Anant's blog: Half year review

As we complete the first half of the year, a few stray thoughts and observations (all my own work).
Like, while the first six months have been difficult, they’ve been a lot better than most of us thought.
Like, it is clear that business plans, revenue models and for media products will change significantly from this point on.
Like, advertising agencies and media agencies have obviously been run far better than we thought – when cost cutting came along, there wasn’t much cost to cut.
Like, the AAAI pulled off Goafest just in time, and, considering the time available to organize the event, it went off fairly well.
Like, and I’ve said this a million times, the Abbys are still a mess and someone has to take the lead to sort this out.
Like, the elections were a Godsend for advertising agencies, media agencies and media houses alike and all of them made pots of money.
Like, thank God we have a semi-stable government at the centre.
Like, the pink papers and the business channels will be celebrating, with two Union Budgets within a single financial year.
Like, it’s terrific that the AAAI has decided to include media agencies and creative agencies. Like, it’s not terrific that digital shops are left out.
Like, Cannes was fantastic for India, especially for JWT, O&M and Publicis.
 
Like, the monsoon still playing ducks and drakes, and that’s not good.
Like, newspapers are still thin.
Like, outdoor is still doing badly.
Like, we’re still not seeing enough good digital work.
 
Like, it’s going to be a mixed next six months, some of it good and some of it not good.