How MTV Channels Innovation

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MTV Desi, the first of the MTV World channels, went live last summer. Its aim is to "super-serve" Indian Americans born in the U.S. or raised here. The first-generation Indian American, according to Durrani, wants "old-school Bollywood and cricket culture." MTV Desi targets the bicultural kids who want the same experiences as other native-born Americans. They love Bangra but also Shakira; they've grown up with MTV but also Bollywood.

Team Poetry

In order to get going, a "pre-launch advisory council" included MTV staffers from News, Music, and MTV World, musical artists, and members of the greater Indian community. The team evaluated the market with demographic and behavioral research on Asian American youth using methods such as focus groups, house parties, and online surveys, and opened the floor to debate how best to serve them.

And though Durrani and MTV President Christina Norman finalized most decisions, just about every aspect of the new channel—including programming, packaging, logos, and the all-important music mix—was open to suggestion and discussion. Younger members of the production staff, for example, came up with the idea of featuring young spoken word artists, and this team continues to be involved in programming this content.

Collaboration extended across MTV divisions as well, and such cross-pollination was key to the development of MTV Desi, which draws roughly 15% of its programming from MTV India. The first video shown on MTV Desi, for example, was from an Indian Sikh artist. And this year, MTV India and MTV Desi collaborated on the simultaneous promotion of the Bollywood hit Kabhi Alvida Na Kahena (Never Say Goodbye).

Share and Share Alike

In addition, a behind-the-scenes documentary on Shakira's Bollywood-inspired performance at the 2006 Video Music Awards has been produced to air on both MTV India and MTV Desi. There are similar links between the various channels of MTV World (MTV Chi for Chinese Americans, and MTV K for Korean Americans) and the core MTV News operation. This interaction is usually not formalized; direct ad hoc collaboration is the principal conduit between MTV teams.

To help stir the pot, MTV's global operation regularly circulates notable regional programming to the other affiliates in the network. And MTV shares people, too. According to Bill Roedy, vice-chairman of MTV Networks and president of MTV Networks International, leveraging key executives across ventures has helped fuel and align certain initiatives. Jose Tillan, for example, manages both MTV's efforts in Latin America as well as the U.S.-focused MTV TR3S.

Lucia Ballas-Traynor, general manager of MTV TR3S, illustrates the linked-but-loose relationship between the core MTV brand and its local initiatives. "You take a global brand like MTV and what it stands for: everything music, youth, cool, hip. Regardless of the ethnic origin you have to start with that. Then you apply the cultural filter, which in the case of MTV TR3S is Latino."

Local Makes it Great

To keep each of its "cultural filters" intensely tuned to the local vibe, MTV's global organizational structure is deliberately decentralized. "Something we decided early on was to not export just one product for the world but to generate a very different experience for our brands depending on the local cultures," says Roedy. "The local teams have complete control over everything. Localization really helps with the innovation."

MTV President Norman echoes this intensely local philosophy of internationalization. "We are all tethered to the global mission of what MTV is, with autonomy. We are separate businesses, with separate P&L. We share a logo, a passion, an audience, and a focus. A person in India makes MTV India. That person is local, and that's what makes it great."

Brad Nemer has worked in global marketing and product management for more than ten years. A graduate and instructor of design and business at the Illinois Institute of Technology, he is currently a Senior Business Planner at Motorola.