Wow, wat a feeling, visiting Pune after a long lull of about 7 years. Much has changed for the city, & i can say for the better. The environment, the vibrations, the warmth of the puneiets is just an awesome feeling.
While having a good bedtea on a lazy saturday morning, i noticed an ad in the Times of India about the Pankaj Udhas live performance at Poona club later that evening. I recently had queiried the rates for the Jagjit Singh's concert to be held in Mumbai on 28th of this month, the rates were in the range of Rs. 1000 - 3000 per person. Under the same impression I thought that the rates for the Pankaj Udhas concert would be in the same range as that of jagjit singh's one. But to my surprise, the tickets were complimentary & one had to just collect the passes from the TOI office in Pune, that too Free !!!!!!!
Now the details of the concert..
- Live concert in the open grounds of Poona Club
- Supported by Times Music
- Part of the ongoing Times Pune Festival (13th Feb - 21st Feb)
Now the economics of the free passes.. (couldnt help myself, had to find the reasons for the free passes :P)
Just anlayse the income sources of the stakeholders in the concert
1) Pankaj Udhas - income from albums & live shows
2) Poona Club - traditional club on lines of British culture, which fosters socialising for people along with sports, games, restaurant & relaxing facilities
3) Times of India - Majorly from Ads, classifieds..
Rate differentials which times group enjoys is interesting to note
Times group - charges average price of 300-400 Rs per sq.cm of space (varies with spots one wants to book - e.g, front page, somewhere in middle of the paper etc.). On the other hand, competitors for times group - charge somewhere around 100-200 Rs per sq.cm. A price differential of about 200Rs. on average on per sq.cm base is huge advantage.
Now coming back to economics of the free passes -
1) Pankaj Udhas - in contract with Times Music for some shows around major cities in India. Also, with free passes means, a full house is almost guaranteed & then he has the opportunity to appeal to larger mass, with new albums & create a branding for himself. Totally win-win situation for Pankaj Udhas.
2) Poona Club - renting the playground in the night, is no big deal for Poona club. Most of the weekends the playground is unused during the nights. The advantage for Poona Club comes in the manner, that its facilities are experienced by huge crowds & some guests are also invited from TOI side, which can be prospective members for the club.
3) Times of India - how can it enjoy such a differential margin in ad rates ?? The answer is plain & simple. With such festivals & free passes the brand is solified in the minds of the public. There is a very simple funda in advertising, gather the stars for an event, which will attract people Once you attract eyeballs - advertisors are bound to be attracted. Thats what Times group is playing on.
What precipitates here is synergy effect for all stakeholders. Finally the people - they are also happy, or can i say more than happy. One gets to experience the facilities of Poona Club, listent to mesmerizing ghazals from Pankaj udhas & that too on a saturday Evening - & most importantly absolutely free.. free... free..
I must admit, i myself enjoyed the concert., i was really awesome.. One key takeaway from this whole episode is that everybody is happy. All stakehholders have a win-win scenario in this case.
I thought,, i would share these things with u all, & any comments or more inputs on the same.. most welcome.. :)
What about the expenses for organizing the event? I mean the lights, security and other overheads. Somebody would be bearing those expenses; and i think with the most probability it will be Times group itself!
ReplyDeleteI think Times Group is getting benefits from both sides. One would be the advertisements and more eyeballs towards its editorial products; and second would be the reputation from CSR activities. I think these kind of CSR activities are directly getting exhumpted from the I-T department from its total income and Times group is getting fame for spending its tax for some another activitiy!!
Remember, Times group is always into such activities 365 days a year. Recent mega project is "Aman ki Aashaa". With these events only people discuss more about Times and get more publicity.... Need to know more about Bennett Collman group Marketing Team.