MxMIndia

Category: NEWS

  • Intel Capital has announced 10 investments at its Intel Capital Global Summit, with $40 million pledged in new investments to help innovative companies. The amount invested in Hungama.com has not been disclosed.

    Hungama.com has Intel inside

    By A Correspondent

     

    Intel Capital, Intel Corporation’s global investment and M&A organization, kicked off its annual Intel Capital Global Summit by announcing investments in 10 innovative technology companies, including a strategic investment in Hungama.com. Intended to help these companies grow to the next level, the investments reinforce the Global Summit’s 2-day agenda focused on company building. Totaling approximately $40 million, they cover a range of technologies from collaborating in the cloud and delivering enhanced digital entertainment to simplifying mobile payments and enabling new forms of device interaction.

     

    Hungama.com , which received an undisclosed sum from Intel Capital, launched India’s first on-demand digital entertainment storefront. The storefront boasts of over two-and-a-half million pieces of content across genres and languages, in the form of music tracks, movies, music videos & mobile content. Hungama Movies has over 5000 Bollywood, Hollywood, Regional Indian Movies and Television Series available in both HD and SD quality, powered by Intel Insider. With over 20 million users, the website is accessible from PCs, mobiles, tablets, connected TVs and other connected devices.

     

    “Business deals happen when Intel Capital brings together our vast global network with our portfolio company innovators,” said Arvind Sodhani, president of Intel Capital and Intel executive vice president. “Our annual Global Summit and the ongoing Intel Capital Technology Days provide our portfolio companies with unmatched access to the decision-making executives critical to revenue-generating sales or partnerships. The 10 new investments in innovative companies announced today stand to benefit greatly from these longstanding company-building resources.”

     

    Other than Hungama.com, the investments include secure content sharing platform Box; social radio platform Jelli; social game developer LIFO Interactive; mobile proximity platform NewAer; e-payment platform PagPop; cloud services provider Tier 3; 3-D game developer Transmension; and mobile advertising provider UUCun. Financial details of each investment were not disclosed.

     

  • The Advertising Club, at its managing committee meeting following the AGM, unanimously decided to promote Bipin R Pandit as the chief operating officer of the club

    Bipin Pandit is now COO of Ad Club

    By A Correspondent

     

    Bipin Pandit

    The Advertising Club, at its managing committee meeting following the AGM, unanimously decided to promote Bipin R Pandit as the chief operating officer of the club.

     

    The club follows the ritual of holding a managing committee meeting immediately after the AGM every year, which was done this year too. Post handling the items on the structured agenda the committee under the presidentship of Shashi Sinha unanimously decided to promote Bipin R Pandit as the Chief Operating Officer of the Ad Club.

     

    Mr Pandit had joined the Ad Club in 1998 and during his tenure he has been successively promoted from executive secretary to manager, general manager, and now Chief Operating Officer.

     

    Mr Pandit said, “I am thankful to the entire managing committee and our president Shashi Sinha in particular for the promotion. They are not only supportive of the ideas and suggestions that I give, they encourage me to implement them. I have always loved doing new things or to do existing things in a new way. I love challenges and with this elevation there will be many in store.

     

    “We are not a club that does only awards, it has given a great deal back to the industry – from sending students to Cannes, Spikes etc, to holding case study presentations, organizing evening meetings with international speakers, and holding educational workshops.”

     

  • Big FM and Total Oil India Pvt. Ltd have announced the launch of 'Total Quartz Safety Month', a campaign that is spread across 21 cities, promoting safe driving habits

    Big FM and Total Oil India announce ‘total quartz safety month’

    By a Correspondent

     

    Big FM and Total Oil India Pvt. Ltd have announced the launch of ‘Total Quartz Safety Month’, a campaign that is spread across 21 cities, promoting safe driving habits.

     

    The Total Quartz Safety Month campaign will be led by the 92.7 Big FM RJs advocating and initiating change required in the mindset of people, and garnering their support as far as road safety rules are concerned. The campaign is said to have meticulously unfold in four distinct phases: Phase I – Safe Driving; Phase II – Don’t Talk While Driving; Phase III – Don’t Drink and Drive; Phase IV – will see the culmination of the campaign through the ‘Total Quartz Safety Run’ which will see the participation of the local populace in each of the cities.

     

    The campaign will see programming tailored to create audiences on Big FM ranging from traffic authorities, legal experts, people who have been affected by drunken driving accidents, tips to avoid getting into a situation, statistics related to accidents and more.

     

    A 92.7 Big FM spokesperson said, “The Total Quartz Safety Month is a unique initiative that aims at encouraging Indians to take a pledge to drive safely. With the campaign culminating into the Total Quartz Safety Run, we are inviting 92.7 Big FM listeners to actively show their support towards a cause that has taken thousands of lives already this year. We are sure that our commitment towards this cause along with Total Lubricants’ support will work collectively towards the welfare of the community at large.”

     

    Speaking about their association with Big FM to announce the Total Quartz Safety Month, B Vijay Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director, Total Oil India Pvt. Ltd. said, “Total considers people safety and health protection of paramount importance while carrying out its business activities in complex and diverse environments. Total through a coordinated and coherent approach is committed to improve the safety standards of individual and communities. The TOTAL Quartz Safety Run, our initiative with Big FM, is an important programme designed to promote safe driving habits thereby reducing accidents and saving precious lives.”

     

  • Abdul Khan was associated with Tata Teleservices since January 2009 in the capacity of Senior VP.

    Abdul Khan returns to Reliance Industries

    By Ananya Saha

     

    Abdul Khan

    After spending seven years at Tata Teleservices, Abdul Khan is heading back to Reliance Industries. His first stint with Reliance began in the year 2000, where he was responsible for launching the mobile services.

     

    He served as Senior Vice President and National Head of Business Marketing of Tata Teleservices Ltd. He joined the company in January 2009 as Head of GSM marketing and Advisor to Managing Director at Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd (TTML).

     

    Mr Khan told MxM India, “Telecom is a dynamic industry, where everything you create can be replicated in 24 hours. There was a great amount of learning in this sector, which has helped me.”  However, he said that he will not be taking care of marketing and branding in his new profile.

     

    Mr Khan called his stint at Tata Teleservices enormously fulfilling. He was responsible for “launching various products during turbulent times including Walky, Docomo, Photon.”

     

    A graduate of IIT (Kharagpur) and IIM (Ahmedabad), Mr Khan has close to three decades of experience in brand marketing and advertising. He has also worked with RK Swamy BBDO, Mudra Communications, Asian Paints, and across various product markets.

     

  • India may be out of the T20 Cricket World Cup, but advertisers continue to cheer

    India out, advertisers still in!

     

    By Ananya Saha and Robin Thomas

     

    India might not have made it to the semi-finals of the T20 Cricket World Cup, but the advertisers and sponsors of the event are still cheering. ESPN Star had sold inventories to about 34 advertisers and, according to industry estimates, the advertising revenues that the channel made for the T20 World Cup are already in the range of Rs 250 crore. Are they complaining?

     

    Mahesh Ranka

    Mahesh Ranka, Founder & CEO, Indus Sports and Sponsorship, feels that India’s performance would hit the advertisers. He said, “The ad deliveries in the World Cup will be lower given that India did not make it through. However, the advertisers and sponsors would have taken the factor of India not making it through before they signed up. The bigger issue is for ESPN Star, whose inventory might be affected.”

     

    It is no news that advertisers and agencies always plan with such contingencies, of India not winning or getting out of a tournament, in mind. And especially in the case of T20, India was going to play either five matches or seven. With just three games left, from a sheer quantity perspective, it does not seem a big loss to advertisers.

     

    Anwesh Bose

    Anwesh Bose, Senior Vice President, DDB MudraMax Media, said, “Advertisers and sponsors have got their value already. Cricket is a non-cancellable property, so nobody is going to withdraw the money they have put in. For the T20 World Cup, sponsors buy the inventory for the entire tournament.” He added, “The broadcaster, in this case ESPN Star, holds back about 10 percent of inventory of finals and semi-finals, which they sell at a very high premium. Now that India did not go, they might not be able to command the premium for the inventory.”

     

    With India losing, ESPN Star has definitely lost an opportunity that they would have capitalised on if India had made it through.

     

     

    Vivek Srivastava

    Vivek Srivastava, Joint MD, Innocean Worldwide, said, “If you are a brand that looks at tactical use of such opportunities then you might sound like prophets of doom at this eventuality. However, most strategically driven brands today have long-term sports marketing properties and a long-term perspective on leveraging them. They look at a long-term engagement via a mega sport like cricket. Our client Hyundai has a long-term vision about integrating the brand and engaging with India’s passion for cricket as well as other cricket-playing nations via a five-year official partner status with the ICC. While India missing out on a semi-final berth hurts the emotions, it is business as usual.”

     

    Agreeing with Mr Srivastava is Hiren Pandit, Managing Partner-Special Projects at Group M who opined, “Advertisers have got more mileage and viewership during the T20 matches, and India’s exit will be slightly disappointing for them. Most of the advertisers in cricket are long-term advertisers, all the deals have been done earlier. India’s early exit may have been a missed opportunity but it does not mean that advertisers will not continue to sponsor the sport. Viewership will be impacted by India’s exit but there will still be some viewership.”

     

    The industry believes that the viewership will only see a minor blip, if at all. According to Satish Menon, CEO, Sports 18, while advertisers may be slightly disappointed with the loss, it is not going to stop them from advertising or investing in cricket in the near future.

     

    Mr Menon asserted, “When (Team India) does not do well it does reflect on the viewership and so on. As far as the viewership is concerned there will be a marginal dip, not a huge one because cricket is a universal game and a lot of the cricket fans or viewers also follow other matches equally. So I don’t think India’s exit will have any major impact on viewership and especially because it is the T20 World Cup.”

     

    Sudha Natrajan

    “When India is not there in a tournament, there is between 25 percent and about 35 percent drop in the viewership as compared to when India is playing. This is the sort of trend you see in the earlier games. If the games are interesting, the viewership could even climb, despite India’s exit from the tournament. The problem however is the buzz and the interest level that the country has when India is playing as compared to when they are not playing. So more than the TVR, it is the overall interest that you see diminishing,” concluded Sudha Natrajan, founder, TMC Corporation.

     

    Given that it is the festive season in India, the advertisers might not mind a few losses.

     

     

    Clippings above (LtoR) from DNA, Hindustan Times and The Times of India

     

  • New roles for Starcom MediaVest Group's Tarun Nigam, Sulina Menon, Sriram Sharma.

    Senior management changes at SMG Delhi

    By A Correspondent

     

    Starcom MediaVest Group has announced that three senior executives, Tarun Nigam, Sulina Menon and Sriram Sharma, have been given new roles as part of the restructuring.

     

    Tarun Nigam, ED Starcom North, is moving to a role with VivaKi Exchange by Januray 2013. In the past 6 years with the organisation, Tarun has handled critical roles like Delhi head and National Director Business Impact for SMG India. He is currently in the process of transitioning from the SMG role to a full time role with the group outfit VivaKi. In his new role, Tarun will report to VivaKi Exchange CEO Mona Jain.

     

    Sulina Menon, Executive Director and Head of Team Samsung and Dabur will be taking charge of Tarun’s client portfolio in Delhi, in addition to overseeing the Dabur account.  Sulina has been instrumental in scaling up Starcom’s services on Samsung over the past couple of years. This year the agency won numerous awards for outstanding work on Samsung.

     

    Sriram Sharma, VP Starcom South is moving to Delhi to Head Team Samsung.  Sriram has played a key role in developing Starcom Bangalore and Chennai. There would be a 3 month overlap between Sulina and Sriram on Samsung before they take independent charge of their roles in Januray 2013. In their new roles both Sulina and Sriram will report to SMG India CEO Malli CR.

     

    Malli CR, CEO, SMG India, says, “After a good run in the past 2 years, we are gearing up for an even more action packed future. Tarun, Sulina and Sriram have done exceedingly well in their respective assignments and have been great ambassadors of SMG. Their new roles with enlarged responsibilities are a testament to their performance. We wish them the very best in their new assignments”.

     

  • Eric Marlow joins Jump Games as VP-Global Studios

    Mumbai, October 8th, 2012:  Reliance Entertainment Digital’s game division Jump Games, a leading international publisher and developer mobile games, apps, and content, has brought on board Eric Marlow as Vice President in charge of their Global Studios.  Marlow is a veteran when it comes to the game development.  He has more than 13 years in the games industry, with additional work in strategy at management consulting firm Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers).

     

    Eric joins Jump Games from Zynga, where he was an Executive Producer responsible for leadership and direction of Mafia Wars, one of their most respected franchises. Marlow has also worked with notable UK-based developer Kuju Entertainment where he spearheaded their foray into Asia and led their operations in the Philippines as their President and Head of Studio.

     

    Marlow will oversee the current slate of development projects underway, chart the company’s growth into new regions, and expand the product portfolio by enhancing the company’s relationship with 3rd party developers.

     

    Commenting on the appointment, Mr. Manish Agarwal, CEO, Reliance Entertainment Digital said, “We at Jump Games welcome Eric on board.  He has uniquely distinguished himself as one of a handful of videogame executives with true multi-regional experience. His knowledge of the industry will be critical for us to develop world class products and tap the mobile gaming opportunities worldwide.  With his addition to the team, we are confident of adding many more games to the current lists of successes which Jump has seen in last 18 months e.g. Real Steel, F1 2011, etc.”.

     

    Speaking on his appointment, Marlow said, “I am honored to be a part of Jump Games.  Enhancing their global presence is a great opportunity, and I am particularly interested with their association with Reliance Entertainment and their fantastic IP.  I am looking forward to the great games that will result”.

     

  • Reliance Broadcast Network, the multi-media entertainment company has announced key appointments. Ashwin Sashital joins as Vice President BIG RTL, Minal Sharma joins as Sales Head – West and South, BIG CBS and Preeti Nayyar comes on board as National Sales Head Impact & Sales Head South and West – Language TV

    Reliance Broadcast announces key appointments

    By A Correspondent

     

    Ashwin Sashital

    Reliance Broadcast Network, the multi-media entertainment company has announced key appointments. Ashwin Sashital joins as Vice President BIG RTL, Minal Sharma joins as Sales Head – West and South, BIG CBS and Preeti Nayyar comes on board as National Sales Head Impact & Sales Head South and West – Language TV.

     

    A post graduate from MICA, Mr Sashital joins BIG RTL as Vice President and will oversee the business operations across the functions of marketing, revenue, creative and operations for the business. In his new role he will be reporting to Sunil Kumaran, Head, Language TV. Prior to joining BIG RTL, he worked extensively in the M&E industry across companies like Star, Zee and Radio Mid Day. His last stint was with Star Pravah in the role of AVP.

     

    Speaking on his new role, Mr Sashital said, “Big RTL is in an exciting phase where it is set to grow in leaps and bounds and I would like to steer and accelerate it in the right direction and make it a part of the leading network of channels in India. With the right balance of creative and business vision, I am confident of making it a channel most sought after both by its audiences and marketers alike.

     

    Minal Sharma

    Minal Sharma comes on board as Sales Head – West and South, BIG CBS Channels. Her new role entails revenue generation for the channels along with her team. She will report into Anand Chakravarthy, Business Head, BIG CBS Channels. Armed with over 12 years of relevant work experience, Ms Sharma has worked across media brands ranging UTV Bindaas (Disney), Zoom, Zee TV, India TV and India Today.

     

    Speaking on her appointment Ms Sharma said, “The BIG CBS Channels have some of the best content and have delivered to their promise of latest-freshest-hottest content. With digitization set to bring in transparency, improved quality of service and fair play, I am excited to be at the core of the revolution, as we offer marketers tremendous measurable value.”

     

    Preeti Nayyar

    Preeti Nayyar joins RBNL as National Sales Head Impact & Sales Head – South and West – Language TV. With over 12 years of extensive understanding of activation and sales, through hands on experience, she has worked across the M&E industry spanning radio and print. She will report to Arjun Singgh Baran, Sales Head, Language TV. Her last stint was with Radio Mirchi where she witnessed the evolution of radio, while handling a gamut of functions including retail and corporate sales. Prior to that, she worked in the print media with brands like India Today and Business Standard, working on a varied portfolio.

     

    Speaking on her appointment, Ms Nayyar said, “The growth story for Indian television lies in the regional space, and am glad to come on board Reliance Broadcast Network in these exciting times. I look forward to working with the team, as we together offer marketers solutions that are tailored to reach their regional audiences, while delivering optimal ROI and minimal spill-over.”

     

  • BBC Good Food has launched its own kitchen-studio, where recipes and techniques will be developed and tested

    BBC Good Food India launches kitchen-studio

    By A Correspondent

     

    A good kitchen is integral to culinary creativity and quality assurance, and that is the motivation behind the launch of the brand new BBC Good Food India kitchen. Like the magazine, the Good Food test kitchen is the first of its kind in India and firmly establishes the brand as the pioneering authority in food in India.

     

    BBC Good Food India has at its core the triple testing of every one of the 80 plus recipes featured in the magazine each month. This makes the kitchen crucially important to the magazine. It has been designed to fulfil the brand’s central philosophy of fool-proofing every recipe so our readers get it right the very first time they try it in their kitchen. The kitchen will also serve as a laboratory for the creation and development of new recipes by the Good Food cookery team, thereby underlining our commitment to culinary innovation and growth.

     

    Located centrally in Mumbai’s Prabhadevi, the 1,800 sq ft property houses a fully equipped kitchen as well as a photography studio. The mod cons in the fully fitted state-of-the-art kitchen include stovetops, wok burners, griddles and ovens and fryers, besides essentials such as a refrigerator, a cooler and a dishwasher. The kitchen is designed in a modular style, with an ergonomic central kitchen island.

     

    Commenting on the launch, Tarun Rai, CEO Worldwide Media, said, “BBC Good Food is India’s first and only international food magazine. And we are very happy that, in another first for the magazine industry, we now have our own kitchen and studio to test each recipe and create new, original ones. The food scene in India is changing rapidly and people are experimenting with cuisines both in their kitchens as well when eating out.”

     

  • Wall painting advertising solution agency Adwallz has recently bagged six new accounts, taking its total number of clients to nearly 50

    Adwallz adds 6 new accounts to portfolio

    By A Correspondent

     

    Wall painting advertising solution agency Adwallz has recently bagged six new accounts, taking its total number of clients to nearly 50. The newly added clients include banking company HDFC, electronic company Philips, global chemical company Huntsman Corporation, insurance company Bajaj Allianz and mobile service providers MTS and Vodafone.

     

    The agency will execute the ‘Jeevan Bima and Sales’ campaign for Bajaj Allianz in Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Punjab and ‘Gold Loan’, ‘Current a/c, saving a/c’ campaign for HDFC in Andhra Pradesh and Orrisa. For Huntsman Corp, it will take charge of the Karpenter & Araldite brand across India and for CFL & TL for Philips in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.  For MTS and Vodafone, the agency will take charge of branding in Maharashtra and Bangalore respectively.

     

    Mihir Mody

    Commenting on the win, Mihir Mody, Founder and CEO, Adwallz said, “This quarter has been very significant for Adwallz in terms of new accounts. We are happy to be associated with these brands that are well established in their respective industry. Being associated with such big corporations gives us an opportunity to exhibit our creativity and innovation. Our endeavor is to deliver the best in terms of creativity and create a unique advertising experience for the target audience of the brands.”

     

    The company, which came into existence in 2004, won the newly added accounts in the last one month. The execution for these campaigns has started from the first week of October. Currently, Adwallz has corporate giants like HUL, Colgate, Marico, Godrej and Wipro amongst many in its current portfolio.

     

  • The online study reveals consumer interest, media consumption and attitudes towards partnership platforms

    Interest in KBC is greater than IPL: MEC

    By A Correspondent

     

    MEC, leading media and planning agency and a founding partner of Group M, (www.mecglobal.com), has announced the launch of its global research study – Partnership Intelligence. The study is an innovative research and online analysis tool that enables in-depth analysis of consumer interest, media consumption and attitudes towards partnership platforms including Sport, TV programming, Art, Entertainment and other global properties.

     

    Some of the key findings from the research include:

    * Among cricketing properties, ODI World Cup and T20 World Cup were considered the most preferred with ‘love’ and ‘like’ score of 80-81%. IPL only came third with a 71% ‘love’ and ‘like’ score

    * FIFA World Cup had the highest interest among non-cricket properties with 66% ‘love’ and ‘like’ score whereas Formula1 is far below in the 7th position with a score of only 51%.

    * Loyalty towards teams was translated with the National cricket team scoring the highest at 75% ‘love’ and ‘like’ score, followed by the National Hockey and Olympics teams at 59% and 54% respectively

    * Within the entertainment segment KBC dominated television reality shows cutting across age groups. Other than KBC, Dance India Dance (62%), Indian Idol & Sa Re Ga Ma (59%) and India’s Got Talent (56%) are among the Top 5 properties.

     

    Despite India being a cricket-crazy nation, the interest in KBC is greater than IPL as per the study. KBC is the only non-cricket property with a ‘love’ and ‘like’ score of 74%, which made it to top five properties in MEC’s Partnership Intelligenceâ„¢ study.

     

    Geetha Shiv, National Director, Analytics & Insight, MEC says, “Partnership Intelligence provides insights that help in deciding the most effective partnerships for brands based on how engaged their Target Audience is with different properties. It also helps select properties based on image profiles that fit with brand values.”

     

    The Partnership Intelligence global research has been conducted via an online survey across 17 markets including India, with a sample size of 1500 in each market. Besides delivering an analysis of property attributes the tool also provides comprehensive assessment of the potential fit of a property with a brand’s own values.

     

    Speaking about the research, T Gangadhar, Managing Director, MEC India says, “This is unique, never-done-before study that helps advertisers make choices between seemingly disparate opportunities. It offers an intelligent view on how one can go about choosing the right partnership or association for a specific brand. The study offers terrific insights based on people’s motivations and choices.”

     

  • He will join GroupM early in 2013 to succeed Vikram Sakhuja as GroupM South Asia CEO after quitting Starcom Mediavest yesterday

    CVL Srinivas to join GroupM as South Asia CEO

    By A Correspondent

     

    CVL Srinivas

    GroupM Asia Pacific today announced that CVL Srinivas will join GroupM early next year (2013) to succeed Vikram Sakhuja as GroupM South Asia CEO with responsibility for all GroupM operations in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

     

    Mr Srinivas (or ‘Srini’, as he is known in the industry) will also join the GroupM Asia Pacific executive committee. On October 9, Mr Srinivas had resigned from Starcom MediaVest Group as its Chairman-India and CEO, LiquidThread APAC. He had joined the group in January 2011.

     

    Vikram Sakhjua, former GroupM Asia CEO who was recently announced as Worldwide CEO for Maxus, will remain based in Mumbai.

     

    Mr Srinivas will report to Mark Patterson AP CEO GroupM. On the appointment, Mr Patterson commented, “Srini was our first choice by some stretch for this role. In his previous roles in GroupM he excelled and he rejoins us with more and different experiences under his belt, which will serve our clients, our people and our ambitions well. We have a world class business in theSouth Asiaregion and Srini has the skills, personality, relationships and attitude to build the business on strategy and with his own style and ideas too. He will add huge value inSouth Asia, to our business in the wider AP region and no doubt WW too. I am personally very excited and delighted to work with Srini closely once again as I am sure are many of his colleagues and friends in GroupM.”

     

    On his new role, Mr Srinivas commented, “I am really looking forward to taking up this role and going back to an organisation where I learnt the ropes and built a business. Vikram and his team have done a phenomenal job in growing the business and diversifying the service offerings to date. I am thrilled to be joining a talented team and working with such a portfolio of powerful media brands and fantastic clients. Mark has outlined a vision for the business regionally and globally that I am excited and challenged about and one I look forward to participating.”

     

    Mr Sakhuja said, “It has been a privilege and a joy over the past 15 years to work with Srini as a client, a colleague and a competitor. Srini brings truly disruptive thinking to the party and to my mind is the best person I can think of to take GroupM South Asia to an increasingly integrated, digital, data driven and addressable age. Welcome back to the family Srini.”

     

    In a career spanning over 20 years in media industry, Mr Srinivas, an XLRI Jamshedpur alumnus, has served as Chairman Starcom MediaVest Group (India) at Starcom MediaVest Group, Director- Private Treaties at Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd, CEO, Asia Pacific at GroupM (Maxus), COO at Madison Communications, and Media Head Personal Products & Foods Unilever account at Fulcrum (JWT).