MUMBAI: Come Monday, 12 May, 2003 and The Times of India group (TOI) , India's largest publication conglomerate will change another age-old tradition in Indian advertising. Gone will be the good old days of 25 by 4cc ads, 20 by 3cc ads....

Space in the TOI group of publications will no longer be sold as column-centimetres but as square centimetres. The move comes close on the heels of the TOI group reducing its broadsheet newspapers into seven columns (of smaller size) instead of the customary eight (dailies such as Sandesh still have eight columns). The size of each column varies between 4.0 cms to 4.85 cms.

TOI Response director Bhaskar Das says: "From 12 May 2003, in a revolutionary move, all ads in any of the Times Group newspapers will be accepted on the basis of a square centimetre measure.That is to say, width and height of ads will both be measured in centimetres. Thus no matter how much web widths reduce, you pay according to what you get and not a rupee more. From here on all ad measurements will be quoted in “width X height” format and this shall hold true in all communications and correspondence including Release Orders."

"This change effectively protects our advertisers against future value erosion on ad rates versus returns as newspapers web widths decline. And also, now there are no more restrictions on creativity, no more leashes to leaps in imagination. Plan an ad of any size (as long as its dimensions are rectilinear) and don’t worry about premiums. Believe it or not, now one does not need to pay extra if an ad spills into the next column, one merely pays the regular rate per square centimetre," adds Das.

Das also points out: "One can now take rectilinear ads of any size as long as they aren’t smaller than 4cm X 3 cm. The same holds true for appointment ads except that their widths have to be in multiples of 6cm and the minimum size of ads must be 6cm X 8cm. So now plan campaigns in peace without having to pull out calculators at every instance to see if you’re being duped or not. AdMax has effectively slain all demons of doubt."

Media experts claim that the transition from "cc" to "sq cms" is the facilitate the TOI group's much debated move of selling editorial space and odd-shaped creatives. Despite heavy criticism from certain quarters (especially from editorial section), the group seems to be finding takers. Consider, for instance, Aishwarya Rai's photograph adorning the front page of city specific supplements (Bombay Times on 9 May 2003) clearly mentioned Nakshatra (the brand by Diamond Trading Company) which reportedly paid Rs 350,000 for the placement. Sources also confirm that this amount is over and above the money paid for placing regular advertisements.

Media experts say that the TOI group's move has been initiated by the stiff resistance it faced from some of the larger advertisers and the government-owned DAVP (Directorate of Advertising & Visual Publicity) which had to pay 'more for relatively less space'. Sources also add that ads released by the western and central railways had refused to accept this anomaly thereby forcing the TOI group to charge on the basis of "sq cms". Other senior ad sales personnel in the industry feel that the other publication houses will be forced to follow the TOI group's move.

The TOI senior management (response or ad sales) organised a seminar-cum-party on 9 May 2003 to brief Mumbai-based advertising professionals. The briefing involved the mechanics of how advertising creative material should be submitted and how billing would take place. Ad professionals also claim that the TOI group has invested heavily in technology through software partners such as SAP to streamline operations and scheduling.

After all, the leader has to guard the "reader" oops "advertiser"!