IMB Book 2015 file

Editor’s Note
I am delighted to launch the year ender coffee table
book. Our purpose is to provide a journal that
offers a multi-disciplinary analysis across major
industries such as Television, Advertising, Radio,
Cable/DTH, Digital Advertisingetc.
The booklet will strive to combine excellence with
professional relevance and a strong industry focus.
We wish to appeal to the professional, corporate,
governmental, non-governmental and various other
communities. The purpose of the booklet is to fill
the gap between the perspective and the approach
ofvariousdisciplinesimpactingtheindustries.
It is our aim to address the geographical scope
and diversities, to encompass the worldwide
community of professionals. We have tried to get
across the industry trends foreseen by industry
experts for the year 2016.
Wehopethebookservesitspurpose.
Thanks,
Ayesha Siddiqua

Licensing processes for
HITS needs to be
streamlined and eased by
the government:
he 2015 witnessed two major challenges. The first
was streamlining the process followed by bringing about
transparency in the system. As a responsible industry
player we tried implementing the same and got several
new processes and procedures in place. We also
redefined the roles of human resources in the
organizational setup keeping in mind the objectives of
digitalization.
Another initiative was to introduce the best packaging
and bundling so as to meet the needs of customers across
categories and places. For instance, in a city like Mumbai
there is no uniformity in customer profile across, so it is
essential to understand the end users, their earnings and
affordabilityso astoofferpackagesaccordingly.
The choice of channels may also differ and therefore the
operators too face a dilemma. The pricing decision is
thus best left directly to the LCOs to decide on product
pricing.
Tony D’Silva
FEBRUARY 2016 INDIAN MEDIA BOOK
Tony D’Silva, Managing Director, Grant Investrade, a Hinduja
Media subsidiary
T
1

The government had silently confirmed 31st of
December as the deadline of phase III. Now, in my view,
there was a need to be firm and quickly reveal its plans.
This would have distanced the operators from guessing
the way forward and avoiding all possible delays in the
implementation.
On the HITS front, it has been a difficult year but we have culminated the two and a half
year’s struggle to get our license. I think that the process from the respective government
body’s sideshouldbestreamlinedanddirectinitsapproachso astomakeitfaster.
I believe that India can become a highly competitive
market for the world. We do have the potential to become
a world class country, where we can compete with
everyone across the world. We have the capability,
infrastructure, man power, intelligence. However we are
not being able to support it, reason being we do not
understand the business. For this purpose, we definitely
need to have a broadcaster authority; consisting of
representativeswho know whattheyaretalkingabout.
In 2016, we look forward to moving to an externalperspectivefrom an internalperspective.
We plan to consolidate our businesses, grow them and establish ourselves as serious player
incarriageandplatformbusiness.
In 2015, we’ve launched our services successfully and have got extremely good responses.
We’ve signed every single broadcaster and some broadcasters who realize the importance
ofhitshavebeenextremelysupportive.
My message to cable TV operator fraternity is that HITS is a unique business and it clearly
offers them a road map to continue to be the owner of their business. From that point of
view, they should not look at short term gain, there are a lot of operators in the country who
offering set-top boxes at almost half the price. Cable TV operator should understand that
revenue is not coming from set-top boxes. The revenue lies in monetisation, so they should
go for a quality box, offer quality service and work towards customer satisfaction which
willtakethemalongway.
FEBRUARY 2016 INDIAN MEDIA BOOK2

In July 2015, Indian Government under the leadership of
Prime Minister Narendra Modi initiated Digital India
campaign, aiming to empower Indian citizens with the
power of digital. The campaign’s goal was to provide
broadband highways, universal access to mobile
connectivity, public internet access programme, e-
governance and reforming government through
technology.
WHAT
Digital advertising is picking up at a great pace and
brands have been relying on it big time. Over the years,
the very definition of the term, digital, has changed
drastically.WhatdoesdigitalmeaninIndianow?
PwC's Matthew Hobbs, Partner, Entertainment & Media,
mentioned in his report that total Global Internet
advertising revenue is forecasted to grow from US$135.42 billion in 2014 to US$239.87
billion in 2019, a CAGR over the period of 12.1 per cent. As the segment captures an ever-
larger portion of advertising budgets, it will exceed TV to become the largest single
advertisingcategoryby2019.
On the other side, according to Carat Advertising Spend Forecast September 2015, digital
media spend is predicted at double digit growth levels of +15.7 per cent in 2015 and +14.3
per cent in 2016, while the Indian advertising market is buoyant as growth prospects in the
countryremainhighat+11percentin2015and+12percentin2016.
IndianMediaBooktakesalookatthehighsandlows ofthedigitalindustryin2015.
EVOLUTION OF A DIGITAL INDIA
?INDIA NOW
DOESDIGITALMEANIN
Speaking about the initiative, Charulata Ravikumar, CEO, Razorfish India, said, “Make In
India push by the Government is encouraging many Silicon Valley entrepreneurs to start
manufacturing and ideate ventures in India, this will further push the return of talent to
homeland. These entrepreneurs will seek out professional marketing/communication help
specially those who understand India from its heart and are able to transform businesses for
thetimesahead.”

Aimed at connecting rural areas with high-speed internet
networks, the Digital India initiative has three core
components such as the creation of digital infrastructure,
deliveringservicesdigitallyanddigitalliteracy.
According to BCG ‘Shaping the Industry at a Time of
Disruption’ report, there are 250 Million digital
consumers today in India, the number is expected to
shootupto600Millionby2020.
ACTION PACKED 2015
According to a study by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) in association
with IMRB International, the online advertising market in India touched Rs 3,575 Crore by
March2015,a30percentrisefromRs 2,750CroreinMarch2014.
Ravikumar opined that the permeation of technology touching every life in one way or the
otherhasonlyenhancedopportunities.
But, with these opportunities, emerges the need for brands to become more responsible,
transparentandfordigitalcommunicationtoenablethemtobemoreuseful.
“Key sectors such as FMCG, automobile and BFSI have seen growth resulting in the digital
advertising industry stabilizing and even growing in 2015 by 13 per cent,” commented
Ravikumar.
Pratik Gupta, Co-Founder & Director, New Business & Innovations, FoxyMoron found
2015asanactionpackedyear.
It took years for TV to emerge as the strongest medium, but now internet and small screens
seem to be taking the lead. This marked a change in the way consumers, brands and
agenciesnotfunction.
“The digital footprint expanded exponentially this year.
From traditional shop keepers coming up with a website
to the street smart businessmen selling stuff on
WhatsApp, we’re seeing the roots of digital marketing
goingdeeperandstronger,”addedGupta.
It was a game changing year as various new platforms
such as Instagram, Snapchat and Vine stepped up,
creating a wave of new possibilities for brands. The year
2015 also marked the shift in axioms of idea-powering
activitiesacrosspaid,ownedandearnedchannels.

“Ideas motivated consumers to action and
create a competitive durable advantage for
those marketers who understand what lies
at the centre of a buzzword-driven
marketplace,” expressed Zafar Rais –
CEO,MindShiftInteractive.
Ravikumar also mentioned that digital
growth within this year was at about 10 per
cent over 2014 and was due to challenges
in reach and inadequate infrastructure.
But now, digital industry has begun taking
itsrunupforthebigleapahead.
NEXT CURVE IN
DIGITAL MARKETING
Rais informed IndianMediaBook that
marketing automation gained stronger
interest in 2015. More brands got involved
in technology investment discussions with
their IT and analytics teams. Marketing
technologies such as Adobe Analytics,
Marketo, and Gigya observed higher
i n v e s t m e n t a n d a l s o b r o a d e r
understandingandusageacrossclients.
While total ad spend forecast in 2015 was
at Euros 700 million, the digital spends
werepeggedat9.5%ofabove.
With mobile ownership this is expected to
touch 975 million and smartphone
ownership tipping from a current 150
millionto651millionby2018.
However, according to ZenithOptimedia’s
Advertising Expenditure Forecast Report,
in 2018 mobile advertising is expected to
overtake desktop and account for
50.2%ofallinternetadvertising.
“Brands are finally beginning to invest in
making their digital marketing strategies
more intelligent and insightful, something
that will be seen to a larger extent in 2016
with more insightful campaigns releasing,
and heavier budgets being allocated to get
itfirsttimeright,”addedRais.
The report also predicts that Programmatic
advertising will account for more than half
of digital display advertising 53 % and will
increase its shares to 60 % in 2016. Thus,
Programmatic advertising is forecasted to
grow another 34 % in 2016 an 26 % in
2017.
On the other side, as per PwC, display
Internet advertising revenue was the
second-largest component of Internet
advertising revenue in 2014 and maintains
a solid 7.9 % CAGR to 2019. Yet mobile
Internet advertising revenue’s rapid
growth of 23.1 % CAGR means that it will
overtake display by the end of the forecast
period.

THE SOCIAL SCENE
Nowadays, social media is beyond,
marketing, helping improve department’s
right from Human Resources, Logistics to
Business Development.
“Content has taken new turns. While story
telling has been closely related to social
media over the past few years, visual and
video story telling formats picked up pace,
with brands creating long and short form
content to cater to various demographics,”
expressedZafarRais.
Social media advertising went to new
levels - right from Facebook going beyond
the number of fans to focusing on
engagements and lead generation
capabilities, Twitter opened up its
advertising options keeping conservative
budgetsinmind.
“Socialing, or the act of brands going
beyond merely socializing to social
interweaving will be considered more
seriously by brands and each must build its
capability in this quickly,” commented
Ravikumar.
Gupta on the other hand expressed that
while video ads are certainly not new, due
to the fact that it is owned by Google, the
possibilitiesarevirtuallylimitless,
“This will most definitely dominate digital
in the coming year as apart from YouTube
which already hosts billions of videos,
advertising platforms like Facebook and
Bing will now offer advertisers video
options. Thus, we should expect to see
more types of video ads popping up in
more unexpected places,” commented
Pratik.
Other big players such as Instagram,
SnapChat, LinkedIn have worked on
creating lucrative routes of advertising as
well. While there are questions on the
organic impact and use of influencers
versus advertising, both play different
rolesandshallcontinuetodoso.
Instagram played an important role here
with the introduction of 3 applications in
the year that helped users and brands tell
their story in more than just a click. This is
the beginning of more visual
communication tools and features that will
seearisein2016.
“Interaction on social media as well will
create an engaging mobile friendly view.
Wearable Content innovation will win and
brands trying telling stories through stock
photos will gradually die, while brands
that invest in real photos and videos will
win over engagements and appreciation,
expressedRais.

The various facts and figures point out at
digital’s great future. Due to the action
packed powerful performance of 2015,
higher expectations from 2016 are
foreseen. Recently, ZenithOptimedia’s
Report estimates global ad expenditure to
grow by 4.7 % in 2016, reaching $ 579
billionbyendoftheyear.
Ravikumar shares that 2016 may well
remain a year of patience, perseverance
and a test for survival of the fittest and the
fastest in this new digital age. More brands
will use augmented reality and wearable
technologies in 2016, bringing online and
offline experience together. And last but
not the least, the popularity of visual
storytelling will continue unabated in the
upcomingyear.
According to Rais growing trend of Online
Advertising is expected to grow by 10 % at
a global rate. With the rise in mobile
advertising, online ad expenditure will see
arisethroughtheyearandthenext.
Global mobile advertising market will hit
two significant milestones in 2016;
according to new figures from eMarketer,
surpassing $100 billion in spending and
accounting for more than 50 % of all
digitaladexpenditureforthefirsttime.
“With the backlash of social media and
with a heavy reliance of brands on
celebrities coupled with the increased
legal pressures on ambassador
endorsements, digital consumers and
micro influencers will start playing a
significant role for brands. And companies
should invest in this right away,
commentedRavikumar.
While, Gupta believes that various digital
mediums such as Location Specific Ads,
Real Time Bidding, Video Ads –
everything saw their share of changes in
2015 and triggered an ignition for changes
expectedin2016.
“Application indexing will lead to an
explosion of applications. As the ranking
possibilities for applications become more
complex, 2016 will be the year when every
business owner realizes the online
visibility advantages of a dedicated
application,”expressedGupta.
Concluding his thoughts, Zafar Rais,
mentioned that all-inclusive Social
experience – Social Media sites are
investing in keeping the consumers glued
on to their portal by providing everything
right there. Facebook’s search engine will
allow further visibility to brands, given it’s
predicted to go beyond the way you search
onGoogleorYahoo.
“There is an expectation of better
consumer spends, likely to spread now to
Tier 3 towns as well and provide improved
healthcare to the masses. Inflation,
however remains a challenge with the
consumer still in constant contemplation
of Spendvs Save,”concludedRavikuar.
EXPECTATIONS 2016

BLURING TRADITIONAL
BOUNDARIES
Early this year, global media investment group
GroupM mentioned in its This Year, Next Year report
that advertising spends in India will grow 12.6 % to
touchINR 49,000Crore.
Likewise, according to Carat Ad Spend Report growth
prospects remain high in India, with advertising spend
estimated to grow by +11 % in 2015 and by +12 % by
2016.
2015: A WALKTHROUGH THE MEMORY LANE
Amer Jaleel, Chairman & CCO, Mullen Lintas, believes
that we are still in the phase of inequality of media, which
means an OKish idea pushed with enough money in a
powerful medium will win over a superior
communication thought just because the weight wasn't
behindit.
While there were path-breaking campaigns such as
Nescafe’s cartoonist ad and the Mauka Mauka series –
Indian ad industry also witnessed a lag with stereotypical
brandpushingcampaigns.
Leading broadcasters have been strictly following the 10+2 Ad Cap which was bound to
impactcreativityandadquality.
As a result, brands were seen moving to digital mediums, where the opportunity to
showcase ad films for longer durations was persistent. Start-up brands such as TrulyMadly,
Oyo Rooms, and Urban Ladder leveraged branded content trend with short films, as
opposedtomainstreamTVCs.
Indian Media Book takes stock of the Indian ad industry.
“Online medium however, saw many more experimental formats being developed such as
stand ups, music videos etc. I guess there is a clear movement towards more and more
creative happening on the net than on mainline. Yet, there is a long way to go. We still are
using online primarily to do longer duration of the same TV ad,” expressed Priti Nair,
Co-Founder,CurryNation.

In 2015, design thinking has been recognised as a force
to reckon with like never before. Wipro acquired a large
European design consulting firm, Infosys started giving
great emphasis on design thinking, every start-up
incubation initiative insists on design intervention as part
of the mentoring process. All these and more such
examplesarebecomingthenewnorm.
Commenting on the growth of Design industry, Ashwini
Despande, Co-Founder, Director, Elephant Design, said
“Design consulting industry has had a fantastic year. I
would peg the growth at 20 per cent or more on an
average. This is quite the opposite of how design
businesses are doing across Europe and some of the
developedAsianeconomies.”
Despande further commented that it has been a very vibrant and dynamic year, as speed of
synthesisandanalysisforbuildingabrandisbeingchallengedbythestart-ups.
“More and more businesses are looking at branding as an evolutionary process rather than
being obsessed about the fallacy of getting it right the first time. Progressive business
leadersareacknowledgingdesignasatoolofdifferentiation,”addedDespande.
BLURRY RESULTS
There is no doubt that 2015 was an exciting year, but somehow it’s failed to impress the
lady who named 2014 as Advertising Ka Sarkaar. We are talking about Priti Nair,
Co-Founder, Curry Nation’s Priti Nair who believes that 2015 was slow and more or
lessstagnant.
“It was a year that didn’t see any big moves or movements like the previous years so
perhapsonthepositivesideyoucouldcallitstable,”pointedoutNair.
D FOR
DESIGN

“Retail spends have gone down while etailers/e-commerce players have advertised heavily
across all mediums. Even telecom spends saw a low while handsets have been up.
Everyone seems to be after launching their mobile apps and that has seen a huge increase in
spends for downloads. Also, saw a dip in textiles though a few new players have entered.
Saw a big time movement of Travel and Education players into digital,”
commentedThakur.
2016 – CONTENT CONTINUES TO REIGN
Sunil Lulla, MD, Grey Group India, opines that 2016
must be seen in context of the economy, which at this
time is full of challenges. But compelling story telling
willneverceasetoamaze.
Societal trends reflect largely on the performance and
content of every industry. Conversations will become
moreimportantthanconversions.
“From a creative standpoint, the age of the more correct, more strategic thinker will
yield to the creative leaper. And that should be an interesting reversal to observe,”
expressed Jaleel.
Naresh Gupta, CSO, Managing Partner, Bang in the
Middle, shares that there has been too much of
domination of technology on advertising. Data analytics,
platforms, and apps, will take a back seat while pure
brandideaswillhopbehindthewheels.
“Advertising has become too driven by offer and
transactions. No brand can be built on back of efforts that
drive hands and feet only; brands will invest back in storytelling across media. From offline
to online to point of sale, compelling stories are the only thing that will connect brands and
brandfans”,commentedGupta.
Upendra Thakur, Co-Founder, Origin Beanstalk,
too believes that the year lacked zing. There were no
exciting products launches and FMCG category was
largely static while, real estate has been down. The only
high point could be witnssed during the fierce e-
commercebattles.

THE BULL’S EYE!
A brand can solve significant problems, but it can’t become relevant in the lives of
peopleuntilitstartscommunicatingwiththem.Thisisthereasonadvertisingexists.
Here are the top five ad campaigns of 2015, which not only managed to boost their
respectivebrandsbutalsosuccessfullyoccupiedaplaceinaudience’shearts.
In order to create buzz around World Cup, Star Network
rolled out experimental ad film #MaukaMauka, right
beforetheIndiav/sPakistanmatch.
Surprisingly, the experiment turned out to be a profitable
move and thus, Star decided to continue #MaukaMauka
byfollowupfilmsandastheysay-therestisthehistory.
#MaukaMauka campaign was conceptualised by a team
of four members from Bubblewrap Films. However, the creative idea comes from by
MustafaRangwala,StartNetworks.
The main lead through all films was the Delhi based actor Vishal Malhotra.
With millions of views on all ad films, the campaign was trending on social
mediaaswell.
In 2014, Nescafe tasted huge success through their ad
film featuring a stand-up comedian who stammered,
under#ItAllStartscampaign.
Taking #ItAllStarts to another level, Nescafe rolled out a
new ad film. Conceptualised by McCann Erickson, this
film tells the story of a cartoonist losing his job at a
newspaper, as the publication decides to drop cartoons.
Hethentakesuptosocialmediaandmakesitbig.
This ad film too created a buzz and is still running strong various on television and social
mediaplatformswithapproximately6,730,331viewsonYouTubeso far.
#MAUKAMAUKA
NESCAFE- CARTOONIST

AIRTEL 4G
To claim the fastest internet service, Airtel rolled out
Airtel Challenge, an ad film that commits to pay users
mobile bills for life if their network is proven to be faster
thanAirtel4G.
The campaign has been conceptualised by Taproot India,
featuring a young and spunky protagonist – Sasha
Chettri,who getsintoanetworkduelwithachallenger.
Snapdeal’s Dil ki Deal campaign launched in month of
May has managed to grab many eyeballs. The campaign
features Bollywood’s perfectionist Amir Khan in a very
unique style of narration and presentation.
Conceptualised by Leo Burnett under the banner of
Picture Perfect Films, the ad film is directed by Rajay
Singh and produced by Rickii Kapoor. The idea behind the campaign was to build an
emotionalconnectwithcustomers.
After the success of Dil Ki Deal, later during Diwali festive season, Snapdeal launched
#DiwaliDilKiDealWali.
Conceptualised by FCB Ulka, this campaign was based on the theme of Sale-o-Shayari.
The shayarana Andaaz of Aamir Khan grabbed lead to the success
ofthecampaign.
SNAPDEAL #DILKIDEAL
India v/s Pakistan theme tends to bring out the best of
creativy.
Aimed at spreading the message of being united,
Fevikwik rolled out an interesting ad film during the
Indiav/sPakistanmatchtitledTodoNahiJodo.
This 40 seconder ad film is probably that ad film, which
audience love to watch during the break instead of
changingthechannel.
FEVIKWIK- TODO NAHI JODO
Like #MaukaMauka, the success of this experimental ad film, forced Airtel to convert it
intoacampaignbylaunchingseriesofadfilms.
As an Indian soldier and his Pakistani counterpart try and outdo one another during their
usual border-march, the sole of the Pakistani soldier’s shoe comes apart. He looks
pleadinglyathisrival,who, inaflurryofmovement,miraculouslyfixesit.

According to prediction of Kurien Mathews,
Co-Founder, Metal Communication, “Luring good
people into the marketing communication industry will
remain a big challenge. Budgets will grow, and there will
be more e-commerce start-ups entering the fray. Also,
therewillsomemorenewagenciesbeinglaunched.”
GAZING AT THE CRYSTAL BALL
Aslow-motion replay reveals how the Indian soldier whips out a tube of Fevikwik from his
pocket and mends his rival’s shoe instantly. They salute each other and disband, at which
pointavoice-overandsupergo,Fevikwik.TodonahinJodo.
The ad film invited flak from for taking a dig at the legendary Wagah Border act. However,
creativelyitcontinuedtoberememberedasamilestone.
Advertising has grown from a tool of communication to a stream of creativity, passion and
storytelling.
According to Gupta target audience will become just a media enlisting tool. Brands will
target fans and not the wider swarm of audience. Fans are what will create following for the
brand.Marketerswillhavetogivetheaudienceastagetowork on.
From a brand point of view, Jaleel believes that marketers will have to abandon a lot of holy
grails like 'that's the one thing we are about' or ? 'we are not the sort of brand that talks like
that',inpursuingmoreandmorenon-obviousways ofcapturingthisdiffusionofeyeballs.
Speaking about the trends foreseen in 2016, Jaleel said, “I see a future where there are tiny
media brands (though they may eventually be owned by giants) and even individual ones.
It's thisinterestingmash-upIguess that'llstartacquiringsomeformin2016.”
Commenting about the expectation from the New Year,
Ashish Bhasin, Chairman & CEO South Asia Dentsu
Aegis Network, said, “2016 will also be good. We
anticipate another double digital growth next year
(between 10-12 %). Contribution of new categories like
e-Commerce is contributing well in the growth of
advertisingagencies.”
There will be marginal increase in TV (12 to 16 %). He also predicts that finance
advertising will be better and more than what it was in 2015.Spends in FMCG will see a rise
andso willtravelandfashion/apparels.
With new age ad formats seeping in, its high time that the industry stop categorising
advertising into water-tight online and offline compartments. Creativity across any
platformispureforofadvertisingandthisseemstobeTHEfuturetrend.

THE INDEPENDENT
INDIA CONTINUES
MSOs TALE OF
STRUGGLE IN
According to TAM Annual Universe Update 2015, the
Indian cable and satellite TV industry is currently at 161
million households which is over 11 % from January,
2014. Digital Households 84 million have grown at 8 %
whileterrestrialhouseholdshavewitnessedadrop.
Speaking on the performance of cable TV industry in
2015, Jeevan Khanna, Founder, Lucknow9 said, “This
year the cable television industry has not witnessed any
significant changes. All stakeholders have been busy in
planning their revenues, thus adding to the confusion
and chaos before mandatory digitisation. No one
endeavoured on improving basic infrastructure such as
rate per channel, revenue sharing between MSO and
LCO,banksubsidy orindigenousboxesetc.”
Non-tier I cities are considered as the home ground of DTH players. However, post
digitalisation, MSOs are giving tough competition in some areas. A major reason is that
MSOs have to deal with the LCOs to reach out to their subscribers. Apart from this,
independent MSOs are also suffering from the biasness of broadcaster toward major
MSOs.
“For independent MSOs, the year 2015 can be termed as the year of patience, where they
are patiently waiting for the ‘Achche Din’. From the growth point of view, the year was
neutral, as no growth or changes have been witnessed, while the expenses are increasing
year after year. In fact, government was slow with no policies or schemes being rolled
out,”addedRaviGupta,Co-Founder,DelhiDistributionCo(DDC).

THE IMPACT OF DIGITISATION
Digital population grew by 4 % in January 2015 over January 2014. Digitisation was
expected to solve a lot of issues including the reach of television, ARPU, communication
with LCOs and much more. While it has been a busy time for major cable operators since
PhaseI&IIofdigitisation,smallerindividualcableplayersstandatadeadend.
“After digitization there is no growth for MSOs.
From the time broadcasters have separated from
aggregators it is only the broadcasters who are
growing. For instance, the media pro which offered
Zee + Star content at Rs 40 is now charging Rs. 70/-
forthesamecontent,”expressedRaviGupta.
However, in January 2015, all India Digital penetration is 66 % in TAM reported markets
and it hiked from 0.1 million to 1 million that leads to a significant growth in the Digital
universeforSECCDE.
On the other side, Gaurav Gupta, Star Broadband Services, believes that digitalisation
brought many positive changes in terms of quality of service and service delivery. “At
present, we are at a stable position. But growth is only in terms of technology wherein
distributionofrevenueisnotproperlydefined,expressedGauravGupta.
As per the TAM report, cable TV and satellite penetration have witnessed a growth across
all TAM reported markets with growth being highest in Rajasthan, UP and MP LCOs,
whileKeralamarketwitnessedthehighestgrowthinDigitalpenetration.
Ravi believes that digitisation, brought 100 % transparency between consumers, LCOs,
MSOs and broadcasters. Shedding light on the issue he further mentioned that earlier
broadcasters used to blame MSOs for hiding the actual number of subscribers. At present,
the situation is such that they themselves are not willing to get the fee disclosed as the
broadcasters deal in fix fee with big MSOs and DTH players. So incase of any, cross
holdings,broadcasterssimplytrytobeattheircompetitorsandearnmaximumprofit.
“Digitalisation has provided a number of benefits to the Broadcasters, LCOs and
Government, while MSOs’ growth is completely paused”, added Neeraj Jain, Executive
Director&ManagingDirector,SeaTVNetwork.

“The major issues of cable TV operators in Bihar is the competition as there are 4 major
MSO’s namely; Darsh, Siti, GTPL, Den. The overall size of the impatient market is
decreasing and the revenue per sale is consistently trending downward. Operational costs
and capital needs continue unabated and options for alternative outpatient business
development are met with competition from the very distributors, commented Sushil
Kumar,Director,Darsh DigitalNetwork.
However, with regard to socioeconomic development Bihar lags behind as compared to
other states with its ARPU ranging from Rs. 100-150. Entertainment tax in Bihar is Rs. 15
and15%ontherevenueforDTH players.
The taxation is eating up our profits. Thus, service tax and entertainment tax also need to be
controlled,”commentedKhanna.
Ravi informed that the presence of broadcasters is a major issue. There are more than 800
broadcasters in all and the number of channels owned by few exceeds 30. This gives them
anaddonadvantageofgettingmorebusiness throughadvertisements.
Likewise Gaurav Gupta too believes that the only major issue of MSOs in Delhi are
discriminationinthepricingbythebroadcasters.
Shedding the light on the issues in Uttar Pradesh, Jain mentioned that in UP nobody is
following the guidelines of TRAI. Rules and regulations are there, but there are only few
MSOs arefollowingthem.Thus,thereisnomeaningofdigitalisation.
Independent MSOs are also facing a lot of issues while collecting the payments. Many time
LCOs refuse to pay, as major MSOs are offering lesser price. But they can’t offer, as they
arepayinghighertotheBroadcasters.
THE STRUGGLE OF INDEPENDENT MSOs
Non-tier I cities are considered as the home ground of DTH players. However, post
digitalisation, MSOs are giving tough competition in some areas. The major reason is
MSOs havetodealwiththeLCOs toreachouttotheirsubscribers.
According to Bihar state Pay-TV FTAReport 2014, cable TV market in Bihar is dominated
by regional MSO Darsh Digital and Maurya Cablenet, which operates through a joint
venturewithSitiCable.AmongDTH operators,Dish TVisakeyoperatorinBihar.

Commenting on the situation of independent MSOs,
Gurdev Singh Bullar, Founder, God Father
Communication, said, “For us, today situation is the
same as prior to digitalisation. I’ve not witnessed any
major change in Punjab post digitalisation. The issues
are still as it is such as no transparency, biased
broadcasters,lackofrulesandregulations.”
THE BIASED BROADCASTERS
Major MSOs and DTH players hold very good equation with broadcasters, independent
MSOs are suffering from the biasness of broadcaster toward major MSOs. According to
Khanna, especially in Uttar Pradesh, there are many issues such as lack of transparency
from the Broadcasters. They are declaring the RIOs but not sharing any further details on
thedeal.
“Broadcasters are being biased with independent MSOs and they offer different prices to
the National and other big MSOs. Government must decide fixed MRPs for broadcasters
andthatshouldbethesametoalli.e.bothDTH playersandMSO, addedKhanna.
Undoubtedly, digitalisation brought MSOs, cable TV operators at the same level/platform
and now these rivals, MSOs, DTH players and independent MSOs are trying hard to get
edgeupontheincreasingcompetition.
Speaking about the biasness of broadcasters, Jain
said, “Broadcasters are not only increasing the
rates, but also they are biased towards major
MSOs. We are paying a higher amount for the
same thing as compared to major MSOs. It’s
getting very difficult for us to compete in such kind
of biased environment as there is no scope for
growth.”
Explaining the reason behind this biased behaviour, Kumar informed that the volume of
major MSOs are very high and thus, the CPS rate in comparison to the independent MSOs
is very low including discounts. It therefore creates a big hurdle for survival of an
independent MSOs as the CPS rates are high. Also, the credit limit of major MSOs is high
incomparisontotheindependentones.

REGIONAL CONTENT
Post digitalisation, the consumption of local and regional content has increased and it’s
helpingMSOs togetanedgeuponthecompetition.
“There is huge scope for local content these days. Our local channels are very beneficial to
us. Our satellite channels are doing really very well and getting us positive responses from
theaudience,”commentedJain.
Local channels are very important to compete with DTH
players. Jain further added that people are switching to
DTH players, whereas cable operators are not being able
toservethatwell,thereisaneedtoeducatethem.
There is good scope for regional channels but since it is
not promoted well they do not get the required hike.
Also, the Ad revenue is not so good due to lack of
promotion.
“Yes, there has been an increase in regional content consumption post digitisation. Darsh
Digital Network Pvt. Ltd. is performing very well in its areas and covers all significant
contentatallitsdistributionpoints,”commentedKumar.
After all struggles and issues faced, independent MSOs have survival instincts. Darsh
Digital Network, has achieved good numbers and in Phase 2 and Phase 3 markets giving
tough competition to MSOs. Kumar informed that the venture has covered almost 40 % of
areasacrossPatna.
On the other side, DDC is claims to be India’s first channel that has moved 100 % from SD
to HD. Darsh Digital Network is planning enter the high speed broadband, OTT (Over The
TOP) VOD (Video On Demand) service, Local Darsh Channels etc. Phase III areas have to
be digitalized as it is planning to carry on the same in entire Bihar and Jharkhand. It is
aimingtocoveralltheareasinPhaseIIIandPhaseIV.
While Lucknow9 is looking for investors to raise funds, so as to invest in invoicing- billing
andtherebybecomeacompletelydigitalised.
With 1.25 lakhs installed STBs, Sea TV Network is the leading player in Agra and is
targeting 5 lakh STBs in phase III to cover 150 Kms in nearby regions and also getting
expansionoffersfromalloverIndia.
The oldest digitised network Star Broadband is serving in South Delhi and is planning to
expand its services to smaller towns. Also Star Broadband is in the process of launching its
appformobilepresence.
“Now with mandatory digitisation post 1 January 2016, there is a hope of market correction
and emergence of serious players in this business, who can add value to the economic
ecosystem,”concludedKhanna.

INDIAN TELEVISION
INDUSTRY’S REVENUE
EXPECTED TO EXCEED
32.7 BILLION BY 2019$According to the FICCI KPMG Indian Media and
Entertainment Industry Report 2015, television
industry in India, which was estimated at Rs 475 billion
in 2014, will grow at a CAGR of 15.5 per cent to reach
Rs 975billionin2019.
The number of households having TV sets in India
increased to 168 million in 2014, implying a TV
penetration of 61 per cent, even as the Cable and
Satellite (C&S) subscribers increased by 10 million in
2014,toreach149million.
Uday Sodhi, Executive VP & Head, Digital Business, Multi Screen Media (MSM),
believes that the industry has experienced exponential growth in non-linear digital
infrastructure, anchored to rising smartphone penetration, increasing numbers of
broadbandusers andfasterinternetspeeds.
Sharing his thoughts on the performance of the industry,
Sodhi said, “All indicators suggest that the ecosystem
will continue to improve at a rapid pace adding fuel to the
gold rush in OTT video. Video will account for 66 per
cent of mobile data traffic in India by 2019, up from 36
percentin2014,accordingtoestimatesfromCISCO.”
Apart from this, Media and Entertainment industry is receiving strong support from the
government, as it takes various initiatives such as digitising the cable distribution sector to
attract greater institutional funding, increasing FDI limit from 74 per cent to 100 per cent in
cable and DTH satellite platforms and granting industry status to the film industry for easy
accesstoinstitutionalfinance.
AD SPEND & REVENUES
India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) mentioned in its report that India’s Media and
Entertainment industry is expected to grow steadily over the next five years. The same
report stated that television and print are expected to remain the largest contributors to the
advertisingpiein2018aswell.

The report further revealed that the industry revenues are likely to exceed $ 32.7 billion by
2019 from US$ 17.0 billion in 2014, growing at compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of
14.0percentbetween2015and2020.
Sharing her thoughts on the TV ad spend, Anita Nayyar,
CEO, India-South Asia, Havas Media Group, said, “TV
industry is probably the only one which does not get
impacted at an overall level. Inspite of average growth in
the overall advertising industry TV probably is a major
gainer. Given 2015 has been an election year and the E-
commerce sector has been the sunrise sector which has
stormed the industry with big spends largely in favour of
TV.”
In 2014, Indian general elections boosted the television advertising revenue that leads to
theimprovedmacro-economicoutlookduetoastablegovernmentatthecentre.
According to FICCI KPMG report, the total TV advertising market is estimated to have
grown at 14 per cent in 2014 to Rs 155 billion. Going forward, TV advertising in India is
expectedtogrow ataCAGR of19percenttoreachRs 299billionby2019.
As a result, the revenue from advertising is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13 per cent and
will exceed Rs 81,600 crore (US$ 12.29 billion) in 2019 from Rs 41,400 crore (US$ 6.24
billion)in2014.
Talking about the subscription revenue, it will grow at an annualized 16 per cent; higher
thanadrevenue's14percentannualisedgrowth,statedFICCI KPMG.
On the other side, IBEF disclosed that in 2014, the subscription revenues for broadcasters
grew at only 10 per cent to Rs 75 billion. This is expected to grow at a CAGR of 22 per cent
from2014to2019toRs 201billion.
In the Indian media and entertainment industry one of the
most disputed subjects is the measurement. The industry
has been divided over various issues related to
measurement.
The TV rating data Television Audience Measurement
(TAM) has been a moving target for broadcasters and
BARC’S DEBUT
advertisers. As a result, in April 2015, the industry bodies representing the three key
stakeholders - broadcasters, advertisers, and advertising and media agencies – launched a
newratingsystem–BARC India.

“While we started with rolling out household data in
April 2015, in a short span of six months, we have come
a long way, fulfilling the promise of giving the
stakeholders a sense of “What India Watches” with our
All India (Urban+Rural) ratings”, commented Partho
Dasgupta,CEO,BARC India.
BARC has been receiving strong support from the industry as it is a measurement system of
the industry, by the industry and for the industry. Thus, it further introduced its rural ratings
inOctober2015tostrengthenitsposition.
According to BARC survey, there are 153.5 million TV households, of which 77.5 million
are from urban India, while 76 million belongs to the rural India. Dasgupta further added
that the huge numbers of rural India TV households were completely ignored, until BARC
India started rolling out All India ratings through its 22,000 Bar-O-Meters installed across
thelengthandbreadthofthecountry.
REPORT CARD
According to BARC survey, all India data include the younger age group of the television
viewers from rural India, who not only have a high spending power, but are also
aspirational. The same reflects in the high percentage of viewership which comes from
ruralIndiatoEnglishEntertainment,EnglishNews andEnglishMoviechannelgenres.
“For instance, 73 per cent ratings in the English News genre comes from non-metros, 40
per cent ratings in English Movie channels comes from Rural India and 41 per cent ratings
inEnglishEntertainmentchannelscomesfromruralIndia”,addedDasgupta.
Star Plus was the undisputed ruler in 2014, witnessed tough competition from Colors in
2015. Zee TV has been playing its cards smartly and surprisingly Zee Anmol turned out to
bethebiggestgaineraccordingtoBARC ruralratings.
Sony Sab and Sony Entertainment were seen struggling for more than a year, however
finallysucceededingainingeyeballs.
On the other side, Sony Max, Zee Cinema and Star Gold emerged as the top entertainers in
Hindi movie genre. Sharing views on the expectations from 2016, Ajit Andhare - COO,
Viacom18 Motion Pictures said, “Satellite rights, which is one of the key revenue streams
for the studios will play an even more important role. Films are consumed on TVby a wider
audience base and the ratings that the motion picture will get will just be another success
matrixforthefilmproducers/studios.”

Among the Hindi news channels, Aaj Tak, India TV and ABP news competed well,
whereas in English news market Times Now turned out to be the undisputed king.
However, in the debut week of India Today TV, the channel began with good numbers
whileclaimingthethronehowevergraduallystartedlosingeyeballs.
“2016 will see BARC India foray into split beam and digital measurement which will give
aninsightintowhatpeoplewatchacrossmultiplescreens,”expressedDasgupta.
However, Nayyar believes that digital is staged to gain ground, it is TV which will again
receive favourable response given more states going into elections and large established E-
commerce players consolidating spends and many more start-ups receiving their rounds of
funding.
“Automobile sector will also see many launches and once again the skews will favour the
TV industry. Not to mention regular spends coming the TV way from FMCG, Telecom,
MobileandthelikesofPatanjali,”concludedNayyar.

THE RISE
WEBSITES
OF CASHBACK
& COUPON
The cashback and coupon websites began a new
trend with the online shopping industry in 2014. They
further strengthened their market position and became
an important segment in the booming e-commerce
industry in India in the year 2015. Cashback and Coupon
websites are commission based ventures which work to
generate sales and pull traffic for the online retail
partners they tie up with, such as Amazon, Flipkart,
Snapdeal,Jabong,Myntra,ShopCluesetc.
Today, these portals give an opportunity to save more money, even on the discounted
products. A retailer pays commission to the website and instead of keeping the entire
commissionitsharesitwiththecustomers.
Speaking about the reason behind the success of the
segment, Swati Bhargava, Co-Founder, CashKaro said,
“Cashback and coupon portals have emerged as an
important segment in the booming e-commerce industry
in India. The Indian customer loves a good bargain and
that is what is the key driver of cashback sites in the
countryandalsomakesaperfectfit.”
Apart from this, these players make shopping experience even better for the customer, by
helpingthemingettingbestdeals,so thattheycansavemoremoney.
“Overall couponing has become an integral part of the online marketing ecosystem and
brands have realised the benefits that coupon partners bring to the table,” said Ankita
Tandon,COO, CouponDunia.
2015 was an exciting year for the e-commerce players and online market places. Cashback
and Coupon portals played a key role in the growth of this sector, by acting as a helping
hand to the small e-commerce stores and start-ups, which don’t have big budgets to run
display ads; they can easily tie up with cashback and coupon sites and start promoting their
productswithoutanyinvestment.

THE
UCCESS
STORY
During The Great Online Shopping Festival (GOSF) 2014, Cashback and Coupon
websites played a key role in getting the transaction of the ecommerce players. With about
450 brands and websites offering discounts as part of GOSF, buyers got smarter this time
with the help of price-comparison, coupons and cashback websites to avoid the tiring task
ofvisitingeache-commerceportaltryingtofindthebestdeals.
According to Rohan Bhargava, Co-Founder, CashKaro,
this affiliate marketing segment now accounts for a
commendable 15-20 per cent of e-commerce sales in the
country. Recognizing the contribution of cashback sites
in driving quality traffic and sales, e-commerce
companies are now increasingly relying on cashback
marketing and building it into the overall marketing
strategy to get an edge over others in the market.
Coupons and cashback sites usually involve a lot of digital marketing which includes
Search Engine Optimisation, Google Adwords, video ads, display ads, search ads, social
media,mobileapp,printadvertisingandmailers,amongothers.
Festive season is one of the major periods where ecommerce players witness a hike in
transactions with maximum sales as compared to the rest of the year. Thus, these cashback
and coupon players are also utilising the opportunity by offering good deals to make the
most of it. Apart from metro cities, these ventures are getting good responses from tier II
cities.
On the other side, Tondon informed that while brands
individually drive to gain their market share,
coupon/deal partners are the platforms that savvy,
regular online shoppers frequent and hence brands need
to be present there to cater to the smaller audience but
onewithsignificantbuyingpower.
“Like CD, most of the partners in this vertical would have seen 80-200 per cent increase in
traffic,transactionsandrevenueonay-o-ybasis,”addedTondon.
Rohan recalls these cashback sites as enablers of e-commerce, as with expansion they have
begun generating interest among VCs and angel investors. With the growth of
e-commerce,thesesiteshavestartedgettingattractivefundingoffers.

NEED FOR MANAGEMENT
Customers expect to get the cash back immediately after the completion of the transaction
andwhileshoppingonline,butthatdoesn’thappen.
There is no minimum amount for cash withdrawal; customer can withdraw any amount
available but, his/her account won’t be activated until the return period of the purchased
product is over, which usually varies from retailer to retailer and is normally within 30-90
days.
The discount which is offered to a first-time customer will not be the same for repeat
customers; therefore, it is a great tool for customer acquisition, but not for customer
retention.
GOOD HOPES FROM 2016
Swati believes that given a reduction in traditional discounting by retailers, cashback will
continue to be a key marketing channel since it offers real saving without blatant
discounting.
Likewise, Tandon mentioned that with the advent of mobile platforms, coupon/deal
partners too have become extremely savvy when it comes to their infrastructure and
backendprocesses.
“As online users across the country increase, brands will want all the support they can get
from direct and channel partners like coupon/deal platforms to not only convert potential
window shoppers to buyers but also help in the hand holding of these newbies.
Coupon/deal platforms too will have to evolve to better serve their product to the first time
userandyetensuretheregularsavvyoneisnotdisappointed,”expressedTandon.
Rohan is expecting cashback tracking on mobile app to
go live soon with more retailers enabling App to App
tracking. He also believes that, the enablers of e-
commerce such as Cashback, Coupons and price
comparison sites will continue generating interest
amongVCs andangelinvestorsastheyexpand.
“Recognizing the contribution of cashback sites, more and more e-commerce sites will
allocate attractive commissions to cashback and coupon sites to maintain their leadership
position in this competitive market. We expect more retailers who were earlier offering
only coupons to build technologies that enable them to adopt the cashback model,"
concludedRohan.

THE GOLDEN ERA OF
INDIAN RADIO INDUSTRY
Over the years, evolving technology got the radio
consumption in India to another level. The development
of Indian radio industry in past decade can be attributed
to the launch of several private FM radio channels and in-
builtFM radiosinsmartphones.
According to CII & BCG’s Shaping the Industry at the Time of Disruption report, the
Indian radio industry has registered 11 per cent CAGR over 2010-2015 and is currently
valued at INR 2,300 Crores. There are 250-300 Million radio users today which is more
thanTVHousehold’s andInter-netusers inIndia.
Speaking about the growth of radio industry Nisha
Narayanan, COO, Red FM said, “The industry has
reached at a level today after years of hard work and
perseverance and we are really grateful of all our
listeners and advertisers who have posed faith in us. Of
course the medium is reaching to far more listeners than
earlier but at the same time the competitive landscape has
also widened. From what used to be Print, radio and OOH; today we have a wider choice
when it comes to media mix. Radio has still a long way to go – task is to take it to 8-10 per
centofoverallmediapie…andwithphase3and4wehopetoreachtothatlevel.”
Mahesh Shetty, EVP, Head - Digital Initiatives, Radio Mirchi, also believes that after
digital,it’stheradioindustrywhichhasbeengrowingreallyveryfast.
THROWBACK: 2015
2015 has been an exciting year for media and entertainment industry. According to FICCI-
KPMG Media & Entertainment Report, the radio industry registered a robust growth of
around 24 per cent with the top eight metros still dominating the market, accounting for 70-
75percentofindustryrevenues.
Commenting the on performance of radio industry in 2015, Harrish Bhatia, CEO, My FM,
said, “The industry’s performance has been good so far. The outlook of the industry is
positive and promising. If we compare Q1 and Q2 of this financial year we have grown by
about 12 per cent. We see a lot of new category experimenting and using radio medium
specifically dotcom. The advertising spends from existing categories like Real Estate,
Automobile,BankingandFinanceshaveincreasedoverlastyear.”

2015 witnessed increasing number of FM radio listeners
coupled with the growing expenditure on advertisement
campaigns by real-estate, pharmaceutical, education,
healthcare sectors, etc., are resulting in strong growth of
theFM radioindustry.
While, Shetty informed that the Radio industry has
grown between 10-13 per cent range and he expects
further growth of about 12-15 per cent,which is far ahead
ofprint.
However, as per the estimates by India FM Radio Industry Forecast & Opportunities, 2019,
theRadioindustryisexpectedtowitnessdoubledigitgrowthduring2014-19.
Narayanan too believes that 2015 has been an eventful year for the Radio Industry.
Expressing her happiness and excitement about the success of 2015, Narayanan said, “I am
happy to see FM radio at this stage in the decade long journey of most of us. With Phase – 3
finally getting off the ground after having been in the offing for 4 years is, in my view the
biggest and the best thing that could have happened to the Industry. Of course one expected
somemore,butthenwellbeginsishalfdoneiswhatIbelievein.”
PHASE III – THE MOST AWAITED DEVELOPMENT
The year 2015 witnessed the commencement of the most
awaited phase III auction in July 2015. This is further
expected to bring in revenue of about US$ 390 million.
Phase III FM license auctions will drastically expand FM
radio services from 86 cities to 294 cities and rural areas,
enlarging FM radio’s reach from 40 per cent to 75 per
centoftheIndianpopulation.
Tier-2 & 3 cities have been untapped markets offering latent growth opportunities for FM
radio market. Further, following the phase III auction, radio’s positioning will be
strengthenedwithpanIndiapresenceattractingmoreadvertisers.
“Phase III saw the most competitive and aggressive bidding for various frequencies on
offer in Batch 1 and I must complement the Ministry for pulling off a glitch free auction,”
addedNarayanan.
According to the results declared by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry on its
website, HT Media Limited and Reliance Network Broadcast Limited are among the top
players that have emerged as highest bidders in the e-auctions for the first batch of channels
undertheprivateFM radiophaseIIIexpansion.

HT Media bagged channels in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kanpur and Lucknow, whereas
asReliancesuccessfullymanagedtowinthebidsinPune,LucknowandPatna.
With Phase 3 FM auctions allowing more than one frequency in a city, radio stations are
anticipated to aggressively pursue localized content and news (with some conditions) to
attractaudiencesandadvertisersalikewithwiderbouquetofchannels.
RADIO ADVERTISING
Phase III auctions are likely to have a positive impact on radio advertising, as prior to this
post phase II auctions in 2015, the radio industry’s advertising share increased from 1.6 per
centto3.6percentin2009.
However, over the last 2 years radio advertising received a fillip from increased
government and political spending including the elections in 2014 and emergence of e-
commerceasamajoradvertiser.
“We had a very good start with most cities and stations seeing demand for radio advertising
going up. Most of the radio players have been growing in double digit figures and are
witnessing a healthy demand on the inventory front, making it clear that there is room
enoughfornewstationsinsomemarkets,”expressedNarayanan.
Radio industry can also leverage live events such as musical award shows to gain brand
awarenessandofferadvertiserswithastrongadvertisementmedium.
Globally radio advertising has been resilient to the structural migration to digital as radio is
the top source for music consumption with time spent on radio increasing from 10.4
hours/week in 2009 to 12.3 hours in 2014 with total share of media consumption stable in
26-27 per cent despite the digital explosion. Further it is an attractive medium for
advertisers given its combination of reach, ability to choose individual geography and
effectivepricing.
Radio particularly continues to remain the media of choice for music discovery even in
developedmarketsandhenceattractsinterestfrompublishersandadvertisers.

2016: YEAR OF ACTION
CII & BCG’s report stated that the Indian radio industry is expected to grow in the range of
18 per cent to 20 per cent CAGR to between INR 5,000 Crores and INR 6,000 Crores by
2020. Even our base case scenario factors a healthy growth rate of 18 per cent CAGR
assuming that phase 3 auctions have the same positive impact of phase 2 auctions with
radioshareoftotaladvertisingincreasingfrom5percentin2015to6-8percentby2020.
There is no doubt that post phase III auctions of batch 1, all winners will get busy in
launching and consolidating their stations and batch 2 and phase 4 are likely to be expected
in2016.
“From the radio point of view, I would call 2016 as the
year of radio. As we all won frequencies in phase III and
willmakethesestationsfunctional,commentedShetty.
Radio industry has a bright future, believes Narayanan
and she is excited and confident about the future of radio
industry. “We want be more closer to our listeners by
offering them best of 3600 and in that direction digital
and on ground engagements and activation will see
bigger role. Personally I see industry growing more than 20 per cent in 2016; a notch higher
than2015”expressedNarayanan.
However, on the other side, Shetty predicts that in terms of reach, the private FM radio will
reachouttofarmorelisteners.
“We will also launch our second brand as we have second frequencies in the many of the
markets that we are operating. In terms of audiences, we will come out with the different
kindofcontent,addedShetty.
According to Narayanan, one can also expect evolution of few more markets such as
Hyderabad, Pune, Chandigarh, Ahmadabad, Kochi, Jaipur, Trivendrum etc as key growth
makers. Eastern & North eastern cities such as Patna, Bhubneshwar, Guwahati and
Shillong will also emerge more strongly in overall radio planning scenario and that will
makeindustrygrow fasterthanitscurrentlevel.
“Dotcom business is a big boost to the medium though currently our market spends are not
hugebutweanticipateittobebigin2016,”saidBhatia.
Radio requires experiments to get into new formats, content and engagement. “I am
hopeful that the convergence of Radio with Digital, TV and Print will be more visible in
time to come. All this plus wish if government also comes out with their new DAVPrelated
advertising rate structure, more autonomy on news events and live sports etc; it would help
intakingradiotogreaterheights”concludedNarayanan.

AN ACTION PACKED YEAR
FOR THE E-COMMERCE SECTOR
2016 EXPECTED
Recently, TechSci Research mentioned that the Indian e-
Commerce market is estimated to grow at 36 per cent
from 2015-2020. As stated in the report, rising number of
high speed internet users is encouraging businesses to
innovate and offer a diversified array of products and
servicesonline.
Neeru Sharma, Co-Founder & Director, Infibeam informed that India has emerged as 3rd
largest internet user base in the world and as per the reports published if the trend continues
India will be the 2nd largest in terms of Internet user base. The Broadband subscriber in
Indiaispredictedtobeover144millionin2019from86millioninyear2014.
According to Goldman Ecommerce Report 2015
published in May, the ecommerce market was worth $12
billion by the end of the fiscal. It currently projects a
stronger-than-expected growth of $23 billion. The report
further mentions that as on 31st March 2015, India had
around$11billionthroughonlinesales.
2015: MIXED REVIEWS
There were 35 million online shoppers in India as of Q1 2014 and is expected to cross 100
million mark by end of year 2016. Recent statistics show that retail e-commerce sales in
India have grown tremendously, from 2.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2012 to an estimated 17.5
billionU.S. dollars,representinganalmosteight-foldgrowth.
“Market size of e-tail is US$ 7 billion in 2015 and expects the market size of e-tail in India
to be around US$ 44bn by 2020. This means the size and opportunity of e-commerce will
bephenomenal,”commentedSharma.
According to Zafar Rais – CEO, MindShift Interactive, E-commerce became a bigger
playground with additional categories being formed by the old players, and with a lot of
enterprising new players creating new categories. Grocery, concierge services, ready-to-
eathealthymeals,carpoolingaresomeofthekeygamechangersthathaveenteredin2015.

Speaking about the performance of the industry, Amarjit
Batra, CEO & Founder, OLX, said, “2015 a year that saw
stars became super stars, as well as many new stars
entering the space. It was also a year that saw companies
that were unable to succeed in the mainstream e-tail and
online classifieds diversify into multiple brands. These
companies will have to start from scratch, and raise funds to build and grow their new
brands.”
As of 2015, the retail e-commerce sales as a per cent of total retail sales in India account for
0.9 per cent of all retail sales in India, with an expected growth, reaching 1.4 per cent in
2018,statedStatistareport.
However, Ganesh Vasudevan – CEO, IndiaProperty believes that unlike earlier times
where the market suffered because of high interest rates and political instability and the
market dynamics favoured investors and builders, in 2015 the residential market was
primarilyabuyers’market.
“Firstly RBI reduced the repo rate by 125 basis points
since January 2015, forcing banks to reduce the home
loan rates for property buyers. Secondly builders in most
of the big cities like Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Pune etc. had
high unsold inventories and therefore offered good deals
and discounts for homes. Overall residential property
sales this year have been slow and witnessed negligible price movement. But buyers
especially end users made constant enquiries about properties indicating high intent in
buying,”commentedVasudevan.
On the other side, according to Peyush Bansal, Founder & CEO, Lenskart, the industry
overall witnessed growth this year, as most players expanded their presence from urban
citiestoTier2andTier3cities.
Expressing his thoughts on performance of e-commerce industry, Bansal said, “This year
witnessed e-commerce companies trying constantly to differentiate themselves by offering
services like cash backs, 30-day replacement warranty, mobile wallets etc. In all, the
industry fared well this year and holds immense potential for growth in the coming
yearsaswell.”

Gone are the days, when online shopping was limited to PCs and laptops. Nowadays,
shopping on mobile is trending. In fact, leading players like Myntra went app only and
Flipkarthasakeeninterestinoptingforsimilarmodel.
More than 235 million people in India access internet through mobile devices. This is the
primaryreasonfore-tailerstofocusonmobileapppenetrationacrossthecountry.
“Mobile has been the platform for growth, and 2015 has yet again proved the same.
Most businesses saw traffic from mobile increasing manifold, but those who were the first
ones to invest in developing a robust mobile App reaped maximum benefits,”
expressedBatra.
In India, 9 per cent of the country’s population made purchases via mobile phone within the
pastmonth,asofthefourthquarterof2014.
According to Bansal, this year, as technology evolved,
the e-commerce industry as well adapted itself to newer
techniques, with an objective of facilitating more
purchasesonlineandgratifyingconsumerdemands.
The mobile applications help in reaching out to
customers located in remote and rural areas.
E-commerce companies have also been able to bridge the service gap considerably by
sendingserviceupdatesandothercommunicationsviatheirmobileapp,e-mail,andSMS.
“It isn’t surprising to note that with a population of over 1.2 billion people in India and with
an uptake in mobile and internet adoption, players in the industry were focussed on tapping
consumers across segments, by adding more sellers on their website this year,
addedBansal.
Expressing his views on growth of mobile technology,
Zafar informed added that mobile-only will become
bigger – The fact that Google believes mobile usability
as relevant for most favourable search results is in itself a
sign of the growing importance of mobile. Among
Google Webmaster Tools you'll find a new one called
Mobile Usability, designed specifically to cater to this
newrequirements.
M-COMMERCE V/S E-COMMERCE
The revenue coming from mobile app is on the rise e.g. 50 per cent for Flipkart while 70
percentforQuikr.

Batra has high expectations from 2016, he believes that it will be an action packed year.
According to Batra, in 2016 new businesses will continue to enter the space, the first signs
ofconsolidationwillstartemergingintheindustry.
According to Tracxn, in the first nine months of 2015, Indian e-commerce start-ups
received$2.6billioninfundingcomparedto$3.1billioninallof2014.
“Funding will continue to flow into the space, but investors will start focussing more on
business viability, rather than just growth. A fair bit of the investments will start going
towardsacquisitions”,addedBatra.
Likewise, Vasudevan’s expectations are also positive, as he mentioned that even though
the realty market moved at a slow pace in 2015, property seekers continued to make
enquiries.
By 2016, 653 million people in the Asia Pacific region are expected to buy goods and
services online, a figure which translates into over 48 per cent of internet users in the Asia
Pacificregionpurchasingproductsorservicesonline.
“With lowering home loan interest rates and developers giving good deals for homes the
market is likely to pick up in the second half of 2016. Developers offering mid and low
income segments properties will witness maximum demand from buyers. Mobile usage for
propertysearchisexpectedtogetdoubledinthecomingyear,commentedVasudevan.
According to recent data, the number of digital buyers in India alone is expected to reach 41
million by 2016, representing 27 per cent of the total number of internet users in the
country.
On the other side, Bansal mentioned that the coming year seems to be promising for the e-
commerce industry as online retailers will experience more success in areas where they are
supported with good retail infrastructure. As per industry sources, value of India's e-
commercemarketisestimatedtoreachnearly$18-20billionin2016.
“In 2016, businesses will be more about mobile than ever – they'll build fully approachable
websites, focus on mobile ads and create separate content meant specifically for the
movinguser,addedZafar.
On the other hand, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder, Paytm informed that the venture has
grown 6 time y-o-y and expecting 60 times y-o-y, hopefully. “This is the time when m-
commerce and mobile wallets arrived to the centre stage and the trends will be up &
above,”expressedSharma.
2016THE YEAR TO WATCH OUT FOR

Online retail or e-commerce is transforming the
shopping experience of customers and the sector
therefore has seen unprecedented growth especially in
the last two years. This year, as technology evolved, the
e-commerce industry as well adapted itself to newer
techniques, with an objective of facilitating more
purchasesonlineandgratifyingconsumerdemands.
E-COMMERCE MARKET IS ESTIMATED
TO REACH NEARLY $18-20 BILLION IN
2016: PEYUSH BANSAL
INDIA’S
Some of the most popular product categories among
online shoppers in the region include airline tickets and
reservations, baby supplies, cosmetics, clothing,
accessories and shoes, as well as computer hardware and
software.
However, Sharma believes that, significant shifts in technology, innovation and
connectivityare driving the convergence of physical and digital transactions in the world of
e-Commerce. Economic growth accelerating and investment in internet sector is at an all-
timehigh.
“India's consistent GDP growth rate vis-a-vis US and China has driven high growth in
internet usage and e-retail penetration. Massive investment in internet sector in India over
last 3 years by private investors added to significantly for accelerated growth in e-tailing,”
concludedSharma.
THROWBACK: ECOMMERCE INDUSTRY IN 2015
It isn’t surprising to note that with a population of over 1.2 billion people in India and with
an uptake in mobile and internet adoption, players in the industry were focussed on tapping
consumersacrosssegments,byaddingmoresellersontheirwebsitethisyear.
Another interesting development this year was e-tailers foraying into physical stores to be
able to provide multiple touch points to customers. In addition to this, physical stores have
also helped e-commerce companies to reinforce their online brand and make a stronger
connect with the consumers. While this was seen an upcoming trend this year it is all set to
becomemoreprominentinthefuture.
34

The industry at large continues to focus on its marketing
initiatives to personalize services for customers and
bring convenience to them at their doorstep, which will
continue to rise in the coming years. As an example, at
Lenskart, we are focussed on investing and expanding
our, “Free Home Trial” service through which customers
can select up to 5 frames of their choice from our wide
CONSUMER SPEND
Additionally, consumer spends across online and offline platforms will continue to rise in
the coming year owing to improved digital connectivity, plethora of options across the
platformsandever-increasingoffersbye-commerceplayerstoensurecustomerloyalty.
VERTICAL SPECIFIC E-TAIL
This concept has picked up rapidly in the last years and will continue to grow. Vertical
specific e-tailing is focussed on providing niche product or service to consumers as they
can differentiate one player from mainstream e-commerce players. Such ventures such as
our own, is focussed on providing personalized and user-friendly experience to customers
withoutcompromisingonquality.
The industry overall witnessed a growth this year, as most players expanded their presence
from urban cities to Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. The combination of rising disposable incomes,
consumer demands, favourable demographics, increasing mobile and internet penetration
and lucrative offers by e-commerce companies have fuelled the growth of the e-commerce
industryacrossmarkets.
This year we saw e-commerce companies constantly trying to differentiate themselves by
offering services like cash backs, 30-day replacement warranty and mobile wallets etc. In
all, the industry fared well this year and holds immense potential for growth in the coming
yearsaswell.
TRENDS FORESEEN FOR THE YEAR 2016
The coming year seems to be promising for the e-
commerce industry as online retailers will experience
more success in areas where they are supported with
good retail infrastructure. As per industry sources, value
of India's e-commerce market is estimated to reach
nearly$18-20billionin2016.
PERSONALIZATION
35

E-commerce players will also face competition from traditional retail players who are
slowly moving their businesses online, to encash the benefits that the e-commerce model
provides. The extended reach of the online platforms is the primary reason for offline
retailerstolaunche-commerceofferings.
VIRTUAL REALITY
This as a concept will pick up in the next few years. E-commerce companies are already
investing in building customer friendly mobile app/website interface to give customers an
experience close to physical reality. Companies have started to invest in technologies such
as 3D try ons, to offer personalized user experience. The current high investment by online
retailers such as Lenskart, in disruptive technologies such as 3D try on, is indicative of the
futurepotential.
Peyush Bansal, Founder and CEO, Lenskart
FIERCE COMPETITION
In the next few years competition in the domestic e-commerce industry is expected to
intensify as many firms big and small plan to foray into online retailing, realising its
potential. This will require and we’ll hopefully witness more customer centric initiatives
byonlineretailerstoensurecustomerloyalty.
range which our executive brings to the customers at their doorstep. Available through 40+
Indian cities at the moment, we wish to take this to more cities in the future to bring
conveniencetoourcustomers.
36

IMB Book 2015 file

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