ITV

Category: Press Release

  • Launch of ‘Modi Tsu’namo’ mobile game by Milestone Interactive Group

    Launch of ‘Modi Tsu’namo’ mobile game by Milestone Interactive Group

    MUMBAI: With BJP’s recent win and Narendra Modi all geared up to take charge of India, Milestone Interactive Group, India’s leading game publishing, marketing, retail and distribution organization has launched the Modi Tsu’namo’ mobile game. The game is available on the Google Play Store and celebrates the spirit of elections in a fun and casual manner whereby the player has to match at least three or more faces of popular Indian election candidates including Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal and Mamta Banerjee in a single swipe of each leader in any continuous motion combination and earn points. Combinations containing Modi will fetch more points than those containing any other leader. Play the game and celebrate this win for Modi and for India and lead the change by sharing it on Facebook.

    Commenting on the launch of the game, Mr Jayont R. Sharma, Chairman & CEO, Milestone Interactive Group said, “The win for BJP and Narendra Modi in the recent Loksabha elections, has encouraged us to launch theModi Tsu’namo’ mobile game. The game is part of our celebration of this momentous occasion. We are certain that with all the support Shri Narendra Modi has garnered, the players will have a good time playing this mobile game.”

    The game is available on: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.milestone.moditsunamo

  • Zing launches Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya!

    Zing launches Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya!

    MUMBAI: How far would you go to save your love? If your love was at risk, what would you do? What is the line between love and passion?
    Stay tuned to Zing this Friday, 23rd May, 2014 as it answers all these queries and many more with the launch of its new television series ‘Pyaar Tune KyaKiya’. Theshow telecasts 13 original episodes depictingreal,young, burning love,with raw emotion unlike anything ever witnessed in the Indian home before!

    Set in the heart of India,the show seeks inspiration from heart throbbing love stories of everyday. Zing’s – Pyaar Tune KyaKiyadelves into the lives of star crossed lovers, played by the biggest celebrities on Indian Television. The weekly series demonstrates real love stories, where passion meets crime with a twist! Each story is bound in a rich mix of lover’s affection and devotion imprinting the minds of viewers with the question “Isne crime to kiya, lekin kuch galat nahi kiya!”

    Keeping in line with the unusual show format celebrity hosts, Meiyang Chang and SurbhiJyoti will take viewers through a journeyof the plot, background and characters during each episode. On his association with the show, Chang mentioned “Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya is very close to my heart as I believe in pursuing my dreams just like these lovers. I play the role of a Narrator and direct the audience, aiding them with necessary facts to conclude the outcome of each amorous saga. I also really appreciate that we the hosts, shoot at the plot during each episode making this format of production very innovative, bringing out more connection to each story.”

    SurbhiJyoti went on to add “Shooting Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya was so much of fun! I too am a narrator and my role is to ensure the pieces of each story are seamlessly put together for our viewers to follow. The stories are based on real love stories and are very touching. I always feel for the characters and their emotions on screen. I feel the series is unlike any show currently on television and our fans would love our new avatar!”

    Speaking about Zing’s foray into this newly explored genre of fiction, Mr Vishnu Shankar, Programming Head at Zing stated, “Zing as a channel is skewed towards the youth audience. This fact becomes vital when we seek to provide varied content that keeps these youngsters coming back for

     

    more. So keeping in line with our philosophy, we are proud to announcePyaar Tune KyaKiya. It’s a show that’s different involves passionate, open ended love stories leaving the viewers empathizing with the antagonist rather than succumbing him to his wrong doings. The show is very bold in nature and has an amazing start cast including Sana Khan, ShaleenMalhotra, PratyushaBanerji, Ayaz Ahmed and many more. The content is captivating even to me and we are extremely delighted to add this original series to our bucket of shows”

    Adding to the response MrAnurag Bedi, EVP & Business Head- Zing stated “We recently revamped the channel and positioned it as fun-loving and for the young. It has always been my personal belief that youth nowadays are bolder and follow their heart where ever it would lead them. Similarly for Pyaar Tune KyaKiya we drew inspiration from the confidence of this younger generation. We tried to bring alive a novel concept to the regular love-fiction already on air by adding the unique touch of letting the audience decide for themselves the conclusion of each episode. It gives me great pride to launch Pyaar Tune KyaKiya only on India’s wholly youth oriented channel”

    Relive passion like you knew it with the premiere of “Pyaar Tune KyaKiya” on Friday 23rd May, 2014 at 7 pm!

  • NDTV records highest traffic for Indian website on Election results day

    NDTV records highest traffic for Indian website on Election results day

    On May 16, on the counting day of the LokSabha Elections, NDTV.com set a new record for the highest traffic on an Indian website, on a single day.

     

    NDTV registered over 13 billion hits in a single day, as per Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the leading cloud platform for media and content delivery to NDTV and almost all other media companies in the country.

     

    Speaking on this, Suparna Singh, Managing Editor and CEO, NDTV Convergence Limited said – “ndtv.com had committed to delivering the fastest results on air and online and we spent months gearing up for what we knew would be unprecedented traffic. Elections is in our DNA and we were determined to give Indian users a seamless, in-depth and complete experience.”

     

    Kawaljit Singh Bedi, Chief Technology Officer, NDTV Convergence, said, “We are committed to providing our viewers with real time information be it online or offline. For an event as big as the Election, it was important that our viewers had access to fast, real-time information. During the Election results, we received over 13 billion hits, the highest for any site on a single day in India, and we were able to provide exceptional site performance on web and mobile without any hindrance. This was possible with the support of Akamai as they absorbed 99% of our traffic on to the Akamai Intelligent Platform.”

     

    Sidharth Malik, Managing Director and Vice President, India, Akamai Technologies said “On May 16th, counting day for Indian elections, Indian News sites witnessed the highest ever internet traffic. NDTV partnered with Akamai on this day to provide reliable and scalable solutions to support this high traffic volume. We are happy to report that NDTV got over 13 billion hits across its digital properties that day, which is the highest ever traffic any Indian website has got on a single day.  We at Akamai technologies are very pleased to have played a part in providing NDTV with a scalable and robust infrastructure on such an important day for the company”

     

    NDTV also had new records being set for its digital properties including concurrent users hitting an all-time high of over 500,000 users as per Google Analytics. Some other single day statistics as per Google Analytics –

     

    · 11.6 million unique visitors across all platforms, the highest ever in a single day.

    · 117.7 million Pageviews across platforms, the highest single day ever

    · 19.6 million video streams with an average viewing time of about 9 minutes

    · Over 200000 concurrent users watching video on the website

     

    NDTV was also the number 1 app on iOS across all categories in India and the WAP site registered its all-time highest concurrent users further strengthening the group’s belief that India is going to be a Mobile first digital economy

  • OLX to offer 3-month internship to outstanding young talent on Portfolio Night 12

    OLX to offer 3-month internship to outstanding young talent on Portfolio Night 12

    MUMBAI: As an initiative, Portfolio Night is possibly one of the few events that draws immense admiration from all quarters of the advertising industry. What it also lends itself as is an opportunity for clients to reach out to the budding young talents who look up to inspiration in some form or the other.

     

    India’s leading classifieds entity – Olx.in, has announced its association with Portfolio Night where one winner will be offered a chance to work as an intern for 3 months on a brief set up by the client. The candidate will be chosen from the final set of winners that will be decided by an All Star Jury at the end of the event.

     

    Announcing its partnership with Portfolio Night, Amarjit Bata, CEO – OLX South Asia commented: “A pertinent challenge in an emerging economy such as India is that of giving avenues for young talent to flourish. Portfolio Night is a great opportunity for young creative professionals and aspirants to showcase their work to stalwarts of the advertising industry. OLX is all about actualising real value and Portfolio Night is all about that. As a young brand and a market leader, we want to make a contribution towards encouraging young professionals. That’s why we have decided to give an opportunity to one of the top three contestants of Portfolio Night to intern at OLX.”

     

    Lowe Lintas and Partners is hosting the Indian edition of the world’s largest advertising portfolio review-cum-recruitment event- Portfolio Night 12 in Mumbai. The event is being held simultaneously across 20 plus cities around the world and seeks to unite the advertising and design communitiesin identifying young and upcoming talent and mentoring them on the creative opportunities ahead.

  • RAPP India launches McDonalds Royale Burger through McDElections campaign

    RAPP India launches McDonalds Royale Burger through McDElections campaign

    MUMBAI: McDonald’s and RAPP India have recently launched the #McDElections campaign for the launch of two premium burgers – the Grilled Chicken Royale and the McPaneer Royale, in their menu.

     

    Phase 1 of the campaign kicked off with all the McDonald’s foods seemingly electing the leader amongst their candidates. The cast included a number of participating candidate burgers each with an interesting personification and McDonald’s foods that play their supporters. With the just to be launched Royale Burger duo threatening to sweep the polls.

     

    Each of the candidates had a manifesto (on www.mcdelections.in) that was designed to help them win the McDElections in the light of the threat from the new Royale Burger Duo. The prelaunch viral video, done for Phase 1, mimics a classic TV interview of two of the candidates McSpicy Paneer and Chicken Maharaja Mac.

     

    Facebook posts and banners set up the context of the McDElections with the candidates and their supporter foods all campaigning for victory.
    But the inevitable happens, and the Royale Burger Duo wins the McDElections and forms the McDSenate. And the campaign moves to phase 2.

     

    The Phase 2 Viral video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoJMVxrH8wI) had the first interview of the Royal Burger Duo after they swept into power. The Royale Duo talk about their manifesto and the many “Right to Taste” bills that they intend to pass like ‘Burgers must be eaten with two hands’ and how one should enjoy eating a burger like a king, and savour each bite. But even as they have come into power the voices of dissent can be heard and the Chicken Maharajah Mac and the Spicy Front are quite vocal about the fact that they will either give the Royale Duo a tough time from the opposition or skeptical about how long the Royale Duo will last in Power.

    Two interesting aspects of this campaign are the Breaking News section and the Twitter campaign.

     

    The Breaking News section which constantly refreshed captured the action in the McDElections eg – ‘McVeggie Burger calls for all Veggies to unite in a bid to fend off the Royale Challenge’ or ‘Royale Duo mobbed in Mumbai’. It also got featured on Facebook and on www.mcdelections.in
    The twitter campaign drew inspiration from the action in the Lok Sabha Elections using #mcdelections tweets crafted around real life stories of the current elections.

     

    The latest from McDonald’s India is the ‘Know Your Royale Burger’ contest to check how well the people know their Royale Burgers. There will be 40 lucky winners announced everyday, who can win their Royale burger vouchers.

     

    The McDonald’s India Twitter handle (@mcdonaldsindia) will also launch the ‘Right To Taste (RTT)’ and many more exciting competitions shortly.
    Says Rameet Arora, Senior Director Marketing & Menu Management, McDonalds India “Capturing the mood of the customer and the buzz in the air is always a trick that elevates campaigns and gives them life. The McDelection campaign did just that! The Royale burgers launch got a fitting launch platform through this highly engaging and interactive digital campaign”.

     

    Says Venkat Mallik, President RAPP India, “The McDElections campaign has provided us with a fantastic platform that helps us set up the food value of current and new Royale Burgers from McDonald’s mixed in with the spice that the election brings in. The wide cast of characters with 7 candidates and many supporters has helped us build a property which can potentially go on for a really long time ahead. The campaign lends itself extremely well to all parts of the digital landscape and we have used Facebook, Viral Videos, Youtube, a Microsite, Twitter and Banners”

  • ICICI Bank launches redesigned website to enhance customer experience

    ICICI Bank launches redesigned website to enhance customer experience

    MUMBAI: ICICI Bank, India’s largest private sector bank, today announced the launch of its redesigned website to offer its customers an enhanced experience across devices such as desktops, mobiles and tablets. Users of the website can now receive location specific information and offers, view their friends’ activities, rate and review products, share their opinions on social media and take part in interactive games to enhance their knowledge about banking. The new design offers a seamless experience by auto adjustment of layout to match the user’s screen size and platform.

     

    Commenting on the launch, ICICI Bank Executive Director Rajiv Sabharwal, said: “Digital channels today account for a large part of our customer transactions. We have taken a decision to launch a new look website, which will offer our customers a unique, unparalleled experience of interacting with the Bank and help us understand their needs better, so that we can continue to provide them a world class banking experience.” 

     

    Some of the key highlights of the website are:

     

    Socially integrated: Through the ‘F-connect’ utility by Facebook, users will be able to view a dashboard where they can track their friends’ activities on the website. For instance, one will be able to see how his friend has reviewed/rated a specific product or service by the Bank. Users can also share or like a wide range of offers and discounts in the ‘Offer zone’ on social media

     

    Customised: The website understands the need of a user and tries to display content based on the user’s behavior on the site. Certain features like banners and customer care numbers are targeted and set according to a user’s location.

     

    Banking made fun: On the gaming portal on the website, anybody can play games, learn banking and earn points to be on top of the leaderboard. All games hosted are device friendly and responsive

     

    Better visual experience: Bigger banner placements across the website including product pages, which enhance visual appeal and make information consumption easier

     

    Logical and predictive search: Ability to search long phrases and auto completion of keywords

     

    Responsive: Imagery led, clean look and feel with easy reading across a wide range of devices. Navigation has been simplified to incorporate larger icons and suitable for touch screen devices.

     

    This initiative underscores the Bank’s ongoing strategy to integrate social media linkages with banking, which it forayed into last year with the launch of the world’s most comprehensive banking application on Facebook; ‘Pockets by ICICI Bank’, allowing customers to carry out a range of financial and non-financial transactions on the social media platform.

     

    The Bank services its large customer base through a multi-channel delivery network of branches, ATMs, call center, internet banking , mobile banking and social media banking.

  • BBC retains title as #1 choice for Asia Pacific’s premium audience

    BBC retains title as #1 choice for Asia Pacific’s premium audience

    MUMBAI: The BBC’s international news offering has cemented its leadership position amongst Asia Pacific’s high income earners. The Ipsos Affluent Survey Asia Pacific for Q3 and Q4 2013 reveals that the BBC’s cross-platform news brand, which includes 24 hour global news channel BBC World News, and bbc.com, which offers up-to-the minute international news and in-depth analysis, is the top choice for premium audiences for the fourth year running.  The survey shows that the BBC has extended its lead over its competitors in the past 12 months.  It also reveals that BBC World News is most effective for reaching the top tier of earners as it has more viewers from this much-coveted demographic than any other news channel.

     

    The new research also shows that the BBC has reinforced its reputation as the most trustworthy and insightful news brand in Asia, and that it is recognised for offering the highest quality journalism of any news channel or print title.

     

    Jim Egan, CEO of BBC Global News Ltd, says, “In the past 18 months we have implemented an ambitious strategy to bring our international news operations together into an integrated offer for global audiences. These latest results show that our strategy is yielding rewards and that our target audience has welcomed the increased investment across TV, online and mobile, together with our ongoing commitment to providing the most comprehensive news and current affairs content for the Asia Pacific market.”

     

    He added, “In terms of overall reach we’ve made great gains within our competitive set but, even more importantly, these figures show that we are way ahead in terms of the coveted premium audience.  As the leader in global breaking news, with bureaux across the region, we welcome the confirmation that the BBC remains the brand of choice for discerning audiences looking for a trusted and truly global perspective on the world’s most important stories.”

     

    The popularity of BBC World News is further reflected in the finding that, for the first time, it is the most popular channel for frequent business travellers watching from their hotel rooms.

     

    The survey also reveals that mobile has played an important role in the recent results.  It shows that the BBC was the number one news brand across apps and mobile for premium audiences.  These IASAP findings support a recent BBC World News and bbc.com global mobile study into the usage of mobile devices by affluent consumers which emphasises the growing trend for news consumption on mobile platforms.

     

    The IASAP study surveys pan-regional and local media consumption and product consumption among affluent adults and business professionals in main cities in the Asia Pacific region. The latest survey covers Q3-Q4 2013.

     

    Source: Ipsos Affluent Survey Asia Pacific, Q3-Q4 2013, Q1-Q4 2012, Q1-Q4 2011, Q1-Q4 2010. Based on monthly reach % to one-decimal point unless otherwise specified. Cross-platform news brand/total brand reach: TV/website/mobile reach.  Premium audience/high income earners: personal monthly income US $10K+ (N=405; projected universe of 232,600).  Frequent business travellers: taken international business trips 3+/6+ last year (N=941/339; projected universe of 618,312/183,679). 

  • India gets pride of place at 43rd IAA World Congress

    India gets pride of place at 43rd IAA World Congress

    MUMBAI: The IAA Chapter Excellence Award is awarded to the IAA chapter judged to have made the best overall contribution to achieving the aims and objectives of the IAA over the previous two years. This year, four chapters competed – India, Austria, Lebanon and Serbia.

    According to Heather Leembruggen, Chairman of IAA Awards 2014 Committee, “IAA India Chapter had stiff competition from three other countries, but the variety of events across India and the quality of each event, put IAA India Chapter on top to win this coveted recognition.”

    The presentation of the 2014 IAA Chapter Excellence Award was made during the well attended 43rd IAA World Congress in Beijing on 10th May 2014.

    On behalf of IAA, Mr Faris Abouhamad,  Chairman & Worldwide President expressed his happiness and extended congratulations to the India Chapter and invited the Chapter President, Mr Srinivasan Swamy, to receive the award.  Mr Abouhamad praised the work the India Chapter had done in the past two years and said he was indeed pleased with the Chapter for making an outstanding contribution to the core values and mission of IAA – in particular, the providing of a forum for international industry debate, advocacy and professional development opportunities and an exceptionally healthy growth in memberships.  “The inventiveness shown by the India Chapter is commendable and will, I am sure, resonate to all other chapters so that we can hear about similar initiatives by IAA chapters in other countries” he said.

    While accepting the award, amidst a thunderous applause, Mr Swamy said that it was the cumulative result of the good work by all the Managing Committee members at IAA India.  He also thanked the IAA members in India for their continuous support and involvement in IAA initiatives.

    Some background to IAA Chapter Excellence Award

    The Chapter Excellence Award (formerly called the Golden Tulip Award) is presented to the IAA Chapter judged to have made the best overall contribution to achieving the aims and objectives of the IAA over the previous two years.  The award was established in 1957 by the IAA Holland Chapter. It was originally presented to the European company recognized for the best international advertising campaign.  Then, at an IAA Pan-European meeting in Amsterdam on 22 February 1973, it was decided it would in future be for IAA Chapters in the European Area.  From 1980 it was extended to embrace all Chapters worldwide.

    Former Recipients of IAA Chapter Excellence Award are :

    IAA India Chapter is also proud that Pardeep Guha its Past President and Area Director, IAA Asia Pacific was honored at the World Congress. He was the recipient of the Samir Faris Award  this year, making him the 12 beneficiary since its inception in 1990. IAA established the “Samir Fares Award” in recognition of IAA President Elect Samir Fares who had an untimely demise. It is awarded to professionals in recognition of their outstanding service in furthering the objectives of IAA.

    The past Samir Fares Award Winners are: 

    1990     Claude Chauvet                                             2002     Peter Combaz
    1992     Archie E. Pitcher                                            2004     David Hanger
    1994     Heather Leembruggen                                   2006     Michael Lee
    1996     Gohei Kogure                                                            2008     Jean Claude Boulos 
    1998     Loula Zaklama                                               2010     Hervé de Clerc
    2000     Senyon Kim          

    Commenting on the Award, Pradeep Guha said “I never expected this and I am humbled. I am thankful to the IAA Executive Committee and the Global Board for this honor. I do hope I can contribute more to further the cause of this respected body”. 

    Another important recognition went India’s way when Faris Abouhamad announced that Pheroza Bilimoria be given the Honorary Life Membership of IAA for all her contribution to the global body. Pheroza was till recently the Honorary Secretary of IAA Global and has been actively involved in IAA India Chapter since its inception.  Ms Billimoria could not attend the Congress in Beijing.  She was therefore given the certificate of IAA Honorary Life Membership at the IAA Young Turks Forum event in Mumbai on 13th May by IAA India President Srinivasan Swamy.  Said Ms Bilimoria “I am so deeply touched, honored and, most of all, humbled, by this gracious recognition. I  used to often sit in the audience at IAA World Congresses to admire and applaud those of my seniors who were the deserving recipients of this honour;  so it came to me as such an amazing delight to find that I have now joined their ranks!” 

    It was an Indian Summer at the 43rd IAA World Congress. In addition to the top three awards mentioned, the India born Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Worldwide was the recipient of the most prestigious IAA Award for her contribution to global marketing and advertising. 

  • Get ready for extreme action with Joel Lambert in manhunt only on Discovery Channel

    Get ready for extreme action with Joel Lambert in manhunt only on Discovery Channel

    MUMBAI: Discovery Channel is coming with its brand new series MANHUNT, featuring former Navy SEAL Joel Lambert in an extreme version of hide-and-go-seek. With this series Discovery Channel is all set to thrill its viewers as they can see Joel rescuing himself from the world’s most elite tracking team units in some treacherous terrains.

     

    The seven part series premieresevery night at 10 PM starting 19th May, only on Discovery Channel.

     

    Filmed on-location in the United States, Poland, South Africa, Philippines, Panama and South Korea, each episode of MANHUNT follows Joel as he is inserted into unknown territory with nothing but a basic survival kit and a canteen of water; he then has up to 48 hours to reach a pre-determined extraction point, while being pursued by a different tracking unit each week. Joel is given minimal supplies to survive—and anything else he needs, he must to find along the way.

     

    With cameras capturing the action from both perspectives, viewers will experience the high tension from both – Joel and the special operative teams. An expert in escape and evasion, Joel’s background has well-positioned him to prey on each unit’s hidden flaw—but evading highly specialized tracking units and combatting dehydration, hunger, and the elements proves to be a greater challenge.

     

    MANHUNT is produced for DNI by Discovery Studios. For DNI, Sarah Davies is executive producer and for Discovery Studios, Eddie Barbini and Brian Knappmiller are executive producers.

     

  • NDTV is no 1 in the UK

    NDTV is no 1 in the UK

    MUMBAI: NDTV, UK’s longest running Indian news channel is the top choice for the Indian elections coverage. Backed by a huge marketing campaign on radio, television and online, NDTV 24×7 is witnessing record audience figures since it joined the audience measuring body, BARB. Data for week ending 27th April shows the channel is the most watched Indian news broadcaster. NDTV has sustained consistent viewership for the last four weeks.

    Today, 16 May NDTV will present non-stop programming from 7am when viewers will be able to watch Prannoy Roy, India’s election Guru on India Decides – The Final Countdown, starting from 7:00am (IST) on NDTV 24×7, presenting the first and most credible look at who India has voted for.

    The Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (BARB) is the official source of television viewing figures in the UK. It commissions specialist research companies Ipsos MORI, Kantar Media and RSMB to collect data that represent the television viewing behavior of the UK. On a weekly basis, BARB publishes a weekly reach data of the channels who’ve subscribed to BARB. As per BARB official data NDTV 24×7 is no.1 / most viewed Indian news channel in UK. Following is the last 4 week published data.

    NDTV’s 10 most popular programmes are