MxMIndia

Tag: Priti Murthy

  • Her appointment is effective October 2017 and she will report to Torie Henderson, CEO, Omnicom Media Group, SEA & India

    Priti Murthy to join OMD India as CEO (from Maxus)

     

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    Omnicom Media Group-owned agency, OMD India has bolstered its leadership strength with the appointment of Priti Murthy to the role of CEO. She joins OMD from Maxus where she has been Chief Strategy Officer. In her new role, Priti will lead OMD across all business functions, with a focus on building and leading future-ready teams, managing client relationships, and securing new business and growth. Her appointment is effective October 2017 and she will report to Torie Henderson, CEO, Omnicom Media Group, SEA & India. OMD India has completed a decade of being in India.. It may be recalled that in April this year, Jasmin Sohrabji who led the Omnicom Media Group (and OMD India specifically) moved to a global role and was replaced by Henderson.

     

    In a career spanning over two decades (of which 13 has been with GroupM’s Maxus) in media planning, insights and strategy, Murthy has led Maxus’s  development of Moribus, a behavioural science lab that attempts to merge the disciplines of behavioural science, sociology, and psychology to solve real-life business problems. She is also a certified coach that value adds to her leadership skills.

     

    “OMD India is marked by an outstanding global and local client roster, a full-fledged national presence and a very talented team committed to taking OMD India to even greater heights. Priti’s appointment will ensure OMD’s accelerated growth that will not only take OMD to the next level, but also stay at the forefront of change. We are delighted that Priti is joining our network and are sure she will contribute to considerable growth of OMD,” said Torie Henderson.

     

    Commenting on the appointment, Stephen Li, OMD’s APAC CEO said, “Our success as a network is clearly determined by the strength of our people and leadership. A comprehensive and intense search for the right leader, led us to Priti, who is the perfect candidate to spearhead the next phase of development in a critical market like India. A goals-oriented, industry leader with a proven track record of success especially in the realm of data, digital and content, Priti will ensure we continue to deliver on the OMD promise of championing powerful, creatively-led, insight-driven work for our clients.”

     

    In late 2016, it may be recalled OMD India entered into a partnership with Omnicom-owned DDB Mudra Group in India to consolidate its media services under the OMD brand with Mudra Max.

     

    Added Harish Shriyan, COO, Omnicom Media Group India added, “As the media landscape continues to change at a dramatic pace, technology led innovation is crucial for the future of our business. Priti’s role is not only as a key contributor in shaping and strengthening the value-proposition of our already established team, but also in bringing proven expertise that enhances our overall network. We are delighted to welcome her to OMD India.’’

     

    Speaking about her role, Priti Murthy said, “It’s a great role, with enormous possibilities. OMD is a network that has established itself as a strong agency, leveraging the best of innovation, creativity, and results. It’s going to be an exciting future and I am committed to driving OMD’s continued growth and ambition in India.”

  • The tool has been developed keeping in mind the need for real time impact of TV on website traffic

    Maxus unveils proprietary tool ‘Maxus T2D’

    By A Correspondent

     

    Maxus has announced the launch of a revolutionary tool—’T2D’, for planning excellence in e-commerce category. The tool has been developed keeping in mind the need for real time impact of TV on website traffic.

     

    Maxus T2D is a screen to screen predictor from television to digital. As television contributes to more than 70 per cent of spends in e-commerce category, the Maxus T2D tool offers an easy platform to optimize TV plans to build website traffic. This innovative tool would be able to deliver plans that closely impact platform level numbers and hence focus on direct impact.

     

    The highlight of the T2D Maxus tool is that it delivers sharper planning focus to drive traffic and predicts the lag effect of TV to the platform (website, app) traffic.

     

    Speaking about the relevant of this innovative tool in the contemporary e-commerce landscape, Kartik Sharma, Managing Director, Maxus said, “With the ever evolving market dynamics in the ecommerce sector, it is important to find innovative solutions to pressing business roadblocks. Our new offering T2D tool helps in leveraging the immense clout of the television medium to scale up website traffic. This tool has already found a great resonance with the e-commerce industry practitioners and it is going to be the next value addition in the sector that is always on the lookout for innovative approach to business challenges and changes.”

     

    Priti Murthy

    Priti Murthy, Chief Strategy Officer, Maxus, adds, “We are excited about our new product—the T2D Maxus tool that captures the power of the television medium for building website traffic. Given the reality and growing spurt of the e-commerce market, we firmly believe that the clients will benefit from this revolutionary tool to make better media decisions. Also, on a whole this will change the impact of television on website traffic.”

     

  • The key quantitative metrics are reach (in minutes) mentions for the programs as well as conversation sentiments

    Maxus unveils social TV tracker tool- Maxus Synapse

    By A Correspondent

     

    Maxus has announced the launch of yet another pragmatic tool ‘Maxus Synapse’­ the social TV tracker that will help one plan for digital natives effectively. The tool tracks the conversations of key channels and programs, reports it in one view for planners and buyers to take quick and smart decisions that will enable them to drive their business more efficiently.

     

    The applicable tool pulls in real time Twitter data for top performing programs and online channels. The key quantitative metrics are reach (in minutes) mentions for the programs as well as conversation sentiments. These metrics would help planners track and measure what programs are dominant on social media and how the brand associations can be multiplied, leveraged and nurtured to bring out the best performing results.

     

    Priti Murthy

    Commenting on the launch Priti Murthy- National Director, Insights Maxus India said “We at Maxus are committed to bring out the best innovations for the industry. Research has found that earned social media ‘reminds’ people to watch an episode after the live airing, thereby making it imperative for us as media planners to see the audience data more holistically than in silos. It was the recurrence of these conversations that gave birth to the idea of Maxus Synapse.”

     

    “With Synapse one will be enabled to track and measure the performance of TV programs vis-à-vis the social chatter around them. This will also help understand the lift generated by social media and analyse the qualitative viewing of niche audiences which is minuscule compared to GECs. We also would like to thank our partners from the Frrole Team who helped develop the tool,” she added.

     

    Amarpreet Kalkat Co-founder, Frrole said, “Maxus is an innovator and a thought leader when it comes to employing data and analytics for the benefit of its clients. At Frrole, we are privileged to be the social data partner for another industry-leading initiative from Maxus that would not just be a trend-setter, but would also drive significant increase in ROI on media spends by Maxus clients.”

     

  • While viewers don't seem to mind popular actors appearing on primetime shows, does it help TV with ratings and filmwallahs with ticket sales?

    Do pre-release star appearances work?

     

    By Meghna Sharma

     

    What is common between Kareena Kapoor and Bipasha Basu? The answer is: CID. Yes, both the actors were rescued by none other than our very own team of ACP Pradyuman and his agents.

     

    Today, seeing actors on television is not a surprise. Most of them can be seen on the small screen as hosts or judges on reality shows. However, in the recent past one has seen them play a character or themselves in fictional shows where the plot of an episode is scripted around them. And the two actors are the latest to join the bandwagon of various other actors who have made a “special appearance” on the small screen to promote their upcoming film.

     

    Dinesh Rathore

    According to Dinesh Rathore, COO, Madison Media Omega, the difference between the big screen and the small screen faded away in the last decade as superstars entered the medium. “Actors making an appearance on television is a win-win situation for both. Television has vast reach so actors get to promote their films, and a channel can save money if the actor appears on their shows to promote his/her film.”

     

    He’s not alone, even broadcasters which are competing with each other to get the stars to their channel before others do also feel the same. Vivek Bahl, Chief Creative Director, Sony Entertainment Television says, “Big fiction shows with a dedicated & measurable viewer base is a great platform for an actor to promote his / her upcoming film with the show. And, for the show itself, one can always create buzz and sampling with the

    Vivek Bahl

    anticipation of a star appearance.”

     

    On the same note, Ajay Bhalwankar, ZEEL’s Content Head (Hindi GECs) feels that fiction shows are the staple diet of any General Entertainment Channel and the presence of a Bollywood celebrity is woven into the existing storyline of the fiction show, hence increasing the chances of a better recall. “As a medium TV cannot be ignored by marketers.”

     

    Prashaant Bhatt

    “Be it with a Jhalak Dikhhala Jaa or Madhubala, the audience for each show is varied and this is what works in favour of the movie that is promoted on the show,” explains Prashaant Bhatt, Weekday Programming Head of Colors, who believes that the trend is only going to move forward. “It is vital for any promotional activity to be present on all the mediums that helps them connect with the viewer. So, in the future, the trend could possibly be digital with the introduction of various apps etc, anywhere the audience/moviegoer is.”

     

     

    Shailesh Kapoor

    However, Shailesh Kapoor, CEO of Ormax Media feels that film star presence on fiction shows helps the films more than the channels. But the channels can use the stars in the promos and create buzz around it. It can give a viewership spike only if the star does something really interesting in the show. “In a recent study conducted by us, television emerged as the driver of both reach and appeal for film campaigns, way ahead of print and outdoor. I believe that channels should start charging film producers for such integrations, the way they charge advertisers.”

     

     

    Priti Murthy

    If both stars and broadcasters are winners here, Priti Murthy, National Director – Insights at Maxus India adds that viewers too don’t have much to lose out on. “I think even viewers win here as they get to see new faces or a new plot in their regular shows. Also, stars appearing on shows is a global phenomenon; in the west, stars appear on shows like Saturday Night Live.”

     

    It appears no one has anything to lose here!

     

  • Most crime shows do attract a large number of eyeballs, but most GECs also claim that it’s not about entertainment alone; they are helping the society as well

    Crime pays for GECs

    By Meghna Sharma

     

    What is it about the dark side that attracts us? A glance over any newspaper or news channel will tell us the increased attention being given to the gruesome incidents.

     

    The media, especially the television which is a reflection of the society, has reflected this growing interest with the increasing popularity in the number of the unglamorous, and sometimes, gory crime shows. From Karamchand in the 80s on DD to the latest Gumraah on Channel V, most crime shows have done well and have been able to garner an interest that other genres might not be able to. The longest running show on the Indian television, CID, is a crime show which was started in 1998 and recently turned tri-weekly.

     

    Speaking about the show’s success, Sneha Rajani, senior EVP and business head, Sony Television, said: “CID has been doing well for years now; it’s not a recent phenomenon. On an average, the show gets TVR of 3.3-3.5, and sometimes even goes up to 4.5. So, it’s no surprise that show has its share of viewers, as week after week people switch on their TV sets to get inspired by the bravery and the relentless passion of CID against crime.”

     

     

    Popular Crime Shows

    Karamchand – 1980 – DD

    CID – 1998 – Sony

    India’s Most Wanted – 1999 – Zee

    Aadalat – 2010 – Sony

    Gumrah – 2012 – Channel V

     

    According to industry experts, most GEC experiments with crime shows have been successful – some have garnered a little interest and others have gone on to become national hits like Adaalat and India’s Most Wanted.

     

    Such crime shows consist of an economically viable format – no huge sets, no major actors, no glamorous outfits or expensive judges are required – hence, the channels don’t mind investing in them.

     

     

    Janardhan Pandey

    Janardhan Pandey, associate vice president, DDB Mudra Max feels that apart from reality shows, only crime shows have the ability to create sensationalism and that’s the main reason people are attracted towards the format. “People want to know what’s happening around them. And these shows are able to portray facts through dramatization, without costing too much for the channel.”

     

    ‘Curiosity killed the cat’ is the apt reason why crime shows work on television according to Anand Chakravarthy, executive vice president, Marketing, RBNL and business head, Big Magic. “Crime, as a genre, has an extremely wide appeal, irrespective of the country. In a developing nation likeIndiawhere crime and corruption are a part of the societal fabric, the audience is most likely to appreciate televised content in the genre.”

     

    Anand Chakravarthy

    He added: “The fascination with the morbid and intrigue that the genre provides work across a cross section of audience, regardless of age and gender, making it acceptable to a larger and diverse audience base.”

     

    However, the question which still arises is – aren’t such shows the figment of the writers’ imagination? The writers of such shows may choose to disagree about the authenticity. “Though some might say they are a writer’s figment of imagination, but in reality, newspaper reports, sometimes even FIRs and investigations done by channels help us gather facts and details about various cases,” said a writer with a national GEC.

     

    According to Priti Murthy, national director – Insights, Maxus, crime shows attract not only the middle-aged, but a large number of youth too. “Crime cuts across genres and finds a large number of youngsters hooked on to the genre like action, thriller, and crime. One could say it gives them adrenaline rush.”

     

    Prem Kamath

    Channel V recently launched a teen crime show, Gumraah, which has became popular for its disruptive format and unique viewpoint of understanding the psyche of young criminals. “V’s Gumrah, in its second season now, details the ecosystem in which a teen crime is conceived and the extraordinary circumstances that lead to it. The show has had an immense impact on us, in terms of viewership as well as vindicating our research and understanding of the youth. We have seen a tremendous response in terms of feedback and appreciation on social media and other consumer responses. It has also further encouraged us to try bolder formats and continue on our chosen content strategy,” said Prem Kamath, Executive VP and GM, Channel V.

     

    Most crime shows do attract a large number of eyeballs, but most GECs also claim that it’s not about entertainment alone; they are helping the society as well. “As for adults, and specifically parents, this show is an eye-opener: if one neglects their child’s need for attention or dismiss it as juvenile behaviour, it can have serious repercussions and lead to moment of madness, eternally irreversible,” added Mr Kamath.

     

    “Shows such as Police Files (aired on Big Magic), while showcasing crimes from the region, also attempt to educate and empower the viewer. The depiction of the crimes help the viewers to understand and accept the need to be vigilant in safeguarding themselves and their loved ones. The information imparted by way of applicable laws of the Indian Penal Code, safety tips by experts and NGOs help empower the viewer,” said Mr Chakravarthy.

     

    So, if one has to go by what industry experts have to say: it’s entertainment with awareness that makes one switch on their television sets to watch crime shows.  Whatever be the reason, the channels can surely say that ‘crime pays’!