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Tag: Manoj Sharma

  • AIM collaborates with Indian Post to launch ‘Magazine Post’

    By Our Staff

     

    The Association of India Magazines (AIM) in collaboration with the Indian Post, the Government of India’s postal service, has launched the Magazine Post, specifically tailored to bring greater efficiencies for magazine deliveries.

     

    Speaking about the launch, B Srinivasan, President of AIM and MD of Vikatan Group said: “For years magazines in India have faced chronic problems in subscription deliveries as copies were either late or in many cases undelivered. We are immensely thankful to Indian Post for introducing this new tech enabled product to resolve all our delivery problems, and with a promise to ensure near 100% success rate.”

     

    Added Anant Nath, General Secretary of AIM and Executive publisher of Delhi Press: “In most evolved magazine markets, subscriptions account for upto 80% of magazine sales, whereas in India it has been other way round. The subscription ecosystem in India has been historically underserviced on account of lack of trust amongst readers with respect to deliveries. We feel that there is a scope of at least ten-fold increase in subscription numbers if we are able to guarantee delivery. We are confident that with the launch of this new product, publishers can realise the untapped potential of subscriptions.”

     

    Said Manoj Sharma, CEO of India Today and AIM treasurer: “Multiple reader surveys have highlighted that there is immense appetite for reading print copies if deliveries are guaranteed. With the launch of Magazine Post, which offers superfast deliveries at economical rate, we hope to fulfil much of this underlying reader demand.”

     

    Added DVS Rama Rao, General Manager of AIM and a circulation veteran: “Over the past year and half, we at AIM have put in motion multiple initiatives to improve magazine sales and to even cross pre-pandemic numbers. These include creating a WhatsApp platform for joint subscription marketing, a common accredited agency network, and a tech enabled platform for subscription sales through morning centre vendors. With the launch of Magazine Post, we have confidence that we will be able to fulfil all the subscription orders with great efficiency and thereby bring about a paradigm shift in magazine publishing.”

     

  • To narrate brand stories to over 150 mn readers

    Magazine publishers join hands for content marketing solutions

    By Our Staff

     

    The Association of Indian Magazines (AIM) has announced the launch of a content marketing studio, which will draw in the collective strengths of more than 125 magazine titles, their websites and digital media assets, to offer to marketers content marketing solutions that can reach over 150 million people. Called Dastaan Hub, the exercise seeks to expand content marketing opportunities for brand marketers.

     

    The studio has been put together by AIM member publishers, recognising the increasing need at marketers end to move from vanilla display advertising towards developing engaging content solutions for narrating compelling brand stories.

     

    Commenting on Dastaan Hub, AIM president B Srinivasan said: “Magazines by their very essence are a deeply immersive medium, and are trusted for the depth in their editorial content. Moreover, magazines cater to highly engaged communities, and each magazine publishing team has deep insights into their readers’ emotional psyches and consumer interests. This is where they have inherent strength for partnering with brands for creating compelling brand stories.”

     

    Some of the leading participating publishers in Dastaan Hub are India Today, Ananda Vikatan, Delhi Press, Outlook, Malayala Manorama magazines, Network 18 magazines, ABP magazines, Business World, and Diamond Publications.

     

    The studio is being led by industry veteran Shripad Kulkarni, who along with a team of experienced professionals, will offer full content marketing solution in appropriate multiple formats like video, shorts, podcast, articles, panel discussion, Facebook Live, contests and social media posts.

     

    Explaining how it will work, Kulkarni said: “Dastaan Hub team will be following a 3-step process. A classical first, studying the category and brand challenges. Second, the creative and strategy team will customise native communication led ideas, based on client brief. And then add an O2O, online to offline media delivery plan. All this will be co-created to capture the essence of the dialogue the brands want to have with their customers”

     

    Said Yogesh Dashrath, Country Manager, Storytel India on the launch: “Stories are a powerful means to influence and inspire. So I am sure that the Dastaan Hub plan to recreate brand stories in the regional language and cultural context will greatly help brands to connect with their customer”

     

    Added Pawan Sarda, Group CMO, Future Group: “Each region, each State of India is unique. So, there are so many cultural and contextual nuances one needs to keep in mind. The Dastaan hub initiative, is a good single window opportunity to connect with customers across the length and breadth of India”

     

    Speaking on the launch, AIM General Secretary Anant Nath said: “It is no secret that there has been an erosion of interest in magazines by marketers, and that we have been facing some serious problems in maintaining our distribution. Therefore, as a first step, we collaborated to tackle this fundamental problem. A joint distribution agency network has been put together by AIM, so that publishers can take advantage of collective bargaining and increase their footprint across geographies. Secondly, massive efforts have been put to improve the subscription ecosystem, which includes working with Indian Post to improve delivery, as well as joint subscription marketing efforts. As a result, the subscription numbers across publishers have increased during pandemic, to compensate for loss in newsstand”.

     

    Here’s what some leading magazine publishers have said. Manoj Sharma of India Today: “Dastaan Hub is a logical extension of our distribution efforts as we are confident that we can deliver highly engaged audiences to our advertisers. At the same time, we will be careful to ensure that this branded content will follow global ethical guidelines of content marketing, as reader trust is of utmost importance to us”.

     

    Indranil Roy of Outlook: “We are confident that with our collaborative working across distribution, subscription marketing, and now Dastaan Hub, our magazines will strengthen their deeply engaging relationship with readers as well as brand partners.”

     

  • In his previous Role as a Group Business Head, Manoj managed YOY growth despite difficult macro conditions

    India Today Group elevates Manoj Sharma to Publishing Director, LMIL

    By A Correspondent

     

    In a recent change at the leadership level in The India Today Group, Manoj Sharma- Group Business Head, India Today Group has been elevated to the role of Publishing Director, LMIL – India Today Group. In his new role, he will be responsible for addressing revenue maximizations, driving cost efficiencies and building brand salience and flagship magazine brands India Today English, India Today Hindi, India Today Supplements, Business Today, Robb Report, Auto Today and Reader’s Digest will be under his purview.

     

    Manoj, an industry veteran, carries 25 plus years of rich experience in Sales, Marketing, Distribution and overall Business Management of Multimedia Platforms like Newspapers, Magazines, TV & Digital Platforms.

     

    In his previous Role as a Group Business Head, Manoj managed YOY growth despite difficult macro conditions and created new revenue streams for India Today on a sustainable basis.

     

  • The incumbent agency was Equus Redcell

    Hakuhodo Percept bags Sleepwell mandate

    By A Correspondent

     

    Hakuhodo Percept has bagged the complete creative mandate for mattress brand Sleepwell, the flagship brand from the Sheela Foam Group.

     

    In a multi-agency pitch that involved strategy, creative and execution plan presentations including Digital, BTL and ATL, Hakuhodo Percept was a clear winner when compared to Enormous Brands, The Mob, Synapse and Thinking Folks. The incumbent agency was Equus Redcell.

     

    Brand Sleepwell is the number one brand among the top 10 mattress brands in India. As per available data, the size of the Indian mattress market is estimated at Rs 5,000 crore, of which the organized market constitutes Rs 2,500 crore is growing at 12-15 per cent per annum.

     

    In keeping with Sleepwell’s philosophy, Hakuhodo Percept will be building further on the differentiator of “Sleepwell My Mattress”, a new concept in the Indian mattress industry that not only enables the customer to choose the right mattress but also differentiates the brand Sleepwell. The task for the agency ahead will be to communicate to the consumer the advantages of a Sleepwell mattress over other products available in the market place and create awareness about the different surface feels to suit individual preferences, be it a hard mattress, a medium hard mattress or a soft mattress, all available at the same price point. Plans are afoot towards a 360-degree communications programme.

     

    Pooja Malhotra

    Confirming the win, Pooja Malhotra, Sr. Vice President, Hakuhodo Percept, said, “We are absolutely delighted and raring to get started on the new mandate. It’s an unexplored category that makes our task both exciting & challenging. Our endeavours will focus on revolutionising the purchase process and steering the brand towards becoming an indomitable player in the category.”

     

    Manoj Sharma, Vice President, Marketing, Sleepwell said, “We found Hakuhodo very much in sync with the vision that we so passionately pursue, for our Brand Sleepwell. Their ability to think out of the ordinary and to present a strong differentiating strategy for the Brand Sleepwell convinced us, on the merits of this new partnership.”