MxMIndia

Tag: Raj Nayak

  • The channel will be available free-to-air in Europe on Sky, channel number 797 from 29th September onwards

    ‘Rishtey Cineplex’ gets to more ‘phoren’ lands

    By A Correspondent

     

    Viacom18 has announced its plans to launch its Hindi movie channel ‘Rishtey Cineplexin the international markets – specifically Europe and North America (US and Canada). Launched in Europe on Thursday (Sep 29) and in North America in October respectively, Rishtey Cineplex will appeal to the sensibilities of global film enthusiasts with its blockbuster content.

     

    It will showcase the best from Viacom18’s wide library of films as well as newly acquired movies from across genres including dramas, romance, action, comedy and much more. The channel will air audience favourites like, Bajirao Mastani, Airlift, Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2, Kapoor and Sons, Ki &Ka and upcoming films like, Force 2, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil amongst others.

     

    Speaking about this new proposition from Viacom18, Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO, Viacom18 said, “The Indian film industry has grown in terms of both reach and revenue and is now the largest producer of movies in the world. Our cinema, led by Bollywood movies, continues to increase its pull with the overseas Indian diaspora. Rishtey Cineplex, Viacom18’s first premium Hindi movie channel, has curated an impressive repertoire of Indian titles. It is our endeavour, to take Indian cinema, as a holistic entertainment package, to our loyal viewers in Europe and North America; allowing us to further strengthen our presence in these regions.”

     

    Adding further, Raj Nayak, CEO, Hindi Mass Entertainment, Viacom18, said, “Rishtey Cineplex has every ingredient that a movie buff would want to be engaged with. Global audiences today celebrate Indian films, and with the channel’s launch in Europe and North America, we are bringing this celebration to their living rooms. Indian films now have a universal appeal, as a result of which they taste tremendous success in International markets. The trend in consumption has been extremely encouraging and we are certain that the viewers will lap-up our content offering with great zeal.”

     

  • 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

    Neeraj Roy elected President of IAA India

    By A Correspondent

     

    Neeraj Roy

    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.”

     

    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.”

     

    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.”

     

    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.”

     

  • Ad Club sets up new managing committee, Raj Nayak re-elected President, Vikram Sakhuja, Group CEO, Media and OOH, Madison Communications Pvt. Ltd is vice-president

    Ad Club sets up new managing committee, Raj Nayak re-elected President

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Advertising Club has elected Raj Nayak, CEO, COLORS, as its President for the second consecutive term.

     

    The new managing committee is as follows:

    • President: Raj Nayak, CEO, COLORS, Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd.

    • Vice President: Vikram Sakhuja, Group CEO, Media and OOH, Madison Communications Pvt. Ltd.

    • Secretary: Ajay Kakar, Chief Marketing Officer, Financial Services, Aditya Birla Group

    • Jt. Secretary: Bhaskar Das, Group CEO, Zee Media Corporation Ltd.

    • Treasurer: Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Mediabrands

    • Officebearer: Ashish Sehgal, COO, Zee Unimedia Ltd.

    • Member: Mitrajit Bhattacharya, President and Publisher, Chitralekha Group

    • Member: Partha Sinha, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, McCann

    Worldgroup

    • Member:Pradeep Dwivedi, Chief Corporate Sales & Marketing Officer, DainikBhaskar Group, DB Corp Ltd.

    • Member, Ramesh Narayan, Managing Director, Canco Advertising Pvt. Ltd.

    • Member, Vikas Khanchandani, Chief Business Officer, Reliance Broadcast Network Limited

    • Member, Viral Jani, Head TV Partnerships, Twitter India

    • Co-opted Member: Partho Dasgupta, CEO, Broadcast Audience Research Council

    • Co-opted Member: Punitha Arumugam, Director, Agency Business, India and South East Asia, Google India Pvt. Ltd.

    • Co-opted Member: Ajay Chandwani, Director, Percept Limited

    Immediate Past President: Pratap Bose, Founder, Social Street

     

    Special Invitees:

    :: Preeti Vyas, Founder & Chairwoman, Vyas Giannetti Creative.
    :: Namrata Tata, Head of Sales, Colors Infinity, VH1 & Comedy Central.
    :: Sapangeet Rajwant, Head of Marketing, Hindi Mass Entertainment, Viacom18
    :: Manish Bhatt, Founder Director, Scarecrow Communications Ltd

     

    Expressing his pleasure at his re-election, Nayak said: “I am extremely honored and humbled at the love bestowed upon me by the industry. I hope to continue working even more vigorously to realise The Ad Club’s agenda of acting as a catalyst in developing our vibrant and dynamic industry.”

     

    Said Nakul Chopra, CEO South Asia, Publicis Worldwide and President, AAAI welcoming the announcement: “I am delighted that Raj has been elected President Ad Club for another term. A dear friend, a respected colleague – Raj has always worked for the good of the industry via various forums. I look forward to working closely with him to further the already strong relationship between The Ad Club and AAAI.”

     

    Commented Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, Zee and President, IBF: “I am most certain that with his rich experience, acumen and industry knowledge, Raj will continue to take ‘The Advertising Club’ to greater heights. The very fact that he is re-elected, speaks abundantly about his contribution made to the club and to the industry. Over the last year, the club has certainly been a catalyst in developing the industry and with its interactive platforms and properties, it has served as a brilliant platform for industry professionals to interact and exchange thoughts. I wish Raj all the success in this role.”

     

    Expressing his excitement about the announcement, Srinivasan Swamy, Chairman and MD, R K Swamy BBDO and President IAA India Chapter and Senior Vice President IAA Global, said, “I was delighted to hear that Raj was reelected to lead The Advertising Club. His passion and energy levels are infective. He has brought in many senior names‎ to join the committee and I eagerly look forward to next phase of accelerated growth for the Club under his stewardship.”

     

    Industry stalwart Sam Balsara, Chairman, Madison World, also expressed his pleasure by saying, “I am delighted that Raj has agreed to continue as The Ad Club President. This augurs well for the members of the advertising, media and marketing community in general and members of The Ad Club in particular. Raj is everybody’s favorite person and is uniquely positioned to discharge this onerous responsibility which he has kindly agreed to, despite his hectic and I am sure taxing work schedule”.

     

    Industry veteran CVL Srinivas, CEO, GroupM, South Asia, commented, “Its great news for the industry that Raj Nayak has been re-elected President of The Advertising Club. Raj brings a lot of style and substance to whatever he does. His boundless energy, passion and commitment is so amazing. I wish him the very best and look forward to another great year with him at the helm”.

     

  • Mindshare bagged the coveted Media Agency of the Year title at the Emvies 2016 with Hindustan Unilever being the Media Client of the Year

    Mindshare & HUL bag top Emvies honours

     

    While the city was getting set for the dhol tasha brigade for Ganesh Chaturthi, at Lower Parel’s St Regis Hotel, there was another kind of drumbeating and hooting. It was the evening of Emvies 2016, the biggest and most coveted awards for media agencies in India.

     

    Ad Club President Raj Nayak initiated the event (emceed yet again by Brian Tellis) by stating that the 16th edition of Emvies is special not only because it is his first time as the President but this time all records have been broken with close to 1000 entries coming in. He set the tone of the evening by finishing his speech with the chants of ‘Ganpati Bappa Morya!’

     

    Mindshare maintained the top spot in the 2016 Emvies, with eight Gold, 18 Silvers and 15 Bronze metals. The agency has always had anexciting run at the Emvies, winning the media agency of the year award for six straight years till 2013. In Emvies 2014, Maxus broke Mindshare’s winning streak and won the top agency title. “One is you are habituated to doing something different. You get habituated to doing something that is working for your brands. There is a sense of responsibility that comes from leadership and being a leader in the market. Our job is to challenge the status quo and get the work done for the brands. The end result is that we are winning awards,” said Prasanth Kumar, Mindshare, CEO South Asia, about the reason behind their success.

     

    The agency’s golden run included Best Media Strategy–Consumer Products- for Hindustan Unilever Limited’s (HUL) ‘6 Pack Band’ for Brooke Bond Red Label. In the Best Media Innovation –Branded Content, Mindshare swept up two silvers. The first came for the award winning Brooke Bond Red Label campaign, while the second was for PepsiCo India’s ‘Pepsi- When consumers became co-marketers’. They also won gold for HUL’s ‘Before Iftar time, its Lifebuoy time’ for Lifebuoy in the Best Media Innovation: Digital-Mobile. The Grand Emvie was bagged by Mindshare and Pepsi for  ‘Pepsi- When consumers became co-marketers’.

     

    Lodestar UM and Maxus were tied at the second place in the media agency tally with 135 points. The former won six gold, three silver and three bronze metals while the later won four gold, five silver and five bronze metals. Lodestar UM gave a tough fight to both Maxus and Madison Media. Half-way through the results there was tug of war going between these three for the second, third and fourth position. But at the end, Madison Media had to settle for the fourth position with 75 points. Speaking about their win, Dhruv Jha, GM, IPG Media Brands said, “We always love winning and we always have been winners. IPG Media and Lodestar UM plus Initiative Media, we have done really well today. We had a shortlist of about 14 and we have converted 12 of them. I was confident we are going to win but winning so big was a little surprise, but when we came close we knew we were there.”

     

    The other big award of the evening, Best Media Client of the Year went to HUL. “The biggest award that we get is the kind of love consumers have for our brands and that is what we work for. But it is always nice to have peer appreciation for the work that we do and it is inspiring and pushes us to do more. You get appreciation for something consumers responded to positively and loved it. That is the reason why we feel awards are important,” said Gaurav Jeet Singh, Head, Media Services, HUL, after the win.

     

    Another highlight of this year’s Emvies was the entry of the newbies like The Social Street and ibs in the Top 15 of the point’s tally, with The Social Street finishing seventh with 35 points.

     

     

     

  • India to be the first country in the world to launch the app

    BBC partners with Colors to unveil popular mobile game

    By A Correspondent

     

    To celebrate the new season of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, the Indian version of the popular BBC property ‘Dancing with the Stars’, BBC Worldwide and Colors have partnered with games developer Exient Limited, to create Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa: The Official Game for mobile platforms in India.

     

    India is the first country in the world to be able to have access to the app that will bring the spectacle, drama and pure joy that is a night of glam and glitz in the palm of users’ hands. It will be available to the rest of the world in September 2016.

     

    The game allows fans to play as their own celebrity, inhabiting the glamorous celebrity world of the television show. Combining popular match-3 gameplay with popular elements of the show, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa: The Official Game will give fans the game experience of seeing if they have what it takes to win the coveted in-game Glitterball trophy.

     

    Commenting on the launch of the game, Raj Nayak, CEO – Colors said: “Together Colors and BBC Worldwide have come up with a special something for the ardent fans of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, which is an incredible way to indulge in dance beyond just watching the show. It’s already the number one App on the IOS platform and we are thrilled that people are already hooked on to it.  It’s a fun app which will allow the player to participate in the show virtually, dress up to hit the stage, get scores from the judges and chase the glitter ball trophy. Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa has been one of our most entertaining properties and we are glad to be able to engage the viewers through the new media platforms.”

     

    Myleeta Aga, SVP and GM of BBC Worldwide, India, added: “We’ve been producing Jhalak for nine seasons now, and seen it grow from strength to strength each season. We are very pleased that India’s passionate fans will be the first in the world to have access to the exciting and entertaining Jhalak Dikhhla Jaamobile game.”

     

    Dave Hawkins, CEO Exient, commented: “We’re extremely excited and honoured to be a part of the massive success story that is Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa and our partnership with BBC Worldwide has resulted in a game that will break new boundaries.”

     

    The game is available on both iOS and Android devices and can be downloaded free from the App Store and Google Play store.

     

  • New UC Browser offers direct news feeds from the recently launched UC News and options for personalisation, powered by its big-data technology

    UCWeb launches new UC browser; announces strategic content partnership with Colors TV

    By A Correspondent

     

    UCWeb Inc. launched a new UC browser and announced its strategic content partnership with Colors TV. Driven by big-data technology, the new UC browser includes news feeds from UC News making it an integral part of UC Browser now, with more customisation options for the users. UC Browser has been updated keeping in mind the user preferences for trending and relevant information at the fingertip.

     

    The partnership with Colors TV for some of its shows is a reinforcement of the strategy of Alibaba Mobile Bbusiness Group, to digitize entertainment content on mobile while transforming itself from tool to content and further offer more comprehensive content options to users who access internet on the go.

     

    UCWeb has evolved from a mobile browser to a mobile media asset, offering mobile search and news feeds to over 420 Million Monthly Active users (MAUs) globally. Today UC Browser is the No. 1 independent browser in India and Indonesia, and is one of the world’s top 3 mobile browsers, according to StatCounter.

     

    Commenting on the growth and new strategy, Jack Huang, President, Overseas Business, Alibaba Mobile Business Group said, “Our new milestone of reaching 420 million MAUs has placed us at par with Twitter and Instagram. Our vision in the coming years after success in India, is to serve half the population of the planet. Our strategy is to focus on “Glocalization” – which is going global by offering localized solutions in each market. We believe this strategy will lead us to a new digital era, which is GUF – Google, UCWeb and Facebook.”

     

    UC Browser is India’s favourite mobile browser, with over 80 Million (MAUs) and a market share of close to 50 per cent (Source StatCounter). The browser has brought faster internet access to millions of people residing in low bandwidth areas across the country. While the old browser just brought people on the internet, the New UC Browser recognizes that now is the right time to offer the right content to the right user.

     

    The New UC Browser embraces adaptability by offering direct news feeds from UC News, an app exclusively launched for India market in June 2016. Once a user selects his favourite topics, the algorithm adapts and offers more information on the topic of his choice. The information is shareable, can be customised and is available in 2 languages – English and Hindi, which will later, also be available in other regional languages, starting with Tamil.

     

    The New UC Browser has a simple and clean UI  and the homepage is a lot more concise with one swipe allowing the option to switch from Browser to News. The personalised channel settings allow the users to choose their favourite news channels and make their own reading sequence, as per their individual preference. The user friendly browser also has a night mode feature that offers a convenient browsing experience during night.

     

    The strategic partnership with Colors is being built around four marquee shows; Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, 24, Big Boss and Comedy Nights Live. As part of the collaboration, UCWeb will create multiple engagement platforms around these shows for the users of UC Browser, 9Apps and UC News.

     

    Talking about the partnership, Robert Bu, General Manager, UCWeb India said, “Our partnership with Colors is unique in its own way. The partnership seeks to build long term engagement for the content on Colors TV through multiple platforms such as blogs and behind the scenes videos, ensuring stickiness and long term engagement for these properties. Digital content consumption is on the rise and the challenge for content creators is to be able to customize, curate and present diverse content to users to strengthen their engagement. The solution that UC Browser is offering is “Digitized Entertainment.”

     

    Speaking about the collaboration, Raj Nayak, CEO of Colors TV said, “Alliances are not just for visibility. Sometimes it is about ensuring the best user experience for consumers and enhanced viewer experience. At COLORS, we have always believed in conducting business that meets our consumer’s needs. Today, our viewers are mostly mobile owing to which we can draw synergies with a popular mobile browser like UC Browser, thereby making our content appealing to audiences regardless of the type of screen they’re using. With content on-the-go becoming a lucrative option for today’s viewers, associating with a brand like UC Browser, for shows including Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, Bigg Boss 10, Comedy Nights Live and 24: Season 2, allows us to explore different promotional strategies that make it a beneficial proposition for us.”

     

  • AIMA & Storm the Norm organised a conclave where leading lights in business and the arts shared their real-life stories + Interview with Sam Balsara

    Storming with Insights!

    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.”

     

    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’.”

     

    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.”

     

    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.”

     

    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.”

     

    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.”

     

    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.

     

  • Viacom18 ruled at the PromaxBDA India awards followed by Star India, Zee and Sony on Day 2 of the promo conference

    Creativity, branding, passion, awards & more at PromaxBDA

    All the gold award winners at PromaxBDA India awards

     

    By Anuka Roy

     

    It was a memorable night for Viacom 18 Media Pvt Ltd at the 2016 PromaxBDA India awards held on Thursday in Mumbai.  Awards across 51 different categories were presented with Viacom 18 winning 28 awards, with Colors Infinity alone winning 12 of them. Star India was second with 17 awards. Zee and Sony settled for 11 and 7 awards respectively. Doubtlessly, the  conference hall was bustling with unparalleled energy as winners from each category were welcomed with much cheer. In total, 43 gold and 43 silver Muse trophies and eight each of gold and silver Isis trophies were awarded.

     

    In the morning, the PromaxBDA India kicked off with an opening address by Conference Chair and Colors CEO Raj Nayak. “The biggest change in our industry is that time is fleeting,” he said, adding: “With each passing day the most precious commodity in our industry is time”.

     

    Lee Hunt, Founder of Lee Hunt LLC, began the morning session on an engaging note by talking about the Dynamic Branding. He explained the paradox of dynamic branding through various videos and examples. According to Hunt, television brands, whether linear, on demand or any other form are different from consumer product brands. They change from season to season, show to show and click to click, so, they cannot be static. They have to be elastic, to be able to grow, to change, to evolve with programming, audiences and platforms. He explained the strategies, tactics and creative principles of television’s most successful brands, and suggested ways in which you can apply them in your branding strategies. MxMIndia asked Hunt how one can break the clutter given that most channels have the same content and a similar pattern of presentation. “If you think about it, there are only a dozen different kinds of content on television. But there are scores and hundreds of channels now. Even though each channel may have similar content scheduled at different times, in viewers’ minds it becomes all confused. So, having your brand be a filter, why we as channel chose this particular programme, scheduled at this particular time and for this particular audience, and trying to find what is that one thing you stand for that can connect all this different audience. So when the viewer looks at the way you are promoting a show,  it feels, sounds and looks different from how one of your competitors might be promoting that same content. It is a hard thing to do, but in India, where the market continues to grow and there is a lot of confusion about these brands it becomes more important.” Hunt’s post-lunch session was about ‘Death of the channel brand?’ He discussed that as content moves off-channel to on-demand platforms, the viability of a channel brand comes in to question. Hunt also explored the threats and opportunities created by Netflix and other platforms and showed how a handful of networks are changing their brands to stay relevant in the new world of television.

     

    The first afternoon session was taken by Graeme Newell, President of 602 Communications, on ‘The next generation of viewer connection’. Newell emphasised that these days’ viewers don’t just want a good show, but a good relationship with the networks that share their values and priorities. The emotional marketing expert revealed some of the key points that are driving the next generation of viewer connection. Right after this session, it was time for the audience to experience some creativity as Steve Brouwers’s took a session on ‘Creativity is an option: fake it till you make it’. There was creativity from the word go as Brouwers’ introduction was done through a video of two infants communicating to each other in their own language about how to introduce him. “It is all about creativity. Everything starts with an idea and a way of making stuff,” said the Creative Director at SBS Belgium. The session focused on getting inspired and the techniques to enhance it. It is not about where you take things from but where do you take them to.

     

    The panel session on ‘State of art’ was moderated by Sheetal Sudhir, Creative Director and Co-Founder of Dynamite Design. Suresh Eriyat, Creative Director and Founder of Studio Eeksaurus and Roopak Saluja, Founder & Chief Executive Officer at The 120 Media Collective were the panelists. In the beginning of the session. the moderator announced that instead of speaking on the topic, she would like the panelists to discuss about the passion that drives them towards the art they are associated with. Through the session, both the panelists shared their professional and personal experiences in the creative industry. Eriyat showed some of the best and award winning animation work that he has done. “People are the inspiration for me. I observe how they behave and try to incorporate it in my work” he said. Saluja who currently is enjoying his role as an entrepreneur, before explore different options including DJ-ing said, “I believe in managing creative talent for creative output.”

     

    The two-day Promax conference ended with the awards presentation.

     

  • Goafest 2016 had the right mix of after-hours partying and serious sessions, with thought leaders from across the globe sharing their experiences and insights

    Gyaan Unlimited at Goafest

    By Labonita Ghosh

     

    When you see members of your team pack floral shirts and shorts as they head to Goa, it’s hard to believe they have anything other than partying on their minds. But Goafest — organised by the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and The Advertising Club, which forms the backdrop to the ad world’s best-known creative awards, the Abby – is able to strike a great balance. There is a lot of out-of-office bonhomie and boisterousness (and more than a reasonable amount of liquids flowing), but the days are filled with interactions with industry movers and shakers, sessions by thought leaders from around the globe and an invaluable swapping of insights and tips.

     

    Goafest 2016, in its eleventh year, upped the bar quite a bit. With some 2,400 delegates and 4,460 entries for the Creative and Media Abby, the 2016 edition was the biggest Goafest yet. Two new categories were also introduced, to keep pace with the rapidly-changing times: The Young Abby and an award for gender sensitivity. A more digitally-enabled Goafest greeted delegates who could download the app and post their questions for various speakers on it.

     

    Ambi M G Parameshwaran, President, Advertising Agencies Association of India said: “The last three days saw some of the brightest minds from the world of media, marketing and advertising congregating to make Goafest 2016 an exciting experience for all. Undoubtedly this was the biggest Goafest and the most well balanced — over 15 seminar sessions, three award shows, two sundowner parties and three after parties — all done in one venue, both indoors and outdoors.”

     

    According to Raj Nayak, President of The Advertising Cub: “As organisers, we tried to create a unique and wholesome experience for all the delegates attending the event to ensure that everyone had an interesting takeaway when they leave from Goa at the end of the festival.”

     

    Indeed, the organisers had a stellar line-up of speakers from the ad and marketing world, and the tedium of industry-specific sessions was broken by talks by writer-columnist Shobhaa De, former Army man and founding-CEO of the security agency Natgrid Raghu Raman, and young writer Varun Agarwal, and an interaction former cricketer Arjuna Ranatunga and journalist Rajdeep Sardesai.

     

    The session that really packed them in — and had everyone in splits – was a freewheeling tete-a-tete between adman-filmmaker R Balki and director-producer Karan Johar, where they chatted about marketing, the Oscars and Bollywood, of course. As for the seminars, they were divided into three industry-specific themes. Day 1 was about forging better client-agency partnerships, which was followed by better marketing of brands on the second day, while the last day was about using data and technology to leverage creativity.

     

    Chandramouli Venkatesan, Managing Director of Mondelez India (the makers of Cadbury) opened the first day with the instantly-engaging idea that client-agency partnerships need to be like that of Jai and Veeru, the protagonists from the film Sholay. “It should be a study in contrasts. A client and an agency, who are two different entities, coming together to create magic,” he said. “Not two entities who think in a similar manner.” But no matter how different, they must have a shared purpose and passion, and a friendship that allows each to challenge the other to do better. Samar Singh Sheikhawat, Senior Vice President, Marketing, at United Breweries had a slightly different take when he said that agencies first need to get to know the business (almost as well as the client) if they are to offer any worthwhile solutions. Sheikhawat says he facilitates brewery visits for agency execs he works with, just as he had to – early on in his career – spend time in the offices of advertising stalwarts like Roda Mehta, to understand the agency side of things. Oliver Maletz, head of connections planning, media and international communication at Volkswagen, in his session, outlined that agencies need to be true business partners to clients, along with being innovators (though not just for the sake of innovating) and aim to deliver meaningful value to a meaningful number of people.

     

    The second day, which was about better marketing your brand, had Benny Thomas, strategy head at Crispin Porter + Bogusky, talk about gauging a ‘return on creativity’ instead of the rather more prosaic(but financially-necessary) RoI. One way to ensure that a client accepts a brilliant idea, is to bombard it with hundreds of others. “If you give clients 200 ideas, they are bound to pick one,” Thomas said, giving the example of a campaign-turned-social initiative called Small Business Saturdays, that was spearheaded by his agency and has now become a local trade promotional in the US. Tara Marsh, global head of content at Wunderman, dealt with how neither clients nor agencies give enough importance to the behavioral aspects of consumers that make them choose one brand over another. “Your content needs to be something that users will choose to spend time with,” she added. Prakash Sangam, CEO of the RedBus and writer-filmmaker Varun Agarwal provided the ‘inspiration quotient’ for the day. Sangam, who has successfully run a bus-booking portal, talked about how the bus industry (like so many others) has been transformed by technology. Now, passengers can download apps to not only book tickets and select seats, RedBus has enabled various kinds of information conveniences to travellers.

     

    In today’s world, much more of both data and technology is available, but advertisers and marketers are not using it enough, feels Carter Murray, Worldwide CEO of FCB. “Most marketers use data for only six per cent of their decisions,” Murray said. “Data is waiting for its [Martin] Scorsese – where marketers use data to make the creative product better, not just to drive change.” Jean Lin, Global CEO of Isobar, in her talk, outlined seven breakout things that indicate a changing landscape (e-commerce, borderless buying, programmatic videos etc) and said the future of brands is clearly brand commerce. “[Marketers] need to bring the brand inspiration closer to the point of transaction,” she said adding that ideas that reimagine that last mile are the ones that are likely to survive in an ever-changing world. While Fergus O’Hare, Director of Facebook Creative Shop, APAC, took the idea of providing creativity with a crucible of technology by giving examples of how Facebook as a platform could be used to deliver personalised marketing at scale through mobile, Alasdair Lennox, Executive Creative Director, EMEA, Fitch discussed how ‘advertising’ as a word will die out, and be replaced by the concepts of ‘experience’ and ‘conversations’.

     

    That’s not all. Goafest also give participants a chance to view lots and lots of great advertising and hear behind-the-scenes stories about some of the most successful initiatives in the world – often from people who have been in the trenches themselves. While YouTube makes it possible to watch every ad ever aired, you’d never know about Nivea’s remarkable sunburn campaigns, or Kraft’s marketing of its healthier mac-and-cheese option without changing its packaging, or even learn how Paypal caught people’s attention by putting their faces on dollars, if it weren’t for the seminars. You would’ve heard of Burger King’s Subservient Chicken or seen Cadbury’s eyeballs-grabbing Gorilla beating a drum, but to know about the incisive decisions that shaped these seemingly-inane promos, is something else. Closer home, if you’ve ever wondered why messy chocolate-eating has become adorable on TV, you had to hear it from the people who made the Dairy Milk ads. And the thumping success of cutting-edge campaigns like Domino’s Anyware (ordering pizzas with a tweet) and Disneyland’s MagicBand (a bracelet that is park ticket, hotel key and credit card rolled into one) was brought to life by the global speakers’ analysing the social impact these have had. Indeed, Netflix’s ads have sparked a sociological phenomenon of ‘TV adultery’ (watching ahead to the next episode of a show without your spouse) in the US. This year’s Goafest had all of that. Indeed.

     

    In arrangement with MxMIndia.com

     

  • Delegates to Goafest, will get an app registration code with which they will have access to special features within the app

    Goafest to provide live feeds via its app offering

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Goafest Abbys 2016 continues to scale new benchmarks of engagement. The awards event has upped the ante on engagement this year by introducing the GoaFest 2016 – Mobile App. The Goafest app will keep delegates attuned to all the happenings and excitement of the festival while they are enlightened and entertained by the daily events and fanfare.

     

    Raj Nayak President Advertising Club said, “Technology must enable a richer user interface. This is another step towards curating a memorable Goafest 2016 experience. The Goafest 201 App will ensure that no one misses out on any Goafest event happenings.”

     

    Special features like the Goafest Buzz Submit will allow users to ask the speakers questions through the app during the event. Also the informative travel schedule will help plan out daily itineraries. The Goafest app is easy to install and can be downloaded by clicking on the icon for the corresponding app store: http://onelink.to/goafest

     

    Delegates to Goafest, will get an app registration code with which they will have access to special features within the app.

     

    http://www.mxmindia.com/?p=88049

  • The 24×7 Hindi movie channel is scheduled to be launched in the last quarter of the year

    Viacom18 to rev up Hindi movie channel space with ‘Rishtey Cineplex’

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    Four years after selling a large Hindi films library to rival Star India and shelving plans to launch a Hindi movie channel, Viacom18 has announced its plans to fill in the gap. A move that has been described as a “no-brainer” for any entertainment network by a trade analyst.

     

    Films like Bajirao Mastani, Airlift, Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 and still-to-be-released flicks like Force2, Kapoor and Sons and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil are part of the Rishtey Cineplex arsenal. “The channel’s launch further paves the way for new film acquisitions to offer quality film-based entertainment and big television premieres to viewers,” a communiqué adds.

     

    Sudhanshu Vats

    Commenting on the launch, Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO – Viacom18 said, “With the launch of Rishtey Cineplex, we are entering the large Hindi movie genre thereby filing a pivotal whitespace and offering a holistic Hindi entertainment ecosystem from our stable.”adding:  “The movie channel will bolster the networks reach across India and help us dial-up our engagement levels with our viewers. It will also enable us to offer 360-degree value to our advertisers creating more opportunities for on-air promotions enabling optimization of ad inventory across the network”.

     

    Interestingly, the channel will not piggyback on the ‘Colors’ brand as a slew of non-Hindi channels did in the in recent months. It is christened ‘Rishtey Cineplex’ and thereby indicating that Viacom18 could further the ‘Rishtey’ franchise which has until now been occupied by a free-to-air re-runs channel.

     

    Raj Nayak

    Said Raj Nayak, CEO – Colors and Rishtey: “We have scripted a great success story for brand Colors with it being extended into regional languages and English entertainment. Each of these channels has helped us cater to an intrinsic viewer demand. We are now all set to give impetus to brand Rishtey with the launch of our exclusive Hindi movies channel Rishtey Cineplex that will help us fortify our Hindi entertainment portfolio.”

     

    Is there room for another Hindi movie channel? The analyst we spoke with said yes, emphatically, adding a caveat: “It’s a function of the films you win rights for and how you place them – between your flagship GEC and thereby earn ratings for it and the movie channel which is where it should ideally belong.”

     

    As per the latest data of BARC, the pecking order of Hindi movie channels is: Sony Max, Zee Cinema, Star Gold, Movies OK and &Pictures.

     

     

  • The entry forms for the awards can be downloaded on the Ad Club website

    The Ad Club calls for entries for the GoaFest Creative ABBY’s 2016

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Goafest Abby’s, the coveted advertising awards that recognizes the best in advertising and marketing in a 3-day celebratory event has called for entries for the Creative ABBY’s 2016. The last date for entries will be 23rd February, 2016 and campaigns brought alive in the period from 1st January, 2015 to 15th February, 2016 will be adjudged by a reckoned jury panel. The entry forms for the awards can be downloaded on the Ad Club website.

     

    This year two new categories that have been introduced are, Category 26: Special Abby (Gender Sensitive) and Category 27: Young Abby. Also, the Design vertical will have new sub-categories of Typography Design, Best Integrated Design involving 2 or more sub-categories. Plus there is a sub category as Computer Generated Imagery in Print Craft.

     

    Announcing this major development, Awards Governing Council Chairman Ramesh Narayan said “this year’s Abby Awards will have three very significant improvements. Firstly to make the awards more in line with global practices, entries for almost all categories can be uploaded online. Secondly, to reinforce the idea that “what’s good, is good for the industry”, there will be a special category for Gender Sensitive Advertising. Thirdly, to bring youth and the future onto center-stage there will be a special ABBY for entries received from copy and art teams under the age of 35 on the theme of how communication can help mitigate gender violence. These are all issues which were came up in our interaction with the creative fraternity and the media, and I am pleased to say we are responding with alacrity to industry and societal needs. The young winners of this new category would not only get a coveted Abby but also be sent for the Cannes Lions festival this June, all expenses paid. This would give them a great exposure to international professionals and work.”

     

    GoaFest Chairman Nakul Chopra said “I welcome these new developments. They are a part of our ongoing effort to keep evolving and improving. The online uploading of entries will pose a technological and financial challenge but we have decided that it is important enough to implement immediately.”

     

    Raj Nayak, President The Advertising Club said “To remain the gold standard of awards in India, we decided that technology, sensitive thinking and the future all needs to be addressed. I had said earlier that we could expect a lot this year, and it is beginning to show. The pre-eminent awards show in the country should show the way in every area.”

     

    Dr. Ambi Parameswaran President AAAI added “I am very happy that what was publicly requested on an AAAI platform (an award for gender sensitive advertising) just last year, is becoming a reality. We need to be in synch with what is being sought for. The award for young creatives is the industry’s way of nurturing young talent.”