MxMIndia

Category: NEWS

  • The CII's white paper on 'Self-Regulation in Advertising in India – A critical Evaluation' upholds the ASCI's cause and says that more government legislations or authorities will not help

    Make ASCI membership compulsory: CII white paper

    By A Correspondent

     

    The CII National Committee on Marketing has released a white paper on “Self-Regulation in Advertising in India – A critical Evaluation”. The paper identifies key concerns regarding misleading advertisements and analyses the issues. It also critically evaluates the role and responsibilities of all stakeholders – regulators, industry, activists and consumers. The paper further suggests that the solution to the problems posed by misleading advertisements is not to add one more legislation in the form of an Administrative Authority as proposed by Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA), and only in cases of non-compliance of Consumer Complaints Council’s (CCC) decisions should the matter be referred to any other regulatory body.

     

    Adi Godrej, President, CII, said, “This white paper reinforces that self regulation in advertising works, as seen in over 70 countries already. In India too, we believe in the efficacy of ASCI to regulate misleading advertising and more importantly its ability for speedy redressal. We urge the Department of Consumer Affairs to reconsider its recent proposal to set up a parallel administrative authority, which we strongly feel will delay the process of consumer redressal and be counter-productive to its intent. Instead, we request them to consider partnering with and strengthening the current mechanism of self regulation through ASCI further, a win-win for consumers, industry and the government.”

     

    The CII advocated that given the Advertising Standards Council of India’s (ASCI) track record in self-regulation of ad content, co-regulation between ASCI and regulators like DCA, Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), Ministry of Information & Broadcasting etc. as an effective solution. Co-regulation will ensure that ASCI and the government work together with all stakeholders to enforce compliance currently vested with ASCI but without any punitive powers. However, the paper suggested following areas of improvements of ASCI:

     

    • Mandatory membership of ASCI. Membership of ASCI be made compulsory for all industry players with exposure to advertising industry in India – the media vehicles, the advertisers and advertising agencies. For instance, rules in Holland require all organizations releasing ads on TV and Radio to be member of its SRO.
    • Integrate ASCI Code into statutory provisions: Sub rule (9) of rule 7 having Advertising Code of the Cable Television Network Rules, 1994 prohibits TV channels from carrying any advertisement that is in violation of the ASCI Code. Similar provisions may be introduced in other statutes like Press Council of India’s Advertising Code to ensure that advertisements while in conformity with the statutory provisions also adheres to the ASCI Code.
    • Expand coverage of ASCI code to digital and social media: A strong digital outreach programme is required to monitor digital and home shopping networks including outdoor advertising and mobile advertising. Large digital companies like Google, YouTube, and Twitter must join as members and compulsorily sign on to ASCI code.
    • Suspension pending investigation: This is one of the major concerns, and therefore control is required on account of advertising with sexual overtones, religious underpinning, and delivery of magical remedies/promotions in the mushrooming Indian advertising industry. To stop airing such advertisements a special fast track process which involves temporary suspension of an advertisement, which prima facie causes harm to the society, pending final decision by CCC can be implemented.
    • Co-regulation between ASCI and DCA as an effective solution instead of a new legislation. The committee has drawn a parallel with the successful model of Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in UK, which does not possess any punitive powers but co-regulates with the government bodies to ensure smooth control over the misleading advertisements in that market.

     

    Thomas Varghese, Chairman, CII National Committee on Marketing 2012-13 and CEO, Textile Business, Aditya Birla Group advocated self-regulation in advertising. While he maintained that awareness about ASCI is low, Nandini Chopra, Partner and Head – FDCG, KPMG India, said, “ASCI is moving from reactive phase to proactive phase. Of course, lack of punitive powers and insufficient awareness needs to be tackled but with a lean budget that ASCI has, the proposed road would make for conducive eco-system.” She also pointed out that 60% of complaints come from competition, which helps in keeping the industry honest and self-regulated.

     

    Sam Balsara, past Chairman, ASCI and MD, Madison World said, “Everyone knows and understands that advertising is an engine of growth and economy. It is up to the industry to increase the confidence of consumers in advertising. Even as the white paper mildly criticises ASCI, we welcome it. We at ASCI will be looking at all these suggestions. We are also setting up machinery to screen the ads ourselves, before we get complaints,” he added.

     

     

  • Disposing of a petition filed by ABP Private Limited, the Calcutta High Court has held that the arbitration clause embedded in software of the Indian Readership Survey, which is part of the terms and conditions a user must accept before accessing data, is binding. The dispute has been referred to arbitration

    IRS arbitration clause is binding: Court

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Calcutta High Court has held that the arbitration clause embedded in software of the Indian Readership Survey, which is part of the terms and conditions a user must accept before accessing data, is binding. Disposing of a petition filed by ABP Private Limited and vacating an injunction earlier granted by the Court, Justice Nadira Patherya referred the dispute relating to IRS 2008 to arbitration, in a judgment delivered on September 25.

     

    Responding to ABP’s petition challenging IRS findings, MRUC had contended that the dispute had to be referred to arbitration, as this clause was a part of the terms accepted by users. This was contested by ABP.

     

    The court held, “The issue sought to be raised by the plaintiff in C.S. No.242 of 2008 is covered by the arbitration agreement as the same has been couched in the widest terms and encompasses the issue raised, and the same be referred to arbitration”.

     

    A statement from MRUC said that it is a body constituted of media research users by media research users for media research users. It succeeds only when it advances the interests of its diverse stakeholders in the communications industries. MRUC recognizes that there will be situations in which users may disagree with some aspect of the conduct of various researches that it conducts. It is precisely to handle such disputes in a spirit of collaborative resolution that MRUC places so much emphasis on arbitration, the statement added.

     

  • Both newspapers and magazines readership figures look grim in the IRS 2012 Q2 toplines

    Print degrows, but will regrow, say media agency captains

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    The second quarter results of 2012 for the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) were published on Monday, October 1, and going by the topline numbers, the overall print readership has seen a slight decline. When compared to IRS 2012 Q2, both newspapers and magazines readership figures looked quite grim. While seven out of the top ten dailies witnessed a decline in readership, on the magazine front, six out of the top ten magazines were also seen on the decline. (Editor’s Note: Unlike a year ago, the Media Research Users Council (MRUC) does not share detailed readership figures with the news media for publication. We would urge readers and students of media to approach the MRUC (www.mruc.net) for this information. Our apologies for being unable to analyse the numbers for you).

     

    As far as the Top Ten publications are concerned, the rankings have more or less been the same in Q2 2012 v/s Q1 2012. Interestingly, Hindi publications continue to dominate the top ten rankings (in the Top 10 publications), with 5 out of 10 publications in the top ten rank belonging to the Hindi publications. The other five are from regional or Indian language publications, with Malayalam dailies continuing to be the second most read language daily in the top ten publications. However, The Times of India which is the sixth most read daily, continues to be the sole English language daily in the Top Ten category.

     

    Another interesting finding from the topline numbers is that the Top Ten language dailies are dominated by the South Indian language newspapers. 6 out of the Top 10 Language Dailies belong to South India. The others include Marathi dailies – Lokmat (the second largest language daily, in terms of readership) and Daily Sakal which is ranked #10. Bengali daily Ananda Bazar Patrika is ranked sixth and ranked eight is Gujarati daily Gujarat Samachar.

     

    The Top 10 magazines too are dominated by Hindi language, with five out of the ten magazines belonging to the Hindi language. However the only other regional or Indian language magazines that have made it to the top ten ranking are namely Malayalam – Vanitha, the most read language magazine and Malayala Manorama magazine, which is ranked nine, while the other language magazine that in the top ten is Karmakshetra, a Bengali magazine.

     

    So, do these trends indicate any sign for things to come? Does the industry need to worry about the declining trend in print readership? After looking at the numbers, MxMIndia spoke to some senior media agency professionals for their views on the IRS Q2 2012 Topline numbers.

     

    According to Suresh Balakrishna, CEO, Brand Programming Network (who was COO, Mail Today until last year), the print media has nothing to worry about as it is seen not as a decline but a minor blip, and in the long run the readership numbers will further grow.

     

    Janardhan Pandey, Associate Vice-President, DDB Mudra Max opined, “The decline in readership of top dailies is not significant and doesn’t reflect any trend in the long run. In fact, going forward I see further growth in print readership, particularly in the language publications. There is much more potential for growth in the readership of language publications with literacy rate increasing and the circulation growing, as the publishers are becoming more aggressive in their marketing, aligning the content to the readers demand/interest and expanding their territories. So the overall growth in print readership will continue with the regional press driving it.”

     

    Growth: Literacy & Media Consumption
    % CAGR

     

    While media agencies are very optimistic about the readership growth, they do not see the latest IRS figures as a decline but a minor hitch. Although the print readership may have shown slight decline, when compared to 2011 Q4, the overall print media consumption in Q2 2012 has seen a marginal increase of 0.9 per cent CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate). Not only has the overall print media consumption increased but the overall media consumption too has shown an increase of 3.4 per cent CAGR. The internet however continues to be the fastest growing medium today with a whopping 34.8 per cent CAGR.

     

  • The Starcom Worldwide Vice President met with an accident in Mumbai on September 30

    Starcom VP Rajendra Dwivedi dies in road accident

    By A Correspondent

     

    Starcom Worldwide Vice President Rajendra Dwivedi died in a road accident on September 30. He is survived by his wife and daughter.

     

    Over his decade-long experience in media, Mr Dwivedi has led teams that managed significant businesses of leading brands in his previous stints. He has been actively
    involved in training programmes and has helped youngsters in their professional journey.

     

    His last assignment was with Maxus Mumbai where he was General Manager. Prior to Maxus, Mr Dwivedi worked with Lodestar UM. He began his career with Mudra Communications in the year 2000. In the past he has worked on brands such as Hutch, Dabur, Tata Sky, Madura Garments and General Motors.

     

    Mr Dwivedi is an alumnus of the B.K. School of Business Management, Ahmedabad. He graduated from St. Xavier’s College of Science & Arts with a Bachelors degree in
    Physics.

     

  • MTunes brings Gangnam Style to India

    The Bollywood music channel will launch the Korean pop singer Psy’s worldwide hit Gangnam Style, for the first time on Indian Television, in association with Universal Music.

     

    MTunes, the Bollywood Music Channel in HD in India, is set to launch the Korean pop singer Psy’s runaway worldwide hit Gangnam Style, for the first time on Indian Television, in association with Universal Music. This will be done through MTunes AlterNative – the channel’s property dedicated to all the popular music outside of Bollywood.

     

    MTunes now aims to make the common man in India do the Gangnam Style, randomly picking up people from the crowds and making them do the dance. A compilation of this would be played at the end of the music video in a section aptly titled ‘On The Streets’.

     

    Sunil Sahjwani, Group Creative Director of Pioneer Channel Factory (parent company of MTunes) said, “MTunes was envisioned as, continues to be and will always remain a Bollywood Music Channel first, and everything else we do, like airing ‘Gangnam Style’, will be with the single-minded agenda to offer our audiences a music viewing experience like they’ve never seen before. We have made Korean Pop meet India On The Streets, mixing it with the local flavor. We intend to take our property On The Streets for many other songs in the coming days.”

     

    The music video crossed 333,742,629 views at the time of going to press. While Psy has already been on several international TV shows, even teaching Britney Spears and a few other celebrities his infectious style, this will be the first exposure on Indian television.

     

    Oppa Gangnam Style (loosely translated as I live Gangnam Style) is Psy’s satire on the posh lifestyle in the Gangnam district of Seoul,South Korea, where people are trendy, hip and exude a certain ‘supposed’ class. It is the humour and the fun dance style that has caught the interest of people worldwide.

     

  • Leading television search and EPG company What's-On-India has expanded its operations into the Middle East under the name – 'What's-On-Arabia'

    What’s-On-India acquires Middle East co, sets up What’s-On-Arabia in Dubai & Jordan

    By A Correspondent

     

    Leading television search and EPG company What’s-On-India has expanded its operations into the Middle East under the name ‘What’s-On-Arabia’. The Middle East TV industry has seen a firm and rapid movement into digitization, paving the way for increase in channels and content as well as proliferation of digital TV technologies. “These factors are ideal catalysts for a very specialist TVSearch offering that What’s-On-India can bring in given its expertise in this arena”, said Ajit Joshi, CFO of the company.

     

    What’s-On-India has now set up a What’s-On-Arabia office in Amman, Jordan by acquiring a local EPG company and is in the process of setting another in Dubai. With four large Middle East contracts spanning across nine countries already under its belt, What’s-On-Arabia has started in right earnest.

     

    Spearheading the effort Mr Joshi said, “We are proud to announce the setting up of our Middle Eastern arm – What’s-On-Arabia in Jordan. We have appointed Ms Hiba Dajani as our Country Manager and she is aided by a very able, committed and growing team that promises to dramatically alter and enhance the TV Search and EPG experience for millions of viewers in that region.”

     

    Through this expansion, What’s-On-India now offers EPGs for India, Sri Lanka and the Middle East for more than a thousand TV channels making it one of the largest TV Search companies in this part of the world. The localization of TV Search is also undergoing an expansion with a multi-lingual offering of English as the base language but translated EPGs for Hindi, Arabic, Tamil, Telugu and Marathi!

    What’s-On-India Media Private Limited, founded by Mr Atul Phadnis and owned by Intel, Sequoia Capital and Nexus VP,  is Asia’s Premier TV Search and EPG Company. The company’s Technology vertical powers EPG Metadata content from 1000+ TV channels for set-top boxes and devices across cable, DTH, IPTV, MobileTV, Smart TVs and tablets.

     

  • Divya Bhaskar creates history for 'The Largest Gathering of people dressed as Gandhi' on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti

    Guinness recognises Divya Bhaskar’s ‘Gandhi Jayanti’ record

    By A Correspondent

     

    Divya Bhaskar initiated ‘Ahimsa Dandi Yatra’ campaign in association with Spiritual Guru – Muni Tarun Sagar. The initiative was aimed at strengthening the support against ‘Animal Cruelty’ and ‘Human Tobacco Addiction’. This initiative was promoted through editorial, print campaign and school contacts. School kids were asked to register for participation, and all registered kids were provided Gandhi attire by Divya Bhaskar.

     

    On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, schools kids gathered at Abhay Ghat (Sabarmati Ashram) dressed as Gandhiji. The venue saw a total footfall of 7,000 citizens including dressed kids ready to participate in the yatra.

     

    On this initiative, State CEO Saras Sethi commented, “Gandhiji believed in Ahimsa and taking this thought forward an innovative concept was designed. The idea behind this initiative was to not only support the cause but engage our readers to support as well. Kids play a catalyst in any society and engaging them will get the entire family involved and also creates an impact.”

     

    State Editor Avnish Jain also commented, “The idea behind this initiative was to encourage the citizens to adopt Gandhiji’s philosophy of ahimsa and simplicity which is reflected not only in his dressing but also in his values.”

     

    The Guinness recognition was received for 891 kids dressed as Gandhiji. The event culminated with the Dandi Yatra along with Spirtual Guru Muni Tarun Sagar. Apart from kids few foreigners, MLA fromBelgaum, Management Guru Ujjwal Patani (Chattisgarh) also dressed like Gandhiji and participated in the march.

     

    The group’s other initiative ‘Junior Editor 2012’ has also been recognized by Guinness World Record as ‘The Largest Writing Competition’.

     

  • Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited (SSTL)has launched a service pioneered by MTS, aptly called "MTS mAd". The service provides leading brands a clutter-breaking means to engage with customers on a one-to-one basis

    MTS launches mAD to break mobile ad clutter

    By A Correspondent

     

    Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited (SSTL) that nationally operates its telecom services under the MTS brand with over 16 million wireless customers, has launched a service pioneered by MTS, aptly called “MTS mAd”. The service provides leading brands a clutter-breaking means to engage with customers on a one-to-one basis.

     

    MTS Smartphone customers using mAd will be able to make free local calls by just watching a video ad. The launch of this service makes MTS the first telecom operator to offer this unique service on a pan India basis.

     

    MTS mAd service is available on all Android devices on the MTS network including MTS MTag 3.1, MTS MTag 351, MTS MTag 352, MTS MTag 353, MTS MTag 401, MTS Pulse, Samsung Galaxy Y and Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos CDMA. The Company is working to expand the scope of this service by also launching it on Blackberry and BREW enabled entry level MTS handsets.

     

    According to Leonid Musatov, Chief Marketing and Sales Officer, MTS India, “Innovation is one of the core values of MTS India. The launch of mAd service is a testament of our deep rooted commitment to the same value. MTS mAd is a unique service which enables our Smartphone customers to make free calls by just watching a video ad on their device. The service also provides an opportunity to leading brands to connect with their customers in a personalised manner. I am confident that the mAd service would find its appeal amongst both our customers and the advertising fraternity”.

     

    A slew of leading brands including Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Mentos, Center Fresh, Fiat, Kellogg’s, Titan, Lenovo etc have associated for MTS mAd service to engage with customers.

     

    MTS mAd service requires no charges for activation, application download and for data transfer while watching video ads. The user will get a seamless experience with no buffering and video streaming hassle. Customers using this service will be able to make as many as 4 MTS mAd calls in a day.

     

  • Cisco has appointed Anil Bhasin to lead its Services division in India and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region

    Cisco appoints Anil Bhasin to lead services business in India

    By A Correspondent

     

    Cisco has appointed Anil Bhasin to lead its Services division in India and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region.

     

    An industry veteran with more than 25 years’ experience, Mr Bhasin began his Cisco career in 2001, as the head of its Banking and Finance (BFSI) and Commercial business for the Western region, where he doubled the revenue for both businesses. Based in Mumbai, Mr Bhasin will report to Glen Cox, vice president, Cisco Services, Asia Pacific, Japan and China.

     

    As part of his mandate, Mr Bhasin will oversee the build-up of momentum for Cisco Services, driving smart services adoption and helping customers and partners plan, build, and manage Cisco technologies and solutions for success.

     

    “Continued momentum around our collaborative partner approach and smart service capabilities remain vital to the health of our Services business and Cisco’s growth overall,” said Mr Cox. “I look forward to Anil and his team’s success as we continue to build and evolve our Services business over the next year.”

     

    Mr Bhasin added, “Cisco Services is a critical component of our evolution from an IT product to a technology solutions company. I look forward to leading this team and ensuring that Services continues to be a strategic asset and a competitive advantage for Cisco.”

     

  • Mindshift Interactive has launched their research arm MindShift Metrics, which will decode the vast amount of data available over the internet, and share findings leading to insights, resulting in forming a strategy

    Mindshift Interactive extends its arm to research

    By A Correspondent

     

    Mindshift Interactive has launched their research arm MindShift Metrics, which will decode the vast amount of data available over the internet, and share findings leading to insights, resulting in forming a strategy. Metrics will primarily be to evaluate or fine-tune an existing social media presence or campaign, assuring sustained growth or towards understanding the right campaign and platforms for a product launch. Given the right metrics, it also helps businesses understand consumer sentiments towards a particular product or even test an upcoming launch.

     

    The data will be gathered through MindShift tools and will be a step towards translating it into understanding your product, consumer or competition. The tools will go into the depths of understanding what consumers express or why they react the way they do or even forecast what your consumer wants next.

     

    Research is incomplete without human intelligence and MindShift will integrate a perspective from a mix of research analysts, social media specialists and behavior decoders. This combination provides with the right methodologies and a 360 degree perspective on where and what your Social Media landscape is and how it should evolve in order to be of constant value.

     

    Mindshift Metrics will be offering Social Media Metrics, consulting through Metrics Scorecard, Platform analysis and sample reports among others.

     

  • Reliance Broadcast Network's 'Big Magic International' has entered the United States, close on the heels of its launch in Canada, as part of its expansion and growth strategy. Dish Network is its exclusive distribution partner

    Reliance Big Magic enters US market

    By A Correspondent

     

    Within a quarter of Reliance Broadcast launching Big Magic International in Canada, the company has announced its entry into the United States.

     

    Big Magic International will offer South Asian audiences in the US a blend of variety entertainment, infotainment and business news from India. The programming will feature entertainment shows from the library of Reliance Broadcast Network and daily business news from Bloomberg TV India. The exclusive partnership with the largest DTH platform for the South Asian diaspora, Dish Network, will ensure it reaches a sizeable and relevant audience base in the US.

     

    Big Magic International will be part of the Hindi Mega Pack on Dish Network in the US, and will also be available as an a la carte channel. With revenues coming from both subscription and advertisement sales, Big Magic International has appointed Mediamorphosis LLC as its exclusive advertising agency for the US market.

     

    Speaking on the announcement, Tarun Katial, CEO, Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd. said, “Backed by the success that Big Magic International has seen in Canada, we are excited to be entering the key market of the United States. We are confident of the channel resonating well with audiences, while offering an effective platform to marketers. We are progressing as planned with our international expansion and growth strategy, and look forward to continuing to deliver value to all our stakeholders.”

     

  • A+E Networks|TV18 has announced the elevation of Devika Dayal, Senior Vice-President, to National Revenue Head with immediate effect

    Devika Dayal is National Revenue Head, A+E Networks |TV18

    By A Correspondent

     

    A+E Networks|TV18, the joint venture between TV18 Broadcast and A+E Networks LLC,  has announced the elevation of Devika Dayal, Senior Vice-President, to National Revenue Head with immediate effect.

     

    The JV recently forayed into the factual entertainment space in India with the launch of HistoryTV18 last year.

     

    Ajay Chacko, President, A+E Networks|TV18 said, “Devika has been instrumental in ensuring advertising traction for HistoryTV18 commensurate with its strong brand and viewership performance since launch. As we build HistoryTV18 further and plan other forays at A+E Networks|TV18, her perspective will be essential to our success in monetizing our brands.”

     

    Speaking on her elevation, Ms Dayal said, “It’s been an exciting year for HistoryTV18 and me. We’ve made significant efforts in establishing the brand in the market and now the task is to further capitalize on this growth momentum. I look forward to working with the team in ensuring we innovate and grow further from here”

     

    Ms Dayal has over a decade of experience in ad sales with stints at Zee and Discovery Communications prior to joining Network18 Group in 2005. She holds a degree in communications management from the National Institute of Advertising (NIA), Delhi and a Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Delhi.