New-age idols: Singing an adapted tune

Kaun Banega Crorepati, Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahi, Indian Idol... all blockbuster TV shows, they've helped the respective channels they're aired on reap the rating points, they make heroes out of mundane humans, and they're outright copies of foreign formats. Or as TV programmers put it, they're licensed adaptations of original shows. And there are plenty more such "adaptations" on air, or in the works: Lakme Fashion House (original: Fashion House), Batliwalla House No 43 (The Kumars at No 42), Business Baazigar (The Apprentice; Star too is in talks with its creators)... it's a long list, much of it arguably mindless.

Play around with that remote and you'd conclude that-other than the ubiquitous Saas Bahu sagas-there isn't much original programming being beamed into your homes. Chat shows, talent hunts, Bollywood-based acts, they're pretty much all knock-offs. Are TV head honchos sheepish? Hardly. Ajay Vidyasagar, Sr. VP (Marketing), Star Network, feels that when you use a format that has already been tried and tested, not only do you get a kickstart, even the consumer ends up with a quality product. Case in point: Kaun Banega Crorepati, based on Who wants to be a millionaire? is getting ready for a second run later this year. Sony CEO Kunal Dasgupta is more forthright. "When you have to decide between a fully developed and tested international format versus some half-baked idea someone approaches you with, it's quite a no-brainer actually." No-brainer is right.

-Priyanka Sangani

Watch That Space
Almost half of the commercial property absorbed in India in 2004 was taken up in Bangalore.

To Bangalore! Commercial property is still in high demand

Recently, when chip-maker AMD was looking for commercial space in Bangalore, it had two requirements. One that it be located where employees could commute easily, and second that it be in and around main competitor Intel (the unstated reason being that it would be easy to poach employees and also have the same visibility). Says Ankur Srivastava, MD, DTZ Corp, a multinational real-estate consultant, which helped AMD in the deal: "It was a tough call. Finding properties with clean titles, and in the city, not the outskirts, has become a challenge."

To be sure, all the bad news about Bangalore's deteriorating infrastructure seems not to have had any impact on the inflow of investments or amount of real estate space being taken up. Of the new 16 million sq. ft. commercial space absorbed in India in 2004, 7.7 million sq. ft. was in Bangalore alone, according to a study by real estate consultants Cushman & Wakefield. "Consolidation by existing players and new companies coming in (is driving the boom). A number of them like Philips, Intel and Cisco are consolidating their operations in a single campus as they become ever larger," explains Srivastava. M.K. Shankar Linge Gowda, it and BT secretary for Karnataka, claims there are "two new MNCs setting up base here every week". Phew.

-Venkatesha Babu

Getting The Net Worth Shivers
A number of South-based banks may come undone by a new RBI guideline.

Net worth? Small private banks have to change gears now

Rs 300 crore in three years-that's the net worth the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has prescribed for private banks. And a number of South-based old private banks are realising that they have quite a bit of shoring up to do. Whilst some like Karur Vysya, City Union and Federal will sail through calmly, there is a handful that will have to pull out all stops to hit that magical figure. Laxmi Vilas Bank, for example, had reserves of Rs 215.13 crore on a paid-up equity of Rs 11.5 crore as of 2003-04, but in the current fiscal the bank has come under some strain. A. Krishnamoorthy, Chairman & CEO, has a plan. "We are going for a rights issue at a premium of Rs 45, subject to shareholder's approval. This will add Rs 45 crore," he says. He has also drawn a roadmap that involves increasing the authorised capital and reaching 12 per cent capital adequacy in the years ahead.

One bank that lags behind on the net worth front is Dhanalakshmi Bank (net worth: Rs 132 crore), which also booked a loss in the third quarter. But CEO T.R. Madhavan is upbeat. "Merger with another bank too is an option, but the last one," he says. It may be a resort-first or last-for many more.

-Nitya Varadarajan

Hunt For The Right Brain
JWT is a more creative agency today. It spent the whole of last year working on its new logo!

JWT's Maedel: Kicking off the countdown to creativity

For the pony-tails, vindication could not have been sweeter. The venerable 140-year-old J. Walter Thompson will now be known by the sleeker moniker JWT. The replacement of the classical cursive font with a crisp multi-coloured one highlights a significant change in identity for the WPP group company. Creative and ideas shall now hold centrestage, nothing short of a revolution in the world's fourth-largest advertising agency where it was the bean-counter account planners who held sway.

Initiated by Worldwide CEO Bob Jeffrey, this is expected to usher in a new way of doing business at the communications powerhouse, which today resembles a global conglomerate more than a creative hotshop. A new worldwide creative director, Craig Davis, has been appointed and performance parameters-so far purely financial-have been widened. "Ten graded creative standards have been laid down as has a quarterly 'health check' reporting system that'll ensure our commitment to excellence continues," says Michael Maedel, President (Worldwide).

JWT claims it is particularly keen to woo creative talent from across sectors, if required. In India, meantime, as newly-appointed Colvyn Harris, CEO of the domestic arm of JWT, will vouch, saying goodbye to Walter was the easy bit. Injecting the creative verve back is another matter altogether.

-Abir Pal

The Nokia Experience
Its first Concept Store-there will be more-isn't selling just mobiles.

Nokia calls: Touch, feel, and (hopefully) buy

It's looking to redefine how people buy mobiles. While the conventional approach has been to offer a wide array and goad the consumer into buying a phone, irrespective of their usage patterns and requirement, Nokia's new Concept Store will try and adopt a more subtle sales pitch.

The first such store, set up over 2,000 sq. ft. in Bangalore, will give prospective mobile phone buyers the chance to "touch and feel" Nokia's range of phones, accessories and add-ons like ringtones. "The problem is that most stores sell phones based on rudimentary budgets of customers. No one looks at other parameters such as specific user requirements. "While someone could manage with an entry-level handset, a businessman might want a full-fledged digital assistant, which acts as a virtual office," says Sanjay Behl, Head (Marketing), Nokia India.

Nokia will retail its entire range of mobility products and will provide customers an opportunity to 'experience the product' before making a purchase decision. So this retail point will feature a full range of Nokia products, including handsets, mobile enhancements, ring tones, graphics, games, software and Nokia merchandise. Trained representatives (complete with full-sleeved blue shirts and ties) able to answer virtually any question pertaining to Nokia products will staff the store.

-Rahul Sachitanand