ITV

Category: iWorld

  • Turner aims to re-imagine commercial breaks by combining ads with content

    Turner aims to re-imagine commercial breaks by combining ads with content

    MUMBAI: Turner Ad Sales is returning to the CES this week as part of an ongoing approach to collaborate with clients and agencies through ideation-fueled discussions. With an introduction by Turner Ad Sales president Donna Speciale, the meetings will include her new leadership team and introduce a new insights-powered unit within the division, Turner Ignite, led by executive vice presidents Dan Riess, head of content partnerships and Michael Strober, head of client strategy & ad innovation. Speciale will share Turner Ad Sales’ vision in better enabling business partners to re-imagine advertising by combining data and content. 

     

    Turner Ignite is the combination of two solution-oriented teams under Strober and Riess. The unit will focus on content and data solutions that power the next generation of portfolio capabilities for Turner, enhancing the ad viewing experience while also driving better ad performance.  During the meetings at CES, Turner Ignite will share with clients how they can keep one foot in today’s opportunities, while stepping another foot into tomorrow’s possibilities. Clients will be led through a suite of planning, creating, targeting and measuring solutions that put the consumer at the center of it all, and drive stronger business results for partners.

     

    “Turner Ignite will play an instrumental role in moving our partners’ businesses forward. While other companies separate their data and content teams, we believe it’s vital to bring them together, allowing advertisers to re-imagine the possibilities of advertising in one conversation. We want to continue to be a resource to clients and better help them accomplish their goals. With Turner Ignite and this powerful suite of solutions, we are set up to make that happen now,” said Speciale.

     

    Turner Ignite will share the newest tool within its arsenal of capabilities, Turner Native Plus. Once experienced only on digital and social platforms, Turner Native Plus expands the power of native advertising to television, producing a powerful environment for better brand storytelling. Utilising targeting capabilities to find the right placement across the entire portfolio, Turner will align with a brand and replace the traditional commercial pod with a space more powerful and impactful to the viewer. Turner can produce longer-form branded content for a client, or utilise the client’s existing and typically digital-based long-form content that previously didn’t have a home on television. Turner Native Plus will extend storytelling into the commercial pod by developing the right environment for the client, increasing exposure to the brand, and as a result, driving higher ROI.

     

    In addition to Turner Native Plus, Turner will share updates to previously announced solutions, real results out of last year’s deals, and highlight ways the company is leading in branded content. 

     

    . Launchpad: New to Turner, this first-of-its kind product combines the power of Turner’s premium branded content with real-time social analytics and promotion. Launchpad takes the influential branded content Turner creates for partners, and launches it into social and beyond, using data and insights to maximise a brand’s effectiveness. 

     

    . TargetingNOW: With 30 campaigns completed and a 27% average lift, Targeting Now will continue to target a specific audience and optimise a client’s schedules within their same media mix across the Turner portfolio in 2016.

     

    . AudienceNOW: A true audience-based selling product spanning the entire portfolio, AudienceNOW is a turbocharged version of TargetingNOW. Currently being executed with four key partners, the solution leverages the entire Turner portfolio to find the best schedule for the brand’s target audience across the entire day.

     

    . Turner Data Cloud: Turner’s Data Management Platform (DMP) can directly link to a client’s DMP to effectively execute targeting in digital and soon linear. The team will share a recent movie studio example where Turner Data Cloud enabled the brand to better connect with the right audience by finding new segments.

     

    . ROINOW: Turner’s proprietary research clarifies the distinct sales lift advertisers get from Turner’s branded content partnerships. With over 50 campaigns measured, ROINow continues to show powerful bottom line gains for partners.

     

    . Provable ROI: Building on the success of ROINOW, ProvableROI launched in 4th Quarter 2015 with 18 partners across the Turner Emerging Consumers portfolio of brands. All brands receive guaranteed success at the front end of their deals, and early insight shows that Provable ROI will be Turner’s next big measurement success story for partners.

     

    . Branded Content: Led by Courageus, CNN and HLN’s first-ever branded content, and including network brands such as Adult Swim and CONAN, marketers have extensive production opportunities utilising the breadth of Turner’s global, multi-screen portfolio.

     

    “We broke ground last year with our suite of data products, and now we are building on that with Turner Native Plus and Launchpad,” said Speciale. “These capabilities aren’t available anywhere else. We are fully equipped to take the burden off our partners and become a stronger resource for them. We want brands to connect with consumers like never before.”

  • Netflix & Dreamworks Animation expand global deal excluding China

    Netflix & Dreamworks Animation expand global deal excluding China

    MUMBAI: Netflix, Inc. and DreamWorks Animation have expanded their current multi-year deal, making Netflix the global home, outside of China, to a number of new original series for the whole family from the studio. The deal also covers streaming rights to the DreamWorks Animation feature film library.

     

    In addition, the deal extends the rights of current original series for kids from the studio available on the service throughout operating Netflix markets as well as expanding to include second window rights for the series everywhere around the world, outside of China. Series include The Adventures of Puss in Boots, Dinotrux, Dragons: Race to the Edge, among others.

     

    Starting in 2016, Netflix will launch several new series from DWA, including a reimagining of Voltron, and the new series, Trollhunters, from master storyteller Guillermo del Toro, who will unleash a new, fantastical world wrapped around two best friends who make a startling discovery beneath their hometown.  

     

    Over the term of the new agreement, a number of new original series will be developed and produced by DreamWorks Animation for Netflix, based not only on recent and upcoming feature films from the studio, but also on other classic IP.

     

    “DreamWorks Animation is synonymous with great storytelling that families around the world enjoy. It’s with great pleasure that we expand on an already successful relationship with DreamWorks Animation to bring more premium kids and family television to Netflix members globally,” said Netflix vice president of original series Cindy Holland.

     

    “This agreement adds to the incredible foundation we’ve built together with Netflix over a number of years across both film and television. We are proud to work closely with Netflix to continue delivering high-quality programming to audiences around the world,” added DreamWorks Animation president Ann Daly.

  • Facebook invites entries for FB Awards; small businesses to get special attention

    Facebook invites entries for FB Awards; small businesses to get special attention

    NEW DELHI: Facebook today invited entries for the fifth year for the best creative work being shared on its platform.

     
    More businesses are using Facebook and Instagram to connect with audiences and tell stories than ever before and the FB Awards showcase the power of Facebook and Instagram as creative canvases. 

     

    The 2015 FB Awards represented the biggest and most inspiring creative collection yet. Facebook reviewed over 2,700 submissions from 160 countries that offered a snapshot of the state of creativity and innovation across Facebook, Instagram and the entire industry. 

     

    With so many countries outside the United States submitting their work for the 2015 Awards, it was clear that the awards would have to be internationalised this year, a Facebook statement said. For the first time ever, the entry and judging process will be entirely mobile.

     
    Apart from internationalising the Awards Programme, all countries will now have the ability to be recognised for great work within their region, with local creative executives from each region as judges at the Regional Voting Events.

     
    The Regional awards being give are Best of APAC, Best of EMEA, Best of LATAM and Best of NA.

     
    The top winners from each Regional Voting Events will move to the Global Judging Event. The judging process is in three rounds this year due to the volume of entrants.

     
    In April, members of the Facebook Creative Shop will review the submissions and announce those moving on to the Regional Voting Events. In May, the Regional Voting Events take place and Best of APAC, LATAM, NA, and EMEA are selected; and in June the top winners of each Regional Voting Events will move to the Global Judging Event in NYC, where Global Creative Council will select the best campaigns in each category.
     

    For the first time ever, the FB Awards will recognise small business advertisers who have earned effective, eye-opening results. Winners of this category will also receive FB Ad Credits.
     

    The awards will recognise more aspects of creative excellence in marketing and effective business results and the best use of Facebook family of brands. In addition, awards will be given to the most creative, original and well-executed Facebook and/or Instagram campaign concepts. Innovation in the small business category awards will be given to those who successfully captured the attention of local audiences and gained results with creative thinking on Facebook and Instagram. The Social for Good award will go to charitable/non-profit organisation campaigns that creatively and successfully raise awareness and drive positive social change using Facebook or Instagram, while the Integrated award will go to campaigns that creatively use Facebook as part of a larger, overall media mix.

  • Social media & e-mail marketing top preferred channels for Indian marketers in 2016

    Social media & e-mail marketing top preferred channels for Indian marketers in 2016

    NEW DELHI: Customer acquisition will be the primary focus for marketing activities to be carried out in 2016 for 58 per cent of Indian marketers, a study shows.

     

    The study by Octane Research shows that Social Media (66 per cent) topped the list of marketing activities planned for 2016. 

     

    Email marketing was not far behind, with a 53 per cent share of Indian marketers. What’s more, according to the study, more than 50 per cent of marketers are planning to increase investment in all these activities.

     

    Social media updates are the top choice for achieving maximum customer engagement (46 per cent), followed by email campaigns (28 per cent). SMS marketing was the least preferred (eight per cent).

     

    A total of 64 per cent of Indian marketers believe that social media helps in improving brand reputation and increasing awareness. Social media also helps in extending the reach of email content to new markets and accelerating the growth of subscribers.

     

    As per the study, around 80 per cent of Indian marketers believe that integrated campaigns (email, social and mobile) can result in a moderate to significant increase in conversion rates.

     

    About 85 per cent of the Indian marketers are tracking revenues generated through e-marketing activities. A total 50 per cent of respondents shared that e-marketing activities are contributing to more than 10 per cent share of their revenues.

     

    Email marketing proved effective for over half of the respondents, as 53 per cent of marketers found email marketing “effective” or “very effective.”

     

    Reaching out to target audience (54 per cent votes) and acquiring new email addresses (50 per cent) surfaced as the top challenges faced by Indian marketers in 2015. Increasing the conversion rates was also a challenge faced by 35 per cent of marketers.

     

    For the 2016 issue of this annual state of online marketing in India study, India’s leading industry associations – Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), Retailers Association of India, Direct Marketing Association of India and Digital Defynd extended their support to Octane Research resulting in an active participation from 450+ Indian marketers from 400+ Brands.

     

    Referring to the Annual Industry Report, Octane marketing director and co-founder Punit Modhgil said, “2015 was the year that digital firmly established in India. With more than 400 million India consumers on the internet now, India CMOs have dialled up their investments in digital marketing. In terms of impact, Indian marketers have recorded Social and Email Marketing to be the top performing online marketing channels.”

  • Broadcom launches low power combo chip for mobile platforms

    Broadcom launches low power combo chip for mobile platforms

    MUMBAI: Broadcom Corporation has launched its latest and lowest power Wi-Fi/Bluetooth combo chip for mobile platforms and accessories.

     

    The BCM43012 delivers up to 3X longer battery life compared to Broadcom’s previous combo chips, enabling OEMs to design a new wave of high-performance connected devices.

     

    The BCM43012 allows OEMs to integrate Wi-Fi into platforms that have traditionally been powered by Bluetooth alone due to battery size or constrained power budgets. 

     

    In some applications, the BCM43012 Wi-Fi consumes 80 per cent less power than the most common Bluetooth solutions today. This reduction in Wi-Fi power consumption enables OEMs to leverage the increased throughput and range of Wi-Fi to deliver new use cases in a wide variety of devices. Using integrated Wi-Fi, accessories can also connect directly to the cloud without an intermediary smartphone.

     

    “For more than a decade, Broadcom has achieved a market leadership position in connectivity combos by setting the standard for performance, features, and power consumption,” said Broadcom wireless connectivity combos vice president – marketing Dino Bekis. “We have applied this expertise to launch a family of products for the promising mobile accessories markets with solutions that allow our customers to deliver a new generation of connected platforms with breakthrough capabilities.”

  • ErosNow ties up with Idea to provide Bollywood content on 4G

    ErosNow ties up with Idea to provide Bollywood content on 4G

    NEW DELHI: Eros International’s OTT (over-the-top) platform ErosNow has entered into a content deal with telecom company Idea Cellular to provide a platform for its 4G users.

     

    The partnership offers Idea 4G subscribers access to ErosNow’s premium bundled services including movies, music, TV content and ErosNow originals.

     

    Eros Digital CEO Rishika Lulla Singh said, “With the growing penetration of data services across India, content consumption is surging across consumers. ErosNow’s association with a leading telecom player like Idea provides us the ideal platform to reach a larger subscriber base and offer a very compelling array of Bollywood and regional content. This strategic association with Idea is the beginning of a long term relationship we intend to build in the future.”

     

    Idea Cellular CMO Sashi Shankar added, “With Idea’s foray into 4G services, we are strengthening our 4G portfolio and digital presence through an assortment of digital content in partnership with leading content aggregators, handset manufacturers, and e-commerce retailers. ‘Movies and Videos’ is the highest consumed service category by data consumers on the Idea network, and I’m confident that our association with ErosNow will provide an enriching experience to our 4G customers.”

     

    Idea had recently announced the launch of 4G services across five southern states of India, and plans to expand to 750 towns in 10 service areas by June 2016.

     

    The association with ErosNow will enable Idea 4G customers in these markets to enjoy the content at a monthly subscription price of Rs 49. Idea is also offering a special subscription price of Rs 29 per month for its new 4G customers till 31 March, 2016.

  • Spuul premieres Aishwarya Rai starrer ‘Jazbaa’

    Spuul premieres Aishwarya Rai starrer ‘Jazbaa’

    MUMBAI: Spuul has added Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s comeback thriller Jazbaa to its library. 

     

    This movie will be available for viewers across the world via premium subscription services. This will be a digital premiere for Spuul.

     

    Jazbaa is a thriller drama, which sees Aishwarya Rai Bachchan portraying the role of a prominent criminal lawyer, who is trying to protect her daughter from the clutches of a kidnaper. This movie also stars Irrfan Khan, Shabana Azmi, Atul Kulkarni and others. 

     

    Jazbaa will be available on Spuul across platforms such as web, mobile, smart TVs and Chromecast.

     

    Spuul Global CEO Subin Subaiah said, “We have added Jazbaa after two months of its theatrical release. It is our aim to continue our efforts and keep updating our library. We will continue to solicit engagements with content partners to provide the best and fresh content to our viewers.”

  • LukUp Media names Tata Sky’s Mukund Sharma as EVP

    LukUp Media names Tata Sky’s Mukund Sharma as EVP

    MUMBAI: Content specialist Mukund Sharma, who is currently serving his notice period at the direct to home (DTH) company Tata Sky, has been roped in by on-demand and multi-screen TV service provider Lukup Media as executive vice president content, services and commercial.

     

    Confirming the appointment, LukUp Media managing director Kallol Borah said, “Mukund will be joining us from February and will be leading our content services. He will be responsible for various innovations on the content front. He will also look after value added services and other innovations. I wish him best of luck in LukUp Media.”

     

    Sharma, who is currently VP content at Tata Sky, has been with the company since its inception in 2005. Prior to joining Tata Sky, Sharma worked as senior manager with Ten Sports where he looked after revenue, advertising sales & strategy. He also worked with CNBC–TV 18 as manager.

     

    Sharma moves to LukUp Media with over 17 years of experience.

  • HOOQ India’s new MD Salil Kapoor bets big on glocal strategy

    HOOQ India’s new MD Salil Kapoor bets big on glocal strategy

    MUMBAI: Global OTT player HOOQ, which forayed into India earlier this year, has made its first big move forward. The platform has roped in industry veteran Salil Kapoor as managing director to handle its India operations.

    At a time when Indian companies are also firming up with the OTT strategy and keeping the impeding launch of Netflix in the Indian market, Kapoor’s appointment may well be a strategic move to tackle the competitive scenario. Kapoor, who is betting big on glocal content as the way forward for HOOQ, tells Indiantelevision.com, “My primarily role will be to establish the India operations. We will set up a new team and after we have achieved targets set for the Indian market, we will foray into neighbouring countries.”

    HOOQ follows a subscription based video on demand (SVOD) revenue model and has recently inked content deals with the likes of Sun TV and Saregama India, which includes content in South Indian languages of Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada as well as Hindi.

    “We will be looking at many other such partnerships, our end goal is to create a strong portfolio comprising Bollywood, Hollywood and regional content for our subscribers,” asserts Kapoor.  

    Moreover, the platform will not just be limiting itself to acquisitions, but will also looking at creating original content.

    Reliance Jio, with the employee launch of its 4G services, has rejuvenated the entire OTT fraternity. Bandwidth has been a teething issue for the sector and Reliance Jio Infocomm’s 4G services has raised the hopes of one and all. “What Reliance Jio is doing is great indeed. But it will have a holistic impact. Now other telecom players will also do something or the other and at the end of the day, data price will go down. So I think good days are ahead when it comes to bandwidth,” says Kapoor.

    The freemium revenue model is something that experts are talking about aggressively in the Indian scenario. In the freemium model, premium content is put on a subscription model, while old content can be accessed for free. At this stage, HOOQ is not looking to change its strategy. “We follow the SVOD model and at this stage we are not looking to deviate from it. It’s my second day in office and with time there will be many more developments,” adds Kapoor.

    All major broadcasters now have their own OTT platforms. Star India has Hotstar, which follows an AVOD model, while ZEE’s DittoTV is a subscription based platform. Viacom18 is yet to disclose the revenue model of its platform VOOT. On the other hand, while Sony Pictures Networks’ Sony LIV follows the freemium model, during the FIFA World Cup matches, it offered all the matches for a subscription. Earlier this year, Eros International’s ErosNow also unveiled aggressive and ambitious plans for original content on its platform. Apart from broadcasters, Ronnie Screwvala, in association with Ajay Chacko and B Saikumar, has also launched an OTT platform called Arre and has a comprehensive plans drawn out for it. In a competitive scenario like this, it remains to be seen how HOOQ manages to create a niche for itself.

  • nexGTV ropes in Saavn’s Abhesh Verma as COO

    nexGTV ropes in Saavn’s Abhesh Verma as COO

    NEW DELHI: Subscription-driven video entertainment App nexGTV has appointed Abhesh Verma as chief operating officer (COO).

    Verma joins nexGTV with over 16 years of experience across several industries such as entertainment, e-commerce, SEO, advertisement, venture capital and real estate. He was previously associated with the digital entertainment portal Saavn and Saavn Interactive as chief growth officer and CEO. In his new role at nexGTV, he will be spearheading executive decision-making and long-term strategic planning for the organisation.

    Despite having chiefly operated from the US, Verma has developed, implemented and managed many India-centric digital media and advertisement solutions to great success for the organisations he has been associated with. ShopClassic.com, with him at the helm as its president, was driving e-commerce way back in 2000 as a website that allowed Indians to purchase and deliver gifts to each other within India. He was also instrumental in transforming Saavn’s business approach from a B2B to B2C model. He also oversaw the integration of new site acquisitions into the Saavn Interactive aegis, and was also responsible for end-to-end management and integration of new features.

    Digivive Services director and CEO G.D. Singh said, “Abhesh has had a highly successful career in digital media and internet-based entrepreneurship, as can be seen by the list of professional achievements he has garnered over the years. His in-depth practical proficiency in the digital entertainment sector is one of the prime reasons why he has been chosen to spearhead nexGTV at this critical juncture of its business journey. We are confident that his on-boarding will help spur nexGTV into its next era of growth.”

    Verma added, “Having worked in the digital entertainment and media industry for so long, I wanted to be associated with a novel idea that can allow me to optimally leverage the insights I’ve gained during my career so far. Joining nexGTV, which has already established itself as one of the most promising digital entertainment brands in India, gives me a chance to do exactly that. I will be looking to optimally leverage my experience with internet-based entertainment and advertisement services to further the brand’s value proposition and firmly secure its position as a frontrunner in the Indian digital entertainment ecosystem.”