Monday, September 8, 2008

Jottings of an Ex Circulation, sorry RMD, guy


I was in the first batch of the Times School of Management in 1990. When I joined it post doing 3 years of Hotel Management from PUSA it was a typical move of a confused young Bengali who was not smart enough to join Engineering or Medical so from my parents side it was do whatever so that you can earn a living.

On joining I realized that, there is this group called BCCL and in its helm is this three siblings – SJ, VJ and NJ - who are trying to rewrite the rules of the print media in the country. My interactions (mostly in a group) were more with the elder brother than with their late sister or the then young VJ. In that one year, I heard and saw the little steps that were being taken to shake the company out of its lethargy.

I was told about why the Sesquicentennial (I am deliberately not doing spell check here as to emphasise the point that even now I don’t know how it is spelled) events were critical in giving a larger than life image to a newspaper group and move it into a happening brand category.

I was told how and why NIE was started, to ensure that the kids of the Punjabi families started reading TOI from School so that 10 years down when they decided to demand their own newspaper they asked for TOI and HT which was ' Punjabi written in English'. It was also explained to us by Buro Lahiri (sadly no more) the reason behind the setting up of TSM. As per him SJ realised that the media planners plan their media 1/4 by data (can be manipulated so no one really trusts) and 3/4 by guts and what he reads. His reasoning was, as over the years the students from this Institute proliferate and join agencies and take marketing decision-making positions in Orgs they would have a natural bias towards the group thereby making the sales job easier.

If these are not examples of being far sighted I don’t know what are. Ask any Delhi guy who is more than 35 years old and he will talk about the night 'The Boss' sang in JLN stadium. Success of NIE forced the competition to start PACE (and they have done a great job) but BCCL is pushing NIE to the next level in making it a medium to reach School kids across the world and not limit it to Delhi. Thanks to face book I know lots of TSMites who are decision makers and decide on Advt spends across orgs.

When I passed out of TSM I decided to join RMD, circulation to non-BCCl folks, and not the more glamorous Response (Advertising Sales to the aforementioned) as it was spoken as the place where men get distinguished from boys. This was thanks to a speech from SK Mehta (MKD) where he exhorted us to take the tough route rather than the easy. I realized once I was in that I was conned but that is a different story. RMD in the city of Delhi used to be all about getting up at odd hours to go to street crossings where 200-300 hawkers used to come and buy all newspapers. In the afternoon it was going with the magazines on Feeder routes.

Now coming to the main point of this edition of my blog as a rejoinder to Robin and Sen about distribution in the print industry and some myth busting.

Myth 1: Hawker decides which copy a reader reads. I say Bull Shit; this myth was manufactured by the hawkers and given by air by moth balled circulation managers who thought this would increase their worth. Tell me when was the last time a hawker came and sold a newspaper to anyone of us. Most of us don’t even know the bugger as he comes when we are asleep.


Myth 2: We circulation guys know where each and every copy of ours goes and who is our reader. Bull bloody shit, PCC (again started by Times group through Bimal Chadha) showed very clearly that most of the old fogies in circulation had no clue about their readers and even with the name and address in hand could not ensure that the newspapers were delivered at the right address by the right hawker.


Myth 3: Schemes help in selling copies. Yes it does but only because the hawker rotates the copies. Just by giving Tupperware or Bed sheets one cant increase circulation on a permanent basis. That needs to be backed by product improvement, consumer interaction and communication and old-fashioned distribution.


The third myth is where I feel the FMCG types who came in to print have really added value and that is where again the Times group was way ahead of the competition. In spite of the jabs of the old times that these Joote aur biri bechne wale kya jaante hain newspaper sales ke baare mein, they were the ones who broke the mould and brought in new management styles which are the norm today.


Regards,

SN

(Blogkeeper's Note: SN now is the Country Manager of a leading International Wire-Agency in India. He keeps a blog : 'Random Musings' at www.saurjyesh.blogspot.com and can be reached at saurjyesh@gmail.com )--

5 comments:

Sudhir syal said...

Hi - Just read your piece. Extremely interesting?

Can you elaborate on what you mean by FMCG strategies of distribution?

Also, I would be interested in your views on when product improvements start kicking in on improving distribution?

In my opinion - it takes a far longer time in India than it does elsewhere in the World. Case in point is the The New Indian Express in Chennai - Great paper. But an impact on distribution - probably hasn't happened yet..

Sen said...

Useful insights SN! Your views are very close to my heart too, including the "conning" part ;-P

Yes, it is an immutable fact that circulation guys who joined after significant stints with FMCG, did & still does questioning the Status Quo that seems to be omnipresent & omnipotent in the print media industry.

As I cut my teeth, in print media, after a 15 year service with the FMCG sector, I have faced "great" resistance. The bruises are yet to heal.

Some of my proposals, which faced the toughest trials (might in a way answer Sudhir's queries) were:
On the background of 2001-2003 ground realities,

1. Availability at all customer unconventional touch-points like organised retail, entertainment destinations, casual eateries, canteens etc.

I prepared a White Paper, for almost ALL category of "unconventional" outlets, clearly slotting in various in-house publications in each category, based on the TG & the outlet's business goals.

Unfortunately, very little has been implemented, apart from a few anaemic newspaper / mag racks. These too somehow manage to remain empty most of the time & also, a la Wall.e moves into dark corners & behind counters!

2. The mythbuster about vendors is so right! Somehow many publishers still keep swearing by this!

We pushed for months and finally managed to create a FULLY reader-focused activity in Kolkata, for the first time in the publication's history!
Just another new "twist" was added, where the "vendors" were made to understand "how" our efforts "involve" them, "depends" on their participation & finally how they too "benefit" if the activity succeeds.

Speak with any vendor in Kolkata today, ask about the "ABP" subscription activity & s/he will be all smiles!

3. In Sandip's latest post on future of print, which has been commented upon by many from the developed economies too, it's clear that print loses out on the new media, due to its relatively weaker "interactivity"!

I remember proposing, in 2002 & then again in 2005, the following, to bring "interactivity" to the forefront:

a) My Page - Very similar to today's blog! The reader will write & the publisher will print, after grammatical edit & obnoxiousness edits. NO CENSORSHIP.
I was more or less "asked to leave"!

b) I also proposed that the same be rated (after publishing), again by the readers, next issue.

c) The best rated one then gets "adopted" by the lofty edit team & covered as a series, article, investigation - whatever.

I think this is where I started looking for a new job & finally shifted to a new business altogehter :)

Even at the risk of sounding repetitive, I must say that print in India has a glorius future, broadband & handhelds notwithstanding. BUT the caucus MUST go!
Everyone seems hellbent on doing more of the existing rather than breaking new grounds!

It's most probably a lack of real talent & vision at the right positions.

I also know that this comment can seriously jeopardise my future in print media. But then, if the helmsmen in such corporations are themselves so casual about their publications' future, I guess I do not have much to lose!

saurjyesh said...

Sudhir,
Sen has replied to a large extent on your question on impact of distribution on a improved product. Unfortunately media is slightly different as there is a need to constantly be sold everyday for a new product. This is slightly untrue of a soap( FMCG guys might kill me here )where I buy a lux and I will buy it after 10-15 days depending on my usage and everyday I am consuming the same bar and either liking or disliking the experience. Whereas in media every minute you are being exposed to the viewers likes or dislikes. So it takes a much longer time to change the habit.
Where I feel FMCG helped was in the Cash Sale Points ( CSP) where emphasis was put on display, shelf space etc. Unfortunately, as Sen put it, most of us in the biz paid little focus to this exercise and very soon it became a case of going and giving a rack on which later either sachets or other magaznes were hung.
On resistance to ' interactive ' ideas I funnily saw more resistance from the Sahibs of Big English media publications than the smaller town editors of vernacular editions. In my previous job I launched a SMS service and travelled across our various publishing centres educating the Business managers and journalists of the value of the same. I saw that the biggest rejection of new ideas were from the Capital based 'ENGLISH' editors with a clear attitude of we know best and readers will read what we give them to read attitude. Whereas the same ideas were readily embraced by editors in Lucknow and Patna where suddenly it became a new way in which the editors were interacting with the readers. Point I am trying to make is that all of us in big cities suffer from a complex which blinds us to any idea which does not come from us.

Chirag said...

I can add to SN's experience on the editor's front... my current organisation is an "editor led" one. New media is for dum dums is the general "editorial" opinion.

The owner/promoter is screaming that we have no choice, but to move to the web. Yet, in one high powered meeting, one journalist said "I refuse to write for the internet"

Editors aren't the only one's who are causing grief. The entrenched, sales and business types are focussed on defending their turf and want to use the website for selling subscriptions. huh? obviously no one is looking at this beyond his own tenure.

I guess the transition will happen, when the dinosaurs pass away.

and finally a couple of corrections on the tags, the correct spelling is Bennett.

and it is Times School of Marketing.

Cheers

Chirag

Mukul Gupta said...

hello Mr Sen & others..

this converastion is all very interesting..
Can you please elaborate.. what was the ABP subscription activity in Kolkata...