MxMIndia

Author: mxmadmin

  • Being in media gives Alka the dual advantage of interacting with smart professionals from both, the clients' and channel's end.

    Alka Pillai: Media Director, Madison India

    Experience: 12 years

     

    Alka Pillai has been into media planning for the past 12 years. She has worked on different categories and with different clients like P&G, Godrej, Essel group, Pidilite, TTN, Lodha, Tata AIG, Blue Star.

     

    “I got into media planning because it is very dynamic and every day is action oriented. Being in media gives me the dual advantage of interacting with smart professionals from both, the clients’ and channel’s end. It allows me to gain fresh perspective on things every single day.”

     

     

  • In Lodestar UM, handling both planning & buying really helped Sujata groom her understanding & thinking on Media as a whole in its entirety.

    Sujata Pawar: Vice President, Lodestar UM

    (Experience: 14 years)

     

    Sujata has done her post graduation in Communications, and has worked with agencies like Media Com (6+yrs), Starcom (2yrs), and Lodestar Universal (6+ yrs). She has handled a strong portfolio of clients including Marico, Gujarat Ambuja, Kelloggs, Heinz, Bisleri, Kelloggs, Birla Life Insurance, L’Oreal, Mahindra & Mahindra, Nerolac, Conagra, Abbott, etc.

     

    On the reason for opting for this field, she said: “I have always felt comfortable with numbers, my friends who knew of this advised me to consider media planning so I chose to come into this field.” In fact Sujata Pawar is fortunate enough to have worked with senior media professionals like Shashi Sinha, Nandini Dias, Jasmine Sohrabji, Harish Shriyan, Divya Gupta, Gita Ram, Andre Purshottam & Ravi Kiran.

     

    Sounding her mantra for all to practice, she said: “It is important to be constantly learning new things for mental stimulation and growth. In Lodestar UM, handling both planning & buying really helped groom understanding & thinking on Media as a whole in its entirety.”

     

  • Google sites, Facebook and Yahoo! Sites Lead as Top Destinations in India, reports comScore Media Metrix

    1 in 4 online mins spent on social networking in June

    Digital media measurement leader comScore has released a study on the top online sites and activities in India from its comScore Media Metrix service. The report says that Google sites ranked as the top destination in June 2012 reaching nearly 95 percent of the online population, while social networking reigned as the top online activity accounting for 25.2 percent of all online minutes.

     

    In June 2012, Google sites ranked as the top online destinations in India reaching 57.8 million people age 15 and older accessing the Internet from a home or work computer. Facebook.com followed with 50.9 million visitors (83.4 percent reach), followed by Yahoo! sites (65.5 percent reach) and Microsoft Sites (48.1 percent reach). Local web properties secured several spots in the top 10 ranking, including Times Internet Limited, reaching 33.7 percent of the online population, Network 18 (29.3 percent reach), Rediff.com India Ltd (25.2 percent reach) and NIC.in (21.8 percent reach).

     

    Among the top properties, visitors were most engaged on Facebook.com, spending an average of nearly four hours on the site in June. Visitors spent 2.5 hours on Google sites, with YouTube accounting for a strong share of time spent on the property. Among local brands, Network 18 led as the most engaging property with visitors averaging 31.6 minutes during the month.

     

    An analysis of the top online activities in India found that social networking accounted for 25.2 percent of all time spent online in June, an increase of 0.8 percentage points from the previous year, as social media continues to be a primary driver of people’s daily digital media consumption. Entertainment sites ranked second, accounting for 10 percent of minutes (up 1.2 percentage points from the previous year), while Portals accounted for 8.8 percent of total minutes. Although it represented just 2.0 percent of total minutes, time spent on Retail sites grew 0.5 points in the past year as online shopping continued to gain adoption.

     

  • ‘Advertising as an industry attracts a lot of women’

    Young, well qualified and trained Lara Balsara is all set to take her father Sam Balsara’s legacy further – not only in terms of steering Madison Communications to a new level, but also in her acumen for all things media and peripheral to it. A Graduate in Economics from St Xavier’s College, she embellished her inherent skills with a Masters in Marketing from Bristol University. In a brief conversation with Ritu Midha, Lara Balsara talks about her work mantras and more.

     

    What is your take on work-life balance?

    If you want to succeed at the work place, there is no such thing as work- life balance. You have to be available 24/7 during weekdays for sure. The “balance” comes from taking frequent short breaks over the weekend and pursuing a hobby.

     

    Women like yourself are scaling great heights in media industry. Why do you think, media planning and buying attract so many women professionals?

    Advertising as an industry attracts a lot of women.

     

    Do you believe that in a few professions, women still have to work harder than men to prove their worth?

    Maybe in some other professions, but not in advertising and media for sure. Women might find it a bit more challenging because they have to manage work and home.

     

    Moving to marketing, do women look for emotional quotient in the brand marketing – or is it now logic all the way?

    It would be a combination of both and would also depend on the product category.

     

    Lastly, how would you define a diva?

    A diva is someone who is confident and comfortable in her own skin and who sets new trends and benchmarks and doesn’t necessarily follow trends or people.

     

  • The virtual temple on the Ramayan Facebook page is a re-creation of the Ram Durbar showcasing Lord Rama, Lakshman and Sita with Hanuman

    Zee TV creates ‘virtual temple’ for Ramayan

    By A Correspondent

     

    Zee TV’s latest salvo in the cyber-competitive world of social networking websites is an innovative ‘virtual temple’ on the Facebook page of its new mythological show, ‘Ramayan’.

     

    The virtual temple holds the promise of a few moments of daily spiritual solace for netizens. The imagery, the colors and the music used have a calming effect and can easily transport a devotee to a harmonious, divine space. Packaged beautifully, the temple is a re-creation of the Ram Durbar showcasing Lord Rama, Lakshman and Sita with Lord Hanuman. The temple has unique features that let them ring the bell, light a diya, play a choice of aartis, shower flowers and smear haldi kumkum on the deities, break a coconut and even rotate the aarti ki thali!

     

    In the coming days, Zee TV also plans to create a mobile application that will make the virtual temple available to smartphone users and let them interact with ‘Ramayan’ through aartis and chaupaayis.

     

    The launch of the virtual Ram Mandir comes in the wake of the launch of new mythological series ‘Ramayan’ which went on air on Sunday, August 12 on Zee TV and Doordarshan.

     

  • Having completed a year, Brunch Quarterly has been renamed Brunch Q. The magazine will take on a new and improved format with each issue created around a special theme

    New name, look for HT’s Brunch Quarterly

    By A Correspondent

     

    HT Media Limited (HTML) has unveiled the new avatar of its magazine Brunch Quarterly.  Having completed a year, Brunch Quarterly has been renamed Brunch Q. The magazine will take on a new and improved format with each issue created around a special theme. Brunch Q seeks to help readers in their ‘Quest for the Good Life!’

     

    Poonam Saxena, Editor, Brunch Q, commented on the revamp, “With the Brunch Quarterly completing one successful year of publication the time was right to give our growing reader base something more punchy and exciting.  The revamped magazine hits the stands with an eclectic collection of stories and features – the equivalent of an unputdownable book.  There’s Aamir (Khan) and Sunny Leone like never before, plus a special Wellness section and a guide to portable gadgets. We are planning to continue this new format in the following issues with a wide variety of interesting and engaging content making each issue of Brunch Q a collector’s special.”

     

    The 140-pager Brunch Q will retail at newsstands for Rs 100. The first issue under this new format, August-October 2012, has a special segment on wellness covering spas, tips from celebrity dietitians and trainers, a story on organic and healthier alternatives to everyday food items plus a feature on Yoga.

     

    The revamped magazine comes in a larger format (22.5wX29.5h) and the paper and production quality has also been kept on par with the best international magazines.

     

    Rajan Bhalla, Head – Corporate Marketing and Magazines, HT Media said, “We decided to give Brunch Quartely a makeover for the benefit of our readers. With over 31.53* Lakh readers who enjoy HT Brunch every Sunday, the demand for Brunch Q is high among the targeted SEC A & A+ segments and it is most popular among the 25 -45-year age bracket. We wanted to give our readers, who are progressive, smart and well read, a sharper, wittier and more exciting experience. We have improved the design and added new content complemented with international print quality. We are certain that Brunch Q will be embraced by our readers.”

     

    Approximately 1.25 lakh copies of Brunch Q will be circulated on newsstands each quarter, across the country. The magazine will be heavily promoted in HT Media Group properties such as Hindustan Times, Fever 104 FM and Mint. The Brunch Weekly, circulated with Hindustan Times on the weekend, however, will remain same.

     

  • Dippak Khurana, Co-founder and CEO, Vserv.mobi says its ad network is creating a compelling choice for brands to commence their mobile advertising journey

    Vserv.mobi client portfolio grows 3X

    By A Correspondent

     

    Vserv.mobi, a leading mobile advertising network for app developers, publishers and advertisers announced that their client portfolio of advertisers and brands has grown three times over the last quarter. Some of the marquee names amongst the company’s clients are top brands such as Mahindra & Mahindra, Microsoft, Google, ICICI Bank, Airtel, Nokia, Titan, Toyota, General Motors, Mid-Day, Dulux, Maruti and Aircel.

     

    Commenting on the company’s growth and strategy for advertisers, Dippak Khurana, Co-founder and CEO, Vserv.mobi said, “Being among the frontrunners of the mobile advertising wave in India, we have always strived to push the mobile ecosystem forward. Through constant innovation on our ad formats such as premium full screen ads and a clutter free viewing experience, we believe that our ad network is creating a compelling choice for brands to commence their mobile advertising journey.”

     

    Berg Insight, an independent wireless analyst firm states that the total value of the global mobile marketing and advertising market will see 37 percent growth by 2016, bringing the industry’s total value to USD 22.6 billion. Riding this wave, Vserv.mobi saw an 18X increase in premium inventory clicks on its network in the last one year, which contributed to 41% of the total click mix. This growth was driven by demand for powerful monetization by the company’s flagship technology, AppWrapper. With its simple one-click and zero-coding monetisation process, the unique AppWrapper has contributed to building Vserv.mobi’s repository of 10,000+ exclusive apps from developers across the globe. These apps along with mobile internet sites serve as powerful ad inventory for advertisers on impactful formats such as Full Screen Ads, Video, HTML5 interactive ads on both feature phone and smart phone apps.

     

    Commenting on the prospects of the rising mobile internet usage in India, Kshitiz Randhir Shori, Head of Sales – India, Vserv.mobi said, “We have seen tremendous traction with new brands that are starting to work with us, as well as RO value increasing significantly across our portfolio. As the mobile medium grows, brands are increasingly showing interest in our differentiated mobile media offerings that offers massive reach, unique ad placement, impactful ad formats and thus offering the best bang for the buck. With the festival season coming up, our ability to carry out circle/state targeting on the mobile will play a key role for brands looking at reaching the right audience with the right regional festive message.”

     

    Since Vserv’s inception in January 2010, the company has been delivering App and mobile web advertising for leading Fortune 500 brands & digital media companies, in over 200 countries. KFC is one of the many companies that initiated its mobile advertising journey using the company’s ‘AppWrapper’ technology. “Companies such as KFC have been instrumental in transforming the mobile advertising paradigm and we are proud to have partnered with them for this journey. The rising demand from marketers has augured well for us and we are strengthening our team, to continue growing the market.” added Mr Shori.

     

  • I am getting increasingly convinced that the time has indeed come for some amount of censorship in the media. If it's not going to happen through self, then it must, sadly, come in from the outside

    Anil Thakraney: Time for some media censorship?

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    18 Again has done it again. This time they’ve sold their ‘vaginal tightening’ gel inside a family newspaper. (In a previous post, I had expressed concern over the suitability of this product for television advertising.) I guess the next stop is hoardings, bus shelters and radio. Thankfully, I don’t have children. But to all those of you who do, be prepared to answer a cute question from your sweet baby: Daddy, what does vaginal tightening mean??

     

    And not to be left behind by an advertiser, our news channels have decided to go a step further. Murdered air hostess Geetika Sharma’s autopsy report is being freely broadcasted. Without a pause, young TV reporters have been spewing out gory details of her ‘unnatural sexual habits’. As if they’d landed a coup. For god’s sake, what’s the point in revealing that in the media? What good is it going to do to the criminal case? Can Kandaji be nailed on this sensational ‘discovery’? And what public interest is being served out here?

     

    What will happen instead are three things. One, bring a great deal of embarrassment to her family members, who are already grieving the loss of a young one. Two, provoke wild public speculation on the woman’s life, and she’s not even around to defend herself. And three, you, dear reader, be prepared to answer a cute question from your sweet baby: Daddy, what does unnatural sex mean??

     

    Yup, with every passing day I am getting increasingly convinced that the time has indeed come for some amount of censorship in the media. If it’s not going to happen through self, then it must, sadly, come in from the outside.

     

    The other day a friend casually asked if I would ever be tempted to commit suicide. It can happen. If a ‘Top Gun’ filmmaker like Tony Scott can end his life abruptly, we mere mortals are quite capable of it. My response was an emphatic ‘NO’! For just one reason: I dread the speculation the news channels will indulge in over my ‘messed up’ life. God knows what sort of dirt they’ll fling on my dead face. Don’t need that crap, thank you very much.

     

    I am staying put!

     

    ***

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”220″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdDU_BBJW9Y[/youtube]

    PS: This is easily the best corporate audio visual film I have watched in my life. The LEGO toys group is celebrating its 80th birthday. And they have used the occasion to tell us their story through animation. Charming, wonderful and very interesting. Now this is the way for organizations to tell us about their past.

     

  • NBA India's Akash Jain says this is the largest fan programme they have hosted in India and the wide range of basketball and lifestyle elements will provide memorable experiences

    NBA 3X bounces ahead in September

    By A Correspondent

     

    The National Basketball Association (NBA) has announced that it will launch the first-ever NBA 3X presented by Sprite in India, in September.  The free interactive event will combine basketball and entertainment to bring an unprecedented NBA experience to fans in four cities from September 15 to October 21.  The event will visit Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Mumbai and this will mark the NBA’s first event in Hyderabad.

     

    NBA 3X presented by Sprite will feature the largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament ever staged in India with 400 teams expected to participate; performances from top musical artists or well-known DJ each day; and a variety of on and off the court activities for fans.

     

    The 3-on-3 tournament will have two age divisions: 16-18 and 18-23.  The winners in each city will be flown to Mumbai to compete in a National Championship on Oct. 21. The National Champions in each division will qualify to participate in a 2013 FIBA/NBA Asia 3-on-3 basketball tournament.

     

    Seven-time NBA Champion Robert Horry and the Golden State Warriors dance team, the Warrior Girls, will be in Delhi to tip off the event on Sept. 15-16.  Horry played 16 seasons in the NBA for four teams.  His seven championships are the most of any player not to have played on the 1960’s Boston Celtics.  Horry will also attend the Mahindra NBA Challenge Finals in Bangalore and conduct an NBA Cares event in Delhi with Love in Action — a Delhi-based NGO which uses the sport of basketball to provide life-skills education to children from slums.

     

    The musical artists and DJ’s performing include hip hop and Bollywood artist Hard Kaur; leading electronic and dance music duo VJ Nikhil Chinapa and DJ Pearl; award-winning singer Anushka Manchanda, past winner of Channel V’s music talent hunt search Pop Stars; along with two of India’s top DJs – Clement and Ajit (Goa).

     

    NBA 3X presented by Sprite will bring authentic NBA-style entertainment to fans in India.  Fans will participate in a variety of free contests and activities with the chance to win NBA merchandise.  They can participate in basketball clinics, play NBA video games, measure themselves against cut-outs of NBA players, and interact with Horry and the Warrior Girls.  For a full event schedule or to register for the 3on3 tournament, fans can visit NBA.com.

     

    NBA 3X presented by Sprite is being supported by adidas, HP, Spalding and the Basketball Federation of India (BFI).  Sprite will send two participants from the national champion team in the 18-23 division to NBA All-Star 2013.  These two participants may get a chance to be part of the global pool of players from which NBA All-Stars Kobe Bryant and LeBron James will select to be part of the Sprite Team Sudden and Team Intense competition during NBA-All Star 2013. In addition, the first Sprite Basket Blast 2012 will take place in select cinemas across select cities in India from September through October.

     

    HP will create an interactive technology experience for fans visiting NBA 3X presented by Sprite.  Fans can utilize HP products to access NBA.com, NBA social media, basketball training videos and create their very own NBA Avatar.  Spalding will provide all basketball equipment.

     

    “We are extremely pleased to announce brand Sprite’s association with the NBA 3X initiative. Sprite is an exciting and vibrant brand that has always maintained a meaningful connection with its consumers through engaging initiatives,” said Wasim Basir, Director, Integrated Marketing Communications, Coca-Cola India. “We look forward to working together with the NBA to develop more innovative basketball experiences that will resonate well with our consumers in India and give them the opportunity to be closely involved with the sport. We hope that NBA 3X presented by Sprite becomes a great success and is well appreciated by our consumers.”

     

    “NBA 3X presented by Sprite will combine NBA-style entertainment, 3-on-3 basketball, and music to engage youth and build our fan base in India,” said NBA India Senior Director of Development Akash Jain.  “This is the largest fan programme we have ever hosted in India and the wide range of basketball and lifestyle elements will provide memorable experiences for our fans.”

     

    Here is the schedule for NBA 3X presented by Sprite:

    CITY DATE LOCATION MUSICAL PERFORMANCES
    Delhi Sept.15-16 Great India Place Mall Sept. 15: Hard KaurSept. 16: Nikhil Chinapa and DJ Pearl
    Hyderabad Sept. 22-23 MJ College Sept. 22: Anushka ManchandaSept. 23:  Nikhil Chinapa and DJ Pearl
    Chennai Oct. 13-14 Besant Nagar Beach Oct. 13: Anushka ManchandaOct. 14: Nikhil Chinapa and DJ Pearl
    Mumbai Oct. 20-21 Inorbit Mall Oct. 20: DJ Clement and DJ AjitOct. 21: Anushka Manchanda

     

    About the NBA

    The NBA is a global sports and media business that features three professional sports leagues: the National Basketball Association, the Women’s National Basketball Association, and the NBA Development League. The league has established a major international presence, with offices in 15 markets worldwide, games and programming in 215 countries and territories in 47 languages, and NBA merchandise for sale in more than 125,000 stores in 100 countries on six continents. Current NBA rosters feature 78 international players from 39 countries and territories. The NBA’s digital assets include NBA TV, which is available in nearly 60 million U.S. homes, and NBA.com, which averages more than 42 million page views per day, more than half of which originate from outside of North America. The NBA is the No. 1 professional sports league on social media, with more than 300 million fans and followers globally across all league, team, and player platforms. Through NBA Cares, the league and its teams and players have donated more than $200 million to charity, completed more than 1.9 million hours of hands-on community service, and created more than 720 places where kids and families can live, learn, or play.

     

    # # #

     

    For further information, please contact:

    Aaron Gomes – aaron.gomes@adfactorspr.com

    9819496494

     

    Rohan Alvares – rohan.alvares@adfactorspr.com

    9820564549

  • Digital is not a magic wand. Users don't close their browsers and run to the nearest store just because they saw a brand's digital marketing campaign.

    The Anchor: Yutaka Kamoshita’s 5 must-have digital strategies to improve brand ROI

    By Yutaka Kamoshita

     

    #1 Set clear agreement amongst stakeholders on what is ‘Return on Investment’

    This is where everything begins.

     

    Digital is not a magic wand. Users don’t close their browsers and run to the nearest store just because they saw a brand’s digital marketing campaign. But if a user comes across a brand hoarding and remembers that brand’s digital campaign which ran say, three months ago, then perhaps one can say that digital has worked to some extent. In case of this example, the brand stakeholders’ perspective would be “At this phase, our ROI should be evaluated by users’ content consumption behaviour and not yet by sales.”

     

    Unlike this example, ROI is clearer for web-service brands such as eCommerce. But still, is volume of sales the only critical KPI? Or is someone on the brand team looking at number of new user registrations as well? It is a marketer’s responsibility to define what the KPI really are. They need to identify the KPI and develop clear, concise agreement with stakeholders. These are time intensive and not easy, but inevitably, the best way forward.

     

    #2 Let users decide – not ‘gut-feel’

    Decision-making is a subjective action. If you are stumped between short-listing one main copy line from two other options, create three different versions and roll-out a quick test run on the web. It’s the user feedback and opinion and not gut-feel that is the best measure to prove what works. This works well after Step 1 as it helps brands identify what to evaluate from the result.

     

    #3 Let your content travel by itself

    Brand websites are just another set of html files on the world wide web. They are not a ‘physical property’ of a brand. Remember where Hotmail succeeded in their marketing in ’90s? Sometimes, it helps for marketers to loosen their emotional attachment with their own website just a little and try looking at it objectively. Content can travel anywhere in the internet. Content should be designed to make it as much accessible as possible. Users would love to spread brand messages to others for free. Copying, in other words ‘WOM’ or brand advocacy is the beauty of both digital and advertising. This works best after Step 2 so marketers get a sense on the potential of their message.

     

    #4 Think about the 99 percent

    Usually CTR of display ads is below 1 percent. Where does the other 99 percent go? Users don’t click display ads, because it is too much for brands to ask.

     

    What do TV commercials require viewers to do? Nothing but that they stay seated and wait for a few minutes till the commercial break is over. How about display ads? They compel users to stop what they are doing, move the cursor on a banner, click and go to another website which is a totally unknown environment for the user.

     

    Ninety nine percentile of human beings are very passive who don’t like taking risks. How can brands convert this 99 percent? Like you do for the 1 percent, solutions need to be implemented for the 99 percent! Services such as third party ad serving platforms or attribution tracking tools are available for evaluating the behaviour and usage/ consumption patterns of this 99 percentile.

     

    #5 Get out from your comfort zone

    Market saturation is inevitable. No demand means no business. If a marketer senses that something is stuck, then it may be the right time for him to extend his areas of consideration/ activity.

     

    SEM not performing as well as it used to? Before changing bidding price for keywords, isn’t there anything that can be done to create such demand? We don’t need search engines if we don’t have a specific demand in our minds. In general, activities to create demand end up with worse ROI, compared to activities to collect existing demand like SEM. But why compare two activities that have different purposes?

     

    Get out from what you have been doing before. Step out of your comfort zone and try something that had been avoided because of wrong expected ROI. This something could be viral video activities, advertorials with publishers, FB applications among several other options! It is advised to close Step 1 before this, so that all stakeholders are aware that CPA from a viral video is not being compared with CPA from SEM campaigns.

     

    Yutaka Kamoshita is Digital Strategist, Dentsu Digital

     

  • The music channel's business head Aditya Swamy says evolving to keep pace with the changing demands of its TA – the youth market – is the secret to staying ahead

    MTV goes multi-dimensional, wearing multiple hats

    By Meghna Sharma

     

    To survive, adapting to changing times is an absolute must. MTV, which started the music revolution in the country decades ago, has not just managed to survive but also remain a hit with its audience, when grabbing attention is an increasingly tough job.

     

    How did MTV do it? Evolution is the answer, according to Aditya Swamy, MTV EVP and Business Head. “Our brand talks to youngsters, who are constantly evolving, so to connect with them we have to re-invent ourselves time and again too.”

     

    The channel now is working towards being multi-dimensional and multi-platform. Ask about the rationale behind the new strategy and the response is that while music is at the heart of MTV, the brand is not limited to it. Therefore, the channel isn’t stopping itself from wearing multiple hats – from music both filmi and independent and reality shows, it also has a slew of new properties since March, starting with MTV Sound Trippin, followed by India’s first social road trip titled Drive with MTV , a 13-part film named MTV Rush, and MTV Coke Studio.

     

    Aditya Swamy

    “Today a channel has to be multi-dimensional especially if it caters to youngsters. Youth wants options – music, reality shows, fiction etc. So, a brand needs to have a well-rounded offering for its TA. Audiences are wearing multiple hats, so why shouldn’t a channel?” asks Mr Swamy. “And as choices evolve, we’ll have change accordingly and maybe a new phenomenon will be created in the future.”

     

    However, the channel is very clear that it will never compromise on music. “Music is in MTV’s heart so we cannot let go of it. But we’ll continue to do different things with it and come up with original content. Our mantra is quality over quantity.”

     

    The brand can be consumed on various social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook apart from its website and, of course, television. “When so many options are available to ‘connect’ with the audience then why should a channel be only be limited to TV? All these platforms give us a total consumer platform, which makes it a two-way communication,” says Mr Swamy about the importance of being available on multiple platforms.

     

    He further explains it with an example of Roadies which won ‘The Most Social TV Show’ at Mashable Awards, last year. The show had gone all out by posting videos, images, updates and exclusive sneak peeks on social networks. The show was the only Indian entry to reach the top 10 slot too.

     

    “Not only does the engagement help a brand reach out to its audiences, advertisers prefer it too, as it also helps them to reach their TA through various platforms which a brand they can associate with is on,” Mr Swamy adds.

     

  • Delhi HC says India TV did not infringe Yash Raj Films’ copyright in India Beats programme

    India TV wins case against Yash Raj Films for ‘fair use’ of “Kajra Re’ etc on news shows

    By Ananya Saha

     

    In an ongoing legal dispute between India TV and Yash Raj Films, the Division Bench of Delhi High Court consisting of Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Manmohan Singh has delivered a breakthrough judgment in favour of India TV. The honourable court has held that small amount of usage of songs in a programme by India TV does not amount to ‘copyright infringement’.

     

    The Delhi High court was dealing with a dispute involving India TV and Yashraj Films. The High Court has said that use of five words of the song ‘Kajrare’, ‘Mera chain vain sab ujda’ in a promo for a consumer affairs program telecast on India TV and singing a portion of the song ‘Salaam Namaste’ in a one-hour programme ‘India Beats’ of India TV by Vasundhara Das whose life was being reviewed, amounts to ‘fair use’, as the same is de minimis, that is, very little usage compared to the whole programme.

     

    India TV MD & CEO Ritu Dhawan said, “The ruling itself is a victory for the channel and media houses alike, and places their right of ‘fair use’ at the forefront.”

     

    Prathiba Singh, intellectual property lawyer appearing for India TV, said, “The court has protected the rights of artists and creators on one hand and news channels on the other. The court has held that if every form of usage of even small bits is infringement, then creativity would be stifled.”