MUMBAI: The recession plague may finally be sketching its way out of the Indian economy map, making way for the ad industry to once again fill up its hollow pockets.

According to the latest annual forecast released by Zenith Optimedia, the Indian advertising industry is poised to grow by 10.5 per cent (at current prices), declaring a step up over the 4.5 per cent growth that the industry registered this year over 2008.

The agency further predicts that advertising on TV, newspapers and magazines will grow at 11.6 per cent, 10 per cent and 11 per cent respectively.

Meanwhile, for radio, advertising is expected to grow at 14.1 per cent and internet at 16 per cent. However, cinema industry will see a at mere five per cent growth while outdoor is expected to grow marginally (two per cent).

Additionally, the report suggests that the Indian ad industry is expected to grow at a rate of 11.4 per cent and 11.8 per cent for the years 2011 and 2012 respectively.

Globally too, the advertising industry seems to be on an upswing, implying an end to a period of a worldwide economic downturn.

The Publicis-owned media agency network Zenith Optimedia foretells a 0.9 per cent growth in global ad spends in 2010 at $447.7 billion, up from the projected $443.7 billion spent this year.

“We expect the recovery to strengthen steadily as corporate and consumer confidence continue to improve, with 3.9 per cent growth in 2011 and 4.8 per cent growth in 2012,” the company said in a release.

The global boost is expected to be driven by Latin America (8.1 per cent growth), Central and Eastern Europe (2.3 per cent) and Asia Pacific, excluding Japan (3.8 per cent).

“Plenty of markets in the developing world – particularly in Asia Pacific and Latin America – have continued to grow this year, and are already picking up speed after a slowdown in the first half of 2009,” the agency said.

Meanwhile, ad expenditure is expected to shrink 2.4 per cent in North America, 0.5 per cent in Western Europe and 3.2 per cent in Japan, before mild growth returns in 2011, the report reveals.

MUMBAI: The National Basketball Association (NBA) in association with HP and Reebok has rolled out online and mobile sites in India.

The website accessible at nba.com/india features a live game broadcast every Thursday morning in India throughout the regular season. The site will also include select Hindi content, player blogs and columns by Ayaz Memon and Sahil Sharma.

The mobile site, accessible via m.nba.com will provide fans real-time access to latest NBA news, scores and standings.

The site will promote weekly live telecasts of NBA games which are available on ESPN and Star Sports on Friday and Saturday mornings in India. TV schedules and game matchup information will also be showcased on the website.

Additionally, fans in India can also access up to 40 games each week on NBA LEAGUE PASS BROADBAND, the league’s premium online video subscription service available on the website.

“As the NBA’s fan base in India continues to grow, we are delighted to be working with our local partners to provide this unique digital experience.

“As more sports fans in India are embracing the game of basketball we hope this multimedia experience will encourage them to play the game and follow their favorite NBA teams, players and latest League news,” said NBA International president Heidi Ueberroth

Viveat Susan Pinto

FMCG major Marico expects business to be marginally impacted by input costs. It expects sales growth to be modest over the next few months, too. This despite the fact that its price-cut policy for entry-level packs of products such as Saffola and Nihar will be maintained for some months. Saugata Gupta, chief executive officer of the consumer products division, has his task cut out – sustain both top line and bottom line growth – in the next two quarters. In an interview with Viveat Susan Pinto, he explains how he plans to do so. Edited excerpts:

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How do you propose to improve your revenue and profit growth over the next two quarters?
Top line growth is a factor of inflation or deflation. That is not the best metric to guage performance. Instead, volume growth is something we track closely. Our key brands have registered high single-digit and double-digit growth in the last two quarters. We hope to maintain that. Partly because we are not likely to take price hikes, despite some inflationary pressures on the input front. Input-price pressures were down in the last two quarters. That allowed us to take a 10 per cent price cut in entry-level packs of Saffola and Nihar. There were no price cuts, however, in Parachute. Over time, inflationary pressures have risen a bit, but it is not steep. Which is why I don’t see any significant impact on pricing in the next three-four months, at least.

What products is Marico prototyping, besides cooling oils?
There is a low Glycemic Index (GI) rice under the Saffola brand that we are prototying at the moment. GI diets contain carbohydrates, which digests slowly, and helps release glucose over a longer period of time, keeping the body fuller, thereby helping in weight management. We are experimenting with healthy and functional foods under the Saffola brand. This is part of the effort. Our portfolio currently includes a low-sodium salt, an atta mix, besides the cooking oil. Rice is one more product we hope to add to the list.

The other product we are prototyping is under the Revive umbrella, which is called Revive Blue Plus. This has properties of a blue, plus a stiffener. So in that sense, it is an added bonus for the user. We are very bullish about this product. Cooling oils, we are prototyping in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. It is a seasonal product. Typically, cooling oils do well during the summer season. In-home consumption of cooling oils is very high, which is what excites us about this product. The segment is one of the fastest-growing in the hair-oil category, clocking a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 13-15 per cent. It is clearly important for us to be there.

What’s the status on the divestment of Sweekar?
We’ve never said we are going to divest Sweekar. What we did say is that we are not going to invest behind the brand. It is a brand on float, in other words. That could have triggered speculation that we were looking to divest the brand. That’s not true. The brand contributes over Rs 100 crore to overall turnover. But, yes, we are not investing heavily behind it.

Have you made any progress on the Simple acquisition?
I cannot comment about it. We are an acquisitive company and keep looking at opportunities to expand our global footprint. Our emerging-market focus continues to be there. West Asia, North Africa are some of the markets we are looking at. Bangladesh and South Africa are our hubs already. Southeast Asia is another market we could look at in the future.

What’s the way forward?
That our key brands, including Parachute and Saffola, continue to grow and that our new launches are a success. The latter is something we are laying special emphasis on. It is critical that our new-product launches are a success, because that is what will drive growth in the future. For instance, we recently launched a hot oil under Parachute after successfully prototyping it last year. That is one product we are keeping our fingers crossed on. We’re constantly on the lookout for new segments where we can make our presence felt. That is why innovation is key to us. It’s important for our long-term growth and sustenance.

Bhupesh Bhandari

Some time in 2001, brothers Malvinder and Shivinder Mohan Singh decided that they need to grow their financial services business. The family had acquired a non-banking finance company (NBFC) called Empire Capital and renamed it Fortis Securities. It was a small company. Their first job was to find somebody to run it. They approached Sunil Godhwani. He came from a wealthy family of leather exporters. Like the Singh brothers, he was a follower of the Radhasoami Satsang. The Godhwanis’ association with the Singh family went back two generations. Only, he knew little about financial services and lesser still about stock markets. Still, he agreed to come on board from August 1, 2001. Godhwani was given a small office at Connaught Place to lead a team of 19. His desk was brought on a pushcart from the furniture market close by.

Eight years later, the company has been renamed Religare Enterprises (“Religare” is Latin for religion or values that bind people together; the brand is owned by the Singhs) to avoid any conflict of identity with the financial powerhouse headquartered in Belgium and the Netherlands, and its headquarters has moved to two huge offices in South Delhi and Noida spread over 750,000 square feet. Senior managers all drive around in Mercs. It has done three acquisitions in India and abroad. More important, Godhwani wants to make Religare one of the top five global names in financial services “much sooner than others think.”

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In the past, Malvinder Singh would often talk of taking Religare to the same heights as Merrill Lynch. The financial meltdown of 2008 that saw the collapse of venerated names like Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch may have made Singh and Godhwani rephrase the target, but the ambition of global scale in double-quick time remains intact. “There is nobody Indian in that space,” says Godhwani, the tough-talking managing director and CEO of Religare. That it took Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch decades to build scale and only days to perish doesn’t seem to deter him.

Religare has moved in several directions in the recent past. It has built a retail network in 537 Indian cities and towns. From close to 2,000 offices, it sells stock and commodity brokerage services, life insurance and mutual funds. It gives personal loans against shares and property. It also runs an education and healthcare fund with Milestone, has a life insurance venture with Aegon, finances film and operates an art fund. Retail still accounts for about half of its business (2009-10 revenue is projected at around Rs 1,400 crore). At 10 to 11 per cent, the profit margins in retail are not bad. And the net interest margin in personal loans is around 5 per cent (loan book size as on September 30 is Rs 850 crore; Godhwani wants to grow it to Rs 10,000 crore in three to five years).

Yet this is not good enough for the Singh brothers and Godhwani. (The three together form the Promoters’ Council which decides unanimously on broad strategic issues). They want to spread their wings quickly across the globe. Though Godhwani insists that the umbilical chord with Ranbaxy has been cut forever, the similarity with India’s largest pharmaceutical company under the Singhs is unmistakable. (Malvinder Singh ran the company till recently, Shivinder Singh and Godhwani served on the board of directors.) Ranbaxy, during that period, did a series of acquisitions abroad to gain size and hedge its risks against the worsening US market. The growth areas they have identified for Religare are investment banking and asset management.

Investment banking
Religare has engaged McKinsey to help it build an emerging market investment bank. The reason for the thrust is not hard to find. Fees charged by investment banks can range anywhere between two per cent and three per cent of the deal size. Even in a bad year like 2009, mergers and acquisitions worth $7.6 billion were done in the country till October, according to Grant Thornton. (The deal market was $27.2 billion in 2008 and $38 billion in 2007.) This means that investment banks will rake in at least $150 million during the year from India alone. The global pie will be much bigger. It is a part of this action that Religare wants to chase.

“The idea,” says Religare Chief Operating Officer Shachindra Nath, “is to act as a bridge between the developed world and the emerging economies.” Corporations in the US and Europe want to expand in high-growth economies like India and China. At the same time, Indian and Chinese businessmen, made rich by the recent stock market surges, are keen to buy assets abroad. The Tatas have bought, amongst others, Corus and Jaguar-Land Rover. The Aditya Birla Group bought Novelis of Canada. Reliance Industries wants to acquire Dutch firm LyondellBassell. Each deal runs into billions of dollars.

To begin with, Religare in May 2008 acquired Hichens Harrison, London’s oldest brokerage firm for Rs 450 crore. It came with an investment banking licence not just in London but also important markets like Johannesburg and West Asia. Religare has made London, the world’s financial nerve centre, its headquarters for investment banking. It has appointed Martin Newson, who has in the past worked with Dresdner, Deutsche Bank and CSFB, as the head of its investment bank on a salary that exceeds Godhwani’s.

The team that was inherited from Hichens Harrison has been expanded from about 30 to 70. Capabilities are being built in areas like real estate (Hichens Harrison is a broker on London’s Alternative Investment Market, a popular destination for real estate developers), financial services, mines and minerals and healthcare. For healthcare, Religare has appointed on the Huchins Harrison board Brian Tempest, a former CEO of Ranbaxy. Tempest has dealt for long with pharmaceutical companies in Europe. It has also applied for a full-fledged licence from the US regulators.

Meanwhile, Religare has set up a representative office there.

That pretty much ties up the developed markets. Amongst the emerging markets, Religare has on its list of priority, apart from China and India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. In all these markets, it will set up shop on its own, except China where it has no option but to go with a local partner. In the smaller markets, Religare, says Nath, could go with a partner or take a small stake in a local firm. “In Vietnam, for instance,” says he, “there is not much business now, but it could pick up in the future. So, we will buy 10 to 20 per cent in a local investment bank.”

The grand plans may be fine, critics say, but Religare has not had much to show so far. The two big deals it talks about – Daiichi’s acquisition of Ranbaxy and Fortis’ acquisition of Wockhardt Hospitals – were, after all, house deals. The Ranbaxy transaction involved the Singh brothers selling their stake and Fortis too is their company. Godhwani refutes the charge that the two deals came to Religare on a platter. “There were others also in the race for both of these transactions. These came to us at the end after they had looked around for a while,” says he. To prove his point, Godhwani discloses that bigger deals than these two are in the works and can be expected to make headlines soon.

Asset management
Religare’s philosophy for asset management is not very different: Channel money from developed markets to emerging markets. There are, says Nath, three pockets of capital in the world: The US which accounts for 60 per cent of world capital, West Asia and Japan.

The big thing here will be fund of funds – these do not invest in companies directly but in various other funds. Religare feels that Asia is under-represented in fund of funds. It has got on board a consultant (one of the big five) to devise a fund-of-funds strategy. Meanwhile, Religare has acquired the management team of Evolvence, an India-focused fund of funds with a corpus of $250 million.

It has done something similar in Japan – it has bought the team and asset-management contract of a European asset management company. The details of the deal are still under wraps. Religare, according to Nath, is now in the process of putting together a team for China, the El Dorado of private equity. The private equity deals, Religare hopes, will also fetch it more investment banking business.

Religare clearly wants to gain critical mass in asset management through acquisitions. It was in the race to acquire AIG Investments of the US, which has assets worth $115 billion under management. The deal was finally clinched by Richard Li. Religare has now appointed Mathew Mongia, earlier of private equity fund Vishwas Capital and hedge fund Monsoon Capital, to scout for asset management companies in the US. And what is the war chest? “We were ready to pay in the range of $400 million for AIG Investments. We can go beyond that,” says Nath.

The other part of asset management is mutual funds. In India, Religare acquired Lotus India Asset Management Company in November 2008. As a result, the proposed asset management joint venture with Aegon has been called off. The asset management licence Religare had acquired has been turned over to Aegon. The assets under management at Lotus, now called Religare Asset Management Company, have in the last one year jumped from Rs 3,000 crore to over Rs 17,000 crore.

Back home
Observers and analysts say that Religare needs to build scale in the country before venturing abroad. “Only then will you have a convincing story to tell,” says the India representative of a global fund house. Religare has so far been able to attain scale in India only in the securities business. In equity trading, its market share stood at 4.13 per cent in September 2009, and in online trading it was 8.28 per cent in August 2009. The corpus of its mutual fund is around two per cent of the industry total, the size of its retail loan book is smaller than that of rivals like Bajaj Finance, and it is a fringe player in the home finance market (it had acquired Maharishi Home Finance some time ago in a small deal and re-capitalised it with Rs 100 crore; the book size is just Rs 60 crore).

In addition, its life insurance venture with Aegon is still small. So much so, four years after it started, Religare Aegon has now hired The Boston Consultancy Group to review its ten-year strategic plan. “We know that the Religare distribution network will not work for life insurance. We need to rethink it. ICICI Prudential has one million feet on the streets, while Religare Aegon has only 1,500 people,” says Nath.

Sector experts also say that there is a need for Religare to relook at its retail network. It has about 500 branches of its own and around 1,200 franchisees across the country. The company-owned branches account for 80 per cent of the business. Moving forward, Godhwani says, Religare will consolidate its infrastructure in most cities. Still others suggest Religare needs to tap high net worth customers through its network. For that, the company has formed a venture with Macquarie. “We want to touch the client in a full 360-degree way,” says Godhwani.

Adequate resources
Most important, say critics, Religare needs to build a team and needs to be adequately capitalised if it wants to go global. Its share capital along with reserves and surplus stands at Rs 2,603 crore. The Singhs, who made close to Rs 10,000 crore from the sale of their Ranbaxy shares, have a stake of 55 per cent. But they have underwritten the entire rights issue – Rs 1,800 crore is already in the bank. If it devolves, their stake will rise to 73 per cent. Analysts say Religare is one of the best capitalised companies in the sector today. In addition, the Singh brothers have invested Rs 30 crore in the healthcare and education fund with Milestone. They could invest in other funds also in the future.

So far as people are concerned, Godhwani says his top priority is to get the right person for the right job. “The anchor (for an employee) in financial services is either money or relationship. That is where I come in. As the CEO, I am the chief ego organiser and the chief event organiser. That’s why I have got ten people more intelligent than me,” says he. “I run the company like I own it. I have passed on this empowerment to my CEOs. It is the Religare virus.”

Godhwani clearly understands that he needs good people to stay for long. He plans to give most senior employees stock options – all businesses have therefore been kept in separate subsidiaries. This means that several of these subsidiaries will get listed on the stock exchange. Option-holders in unlisted companies may be compensated with Religare shares or even cash – the details are being worked out by human resources consultancy Mercer.

Will it be good enough to help Religare reach where no Indian has gone before? Wait and watch.

Aminah Sheikh

A fresh tussle on sharing revenues from a movie is brewing. The fight is between Vidhu Vinod Chopra, the producer of 3Idiots, and multiplexes. The Aamir Khan-starrer is slated for release on December 25.

According to sources, Chopra has sent a mail to leading multiplexes PVR Cinemas, INOX Leisure, Cinemax India, FAME India, Fun Cinemas and BIG Cinemas, stating that the producers of the film deserve a higher revenue share.

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Chopra is asking for 52 per cent revenue share in the first week, 47.5 per cent in the second week, and 40 per cent in third and fourth weeks.

Multiplex owners are upset as Chopra’s suggestions are at variance with the revenue sharing agreement reached between film producers and multiplex owners earlier this year. Under the June agreement, producers will get 52.5 per cent in the first week, 45 per cent in the second week, 37.5 per cent in the third week and 30 per cent in the fourth week if the movie earns over Rs 17 crore at the box office.

The revenue share of the producers will be 50 per cent in the first week, 42.5 per cent in the second week, 37.5 per cent in the third week and 30 per cent in the fourth week if the movie earns Rs 10-17 crore. The producers’ share would come down if the movie does a business of less than Rs 10 crore – 50 per cent for week 1, 40 per cent for week 2, 35 per cent for week 3 and 30 per cent for week 4.

3Idiots is a Rs 35-crore film starring Aamir Khan, Karishma Kapoor, Sharman Joshi and R Madhavan. The film’s distributing rights were bought for around Rs 80 crore by BIG Pictures. Though BIG Pictures has the distribution rights, Chopra, as a profit-sharing partner, is trying to negotiate the revenue terms with multiplexes.

Multiplexes were hoping to sign on the movie this week to open advance booking.

Surajeet Das Gupta & Mansi Taneja

Vittorio Colao, the CEO of Vodafone Group Plc , the world’s largest mobile operator by revenues, considers India an important market. The Indian mobile market has been witnessing a rate war with the entry of new players. Colao spoke to Surajeet Das Gupta and Mansi Taneja about the competition, the need for consolidation in the industry and a change in the regulatory regime. Edited excerpts:

Prices in the Indian mobile market are at a new low with the entry of new players in the segment. Would you match each rate plan offered by new operators? How has the per-second billing plan affected your revenues?
Our focus in India is to look at revenues coming in a profitable way and our strategy is based on three things – investments, innovation in new products and services, and expansion into rural areas. The per-second billing plan has affected the company significantly but we will not be left behind and we will be competitive. Ours is a premium network and we offer good quality services to our subscribers.

The new players are making competition tough Except Bharti Airtel, no operator in the country has a positive cash flow. We made £300 million (Rs 2,283 crore) as margin in India. Our investment was £500 million (Rs 3,805 crore) in the first six months of this year, so we have a negative cash flow of £200 million (Rs 1,522 crore). This cannot go on. For the whole year, we will invest £1 billion (Rs 7,610 crore) and may have Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) of £600 million (Rs 4,544 crore), but still remain in the negative. That is why customer service is not of high quality, which has to be addressed by policy makers.

Also, globally, telecom is seeing consolidation.There are too many players in the industry, and merger and acquisition rules should allow easier aggregation, which could be in different ways like aggregation of networks, companies and operations.

You talked about consolidation in the industry. Would Vodafone be interested in acquiring a company here?
We are open to everything, as India is an important market for us. The telecom sector requires huge investments. However, there has to be a different approach to this and rules should allow consolidation and be made easier and flexible. However, the current rules do not allow consolidation.

Vodafone Essar is the second largest private operator (by revenues) in the Indian mobile market. When do you expect to close the gap with Bharti Airtel, the number one service provider?
It could take 25 years, and generally my prediction is right, as it takes a long time to bridge such a gap. This industry needs investment and time. We expected to be cash-positive much earlier but delays happen in this industry. Moreover, the Indian arm has the support of the global parent company.

How important is the third generation (3G) market for Vodafone in India. What would be your strategy in the upcoming 3G auctions?
3G services would open the market, as there would be a shift towards the data part of the communication. We have already seen the markets opening up in Africa, Europe and the Middle East after introduction of 3G services. We expect the same to happen in India. 3G is a good opportunity for us, provided there are not many regulations. Recently, there was a notification by the department of telecom that service providers would need to go for a security check for equipment before placing any orders. This is totally ineffective. It will be a burden on us and increase our cost as well.

ROME: Ferrari will not stand in Michael Schumacher’s way if the seven-times Formula One world champion decides to come out of retirement and race Day in Pics: December 13

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for Mercedes, president Luca di Montezemolo said on Monday.

The 40-year-old has worked as a consultant for the Italian team since retiring at the end of 2006 but reports say he is close to signing with fellow Germans Mercedes, who have taken over world champions Brawn.

Schumacher announced in September he would work as a consultant for Ferrari for another three years. Asked if Ferrari would enforce the deal, Montezemolo said: “No, not binding.”

“It’s clear that if he decides to take another road our (consultancy) agreement will no longer be valid, that is logical. You can’t work with a competitor and with us at the same time,” Montezemolo said in an interview.

“I still haven’t spoken to him about it. He is only a dear friend, not a team member. He is a consultant for our road cars.”

Schumacher was forced to abort plans for a Formula One comeback with Ferrari because of fitness concerns in August.

He was due to replace the injured Felipe Massa but pulled out following medical checks on a neck injury sustained in a motorcycle accident earlier this year that caused him pain during testing.

With his neck problem better, Ferrari had talked about including him in their driver lineup if plans to have a third car on the grid next season were agreed.

However, Formula Ones bosses blocked the three car idea.

ROME: Ferrari will not stand in Michael Schumacher’s way if the seven-times Formula One world champion decides to come out of retirement and race Day in Pics: December 13

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for Mercedes, president Luca di Montezemolo said on Monday.

The 40-year-old has worked as a consultant for the Italian team since retiring at the end of 2006 but reports say he is close to signing with fellow Germans Mercedes, who have taken over world champions Brawn.

Schumacher announced in September he would work as a consultant for Ferrari for another three years. Asked if Ferrari would enforce the deal, Montezemolo said: “No, not binding.”

“It’s clear that if he decides to take another road our (consultancy) agreement will no longer be valid, that is logical. You can’t work with a competitor and with us at the same time,” Montezemolo said in an interview.

“I still haven’t spoken to him about it. He is only a dear friend, not a team member. He is a consultant for our road cars.”

Schumacher was forced to abort plans for a Formula One comeback with Ferrari because of fitness concerns in August.

He was due to replace the injured Felipe Massa but pulled out following medical checks on a neck injury sustained in a motorcycle accident earlier this year that caused him pain during testing.

With his neck problem better, Ferrari had talked about including him in their driver lineup if plans to have a third car on the grid next season were agreed.

However, Formula Ones bosses blocked the three car idea.

Three things happened in three weeks. First, 2012, the disaster movie, became a huge hit. It had no big star cast. Its strength lay in its impressive FX and its ominous message: The end of the world is nigh. Second, another Hollywood movie, a vampire love story this time, New Moon which released last week against Bollywood’s current hot favourite Ranbir Kapoor’s Rocket Singh outperformed it on opening weekend. (Interestingly, Rocket Singh got rave reviews; New Moon was widely panned.) Third, after releasing five or six films every week, Bollywood has suddenly stepped back to allow James Cameron’s Avatar to get a solo release this week. Six films were there as usual, but they all backed off. No one wanted to take on a $400 million movie from the guy who made Titanic.

Does this mean Hollywood is suddenly a force to contend with in the box office? Not really. At last count, Hollywood films grossed 3% of our box office. More liberal statisticians give it 4% and this includes all their language versions. I doubt if they can better that without actually getting their hands dirty and making Indian films. So what does it actually auger?

To begin with, it means Hollywood is making a bigger play for India given the recessionary pressures at home and in other Western markets. China restricts their entry. So India is the only big market left to conquer if they want to get ahead. Luckily for them, India has a huge population that speaks and understands English. It also has the world’s largest movie going population. Till now, we have never really warmed up to Hollywood’s overtures and had stuck instead to watching our own films. That is now changing. We are opening up to Hollywood culture and trying to ape the way they make movies. In fact, some of our producers are even funding Hollywood movies. No wonder Hollywood thinks it’s time to have another shot at the one huge English language market they could never quite crack.

So now they are coming in from all sides, trying to fill in the gaps. FX movies, vampire movies, alien movies, monster movies, all the stuff we had stayed away from is now coming in. Aliens, avatars, werewolves, blood sucking lovers, Mayan prophecies of doomsday, scary paranormal phenomenon, colleges of magic, super heroes, larger than life villains, monsters. witches, huge robots, mutants, giant lizards, creatures from outer space are storming our theatres like never before. Many of these are, in effect, FMCG products brilliantly marketed by Hollywood’s hit squad that can sell a kulfi to an Eskimo and a iPod to the deaf. As they are designed to blitz all markets at the same time, they have no cultural roots, only an inbuilt desperation to be bought. They reach out to a restless, bored generation as eager to be colonized as our parents were to break free.

It’s exactly the way McDonalds, Coke, Vogue and Mickey Mouse plugged into all cultures by making the world one big mall. Globalisation has quickened the process. Anyone asking questions about Hollywood’s road roller tactics is instantly accused of being xenophobic. I am not but I do think it’s tragic to see our great film makers like Satyajit Ray, Ritwick Ghatak, Raj Kapoor, Guru Dutt, Bimal Roy, Hrishikesh Mukherjee walk into oblivion. Today’s movie watching generation doesn’t even know they existed. This is partly out of our own disrespect for contemporary history. But also because mass culture is constantly redefining what’s cool. I respect this crying need for the cool but to not look beyond it means losing perspective on who we are, as a people, a nation, a culture. This does not only apply to movies. We are losing our many histories of music, art, poetry, tribal crafts. Anything that cannot be explained in easy, popular terms gets the heave-ho. Does anyone recall Allauddin Khan’s Maihar Band? Do we know that popular cinema once showcased our finest classical music? Yash Chopra was the last to use Shiv Kumar Sharma and Hariprasad Chaurasia to write his scores. Just as Guru Dutt was the last to use poets like Sahir and Kaifi for his songs.

No, we have no reason to fear Hollywood. Not as yet. Great marketing is no substitute for cultural connect. But what we certainly need to do is make much better films than we are currently making if we want to continue this connect. We must stop indulging trashy film makers and realign ourselves with the great creative traditions that once produced memorable cinema. Big Money has this awful habit of destroying talent and I see this happening around me. The best of our actors, directors, writers, are being constantly seduced to work in ridiculous movies backed by illiterate financiers masquerading as producers. The art of handcrafting movies is slowly disappearing and Bollywood, like Hollywood, runs the risk of becoming just another factory of big tiresome movies that no longer give you the highs they once did.

Noreen O’Leary

In a sign of the tough times, Americans—trading down in their restaurant choices or indulging in comfort food—had more memorable encounters with new fast-food products than any other category this year.

QSR entries comprised five of the top 10 of 2009’s Most Memorable New Product Launch Survey, which was conducted by Schneider Associates, IRI and Sentient Decision Science. The results were based on an online October poll of 1,125 consumers aged 18 and over. For the last two years, technology products dominated the list.

The times seem to have hurt Americans’ memories as well. Worried about jobs, pay cuts and holding on to their homes, a whopping 93 percent of respondents—the highest level in eight years of the survey—could not name one new product launch from a list of 50, according to the survey.

That happened despite a doubling up of media. Some 66 percent said they watch TV and surf the Web simultaneously, with 85 percent of those online while watching TV, searching for something they just saw on the air.

That combination worked for Yum Brands’ KFC, which made its biggest product launch ever, with Grilled Chicken, and McDonald’s, backing its gourmet-espresso based McCafe beverages with one of its biggest marketing pushes since the ‘70s, when it introduced breakfast offerings.

Both made the list, with KFC Grilled Chicken at No.1 and McCafe following in second place. The survey’s most memorable launch began with near disaster, after KFC locations couldn’t keep up with demand after Oprah offered free coupons to viewers of her eponymous TV show. That free publicity was a jump start to a massive campaign using traditional media, promotions and social initiatives on Twitter and MySpace.

“Oprah was catalytic. But what made this launch different was that was just one part of a fully integrated campaign,” said Javier Benito, evp, marketing and food innovation, KFC. “The other part of it is that QSRs have a hard time in finding a product that is healthy and tastes great. With KFC Grilled Chicken, we hit the sweet spot.”

Benito said that 65 million Americans have tried the product since April, with KFC now commanding a 25 percent share of the fast-growing grilled category. Its success underscored another survey finding: In trying new products, 69 percent said they were influenced by the absence of trans fats; 42 percent, high-fructose corn syrup and 42 percent, low-salt content.

In addition to McCafe, McDonald’s introduced another premium offering, the Angus Deluxe burger, which placed sixth in the survey. “These had been in test one and a half years before introduction, and while the launch timing was tough, we firmly believed we could continue to offer everyday affordability, even with premium products,” said Heather Oldani, a McDonald’s rep.

Said Julie Hall, evp, Schneider Associates: “Every marketer who’s looking to survive in this economy has got to cast their net wide. You’re not just romancing your core customer; you’re looking at everyone else’s. We saw this in a lot of new product launches this year.”

The survey found that 92 percent of consumers find free samples the most influential source of information about new products. Before McCafe’s May launch, McDonald’s generated buzz by sponsoring Fashion Week in New York—giving away free samples—and did so after launch in September. Before the official Angus launch, the company introduced a promotion in certain markets where consumers were offered a free burger for their dinner as well as reimbursement of their commuting cost home.

Other QSR launches in the survey’s top 10 are Quiznos Torpedo sandwich at No. 6 and Taco Bell Volcano Nachos at No. 8.

In the eight years the survey has been conducted, new Coca-Cola products have been the most memorable launches. In the first polling in 2002, Vanilla Coke topped the list; in 2004, Coca Cola C2 was in the top spot; in 2005, Coke with Lime and Coke Zero were in the top two spots; and in 2007, Diet Coke Plus ranked No. 7. In contrast, Pepsi only rated two mentions. In 2002, Pepsi Blue was the third most memorable launch; in 2004, Pepsi Edge was the second.