Media maven Ashish Bhasin is a man on the move! Literally, as the scholarly looking jet-setting Bhasin is constantly thinking of new ways to innovate; exploring new possibilities in improving research; and creating additional revenue streams.

He is also a man in the news. Recently, he hit the headlines when he was handed over the responsibility of media and advertising powerhouse, the Lowe group’s integrated communications businesses (which include Lowe Personal, Linterland, Lintertainment, LinOpinion, Advent, dCell and Aaren Initiative).

He is slated to vacate his post as head of Initiative Media India, which he has steered successfully to the top of media sweepstakes over the past few years. In fact, a news report late last year had said that IM India was expected to notch up more than Rs 10,000 million in billings in 2002. And Bhasin was confident enough to state in that report that IM India would grow at double the market rate in the following year, 2003.

Bhasin has impeccable credentials: he schooled in Mumbai in Campion and Cathedral School. He went on to do his B.Sc. (Hons) in biochem and zoology from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai and then got his grounding in marketing through an MMS (Marketing) from Sydenham Institute, Mumbai.

Bhasin is married with a 10-year-old naughty son and a two year old daughter. He loves reading, travelling on leisure (not business) and playing billiards.

Bhasin spoke to indiantelevision.com's Ashwin Kotian about the highlights of the year 2002 and his take on the future of media in advertising. Excerpts -

As far as media planning/buying was concerned, what was the most significant trend witnessed in 2002?
A lot of consolidation happened in media as well as amongst the ad/media agencies. The year in review saw the emergence of three or four strong bouquets of TV channels; similarly the media scene also witnessed the emergence of a few strong players who garnered the bulk of media spends.

The second most important trend was the increase in the proportion of below-the-line media (rural marketing, direct mail, public relations, merchandising, shopboards) vis-à-vis traditional media such as TV and print. This segment grew at a faster pace and was also responsible for growing the media pie.

In terms of categories, I feel that healthcare, insurance and telecom sectors contributed substantially to ad spends. These sectors will drive advertising in the near future, too.

What were the new tools and techniques that are being used today by IM?
Generally speaking, there is a lacuna in India due to an over emphasis and obsession with quantitative rather than qualitative research. There is no effort to measure below-the-line activities and outdoor media.

In 2002, Initiative Media and BBC World have concluded a study on consumers' attitudes towards advertising and its relevance to media. The study is the first of its kind in the country, claim the two companies. Christened Initiative Media - BBC World AdWatch 2002, this research helps to understand the synergies that arise while considering Brand Communication (Advertising) in conjunction with the Media selection. We aim to conduct the study at regular intervals from this year onwards.

IM has now set up a Centre for Media Excellence (CME), to be headed by Partha Ghosh and Dinesh Kithany. The centre will conduct other studies of this nature and to provide meaningful media research to its clients. IM India's Centre of Excellence is rated as the best one in the world within the Lowe network. There is a two-way relationship between the Indian arms and the global arms wherein information flow is routed in and out.

In the year 2002, we actually had trainers from abroad coming to India and spending time with our planners and buyers. They used global research and adapted local data in order to come up with customized media planning tools. Normally, we take the basic data (from TAM or any other source) and improve upon them. Globally, IM optimizers and media solutions are supposed to be the best and empower planners to get the best results amongst a million options.

The company has also recently launched a suite of the world's latest media software like IMprove, IMphase, IMRadar and several others. IM Radar studies the reactions of consumers to different points of contact such as an airport trolley or milk packet. IM Matrix is the only tool of its kind which enables multimedia planning and goes beyond the traditional approach which is TV based.

Aaren Initiative, the prominent and professional outdoor unit in the country, also conducted its research to enable advertisers to get an understanding of the outdoor medium.

Our other divisions such as Media Futures (which has clients such as ETC channel), Digital Initiative and Lintertainment (which explores all forms of entertainment and their impact on consumers) also have proprietary research.

It is noticed that new forms of media are always over-hyped and everyone seems to be overawed. But research must attempt to separate the reality from the hype. This is exactly what we attempt to do.

Tell us something about different innovations used by IM in 2002?
Innovations are not gimmicks; our interpretation of innovations is very different. We have developed a module wherein we involve clients in the process of examining the kind of innovations required for a long lasting impact.

For instance, we have a small workshop wherein the client is asked to define the attributes of his brand in a single powerpoint slide. Various people from IM, client servicing teams, creative agency teams and people who have worked on the brand in the past are involved in a 24-hour workshop. The process of ideation commences from this preliminary step and is further refined by our knowledge bank which has backdated studies. Several elements are incorporated into the process of innovations.

Some of the successful innovations done by us include: Third Empire Brittania 50:50; KBC Brittania 50:50 and Indya times taking the front page of The Times of India for the first time in the 166 year history of the newspaper.

What is your final take on the cricket World Cup?
World Cup cricket is the catalyst which will result in a surge in ad spends in February and March - a total of Rs 10 billion. The total TV pie is around Rs 4.25 billion; for print it should around Rs 2.5 billion and a major chunk would be the below-the-line activities.

During this World Cup, the licensing and merchandising opportunities also increased substantially and advertisers jumped into the fray in a big way.

Both DD and MAX have managed to reach their targets.

Also read:
Channel surfing will continue despite the cricketing World Cup