MUMBAI: From customer care cubicles to commanding campaigns Ajit Singh Kaunsal’s journey has come full stream. Kaunsal has been appointed as vice president & head of marketing at New Media Holding (NMH), a move he confirmed via a Linkedin post. In his new role, he will helm the marketing strategy for one of India’s most dynamic digital media ecosystems home to brands like One Digital Entertainment, Blush, Being Indian, Instant Bollywood, and Social Nation, among others.
With over 20 years of experience in media, research, and digital growth, Kaunsal brings a toolkit honed across major media houses. Most recently, he spent five years at MX Player, navigating the platform through intense competition in the OTT space. Before that, he clocked nearly six years at Sony Pictures Networks India, where he shaped digital and analytics strategies for SonyLIV, helping steer its early digital transition.
But it wasn’t all front row from the start. Kaunsal began his career in 2005 as a customer service agent at First Source Pvt. Ltd., before stints at Harapa International and TAM Media Research. That hands-on foundation spanning data, customer experience, and content makes him a uniquely well-rounded fit for a company as multifaceted as NMH.
NMH, with its diverse play across content, creators, and commerce, is at the centre of India’s evolving media zeitgeist. Kaunsal’s appointment signals a sharper focus on marketing leadership as the company scales its brand ecosystem and influence in pop culture and the creator economy.
In a digital-first world where attention is currency, Kaunsal’s brief is clear: keep NMH at the top of feed and mind.
MUMBAI: Digital media network Culture Machine has reorganised its sales team. Siddharth Narula, who served as the president – revenue, has been promoted to chief revenue officer. He will overlook the expansion of the firm’s technology sales footprint in international markets, starting with South East Asia and North America. He will continue to report to Culture Machine CEO and co-founder Sameer Pitalwalla.
Aditya Aima has joined as the business head – ASEAN for Culture Machine, operating out of Malaysia. Aima will overlook the expansion of Culture Machine’s Intelligence Machine and Video Machine offerings to its brand and advertisers. Minal Sharma has joined as the national sales head, overlooking all sales for Culture Machine’s Studios and media brands. She joins the team with over 16 years of experience across leading media and entertainment brands.
Both, Aima and Sharma will report to Narula.
Pitalwalla said, “Our Indian media brands lead the charts in each of their verticals, and the core technology platforms that have helped scale them are already in use by Fortune 500 clients globally, with large demand the world over. We are excited about growing this opportunity, while continuing to focus on our domestic Media business.”
Narula added, “2016 has been one of the most active years for Culture Machine in terms of revenue escalation and content creation. We created trendsetting videos which have led to hundreds of global and local brands to collaborate with us, resulting in award winning campaigns. In the embryonic days of digital entertainment and technology, the addition of Minal and Aditya will help catalyse the process.”
Since its inception, Culture Machine’s vision of using technology and storytelling to build great media brands that people love has led the way in the digital content revolution that the country is currently witnessing. Culture Machine’s digital brands Being Indian, Blush, Put Chutney, Viva and Awesome Sauce have carved a distinctive identity and an undisputed space among the top three in their respective genres.
NEW DELHI: A timely message during a social event. To coincide with the ongoing Ganesh Chaturthi festival, an animated film has been made to draw attention to the sad state of elephants in the country. The number of elephants has dwindled by almost half over the past few decades.
Culture Machine’s digital channel ‘Being Indian’ has released the new video titled ‘Our Elephants’ to shed light on the plight of elephants and the grave state of elephant corridors. The film says the total population of elephants has fallen and is between 27,000 and 29,000 now.
‘Being Indian’ takes the opportunity to edify people about the conditions of the real giant wanderers.
Elephant corridors are nature’s highways that allow elephants to move from one habitat patch to another. India houses 50 percent of the entire elephant population across the globe. The country is making efforts to promote elephant corridors and help preserve the friendly giant’s habitat.
Although possessing an overpowering exterior, elephants are one of the most social and intelligent creatures. They are responsible for sustaining the forest and keeping the ecosystem together.
‘Our Elephants’ by ‘Being Indian’ narrates the man versus the giant story through dialogue. Man survives by destroying and creating what has been given to him by nature. An elephant is similar, as he creates rivers and trails that lead to the evolution of newer species.
But, humans are disrupting this cycle of evolution and creation, but the poor elephants end up paying the price as they get run over by trains while making their great expedition through the forests.
Culture Machine’s digital channel ‘Being Indian’ stated, “It’s very crucial for us to realise the importance of the deteriorating conditions of our forests and dimensioning population of elephants. We have curated this content to raise awareness about the situation at hand, and help make a difference through our platform.”
The film gives the message: One can either choose to be impacted by the world or choose to impact world.
NEW DELHI: A timely message during a social event. To coincide with the ongoing Ganesh Chaturthi festival, an animated film has been made to draw attention to the sad state of elephants in the country. The number of elephants has dwindled by almost half over the past few decades.
Culture Machine’s digital channel ‘Being Indian’ has released the new video titled ‘Our Elephants’ to shed light on the plight of elephants and the grave state of elephant corridors. The film says the total population of elephants has fallen and is between 27,000 and 29,000 now.
‘Being Indian’ takes the opportunity to edify people about the conditions of the real giant wanderers.
Elephant corridors are nature’s highways that allow elephants to move from one habitat patch to another. India houses 50 percent of the entire elephant population across the globe. The country is making efforts to promote elephant corridors and help preserve the friendly giant’s habitat.
Although possessing an overpowering exterior, elephants are one of the most social and intelligent creatures. They are responsible for sustaining the forest and keeping the ecosystem together.
‘Our Elephants’ by ‘Being Indian’ narrates the man versus the giant story through dialogue. Man survives by destroying and creating what has been given to him by nature. An elephant is similar, as he creates rivers and trails that lead to the evolution of newer species.
But, humans are disrupting this cycle of evolution and creation, but the poor elephants end up paying the price as they get run over by trains while making their great expedition through the forests.
Culture Machine’s digital channel ‘Being Indian’ stated, “It’s very crucial for us to realise the importance of the deteriorating conditions of our forests and dimensioning population of elephants. We have curated this content to raise awareness about the situation at hand, and help make a difference through our platform.”
The film gives the message: One can either choose to be impacted by the world or choose to impact world.
MUMBAI: The inspiring tales of real life heroes, people who stood up against all odds, the stories that will melt everyone’s heart are the stories that Culture Machine’s Blush is set to recite under its Blush Original vertical. Encouraged by the heart-warming response for its first documentary-narration on Bollywood stunt woman Geeta Tondon, Blush has come up with a new story based on Papa Reji to be released on Father’s Day.
Papa Reji Thomas gave up his government job and started the Bless Foundation to shelter HIV+ve kids that have been abandoned by their families. Reji shelters 22 children, he takes care of their medical treatment, their living expenses and their education with the help of public donations. He has so far managed to rehabilitate 90 percent of the kids brought under his care. His wife and kids stay with these children as one big family, giving these kids parental care and a place to call home.
The channel calls Papa Reji’s story a reality check. During times when we are stuck with our worldly problems, people with the least amount of money and huge hearts are making a difference. “It does not take a big bank account to help people, it takes determination and a very big heart” expressed Blush channel director Akanksha.
The film on Geeta Tondan narrated the tale of how she survived an ugly marriage, of her escape from brothels and her bringing up her two young children. It recounted how Geeta made her space to do stunts for Deepika Padukone and Alia Bhatt as Bollywood’s leading stuntwoman.
Blush has content under many verticals like Unblushed, which has stories of outstanding celebrity heroes, and Blush Verdict for its entertainment column. The Original space is entirely dedicated to the real life stories that deserve to be told. “We wish to inspire people through these strong hearted humans, Blush Originals is a celebration of humanity and spirit that people have to live it” explained Seda.
In spite of Blush being a women-centric content creator, Blush Originals is planning to not only concentrate on female stories, but also narrate any inspiring story from a chaiwala to an up market entrepreneur. Any tale that can inspire. Seda asserted that through digital platforms it has become much easier to create awareness among people and have them share what they have gone through. Digitization has brought people together to empathize and understand the other person’s journey, and Blush is planning to make most of it. It is also open to creating something around a concept and connect various individual stories to it.
Each documentary is planned to be shot in its own taste say the makers. All the productions are in-house, shot with Sony F7 and 5D Mark III cameras. Blush Originals is set to release one documentary per month. The production team has informed that its is ready with two more videos to be released in July and August.
Explaining about the people to be showcased, the makers said that they pick up stories amongst themselves. “These are the people we come across day by day, it could be my friend or a neighbor or just someone I run into. There is a story everyone has and every story deserves to be told” added Seda.
There is no specific search team. It is an in-house task to find people. The makers also claim that they have such a good response after the first video that stories are coming to them now.
On the marketing and promotion front, Blush is majorly using cross promotion with its sister YouTube channel Being Indian. Otherwise it is pushing the videos through regular online marketing strategies. “Documentaries have reached the right audiences through digitization” commented Seda while explaining the promotion front.
There are no tie ups with any brands or sponsors as of now. These documentaries are intellectual properties of Blush.
MUMBAI: The inspiring tales of real life heroes, people who stood up against all odds, the stories that will melt everyone’s heart are the stories that Culture Machine’s Blush is set to recite under its Blush Original vertical. Encouraged by the heart-warming response for its first documentary-narration on Bollywood stunt woman Geeta Tondon, Blush has come up with a new story based on Papa Reji to be released on Father’s Day.
Papa Reji Thomas gave up his government job and started the Bless Foundation to shelter HIV+ve kids that have been abandoned by their families. Reji shelters 22 children, he takes care of their medical treatment, their living expenses and their education with the help of public donations. He has so far managed to rehabilitate 90 percent of the kids brought under his care. His wife and kids stay with these children as one big family, giving these kids parental care and a place to call home.
The channel calls Papa Reji’s story a reality check. During times when we are stuck with our worldly problems, people with the least amount of money and huge hearts are making a difference. “It does not take a big bank account to help people, it takes determination and a very big heart” expressed Blush channel director Akanksha.
The film on Geeta Tondan narrated the tale of how she survived an ugly marriage, of her escape from brothels and her bringing up her two young children. It recounted how Geeta made her space to do stunts for Deepika Padukone and Alia Bhatt as Bollywood’s leading stuntwoman.
Blush has content under many verticals like Unblushed, which has stories of outstanding celebrity heroes, and Blush Verdict for its entertainment column. The Original space is entirely dedicated to the real life stories that deserve to be told. “We wish to inspire people through these strong hearted humans, Blush Originals is a celebration of humanity and spirit that people have to live it” explained Seda.
In spite of Blush being a women-centric content creator, Blush Originals is planning to not only concentrate on female stories, but also narrate any inspiring story from a chaiwala to an up market entrepreneur. Any tale that can inspire. Seda asserted that through digital platforms it has become much easier to create awareness among people and have them share what they have gone through. Digitization has brought people together to empathize and understand the other person’s journey, and Blush is planning to make most of it. It is also open to creating something around a concept and connect various individual stories to it.
Each documentary is planned to be shot in its own taste say the makers. All the productions are in-house, shot with Sony F7 and 5D Mark III cameras. Blush Originals is set to release one documentary per month. The production team has informed that its is ready with two more videos to be released in July and August.
Explaining about the people to be showcased, the makers said that they pick up stories amongst themselves. “These are the people we come across day by day, it could be my friend or a neighbor or just someone I run into. There is a story everyone has and every story deserves to be told” added Seda.
There is no specific search team. It is an in-house task to find people. The makers also claim that they have such a good response after the first video that stories are coming to them now.
On the marketing and promotion front, Blush is majorly using cross promotion with its sister YouTube channel Being Indian. Otherwise it is pushing the videos through regular online marketing strategies. “Documentaries have reached the right audiences through digitization” commented Seda while explaining the promotion front.
There are no tie ups with any brands or sponsors as of now. These documentaries are intellectual properties of Blush.
MUMBAI: Culture Machine has extended its brand franchise in association with Paintcollar by launching an online Being Indian storeshop.beingindian.com. Through this strategic partnership, Paintcollar will power the Being Indian store which will feature the brand’s iconic art and designs inspired merchandise so as to further their reach within the BI fan following.
The e-commerce portal will update the portals designs on the online store on a weekly basis with art ranging from t-shirts, mobile covers, laptop skins and prints among others.
Following the massive success of the digital channel and fan demand, the venture also launched exclusive brand merchandise as an extension to create more conversations with the consumer. This extension has received a positive response among the fan base through engagements at various offline events such as Comic Con, The Lost Party and various college festivals across the country.
Culture Machine plans to take this forward through partnerships with popular YouTubers wherein consumers will get access to their merchandise on the Being Indian store online.
Speaking about the launch of the online store, Culture Machine president Siddharth Narula said, “Being Indian is one of the biggest successes in the digital space and has become synonymous with quirky urbane humour and sensibility. Launching an online store is the next logical step in expanding the franchise so we could give fans a more wholesome experience of the Being Indian universe. Through this store, we will be able to engage with fans across the length and breadth of the country with a unique brand experience.”
Launched in 2013, Being Indian has come a long way with fresh, young and bold content that resonates with the unapologetic and funny Indian. The channel currently has over 800,000 subscribers and 128 million views. Being Indian merchandise starts at Rs.399/- and the online store has a 15 percent discount as an introductory offer.
MUMBAI: Culture Machine has extended its brand franchise in association with Paintcollar by launching an online Being Indian storeshop.beingindian.com. Through this strategic partnership, Paintcollar will power the Being Indian store which will feature the brand’s iconic art and designs inspired merchandise so as to further their reach within the BI fan following.
The e-commerce portal will update the portals designs on the online store on a weekly basis with art ranging from t-shirts, mobile covers, laptop skins and prints among others.
Following the massive success of the digital channel and fan demand, the venture also launched exclusive brand merchandise as an extension to create more conversations with the consumer. This extension has received a positive response among the fan base through engagements at various offline events such as Comic Con, The Lost Party and various college festivals across the country.
Culture Machine plans to take this forward through partnerships with popular YouTubers wherein consumers will get access to their merchandise on the Being Indian store online.
Speaking about the launch of the online store, Culture Machine president Siddharth Narula said, “Being Indian is one of the biggest successes in the digital space and has become synonymous with quirky urbane humour and sensibility. Launching an online store is the next logical step in expanding the franchise so we could give fans a more wholesome experience of the Being Indian universe. Through this store, we will be able to engage with fans across the length and breadth of the country with a unique brand experience.”
Launched in 2013, Being Indian has come a long way with fresh, young and bold content that resonates with the unapologetic and funny Indian. The channel currently has over 800,000 subscribers and 128 million views. Being Indian merchandise starts at Rs.399/- and the online store has a 15 percent discount as an introductory offer.
MUMBAI: The six documentary programmes with the most votes in BBC World’s Best Of The Year: Documentary online poll have been announced. Throughout November, BBC World viewers have had the opportunity to vote for the most outstanding documentary programme shown on the channel this year, from a selection of 15 documentaries – many of which are award-winning BBC productions.
Voting closed on 4 December, and the six documentary programmes that received the most votes will be shown across two weekends at the end of December.
Being Indian with 18.95 per cent of votes came out on top. This airs on 30 December at 8 pm with repeats on 31 December at 11 am, 4 pm. Being Indian follows the lives of four children from widely differing backgrounds, in a country with a fast moving economy and half its population under the age of 35. The programme delves into what the social change and mobility really means for children of India today. This episode follows Biru Malik, a nine-year-old, who lives with his family in one bedroom. One of his family’s main jobs is to prepare funeral pyres and cremate bodies on the banks of the Ganges.
Another documentary The World Uncovered: Sex Crimes And The Vatican got 16.36 per cent of votes. This airs on 30 December at 5:45 pm with repeats on 31 December at 7:45 am, 1:45 pm. This programme examines a secret document which sets out a procedure for dealing with child sex abuse scandals within the Catholic Church. Crimen Sollicitationis was enforced for 20 years by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger before he became the Pope. It instructs bishops on how to deal with allegations of child abuse against priests and has been seen by few outsiders. Critics say the document has been used to evade prosecution for sex crimes.
Kill Or Cure? The Deadly Sleep got 15.04 per cent of votes. This airs on 30 December at 9 pm, and 31 December at 6 pm. Sleeping sickness is one of the most deadly of the forgotten diseases. Experts thought it had been eradicated, but it’s back with a vengeance and now mobile field teams are out in the bush in the Democratic Republic of Congo, carrying out tests to try to beat the disease.
BBC World’s editorial team selected the original shortlist of 15, based on viewer panel research and feedback, spread of subject matter and global availability.
