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Team TEAM LEADER* Member I* Member II Member III

Details
Name* Srikant Rajan Sriram Varadarajan Gunjan Deo Vivek Prabhu
Narayanan

Educational B.Tech B.Tech B.E B.E

Qualification*

Current Institute for Financial Institute for Financial Institute for Financial Institute for Financial
Organization/ management and management and management and management and
Institute* Research(IFMR) Research(IFMR) Research(IFMR) Research(IFMR)

Work Experience 21 48 32 34

(In Months)

Contact No.* 91-9962552824

E-mail Id * srikant.rajan@ifmr.ac.
in
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Executive Summary – BrandGuru.com

Business Description: We propose to create a platform that would provide advertisers to place
their products within the natural course of progression of a TV serial/soap on an ongoing basis.
Television serials most often portray stories about human relationships. The filming of such
incidents would require the use of a number of services and products used in day-to-day life. For
instance the use of calcium tablets in a serial presents an opportunity to showcase the Sandoz
brand. Thus in this situation featuring a commercially available product within the serial would
be an effective form of advertising. We propose a system that would provide for an effective
means to engage in these types of advertisements, commonly referred to as product placements
(PPs). Specifically with the advent of reality television, PPs can work in a dominant manner. For
instance in Top Chef, a US reality TV shows; aspirants extol the use of Glad products. However
the lack of a common platform where product suppliers could access all available
opportunities has limited the use of PPs.
Furthermore the evolution of the TV industry with technology has put the consumer in a unique
position where he can pick the channels he wishes to watch. In particular Digital Video
Recording (DVR) allows for an opportunity to skip advertisements altogether. Thus PPs may
help in reaching out to the consumer in an effective manner as compared to advertisements
as it is subtle and inescapable.
Management: Our team comprises of four members, out of which two have extensive experience
in IT and ITES. One of our group members has worked on an advertising product for a leading
US media client. Other two members have experience in banking and financial services sector as
well as core engineering sector and business consultancy. Hence the team comprises of eclectic
individuals who would help in effective development and overall management of the proposed
business activity.
Products/Services: The product offered would be a package of advertising slots in a particular
television serial at a particular time. The product would also include services such as specifics
regarding the impacted audience, the viewer ship statistics of the serial, expected exposure time
and proposed manner of exposure. These product offerings would be offered using an online
auction site (www.BrandGuru.com), similar to eBay. Here each Product Supplier (PS) can
login to view the product listings and bid. Additionally after a given period of time Value
added services (VAS) such as the impact of PPs on brand perception, and product sales
would also be incorporated. Presently no such product is commercially available.
Markets: The Indian Entertainment and Media (E&M), industry has seen a robust CAGR of 19
% in the past four years. The TV industry is presently estimated to be Rs. 226 billion which is
nearly 50 % of the total E&M industry (Rs 500 billion).Industry estimates forecast a tripling of
the TV segment, by the year 2012.Forecasts of a rapid growth highlight the enormous potential
of TV for advertising and brand-building. In fact high growth in advertising revenues (an
estimated 22% from 2006-2007) contributed 196 billion to the total industry revenue.
Additionally TV segment is expected to grow and evolve with the entry of foreign players. This
is exemplified by the fact that the foreign investment in the E&M sector recorded a high of Rs 8.5
billion in 2007 and is further expected to increase.
4. Competition for the product and its USP: The product does not entail expensive celebrity
endorsement for brand building. It employs real life characters to simulate product use and taps
into the serial popularity for brand building which is cost effective as compared to celebrity
endorsements. Furthermore PPs are dynamic, i.e. they advocate use of the products in different
situations as compared to a static form of advertisements.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths Weakness
1.Unavailability of an effective portal for PPs 1.Limited exposure time
2.Long gestation period to gauge potential
2.Assured exposure impact on sales
3.Risk of consumer apathy and indifference
3.Pre- segmented customer base
4.Dynamic exposure of products, adding to real
time credence of products utility
5.Growth of the TV sector with increasing FDI
6.Advent of pay TV and DVR, making traditional
advertising ineffective
7.Increased penetration of TV in the rural sector

Opportunities Threats
1. Greater reach than internet based advertising 1.Delay in acceptance by Production Houses to
particularly in Indian TV industry. incorporate PPs in their serials
2.Growth of internet and mobile advertising

Execution Strategy: Networking with prominent Production Houses (PH) to identify available
opportunities in the TV service offerings and also investigate any future possibilities for featuring
of particular goods and services. Once a product has been designed, IT solutions would be used
to maintain database of various product offerings. Each PS would be charged a fixed subscription
fee for viewing the products offered. Direct sales force would be utilized for interfacing with PS
to obtain subscriptions. Revenue generation is a two-fold process. The first being fixed
membership subscriptions and the major revenue generation are anticipated through the sale of
products. Additionally we also plan to diversify our product offerings to include PPs in feature
films.
Fund Flow Analysis
Input Cost

1. Infrastructure: INR 10 lakhs (1 Million)

2. Monthly Expenses: Salaries + Operating Expenses
We anticipate 6 people initially working with the team members (4 in number).Here 3 would be
in charge of interacting with the PHs and 2 interacting with PSs .In addition 1 person would be
handling IT implementation. Team members would initially be coordinating the entire work flow
and doing research about market for PS and PH.
3. Salaries: 1 lakhs 80 thousand (30000*6)
4. Operating Expenses (Including maintenance and running costs): 2lakh /pm
Total Expenses: Setting up (one time) + Operating Costs (ongoing monthly) = 10lakhs+ 3 lakhs
80 thousand is approximately = INR14 lakhs
Revenue
Research indicates dominance of major production houses such as Balaji Tele-films, UTV,
Cinevista, capturing 70%of the market. We have analyzed service offerings of Balaji Tele-films
to get an estimate of potential earnings, assuming:
1. Availability of a 2 second slot in each serial,
2. Pricing on an average: INR 50000 for a 10 second slot

Duration/Slot 2 seconds

Number of Primetime Serials 6

Number of Non-Primetime Serials 4

Prime Time Pricing/Slot INR10000(= 5000*2)

Non-Prime Time Pricing/Slot INR 5000(primetime rate / 2)

Number of Prime Time Slots/day 12

Number of Non-Prime Time Slots/day 6(Primetime slots/2)

Total Duration/day 18

INR1lakhs 20
thousand(primetime slots*
Prime Time Revenue/day primetime rate)

Non Prime Time Revenue/day 30000

Total Revenue per day INR1 lakh 50 thousand

Monthly Revenue INR 30lakhs

Assuming a gestation period of 6 months – no revenue generation and no subscription based

revenue in the first year of operations, revenue generation in the seventh month leads to
breakeven.

References

FICCI - PricewaterhouseCoopers 2008 Report on Indian Entertainment and Media Industry was
used to gauge the market size and growth of the TV industry. Additionally we also used the
following links to understand the present state of the Indian TV industry and feasibility of PPs.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94851729

http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k8/apr/apr267.php

http://www.indiantelevision.com/mam/headlines/y2k5/oct/octmam5.htm

http://www.televisionpoint.com/news2008/newsfullstory.php?id=1205761776

http://www.indiantelevision.com/interviews/y2k6/executive/joy.htm
http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k8/apr/apr267.php

http://www.televisionpoint.com/news2008/newsfullstory.php?id=1205761776