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  • To commemorate the second anniversary and the launch of the re-vamped website, ArtistAloud.com will be celebrating the Seagram's Fuel Music Day on March 2

    ArtistAloud.com is back in a new avatar

    By A Correspondent

     

    ArtistAloud.com, the digital platform for independent music has been entertaining audiences with the very best in independent music. With support from the audience and musicians alike for two years since its inception, this digital destination is back in a brand new avatar.

     

    To commemorate the second anniversary and the launch of the re-vamped website, ArtistAloud.com will be celebrating the Seagram’s Fuel Music Day on March 2. Music Day is going to be the longest webcert with around 50 independent artists performing live for the digital audience. 50 artists, 1 stage, Seagram’s Fuel Music Day is an attempt to connect artists and listeners closely. Also, for the first time ever 50 artists will share a stage and a venue to perform for all music lovers across cities, counties, language and genre.

     

    The Seagram’s Fuel Music Day event that will start at 12pm with artists like Suneeta Rao, Manasi Scott, Shefali Alvares, Shilpa Rao, Harshdeep Kaur, Neha Bhasin performing their favourite numbers. This is the first time ever that 50 artists will come together to perform Live for the webcert. Other stalwarts of music industry like Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Sonu Nigam, Shankar Mahadevan, Kailash Kher are also expected to attend Seagram’s Fuel Music Day to show their support for independent music inIndia.

     

    The 9-hour long webcert attempts to enthrall the audience with absolute mix of genres. From fusion to pop, Bollywood to rock, Seagram’s Fuel Music Day will have something special for every listener. The event will be relayed live to a global audience on www.artistaloud.com from Rang Sharada in Mumbai.

     

    The idea was conceptualized by ArtistAloud.com to celebrate their second anniversary. During the last two years, the website has emerged as the most preferred digital destination for independent music in India. With a promise to offer audiences access to more artists, new genres, multiple releases and music videos, ArtistAloud.com is back in a new avatar.

     

    The website has been revamped with a prime objective of offering unreleased singles – Music First. With the new Artistaloud.com, the consumer now gets a chance to browse the home page that showcases multiple artists and multiple releases at the same time.

     

    With video consumption on the rise, users will now have access to high quality video content on the website. The new revamped website allows full streaming of songs as compared to the previous 30 second samples.  Besides a new layout and structure, the new site will also subsequently introduce a plethora of properties that will live up to its brand promise- ‘Music First.’

     

    ArtistAloud.com is now made accessible through 5 touch points- website, WAP, IVR, APPS and social media. The main objective behind the revamp was to make the site compatible with any device – PC, mobile smart phone, tablets and connected televisions.

     

    ArtistAloud.com is a digital platform that provides music lovers access to unreleased music, which they can sample, buy as well as share with the world. An initiative pioneered by Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Private Ltd, ArtistAloud.com is an opportunity for independent artists to build a connect with their fans and for fans to have access to their music that is previously unreleased and created by the Artist for them. The site currently houses original music from over a hundred artistes – both well known and new.

     

  • The supplement highlights some important scenarios that will help build brands for not just the next few years, but well into the next 50

    DraftFCB Ulka’s Cogito Consulting & Asterii Analytics Release India 2061 Report

    By A Correspondent

     

    Cogito Consulting and Asterii Analytics present a fitting finale to the Draftfcb Ulka Group’s 50 Year Celebration, with a projection of whatIndiacould be when the Group celebrates its centenary. After digesting reports from over 150 sources, more than 1000 pages of data, talking to experts, economists, academics, a concise form was put in public domain on February 29.

     

    Coming from the context and belief that brands have a potential for immortality and last well beyond brand managers and sometimes even companies and owners, it may be necessary to plan for brands well beyond just the next 3-5 years.  The supplement highlights some important scenarios that will help build brands for not just the next few years, but well into the next 50.

     

    Some key aspects of the report on ‘India 2061’.

    • From a pre-dominant rural population today urbanization will lead to rural population constituting to about 43 per cent of the total population.
    • Average life expectancy to go up to 79 years and number of senior citizens to grow from 8per cent  to about 24 per cent  of the population.
    • Within the next 10 years, literacy levels are projected to jump to 95 per cent  with almost complete literacy achieved by about 2030.
    • Internet penetration will touch 92.7 per cent  with over 1592 million users.
    • Per capita income will be up to Rs11,63,000 from the current Rs. 37,000.
    • There will be an estimated 319 million four-wheelers and 573 million two-wheelers making a total of 900 million vehicles on the Indian roads.
    • Number of air travellers will double every decade andtouch 860 million in 2061.
    • Televisions are expected to achieve a 97 per cent  penetration with over 50 per cent  homes boasting of multiple TV sets.
    • Ad spends are expected to grow to Rs33 trillion by 2061 and contribute a wholesome 1.5 per cent  of the GDP.
    • The movie industry acrossIndiawill produce about 2234 films in 2061 i.e. more than all the Hindi movies produced between 1961 and 1991 in India.

     

     

    The knowledge piece has been released in a leading publication and is available on www.cogitoconsulting.com

     

  • Saving Face chronicles the arduous attempts of acid-attack survivors Zakia and Rukhsana to bring their assailants to justice

    HBO documentary ‘Saving Face’ wins an Academy Award

    By A Correspondent

     

    Pakistani documentary film ‘Saving Face’, produced by HBO, which uncovers the story of hundreds of people, mostly women who become acid attack victims, was honoured with the Academy Award for best documentary (short) at the 84th Academy Awards ceremony held inHollywoodrecently.

     

    Every year inPakistan, many people – the majority of them women – are known to be victimized by brutal acid attacks, while numerous other cases go unreported. With little or no access to reconstructive surgery, survivors are physically and emotionally scarred, and many reported assailants, typically a husband or someone close to the victim, are let go with minimal punishment from the state.

     

    Directed by Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy; Saving Face chronicles the arduous attempts of acid-attack survivors Zakia and Rukhsana to bring their assailants to justice, and follows the charitable work of Dr. Mohammad Jawad, a plastic surgeon who strives to help them go beyond this horrific act and move on with their lives.

     

    A journey of healing and a battle for justice, Saving Face, the 40 minutes documentary will be premiered soon only on HBO.

     

    Launched in September 2000, HBO is the English language movie channel available in South Asia (India, Pakistan, Maldives and Bangladesh). HBO brings the best of Hollywood by premiering top blockbuster movies on television first in South Asia through exclusive licensing deals with more than 16 studios and companies.  It is the only English movie channel to feature cutting-edge award-winning original productions year on year. HBO has won 3 Golden Globe Awards this year. HBO Asia is a joint venture of HBO (a Time Warner company) and Paramount.

     

  • Aegon Religare 'hijacked' the letter 'i' from yesterday's national daily, The Times of India. The innovation was done to introduce the new and improved iTerm Insurance plan for Aegon Religare

    Aegon Religare hijacks ‘i’ from TOI

    By A Correspondent

     

    Aegon Religare ‘hijacked’ the letter ‘i’ from yesterday’s national daily, The Times of India. The innovation was done to introduce the new and improved iTerm Insurance plan for Aegon Religare. The front page of the TOI in 8 metros carried the letter ”I’ in the masthead and headlines in the colour blue and in small font similar to the ‘i’ used in the word icon in the main copy advertising for Religare.

     

    Talking about the objective behind this campaign, Mukesh Waje, AVP, Branding, Aegon Religare said, “It is very clearly to announce the launch of a product that has been a pioneer in the market. This campaign is to announce the comeback of an icon. The campaign will unfold further on the web and will heavily rely on this medium. Besides we will have radio and print to support for the duration of the next three weeks.”

     

    The campaign is designed by Ogilvy and BCCL has partnered on media. Though Mr Waje refused to put the amount spent on the campaign, he added, “We have already started getting calls post the ad and we are positive that the campaign will do well for us.”

     

    Aegon had earlier created a stir with its KILB campaign during its launch which talks about being underinsured. Last year, during the same time, the company had done another print campaign on the jacket of TOI where the print of the first page was hardly legible, thus asking if one’s insurance was as faint as the words on the paper, again pointing to being underinsured.

     

  • The new TVC for Tiger Balm shows how the product is a household name worldwide

    Quadrant creates Tiger Balm’s new TVC

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA4LTXqDMos[/youtube]

    By Shubhangi Mehta

     

    The latest Tiger Balm campaign created by Quadrant Communications portrays that Tiger Balm is so popular that most people across the world recall the balm brand and not the animal. The setting of a language class has been used to accentuate this. It’s a 30-second commercial in Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Marathi.

     

    The Indian balm market is dominated by heritage brands like Zandu and Amrutanjan. Tiger Balm too enjoys good brand recall in minds of the consumers, however it is more back of mind memory than top of mind memory. The brand has been away from media hence the motive of the campaign is to let the consumers recall the brand.

     

    On the TVC, Rajan Narayan, President, Quadrant Communications said, “During the researches conducted, following things clearly came across, Strong awareness of Tiger Balm as an international brand association of Tiger Balm as a strong balm, its unique packaging and logo. Recent communication by competitors within the category had not communicated anything new to grow the category. The fallout are new formats like gels and creams eating into the balm market share. Hence we devised this campaign which can be regarded as clutter breaking due to its approach”.

     

    The strategy was to leverage the fact that Tiger Balm is the trusted pain relieving balm in most countries across the world.

     

  • Despite all the negativity, like 'paid news' or advertising interfering in editorial content, there is a lot of good stuff too and in fact the vast majority today are proper journalists, says Mohan Sivanand, India Editor, Reader's Digest

    [MJR] Quality of journalism has gone up: Mohan Sivanand

    Mohan Sivanand, India Editor, Reader’s Digest talks with MxMIndia’s Archita Wagle about his journey so far, touching on the changes in the field which he has seen in the past 36 years. Excerpts:

     

    Q: Tell us a little about your background and your life as a journalist.

    I have been in this field since I finished college in 1976. After my Senior Cambridge exams, I did a BSc in physics, then studied for an MA in English and a post-graduate diploma in journalism. Everything I studied has helped me in some way or other. I think and use, both, science and arts every day at work. I joined The Times of India as a trainee in 1977. I worked there for Science Today magazine (the magazine is not published any more). I worked with the TOI group for over six years, till 1983, when I joined Reader’s Digest. I joined RD as an assistant editor, when I was about 30.

     

    Q: Having been with RD for nearly 30 years, did you never feel that you needed a change or wanted to move to a different publication?

    No, I have not wanted to change jobs. I’ve liked it here.

     

    Q: How has the journey in these two companies been so far? What have been your learnings from them?

    Both the companies, TOI and Reader’s Digest, have been extremely good as learning experiences and dedication to journalism go.  I had very good editors to look up to, Surinder Jha of Science Today and Ashok Mahadevan at Reader’s Digest. Both these gentlemen gave a lot of importance to error-free content and laid emphasis on fact-checking. Ashok insisted that we learn to respect our readers and never underestimate them. That’s why our magazine is called Reader’s Digest.

    I follow those principles. One should never compromise on the quality of the content. I will hold an article back if I have some doubts about facts or if they have not been properly verified.

     

    Q: How does the process work?

    The process is the same for everybody, be it our US editor, myself, a staff writer or a freelancer. Even when I write an article, I have to give references and provide my sources to our researchers. The researchers have to double check every fact. They are, generally, the youngest employees who start out in RD with fact checking. Even I, sometimes, check and verify facts.

     

    Q: Over your 36 years in the industry, what are the changes that you have observed?

    In spite of everything, I feel that there has been a positive growth in the field. The quality of journalism has gone up in the past 30-odd years. I read a lot of articles and I feel that youngsters today are writing very well.  It is a pity that some of the better talent may be going towards the electronic media, but even the print media has people writing extremely well. I read a lot of good stories in many publications.

    Take the example of The Economic Times. It is much better today than it was 30 years ago. Maybe it is because business and markets have developed, and journalists today are well-connected via the Internet and they have access to a lot more information.

    In the past, most youngsters never thought of going for business journalism or working for technology magazines. In those days, we had just one Science Today, but today there are a lot of specialised magazines.

    Despite all the negativity, like ‘paid news’ or advertising interfering in editorial content, I feel that there is a lot of good stuff too. The vast majority today are proper journalists.

     

    Q: As a part of a magazine that places so much importance on content, what is your take on advertising interfering in editorial decisions?

    Actually, the ad people aren’t allowed to interfere in any editorial decision-making at Reader’s Digest. It is unethical. We have strict guidelines in place. Our ad colleagues can give us ideas just like anybody else, and that’s it. They can’t ask us to publish advertorial content and pass it off as editorial content.

    Most leading American magazines have the same policy. Indeed, some Indian publications bow to advertising pressure. By doing so, they are only killing themselves.

    If they continue to pass off advertising as editorial content, sooner or later the reader will realise what is happening and stop reading the publication. One can always tell the difference between an advertising plug and editorial content. The readership will drop and the publication is the loser in the long run.

    Often the ad executives are short-term employees who only look at short-term profits. They often don’t care about the damage to the publication’s reputation, so editors have to take a stand and refuse any such interference.

     

    Q: There have been rumours that Reader’s Digest editorial is being shifted to Noida…

    There is a corporate plan to shift to Delhi but nothing has been finalised yet. It has to be a very cautious move, since we can’t train new people overnight for our kind of journalism, our kind of writing and editorial practices.

    India Today Group, which is the Digest’s partner in India, wants to house all their publications under one roof.  We are the only India Today publication in Mumbai… but as of now nothing is finalised.

     

    Q: Will such a move, in any way, affect the editorial policy or content?

    There will be no change in terms of policy and the kind of content. Nowadays it doesn’t really matter where you are. One can work from anywhere. But as far as our content is concerned, we are the world’s, and India’s, highest-selling magazine, so why would anybody want to tamper with what has been working well so far?

     

    Q: We hear that RD is also going the digital way…

    Yes, from February 2012, RD can be accessed on tablets, including iPads for a subscription fee of about $1 a month, which is less than the cost of the monthly print edition. Our US parent edition launched its digital version last year. We were a little late, but I believe sooner or later, most of the print publications will have to go the digital way side by side. If you don’t do it, you are risking your future.

     

    Q: Has there been any drop in readership?

    We haven’t seen any significant drop in the readership. We print five lakh copies a month in India. But we had to move to a digital version before we witnessed any drop. Print magazines will never die out in India, but they may witness some decrease in circulation and that can hopefully be covered by increases in digital versions.

    As of now, the marketing of our digital version has not started with full force. But we will soon, and possibly have some more interactive content for our digital readers.

     

    Q: Apart from being the India editor of Reader’s Digest, you are also an artist.

    I was an artist before I became a journalist. When I was in college, I used to draw for Shankar’s Weekly, which was India’s equivalent of Punch magazine. I started oil painting in 1991. Between 1994 and1999, I held four solo exhibitions and some group exhibitions of my work.

    But after I became the editor, I stopped exhibiting as I don’t get enough time. My job takes a lot of my time. I still paint and draw, but as a means of relaxing. I will go back to painting full time after I retire.

     

  • 'Radio City Connect', Radio City 91.1 FM's full spectrum activations cell provides end-to-end 360 degree brand marketing solutions to all their clients

    Radio City Connect’s awareness campaign for Pune Strykers

    By A Correspondent

     

    Radio City Connect, the event activation cell of Radio City had organised an awareness campaign for the “Pune Strykers” hockey team at the SGS Mall in Pune. The team was launched on-air and on-ground at the same time. The team launch is said to have been a live event in the mall, along with a flash mob and studio shift. A Radio City studio was created in the mall wherein RJ Sonali went live and treated listeners with the grand proceedings of the launch.

     

    The entire team of ‘Pune Strykers’ introduced themselves to the audience on-ground as well as to the listeners on-air.

     

    Radio City Connect orchestrated a flash mob where the dancers grooved to the ‘Pune Strykers’ Anthem choregraphed by Piyush Malhotra, a renowned choreographer.

     

    Adding to the excitement, Radio City Connect incorporated ‘Minute to Win It’ games for contestants. Merchandises like miniature hockey, bags, key chains and pens were given during the entire activity.

     

    Moreover, a signature campaign was carried out by Radio City Connect that gave the audience a chance to articulate their love and blessings for the team by writing messages and signing on the board.

     

    Ashit Kukian, COO,Radio Citysaid: “We are delighted to launch the Pune Strykers Hockey Team. As a medium that enjoys immense local relevance and personal connect with listeners, we have been able to cultivate a strong expertise in on-ground activations. This is the first time a sports activity has been launched on-ground and on-air simultaneously. I am glad that the response was much more than what we had anticipated. Our effort to create awareness of the team by reaching out to maximum number of listeners and contribute towards adding popularity to the game of hockey has been successful. ‘Radio City Connect’ which is Radio City 91.1 FM’s full spectrum activations cell provides end-to-end 360 degree brand marketing solutions to all our clients. Our proficiency in executing on-ground activations has propelled this partnership with the World Series Hockey.”

     

    Mr. Manoj Choudhary, Franchise Owner, Pune Strykers and promoter of Jewel Products said: “World Series Hockey was conceived with the objective of reinvigorating the sport of hockey in India and creating a financially self-sustaining ecosystem for hockey to thrive and grow to become the “sport of choice” for young Indians. We chose Radio City Connect because our team spirit and attitude is synonymous with their brand attitude; leadership, energetic and pep.”

     

    More than 18,000 people are said to have attended this event which was covered by many leading publications and TV channels.

     

    World Series Hockey is a joint initiative between the Indian Hockey Federation and Nimbus Sport. An annual event, World Series Hockey will feature “city-based” teams playing against each other in a “home and away” league, culminating into a multi-header playoff to determine the World Series Hockey Champion.

  • John Zeigler, Chairman & CEO of DDB Group Asia Pacific, talks about India's role in APAC and how rival agencies are taking a cue or two from them

    Being the best is our trademark: John Ziegler

     

    After a three-month long restructuring and realigning exercise in India, DDB Mudra Group presented itself in a new and refined avatar to the world on Tuesday. Having found its saviour in Mudra to expand its foot print in to India, DDB Worldwide is ready with a formula and a team that it promises would shake up the Indian advertising and media market and make it a force to reckon with in the coming months.

     

    Representing the group to make this historic makeover, John Zeigler, Chairman and CEO of DDB Group, Asia Pacific, Japan & India was a picture of hope and accomplishment as he presented to the gathering his views and expectations from the alliance.

     

    As the leading voice, and overseeing markets that span 21 agencies in 16 countries, and more than 2,500 employees, Zeigler is a great believer in reinvention and what it implies for brands in this global, think local, market. In conversation with Johnson Napier of MxMIndia, Zeigler emphasises on India’s role in the APAC market for DDB Mudra Group, on how rival agencies like WPP are taking a cue or two from his agency and what the agencies of today need to know to stay ahead of the curve. Excerpts:

     

    Q: How would you assess DDB Worldwide’s growth story across the globe, especially in the Asia Pacific market led by India?

    Across our businesses worldwide, we are looking to achieve a growth rate of 15 per cent. With the kind of businesses we have in India, we should be able to achieve a growth rate of 25 per cent plus. As for our other agencies across Asia Pacific, we had a compounded growth rate in excess of 30 per cent year on year.

     

    Q: Having upped your stake in Mudra recently and post the overall restructuring exercise in India, it seems to be an affair that was heavy on the investment front. Your comments.

    I would say the investments have really been in terms of people, training, exposing them to the rest of the business operations that we have and we are doing that dynamically every day. From another investment point of view, we see the opportunity to jointly grow our businesses which doesn’t require any investment other than time, talent and people.

     

    Q: Do you see Omnicom further raising its stake in Mudra anytime soon?

    That is something that will be really dictated by the equity partners comprising of Reliance Group and Omnicom. It is something that will echo with the passing of time. From our point of view, it should happen as quickly as possible.

     

    Q: You have all along emphasised the importance of emerging markets for the DDB Group. Have you identified any new markets that you plan to tap in the near future?

    We are going to scale up our growth soon in the market of Vietnam. We have just wrapped up an acquisition deal there and will be starting a new business soon. And the other key country for us would be Indonesia. But we would be able to tell you more about these markets only later.

     

    Q: While the emphasis of the group is on providing 360-degree integrated solutions, it is creative that is stealing the thunder to a certain extent in India. What do you derive of this sentiment? Where does digital fit in this matrix for the group?

    In terms of social creativity, what we have learnt is that the connection of creativity across digital and traditional – there is no wall. We have to look at it as a complete communication opportunity to capture the consumers’ interest and intrigue, the ability to pass it on and for them to become the media. So we are going to be growing digital but not as an exclusive digital entity alone; we’ll be growing digital within the core business as well as specialty part of the business.

     

    Q: How would you assess Omnicom’s growth story against those of WPP and Publicis Groupe who have also heightened their interest around the Asia Pacific market? 

    Omnicom is very anxious to grow inAsia. We have demonstrated that already. If you look at the last five years, you will see Omnicom has had much greater organic growth than WPP. This organic growth has been complemented by some strategic acquisitions and you will see Omnicom continue to grow much faster than the other groups. Again, our goal is never to be the biggest, it is just to be the best. In fact, WPP has also now changed their slogan to say that being best is better than being the biggest. But that’s only because they have talked about being the biggest, that they are understanding the importance of being the best – like we always have; so they are trying to take an element of that positioning from us.

     

    Q: Though a sister agency, how has BBDO been growing in India and in Asia Pacific?

    We work differently and therefore I cannot comment as such, but I would say that they have been doing well in India. Obviously we would like to support them and help them sell their services to their clients through the existing base from the DDB Mudra Group. We do share some clients, like for instance we both service Johnson & Johnson, Mars, and others. So we compete and collaborate with BBDO where it is relevant for our client.

     

    Q: Though not as grave as its predecessor, the slowdown has impacted the growth of the industry to an extent, including in India. What are your views on the global media growth story going forward?

    Most of the agencies are trying to fix the economic crisis situation by leveraging money – making money spread thinner than it should. That’s one of the reasons why banks got in trouble because of bad business practices. I think a lot of people are struggling with the economic crisis because they have tried to cut their cost structures down so far that they have actually started to cut into the value of their corporations. I don’t believe that cost-cutting, mergers and acquisitions, and the availability of finance will help the rest of the world reinvent itself. But I do believe that creativity applied to a business will give any business that uses that well, a competitive advantage. I believe that those firms which access and leverage competitive advantage best will win. I think the countries that are leveraging competitive advantages are winning today. Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore are leveraging their strategic expertise, their positioning, their competitiveness and they are benefitting from other areas that aren’t doing so well. But all this has to be seen from a country and a geo-political level, and would, therefore, differ across markets.

     

    Q: Has this sentiment aroused the apprehensive levels of clients?

    They are very apprehensive as they often ask how we increase our share of returns to our shareholders. There comes a point where the only way to do that is to gain a point from the competitors. And you can only gain more points from your competitors if you are more creative.

     

    Q: Worldwide, there is a trend of companies opting for CMOs to drive the growth for the organisation. Should ad and media agencies look at this trend as a means to beating the recession blues?

    We don’t have a CMO as such at the top as we work in an executive committee collaborative fashion and we do not believe that one person can manage that through the complexities of all brands and offerings.

     

    One of the things that agencies have more trouble is that clients have more focus in cutting the cost of an agency then they have put in to understanding how to get best value out of the agency. Until that changes, we cannot reinvent ourselves because we are running on very thin margins, we are trying to be creative and inventive, but we are being constrained by financial controls.

     

    The first thing that many clients do when they come to an agency is, they say: we do not pay for senior management involvement; that is agency overheads… some clients even come and say: I want to know how much time of your senior management I’m going to get and then we’ll negotiate the rest… those clients are smart because they are buying the best expertise and not just buying heads to do functions and processes.

     

  • [Flashed y’day] Vizeum gets ready to talk “with” consumers; Anand Kumar on board

    By a correspondent

     

    Aegis Media’s Vizeum India has announced an added layer in its suit of services in the area of active consumer engagement and has roped in Anand Kumar as Associate General Manager – Engagement Planning.

     

    Affirmed S Yesudas, Managing Director, Indian sub-continent, Vizeum, “As the communication channel choices increase and the limited time at the consumers’ disposal further shrink,  we believe we need to focus on engaging with consumers at different occasions and different state of mind based on the same strategic thread of the overall communication. Anand’s appointment is in line with this thinking.” Adding further Yesudas said, “Passive advertising sells a particular product and makes the consumer walk to the point of sale. However, there is a good chance that the consumer might walk out with a totally different brand because of some dynamics at the point of sale. On the other hand, had there been reinforcement of the message once again in the consumers’ mind as actively as possible just before the decision to pull out the wallet, chances are that the same brand would have been benefited. Both these scenarios call for different consumer engagements -the former talking “AT” the consumer and the later, talking “WITH” the consumer. Talking “WITH” the consumer is all about actively engaging them at a different state of mind.”

     

    Commenting on the motivation to join Vizeum, Anand Kumar asserted, “Vizeum India today is a strong and credible agency in just less than two and-a-half years. Their well articulated understanding of talking “At” and “With” consumers can further enhance thought leadership status. I look forward to working closely with the leadership team in Vizeum as they move to next level of aggressive growth and consolidation story.”

     

    Anand has a Bachelors in Visual Communications, Masters in Journalism & Communications and MBA (Sales & Mkt.) and has close to 9 years experience in the relevant field of operation. His last assignment was at the Network 18 Group. Anand will be based in Mumbai and will report directly to Yesudas, while working closely with the Heads of the 3 Vizeum offices.

     

    Vizeum successfully operates in 55 countries with a philosophy of in-depth understanding of the co-existence of lives, brands and media in the actual world, through its process – motivation to media.

     

  • Some of the presenters seem to have been inspired by our own award shows

    Anil Thakraney: The Oscar Bore-fest

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    A few random observations on THE most watched TV show on Mother Earth, the 2012 Academy Awards, which was telecast live on Star Movies.

     

    Our pride and joy, AR Rahman’s gig was a ‘blink and miss’. The maestro should take offence and refuse further participation. So should Mr and Mrs Anil Ambani, who were probably seated in the last row.

     

    Some of the presenters seem to have been inspired by the trashy stuff that goes on during desi award shows. The inane, idiotic, incessant chatter on stage. Which young SRK has become an expert at. While I am happy that India is impacting the world, events like the Oscars must ensure award presenters are barred from aping our unfunny jokers.

     

    But what they SHOULD have learnt from us, they haven’t. The Oscars was a bore- fest; much too long drawn out with too many categories being awarded, and with too much self back-slapping. I almost dozed off mid way through. Pity that the show which honours the world of entertainment must be so yawny. Sizzling dance performances from the Hollywood hotties would have broken the ennui. Penelope Cruz and Natalie Portman were in the house. Some ‘Sheila Ki Jawaani’ action from them would have been nice.

     

    Every single nominated individual was in the house (except Woody Allen, who’s apparently outgrown the Oscars). This means there was no awards leak. Compare this to Indian movie award events, where only the winners turn up. If we ever hope to reach anywhere close to where the Oscars is in terms of prestige, the first thing we need to do is plug the bloody leaks.

     

    Host Billy Crystal’s humour has all dried up with age. He looked liked a stoned, embalmed Egyptian mummy. Or, maybe he was ordered by the organizers not to cause the slightest offence. Poor man. Guess when it comes to fragile egos, Hollywood stars are no better than ours.

     

    However, one must say what did save the show a little bit, which was otherwise headed for disaster, was Angelina Jolie showing off her long shapely right leg. Total paisa vasool.

     

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    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhAg0COnqds[/youtube]

    PS: Outside the Oscars auditorium, Sacha Baron Cohen dropped Kim Jong IL’s ‘ashes’ on the anchor. The notorious comedian, who was banned from appearance on the stage, made a surprise entry on the red carpet and created a scene. Good fun. He should have been on the stage. He was sorely missed.

     

  • Veteran adperson Ranjan Kapur has agreed with the Regional Management of Bates Asia to step into the role of Chairman Bates India. It will be in addition to his current role as Country Head, WPP, India

    [Flashed y’day] Ranjan Kapur is new Bates chairman

    Veteran adperson Ranjan Kapur has agreed with the Regional Management of Bates Asia to step into the role of Chairman Bates India. It will be in addition to his current role as Country Head, WPP, India.

     

    In his new role, Mr Kapur will work closely with the senior management of Bates India to fire a new ambition and help develop an organization structure that offers more relevant ways of engaging with clients and consumers “Bates has developed an exciting new ‘changengage’ philosophy that helps provide solutions that are both media and discipline neutral, and it has through the line capability and resources, to deliver them. To drive this thinking forward we are in conversations with a few new age thinkers and we hope to finalize on the CeO for bates India very shortly,” said Mr Kapur in a communique.

     

    Mr Kapur has been informally engaged with Bates ever since he stepped down as Chairman of Ogilvy. Mr Dheeraj Sinha, Regional Head of Planning feels that Ranjan will help galvanize the people at bates India. “His reputation precedes him and he hasn’t lost any of the passion and drive he displayed when he led Ogilvy to the top.”

     

    “The recent departures at Bates India, have presented us with an opportunity to put the right leadership in place”, says Mr Tim Isaac, Regional Head of Bates Asia. “I am delighted to renew my partnership with Ranjan. I have worked with Ranjan many times since I first arrived in Singapore in 1986. With Ranjan as Chairman and a new CeO in place shortly we will be looking to accelerate our growth in India”.

     

  • In Freaking News, which will now appear every Tuesday and Friday, Ranjona Banerji reviews the fare in the morning papers and the nightly news. And sometimes the afternooners, the newsmags and all that's on the Web.

    Freaking News: How the media covered 10 years of Gujarat riots

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Interesting to see that Hindustan Times has gone for all out coverage of 10 years of the devastating riots in Gujarat, while The Times of India has played it down. This is particularly intriguing because at the time, TOI quite beat all other papers when it came to covering the Godhra train attack and the subsequent riots. Disclosure: I was deputy resident editor of the Ahmedabad edition of The Times of India at the time.

     

    Of course, it must also be pointed out that Hindustan Times does not have an edition in Gujarat, only a bureau and as Sujata Anandan, political editor for HT, then Mumbai bureau chief, pointed out in a related piece, she had to send people from Mumbai to cover the terrible events. It is possible however that the Delhi edition of TOI has not picked up the relevant stories, which is even odder because 10 years ago it was TOI Mumbai which shied away from riot-related stories and opinions. Apparently the resident editor at the time did not think it was relevant.

     

    On Tuesday, in the Hindustan Times, Harsh Mander, former IAS officer now social worker who works with Gujarat riot victims, hopes that there will be, well, hope soon. The day before Ashok Malik had asked whether it is time to forgive and forget. I wonder about that and our ability in India to behave as justice is an on and off system which we press when it suits us.

     

    Television, in particular CNN-IBN and NDTV, did focus on the riots and their aftermath: after all both their main faces Rajdeep Sardesai and Barkha Dutt did cover the riots extensively, perhaps for the same channel at the time, my memory fails me here. As a print journalist however, the strident hysteria of TV reporters and anchors, especially at such critical times, can often be more of a hindrance than help and so it was 10 years ago in Gujarat. Provocative people may make for good television but sometimes it can lead to irresponsible journalism.

     

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    Having spent a few days in Delhi, or more correctly Gurgaon, it is fascinating to see how crime dominates the papers. Is this because crime dominates events here or because local journalists look out for it?

     

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    On TV land on Monday night, Arvind Kejriwal’s remarks about Parliament being full of robbers, rapists and murderers got some play (see what I mean about TV promoting people just to create good television?). Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN wanted to know whether everyone agreed with Kejriwal and the Election Commission’s intent to tweak existing laws to bar people accused of severe crimes for contesting elections, within a certain time limit.

     

    The normally rambunctious Chandam Mitra of the BJP, normally quick to have hysterics was abnormally quiet as he hummed and hawed and said a debate was necessary and suppose the accused was later proven to be innocent? (Incidentally, this problem of later being proved innocent never bothers the BJP where Muslims accused of terrorism as concerned!).  An activist pointed out that the proposal was seven years old and surely that was enough time to debate the matter.

     

    Prashant Bhushan, who defended Kejriwal, said a few innocent people suffering was a small price to pay to keep criminals out.

     

    The Times of India, in its second editorial, slammed Kejriwal and Team Anna for swinging their “bludgeon in all directions while assuming partisan and authoritarian overtones”, which can only lead to the movement floundering.

     

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    On NDTV, Congress leader Renuka Chowdhury got into a made-for-TV fight with an anti-nuclear activist. This was more interesting than the issue itself – foreign-funded NGOs – which got nowhere.