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  • IWEI recognises DDB Mudra Group as top employers for LGBT+ community

    IWEI recognises DDB Mudra Group as top employers for LGBT+ community

    New Delhi: India Workplace Equality Index (IWEI), a comprehensive benchmarking tool for LGBT+ inclusion at the workplace, has recognised DDB Mudra Group in its list of top employers 2020. The group was awarded a ‘silver’ and has become the first in the Indian advertising industry to feature in the list, joining the ranks of 65 other companies across sectors including Wipro, Uber, GSK, Nielsen etc. 

    This recognition acknowledges DDB Mudra Group’s commitment to promote awareness, acceptance and advocacy for the LGBTQIA+ community and its allies. Initiatives such as inclusion of same-sex and live-in partners in the employee medical insurance policy, DDB Transit – the first-of-its-kind internship program for the transgender community and open pride – an employee resource group committed to I&D efforts are instances of the group’s concerted effort to make the workplace more diverse, progressive and united. 

    DDB Mudra Group EVP & head – HR Rita Verma said, “At DDB, we keep D&I at the core of what we do. People perform better when they have the freedom to be themselves. Hiding a key part of their identity at work because they feel unsure or unsafe, can take a toll on employee motivation and performance. We strongly believe that creativity thrives when there is diversity, and we will continue our efforts for a diverse and thriving work environment.”

    The index measures nine areas: policies and benefits, employee lifecycle, employee network group, allies and role models, senior leadership, monitoring, procurement, community engagement and additional work.

  • TRP scam: Republic TV’s Priya Mukharjee granted anticipatory bail

    TRP scam: Republic TV’s Priya Mukharjee granted anticipatory bail

    NEW DELHI: A Mumbai court on Friday granted anticipatory bail to Republic TV COO Priya Mukharjee in the alleged TRP manipulation case.

    The sessions court directed Mukharjee to appear before the concerned police station once every week. In case Mukharjee is arrested, she can be released on bail bond of Rs 50,000, the court added.

    She was taken into custody on 19 November and was later granted transit bail by the Karnataka high court as she was in Bengaluru and was apprehending arrest by the Mumbai police.

    The high court had granted bail for a period of 20 days within which period Mukharjee was asked to approach the concerned jurisdictional court for further relief. Later, she moved the sessions court for anticipatory bail.

    A few weeks ago, Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami was also arrested and was later released on bail after a gap of nearly 10 days. Republic TV has been urging the courts to transfer the investigation to CBI.

    Mumbai police unearthed the fake ratings scam on 8 October after rating agency Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) filed a complaint through Hansa Research Group, alleging that certain television channels were rigging TRP numbers. Hansa had been tasked with installing barometers, which record viewership data at sample households.

     Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh then claimed that Republic TV and two Marathi channels — Box Cinema and Fakt Marathi – were involved in manipulating TRPs. 

    Since then several arrests have been made in the case and there have been legal developments both within and outside of the courtroom. 

  • Disney+Hotstar crosses 26 mn subs, makes up 30% of Disney’s global base

    Disney+Hotstar crosses 26 mn subs, makes up 30% of Disney’s global base

    New Delhi: The Walt Disney Company conducted its annual Investor 2020 day where it shed light on the current properties and the future plans associated with them. Several executives – including media & entertainment distribution chirman Kareem Daniel, Disney+ and ESPN+  president Michale Paull,  international operations and D2C chairman Rebecca Campbell, Hulu president Kelly Campbell, ESPN and sports content chairman Jimmy Pitaro, Walt Disney Television entertainment chairman Dana Walden, FX chairman John Landgraf, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, National Geographic content president Courteney Monroe, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Productions president Sean Bailey, Walt Disney Animation Studios chief creatie officer Jennifer Lee, Pixar chief creative officer Pete Docter, Marvel Sutidos president and Marvel chief creative officer Kevin Feige, executive chairman &  chairman of the board  Bob Iger, senior executive vice president & chief financial officer Christine McCarthy – spoke at length about their progress of their charges and the milestones they have set for them globally and in the US. 

    McCarthy shared that Disney+ Hotstar subscribers accounted for 30 per cent of Disney+'s 86.8 million subscriber base as of December 2, 2020. This accounts for nearly 26 million sign ups for the OTT platform in India. One of the primary drivers for this has been its partnership with Jio. 

    This accounts for nearly 7.5 million increase in the subscriber in the last two months, as the last reported numbers on the Hotstar’s subscriber base were 18.5 million in September 2020.

    Indian Premier League has clearly played a strong role in increasing this subscriber base.

    Disney+Hotstar is currently offered in seven languages and has over 17,000 hours of original local programming. It also plans to expand Disney+ Hotstar to more markets. The service is currently available in India and Indonesia.

    “With a rapidly growing middle class, India is a promising market opportunity and we are uniquely positioned to succeed in the country due to our existing presence with Star TV and Hotstar,” added Campbell.

    McCarthy further mentioned that Disney+ Hotstar is expected to contribute 30-40 per cent of its projected paid subscriber base of 230-260 million by 2024. It also expects to become profitable in the same year.

    Disney+ has added over 16 million subscribers to it already existing 73.7 million global subscriber base pool (reported in the last earnings call).

    The overall portfolio of the organisation including Hulu, ESPN+ and Disney+ includes over 137 million plus paid subscribers. This includes – Hulu (38.8 million), ESPN+ (11.5 million) and Disney + (86.8 million). The company shared its expectations to hit 300 – 350 million subscriber base by 2024.

    The executives  further announced that the company  will include its general entertainment content brand Star on Disney+ in a few international markets. It will be launched in Latin America in June 20201 while in Europe, Canada, Australia-New Zealand, and Singapore the date has been set as  February 2021. Star has a huge library of television shows and movies and thousands of hours of local programming content including content from multiple sources – Disney Television Studios, FX, 20th Century Studios, 20th Television, and others. The cost for service in ANZ, Europe, Canada and Singapore will be at 8.99 euros.

    The company also revealed its original content slate over the next few years. Disney+ plans to release approximately 10 Star Wars series and 10 Marvel series, as well as 15 Disney live-action, Disney Animation, and Pixar series, as well as 15 Disney live-action, Disney Animation, and Pixar features.

  • Hina Nagarajan appointed MD & CEO of United Spirits

    Hina Nagarajan appointed MD & CEO of United Spirits

    NEW DELHI: United Spirits has appointed Hina Nagarajan as MD & CEO, with effect from April 2021. She takes over from Anand Kripalu, who has been associated with the organisation for over eight years.

    Nagarajan is currently serving as the MD for Africa emerging markets.

    Kripalu will step down by June 2021. During his tenure, he has led the transformation and growth of United Spirits Ltd (USL), with considerable improvement in operating performance – margin growth, working capital and cash generation. Following Diageo’s acquisition of USL in 2013, he led the full integration of USL, reigniting the market’s portfolio strategy. 

    A strong advocate for the contribution of the alcohol industry in India, Kripalu has formed lasting relationships across the sector, driving local community initiatives and partnerships while tirelessly promoting responsible drinking. Known for his restlessness and entrepreneurial spirit, as well as his commitment to coaching and growing talent, he has championed inclusion and diversity across the business.

    The USL executive team is now 40 per cent female. He leaves the USL leadership team and the broader workplace set up for future success. 

    Since joining Diageo in the summer of 2018, Nagarajan has led Diageo’s ARM comprising operations in Ghana, Cameroon, Ethiopia, the Indian Ocean, Angola and several other countries. Under her leadership, ARM has become a significant growth driver for Diageo Africa. She is known for her passion and drive to deliver results and her ability to build strong teams that deliver outstanding outcomes, with a strong commitment to Diageo standards and compliance. She has leveraged capabilities and synergies across the market to drive regional growth, delivering a significant step change in supply chain performance across ARM. She has also been an active and passionate advocate for inclusion and diversity in Africa and Diageo more broadly. Prior to joining Diageo, she has spent over 30 years in the consumer packaged goods businesses and has worked across multiple brands such as Nestle, ICI Paints, Mary Kay Cosmetics, and RB Singapore.

  • Coca-Cola calls for global media & creative pitch

    Coca-Cola calls for global media & creative pitch

    NEW DELHI: Coca-Cola has called for a global media & creative pitch. The company, which spends about $4 billion on media globally, is going for a full-scale review of its overall media planning and buying services. 

    The creative review includes creative, experiential marketing, production management and shopper marketing. The brand intends to transform and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of ITS marketing investments. It further aims to improve its processes, eliminate duplication and optimise spends to generate significant savings to fuel reinvestment in its brands. 

    Media reports suggest that Coca-Cola is working with MediaSense on the media review process, while PricewaterhouseCoopers is overseeing the brand’s creative review. Incumbent media agencies will also participate in the review. These agencies include Dentsu media agency Carat, Group M’s MediaCom, IPG Mediagroup’s UM and Publicis media agency Starcom. 

    Coca-Cola spends around $2.5 billion globally on media per year, according to data consultancy COMvergence, including $1.8 billion on traditional media and $700 million on digital media. It’s unclear how the changes to Coca-Cola’s model could impact its spending. 

    The brand is planning for a complete redesign of its agency models to align the strategic, operational, and commercial needs. It expects to complete the review by 2021. 

    The agency review follows an October announcement that the company plans to eliminate 200 brands from its roster, including Tab, Zico and Odwalla, cutting its portfolio in half. 

    In India, the brand works with McCann on the creative front and released a campaign featuring Ranbir Kapoor and Paresh Rawal ahead of Diwali.

  • Netflix India shares what worked for the platform in 2020

    Netflix India shares what worked for the platform in 2020

    NEW DELHI: Since its launch in 2016, Netflix has been making substantial inroads in India. Initially, despite having a massive content library, it would still lose out to rival streaming services because of its pricier subscription plans. With the twin aims of retaining users after the one-month free trial and widening its subscriber base, Netflix last year introduced its mobile membership plan, priced at only Rs 199 per month.

    In its last earnings call, the CEO of the streaming platform  stated that India is a priority market for them. It has been working tirelessly to attract Indian audiences to sample the platform. A week ago, Netflix held StreamFest, where it offered free access to its content across the country with the objective to create buzz and get newer audiences.

    The streaming platform also has an extremely active social media platform that continuously keeps the audiences engaged with its witty and funny tweets, YouTube community posts and collaborations with influential Indian vloggers and content creators.

    In a recent blogpost, Netflix India VP content Monika Shergill shared some insights into ‘What India Watched in 2020.'

    She began with stating that India has the highest viewership of films on the platform globally. “It’s no surprise that we love films in India. India has the highest viewing of films on Netflix globally and over the last year, 80 per cent of our members in India chose to watch a film every week.”

    While Extraction, Malang and The Old Guard were the most popular action films, Raat Akeli Hai was the thriller that kept audiences on the edge of their seats.

    “Ludo was the most popular comedy film. Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo (Telugu), Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal (Tamil), Kappela (Malayalam), and Uma Maheswara Ugra Roopasya (Telugu) are among many other films that featured in India’s Top 10 row,” she added.

    There is no doubt that OTT platforms have created a level playing field for the new talent in the industry. Netflix’s original shows and movies include top actors and fresh blood.  

    Shergill shone the light on strong female leads that viewers admired. “We gravitated towards stories with strong female characters across genres and formats. The inspiring story, Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl, was the most popular drama film in 2020. The other popular films and series in India this year included Guilty, Masaba Masaba, Bulbbul, She, Miss India, Never Have I Ever and Emily in Paris,” she wrote.

    “Talented new actors became the face of clever scammers in Jamtara: Sabka Number Aayega. This thriller became the Indian title to feature the longest on the Top 10 row in India. And we saw one of our favourite actors return as Ayyan Mani in Serious Men, one of the most popular drama films this year. Confused because your fan loyalties may be shifting? Well, you are not alone,” added Shergill. 

    Shergill went on to note that the viewing for non-fiction series on Netflix in India grew more than 250 per cent in 2020 over 2019.

    “The most popular non-fiction shows that got us hooked were Too Hot to Handle, Indian Matchmaking and the recently released Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives. Documentary viewing also grew more than 100 per cent in 2020 over 2019, and Bad Boy Billionaires, The Social Dilemma and Money Heist: The Phenomenon were the most popular documentaries on Netflix in India this year,” read the blog by Shergill.

    As they say, all we need is love. Shergill mentioned that Love Aaj Kal, Ginny Weds Sunny and Mismatched were some of the most popular romantic films and series that made us swoon this year. “In 2020, the viewing for romantic stories on Netflix in India increased by roughly 250 per cent compared to 2019,” added Shergill.

    In the kids genre, she wrote that the viewing of kids titles increased more than 100 per cent in India in 2020 over 2019.

    “The kids adored traveling to outer space with Over The Moon, which was the most popular kids’ title on Netflix in India in 2020. The kids also loved to discover the meaning of a family with The Willoughbys and Boss Baby: Back in Business (S4) and grooved with Feel the Beat. Special mention to the lovable Mighty Little Bheem (S3) that featured in the top 10 lists in the most number of countries globally,” she stated. 

    Great stories can come from anywhere. Indian audiences also keenly watched a lot of international content across languages. “This year, we explored stories from around the world, making the best use of subtitles and dubs. The German series Dark made our world go forward and back and then back and forward and then some, and the Spanish series Money Heist, made us wish that we were in the bank when Tokyo, Berlin, the Professor and many others took over. Dark was on the top 10 row in India for 95 days and Money Heist featured on our top 10 row for 170 days. The Turkish series The Protector is among the most popular titles in the fantasy genre this year and was also the non-Indian, non-English title that was viewed the most with subtitles and/or dubs. Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back-Evolution, Blood of Zeus and One-Punch Man (S2) were the most popular anime titles in India this year.” 

    Interestingly, the viewing for K-dramas on Netflix in India increased more than 370 per cent in 2020 over 2019, shared Shergill. Some of the most popular K-titles in India included The King: Eternal Monarch, Kingdom (S2), It’s Okay to Not Be Okay and Start-up.

    The platform is growing massively in India and is teaming up with multiple partners to bundle its offerings. It is working to make  payment processing easier and seamless. Overall, the company added 2.2 million subscribers worldwide in the quarter ended 30 September.

  • ZEE5 decrypts future of digital entertainment with Contech.ED 2020

    ZEE5 decrypts future of digital entertainment with Contech.ED 2020

    Mumbai: ZEE5 will air the final episode of their Contech.ED 2020 series on December 12, 2020. #BingeNomics is an eight-partknowledge series to discuss the trends and triggers behind changing media and entertainment consumption patterns and how companies are responding to it. Bringing together renowned industry personalities like Ajay Kakkar from Aditya Birla Capital, Vikram Sakhuja from Madisson Media, Siddharth Banerjee from Games24x7, Pankaj Parihar from Godrej Consumer Products, the discussions aim to capture expert viewpoints to holistically address the challenges that befall the industry. 

    Entertainment consumption patterns have witnessed a dramatic shift in 2020 – from appointment viewing on TV to on-demand viewing on-the-go. Combined with several technology innovations propelling this growth, the steady penetration of connected devices, and smartphones giving rise to parallel second screen viewing, consumers are discovering newer ways to satiate their content needs. The #BingeNomics series brings to fore various questions with the aim to decode the preferences of the current end consumer, market growth drivers, the importance of storytelling and need for superior consumer experience to decipher what the future has in store for the media and entertainment industry. 

    Zee5 chief revenue officer Rajeev Dhal opined, “OTT saw a comeback in Q2 compared to Q1 post the lockdown. ZEE5 has grown more than 2X in terms of numbers, in Q2:Q1 our user base has grown 50 per cent and engagement rates have grown 4X – basically, everything consumed at-home has only been growing, and OTT is here to stay. There is no debate that digital ad expenses are only growing, and by 2026, 50 per cent of the AdEx will be digital oriented and bigger than TV or print. While consumption rates grow exponentially, users are going to choose to be discreet by limiting ad tracking, removing cookies which will inevitably disrupt the system. BingeNomics is ZEE5’s way of having such thought-provoking, engaging and inspiring conversations on the fast-paced, always evolving media and entertainment industry.” 

    ZEE5 India business head expansion projects and head of products Rajneel Kumar added, “Technology plays a very important role across all material changes we’re witnessing in the media and entertainment space. Consumers are now multi-device, multi-platform users and in order to know where their right audience is, brands must track them closely and accurately in order to understand where they spend their time and why. The more attuned we are to understanding these technological shifts, the better prepared we will be to entertain our consumers and make their content viewing experience superlative.” 

    Moderated by SheThePeople founder Shaili Chopra, ZEE5’s Contech.ED 2020 #BingeNomics kicked off in October 2020 and airs a new episode every Saturday. The first three episodes delved into the disruptors that are currently shaping the digital entertainment landscape, storytelling in digital content, and how innovations are changing the way we look at the rise of digital. The next four talk about the future of advertising in the digital age, who the new digital video consumer is, regional markets driving digital growth, and if and how digital media is poised to overtake traditional media.In the final episode,experts will discuss the nuances of ensuring a brand safe environment on digital media. 

  • PitchWorx simplifies designing presentations with Nimmio

    PitchWorx simplifies designing presentations with Nimmio

    NEW DELHI: PitchWorx, a creative design agency, has launched its integrated online platform – Nimmio, developed to deliver visually compelling presentations. The online platform provides quick access to pre-designed, and fully-editable presentation slides that entice and engage the audience.

    For almost a decade, PitchWorx has been creating presentations, animated videos, branding, graphic design, and web design solutions for clients mainly – start-ups, SME’s, large corporations, and government organizations. Later, the company realized that the clients wanted a quick turnaround while retaining the design liberty. Through Nimmio, the company strives to provide visually cohesive and high-quality designs while ensuring that the sense of ownership is retained with the client.

    PitchWorx CEO & founder Dharmendra Ahuja said, “Getting the brand message across the target audience requires breaking down of relevant data into an interactive presentation design. To create highly impactful marketing pitches, we have come up with the launch of Nimmio. The online platform provides pre-designed presentation slides that grab and sustains the audience’s attention. The slides can be downloaded anytime, anywhere. This results in driving efficiency and boosting the conversion rate.”

    “As we grow, we have plans to expand Nimmio’s library into designing social media posts, posters, flyers, brochures, logos, invitations, business cards, and more. Along with this, we have plans to create a marketplace where designers can showcase and sell their design templates across the globe. We are aggressively working on making Nimmio a global marketplace for designers. This will play a crucial role in discovering and connecting them with relevant opportunities around the world”, he added.

    Nimmio boasts a range of highly interactive features that empower people with design thinking capabilities to turn their ideas into reality within a few clicks. Its library is equipped with fully-editable graphic assets and resources to deliver the perfect pitch in no time. Additionally, it provides access to unlimited professionally designed and ready-to-download presentation slides at an affordable cost.

    The platform works on three different pricing plans, flexible for one time or frequent users. For one-time users, it offers the ‘Pay as you go’ model where you pay the cart value with no commitments. The ‘Monthly Plan’ is ideal for intermittent users who want value for money, and the ‘Yearly Plan’ is perfect for frequent users with unlimited downloads. 

  • Amazon Prime Video’s Unpaused is about new beginnings

    Amazon Prime Video’s Unpaused is about new beginnings

    MUMBAI: The trailer of Amazon Prime Video’s Hindi anthology Unpaused is out. The movie, featuring five short films directed by some of the most talented filmmakers in the Indian film industry, aims to show the importance of moving on and finding new beginnings when things look dim. Unpaused will drop on the streaming platform on 18 December in over 200 countries and territories. 

    The trailer gives viewers a glimpse of the five stories encapsulated in the movie: 

    I.  The Apartment, directed by Nikkhil Advani (D-Day) and starring Richa Chadha (Inside Edge), Sumeet Vyas (Wakaalat From Home), Ishwak Singh (Paatal Lok)

    II. Rat – A – Tat featuring Rinku Rajguru (Sairat), directed by Tannishtha Chatterjee (Parched)

    III. Chaand Mubarak directed by Nitya Mehra (Made in Heaven) starring Ratna Pathak Shah (Thappad) and Shardul Bhardwaj (Bhonsle)

    IV. Sample House directed by Avinash Arun (Paatal Lok) starring Abhishek Banerjee (Paatal Lok) and Geetika Vidya Ohlyan (Thappad)

    V. Glitch directed by Raj & DK (The Family Man) starring Gulshan Deviah (Afsos), SaiyamiKher (Breathe: Into the Shadows). 

    “The union of such creative forces during these unprecedented times is testament to the fact that creativity cannot be capped,” said Amazon Prime Video head of India Originals Aparna Purohit. She added, “These turbulent times call for faith and assurance in the power of new beginnings. It is our endeavour to consistently bring unique stories and newer formats on the service through our Originals offering; and we are delighted to offer a fresh format with Unpaused.” 

    The anthology follows the successful launch of Putham Pudhu Kaalai, the Tamil five-film anthology, as well as the releases of several widely-acclaimed Hindi films like Chhalaang, Shankuntala Devi and Gulabo Sitabo, along with Amazon Original series Bandish Bandits, Paatal Lok, Breathe: Into The Shadows, and Mirzapur 2, among others. 

    Unpaused was shot in compliance with government rules and regulations issued in the state of Maharashtra for filming during the Unlock phase. 

    "We are excited to extend our successful association with Amazon Prime Video and explore a new genre together,” said Raj and DK. “Creating The Family Man was a liberating experience for us as content creators, and the assurance of thinking unconstrained has only encouraged us to extend our collaboration through Glitch. We are certain viewers will enjoy the film as much as we enjoyed making it.” 

    “We went far down the roads of ingenuity and resourcefulness to come up with an exciting visual experience like The Apartment,” director Nikkhil Advani said. “With the cast and crew working towards a common goal, and having to think outside the box to bring this creation to life, this production experience has been a novelty. The intent is to showcase the optimism new beginnings carry, and we are happy to be able to take this story to a global audience.”

  • Ad volumes for auto sector witnessed 36% growth during festive season in 2020: BARC

    Ad volumes for auto sector witnessed 36% growth during festive season in 2020: BARC

    New Delhi: Every product category has been hit in 2020 by the pandemic and lockdowns. The sales for most of these product, categories got impacted as people were restricted to their homes and were reluctant in spending money even after the lockdowns were over.

    Initially, the advertising volumes of many such categories was also hit but soon it started reviving as marketing heads realised that it is not the time to stop but to be even more aggressive if they wanted to make the best out of this year.

    Automobile is one such category that was affected. Most brands did not make a sale of a single unit in the lockdown period (excluding exports). However, once the lockdown was lifted, the brands started opening up their showrooms and retail experience centers and started inviting customers to come and sample their product.

    Initially, the response of audiences was slow but digital marketing came to the rescue as many of these brands created a virtual experience of their product and created enough content around it for the customer to research and find information that he/she was looking for.

     

     

    Slowly, the customers also started returning to the retail centers. And, if we go by the festive season reports, the sales for several of two-wheeler and four-wheeler brands have increased. These reports have induced a lot of positivity in the industry and a lot of it has also come from the massive advertising campaigns taken by the brands across national and regional channels.

    Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) has released a report comparing the ad volumes and share of the automobile industry for 2019 and 2020 between 1 Oct and 27 Nov (festive season).

     

     

    The report states that the ad volumes for the automobile sector have grown by 36 per cent in 2020. In 2019, the total advertising done during this period was around 9.3 million seconds which grew to 12.6 million seconds in 2020.

    Also, the ad volumes for four-wheelers have increased by two times. In 2019, there were approximately 2.39 million seconds of advertising while in 2020, there have been more than 5.86 million seconds of advertising. The ad volume share has also increased from 26 per cent to 46 per cent in the last year.

     It will be interesting to see if the industry can carry forward this momentum and continue selling the products.