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Namma Bengaluru

THE ECONOMIC TIMES | BENGALURU | FRIDAY | 26 AUGUST 2016

City in Numbers

800

PEOPLE WHO
LIVE IN HUTS
IN BENGALURU
URBAN DISTRICT

Try This | Concert

Srinivas Alavilli

The Sivamani Trio

comprises of popular
percussionist Sivamani,
Kolkata-based Jazz
keyboardist Harmeet
Manseta and Mandolin
player U Rajesh. They
will be playing live in
UB City, on August 28,
at 8 pm. Entry passes at
`1,000 (standing).

@srinualavilli

@kiranshaw @TVMohandasPai @blrcitytraffic please convert all vacant

BDA/BBMP sites to paid parking; increase revenue and reduce congestion

logging, which in the mid-90s

started off as a platform to air
ones views to whoever
cared to listen has now
transformed into a mini industry. For those who know how to keep
their followers engaged in the big bad
world of Internet, money flows in at the
tap of the keyboard or a click of a smartphone. Earlier, blog posts were about life
experiences, poetic verses or a means to
show writing prowess. They have, to a
large extent, transformed to push consumerism. From food, fashion, technology, travel, parenting or pets, blogs are
transforming into the place to go to find
out what is good and what is not.

Busy B
Weekend Delights in Bengaluru

THEATRE
The Frisky Suspenders

BUILDING THE BLOG

Most bloggers, who have become advisors in their respective domains, started
as hobbyists. Raju PP, 34, who runs the
popular website techpp.com, or technology personalised, was employed with
Infosys when he started to blog in 2008.
His posts were on personal and consumer technology that included tutorials,
how-tos and reviews. Today his blog has
evolved into a web publication. We are
an eight-member team at techpp.com
and have five or more posts every day.
Our web traffic is around one million
page views a month, shares Raju, who
counts himself among the first bloggers
in the country to have started blogging
as a profession.
Shalini Chopra, 28, blogger at the popular fashion platform stylishbynature.
com, had a similar journey. Starting as a
hobby blogger in 2011 when transitioning from Delhi to Bengaluru, she bid
farewell to her IT career after her posts
began drawing applause. At 30 product
reviews per month now, her blog carries
posts on fashion, travel, gadgets and others. She has 40,000 followers on
Instagram, close to 2 lakh likes on
Facebook and 6,000 Twitter followers.
On a sabbatical from her IT job to take
care of her son, food consultant and
blogger Monika Manchanda, 40, started
her second career with her blog
Sinamontales six years ago. Initially, it
started as a weekly feature. As it become

ITS BANG ON

Brand expert
Harish Bijoor says
that when a food
or beverage brand advertises on a food blog, the
hit is bang on
popular, I felt the need to learn and experiment, says Manchanda who then
took a three-month course in baking and
online food science courses to gain expertise. Sinamontales now has 2,000-odd
subscribers.
WHY BRANDS LOVE BLOGS

In the past couple of years, blogs have

emerged as a strong contender for businesses to reach their end users. The reason being, blogs help in the point-ofview of a person like me, according to
Karthik Srinivasan, National Lead,
Social@Ogilvy, at Ogilvy India.
While popular celebrities endorse a
brand, blogging by people who are one
of us may work as a considerable affirmation for others. In a way, this is a digital mode to bring in word of mouth,
elaborates Srinivasan.
Brand expert Harish Bijoor says that
when a food or beverage brand advertises on a food blog, the hit is bang on. You
talk to the most focussed audience for
your brand, says Bijoor. In term of return on investments, it works wonderfully as well. Blogs are nano-niche today. For brands that cant afford to
advertise on mass media, this delivers
bang for the marketing buck, Bijoor explains.
While social media is becoming an effective way for products in the food, fashion
and consumer technology to reach their
consumers, picking the right blog to
showcase themselves includes measuring the credibility and relevance of the
blog, the volume of audience and the bloggers influencing capacity. Collaboration
between a brand and a blogger can either
have monetised aspects, or work on partnerships and barter.
According to industry experts, such
deals mostly end on the table in the food
business. Says Shobita Kadan, director,
marketing and strategy at Impresario
Handmade Restaurants that runs
chains like Smoke House Deli, and @
Social, Our recent collaboration was
with select bloggers to host a contest on
their platforms. Their blog followers
were then given an exclusive preview to

As part of their Summer Project on

Theatre (SPOT), Bangalore Little Theatre
presents The Frisky Suspenders, an adaptation of the French farcical classic A
Flea In Her Ear by George Feydeau, set
in Paris in the 1990s. The plot revolves
around a woman trying to catch her husband red-handed in the act of infidelity
and the chaos that ensues. At Alliance
Francaise, Vasanthnagar, from August 26
to August 28, at 3.30 pm and 7.30 pm.
Entry free

BLOGS
for Market Sake
HOW TO WIN BRANDS & INFLUENCE FRIENDS

THANK GOD
ITS FRIDAY

How Blogs
Make Money
ADVERTISING ON THE BLOG
This is the most common where
bloggers share space with search
giants, who place advertisements
on the blog and share a commission with the blogger
AFFILIATE MARKETING
Direct traffic to an ecommerce site
through a link on the blog. A blogger can receive a commission if the
visitor he sends makes a purchase
SPONSORED REVIEW
Where a blog post is sponsored by
a brand and the blogger takes payment
PAYWALL
When a blogger can make the content restricted and users pay to
read a post

Blogs were once a

vent for displaying
ones writing prowess.
They have come a
long way to become
a focussed marketing
tool helping brands
influence the
bloggers followers.
Ipsita Basu explores
the new trends in
digital media
one of our new outposts. This was a winwin for all three the brand, blogger
and the follower.
Blog partnerships are also reserved for
those who not only give a brand strong
mileage but also have a USP of their own
in the segment. We prefer working with
bloggers with under 25,000 followers on
social media as they are happy to work
with freebies over cash transactions
which is the norm in fashion blogging.
Social media is at a point where one
cant assume an influencing capacity
solely based on high number of followers, according to Shivangi Musaddi, director of Fervour, a multi-brand luxury
retail store in Bengaluru. Other deciding factors include a bloggers fan base,
which has to have the potential of being
the final consumer, adds Musaddi.
For consumer technology brands like
Xiaomi that sell primarily through online channels, nurturing relationships
with the blogger universe that covers
the consumer technology space is of
prime important. Says Clinton Jeff,
Product PR Lead, Xiaomi India, At Mi
India, we drive our communication primarily via word of mouth and social media. We do not spend a large amount on
traditional marketing but do devote
much attention to driving good conver-

MUSIC
Indigo and Blues

The Cost of
Paid Content

(clockwise from top left) Raju PP, Monika

Manchanda and Shalini Chopra

NEGATIVE ATTACKS HURT TIES

Negative attacks
through bad reviews and ratings
have fractured relationships
between bloggers and marketing companies
sations via social media. The brand
sold 1.75 million units of the Redmi Note
3 in just five months. The smartphone
was recognised as the single highest
shipped device ever in the history of
Indias online market in any given quarter by IDC, adds Jeff.
THE UNDERBELLY

As blogs grow, so do their downsides.

Bumbling content being one of them.

Points out Sridhar, Head of Digital
Marketing at United Spirits Limited,
with 15 bloggers to create content for
their platform liveinstyle.com: Brands
are conscious to engage with the right
influencer. Today, many are blogging but
not all of them have the right domain expertise.
Added to this is a disorganised community in a free-for-all mode. There are no
tabs on sponsored or paid content.
Srinivasan of Ogilvy India points out,
In the US, the Federal Trade
Commission has detailed endorsement
guidelines but India has none. The
Advertising Standards Council of India
purview doesnt cover social media so
far. So, it is quite literally what happens
between brands and bloggers on a customised, individual plan, he notes. This
has led to some bloggers charging astronomical sums for a post the size of a peanut, industry insiders complain.
Instances of plagiarism is also rearing
its head. Manchanda is in the middle of
a legal case where recipes were stolen
from her and many fellow bloggers.

There is no uniformity on
charges for paid content.
Most individual bloggers,
depending on their interest
in monetisation, have rate
cards and terms of engagement. The numbers mentioned here are industry insights through random
sampling. Also, this is more
specific to product-related
posts
Established bloggers can
charge `30, 000-`100, 000
for a set of deliverables that
may include a series of 5-10
posts and commensurate
social media promotion of
those posts

By 2 Blues, Moon Arra, Jazz Junction,

Blues Power, UNK (The Radha Thomas
Ensemble) and Passakorn Morasilpin
are the Indian and international groups
performing at the fourth edition of Indigo and Blues, a jazz and blues festival.
At The Royal Orchid, Old Airport Road,
on August 28, 12 pm onward. Tickets
are priced at Rs 999 onward. For more
information on the itinerary and tickets, log on toindigoandblues.com

DIALOGUE
The African Portraits

Photographer Mahesh Shantaram

and journalist Joshua Muyiwe will
talk about The African Portraits, the
formers recent body of work that is
a series of intimate portraits to raise
awareness about the everyday racism
and discrimination faced by Africans in
India. At the Max Mueller Bhavan, on
August 27 at 3.30 pm. Entry free

HERITAGE WALK
A Visit to Malleswaram

Mid-level bloggers can

charge between 8,00015,000 for a set of deliverables that include one post
and commensurate social
media promotion

While they collectively took the legal

route, most others do not.
Freeloading by bloggers for personal
gain is putting off publicists. A store
owner who refused to be identified
shares: Weve had an instance of a blogger trying to steal from the store during
a shoot and who apologised when confronted.
Negative attacks through bad reviews
and ratings have fractured relationships. And there are cases where businesses have bent backwards to prevent
such unwanted digital footprints.

Bengaluru By Foots walk focusses

on urban planning techniques and
use of modern technologies in the
construction of heritage homes in
Malleswaram. Walkers will get a peek
into these homes, which tell tales of
the Malleswaram of yore and stories of
original residents of the area. On August
27, between 7.30 am and 10.30 am.
Tickets are priced at Rs 750, including
breakfast. For more details, mail bengalurubyfoot@gmail.com

I would Invent Tech Which Makes Honking a Prepaid Service

HIGH-FIVE WITH

PAWAN KUMAR
FILMMAKER

A CANDID CHAT
ABOUT WHAT MAKES
BENGALURU A
FAVOURITE CITY

What makes Bengaluru

tick?
I have lived in all the metros of India
but Bengaluru stands out because
of its weather. I like the fact that
it is neutral not too hot, not too
cold. The weather is what is keeping
me here despite the entertainment
industry being in Mumbai. I was
born and raised in the city. So I feel a
strong sense of connect and ownership with every development here. If
it is a positive one, I feel proud and if
it is negative, I feel responsible.

What is your favourite

Bengaluru moment?
I am in love with the food culture here.
I remember when I first visited MTR

in Mavalli. I had always heard about

this iconic restaurant while growing
up but had never managed to go there.
When I finally visited, I was 19 years
old. I saw many people wait outside.
They sat on a bench and were called in
when a table was ready. It is then that I
realised what was so special about the
place the unparalleled experience
of waiting in line to be served, and
eating food together with people from
various backgrounds. Quality food is
so affordable here. There are darshinis
every few meters that serve the tastiest dishes.

If you were the dictator of

Bengaluru, what is the first
thing you would do?

I would also make internet more

powerful across the city so that
people can lead a more convenient,
connected life.

Who is your favourite

Bengalurean? Why?
It has to be Anil Kumble. I am not a
cricket fan but when I was growing up,
almost half the cricket team seemed

FASTER CONNECTION
I would invent a technology where
honking becomes a prepaid service.
So, whenever someone honks, they
would be charged `1. That should be
a good way to get people to reduce
unnecessary honking on the streets.

A speedier internet
would help people lead
a more convenient,
connected life

to be from Karnataka. It was such a

proud feeling. Kumble is first in the list
of of cricketers who had a very dignified, subtle, quiet personality. This, in
many ways, mirrored the disposition
of Bengalureans in general.

If not Bengaluru, which

city? Why?
If not in Bengaluru, it certain has
to be in the outskirts of Bengaluru,
somewhere further down South! Its
just that I feel so connected with the
city that I dont think Ill be able to live
anywhere else. Then again, I was in
Mumbai for three years, so I might be
able to survive there.

Divya.Shekhar@timesgroup.com