MxMIndia

Category: MEDIA

  • YC Deveshwar, Sam Balsara and Piyush Pandey were amongst winners at the inaugural awards

    IAA awards media & marketing honchos at leadership awards

    Srinivasan K Swamy with I&B Minister Manish Tewari

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    ITC CEO YC Deveshwar, Madison World CEO Sam Balsara and Ogilvy & Mather CEO Piyush Pandey were amongst the award-winners at the first ever International Advertising Association (IAA) Leadership Awards held in Mumbai on Saturday. Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari was chief guest of the evening.

     

    The International Advertising Association is the world’s only globally-focused integrated advertising trade association with membership representing Advertisers. Agencies and the Media. Well-known research firm The Nielsen Company and consulting firm Ernst & Young were associated with the event that was organised and sponsored by the Colors general entertainment channel.

     

    Popular television artist Mini Mathur emceed the evening as the fraternity was welcomed by IAA’s India chapter president Srinivasan K Swamy and Colors CEO Raj Nayak. In his address, the I&B minister asked the industry to mull over pressing issues like ad duration in channels, effective viewership measurement, adding that the government will not institute any regulations without consulting the industry.

    Award Categoy Awardee
    Marketer of the Year: Travel & Hospitality  Manish Kalra, Make My  trip
    Marketer of the Year: Banking  Sujit Ganguli, ICICI Bank
    Marketer of the Year: Insurance  Rita Bhattacharya, LIC
    Marketer of the Year: Media & Entertainment  Gayatri Yadav, Star India
    Marketer of the Year: Household Products  Amit Syngle, Asian Paints
    Marketer of the Year: FMCG – Personal Care  Arun Srinivas, HUL
    Marketer of the Year: FMCG – Food & Beverages  Chandramouli Venkatesan, Cadbury Kraft India
    Marketer of the Year: FMCG – Consumer Durables  Rahul Saighal, Samsung Appliances
    Marketer of the Year : Auto Two Wheeler Anil Dua, Hero Motocorp
    Marketer of the Year: Auto Commercial vehicles  UT Ramprasad , Tata Motors
    Marketer of the Year: Auto Passenger Vehicles  Mr. Mayank Pareek, Maruti Suzuki
    Marketer of the Year: Telecom Products  Anuradha Aggarwal, Vodafone
    Media Agency Head of the Year  Sam Balsara, Madison World
    Creative Agency Head of the Year  Piyush Pandey for Ogilvy & Mather India
    Best CEO  Y C Deveshwar, ITC
    News Anchor of the year  Rajdeep Sardesai, CNN-IBN
    Editor of the year  Jaideep Bose, The Times of India
    Mediaperson of the year  Shobhana Bhartia, HT Media
    Brand Endorser of the year – Female  Katrina Kaif
    Brand Endorser of the year – Male  Salman Khan
    IAA Hall of Fame  Pradeep Guha

     

    Also amongst the winners was Bollywood actor Salman Khan who made his first ever appearance at an awards function with IAA Leadership Awards. The actor known to have bagged maximum endorsements and is on a high with brands queuing to sign him, bagged the award for the Brand Endorser of the Year – Male. Katrina Kaif was awarded Brand Endorser of the Year – Female. Mr Pradeep Guha, former IAA president who has been CEO, Zee Entertainment and President, Bennett Coleman and Company Ltd was admitted to the IAA’s Hall of Fame with the lifetime achievement award.

     

    Marketers from across 12 categories were among the awardwinners as also were Editor of the Year (Jaideep Bose) and News Anchor of the Year (Rajdeep Sardesai). Shobhana Bhartia, chairperson of  HT Media, was awarded the Mediaperson of the Year award. The table above has the list of winners.

  • CEO Shankar B is ecstatic that a strong portfolio makes his Chennai-headquartered outsourcing firm a trusted ally of top media brands

    Fourth Dimension turns two

    By A Correspondent

     

    Shankar B

    It’s celebration time at the office of Fourth Dimension in Chennai’s bustling T-Nagar. For, on February 7, the premier media outsourcing firm completes two years of existence. Set up by seasoned media professional, Shankar B, Fourth Dimension (FD) has seen a dramatic rise and now has a 33-strong team across offices in Chennai, Mumbai and New Delhi.

     

    Mr Shankar says he has been fortunate to have some top-rated media entities in his portfolio right from the start. Puthiyathalaimurai news channel, that’s popularly called PT has emerged as the numero uno channel thanks to an absence of a political alignment. Among FD’s clients is Sathiyam News which too is placed on top of the charts amongst Tamil news channels. “We also have V6 News, a 24-hour Telugu satellite news journalist-driven channel and Chennai Live 104.8 FM, the only English FM station in Chennai.”

     

    Beyond television, Fourth Dimension also represents the weekly Puthiyathalaimurai magazine, career mag Puthiyathalaimurai Kalvi and as well PuthiyaThalaimurai.tv, the website of the PT news channel.

     

    According to Mr Shankar, while he will continue to grow, the focus will be on representing niche channels and offer the right sales and even marketing support to those who need it. Fourth Dimension has already diversified into events by not just selling sponsorships (as in the case of a tie-up with E18, but also organizing them.

     

  • Meet the IAA Awardwinners-1 | Leadership can only be earned: Sam Balsara

    In his long and illustrious career, Sam Balsara has played a key role for the Indian advertising and media in industry forums and the government.  And as As Chairman & Managing Director, Madison World, he is known to have a keen sense for offering top value to clients even as he is a formidable force at client pitches.  Last Saturday, at the IAA Leadership Awards, Mr Balsara was recognised with the Media Agency Head of the Year award. In the first of the interviews with IAA Leadership Award winners, Mr Balsara shares with RITU MIDHA what lies at the core of Madison’s success

     

    How would you define a leader?

    I don’t think you can consciously become a leader – it’s your actions that make others recognise you as a leader. Leadership, to my mind can only be earned – and that is why there are very few leaders. I am not saying that I am one of them.

     

    What would you attribute this award to?

    I am not sure if I have done too much to earn it. Maybe, it can be attributed to the unique ownership position of Madison. There are not too many independent media agencies in the world – and probably industry acknowledges that surviving and driving for so long in this highly competitive world is no mean feat. I am thankful to the industry for considering me worthy of this award.

     

    What lies at the core of Madison Media’s success?

    A very simple premise: we are serving our clients, and we should deliver a much greater value to them than we are earning from them.

     

    You are a role model for many – what do you think would be the right steps for these youngsters.

    What I have followed is publicly known – but I must clarify – that is not the only way to success or leadership. It took me 16 years of working with large companies on the client and agency side, before I stepped out on my own – younger people these days don’t have the patience to last out that long trying to gather experience, expertise, knowledge before you can set out on your own. One of the things I had in my mind as a criteria and which I believe every entrepreneur should have – would I join that agency as an employee if I was not the owner of that agency. It is an important yardstick to follow before you set up on your own.

     

    Do you think people at any level can show leadership traits – or does it come only as you climb up the ladder?

    Generally CEO or Head of an organisation is recognised as a leader but to my mind even a media planner or an account executive can earn mantle of leadership. Leadership is something that you can demonstrate at every level. Leadership qualities are immediately noticeable to those around that person.

     

    TOMORROW: Anil Dua and Gayatri Yadav

     

  • Rana Barua joins Contract as COO succeeding Umesh Shrikhande who left recently

    Rana Barua quits Law & Kenneth to join Contract as COO

    By A Correspondent

     

    Rana Barua

    Two decades back, he had joined the advertising major as a trainee in the Kolkata office. And now he’s back to the fold, right on top. JWT South Asia has announced the appointment of Rana Barua as the COO of Contract Advertising, India. Mr Barua succeeds Umesh Shrikhande, who recently left the agency.

     

    A seasoned media and marketing professional with nearly two decades of experience, Rana Barua joins from Law & Kenneth, where he was the COO. “Rana has diverse management experience with a proven track record that makes him an ideal choice for Contract, one of India’s leading independent integrated advertising agencies”, said Colvyn Harris, CEO JWT South Asia on the appointment. “I am confident that Rana with his experience across advertising and integrated brand solutions will ensure that Contract continues to be a very successful agency,” Mr Harris said.

     

    Colvyn Harris

    “I am excited with the opportunity of being a part of the Contract story. It is a wonderful time for our industry as it continues to evolve so rapidly. Contract is uniquely positioned to take advantage of this and I am confident I will be able to facilitate this process by partnering with the senior management team”, said Mr Barua on his appointment which is effective today (February 4).

     

     

    “Contract has always been an attractive destination for people who are passionate about creativity and process of brand building. Rana with his diverse experience will add value to Contract and will help take the journey ahead. We look forward to having him on board,” said Ravi Deshpande, Chairman and CCO, Contract

     

    Ravi Deshpande

    Prior to Law & Kenneth, Mr Barua was COO of RED FM (2010-12) and the EVP Programming and Marketing for Radio City (2006-10) where he successfully repositioned the radio station to make it amongst the top two stations in the country. He started his career in advertising having worked at HTA (JWT) in 1993-94, Ogilvy (1995-96), McCann (1996-2000) & Rediffusion Y&R (2000-05).

     

    His category experience includes working with brands like Renault, eBay, ING Life, Godrej, Reckitt Benckiser, J&J, Gillette Parker, Microsoft, HP, Tata Tea, ZydusCadila, Levers, Tata AIG & AIA, Marico, Virgin Atlantic, ITC, to name a few.

     

     

     

  • Pradeep Guha, YC Deveshwar, Sam Balsara & Piyush Pandey amongst winners at glittering Saturday eve

    Media & marketing captains shine at IAA Leadership Awards

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    ITC CEO Yogi Deveshwar, Madison World CEO Sam Balsara and Ogilvy & Mather CEO Piyush Pandey were amongst the award-winners at the Colors International Advertising Association Leadership Awards held in Mumbai on Saturday. Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari was chief guest of the evening. Pradeep Guha, former IAA president, who has been CEO, Zee Entertainment and President, Bennett Coleman and Company Ltd and is currently the Managing Director of 9X Media, was admitted to the association’s Hall of Fame with the lifetime achievement award.

     

     

    Professional responsibility is key: Pradeep Guha

     

    Pradeep Guha

    I am honoured to have received this award. I have worked more than 30 years in the Media profession encompassing print, television and now the internet…I have travelled a long distance and whenever possible I have contributed a lot to the industry because I believe you cannot be just taking things from the industry but you have to return it back as well. If people talk about CSR in the corporate space then one should focus on professional responsibility as well. That’s what I have been doing in my career.

     

    The award is a very good initiative and I am glad that they made it on such a large scale in the first year itself. Typically, when something starts big it tends to grow bigger.

     

    My advice to the industry, especially the younger generation is try and be the best in the world. Not just best among your friends or in the industry or in India; but the best in the world. When I was in the Times of India I used to look up to New York Times and say: I want to be bigger than NY Times. Unless you benchmark something very large and almost unachievable then there’s nowhere to go.

    The International Advertising Association (IAA) is the world’s only globally-focused integrated advertising trade association with membership representing advertisers, agencies and the media. Research major The Nielsen Company and consulting firm Ernst & Young were associated with the event that was organised and sponsored by the Colors general entertainment channel.

     

    Popular television artist Mini Mathur emceed the evening as the fraternity was welcomed by IAA’s India chapter president Srinivasan K Swamy and Colors CEO Raj Nayak. In his address, the I&B minister asked the industry to mull over pressing issues like ad duration in channels, effective viewership measurement, adding that the government will not institute any regulations without consulting the industry. “As an industry, advertising has done generally well for itself and it has been one of the beneficiaries of liberalisation and has bloomed well over the years,” Mr Tewari said. “What needs to be kept in mind going forward is that the limit of statutory regulation should be respected because when we respect the law and maintain equilibrium, maintain harmony between creativity, provocation and restrain are we able to get the best and give the best.”

     

    Also amongst the winners was Bollywood actor Salman Khan who reportedly made his first ever appearance at an awards function. The actor, on a high with brands queuing to sign him, bagged the award for the Brand Endorser of the Year – Male. Katrina Kaif was awarded Brand Endorser of the Year – Female.

     

    Marketers from across 12 categories were among the awardwinners as also were Editor of the Year (Jaideep Bose) and News Anchor of the Year (Rajdeep Sardesai). Shobhana Bhartia, chairperson of  HT Media, was awarded the Mediaperson of the Year award. The table alongside has the list of winners.

     

    Reported by Ritu Midha and Johnson Napier

     

     

     

     

  • The iButterfly application, which has won many industry awards, creates a virtual environment where marketers can push branded messages or promotional information to their target audience by transforming simple content into colourful virtual butterflies

    Dentsu Digital launches mobile marketing platform iButterfly

    By A Correspondent

     

    Originally developed by Dentsu Inc., “iButterfly” was first launched in Japan in 2010 as a “Coupon Entertainment” platform. It’s innovative design and simple user experience soon connected with consumers across the country and became a massive marketing success story.

     

    After creating waves in Japan, iButterfly has been successfully launched across the Asian region by many Dentsu network agencies. Markets include Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Thailand and others.

     

    The iButterfly application, which has won many industry awards, works through a combination of three technologies : Augmented Reality, Motion Sensing and GPS. It creates a virtual environment where marketers can push branded messages or promotional information to their target audience by transforming simple content into colourful virtual butterflies that can be ‘caught’ on mobile devices and stored through a simple swipe action.

     

    Once these butterflies are caught they can be collected and redeemed or traded for exciting offers. These virtual butterflies can also be exchanged amongst friends & family. iButterfly is also integrated into social media, ie Facebook, where consumers can keep track of new offers and information on various brands by signing up for and following the iButterfly conversation.

     

    Dentsu Digital India is introducing this engagement platform in India for the first time with more enhanced features that are custom-built for the Indian consumer.

     

    With the increasing smartphone penetration in urban India, as well as the huge demand for mobile apps and games, from a marketers perspective the uniqueness of “iButterfly” is that one can select a designated time, range and location where butterflies can be introduced – this adds to the flexibility of running multiple campaigns across various locations.

     

    Apart from offers and privileges, marketers can also publish brand information or hyperlink the butterflies to their own official website , apps or even Facebook fan pages. iButterfly can also trigger consumer purchase behaviour by driving them to visit retail stores to collect special edition brand butterflies, therefore stimulating impulse purchase for a brand and increasing the opportunity to sell.

     

    Rohit Ohri, Chairman of Dentsu India Group, said, “iButterfly is a truly transformational platform that will help brands in India create massive differentiation. In a highly fragmented media environment today, brands need to connect with consumers in a disruptive yet simple way. And iButterfly does exactly that by putting the experience right into the hands of the customers.  For customers today, it’s all about the power of immediacy and instant gratification.”

     

    How to play iButterfly:-

    1. Free download iButterfly at iTunes store

    2. Turn the mobile device left and right to catch butterflies

    3. Once the Butterfly is saved and stored

    4. Click the Butterfly to view details of content

    5. Hyperlink to brand’s website

    6. Enjoy special offers and discount at retail points

    7. Search for your favorite Butterflies via Google maps and continue to catch them at various locations

    8. Now share your Butterflies via Facebook or Bluetooth with friends and family

    To find out more about iButterfly, visit http://www.iButterfly.in

     

     

  • Ignitee Digital Services has been signed on as the digital marketing partner by American Swan, the global online and lifestyle brand owned by The American Swan Lifestyle Company

    Ignitee bags digital duties of American Swan

    By A Correspondent

     

    Ignitee Digital Services has been signed on as the digital marketing partner by American Swan, the global online and lifestyle brand owned by The American Swan Lifestyle Company.

     

    Ignitee Digital Services will undertake to establish a strong digital footprint for American Swan in the fast growing Indian lifestyle and fashion segment. It has developed the corporate website for American Swan and will now manage the brand’s social media campaigns and communication across assets including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. Additionally, Ignitee will also manage the digital media planning and buying for the brand across platforms.

     

    Atul Hegde

    Atul Hegde, CEO, Ignitee Digital Services, said, “The fashion and lifestyle segment in e-commerce has shown the largest growth this year. It’s a crowded but very exciting space to be in. American Swan with its globally designed products is uniquely placed to leverage this booming trend online. Ignitee will put all its might in making American Swan one of the premier fashion brands online.”

     

    According to a recent report by Google India, apparel and accessories has emerged as the second biggest product category with 30 percent market share in the e-commerce space. Other categories that have witnessed a significant growth online include beauty and personal care with 10 percent, and home and furnishing with 6 percent market share respectively.

     

    On partnering with Ignitee Digital Services, Anurag Rajpal, Director and CEO, The American Swan Lifestyle Company said, “The American Swan brand has been conceived and developed to be aspirational, accessible and affordable. We aim for a differentiation through our brand proposition and positioning to offer affordable luxury to an aspiration-led audience. We want to bring our target audience closer to the brand through our digital activities and for this we have brought Ignitee Digital on board.”

     

  • The magazine, which had turned weekly in 1999, will also see a change in its physical dimensions and design

    BusinessWorld turns fortnightly

    By Ananya Saha

     

    BusinessWorld, the popular ABP Group business newsmagazine, is set to become a fornightly. The last issue in the weekly format is dated Feb 11, 2013. The fortnightly BW will see a change in its physical dimensions and its design. In a letter to the readers, Editor Prosenjit Datta said, “Based on feedback gathered over the past couple of years, we are adding many new sections and features to the magazine while also expanding existing sections and rethinking others.”

     

    BusinessWorld had turned weekly in 1999. Mr Datta explained the rationale of the decision: “In 1999, when we had turned weekly, there was a very clear need to do so. Twitter did not exist, and the internet contained largely static content when it came to news. There was just one business news channel and it focused mostly on stocks. There was a great need for a business newsweekly. Most of the newspapers concentrated on news, and not analysis. Even though there were feature pages in all newspapers, they were not enough to capture the full implications of the rapidly changing business environment. There was a crying need for a weekly publication that could analyse in detail the implications of the events taking place.

     

    Over time though, the world changed and so did BW’s core content. As the Internet matured, and more dedicated business channels were born, they took over the primary role of disseminating news. At the same time, BW itself evolved and began focusing increasingly on analysing changes that would throw up big business opportunities, or would reshape existing industries. We were also looking at the new generation of businesses and businessmen, and the long-term plans of established business houses. News became an increasingly small portion of what BW offered.”

     

    The editor, however, promises that BW is stepping out of the news genre to focus entirely on issues, events and trends that affect business and the economy, apart from greater analysis. BW will also be expanding its coverage to several areas based on readers’ feedback, which could not be created earlier because of the constraints of the weekly format.

     

  • Media logistics company IMD, headquartered in London, has acquired the eBUS- Aidem Media Network, creating a substantial global footprint, with a combined local presence across major countries in Europe and Asia-Pacific

    Aidem to invest in tech forays post eBus jv cashout

    By A Correspondent

     

    Media logistics company IMD has acquired the Aidem Media Network stake in the eBus-Aidem joint venture paving the way for Aidem to invest in tech and digital forays.

     

    For its India activities, eBus has been in a joint venture with Aidem since 2010, and has built a large network of broadcasters for digital delivery and distribution of television commercials.

     

    Meanwhile, the London-headquarted IMD has acquired eBus. The acquisition allows IMD to strengthen its reach of digital TV ad delivery in the Asia-Pacific market. The new combined IMD and eBus entity hopes to bring a faster and more efficient digital delivery solution from a single provider to the increasing number of customers that have interests in global delivery solutions.

     

     

    Simon Cox

    IMD CEO Simon Cox said, “eBus fits amazingly well with IMD in so many ways; it’s territorially complementary, it’s very focused on TV ad delivery just like IMD and we have the same cultural and customer-service driven values. On top of that, eBus has a brilliant technology platform created by an exceptionally talented team.”

     

     

     

     

    Carmine Masiello

    eBus CEO Carmine Masiello said, “IMD’s investment in eBus will speed up our expansion in the Asia Pacific region. We look forward to being supported by a shareholder that combines financial strength with an intimate understanding of what we do and who we are.”

     

     

     

    Vikas Khanchandani

    Vikas Khanchandani, Director, Aidem Ventures said, “eBus already has a pan-India presence with over 250 channels as destinations and around 200 advertisers using the service. With IMD’s support this coverage is set to grow wider and faster. This acquisition of eBus by IMD will help us scale up our operations in accordance with this dynamic broadcast industry and constantly innovate to keep pace with the same.”

     

     

     

    Kaushal Dalal

    Kaushal Dalal, EVP, Aidem Ventures, added, “IMD has formed a strategic partnership with Aidem, enhancing the way that Aidem works with eBus and allowing IMD and Aidem to work together, more broadly. The management and stakeholders of all three companies support these new arrangements and are excited about their prospects and all the parties are committed to work together for the long term.”

     

  • With digitization the mantra of the times, digital archiving of media libraries is now in focus

    It’s the time to go digital!

     

    By Ananya Saha

     

    Media libraries are a rich source of history, especially given the vast history of journalism in India. And looking up this treasure trove of information has been made far easier with the advent of the digital age. No more thick tomes and long afternoons among the shelves – Google has quickly become the one-stop for all searches. But not everything is on the internet, and there is an increasingly urgent need for proper digitization of media archives and libraries, to both preserve information better and also make it easily accessible.

     

    Speaking at the first National Conference of Association of Media Libraries and Archives (AMLANC-2013) on the theme, ‘Managing Indian Media Libraries and Archives: Challenges, Opportunities and Best Practices’, Jawhar Sircar, CEO, Prasar Bharati, predicted that as the Indian media continues to grow, the future prospects of media libraries and archives is very bright and “the latest developments technology is playing a major role in offering digital and online library and archival services in various media organizations”.

     

    In his brief address, Chaitanya Kalbag, Editor-in-Chief, Business Today, stressed on the importance of the availability of high-quality and authentic information for journalists. He further stated that it is the professional duty of media libraries and archives to constantly innovate and offer value-added library and information services in media organizations. Mr Kalbag said, “Every issue of the 21-year-old Business Today has been digitally archived.”

     

    ED!

    So why is a feature on media libraries and digital archiving the Big Story today?

    Because the heart of any newsroom is its library and digital archiving resource. I still remember how as a rookie journalist in the late ’80s in Mumbai, I would discuss story ideas with the librarians at the Indian Express and Centre for Education and Documentation (CED) reference sections. They would often come up with suggestions and provide clips of stuff that I hadn’t even heard of.

     

    Now, as the biggest reference source in the world in the form of the internet (and more specifically Wikipedia) easily accessible to all of us, not many of us acknowledge the role of a library or a digital archiving system in news media. Journalists are satisfied with the web presence of all content and the only reason why a librarian is sought after is to enable the easy tracing of file photographs. As one media CFO asked me a few years back, do you need a medium ticket librarian to do all of this? Can’t a couple of entry level staffers do the job?

     

    It’s critical that the ‘librarian’ or the ‘digital archivist’ is made an integral part of a newsroom. Let her/him be part of news meetings. Equip this team with ‘infographicists’ and see how archives-based content can make a newspaper or magazine come alive. Ditto with news television. For this to happen, it’s vital that those running libraries in news media organizations move out of their cubicles and get proactive.

     

    I wasn’t able to make it to the first National Conference of the Association of Media Libraries and Archives in Delhi, but by way of our editorial coverage as well as MxMIndia being a  Media Partner, we’ve tried to promote the cause. For, even as we can’t do without Google and Wikipedia, there is a huge role that the library and archives section can play in a newsroom.

     

    – Pradyuman Maheshwari

    Editor-in-Chief, MxMIndia.com 

    Why do digital?

    Dr Dinesh Katre, Associate Director, C-DAC said, “Digital preservation provides benefits such as legal protection, knowledge heritage for future work or generations, trend analysis, reuse etc.” If the data is not digitally archived, the heaps of papers might just become a part of library with no or limited access and loss of data in the long run. With 24X7 inflow of news, it is impossible for someone to go through heaps of newspaper archives. Everybody needs information at a click of a button.

     

    A media enterprise basically needs two broad types of information sources to expand its body of knowledge as well as carry out its business process, according to R Venkata Kesavan, DGM & Head, Times Archives & Knowledge Centre, a) editorial information sources and b) business information sources. “While the professionals working in a media organisation may have more than one information source, it is primarily the responsibility of a media library/information centre to cater to the information needs of employees from time to time.

     

    Mr Kesavan said that the TAKC was set up over a century ago in Mumbai, and the centre now has digitally archived all Times of India editions since the first issue – Nov 3, 1838. He highlighted how the three A’s rule the digital preservation: Authenticity, authentication and access. Not all articles or pictures, according to the archivists, are preserved. Only the authentic exclusive articles and pictures are usually archived digitally.

     

    Digital preservation is the need of the hour, yes, but enough it is also important to keep in mind the reasons to go digital. It is important to create ‘fit for purpose’ project management; identify the users and organisational needs; draw up a development policy and project management plan. Besides it is also important to digitize authentic copyright articles or images, especially in a media group. What is also important that budget estimates are prepared well in advance. Once the content digitization process begins, it is imperative for the organisation to educate the employees to make appropriate use of the digital archives. Besides adding value to the parent organisation, digital archives also help in saving the time of library staff and information users.

     

    Media houses, such as DNA and Times of India, are also earning revenues off their digital archives through syndication services. The syndication is not only available on articles, but also on cartoons and images. TOI’s digital archive from 1838-2003 is charged for the users. For newspapers like DNA, being born in digital era is an advantage since all their editions are e-editions as soon as they go into print. According to Priya Pai of DNA, archival system is important to collate and build intellectual property. DNA has been syndicating its content since January 2006.

     

    “Apart from syndication, digital archiving helps ad sales team in special features and supplements by providing background information and pictures from the archives. We can also trace the articles that were published in the newspaper in past so as to help make the pitch to convince the clients for ads,” Ms Pai shared.

     

     

    Framework of digital archiving

    • Data capture and creation: Formats and compression; managing hardware and software; copyright IPR and ethics; metadata; indexing and cataloguing
    • Data Access and Delivery: Search and retrieval; access management
    • Data Collection Management: Database creation and system design; workflow and procedure management; quality assurance
    • Digital Preservation: Storage and archiving

     

     

    Benefits of digital archiving

    • Anytime, anywhere availability of authentic data
    • Information can be uploaded on continuous basis
    • Wider access
    • Monetization possibilities though syndication
    • Improved preservation

     

     

    Issues regarding digital archiving

    • Non-availability of quality manpower
    • Digital preservation of huge volume of archival data
    • Data security of digital archives
    • Maintaining copyright
    • Analogue to digital conversion remains an expensive process
    • Evolution of, and obsolete, storage media

    Challenges

    The benefits of digital archiving do not come without challenges. Careful planning is required when building digital archive. Issues such as copyright clearance, metadata issues and project management can have severe impact on both resources and time. Dr Katre said that the data that is stored on software today, might become obsolete in another 20 or 50 years, as technology changes every six months now and “we do not even have access to systems that can read data on floppies”.

     

    India does not have a legal framework regarding digitized data unlike the US. Digital records do not have legal sanctity in India. Copyright is always critical for media houses. Then there are technology issues, which includes conversion and security. The protection of copyright data, however, can be beefed up with encryption technology, watermarking, digital signature and back up, and signing contracts with outsourced digital archiving management.

     

    Vrunda Pathare, Chief Archivist, Godrej & Boyce, also put forth her concerns. “It is not really true that if data is digitally archived, it is preserved. There is an increasing unreliability of storage mediums and obsolete technology. And to convert analogue data to digital is very expensive, even for corporates like us.”

     

    Digital preservation is a constant interaction between data and technology. Thus, inter-disciplinary co-operation becomes imperative. Trained manpower that understands and adapts to changing technology is also a concern for the industry.

     

    But as Mr Kesavan concluded, “Nobody has the perfect answer to digital preservation for every case. If we try we may fail; if we do not try we will certainly fail.”

     

     

    AMLANC has been jointly organised by the Association of Media Libraries & Archives (AMLA) and Central Library, Jawaharlal Nehru University. MxM India is the Media Partner of the conference. In the two-day conference about 40 papers on the main theme and related sub-themes will be presented.

     

  • The fourth edition of “The Laadli National Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity 2011-12” for honouring Media and Advertising professionals was organized by the NGO Population First on Tuesday, February 5 at the NCPA, Mumbai

    Laadli awards for gender sensitivity presented

    By A Correspondent

     

    The  fourth edition of “The Laadli National Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity 2011-12” for honoring Media and Advertising professionals was organized by the NGO Population First on Tuesday, February 5 at the NCPA, Mumbai.

     

    The Laadli Media Awards were instituted in 2007, as part of the media advocacy efforts under the Laadli girl-child campaign. The objective of the awards was to felicitate, acknowledge, recognize and encourage media, journalists and advertising professionals to keep working on gender issues and to draw the attention of the public to their positive efforts in the media with regard to gender sensitive reportage.

     

    The Oscar-winning and Indian cinema’s most well-regarded costume designer - Bhanu Athaiya – received the Laadli Lifetime Achievement Award at the event. The awards also had renowned ad-film director, Gauri Shinde receiving an award for Best Mainline Film for her directorial debut, ‘English Vinglish’. Other noted personalities like singer Sunita Rao, noted film director Ashutosh Gowariker and famous Indian film director and screenwriter Sudhir Mishra, Director, R. Balki, Bollywood actress, television talk show host Pooja Bedi, Prof. Nandini Sardesai, Rajashree Birla were also present while the event was hosted by television journalist and columnist Ms. Barkha.

     

    The leading author and columnist Ranjit Lal was awarded a Special Award for Best Book-Fiction on the issue of female infanticide for ‘Faces in the Water’. Sylvester da Cunha received a Special Award for Laadli moppet the Amul baby girl.

     

    The Laadli National Media Awards was graced by the presence of the well-known classical singer Shubha Mudgal, who rendered few songs on women empowerment. There were short performances by children trained by India’s famous choreographer, Shiamak Davar, the Saxophone Sisters, and children from a village in Shahapur.

     

    The book “Sense And Sensitivity” was launched during the award ceremony. This book is a compilation of the award winning entries of last three editions of the Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity. It showcases the real stories from all over India and brings to limelight investigative reports, editorials, features and human interest stories on gender inequality and violence.

     

    A panel of distinguished jury members, comprising eminent media and social sector personalities namely Vishwanath Sachdev, Sathya Saran, Mahesh Bhatt, Vimla Patil, Pradeep Guha, Deepa Gahlot, Ramesh Narayan, Pradyuman Maheshwani, Prakash Bal Joshi, Aanand Mahendroo, Neeru Nanda, Sameera Khan, Goutam Rakshit, Juhi Chaturvedi and Mrinmayee Ranade selected the awardees.

     

    Eighteen awards were presented which were selected by eminent jury members. In the four regional awards organized over the year, around 80 awards were given across all the States and Union Territories of the country covering 12 languages. The Laadli National Media Awards comprise the best of the season in addition to the special awards.

     

    List of Awardees

    WINNERS OF NATIONAL LMAGS 2011-12

    Category/ Language Name of the Awardees Channel/ Publication Title of the Entry Sub- Category
    Electronic – Malayalam P.P. Sandhya Asianet News Shisuva Vivaham (Child Marriage) Best Issue Based Programme
    Print – English Sharmista Choudhury The Week Tribal Warrior Best Human Interest Story
    Print – Marathi Amita Bade Prahaar Mahila – Kacharavechak Nave…Swachata Vyavasthapak (Waste Managers, Not Garbage Pickers) Best Column
    Print – Hindi Priyanka Dubey Tehelka MadhyaYugeen Pradesh Best Investigative Report
    Electronic – Malayalam Shiny Benjamin Jaihind TV Ottayaal Best Documentary
    Print – English Neha Bhatt Outlook What A Girl Wants Best Feature
    Print – Odiya Susama Misra Margadarshi Sustha Samaj Gathanare Nari (Women in the Creation of a Healthy Society) Best Article
    Web – English Deepa Ranganathan The Alternative Boys Don’t Cry Best Feature
    Electronic -  Marathi Prajakta Dhulap IBN – Lokmat Reportage – Kolhapurchya Leki (Daughters of Kolhapur) Best Feature
    Advertising-  Hindi DDB Mudra creative team DDB Mudra  Age of Marriage (NRHM) Best Public Service Advertisement
    Advertising – Hindi Sumanto Chattopadhyay Ogilvy & Mather Tejaswini (Tata Steel) Best Advertisement
    Special Award
    Book – English Ranjit Lal Penguin Books India Faces in the Water Best Book – Fiction
    Gita Aravamudan Penguin Books India Disappearing Daughters: The Tragedy of Female Foeticide Best Book – Non-Fiction
    Film – Hindi Gauri Shinde Eros International English Vinglish Best Mainline Film
    Film – Beary K V Suveeran Thanneer Films Byari Best Feature Film
    Drama – English/Hindi Purva Naresh Ok Tata Bye Bye Best Drama
    Special Award  Sylvester da Cunha  Amul Moppet
    Bhanu Athaiya The Laadli Lifetime Achievement Award

     

    Laadli the Girl Child campaign was launched in June 2005 by NGO Population First with the purpose of creating a positive image of the girl child. In Hindi the word ‘laadli’ means the ‘beloved girl-child’. The programme works to stop the practice of pre-natal sex selection by addressing the core issue of son preferences and discrimination against the girl child. Since then, it has been working actively on various campaigns, activities with various groups like college youth, NGOs and other communities and has received an overwhelming response from various segments of Mumbai.

     

    Population First is a communications and advocacy initiative for a balanced, planned and stable population. Its main focus is on reducing gender imbalances in the population and work towards gender sensitive and social development oriented health and population programmes.  (For more information: log on to www.populationfirst.org, www.creative-excellence.org )

     

    For more information, please contact:

    Crisscross Communication: Stacy Fernandes | stacy@crisscross.in  | 9819829870 || Anshu Ahuja | anshu@crisscross.in | 9987423546

     

  • The line-up at the forthcoming Indian Magazine Congress is nothing short of a consortium of great minds and discussions

    Much to look forward @ Indian Mag Congress ’13

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Indian Magazine Congress, set to take place in Mumbai on Feb 14-15 (more here: http://www.mxmindia.com/2013/01/publish-or-perish-indian-magazine-congress-2013-to-discuss-future-of-mags-in-digital-era/), boasts of impressive line up of speakers. As Indian magazines and publishers re-look at their strategies (BusinessWorld decided to go fortnightly: http://www.mxmindia.com/2013/01/publish-or-perish-indian-magazine-congress-2013-to-discuss-future-of-mags-in-digital-era/), IMC 2013 will focus on the best practices from the magazine publishers from around-the-world.

     

    The 2013 edition of Indian Magazine Congress would focus on print magazines in the era of Tablets and multi-media platform readership. As magazine publishers try to work on sustainable and scalable models that will embrace new revenue streams, Peter Kresiky, Chairman, Kreisky Media Consultancy,USAwill share his thoughts on new business models and operating processes and how they may have a very positive impact on the bottom lines of magazine publishers. Arnaud Saint-Simon, CEO, Psychologies Group, France and Fabrizio d’Angelo, Managing Director, Burda Holding International will talk about how their magazine brands converted themselves to become multi-platform brands, leveraging their brand strength to gain revenues from multiple streams.

     

    Chris Llewellyn, President, FIPP, will be presenting the FIPP report which brought together data and case studies from more than 100 research projects from all around the world, proving how effective advertising with magazine media is. The report also includes, for the first time, studies of magazine brands’ digital editions and tablet apps.

     

    Sanoma Media, recently, used neuro-scientific research methods and fMRI scanning techniques for the research on magazine engagement, called Media Brain. Ingrid van der Werf,Sanoma Media,Netherlandswould present more on this at the congress.

     

    Case studies will form an important part of the Congress with Girish Ramdas, CEO & Co-Founder, Magzter and Michal Galin, E.V.P. Research, GfK Mediamark Research & Intelligence, LLC talkign of international trends in consumption of Tablet Editions and interesting case studies on promotion of Digital editions.With increasing innovation and newer business models emerging, Do licensors need to reinvent them selves from binding agreements, be flexible and ensure that the licensing relationship can montise newer bsiness models? Mike Greehan, COO at Cue Ball, LLC and Owner, Cue Ball, LLC, Sandra Gotelli, International Publisher and Head of Licensing, Mondadori will talk about it as Mala Sekhri, Chief Operating Officer, Lifestyle Magazines and Music Today, India Today and Indranil Roy, President, Outlook Group also take part in the panel discussion.

     

    Another interesting session would be: What India can learn fromChina. Torsten Klein, President, International Magazine Division, Gruner + Jahr International,Germany: the international publishers working in both the countries spills the beans on where we lack and how we can crack the Chinese code to our advantage. Increasingly, new merchandise sold under a magazine brand’s name is contributing to the revenues of magazine publishers. Take the case of international edition of Good Housekeeping, which also sells gardening tools. Mike Lovell, International Director, Licensing, Meredith will throw more light on the topic on the second day of the conference.

     

    Power CEO Session will see international and Indian publishers speak on the new challenges and opportunities with panelists such as Stefano De Aleessandri, Chairman and CEO, Mondadori International; Torsten Klein, President, International Magazine Division, Gruner + Jahr International, Germany; Ashish Bagga, Group CEO, India Today; Paresh Nath, Chairman, Delhi Press Group; and Chris Llewellyn, President, FIPP.

     

    The conference will also see the editors of Indian magazines debating on ‘Church vs. State- Has the wall between editorial and business breached’. This session will explore the new paradigm that is fast gaining currency in all media- the involvement of editors in running viable and profitable organizations has increased of late. Indrajit Gupta, Editor, Forbes; Hormazd Sorabjee, Editor, Autocar India and – Krishna Prasad, Editor-in-Chief, Outlook, will talk if collaborating with the advertisers and agencies to create newer areas to help advertisers reach out to the right audiences is happening at the cost of the integrity of the content.

     

    Did someone order a power-packed media conference? Here it is!