The need for news media companies to diversify offerings for different platforms escalated quickly during the pandemic, and, like many publishers, India’s ABP found itself rapidly increasing its multimedia approach over the past few years.

During the recent INMA Webinar How ABP uses solutions to drive the festival business, Rituraj Dasgupta, deputy general manager for ABP One, explained how the company’s campaigns have changed from a pre-pandemic world.

The century-old legacy brand had already begun exploring solutions beyond print before the 2020 pandemic set in. That has allowed it to go beyond merely selling print to offering solutions that are a good fit for customers: “We tout ourselves more as consultants to our clients and agencies,” Dasgupta said. The variety of solutions and resources are designed to go across multiple touchpoints to create the experience each advertiser is looking for.

The most significant opportunity — both for ABP and for advertisers — is the annual Durga Puja festival. Dasgupta referred to it as “the world’s biggest street festival,” a time when temporary structures are erected to create a five-day event that revolves around food and shopping.

The preparation, he explained, takes much longer: “Every single thing is planned and executed months in advance. So everything is put up and then it is again after the puja is over.”

During Durga Puja, people have meals at a community centre or with neighbours; there’s a strong emphasis on meeting up and sharing that time together. But the two-month build-up to the event begins around August 15 and people begin planning what they will buy.

“It has a lot to do with [fixing] up homes or refreshing one’s wardrobe,” Dasgupta said. “The government raises bonuses during this time or people save up because they want to do a home renovation or they want to get some consumer durables. This is the time to do that.”

The money generated during the festival — about US$5.43 billion – is driven mostly by retail. ABP works with customers to create campaigns that will draw attention and drive sales during this important time of the year.

“It is an amazingly attractive opportunity to tap into,” Dasgupta said.

Extending the reach

In recent years, ABP has added to the ways it helps clients reach their customers. In 2015, it relied largely upon print, but that has changed: “Campaigns have shifted largely for us. We’re using a lot of multiple mediums or a healthy media mix for campaigns.”

Print is still leveraged in all campaigns, but now the company has also added digital, television and radio, and some level of experiential events. During the pandemic, it created what Dasgputa called the portfolio approach, which allowed it to offer a broader number of opportunities to advertisers and increase engagement in multiple formats.

“The portfolio approach has been such that we’ve been able to consistently create opportunities for advertisers. For example, the consistency of advertisers who, on a special day, used to (buy) a quarter page or a half page — through the portfolio approach we’ve been able to … give them some other kind of innovation or add on, maybe an SMS blast or social media campaign.”

And that has worked well for the company, he said: “When we do these kinds of packages, the results have been pretty positive.”

Dasgupta shared several case studies that illustrated how ABP had created unique experiences for customers, leveraging a variety of creative opportunities. With print, they was able to create relevant advertising and content opportunities that engaged readers and built anticipation for the event.

“We are able to extend the reach before the festival,” he said.

The on-ground engagement created more opportunities for advertisers during the festival, and digital options provided engagement and coverage across the ABP live platform. Together, he said, the approach has allowed ABP to grow its revenues. 

Managing the paradigm shift

To successfully shift to a new way of thinking and encourage everyone to embrace the portfolio approach, ABP had to change the mindset within the entire company: “You’re talking about a media that is 100 years old,” Dasgupta said, noting that print “took a backseat” during the pandemic.

“The need of the hour was to reshape the thinking process, especially for the sales teams,” he said, and then detailed how ABP was able to do that. He outlined a four-part process the company has found successful.

1. Get buy-in. “The first thing that was important was to have this buy-in from everyone to move beyond ‘What can I sell beyond print,’” Dasgupta said. The team had to start thinking in terms of “What can I give as a solution?” and not restrict itself to what it had known in the past. “For a large sales team, it is important for everyone to be on the same platform.”
2. Training. After achieving buy-in, ABP offered basic training on digital, social media, and television buying. This training was complemented through HR and development programmes that were initiated during the pandemic and still are in place today.  
3. Upskilling. The training quickly led to upskilling, Dasgupta explained: “We identified where resources needed to be upskilled and in which particular segment they needed the upskilling.” Once those elements were identified, ABP designed workshops and courses to provide what employees needed.
4. Seeing is believing. The final piece of the puzzle lies in seeing how well the new approach works; that gives the sales team the encouragement and confirmation they need to sell experiences across all formats, whether that means radio, digital, television, or even experiential. “Today the sales team is more confident and equipped to not just sell advertising space on print, but beyond,” he said.

Future INMA Webinars can be found here.

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