In its quest to add value to the consumer's direct to home experience, Tata Sky now offers more products through its Actve Mall service. Actve Mall is a one of its kind service offered by Tata Sky to allow its consumers to buy a whole lot of things from the comfort of their homes. It brings a new dimension to the "Direct to home" proposition.
Actve Mall, which started off with exciting mobile content like ringtones, wallpapers etc now has additional interesting categories like “Wished your loved ones”, “Lifestyle”, “Tanishq Special”.
The products are interesting and so are the discounts available! For e.g. There’s a digital photo/video frame (MRP Rs. 8990) available at an offer price of Rs.3490. There more such exciting products, so take a look at Actve Mall on your Tata Sky.
The model is simply fantastic, Tata Sky, I think has tied up with content/products providers (vendors) for such a service. This allows the vendors to get a better exposure for their products (to a base of a couple of million plus and increasing customers of Tata Sky) and therefore Tata Sky becomes an alternate communication/sales channels for them. Again the base of Tata Sky customers represent an attractive target audience for these vendors, with a higher propensity to buy their product/content (by the virtue of the fact that these customers have invested in an evolved product like Tata Sky).
For Tata Sky, these vendors help expand the net value delivered to its customers, in terms of offering a new service. For customers, they get a new service, which offers them a virtual mall, as in the convenience of shopping for products, through their television sets from the comfort of their homes!
Hence a service like this actually establishes a very symbiotic relationship between Tata Sky, Content/Product providers and Tata Sky customers. Now that's what you call a win-win for all sort of a scenario, which you can expect from a strategic brand like Tata Sky!
Tata Sky is always up to something to keep their customers interested. This time it’s an exciting offer for the recharges, where the customers can actually recharge and stand a chance to win an LCD TV every month! Plus there’s a daily DVD player to be won as well!
All you’ve got to do is just recharge by calling the helpline (up to 6th August 2009) to stand a chance to pick up any of these exciting prizes (which would selected through a lucky draw).
Great opportunity guys, if you’re thinking of a recharge in near future, do it now and who knows you could take home a brand new LCD TV!
As a matter of perspective, why such promotions are crucial is because generally customers postpone things that not their immediate priorities or are latent, but are necessary. Incentives like these help the customers shorten their “postponement” and this is of definite good to them (as they not only did what they were supposed to, but also stand a chance to win something exciting). For e.g. you would have wanted to download a particular ringtone from TS actve mall for a while, but suddenly because there’s a relevant offer, you would just go ahead and download it. Now not only did the offer shorten your postponement of downloading your favorite ringtone (which was a latent need) but also allowed you to become eligible for a bigger prize. So it works at both levels for you as a customer!
Also for Tata Sky its useful because the more the number of customers responding to these promotions the higher the ARPU (average value per customer), and higher ARPU means higher net revenue and higher profitability as well.
So intelligently crafted offers like these not only helps the customers but also serves TS business objectives. And that’s precisely a Win-Win for both, the customer & Tata Sky!
The Hindu Business Line carried several articles on the DTH industry in India which gives us an interesting perspective of the emerging DTH market in India. I shall restrict my post to the perspective given by Mr. Vikram Kaushik, the CEO of Tata Sky based on the article “Direct and Daring” on the DTH industry as well as his exclusive interview with The Hindu Business Line.
The Hindu Business Line carries details of the analysis as well as the growth trajectory of DTH industry in India as well as various DTH providers. In the article “Direct and Daring”Mr Kaushik reveals that almost 25 per cent of the pay TV market has moved to the DTH platform in a span of just two and a half years. The article also reveals that while DTH industry was adding 3 lakh subscribers in early 2008, now this number adds up to 7 to 8 lakh subscribers a month on average. Also, this year even in March, April and May, usually ‘slack months’ for the entertainment sector due to exams, the DTH industry witnessed tremendous growth
As per this article, this growth is attributed to the entry of multiple operators, which has created much greater awareness of the service, now seen as an easy-to-use technology. The competition in the industry has also resulted in “low and affordable” entry prices offered by various players with freebies to attract subscribers. They also bundle channels with regional focus to price them almost on par with cable TV charges. Besides, a number of value-added services such as ‘movie on demand’, interactive channels on matrimonial match-making, and education add to the appeal.
Tata Sky has 3.7 million subscribers. According to Mr. Kaushik, while it took 11 months to reach the first million, the second million was achieved in nine months and the third in seven months. And they hope to cross the 4-million mark in the next two months. It aims at eight million in the next three years.
Today, consumers know exactly what they want, doing much research prior to purchase. Industry experts say that in the absence of exclusivity of content, pay-per-view and interactive features are the core differentiators for DTH operators and they expect this is where the most innovation will happen. Mr Kaushik says customer service will also make a big difference. Though Tata Sky products are priced at a premium to those of other players in the industry, it commands close to 30 per cent of the market share. “Efficient customer service, superior technology and more interactive features are the keys,” says Vikram Mehra, Chief Marketing Officer, Tata Sky. The company recently rolled out “next generation set-top boxes” with 160-GB ‘personal video recorders’.
The article also contains an analysis of the challenges faced by the DTH industry. The DTH market is expected to grow even faster in the years to come. Industry players say that by 2015, DTH will enjoy at least 40 per cent share of the C&S market. Digital cable may have 40 per cent and analogue cable will follow with 20 per cent. But, the spate of expansions is only half the story. Considering that DTH is an investment-intensive, long-haul business, the biggest challenge would be to see return on investment.
According to Mr. Kaushik, apart from creating back-end infrastructure, almost all players are spending anywhere between Rs 5,000 and Rs 6,000 on every installation. However, while some companies charge a few hundreds, some charge in the range of Rs 1,000-2,000. DTH subscription is today being driven by large subsidies on set-top boxes (according to industry sources, all players are offering over 30 per cent subsidy) as well as low subscriptions ranging from Rs 100 to 300. This way, every company invests over Rs 4,000 to acquire every new subscriber. Sun TV offers new connections at Rs 499. And, it comes with free subscription. Other players too often come out with new discount offers.
Further Mr Kaushik states and I quote, “It’s a big problem. Take a look at the dynamics of the business. Overall, what happens is that the revenue model of all DTH players is fundamentally dependent on the subscription that the consumer pays every month, which is average revenue per user (ARPU). If the ARPU is Rs 75 a month, it will take at least five years to recover the cost of a connection – that too, provided the consumer stays with you and continues to pay every month,”
Primarily, it’s a long pay-back business, and second, if the subscriber acquisition cost continues to be inordinately high, and the DTH player’s ARPU is really inordinately low, “it’s a very dangerous business to do. And that has been why we have refused to go into the price war. Because, it’s a very dangerous business model. They are all trading on the future,” he further adds. The dollar is appreciating, interest costs have more than doubled, and all the players are currently investing and not earning. So, costs have moved up, and the ARPU has moved down. “This is the reason why we have said, it’s fine, we will focus only on getting the best-quality subscribers,” adds Kaushik. He says Tata Sky’s ARPU is at least 40 per cent higher than everybody else. It holds 45 per cent of the market in value terms. Tata Sky hopes to break even in the next couple of years.
In my previous posts, while analyzing Tata Sky’s strategy, I had suggested that Tata Sky’s emphasis has always been more on quality, service and experience rather than the cost.
I came across this article on the Hindu newspaper which only validates what I have mentioned on my posts. In this article, you hear about Tata Sky’s strategy from Vikram Kaushik, the managing director and the CEO of Tata Sky. At a press conference, he said that Tata Sky would always strive to acquire ‘quality customers’. In this context, he explained that Tata Sky would not be so much focused on the ‘bottom of the pyramid’ clients, who tended to come on to the DTH network and remain active customers only for a transitory phase until the currency of a particular event like the Indian Premier League (IPL). There was a huge initial cost for acquiring such clients. Besides this, there was operating costs for such clients, he said.
Mr. Kaushik said it made no sense for Tata Sky to drive its business by concentrating its efforts around clients with lower ARPU (average revenue per user). In this context, he said DTH should be considered more as an infrastructure industry for pay television rather than a pure entertainment business. He made it clear that the focus of Tata Sky would be on providing value for money for customers who were either at the top or the middle of the pyramid. Mr. Kaushik said the DTH players had to contend with an unequal play field vis-À-vis the cable operators, who could afford price wars due to various factors. While admitting that mandatory digitalisation of the cable television could make the playing field somewhat level, the MD called upon the Government to bring down the incidence of taxation on the DTH industry.
Now that you have heard from the man himself, you can be assured of Tata Sky’s commitment to quality as well as expect differentiated products offering from them. One thing which especially I realized from this article was that we always complain about the high costs of DTH. But what we don’t realize is that high taxation levels by the govt account for a large share of this. It is a situation similar to what exists in aviation and hospitality industry. So a lot of the blame for the costs apportioned to DTH providers is quite unfair.
For the complete article, check out the following link:
It must have been a dream come true for those 40 lucky winners of Dinner with Asin Contest (so what if you missed out, you could still go play and win a virtual date with Asin! Click here for the virtual date entry www.dinnerwithasin.com)
Asin looked stunning as she turned up to meet the winners of the contest at the grand Taj Coromandel in Chennai. She so closely represents brand Tata Sky, youthful, refreshing, sophisticated yet very believable. Vikram Kaushik (MD & CEO, Tata Sky) was also present at the event, and he too had a similar opinion about Asin. He said & I quote “Asin is the young brightest talent of India, and Tata Sky is glad to be associated with her”. Asin too reciprocated that she was glad to be with Tata Sky and to be a part of this contest as it gave her an opportunity to come close to her fans!
The contest was a win-win for all, Tata Sky, cos this promotion strengthened their brand acceptance in south, Asin because it gave her an opportunity to interact with her fans, and the winners of course, got a fantastic opportunity to be with and interact with their favourite star in person, tahnks to Tata Sky!
For the winners, it must have surely been a Jingalala moment! Congratulations to the winners, and for those like us who couldn’t make it this time, we could surely try our luck next time when TS comes up with such an opportunity again & I am sure they’ll have many more such contests lined up for us in the future!
Many of you readers have written to me enquiring whether it is safe to purchase TS by giving CC details on the phone. As we hear details of CC fraud everyday, this is a very legitimate apprehension and needs to be addressed. The answer to the query is that yes, it is perfectly safe to buy TS on phone by giving your CC details. What you need to do is dial the CC number through the phone by typing the numbers on your phone keypad. These are then received by Tata Sky through a highly secure and encrypted system. As a result, your details are safe with Tata Sky eliminating the possibility of a Credit Card fraud.
In addition to this, Tata Sky has also been awarded the ISO: 27001: 2005 , which is the ultimate benchmark for information security. I have mentioned this in one of my previous blog posts. ISO 27001:2005 is an international standard that provides specifications and guidance for the establishment and proper maintenance of an Information Security Management System (ISMS). The purpose of ISMS is to ensure business continuity and reduce business damage by preventing and minimizing the impact of security incidents on customer operations, field services, IT-IS (Information Technology-Information Services), data center activities and other support functions.
I hope I have answered your queries and assuaged your fears. Thousands if not more have bought Tata Sky on telephone and no security breach has happened as yet. With additional security measures put in place by Tata Sky, such a thing does not appear to be a possibility even in future.
Two of the most important dimensions of our lives include our profession and our family. If these are well taken care of, our life is largely taken care of. If one closely looks at how Tata Sky Plus helps us in taking care of these two dimensions of our life, you would be able to appreciate it’s brand promise of making your life more jingalala!
1.Professional Life & Tata Sky Plus
No more staying up in the night to see your favourite matches/movies (trivia: Barcelona beat Manchester United for the championship title late last week). So no losing of sleep, means you are completely charged up to take up your next day of work in office. And this also means you work efficiently & effectively. And if you work efficiently & effectively then appreciation, increments and promotions are bound to follow. And this definitely makes your professional life more jingalala, doesn’t it?
2.Tata Sky Plus & Your Spouse
No more quarrels with your wife on TV. You could allow her to watch her daily soaps and record your favourite shows or matches or movies in the background and watch it at leisure. Alternatively you could also convince your spouse to record her fav soaps while you are catching up with your live sporting action, and she could see her shows later. One of the important pivots of a successful marriage is making mutually acceptable compromises. Thanks to Tata Sky Plus, you could be happily married without really making any great compromises, atleast for TV viewing! Now doesn’t that contribute to your making your relationship with your spouse jingalala?
3.Tata Sky Plus & Your Kids
Now when your kids want to watch Ben 10 or Tom & Jerry or Spiderman, while you want to watch your shows on CNBC, BBC, National Geographic you can always find a trade off. Get your kids to watch what they want while your shows get recorded! You can catch up with your shows at your convenience later. Also during exams you could assure your kids that their favourite cartoons are being recorded and would be available to them once they are through with their exams. This would help the kids concentrate on their studies better and hence perform well in their examinations. Now doesn’t this make your kids (and hence your) life Jingalala!
Hence Tata Sky Plus is not just a product that metamorphoses your TV into a Audio Visual treat for you, but more importantly contributes towards establishing great equilibrium in your personal and professional life. And surely makes you appreciate it’s promise of making your life more Jingalala!
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