MxMIndia

Category: NEWS

  • The awards, to be given on March 2, honour individuals who are determined to uncover the truth, expose injustice, change the system, and help create a better India

    IBN Network presents 5th edition of Citizen Journalist Awards

    By A Correspondent

     

    IBN Network, in partnership with Idea Cellular Ltd, is back with the fifth edition of its Citizen Journalist Awards, an initiative to empower the Indian citizen. Promoting the principles of inclusive journalism, these awards honour individuals who are determined to uncover the truth, expose injustice, change the system, and in the process, help create a better India for themselves and their countrymen.

     

    This year, the Citizen Journalist Awards will be given under four categories:

     

    > Fight for Her Rights – This category will recognize women CJs who are fighting for justice and their right to live a life of dignity

    > Citizens Against Corruption – This category will recognize CJs who are fighting for a corruption-free India

    > What an Idea Sirji – This category will recognize CJs who have come up with innovative ideas to bring about a change

    > CJ Video & CJ Photo – This category will recognize those alert CJs who captured a crime, an illegal activity or rules being flouted in the form of videos and pictures

     

     

    The award ceremony will be held on March 2, 2013.

     

    The Citizen Journalist Awards adheres to a stringent selection process where the IBN Network Editorial Board shortlists the nominees in the first phase basis their stories featured on the IBN channels and/or on the CJ microsite www.ibnlive.com/cj. The IBN Network team then deliberates on the nominees, before reaching a majority decision on the winners.

     

    Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor-in-Chief, CNN-IBN, IBN7 & IBN-Lokmat, said, “The CJ initiative has become a mass movement that has seen a lot of participation from across the nation. The Citizen Journalist Awards is a salute to all those citizens, who have taken the responsibility to fight for a better life for their countrymen.”

     

     

  • The first edition of the Yuva awards, that aim to find Yuva Icons of India, will be held in the capital on Feb 18

    First India TV Yuva Awards on Feb 18

    By A Correspondent

     

    The India TV Yuva Awards are set to take place in the capital on February 18, and aim to recognize and honour youth icons of India.

     

    The jury, chaired by Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan and consisting of well-known personalities across categories like Kapil Dev, Vandana Luthra , Professor Pushpesh Pant and India TV chairman & editor in chief Rajat Sharma, will decide the final winners of the Yuva Awards. To ensure credibility in the nomination process, C voter, a well renowned research agency, is on board as the official tabulator. Basis their analysis, a final list of nominees has been closed.

     

  • Gaana.com has tied up with the South Indian Music Companies Association, giving it access to over 55,000 songs covering the best of music in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam

    Gaana.com ties up with Simca, acquires music from 79 more regional labels

    By A Correspondent

     

    In a move to further reach audiences in South India and other regional markets, Gaana.com has tied up with Simca (South Indian Music Companies Association). This tie up gives Gaana access to over 55,000 songs covering the best of film, Carnatic and popular devotional music in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam.

     

    Avinash Mudaliar, Head of Gaana.com, said, “Gaana is constantly expanding its catalogue of music, and our association with SIMCA demonstrates our increased commitment to expand into the regional markets, particularly South India. We’ve seen that nearly 28 percent of our consumption on our website and new mobile apps comes from South India, and we hope to serve our users there better. Since the launch of its mobile apps, Gaana has nearly 400,000 downloads in the first 3-4 weeks, and is the top music app in the iPhone App Store.”

     

  • At AIMA's 3rd World Marketing Congress, Apollo Tyres bags AIMA's R K Swamy High Performance Brand of the year Award

    It’s an era of brand experience, not of product branding: D Shivakumar

    By A Correspondent

     

    All India Management Association (AIMA) kickstarted its two-day 3rd World Marketing Congress in the capital. The congress, themed Marketing Myopia 2.0, aimed to explore the future of marketing and to identify the challenges that marketers face due to the changing market scenario.

     

    Srinivasan K Swamy

    Inaugurating the event, the congress chairman and R K Swamy BBDO Chairman & Managing Director Srinivasan K Swamy said, “The consumer today wants more for less and quickly, which is making product lifecycle progressively shorter. Also, there is a lot of media today but not enough consumer engagement. The marketers face significant challenges in this age of digital media.”

     

    The congress took up several marketing issues for discussions, including the new age customers and grabbing their attention, extending product lifecycles, defining business based on customers and not products, using the internet to gain competitive advantage and the rising importance of earned media.

     

    Making a presentation on the occasion, D Shivakumar, President, AIMA and Senior Vice President, IMEA, Nokia Ltd, said, “Marketing has changed fundamentally. It’s an era of brand experience and not of product branding. Also, today, space is no longer only the physical location of business but any space where consumers can access it.” He also stressed that marketers could no longer treat the digital media as a niche. “In fact, digital media is becoming the main media to reach out to the youth,” he added.

     

    Mick Gordon, CEO, Ipsos highlighted that with digital platforms converging, it is important that brands start dreaming in digital. Anisha Motwani, Director and CMO, Max Life Insurance was of the view that brands need to connect with consumers every day. Concurring with Ms Motwani’s view BCCL President Arunabh Das Sharma said, “In the digital age, the concept of product life is dead and thus, one should focus on brand life cycle and values.”

     

    Gyan Gupta, CEO, Dainik Bhaskar, Digital Business, IMCL said, “The need for news has not changed, only the way people access the content has changed. Paper is not the mainstay, it is the content.” He further added  brands need to adapt themselves according to how the consumer wants to see the brand.

     

    Talking about earned media and paid media, Bhaskar Sharma, Director and GM, Red Bull India said, “Earned media for any brand remains distinct and credible, it is cool to share on all platforms. It results in high level of reach and engagement. The only issue being there is no control on how, and where it would appear.” Suhel Seth, Managing Partner, Counselage India said, “Earned media is about hinging on credibility of the brand. Earned media adds as a short buffer. What is more important for brands is that they remain relevant to their brand promise.”

     

    More than 250 marketers attended the Congress on its first day. The highlight of the event was the presentation of the AIMA’s R K Swamy High Performance Brand of the year Award, which was bagged by Apollo Tyres this year. Rajesh Dahiya, National Head, Sales & Marketing, Apollo Tyres received the award. Speaking on the occasion, Rekha Sethi, Director General AIMA, said “It is perfect time to debate marketers’ response to the revolutionary changes in the technologies and consumer behaviour.”

     

  • The application will enable easy access to spiritual conversations and articles from the website The Speaking Tree

    Times Internet launches Speaking Tree app for iPad

    By A Correspondent

     

    Times Internet Limited has announced the launch of spiritual networking website www.speakingtree.in as an application for iPads. The application will enable easy access to spiritual conversations and articles 24×7.

     

    The Speaking Tree iPad app hosts a range of spiritual information such as tips on meditation, spiritual blogs, forums and master discourses, as well as conversations between spiritual seekers and masters. Users can also create and share their personal spiritual diary with friends and acquaintances and help spread words of wisdom.

     

    Archana Vohra, Vice President, Times Internet Limited, saiad, “The Speaking Tree iPad application enables one-click access to spiritual conversations. We hope that it will revolutionize the accessibility of spiritual information on the web and help users gain answers to pertinent questions in today’s materialistic world.”

     

  • The Broadcasting Industry Awards are organised by the World Brand Congress

    Rahul Johri named ‘CEO of the Year’ at Broadcasting Industry Awards

    By A Correspondent

     

    Rahul Johri

    Rahul Johri, Senior Vice President & General Manager – South Asia, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, has been conferred with the CEO of the Year award at the Broadcasting Industry Awards, organized by the World Brand Congress. The award was given in recognition of Mr Johri’s strategy in establishing Discovery as the leading non-fiction media company in the country and his inspiring leadership to build a robust and varied portfolio of eight unique channels, led by the leading factual entertainment brand – the Discovery Channel.

     

    Mr Johri has been the driving force in company’s expansion and growth including its localization strategy and launch of multiple language feeds across brands. His venture to launch the game changing channel in the kids genre, Discovery Kids, has received industry wide applaud. His recent initiative is Discovery’s association with India Today Group to launch Discovery Channel Magazine in India. He said, “It is an honour for the entire company. I am grateful to my team, our esteemed partners and stakeholders in the region who have shared the spirit of commitment in making Discovery as one of the most respected television brands in South Asia.”

     

    “The distinction compliments Rahul Johri’s innovative thinking and creative leadership which has translated into business excellence,” declared the awards jury.

     

    Having joined Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific in 2001, Mr Johri currently leads its South Asia operations. He is responsible for the overall growth strategy of India’s highest quality factual and lifestyle portfolio including Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, TLC, Discovery Science, Discovery Turbo, Discovery HD World, Discovery Tamil and Discovery Kids.

     

    He is also credited with having commissioned a range of acclaimed series including Living with a Superstar: Shah Rukh Khan, What Not to Wear: India, Oh My Gold!, and Be Blunt with Adhuna Akhtar. He also spearheaded Discovery Channel’s association with Yash Raj Films for the latest release Jab Tak Hai Jaan and with the Indian Army for its women officers’ expedition to Mount Everest in 2012.

     

    Mr Johri is a Board Member and Treasurer of Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF). He is also a member of the media and entertainment committee of Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and member of the Media & Entertainment Division of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

     

  • The IAA gets the industry to debate interesting marketing and media issues

    IAA debate on relevance of tradition media given digital

    By A Correspondent

     

    The IAA India Chapter is introducing IAA Debates, intending to bring back the old-style classical debate format to dwell upon topical serious business issues. With leaders of the industry speaking For and Against, the IAA hopes to engage in a meaningful discussion with the audience as well. The first debate is to be held today at Four Seasons, Worli, Mumbai, at 4.30pm, on the question of whether traditional print and television media are losing relevance in the face of the growth of digital media.

     

    Srinivasan K Swamy

    Speaking about the new initiative, Srinivasan Swamy, President, IAA India Chapter said, “IAA members are senior opinion leaders in the industry and with these debates we intend to drive opinion and trends going forward. As an industry, we all take part in seminars, panel discussions etc but do we at all debate face-to-face some serious issues? In my view, the issues are best understood when we debate them with passion.”

     

    Seasoned professionals like Virginia Sharma of IBM, and Mahesh Murthy of Pinstorm will speak For and Sanjay Gupta of Star TV and Arunabh Das Sharma of Times of India will speak Against the motion. The debate will be moderated by Sonali Krishna, Anchor of Brand Equity show of ET Now. The debate series is being sponsored by Campaign India and the co-chairs of the IAA debates initiative are Partho Dasgupta and Neville Taraporewalla.

     

  • The first edition of the Yuva awards, that aim to find Yuva Icons of India, will be held in the capital today

    First India TV Yuva Awards to be held today

    By A Correspondent

     

    India TV is all set to honour the youth icons of the nation with the first edition of the Yuva Awards at a glittering ceremony in New Delhi this evening.

     

    The awards, to be given in six categories, namely Politics, Sports, Music, Film, Television and Business are an aspirational salute to young icons who, through their grit and determination, have inspired many and shown exemplary leadership and extraordinary excellence in their respective fields with achievements much bigger than their age.

     

    The winners have been decided basis a stringent process of nominations through nation-wide research by a well-known research agency, followed by audience votes.

     

    The jury, chaired by Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan, consists of well-known personalities across categories like Kapil Dev, Vandana Luthra , Professor Pushpesh Pant and India TV chairman & editor in chief Rajat Sharma.

     

    Ritu Dhawan, India TV MD & CEO, said, “These awards are a salute to the budding next generation of India, it is an honour getting to honour them on behalf of a nation that is on the rise, with a sense of achievement and pride.”

     

    The awards have real estate major Prateek Group as presenting sponsor and Galgotias University as an associate.

     

  • The agency was awarded with the 'Youth Marketing Agency of the Year' award at the Global Youth Marketing Forum by CMO Asia

    Pulp Strategy named ‘Youth Marketing Agency of the Year’

    By A Correspondent

     

    Pulp Strategy was given the ‘Youth Marketing Agency of the Year’ award at the Global Youth Marketing Forum by CMO Asia. The Youth Marketing Forum is the largest rendezvous of youth experts, marketing professionals, cool hunters and brand marketing specialists, with the focus of 2013 being on bold vision and brand ideas for the youth audiences.

     

    Pulp Strategy creates and develops engagement initiatives with youth communities and works with over 4,000 campuses across India, including the premier business and engineering Ivy League campuses. A substantial chunk of the agency’s body of work is centred on youth marketing. Having taken an unconventional approach to experiential marketing, Pulp Strategy has built expertise in peer-to-peer marketing, ambassador-led programmes, influencer marketing and community seeding in addition to traditional experiential marketing and brand activation campaigns.

     

    Ambika Sharma

    “Youth is a much sought after consumer segment as they are early adopters and value brand engagement when in the correct perspective. We utilize a strong social media connect as part of the relationship building process in addition to using experiential marketing to create seamless engagements with the audience,” said Ambika Sharma, MD and CEO, Pulp Strategy Communication.

     

  • It's ad war time a Dettol's campaign on kitchen cleaning product shows rival HUL's Vim dishwash liquid

    Reckitt Benckiser’s Dettol Kitchen ad takes on HUL’s Vim

    By Ratna Bhushan and Sagar Malviya

     

    In a first for Reckitt Benckiser, the launching commercial for its Dettol Kitchen dishwashing and kitchen cleaning gel shows rival Hindustan Unilever’s Vim dishwash liquid clearly, in a move that may trigger a new advertising war between the two European multinationals.

     

    The commercial, first aired on Friday, marks the first time the Indian arm of the British consumer good major has directly attacked HUL in its advertising.

     

    Skirmishes between the two firms have been veiled in the past, although both have repeatedly taken each other to court and advertising watchdog Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI).

     

    Officials of Reckitt Benckiser were not available for comment on the campaign. An HUL spokesperson too did not offer any comment on the subject. An official close to the developments said it was only a matter of days before HUL takes action against the disparaging ad.

     

    Experts say that even if HUL files a complaint to ASCI on Monday, the Dettol Kitchen ads released on Friday would have created maximum impact over the weekend.

     

    “Such ads gives a very strong message psychologically that it’s not just another product and they can compete with the market leader. While HUL almost has a monopoly in the segment, there could be more action now in an otherwise dull segment,” Nitin Mathur, consumer research analyst at Espirito Santo Securities, said.

     

    ASCI chairman Arvind Sharma, who is also the chairman & CEO of Leo Burnett in Indian subcontinent, said that featuring a rival brand in a campaign alone does not break advertising codes.

     

    “In general, the consumer complaints council code allows ads to show a rival brand as long as the claims made in the ad are fact-based,” said Mr Sharma who is also the president of Advertising Agencies Association of India.

     

    The consumer complaints council checks violations in advertising and initiates action as and when necessary.

     

    With this move, Reckitt Benckiser seems to have given HUL a taste of its own medicine.

     

    Two years ago, HUL’s ads for Rin detergent took a dig at rival Procter & Gamble’s Tide, clearly showing pictures of Tide in the Rin ad. P&G had moved the court within a day of the ad going on air, and the ad was stopped within days.

     

    As reported by The Economic Times last week, Reckitt Benckiser, which also makes Cherry Blossom shoe polish and Airwick air-fresheners, has taken its battle over germ-protection with HUL to the kitchen with the launch of Dettol Kitchen. India is only the second country after Korea to roll out Dettol Kitchen, a global innovation led by India.

     

    Reckitt Benckiser has positioned Dettol Kitchen as a ‘complete kitchen cleaner’, for use as a dish-washing gel and cleaning other kitchen surfaces like sinks and slabs.

     

    HUL’s Lifebuoy and Dettol have been rivals for close to three decades.

     

    The 80-year-old Dettol brand, launched first as an antiseptic liquid in 1933, has subsequently been launched across different categories including soap, plaster, handwash, shaving cream, hand sanitiser, and now kitchen cleaner.

     

    Vim, also an HUL power brand, has been dominating the dishwashing space for close to 100 years. The liquid dishwash segment is estimated at close to 300 crore, which is about 15% of the 2,000-crore overall dishwashing market that includes bars, powders and liquids. Growing at a rapid 40%, the liquid segment is the fastest growing among dishwashing formats.

     

    Apart from Vim, Dettol Kitchen will compete with Henkel-Jyothy’s Pril and Exo. Dettol has some 53% of the 300-crore handwash category, followed by Lifebuoy at a share of about 30%. But in soap, Lifebuoy has close to14% share, against Dettol’s 8.2% market share.

     

    The UK, Slough-based firm over a year ago named India as the headquarters for its South East Asia region, and placed India chairman and MD CM Sethi at the helm of 12 countries including Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

     

    The Dettol Kitchen commercial may trigger an aggressive ad war between British firm Reckitt Benckiser and Anglo-Dutch firm Unilever in India ahead of UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s visit to India from today (Feb 18).

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2013, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

     

  • The World Marketing Congress attracted more than 350 participants, and afforded delegates an opportunity to learn from the experts and share branding experience and insights with their peers

    AIMA World Marketing Congress pinpoints marketing myopia in digital age

    By A Correspondent

     

    All India Management Association (AIMA) Third World Marketing Congress concluded recently. It highlighted the need for a fundamental change in marketing in the age of digital media and empowerment of the consumer. The theme of the congress was “Marketing Myopia 2.0”.

     

    On the second and the final day of the event, the speakers shared their insights on many urgent marketing issues, including big data and analytics, future relevance of the traditional media, the role of NGOs in marketing social causes and the relevance of advertising agencies in the new era.

     

    Speaking about the relevance of traditional media in the current scenario, Shefalika Saxena, CMO, Microsoft India said, “Traditional media is not at all losing relevance. Media is only media and not new or old, which is constantly changing and evolving. It’s not about newspapers or television or any other media but it’s how one uses that media to engage with the customers to sell or to market a product.”

     

    “As world of marketing is changing rapidly every day, traditional media has to change ways of communicating with people and have to go where the audience is going rather than where media wants to take them,” Ashok Venkatramani, CEO, ABP News, said while commenting on role and relevance of traditional media in current scenario.

     

    Talking about the importance of analytics in marketing, Clifford Patrao, Director and Leader, Strategy & Transformation-Global Business Services, India/South Asia, IBM India Pvt. Ltd, said, “Analytics are for enriching customers experience and to make product branding more user friendly. We are seeing an era where data is empowering marketing and marketers.” The delegates also discussed the new age consumers, extending product lifecycles, defining business based on customers and not products, using Internet to gain competitive advantage and the rising importance of earned media.

     

    Koichiro Shima, Co-CEO, Creative Director and Editor, Hakuhodo Kettle Tokyo and Yasuharu Sasaki, ECD, Dentsu Network, New York presented five tips to avoid myopic campaigns. Co-presenting the tips, they said, “The agencies need to design the experience that people have never experienced. Creative rectors must be good facilitators and allow people to discover message on their own rather than follow directives. It is important that agencies are flexible and are ready to tune the content and budget anytime.” The fourth point they shared was to “forget digital’ since agencies focus too much on digital making it myopic. “It is not the technology but the idea that attracts people. We need to design human touch behind the technologies.” The last tip they shared was to create social significance with the digital medium, as it offers many opportunities.

     

    The Congress attracted more than 350 participants. The Congress afforded the delegates an opportunity to learn from the experts and share branding experience and insights with their peers.

     

  • Notable panellists from the fourth estate gathered at the Indian Magazine Conress to put forth their views on the topic 'Church vs State: Has the wall between editorial and business breached?

    IMC 2013: Editorial vs business: the debate rages on…

    By A Correspondent

     

    It’s been an oft- debated topic at most industry forums but one can be assured of a new twist to crop up each time the subject comes alive. It was no different at the Indian Magazine Congress where notable panellists from the fourth estate gathered to put forth their views on the topic ‘Church vs State: Has the wall between editorial and business breached?’

     

    Flagging off the discussion, Khozem Merchant, India Head at Pearson began by saying that the shape and tone of print media has undergone a drastic shift in recent years with the emergence of paid content. A concept that was pioneered by the Times of India, paid content has changed the way the business of newspapers operate while managing to reinforce the state of the advertisers in this country, he said. While on the one hand it has underpinned the economics of this industry on the other it has subjugated the craft of journalism. The good thing to have happened is that there has been a spurt in the rise of niche magazines; this on the back of the Indian print industry managing to do well in recent times, said Mr Merchant.

     

    Terming the debate an irrelevant one, Hormazd Sorabjee, editor, Autocar India said, “In my opinion, the debate is not a valid one. Where we are concerned, we are not influenced at all by the advertisers. We have moved to an era today of high cover pricing and still have audiences who read us. We will in way allow our practices to be compromised.”

     

    But while maintaining editorial integrity remains a priority, for Mr Sorabjee there was a need to reach out to the advertising community as well. “We need to offer advertising solutions that have a reading value. While we do need advertisers to sustain the business the editorial-advertising division cannot be breached.”

     

    Taking off from where Mr Sorabjee left, Krishna Prasad, editor-in-chief of Outlook said that according to him, the Church vs State wall had been breached the reason for that was due to content. While everybody was focusing on the business side of the trade, Mr Prasad highlighted that nobody cared to talk about the core of the business – training journalists in mastering the art. “The fact is that content and journalism are two key facets that we need to focus on. But in India, the market leaders have played a damaging role in getting the toothpaste out of the tube. It is essential that we do not continue to dabble in business beyond a certain limit.”

     

    According to Indrajit Gupta, editor, Forbes India his magazine has always tried to provide journalism that is respected. But he cautioned that it was necessary for editors to see business realities as well. “Before we launched our magazine we spent a fair amount of time researching and understanding what the market reality was. If the focus for magazines happens to be content, then you have to keep the consumer at the centre. The onus lies on both the editors as well as advertisers to make this a reality. But it is essential that instead of reach magazines should be sold via engagement,” reasoned Mr Gupta.

     

    Answering a question on whether editors needed to play multiple roles, Mr Sorabjee said that it was essential for editors to be seen as well-rounded figures. Where his magazine was concerned, it shared a close association with the advertisers as it was a niche offering. After all we are being measured by our readers, which is good but the business reality is that we need to have innovation to enhance value.”

     

    Mr Gupta said that most brands do not carry the conviction that is desired out of them. Adding he said: “While most editors are reluctant even business managers have failed to show creativity. This may lead one to be held ransom by the advertisers. This is the case especially with Events and other such offerings that lack differentiation. At the end, it has to be an editorial-driven activity.”

     

    Adding on to his earlier point, Mr Prasad stated that the troubling part with India’s media growth investment has been its investment in journalism that has been abysmal. “While it’s a fact that owners are making revenues they need to plough it back in the business.”