Wednesday, April 25, 2007

TATA brands back on BCCL

When I read The Economic Times this morning, I kept staring at the TCS full page ad, as if something was wrong with it. It’s an ad I’ve seen any number of times in the past few weeks, and, considering it’s a full page insertion, that’s no surprise.
I moved on.. and then, froze.

A TCS ad in a BCCL newspaper? A TATA ad in the ET?

The release signals an end to the stand-off between the TATAs and The Times of India group – a stand-off that’s a few years old, a period during which not a single TATA owned company advertised in any publication from the BCCL stable.

A stand-off that saw the Indigo launched without the Times of India, a stand-off that saw the Trent-owned Landmark bookstore launch in Mumbai and Pune without the Times of India. A stand-off that forced media planners working on TATA accounts to look at means to get to consumers in permutations and combinations without the Times of India.

And DNA and Hindustan Times were the biggest beneficiaries, the TATA “ban” on ToI proving to be manna from heaven when the newspapers launched in Mumbai.
Now that the ice seems to have melted, DNA and HT will also be the biggest losers, as one can now expect other TATA brands to use the Times again.

And on another medium, Levers and STAR TV face off, with no Levers product on air on the entire network. Let’s see how long this one plays out, and how much Zee and Sony gain from the negotiation impasse.

6 comments:

Jace said...

Fascinating. Do you have the backstory on how the ban came to be? Or maybe a link?

Much appreciated. Thanks.

--Jace

Anant Rangaswami said...

Jace--
I do remember that it was because senior management at the TATAs were miffed with a report in the Economic Times -- can't recall specifics, though. This resulted in a total boycott of ToI group papers, including journalists not being invited to press conferences.

Philip said...

Cool man. That's an interesting post. I never knew of such a ban. You keep coming with some gem of posts. Keep up the great work.

Anant Rangaswami said...

Liju,

Many were unaware, perhaps because the "ban" was never voiced and articulated.
However, TATA brands stayed off ToI and other BCCL products for almost FIVE years!

Jace said...

Fascinating, just fascinating.

What other corpses lie beneath the creaky floorboards...

munchkins said...

interseting,but whats even more interesting is that these brands survived without times so i wonder why you think its a loss or gain for other publications,tv channels etc....advetisers use media that delivers and that doesnt always have to be the number ones right?