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Tag: Airtel

  • Zee Khana Khazana presents the Second Season of “Bacha Party”

    Zee Khana Khazana presents the Second Season of “Bacha Party”

    MUMBAI: Zee Khana Khazana, India’s premium 24 hour food channel brings back the second season of your most loved show – Bacha Party. Hosted by television actress cum mother cum Chef- Gurdip Kohli Punj, the show is designed foryoung mothers who face a daily challenge of feeding their children food that is both healthy and delicious. The show will premiere on 9th May and will air every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 2.30pm only on Zee Khana Khazana.     

     

    For the first time ever, Zee Khana Khazana will seechildren participate with chefs to recreate recipes.BachaParty will invite budding young chefs who have the passion and knowledge for food Theshow will be a blend of Chef Gurdip sharing exciting tips and recipes and sometimes learning from the amateur chefs This season promises to be an extremelyinteractive and educational and a lot of masti not just for the Chef and kids but also for the viewers.

     

    In every episode, Gurdip will lead you through innovative,healthyrecipes that are easy to make. Besides everyday snacks and lunch-box meals, she will demonstrate how to make party food, desserts, juices and much more.

     

    Commenting on this unique initiative, Amit Nair- Business Head at Zee Khana Khazana says, “With popular demand and being the number one show inthe genre of food and lifestyle,we are delighted to present the second season of Bacha party. In this season, we have children showcasing their talent by preparing delicious recipes with Chef’s guidance thereby providing mothers a child’s perspective of preferred food. It should prove to be quite interesting and engaging for all.”

     

    If you are wondering what to feed your child, especially when you have a picky eater on your hands, tune into Zee Khana Khazana and watch Bacha Party.

    TUNE INTO BACHA PARTY every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 2.30pm ONLY ON ZEE KHANA KHAZANA. Zee Khana Khazana is available on Dish TV, Videocon, D2h, Tata Sky, Airtel and all major digital cable operators like Hathway, DEN, Siticable, and GTPL.

     

    For more information, please log on to – www.zeekhanakhazana.com

  • Madison Media still holds the digital mandate for Airtel brand and media

    Madison Media still holds the digital mandate for Airtel brand and media

    MUMBAI: Contrary to reports that appeared in the media yesterday, Madison Media continues to handle the digital mandate for Airtel brand and media. The agency however does not handle “search marketing” for airtel.in.

     

    Madison Media Group CEO Gautam Kiyawat in a statement says: “Digital is a very important element within Madison Media and our attempt has been to offer clients a holistic media strategy encompassing all media to achieve their brand’s business objectives”.

     

    Madison Media today works with many marquee clients in the digital space including Airtel, Mondelez/Cadbury, Marico, Levis, Budweiser, Asian Paints, BJP, Raymond, Yatra.com, Fiama diWills, and many other clients. The agency has a strong 60 member digital team most of them embedded in large teams that handle the media accounts of large marquee clients.

     

    Madison Media has won several awards in the digital and mobile domain with the latest one being The Festival of Media Global Award and Asia Pacific Award for Parachute Advansed Ayurvedic Hair Oil for convincing consumers to become the brand’s sales force leveraging the power of Mobile. The agency also won a Yahoo Big Idea Chair for its campaign on Airtel, Har ek Friend Zarori Hai.  At the Emvies Awards held last year, Madison Media also won a Gold for Best Innovation in Digital (Video) for Cadbury Celebrations – Lonely Maa.

     

    Madison Media Group handles media planning and buying for blue chip clients including Airtel, Godrej, Mondelez/Cadbury, ITC, General Motors, Marico, McDonald’s, Raymond, Piramal Healthcare, TVS, Levis, SpiceJet, Domino’s, Bharti Axa, Max Life Insurance, Asian Paints, Pidilite, Tata Salt, Acer, Lafarge Cement, Dish TV, Times Television Network, Indian Oil, Cafe Coffee Day and many others.  The agency claims to have gross billings of over Rs 3000 crore.

  • Coke’s slurp shuts noisy movie goers

    Coke’s slurp shuts noisy movie goers

    MUMBAI: In an era when marketing isn’t just showing advertisements on television or putting on newspapers, brands are finding ways to reach out to its customers.

    Every now and then, a brand engages in customer engagement initiatives to get audiences to notice it. The same was done by Coca Cola in Denmark, a couple of weeks back but with a twist. The exercise, this time, embarrassed the customers.

    In a cheeky manner, the cola giant along with its creative agency Saatchi Denmark helped encourage moviegoers to keep quiet by showing their noisy antics in a mock film trailer.  

    In India too, brands are leaving behind even global brands when it comes to engagement especially on the social media. The reason behind engagements is really simple: brands are no longer just about building awareness; they also need to bring themselves to the forefront of consumers’ consciousness by engaging with them. Engagement now is about clutter breaking and loyalty creating.

    For example, in 2013, Coca Cola had installed high-tech vending machines in the malls of Lahore (Pakistan) and New Delhi (India) – two cities separated by only 325 miles, but seemingly world apart due to decades of political tension. The brand then invited shoppers to set aside their differences and share a simple moment over a Coke.

    Click here to watch the video

    Japanese two-wheeler maker Yamaha saw a rise in its sales in the month of February, thanks to customer engagement programmes. New product launch along with innovative ongoing customer-centric activities boosted the volumes to an all new level, the company had said, then.

    Such stunts are increasingly used by brands to gain traction globally. Irrespective of where the stunt or activation was held (in this case, Copenhagen), chances of it going viral globally are high if the central idea and execution is great.

    However, with Indians being too touchy, Coke’s Slurp won’t work in India. Unless the audiences can laugh at itself, such initiatives can be harmful.  

    To think of brands which would use similar engagement programs is for telecom service providers. With most of the Indians lacking phone etiquettes, the telcos can think of coming up with something different. Hope Airtel or Vodafone are listening.

  • Govt. to earn over Rs 61,600 crore from 2G Spectrum Auction

    Govt. to earn over Rs 61,600 crore from 2G Spectrum Auction

    NEW DELHI: The government is expected to earn about Rs 61,162 crore from the 2G spectrum auction that ended after 68 rounds of bidding over 10 days.

     

    Major telecom companies Airtel and Vodafone have bagged spectrum in the crucial 900 MHz band in important markets like Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.

     

    The government’s total revenue from the auction (which is provisional) is much higher than its initial estimate of about Rs 41,000 crore. The licences will be valid for a period of 20 years. The companies need to pay only a quarter to a third of the winning auction price upfront and the remainder by 2026.

     

    Telecom Secretary M F Farooqui said the government will get at least an estimated Rs 18,200 crore this fiscal, much higher than budget estimate of Rs 11,300 crore.

     

    With the government facing a huge budget deficit target for the current fiscal year ending in March amid a shortfall in tax collections and revenue receipts from divestment of stake in state companies, Finance Minister P Chidambaram will welcome the higher-than-expected revenues from the spectrum auction.

     

    Eight companies, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, and Reliance Industries, had applied to bid in the auction of 900 megahertz and 1800 megahertz band airwaves. The 900 megahertz band was auctioned only in three cities – Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.

     

    The stakes were especially high for Vodafone and Bharti which use 900 Mhz. They had to join the auction after the Supreme Court refused to extend their licences, which expire in November 2014. Idea too won spectrum in the 900 MHz band in Delhi.

     

    The Mukesh Ambani-backed Reliance Jio bagged 1800 MHz band in 14 circles out of the 22 on offer. This will help the company to not only offer data but also voice services in these regions. Reliance Jio had earlier won the rights to offer 4G broadband services across the country.

     

    In the 1800 MHz band, Airtel won in 15 circles, Vodafone in 10 and Idea in 11.

     

    Bidding for the 900 MHz band in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata was very aggressive, with Vodafone and Bharti Airtel forced to protect their turf. In Delhi, the winning bid was Rs 741 crore as against the reserve price of Rs 360 crore; in Mumbai, the winning bid was Rs 563 crore, while the reserve price was Rs 328 crore, and in Kolkata, the winning bid was Rs 195 crore vs a reserve price of Rs 125 crore.

     

    Bids for the 900 Mhz band run into higher sums as it is considered better quality spectrum which requires lower investment for telecom companies to set up infrastructure. In comparison, the 1800 Mhz band requires higher capital expenditure.

     

    The 2G spectrum had to be auctioned afresh after the Supreme Court ordered in 2012 the cancellation of 122 licences issued in 2008 by then Telecom Minister A Raja. The Supreme Court held that the process used by him to allot licences was “illegal” and ordered a new auction. Auctions in November 2012 and March 2013 flopped as most bidders stayed away from the sales, complaining that the floor bid prices were too high.

     

    The eight bidders applied to participate in the current auction after the government sharply cut auction reserve prices.

  • First Indian Digital TV Honours celebrates digitisation’s leading practices

    First Indian Digital TV Honours celebrates digitisation’s leading practices

    NEW DELHI: It was a day when the stalwarts of the Indian cable, broadcast and direct to home television industry converged to witness the best or leading practices of the industry being recognised at indiantelevision.com’s first ever Indian Digital TV Honors (IDTH).  The event, held at the Lalit  Hotel in Delhi late last eveing saw 15 professional/initiatives/organisations getting a citation for evolving best practices during phase I and phase II of digitisation over the past 18-24 months, ever since digital addressable system (DAS) was mandated by the government.

     

    An advisory panel comprising 13 professionals from broadcast, cable TV, consulting and technology , along with the editorial team of indiantelevision.com, helped finalise the honoraries after a tough round of discussion for over a month on the merits and demerits of those being sought to be honoured for their great work and innovations.

     

    The  event was attended by close to 200 professionals from the cable, DTH and broadcast industry and the regulatory body.

     

    The evening was anchored by Indian Television Dot Com Founder, CEO and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari along with TV actor Prerna Wanvari  who hosted the two hour long proceedings.

     

    The First Indian Digital TV Honours, which were powered by leading Indian MSO DEN Networks began with Tata Sky being honoured for its obsessive focus on consumer service and product quality. The direct to home operator (DTH) has for long being spoken of excelling in the area of customer services, and this honour  only further supported that perception.

     

    India’s oldest DTH operator Dish TV  was honoured for its dervish like focus on its financial health and for protecting and creating shareholder value. The citation was received by CEO RC Venkateish, who shared the fact that he has to answer to public and other shareholders regularly, making  it imperative for the company to be bottom line focused. 

     

    “We have been generating free cash flow for quite sometime, and probably are the only Indian DTH company to do so,” said  Venkateish. “Things could be better if we could rationalise content costs which are still way too high.”

     

    Videocon d2h was recognised for its technological innovations and for the use of indigenous set top boxes which the group’s sister organisation manufactures indiegenously

     

    Additionally MSO Hathway Cable & Datacom was honoured for its pioneering push into broadband internet services, way before anyone else in the business. “With over 400,000 users we have gained a lot of experience which will only further help us as we move forward. Consumers are demanding a lot more bandwidth as they are guzzling a lot more online content,”  said  Hathway CFO G. Subramaniam. “We will be the best company providing  the broadband internet service in the future.”

     

    Tata Sky was also recognised for its its Value Added Services (VAS)  which it says is helping lure subscribers to them.

     

    DEN Networks, which had in 2013 attracted an investment of $160 million from Goldman Sachs at a time when every other MSO was being turned away, was honoured for becoming a beacon for the cable TV sector in the area of raising capital. Elated with the honour, DEN Network CFO Rajesh Kaushal said, “This is a very cash guzzling business and so there is a lot of investment and infrastructure that is needed. We have enough capital with us to see us through Phase I, II  and III  of DAS.”

     

    The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) was recognised for its marketing and promotional campaign to encourage the smooth spread of digitisation.  Almost every channel aired the commercial several times a day to push the message and educate consumers about digitisation and set top boxes. The same was recognised by the Indian Digital TV Honours advisory committee.

     

    “We wanted to incite consumers through the ad campaign. We had aired the promos for at least eight times a day on 150 channels,” said IBF secretary Shailesh Shah while receiving the honour.  Leading broadcaster Star India was also recognised  for its strategy to invest big money in sports. Sports TV worldwide is a big driver of pay TV and Star India’s early initiative to invest big money is only going to see a similar play being played out here.  And this in turn will likely encourage the process of digitsation.

     

    SitiCable Network was honoured for fostering Local Cable Operator (LCO) partnerships and being the first ones to give carriage fee revenue share to the LCOs. “We believe that LCOs are an integral part of the cable TV ecosystem and that is the reason we have given them the access to our subscriber management system and also are sharing the carriage fee revenue with them,” informed SitiCable COO Anil Malhotra.

     

    It was in 2013 that Doordarshan owned DTH service DD Direct Plus was rechristened as Freedish. The DTH player which introduced several innovations for its consumers in the year was recognised for catering to the needs of Indian consumers through Freedish. “Freedish is the most profitable venture of Prasar Bharti. Broadcasters are changing their business model for us, which is welcome change,” said Doordarshan additional director general Ranjan Thakur while receiving the honour.

     

    Two industry leaders have put their shoulder to the wheel and have played a major role in promoting digitsation over the past 18-24 months and have themselves invested heavily in it: Hathway Cable’s Raheja family led by Viren Raheja and DEN Networks’ founder Sameer Manchanda. “If you have patience, scale and execution one can excel in this field which holds a lot of scope. Cable will grow exactly how mobile grew in India, but you will have to wait minimum for five years to see results,” opined Manchanda. “You have to have the passion to see your belief in cable TV come true.”

     

    The evening also saw Seven Star Digital Network being honoured for effectively managing digitisation as an independent operator. Honours were also given to Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India for their push in making India a digitised nation. Most of industry has begun hearing of the Maharashtra Cable Operators Federation (MCOF), which represents the interests of the last mile owner.  In time, if it does manage to facilitate a feasible formula on revenues and shares with MSOs, then it stands a strong chance to be honoured  in next year’s Indian Digital TV Honours.

     

    More power to the industry’s elbow!  

  • Airtel’s Arun Sharma joins IPG Mediabrands

    Airtel’s Arun Sharma joins IPG Mediabrands

    MUMBAI: IPG Mediabrands has roped in Arun Sharma from Bharti Airtel south Asia. He will be joining in as vice president and will be part of the agency’s Delhi team.

     

    In Airtel, Sharma was heading the media division as vice-president, marketing and head, media.

     

    Sharma has over 17 years of experience of which 10 years were with Airtel. In the telecom company, he was responsible for the brand’s media strategy, planning, buying, deployment, ROI measurement, research and execution of marketing budget. He also led various key developments of the telecom brand including the launch of Airtel’s new brand identity in late 2010.

     

    Before Airtel, he has worked with leading media agencies and handled a number of brands such as Coke, Nestle, Gillette, J&J and GSK. He has earlier also worked with Universal McCann, which is part of IPG Mediabrands.

  • Airtel releases a report on the mobile attitude of people in 2013

    Airtel releases a report on the mobile attitude of people in 2013

    MUMBAI: Mobile phones have certainly made our lives very easy. From surfing the details of the favourite celebrities and looking for the chartbusters to downloading wallpapers and popular songs, mobile users are doing everything over the phone.

    And keeping this in mind one of the leading telecommunications company, Bharti Airtel, which has operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, released Airtel Mobitude2013 – the 5th edition of the Indian annual survey that captures the mobile attitude of customers highlighting their preferences.

    The report reveals that mobile TV, Bollywood, Hello Tunes, Re 1 entertainment store and gaming ruled customer preferences. Mobile TV witnessed the highest traction this year with a whopping 400 per cent plus jump in viewership over last year. Viewers were glued to entertainment channels most to catch up on all their favorite TV shows and this witnessed an unbeatable traction of over 800 per cent over sports and about 200 per cent over news.

    Bharti Airtel (India) chief marketing officer consumer business, Govind Rajan said in a release: “Today, while the mobile phone is an indispensible 24X7 companion for customers across age groups and geographies, each individual’s preferences and usage requirements differ. Mobitude captures these trends to bring out the true reflection of the customer’s likings and usage habits. The verdict this year has interesting findings of the preferences of more than 194 million customers across the country!”

    Interestingly, the preference of viewers shifted in terms of Bollywood content. In the imagery downloads category, heartthrob Sunny Leone won hearts to top the charts beating Bollywood divas including Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra. Breaking the records of the past five years, the young newbies in the industry dethroned the most popular ‘Khans’. Bold spirited actors – Sunny Leone, Sherlyn Chopra and Poonam Pandey emerged as the most downloaded, surpassing the total downloads of their male counterparts. While Ranbir Kapoor tops charts in the male category in the imagery download, Bollywood’s hottest celebrity Katrina Kaif who topped charts for four consecutive years is out of the top five league. On the other hand, Aamir Khan continued to be out of top 5 for the fourth consecutive year.

    In Hollywood, the beautiful preggies Megan Fox and Drew Barrymore made it to the top downloaded in the female category and unlike their Bollywood counterparts, Hollywood hunks Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise are defying age to top the download charts.

    In terms of songs, Indians preferred romantic songs over the filmy item numbers. Customers are now humming the romantic number Tum Hi Ho of the movie Aashiqui2 making it the most popular download in the Bollywood Hello Tune category. Other songs like Jeene Laga Hoon from Ramaiya Vastavaiya with newbies in lead roles trend more over songs with popular celebrities. Even Priyanka Chopra’s hit international track Exotic was among the most downloaded English songs.

    In the sports category, Sachin Tendulkar ruled charts with a whopping 124 per cent jump in download compared to last year followed by Roger Federer. Our other men in blue – Dhoni and Yuvraj however were bowled out from the Top five league to give way for women power with Serena Williams, Sania Mirza and Saina Nehwal who joined the wagon this year.

    Driven by the popularity of the Airtel Re 1 entertainments store, data usage continues to grow at a fast pace. The number of data users jump 124 per cent from last year and data consumption jumped 220 per cent.

  • No DTH JV for content and carriage fees

    No DTH JV for content and carriage fees

    MUMBAI:  Is a joint venture between three DTH players – DishTV, Airtel, and Videocon2h – as erroneously and amateurishly reported recently really on the cards? The purpose behind the joint venture – it was reported – was to bring content costs down and carriage revenues up for the three DTH players.

    “The fact of the matter is that several discussions and proposals are mooted by those in the ecosystem,” says an observer close to the discussions. “Indeed around six months ago the joint venture proposal was floated and some meetings were held. But it was being pushed by one player and the rest were just examining whether it was feasible and what were its merits and demerits. No concrete steps were taken to give it any shape or form.”

    Says a senior executive at one of the three DTH players: “The talks simply died down and no further moves were made in that direction.  To the best of my knowledge it seems to have been put on the back burner – at least for now.”

    Another executive points out that if the three were in agreement on this score, then why did Dish TV break away and announce its carriage fee rate card recently?  “If one goes by current indications, the other two are being cautious on the joint venture proposal,” says a media observer.

    So you heard it here first: the DTH joint venture was only a proposal, which seems to have fizzled out – at least for now.

  • HomeShop18 TV Channel gives minimum 50% discount on wedding shopping

    HomeShop18 TV Channel gives minimum 50% discount on wedding shopping

    NEW DELHI: For the first time ever, India’s leading virtual shopping player, HomeShop18 has announced a wedding shopping festival called ‘Pyar Ka Vada 50-50’, starting from November 22nd, on its 24×7 shopping TV channel. Indian customers can step up their celebration during this wedding season by availing minimum 50% offer on the purchases made across categories like Jewellery, Men’s & Women’s Apparel, Footwear, Beauty etc.

    November is the month when the wedding season begins in India and continues till February. Be it a wedding in your family or some relatives, there are many functions to attend. So while there’s the joy of celebration & shopping on people’s mind, there’s also the tension of when to shop, from where to shop, how to get discounts and best deals etc. With this promotion HomeShop18 is trying to ease of the burden by bringing shopping to TV Screens and by offering discount as big as 50% off on products which people buy during weddings.

    Mr. Dhruva Chandrie, COO & Business Head -TV, HomeShop18 said “As the name suggests ‘Pyaar ka Vaada – 50:50’ we promise to reduce your spends by half on products that you will buy from HomeShop18. Our wedding special products not only scores high on quality and design but are also modestly priced. Instead of expending energy for wedding shopping in various shops, customers can simply order for wedding collection on HomeShop18 from the comfort of their living room and save money too. ”

    Shopping from the comfort of the home has always been exciting for HomeShop18 customers as it saves their time and energy. So, this time save your energy for the numerous wedding functions you have to attend and leave the task of shopping on HomeShop18 TV Channel.

    HomeShop18 TV channel is available on all big and small DTH players: Dish TV- channel no 122, Reliance- channel no 219, Videocon- channel no 137, Airtel- channel no 107.

  • M&A Guidelines to be finalised by EGoM later this month

    M&A Guidelines to be finalised by EGoM later this month

    NEW DELHI: The much-awaited Merger and Acquisition (M&A) Guidelines has got further delayed and now the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on Telecom is expected to discuss it on 22 November.

     

    The GoM will also study the roadmap for the third round of spectrum auction. “Besides auction related matters, the department of telecom will place before them the M&A guidelines as recommended by the Telecom Commission,” a Telecom Ministry official said.

     

    Inter-ministerial panel Telecom Commission has suggested about 25 per cent higher base price compared to the amount recommended by sectoral regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for radio waves used for mobile phone services for the proposed auction.

     

    The Telecom Commission had only forwarded its view on two sets of airwaves used by GSM players like Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular.

     

    The official said DoT has written today to TRAI to suggest a base price for CDMA spectrum used by players like Sistema Shyam Teleservices, Tata Teleservices and Reliance Communications in 15 days.

    TRAI had recommended against auction of CDMA spectrum at present and suggested studying whether a part of these airwaves can be used for extended GSM services.

     

    The official said DoT is working on other details for auction of all three sets of spectrum in third round which is expected to start in January.

     

    Telecom Commission has recommended to allow companies to acquire another operator in a manner that market share of the resultant entity does not exceed 50 per cent.

     

    EGoM will have to decide on spectrum related issues that entity formed as result of consolidation of companies should be allowed to keep.