Amrik Sukhdev

How many of Delhi's car owners have been to NH1, the road to karnal and Ambala and have not eaten at Amrik Sukhdev ? People you have missed not just a gastronomical delight but also a sight of passion for food that drives India. Actually very far.

Has been to this place when it was a humble Sukhdev . But crowd even them was phenomenal ans food awesome.

As Amrik Sukhdev this place has not only innovated itself as a highway hangout place for young India, but has also stayed true to its roots of north Indian highway veg cuisine. Any day anytime , you have to jostle for space. On a weekend be ready for at-least 30.minutes wait during peak hours. Feeding 1000 plus people every hour with customized menu food is simply awesome. 

People drive almost 100 kms to just have a parantha with white butter, their signature dish. And trust the travellers, no other highway parantha tastes the same. The speed, the taste, the variety , the hygiene and cleanliness both inside and outside is just awesome. 

They have not just changed with modern times but have also managed to keep their value and core proposition intact. Something of a lesson to many brands struggling to renovate themselves for modern times. 

Times of selfies , global crowds, news age tastes, moneyed youngsters, forever traveling

tourists to himachal and punjab. India is relishing its highways, a sight clearly adorable at Amrik.

Next time when you hit the highway. Don't miss Amrik Sukhdev, don't get hassled by the surging crowd. Don't worry about the highway time you would have saved , just enjoy the break relish the taste to your hearts content .

Milestone Buyout and its effect on Indian OOH Industry

It was long in news/grapevine and waiting.

Finally Nabendu again has bitten the Bullet. First time when he did was when he started Milestone. Amidst opposition, skepticism, challenges, distrust.

But he grew, consistently, improved consistently, acquired and delivered businesses Consistently to become a apple of investors eye and later global communication groups for acquisitions.

The Milestone Story comes as a positive news and breath of fresh air to an industry reeling on internal  and external onslaught. An Industry that has always been looked down upon by insiders and as well as outsiders.

An Industry which people chose to leave and go to "mainline" or "Client side". It was in this scenario Team Milestone created an Entity and grew it through consistent delivery and amazing team work. They proved once again that with right mix of passion and persistence , any indian industry can grow and it does not take an IPGWPPLMNOPPQ to revive indian OOH industry.

Milestone grew without help of any "group" businesses. Milestone grew without any global alignments. Milestone grew in-spite of repeated obstacles by stronger competition.  This deal is a Stamp of authentication of importance of team work, leadership, dedication. It also proves that your command over English, grammar, global travel and world perspective, love for art, literature and finer things in life help little when only thing that matters is hardwork, knowledge, domain expertise.

More Importantly, It gives respect to the OOH professionals. Some thing they seriously lack among industry peers. Print media professionals, TV, Digital, Radio . Most of them are proud of their media roots, but not OOH. This deal gives them a reason to hold their heads high.

Most of the OOH agencies part of global networks have shrunk in size or have closed shop, or merged with others. I know at least two , which i was part of . Primarily because of the lack of  understanding on part of the global networks on how indian market operates in this space. where you need to have onground knowledge. Knowledge of demography, local culture, sensibilities, business practices.

Till the time it was confined to to 5 towns it was a good business . When telecom boosted growth and penetration it became better. but then the bubble burst and it needed a chnage agent to consolidate growth factors. realign priorities.

Nobdy gave the chance to Mr. Bhattacharya, yeah you can call him that now. but Nabendu being a hardcore,rugged  OOH professional that he is, let his work, passion, persistence and delivery talk.
In an industry that loves gossiping for 20 days of the month. this guy worked 35 days a month to create a business entity worth this valuattion in 5 years.

I know lot of people who have lot of things to say for and against him. but does that matter anymore people ?
Just like NaMo. you might hate him , you might like him. but you can no longer ignore him. This simpleton, with his own style and trademark swagger is here for good. Better learn from him and start building critical mass , deliver, slog hard, be consistent, creative, communicative ( The 3C of OOH).

to my limited Knowledge its a first large scale buyout of an indian OOH Agency by a global group. and this would help Indian OOH industry in building scale, developing global footprint and most importantly earn client's trust.

This deal would also help industry look at organic avenues to growth, invest in research and data ( a consistent talk point for a decade, but few dared to walk the talk)

develop new Indianized, Asia specific models of OOH growth and allow Indian OOH agencies to offer services beyond India.

Great show Nabendu, Excellent work Team Milestone.



The Author of the Blog has worked with Nabendu before milestone and has been a keen observer of Milestones journey from the start. The author has no alignments with any OOH entity as on date.

The Goa Sojurn

A trip down the roads of Goa can be an eye opener for an observant eye and thoughtful mind. The tree below would have seen the portugese settling, leaving , goans relaxing, tourists invading.

The house in waiting for its owners to return,sell, renovate and what not. but again. Development has taken its toll. As Goa becomes commercial , it looses it flair as offbeat happy indian destination.

The new structure awaits completion behind the old houses grill. This is is stalled , that one is lost. World just passes by. This is the Story of Goa. Behind happy faces , there are locals who are left to face nuances of drunk and abusive tourists, as they are the only regular source of revenue. The jobs are few, the houses have oldies left. Lots of houses lay vacant. The oldies gone to heaven , the youngsters not willing to return. The Hoteliers watching like vultures.

It will serve Goa best, if Tourism is encouraged for Goan, No big Hotels, only small Goan style hotel, large scale home stays. Most jobs from Top to bottom should be reserved for Goans, Proud goans and not frowning goans. 

Clean beaches, can be another boon for the locals as well as tourists. Goa See you soon.

Indian OOH Industry : Is it time for Agencies ? Or will they reinvent and revitalize ?

It was in 2009, that few instances happened that shook the industry.

In infallible fell. The industry was in a big shock. But bigger shock awaited the industry.

For next 3- 4 years. The industry stagnated. People just shifted roles, jobs, agencies, vendors. Talented , bright people left the industry , for good actually.

What industry was stuck with grew to become leaders. You cannot make Giant Organizations on the shoulders of Midget Team members. That seems to be all too visible in OOH.

Last 4 years, over all agencies profitabilty have come down. Mergers and acquisitions are more of rescue operations than joining of strengths. Hiring and Firing has become a regular practice. because the industry didnot respected itself and its professionals, the clients don't respect them either.
Though i am no more parts of Billboards industry, but it pains to see the situation of people, organizations and businesses. Industry due to lack of leadership and vision. is today in doldrums. Though people will hate me for saying this. They are suffering from frog in boiling water syndrome.

Nobody likes the middlemen, but they are neccesary evil. And on heart.Do we like property dealers ? God Hell, No. Uncooth, womanisers, Dogs, blah, blah.

But still we go through them as they are experts in thier business and do the dirty paperwork for us. More Importantly both parties trust him.

In our case, It has become worse than that. Clients are squeezing for better rates and savings and agency commisions. Vendors refuse to give in as they dont trust the agent.

Irony is industry is doing bad, but people working in the industry are doing well.  Nobody seems to realize that its all visible. Everybody knows, whats happening and its showing on your business numbers. Though the clients love OOH. They dont trust the middlemen.

Hai koi OOH ka Kejriwal ??? Jo is Saanp Newle ki ladai se industry ko bachayega ????

Aaya Mausam OAC ka

Chalo Goa . This seems to the buzz in the OOH agencies nowadays. The bigger question is who will go and what will they come back with from the annual drink and Gossip get together of the industry.

Here is the summary of discussions that i have with friends from the fraternity on OAC 2013. This will give you a fair idea. Those who can understand great, Those who can't don't bother.

Obviously Top management and regional heads have to go go, for others, its a cost constraint. The industry is going through a bad patch.

Will it be some learning ?Who knows.

Will there be some knowledge sharing.? Who cares

So what will you do in OAC ? Sleep , drink, roam around in goa on our Activas and Aviators.

What will the discussions be around ? Measurement of media, RoI, Currency, Transparency, Innovation. 2 din ke liye demaag ka Dahi.

Followed by free ke Daru and Awards aur kya.

Have you entered for awards ? Kya fayda, fixed hai.

Fixed hai matlab ?  Unhi  2-3 agenciesmain batna hai, isko 20 usko 30 baki sab 1,2,1,2. Woh dhandha kartey hai hai, Wohi award lete hain. Bade logon ka game hai. Hum toh sirf maje lene ja rahe hain. 2-3 din ash karenge , yaar doston ko milenge. Is baar goa hai toh aur bhadiya.

How is business otherwise ? Dhanda hai kahan yaar. There are no clients in the market. Those who are there, everybody is after them, cutting rates, offering better deals. Payments are stuck, vendors are after us. on top of that , recession.

People are being fired , left right and centre. No fresh hirings. All freeze. Lagi padi hai bhai.

The icing on the cake.

So what are your plans to come out of this mess ? Abe hum kya karenge. Jo karega bhagwaan karega.

In an industry ruled by MNP. There is hardly anything you can do, to offer better service, idea, or innovation.

So friends, Till it lasts, enjoy your booze, have fun in Goa. Happy OAC 2013

KAHANI GHAR ke BAHAR ki ( OOH KI)

KAHANI GHAR ke BAHAR ki ( OOH KI)

Once upon a time few rare crabs were imported from planet Jupiter ( read media)  to earth ( read OOH). And an experiment was done.

Crabs from Jupiter:)

Experiment-

Steps-

1) Two open jars were taken . Number One and Number two; And these jars were placed in front of an ocean.

2) In number 1 jar there were all the rare crabs from Jupiter

3) In the number 2 jar were crabs collected from different countries of earth ( agencies)

The Two jars were observed carefully for a few days

Time zone  1-

Jar no 1- All the crabs seemed to be sleeping . Immobile and completely relaxed with eyes closed. As though they  were on a vacation , Sun bathing in front of the ocean.

Jupiter Crabs chilling!

Jar No 2- In contrast here, there was restlessness. Like these guys were suddenly put in middle of a traffic jam in Mumbai and they had no clue where to go, suffocated and nauseated by this sudden shift of environment. ( incapability to adapt due to poor learning and training)

Time Zone 2-

Jar No 1- These guys seemed finally tired of their vacation and opened their eyes. All of them held their hands together formed a crab pyramid and one after the other helped each other move out of the jar. Effortlessly effortless… As though they were enlightened!!! ( IRS and TAM)

Happy and Out of the jar!

Jar No 2- Oops! these guys looked tired for some other reasons. When a crab would crawl up a little using utmost strength, the others would pull him out. Some were climbing over the other, a few who had risen little higher by attacking the weaker or the tolerant one, had announced they were super powers. The ones who were down below were waiting to hit back when they got a chance. And Jar war 1, Jar war 2, and three happened. (TYPICAL OOH INDUSTRY SCENARIO)

Time Zone 3-

Jar No 1- This jar was completely empty and these crabs were now dissolved in the infinite ocean. ( Client side, Other agencies, digital , new ventures)

 But one crab from Jupiter found his way to Jar no 2. Let’s name him the enlightened crab.

Enlightened Crab looking towards the Jar 2 

Jar no 2- The enlightened crab again seemed to have fallen asleep in the midst of all the jar wars going on in there. Slowly a lot of tired crabs were attracted by this guy and went near him and tried power sleeping like him.

Jar 2 Crabs happyy after the power nap 

Time Zone 4-

Jar No 2- The enlightened crab finally opened his eyes and whispered a secret code in the ears of the crabs flocking around him (a handsome number had gathered around him by now.) and they all held their hands made a crab pyramid and moved out of the jar one by one, helping each other. Those who did not choose to join continued there journey in the jar, but the ones who got the secret code were now Merged in the Infinite enjoying the thrills of the ocean, surfing, playing, celebrating being free….

But what was the secret code??

I heard it vaguely from distance it sounded like

DATA , RESEARCH, ANALYTICS

The New Age consumer. She has arrived !

This myth of  the new age customer has bogged down brands, marketers since ages.

The key challenge faced by marketers today is identifying and addressing the needs of new age consumer.
Who is this new age consumer ?
Are her needs really different than previous age consumer ?
Does she really have two noses, 4 eyes etc ?
Why is she so unreachable ?
Why does she not interact with us, engage with us ?

Dear Marketers, time to bite the bullet.
She has been natural, she has evolved. She is mature, concerned, cautious. Some one who refused to change  is you Mr. Marketer.

You want to have new age results with old age tricks, for you She is still the "Target Audience" as if she is your shooting practice target.
Grow up, Sir, She did.
She is today a concerned citizen at 10, grows to be an aware consumer by 15, and is all knowledgeable all demanding by 18. See around, wake up, come out of your data banks, analysis, trends. All they tell you about is history. She is here ,happening ,now .

She sees FB buts shuts off an ad, she cannot relate to me too products, or services or websites. and no she does not want the cheapest product. She is not looking for sale always, she spends where she sees value.
She might not buy a fully loaded android phone with top class features under 15k, but will queue up for iphone5 or galaxynote 2 launch.

She buys a tide or surf or rin, not because they are advertised by fancy models but because she thinks its works for her . At the same time she still buys a 1 kg of nirma because she can relate to hema, rekha, jaya aur sushma. The symbol of her power.

So my dear marketer, please speak to her with respect, she loves it. Show her some passion, she adores it. Stop treating her like a bimbo, she hates it.
She is a mother, wife, sister, daughter, girlfriend, but more importantly a personality of her own, she is her own self. She has arrived in life, she chooses not to cook, she choses to go out for a drive, drink or party. No she doesn't like to be treated like an object of desire like deo or liquor ad. She doesn't want to challenge systems, social norms etc but neither she wants the metro KHAPS to judge her, torture her, question her or form opinions about her.

She loves being herself, let her be. celebrate her evolution with her.

Trust me, she is your sure shot win. she controls the money flows like never before, she manages husband, kids, in laws, out laws, TV channels, like never before. She takes care of two families at a time.
Dont just use her in TVC, engage with her in active life, weave your programs around her, be part of her time, her life, her story and she might still be loyal to you.

Time to grow up , time to evolve, time to start new conversations. Its no more just beauty products.