United News of India (UNI), the multilingual news agency, has introduced a news service in Bengali. ‘UNI Bangla’ commenced its journey as the first full-fledged Bengali news agency.
Said Ajay Kaul, Editor-in-Chief of UNI of the Bengali service: “I am very excited about the launch of UNI Service in the Bengali language. This adds to the bouquet of UNI’s Services, which are already in operation in English, Hindi, Urdu and Kannada languages. We have deliberately chosen Bangla News Service as our new venture considering the richness and historic importance of this sweet language. I am confident that this news service will be beneficial for the Bengali media outlets and the Bengali readers. We intend to continue to expand our multilingual footprint.”
Laundry brand Ariel India has brought out a series of ads in matrimonial classifieds in a newspaper, encouraging prospective grooms to declare ‘I #ShareTheLoad’ in their matrimonial profiles.
Notes a communique: “It (Ariel India) has been advocating gender equality at home for seven years now, through its award-winning movement #ShareTheLoad. This year, Ariel’s #SeeEqual film that asks this relevant question – “If men can share the load equally with other men, why not with their wives?” has struck a chord with viewers having already garnered 100+ million views since it launched in February this year… With this initiative, Ariel is also reflecting the journey men have taken overall. The profiles of prospective grooms proudly adding ‘I #SharetheLoad’ is a reflection of change and openness demonstrated by Indian men towards their willingness to change and #SeeEqual.”
Sideways Consulting has announced strengthening its creative leadership. It has elevated Sameer Sojwal and roped in Nilay Moonje to jointly lead the creative team.
Said Abhijit Avasthi: “The last six years have set the stage for Sideways’ next growth phase. Sameer and Nilay are from that rare breed of creative folks whose work moves the market place and inspires the industry too. They are adept at traditional and new age businesses, and think beyond advertising in areas like product design and tech dev which are important to Sideways. Sameer and Nilay will be ably supported by our other creative group heads such as Misht, Viraj, Ninad, Vaibhav and Namaah.”
ShareChat, the multilingual social media company, has appointed Amit Zunjarwad as its Chief Product Officer. At ShareChat, Zunjarwad will build on ShareChat and Moj platforms’ momentum and play a critical role in building innovative and entertaining social experiences.
Most recently, AZ was Head of Engineering, Product and Data Sciences for Supply & Selection Ecosystem at Flipkart.
Said Ankush Sachdeva, Co-Founder & CEO, ShareChat and Moj: “I am delighted to welcome Amit to our leadership team. He brings a wealth of experience and insights from building large-scale disruptive businesses from the ground up and scaling them to sustainable business models. With his expertise in driving innovation and customer growth, we are sure to see new product innovations that will set the roadmap for the next phase of our growth. Amit will play a critical role in leading the product journey of all our platforms and deliver sustainable value to our user and creator communities.”
In 2018, I wondered if IPL could ever be the Super Bowl of India? With the IPL then attracted – it was a natural question. The last few years have demonstrated the expectation was hugely misplaced. 10 team format, suspect performances of marque teams and legends, high media cost, and fragmented audience, IPL has lost the chance of ever being Superbowl of India, at least in terms of advertising, media and communication.
This year ads breaking on IPL have left much to be desired, and I am surprised that some of them even made it to the screen. It places a big question mark over creative, strategic, media and clients and their decision making.
It always makes sense to invest in creativity. And more so when the associated media cost is as high as 14-16 Lak per 10 seconds. Good advertisements help in enhancing media efficiencies and resultant ROI. IPL is still the event to bank on. An excellent creative exposed less frequently is far better than a mediocre creative released more frequently. That’s the truth and not a secret. Everyone knows it, yet only a few seem to believe and act on it.
There is a concern about IPL dropping viewership, and everyone has their list of probable reasons. But, IPL is still the Superbowl equivalent in India but fails to get the brand and creative attention and excitement.
We have had our own share of excellent ads exploiting the opportunity IPL presents. One cannot forget Vodafone ZooZoos,Amazon Chonkpur cricket team, and Flipkart Kids. Initial ads from Dream11 were refreshingly fresh, and Airtel took creative leaps time and again. Even the Cred frenzy we have seen is a good example. However, in 15 years of IPL, creatives that became the talk of the town and a subject of discussion across the nation have been few.
Even the high media cost and sponsor’s share of the time have not stopped brands. Some 84 new brands advertised in the first 30-odd games of IPL. Not much can be said for their creativity. The ads don’t grow on you, but they tire you and fast become a blind spot.
FOGG still makes sense with their multiple situations. Dream11 had a dream until one realised their thinking seemed illogical. MyCircl11 used a creative device for your attention and then fizzled out. Cadbury, with ground staff focus, stands out but is not really a surprise; they have been exploiting opportunities, and IPL was no different. On the other hand, brands like Kamala Pasand, Vimal are mere passengers- you did not expect much other than adding the list of celebrity endorsers. However, the title sponsor’s Tata Neu has also disappointed in its pre-launch and post-launch ads.
It is time for the client and the agency to re-evaluate their strategic investment in the game. Re-evaluate their media vs creative cost and time weights, including the number of edits and films they need to make to properly exploit IPL. The brands need to work extra hard to be counted and associated with the property.
The audience comes to watch their teams and favourite sportsperson perform. Ads will always be an irritant. The challenge remains to create advertisements that the audience will engage with and want to watch. I think only Vodafone ZOOZOOs or Amazon Chonkpur scaled these heights and set the benchmark. And no brand has come near Vodafone in terms of exploiting the opportunity.
All have read the pitch right. Brands in IPL need to be sustainably disruptive with their communication and creative device for desired audience engagement and ROI. And the media data does not really capture this essence, and IPL alone cannot do the magic for the brand.
We have had a few brands attempting creative devices to capture audience imagination, taking disruption to heart. And few like RuPay wasting away the opportunity, and the ads are not hilarious.
Every time we ask a question like this, we hope that it’s the last time we ask a Covid-linked business forecast. But life’s been tough. Let’s hear/read it from Dr Bhaskar Das in the April 27 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. As someone associated with the business of media, do you see the surge in Covid cases given the XE strain impacting business?
A. This kind of question is very difficult to answer in a deterministic manner, especially in the context of legacy residue of the last two years. How does one predict when a pandemic shifts to endemic?
Having said that, as is widely believed and prescribed, vaccination (including booster dose) is the only route to develop better immunity and mitigate its spread against various strains (whichever alphabet it may belong to).
Given the current trend, I feel citizens have imbibed confidence that they have lived with it with a mix of vigil and prudence. It has been realised that livelihood is equally important as life. Hence if the show has to go on, we can collectively combat it and develop herd immunity against various versions of the virus. India’s growth story is still positive and business sentiments are also in the right direction. So, business may not be affected by the fear of another wave in the near future
To coincide with 75 years of independence, Netflix and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, have come together to honour unique real-life stories of extraordinary individuals through a series of inspiring short videos titled Azadi Ki Amrit Kahaniyan. This was launched in the presence of Anurag Thakur, Minister of Information and Broadcasting.
Said Bela Bajaria, Global Head of TV, Netflix: “Great stories can come from anywhere and are ever so inspiring when they are about people who rise against the odds. In partnership with The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Azadi Ki Amrit Kahaniyan focuses on celebrating remarkable individuals and their stories that can inspire people in India and around the world.”
VistaPrint digital printing, an online customization company, has launched an ad campaign, ‘Mera Naam, Meri Shaan’ (My Name My Pride) to help strengthen the business-customer relationship.
Said Bharath Sastry, CEO of VistaPrint India: “When a small business is appreciated by its customers, when an owner has created a legacy, when an entrepreneur is just starting up full of hope, when any individual just wants to create and display an identity, there is a sense of pride. We are attempting to celebrate this emotion”
Added Abhijit Avasthi, Founder of Sideways Consulting, who has created the ad.”Besides monetary benefits, for an entrepreneur or an owner an important outcome of running a business is establishing their identity and the respect that comes from doing so. The film we have created aims to capture this feeling that Vistaprint understands very well and provides services that bring it alive.”
We received an invite to the preview just the evening before so couldn’t attend it ourselves. But here’s a report based on a communique we received: The Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) unveiled three TVCs featuring Sachin Tendulkar and Mithali Raj to address each of the three identified key fears impacting the investors’ psyche – market volatility, new age digital trends and unregulated schemes.
Speaking on the occasion, A Balasubramanian, Chairman, AMFI, said in the statement: “We at AMFI, want to educate small savers to shift towards formal and regulated mode of investments, and opt for Mutual Funds as the preferred investment avenue. Last financial year the Mutual Fund Industry added 1.09 crore new Mutual Fund investors. A significant section of retail savers voiced their concerns about continued market volatility in the light of various global geo-political events. We wanted a voice of reason, someone who people trust to address the concern and educate them that it is best to ignore short term volatility and focus on long-term goals. Hence, we chose Sachin Tendulkar, our brand ambassador for this.”
Sirs/Mesdames, investment in mutual funds may be fine, but press event mein invitation itna late bhejna is surely not sahi.
Ad:tech New Delhi, the marketing and media technology event, concluded its opening day with an overwhelming response, notes a communique. The 2022 chapter of Ad:tech has over 100 speakers, 36 sessions, 35 sponsors and over 5000 signups for the event. It will be hosting 80+ companies across its expo floors, and the range of services stretch across various industry segments including, media, marketing, E-commerce, retail, technology services and products, etc. over the two days.
Said Jaswant Singh, Country Head, Ad:tech said: “Extremely thrilled to have seen an overwhelming response to the 2022 chapter with over 5000 registrations. It’s heartening to see that the theme R.I.S.E is truly relevant to the current market sentiments of moving towards a fast adapting and innovating digital marketing world. Marketers are increasingly looking at solutions that are data led and ROI driven and Ad:tech continues to their platform of choice for a decade.”
(Note: the organisers spell Ad:tech with a lower-cased a. MxM wasn’t able to attend the event, though we were invited to it)
Times Now Navbharat has launched a new marketing campaign called Dekhega Navbharat, Jeetega Bharat. It is A 100-day long nationwide consumer campaign has been unveiled with over 40,000 spots across channels.
Said MK Anand, MD & CEO, Times Network: “The first two weeks unrolled viewership data indicates that we have already achieved our first phase ranking target and broken into the A-set of HNCs. The best news is that our TSV performance is on target. We have ensured that our Distribution is the best in class with highest penetration and best locations in the EPGs across platforms giving Times Now Navbharat the highest OTS in the genre. The “Dekhega Navbharat, Jeetega Bharat” campaign is one of the biggest multimedia campaigns across categories and we are confident that we will see our Reach numbers go to capacity taking us to our final target.
Lintas C:EX Entertainment, the content business vertical of the MullenLowe Lintas Group, under the leadership of Yogesh Manwani has teamed up with Ravi Shastri for an unscripted series. Conceptualised by Lintas C:EX Entertainment, the series will be headlined by none other than former India men’s cricket captain, coach and commentator Ravi Shastri.
Said Amer Jaleel, Group CCO and Chairman of MullenLowe Lintas Group: “Since we began Lintas C:EX Entertainment last year, we have been exploring ideas that resonate with our vision and help set new benchmarks in the premium content space. The concept of this global unscripted series with Ravi is a testament of that vision. We are glad that Ravi shares our belief and passion for this concept and got on board right away. We are excited to partner with him and there could not have been a better start to our innings in the premium content business.”
United News of India (UNI), the multilingual news agency, has introduced a news service in Bengali. ‘UNI Bangla’ commenced its journey as the first full-fledged Bengali news agency.
Laundry brand Ariel India has brought out a series of ads in matrimonial classifieds in a newspaper, encouraging prospective grooms to declare ‘I #ShareTheLoad’ in their matrimonial profiles.
Sideways Consulting has announced strengthening its creative leadership. It has elevated Sameer Sojwal and roped in Nilay Moonje to jointly lead the creative team.
In 2018, I wondered if IPL could ever be the Super Bowl of India? With the IPL then attracted – it was a natural question. The last few years have demonstrated the expectation was hugely misplaced. 10 team format, suspect performances of marque teams and legends, high media cost, and fragmented audience, IPL has lost the chance of ever being Superbowl of India, at least in terms of advertising, media and communication.
Every time we ask a question like this, we hope that it’s the last time we ask a Covid-linked business forecast. But life’s been tough. Let’s hear/read it from Dr Bhaskar Das in the April 27 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…