Category: People

Mumbai: ABP News Network’s former chief revenue officer Mona Jain is rejoining Zee News as its chief revenue officer. Jain will be returning to the Zee Group for the second time. Jain spent six years as an ad sales executive vice president at Zee Entertainment.

Enterprise Ltd. (ZEEL) before joining the ABP Network in November 2019.

Jain is a veteran media professional with over 30 years of experience in media marketing and promotion.

Before joining ZEEL, Jain was CEO of Vivaki Exchange for nearly nine years, and she was also the India head – strategic investments. She has also previously worked at Cheil Communications and Mudra Communications, where she held the positions of executive director and media director, respectively, and was in charge of establishing media for various brands. She began her career with Hindustan Thompson Associates (HTA) and has extensive experience in communications and marketing.

Mumbai: TVF Originals (The Viral Fever), in collaboration with Asus India, announced the launch of a new web series called Followers. The three-episode web series is centred around an aspiring creator’s quest to create content to garner more followers and seek more collaboration opportunities with brands, which leads her into the tricky ransom situation. The first episode of Followers was streamed on its millennial-focused YouTube channel, The Timeliners, on 20 January. The next two episodes, available in Hindi, will be released by the end of January 2023.

As part of the partnership with the TVF, the web series seamlessly integrates Asus’ latest creators series laptops, including the Zenbook Pro 14 Duo OLED, ProArt Studiobook 16 OLED, and ROG Zephyrus G14. Asus’ creator series devices include cutting-edge technology and innovative designs that deliver unparalleled aesthetics, powerful performance, and a seamless user experience that helps multitask and enhances the productivity of content creators.

The new web series features fresh leads from the OTT platforms, including Nupur Nagpal, Gagan Arora, and Rajat Dahiya. Gagan Arora and Nupur Nagpal were previously seen together in the blockbuster series College Romance.

Asus India head of marketing Paramjeet Singh Mehta said, “We are elated to announce our association with TVF, India’s one of the most popular streaming platforms. With the increased internet penetration in urban as well as rural cities, the short-video format & social media platforms have seen significant growth, resulting in an exponential boom of content creators in the country. We at Asus always believe in providing innovative solutions to consumers. This web series effortlessly integrates Asus’ latest creators series of laptops, with  features that will benefit the creators to multitask and enhance productivity for content curation.”

The Viral Fever president Vijay Koshy said, “Asus has introduced a complete range of OLED laptop series for all types of creators. They wanted to bring out the value this adds to creators in a story appealing to the creative community, which led to the birth of the show Followers. The world of digital influencers & creators has become a new landscape for youth, who are not just consuming a lot of digital content but even creating it actively. Many young people now choose this as their core profession. The mini-series portrays the struggles of one such upcoming creator, Sunaina, whose world collides with that of one desperate hotel employee, Sippy, who is trying to save his job. What follows is a comedy of errors. Asus fits into the story perfectly through the upcoming creators’ lens as it makes content creation a breeze for her.”

Mumbai: According to Wunderman Thompson’s latest report, ‘The Future 100: 2023’, an unrestrained, impactful, and powerful burst of energy is being injected into the year ahead, arming people with hope, joy, and happiness amid continuing uncertain times.

The outlook, from the 9th edition of the annual essential trend almanac which offers a snapshot of the most compelling trends to keep on the radar for the year ahead, says that despite the on-going economic and environmental crisis, people are choosing joy.

Coined by Wunderman Thompson Intelligence as the ‘Joyconomy’, the rise of trends such as ‘Elevated Expressionism’, ‘Feel-Good Feeds’, and ‘Ageless Play’, demonstrates the opportunities for brands who lean into consumers’ desire for inspiration and optimism, as people become are determined to show resilience, innovation, and joy in the face of continued hardship.

Wunderman Thompson Intelligence global director Emma Chiu says, “In a year when all signs should point towards a bleak and chaotic outlook as a rocky economy, political instability, and environmental deterioration persist, we’ve found that there are endless opportunities for brands to tap into this consumer mindset as last year’s unbounded optimism shifts to an exuberant need for uplift and play.”

“Community, creativity, and colour vibrantly paint 2023. The stress of the past years has put an emphasis on optimizing both the mind and body to empower an elevated self; the lightning pace of technology sees the evolution from building to living the metaverse (with every aspect of our lives being explored in this new frontier of customer experience); and people are demanding that brands use their influence to better society by putting accessibility and inclusion at the fore,” she continued.

In addition to the rise of the ‘Joyconomy’, highlights include:

– Culture – Indigenous Innovation: Indigenous Techniques are forming regenerative approaches to managing the environment

– Tech & Metaverse – Techcessibility: Companies are redesigning their digital environments for greater accessibility

– Travel & Hospitality – Temperate Travel: Rising temperatures will prompt travelers to seek out cooler destinations

– Brands & Marketing – Amplifying Diverse Creators: Growing calls for authentic representation in advertising are driving a wave of brand collaborations with marginalised creative talents

– Food & Drink – Cell-cultured Dishes: As cell-cultured food moves from lab to the grocery store, luxury dining may be the first beneficiary

– Beauty – Resurrected Ingredients: Brands are bringing back extinct and forgotten sensory ingredients

– Retail & Commerce – Crisis Retail: As the financial crisis bites, brands are stepping up to help their most vulnerable consumers

– Luxury – Residence at Sea: The next-gen digital nomad is taking to the sea—in style

– Health – Menopause Retreats: From HRT education to nutritional advice, retreats designed specifically for the menopause journey are on the rise

– Work – Generation Flex: Employee expectations are rising. Despite economic woes, could the balance of power be tipping in their favour?

Wunderman Thompson global chief marketing & growth officer Naomi Troni added, “The world is on the brink of recession, and it has never been more important for brands to be on top of the latest trends that will define consumer spending in the year ahead. With competition for share of mind and pocket becoming increasingly tough, The Future 100: 2023 reveals the essential, unexpected, and occasionally jaw-dropping insights that will help forward-thinking brands stay ahead.”

‘The Future 100: 2023’ from Wunderman Thompson’s futurism, research, and innovation unit, Wunderman Thompson Intelligence, has been compiled by a leading team of trend analysts, bringing together exclusive expert interviews and proprietary research.

Mumbai: DDB Mudra Group has onboarded Binodan Sarma as executive vice president – North. In his role, Sarma will lead the digital business for both DDB Mudra and 22feet Tribal Worldwide for the group’s Gurugram office.

With an experience of over 16 years in advertising and data marketing, Sarma has worked with Wunderman Thompson, Cheil India and Dentsu Impact.  He has led digital transformation and digital marketing for brands including Maruti Suzuki, Samsung, Airtel, Microsoft, Reliance, Carlsberg, Tata Tea and Tata Salt.

Sarma’s appointment will be instrumental in inspiring the teams and clients to visualise digital as an ecosystem to deliver full-funnel marketing solutions.

Speaking on Sarma’s appointment, DDB Mudra Group managing partner – North Ashutosh Sawhney said, “DDB Tribal – the amalgamation of DDB Mudra & 22Feet Tribal Worldwide in North is coming of age. The idea of blurring the lines between digital and mainstream is a reality today and I am proud to say that at DDB Tribal, we are at its leading edge with clients like Royal Enfield, One Plus, Mars Confectionery and many more. In Sarma, we found not only a digital transformer but also an advertising professional with an astute sense of business and most importantly, a thirst for creating big, creative ideas.”

Commenting on his new role, Sarma said, “Digital is no longer just another medium of marketing, but a complete ecosystem integrated into the process of brand building. In this age and time where AI determines the kind of clothes you can wear and masterpieces that can be produced in seconds, brands will need to leverage the maximum of each touchpoint in the most relevant manner without losing focus on its core proposition. I am glad that DDB Tribal has a vision of providing such solutions to address brand’s needs. I look forward to this new role and being part of the creative legacy of the Group and taking it to a new frontier in the coming times.”

An English literature graduate, Sarma is a voracious reader, poet, and short story writer.

Mumbai: Quotient Ventures, Mumbai-based brand and communications group, has roped in media and advertising veteran T Gangadhar (Gangs) as its group CEO. This appointment is effective 1 February.

With over 25 years of experience in advertising, marketing and media, Gangadhar joins Quotient Ventures from GroupM/WPP where he last served as Asia Pacific CEO of Essence. Prior to WPP, he has worked with Sony Pictures Networks, Lowe Lintas and DDB Mudra.

Apart from being a seasoned, growth-oriented professional, Gangs (as he is popularly known in the industry) is passionate about bringing meaningful change in the communications industry. He has been one of the most vocal voices for diversity, inclusion and equality (DEI) in the Asia Pacific region.

Talking about the appointment, Quotient Ventures founder and group chairman & CEO, Joseph George (Joe) said, “I have always admired leaders in companies getting in talent better than oneself; I think I have done so too with the appointment of Gangs. His experiences and competencies across organisational leadership (India & APAC), P&L management, advertising (strategic planning and account management), marketing, media, content, digital and data are just what the group requires hereon in its growth ambitions across Tilt Brand Solutions, Vector Brand Solutions and StudioQ.”

Talking about the appointment, Gangadhar said, “I have tremendous admiration and respect for what Joe, Shriram and Rajiv have built in such a short period of time. Rarely does one get the opportunity to lead an organization that has so much going for it, yet is hungry to do better. I am excited about the prospect of deploying the Full-Brained-Thinking philosophy, and further consolidating the group’s position as a premier destination for brands and business owners”.

Joe concluded, “In spite of the covid disruption hitting us just 18 months after our launch, we have had a terrific run these past 4.5 years. And so, we are in an exciting position where there is enough to be built upon, but also a lot to be built anew. And between Gangs, Shriram and Rajiv, we have just the right leadership team with the right interests, the right experience, the right attitude and the right competencies to lead us on this journey ahead.”

For the record, Quotient Ventures is a modern marketing services group offering strategic, creative, digital and production solutions across formats and platforms for new and legacy brands alike. The group comprises Tilt Brand Solutions – a contemporary brand and communications consultancy, Vector Brand Solutions – a brand-first digital agency that provides full-funnel solutioning, and StudioQ – a video and content production unit.

Mumbai: The Advertising Club hosted the latest edition of the coveted ‘Effie India Awards 2022’ presented by Meta, associate sponsor Colors along with Ultratech Cement Ltd. as category sponsor and Crav/ing Digital as the celebration partner. Mondelez India Pvt. Ltd. was judged the Effie India client of the year, while Ogilvy Group was named Effie India agency of the year. The coveted grand Effie was won by Leo Burnett India for Whisper India’s campaign “Whisper: Changing the education system to keep girls in school.”

Announced at a celebratory event at Taj Lands’ End, Mumbai, the awards acknowledged the impact of success through work done by agencies and clients that set new benchmarks in effectiveness in marketing and advertising communication. Surpassing all its previous records, this year, Effie India received 986 entries, the highest ever in 22 years, and saw participation from 53 agencies.

Speaking at the EFFIEs, The Advertising Club president Partha Sinha said, “It is extremely heartening to witness Effie become the most coveted trophy within the marketing and advertising fraternity. Like every year, this year too, Effie has witnessed significant patronage from industry veterans and category leaders. I’d like to congratulate all the winners for crafting impactful campaigns that are now sheer examples of innovation and effectiveness.”

Elaborating on the awards, EFFIE India chairperson Mitrajit Bhattacharya said, “It gives me great joy to host the EFFIE Awards once again as a physical event, celebrating the best work of the year with the people who create them. A big thank you to 493 judges who judged a record-breaking 986 entries over three rounds of online judging. I also thank each participating agency and client for their support. And a huge shout out to our sponsors, The Ad Club managing committee, the Effie committee, EFFIE New York, and The Ad Club secretariat to make this event a huge success.”

Adding on the enhancements in the award process this year, Effie India co-chairperson Pradeep Dwivedi added, “We have built a sustainable trajectory as a leading Effie organising body, having successfully implemented the new Acclaim platform for the jury process this year, in tandem with our worldwide peers and Effie global team. The adoption and change management of the same by our industry members has been truly amazing!”

Meta presents Special Award for creator marketing was awarded to Mondelez, Wavemaker, and Ogilvy.

Referred to as a solid acknowledgment of any agency’s power to build brands, Effie continues to epitomise the pinnacle of advertising effectiveness by recognizing and rewarding a campaign’s innovation, execution efficiency, and communication impact.

Mumbai: NDTV has announced that three senior officials have resigned.

The president Suparna Singh, chief strategy officer Arijit Chatterjee and chief technology and product officer Kawaljit Singh Bedi, put in their resignations on Friday.

The company stated in a BSE filing that it is in the process of assembling a new leadership team. This, it said, will set a fresh strategic direction and goals for the company.

Last month, founders Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy left the company’s board. The Roys have sold most of their stake in NDTV to the Adani Group.

Mumbai: US and global media conglomerate Disney’s board of directors has elected independent director Mark G. Parker as chairman of the board, effective following the annual meeting of shareholders. Parker, a seven-year member of the Disney board and Nike’s executive chairman will succeed Susan E. Arnold, who will not stand for re-election pursuant to the 15-year term limit under Disney’s board tenure policy. As a result, the size of the board will be reduced to 11 members.

“Mark Parker is an incredibly well-respected leader who over seven years as a Disney director has helped the company effectively navigate through a time of unprecedented change. During his four decades at Nike, Parker has led one of the world’s most recognised consumer brands through various market evolutions and a successful CEO transition, and he is uniquely positioned to chair the Disney board during this period of transformation,” Arnold said.

“Mark Parker’s vision, incredible depth of experience, and wise counsel have been invaluable to Disney, and I look forward to continuing to work with him in his new role, along with our other directors, as we chart the future course for this amazing company. On behalf of my fellow board members and the entire Disney management team, I also want to thank Arnold for her superb leadership as chairman and for her tireless work over the past 15 years as an exemplary steward of the Disney brand” Disney CEO Robert A. Iger said.

Parker said, “I am honoured to have the opportunity to serve as Disney’s chairman, and I look forward to working closely with Bob and his management team on a strategy of growth that balances investment with profitability, while preserving Disney’s core mission of creative excellence, to deliver shareholder value. At the same time, it is the top priority of mine and the Board’s to identify and prepare a successful CEO successor, and that process has already begun.”

Parker will also chair a newly created succession planning committee of the board, which will advise the board on CEO succession planning, including a review of internal and external candidates. Parker served as Nike chairman, CEO until 2020, when he became executive chairman.

Mumbai: Connected TVs (CTV) are increasingly becoming a viable alternative to linear TV. India’s CTV growth has increased on the count of a growth in smart TVs that are set to overshadow the percentage of shipments when compared with linear TVs. According to a counterpoint research, smart TV’s contribution to overall TV shipments reached its highest-ever share of 93 per cent during Q3, 2022. Smart TVs are now affordable, offer excellent picture quality, are supported by a thriving app ecosystem, and offer a range of quality streaming content for English- and non-English-speaking viewers.

As a result, viewing habits have shifted, and there is a greater appetite for streaming content. A mediasmart India CTV 2.0 report released earlier this year showed that 83 per cent of the survey respondents use their smart TVs to watch content using the internet. The steadily increasing connected TV audience presents a very strong proposition for advertising as it has penetrated non-metros and is the new way to watch TV for these audiences, who use CTVs for viewing OTT & news, gaming, music, and more.

The co-viewing growth holds significant potential for advertisers who can leverage newer technologies to drive audience engagement and brand impact.

2023 – The dawn of a new era for CTV growth in India

Today, the CTV phenomenon has heralded a new era as families have emerged from their mobiles and tablets and re-entered the living rooms to enjoy watching content together on the big screen. With plenty of options and genres to choose from, CTV has something for everyone. Now, with more brands including CTV in their media mix, audiences are cutting the cord in favour of CTV. Changes to the CTV ecosystem—both in India and around the world—are set to make it a big bang firecracker for this holiday season and the New Year.

This makes CTV ads also to be impactful, with 81 per cent of the exposed viewers claiming to have been influenced by the CTV ads, as found in the mediasmart research. With CTV’s potential to improve purchase intent, 2023 is set to be the dawn of a new era for growth across this ad segment in India.

Some of the key trends that will potentially drive the growth of connected TV advertising are:

Increase in global CTV spends: A Nielsen report in the US stated that streaming viewership exceeded cable usage for the first time and that the average volume of streamed content consumed has beaten the 2020 pandemic-induced lockdown period. As a result, advertisers have gradually been allocating more money towards CTV, to the extent that ad spends in the US, according to e-marketers, are expected to increase by 14.4 per cent and exceed $26 billion in 2023. The CTV market in Europe has also grown substantially over the years. Here, ad spends have been projected to increase by 36 per cent after experiencing 56 per cent growth in 2021.

India is a smaller market in comparison to the US and UK, which started evolving only 3–4 years ago. That said, we are closing the gap fast. According to a report by EY-Ficci, CTV users in India are expected to go from 14 million to over 40 million by the end of 2025. CTV’s role as an impactful advertising medium is also steadily growing in India, and with brands across CPG, auto, BFSI, e-commerce, luxury, and many others showing great interest in the growing CTV space, this is set to grow further.

Sustained CTV viewership growth in India: With the increased investment in OTT and availability of premium content, Indian audiences are drawn to CTV’s convenience and regular stream of fresh, high-quality content. The OTT subscriber base in India, which is close to 97 million (media partners Asia report), is also on the rise, with DTH service providers actively bundling on-demand channels to tap the growing CTV audience. A mediasmart survey found that over 40 per cent of viewers spend four hours watching CTV content, and 84 per cent of households have more than one person watching shows on a smart TV. This presents a tremendous opportunity for advertisers to leverage AI-driven programmatic advertising to connect with the burgeoning CTV audience.

Growth of ad-supported tiers: The growth of OTT content on CTV has also led to an interest among brands to leverage the medium for advertising opportunities and brand storytelling. There has been some consolidation in this space—such as with Zee5 and SonyLIV, besides support for a SVoD model.

Leading OTT players like Disney+ and Netflix have also considered such pricing tiers for monetisation, beginning with introducing them in the western part of the world. Even so, there are local players like MX Player, JioCinema and aha that already provide AVoD content to attract viewers with free or cheaper plans. It just shows that with Netflix also entering the fray that there is a huge opportunity for advertisers to reach audiences via connected TVs.

CTV as a medium for interactive ads: Since the market still remains fragmented across linear TV, CTV and mobile devices, it is necessary to adopt a cross-channel strategy to connect advertisers with their audiences. An omnichannel approach increases the reach, though Nielsen data shows that 75 per cent of consumers struggle to correctly identify a brand the day after being exposed to their TV ad. Interactive advertisements do well to address this problem. Such CTV ads allow advertisers to connect with viewers and encourage them to participate, resulting in better brand recall. Studies have shown that interactive CTV campaigns deliver stronger results across key performance and attention metrics than interactive campaigns on mobile and PC. The Coinbase ad during the Super Bowl 2022 kept it simple by airing only a QR code encouraging viewers to download the app.

Besides, the technology platform allows one to measure the impact and learn about the viewer’s preferences, and create new data points. In the new year, however, we will see more of these creative, interactive ad innovations that will improve CTV user engagement and experience.

CTV for app promotion & user tracking: CTV will also play a major role in becoming a sought-after advertising medium for owning the entire journey from discovery to purchase. It is not necessary to target smartphone users via the mobile route only because a mediasmart survey found that over 40 per cent of viewers spend four hours watching CTV content. Furthermore, according to an AppsFlyer survey, 40 per cent of consumers worldwide are influenced to download mobile apps after seeing advertisements for them. App developers will also begin to view CTV as a full-funnel medium, besides the conventional brands, to promote themselves to increase their install base. Here, a solution like CTV household sync will further enable brands to connect the disconnected worlds of TV and mobile, allowing them to track the entire user journey—from discovery on the large screen to action on mobile or even a footfall at the brand’s retail outlet.

Why continue to invest in CTV in 2023

Audiences are more connected than ever in both the online and offline worlds, making it hard for advertisers to determine what platforms to use to reach out to them. Many are looking to diversify by building omnichannel campaigns. CTV intertwines the offline and online worlds, building a great channel for efficient omnichannel advertising, and the year 2023 will see more budgets being allocated towards CTV ads.

It is interesting to note that the shift from traditional to CTV also means that advertising is no longer tied to prime time, a particular channel, or a particular show. This means that the same campaign could run at the same time on two devices that are watching different shows; and also, that different campaigns could run on devices watching the same show.

With more time being consumed on CTV, ad dollars will also eventually move in this direction as the Indian market will see growth for both SVoD and AVoD content on CTV. The industry is also looking at better technologies and innovations that will offer better measurement in this space, encouraging more brands to target the right audience, get relevant insights, and make data-driven decisions to include CTV in their media plans. In the coming year, success in this medium will be dictated by preemptive disruptive ideas to engage with a diverse, multilingual audience such as India.

The author of this article is Affle VP (India & SEA), mediasmart Nikhil Kumar.