The Zee Network hopes to repeat the popularity of its once popular Zee Horror Show with a new programme called ‘Fear Files’. The show will focus on events that are experienced by those who have lived to tell their story.
“Horror has been a part of our lives for years now. Almost all of us have heard stories of paranormal activities – some of us believe in them and some don’t. But there is no denying the fact that it hasn’t touched our lives. So, through this show we want to tell real life stories of people who have experienced the unexplainable,” said Sukesh Motwani, fiction programming head, Zee TV.
Sukesh Motwani
He added: “But this time around we have kept the gory details out. One can call it “intelligent” horror.” Fear Files was shot at haunted locations in a drama-documentary style. Thorough research was done for each story and at the end of each show, a paranormal expert will share the rationale view on all unnatural phenomena. The 26-episode show will go on air from June 30.
Talking about the weekend late night (10:30 pm) slot, Akash Chawla, Senior Vice President and head -marketing, national channels, Zee TV said that he is keeping his fingers crossed: “Data suggests that the weekend 10:30pm slot has been doing well. And since the show will be aired right after DID Little Masters, we hope to cash in on the slot. Also, the genre cuts across age-groups and gender and as many find it intriguing; we hope our TG (25-44 age-group) won’t be disappointed in the show.”
Akash Chawla
The channel is going all out to market the show. “Apart from promoting the show on our channels, there are going to be a lot of innovative print ads as well. Also, this time, we plan to spend around 12 per cent of our marketing budget on the digital platform,” said Mr Chawla.
“Marketing such shows is definitely a challenge,” he added. Innovative ways have thus been lined-up to promote ‘Fear Files’ as the channel felt that people have grown up and want to see something ‘reasonable’.
Top executives are taking up digital technology, but their extent appears to be tempered by their need to remain in control of their business ecosystem, according to new research by MEC and CNBC. The research surveyed 32 CEOs in multi-national companies across Singapore, Hong Kong, India and China.
Adoption of digital technology is currently limited to new devices (smartphones, tablets, and so on), being used for information aggregation and synchronization.
Attitudinally, CEOs in Asia acknowledge the positive benefits of using digital technology in the work place, citing upturns in growth and productivity, a levelling of the playing field and changing business formats. They believe that digital technology will change the way they work in the future. “We’ve only just started but digital technology will significantly change the way we deal with our peers, colleagues, clients and suppliers”, said a CEO from India.
Behaviourally, Asian CEOs consider themselves “fast followers” and claim to be undaunted by the proliferation of new gadgets – they remain in control over how and when these devices are to be used. A CEO in Singapore said he does not “want to be controlled by anyone or a piece of machinery”. An example of this is how mobile phones are often switched off and handed over to secretaries during meetings, for undivided attention.
These CEOs believe that digital technologies are not the “be all and end all” of everything. The same expectations in communications from the past applies in today’s digital age too, from “paying full attention when someone is talking” to having control of their time. As a CEO from a HK company said: “When I’m at home, it’s my time. Unless it’s very urgent, everything can wait till the next morning.”
In essence, CEOs continue to and expect to remain in control of their time and schedules.
CEOs tend to have well-established working behaviours, so technology and devices perform an efficiency or enhancing role, especially on a personal level. New technology has not intrinsically changed the way they behave; it is merely facilitating existing behaviours. “I want to be thoughtful, not just compelled to reply right away. I use these devices to add meaning,” explained a CEO from Singapore.
However, it is clear that CEOs recognize the benefits of technology and how it can revolutionise their business, but also recognise that they have a long way to go.
iPad – the game changer?
Interestingly, the iPad is possibly the one gadget that has been observed to subtly alter the CEO behaviour. With the trend of consumerisation of technology and more companies embracing the BYOD (bring your own device) policy, the iPad has quickly become a business as well as a personal device.
The iPad is a perfect fit for the needs of this niche target audience. CEOs have expressed a fondness for it, especially for browsing and presenting. A CEO from Singapore said: “When the opportunity arises, I take out my iPad and make a presentation, rather than use my laptop which makes me look like a salesman.”
It is slowly replacing the laptop for short trips and they express a certain liberation that comes with doing that.
“Given that they need to manage complexity, tablets satisfy a specific need from CEOs – simplicity. CEOs are highly selective with their content and only consume what they perceive will add real value to their work and personal lives. Therefore, brands seeking to communicate with CEOs need to ensure that content is delivered in a concise manner and optimised to be viewed and interacted with on these devices,” said Junji Sumitani, Vice President, Advertising Sales, CNBC, Asia Pacific.
Selective levels of engagement with social media
Asian CEOs acknowledge that the social media bandwagon is a wave they have yet to, or are hesitant to ride on, either for themselves or for their companies. Personally, they cite valuing their privacy as the reason they are, at best, passive observers of social networks.
Due to the inherent social nature of these networks, there seems to be a fear of opening up access to themselves and not having the bandwidth to deal with it. As a CEO from Hong Kong described it: “There are all these requests I need to accept and I just don’t want to get started on dialogues.”
The innate need to remain in control would clearly be at risk.
However, they do realise the potential of using it for their businesses. Internally, there is some but limited use of social networks for internal communications, stemming from a need to provide a platform for employees to air their opinions rather than as a way to connect and engage with them. “Clearly young people today feel they have a right to question and understand why something is working the way it is and if you don’t provide a mechanism for them to ask that questions and express themselves, they will go outside. So it is better for us to provide that space within the organization,” said a CEO from India.
Externally, CEOs are starting to explore the benefits of what these networks can do. “It becomes a very interesting B2B tool, so that’s something we are experimenting within the office – how to use social networking for marketing and promotion and positioning for the company.”
“Social networks are not the way to best communicate with CEOs since they are reluctant to lose control of their communication structures. However, they seek recommendations as much as anyone else, often through respected media brands. Hence B2B brands have an opportunity to partner with these media brands to provide valuable, timely content,” commented Jon Wright, Head of Analytics and Insight, MEC Asia Pacific.
In what Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) calls as a game-changing product innovation, it has rolled out a fused TV + Web Optimizer across its entire organization in India.
This optimizer will sit within the TARDIIS suite – SMG’s proprietary optimizer. SMG India has been using the TARDIIS TV optimizer since 2006. The fused optimizer will allow every single media planner at SMG to evaluate plans fluidly between TV and digital. The optimizer runs on the local Television Audience Measurement (TAM) and Web Audience Measurement (WAM) datasets.India is one of the few markets where SMG has launched this product.
Malli CR, CEO, SMG India, said: “We are a future-forward agency and this is one of the several investments that we are making to improve decision-making on client investments and take businesses along the digital transition road. One senses that the growth of spends on digital should be faster than otherwise. There are several vehicles in digital whose reach is substantial and yet inertia and a lack of currency prevent investments. With this Optimizer, a planner can seamlessly build plan options between TV and digital. Every client’s biggest complaint is about how plans for different target audiences look the same. This product is one of several things that will help change that. We have been testing the product internally since March and are seeing paradigm changing results.”
“One of the biggest challenges in digital is increasing the share of spends of FMCG. Our experience on TARDIIS Web + TV from other markets on FMCG clients has shown that it can lead to a totally different worldview on digital and increase spends substantially. TARDIIS Web + TV is one of the first tools with scale in this market that can accelerate digital spends and investments,” he added.
Deeming this as a huge HR initiative, Puja Shah, Director Human Resources at SMG commented: “We want to enable all our planners to be digitally oriented. This is one of several steps in this direction SMG India has planned out in the next six months.”
Mobext, the mobile marketing agency brand of Havas Digital, has announced the launch of a proprietary, next generation global mobile messaging platform. The platform allows companies to launch sophisticated, multi-country mobile messaging campaigns.
Rob Griffin, EVP – Global Director of Product Development of Havas Digital said: “With the exponential growth in mobile and mobile’s growing importance in creating meaningful brands, Havas Digital is proud to be rolling out Mobext’s ‘SAM’ for our clients. SAM, which stands for ‘Simplified Automated Messaging’, is a mobile messaging platform managed by Havas Digital’s Mobext division and was built for global scale that can be deployed very quickly to support our clients’ increasing messaging requirements. Mobile messaging is often overlooked due to mobile rich media, smartphones and tablets but we feel it is a critically efficient element when optimizing a consumer’s experience with a brand by supporting and enhancing CRM, social media, and promotional activities.”
Among key features of the platform is the ability to send personalized, highly targeted SMS to an opt-in mobile database. It also enables powerful, 2-way SMS marketing campaigns, allowing advertisers to launch a vast array of interactive mobile campaigns such as polling, voting, trivia, contests, data profiling, couponing, on-pack promotions, and many others.
SAM is managed and hosted in the Philippines. The platform is already live in the Philippines, India and Argentina, with plans to launch it before end 2012 in all other Mobext markets worldwide.
Arthur Policarpio, Asia-Pacific Head of Mobext as well as CEO of Mobext Philippines said: “The problem with most SMS marketing platforms is the high-degree of complexity as well as lack of global scale – it is an extremely complicated process to secure short codes as well as SMS push pipelines on a per country basis. SAM simplifies all this. SAM enables enterprises of all sizes to quickly launch a multi-country, mobile messaging campaign – all from a simplified, easy-to-use web-based platform.”
LinkedIn, the professional network with over 15 million members in India, has appointed AL Jagannath as Head, trade marketing for India.
With over 18 years of experience in marketing, Mr Jagannath’s immediate focus will be to drive existing and new initiatives for LinkedIn’s Marketing Solutions and Hiring Solutions portfolios.
As part of LinkedIn India’s leadership team, he will be responsible for widening awareness about LinkedIn’s array of customized solutions that are available to advertisers and recruiters in the Indian market.
“Being the second-largest member base for LinkedIn, we see tremendous potential for growing our business in India. We have built a strong and viable platform for the business over the last two and a half years. Our focus, moving forward, will be to build off this platform and continue to give the best value to our advertisers and recruiters. Jagannath brings invaluable experience in building up large businesses and his addition to the India leadership team will help us accelerate our growth in the market, strengthen our operations and associate with even more businesses in India,” said Hari V Krishnan, Country Manager, LinkedIn India.
Based out of Bengaluru, Mr Jagannath joins LinkedIn from VMWare, where he was director, marketing for India and SAARC. Prior to VMWare, he also held leadership positions at some ofIndia’s largest IT companies like Satyam Computers, Reliance Infocomm and Mudra Communications. Having worked with these companies, Jagannath comes with holistic experience in business and consumer marketing.
LinkedIn India is headquartered in Mumbai with offices in New Delhi and Bengaluru.
Bharti Airtel, a leading global telecommunications company, has launched Airtel Super Singer 7, aimed to entertain music lovers of Andhra Pradesh. The launch took place in the presence of Sharlin Thayil, CEO – Bharti Airtel, Andhra Pradesh along with the jury members of the show, singers Sunitha and Kouslaya along with lyricist Chandra Bose.
Airtel Super Singer 7 – The Spicy Series brings famous singers to a common platform. There will be 2 teams in this series – Warriors and Chargers and the show will have the singers showcasing a variety of music genres.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Thayli said: “Airtel has always taken the lead in associating with events, shows and initiatives that showcases the talent of today’s youth. It gives us immense pleasure to be associated with this youthful and entertaining show. We would like to wish the participants all the very best for a fantastic show.”
Airtel Super Singer 7 – The Spicy Series will be aired every Wednesday on Maa TV.
9X Media has elevated Pawan Jailkhani to the position of Chief Revenue Officer and Punit Pandey to the position of Executive Vice President. The 9X Media Group has been on a high growth trajectory since 2011, adding 5 music channels to its network, besides the Group’s flagship music channel – 9XM.
In his new role, Pawan Jailkhani will be responsible for all forms of revenue across the existing six music television channels operated by the 9X Media Group. He will also be in charge of revenue for all future launches by 9X Media.
Punit Pandey, in his new role as Executive Vice President, will be responsible for the new business initiatives by the Network and would also continue to head the business aspect of the existing six music channels.
Dying to watch the latest season of Big Bang Theory or want to know who’s going to win the current MasterChef Australia series? Then, you have two options: either download it or wait for a channel to telecast it here.
Of course, many of us opt for the first option as Indian channels still lag in getting the latest seasons of these international shows to India . MxM India explores if the internet is indeed posing a threat to the genre.
Internet, a menace?
Anurag Bedi
Consumer trends have changed over the past few years; and if one gets his dose of entertainment, it doesn’t matter it’s on which platform. “The viewer is platform-neutral. So, as far as one gets certain amount of entertainment quotient, it doesn’t matter even if he’s doing it illegally i.e. by downloading. And with the internet reaching out to every nook and corner of the country, it won’t be wrong to say that internet poses a threat to content owners or channels,” explains Karthik Sharma, managing partner, Maxus.
The internet remains the biggest threat to the English general entertainment channels. Most of these channels are not able to telecast various popular international shows like Games of Throne, Weeds, Sherlock and others, hence viewers log online.
Saurabh Yagnik
“Today, the television audience is experimenting with content. They are quite receptive to exploring new, innovative and unconventional content. Considering the change in lifestyles and the impact of globalization, our audience is more aware than ever. Viewers have the knowledge of the scope of entertainment available on various platforms,” said Anurag Bedi, Business Head, Zee Cafe.
Saurabh Yagnik, GM & senior VP, English Channels, STAR India Pvt. Ltd added: “STAR World’s constant endeavour has been to bring international shows to India , at the same time as their broadcast in US. We, in fact, had the World Television Premier of shows such as Missing, Touch on our channel. Even for Masterchef Australia Season 4, we are broadcasting the show very close to its telecast in Australia this time. This also becomes possible due to our strong and exclusive associations with international production houses such as Disney, Fox, and others.”
Ricky Ow
On an optimistic note, Ricky Ow, executive VP, Networks, Asia, Sony Pictures Television feels that though the internet adds to the competition, it helps one realize what the market is looking for: “If one studies the internet, then it can definitely turn out to be an asset as it gives us an opportunity to look at what the audience is interested in. For example, it helps us know what the India n audiences’ interests are outside AXN.”
However, the newest entry on the block, Comedy Central’s Ferzad Palia, senior VP and GM – English Entertainment, Viacom 18 Media Pvt Ltd feels that internet should be seen as a complimentary asset rather than just as competition. “With technology, the social mindsets of people are changing too. And now people have become more accepting towards western culture. Thus, it’s good for us as more and more people identify with the content.”
Ferzad Palia
The buying game
There is no doubt that the English-language general entertainment market is developing. Almost every channel is trying its level-best to keep the audience hooked on by getting more and more international shows to the living rooms. One question still remains: why are channels not able to show what their TG wants?
“It is difficult to bring popular international shows to India , especially at the same time as their release in other markets. However, we have been driving our efforts to realize this for a long time with our property titled Torrentz, wherein we brought international shows very close to their release in other markets,” said Mr Yagnik.
New channels coming up are giving a tough competition to the likes of Star World, Zee Cafe and AXN. Media professionals feel that, though the competition is good, it can become a burden on English channels as they have a limited TG. This has lead to rise in the cost of procuring rights. So, if a channel is paying more for an acquisition of shows which are popular abroad, they might not be able to recover money as mass channels do.
Mr Ow added that though it cannot be categorized as easy or difficult, the onset of more channels has definitely risen the costs: “If we want a show, we try our level best to get it. AXN’s programming formula is simple – we are an action-adventure destination. Therefore, it narrows down the competition as we look for series, movies or reality shows which cater to that genre.”
On the other hand, Mr Palia feels that though procuring rights is a complicated process, nothing is easy when it comes to running a channel. “It’s a part and parcel of starting a channel. What is more important is the selection process of the shows which will interest the India n audience. Demand for international shows has increased in the country of late and people have become choosy about what they want to watch.”
Hence, many channels are now associating with production houses or producing their own shows as they feel it will help them grow their market without too much of a trouble.
Vishal Rally
“There could be 100 popular international shows, but we cannot telecast them all. So, a channel needs to choose what their TG wants. Thankfully, we are backed up with a studio and a JV which allows us to telecast shows simultaneously in India as well. We telecast shows like Survivors, NCIS at par with their international seasons. That’s our USP,” said Vishal Rally, business head, BIG CBS Network.
Nevertheless, most channels agree that it isn’t an easy task to get good international shows to India , but to keep the competition at bay, they have to try to out-do internet but also each other by bringing the latest shows to their audience’s living rooms ASAP.
Many broadcasters are also aware that the internet viewership of popular shows is small, and the public still prefers a bigger screen experience. As one broadcaster said, high speed broadband connections exist, but not with everyone. And the buffering is a pain. It’s a huge negative for the viewers who watch English GECs.
But low broadband speeds and poor connectivity will soon be a thing of the past, right? Yes and so will dated soaps and old seasons be, says the broadcaster, requesting anonymity. “Right now, we are catching up with old seasons since most people haven’t watched them… For instance, how many people have watched The Newsroom, which has been receiving rave reviews?” There’s also an issue of copyright and picture quality. “Some of what you see on YouTube is pirated and is being yanked off the site when caught in the act. And if it is available somewhere, it appears to have been recorded on the microwave oven… Who wants to view Masterchef where a tomato looks like a potato!!!”
Hmmm. Surely reason for us to wait and watch. Or in this case, watch and wait.
Launched 16 years ago as a music channel, Star India’s Channel V is now turning into a full-fledged youth entertainment channel. Starting July 1, V will stop airing music programmes in India and focus on fiction and non-fiction shows. The reason: “Over the last two years, there has been an explosion of ‘music only’ channels, but everyone’s playing identical playlists,” says Prem Kamath, executive vice-president and general manager at Channel V. “In order to grow as a channel and as a brand, it has always been critical to have an offering that is unique in our competitive space,” he adds on being quizzed on the decision.
Many experts feel that it was bound to happen as more and more channels try to mould themselves to stay connected with what their target audience wants. But there many questions arise: could this mean the beginning of the end of music on TV? What is the future of music genre? Where is it headed?
The beginning
The scene for Indian music channels was set with the launch of MTV in the early 90s. Soon after, Channel V was launched in 1994, and since then there has been no looking back.
The launch of these music channels also led to a boom in international as well as Indie pop culture. However, it was shortlived and Bollywood music took over, and the two channels, along with many other launched afterwards, started playing popular filmi songs. But over a period of time, these two channels moved beyond playing only music with shows like Roadies, Splitsvilla and Dare 2 Date.
Hemant Kenkre
According to music columnist Narendra Kusnur, somewhere down the line for these channels, music took a backseat: “I’m sure any channel would do thorough research while trying to change their gameplan. So, if a music channel shifting towards being a youth entertainment channel is proved beneficial – for viewership as well as revenue – then it wouldn’t harm them to take such a step.”
He’s not alone in voicing this. Even Hemant Kenkre, a former music channel professional and a corporate and brand communications veteran, feels that channels are now branding themselves differently to reach out to their TG. He, however, does blame the availability of music on various platforms – radio, cellphones, laptops, iPods – as the reason for this shift. “Today, the youth is moving towards reality shows and they want it from the channels meant for them. As for music, they get their share of it from other mediums too.”
Luke Kenny
Former VJ, musician, actor and 9XO programming head Luke Kenny, on the other hand, feels that the channel (Channel V) decided to shift long back and has been moving slowly towards it, but there are still many who want music on television. “If music was dead on TV, then how would you explain other new music channels cropping up and doing well too?”
He added: “Having said that, I do believe that with more channels showcasing Bollywood songs, music channels have lost their niche and have just became promotional channels. Therefore, if a channel decides to change colours, it might work. And you never know, Star India might come up with a new music channel called Music OK.”
Industry talk
If one takes a look at various channels, be it music or a GEC, they will find that, there is a great deal of music in some or the other. We have music trailers/songs aired across all channels. Award shows, too, have musical performances and talent shows like Saregama, Indian Idol, DID and even celeb dance show Jhalak Dikhla Jaa are high on ratings.
Mohit Joshi
Therefore, according to media planners, the existence of specialised music channels is a difficult game. “Today, unfortunately for the masses in India, music equals to Bollywood. This is the challenge. This was not the case in the ’90s when there were a lot of private music albums that were launched -Silk Route et al, and the music channels were used for their amplification. So, there was something more than Bollywood, which is not the case today. In the current scenario, if music channels do not experiment with music or the content, then there is a fear that they will dilute their relevance over a period of time,” says Mohit Joshi, managing director, MPG India.
Adds Carat Media India’s senior VP Himanka Das: “Channel V’s decision to discontinue music is a welcome change and would offer interesting opportunities to build engagement content with the youth, considering the very little content that is available to them in entertainment beyond music. Music as a genre gets 6-7 per cent share in the youth segment of viewers with Channel V contributing 24 per cent to this share amongst 20+ channels. Channel V vacating this space is someone else’s gain!”
Punit Pandey
Meanwhile, other music channels aren’t perturbed and are waiting to see how the channel is accepted in its new avatar. As per TAM (CS4+, All India market), there has been a consistent growth in the music genre. In 2007, the genre share of music channels was 2.02 per cent whereas in 2012 (till week 24) the share has grown to 3.62 per cent.
Punit Pandey, senior VP and business head, 9X Media Group, agreed with Mr Das and added: “Music has, and will continue to, work on television. It is close to a Rs360-370 crore industry (in the HSM belt) and growing. More and more people are ‘watching’ music, so there is nothing to worry about for music channels at large.”
Nikhil Gandhi
Similarly, the view from UTV Bindass which started out as a Youth Entertainment Channel (YEC) and has been a pioneer in the segment is that though in the recent past music channels, especially MTV and Channel V, have started shifting focus from music to fictional and non-fictional shows, there is no reason for sleepless nights. “We have an advantage over other channels entering the YEC genre as we have already created a connect with the TG,” says Nikhil Gandhi, Disney UTV Executive Director – Youth Channels, Media Networks. And adds an alert: “So, I would like to tell other channels entering the YEC genre to work on their strategies well.”
Apprehensive marketers?
The change in positioning is due to the feeling that youngsters now have a strong spending power. And, hence, are targeted by various brands more than ever before. TV forms a core part of advertisement for these brands as youngsters also spend a lot of time in front of the television sets.
Simeran Bhasin
But what happens to youth brands if a channel changes its content strategy? According to the various marketing heads, the apprehensions will emerge if the channel isn’t clear about the shift and isn’t able to help a brand reach its TG.
“If the TG of a brand matches that of the channel, it won’t matter if they decide to change over a period of time. However, if there is a shift in TG then a brand would think twice before advertising on that channel,” says Simeran Bhasin, head – Marketing and Retail, Fastrack.
Harkirat Singh
MTV’s latest show Sound Trippin was partnered by Woodland because the brand feels that youth oriented channels helps them reach their TG. However, the brand is clear that it get associated with channels or shows only if it feels there is a connect between the brand and the viewers. “Like any other brand, while media planning, the TG of a certain channel is important for us. We look for shows which are able to reach and connect with our TG. So, if a channel changes its content plan, we will want to go through their new strategy to figure out where do we figure and how it can benefit us,” says Harkirat Singh, MD, Woodland.
Will the shift work?
According to the industry professionals, the change in content plan by a channel is done after a lot of research and only time can decide if it will work in its favour or not. However, they believe that a channel should remain true to its philosophy because otherwise it will lose its identify as well.
Samyak Chakrabarty
Expanding on it, Samyak Chakrabarty, MD, Electronic Youth Media Group and Chief Youth Marketer, DDB Mudra Group believes that ‘youth’ is a very misunderstood word and youngsters cannot be defined in one category as all depends on the exposure and the background one comes from. “In their perception to become ‘youth’ channels, they are getting muddled up and don’t know where they are headed. Today, a youngster cannot associate MTV or Channel V with anything like they do for other brands. For instance, technology means iPad, connectivity means Blackberry etc. I think music channels should have remained with what they started as, instead of losing their identify to gain more TRPs. Such moves will only lead to their downfall, in the long term.”
From being largely optimistic to one predicting a downfall, we received mixed reactions to the proposed change in Channel V’s identity. However, one thing is clear, no matter what Star India decides, there will be many who will wait to see what this mean for them and the genre, at large.
Amar Upadhyay, last seen on Big Boss season 5, is all set to hit the small screen again with BIG Magic’s Police Files.
The channel aims to feature local-relevant entertainment through the core Hindi heartland – UP, MP, Biharand Jharkhand. With the Hindi heartland known for crimes like drug trafficking, extortion, murder for hire, crime against women, homicide, burglary, theft, land mafia and more, the actor will be seen highlighting cases that the local populace can relate to.
Anand Chakravarthy
“Amar is a household name and rose to fame through a fiction show and then again through a reality show. He connects excellently with audiences and has a huge fan following in the heartland. His ability to connect with audiences is unique and a show like Police Files requires someone who is one amongst them, understands the true issues of the heartland and offers them solutions on dealing with situations, should they ever be in one. Amar does this beautifully as he discusses cases and helps audiences look out for possible signs through discussions with psychologists, real cops and more…” said Anand Chakravarthy, Executive Vice President, Marketing, RBNL and Business Head, BIG Magic.
Speaking on hosting the show, Amar Upadhyay said: “BIG Magic is the newest entertainment channel that has swept the Heartland. With its specially created localized shows, the channel has been able to fulfill a huge entertainment lacuna in the region. I liked the concept of Police Files and its ability to help audiences deal with the growing crime rate in the region. I look forward to making this iconic show an ideal platform to fight crime and create awareness amongst public.”
The show hopes to empower viewers to be better equipped to deal with criminal situations. As part of the show, Mr Upadhyay will be seen engaged in discussions with psychiatrists, real lawyers and the real police, who discuss the reason, rationale, signs to look out for and more, when it comes to dealing with crime in the region.
The gaming company, UTV Indiagames, has launched the official java mobile game for Disney Pixar’s ‘Brave’.
This game captures the vivid and beautiful Scottish Highlands. Based on the protagonist of the movie -Merida, the user has to use his/her archery skills to unfold the mystery and save her family.
“Disney Pixar’s Brave has an excellent storyline which has all the elements – adventure, mystery, action – that lend itself into an engaging game, deepening the fantastical movie experience. With this Java game we want to reach out to 60 per cent of India’s mobile phone population,” said Samir Bangara, Managing Director – Digital, Disney UTV.
Digitas, the digital marketing agency, has been appointed by Axis Bank as their digital AOR. Digitas will conceptualize, design and manage Axis bank’s presence online across the bank’s verticals and practices.
On the association, Manisha Lath Gupta, Chief Marketing Officer at Axis Bank said; “At Axis bank we believe that digital media is an extremely important channel to engage with and have meaningful conversations with consumers. Over a period of time, a good digital strategy will go a long way in creating preference of one service provider over another. We believe that Digitas India is the right strategic partner to help us achieve our aspirations. Digitas will be handling all social media and online creative work for Axis Bank.”
Working with Axis Bank is extremely exciting and challenging said KanikaMathur, President, Digitas India. “We will be using some of our worldwide learning’s and best practices to create and implement best in class strategies and consumer experiences for Axis bank. These will include helping position new and current services online as well as in social media,” she added.
Digitas India has a full service offering across ‘paid, owned and earned’ media. Today the India team has over 160 team members.
By A Correspondent
The gaming company, UTV Indiagames, has launched the official java mobile game for Disney Pixar’s ‘Brave’.