Bharti Airtel, a leading global telecommunications company, has launched Airtel Super Singer 7, aimed to entertain music lovers of Andhra Pradesh. The launch took place in the presence of Sharlin Thayil, CEO – Bharti Airtel, Andhra Pradesh along with the jury members of the show, singers Sunitha and Kouslaya along with lyricist Chandra Bose.
Airtel Super Singer 7 – The Spicy Series brings famous singers to a common platform. There will be 2 teams in this series – Warriors and Chargers and the show will have the singers showcasing a variety of music genres.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Thayli said: “Airtel has always taken the lead in associating with events, shows and initiatives that showcases the talent of today’s youth. It gives us immense pleasure to be associated with this youthful and entertaining show. We would like to wish the participants all the very best for a fantastic show.”
Airtel Super Singer 7 – The Spicy Series will be aired every Wednesday on Maa TV.
RK Swamy Media Group has won the media account of Khazana Jewellery, a leading jewellery retail chain from South.
Sandeep Sharma, President, RK Swamy Media Group said: “We are extremely delighted to partner with Khazana Jewellery. We are confident of adding disproportionate value to their media investments. We also believe this is a testimony to our passion to deliver the best for our clients. Our team under the able leadership of K Satyanarayana, VP (west & south) will spearhead this partnership.”
Kishore Jain,MDof Khazana Jewellery said: “We welcome R K SWAMY Media Group as our media partner and look forward to their superior media solutions in helping build our brand value further. We are poised for the next level of growth with major expansion plans and we are confident that R K SWAMY Media Group will add value in achieving our goals”.
Khazana Jewellery is a Rs2,600 crore jewellery retail chain with 20 stores across South India.
9X Media has elevated Pawan Jailkhani to the position of Chief Revenue Officer and Punit Pandey to the position of Executive Vice President. The 9X Media Group has been on a high growth trajectory since 2011, adding 5 music channels to its network, besides the Group’s flagship music channel – 9XM.
In his new role, Pawan Jailkhani will be responsible for all forms of revenue across the existing six music television channels operated by the 9X Media Group. He will also be in charge of revenue for all future launches by 9X Media.
Punit Pandey, in his new role as Executive Vice President, will be responsible for the new business initiatives by the Network and would also continue to head the business aspect of the existing six music channels.
The Cannes Lions is no Olympics, so if India returned home with no Grand Prix and just three Golds, there is no reason to despair. Â Yes, there’s a jury out there, and there are many people comprising each of them, so it’s not easy to please all or most of them. Hence those who have come home with the honours deserve a huge pat on their back since they’ve managed to impress some of the best brains in the business from across the world.
Sad, because India is big news internationally. This is because of our bigness. People know that the real consumers exist in China and India. The one billion-plus population ensures that. The world recognises that being a democracy means that a lot of commerce-friendly measures are tough to implement. So there is much action in China and hence sexier work in advertising. That last bit also translates to more awards in the tally and more attention to that country.
This year’s Cannes Lions has seen a Abby-like controversy. I’m sure the folks at the Advertising Club Bombay will say “See, it happens there too”. While the Cannes Lions organisers aren’t at fault for what could’ve happened, but I guess there’s got to be some action else the festival will not see the 11000+ delegates who turned up for one or more days.
#CannesLions Stats
I was unable to get to Cannes as there was more pressing work here, but the best way to keep track was decidedly #CannesLions. In fact, as someone said, even if you were physically present at Cannes, it was a great way to get the buzz.
Here are some stats courtesy the Twitter Advertising blog (http://advertising.twitter.com/2012/06/twitter-celebrates-users-and-brands.html):
There were 103,389 mentions of #CannesLions on Twitter during the six days of the festival – a substantial increase from the 20,000 in 2011. Over 5,000 pictures were tweeted.
That’s 17,232 Tweets a day and 718 Tweets an hour with a peak of 3,000 Tweets an hour during key seminars – up from 40 per hour on average in 2011.
The total #CannesLions earned media on Twitter has been calculated at over 61 million impressions.
Often, the 3k tweets an hour looked a hundred thousand. They just didn’t stop coming! And even after the last day, there were several tweets on celebrations, discussions and there’s one exceedingly painful on a book written on the future of advertising. Tweets are fun, informative but can also be a pain!
Nikhil Pahwa’s Medianama is 4
My hearty congratulations to Medianama and Nikhil Pahwa on the popular tech-telecom-media site’s fourth anniversary.
I know there are some who think Nikhil is brash, but that’s only because a lot of people in important offices are used to puffs and plugs from journos and trade sites. Although it may be styled as a blog, I am aware that he follows the same rigour as any journalist ought to.
Medianama went live on June 27, 2008. It’s got a small team and has advertisers on board. So revenues are happening. When I asked Nikhil about revenues, he replied (rather tweeted back): “Healthy. We’re slowly learning to grow. Is tricky, but learning.” Guess I know what he means.
Buzz me if you have a story to tell. Confidentiality assured. There are various ways you can reach me: pradyumanm[at]mxmindia.com, Gtalk pradyumanm@gmail.com, Twitter @pmahesh and of course the mobile: 98338 76278. Â The views expressed here are my own
DDB Worldwide Chief Creative Officer Amir Kassaei has indicted some Cannes Lions 2012 jurors of bias. Mr Kassaei alleged that judges of certain global holdings had been ordered to vote for work from their respective groups. In a video interview to Campaign Brief, Mr Kassaei said that the integrity of Cannes was at stake and the authority as well as the value of the festival was being undermined. In the same interview, he also hinted at boycotting Cannes next year if a proper investigation was not undertaken by the organizers of Cannes for this year’s jury decisions.
Mr Kassaei said: “We (DDB) as the most awarded network in the history of Cannes will go into a very tough discussion about next year because we cannot accept that the people are willingly voting against the best work in the jury.”
Mr Kassaei’s accusations follow claims by WPP’s Chief Executive Sir Martin Sorrell that Cannes judges could have been pressured into block voting, which has damaged his agencies chances of winning. Sir Martin Sorrell was quoted in The Guardian saying he had heard rumours of certain jury members being pressured into voting for selected entries and dismissing quality pieces of work from the judging process without due cause.
The jury in question was chaired by Mainardo de Nardis, the Chief Executive of OMD Worldwide and Manning Gottleib OMD, Omnicom-owned media buying agency won the Grand Prix award for a Google Campaign.
Reacting to Sir Martin Sorrell’s allegations that Omnicom somehow rigged the Media Lions award in favour of Manning Gottlieb OMD’s work for Google, Mr Kassaei said that WPP executives were ordered to discriminate against Omnicom agencies’ work in the jury voting: “I have since been notified by no fewer than 12 jury members that people from other holding companies this week are being briefed to kill Omnicom, especially BBDO, DDB and TBWA, this is a fact.”
He added, “What differentiates Omnicom from WPP is the creativity and innovation. I would respect them if they did the better work. Just look at the objective facts, in the media category, WPP is doing better than Omnicom, so accusing us that we’re playing silly games is not right.”
Furthermore, Mr Kassaei said: “The problem we have at the moment is that Cannes used to be the World Cup of advertising because of the qualification and the result of the juries, and at the moment I don’t have a feeling we are at the World Cup of advertising because a lot of people are playing politics instead of judging the best work of all.”
In an interview to Afaqs on the judging of Media Lions, Dominic Proctor, President, WPP’s media holding company, Group M, said: “I’ve heard a lot of whisperings in bars and restaurants that there did seem to be some kind of strange voting…I heard rumours that certain blocs of votes were being encouraged. If that’s the case then it would be a worry because if Cannes wants to be taken seriously as a media and a creative platform, then we need to make sure that the process is not in any sense corrupted.”
Axis Bank has shifted its media business to MediaVest Worldwide, part of the Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG). MediaVest would handle the business from its Mumbai office. The account was earlier with Madison Media. The mandate covers media planning and buying for all Axis Bank campaigns and is effective August 1. This win adds to the long list of new business wins for Starcom MediaVest Group in the last year that include like Aircel, Dabur, Novartis, Supermax, Zee Learn, Sterling Holidays etc. SMG has been strengthening the MediaVest brand across Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru and will soon announce a few senior management hires.
Confirming this development, Manisha Lath Gupta, CMO, Axis Bank says “While evaluating, we realized SMG has robust planning tools which will help us integrate across different mediums. With their Human Experience Strategy and approach, we believe, they are well poised to handle the media challenges lying in front of Axis Bank for the future”.
Said Malli CR, CEO, SMG India, “Axis Bank is a blue chip client and we are honored and delighted to have them on board. They have an exciting brand vision and we look forward to delivering their goals with SMG’s future focused media product that is predicated on Insights & Analytics, Digital and Content”.
Dying to watch the latest season of Big Bang Theory or want to know who’s going to win the current MasterChef Australia series? Then, you have two options: either download it or wait for a channel to telecast it here.
Of course, many of us opt for the first option as Indian channels still lag in getting the latest seasons of these international shows to India . MxM India explores if the internet is indeed posing a threat to the genre.
Internet, a menace?
Anurag Bedi
Consumer trends have changed over the past few years; and if one gets his dose of entertainment, it doesn’t matter it’s on which platform. “The viewer is platform-neutral. So, as far as one gets certain amount of entertainment quotient, it doesn’t matter even if he’s doing it illegally i.e. by downloading. And with the internet reaching out to every nook and corner of the country, it won’t be wrong to say that internet poses a threat to content owners or channels,” explains Karthik Sharma, managing partner, Maxus.
The internet remains the biggest threat to the English general entertainment channels. Most of these channels are not able to telecast various popular international shows like Games of Throne, Weeds, Sherlock and others, hence viewers log online.
Saurabh Yagnik
“Today, the television audience is experimenting with content. They are quite receptive to exploring new, innovative and unconventional content. Considering the change in lifestyles and the impact of globalization, our audience is more aware than ever. Viewers have the knowledge of the scope of entertainment available on various platforms,” said Anurag Bedi, Business Head, Zee Cafe.
Saurabh Yagnik, GM & senior VP, English Channels, STAR India Pvt. Ltd added: “STAR World’s constant endeavour has been to bring international shows to India , at the same time as their broadcast in US. We, in fact, had the World Television Premier of shows such as Missing, Touch on our channel. Even for Masterchef Australia Season 4, we are broadcasting the show very close to its telecast in Australia this time. This also becomes possible due to our strong and exclusive associations with international production houses such as Disney, Fox, and others.”
Ricky Ow
On an optimistic note, Ricky Ow, executive VP, Networks, Asia, Sony Pictures Television feels that though the internet adds to the competition, it helps one realize what the market is looking for: “If one studies the internet, then it can definitely turn out to be an asset as it gives us an opportunity to look at what the audience is interested in. For example, it helps us know what the India n audiences’ interests are outside AXN.”
However, the newest entry on the block, Comedy Central’s Ferzad Palia, senior VP and GM – English Entertainment, Viacom 18 Media Pvt Ltd feels that internet should be seen as a complimentary asset rather than just as competition. “With technology, the social mindsets of people are changing too. And now people have become more accepting towards western culture. Thus, it’s good for us as more and more people identify with the content.”
Ferzad Palia
The buying game
There is no doubt that the English-language general entertainment market is developing. Almost every channel is trying its level-best to keep the audience hooked on by getting more and more international shows to the living rooms. One question still remains: why are channels not able to show what their TG wants?
“It is difficult to bring popular international shows to India , especially at the same time as their release in other markets. However, we have been driving our efforts to realize this for a long time with our property titled Torrentz, wherein we brought international shows very close to their release in other markets,” said Mr Yagnik.
New channels coming up are giving a tough competition to the likes of Star World, Zee Cafe and AXN. Media professionals feel that, though the competition is good, it can become a burden on English channels as they have a limited TG. This has lead to rise in the cost of procuring rights. So, if a channel is paying more for an acquisition of shows which are popular abroad, they might not be able to recover money as mass channels do.
Mr Ow added that though it cannot be categorized as easy or difficult, the onset of more channels has definitely risen the costs: “If we want a show, we try our level best to get it. AXN’s programming formula is simple – we are an action-adventure destination. Therefore, it narrows down the competition as we look for series, movies or reality shows which cater to that genre.”
On the other hand, Mr Palia feels that though procuring rights is a complicated process, nothing is easy when it comes to running a channel. “It’s a part and parcel of starting a channel. What is more important is the selection process of the shows which will interest the India n audience. Demand for international shows has increased in the country of late and people have become choosy about what they want to watch.”
Hence, many channels are now associating with production houses or producing their own shows as they feel it will help them grow their market without too much of a trouble.
Vishal Rally
“There could be 100 popular international shows, but we cannot telecast them all. So, a channel needs to choose what their TG wants. Thankfully, we are backed up with a studio and a JV which allows us to telecast shows simultaneously in India as well. We telecast shows like Survivors, NCIS at par with their international seasons. That’s our USP,” said Vishal Rally, business head, BIG CBS Network.
Nevertheless, most channels agree that it isn’t an easy task to get good international shows to India , but to keep the competition at bay, they have to try to out-do internet but also each other by bringing the latest shows to their audience’s living rooms ASAP.
Many broadcasters are also aware that the internet viewership of popular shows is small, and the public still prefers a bigger screen experience. As one broadcaster said, high speed broadband connections exist, but not with everyone. And the buffering is a pain. It’s a huge negative for the viewers who watch English GECs.
But low broadband speeds and poor connectivity will soon be a thing of the past, right? Yes and so will dated soaps and old seasons be, says the broadcaster, requesting anonymity. “Right now, we are catching up with old seasons since most people haven’t watched them… For instance, how many people have watched The Newsroom, which has been receiving rave reviews?” There’s also an issue of copyright and picture quality. “Some of what you see on YouTube is pirated and is being yanked off the site when caught in the act. And if it is available somewhere, it appears to have been recorded on the microwave oven… Who wants to view Masterchef where a tomato looks like a potato!!!”
Hmmm. Surely reason for us to wait and watch. Or in this case, watch and wait.
The core objective of the communication was divided into two levels. The first one was to inspire more and more people to test drive Honda Brio and feel the experience of being loved back and, second, that the dealers of Honda feel excited about the whole campaign and are inspired to sell more.
The Background:
According to Honda Brio’s current brand positioning – there’s no happier feeling than being loved back and that’s what you get every time you drive Honda Brio. It always goes the extra mile every time to make sure the love story never ends.” Keeping this promise and idea intact, BIG FM came up with the concept to give an experience of loving and getting love back.
Timelines:
The campaign was spread across 30 cities and executed within 21 days, Touch basing more than 40 dealer outlets. Apart from the 23 92.7 BIG stations, the activity was also done on 7 non-BIG FM stations which was co-ordinated by BIG FM.
How the strategy was implemented:
The core idea was to promote the voice of Honda Brio where consumers test drive Honda Brio. RJ called up the customers who have taken a test drive and asked them to share their experience. The customer who shared the best experience was called on a show every Friday to co-host a show with the RJ. Also every weekend, RJs went to Honda Showrooms and promote the activity at the dealers shop through games and music.
In addition to the Voice of Honda Contest, Dealer Delight was also taken into consideration as one of the main objective was to uplift dealers moral as well as making them feel good by sending them to the corresponding radio station and meet the RJ and thus get an opportunity go come on – air.
The activity was executed in four phases with each one having its own level of communication. In the first phase, a 7 day on-air promotion was done with the help of On Air Promos and RJs informing listeners about the activity and the dealer. In the second and thirds phase the activity went on-ground at dealers shops where games were played for the contest ” Voice of Honda Brio.” In the last phase, the dealers were called to the radio station and did a one to one interaction with RJs on-air.
Expectations v/s Outcome:
Honda had two core expectations from the campaign- one, delighting the dealers about the campaign and the other, to increase the test drives of Honda Brio. 92.7 BIG FM met the expectations by delivering more than what was expected from the campaign which resulted in 24 per cent increase in footfalls at the dealer shop and an astounding 34 per cent increase in test drives. The Honda dealers were highly satisfied with the activity and were kicked out about the brand.
Constraints and challenges in implementation:
The biggest challenge of the activity was co-ordinating 30 stations and communicating the same thought in 9 different languages. Also that the whole activity was in 23 BIG FM stations and 7 non-BIG FM stations required a smooth running of the activity at Honda dealerships and engaging both consumers and dealers.
Since the activity was planned for a time span of 21 days in 30 cities, the execution needed to be perfect in every way possible. Regional language creative needed to be updated frequently as per dealers requirement as well as taste.
Challenges/Difficulties in Execution:
As the creative were in 9 different languages, the same communication was scripted in different languages. With addition of dealer’s feedback, each creative was given a regional flavour, keeping in line the communication. RJs doing the activation at the dealers store were also aligned to the campaign and the core thought across 30 cities. Also daily consumer bytes from the activity were aired on a day to day basis.
Take-homes:
Radio can be effectively used to support on-ground activation
Non-Metros have a higher inclination towards Radio
Credits, Strategy & Execution:
The Team: Praveen Pahuja, Neha Goel, Kinney Mishra (National and Local Programming team)
I suspect the main reason we continue to languish in this field is the apathetic creative directors. Most large agency creative directors don’t get this new medium, and it appears to me they don’t even WANT to get it. Because we are a third world nation, for lakhs of people the television set is still an aspirational purchase. And, therefore, it is widely believed that it will take many years before the digital medium becomes truly relevant in India. This might be true, but that still doesn’t change the fact that the digital world is already at our door step… rather, it has walked right in… and many brands can benefit from it. And the winners will be those who move early.
Another thing: If the traditional ad agencies continue to ignore this space and treat it as a ‘supplementary’ medium, they run the risk of losing this business to specialized tech solutions shops. Such boutique digital agencies are already sprouting, and before the sluggish large agencies get their act together, this part of the business will be lost to them. Perhaps forever. All the more reason the ad agencies need to act before it’s too late.
It is also true that most of the senior ad agency leaders are old worlders and they are finding it difficult to connect with this medium. Their lives begin and end with the 30 second TVC. That’s all right, and they can continue to focus on TV commercials. But as long as they make sure their creative departments are packed with young ‘techno-creatives’, and these blokes are on the job from the very first client briefing. This would naturally lead to upping the staff budget, but this is an investment that will pay off in the long run. Just as when television started booming in India, ad agencies were compelled to start out a specialized films department, exactly that’s what needs to be done now.
Net net: It’s the traditional mind set that needs to change. A tall ask in an industry where some senior leaders pride themselves in not even trying to figure out how a basic internet tool like the social media works. Check for yourself how many of them are on Twitter and Facebook and you’ll know what I mean.
* * *
PS: Must watch: Repellent Radio. Brilliant stuff. This is a good example of Brazil’s super advertising talent. And also why that nation always does marvelously at Cannes.
Launched 16 years ago as a music channel, Star India’s Channel V is now turning into a full-fledged youth entertainment channel. Starting July 1, V will stop airing music programmes in India and focus on fiction and non-fiction shows. The reason: “Over the last two years, there has been an explosion of ‘music only’ channels, but everyone’s playing identical playlists,” says Prem Kamath, executive vice-president and general manager at Channel V. “In order to grow as a channel and as a brand, it has always been critical to have an offering that is unique in our competitive space,” he adds on being quizzed on the decision.
Many experts feel that it was bound to happen as more and more channels try to mould themselves to stay connected with what their target audience wants. But there many questions arise: could this mean the beginning of the end of music on TV? What is the future of music genre? Where is it headed?
The beginning
The scene for Indian music channels was set with the launch of MTV in the early 90s. Soon after, Channel V was launched in 1994, and since then there has been no looking back.
The launch of these music channels also led to a boom in international as well as Indie pop culture. However, it was shortlived and Bollywood music took over, and the two channels, along with many other launched afterwards, started playing popular filmi songs. But over a period of time, these two channels moved beyond playing only music with shows like Roadies, Splitsvilla and Dare 2 Date.
Hemant Kenkre
According to music columnist Narendra Kusnur, somewhere down the line for these channels, music took a backseat: “I’m sure any channel would do thorough research while trying to change their gameplan. So, if a music channel shifting towards being a youth entertainment channel is proved beneficial – for viewership as well as revenue – then it wouldn’t harm them to take such a step.”
He’s not alone in voicing this. Even Hemant Kenkre, a former music channel professional and a corporate and brand communications veteran, feels that channels are now branding themselves differently to reach out to their TG. He, however, does blame the availability of music on various platforms – radio, cellphones, laptops, iPods – as the reason for this shift. “Today, the youth is moving towards reality shows and they want it from the channels meant for them. As for music, they get their share of it from other mediums too.”
Luke Kenny
Former VJ, musician, actor and 9XO programming head Luke Kenny, on the other hand, feels that the channel (Channel V) decided to shift long back and has been moving slowly towards it, but there are still many who want music on television. “If music was dead on TV, then how would you explain other new music channels cropping up and doing well too?”
He added: “Having said that, I do believe that with more channels showcasing Bollywood songs, music channels have lost their niche and have just became promotional channels. Therefore, if a channel decides to change colours, it might work. And you never know, Star India might come up with a new music channel called Music OK.”
Industry talk
If one takes a look at various channels, be it music or a GEC, they will find that, there is a great deal of music in some or the other. We have music trailers/songs aired across all channels. Award shows, too, have musical performances and talent shows like Saregama, Indian Idol, DID and even celeb dance show Jhalak Dikhla Jaa are high on ratings.
Mohit Joshi
Therefore, according to media planners, the existence of specialised music channels is a difficult game. “Today, unfortunately for the masses in India, music equals to Bollywood. This is the challenge. This was not the case in the ’90s when there were a lot of private music albums that were launched -Silk Route et al, and the music channels were used for their amplification. So, there was something more than Bollywood, which is not the case today. In the current scenario, if music channels do not experiment with music or the content, then there is a fear that they will dilute their relevance over a period of time,” says Mohit Joshi, managing director, MPG India.
Adds Carat Media India’s senior VP Himanka Das: “Channel V’s decision to discontinue music is a welcome change and would offer interesting opportunities to build engagement content with the youth, considering the very little content that is available to them in entertainment beyond music. Music as a genre gets 6-7 per cent share in the youth segment of viewers with Channel V contributing 24 per cent to this share amongst 20+ channels. Channel V vacating this space is someone else’s gain!”
Punit Pandey
Meanwhile, other music channels aren’t perturbed and are waiting to see how the channel is accepted in its new avatar. As per TAM (CS4+, All India market), there has been a consistent growth in the music genre. In 2007, the genre share of music channels was 2.02 per cent whereas in 2012 (till week 24) the share has grown to 3.62 per cent.
Punit Pandey, senior VP and business head, 9X Media Group, agreed with Mr Das and added: “Music has, and will continue to, work on television. It is close to a Rs360-370 crore industry (in the HSM belt) and growing. More and more people are ‘watching’ music, so there is nothing to worry about for music channels at large.”
Nikhil Gandhi
Similarly, the view from UTV Bindass which started out as a Youth Entertainment Channel (YEC) and has been a pioneer in the segment is that though in the recent past music channels, especially MTV and Channel V, have started shifting focus from music to fictional and non-fictional shows, there is no reason for sleepless nights. “We have an advantage over other channels entering the YEC genre as we have already created a connect with the TG,” says Nikhil Gandhi, Disney UTV Executive Director – Youth Channels, Media Networks. And adds an alert: “So, I would like to tell other channels entering the YEC genre to work on their strategies well.”
Apprehensive marketers?
The change in positioning is due to the feeling that youngsters now have a strong spending power. And, hence, are targeted by various brands more than ever before. TV forms a core part of advertisement for these brands as youngsters also spend a lot of time in front of the television sets.
Simeran Bhasin
But what happens to youth brands if a channel changes its content strategy? According to the various marketing heads, the apprehensions will emerge if the channel isn’t clear about the shift and isn’t able to help a brand reach its TG.
“If the TG of a brand matches that of the channel, it won’t matter if they decide to change over a period of time. However, if there is a shift in TG then a brand would think twice before advertising on that channel,” says Simeran Bhasin, head – Marketing and Retail, Fastrack.
Harkirat Singh
MTV’s latest show Sound Trippin was partnered by Woodland because the brand feels that youth oriented channels helps them reach their TG. However, the brand is clear that it get associated with channels or shows only if it feels there is a connect between the brand and the viewers. “Like any other brand, while media planning, the TG of a certain channel is important for us. We look for shows which are able to reach and connect with our TG. So, if a channel changes its content plan, we will want to go through their new strategy to figure out where do we figure and how it can benefit us,” says Harkirat Singh, MD, Woodland.
Will the shift work?
According to the industry professionals, the change in content plan by a channel is done after a lot of research and only time can decide if it will work in its favour or not. However, they believe that a channel should remain true to its philosophy because otherwise it will lose its identify as well.
Samyak Chakrabarty
Expanding on it, Samyak Chakrabarty, MD, Electronic Youth Media Group and Chief Youth Marketer, DDB Mudra Group believes that ‘youth’ is a very misunderstood word and youngsters cannot be defined in one category as all depends on the exposure and the background one comes from. “In their perception to become ‘youth’ channels, they are getting muddled up and don’t know where they are headed. Today, a youngster cannot associate MTV or Channel V with anything like they do for other brands. For instance, technology means iPad, connectivity means Blackberry etc. I think music channels should have remained with what they started as, instead of losing their identify to gain more TRPs. Such moves will only lead to their downfall, in the long term.”
From being largely optimistic to one predicting a downfall, we received mixed reactions to the proposed change in Channel V’s identity. However, one thing is clear, no matter what Star India decides, there will be many who will wait to see what this mean for them and the genre, at large.
Amar Upadhyay, last seen on Big Boss season 5, is all set to hit the small screen again with BIG Magic’s Police Files.
The channel aims to feature local-relevant entertainment through the core Hindi heartland – UP, MP, Biharand Jharkhand. With the Hindi heartland known for crimes like drug trafficking, extortion, murder for hire, crime against women, homicide, burglary, theft, land mafia and more, the actor will be seen highlighting cases that the local populace can relate to.
Anand Chakravarthy
“Amar is a household name and rose to fame through a fiction show and then again through a reality show. He connects excellently with audiences and has a huge fan following in the heartland. His ability to connect with audiences is unique and a show like Police Files requires someone who is one amongst them, understands the true issues of the heartland and offers them solutions on dealing with situations, should they ever be in one. Amar does this beautifully as he discusses cases and helps audiences look out for possible signs through discussions with psychologists, real cops and more…” said Anand Chakravarthy, Executive Vice President, Marketing, RBNL and Business Head, BIG Magic.
Speaking on hosting the show, Amar Upadhyay said: “BIG Magic is the newest entertainment channel that has swept the Heartland. With its specially created localized shows, the channel has been able to fulfill a huge entertainment lacuna in the region. I liked the concept of Police Files and its ability to help audiences deal with the growing crime rate in the region. I look forward to making this iconic show an ideal platform to fight crime and create awareness amongst public.”
The show hopes to empower viewers to be better equipped to deal with criminal situations. As part of the show, Mr Upadhyay will be seen engaged in discussions with psychiatrists, real lawyers and the real police, who discuss the reason, rationale, signs to look out for and more, when it comes to dealing with crime in the region.
Dalmia Bharat Group have announced the empanelment of Aegis Media’s Vizeum India as its media AoR.
Dalmia Bharat Group – a diversified business group – has further extended its current scope of partnership with Vizeum India. For records, Vizeum is already the media AoR for Dalmia Cement in Chennai. It is believed that the client satisfaction in the cement business led to Vizeum being enrolled for the Group assignment.
Confirming the same, BK Singh, Executive Director, Group Marketing and Corporate Communications, Dalmia Bharat, said: “It was a natural choice given our satisfactory partnership in cement business that we didn’t need to look beyond Vizeum for the media duties of the group. They have a proven track record with Dalmia Cement. The team is proactive, extremely passionate and provides a good balance of thinking and doing. We look forward to working with them.”
Commenting on the win, S Yesudas, Managing Director – Indian Subcontinent, Vizeum said: “We are truly humbled beyond words in expressing our delight for the faith our clients are placing on us. I take this opportunity to welcome Dalmia Bharat Group into the Vizeum family. We are thankful to BK and his team for considering us worthy. This assignment will be handled out of our Delhi and Chennai Offices.”
By Pradyuman Maheshwari
I was unable to get to Cannes as there was more pressing work here, but the best way to keep track was decidedly #CannesLions. In fact, as someone said, even if you were physically present at Cannes, it was a great way to get the buzz.
My hearty congratulations to Medianama and Nikhil Pahwa on the popular tech-telecom-media site’s fourth anniversary.
By Anil Thakraney
