Navratna Oil, from the house of Emami Limited, has kicked off its new season with actor Salman Khan.
Speaking on this occasion, Harsha V. Agarwal, Director, Emami Limited, said: “We are very happy to have India’s evergreen hearthrob Salman Khan on board for our brand Navratna. We found Salman’s mass appeal and fan base to be a perfect match for Navratna’s deep connect with its consumers. We are confident that our new communication with its peppy presentation featuring the superstar will help the brand to scale up its mass appeal quotient further.”
The commercial has been directed by Nitesh Tiwari of Dangal and Chhichhore fame and choreographed by Mudassar Khan who has earned a name for his choreography style in many Salman starrer films like Dabangg, Ready, Bodyguard etc.
Hindi GEC Dangal has also bought back mythological epic, ‘Ramayana’ starring Gurmeet Choudhary and Debina Bonnerjee in lead roles. It will be telecast daily at 7.30 pm followed by its repeat telecast at 9.30 am.
On bringing back Ramayana, a Dangal spokesperson said: “At Dangal, we are committed to keeping our viewers entertained especially during unprecedent times like these. Over the years, our viewers have supported us and it is now upon public demand that we have brought back one of India’s most followed epics and revered show of all times, Ramayana. By showcasing a culturally rooted show like Ramayana with traditional ideologies and strongly entrenched lessons, we are sure that viewers will stay engaged while staying safe indoors. Moreover, while Ramayana will invoke nostalgia among the older generations, it will be a new and beautiful experience for the younger audience.”
This is a typical image for the Doomsday Clock. In the Indian circumstance, as this article underscores, the clock isn’t ticking 🙂
By Amit Ray, Priya Jacob and Team Network Media
A. Breaking Morale in the name of Breaking News
A lot of words get devalued by abuse, ‘Breaking News’ is one of them. What is very painful is to see even the sectoral journalism, the advertising and media sector to be precise is no exception. It is commonsense that in a lockdown like situation while TV consumption will go up, given that economy has been badly affected, the advertising volume will not go up proportionately. In fact it may actually decline. And this is vanilla truth and not rocket science, but bad news nevertheless.
So what does the so-called media journalism do?
It publishes a banner headline which sounds like doomsday: Breaking News: Corona impacts advertising badly 38% increase in viewership but 27% drop. Most people who can do simple arithmetic will read this as a 65% negative swing and most likely get depressed
In the table below, Team Network Media has attempted to present the same data in a lesser depressing way, to tell you that please don’t treat every news headline as life vs. death battle. Rather search for the truth. And, honestly speaking, if this stimulates many to think and analyse the data in a less violent way, our job would be done
a. In 203 Channels which account for 38% of the current week’s viewership, the advertising volume has grown by 61% on an average over the past week
b. In 112 Channels which account for 25% of the current week’s viewership, the advertising volume has declined by 15% on an average over the past week
c. In 253 Channels which account for 36% of the current week’s viewership, has declined by 55% on an average over the past week
B. Some viewership highlights
1. Viewership of Dangal, the No 1 channel in Wk9 drops by 18% and but the ad volume drop is far more severe at 80%
2. Viewership of the sleeping giant DD grows by 7224% (yes 7224%) but the corresponding ad volume grows by 80% only. DD is now the new hero
3. A close look at the Hindi GECs reveal that the all the frontline GECs such as Zee, Colors etc have lost the viewership while the second line GECs like Colors Rishtey, Zee Anmol and Sony Pal which are airing reruns of old favourite programme have grown in leaps and bounds. The main channels seem to be losing viewership since the audience could be moving to news and movie channels since there is no new content except reruns
4. South Kids channels viewership has grown by 135% except for Malayalam Kids channels which has hardly registered any growth in their viewership
C. While on viewership and ad volume the team quickly looked at some No 1 Channels in their own language and Genre (Hindi & English) if the growth/decline across parameters like Reach, Engagement (Time spent/week in minutes), Overall GRP/GVT and finally the advertising volume (in seconds) to understand the situation affecting each in the same way. We don’t wish to bias you by our comment but will encourage the reader to form his/her own view. Most of us are used to looking at the end result hence we decided to share the changes only on parameters which lead to GRP rather than the GRP itself.
The Cinthol ad follows Indian sportswomen who have braved odds and ridicule to simply follow their hearts and make a new destiny. The ad captures the new narrative about women (also portrayed very successfully in Dangal) who are no longer seeking empowerment. Empowerment implies someone else giving them power. Today – they are powered. Self-powered. The horrific video of a vile act on New Year’s eve in Bengaluru came to light only because the brave woman made it a point to seek out the CC TV footage and got the culprits nabbed.
While the rest of the country is debating about the right and wrong of things, the inclusion and exclusion of women; women have wrested power beyond this dialogue to simply go ahead and do!
Popular culture is capturing this sentiment – with movies like NH 10 or Pink, or a host of advertising that has such powered women. Even Piku has a single, attractive, career- and duty-driven woman as a protagonist. Gone are the days when single women were the maiden aunts – slightly desperate and worthy of ridicule – such as one in DDLJ. Also, gone are the days when the strong shrew was simply asking to be tamed. Or she had an emasculated husband. NH 10 was remarkable that the female protagonist who leaves her husband’s party to go back to work for an upcoming product launch also has a husband capable of physical bravado.
Whether it is brides-to-be calling on their greedy demanding in-laws to the wedding mandap, employees reporting their supervisors/ colleagues for sexual harassment, victims reporting rape and demanding justice or rebelling against parents and khaps to be with the men they love – women all across are saying:Enough! We will not be silent any more.
What is equally heartening is that husbands, friends, brothers and fathers are supporting them in their stance, accompanying them to police stations and lauding their efforts. The transition from ‘shame’ to ‘anger’ seems well on its way and augurs well for the country.
Utterly bewildering is the utter lack of support and a studied silence or downright stupidity from leaders in society. Politicians, godmen, film stars all largely seem resolutely quiet and unwilling to speak up at moments of national shame. If they do speak – it is to put their foot in the mouth and exhibit their regressive beliefs. The loss is theirs – as they are missing the opportunity of riding on a rising popular sentiment.
Young women are also claiming power by having fun. By owning their place in the world, by going out with friends, perhaps drinking, having a boyfriend, wearing clothes they would like.  Liberation is not as it used to be – a defiant stake in the ground. Today it is multicoloured, vibrant and euphoric. The age, which was weighed down with the old trappings of a hard-fought vehement struggle, is gone now. The dialogue of women seeking power is not a serious and deliberated action, it is simply a way of living. Coming back home alone after a party, in the wee hours, reveling with friends, living alone, the new normal is the unselfconscious woman who does not think twice about her choices. Having fun is her right. The oppressors can fight violence or aggression, but they suddenly lose imagination, and are weaponless before the mass appeal and nuanced logic of memes and social media movements such as the Pink Chaddi campaign.
Young women across the board are powerful today. They live it, socially and financially. And nothing is going to keep them down.
Hindi GEC Dangal has also bought back mythological epic, ‘Ramayana’ starring Gurmeet Choudhary and Debina Bonnerjee in lead roles. It will be telecast daily at 7.30 pm followed by its repeat telecast at 9.30 am.
By Alpana Parida