All the news that's paid for

Bennett, Coleman & Co's practice of offering editorial space to advertisers in "The Times of India's" city supplements in nine editions for a price is hurrahed by most advertising and public relations agencies, damned by some media men "� and is bringing in the big bucks

Quick, why did Delhi Times, "The Times of India's" city-focused daily supplement, carry a photograph of a variant of Yahama's bike, Enticer, with model Katrina Kaif, last year?

Why too did Delhi Times carry an item late last year on HBO channel's marketing head Shruti Bajpai speaking on five things to look out for at HBO, focusing on the movie "Mummy"?

The answer to both questions, quite simply, was that (apart from reader interest) Optimum Media Solutions (OMS), the media arm of Mudra Communications, paid for the privilege.

The media agency bought editorial space on behalf of its clients Yamaha and HBO.

Sandeep Vij, president of OMS, admits that he paid to get the picture and the feature published in Delhi Times.

On the Enticer photograph, he explains: "The exercise was undertaken to contextualise the brand and associate it with a certain kind of people." It complemented the advertising campaign. Exclaims he: "Medianet is a great concept."

Medianet is part of Times Internet Ltd, the dotcom venture of Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd, which publishes "The Times of India," "The Economic Times" and other publications. Medianet offers editorial space in "The Times of India's" city supplements in nine editions "� for a price.

Asking advertisers to pay for their products or for them to figure in the news columns of a publication is, of course, the most controversial idea to have been adopted by any media group in the annals of journalism.

A clear line has traditionally divided editorial space and advertising space in a publication, in order to ensure editorial independence.

But it's an idea that seems to have caught on among many public relations agencies, many of which privately admit to using Medianet services for many of their clients.

Sunil Khosla, president of public relations agency Fourth Estate, admits using Medianet for his food, fashion and footwear clients without naming the clients.

"It's a blessing in disguise for PR agencies," he says. Indeed, Bennett, Coleman executives claim that the service is widely popular among liquor, apparel and automobile companies and individuals (fashion designers, starlets, upcoming models) who pay to be written about in the newspaper's lifestyle supplement.

Not everyone, however, is wowed by the Medianet idea. Media agency Starcom managing director Ravi Kiran says: "We are a media planning and buying company. It is not our mandate to do paid public relations. Medianet is nothing else but that."

Nonetheless, the idea has certainly paid off for Bennett, Coleman. In the year ending March 31, 2004, Times Internet earned revenue of Rs 16 crore from Medianet.

Though the internal target for the current financial year is Rs 60 crore, Bennett, Coleman executives say that the group expects to make about Rs 40 crore from Medianet.

It's no surprise that Medianet generates crores for Bennett, Coleman "� it charges a hefty 35 per cent to 50 per cent more than its usual advertising rates.

For instance, a 240 sq cm front page picture in Bombay Times comes for a little over Rs 3 lakh. A similar-sized picture in Delhi Times costs Rs 1.65 lakh.

The 160 sq cm Straight Answers at the bottom of page one is priced at Rs 1.91 lakh in Mumbai, Rs 91,000 in Delhi and at about Rs 82,000 in Bangalore.

A new rate card has also introduced separate, slightly lower, rates for individuals and restaurants and nightclubs.

Incidentally, all payments for Medianet releases have to be made in advance.

An executive at "The Times of India" claims that companies are warming up to the idea of paying for feature articles and photographs and that this is giving Medianet the opportunity to move away from the fashion fraternity and switch to covering corporate events.

The company now offers annual deals to advertisers on the basis of the number and kind of exposures it gets (articles and pictures) and pays a commission of between 15 per cent and 17 per cent to PR agencies to get business.

"It's just an incentive for them. For us, it is easier to deal with 20 PR agencies than 200 clients directly," says the executive.

How has Medianet attracted so much business despite the outrage expressed when it was launched in 2002? "Because that is how advertising is moving," says OMS' Vij.

"Across the globe advertisers are coalescing brand and content which is sold as entertainment. It has become very large out there," he explains. In what is called "brandcasting," brands are embedded in television programmes.

For example, in a recent episode of `Carry On Shekhar,' a show hosted by film and TV star Shekhar Suman on Sony Entertainment Television, the child model for the beverage brand Rasna was the guest.

Rasna did not buy any commercial spots on the show but it obviously got publicity as Suman egged on the little girl to act out her lines from the commercial. In the process, the brand name was constantly repeated by the host and guest during the show.

In the UK, brandcasting has been defined as "advertiser-funded content in which (unlike sponsorship or product placement), the advertiser actually controls and, usually, owns the content.

Among the reasons put forth for its increasing popularity are the plethora of media products, channels and commercials. And though brand affiliations work well in sponsorship strategies, "branded content offers a far deeper relationship."

Says Vij: "Today, brands want to exploit the media and their close relationship with the consumer."

Agrees Arun Kumar, director, strategic media planning, at Euro RSCG's Media Planning Group (MPG): "Brandcasting has existed for many years. The concept is the same in the TV and print media. The focus is on how you build the brand in your editorial." v The branded message should be perceived as entertainment and "that is what 'The Times of India' manages to do well," feels Vij.

What about ethics? "Advertising is the wrong place to look for ethics," says Kumar. "There is a definite question of morality but advertisers are pushing for greater content integration," he adds.

Minus the advertising industry jargon, public relations agencies echo such views. Clients with decent advertising budgets also demand greater editorial coverage.

"Most advertisers pay a pittance to their PR agencies, but think nothing of writing big cheques for editorial coverage through Medianet," says Fourth Estate's Khosla. The head of a Mumbai-based public relations agency adds that his major corporate clients want to be on magazine covers.

"Obviously, such demands have spawned an entirely new kind of industry in journalism," he says.

If his claims are to be believed, more and more magazines are open to innovations in putting out advertiser-related content. Apparently, one limited-circulation magazine charges a flat Rs 5 lakh for putting companies or CEOs on its cover.

"I've given the publication substantial business (Rs 30 lakh) over the years and my clients are happy," says the head of the public relations agency. According to MPG's Kumar, some automobile magazines also operate on similar lines. "However, there the money for write-ups is paid in terms of advertising," he says.

Clearly, the print media are losening up. "Medianet is part of the media plan for my clients today. We work together, thinking of new concepts," says Vij.

Kumar hasn't used Medianet but claims he is discussing a similar deal with another Delhi-based newspaper for a fast moving consumer goods client. He expects more print media companies to gradually soften their position on editorial content that is paid for.

If the idea of paying for editorial is catching on, it's because advertising agencies and the public relations industry are pushing for it and because advertising itself is increasingly getting cluttered.

A recent "day-after" research exercise with Delhi's leading newspapers showed that there was no brand recall even for full page advertisements in these papers.

But if the trend is so inevitable, why aren't all print media companies adopting it? For several reasons. First, print media companies still retain their brahminical pretensions, says Vij.

"The editors won't agree to this," he says. That's true enough. Exclaims the editor of an English fortnightly: "Medianet shocks. `The Times of India' has no idea what it has done," he says.

"People take the media very seriously and the newspaper is cheating readers." Adds Murad Ali Baig, editor of "Auto Magazine": "Any respectable auto magazine will not allow space for paid content. If we do, we will call it advertorial."

Secondly, it requires the might of media agencies for the trend to become acceptable. Public relations agencies work on the basis of a retainership from clients. Media agencies manage the clients' media budgets.

Thirdly, the business is still disorganised. "Advertisers and PR agencies are still not sure if others will do it," says Kumar.

Yet other questions shout for answers. Will Bennett, Coleman continue with Medianet? Will others follow suit? Some media industry experts claim that Medianet has generated internal turmoil at "The Times of India."

First of all, some editors are not convinced of the merits of the idea. Secondly, Medianet is said to be eating into "The Times of India's" advertising revenues.

A "Times" executive denies this: "The Times of India's and Medianet's clients are completely different." However, Khosla says that one of his clients has drastically reduced its advertising expenditure on Delhi Times, opting instead for Medianet coverage.

Besides, many complain that Medianet's services could do with some improvement.

"Lack of coordination between the sales team and the supplement editors has led to many problems in the past," says a public relations agency head. Other public relations agencies gripe that Medianet is a bad idea as genuine news items may sometimes not get published.

"There is a blanket ban on mentioning any brands companies in Delhi Times without the permission of Medianet executives," alleges an executive at a prominent Delhi-based public relations agency.

At another level, some media barons make the point that Bennett, Coleman's initiative could open the floodgates. Sanjay Gupta, promoter of India's leading Hindi daily "Dainik Jagran," argues that the trend is extremely dangerous.

"It is a scaleable model. Where do you stop? When you see big money will you, say, black out a political party from the pages of your main paper," he asks.

"We are a dynamic group and I am open to advertising innovations. But I will never compromise my editorial space for money," Gupta adds.

The director of another Hindi daily predicts that the business will be short-lived. "A newspaper can only hurt itself by venturing into such territory," he says.

Still, not all media men see it quite this way either. The editor of a business magazine who does not wish to be identified says that the heart of the issue lies elsewhere.

"It is the duty of the publication to inform the reader whether he's consuming independent content or advertorial. As long as it is clear to the reader, I have no issues."

"The Times of India" had at first introduced a Medianet creditline to warn the reader that what he was reading had been paid for by an advertiser. However, it soon discontinued the practice. "It was more to do with the advertisers than with us," explains The Times of India executive. "They did not like the idea."

But the real danger for Bennett, Coleman and other leading media groups in charging advertisers for editorial space is that it could completely erode the brand equity of a publication over time.

Says independent brand consultant Giraj Sharma: "In any industry the onus of setting the general terms and manner in which business is to be conducted is with the leader. And most leaders convert it into a brand attribute. If the industry leader follows such practices, what happens to the followers?"

More to the point, what does the brand promise its readers and what does it actually give them, asks Sharma.

"`The Times of India' assures its readers that it reports news without fear and bias, and then goes ahead and publishes news in exchange for money. Ultimately, it is a question of plain and simple ethics," concludes Sharma.