The last mile

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: Lastminuteinventory.com (LMI), the online media exchange launched by Dentsu India, part of $ 20 billion Tokyo-based marketing communications group Dentsu Inc, is buzzing with action.

According to Sandeep Goyal, chairman LMI and also chairman of Dentsu India, the portal raked in Rs 10 crore in revenues in the month of September.

This was the highest billing recorded by the portal since its commercial launch in April 2009. “We hope to end the current year with around Rs 60 crore in billings and we are targeting business worth Rs 200 crore in 2010,” beams Goyal.

LMI is jointly owned by Dentsu India and communication consultant company Mogae Group in India. Leading media organisations such as Bennett Coleman, Star India and Zee Network also have some equity stake in the portal.

Is an increased billing indicative of media owners being left with excessive last minute inventory, that, too, at the peak of festive season, or it means they have warmed up to the concept of selling inventory online?

“It is our belief that at any given time 10-15% of media inventory remains unsold. Of course, during the festival time, demand peaks and media owners have the happy situation of oversold inventory. But averaging out the peaks with the leaner months, averages work out to the earlier stated unsold levels of 10-15% annually,” says Goyal.

He also points out that it’s taken LMI time to gain acceptance among its target group, which is the media owners. “We needed to evangelise its basic concept to its constituents. Both sellers as well as buyers of media had many misgivings and reservations initially that needed to be addressed. All that has taken time.”

He adds that clients also had reservations on price cannibalisation and security and transparency and that these issues have not been resolved.

The users of the portal say the biggest advantage is that the negotiations are transparent and the price of the inventory is decided by the media owners themselves. “The decision to use their media agency rests entirely with the client. We encourage all clients to involve their media agencies in the buying on LMI. But our current experience shows us that wherever clients believe that their agency is not agile enough to net good deals, they want to transact directly,” says Goyal.