Category: People

Mumbai:Today, women are breaking the glass ceiling in every sector. Beyond all this, there still exists a patriarchal mindset. Not many women are in the C-suite taking important decisions. And, of course, there still exists pay parity. 

This Women’s Day, we, at Indiantelevision.com, are acknowledging some women leaders of the media, marketing, and advertising fraternity and also from other professions, who have given more than expected.

Her journey

Being a pet lover and having empathy towards animals has enabled me to do good by the pets and build a 360-degree holistic pet care ecosystem with Wiggles. From completing my graduation from the Rennes School of Business and Grande Ecole in France and Canine Care at BCCS to starting Wiggles, my journey has been a great one. My journey began when I realized that most pet illnesses are caused by pet parents’ lack of knowledge about medical care for pets, misinformation due to prevalent myths, and health expenses that arise when preventive care is neglected.

Also, I realised that many pet ailments could be avoided with basic pet care and timely intervention. That’s what pushed me to create products and services that solve the pets’ and pet parents’ problems and make a difference in making their lives easier and better. Today Wiggles has stepped into the 5th year and our focus is on providing top-quality pet care products and services and being the perfect #PartnerinPethood for every pet parent.

Her inspiration and inspiring the team

I am constantly inspired by thinkers, innovators and leaders who endeavour to create a more diverse and equitable world where gender is not the base for bias. Strong, courageous and resilient people have always inspired me to keep doing good for the pets and pet parents. It is about inspiring my team to achieve things they never thought possible and be the best versions of themselves. It’s about creating a culture of innovation, collaboration and continuous learning, where everyone feels empowered to take risks and push the boundaries of what’s possible. When you can unlock the full potential of your team, there’s no limit to what you can achieve together.

Empowerment of Women

Women empowerment is integral to creating a more diverse, inclusive, and innovative

workplace at brands. By providing equal opportunities for women to succeed, businesses should attract great talent, employment, engagement and productivity by enhancing their reputation by creating brand value. At Wiggles, Women’s empowerment is seen as a personal and social responsibility. Wiggles encourage a workplace culture that treats all genders equally and equitably.

Mumbai: Today, women are breaking the glass ceiling in every sector. Beyond all this, there still exists a patriarchal mindset. Not many women are in the C-suite taking important decisions. And, of course, there still exists pay parity. 

This Women’s Day, we, at Indiantelevision.com, are acknowledging some women leaders of the media, marketing, and advertising fraternity and also from other professions, who have given more than expected.

Her journey

My journey has been fun, eye-opening, and intellectually enriching at many levels. Three big transformations that I reflect upon today.

a.    Being the younger of two sisters, I subconsciously wanted to be a son to my parents and tried to model my behaviour accourdingly. In our society the gender roles are so well defined that it didn’t occur to my child’s brain that I could be a woman and do all that I wanted to do – be ambitious, be financially independent, be fearless and bold and take responsibility for myself and my loved ones. Kathak helped me get in touch with and revel in my feminine side.

Aside from a thoroughly satisfying professional corporate role, I run a Kathak school called Marigold Society of Performing Arts to make this beautiful art form accessible to many young women and children.

b.    Being a single woman, I was conscious of my vulnerability: when you are buying a house, does the broker swindle you, when you are buying a car, does the salesman try to get the better of you? Do you get overlooked for a pay increase, or for a difficult assignment. The list is endless. Over time I caught myself operating out of anxiety rather than confidence. I was astute enough to realise that it could make me a bitter and insecure person constantly looking over my back. The love of my family, friends and colleagues helped me make this transition from being a victim to feeling empowered

c.    The third transformation is more recent. The pandemic helped transition me from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset. In the midst of chaos, loss and grief all around and the outpouring of humanity and selflessness by strangers, I discovered the power of gratitude.

Her inspiration and inspiring the team

Difficult to name any one person, my mother has been a source of strength. Sounds trivial but Amitabh Bachchan and his struggles, his fight back from bankruptcy, from various accidents and his ability to reinvent himself with the changing times have been life lessons. The amazing quality of always looking at the positive side and from Piyush Pandey. The ambition to escape your circumstances from my father. The power to touch, selflessly, the lives of other women from Neela Kaushik (founder of Gurgaon Moms). There are many many inspirations all around.

You live the life you do and hope that the lessons you learn are not just yours. In addition, I try and build a culture where everyone has an equal voice. You don’t have to be loud to be heard. We celebrate and recognize personal wins and support each other through personal difficult times. 

Empowerment of Women

This is a topic that is close to my heart. I feel a lot of women are stuck in a victim mindset. Many a time, it requires us to change our perspective to change our circumstance. I am a great believer and practitioner of this. 

I also believe that women do not have to give up on their femininity to be empowered or for the sake of feminism. 

Personally, I have seen the power of sisterhood come alive in ‘Subah’, the support group I started (with my friends, namely, Yoshita Swarup and Sarita Digumarti) for women who lost their partners to Covid. We saw so many women volunteer to share the grief of women they did not know, we saw women be each other’s cheerleaders through their own dark phase. We facilitated the creation of a safe space for these women and supported them with grief and trauma handling, Parenting, Career counselling, legal and financial literacy. We are now helping them with entrepreneurship.

Today, I mentor women formally and informally.

Mumbai: Today, women are breaking the glass ceiling in every sector. Beyond all this, there still exists a patriarchal mindset. Not many women are in the C-suite taking important decisions. And, of course, there still exists pay parity.

This Women’s Day, we, at Indiantelevision.com, are acknowledging some women leaders of the media, marketing, and advertising fraternity and also from other professions, who have given more than expected.

Her journey

I knew that working in the technology industry was something I was destined to do from a young age. My journey started at the age of 6 when my entrepreneurial spirit began, as I realized the true potential for automation and technology from personal incidents. After completing my graduation in Electronics engineering from the University of Mumbai, my first job was for the Avis Budget Group project in Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. After spending almost 8 years in TCS, I worked as a Project Manager at SnagFilms Inc for about 9 months. It has been eight years since I am working with ViewLift as a Chief Experience Officer and handled some of the most complex projects to enable clients with advanced features in the distribution and monetization of video content against challenging project timelines.

Her inspiration & inspiring the team.

When I was six years old, I used to watch my father bring work home night after night. As a young girl, I always wanted my father to spend time playing with me instead of spending countless hours in his office finalizing the tasks from the day. If there were a way for my father to automate his mundane tasks with technology, he would have more free time to play with me. The struggles due to the lack of advanced technologies are the reason my father couldn’t spend much time with us at home, and from here my passion developed behind entering the tech industry, and this is why I emphasise work-life balance today. From my childhood, I wanted to work more in-depth with technology. So majorly my childhood has given me inspiration.

While women in tech have come a long way, there are still many challenges ahead, especially in the male-dominated OTT streaming solution tech industry. Ultimately, for women, it is not about getting in the door. It is about making your voice heard. After all, some of the data shows that women in tech feel they have to work harder than their male co-workers to prove their worth. To women in tech, it is time to move forward with confidence, even when it may seem challenging to do so. And to tech companies worldwide, it is time to start investing in women.

Empowerment of Women

Women in tech have progressed significantly, but there are yet many difficulties ahead, particularly in the male-ruled OTT streaming arrangement tech industry. Finally, for women, there is no need to focus on getting into the entryway. To women in tech, now is the right time to push ahead with certainty, in any event, when it might appear to be trying to do as such. Women have seen extraordinary changes in the business over the course of the past ten years, similar to tech work environments offering better and longer vocation rebound programs. Women returning to the working environment currently have methodologies to invite new mothers back into the workplace without thinking twice. An ever-increasing number of businesses need to move to this intent to keep up.

Tech organisations need to demonstrate enthusiasm and make a work environment where women have the strong groundwork to flourish and succeed. To do this, working environment pioneers need to set out open doors to assist women representatives with developing in their jobs and set them up for their future inside the organisation.

Organisations can give an upgraded, organized way to early advancements by introducing directors preparing projects and making their assumptions clear with respect to when advancements ought not be out of the ordinary. This permits women to pose inquiries regarding their exhibition and additionally assume they’re living up to those assumptions. Organisations really should urge women to get down on any inclinations they see en route. An open line of correspondence and straightforwardness are vital.

Mumbai:Dentsu India has announced the elevation of Anita Kotwani to CEO Media, South Asia, dentsu. In her expanded role Kotwani will lead all dentsu’s media businesses across South Asia including Carat, iProspect, dentsu X, Posterscope, and media investment arm Amplifi. Divya Karani will be transitioning off the media business to pursue personal interests after building a successful media reputation for dentsu India over the last decade. 

This announcement closely follows last week’s appointment of Harsha Razdan, dentsu South Asia’s new CEO, as the business continues to strengthen its leadership team in the region. Kotwani’s appointment is effective immediately.

Most recently, Kotwani was CEO, Carat India, a position she has held since 2020. A passionate media expert with over two decades of experience in the industry, she has an extensive background in media management for consumer durables, financial services, FMCG, and MNC brands. Kotwani is a regular on the award circuit, chairing juries for various bodies including EMVIEs, Goafest, and Kyoorius. Most recently, she won ‘Agency Head of the Year’ at the Campaign Agency of the Year Awards 2022. She was also named ‘Impact Top 50 Influential Women’ of 2022 in the Media, Marketing, and Advertising category, ‘Women to Watch’ in 2018, and ‘Impact Top 50 Influential Women’ in 2019. 

dentsu CEO APAC  & Interim CEO India (until newly appointed CEO, Razdan, starts) Rob Gilby said, “Kotwani is a well-loved leader who firmly looks to the future, bringing her people with her on the journey and is fearless in her approach to driving new solutions for clients. The Media opportunity in India is growing exponentially. Kotwani’s background, coupled with Razdan’s complimentary experience is building a powerful force in our business to drive growth for our clients in this exciting market.”

Gilby added, “Over the past 10 years Karani has successfully scaled our business on a market-beating trajectory, evidenced by dentsu becoming the #1 agency in RECMA 2021. We thank her for her years of dedication and wish her the very best for the future. I am looking forward to the next wave of leadership accelerating the solid foundation Karani has built.” 

Karani said, “I am proud of what I have accomplished with dentsu. Having worked closely with Kotwani – a valuable member of my leadership team, I know there is no better candidate for me to hand the reins to lead the media business to new heights. While it’s always a bittersweet moment to leave your ‘baby’, it is time for me to move on and pursue new opportunities.” 

Kotwani said, “I have learned a tremendous amount from Karani and am honoured to be given this baton to carry on the marathon. You don’t just replace three decades of experience overnight – I intend to take this on with my utmost commitment and will look to continually challenge myself and my wonderful team of media specialists to always stay at the forefront of the industry to deliver the world’s best-integrated media strategies.”

Mumbai: The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) provided for FDI up to 26 per cent under the Government approval route for entities involved in uploading/streaming of news and current affairs through digital media in a press note dated 18 September, 2019. DPIIT later issued a clarification in this regard in public communication No.5(4)/2019-FDI Policy dated 16 October , 2020.

Since then, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has received several representations from Chambers of Commerce and OTT platforms (covered by the IT Digital Media Ethics Code Rules, 2021) requesting clarification on whether the aforementioned decision would apply to OTT platforms hosting digital feeds of news channels.

It has been stated in the representations that OTT platforms only provide a platform for carriage of third party news and current affairs content of news channels on a “as is” basis, with no editorial intervention, and that OTT platforms are not involved in any aggregation/ curation of the news and current affairs content provided by such channels, but only host the news feed provided by such entities, much like a DTH or cable service provider.

The Ministry has looked into the matter. The goal of the Government’s decision, as stated in the aforementioned Press Note, is to ensure that entities engaged in the activity of publishing/ curating/ aggregating news and current affairs content and uploading/ streaming the same via digital media have an FDI limit of up to 26 per cent through the Government approval route.

TV News Channels granted permission under the MIB’s Uplinking and Downlinking Guidelines, 2022 (and earlier Guidelines of 2005 and 2011), as well as their entities operating digital news content, are already covered by the Central Government’s FDI policy. As a result, if an OTT platform hosts the digital feed of a TV news channel (permission granted under the current Guidelines), the FDI limit of 26 per cent with Government approval route does not apply to the OTT platform for the sole activity of hosting such feed.

In its notice dated 10 March 2023, the MIB stated, “It is accordingly clarified that when an OTT platform is hosting digital feed of a TV news channel granted permission under the extant Uplinking & Downlinking Guidelines, only as a medium and makes it available to its subscribers/ users, such a OTT platform is not covered under the 26 per cent FDI rule.”

Mumbai: News Broadcasters Federation (NBF) and the News Broadcasters & Digital Association (NBDA), which represent almost all the national and regional news channels of the country, have decided not to participate in the ongoing DD Free Dish MPEG-2 e-auction.

In a letter to I&B Minister Anurag Thakur, NBF and NBDA stated that the auction procedure was skewed against all news and current affairs channels.

“Not only are fewer slots available, but because of the way the auction has been structured, we are placed in a relative disadvantage vis a vis other genres,” read the letter.

The letter also highlighted the absence of a scientific basis to calculate the number of viewers under DDFD.

“We believe that this is likely to make the cost of bidding for slots on Free Dish prohibitive for us and against our common interest. Towards resolving this, we are urgently seeking time to meet you and any Prasar Bharati officials as you may deem appropriate at the earliest.”

The statement also said that till the matter is resolved both NBF and NBDA will not be able to participate in the ongoing bidding for the news category.

Mumbai: The One Club for Creativity has announced the dates for this year’s edition of its long-running global Portfolio Night, with BBDO India, DDB Mudra Group, and TBWAIndia working together to co-host the event in India.

The agencies will co host a virtual pan-India Portfolio Night on May 31, and an in-person event in Mumbai on June 1.

This fast-paced evening of advice, networking and recruitment takes place in dozens of cities around the world on the same date to help the next generation of creative talent entering the industry.

In addition to the event in Mumbai, confirmed cities and hosts so far are Buenos Aires (GUT Buenos Aires and Círculo de Creatividad), Hong Kong (Ogilvy Hong Kong), Houston (Adcetera), Lisbon (Clube da Criatividade de Portugal), Montréal and Toronto (Tank Worldwide), Paris (DDB Paris), Riyadh, São Paulo (Africa), Santiago (Inbrax), Seoul (Paulus), Shanghai (BBH Shanghai), and Singapore (BBDO Singapore).

Tickets for young creatives interested in attending Portfolio Night 2023 will be available in April, once all city hosts are determined.  

Portfolio Night is an important event in advertising because it serves as the gateway for young talent to enter the industry, enabling the best of the present, hundreds of renowned international creative directors, to meet and mentor the leaders of the future in industry hubs around the world.

It has also become a crucial tool for agencies in recruiting top young talent, providing a platform for recognition from local industry peers, and giving agencies a place on the global stage as the ad world tunes in to this one-of-a-kind event.

The program includes Portfolio Night All-Stars, a weeklong virtual program where each city host selects one young creative in their market with the best portfolio to participate. These lucky All-Stars will work in teams on a brief from a major global brand sponsor to be determined, and attend seminars and recruiting sessions.  At the end of the week, each team presents their pitch, with the winning team being flown to New York by The One Club for a week of events and networking opportunities.

“Portfolio Night is a unique global event that serves as a high-visibility opportunity for agencies and creative professionals to give back to the industry by guiding the earliest steps of future copywriters, art directors and technologists,” said The One Club for Creativity CEO Kevin Swanepoel.  “We’re very grateful for the agencies and organizations who have signed on to make this important global event possible in their markets, and look forward to additional hosts getting involved.”

Branding for Portfolio Night 2023 has been created by Nana Rausch at Quick Honey, based in New York and Berlin.

Unlike for-profit awards shows, The One Club is a non-profit organization that puts revenue generated from awards entries back into the industry in the form of programs under its four pillars: Education, Inclusion & Diversity, Gender Equality and Creative Development.

The One Club for Creativity, producer of The One Show, ADC Annual Awards, ONE Asia Creative Awards, Type Directors Club competition, TDC Ascenders, Young Guns, and more, is the world’s foremost non-profit organization whose mission is to support and celebrate the global creative community. Revenue generated from entries to its global awards shows goes back into the industry to fund programming under the organization’s four pillars: education, inclusion and diversity, gender equality, and creative development.

Mumbai: Due to technical issues, the DD Free Dish MPEG-2 e-auction has been postponed by one day. The e-auction could not take place on Monday, 13 March due to a technical issue, according to industry sources, but it will begin today, 14 March .

The online e-auction was set to begin on March 13, 2023, for vacant MPEG-2 slots on DD FreeDish for a year, from 1 April , 2023 to 31 March, 2024.

The reserve price for GECs remains at Rs 15 crore. According to the e-auction methodology announced by Prasar Bharati on 27 January, 2023, the e-auction will be conducted for the allocation of DD Free Dish slots to private channels.

The e-auction would only permit satellite channels that have been granted licences by the Ministry of l&B to participate. Only businesses with an active Ministry of I&B permission can apply to participate in the e-auction for the distribution of DD Free Dish slots.

The I&B Ministry’s registered international public broadcasters are also eligible to take part in the e-auction.

Mumbai: The board of Tech Mahindra, a leading provider of digital transformation, consulting and business re-engineering services and solutions, has appointed Mohit Joshi as the MD & CEO designate of Tech Mahindra. Joshi will take over as MD & CEO when CP Gurnani retires on 19 December. He will join Tech Mahindra well before that date to allow for sufficient transition time.

 Joshi will join Tech Mahindra from Infosys, where he was the president of the company. He has over two decades of experience in the enterprise technology software & consulting space and has worked with the largest corporations in the world in driving digital transformation and building thriving businesses.

 At Infosys, Joshi was the head of the global financial services & healthcare and software businesses, which included Finacle (the banking platform) and the AI/automation portfolio. He also led sales operations and transformation for Infosys and executive responsibility for all large deals across the company. Joshi was also responsible for the company’s internal CIO function and the Infosys Knowledge Institute.

He has been a non-executive director at Aviva Plc since 2020 and is a member of its risk & governance and nomination committees.

In 2014, Joshi joined the prestigious Young Global Leader program at the World Economic Forum, Davos and is also a member of Young Presidents Organization (YPO).  Previously, he has also held the office of the Vice Chair of the Economic Growth Board of the CBI (Confederation of British Industry).

Prior to joining Infosys in 2000, Joshi worked with ABN AMRO and ANZ Grindlays in their Corporate and Investment bank. He has lived and worked in Asia, America and Europe and currently lives with his wife and two daughters in London.

Tech Mahindra NRC chairperson T. N. Manoharan said, “Joshi’s appointment is the successful culmination of a rigorous selection process during which the NRC evaluated a number of internal and external candidates. His experience with digital transformation, new technologies and large deals will complement Tech Mahindra’s strategies and continue to build on the strong growth momentum demonstrated by the company”.

 Commenting on his appointment, Joshi said, “Tech Mahindra’s growth journey has been remarkable. I am delighted to be joining the Tech Mahindra family and look forward to working closely with all the associates, partners, and customers to achieve new milestones, make a positive difference and #Risetogether.”

Mumbai : India TV marketing head Nikhil Mathur will be leaving the organisation. He has turned in his paperwork and will pause for a moment before starting his next project.

Nikhil has been a vital member of the India TV team and has contributed significantly to the expansion and success of the business. 

As the Chief of Marketing, he has been in charge of creating and putting into action cutting-edge marketing plans that have made India TV stand out in a cutthroat industry.

Mathur has played a key role in a number of successful initiatives that have elevated India TV throughout his tenure. One of the examples is the presence of Live India TV in the airports of Delhi, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, and Chandigarh.

Several people were surprised by Nikhil’s choice to leave India TV, but he has made it obvious that he is looking forward to taking some time off before starting his next project. He has thanked the whole India TV staff for their dedication and support over the years and has reassured them that he is always willing to assist them in any manner he can.

In a statement, Nikhil said, “It has been an incredible journey working at India TV, and I am grateful for the opportunities that I have had here. I would like to thank the entire India TV team for their support and dedication, and I look forward to staying connected with them in the future.”

With his extensive marketing experience and expertise, he is likely to continue to make significant contributions to the industry in the future. We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavours.