MxMIndia

Author: mxmadmin

  • To further strengthen its creative offering

    Zee launches Zee Brand Works

    By Our Staff

     

    Zee Entertainment has introduced Zee Brand Works with the objective of offering brands a “holistic and wide range of branding, sales augmentation, customer acquisition, new launches, content creation, influencer and integration solutions”.

     

    Said Ashish Sehgal, Chief Growth Officer, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd: “As a pioneer in the Indian media landscape, we have always had a finger on the pulse of the Indian viewer. This has helped us to develop a deep understanding of the myriad mini Bharat’s which exist within this great nation, each with its own set of norms, sensibilities and traditions. Blending this understanding of the Indian consumer with the marketing requirements of our clientele to develop bespoke brand solutions has always been a hallmark of Zee.”

     

    Added Rajiv Bakshi, Chief Operations Officer – Revenue, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd.: “Consumers are also increasingly rewarding authenticity and personalization along with purpose-driven brand alignment, Forging a deep emotional connect and occupying a greater share of mind is a primary challenge for both existing and emerging brands. ZEE Brand Works will further boost our endeavour to build brands resonance and sales in HSM and regional market clusters by employing the team’s ingenious creativity and inherent consumer understanding With the onset of this journey, we are excited to partner with like-minded marketers and augment their growth strategies.”

     

  • To drive digital growth and strategy

    HiveMinds hires Aayush Arora as VP in Delhi

    By Our Staff

     

    Aayush Arora
    Aayush Arora

    Hiveminds Innovative Market Solutions, a unit of Madison World, has hired Aayush Arora as Vice President – Client Success, at Gurugram.

     

    Said Jyothirmayee JT, Founder & CEO of HiveMinds: “We’ve been fortunate to add many large clients from Delhi/NCR in our portfolio over the last 1 year. Aayush’s deep digital understanding along with his experience in managing clients over the years, will help us in delighting our clients with innovation and account success.”

     

    Added Sam Balsara, Chairman and Managing Director, Madison World: “Delhi remains a key focus region for us. We’re reinstating our commitment to our clients by adding senior talent to drive digital growth and strategy. Following the recent return of Shobhit Gaur to Madison Digital in Delhi NCR, we are now adding Aayush to HiveMinds Delhi NCR to further strengthen our team capabilities in the region to exceed the demanding expectations of our growing client list.”

     

  • A new digital campaign addresses need to 'take charge' of your finances

    Freecharge drives better financial planning

    By Our Staff

     

    Freecharge, the digital financial services platform, has launched a series of digital videos on the necessity of being financially independent.

     

    Commenting on the launch of the new campaign, Siddharth Mehta, CEO, Freecharge said, “Freecharge with its continuously expanding portfolio in digital financial services aims to instil confidence in users, when it comes to managing finances. A facilitator, equipping them with financial tools that work for them, help them prepare goal saving plans or handle exigencies, get easy access to credit, or make timely payment of dues. We hope this digital campaign hits the right chord with our consumers and pushes them to actually ‘take charge’ towards making rational financial decisions”.

     

    Added Shweta Singhal, CMO and Head of Growth at Freecharge: “Our new logo revealed with this campaign is in sync with the brand positioning – Freecharge helps you take charge of your finances, so you can live the way you want to. The campaign establishes Freecharge as challenger of status quo. Each of the films are designed to bring out the different features built within the Freecharge platform; be it goal based investing, or the tool to assess your financial fitness, or the easy access to credit to manage both small expenses and big ticket items, or the safe and fast payments”.

     

     

  • The account will be serviced from the agency's Gurugram office

    Dentsu X wins integrated mandate for Tata 1mg

    By Our Staff

     

    Dentsu X, the media agency from Dentsu India, has won the media mandate for Tata 1mg – India’s largest digital healthcare platform. The account will be serviced from the agency’s Gurugram office.

     

    As per the mandate, Dentsu X will oversee the brand’s planning and buying duties for traditional as well as digital media.

     

    Roopam Garg
    Roopam Garg

    Commenting on the win, Roopam Garg, Chief Executive Officer, Dentsu X India said, “We are delighted to get the opportunity to work with a future focussed and trusted brand like Tata 1mg. At Dentsu X, we answer ‘Why beyond What’, led by our people, data and tech. We look forward to helping the brand with solutions based on the same.”

     

    Added Gaurav Agarwal, Co-Founder, Tata 1mg: “We are excited to work with dentsu X. Through their data-driven methodology, they have already established themselves as an integrated media firm and among the best in their industry. We look forward to collaborating with them on cutting-edge media innovations and opportunities.”

     

  • Shony Panjikaran and Lada Guruden Singh are the two leaders of the business

    Sony rejigs film biz top deck

    By Our Staff

     

    (L-R) Shony Panjikaran, Lada Guruden Singh

    Entertainment conglomerate Sony Pictures Entertainment has appointed Shony Panjikaran and Lada Guruden Singh to take over the reins of its distribution and production business in India.

     

    Singh has been appointed General Manager and Head of Sony Pictures International Productions (SPIP), India. He will be overseeing SPIP India’s local film development and production slate as well as its expansion in regional cinema. Singhwill report to Michael Rifkin and Shebnem Askin, Co-Heads of SPIP.

     

    Panjikaran has been appointed General Manager and Head of Sony Pictures Releasing International, India. He will manage Sony Pictures’ theatrical releasing business across the Hollywood and local cinematic slate in India, including all distribution, sales, and marketing efforts. Panjikaran will report to Adam Herr, Senior Vice President, Distribution, Asia, Sony Pictures Entertainment.

     

    Said Panjikaran: “Sony Pictures is a global force that creates imaginative and engaging content for audiences across the world. It is an absolute privilege to oversee SPE’s theatrical business in India and bring an incredible slate of Hollywood and Indian cinema to Indian audiences. For both Lada and I, it will be hugely rewarding to lead Sony Pictures Entertainment, India into a new era. Today, the film market in India is virtually borderless, and I am looking forward to pioneering new initiatives and partnerships in this dynamic distribution space and to satisfy the demand for brilliant global and local stories in India.”

     

    Added Singh: “As India leads the world in entertainment, creating content in volume and quality that ranks right at the top, we are excited to give it our all to become one of the top players in the country. From tentpole hits to clutter break-through content, from stories unfolding at the margins to the celebration of Indian mythology; we want to push the boundaries and synergies with leading talent as well as with fresh new voices. Shony and I are committed to making this dream come true, breaking all language barriers, and turning Sony Pictures Entertainment, India into the most sought-after creative studio in India!”

     

  • It's high time that research organisations provide M&E with a comprehensive overview, writes Indrani Sen

    TV Industry Needs a Better Household Establishment Survey

     

     

    By Indrani Sen

     

    Indrani SenAs per the latest Performance Indicator Report (PIR) released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), subscription to the private DTH service continues to decline. A comparison between Q4 2021 and Q1 2022 shows a collective loss of 1.6 million paid active subscribers to DTH. It seems the various marketing initiatives introduced by the private DTH operators in 2021 have failed to arrest the slow and steady decline of the subscribers.

     

    The same TRAI report shows that the cumulative active pay subscriber base of the top 13 cable and HITS platforms rose Marginally from 4.58 crore to 4.59 crore in Q12022, while the subscriptions to some other smaller MSOs declined. On the whole, it can be said that there is a stagnation in the subscriptions to cable TVs.

     

    The dark horse in the arena of DTH operators is the DD Free Dish. According to various reports available, increase in number of channels available through DD Free Dish between 2017 and 2021 as well as addition of better-quality channels has doubled its subscribers from 22 million in 2017 to 43 million in 2022. Different Government sources have been claiming that DD Free Dish is the largest Dish operator in India covering more than 25% of the TV viewing households. The growth of users of DD Free Dish presents a totally different picture from the slow decline seen in the private DTH subscriptions. However, we have no clue regarding who are the users of DD Free Dish or what is their demographic profile. We often assume that the use of DD Free Dish is prevalent in the lower income groups in small towns or rural areas, but the actual penetration of DD Free Dish may be quite different from our assumptions.

     

    We need to take into account three additional factors for a complete understanding of the source of TV viewing in India. First is the rapid growth of the OTT market in India; the second is the growth of smart TV sets and the third is the partnership of the telecom operators with the OTT players which are providing the TV viewers with alternative platforms for viewing TV content.

     

    According to the Ormax OTT Audience Report 2021, the Indian OTT space has 353 million users and 96 million active paid subscribers. Most of the TV content is available today through various OTT platforms promoted by the TV Channels. The growth of internet and introduction of smart TV sets have eliminated the need for separate subscriptions to the TV content through Dish operators or Cable TV operators. So, the decline in direct subscription to TV through DTH or cable TV needs to be reviewed along with the growth in OTT subscription and smart TV sets by households.

     

    Today, all telecom operators offer free access to more than one OTT platforms along with their pre-paid and post-paid services. A typical telco-OTT partnership is an ideal example of a symbiotic relationship which allows both parties to benefit. The strategy enables the telecom operator to ensures customer retention and adoption and the OTT players to enlarge the viewership of their content.

     

    However, when we try to get an overview of TV viewership in India, we find that we do not have a complete understanding of the source of TV viewing. It is high time that research organisations provide the Media & Entertainment Industry with a Household Establishment Survey which indicates the type of TV subscription along with the ownership of TV, so that the users of the data get a clarity on the total picture. We have come a long way from the time when such household establishment surveys used to provide information on B&W and colour TV sets. We now need to know about the platform used for viewing TV contents, the type of TV set owned by the households as well as the type of subscriptions made by the household. Both BARC and MRUC should plan for household establishment surveys accordingly.

     

  • We couldn't not have asked this question, given the development of last week (where our Wizard with Words took charge of a digital marketing company as Chairman). Without any further ado, here's Dr Bhaskar Das with the August 1 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…

    Das ka Dum with Dr Bhaskar Das | For someone who has spent a lifetime in traditional media, how has this dramatic switch (and shift) to digital been?

    Bhaskar DasWe couldn’t not have asked this question, given the development of last week (where our Wizard with Words took charge of a digital marketing company as Chairman). Without any further ado, here’s Dr Bhaskar Das with the August 1 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. For someone who has spent a lifetime in traditional media, how has this dramatic switch (and shift) to digital been?

     

    A. Your question conflates a sectoral atrophy, if you will, with individual discovery mindset. When one has a future-backwards mindset and a paranoia about irrelevance, future needs to be embraced seamlessly to enjoy the journey of life. So, I am a travelling student who leads the life of a gig worker to enable me to get future proof, unless the default end reality of the journey sets in early. The learning curve is the new relevance curve.

     

  • Research insights by key knowledge partners ASCI, UNICEF, Unstereotype Alliance, Tata Institute of Social Sciences and Akshara Centre were unveiled

    IAA rallies industry to raise Voice of Change

    By Our Staff

     

    The International Advertising Association (IAA) India Chapter held a summit titled Voice of Change: Gender Portrayal from 30 seconds to 3 hours, where the important conversation on gender parity, as seen in media, was brought forth in a day of discussions, debates and research findings. IAA started the journey last year with a research study in partnership with UNICEF, conducted by the Geena Davis Institute on gender representation in advertising. Taking their cue from the facts presented in the study, the industry body decided to initiate tangible change through the dialogue required to bring about gender sensitivity amongst the people at the helm of content creation and marketing in India.

     

    Kicking off the event, Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Chairperson, IAA Women Empowerment Committee and Head – Hindi Mass Entertainment and Kids TV Network, Viacom18, said “Voice of Change harkens the need of a more sensitised and inclusive narrative in content and all the creative minds present here – content creators, brand custodians and students are the powerhouses behind creating and marketing that content now and in the years to come. The IAA has stepped up and brought all this learning and more out in the public eye and today through this summit takes on the critical role to not only educate and inform but also empower effective change.”

     

     

  • Teams up with Missing Link Trust to spread awareness

    MPL launches campaign against human trafficking

    By Our Staff

     

    MPL, the mobile and skill gaming platform, jointly with Missing Link Trust, has launched a campaign called #SaveOurMissingGirls to spread awareness on human trafficking. Announced on the eve of United Nations’ World Day against Trafficking in persons, the campaign aims to spread awareness on the dark world of human trafficking through a Role Play Game.

     

    As a part of this week-long campaign starting July 30, MPL has invited people to take a pledge by giving a missed call to the number  9099306000 and show their support towards ending this menace that impacts millions of lives every year.

     

    Commenting on the campaign, Namratha Swamy, Country Head for India at MPL, said: “Technology has a big role to play in prevention of human trafficking and we believe online gaming can be an interesting way to sensitize people and raise awareness about eradicating human trafficking. One of the key objectives of the #SaveOurMissingGirls campaign is using games to make more people alert. We have received an overwhelming response from MPL’s  users on Missing ever since its launch on our platform.”

     

    Added Leena Kejriwal, Founder, Missing Link Trust: “The Missing game comes under the genre of ‘Games for Change’ by tackling the first ‘P for Prevention’ of the United Nation’s four Ps against trafficking. We think this campaign along with our collaboration with the MPL platform, with a strong 90 million, will be a game-changer in ensuring a wide reach for the game and making millions of people aware of the menace.”

     

  • Will be responsible for driving the company’s marketing and communications

    Next Edu appoints Vishwanath Ambadipudi to head marketing

    By Our Staff

     

    Next Education, a SaaS-based edtech company, has strengthened its senior leadership team by appointing Vishwanath Ambadipudi as Head – Marketing. In his role as Head – Marketing, Vishwanath will be responsible for driving Next Education’s marketing and communications strategies spanning across strategic partnerships, branding, marketing campaigns, and corporate communications.

     

    Said Beas Dev Ralhan, CEO, Next Education: “We are pleased to announce the addition of Vishwanath Ambadipudi with diverse experience in several different sectors like Industrial Automation, Manufacturing, Startups, Venture Capitals, Logistics, Tourism and EdTech. Vishwanath’s cross-sectoral marketing experience will be valuable in taking our innovation mindset to the next level and building consumer delight. He will help to position our brand and develop an overall business strategy to achieve goals.”

     

  • To be responsible for media, creative and digital business

    Publicis Media picks up PepsiCo India mandate

    By Our Staff

     

    Publicis Groupe India has won FMCG major, PepsiCo India’s media mandate. The account was bagged post a multi-agency pitch process.

     

    With this development, PepsiCo India has consolidated its media, creative and digital business with Publicis Groupe.

     

    Commenting on this development George Kovoor, Senior Vice-President, PepsiCo India, said, “Publicis Media was selected after a very thorough and competitive pitch process.  Their expertise in areas such as media, data, digital, analytics, content, commerce, and ability to orchestrate and leverage diverse capabilities for seamless brand experiences led to them to be our partner of choice. We are confident that this new partnership, and their technological excellence will help us reach our consumers in an engaging and impactful manner.”

     

    Added Tanmay Mohanty, CEO, Media Services, Publicis Groupe India: “We are proud and elated at having been chosen as PepsiCo India’s media agency partner. Through data driven decision-making, new insights and ideas on the category, our teams were able to demonstrate how PepsiCo India could grow its portfolio brands further and leverage the power of integrated communications. PepsiCo India has iconic brands, and we look forward to bringing in media excellence and innovation for them and generating the right business outcomes.”

     

    Said Anupriya Acharya, CEO, Publicis Groupe South Asia: “Publicis Groupe looks forward to working with PepsiCo India, channelising our full spectrum of media, creative and digital capabilities and driving stronger consumer connects and powerful communications for its brands. We look forward to harnessing and mobilising the best talent, resources, proprietary tools and capabilities from across the Groupe and helping PepsiCo India accelerate and devise consumer strategy.”

     

  • Will be incharge of response management of the brand

    WATConsult bags ORM for OLX Autos

    By Our Staff

     

    WatConsult, the digital agency from Dentsu Creative India, has bagged the Online Reputation Management and Social Listening mandate for digital automotive solutions provider, Olx Autos. The account was won following a multi-agency pitch and will be managed by the agency’s Mumbai office.

     

    Said Siddharth Agrawal, Country Head, Marketing, Olx Autos: “We are excited to have WatConsult on board as our partner for ORM and digital listening mandate. It is a very important element in further accelerating our brand journey & reputation. We look forward to elevating our customer service and the overall platform experience through this engagement.”

     

    Speaking on the collaboration, Heeru Dingra, CEO, Isobar India group added: “We are delighted to have OLX Autos on board. The brand has fared remarkably well in recent quarters, and social listening will be critical to its future success. Our team is well-equipped to provide the necessary skills; and we are very much looking forward to assisting them on this journey.”

     

    Said Sahil Shah, Managing Partner, WatConsult said: “This addition solidifies our already strong offering on auto clients. OLX Autos being a new-age digital-first brand, just resonates very well with our own go-to-market at many levels. I welcome OLX Autos to our esteemed list of clients and look forward to a great partnership with them.”