Educational
Experience
Bachelor in Commerce and Post Graduate in
Marketing Management (PGDMM).
Professional
Experience
Spent the first six years in Sales and then
the next seven years in Marketing. Combination
of Media Industry (TOI and Sony) and Telecom
Industry (Telstra, Agrani and Hutchison).
Job
Profile
Currently heading Marketing, PR & Commercial
at MAX (part of Sony Entertainment Television),
as Assistant Vice- President.
Television
as career choice
Last couple of years has seen Indian cable
& satellite industry coming off age. With
100 odd channels available for viewers to
choose from, viewership has got fragmented,
leading to a paradigm shift in the way television
business operates.
This
time of accelerated change has thrown a huge
challenge, challenge to understand the ever-evolving
consumer preferences and design content and
communication accordingly. Also with increased
fragmentation, an increasing need is being
felt to build and nurture strong brands.
Having
spent more than 12 years as a sales and marketing
professional in different industries, I found
the challenges offered by television industry
at this point in time very exciting, not just
in terms of learning and discovering a whole
new world, but also to try out new ideas and
redefine the way a television channel is marketed.
Further,
Sony offered an opportunity to work with a
worldwide leader in entertainment. Movies
and cricket being my twin passion, Max provided
the perfect platform for me to display my
marketing skills. Sony's acquisition of ICC
World Cup rights till 2007 just sealed the
deal for me.
Having
worked on "Champions Trophy" & "World Cup",
I can easily say that this by far is the most
satisfying experience of my professional career.
 |
|
Tushar
with Robin Singh
|
Current
Television scenario
One word that defines television industry
today is "Change." With CAS getting implemented
in the near future, creating consumer pull
has emerged as most critical for the survival
and growth of the business. Hence, managing
content and communication will be the key
focus area of this business.
With
television penetration as well as satellite
penetration still on a growth phase, we are
going to see increased fragmentation in taste
and preferences of the viewers leading to
a plethora of unique offering channels mushrooming
and doing well.
Today,
you cannot expect different results by doing
the same thing again and again. Unlearning
old paradigms and principles has become as
critical as learning new ones. Business success
will depend upon the ability to anticipate
the change and be prepared to face tomorrow
with a fresh approach and arsenal. As they
rightly say in this business "tomorrow is
actually a different day."
Right
and wrong about current television scenario
It's a little bit chaotic out there, but then
there lie the challenges and the opportunities.
There is a need for appreciating systems and
structure; too much of fluidity is not good
for the business. Training is another area
that has long been neglected; as a result
there are not many world-class media managers
around. I want to see the television industry
attracting the best among the best business
schools in India and abroad.
On
the positive side, things have started to
change; in the last couple of years the industry
has started getting more organised, greater
investments are being made in systems and
structures, it has also started attracting
brighter talent. And more importantly it is
evolving and evolving at a very fast speed.
The industry still is in its embryonic phase
and from here on things can only change for
the better.
Five
years from now
Five years is a lifetime. Very difficult to
see where I'll be and what I'll be doing.
Definitely the world will change within these
five years and I'll be grappling with these
changes. But I guess I'll be operating on
a larger canvas, with a bigger set of responsibilities,
managing a bigger and brighter resource pool
and influencing business in a much more pronounced
way.
 |
|
Tushar
with his wife and kids
|
Hobbies
Movies, music, surfing and travelling.
Idea
of enjoyment
My idea of enjoyment is going on a holiday
to the hills with family and close friends.