The ads-for-equity initiative has provided about 15 percent of the Times' advertising revenues over the past four years.
 
"You can get your money back many ways. It doesn't only have to be cash. Sometimes partnering with your client delivers a great deal of value back to yourself," says Ravi Dhariwal, CEO of the Times of India, at the Opportunities session of the Congress.
 
Dhariwal presented several examples of how the program works. The Times takes small stakes in companies that need brand building, which it provides through advertising space. The Times has invested in more than 350 companies, which sign up for terms lasting three to five years.
 
The ads-for-equity swap is not always successful, Dhariwal says. "We ran into a year when we did a lot of equity deals, we didn't have a lot of cash coming in, there was a stock market decline, and we had to write off a lot of capital in brand equity.

"There was a lot of debate within the company about whether we should continue or not. But we stood firm…This is the way to get a lot of advertisers to advertise in the long term." He says, "We're able to convince people they need to advertise with us, and we'll share the risk," he says. "We've been able to build brands based on this approach."