MAM
Reaching out to the Rich Man
Target the class that has the capacity and the inclination to spend.
Madison has pursued this dictum with a recent survey that studies the spending and media consuming habits of the well-heeled and provides media planners with guidelines on zeroing in on this miniscule but powerful class.
Concluding that a rise in disposable income among the rich segment of society has seen the launch of several high end products and services, the agency has tracked the way the increasingly affluent are using their money. While consumption of new generation products is slated to increase at 25 to 40 per cent every year in India, standard indicators like the Monthly Household Income (MHI) are not being adequate to track the actual spending of the well-heeled class, the study notes. The agency studied the habits of the Well Heeled Class (WHC) in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai.
Most of the well-heeled class belongs to SEC A, according to the study, while Mumbai and Bangalore have higher representation from SEC B. WHC form a minuscule percentage of the so-called elitist SEC A. Except for Cinema, the reach of all other media is significantly higher among WHC. WHC show marked preference for Business and other niche content in various media, the study says. Specialist magazines or specific section in leading newspapers – like Business section, Page three society content will be more effective in reaching out to WHC, it says.
Work pressure means that most of the WHC prefer late night viewing. Also, only 7.2% of the WHC do not watch English programming while nearly 50% of SEC A population does not watch English programming. Nearly 12% of WHC members spend more than 75% of their viewing time on English programming. FM radio scores high too. Radio listenership analysis shows that listening to FM radio while driving to work and back is popular. The preferred programming genres for listening are Film based, News and Cricket commentary.
WHC tend to significantly spend more time on the net especially on weekdays, notes the study. Significantly, 26% of the WHC have reported business as the reason for accessing the net. Most of the products aimed at WHC are highly personalised in nature and advertisers could look at using the net to build strong Customer Relationship Management destinations, it says.
The fact that well-heeled members form a minuscule percent of the population, leads to inadequate and often erroneous audience measurement, particularly in television. Television audience measurement is based on a panel data and representation of the well-heeled class is extremely low, says the study. This miniscule composition means media planners need to temper various media research data where sample size determination and measurement is normally based on the socio economic classification.
A small sample size leads to high relative error especially for small rating size, says the study. This means that there is a tendency to “under report” niche channels like Discovery, HBO that one would intuitively select for the well-heeled class.
These inaccuracies lead media planners to select programmes on a broad based audience, failing to target the niche WHC viewer. To counter this anomaly, Madison Media has evolved a correction factor that help in assessing the true value of various niche television channels, based on the unmeasured WHC and the measured SEC A. The correction factor was arrived at by comparing the values of “Channels normally watched” reported in NRS 2001. Higher index value indicates higher relative popularity of the channel. Madison found that:Recruitment of well heeled families into the audience panel is extremely difficult as most reject the idea of having peoplemeters in their homes, the study notes. Random sampling assumes that everybody within a pre-defined universe has an equal chance of being qualified as a sample. However, most of WHC members reject to be a sample leading to bias at the sampling state itself. The recent highly publicised “rating point scam” provided enough evidence of this bias. The profile of the disclosed SEC A families did not match with the expectations of a typical advertiser. Audience evaluation packages have ownership of durables as one of the audience filter criteria. One would assume that a tighter audience definition is thus possible. However, the sample size turns out to be insufficient, thus defeating the entire exercise.
**Popularity of Hindi Channels like Zee and Sony in non southern cities is lower among the well-heeled class.
**Higher index values for Hindi Channels in southern cities indicate that well-heeled members watch programming in other languages apart from their regional language. In general, English language channels are preferred among the well-heeled class.
**There is a marked preference for news based programming
**HBO performs well in Mumbai, Pune and Delhi than in Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Chennai.
This means that for niche brands, media weight plans will be effective and reach at various levels could be examined as a reality check, says the study. It concludes that advertisers will increasingly design and market products aimed at a niche segment of the society.
“Demassification” or anti mass production are thoughts that are gaining currency among the business leaders. Media planners then need to be responsive to the challenge and arrive at a framework that best meets the marketing objective. As audience measurement techniques are not expected to keep the pace with the requirements of demassification, media planners need to arrive at ingenious ways to deliver most effective and efficient solutions, the study says.
Brands
Wipro hires 7,500 freshers, withholds FY27 hiring outlook
Profit rises to Rs 3,522 crore, Rs 15,000 crore buyback announced.
MUMBAI- Hiring may be on, but visibility is off, Wipro is adding talent even as it pauses the crystal ball. The company hired 7,500 freshers in FY26 but stopped short of offering any hiring outlook for FY27, underscoring the uncertainty gripping the IT services sector as it pivots towards an AI-led operating model.
The disclosure came alongside its fourth-quarter earnings, where management flagged volatile demand conditions and refrained from committing to future workforce expansion. Chief human resources officer Saurabh Govil noted that over 3,000 of the total hires were onboarded in the March quarter alone, signalling continued intake despite a lack of clarity on deployment pipelines.
This divergence active hiring without forward guidance reflects a broader industry pattern where talent acquisition continues even as deal conversions remain uneven and client spending cycles stretch. Wipro expects its IT services revenue for the June quarter to range between a decline of 2 per cent and flat growth sequentially in constant currency terms, reinforcing near-term caution.
Chief executive officer Srini Pallia pointed to artificial intelligence as both a disruptor and an opportunity. He said evolving client priorities are pushing the company towards outcome-driven engagements, with Wipro increasingly focusing on a services-as-software model through its AI Native Business and Platforms unit. The shift marks a structural change from traditional headcount-led growth to AI-enabled delivery frameworks.
The company has already committed over $1 billion to its AI ecosystem, with investors closely watching how these investments translate into revenue. For now, the numbers present a mixed picture. Net profit rose sequentially to Rs 3,522 crore, while revenue grew 3 per cent to Rs 24,236 crore. However, core IT services performance remained under pressure, with full-year revenue declining 0.3 per cent in dollar terms and 1.6 per cent in constant currency.
Large deal bookings offered a counterpoint, rising 45.4 per cent year-on-year to $7.8 billion, highlighting a widening gap between deal wins and actual revenue realisation. On a quarterly basis, IT services revenue slipped 1.2 per cent sequentially, signalling continued softness in execution.
Margins, however, told a more optimistic story. Operating margins expanded to 17.3 per cent in the fourth quarter, up from 14.8 per cent in the previous quarter, reflecting improved cost discipline. That said, the company cautioned that upcoming wage hikes and the ramp-up of large deals could exert pressure going forward.
Attrition stood at 13.8 per cent in the March quarter, indicating stabilisation after periods of elevated churn. Alongside its earnings, Wipro also announced a Rs 15,000 crore share buyback, reinforcing its focus on shareholder returns, with a payout ratio of 88 per cent over the past three years.
Taken together, the numbers capture a company in transition investing in AI, maintaining hiring momentum, but navigating a demand environment where growth is uneven and visibility remains limited.
