Category: iWorld

Culture Machine’s Blush launches ‘Sista from the South’ series

MUMBAI: Blush has launched a series titled Sista from the South with a video celebrating the much loved Tam Brahm Boy. The series will feature on YouTube channel Blush with a new video every month. With tongue-in-cheek sense of humour, an unapologetic voice and engaging content for South Indians, the series will feature music videos, spoken words, short films and sketch comedies for all the sassy Blush women out there.

The Tam Brahm Boy is the first video in the series that will give a quirky take on everything South Indian, including our delectable Tamil Brahmin boys! Whether it is his dorky glasses or his geeky demeanour, there is something incredibly attractive about the personality of the Tam Brahm boy that appeals to all the women in South India (and sometimes, even in North India). Sofia Ashraf, a new member of the Blush team in the south, is seen sharing her extremely strong opinions in a love song objectifying a typical Tamil Brahmin boy using hilarious southern stereotypes.

Being an avid content creator, Culture Machine producer Sofia Ashraf has brought out an important aspect of our society and how women’s sexual emotions are treated in our country through the stereotypical depiction of the infamous south Indian boy.

Speaking about the video, Ashraf said, “Hidden beneath the camp disco beats and south Indian clichés, this song actually carries an idea. I believe that women in this country are denied our sexual urges. This song is an unapologetic expression of primal desires and I hope that over time it becomes acceptable for Indian women to speak out about our passions and our sexuality stops being demonized.”

Ashraf has been labelled many things over the years– feminist, fundamentalist and narcissist to name a few. Her penchant for comedy and writing led her to Culture Machine’s office and has come on board to create content for Blush which she hopes will spark a dialogue.

July 12, 2016
Culture Machine’s Blush launches ‘Sista from the South’ series

MUMBAI: Blush has launched a series titled Sista from the South with a video celebrating the much loved Tam Brahm Boy. The series will feature on YouTube channel Blush with a new video every month. With tongue-in-cheek sense of humour, an unapologetic voice and engaging content for South Indians, the series will feature music videos, spoken words, short films and sketch comedies for all the sassy Blush women out there.

The Tam Brahm Boy is the first video in the series that will give a quirky take on everything South Indian, including our delectable Tamil Brahmin boys! Whether it is his dorky glasses or his geeky demeanour, there is something incredibly attractive about the personality of the Tam Brahm boy that appeals to all the women in South India (and sometimes, even in North India). Sofia Ashraf, a new member of the Blush team in the south, is seen sharing her extremely strong opinions in a love song objectifying a typical Tamil Brahmin boy using hilarious southern stereotypes.

Being an avid content creator, Culture Machine producer Sofia Ashraf has brought out an important aspect of our society and how women’s sexual emotions are treated in our country through the stereotypical depiction of the infamous south Indian boy.

Speaking about the video, Ashraf said, “Hidden beneath the camp disco beats and south Indian clichés, this song actually carries an idea. I believe that women in this country are denied our sexual urges. This song is an unapologetic expression of primal desires and I hope that over time it becomes acceptable for Indian women to speak out about our passions and our sexuality stops being demonized.”

Ashraf has been labelled many things over the years– feminist, fundamentalist and narcissist to name a few. Her penchant for comedy and writing led her to Culture Machine’s office and has come on board to create content for Blush which she hopes will spark a dialogue.

July 12, 2016
Yupp TV gets into bed with Silly Monks

MUMBAI: A new courtship has just been concluded. YuppTV Bazaar, India’s leading online marketplace for high quality premium video content, has entered into a strategic alliance with Silly Monks. As a creative agency, Silly Monks has established a strong foot holding in the content production domain with its premium regional content.

Following the partnership, users of YuppTV Bazaar will now be able to easily access new and refreshing Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam content. Under the arrangement between the two, the duo is set to make movie trailers, music videos, interviews and events in the Tollywood, Mollywoood and Kollywood film industry available at YuppTV Bazaar.

Users will now be able to access South Indian entertainment and celebrity gossip on the go and also follow the popular and first ever Telugu web series, Mudda Pappu Avakai.

Says Yupp TV Founder & CEO Uday Reddy: “We are excited to be partnering with Silly Monks and further extending our assortment of curated content on YuppTV Bazaar. We are affirmative that users will enjoy the new addition in our bouquet of entertaining content.”

Echoing the same thought Silly Monks Entertainment founder & managing director Sanjay Reddy adds: “We are proud to be associated with YuppTV Bazaar and present our content on the platform. Owing to the massive reach of YuppTV, we hope to reach out to and entertain hither to unexplored users. We expect tremendous advantages for both the companies resulting out of this synergy.”

July 12, 2016
Yupp TV gets into bed with Silly Monks

MUMBAI: A new courtship has just been concluded. YuppTV Bazaar, India’s leading online marketplace for high quality premium video content, has entered into a strategic alliance with Silly Monks. As a creative agency, Silly Monks has established a strong foot holding in the content production domain with its premium regional content.

Following the partnership, users of YuppTV Bazaar will now be able to easily access new and refreshing Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam content. Under the arrangement between the two, the duo is set to make movie trailers, music videos, interviews and events in the Tollywood, Mollywoood and Kollywood film industry available at YuppTV Bazaar.

Users will now be able to access South Indian entertainment and celebrity gossip on the go and also follow the popular and first ever Telugu web series, Mudda Pappu Avakai.

Says Yupp TV Founder & CEO Uday Reddy: “We are excited to be partnering with Silly Monks and further extending our assortment of curated content on YuppTV Bazaar. We are affirmative that users will enjoy the new addition in our bouquet of entertaining content.”

Echoing the same thought Silly Monks Entertainment founder & managing director Sanjay Reddy adds: “We are proud to be associated with YuppTV Bazaar and present our content on the platform. Owing to the massive reach of YuppTV, we hope to reach out to and entertain hither to unexplored users. We expect tremendous advantages for both the companies resulting out of this synergy.”

July 12, 2016
TV News and Facebook Live

Television’s last bastion – live news – could be under threat. At least if one goes by the traction that two events got when they were broadcast live on social media last week. These were not shot with fancy news cameras by specialist videographers; they were shot using simple smart phones. The broadcast platform: Facebook, which has more than a billion users world wide and more than 150 million in India.

The first was when Lavish Reynolds opened up her Facebook Live app and started filming her boyfriend Philando Castile bleeding to death after being shot by the Falcon Heights, Minnesota police in their car at a traffic stop. And she kept continuously reporting from the aftermath of the scene. Apparently, the cops had stopped Castile’s car as it had a broken taillight. And they had asked him to bring out his ID and licence. Castile, Reynolds, states during the broadcast informed the police that he had a licensed firearm, but he was reaching in his pocket for his wallet to bring out his ID. The policeman, despite being informed of this, pumped four bullets into him, Reynolds says.

That video on Facebook has got more than 5.6 million views at the time of writing.

And it led to protests and rallies against police violence across the US of A the next day.

In Dallas, bullets rang out loud and clear during one of the rallies protesting police brutality. Six policemen were shot at by a sniper – Micah Xavier Johnson – from a building. Five of them died. Others were injured. Johnson who holed out against the policeman in a garage was later killed with the help of a robot and an explosive device.

The action on the streets, with the police scrambling around, was filmed by Michael Kevin Bautista and streamed live on Facebook. The video had been watched 5.6 million times once again at the time of writing. Michael got instant fame, getting onto CNN, BBC Radio, CBS, the Washington Post and TMZ apart from a host of other news outlets.

While a large chunk of TV viewers in the US have switched to OTT and VOD services, for their entertainment, cutting off their cable TV connections, most of them are still relying on TV channels for news. This is because TV broadcast helps make understanding news developments easier. But the fact is that news and its analysis is dependent on the slant that producers, reporters, owners – some with vested interests – give it.

Media observers say that the two developments mentioned above could be the fore bearers of the new age of un-curated, raw, reportage of developments – or news – as they happen on the ground during crime scenes, war, accidents, acts of violence or what have you. What would make this kind of reportage interesting is that it would be presented without any bias or agenda.

Imagine the scenario: lay Facebook users the world over whipping out their phones, filming incidents and reporting on them live. This could run into thousands and even hundreds of thousands. With viewers possibly running into millions as happened in the case of Reynolds and Bautista. The numbers could be higher too. Take Candace Payne who went live on Facebook, filming herself wearing a Chebacca mask and cackling away. The video has until the time of writing grossed 150 million views.

What could the emergence of tools such as Facebook Live and Twitter’s Periscope mean for Indian news TV? There’s disruption waiting to definitely happen with Indian news channels. Some amount of cynicism has crept in among those in the know about the way news is being presented by a majority of the news outlets. There’s always doubt on top of most viewers minds as most TV news channel promoters either have political or economic linkages or leaning.

The time could not be very far when Facebook Live could really start kicking in India. India is a mobile first nation with more than 250 million smart phone owners and around the same number surfing the net on their phones. Around 150 million young and old alike are always logged onto their Facebook accounts.

Give it a thought: if even 10 per cent of them tune into a development shot by a Facebooker and streamed live, the numbers would be more than the viewers than what the top TV news channels attract.

Clearly this is a phenomenon waiting to happen. Again and again. All it would require is a trigger or triggers. And a million news channels would suddenly pop up on Facebook. Giving out unadulterated, independent updates of developments.

In such a scenario a few questions need to be answered. Are not the regulations for broadcast news TV pretty rigid? Will the government seek to regulate and monitor the millions of Facebook live streams? Should it do so at all? Television news broadcast has a code of conduct, some of which is being followed. Could a new code of conduct be put in for Facebook Live news bearers? And will it be followed? How will that happen?

There are many other queries that could need an answer.

For that it’s over to the ministry of information and broadcasting. And if needed to the Telecom Regulatory of India.

July 12, 2016
TV News and Facebook Live

Television’s last bastion – live news – could be under threat. At least if one goes by the traction that two events got when they were broadcast live on social media last week. These were not shot with fancy news cameras by specialist videographers; they were shot using simple smart phones. The broadcast platform: Facebook, which has more than a billion users world wide and more than 150 million in India.

The first was when Lavish Reynolds opened up her Facebook Live app and started filming her boyfriend Philando Castile bleeding to death after being shot by the Falcon Heights, Minnesota police in their car at a traffic stop. And she kept continuously reporting from the aftermath of the scene. Apparently, the cops had stopped Castile’s car as it had a broken taillight. And they had asked him to bring out his ID and licence. Castile, Reynolds, states during the broadcast informed the police that he had a licensed firearm, but he was reaching in his pocket for his wallet to bring out his ID. The policeman, despite being informed of this, pumped four bullets into him, Reynolds says.

That video on Facebook has got more than 5.6 million views at the time of writing.

And it led to protests and rallies against police violence across the US of A the next day.

In Dallas, bullets rang out loud and clear during one of the rallies protesting police brutality. Six policemen were shot at by a sniper – Micah Xavier Johnson – from a building. Five of them died. Others were injured. Johnson who holed out against the policeman in a garage was later killed with the help of a robot and an explosive device.

The action on the streets, with the police scrambling around, was filmed by Michael Kevin Bautista and streamed live on Facebook. The video had been watched 5.6 million times once again at the time of writing. Michael got instant fame, getting onto CNN, BBC Radio, CBS, the Washington Post and TMZ apart from a host of other news outlets.

While a large chunk of TV viewers in the US have switched to OTT and VOD services, for their entertainment, cutting off their cable TV connections, most of them are still relying on TV channels for news. This is because TV broadcast helps make understanding news developments easier. But the fact is that news and its analysis is dependent on the slant that producers, reporters, owners – some with vested interests – give it.

Media observers say that the two developments mentioned above could be the fore bearers of the new age of un-curated, raw, reportage of developments – or news – as they happen on the ground during crime scenes, war, accidents, acts of violence or what have you. What would make this kind of reportage interesting is that it would be presented without any bias or agenda.

Imagine the scenario: lay Facebook users the world over whipping out their phones, filming incidents and reporting on them live. This could run into thousands and even hundreds of thousands. With viewers possibly running into millions as happened in the case of Reynolds and Bautista. The numbers could be higher too. Take Candace Payne who went live on Facebook, filming herself wearing a Chebacca mask and cackling away. The video has until the time of writing grossed 150 million views.

What could the emergence of tools such as Facebook Live and Twitter’s Periscope mean for Indian news TV? There’s disruption waiting to definitely happen with Indian news channels. Some amount of cynicism has crept in among those in the know about the way news is being presented by a majority of the news outlets. There’s always doubt on top of most viewers minds as most TV news channel promoters either have political or economic linkages or leaning.

The time could not be very far when Facebook Live could really start kicking in India. India is a mobile first nation with more than 250 million smart phone owners and around the same number surfing the net on their phones. Around 150 million young and old alike are always logged onto their Facebook accounts.

Give it a thought: if even 10 per cent of them tune into a development shot by a Facebooker and streamed live, the numbers would be more than the viewers than what the top TV news channels attract.

Clearly this is a phenomenon waiting to happen. Again and again. All it would require is a trigger or triggers. And a million news channels would suddenly pop up on Facebook. Giving out unadulterated, independent updates of developments.

In such a scenario a few questions need to be answered. Are not the regulations for broadcast news TV pretty rigid? Will the government seek to regulate and monitor the millions of Facebook live streams? Should it do so at all? Television news broadcast has a code of conduct, some of which is being followed. Could a new code of conduct be put in for Facebook Live news bearers? And will it be followed? How will that happen?

There are many other queries that could need an answer.

For that it’s over to the ministry of information and broadcasting. And if needed to the Telecom Regulatory of India.

July 12, 2016
FremantleMedia’s Confessions: It’s Complicated was exclusive on Facebook

MUMBAI: FremantleMedia’s first web series Confessions: It’s Complicated, launched exclusively on Facebook, has garnered 40 million hits by the finale of the show. The media house claims that they witnessed 70,000 live interactions with the cast of Confessions. The show based on constant audience interaction received 11.5 million views on Facebook.

Confessions is a story of three girls Nupur Murthy, Sameera Saxena and Raka Ghosh who has moved to Mumbai to pursue their dreams to make it big. The girls set out to explore various aspects of their lives and the show is a coming-of-age tale of these girls.

The Branded Entertainment and Digital Partnership head Ron Crasto commented, “ 86% of Confessions was watched on the mobile phone. The interactions of the fans with the stars not just came from the top 6 cities but also cities like Lucknow , Surat , Jaipur, Indore, Bhopal . The integrations of all the sponsor brands was seamless in the show and was followed through Facebook brand post and was engaging with the audience.”

FremantleMedia India business head Vidyuth Bhandary commented, “As a company, we are constantly looking to create innovative content for our clients, audience and at times the platform itself. Confessions was the first drama web-series on Facebook & was also the first web-series to use the Facebook Live application. Being the first web series to have crossed 11.5 million views on Facebook, Confessions was able to achieve this success due to newer innovations and seamless sponsor integrations. We aim to bring more content to entertain our audiences.”

FremantleMedia has also tied up with brands like Myntra,Gillette Venus,Nano Gen X /Saavn and Miss Malini. It not only gave a lot of traction to the show but also got a lot of brand value for the associated brands. The show saw a huge success across the country and for the first time ever, tied up with Saavn to release the first ever audio series for the show. FremantleMedia also invited fans from top 6 metro cities for Facebook live fan interactions.

July 11, 2016
FremantleMedia’s Confessions: It’s Complicated was exclusive on Facebook

MUMBAI: FremantleMedia’s first web series Confessions: It’s Complicated, launched exclusively on Facebook, has garnered 40 million hits by the finale of the show. The media house claims that they witnessed 70,000 live interactions with the cast of Confessions. The show based on constant audience interaction received 11.5 million views on Facebook.

Confessions is a story of three girls Nupur Murthy, Sameera Saxena and Raka Ghosh who has moved to Mumbai to pursue their dreams to make it big. The girls set out to explore various aspects of their lives and the show is a coming-of-age tale of these girls.

The Branded Entertainment and Digital Partnership head Ron Crasto commented, “ 86% of Confessions was watched on the mobile phone. The interactions of the fans with the stars not just came from the top 6 cities but also cities like Lucknow , Surat , Jaipur, Indore, Bhopal . The integrations of all the sponsor brands was seamless in the show and was followed through Facebook brand post and was engaging with the audience.”

FremantleMedia India business head Vidyuth Bhandary commented, “As a company, we are constantly looking to create innovative content for our clients, audience and at times the platform itself. Confessions was the first drama web-series on Facebook & was also the first web-series to use the Facebook Live application. Being the first web series to have crossed 11.5 million views on Facebook, Confessions was able to achieve this success due to newer innovations and seamless sponsor integrations. We aim to bring more content to entertain our audiences.”

FremantleMedia has also tied up with brands like Myntra,Gillette Venus,Nano Gen X /Saavn and Miss Malini. It not only gave a lot of traction to the show but also got a lot of brand value for the associated brands. The show saw a huge success across the country and for the first time ever, tied up with Saavn to release the first ever audio series for the show. FremantleMedia also invited fans from top 6 metro cities for Facebook live fan interactions.

July 11, 2016
Fork Media’s Buzzerati to gain access to readers of Twitter’s enterprise API platform Gnip

Mumbai: Fork Media’s social media influencer marketing platform Buzzerati is to get access to Twitter audience and content performance metrics for deeper business intelligence and richer analytics.

This follows a deal between Fork Media and Twitter’s enterprise API platform Gnip.

Buzzerati launched earlier this year at the Digital Marketing & Advertising Conference Adtech in New Delhi. The influencer recommendation platform helps brands strengthen their engagement with target customers on Twitter and other social media sources.

With this agreement, Buzzerati will have access to first-party Twitter data around aggregate audience demographics, brand intelligence, trend analysis, consumer interests and keyword associations. The data, along with Buzzerati’s own proprietary data processing algorithms, provides stronger recommendations to brands on choosing the right influencers for their campaigns. Brands can choose various influencer filters including the location, gender, mobile network and interests of their followers. In addition, Buzzerati will provide discovery to the absolute following, active followers, engagement of an influencer and their followers.

The data agreement also delivers more accurate measurement of impression and reaches data for influencer campaigns. Brands will now be able to view actual impressions of their influencer posts and better analyze the ROI of a campaign across paid and organic mediums. Brands can use the platform to drive brand-led advocacy campaigns or create viral distribution for their existing content.

Fork Media CEO and founder Samar Verma said, “We are excited about the opportunity to leverage Gnip data from Twitter, as we continue to evolve our offering. It will help us go to market even more rapidly and efficiently with solutions that will keep brands and agencies on top of their game. The agreement will also help us offer the most relevant and advanced influencer marketing platform. With the integration of this data, our clients will now have access to better influencer recommendations, which in turn will effectively enhance their campaign planning, execution and success. It will provide us access to the leading global source of real-time social media data, Twitter, allowing us to pursue new marketing opportunities, and offer the best analytics to more brands and agencies.”

Brad Bokal, who leads Gnip’s Twitter data partnerships and sales efforts in APAC, said: “We are committed to helping our global customers build lasting, value driven relationships with their clients.

“We are excited to work with Fork Media as they continue to integrate Twitter data into solutions that help their clients better understand user audiences and content performance on our platform” Bokal added.

July 11, 2016
Fork Media’s Buzzerati to gain access to readers of Twitter’s enterprise API platform Gnip

Mumbai: Fork Media’s social media influencer marketing platform Buzzerati is to get access to Twitter audience and content performance metrics for deeper business intelligence and richer analytics.

This follows a deal between Fork Media and Twitter’s enterprise API platform Gnip.

Buzzerati launched earlier this year at the Digital Marketing & Advertising Conference Adtech in New Delhi. The influencer recommendation platform helps brands strengthen their engagement with target customers on Twitter and other social media sources.

With this agreement, Buzzerati will have access to first-party Twitter data around aggregate audience demographics, brand intelligence, trend analysis, consumer interests and keyword associations. The data, along with Buzzerati’s own proprietary data processing algorithms, provides stronger recommendations to brands on choosing the right influencers for their campaigns. Brands can choose various influencer filters including the location, gender, mobile network and interests of their followers. In addition, Buzzerati will provide discovery to the absolute following, active followers, engagement of an influencer and their followers.

The data agreement also delivers more accurate measurement of impression and reaches data for influencer campaigns. Brands will now be able to view actual impressions of their influencer posts and better analyze the ROI of a campaign across paid and organic mediums. Brands can use the platform to drive brand-led advocacy campaigns or create viral distribution for their existing content.

Fork Media CEO and founder Samar Verma said, “We are excited about the opportunity to leverage Gnip data from Twitter, as we continue to evolve our offering. It will help us go to market even more rapidly and efficiently with solutions that will keep brands and agencies on top of their game. The agreement will also help us offer the most relevant and advanced influencer marketing platform. With the integration of this data, our clients will now have access to better influencer recommendations, which in turn will effectively enhance their campaign planning, execution and success. It will provide us access to the leading global source of real-time social media data, Twitter, allowing us to pursue new marketing opportunities, and offer the best analytics to more brands and agencies.”

Brad Bokal, who leads Gnip’s Twitter data partnerships and sales efforts in APAC, said: “We are committed to helping our global customers build lasting, value driven relationships with their clients.

“We are excited to work with Fork Media as they continue to integrate Twitter data into solutions that help their clients better understand user audiences and content performance on our platform” Bokal added.

July 11, 2016