The International Advertising Association (IAA) India Chapter announced the winners for its campaign in to build awareness of Diabetic Retinopathy in India.
The winning team is Rohan Joseph (Creative Director- Copy) and Vallabh Yeolekar (Creative Director-Art) at Madison BMB. Coming in second place was Neelam Lakhani (Creative Director- Copy) and Dhananjay Khotpal (Creative Director- Art).
This campaign, being planned along with the All India Opthalmology Association (AIOS) will be launched at the IAA World Congress in Kochi.
Said IAA (India Chapter) President Punit Goenka: “I am glad the elite jury consisting of Bobby Pawar, Raj Nair and Carlton D’Silva reached a consensus on the winning entry. We will now help produce it, fly the winning team to Kochi for the IAA World Congress and launch it there”.
Added Dr S Natarajan – President, AIOS:, “I am very happy that the communications industry is working to build awareness of how a simple test for diabetes can help prevent Diabetic Retinopathy and even possible blindness.â€
Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, Zee Entertainment Ltd has been elected as the new Chairman of BARC India by the Board at its meeting held yesterday (Jan 29). Goenka will take over from Nakul Chopra who has completed his one-year tenure as Chairman.
Said Goenka on his appointment: “It is indeed an honour and a privilege to be re-elected BARC India Chairman. The company has grown and evolved over the years under the able Chairmanship of Sudhanshu and Nakul. Partho and his highly talented team has been able to achieve what we had all set out to. I am honoured to be back as this responsibility has come to me at a time when our industry is undergoing enormous changes and BARC India’s robust and accurate measurement system will only accelerate this transition. I am hoping that in my tenure, we will be able to take BARC into the next generation of viewership measurement and stay true to its mission of ‘What India Watches’.â€
Added Chopra: “Being the Chairman of BARC India has been a great experience. BARC India in the past one year has made enormous strides in the insights and analytics piece. That apart, with visualisation products like the BIO suite of products as well as OOH viewership measurement, BARC India has been able to give to the industry a powerful tool which will help in the growth of the industry. I am glad that I have been a part of this journey. I wish Punit all the best for all the future endeavours.â€
Said Partho Dasgupta, CEO, BARC India: “We welcome Punit as our new Chairman. He played a critical role in setting up of BARC India, and has also been guiding us all through. His support has always helped the organisation take bold steps and innovate. We look forward to his leadership when the whole distribution paradigm is changing.â€
International Advertising Association (IAA) in association with the All India Ophthalmological Society (AIOS) is providing a platform for all advertising and marketing professionals in India to showcase their creativity for a cause during the upcoming International Advertising Association World Congress in Kochi next month. IAA is inviting entries for creating a campaign to drive awareness on Diabetic Retinopathy. This national health initiative is titled EYE4Future and is conceptualised by IAA in partnership with All India Ophthalmological society.
Said Punit Goenka President IAA (India Chapter): “The ethos behind the campaign is that IAA has always believed that communication should be a force for good. The India Chapter has an excellent track record of supporting good societal causes.â€
Added Dr S. Natarajan, President-Elect of the AIOS: “The diabetes pandemic is sweeping across the country. There are 62 million people with diabetes in India and another 77 million people estimated to be pre-diabetic. These and all those who have not yet been diagnosed as diabetic are facing grave risk, including those of Diabetic Retinopathy and hence there is a need to build mass awareness about this issue. I am glad the IAA is supporting this much needed initiative.â€
The campaign will be judged by a jury for creativity and simplicity. IAA will support the winning team to produce the campaign, and invite two members of the team to Kochi. The campaign will be unveiled in the presence of renowned speakers and celebrities at the IAA World Congress on February 22. The last day to send in entries is January 28, 2019.
In October 2017, the Zee group unveiled its new corporate identity. Extraordinary Together was to be the new credo.
While making the announcement on Zee’s new corporate brand ideology last year, Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, ZEEL had said: “Our Chairman, Dr. Subhash Chandra’s vision and pioneering efforts caused a revolution in the country 25 years ago. Over time, Zee has evolved from a television broadcaster into a media and entertainment conglomerate with businesses spanning across the spectrum, from broadcasting to music, movies, digital, live entertainment and theatre, providing an extraordinary range of entertainment to audiences around the world. Our new brand ideology – ‘Extraordinary Together’ is rooted in the philosophy that from collaboration comes strength to deliver the extraordinary. In a global company like ours with interests across diverse verticals and businesses, we believe that our ability to win lies in us being able to effectively come together and harness this strength to be extraordinary in the market.â€
Chairman Subhash Chandra is known to be a man in a hurry to achieve his goals. And realising that the content-led broadcast play could be a cul de sac, if not merged with technology, he and his family took this significant decision that has indeed sent the market aflutter – not just M&E and M&A but Corporate India as well.
So as the world was just done with Diwali, Subhash Chandra and family along with its advisors met in Mumbai over the Diwali weekend to undertake a strategic review of its businesses in view of the changing global media landscape. The strategic review underscored the importance of technological advancements such as AI, lOT, 3D printing AR, VR and many more. It was observed that these developments will impact virtually all businesses across sectors and business practices will be driven by technological innovation.
The review showed that the family needs to accelerate efforts to stay ahead of fast changing trends. The review noted that with the current 1.3 billion viewers and close to 50 million digital viewers growing at a fast pace, ZEEL is well placed to benefit from current market trends due to its strong brand & bouquet of domestic & international channels. Adding to that strength, Zee5 will further enable the company to leverage the benefits of changing video consumption trends, contributing significantly over the coming years.
Speaking on where the business stands today, Jawahar Goel said, “Punit and Amit have made the right sustainable investments for the future and the business is growing ahead on all fronts in a focused and disciplined way.”
A communique issued notes: “On its own, ZEEL would remain a leader in both linear and digital distribution. It has the consumer insights and knowhow to produce and deliver content for the South Asian diaspora globally. The management depth the Company has built over last two decades distributing content globally in 12 foreign languages puts the Company in a unique position. It has strong revenue streams including advertising and subscription – domestic and international. However, there is recognition that a right global strategic partner will help in transforming ZEEL further, and maximise long term value. It will transform it into a global media-tech player with a unique offering of content to the main stream audiences in 170-plus countries putting it into A KING POSITION globally. It has been decided to undertake a strategic review of Essel’s shareholding in ZEEL with a view to maximise value for the business. The proposed transaction to divest upto 50% of Essel’s holding to such a partner, is expected to address the Essel Group’s capital allocation priorities and will allow ZEEL shareholders to capture the full value of India’s largest entertainment broadcaster with an ever strengthening bouquet Essel has decided to appoint Goldman Sachs Securities (India) Ltd. as their investment banker and US and Europe-based LionTree as an international strategic advisor for this exercise. Essel expects the outcome of the strategic review to be concluded by March/April 2019. We hope that this transaction will meet the objectives of the Essel Group as well as the minority shareholders of ZEEL. India remains a priority market for Subhash Chandra and the Essel Group and the family believes that India is at the cusp of significant growth. The family will continue to invest in growth opportunities in India. Regardless of the outcome of this exercise, Essel is committed to create significant long term value in ZEEL and shall keep on contributing in every possible way going forward.â€
The Zee management has had a Call with analysts and Goenka has also had detailed conversations with the business media on this latest gambit. Market analysts and observers MxMIndia  spoke have all been taken by surprise by the move. “Subhash Chandra is known to be master strategist and a maverick, but the decision to shed equity in the most profitable broadcast business in the country is a surprise,†said one analyst who has been tracking the company for over a decade. “However, Chandraji has foresight. Global trends are clear indicators that a content-only play has no long-term future. It has to be a marriage between content and technology. Even internationally, that’s where the wind is blowing.â€
The question though the analyst we spoke with as well as others is whether the new suitor will be willing to play a junior role in Zee. “Anyone investing serious dosh will want to play a centrestage role in how the business is going to be conducted. In media, just a few seats on the Board aren’t enough.â€
While Goenka said in an interview with CNBC TV18, that he’s happy to exit entirely and start life anew, that’s possibly not the route that global players are looking at. “They realise that only the Subhash Chandra family can run such a lean, mean and successful enterprise. They will want them to continue to drive the business at least in the short run. While technology requires the money, content requires an acumen that Zee has in plenty,†said one more analyst, again speaking on anonymity.
Extraordinary Together is indeed an appropriate credo for the state of things to come.
Punit Goenka, Managing Director & CEO, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL), is the new President of the the India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA). The election happened at the IAA India chapter’s AGM on September 24 in Mumbai.
Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Mediabrands India, was elected Vice President. The officebearers ​for the year will be Pradeep Dwivedi, CEO, Sakal Media Group as Honorary Secretary, Jaideep Gandhi, Founder, Another Idea continues as Honorary Treasurer and Ramesh Narayan is of course the Immediate Past President. ​
The members of the Managing Committee elected include Megha Tata, COO, BTVI, Janak Sarda Director, Deshd hoot Group, M V Shreyams Kumar, Joint MD, Mathrubhumi Group, I Venkat, Director, Eenadu and Abhishek Karnani, Director, Free Press Journal. The list of members co-opted and invited to the Managing Committee will be announced soon.
Other than his leadership of the Zee group and various industry associations, its his gamechanging stint as Chairman of television measurement body BARC that has been hailed widely. In fact along with Shashi Sinha and Partho Dasgupta, Goenka received the MxMIndia Media person of the Year award in December 2015.
Speaking on his new role as the President of IAA, Goenka said: “It is an honour for me to take over the mantle of leading the India Chapter of IAA. I am humbled by the faith and trust that my friends and colleagues from the Industry have bestowed on me. It will be my sincere endeavour to work towards strengthening the India Chapter of this prestigious association, taking up initiatives that address key industry concerns and are aimed at enhancing the ecosystem.â€
Added outgoing President Ramesh Narayan: “I am delighted that Punit Goenka is taking over as President IAA. His well-known leadership skills and the respect he commands in our industry will undoubtedly take the IAA India Chapter to greater heights. Shashi Sinha is a doyen of the advertising industry and a known performer in industry Associations. The combination is unbeatable.†Narayan completed a one-year tenure as President where he also reactivated the IAA India chapter after a one-year period of relative inactivity.
Added Srinivasan Swamy, President-Elect IAA Global and Chairman, RK Swamy BBDO: “Punit Goenka is wonderful leader to have in the year when India will host the 44th. IAA World Congress in Kochi in February 2019. I am very happy that such a distinguished person has taken over the responsibility of leading IAA. It augurs well for the India chapter.â€
The Subhash Chandra Foundation, the philanthropic initiative of Rajya Sabha MP and Zee and Essel group Chairman, Subhash Chandra, has launched ‘SACH Impact’ Incubator – a programme to support early-stage social ventures.
SACH Impact, a first-of-its kind initiative to identify and mentor fledgling social entrepreneurs from various parts of India, has been created, launched and will be run in partnership with LetsEndorse, a collaborative ecosystem of social change-makers and enablers.
Commenting on the launch, Chandra said: “Most entrepreneurs work to earn big but few ideate for the betterment of society. Subhash Chandra Foundation is inviting social entrepreneurs, the change-makers, for SACH Impact Incubator, who want to impact the lives of people to make world a better place.â€
The selected teams will be mentored by Chandra himself and Punit Goenka, MD and CEO, Zee Entertainment and Amit Goenka, CEO – International Broadcast Business, Zee Entertainment, and senior management of Essel Group. For details and application info: http://bit.ly/SACHImpact.
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) has announced the appointment of Shariq Patel as the Chief Executive Officer, Essel Vision Productions Ltd. Patel will report to Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, ZEEL.
Patel, it may be recalled was CEO of the Zee group’s Indian Cricket League (for a year and a half) and after which he worked with Studio18 for around two years. Before joining ICL, he worked with Radio Mid-Day as VP and Station Head for four years. He has also worked with Airtel, Indya.com and Exim Bank after completing an MBA from NMIMS, Mumbai. According to his LinkedIn profile, he is Founder of Versus Sports and Trigno Media, two ventures that Patel founded in 2011.
It is fashionable for the world to throw stones at measurement agencies. It happened for years with LV Krishnan’s TAM, it happened with MRUC for IRS and now the knives are being chucked at Broadcast Audience Research Council India (BARC India). BARC has received feedback from its subscribers regarding certain malicious, baseless and inaccurate statements made in public regarding its operations and organisation structure. And hence the joint industry body has highlighted a few points that all and sundry (or the other way round) need to take note of.
Here goes:
“Being an industry body promoted by IBF, ISA and AAAI, BARC India Is neither owned by any broadcaster/advertiser/agency, nor controlled by any single company. Therefore, the question of undue influence of any single entity on BARC India’s operations does not arise. It has a strict governance structure as laid down in its Articles of Association, which ensures its arm’s length relationship with all stakeholders.
IBF President, Punit Goenka said, “We take pride in saying that BARC India works in an extremely transparent and neutral environment. Its data adds immense value to industry, and we would encourage and support it to remain focused on the great work its team does, and not get detracted by false statements and unattributed innuendos. BARC India has established a measurement system at par with international standards, which should be a matter of pride for the industry.â€
BARC India’s systems and processes have been accepted by industry, and also lauded in global forums. The robustness and credibility of BARC India’s data is further testified by regular audit of its processes by reputed international firms like Ernst & Young and CESP. With a sample size of 135,000 individuals across the nation, BARC India operates the largest TV sample/panel in the world – much larger than the US TV sample of 90,000.
Sunil Kataria, Chairman of the Indian Society of Advertisers added, “BARC India has provided industry with something it has been seeking – a robust and state-of-the-art measurement system that reports all India TV viewership with a high degree of fidelity. BARC India data helps advertisers reach and understand consumers even in the most remote and unexplored areas. It enables the Rs. 25000 crore advertising industry to take informed decisions since the data is truly representative of ground reality.â€
President of Advertising Agencies Association India (AAAI), and BARC India Chairman Nakul Chopra said, “I am dismayed to see these incorrect and baseless remarks that have been made with no facts to support them at all. That too against the sanctity of a body set up jointly by the industry in the best interest of all stakeholders. BARC India should in fact be applauded as a shining example of how an entire eco system has come together to create a world class measurement system that is one of its kind. It should be applauded as in these positive and progressive times it provides essential and reliable data that is powering many industries make better decisions towards economic growth.â€
Hmmm. Guess BARC should’ve also added a statement from the Bad Losers Society of India. Or the Nutcases Association of New Delhi.
It’s D-Day. December 15, 2017. And since we don’t ‘conduct’ the award presentation offline, we aren’t dependant on venue availability and rates negotiations. Hence, we do the awards on a weekend, not a weekday… when the mood is just right. Celebrate if you are happy with the announcement, or just give us a pass. Or a few GRRRs.
So how are we different from other awards?
First, it’s not based on a survey. It’s not based on any industry poll. It’s based on a study conducted by us through the year. This makes the decision-making tougher, as we can’t pass the blame on to research. Or the collective view of the industry. Or of a jury.
Second, it’s an A&M industry study. Agreed CEOs of big clients are important, but we are looking at CMOs and not CEOs of well-marketed organisations.
Third, we look at performance through the year, and don’t base it on the highs of the last two quarters of a year which tend to influence any voting-based process at the yearend.
Fourth, we give you a clear reason why we have chosen the winner
Fifth, we are as sincere and honest about the awards as one can get. There were suggestions that we should make it an on-ground event. But then that comes with its own set of issues (and compulsions). We even had one large media group expressing its interest two years back. But we think it could’ve influenced our decision. Perhaps next year, with some more wisdom will happen in our blood streams.
And sixth, it’s about achievement in 2017 – in this calendar year (well not the entire year, but at least the 350-odd days that have preceded today). There are some who may have been super achievers the previous year, but have fallen short of our winner in 2017. Similarly, there are some A&M barons who have been doing splendid work through the years, but there has been someone else who has been more spectacular. We only look at achievements of the current year.
So: the MxMIndiaMediaperson of the Year 2016 is an online award. It’s an accolade that’s for the truly well-deserving. And for the True Achiever of 2016 in the Indian Media, Advertising & Marketing arena.
With the backgrounders done, here’s how we went about our task.
Wemaintain an online notebook that records important developments of the year. It’s a drill that ensures one can do recaps etc with ease.
For the Mediaperson of the Year, one reviews names, quarter-wise. This helps that the choice of the award doesn’t suffer from the recency factor.
We looked at various names. We couldn’t miss the achievements of the Zee group captains Punit and Amit Goenkaand Viacom18 Group CEO Sudhanshu Vats as they celebrated major milestones this year.
We also looked at the Big 35 media entities. For, it takes a lot to ensure that it’s business as usual. We then got to our second shortlist where we decided to look at five shortlists. And this is what it was:
1. Piyush Pandey: Getting the Lions of St Mark with brother Prasoonis, as we wrote the other day, a significant achievement.
2. The Wire Co-founders – Siddharth Varadarajan, Sidharth Bhatia and M K Venu: They’ve stood their ground in the very rough weather and have emerged as the biggest of the credible voices in journalism. Yes, more credible than most print badshashs.
3. Uday Shankar: Star India Chairman and CEO Uday Shankar was elevated to President, 21st Century Fox, Asia. But the 21CF charge would be in addition to the Star India responsibilities. The year also saw Star bagging the IPL rights and perhaps for the first time ever getting its act together on the second channel – Star Bharat.
4. CVL Srinivas: The GroupM CEO bagged the coveted ITC account along with a slew of others and some consolidation of the Indian operations. And then he was also made Country Manager India which is a significant capture of the faith WPP supremo Sir Martin Sorrell thinks of Srini
5. And then our fifth shortlist…
Ladies and Gentlemen, We have great pride in announcing that the 2017 MxMIndiaMediaperson of the Year Award goes to…
Arnab Goswami, Owner and Editor-in-Chief, Republic World/TV
Arnab Goswami
Goswami quit Times Now last year and in superquick time he set up an all-new English news channel. Right from the start of this year, he has created a buzz in media circles about the channel’s launch. And his launch strategy was unique with videos released via digital media announcing that he’s coming soon
This award goes to ArnabGoswami, the businessman and mediaperson. It’s not easy to launch a channel in some seven months, even if the decision to start anew would’ve been taken earlier.
For the last eight-odd months, Republic TV has been the undisputed leader amongst English news channels. There have been attempts to undermine its rise by slicing of data in terms of age groups, time bands or select cities, but the lead of Republic over the others, Times Now in particular is definite.
He has also led the channel’s drive to attract anchor advertisers with one-on-one meetings with a large number of them. He has of course also managed to line up a top deck of able hands in Vikas Khanchandani, Priya Mukherjee and Charu Thakur amongst others.
The fact remains that Republic TV did take the dual LCN route to maximise reach in the early days as did a few others, but given the regulator’s intervention on the issue, the dual LCN route for upping connectivity has been stopped.
There are allegations that Times Now and Republic TV have taken the landing route to boost viewership but we do not have evidence to prove both.
While Times Now is still a significant force to reckon with, in terms of its content and presentation, it appears to be a poor cousin of Republic TV.
But, given that the MxMIndiaMediaperson of the Year award is a qualitative award, it would be incorrect to mention that the nationalistic, pro-NarendraModi, pro-BJP biggies and hence the pro-BJP stance of Republic TV and Goswami in particular is a significant downer. While it’s not that there is no screaming and shouting on India Today or even NDTV in the recent past, Goswami takes the pitch to a new high every evening. We have had reservations about Goswami’s and Republic’s editorial stance. Yes, we do remember that he was very combative against Haryana Chief Minister M L Khattar after the unrest in the state some months back. He has taken on the BJP since launched, but these have been very few and far between.
Perhaps there is reason for moderation. Perhaps there is reason to move away a bit from the debate formula and also include other news of the day in a little more detail.
But for now, the formula is working wonders for Republic TV and its primary promoter and editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami.The viewing public, as is determined from the popularity of the channel, isn’t complaining.
A truly deserving winner of the 2017MxMIndiaMediaperson of the Year Award. Taaliyaan!
It’s all over the frontpages of the mainline dailies.
The Zee group has embarked on an all-new corporate identity, and as a first, it has thanked its peers – Sony Pictures Networks, Sun TV Network, Viacom 18 and Star India – for their support to help achieve their dream. “In the last 25 years, we have broken new grounds, scaled new heights and explored new horizons in media and entertainment. This would not have been possible without the support of our peers, with whom we share a common dream of entertaining the nation. We acknowledge with gratitude their contribution in realising this dream. Here’s to all of us. And to our extraordinary future. Because together, we can make extraordinary happen
The Zee group – the entertainment, digital, news, music, live entertainment, movies – all of them together – now have a new common corporate credo: Extraordinary Together. While it embodies the earlier credo of ‘Vasudeva Kutumbakam’, Sanskrit for ‘The world is one family’, the new corporate philosophy has a firm eye on the achievement of a three billion consumer base. This growth from a 1.3bn audience currently over the next five years would mean that Zee will aggressively spread its tentacles across the globe.
In India too, there are plans to grow the franchise. In broadcast for instance, there will be variants of vanilla GECs, and the spread will be across Southern languages… for instance in Malayalam.
The Zee group had invited the media for a press meet with many of its senior professionals in attendance. Also present were three representatives from films and theatre.
Speaking on Zee’s new corporate brand ideology, Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, ZEEL said: “Our Chairman, Dr. Subhash Chandra’s vision and pioneering efforts caused a revolution in the country 25 years ago. Over time, Zee has evolved from a television broadcaster into a media and entertainment conglomerate with businesses spanning across the spectrum, from broadcasting to music, movies, digital, live entertainment and theatre, providing an extraordinary range of entertainment to audiences around the world. Our new brand ideology – ‘Extraordinary Together’ is rooted in the philosophy that from collaboration comes strength to deliver the extraordinary. In a global company like ours with interests across diverse verticals and businesses, we believe that our ability to win lies in us being able to effectively come together and harness this strength to be extraordinary in the market.â€
Throwing light on the company’s growth plans, Amit Goenka, CEO – International Broadcast Business, ZEEL said, “With the vision of becoming the world’s leading global content company from the emerging markets, content is our core focus area and our primary objective is to create extraordinary content for all types of audience across different screens and platforms. Digital is a key focus area and we are soon to launch our revolutionary digital platform, Z5 in the next few weeks.† There was much discussion on Zee’s digital foray and Amit Goenka also informed mediapersons that an all-new digital platform named Zee5 will be unveiled soon.
The new identity has been designed by London-based designer Martin Lambie-Nairn, Creative Director, ML-N. Lambie-Nairn had also designed the Zee group brand identity that’s visible on the channels and all their communication.
Said Lambie-Nairn: “Twenty-five years is celebrating what you’ve achieved and far more importantly, understanding where you are going, rethinking the brand purpose and considering how to address your audiences in the future. Before conceptualising the new brand identity, our first step was to understand this rich legacy of Zee, unravel where the viewer aspirations and expectations are headed, and then arrive at the brand purpose and ideology that is future-ready. This helped us create a truly global brand architecture that would be easy to operate across genres, businesses and countries and more importantly, introduce magic into it. With this vastly diverse bouquet of brands and businesses that Zee owns, it was necessary to have a golden thread that runs through all the businesses – an elegant and monolithic design language that links the organisation together and inspires to create the extraordinary.â€
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) achieved another milestone by becoming the first Indian broadcaster to set up a production company, Zee Studios International in Canada. This also marks Zees entry into global production for mainstream audiences which will facilitate production requirement for Zees international markets. The production company, located at Vancouver, British Columbia, will be headed by Subhadarshi Tripathy who will be supported by a local team. Tripathy will jointly report to ZEEL MD & CEO, Punit Goenka and CEO – International Broadcast Business, Amit Goenka.
Commenting on the new initiative, Amit Goenka, CEO – International Broadcast Business, ZEEL said, “Canada is known as a large production hub for various Hollywood companies, as the country offers the requisite infrastructure, talent pool, scenic locales as well as a favourable Government incentive scheme. After a series of discussions with the Government of British Columbia, Canada, we were invited to set up a production company in Vancouver. Our endeavour through this venture is to produce global content for mainstream audiences across various international markets as well as take care of our domestic requirements. Canada has grown to become a priority market for us and through such initiatives, we plan to increase our presence in this country. We thank the local government bodies for their cooperation and support in helping us establish this business.â€
The winds of change are blowing at Zee Entertainment. The network has appointed two agencies – Publicis India and Lowe Lintas – to spearhead its creative duties.
So while Lowe Lintas will handle the Zee Corporate brand amongst others, Publicis has on its plate the flagship Zee TV in its kitty along with a slew of others channels. Meanwhile, although the channel has not made any official announcements, the WPP-owned Genesis Burson-Marsteller will be handling its public relations mandate.
Announcing the move on the creative agencies, Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, ZEEL said: “As we embark on this journey, we would like to thank FCB Ulka for the long and fruitful association in building some of the most loved channels that have become a part of our viewers’ lives. To build our equity further on this solid foundation, we welcome Lowe Lintas and Publicis on-board as partners who will help establish the organisation’s presence across all the entertainment verticals. By consolidating the entire business with two strong agency partners, the organisation is committed to building significantly higher capability in brand building, consumer centricity and strategic marketing thinking. Both agencies bring with them a strong consumer centric DNA and a deep knowledge of brands and business, which is core to our philosophy of driving future growth for the organisation. We look forward to Publicis and Lowe partnering with us to grow & develop our strong and evolving portfolio of brands.â€
Speaking on the development, Punit Misra, CEO – Domestic Broadcast, ZEEL said, “We are excited to have Lowe Lintas and Publicis on-board as our creative partners. The appointment follows an extensive pitch process which was evaluated by the key leadership team involving an in-depth assessment of creative, planning & servicing capabilities of the agencies, to cater to a large & diverse bouquet of channels & business needs. The move is to ensure that the channels build stronger consumer preference and loyalty for each of the individual brands and businesses. Together, we aspire to create the best in class brand andmarketing ecosystem for every channel and the overall organisation.â€
Other than planning and executing a 360-degree creative mandate for the ‘Zee’ Corporate Brand, Lowe Lintas will also work on the bouquet of cinema channels- including Zee Cinema, Zee Classic and Zee Action, the ‘&’Brand – &TV and &Pictures, and Zee’s South Cluster regional channels.
Interestingly, the Zee Entertainment communique on the announcement carries a statement from Nitin Karkare, CEO, FCB Ulka: “We are proud of our partnership with the Zee Group.  It’s been a wonderful relationship and we have together had many successes across channels and programmes. We wish them the best and many more successes in the years to come.†It may be noted that the &TV creative mandate was with Infectious, the boutique agency set up by Ramanuj Shastry and Nisha Singhania.
Highlighting his agency’s mandate on the new business win, Raj Gupta, CEO-Lowe Lintas said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to partner ZEEL, who pioneered a series of revolutionary television watching experiences and much more for India in the last 25 years. At a time where content networks are competing to get attention with serials/shows, multi-crore blockbuster movies, digital content and millions of shares on digital - we’re excited about the possibilities of imagining and reimagining purpose-led strategic and creative ideas for all the ZEEL offerings, that will inspire Indians to dream more, do more and become more.â€
Elaborating further on the partnership, Srija Chatterjee, Managing Director, Publicis Worldwide India said: “Zee is an iconic brand that has been in the minds and hearts of millions of Indians over almost 25 years. We are delighted that we were able to demonstrate our strong strategic approach through the use of proprietary tools that enable brands to grow at the speed of culture and creative capabilities across the different consumer segments that the brand appeals to, that enabled the ZEEL team to choose us for this very exciting challenge. We are truly excited and looking forward to this partnership to create iconic work that takes the brand and its offerings forward in the minds of the consumers.â€
On PR, Genesis B-M has been appointed for the corporate mandate, but there are rumours that this could extend to the various or at least some Zee brands.
Punit Goenka, Managing Director & CEO, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL), is the new President of the the India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA). The election happened at the IAA India chapter’s AGM on September 24 in Mumbai.
