WorldSpace - Not in My Space

It's been around 2 years since WorldSpace hit the Indian market. For the uninitiated, WorldSpace is the world's first digital satellite radio network. Started as a single channel free service in its early days, it went on to become a yearly fee based subscription. It won't work with the standard AM/FM Radios and requires a special radio, which is a satellite receiver, and comes at a cost of 1800 onwards.

Being a prospective consumer first and a marketing student later, an obvious question is why I will invest when I have some 5 free FM channels ringing for my ears. The USP according to the company is in 3 Cs: Choice, Clarity and Coverage.

• Choice - over 40 music channels with out ads
• Clarity - very obvious as it's digital, delivering near CD quality sound
• Coverage – delivered almost everywhere.

I am not much impressed. And so are others if you go by the subscription figures. The problems are many. So let's dissect the case –

1. Pricing: WorldSpace yearly subscription is at rs. 1800 but doesn't deliver value. It have little over 40 channels but only a mix of 5-7 channels interests an average Indian. So according to me the pricing should be per channel basis but I think its technically difficult to implement(not really sure though)


2. Alternate Music? : If you go through the list of channels, apart from 2-3 channels, most of them provide alternative music which has its own set of followers but won't appeal to masses. Niche content will not get subscription figures, a fact which Mid-Day's Go 92.5 learnt the hard way.


3. Niche Player: Taking cue from the above point – WorldSpace would like to be a niche player as it doesn't need huge subscription figures to sell to an advertiser. Agreed. But Radio being a mass communication product and the kind of technology used by WorldSpace definitely needs subscription to stop it from bleeding


4. Portability: Ice age, Stone Age, Iron Age and now it's an iPod age. Mp3 players and phones are plenty. And with memory space being no constraint, you can carry your world of music where ever you go. WorldSpace, too, works almost anywhere but I would defiantly not move around with a stereo box in my bag.


5. Piracy: Almost any thing to do with online – be it music, eBooks, software – is bogged by the piracy bug. With mp3s freely available on the net, one can make his favorite collection to fill in the gigs in ones player and never hear a song which he dislikes. And for those averse to piracy, will be more than happy with downloading legal and cheaper music


6. Competition: WorldSpace is in direct competition with FM radio players. We must come to believe that we live in free times. Though there is no such thing as a free lunch, but there is always a free sponsored (read: advertised) lunch. FM Radio players with their ad supported free service are widely accepted and difficult to break. While there's is nothing stopping WorldSpace to shift its revenue model, there are few competitive advantages FM has :
   
• FM Radio has gained popularity is because of its integration with mobiles and car stereos, who form a huge base of listeners. ( Related to Point 2 )
• According to me, radio is also more about local content than anything else which is out of question for WorldSpace. This holds true specially when we have calamity like the Mumbai floods

All said and done - the technology is surely rocking and ahead of its time. And if issues like content, portability and pricing are tackled, which I am pretty sure they will be, WorldSpace will definitely get a warm welcome in My Space.

waiting,
Neo

Smart Advertising

Religious arms have often showed some really creative advts in recent times. The most recent being the snap below



Found @ Amber Mac's Flickr


uninventive,
Neo.

Do you Su Doku?

I am being slowly addicted to Su dokus, so much so that The Times group had organised a Su doku competition and I actually went there on a lazy Sunday morning. And to my surprise many fellow gujjus also landed up ;0)

But believe me, this craze has taken of like a wild forest fire. Hordes of people turned up for the competiton. It was fun. I managed to crack the puzzle but took more time than the three top times.

Times of India sensing it early on this rising trend and making a smart marketing move. Not surprisingly it’s the no.1 player in its domain.

Umeed se Dugna

Umeed se Dugna

Many of us have seen the latest KBC teaser, which has Abby Baby crooning in it. And most of us are impressed by the creativity and the execution of the Ad. KBC season 2 will soon go on air and will bring in more revenue for Star TV.

Coming to Star TV, we all know that it’s the number one channel in India and has an amazing fan following. But being a marketing student, my take on this point is different. Star TV is one of the finest marketing entities we currently have in our country. To prove my point, lets take an outsider view of the company.

Circa 1995: when the cable revolution has just started and Zee proving to be the unbeatable leader. Star had come up with many channels but none able to connect with the audience. Star World was too upmarket to be popular and at the same time star plus had immense identity crisis. Star plus started with English programmes but later on realized that Hindi is the national language.

Then comes the year of turn around. The year when star plus launched KBC and Kyunki (I guess its 1999 –00). These two programmes catapult star plus from a number3 to an undisputable number 1. KBC with its format and the charisma of Amitabh was an instant hit. While kyunki took its little time to establish, but then history takes time to be created. Also a new prime slot of 10:30 was invented by the soap. The idea of broadcasting the show at 10:30 would be suicidal, but it silenced all the critics with its success. The rest as they say is history. Kahani ghar ghar kii and soaps alike captured more and more viewer ship for the channel.

The focal point is the change in the marketing strategy. From being a directionless channel to a focused one. All the programmes directed towards a specific target group largely the typical Indian family household and the housewife’s for the afternoon shows (remember Star Doophar). Success begets success is an old maxim but still very true. With the newly acquired number one slot, the channel put in more efforts to capitalize. Shows like star parivaar awards and specials during holis and diwalis only meant, increased viewer ship and more revenues.

But if star is truly a marketing genius then why am I not hooked to star plus? This is the question, which was very well understood by the marketing team at star. They have segmented the market and offered channel for each and every segment. So they launched Star One. And it’s an instant hit among urban youth. Also the legendary soaps like friends and baywatch have positioned star world as an urban chic. But it does not stop here. They came up with star gold, which was to showcase old classics but then realized that the market is limited for such channels. So they turned it into a full-fledged movie channel. And ya, a very innovative channel by the name Star Utsav, where they were going to showcase those serial which have completed their run. I am not sure of how the channel is doing but the idea is commendable. Of course other channels such as Channel V, NatGeo, etc are doing their bit well.

But some credit of Star's success will go to number 2 and number 3 channel viz Sony and Zee. Sony plays the role of a challenger. A challenger constantly fighting it out to be the winner. And Zee being a lousy third is now trying to be innovative. It is because of these two that Star is always on its toes.

The fundamental point we can learn from the master marketer is the detailed attention given to the needs of the customers. Getting the pulse of the market and the underlying currents, which actually rule the market. And eventually delivering it flawlessly. Infact when it comes to Star, it always delivers more than expected (mark of a true marketer) by the consumers. Rightfully “Umeed Se Dugna”