MxMIndia

Category: MEDIA

  • What was to be achieved was a behavioural shift, hence it went beyond the 30 sec format of advertising

    Tata Sky’s an-ad-a-day approach casts its spell on the viewers

    By A Correspondent

     

    With the aim to achieve maximum reach, Tata Sky has launched a unique offering – Daily Recharge which allows consumers to recharge their DTH subscription just at Rs. 8 daily and get all their desired channels on that day.

     

    The consumer in towns and villages are value conscious. This consumer in most regions still perceives the DTH category as premium and expensive, as compared to the local cable. Tata Sky’s Daily recharge in this case tackles this barrier by providing an entry to the world of quality television viewing at a price lesser than any MSO or DTH player in the world. Not only in small towns and villages, also the urban metros, Daily Recharge will become a huge incentive for consumers to shift from Analog to digital, thereby adding to the cause of digitization.

     

    For such a unique product the campaign too had to be innovative. What was to be achieved was a behavioural shift, hence it went beyond the 30 sec format of advertising as it would have left the consumers with a new piece of information but would have failed at engaging them. The challenge was to amplify the everyday usage of the brand and thus the benefits associated with it.

     

    Thus the product was launched with a unique love story that promotes everyday usage in an interesting manner. The promise: “Daily milenge toh pyaar to hoga hi” is a simple expression of the product benefit and the brand promise. To further reinforce daily usage the campaign evolves over multiple episodes. Set in a small town in Kashmir, the multiple episodes slowly unravels how the product works and intelligently amplifies the benefits of Daily Recharge, through Mannu (Prit Kamani) and Neelu (Himani Sisodiya) the protagonists of the love story.

     

    Sukesh Nayak

    Sukesh Nayak, Executive Creative Director, O&M Advertising said: “The product was innovative so the creative idea had to be innovative. For daily recharge we came up with an idea of daily love story. Every day the love story unfolds itself with a new film on national television. The campaign is interactive. The boy and girl update their social profile on daily basis as the story unfolds. People also end up helping the boy decide what to do next every single day to take the love story forward through an immersive digital experience.”

     

    Commenting on Tata Sky’s new campaign launched with the IPL, Malay Dikshit, Chief Communications Officer, Tata Sky said: “For the first time, we have advertised during the IPL as it provides the continuity needed by the daily format of this campaign. The brand promise of ‘Daily milenge toh pyaar toh hoga hi” is a simple expression to stay connected with the viewers on a daily basis with our convenient offering. The brand needed to reach out and communicate to a set of audience that are spread across various geographies of the country and still have an affinity with the existing subscribers. O&M has beautifully brought alive this journey with the help of this addictive love story.”

     

  • The 2015 edition of the IIFA Weekend and Awards will be aired on Colors. Star Plus aired the show for 10 consecutive years

    Colors acquire IIFA telecast rights from Star Plus

    By A Correspondent

     

    Hindi general entertainment channel Colors has announced a partnership with Wizcraft International Entertainment acquiring complete broadcast rights to the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards 2015, to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in June this year.  The rights were held by Star Plus for a decade with the edition of the 2014 edition being done by Star Plus for the 10th year running.

     

    The channel will collaborate with IIFA to combine programming and marketing efforts to mount this year’s IIFA on a wider canvas reaching out to more viewers around 135 countries across all screens – TV, Mobile and PC.

     

    Raj Nayak
    Sabbas Joseph

    Commenting on the acquisition, Raj Nayak, CEO, Colors said: “With the inclusion of IIFA Awards to our bouquet of offerings, Colors will now curate exceptional entertainment offerings capturing best of Indian film industry. IIFA Weekend will be beamed not only on Colors India but also on our international feeds including Rishtey bringing quality entertainment to our viewers’ fingertips.”

     

    Elaborating on this year’s IIFA Awards, Sabbas Joseph, Director, Wizcraft International Entertainment said, “Our association with Colors for the IIFA Weekend and Awards furthers our promise of providing the best entertainment avenues to viewers across the globe.”

     

  • New brand philosophy of Now or Nothing creates urgency in approach

    For Times Network, it will be ‘Now or Nothing’

    By A Correspondent

     

    TIMES TELEVISION NETWORK has been rebranded as TIMES NETWORK with its positioning statement of – Now or Nothing. The new, improved brand logo and rebranding will facilitate higher resonance for the channels vis-a-vis competition.

     

    M K Anand

    MK Anand, CEO & Managing Director, Times Network said, “This is not an India of passive optimists. At the forefront, at the leading edge generation of youth, at the top of corporations and organisations, India is screaming – ‘Now or Nothing’. This is something that is also being articulated in the content and the value we deliver through our channels. The content has to be rooted in the NOW. The change in name from Times Television Network to Times Network shows a paradigm shift to reflect the reality that Video is no longer just Television.”

     

    The new logo is contemporary and shows the liberalisation of the brand by stepping out of the box to be open to change. The fonts used are bolder. At the top is a pyramid mnemonic, whose tip signifies the specific Indians who are wanting and making change. These are the audiences the network and its channels are targeting. The brand belief is that the driver of change is at the top, and the philosophy of the top permeates down to all segments.

     

    As part of the change at Times Network, the expression of channels in terms of content and even positioning is undergoing a revamp. The expectation is that there will be 1-2 channels launched every year, and the content could also become regional. The action-oriented credo of the organisation will position the network as fast, agile and alert.

     

    About Times Network:

    Times Network is part of India’s largest media conglomerate, The Times Group.  It houses upscale brands including ET NOW – India’s No. 1 Stocks and Business News channel; MOVIES NOW – India’s leading English Movies channel; ROMEDY NOW – a unique destination for Love and Laughter; TIMES NOW – India’s No. 1 English News channel; and zoOm – India’s No. 1 Bollywood channel. The network delivers segmented and differentiated content under one umbrella. It informs, entertains and engages over 100 million urban affluent viewers in India and is available in over 76 countries across the globe.

     

    For further queries, please contact:

    Jimit Shah / Yasna Mistree

    LinOpinion – GH

    Mobile: 9833228876 / 8652252098

    E-mail: jimit.shah@linopiniongh.com / yasna.mistree@linopiniongh.com

     

  • From a single sports country to a multi-sport one, India has seen a boom in telecast of sporting events. Jai Lala picks 10 trends

    10 Trends to look forward to in Sports Broadcasting

     

    By Jai Lala

     

    2014 has undoubtedly been a great year for Sports in India, and in turn it has also opened up new avenues for the broadcasting and advertising community. With India making a foray into League sports, and games other than cricket making a mark, one can look forward to exciting times in 2015 for the Sports Broadcasting Industry.

     

    Here are 10 Trends to look forward to in Sports Broadcasting

     

    1. From a single sports country to a multi-sport country: We are witnessing sports boom in India. Hockey, Badminton, Kabbadi, Tennis are seeing reach like never before. Albeit it is still smaller compared to cricket it is growing and we are seeing growing interest from advertisers and viewers alike.

     

    2. TV+ Digital the lines are blurring: World cup had more than 25 million views on Digital. IPL is slated to surpass that in the 2015 season. Is it just catch up TV or is it individual viewing only time will tell but currently the lines are blurring. World Cup on Starsports.com was sponsored by the biggest names in cricket advertising Hero, Vodafone, Pepsi all sponsors of the previous edition of World Cup 2011 but in 2015 have moved from TV to Digital

     

    3. Pay per view can it be a reality: The acquisition cost of sports growing and advertising yield at a matured level subscription seems to be the only resolve. With increased digital penetration as well as viewing pay per view is not far

     

    4. Sports viewing is more‘Lean Forward’ than ‘Lean Back’: The passion and the interest which evokes on sports can be “heard” on social media. Ball by Ball commentary, opinions and even Backlash is growing on Social Media.

     

    5. Sports & Mobile: With the mobile penetration in excess of 900 million coupled with multi-screen viewing there is a huge opportunity for advertisers to cash in. Heineken ran a contest on mobile which can only be answered by watching the live UEFA match on TV. No other sport lends itself to interactivity more than cricket

     

    6. Split beam: India being a diverse regional market with large linguistic preference networks are offering feeds in regional languages. This will grow further with split beams leading to adversioning and even regional advertisers getting a slice of the pie

     

    7. Rural: Radio is the only means for the rural audiences but with growing mobile penetration and DTH this could add on to the experience especially for updates and other opportunities

     

    8. Sports programming: In the US, ESPN Sportscentre is one of the most viewed programmes and it does not relay live telecast. Whilst in India non-live programming is only 1/7th of Live telecast it is growing

     

    9. Extra coverage for the passionate viewer: Cameras on umpires helmets to players helmets. View from the slip cordon to chatting with players during live match. We shall see more & more of this

     

    10. Revival of Print: Print in its traditional sense has seen challenges on sports coverage. Sportstar is nearly dead and many more such sports magazines. Blogging is reviving it. Can digital print revive the coverage?

     

    Jai Lala is Managing Partner, Trading and Partnerships, Central Trading Group, GroupM

     

    Extracted from the GroupM ESP-SportzPower India Sports Sponsorship Report 2015

     

  • The book won excellent reviews from book lovers and media when it came out in hardcover last year

    Ambi Parameswaran’s ‘For God’s Sake’, now in paperback

    By A Correspondent

     

    The book ‘For God’s Sake – An Adman on the Business of Religion’ explores the many ways religion and marketing makes happy bedfellow. The book won excellent reviews from book lovers and media when it came out in hardcover last year.

     

    The publisher of “For God’s Sake”, Penguin India have come out with a paperback version of the book this April to make the book even more accessible to students and young marketing executives.

     

    The book features as a best seller in the airport book stores around the country. Many book stores had also listed the book as one they “Recommend”.

     

    Ambi Parameswaran

    Commenting on the release of the paperback version, Ambi Parameswaran said “I am happy that the book has been published as a paperback making it more accessible to the young readers. The book has a fresh Preface written especially for the paperback edition. The new preface narrates an interesting episode relating to my TEDx talk in February 2014. I am thankful to all the readers for their continued support and encouragement. This is my seventh book and I do hope to continue sharing my bits and pieces of wisdom in the years to come. I would continue to welcome feedback and inputs from my readers.”

     

    The paperback version goes on sale from mid-April across all book stores and e-book merchants.

     

  • Mantri moves from Vice President to President of PRCAI

    Nitin Mantri appointed President of PRCAI

    By A Correspondent

     

    Nitin Mantri

    The Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PRCAI) has appointed Nitin Mantri, CEO and Managing Partner, Avian Media, as President till May 2016 when the term of the present Managing Committee ends. Mantri moves from Vice President to President of PRCAI.

     

    The decision was taken by the Managing Committee members after present incumbent Sharif D Rangnekar, CEO and Director of Integral PR, stepped down from the position of President.

     

    On being appointed President, Mantri said:  “Sharif (Rangnekar) in last three years has done some great work for the industry and I hope to continue the momentum. PRCAI is a fantastic organisation. I have enjoyed a long and fruitful association with it. In my role as President, I will continue to underline the importance of high professional standards, support communications professionals across the country and try to improve the public perception of public relations.”

     

    Mantri has been in the public relations industry for over 19 years. He has been one of the most visible proponents of a common code of conduct for the industry in India. To increase awareness about the profession at the grassroot level and stimulate the learning process, he regularly delivers lectures at prominent mass communication colleges in the country.

     

  • A customer is more conscious, globally travelled, and knows what he wants

    Nahar Group unveils new campaign targeting kids

    By A Correspondent

     

    Nahar Group has taken children’s lifestyle factor to the next level via a new campaign.

     

    With the emergence of the concept of nuclear family and the culture of having one child with both parents working, it has changed the way a customer looks at buying a home. A customer is more conscious, globally travelled, and knows what he wants. The only child in the family plays a very important role in influencing the thoughts of the parents in shaping the future. In turn the parents also want to give their child the best and why not? Both working parents also have the means to provide the best to their child.

     

    Manju Yagnik – Vice Chairperson Nahar Group, said, “Based on these trends, we have strategized our campaign which talks about child’s LSF – Life Style Factor. It is always the parents who decide on the lifestyle they want to live and give their child. Through this campaign we are emphasising that a child’s upbringing is of utmost important in an environment that gives him ample of opportunity to use his creativity and imagination. This will provide a platform to think and behave differently.”

     

    Nahar’s Amrit Shakti provides an ideal environment to encourage a child’s creativity through its grandeur layout overlooking 5 lakh sq. ft. of vehicle free podium garden. The landscaping of the entire township has been conceptualized by the renowned Singapore based designer Saidah Taib, who has won accolades for designing this project, considered to be one of the world’s most futuristic projects.

     

    Manish Bhatt, Founder Director, Scarecrow Communications said, “The LSF campaign adds a fresh perspective to real estate advertising. It is both clutter-cutting as it stays away from the formula of showing the property facade. From a creative perspective, it is interesting as it takes a subtle dig at real estate advertising that features fake luxury shots of adults.”

     

  • The campaign will be live on 18th of April in two different edits for duration of 30 seconds each on television and the complete campaign of 60 seconds will be live on YouTube

    ‘I am Nikon’, asserts Nikon India in new campaign

    By A Correspondent

     

    Nikon India has announced the launch of its new ad campaign ‘I am Nikon’. Targeted to connect the brand’s heritage of professionalism, authenticity and innovation to an audience of photographers aspiring or professionals, the new campaign highlights the people from across the country freezing moments with their Nikon D-SLR.

     

    The campaign will be live on 18th of April in two different edits for duration of 30 seconds each on television and the complete campaign of 60 seconds will be live on YouTube. The campaign focuses on Nikon’s D-SLR range and highlights different human emotions which connect with our daily lives. It kicks off with a father capturing his toddler’s acrobatics moves moving on to a young man posing to be an Bollywood actor at different locations, the campaign similarly highlights different human emotions which instantly connects with the audience like dream of being a champ, thrill of risk taking, aspiration to be famous, elation of being married etc.

     

    Hiroshi Takashina, Managing Director, Nikon India Pvt. Ltd. commented, “With this latest advertising campaign ‘I am Nikon we aim at connecting on a more direct level with our audience over the feelings we all recognize around the art of photography. The campaign plays on Nikon’s existing tagline ‘At the heart of the image’ and includes real-life scenarios in which people show who they are with a Nikon camera.  We feel that this campaign really gets to the core of what it means to be a Nikon photographer and hope to remind our audience that they are at the heart of the image. We hope it will be as well-received as the previous campaigns”

     

    Sajjan Kumar, Vice President – Imaging Division, Nikon India Pvt. Ltd., said, “The new campaign resonates with Nikon’s commitment of enabling consumers to capture not only the perfect moment but also express who they really are. We have a legacy of creating technologically advanced D-SLR which are simple to operate and are capable of capturing moments and bringing out every emotion the way the heart feels it. In order to establish deeper connect Nikon has been consistently investing in advertising and other promotional activities to reach out to every photography aspirant of the country.”

     

    Conceived by the creative team at K&L Arms Communication India, the entire campaign has a very emotional appeal to it with an inspiring musical background.

     

  • World Wide open and Personagraph launches a Private Marketplace (PMP) for Mobile Developers in India

    Reliance partners with Personagraph; to provide more value for Game Developers and Advertisers

    By A Correspondent

     

    Reliance Entertainment Digital, comprising World Wide Open, Zapak, BigFlix and Reliance Games, is partnering with Personagraph to drive more value for advertisers by utilizing mobile specific segments, both from the brand and brand performance perspective. The company’s three large publishers i.e. Reliance Games, Zapak, and BigFlix, will be utilizing Personagraph’s Privacy Compliant SDK toolkit for monetization, using its predictive audience segments product line.

     

    One of the key benefits of Personagraph is that publishers own their data and that it is completely transparent and privacy compliant. The partnership would mean greater opportunity in an ecosystem that is capable of leveraging user insights to drive higher relevance, context and personalization in mobile, both at the publisher and advertiser end, while using a single data source.

     

    WWO and Personagraph are partnering to bring a Data/Audience driven Private Marketplace (PMP) specifically targeting Mobile Developers in India. A private marketplace is an exchange derivative that is selective about how and what inventory is brought in to the platform, and similarly which marketers are being provided access to brands transparently with audience attached to every impression. The Private Marketplace will be open for Mobile Developers with clear instructions on ad viewability, sizing, brand transparency, etc. while marketers will be allowed buy in to the inventory via guaranteed and non-guaranteed means.

     

    By using the Personagraph technology and with WWO demand already built in to the marketplace, the Mobile Development community can access growing and consistent revenue for advertising monetization now and going forward as we bring more publisher side partners and marketers to the platform.

     

  • We are indeed lucky the news channels did not tell us what Rahul Gandhi was eating for breakfast and so on, writes Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji: Rahul G is back. Yawn

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Given that the prime minister and chief newscatcher of India is away in foreign lands, Indian TV media found its dose of breathless excitement in the return of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi from… somewhere. He’s back after 56 days or 57 days or eight weeks or six weeks or the Indian Express told us this morning, 53 days. Many days obviously, but we are short on detail even there.  We don’t know where he went, we don’t know for how long and we just about vaguely know why: Introspection or some such political excuse. So much for all the Ws and Hs, once essential in the practice of nuts and bolts journalism.

     

    What we got was a moving picture of a car window through which I at least could see nothing. In one newspaper this morning, there was a shadowy face worthy of a Dan Brown conspiracy theory but two very cute little doggies. The doggies were not named or identified so the reader is none the wiser on pointless trivia.

     

    Some Congress party members burnt fire crackers in celebration and provided some anodyne sound bytes. Some BJP people sniggered. In short nothing unusual or newsworthy was on offer apart presumably from the fact of Gandhi’s return. With nothing to say, reporters egged on by anchors, speculated on what Gandhi was doing, could be doing, should be doing, might not be doing, would do if he was the reporter or the anchor or another person. We are indeed lucky they did not tell us he was eating breakfast, having a bath and so on. Or who knows, maybe any facts would have been more interesting than this piffle.

     

    So there we are. Rahul Gandhi is back in India. Yawn.

     

    **

     

    There is an intriguing difference between city coverage in newspapers in Delhi and Mumbai. Mumbai newspapers are obsessed with crime, civic issues (this covers just about everything), infrastructure development (whatever’s left) and the green narrative. Politics takes a backseat. Delhi newspapers are obsessed with politics and its colleges. I read a whole page on some childish little fight in St Stephens College that was neither spicy nor exciting nor even that interesting. Who woulda thunk that the Dalliwallahs were so big on education? All right, I apologise. Having spent most of my life in Mumbai, I do know that when Mumbaikars speak education, they’re talking money. Not: my principal is so mean.

     

    And for an outsider, it seems like crime should be a big Delhi thing…

     

    The Delhi obsession with St Stephens College is odd, though. Why?

     

    **

     

    Prime Minister Modi is away of course but not forgotten. His tours of France, Germany and Canada have been covered extensively by all the new channels. If you think there has been any shortfall, blame it on the time difference. The Canadian media has also covered the visit, especially the uranium deal. Time Magazine has got US president Barack Obama to write a profile on Modi, surely a coup.

     

    Indian newspapers however, have been more on the deals struck than the hoopla around the visit. I must here admit that I am sorely disappointed with the NRIs of Canada for not providing a song-and-dance show like their counterparts in the US and Australia.

     

    Or maybe the evil media didn’t show it?

     

  • The company, which started business in September 2009 with Star as a joint venture partner, has now allied with Providence Equity partners

    Star CJ is now Shop CJ, to concentrate on TV-led sales

    By Dyanne Coelho

     

    Leading 24/7 home shopping channel Star CJ now has a new name. It dons a new logo and will be called Shop CJ Network Pvt. Ltd..The company, which started business in September 2009 with Star as a joint venture partner, has now allied with Providence Equity partners. According to Shop CJ Network CEO Kenny Shin, Star exited the alliance as it figured that home shopping was not a part of its core competency. “Star wished to focus on the entertainment and sports business, which is why they quit the alliance,” Shin said.

     

    At the launch of the new logo and identity of the network, Shop CJ also presented its new tagline – ‘Shop a new trend’ by which it wishes to cater to a wider spectrum of consumers.“Shop CJ is focused on trends to transform the Indian customer’s lifestyle. We are not focused on discounts and on catering to the customers pockets like our competitors Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon,” said Shop CJ Marketing head Donald Kwang. Kwang stressing that unlike some e-commerce destinations, Shop CJ’s major sales come from its television network. As much as 94 percent of CJ Shop’s sales are from TV, whereas a meagre 6 percent comes from the internet and mobile combined. “For the time being we would like to focus on our television consumers, as they contribute to the largest part of our revenue,” Kwang added.

     

    The rebranding of Shop CJ is to better align the company’s philosophy with its future strategy. Talking about future initiatives, Shop CJ CFO N. Ramakrishnan said, “We are looking to expand in the east and north-east through physical warehouses. We are also looking to enhance our warehouse management system in order to enhance logistics and boost back-end services.” In order to further their stance in the e-commerce market, the company is attempting to understand buying patterns of the Indian consumer. “Indian consumers have a much rationalizsd purchase behavior. If they don’t like a product, or if the quality of the product is not up to the mark, they will send it back. This is why we ensure a high standard of product quality testing,” said Shin.

     

    Other than India, parent CJ O Shopping operates home shopping networks in Korea, China, Japan, Thailand Turkey, Phillipines and Vietnam.

     

  • The first five matches of IPL8 garnered 4.5% Average.TVR which was 42% more compared to its previous edition, as per data released by TAM

    IPL8 is more than 40% more popular than IPL7: TAM data

     

    By Our Research Editor

     

    Here’s a confession: this makes news for more reasons than one. First, it’s info about the ongoing eighth edition of the Indian Premier League and how it’s doing in viewership. And, second, it’s data released by TAM.

     

    The status that we have given this news is thanks to the second. Remember, effective April 1, many leading stakeholders of the broadcast sector have unsubscribed from TAM’s TV viewership measurement service. This basically means that while some key television networks like Star, Zee, Network18 and MSM (Sony) have pulled out as also leading media agencies such as GroupM, IPG Mediabrands etc, TAM can continue its business.

     

    Some channels though are continuing to subscribe to TAM data, and TAM says it will continue to be in business.

     

    Note:  prominent among the unsubscribers of TAM data is GroupM, the media services conglomerate that is owned by WPP which in turn owns Kantar Media, the co-owner of TAM. In fact when we asked two GroupM honchos for their comments on the data via their PR agency, we were told GroupM will not comment on viewership data of TAM or BARC until April 30. (Aside: Is April 29 the date when BARC is launching its viewership data?)

     

    So if TAM is releasing the IPL viewership data, don’t be too surprised if it also releases its weekly channel data soon. And if continues to do so even after April 30 or from whenever BARC is gonna to release its viewership data, don’t be surprised if TAM continues to coexist and confuse things. Sigh.

     

    Remember our story on BARC buying over TAM which we later heard could also be in the form of TAM supplying all its data to BARC and adding it to its own.  We hear the talks happened since the story broke, but it’ll happen is what we understand (folks at Adgully who also ‘scooped’ the story, please note).

     

    So here is an interpretation on the IPL published along side this bit:

    :: 5 matches of IPL 8 were sampled by 105 million unique viewers
    :: Time Spent by Viewers per match was 51 Minutes and 44 Seconds; which is 22% more compared to IPL 7
    :: Avg. TVTs showed a growth of 43% for IPL 8 compared to IPL 7
    :: 5 matches of IPL 8 garnered 4.5% Avg.TVR which was 42% more compared to its previous edition
    :: 39% of the All India Universe tuned to watch IPL 8 matches

     

    All of this should obviously ring the right bells at the offices of Multi Screen Media, the owners of Sony Max and Sony Six (and Kix). The question is will they be able to quote these numbers officially to advertisers? Wink, wink.