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  • Cover star of August issue Kajol is awarded 'Timeless Beauty'

    Vogue India awards best in beauty

    By A Correspondent

     

    Vogue India celebrated the best in beauty at the third edition of the Vogue Beauty Awards. The glittering awards ceremony honoured the best beauty products, services and professionals across categories ranging from skin care, anti-ageing, make-up, fragrances, hair care and hair styling.

     

    Attendees included celebrities, socialites and heads of eminent beauty brands in the country. Hosted by Vogue India editor Priya Tanna and Vogue India Beauty Editor Parizaad Khan, the event began with personalities from the beauty and glamour industry walking the red carpet followed by cocktails and the awards ceremony.  There are a total of 55 awards this year, including 42 awards related to products and services and 13 honouring the best beauty related talent.

     

    Speaking on the occasion, Priya Tanna, Editor Vogue India said: “Vogue Beauty Awards demonstrates our growing commitment towards beauty, which is integral to the magazine’s DNA as is fashion. Vogue Beauty Awards has grown from strength to strength in the past few years and has achieved distinction of becoming one of the most prestigious Beauty Awards in the industry. The overwhelming response we received last year from our readers, industry professionals and experts has encouraged us to widen the scope and reach of the awards, making it bigger and better than before.”

     

    Cover star of the Vogue August issue, Kajol received the ‘Timeless Beauty’ award, whilst ‘Most Beautiful Man’ was awarded to Farhan Akhtar and ‘Beauty of the Year’ was bagged by Deepika Padukone. Other winners included Ileana D’Cruz for ‘Fresh face’ and Diana Penty for ‘Debutant’.

     

    On being presented Timeless Beauty Kajol said: “Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder and is eternal. You are beautiful because you believe you are. I would like to thank Vogue for giving me the Timeless Beauty Award. I also want to thank all those people who made me feel beautiful from inside, my family, friends and all those amazing fans.”

     

    Deepika Padukone on being presented ‘Beauty of the Year’ said, “My idea of beauty is embracing my strengths as well as my flaws, being confident and hardworking. It’s a great feeling to receive such a prestigious award from Vogue India.”

     

    Anil Chinnappa won Best Make-up Artist, Suresh Natarajan won Best Photographer and Angela Jonsson won Best Model. Whilst Best Hair Stylist was awarded to Savio Jon Pereira, Best Hair Colourist went to Rod Anker. The Best Skin Expert award was won by Harshna Bijlani, Best Fitness Expert by Zareen Watson and Best Nutritionist by Pooja Makhija.

     

    Over 1100 products were rigorously scrutinized and personally tested by an expert panel of judges comprising industry experts such as Mickey Contractor, Dr. Malavika Kohli, Kanta Motwani, beauty mavens Nargis Fakhri, Sonali Bendre, Simar Duggal, Namrata Barua Shroff, Nisha Jhaveri and Vogue editors Priya Tanna and Parizaad Khan.

     

    Entries were invited from all beauty brands retailing in India which were judged by the panelists through a thorough and detailed process held between March-April at the TajLand’s End.

     

  • MTunes Trending20 brings to its viewers a comprehensive analysis of audience preferences across 5 platforms

    MTunes HD launches ‘MTunes Trending20’

    By A Correspondent

     

    MTunes HD – the HD Bollywood music channel has announced the launch of a countdown show called ‘MTunes Trending20’, presented by Bharti Airtel. This is in keeping with the channel’s premise of delivering “music like never seen before”.

     

    Historically, countdown charts have been based on record sales. However, given the fact that music consumption is spread across multiple platforms these days, MTunes Trending20 brings to its viewers a comprehensive analysis of audience preferences across 5 platforms. The final chart will be compiled by leading media research firm Ormax Media.

     

    The five platforms will be Radio popularity compiled by Radio City, Digital downloads provided by Hungama, YouTube views & Heartbeats (weekly music research) by Ormax Media and audience preferences as recorded by MTunes HD. A normalized measurement formula based on TV Ratings Data, Radio Aircheck, SMS requests, downloads/usage tracking across mobile service providers and views count on popular internet video sites will be collated to generate the weekly chart.

     

    Presented by Bharti Airtel, the weekly show – scheduled to launch from August 04 every Saturday – will play the top 20 songs of the week. Through the week the top songs on MTunes Trending20 will also be highlighted on the daily play list.

     

    Speaking on the occasion, Saravanan P, CEO of MTunes HD said: “MTunes Trending20 is a reaffirmation of our promise to deliver ‘Music Like Never Seen Before’ and strengthens a long line-up of path-breaking formats like Kal Ka Superhits, Handmade and MBox already on the channel. We have pioneered the industry by launching the World’s first HD Bollywood Music Channel and are committed to consistently drive growth for our stakeholders. This show will deliver the gold standard of Bollywood music rankings to the industry and is among several initiatives in the pipeline that will make the MTunes HD viewers feel the music!” The channel is reportedly pricing the property at a premium and is confident of changing the game for the genre with its unique concept and distinct proposition.

     

    Shailesh Kapoor, CEO-Ormax Media added: “Today, music is consumed across media – television, radio, internet, mobile phones and other digital devices. MTunes Trending20 is a unique property that captures the combined effect of all these media.”

     

  • The Indian entertainment pack includes the premium flagship channels from the Star Network – Star Plus, Star Gold and Vijay TV

    Star channels launch on IPTV Swiss Operator – Sunrise

    By A Correspondent

     

    Sunrise TV, the largest telecommunications company in Switzerland has announced the launch of the Indian entertainment pack including the premium flagship channels from the Star Network – Star Plus, Star Gold and Vijay TV.

     

    With this launch on July 19, Sunrise TV subscribers can now watch Tamil & Hindi entertainment & Bollywood channel with English subtitles that provide an innovative mix of drama, events, lifestyle shows, celebrity chat shows, religious & cookery shows, music & dance reality series and Bollywood blockbusters.

     

    Yeshpal Sharma, Vice President Star UK & Europe said: “We are pleased with our partnership with Sunrise TV for the launch of Star channels in Switzerland. This reflects our commitment to bring the best of Asian television entertainment to our viewers in Europe and we look forward to a continued relationship with Sunrise.”

     

  • The application is currently available for Android and Iphone users and is an excellent way to add digital content to printed media

    Pulp Strategy launches Augmented Reality app

    By A Correspondent

     

    Augmented reality (AR) is the new buzzword and augmented reality games have become a favourite with brands and consumers alike. Now introducing a new dimension to experiential marketing campaign, Pulp Strategy has launched a layar-based mobile application. The application is currently available for Android and Iphone users. This app is an excellent way to add digital content to printed media.

     

    Explainign about the app, Ambika Sharma, Managing Director & CEO, Pulp Strategy, said: “With the increased penetration of smart devices in the youth segment, the application allows the static creative advertisements and collateral’s traditionally used in on-ground activations to be infused with interactive digital experiences in real time. This means that a static poster or a standee – a method of delivering static information – can now be an information tool and an engagement prompter.”

     

    The possibilities of the application are amazing – consumers can be prompted for check-ins on Social media at the press of a button; drive ‘Likes’ or ‘follows’; go to the brand site or order a product or stream the brand video straight to the users hand-held device. The next time marketers plan for that poster creative in campus, or big branded wall in a mall activation, or even brand merchandise for a campaign, the app promises to bring alive each piece of static creative digitally for the consumers.

     

    “Marketers find value in such innovations, as not only is it useful and social media relevant but also breaks clutter, and adds pizzazz to existing branding elements increasing consumer engagement,” said Sharma.

     

    This thought is not new. RFID bands for check-ins have been used in activations before. However, they have been device restrictive and cost per user piles on if one scales up. It needs physical equipment presence to drive any engagement or check-ins.

     

    “But the Mobile app is device agnostic. All it needs is a smart phone and once planned it can be scaled up to unlimited consumers. It is not necessary to have a promoter or brand representative to drive the experience. Essentially, the added delight in experience for the consumer comes at a negligible cost as part of the ground campaign. It integrates, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ Linked In for social media,” said Ms Sharma.

     

  • Dainik Bhaskar Haryana celebrated its 12th Anniversary by making the news more reader-centric – reflecting the preferences of the new age readers

    Dainik Bhaskar Haryana gives ‘Pehle Se Bhi Zada’

    By A Correspondent

     

    Dainik Bhaskar Haryana celebrated its 12th Anniversary by making the news more reader-centric – reflecting the preferences of the new age readers.  The refreshing changes are encapsulated by ‘Pehle Se Bhi Zada’ which makes for enhanced reader delight.

     

    Based entirely on the pattern of news consumption by its base of 12.68 lakh readers in Haryana, Dainik Bhaskar has realigned its 12 page main issue to provide insightful focus on government and political issues. It has also added a weekly page talking about latest developments in agriculture practices along with opinion and interviews of experts for the agrarian state. The paper has gone even more hyper local in its approach providing depth of information and opportunities within the state with local news finding prominence in the special supplements on Hissar, Rohtak, Ambala and Sonipat.

     

    Along with the focussed localisation, investigative journalism finds its place with an aim to help empower the readers with information that is relevant. Speaking about ‘Pehle Se Bhi Jyada’, Ashu Pharkey, COO (CPH) Dainik Bhaskar Group said: “Over the last decade, the confidence of our readers is high as we remain relevant,  innovative and have continuously evolved with the changing reader ecosystem.”

     

    Commenting on the ‘refreshing’ strategy, Sanjeev Kotnala, VP Dainik Bhaskar Group said: “At Dainik Bhaskar Group, we always look at some way to contribute toward socio-economic development of our markets. There is a constant formalised research and informal feedback mechanism that allow us to track the changing needs of our readers and hence evolving with them.”

     

  • This will be for the e-auction of spectrum in 1800 MHz and 800 MHz bands

    Times Internet to conduct e-auction for spectrum

    By A Correspondent

     

    The digital technology company Times Internet Limited (TIL) has been selected as the auctioneer to operate spectrum auction process by Department of Telecommunications (DoT). This will be for the e-auction of spectrum in 1800 MHz and 800 MHz bands.

     

    NCDEX Spot Exchange and Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation were the two other firms in the race. These two firms could not qualify the technical bids.

     

    The e-auction will entail inviting applications, resolving queries of potential bidders, finalising eligible bidders, public information sessions and mock auction.

     

    Satyan Gajwani, CEO – TIL said: “Online auction is the most transparent method of holding large auctions. As a technology leader, we are excited to facilitate this process.”

     

  • The deal provides Ethnic Channels Group the rights to distribute the service on Cable and Satellite platforms

    Zee Cinema partners with Ethnic Channels Group in Canada

    By A Correspondent

     

    Zee America shas entered into a long-term distribution agreement with Ethnic Channels Group for Zee Cinema in Canada. The deal provides Ethnic Channels Group the rights to distribute the service on Cable and Satellite platforms.

     

    Suresh Bala, CEO, Zee Americas said: “This is exciting for us, in that for the first time we are able to focus our marketing and unlock the strength of the Zee Cinema brand in Canada. Ethnic Channels Group is an expert at marketing to ethnic audiences and we expect to grow our distribution and our subscription base significantly. Currently Zee Cinema is only available as a linear service, but we expect to work out the details of mobile distribution in the not so distant future.”

     

    Zee Cinema is Zee’s Bollywood entertainment channel. Its library features over 5,000 hours of movies.

     

    “We are delighted to partner with the Zee TV Group for the launch of Zee Cinema in Canada. Bollywood is a global, phenomenon and Zee Cinema is its biggest custodian,” said Slava Levin, Co-Founder and CEO of Ethnic Channels Group.

     

    Hari Srinivas, President Ethnic Channels Group added: “Ethnic Channels Group believes in the brand equity of its content partners, and it will be our primary objective to increase this for ZEE Cinema in Canada.”

     

  • The awards are a pioneering effort to recognize Indian music, transcending genres in the country giving the music industry a unified platform to celebrate its talent

    Red FM partners with Chevrolet GiMA Awards 2012

    By A Correspondent

     

    93.5 Red FM has partnered with the Chevrolet Global Indian Music Academy (GiMA) Awards, the biggest annual celebration of Indian Music, for the third consecutive year. The awards are a pioneering effort to recognize Indian music, transcending genres in the country giving the music industry a unified platform to celebrate its talent.

     

    An initiative by Wizcraft International Entertainment, GiMA recognizes talent across various genres of Indian Music such as Bollywood, Classical, Ghazal, Devotional, Folk, Fusion, Carnatic and Contemporary.

     

    Nisha Narayanan, Senior VP – Projects & Programming, Red FM said: “GiMA stands for excellence and honours the best talent in the music industry and Red FM is all about playing the most contemporary super hit music. There is an unparalleled synergy between the two and we are delighted to be partnering each other for three years in a row.”

     

    “This time RED has decided to present issues to listeners musically with the on-going ‘Gaa ke Bajaa’. GiMA-nominated stars sang for Mumbaikars a unique song every day for their daily woes on ‘Mumbai Local’ hosted by RJ Rishi Kapoor and will be aired from Monday to Saturday between 5-9pm,” she added.

     

    “Today, GiMA has evolved into a major platform for the Indian Music Industry and brings together the entire fraternity, to honour and celebrate musical talent across various genres. This year, there is an interesting mix of nominees and I congratulate GiMA as they embark upon yet another musical journey,” said Javed Akhtar, noted poet-lyricist and Advisory Board Member of GiMA.

     

    Sabbas Joseph, Director, Wizcraft International Entertainment said: “We are glad to have Red FM as our radio partner once again, for the third edition of the GiMA. It has been a great association and we look forward to yet another spectacular celebration with them this year.”

     

    GiMA is the only Music Awards platform with a voting process based on peer-to-peer recognition. Nominees are selected by a jury panel of over 30 eminent members from the music & film industry and later presented to the GiMAAcademy for the final voting.

     

    The Academy’s votes are tabulated by KPMG, the process auditors for GiMA who determine the winners. To ensure a fair and unbiased evaluation, the Academy follows a thorough and meticulous voting process.

     

    While the country’s best talent comprises of the jury, as per a mandate by KPMG, all jurors do not adjudicate on categories/genres in which they are in contention. The illustrious Advisory Board members include Dr L Subramaniam, Hariharan, Javed Akhtar, Mukesh Bhatt, Prasoon Joshi, Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Resul Pookutty, Shankar Mahadevan, Shubha Mudgal, Vishal Bhardwaj among others.

     

    The Academy comprises over 300 members from the music & film industry encompassing industry stalwarts, music directors, producers, lyricists, singers, technicians, composers and leaders in the music business.

     

     

  • The students representing over 100 B-Schools beyond the Top25, were tested by MeritTrac on standardised tests in verbal ability, quantitative ability and reasoning on behalf of recruiting companies

    Study reveals only 21% MBAs employable!

    By A Correspondent

     

    A nationwide study of marks secured by 2,264 MBAs who sat for tests by recruiting companies found only that only 21 per cent could make the grade. The previous study of 2007 by MeritTrac placed employability index at 25 per cent.

     

    The students representing over 100 B-Schools beyond the Top25, were tested by MeritTrac on standardised tests in verbal ability, quantitative ability and reasoning on behalf of recruiting companies.

     

    Examination of ‘AICTE Approval Process Hand Book: 2012-13’ reveals that the number of MBA seats in India has grown almost four fold – from 94,704 in 2006-07 to 3,52,571 in 2011-12.

     

    To benchmark the current state of employability of management graduates, MBA Universe.com and MeritTrac teamed up to conduct the research and release top line findings ahead of the MBA Universe.com organized Indian Management Conclave 2012, on August 9-10 in New Delhi.

     

    For purposes of this study, pre-recruitment test scores of 2,264 candidates were analysed by MeritTrac to assess how they fared on the three tests in terms of the average percentage scores and pass-through rates.

     

    The pass-through rates were calculated based on the pre-decided cut-off for each test. These cut-offs are at par with the average cut-off scores decided by companies in their recruitment exercises.

     

    The threshold cut-off scores used in Verbal ability, Quantitative ability and Reasoning were 45 per cent, 35 per cent and 40 per cent respectively. Overall average percentage score obtained by MBAs in Verbal ability, Quantitative ability and Reasoning was 52.58 per cent, 41.17 per cent and 37.51 per cent respectively.

     

    While performance on verbal ability seems to be satisfactory, reasoning is an area where there is scope for improvement. Considering that the elements of the reasoning test (deductive logic, data sufficiency, spatial reasoning, and analytical reasoning) are crucial to making sound management decisions, this is a result which warrants closer attention.

     

    The total pass-through rate, which is an index of employability, at 21 per cent leaves scope for improvement considering that organisations hire from this talent pool for strategic roles and this is the managerial pool that companies bank on.

     

    “The results of 2012 employability report covering 2,264 B-schools students from 29 cities are quite startling. This report clearly brings out the employability gaps across various competencies and highlights the need for scientific examinations and tests to align the candidate skills to employability metrics,” saidS Murlidhar, CEO and Director, MeritTrac Services.

     

    The MeritTrac- MBA Universe Employability Index study of MBAs will now be conducted once every two years.

     

    “Questions are asked about the talent coming out of MBA colleges, and whether they create a workforce responsive to the needs of the economy like understanding of business and on-the-feet thinking. So, decision-making skills are being valued more than ever,” said Amit Agnihotri, chairman of MBAUniverse.com.

     

     

  • Dish+ is positioned at a consumer-friendly and competitive price of Rs1,690 (against all other SD boxes at Rs 1590) with a free 4 GB pen drive as promotional offer

    Dish TV launches India’s first SD Recorder with unlimited capacity

    Salil Kapoor

    By A Correspondent

     

    Dish TV has launched “Dish+”,India’s first standard definition box with unlimited recording facility. Dish+ is positioned at a consumer-friendly and competitive price of Rs1,690 (against all other SD boxes at Rs 1590) with a free 4 GB pen drive as promotional offer. Post VCR, there is no recording device available with consumers and there is a huge vacuum to fulfil the consumer need. Dish+ fulfils the ‘need gap’ of recording facility for the consumers.

     

    Speaking on the launch, RC Venkateish, Chief Executive Officer, Dish TV India, said: “Being pioneers and market leaders, we have constantly reinvented and redefined the market with thought leadership to be ahead of the pack. Dish+ is being launched in 42 cities of Phase I and Phase II of digitization and will clearly demonstrate Dish+ as a better alternative for all viewers who will shift from analog to digital.”

     

    Salil Kapoor, Chief Operating Officer, Dish TV India, emphasized: “Dish+ is a comeback of recorders in the living room and is a clear differentiator vis-à-vis other alternatives including digital cable. Its highly competitive launch price will position it as a preferred option amongst all DTH buyers”.

     

    The unique feature of Dish + is its compatibility with any USB device enabling consumers to simply plug and play an existing USB stick/ HDD, and build an entire genre based library of their favorite program. Dish+ offers unmatched advantage of recording on SD. Dish+ is user-friendly with features like “plug-n-play” through an external USB device. This enables all benefits of a traditional DVR like recording and playing back programs, Pausing or Rewinding live TV, different play-back positions, event based recording (EBR), time based recording (TBR) and so on.

     

  • Moe's Art has bagged Reliance Entertainment Digital, Infiniti Mall and upcoming Hollywood flick Expendables 2 in Q1 2012-13

    Moe’s Art adds 3 more clients to its roster

    By A Correspondent

     

    Moe’s Art Pvt Ltd has bagged three new accounts in the first quarter of 2012-13. The agency has signed on Reliance Entertainment Digital, Infiniti Mall and the upcoming Hollywood film Expendables 2  and will manage their communication and PR across India. All three accounts belong to industries that are fairly diverse. The accounts will be handled by the Mumbai branch of the agency.

     

    Reliance Entertainment Digital is the digital arm of Reliance Entertainment, a part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG). It reaches out to consumers through its different entities like Zapak Digital Entertainment Ltd; Jump Games Pvt. Ltd and BIGFlix. Moe’s Art will be managing the communication of all three companies across digital, print and electronic platforms across key markets.

     

    Moe’s Art will be managing Infiniti Mall’s shopping malls located in Andheri and Malad in Mumbai. Moe’s Art will be concentrating on the events and activations that are organized in the mall along with specific brand connect.

     

    As for The Expendables 2, Moe’s Art will execute a pan India communication strategy with an aim to target industry as well as consumer stories. The agency will handle the communication for the movie across platforms and also with reviewers. Moe’s Art will also be focussing on promotional activities and events to set the scene for the action packed movie.

     

    Commenting on the same, Mr. Vishaal Shah, Managing Partner and Executive Editor, Moe’s Art said: “The last quarter ended on a positive note for us. At Moe’s Art, we have always strived to provide our clients with an innovative and unique approach towards media communication. By offering integrated communication strategies, we seek to offer value to our clients and look forward to continuing to build on this in future too.”

     

    Currently the agency has offices in Mumbai and Delhi. Moe’s Art has a diversified client portfolio from FMCG to financial space.

     

  • Mahindra Sri Lanka Premier League to kick off on August 11, 2012

    Mahindra bags title sponsorship rights of Sri Lanka Premier League

    By A Correspondent

     

    Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (M&M Ltd) has partnered with the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) as their title sponsors. The prestigious League kicks off from August 11 and will be played over three weeks at two venues -Colombo and Kandy. The inaugural edition of this League will feature seven provincial teams in a round-robin league format, with the winners having the distinction of playing in the Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20) as one of the teams in the qualifiers.

     

    Upali Dharmadasa, President of Sri Lanka Cricket said: “Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is proud and honoured to have on board, one of India’s leading business houses as the Title Sponsor of the Sri Lanka Premier League which shall now be referred to as the Mahindra Sri Lanka Premier League (or the “Mahindra SLPL”).

     

    “Since the Mahindra brand is also a household name in Sri Lanka, we believe it is the perfect platform to take the message of the Sri Lanka Premier League, which is “Gama Rata Lokeya, Eka Karana” or “Province, Country, World, Becomes One” to the world,” he added.

     

    SP Shukla, President- Group Strategy and Chief Brand Officer, Mahindra Group said: “Sri Lanka is a strategic market for the Mahindra Group which is already an established name in the country and what better medium than cricket to connect and engage with audiences as it is the most followed sport in the sub continent with a fan base of approximately 1.5 billion fans across India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh alone.”

     

    “We are thrilled to be associated with the Sri Lanka Premier League. With the leading lights of world cricket in the fray, we are positive that this League will be a huge success,” said Ruzbeh Irani, Chief Executive – International Operations (Automobile and Farm Sectors), Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. “Mahindra has been actively associated with various sporting events and partnering SLPL endorses Mahindra’s commitment to promote a sporting and active lifestyle,” he added.

     

    The Group’s association with the Sri Lanka Premier League underscores its continued commitment to promote sports not only at the grassroots level but also across a global platform.

     

    There will be 24 games in the Mahindra Sri Lanka Premier League and each team will be allowed a maximum of 18 players. Teams will be allowed to field a maximum of four foreign players per game with the remaining being local players. The Man of the Match in all 24 matches will receive the title of “Mahindra Man of the Match” while the ‘Man of the Tournament’ will win himself an XUV5OO.