MxMIndia

Category: MEDIA

  • Affle, the digital media company, has announced the launch of Ripple – its rich media and video advertising network

    Affle unveils integrated ad network for all smart screens

    By A Correspondent

     

    Affle, the digital media company, has announced the launch of Ripple – its rich media and video advertising network. With the growing convergence of connected devices (PC, Mobile, Tablet & Smart TV), Ripple is an integrated ad network that will offer cutting edge advertising solutions across all smart screens. Developed in-house by Affle, which enable it to deliver advertising contextual to the kind of video content being consumed thus making it significantly more engaging for users and valuable for advertisers and publishers.

     

    A recent consumer research commissioned by Affle conducted by IMRB revealed that Online Video advertising is almost 3 times more likely to get users to search for the product vs. regular TV advertising and is 2.7 times more effective for enhancing purchase consideration vs. TV advertising. Affle has been very encouraged by these findings and believes that the overall user and usage growth in the video internet market coupled with greater ad effectiveness on this medium will help grow this market substantially in months to come.

     

    Calling the new technology as smart media for smarter screens, Anuj Khanna Sohum, Founder and Chairman, Affle Group, said, “Three major consumer and technology trends are leading the digital revolution in developing markets – increased consumption of video and rich media over internet, greater penetration of mobile internet on smart devices, cheaper and faster access to connected wireless networks. Ripple is designed to leverage these significant trends with the aim to accelerate the digital revolution globally. Given our successful history and extensive experience, we have a comprehensive understanding of the needs of the consumers, publishers and advertisers. Our innovation on the Ripple platform enhances the consumer experience and engagement with rich media and that we believe will add significant value to all key stakeholders in the digital media ecosystem.”

     

    Ripple differentiates itself significantly from other ad networks by having an integrated platform for delivering intelligent advertising across all smart screens and through its array of innovations which make advertising more contextual and richer in experience.

     

    Anuj Kumar, Co-founder and CEO, Affle, said, “We strongly believe that effective advertising is one which is engaging and relevant for consumers. Over the last one year we have been doing a lot of product level R&D and user research to create the Ripple platform such that advertising delivered through it will reach the most relevant consumer, on the most premium content and at the most relevant context across all smart screens. I am extremely happy that a lot of those efforts have made us build a solid product which has already attracted top partners like Samsung, P&G, Star, Business Standard, Dainik Bhaskar, Beoscope, Bolanews, Sambawa and many more across key Asian markets.”

     

    “We have built some exciting innovations in Ripple like our new ad engagement unit ‘Storm’ which utilises image search, voice recognition, face detection like technologies to identify the most relevant context in the content, to help deliver the most meaningful advertising. Our tests on some of these innovations have been hugely successful and we have observed significant increases in user engagement levels through such formats versus the regular digital advertising formats. I am confident that once commercially available these would get a lot more advertisers and publishers to work with us. We are also working on a lot of other next generation innovations currently, as we strongly believe that a solid technology backbone for Ripple could help us significantly enhance digital advertising effectiveness and the overall market size,” Charles Yong, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Affle, said.

     

     

  • Dainik Bhaskar celebrated two years in Jharkhand, which it had entered with the launch of the Ranchi edition in August 2010, followed by the Jamshedpur and Dhanbad editions in December 2010 and April 2011 respectively

    Bhaskar celebrates 2nd anniv in Jharkhand

    By A Correspondent

     

    Dainik Bhaskar celebrated two years in Jharkhand, which it had entered with the launch of the Ranchi edition in August 2010, followed by the Jamshedpur and Dhanbad editions in December 2010 and April 2011 respectively.

     

    Dainik Bhaskar offers its readers a tailor-made newspaper as per their needs and expectations. It is a voice of the area with a deep sense of reader connect and quality, unbiased news reporting – and that has lead to its tremendous success across editions.

     

    As part of the celebration, a special 16-page issue was released along with the main newspaper. Dainik Bhaskar in Jharkhand has been a voice raising citizens’ concerns on infrastructural development and progress. Last year on the first anniversary the special issue had spoken about the thought of “Badlav Miljulkar”- collective change. This year the special issue highlighted the socio-economic changes witnessed by the state in the last few years, taking it that much closer to achieving dream state status.

     

  • Aegis Media's Vizeum India has announced their appointment as media AoR for Prism TV Private Limited to handle the 5 ETV regional channels namely ETV Marathi, Bangla, Kannada, Gujarati & Oriya

    ETV Network ropes in Vizeum to handle media

    By A Correspondent

     

    Aegis Media’s Vizeum India has announced their appointment as media AoR for Prism TV Private Limited to handle the 5 ETV regional channels namely ETV Marathi, Bangla, Kannada, Gujarati & Oriya.

     

    As ETV Network gears up for a refreshed strategy, Vizeum as the Media AoR has been appointed to play a pivotal role in the next phase of growth for the network.

     

    Confirming the same an official spokesperson from Prism TV said, “We are delighted to partner with Vizeum in our attempt to redefine the next phase for ETV channels. Building a brand around the network can present a lot of interesting challenges and we look forward to work with team Vizeum in getting people hooked to our regional channels.”

     

    Commenting on the win, S Yesudas, Managing Director – Indian Subcontinent, Vizeum said “All I would say with pride is, our dream of attracting clients and talent to Vizeum automatically in our 4th year of operation, rather than us having to go out, is becoming a reality.  I take this opportunity to welcome ETV Network into the Vizeum family. We are thankful to the client management for considering us worthy.”

     

    Vizeum successfully operates in 55 countries with a philosophy of in-depth understanding of the co existence of lives, brands and media in the actual world, through its process – motivation to media.

     

  • As part of his new profile Mr Chakravarthy, who has been associated with Reliance Broadcast Network right since its launch, will take on the mandate of the overall P&L and brand development for the joint venture's English channel portfolio.

    Anand Chakravarthy gets added role as Biz Head, BIG CBS

    By A Correspondent

     

    Anand Chakravarthy

    BIG CBS Networks has announced the appointment of Anand Chakravarthy as its Business Head. As part of his new profile Mr Chakravarthy, who has been associated with Reliance Broadcast Network right since its launch, will take on the mandate of the overall P&L and brand development for the joint venture’s English channel portfolio, that is, BIG CBS Prime, BIG CBS Love and BIG CBS Spark. Along with his new profile as Business Head for the BIG CBS JV, he will continue with his current designation as Chief Marketing Officer, Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd.

     

    Mr Chakravarthy has been with Reliance Broadcast Network since 2006 and has played an instrumental role in taking the company from a pure radio company to a multimedia conglomerate that it is today.

     

    Sharing his initial reactions on the elevation with MxM India, Mr Chakravarthy said: “CBS is a brand that was launched two years ago, and I was part of the launch. While I have been doing marketing for quite some time now, for me to take over the business mandate is an opportunity to grow into a larger business role. We have some exciting shows lined up.”

     

    When asked on how he would juggle multiple roles including handling the marketing mandate of RBNL as well as being responsible for the P&L of the new English channels under BIG CBS he said: “On the marketing front, my role is more of providing strategic help and guidance to the different teams but my focus will be largely on the Big CBS business because it is still very young and requires a lot of attention. Also, I have been doing marketing for a long time so that comes easy to me. Though I was handling regional channels Magic and Spark, now to move to the English genre space will be a new experience for me as there is a new set of consumers, new set of products and a different set of challenges to meet. But the great thing is that CBS is a great brand and they bring some fantastic content to the table. Between BIG and CBS, building a joint venture is in itself a prestigious brand to work for. So it’s an interesting opportunity and I am looking forward to it.”

     

    Speaking on Anand Chakravarthy’s appointment, Tarun Katial, CEO, Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd. said, “Anand is one of our finest and most committed senior management associates. As the business takes a new leap with some amazing content – America’s Got Talent, American Idol, X Factor, Dexter and more, along with the impending digitization which will catapult these channels into another level, no one is better equipped than Anand to lead this initiative and focus on great content and communication, subscription revenue, and building greater value for advertisers.”

     

    Though it is still early days, Mr Chakravarthy already has his work cut out for him. He asserts: “The channels have taken off well and we have an objective to take them to a strong leadership position. The other thing is that we want to bring in more and more exciting content so we are just in the middle of the latest season of America’s Got Talent. Next is X factor that will be simulcast along with the US on September 14. We’re gonna follow that up with American Idol and the latest season of American Idol post that as well.” The focus, he says, is to bring in some of the marquee properties from the US which are familiar and well-known in India and start launching them simultaneously with the US. “Over the next six months, we want to cement our promise as a network that will deliver the latest, precious and hottest of American TV and will do that with a series of exciting launches,” affirmed Mr Chakravarthy.

     

  • Star Plus is back as numero uno Hindi GEC, with Colors #2 and Zee #3 in Week 34

    Week 34, Hindi GECs: Star Plus #1, Colors #2, Zee #3

    By A Correspondent

     

    Star Plus is back as the top Hindi GEC in Week 34 in the weekly ratings made available to MxMIndia from an industry source. Star Plus score 265 (255), whereas Colors secured seven point lesser and was at 258 (238) and Zee was at 237 (283). Sony was a distant fourth at 211. Sab and Life OK were neck-and-neck at 126 (133) and 125 (135) respectively.

     

    Please note that the information has not supplied and verified by TAM Media. However our sources are reasonably reliable. The figures in brackets indicate ratings of the previous week.

     

  • IAMAI's monthly Internet Economy Watch will include newer categories soon

    Books & mobiles enter IAMAI’s monthly tracker

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has released the ‘Internet Economy Watch’ for the month of July 2012. ‘Internet Economy Watch’ the monthly tracker by IAMAI, is based on absolute numbers captured from various relevant sites, encapsulates online usage for E-tailing, Online Travel and Vertical Classifieds.

     

    In the July 2012 report, IAMAI has introduced two new categories – Mobiles and Books. Mobile has infact emerged as the second most popular category among the online consumers i.e. after Branded Apparels. With the exception of Jewellery, all the other e-commerce categories have shown growth in July 2012 as against July 2011. The number of resumes uploaded has continued to decline even in July 2012 as against the previous year whereas the number of matrimonial uploads continued to grow.

     

    So do these trends indicate that consumers in India are fast adapting to online buying? According to Dr Subho Ray, President, IAMAI, consumers have over the years have become more confident about purchasing online. “Definitely, Indian consumers over a period of time have become more confident about purchasing online. The figures from the Internet Economy Watch report for various that how internet savvy Indians have become and how comfortable and confident they are doing online transactions” he said.

     

    Speaking on the kind of response IAMAI has been receiving on the ‘Internet Economic Watch’ report, Dr Ray explained, “The Internet Economy Watch report has helped marketers and brands to map the consumer behaviour online and devise their digital strategy accordingly – to be in sync with the online behaviour of consumers. Having said this, we must also keep in mind that the ‘Internet Economy Watch’ report is at a nascent stage and will be of comprehensive use in the months to come.”

     

    In the months to come IAMAI not only aims to add more categories in the report but, also plans to make the monthly report more comprehensive by giving it a holistic view of usage of internet in India.

     

    Source: IAMAI/e-Commerce sites

     

    E-Commerce Sites:

    As per the data captured by the report there has been a significant increase in the online user visit to books and designer label category during July 2012 when compared to the numbers of last year. While 1.74 million hits were registered for the books segment in July 2012 as compared to 1.11 million hits in July 2011, designer label segment registered a y-o-y growth of 45 per cent with 2.04 million user visits in July 2012. It is in comparison to 1.41 million user visits in the corresponding period last year.

     

    While branded apparel and footwear segment witnessed a marginal rise, y-o-y growth of 6 percent and 12 percent respectively in number of online user visits in July 2012 as compared to July 2011, Jewellery category saw a decline from 1.84 million hits in July 2011 to 1.76 million hits in July 2012.

     

    Online Travel Portals:

    In e-ticketing segment irctc.com clocked 6.53 million bookings in July 2012 as against 5.23 million in July 2011. The e-ticketing on airlines witnessed a y-o-y growth of 34% with 1.95 million bookings in July 2012 compared to 1.46 million in corresponding month last year.

     

    Source: IAMAI/ Online Travel Portals

     

    Verticals Classifieds:

    Data captured from prominent recruitment websites reveals that the number of resume uploads have gone down from 3.09 million in July 2011 to 2.60 million in July 2012. The matrimonial profile uploads has increased from 2.33 million in July 2011 to 2.47 million in July 2012.

     

    Source: IAMAI/ Vertical Classifieds

     

    The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) is an association which is said to be representing the entire gamut of digital businesses in India. It was established in 2004 by the leading online publishers. IAMAI is also said to be the only professional industry body representing the online and mobile VAS industry in India.

     

  • Remember the days when Doordarshan would provide signals without an intermediary? As many 30 million homes still watch TV that way, note Paritosh Joshi

    Paritosh Joshi | Digitization’s best kept secret

    By Paritosh Joshi

     

    The entire Television industry: Equipment makers, Broadcasters, Distribution Platform Operators like DTH Players or MSOs; and finally, the end consumer, are all on the verge of extreme anxiety. The government, having notified the “THE TELECOMMUNICATION (BROADCASTING AND CABLE SERVICES) INTERCONNECTION (DIGITAL ADDRESSABLE CABLE TELEVISION SYSTEMS) REGULATIONS, 2012”, is on pins and needles wondering whether full compliance is possible on time and hoping it won’t have another embarrassment on its hands.

     

    The analogue sunset for our big cities, while it has been pushed back, is imminent and even if it gets another postponement, it will have to be completed soon.

     

    What were the technologies that were considered by lawmakers when legislating digitization? A cursory reading of the ponderously named regulations will reveal that all options involve an intermediary “cable operator” defined as a “person who provides cable service through a cable television network or otherwise controls or is responsible for the management and operation of a cable television network”.

     

    Given that we have all but forgotten an era when a broadcaster (Doordarshan) provided its signals sans intermediary to consumers that they could pluck right off the air, it is scarcely surprising; but a good 30 million homes still receive their TV unintermediated. Remember the antenna?  (Evidently, none of those 30 million are reading this piece).

     

    And here’s another little factoid. As much as 44% of all TV consumption in the US is still from broadcast TV. We in India have apparently forgotten that terrestrial broadcast still represents the quickest and least expensive path to digitization.

     

    There are many reasons why terrestrial broadcast TV is ideal for India:

     

    • It is, by and large, FTA. Obviously you can run an encrypted channel as easily on broadcast as on satellite but in the main, broadcast TV works on advertising or public subsidy supported models.
    • It ends the tyranny of the intermediary and of all manner of anti-competitive piggybacking models.
    • It advances the cause of plurality of choice. So far we have only understood this in the context of programming but it is as legitimately an issue for platform plurality and choice as well. Remember that the MIB misses no opportunity to remind us about how important these virtues are.
    • It directly posits competition to the cable & satellite industry. (That doesn’t even need any elaboration, does it?)
    • It reasserts the citizens’ right over the broadcast spectrum, which is by definition a public resource.
    • It creates a new ‘spectrum auction’ style revenue source for the exchequer.
    • It enables the decentralization of TV. Terrestrial broadcast is line-of-sight. While a substantial portion of the content may be re-broadcast from shared, national channels, it opens huge possibilities for a new creative, and commercial, tier- local TV.

     

    So why has the private broadcast industry remained strangely silent on this issue?

     

    Let us remind ourselves that the metros are only the first milestones on the digitisation journey and a whole country must follow over the following years.

     

    Paritosh Joshi was until recently CEO, Star CJ. He has been a marketer, a mediaperson and on the Board/committees of various industry bodies. He can reached via his Twitter handle @paritoshZero

     

  • Happy to have bagged the contract, Nielsen India is getting set to work on the readership study

    IRS will see a technology leap: Prashant Singh, MD-Media, Nielsen India

     

    By Johnson Napier

     

    Nine months since RSCI began the process for shortlisting the most bankable partner, it was jubilation time for the team at The Nielsen Company in India, having won the coveted contract of research work for the Indian Readership Survey. The victory is sweeter following as it does the controversies of the past few weeks.

    While the industry is still taking in the news of the appointment, for Nielsen India it is a chance to prove its authority in the print measurement space. And what better metric than IRS. The company plans to centre its focus on newer mediums – with increased dependence on technology – that will help ease data collection and analysis and more importantly bring about consistency in the readership numbers.

     

    MxMIndia interacted with Prashant Singh, Managing Director – Media, Nielsen India to gather his views on being appointed the new partner by RSCI for IRS. Though it is still early days, Mr Singh dwells on what the future will look like for readership studies in India and how they are geared for the big challenge that’s being watched closely by all concerned. He even had some words of comfort regarding the controversy that it is currently embroiled in thanks to its joint ownership of TAM Media but he assures that it won’t have any impact on how they continue to do business going forward. Excerpts:

     

    Q: This isn’t the first time the Nielsen Company has done a readership survey in India, though it is after a gap. How have things changed since then (other than the size of the population and hence sample size)?

    Things have changed within the market research industry itself. With the advent of technology there is so much that is available to us to tap into. Today, the scenario is such that any market research can be elevated to a level where one can get a much better read of the market without going through the peeves that are associated with it. For example, Nielsen is actively deploying Computer Aided Personal Interviews (CAPI) instead of the regular pen-and-paper format that was practised for market research. What that does is that while there is an interviewer who goes and interviews the person instead of using pen and paper, the person uses a computer/tablet/palm-device to capture responses. As I said, the entire market research industry has gone through a significant change in the past 5-6 years. With MRUC, we hope to bring significant technological upgrade even on the IRS.

     

    Q: What is it that you think won you the bid (we know it didn’t go to the lowest quote, because yours was higher)?

    I have no idea. This is something that you should ask MRUC. We are just happy that we bagged this prestigious project.

     

    Q: Do tell us what you are going to be doing from now to when your part of the study will start? When does work start for you?

    The MRUC and Nielsen teams will sit down and discuss what the plan will look like going forward. The first step for us is to sign the contract and start with those proceedings. Probably MRUC is the right body to talk about future plans, which we will do sometime in the near future.

     

    Q: For the benefit of the industry, what are a few of the salient differences between the IRS we see now and the IRS that we will see when you’ll be there?

    Multiple innovations in technology features are being brought in. Some of them would be visible to the users while some will be visible to MRUC. But at this point it is not fair for me to talk about the specifics of the proposals. There will be more clarity on what are the things that are coming to the fore in the near future.

     

    Q: Do you see any challenges cropping up with Nielsen planning to lay increased emphasis on technology?

    Where market research is concerned, with technology we’ve been fairly confident that there are benefits and not challenges. In fact there are challenges in doing market research in India whether it is about how you show inputs to respondents or about how you make sure that the right interviews are happening at the right time and place…and technology actually enables us to do a better job at it. In the last 3-4 years, we have taken multiple steps to embrace technology wherever we can right from data collection to data reporting, etc. So we see technology as an enabler and not a challenge.

     

    Q: One of the problems that any such vendor contract arrangement is about what do you do when the contract is not renewed? For instance, even after 8 years of working on, Hansa (and Ipsos) lost the contract to Nielsen?

    We do a good job and keep our clients happy; there is no reason that the contract will not be renewed. It is about how you deliver to the promises made. If one doesn’t deliver then obviously the contract could go away from you.

     

    Q: Will you hire some of the talent from Hansa if rendered redundant due to the loss of contract, later in the year?

    I cannot comment on this.

     

    Q: Media measurement is a tricky business these days and most often a thankless job. Your take on this?

    Not just media measurement but market research anyway is challenging. In India there are multiple challenges including sociological, geographical… and every market research agency has to understand these challenges and figure out ways to deal with them. Sometimes you can deal with them nicely and sometimes not so nicely. If we are open with our clients and talk to them about the challenges that there are then I think we should be fine.

     

    Q: One of the frequent peeves we’ve heard from the magazine sector is that IRSes don’t measure niche readership very effectively. How will you correct that?

    Again I cannot comment on that but it is part of the proposal and the RFP and you will hear more about that from us and MRUC together.

     

    Q: There have been some charges that while Nielsen is a specialist in television measurement, it isn’t with print readership?

    Globally, Nielsen is a specialist in television (measurement)…that’s what I can say. I cannot comment on what  others speculate. Yes, we do specialize in television measurement which does not mean that we do not do other things. People will speculate what we can and what we cannot but I cannot say much on that.

     

    To give you a higher perspective, Nielsen as a company globally looks at business in two key parts: we measure what people buy and we measure what people watch. Both the businesses are very significant in terms of revenue. So it’s not that Nielsen is just a ‘watch’ business we have a huge portfolio within the ‘buy’ side of the business too. It would suffice to say that we do a lot more than television.

     

    Q: One last question, and we know the matter is sub-judice: but we heard murmurs that Nielsen shouldn’t bag the contract because its name is stained in the TAM controversy. Also, a hitch with the retail audit earlier this month. Your comments.

    We are happy that the MRUC and RSCI have given due importance to the proposal that we submitted and have awarded the contract to us. We are working towards making sure that we do a great job in delivering IRS. As for the controversy, we have a policy of not commenting on issues that are under litigation and will stick with that. But I can say that it is business as usual for us amidst all that is happening around.

     

  • Taproot's co-founders Dias and Santosh Padhi are clearly testing the market and checking out valuations, said an agency insider. But this may not tantamount to an immediate sale

    Global ad biggies like Omnicom, Publicis & Dentsu in hectic parleys to buy Taproot

    By Neha Dewan & Ravi Balakrishnan

     

    In 2011, when Taproot snatched two big-ticket assignments, PepsiCo and Airtel – both JWT clients – the joke was that JWTstood for Just Went to Taproot.

     

    Now JWT may just have to be shuffled around to become TJW – or Taproot Just Went – now that a clutch of global ad networks are in hectic parleys with the founders of the five-year-old independent Indian agency. Those in the fray, said a person familiar with the negotiations, include the Omnicom group, Publicis and Dentsu.

     

    Agnello Dias, chairman and co-founder, Taproot India, said: “There are three or four groups talking to us and Dentsu is one of them. It doesn’t have any head start and we are no closer to signing a dotted line (with Dentsu than with any other network).”

     

    A Dentsu spokesperson was unavailable for comment. Nakul Chopra, CEO, Publicis South Asia, said: “We don’t comment on acquisitions of any nature.”

     

    Taproot’s co-founders Dias and Santosh Padhi are clearly testing the market and checking out valuations, said an agency insider. But this may not tantamount to an immediate sale.

     

    “The global groups are speaking not just to Taproot but also to other independent agencies like Creativeland Asia. We are open to talking to anybody but at the end of the day it may not be Dentsu, Omnicom or anybody. We would just like to get an idea of how much we are worth and valued at,” is how the insider who requested anonymity put it.

     

    The agency, which had a slow beginning in 2007, eventually moved on to big clients. Campaigns such as ‘Har Ek Friend Zaroori Hota Hai’ (HFZ) and ‘Change the Game’ for Pepsi got popular acclaim as well as industry  accolades with HFZ winning seven medals at Goafest this year.

     

    At Goafest, considered the premier local ad festival in India, Taproot was runner-up to Ogilvy India, clinching 34 metals and beating top agencies such as Leo Burnett, DDB Mudra, Grey and JWT. Besides this, the agency had won the Grand Effie award last year for the ‘Change the Game’ campaign.

     

    In its fifth year, the agency runs a tight ship with 35 people on board. A senior official at a leading ad agency says that Taproot has had to turn down a lot of projects in the past year.

     

    “Funding via a sale of equity will help them increase their capabilities,” he said. For now though, a more interesting game is afoot with Dias and Padhi playing their cards very close to their chest.

     

    Source: The Economic Times
    Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

     

  • Ogilvy was the clear #1, but runner-up Taproot showed the Big Boys the might of the small…

    @Goafest, Taproot emerges tall. And how!

     

    By Tuhina Anand (with inputs from Robin Thomas)

    Photographs by Shailesh Mule/Fotocorp

     

    When Big Dad of Indian advertising Ogilvy pockets 51 metals at Creative Abbys at the Goafest 2012, it is something that one expects, so no surprise here really. But when a three-year-old agency goes on to become the runner-up, leaving behind the much settled Leo Burnett, DDB Mudra, Grey and JWT, it is indeed a proud moment for Indian advertising. It says that all is not lost and what still matters in the advertising business is creativity and if you have the ingredients right then there’s no one to stop you from writing your success story. Taproot India and its founders Agnello Dias and Santosh Padhi have shown the industry the might of small and given hope to many aspirants on the same path.

     

    Talking about Taproot’s success, Agnello Dias said: “It’s been great, a satisfying feeling, but it is also slightly scary because we have got to do even better than last year as expectations have gone up, but as of now, we are just happy that we have performed well at the awards.”

     

    On Taproot missing out on the Grand Prix as there were huge expectations from Airtel campaign, Santosh Padhi said: “Yes, a lot of people said that our Airtel or Pepsi campaign would win us a Grand Prix, so I think that itself is a Grand Prix for us. Therefore, we have no grudge and we are happy with the way things have turned out for us. And definitely there were two strong competitors against us for the Grand Prix.”

     

    The victorious Ogilvy team

     

    The most awarded work at the Goafest was for  brands, including The Times of India, Volkswagen India and Airtel. Even for Ogilvy India, the work that fetched them maximum awards was for Fox Crime. Also the work that got CreativeLand Asia its Grand Prix in the Integrated category was for Audi 8L 3D.

     

    TOI’s ‘Wake Up Chennai’ (that fetched accolades at Goafest) has been embroiled in controversy as it spoofed its rival, The Hindu. the ad showed how reading the old player (read The Hindu) puts people to sleep and the readers should wake up to something more exciting – The Times of India. The ad was crafted by Taproot which also created Airtel’s Har Friend Zaroori Hai that fetched many awards for the agency across various categories. In fact, Har Friend… can be dubbed among the most popular campaigns of the year.

     

    A happy Creativeland Asia team

     

    Ogilvy’s work for Fox Crime titled The Photographs case, made by Good Morning, is in keeping with the genre of the channel and creates a mini thriller for its audience, building anticipation for what to expect on the channel. Talking about the wins, Abhijit Avasthi, NCD, O&M said: “It’s been a great year as always and I think the best part is that we have done well in every category, from design to direct to digital to integrated. Obviously there are some works where one wishes we had got more recognition, like the Cadbury in home campaign, but, overall, we are very happy. I think we have got the best clients who allow us to do really some very interesting work.”

     

    “It’s very reassuring that we have managed to win the Grand Prix back to back and this year I hold the digital grand prix to a greater importance, simply because it demolishes the myth of lots of clients that digital is something big network agencies cannot do,” he added.

     

    Volkswagen, which brought awards to DDB Mudra, Grey India and Nomad Films, is a brand that has caught attention because of its innovative use of media since its launch inIndia. While the fraternity may not have lauded all the innovations that Volkswagen did, but it cannot be disputed that the work did catch the attention of the people and fraternity.

     

    However, if one were to look at the Creative Abbys 2012, it will be remembered for Taproot India, which carved a name for itself among the behemoths, only because of its creative supremacy. More power to all those who want to chart their own path and keep in mind that great ideas zaroori hai and the rest will follow. Right, sirji?

     

    Click here to view all Goafest 2012 stories

     

  • After saying adios to Indian Idol, Sony is set to battle it out with competing GECs with its master show. Kaun Banega Crorepati will begin on September 7, and will air Friday to Sunday at 8.30 pm

    KBC to strengthen weekend reality programming for Sony

    By A Correspondent

     

    After saying adios to Indian Idol, Sony is set to battle it out with competing GECs with its master show. Kaun Banega Crorepati will begin on September 7, and will air Friday to Sunday at 8.30 pm. Produced by Big Synergy Media Ltd, the game show that has created history on Indian television with the iconic Amitabh Bachchan as its host is all set to delight its audiences with a brand new innings this season with ‘Sirf Gyaan Hi Aapko Aapka Haq Dilata Hai’ as the central theme.

     

    Danish Khan, Senior Vice President and Head of Marketing at Sony Entertainment Television, said, “Weekend slot offers most fertile viewing. The appointment viewing is immense and we have been doing extremely well with our reality shows in this band. Hence, we decided to air the third season of KBC in this slot.” Previously, only the repeat shows of KBC were telecast in this time band.

     

    KBC has also signed Cadbury as presenting sponsor and Idea as telecom partner, besides signing Axis Bank, Ceat Bike Tyres, Just Dial, Sony Bravia, Aakash Educational Services, and Maruti Suzuki. However, Mr Khan said that in-programming sponsor has not been signed. The show will air on 21 weekends, with 58 episodes that will also comprise of special episodes with unique and distinct themes which will capture a little bit of India in every episode, lined up to ignite the minds and hearts of Indian audiences.

     

    On the occasion of announcing the show, NP Singh, COO, Multi Screen Media said, “It is a glorious moment for all of us at Sony to bring back another power-packed season of the magnificent game show Kaun Banega Crorepati on our network, This year’s theme ‘Sirf Gyaan Hi Aapko Aapka Haq Dilata Hai’ celebrates knowledge as the greatest leveller in our society and a potent change agent.”

     

    Siddhartha Basu, CMD, Big Synergy Media Ltd. Said, “We’re back. This time we’ve gone further down the road into the heartlands and hinterlands of India, and come up with a fascinating line-up of ordinary Indians as contestants, extraordinary for their diversity and individuality, each one of them looking for an opportunity to transform their lives through this knowledge game. They’re more knowledgeable than before, better prepared, and hungry for success. They are the unseen faces of an emerging India, thirsting to prove themselves. It promises the viewer quality entertainment, which engages both the heart and the mind.”

     

    Sneha Rajani, Senior EVP and Business Head, Sony Entertainment Television, said, “We are honoured to have the one and only Mr. Amitabh Bachchan hosting KBC once again. He brings a tremendous amount of charisma and his ability to connect with one and all with his sincerity and humility takes the show to another level. KBC is not just a popular game show, but a powerful platform where people from all across India, cutting across the demographic, geographic and social boundaries converge to celebrate common man’s triumph against all odds. It celebrates knowledge as a powerful tool which can help change his destiny.”

     

    Will the third season of KBC change the destiny of the channel? Time will tell – soon!

     

  • 9X Tashan, the leading Punjabi music channel from the 9X Media Group, celebrates its first anniversary today. The channel has created a series of special programming on the occasion

    Punjabi music channel 9X Tashan turns 1

    By A Correspondent

     

    9X Tashan, the leading Punjabi music channel from the 9X Media Group, celebrates its first anniversary today. The channel has created a series of special programming to mark 9X Tashan’s super successful association with Punjabi music fans and viewers.

     

    Speaking on the occasion Sandip Bansal, Managing Director 9X Tashan, said, “We are grateful to our viewers and partners for their love and support towards 9X Tashan in the past one year. We promise to keep delivering on the entertainment quotient offering our viewers with the best of Punjabi Music. We hope our ‘Tashan ki Baadshahat’ continues in the coming year.”

     

    9X Tashan created television history registering an unprecedented growth of over 100 GRPs in the opening week of its launch across the PHCHP Markets. The channel has achieved many milestones in the past one year. 9X Tashan is also the first regional music channel to have a live streaming facility on the channel’s website – www.9xtashan.in and on various mobile platforms.

     

    Speaking on the anniversary Punit Pandey, EVP & Business Head – 9X Media Group said, “9X Tashan our first regional offering has received a phenomenal response from the Punjabi music lovers. The channel has not only marked its leadership status in the last one year but has expanded the genre to well over 200 GRPs and that’s an achievement. We intend to keep growing at this pace and ensure to keep our viewers entertained with much more of our action packed programming.”

     

    Speaking on the programming line-up, Baljinder S. Mahant, Programming Head, 9X Tashan, said, “The first anniversary will be celebrated on 9X Tashan with a two-hour special program called Music De Baadshah showcasing the Best of 9X Tashan music, and a special celebration by the 9X Tashan Gang comprising of Babhi, Bade-Chote, Falli-Balli and Ullu Da Patha, in their own unique way.”