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Tag: Adani Group

  • “Future of Ultimate Kho Kho looks very promising”: Sony Pictures Networks India’s Rajesh Kaul

    “Future of Ultimate Kho Kho looks very promising”: Sony Pictures Networks India’s Rajesh Kaul

    Mumbai: Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) commenced airing the inaugural edition of Ultimate Kho Kho on 14 August. The final takes place on 4 September. The broadcaster has a five-year deal for the event. SPNI chief revenue officer, distribution and head of sports business Rajesh Kaul is optimistic about the future of the league.

    Speaking with Indiantelevision.com, he said, “All leagues in their nascent years have taken time to grow, and this would also stand true for the Ultimate Kho Kho. That being said, the feedback for the league so far in its first couple of weeks has been great and its future looks very promising.”

    He further added that Kho Kho is one of those sports that has pan-India appeal driven by the fact that it is indigenous to the country. “In our research, a lot of young audiences were playing the game, and the older audiences remembered the game with a lot of nostalgia and fondness. It’s a sport that is widely played in schools by both boys and girls. The fact that the sport doesn’t require any expensive equipment adds to its appeal across all economic sections in society.”

    The broadcaster is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the league gains traction with viewers. There are five language feeds. He noted that Kho Kho is one of the few sports in the country that attracts high interest in both the Hindi-speaking markets as well as the South. “For the first season, we have gone all out with five language feeds – English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Marathi. We also have six teams from across the country that are already garnering a following across the country: Mumbai Khiladis, Chennai Quickguns, Telugu Yoddhas, Gujarat Giants, Odisha Juggernauts, and Rajasthan Warriors.”

    On the sponsorship front, he noted that season one was never going to be about sponsors. “Our efforts are targeted towards putting up a fantastic product which does justice to the sport and attracts viewers. This in turn will lead to sponsors’ interest in the upcoming seasons of Ultimate Kho Kho. It should be mentioned though that in its inaugural year, Ultimate Kho Kho has attracted interest from and brought on board corporates like Adani Group, GMR Group, Capri Global, and KLO Sports, along with Singing Sensation Badshah and the Odisha government in collaboration with steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India to own teams in the league.”

    When asked if Sony would look at taking a stake at some point in a sports league, he said that while the broadcaster is continuously on the lookout for opportunities that might emerge, the primary focus in any partnership is to ensure the best coverage of the sport on our sports channels. “At this point, we are working with our various content partners and leagues that share our vision to provide Indians with the best live coverage of sporting action from India and around the world to our viewers.”

  • Ultimate Kho Kho aims to be a primetime blockbuster and top three leagues in India

    Ultimate Kho Kho aims to be a primetime blockbuster and top three leagues in India

    Mumbai: The first edition of Ultimate Kho Kho, a sports league aimed at popularising the game of kho kho, kicked off on 14 August. Ultimate Kho Kho CEO & League Commissioner Tenzing Niyogi said that the aim is to be a primetime blockbuster and build it into the top three leagues of India.

    “Since our independence, Kho Kho has been an integral part of our modern soil. Every Indian has at some time or other played Kho Kho, which is for both genders; boys and girls & men and women. I think that was one of our key factors in building a professional league around the sport, which gave us impetus, strength, confidence, and the foresight to build something as big as Ultimate KhoKho. As we all keep saying, this is our “mitti ka khel” which is going to finally see its soil in the spotlight moment. My vision has always been to bring the sport onto a national platform and create something which is beneficial for all the athletes and player population that Kho Kho enjoys. The idea here is to make Ultimate Kho Kho a primetime blockbuster and build it into the top three leagues of India,” he tells Indiantelevision.com.

    Ultimate Kho-Kho, he explains, is an initiative started by Dabur India non-executive director Amit Burman and the Kho-Kho Federation of India. The Ultimate Kho Kho league promoter, Burman, has invested Rs 200 crore in the project for a period of five years, and wants to get Kho-Kho back on the sports map of India.

    The team owners includes, Chennai Quick Guns (KLO Sports), Gujarat Giants (Adani Sportsline), Mumbai Khiladis (Badshah & Punit Balan), Odisha Juggernauts (Government of Odisha), Rajasthan Warriors (Capri Global), and Telugu Yoddhas (GMR Sports).

    “Rise Worldwide is the league’s consultant and exclusive broadcast production partner, while Sony Pictures Network India is our official broadcast partner,” Niyogi elaborated.

    When asked about the level of interest in the country for Kho Kho, he noted that the level of interest for Kho Kho in India has been humongous. He said, “The best part of what I believe Kho Kho enjoys and which Ultimate Kho Kho as part of the vision has always taken forward is the fact that the deep-rooted club culture has always been the biggest support for any sports development across the globe. The fan following that Kho Kho enjoys across multiple regional layers in India has given us our brainchild, which was also to bring Ultimate Kho Kho into multiple languages.”

    “The fact that we’ve taken this so far is because there are people who are ready to consume Kho Kho in the new shape and form that we are ready to present. We believe that if we can bring this in its new avatar to the audiences of India, with the right set of stakeholders who have the vision and credibility to build this sport, not only from a financial assistance perspective but also by developing the sport in their respective catchment areas, we will increase the penetration of the sport of Kho Kho.”

    In terms of the learnings from the success of the Pro Kabaddi League, he said that the understanding and learnings from the past leagues have also been that when you create a league, it should have stakeholders in the shape and form of big corporate houses. “It should also involve the entertainment factors that appeal to the masses of India and do that with the right broadcaster showcasing it across multiple channels that have the right amount of distribution footprint. Also, not to forget that the important role of regional language comes about truly and specifically for any other sport that we have seen succeed in India and becomes a critical success factor for all of us.”

    He further noted that there has been a huge inception of non-cricketing sports since 2014. “The IPL actually created and paved the way for sports leagues in India. Since then, there has been the ingestion of multiple other sports leagues which have come about. Some have seen the success story and some might not have. Ultimate Kho Kho has been built on a few success pillars, which are, namely, one being the change of format; secondly, being a team sport; and thirdly, I think what it believes is that homegrown sports do have a special place in the Indian heart and soul.

    “Of course, the concept of worldwide ranking makes it all the easier for people to establish the fact that we are doing what is best for us as far as the nation is concerned, and largely, the concept of rural penetration in India does play a humongous role in the success of any league in India. Ultimate Kho Kho has been built upon the format which was always of critical value to us, where we believe that an appointment viewing of one hour over primetime television is a very, very important role to be played.”

    In terms of the decision to choose Rise to handle the league, he explains that Ultimate Kho Kho has always been envisioned as a television product. It was always designed and curated in such a fashion that it became a spectacle on air. “For this reason, we have really given due consideration to television production agencies who have come and pitched to us. We went ahead with Rise for a couple of reasons. One was that the idea that Rise gave us and the confidence they gave us with the lineage of TV production was vibrant. The fact that we went back to our drawing board and discussed how many camera shots would be in Ultimate Kho Kho’s tail with the inclusion of Light Spidey was another interesting piece of the jigsaw puzzle that we solved together.”

    Madison Media OOH group CEO Vikram Sakhuja noted that the sport is fast-paced and attractive. “Kho kho is a pretty exciting game. Earlier, people saw the potential of kabaddi, which was amped up to a new level. I have no doubt that the players will do a very good job of kho kho as well.” For him, the learning of PKL was the fact that the stakeholders were patient. Initially, there were no sponsors. That is because Star wanted to show the proof of concept and then go to the market with the right price. “They were confident that value would be unlocked in one or two seasons. That is the big lesson. You want to get a good price. If you sell at the beginning, then you might get next to nothing.” He noted that a punt has been taken by the various stakeholders of Ultimate Kho Kho.

  • WebEngage partners with Adani to streamline customer engagement

    WebEngage partners with Adani to streamline customer engagement

    Mumbai: The leading full stack retention operating system WebEngage has announced its partnership with Adani Group to streamline its data-driven consumer engagement efforts.

    As a part of this partnership, Adani Group will use WebEngage’s retention operating system to engage with over four hundred million of its customers on multiple levels across the company’s product and service offerings. “WebEngage will power Adani Group’s digital transformation journey across all its six consumer-facing businesses in close collaboration with Adani Digital Labs including Adani Airports, Adani Gas, Adani Electricity, Adani Wilmar, Adani Realty & Adani Capital,” said the statement.

    Adani Group is known for keeping customers at the centre while designing solutions that further drive customer empathy, self-service and world-class customer experience. Aligned to this, WebEngage will work closely with Adani Digital Labs to help the group companies organise customer data, develop analytical dashboards and drive 1:1 personalised engagement to deliver the intended customer experience across the web and mobile properties – aka the SuperApp.

    WebEngage is on a mission to help consumer businesses engage and retain customers better while also helping them scale through a robust customer data and analytics platform, a personalisation engine, and an omnichannel campaign orchestration system.

    With this appointment, WebEngage has strengthened its position of delivering world-class retention solutions to the enterprise segment which has earlier been dominated by players mandating heavy cost and implementation time requirements. WebEngage’s full-stack Retention Operating System is used and recommended by over four hundered marketers across the globe.

    On this partnership, WebEngage founder and CEO Avlesh Singh commented, “We are truly excited about the possibilities, given the scale of the Adani Group. This engagement is a testament to WebEngage’s proven prowess in serving enterprise customers with the scale, security and ease of adoption/time to value.”

  • Adani Group bats in UAE’s T20 League

    Adani Group bats in UAE’s T20 League

    Mumbai: Adani Sportsline, a part of the diversified Adani Group, has made a landmark foray into franchise cricket by acquiring the rights to own and operate a franchise in UAE’s flagship T20 league.

    Licensed by Emirates Cricket Board, the UAE T20 League is an annual event that will feature six franchise teams competing in a 34-match event. Top players from all the cricket playing countries are expected to be in the line-up of different teams. The league will be providing a platform and exposure to upcoming young cricketers. This will be the first major move overseas by the Adani Sportsline that will connect and engage with global fans from across the cricketing nations.

    “It is a proud moment for us to announce the Adani Group’s association with the UAE’s T20 League as a franchise team owner. This acquisition fits perfectly in the group of corporates who have already acquired franchise team rights in the league,” said UAE’s T20 League chairman Khalid Al Zarooni. “The trust shown by the Adani Group augurs well for the League and we look forward to benefitting from their business acumen and working together to make our league successful.”

    “We are excited to be part of the UAE T20 league,” said Pranav Adani. “The UAE is an amazing amalgamation of several cricket loving nations. It provides an excellent platform for enhancing the visibility of cricket as the sport goes increasingly global. Our presence here is also a great base for the Adani brand that is contributing significantly to the sports ecosystem in India through leagues such as boxing and kabaddi, and nurturing sporting talent at the grassroots level through the Garv Hai initiative.”

    “We are extremely pleased to have one of Asia’s leading corporates as our franchise team owner. This is a resounding thumbs up to the unique opportunity that the UAE T20 league offers to experienced and established business owners,” said Emirates Cricket Board general secretary Mubashshir Usmani. “We are confident that this association will be mutually beneficial for both the Adani Group and the League. UAE’s T20 League will attract some of the biggest names in world cricket while also giving a platform and international exposure to local and upcoming players”.

    Adani Sportsline is promoted by the Adani Group whose diverse businesses include port management, electric power generation and transmission, renewable energy, mining, airport operations, natural gas, food processing and infrastructure. The group has annual revenues of over $20 billion with operations at 70 locations in 50 countries and a market cap of over $222 billion.

  • Adani forays into media biz, acquires minority stake in Quint Digital arm

    Adani forays into media biz, acquires minority stake in Quint Digital arm

    Mumbai: Quint Digital Media, via its wholly owned subsidiary has entered into a binding term sheet with the Adani Group. The business conglomerate will acquire a minority stake in Quintillion Business Media (QBM), an indirect subsidiary of Quint Digital.

    The proposed transaction with the Adani Group is only for QBM which is a digital business news platform and not in relation to other digital media/media tech properties owned by Quint Digital viz The Quint, Quintype Technologies, thenewsminute and Youthkiawaaz.

    “Adani Media Ventures intends to lead the path for new age media across different platforms,” stated Adani Media Ventures Ltd CEO Sunjay Pugalia. “The adoption of technology and the increased ability of our nation to consume information has dramatically transformed the way media is expected to disseminate authentic information. This is exactly what Adani Media Ventures aims to do. I have had the privilege of working with QBM’s talented, credible and diverse team. This relationship between AMV and QBM marks a strong beginning of Adani Group’s foray into Indian media.”

    QBM is a business and financial news company and operates a business news digital platform in India. QBM’s main content is based on the Indian economy, international finance, corporate law and governance and business news, amongst others through its platform Bloomberg | Quint. It has a subsisting content agreement with Bloomberg Television Production Services India.

    “We are delighted to welcome the Adani Group as an investor in QBM,” stated QBM CEO Anil Uniyal. “Given the proven execution record of the Adani group, their support to fulfill the ambitions of QBM will lay the foundation for accelerating the growth of the business and scale of QBM’s high quality content for the Indian audiences.”

  • WinZO inks principal sponsorship deal with two PKL teams

    WinZO inks principal sponsorship deal with two PKL teams

    Mumbai: Social gaming platform WinZO has been announced as the new principal sponsor for Future Group-owned Bengal Warriors and Adani Group’s Gujarat Fortune Giants for the Vivo Pro Kabaddi League’s (PKL) season 8.

    Focusing on developing a culturally relevant sporting ecosystem, WinZO sees this sponsorship as organic and supporting local talent which promotes ‘Bharat ka Khel- Kabaddi,’ said the platform in a statement

    With a presence in deepest parts of the country and 80 per cent of the user base consuming content in vernacular, WinZO persists to provide social interactive games and formats that are enjoyed by the masses. Hosting 80+ games in 12 languages for a user base of 65 million+, 90 per cent of WinZO’s user base is spread across tier 2 to tier 5 markets, it further said.

    “Just like Kabaddi, WinZO is also homegrown and is building for Bharat. The opportunity struck an instant chord with us,” said WinZO co-founder and CEO Paavan Nanda. “We believe that the Vivo Pro Kabaddi League will certainly provide a massive boost to the growth of the sport and players in the country. It’s a matter of great pride for us to play our part in the advancement of Kabaddi in India.”  

    Vivo PKL, India’s professional Kabaddi league, is the second most viewed sporting event in the country, second only to the Indian Premier League (IPL), with a viewership of 430 million, said the statement.

    “We are delighted to welcome WinZO as the lead sponsor for Bengal Warriors. The game Kabaddi has really found its rightful place as the largest sports league in India,” stated Bengal Warriors CEO Sandip Tarkas. “Bengal Warriors is one of the founding teams of Vivo PKL and is one of the most exciting teams in the league. With WinZO’s association, we are sure Kabaddi will make a BIG splash in the online games space as well.”

  • Zee Entertainment is Global Citizen Live’s India broadcast partner

    Zee Entertainment is Global Citizen Live’s India broadcast partner

    Mumbai: International advocacy organisation Global Citizen in partnership with Wizcraft recently announced that Mumbai will be represented in Global Citizen Live’s broadcast. The organisation, on Wednesday, said that Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd will broadcast the festival on its television channels and digital entertainment platform Zee5 in India and across the globe.

    VH Group’s Venkys India Ltd, Adani Group, Serum Institute of India (SII), and Maharashtra Tourism have come on board to support the initiative.

    According to a statement, Global Citizen Live festival will call on world leaders, philanthropists, and corporations to defend the planet and defeat poverty, to take action on climate change, famine, and advance vaccine equity.

    “This year, Global Citizen has yet again brought together a slew of committed personalities with an aim to educate and empower both corporations and the general public alike on meeting critical goals in these areas,” said a Zee spokesperson. “The city of Mumbai will be one of the select few iconic locations to host the event live, not only bringing home the immediacy of these causes but also letting the city add its own unique flavor to the endeavor, with a gallery of our very own stars gracing the occasion.”

    The campaign has the support of Venkateshwara Hatcheries’ Venkys as lead partners who have partnered with Global Citizen for its India focussed initiatives for the third successive time. They have previously been presenting partners of Global Citizen Festival-Mumbai and Vax Live: The Concert to Reunite the World, which was broadcast at the height of Covid-19 and called for global vaccine unity.

    “It is great to witness these conversations taking place on a global scale which is amplified by world leaders and eminent personalities in an exciting format that attracts people and also motivates them to act individually. We look forward to joining this campaign that aims at ensuring every citizen on this planet cares for it too,” said SII chief executive officer Adar Poonawalla.

    “We are proud and excited to continue our association with Global Citizen once again. We are delighted to continue our promise with this grand association while we celebrate 50 years of VH Group,” said VH Group’s Venkys India Ltd managing director B Balaji Rao.

    Global Citizen Live is supported by a corporate coalition, including global partners: Accenture, Cisco, Citi, The Coca-Cola Company, Delta Air Lines, Google, Live Nation, P&G, Salesforce, Verizon, and campaign partners Hilton, WW International, and World-Wide Technology who will engage support from the private sector in driving new commitments toward the campaign’s policy objectives. Access Bank is a Global Citizen Live campaign partner in Nigeria.

    “We are elated to announce that this time Zee Entertainment is our official broadcast partner. We are also grateful to VH Group, Adani Group and Serum Institute Of India who have been as enthusiastic about this campaign and event as we are,” said Wizcraft co-founder Andre Timmins. “One thing that binds us together is our common goal of catalysing pro-activeness on long-standing pressing issues concerning people, states, and environment.”

    Actor Anil Kapoor will host the initiative from the Gateway of India and artists like Amit Trivedi, Ajay-Atul, Badshah and Tanishk Bagchi will perform live along with appearances by Sachin Tendulkar, Madhuri Dixit and Varun Dhawan who have come on board to support the campaign. There will also be appearances by Sadhguru, Amitabh Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Ayushmann Khurrana, Dia Mirza, Farhan Akhtar, among many others.

    Campaign co-chairs include Cisco chairman and CEO Chuck Robbins; Citi CEO Jane Fraser; The Coca-Cola Company chairman and CEO James Quincey; Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian; Google CMO Lorraine Twohill; Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino; P&G CBO Marc Pritchard; Salesforce chairman and CEO Marc Benioff; Verizon chairman and CEO Hans Vestberg, and WW International CEO Mindy Grossman.

    Executive producers of the Global Citizen Live campaign include UMG’s Michele Anthony, Francine Katsoudas, Tina Kennedy, Eric Ortner, Guy Oseary, Michael Rapino for Live Nation, Brian N Sheth, Wassim ‘Sal’ Slaiby, and Chris Stadler.

    The program will be executive produced by Jane Y Mun, with producing partners Deviants Media, Diversified Production Services, Done and Dusted Productions, Ken Ehrlich Productions, Live Nation, Livewire Pictures, TMPL Motion Pictures, and U-Live (a UMG Nigeria company).

  • Tokyo Olympics: Adani Group comes onboard as sponsor for IOA

    Tokyo Olympics: Adani Group comes onboard as sponsor for IOA

    Mumbai: There’s palpable excitement in the air as the mega global sporting event, Tokyo Olympics 2020, after a year’s delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic, finally kicks off on 23 July. Brands have also come out in full support of the Indian squad at the Olympics- some via curating Olympic-special campaigns, or by representing the Tokyo-bound athletes, to coming onboard as sponsors.

    The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Friday announced that it has roped in Adani Group as a sponsor for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the future.

    “We are happy to inform you about one more sponsorship which is confirmed by Adani Group to IOA for the Olympics since our last update to you on 16th July. Adani Group has confirmed to us a good sponsorship association and support for the future also,” said IOA secretary-general Rajeev Mehta in an official statement.

    Earlier, IOA had announced that SFA Pvt Ltd had joined as one of its sponsors for the multi-sport event.

    “We are happy to inform you about one more sponsorship which is confirmed by SFA Pvt Ltd to IOA since our last update to you on 14th July,” said Rajeev Mehta. “SFA has confirmed to us a sponsorship of Rs one crore,” he added.

    IOA had earlier entered sponsorship agreements with MPL Sports Foundation as the ‘Principal Sponsor’ covering the Tokyo Olympic Games, 2022 Asian Games, and Commonwealth Games.

    The IOA then confirmed global nutrition company Herbalife as one of its sponsors.

    As per the IOA, MPL will pay a total of Rs eight crore to IOA and in addition to this sports kit for the 2022 Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, the Indian contingent will also be supplied by them.

    In June, JSW Group was also roped in as a sponsor for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. In a statement issued by IOA chief Narinder Batra and secretary Rajeev Mehta, the IOA had said that JSW’s CEO Parth Jindal had confirmed the sponsorship of Rs one crore to the governing body.

    Additionally, Amul had also come forward to support IOA for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Amul’s sponsorship is for Rs one crore for a period till 31 December.

  • Nitin Sethi joins Adani Group as chief digital officer for consumer business

    Nitin Sethi joins Adani Group as chief digital officer for consumer business

    New Delhi: Airliner Indigo's chief digital officer Nitin Sethi has moved on from the organisation and joined Adani Group as chief digital officer – consumer business.

    "I am looking forward to enabling digital transformation, customer-centric design thinking, customer empathy, technology roadmap, and unified thinking of the group’s consumer businesses. It is an exciting start of being an Intrapreneur at what I see as one of the world’s largest start-up environments", he announced on LinkedIn.

    Sethi carries more than two decades of experience in digital transformation and product design and was previously leading digital transformation for Indigo Airlines at Gurugram. Before working with Indigo, Sethi worked with Quikr as VP and group head experience and product design for around three years. He has also worked with CommonFloor.com as head of product design and experience and with Appigizer as an investor and mentor.

    Specialising in leading multi-functional teams and establishing best user experience practices and processes, Sethi has previously had stints at Info Edge India (Naukri.com Group), India Art Village, Babyoye.com, Dainik Bhaskar Group, Prism Education, Mega Softwares, rediff.com, Times Internet, and Bharti Airtel.

  • Adani Group expresses gratutude towards frontline warriors

    Adani Group expresses gratutude towards frontline warriors

    MUMBAI: Adani Group has joined hands with DDB Mudra, to salute the frontline warriors with a heartwarming film, #GoodnessNeverStops. The film pays homage to the workforce at Adani Group for its relentless efforts and unwavering support during the lockdown amid the COVID2019 crisis.

    The film narrates how Adani Group’s engineers, security personnel, healthcare professionals and sanitation workers have been stepping out each day to make sure the citizens of the nation do not go without essential services. The film is an extension of the group’s philosophy of ‘Growth with Goodness’, where each of their business has evolved to play a part in empowering India.

    While the entire nation has come to a standstill, Adani Group’s army of heroes continue to do their jobs to ensure that essential goods and services are delivered to the citizens of the country. Hundreds from the Adani Group’s workforce at ports, power plants, transmission sites, edible oil refineries, residential townships and city gas distribution businesses have been working seamlessly so that lockdown does not impact the basic needs of people.

    Elaborating on the objective of the campaign, Adani Group group president – corporate brand custodian Paresh Chaudhry said, “This crisis demanded continuous supply of certain essentials so that people can stay indoors safely. Thanks to our ever-reliable workforce, we were able to deliver when it mattered the most. This film is our tribute to our workforce and to all those who are working relentlessly to help bring the country back to normalcy.”

    Talking about the concept and execution, DDB Mudra VP – strategy Shekhar Pandey said, “In this unprecedented scenario, there are so many fellow citizens who are putting duty and the country above everything else. This film is our tribute to all such brave hearts who are truly demonstrating the goodness that is inherent in humanity. As we faced various execution-related limitations due to lockdown, we decided to take up the animation route and produced this film totally in-house at our Ahmedabad office.”

    The film was released on Adani Group’s social media handles and has received over half a million views across Facebook and Instagram.

    Link to work: https://www.facebook.com/AdaniOnline/videos/227697331787084/

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