MxMIndia

Tag: gold

  • It's been the third-best year of all time at the Indian box-office, across all films in all languages, notes Shailesh Kapoor

    Box-office 2022: Resurgence & Records

     

     

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    Shailesh KapoorIt’s still a month to go, and 2022 is already the third-best year of all time at the Indian box-office, across all films in all languages. The pre-pandemic year, 2019, holds the record, with total gross collections of ₹ 10,948 crore, while 2018 is No. 2 at ₹ 9,810 crore. As on Nov 27, 2022, the running year has clocked an estimated ₹ 9,532 crore.

     

    The December line-up looks very robust, with a huge Hollywood franchise film in Avatar 2, and the Rohit Shetty family comedy Cirkus. Drishyam 2, which released two weeks ago, is still going strong. There are some very worthy releases in other languages too, such as Hit 2 (Telugu) and Gold (Malayalam), which released today and yesterday respectively. Crossing the ₹ 10,000 crore mark is only a matter of formality. 2022 has a genuine shot at the all-time record, especially if Cirkus lives up to expectations. And this in a year when the month of January was negligible in its contribution (only ₹ 168 crore) because of the third Covid wave.

     

    A year ago, not too many saw this coming! If one were to compile all the media stories that spelt the death of the theatrical medium last year, it will be one fat book. The OTT category was predicted to the saviour of cinema. Today, subscriptions growth across the world has reached saturation, or is declining, even as theatrical business continues to make a strong comeback in most markets.

     

    This is probably a peril of the pandemic. It has made almost everyone an analyst. People have started doling out “insights” on social media by the hour, with no consistency in their own internal logic over a few weeks.

     

    The complexity of the impact of the pandemic can only be ignored at your own risk. Everything that we knew and understood till 2019 can now fall anywhere on the long continuum ranging from “it remains exactly the way it was before” to “2019 is no reference at all”. It’s often said that one must unlearn to keep adapting to changing situations. But the trick here is to choose what to unlearn.

     

    The theatrical business has needed the maximum unlearning to do. For example, we, at Ormax Media, had to discard a large pool of data collected over almost a decade, and build our box-office forecast models afresh, when theatres re-opened last year. The rules have changed, after all. Films are opening and sustaining differently now. You cannot play by a 2019 playbook if the audience have written an entirely new one on their own.

     

    With the passage of time, the real, long-lasting impact of pandemic in different walks of life will emerge. But one thing is certain. The movie theatres are here to stay, even though why and for what audiences visit them may have changed forever.

     

  • Showtime's nine-day 'BMX Xperience' involved a specially built 10-acre obstacle course to showcase the X3's off-road capabilities to prospective customers, along with a launch event that took place in a 60-foot-deep excavated site

    Showtime Events bags Gold at The Gala Awards

    By A Correspondent

     

    The BMW Xperience event created by Showtime in September 2011 to launch the X 3 model in India was conferred with the Best Multiple Day Event Program at the prestigious Gala Awards ceremony in Chicago on January 18 2013.

     

    Pitted against the likes of the Audi national campaign in China and contenders from across the globe, Showtime is the only agency from India this year to have won a Gala Award.

     

    A first of its kind for India, the nine-day “BMX Xperience” involved a specially built 10-acre obstacle course to showcase the X3’s off-road capabilities to prospective customers, along with a launch event that took place in a 60-foot-deep excavated site. More than 1,000 VIPs, potential buyers, BMW owners and 10 Facebook contest winners joined in the main launch event

     

    The BMW Xperience event has won a total of four Golds – two in India (WOW Awards and EEMAX Awards), Haas & Wilkerson Pinnacle Awards, USA and now at the Gala Awards, USA.

     

    The Gala Awards were presented by Special Events magazine at The Special Event show.

     

  • For, after Dhanteras, Akshaya Tritiya has emerged as the next big day for sale of jewellery

    All that glitters on Akshaya Tritiya is gold!

     

    By Tuhina Anand

    (with inputs from Shruti Pushkarna in New Delhi)

     

    While 5-6 years back, Akshaya Tritiya would come and go without making much noise except among few communities, but now it has become a pan-Indian phenomenon. Jewellers all across, be it branded or non-branded, have gone all out to communicate the fact that Akshaya Tritiya is among the most auspicious days to invest in the precious metal.

     

    One look at the newspapers of the last two weeks will show that jewellery advertising is dominating the supplements and some even taking front page advertising on the main newspapers. This definitely shows that this day has become a money-spinner for jewellers and they are leaving no stone unturned to tap maximum customers.

     

    After Dhanteras, which traditionally has been a day for Indians to invest in gold and silver, now Akshaya Tritiya has emerged as the second-most selling day for many players and spikes in sales is anywhere between 15-35 per cent for some players.

     

    There are also offers galore to lure customers like free silver coin, off on making charges or even EMI option available to help customers make their purchases notwithstanding the soaring gold prices.

     

    Bhuwan Gaurav

    Bhuwan Gaurav, Head-Marketing at Tanishq on the sales on Akshaya Tritiya said: “On this day we see an increase in sales of over 10-15 times as compared to any average day. We have made a conscious effort in positioning this day to our consumers and a lot of effort has gone in marketing it to people. The result being that Akshaya Tritiya has become a pan-India phenomenon and we see a spike in sale even from Punjab and the East.”

     

    For customers, on purchase of 8gm of gold and on diamond jewellery above Rs8,000, Tanishq is offering free gold coin of 0.25 gm. The rising gold prices have not deterred the brand and Mr Gaurav is sure that the day would see spike in the sales. In fact, the store has been decorated with flowers to welcome customers to buy jewellery on this auspicious day.

     

    Another leading jeweler is too confident of the sales. Vinod Hayagriv, Managing Director, C Krishniah Chetty & Sons said: “This year is the first year of price stability after three years. Hot gold rates in the previous years held back purchases. But this year the sales have been brisk and that is an indication of demand picking up for Akshaya Tritiya. We should see good demand for our new Touch Gold Collection of exclusive gold design jewellery.”

     

    On the high in demand products, Amit Puri, Manager, Delhi-based jewellery store chain Diamount Jewels Pvt Ltd said, “The most popular item is gold bangles, and the second is gold sets. We have a special offer where we are giving out free silver as much as the weight of gold item purchased. Our sales on Akshaya Tritiya comprise a good 30-35 per cent of the total sales. Apart from Akshaya Tritiya, we see similar purchasing pattern on Dhanteras around Diwali.”

     

    While at one hand communication in print, OOH and even digital has created the popular culture of investing in jewellery. There are offers that are coupled with these communications to bring more and more customers to invest. Also new collection has been introduced by few to attract customers. Although there is more demand for on Akshaya Tritiya, there is an increasing trend of many opting for diamonds.

     

    Harish Bakshi, Senior Manager, AKM Mehrasons Jewellers of New Delhi said, “Last year, we saw an upward trend in sales on Akshaya Tritiya, to be precise, last year sales on that day saw a 10 per cent increase than the year before. This year we can’t say anything up till now, we have our fingers crossed because of the increase in gold rates. Both diamond and gold are popular, but gold is essentially more popular on Akshaya Trithiya. Gold chains and bangles are the most common purchases. We don’t have any special offers as such but we are offering a 10-15 per cent discount on labour charges for both gold and diamond. In comparison to regular days, we see at least 35 per cent increase in sales on Akshaya Tritiya. Apart from Akshaya Tritiya, Dhanteras and Karwa Chauth are the two other high sales occasions.”

     

    One thing is for sure that there is an increase in sales, but the percentage may vary. Ram Kiran of Bhima Jewellers too puts the increase at 15-20 per cent during this time. He, however, adds that sales have been bit slow because of high gold rates but doesn’t rule out the possibility of increase in sales.

    Photograph: Courtesy Tanishq

     

  • There's not much of an idea in the new Tanishq Glam Gold commercial. But energetic and engaging treatment makes it come alive.

    Debrief: Female bonding with Tanishq

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    There’s not much of an idea in the new Tanishq Glam Gold commercial. But energetic and engaging treatment makes it come alive.

     

    The setting is an open air party, where lots of young people are dancing. It appears to be a pre-wedding do, given all the finery the ladies are decked up with. One girl tries to bring the couple together on the dance floor, but her plans go for a toss as it suddenly starts pouring. The party abruptly stops, but our spunky girl won’t let her close pal down. She begins dancing in the rain, and then everyone else follows. Much to her buddy’s delight, the party goes on. And yes, as you can imagine, the shots are layered with close ups of the Tanishq Glam Gold jewellery.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9bcCW8GuBQ[/youtube]

    Like I said, the lack of a strong central idea has been compensated by a happening treatment. You don’t expect commercials for gold to go totally into lifestyle, and this refreshing approach works. The endearing attitude of the girl, unwilling to let her friend down, sets the tone for Tanishq’s brand personality. The power of girlie bonding. Which would aid in brand salience. And of course, the dance party makes for a very entertaining commercial. It’s shot well too, and one won’t mind repeat exposures.

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 3. The full-on lifestyle approach pays off.

     

  • Mudra's campaign for WGC captured audience's attention at multiple relevant touch-points by giving higher weightage on innovations to break through an extremely cluttered media scenario.

    Mudra meets WGC’s golden rule

    By A Correspondent

     

    The brief that World Gold Council gave Mudra Max, which provides multi-speciality expertise to help build brands in the age of convergence, was to reinstate gold at the top of women’s wish-list by increasing desirability and making gold purchase the centre of celebration during Diwali.

     

    Mudra’s campaign for WGC captured audience’s attention at multiple relevant touch-points by giving higher weightage on innovations to break through an extremely cluttered media scenario.  The strategy adopted for different medias is as deatled below.

     

    > Television: The TV plan encashed on the festive opportunity by being present at big properties like premiere movies, awards night, reality show finales, news channels etc. A disruptive message “Somethings last, somethings don’t. This Diwali, don’t just spend. Invest” was created for the show Gadget Guru on NDTV. This helped in attracting the attention of a highly focused TG on the relevance of gold.

    > Print: A 10-year-old archival copy of TOI was used as TOI jacket, reinstating the message that ‘very little from 10 years back is worth remembering. Gold jewelry being the exception”. For the first time ever, an L-band format was used which was a combination of Masthead and Text Wrap, ensuring that the reader’s focus was drawn to the campaign message that appeared on front page of leading dailies such as Hindustan Times and Loksatta. A disruptive content ad was placed in Mint, grabbing reader’s attention on the creative message in an unconventional manner.

    > Radio:  On the day of Dhanteras, a well-known RJ from a leading radio station was ‘discovered purchasing gold jewelry from a partnering retailer’. The activity kicked off with a teaser a day before Dhanteras and continued the next day with live sound-bytes being aired from the retailer to create hype in order to drive people to purchase gold jewelry.

    > Activation: An activity was developed partnering retailers, where people walking into the store were encouraged to try out jewelry and get the moment captured in a WGC-branded framed photograph with the communication “Let this memory endure. Just like gold”.

    > Outdoor: Large format and ambient media involving tactical using innovations were used. In addition to most conventional hoardings, innovative ideas such as Roadblock on e-zone TVs, scrap TV innovation, jewel box on hoarding, LED in Gurgaon & shopping bags at airport were used.

     

    As a result of these innovations, the World Gold Council became one of the most visible brands during the three weeks of activity across mediums. The campaign created high recall due to nature and the scale of innovations used, creating a complete 360-degree surround (Source: MAP, TAM)·  Imports rose in October to $7.2 billion against a monthly average of $4-5 billion (Source: Economic Times). There was a 30 per cent jump in gold prices during Diwali over last year, owing to high confidence and demand (Source: Economic Times).