MxMIndia

Category: NEWS

  • Through this acquisition, Appstudioz has now merged with Affle's Media Lab business and has become a fully owned subsidiary of Affle Holdings Private Limited in Singapore

    Affle acquires Appstudioz; sets up global R&D centre in India

    By A Correspondent

     

    Affle has announced the acquisition of Appstudioz, an India based mobile technology company. Set up in 2011, the Appstudioz platform has grown rapidly to help deliver a robust mobile application platform which is already being used by over 400 customers globally.

     

    Affle also announced the setup of a significant R&D facility in India to help strengthen its mobile app & ad technology platform. The Affle R&D centre in India is already over 200 member strong and is expected to grow significantly in months to come with new platform modules being rolled out.

     

    Anuj Khanna Sohum, Founder, CEO and Chairman, Affle said, “Over the last eight years Affle has been focused on building next generation technology platforms to cater to the mobile industry. We saw challenges and complications within the current eco-system which required advertisers to work with multiple partners for development, attribution, analytics, media procurement & monetisation. We have thus unified our platforms to create the industry first end-to-end mobile marketing platform catering to advertisers, publishers and agencies. We are very excited by this acquisition and believe that the Appstudioz technologies would significantly strengthen our propositions and its team would form the nucleus of our growing R&D facility in India.”

     

    Anuj Kumar, Co-founder & Executive Director, Affle added “Our mobile ad platforms have matured over the years and in Appstudioz we found the perfect ally to strengthen our propositions for mobile apps, and thus build much greater value for our MAAS based approach. We are very happy and excited by this acquisition as this significantly strengthens our offering and unique position across markets. Being the largest mobile (internet) first market, we see India as a perfect location for doing cutting edge R&D for our businesses and the setting up of our global R&D centre here is a solid step forward for us and for the mobile industry in India. We expect our engineering team here to grow rapidly and help deliver to our global technology leadership aspirations.”

     

    Through this acquisition, Appstudioz has now merged with Affle’s Media Lab business and has become a fully owned subsidiary of Affle Holdings Private Limited in Singapore.

     

  • The online bazaar is stuffed full of something 'kart' or something 'deal', a manic copying frenzy thanks to headline grabbing successes of Flipkart and Snapdeal

    Success of Flipkart and Snapdeal spawns name-copying in the e-commerce market

    By Rasul Bailay

     

    You have an e-commerce business model, you have startup funding, you are all fired up, and now you need a name for your company. Take note – the online bazaar is stuffed full of something ‘kart’ or something ‘deal’, a manic copying frenzy thanks to headline grabbing successes of Flipkart and Snapdeal.

     

    There are at least 15 e-commerce sites that have ‘kart’ appended to their name. ‘Deal’ has attracted at least a dozen ventures. So, you have relatively well-known HealthKart and LensKart to relatively less-known e-tailers such as VeggieKart, SafetyKart, Mygreenkart, Metalkart, Bagskart, Jewelskart, Yaari Kart, AssamKart and even a Spritualkart. Just as you have entedeal, freedealsguru, indiasmartdeal, Dealtz, and the very prosaic, Daily Deal.

     

    Ecommerce entrepreneurs are divided over whether such name cloning works. Some like Arun Chandra Mohan are dead set against ‘kart’ or ‘deal’ or ‘for you’, another awfully common online venture naming strategy. Mohan’s venture went online in 2011.

     

    And the name? Jabong. Jabong, as everyone knows, has done pretty well for itself, despite being nonkart and non-deal.

     

    But e-entrepreneurs still finding their feet in the tough online marketplace differ. There are startups that say naming ventures ‘kart’ and ‘deal’ will quickly identify them as ecommerce websites.

     

    “Many ecommerce ventures now use the ‘kart’ thing so people can easily understand what they are about,” says Bikash Kalita, cofounder of Guwahati-based AssamKart. com.

     

    AssamKart sells e-books in Assamese as well as English language books written by Assamese authors. “If we had any other name then we would have had to explain ourselves. Since Flipkart, Lenskart, etc, are well known, people know from our name what we are about,” Kalita says.

     

    Aasheesh Mediratta, CEO, Fashionandyou. com, takes a ‘it doesn’t matter’ line. ‘Karts’ and ‘deals’ may give short-term advantage to newbies and irritate the established ‘karts’ and ‘deals’, but what matters over time is service quality, Mediratta argues. “This can divert small share of traffic to such sites. But along with the name, it is the business model, execution and offering which make the brand difficult to be cloned or impacted,” he says.

     

    But what about cases where similar sounding names are a coincidence? Then the less-famous ‘kart’ or ‘deal’ just has to live with it. Peyush Bansal, founder of online eyewear seller Lenskart, says his company had registered the domain name in 2008, “years before Flipkart became famous”.

     

    “Were I naming my company today there’s no way I would pick the same name,” Bansal says, “but now I have no choice because our brand is well known.” This Bansal simply didn’t know that the other Bansals, running the big daddy of all ‘karts’, Flipkart, would one day make it so big.

     

    There’s a darker side to the name cloning story – straight copying and infringement. Last year, Shopclues executives were shocked to discover a site registered in Dubai that not only used Shopclues’ logo but even copied the Gurgaonbased firm’s contents.

     

    “They had completely copied the whole thing. That was copyright infringement more than anything else. They had even copied the management profile by just changing the names,” says Radhika Aggarwal, co-founder of Shopclues.

     

    Aggarwal says there are many cyber squatters in China sitting on cloned names – Shopklues and Shopcluss are among the more inventive ones. “Many times we let it go…but if there is blatant copyright infringement we make sure to send legal notices,” Aggarwal says.

     

    India’s largest fashion and accessories portal Myntra.com had a name problem, too. Its Twitter handle was stolen and then restored and on YouTube, ‘Myntra’ was taken. So, the Bangalorebased company had to settle for Myntra.com for its YouTube account. But at least, Myntra is tougher to name-clone than a kart or a deal.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2014, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

    Licensed to republish

     

  • Reputed influencers, and India's social media savvy politicians, authors will share their perspectives at this year's event

    Speaker line-up announced for third edition of Social Media Week

    By A Correspondent

     

    Approaching its third edition in India and second edition in Mumbai, Social Media Week (SMW) has announced key speakers, who are set to captivate the audience this September, in Mumbai. The line-up of speakers includes social media influencers, bloggers, politicians, authors and international experts, each of whom will share their views on the domain, through presentations panel discussions, debates, workshops, and more. Some of the experts expected at the event, include Rishi Jaitly of Twitter, Vikram Menon of OgivyOne Worldwide, Anaggh Desai of 1+99 Experience Consulting, Mohandas Pai, Manipal Group, Raheel Khursheed of Twitter, Kunal Jeswani of Ogilvy & Mather India, Navdeep Suri, Ambassador to the Arab Republic of Egypt, Sean Gardner, author, co- founder of the Huffington Post “Twitter Powerhouses Series”, Jeff Bullas, a Social Media Marketing Blogger, Strategist & Speaker, Arvind Gupta, Hibernation Innovation Evangelist & The National Head of BJP’s IT Cell, Deepali Naair, CMO, Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Limited, Prem Panicker of  Yahoo, Vasantha Kumar, Director Marekting & Communication India & South Asia, IBM, Viral Oza, MD, Nokia India Pvt. Ltd., Richard Lui, Asian-American journalist and news anchor for MSNBC and NBC News, Sanjay Tripathy, Sr.EVP Marketing, Digital & eCommerce – HDFC Life.

     

    Based on this year’s theme for SMW, ‘Social media for Social Change’, the renowned speakers will share their insights and knowledge through various sessions, including those on managing diplomacy through social media, social media and politics, building  a career in social media, and New age fight club-Social Media, Disruption & Viral.

     

    Rohit Varma, Founder & Managing Partner, R SQUARE Consulting Services Pvt Ltd, said, “­­­­­­I’m very excited to see many organization & brands from different industries coming on board to curate sessions and making it the biggest crowd-sourced festival. Look forward to the five days social media festivity. I’m quite sure the there is lot more awaiting the audience.”

     

    In addition, SMW has partnered with leading media and integrated communication agencies, including Social@Ogilvy, chlorophyll, UB, TiE Mumbai, The Express Group, The Indian Networker, Construkt festival, mXm India, PageTraffic, AVID Learning, Yellow Seed Content Solutions, Fratelli wines and Steerttalk, to organise the event in India.

     

  • Bhavna Jagtiani has rejoined the agency as Director – West while Bonny Lawrie has joined as Deputy GM of the Delhi NCR office

    Edelman strengthens strategic leadership positions in Mumbai and Delhi

    By A Correspondent

     

    Bhavna Jagtiani
    Bonny Lawrie

    Edelman has announced two additions to its leadership team in India. Bhavna Jagtiani has rejoined the agency as Director – West while Bonny Lawrie has joined from Edelman Middle East, in the newly created role as Deputy General Manager of the Delhi NCR office.

     

    An experienced brand marketer, Bhavna returns to Edelman India after two years in the Edelman Hong Kong office, where she co-led the consumer practice. Bhavna will now be responsible for managing and growing the Edelman business in West India, including the offices in Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad.  She will be based out of Mumbai and will report to Rakesh Thukral, Chief Operating Officer, Edelman India.

     

    Bonny will lead some of Edelman India’s largest clients, most notably Microsoft and Shell. She brings with her more than 11 years of experience in communications and marketing across Australia, the United Kingdom, Europe and most recently, the Middle East. She will be based out of New Delhi and will report to Varghese Cherian, General Manager North & East, Edelman India and Technology Lead – SAMEA.

     

    Rakesh Thukral, Chief Operating Officer, Edelman India, commented, “These strategic additions to our team will further strengthen our leadership in India and help drive business growth. With their multi-market experience, Bhavna and Bonny are well-positioned to ensure success in our client work, learning for our teams and growth for Edelman. Bhavna’s return to Edelman India will provide further impetus to our West operations; and Bonny’s experience will contribute to further expansion of our fastest growing office in India.”

     

  • The e-commerce firm's delivery person will come with wads of currency notes to instantly pay back customers whenever they want to return a packet

    Jabong ups ante, to launch instant refunds for cash-on-delivery returns

    By Rasul Bailay

     

    First, India’s fledgling ecommerce companies pioneered the concept of cash-on-delivery (COD) to woo markets. Now, Jabong.com is adding a new chapter to the COD process: its delivery person will come with wads of currency notes to instantly pay back customers whenever they want to return a packet.

     

    Late refunds irked COD buyers

    Starting this week, Jabong will begin giving COD customers in Delhi instant cash at their doorstep even as the delivery guys pick up return packets. In the coming months, Jabong plans to take this initiative across the country. It was the COD system that helped ecommerce companies gain major traction in a country dominated by traditional retailing values.

     

    But COD consumers started complaining that whenever they wanted to return a product, it often took them long to get their money back. “Customers started complaining that while they pay immediately for products, they had to wait for weeks for refund. They complained that it wasn’t fair,” says Vijay Ghadge, COO of logistics firm Gojavas, which will be managing the cash payments for Jabong.

     

    Gojavas has been testing its instant cash payment system – called GoRupiah – in Delhi for four months and now says it is ready to actually roll it out starting in the Capital. The company has already formed a reverse-logistics team of around 250. Gojavas says Jabong, after clearing a refund, will transfer money into a separate account of Gojavas and the delivery company will pay the consumer.

     

    Online retailers have pampered Indian consumers with initiatives such as COD and try-and-buy, among others, to gain business in a country fraught with challenges for the ecommerce industry. Currently, COD forms the lion’s share of ecommerce transactions.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2014, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

    Licensed to republish

     

  • Refreshed every week, the audio stories are hosted on a audio content platform that remembers the user's language preference

    One97 & Tigo unveil audio story portals across Africa

    By A Correspondent

     

    Mobile internet player One97 Communications has announced the launch of innovative audio story portals with renowned international telecom firm Tigo across multiple countries in Africa. Tigo users across Tanzania, Rwanda and Senegal can just dial into the portal and listen to their favourite stories on the phone, anytime and anywhere.

     

    Tigo is a part of Millicom International Cellular S.A. (MIC) and provides affordable, widely accessible and readily available mobile and internet services to more than 50 million customers in 14 emerging markets across Africa and Latin America.

     

    The audio story portals offer users the option of listening to immersive stories on-the-go. The collection of audio books has been curated to offer stories with a wide appeal across age groups. Ranging from kids’ stories, fictional tales to aspirational accounts, there is something in store for everyone. These stories, locally-written and voiced by African talent have been recorded in One97 Communications’ own studios based in Africa.

     

    Speaking on the collaboration, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, CEO, One97 Communications, said, “At One97 Communications, we are consistently striving to innovate and customize our offerings for various telecom operators and their customers. With the launch of the audio story portal, Tigo will be able to build greater affinity with its customer base and nurture long-lasting relationships across markets in Africa. The state-of-the art audio content platform is sure to be a hit amongst Tigo’s wide user base.”

     

    Tigo Tanzania Head of Marketing Diego Pacheco said, “We are committed to providing and supporting innovative products, with the ultimate goal of realizing a digital lifestyle among our customers.  Our entertainment content, communications and data platforms are thus tailored to enhance the customer experience continuously. The same holds true for our new innovative story portals, launched in partnership with One97 Communications.”

     

    Refreshed every week, the audio stories are hosted on a stellar audio content platform that remembers the user’s language preference and even the point at which he/she last left a particular story.  The enriching and inspiring audio story portals present a perfect blend of traditional modes of entertainment with latest technological advancements.

     

  • Hitesh will be leading the McDonald's business nationally on both account management and strategy

    Leo Burnett appoints Hitesh Mehta as VP

    By A Correspondent

     

    Hitesh Mehta

    Leo Burnett India has announced the joining of Hitesh Mehta as Vice President. He will be based out of their head office in Mumbai. Hitesh will be leading the McDonald’s business nationally on both account management and strategy.

     

    Speaking on the appointment, Saurabh Varma, CEO, Leo Burnett India says, “With over a decade of integrated communications experience, Hitesh is extremely passionate about understanding human behaviour and applying those valuable insights to client work. It is this very orientation that is of great value to our strong HumanKind philosophy for our brands.”

     

    Hitesh Mehta, Vice President, Leo Burnett, Mumbai shared, “The QSR market is still quite nascent and there is immense scope for growth. It’s a very exciting time for McDonalds and I am relishing the opportunity.”

     

    Over the years, HItesh has worked in differing local, regional and global roles on some of the world’s biggest brands based out of India, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia. His last assignment was with Leo Burnett in Indonesia, wherein he was a part of the agency leadership team, successfully delivering on his mandate to partner the marketing teams at Dutch Lady and McDonalds, in pursuit of achieving their growth ambitions within the Indonesian market. On the lookout for new challenges, Hitesh relocated back to India in 2013 and has been working as an independent brand consultant prior to joining Leo Burnett earlier this month.

     

  • The PM's 100 days in office is all over the mass & social media. A view by Ranjona Banerji on how our media has treated (and been treated by) the new regime

    Modi in the Media

     

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    100 days is now a media mantra when it comes to anything at all. Should one go as far to say that this has something to do with the title of a book written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez? Probably not. So we have to assess 100 days of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre. Not three months (which would be around 90 days) and not 200 days but perhaps we’ll re-assess the government at 365 days and call it one year?

    I put “100 days Modi government” into Google and got stories headlined around that theme, in order, from IBNLive, DNA, Indian Express, LiveMint, India Today, Hindustan Times, NDTV, Zee News, Times of India and Economic Times. So much for originality…

    Having decided to play “follow the leader” on the 100 days theme however it has to be admitted that all media outlets did not take the same line. Some gushed, some focused on the misses, some talked about hits and misses both, some spoke to the Opposition.

    The biggest takeaway from all this seems to be that Modi has made his ministers accountable. According to a fascinating story carried in Niticentral, a rightwing website, this has been achieved by spying on his own ministers.  http://www.niticentral.com/2014/08/25/narendra-modi-enforces-tough-discipline-among-ministers-236467.html.

    So the100 days theme runs like this: Modi has cut through plenty of slack, he has improved systems by making sure his own ministers work, he has travelled to many countries, he has not spoken enough, he has not made good on several other promises, some of the benefits accrued to his government come from UPA policies, he has renamed certain existing schemes, he has made an Independence Day speech, he has fed fish in Japan, he has stopped his party people from talking too much, he has stopped his ministers from speaking almost completely, he has got rid of several governors, he has sidelined the old-timers in the BJP, he has made his right-hand man Amit Shah party president…

    How much of this is remarkable and how much is pedestrian perhaps lies in the eyes of the believer. As TV news tries to jump from issue to manufactured outrage and print sprints to keep pace, we see a fractured image. There is a larger-than-life Modi in carefully posed pictures in foreign lands, we have a Modi who promises security for women and toilets for all, we have a Modi who says everyone must have a bank account.

    We have a BJP which launches a campaign in Uttar Pradesh claiming that hordes of Muslim men are conspiring to make Hindu women fall in love with them to convert them to Islam and thus increase the number of Muslims in the nation. We have BJP-run state governments and the Union HRD ministry trying to manipulate history. We have local BJP units and BJP allies pushing for India as a “Hindu” state. We have the RSS jumping in and claiming credit for Modi’s victory.

    And we have a media which is unable to put all these refracted elements together. So Gaurav Sawant of Headlines Today and a reporter from CNN-IBN got to Japan and behaved like no one has ever been to Japan before. They make ridiculously banal comments about Japanese trains, they comment on cleanliness. They say: “Look at these Japanese people sitting silently on a train.” “When will India ever have such clean stations?”

    What is this? A delegation of idiots goes to Japan? Where is Mark Twain when you need him? The tenuous connection is the promise of a bullet train in India made by Modi. The obsequious brainlessness of some TV journalists and presumably their editors will be part of an ignominious chapter in the history of Indian journalism.

    P S:

    Meanwhile, scroll.in tells us that Shekhar Gupta is no longer vice-chairman of the India Today group. He is now an “advisor”. This is a mere two months after he took over, having ended a long stint at The Indian Express.

    What gives at India Today? Is it family matters or recalcitrant employees? MJ Akbar didn’t last too long, Siddharth Vardarajan didn’t get further than signing a contract and Gupta is out in two months…

    http://scroll.in/article/shekhar-guptas-return-to-india-today-group-ends-in-two-months-to-take-advisory-position/?id=677005

     

  • The insight was that today's youngsters are smart problem solvers and they will figure out their way out in life despite what life throws at them

    Lowe Lintas rolls out youth-oriented campaign for FreeCharge

    By A Correspondent

     

    Lowe Lintas has been appointed as the creative agency for FreeCharge, India’s leading online platform for recharge, utility payments, promotions and couponing. As part of the alliance, Lowe Lintas has been tasked with the mandate of making Freecharge a go-to and top-of-mind brand in India. Lowe Lintas fended off competition from six other agencies that were in the fray before it was chosen.

     

    FreeCharge is a pioneer in the online recharge space with a unique business model. FreeCharge doesn’t just make the process of recharging convenient, it also makes it rewarding, by way of discount coupons. For every recharge done on FreeCharge, the company gives customers discount coupons from top food joints and popular retailers, equivalent to your recharge amount, delivered to their mobile, inbox or even doorstep. These coupons can be used to save money when customers eat out, watch movies, book travel tickets, shop online, visit a salon, go gaming, pick up books, music, groceries, and live a rewarding life!

     

    Sharing his views on appointing Lowe Lintas as the creative agency, Alok Goel, CEO, FreeCharge said, “FreeCharge is a youth brand and hence we wanted to figure out a campaign idea that will connect with today’s youth at deep emotional levels. Lowe team came up with phenomenal insight. The insight was that today’s youngsters are smart problem solvers and they will figure out their way out in life despite what life throws at them. The insight was so original and emotional that we felt Lowe team will be great partners for this campaign.”

     

    To drive FreeCharge’s marketing objectives, Lowe Lintas has unveiled a campaign – ‘Recharge nahin… FreeCharge’ that depicts FreeCharge’s core proposition of being an ally for the youth and how it plans to alter the recharge landscape in India by offering rewarding coupons and offers. The campaign is live online and will soon be seen across other traditional media.

     

    Speaking on the launch of the campaign, Kunal Shah, Co-founder of FreeCharge said, “We want to completely change what people expect from the simple act of recharging a mobile phone. It is no longer just a payment, but a rewarding experience which delivers joys to our customers. We felt that Lowe Lintas’ campaign idea captured this in a surprising and insightful way. We are confident the youth of today will connect with the brand and engage with it for a long time to come.”

     

    The youth is often stereotyped by parents for being spendthrifts who don’t value money. Lowe Lintas’ consumer-research revealed that in fact, the reverse is true today. The digital-native youngsters are quite smart and inventive when it comes to stretching their means to the max.

     

    Sharing his thoughts on the creative approach taken for the brand in a crowded marketplace, Arun Iyer, National Creative Director, Lowe Lintas stated, “We felt that our campaign needed to do more than land the product and its benefits. We needed to connect with our rechargers at a real level. We hit upon an insight that the youth of today are ‘charged’ with being irresponsible with their money. This simple app is their ally and just one re-‘charge’ fittingly answers all these charges.”

     

    The campaign aims to build further on the brand’s key offering through relevant tie-ups.

     

  • Through this association, Breakthrough seeks to leverage the digital media platforms to educate the audience by establishing meaningful conversations

    Breakthrough hands over digital duties to Ignitee Digital

    By A Correspondent

     

    Global human rights organization Breakthrough, has appointed Ignitee Digital as its digital agency. Breakthrough seeks to prevent violence and discrimination against women by transforming the norms and cultures that enable it. Through this association, Breakthrough seeks to leverage the digital media platforms to educate the audience by establishing meaningful conversations and building a critical mass of change agents worldwide. By building an active presence on social media through its collaboration with Ignitee, Breakthrough intends to build a Breakthrough Generation-whose bold collective action will deliver irreversible impact on the issue of violence against women.

     

    Launched in 2000 by Indian-American human rights activist and cultural entrepreneur Mallika Dutt, Breakthrough has expanded online with a view to serve as a common platform for women’s general well-being, building a support network and advocate for gender equality and women’s rights.

     

    Ignitee has been appointed by Breakthrough to manage the #Selfies4School digital campaign to create a platform through which users can upload selfies and promote the campaign on their social media profiles.

     

    “At Breakthrough our aim is to make human rights real and relevant to everyone by creating innovative, relevant multimedia and pop culture that bring human rights issues and values into the mainstream. The Vodafone Breakthrough Selfies4School campaign is a call to educated, urban men and women to join our effort to delay the early marriage of girls till they attain legal age. By sending in selfies to join this campaign, one will not only ensure the resources to support the right to education for girls, but also endorse the courage of girls to fight against odds like poverty, gender discrimination and child marriage to realize their dreams,” said Sonali Khan, Vice President and Country Director, Breakthrough India.

     

    The Ignitee team is also responsible to revamp the Breakthrough website which will focus on how the users can join hands with Breakthrough and work with them. Through this website, Ignitee aims to create innovative, relevant multimedia tools and programs-from short animations to long-term leadership training-that reach individuals and institutions where they are, inspiring and equipping them to build a world in which all people enjoy their human rights. With an active presence online and a revamped website, Breakthrough will be able to engage with its followers and registered users, send them relevant invites for events based on their location and other parameters.

     

    Atul Hegde

    On this strategic partnership, Atul Hegde, CEO, Ignitee said, “We are extremely delighted to be associated with Breakthrough and look forward to support the campaigns with Ignitee’s expertise in the digital space. We are looking at building engaging content which will help bring a notable positive difference to the lives of all women and lead to a better society to live in. We, at Ignitee, will create unique and innovative campaigns reflecting the needs of the users and connect with them on a personal level by providing useful information to users and encourage them to join in the various initiatives.”

     

    Ignitee had previously been associated with cause marketing initiative like Be Brave (Godfrey Phillips India) and NGO like YouWeCan (Yuvraj Singh Foundation).

     

  • I&B ministry initiatives to enhance Outreach and information dissemination through multiple platforms

    MIB issues list of initiatives understaken

    Source: Press Information Bureau

     

    The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has undertaken key initiatives in the different sectors aimed at enhancing the outreach of policies and programmes across platforms. Some of the initiatives undertaken have been innovative involving people’s participation, enhancing government’s presence on the social media platforms and strengthening communication at the grassroots. Some of the key initiatives are as under:

     

    Launch of new Kisan Channel: Government has allocated an amount of Rs 100 crore to Kisan Channel, which will disseminate real time information to the farmers regarding new farming techniques, water conservation, organic farming etc.

     

    Establishment of Social Media Presence of Government of India: In order to facilitate Ministries/Departments in registering their presence on Social media the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has organized a half day training workshop on 11th July, 2014 at the National Media Centre.

     

    Launch of new Arun Prabha Channel for North East: In order to provide a strong platform for expression of cultural identities and for creating greater awareness regarding North Eastern Region, the government has announced launching of a new 24×7 Channel for North East called Arun Prabha.

     

    3rd and 4th phase of Digitization: A Task Force has been constituted to steer the remaining two phases i.e., Phase III and Phase IV of digitization in India, which will pave the way for implementation of digitization initiative in India, which will see digitization of about 8 crores Cable TV homes in India. It is also a step towards the Prime Minister’s dream of a Digital India as digitization will enable quick penetration of broadband connectivity in India.

     

    3rd phase of FM radio auction: On the request of this Ministry, TRAI has furnished its recommendations on migration of FM Radio Broadcasters from Phase-II to Phase-III. The issue is being examined.

     

    Goa declared the Permanent Destination for International Films Festival of India: In order to develop the “Brand IFFI” on the lines of other International Film Festivals, the Goa has been declared as the permanent destination for International Films Festival of India.

     

    North East Film Festival: For the first time, a three-day North East Film Festival was held in Delhi (Siri Fort Complex) on a grand scale. It will henceforth be an annual feature, a prominent event in the film festival calendar of the Directorate of Film Festivals.

     

    FTII, SRFTII to be institutes of National Importance: In Order to provide statutory backing through an act of Parliament to declare both the institutes as Institutes of National Importance the government has proposed a Bill. The proposed Bill would enable both the Institutes to award its own degrees and diplomas and start new activities on the lines of IITs and IIMs.

     

    Meeting with stakeholders related to Set-Top-Boxes to promote Indigenization of Digitization: Efforts were taken to fulfill the long pending demand of domestic manufacturers of Set Top Boxes to get tax concession (C Form benefit) in order to compete with imported STBs.

     

    e-initiatives: The office of Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI) under M/o I&B has streamlined its Single Window Public dealing mechanism at its office. RNI has achieved 100 % success in online e-filing of annual statements by publishers for 2013- 14.

     

    Boost to Community Radio movement in the Country: The government has allotted an amount of Rs 100 crores for “Supporting Community Radio Movement in India”. This would enable setting up of 600 community radio stations across the country in the 12th Five Year Plan. This major initiative of the new government will strengthen the connect with the population living in rural and marginalized areas.

     

    Simplification of Procedures for granting Television licences for starting additional television channels: Ministry of Home Affairs has agreed to the proposal of I&B Ministry for not seeking security clearance for such channels whose security clearance have already been sought earlier along with the Board of Directors. This decision has paved the way for speedy clearance of additional television channel permissions, which will benefit the broadcast industry in a big way. After the decision was taken 23 TV channels have already been permitted by the Ministry.

     

    Proposal cleared for Rs.600 crore National Film Heritage Mission (NFHM) to preserve India’s film legacy: The revised EFC proposal for a Rs. 600 crore National Film Heritage Mission project to preserve India’s filmic legacy was cleared by the Expenditure Finance Committee in the Ministry of Finance on 3rd July, 2014. The draft Cabinet Note has been circulated to the concerned Ministries and the Note will shortly be submitted for approval of the Cabinet.

     

    Peoples’ participation in Government Advertising through Crowd- Sourcing of Advertisements: The advertisement for the important events being designed on the crowd sourcing model. Independence Day advertisement designed on these lines and DAVP has invited suggestions for the proposed advertisement to be brought out on 5th September to observe “Teachers Day”.

     

    Adopting 360 degree approach to information dissemination: For Independence Day, the advertisements were crowd sourced for the first time and Independence Day coverage was extended to all Media platforms. Similarly, a series of Press Conferences being organized to highlight the initiatives of the Government and the same approach is being adopted to ensure information dissemination across all platforms.

     

  • The Mumbai Police along with Ogilvy & Mather and ICICI Bank have come together to alert citizens of the threat

    O&M unveils campaign highlighting terror threat during festival season

    By A Correspondent

     

    Like any big festival, the terror threat lurks close and heavy during Ganesh Chaturthi. The city needs every citizen to be alert. The Mumbai Police along with Ogilvy & Mather and ICICI Bank have come together to alert citizens of the threat.

     

    A film has been launched as a result of an on-the-spot competition was launched. The film had suspicious objects that could be used for terror threats, placed cleverly in the film. The viewers had to spot these objects, count the number and sms their answer. The incentive for correct answer was a gold coin. In this era of gaming, we designed an engaging game that the entire city could play.

     

    Harshad Rajadhyaksha, Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather Mumbai said, “We are using the medium of film to train the city to be alert during the festival. We are playing on the mindset of the people that they would readily extend their efforts to win a prize. In the end we gently nudge their conscience into doing the same for their safety.”

     

    Kainaz Karmakar, Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather Mumbai shared, “We needed a lot of like-minded partners to pull off something on this scale. That is where E Suresh came in and he added his enthusiasm and his full support to pull this off. ICICI Bank backed us by agreeing to provide the gold coins.”

     

    The contest is playing across the theatres of Mumbai.