Head On in Media War 

by Gaurav Man Sherchan

Kantipur Publications relaunched The Kathmandu Post on the January 15th 2004 with major changes in its product and pricing strategy. The readers of English daily could now read The Kathmandu Post along with City Post at a price of Rs.1.5. In retaliation, The Himalayan Times reduced it’s price from Rs.2 to Rs.1. Dhiraj Kafle, a student from Kirtipur Campus says, ‘we now get to buy both Nepali and English daily for Rs.5 now, it’s good for us’.

The Kathmandu Post is the national English daily of Kantipur Publications, the publishers of Nepal's number one Nepali national daily. Established in 1993 as the first private media house, Kantipur daily has been a market leader in its segment. As per AC Nielsen (ORG-MARG) Nepal's Nepal Monthly Media Survey (January, 2004) data, Kantipur has a total claimed readership of 73.6% in urban Nepal, while the runner up government owned Gorkhapatra trails far behind at 18.9% and the private sector owned the Nepal Samacharpatra is third with 15.8%. After about a decade of other private sector publication houses competing with it, Kantipur Publications has been able to hold on to its market leadership leaving competitors far behind not only in readership but also in generating advertisement revenues. Rajendra Bahadur Singh, AGM Corporate of Kantipur Publication says, 'We have been successful in maintaining our market leader position due to our strong editorial team and our sense of timing.'

While the market share in the national Nepali daily segment has remained stable over the last few years, The Himalayan Times has become the number one brand in the English daily segment with a claimed readership of 8.2 percent in urban Nepal as per AC Nielsen's January 2004 data while The Kathmandu Post's claimed readership share is at 2.8 percent. In its two years of operations, THT has been aggressively involved in a brand building exercise and continuously working on creating a better product - 12 pages of news and entertainment - 6 pages in color, good reading.

In these two years, one good thing that has definitely happened is that the English daily segment has increased and is further on the increase. When THT entered, the English daily segment was in its infancy and all other publication houses were concentrating in Nepali daily segment. And the situation was such that it would have been better to enter the Nepali daily segment which accounts even today for at least 90%, if not more, of the total advertisement revenues of the National Daily segment (mainly due to the fact that the reach of Nepali Dailies is much wider than English dailies which in turn affects advertiser interest). THT, however, thought it wise to enter English daily segment first. As a strategy it used a flanking attack: build brand image using the English daily segment (a neglected segment till then) and eventually attack the Nepali daily segment after garnering enough brand goodwill and strength. The strategy no doubt worked as far as creating a brand image for THT in the English daily segment is concerned, as it didn't receive much retaliation from competitors despite much aggressive marketing.

The market leader is supposed to explore and develop new emerging markets if it is to stay ahead of its competitors. Strong market leaders, however, at times fall into a myopic trap when they feel invincible and tend to remain ignorant of market developments. Singh says, ' We could have entered and developed the English segment at that time but the amount of money required to jump-start this segment was enormous. It's about capital-resource management. Strategically speaking, we saved that resource for direct competition.' Kantipur Publications should have entered the competition long before January 15th 2004, or maybe even before THT had entered the market. After all, Kantipur did know that THT was to be launched long before it was actually launched. 

The aggressiveness of THT in its marketing was evident all along from hoarding boards to road signs, from discos to rock concerts, from event sponsorships to social work. And it was spending wisely. Ravin Lama, Managing Director of THT claims, 'We have never spent recklessly. One should understand the art of negotiation. We are in the media business - we mostly don't have to spend cash for marketing and promotions.' THT from the very beginning has focused marketing to the urban youth. As Lama puts it, 'The English daily segment is the market of the future. With thousands of youths graduating SLC every year, the market is only growing.' However, it should also be understood that this segment will not be able to fully recoup the investments and heavy expenses for the next 5-10 years.

When TKP reduced its price to Rs.1.5, hoarding boards came up over night and newspaper stalls got Rs.500 for a good display of City Post. The reduction of price for TKP did put THT in a price trap as it was forced to reduce its prices to Re.1 which will have huge financial implications for THT. But Lama says, 'It's just a temporary issue, we will make up for it from advertising revenues as our circulation will go up.' In regard to keeping the distributors happy and urging them to push the newspaper to the end readers, THT is hoping for a demand-pulled sales.

The change in product and pricing strategy might however have serious implications for TKP as well. TKP has been now aggressively promoting the City Post as a brand in itself. Singh says, 'We cannot leave our old serious news readers of TKP. Thus, our strategy is to retain serious news in the 8 pages and offer 4 pages of leisure reading in the City Post.' But would it be right to create a baby brand packaged within a parent brand? May be a new and improved TKP could have worked better than a new brand altogether.

Further, on the pricing issue, 50 paisa coins are definitely out of circulation in the market. So what this implies is that the cost benefit that the customer should be getting would eventually go to the vendors, because as the vendor cannot return the change, the customer ends up getting a 50 paisa toffee together with the paper. Thus, the actual price of TKP is Re. 2. THT was anyway thinking of increasing its price as Lama says, 'we were thinking of increasing the price of THT, but by bringing about a change in the product value - more pages.' And yes, the top management at TKP has been aware of the possible strategic change in THT's product strategy. With THT priced at Re.1, TKP will definitely have to work harder to provide more value for money to the reader.

The war between THT and TKP reached its height when 'Nepal Media Society' published a series of advertisements alleging APCA to be an Indian funded newspaper with further serious allegation that THT was promoting Indian interests in Nepal. But Lama refutes that and says, 'We have always been a very neutral newspaper, always presenting information in a very unbiased manner. With regard to financial transparency, we are being audited by KPMG, an international auditing company.' Managing this issue for the organization's long term interests is certainly going to be a 'public relations' challenge for THT. How deep this thought has seeped into the readers mind is yet to be seen and whether or not APCA will be able to use its marketing and public relations skills would also largely determine the success of its newspapers.

While THT has been able to oust TKP from the market leader's position in the English daily segment, the new market leaders are now eyeing the bigger share - the higher revenue-generating segment, the Nepali daily. In six months of operations, data do show that the Annapurna Post has been gaining ground with a claimed readership of 11.5 percent. Though a word of caution would be appropriate - the readership of THT might be slightly high now due to people's current interest in the media war.

Whether the strong retaliation from TKP was to simply retain its market leadership position or it was induced by a fear of THT's Annapurna Post eventually becoming a serious contender in the Nepali daily segment is yet unknown. But one thing can be said for sure that the way up will certainly be a tough climb for THT's Nepali daily, the Annapurna Post. The Annapurna Post would certainly have to develop a strong Nepali editorial team that understand the Nepali readers (which is an entirely different segment from that of THT) and in its ability to get huge advertisement business. It should be noted that Nepali readers buy the Kantipur not only for its image and its strong editorial content but also because every advertisement that one is looking for is in the Kantipur. Plus, APCA will also have to keep in mind Kantipur Publications greatest strength of all - its stronghold in FM radio and its fast emerging television channel.

Who will or might win the war? It is yet too early to make any judgment as the trial period is still not over and would largely depend on the ability of the newspapers to promote repeat purchase. With the strength of both the publication houses intact, we will definitely be watching closely to see the developments unfold.

(Sherchan is the MD of Orion Associates, a research company)

On Brand Endorsements

Nabin K. Bhattarai, afamous Nepali pop singer, says “Mercantile Computers are the best”. Rajesh Hamal, the superstar of Nepali movies, says he loves Nepal made Yingyang Bikes. Niruta Singh, the famous actress, says “Muna tea is my choice”. Five top pop singers are jointly present in TEAM SAMSUNG promoting Samsung Audio systems. It seems good days have arrived for Nepali celebrities as they are being used as carriers by several products to reach out to their consumers. And this practice is limited not only in using the celebrities from the cinema and music. Apa Sherpa, famous mountaineer, has been endorsing Yamaha bikes and Ganesh Thapa, famous football player of the yesteryears, is endorsing Mayos noodles.

Using celebrities to endorse product brands has been a growing practice among the Nepali marketers who are trying to emulate similar practices in foreign markets. While some companies are using already established celebrities, there are not many such stars that companies find worth to associate with their brands. Therefore, some companies have been investing even in creating celebrities. The example is the sponsorship of Miss Nepal and other beauty pageants. After a person gets crowned with the title, he/she becomes a celebrity and the sponsor gets exclusive rights to use such celebrity for the promotion of the brand owned by the sponsor.

But in selecting the celebrity as brand endorser, the marketers in Nepal seem to be in a dilemma. An ideal celebrity as brand endorser should be able to infuse confidence, raise the credibility levels and bring about a change in the fortunes of the brand. In other words, the celebrity himself/herself should be a strong brand and the attributes of the celebrity brand should match the attributes of the product brand being highlighted. A celebrity with feeble health cannot help a health food brand however well renowned the celebrity as an individual may be. A few film stars are being used in many brands. That cannot be expected to be effective. Consumers get confused. Should they associate the star with this brand or the other?

Two joint venture companies - Dabur Nepal and Nepal Lever – provide good examples in selecting celebrity endorsers appropriately. As in other markets, Lever uses reigning actresses of the time for its Lux brand of beauty soaps and Dabur sponsors selection of Miss Nepal of the year associating the event with its Vatika shampoo and the crowned beauty is used as endorser of Vatika brand.  Lever has provided good examples also in selecting the model for its fairness cream brand Fair & Lovely. Both Monica Chand and Yashaswhi Shah were ordinary Nepali girls turned into celebrities, through careful grooming and promotion, after they were selected as the models for the brand.

But this learning is not permeating across other companies. For example, Rajesh Hamal can be seen endorsing wide range of products from Chinese bikes to housing apartments and from beer to hair loss solutions. That is spreading the brand Rajesh Hamal thin. People do not remember Hamal for any particular brand. Similar is the case with Amitabh Bachhan in India as he is found endorsing all sorts of products. He is well remembered for his Pepsi campaign, because during that time it was the only major brand he was associated with. Then he started endorsing ICICI Bank. It was all right till then, but no more. However, Amir Khan with Coke and Shahrukh Khan with Hyundai are still matching perfectly well.

The brand endorsement is a way to get your brand noticed amidst all the clutter that is there in the marketplace. Therefore, the brand ambassador will be able to do justice to only few brands and he or she should focus on few particular brands that suit him or her. Some may argue: why care about the image building if it is creating the pull for your product? That is a different issue altogether. The first and the short term objective of the brand endorsement is creating the brand image. It may create pull of the products or it may not. But if the ambassador is appealing he or she can definitely help create the brand image which in the long run may also help create the pull effect for the brand.

At times brands get associated with these celebrities to gain initial attention from their target consumers. But the use of celebrities could also bring in some kind of positive image among the masses for the brand as well. To gain positive image, the campaign or creative route has to be cleverly tackled. Instead of making the celebrity directly endorse the brand, it could also be other way round. Saluting or recognizing the efforts made by the celebrity to reach to the top could be one of the ideas to get your product attached with him. One of the examples of recent times in this connection is Team Samsung campaign. In this campaign, nowhere have the celebrities mentioned or endorsed the product’s quality.  There is only one creative line “Taking Nepali Music to greater heights….” used in the campaign. This is a well tackled situation where both celebrities and the brand are hooked with single line of copy. This way, the presence of celebrities in the commercial looks credible to the consumers. This surely will gain better mileage for the product in the market.

A mismatch between the image of the celebrity and the product can damage both. The selection of a celebrity unsuited to the brand could ruin the whole idea of endorsement. In a country like ours, where even stars don’t get paid well in their profession, these extra bucks through endorsement attract these celebrities easily. But while accepting different offers from these marketers they should be very much conscious about their image too. At times a great star comes down to the street from the pinnacle of his or her celebrity status because of wrong endorsements. Also the marketers invite disaster to their brand by making a wrong choice of celebrity. This danger is more serious in our market because of budget constraints.

Ads of the Month
Auto Show & Auto Ads

The All New ZEN

The presentation of the ad is simple, yet it’s appealing. As the ad is presented with the intention to attract customers to the 3rd NADA Auto Show, there is no necessity of copy text and that has been realized in this presentation. The sleek cheetah, a symbol for a very fast runner, being shown in the word ‘CATALYST’ adds that extra attraction to the ad. The contact addresses are given in detail and this puts the prospective customers at ease.

Had the ad talked about the 3rd NADA Auto Show it would have been more according to the need of time. Also, the article ‘the’ is missing in front of the brand name. Apart from these drawbacks, the ad still projects the confidence the company has in its product.

Honda City

This ad is not matching the image of this fantastic car. Many ‘unbelievable’ facts about the car are quoted all over the presentation without giving any proof. Thus the ad carries an over-boasting image of the company which was not at all necessary. The word ‘efficiency’ has been spelled wrongly which gives the ad an even cheaper image. Also, the lower portion of the presentation that carries the information about the product doesn’t seem to be a part of the ad. Moreover, it is a recreated ad and the comparison of this car with those in the Indian market does less to attract the Nepali souls. It would have been appropriate if the comparison was made with brands like Kia which is a near competitor of Honda City in Nepali market.

BMW

The company shouldn’t have opted for a newspaper ad for such a car of which the probable buyers are so few. They chose a wrong carrier for the ad. This ad for the BMW looks like what a celebrity would look like when dressed in rags. The picture of the car and a bigger logo than it is in the ad would have said enough about the car because BMW is such a name. So why give even that short write-up about the car? They should have also quoted the price of the car and asked the people to go and see such fabulously priced car on display at the 3rd NADA Auto Show. Such ads should be presented only in rich quality magazines or in glossy paper pages, if any, of the dailies.

Hyundai

The print is poor. Getz, being a new product, should have been highlighted. Moreover, the print doesn’t carry the rich green colour, the colour of this product. Also missing is the price indication which is necessary to facilitate the customers to make the choice. The prominent features of the car should have been presented separately in a box in the ad. The information about the offers that the company is making is also confusing. It sounds like a case of beer worth up to Rs 2.3 lakhs is being offered as prize.

But it still is an attractive ad. Information about free credit card from Nabil Bank appeals to the people.

The Kawasaki Bajaj

The black and white look of the ad and its poor print quality give the ad a sad look. It should have been made a lively ad in order to attract people to buy it. The article ‘the’ is missing in front of the brand name of the motorbike. The ad doesn’t talk about the 3rd NADA Auto Show. It still is a nice ad. The details are there.

Indica V2

The ad is as refreshing as how lemon juice refreshes our minds. So the picture of lemon slice and cool drink has a sensible and appealing association in the ad. This is a visually striking ad.

As the ad was presented in order to attract people to the 3rd NADA Auto Show, the logo of the show should have been highlighted. More than the brand name the authorized dealer’s logo has been highlighted and this doesn’t look proper. Still it is a very appealing one and it surely stands out in the crowd.

Mahindra

Print is very poor. More to that there are some serious flaws in the presentation. The word ‘Flyer’ can not replace the word ‘pilot’. The word ‘fabulous’ has been spelled wrong. The cars that are shown in the ad make a picture like that of a workshop or a parking area. The overall look of the ad is pathetic. It doesn’t attract eyes. It’s merely a waste of money. Moreover, the association of the product with pilot Vijay Lama doesn’t give a very high aspirational value.

Standard Chartered

This is a stereotyped ad with a number of short-comings. If the brand name of the vehicle had been given, the ad would have become more convincing. The copy text doesn’t give information on the payment scheme. The city name has not been mentioned for the call numbers of Kathmandu which confuses people in other cities. There are no features that tell Stan Chart Auto Loan to be unique among those of other banks. Not so good an ad.

Nabil

Catches attention at the first sight. The upper portion of the ad carries the awesome scenery of a highway with vehicles running there. But what specific purpose does it serve when it comes to the car loan that Nabil Bank is offering? In traffic terms it is not a ‘U’ turn that the road in the picture makes. It is rather like a hairpin bend. The picture is from a foreign country.

The ad is ambiguous for other reasons as well. The font used to write some text creates confusion as it looks like a Nepali font. The word ‘you’ looks somewhat like the Nepali word for ‘Pushpa’. The copy text emphasizes flexibilities in the loan scheme which in no way can be associated with the picture in the ad.

Yamaha

Good ad, focused entirely on NADA Auto Show. The use of different celebrities on different days to attract visitors is a clever idea. Also the selection of celebrities is made cleverly to suit the bike riding young people. Also the information that a super powered bikes (1100 CC, priced Rs. 1.5 million) is on display created good hype. The effect was that Yamaha stall was attracting large crowd every day in the show.