ITV

Category: Social Media

  • Shemaroo Filmi Gaane hits the record-breaking mark of 30million subscriber base

    Shemaroo Filmi Gaane hits the record-breaking mark of 30million subscriber base

    MUMBAI: Another feather added to the cap of India’s leading content powerhouse Shemaroo Entertainment. Its leading YouTube channel Shemaroo Filmi Gaane hits an outstanding mark of 30 million subscriber base. Shemaroo Filmi Gaane YouTube channel is the 5th most subscribed channel in India and receives massive views of 18 million a day with 8 million unique users daily. To ring in the celebration, Shemaroo has planned a series of activities, one of them is a special bonanza marathon of live streaming Hindi film songs right from the golden era to the new millennium of 2000s. The YouTube channel is a delight for every Hindi music lover and is the one-stop destination for classic Bollywood melodies for many Bollywood music ardent followers across the globe. The YouTube channel also sees a regular consumption of 50 million minutes every day and this has been made possible by a rich library of timeless melodious songs, expert curation and creation of the genres of music that is packaged and presented for every mood of the listener, these playlists perfectly satiates the melodious Bollywood songs cravings of all Hindi music lovers.

    The marathon of live streamed songs is certainly a delight for the subscribers and will be promoted across different platforms under #30MFilmiGaaneClub. These songs will be played across a period of 3 days where the viewers will be engaged through trivias and thrilling contests that promise exciting goodies at the end. Its content appeals to the young and old alike, and the audience base is spread across multiple geographies like India, USA, UAE, Canada, Australia and more reaching 91 million unique users monthly.

    Shemaroo operates multiple YouTube channels that have seen high engagement levels from audiences worldwide. Ranked among the top 40 channels in the world, Shemaroo Filmi Gaane is one of the most viewed YouTube channels and over the years the channel has seen a humungous growth in subscribers. Each playlist is specially curated and crafted taking into consideration the engagement and preferences of listeners. The initiative #FilmiGaaneAntakshari has also been recognised in the prestigious ‘Limca Book of World Records’ for their longest running Antakshari campaign, where viewers were engaged Antakshri game on Twitter. #FilmiGaaneAntakshari was a first-of-its-kind digital campaign that ran on Twitter for seven continuous days adding up to a total of 168 hours. This also broke the record for “Most Tweets in a Day” with a figure of 34,949 tweets.

    As one of the early adopters of YouTube, they were amongst the first few players in India to sign up with YouTube in the year 2009. Started in 2010, Shemaroo Filmi Gaane has been an instant hit and has been popular amongst people. It offers a varied range of more than 5,000 songs from super-hit Bollywood movies. The content on the channel fits all age groups and is a treat for every music lover and Bollywood buff. Shemaroo Entertainment’s Filmi Gaane channel has come a long way and it aims to strengthen the audience base with a promise to entertain all.

  • Only 3 Per Cent of digital marketers in India are measuring ROI correctly: LinkedIn report

    Only 3 Per Cent of digital marketers in India are measuring ROI correctly: LinkedIn report

    MUMBAI: LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional networking platform, today released ‘The Long and Short of ROI’ report in India to identify how digital marketers measure ROI (Return on Investment). The survey was conducted amongst 4,000 marketing professionals across 19 countries, including India, and reveals how measuring ROI over the length of the sales cycle can lead to more accurate reporting, greater marketer confidence, and improved campaign management.

    The findings of the report highlight that digital marketers deliver tremendous value to their businesses but struggle to highlight their impact or true ROI when reporting on performance. The metrics are either reported too soon or wrongly chosen to deliver quick results in order to meet business pressures.

    In fact, 78% digital marketers in India claim to be measuring digital ROI long before a sales cycle has concluded. In India, only 3% of digital marketers are measuring ROI over a 6-month period or longer — one of the lowest amongst all regions, lower than the global average of 4%. This means that many marketers are likely not measuring ROI at all. 

    “The Indian digital marketing industry is incredibly competitive today. As marketing campaigns become more dynamic, real-time, and data-driven, measurement is going to be a key discussion in boardrooms going forward. The LinkedIn report highlights how Indian marketers are struggling to measure the true impact of performance; they are thinking short-term and are measuring KPIs, instead of ROI. Measuring too quickly can have a poor impact on campaigns, specifically in industries such as higher education and real estate where it can take months of consideration before sale,” says Virginia Sharma, Director, Marketing Solutions – India, LinkedIn.

    Here are the common behaviours of digital marketers in India, when it comes to ROI and measurement, and best practices for marketers to consider: 

    1.    78% Indian marketers measure ROI too soon: 78% of Indian marketers measure ROI within the first 30 days of the campaign, which results in an inaccurate reflection of the actual return, considering that sales cycles are 60-90 days or longer. In fact, only 3% of Indian marketers are measuring ROI over a six-month period or longer – one of the lowest among all regions (lower than the global average of 4%).

    2.    50% digital marketers rely on inaccurate metrics: 81% of Indian digital marketers claim to measure ROI today, which strongly reinforces India’s data-driven stature. However, another finding shows that 50% digital marketers – with a lead generation objective – claim to use cost-per-click as their ROI metric, which does not show impact-per-advertising dollar spent. Ideally, cost-per-lead is a better measurement metric here. This is the highest percentage among all countries, clearly indicating that Indian marketers are measuring short-term impact in the form of KPIs, which is not an accurate reflection of ROI.

    3.    64% Indian marketers face pressure to prove ROI: As opposed to 58% globally, 64% Indian marketers acknowledged that they needed to show ROI numbers to justify spend and get approval for future budget asks. This clearly shows how pressured Indian digital marketers are internally, hence rushing to measure and prove ROI. 

    4.       60% of Indian marketers have to consider revising budgets: 60% of Indian marketers who measure ROI in the short term end up having budget reallocation discussions within a month, often unprepared and hence under confident. In fact, 47% of Indian digital marketers don’t feel confident about their ROI measurements today. 

    The report was released after LinkedIn conducted an online survey of 4,000 global B2B and B2C marketing professionals from 19 countries in June 2019. Sample countries include United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, China, Brazil, and Mexico.  This research was conducted via online survey in June 2019. 

  • Google India unlocks prepaid plans for YouTube Premium, YouTube Music Premium

    Google India unlocks prepaid plans for YouTube Premium, YouTube Music Premium

    MUMBAI: Google India unlocked the option of prepaid plans for YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Premium on Monday. The services which entered India in March were priced at Rs 129 a month for Premium, and Rs 99 a month for Music Premium.

    Now, users across India will be able to purchase either a one-month or three-month prepaid plan to enjoy YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Premium benefits without enrolling in an ongoing subscription. At any point, users will also be to extend their paid benefits by an additional one month or three months by purchasing top-ups for their membership.

    Moreover, users in India with a local credit or debit card from Visa or Mastercard will be able to pay for it. Notably, the prepaid plan for a month for the premium service is priced at Rs 139, which is just Rs 10 more than the conventional subscription model.

    “We hope this added flexibility to decide your preferred method of payment will help you to enjoy the YouTube Premium and Music Premium experience. To find out more about pre-paid plans  and get started, please visit youtube.com/premium and youtube.com/music premium,” Google India and South Asia music content partnerships head Pawan Agarwal said in a blog.

  • Big Trunk Communications appoints Praharsh Dixit as head – Social Media

    Big Trunk Communications appoints Praharsh Dixit as head – Social Media

    MUMBAI: Big Trunk Communications, an award-winning, Mumbai-based independent creative digital agency, recently announced the appointment of Praharsh Dixit, as ‘Head – Social Media’ at its Mumbai office.

    Dixit will be heading the Strategy and Social Media Team at this young and enthusiastic agency and will be paving way for acquiring new businesses with constructive strategies to promote the growth of the organization. Under the same, he will also play a crucial role in nurturing existing clients and meeting their diverse requirements in the social media arena by providing creative and innovative solutions.

    Dixit’s experience narrates his immediate past assignment as a ‘Manager – Digital Strategy’ with NetBiz Systems Pvt. Ltd. wherein he was instrumental in channelizing team efforts and contributions, articulating strategies for renowned brands and executing the same to leverage their presence on various digital platforms.

    Big Trunk Communications  CEO   Akhil Nair said,  “We extend a warm welcome to Praharsh. We believe that his expertise when clubbed with our goals, will lead to desirable outcomes. We look forward to a long and fruitful association with Praharsh to further strengthen the presence of Big Trunk Communications.” 

    His experience also records his association with some top-notch firms like Fanatics, Gutenberg Communications and Tata Consultancy Services. Honorary awards also occupy a special section in his successful journey.

    Speaking about his appointment, Dixit said, “It gives me immense pleasure to be associated with an agency of creative and passionate minds. My areas of focus include constructing new and effective strategies to enhance the social media presence of all the existing clients and pitching prospective clients. I have a feeling that this is going to be a thrilling journey and I am committed to innovate and deliver maximum value to Big Trunk.”

  • Instagram showcases its passionate community at flagship event

    Instagram showcases its passionate community at flagship event

    MUMBAI: Instagram today organized its inaugural ‘Instagram Experience’ (IGX) to showcase how it brings you closer to the people and things you love. With most people in the Instagram community using it to pursue their passions, the app highlighted a ‘Born on Instagram’ initiative to discover creators all across India, the ‘Impact, Influencer and Interactivity’ approach to leverage Instagram for business and an ‘Unlabel’ content series, that outlines how it’s the kindest community online. 

    With over a billion people globally, Instagram is loved for its vibrant community, cultural relevance and visual expression. IGX furthers the engagement with the community, by hosting over 250 creators and marketers, including actors Taapsee Pannu and Priya Varrier, and creators Mallika Dua, Pooja Dhingra and Savi & Vid from Bruised Passports. Also present at the event was Vishal Shah, VP of Product at Instagram, who said, “Instagram is gaining strong momentum both globally and in India. Much like Indian culture, passions pursued by Instagrammers here are the most diverse and represent urban and regional trends. This, combined with the way people freely express themselves on the platform, creates an amazing opportunity for creators and businesses here.”

    Regional celebrities like Guru Randhawa, Nusrat Jehan and Kajal Aggarwal and creators like Pawan Kumar from Artkala in Patna, Sujit Bhaktan from Tech Travel Eat in Kerala and Kiran Dutta from Your Bong Guy in Kolkata already use Instagram creatively. At IGX, a new initiative – Born on Instagram – was announced as a recognition of the accelerated creativity in content witnessed all across India. This program will celebrate, discover and showcase creators in big and regional cities, and give them collaboration and mentorship opportunities. This will roll out in 15 cities, beginning this year.

    The community also includes businesses of all sizes who leverage Instagram to drive awareness, increase customers and share their story amongst a highly engaged audience. At IGX, the focus was on an approach based on ‘Impact, Influencer and Interactivity’ to enable businesses to best leverage Instagram. This impact is an outcome of the authentic connections between brands and consumers, further showcased by an IPSOS India study where 94% of people said they searched for more information after seeing a product or service on Instagram. 95% of people also said Instagram helps them decide whether to buy a product or service. 

    Instagram is also a natural home for influencers, and brands leverage associations with them well to increase awareness and build trust. With the launch of Branded Content Ads earlier this year, advertisers now have the ability to promote creators' organic branded content posts as feed and stories ads. This is spurred by interactivity as people increasingly use interactive elements like Poll stickers and Questions, and hence 60% of businesses on Instagram use an interactive element in Stories every month. Interactive ads, starting with Instagram Poll Stickers, work well to that end to enable instant two-way communication and get people involved.

    But people will only express themselves if they feel safe and supported and Instagram has recently rolled out the ‘Restrict’ feature, to that end, to protect your account from unwanted interactions. Now, the app unveiled a new content series, ‘Unlabel’, in partnership with Yuvaa, a youth media platform, which features young Indians challenging stereotypes to be their authentic selves.

    Instagram has recently made a number of additions to help people express themselves better on the platform. These include the Music Sticker for Stories, a new dark mode, a new Create Mode on camera, the Create Don’t Hate stickers as part of the anti-bullying efforts and the IGTV Series tool for creators.

  • India leads Facebook daily active user growth

    India leads Facebook daily active user growth

    MUMBAI: India has fuelled the social media giant Facebook’s daily active user growth which increased by 9 per cent to 1.62 billion in the quarter ending September.

    “Daily active users reached 1.62 billion, up 9 per cent  compared to last year, led by growth in India, Indonesia, and the Philippines. This represents approximately 66 per cent of the 2.45 billion monthly active users in September," Facebook chief financial officer David Wehner said.

    Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg also added on an optimistic note that the social media giant will soon be able to fully launch WhatsApp Pay in India.

    “We’re working on payments in WhatsApp. We have our tests going on in India. We’re very optimistic that we are going to be able to launch to everyone in India soon," he said.

    Facebook beat analysts estimation in the quarter in sales and witnessed steady user growth reporting $6.09 billion net income and reaching 2.45 billion monthly average users.

  • Viacom Digital Studios International enters into worldwide deal with Facebook

    Viacom Digital Studios International enters into worldwide deal with Facebook

    MUMBAI: Viacom Digital Studios International has partnered with Facebook to create a series of short- and mid-form digital video series for the social media giant’s Watch platform. Under the new deal, Viacom’s digital content studio will shows in the UK, Germany, Spain, France, Asia and the Americas.

    “The point I’d let you know that’s really exciting is that it’s a multi-territory, worldwide partnership with Facebook,” Viacom Digital Studios International senior VP and general manager Brendan Yam said. “We can create original, locally relevant programming."

    While Viacom Digital Studios International will also make eight shows in Asia based on a partnership with MTV Asia, four of the series will premiere later this year and the remaining four will be developed next year.

    The unit will create four shows in the Americas including stand-up comedy series Portugal Realengo, featuring vlogger Rafael Portugal and it will make spin-offs of MTV UK shows for Watch in Europe while the UK shows will be localised for Germany, Spain and France.

    “By partnering with Facebook, we are harnessing the power of our globally-recognised brands and IP and leveraging local talent and production capabilities to drive engagement with digital-first audiences around the globe,” Yam added.

  • Nikhil Gandhi moves to TikTok from Times Network

    Nikhil Gandhi moves to TikTok from Times Network

    MUMBAI: TikTok has appointed Nikhil Gandhi as Tiktok India head. In his new role Gandhi will be responsible development and operation of TikTok India. Prior to the new appointment, Gandhi was associated with Times Network as President and COO.

    Gandhi has over 20 years of experience in leadership positions at various media and entertainment companies. He has spent around 10 years working The Walt Disney Company from 2007 to 2017. He began his career as an account manager at Viacom18 in 2004. After one year he moved to Times Group as regional head from 2005 to 2007.

    Prior to The Walt Disney, Gandhi had joined UTV in 2007 as business head, he spent almost 6 years with the company.

  • 84% of Instagram users are likely to shop using the platform

    84% of Instagram users are likely to shop using the platform

    MUMBAI: The digital and social media agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, WATConsult, under its market research division, Recogn, has launched its latest report on Instagram in India from a user's perspective.

    The report focuses on the user’s point of view on Instagram, highlighting usage patterns, content likeability, celebrity influence and what pushes them to shop on the platform. Interestingly, ads on Instagram that are perceived to be appealing lead users to search for more information for the said products or services, enabling users to shop. More than 75 per cent of the shoppers have had a satisfactory experience while shopping from Instagram and a majority of them are likely to shop in the future as well. Instagram, which was perceived to be a discovery platform because of visual nature and stickiness, has over time transformed itself into a platform that induces discovery as well as an influence leading to a purchase decision.

     Below are some key findings of the report:

    ·       Currently, Instagram has 117.1 million monthly active users and average time spent per user is 45 minutes

    ·       Instagrammers spend most of the time on the platform in the evening between 4-8 PM

    ·       For the users to be willing to purchase something on Instagram, they need to be made aware of the authenticity of the product. More than 75 per cent of the shoppers have had a satisfactory experience while shopping from Instagram and a majority are likely to shop in the future

    ·       84 per cent of the users are influenced by the platform resulting in likelihood to shop via Instagram

    ·       More than 50 per cent of the consumers have shopped using Instagram. Close to 75 per cent of the users from small metros and small towns have shopped using Instagram

    ·       51 per cent of the Instagrammers access it at least once a day with a large proportion of Instagram users accessing it multiple times in a day (32 per cent)

    ·       29 per cent of users prefer to upload images in the experiential categories or upload images of traveling, food etc. 26 per cent of the users like to upload videos and 24 per cent of the users upload stories, etc.

    Speaking on the same, WATConsult founder and CEO Rajiv Dingra said, “Instagram as a platform has grown tremendously in the last 2 years, and the user adaption rate is very quick. The app has a strong presence in the remotest of the city in our country. With this report, we are bringing forward to the industry, the behavioral patterns of the users, shopping habits and trends which can indeed add value to the brands in terms of shaping their marketing strategies.”

    According to the research, the usage of the social media platform Instagram is one of the highest amongst the respondent base. Users prefer to use social media platforms that they perceive to be informative, cool, enjoyable, popular and creative. The users perceive Instagram to be cool and somewhat interesting and trendy. One of the primary reasons people prefer to use this platform is for entertainment, to get inspired by seeing creative content from famous celebs in addition to being able to express their views.