Category: Press Release

Discovery Studios signs top executive producer Mary Pelloni to overall deal

MUMBAI: Discovery Studios today announced an overall term deal with executive producer and television veteran Mary Pelloni. Pelloni will develop and produce series and specials under the Discovery Studios banner.

“Discovery Studios continues to attract the industry’s top creative talent and building an innovative operation for the production of globally successful television. Mary is an industry leader who shares Discovery’s values and brand sensibilities. The addition of her expertise to our already strong roster will ensure Discovery Studios continues to develop and produce programs that engage viewers with compelling stories, fascinating characters and high-quality production values,” said Lee Bartlett, President, Discovery Studios.

“I have partnered with Discovery on various projects over the years and have always been impressed by the strength of brands and their commitment to developing genre-defining, lifestyle programming,” said Pelloni. “I look forward to working with the team at Discovery Studios, bringing my ideas to life and creating original and captivating TV for Discovery’s global networks. Together, we’ll create the kind of pioneering programming that can be found nowhere else.”

Pelloni has been producing unscripted series and talk shows for broadcast and top cable networks for over a decade and began her career in development at national talk shows including Sally Jessy Raphael, Roseanne Barr and Gordon Elliott. She was instrumental in developing and executive producing long-running series includingDC Cupcakes for TLC, Bridezillas and Girl Meets Gown for WE TV and How Do I Look? for the Style Network.

January 31, 2014
Eggfirst bags creative duties of Jashn

MUMBAI: Eggfirst has bagged the creative duties of the Premium Fashion Ethnic Wear brand, Jashn. After few rounds of intense discussion around strategy and creative roadmap for the future, Jashn awarded the management of its creative duties to the Mumbai-based agency.

Jashn, a 10-year-old ethnic wear brand present in India and UAE with Celina Jaitly as the brand ambassador, were on the lookout for an agency that understood their industry well and suggest fresh ways to market the brand. Eggfirst presented a robust strategic framework for the brand, based on the specific study of the market and the target group Jashn caters to. This, coupled with their creative approach, was enough to convince Rahuul Jashnani, Managing Director – Jashn, that Eggfirst was the right agency for their brand.

Rahuul said, “Jashn Eggfirst was a nice little find for us. Their understanding of the market is bang on and on the basis of that, the strategy they etched out to take the brand communication to the next level is fantastic. Their creatives are fresh and very appealing and the communication planned is very well in sync with JASHN’s target customer”

Eggfirst shall be responsible for driving the creative of the brand and its various sub-brands for the year 2013-14. “Jashn is a popular women’s ethnic wear brand across India and 2 cities in UAE; Dubai & Abu Dhabi and has been doing well in the market. The question we had on our minds was how we could make it better. A lot of study went into understanding of the market and the target group. Once we had the analysis, we indentified some worthwhile insights and drew upon them to carve out a strategy and a creative approach. We are delighted that Rahuul and the management at Jashn liked us and our work, and we are confident of taking the brand to the next level,” said Vivek Menon – COO, Eggfirst.

The agency is busy working on a new print campaign for the brand, with the launch scheduled in a few weeks’ time.

January 31, 2014
JAINHITS DPs successfully hosts LCO meet for AP

VIJAYWADA: JAINHITS, India’s only HITS Platform based service in an effort to digitize all analogue cable networks in the country, conducted a massive LCO (Local Cable Operators) meet in association with the state DP (Distribution Partners) for the Andhra Pradesh region. The meet saw close to 650 LCOs from across the state. The objective was to inform the gathering about the immediate cable digitization solutions that JAINHITS can provide across every corner of India.

Present on the occasion, Mr. Pradip Baijal, Ex Chief, TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) said, “JAINHITS has obtained content coupled with all the regulatory approvals to supply cable TV and broadband, and has downloaded its signal. The time has come for the latest technology of HITS to take the signal directly to the LCOs, and then to subscribers, and to also supply broadband to subscribers through the LCOs.”

According to the TRAI’s policy, it is expected that the services of several lakh cable subscribers are likely to be disrupted due to non-receipt of their Digital Addressable System (DAS) license from the Centre. Thus, JAINHITS – India’s first DTN service based on the next generation technology of HITS (Headend-In-The-Sky) can play a crucial role with its triple play service offering: Video, Voice and Data that can help digitize all analogue cable networks.

JAINHITS is not only offering digital cable services, but also providing high speed broadband and multi-screen service which allows the subscribers to view their favorite content on their TV sets, smart phones or tablet PCs – anywhere, anytime; apart from that there are interactive services such as healthcare, education and financial inclusion. HITS is the only platform in the country, offering complete empowerment and ownership to even the smallest LCO by making him a Leader & Cable Owner and an Independent Service Operator (ISO), by introducing innovative Products, Services, Schemes & Offerings etc. which will make the Digitization Process within the reach of their economic availability.

All the DPs for the state of AP were present at the meet namely; V. Balaji, Master Care Electronics Pvt. Ltd. (Vijayawada), P. Prasada Raju, One Implex Business Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (Hyderabad), Srinivasa Rao, Priyadarshini Communications (Kurnool), Prasada Raju, Priima Infomatics Pvt. Ltd. (Warangal), S. M Reddy, Sm Channel Marketing and B. Suresh, Sri HiSpeed Network (Tirupati). Giving the local flavor, the DPs present there elaborated on the relevance of the services for the AP market. In heavy monsoon period unlike the competition, JAINHITS technology, offers uninterrupted broadcast services for its subscribers in the region.

The key proposition of the HITS platform is its cost-effective investment for cable operators which stands at a minimum of only Rs 25,000 per month. With this, they expect to do business with 400 plus partners and install over 1000 Mini Downlink Headend’s across 640 districts of India by the end of 2014.

About JAINHITS:

JAINHITS is a satellite communications company with no ground presence & has MSO, ISP and HITS license. Its product portfolio includes Mini Downlink Headend and CMTS for Cable Operators with some add on accessories like Nodes, Amplifiers and Wi-Fi Hot Spots which will help them increase their ARPUs. JAINHITS is offering more than 250 Digital TV Channels through the Standard and High Definition Set Top Boxes (MPEG-4) with the Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) standards, Broadband through Wired and Wireless Modems, Value Added Services like Video On Demand (VoD) and Innovative Products like Cloud Broadband, Gaming Console etc. JAINHITS plans to soon provide online Education and Healthcare to its consumers through its network of ISO’s.

Only JAINHITS delivers signals directly to LCO / MSO Networks across India with a plug and play solution. With an aim to make cable operator businesses independent and growth oriented, it helps LCOs go Digital over night and ensure full compliance across legal, regulatory, and content requirements at the lowest comparative investments.

January 30, 2014
Samsung is India’s Most Trusted Brand; Sony ranks 2nd, Tata is 3rd

MUMBAI: India’s much anticipated and most rigorous brand evaluation, The Brand Trust Report, India Study, a comparison of the trust held in brands, has been released for 2014. Samsung has emerged as India’s Most Trusted brand this year. Sony ranks as India’s 2nd Most Trusted Brand followed by Tata which has ranked 3rd this year. In 2013, the three brands had ranked second, third and fifth respectively. LG, ranks 4th in this year’s list, followed by the three year leader, Nokia, at 5th place. Hewlett Packard move up fourteen ranks over last year to become India’s 6th Most Trusted Brand and Hero leaps seventy-nine ranks to become India’s 7th Most Trusted. Honda is at rank 8th, followed by Reliance at 9th. Mahindra betters its last year rank by sixty-nine places to get ranked as India’s 10th Most Trusted brand.

The Brand Trust Report, the fourth in its series, is the result of a comprehensive primary research conducted on the proprietary 61-Attribute Trust Matrix of TRA (formerly known as Trust Research Advisory). This year’s study involved 15000 hours of fieldwork covering 2500 consumer-influencers across 16 cities in India and generated 5 million datapoints and 20000 unique brands from which the top 1200 brands have been listed in this year’s report. These brands have been classified into 284 different categories as against 213 categories in 2013. The 244-page report is available for Rs. 14000/-.

N. Chandramouli, CEO, TRA, said on the occasion of the report’s launch, “Samsung has grown steadily in trust ranks over the last four years – 5th in 2011, 4th in 2012, 2nd in 2013 and has reached India’s Most Trusted rank this year. When a brand focuses on its trust with intensity, apart from trust the brand gains in market-share, product premium and acceptance of new products as an automatic by-product. Samsung’s strategy of focusing on the core intangibles of its brand is evident from its climb to leadership in BTR 2014.”

An analysis of the 100 Most Trusted Brands in 2014 revealed that most brands were represented from Diversified with 11, Consumer Electronics with 10, Bath/Beauty with 9, Mobiles with 8, 4-Wheelers, Telephony, and 2-Wheelers with 4 each, and Personal Technology, Sportswear and Aerated Drinks with 3 brands each.

“Among the top 100 Most Trusted brands, 75 were net gainers while 25 took a fall. The gainers gained an average of 86.23 ranks, while those that fell took a dip of 27.16 ranks on average, showing that the average gain among the top hundred beats the average loss in ranks by 317%. A connected surmise

could be drawn that in the year that was slow for many, brands took the opportunity to focus more on their trust intangibles, scoring points in the process. For long term sustainability and success, it is important that brands have a long term investment in trust”, Chandramouli added.

January 30, 2014
Max launches ‘MAX Fully Deewana Contest’

MUMBAI: MAX, the premium Hindi movies and special events channelis all set to tickle the funny bone of its viewers with a unique Bollywood property called ‘MAX Fully Deewana contest’ hosted by the inimitable duo of Krushna Abhishek and KikuSharda.

This unique contestwill showcasefamous Bollywood movies and their well-known dialogues in the most humorous way. The on air contest is scheduled to air during the 9pm movie from the 9th to the 22nd of February.In this Bollywood-based contestthe viewers will have to answer 3 simple questions which would enable themto win prizes. There will be 3 questions asked daily which viewers have to answer via a SMS. Four lucky winnerswill each win an L.E.D. television daily. The winners will be announced on the channel the following day. The hostsKrushna Abhishek and KikuSharda, will be asking these questions through a series of spoofs and gags to keep the viewer entertained.

On his association with the contestKikuSharda, said “Even though it is my first appearance on MAX, I’ve always been glued to the channel because I am a big film buff. When the opportunity came to work on this show with Krushna, I was very pleased. He is a fine comic actor and I think he has impeccable comic timing. We always have a blast when we work together and this will be no exception.”

When asked about his filmy side KrushnaAbhishek jumps in and says “I have always been a Bollywood fan and there is a filmy Deewanapan and Deewangi in me right from childhood. I love to play different characters and the ‘MAX Fully DeewanaContest’ is a very good medium to showcase the same. Iwas really glad I would be doing this with Kiku. He is a phenomenal comic actor and I think we complement each other on our comic timing which I think is very important.“

Commenting on the initiative Vaishali Sharma, VP Marketing, Sony MAX says, “We are very happy to bring such an engaging and humorous contest for our audience.We always strive to innovatively entice the viewers who have been our utmost priority. Havingfabulous and witty actors likeKrushna and Kikuon board for this out of the box concept, I think the viewers will be thoroughly entertained.”

January 30, 2014
Lenovo to Acquire Motorola Mobility from Google

Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and Mountain View, California: Lenovo and Google have entered into a definitive agreement under which Lenovo plans to acquire the Motorola Mobility smartphone business. With a strong PC business and a fast-growing smartphone business, this agreement will significantly strengthen Lenovo’s position in the smartphone market. In addition, Lenovo will gain a strong market presence in North America and Latin America, as well as a foothold in Western Europe, to complement its strong, fast-growing smartphone business in emerging markets around the world.

The purchase price is approximately US$2.91 billion (subject to certain adjustments), including US$1.41 billion paid at close, comprised of US$660 million in cash and US$750 million in Lenovo ordinary shares (subject to a share cap/floor). The remaining US$1.5 billion will be paid in the form of a three-year promissory note.

Lenovo, which in 2005 acquired IBM’s PC business and its legendary PC brand, will now acquire world-renowned Motorola Mobility, including the MOTOROLA brand and Motorola Mobility’s portfolio of innovative smartphones like the Moto X and Moto G and the DROID™ Ultra series. In addition to current products, Lenovo will take ownership of the future Motorola Mobility product roadmap.

Google will maintain ownership of the vast majority of the Motorola Mobility patent portfolio, including current patent applications and invention disclosures. As part of its ongoing relationship with Google, Lenovo will receive a license to this rich portfolio of patents and other intellectual property. Additionally Lenovo will receive over 2,000 patent assets, as well as the Motorola Mobility brand and trademark portfolio.

Motorola Mobility enjoys outstanding brand awareness around the world, and is currently the #3 Android smartphone manufacturer in the U.S. and #3 manufacturer overall in Latin America.

“The acquisition of such an iconic brand, innovative product portfolio and incredibly talented global team will immediately make Lenovo a strong global competitor in smartphones. We will immediately have the opportunity to become a strong global player in the fast-growing mobile space,” said Yang Yuanqing, chairman and CEO of Lenovo. “We are confident that we can bring together the best of both companies to deliver products customers will love and a strong, growing business. Lenovo has a proven track record of successfully embracing and strengthening great brands – as we did with IBM’s Think brand – and smoothly and efficiently integrating companies around-the-world. I am confident we will be successful with this process, and that our companies will not only maintain our current momentum in the market, but also build a strong foundation for the future.”

“Lenovo has the expertise and track record to scale Motorola Mobility into a major player within the Android ecosystem. This move will enable Google to devote our energy to driving innovation across the Android ecosystem, for the benefit of smartphone users everywhere,” said Larry Page, CEO, Google.

“As part of Lenovo, Motorola Mobility will have a rapid path to achieving our goal of reaching the next 100 million people with the mobile Internet. With the recent launches of Moto X and Moto G, we have tremendous momentum right now and Lenovo’s hardware expertise and global reach will only help to accelerate this,” said Dennis Woodside, CEO, Motorola Mobility.

The transaction is subject to the satisfaction of regulatory requirements, customary closing conditions and any other needed approvals.

January 30, 2014
UFO Moviez honoured at Chhattisgarhi Film Awards Ceremony 2014

MUMBAI: UFO Moviez India ltd, the company that delivers satellite based Digital Cinema to theatres across India, has yet again received the award for the ‘Best Digital Cinema Solutions’ at the Chhattisgarhi Film Awards Ceremony 2014. The awards are organized by Filmi Chhattisgarh and sponsored by Credible Chhattisgarh, Cultural Division, Government of Chhattisgarh and Megh Sai production. The fourth edition of the Chhattisgarhi Film Awards Ceremony 2014 was held on January 28, 2014, at Amardeep Talkies, Raipur.

Post the advent of UFO’s satellite-delivered Digital Cinema solutions, the Chhattisgarhi film industry has displayed a strong and steady growth trajectory. From just two releases in the year 2009, the Chhattisgarhi film industry has seen a seven fold jump in the number of annual releases. The year 2013 has witnessed a release of 14 Chhattisgarhi films. Other films like ‘More Man Ke Meet’, ‘Maya ke Gharaunda’, and ‘Dagabaaz’ are some of the successful Chhattisgarhi releases of 2013.

Mr. Amit Pradhan, Producer/Director/Story Writer, Red queen Pictures, said, “UFO Moviez has proved to be a boon for the Chhattisgarhi film industry. The widespread day one release of films at nominal costs made possible by UFO Moviez has spurred the revival of the Chhattisgarhi film industry. UFO’s Digital Cinema solutions have enabled the widest reach possible for our content and we’re thankful and wish them great success in the future..”

Producer and Director Mr. Pranav Jha said, “It has been a pleasure experiencing various platforms provided by UFO. My film ‘B.A 1st Year’ debuted on 5 UFO digital screens. The content was highly appreciated and Digital Cinema made it possible thereafter for the movie to be screened in 22 UFO digital theatres till date. This wouldn’t have been possible in the pre-digital era. We sincerely thank UFO Moviez for their continued support towards the growth of the Chhattisgarhi film industry.”

Mr. Lucky Rangshahi, a leading distributor of the Chhattisgarhi film industry, added, “We highly appreciate UFO’s services throughout the country, especially in Chhattisgarh. The producers of Chhattisgarhi films are very pleased with UFO’s cooperation resulting in an increase in the number of films made.”

Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Pankaj Jaysinh, COO, UFO Moviez India said, “We are delighted and humbled by this recognition bestowed upon us by a State Government body as well as local film industry stakeholders. We remain dedicated to extending our support to the growth of regional cinema across the length and breadth of the nation. UFO Moviez is a pioneer in the digitization of theatres in Chhattisgarh. Today, upon evaluating the outcome of our efforts, we are pleased to see how film producers and distributors can now showcase the latest local language films on a first-day-first-show basis to a much wider set of audiences, both in Chattisgarh and across India. UFO today has 56 digital screens in Chhattisgarh and our subsidiary Scrabble Entertainment has 21 . Theatre owners are also reaping the benefits of the digitization of films including higher footfalls in the theatre premises, more ticket collections and enhanced advertising revenue earnings. It’s a win-win situation for all stakeholders of the Chhattisgarhi film industry and we are happy to see how the ecosystem has grown.”

January 30, 2014
Jim Beam Partners with Mila Kunis for Global Marketing Campaign

MUMBAI: Jim Beam, the world’s #1 Bourbon, and award-nominated actress Mila Kunis are teaming up to “make history” in 2014 and beyond. Kunis joins the Jim Beam family as a global partner and spokesperson, and will play a leading role in Jim Beam’s new Make History™ multi-media brand campaign that will reach more than 100 markets worldwide. Make History™ is the first-ever global marketing campaign for the iconic American brand, which traces its history to 1795. The television campaign featuring Kunis will premiere in the next few months in the brand’s largest markets, including the U.S., Australia and Germany.

“Jim Beam has been making history by producing the world’s finest bourbon through seven generations of family distillers, and this partnership truly signifies a new era for the brand – an era in which we push boundaries even further, attracting new fans across the globe and continuing the great growth we’ve enjoyed on the brand,” said Kevin George, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Beam Inc. [NYSE:BEAM]. “Mila’s love of bourbon, her appreciation for the authenticity of our brand, her warm personality and her global relevance to our Make History™ campaign makes her the perfect partner. Anyone would want to share a Jim Beam with Mila. We love that about her, and couldn’t be happier to have her join the Jim Beam family.”

The Make History™ campaign will premiere three new television commercials featuring Kunis in the U.S. in mid-February and will roll out in markets worldwide over the next few months. Kunis will also be featured in retail materials and content on Jim Beam’s website, www.jimbeam.com, Facebook (www.facebook.com/JimBeamUS) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/jimbeamofficial).

“As a fan of bourbon and a huge proponent of making history, I am thrilled to be the newest member of the Jim Beam family,” said Kunis, who has spent time in Clermont, Ky., with Jim Beam’s seventh generation Master Distiller, Fred Noe, immersing herself in the heritage, traditions and craftsmanship of “America’s Native Spirit.”

Jim Beam’s TV advertising campaign was created by FutureWorks, a partnership between three independent agencies who lead Jim Beam creative efforts in key markets: StrawberryFrog (New York), The Works (Sydney) and Jung von Matt (Hamburg). In the U.S., the ads will appear across multiple media properties, including Turner Sports/BleacherReport, NBA telecasts, FXX, Spike, History Channel, AMC, Food Network and ESPN networks, as well as in media properties across the globe.

The U.S. campaign will feature Jim Beam’s full portfolio of brands, including Jim Beam® White, Jim Beam Black®, Devil’s Cut®, Jim Beam® Honey, Jim Beam® Maple, Jacob’s Ghost® Aged White Whiskey, Jim Beam® Signature Craft and Red Stag by Jim Beam®. To view a video of Kunis’ visit to the Jim Beam Distillery, visit: http://youtu.be/MC_35SsHANM. And for more information on the world’s #1 bourbon, please visit www.jimbeam.com, www.facebook.com/JimBeamUS or http://twitter.com/jimbeamofficial.

January 30, 2014
Oscar Academy rescinds original song nomination for Alone Yet Not Alone

MUMBAI: On Tuesday night, the Academy’s Board of Governors voted to rescind the Original Song nomination for Alone Yet Not Alone, music by Bruce Broughton and lyric by Dennis Spiegel. The decision was prompted by the discovery that Broughton, a former Governor and current Music Branch executive committee member, had emailed members of the branch to make them aware of his submission during the nominations voting period.

“No matter how well-intentioned the communication, using one’s position as a former governor and current executive committee member to personally promote one’s own Oscar submission creates the appearance of an unfair advantage,” said Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Academy President.

The Board determined that Broughton’s actions were inconsistent with the Academy’s promotional regulations, which provide, among other terms, that “it is the Academy’s goal to ensure that the Awards competition is conducted in a fair and ethical manner. If any campaign activity is determined by the Board of Governors to work in opposition to that goal, whether or not anticipated by these regulations, the Board of Governors may take any corrective actions or assess any penalties that in its discretion it deems necessary to protect the reputation and integrity of the awards process.”

An additional nominee in the Original Song category will not be named. The remaining nominees in the category are:

“Happy” from Despicable Me 2– Music and Lyric by Pharrell Williams

“Let It Go” from Frozen – Music and Lyric by c and Robert Lopez

“The Moon Song” from Her – Music by Karen O; Lyric by Karen O and Spike Jonze

“Ordinary Love” from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom – Music by Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen; Lyric by Paul Hewson

The members from each of the Academy’s branches vote to determine the nominees in their respective categories – actors nominate actors, film editors nominate film editors, musicians and composers nominate song and score.

During the nominations process, all 240 voting members of the Music Branch received a Reminder List of works submitted in the Original Song category and a DVD copy of the song clips with film and song title only (additional information including composer and lyricist is not provided). Members were asked to watch the clips and then vote in the order of their preference for not more than five nominees in the category. A maximum of two songs may be nominated from any one film.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2013 will be presented on Oscar Sunday, 2 March, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscars, produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, also will be televised live in India.

January 30, 2014
LEADER TALK with Rajdeep Sardesai

MUMBAI: After a successful first season last year, Leader Talk, hosted by IBN Network Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai, is back with its second season. The talk show features some of the world’s most well-known corporate leaders and sports legends who come and share their ideas, thoughts and experiences on leadership and talk about their success mantras.

Every week, Leader Talk will bring together two personalities from the corporate and sports world, respectively, in an interview with Rajdeep Sardesai, to enable exchange of ideas and explore what leaders in these two areas can learn from each other.

On the opening episode of this season, Rajdeep Sardesai gets up close and personal with Indian Tennis legend Leander Paes and the President of IndiGo Airlines, Aditya Ghosh. The episode highlights what drives both Paes and Ghosh to constantly innovate and reinvent themselves. Talking about leadership, Paes says, a leader’s job is not just to motivate or teach others but also to learn from his team and keep evolving all the time. Likewise, Ghosh emphasizes that leadership has very little to do with the individual and more to do with the team.

Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor-in-Chief, IBN Network, said, “In our endeavour to showcase the key attributes of leadership, that have helped these iconic leaders reach where they are in their respective fields, we are back once again with the second season of Leader Talk. The idea is to showcase how leadership trends are common in both the sports and business world and how each can learn from the other.”

Don’t miss “Leader Talk – Season 2” starting February 1, 2014 every Saturday at 11:30 AM, only on CNN-IBN. Show Repeats – Sat, 10:30 PM and Sun, 10 AM & 9:30 PM.

For more information log onto: www.ibnlive.com/leadertalk

Also, follw us on: www.facebook.com/leadertalk

January 30, 2014