The Hindu Business Line : Who's the best

C.D. Ramachandran is the first ad man with whom one built a skein of friendship. He is always in a trademark, well-ironed suit. My good corporate friend R. Sankaran did the first introductions to CD, as he is snappily styled.

Like all ad men and women, CD always wears a beatific smile and could be a good promo for a Gita reading or a Yoga session.

He is sharp, like all ad men and women, when it comes to business. It has now been a few years since one met him over a cup of coffee at his office. Yet, one keeps in touch with CD, reading his magazine USP AGE: The complete magazine for marketing communication professionals.

He sends me a free copy (priced Rs 40) regularly and is the only magazine one reads having long stopped wasting money on magazines and newspapers.

The last page runs a column, `Editor's notebook' penned by CD himself and the January issue is a report on what the columnist calls "a congregation of media owners - large, medium and small. Print, electronics, out-of-home, radio, Internet - you name them, they were all there. The mood was upbeat, as it was the New Year's eve. Most of them were in high spirits." Then follows the quote of a widely circulated English media chief: "Ladies and Gentlemen, we are the greatest ... we have the highest circulation. People start the day with us. They can go without coffee or tea, but not without us.

"Look at the advertisers and advertising agencies. They are all queuing up before our doors. We do them a favour by carrying these ads to reach out to millions of readers. But for us, economy will go sluggish." Other media chiefs, concurred, reports CD, without revealing any names.

The big bosses from the language media refused to agree.

A representative from the language daily said, "Friends, English media reaches out to only about 10 per cent of the population. We reach out to every nook and corner of India. Metros and stock markets are certainly not the barometers of the Nation. Seventy per cent of our population lives in villages. But for the rural economy, which percolates in the metros, English papers will be nowhere."

TV channel editors, a loud lot at their very best and worst, with the exception of Prannoy Roy of NDTV, heard and seemingly shouted back, as if they were addressing an unfortunate pack of air-conditioned viewers. "Both of you have not realised the ground realities," began a spokesperson of a TV channel.

"Print medium has limited appeal. Audio-visual has lasting appeal. Whilst it took print media about 200 years to come of age, we did so in just about two decades. Look at our penetration. Mind you, television makes more impact compared to the print media. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. In the shortest possible time, TV channels have captured about 40 per cent of the advertising market. Do we need any more proof to elaborate?"

One is not sure whether CD will agree with me. But the ground reality is all newspapers and TV channels look alike. Muck goes as news. When assorted kings and queens ruled parts of India, they employed court poets to run their praise.

News media (that includes all) in India are the modern versions of court poets singing the rise of the Sensex and the doing away of farmland and farmers for setting up modern industries. Centuries ago, court poets did not ask any questions. Today's media does not raise any queries. One has not yet done with CD and his New Year Eve party.

An Internet spokesperson, stated emphatically: "Look, you cannot measure the effectiveness in any one of the above media. But with Internet, you can. Eye-balls, page views, unique visitors, et al. About 50 per cent of our population belong to the younger generation — bright youngsters in the 25-45 age group. They have disposable incomes and zest for life. If you have to reach them, nothing is better than Internet. We are becoming a formidable force. The fastest growing media. Ignore us at your own peril."

Sometimes this writer makes trips into rural India. Most of the villages have no electricity for any TV channel or Internet to work.

The young do not bounce like those in Mumbai or Chennai. They just want a job, any job. And they come to work in Mumbai at Rs 3,000 per month, which does not allow them to own a TV set or a computer.

In the full glare of the evening lights, as CD puts it, the Out-of-Home chief said: "English, language and the electronic media, though a part of daily life, have lost the lustre. One is exposed to hundreds of messages, which human mind cannot remember, leave alone recall. Look at us. At every traffic junction, you have no choice but to take note of us. We inspire. We carry the message more effectively.

"We are not just a reminder media, as my friends have been painting us. We can be primary media. We are thereeverywhere - billboards, on roads, bus shelters, railway stations and in every moving vehicle. We are there even in the remotest corners, where print and electronic media do not reach. Aren't we as important?"

Media planners and account executives (CD falls in one of the two categories) were not given a chance to speak and walked off. "And the media owners started sweating. Even at 10 degrees C," concludes CD.

Journalists will have to face up to a bruising fact: The poor are not their concern any more. Reporting the rich and their ways matters. The public does not believe them any more. They do not take them seriously.

P. Devarajan

More Stories on : Trends | Reflections | Radio/TV | Newspapers & Publishing

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Who's the best