MoneyView assigns media mandate to Havas Media Group

Havas Media Group India awarded the integrated media mandate of MoneyView.in. The account will be handled from the Havas Media’s Bangalore office.

Speaking on the appointment, Puneet Agarwal, Co-Founder MoneyView said, “We have a unique product that has already seen tremendous traction in the market. We recently launched our Investment product feature that will take Money View to the next level, where users can Manage, Save and Grow their Money – all from within the App. And with the kind of exponential growth we are aiming at, we wanted to partner with an agency that helps us achieve this vision. Havas Media had a keen understanding of our business and displayed tremendous passion for it. Their Meaningful Connections Planning process is scientific, insightful and I am sure will help craft compelling communication strategies for Money View. We are happy to be partnering with them.”

Money View is Money Management App, which helps users Stay within budget by enabling them to track their expenses automatically while categorising their spending pattern, so that users spend wisely and save more.

Sharing her thoughts on the win, Anita Nayyar, CEO, Havas Media Group, India and South Asia said, “Money View fills a critical need gap in the digital financial eco-system by allowing the users to be in charge of their expenditure. This is a clear need of the hour. This win further consolidates our position as the destination agency for the New Age Entrepreneurial clients. We are delighted to be partnering with them and look forward to their explosive growth.”

MoneyView also helps to keep a tab on monthly bill cycles and helps pay in a single click from the App. Unlike various other apps in the category, it is an intuitive application, which processes SMS data securely for the user’s overview, without any manual input.

Commenting on the association, Mohit Joshi, Managing Director, Havas Media Group-India, said, “This is a brilliant win and further consolidates our position in the Bangalore market. Our commitment towards developing a specialist offering for the new age entrepreneurial clients has been the key reason for our tremendous success in this space. We are pretty sure that 2016 will be a spectacular year for Havas on the back of an absolutely fantastic 2015.”

Source: IndianMediaBook - Media

Big FM joins Jaipur Raj Joshiley as radio partner

The celebrated cricket tournament Box Cricket League’s (BCL) team Jaipur Raj Joshiley announced its association with Big FM. As the official radio partners, Big FM will entertain listeners with gossip, together with updates and highlights of the matches.

Commenting on the recent tie-up with the BCL team-Jaipur Raj Joshiley, a spokesperson from Big FM said, “Big FM has always provided content that resonates with our listeners. The association with Jaipur Raj Joshiley is a fresh initiative we are venturing into, and we are extremely excited to come on board as the official radio partners of the team. By virtue of this tie up, our listeners will be treated to exclusive match updates and gossip stories of their favourite box cricket league team, whilst listening to their preferred FM radio station of choice.”

The Jaipur team has further joined hands with GM Switches as their title sponsor, Gas Cricket.com as their associate sponsor and United Mediaworks.

Sharing his thoughts on the association, Jayanth Jain, CEO, GM Modular, said, “The next few months will see cricket being played in different shapes and forms in India. As the cricket fever begins to grip the entire nation once again, we couldn’t have found a better opportunity to associate with the sport by tying up with Jaipur Raj Joshiley, one of the more popular teams in the Box Cricket League. We have always kept an open mind with regard to extending our support for dynamic and spirited initiatives such as this. We look forward to a great show by the team, and wish them all the very best for the tournament.”

The cricket matches currently air on Colors, every weekend from 4.30-6PM

Source: IndianMediaBook - Media

I-AM wins integrated branding mandate for Arvind Fashion Brands

I-AM, the branding and interior design agency won the integrated branding mandate for Arvind Fashion Brands a subsidiary of textiles major Arvind Limited. I-AM won this mandate in a multi-agency pitch,

Speaking about the win, Brian Pinto, Country Head I-AM said, “Our aim is to create distinctive brand and an aspirational new way to shop for apparel which provides inspiration and empowers consumers with style and knowledge. As part of the process, we must ensure a systematic and seamless brand experience for the shopper. Due to our excellent global credentials, past portfolio of innovative design work, Arvind Fashion Brands has entrusted us with launching their foray into premium men’s wear with True Blue for which we are very excited. Working with the True Blue team to define the brand positioning and create this new experience has been a great collaboration, and we hope the consumers enjoy experiencing it as much as we have enjoyed creating it.”

After a comprehensive workshop with the Arvind Fashion Brands team, leveraging consumer and cultural trends as well as international benchmarks in retail, I-AM proposed a unique, all inclusive strategic positioning and brand identity for True Blue. Besides this, the agency will also be responsible for creating the in-store visual language and leveraging the customer journey to design the benchmark True Blue store.

Speaking on the association, Rajiv Mehta, CEO, Arvind Fashion Brands said “We have partnered with Sachin Tendulkar to launch True Blue, a premium fashion brand with a distinctive positioning in its segment. I-AM’s demonstrated a unique approach, processes, tools and strategic thinking on the brand which I am confident will make an impact in the market.

Source: IndianMediaBook - Media

Oxigen named as title sponsor for Gujarat Lions

Gujarat Lions owned by Intex Technologies announced the digital payment solutions company Oxigen Services India Pvt. Ltd. as title sponsor for the upcoming season 9 of IPL. Following the recent announcements of its official name, finalization of the team and unveiling of the logo, the team is all set to start the season with a bang.

Speaking about the association, Keshav Bansal, Owner, Gujarat Lions & Director, Intex Technologies, said, “We are very happy to have a leading brand like Oxigen to be associated with Gujarat Lions as the title sponsor. Considering the synergy between the two leading brands in consumer technology space, it is indeed a value addition to the Gujarat Lions. Integrating Gujarat Lions with our parent brand, Intex will help in cross-leveraging the strengths and create a strong brand recall amongst consumers.”

As the newest entrant in the league, the team is fully prepped to perform and showcase its best talent under the guidance of Captain Suresh Raina and its coach Brad Hodge.

Commenting on the development, AnkurSaxena, Director & Chief Mentor, Oxigen Wallet, said, “We are delighted to sponsor Gujarat Lions, the “newest” IPL team with the” youngest owner”. Oxigen wallet has a huge tech savvy and young consumer base, who are deeply connected with cricket & technology, thus, it was logical for us be associated with a “young” IPL team and Intex. We are sure our brand engagement campaigns, being planned around the Gujarat Lions, Oxigen Wallet &Intex, for Young India, will see heightened traction. Since, the signing up of Sachin Tendulkar as our brand ambassador, Oxigen has embraced sports as an integral part of its marketing strategy and engagement.”

Oxigen also announced a budget of Rs. 100 crores for sports marketing activities for the current fiscal year and it has been majorly focusing on cricket in the Sporting genre. In the recent past, Oxigen has also sponsored tournaments such as Masters Champions League 2020, UAE; Cricket All Stars, USA; the South African Proteas #Proteafire& the New Zealand Blackcaps, #Backupblackcaps, for World T20.

Source: IndianMediaBook - Media

Dulux initiates SuperCleanKidProof Challenge

Dulux, the decorative paints brand from AkzoNobel India initiated Dulux SuperCleanKidProof Challenge. Through this activation, the brand is open to accepting any challenge that can prove the existence of any other superior washable emulsion. If any individual is able to contest the brand’s proposition, Dulux will provide 20 Litres of paint of consumer’s choice for painting their house.

Speaking about the challenge, Rajiv Rajgopal, Director, Decorative Paints, Akzo Nobel India said, “Increasing consumer consciousness and nuclear home set up has made home maintenance a difficult task especially when there are kids at home. Backed by rich heritage and international standards of quality, at Akzo Nobel India, we hope to empower consumers in achieving functional as well as aesthetic benefits with Dulux products for both home decoration and ease of maintenance.”

The challenge will be undertaken in more than 50 towns across India from March 20^th to – 30^th April. Consumers who wish to take the challenge can register online, which will be open from 20^th March to 15^th April. Thereafter they will be contacted by the company representatives to schedule a meeting for conducting the challenge.

“Through this consumer connect initiative we intend to showcase the innovative attributes of one of our best-in-class products – Dulux SuperClean. We understand that a customer believes in what he/she sees; therefore, we have designed this challenge to ensure 100 per cent customer satisfaction before making a purchase,”added  Rajgopal.

Source: IndianMediaBook - Media

Zahid Shaikh joins Motivator to head its South Operations

Motivator announced the appointment of Zahid Shaikh as Head of its South Operations. In this role, he will focus on three key areas – building a comprehensive product portfolio, drive growth and enhance capability in Data, CRM, retail, marcom effectiveness and business performance.

Commenting on the new appointment, V. Narayanan, Chief Growth Officer, Motivator said, “Over the last year, we have focused on bringing in the brightest and most diverse talent into Motivator, with a vision to deliver solutions that drive clients, business performance and growth. We have created a team of partners who work closely with clients on not only their core media and advertising opportunities, but also delve deeper to understand and contribute positively by addressing their business challenges. Zahid, who comes with a wider business and marcom experience, is the fifth key hire over the last six months.”

Shaikh joins Motivator from United Breweries, where he was responsible for Data Analytics to primarily optimize business results for the company. Prior to the aforementioned role, Zahid was CMO, Pantaloons, where he transformed the brand, which was initially perceived as a male brand to a unisex brand.

Speaking on his new role, Shaikh said, “What excited me the most about this opportunity is Motivator’s client centricity and performance orientation. Enabled with a strong foundation from GroupM, and access to domain expertise in media and marketing, Motivator has a proven record of accomplishment to drive our clients’ business in a unique way. I look forward to working with our brilliant team and roster of clients in the South.”

Source: IndianMediaBook - Media

The story of digitalization that started 6 years ago remains incomplete: Uday Shankar

On the surface, it does seem that not much has changed in the last several years except for some incremental growth or decline depending on which vertical you are talking about. Cable TV continues to struggle – struggling to improve its business case, struggling to improve its talent and technology quotient and above all to stay relevant in a rapidly changing world. DTH, that set out to revolutionize distribution, increasingly seems to be intent on locking its destiny inside an isolated box in a networked world.

Even the story of digitalization that started 6 years ago remains incomplete. The advertising revolution of the 90’s when a large number of international and Indian brands were built on television screens, doesn’t seem to be breaking new ground in terms of what I call brand revolution 2.0.

Content creators, a community that I belong to, generally seem to be caught in a time warp with the same themes playing in a loop again and again – cursed destinies, rebirth and revenge and deference to elders in public while bickering in private, pretty much sums up what rules national entertainment.

The quality of news of course, seems to cause only national consternation, with now even our friendly neighbour taking a pot-shot at our news channels! Over all, it seems the more things change the more they remain the same. So maybe my colleague was right after all.

Very recently one of the pioneers of television entertainment told me that she was so frustrated by the frozen state of traditional media that she was going to create a digital enterprise to tell the stories that traditional media has been too scared to tell. Of course, I am talking about the totally adorable – Ekta Kapoor. Think about that for a moment – the person who created the archetype of saas and bahu feels the need to break away from these stifling constraints of the medium that she herself created. Why? When that happens, we all need to think hard.

The most talked about launch in Indian M&E last year was not a new channel, or a new newspaper or a new production house – actually it was a mobile app that had the gall to ask consumers to go solo. A call fundamentally at odds with the concept of content consumption in this country, that believes that the entire family watches TV together in the living room. In just about a year, hotstar has been downloaded over 50 million or 5 crore times.

Even for a mass sport like cricket, in the larger cities, hotstar’s watch time is now starting to reach 50 per cent of television. I urge you to reflect on the potential of that statistic. This infant service is already becoming a product of habit in India and now this year, my friends, we have set our sight on creating the first global Media & Entertainment product born out of India, when we take hotstar to the rest of the world in a few months. The numerous and affluent south Asian diaspora which for the longest time has been frustrated by the lack of access to its favourite content will be able to watch cricket, movies and drama through hotstar. While I am indeed happy for hotstar to be the pioneer, we are very aware that this is a trend that will get replicated again and again, very quickly.

The world has changed. There is a tectonic shift happening in our industry right in front of us. And yet, what we see in the world of traditional television is just stagnation. And this stagnation has been made worse by the funny denial that all of us seem to be living in. Even though this change is happening faster than anything we have ever seen, our approach towards it seems to be one of incrementalism.

It is pretty clear to me that we are in a battle. In this battle there are only two options that we have – we can either continue living in denial, hide back in our artificial walled gardens, watching as the bricks crumble down one by one or we can arm ourselves with the same weapons that our challengers possess, and venture forth into battle, sometimes even against the same businesses that we have created. Change or Perish.

Netflix – the most successful content provider in the US, the challenger to the media behemoths of the west has done so on the back of extremely high quality content, so much so that Netflix’s catalogue today represents the absolute best of American television. Technology and creativity are coming together to enhance the experience literally, almost daily.

The new screens have once again highlighted the importance of the story but they have introduced the centrality of the experience at the same time. Design and engineering can no longer be divorced from the story – this is a radical departure from everything that we were taught all these years. We learnt this the hard way through hotstar – how small changes even in the browsing experience could lead to dramatic shifts in consumption.

Today I am happy to remark that we at Star probably have more engineers in our team than any other media and entertainment company. Equally we have more designers and more story tellers than anyone else because those are the three pillars on which we see future M&E companies getting built.

Clearly, we need to change the lens with which we look at talent. In this new world neither technology nor talent will be limited by geographical boundaries. The best engineers are as likely to be in Berlin as in Bangalore. We already know that best designers and animators for Hollywood no longer need to be there – because they are already in Goregaon and let’s not forget our very own Priyanka Chopra who is the first home grown star of a truly global show. We are looking at a truly global world. But this global world has no patience for traditional forms of reverence.

At Star, we are grappling with this everyday – when we inducted culturally diverse talent we had to create space for that cultural diversity to exist. But that’s easier said than done. Technology going global, talent going global also means adoption of a new tradition.

Uday Shankar, CEO, Star India, shared his views at the 17^th edition of FICCI Frames 2016

Source: IndianMediaBook - Media

Ad Pick of the Week: HamdardRoohafza’s #GoGreedy

With an aim to bridge the gap between generations by staying relevant among youth, uplifting imagery and driving engagement, Hamdard Laboratories rolled out a musical campaign for its brand RoohAfzatitled #GoGreedy.

Speaking about the campaign, Mansoor Ali, Chief  Sales& Marketing Officer, said, “RoohAfza is a heritage brand, and comes with a lineage of being the only natural refresher. While it has a huge set of loyal consumers, it has become critical to make this drink aspirational and ‘cool’ for the youth of today. The youth, with minds of their own and anti-stereotype attitudes need to see something which resonates with their lifestyles and out-of-box thinking.”

Conceptualised by Rediffusion Y&R, the 4 minutes and 9 seconder long anthem is produced under the banner of Jigsaw Pictures. This musical ad film has been directed by Pranav Harihar Sharma, who wrote lyrics as well. Bollywood singer Sonu Nigam lent his voice to this ‘Laalachek kala hai anthem of Roohafza.

“The brand’s value has been translated into sentiments which have been losing context in today’s lifestyle. Brand growth has primarily been due to increased consumption among existing users belonging to SEC B & C between the age group of 40 and 50 years. However, the rate of new trials among younger generation is slow, which is not a good sign at this stage of product life cycle especially in a young country like India,” expressed Nilotpal, Brand manager, Hamdard.

The video redefines ‘greed’ through protagonists, starting with a young boy who has a kite but climbs a tree for another. It features several others who make the extra effort for others, or to achieve what they want, including a young woman reporting from a conflict zone, a wildlife photographer zooming in on a lion in the forest fearlessly, or even a young man who dares to do something unusual to charm a girl he’s interested in. The lyrics denote the shift from a Hindi adage ‘Lalach buri bala hai’ (Greed is evil) to ‘Laalach ek kala hai’ (Greed is an art). The film ends with those pursuing things passionately reaping the rewards for their efforts.

“The new campaign for RoohAfza aims at bridging the gap between generations by staying relevant among youth, uplifting imagery and driving engagement. We are sure that this will be the key drivers of growth in future. Go Greedy campaign speaks the language of youth and it is based on the ambition of today’s youth who is passionate about following their dreams,” added Nilotpal.

Source: IndianMediaBook - Media

DCell develops Visual Identity for Raw Pressery juices

DCell, the strategic design consultancy from the house of MullenLowe Lintas Group developed the visual pack architecture for Raw Pressery’s benefit and classic range of juices.

Commenting on the brief given to dCell, Anuj Rakyan, Founder and Managing Director, Raw Pressery said, “We wanted to create master brand architecture for the benefits and our new classic range of juices to create a consistent, effective visual identity. With the new classic range, we wanted to reach out to a larger health conscious segment that often ends up being short-changed by 100 per cent juice brands. We’re excited with the creative output provided by dCell and wish the product gains popularity with the consumers as well.”

From the bottle format, to the logo and the illustration style, to the tone of voice of the back of pack copy and the way the information is presented, everything works in tandem to deliver the brand message: Raw Pressery is truly All Good, No Bad.

Sharing the creative approach taken by the agency, Tasneem Ali, Executive Creative Director, dCell said, “As Raw Pressery has a loyal consumer base, we decided to build on what we felt had going for it. Retaining the original bold, simple, handcrafted logotype, we created a device holder to ensure the visibility of the logo on the various coloured juices. By linking the logo with the fruit graphic, we reinforced the brand promise to rely only on the fruit, and nothing else, to deliver on quality and taste. The free flowing illustration style is candid, uninhibited, honest, and true to the brand Raw.”

Cold-pressed juice brand Raw Pressery has been founded by entrepreneur Anuj Rakyan and is unique in the sense that its products are made from a combination of fruits, vegetables, nuts, spices and super foods without any heat or air thereby ensuring freshness for longer duration.

Source: IndianMediaBook - Media

Xperio Labs appoints Vineet Somakumar as VP & GM

Xperio Labs announced the appointment of Vineet Somakumar as Vice President and General Manager. In his role, Somakumar will be primarily responsible for the P&L of the sales organization with sharp focus on South Asia and other emerging markets.

Speaking about Somakumar’s appointment, Roshan D’Souza President Xperio Labs   said   “Vineet   brings   along   with   him   wealth   of   experience,   industry knowledge   &   strong   CXO   relationships   in   the   Service   Provider   space.   I’m confident Vineet will play a key role in providing and implementing high quality solutions   for   our   clients enabling them   to offer   their   subscribers   the best of Consumer IoT”

Somakumar in his last assignment was Head of Media Sales & TV­ Media Practice (Ericsson) in   Region India. Prior to joining Tandberg/Ericsson, he worked for global brands namely Cisco/Scientific   Atlanta,   Siemens   &   Alcatel   both   in   the   Service   Provider   & Enterprise space.

“The consumer IoT space is soon getting at an inflection point and Xperio Labs is well positioned to lead this space in emerging market. I am excited to start a new chapter with Xperio. Having worked with most of the founding team members in Scientific Atlanta/Cisco, it’s a kind of home coming for me,” expressed Somakumar.

Source: IndianMediaBook - Media

VIP ropes Hrithik Roshan as the brand ambassador

V.I.P Industries launched a new campaign “When you are very important” for their home-grown brand VIP. The campaign features Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan as their Brand Ambassador illustrating the transformation of India’s pioneering luggage brand, creating a niche positioning for itself.

Commenting on the new campaign Radhika Piramal, Managing Director, V.I.P Industries says, “VIP is a brand with which we pioneered in the luggage industry. Almost 4 decades old; brand VIP continues to reign as one of the most preferred luggage companions. Through this campaign we offer our consumers another reason to continue to associate with brand VIP, as the campaign tag line says “When you are very important”.  We are extremely delighted to associate with Hrithik Roshan; there couldn’t have been anyone else who could match the classic legacy of our brand.”

Leaving no stone unturned the campaign is created by a team of creative minds such as Thomas Krygier – Director of Oscar winning commercials, Olivier Schneider – Stunt Director for classics such as James Bond 24: SPECTRE, Fast & Furious 6 and conceptualised by the team of Whyness Worldwide.

Expressing his thoughts on the campaign Ravi Deshpande, Founder and Chairman, Whyness Worldwide says, “VIP as a brand has a unique charm just like the Brand Ambassador-Hrithik Roshan. Our attempt was to ensure that both the personalities are stitched together displaying the features of the product, thus offering the audience an action packed commercial that we hope stands out from the rest.”

Filmed in Prague, one of the largest cities in Europe, the campaign showcases the superstar trying to escape a gang of thugs who want to steal a precious jewel which he carries in a VIP strolley. Against a beautiful backdrop depicting the magnificent cultural sights; the scene is shot on the streets where Hrithik is seen fighting the gang. Aesthetically choreographed the fight sequence shows Hrithik using the strolley to defend himself and at the same time demonstrating the durability and toughness of the bag.

Detailing the marketing strategy for the brand Sudip Ghose, Vice President-Marketing, V.I.P Industries says, “This campaign is an amalgamation of two very important personalities i.e. VIP and Hrithik Roshan. With “When you are very important” campaign we want to entice the audience with the features of the new collection that Hrithik displays in the commercial. Adopting a different approach; apart from a 45 second television commercial viewers on the digital platform will get to watch a 2.45 minute film which will be exclusive to social media and will go live sometime soon.”

Going live on 2nd April the campaign features the tough and scratch resistant artic blue Tube trolley. Designed in attractive colours offering toughness and scratch resistance the collection is definitely a must have. Enhancing its reach the campaign will be promoted across all platforms such as TV, social media and OOH.

Credits

Creative Director: Ranjit Sasidharan

Account Management: Chetan Mane

Production House: Think Tank Films, California

Director: Thomas Krygier

Fight Director: Olivier Schneider

DOP: Martin Matiasek

Producer: Gregory Haggart

Executive Producer: Brad Steinwede

Line Producer: Kristyna Kodet

Source: IndianMediaBook - Media

GST will be rolled out soon: PM Modi

Assuring Saudi and Indian business leaders that his government is working to set up a predictable long-term taxation regime, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the long-awaited Goods and Services Tax (GST) would soon be implemented in India.

“Don’t worry…GST will happen, it will be a reality soon,” Modi said, addressing the gathering at Saudi Arabia’s Chamber of Commerce.

“Retrospective tax is a matter of the past. My government will continue to work towards establishment of a predictable long-term taxation regime,” he added in a reference to recent disputes involving Indian tax authorities and multinationals like Cairn and Vodafone.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, to implement a pan-India tax for a complete overhaul of the extant indirect tax regime, has been approved by the Lok Sabha.

It is currently stalled in the Rajya Sabha, where the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) doesn’t enjoy a majority.

The government hopes the next biennial elections in the Rajya Sabha will give it enough seats in the upper house to pass the GST Bill.

Modi, who is undertaking a three-nation tour, landed in Saudi Arabia on Saturday on the last leg.

He urged the audience to move beyond the traditional bilateral trading relationship.

“Let us move beyond merely the export-import relationship. Joint investment, technology transfers are areas that we should explore,” Modi said.

Listing petroleum, renewable energy, infrastructure, defence and agriculture, as areas ripe for expanding cooperation, the prime minister said: “India and Saudi Arabia should look at working together for building a dynamic global management sector for the cyber world.”

“India and Saudi Arabia are old friends, but we are ready to take bold new steps into a golden future,” he added.

Source: IndianMediaBook - Media

Big FM continues to lead in Mumbai & Fever FM in Delhi

Delhi

Fever FM stood strong at top spot with 19.5 per cent of listenership pie, followed by Radio Mirchi with 13.9 per cent shares. With 11.9 per cent of total market shares, Radio City returned to third position, while Big FM slipped to fourth spot with 11.7 per cent shares. Red FM remained at fifth position with 10.9 per cent of listenership pie.

Fever FM’s Evening Drive with RJ Nitin topped the chart once again, followed by Full on Punjabi with RJ Avinash and Dilli Ke Do Dabang with RJ Manu and Abhilash, respectively.

Mumbai

Big FM continued to lead with 19.1 per cent of total market shares. Radio City remained at second spot with 16.1 per cent of listenership pie, followed by Fever FM and Radio Mirchi with 14.5 and 13.8 per cent shares, respectively. Red FM occupied fifth position with 10.3 per cent of total market shares.

Among the top shows, Big FM’s Suhana Safar with Anu Kapoor continued to lead. Big FM’s Breakfast Show with RJ Siddharth stood at second spot followed by Radio City’s Kal Bhi Aaj Bhi with RJ Gaurav.

Kolkata

With 18.8 per cent of listenership pie, Radio Mirchi topped the chart once again. Big FM stood strong at second spot with 15.8 per cent of total market shares, followed closely by Fever FM with 15.4 per cent shares.

At fourth spot was Oye FM with 10.2 per cent of listenership pie, while Aamar FM remained at fifth position with 8.8 per cent shares.

Radio Mirchi occupied top spots in the list of top shows. KaaliKotha with RJ Jaganath led the chart once again, while Breakfast Show with RJ Mir stood at second spot, followed by Big FM’s Breakfast Show with RJ Khas Koushik.

Bangalore

Radio City maintained its lead with 23.9 per cent of total market shares, followed by Big FM and Radio Mirchi with 20.1 and 17.5 per cent shares. Fever FM stood at fourth position with 13.9 per cent of listenership pie, while Radio One climbed to fifth spot with 4.6 per cent shares.

Radio City City Muthu with RJ Rachna topped the chart, while Big FM’s Big Coffee with RJ Shruti stood at second spot. Radio Mirchi’s Hi Bengaluru with RJ Smitha occupied third position.

Source: IndianMediaBook - Media

I&B Ministry intensifying focus on ease of doing business: Sunil Arora

The Information & Broadcasting Secretary, Sunil Arora asserted that I&B Ministry was also guided by the ‘minimum government, maximum governance’ philosophy and remained committed to promoting ease of doing business in the media and entertainment sector.

“One of our primary objectives is to bring down the number of visitors to ShastriBhavan to a trickle. Move towards less regulation and facilitate India to become the hub of media and entertainment industry” said Arora.

Arora said clearance for new TV channels had been expedited over the last six months under a liberalized regime. He said the Ministry of Home Affairs has agreed to most of the suggestions made by the  I&B Ministry about liberalizing several conditions.

Arora said the government and ministry was completely committed to digitization programme, but expressed concern over less than 10 per cemt share of Indian made Set Top Boxes. “We want the industry to look at this opportunity under the Make In India initiative and produce more STBs in India under the Electronics Manufacturing scheme”.

Arora stressed that the Ministry intends to play a role of a facilitator for the media and entertainment industry to flourish in the country.

He informed the audience that a decision has been taken to set up the National Centre of Excellence in Animation, Gaming and Visual Effects in Mumbai.  Maharashtra Government is providing a 25 acre land near Film City in Goregaon for the institute.

I&B Secretary also said the Government has approved the Rs 598 crore National Film Heritage Mission to preserve and promote India’s rich film and cultural heritage.

He also said a National Museum of Indian Cinema is coming up in Films Division Complex on Pedder Road with several interactive exhibits. “Prime Minister has taken a keen interest in this museum which is being curated by the National Council of Science Museums, Kolkata” he added.

Focusing on ease of doing business, Arora informed that a Film Facilitation Office has opened in the National Film Development Corporation, NFDC to function as a single window service for film related clearances.  The Secretary said an award has been instituted as part of the National Film Awards, to honour the states that are most film friendly.  In 2016, Gujarat has been adjudged the most film friendly state, followed by UP and Kerala.

Uday Shankar, who is also the Chairman of the FICCI Entertainment Panel expressed concerns over the viability of standalone news channels. He also said entry of fringe elements in the news broadcasting field for ‘ancillary facilities’ was affecting credibility.  Mr. Ramesh Sippy expressed concern over low theatre density in India.

Sunil Arora, Secretary, The Information & Broadcasting Secretary, share his views while participating in a dialogue with Uday Shankar, CEO Star India and veteran film maker Ramesh Sippy at FICCI Frames 2016

Source: IndianMediaBook - Media

Prabha Prabhu takes retirement after 28 years at Madison

Prabha Prabhu, Founder Member, Madison, who moved with Sam Balsara when he started Madison way back in 1988, has decided to retire after 28 years at Madison. She was CEO of Madison BMB for the last several years. Raj Nair, Chief Creative Officer, will now also assume additional responsibility of CEO. Kim Solomon will be a new addition to the team, joining as Chief Operating Officer. All these changes are effective 1^st April.

Describing Prabhu as the youngest and most energetic lady in advertising, Sam Balsara, Chairman, Madison World, said, “While I am sorry that I will not have the benefit of Prabha’s wisdom and expertise, I would like to wish her a cheerful, relaxed and fulfilling retired life.”

At the farewell function Balsara thanked Prabha for her loyalty, commitment and dedication to Madison and its clients over the last 28 years. She played a critical role in the formative years of Madison working on successful brands like Cinthol, Vicks, Whisper, Blue Star and She Comfort, and more recently, with Asian Paints, VVF, Hyper City and Angel Broking among others.

Prabhu said on her retirement, “Madison has been my home for the last 28 years and has been an intrinsic part of me. While I was happy doing effective campaigns for our clients, I was very keen to also win awards. And in the last four years we have won several awards. After a rewarding and satisfying career, I now look forward to spending more time doing social work, giving back to society and spending time with my children who are both in advertising and settled in the US.”

In the last three years Madison BMB has won several awards at the Abbies, Foxglove and Ink for HyperCity,  Kyoorius Advertising Award, INK Golds as well an Abby Gold all for the acclaimed Jiyo Parsi Print Campaign, to name a few.

Commenting on Nair’s elevation as CEO and Chief Creative Officer, Balsara said, “Raj has proved over the last few years that while maintaining his creative focus, he can look at the larger business picture from the client’s perspective and I am sure this move will help make Madison BMB a more result oriented agency.”

Sam Balsara

Regarding the appointment of Solomon, Balsara said, “Kim is a true blue advertising professional with over 20 years experience at Ogilvy, Mudra, Dentsu, Triton and Everest Advertising. He has handled many blue chip clients over the years. I am sure his experience and expertise will add tremendous value to our current and future clients.”

Nair commented, “I cannot imagine life at Madison without Prabha. These are extremely large shoes to fill and we will do our very best to keep the flag flying vigorously. And of course I am looking forward to this new role and partnering our clients to help them continue to achieve their business goals through insightful advertising.”

Solomon said about his new role, “Madison BMB has a great set of clients and Madison World is a wonderful and highly reputed organization that I look forward to contribute to in ample measure.”

Madison BMB has just won a couple of prestigious accounts like Angel Broking and Asian Paints’ Bath Business.

Madison BMB is the advertising unit of Madison World, a diversified communication group with 26 units across 11 specialized functions – Advertising, Media, Business Analytics, Out-of-Home, Events, Activations, Retail, PR, Entertainment, Mobile and Sports – employing over 1,000 communication professionals across India, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Source: IndianMediaBook - Media

DanChurchAid initiates #ClearThePitch in association with Grey Group Singapore

On the occasion of International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, Grey for Good, the philanthropic arm of Grey Group Singapore teamed up with DanChurchAid (DCA) to drive support for creating safer communities in post-conflict zones around the world – communities free of dangerous remnants of war such as land mines, unexploded ammunition and cluster bombs.

Introducing #ClearThePitch, a campaign which links the global love for football with the aim of creating greater awareness and support for the essential work of making communities in post-conflict zones safer to live.

“The theme of football is everything but random. It allows us to reach and involve a huge group of people: not just millions of fans but also the clubs, players, associations and potentially even the sponsors. With a surprising but actually hard-hitting link: for millions of children playing the sport we all love is extremely dangerous. Our hope is to capture the imagination of the world of football to give the topic and our partner DCA both the visibility and the financial support that are so urgently needed,” said Till Hohmann, Executive Creative Director & Vice President (GSK), Grey Group Singapore.

It is a pressing topic often described as one of the most evil problems affecting millions of civilians in over 60 countries around the world. And it takes a mammoth effort to tackle. However, the topic does not feature a lot in the public conversation or the media – other imminent issues get all the coverage.

To change this, the team has developed an integrated campaign that builds an emotional link to one of the world’s biggest sports: football. It’s a universal sport and is played on streets, fields, playgrounds, parking lots and many more places. But due to remnants of war such as land mines, cluster bombs and unexploded ammunition, in large parts of the world playing football on fields can be extremely dangerous – especially for children.

Commenting on the initiative, Richard MacCormac, DCA Head of Mine Action, said, “Together with Grey for Good, we look forward to driving an impact on this issue. The goal is not only creating safe ‘football pitches’ for children, but to also provide safe and secure living conditions for families and communities so they can live a ‘normal’ life.”

Source: IndianMediaBook - Media

DanChurchAid initiates #ClearThePitch in association with Grey Group Singapore

On the occasion of International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, Grey for Good, the philanthropic arm of Grey Group Singapore teamed up with DanChurchAid (DCA) to drive support for creating safer communities in post-conflict zones around the world – communities free of dangerous remnants of war such as land mines, unexploded ammunition and cluster bombs.

Introducing #ClearThePitch, a campaign which links the global love for football with the aim of creating greater awareness and support for the essential work of making communities in post-conflict zones safer to live.

“The theme of football is everything but random. It allows us to reach and involve a huge group of people: not just millions of fans but also the clubs, players, associations and potentially even the sponsors. With a surprising but actually hard-hitting link: for millions of children playing the sport we all love is extremely dangerous. Our hope is to capture the imagination of the world of football to give the topic and our partner DCA both the visibility and the financial support that are so urgently needed,” said Till Hohmann, Executive Creative Director & Vice President (GSK), Grey Group Singapore.

It is a pressing topic often described as one of the most evil problems affecting millions of civilians in over 60 countries around the world. And it takes a mammoth effort to tackle. However, the topic does not feature a lot in the public conversation or the media – other imminent issues get all the coverage.

To change this, the team has developed an integrated campaign that builds an emotional link to one of the world’s biggest sports: football. It’s a universal sport and is played on streets, fields, playgrounds, parking lots and many more places. But due to remnants of war such as land mines, cluster bombs and unexploded ammunition, in large parts of the world playing football on fields can be extremely dangerous – especially for children.

Commenting on the initiative, Richard MacCormac, DCA Head of Mine Action, said, “Together with Grey for Good, we look forward to driving an impact on this issue. The goal is not only creating safe ‘football pitches’ for children, but to also provide safe and secure living conditions for families and communities so they can live a ‘normal’ life.”

Source: IndianMediaBook - Media

[Ad Review] Alto celebrates 30 lakhs mark with India ki pehli sawaari

Family car brand Alto from the house of Maruti Suzuki touched 30 lakh cares and to celebrate this milestone the brand rolled out an integrated campaign titled India Ki Pehli Sawaari.

According to RS Kalsi, ED – Marketing & Sales, Maruti Suzuki India, from offering a dream of owning a car, Alto reflects the changing India. While Alto’s true essence lies in its remarkable fuel efficiency and performance, it has a zippy and sporty design and premium features in its segment that appeals to the customer.

Speaking about the campaign, Kalsi said, “Over the years, Maruti Suzuki has kept the brand rejuvenated with latest technology, features and design. These initiatives have helped in creating countless memories of fun, trust, togetherness, friendship and love with our customers; fulfilling the dreams and aspirations of 30 lakh families.”

Conceptualised by Dentsu Creative Impact, the one minute and two seconder musical ad film is produced under the banner of Chrome Pictures. The film is directed by Amit Sharma and music is given by Abhishek Arora.

Commenting on the idea behind the campaign, Titus Upputuru, NCD, Dentsu Creative Impact, said, “As we started thinking about this huge milestone that Alto has achieved, we thought why don’t we celebrate the families instead. We all remember getting on the back of our fathers and mothers and taking our first ride. It just seemed so appropriate to use this metaphor as it dials up nostalgia. Working with so many children was a delightful experience”

The theme of the ad film India Ki Pehli Sawari takes viewers to the childhood. It features children riding on the backs of crouched elders. The camera captures the joy and excitement experienced by the children and adults engaged in this first ride, before introducing the Alto, which is at 30 lakh families – and growing.

Expert take

Ashwini Despande, Co-Founder, The Elephant Design, believes that 30lakh is a huge achievement for a car brand. So it deserves a creative announcement.

Commenting on the ad film, Despande said, “Execution is flawless. The claim of ‘India ki Pehli Sawaari’ is absolutely ownable by Maruti Suzuki, and surely comes out of a great insight. However, using children in advertising to evoke emotions is done over & over again; in all product categories, including cars. So there is no new.”

On the other side, according to Naresh Kumar, CSO & Managing Partner, Bang in The Middle, it is a fantastic idea, coming from rich emotional territory and very smart of the brand to go there.

“I feel having cracked the idea, the brand went a little lazy. For the child the ride is more than the physical act of ride. It has many emotions attached with it. Of bonding, of shared moments, of knowing each other, of trust. All this is something that would have made the whole story far more layered and involving. What I get in thead, is the act of ride, what the ride leads to is missed out completely”, expressed Kumar.

Source: IndianMediaBook - Media