Mass Media No Longer An Automatic Choice: Chandru Kalro, TTK Prestige

For Chandru Kalro, MD, TTK Prestige, mass media has had a choppy time in the last few years. Print, per se, has not been growing for some time now and its consumption also looks unpredictable. As for television, it has been fragmenting constantly and so has the radio. Therefore, the value delivered to an advertiser has been steadily declining in his opinion. The pandemic period saw the time spent on these media increasing but that has been transient too. "If anything, OTT has simply taken off," he witnesses.

He goes on to expound on the many facets of mass media in India today, describing its current standing in the ecosystem, as well from the company perspective. 

Excerpts:

On Shifting Consumer Preferences

The other day at a traffic signal I was seeing an autorickshaw driver probably on a UBER. He used that time to move from Maps to Facebook during the time we were stopping at the signal. That’s the level of digital consumption today. The desire to consume content without advertising is a real problem for advertisers. This has meant that brands have to constantly find new ways of talking or engaging with customers. There is no formula anymore. What worked yesterday will not work tomorrow. For us, therefore, mass media is no longer an automatic choice. We have to strategise every time we make a media plan these days.

On The Investments Planned

Clearly, we are in a situation where we have to take hard choices going forward. It will be impossible to keep traditional media going at the same old levels and add new digital media. Therefore, going forward, it's going to be campaign to campaign. Also, the idea would be to see how we can create a completely different calendar for each medium.

On Challenges & Opportunities For Mass Media Companies

Several trends are irreversibly entrenched now like OTT, digital etc. Therefore no company can survive without a digital footprint. The idea should be innovative packaging and bundling of services. If not business can move out permanently. Technology upgradation of companies, people in those companies has become a challenge and is no longer an option. It's critical for survival. The merging of TV and print on digital will lead to new trends.

On Digital-Savvy Consumers

I believe degrees may wary but the trends are the same across Pop strata. Digital penetration levels are really high across the board. Also, with so many startups coming in, day to day chores now are getting done differently. Many startups are seeing the smaller cities as better starting points for their businesses. Customers are ready to adapt to new methods everywhere. Customers are seeking information on everything.

On Popular Genres

Clearly, news is the new entertainment. I won't even bother calling it INFOTAINMENT anymore! The daily and hourly soaps are all on news channels. Therefore, you see increasingly reality TV is coming big on GEC channels. Either way, with OTT paying much of TV content to be consumed at the time of choosing of the customer means that ads and ad positioning on Television is taking a new dimension.

On Ensuring Compliance

I believe that the culture within the company is very important. We are committed to our purpose and we stay away from all conflict as much as possible. Compliance is not negotiable for us.

On Their Engagement Strategy

We have been evolving a 360-degree program to engage with the customer pre-purchase, and right through the life cycle of the product with the customer. The engagement strategy is beyond the product. For this, we are using technology wherever possible and we find new opportunities all the time. More than trying to stay ahead of others, we would like to stay closer to the customers, understand their lives and changes around lifestyle, be available when required and be a friend.

On Mass Media From An Advertiser Perspective

We are currently the top spenders in our space. Having said that, I do believe that in our industry conventional media plans will disappear in the next few years. What they will evolve into is difficult to say. Mass media itself I think I am aware of this and I am sure they will create new opportunities for us to take advantage of.