MxMIndia

Category: Events

  • The IRS 2017 Report covered a full year sample of 320,000 households – the highest ever in the history of any readership study in the world

    Rejoice! IRS2017 is out!

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    There has been much sense of anticipation about IRS2017 since a few months when the finishing touches and validations were being conducted. And when the toplines were unveiled finally in the presence of around 250+ media professionals and over 10,000 others over a live webcast facilitated by MxMIndia and 24FramesDigital, there was a deep sense of relief.

     

    There were some who were dismay as they didn’t do very well in the basic data that was revealed, there were some others who were wondering why the MRUC and RSCI weren’t rolling out the bubbly.

     

    So first let’s read the official press release that we were given post the unveiling:

    The Readership Studies Council of India (RSCI) and Media Research Users Council (MRUC) are pleased to announce that the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2017 Report has now been released.

     

    For the record, the IRS 2017 Report covered a full year sample of 320,000 households – the highest ever in the history of any readership study in the world. The large sample size was backed by a meticulously designed methodology, which saw the use of 100% Dual Screen CAPI followed by a tighter scrutiny process via continuous backchecks, accompaniments, use of audio recordings, and third-party field audits. These enhanced levels of Quality Control deployed by the IRS TechCom has ensured veracity of data capture for all quarters. The robustness of capture of media consumption across all media has been significantly enhanced due to the increased sample size and better representation across all pop strata.

     

    All key stakeholders had been actively engaged by RSCI and MRUC all through the fieldwork period to keep them updated and aligned on the progress.

     

    Some exciting new features have been included in this round of the IRS.

     

    Reach analysis across all media types has now been brought to a common platform with the introduction of 1-month penetration numbers for all media types. This will now enable an apples to apples comparison across media types.

     

    The IRS 2017 Report also offers new readership metrics. Apart from the standard and well-established Average Issue Readership metric, one can now look at data from the perspective of Total Readership (TR), and Readership of publications by time frames of Last 7 days and Last 3 days.  These new metrics have been introduced to provide a true representation of the changing consumption habits among Newspaper readers.

     

    Another interesting development has been the capture and reporting of readership for the Main issue of Newspapers versus their Variants. Each of them are now reported separately in IRS 2017.

     

    Commenting on the release of IRS 2017 Report, Ashish Bhasin, Chairman, MRUC and Chairman and CEO – South Asia, Dentsu Aegis Networks, said: “According to the findings of the Report, 39% of Indians (12+ years) read newspapers, and 20% of all newspaper readers in 50 Lakh plus population towns read newspapers online. These numbers most definitely tell us that there is a bright future waiting for the Print industry. I’m also hoping that we will now begin to see advertisers and media agencies taking Print more seriously. Increased readership numbers for newspapers and magazines will pave the way for publishers to increase their revenues, which would in turn help increase the size of Print as a medium.”

     

    Bhasin further said: “The support we have received from across constituencies for bringing out this Report was phenomenal and it was very pleasing to see the key stakeholders contributing in many ways to improve the study that has been in existence since more than two decades.”

     

    Noted Shashi Sinha, RSCI Managing Committee Chairman, and CEO, IPG Mediabrands: “I’m delighted to share that the findings of the IRS 2017 Report mirrors the market reality in terms of media reach and the performance of individual media channels be it newspapers, magazines and broadcasters.  The methodology deployed to capture data quarter-on-quarter was the very best for a study of this scale and kind, and the sheer focus on Quality Control makes this Report a reliable one and a real stand out.”

     

    Said NP Sathyamurthy, Chairman – RSCI Technical Committee and Executive Director, DDB Mudra Group: “The IRS 2017 Report is the outcome of great minds from different streams working together toward a common and shared goal to come out with a research that sets the highest standards globally. Absence of readership data for four years meant that we had to work that much harder and smarter to bring the study back in action and in line with the market truths and expectations.”

     

    Sathyamurthy further noted: “From 2016, when we began the fieldwork, up till last month when we completed the validations for all four quarters, the journey wasn’t easy, and had its own special twists and turns. Furthermore, we have strengthened the Report with additions such as TR, readership numbers for 7 days and 3 days and the separate reporting of newspaper variants. IRS 2017 marks a new innings for this trusted Industry study.”

     

    There were murmurs against the return of Total Readership (TR) as a currency. At least two publishers and a former member of the thinktank rubbished the decision of using TR and alleged that it has been done at the behest of some powerful newspapers who want to project a healthy picture for the industry. When a senior functionary associated with IRS2017, he/she retorted that it was the Board’s decision to use TR, and not the whim of an individual.

     

    Another senior media agency professional told MxMIndia, that there is a crying need for an apples-to-apples comparison being thrown by audience measurement studies.The professional told us about how in the case of television audience measurement too, the metric deployed in public is impressions. Similarly, he/she told us that there is merit in a metric that will help planners make more informed decisions will help the agency fraternity considerably. Meanwhile, an advertiser who MxMIndia spoke with, underscored the need for a realisation that there is need for a good, solid currency for all media. “It’s time media owners realise that we will only put money, when we can be sure of performance… We are not in the business of charity.”

     

    Indeed.

     

    Meanwhile, the data is set to roll from the second half of today. However, it will be downloadable only if users agree to a Code of Conduct/Usage. What this Code contains, the heads of RSCI and MRUC didn’t tell us at the launch on Wednesday, but there are indicators that the Code could make it difficult for publishers to fool around much with the way they slice and showcase data.

     

    IRS 2017 Launch toplines

  • As always, some publishers gain, others lose, writes the media agency veteran in an analysis, exclusive to MxMIndia.com

    Exclusive to MxMIndia: IRS2017 Top 5 Takeaways by Shripad Kulkarni

    By Shripad Kulkarni

     

    The IRS Toplines were released yesterday. While detailed reports and software will throw better light, this is a quick decode:

    TAKE A BOW, RSCI, MRUC & NIELSEN!

    The people behind IRS 2018 must be commended for putting in herculean efforts to get IRS back on track after the last round fiasco.  Conducting the world’s largest such survey has its own challenges. Add to it a back-to-the-wall situation due to various anomalies of the last round, some of it caused by publishers themselves trying to beat the survey, litigations by some others and the challenge multiplies manifold. Various readership studies over the years had evolved and perfected a long drawn validation exercise, which the Techcom got back this time around with industry planners. This, in my view should have given RSCI an MRUC a huge confidence to release the findings. Many changes in methodology, cross-checks, use of technology would have no doubt helped. As always, some publishers gain, others lose. Some media too gain, some lose. Error margin is a reality all need to accept

     

    A NEW PECKING ORDER OF DAILIES

    Based on monthly readership, all Top 10 dailies are language newspapers. Jagran is #1, followed by Hindustan and Amar Ujala while Bhaskar is at #4 and Thanthi at #5! Hindi, Gujarati Kannada and Marathi newspapers grew 31 to 45%, Oriya by a big 83%. TOI continues to be the leader in English while Thanthi leads among non-Hindi regionals.

     

    INDUSTRY NEEDS A FRESH SOCIO-ECONOMIC CLASSIFICATION

    Any dramatic rise in penetration of some categories would disrupt the equilibrium of NCCS. A durable ownership based NCCS definition is challenged at the bottom end by a big growth in gas stove, mobile phone ownership and availability of electricity. As a result, suddenly many people have jumped to higher NCCS. So, while 65% of homes don’t have a 2-wheeler, 53% don’t own agri land, NCCS DE accounts for only 40% homes. At the top end of NCCS, despite a growth in AC and car-owning homes, NCCS A1 and A2, still remains stagnant at 2% and 4% resp.  The idea of one unified NCCS across Urban and Rural areas might be bringing in an averaging effect, so may need to be revisited. The challenge in relating this to the much smaller sample size of the TV viewership system is yet another dimension to the NCCS saga.

     

    READING INTENSITY IS AN ISSUE

    Circulation of newspapers is steadily rising @ of about 5% annually.  Readership (over a month) however, has grown @ 11% pa – 37% growth over last IRS. Rural markets readership has grown at a dramatic 15% annually, leading to a 50% growth over 2014. Yet, average issue readership (read yesterday) has remained stagnant. Newspaper variants covered for the first time too show low figures. This suggests a problem with the intensity of reading – number of issues/week and the time spent.

     

    MAGAZINES, FM READERSHIP CORRECTED BUT INTERNET STILL UNDERESTIMATED

    As per new IRS methodology for magazines, readership doubles (vis a vis last Round) to a respectable 8 crore base(as per periodicity). Radio too doubles reach to 19%

     

    The mobile penetration is at a whopping 90% with 9 out of 10 homes having a house member owning a mobile. IRS 2018, puts monthly internet reach at 19 %. A 30 Crore smart phone base, it would mean every other smart phone owner has 2 smart phones! Online newspapers have an abysmal 4% reach as per IRS. May be, we need a separate Internet baseline

     

    All in all a good comeback on the back of which more needs to be done!

     

    Shripad Kulkarni is a media agency veteran

     

     

  • The first edition of the Lexus Design Awards in India will be held on February 17

    Pune Design Festival on Feb 16-17

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Association of Designers of India (ADI) will present the 12th edition of the Pune Design Festival(PDF)in Pune on February 16 and 17. The event will be at Hotel Hyatt Regency in the city. Based on the theme of ‘Designism’, the #PDF2018 conference will open at 9am on February 16 with a keynote by Bunker Roy and will conclude on February 17 by the unveiling of the first edition of Lexus Design Awards in India.

    A statement issued by ADI says thisyear’s conference will discuss the designist’s perspective of design as a principle and ideology contributingto creation ofbetter systems, services, products and communication.

    #PDF18has 22 interactivetalks, sixworkshops, threemovie screenings,two mentoring sessions, a panel discussions and two design awards nights.

    #PDF18 will open with a sarod jam between father-son product designer duo of Bhargav andNeeraj Mistry. The opening keynote will be followed by HyperCollective’s K V Sridhar (Pops) and cross-cultural designer Tarek Atrissi from Europe.

    One of the highlights of #PDF 18 will be Late Prof MP Ranjanmemorial session by sustainability visionary Neils Peter Flint and social innovator Swapnil Chaturvedi. Sonal Dabral of Ogilvy India (an NID graduate) will deliver the closing keynote at #PDF18.

     

    Meanwhile, Design Expo will be held concurrently withthe presence of leading design at the nearyIshanya Mall on February16 to 18, 2018. This expo is open to public and would be an ideal opportunity for anyone who is considering design as a career, notes a communique.

     

    Registrations for #PDF18 will be open till February 15 athttp://www.punedesignfestival.org

  • One can expect online media campaigns gaining at the top end of the consumer pyramid, writes Indrani Sen

    Indian M&E industry at its Digital Tipping Point

     

    By Indrani Sen

     

    “All the segments of the M&E sector are showing growth, consolidation and innovation led by digital, both on consumer side and the content supply chain,”noted Uday Shankar, Chairman, FICCI Media & Entertainment Committee in the introduction of FICCI-EY Report 2018.According to the experts from EY, Farokh Balsara and Ashish Pherwani, the Indian Media & Entertainment Industry has reached its Digital Tipping Point. In other words, thereare significant changes happening all around our M&E industry to cause a larger, more important change which will see the transformation of our country to Digital India.

     

    The FICCI-EY Report 2018 has highlighted quite a few of these changes: distribution of television has become largely digitised increasing its addressability and reach, the OTT platforms for TV and video content are growing rapidly, both print and radio segments are growing continuously with more focus on their digital presence, exponential growth (though from a small base) of digital subscription and online gaming riding on falling data cost, emergence of India as the second largest smartphone market in the world giving easy access of internet to consumers, rapid growth of digital micro-payment ecosystem across urban and rural markets, etc.

     

    The above changes are expected to grow our digital content consumption substantially which in turn would increase the size of the total industry from INR 1.5 trillion (USD 22.7 billion) in 2017 to INR 2 trillion + (USD 31 billion+) by 2020 at a CAGR of 11.6%.

    Source: FICCI-EY Report on M&E industry 2018

     

    As shown in the above chart, while the industry grew by 13% from 2016 to 2017, the growth was led by digital, film, animation & VFX, gaming and events. The same trends are expected to continue over the next three years. Another significant trend, which has been seen for the first time in the M&E sector, is outpacing of advertising growth (under10 %) by subscription growth (almost 15%) in 2017 over 2016. This trend will continue to be a major contributor to the Digital Tipping Point.

     

    Based on this new trend of growth in subscription,the report has made a forecast on new customer segmentation which will be an integral part of Digital India by 2020. This new consumer segmentation will be important for the A&M Industry for targeting their audience.

     

    Source: FICCI-EY Report on M&E industry 2018

     

    We can assume that there will be a process of continuous migration from the bottom tier of mass consumers to the tactical digital consumers to the only digital consumers as we go forward to the next decade. As far as deployment of resources for advertising is concerned, we will see online media campaigns slowly gaining over the combination of online and offline media campaigns at the top end of the consumer pyramid.

     

     

  • While Viacom 18 bagged 29 metals, Star Networks bagged 28

    Viacom18 & Star max Promax BDA India awards

    By A Correspondent

     

    The 22nd Promax India BDA Awards was held in Mumbai last week with a line-up of speakers across industries and platforms..

     

    Speaking about the success of the event, Rajika Mittra, Country Head, India, Hong Kong and Philippines, said: “We realise that storytelling is evolving and creativity has to be platform agnostic. That’s the reason, we brought in eminent personalities from across the globe who can share their dynamic experience across multiple platforms with this eclectic group. The idea was to take the game higher and challenge the Indian creative industry even

     

    Promax BDA introduced three new categories this year: Most Outstanding Marketing Initiative (inhouse and out-of-house) and Most Outstanding Design In Promotion where the best of the best competed to win a Gold trophy. This year, these prestigious awards were taken home by Star India, Zee and Star Movies.

     

    Said Prasoon Joshi, Conference Chair, Promax BDA, 2018 looking at the award-winning categories: “It’s amazing how year after year, TV networks and creative agencies are tapping into the Indian cultural kaleidoscope and coming up with ideas that are fresh, cutting-edge and shareworthy on all platforms. Promax is a unique forum that understands this changing dynamic and encourages them to push the envelope every year.”

     

    There were many firsts for the Promax BDA India awards this year, notes a communique. New categories that included Best VOD Service Promo, Best use of digital and Best direction. Further, a successful boot camp with three creative musketeers- Rob Middleton, Arnab Chaudhri and Pete Bishop – who super-charged the atmosphere with [V] machine, a hand- on creative drill that covered everything to create award-winning promos for a 360 audience.

     

    This year, The Promax BDA Awards gave away 60 Golds and 57 Silver metals.

     

     

  • The two-day Zee Melt had an impressive set of international and Indian speakers

    MarTech & TV dominate sessions at Zee Melt 2018

     

    The fourth edition of Zee Melt 2018, the two-day conference on advertising, marketing, media and technology, conducted by Kyoorius was held in Mumbai on May 30 and 31. Along with the conference, there was an exhibition area which saw displays and experiential zones set up by Google, Surewaves, WION, National Geographic.

     

    Here are highlights of the two-day event:

    :: A live televised chat with Sir Martin Sorrell. The chat with senior journalist Anant Rangaswamion CNBC-TV18 assumed importance given that Sorrell had unveiled plans for his new venture

    :: Speaker sessions by Tom Fishburne, AnindyaGhose, Mark Shayler, Fernando Machado, Global CMO, Burger King; Tom Goodwin, EVP, Head of Innovation, Zenith Media; Ana Milicevic, Principal, Sparrow Digital Holdings; Babita Baruah, Managing Partner, GTB India and others

    :: “How Return Path Data Will Turbo-Boost Television Audience Measurement Globally” –Keynote by Ricardo Gomez-Insausti, Vice-President (Research), Numeris

    :: &Prive – A panel discussion featuring SonalDabral and Ashwini IyerTewari and a screening of “The Post”

    :: A panel discussion by Zee and Indian Market Research Bureau on TV: The Business Propeller

    :: A session by Jasper Donat, CEO, Branded & Producer, YouTube Fanfest was followed by a meet-and-greet with Bhuvan Bam, YouTuber, Singer & Songwriter

    :: Day 2 concluded with a Keynote session by James Southern, Managing Partner at Front Row Advisory. He addressed the audience on the topic, “The Next Seismic Shifts In Television”.The session was followed by a panel discussion hosted by SureWaves moderated by Paritosh Joshi (Principal, Provocateur Advisory) featuring Punit Misra (CEO, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd), Shashi Sinha (CEO, IPG Mediabrands), Partho Dasgupta (CEO, BARC).

     

    And these are highlights of what some of the speakers said (for details on the Martin Sorrell session, please visit http://www.mxmindia.com/2018/05/return-of-the-sorrell/):

     

    Fernando Machado, Global CMO, Burger King:Creativity helps you thrive the business and grow your brand. You should start one campaign at a time. Understand the business and see what ticks people. There are certain brands that strike a chord with the consumers and Burger King is one of them. People ask, what if it didn’t work? They always have this fear. These 5 things helps coping with the fear:

    :: Need to understand the brand- it is about not doing random stuff. You need to understand the positioning. The positioning and personality of the brand should match

    :: Create a great brief– Challenge your client with a one line brief

    :: Let the idea grow- Trust on certainty

    :: The biggest risk is not taking any risk- We are afraid all the time. But the thing is if I am not afraid, probably I won’t do it

    :: One Team- Marketing, agency and everyone else together should be one team.  Fight with everyone, together

     

    Tom Goodwin, EVP, Head of Innovation, Zenith Media: Speaking about the power of digital transformation, he mentioned three key aspects to be taken care of:

    :: Understand people- People go to the internet consciously and get off it only to be reminded to go again. Brands still think of it as a pattern. But the consumer is obsessed with the idea like it is a behaviour. It is not helpful. It is a hybrid world that transcends it. People are disappointed if they don’t get the same experience as any other brand.

    :: Apply technology at the core- Consumers are inclined towards everything that has a quick turnaround. Brands are realising this pattern and providing quick, cheap and hassle free service without understanding that this remains as the outer most layer without deeper existential question. Younger brands are utilising contemporary technology and it is incredible to see how much value they have created.

    :: Rethink everything- The key is to think without expectations. The greatest threat to incumbent business is to not know too little or being naive, it is about having too much knowledge.

     

    Ana Milicevic, Principal, Sparrow Digital Holdings: “The advertising industry is stuck in between the technology change. As an industry and as professionals it is important that we are constantly changing and are not being outdated. There has to be a balance between speaking to the audiences and amplifying annoyance. Future without advertising is far-fetched. Hence, we need to focus on today’s advertising trends and that is story-telling. Every interaction the brand has with consumers, it becomes advertising. It is imperative to stay relevant or risk getting skipped.”

     

    Nelson Rodriguez, Global Director of Industry Strategy, Akamai:“Digital advertising still has a lot of noise. India has the highest ad-block user across the world, although ironically, India is an ad driven market. There are three innovations happening today in transforming relationship with audiences in this market.

    :: Relevance- Every industry that goes through change has an opportunity to build on that change by being relevant

    :: Value- Customer should have the power of consuming content. That is where optimisation can enter

    :: Choice- With micro-transactions in boom, customers can be charged according to the amount of content they want to consume

     

    Babita Baruah, Managing Partner, GTB India:“This topic means a lot to my heart. I thought a lot about how to have more women. Not in terms of number, but in terms of decision making roles and how we can keep this journey going. Melt and of course any forum where you have the industry coming together is good to start off this kind of conversations to get points of views. I think it is important for women to share their personal journey. Because there is a lot of learning from what someone has gone through. And a narrative or story telling is always a good way to connect.”

     

    Patrick De Pauw, CEO, Social Seeder:“There is so much clutter when it comes to brands today where all are shouting for attention in some way or the other. But to get visible I believe there are 2 things a brand should swear to follow and that is – stay relevant and do something so unique that it helps you gain recognition between this mainstream clutter. There is paid media and owned media today but earned media is the word of mouth which works in favour of your brand creating a high decibel impact. An ambassador (on a voluntary basis) is an internal or an external person that is more than integral to spread a word about your organisation. But being an ambassador starts with you.”

     

    Tom Fishburne, Founder, Marketoonist:Technology can’t save boring marketing. We need to stay focused on our marketing strategies and not get excited when you see new things. We need to know who we are creating our marketing for and what is our marketing campaign. I have never been this excited in my life, it was amazing to be here. I have never seen such an entrepreneurial environment. It is great to see what people can do to sell your small enterprises. On my first trip to India I loved to discover the campaign by Amul. In 52 years they have campaigned amazingly and their idea of serial story-telling is something worth taking note of. They have campaigned everywhere from Bollywood to hoardings to newspaper ads. I am always excited to know what incidence their next campaign will be based on.”

     

    Anindya Ghose, NYU Stern School of Business: “Crowdedness is one thing which works best in the case of AI, as when people are alone in a crowd, phone is their best escape. Over a period of time, we have witnessed brands identifying known as well as unknown needs of consumer’s basis which they are ready to invest heavily in mobile data metrics. Addressing to the unknown needs is what will give the brand an upper hand to serve better. This metric eventually helps in measuring the ROI on the capital spent.”

     

    Guneet Singh, Head – Marketing Solutions, Google India & SEA: “The big piece of work we do is on video and the reason is 80% of consumers are on mobile. The phone is a very intimate space, as it is 12 inches away, but your TV screen is 6-7 feet away which is not an intimate space. The average attention span in Mobile is 7-9 seconds; if you don’t change the arc in this time span, one skips the video. That’s how you look at the story arc in digital. In digital you know the exact persona of the person watching something. It is important for you to build content for the right audience. We’ve recently made 2300 videos all running in the same date to distinctive audience.”

     

    Mark Shayler, Director Ape:“Every single action has a reaction and every single movement has an angle. We are all millennial. People like tactility; if you are making a digital campaign make it real, make it human. We can’t lie anymore because the internet is everywhere and the truth will eventually come out. It’s high time that you innovate the new way. Define a purpose, as purpose makes you stronger, being good is new cool and Kindness is competitive.”

     

    Sakshi Choudhary, Creative Controller, Ogilvy India: “Women spend twice the time as men, they are playing more games, and they are also on social media. 74% purchasing decisions are made by women and in cities it goes up to 90%. 70% women are buying houses in top 8 cities of India and 40% overnight solo trips are made by women…. Honda has realised that the scooter market is overtaking the motorcycle market in rural India and therefore they launched Honda Cliq targeted only at rural Indian women. Alcohol consumption among women has been increasing; Bacardi has been making the best of it as their sessions are more focused at women. Hotstar has realised that their video consumption is 3 times more by women compared to men.”

     

    Erica Ng – Senior Editor Asia Pacific Insight – WGSN: “The world is getting future ready and so are our brands. The brands of tomorrow are using the 4 E’s – Engagement, Exclusivity, Experience and Emotion. While today’s traditional spaces are extremely crowded, it becomes a larger deal for the brands of tomorrow to get more creative in their thinking. The brands of tomorrow are engineering vitality, as they aren’t using space to advertise but instead growing their presence on digital. They are using psychographics to understand the consumer needs. Today people don’t buy products, they buy people!”

     

  • Club FM, 94.3 won gold for its campaign “Kuzhi Map

    Club FM 94.3 bags Gold at New York Festivals Award

    By A Correspondent

     

    Club FM 94.3 has bagged a gold award at New York Festivals International Radio Program Awards.

     

    The radio network won a Gold for its campaign “Kuzhi Map” (pot-holes map) under Public Service announcement promotion and two finalist certificates for Vinodinde Prathikaram (Vinod’s revenge) under Craft and Dim Light under Public Service Announcement Promotion categories.

     

    Said MV Shreyams Kumar, Joint Managing Director, Mathrubhumi Group: “For Club FM to be honoured with a gold award amidst wide international competition is truly an honour. The win is a testament not only to the collective output of our radio stations but also to the broad appeal and quality of our programming. This is extremely important to us as a private service broadcaster.”

     

     

  • I&B and Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Rathorewas chief guest

    Republic awards Indian biz leaders in Dubai

    By A Correspondent

     

    Republic TV conducted a leadership summit and awards to felicitate business achievers in the Middle East. The Republic TV Gulf Indian Leadership Summit and Awards 2018, saw I&B and Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore as chief guest along with Vipul, Consul General of India in Dubai and Surjit Bhalla, Member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, Republic editor-in-chief and chief promoter Arnab Goswami and Sameer Manchanda, Chairman, DEN Network.

     

    Speaking at the event, Goswami presented an ambitious map for Indian media worldwide. He asked, ‘Why is it that the robust Indian media cannot produce international content and compete with the BBC and CNN’s of the world? Within the next two years, not later than 2020, Republic TV or any other Indian media must aim to do so. An Indian channel producing world coverage watched by everyone in hotels all around the world like this one in Dubai.’

     

    Added Rathore: “Western perspective is all good but we have had enough of it. We now need Indian perspective of the world. All of you are ambassadors of India overseas and your voice is equally important.’”

     

    Most awardees shared their critical views on the Indian Gulf business relationship and their stories of success with inspiring words and nuggets of wisdom on the panel discussions hosted by Goswami and Republic TV’s Shivani Gupta.The Dubai chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India hosted the event along with Republic TV.

     

     

  • The awards will recognize the cutting-edge work and rising stars in the web series space

    News18.com announces iReel Awards 2018

    By A Correspondent

     

    News18.com has announced iReel Awards 2018, the first ever web series specific awards in India. It will be held on September 6 in Mumbai. The jury panel will be moderated by film critic Rajeev Masand.

     

    Sharing his thoughts on the announcement, Manish Maheshwari, CEO, Network18 Digital said: “We live in interesting times – in a short duration, web series have become one of the preferred sources of mainstream entertainment. It is only fitting to initiate an awards show that would solely focus on web series. Not only it gives appreciation where duebut it also connects well with our young and millennial audience, who also happen to be consumers of these web series. With iReel Awards, we’re looking forward to celebrating a revolution called web series”

     

    Co-powered by Madame the iReel Awards have Xoxoday as the Associate Partner. Radio City is on-board as Radio Partner, UFO Digital Cinema is the Multiplex Partner and Jio Digital Life is the Digital Partner respectively.

     

     

  • The OTT platform goes on an overdrive with originals, regionals and an overseas play

    Viacom18 ups ante on Voot

    Sudhanshu Vats, MD, Viacom18, Ajit Andhare, COO, Viacom18 Motion Pictures, Ravish Kumar, Head- Regional Entertainment, Viacom18, Akash Banerji, Head- Marketing & Partnerships, Viacom18 Digital Ventures and Monika Shergill, Head- Content, Viacom18 Digital Ventures along with the cast and creators of the upcoming 18 Voot Originals

     

     

    By A Correspondent

    Viacom18 wasn’t among the first of the entertainment conglomerates to hop on to the OTT bandwagon. Star was around as was Zee and Sony, though Zee has relaunched its offering ats Zee5 recently.

    Also, a lot has changed since Voot launched first in 2016. Netflix and Amazon Prime are on an overdrive and suddently all attention is on Originals. Sacred Games has change the rules of the game, and there’s clearly a new energy in the thinktank of all entertainemtn companies with an OTT play.

    On Thursday, Viacom18’s Voot showcased the first bundle of its upcoming Originals – 18 multi-lingual premium web series cutting across genres. Leveraging its prowess of out-of-the-box cinema, Viacom18 Motion Pictures, the network’s movie studio, will now be producing web series for Voot, under the banner of Tipping Point Films. Furthermore, the regional broadcast cluster of Viacom18 will be producing multi-lingual Originals. Meanwhile, Voot will also add news to its increasingly varied content offering, starting with a partnership with – you guessed it right – Network18. Also, Voot is ramping up its content and product play as it sets sight to take the platform international, beginning with the United Kingdom, in November 2018.

    Said Sudhanshu Vats, Managing Director, Viacom18: “Voot is integral to our strategy as we gear up for a future-ready Viacom18 that is screen, platform and pipe agnostic. We are building a digital-first brand to harness Viacom18’s strengths across its brands, creative franchises and businesses in multiple Indian languages. Furthermore, the inherent synergies with Reliance Jio, both as a platform for showcasing content and as a carrier of our service, have only dialled up the business roadmap for Voot.”

    Added Monika  Shergill, Head – Content, Viacom18 Digital Ventures: “The digital medium brings us close to the consumer at a very personal level. Owing to the last mile measureablity that the medium provides, our entire content strategy is based on a deep data backed analysis of the needs and desires of our consumers and their consumption preferences and patterns. Thus our play across a diverse bouquet of genres and languages. At an execution level, we have been extremely lucky to be partnering with a galaxy of very talented and committed actors, writers and directors to bring forth our second bundle of VOOT Originals, starting with 18 multi-genre and multi-lingual series.”

     

  • The show is a culmination of months of thoughtful curation of sessions and performances

    Second edition of MTV India Music Summit announced

    By A Correspondent

     

    The second edition of the MTV India Music Summit will happen in Jaipur next week (Oct 12-14), allowing attendees to discover interesting sounds, engage in exchange of ideas and savour music through a series of concerts and conversations.

     

    Said Raj Nayak, COO, Viacom18: “Our association with MTV India Music Summit is reflective of our brand promise to offer differentiated, enriching and relevant content to our audience. In its second edition as well, we intend to identify, experience and bring forth versatile artists and varied sound forms that are deserving of global acclaim. We are happy to have trusted sponsors on board who also believe in the transcending power of music. I urge any and every one with the slightest musical bent to be a part of MTV India Music Summit and have an experience of a lifetime.”

     

    Speaking about the Summit, Prasoon Joshi, who is playing the role of a mentor to the summit: “Right from its inception, Musiconcepts has been working hard to create a platform to bring India’s diverse musical heritage together – a showcase like no other which allows for free-flowing conversations, debates, exchange of views and a joint celebration of our musical heritage. Raymond presents MTV India Music Summit is the culmination of months of thoughtful curation of sessions and performances. A truly immersive musical experience, the summit promises to have everything from Sunrise concerts, to Baikthakis, to Jugalbandis, to riffs and jams, Sundowner alaaps and much more!”

     

    Added Mala Sekhri, co-founder of Musiconcepts: “The richness of the content that we have for Raymond presents MTV India Music Summit is evident from our pick of topics, genres and artists. Each session has been carefully curated to highlight a particular aspect of Indian music. I’m sure the audiences will appreciate our effort as they get to witness the likes of Shujaat Khan, Usha Uthup, Kailash Kher, Dr. L Subramaniam, Shankar Mahadevan, Bhimsen Joshi, Suresh Wadkar… and many more stalwarts of Indian music, performing life and engaging in lively discussion and debate about music.” A spokesperson for the organisers clarified that in the case of Bhimsen Joshi, who passed away in 2011, it will be a tribute.

     

    Said Gautam Hari Singhania, CMD, Raymond Group: “Our long-term partnership with India Music Summit strategically binds in our vision of nurturing, promoting and curating different forms of national art and craft in diverse fields like khadi, sports, music and cinema.”

     

     

  • Curefit is an FMCG-health & fitness solutions provider, founded by former Flipkart executives Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori

    HiveMinds wins Google Premier Partner Awards 2018 for Search Innovation

    By A Correpondent

     

    Hiveminds, the search specialist digital agency of Madison World, has won the Search Innovation Award for their work on Curefit, at the second edition of the Google Premier Partner Awards 2018, India.

     

    Curefit is an FMCG-health and fitness solutions provider, founded by former Flipkart executives Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori. For Curefit, HiveMinds has been able to deliver 6X improvement in conversions and helped acquire new users consistently.

     

    Said Jyothirmayee JT, Founder & CEO, Hiveminds: “HiveMinds is arguably one of the strongest performance marketing agencies out of India. Winning this award from Google in the core category of search innovation is very encouraging for us. What’s more special, is the award was for our work with another ambitious startup, growing multifold every month and are destined to be an industry leader like many of our clients whom we have engaged at an early stage”.