MxMIndia

Tag: 3G

  • Videos, app-based ads and interactive ads are just a few forms of advertising that we would like to see in mobile advertising, says Albert Almeida

    The Anchor: Albert Almeida on 5 things he would like to see happen in Mobile Advertising

    By Albert Almeida

     

    1. Ads beyond mobile internet:

    India is still a voice driven market. It would be great if consumers can hear an ad and make a free call rather than see an ad.

     

    2. Better targeting via location-based services and near field communication:

    Both these words have become full fledged buzz words in mobile advertising. This can be used for payment with your mobile device, pushing marketing or other content to the user’s phone, as well as many other possible scenarios we have not even thought of yet. NFC has taken off in many parts of Asia, and there is a huge potential for it in India as well.

     

    3. Richer forms of ads (beyond the banners and text ads) – videos – interactive flash based ads:

    The changes to the pricing strategies for advanced GPRS and 3G will allow more consumers to access mobile internet. With richer content, we would like to see a surge in creativity in the mobile advertising platform as well. Videos, app-based ads and interactive ads are just a few forms of advertising that we would like to see in mobile advertising.

     

    4. Social Integration in mobile advertising:

    With the surge in social networking via mobile devices, we would definitely like to see social integration in mobile advertising. This would also help create word of mouth for brands on social media.

     

    5. Advergaming on a mobile platform:

    Gaming has always had great pull and with mobile gaming on the rise, we would want more branded gaming content that can be offered for free in an ad funded model.

     

    Albert Almeida is the COO, Hungama Mobile

     

  • Taking into account the growing popularity of the digital medium, ITC's Vivel FaceWash, along with Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. and musician Shankar Mahadevan has launched 'India's first digital talent hunt' – MOBisur

    Hungama launches digital talent hunt MOBIsur

    By A Correspondent

     

    The mobile medium in the last many years have grown significantly, especially with 3G and now 4G coming in, there is great expectations from this medium. As wireless subscriptions continue to grow, billions of apps continue to be downloaded worldwide andIndiasaid to have the second largest mobile subscribers in the world.

     

    Taking into account the growing popularity of the digital medium, ITC’s Vivel FaceWash, along with Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. and musician Shankar Mahadevan has launched ‘India’s first digital talent hunt’ – MOBisur.

     

    Mr Neeraj Roy, MD and CEO, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. said: “The reach of Internet andMobiletechnology has grown tremendously in the past few years. The aim of MOBisur is to create a talent-scouting engine in spaces that haven’t been explored in the past, via an entry ticket that is their everyday communication device.”

     

    This unique mobile- and internet-based talent hunt promises to give every Indian an opportunity to prove their singing talent. The property was launched by Shankar Mahadevan, Nilanjan Mukherjee, Head of Marketing, Personal Care Products Business, ITC Ltd; Bhushan Kumar, MD, T-Series and Neeraj Roy, MD and CEO Hungama Digital Media Entertainment in Mumbai on July 13. T-Series is the official music partner for the property, which elevates the talent hunt to an even higher platform.

     

    Mr Bhushan Kumar, MD, T-Series, said: “It gives us immense pleasure to be able to bring new talent in to the industry. As a music label, we are always looking for fresh talent and with a truly digital talent hunt; we have access to talent across the country. We are looking forward to releasing an album composed by Shankar Mahadevan for the winner of the hunt”.

     

    The entries for the digital talent hunt, MOBIsur is said to continue for the next 45 days and the duration of the property will be for three months. The marketing budget is pegged at Rs3-4 crore.

     

    Mr Nilanjan Mukherjee, Head of Marketing, Personal Care Products Business, ITC, said: “Vivel FaceWashis delighted to present Mobisur, an exciting and innovative platform to discover hidden musical talent. Vivel Face Wash MOBisur, in line with this brand philosophy provides a unique opportunity to aspirants to live their musical dreams.”

     

    5,000 talented female participants selected from entries submitted on the Vivel Facebook page www.facebook.com/itcvivel will make it to the second round.

     

    The contestants who clear the first stage of the auditions will be given specific tasks by Shankar Mahadevan, who said: “When I conceptualised this property with Hungama, the thought was to give every Indian an opportunity to participate in a unique contest to try and reach the pinnacle of musical genius. Music is a powerful medium that can come from the most unexpected places.”

     

    Based on their performance in the tasks and the votes secured for each task, they will be chosen for the next round. There are three tasks in all and after clearing all three tasks the contestants make it to the final round, which is the On-Stage Performance. Ten finalists will be chosen to perform in front of Shankar Mahadevan and two other prominent personalities, where the final two winners will be announced.

     

  • infrastructure, piracy, and a fragmented industry are some of the challenges facing content owners in the digital space, says Jai Maroo

    The Anchor: 5 Challenges for film & entertainment industry in the digital space

    1. Lack of Infrastructure:

    One of the major challenges in digital space is lack of infrastructure and poor internet connectivity. The problem of bandwidth has been there for some time now. We need better streaming solutions and internet penetration inIndia. With 3G, and now 4G, coming on the scene, though the initial rollout has been slow, all plans are geared for boosting rollout and hence consumption of entertainment on digital platforms is expected to get a boost.

     

    2. Fragmentation in the Industry:

    We have a fragmented industry in terms of sheer number of platforms and business models. In present scenario, there is no clear leader except a handful of them who are making profit. But with more investors in the space, we are seeing both, better quality platforms and more sustainable rollouts, which are further fuelling the consumers’ digital consumption habit.

     

    3. Menace of Piracy:

    Piracy is another menace that the industry has been fighting against. Some of the players in digital space, like YouTube for example, have been taking some strong measures to ensure that the legitimate owner of the content gets fair share of the revenue. Additionally, content owners are increasingly partnering with platforms and finding win-win partnership models and working together to build the consumers’ habit of legal content consumption.

     

    4. Technological Challenge:

    Content owner face a lot of challenges to digitize and re-purpose the content. Technologies are getting redundant at a faster pace. It is a challenge for the content owners to cope up with the fast-growing technology and avail their content in compatible format for a particular platform. However, players are emerging with the scale to be able to handle this fragmented consumption and build better and more sustainable revenue streams, and bring all the efficiencies of scale. This also gives opportunities to bring in innovation in the presentation of the product.

     

    5. Need for better equipments

    Another hindrance is slow adoption of newer and better equipment/ end user device to access video content. But, the variety of gadgets available in the market at reasonable price points and loaded features are expected to address the problem.

     

    Jai Maroo is Director, Shemaroo Entertainment

     

  • Imran will promote MTS through mass media, online and below-the-line promotional activities. He will also be part of Red Energy, a youth-centric online activity for the brand according to an official involved in the deal

    Imran Khan to endorse MTS in Rs10 crore deal

    By Ratna Bhushan & Gulveen Aulakh

     

    Telecom service provider MTS India has roped in Bollywood actor Imran Khan as its brand ambassador for two years. The 10-crore deal makes the Delhi Belly star the latest one to join a long list of celebrities, including Shah Rukh Khan, Abhishek Bachchan and MS Dhoni, endorsing telecom service companies. While it’s the first time that Sistema Shyam TeleServices’ brand has taken the celebrity plunge, Imran already endorses Coke and Levi’s jeans.

     

    MTS India spokesman and celebrity management firm, Kwan Entertainment, which doesn’t manage Khan but helped him striking this deal, declined to comment.

     

    “Imran will promote MTS through mass media, online and below-the-line promotional activities. He will also be part of Red Energy, a youth-centric online activity for the brand,” an official directly involved with the developments said.

     

    While the 2G scam has not deterred telecom firms from wooing celebrity endorsers, it has impacted their ad spends. Eight of the country’s top 10 TV advertisers during January-September this year were consumer goods makers. Idea Cellular was the only telecom firm in the ranking, according to the media research firm TAM.

     

    The telecom sector has been facing tough times with raging controversy on 2G spectrum allocation, rock-bottom tariffs, sliding average revenue per user, thinning margins and falling profits. High interest costs, banks shying away from lending and 3G roaming agreements being disputed by the government add to the sector’s problems.

     

    Approval and introduction of the new telecom policy that would have allowed liberal merger and acquisition norms and helped in consolidation of the sector, has been pushed back by nearly half a year. This may further add to telcos’ woes.

     

    Source: The Economic Times

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