MxMIndia

Category: MEDIA

  • The 5-yr-old digital media firm will merge with Tribal and its core team will manage the joint entity + comments from an M&A consultant & Prasanth Mohanachandran

    Flying high! 22feet sells out to DDB Mudra [updated today]

    L-R 22feet co-founders Deepak Nair, Vineet Gupta, Brijesh Jacob and Vinod Moolacherry

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    One more Indian digital major gets gobbled up. Bangalore-headquartered 22feet has been acquired by media and marketing services conglomerate Omnicom Group.

     

    On Monday, Omnicom’s DDB Group announced the acquisition of 22feet. The five-year-old digital marketing firms in India will merge with nine-year-old Tribal Worldwide India creating a new entity known as 22feet Tribal Worldwide which will be a part of the DDB Mudra Group.  22feet has in its roster brands such as Café Coffee Day, Fastrack, Lenovo, Heineken, Kingfisher, Red Bull and Axe.

     

    Madhukar Kamath

    The new entity – 22feet Tribal Worldwide – will be spearheaded by the core team of 22feet and not that of Tribal. Vineet Gupta will be Managing Director, Brijesh Jacob is Joint Managing Director and Deepak Nair will be Chief Operating Officer. The three will report directly to Madhukar Kamath, Group CEO and Managing Director, DDB Mudra Group. They will also work closely with Tribal Worldwide network in APAC and across 42 countries.

     

    The fourth 22feet co-founder Vinod Moolacherry will take charge of White Canvas, the Bengaluru-based full-service agency set up by the foursome. White Canvas has not been acquired by Omnicom as part of the deal on 22feet. Meanwhile, Venkat Mallik, president of Tribal India and RAPP, the marketing and CRM agency, will now move to look after RAPP, with what a spokesperson told us is an expanded and new global vision for that business.

     

    Said Mr Kamath on the acquisition: “With digital at the heart of DDB Mudra Group’s agenda, we are extremely happy about joining forces with 22feet. In just five years, 22feet has grown leaps and bounds. With this energy and Tribal Worldwide’s global reputation and reach, I’m excited to see what this magic of mergers can create.”

     

    John Zeigler

    Added John Zeigler, Chairman and CEO, DDB Group Asia Pacific, India and Japan: “We see this as a strategic move to continue evolving our capabilities in the fast-moving Indian market. DDB Group has accelerated its capabilities to offer clients the best-in-class local digital expertise at 22feet, coupled with best-in-class global knowledge of the Tribal Worldwide network. I believe this is a game-changing event for the DDB Mudra Group in India.”

     

    According to a financial advisor to many media M&A deals who requested anonymity, the acquisition is a win-win for DDB and 22feet. For digital media entrepreneurs who have sold out to advertising majors, the scale of a large network and international clients is a huge pull. And for ad firms, who have not been very strong on digital, acquiring smaller firms and thereby talent, legacy and clients is a sureshot way of getting digital prowess that clients seek. The added advantage, said the M&A specialist, is that networks could also look at converting a part of these digital shops to delivery hubs for offices elsewhere in the world.

     

    According to Prasanth Mohanachandran, CEO of AgencyDigi, who sold his agency eDeltaC Communications to Ogilvy in 2001, the 22feet buy will do a world of good for Tribal in India. “It’s an excellent agency worldwide, and the acquisition will help leapfrog the operations here,” Mohanachandran said

     

    Meanwhile, there is excitement amongst the 22feet co-founders who will now steer 22feet Tribal. Said Vineet Gupta on the announcement: “We are extremely excited to be a part of the DDB Group family. At 22feet, we share DDB’s passion for innovation and technology and look forward to delivering best in class digital solutions to our clients across markets as 22feet Tribal Worldwide.”

     

    Brijesh Jacob and Deepak Nair echo similar sentiments. “We are extremely happy with this opportunity to operate on a global canvas,” said Nair.

     

  • The Broadcast Audience Research Council moves a step further on the new measurement regime with the appointment of Civolution to work in sync with tech vendor Mediemetrie

    BARC appoints Dutch firm Civolution for watermarking tech

    By A Correspondent

     

    Amidst issuing requests for proposals and advanced-level testing, the joint industry body of broadcast stakeholders BARC (short for Broadcast Audience Research Council) has contracted Dutch tech firm Civolution to provide the watermarking technology for its proposed measurement platform. The decision comes weeks after the announcement of Médiamétrie as its key technology vendor.

     

    Partho Dasgupta

    “India has one of the largest TV audiences in the world so it was critical for us to create an audience measurement system that is gold standard,” said Partho Dasgupta, CEO, BARC. “By leveraging Civolution and Médiamétrie’s expertise in audience tracking, technology and analytics we can now study viewers’ TV habits in precise detail, enabling broadcasters and advertisers to implement efficient strategies to reach their target audience.”

     

    According to a communiqué, the audience measurement system – which has already successfully been deployed by Médiamétrie in a few TV markets – relies on Civolution’s audio watermarking coding technology for automated content identification and integrates seamlessly into Médiamétrie’s TV meter system for panellists’ equipment and data processing.  It provides broadcasters with a detailed analysis of their exposure to the public, whether by the number of households tuning in to the programme or the amount of time spent watching each piece of content.

     

    Gwilherm Nicolas, Head of International Business Development at Médiamétrie added: ”We are very enthusiastic to embark on this project with Civolution and its watermarking technology, which is definitely the most powerful and error-free content detection technique available for TV audience measurement.  This means we are future-proofed in the fast-changing world of TV.  Médiamétrie has relied on Civolution’s technology for many years”.

     

    ”With so many new ways of watching TV content in this multi-screen universe, precise audience measurement has become increasingly complex. Audience measurement services must now report more accurately and reliably, from a larger number of channels, delivered through a fast-changing and diverse mix of broadcast platforms, and consumed either in real time or time-shifted” said Alex Terpstra, CEO, Civolution.

     

    Civolution’s audio watermark is embedded in the TV’s sound track prior to broadcast. Upon airing, the content is then identified by Médiamétrie’s TV meter, in real-time. In addition to granular measurement of the content being watched, the solution features support for catch-up TV. The technology provides cross-platform audience measurement and will enable mobile device measurement, triggering the creation of new services  and the reduction of operating costs. In parallel, the same watermark infrastructure deployed by Indian broadcasters could be used to synchronize with great accuracy their own interactive second screen applications.

     

    ”Through our close collaboration with Médiamétrie, we have devised a powerful solution that provides accurate and reliable audience data that will allow BARC to help broadcasters plan, entertain and monetize their TV audiences,” added Jean Michel Masson, SVP Watermarking Solutions, Civolution.

     

  • Internet users in India could increase by 24 per cent if local language content is provided on the internet, says IAMAI

    Local language content could push internet users drastically, says IAMAI

    By a correspondent

     

    ‘Local Language Study 2013’ published jointly by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB International has predicted that the internet users in India could increase by 24 per cent if local language content is provided on the internet.

     

    According to the study, in the rural areas 43 per cent of the non-users of internet said they would adopt the medium if the content was provided in a local language while in the urban areas, 13.5 per cent of the non-users mentioned that they would use internet if content is provided in local languages. The report prima facie identifies local language as the single largest driver of internet growth in rural areas. The findings were based on a survey of 35 cities across seven states.

     

    Among the current users of Internet, the report found the current local language usage penetration among the active internet users is around 42 per cent.

     

     

    While the local language content users in urban India are not much different from English language content users with e-mail, News and Search being the main activities, in rural India, however, entertainment, social networking and email remains the primary purpose of using online local language content.

     

     

    In rural India, 27 per cent of the users use Hindi to access online content followed by Marathi and Tamil. In urban India too, 60 per cent of the users access online content in Hindi followed by Tamil and Marathi.

     

  • Colors ties up Idea Cellular, Gionee and others for Fear Factor – Khatron Ke Khiladi Season 5

    Idea, Gionee as key sponsors of ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi’

    By A Correspondent

     

    Telecom major Idea Cellular and Gionee Smart phone have associated with the fifth season of ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi - Darr Ka Blockbuster’ as ‘presenting sponsor’ and ‘powered by sponsor’ respectively.

    The new season of  of the Indian version of reality show ‘Fear Factor’ on Colors will see contestants engaging in more daredevilry than its previous seasons, so it is being claimed. To up the ante this year, the channel has roped in noted director and entertainer Rohit Shetty to bring out the best among the celebrity contestants.

     

    Raj Nayak

    Commenting on the association, Raj Nayak, CEO, Colors, said, “Over the past few years, Khatron Ke Khiladi has created a strong brand value in the minds of the audiences who associate the show with unlimited blockbuster action and entertainment. Through innovative integration and branding opportunities, we are looking forward at creating synergies that will mutually benefit us and our sponsors.”

    Speaking about their association, Sashi Shankar, CMO – Idea Cellular said, “This is the third season of Khatron Ke Khiladi where we are associating with Colors as the Presenting Sponsor. The show has garnered high visibility over the seasons and has helped us in creating high recall amongst our target audience. This time around we are looking forward to engage with our consumers through multiple initiatives that will further our brand proposition.”

     

    Gionee Smartphones India Head, Arvind. R. Vohra said, “Gionee being a global brand sees Khatron Ke Khiladi as great opportunity to connect with our target audience. This genre is a perfect way to reach out and establish connect with the young and adventurous new generation. Gionee believes in creating a benchmark in innovation with every new offering and KKK is the apt choice to connect with those who too believe in taking greater risks to achieve the best. We have created some very exciting integration in the show and hope that the consumers will enjoy the same”

    Additionally Mahindra Scorpio and Amul Macho have come on board as the Associate Sponsors of the Show.

    The show will be on air next month.

     

  • MTS builds on the data speed factor with 3G PLUS and gets a baby to render the message

    MTS: Making 3G access a child’s play

    By a correspondent

     

    Internet and broadband solutions company MTS has launched a quirky campaign that delves on the benefits of its latest offering – MTS 3GPLUSâ„¢ Network.

     

    Conceptualised by Creativeland Asia, the campaign features a new born baby who is familiar with technology and is seen exploiting the internet straight from birth. The TVC opens in a labour room, where a woman is being coaxed by the doctor to ‘push’, as the father and the nurses watch anxiously. Suddenly, the baby’s hand pops out from under the cover and gestures everybody to stop.

     

    The baby crawls from under the sheet and sits on the mother’s chest. From here on the baby does a series of activities that leaves people in the room shocked. He searches for ‘how to cut the umbilical cord’ and then cuts it, takes a selfie with the nurse on a mobile phone and posts it to Instagram, creates accounts on multiple social networking sites and broadcasts himself, makes a video and even uses the GPS system to navigate out of the hospital.

     

    Amitesh Rao, Director – Brand & Media, MTS India, said, “We needed a campaign to reinforce our strongest differentiator – the fact that we have designed and optimized the MTS 3GPlus network specifically for data. At the same time we needed to be true to the MTS brand that talks to today’s 24×7, always-on, data hungry consumer for whom the internet is the biggest opportunity platform there is. The challenge of course was to do all of this in an engaging and entertaining manner, which is what the story of a new-born baby going online to announce himself to the world does perfectly.”

     

    Sajan Raj Kurup

    Speaking about the TVC, Sajan RaJ Kurup, Founder and Creative Chairman, Creativeland Asia, said, “The script for the film began with the simple insight that today’s kids seem so comfortable with technology, devices and the internet even as babies. When I see them (including my own daughter) handle tablets, mobiles and laptops, I have always joked that they look like they were born with it. We just pushed that thought a little further. It took six months of painful labor. And the baby is finally out there. ”

     

    The TVC has been produced by Smuggler films and directed by Guy Shelmerdine.

     

  • All links to the IRS 2013 report will be disabled from its servers with effect from the evening of February 28, the MRUC has stated in its response to a dna petition

    IRS 2013 will not be accessible on servers after tomorrow, MRUC tells Bombay HC

    By A Correspondent

     

    The IRS 2013 may have been in abeyance till March 31 but is still accessible to subscribers.  That is what emerges from the statement issued by the Media Research Users Council (MRUC) to the Bombay High Court where it states that all links from its servers will be disabled with effect from the evening of February 28 so that the report is inaccessible.

     

    This is part of the Court order which MxMIndia accessed from the Bombay High Court website*. The Order issued on Monday, February 24 was post an Arbitration Petition filed by Diligent Media Corporation, publishers of dna against the MRUC and Nielsen India.

     

    On February 19, at a meeting of the Readership Studies Council of India (RSCI), it was decided to keep the IRS 2013 report in abeyance till March 31 by which time a detailed probe and revalidation will be conducted.

     

    At the February 19 meeting, it was decided that a process for revalidation would be be finalised by February 24 and the process will be completed by March 31.

     

    Meanwhile, as per the communiqué, all subscribers and MRUC members were to be contacted the RSCI and its joint stakeholders – the MRUC and ABC  – to hold off usage of the study until the re-validation process is completed. With this statement by the MRUC, any fresh access to the IRS 2013 will not be possible.

     

    *http://bombayhighcourt.nic.in; Case  No 315 of 2014. Arbitration Petition, , Coram: Justice NM Jamdar

     

  • Delhi-based Gopal will lead all sales and marketing activities at Businessworld nationally

    BW inducts Rakesh Gopal as Director, Sales & Marketing

    By a correspondent

     

    In a bid to expand its operations, Businessworld has appointed Rakesh Gopal as Director, Sales and Marketing. Delhi-based Gopal will lead all sales and marketing activities at Businessworld nationally.

     

    Gopal joins in from DNA, where he was Vice-President, Sales. He has over two decades of experience in media sales. He has worked at Mail Today as Head -Impact for Delhi, East and South India. He was Senior Vice President at Mogae Media. He has also worked with The Pioneer and Hindustan Times.

     

    Commenting on Gopal’s appointment, Annurag Batra, Chairman, Businessworld said, “Rakesh is a seasoned media professional. His rich experience in leading sales teams, especially for print publications, will be of immense value to our various expansion programmes.”

     

  • The webinar series has had both Indian and global industry stalwarts share their insights from the digital domain

    Neeraj Roy is guest at IAA webinar on March 5

    By a correspondent

     

    Neeraj Roy

    Neeraj Roy, Managing Director and CEO of Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. will be the guest at the International Advertising Association (IAA) India Chapter’s next webinar series. The webinar is scheduled to take place on March 5, 2014 at 3 pm. (*Disclosure: MxMIndia is media partner of the IAA India Chapter webinar series)

     

     

    Srinivasan Swamy

    Srinivasan K. Swamy, President, IAA India Chapter & Vice President, Development Asia/Pacific region of IAA said, “This webinar series has had both Indian and global industry stalwarts share their insights from the digital domain. This will add more dimension to India’s online endeavours.”

     

    Abhishek Karnani, Director, Free Press Journal and Manish Advani, Head – Marketing and Public Relations, Mahindra Special Services Group, are co-chairing the IAA Webinar series.

     

    Abhishek Karnani

    “We have had some great speakers in IAA Webinar Series and Neeraj Roy our upcoming speaker, is the King of Digital. I am confident that the participants could learn how to become digital experts from this session”, said Advani.

     

    The hangout will be broadcast live on the YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/iaaindiachapter  on 5th March, 3pm IST.

     

  • Online fashion brand Yepme.com has awarded its integrated media AOR to Havas Media Group India

    Havas bags 50-crore worth Yepme.com media biz

    By a correspondent

     

    Sandeep Sharma
    Sandeep Sharma

    Online fashion brand Yepme.com has awarded its integrated media AOR to Havas Media Group India. The account is estimated to be upwards of INR 50 crores annually.

     

    Sandeep Sharma, Co-Founder, Yepme.com said, “Havas Media had a keen understanding of our audience and business. They have specialist divisions like Mobext to handle the mobile advertising which is so very critical to us. Besides all this, the sheer passion of the team made us choose them as our media partners.”

     

    Anita Nayyar

    Anita Nayyar, CEO, Havas Media Group, India and South Asia explained, “We have just completed a successful year and Yepme.com has added another feather to our cap. It is a young and growing company and we gave them a differentiated and targeted approach to deliver the core message. We are extremely delighted to work with their forward thinking team.”

     

  • The win comes on the back of a hotly contested multi-agency pitch that was spread over a period of two months

    Magicbricks.com turns to RK Swamy BBDO for creative support

    By a correspondent

     

    Advertising agency RK Swamy BBDO has bagged the creative mandate for Magicbricks.com – the property portal from The Times Group. The win comes on the back of a hotly contested multi-agency pitch that was spread over a period of two months.

     

    Speaking about the win, Sunil Kukreti, Senior Partner, R K Swamy BBDO, said, “This is an interesting category with a huge canvas available for creativity. We will make the most of this opportunity by creating interesting clutter-breaking work for Magicbricks.”

     

    Magicbricks.com is India’s number one property portal with a host of specially developed features and tools to aid the users in taking the right decision; making it the most comprehensive platform in the category.

     

  • Tequila Shot Productions will be venturing into feature films and digital content creation in near future

    Nautanki’s Saurabh Tewari opts for Tequila Shot

    By a correspondent

     

    Saurabh Tewari, the creative brainchild behind setting up Nautanki Films Pvt. Ltd which produced soaps like Madhubala – Ek Ishq, Ek Junoon among others is set to launch his new production house – Tequila Shot Productions. The newly formed company is set to produce a new TV shows for a leading broadcaster, details of which will be revealed in the next quarter. In addition to this, Tequila Shot Productions will be venturing into feature films and digital content creation in near future.

     

    Commenting on the new venture, Saurabh Tewari said, “I am delighted to announce Tequila Shot Productions through which I aim to continue my promise of delivering entertaining and engaging content to my audience. Tequila Shot Productions will not only create content for television but will also be foraying into film production very soon.”

     

    A Bachelor of Arts from Lucknow University, Saurabh began his career directing ad films. Since then he has worked with a variety of television production houses primarily as a writer which have given him a completing understanding of the creative & production business. In 2006, he moved to Zee Telefilms as Assistant Vice-President of Programming for ZEE TV where he was instrumental in growing the market share of the channel. In late 2007, he moved to Viacom 18 as a part of the start-up team for the launch of Colors. In 2011, Saurabh Tewari joined hands with BAG Films to launch his Film & TV Production company Nautanki Films Pvt. Ltd.

     

  • In its first season in 2012, the show made a sizeable impact on the socio-political environment but there was a sense that it had become a blind spot in its second leg, recalls Shailesh Kapoor

    Shailesh Kapoor:Getting ready for Satyamev Jayate 2.0

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    Aamir Khan’s labour of love (but one that comes with a hefty paycheck too), Satyamev Jayate, makes a comeback this Sunday. In its first season in 2012, the show made a sizeable impact on the socio-political environment. In the process, it managed to become perhaps the only television property in the last twenty years whose success of not measured entirely or primarily through its viewership ratings.

     

    We are in the election year, and coming with short, monthly seasons of 4-5 episodes each, starting with one in March, seems to be a good move. In the last season of 14 episodes, there was a sense that the show had become a blind spot in its second leg. There’s only so much awakening and inspiration one can take at a time, after all.

     

    I have to admit I’m a tad disappointed with Sunday 11 AM continuing to be original slot for the show. While there may be a valid ‘feel’ argument, a property of this nature needs a wider available audience. 8 or 9 PM would achieve that better. Even at a feel level, noon will deliver a higher reach without compromising on the feel. I’m sure Aamir and Star Plus had their reasons.

     

    Satyamev Jayate continues its tradition of not using show footage in the launch campaign. This season’s campaign, built around ‘Jinhein Desh Ki Fikr Hai’, stands out for its exceptional clarity of message and its consistent tone across ads. Rarely do we see TV show launches executed as ‘ad campaigns’. In fact, even in channel parlance, they are called ‘launch promos’ and not ‘launch ads’. Just nomenclature, or a deep-seated issue?

     

    When I see a good campaign based on atypical viewer segmentation, my eyes light up. The researcher in me has been wondering: What percentage of our TV audiences are the ones who have a sense of ‘fikr’ about the ‘desh’? And how does one measure this accurately, without relying on claims? For example, do most viewers of Arnab’s show (in whose breaks the Satyamev Jayate campaign is running on very high visibility) care for the country? But we digress.

     

    Despite the good campaign, the show is set to have a modest start from a viewership perspective. There are bound to be format tweaks that create a sense of freshness and build on learnings of the first season. For example, there is a definite hint of higher viewer interaction this season in one of the ads.

     

    In the pre-satellite television and pre-measurement days, there was certain diversity in television content. TV ratings are needed for transaction. But the biggest collateral damage they have caused in India is homogenization of content.

     

    Thank you Star and Aamir Khan, then, for challenging that status quo in 2012, and now coming back with a new season well knowing that blockbuster ratings are out of reach here.

     

    TV Trails is a weekly column written by Shailesh Kapoor, founder and CEO of media insights firm Ormax Media. He spent nine years in the television industry before turning entrepreneur. The views expressed here are his own. He can be reached at his Twitter handle @shaileshkapoor