Brand Management Careers, Jobs in the ad world

Jobs in the ad world

In order to succeed in advertising, one has to have competency laced with diverse talents. The copywriter, the visualiser, the art director and the studio technician have to work in tandem.

Advertising - the art of selling a product, service or an idea - is no longer a necessary evil. Even as it is used as an effective marketing tool, it helps educate the consumers about product features and the choice available to them.
The commercial world is today witnessing intense competition, thanks to the advent of liberalisation, privatisation, and globalisation.
Competition has assumed larger dimensions that call for more effective strategies in advertising.
It was Stephen Leacock who once said that advertising was the science of arresting human intelligence long enough to get money from it.
In our country, global advertising agencies partnering with their Indian counterparts have opened up greater career opportunities. The Indian advertisement business is estimated to be worth Rs. 10,000 crores annually.
A message to attract potential consumers of goods or services is designed and put in an appealing format in words, pictures, or multimedia. The genius of an advertiser rests in his ability to optimise the effectiveness of his message through its clever design and the identification of the effective medium for advertising.
An advertising agency should know the requirements of its client (often referred to as an `account' in the advertising world), select the most suitable medium, prepare the content of the advertisement to the satisfaction of the client and buy space or time in the media. It should ensure the best results for the client.
Essential traits
In order to succeed in advertising, one has to have competency laced with diverse talents. The ultimate objective of a good advertisement is to build a strong bond between the product and the consumer.
The backbone of the advertising industry is the ad agency, though the nutrients come from the advertiser.
Advertising has evolved over the years, passing through several phases such as personal selling, product, sales, consumer, value marketing, introspection, quantum advertising, and so on.
An ad agency
In a large advertisement agency there would be different departments such as Copy, Art, Media, Client Servicing and Research & Development Departments. In small units, various functions may be carried out by one department.
Client Servicing Department
This department analyses the client's needs and financial capacity, as well as the potential of each media. The department also keenly keeps a watch on the various options like newspapers, magazines and periodicals, professional journals, radio, television, cinema slides, short films, Internet, hoardings and billboards, personal mail, and house-to-house campaigning.
Creative Department
Proper conceptualisation is the key to success. The copywriter, the visualiser, the art director, and studio technicians have to work in tandem.
The qualities of the product should be put forth in the best of phrases - brief, terse, succinct and catchy phrases, slogans and jingles.
The concept may vary from product to product. A copywriter should have an excellent command over the language and has to be familiar with social trends, current affairs, and tastes of the consumers.
Skills in lettering, photography, videography, sound recording, and other studio operations are also necessary.
Media Planning Department
This department is involved in the identification of the best medium and meeting deadlines.
The functional distribution in an advertising agency may be as follows:
Account Planning: Learns the characteristics of the target population and ensures the relevance and utility of the advertisement.
Account Management: Gathers the needs of the client and conveys them to different departments within the agency. Links the agency and the client. Supervises the production so as to confirm that the product satisfies the customer. Skills in public relations would be of a great help.
Creative Services: Copy and graphics
Media Services: Studies the cost and reach of the various media. There are independent formations known as `Agencies of Record' that render the media services to different agencies.
Traffic: Meets deadlines.
Job opportunities
Job opportunities in an advertising agency include that of account planner, account executive, copywriter, visualiser, creative art director, animator, multimedia expert, photographer, printer, TV producer, media planner, media executive, buyer/marketing professional, web designer, web developer, etc.
The nature of work and the competencies or qualifications required also differ greatly. Those qualified in Commercial Art have ample opportunities in the creative department. MBAs with specialisation in Marketing can play a major role in the client servicing and media planning departments of large agencies.
Often, personal qualities count more than academic degrees for succeeding in this profession.
Those who have been trained in sales, marketing, journalism, public relations, computer animation, etc. have opportunities.
Professional courses
Some of the professional courses in advertising are:
Post-graduate courses:
Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi - 110 067
Mudra Institutute of Communications,
Ahmedabad - 380 058
Bhavan's College of Communication & Management, Andheri West,
Mumbai - 400 058
Rajendra Prasad Institute of Communication & Management, Mumbai - 400 007
Sophia B.K. Somani Polytechnic, Mumbai - 400 026
School of Communication and Management Studies, South Kalamassery, Kochi - 682 033
Symbiosis Institute of Mass Communication, Senapati Bapat Road, Pune - 411 004
Degree courses
University of Bombay, Fort,
Mumbai - 400 001
There are Degree courses in related subjects, in colleges under various other universities including Bharatiar (Coimbatore), Karnataka, and Madurai Kamaraj.
B.F.A. (Applied Art / Commercial Art)
College of Fine Arts, Thiruvananthapuram, Mavelikara, Tripunithura, and Thrissur
Government College of Arts & Crafts, Chennai - 600 003
Kala Bhavan, Visva Bharati, Shantiniketan - 731 235
M.S. University, Vadodara - 390 002
Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi - 110 025
J.J .School of Art, Mumbai
Faculty of Fine Arts, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi - 221 005.


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Brand Management Careers


General is passé, ‘niche’ is in— not only to make a style statement but also to mark your worth in the management world. Ask the corporate recruiters and many will tell you that they are on the look out for ‘special’ skills in their potential employees. It is now a proven fact that companies prefer mbas in several key positions including marketing, finance, it, supply chain, hr and most other areas. Even in technical areas engineers with mbas are treated preferentially compared to engineers without the management qualification.

A large number of specialist mba courses are being developed of late like rural management, forest management, retail management, advertising management, telecom management, business communi-cation, supply chain management, civil aviation management, brand management, etc. Most emerging areas belong to the service sector which contributes more than half the gdp.

With the floodgates of the indian market being opened due to lilberalisation, the indian customers have a large number of choices because foreign companies have started wooing them in order to promote their products. These products include a wide range of electronic goods for household use to automobiles to cosmetics to clothes and so on. But the big question is — what should be the right price and which segment of the consumer should be targeted? Welcome to the most fascinating but intriguing world of brand management.

Brand management is the application of marketing techniques to a specific product, product line, or brand. It seeks to increase the product’s perceived value to the customer and thereby increase brand franchise and brand equity. Marketers see a brand as an implied promise that the level of quality people have come to expect from a brand will continue with present and future purchases of the same product. This may increase sales by making a comparison with competing products more favorable. It may also enable the manufacturer to charge more for the product. The value of the brand is determined by the amount of profit it generates for the manufacturer. This results from a combination of increased sales and increased price.

A good brand name should be legally protectable; be easy to pronounce; be easy to remember; be easy to recognize; attract attention; suggest product benefits (e.g.: easy-off) or suggest usage; suggest the company or product image and distinguish the product’s positioning relative to the competition.

Types of brands: a premium brand typically costs more than other products in the category. An economy brand is a brand targeted to a high price elasticity market segment. A fighting brand is a brand created specifically to counter a competitive threat. When a company’s name is used as a product brand name, this is referred to as corporate branding. When one brand name is used for several related products, this is referred to as family branding. When all company’s products are given different brand names, this is referred to as individual branding. When a company uses the brand equity associated with an existing brand name to introduce a new product or product line, this is referred to as brand leveraging. When large retailers buy products in bulk from manufacturers and put their own brand name on them, this is called private branding, store brand, or private label. Private brands can be differentiated from manufacturers’ brands (also referred to as national brands). When two or more brands work together to market their products, this is referred to as co-branding. When a company sells the rights to use a brand name to another company for use on a non-competing product or in another geographical area, this is referred to as brand licensing.

The branding process begins with the evolution of a new product together with a comprehensive plan to make it an integral part of a consumer’s life. But before the process begins, a market survey is conducted to assess the consumer sentiments. The next step is to assert the brand identity by telling consumers as to how the brand (product) is going to fulfill their needs. The whole process is rounded off by aggressively promoting and campaigning with the use of various media forums and otherwise, to create an awareness among the consumers. Brand management is all about refining and dressing up a particular product so that it finds a permanent place in the consumer’s mind.

The genesis of any brand lies in the identification of a selling idea. The advertising agency assists the company in connecting to the consumers with the help of images and symbols. Brand management is also about delivering various strategies and techniques necessary to sustain the product.

The job of a brand manager essentially revolves around effective co-ordination with the other departments and beyond. In addition to co-ordination the brand manager is also responsible for support to the sales teams, dividing the overall brand strategy and budgeting. In fact, he is the person responsible for flawless functioning of activities such as formulation, productions, packaging and distribution. Further, a brand manager needs to be aware of the trends in the market, must know the effective art of man management and should also be receptive to new ideas. The key to success as a brand manager is practical thinking and always being on the toes.

This is one of the most challenging professions where scope of stagnation is almost nil. To be in the profession you have to learn new things on a regular basis. Moreover, the co-ordination work keeps the brand manager in constant touch with almost every department thus giving him the feel of the whole organization.

To become a brand manager, you should preferably have an mba degree with specialization in brand management. But, you cannot become a brand manager overnight. People generally begin as a part of the sales team. After a sustained good performance for two to three years in the core sales unit team of an organization, only the best and the brightest are promoted to assistant brand/product manager and ultimately to brand manager. The competition is so tough that from a team of about ten people, only a couple make it to brand manager.

Employers who generally provide brand management jobs are- consumer goods corporation; companies specialising in industrial goods; fmcg, pharma-ceutical, diagnostic companies; automobile industry, advertising companies, kpos, financial service companies and banks.

The remuneration of brand managers varies from organization to organization and generally depends upon the experience of person and the company itself. Freshers can earn anywhere between rs. 10,000 and rs. 15,000, whereas those with a couple of years of experience in fmcg industry can earn between rs. 25,000 to rs. 30,000. As the markets in india have become very competitive, the establishment of brands has become extremely important. As a result, the need for brand managers is more than ever before.

Institutes : indian institute of management - kolkata, ahmedabad, bangalore, lucknow and indore; indian institute of science and management- pundag, ranchi – 834004; symbiosis institute of management studies – 15th lane, prabhat road, pune – 411004; sp jain institute of management and research – munshi nagar, dadabhai road, andheri (west), mumbai – 400058; xavier institute of management and entrepreneurship– seva sadan campus, 3rd block, koramangala, bangalore – 560034; institute of management bhubaneswar – gyan vihar, rasulgarh, bhubaneswar – 751010; mp birla institute of management – 43, race course road, bangalore – 560001; indian institute of planning and management – iipm tower, c-10, qutab institutional area, new delhi – 1100016; indian institute of social welfare and business management- management house, college square (west), kolkata-700073; bharatiya vidya bhavan – block fa, sector iii, salt lake, kolkata-700097, and 77, ashutosh mukherjee road, kolkata – 700025.

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Warren Buffett’s 7 Secrets for Living a Happy and Simple Life

Warren Buffett’s 7 Secrets for Living a Happy and Simple Life

http://www.successsoul.com/2008/07/15/warren-buffetts-7-secrets-for-living-a-happy-and-simple-life/


Secret # 1 : Happiness comes from within.
Secret # 2 Find happiness in simple pleasures.
Secret # 3 Live a simple life.
Secret # 4 Think Simply.
Secret # 5 Invest Simply.
Secret # 6 Have a mentor in life.
Secret # 7 Making money isn’t the backbone of our guiding purpose; making money is the by-product of our guiding purpose.


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Make it a point to do something every day that you don’t want to do. This is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain. MARK TWAIN

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Network 18

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The story of how cnn-IBN was formed has a distinct James Bond ring to it. On 15 April 2005, two of NDTV’s pillars — news anchor Rajdeep Sardesai and finance whiz kid Sameer Manchanda — electrified the media and investment community by announcing their split with NDTV promoter Prannoy Roy. Evidently, a senior TV18 official had moled into NDTV and lured the top duo away with an offer they couldn’t resist — ownership. “We left because we wanted to be entrepreneurs,” says Manchanda, now joint managing director of TV18’s subsidiary Global Broadcast News (GBN).

The rest is history. Within a few weeks of the stunning move, CNN-IBN, owned by GBN, had become India’s No.1 English news channel.

In a matter of few years, TV18 has grown like a baby on steroids, from a single-channel operation with Rs 15 crore in revenue in 2000 to a Rs 1,000-crore media behemoth that today boasts news channels, music and entertainment channels, finance websites, newswires, print publications, a tele-shopping venture and a publicly-floated film company. It has aggressively acquired companies, formed savvy partnerships, poached some of the best talent in the country, and promoted a uniquely entrepreneurial culture across all of its properties.

But the fairy-tale ride could hit nasty, unseen speed-breakers. The vast spectrum of investments — an advantage today — could become an unwieldy corporate sprawl during industry meltdowns. Allegations about the company’s unethical advertising practices have also begun to get louder.

In the 1990s, the merger mania in the US gave birth to a new buzz word — synergy — that was appropriated by companies worldwide and printed in thousands of annual reports to justify the conjoining of properties that made millions of dollars for its bankers and top management, but seldom for its shareholders.

Today, ‘synergy’ has been replaced by ‘convergence’ as the new hot concept. TV18, now called Network18, has become India’s most diversified and ‘converged’ media company, and is well on its way to make an international mark. However, convergence is not simply a fashionable idea for Network18. It is one of the few companies that has been successful in monetising its real-time news content by making it available across television, the wire and the internet.

I Want My (M) TV
The man behind this phenomenal growth story is Raghav Bahl, managing director of Network18. Impeccably dressed in a classic pin-striped blue shirt, he strides about the buzzy CNBC newsroom posing for pictures, supported by his trusty cane. “He was a brilliant student, who won all the debates and always topped the class,” recalls Brian Paes, his classmate at St Xavier’s School in Delhi’s Civil Lines. “The kind of student a school produces once in five years.”

Bahl — who was an anchor for Doordarshan in the late 1980s because it paid him Rs 250 a session — began assembling and producing business shows for television in the early 1990s. He anchored the Indian Business Report for the BBC and another one for Star — thus becoming one of the primary providers of business content for television from India. However, Bahl soon realised that the future lay in the broadcast business, not content production.

The Elegant Opportunist
Bahl’s decision to build a media and entertainment powerhouse has proved to be both enormously prescient and exceedingly lucky. He decided to ride the media boom. “The Indian entertainment and media industry continues to outperform the Indian economy, and yet again, is one of the fastest growing sectors in India,” says a 2007 PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report. The report projects the television industry cornering the largest share — around a 20 per cent — in the Rs 75,000-crore media and entertainment pie. It is expected to grow annually at a rapid 22 per cent clip from its current Rs 19,100 crore to Rs 51,900 crore in 2011. No surprise, then, that Bahl looks like he’s willing to scarf up every available media property in sight.

Most other media companies have preferred to guard their monopolistic turf without venturing into alien territory. Network18, however, has been like an octopus, using its tentacles to seize every part of the media pie. For instance, around the time of CNN-IBN’s successful launch, the group was also working on a business plan for a Hindi news channel to complement its new English one. When the floundering Hindi news channel Jagran TV came up for sale, Bahl quickly grabbed a 46 per cent controlling stake from Jagran Group’s M.M. Gupta family — and was able to hit the market at the time of CNN-IBN’s initial high with a Hindi sister channel, IBN 7.

About the middle of last year, Network18 pulled off another coup. Viacom was in trouble and on the hunt for a reliable Indian partner. In the first instance of an Indian media company buying into a subsidiary of a foreign media major, TV18 snapped up a 50 per cent stake in MTV Networks India for Rs 200 crore. In one stroke, Network18 added two music channels — MTV and VH1 — to its broadcasting repertoire as well as acclaimed kids’ channel Nickelodeon. Network18 now boasts seven TV channels — CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz (Hindi business), CNN-IBN, IBN 7 and the Viacom three. It has two immediate launches in sight — IBN Lokmat, a Marathi news channel JV with print group Lokmat, and a retail shopping channel, Home Shop 18. An entertainment channel is also in the works.




Wired To Win
Way back in 2000, when TV18 was a small company with a measly Rs 15 crore in revenues, Bahl made bets on the internet that are serving him well today. He set up e-Eighteen Dot Com, and then picked up an ailing personal finance portal, Moneycontrol.Com. Next, he tied up with online brokers such as ASK Raymond James to offer transaction capabilities.

Many of those internet bets have translated into resounding wins. Today, MoneyCon- trol.com, with 7 million users, has grown to become India’s biggest business portal, and a perfect online partner for the group’s flagship business channel, CNBC-TV18. “It’s a Rs 45-crore brand,” says Network18’s group CEO Haresh Chawla, who claims the group’s internet business generates Rs 60 crore a year.

From the internet, leap-frogging into the news-wire space seemed like a logical move. In late 2006, Network18 acquired Crisil MarketWire, a real-time financial news wire service from Crisil. Calling it NewsWire18, the company broadened the service into an integrated information terminal and now has 600 terminals in the country. Network18’s convergence strategy has not gone unnoticed. “The group is building an effective synergy between Moneycontrol.com and NewsWire18 to compete with Bloomberg,” says Ashok Jainani, an analyst with Khandwal Securities.

The strategy of being present in all segments is obviously not just for the arithmetic sum of the revenue these streams generate. “The objective is to keep the media consumer within the Network18 cluster,” says Group COO B. Saikumar. “Our aim is to connect television, the internet and print to keep the consumer within our basket.”

Filmi Forays
In a country that is obsessed with its movie industry, a media company without a film division is like a Queen without a crown, and Bahl’s group didn’t have one. For Bahl, sitting on the sidelines of a booming multiplex market was not an option. His solution? Poach and build. Bahl lured away Sandeep Bhargava from Sahara One Motion Pictures, who defected with his entire team to set up shop in the backlanes of Mahalaxmi Race Course, a stone’s throw away from Famous Studios.

Confronted with the challenge of scaring up a large sum of money to begin their bets on film, Bahl and Bhargava set up The Indian Film Company (TIFC) in Guernsey, listed it on London’s AIMs exchange and raised $100 million (Rs 400 crore) about 18 months ago. This move has given Studio18, the group’s front for its film business, a lever for raising an equal amount of debt, too, arming it with a war chest of Rs 1,000 crore. Flush with cash, Bhargava has moved forward with a three-pronged strategy: financing in-house films, co-productions and acquisitions. Studio18’s first slew of in-house films, including ‘Fruit and Nut’ with Boman Irani and Cyrus Broacha, are mid-budget, in the Rs 8 crore-10 crore range. The company’s acquisition strategy has also engineered some savvy deals. Bhargava managed to flog the telecast rights for the hit film ‘Jab We Met’ to four channels — 9X, Zee Cinema, Max and Bindass — simultaneously on a non-exclusive basis and for a specified number of airings. No one had done that before. “This got us Rs 12 crore,” says Bhargava. “If we had sold exclusively, we would have earned at best Rs 8 crore.”

A Few Good Men
Perhaps, Bahl’s most astute investments are those he has made in people, such as Bhargava and Sardesai, to run his businesses. Bahl has relied heavily on ‘human brands’, and has handed out the sweet lure of hefty equity stakes and ESOPs in order to bring some star power into his team. Quite a few eyebrows went up when he gave Sardesai, Manchanda and Chawla collectively a whopping 26 per cent stake in GBN — worth around Rs 650 crore on current valuations. But the unprecedented sweetener was vital if Bahl was to take on the might of NDTV. “He (Bahl) has grown aggressively by harnessing entrepreneurial talent, and then empowering them in an autonomous structure,” says Enam Consultants’ media analyst Salil Pitale. Where most media companies are hit by a regular exodus of talent, industry watchers point out that Network18 has managed to win the loyalty of its top managers.

The Great Gamble
When Bahl decided to chuck up his highly successful show with BBC in 1996 to chase a broadcasting joint venture where the risks would be much greater, his directors and shareholders were alarmed. Content was king at the time, but Bahl remained steadfast. He convinced them that margins in the content business would soon be under severe pressure.

His first broadcasting venture was a flop. Bahl formed a union with Singapore-based Asia Business News (ABN), a Dow Jones company that offered TV18 a joint venture partnership. The venture, however, soon collapsed because of poor audience response.

The next round may have gone the same way. “We told CNBC that 22 hours of international content and two hours of Indian news just won’t work,” says Bahl. “You can’t survive on international content. They (CNBC) said you take the risk; we said we will take the whole company.” In Singapore, ABN merged with CNBC Asia, and CNBC launched in India as a 51:49 partnership with TV18 in 1999.

The takeover risk played out in 2003 when the government restricted foreign equity in news broadcasting companies to 26 per cent, and Bahl emerged flush with funds from a rights issue. Forced to dilute, CNBC Asia virtually exited in exchange for a 15-year brand franchise arrangement. In the swap, TV18 upped its holding from 49 to 90 per cent in CNBC-TV18.


Black Holes
The one missing piece in Raghav Bahl’s media empire is print, an arena sharply competitive, saturated, with established monopolies and high entry barriers. Among the regional business dailies, competition has already moved to outflank Network18’s plans to launch a regional Hindi business newspaper. Anticipating a Jagran-Network18 blitz, both potential rivals — The Economic Times and Business Standard — have launched a slew of editions in Hindi and Gujarati from several centres.

Moreover, attempts by Network18 to buy out the daily Business Standard have failed, and now the company says it would launch its own business daily. Though insiders are tight-lipped, Bahl is believed to be pushing for a tie-up with UK’s Financial Times after its arrangement with Business Standard broke down.

Bahl’s initial strategy for print was to pick up a 53 per cent stake in a niche vertical such as Infomedia, better known for its Tata Press yellow pages, for Rs 178 crore. Infomedia gives Network18 a substantial printing capacity for a slew of specialist magazines the group is aiming to launch. However, it has been performing badly and is a difficult business to turn around quickly. For the first nine months of this fiscal, Infomedia’s sales grew dismally, by about 5 per cent to Rs 105 crore compared to Rs 99 crore for the same period in 2006. Its bottom line did worse, dipping from a marginal profit of Rs 1.4 crore to a net loss of Rs 7.5 crore for the current year’s first nine months (see ‘Watch The Numbers on page 40’).

Bahl wants print entities to complement his other media properties. Network18 has made a start with a JV with Forbes Media to launch a fortnightly in India. However, the larger question is: does the company have the cash and the stomach to endure the long and painful grind in a market saturated with established leaders?

Two other ventures threaten to undermine Network18: entertainment television and tele-shopping. Entertainment was the one major element missing from its bouquet but now that the group has allied itself with Viacom, Bahl feels that he finally has the right partner to enter the space. A team headed by Rajesh Kamat, from content company Endemol, and Ashwini Yardi, the programming head poached from Zee TV, is ready to launch the group’s channel. But are they too late?

Quite likely. Much like in the print arena, the channel will have to duke it out in a very crowded ring with well-entrenched heavyweights such as Star Plus and Zee TV, as well as newcomers such as 9X and NDTV Imagine. The competition for entertainment television is especially stiff considering that it draws about 60-70 per cent of advertising spends.

Bahl’s move to enter the tele-shopping arena is also fraught with considerable risk. Network18 is about to launch HomeShop18 helmed by CEO Sundeep Malhotra, on a 24-hour television platform. HomeShop18 hopes to reach a vast array of products and services across 1,600 cities and towns in India. But earlier attempts by Zee TV and UTV to popularise tele-shopping flopped. The Indian penchant to test the look and feel of a product before they buy it has defeated attempts to popularise this alternative way of hawking products. But, if it clicks, Malhotra feels it is a business format that has no plateau point, unlike most others.

Ethically Speaking
If these concerns weren’t enough, Network18 is now being accused by some media watchers of acting in unethical ways, specifically in its ‘private treaties’ programme. Pioneered successfully by the Times group, it involves picking up minority stakes in various companies in exchange for advertising. On the face of it, there is no editorial barter; but there is increasing concern that promises for giving a leg-up to private treaty clients involve brand building and positioning through editorial content as well. Often, ads are made to look like editorial content. If it goes out of hand, the programme could severely damage the reputation of a company.

Network18 has a private equity acquisition programme through its investment arm Capital18. Saikumar says the general formula is that 70 per cent of the investment would be cash or equity, while 30 per cent would be traded off against subsidised advertising airtime. Bahl defends private treaties. “It is a legitimate business investment strategy; it does not involve any trading for editorial content,” he says. “Unlike the Times, we have a few tens of crores in investments in just four or five companies.”

Corporate Concerns
These allegations seemed to have had minimal effect on the group’s impressive performance. The group, from revenues of Rs 135 crore in 2004, is expected to touch Rs 1,000 crore in FY2008. It has emerged as the fourth largest media group along with HT Media after the Times Group with estimated revenues of Rs 4,000 crore, Star India Rs 2,500 crore and the Zee companies together clocking Rs 1,500 crore. Network18’s two listed flagships, TV18 and GBN, have galloped along at a 50 per cent and a 70 per cent clip, respectively. TV18’s profits ballooned almost four-fold to Rs 22 crore for the nine-month period ending 31 December 2007, while GBN’s losses were pared down to Rs 8 crore for the same nine-month period, from Rs 35 crore in the previous period.

Its corporate structure is a labyrinth of companies with criss-crossed equity holdings and complicated joint ventures that can confuse investors. At the top of the heap is the listed holding company of the group, Network18 Media & Investments, in which Bahl holds a controlling 51 per cent stake.

Network18 in turn controls 51 per cent in two other listed subsidiaries — GBN and TV18. Besides these, the group has a host of unlisted corporate entities including Web18, HomeShop18, Capital18 and the cable distribution arm, Setpro18. And finally, there are the JVs that include Viacom18 and the partnership with the Hindi print giant, Jagran Group (see ‘Network 18 Group Structure’ on page 37).

“The group’s properties are distributed over too many companies,” says Jagdish Malkhani, country head of broking house Taib Securities. “It is too complex. What I am buying, I want to put my arms around.” Media watchers also point out that the group has a maze of brands that have little recall value. Those that are recognised are those that have been adopted from the group’s JV partners such as CNBC and CNN-IBN. Perhaps in recognition of this criticism, the group has launched an aggressive branding campaign to give the group’s properties a brand identity through the number ‘18’.

Interestingly, a report from HSBC has marked down TV18 from ‘Overweight’ to ‘Neutral’ and has put a ‘hold’ on the share because of higher than estimated expenses. The report says though the revenues were healthy, there was no margin expansion as marketing expenses grew a massive 373 per cent in FY2008.

Investors have a right to be a bit confused. Just when you think you’ve got your arms around it, Network18 hares off in a different direction. Chawla has recently bought the marathon telecast rights from Procam. It signals the start of a new company — Sports18 — for acquiring sports properties. Which way is the group heading? What is its focus? “We are in the business of creating ecosystems through a network of media properties,” says Chawla. “We will move in whatever direction that takes us.”

Saikumar puts it more succinctly. “Five years down the line we may be an internet company; or we may be known as a film company.” For a company passionate about convergence and growth, it could be heading for the sky.

source: businessworld.in

In a short span of 10 years, Raghav Bahl, managing director of Network18 Media & Investments, has built India’s fastest growing media empire, with a finger in every pie. He spoke with BW’s Gurbir Singh on how the growth story evolved. Excerpts:

What does the number ‘18’ — carried on most of your companies — represent?
It is just a lucky number. Most people don’t know the number of businesses we are in. It is a conscious branding exercise to increase our visibility.

You launched ABNi in 1996, but it collapsed soon.
Indeed, we are the first business news broadcasters. We were also the first private content company with a business show on Doordarshan — the Amul Morning (AM) show. ABN (Asia Business News) then was broadcasting out of Singapore, and launched in India in 1995. ABN held a 51 per cent stake, Hindujas had 26 per cent and TV18, 23 per cent. Both the channel and its head, Paul France, were ahead of their times. ABN merged with CNBC, and CNBC launched in India with us providing the Indian content.

How did your joint venture with CNBC play out?
They (CNBC) said you take the risk; we said we will take the whole company. Though there was a joint venture broadcast company in Mauritius, it was just a shell company. In India, the entire assets of the channel were built and owned by TV18. In 2003, the 51:49 structure in favour of CNBC collapsed after the government restricted foreign holding to 26 per cent. They offered us a stake; we preferred to buy them out.


You have ‘treaties’ that give you stakes in companies in exchange for airtime.
We do not compromise editorial. If you want to compromise content, you don’t need the torchlight of a private treaty to do it. It need not show on your books either. We do have a policy of private treaties, but what is wrong with a business plan that monetises our media reach? What difference does it make if we pay for a stake in a company in cash or kind? It is true that the companies we invest in get access. It is also true they may try and influence us, but that is the occupational hazard every journalist faces.

You have grown quietly and rapidly…
We are self-made professionals. We are close to a Rs 1,200 crore if we factor in the value of the films on the production floor. But the tag of a small company, the initial perception, has stuck to us. We fancy ourselves as the guerrillas of the media industry, successful guerrillas. The first time we saw money was in the year 2000 when we did the IPO. I still remember the date — 14 February — as it was the day when the Sensex hit the highest. We managed to raise Rs 55 crore.

Your senior colleagues have stuck by you when poaching is rampant.
I have always considered myself primarily a journalist. We have invested in our people through ESOPs and stakes. We have worked hard to retain people such as Senthil and Udayan.

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In the news April, 2008

Bobby Jindal
30.4.2008
Time Warner Sees AOL 2Q Display Ad Revenue Down From Year Ago (cnn)
US troop deaths hit 7-month high in Iraq (ap)
Shoaib Akhtar allowed to play in IPL (Hindustan Times)

Gorshkov: Russia wants India to pay $1.2 bn more (Times of India)
29.4.2008
U.S. Marines launch Afghan operation (cnn)
Moon mission in 3rd quarter of '08: ISRO (Times of India)
Indo-US civil nuclear deal not dead: White House (Hindu)
Oil falls towards $118 from record-peak, eyes on Fed (Economic Times)
Pakistan defers Sarabjit hanging by 21 days (Times of India)
Mugabe Supporters Reject Opposition Calls for Resignation (voa)
Report: Buddhist monastery in Lhasa, Tibet, to reopen (ap)
Perfect 10 for ISRO, PSLV lifts off successfully (ibnlive)

India launches PSLV with 10 satellites (Hindustan Times)

28.4.2008

PSLV-C9 launched successfully with 10 satellites (rediff)
Gilchrist marks his Twenty20 territory (cricinfo)
Indians to take over billionaires’ club (financial chronicle)
Train collision kills at least 66 in eastern China (ap)
Police say Austrian man raped daughter, fathered 6 children (ap)
Asia's rainforests vanishing as timber, food demand surge: experts (afp)
Teenage diver Daley seizes British imagination (reuters
25.4.2008
Tashan is a stylish spectacle (rediff)

India's inflation up at 7.33% for the week ended Apr 12 (hindustan times)
AP to exclude creamy layer from quota for OBCs (Deccan)
Rice prices hit record highs (reuters)
Journalists mourn Reuters cameraman (reuters)
U.S. Stocks Fall as Consumer Confidence Trails Estimates (bloomberg)


India’s Bharti considers S Africa’s MTN (ft)

TV sting operation red-cards Jothikumaran (New Indian Express)
Sting shows IHF secretary general taking bribe (NDTV)
Jothikumaran caught accepting bribe money in sting operation (Hindustan Times)
22.4.2008

Hillary Clinton wins crucial Pennsylvania primary: Report (rediff)
Clinton grinds out victory over Obama in Pennsylvania (ap)
UN: Food crisis threatens 100 mln (xinhua)
Yahoo quarterly results improve; Microsoft shrugs (reuters)
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., waves to supporters after winning the Pennsylvania primary in Philadelphia Tuesday, April 22, 2008. At right, former president Bill Clinton
Advertiser suing Google for defrauding (xinhua)
Cash-for-cap shame: Pay up to be a team player (ibnlive)
Senators debate future of Web (ap)
Africans' newest form of dissent: blogs (The Christian Science Monitor)
World Food Program warns of 'silent tsunami' of hunger (ap)



20.4.2008
Financial Times Publisher Plans New India Newspaper (wsj)

Pearson PLC, U.K. publisher of the Financial Times newspaper, plans to start a new daily business newspaper in India with local partner Network 18 Media & Investments Ltd., which controls India's largest business news television channel CNBC-TV18.

Pearson is looking to boost its profile in India's growing media market, according to a person familiar with its plans. While the newspaper ...

Zardari says no power to confront Musharraf (Hindustan Times)




19.4.208
Google earnings surprise may give Yahoo leverage (reuters)
The World has $54.31 trillion of external debt: exactly who is the World indebted to? (chycho)

McCullum flays Bangalore challenge (rediff)
Israel sets plans for more homes in West Bank settlements (ap)
U.S. economic slowdown likely to bring Mexican workers north (McClatchy)

17.4.2008

Putin set to marry 24-yr old gymnast (Indian Express)
NASA scientists outsmarted by 13-year-old schoolboy!

(ani)
Orkut goes the Facebook way (Indian Express)
Should Shriya star opposite Rajni in Robot? (rediff)

Wall Street Winners Get Billion-Dollar Paydays (nytimes)
Merrill Posts Loss on Mortgage Writedowns, Cuts Jobs (bloomberg)


National Geographic Magazine

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/best/

16.4.2008
Pope in landmark White House trip (bbc)
At least 44 die when bus plunges into canal in western India (AP)
Putin in Libya to close $2.5b arms deal (jpost)
Deccan Chronicle increases advt tariff by 30% (business line)
Google's Growth in Paid Clicks Slows (wsj)
Pakistan grants visas to Sarabjit's family (rediff)

15.4.2008

More than 50 killed by car bombs in Iraq (ap)
Priyanka confirms meeting Rajiv's killer (ndtv)
On board the Friendship Express (bbc)
Infosys sees challenges, strong growth momentum (reuters)
Electoral thunderbolt for Nepal (bbc)
Blast kills at least 34 in Iraq (UPI)
14.4.2008
Higher antitrust bar for Yahoo-Google (reuters)
Journalists group appeals to China to allow unrestricted coverage around Olympics (International Herald Tribune)
Economic ministers urge action on food shortages (iht)
'Shame' on Clinton: Obama hits back in guns and religion row (AFP)
Kolkata-Dhaka Moitree Express flagged off (NDTV)

12.4.2008

Did you know:-

Cleaning improves mental health:-
It's housework that has been linked to improved mental health, according to a survey in the British Journal of Sports Medicine on Wednesday.
(BBC)


pick of the day:
When it's OK to say "OH SH*T"...

http://botw.org/articles/oh-shit.html

Inflation hits consumers worldwide (Christian Science monitor)
Obama Says Some Voters Are Angry, Bitter (ap)
Nepal polls: PM's party, Maoists in close race (Hindustan Times)
China denounces European parliament over Tibet (reuters)
Agreement over Nizam’s millions (Hindustan Times)
Nath target of $200 bn aims to work up 1 cr jobs (Economic Times)
11.4.2008

France: Hostages held off Somalia freed (ap)
Big Ben marks 150th birthday (ap)
Thousands queue up for train tickets to Dhaka (sify)

Average viewer rating: U Me Aur Hum
***(NDTV)
Asia's first artificial heart transplant in Bangalore (Times of India)

Burney: I'll get justice for Sarabjit (Times Now)

9.4.2008

Washington Post Wins 6 Pulitzer Prizes (nytimes)
Malaysia probes plane fruit knife panic (afp)
Bible is America's favorite book: poll (reuters)
Gossip Blogger Expands Into Radio (wsj)

8.4.2008

107 defence officers seek premature exit (Times of India)
India, Africa seek to meet climate challenges together (Hindu)
India to Achieve 500 million Mobile Phone Consumers by 2010 (techgadgets)
Nooyi earns 81 times more than world's richest man (ibnlive)
Hs Legacy Tarnished, Greenspan Goes on Defensive (wsj)

7.4.2008

Court to rule on Zimbabwe result (bbc)
Sri Lanka bombs Tamil Tiger bases (alzajeera)
Japan prime minister set to submit third choice for central bank governor (International Herald Tribune)
Study: aroused men make risky financial choices (xinhua)


6.4.208

Minister among 11 killed in Lanka blast (ndtv)
'NDA will cancel schemes announced by UPA to appease minority' (HIndu)
Crazy In Love: Beyoncé weds rapper Jay-Z in star-studded New York ceremony (dailymail)

**
Steve Jobs was the world’s first Zillionaire at age 29
Apparently at the ripe age of 29 Steve was the world’s first Zillionaire - no small feat, given that those are 1985 dollars (not to mention the fact that a Zillion is technically an imaginary number).

Of course, there’s always the chance that Steve may have been inflating his net worth a bit just to get chicks, as I noticed coincidentally in the issue is also an article entitled the “Art of Being Cocksure” – step 1 of which was “tell women you have a Zillion dollars“.

5.4.2008
Clintons made $109 million since 2000 (reuters)

Bid to end Zimbabwe poll silence (bbc)
China reports fresh Tibet protest (aljazeera)
India overtakes China as No.1 destination for clinical trials(Times of India)

Sarabjit could be a case of mistaken identity (Times of India)

4.4.2008
Shoaib begins appeal against ban (bbc)
Zimbabwe Veterans March in Show of Force (ap)
China's best face for the Olympics (aljazeera)
Inflation leaps to 7 pc; common man hit hard (Hindu)
Medical tourism booming in India' (Times of India)



2.4.2008

Karnataka poll on May 10, 16, 22; counting on 25th (rediff)
Bush pushes for NATO expansion (ap)
Climate Change talks eye deep emission cut by industrialized countries (xinhua)
Bernanke: Economy could shrink in 1st half 2008 (reuters)


1.4.2008
Bush vows to press for Ukraine, Georgia in NATO (reuters)
Google to allow users to edit word documents offline (xinhua)
Exclusive interview: Ketan Parekh on 1992 scam verdict (moneycontrol)
Saif-Kareena to wed, post Tashan? (rediff)
Bharti Airtel tests 3G services; set to launch operations (Economic Times)
Ousted Pakistan Judge Presses for Return (AP)
Rahul coins new slogan for Congress (NDTV)
Shah Rukh Khan walks out of TV show (zEeenews)
Ancient gold necklace discovered in Peru (ap)
UBS in capital hike after huge loss, chairman quits (reuters)
UBS Seeks Fresh Capital Injection, Expects $19 Billion in Write-Downs (wsj)
UBS to Write Down Another $19 Billion (nytimes)

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How to Find Easy Money

How to Find Easy Money

1. Be prepared! Money can be anywhere.
2. Keep an eye out where people handle money a lot e.g. supermarkets, school cafeterias, soda machines, etc.
3. Look down side alleyways and most used footpaths people may drop their spare change, etc.
4. Walk or even look in bushes and trees. Some people climb them & drop their money or loose change.
5. Check around parking lots of night clubs and bars in the morning hours before traffic starts moving. It is amazing what people will drop when they are drunk, tired, and distracted!
6. Inspect under bleachers at sporting events, fairs, and other venues with open-bottomed bleachers.
7. Check the coin return slots in vending machines! Look behind them for change that has rolled out of sight when it is accessible.
8. Find empty aluminum cans around garbage cans and recycle bins. Look out for beer bottles! They cost more than pop cans. Collect a good amount and cash out at a local recycle depot.



Tips

You can find lots of change in a washer/dryer. Your family will forget to take their money out of their pockets, but if the amount is over $5.00, give it back to your relative!

Dig really deep into the cushioning and support system of living room upholstered furniture all the way to floor level. On bulk trash garbage night the curbside discarded furniture will yield hidden coins with your utility razor blade knife used to open the bottom covers.

(source: wiki how)

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How To Be Happier: Stay Connected To Your Past

NandanaSen
How To Be Happier: Stay Connected To Your Past
I'm working on my Happiness Project, and you could have one, too! Everyone's project will look different, but it's the rare person who can't benefit. Join in -- no need to catch up, just jump in right now. Each Friday's post will help you think about your own happiness project.

A while back, my husband and I noticed a characteristic we shared - neither of us did a particularly good job of staying connected with our past. It was true of us as a couple, too, once we got married. In each stage of life, we'd have good friends, but when we moved to the next stage, we found it difficult to stay connected to the people to whom we'd earlier been close. I'm not sure I would have remarked on this fact if I hadn't seen the contrast to my younger sister - she does an outstanding job of staying close to friends from every stage of her life.

Philosophers and scientists agree: if there is one element that is the key to happiness, it's having strong relationships with other people. Many of my happiness-project resolutions are aimed at helping me build or strengthen friendships: Show up, Make three friends, Join or start a group. (Here are some other tips for making new friends).

Also, remembering happy times in the past is a great way to boost happiness in the present.

My resolution to "Stay connected to my past" is meant to address both these sources of happiness. As a consequence of this resolution, I sign up for high-school, college, and law-school reunions without hesitation. I don't begrudge the time I spend on Facebook. I make a big effort to keep my friends' contact information up-to-date. I keep a one-sentence journal. I look for reasons to visit my old neighborhoods.

I went to Washington, D.C., this week to give a talk to the Yale Law School Association about "Blogging the Pursuit of Happiness." (Trying to be strategic, I asked to come in January after my book comes out, but they don't do book talks.) This trip made me happy for many reasons. I saw some of my blogland pals from that area. I visited the Slate offices and imbibed the heady Slate-y atmosphere. I cruised around Washington, which is a beautiful city, especially when everything is blooming.

But one of the things that made me happiest was the opportunity to "Connect with my past." I loved being around a bunch of people from my law school. It was funny - I hadn't realized just how much alums have in common, how many references, interests, and inside jokes we shared. Also, a bunch of friends from law school showed up, so that was especially fun.

Sometimes it makes me sad that I've left behind my lawyerly identity - there were many things I enjoyed about that time. Staying connected to that part of my past makes me happier - and so does staying connected to other parts of my past.

Of course, this resolution applies to aspects of your past that actually were happy. You might well choose deliberately to disengage with unhappy parts of your past.

Have you found any good strategies to stay connected to your (happy) past?

*

Josh Landis and Mitch Butler over at cbsnews.com did a provocative video piece on happiness myths. It's about happiness, and there's a lot of interesting information in it -- and it also gave me flashbacks to my book Power Money Fame Sex: A User's Guide.

(huffingtonpost)

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Love plus Sex

He Likes Me -- Doesn't He?
Times have changed. The days of Rhett Butler telling Scarlett O'Hara he didn't give a damn are long gone. That's a shame in some ways. At least it made dating simple. Nowadays, guys try to be considerate in an attempt to not hurt your feelings. His miscues make it hard to know whether he's really into you, just wants to be friends or would love for you to switch phone plans. While words might not be his strong point, his actions are. Keep an eye out for these kinds of behavior.

1. He actively takes an interest in you and what you have to say. He's not just nodding and smiling and checking his watch every five minutes like you're trying to sell him life insurance. There's eye contact. He's actively listening. He's asking questions, relating things you say to his own experiences. If he's really good, he'll remember something you said and incorporate it in a future date. Try not to act too surprised.
2. He's forthcoming. He wants you to know about him. This manifests itself in a bunch of ways. He'll share personal details about himself. He'll even be eager to cough up basic factoids such as phone numbers, his address and place of work. If he isn't giving up this kind of info, then he doesn't want you tracking him down -- or he's Batman or Superman. So if he doesn't live at Wayne Manor or the Fortress of Solitude, give it up.
3. He'll mark his territory. He won't pee on you or anything per se, but he will exhibit some animal behavior. If he's decided he wants you as his female, he won't want to lose you. If there's any chance that you might be snapped up by another male, he'll stake his claim. He'll be tactile with you, slipping an arm around you, possibly posturing and standing up when another guy walks onto the scene. Watch out for some regression to a more primitive man. If you hear grunting, don't panic. It's his way of saying he likes you.
4. He calls you back. Despite the stereotype, he will call you back. If you're a girl in demand, he won't want you to be the one that got away, so he'll call you to set up the next date or ask how you're doing. If you're getting calls for no reason, that's a good thing. However, you may want to invest in a good phone plan.
5. He'll check you out. You'll bring out his spy skills in a good way. He'll talk to your friends to get the 411 on you. He wants to know more about you -- your past, your present, your likes and dislikes, water hazards, etc. He's doing his homework because he wants to impress you. He's gathering this intelligence so he knows how best to woo you.
6. He's flirtatious. Guys get playful around women they like. It's a little dance he's doing around you to show his interest and his daring. However, he's not just being flirty, he's also probing. He's putting on a little show for you to see if you'll reciprocate. The more you play, the more he stays. Now shake that tail feather.
7. He's always planning ahead. If he digs you, he won't want you getting away from him. To make sure you aren't prey to some other guy, he'll be making plans for the next date before the current one is over. A full calendar is a good sign.
8. He's attentive. He's been listening to you, and knows what you like and where you like to go. He treats you to your favorite things and places. He'll spring surprises.
9. He'll blow off his buddies to be with you. It's always tricky managing existing commitments with burgeoning relationships. There are bound to be conflicts of interest at the some point. So take it as a good sign when he'll ditch going out with the boys to see you instead.
10. Acts of selflessness. He'll take one for the team of you and him. These can be large or small acts. They can be as small as holding your hair back for when you've got stomach flu, or as large as suffering through a Celine Dion concert and pretend he's enjoying it because you're a fan. Now “that's the power of love.”

Okay, he's doing his part, but what about you? You've got him wrapped around your little finger, but don't get cocky. You can lose him in the blink of an eye with a few classic screw-ups...
(shine)

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