J Walter Thompson bagged four Golds at the Olive Crown Awards 2017 leading the pack of advertising agencies at the seventh edition of the Olive Crown Awards held in Mumbai on Wednesday (March 15). The awards acknowledged the remarkable work and individuals for driving the message of sustainability or ‘green advertising’.
Ajury comprising senior professionals such as K V Sridhar, Founder &Chief Creative Officer of HyperCollective, SonalDabral, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer of DDB Mudra Group, India, Carlton Disilva, CEO & CCO of Hungama Digital Services, MalvikaMehra, ​Founder & Creative Director of Tomorrow Creative Lab and Raj Nair, CEO & Chief Creative Officer of Madison BMB, selected the winning work. The jury for the Corporate Crusader award included Shernaz Vakil, Chairman & MD of Dai-ichiKarkaria Ltd, Suresh L. Goklaney, CEO of Eureka Forbes Ltd, Sachin Kalbag, Resident Editor of The Hindu, Mumbai and K Anandasagar, MD & Chief Compliance Officer of Citibank, following a similar procedure in shortlisting the winners.
(L-R) Carlton D'Silva, Sonal Dabral, Raj Nair, Neeraj Roy, Suresh L. Goklaney, Shernaz Vakil & KV Shridhar – Jury of Olive Crown Awards 2017
The awards were presented across 20 different categories, including the coveted title ‘Green Crusader of the Year’ award, which was presented to actress Dia Mirza for her contribution towards the welfare of the society by associating with NGOs, in addition to her constant efforts towards the green initiative. The award was presented by BTVi COO Megha Monica Tata, along with the Guest of ​Honour and actor VivekOberoi. The’ Campaign of the Year’ and the ‘Brand of the Year’ awards was presented to The Hindu for its #spiritofBengaluru campaign, ideated by J Walter Thompson.
(L-R) Srinivas Swamy, Dia Mirza (winner of Green Crusader of the Year Award), Vivek Oberoi, Pradeep Guha and Monica Tata at Olive Crown Awards 2017
Commenting on the occasion, President, IAA India Chapter, Neeraj Roy said, “It is really heartening to see the message of a ‘Green Earth’ reach millions of people with the effective apparatus of mass media. We are extremely honoured to host yet another successful edition of the awards, and we look forward to replicating the same success in the coming years with more captivating entries that are contributing in making the world a better place to live in.â€
Srinivas Swami, Representative of Matrubhumi (winner of Corp Crusader of the Year Award) and Pradeep Guha at Olive Crown Awards
Commenting on the wins, Tarun Rai, CEO, JWT South Asia said: “Very proud of Senthil and team. To create compelling communication for a compelling cause and then to be recognised at such an impressive event is really gratifying. This campaign is also special because it’s a fantastic combination of technology and creativity. I am sure this campaign will win many more awards. I would also like to to congratulate The Hindu for the campaign and for promoting the initiative for Bengaluru.” – said Tarun Rai, CEO, JWT South Asia
Said Dia Mirza on her award: “It is a honour to receive the award for Green Crusader of the Year at Olive Crown Awards 2017. It is crucial and extremely difficult to make people realize this umbilical link we have towards the environment. We should emerge as inspirations and I believe that parenting can make the next generation take steps towards a green future. Thanks to Olive Crown and its jury, our work is recognised and appreciated, I hope that the green initiative is taken forward with the next generation as well.”
Click to view LIST OF WINNERS Olive Crown Awards 2017
The India chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA) brings back its annual green property:the Olive Crown Awards. The awards will take place at the Famous Studios in Mahalaxmit oday, March 15 and will start at 7pm.The jury of the Olive Crown Awards 2017 was chaired by KV Sridhar of Hyper Collective and included includes Carlton D’silva of Hungama Digital Services, Sonal Dabral of DDB Mudra Group India, Malvika Mehra of Tomorrow Creative Lab and Raj Nair of Madison BMB.
Speaking about the initiative, Neeraj Roy, President, IAA India Chapter said, “It is exciting to receive so many innovative campaigns as entries for the Olive Crown Awards this year, and we are glad to see that the vision behind this initiative is being taken forward with every edition. This year as well, we have had a tough time shortlisting winners during the Jury Meet. With 20 categories and an overwhelming response, we look forward to presenting the awards on Wednesday, 15th March.â€
Added K V Sridhar, Founder & Chief Creative Officer of Hyper Collective and Jury Chair of Olive Crown Awards 2017: “This year as well, we have received some exciting entries which has made our job that much more difficult. We have seen over the past 4-5 years that brands are doing well. Keeping that in mind, we can say that both, the brands and the agencies are committed to this cause.â€
International Advertising Association (IAA) India Chapter brings back its annual property, the Olive Crown Awards in its 7th edition. IAA recently announced the call for entries, inviting applications across 20 categories from the marketing and advertising fraternity for the IAA Olive Crown Awards in 2017. The Awards, recognize creative excellence in communicating sustainability or green advertising, and have been embraced by the entire industry. Entries will be accepted till 15th February 2017.
The awards will be presented across 20 different categories, which include the coveted title of the Green Crusader of the Year as well as Campaign of the Year, Green Advertiser of the Year, Green Agency of the Year and Young Green Writer of the Year among others. There is also one special Corporate Social Crusader Award for companies who believe that doing good, is good for business. An eminent jury has been invited to judge these awards.
Neeraj Roy, President, IAA India Chapter said, “The Olive Crown Awards are an initiative to recognize the best creative solutions in communicating the need for a sustainable environment. We are excited to be back and in our 7th edition we hope to replicate the success we have achieved over the years, while looking forward to receiving some thought provoking entries this year as well.â€
Monica Tata, Chairperson, IAA Olive Crown Awards Committee said “These awards are for those who believe in being not just custodians of their respective brands, but also custodians of Brand Earth. The Olive Crowns are run as a cause and there is no entry fee.â€
Over the years the IAA Olive Crown Awards have grown in stature and are a unique way of celebrating excellence in creativity that encourages sustainability, and builds consciousness towards the environment.
Neeraj Roy, Managing Director and CEO of Hungama Digital Media, was elected as the President of the India Chapter of International Advertising Association (IAA) on September 23. A veteran of the Indian digital media domain, Roy has been an active member of various industry associations and has also been a Vice-President of IAA India. A fortnight after he took charge, Roy spoke with Santosh Jangid for this interview in text and video.
The IAA India Chapter is decidedly the most active associations in the Indian A&M industry. And it was all thanks to your predecessor Mr Srinivasan Swamy. Your thoughts as you have taken charge?
If we look at IAA in India, we have completed 25 years. It is part of an institution which is now over 75 years globally and its representation is essentially to the media, marketing and advertising community. Over the last four years we have been extremely fortunate and privileged to have the energy and enthusiasm of Srinivasan K Swamy or Sundar as we call him to energise IAA in India in a manner which he has done is unprecedented. He has been pretty much at the centre of numerous activities that have been undertaken and we are delighted that he is now going on to take more senior responsibilities within IAA global. I am delighted to be stepping into the very large shoes of Sundar and hopefully will continue to take the tradition forward in what we have been attempting to do in the Indian media, marketer and agency fraternity.
Any specific deviations from the past, or will it be business as usual?
Over the last six years, IAA has done about 120 events for the media, marketer and the agency community here in India. As I see things, we break it up into three distinct segments – there are those activities which we qualify as part of a knowledge series which is essentially there is an imparting knowledge by a way of specialist. These could be in the form of actual conferences and workshops or they could be in the form of interactive webinars. The other thing that we have done is that we have celebrated creativity and leadership. This is made up of numerous awards that IAA has undertaken. We have the IAA Leadership Awards which our partner Colors supports us on, we have had a very distinct and unique programme which is the IAA Olive Crown Awards which is the first and the only one of its kind which recognises creativity towards sustainability and a better planet. This was an initiative which was instituted during the tenure of my good colleague Kaushik Roy and we’ve got in recent times the IndIAA Awards which is a recognition of creativity done in a very different way. The third cluster of activity that we really want to focus on is how do we give back into the industry given that there is so much activity, so much knowledge that’s coming in. Parts of this whether they are converted in the form of research, basic papers which can be circulated back to benefit all key stakeholders. Ours is a problem of plenty and the focus is largely going to be to sharpen this to make them more relevant and more contemporary to the needs of the industry.
There is a sentiment that perhaps there are very many events that IAA India conducts and it may make sense to have fewer events. What are your thoughts?
It’s an opinion and we value any feedback and 120 activities in a matter of six years of which my sense is about 112 have happened in the last four years, is certainly a good problem to have. Several of these programmes that we undertake are using technology in a certain way. For example, the entire webinar series that we do, these could be for groups as little as 15-20 people but they are very targeted delivering knowledge and sharing experiences from specialists in their respective domains. So, to me, it’s not about quantity as it is about relevance, what is the impact that we are having and are we addressing the core needs of the stakeholders that that we represent and that’s the manner in which we will take this forward.
You’ve been one of the early entrants in the digital arena, and of course mobile entertainment. There is no real big bang digital event in the IAA India calendar now (Digiyatra did not happen this year with Kyoorius Designyatra). Will we see an increasing focus on digital?
Digital is a state where this country is right now. Our belief is over the next 12-18 months, there will probably be over Rs 4000 crore worth of communication that will all happen around the entire proposition of digital and this will be undertaken by numerous stakeholders. There will be those who are enabling this which could be telecom networks, there will be those who are further aiding it which could be device manufacturers, various media businesses whether they are in print, in radio, in broadcast or in films. Each of them are seeing a shift in consumption that’s happening on digital and digital is not merely impacting the broader media marketing fraternity, it is going to percolate into every aspect of our lives. Therefore, for me, it would be relevant to bring in as much of a focus not for the sake of “being seen as digital†but for this fact that digital is genuinely impacting and creating efficiencies, delivering disruptions across businesses and I think that is an aspect that we would certainly want to not only focus on but we would like to bring groups of specialists to our principal stakeholders and members such that they can benefit from that learning and prepare their businesses better in this broader theme of digital that we are all tremendously fortunate to be a part of.
An association is as good as the people who manage it. A word on the managing committee that you have?
Absolutely, we are fortunate to have the kind of management committee and it is very aptly broken up. You’ve got absolute industry leaders who have been associated with IAA for several years now. People such as our previous Past Area Directer Pradeep Guha, one of the instrumental people to have brought IAA to its current position, people like Sam Balsara, Past President Raj Nayak, Past President Kaushik Roy, our immediate Past President Srinivasan K Swamy and the new team which is taken on board which is the vice president Monica Tata – COO of BTVi as well as the newly appointed CEO of the Sakal Group - Pradeep Dwivediand our Treasurer Jaideep Gandhi. Apart from that, in the managing committee, we have very active participation by my colleagues Janak Sarda and Ashok Venkatramani from ABP News. The good thing is that because there are different type of activities that we have undertaken, each of them have taken responsibility of various types of forums and its pretty much in that sense on auto pilot. Over the last 12 meetings that we’ve had at the IAA, at least half of them were followed up by dinners with respective management committee members hosting them. So, you are absolutely right, an association is as good as its members and its core team and the kind of feeling and friendship that exists and what’s nice is within the IAA, over the years we have grown to become great friends all with one common cause to try and do as much for our industry and give back in whatever small way that we can.
Given that the majority of people in the trade are youngsters, many under 30 or even 25, what will IAA India be doing to engage them? There are of course some knowledge and ‘Young Turk’ events. But something that will engage them further?
It is something that not just now but it is an aspect over the last couple of years has been a big focus within our management committee discussions which is why programmes like Young Turks, the webinar series, our debates, these have all been initiatives to draw upon what we call as the young professionals. We have specific programmes for them which is called The Future Leaders Awards that we have inculcated. Even in terms of the manner in which IAA has chosen to communicate not just within its own membership group but also with industry and other stakeholders. We’ve done our best to embrace newer technologies, embrace social media, and the respective teams which handle each of these particular forums. Each year, we look back at what we have achieved and we set new goals for ourselves. The participation of the younger generation is an integral part of any organisation and as IAA, across the key principal stakeholders of media, marketer and agencies, we are continuously looking at ways by which we will have more participation from them, more leadership and responsibility as well to be held by them and you will continue to see that focus as far as IAA India chapter is concerned.
One last word to industry people who are reading and watching this… on asking them to join IAA India and what will be the benefits they will get by joining it?
If you visit our website, our entire theme in this is broken up. There is an entire series of knowledge which is broken up by various activities and events that we undertake. We believe that networking is a great offering that has happened on the back of the numerous types of programs that IAA has done in unique manner and we feel that recognition of excellence whether it’s in the form of creativity and leadership. One of the big focus areas for us this year will also be to highlight innovation because we feel that innovation across businesses needs a lot more attention and there’s a premium towards that. Each of these are values which both our existing and prospective members stand to gain and benefit from. Ultimately, the membership fee structure for the association has deliberately been kept at levels which calls for as much of participation and it’s also in two-tiers in its own form. There is membership for a younger generation who just wants to see what do I benefit and get out of this till they actually want to become full-time members.
The India Chapter of International Advertising Association has elected Neeraj Roy, Managing Director and CEO, Hungama Digital Media as its President. Monica Tata, COO – BTVi, was elected as Vice President and Pradeep Dwivedi, former CMO of the Dainik Bhaskar group, is the new Secretary. Jaideep Gandhi, Chairman, Jaya Advertising, has been elected as the Treasurer.
In addition, Ashok Venkatramani, CEO, MCCS India (ABP News), Janak Sarda, Director, Daily Deshdoot, Abhishek Karnani, Director, Indian National Press, Shreyams Kumar, Director, Mathrubhumi and Anand Sankeshwar, Managing Director, VRL Media Ltd have been elected as members of the Managing Committee.
Speaking about the development Neeraj Roy said, “International Advertising Association in India over the past few years has played a key role in bringing the Media, Marketing and Advertising community together and I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to serve as President. On behalf of our new team and management committee we would like to thank Srinivasan K Swamy for his stellar leadership over the past few years and we look forward to serving the ever changing needs of the marketing and advertising fraternity as India is at the cusp of a digital transformation that will impact all aspects of life.â€
The first Managing Committee meeting conducted immediately after the AGM, coopted additional members as per IAA Constitution. They were: I Venkat, CEO – Eenadu, Ashish Bhasin, Chairman India & CEO – South East Asia, Director – Posterscope, Aegis Media Group.
In addition, the following senior professionals were invited to be part of the Committee: Srinivasan K Swamy, Immediate Past President, IAA and Chairman RK Swamy BBDO, Kaushik Roy, President – Brand Strategy & Marketing Communication, Reliance Industries Ltd, Pradeep Guha, Managing Director – 9XMedia Pvt Ltd, Sam Balsara, Chairman & Managing Director – Madison Communications Pvt Ltd, Ramesh Narayan, Founder, Canco Advertising Pvt Ltd and Raj Nayak, Chief Executive Officer – Viacom 18 Media Pvt Ltd. More members are likely to be inducted in a few weeks.
And here’s what some of the officebearers had to say:
Monica Tata: “I am humbled and honoured to have been given this opportunity and I am looking forward to be part of the next phase of IAA under the new leadership.â€
Pradeep Dwivedi:  “There has never been a better time for our industry to evolve and transform itself. I am keenly looking forward to working with industry leaders to sustain the rich legacy of past IAA initiatives and contribute to new ones.â€
Kaushik Roy: “In the last four years under the able leadership of Mr Srinivasan Swamy, IAA India Chapter has witnessed tremendous energy and dynamism. With Mr Neeraj Roy, a luminary in the digital world, as the new President, India is on a good wicket to grow stronger in the coming years. One can also expect great momentum and healthy growth in the advertising industry across the Asia Pacific region. With strengthened senior level representation from India and the Asia Pacific, IAA globally is well poised to support and nurture the interests of the advertising, marketing and media fraternity. I wish the newly elected India Chapter Management Committee a very successful term. It will be my endeavour to forge strong ties in the region and across the world.â€
The launch of the website Insight Buzzar- a platform for storytellers to share their stories with the world
By Anuka Roy
The All India Management Association (AIMA) in association with Storm the Norm – a thinktank of passionate bunch of marketing, innovation and entertainment professionals hosted a conclave called ‘InsightStorm’. It was an interesting format where leading lights from art and business came together to share the insights from their respective fields and also get insights from each other.
“The best insights are gained from conversations,†said Firdose Vandrevala, President, AIMA in his welcome speech at InsightStorm, the first edition of which was held on Wednesday, August 10.
The Conclave was divided in to two halves. The morning half was called ‘Being Extraordinary’ and the post-lunch half was called ‘Doing Extraordinary’. These two broad categories were further divided in to sub-categories.
In the ‘Being Visionary’ session, Indian film and television actor Kabir Bedi represented the art side and shared insights from his life and career. “Opportunity is a very strange thing and it does not come with marching brass bands,†he said. Bedi reminisced about the financial struggles he went through during his college days and which in turn helped him in being motivated to achieve and aim for bigger things. His concluding insight was, “Success is not an end. There are other worlds to conquer.†Ajay Bijli, owner of PVR Cinemas, represented the business side. But this session was a little different. Instead of Bijli sharing his insights straight away, he was asked three questions through which he explained the insights. He shared with the audience how his mini goal of offering something new to cinema goers gave birth to a bigger opportunity and more importantly the introduction of multiplexes in India.
The next session was about ‘Being Pioneer’. Multidisciplinary artist and storyteller Raghava K K and Shabir Momin, MD and CTO at ZengaTV.com represented art and business respectively. This session was predominantly about the art of storytelling and how it can be used profitably for business purpose. “Live the best story you can create,†said the storyteller. Momin narrated a personal experience of how his talented sister-in-law was initially hesitant to commercialise her painting talent but now, with his help, she is an established painter. Momin’s insight: “Do not mind, I will convert your art in to movement.†Finally, they both had a common insight for the audience. “Story is the new money and the companies who understand it will flourish.â€
On one hand there was the national award winning film producer, screenwriter and director Vikas Bahl representing art and on the other side Ananya Birla, founder of Svatantra Microfinance, one of the youngest participants of the Conclave represented business. Birla spoke how at the mere age of 17 she wanted to be an entrepreneur and a catalyst for change in rural India. She said, “There are no finishlines, just milestones to be celebrated.†Bahl said that trust is a very important factor in being a leader. So, the trust on thoughts and people should always be maintained. He also added, success and failures should be embraced equally.
In the midst of these insightful sessions, Anisha Motwani and Ranjan Malik, Co- founders and Managing Partners, Storm the Norm Ventures, launched their website Insight Buzzar, which will be live in the next few weeks. It is a platform for storytellers to share their experiences and stories, which can be under any category from business to entertainment or anything they want to share with the world.
Actor, model, producer and social activist Dia Mirza and Neeraj Roy, MD and CEO, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment were the speakers in the ‘Being Innovator’ session. “When an individual’s thoughts are inclusive of humanity, then an individual’s happiness in benefitted by multiplicity,†said Mirza. She spoke about personal experiences and how sometimes most of us tend to think our personal problems to be much bigger than the real problem that exists in the world. Roy made the audience laugh by stating that he founded the company on April Fool’s Day and that is why his people do not take themselves seriously. According to Roy, “Storytelling will become more immersive, interactive and gamified, with video becoming like ‘Air’.â€
Two successful business stories were shared by Radha Kapoor, Founder and Executive Director, Indian School of Design and Innovation (ISDI) and Raj Nayak, CEO, Colors – Viacom 18 respectively. Kapoor described the journey of ISDI and shared her insights. She said, “Good design may not always make commercial sense but going forward every business must make great design sense.†“We wanted to jump out of the box, we wanted to break free,†said Nayak about how the channel was conceived. He explained the journey of Colors so far. He concluded by saying, “Breaking the status quo and finding a differentiating factor is the key.â€
The ‘Doing Extraordinary’ part of the conclave started with Arnab Goswami, Editor-in-chief and President, Times Network and Sam Balsara, Founder, Chairman and MD, Madison World and Madison Communications.  The session was on ‘Conceive’.“Go with your gut feeling,†said Goswami. He said that during the Commonwealth Games scam story, he was initially paranoid whether to break the story or not but ultimately he went with his gut and broke the story. A veteran marketing services professional, Balsara said, “It is an advantage to recognise that you are at a disadvantage. And, if it is safe, it is risky.†According to Balsara, many great ad campaigns do not see the light of the day because they could not be sold. Hence, the ability to sell is very important.
The ‘Design’ session was initiated by Ashwin Sanghi, Author and Mahesh Murthy, Founder, Pinstrom and Co-founder, Seedfund. Sanghi narrated a funny story about his first book. When he went to a bookstore to see how his book was doing, he could not find it initially. Finally when he did find it, he purposely went and kept it in the best seller’s shelf. “An effective lie is one that stays as close to the truth as possible,†he said. Murthy described his investments in startups and how he noticed that the biggest brands in the world do not advertise. He said, “The dominant brand or name in a category is now the one who spends the least on advertising.â€
Rohan Joshi, stand-up comedian, writer and television presenter and Ashish Hemrajani, Founder-CEO, Bigtree Entertainment helmed the ‘Launch’ session. Joshi stressed on the obsession of clients about videos going viral and advised them not to think about the same since it takes away the essence from the larger picture. “A brand cannot demand a ‘viral’. It can only demand content. Virality is the internet’s decision, not the client’s,†he said. Hemrajani explained the rollercoaster ride of bookmyshow.com and how bid data helps them knowing their customers. He said, “Creating friction by asking information from users does not make for learning enough about your users.â€
The participants of the ‘Scale’ session were founder and blogger of MissMalini.com, Malini Agarwal and Radio Jockey, Actor, Anchor, Writer and Director Roshan Abbas. The common element between both of them was that both dared to dream and have been very successful in their respective fields. This session was predominantly about finding happiness in what you do and being happy in general. “It is great to scale fast but it’s ultimately about how long you last! Iconic brands are designed for longevity,†said Agarwal. Abbas stressed on the fact that it is important to find your replacement, so that you can focus on what has not been done. He said, “Start with spirit. Supplement with systems. And, find the balance between them.â€
Earlier in the day, painter and sculptor Jatin Das shared his story with the audience. He expressed his disappointment about the changing scenarios in terms of art and how commercialised it has become. “We buy more and see less, media celebrates the rich not the richness of our culture, change that at a primary level,†he said.
It couldn’t have been a better setting for an award that’s meant for green and clean advertising. Right on the Arabian Sea at the pier of the Radio Club near the Gateway of India, and with boats, steamers, catamarans, yachts and small ships all lit up. The India Chapter of International Advertising Association announced the winners of the sixth edition of the IAA Olive Crown Awards across 13 categories. For those not in the know, the Olive Crown are Asia’s first and only awards that celebrates impactful work done in sustainability communication. Endorsed by the Asian Federation of Advertising Associations, and the awards also see entries from across Asia. Run as a cause, there is no entry fee charged.
DDB Mudra walked away with the maximum number of metals in the evening. Said Rahul Mathew, Creative Head, DDB Mudra West and a member of the agency network’s creative council said that he was elated to have won big at the awards. “The DDB group believes in sustainability, and we are great believers in this kind of advertising,†Mathew said adding that he was happy to have clients who are willing to back green advertising.
Said Srinivasan K Swamy, President, IAA India Chapter & Vice President – Development, Asia Pacific, IAA said, “Brands and organisations are now increasingly investing in exciting work in communication that promotes sustainability. It is this creativity and innovation that the IAA Olive Crown Award recognises. We thank Ms Amruta Fadavnis, Dia Mirza and Rana Kapoor for being with us today. We’d also like to salute all our winners and the agencies who have put in their best for greater cause of the environment. †Swamy told MxMIndia that it is gratifying that most of the big agencies are now sending in entries to the Olive Crown Awards. Sponsors and partners have been coming forth to ensure the awards grow in stature.
Added Neeraj Roy, Vice President IAA India Chapter and Chairman Olive Crown Awards Committee: “Climate change is forcing everyone to think of giant steps to be taken to combat it. The planet element in the triple bottom line is becoming as important even more important. Consumer behaviour studies are now showing sustainability as one of the key pillars of engagement. This is why the Olive Crown Awards is seeing such creative entries.â€Â Said Monica Tata, Honorary Secretary, IAA India Chapter, “The winning campaigns that the Olive Crown Awards recognises are often part of larger nation-building initiatives and not stand alone creative work. This goes to highlight the width of impact that these campaigns bring aboutâ€
Hungama partners with Kyoorius Designyatra 2015 to raise awareness for a social cause while adding a musical note to the 10th anniversary of KDY. Hungama and Kyoorius Designyatra 2015 will create one of the biggest live-request playlists to raise the funds via a Twitter activity. By tweeting #HungamaKDY2015 and the name of the song, it will be played at the event. While the activity will contribute INR 100 per song streamed at the event it will also allow participants to actively contribute in the process to raise donations.
With an interesting theme like ‘What pumps your heart’ Kyoorius Designyatra’s 10th anniversary edition aims to engage participants and guests alike during the event with a live music request Twitter activity in association with Hungama. The activity will be a means to raise funds for ‘Laadli’, a campaign that highlights the falling sex ratio of the country and their endeavors to correct the issue by making available relevant data, audits of documents received from Sonography clinics among other activities; of which the end goal is to stabilize the sex ratio difference.
Neeraj Roy
Speaking on the occasion, Neeraj Roy, MD & CEO of Hungama Digital Media Entertainment said, “It gives us immense pleasure to partner with Kyoorius Deisgnyatra 2015 to help raise charity and awareness for the social cause campaign ‘Laadli’. The campaign that aims to control female feticide has helped shed much light on the topic. With this association we are proud to leverage our platforms for this noble cause.â€
Rajesh Kejriwal
Rajesh Kejriwal, Founder CEO of Kyoorius said, “We are happy to have Hungama partnering with us at Kyoorius Designyatra 2015. Music is an essential part of the conference experience, it’s one of the things that gets delegates really ‘pumped’, so I’m sure Hungama’s Digital Jukebox will be a huge hit. And it’s for a great cause, which makes it all the more impactful.â€
Hungama.com has achieved a new milestone in the Indian digital entertainment space by becoming the first company to cross 50 million monthly active users across its entertainment service. This milestone places Hungama among the top 5 music and video streaming services globally, including platforms like Pandora and Spotify.
Over 250 million consumers accessed Hungama’s services over the last year, during which the platform registered 200% growth in monthly active users.
Over the past 12 months, Hungama has introduced several first features as well as several key catalog additions to create an unmatched consumer experience. The fast pace of growth in mobile data adoption among consumers across the board has provided a platform for Hungama to tap into the market with its mobile-apps, leading to massive penetration in both metros, urban, semi urban and even rural India.
Anticipating the market opportunity in semi urban and rural India, Hungama rolled out multi-lingual support in its Android app in October 2014. It was the first music led mobile app globally to be available in more than 5 languages when it was launched with support for Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Punjabi, along with English.
In July 2014, Hungama also introduced its PRO service for Android and iOS devices. The service featured integrated video and audio downloading for the first time in a single app, along with a caching feature for music that allowed users to save their music and video which can be played without internet connection anywhere, anytime in turn saving data cost.
Neeraj Roy
Speaking on Hungama’s achievement, Neeraj Roy, MD & CEO of Hungama Digital Media Entertainment said, “We are glad to be the music & video service of choice for over 50 million South- Asians across the world. The milestone is the result of initiatives that we at Hungama began undertaking about 15 months ago. Over the next year, we plan to continue to build on this momentum to grow into newer markets and explore more avenues to distribute digital music and video. Hungama is on track to reach 100 million MAUs by March 2016.â€
Hungama’s patent pending gamification layer has become immensely popular with its consumers who are now rewarded for multiple actions and on a daily basis and redeem their points for a range of products and services. Whether you are listening to music or watching a video, its never been so much fun and rewarding as on Hungama.
Chef Sanjeev Kapoor announced the launch of an app containing his recipes along with delectable delights. The app named ‘Sanjeev Kapoor’s Recipes’, features cuisines from India and the world. It is a complete cookery manual that goes everywhere and helps one in the kitchen. It includes exciting features like ‘Shopping List’, ‘In Your Fridge’, ‘My Khana’, ‘Recipe Box’ and many more.
The app offers a wide range of features developed by Hungama Digital Media Entertainment. With the ‘Sanjeev Kapoor’s Recipes’ app, users can access detailed recipes with pictures, special notes by Sanjeev Kapoor himself and some innovative new features. Users can also learn more about Sanjeev Kapoor in the ‘About Chef’ section of the app; they can locate the nearest Sanjeev Kapoor restaurant with the ‘Restaurant Locator’ feature. The ‘How to Use’ and ‘FAQs’ sections contain a plethora of information and tips regarding the exciting features of the app.
Adding to the list of existing features, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment has included some industry-first special features called ‘In Your Fridge’ and ‘My Khana’. When you have only a few cooking ingredients to choose from, the ‘In Your Fridge’ feature allows users to select a category, add a list of ingredients they possess and look for recipes only as per the ingredients and category selected. The ingredient-based search is an innovation like no other. ‘My Khana’ allows users to submit recipes to the app and follow each other once they sign up. The app carries a gamification feature; users receive points on the recipes submitted. Users can view the top scores on the ‘Leaderboard’.
Sanjeev KapoorNeeraj Roy
Commenting on the launch of the app, Sanjeev Kapoor said, “If you ask me what’s happening in my world today, I would say it’s my new mobile app – Sanjeev Kapoor’s Recipes. With this app cooking becomes easy and fun. The app has everything from recipes for every day dining or festive dining or just cooking up a meal with whatever’s available in your fridge! Cherry on the cake, you can win points and thus exciting gifts by logging in. Now you and I come even more closer, with our common love, cooking!â€
Commenting on the features of the app, Neeraj Roy, MD and CEO of Hungama Digital Media Entertainment said, “We are delighted to partner with Indian culinary guru Sanjeev Kapoor to launch the ‘Sanjeev Kapoor’s Recipes’ app, which will assist users access scores of recipes with detailed descriptions and pictures. With the app we hope that we can make routine cooking a more fun and enjoyable experience for our consumers. The app will be available across Android, iOS and Windows platforms.â€
J. Walter Thompson South Asia has named Carlton D’Silva as the new Chief Executive Officer, Hungama Digital Services. Carlton will be reporting into Tarun Rai and will continue to lead HDS’s creative leadership as its Chief Creative Officer.
In his new role, Carlton will be responsible for leading the growth at HDS and further enhancing its creative output. He will partner Tarun to seamlessly integrate and deliver on J. Walter Thompson South Asia’s creative vision to offer the best value proposition to its clients. Carlton will have complete oversight of all six offices of HDS, including Hungama Promo Marketing.
Tarun Rai
Announcing his elevation, Tarun Rai, Chief Executive Officer, J. Walter Thompson South Asia said, “Carlton is a dynamic, creative leader with strategic capabilities, which makes him an ideal choice to head HDS. He is young, ambitious and has the drive to take HDS to the next level.â€
Carlton has spent close to 16 years with HDS. He is imaginative and inspiring and has diverse experience of working with some of the biggest brands in the country. He has won several awards and accolades for HDS across national and international award shows.
Neeraj Roy
“We are delighted to elevate Carlton as the CEO of HDS. Apart from being one of the most experienced digital advertising professionals in India, Carlton has demonstrated tremendous leadership qualities in leading a team of top performers who have won accolades for their clients and given them innovative and sustainable solutions with impactful and engaging consumer interactions. In his new role, Carlton will prepare our clients from leveraging creative digital activations and transform their communities to transactions. I wish him all the very best, always!â€, said Neeraj Roy, Director on board, HDS.
The fifth edition of the Olive Crown Awards from the India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA) will be hosted at the Palladium Hotel Mumbai on 27th March at 7pm.
Shri Piyush Goyal Minister of State (IC) Coal, Power, New and Renewable Energy will be the Chief Guest while actor John Abraham, and Shri Rana Kapoor, MD, YES Bank Ltd. will be the Guests of Honor. Srinivasan Swamy, President – IAA said that this award had grown from strength to strength over the years. He reiterated that this was one of IAA’s ways of supporting good causes like the environment.
Neeraj Roy
Neeraj Roy, Chairman Olive Crown awards committee said that along with the guests of honor, leaders of industry will present the Olive Crown awards. There will be also entertainment segments by well-known artistes. He added that the Olive Crown Green Crusader award would be presented to a personality who was distinguished in the field of environment and the Olive Crown Corporate Social Crusader Award would be presented to a corporate which has excelled in Corporate Social Responsibility.
