ITV

Category: Press Release

  • Online search for Ayurvedic solutions goes up by 10-12% in India – Ayushakti

    Online search for Ayurvedic solutions goes up by 10-12% in India – Ayushakti

    Ayushakti, one of the leading and most trusted ayurvedic health centers around the world, co-founded by Ayurveda expert Dr. Smita Naram has noticed an upward trend in the search of Ayurveda based solutions.  As per internal research conducted, the leading ayurvedic brand has noticed tremendous growth in demand and the online search around it has increased by 10-12% during the pandemic.

    Currently, the global market of natural healing solutions is at 1.2 billion dollars, of which the USA stands the largest, followed by Germany, Japan, and the U.K. Even though India is the origin of Ayurveda, it holds a smaller market size compared to other nations.

    In the last few months, around 25% of the USA’s population looked up for Ayurveda and around 17% of the population, together with from the U.K, Japan, and Germany looked up for the same. Ayushakti holds a great foothold in these developed countries and has 160 partner clinics with 80% doctors from the west in Germany, UK, and the USA.

    Speaking on the growing demand for Ayurveda solutions, Dr. Smita Naram, Co-Founder of Ayushakti, said, “The year 2020 has made people realise the importance of holistic healing and ayurvedic medicines. We have noticed a growing demand in the need of ayurvedic solutions, and with the growth of digital and social media, our team has noticed a great surge in the online search. According to our research, the Indian Ayurvedic product market exhibited double-digit growth during 2014-2019 and has expected to increase at a CAGR of 14% during 2020-2025. It is great to know that our Indian ancient science and healthcare system that has been adopted by cultures globally and the Indian Ayurvedic product market’s is gaining increasing popularity, during the pandemic.”

    Ayushakti aims to open multiple franchises across India, in the coming months, to meet the growing demand they have been receiving.

  • Activision Blizzard and Pocket Aces’ Loco partner to host India’s biggest Call of Duty Mobile Tournament

    Activision Blizzard and Pocket Aces’ Loco partner to host India’s biggest Call of Duty Mobile Tournament

    Fueling the growth of competitive esports in the country, India’s leading esports and game streaming platform, Loco, in an industry-defining move announces its partnership with video game publishing giant – Activision Blizzard. The two will jointly host India’s biggest Call of Duty Mobile tournament with a Prize Pool of INR 35 lakhs. Cementing a new milestone between the two leaders in their respective domains, the Call of Duty Mobile India Cup will pave the way for gamers sitting across the country, transforming the Indian gaming ecosystem at large. 

    Call of Duty Mobile India Cup will be live exclusively on Loco and the event comprises two tournaments- Call of Duty Mobile India Cup Open and Call of Duty Mobile India Cup Pro. Registrations for Call of Duty Mobile India Cup Open tournament are underway, allowing teams from across the country to sign up and compete against each other in 5v5 matches in an open qualifier format. The total prize pool is INR 10 Lakhs, of which INR 5 Lakhs will be awarded to the team at the 1st position while the remaining will be split amongst teams between 2nd & 8th position. 

    Following the nail-biting open battles, 16 qualifying teams will advance to the Call of Duty Mobile India Cup Pro and be joined by India’s top professional Call of Duty Mobile teams to play 5v5 matches in a league format. Team Mayhem and Team IND are among the top illustrious teams that have been invited for the Call of Duty Mobile India Cup Pro to level up the excitement and intensity. The total prize pool of the 5v5 matches in Call of Duty Mobile India Cup Pro is INR 25 Lakhs, of which the team at first position will receive 10Lakhs, followed by 5Lakhs and INR 3 Lakhs to the 2nd and 3rd position respectively while the rest of the prize pool will be shared amongst the teams between 4th and 8th position.  

    Speaking about the tournament, Anirudh Pandita Founder, Pocket Aces, said, "We are thrilled to partner with a leading game publisher such as Activision Blizzard and to host a tournament of this magnitude and scale. Call of Duty is a legendary title and we are really excited to build the Call of Duty Mobile eSports ecosystem in the country from the ground up. The Call of Duty Mobile India Cup is the first step in the formation of this ecosystem and will help cement India’s position on the global esports map. We are elated to have magnificent teams like Team IND, and Team Mayhem on board with us and in a country where esports is growing at an unprecedented rate, this is just the beginning of a journey to many more milestones.”

    As a pioneer in the evolving Indian game streaming and esports broadcasting space, Loco is already home to some of India’s top competitive gamers such as Ghatak, GTX Preet, 8Bit Thug, and Jonathan to name a few. Over the years, the platform has asserted its position in the evolving ecosystem, having worked with leading brands and partners from around the world. Through strategic partnerships with Red Bull, Fnatic India, NBA 2K League, ax, and Xyaa, along with top teams like Fnatic, IND, 8bit, and Team Tamilas, Loco has played a vital role in the development of the esports industry in India.

  • Movies Now celebrates 10 spectacular years

    Movies Now celebrates 10 spectacular years

    MUMBAI: Movies Now, home to Blockbusters, celebrates the successful completion of a decade in entertaining its viewers with the best-in class Hollywood content. Redefining the way viewers watch English movies in India, Movies Now that offers a distinctive movie viewing experience, has been instrumental in shaping the consumer appetite for English content. 

    Recording many firsts and exclusives with movie premieres, path breaking initiatives and curated properties as a market leader in the category, Movies Now has reflected on the preferences of Indian viewers, who love to watch popular and universally celebrated blockbuster Hollywood titles. Pioneering the superlative quality viewing of the movies, Movies Now was the first Hollywood Movie channel to launch in HD in India.  Successfully driving immersive consumer engagement, Movies Now led the innovative use of AR for its Spielberg Special property as well as 3D OOH sites for promotions of the movie Avatar. Augmenting the Hollywood experience, Movies Now was the first to present DC and Marvel titles together for its viewers in India. The channel through the course of seven seasons of its flagship property, 100 Mania, has successfully implemented India’s biggest consumer engagement activity.

    Celebrating this iconic milestone, the channel has announced #10YearsofMoviesNOW, a special campaign that brings a line-up of exciting and engaging activities. Presenting movie aficionadas a unique opportunity to be part of the week long celebration, where they can exclusively handpick their favourite movies from a selection of top Hollywood blockbusters that will air on the big day, Movies NOW hosted a movie poll on its Instagram stories which witnessed an unprecedented engagement. Making the celebrations a memorable and collaborative experience for the viewers and the brand, the channel launched a curated game filter on Instagram that allows fans to win exciting prizes by collecting the Movies NOW 10-year special logo to score points and share it on their stories tagging the channel. Recognising and rewarding the channel’ s loyal viewer base, Movies Now has rolled out a ‘Watch and Win’ contest on TV, where participants have to screenshot and tweet the special Jackpot, that will appear on their screens during the movies, spins to 10 10 10. 

     Times Network news & English entertainment cluster business head & strategy president Vivek Srivastava  said, “It’s been a fantastic journey so far and we are absolutely thrilled to achieve this milestone. We set out with a promise of creating an unprecedented movie viewing extravaganza for our viewers and today, we are proud that we have consistently delivered on that. Through the last ten years, each of our initiatives and properties have met with a phenomenal viewer response, which is a testament to our robust and diverse content strategy. As we march ahead, we aim to continue raising the bar and setting new benchmarks in the category.”

    Movies Now has also rolled out an integrated promotional plan that includes special promos across the network channels and social media assets, digital promotions and print ads across Times Group leading dailies.

  • redBus ignites the holiday spirit with the launch of the ‘Download Cash’ festival that provides new users with an instant INR 200 wallet cash

    redBus ignites the holiday spirit with the launch of the ‘Download Cash’ festival that provides new users with an instant INR 200 wallet cash

    Bengaluru: redBus, India’s largest bus ticketing platform, is bringing the holiday cheer early for countless bus travellers this year, by announcing its ‘Download Cash festival’ which is set to go live on December 18th.

    In keeping with the spirit of the year-end holiday season, redBus will offer its first time users an instant wallet cash of INR 200 as soon as they download the redBus app between 18th-31st December by applying the referral code ‘CASH200’. The new users can also get additional savings upto INR 150 by applying the code ‘FIRST’ while completing their first transaction.

    Furthermore, existing users can also join in on the excitement with an assured cashback of up to INR 100 for tickets booked between 21st-24th December.

    The ‘Download Cash festival’ will begin from December 18th and continue till December 31st, catering to the travel around Christmas and New Year. Through the sale, redBus is keen to encourage a number of first-time users to skip the long queues at the booking counters and select the seat of their own choice while booking their tickets on redBus. It also aims to encourage traditional train travellers, who haven’t been able to travel lately due to limited availability of trains, to book bus tickets online. Through this offer, the travellers can safely make their Christmas and year-end travel arrangements from the comfort of their homes.

    redBus has set the benchmark for safety in the bus travel industry with its Safety+ initiative, a certification for bus operators who follow the highest standards of excellence in safety and sanitisation.

    From ensuring a regular supply of hand sanitizers to thermal screening of passengers, Safety+ certified bus operators vigorously follow a detailed set of safety measures to ensure customers have a safe and hassle-free journey. With a slew of safety guidelines strictly enforced by Safety+ certified bus operators, redBus acts as a bridge that safely unites millions across India, enabling them to celebrate the year-end festivities with their families and loved ones.

  • Hungama adds Supa Strikas to programming line-up

    Hungama adds Supa Strikas to programming line-up

    MUMBAI: Hungama, known for engaging kids with entertaining content that is specially curated for them, will be taking the fun quotient a notch higher with the launch of a brand new show – Supa Strikas on 21 December  2020 at 7.30 PM.

    Reaching out to a whopping 670* + million kids, the channel has consistently been entertaining young viewers with shows and characters that they love and has become a favourite amongst them. The Hagemaru Show is one of the most loved shows in the genre enjoying a high viewership with 427* impressions along with Shinchan which garnered 319* impressions in addition to other popular series like Selfie with Bajrangi and more.

    Following the success of the existing series, the channel will now launch Supa Strikas for the first time on Indian Television. With a narrative that follows a leading football team as they journey across the globe and outer space, the series will take the young viewers through the behind the scenes at the world's greatest soccer club who are on a quest to win the prized Super League trophy.

    “Hungama, through the shows and characters, has always celebrated the spirit of childhood; capturing the child’s imagination, playfulness and the zest to be adventurous. Kids have loved the series that we bring on Hungama and the consistent performance of the channel along with the success of all our shows are a testament to its success and popularity. Our newest show Supa Strikas will be a perfect addition to the channel bringing in elements of fun, adventure, sportsmanship and friendship,” said a Disney Kids Network spokesperson.

    Today, the Disney Kids Network is one of the most preferred destinations for entertainment by kids and commands a share of 31 per cent*among kids.

    * Source: BMW Software, India Urban, 2-14 YRS, All Days, 0700-2300, Wk 41-48’ 20

    Catch Supa Strikas on Hungama from Monday to Thursday at 7:30 PM, 21 December onwards.

  • Zee Thirai brings to you a matinee movie experience with ‘1 Mani Thirai Arangam’

    Zee Thirai brings to you a matinee movie experience with ‘1 Mani Thirai Arangam’

    MUMBAI: Zee Thirai, in the true spirit of its brand tag line “Rathathil Kalandhadu Cinema” is set to dazzle ardent movie buffs with yet another special segment – 1 – Mani Thirai Arangam – creating a matinee experience in the comfort of your homes. The uniqueness of this segment offering is that every week, the channel will curate seven of Tamil cinema’s finest based on a special theme. Now Tamil movie enthusiasts can have a no holds barred movie viewing experience as matinee shows are set to become synonymous with Zee Thirai!

    The first of the themes called 'Mersal Heroines', will showcase an eclectic mix of women-centric movies.  Tamil Cinema is a land full of stories and genres, with a strong collection of women-led films that have set a benchmark for fresh and unique story telling. Reflecting the nature of strong Tamil women, the films being telecasted next week bring out stories of strong willed, independent, yet every-day women. It is sure to keep ardent fans enthralled for a week starting 21 December 2020, at 1:00pm every day.  Beyond this, week on week, the audiences will be served with a fresh buffet of unique and carefully curated thematic movies which will keep them coming back for more.

    The below movies will be screened on Zee Thirai during the week of 21 December  – 27 December  at 1:00 pm.

    21 December – Devi 2

    22 December – Lisaa 3D

    23 December – Nadigaiyar Thilagam

    24 December – Dora

    25 December – Kanaa

    26 December – Baagamathie

    27 December – Mohini

    Devi 2 is a horror comedy drama starring Tamannah Bhatia in the lead role, and Prabhu Deva, Nandita Swetha, Jagan, and Kovai Sarala n supporting roles and is a sequel to the 2016 movie Devi. Lisaa 3D is also a horror flick and India’s first ever stereoscopic 3D horror film that stars Anjali, Sam Jones, Makarand Deshpande and Yogi Babu in the lead roles. Nadigaiyar Thilagam, a critically acclaimed 2018 biography of the veteran yester year south Indian heroine, Savithri is the story of her journey from humble beginnings to extraordinary fame. The movie stars Keerthy Suresh, Dulquer Salman, Samantha and Vijay Devarakonda in pivotal roles.  Dora is a 2017 action horror-thriller movie at the centre of which is a woman – Pavalakkodi, played by Nayanthara – and a haunted car. This movie is definitely worth a watch for fans of spooky thrillers!

    The Sivakarthikeyan, Sathyaraj and Aishwarya Rajesh starrer, Kanaa is an inspiring sports drama about Kowsi (Aishwarya Rajesh) and Murugesan (Sathyaraj) and their shared dream of carving a place for Kowsi in the Indian women’s cricket team. The 2018 thriller-horror film, Bhaagamathie stars Anushka Shetty and Jayaram in the lead roles, and Unni Mukundan, Murali Sharma, and Asha Sarath in other pivotal roles.  Mohini is a Tamil horror film directed by Ramana Madhesh, starring Trisha and Jackky Bhagnani in the lead roles.

    Every day starting from 21 December 2020, catch 1-Mani Thirai Arangam at 1:00 pm only on Zee Thirai.

  • CNN’s ‘Reconnect’ explores the culinary map of India

    CNN’s ‘Reconnect’ explores the culinary map of India

    While the global pandemic has left many unable to travel, an international community of Indian chefs is championing the many tastes of India from afar by bringing the food of their hometowns to some of the world’s finest restaurants. This month, in a 30-minute-special, CNN’s ‘Reconnect’ delves into this rich and diverse nation through the eyes and dishes of India’s culinary pioneers.

    For chef Palash Mitra, cooking Bengali fish curry, or macher jhol, is the one thing that never fails to take him back to his hometown of Kolkata. The city is renowned for its colourful festivals including the Durga Puja. This year with festivities forced to go virtual, food became a way for Mitra to celebrate his heritage from afar. In his Michelin-starred restaurant in Hong Kong, he has been serving up Kolkata traditions to a whole new audience.   

    In a village just outside of the Northern Indian city of Chandigarh, chef Jessi Singh grew up living the true farm to table experience. Singh would milk the buffalo, churn the milk, and spread the ghee on home-baked bread. CNN learns how the now Melbourne-based chef is bringing this fresh philosophy to his family of restaurants, by serving up dishes that pay homage to his relatives and village upbringing.

    Chef Garima Arora is the first and only female Indian chef to earn a Michelin star, and was rated Asia’s top female chef in 2019. But beyond her accolades, Arora is also spotlighting India’s uncharted culinary diversity through her non-profit organization, ‘Food Forward India’. Last year, Arora and her team committed to mapping out the cuisine of every state in the country. She started with Telangana, the state she was born in, finding inspiration for several new dishes at her restaurant in Bangkok.

    Growing up in Delhi, chef Kuldeep Negi learned his craft from the colourful food and spice stalls of the centuries old Chandni Chowk market. Today, Negi is keeping the essence of Delhi’s bazaars alive at his renowned restaurant in Singapore. One of his best-sellers is tandoori prawns, which celebrates the distinctive smoky flavours of Delhi’s tandoors alongside the fresh ingredients available in his new home.

    For chef Deepanker Khosla, mutton biriyani brings back memories of his childhood in the Uttar Pradesh city of Prayagraj. Inspired by his home, Khosla built a sustainable restaurant in the heart of Bangkok. The restaurant farm conserves rainwater to raise hundreds of fish and over 40 varieties of plants. When the pandemic put restaurant dining on pause, Khosla began serving up his signature biryani to 15 different communities each day.

    Airtimes for 30-minute special:

    Saturday, December 26 at 4:30pm IST

    Sunday, December 27 at 10.30pm IST

  • YAAP onboards new clients, and continues aggressive recruitment amidst the pandemic

    YAAP onboards new clients, and continues aggressive recruitment amidst the pandemic

    MUMBAI: With its vision ‘Built For Now’, YAAP, a new-age specialized content design, discovery & distribution company, has won over 20 new businesses and four awards in the last few months. The clients onboarded are largely from BFSI, travel & tourism, government and gaming sectors covering names such as NPCI, Mobile Premier League, NITI Aayog, Meghalaya Tourism and Dubai Fitness Challenge. YAAP will be responsible for the content strategy & development, influencer marketing, media buying and social media of these new mandates.

    Owing to the unpredictable market situation where industries are collapsing and employees are in continued distress due to pay cuts, YAAP continues to celebrate its employees’ efforts with no pay cuts and no layoffs. Moreover, appraisals have been conducted.

    A company that is ambitious towards servicing its clients to the best, has opened 12 new positions across sales, creative, servicing and strategy. YAAP is looking for people who are striving towards a collective goal no matter the odds.

    It is said that every new phase often comes with hurdles. With this, YAAP would like to announce that Irfan Khan has moved on from the company. He was a partner at YAAP where he was responsible for the influencer marketing vertical, new business development and overall operations of the company. Manan Kapur, partner at YAAP will be taking on the influencer marketing business.  

    Sharing his views on the company's novel moves, YAAP partner Irfan Khan Partner said, "In my time at YAAP, we achieved the growth trajectory few companies have, especially in the content and influencer marketing space. We successfully led some of the biggest content-led activations across India and the Middle East. It's always bittersweet to leave a place enjoyed and helped nurture, but today we have a solid foundation that has been set. I'm positive the team will take it to greater heights in the near future.”

    YAAP partner Manan Kapur said, “The past year has seen a drastic shift in the status quo, and YAAP was no exception. This change meant we had to be more agile and adapt to the new normal while keeping our team, our clients & our partners as our primary priority. And now, as 2020 comes to a close, we have an ever-expanding team, we’ve forged many new relationships and we’re entering the new year stronger than ever, because of our unfaltering passion and our unwavering vision. I look forward to adding influencer marketing to my responsibilities and build on the strong foundation set by Irfan.”

  • Teamwork Communications Group Celebrates 11th Milestone year in Communication and PR: Continues to grow in post Lockdown Period

    Teamwork Communications Group Celebrates 11th Milestone year in Communication and PR: Continues to grow in post Lockdown Period

    New Delhi,17th December, 2020:  Leading media relations agency Teamwork Communications Group has marked its 11th milestone year, displaying stupendous growth in business and workforce despite a COVID induced economic slowdown. The healthcare specialist agency added over 50 new clients to its kitty this year covering not just healthcare business, but an overarching list of accounts from diverse industries. The Group also increased its workforce by 30% this year.

    Founded by media and PR specialists Kamal Narayan and Nikky Gupta in 2009, Teamwork Communications Group has over the past 11 years cemented its place in the industry as the only healthcare specialist communications agency.

    However, it has also successfully diversified its communications capability beyond healthcare to effectively service an array of clients including start-ups, corporates, education and lifestyle sectors.Keeping up with the needs of the time, the agency expanding beyond its traditional PR business by establishing a dedicated social and digital media division a few years back.The digital and social media division has also show remarkable growth in recent years.

    “It was a difficult year for the industry, yet we managed not only to retain a majority of our clients but also add a large number of new businesses. Together, our PR and digital media divisions added over 50 new clients to our business, bucking the reigning trend of economic slowdown. Interestingly, a large number of new clients came from healthcare, pharma, EdTech and other technology based sectors. A number of organizations chose to cut down their large advertising budgets and turn to low-cost and sustainable PR activities to ensure a continuity in their brand communications,” said Nikky Gupta, Co-founder & CEO , Teamwork Communications Group.

    Despite the challenges of a lockdown and remote working requirements, the organization also continued to augment its human resource, increasing its workforce by 30% this year. Almost all departments of the organizations including PR, digital solutions as well as content hired aggressively to meet the needs of a growing business.

    Some of the new clients that added to the Teamwork kitty this year include healthcare providers NOVA IVF Fertility Clinic, Regency Hospital, Ujala Cygnus Group of Hospitals and Max Ventilators; international aesthetics giant Alma Lasers; EdTechstartupBada Business;pharmaceutical major ENTOD Pharma; sustainability startup The Better Home and snacks major Bikano to name a few.

    The Group continues to serve its longstanding list of patrons along with new clients.

    “Opportunities in traditional media remained limited this year on account of closures of several newspaper supplements and editions as well as an overall news focus on COVID related developments. However, we reacted swiftly to this shift and devised overarching communication strategies for our clients that gave them visibility in both traditional and digital media along with cultivating thought leadership for them. Going forward, we are looking to expand our presence beyond our conventional stronghold regions of Delhi and Mumbai and have a wider presence in southern India,” added Nikky Gupta.

    Going forward, Teamwork Communications Group is looking to expand its presence beyond its conventional stronghold regions of Delhi and Mumbai and have a wider presence in southern India.

  • Indian Brand Mivi Launches First Made in India Bluetooth Speaker ROAM 2

    Indian Brand Mivi Launches First Made in India Bluetooth Speaker ROAM 2

    Mivi, a homegrown electronics brand, today launched its first Made in India product. ROAM 2 which is the upgraded version of its highly successful product ROAM 1.0 is the 1st Bluetooth speaker which is fully Made in India. This is the first product Mivi has produced in India end to end i.e. from imagining it, to designing it, to building it, to fixing it, to testing it and even boxing it right in our country. 

    The company was previously designing and developing the products in India and was getting the products manufactured from other countries. Now, the company has taken the fast strides into the manufacturing space by setting up its own unit at Hyderabad, India. This also aligns with the Prime ministers’ Vocal for Local and Aatma Nirbhar initiatives. The launch of this plant marked the beginning of a new journey for Mivi- to imagine, design, engineer and build locally but also to compete at international standards.

    Midhula Devbhaktuni, Co-founder, Mivi, shared, “Within a short span of time Mivi has become a most sought out brand in the Audio technology space. The market response and the success of our products have propelled us to take the plunge into manufacturing space and we have set up fully integrated manufacturing unit in India and soon we will be making all the products completely in India. We are sure that this product will become even bigger and successful than its predecessor Roam 1.0 and will soon become the most sought-after Bluetooth speaker.”

    Roam 2 is a 5-watt speakers and has 24 hours of play time at mid volume, Aircraft grade aluminium grill, Bluetooth 5.0 and many more exciting features. The biggest advantage for Roam 2 is its sound. It has a HD Stereo Sound and powerful bass that has been fine tuned for the Indian audience’s preference of hearing music. Roam 2 is available in 4 beautiful metallic colors and is completely dust and waterproof. It will not be wrong to say, this speaker is really pushing the limits of audio technology.

    The brand has been disrupting the audio space with its high-quality audio and charging products for a while now. The founders remain confident that the customers will encourage and support an Indian brand with an exceptional product and value pricing over other foreign brands. They believe that many first time customers will join the brand with this flagship product and we just couldn't agree more!

    The speaker retails for Rs. 1199. It is available at Mivi.in, Amazon and Flipkart right now.