Black and white with shades of grey – Newsprint, Brand Opportunity

While the Times of India remains the most circulated English daily paper in India, it is essentially a tabloid and contains more pages dedicated to advertisements and glamour than to news, objective analysis and opinion. Most other major newspapers seem to be gravitating to the TOI formula. I don’t think such a strategy will increase circulation as the leader strongly holds the relevant mind-space for such an offering.

I am sick and tired of looking at front pages of newspapers that headline tweets made by Bollywood stars or starlets to promote their latest releases, courting controversy as a PR stunt, or which local socialite celebrated his or her birthday and who ate what or wore what,.... copy filled with spelling mistakes and typos, or full page cover ads for brands that papers have financial interests in.

It’s very frustrating to have the media acting as the judge, jury and executioner on sensitive issues without a sense of fair-play or pulling their sleeves up and getting their research and home work right or investigating issues as journos should (with a sense of responsibility).

In a country with an English readership base as large as ours and growing as the aspiration to learn English makes further inroads into the rural Indian hinterland , there’s tremendous opportunity for a large player to position itself as an alternative that is focussed at the segment that seeks  a NEWS paper, that at its core addresses the need for objective news and opinion, factually correct and responsible investigative journalism, and presents both sides of the story, ultimately allowing the reader to make his or her own judgement and aids in objectively shaping the minds and attitudes of its readers on issues that deserve to be on the front page and in the editorial columns.

 Such a positioning exercise or opportunity would definitely have to be backed by a competent and passionate team of editors and journalists who are yearning to align themselves with such a brand idea. What say?

The 'why' factor in marketing communication

A wonderful insight into how one can effectively  communicate and advertise. I am sure this sounds simple but most of us tend to forget the 'why' and focus on the 'what' and 'how'..

Charities and cold calling

In the last two days I have strangely received a couple of marketing calls from some well known NGO brands. 

Anyway,the purpose of this post is to express my displeasure with such cold calls that subtly want to remind individuals of their social responsibility. I understand their pressures to raise donations, but I don't really agree with the concept of cold calling, insensitivity and  stating a  minimum amount that can be contributed apart from  subtly trying to induce a certain amount of guilt when rejected,hoping it can be converted to a financial commitment.

No doubt their causes are admirable, but their approach is something that has left a bad taste for me.Am sure there are better and classier ways to market their brands and solicit contributions for their noble pursuits rather than imitating our credit card companies and their tele callers.

E book pricing

Wonder why electronic versions of books cost the same as the paper versions. Shouldn't the e-versions cost lesser as there's no need for printing, packaging, transportation, shipping, and other associated costs ?