Times of India and Lowe Lintas

Friday, our final full day in Mumbai, was dedicated to marketing. First we had a nice presentation at the Times of India - essentially the equivalent of the New York Times here in India. We spoke to their marketing lead and the editor of the Futures section. They talked about the paper industry in India. Whereas in the US the industry is struggling it is not really so in India. Sure, internet is becoming more prevalent and the TOI has shifted to putting their papers also on the web but much of India still doesnt have this luxury. Additionally, literacy rate is increasing in the villages creating a further need for print newspapers. Another takeaway I had was how the paper itself is run. While they maintain a great sense of integrity in their work, the Times is like any other business and needs to make a profit. Thus, they need to sell advertising and make their paper appealing to potential and current advertisers. An example of how they have maintained their integrity is with Tata. Tata was their largest advertiser. Being such a large company, Tata is regularly in the paper. The Times reported a negative issue about Tata that resulted in the Chairman of Tata getting upset and pulling all advertising. A year later the Times reported a positive issue and Tata started their relationship with the Times again. Tata realized that the Times will report positive issues when they occur and also negative when they happen. The Times of India never gave in and steered their journalism to make their advertisers happy.

Second visit of the day was Lowe Lintas, an advertising firm. Lowe Worldwide took over the indian company, Lintas, about 2 years. Think Indian Mad Men. We spoke to various people within the company including their British CEO. Indian advertising is VERY different than most places in the world. Because of the diversity in race and religion amongst their country they have to be especially sensitive with all their marketing and advertising spots. Essentially, they have to tell a story to present the message rather than being so direct. They have to relate the message to their citizens. A 30 second spot simply saying to buy a product will not work. As a result many of the advertisements are almost like mini movies with a storyline. Here is an example that Lowe Lintas did for their customer Idea, a cellular company: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bh3HP51rJs Essentially it is bringing in the issue of education which is very important in India. it is saying that Idea phones work in all areas and connect people. In this case it enables/promotes education. They presented 20 or so such commercials for different accounts they handle - all with similar tactics and positive results.

As I write this now I am in Goa - a beach resort town on the Arabian Sea. It is beautiful here - very warm, lush, and lots of water. Will take some pictures...

Ciao,

Paul