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Tag: Saugato Bhowmik

  • It noted that the digital entertainment industry is expected to grow at 29.1 per cent between FY19 and FY24

    IAMAI hosts third edition of Pixels 2020 on digital entertainment

    By A Correspondent

     

    IAMAI conducted the third edition of Pixels 2020 last week to deliberate on the next phase of growth for the digital entertainment industry. The industry is now at an inflection point, and according to a recent study, the digital entertainment industry is expected to grow at 29.1 per cent between FY19 and FY24 to reach INR 621 billion by 2024. With more than 30 OTT players and 10 music streaming apps in existence catering to various entertainment and media demands, Indians are consuming content across an array of digital formats and platforms.

     

    Setting the context, in his keynote address, Nikhil Gandhi, India Head of TikTok, said: “The last year has seen a sharp growth in short video consumption and added to a big increase in overall watch time for online video. This phenomenon has also given rise to a rich content creator ecosystem which has seen big success with short video,” he added.

     

    In a panel discussion on Battle of Web Series – Aiming for 100 Crore Club, speakers discussed about how revenue gets attributed in developing a web series and all the nooks involved around creating one. They also discussed how branding and culture of such shows has immensely helped and lead to monetization in the business. Discussing on the various aspects of the digital space, the panelists shared their thought on how different business is growing and helping in creating a new system.

     

    On a session on Trend Alert – Children’s Content key panelists like Abhishek Dutta, Senior Director & Network Head – Cartoon Network & Pogo, South Asia; Uttam Pal Singh, Head – Discovery Kids, Discovery Communications; Saugato Bhowmik, Business Head, VOOT Kids gave insights on how localisation of shows has actually helping their businesses to grow and adding multiple levels to it like content in local languages has helped the industry to grow. The speakers gave an insight that around 20 per cent of the business caters to the kid’s section and how crucial it is provide correct content for them.

     

    A fireside chat was also held with actor Amol Parashar, where he enlightened the audience how digital space has actually helped him evolve as an actor and has given him that space along with the flexibility without putting any particular constraints.

     

    The conference also saw other speakers including Ajay Chacko, Co-Founder & CEO, Arré; Nagesh Banga, Deputy Country Manager, BIGO LIVE; Paras Tomar, TikTok Creator & Founder, Nuskhe by Paras; Ali Hussein, CEO, Eros Now ; Hiren Gada, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment Limited; Sameer Hanchate, Filmmaker, Sameer Hanchate Filmmaker  ;Vivek Jain, COO, MX Player ; Abhishek Dutta, Senior Director & Network Head – Cartoon Network & Pogo, South Asia ; Kumaresh Bhatt, Co-Founder and CEO, UR Popular; Uttam Pal Singh, Head – Discovery Kids, Discovery Communications and Saugato Bhowmik, Business Head, Voot Kids among others.

     

     

  • The film highlights a mother’s unhesitant approach to introduce the Voot Kids world to her child, which makes screen time meaningful like never before

    Voot brings out the fun in kids via #MastiMeinAchhai campaign

    By A Correspondent

     

    Voot Kids has unveiled its launch brand campaign, #MastiMeinAchhai. The film is created and directed by McCann Worldgroup India.

     

    Commenting on the campaign, Saugato Bhowmik, Business Head, Voot Kids, said: “Digital literacy is important, and we strongly believe parents play a pivotal role in making the digital journey of their kids more profound by exposing them to appropriate and entertaining content. Voot Kids is the only app to offer Watch, Read, Listen & Learn all in one platform and our brand campaign #MastiMeinAchhai decodes this proposition and bridges the gap for parents and kids to explore Edutainment in its truest form.”

     

    Speaking on the key insight that lead to the campaign ideas Ashish Chakravarty, head of creative and executive director, McCann Worldgroup added: “The story in the film revolving around the constant tussle between parent and child over mobile screen time is a highly relatable one and will find resonance in every household with kids in India, we feel. What is fun to watch in the film, is the story told both from the perspective of the kid and the parent. The little boy -a bonafide James Bond scheming and plotting for his parents’ mobile phone and the parent who is in-the-know all along. The nostalgic track Akkad Bakkad takes us down memory lane, captures the mood and sentiment of the ‘cat and mouse’ situations and complements the film perfectly!”.

     

     

  • VOOT Kids boasts of the largest content library of over 20,000 content pieces across segments

    Viacom18 offers first SVOD OTT platform with Voot Kids

    By A Correspondent

     

    Viacom18 launched of its first subscription-based service VOOT Kids on Tuesday. Certified by Early Childhood Association (ECA), Voot Kids is built as a multi-format app for children offering some 20,000 videos, e-books, stories and quizzes amongst other things. Priced at Rs 799 for a year and Rs 99 per month with a seven-day free trial in both packages, the app is available to download on iOS and Google Playstore.

     

    Said Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO & MD, Viacom18: “Viacom18 has grown over the years by focussing on white spaces that are challenging and yet have tremendous potential. As a network, we have been the undisputed leader in kids’ entertainment content since the past five years. Our digital play VOOT is the second largest video-on-demand platform in the country today. VOOT Kids is a synergy of these two growth stories from the house of Viacom18. Marking our sharper segmented foray into the world of subscription-based VoD, VOOT Kids is India’s first and only multi-format Kids app offering Fun & Learning. No other kids app offers Watch, Read, Listen & Learn all at one place”

     

    Added Gourav Rakshit, COO, Viacom18 Digital Ventures: “The foray into the subscription space with VOOT Kids is the first step in our journey towards building an entire digital ecosystem under brand VOOT. VOOT Kids has been built on the 3 pillars of Product Experience, Content and Safety. In VOOT Kids, we are bringing an offering that is child-friendly, yet parent focussed and gives them an opportunity to bond with an immersive co-consumption experience. Our brand philosophy of ‘Masti Mein Acchai’ reflects our mission to make screen time meaningful.”

     

    Said Saugato Bhowmik, Business Head, VOOT Kids: “VOOT Kids is a category creating product in the space of digital fun learning that caters to needs of discerning Indian parents who seek meaningful screen-time that aids in holistic development of the child’s mental, emotional and social faculties. The app has the largest and most versatile offerings in the space of toon videos, e-books, audio stories and fun quizzes that provides children with a parent-controlled, safe and entertaining content destination.” He further added, “We believe masti should never be served up without acchai and the same holds true the other way around. And this is our guiding philosophy at VOOT Kids”

     

     

  • 175 popular junior fiction and non-fiction titles from Oxford University Press have been licensed to Voot Kids

    Voot Kids to launch as independent OTT app. To source content from OUP

    By A Correspondent

     

    Viacom18 Digital Ventures has gone live with its entertainment and fun learning OTT application, Voot Kids. Catering to the digitally native kids ecosystem, Voot Kids will offer entertainment through a diverse content offering “across Watch, Read, Listen and Learn segments”.

     

    On Monday, Voot Kids announced its engagement with Oxford University Press for licensing 175 junior fiction and non-fiction titles. The 500+ e-books now available on Voot Kids, including the titles from Oxford University Press, are all set to provide an immersive reading experience to children, notes a communique.

     

    Said Saugato Bhowmik – Business Head, Voot Kids: “Kids today are screenagers and have emerged as prolific users of content on digital.  As digital natives, they are the first to adopt trends on digital. It was hence imperative to create a platform that offers holistic entertainment and learning experience that would improve quality and relevance of content consumption by kids on digital. Voot Kids is just that  An inclusive app aimed at enriching Kids entertainment and learning experience on digital through immersive segments that encourage reading, storytelling, quizzes, etc.”

     

    Commenting on the recently signed content licensing agreement with Viacom18 Media, Giuseppe Trapani, Senior Business Development Manager, Oxford University Press, added: “We are delighted to partner with Voot Kids, and support its users learning through reading for pleasure. We commend Voot Kids in its mission to bridge the gap between learning, knowledge and entertainment, and this collaboration with Voot Kids will allow Oxford University Press to introduce even more readers to many of its most-loved books for children.”

     

     

  • Over the years, Vh1 Supersonic has brought some of the greatest musicians like Macklemore, Eric Prydz, Zedd and others to India for the first time

    Live Viacom18 announces fifth edition of Vh1 Supersonic

    By A Correspondent

     

    Live Viacom18 has announced the 2018 edition of Vh1 Supersonic will be held on February 9, 10 and 11 in Pune.

     

    Talking about the upcoming edition, Saugato Bhowmik, Head, Live Viacom18, said:, “It has been a brilliant four years of Vh1 Supersonic and the journey has been extremely enriching for all of us. We believe in creating experiences, technology and music that can make audiences transcend their everyday state and give them never before emotions that leave memories for a lifetime. Going by the overwhelming response from music lovers in our last edition, we have decided to come back to Pune to celebrate our fifth anniversary. We couldn’t be more excited about what we are putting together for our audiences this year!”

     

    Commenting on the upcoming festival, festival curator Nikhil Chinapa said: “For the fifth edition of our festival, we’re venturing down paths we’ve never travelled before, curating sounds that you’ve never heard before, at Vh1 Supersonic. It’s going to be one heck of a party in Pune, come February 2018. We’re turning five. and everyone’s invited!”

     

     

  • To launch a range of bottomwear for men including cargo pants, three-fourths, joggers and convertible pants and trousers

    And now, Roadies ‘Bottomwear’

    By A Correspondent

     

    Viacom18 Consumer Products, the consumer products arm of Viacom18, is all set to collaborate with clothing brand Beevee to launch Roadies Bottomwear, inspired by the rough and tough look sported by the participants and gang leaders in MTV Roadies Rising, notes a communique.

     

    Commenting on the association with Beevee, Saugato Bhowmik, Head, Viacom18 Consumer Products and Integrated Network Solutions, Viacom18 said: “Viacom18 Consumer Products has an extensive bouquet of consumer products for the youth. Our products under brand MTV range across apparel, fashion accessories, footwear, tech accessories, personal care and hospitality and Roadies products range across apparel, watches, sunglasses, innerwear, bags and now bottomwear. This association with Beevee for the launch of Roadies Bottomwear will let our consumers experience Roadies in all its glory. The products are super comfortable and have been created keeping in mind the needs of the youngsters of today who especially enjoy being outdoors.”

     

    Speaking about the collection, Sanjay Shah, Managing Head, Beevee said, “It brings us immense pleasure to announce our collaboration with Roadies for bottom wear by Beevee, thinking of roadies the first thing that comes to our mind is connecting to millions of youth which connects to latest fashion. We look forward to create the latest trend for an ever young community.”

     

  • He will continue to head Viacom18 Consumer Products

    Saugato Bhowmik to also head Integrated Network Solutions at Viacom18

    By A Correspondent

     

    Viacom18 has announced the appointment of Saugato Bhowmik as the head of its Integrated Network Solutions (INS) business unit. INS is entrusted with developing brand solutions for consumers and live properties across music and entertainment genres. Bhowmik takes on the baton from Jaideep Singh who will be moving on. Along with this new role, Bhowmik will continue to head the Consumer Products business line at Viacom18.

     

    Commenting on this development, Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO – Viacom18 said, “Saugato has rich experience in marketing and his expertise in consumer products has enabled us to monetize various brand properties through successful merchandising and licensing partnerships. We are confident that his sharp marketing sense and ability to mine consumer insights will help grow the INS business further. I would also like to take this opportunity to wish Jaideep the best for his future endeavors.”

     

  • The former Dabur and Hindustan Lever hand will be head of the consumer products business at Viacom 18

    Saugato Bhowmik is Head, Consumer Products at Viacom18

    By A Correspondent

     

    Saugato Bhowmik

    Viacome18 has announced the appointment of Saugato Bhowmik as Head of Consumer Products Business. The responsibility was held earlier by Sandeep Dahiya who has since joined The Times of India group.

     

    Mr Bhowmik brings to the table experience of 12 years across consumer brands in Dabur India and Hindustan Unilever.  He has led brands in home and personal care categories based in India and Singapore. In Singapore, he led the Unilever Business for toothbrushes for Asia within the Oral Care Category. In most recent role, he was leading the sales strategy development for general trade business of Unilever across all key markets.

     

    Sudhanshu Vats

    Said Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO, Viacom18, Media Networks: “Saugato brings with him business experience from FMCGs with a good understanding of brands, distribution landscape in India, dealing with large retailers and managing Business P&L.”

     

    Speaking about his appointment, Saugato Bhowmik said, “The dynamic nature of the broadcast industry presents multiple opportunities for marketers to leverage the power of our brands across multiple consumer touchpoints, and I hope to apply my experience and contribute to the rapid growth of consumer products business at Viacom18”.