MxMIndia

Tag: 4G

  • 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.

     

  • The kind of creativity that you see on mobile tends to be more base level media stuff. But more advanced smartphones come in, the opportunity will increase, feels N Rajaram, CMO, Airtel

    Mobile is medium not just to connect, but to engage & inform: N Rajaram

    How would you rate the outcome of your session with You Tube’s Lucas Watson? What is the future you foresee for the medium of digital?

    What came through, very interestingly, was the role of video in digital. Traditionally, we have all been talking about search and text-based online marketing but what we have now seen is the power of video, as video is all about sight, sound and motion. It has been found to be a compelling medium for people to stay connected and be persuaded.

     

    What is the role that mobile will essay as we move forward?

    Clearly for us mobile is going to be one of the key drivers for adoption of internet in the country. I don’t think fixed line is going to expand its base in the country, and this actually happens everywhere. With the advent of smartphones and with the kind of mobile technology available we will soon see a lot of people across the country accessing internet for the first time on the phone and that’s an opportunity for us to explore. So we must look at the phone not just as a medium to connect but also as a medium to engage and a medium for information.

     

    Do you think advertising on mobile lacks creativity?

    I think a large challenge is the availability of devices, as less than 10 per cent of the people in this country own smartphones, and therefore the capability that exists today are not rich. The kind of creativity that you see on mobile tends to be more text and base level media stuff and is not as rich as you would expect. But as we begin to look at more advanced smartphones coming in, the opportunity will increase.

     

    With the coming of 4G, what is Airtel’s gameplan for the medium?

    I wouldn’t like to comment anything on that at this point in time.

     

    Click here to view all Goafest 2012 stories

     

  • 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

     

  • Everest is currently in the process of undertaking an in-depth survey about the company's services and will roll out its first 360 degree marketing campaign to launch ZOOSH within the next quarter

    Everest wins Augere’s Broadband Wireless Services business in India

    By A Correspondent

     

    Everest Brand Solutions has won the strategic and creative duties for Augere’s broadband wireless services being launched under the brand ZOOSH in India. Augere is a pioneer in the broadband wireless services business and currently offers 4G services under the brand ‘Qubee’ in several countries in Asia and Africa. Augere Wireless Broadband India was awarded with BWA spectrum in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh circle under the auctions held last year and will be one of the first to launch 4G(TD-LTE) wireless broadband services in India and globally.

     

    Aiming to create a unique positioning for a new brand while competing with a host of well established brands, Augere India had initiated a rigorous pitch process for the selection of a creative partner to launch ZOOSH in India. After several rounds of presentations, business was awarded to Everest Brand Solutions.

    Everest is currently in the process of undertaking an in-depth survey about the company’s services and will roll out its first 360 degree marketing campaign to launch ZOOSH within the next quarter.

     

    Confirming the development, Mayur Tanna, Chief Commercial Officer, Augere Wireless Broadband India Pvt. Ltd said: “Augere wants to develop ZOOSH as a brand which the youth in India associate with as an enabler to fulfill their aspirations. The current broadband market in India is an extremely cluttered space with innumerable offerings that often leaves the consumer confused. Even the quality of services falls much short of the communicated promise. ZOOSH aims to be a credible Broadband Wireless Service provider that makes the Internet experience fast, reliable and easily accessible. We are very passionate about ZOOSH and wanted a partner who shares our passion and vision for a young and vibrant brand in India; Everest has created a strategy aligned with our vision.”

     

    Augere was established in September 2007 by an experienced team of global telecoms executives with the vision of delivering ‘broadband for all’. It is committed to achieving this through the delivery of fast, reliable broadband internet services in emerging markets using wireless networks.

    Augere currently has access to spectrum in Pakistan, Bangladesh, the states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in India, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania.

     

    Commenting on the win, Dhunji S Wadia, President Everest Brand Solutions said: “The Augere business is a significant acquisition in terms of scope and size. We were given a very detailed and specific brief. This helped the team in working on interesting creative solutions. We are delighted to be their agency of choice. This win also marks a good beginning to the year 2012.”

     

    Naveen Saraswat, COO, Everest Brand Solutions said: “Working on the pitch was very challenging and interesting. The entire team is very excited about working on the launch of ZOOSH. We look forward to building it into a strong brand in India.”

     

    Everest is the 2nd oldest agency in India, born in 1946 and has a glorious history, a robust brand name and reputation and has built some of the biggest brands in the market place – Parle Products, CNN IBN, GoAir, EMAMI, TATA Housing, AKAI, T-Series.