaborated on the evolution of the media industry in Indiain recent decades in chapter two of this book. We also discussed thelimitations of the current media research providers for various mediaplatforms. So far we have discussed and articulated the currentscenario and process.

The limitations that we discussed related to existing media researchand planning in previous chapters need to be addressed by theauthors of this book as founders, developers and custodians of theconcept of the ‘Bridge’ model for MarCom”.

Carrying forward, let us now examine:

“How to Bridge” the gaps in the current MarCom space.

Let us first visualise a dream MarCom Model which could deliver thefollowing:

Cross-Media REACH and FREQUENCY build up (exposure)provided within a single currency.

Cross-Media CONSUMPTION with ENGAGEMENT could alsobe presented in the same currency.

DAY-PARTS wise Cross-Media behavioural engagement couldalso be provided within this currency.

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And imagine if you could know where the consumers of yourproduct/services lie, and:

- Track how they react to your communicationmessages through path to purchase stages

- And their interest areas for products and services

The basic building blocks for the ‘Bridge’ model could be depicted asunder -

Figure 1

A. Cross-Media Reach and Frequency:

Conventionally, data-driven media planning and buying happenswith available audience measurement currency for an individualmedia platform. Therefore media planning and buying for brandsthat aim to be present across media is done by evaluatingindividual media platforms and not cross-media platforms in

Day-Parts

Media Engagement

Cross-Media R&F

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And imagine if you could know where the consumers of yourproduct/services lie, and:

- Track how they react to your communicationmessages through path to purchase stages

- And their interest areas for products and services

The basic building blocks for the ‘Bridge’ model could be depicted asunder -

Figure 1

A. Cross-Media Reach and Frequency:

Conventionally, data-driven media planning and buying happenswith available audience measurement currency for an individualmedia platform. Therefore media planning and buying for brandsthat aim to be present across media is done by evaluatingindividual media platforms and not cross-media platforms in

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terms of reach and frequency. Obviously, the net reach andfrequency of cross-media platforms depends upon assumptions,as no audience measurement currency currently provides thesame.

To start with, the main purpose of the ‘Bridge’ model is toprovide cross-media reach and frequency. This would essentiallyprovide the net reach and frequency across media platformssuch as TV, Print, Radio, Internet, etc., which is an importantelement, yet not currently available through any currency.

The obvious benefits of this would be:

i. Media spend allocation across media platformswould be more intelligently done.

ii. Media buying efficiency would improve.iii. Controlling spill-over of message would be

possible and hence wastage would be greatlyreduced.

However, in order to capture cross-media reach and frequency,the ‘Bridge’ model captures media vehicles across mediaplatforms except for outdoor media.

Importantly, the ‘Bridge’ model will not only capture traditionalmedia, but also aim to capture behaviour across smart-phones,tablet PC, multiplexes and shopping malls. This would make the‘Bridge’ model an effective tool for fourth-generation mediaplanning.

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B. Media Engagement:

The USP of the ‘Bridge’ model is all about measuring mediaengagements through audience behaviour across different day-parts. As discussed in previous chapters, all the currentlyavailable media currencies for individual platforms provide onlyexposure-based media consumption. However, this is an era ofcross-media and multi-tasking. Therefore, it can very well impactthe audiences’ receptivity. This receptivity will obviously have animpact on brands that are being advertised/ communicated. Thiswould also have implications for media content across platforms.

Henceforth, engagement levels of audiences are going to becritical whilst conducting cross-media planning and buying, foreffective utilisation of ad budgets.

Below is the engagement Pyramid depicting levels of individualmedia consumption patterns/habits to understand parameters of‘Ad-Avoidance’ as per the ‘Bridge’ model.

Figure 2

Level 6. Loyal

Level 5. Active

Level 4. Switcher

Level 3. Secondary

Level 2. Passive

Level 1. Disturbance

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B. Media Engagement:

The USP of the ‘Bridge’ model is all about measuring mediaengagements through audience behaviour across different day-parts. As discussed in previous chapters, all the currentlyavailable media currencies for individual platforms provide onlyexposure-based media consumption. However, this is an era ofcross-media and multi-tasking. Therefore, it can very well impactthe audiences’ receptivity. This receptivity will obviously have animpact on brands that are being advertised/ communicated. Thiswould also have implications for media content across platforms.

Henceforth, engagement levels of audiences are going to becritical whilst conducting cross-media planning and buying, foreffective utilisation of ad budgets.

Below is the engagement Pyramid depicting levels of individualmedia consumption patterns/habits to understand parameters of‘Ad-Avoidance’ as per the ‘Bridge’ model.

Figure 2

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The engagement levels of an individual across various mediaplatforms that are being captured by the ‘Bridge’ model are asfollows.

Figure 3

Below we will now explain and elaborate the above matrix. Forpurpose of convenience, television and radio have been explainedtogether since the engagement levels for ‘Ad-avoidance’ accordingto the ‘Bridge’ model are commonly applicable to both these media.

Similarly, newspapers and magazines have also been explainedtogether for the same reason. (4 of the 6 levels are commonlyapplicable to both these media).

Internet is explained separately as 4 distinct levels of engagementare applicable to the Internet.

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For Television/Radio

Level 1- Disturbance:If an individual is switching between media consumption andother activities/work in different rooms, then he/she is atthe engagement level of ‘Disturbance’. E.g. If a housewife isengaged in cooking food in the kitchen and simultaneouslymoving to watch TV in the living room from time to time, weterm her level of engagement as ‘Disturbance’ according tothe ‘Bridge’ model.

Level 2- Passive:When an individual is consuming media alongside doingsome other activity in the same room, we term it as ‘Passive’level of engagement in the ‘Bridge’ model. E.g. If ahousewife is watching TV whilst cutting vegetables(performing both activities in the same room), then we saythat she is passively engaged.

Level 3- Secondary/Unintended Exposure:If an individual happens to be exposed to a medium becausesomeone else alongside who is consuming it, (or as we say, isunintentionally exposed to the medium), it is termed as‘Secondary Level’ of media engagement according to the‘Bridge’ model. E.g. If an individual does not intend to, but iswatching television because his/her spouse is watching aparticular programme then it becomes ‘Secondary Level’ ofengagement. (It can happen that such secondaryviewing/listening may engage the individual and he/shecould at a later stage be converted to ‘Loyal Level’ ofengagement).

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Level 4- Switcher:If an individual is viewing TV, and is continuously switchingTV channels across different genres (sports/news/soaps), ina particular viewing occasion without any disturbance orinterruption, he/she is termed as ‘Switcher’ level ofengagement according to the ‘Bridge’ model.

Level 5- Active:If an individual is flipping across TV channels of the samegenre (e.g. GEC: Star, Zee, Sony, Colors) in a particularviewing occasion without any disturbance or interruption,then he/she is termed as ‘Active’ level of engagement as perthe ‘Bridge’ model. E.g. If an individual who is viewing TV, isswitching across different English news channels in aparticular viewing occasion, then his/her engagement is atthe ‘Active’ level within the genre.

Level 6- Loyal:If an individual is regularly consuming certain content/programme on a specific channel, in a certain day-part,intentionally and consciously, without any disturbances orinterruptions, then he/she is at the ‘Loyal Level’ ofengagement according to the ‘Bridge’ model. E.g. If ahousewife is watching a particular TV programme on aspecific channel on a regular basis without any disturbances,then she is at ‘Loyal Level’ of engagement according to the‘Bridge’ model. Loyal level means that on a regular basis, dayafter day, the individual is attached to that channel.

Please Note – At Level 1-5, an individual need not always be a‘Switcher’ or ‘Active’ or ‘Passive’. At different day parts and on

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different days, he/she may be a Loyal or Active or even Secondary,depending on his mood and behaviour. Also, in the aboveelaborations, radio channels could also be substituted as examples.

For Newspaper/Magazine:

Level 3- Secondary:An individual reading any random newspaper/ magazine as atime-filler, which is available within his/her reach is termedas ‘Secondary’ level of engagement according to the ‘Bridge’model. For example, if a person is reading a magazine whilewaiting at an office/dentist-reception, or at a saloon, thenhe/she is considered at the ‘Secondary Level’ of engagementaccording to the ‘Bridge’ model. (Of course, if suchunintentional reading ends up in engaging the individual,he/she can be converted to the next level of engagement.)

Level 4- Switcher:An individual reading multiple genres/languages ofnewspapers or magazines he/she has subscribed on areading occasion (approached casually/ irregularly) is termedas ‘Switcher’ level of engagement according to the ‘Bridge’model. For example if an individual flips through generalnews daily (Times of India {English}, Maharashtra Times{Marathi}) along with business daily (Economic Times) in aparticular reading occasion, he/she will be termed as‘Switcher’ level of engagement.

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Level 5- Active:An individual reading a particular genre ofnewspapers/magazines on a regular basis on a particularreading occasion is termed as ‘Active’ level of engagementaccording to the ‘Bridge’ model. For example, if an individualreads only business newspapers/magazines on a regularbasis, then he/she will be engaged in ‘Active’ level ofengagement according to the ‘Bridge’ model.

Level 6- Loyal:If an individual has regular access and reads a particularnewspaper/magazine on a daily basis or as per theperiodicity of the newspaper/magazine, then he/she isengaged at ‘Loyal’ level of engagement according to the‘Bridge’ model.

Please Note: In the case of newspaper/magazine , Level 1 and Level2 of the ‘Bridge’ model do not apply, therefore in this case thelowest level starts from Level 3 (Secondary).

Thus Print media rightly gets an advantage, as ‘Disturbance’ and‘Passive’ levels of engagement are not applicable.

For Internet:

Level 1- Disturbance:If an individual accessing the computer is multi-tasking(working on an office application while surfing the internet)he/she will be termed as ‘Disturbance’ level of engagementaccording to the ‘Bridge’ model.

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Level 4- Switcher:If an individual dedicatedly accessing an Internet Browser, issimultaneously switching between different types of portalssuch as ‘searches’, ‘on-line-shopping’, ‘social networkingsites’, ‘You-tube’ in a particular session will be termed as‘Switcher’ level of engagement according to the ‘Bridge’model.

Level 5- Active:If an individual dedicatedly accessing an Internet Browser, issimultaneously switching between a specific genre of portalseither ‘on-line-shopping’ OR ‘social networking sites’ in aparticular session will be termed as ‘Active’ level ofengagement according to the ‘Bridge’ model.

Level 6- Loyal:If an individual visits a particular website/portal on a regularbasis without multi-tasking or switching between portals in aparticular session, then he/she is termed as ‘Loyal’ level ofengagement according to the ‘Bridge’ model.

Please Note: In the case of Internet, Level 2 and 3 of the ‘Bridge’model will not be applicable.

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C. Media engagement by day-parts:

Audiences across media usually are not at the same level ofreceptivity and engagement across day-parts. As discussed inprevious chapters, every individual tends to behave andconsume media differently during different day-parts.

However, capturing of this behaviour and application of thisknowledge in marketing and communication is still a grey area.Therefore the ‘Bridge’ model provides the much neededmaterial for audience engagement by day-parts. This is one ofthe three main building blocks of the ‘Bridge’ model.

Let us understand how this could be represented with mediaexposure levels to take informed decisions in the MarCom space.For example, let us consider a hypothetical case for depicting TVexposure (Reach%) versus emotional engagement score forhousewife as the audience segment.

Figure 4

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In Figure 5 above, we have represented exposure versus emotionalengagement of ‘housewife’ as a hypothetical example of an audiencesegment by day-parts. This will enable us to understand howexposure and emotional engagement stages could differ. This wouldcertainly help in taking informed media planning decisions.

The graph in Figure 5 clearly depicts that exposure does not equateemotional enragement (which is not even currently considered inMarCom practices), and hence gives no guarantee of expectedreceptivity. It can be seen from the graph that for mid-morning (11am – 2 pm) and afternoon (2 pm – 5 pm) day-parts where theviewership of housewife is lower as compared to prime-timeviewership, but the engagement with the medium is very high inmid-morning and afternoon day-parts due to lesser disturbances andhigh involvement with the medium.

This would have great implications for MarCom.

Currently, only exposure is considered as the criteria for deciding‘prime-time’ slots. According to figure 5, prime-time to target thehousewife segment would be 7 pm – 11 pm or thereabouts as perthe current exposure based media planning practice.

But when we consider high engagement level with the medium forthe housewife segment, the prime-time significantly changes andwould be in the range of 11 am – 5 pm.

MarCom budgets could see drastic changes in the context of costsavings and yet achieve far greater ROI if this is considered.

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For business articulation, this can be presented in a 2X2 matrix asdepicted below for ‘exposure’ versus ‘engagement’.

Figure 5

The quadrants of the above matrix can be filled with variables suchas TGs, day-parts, mediums, media vehicles/properties, etc.

Below are the few hypothetical examples for above mentionedbusiness matrix with quantitative scale.

Cross-media exposure versus engagement in a particularday-part

This could be articulated with an example of a college studentsegment that is exposed to TV, Internet and Radio during theday-part of 6 pm to 9 pm. This segment for instance would belistening to the radio while commuting from college to home.Once they reach home they would switch on the TV as well astheir laptop for browsing social networking sites.

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For business articulation, this can be presented in a 2X2 matrix asdepicted below for ‘exposure’ versus ‘engagement’.

Figure 5

The quadrants of the above matrix can be filled with variables suchas TGs, day-parts, mediums, media vehicles/properties, etc.

Below are the few hypothetical examples for above mentionedbusiness matrix with quantitative scale.

Cross-media exposure versus engagement in a particularday-part

This could be articulated with an example of a college studentsegment that is exposed to TV, Internet and Radio during theday-part of 6 pm to 9 pm. This segment for instance would belistening to the radio while commuting from college to home.Once they reach home they would switch on the TV as well astheir laptop for browsing social networking sites.

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Let us now understand how this audience segment can berepresented on ‘exposure’ versus ‘engagement’ scale with thehelp of the below depicted scatter graph. (Figures in graph arehypothetical for understanding purposes)

Figure 6

Day-parts by Target Audience Segments

Let us understand how we can put across day parts in thecontext of the ‘Bridge’ model. For instance let us take ahypothetical example of the housewife as an audience segment.The exposure vs. Engagement level for this segment during atypical weekday can be plotted by day-parts to understand TV asa medium of consumption.

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Let us now understand how this audience segment can berepresented on ‘exposure’ versus ‘engagement’ scale with thehelp of the below depicted scatter graph. (Figures in graph arehypothetical for understanding purposes)

Figure 6

Day-parts by Target Audience Segments

Let us understand how we can put across day parts in thecontext of the ‘Bridge’ model. For instance let us take ahypothetical example of the housewife as an audience segment.The exposure vs. Engagement level for this segment during atypical weekday can be plotted by day-parts to understand TV asa medium of consumption.

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Figure 7

Audience Segments in a particular day-part

Similarly, various audience segments in a particular day-partfor a particular media platform can be represented throughthe ‘Bridge’ model. For instance, let us look at the 6 pm – 9pm slot as day-parts for the housewife, students andworking-men as audience segments. An average housewifeis exposed to TV during this day-part but is at differentengagement levels such as ‘Disturbance’ and ‘Passive’, basedon the ‘Bridge’ model. Whereas, students in this day-partare exposed mainly to TV at ‘Secondary’ and ‘Disturbance’levels of engagements.

This is due to the fact that though the housewife is watchingTV, she would have interrupted exposure to TV, due topreparation and serving of dinner for the family, looking at

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children’s homework and packing school-bags, etc. Working-men are engaged with TV during this day-part with‘secondary’ and ‘passive’ levels of engagement, as eithertheir wife or younger household member is watching TV andthey get exposed to TV, but not to the channel of theirchoice. Some of them are also exposed to TV with ‘switcher’level of engagement.

Figure 8

The graphs and figures depicted and explained in this chapter so farhave been elaborately explaining on two dimensional basis to give abetter understanding to the reader about the basis for the ‘Bridge’model.

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children’s homework and packing school-bags, etc. Working-men are engaged with TV during this day-part with‘secondary’ and ‘passive’ levels of engagement, as eithertheir wife or younger household member is watching TV andthey get exposed to TV, but not to the channel of theirchoice. Some of them are also exposed to TV with ‘switcher’level of engagement.

Figure 8

The graphs and figures depicted and explained in this chapter so farhave been elaborately explaining on two dimensional basis to give abetter understanding to the reader about the basis for the ‘Bridge’model.

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The Bridge score (B-Score)

It is important to have unified statistics to explain ‘engagement’ and‘exposure’ together. The unified statistics for engagement andexposure would make it easy for every MarCom practitioner tounderstand these two dimensions. For purposes of simplicity, the‘Bridge’ model provides the “B-Score” that calculates ‘exposure’ inrelation to ‘engagement’ levels to arrive at single score called “B-Score”, which represents both dimensions in a single figure.

Furthermore, this “B-score” can be calculated for use as a tool todetermine investment effectiveness.

Formula for deriving the “B-Score” based on the Engagement Levelsof the ‘Bridge’ Model:

As an example to explain the formula, let us assume that the TVviewership (reach) of working population in the age group of 25-44in SEC AB Males during 8 pm - 10 pm on a typical weekday is at 44%.

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However, the mentioned audience segment’s average engagementlevel is at 4.7 of the engagement pyramid of the ‘Bridge’ model asdiscussed for TV.

Therefore, the “B-Score” would be calculated as 34.4%. (Workings:4.7 / 6 x 44).

Capturing data for the ‘Bridge’ model

The next logical question is how data could be captured forcalculation of the “B-Score”.

Well, there are different methods currently practised for mediameasurement such as Face-to-Face, Diary, Electronic, Internet etc.

Let us evaluate the advantages and limitations of each of thesemethodologies to understand the suitability for capturing the‘Bridge’ model.

i. Face-to-Face methodology

This method requires a very well established and wellnetworked field resource capability.

Availability of respondent’s time at the time of visit could bean issue.

Respondents may leave the interview half way as fatiguelevel rises with long questionnaires.

With this methodology of data capturing, the respondentmay not be in the right frame of mind to answer memory-based questions on his media consumption behaviour byday-parts as such interviews happen without prior intimationand preparation.

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Even field interviewers are vulnerable to practicingmanipulation.

Questionnaire printing cost is a separate and considerablecost burden. Also the cost of dispatching questionnaires tomulti locations is high.

Access to affluent households (which are the most importantTG for many surveys), is still a big problem.

ii. Diary Methodology / Leave-Behind Questionnaire

In the Diary Methodology, it would require the interviewer toleave behind a diary/questionnaire to allow the individual tocapture their daily media consumption/activities and answerpsychographic statements. In this method we face the belowmentioned concerns -

People tend to fill the diary just before the collection timeand not as per instructed in the diary.

Individuals from affluent households are difficult to engagein participation.

It is highly cost-driven as data capturing is manual andprinting, dispatching is a significant component of the cost.

iii. Electronic

Capturing the required data by the portable people-metertechnique would involve huge investments. Also, it wouldadditionally require administering a separate survey forcapturing the respondent’s behaviour while consuming a distinctset of media.

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Therefore the question that arises here is, what can be theappropriate method that can:

Give us direct access to the sampled individuals. Allow them to respond as per their convenience. Give easy access to individuals from affluent segment of

society. Reach a wider geographical spread across in a short time

frame. Be less tiring for the respondent Avoid manual intervention and hence reduce human error at

capturing level and data entry level. Report data in real-time to subscribers. Allow the measuring effect of media campaigns instantly due

to real-time reporting of data. Reduce the printing and other human recruitment costs. Lay the foundation for the next level of GenNext market

research. Give access to questionnaire to a respondent who is on the

move.

The method that we are proposing to replace the existing methodsand get all the above mentioned benefits is the HybridOnline/Mobile Panel method, which is devised to capture a dayin the consumers’ life taking into consideration media-mix focus aswell as emotional engagement.

This method is capable of providing all the above mentionedbenefits, which are lacking in existing data collection methods.

The specific questionnaire in our proposed method will be designedin such a way that it actually captures the audience behaviour by

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day-parts, unlike other current media research questionnaireswhich are designed only to capture media exposures.

The questionnaire would be in the form of an ‘auto-navigateddigital diary’ which would also be available on the web/smart-phone as an app. to the panel member. The panel member wouldsimply need to fill the digital diary for his/her media consumption byday-parts. If the respondent somehow doesn’t fill up the digital diaryfor a particular day-part, the same set of questions would be pushedthrough mobile ‘USSD’ or ‘IVR’ method. The ‘Bridge’ model willfollow the new Socio Economic Class definitions for recruitments.

In addition, the detailed reasons for behaviour of audiences in thecontext of media can be captured with the help of Focus GroupDiscussion on regular intervals. This would add more clarity toaudiences’ emotional engagement and exposure by different day-parts. Advertisers can use these findings for more rationale basedMarCom rather than mute head count based MarCom.

Real-Time Validation

Now, since we have introduced this research concept, the questionobviously arises on the validation of the data. We propose validationthat can be done with minimum human intervention.

Since this is an online real-time consumer panel survey, we proposethe following data hygiene steps should be followed:

Responses should be captured from unique IPaddresses/mobile numbers only.

The standard average time pre-estimated to complete aparticular questionnaire would be matched with the

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response time taken by the individual. If it is lower or higherthan the pre-estimated tolerable limit, that particularresponse would be flagged off.

Pattern of responses would be monitored and crossvalidated. It will ensure that the respondent has understoodand answered the questions accurately. Any completedquestionnaire which contains apparently casually entereddata (e.g. all responses ticked as 3), would be flagged off.

The above mentioned validation points would be executed in real-time without human intervention. This will ensure more robust datawhich can be relied upon for purposes of large investment researchstudies, based on which vital MarCom decisions would be based.

Direct Advantages of the ‘Bridge’ model:

Let us now evaluate the direct advantages of this developed model,which is not intended to replace existing currencies. Rather, it willprovide much needed added rationale for taking informed media-investment decisions, scheduling, and understanding thebehavioural engagement of audiences.

The advantages of the ‘Bridge’ model are:

A single methodology to capture ALL media and emotionalengagement across day-parts.

Helps in investment decisions based on multi-dimensionallevels containing behavioural-based insights rather thanonly based on ‘exposure’ as is currently being done.

Less chances of under-reporting or over-reporting of aspecific medium, as it is not a medium-centric currency.

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Unique syndicated study that provides weekday v/sweekend, home v/s out-of-home behavioural data by-dayparts and emotional engagement.

Vehicle level data reporting by day-parts. Opportunity for brand tracks on following parameters. (The

parameters will be discussed in detail in the next chapter). Awareness Liking Purchase Intention

A small case on the application of the ‘Bridge’ model follows:

Let us understand the utility of the “B-score” with the help of ahypothetical case of a brand, which is a telecom service provider.

The brand ‘Konnect’ is one of the top telecom service providers inIndia. ‘Konnect’ wants to communicate its new offering toprospective customers. The new offering intends to offer 3G servicesat a price of 2G for the first six months to consumers opting to switchto their network as customers via mobile number portability. Thesame price benefit will also be passed on to its existing ‘Konnect’users for the same duration to retain its customers.

The objective is set out to be as under:

To effectively reach and communicate the new 3G scheme tocompetitors’ customers, specifically those who are full-time workingpopulation in the age group of 25 to 44 from Socio-Economic ClassAB.

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The CMO of ‘Konnect’ briefs the media agency about the objectivewith a campaign period of 4 weeks at a budget of INR 6 crores pan-India.

As per the traditional approach of following IRS/TGI/AdEx and alsothe client’s historical pattern, the investment split was verypredictable as depicted in the figure below. TV as usual dominatingthe split with a 65% share of the budget followed by print with 25%share, whereas Radio and Internet were allocated 5% each for mediainvestment split proposed by the media agency representing‘Konnect’.

However, studying the results from the new wonder model ‘Bridge’,on the insistence of the CMO of ‘Konnect’, the media agencyunfolded a different picture.

As discussed earlier, the ‘Bridge’ model includes the concept of ‘B-score’, which is a multi-dimensional score for exposure and variousengagement levels. This helped them to understand the target

TV, 65%

Print, 25%

Radio, 5% Internet, 5%

Media Investment Split based on TradionalCurrencies (IRS/TGI/Adex)

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audiences’ media behaviour, rather than only headcount-based orcompetition led investment split as per traditional existing approachused by MarCom professionals.

According to the ‘Bridge’ model, the new investment split based onthe “B-score” showed a split of 45% for TV, 30% for print, 15% forRadio and 10% for Internet, including social networking sites andnew media as depicted below.

On the basis of the above mentioned investment split, (which isderived on the basis of the explanation provided above after theformula for ‘B-Score’ is explained), ‘Konnect’ asked its media agencyto look for media vehicle level “B-score” to understand vehicle levelinvestment split within media platform.

Once the vehicle level “B-score” is understood, the media agencystarts using traditional media planning currencies such as TAM,

TV, 45%

Print, 30%

Radio, 15%

Internet,10%

Media Investment Split based on B-Score

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RAM, IRS, etc. for micro level planning. But the big picture becomesclear due to application of the ‘Bridge’ model.

The media plan finally receives approval from the ‘Konnect’ CMO.The media agency also gets competitive rates from planned mediaproperties for the campaign for ‘Konnect’.

However, in the midst of this campaign, (which was in full swing),there came a piece of unexpected national level headline news onthe famous social activist Appasaheb, who was sitting on a protest-fast. Therefore the media attention was obviously tilted towards thisevent across the country. TV news channels were covering this eventextensively and also increased their Ad rates for commercials.

Every single agency was advising their clients to increase spots on TVnews genre especially those whose target audiences constituted theworking population. However, the CMO of ‘Konnect’ was smartenough to tell his agency to evaluate the ‘B-score’ (since ‘B-score’ isavailable real-time) of media platforms and vehicles to understandwhere to adjust the budget allocations during this unexpected event.

Surprisingly, against the opinion of popular media sentiment andtraditional currencies, the CMO at ‘Konnect’ found out thatnewspaper and online news-portals were displaying a competitive‘B-score’. He then decided to avoid expensive news genre on TV foradditional spots and instead diverted some budgets to competitiveprint and internet platform as depicted in the below mentionedchart. This enabled him to save significant percentage of money atthe same time not losing on exposure and engagement levels, whichhe otherwise would have spent on expensive TV news genre foradditional spots as advised by traditional MarCom.

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The above case thus depicts the practical application of the ‘B-Score’concept, demonstrating its utility for enhanced ROI for MarCompurposes.

Opportunities for Media Owners/Media Houses

Media houses that create content on the basis of audienceengagement behaviour by day-parts can clearly benefit fromthe ‘B-score’ concept. For example, a particular media housecan actually compare the ‘B-scores’ of various audiencesegments during the so-called prime-time for its channel vs.competition to evaluate content fit and audience targeting.

Tracking audience segments by various day-parts to predictthe future ‘B-score’ based on historical data patterns.

Media houses can actually approach advertisers withcomparative ‘B-scores’ and make their commercial spacemore competitive by creating positive differentiation. For

TV, 40%

Print, 37%

Radio, 8%

Internet,15%

Media Investment Split based on B-Score- during campaign

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example, a particular TV channel can actually tag a premiumfor high involvement ‘B-Score’ as against the channelviewership.

Opportunities for Advertisers/Brand Owners

Controlled MarCom budget split on the basis of behaviouraldata and not just single dimensional exposure data fromtraditional media planning currencies.

Prediction of behavioural score for target audience on thebasis of past data, which can be utilised for controlledMarCom with minimal waste.

Rider questions can be inserted to understand the ‘productinterest’, ‘intention to purchase’, ‘capacity to purchase’, etc.(This is covered in the next chapter in detail).

It will provide space for advertisers to establish arelationship between ‘B-scores’ and various stages of ‘path-to-purchase’ (awareness, consideration, preference).For instance, the ‘B-score’, which is an engagement andexposure level quantitative indicator, can be co-related withthe captured awareness/consideration or preference levelfor the brand.

Thus the ‘Bridge’ model will be beneficial to all stakeholders - MediaHouses for engaging with their audiences and to conductcompetitive analysis of their properties, Media Agencies for takinginformed media investment-split decisions based on unified B-scoreand also Advertisers for maximising ROI by BRIDGE’ing the Gap foraccountable MarCom.

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7. Enhancing MarCom- THE ‘BRIDGE’ Way

Addressing and continuously enhancing MarCom is very muchdesired by marketers. However, any solution that addressesMarCom, needs to have a built-in flexibility to adapt to the needsand requirements of advertising objectives.

Any syndicated research study that will be used for the purposeof capturing data as inputs to the ‘Bridge’ model, can be mademore effective by adding more features to it for enhancingMarCom.

These additional reporting features should essentially be focusedon the parameter of ‘Return-On-Investment’. They ought toaddress the ‘impact-measurement’ of the campaign in thecontext of various stages of ‘path-to-purchase’ such as brandawareness, brand consideration and brand preference.

Let us now go through the features that can be added to theresearch study that will be used as inputs to the ‘Bridge’ model,which will be continuous in nature.

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Capturing product interest and intention topurchase

As discussed in the previous chapter, the ‘Bridge’ model can beimplemented through the online continuous panel. It will beadvantageous to capture the responses on product interest levelalong with intention to purchase reported by variousdemographics to make MarCom decisions more precise forpurposes of media investment and aid market prioritisation.

To elaborate further, let us take an example of a brand in thetablet PC segment. Suppose the maker of this particular tablet PCbrand wants to launch a new variant designed to target theaudience segment of students but has got a limited budget formarketing and communication. The maker of this tablet PC wouldobviously like to know which market to focus on and how muchto spend. This brand would also want to advertise in a mannerthat will reach the right target audience (in this case, students),and not aimed to the audience segments (e.g. housewives,working professionals and so on), who are not the intendedpurchasers for this new tablet PC, so that the spill over can beavoided.

This could very well be addressed by information on tablet PC‘interest index’ and ‘intention to purchase index’ by variousmarkets across country, which would be provided by the ‘Bridge’model.

For example, if Mumbai and Delhi show higher tablet PC ‘interestindex’ than other metros, in this case the brand owner canprioritise his focus on these markets. By further applying the

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‘Bridge’ model, if it is revealed from data that the ‘intention topurchase index’ for students from Delhi specifically is high, (i.e.they would not only interested in the tablet PC category, but alsointend to purchase the new variant), then the tablet PC brandowner may choose to advertise more on local media such asprint, radio and outdoor in Delhi.

The tablet PC brand owner may now choose to have a small-scalenational level brand campaign to make the presence felt in thenational market also. On the other hand MarCom spends forMumbai markets could be geared towards ‘push’ activities suchas BTL because that is the specific MarCom need for the Mumbaimarket as revealed by the ‘Bridge’ model.

The point here is, the ‘Bridge’ model gives market specificbehavioural data which can be used for fine-tuning MarComactivities for best ROI.

Measuring Campaign Effect

Measuring the impact of a particular campaign in the context ofthe desired direction is what anyone in the MarCom businesswould like to do. However, this would require setting upfieldwork, administering questionnaires and post that, thefindings would usually be presented post the campaign is over.This and other activities would need to be conducted to measurethe effect of a campaign, but MarCom professionals will agreethat these are all time consuming activities.

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Ideally, anyone would like to capture the effect of the campaignwhen the campaign is in progress/active. This would help thebrand custodian understand the impact of the campaign on targetaudiences, so changes if any can be immediately initiated.Even in the case of customised online research, it requires time toset up research and decide on sample size. In a model such as‘Bridge’, which is a continuous, on-line research, the advertisercould include such rider questions to the targeted audienceswhich take care of market specifics to capture the effect of thecampaign efficiently.

The ‘Bridge’ model would also provide a customised tool toidentify the ‘word-association’ that the audiences attach onseeing the advertisement. E.g. Maruti-Suzuki advertisementscould trigger the thought of ‘fuel-efficiency’, ‘availability ofspares’, ‘innovative design’ and so on in the mind of the audience.These ‘word-associations’ would be measured on a strengthassociation index bubble plot (word-cloud), to demonstrate whichmedia/ creative gave more of which ‘word -associations’ for abrand campaign.

This could provide the understanding of the ‘message’ or the cuesthat are being triggered in the minds of the audience, when aparticular ad on a specific media platform is being showcased toan audience. This will help to evaluate the specific impact andmessage receptivity of campaign by various media platforms,which current currencies do not address.

For example, a particular ad campaign for a telecom serviceprovider is being run on newspapers, TV and outdoor. Though thetheme for the message is the same across media platforms, the

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message understanding could be different. It could be perceivedas more of a value-added-service message when aired on TV.However in print, a similar ad could come out as addressing value-added-service plus cost-effective-offerings. Whereas on theoutdoor media platform, the version of the ad could be receivedas a word association of wider network and value-added-services,etc. This will help understand which platform/media is triggeringwhat message cues in the minds of the audience.

The perception of the brand viz-a-viz competitors could also bemapped on pre-defined metrics. These pre-defined metrics couldhave four pre-defined dimensions on a plane such as youth-oriented, matured, team-player, self-centred, etc. Brand positionviz-a-viz competition could be mapped on such dimensions on thedevised plane, pre-campaign as well as post-campaign, tounderstand the impact of the campaign.

Similarly, the emotional impact of an entire campaign too couldbe mapped on predefined emotional dimensions on a plane andthe brand-position could be mapped. These emotionaldimensions such as negative, positive, exciting, dull, etc. wouldhelp understand the impact that the entire campaign created inthe minds of the audience.

Brand Tracking on Path-to-Purchase Stages

Dynamic and alert marketers would understand the clutteredmedia space and hence indulge in intense competition tooutperform the competitor brands.

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This requires that they keep track of their brand on a continuousbasis on all three major path-to-purchase stages. These threestages are - awareness, consideration, and preference. They needto be mapped with media activities by weeks, months, quarter,etc. This would help marketers understand the impact of MarComactivities on their brand’s path-to-purchase viz-a-viz theircompetition on a continuous basis. Such online tracking can beoffered as a need-based solution with the ‘Bridge’ model.

Interestingly, one of the vital advantages of such brand tracking isto receive weekly updates through rapid reporting via an online-tool. This will enable advertisers to generate results andunderstand the ever changing and cluttered media landscape toadapt themselves quickly to such changes.

Impact of National Event by demographics

In a diversified country such as India, there is hardly a single daywhich goes by without an event of national or regionalsensationalism occurring. These events have a very goodpotential to show up their effect on political parties as a brand,voter’s inclination towards these political parties brand equity,and also how people perceive developments/events/incidents.

Usually, we have observed many opinion polls, electionpredictions by many media houses conducted in association withresearch agencies, etc. Obviously, they require setting upinfrastructure which is time consuming.

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Continuous research study such as the ‘Bridge’ model can verywell accommodate such questions for objective based surveys.This would provide ready infrastructure for capturing theresponses of the audiences on national and international events,issues and so on.

In short, this chapter addresses the multiple opportunities that thesyndicated ‘Bridge’ model could be applied to.

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8. In Pursuit of ROI

Return on Investment (ROI) for marketing and communicationspends is not as simple as it is generally understood to be by manyMarCom practitioners at media agencies and media owners.Understanding and selecting the parameters for ROI is a complex butvital subject. It requires collective brain-storming and logicallyputting responsibility on the outcome of MarCom activities andmarketing professionals to fetch results for the advertisers.

Undoubtedly, ROI from MarCom activities would vary acrossdifferent industries. For example, ROI from MarCom activities for anautomobile brand could mean net walk-ins in dealerships forenquiries and the net number of people registering for test drives.On the other hand, ROI for a retail client could mean net number ofcustomer walk-ins into the stores (footfalls). For a typical FMCGclient, ROI could mean a reflection on market share, share of voice,or sales, etc.

Surprisingly, many learned advertisers too do not understand thelogical ROI on MarCom activities; on the contrary they are still stuckin the mindset of the typical ‘recall jargon’ of top-of-mind recall,spontaneous recall and awareness, etc. These are very outdatedways of understanding MarCom effectiveness. Therefore, MarCom

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practitioners need to get on to the path-to-purchase funnel tounderstand the efficacy of MarCom and not just look at recall as aparameter and feel happy about outdated MarCom efficacy.

Following are some attempts made in the history of MarCom byvarious individuals and organizations to address the issue of ROI.

Claude Hopkins way back in 1923 started the concept of coupon-coded ads in the newspaper to measure the response of promotionaloffers made by brands.

The above mentioned example is one of the scientific ways ofmeasuring the effectiveness of advertising along with return oninvestments. It enabled the advertiser to evaluate which newspaperfetched what level of response, by providing separate coupon-codesfor each newspaper. Typically, the advertiser would adjust mediaspends with various newspapers after evaluating the total responseacross each newspaper through the volume of coded-couponsreceived. This is a classic example of scientifically measuring theeffectiveness of media for advertising ROI.

Today, operationally, it would be time consuming to implement theabove concept with the physical coupon-coded method. We wouldtherefore need to exploit the latest technology and models availableto incorporate the above mentioned scientific approach in currentcontext.

In today’s fast-paced and dynamic lifestyle, the above concept couldvery well be implemented with the use of toll-free numbers and SMSin Print, TV, Radio and Internet platforms to measure theeffectiveness of a campaign, which is of a call-for-action nature.

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To understand how this concept could be used in practicality today,let us consider a brand in the health insurance segment.

The brand uses unique toll-free numbers along with the advertisingcreative for a particular promotional offer to advertise innewspapers instead of the regular branch numbers spread acrossthe city which appear in the newspaper Ad. When a prospectivehealth insurance buyer calls this toll-free-number (unique acrossnewspapers), he/she would directly get connected to the nearestbranch office depending upon the location of the call through atechnology called “Geo-Call-Patch”. This would allow the advertiserto keep real-time track of inquires and also evaluate whichnewspapers contributed maximum leads.

Furthermore, during the call, the prospective buyer is provided witha promo-code which needs to be provided during the sale to availthe discount/offer. This would now enable the advertiser tounderstand the complete lead-sale conversion rate as well as costper lead across newspapers.

This means that the entire media campaign can now be madeaccountable in the context of return-on-investment. And, this Ad-Tracking method can be availed across mediums - TV, Print, Radioand internet through unique toll-free-numbers and SMS keywordsacross mediums and vehicles.

A similar scientific approach initiated by the respondent by making a‘Missed-Call’ can be applied for TV advertisements across productsand brands for measuring actual views/recall of the advertisement,unlike perceived exposure to the current 1-min TV viewershipassigned to multiple advertisements run in that minute.

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Media Mix Modelling

Interestingly, in pursuit of ROI, MarCom professionals look outsidefor taking help of agencies such as market research agencies,marketing consultants, etc, but do not acknowledge the fact thatalready available historical data could reveal a lot. These historicaldata points could be used to understand the pattern and relationshipof various variables with one another. This can help them takeinformed MarCom decisions, which would result into better ROI.

The media-mix modelling is one such tool in the data modellingspace that could be used to understand the relationship of variousinput variables such as media spends, insertions, GRPs, Reach, etc.on intended ROI variables that could be net-footfalls, sales, netnumber of enquiries, etc. As explained in previous chapters, we livein a complex multimedia environment, where we are being exposedand engaged to more than one media platform in the same day-part.Therefore, understanding of how these variables are interrelated isvery necessary.

The causal relationship of input variables with the target variablecould be established for understanding how media spends areimpacting sales; how the volume of insertions is impacting netfootfalls, etc. The impact of individual media platforms such as TV,Print, and Internet could be measured in the context of ROIvariables. Joint impact of all the media input variables and how theyare inter-related could also be identified through media-mixmodelling.

However, each media platform will drive a certain set of audiencereaction. For example, TV exposure of a particular brand may lead tomore searches on the Internet for this particular brand. This reactive

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behaviour too needs to be understood and should be captured in themodel.

This approach would not only be useful for controlling media spendsand the correct allocation of budgets across media platforms andmedia vehicles, but also to forecast the ROI in terms of sales, netfootfalls, net enquiries, etc. In fact there is a specialised streamcalled ‘demand forecasting’, which could be linked to mediainvestments, and media agencies could offer this to their clients as avalue added offering.

Interestingly, articulation of media-mix models with detailedunderstanding of coefficients into actionable simple English is ofutmost important for answering the questions raised by MarCompractitioners.

But, it is also equally important to fit these media-mix models into apractical solution. Just blindly following the media-mix model maynot lead to actionable and practical solutions. The MarComprofessionals need to be alert enough to adapt the findings of themedia-mix modelling exercise into their unique business solutions.

Another important exercise that one needs to understand is the‘what-if simulation’ modelling. This is nothing but understandingwhat would be the result of a certain set of actions, so as tounderstand the impact well in advance before any action is beingtaken in reality. For example, what would be the impact of 10%increase of media spend in Print and Radio, with a corresponding 5%decrease in TV? This will reflect the actual real life scenario of howthings are inter-related, randomised, and contributory to each otherin the highly dynamic environment of real life and could be knownwell in advance, so as to have focused direction for action andunderstanding the repercussions of the same.

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These days, many specialised analytics firms are offering suchsolutions to MarCom professionals.

But, it has been observed that MarCom professionals have a casualapproach to media-mix modelling, simulation modelling, etc. Thehistorical data that they possess and the huge volumes of data thatthey work on everyday is actually a gold mine, if used intelligently formodelling, which successively will help in measuring ROI.

Statistical understanding is not optional but a basic necessityfor the true MarCom professional

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References

Andrew Green (2010) From Prime Time to My Time - Measuring televisionaudiences, Warc Exclusive

Beth Uyenco, ESOMAR TV Conference, Montreal (June 2005), Progresstowards media mix accountability - Portable People Meters’ preview ofcommercial audience results

Charlie Horrell, Real-time monitoring of TV advertising performanceAdmap June 2008, Issue 495

Claude Hopkins (1923), Scientific Advertising.(scientificadvertising.blogspot.com)

Hugh M. Cannon and Edward A Riordan, Journal of Advertising Research,Vol. 34, No. 2, (March/April 1994) Effective Reach and Frequency: Does itreally make sense?

Jane Mulligan Traub, James H. Collins and Daniel T Mallett, Jr (June2002), ESOMAR, Print Audience Measurement, Cannes

Jean Pascal Robiefroid and Johan Schockaert, Towards full diary audiencemeasurement, ESOMAR Radio Audience Measurement, Cannes, June 2002

Joe Plummer, Bill Cook, Don Diforio, Bert Schachter, Inna Sokolyanskaya,Tara Korde and Robert Heath, Measures of Engagement: Volume IIAdvertising Research Foundation Workshops, White Paper, March 2007

Jon Swallen and Kraig Schultz, ESOMAR Audience Research, Miami, (May2000), From Questions to Answers. Media Mix Modelling and the Return onAdvertising Investment

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Kalakbandi, Vinay, Mitesh Thakker, and Sayan Chowdary. "MeasuringAdvertising Performance: Ad Tracking technology for Effective Planning ofOffline Media." Proceedings of the IIML International Conference inMarketing. IIM Lucknow: Pearson, Jan 2012. 295-297

Pellegrini, Pasquale and Purdye, Ken (2004), Passive versus ButtonPushing. A Comprehensive Comparison from Parallel TV Meter Panels inQuebec. ESOMAR Television Audience Conference, Geneva, June 2004

PWC India Entertainment and Media Outlook 2012

http://www.imediaconnection.com/printpage/printpage.aspx?id=30444accessed on 2nd October 2012

Livemint, Aug 20, 2012(http://www.livemint.com/Consumer/vqqSc7FkiuPtzkV7tOU93K/TAM-data-faces-questions-from-radio-operators.html?facet=print) accessed on 11th

November, 2012

http://www.thesundayindian.com/en/story/take-a-pick/34/2595/ accessed on11th November 2012 (NRS 2005 – 2006 report published on November 12,2006)

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Glossary of terms

Mess (With reference to book title): A place where people eat, live andsocialise.

TAM (As vertically highlighted in book title): The Audience Measurement

Currencies: Any syndicated audience measurement research that is used fordeciding advertising expenditure is called currency in MarCom domain.

MarCom: Abbreviation for ‘Marketing & Communication’

Exposure/Reach: Media platform/vehicle that is being seen/heard/read byindividuals is typically called exposure and extended meaning in moretechnical word is called reach.

OTS: Average opportunity to see/read/listen.

RPC: Readers per copy

CPRP: Cost Per Rating Point

CPT: Cost Per Thousand

GRP: Gross Rating Point

Media-mix: Various media platforms in proportions

ATL: Abbreviated form of ‘Above the line’ activities such as TV, Print, Radiocampaign, etc.

BTL: Abbreviated form of ‘Below the line’ activities such as groundactivation, exhibition, public relation activities, etc.

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OOH: Out of Home

SEC: Social Economic Class meant for segmenting households in India basedon education and occupation of chief contributor of household expenditurein a particular household.

NRS: National Readership Survey conducted by National Readership StudiesCouncil (NRSC)

IRS: Indian Readership Survey conducted by Media Research Users Council(MRUC)

TAM: Television Audience Measurement by TAM Media Research

RAM: Radio Audience Measurement by TAM Media Research

TGI: Target Group Index done by IMRB

AdEx: Advertising expenditure reports by TAM Media Research

GEC: General Entertainment Channel

CAS: Conditional Access System via set-top box

DTH: Direct-to-Home

DVR: Digital Video Recording

Vod: Video on Demand

IPTV: Internet Protocol Television

Path-to-purchase: Various stages through which a consumer passes formaking brand purchase decision. Typically it starts with brand awareness toBrand consideration to Brand Preference and then developing loyalty.

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Sci-MO is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to bridging the gapbetween marketing science theory and business practice.

Sci-MO aims to create a common platform for likeminded people inthe domain of marketing & communication, where people fromMarCom fraternity can ideate, debate, share their work, whitepapers, research findings for betterment of science driven MarComspace.

Let there be a flame of knowledge in MarCom domain that can beutilized and taken forward by present and future MarCom generation.

Url: www.scientificmarketing.orgEmail: info@scientificmarketing.org

For updates, visit us on www.TheAdvertisingMess.com

You can reach the authors on:amit.n@scientificmarketing.orgbipin.m@scientificmarketing.org

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