People till yestaday had to say that the U.S. drawing against England was the biggest upset but yestadays spanish defeat was such a big defeat that when people talk about the world cup 2010 this day will come up to every one’s mind.
Kudos to the Swiss for beating La Furia Roja. The tournament needed that. And arguably, so did Spain. In the run-up to the Cup, its players and coach spent too much time protesting, disingenuously, that they were not the favorites. That struck me as the wrong tone: it suggested they were spending too much time worrying about the tag. Spain are always considered to be one of the prime contenders for any world cup but they end up disapointing the fans and the football freternity by a dismal performance in the round of 16 or the quarter finals leading them to a way back home. But this time they were the actual favorites being the Europian champions. And also having lost just one out of the last 48 matches expectation riding on their shoulders were very high. Here's hoping the defeat will act like a bucket of cold water in Spanish faces, forcing them to quit thinking about who is and isn't the favorite, and instead concentrate on playing the beautiful game they're capable of.
The avuncular Vincente del Bosque has work to do, infusing his disheartened troops. But he should be able to convince them that they can make short work of Honduras and Chile -- provided they play like they're the favorites.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
VUVUZELA- Atraction or Distraction
South Africans love the vuvuzela, the cheap, three-foot long horn that makes every TV broadcast sound like there’s a weird buzz in the background. But all over the world it has managed to grab a lot of eye balls and has managed to grab as much attention as the super stars are receiving on the field.
Love it or hate it the Vuvuzela has caused a stir at the 2010 World Cup and a ban is already being considered
The vuvuzela has rapidly become identified as the sound of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Following the opening weekend of the tournament opinion is divided over whether the single note horn adds to the atmosphere or detracts from it by masking the chants and songs that Football fans are renowned for. World Cup organizing chief has added strength to the anti-vuvuzela campaign by stating that he would consider a ban of the controversial instrument.
Tradition aside, many players have criticized the vuvuzelas for interfering with communication on the field. Argentina’s Lionel Messi says they make his job harder.
The captain of the French team Patrice Evra blamed a disappointing tie with Uruguay on the vuvuzelas.
"We can't sleep at night because of the vuvuzelas," he said. "People start playing them from 6 a.m. We can't hear one another out on the pitch because of them."
Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal says that though the vuvuzela is irritating for players, they'll just have to find a way to deal with it — like any other obstacle on the field. "It's part of people who like to celebrate and who like to make noise. We have to respect it."
So on one end we have the unhappy set of players, the unhappy TV audience and at the other end we have the African nation who love to celebrate and the vuvuzela is an integral part of their celebration. So this again has brought forword the ileffects that cultural differences can bring on to an international event like the football world cup.
Love it or hate it the Vuvuzela has caused a stir at the 2010 World Cup and a ban is already being considered
The vuvuzela has rapidly become identified as the sound of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Following the opening weekend of the tournament opinion is divided over whether the single note horn adds to the atmosphere or detracts from it by masking the chants and songs that Football fans are renowned for. World Cup organizing chief has added strength to the anti-vuvuzela campaign by stating that he would consider a ban of the controversial instrument.
Tradition aside, many players have criticized the vuvuzelas for interfering with communication on the field. Argentina’s Lionel Messi says they make his job harder.
The captain of the French team Patrice Evra blamed a disappointing tie with Uruguay on the vuvuzelas.
"We can't sleep at night because of the vuvuzelas," he said. "People start playing them from 6 a.m. We can't hear one another out on the pitch because of them."
Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal says that though the vuvuzela is irritating for players, they'll just have to find a way to deal with it — like any other obstacle on the field. "It's part of people who like to celebrate and who like to make noise. We have to respect it."
So on one end we have the unhappy set of players, the unhappy TV audience and at the other end we have the African nation who love to celebrate and the vuvuzela is an integral part of their celebration. So this again has brought forword the ileffects that cultural differences can bring on to an international event like the football world cup.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Water selling- A huge business in Mexico
As I was doing my regular reading I found a very intresting fact which really amazed me, Mexicans drink more bottled water than the citizens of any other country do, an average of 61.8 gallons per person each year, according to the Beverage Marketing Corp., a consultancy. That's far higher than Italy, and more than twice as much as in the United States. The Beverage Marketing Corp. in New York City also said Mexico's bottled water market composes 13 percent of the world's total, and has grown at 8 percent for each of the past five years.
This really made me to wonder and think upon the reasons for the same. After a lot of research I came to the conclusion that, A rising mistrust of tap water is behind the thirst for bottled water. Other factors are also at play, like clever advertising campaigns by multinational corporations and the failure of the Mexican government to provide timely data on water safety
Rising mistrust on tap water is seen because Some municipal water systems in Mexico have fallen into disrepair, including in the capital, where a 1985 earthquake that killed more than 10,000 people broke numerous water mains. Some 30 percent of the city's water is lost to leakage.
The infrastructure is very old and obsolete. Even though there has been investment, it isn't enough. Runoff is seeping into the water system of Mexico.
For years, many residents grew accustomed to boiling tap water to ensure its safety, but natural gas prices have risen, making boiling expensive.
Not all the water is bad. Some provincial cities have improved their water systems, and Environment Ministry officials say that 85 percent of the water coursing through municipal systems is potable. Consumers, however, don't know when they might sip the other 15 percent. Many Mexicans simply don't trust the government to deliver clean, pure water.
That's where multinational companies with bottled water divisions - such as Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, France's Groupe Danone and the Swiss giant Nestle - have found an opening.
One can hardly turn on the television without seeing an ad of a lithe young woman in a sweatsuit sipping from a bottle of premium water or a woman in a bikini whose svelte physique seems due to the bottle of water in her hand.
"Drink 2 liters of water a day," the ads from Bonafont, a leading brand from Danone, say in block letters at the bottom of the screen. Another ad says: "Eliminate what your body doesn't need."
On street corners, vendors hawk liter bottles of water. Restaurants don't offer tap water, insisting that diners buy bottled water. Primary school students must take money to buy bottled water from kiosks. One brand uses characters from Looney Toons to appeal to the student market.
The boom in bottled water has an underside, too. Empty plastic water bottles litter landfills and roadsides at a rate that alarms consumer and environmental groups. Recycling experts say that only about one-eighth of the 21.3 million plastic water and soft drink bottles that are emptied each day in Mexico get recycled.
A Houston-based recycling services company, Avangard Innovative Ltd hence joined with a Mexican environmental services company last year to open a $35 million recycling plant in Toluca to handle PET, polyethylene terephthalate, the strong, light plastic that's resistant to heat and impermeable to carbonation, making it perfect for beverages.
For big companies, the boom in bottled water consumption in developing countries such as Mexico, India, China and Indonesia has been a godsend, since consumers in Europe, a stronghold of bottled water, have rebelled against throwaway plastic bottles as harmful to the environment.
Not so in Mexico.
Consumer advocates say Mexicans' thirst could be quenched more easily and inexpensively if municipalities provided reliable drinking water.
I think the state has contributed to these companies taking over the market and converting drinking water into a saleable product
This really made me to wonder and think upon the reasons for the same. After a lot of research I came to the conclusion that, A rising mistrust of tap water is behind the thirst for bottled water. Other factors are also at play, like clever advertising campaigns by multinational corporations and the failure of the Mexican government to provide timely data on water safety
Rising mistrust on tap water is seen because Some municipal water systems in Mexico have fallen into disrepair, including in the capital, where a 1985 earthquake that killed more than 10,000 people broke numerous water mains. Some 30 percent of the city's water is lost to leakage.
The infrastructure is very old and obsolete. Even though there has been investment, it isn't enough. Runoff is seeping into the water system of Mexico.
For years, many residents grew accustomed to boiling tap water to ensure its safety, but natural gas prices have risen, making boiling expensive.
Not all the water is bad. Some provincial cities have improved their water systems, and Environment Ministry officials say that 85 percent of the water coursing through municipal systems is potable. Consumers, however, don't know when they might sip the other 15 percent. Many Mexicans simply don't trust the government to deliver clean, pure water.
That's where multinational companies with bottled water divisions - such as Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, France's Groupe Danone and the Swiss giant Nestle - have found an opening.
One can hardly turn on the television without seeing an ad of a lithe young woman in a sweatsuit sipping from a bottle of premium water or a woman in a bikini whose svelte physique seems due to the bottle of water in her hand.
"Drink 2 liters of water a day," the ads from Bonafont, a leading brand from Danone, say in block letters at the bottom of the screen. Another ad says: "Eliminate what your body doesn't need."
On street corners, vendors hawk liter bottles of water. Restaurants don't offer tap water, insisting that diners buy bottled water. Primary school students must take money to buy bottled water from kiosks. One brand uses characters from Looney Toons to appeal to the student market.
The boom in bottled water has an underside, too. Empty plastic water bottles litter landfills and roadsides at a rate that alarms consumer and environmental groups. Recycling experts say that only about one-eighth of the 21.3 million plastic water and soft drink bottles that are emptied each day in Mexico get recycled.
A Houston-based recycling services company, Avangard Innovative Ltd hence joined with a Mexican environmental services company last year to open a $35 million recycling plant in Toluca to handle PET, polyethylene terephthalate, the strong, light plastic that's resistant to heat and impermeable to carbonation, making it perfect for beverages.
For big companies, the boom in bottled water consumption in developing countries such as Mexico, India, China and Indonesia has been a godsend, since consumers in Europe, a stronghold of bottled water, have rebelled against throwaway plastic bottles as harmful to the environment.
Not so in Mexico.
Consumer advocates say Mexicans' thirst could be quenched more easily and inexpensively if municipalities provided reliable drinking water.
I think the state has contributed to these companies taking over the market and converting drinking water into a saleable product
Thursday, May 20, 2010
German tremurs- will it stop Indias growth story
World markets were on a crash course today, while the euro hovered near four-year lows against the dollar after Germany banned speculators from short-selling government bonds, fanning concern the global economic recovery may be derailed.
Indian markets also felt the heat. In its second biggest fall so far this year, the benchmark equity index, Sensex, of the Bombay Stock Exchange crashed 467 points, or 2.77 per cent. The index was near its three-month low. Six of the 30 stocks on the index plunged by more than 5 per cent, pushing the measure below its 200-day moving average for the first time in morethan a year. Some investors may read the breach as a signal of further declines
The rupee depreciated to its weakest per dollar since February 2009 on speculation overseas investors would pare holdings of emerging market stocks.
Crude oil slumped to a seven-month low in New York as the dollar climbed against the euro, curbing the investment appeal of commodities. Copper for three month delivery fell 2.8 per cent on the London Metal Exchange, while gold fell to $1,200 an ounce on profit booking.
The ban also brought back memories of an unsuccessful attempt by the US and British authorities to prop up stock markets at the end of 2008, in the wake of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the ensuing crisis that gripped the banking sector.
According to me “The Indian markets would see fluctuation and volatility,”. “But, directionally, I don’t see investors withdrawing from India. I think from the Asian perspective, the implications are going to be more muted to the European crises because the local markethere are still flush with liquidity across most countries,”
India on a relative basis is not as affected, but in an absolute sense, it cannot be said that there will be no impact since the country is co-related with the rest of the world. The crisis will bring back fears of the economy slowing down, will bring risk back into the equation and the credit market will start getting some fears. In terms of FII flows, though there may be some impact in the short term, with more and more FIIs looking to invest in emerging markets, in the long-term the theme will get reinforced,
Indian markets also felt the heat. In its second biggest fall so far this year, the benchmark equity index, Sensex, of the Bombay Stock Exchange crashed 467 points, or 2.77 per cent. The index was near its three-month low. Six of the 30 stocks on the index plunged by more than 5 per cent, pushing the measure below its 200-day moving average for the first time in morethan a year. Some investors may read the breach as a signal of further declines
The rupee depreciated to its weakest per dollar since February 2009 on speculation overseas investors would pare holdings of emerging market stocks.
Crude oil slumped to a seven-month low in New York as the dollar climbed against the euro, curbing the investment appeal of commodities. Copper for three month delivery fell 2.8 per cent on the London Metal Exchange, while gold fell to $1,200 an ounce on profit booking.
The ban also brought back memories of an unsuccessful attempt by the US and British authorities to prop up stock markets at the end of 2008, in the wake of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the ensuing crisis that gripped the banking sector.
According to me “The Indian markets would see fluctuation and volatility,”. “But, directionally, I don’t see investors withdrawing from India. I think from the Asian perspective, the implications are going to be more muted to the European crises because the local markethere are still flush with liquidity across most countries,”
India on a relative basis is not as affected, but in an absolute sense, it cannot be said that there will be no impact since the country is co-related with the rest of the world. The crisis will bring back fears of the economy slowing down, will bring risk back into the equation and the credit market will start getting some fears. In terms of FII flows, though there may be some impact in the short term, with more and more FIIs looking to invest in emerging markets, in the long-term the theme will get reinforced,
Monday, May 17, 2010
Brands expenditure on IPL- worth or not
Now that the dust has settled on the third edition of the Indian Premier League — the matches definitely; the controversies might take some more time to die down — it is time to check whether the various marketing and brand-building experiments actually paid off.
Several new formats were tried in IPL3.
For instance, advertisements on the big screen in the stadium were shown also on television in between deliveries. The brands which were seen promoting themselves through this medium were carbon mobile, munch, perk etc. Disruptive brands that interfered with the flow of the game got negative recall. These actually irritated viewers.
A blimp was also sent up at all the stadiums. This helped MRF achieve good brand recall as the comentraters were also made to talk about MRF and link it to the game. Brands that spent large sums of money to advertise during the matches didn’t get the right returns. Brands on T-shirts were lost on viewers — only those worn by the favourite team seemed to register some impact. But in the favourite team also there were so many brands sponsoring each teams that the viewers hardly could remember a couple of major brands. Mumbai Indians had in all 14 brands sponsoring them which formed a clutter. So baring for Videocon and a couple of other brands people hardly remembered any brand.
Outside cricket also the activities which compliment the game vitnessed a lull this season. The cheer girls, who this time wore outfits more suited to conservative Indian sensibilities, failed to make a mark. Though the matches were watched in large numbers and the results were discussed threadbare the following morning, few took part in contests and bought IPL merchandise.
Though IPL3 created a lot of buzz, the engagement was less than desired. The organisers of the tournament as well as brand managers need to rethink the efficacy of such spots. The bbrand managers should be sure of the thing they would want to communicate in the 10 seccond commercial or through the team they are sponsoring or through other branding activities. The money charged by IPL is huge and so more care should be taken regarding the same.
Several new formats were tried in IPL3.
For instance, advertisements on the big screen in the stadium were shown also on television in between deliveries. The brands which were seen promoting themselves through this medium were carbon mobile, munch, perk etc. Disruptive brands that interfered with the flow of the game got negative recall. These actually irritated viewers.
A blimp was also sent up at all the stadiums. This helped MRF achieve good brand recall as the comentraters were also made to talk about MRF and link it to the game. Brands that spent large sums of money to advertise during the matches didn’t get the right returns. Brands on T-shirts were lost on viewers — only those worn by the favourite team seemed to register some impact. But in the favourite team also there were so many brands sponsoring each teams that the viewers hardly could remember a couple of major brands. Mumbai Indians had in all 14 brands sponsoring them which formed a clutter. So baring for Videocon and a couple of other brands people hardly remembered any brand.
Outside cricket also the activities which compliment the game vitnessed a lull this season. The cheer girls, who this time wore outfits more suited to conservative Indian sensibilities, failed to make a mark. Though the matches were watched in large numbers and the results were discussed threadbare the following morning, few took part in contests and bought IPL merchandise.
Though IPL3 created a lot of buzz, the engagement was less than desired. The organisers of the tournament as well as brand managers need to rethink the efficacy of such spots. The bbrand managers should be sure of the thing they would want to communicate in the 10 seccond commercial or through the team they are sponsoring or through other branding activities. The money charged by IPL is huge and so more care should be taken regarding the same.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Need for a fullproof methord of calculating TRP's
Considering the huge sums of money spend on Television Advertising in India and as it is growing day by day the advertisers are becoming more and more caucious regarding the same. Also the prices charged by the channels for a property is rising and hence it is very essential that the agency knows its target group and matches it with the expected TG in that property. For that the Television rating system should be able to give a fair idea of the same but unfortunately in India this has been a huge problem and we have not been successfull to capture the same.
The information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry today constituted a seven-member committee, headed by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) General Secretary Amit Mitra, to suggest measures for an effective Television Rating Point (TRP) system.
The mandate of the committee is to address issues related to accuracy, accountability, transparency and objectivity in the generation of TRPs. It would also examine as to how misleading TRPs can be and it can not only impact broadcasters and advertisers but more importantly the viewing public. This is a very huge problem because the system in which the TRP is calculated today is not at all full proof and it needs some drastic changes. For those who do not know how TRP is calculated is given as under.
For calculation purpose, a device is attached to the TV set in a few thousand viewers’ houses for judging purpose. These numbers are treated as sample from the overall TV owners in different geographical and demographic sectors. The device is called as People’s Meter. It records the time and the programme that a viewer watches on a particular day. Then, the average is taken for a 30-day period which gives the viewership status for a particular channel.
Presently, INTAM (Indian Television Audience Measurement) is the only electronic rating agency functioning in India. INTAM uses two methodologies for calculating TRP. First is frequency monitoring, in which 'people meters' mentioned above are installed in sample homes and these electronic gadgets continuously record data about the channel watched by the family members. 'People meter' is a costly equipment, which is imported from abroad. It reads the frequencies of channels, which are later, decoded into the name of the channels and the agency prepares a national data on the basis of its sample homes readings. But there is a drawback in the technique, as cable operators frequently change the frequencies of the different channels before sending signals to the homes. It may be very misleading to read a channel according to a particular frequency even if the down linking frequency is same all over India. Also the number of families covered through this is quite less which is because of the huge cost of instauling these machines.
Second technique is more reliable and relatively new to India. In picture matching technique people meter continuously records a small portion of the picture that is being watched on that particular television set. Along with this agency also records all the channels' data in the form of small picture portion. Data collected from the sample homes is later on matched with the main data bank to interpret the channel name. And this way national rating is produced.
But the latter methord also has its own drawback. Hence there is a huge need for a new rating system which takes into consideration more number of factors.
The information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry today constituted a seven-member committee, headed by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) General Secretary Amit Mitra, to suggest measures for an effective Television Rating Point (TRP) system.
The mandate of the committee is to address issues related to accuracy, accountability, transparency and objectivity in the generation of TRPs. It would also examine as to how misleading TRPs can be and it can not only impact broadcasters and advertisers but more importantly the viewing public. This is a very huge problem because the system in which the TRP is calculated today is not at all full proof and it needs some drastic changes. For those who do not know how TRP is calculated is given as under.
For calculation purpose, a device is attached to the TV set in a few thousand viewers’ houses for judging purpose. These numbers are treated as sample from the overall TV owners in different geographical and demographic sectors. The device is called as People’s Meter. It records the time and the programme that a viewer watches on a particular day. Then, the average is taken for a 30-day period which gives the viewership status for a particular channel.
Presently, INTAM (Indian Television Audience Measurement) is the only electronic rating agency functioning in India. INTAM uses two methodologies for calculating TRP. First is frequency monitoring, in which 'people meters' mentioned above are installed in sample homes and these electronic gadgets continuously record data about the channel watched by the family members. 'People meter' is a costly equipment, which is imported from abroad. It reads the frequencies of channels, which are later, decoded into the name of the channels and the agency prepares a national data on the basis of its sample homes readings. But there is a drawback in the technique, as cable operators frequently change the frequencies of the different channels before sending signals to the homes. It may be very misleading to read a channel according to a particular frequency even if the down linking frequency is same all over India. Also the number of families covered through this is quite less which is because of the huge cost of instauling these machines.
Second technique is more reliable and relatively new to India. In picture matching technique people meter continuously records a small portion of the picture that is being watched on that particular television set. Along with this agency also records all the channels' data in the form of small picture portion. Data collected from the sample homes is later on matched with the main data bank to interpret the channel name. And this way national rating is produced.
But the latter methord also has its own drawback. Hence there is a huge need for a new rating system which takes into consideration more number of factors.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
BSNL & MTNL in further problem
Operators Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Essar, Aircel, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd and Idea Cellular might have to fork out over Rs 11,200 crore for having spectrum beyond 6.2 MHz, if the government accepts the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) recommendations. A bulk of this additional amount — Rs 4,800 crore — will come from the two metros, Delhi and Mumbai, where spectrum beyond 6.2 MHz has been allocated to all players.
The impact, according to telecom experts, will be the most on BSNL and MTNL combined. They will have to pay over Rs 5,000 crore due to the additional spectrum they have got in all circles, followed by Bharti (Rs 3,000 crore) and Vodafone-Essar (Rs 1,715 crore). While BSNL will have to pay around Rs 2,445 crore, MTNL needs to shell out Rs 2,302 crore and Idea, Rs 1,000 crore, according to preliminary estimates by telecom
If this regulations are passed then the most hit will be the two government telecom giants. Both the telecom giants have faced a lot of heat in terms of loss in market share. The loss has resulted in increase in losses for both the companies. Since March 2007 BSNL has almost lost 8% market share while MTNL has lost 3.5% market share. This addition in the cost will add on to the worries faced by them and will add on to the losses and hence further affect the future plans of the companies. It will be very intresting to see the steps the government plans to take especially even as the talk for 3G oction heats up day by day. So the telecom industry is surely the one to follow.
The impact, according to telecom experts, will be the most on BSNL and MTNL combined. They will have to pay over Rs 5,000 crore due to the additional spectrum they have got in all circles, followed by Bharti (Rs 3,000 crore) and Vodafone-Essar (Rs 1,715 crore). While BSNL will have to pay around Rs 2,445 crore, MTNL needs to shell out Rs 2,302 crore and Idea, Rs 1,000 crore, according to preliminary estimates by telecom
If this regulations are passed then the most hit will be the two government telecom giants. Both the telecom giants have faced a lot of heat in terms of loss in market share. The loss has resulted in increase in losses for both the companies. Since March 2007 BSNL has almost lost 8% market share while MTNL has lost 3.5% market share. This addition in the cost will add on to the worries faced by them and will add on to the losses and hence further affect the future plans of the companies. It will be very intresting to see the steps the government plans to take especially even as the talk for 3G oction heats up day by day. So the telecom industry is surely the one to follow.
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