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Tag: Amarjit Singh Batra

  • Spotify invests in 3 original podcasts for Indian market

    Spotify invests in 3 original podcasts for Indian market

    MUMBAI: Opening new opportunities for the growing creator community in India, Spotify has announced three original podcasts for the country, which will go live on the platform on 3 December. Tapping into pop culture, cricket centric ‘22 Yarns with Gaurav Kapur’, fiction thriller ‘Bhaskar Bose’ narrated by Mantra, and love and relationship advice-based ‘Love Aaj Kal’ by Aastha & Ankit, Spotify is looking forward to strengthen its position within the market.

    The announcement comes as a reiteration to Spotify’s global audio-first strategy that focuses on the brand’s potential to grow faster with more original podcasts. As with music artists, Spotify aims to offer better discovery, data, and monetization to podcast creators.

    Spotify marketing director—India Amarjit Singh Batra said, “Storytelling is intrinsic to India, and almost nostalgic because most of us have grown on stories that our grandparents and parents told us; Spotify wants to re-establish that listening culture here, especially as users seek more screen-free moments. We are so happy to partner with these talented storytellers who’ve managed to explore different aspects of the local culture to deliver differentiated content and rekindle the love Indians have for audio.”

    With over 500,000 podcast titles on the platform, up from 10,000 in 2018, Spotify has seen exponential growth in the podcast hours streamed globally (up approximately 39 per cent from Q2 2019 to Q3 2019), with podcast adoption reaching almost 14 per cent of total monthly active users (MAUs). And while the U.S. accounts for the largest share of podcast streams, a majority of the growth and listening is now coming from outside the U.S.

    “Just a little over one year ago, we announced Spotify for Podcasters, which provides listener insights to all creators who have podcasts on our platform. Today, we have 140,000 registered creators across the world, on the platform, and the data for a few of these creators shows that India features in their top streamed markets. Much of this content is lifestyle, educational, and news,” added Batra.

    India features in the all-time top 3 streaming markets for tech show Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast, and for On Purpose with Jay Shetty, a show that’s been number 1 on Spotify’s India podcast chart since the time of launch. The country is also currently in the top ten streaming markets for TED Talks Daily and The Mindset Mentor. Other globally acclaimed podcasts such as Stuff You Should Know, and BBC’s Global News Podcast are also in the top 20 most streamed podcasts in India. Interestingly, local charts showcase 60 per cent of the top 10 podcasts on Spotify are on self-motivation-based lifestyle content.

    Globally, Spotify has invested in new original podcasts in the US, Europe, and South America. In June this year, President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s production company, Higher Ground, announced a partnership with Spotify to produce podcasts exclusive to the platform. The acquisitions of podcast networks Gimlet, and Parcast, and creator platform Anchor have also enabled the company to invest in high-quality content as well as providing an easy way for creators to record a podcast, respectively. In fact, the Sandeep Maheshwari podcast is an example of how Indian creators can leverage Anchor to create their content. 

  • Breaking the Digital Code at the 2nd Edition of The Advertising Club’s D-CODE

    Breaking the Digital Code at the 2nd Edition of The Advertising Club’s D-CODE

    Mumbai : India’s digital ecosystem has over the last few years taken significant growth strides by playing a decisive role in scripting success stories for many brands. An evening dedicated to showcasing and deliberating on these inspiring stories saw the best media, marketing and advertising brands come together at the value-driven, learning event – The Advertising Club’s D-CODE presented by MX Player and powered by Tik Tok Ads. A curated panel of 13 industry though leaders inspired and stirred conversations by sharing an example of their own best work, one work they admire and 3 learnings they would want to share with the audience.

    Addressing the forum were Amarjit Singh Batra, Managing Director, Spotify; Jogesh Lulla, COO, Corner Stone Sport and Entertainment; versatile Standup Comedian, Musician & Filmmaker, Kenny Sabastian; Karan Bedi, CEO, MX Player; Mustafa Ghouse, Chief Operating Officer, JSW Sports Pvt Ltd; Nirmal Pulickal, Head – Facebook Creative Shop, Facebook; Partha Sinha, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, McCann Worldgroup; Rashi Goel, VP- Consumer Communication Media, CRM & NHW, Nestle; Sachin Sharma, Director – Sales & Partnerships;  Bytedance (Tik Tok); Sidharth Rao, CEO & Co-Founder, Dentsu Webchutney; Srivats TS, VP Marketing, Swiggy; Sumeet Narang, Vice-President – Marketing, Bajaj Auto and Vikas Agnihotri, Country Director, Google.

    Vikram Sakhuja, President, The Advertising Club, opened the evening saying: “With D-Code we aim to break the definitive code of digital marketing. Today, most marketers are exploring various formats, forms and platforms to bring business value using digital marketing and the insights of our speakers today will go a long way in paving the best success stories for the industry in the coming years.”

    Aditya Swamy – Managing Committee Member, The Advertising Club said: “The goal of D-Code is to inspire and be inspired. With a range of speakers from across the eco system showing work by brands, platforms and talent, I hope we were able to raise the bar and give marketers thought starters to crack the Massive digital opportunity.”

    Punitha Arumugam – Managing Committee Member, The Advertising Club said: "26 case studies and 39 tips on digital in one evening was time well spent. We had great feedback from the audience with inputs on how to make D-CODE even larger and better in 2020."

    The five key learnings that the advertising, digital and marketing fraternity can take back from D-CODE 2019 are:

    1) It’s not the output but the outcome that matters in the digital world.

    2) Same customer consumes differently hence platforms matter.

    3) Connect customer data across touch points for a holistic view of the market.

    4) Plan ahead so you can be relevant and always answer ‘what’s in it for me’ for the customer.

    5) Learn to create before you sell as technology changes, but people don’t.

    With a galaxy of the who’s who of the media, advertising and digital industries in attendance, the second edition of D-CODE established once again established that knowledge sharing is the way to success for all.

  • Third Content Marketing Summit Asia announced list of speakers

    Third Content Marketing Summit Asia announced list of speakers

    MUMBAI: CMS Asia 2016 continues its tradition of delivering great content through a very unique set of experts & speakers year on year. As the event gets ready for its 3rdedition, the event organizers have released first list of speakers. This year experts from Facebook, Flipkart, Google, ScoopWhoop, ESPNCricinfo, Yashraj Films, Panasonic, Craftsvilla, Reliance, Autocar, GroupM, HCL, VML among others will be seen at the grand stage. The detailed first line up is as following

    Brands

    Senjam Raj Sekhar, Head of Corporate Communications, Flipkart
    Sandeep Bhushan, Business Head – India & South Asia, Facebook
    Amarjit Singh Batra, CEO, OLX
    Pankaj Khushani, Head – Media Technology Solutions: SEA, India & Korea, Google
    Naveen Malhotra, Head – Marketing & Product Planning, Mahindra Two Wheelers
    Sarthak Seth, Head – Brand & Marketing Communications, Panasonic
    Sandep Walunj, CMO, Reliance Nippon Life Insurance
    Bianca Ghose, Chief Content Officer, HCL
    Manish Kalra, Chief Business Officer, Craftsvilla

    Publishers 

    Ashish Patil, Vice President, Yashraj Films
    Sambit Bal, Editor-in-Chief, ESPNCricinfo
    Sattvik Mishra, CEO, ScoopWhoop
    Hormazd Sorabjee, Managing Director, Autocar India
    Pradyuman Maheshwari, CEO, MXM India
    Gautam Bhimani, Cricket Commentator

    Marketing Partners & Agencies

    Samir Bangara, Managing Director, Qyuki
    Roopak Saluja, CEO, The 120 Media Collective
    Mallikarjun Das, Group CEO, Starcom Mediavest Group
    Tushar Vyas, Chief Strategy Officer, GroupM South Asia
    Tripti Lochan, CEO, South East Asia & India, VML

    As always, the largest content marketing conference in APAC brings together many C-Level experts to share their experience with delegates. The speakers are a good mix of advertisers, publishers, agency partners, technology providers & celebrities from Cricket & Bollywood. CMS Asia 2016 plans to have 30+ speakers for the 3rdedition.

    The 3rd edition of annual Content Marketing Summit Asia plans to strike the right balance between Ground Reality & Virtual Reality which has always been the challenge for new age marketers but will be crucial as we step into the future of marketing. Content promises to be the bridge but is always looked at as a short-term tactic to win quickly. Scale & ROI have always been relatively unanswered questions when it comes to content marketing. While everyone tries to figure out wherein lies the future of marketing, CMS Asia 2016 provides a platform to explore it collectively. It also touches upon softer aspects like Quality of Content and Art of Storytelling for consumers today who are flirting with multiple platforms simultaneously. With content marketing practitioners in the house from leading brands & technology companies, the platform is all set this year to take Content Marketing discussion to its next level.

    According to RP Singh, Conference Producer & Chairperson, “We are thrilled to have a great set of speakers this year too and I am grateful to all the experts for taking out time from their busy schedules to help create & spread the ecosystem of content marketing in India. With a joint effort like this, I have no doubts that the discipline is only set to grow from here in this part of the world”

    He informs further that for this year, CMS Asia has started getting registrations quite well in advance as compared to previous editions, which signifies the importance, & expectations people have from this event.

    CMS Asia as an event caters to Marketing professionals, PR professionals, Content Creators, Agency Partners & Technology companies in this space.

  • Third Content Marketing Summit Asia announced list of speakers

    Third Content Marketing Summit Asia announced list of speakers

    MUMBAI: CMS Asia 2016 continues its tradition of delivering great content through a very unique set of experts & speakers year on year. As the event gets ready for its 3rdedition, the event organizers have released first list of speakers. This year experts from Facebook, Flipkart, Google, ScoopWhoop, ESPNCricinfo, Yashraj Films, Panasonic, Craftsvilla, Reliance, Autocar, GroupM, HCL, VML among others will be seen at the grand stage. The detailed first line up is as following

    Brands

    Senjam Raj Sekhar, Head of Corporate Communications, Flipkart
    Sandeep Bhushan, Business Head – India & South Asia, Facebook
    Amarjit Singh Batra, CEO, OLX
    Pankaj Khushani, Head – Media Technology Solutions: SEA, India & Korea, Google
    Naveen Malhotra, Head – Marketing & Product Planning, Mahindra Two Wheelers
    Sarthak Seth, Head – Brand & Marketing Communications, Panasonic
    Sandep Walunj, CMO, Reliance Nippon Life Insurance
    Bianca Ghose, Chief Content Officer, HCL
    Manish Kalra, Chief Business Officer, Craftsvilla

    Publishers 

    Ashish Patil, Vice President, Yashraj Films
    Sambit Bal, Editor-in-Chief, ESPNCricinfo
    Sattvik Mishra, CEO, ScoopWhoop
    Hormazd Sorabjee, Managing Director, Autocar India
    Pradyuman Maheshwari, CEO, MXM India
    Gautam Bhimani, Cricket Commentator

    Marketing Partners & Agencies

    Samir Bangara, Managing Director, Qyuki
    Roopak Saluja, CEO, The 120 Media Collective
    Mallikarjun Das, Group CEO, Starcom Mediavest Group
    Tushar Vyas, Chief Strategy Officer, GroupM South Asia
    Tripti Lochan, CEO, South East Asia & India, VML

    As always, the largest content marketing conference in APAC brings together many C-Level experts to share their experience with delegates. The speakers are a good mix of advertisers, publishers, agency partners, technology providers & celebrities from Cricket & Bollywood. CMS Asia 2016 plans to have 30+ speakers for the 3rdedition.

    The 3rd edition of annual Content Marketing Summit Asia plans to strike the right balance between Ground Reality & Virtual Reality which has always been the challenge for new age marketers but will be crucial as we step into the future of marketing. Content promises to be the bridge but is always looked at as a short-term tactic to win quickly. Scale & ROI have always been relatively unanswered questions when it comes to content marketing. While everyone tries to figure out wherein lies the future of marketing, CMS Asia 2016 provides a platform to explore it collectively. It also touches upon softer aspects like Quality of Content and Art of Storytelling for consumers today who are flirting with multiple platforms simultaneously. With content marketing practitioners in the house from leading brands & technology companies, the platform is all set this year to take Content Marketing discussion to its next level.

    According to RP Singh, Conference Producer & Chairperson, “We are thrilled to have a great set of speakers this year too and I am grateful to all the experts for taking out time from their busy schedules to help create & spread the ecosystem of content marketing in India. With a joint effort like this, I have no doubts that the discipline is only set to grow from here in this part of the world”

    He informs further that for this year, CMS Asia has started getting registrations quite well in advance as compared to previous editions, which signifies the importance, & expectations people have from this event.

    CMS Asia as an event caters to Marketing professionals, PR professionals, Content Creators, Agency Partners & Technology companies in this space.

  • PepsiCo’s D Shivakumar to chair Mobile Marketing Association India’s board

    PepsiCo’s D Shivakumar to chair Mobile Marketing Association India’s board

    MUMBAI: PepsiCo India Holdings chairman and CEO D Shivakumar has been elected as the head of the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) India board of directors. 

     

    This is the association’s maiden board, which comprises 12 industry stalwarts across the marketing, technology and advertising spectrum.

     

    The board members include Novi Digital Entertainment president Ajit Mohan, OLX South Asia CEO Amarjit Singh Batra, United Spirits Limited chief marketing officer Amrit Thomas, GroupM CEO South Asia CVL Srinivas, Facebook India MD Kirthiga Reddy, Millward Brown MD South Asia Prasun Basu, Hindustan Unilever Limited executive director – Home Care Priya Nair, Mobile Marketing Association Asia Pacific MD Rohit Dadwal, J. Walter Thompson chief creative officer Senthil Kumar, Godrej Group head – strategic marketing Shireesh Joshi and One97 Communications & Paytm founder & CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma.

     

    Speaking on the appointment of the new board, Shivakumar said, “The Indian market is brimming with great opportunities for mobile media and marketing. The MMA India Board of Directors brings together some of the best practitioners and minds in marketing, advertising and media, and our collective experience and expertise will hopefully propel the market to quickly adopt mobile marketing as a mainstream medium.”

     

    “Our board members have identified key areas where our immediate focus in needed. These initiatives will facilitate sharing insights, create industry benchmarks and guidelines that will help marketers leverage mobile as core to their business and marketing strategies,” he added. 

     

    “Mobile continues to push India marketers to re-think the way they approach marketing and use data and technology to engage with consumers. The conversation has shifted towards how we can build capabilities and further help the ecosystem to leverage mobile,” said Dadwal. “I’m confident that under the guidance of the new Board, our members will be able to leverage the MMA’s resources and network to accelerate mobile marketing in India. The Board of Directors will be instrumental in shaping the future of the industry and developing the MMA and its initiatives. I look forward to working with them to drive the growth of our industry.”

     

    Recent studies from the MMA, Mary Meeker and others suggest that there will be a dramatic shift in media spending in the near future and it is imperative for the marketing community to reboot their marketing mix with mobile as a key driver for future business strategies especially when mobile is poised to be the third largest mass medium in India after TV and print.

  • There is tremendous liquidity on our platform, says OLX’s Amarjit Singh Batra

    There is tremendous liquidity on our platform, says OLX’s Amarjit Singh Batra

    MUMBAI: The reasons to buy used goods are countless – some practical, some unimaginable, some quirky, and many deeply entrenched in our daily lives. These buyers are flocking to OLX, persistently looking for products, and waiting for sellers to upload ads for them. This and more is revealed by the two latest ads released by OLX.

    Borrowing humorous snippets from everyday life scenarios, the two new OLX ads, #SushilBachcha and #PatiParmeshwarNOT give persuasive yet intriguing reasons to people for selling more actively, highlighting that there are a plethora of buyers out there for everything. The TVCs end with a closing line that says, “Aise bahot se log intezar kar rahe hain aapki cheezon ka…Ab toh OLX pe Bech De.”

    Said OLX India CEO Amarjit Singh Batra, “OLX has seen a substantial surge in online buying and selling of used goods between individuals. Our users have been excited about being able to sell their items in a day, sometimes even minutes. This has proved to us that there is tremendous liquidity on our platform with buyers for all kinds of regular as well as unique items browsing OLX. But on the other hand we also found through our research on the used goods market – Consumer Research on Used Goods and Selling Trends (CRUST) – that Indians have a habit of stocking goods they are not using. We combined these two insights to come up with this campaign, and reinstate that it’s preferable to sell an item than to stock it because there is always a buyer for your item on OLX.  To communicate our message, we chose scenarios that are a part of every family, and hence easily relatable.”

    The new ads depict buyers urging sellers to post their items on OLX, emphasising their own urgent need for specific used products. The campaign comes on the back of the highly successful and appreciated OLX TVCs that had comedian Kapil Sharma play products talking to their owners, pushing them to sell what is not of use to them.

    “OLX has built the market for consumer-to-consumer (C2C) classifieds in India, and it continues to expand the market for it every day by bringing people together for win-win exchanges. We are among the top 10 apps on Google Play Store India, and the only classifieds player to be among the top 10 searched terms in India for 2013 and 2014 consecutively according to Google Zeitgeist. We have emerged as the undisputed market leaders in India possessing 80 per cent market share of the C2C classifieds trade in the country,” added Batra.

    Conceived by Lowe Lintas, the campaign depicts light-hearted scenarios of potential buyers urging the audience to sell their unwanted and unused goods.

    Lowe Lintas group creative director Shayondeep Pal said, “People have been selling on OLX. But what about people who are buying? They have specific needs and they are looking desperately. Those are the people we portrayed in the campaign. The sense of urgency adds to the humour. The idea was to make it as real as possible and visually approach it with an observant camera. Overall, make it look as if we are peeping into their lives, their stories.”

     

  • OLX partners with Lowe Lintas to expand its brand presence in India

    OLX partners with Lowe Lintas to expand its brand presence in India

    MUMBAI: OLX.in, India‘s largest local online classifieds site has chosen Lowe Lintas as its creative partner to further build up on its brand communication and strengthen its position as the No.1 online classifieds site in India.

    Being a multi-agency pitch, Lowe Lintas won the OLX account amidst fierce competition from other top agencies of the country. In a nation where people have a tendency to hoard and aggregate goods, the agency will play a pivotal role in extending OLX‘s communication of being the largest C2C marketplace in India and an ideal platform for buying and selling of such aggregated goods lying around in households.

    OLX is a platform that enables buyers to sell anything ranging from vehicles, household furniture, mobile phones electronics and real estate; Lowe Lintas has now been given the mandate to create engaging communications that caters to the further development of such categories while strengthening the message that people can now sell their pre-owned stuff easily on OLX.

    OLX India CEO Amarjit Singh Batra said, “The initial TV ads and messaging of ‘Sab Kuch Bikta Hai‘ and ‘OLX pe bech de‘ has witnessed positive mass appeal resulting in immense brand recall and a clear user preference for the brand. Building up from here, we want to take this notion a step further to fortify OLX‘s brand equity and humanise the brand. We were overwhelmed to see the interest and response from the top most agencies in the country and we are thankful to all of them who participated in the pitch process and showed an eagerness to work with us. Having weighed all the proposals and looking at the best fit, we chose Lowe Lintas for their ‘Populist‘ creativity, their focus on business results and their understanding of our brand. We are confident that Lowe Lintas will be able to help us fulfil our objectives.”

    Lowe Lintas national creative director Amer Jaleel commented on the win, “OLX is an extremely dynamic and exciting brand. The most interesting thing about OLX is that it‘s a completely new category with challenges of changing human behaviour. There will be opportunities to crack new insights, and therefore the brand would allow us to introduce absolutely fresh communication.”

    “We are exceptionally excited to partner with OLX.in. OLX is at the forefront of a genuine consumer revolution in the Indian online space by creating a new selling culture that sees value in almost everything. OLX was seeking creative excellence based on strong strategic thinking and I think we as Lowe Lintas delivered to that. We look forward to partnering them in creating bigger, better and bolder creative work based on a distinctive brand promise,” added Lowe Lintas president Naveen Gaur.

  • OLX’s humorous take on one-upmanship through its new TVC

    NEW DELHI: OLX, the free online classifieds site, has released a new television commercial featuring a couple who decide to sell their car as it has become “smaller” compared to their neighbour‘s new car.

    The TVC is in the form of a mission by the couple in night hours when they first measure their neighbour‘s car and then their own. At this, the wife says “Bech De” and the couple is immediately on OLX.in talking to a prospective buyer who picks it up the same night.

    Revolving around the theme of one-upmanship; this concept is based on the insight that sometimes progress in life is measured in relation to how others are faring in their respective lives. The wives are always conscious of this ‘status war‘. Rather than being a passive bystander, they will be equal partners in partaking in the ‘one-upmanship‘ battle.

    The underlying message that comes out through this communications is that OLX.in is the best place to sell off your pre-loved goods. The ad has been created by ITSA Brand Innovations.
    OLX India Country Head Amarjit Singh Batra says, “We have always tried to find insights into the consumer‘s life and given them reasons to sell their pre-owned stuff on OLX.in. What appeals most about this one – is a sharp, real life insight. The neighbor‘s new car never fails to cause envy and definitely, a mental measure vis-?-vis your own. The story beautifully brings this insight to life through a literal exaggeration. Cars are an important category for buyers and sellers on OLX.in and we wanted to create a “Bech De” thematic for this category in specific.”

    The intrinsic good humour that is typical of OLX ads continues through this ad as well. Previous campaigns from OLX have received a phenomenal response in establishing the site‘s identity and making it popular across India. The new creative is a step further to cement the idea of making every person use OLX.in for selling their personal products which have been bought but not used much.

    The commercial is produced by Little Lamb Films and directed by Bauddhyan Mukherjee. The TVC has gone on air this week and will be promoted nationally.