Reliance Industries - Walt Disney JV

Just recently, Reliance Industries and Walt Disney Co, joined hands to create a JV worth INR 70,000 crores, which is expected to wield a significant market influence in the broadcasting industry.

Well, media reports are quite ecstatic about this JV , which could give broadcasters like Sony, Zee, and OTT platforms "run for their money", as Reliance's Jio cinema content strategy with it's deep pockets, coupled with Disney-Hotstar's content treasure, could have this JV's ad-slot sellers literally ruling the ad-revenues segment, where broadcasters are concerned.

Undoubtedly, such kind of prognosis is a "no brainer". But the key aspect which has been overlooked is that, all such broadcasters are on a "content push" model. That is, their contents are streamed across channels, with the hope that their respective audience will remain glued to their TV sets etc, irrespective of their preferences or state of mind at that that particular point of time.

It is here that a platform like YouTube scores over and above all possible broadcasters. Simply because, this platform is based on a "content pull" model, where the audience can pick and choose the desirable content depending upon their respective moods or preferences at that particular point of time. Above all, across geographies and devices, subject to availability of a Wifi connectivity at least.

Now, is it possible for the Reliance-Disney Hotstar JV to match such a value proposition?

The real "lord of the broadcasting universe" will need such a vision.

Mark Zuckerberg should be smiling at this thought, as Reliance may knock at his doors anytime soon, to engineer such ultimate disruption. 😊

Birla Opus

Great to hear about Aditya Birla's flagship business - 'Grasim Industries' adding 'further colors' to the Rs. 80,000 crores Indian decorative paints industry via it's brand - 'Birla Opus'.

As per media reports, no paint company globally has ever launched in one shot - factories, operations, products, and services, at the kind of scale they are about to undertake.

Yes, their competition would certainly be getting their act together to defend their respective market positions.

To make a real impact in the highly competitive paints industry dominated by established players like Asian Paints, Berger etc, 'Grasim' would need a clear disruptive idea.

Positioning 'Birla Opus' as India's "first 100% environment friendly paint", through the use of environment friendly chemicals, could be a good bet. Furthermore, use of emerging technologies such as - AI, VR and AR embedded in an app, to let their target audience experiment with as many color combinations and textures online backed by AI based recommendations, before taking a final call to give their residences or offices a distinctive look without having to go overboard in expenses could also be considered.

Diversification into environment friendly chemicals, or acquisition of any such existing entity, could be a part of their strategy in line with suggested positioning.

And above all, by taking ideas from other industries which are pioneers in customer loyalty strategies, and implementing the feasible options, 'Grasim Industries' could further disrupt the paints industry. 😊

Interim Budget for FY '25

While this interim budget for FY ’25, has been appropriately labelled as “budget of confidence” by media channels, the key criticism of some eminent personalities, that nowhere has “unemployment” been mentioned even once merits attention.

But, the key thrust on infrastructure via an increase in the outlay by 11.1% as compared to the current allocation, is certainly welcome, and reflects the right priorities of the government, as spending on infrastructure yields the maximum multiplier effects in the economy, which certainly boosts employment generation. Higher capex is largely proposed for sectors like roads, shipping, and railways, which would boost connectivity and improve logistics efficiency thereby reducing cost of doing business. Of course, key assumption being that the implementation of the plan is as per expectations.

The benefits can begin manifesting from day one, by way of “crowding in” of private investments which in turn can boost the ‘propensity to consume’ by individuals due to increased job opportunities and incomes, which in turn leads to better capacity utilization of manufacturing units which further enhances the investment demand, which in turn leads to further investments from private and foreign sectors. This in theory creates a “vicious cycle of investments and employment creation”. Of course, with no shocks of any kind internally and the external sector remaining benign

Other key factor which merits attention is that, the very fact that the markets have already discounted the return of the Modi government after the forthcoming elections, would be a catalyst in itself for job creation, as both the private sector and foreign investors would be maintaining their focus on Indian markets, without having to bother about policy uncertainties and political instability.

And yes, the expectations from a full-fledged budget likely to be presented by the Modi government in July, would only be heightened at this point of time.