MxMIndia

Category: NEWS

  • Mudra’s chief creative officer Bobby Pawar is rumoured to be moving to JWT

    Is Bobby Pawar quitting Mudra?

    By Amit Bapna

     

    It seems more or less certain now – the first big exodus from the Mudra group after the Omnicom-buyout may soon happen with Chief Creative Officer Bobby Pawar likely to hang in his boots and move from the agency that he joined in 2007. The industry has been buzzing with his imminent move for some days now.

     

    His next destination, according to industry sources, is JWT, one of the two big agencies of the rival group WPP in India, where he could be donning the hat of the chief creative officer. To an ET email, Colvyn Harris, CEO of JWT India, replied , “It’s still a rumour. If it were to happen, we will send you a mail.” If he does join JWT, Pawar’s most important task could be to help the agency’s Delhi office regain some of its glory, which has been perceived to be losing on people and accounts in the past few months. When contacted, Pawar refused to comment. Sources also said that Mudra is trying to retain Pawar and has made a counter offer.

     

    This would not be his first stint with Sir Martin Sorrel’s global network, but it surely is likely to surprise many industry-guys, considering his stint at Mudra has been a fairly awarded and rewarded one. At Mudra, Pawar’s mandate has been overseeing the group’s creative product across all the four agencies (Mudra India, DDB Mudra, Mudra Max and Ignite Mudra). Prior to taking over Mudra’s national creative responsibilities, Pawar has had a varied creative stint.

     

     

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2011, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

  • The Ad Club Bombay gets ready for judging procedure for Effie 2011.

    All set for Effies on Dec 14

    By Tuhina Anand

     

    The Advertising Club Bombay is gearing up for the judging that is slated to take place this week for Effie 2011. The Effie awards recognize effective advertising is slated to take place on December 14, 2011 in Mumbai.

     

    Ajay Kakar, CMO – Financial Services, Aditya Birla Group and Chairman Effies Committee, Ad Club Bombay said, “As a Marketer I view the Effies as the most coveted awards platform, because it recognises work that works – for the brand and the business. It is also the only award that is given to both the agency and client. With regards to the format, this year we have given greater focus and recognition to a wider number of categories. Also, as a first – we are going to have the judging take place in Bombay and Delhi.”

     

    What is different this year that the Round One of judging which has traditionally taken place only in Mumbai will also be happening in Delhi this year. The Mumbai judging will take place on November 22 and 23 whereas the Delhi round will happen on November 29. The Round Two will only take place in Mumbai.

     

    Talking about the development, Bipin Pandit of The Ad Club Bombay said, “The Advertising Club Bombay is a national entity and not just Mumbai-centric. We want the club to spread its wings and believe that it should include players from the industry across.”

     

    This year almost 275 entries are expected and if the number seems low then one must understand that each entry costs Rs 21000 hence the quality of entries is highly superior. The awards will be given in 15 categories. “This year I do expect the number of entries to exceed the record of last year and I see the entries come from a wide spectrum of agencies and brands, across categories,” added Mr Kakar.

     

    The awards are the only ones that involve client as well as the agency and are given to advertising that has worked in the marketplace. The Effie Case studies are also most sought after and will be presented as part of the event. Besides, there is an impressive line of marketers and account planners on board who will be judging the awards.

     

    Times TV Network and Marico are the Associate Sponsor for Effie 2011 whereas Brand Equity is the Category Sponsor for Bravery Awards.

  • MxMIndia partnered the screening of Umesh Aggarwal's documentary on Paid News and a panel discussion thereafter.

    Upclose with Paid News

     

    By Johnson Napier

     

    Imagine being told by a news channel or a newspaper that the minister you voted for was as right a choice as could be or that the zonal officer from your local municipal ward has done an inimitable task or that the food that you consume from a particular brand has the ingredients to unleash the hidden potential out of you or even better, that if you carry out an assignment on an auspicious day as predicted by the pundits your fortunes would change forever…? You’d fall for the bait, right? If not all, a majority of the consumers would be taken in by the promises being unleashed as the source that it is coming from couldn’t be doubted in the least. But that is the irony. From being the messengers of truth and entrusted with the task of upholding the morals of society, the fourth estate of India’s democracy is increasingly being looked upon with uncertainity. And there is every reason for readers’ and viewers’ apprehensions, as docu-filmmaker Umesh Aggarwal would want us to believe.

     

    Presenting his take on the sorry state of affairs prevailing in the print and news broadcast sector, Aggarwal presented a one-hour documentary titled ‘Brokering News—the inside story of paid news.’ The film is the initiative of the Delhi-based non-governmental, not-for-profit Public Service Broadcasting Trust (PSBT). The event was held at Mumbai’s Madame Cama Hall and was organised by Moneylife Foundation and Citizens Action Network with the support of industrialist Cyrus Guzder. MxMIndia was the media partner for the event.

     

    Being the first of its kind initiative on the sector, the documentary provides a harsh outlook on the filthy mannerisms being employed by most prominent newspapers and news broadcast houses where consumption of news is concerned. Spanning the streams of politics, business, sports and entertainment the film addresses a significant challenge facing Indian democracy today—which is the state of its media. The film looks at three aspects of paid news—how politicians are paying for positive coverage during elections, with the result that those who don’t pay are blanked out by the media; how the coverage and reviews of movies are orchestrated and paid for and of course, paid news about business and industry. It depicts in detail how journalists were forced to broker deals to offer editorial coverage to politicians.

     

    Following the screening, the event headed for a lively panel discussion and comprised of the following notable panellists: Umesh Aggarwal, director of News & Entertainment Television, Ayaz Memon, veteran journalist and currently consulting editor at IMN News, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, educator & commentator, Bhawana Somaaya, noted film critic and columnist and Sucheta Dalal, Trustee of Moneylife Foundation and Managing Editor of Moneylife Magazine.

     

    When left to express their initial comments on the screening, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta began by highlighting the last action that was shown in the documentary – the disqualification of a local MLA from one of the constituencies in the North by the Election Commission of India because of the malpractice the individual resorted to with the help of the media. “It was the first ever such judgement that was carried out by the ECI and we hope to follow that when a judgement is pronounced on the former chief minister of Maharashtra Ashok Chavan.” According to Mr Guha Thakurta, while SEBI has made it mandatory for news and print houses to disclose their relationships and dealings with corporate hoses and influential individuals, there is still no transparency on such a ruling as nobody has even challenged the visibility or the outcome of this ruling as yet. “We hope to do a lot more and see a lot of action going forward.”

     

    Sucheta Dalal began by questioning the level of dishonesty that existed in business journalism. “Having worked as business journalist myself for many years, I can say that most of the stories that appear in newspapers are advertising-driven. And the sorry part is that it is a trend that is gaining ground with nobody doing a thing about it. I haven’t even heard of reports of anybody approaching the RTI for finding information of such corporate dealings with the business news organisations.”

     

    Probably, the most straightforward answer was unleashed from Ms Somaaya who vouched that in her entire career spanning over 30 years, she has never resorted to the concept of being entertained at the gesture of the entertaining parties. “I am an idealist. I can proudly state that I am not the same as the others in the space. Even today, there is a place for ethics and integrity in journalism,” she quipped.

     

    Presenting his rationale on the tale, Ayaz Memon asserted that there was a turmoil being currently witnessed in the media sector what with the explosion of several mediums in the space. “As a result there are not enough checks and balances leading to dangers lurking in every nook and corner of the business.” Citing the example of cricket, Mr Memon went on to describe the state of affairs of players who played in the earlier days and how they were paid minimal dues to the players of today who aspire to be paid huge sums. “This has led to match-fixing and spot-fixing being introduced to the sport today. While it is still not as widespread as is made out to be, the danger of such things going unchecked is huge.”

     

    When questioned by a member from the audience on which is the bigger worry – watching damaging news versus news that is paid for and how to distinguish between the two, Ms Somaaya reverted by stating the practice that she follows when reviewing films. “I’ve always refused offers for special screenings as after they lavish you with undue attention they expect that you judge the film in their favour. Reviewing films has become a big business today and one cannot predict the veracity of the reviews that get published.”

    Mr Guha Thakurta added here that it was largely the media that has played a huge role in giving damaging news or news that is paid for. “The need of the hour is to amend the Act and make paid news a cognisable offence.”

     

    Mr Aggarwal added here by saying that “we have our priorities misplaced. We need to figure out what kind of news gets featured and whether it is a pertinent one.” He cited the classic example of the small kid Prince that was covered live on almost all television channels for three days but another important news of 57 miners being trapped underground the same day was totally missed by everybody.

     

    Proceeding to the immediate solutions that were required to be taken by the industry, Mr Guha Thakurta called for an underlying need to have a regulation in place. “The thing about self-regulation is that in most cases it is not an effective thing to do. Recently there were two channels who were questioned for showing obscene content but what about the judgement? The problem is that we do not have an independent regulatory body which could govern and control the media; a body that acts as a statutory ombudsman for the electronic media.” Continuing further, Mr Guha Thakurta said that the issue was also how we strengthen the defamation laws in the country. “We need to go beyond individuals and focus on the systems. That should be the immediate priority.”

     

    Ms Dalal stated here that it was essential that media houses portray the right picture and not otherwise.”Most media houses are going in losses amounting to several crores of rupees but they are putting up are brave front and are getting help from the media to hide their plight. The owners need to question themselves as to what is it that we are doing to broadcast the right news?” Summing up, Mr Memon added that “we don’t live in a perfect society. It’s a time-bound initiative and will require the industry to come together and fight the menace.”

  • The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) expresses great surprise and concern over the impact of the recent decision of the Supreme Court that dismissed the Special Leave Petition filed by Times Now

    INS, IBF express shock on SC order in Times Now defamation case

    By A Correspondent

     

     

    The industry bodies have joined hands in expressing grief over the Supreme Court order in the Times Now defamation case.

    Close on the heels of the IBF, the Indian Newspaper Society has put forth its stand. Mr. Ashish Bagga, President,  the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) has said in a communiqué that the order has sent shock waves through media circles across the country. The quantum of damages awarded by a lower court and the direction of the higher courts to deposit the entire amount to allow an appeal to be heard for an unintentional technical error will potentially threaten the survival and existence of media in India, he said. While recognizing that the law of defamation is an important qualification of the fundamental right to freedom of expression, he said that the law of defamation should be construed in such a manner that it does not constrain the normal functioning of the media, indeed the very existence of media.

    The Indian Newspaper Society and its members hold the judiciary in the highest esteem, the communiqué added, and believe it has played a critical role in safeguarding the rights of citizens. There is need in the Times Now matter for a display of judicial sagacity, and INS hopes that the judiciary will find occasion to review its decision.

    Earlier, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) expressed great surprise and concern over the impact of the recent decision of the Supreme Court that dismissed the Special Leave Petition filed by Times Now, a member channel, which sought relief against a high court decree that stipulated the channel to deposit Rs 20 crore and furnish Bank Guarantee for Rs 80 crore, to hear an appeal in a defamation case.

     

    The IBF agrees with the recent views that have appeared in the media on this case, that such decisions should be reviewed and reconsidered. Because if media is compelled to pay up damages of such quantum despite the issuance of a public apology for an inadvertent error, it would effectively cripple the functioning of the media and an economic burden of such nature would completely jeopardise media business as it directly impacts media freedom, independence and survival, the very essentials of a democratic set up in any country”

     

  • Launching his latest book in the capital, ‘Non Stop India’, Mark Tully reiterated that corruption is a major malaise but if you concentrate too much on it, you forget the cause of corruption, which is bad governance.

    Corruption a symptom of governance: Mark Tully (Video Report)

    By Shruti Pushkarna

     

    Almost twenty years after he wrote ‘No Full Stops in India’, veteran journalist Mark Tully unveiled his latest addition to the India series, ‘Non Stop India’, in the capital on Saturday, November 19. Addressing a packed hall of avid readers, Mr Tully confessed that he was most nervous about talking to the Delhi audience. Citing an Indian cricketer’s concern, he said, “It’s hardest to play against a home crowd, and Delhi is very much my home and all of you all will be my severest critics.”

     

    Mr Tully also confessed that he didn’t want this book launch to be another one of the mutual admiration sessions that these things are often brought out to be. He admitted, “We journalists are actually very good at having self-congratulatory sessions.” He said he was delighted that his old friend, Karan Thapar, agreed to join him, “…as Karan would be the last person to give me an easy ride.”

     

    Acknowledging that much has changed in terms of how India looks at itself as well as how it is looked at in the international arena, since he wrote ‘No Full Stops in India’, Mr Tully said, “I think the danger in the Indian story, and this in a way is the point of this book, is that it can lead to ‘jugaad’, the concept that we are going to get there anyhow, so why do we worry about the problem which we have. It’s like the gentleman who I once met, who I asked, what does he think about India and he said, ‘Main bhagwan main bharosa karta hoon.’”

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”250″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUgdUEPanZA[/youtube]

    Known for his love and admiration for this country, Mr Tully also confessed to his audience that he didn’t find himself very settled in Britain so he thought that maybe his ‘karma’ has landed him here.

     

    Defending his work against one criticism made by Outlook reporter Pavan K Varma where the latter said that he would have liked Tully Saheb to leave the safer shelter of an observer and give his own views far more robustly, of what is wrong or right with India, Mr Tully said that it’s not entirely a negative book and it does warn about problems which lie ahead. He also added that for one to be able to criticize, one has to be extremely understanding and sympathetic of the issues at hand.

     

    Quoting a journalist who once said, ‘these are my conclusions on which I base my facts’, Mr Tully hoped that this book produces some facts which contradict some commonly held conclusions. A few of those that he has written about in this book include, the problem of Naxalites, the Dalit situation in the country today, the issue of privatization and the problem with ministers pouring money into troubled areas, like Kashmir. He said, “Overall the story is really about governance, something that you all hear about now. And I hope the story makes the point that this corruption that we are so concerned about, is, I think and many of the stories suggest this, more like a boil…boils are created by blood poisoning, they are not the blood poisoning themselves, they are a symptom rather than what is going wrong, And corruption in my view is basically a symptom of governance which needs reform.” Adding on, he said, “…And that’s why I fear that this whole Lokpal campaign. Yes maybe Lokpal will be a help but it would be more of a problem if everyone then sits back and says we’ve solved the problem, everything’s all right.”

     

    When asked how much of a problem was the Prime Minister himself, Mr Tully unswervingly admitted, “I think the PM has a major problem because we all know where the power lies very often and it’s not necessarily the PMO and we also all know that Manmohan Singh for all his many qualities, is not basically a politician who has grassroots experience. And in my view one of the problems with the Congress party is, at the Centre most of the people are not really grassroots politicians.”

     

    Probing him further on the issue of governance, Karan Thapar asked him whether the problem actually lies with Sonia Gandhi. To which Mr Tully candidly replied, “I think the difficulty and the problem with Sonia Gandhi’s position is that too much influence lies there when in fact it should lie in the PMO.”

     

    While Mark Tully spoke at length on the first two chapters of the book that concern the problem of Naxalites and Dalits in the country, he also remarked on the recent criticism of Indian media made by the Chairman of Press Council of India, Justice Markandey Katju. Mr Tully said, “I think that one thing that we should look at is, we are culpable as journalists because we don’t stand together, we don’t fight for our right to do our job, we are meant to be the professionals who know what goes on television screens, who should know what goes into newspapers and yet all the time we allow ourselves to be dictated to, by managements who basically have interests other than putting out the news in a readable and a fair and balanced way. And this is the problem everywhere. This is the problem which gives rise to this continuous obsession with breaking news and rolling news on Indian TV.”

  • Plans to step up effort to promote fair advertising practises in online space

    Google’s India Head Rajan Anandan on ASCI Board

    The Advertising Standards Council of India has appointed Mr Rajan Anandan, Managing Director & India’s Country head of Google as a member of its Board of Directors. Mr Anandan’s induction immediately follows the appointment of ASCI’s new Chairman I Venkat during the last AGM.

     

    Mr Anandan’s appointment on the Board is strategic to ASCI’s plans to step up its efforts to promote fair advertising practises in the online domain.  With a large percentage of India’s population being very young, digital adoption is expected to increase going forward as more of the population comes of age and there will be a proportionate increase in online revenue spends. Thus, it becomes imperative for ASCI to ensure that advertising on the internet conforms to the current code of conduct.

     

    Commenting on Mr Rajan Anadan’s induction on ASCI’s Board, Mr I Venkat, Chairman, ASCI said: “The internet is increasingly becoming a significant touch-point for brands to connect with consumers. Thus, it becomes essential that online advertising is aligned to the primary objects of ASCI. Rajan’s appointment on ASCI’s Board will help ASCI generate the necessary consciousness towards fair advertising practises in the Online domain.”

     

    Mr Anandan said, “The Internet in India has over 100 million users is quickly becoming a scale advertising medium for companies in many industries.  Being on the Board will quintessentially help ASCI and Google to jointly create awareness about fair advertising practises across a large bandwidth of consumer touch-points on the internet.”

     

    It is estimated that the Indian online advertising revenue will touch Rs 1,500 crore by the end of 2011. With the kind of growths seen in this space, online advertising would possibly be worth around one billion dollars by the end of 2014. Thus, bringing an increasing consciousness on the way brand advertising is done in the online space is critical for ASCI.

  • Bobby Pawar quits Mudra to join JWT as chief creative officer and managing partner

    Bobby Pawar quits Mudra to join JWT as Chief Creative Officer & Managing Partner

    By A Correspondent

    It’s official. Mudra’s chief creative officer has moved. To JWT as chief creative officer and managing partner. Pawar has confirmed the development to MxMIndia.

    Pawar has been the creative force behind the agency’s several wins on the awards circuit over the last two years.

    Information on Bobby Pawar courtesy Mudra.com

    Bobby oversees the Mudra Groups creative product across all the four Agencies. Prior to taking over Mudra’s national creative responsibilities, Bobby had spent 7 years in the US market with BBDO Chicago and O&M New York.

    Bobby cut his teeth at Ogilvy and Mather India. He rose quickly from Senior Copywriter to Creative Director and worked on award winning campaigns for Tata Safari, Tata Sierra, Kelvinator, British Airways, etc.

    He is a two time copywriter of the year (Ad Club of Bombay – 1998, 2000). In 2000, he joined Ogilvy & Mather, New York as a Creative Director. There he worked on brands like Jaguar, American Express and Kodak. He helped pitch for AT&T Wireless and was asked to run the $600 million account when the agency won it.

    He re-launched AT&T Wireless with the much talked about mlife campaign. The launch spot ran on the 2002 Superbowl and ranked in the top three in the USA Today poll. Additionally, it was picked to be in the Museum of Modern Art. Moreover, one of the follow-up spots was spoofed by Jay Leno on his show.

    Bobby moved to BBDO, Chicago in 2004 as Group Creative Director. He worked with Marty Orzio, the CCO, to turn around an agency that wasn’t known for great work. He helped change the culture and the product. Now the shop is considered one of the hottest in the region.

    A stand up comedy buff, Bobby also loves photography and travelling.

  • The channel has fired a category that was getting stagnant and all this by riding on popular and familiar titles. And on HD.

    Movies Now: Riding high on popular titles

    By Tuhina Anand

     

    It’s going to be a year since Movies Now from the stable of Times Television Network launched in December last year. Ever since its launch, the channel has managed to upstage its competition, some of which have been in the business for much more than a decade like Star Movies and HBO and the newer players including PIX. What has worked in favour of the channel is its promise of an enhanced viewing experience because of being available on the High Definition (HD) platform, relying on popular titles, getting its distribution correct besides the backing of the Times conglomerate that definitely has helped in marketing the channel.

     

    Amongst the English channel category, it is the English movie channels that comprise 30 percent of the market share. This is the highest reach in this category.  The English Movie category also has a reach of around 29 percent of the total television viewers. These numbers definitely moves the genre which was earlier seen as niche to be highly influential hence even catching advertisers eye especially those marketing premium products because this is the category where the potential customers are on.

     

    With launch of Movies Now last year the category underwent a change especially because of the performance of the channel thus putting competition on their toes. The launch of the channel had catapulted the growth of the category from 50 GRPs to 72 GRPs and witnessed growth of 43 per cent. The category reach increased by 20 percent and now reaches out to 5.5mn individuals every week. Besides, Movies Now enjoys the highest viewer time-spent in the category, which is nearly double of other English Movie Channels.

     

    Talking about the success, Ajay Trigunayat, Channel Head, Movies Now, under whose  leadership, the channel has been charting success shares that his firm directive towards the channel’s Audience Management Plan included Content, Brand & Marketing and that has helped Movies Now break-through the clutter and carve a distinct identity in the mind of its consumers and a firm place in their daily lives, culture and ethos.

     

    He said, “Movies Now India is witnessing an ever increasing English speaking audience. Also, the target audience is no longer residing only in the metros and is now moving into the Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Thereby, we have a category which growing rapidly and demanding far more English content paving way for the new players in the market.”

     

    The talking point of channels success has been its limited but popular library. Kunal Jamuar, Head of West India and Executive Director, Mumbai at MPG India explains how he sees the channels growth. He said, “It has a limited library but good titles that has ensured first appointment viewing and later stickiness. I think they have consciously kept a limited library thus giving viewers the much more opportunity for stickiness so in that sense they have changed the paradigm for English movies category.”

     

    “However, I think going ahead they need to address larger demographics which I think is getting ignored like paying attention to various time bands and playing movies accordingly.”

     

    Rajneesh Chaturvedi of MEC Global, said, “Movies channel is primarily driven by its title where Movies Now has scored well. They have managed their distribution well so in a year’s time they have done well for themselves and the category. Going ahead, they have to keep on adding popular titles which they have been doing currently to get viewers to stick to the channel.”

     

     

    INTERVIEW

     

    ‘Providing the best to the viewer’: Ajay Trigunayat, Channel Head, Movies Now

    Ajay Trigunayat has been instrumental in conceiving & nurturing the launch of Movies Now – Hollywood in HD, the English Movie Channel from the Times Television Network. Prior to Movies Now, he has worked with Media Agency Middle East, Dubai as CEO (2006-07) handling Sales, Event Management & Broadcast, Brand & Marketing for the Arab Youth Football Championship. He has spent 4 years at Zee Telefilms Ltd. and was the driving force behind the re-branding of Zee English, Zee MGM to Zee Café and Zee Studio in 2004 – at the same time re-vamping the content through key strategic partnerships with Disney, Warner, Sony, Fox and Universal.

    Mr Trigunayat has spent a decade in Advertising agencies honing his Brand and marketing skills across Rediffusion Y&R , Lintas and Contract. Here, Mr Trigunayat in conversation with MxM India offers a peek into the working and success of Movies Now.

     

    Q: How do you see Movies Now poised amongst competition in this category?

    Movies Now has achieved category leadership from the very launch day itself; and is the leader across all channels, across weekdays, across weekends, across day parts and despite 2 key cricket events (World Cup and IPL) the category viewership has grown by a whopping 80%. Our reach has nearly doubled for the category from 36 mn viewers per week to 60 mn + viewers today and Time Spent per viewer has grown from 35 minutes per week to 55 minutes per week!

    We have excellent feedback from our viewers on the our HD picture quality, 5.1 surround sound, selection of titles and our overall look and feel.

     

    Q: What is the advantage that Movies Now has as compared to the other players in this category?

    Better Movies, Better Picture, Better Sound! Movies Now – Hollywood in HD is a

    complete sensorial treat. It is an exponentially better English Movie watching experience

    in India.

     

    Q: In terms of future growth for the channel, where do you see it coming from?

    Growth will come due to significantly better viewing pleasure, furnished through significantly better digital distribution; with government mandating CAS across all metros.

     

    Q: What has been the biggest challenge for the channel since its launch?

    Keeping up the good work and increasing the gap with competition!

     

    Q: How do you view the current trend of subtitling. Does it help in garnering greater viewership?

    No. Sub-titling does not lead to increase in viewership; but it does provide better comprehension to a large section of viewers who are not familiar with foreign accents.

     

    Q: In terms of acquiring new titles, what have been your top two priorities?

    Only one priority: provide the best to the viewer!

     

    Q: There are lot of repeats of a movie, what policy does Movies Now follow on this?

    We let the repeat pattern be decided by the viewer. Thus some movies have few repeats and some movies have many repeats.

     

    Q: To go beyond metros, what are the few pointers that the channel is following?

    Currently the significant chunk of viewership is delivered from Metros even though we are present across the 1 mn+ universe. We will extend distribution as the viewers across the country take preference to our category

     

    Q: What should we expect from the channel in times to come?

    Loaded Viewer Engagement with Hollywood in HD.

  • The INMA conference started today in Bengaluru with 220 newspaper owners, business and editorial leaders and allied professionals in attendance

    INMA conference starts, packed house!


    By Akash Raha

     

    The International Newsmedia Marketing Association, better known as INMA,  kicked off its annual South Asia conference in Bengaluru today to a full house. The two-day event is taking place at ITC Gardenia under the theme ‘Roots and Wings: Strengthening Our Core Business and Exploring New Opportunities.’ MxM India spoke to Earl J Wilkinson, Executive Director and CEO, INMA to know about his expectations from the conference. Around 220 delegates from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Uganda amongst others are in attendance.

     

    Mr Wilkinson said, “What I’m looking for from the Bengaluru INMA South Asia Conference is, where are the new pockets of growth in the region? Have newspapers hit a peak with readership? What are the value drivers in advertising for newspapers as competition intensifies? Where does the creativity reside among South Asian newspapers? To what degree are global trends in digital media being adopted by South Asian newspapers? Where does the Indian newspaper story fit in the broader global context of transformation and culture change?”

     

    This INMA conference will also focus on the unique opportunities ahead for South Asian newspapers in which they seek profitability and would also like to adapt and create more revenue streams in the digital domain. The INMA conference will host top newspapers publishers and marketers in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and give them the opportunity to share learnings with each other. The sessions are expected to take delegates through a world of ideas and innovations which will give them insights into ways to grow newspaper advertising, circulation and brand across titles and across consumer platforms.

     

    Mr Wilkinson further added “It’s a very high-level, relevant programme for South Asian newspaper executives. I don’t just want to hear from the speakers. I want to hear from the delegates. Are they curious and pushing for answers and ideas?”

     

    Mr Tariq Ansari, INMA South Asia president and Managing Director, Mid-Day Multimedia welcomed the delegates and Mr I Venkat, Director, Eenadu, who is also the conference moderator, gave his opening remarks, charting the changes that have been seen in the newspaper publishing scene.

     

    Image courtesy INMA.org

  • Viacom18 entries led the tally at the PromaxBDA Asia held on Tuesday, followed by Star, MSM, Zee, UTV, Turner, MCCS and the BBC.

    Viacom18 leads in accolades at PromaxBDA Asia

    It was the Big, Big Night for the folks into on-air promotion, branding and advertising for the promo-wallahs (and of course many others). Vying for the much-sought-after Promax Muse and BDA Isis were satellite, cable, broadcast television, radio station and associated new media, their agencies and production houses. The holder of the awards are instantly recongised as the best in Asia.

     

    Indian companies generally fare well at Promax. And at the 2011 awards held on Tuesday (Nov 22) in Singapore, they dominated. Nearly half the honours in the 48 categories went to Indian entries.

     

    Viacom18 companies led the tally followed by (in no specific order): Star, MSM, Zee, UTV, Turner, MCCS and the BBC.

     

    Here’s the tally, sorted by company name.

     

  • Subhash Chandra, founder of Zee Group, has received the 2011 International Emmy Directorate Award. Mr Chandra made history by becoming the first ever Directorate Award recipient from India.

    Subhash Chandra gets Emmy Directorate Award

    Zee Group Chairman Subhash Chandra giving his acceptance speech at 39th International Emmy® Awards, held at the New York Hilton in New York City (CREDIT: Chip East / PSG)

    By A Correspondent

     

    Subhash Chandra, founder of Zee Group, has received the 2011 International Emmy Directorate Award. Mr Chandra made history by becoming the first ever Directorate Award recipient from India. The award was presented at the 39th International Emmy Awards, which took place on Monday, November 21 at the Hilton New York in New York City.

     

    “Subhash Chandra is a one of a kind visionary – a self-made entrepreneur who made his mark on the Indian television industry by launching the first privately-owned channel in India,” said Bruce Paisner, President & CEO of The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. “We happy to present him with our 2011 International Emmy Directorate Award as Zee Entertainment Enterprises prepares to celebrate its 20th anniversary, in 2012.”

     

    Remarked Mr Chandra, “India is the cynosure of the world today and it’s a great privilege to be the first Indian recipient of this award. It really means a lot to me, Zee Group and the Indian media and entertainment Industry.” He added, “While there have been many representations from India in the areas of technology and retail, this puts India’s media industry on the map and raises the profile of India with regards to its media and content.”

     

    Zee Group Chairman Subhash Chandra with Richard Parsons, Citigroup chairman and former chairman and CEO of Time Warner (far left), and Emmy Award-winning actress Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife), who both presented him with the 2011 International Emmy® Directorate Award, as well as Bruce Paisner, President & CEO of The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (far right) at the 39thInternational Emmy® Awards, held at the New York Hilton in New York City. Marks the first time in history that an Indian received this honor. (CREDIT: Allison Joyce / PSG)

    Richard Parsons, Citigroup chairman and former chairman and CEO of Time Warner, along with Emmy Award-winning actress Archie Panjabi (CBS Network’s critically acclaimed hit drama “The Good Wife”) presented the International Emmy Directorate Award to Mr Chandra during The International Emmy Awards Gala.

     

    The 39th International Emmy Awards were hosted by Jason Priestley, who was joined on stage by a cast of international celebrity presenters. Actor, director and producer, Mr Priestley was hosting for the second consecutive year. He was joined on stage by a starry cast of presenters including Brazilian actor Vladimir Brichta, Jeff Hephner (Starz’ Boss), Edward Herrmann (Gilmore Girls), Rick Hoffmann (USA Network’s Suits); John Larroquette, Danny Pino (NBC’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit), Ally Sheedy, Blanca Soto (Univision’s Eva Luna and El Talismán), Jessica Szohr (Gossip Girl); Wendy Williams (host of syndicated talk show The Wendy Williams Show) and Goku and Luffy (characters from Toei Animation’s animated hit Dragon Ball Z and One Piece).

     

    The International Emmy Awards recognize excellence in television programming produced outside the United States. The awards gala is attended by 1,000 international entertainment decision-makers every year. For a list of nominees, visit http://iemmys.tv/news_item.aspx?id=136.

  • Hotmail’s original founder Sabeer Bhatia and Yogesh Patel have announced the launch of JaxtrSMS, a cross-platform, open texting application that would enable users to send SMS to anyone in the world for free.

    Sabeer ‘Hotmail’ Bhatia’s launches JaxtrSMS. Offers free SMS, NEware

    By A Correspondent

    The man who gave users a free medium to download and access e-mail may soon be causing another such explosion, albeit in the world of mobile phones. Hotmail’s original founder Sabeer Bhatia and Yogesh Patel have announced the launch of JaxtrSMS, a cross-platform, open texting application that would enable users to send SMS to anyone in the world for free.

    What is unique about this new venture is that a mobile user can send a text SMS to any mobile phone in the world without requiring the receiver to have the JaxtrSMS application installed on her phone. This open facet of JaxtrSMS distinguishes it from other free mobile messaging applications where messages can only be sent within a closed network to people who also have the same app installed. JaxtrSMS retains the number of the user and no new number is required while signing up for the JaxtrSMS service.

    Unveiling details at an event in Mumbai, Sabeer Bhatia, CEO & Co-Founder, Jaxtr Inc. and Co-Founder of Hotmail, said, “15 years ago, we gave you Hotmail.com, the world’s first webmail service that freed up e-mail from the confines of the desktop and aided the creation of a global communications network which was completely open and free for users. Today, we present JaxtrSMS which does to SMS what Hotmail did for e-mail. Now, mobile users can leverage our free and open application to send messages to their contacts anywhere across the world without having to pay anything. The fact that our application has been downloaded by users across 197 countries in just a few weeks since our soft launch amply reflects our belief that JaxtrSMS will prove to immensely useful to mobile users across the world.”

    JaxtrSMS can be easily downloaded from www.jaxtrsms.com or from the app store on the handset for free and is compatible with all mobile operating systems including the iPhone, Blackberry, Android and J2ME.