MX Player OTT platform has partnered with Vserv AudiencePro to enhance its audience stack and provide advertisers with richer audience segments and an evolved marketing solution.
Saurabh Khanna, VP – Vserv AudiencePro, said: “The combination of quality reach & scale, sharper audience segmentation, and cutting-edge data-driven solutions presents a compelling proposition for brands. MX Player & Vserv AudiencePro partnership brings this unique combination to the forefront thereby opening new avenues for brands to unlock new audiences or do smarter remarketing.”
MX Player Spokesperson added: “As one of the largest content platforms in the market, we are at the forefront of innovation and are constantly looking for ways to improve our offerings for advertisers. AudiencePro platform has established credibility in delivering quality segmentation to a range of brands. Our integration and partnership with them empowers us to offer more comprehensive audience segments and offer advertisers an evolved marketing solution that leverages data for deeper audience insights.”
What’s the first thing you reach out for when you wake up? Or, what’s the last thing you use before turning in at night? In all likelihood, it’s your cellphone. An inseparable part of our lives, it’s the mode for all kinds of content consumption. Whether it’s managing your calendar, getting the news, or scanning social media feeds, cellphone is a constant presence and an enabler.
Computers, smartphones, and other smart devices have not only made things easy but also improved our productivity levels. Most services including healthcare, banking, food delivery, and entertainment have gone digital. Now imagine, if one billion people encounter challenges in accessing mainstream digital products and services.
That’s the number of people who live with some form of disability, worldwide. They experience lack of access to basic things which we take for granted in our daily routines. Reading the news, browsing Instagram, making a UPI payment, transferring funds to another account, or ordering a pizza!
Today (May 18) is the Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), an annual celebration to get everyone talking, thinking, and learning about digital access and inclusion of persons with disabilities. The theme of this year, ‘Keeping technology accessible for everyone’, is in line with the growing shift towards digital infrastructure.
But what does accessibility mean in the context of disability? How can technology include or exclude people with visual, hearing, motor, and cognitive disabilities? To answer these and more, I spoke to three professionals who live with different types of disabilities.
Amar Jain is a corporate lawyer and a person with total blindness. Akshay CM is a DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) and Talent Management consultant and a neurodivergent individual with multiple invisible disabilities. And, Tushar Viradiya is a deaf individual who works for a Bengaluru-based NGO.
Q: What does ‘accessibility’ mean to you?
Amar Jain (AJ): Simply put, Accessibility = ability to access. People perceive information and user interface components of technology using three senses, as we can neither taste nor smell technology. And to me, accessibility is when all of the information and components I can use with more than one sense. For example, colour alone to convey information relies only on sense of seeing, whereas a colour indicated with text alternatives like a * sign, makes it accessible to other senses of hearing and touch for people who may have difficulty using one of their senses.
Akshay CM (ACM): Accessibility, to me, means ensuring that all individuals, regardless of their abilities or disabilities, have equal access to information, technology, physical spaces, and opportunities to fully participate in society.
Tushar Viradiya (TV): For me, accessibility means creating an inclusive environment and services, which are available to individuals with abilities or disabilities. For example, sign language interpreters play a vital role in making communication accessible for both deaf and hearing individuals.
Q: Give us one example from your daily life where access or the lack of it significantly impacts you?
AJ: As a lawyer, ability to read handwritten text, and different designs that people create using pen on paper like cutting down stuff, inserting new lines, making different signs to indicate intent impacts my daily life a lot because none of this is accessible to me as a person with blindness and I have to depend on others to obtain this information.
ACM: When websites or apps lack proper captioning or transcripts for videos and audio content. As a neurodivergent individual, I heavily rely on visual cues and text-based information. Without adequate access to captions or transcripts, I face difficulties in understanding and engaging with the content.
TV: Every day I visit YouTube channels and social media platforms that provide news and information in Indian sign language. Having sign language interpreters present during work meetings on Zoom enhances accessibility for deaf and hearing individuals. It becomes fully accessible for me.
Q: Given the push towards Digital India and the changed environment after Covid-19, with an increasing transition of activities of education, employment, and entertainment in the virtual space, how important is ‘accessibility’ to you as a person with blindness/neurodiversity/hearing impairment?
AJ: While technology is progressing and replacing almost every manual effort, at the same time, inaccessible design is creating exclusion and more barriers for persons with disabilities. From gadgets to work, to entertainment to everything else, technology is getting the centrestage. And given this push, it is equally important to have the technology which is inclusive, accessible and usable for everyone including people with disabilities.
ACM: As a neurodivergent individual, accessibility is crucial in the digital space, especially considering the increased reliance on virtual platforms for education, employment, and entertainment. It enables me to navigate and engage with these activities effectively, enhancing my overall inclusion and participation. Unfortunately, awareness of the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is relatively low among content creators, particularly in the context of neurodiversity. Adhering to UDL principles could greatly improve the accessibility and inclusivity of their content.
TV: Before Covid-19, deaf students faced barriers in accessing education due to limited resources and challenges in communication. There is very little awareness around the deaf and Indian Sign Language (ISL). There are mostly hearing teachers in special schools for the deaf, who do not understand sign language and expect the kids to understand through notes they write on the board. There is no explanation, context or description given. Now, there are online education channels which have content available in sign language which helps deaf people acquire knowledge. With the shift toward online learning in education, we need to ensure accessibility for deaf people. This includes, providing closed captions and sign language interpretation for education material, so they can fully engage in the learning activities. However, there are very few qualified ISL interpreters to cater to the needs of around 18 million deaf people!
Q: This year, the theme of GAAD is ‘Keeping technology accessible for everyone’. How relevant do you think this is in the Indian context and how far or close are we from achieving this? Especially in the context of media offerings, whether it is e-papers, news websites, OTT platforms, etc.
AJ: Accessibility can only happen when we have the right attitude and we understand the impact of inaccessibility. While things are changing in terms of policies, the implementation continues to be a daunting task.
ACM: India has witnessed a significant digital transformation in recent years, with increased reliance on online platforms for various activities. However, the accessibility of these platforms, particularly in terms of media offerings like epapers, news websites, and OTT platforms, remains a pressing concern. Many of these platforms lack adequate accessibility features such as screen reader compatibility, captioning, and alternative text for images, making it challenging for neurodivergent individuals and those with disabilities to access and engage with the content. While progress has been made, there is still a long way to go in ensuring inclusive and accessible technology for all.
TV: TV news is not signed, and when it is, sometimes the interpreters are not good enough to be accurate, so it does not make sense to me. I depend on independent YouTube channels and social media that produce news updates in sign language for deaf people. Deaf individuals face challenges when it comes to accessing entertainment such as movies, TV shows, and live performances. However, there has been some progress. Closed captioning is widely available for movies and television programs.
Recently, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment notified that persons with disabilities can now approach the Chief Disability Commissioner to seek redressal under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016, if ICT (Information and Communication Technology) products and services are not in keeping with the laid out standards of accessibility applicable to both government and private sector manufacturers and service providers. Will the government’s empowering move prove gamechanging in ensuring accessibility for all?
So why are we publishing this column on an A&M site? Well, we strongly feel that the media can dramatically transform the world of persons with disabilities. And this series can help bring forth issues that the media must champion to create a truly inclusive and accessible India. To write this column, we invited Shruti Pushkarna, a former journalist who is now a disability inclusion advocate based in New Delhi. Her views here are personal. To access the archives of her 70-odd columns, please visit: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/ columns/shruti-pushkarna/
If you have a view on the issues raise or would like to align with MxMIndia on this cause, write to us at editor [at] mxmindia.com.
Havas Media Group India has announced a significant elevation of its senior leadership team across functions to further strengthen its structure. The strategic restructuring is part of the agency’s aggressive expansion of its business and service portfolios through collaborations and increased efficiency, in line with its unprecedented growth.
The leadership team comprising of Roopali Sharma, Harbir Singh, Saurabh Jain, Manish Sharma, Sanchita Roy, and Rohan Chincholi has been elevated to new roles effective immediately. The newly elevated senior leadership team will bring their extensive industry experience and expertise to drive the agency’s growth, foster innovation, and enhance its service offerings. Havas Media Group India is confident that the restructuring will strengthen its position in the media industry, enabling the agency to provide its clients with innovative and effective media solutions to achieve their business objectives.
The team will report to Uday Mohan, Managing Director, Havas Media India.
Commenting on the announcement, Havas Media Group India CEO, Mohit Joshi said: “We are delighted to elevate our core leadership team to new roles. Their exceptional dedication and business acumen have been critical to our success. In 2023, we have set very high growth targets for ourselves, and I am confident that the team will tap into attaining exceptional results aiding us create a meaningful difference in the country’s media eco-system. Congratulations to all.”
Mindshare bags mandate for Maruti Suzuki. The agency emerged victorious after a competitive multi-agency pitch. As a flagship agency from GroupM, Mindshare’s expertise, creativity, and strategic vision will help steer the Maruti Suzuki brand towards a faster lane of growth and success, operating from its Gurgaon office.
Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing & Sales, Maruti Suzuki India Limited, said: “We are looking forward to this partnership with Mindshare (Group M) as our integrated media agency. We expect to leverage Mindshare’s strengths in the media industry to synergize and optimize our media spends and co-create ground-breaking initiatives that will give us an edge in today’s competitive automotive industry. We look forward to the exciting possibilities that lie ahead.”
Added Helen McRae, CEO – Mindshare Asia Pacific: “This win by Mindshare in securing the media mandate for Maruti Suzuki is a significant milestone for the advertising industry in India. It highlights the agency’s exceptional capabilities in providing innovative and technology-driven solutions to their clients. We are excited to see the strategic vision and expertise of Mindshare to steer Maruti Suzuki towards sustainable and responsible growth. This partnership is a testament to the agency’s commitment to delivering exceptional results for clients and driving growth for businesses in the region.”
Prasanth Kumar, CEO – GroupM South Asia, expressed his excitement, said: “We are thrilled to have a brand like Maruti Suzuki on board with Mindshare India. This win is not only a testament to the agency’s outstanding capabilities and offerings but also demonstrates GroupM’s commitment to delivering exceptional results for clients. It also demonstrates the agency’s ability to drive brands forward and build trust with clients. We look forward to seeing the innovative solutions that Mindshare will develop to drive Maruti Suzuki’s growth story forward.”
Otrivin Breathe Clean nasal spray with their agency partner Grey group tie up with Twinkle popular children’s magazine to fight pollution. This year, Aerowin, the first pollution superhero launched last year, made her debut in Tinkle popular children’s magazine and helped the kids in the story to fight the sources of pollution.
Bineet Jain, Pain & Respiratory Lead – Area Marketing ISC, Haleon, said: “Otrivin’s Actions to Breathe Cleaner initiative aims to reduce the health impact of air pollution by providing easy to adopt actions that enable people to take control. The Pollution Superhero is one such part of the initiative to raise awareness and bring about impactful change.”
Vivek Bhambhani, Sr. Executive Creative Director, Grey Group, added: “Kids are the future and it’s unfair that they have to suffer because of us. This Idea of Aerowin is designed to help kids realise that and also educate and empower them on the right ways to stop pollution around them.”
Colgate-Palmolive rolls out new campaign for its Colgate Strong Teeth toothpaste. The campaign reiterates the brand’s long-standing commitment to promoting oral health and hygiene by providing teeth nourishment.
Directed by the renowned filmmaker Amit Ravindernath Sharma and conceptualised by Team WPP@CP.
Commenting on the relaunch, Gunjit Jain, Vice President Marketing, Colgate-Palmolive India said: “Be it eating your favourite snack lose Calcium from our teeth as they suffer wear and tear daily. With our new campaign “ Paste Hi Nahi, Daanton Ka Poshan Hai Ye”, we aim to spotlight the need for nourishment of teeth and how Colgate Strong Teeth , with its unique technology of Arginine + Calcium Boost, is an excellent toothpaste to nourish your teeth and hence make them 2X stronger. Our dadi in the film has amazingly portrayed that importance, leaving us with the message that everyone needs to strengthen their teeth, aiming to become the ‘cutting machine.”
Added Harshad Rajadhyaksha and Kainaz Karmakarof WPP@CP: “The story of a toothless granny vouching for a toothpaste, is bound to catch attention. The film delivers on functionality and fun. Humour is such a strong tool to drive home hardcore messages that stay with the consumers. Add to that the superb casting and direction by Amit Sharma. Colgate is an iconic brand with the best benefits in its category. The trick is in picking the strongest benefit and communicating it memorably.”
Goibibo online travel booking brand has launched a new campaign. Titled #SabkaYaarDegaHazaar, the objective is to solve a peeve in the world of offers of hotel reservations. The film has been conceptualised by MagicCircle Communications and is live on YouTube from May 12.
Notes a communique: “Building on this insight, Goibibo’s campaign #SabkaYaarDegaHazaar, just as the name suggests, offers a flat discount of 1000 to first-time customers. The brand aims to add real value for its customers through the sharp and attractive offer, a refreshing departure from traditional ‘Up to X% discounts’ that are often only perceived as a pull factor. The campaign is brought to life by a digital film featuring leading social media stars Prajakta Kohli, Vihan Samat, and Sanjana Sarathy. The film showcases the three friends chatting about their hotel bookings for a Goa vacation, highlighting the various considerations of travel budgets. The extra INR 1000 from Goibibo is a compelling proposition that helps the group realise their plan.”
TCL, a consumer electronics and TV brand, has launched a brand campaign as part of its collaboration with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). The campaign is aimed at creating greater awareness for TCL among cricket enthusiasts.
The campaign started with a digital video launch featuring SRH team members including Bhuveneshwar Kumar, Washington Sundar and Umran Malik.
Commenting on the campaign, Philip Xia, CEO, TCL India said: “The cricket league started a month ago and the time frame of the campaign was perfect to meet our campaign’s objective. We believe the pioneering products of TCL in tandem with a trophy-winning cricket team of SRH were recognized as a potentially powerful combination to bring high-end technology to cricketing fans nationwide.”
As part of the campaign, a ‘Meet and Greet’ with fans was also organized with the players of SRH, which included Aiden Markram, Abhishek Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, and Glen Phillip. The event was aimed at creating a platform where the audiences could meet players while being acquainted with TCL.
Xiaomi India smartphone and smart TV brand, has roped in actor Pankaj Tripathi as the brand ambassador for its smartphone category. With focus on innovation, and user-centric design, Xiaomi has gained popularity among consumers.
Welcoming the award-winning actor to the Xiaomi family, Anuj Sharma, Chief Marketing Officer, Xiaomi India said: ‘’We are thrilled to have Pankaj Tripathi as the newest member of the Xiaomi family. At Xiaomi, we have always been committed to delivering the best features at an honest price to empower our users with exceptional performance and lag-free usage. Pankaj Tripathi embodies the essence of our brand vision and his ability to strike a chord with the masses will help further cement our ambition of making technology accessible to all. We believe that Pankaj’s association with Xiaomi India will take our brand to new heights, and we are excited about this association.”
To the horror of the Indian mainstream media, it did not take too long for the Congress Party to decide on the new chief minister of Karnataka. Surely, this is an outrage? The media was building itself into a nice frenzy – who will it be, should be this one or that, who deserves it more, who will be upset, how dare Sonia Gandhi, who do they think they are, so High Command and undemocratic. And sadly, bam. The results came out on May 13, where the Congress trounced the BJP, what a tragedy, and by May 18, decisions had been made public. The media deserved at least another week.
Luckily, there are always juicy Hindu-Muslim violence to stir up. First, blame the Muslims for the defeat of the BJP in Karnataka. After all, the BJP used the Kerala Story – about Indian Muslim women being radicalised in Kerala – to great effect in the Karnataka elections, allowing everyone to attack Muslims. But these pesky Muslims and presumably some other anti-nationals did not take that stupendous work all the way to the polling booths. Some people, really.
Thus, the movement must be taken further by the Indian media. Like, blame various non-BJP governments for not supporting the BJP in its pursuit of Muslims. Some good TV “debates”. Then create a little bit of drama about how Muslims are not allowing a clear BJP propagandist anti-Muslim film to be shown. West Bengal, which refused to elect the BJP and then went and banned the Kerala Story is a favoured target. The Supreme Court is partly responsible for this execrable secularism by forcing the makers of this propagandist film to put in a disclaimer that the film is fiction. Even worse, this Supreme Court even said words to the effect of “you cannot vilify a community”.
This is a novel thought which the Indian media is unfamiliar with, except for special circumstances. Like when some university in a foreign land calls out an Indian Hindu student for being anti-Muslim and/or anti-Dalit. The Indian mainstream media, the Hindutva propagandist machinery and the Hindu American and Hindu British “foundations” get really upset in close collaborative outrage packages.
Within India of course, since being anti everyone who is not a Hindu is fair game, our issues are less dire. No university in India ever objects to stuff like this anyway. Students die because of majoritarian bullying and assaults, but this is par for the course in the world’s largest democracy.
Thankfully, we can be safe in the belief that a close media eye will be kept on Karnataka and every tiny little disagreement within the government will be amplified for our delectation. Some totally shameless commentators even suggested that South India was now “free” on the BJP. Is this a democracy? Can one say stuff like that? Luckily a proper patriotic news site commissioned an opinion piece by a favoured (or maybe looking for favour, I don’t know, many who have been craving favours have been denied) pro-BJP commentator about how it is unfair to say that South India is free of the BJP especially when there is a massive Modi wave in landlocked Telangana. Order has been restored. Phew.
Here are the top subjects to be ignored:
1 Those wrestlers. Still demanding justice. Unbelievable creatures.
2 Manipur, where some traitors from within the BJP say they have no faith in the BJP. What sort of people are these?
3 A nonstop target of environmentalists. They deserve to be targeted because, I mean, what sort of Indian fights to stop India’s natural resources from being destroyed for development? These NGOs! Uff.
An unfair question to ask on a platform like this, you may say, but the answer we were looking at is from the prism of a marketer. Here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the May 19 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 or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/
Q. Any brand and marketing tips you would like to offer political parties given that the next 18 months will see some high profile elections (and a mother-of-all one as well)?
A. The basic principles of marketing are the same, even for political parties:
1. Know one’s core customers, both in demographic and psychographic parameters
2. What is one’s key product proposition in sync with the segment one wants to serve/appeal to
3. How is the positioning of the concerned product superior to other competitive offerings (read pre-election promises)
4. What should be the key planks of the communication and in which medium
5. What is the social media strategy to communicate with one’s key stakeholders, 24×7
6. The communication has to be different by national and hyper-local priorities.
The above strategy needs to be customised depending on whether the party is a defender of the current market leadership position or challenging an incumbent leader.
This World Bee Day (May 20), Marico Limited’s Saffola Honey brands, launched the #BEE-llionaire campaign. The campaign aimed to educate consumers and raise awareness on the importance of pollinators and the crucial role that bees play in our lives.
Commenting on the new digital campaign, Sanjay Mishra, COO-India & CEO – New Business– Marico Ltd, said: “Saffola, the Masterbrand is known for its purpose and innovation and this Saffola Honey campaign is yet another instance of our commitment to make a difference. The central idea of the #Bee-llionaire campaign is to raise awareness about the importance of bees and their role in maintaining a healthy ecosystem. Through this fun and educational campaign, we want to encourage our consumers to do their little bit towards environment. We believe that every little action counts, and together we can make a big difference. On this special day, let us come together and be grateful to bees for their invaluable contribution to our world.”
What’s the first thing you reach out for when you wake up? Or, what’s the last thing you use before turning in at night? In all likelihood, it’s your cellphone. An inseparable part of our lives, it’s the mode for all kinds of content consumption. Whether it’s managing your calendar, getting the news, or scanning social media feeds, cellphone is a constant presence and an enabler.
To the horror of the Indian mainstream media, it did not take too long for the Congress Party to decide on the new chief minister of Karnataka. Surely, this is an outrage? The media was building itself into a nice frenzy – who will it be, should be this one or that, who deserves it more, who will be upset, how dare Sonia Gandhi, who do they think they are, so High Command and undemocratic. And sadly, bam. The results came out on May 13, where the Congress trounced the BJP, what a tragedy, and by May 18, decisions had been made public. The media deserved at least another week.
An unfair question to ask on a platform like this, you may say, but the answer we were looking at is from the prism of a marketer. Here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the May 19 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…