MxMIndia

Category: Events

  • The event saw a turnout of around 200-odd marketing enthusiasts learn about future marketing trends, understanding consumer behaviour, the mix of social and mobile media among a host of other topics

    Mobile marketers discuss trends & future at IAMAI Summit

    By Sneha Johari

     

    The number of connected Indians is also going to exceed the English newspaper circulation in India by ten times and will exceed the English speaking population in India by 1.5 times. These and a variety of other facts and figures were discussed and deliberated on at the Mobile Marketing Summit 2014, organised by the trade association IAMAI at the Hyatt Regency in Mumbai on Wednesday. The event saw a turnout of around 200-odd marketing enthusiasts learn about future marketing trends, understanding consumer behaviour, the mix of social and mobile media among a host of other topics.

     

    Rajesh Jain

    Rajesh Jain, Chief People Officer of netCORE Solutions spoke about the integration of marketing and technology which is already upon us (and is slowly merging). Tushar Vyas, Managing Partner Interaction of GroupM South Asia took some stand-out numbers and presented them in the context of the Indian online population.Talking about the next 100 million users (the upcoming generation as well as people who are converting to smartphones), in the near future, the number of connected Indians is going to be larger than the US population. India is the world’s second largest online user base. He also gave the stats on the number of connected Indians exceeding English newspaper circulation cited earlier. Mr Vyas added that the tolerance for delay (in any service) is decreasing as the information gap closes in and more and more things become available to a consumer faster. “The mobile web is increasingly becoming visual and discoverability is now social,” said Mr Vyas.

     

    Neeraj Roy

    Neeraj Roy, MD and CEO of Hungama Digital Media Entertainment stressed on the statistics of mobile consumers. “79% of smartphone owners are also smartphone shoppers. The Asia Pacific region will have the largest in B2C e-commerce in the near future,” said Mr Roy. Content is consumed across devices and people want a uniform experience across devices. The CEO of Proscape Services, Michele Raspone demonstrated how Proscape helped in cutting costs and enabling technology for their clients.

     

     

     

    Nishant Rao

    In the midst of all marketing talks, Nishant Rao, MD, LinkedIn India spoke about how mobile could be leveraged to become more productive professionals. He stressed on the importance of having a simple app for your business which worked efficiently and delivered the content or service. “Mobile is a mindset,” said Mr Rao. It should not be viewed as a technology separate from our lives. When asked by an audience member whether it would be best to have an all in one app, a mix of Facebook and LinkedIn, Nishant said that although that would be a nice idea, people prefer to keep their personal and professional lives separate.

     

    As the Summit progressed, a session on Marketing APPeal: Nuances of Mobile App Marketing discussed important aspects of investing in apps, best methods for a marketer to retain users on the app, native ads, how to use push notifications effectively while increasing consumer engagement and how to prevent overexposure of information. Rohan Tyagi, Digital Product Head of ABP News, said that push notifications helped in increasing their user engagement fourfold. This led to higher consumption of news. “You need to study your app as well as its users carefully. We segregated our users based on their engagement (high or low engagement) and delivered notifications accordingly,” Mr Tyagi said.

     

    Veer Chand Bothra, Chief Innovation Officer of netCORE Solutions said that looking at the app as content was necessary. He also mentioned that content is the king. His advice to marketers using apps? “Integrate all your information channels- voice (call), SMS, push notifications and email. As a marketer, take an omni-channel approach where the experience remains uniform across platforms,” Mr Bothra replied. Jay Jain, Director and Co-Founder of m-AdCall Digital Media, an app which lets you earn incentives for watching ads, said, borrowing from experience, “Give points to your consumers to bring them back to your app.”

     

    Nitish Tipnis, the ‘old-school’ Director of Marketing & Sales, Hover Automobile India neatly demonstrated Nissan’s social-only approach to the launch of its SUV, the Terrano and the phenomenal results they got from this medium last year. Nitish elaborated on how the customer is interested is knowing how technology works for them, that as marketers we should not bombard them with high-end tech specs but rather simplify and explain. In his research, he found that 95% of automobile-buying prospects research online before making a decision to purchase an automobile. “Create conversation, ensure quick responses, use multiple channels to engage with customers,” Mr Tipnis suggested.

     

    Rajiv Dingra

    The last plenary session explored the symbiosis between Mobile Marketing and Social Media. Rajiv Dingra, Founder and CEO, WATConsult, talked about using the right kind of content for social and differentiating correctly between the print, TV and online, especially social media.

     

    Snehi Mehta, Head – Client Solutions, Facebook India said, “Brands must have a voice on social platforms. Facebook is not just a social media platform, it is a mass media platform. We have to simplify planning metrics. Planning metrics have changed. It’s not about a 30 second advertisement anymore. The need of the hour is optimum reach.”

     

    Different case studies were also presented towards the end of the Summit.

     

  • Prior to joining Mobext, Marco spent six years as Associate Director at Phonevalley, Publicis Groupe's mobile marketing agency

    Mobext appoints Marco Rigon as its global head

     By A Correspondent

     

    Marco Rigon

    Mobext announced that it has appointed Marco Rigon as its global head, to further develop Havas Group’s overall mobile marketing strategy for its clients worldwide.

     

    Mobext, Havas Media’s award winning specialist mobile label, has offices in 53 countries around the globe which makes it the largest integrated mobile marketing agency and the first one to offer specialised end-to-end mobile marketing services within the global arena. Marco will work across all areas where mobile has an impact for clients and as Mobext continues to work in close collaboration with the group’s other products and services.

     

    Prior to joining Mobext, Marco spent six years as Associate Director at Phonevalley, Publicis Groupe’s mobile marketing agency. Previous to this he worked as business development director for Sharp Mobile in Southern Europe, and has also worked as a consultant supporting mobile operators such as Orange and Vodafone.

     

    With such long-standing expertise in digital marketing and emerging technologies, and having worked in the US, Europe and APAC, Marco, 38, will be charged with developing innovative, non-intrusive mobile experiences which connect consumers with brands across all of the group’s global operations.

     

    Marco Rigon commented: “It’s been clear from my meetings with Havas that they are serious about their investment in mobile and understand the power and impact it will have for their clients’ businesses. Mobext’s team of technologists, designers and strategists share my passion for creating innovative, meaningful experiences for people. With teams of experts in 53 offices around the world we are already in a great position to leverage its significant international expertise.

     

    I am particularly excited to join Havas Group as I can see how the group’s more integrated and flexible structure will allow me to push mobile thinking across its teams, without any inter-company barriers or silos.”

     

     

  • Uniquely integrates social video strategy, production, distribution, marketing and technology to help brands engage with consumers using social video

    To the New launches Video+

    By A Correspondent

     

    Digital solutions provider TO THE NEW has launched their innovative VIDEO+ offering at the MIPCOM 2014 in Cannes, France. The new solution innovatively integrates brand solutions, content creation, operations, cloud-based platform development and proprietary tools for marketing and analytics. The solution is designed to offer brands end-to-end digital video capabilities, enabling them to leverage the power of video to help drive consumer awareness, engagement, and conversion.

     

    Digital video sharing is growing at a fundamental rate. Fast Track Asia, especially, is expected to grow to twice the size of the US market over the next 3 years, which is a USD $10 billion market currently. Over half of 18-54 year olds share video online as per eMarketer. A recent report from comScore reveals that online buyers are 64 per cent more likely to buy a product after watching a video. Also, Nielsen claims that over 60 per cent marketers believe that videos will dominate their communication strategy moving forward. With the rise of video sharing, brands in the Asian market are looking for one-stop partners who can help them tap this opportunity.

     

    ‘TO THE NEW VIDEO+’ solution offers brands end-to-end video capabilities ranging from conceptualizing brand campaigns to creating and crowdsourcing original video content, building and managing video-on-demand platforms, live streaming, digital video operations management, monetization and distribution of video content. The solution is underpinned by proprietary technology and also offers in-depth viewership and audience analytics for video platforms,” said Puneet Johar, CEO, TO THE NEW.

     

  • Chennai-based Fourth Dimension to be exclusive adsales partner for the annual Puthiya Thalaimurai Sakthi awards

    Fourth Dimension to partner PT Sakthi awards

    By A Correspondent

     

    Chennai-based Fourth Dimension to be exclusive adsales partner for the annual Puthiya Thalaimurai Sakthi awards. Earlier, to celebrate womanpower, New Generation Media had announced the awards following the footsteps of the pathbreaking and successful Tamizhan Awards.

     

    Shankar B

    Speaking on the occasion, Fourth Dimension CEO Shankar B said, “We are very much happy and looking forward for this event. People just speak about women empowerment and there is too little recognition. This event will be a substantial way to honor and to acknowledge women, and I’m happy to be part of it. ”

     

    The Puthiya Thalaimurai Sakthi Awards will honour and celebrate extraordinary women for outstanding achievements in their chosen fields of work and service. The awardwinners will be selected through a stringent process combining the consensus of a jury and public voting carried out through Puthiya Thalaimurai, Puthiya Thalaimurai Magazine and PT.tv.

     

    The awards will be presented in Chennai on March 8 and will be presented on Puthiya Thalaimurai at a later date.

     

  • Even as the FICCI-KPMG Indian Media & Entertainment Industry Report 2015 revealed that the total industry had grown to Rs. 102,600 crore in calendar year 2014, Gupta said that the true value of the industry is far from being unlocked

    Star India’s Sanjay Gupta shares broadcast mantras at FICCI 2015

    By A Correspondent

     

    The broadcast subscription side of Media & Entertainment Industry alone has the potential to grow ten-fold to Rs 300,000 crore a year, provided it moves from a pre-liberalization mindset of price control to free market, addressed Sanjay Gupta, COO, Star India, to an audience of M&E professionals at FICCI Frames 2015. He was speaking at ‘Vision 2020 – laying a transformative roadmap for Indian Broadcasting’ with other leaders from the M&E industry and MIB and TRAI in a thought-provoking discussion moderated by celebrated media writer Vanita Kohli Khandekar.

     

    Even as the FICCI-KPMG Indian Media & Entertainment Industry Report 2015 revealed that the total industry had grown to Rs. 102,600 crore in calendar year 2014, Gupta said that the true value of the industry is far from being unlocked.

     

    “All broadcasters are creating as much as 100,000 hours of fresh content each year, engaging 700 million consumers in this country, which is not a small number,” Gupta said, “but what are people paying for consuming all of this content? Around Rs 30,000 crores a year. See how that compares to a simple market like soaps and detergents, for which people are paying Rs. 100,000 crore a year in India!”

     

    He raised the question on how big this industry can be: “I believe it (broadcast subscription) can be Rs. 300,000 crore, instead of Rs. 30,000 crore. How do we get this to happen?”

     

    “The fundamental issue is that we have regulated this industry from a very wrong perspective.” He brought in the example of Telecom industry which has shown dramatic growth in the last 10 years – from 40 million subscribers to 900 million subscribers and from an $8Bn to a $100Bn – on the back of de-regulation and players themselves taking measures to benefit consumers.

     

    Citing glaring and illogical price disparities in media, Gupta said: “We charge Rs.10 for Star Plus, which caters to a very large consumer base; for Star World, where only a small set of consumers watch English content, the price is Rs 2.5!  It is ironic that in India the pricing for premium content is less. Another example – in Kerala, we had priced Asianet, the No.1 channel in that market, at Rs. 5.35 and the regulator asked us to take out that extra 0.35 paise! I don’t know what the right price should be, but let the market determine that.”

     

    Explaining how pricing is still genre-based and not driven by nature of content, he said: “In sports, despite the big difference in costs between World Cup cricket, which possibly everyone is watching, and UFC – which many would not have even heard of – the pricing remains the same!”

     

  • The convention is being hosted at the FICCI House

    EEMAGINE Summit to be held in Delhi next week

    By A Correspondent

     

    The premier convention of the live events and experiential marketing industry, EEMAGINE SUMMIT 2015, will be hosted between April 6-8, 2015 in Delhi. The event will bring together global professionals and imagineers from the events, entertainment, sports, cinema, advertising and marketing industry under one roof to discuss trends and map the future of the industry in a path-breaking convention.

     

    The convention organized by Event and Entertainment Management Association (EEMA), the apex body of the events industry, is being hosted at the FICCI House on 6thApril and then moves to the Hyatt hotel in Manesar for 7thand 8th April. Headlined by David Zolkwer, Project & Creative Director of Olympic and Commonwealth Games ceremonies in Manchester 2002, Athens 2004, Melbourne 2008 and Glasgow 2014, as well as many other international public ceremonies, celebrations and commemorations.

     

    Shiv Shivakumar from Pepsico, Rahul Bhatia, founder of Indigo Airlines, renowned film maker Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra, FICCI President Jyotsna Suri, advertising genius Prasoon Joshi, Chairman of McCann Group Worldwise India will be a part of this convention that captures the mood of the country in its theme, “Inspiring India”.

     

    “The events and experiential marketing industry is growing at a brisk pace and delivering communication platforms for the world’s leading brands, for governments, sports bodies, tourism initiatives and influencing the media and hospitality industry in a remarkable way. Bringing the key stakeholders together to share thoughts and define the way forward is key for the EEMAGINE Summit,” said Sabbas Joseph, President – EEMA.

     

    The speakers include global success stories, thinkers, business icons, industry leaders and our country’s political leadership in the key deliberations and presentations.

     

    Key Speakers at the convention include Matteo Carvino, the renowned wedding designer for Italy, Sarah Gardiner, one of Scotland’s most accomplished experience creators; Poonam Mahajan, MP, Venky Mysore, CEO of Red Chillies and Kolkatta Knight Riders, Dr. A Didar Singh, Secretary General of FICCI, Vikas Agnihotri, Director- Google, Rishi Kaitly, Country Head – Twitter, film-maker Bharatbala Ganapathy, renowned for the Vande Mataram and National Anthem re-creations with music maestro AR Rahman, Rannick Colaco, leader of the NBA’s India program, Ravi Krishnan and Nitin Kikreja, Business Head Star Sports.

     

    Speaking on the occasion, David Zolkwer said, “I’m thrilled to be returning to India! I’ve always been a huge fan of Indian creativity and ingenuity. The region is the source of so much brave and untethered thinking – I know I’m going to be inspired by the EEMA 2015 experience.”

     

    “I’m delighted to come to India to participate in EEMA 2015 – it’s a special honour. I spend much of my life connecting with people, places and their stories and then bringing those stories to the stage – so to finally be visiting a nation steeped in such proud and ancient storytelling traditions is very exciting,” commented Sarah Gardiner.

     

    Expert panels will bring together some of the brightest minds cover diverse areas such as experiential marketing, public events, concert management, ticketed events, rural marketing, sports marketing, personal events, events tourism, creation of event brands, digital activation, integrated marketing and celebrity talent management.

     

  • Top politicians, actors, sportspersons etc are in running for the annual awards instituted by news channel

    India TV Yuva Awards to happen on April 18

    By A Correspondent

     

    Union ministers Smriti Irani and Kiren Rijiju, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, AAP leaders Kumar Vishwas and Alka Lamba, Congress leaders Deepender Singh Hooda and Mausam Noor, and Apna Dal MP Anupriya Patel are in the running as youth icons nominated for second edition of the India TV Yuva Awards to be presented on April 18 in New Delhi.

     

    The India TV Yuva awards are presented to youth icons who have demonstrated exemplary leadership in their respective fields. The awards are in six categories: politics, sports, music, films, television and business. The awards were instituted in 2013 to honour the most promising young faces of the nation.

     

    In the sports category, those in the running among men include Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan (all cricketers) and Vijay Kumar (Olympian shooter), while among women, it’s:  Saina Nehwal (badminton), Deepika Pallikal (squash), P V Sindhu (badminton)  and Geeta Phogat (wrestler) in the nominations.

     

    Among Bollywood youth icons, those nominated include Arjun Kapoor, Siddharth Malhotra, Sushant Singh Rajput and Varun Dhawan in the male category, while Anushka Sharma, Sonam Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha and Parineeti Chopra have been nominated among female actors

     

    In the small screen category, Mohit Raina, Gautam Gulati, Rajat Tokas and Ashish Sharma have been nominated among male actors, Digangana Suryavanshi, Drashti Dhami, Pooja Gaur and Sanaya Irani figure among female TV actors nominated as youth icons.

     

    Singers Arijit Singh, Javed Ali, Benny Dayal, Joi Barua and Papon have been nominated in music category (male), while Shilpa Rao, Kanika Kapoor, Monali Thakur and Palak Muchhal have been nominated as female icons in music.

     

    In the business section, Rahul Sharma (Micromax), Kunal Behl (Snapdeal), Bhavish Aggarwal (Ola!) and Peyush Bansal (Lenskart) have been nominated among male icons while Avani Davda (Tata Starbucks), Priya Nair (Hindustan Unilever), Neha Kirpal (India Art Fair) and Radhika Ghai Aggarwal (ShopClues) are in the running in female category.

     

    The nominations have been made through a stringent process involving recommendations by the editorial board, followed by a stratified research by a research partner C-Voter and subsequently decided upon by a jury led by Sarod maestro Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan.  The jury included  adman-lyricist Prasoon Joshi, Vandana Luthra, Prof Pushpesh Pant and India TV Chairman and Editor-in-ChiefRajat Sharma.

     

    Speaking on the awards, Ritu Dhawan, Managing Director & CEO of India TV said: “Yuva Awards is a humble attempt by India TV to encourage the spirit of excellence and inspire fellow Indians.”

     

    The event will be executed by Wizcraft International. Dainik Bhaskar and Pioneer Publicity corporation are partners to the initiative that is sponsored by Vimal Pan Masala, Dr Ortho and No Scars.

     

  • India TV Yuva awards are given away every year to youth icons who have demonstrated exemplary leadership in their respective fields

    India TV Yuva Awards celebrates achievers

    By A Correspondent

     

    Union Ministers Smriti Irani and KirenRijiju, Bollywood actors Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor were among youth icons presented with India TV Yuva Awards recently.

     

    The awards were given away at a glittering event held at Taj Palace Hotel. Following the electric opening performance by Prince Dance troupe, Rajat Sharma, Chairman & Editor-in-chief, India TV, welcomed the Senior politicians, Bollywood, Television Sports Stars and captains of industry. During his address, he expressed his happiness over the magnanimous growth in the stature of India TV Yuva Awards. He also outlined that this initiative is solely targeted at inspiring the entire generation of future leaders by way of honoring the Achievers who still have a long way to go in their respective fields.

     

    Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani and Minister of State for Home KirenRijiju were conferred the India TV Yuva awards for best young politician, female and male, respectively.

     

    Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan presented the award to Smriti Irani, while Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat presented the award to KirenRijiju.

     

    Bollywood star Kareena Kapoor won the Special Award that was presented to her by Shatrughan Sinha. Musicians Aman and Ayan Ali Khan were presented Special Award by singer Daler Mehndi. Sonam Kapoor was presented the India TV Yuva award for best female actor by Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal. Arjun Kumar was given the award in best male actor category by Culture and Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma.

     

    Cricketer Suresh Raina’s brother collected the Sports Icon Award from Minister of State for External Affairs Gen (Retd) V K Singh on his behalf as he is busy playing IPL. Shuttler P V Sindhu got the best female sportsperson award from Congress leader Salman Khurshid.

     

    In the Business category, Neha Kirpal, director of India Art Fair, got the the India TV Yuva Award for best female businessperson from Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav, while Rahul Sharma, co-founder of Micromax was given the award for best male businessperson by senior Congress leader Janardan Dwivedi.

     

    India TV Yuva awards are given away every year to youth icons who have demonstrated exemplary leadership in their respective fields that include politics, sports, music, films, television and business. The awards were instituted in 2013 to honour the most promising young faces of the nation.
    The winners were selected by a jury led by Sarod maestro Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan, and included noted personalities like Prasoon Joshi, Vandana Luthra, Prof Pushpesh Pant and India TV Chairman & Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma.

     

    Speaking about the awards, RituDhawan, Managing Director & CEO of India TV highlighted her faith in Gen Y, “It is these icons who most certainly are making our country proud now & will keep doing so in the future, while they take India to a new high in the times to come. It is indeed an honour for us to honour the spirit of excellence.”

     

  • 'Unmetros' signify the non-metro urban Indian markets (Tier 2 & 3 markets) which are fast emerging as India's key growth centres

    Dainik Bhaskar unveils ‘Unmetro – The Action is Elsewhere’ campaign

    By A Correspondent

     

    DB Corp Limited (DBCL) announced the launch of ‘Unmetro- Action Is Elsewhere’, a new campaign aimed at marketers, advertisers and the media planner/buyer audiences. Designed as a digital / social media campaign, it will also be supported by Print, OOH and also supported by the company’s Unmetro Conclave events, which have over a period of time developed into one of the most noteworthy pan-India marketing events focused on exploring and analyzing the untapped economic potential of India’s non-metro towns and cities.

     

    ‘Unmetros’ signify the non-metro urban Indian markets (Tier 2 & 3 markets) which are fast emerging as India’s key growth centres. These markets are at the core of dynamic progress, being under served and hence presenting an opportunity of rapidly growing consumer demand, with significant purchasing power and greater media reach. This potential of Unmetros, together with the rise of digital media, the fragmentation of mass media, the growing power of young consumers, creates a very compelling proposition for the Indian retail industry. Also significant is the leveling out of purchasing power across India that brings into focus the markets beyond the metros.

     

    Kishore Biyani
    Girish Agarwaal

    Kishor Biyani, Group CEO, Future Group has flagged off the launch of the campaign, as a 60 second film, which will be amplified with the help of print ads, web banners and across the Unmetro web page. The campaign idea revolves around the fact that, generally people have been enamoured by life in the metros, while the real action is brewing in the Unmetro heartland of India, to say that the ‘Action is elsewhere’.

     

    Commenting on the launch of the digital campaign, Girish Agarwaal, Director, Dainik Bhaskar, said, “We see a whole new opportunity in Unmetros where the rising affluence levels and changing consumption patterns are opening doors for marketers to service these new regions. Consumerism is on the rise, as also the desire to experience better lifestyles and enjoy global brands. This has created numerous opportunities for both national and international brands in India. Through the Unmetro initiative, we champion the cause of Tier II and III markets, helping marketers and advertisers to serve these markets better and play a role in transforming them into stronger growth centers.”

     

  • 25 outstanding journalists to be honoured with RedInk Awards on 30 April

    NDTV’s Dr Prannoy Roy to be honoured at RedInk Awards in Mumbai

    By A Correspondent

     

    Dr Prannoy Roy, Executive Co-Chairman of NDTV Group, has been awarded the Mumbai Press Club RedInk Award 2015 for Lifetime Achievement for Excellence in Journalism for his consistent and pioneering contribution to news television in India. Dr Roy will be honoured for his service to journalism at a glittering ceremony on Thursday, 30th April in Mumbai at the Jamshed Bhaba Auditorium, NCPA, by Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis.

     

    Dr Roy along with his wife and journalist Radhika Roy in 1988, were the first to set up a television news production company called New Delhi Television, now called NDTV. In later years, Dr Roy made a mark for his incisive and pioneering coverage of election news and changed the way people consumed TV news with his ground-breaking programmes such as ‘The News Tonight’ and ‘The World This Week’. After years of producing the news for Star News, Dr Roy launched his own broadcasting network with NDTV 24X7, NDTV India and other channels in 2003.

     

    Dr Prannoy Roy was chosen for the RedInk Lifetime Achievement Award from a shortlist of senior editors by a survey among 200 journalists all over India, and a final consideration by the Managing Committee of the Mumbai Press Club. RedInk Lifetime Achievement award winners in previous years include the late Vinod Mehta, Kuldip Nayar, N Ram, and Mrinal Pande.

     

    Judging for the RedInk Awards, which includes as many as 10 categories have just been completed, and as many as 24 journalists who have produced outstanding and impactful stories in calendar 2014 will also receive awards along with Dr Prannoy Roy on 30 April at the NCPA. The judging process proved to be a herculean task with over 800 entries in the print/online category and nearly 250 stories from television journalists. Each of the categories 10 categories had a dedicated jury of senior persons with domain knowledge assigned to judge the entries. A special curator was also assigned to sift the large number of entries in each section and guide the judges.

     

    The judging process brought in well-known names such as Harsh Mariwala, chairman of Marico, for the Business category, Dr Kiran Shaw Mazumdar, chairperson of Biocon, for the Health & Wellness category, Justice Kode and former Mumbai Police commissioner M.N. Singh for the crime category and Sudanshu Vats, CEO of Viacom18 for the ‘Entertainment & Lifestyle’ stories.

     

    Star India is the Presenting Partner for the Mumbai Press Club RedInk Awards for Excellence in Journalism 2015. Some of the awards partners includes Aditya Birla Group, Yes Bank, Indiabulls Housing, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Zee Entertainment, Eros International, SevenHills Hospitals and JSW Steel.

     

  • Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu was the Chief Guest at the Red Ink Awards of the Mumbai Press Club

    Press Club Mumbai awards Red Ink Award to Prannoy Roy, others

    By Dyanne Coelho

     

    “I have heard a lady anchor on a Hindi channel, twirling her hair and saying, ‘Break kebaad, aapkoek rape dikhaenge’,” Dr. Prannoy Roy, winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award said to a stunned audience as he talked about the ghastly tsunami of tabloid journalism that has inflicted the Indian media space. The co-founder of the NDTV Network was speaking at the Mumbai Press Club RedInk Awards for Excellence in Indian Journalism 2015, where he was felicitated with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

     

    Often known as one of the most respected and trusted anchors in Indian journalism, Dr. Prannoy Roy blasted the tabloidization of news in India, and put the blame on advertisers. He criticized the journalists that keep their sources too close and hence alter the path of their story and emphasized the importance of maintaining stricter defamation laws so that journalists themselves cannot get away with slack trends in reporting. Talking about the lowering of standards of Indian journalism, Royretorted, “If this decline in quality continues, I believe three years from now, the Indian media will have no credibility left and Sir (pointing to Suresh Prabhu) you know what that means. It happened to politicians a long time ago.”

     

    Roy, however, stressed that the laws of defamation must be governed by the courts and the legal system and that the government must never ever have a say in the Indian media.

     

    Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, who was the chief guest at the event after CM DevendraFadnavis was a no show, suggested that media houses should work on ‘Making News’ while chasing ‘Breaking News’. “A lot of positive news is left uncovered in this new trend,” he said.

     

    A panel discussion – Celebrating the Voice of Dissent- was conducted that included senior journalists Shekhar Gupta, former Editor-in-Chief of the Indian Express, Srineevasan Jain of NDTV, Krishna Prasad, Editor-in-Chief of Outlook and Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. The discussion was moderated by Sachin Kalbag, the Editor of Mid-Day.

     

    The media professionals expressed concern at some politicians turning ‘mini dictators’ and trying to threaten the freedom of speech. They also took a jab at the BJP government for the comment made by a party member that every Hindu woman must have at least four children.

     

    The RedInk Award for Impact Editor of the year went to Arnab Goswami, Editor-in-Chief of Times Now, for his ability to capture eyeballs and expand audience reach with what in his own words is ‘the longest one hour television news debate.’ On being asked what he has to say to those who criticize his form of journalism saying that it has a negative impact, Arnab is quick to respond, “We are in the business of news, not in the business of compliments. So for us criticism and praise in equal measure is okay, as long as we do our job honestly.”

     

    The RedInk Award for Journalist of the Year, instituted for the first time, went to Sreenivasan Jain of NDTV for his consistent investigative work epitomized in his series ‘Truth versus Hype’ and other programmes. Scroll.in was awarded the ‘Best News Start-Up of the Year’ for scaling up its influence rapidly as an alternative source of news and features.

     

    The RedInk Award for business journalism in the print medium went to Dinesh Narayanan of The Caravan Magazine and in the television space went to Dibang from ABP News.

     

    The award for Crime journalism in print was shared by two journalists, Leena Reghunath of the Caravan Magazine and Vinod Kumar Menon of Mid Day. In the broadcast space the RedInk award for excellence in crime reporting went to TarunNangia and Dipu Rai of Zee Business.

     

    Sharad Vyas ofMid Day bagged the award for excellence in Environment reporting, while in the broadcast category, the award was shared byUmeshKumavat from ABP News and Rajat Singh of AajTak.Kumawat’s wife walked up on stage proudly to receive the award on his behalf as he was in Nepal reporting at the time.

     

    In the category of Health and Wellness, the RedInk award in the print space went to Johnson Poovanthuruth from Deepika Magazine and to Nikita Saxena from Caravan Magazine. For the broadcast category, VrushaliPurandare of TV-9 walked away with the award.

     

    The Redink Award for the Human Rights category in print went to SalilTripathi, from The Caravan Magazine and for television to Shams Tahir Khan of AajTak.

     

    The much-awaited RedInk award for excellence in political reportage in print went to Dinesh Narayanan of The Caravan Magazine and in broadcast; it went to Jitendra Dixit of ABP News.

     

    Caravan continued to steal the show as  Rahul Bhatia walked away with the RedInk award for excellence in sports journalism in the print space, whereas Suprita Das of NDTV won the same in the broadcast space.

     

  • The Times of India group was among the seven companies rewarded for excellence in innovation by the International News Media Association (INMA), with social media curation company Storyful taking home worldwide first place in the Global Innovation Awards

    Times of India bags INMA Global Innovation regional award

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Times of India group was among the seven companies rewarded for excellence in innovation by the International News Media Association (INMA), with social media curation company Storyful taking home worldwide first place in the Global Innovation Awards.

     

    The awards were presented on May 11 at the 85th Annual INMA World Congress held in New York City with nearly 300 media executives in attendance. The second annual INMA Global Innovation Award competition rewards media company programmes that encourage ideation and incubation, change the corporate culture, attract young talent, and incentivises innovation mindsets.

     

    “This year’s winners exemplify the breathtaking pace at which media companies are investing in innovation as a process that leads to more new products, more revenue, more efficiencies, a modern workforce, and better business outcomes,” said Earl J. Wilkinson, executive director and CEO of INMA. “That Storyful took home the global prize as a non-print, non-legacy media company shows that the ‘news media tent’ is expanding.”

     

    The seven regional winners are:

    Best in Africa: Independent News & Media, South Africa, for “Inspired by Change.”

    Best in Asia/Pacific: Fairfax Media, Australia, for “Brand Discover.”

    Best in Europe: Sanoma, Finland, for “Get Started.”

    Best in Latin America: El Colombiano, Colombia, for “ECOlab.”

    Best in North America: The New York Times, United States, for “Digital Innovation 2.0.”

    Best in South Asia: Times of India for “Rewarding Excellence in Media Company Innovation.”

    Global/At-Large: Storyful, Ireland/international, for “Innovation Is a Culture.”

     

    From the seven regional winners, the three-judge panel of innovation experts selected Storyful as the worldwide winner.

     

    Founded in 2010, Storyful is a social media news agency that curates relevant tweets, posts, and video from people in the center of news events worldwide. Storyful also provides social media dashboards, real-time discovery tools, feeds and analytics to customers. The company’s headquarters are in Dublin, with offices in New York and Hong Kong.With innovation already a part of its young culture, Storyful faced the challenge of scaling its efforts when acquired by News Corp. in late 2013. Integrating scale with culture, Storyful created a manifesto:

     

    Full-stack teams, no silos.

    Clear focus with teams focused on News, Video, and Discovery.

    Fail-fast mentality with two-week sprints and an adherence to the Agile methodology.

    Create time to collaborate: planning, research, UX design, and user engagement.

    Diversification of workforce to provide a more rounded approach to problem-solving and speed innovation.

    Be data-driven across all tools – from user loyalty to feature development, and more.

    Breed culture: maintain it and help new employees to assimilate through team activities and onboarding.

     

    With those principles, Storyful set out to build three new teams, re-build its core product, overhaul internal tools, and launch a new product into the market.

     

    Ultimately, judges focused on the processes behind Storyful’s objectives. They described Storyful as a company with a “super interesting innovation culture” integrated throughout the organisation, led by data-driven insights and full-stack teams. They lauded Storyful as a “strong start-up on its own” that has “leveraged new corporate ownership’s resources without bogging down.”

     

    Regional Winners

    Colombiano, Colombia: With creativity as its strategic weapon, El Colombiano created ECOlab, an internal media lab to launch and maintain business units, research and implement new business models, develop new activities to grow the business, diversify its portfolio, transform creativity into corporate culture, and be systematic agents of change. ECOlab has led to a Web site redesign, a redesign of neighbourhood newspapers, and created new magazines and projects while providing employees borrowed from departments new skill sets.

     

    Fairfax Media, Australia: Brand Discover is Fairfax’s response to bring incremental revenue and to create new product streams that leverage its content. Since launch, the programme has achieved more than A$2 million in revenue. The Digital Innovation Services team is tasked with developing new advertising products around rich media and content marketing.

     

    Independent News & Media, South Africa: Embracing change on many fronts, the company shifted from a regional to a national structure, created an editors’ forum, rewarded staff ideas through pitch sessions, digitally trained teams, sought new talent to bring Digital Natives into the storytelling process, making editorial and sales departments compatible, and pushed 360—degree custom content solutions.

     

    The New York Times, United States: Reaching 910,000 paid digital subscribers was spurred by the development of new editorial and advertiser solutions. A wide array of new products with refined features aims to elevate the reader experience and provide a deeper emotional connection to the Times, which aims to consistently drive its most engaging content to grow audiences and deepen advertiser relationships through exclusive paid posts. Products to emerge include NYT Now, a cooking app, Paid Posts, and Times Premier.

     

    Sanoma, Finland: SanomaLab is an accelerator designed to develop new internal ventures, create open innovation programmes, accelerate cultural change to reach business goals, and identify “superstar” talent. More than 1,700 employees have been trained to use the lean methodology. The slogan for all its product activities is: “Can we find a repeatable and scalable business model?”

     

    The Times of India: Its systematic innovation approach has implemented 85+ breakthrough performances in the past three years. The Times’ innovation-focused strategy aims at execution speed, interactive innovations with young readers in mind, culture and revenue as key drivers in the process. It involves teams across all levels, leading to an ongoing process of ideation and incubation. Its reviewing system tests reader ideas before being scaled.