Mobile Advertising

Mobile Advertising witnesses tremendous growth 

– Gen Y dominate usage!

Over 15 Million new mobile users join the telecom bandwagon every month. There is every possibility that India may reach the 1 Billion Telecom user mark by end of this year itself. With it, Mobile advertising is also seeing quite a surge – Record number of Mobile ads are served month on month.

According to recent report released by Buzzcity, a leading mobile ad network, a total of 5.8 billion ads were served in India in first quarter of 2011 on their network. India reached its highest levels of traffic to date in March, with 2.4 billion ads served to 49.79 million unique users.

Interestingly, even with such high advertiser participation, the ECPM bid rates still are relatively low at USD 0.03, which is a bargain!

Rural Mobile Advertising Traction

Rural India seems to be now matching Urban India when it comes to Mobile advertising growth – Large concentrations of users are forming in Uttar Pradesh (7%), Kerala (6%) and Punjab (5%) with growth also remaining strong in rural areas. The demand for mobile entertainment is expected to continue growing as more users in rural India turn to the mobile internet.

Mobile Advertising Demographics

52 % of all users accessing mobile internet are between age 20- 24 years, of while 23% are between ages 25 – 29. This clearly shows than Gen Y uses Mobile internet & application much higher than any other demographics. And this crowd is male dominated with over 84% usage by them alone !

Top Mobile Handset Brands used in India

There are no surprises here – Nokia leads with more than half of all the traffic coming from their handsets. The surprising aspect is Samsung garnering more than 18% share which is significant, given the fact that likes of Micromax, Zen, Karbonn and other Indian brands are seeing significant traction in the market.

Mobile Consumer Channels

User activity on mobiles was centered on the cricket world cup in the first quarter; advertisers and developers took advantage of this and launched cricket-themed applications, games and marketing campaigns. Thus, Entertainment & Lifestyle (33%) channel attracted maximum traffic followed by general Mobile content (30%). Community services like chatting, messaging saw 21% market share.

Indian Real estate

Real Estate: Cover Story

The real estate sector in India is of great importance. According to the report of the Technical Group on Estimation of Housing Shortage, an estimated shortage of 26.53 million houses during the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-12) provides a big investment opportunity.

According to a report ‘Emerging trends in Real Estate in Asia Pacific 2011', released by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Urban Land Institute (ULI), India is the most viable investment destination in real estate. The report, which provides an outlook on Asia-Pacific real estate investment and development trends, points out that India, in particular Mumbai and Delhi, are good real estate investment options for 2011. Residential properties maintain their growth momentum and hence are viewed as more promising than other sectors. ULI is a global non-profit education and research institute.

Further, real estate companies are coming up with various residential and commercial projects to fulfill the demand for residential and office properties in Tier-II and Tier-III cities. For instance, Ansal Properties has several residential projects in cities such as Jodhpur, Ajmer, Jaipur, Panipat, Kundli and Agra. Omaxe has also planned around 40 residential and integrated township projects in Tier-II and Tier-III cities, majority of them being in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana. The growth in real estate in Tier-II and Tier-III cities is mainly due to increase in demand for organized realty and availability of land at affordable prices in these cities.

According to the data released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), housing and real estate sector including cineplex, multiplex, integrated townships and commercial complexes etc, attracted a cumulative foreign direct investment (FDI) worth US$ 9,405 million from April 2000 to January 2011 wherein the sector witnessed FDI amounting US$ 1,048 million during April-January 2010-11.

New Projects:

• Private equity fund IL&FS Investment Managers (IIML) is estimated to have invested US$ 300 million in real estate and urban infrastructure projects in 2010.
• Close to Nalagarh in Solan district, Dabhota is set to be the latest industrial area to be developed by the Himachal Pradesh government, say officials. The state government has already issued a notification and asked the state land acquisition officials to acquire 2,020 bighas of land at Baghota to be developed into industrial plots.
• Ramky Estates and Farms Limited, the real estate arm of the Ramky Group, is contemplating to enter Indian market by July 2011. The company is evaluating on land acquisitions in Kolkata and Bhubaneswar.
• Chennai-based VGN Developers Pvt Ltd has entered into a joint venture with private equity firm Pragnya Fund to initiate a new residential project with an investment of US$ 20.06 million in the city.
• Ascendas has entered into an agreement with a Japanese consortium of Mizuho Corporate Bank (MCB) and JGC Corporation to develop integrated townships in India, according to a press release from Ascendas. The integrated township is likely to be in Chennai, which has attracted investment by a number of companies from Japan. Ascendas of Singapore will be the master developer.
• Godrej Group's real estate company, Godrej Properties and Frontier Home Developers, has launched a residential project in Gurgaon with joint venture partner M/s. Frontier Home Developers Pvt. Ltd. This is a debut residential project in the national capital region (NCR) for Godrej Properties.
• Shristi Infrastructure Development Corporation will invest US$ 444.7 million over the next three years in seven small cities in West Bengal, Tripura and Rajasthan. The money would be used to build integrated townships, healthcare facilities, hospitality and sports facilities, retail malls, logistics hubs and commercial and residential complexes.
• Realty major Ansal Properties & Infrastructure Ltd plans to invest about US$ 330.8 million over the next three years on expansion of its existing integrated townships and to develop a group housing project in Haryana.
• Vision India Real Estate, a closely-held business group in the US, is investing US$ 5 million in Gem Group's upcoming residential project in Chennai. This will be the first joint development project for the US company that is proposing to invest US$ 100 to US$ 200 million over the next three years on projects, especially in the logistics arena.
• Realty major Embassy Property Developments has entered into a joint venture with MK Land Holding, a Malaysian company that specializes in pre-fabricated affordable housing, to build projects in the affordable housing segment. The proposed project entails an investment of over US$ 1.2 billion.
• Thai real estate developer Pruksa Global plans to invest US$ 218 million in projects in India and launched its first residential project in the country at Bangalore in October 2010.
• The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is in talks with several real estate developers to create large affordable housing projects in India. For FY-09 and FY-10 (fiscal year ending June 30), IFC's highest exposure has been in India. Out of the US$ 3.5 billion that IFC has committed in India, US$ 2.5-2.6 billion have been disbursed. IFC will continue to invest roughly US$ 1 billion in India every year for the next two or three years.

Government Initiatives

The government has introduced many progressive measures to unlock the potential of the sector and also to meet the increasing demand levels.

• 100 per cent FDI allowed in townships, housing, built-up infrastructure and construction development projects through the automatic route, subject to guidelines as prescribed by DIPP
• 100 per cent FDI is allowed under the automatic route in development of Special Economic Zones (SEZ), subject to the provisions of Special Economic Zones Act 2005 and the SEZ Policy of the Department of Commerce
• FDI is not allowed in Real Estate Business

In his 2011-12 Union Budget proposal speech, the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has extended good news for real estate firms focused on affordable housing.

• He proposed raising the limit on housing loans eligible for a 1 per cent subsidy in interest rates.
• Widened the scope for housing under "priority-sector lending" for banks, making interest rates cheaper on them.
• The government earmarked a substantial amount to the Urban Development Ministry for spending on extension of Metro networks in Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai.
• The urban infrastructure development project has been allocated US$ 20.03 million.
• Urban Development Ministry has got total US$ 1.5 billion, an increase of US$ 68.53 million from the last fiscal 2010-11.
• The allocation for Bharat Nirman has been hiked to US$ 12.89 billion. Bharat Nirman consists of 6 flagship programs, the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Program, Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana, Indira Awas Yojana, National Rural Drinking Water Program and Rural telephony.

The relaxed FDI rules implemented by Indian government have attracted more foreign investors and real estate in India. The revised investor friendly policies allowed foreigners to own property, and dropped the minimum size for housing estates built with foreign capital to 25 acres (10 hectares) from 100 acres (40 hectares). The overseas firms welcomed these modifications and they can now put up commercial buildings as long as the projects surpass 50,000 square meters (538,200 square feet) of floor space.

Road Ahead

According to the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI), the affordable housing segment is set to play an important role in India's real estate sector in 2011 on the back of substantial demand ignited by economic recovery.

Affordable housing will be a key factor in driving the sector and India have already started working on progressive solutions in this area for effective and customised implementation of such projects.

Moreover, 2011 is expected to be a positive year for the real estate sector. The revival is expected to be driven by infrastructure growth, which in turn, can accelerate real estate activities both in the residential as well as commercial spaces.

CO-BRANDING: AN OVERVIEW

Winning through partnership

Through co-branding strategy, the new entrants in retail market have successfully established their brand identity and created new consumer base

In today’s competitive market scenario, where every category has different brands offering product with similar features and price points, it’s become very challenging for a new brand to sustain in market and create a new consumer base. As a brand building alternative, most of the brands launch their new consumer products through co-branding. It is a proven concept where two or more brands merge together to become a single product.

Objective

The co-branding strategy has been used by players in every sector be it automotive or consumer durable or apparel brands or fast food giants. Many leading brands and retailers use this marketing strategy in order to attract new customers, increase the brand awareness, support the customer loyalty etc. The aim of co-branding strategy is to combine two brands in order to attract more customers and to maximize the power and prestige that each brand has to offer. The partnership helps in opening up new markets and marketing opportunities for both brands.

Different forms of co-branding

There are four different forms of co-branding. The first form is ingredient co-branding – an example could be Dell computers with Intel Processors. Next form of co-branding is same-company co-branding – a Titan watch from the house of Tata is an example of the second kind.  Joint venture co-branding is yet another form of dual branding – the case of Godrej and Procter and Gamble is example of this kind. And last is multiple-sponsor form of co-branding, where co-branding of two or more companies work together to form a strategic alliance in technology, promotions, sales, etc. The example would be the case of HCL computers with hardware alliance of HP, processor alliance of Intel and software alliance of Microsoft.

Advantages

Through co-branding both brand and consumers are benefitted. The brand gets preliminary benefit of instant brand recognition in markets where there may not be any consumer awareness (at the launching stage) or a lesser degree of consumer awareness a company desires. Other benefit is the financial advantage provided by the alliance. It results from the sharing space, which lowers operating costs, maximizes marketing dollars through joint promotions and increases marked exposure with one product carrying both brand names.  Consumers´ attitudes toward a particular brand alliance influence their subsequent attitudes towards the individual brands that comprise that alliance. 

Disadvantages

Despite all the advantages of co-branding, there are possibilities that the strategy may have negative effect on the partner brands due to co-branding. The strategy may fail if the two products have different market and are entirely different. If there is difference in visions and missions of the two companies, then also composite branding may fail. If the customers associate any adverse experience with a constituent brand, then it may damage the total brand equity. Once a brand takes position in the market, it becomes difficult to dismantle the co-brand. Also it will become a big challenge for brand to re-establish the brand identity alone.

Future of co-branding in India

As the consumer in today’s modern era are more informative, demanding and conscious about their buying behavior, the need for co-branding in retail will increase in future. Many foreign giants are venturing into Indian retail sector in strategic partnership with Indian companies – the example will include Wal-Mart, Metro, and Tesco etc. With advance technologies in modern retailing, it is now possible to know the exact information about consumer shopping habits, which further will help retailers to improve marketer knowledge and strategies. As additional market sectors become more and more difficult to penetrate for newcomers, co-branding may be preferred as a faster, cheaper and safer growth strategy.

Top Most Consumer Friendly Banks

Top Most Consumer Friendly Banks in India

Ranking on Individual Parameters:

1. Disclosure about charges and interest rates – Corporation Bank
2. Pro-active communication about new products/services – Corporation Bank
3. Trustworthiness – HDFC Bank
4. Complaint Resolution – Central Bank of India
5. Wide ATM coverage – HDFC Bank
6. Professionalism of the company –
7. Convenient banking hours – Corporation Bank
8. Well-trained staff – Bank of Baroda
9. Courteous and friendly staff – Corporation Bank
10. Faster service at branches – Corporation Bank
11. Knowing the customer and their needs – Corporation Bank
12. Good Internet banking – Axis Bank
13. Efficient processes – Bank of Baroda
14. Effective communication on developments – Axis Bank
15. Innovative company – Union Bank of India
16. Good phone banking – Axis Bank
17. Hard-selling products that customers do not want – Corporation Bank

Source: From the study report of Outlook Money and TNS

India lower than China

India lower than China in English proficiency ?

Now, this information has definitely taken everyone by surprise – Isn’t India known globally for its large English speaking population ? Infact, that is one of the main reasons why IT services has seen such tremendous growth in India over past decade or so.

However, when I came across recently released EF EPI [Education First – English Proficiency Index], I was literally stunned. According to the EF EPI rankings, India is ranked lower than China in English Proficiency. While China ranks at 29th, India is ranked at 30th in the world for English language proficiency!

What is even more surprising is that countries like South Korea and Japan are ranked much higher than India. Among all the Asian countries, Malaysia ranks the highest and is even amongst the Top 10 most English proficient countries in the world. I had visited Japan (ranked 14th) few months back and I was in Tokyo. In my nearly 4 day stay, the biggest hurdle I faced was English. I just could not converse with any locals in English…at all!

On the contrary, if you visit any city or large town in India, you will always find people who know English – even if it is broken (with a real big Indian accent!).

If you go through the entire report of EF EPI – you will find no real reasoning for why India ranks so low in proficiency. Here is what the report says:

Asia’s English proficiency scores show that reputations are not always accurate. Take for example the nearly equivalent scores of China and India. Despite its British colonial legacy and reputation as an English-speaking nation, India is today no more proficient in English than rapidly improving China.

Indeed, although it is very difficult to measure the number of people who speak English in each country because of different definitions of proficiency, the British Council estimated in 2010 that India had anywhere between 55 and 350 million English speakers while a report published by Cambridge University Press estimates that China has 250 to 350 million English learners.

It appears that China is poised to surpass India in the number of English speakers in the coming years, if it has not already done so.

We always take such surveys and reports with a pinch of salt. Although the numbers are never accurate, they do tend to give the general representation of ground realities. However, this report seems to give the consensus is opposite direction.

The report also gives very vague idea of what methodology was used – The report simply says:

The index uses a unique set of test data from over two million adults who took free online English tests over a period of three years.

India probably has the most number of proficient English speaking people in Asia. There are many simple points which can prove that. Take for example the number of English Dailies in India and number of people who consume it. In Japan, you will not find more than 3-4 English dailies. I am not too sure of China, but I doubt if people read English dailies there. While in India, we have probably 15 – 20 major English Newspapers. Similarly, how many English TV channels does China or Japan have? We in India probably have more than 100 !