The Hindu Business Line : Optimum Media launching unit for advertiser-funded programming

Chennai March 22 Optimum Media Solutions (OMS), the media arm of the Mudra group, will launch a division for advertiser-funded programming in a month or two.

Speaking to Business Line here, Mr Chandradeep Mitra, President, OMS, said OMS' Brandcast cell would be spun off into a full-fledged division to make programmes whose content would be driven by the advertiser. Brandcast is now charged with the task of integrating clients' brands into entertainment (product placement) in a creative and non-intrusive way.

Advertiser-funded programming (AFP) is the next stage in evolution of the product placement business. The programme's script is dictated by the brand and if handled well, can get around viewers avoiding commercial breaks on visual media. In India it's a nascent business, Mr Mitra said, adding that just a couple of brands had attempted AFP.

Knowledge cell

OMS wants to go beyond traditional media placement and strategy services. To this end, it is creating a knowledge cell whose job is to create "new knowledge" by scientifically analysing insights and information from a variety of sources. As a media agency, OMS receives a lot of data that can be used to offer clients insights into content as well, Mr Mitra said.

A case in point is its study of Kaun Banega Crorepati - 3, which it conducted using consumer reactions and aMAP ratings to give an integrated perspective that combined overnight audience ratings and overnight consumer research, a first in India, said Mr Mitra.

Media such as radio, cinema, outdoor and TV are seeing a rapid churn. Strategy can no longer be decided by using old data to "guess" the future as there are other variables at play - and in many cases, it's not clear what they are. For instance, a music TV channel may not have a competitor in just a similar channel but in an iPod and an FM station, he said. OMS has made a beginning in advising clients on content too.

Recently, OMS, Mudra Institute of Communications Ahmedabad (MICA) and aMAP agreed to set up a laboratory at the MICA campus to understand media in real time. Also, "most advertising and marketing theory is Western, we need to understand it in the Indian context," says Mr Mitra, adding that was one of the lab's objectives.