MxMIndia

Tag: Aditya Swamy

  • The 24-hour channel will air Indie music along with films, TV shows, comedy acts and live performance

    Pepsi & MTV India to launch Pepsi MTV Indies

    By A Correspondent

     

    Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd, a joint venture between Viacom Inc and Network18, has revealed the identity of its soon-to-be-launched Indie music and sub-culture channel – Pepsi MTV Indies. PepsiCo India is title sponsor of the channel.

     

    Led by Music, Pepsi MTV Indies will also reflect other subcultures like independent films, art, comedy and more, thereby taking these alternative art forms into the homes of millions. The channel will be launched this month (in February), in High Definition and Dolby 5.1 surround sound and will be available across leading DTH and digital cable platforms. Indies will have a strong presence on the internet and can be accessed via the mobile and with apps. On-ground activities are an integral part of the new offering.

     

    Sudhanshu Vats

    Explaining the rationale behind launching the channel, Group CEO of Viacom18, Sudhanshu Vats said, “At Viacom18, we believe in sharper segmentation whether it pertains to the genre, the audience or by markets. Indies is a move that further strengthens our bouquet of varied offerings. India is moving from a collective to an individualistic content consumption habit. The youth and music genre offers great opportunity for growth and we’re sure that this move will help us build an ecosystem for creating a lot of live content as well.”

     

    Talking about the first of its kind brand association in India, Deepika Warrier, Vice President- Po1 Marketing PepsiCo India said “Music is a key youth passion point and Pepsi’s biggest platform globally. We are excited about partnering with MTV to launch this new platform, as we continue to set and fuel trends, creating a gateway to new experiences for our consumers”

     

    Along with announcing the launch, Pepsi also unveiled its new product packaging with the global logo and visual identity. “The launch of the channel coincides with the debut of Pepsi’s global logo and visual identity system in India. Celebrating revolution, engagement and the impatience to be more, Pepsi continues to change the way the young see the world and the way the world sees them,” Ms Warrier added.

     

    Aditya Swamy

    Announcing the launch of the channel, Aditya Swamy, Business Head, MTV India said, “MTV is the cultural home of the millennials, musicians and artists across genres. Our partnership with Pepsi is the start of a brand new chapter in the entertainment landscape of India.”

     

  • Aditya Swamy, EVP and Business Head, MTV India on the 'Rock the Vote' campaign and how he hopes to drive home the point that it's 'cool' to vote and sport the indelible ink marker

    Jaldi 5 with Aditya Swamy: Making voting cool with Rock the Vote campaign

    If Sunday’s Assembly elections results have already rocked the nation with the emergence of the Aam Aadmi Party as a potent force, youth channel MTV has unveiled a campaign asking young voters to register with the Election Commission and vote on Polling Day. MTV has partnered with 21-year-old non-profit organisation Rock The Vote for the initiative. Speaking to MxMIndia, Aditya Swamy, EVP and Business Head, MTV India spoke on the ‘Hero Rock the Vote’ campaign and how he hopes to drive home the point that it’s ‘cool’ to vote and sport the indelible ink marker

     

    01. And we thought at least on MTV, we could have things beyond elections. Politics and voting sure is in the air for you guys too?!

    Clearly, voting is the flavor of the season. Everyone is doing a voting campaign, especially the news guys. And they are talking to the electorate as a whole. But some interesting facts were thrown up from the Election Commission saying that 12 crore first-time voters this time. And that’s more than the number of votes the leading party got last time. And if they are all young people, then why not have a call to action that is only talking to young people in their language.

     

    So when we scoped out the environment we figured that internationally MTV works with the US-based organization Rock the Vote. Their sole objective is to make it a fun election campaign. It’s not calling it a youth parliament, it’s not calling people to debate on the Top 5 issues of the country and looking for ways to change them.

     

    It deals with issues that touch the youth everyday in their lives. It’s simple things like ice-cream has become expensive so you and your girlfriend can’t have two ice-creams, you have to share one. Your bike…you don’t go for a joy rides anymore, you go from Point A to Point B…because petrol has become expensive. It’s about talking about issues that are relevant to young people and talking in their voice with their ambassadors.

     

    The biggest platform for Rock the Vote is using music and humour. All communication is very tongue-in-cheek. One of our ambassadors we have selected is YoYou Honey Singh, the music star. He’ll reach out to the youth through music videos and music anthem. The effort is to talk the youth in their voice, with things that interest them, and not make it preachy.

     

    We are not saying log onto the MTV and register. We are not saying become a fan on MTV Facebook page. We don’t have to build our audience through this. All we are saying is: ‘Go Press the Button’. It is – ‘Dabao na Button’ …that’s the tag line for the whole campaign. As we build the campaign we’ll say… Log on to electioncommission.com. A lot of people think we are doing this to build our brand, to increase our Facebook fans, to add Youtube views, to boost viewership to the channel. But that’s not it. We don’t believe it doing it just on TV. We start with the first leg on TV. And then we have 200 college campuses that have tied in with an MTV programme currently where we have campus ambassadors. So we will actually go down to campuses and engage with them. And the fun part is, at the end of it, we hold a mega concert for which there are going to be no tickets. All you need is the voting ink on your finger. And that’s how you get entry.

     

    When is the concert?

    After the elections, a couple of days after the elections. We have worked this campaign out in multiple phases. It has a bunch of promos on air, there are several kind of creatives, we’ll have a lot of user generated videos, we have nice set of animation videos made by some young kids, we have college contact programme, we have the music video and the song, we have a mega concert.

     

    02. Do you think this campaign will be able to address the real issues as to why people don’t go out to vote?

    Of course yes! Like I was in Delhi last week and I was able to drive from Gurgaon to the airport in less than half an hour. When I asked the cab driver why the roads were empty, he said it was because of elections. Voting is essentially considered a holiday, so most people take off on short breaks. I think as it becomes more and more cool to vote… that’s the change we want to bring about. We want to make voting a cool thing to do. So an Arnab Goswami asking the youth to vote versus Honey Singh urging them will be different. So that’s what we are trying to tap.

     

    Our second ambassador is Rannvijay, the most followed celebrity on Indian television. Now on the Roadies audition (which will be aired in January), the first questions being asked of participants is – ‘Do you Vote?’. So we have woven it into our content as well. The idea is to make voting cool. Why do you think we are calling it – Rock the Vote…because its with music..it’s with concert… it’s with cool stuff.

     

    03. Are you also looking at reaching smaller towns?

    Yes. These 100 colleges are spread over 25 cities. The idea is spread to the interiors. I’ll take him Honey to Jabalpur, to Kanpur.

     

     

    Essentially the HSM markets?

    If I take him to Kerala or Karnataka, the language becomes an issue. Rannvijay connects with a crowd that speaks in Punjabi. If I take him to Chennai, and he speaks in Hindi, he’ll will be a loser there.

     

    So you are not looking at South?

    If we find some interesting people, who want to be a part of the campaign, we would love to go South. If there is a cricket icon like Rahul Dravid who wants to talk to masses in Kannada, I would love to do it in Karnataka as well. But right now, we are largely at the Hindi belt.

     

    How else are you promoting your campaign, besides television?

    We are looking at Twitter in a large way. Twitter has come in as a strategic partner. We don’t have a press partner. I don’t think young people read newspapers that much. I would rather have Twitter as a partner. And Twitter is a partner with MTV Rock the Vote in US as well. So through Twitter, we hope to engage the urban youth.

     

    04. Don’t you think it will be good to have the youth as consumers of news so that they understand the real issues?

    Before, young people just wanted to fight the system, fight their parents, be very cynical. Now the attitude is: I will go get drunk, I will go party, I’ll go for a concert, I’ll have a girlfriend, but I’ll also go plant trees, I’ll also use eco-friendly bags and I’ll vote. There is a thing if I am not being responsible about the world around me, I’m not been cool anymore. Some of the lines we have used is : “I can’t picture myself sleeping with a non-voter.” “If you don’t do politics, politics will do you.” “Waiting in line to vote is a welcome respite from waiting in line for gas”.

     

    We’ve had campaigns like these in the past like Jaago Re of Tata Tea. As a campaign it was feel good. What is it that you’ll think will actually get people to get down to come and vote and not take Voting Day as just another holiday?

    If voting becomes a fashion, having a tick, the colour on your hand has to be a cool thing. Looking the number of people who posted their picture on Facebook – “I voted, have you?” It has to become the coolest tattoo in town is the ink on your finger. Every young person today, boy or girl, wants to have a tattoo. Tattoo means rebel, no tattoo means mainstream. We had an office party on Wednesday. Thursday was voting day in Delhi. Lot of people flew back to Delhi just to vote. And some of them couldn’t. And you should have seen the thing on Facebook, Shit man, I missed the voting. Ink your pink…that was one of the things. If you have not inked you are not cool. We are talking about things that young people are.

     

    05. Are you going to sync this with Roadies?

    Right from Barney wearing Rock the Vote T-shirt. For us, Roadies has been a great huge place to partnership. One, that’s the audience we are talking to. Two, it is a great partnership with a hero who is in Roadies, and thirdly, we are using Rannvijay as a very powerful face of the entire campaign, and he is the face of Roadies as well.

     

    And you’ve got Hero which is a Roadies sponsor to back Rock the Vote too?

    We’ve got Hero as our partner. We’ve also got Karbon Mobile. Hero has been associated with us for long time. It is interesting to have Indian brand talking Rock the Vote. They genuinely want to involve the youth to make a better India. Otherwise why would it go and sponsor hockey, when everybody is supporting cricket. Hockey is India’s national sports. Also, Hero’s huge network with their dealership huge is a good way to take the campaign to the masses.

     

  • Five bands selected as the best in rock, sufi, folk and pop were selected at a gig in Mumbai

    MTV concludes multi-city music talent hunt

    By A Correspondent

     

    Music channel MTV India concluded its nationwide contest - MTV Rayban Never Hide Sounds – with a gig last weekend in Mumbai. The hunt across Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Kolkata for the give best bands across genres like rock, sufi, folk and pop gave winners a chance to be mentored by renowned musicians like Raghu Dixit, Benny Dayal, Uday Benegal,Harshdeep Kaur and Shilpa Rao.

     

    The shortlisted bands – Parvaaz, Rang, Frisky Pints, Life and Nasya jammed with one maestro from their specific genre and then went on to collaborate on some of the most iconic tracks by the mentors.

     

    Aditya Swamy

    Speaking about this, Aditya Swamy, EVP and Business Head, MTV India said, “Every young musician needs a mentor to go to the next level and this initiative does just that… Bringing together talent from two different generations has been an incredible experience and I look forward to this becoming a calendar event on the Indian music scene. It’s been an absolute pleasure working hand in hand with Ray Ban in building new talent and giving them a platform to take their music to the people.”

     

    Shirley Gong, Ray-Ban Business Manager, Emerging Markets said, “Ray-Ban Never Hide Sounds is an initiative to put forth upcoming talent.  This year we were set out to search the most unique and talented voices across various genres of Music.  I am delighted to see that this approach has brought a brand new dimension to the latest edition and we have successfully completed this musical journey.”

     

  • The music channel's business head Aditya Swamy says evolving to keep pace with the changing demands of its TA – the youth market – is the secret to staying ahead

    MTV goes multi-dimensional, wearing multiple hats

    By Meghna Sharma

     

    To survive, adapting to changing times is an absolute must. MTV, which started the music revolution in the country decades ago, has not just managed to survive but also remain a hit with its audience, when grabbing attention is an increasingly tough job.

     

    How did MTV do it? Evolution is the answer, according to Aditya Swamy, MTV EVP and Business Head. “Our brand talks to youngsters, who are constantly evolving, so to connect with them we have to re-invent ourselves time and again too.”

     

    The channel now is working towards being multi-dimensional and multi-platform. Ask about the rationale behind the new strategy and the response is that while music is at the heart of MTV, the brand is not limited to it. Therefore, the channel isn’t stopping itself from wearing multiple hats – from music both filmi and independent and reality shows, it also has a slew of new properties since March, starting with MTV Sound Trippin, followed by India’s first social road trip titled Drive with MTV , a 13-part film named MTV Rush, and MTV Coke Studio.

     

    Aditya Swamy

    “Today a channel has to be multi-dimensional especially if it caters to youngsters. Youth wants options – music, reality shows, fiction etc. So, a brand needs to have a well-rounded offering for its TA. Audiences are wearing multiple hats, so why shouldn’t a channel?” asks Mr Swamy. “And as choices evolve, we’ll have change accordingly and maybe a new phenomenon will be created in the future.”

     

    However, the channel is very clear that it will never compromise on music. “Music is in MTV’s heart so we cannot let go of it. But we’ll continue to do different things with it and come up with original content. Our mantra is quality over quantity.”

     

    The brand can be consumed on various social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook apart from its website and, of course, television. “When so many options are available to ‘connect’ with the audience then why should a channel be only be limited to TV? All these platforms give us a total consumer platform, which makes it a two-way communication,” says Mr Swamy about the importance of being available on multiple platforms.

     

    He further explains it with an example of Roadies which won ‘The Most Social TV Show’ at Mashable Awards, last year. The show had gone all out by posting videos, images, updates and exclusive sneak peeks on social networks. The show was the only Indian entry to reach the top 10 slot too.

     

    “Not only does the engagement help a brand reach out to its audiences, advertisers prefer it too, as it also helps them to reach their TA through various platforms which a brand they can associate with is on,” Mr Swamy adds.

     

  • Aegis Media's Vizeum celebrates its third anniversary as some of its clients applaud its efforts and contribution

    Clients applaud Vizeum as it celebrates third anniv

    From the MxM Infodesk

     

    Media agency Vizeum celebrates its third anniversary and the agency is celebrating the event along with parents Aegis Media India which acknowledges the agency’s positive contribution to the kitty.

     

    “Clients just seem to love them,” said Ashish Bhasin, Chairman India and CEO South East Asia, Aegis Media. “I congratulate Yesu (S Yesudas) on the extraordinary leadership provided by him.  I also congratulate each member of the Vizeum team on the wise career choice made by them.”

     

    Explaining further on the mandate for Vizeum India, said S Yesudas, Managing Director “We do not have any dreams to be the largest or among the largest media specialists in terms of financial size.  But we really want to be known as a credible consultant who builds bridges of relevance with its clients”

     

    But finally it’s the clients word that is the final call on how a service provider like a media agency is doing. Here are views from three of these:

    Shivnath Thukral, Group President – Corporate Branding and Strategic Initiatives, Essar Group:  “Vizeum rides the highs and lows of my organization, understanding the circumstances under which we operate.  It is achieved through a complete understanding externally and internally. They think the way we think.  They enmesh themselves in the work we do. They help meet our aspirations”

     

    Vivek Krishnani, Head of Marketing, Distribution and Syndication, Fox Star Studios India: “Vizeum came to us with an approach to help make a difference to our business and they did just that!! In an industry where logic of share of voice  can be to outshout by increasing media spend and thereby being susceptible to wastage – With Vizeum’s help we have been able to optimize our spends and get more for less !! I admire their persuasiveness and the desire to do more which reinforces their partnership spirit and drive to achieve excellence!!”

     

    Aditya Swamy, EVP & Business Head, MTV India:  “Vizeum is an agency that focuses on finding a non traditional approach to a brief. Eager to show maximum bang for the buck, their recommendations are truly customized to meet the challenge at hand. Strategic partnerships, clutter breaking innovations and leveraging relationships have been some of their key strengths. I congratulate Yesu and his team  for completing 3 action packed years in India and look forward to working together in the future too”

     

    Rajesh Mani, GM- Marketing & Retail TI Cycles and BSA Motors  (Murugappa Group): “The decision to move to Vizeum was much deliberated upon at our end after they made their pitch which impressed us.  It is a two year old relationship now and the comfort with them has only grown.  Their team as well as the top leadership stay involved in our business as our own team gives us great comfort. We wish them the very best ”

     

  • The youth are also bringing about a cultural change in terms of their influence in advertisements, films, music, television, web and others, says Aditya Swamy

    Aditya Swamy on 6 Gen X facts brands must know

    Aditya Swamy

    By Aditya Swamy

     

    Youth today are coming together to bring about social and cultural change

    Besides the social change, for instance the Meter Down campaign or the Anna Hazare’s anti corruption movement. The youth are also bringing about a cultural change in terms of their influence in advertisements, films, music, television, web  and others.

     

    The generation gap between parents and children is breaking down

    For this generation it is the family which is first over friends. In fact, young people today see their parents as role models and know that it is their parents who will stand by them in both good and bad times.

     

    Warm is the new cool for this generation.

    This is the generation which is in touch with their emotions as they want to make the world a better place, and they want to be a better person. This generation is also very quick to help those that seek their help whether it’s about finding a new home, a restaurant, a job and so on.

     

    This is truly an empowered generation

    Because most of them believe that they can bring about a change in the society or their country. Therefore for a brand to give the youth a platform where they are able to display their empowerment becomes a very powerful tool for brands to engage with their audience.

     

    Technology is equal to life

    The youth today are born into a world where iPhone, iPad, tablets and other mobile platforms are just part of their life. For brands to connect with the youth they must look at how their content can evolve around the four different environment i.e. television, mobile, web and the real life screen. Therefore bringing the four together to engage with the youth.

     

    This generation is already inspired

    So they are not looking at brands to inspire, but they want the brands to engage them. Gone are the days when a Shahrukh Khan is seen as an inspiration, today their role models are those people that brought about a change in their surroundings or country and so on. So brands must start having a two way conversation with their audience and once a brand initiates a two way dialogue that’s when it builds a connection with their audience.

     

    Aditya Swamy is EVP and Business Head – MTV India