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  • Baru’s bye-bye to BS

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

    It’s a story which MxM should’ve flashed on Friday. But guess our machinery is not so well-oiled yet. We got to know about it only the next morning and coincidentally Mint had also featured it the same day. Since we do not have an edition on weekends, we could get away with it.

    I have interacted with Sanjaya Baru just once. He was keynote speaker at an exchange4media conference on public relations last year. His speech, very anecdotal, was excellent. And I thought it was a brilliant idea to have him, he was indeed the star of the day.

    Earlier, Baru’s entry to Business Standard was received with much fanfare. He had after all held the all-important job of press adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. There was much talk also because editor-in-chief T N Ninan was going to be stepping down and also laying the roadmap for the future.

    Baru, as per media blog , has posted the following status message on his Facebook page: OK, now it is final! From 1st November I step down as Editor, BS and take over as Director, Geo-economics and Strategy at the International Institute of Strategic Studies, London (iiss.org). But, based in Delhi.

    A quick look at the IISS site revealed, that Baru had joined the thinktank in September 2008. He is designated Consulting Senior Fellow for Geo-Economics and Strategy with expertise in South Asia and Economics.So we guess he had this consulting assignment even when he held the BS job or it’s just that the IISS site wasn’t updated. Nothing to be alarmed about either.

    Meanwhile, more on Shailesh Dobhal and his appointment as BS resident editor for Delhi tomorrow.

    Read:

    The IISS site with the Dr Sanjaya Baru bio

    The Mint Story

    The Sans Serif blogpost

    A BS piece on geo-economics: (if you don’t know what geo-economics means, check the Wikipedia descriptor)

    Super stories

    Bio: National Univ of Singapore’s School of Public Policyand India Habitat Centre award jury bio

    MxM story on Shailesh Dobhal appointment as RE (Delhi)

     

    Weekly v/s Monthly Ratings for News TV

     

    The various media players are lucky that given all of what’s happening in the country, MIB mandarins especially mantri-mahodaya Ambika Soni would rather not be bothered about the age-old problems of TAM ratings. Now, don’t be too surprised if you hear shouts that the only reason why the news channels aired so much of Anna Hazare was because they wanted to up ratings.

    Discerning advertisers and their media agencies will tell you that they aren’t too bothered about weekly spikes. It’s a long-term game and save the ads and claims and oneupmanship in ads in the trade media, the weekly v/s monthly ratings debate is poppycock.

    TAM has been smart in saying that it will want to hear the voice of all stakeholders before taking a decision. If the newswallahs are indeed serious of getting a decision, am sure they can prevail upon the agency and advertiser folks. But even as NBA has been emphatic in its demand and believes all the malaises of the business can be solved with this move, we are not sure if independently some of the stronger members would want it. At least one such member sent us a wicked grin smiley on the instant messenger.

    Perhaps powerful broadcasters like Uday Shankar or Puneet Goenka could help broker some peace.

    Read:

    Our friend and former News Broadcasters Association (NBA) board member Rohit Bansal on the Zee News website

    Report by Anita Sharan with a view from LV Krishnan, Punitha Arumugam, Navin Khemka, Broadcast Editors Association secretary N K Singh and an NBA Statement

     

    Gruesome pictures

    Comments in Sevanti Ninan’s Hoot:

    In The Hindu

    (I wonder why the aside that Even a tabloid like Mail Today was more restrained. Agreed it’s tabloid in size and goes in for smart packaging, but Mail Today has been a fairly sober paper. We don’t think it’s right to rubbish tabloids thus).

    The Hoot on Times Nows horrific pictures

     

    Social media karo!

    This one should specially interest our friends Rajesh Lalwani (Blogworks), Parveez Modak (Hanmer MSL), Raju Raut (Deadline) and Rohini Kapur (Sepia Media). The Times of India reports that the department of info technology (DIT) has advised all government departments to make social part of their day-to-day work to communicate with citizens.

    If the government departments decide to give out work to external agencies, then it could be windfall for the social media agencies. Or at least professionals.

    “The civil society is making effective use of social media. But in the absence of a framework on use of social media, government organisations have restricted its usage. Government officials are unsure whether to use it for official purposes or not. Hence, framing guidelines for usage was important as the medium is highly effective, speedy and reaches a large number of citizens,” additional DIT secy Shankar Aggarwal Timess Swati Shinde Gole last week.

    Link


    Remembering Funnie…

    Just learnt that it was Indrajit ‘Funnie’ Lahiri’s birthday yesterday. Brilliant teacher, great human being and a fun guy to have a drink with.

    My first contact happened thanks to Mediaah. He was a regular reader and would be in active contact until I moved to Pune and became good friends. Wish he was around to see MxMIndia and Mediaah’s third coming.

    I had wanted to institute an award for young media school talent in Funnies memory. I tried suggesting it to two award organisers I was associated with, but it couldn’t happen. I am not very sure if MxMIndia will want to institute awards for news TV, but need to find a way to keep his memory alive with the frat and the generations to come.

    Tailpiece: Wanted robot journalists
    You have to read this. A start-up in the US has developed technology that can mimic human reasoning and write text. We’ll be waiting for this technology to happen in India. Wink, wink. http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/in-case-you-wonderedreal-human-wrote-this-column/448814/

     

    Buzz me if you have a story to tell. Confidentiality assured. There are various ways you can reach me: pradyumanm[at]mxmindia.com, 23050B5D, Gtalk: pradyumanm[at]gmail.com, @pmahesh, 98338 76278

  • Shailesh Dobhal to be Resident Editor for BS, Delhi

    By A Correspondent

    In a move unrelated to the resignation of Mr Sanjaya Baru as editor, Financial Express executive editor Mr Shailesh Dobhal is set to join Business Standard as Resident Editor for New Delhi on September 26.

     

    Mr Dobhal is currently looking after features and special sections in the newspaper and was part of an all-new team that joined the paper with editor M K Venu in 2009.

     

    Mr Dobhal has worked with The Economic Times for four years from December 2005 to November 2009 and as Associate Editor with Business Today from June 2001 to December 2005.

     

    Mr Dobhal fills up a vacancy left due to the exit of Mr Suveen Sinha from BS to Business Today recently. Although there was no official word from either Business Standard or Financial Express, the forthcoming move has been confirmed by senior members in both organizations.
    Picture courtesy: The Financial Express

  • Harish Bijoor on six lessons for today's marketers from Salman Khan, the most money-minting Bollywood brand

    The anchor: Harish Bijoor on 6 lessons today’s marketers can learn from Salman Khan

    # 1 Hold your sense of humour and your panache even when the chips are down. It’s the reverse of what we have all grown up with: What goes down has to come up some day or the other! Oops!

    One needs to learn from every downside the star has gone through. The Chinkara, Aishwarya Rai, Vivek Oberoi, Amercian Express Cleaners not withstanding. Listen to the way he cheekily (pun unintended) describes his latest health downside as a flaming affair between his nerves and his veins, giving him an electric shock in his brain.

     

    #2 Think young, as the market is young

    Never mind that you are on the wrong side of 40. Think 25. That’s the median age of the country 56 percent of the population of India is below the age of 25. You might be an old marketer, but think the age of the nation. Don’t try to get the young nation of consumers think your age. Get contemporary in your marketing.

     

    #3 Stay fit

    The market is young. Youngsters themselves may not be fit, but everyone loves to live vicariously fit lives through the lives of their brands and stars. Keep your brand looking contemporary, young, with-it and trendy. Invest in those small little changes forever. Keep your brand looking different all the time. Don’t get cast into a stereotype. Gone are the days when a brand needed t look just the same. Today, visually, brands need to evolve. Evolve as fast as the consumer is evolving. The marketing problem today is that marketers are changing far too slowy as compared to consumers.

     

    #4 Poke the other brand in the eye and make him blink

    Brands that maintain the status quo with the competition are boring. Poke the competition in the eye. Wake it up. Make it react and make it make all those mistakes as well. Be seen as the market-mover. Be seen as the one who is the gold standard on everything around. Be the hero brand. The hero is forever on the prowl.

     

    # 5 Stay naughty

    Every consumer has a child in him and her. Most are pushed to suppress this side altogether. Life and the rat-race at large makes one suppress it all. Wake up this naughty side of your consumer through your own naughty brand stances. Do it all the while. Make your consumer live his life vicariously through the brand he uses. Stay naughty in your brand stances and push the gauntlet one step at a time.

     

    #6 Be Human. Be faulty

    This is not a pun on Salman’s Being Human! It is all about he fact that Salman is the first to accept all his faults. No point in hiding the fact that you love your drink. Be real. Be open. Be transparent. Be human. Consumers love the fact that the brands they franchise are alive as well. Good to think that everyone is faulty at large. Brands with foibles will be the new trend. Brands that falter just as you the consumer falters, will be the new trend of the future. Marketers can learn much from this. Brands that are level with the consumer and speak form the same level as the consumer will be loved. Gone are the days when brands spoke top-down language with the brand on top and consumer below. Today is the day and age of level peer-to-peer communication. Brand Peer to Consumer Peer communication, if you will!

    Harish Bijoor is a brand expert and CEO of Harish Bijoor Consults Inc. You can follow him on Twitter @harishbijoor

  • Introducing a new weekly column reviewing the popular Bollywood film reviews in the media.

    New Column: Reviewing the Reviews by Deepa Gahlot

    Mere Brother Ki Dulhan

    Key Cast: Imran Khan, Katrina Kaif and Ali Zafar

    Written and Directed By: Ali Abbas Zafar

    Produced by: Aditya Chopra

     

     

    This Yash Raj Films production by first-time director Ali Abbas Zafar,got mixed reviews ranging from 1 to 4 stars,leaving readers foxed as usual.This is a common enough occurrence these days when reviewers are so afraid of a slamming when films they pan like Bodyguard go on to become blockbusters, that in trying to please popular tastes along with trying to express their own critical opinions, they often tip over to the side, that is, what the masses might like. The public, as always, is quite unpredictable.

     

    There were certain common points across reviews:

    a)The plot was stale

    b) Katrina Kaif saved the film with her  bindaas act

    c) Imran Khan is getting typecast as a wimp

    d) Ali Zafar (the Brother of the title) can’t act

     

    Hardly anyone noted the similarity to Hollywood film Dan In Real Life.

     

     

    Our take:

    Romcoms everywhere are pretty clich’d anyway,so this one’s not a complete dud. You get what you expect,which is not much.

     

    Irritatingly, Katrina Kaif plays a half-way rebel,who is done with her smoking-drinking (no sex) ways and now wants to settle for an arranged marriage. Imran Khan and Ali Zafar play hopeless Mamma’s boys, who can’t stand up for themselves.

     

     

    The Reviews:

    Mayank Shekhar of Hindustan Times gave it 1-1/2 stars, with a headline stating Mere Brother Ki Dull One. He wasn’t too impressed with the Katrina Kaif character, writing, Katrina Kaif plays the said rock chick. It’s hard to tell if her character’s restlessly rebellious, or plainly retarded.

     

    The Dull word appears in Sudhish Kamath’s review in The Hindu, with a headline: Katrina puts the dull in Dulhan. While pointing out, And for a romance film, it makes you fall out of love with Katrina. Ouch!

     

    Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express quite rightly says in her headline: We’ve seen this Shaadi before.This is a Yashraj rom com where funny-smart lines are a substitute for good old passion. Don’t go looking for any. Don’t go looking for any subtle notes, either. There aren’t any. Quite true Shubhra nails it there; plus she finds Katrina exhausting.

     

    Just 3 stars from the usually generous Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India.It is the verve factor which works admirably for the film which doesn’t have much to boast about in the story department. The film tries to remain high spirited throughout, both in terms of the narrative and the performances and mostly succeeds in keeping the smiles coming, she writes, and concludes that it is pleasant weekend viewing.

     

    Pratim D Gupta of The Telegraph was one of the kinder ones, noting the freshness of the Katrina-Imran pairing.Imran and Katrina make sure you sit in that plex chair, eyes wide open with a smile fixated on your face, and just let them happen to you. A bit treacly, that, but then that’s probably the response of teens flocking to the cinemas to giggle at Katrina’s antics.

     

    Rediff.com’s Sukanya Varma recommended the film to Katrina fans and gave it 2-1/2 stars. All three look younger than they are and bear an incredibly fresh, genuine and genteel disposition. First-time filmmaker Ali Abbas Zafar avails of these qualities to fashion a feel-good, melodrama-free, candy floss rom-com about two brothers and a mutual love interest.

     

    Aniruddha Guha of DNA is probably the only one who likes Ali Zafar, but gives YRF a drubbing. Every year, YRF launches a director or two, who then make the same films other directors were already making for the banner. There’s not a shred of originality, not even an attempt to rise over the mindlessness; just a set pattern that is replicated to the T, even though it’s met with little success time and again. His one star is the lowest the film gets.

     

    And finally, the four-star extreme from Taran Adarsh of Bollywoodhungama.com. According to him, there’s nothing wrong with the film. It is a delectably wholesome, heartening, feel-good entertainer. Not just a comedy, but also a tender, bittersweet saga, this rom-com is sure to melt your heart, then restore it anew all over again. Yet another winner from Yash Raj! It seems he was watching a different film from the rest of the world.

     

    Deepa Gahlot is a National Award-winning film reviewer and a veteran writer and commentator on the arts. She currently heads programming for Theatre and Film at the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Mumbai

  • Freaking News… Ranjona Banerji's near-daily blog reviews the nightly news and the fare in the morningers

    The weekend fare and is our media scared of taking on big business?

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    The weekend papers…

     

    With the tenth anniversary of the September 11 2001 attack on the United States being top of the mind, Sunday Times carries something of a coup  a special article by US president Barack Obama, where he discusses the loss as well as US strategy to deal with terror, focusing of course on killing of Osama Bin Laden earlier this year and the targeting of the al-Qaeda. Obama reiterates that the US has never been at war with Islam.

     

    Other newspapers also concentrate on 9/11. The Hindustan Times carries a special section on the attacks with comment, analysis and related stories. It also does not carry its local Mumbai comments page, perhaps to accommodate this change, although the regular comments page appears at the end of the section.

     

    The rest of the news is a mixture of local Mumbai news the end of the Ganesh festival is prominent. The Hindustan Times in Mumbai leads with a local story on water contamination while the Delhi leads with 9/11 and the possible terror threat to the US. The opposition to the communal violence bill from the NDA and the Trimamool Congress is second lead in Delhi.

     

    The Times of India goes with party funding for its second lead and also highlights the communal violence bill. Half of page one is an ad, therefore limiting its options. Into this space however filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt’s son Rahul’s need for a gun to protect himself finds space. Curious.

     

    The Ganesh festival is played out on the inside pages of all Mumbai newspapers. Newspaper offices in the financial capital are closed on Sunday so there will be no edition on Monday.

     

    The Hindu leads with the communal violence bill and also gives prominence to Nalini meeting Murugan, both convicted in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

     

    … and the news channels

     

    The weekend saw our television channels returning to covering whatever news they could find while international channels concentrated on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. The critical injuries to cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin’s son in a motorcycle accident in Hyderabad, an accident during the Ganesh immersion processions in Mumbai and renowned Sufi singers the Wadala brothers being caught with live bullets at Amritsar airport were the news items which got play on TV channels.

     

    The rest of the space was given to the back and forth between the government, the Congress and Anna Hazare’s advisers, the fight between sports minister Ajay Maken and former sports minister Mani Shankar Aiyar the dramatic essence which gives Indian television its raison detre.

     

    The memorial services in New York for 9/11 were sombre and the channels covered it like that, with solemnity and minus high anchor drama. Anderson Cooper of CNN is usually quite good at events like this.

     

    Is our media frightened to take on the rich?

     

    It bears comment that the CAG findings on contract violations by Reliance Industries in the KG basin have been tiptoed around by the media in general as well as by observers, commentators and opposition parties. Does it appear that we are not so concerned about corruption when our biggest industrial houses are involved, or that we are too frightened to take on the rich?

     

  • Digitization’s sunset date may be delayed

    By Akash Raha

     

    The process of digitization is unlikely to be over by December 31, 2011, according to key stakeholders among broadcasters and cable organizations. The sunset date for digitization is therefore expected to be extended further, as it seems to be going nowhere at the current pace. The stakeholders say this is because of lack of clarity on the part of the Government, which needs to enable the industry to change over smoothly from analog to digital.

     

    The issue of digitization was discussed at length at Focus 2011, a seminar organised by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). The theme of the event, From Analog to Digitization, was held on September 9, 2011 at New Delhi.

     

    Earlier in the day, Mr Choudhury Mohan Jatua, Honourable Minister of State, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said that he was hopeful that the process of digitisation will happen in the stipulated time. He said that his government was doing everything to make it possible, but that to make it possible, the industry itself needs a lot of self-discipline. He said that the changeover from analog to digital is desirable and also compulsory.

     

    The romance with digital is on and the era of digital is here, said Mr A Mohan, VP, Zee Networks, kicking off a discussion session moderated by Gunjan Gupta of Deloitte. However, he said, there are several problems on the route to digitisation. The three-fold challenges that he pointed out were investment issues, finding a viable economic model in the digital era, and inter-connection issues. Subject as it is to a variety of taxes such as entertainment tax, service tax, VAT, entry tax and so on, he said, it is very difficult to make any profit. He appealed to the government to rationalize the taxes on the industry. Talking about investment, he said that the Government of India must change its FDI policies, which would help with more funding for digitisation.

     

    Ms Roop Sharma, President, Cable Operators Federation of India (COFI), said, Digitization cannot happen by the sunset date unless the government faces its problems and challenges. Moreover, the government has to come up with a phase-wise plan for digitization, as we cannot expect it to happen overnight. Awareness has to be spread, and consumers need subsidies to accept digitization. Ms Sharma, a member of the task force for digitization, and she rues that even after several meetings there is no clarity as to how the government plans to go about digitisation.

     

    Mr Sugato Banerji, CMO  DTH, Bharti Airtel, cited several advantages of digitization, beginning from safeguarding national security to more subscription-based revenue for broadcasters. He went on to say that the age of digital will benefit the whole ecosystem  consumer, broadcasters, government and cable operators. Mr Pulak Bagchi, Vice President, Star India too spoke about the advantages of digitization and said, If we intend to digitize in right earnest, the government has a huge role to play.The industry is set to provide 4 percent of the country’s GDP (excluding agriculture). Yet, the investment required for digitization of the whole country is set to be 15 billion USD. He also said that digitization would eliminate cable wars and prevent tax leakages for the government.

     

    With 35 million digital households, India is going to be the largest digital market said Mr Siddharth Jain, General Manager, Network and Content Distribution, South Asia, Turner International India. He went on to say that the success of any venture depends most on the consumer experience, which the industry has to keep in mind. Content is king, and yet content has a cost.

     

    Mr Raman Kalra, Director and Partner, IBM said that while in future content is going to be the key and content is poke about the future of the medium and said that eventually, content is going to be the key and that is exactly what the customer wants. At the same time, you can’t just thrust technology on him; the convenience of consuming content is also very important.

     

    Mr Rohit Bansal, CEO and Co-Founder, Hammurabi & Solomon Consulting, voiced his concern over government’s method of setting deadlines, and he fears that such deadlines won’t get translated.

     

    He said, Digitisation has its own advantages, and even though some incumbents are trying to resist it, everyone has to come together and volley for it. The I&B ministry, TRAI and all other stakeholders have to rise to the occasion and do their bit.

     

    The recently accepted TRAI recommendations for the implementation of digitisation of broadcast systems in India is expected to open up new opportunities for a broader ecosystem (content providers, broadcasters, equipment providers etc). Yet, there are several challenges en route to migration from analog to digital. The revenue opportunities are substantial, and all that is needed, it seems, is synergy between the government and the stakeholders to make the sunset date possible and viable.

  • Clicking frenzy as e-commerce biggies eye India takeovers

    By Tuhina Anand

     

    The news of online shopping behemoth Amazon.com firming up plans to enter India by 2010 has stirred up the e-commerce waters in India. Speculation is rife that Amazon is in talks with existing e-commerce players like flipkart.com and letsbuy.com to enter the Indian market. It is not clear how it will enter the Indian market, and players like Flipkartwhich has built an impressive name in this space who are thought to have discussed with Amazon chose not to comment on being open to selling a stake, being bought over or getting into a joint venture.

     

    One thing is clear the news of Amazons entry has made existing players look at the drawbacks in their respective systems and plug them. Quickly.

     

    Amazon has the advantage of being an established brand name. However, the challenges posed by the market in India are unique – from supply-chain and logistics to warehousing and payments. Any company which is starting operations in this country will have to invest time and resources to overcome challenges that most other companies operating in this space have already faced, says Mr Sachin Bansal, CEO and Co-founder, Flipkart.

     

    E-commerce in India is at a nascent stage. The industry is evolving and the growth will escalate with the entrance of serious players like Amazon. Such a development should boost the momentum that the e-commerce market is now witnessing. We do not see this impacting Flipkart’s plans to a great extent. We have met all the benchmarks that we had set for ourselves and will continue to do so in the near future.

     

    With consumers getting more comfortable shopping online and exploring beyond the travel market, there is boundless opportunity for existing players in this market as well as for new players. An Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) study that came out early this year suggests that the e-commerce industry in India should grow by 47 percent in 2011 and estimates that it to be around Rs 46,000 crore from being Rs 31,598 crore in 2010. This figure itself is encouraging for new players to enter the Indian market.

     

    Mr K Vaitheeswaran, Founder & CEO, Indiaplaza.com, was a pioneer of online shopping in India when he founded India’s first online shopping company, www.fabmart.com, in 1999. In 2002 I co-founded an integrated online and offline shopping company, Fabmall, and later in January 2007, acquired Indiaplaza and rebranded the company as Indiaplaza.com. He is of the opinion that for the last 12 years, they have been building their online shopping company waiting for the day when e-commerce will really explode in India. That time seems to be now.

     

    In fact, he says, over the past six months, their traffic has jumped five-fold and sales have tripled. One thing is sure that all the players are keeping a tab on Amazon’s entry into India.Amazon.com is the gold standard in online shopping worldwide. Their entry will be good for the consumer and the industry. For sure, their entry will increase the bar for Indian companies like Indiaplaza and we have to improve our offerings and service levels which again will benefit the consumer.Having said this, there is no need for Indian e-commerce companies to worry as such. Some players will have enough strengths and assets and they will be able to cope with the entry of Amazon.com. Those who cannot cope will fall away. This is the natural order of things. For the record – Indiaplaza will be pleased to see Amazon.com in India.

     

  • From KKR, a leap forward to Nokia Champions League Twenty20 for Shahrukh Khan

    ESPN Star Sports, the official broadcaster and commercial partner of Nokia Champions League Twenty20, has formally announced that Bollywood legend and superstar, Shahrukh Khan, is the face of the tournament. Nokia, the title sponsor of Champions League Twenty20, also announced ambitious plans to promote its association with the tournament. Nokia announced the Nokia Ke Asli Champions campaign for consumers, in which winners will get an opportunity to be part of Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra’s Champion team and watch the finals live with her.

     

    ESPN Star Sports (ESS), the global commercial rights partner of NCL T20, also announced that it will showcase the tournament to fans in more than 174 territories worldwide. NCL T20 will also be telecast in a record 18 different international languages across the world, one of the few cricket properties presented to fans in such a customised way. In India, all the 29 matches will be broadcast live on Star Cricket and Star Cricket HD. ESPN will carry all 23 matches of the main tournament with Hindi commentary.

     

    The Nokia Ke Asli Champions contest will run across Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata between September 15 and October 5, 2011.

     

    Commenting on the development, Aloke Malik, Managing Director, ESPN Software India Pvt Ltd, said, Shahrukh Khan is a great fit as the face of Nokia Champions League Twenty20 and we are delighted to have him with us on this fascinating journey. His participation is however not limited to being the public face of NCL T20. As a team owner, I am sure he will be looking forward to Kolkata Knight Riders qualifying for the main edition of the tournament. We wish him the very best for the qualifying round of matches.

     

    Sundar Raman, CEO, Nokia Champions League Twenty20, said, The 2011 edition of the Nokia Champions League Twenty20 is set to be the tournament’s biggest and most successful yet. The addition of a six-team qualifier for the first time adds another dimension to the tournament. It also provides a record number of teams with a chance to win club cricket’s most prestigious prize.

     

    D Shivakumar, Managing Director, Nokia India, said, Cricket holds a special place in the hearts of Indians and we are excited to be the title sponsors for Champions League T20 as it reinforces our commitment to the youth by connecting them to their passion.

     

    Commenting on his association, Shahrukh Khan, added, I am extremely proud to be associated with Nokia Champions League Twenty20. I am doubly happy as my team Kolkata Knight Riders is also in with a chance of qualifying for this prestigious event. NCL T20 is a unique concept as the best T20 teams from across nations face off for the ultimate prize being Champion of Champions. It doesn’t get better than this.

     

    About his team, the Kolkata Knight Riders, he said he is quietly confident. I believe that the team is pulling out all stops to prepare for this event and I feel that along with the other IPL teams KKR also has a good chance of first qualifying to the main edition and then excelling in further matches. We are working hard and we promise to deliver wholesome and exciting cricket for our fans.

     

    Cricketing talking heads lined up by ESPN Star Sports include Harsha Bhogle, Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri, Kepler Wessels, HD Ackerman, Ian Chappell, Tom Moody, Ian Bishop and Alan Wilkins.
    The TV ratings of second edition of Champions League Twenty20 saw a 35 percent increase over the first edition. The combined ratings (all channels) for the 2010 edition was 2.05* as compared to 1.5* for 2009. Even in terms of reach, the 2010 edition of CL T20 had an increase of 20 percent. The 2010 edition was watched by 90 million viewers as compared to 74.6 million in 2009.
    *TG: CS Males, 15+, Sec ABC. Source TAM. For Reach, TG: CS 4+

  • Hordes of nominations for ET NOW-IndiaMART Leaders of Tomorrow Awards 2011

    With massive nominations from India’s myriad Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) at the close of registrations, ET NOW-IndiaMART Leaders of Tomorrow Awards 2011 seem off to a good start. In the second year, the pre-eminent business Awards have seen more than double nominations from MSMEs as compared to its launch year. This year the nominations stand at over 50,000.

     

    With the nominations phase over, the awards enter the next round of evaluation of these entries for which Ernst & Young has been roped in.

     

    The nominations have provided a perfect start to the journey ahead. Mr Dinesh Agarwal, Founder & CEO, IndiaMART.com, said, Looking at the mammoth figure of 50,000 nominations, we are further motivated to bring appreciation and recognition to the most deserving stars of Indian SME fraternity. We will keep striving to make a difference for these businesses.

     

    Being the process validation partner for these Awards, EY will take into account key parameters to shortlist top 70 companies per category. Out of these, the screening jury will shortlist top 5 companies in every category. To make it easy for the nominees, the screening jury rounds will be scheduled in four cities across the country.

     

    The awards provide a unique medium for Indian SMEs to win nationwide recognition for their outstanding commitment and success in respective fields.

  • Resources is an attempt to provide listing of all the industry associations. Click on 'Headline' to view the list.

    Resources

    AAAI MEMBER AGENCIES

    INS MEMBERS

    IBF MEMBERS

    MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING

    AROI MEMBERS

    IAMAI COUNCIL

  • Lodestar CEO Shashi Sinha is set to be the new President of the Advertising Club Bombay

    Shashi Sinha will be Big Boss at Ad Club Bombay

    After two terms as President of the Advertising Club Bombay, Mr Bhaskar Das of The Times of India Group will make way for Mr Shashi Sinha, CEO of Lodestar Universal India. Mr Sinha is set to assume responsibility this month. Mr Sunil Lulla, the MD and CEO of Times Television Network, will be Vice President. Mr Ajay Kakar, CMO – Financial Services, Aditya Birla Group will be the new Secretary and Pratap Bose, CEO-Mudra Max the Treasurer. The managing committee is reported to have been elected unopposed.

    Mr Sinha has been Vice President of the Club and is also an active member of various media industry forums. After running the media awards effectively, he was entrusted with responsibility of Chairman of the Awards Governing Council following disagreement between the Ad Club and the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) on the issue of the Abby Awards at GoaFest.

    After being mired in controversy for three years, thanks to Mr Sinha’s leadership, the high profile Creative Awards were held without any leaks and raging controversies.

  • Eenadu's I Venkat is elected new Chairman of ASCI

    I Venkat is new top cop for ad world

    The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), the self-regulatory voluntary organization of the advertising industry, has unanimously elected Mr I Venkat, Director, Eenadu, as the Chairman of the Board of ASCI at its board meeting. Mr Venkat has been a member of the Board of Governors for five years and has provided active support to self-regulation in advertising.

    Mr Arvind Sharma, Chairman of India Sub-Continent, – Leo Burnett, was elected Vice-Chairman; and Mr Vikram Sakhuja, CEO-South Asia – Group M Media India, was re-appointed the Honorary Treasurer.

    During 2010-11, the Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) met 12 times and considered 777 complaints against 190 advertisements. Of these, complaints against 104 ads were upheld, while 80 were not upheld and six were considered non-issues. In 84 cases, the ads in which the complaint was upheld were voluntarily withdrawn or modified as per the CCC’s decisions, making for an over 80 percent compliance rate.

    Mr Rajiv Dube, Director-Group Corporate Services ,Aditya Birla Management Corporation Pvt Ltd, and the outgoing Chairman of ASCI, said, It has been a privilege for me to have served as the Chairman of ASCI and I step down from the position with the satisfaction of a progressive year on self-regulation in advertising behind me, for which I would like to thank all who supported strengthening the movement further.

    On his new role, Mr Venkat said, It is my honour to be elected as the Chairman of an organization which has been providing remarkable service to the Indian masses and the ad industry by effectively self-regulating advertising content over the past 26 years. With the support of the ASCI’s Board and the CCC, I will endeavour to further improve the awareness and usage of ASCI. I urge the ad sector, the regulators, civil society activists and above all, the general public to actively seek ASCI’s services and also provide suggestions for its improvement.

     

    The other members of the new Board of Governors:

    Advertisers

    Mr Narendra Ambwani (Agro Tech Foods)

    Mr Rajiv Dube (Aditya Birla Management Corporation)

    Mr Shantanu Khosla (Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care)

    Mr Gopal Vittal (Hindustan Unilever)

     

    Media

    Mr Rajan Anandan (Google India)

    Mr Benoy Roychowdhury (HT Media)

     

    Advertising Agencies 

    Mr Subhash Kamath (BBH Comms India)

    Mr Srinivasan Swamy (RK Swamy BBDO)

     

    Allied Professions

    Mr Dilip Cherian (Perfect Relations)

    Mr Dhananjay Keskar (IBS)

    Mr Pranesh Misra (Brandscapes Consultancy P. Ltd.)

    Mr Partha Rakshit (Partha Rakshit Associates)