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Tag: covid-19

  • Times Network releases ‘Conflict’, a special documentary on COVID -19

    Times Network releases ‘Conflict’, a special documentary on COVID -19

    Times Network, India's premium broadcast network, releases ‘Conflict’, a special two-part documentary chronicling stories of the lives of frontline warriors who are balancing their commitment to their duty with the love for their families and professionals from the service sector, whose jobs have been impounded due to the enormous impact of COVID-19. Shot cautiously across 4 cities during the lockdown, both documentaries narrate the moving stories of hardships faced by various professionals for the first time ever on Indian Television. 

     Honouring the frontline workers, who are committed to tackling the virus outbreak with their selfless services and spirited fight against COVID -19, the first part of the documentary ‘Conflict: Life At The Red Line’ will telecast on July 18 at 7pm on TIMES NOW, TIMES NOW WORLD, Mirror Now and LIVE webcast on timesnownownews.com. The documentary is a succinct account on the how frontline workers are treading the pandemic and depicts their daily challenges, scrutiny from the public and balancing their commitment to the duties conflicting with their love for their families. This documentary will feature Dr. Rahul Tambe, Senior Consultant, Internal Medicine, Nanavati Hostpital – Mumbai,  Dr. Shweta Jaitly, Senior Resident, Dept. of ENT – VMMC & Safdarjung Hospital – Delhi, Devyani Badwe, Staff Nurse, Nanavati Hospital – Mumbai, Snehal Sawant, Staff Nurse, Nanavati Hospital – Mumbai, Nakul Mangal, Emergency Medical Technician, Max Hospital – Delhi, Shibani Sardar, Janitor, Medica Superspecialtiy Hospital – Kolkata and Akash, an Indian student in France, who was amongst the initial COVID-19 positive patient in India. 

    Vivek Srivastava, President – Strategy and Business Head, News and English Entertainment Cluster, Times Network said, “A global crisis unlike any, COVID-19 outbreak continues to disrupt the lives and upend the livelihoods of many. It is therefore essential to reimagine and reset our lives and businesses across industries to navigate the pandemic. Chronicling the impact of the pandemic on the lives of a multitude of professionals, the documentary series showcases a compelling narrative of courage and perseverance in our collective fight against the virus. We believe, these stories of resilience are critical to be told as it captures the perspectives of some of the most valiant lives braving the consequences of this pandemic”.  

    The second part documentary, ‘Conflict: Touch Me Not’ slated to air in August, offers a glance into the lives of service professionals, whose livelihood is depended on human contact. The documentary takes viewers through the alleyways of Mumbai’s Kammatipura, home to thousands of sex workers, to provide a glimpse into their lives, which has come to a standstill during the lockdown and their daily struggle to provide for their children without an active income. The documentary also features compelling stories of a Mehendi artist from Delhi and makeup artist from Mumbai, who are fearing the worst as the negation of human touch, could mean an uncertain future. 

  • SITI Networks’ FY20 Operating EBITDA surges 1.2X Y-o-Y to Rs.3,538 Mn

    SITI Networks’ FY20 Operating EBITDA surges 1.2X Y-o-Y to Rs.3,538 Mn

    New Delhi: SITI Networks Limited (BSE: 532795, NSE: SITINET), an Essel Group Company, one of India’s largest Multi-System Operators (MSO), has released its Consolidated Audited Financial Results for Q4 and full year FY20, ending March 31, 2020. On the back of sustained efforts in FY20, SITI reported continuous growth through operational efficiencies and strict control on expenses across all metrics.  

    SITI’s Operating EBITDA for FY20 surged by 1.2x to Rs.3,538 Mn by efficiently leveraging existing operating resources. SITI’s Operating EBITDA for Q4FY20 also jumped 2.5% to Rs. 861 Mn year on year. Q4FY20 also saw further consolidation in SITI’s Operating EBITDA Margins which grew 1.02X to 21.6% on y-o-y basis. 

    Subscription Revenue for Q4FY20 grew 25.3% y-o-y to Rs. 2,842 Mn. For FY20 too, Subscription Revenue surged 21.3% to Rs.11,567 Mn. Total Revenue (excluding activation) for Q4FY20 surged ~23% y-o-y to Rs. 4,128 Mn. FY20 Total Revenue (excluding activation) also jumped 15.3% over FY19 to Rs.16,354 Mn. 

    SITI Broadband continued its focus on providing the best technology to its customers by launching a composite FTTX based network architecture which would make enable customer premises with the best of online and linear content. Implementation of this composite model will benefit both SITI Networks and SITI Broadband, while providing IOT based services to customers.  

    In the fight against COVID-19 pandemic, SITI’s team and 24,000+ strong distribution network is playing a significant role. During lockdown, SITI’s field staff, Contact Centre and Distribution Partners worked diligently on the ground to ensure that customers stayed indoors and provided best in class infotainment and keep the world connected to them. To cope with the lockdown and the need to protect its staff, SITI also ensured remote work from home for all its staff while maintaining strict quality control and monitoring of services.   
     
    While commenting on the results, Mr. Anil Malhotra, CEO of SITI Networks Limited mentioned:  
     
    “SITI Networks continued its consistent growth focus while maintaining a strict control on operational efficiencies during FY20. Our subscription revenue for Q4FY20 grew by 25.3% YoY, while our total revenue grew by ~23% YoY. Even for FY20, our total revenue jumped by 15.3% to Rs. 16,354 Mn. Our constant mantra of improving operational efficiencies while improving monetization helped us to deliver strong operating EBITDA at INR3,538 mn, in FY20, a surge of 1.2 times. Our response to COVID-19 pandemic has been widely appreciated. Our teams and partners have left no stone unturned to ensure that our customers get the best services."

  • Brands show human side amidst Covid2019 crisis

    Brands show human side amidst Covid2019 crisis

    NEW DELHI: While the Covid2019 pandemic came out as probably the most devastating blow to the business world as well as to the society, it also brought forth a number of heartening stories of human kindness and support. Be it the on-ground coverage that several news reporters are doing or the warm hospitality that the hospital staff and police personnel are showing, or the exceptional support that several social workers and famous personalities have extended to the underprivileged, we saw humanity raising its head high on many occasions. Indiantelevision.com had also covered how the pandemic even brought brands and agency partners  closer. 

    Not just that, many brands rose above their usual business and indulged in great deeds of public service too. Be it ACC Trust spending close to Rs five crore to help the migrant labours and villagers around ACC Cement’s factories or Relaxo and Metro Shoes donating footwear to the large exodus of migrant workers fleeing to home on feet, there have been ample examples of brands extending a helping hand in time of this unprecedented crisis. 

    Speaking about the varied initiatives that Metro Shoes has taken to support the community, VP–marketing and e-commerce Alisha Malik told Indiantelevision.com, “The pandemic brought the country and the economy to a staggering halt. While it impacted each one of us, the migrant workers were the most affected. Their struggle to meet their basic needs of food, shelter, financial security and reach their homeland was heart-wrenching. We felt that it was important for us to do our bit to support them in the time of crisis and that is how we came up with the Metro Cares Initiative.”

    Under the initiative, the brand provided ration kits to daily wagers with the help of Salaam Bombay Foundation and footwear to all those in need on their journey back home with the help of United Way of Mumbai and the Rotary Club. PPE kits to hospitals and masks to policemen were also provided with the help of United Way of Mumbai. 

    Sanitary napkin brand Pro-ease from the house of RSPL distributed over 10 lakh sanitary pads to frontline warriors managing the crisis. 

    RSPL director Rohit Gyanchandani shared, “We came across a few news reports and on-ground stories of how sanitary napkins were in short supply and women were facing difficulties due to that. Coupled with that we were also witnessing a phenomenal selfless service from corona warriors of both genders. When we put these two stories together, we as a team wanted to do our bit and came up with the idea of distributing 10 lac pads to women corona warriors free of cost as a small token of appreciation from Pro-ease.” 

    He added, “In times like these when the whole nation is going through a crisis, I think it’s imperative for everyone to do whatever little they can to help in whichever way possible. Whether you are a citizen or a brand, the fact remains that you ought to do the things you can, to make a difference for the better.”

    The brand also launched a powerful campaign #RoktiHoonRuktiNahin created by ADK Fortune to salute these female superheroes.

    ADK Fortune VP and ECD Nakul Sharma shared his experience of working on the campaign by saying, “The experience was first of all very humbling. Because the gravity of the fight put up by corona frontline warriors, especially women suddenly hit us in the face.” 

    Congratulating the brand on taking up this great initiative, he added, “Pro-ease had a solid proposition and decided to be a doer and not just a talker – which frankly makes all the difference in these times. These initiatives give clients a chance to show their human side as well. This epidemic is a time like no other and frankly keeping quiet is not an option. People want to know and hear from their brands and expect them to have a human point of view.” 

    Malik also highlighted that it is very important for brands to participate in supporting the community in difficult times as she said, “As important as CSR is for the community, it is equally valuable for a company. It is important for brands to stand up for causes that matter. In fact, in such times, it is important that each one of us takes a step towards helping all those in need. We are glad that we had access to resources that could help the migrant workers in their journey back home.” 

  • Minor changes in Across Genres lists as GECs continue to lose ratings

    Minor changes in Across Genres lists as GECs continue to lose ratings

    BENGALURU: Overall television consumption increased slightly in Week 22 of 2020 (Saturday, 30 May 2020 to Friday, 5 June 2020, week or period under review) according to Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) data as compared to the previous week (Week 21 of 2020). BARC data reveals that TV consumption in terms of weekly impressions increased to 16.4 billion during the week under review from 16.3 billion in the previous week. However, on analysis of BARC data for top 10 or top 5 channels of various genres/languages in the public domain, it seems that GECs’ continued to lose viewership, if not the GEC genre across languages, then at least the top 5 or 10 GEC channels of most languages had lower consumption in Week 22 of 2020 as compared to  Week 21. The top 10 Hindi GECs’ on all platforms, on the Pay and Free Platforms as well as in Urban and Rural India had lower weekly impressions in Week 22 of 2020 as compared to the preceding week. The Top 5 Hindi Movies channels in Urban and Rural India saw viewership increase slightly, as did Hindi Movies on the Pay platform. The Top 5 Hindi Movies channels on the Free Platform saw a dip in viewership during the week under review as compared to the previous week.

    News channels and movies channels seemed to be the biggest gainers, and of course, in the case of the Top 5 Kannada channels for which production of new content had begun on June 1, 2020 also gained viewership. It must be noted that the Top 5 News Channels ofthree South Indian languages -Kannada, Malayalam and Telugu had lower weekly impressions in Week 22 of 2020 as compared to the previous week. Hindi and English News channels along with Assamese, Bangla, Oriya and Tamil News channels garnered higher weekly impressions in Week 22 of 2020 as compared to the previous week. The 2 Hindi Business News channels saw a 25 percent increase in weekly impressions in Week 22 as compared to Week 21 of 2020, while the 3 English Business News channels which have a lower consumption than the 2 Hindi Business News channels saw Weekly Impressions in Week 22 decline 17 percent as compared to Week 21 of 2020.

    Please refer to the figure below:

    Top 10 Channels on All Platforms Across Genres

    The combined weekly impressions of the Top 10 Channels on All Platforms Across Genres declined by 2.9 percent in Week 22 of 2020 as compared to the previous week. All of the ten channels in the list were the same as in the previous week with some changes in the rankings.

    One of the most significant changes was the Sun TV Network’s flagship Tamil GEC Sun TV slipping to third place with an 8.2 percent decline in weekly impressions in Week 22 of 2020 from rank 2 in the previous week. Despite a 2.5 percent decline in weekly ratings from the previous week, Star India’s flagship Hindi GEC Star Plus replaced Sun TV at second rank in Week 22 of 2020.

    BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Channels on All Platforms Across Genres comprised of four Hindi GECs’, three Hindi Movies channels and one channel each from the Kids, Tamil and Telugu genres. From the networks’ perspective, there were three channels from Star India, two channels each from Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) and one channel each from, Enterr 10 Television, the Sun Tv Network, Viacom18.  While Dangal is available on both the pay TV and FTA platforms, Zeel’s acquired Hindi GEC Big Magic is FTA. The other eight channels were Pay TV. It must be noted that Dangal, Sony SAB and Zee Cinemagarnered higher weekly impressions in Week 22 of 2020 than in week 21, despite the lower combined ratings of the Top 10 channels in the list.
    Please refer to the figure below:

    Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres

    The combined weekly impressions of the Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres declined 3.4 percent in Week 22 of 2020 as compared to the previous week. Nine of the ten channels in the list in the week under review were the same as in Week 21 of 2020 with some changes in the ranks. One channel – Viacom18’s flagship Hindi GEC Colors exited BARC’s Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres list in Week 22 of 2020 an was replaced by Star India’s Hindi GEC Star Utsav at tenth place.

    There were three channels each from the Hindi GECs’ and Hindi Movies genres, two Telugu channels and one channel each from the Kids and Tamil genres in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres in week 19 of 2020.  There were four channels from Star India, two channels each from SPN and the Sun Tv Network and one channel each from Viacom18 and Zeel in the list. While 8 of the channels in the list in Week 22 of 2020 from the previous week’s list had lower weekly impressions, Zeel’s Hindi Movies channels Zee Cinema had higher weekly impressions in the week under review as compared to the previous week.

    Please refer to the chart below:

    Top 10 Free Channels on Across Genres

    BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres shows that the combined weekly impressions of the top 10 channels in Week 22 of 2020 were 4.3 percent lower than in Week 21. Nine of the 10 channels in the list in Week 22 of 2020 were the same as in week 21 with some shuffling in the ranks.Zeel’s Youth channels Zing exited the list in Week 22 of 2020 and was replaced by Viacom18’ Hindi Movies channel Rishtey Cineplex.

    There were four channels from the Hindi Movies genre and three channels each from the Bhojpuri and Hindi GEC genresin BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres for Week 22 of 2020, There were three channels each from Zeel and Enterr 10 Television, two channels from B4U Network and one channel each from the pubcaster network Doordarshan or DD  and Viacom18 during the period under review.

    Please refer to the chart below:


     

  • ShemarooMe and DocsApp join hands to fight against COVID-19

    ShemarooMe and DocsApp join hands to fight against COVID-19

    As India gears up to gradually lift the lockdown, we will have to build and exercise crucial new habits such as physical distancing, wearing masks, and maintaining hand and face hygiene. While the revival of activity may spread Covid-19, it should be our top priority to still contain the spread of the disease.

    ShemarooMe, the OTT platform from India’s leading content powerhouse Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd and DocsApp, the digital healthcare platform, have joined hands to fight against COVID-19 by enabling/helping individuals to stay at home.  The sole objective of this initiative is to promote staying healthy and getting entertained while Staying Home to help contain the spread of the virus.

    Subscribers on ShemarooMe platform may avail complimentary medical consultation on issues related to COVID-19. Users will also have access to free online consultations across 20 specialities from expert doctors at the comfort of their homes, without the risk of stepping out and possibly being exposed to the virus. Besides medical consultation, the initiative will also help in busting myths, reducing panic, and educating consumers about the virus and other related issues.

    On the other hand, to help individuals be mentally happy & entertained, ShemarooMe will provide access to its multi-genre, multi-lingual content at only Re. 1 as part of the initiative to DocsApp users. Experts believe that consuming content encourages emotional release. This release of emotions can have a cathartic effect and makes it easier for a person to become more comfortable in expressing their emotions. Individuals can enjoy unlimited access to ShemarooMe’s vast content offerings of 3700+ titles comprising of Bollywood classics, Regional cinema in Gujarati, Marathi & Punjabi, live access to aartis from famous shrines and access to newly released critically acclaimed Bollywood Premieres every week.

    “With our healthcare platform, DocsApp, we have been constantly striving to make expert medical assistance available to the majority of the common public. By collaborating with ShemarooMe, for the Staying Home and Staying Entertained initiative, we will be helping a larger portion of the Indian population with access to high-quality healthcare & encouraging them to Stay Home, Healthy and Entertained” said Mr Satish Kannan, Co-Founder & CEO, DocsApp and MediBuddy.

    Adding to that Mr. Zubin Dubash, COO -Digital, Shemaroo Entertainment, said “Shemaroo lives by the traits of keeping people first and following the same suit we’ve partnered with DocsApp to ensure all individuals are safe at home with access to expert doctors at the touch of a button. Our partnership could not have come at a more appropriate time when Work from Home is becoming a global norm and consumers are taking enough precautionary measures to stay safe. While staying at home is the need of the hour, this association will provide DocsApp users access to varied content offerings available on ShemarooMe so they can indulge in some desi style entertainment and friendly distraction for only Re. 1 in the first month. Additionally, the complementary medical consultation service to our subscriber base will help them seek expert advice on matters such as COVID-19.” 

    Shemaroo has always invested in relationships and has been at the forefront of innovation. This new initiative will bring together the best of both worlds which involves high-quality healthcare and great entertainment

  • Same channels in Across Genres, but TV viewership continues to decline

    Same channels in Across Genres, but TV viewership continues to decline

    BENGALURU: Indian television viewership seems to be declining after the lofty peaks of the early COVID2019 (COVID-19) Lockdown as India enters Unlock 1.0, when compared to Week 4 of 2020. The drop in television consumption continued in Week 21 of 2020 (Saturday, 23 May 2020 to Friday, 29 May 2020, week or period under review) with viewership declining to 16.3 billion impressions during the week under review. However, overall television consumption in terms of impressions was still 12.4 percent more in Week 21 of 2020 as compared to Week 4 of 2020 which had garnered 14.5 billion impressions.

    Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) and Nielsen have set the average viewership data between Weeks 2 and 4 of 2020 as the yardstick to measure television consumption trends during COVID-19 weeks. While the lockdown in India commenced on 25 March 2020, which was midweek of Week 12 of 2020, BARC-Nielsen COVID-19 reports are available for weeks between Weeks 11 and 20 of 2020 at the time of writing of this paper. The author has considered Week 4 of 2020 as the reference week here.

    As is obvious from the chart below, viewership has been dropping over the past few weeks.

    Top 10 Channels on All Platforms Across Genres

    The combined weekly impressions of the Top 10 Channels on All Platforms Across Genres declined by 2.2 percent in Week 21 of 2020 as compared to the previous week. All of the ten channels in the list were the same as in the previous week with some changes in the rankings.

    BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Channels on All Platforms Across Genres comprised of four Hindi GECs’, three Hindi Movies channels and one channel each from the Kids, Tamil and Telugu genres. From the networks’ perspective, there were three channels from Star India, two channels each from Sony Pictures Network India (SPN)and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) and one channel each from, Enterr 10 Television, the Sun Tv Network, Viacom18.  While Dangal is available on both the pay TV and FTA platforms, Zeel’s acquired Hindi GEC Big Magic is FTA. The other eight channels were Pay TV. It must be noted that Dangaland Sony SAB had higher impressions in Week 21 of 2020 than in week 20, despite the lower combined ratings of the Top 10 channels in the list.
    Please refer to the figure below:

    Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres

    The combined weekly impressions of the Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres declined 3.8 percent in Week 21 of 2020 as compared to the previous week. All of the channels in the list in the week under review were the same as in Week 20 of 2020 with some changes in the ranks.

    There were three channels each from the Hindi GECs’ and Hindi Movies genre, two Telugu channels and one channel each from the Kids and Tamil genres in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres in week 19 of 2020.  There were three channels from Star India, two channels each from SPN, the Sun Tv Network and Viacom18 one channel from Zeel in the list.
    Please refer to the chart below:

    Top 10 Free Channels on Across Genres

    BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres shows that the combined weekly impressions of the top 10 channels in Week 21 of 2020 were1.7 percent lower than in Week 20. All the channels in the list in Week 21 were the same as in week 20 with some shuffling in the ranks.

    There were three channels each from the Bhojpuri,  Hindi GEC and Hindi Movies genres, and there was one Youth channel in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres for Week 21 of 2020, There were four channels from Zeel, three channels from Enterr 10 Television, two channels from B4U Network and one channel from the pubcaster network Doordarshan or DD during the period under review.

    Please refer to the chart below:


     

  • Impact of Covid2019 pandemic on print media & how ad revenues are affected

    Impact of Covid2019 pandemic on print media & how ad revenues are affected

    Covid2019 is the most dreaded word right now and rightly so. As we know, it hasn't only claimed many lives but the livelihood of many too. While it has been an eye-opener at many levels, it has also changed the economy. It looks like the 'new normal' is here to stay and to keep up with it, we must evolve. 

    Print media had its perks and luxury for a very long time before it got hit by a virtual pandemic – digitalization. Covid2019 is an addition to the already eroding industry. However, when we talk of ad revenues, Coronavirus has affected every possible industry and print media is no exception. Ad revenues have dropped not only for print but also for digital, OOH and every other possible medium. The reason is the paucity of funds. The financial crunch has urged brands and businesses to limit their spends and advertisements are the last avenues where they will place their buck. Who will they advertise for? Who will buy? The financial crunch funnels down to the consumer level too. Even if you print where are the vendors and street sellers who sell your magazines going to come from? Lot of them make it to the “migrant labourer” category.

    The lockdown has everyone at home scrolling through their phone screens all day. If at all brands want to place their money, the best bet is digital at the moment. While print as a medium struggles to stay afloat, this pandemic could result in a big boost for digital platforms in the future. 

    When we look at magazines, newspapers, catalogues, or any other vertical of print, there's no way to reach the consumers and readers. With everything under lockdown, how does one get access to these? The only smart way to deal with the current situation is to bank on digital versions of your magazine copies and newspapers and think of innovative ways to reach your audience via the internet. We have been issuing digital editions in PDF formats ourselves since readers would not necessarily pay for it. This is also to get them lured to the habit of the convenience of reading through ipads, smartphones or laptops. 

    While 'Where tech meets lifestyle' is what we stand for at Exhibit, we could evolve ourselves with the extension of the same thought – 'Where lifestyle leads tech'. Technology needs to evolve in accordance with the current lifestyle of consumers. This isn't going to last forever but this has certainly made way for a lasting change. 

    The show must go on. But, you must know where to play the showreel!

    (The author is publisher & chief editor of Exhibit Magazine & BBC Top Gear India. Thr views expressed are his own and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them)

  • Online education, video streaming platforms dominate YouTube ads during lockdown

    Online education, video streaming platforms dominate YouTube ads during lockdown

    DELHI: Brands that have their whole service-chain online were the most proactive while advertising on YouTube during the Covid2019 lockdown, a recent study by Germin8, a social media intelligence company, revealed in its "The Surge of YouTube Ads amidst COVID-19" report.

    Germin8 CEO-founder Ranjit Nair told Indiantelevision.com that the survey was done by the Germin8 team, who reviewed a sample of 200 real-time video ads over a
    period of one week. These ads were collected from the videos that were listed either on the home or trending section of YouTube and from multiple browsers so as to minimize the user bias.

    He added, “As the ads on YouTube are mostly programmatic and is based on user-behaviour, we tried to cut in that bias by asking our team to log out of
    YouTube and access the videos for a better, clear, and unbiased data. However, these samples still talk of the YouTube ads present in metro cities and the data can’t be used to predict or discuss the types of ads in rural and other areas.”

    Further, each ad was studied to understand the context and also about the organizations actively investing in them during the Covid2019-related lockdown. The ads were
    segmented under themes, sectors, frequency, and Covid2019’s influence in their communication. The report was written by a team of research analysts to ensure greater clarity of data.

    As per the report, two sectors dominated the YouTube ad section: Online education and video streaming platforms.

    Online education websites like Udemy, Unacademy, upGrad, Greatlearning, Datacamp. Udemy had the highest number of ads and on courses like Sketching, Python, personality development. In many ads, it ran an offer of 90 per cent discount on courses catering to the needs of students as well as working professionals. Netflix and Amazon Prime had the highest number of ads. Netflix had the maximum Share of Voice. They invested heavily in promoting their series like Locke & Key, Ghost Stories, 6 Underground, and Sex Education.

    In the research it was also observed that some organizations used Covid2019-related communication in their ads, urging people to stay home. Out of 65 distinct
    organizations, nine have created their ad content around Covid2019. It can be observed that the organizations that deal offline ran more ads using the pandemic factor when compared to the ones who provide online services. For example, Asian Paints is running the #StayHomeStaySafe ad campaign; Vodafone ads urged users to ‘Stay home, stay safe, stay connected’. Nivea India is encouraging viewers to play with their kids at home. While Amul ad showed homemade food recipes in regional language.

  • IceWarp CEO Pramod Sharda Takes 100% Pay Cut In Light Of COVID 19

    IceWarp CEO Pramod Sharda Takes 100% Pay Cut In Light Of COVID 19

    The Corona Virus outbreak has pushed the entire world to witness a pandemic, circulating waves of panic across the globe. Due to uncertainty in business owing to the current scenario, businesses are slowing down bringing the growth of the economy to a halt. There has been a sudden slow-down of the economic activities at an unparalleled scale globally, raising the number of job losses and salary cuts. 

    In the wake of the current scenario, owing to the pandemic, IceWarp, an internationally renowned company known for developing solutions for email communication and collaboration has devised a protocol wherein, Pramod Sharda, CEO, IceWarp India & Middle East has decided and announced to take a 100% pay cut for the rest of the year safeguarding the employees of IceWarp and promising no salary-cuts or layoffs.  It is invariably important for companies to take the right step while taking care of their employees, assuring them certainty.

    Commenting on the same, Pramod Sharda, CEO, IceWarp India & Middle East said, “The Coronavirus outbreak has affected numerous aspects of our living, however, we at IceWarp believe, every employee to be an asset and safeguarding them is a necessity. To overcome such a critical period as a cohesive team, we have devised a strategic plan of operations and to begin with, I, myself have decided to take a 100% salary cut for the balance of 2020 in order to avoid layoffs”.
     
    “At IceWarp, the security of our employees is of utmost priority, considering the fact owing to security concerns even after the lockdown period, we will be emphasizing to continue WFH till the time we feel the situation is better. ”, added Sharda.

    With a complete lockdown in action industries- small, medium and large have deviated from traditional mode of working and have undertaken the work from home culture respecting social distancing. Keeping a similar mindset, IceWarp is offering its complete collaboration suite for all existing customers regardless of their license setup, to aid a hassle-free collaboration within teams in the time of crisis. The features are free of charge till June 18, 2020. To add up the beta version video conferencing solution is also FREE to everyone across the world. The beta version would help organizations and teams to collaborate and stay productive, it supports up to 20 video call participants while the audio calls are unlimited. The video conferencing service is free of cost to anyone irrespective of whether they are IceWarp’s Customer or not.

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  • Avis India resumes self-drive and chauffeur-driven car services in 19 cities

    Avis India resumes self-drive and chauffeur-driven car services in 19 cities

    MUMBAI: Car rental service provider Avis India has announced the resumption of its self-driving as well as chauffeur-driven car services across 19 cities, as lockdown restrictions have been eased and travelling is allowed again. For the self-drive car segment, the operations will resume in eight cities including Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida. In addition to the self-drive cars, the chauffeur-driven vehicles will also hit the roads in 19 cities including Agra, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune.   

    Avis India resuming its self-drive and chauffeur-driven vehicle operations is in line with the brand’s commitment to provide a safe and best possible customer experience.

    Avis India MD-CEO Sunil Gupta commented, “The current COVID-19 pandemic has certainly affected travel. People will now prefer travelling in smaller groups as compared to before. Hence, we expect to see a significant spike in demand for personal mobility post lockdown, and resuming our self-drive car and chauffeur-driven vehicle services will empower our customers for ‘safe travel experience’. In the wake of Covid2019, we have enhanced our already robust cleaning protocols, including utilizing disinfectants that protect our customers and employees against pathogens. Our primary focus has always been and remains the health and well-being of our employees, chauffeurs, and customers.”

    Avis India is conducting daily sanitization of all of its vehicles. A special emphasis is given to high-contact surfaces, both inside and outside of the car, such as seats, steering wheels, and door handles. It is mandatory for all of the chauffeurs to wear face masks at all times. The employees, chauffeurs, and customers are scanned with infrared thermometers at the main gate itself. Anyone with potential symptoms is barred from entering the compound, thereby ensuring maximum security for our both employees and customers.