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Tag: Alok Agrawal

  • Alok Agrawal joins Kapture CX to supercharge strategic account growth

    Alok Agrawal joins Kapture CX to supercharge strategic account growth

    MUMBAI: If customer experience is the new battleground, then Kapture CX just added a heavyweight to its arsenal. Alok Agrawal has officially joined as head of strategic account growth, bringing a proven track record in enterprise product sales, revenue expansion, and customer engagement. With Kapture CX revolutionising customer interactions through Gen AI-powered solutions, Alok’s arrival signals a bold step forward in strengthening client relationships and business growth.

    Agrawal, an alumnus of IIM Calcutta and NIT Tiruchirappalli, steps into this role fresh from Razorpay, where he played a pivotal role in scaling enterprise product sales, driving revenue, and launching industry-first solutions. Before that, he led strategic initiatives at Paytm, where he spearheaded product sales for enterprise solutions and executed go-to-market strategies that helped shape the fintech ecosystem. From fintech to retail to manufacturing, Agrawal has consistently delivered high-impact results across industries.

    At Kapture CX, Agrawal is set to spearhead strategic account growth initiatives, ensuring that AI-driven customer experience solutions don’t just integrate seamlessly into enterprise operations, but also transform the way businesses engage with their customers. His deep understanding of enterprise needs and his forward-thinking approach will help push Kapture CX’s growth to new heights.

    Welcoming Agrawal aboard, Kapture CX CEO & co-founder Sheshgiri Kamath said, “Alok’s appointment comes at an important phase for Kapture CX as we continue to scale and innovate in the customer experience space. His extensive experience in enterprise product sales and revenue expansion will play a crucial role in strengthening our client relationships and ensuring seamless customer journeys.”

    Agrawal himself couldn’t be more excited, “Customers are at the core of every successful business, and I’m excited to contribute to Kapture CX’s mission of enhancing customer experience with smart, seamless solutions. I’m looking forward to working with this energetic team to improve customer interactions and expand into new and existing markets. While we are a young team, the enthusiasm here is infectious, and I’m eager to see what we can accomplish together.”

    With Agrawal’s leadership, Kapture CX is gearing up to deepen its client engagement, refine its AI-powered solutions, and expand its footprint in the customer experience space. The goal? To not just manage customer interactions—but to redefine them.

  • ZMCL drops ‘TEN’ format, switches to full news

    ZMCL drops ‘TEN’ format, switches to full news

    MUMBAI: Almost a year ago, Zee Media Corporation (ZMCL) had come up with a strategic idea to monetise its regional news channels. A concept called ‘TEN’ was introduced, called terrestrial entertainment network that meant half of the channel’s content would have news while the other half would focus on entertainment.

     

    Now, the network has decided to revert to its old formula of sticking to just news and hence, put an end to the ‘TEN’ format. The channels namely Zee Rajasthan Plus (Marudhara) for Rajasthan,  Zee Purvaiya for Bihar & Jharkhand, Zee Kalinga for Odisha, will no longer air any show pertaining to entertainment.  Zee Purvaiya and Zee Kalinga were launched early this year while Zee Marudhara was launched in July, last year.

     

    Erstwhile ZMCL CEO Alok Agrawal, who recently moved to Network18, had said in an earlier interaction with indiantelevision.com that the investment gone into these ‘TEN’ format channels was more than a pure news-focused channel and it had potential. However, now sources from the network say that it is looking at saving some costs as well as bringing synergy between its channels.

     

    Even though the ROI and plans are being worked out, the channels are preparing to go 24X7 news oriented. Zee Punjab/Haryana/Himachal which also runs similarly on the TEN network will have more news, in a few days. Zee Purvaiya will end its entertainment shows from 20 July while Zee Kalinga and Zee Marudara will follow the same from August.

     

    The entire look and feel of the channels will also undergo a makeover to suit the programming change and will soon be followed by a marketing campaign, plans for which are in the making.

     

    Recently, Zee UP/Uttarakhand which was rechristened Zee Sangam also dropped the TEN format and went on to be a national channel with a focus on UP.

  • Reliance Industries’ execs meet Network18 employees

    Reliance Industries’ execs meet Network18 employees

    MUMBAI: The Network18 office in Empire Mills Complex, in central Mumbai had some new visitors on 8 July 2014. Alok Agrawal who has been appointed as group COO of Network18, non-executive director Rohit Bansal and Reliance Industries Ltd’s media director Umesh Upadhyay held a town hall meeting with the entire staff of TV18 that includes CNN-IBN, IBN7, IBN Lokmat and History TV18.

     

    Attendees say it was a feel-good meeting and to reassure the employees about RIL’s honorable intentions for them all. The employees were told that the megacorp has full faith in them and hence had invested in the Network18 group and the objective was to make it a global brand.

     

    “There is no oil beneath your ground, if you are concerned about our motive,” is what one of them was heard to have said. Narrating an incident of the day founder Raghav Bahl finalised the deal, one of the members said, “Raghav on that day told the RIL executives that he had brought up the company to Rs 5000 crore and now you see if you can take it to Rs 50,000 crore.”

     

    They were further told that going forward the road ahead would be shared with them.  “It has been only 30 hours since the announcement of us acquiring Network18 has been made,” said one of them. “But you should know that 4G is very important for us as in the future smart phones are going to become very powerful. We are all happy that Raghav (Bahl) is continuing to give his support to the company.”

     

    A similar meeting had taken place a day earlier with the employees in the head office in Delhi where special assurance was given to the CNBC TV-18 employees that “they need not fear publishing any story.” Employees in both places were told that they can even report about RIL but not publish stories without any facts.

     

    One of the executives said that the main point in the whole RIL-Network18 deal was an exchange between two people (referring to Mukesh Ambani and Bahl) but everything else stays the same.

     

    A source from RIL says that the exercise is being conducted so that employees are personally met and assured rather than have them believe false rumours through the media. A few more meetings are expected to be held in the coming days.

  • NBA makes changes in its board of directors

    NBA makes changes in its board of directors

    MUMBAI: Even though the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) holds an election for office bearers every year, a few changes have been made mid way due to various reasons.

     

    With Zee Media CEO Alok Agrawal stepping down from his position, Zee Media Group CEO Bhaskar Das has been appointed in his place on the board of directors (BOD) of NBA. The replacement for NBA honorary treasurer B Saikumar, the former Network 18 Group CEO has not yet been finalised.

     

    Another change in the board of directors is Times Television Network MD and CEO MK Anand taking charge in place of the network’s former MD and CEO Sunil Lulla.

     

    Other members on the BOD include president and NDTV executive vice chairperson KVL Narayan Rao, vice president and MCCS CEO Ashok Venkatramani, India TV chairman Rajat Sharma, India Today group CEO Ashish Bagga, BAG network chairperson and MD Anurradha Prasad, Mathrubhumi director MV Shreyams Kumar and Odisha Television MD Jagi Mangat Panda.

  • Alok Agrawal steps down as Zee Media CEO

    Alok Agrawal steps down as Zee Media CEO

    MUMBAI: Zee Media CEO Alok Agrawal has decided to move on from his current role and is set to join Reliance Industries (RIL). However, he refused to comment on the new role he will be taking at RIL.

     

    Sources in the company say that the position of Zee Media CEO has been dissolved and now that all senior management will report directly to Zee News group CEO Bhaskar Das.

     

    Sharing his movement on Twitter, Agrawal said “Delighted to share my move to Team #RIL. Thank you Team @ZeeNews.” Recently, Sahara Samay group editor BV Rao also quit and joined RIL.

     

    Agrawal joined Zee News in 2012 after leaving Cheil India as its COO for south west Asia. Prior to that he was with Bates 141 and Grey Advertising.

  • Zee Sangam drops TEN format; to be national news channel

    Zee Sangam drops TEN format; to be national news channel

    MUMBAI: The Zee group has a reputation for reinventing itself from time to time.

     

    The latest is Zee Media Corporation’s flagship news channel, Zee News, is all set to get a cousin in the newly-rebranded Zee Sangam, which will be a national channel 16 April onwards. Before this, Zee Sangam was called Zee UP/Uttarakhand.

     

    The new-look Zee Sangam will air 40 per cent news from Uttar Pradesh with the remaining news from the rest of the nation including regional stories. 

     

     When contacted, Zee Media CEO Alok Agrawal confirmed that the channel has decided to drop the Terrestrial Entertainment Network (TEN) format that it had wanted to give to Sangam and has now embarked on making it a national channel.

     

     The differentiating factor between Zee News and Zee Sangam is that while the flagship channel will focus on news from the globe, Sangam will be regional-focused with a national perspective. Since the channel is known in Uttar Pradesh, the focus will be on stories from UP. Operating out of Noida, Vasindra Mishra will be the editor and Vinod Das the business head of the channel.

     

     Currently, the network is lining up the various programmes and beefing up on manpower as well as distribution. The channel will be available on all leading cable TV and direct to home (DTH) platforms in Mumbai and Delhi and other parts of the country. 

  • Madras HC restrains Zee Media, News Nation in defamation suit filed by MS Dhoni

    Madras HC restrains Zee Media, News Nation in defamation suit filed by MS Dhoni

    MUMBAI: It’s Rs 100 crore and we aren’t talking about any Bollywood movie.  It is about a defamation suit filed by Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni against two news channel networks Zee Media Corporation and News Nation and also against suspended IPS officer G Sampath Kumar.

     

    Dhoni has filed the suit in the Madras High Court claiming that the three parties had made highly defamatory, scandalous, libelous and malicious false reports about his involvement in the IPL betting scandal.

     

    According to a report in The Hindu, an interim order has been passed by justice S Tamilvanan restraining the two news networks from broadcasting any news linking Dhoni with the betting scam for a period of two weeks.

     

    The reports that were broadcast by the news networks revolved around IPL team Chennai Super Kings, of which Dhoni is the captain, and his alleged involvement in match fixing, which, the suit said, has devastated his reputation and image in the eyes of millions of fans all over the world.

     

    When contacted, Zee Media Corp CEO Alok Agrawal said, “We have done nothing wrong. The allegations are baseless. Our lawyers are working on it and we will be fighting the case till the end.”

     

    One the other hand, the one-year old News Nation’s CEO Shailesh Kumar said he is awaiting a copy of the court’s interim order and that the news broadcaster is yet to rope in a lawyer to defend itself.

     

    The Hindu report also said Dhoni claims the news reports were done with an intention to project him as an object of hate and ridicule.

     

    Dhoni has also claimed a total of Rs 100 crore as damages from the three defendants.

  • Zee 24 Taas repositions itself as youth centric

    Zee 24 Taas repositions itself as youth centric

    MUMBAI: It is not just politicians who are looking to grab the attention of India’s large young population. News channels too are reorienting their programming to enhance receptivity among the younger lot.

     

    A few months ago, Zee Media Corporation’s (ZMCL) national Hindi news channel Zee News introduced its campaign ‘Ab Khabar Aapke Rangon Mein’ targeting the Gen Y of the country. Now, it’s the turn of Zee Media’s Marathi news channel Zee 24 Taas.

     

    Starting today, the channel is on air with a complete makeover to its look, feel and positioning as well. With an improved tagline ‘Raha ek paul pudhe’ (stay one step ahead), Zee 24 Taas is repositioning itself to suit an audience of 15 to 45 years as compared to its earlier target group of 25 to 45 years.

     

    Nearly half of India’s population is in the age group of 15 to 45 years. ZMCL CEO Alok Agrawal says, “With the advent of digitations, researches have shown that viewers are setting up new priorities; therefore it has become imperative to refurbish the brand. Backed by Zee Media Corporation Limited’s core philosophy to innovate in order to stay ahead, the new look of Zee 24 Taas is a step in the right direction. We are confident that the new identity will be applauded by the viewer which is rich in content and vibrant in look.” 

     

    “The positioning is ‘action oriented’ because that is what the youth is interested in today. Rather than focusing on long news and discussions, we are keeping it short with more visuals. The youth wants to know how the news will benefit them in their lives,” says Zee 24 Taas business head Bhushan Khot.

     

    Over the weekend, a series of programs under the tagline will be introduced to help youngsters know about how to move up in life. An election show began last week called Whats Up India to understand the younger generation’s perspective. Major colleges in Maharashtra are being visited for the show.

     

    There is increased competition among news channels. News consumption in Maharashtra also happens in English and Hindi. “Today our competition is not just restricted to Marathi language (news channels) but the overall news genre. Our aim is to make the entire channel strong onscreen as well as digital and at the same time reflect the aspirations of the young Marathi audience,” says Khot.

     

    Additionally, viewers can also catch Zee 24 Taas live on their mobile phones via Android, iOS and Blackberry apps through Ditto TV. Zee 24 Taas will later become a subscription services, after initial free preview for a month.

     

    Zee 24 Taas has refurbished its studio and a stylist has been hired to give new looks to its anchors in addition to requisite training. The online and offline graphics have also been modified by an inhouse team. Zee 24 Taas editor-in-chief Uday Nirgudkar says, “We are re-launching the channel to fine tune our self to reflect on the changing needs of viewers. We have always been viewer focused & viewer centric hence our new offering will be more qualitative and focused.”

     

    “We are trying to tell the audience that the language is Marathi but its look and feel is at par with any other channel,” adds Khot. The language the anchors use will also undergo a slight change with shorter sentences being the goal.

     

    The marketing campaign to promote the new look will break across the state on 6 February, with print and outdoor and followed up on radio and TV next week.

     

    Print ads will be visible in the newspapers DNA , Loksatta, Mumbai Times, Lokmat, Sakaal and others. On the digital front, banners and text ads will be seen on Google display network sites and Facebook.

     

    The promotional jingle for TV and radio has been composed by noted Marathi singer and writer Saleel Kulkarni. The 20-day long campaign created by Draftfcb Ulka will see about 150 outdoor spots being adorned, with most of them being bus shelters, bus panels and hoardings in Mumbai, Pune and Nashik. The radio jingle will run across Radio City 91.1 FM, Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM, Red FM 93.5 and Big 92.7 FM.

     

    Sources say the cost of the entire rebranding exercise would be approximately Rs 15 million with nearly 80 per cent of it being spent on marketing itself.

     

    For the third quarter ended 31 December 2013, the channel had a viewership of 21.3 million (Source: TAM, CS 4+, All India, Q3 Average Monthly Reach).

  • ZMCL launches Zee Purvaiya in Bihar, Jharkhand

    ZMCL launches Zee Purvaiya in Bihar, Jharkhand

    MUMBAI: It was in October last year that Zee Media Corporation got the board approval to acquire up to 100 per cent stake in the regional infotainment channel – Maurya TV. Now, with the onset of the New Year, there are few new beginnings – Zee Media Corporation Ltd (ZMCL) has rebranded Maurya TV as Zee Purvaiya and launched it on 16 January in Bihar and Jharkhand.

     

     

    As of now, ZMCL has only snared a 37.87 per cent stake in Maurya TV but plans are to hoick that to 100 per cent in a phased manner. Zee Purvaiya operates on the terrestrial entertainment network (TEN) format that the network launched with Zee Marudhara (formerly called Zee Rajasthan Plus) with a balanced telecast of news and infotainment programmes. The big focus being on regional news, viewers will get to watch full-fledged bulletins during morning and evening primetime with a short news capsule being aired every hour.  The other programmes include:  current affairs, fiction, non-fiction and factual.

     

     

    “It will be of relevance to every viewer. The content will be focused towards Bihar and Jharkhand, capturing the culture, language, rituals of the states as well as showcasing the differences in the two states in certain sections,” says ZMCL CEO Alok Agrawal.

     

    Following the footsteps of its parent company that recently came up with a campaign to woo youngsters, even Zee Purvaiya is planning to cater largely to a young audience. Even its channel branding – a bright yellowish-golden logo with the tagline ‘nayi soch nayi umang’ is in keeping with that target audience’s taste.

     

    Led by EVP & business head Amitava Bhattacharya, the channel has a team of 90 professionals, some of whom have been retained from Maurya TV. While Shiv Pujan Jha is the resident editor, Indu Singh is the programming editor, Rakesh Tiwary the marketing head and Harsh Vardhan Dwivedi the sales head.

     

    The main office of the channel is located in Patna, with three bureaus being located in  Ranchi and Dhanbad in Jharkhand and Saharsa in Bihar .

     

    While the management was unwilling to disclose the names of the advertisers on board, apparently discussions are on with about 35 corporate, government and local advertisers. Channel sources say that they are targeting to generate revenues of almost Rs 20 crore per annum.

     

    The promotional campaign that began on 20 January across mediums such as – radio, print and outdoor – has been planned to run throughout February by Kolkata based Genesis Advertising with a spend of  approximately Rs 2 crore being pumped in. 

     

    A canter activity was undertaken in Patna and Ranchi to let audiences know about the channel. Moreover, 50 spots have been taken in the two states for outdoor promotions. For print advertisements, space has been bought in leading papers like Times of India (Bihar – Jharkhand), Hindustan and Prabhat Khabar.

     

    “It’s a channel that’s like a buffet. It will be a one stop place for entertainment, news and factual information as well. Apart from this we are also launching reality shows. We are already reaching about 70 per cent in terms of C&S penetration,” says Bhattacharya.

     

    The idea is to be keep it free-to-air (FTA) for six months, post which it will become a pay channel at approximately Rs 10 per month. As of now, Zee Purvaiya is only available on cable TV. However, discussions with DTH players are in progress. But because of the huge presence of cable TV in the two states, executives are confident that it will reach about 85 per cent of the population. It is being beamed off Insat 4a at 83 degrees east.         

     

    Zee Purvaiya is set to expand ZMCL’s presence in the ubercompetitive regional space. In fact, the network is looking to capture other regions as well. It will soon be launching Zee Kalinga in Odisha, following the winding up of  the now defunct Zee Gantalu.

  • Zee 24 Gantalu faces acid test

    Zee 24 Gantalu faces acid test

    MUMBAI: Change is in the air at Zee Media Corp Ltd’s (ZMCL) Telugu news channel Zee 24 Gantalu. Reason: the management has decided to restructure the straggler in the ZMCL portfolio, which has been buffeted by competition in the hyper-news state of Andhra Pradesh.

    ZMCL had set up Zee 24 Gantalu in a 50:50 association with a local politician Satyanarayanan Botsa, whose brother Sateesh Botsa ran the channel.

    “It is not viable for us to run it in its current state. We have invested heavily in Zee 24 Gantalu and have tried many different strategies to make it work. But it has been losing a lot of money,” says ZMCL CEO Alok Agrawal. “We are currently reevaluating the options before us.”

    Among the options before it is shutting down the channel. But Agrawal says no decision has been taken in this direction. “We will know clearly in a couple of weeks what we will do,” he points out.

    What is clear is that the association between Botsa and ZMCL will not continue with Zee 24 Gantalu, if one goes by what Sateesh Botsa has told indiantelevision.com. Quoting him: “It was a management call to stop the channel due to several reasons. Now it is completely a ZMCL property. As a news channel it has stopped but they (Zee) may want to continue it as another channel.”

     
    Alok Agrawal admits that the channel has been incurring losses and that they are looking at restructuring

    A surf through the Telugu news channels space shows that Zee 24 Gantalu is airing only entertainment video footage and fillers without any ticker as of now. Additionally, rival channels told indiantelevision.com that Zee 24 Gantalu staff has started approaching them for jobs. An employee stated that the management has hammered out a severance package under the direction of ZMCL CFO Dinesh Garg which includes three months pay. Agrawal however stated that this is not true and that it could be possible that employees have chosen to look for jobs, because they know that a major restructuring is planned. Zee 24 Gantalu reportedly has 300 employees working with it.

    The channel has been in the news recently because of the cases which have been filed against it for the stories it has aired – the latest one involving the Andhra Pradesh Police DGP V Dinesh Reddy. According to sources, this was one of the reasons that prompted Botsa to opt out.

    Who chose to opt out is not clear, but clearly a new chapter is about to be written in the Zee 24 Gantalu saga.