MxMIndia

Blog

  • Dhingana has launched an advertising platform to reach its 11 million worldwide users, with Gokul Rajaram, creator of AdSense and current Facebook product director for advertising, on the advisory board

    Dhingana launches ad platform, Gokul Rajaram is advisor

    By A Correspondent

     

    Dhingana (www.dhingana.com), a leading streaming service for Indian music, has announced the launch of its immersive advertising platform to help brands reach a fast-growing and high-grossing demographic: the Indian population around the world. As part of this initiative, the company has named Gokul Rajaram, Facebook’s Product Director of Advertising and the creator of Google’s AdSense, to its advisory board.

     

    “Globally, over 11 million Indian music fans listen to their favourite music on Dhingana. We believe that this is a great motivation for brands looking at innovative avenues to reach out to them. This led us to develop a highly intuitive advertising platform,” said Snehal Shinde, CEO of Dhingana.

     

    “We’re thrilled to have Gokul on board,” said Swapnil Shinde, COO of Dhingana. “Gokul has extensive experience in creating user-friendly and highly profitable experiences for social and mobile platforms.” Shinde added, “Gokul’s experience will be invaluable as we expand the service to reach more users.”

     

    Prior to joining Facebook, Mr Rajaram spent 5 years as the Product Management Director of Google’s Adsense. He also ran a startup, Chai Labs, that was later bought out by Facebook.

     

    According to Mr Rajaram, “The streaming market in India is growing at an unprecedented rate, offering myriad opportunities to consumers and brands. With more than 7 million active users on iOS, Android, BlackBerry, and Nokia devices, Dhingana has also been quick in tapping the huge impact that mobile is making in India”.

     

    Dhingana expects the advertising platform to become a “must buy” for advertisers such as movie production studios, music labels, independent musicians, mobile carriers, and other brands that want to reach a young, engaged global audience. Dhingana is offering a number of ad formats and can help target ads based on factors like music genre, platform, geo-location, and audience demographics.

     

    As part of beta testing of the platform, Dhingana ran a campaign for the film Cocktail, driving 100,000 audio streams of the ad in the first 18 hours, and more than 1 million streams in the first five days.

     

  • "All our members have been cooperating in the best possible manner to stave off the current situation since last week and we will continue to do so," stated Dr Subho Ray, President of IAMAI.

    Web firms fully cooperating with govt: IAMAI

    By A Correspondent

     

    Following the government’s clampdown on SMSes, social media and its concerns about the misuse of this media by miscreants or anti social elements, the Internet And Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) also urged authorities and citizens to use online tools positively for spreading true and useful information in the current situation.

     

    “Our members believe that hate speech and other illegal content should be removed when duly notified in accordance with Indian laws. All member companies have been responding expeditiously to requests from various government and law enforcement agencies,” the IAMAI said

     

    “All our members have been cooperating in the best possible manner to stave off the current situation since last week and we will continue to do so,” stated Dr Subho Ray, President of IAMAI. He further added that any government order to be effective should be based on the present context and not a general order to remove un-contextual or legal content.

     

    In a related development, the association also welcomed the notification of the government’s policy paper titled “Framework & Guidelines for Use of Social Media for Government Organisations”. With the formal adoption of this paper, the government is now said to be prepared to use social media. It may be recalled that the Department of Electronics and Information Technology has been working on this policy since September 2011 and the final version has emerged after wide consultations and an Open House discussion led by the Honourable Union Minister of Communications and IT.

     

    The current situation drives home the importance of this paper. It states, “One of the big challenges for government is to avoid propagation of unverified facts and frivolous misleading rumours with respect to government policies. Government must have presence on these platforms to counter such perceptions to present the facts to enable informed opinion making by the populace”.

     

  • A recent report announced that IndiGo has replaced the Jet Group as the nation's No 1 airline. This is no small achievement for IndiGo

    Anil Thakraney: IndiGo: because on-time is everything

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    A recent report in the TOI announced that IndiGo has replaced the Jet Group as the nation’s No 1 airline. This is no small achievement for IndiGo. Jet has been around for a long time, and runs both, full and low cost service. IndiGo, a more recent player, has, from the start, been a budget airline. So how did they achieve this unexpected feat? Especially considering that there are other low cost airlines in the Indian skies? And what is the learning in this?

     

    Here’s what I think: This is a clear indication that the market in India prefers budget, no-frills travel. This could be because of the not very rosy economic situation at present, but it does indicate what the average desi flier wants. This is also a wake-up call for Dr Vijay Mallya. I have said this before, and will say it again: Kingfisher ought to have been a low cost airline. Mallya and gang went overboard on service and frills, made their airline financially unviable, and burnt their fingers in the process.

     

    There’s another reason IndiGo has become the market leader. Their single-minded and very desirable positioning: Punctuality. I haven’t done a market research study to support this claim, but it’s common sense to me that for a domestic flier, reaching there on time takes top precedence. For a flight of one and a half hour duration, I don’t really care if the chicken biryani is lip-smacking or if the air hostess arrives decked up in a rising hemline. And a movie on board is a silly idea, because I won’t be able to complete it in time. Therefore, punctuality is everything.

     

    Indeed, IndiGo puts its money where its mouth is. They are almost always on time, and I say this from experience. On all personal travel in the last three years, I have only flown IndiGo, and they have never left me twiddling my thumbs in the airport lounge. Clearly, there is some good leadership at work; the company’s core ideology seems to have percolated down to the lowest level. (And this is often not the case in Indian business organizations.)

     

    On a recent flight from Bangalore to Mumbai, I discovered that the airline was celebrating its sixth anniversary. I airily asked the airhostess: “Hey, no chocolates or pastries for the passengers?” She smiled: “Sir, we’ll celebrate by getting you to Mumbai on time. Isn’t that great?” I agree. It is.

     

    ***

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”220″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0HwiPHyenI[/youtube]PS: Malaysian rice distributor BERNAS released this ad on the occasion of Eid. It’s a heart-rending tale of two orphans. BERNAS runs a charity program, as part of which they donate rice to various orphanages. Keep a hanky on standby.

     

     

  • After one and a half years, Keith Alphonso has quit UTV. He was business head of Bindass, the youth channel from the UTV stable

    Keith Alphonso quits UTV, joins OML as Revenue Head

    By Meghna Sharma

     

    Keith Alphonso

    After one and a half years, Keith Alphonso has left UTV. He was business head of Bindass, the youth channel from the UTV stable which was recently acquired by Walt Disney, and was in charge of rebranding the channel in a bid to keep pace with the ever-changing outlook of its core audience set.

     

    Confirming the news to MxMIndia, Mr Alphonso said, “Yes, I have quit UTV and joined OML as Head of Revenue.”

     

    In his new role at Only Much Louder (OML), a company which focuses on reaching the youth market in India through high quality entertainment properties including music festivals, television and web-based content, Mr Alphonso will be creating more branding properties. “I have mastered the art of creating ‘branded content’ from my previous work experiences. So, will be in-charge of handling similar profile at OML too. The only difference being that here it will be across platforms – television, live events, web etc.”

     

    Prior to UTV, Mr Alphonso has worked with Zoom Television, MTV and Times of India in a career spanning almost 17 years.

     

  • Rather than worry about its viral impact, social media can be effectively employed to handle crises, writes Sanjay Mehta. Not just by brand heads, but governments too!

    Sanjay Mehta lists 8 ways how brands can handle real and false negativity on social media

    By Sanjay Mehta

     

    1. By setting up listening posts (“social media monitoring”) so they are not taken by surprise and can deal with issues proactively, once they discover them

     

    2. By having a well-defined protocol and a workflow to manage normal responses to negativity

     

    3. By also having a plan to handle and manage a potential PR crisis, while praying hard that such crisis actually do not happen at all!

     

    4. By ring-fencing the brand well to ensure that miscreant activity is curtailed and as and when it happens, it is dealt with, firmly

     

    5. In the event of false information that cannot be recognized easily by people, going out with the correct information, with proof, with details, with credibility, to give “their side of the story”

     

    6. By owning up to their own mistakes once in a while, being honest to admit those, not hesitating to say ‘sorry, we screwed up, but we are working to fix it’

     

    7. By creating their own content on social media, giving out interesting, lesser known information, so that consumers have a peak at the real story

     

    8. Most importantly though, by being out there, ‘talking’ to the consumers, engaging with them, establishing a dialogue with them, winning their confidence, in normal times, and not just when there is a crisis!

     

    PS: Governments also need to follow the same strategy. Yes, governments are no different to brand managers, in this respect. The earlier that they understand and accept this, the better it is for them.

     

    Sanjay Mehta is Joint CEO, Social Wavelength

     

  • On the fourth death anniversary of K Kurian (1928-2008), founder and chairman of Radeus Advertising, Jameel Gulrays pays tribute

    Tribute: Remembering K Kurian

    By Jameel Gulrays

     

    K Kurian

    On the fourth death anniversary of K Kurian, once again I recall my 17-year-long association with him.

     

    It was in 1977, when I walked up and down the stairs of Shah House, Colaba, at least three times before mustering courage to step inside for an interview with K Kurian, then CEO of Radeus Advertising, one of the best agencies of its time.

     

    I was appearing for an interview for the post of ‘Hindi writer’. He was a man who was not only a brain to work with, but also stood tall amongst advertising contemporaries such as Subhash Ghoshal and Ayaz Peerbhoy.

     

    Jameel Gulrays

    The fact that he is no more is something I am unable to come to terms with, even today.

    In the 17 years that I worked with him, I learnt 17 million things about everything – profession, ethics, values and conduct.

     

    My dad passed away when I was eight, I lost my mother when I was 18; so when I joined him, I wanted him to guide me. And he did. He was like a father to me.

     

    He taught me like a teacher would his favourite student, explaining ever so patiently with a pen and paper. I was like a dry sponge, absorbing everything he said. He was a diminutive man, but one who stood tall on the wealth of knowledge and good sense. He was the powerhouse who built teams and steered brands such as Amul, LIC, Limca, Maaza and Bisleri, and made each a leader in their category. He was an indulgent boss, at least for me. He taught me to treat people equally. No wonder he ensured that I flew with him in the same class, stayed in a similar hotel room as he did.

     

    He led by example. And what a great walk we walked together. It would  have been a journey right up to his last breath, had it not been for one breach of trust on his part when one day, quietly, without even a whisper, he sold Radeus – an agency I was led to believe I would head one day. It was an earth-shattering moment for an orphan like me, to lose a parent again. It broke my heart to turn my back on him and walk away. And it stayed that way since then.

     

    The news of his death was that one moment of loss, when I saw what a great contribution he’s made to who I am. The darkness I feel today is because this light has gone out of my life forever.

     

    I miss you, sir. I miss you, Mr Kurian.

     

  • Behind every great commercial is super strategy. Every week, MxMIndia will bring you the brief and the strat as given by the client and whatever else that went into creating a winning ad

    AdStrat: Man from Motilal Oswal

    Ramnik Chhabra, Associate Director Marketing, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd

     

    Name of the campaign

    Motilal Oswal Securities Ltd – Man from Motilal Oswal

     

    Research insights

    When it comes to investing, managing emotions is what can make the difference between making money and losing money. When investing in stock markets, people often go by hearsay rather than research.

     

    The thought process behind the creative

    To make an intangible product like broking come alive, Motilal Oswal has used ‘the advisor’ as a tangible dimension to their service.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”220″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OCwisDoBWE[/youtube]

    Media vehicles chosen

    Cinema, TV, Online.

     

    Key issues kept in mind while executing the ad

    To make sure the ad captures the basic DNA of the brand – a focus on old-fashioned research and homework, attributes that are timeless in their relevance to investors.

     

    Does the treatment do justice to the brief?

    The brief was to break clutter, and to showcase a research orientation. The treatment does both quite well.

     

    What is the differentiating factor about the ad?

    The format of a trailer and the mystique of the old-worldly ‘Man from Motilal Oswal’ differentiates the film and makes it break clutter. It helps us stay focused on the anxieties and concerns of investors, without becoming boring.

     

    Market/client feedback

    Just launched on 15th August. Initial feedback has been encouraging.

     

    Compiled by Shubhangi Mehta.

     

     

     

  • WPP responds to NDTV's statement which in turn had rubbised WPP's earlier statement

    Day 3: Now WPP responds to NDTV salvo

    So you read what NDTV said about WPP’s statement. Now here’s what we just received from WPP in Q&A form to make for better understanding of the situation.

     

     

    Q1. In its press statement, NDTV has said, while they claim that the suit has not been served, WPP surely knows, or should know, that service was indeed made on the 10th of August in New York, and processes under the Hague Convention are also underway. What is the exact situation?

     

    Answer:

    We are aware that the New York lawyers acting for NDTV have filed affidavits of service with the New York court claiming to have served the proceedings on various WPP companies. Despite this, valid service has not taken place and we will be drawing the Court’s attention to these inadequate and misleading statements in our motion to dismiss the claims in their entirety.

     

    There has been a faulty, and clumsy, attempt to serve on one company, but nothing on the others at all. No lawyer acting on behalf of any WPP company has made any such statement. In fact, Kantar Media (Research) UK is not even named as a party to any lawsuit.

     

    We are taking the unusual step of proceeding to dismiss the hypothetical lawsuit, despite the lack of any valid service, simply due to the attempted “trial by media”, which has been generated by the (unserved) lawsuit. In any event, there is no merit in the purported claims, nor do the US courts have any jurisdiction to hear any such claims.

     

    Any claim should be made properly, in India, in front of the Indian courts, which are more than capable of properly hearing any valid claim.

     

    NDTV appears to be blaming their poor financial performance on the ratings. NDTV’s financial state shows a dramatic decline, with its market capitalisation declining from around US $800 million in early 2008 to around US$60 million today. Over the same period NDTV’s share price has declined from a high of Rs 512.70 to around Rs 50 today. NDTV is operating in an extremely competitive market, and its competitors have also been in a difficult position. However, NDTV’s decline is not down to any perceived failures in TAM data.

     

    Q2.Where and when does WPP plan to file the defamation lawsuit?

     

    Answer: As referred to in its statement, WPP is considering an action for defamation and this consideration will include the appropriate jurisdiction.

     

    3. Why doesn’t the operating TAM file the case?

    Answer: TAM will be considering its own action.

     

    4. You say that WPP plans to file an application in New York to strike out the NDTV lawsuit. When will that happen?

    Answer: The application is imminent.

     

    5. What else do you plan to do?

    Answer: WPP is disappointed about the “trial by media” which has been initiated by NDTV. As we have said, TAM has been, and will continue to be, committed to working with the industry to improve the use of technology, coverage and transparency of the TAM data. A series of additional steps has very recently been agreed with the industry.

    WPP is committed to working with all industry stakeholders: we would be very happy to work with the mooted BARC structure: we work extremely well with similar bodies all over the world and would be happy to do so in India.

     

    6. You said in your statement “TAM has taken and continues to take stringent measures to protect the panel against repeated attempts at tampering by currently unknown parties and has recently agreed a series of additional steps with the industry to remove any question marks about the quality and reliability of the TAM data.” The timing of announcing these steps makes it look like TAM is responding to NDTV’s lawsuit. Why didn’t TAM take these steps earlier?

     

    Answer: In fact the steps referred to are just the latest action in an ongoing process of dialogue and improvement in the collection of data and not simply a reaction to the hypothetical lawsuit referred to in the press

     

     

    Now, don’t be surprised if you find an NDTV statement tomorrow… our inboxes are waiting! But, on a serious note, all of this is sad. And sad for the Indian broadcasting sector.

  • The entire process in terms of strategizing, planning, innovation and execution as a whole is Florinda's forte…

    Florinda Fernandes: Sr. Business Manager, Posterscope

    (Experience: 10 years)

     

    Currently Florinda Fernandes is into both Business Development and Client Servicing. The profile includes everything right from pitching for a new business till the campaign ends. The entire process in terms of strategizing, planning, innovation and execution as a whole is Florinda’s forte.

     

    Explaining her work, Florinda said: “Outdoor is one of the domains in the media fraternity wherein every day is a new day. Each day has a challenge as the industry is unpredictable. It is undergoing changes and evolving into a new platform. Today, we speak on the lines of innovation, convergence and globalization. It’s becoming more consumer-centric and holistic thinking, thus making it more challenging and realistic. I am more than happy to be a part of it, and see it grow.”

     

  • Namita is currently working with Lodestar Universal as Media Director and has learnt a lot from diverse experience across portfolios…

    Namita Sethi: Media Director – Lodestar UM

    (Experience: 10 years)

     

    Being daughter of an Air Force Officer, Namita Sethi spent the early part of her childhood in various cities across India before settling in Delhi for her higher education. She is a Commerce graduate, and has done my Post Graduation in Communications from Delhi.

     

    “‘Media’ as a profession happened by chance.” As part of her summer internship, she got an opportunity to work in Universal Mc Cann. During this stint, she got a first-hand experience of media planning. As a student too, she had been good with numbers and analytics, so this profession seemed the most appropriate to take forward her strength and also as a career option. “And now, I am a Media Professional since more than a decade in a leading advertising firm, and happy about it.”

     

    Namita is currently working with Lodestar Universal as Media Director and said that she has learnt a lot from diverse experience across portfolio ranging from Mobile, FMCG, Durables, Finance and Automobiles.

     

     

     

  • Abhita handles the business at MEC Access, Delhi for clients like LG, Citibank and OCM to name a few…

    Abhita Anand : Business Director – MEC Access, Group M

    (Experience: 10 years)

     

    “Necessity never made a good bargain,” said Benjamin Franklin, but Abhita Anand chose to differ. At 18, when most girls were deciding on what dress and makeup to wear to college, Abhita was busy converting the challenge of a life without her father in an opportunity to chart her career – a decision that made a difference to her and her family’s life.

     

    Abhita started her career as a front desk representative in one of the most recognized and esteemed organization in fashion industry – not only in India but worldwide – Elite Model Management, India. Recognizing her potential and immense inclination to move forward, Elite gave her an opportunity that Abhita was not ready to let go, at any cost. Within a year, Abhita was handling the modeling school and was responsible for business development and targets for its Delhi branch.

     

    It was Elite where Abhita started handling the PR and ad division work for Elite. It did not take long for Abhita, with her business acumen, to realize the potential of the last mile communication and she started the events division in Elite.

     

    Juggling her education and work, Abhita completed her MBA in marketing and finance from Fore School Of Management to correlate the management gyan and its real life application. She spent more than 5 years at Elite handling various verticals and facets of business, making her one of the most important assets there.

     

    With a hunger to try something new and considering the evolving market, Abhita joined Times Red Cell, the activation arm of The Times of India/ BCCL. It was there that Abhita got an unmatched exposure to the media industry and functionality. She spent three years on learning.

     

    Some of the key projects Abhita handled at TOI were WagonR ‘Think Big Challenge’ and Met Life ‘I want to be an editor’. She delivered beautifully, making the clients come back to the organization year after year.

     

    After spending three years with Times of India, Abhita joined MEC Access (Group M). Today, she handles the business at MEC Access, Delhi for clients like LG, Citibank and OCM to name a few.

     

  • What drives Akanksha is the selfish desire to make a mark…

    Akanksha Jain: Partner, Business Planning at MindShare

    (Experience: 10 years)

     

    What Akanksha Jain values the most is to be true to everything she does and to herself. And she does that by ensuring that she has given nothing short of 100per cent.

     

    Explaining her motivation, Akanksha said: “What drives me is the selfish desire to make a mark; essentially leave everything better than I found it! I wanted to be in the ‘Communications’ industry long before I even understood what it entailed and that’s what led me to MICA.”

     

    She has ‘dabbled’ with account management for about a year at the start of her career, but didn’t follow through as she felt that the well-honed left part of her brain wasn’t getting enough exercise! “I was attracted to media and joined what was then a 3-member team (Pepsi @ Mindshare) to try my hand at it. That I am still here is thanks to the constant excitement and challenges that have engaged both parts of my brain.”