Friday, July 27, 2007

Advertising related

A 10 sec television spot can cost anywhere between Rs10,000 for non primetime, on a channel with low reach and Rs 2,50,000 for prime time on a major channel.

To advertise in the country's leading news papers it can cost almost Rs 5 lakh for 10 sq. cm across all editions. Radio costs Rs 1200 to Rs 1500 for a 10 second slot.

Random Info : The initial target segment of MakemyTrip was Indian students in American Universities . They enlisted the help of the heads of 50 student organizations to propagate the word among the students. In exchange, these heads were given a free air ticket a year.

Domestic prices cannot be ring fenced

Domestic prices cannot be ring fenced
"This is not an original piece .. its taken from Economic times .. found it really interesting "

The international crude prices are rising relentlessly. The price per barrel which used to be $58 has become $73. Though India imports 70 percent of its crude, the Government hasn’t increased the domestic price of the petro products. This has more to do with political expediency (self interest) than economics or logic. The price of petro products is fixed by administrative fiat under the administered price mechanism (APM).


This asymmetric response exacts a huge toll on the economy. First, the price signals are suppressed thereby, not leading to the natural demand compression that normally should follow a price rise. Second, the OMCs (Oil marketing companies) are forced to sell at a lower price leading to daily losses of about Rs 195 crore. In a bid to ease the OMC’s problems, the petroleum ministry has demanded that oil bonds be issued as compensation. These oil bonds are nothing but an off-budget way of financing their losses.


This means that the unwillingness of the government to raise the prices will put the extra burden on the tax payers instead of the oil consumers. The common man subsidizes the consumption of the relatively better off. This is an instance of Government decisions that look good from the outside to the aam admi but actually end up doing more harm than good.