MxMIndia

Author: mxmadmin

  • It's a question we ought to have asked yesterday, but we want the dust to settle a wee bit more, to get our Wizard with Words (and Wisdom) to offer a more considered response. So let's read what Dr Bhaskar Das has to say on #SonyZee in the December 24 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…

    Das ka Dum with Dr Bhaskar Das | The merger of Sony with Zee will see the creation of a behemoth. While we are sure things will go well, it’s sad to see a Zee Entertainment without a Subhash Chandra. Your sentiments?

    Bhaskar DasIt’s a question we ought to have asked yesterday, but we want the dust to settle a wee bit more, to get our Wizard with Words (and Wisdom) to offer a more considered response. So let’s read what Dr Bhaskar Das has to say on #SonyZee in the December 24 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…

     

    If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar.

     

    Q. The merger of Sony with Zee will see the creation of a behemoth. While we are sure things will go well, it’s sad to see a Zee Entertainment without a Subhash Chandra. Your sentiments?

     

    A. It’s a great strategic move. Both the channels would complement each other in multiple areas especially in the sports space, I can imagine. About you feeling sad is inconsequential in the overall strategic context of the merger. Business can’t be run on emotions. It has to move on strategic synergy that ensures both competitive advantage and future readiness. Finally, I would add that it is too early to comment on alp (all possible play) when the ink isn’t dry on the definitive agreement. I am sure the combined whole brain calibration of the new entity would evoke many possibilities that would benefit all the stakeholders at the demand and supply side of the business.

     

  • Felicitate truck drivers who risked their lives during Covid

    TV9 & Shriram Transport Finance Company celebrate ‘Highway Heroes’

    By Our Staff

     

    TV9 Network, in partnership with Shriram Transport Finance Company (STFC) Ltd. and Apollo Hospitals. announced ‘Highway Heroes’ felicitating truck drivers who stood rock solid through Covid-19.

     

    Commenting on the success this social campaign received, Barun Das, CEO, TV9 Network, said: “The pandemic has been a great learning for all of us. We are conscious of our responsibility as the #1 News Network. We realised that with great power comes great responsibility and we decided that we will remain true to our core which is to be of service to the public. We, therefore, decided to raise pertinent questions, and also address issues that needed to be discussed, hence was born ‘Highway Heroes’.”

     

    Added Umesh Revankar, Vice Chairman, Shriram Transport Finance Company: “As India emerges from the shadows of the pandemic, it is time to acknowledge the foot soldiers who kept the country on the move in face of sheer adversity. That’s why we thought that vaccinating truck drivers was the best possible way to salute their spirit and create awareness among this important segment of the transportation community against any vaccine hesitancy.”

     

    Said S Balamurugan, Lead CSR, STFC: “We, at STFC, believe that support and care can transform their lives. Our endeavour is to provide continuous support to our partners, while, also focusing on their well-being. Since one’s health plays an important role in one’s wellbeing, we have been conducting medical check-ups for drivers and their families. The vaccination drive is a natural extension of our current focus on the well-being of truck drivers.”

     

  • Endorsed the International Declaration of Communications Professionals and Researchers

    PRCAI signs for Healthier World

    By Our Staff

     

    The Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PRCAI) has endorsed the International Declaration of Communications Professionals and Researchers for a Healthier, Viable, Better World, becoming the first signatory of the global declaration in India.

     

    Said Deeptie Sethie, CEO, PRCAI: “PRCAI is proud to join its voice to this worldwide solidarity that harnesses the power of our combined communication skills and knowledge around the ethical, transparent and trustworthy role of communication. PRCAI commits to use its expertise to help restore hope in our society and redefine our vision of a better future  − one that cares for nature and humanity.  We invite all public relations practitioners, agencies and our corporate peers to support the Declaration and share its values in their mission and all their activities”, The global impact of Covid-19 is seeing global priorities shift due to sanitary, social, economic, and financial upheaval, stressing just how fragile our world is. But in the midst of this chaos, new energy and creativity driven by interesting initiatives are sparking renewed mobilization around the world.”

     

     

  • It is estimated that online gaming industry is touching the $2.8 billion dollar mark

    Dangal Games launches Fantasy Kabaddi ahead of PKL

    By Our Staff

     

    Dangal online skill-based gaming platform has announced the launch of ‘Fantasy Kabaddi’ for gaming aficionados ahead of the Pro Kabaddi League. This unified multi gaming platform has managed to carve a niche amongst the Indian gaming community and is accessible across the Android platform.

     

    Said Varun Mahna, Founder & CEO of Dangal Games: “With the launch of Fantasy Kabaddi, we are constantly researching and innovating our platform for making tech enabled gaming experience seamless. By drawing relevance and encouraging a competitive edge amongst the like-minded communities, our endeavour has been to provide a platform that not only entertains but is advanced enough for the physical sport lovers to engage with. Dangal Games has been reporting exponential growth year on year and have gained widened interest through meaningful connections with the users.”

     

    Added Ankit Anand, Business Head at Dangal Games: “We are aiming to reach 10 lakh+ user-base on Dangal Games through Fantasy Sports within six months period and 50Lac+ overall user base in the next 12 months. Fantasy sports as an industry, I think, will continue to grow. Currently there are more than 100 active apps promoting fantasy gaming on their platforms and reassures of the gaining popularity of the segment amongst the tech savvy generation.”

     

  • Should I even mention that in another world, the very call for genocide itself would have dominated all news, writes Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji: Much love for hate speech?

    Ranjona BanerjiBy Ranjona Banerji

     

    Is it worth it? Do you really want to know?

     

    How a gathering of Hindu priests and religious leaders three spent days calling for genocide against Muslims and it barely got noticed, until Mohammed Zubair of Alt News put out a series of tweets? Not from the mainstream media, o no, ladies and gentlemen, o no.

     

    The “Dharm Sansad at Haridwar from December 17 to 19 had several Hindus planning genocide, exhorting people to buy weapons and discussing how much weaponry it would take to kill all India’s Muslims. This “conclave” was organised by Yati Narsinghanand Giri, well-known for making “hate speeches”. Is a call for genocide “hate speech” or is it incitement to violence? Or do the rules change when a Hindu calls for violence?

     

    The Wire: https://thewire.in/communalism/hindutva-leaders-dharma-sansad-muslim-genocide

     

    As some of us watched the news unfold on social media aghast, on December 23, we waited for an explosion of outrage from the media, especially from our television channels. It was very slow in coming except for NDTV which was on it right away, condemnation and news coverage.  Neha Khanna on India Ahead News was hardhitting. All other news media eventually got onto to it as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nYXaYSx56o

     

    This morning, I went through the Twitter feeds of India Today, Times Now, Aaj Tak, News18, ABPNews just to check how they responded.

     

    The biggest and most welcome surprise was Times Now: The two lynchings in Punjab, cricket, a fire in Kota got maximum prominence. However, anchor Padmaja Joshi in her evening show was scathing about the conference with full condemnation as was one of her guests who called out genocide incitement. Joshi was also very strong while taking with another guest, a woman dressed in orange who appeared to be justifying the conference. The eventual FIR filed against Wasim Rizvi for the conference was part of the news feed this morning.

     

    India Today’s basic concentration of news was on the blast at a Ludhiana Court and on the rise of the Omicron variant. However, it did cover the eventual FIR filed by the Uttarakhand Police and a complaint made by Trinamool politician Saket Gokhale. This was couched as: Haridwar conference “triggers row”. This is a common journalistic deflection where you do not take on the event itself – Hindu priests calling for murder of Muslims – but concentrate instead on reactions from other people. However, anchor Preeti Choudhry did take on hate speech although she did start with “I don’t have much time” and then allowed her guest, a former IPS officer to discuss how no one, especially state governments, takes action against hate speech from “both sides”. Thus, while discussing open incitement to murder of Muslims by Hindus, we throw in how Muslims are also responsible. This blatant communalism was not contested by Chaudhry who didn’t as she admitted have much time.

     

    News18, which for some reason still has its connection with CNN, did not appear to find the conference newsworthy. Thus, the Ludhiana blast, Covid, random celebrity news, cricket and the Congress in trouble in Uttarakhand were its main promoted news. Haridwar is also in Uttarakhand but never mind. The anchor who protects Hindus, Anand Narasimhan was rabbiting on about some UK MP. United Kingdom UK not Uttarakhand. Hindus calling for murder of Muslims cannot evidently be covered by the “Right Stand”.

     

    I saw no more.

     

    I wasted some time on ABP News and AajTak and was not disappointed because they clearly did not find calls for genocide newsworthy. I did learn that AajTak concentrates a lot on astrology and the zodiac every morning. News indeed.

     

    NDTV has continued to cover the story.

     

    However, and this is for all news coverage of the Haridwar conference. The so-called FIR by the Uttarakhand Police needs further examination. The main person named is Wasim Rizvi who recently “converted” Hinduism. He is not the organiser of the conference, which is Giri who is not named in the FIR.

     

    The media might like to consider that to name a Muslim as the main offender in calls for genocide against Muslims by Hindu priests is just the Hindu state of the BJP in action. Uttarakhand is BJP-ruled and goes to the polls next year.

     

    Should I even mention that in another world, the very call for genocide itself would have dominated all news and the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister of the BJP and members of the RSS would have been held up to scrutiny?

     

    Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She writes on MxMIndia on Tuesdays and Fridays. Her views here are personal

     

  • Presenting a pick of the Amul topicals this year… 21 of them

    Utterly 2021licious Delicious!

     

    We love the Amul topical advertisements. Not just for the creatives, because in many ways they capture the mood of the nation, as well as touch upon critical events. Presenting what we think are the pick of the Amul topicals of the year. Twenty-one of them? Or perhaps a few more

     

  • To outsource all delivery tasks to Swiggy Genie this Christmas

    Swiggy Genie & Dentsu Webchutney to deliver gifts like Santa

    By Our Staff

     

    Dentsu Webchutney has launched the #SantaOpenToWork campaign for Swiggy Genie. It depicts how gift-givers can outsource all their delivery tasks to Swiggy Genie this Christmas, just the way Santa is.

     

    Said Sneha John, Director- Marketing, Swiggy: “We wanted to remind Swiggy users and non-users alike that they can depend on Swiggy Genie to take care of gift deliveries and other chores this Christmas season. The #SantaOpenToWork campaign does just that, with some Christmas cheer and smart humour.”

     

    Added Sanket Audhi, Creative Director, Dentsu Webchutney: “Our starting point was quite simple: if Swiggy Genie is taking over deliveries, what will Santa Claus do? But we knew we had a winner when we thought of crafting the entire campaign around the #OpenToWork feature, which has become an instantly recognisable mnemonic. I hope people have as much fun watching the campaign as we had creating it.”

     

  • FanCraze will be exclusively launching his personal NFTs on the platform

    Rohit Sharma sets foot in cricket metaverse

    By Our Staff

     

    Faze Technologies, a startup that builds digital collectibles, has announced that Rohit Sharma will be exclusively launching his personal NFTs on FanCraze, a non-fungible token (NFT) platform.

     

    Said Anshum Bhambri, the startup’s CEO: “We view marquee athletes as artists who create their best moments of art on the field of play. We are very excited to partner with Rohit Sharma, a pure cricketing genius, to build the new paradigm of engagement between the athlete and the fan.”

     

    FanCraze has already agreed a three-year deal with the International Cricket Council (ICC) for the rights to its catalogue of video and audio clips, which goes back to 1975. It is creating thousands of NFTs linked to specific clips, which cricket fans will be able to buy in packs and trade on a secondary market.

     

  • Hires Shallet D’Silva as HR Director

    Ipsos India ramps up HR team

    By Our Staff

     

    Sanskrati-Pathak-Sail
    Sanskrati Pathak Sail
    Shallet D’Silva
    Shallet D’Silva

    Global market research company Ipsos has reinforced its HR Team in India with the hiring of Shallet D’Silva as HR Director. She will report to Sanskrati Pathak Sail, Country HRD Lead, Ipsos India.

     

    Said Sail: “For a vibrant and growing market like India where people acquisition, engagement and other HR specialties are the need of hour, D’Silva is a great addition in the Ipsos India HR organistaion . I am excited as she will work closely with me on HR Strategies and lead the implementation of other macro plans for Ipsos in India.”

     

    Amit Adarkar
    Amit Adarkar

    Added Amit Adarkar, CEO, Ipsos India: “Human Resources has played a key role in managing the mental and physical wellbeing of our employees during the prolonged pandemic. And as we end another tough year, we firmly believe that a robust HR team with varied skillsets is extremely important for an organisation like ours where it is employees led.”

     

  • Through the influencer campaign, Iodex aims to reach 10Mn people

    Iodex ropes in Bani J & Sunil Chhetri  for campaign

    By Our Staff

     

     

    View this post on Instagram

     

    A post shared by ⚡LadyRocknRolla (@banij)

    Iodex Balm, from the house of GSK Consumer Healthcare, has rolled out its Instagram Influencer campaign with Bani J and Sunil Chhetri amongst others to launch ‘Iodex Rapid Action Spray’, a body pain relief solution for consumers.

     

    Through its communication, the brand celebrates stories of #Himmat of people who have made a mark in their field with determination and courage. And highlights those moments of musculoskeletal pain, which are frequently encountered during day to day physical activities.

     

    Eighteen influencers including eminent personalities such as Sunil Chhetri and Bani J will be posting 50 content pieces, which will be reaching out to an audience of over 10 Mn.

     

    Said Anurita Chopra, Head Of Marketing, India Sub Continent, GSK Consumer Healthcare: “Influencer marketing is one of the best ways to stay connected with consumers. It’s about showing people engaging with brands and connecting with like-minded people who have the same interests or needs. With changing lifestyles, the incidences of body pain have been on a rise. Iodex, with a rich legacy of over a century, truly understands pain and with the launch of the new spray format we aim to be a one stop solution catering to every pain type.”

     

  • For mass visibility and track effectiveness by mapping coordinates of the sites to the orders

    Havas Tribes rolls out OOH campaign for Swiggy Instamart

    By Our Staff

     

    Havas Media Tribes, the strategic partnership between Havas Media Group India and the Tribes Group, has rolled out a high decibel OOH campaign for Swiggy Instamar, a longstanding client of Havas Media Group.

     

    Said Ashish Lingamneni, Head of Brand, Swiggy: “With Instamart now present in 19 cities, the overwhelming response we are receiving for this instant grocery delivery service is a testament to our mission to bring unparalleled convenience to our consumers. As part of our 360-degree marketing campaign, we used OOH as a key lever to promote Swiggy Instamart’s proposition. Havas Media Tribes has been instrumental in identifying the right locations across cities while maximising our reach and visibility. We have received a lot of positive response for this campaign”

     

    Added Gour Gupta, CEO & MD, Tribes Group: “The strategic alliance with Havas Media Group India is an exciting partnership that gives us an opportunity to create meaningful campaigns for marquee clients in this competitive environment. The objective of this campaign is not just mass visibility but also tracking the effectiveness by mapping the coordinates of the sites to the orders received in that region. We created a plan basis Instamart’s serviceability area, wherein the coordinates of each site were checked and selected precisely. The execution by the team was seamless and was no mean feat, given the logistical challenges involved.”

     

    Said Saurabh Jain, Managing Partner – South, Havas Media said: “The Havas Media Group and Tribes strategic alliance reinforces Havas’s operating system of MX, that empowers our clients with tools to build more meaningful media experiences. For a disruptor brand like Swiggy, we had to take the high road, a category leadership stance in the post-lockdown world, by launching this high-impact and meaningful OOH campaign.”

     

     

  • Redefines 'boldness' with brand ambassador Kartik Aaryan

    Wunderman Thompson launches new TVC for Doritos

    By Our Staff

     

    Doritos Chips has released a television commercial featuring brand ambassador Kartik Aaryan. The new campaign showcases ‘bold self-expression’ with tagline ‘For The Bold’.

     

    Said Ankit Agarwal, Associate Director, Brand Marketing – PepsiCo India: “At Doritos, we believe that today’s generation exemplifies bold self-expression like no other, and we aim to put this attitude at the heart of everything that we do. This campaign not just epitomizes this belief, but is also fun, fresh, and larger than life. We are confident that this new campaign will connect with the audience and encourage them to express themselves, in their own bold ways.”

     

    Discussing the campaign, Ritu Nakra, Senior Vice President, Wunderman Thompson, added: “With the tooth-rattling loud crunch of Doritos, we salute the courageous personality of the bold tribe. As the tagline “For the Bold” suggests, Doritos enables you to be you. Bite into Doritos along with Kartik and hear the loud satisfying crunch of this intensely flavoured corn chip as you enjoy this new campaign from the brand.”