“We have bastardised the industry; we cannot blame anyone else”: CEOs

Is it really time for the Indian media and advertising industry to grow up? What are the various ways to get the business model right, to get the content right and give the customer what he wants to see and hear? These were just some of the larger points that were discussed at the Chief Exec Roundtable at the exchange4media Conclave that took place in New Delhi on June 5. The Conclave was presented by STAR News and powered by Hindustan Times. The Associate Sponsor was Yuva.

The panel for this session that was attended by a full house, comprised Ashok Venkatramani, CEO, MCCS; G Krishnan, CEO, TV Today Network; Ishan Raina, CEO, OOH Media; Rajesh Aggarwal, President, Dentsu India; Shashi Sinha, CEO, Lodestar Universal; Srinivasan K Swamy, CEO, R K Swamy BBDO and Vishnu Mohan, CEO, Havas Media, APAC and. The Session Chairperson was Raj Nayak, CEO, NDTV Media.

Raj Nayak was clear on what he wanted these top bosses to table at this session. Nayak began with, “We need to discuss how we grow business; how we redefine relationships within the industry; how do we attract young professionals and what are the things we have to do to make this industry sustainable?”

Get the Youth Involved

Taking on one of the points, Rajesh Aggarwal stated, “There are agencies today that don’t have the time to train young professionals, and frankly speaking, these agencies are not good enough for young talent. As an industry, I don’t think we have been able to understand teenagers, and tried to address their issues and interests.”

He added, “We try and catch the consumers through every medium except the ones they use. There are some 40 crore mobile users in the country, but how many agencies have made an effort to reach those 40 crore mobile users? What I understand by growing up is first acknowledging what the issues are and then taking responsibility for doing something about them.”

Ashok Venkatramani said here, “To me the difference between ‘to grow’ and ‘growing up’ is to be more responsible. If the question is that is it time, then the answer is ‘Yes’. We have to show our viewers the things they want to see and the way they want to see them. What we need to do is to get the right attitude and emphasise more on content and customer satisfaction and shareholders’ value.”

On a different note G Krishnan laid out three points to the audience that the industry must follow - infuse more youth into this industry; promote women in India and see the economy rise. He said, “We are always in recession, and we have to address it all the time. During a crisis, one always comes out with the best solutions. What we did this year for election coverage was commendable, not knowing if the economic situation will improve, we still spent much more money in the elections coverage than what we had five years back. The way news channels covered elections is worthy of praise, as there was no disruption of law and order or capturing of booths, and that means something.”

Ask the Awkward Question to Grow up

Ishan Raina opined candidly that while in the last two decades, the advertising industry had grown old, it had not grown up. He said, “The CEOs of the industry have decided to make this industry a gateway but they want to be the gatekeepers. Unless we ask each other awkward questions, we will not get new ideas.” Raina talked about the FUD factor that CEOs are facing and the fact that they were not confident of future and hence it was leading to lack of leadership.

For Shashi Sinha ‘growing up’ included taking baby steps. He said, “India is a huge market and there are hidden consumers here. We have to get to those hidden consumers. There is a way ahead, and if we want to grow up, we have to take baby steps to get to the consumers and their needs.”

On that Srinivasan K Swamy remarked, “In India, the marketing budgets are a fraction of international marketing budgets. Advertisers and media have an adverse relationship, and it will continue to be so in time to come. There are serious problems that the industry has to face up to before we see it grow up. The onus has to be on someone. If the top five GECs, news channels and radio players stand up to take a plunge and say to the rest of the parties that they shall function honestly, the others will follow suit. If the agencies behave similarly, then the industry will grow up.”

Vishnu Mohan stated in his aggressive spirit: “The problem is that we have bastardised the industry as we see it today, because we don’t know what we want. We cannot blame it on the advertisers. The consultant world has been lost, as an industry, we have forgotten to ask the awkward question, and we simply cannot say no to the advertisers.”

The CEO session at exchange4media conclave 2009 reached these five conclusions

We as industry leaders have to give back to the industry.

We have to do more and not just talk about it

We have to adopt technology

We have to collaborate

We have to bring in younger people