Anwesh Bose, Branch Head, North & East, Mudra Max-Media, has been involved with media planning and buying for the past 13 years. In this interaction, he discusses media buying in the indian context.
On October 30, 2011, Omnicom, the second largest advertising and media network in the world announced that it would be acquiring a majority stake in the Anil Ambani led Mudra Group. The deal had significant implications and also pointed towards the rise of India as an important market, which perhaps no business can afford to ignore. In order to understand the evolution, dynamics and future prospects of the Indian media buying industry, we caught up with Anwesh Bose, Branch, Head, North & East , Mudra Max-Media. He Joined Mudra in April this year from Dentsu India Group where he worked as Chief Growth Officer. He has prior experience of 13 years in media buying and planning. In this exclusive interaction with 4Ps B&M, Bose shares his views on the challenges facing the Indian media buying industry and how social media is the next big thing which will shape the future of media buying agencies.
As it is with every other industry, the media buying sector too is unique in form and substance. What do you think are the fundamental challenges that media buying agencies in general experience?
The fundamental challenges experienced by media buying agencies today are that of the people who are engaged in the process of buying. In most cases the personnel know how to buy but are not knowledgeable enough in terms of what to buy. To add to that, most media buying agencies are given to creating buying silos, which is only harming the industry. A media buyer is supposed to know the rationale and logic for buying so that he/she can keep in mind the perspective and the strategy behind the media-buying plan. Also, the fact that it is planning that leads to buying and not the other way round is something which everybody in the industry should appreciate.
With consumerism on the rise in India, how has the role of a media buying agency evolved over the past several years?
Consumerism has given rise to heterogenous consumption… the result is visible in the media fragmentation that exists. Media fragmentation has made the task of the media buying agency very challenging as the advertiser is looking at returns on media investment models rather than only on returns on media delivery models. Therefore, there is an imminent need for multi-dimensional media buying strategy.
What do you think has been the most significant event or set of events to contribute towards shaping the media buying industry into its present shape?
Media fragmentation (explosion of choices), media access formats (DTH, CAS, etc), unknown metric of consumer consumption of media in rural India, rise of digital & explosion of mobility, to name a few.
How has 2011 been in terms of growth vis-à-vis 2010. What are you projection for 2012?
The Indian media & entertainment (M&E) industry bounced back in 2010 registering a growth rate of 11% compared to a mere 1.4% in 2009. The advertisement expenditure is estimated to grow by CAGR of 15% till 2015.
How do media buying agencies in the Western world differ from their peers in the high growth developing nations?
The demographics, psychographics, media choices and literacy levels in the Western world present a different landscape to media buying agencies there, which can be very different to that faced by media buying agencies in the developing countries. In countries like India, media buying is seen as a cost whereas in the Western countries it is seen as an investment.
What determines the growth and decline of media buying agencies in general?
The economy is the best measure of the growth and decline of media buying agencies. In a vibrant economy, advertisers spend more, agencies buy more and the advertiser & agency make more money. The reverse is applicable when the economy is not doing well.
What kind of an impact do ‘medium disruptions’ have on the way media buying agencies work? It is about being aware and knowledgeable of the technology shifts and the ways in which they are influencing media consumption that is or will lead to medium disruptions. The agencies that are investing in knowing and learning about these shifts will have the edge (Know-l-edge).
How has the growing popularity and widespread acceptance of digital media influenced the media buying business?
It has influenced the advertisers more than it has influenced the agencies. For most media buying firms, digital is terra incognito, thus they feel safe in either letting the business be taken by a ‘digital agency’ or they get into a ‘strategic alliance’ with a digital agency. But we seem to be learning fast… the leading media buying agencies are setting up digital verticals and very soon the mid & small set-ups would look at strategic tie-ups with independent digital media specialists.
Which trends are most likely to shape the media buying business in the years to come?
Multiple media access platforms and avenues along with media convergence will result in multi-dimensional media buying approach in the very near future. Agencies that have already invested or are making investments in scaling their knowledge of multi-dimensional planning will be the ones that will benefit.
On October 30, 2011, Omnicom, the second largest advertising and media network in the world announced that it would be acquiring a majority stake in the Anil Ambani led Mudra Group. The deal had significant implications and also pointed towards the rise of India as an important market, which perhaps no business can afford to ignore. In order to understand the evolution, dynamics and future prospects of the Indian media buying industry, we caught up with Anwesh Bose, Branch, Head, North & East , Mudra Max-Media. He Joined Mudra in April this year from Dentsu India Group where he worked as Chief Growth Officer. He has prior experience of 13 years in media buying and planning. In this exclusive interaction with 4Ps B&M, Bose shares his views on the challenges facing the Indian media buying industry and how social media is the next big thing which will shape the future of media buying agencies.
As it is with every other industry, the media buying sector too is unique in form and substance. What do you think are the fundamental challenges that media buying agencies in general experience?
The fundamental challenges experienced by media buying agencies today are that of the people who are engaged in the process of buying. In most cases the personnel know how to buy but are not knowledgeable enough in terms of what to buy. To add to that, most media buying agencies are given to creating buying silos, which is only harming the industry. A media buyer is supposed to know the rationale and logic for buying so that he/she can keep in mind the perspective and the strategy behind the media-buying plan. Also, the fact that it is planning that leads to buying and not the other way round is something which everybody in the industry should appreciate.
With consumerism on the rise in India, how has the role of a media buying agency evolved over the past several years?
Consumerism has given rise to heterogenous consumption… the result is visible in the media fragmentation that exists. Media fragmentation has made the task of the media buying agency very challenging as the advertiser is looking at returns on media investment models rather than only on returns on media delivery models. Therefore, there is an imminent need for multi-dimensional media buying strategy.
What do you think has been the most significant event or set of events to contribute towards shaping the media buying industry into its present shape?
Media fragmentation (explosion of choices), media access formats (DTH, CAS, etc), unknown metric of consumer consumption of media in rural India, rise of digital & explosion of mobility, to name a few.
How has 2011 been in terms of growth vis-à-vis 2010. What are you projection for 2012?
The Indian media & entertainment (M&E) industry bounced back in 2010 registering a growth rate of 11% compared to a mere 1.4% in 2009. The advertisement expenditure is estimated to grow by CAGR of 15% till 2015.
How do media buying agencies in the Western world differ from their peers in the high growth developing nations?
The demographics, psychographics, media choices and literacy levels in the Western world present a different landscape to media buying agencies there, which can be very different to that faced by media buying agencies in the developing countries. In countries like India, media buying is seen as a cost whereas in the Western countries it is seen as an investment.
What determines the growth and decline of media buying agencies in general?
The economy is the best measure of the growth and decline of media buying agencies. In a vibrant economy, advertisers spend more, agencies buy more and the advertiser & agency make more money. The reverse is applicable when the economy is not doing well.
What kind of an impact do ‘medium disruptions’ have on the way media buying agencies work? It is about being aware and knowledgeable of the technology shifts and the ways in which they are influencing media consumption that is or will lead to medium disruptions. The agencies that are investing in knowing and learning about these shifts will have the edge (Know-l-edge).
How has the growing popularity and widespread acceptance of digital media influenced the media buying business?
It has influenced the advertisers more than it has influenced the agencies. For most media buying firms, digital is terra incognito, thus they feel safe in either letting the business be taken by a ‘digital agency’ or they get into a ‘strategic alliance’ with a digital agency. But we seem to be learning fast… the leading media buying agencies are setting up digital verticals and very soon the mid & small set-ups would look at strategic tie-ups with independent digital media specialists.
Which trends are most likely to shape the media buying business in the years to come?
Multiple media access platforms and avenues along with media convergence will result in multi-dimensional media buying approach in the very near future. Agencies that have already invested or are making investments in scaling their knowledge of multi-dimensional planning will be the ones that will benefit.
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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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