Come 2022, I hope we can rekindle old bonds and forge new ones, offline
By Anshul Ailawadi, Business Head – Youth, Music and English Entertainment, Viacom18
2020 was a year like no other. It taught us that no amount of planning can prepare you for all scenarios. 2021 has been about resilience. Organizations and people the world over have realized that they have an infinite capacity to deal with the unexpected. 2022 will be about rebuilding. However, this ‘new edifice’ will be of a different kind, built to compete in a different world. For the Youth, Music & English cluster (MTV, MTV Beats, Comedy Central, Vh1 & Colors Infinity) Viacom18, we are convinced that our playbook for 2022 will focus on the following 5 key tenets.
(1) We will experiment a lot more with our content, faces and brands. Not all risks will pay off and we’ll learn quickly from our mistakes. We will also focus more on unconventional feedback loops, given that our core audiences are extremely active on multiple platforms.
(2) As the trend towards digitalization accelerates, we will dial up our focus on creating, owning, and managing 100% IP across our platforms – so that we can continue to build value irrespective of the pipe. For any content business, this is the only strategic advantage or ‘moat’.
(3) We will place greater emphasis on agility – our systems, processes, and structures need to enable faster turnarounds and course corrections. The next disruptor in our business will be more unencumbered than ever before and we need to be well-prepared to counter.
(4) We will pro-actively plug knowledge and skill gaps at every level, even if that means unlearning what we already know (this is also a personal priority). Today there are several new economy firms that solve old economy problems – we need to find them and partner with them.
(5) Over the last 2 years the inability to interact physically has impacted the team’s social capital. Come 2022, I hope we can rekindle old bonds and forge new ones, offline.
