Sign up for afaqs! Newsletters
Explocity.com has tweaked its operations to bring about a ‘bigger revenue focus’
For Explocity.com the mantra is never say die. Set up in April 2000 as a website that provides city information (television and movie listings, events) and hardcore metro news, the company has had to tweak its functioning several times over to sustain itself. "The heart of the company is in media and continues to be so. The only aspect of online media that we have vacated is metro news. The other bits remain as they were," Ramjee Chandran, CEO, Explocity Pvt Ltd, told agencyfaqs!.
According to him, the recent restructuring was conducted to bring in ‘a bigger revenue focus' into the operation. He says despite its popularity, the online news section was discontinued because he did not see any way to ‘monetise' it. "We were bringing to readers news as it happened. At times, we were even reporting events in the present tense. However, I feel the Internet has not matured as a medium in this country to warrant such high cost operations as online news (catered immediately rather than a round-up once a day)," he admitted.
Chandran's experience in publishing began with the launch of Bangalore This Fortnight (BTF), a hugely popular city-based magazine, in 1989. In 1996, he launched the Bangalore Monthly and the bangaloremag.com. Both were immediately successful.
Explocity.com is the culmination of 12 years of experience in building and running city-based publications. It is co-promoted by NewsCorp (which has a 25 per cent stake), ICF Ventures (with 37 per cent), and Ramjee Chandran (who, together with ESOP Trust, holds 36 per cent stake). Individual investors hold the balance 2 per cent. The website Explocity.com and its attendant businesses span several cities across India - including Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Goa - and New York. Though Chandran closely guards the turnover and funding figures, he insists that his business has "broken-even in operational terms". In fact, the company is making fresh investments in an international rollout spanning the Middle East and the United States.
A significant aspect about Chandran's enterprise is the fact that he dons several hats in the media business. Besides Explocity.com, he has a handful of print products under the BTF Publishing banner, which are solely controlled by Chandran.
BTF publishes print editions of city guides titled CityInfo in Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Goa and is, according to Chandran, the only city information media brand across metros. Meanwhile, the company also publishes a paper titled City Reporter in Bangalore, which is a weekend resource for entertainment and lifestyle. Chandran says his print business too is in fine health. "The two entities are exclusive, however, the products of both companies have broken even in operational terms," he said.
According to Chandran, Explocity.com's main target is the local merchant in every city of its operation. It already has over 3,000 merchants across six cities doing business through the website. "The challenge is to promote the Net as a viable business medium to the local retailer. The going is not easy, but set against the larger agenda of getting the Net accepted as a source of revenue, we have had a fair amount of success," he said. These local merchants can get themselves listed on the website for a fee. The company is working on the technology to help them put up their shops online. (Some Bangalore-based retailers have already done so.) "The benefits of going online haven't gone down with local merchants yet," rues Chandran.
Word of mouth has been the biggest driver for Explocity's business and the company has also conducted events to build awareness among local communities through an interactive web interface called WMS (Website Management System). "In effect, our partners are the thousands of local merchants who build our brand subliminally, if not overtly," he said. © 2002 agencyfaqs!