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Tag: digital strategy

  • Sprintexx ropes in ad tech ace Uddit Pandey as co-founder to sharpen its digital game

    Sprintexx ropes in ad tech ace Uddit Pandey as co-founder to sharpen its digital game

    MUMBAI: Sprintexx has just upgraded its digital playbook—and it’s not subtle about it. The ad tech firm has appointed Uddit Pandey as its new co-founder, handing the steering wheel to one of India’s most seasoned programmatic trailblazers.

    The announcement, made on 8 May 2025, signals Sprintexx’s pivot towards a sharper, tech-driven growth trajectory. With close to two decades of experience in programmatic advertising, business acceleration, and strategic media planning, Pandey steps into the role armed with the kind of experience that reshapes playbooks.

    Sprintexx expects Pandey to architect a “future-ready ad tech ecosystem”—a blend of programmatic precision, full-funnel strategy and creative muscle. The company said his focus will remain fixed on boosting client ROI, scaling operations and keeping Sprintexx ahead of the curve in the ever-evolving digital media landscape.

    “I am thrilled to join Sprintexx as co-founder and look forward to building a future-focused ad tech ecosystem that delivers unmatched value, innovation, and growth for our partners,” Pandey said.

    Known for pushing boundaries in data-led media execution and strategic partnerships, Pandey has previously led transformation projects for marquee brands. His appointment marks a strategic shift for Sprintexx as it leans harder into media intelligence, omnichannel delivery and audience-led innovation.

    With this leadership move, the company signals a strong intent to dominate India’s fast-moving ad tech arena—and beyond.

  • HT Media’s Q2 report reflects continued losses amid revenue gains

    HT Media’s Q2 report reflects continued losses amid revenue gains

    Mumbai: HT Media Limited reported revenue from operations of Rs 42,375 lakhs for Q2 of fiscal year 2025, a 7.5 per cent increase over Q1 (Rs 37,851 lakhs) and a 7.6 per cent increase year-over-year from Rs 39,399 lakhs. This upward trend reflects the firm’s aggressive digital strategy and market resilience. However, operating costs outpaced revenue growth, with total expenses rising to Rs 48,867 lakhs from Rs 46,544 lakhs in the previous quarter, driven primarily by material costs, employee expenses, and finance charges. The escalating costs reflect broader inflationary pressures impacting raw materials and payroll, challenging HT Media’s path to profitability.

    For the six months ending September 2024, HT Media reported consolidated revenue of Rs 90,638 lakhs, marking a 3.9 per cent rise from Rs 87,215 lakhs in the same period last year. Yet, with rising operational expenses—particularly in staffing and other essential areas—the company recorded a net loss of Rs 5,695 lakhs. The quarter’s EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation) stood at Rs 3,273 lakhs, although the profit before tax was reported as a loss at Rs 939 lakhs.

    The financial report underscores challenges in key segments. HT Media’s print and publishing revenue contributed the lion’s share at Rs 33,420 lakhs, but radio broadcasting and entertainment and digital segments also demonstrated resilience. However, employee benefits climbed to Rs 10,923 lakhs in Q2, a 7.5 per cent increase over Q1, impacting bottom-line growth.

    In line with its strategic restructuring, HT Media has sought to cut liabilities, including the partial disposal of investment property and reclassification of assets held for sale. The company’s long-term liabilities fell from Rs 25,303 lakhs in March 2024 to Rs 20,849 lakhs in September 2024, aided by asset sales and targeted debt management.  

    HT Media reiterated its commitment to recalibrate its portfolio, focusing on emerging revenue streams in digital content and radio. These areas saw significant audience engagement, with digital revenue climbing to Rs 5,551 lakhs, an increase of 18.7 per cent over the previous quarter.

    Looking ahead, HT Media remains focused on capturing digital market share, leveraging its audience reach across diverse platforms. Key challenges remain in managing operational costs amid inflationary pressures and aligning revenue generation with sustainable profit margins. With a current liability ratio of 0.85 times, the company plans to optimise cash flow by driving operational efficiencies.

     

  • Blink Digital bags Fibe’s digital media duties

    Blink Digital bags Fibe’s digital media duties

    Mumbai: Blink Digital has been awarded the digital marketing mandate for Fibe. Specialising in blending deep digital insights and ideating plans, Blink Digital helps brands grow to their full potential. The agency will now be in charge of digital strategy, ideation, and execution of the digital launch for Fibe, formerly EarlySalary. This is a year-long association/partnership that was established after a competitive multi-agency pitch.

    Conceptualised by Blink Digital, the campaign “Aapke Paise Wali Vibe” targets how it is a quick and hassle-free application process as well as the ease at which its customers can avail of its services.

     

     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     

     
     

     
     
     

     
     

    A post shared by Fibe India (@fibe.india)

     

    The campaign, written by Sudhir Shetty and directed by Very Busy People, aims to position Fibe as an alternative to the notion that obtaining a loan is difficult and time-consuming. Fibe has been positioned as a helpful credit provider that offers loans tailored to everyone’s needs without a complicated application process or many questions about how to use the loan.

    The agency will assist the brand in staying ahead of the curve regarding social media engagement. Their new campaign idea for Fibe gives a fresh outlook on consumer lending in the financial landscape. This partnership will work towards establishing the brand as the go-to solution for all the financial needs of young Indians and provide them with a hassle-free experience.

    Talking about the association, Blink Digital co-founder & COO Rikki Agarwal said, “We have associated with Fibe to create a digital marketing strategy which will help them connect better with their target audience. At Blink, we always look forward to creating a seamless yet unique experience for our clients while staying true to the brand message. We have used the best marketing tools in nurturing social media for brands in India and across borders. We are looking forward to boosting engagement for Fibe by showcasing its legacy to the right audience at the right time through various social media channels”

    “We are delighted to associate with Blink Digital for our social media management. We look forward to working with their skillful team and are confident that the digital agency will position our properties to our highest expectations,” said Fibe founding member and director of marketing, Sudesh Shetty.

  • Ogilvy India elevates Ganapathy Balagopalan as deputy chief strategy officer

    Ogilvy India elevates Ganapathy Balagopalan as deputy chief strategy officer

    MUMBAI:  Ogilvy India has announced the elevation of Ganapathy Balagopalan as deputy chief strategy officer, Ogilvy India. In his new role as deputy CSO, Balagopalan will partner with some of Ogilvy India’s key clients. He will drive two key agendas at a national level.  He will be the national effectiveness leader and will help teams across markets on this front. He will also champion the digital strategy aspect of brands in Ogilvy India and partner account management and creative leaders to drive the digital excellence agenda.

    While he takes on a national role, Balagopalan will continue to be the planning head for Mumbai & Kolkata, something he has nurtured and built over the last five years, the agency said. He has been with Ogilvy for over 20 years and has been an integral part of nurturing and building the Ogilvy planning function.

    On the new appointment, Ogilvy India chief strategy officer Prem Narayan said: “Ask Ganapathy’ is a catch phrase in Ogilvy, if there is anything you need to know about Cadbury/Mondelez. Guns has been the account planning custodian for some of Ogilvy India’s dearest brands – Cadbury/Mondelez, Pidilite, Bajaj and ITC. There has been a Ganapathy touch to many great campaigns on these brands over the years.”

    Balagopalan is also credited with authoring the case that won India’s only IPA, for Cadbury Dairy Milk.  

     Ogilvy India group president VR Rajesh said: “There is no one better to partner Prem in the national role than Ganpathy. After building a robust planning structure for the Mumbai office and being responsible for some iconic work across our key clients, Guns will now drive the new-age transformation agenda for Ogilvy planning.”

    Ganapathy Balagopalan said about his new role: “At Ogilvy, we have insanely talented people with diverse skills, utterly devoted to creating world-class work that helps our clients succeed in a VUCA world. I look forward to partnering with all my colleagues to ensure Ogilvy continues to lead the way.”

  • Yes Bank adopts Cloudera to enhance digital strategy

    MUMBAI: Cloudera, Inc., a provider of the modern platform for machine learning and advanced analytics, announced that Yes Bank, a private sector bank, has adopted Cloudera Enterprise Data Hub to develop customized campaigns for consumers throughout their customer journeys. Cloudera Enterprise empowers Yes Bank to transform their growing volumes of transactional and customer data from their digital services into clear and actionable insights by using real-time analytics and machine learning.

    Banking, Financial Service and Insurance (BFSIs) across the region are struggling to keep pace with the vast amount of customer data that they collect in today’s consumer-centric mobile economy. With Cloudera Enterprise, BFSIs like Yes Bank can now mine large volumes of data from financial transactions and create machine learning algorithms to support information-driven business decisions and revenue growth.

    Commenting on the development, Anup Purohit, Chief Information Officer at Yes Bank , said, “Cloudera Enterprise is now the bedrock of our company’s digital strategy. With its successful track record of working with several other leading BFSIs across the globe, Yes Bank decided to deploy a modern platform to provide a differentiated digital experience for our customers through intelligent, real time analytics.”

    Today, Yes Bank is using big data and analytics to cross-sell and up-sell opportunities for the business, while providing a customized experience for consumers across the bank’s digital channels and identifying and rectifying any inconveniences during the customer journey.

    With the growing risk of cyberattacks, BFSIs also recognize the importance of a safe and secure data management platform that is compliant with the latest industry regulations. Cloudera Enterprise enables Yes Bank to reduce the cost of compliance in today’s digital age and transform existing processes through machine learning and predictive modelling, eliminating risk and detecting fraud faster and smarter by utilizing massive amounts of data to effectively train their systems.

    “BFSIs today are competing to create enhanced products in a world where consumers are demanding the most convenient and customized journeys. As such, business leaders are pressured to keep up with the latest technology solutions to deliver unparalleled experiences for their customers,” said Cloudera VP – Asia Pacific and Japan Mark Micallef. “Cloudera empowers BFSIs like Yes Bank with a scalable and secure data analytics and machine learning platform to use data in ways not possible before and enables organizations to derive business insights for revenue growth, all while maintaining a high standard of security and ensuring compliance to industry regulations.”

  • Social Wavelength ropes in Vijay Sankaran as director – digital strategy and planning

    Social Wavelength ropes in Vijay Sankaran as director – digital strategy and planning

    MUMBAI: Social Wavelength, one of India’s largest social media agencies has now brought in Vijay Sankaran to head the Digital Strategy and Planning department.

    Vijay comes in with over two decades of experience in branding, advertising, digital and integrated communications. Earlier, he headed Digital at Edelman PR, and worked on evolving its digital practice and integrating digital into PR. He also brings with him invaluable client side experience, setting up and building global social media initiatives at Nokia Siemens Networks.

    On his new role, Vijay Sankaran said “I am happy to join Social Wavelength, India’s largest social media agency with a pan India presence. Social is now an approach embracing ATL, BTL, and all of digital and I look forward to working with the leadership team and a great bunch of clients to take the game to the next level.

    On this occasion, Social Wavelength’s Joint CEO Sanjay Mehta said, “We are thrilled to have Vijay Sankaran on board with us now. With the expertise and understanding of the industry that he comes in with, we are sure he will play a very crucial role in the growth of Social Wavelength.

  • Colors’ gung-ho digital strategy

    Colors’ gung-ho digital strategy

    Send in your tweets to @ColorsTV, be a part of a Facebook contest, stand a chance to win an iPad, tweet away your views with #Jhalak..#Madhubala. Watch Colors live, maximum You Tube hits. #ThisIsTHEchannel WithanAdmirableOnlineStrategy.

    Well, the crux of this story is just that. Colors, Viacom18‘s maiden Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC), which has carved a commendable place for itself in a very short span of time, is a channel with a massive digital presence. Hence, taking our digital series forward (read the previous stories on Sony and Star Plushere), we take you through this interactive journey of the very dynamic Colors, presenting awe inducing figures, highlighting the ever increasing online fan communities and much more…

    The official Facebook page of Colors has an overwhelming 1.88 million likes with more than 100,000 active fans. While the channel keeps its official page up-to-date with galleries and snippets of upcoming episodes, it also links the platform to the official pages of its various shows. The official page of its popular fiction dailies likeMadhubala: Ek Ishq Ek Junoon and Balika Vadhu have garnered 0.48 million and 0.43 million likes respectively. Among non-fiction shows, Bigg Boss Season 6‘s official page boasts of 0.16 million likes, whereas, the recently launched Season 6 of popular celebrity dance reality show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa has already garnered 0.1 million likes.

    Colors contstantly updates its Facebook profile for its 1.88 million plus fans with teasers, pictures and snippets

    Apart from the official pages, Colors has gained immense popularity through the numerous fan driven pages of its hot-selling properties. The upcoming season of Bigg Boss already has a fan page featuring more than 22,000 likes, while the previous season‘s fan page figures around 0.29 million likes. But the show which seems to have broken all records is the very popular Vivian Dsena – Drashti Dhami starrer Madhubala-Ek Ishq Ek Junoon, produced by Nautanki Films. The love-hate relationship of the lead protagonist has definitely captured the imagination of the TV viewing audience. There are more than 100 Facebook Fan pages dedicated to the show with some registering more than 60,000 likes. Well, if that‘s not impressive, what will be?

    In a world where news is being replaced by a tweet of 140 characters, soap plots are tweaked according to fan tweets. Twitter enables instant reactions and feedback and Colors makes the most of this platform. With more than 81,000 followers and around 16,000 tweets, the official twitter handle of the channel (@ColorsTV) is a buzzing place. Every few minutes, the handle buzzes with tweets and re-tweets. Every couple of days, the channel also launches interactive contests to engage with its fans. Recently, @ColorsTV awarded an iPad among other goodies to winners of the #Jhalak contest. The success of the Twitter launch of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa can be gauged from the fact that the official hash-tag was trending all over India for nearly three consecutive days and also in UK and US for some time.

    It takes a person like Vivek to spearhead the digital revolution at Colors

    Colors Digital Head Vivek Srivastava asserts: "Our effort on social media is to start and manage conversations and we have some very good brands on both fiction and non-fiction which help our cause. Just to give you an example Colors properties trended 51 times at all India level in the last financial year."

    For a general entertainment channel, the video uploads drive maximum traffic and for the same purpose, Colors launched its official YouTube channel in June 2008 and has since uploaded around 18,300 videos. The YouTube channel has 0.2 million loyal subscribers and a magnanimous count of around 149 million video views so far.

    On an average, every Colors upload garners more than 20,000 video views within a couple of days. Here as well, popular properties like Madhubala, Balika Vadhu, Jhalak and Bigg Bossgarner average views as high as 85,000, 40,000, 50,000 and 45,000 respectively. The wedding special episodes of Madhubalaalso recorded views as high as 0.16 million. Besides, the much promoted grand premiere of Jhalak was uploaded in 33 videos, each video garnering thousands of video views.

    Srivastava informs: "The episodes are uploaded within a couple of hours of the show going on-air, however we create specific content for the internet and mobile which goes beyond catch-up for episode. This is primarily aimed at engagement, if there is a Colors fan intending to know more, discuss or comment on our shows, we have to facilitate it."

    The mainstay platform of Colors has web exclusive content, photo galleries, polls and much more

    Such a comprehensive digital presence is further topped by the official website of Colors- www.colors.in.com. This is the mainstay platform of the channel as it aims to use all its other platforms to drive traffic towards the website. It is the hub of all online activities for the channel with web exclusive content created especially for it along with live streaming, picture gallery and video uploads, trends and show trivia. What more, the channel has been successful in generating 100 million page views last year. "We have a very strong offering in colors.in.com a website which goes beyond just catch-up TV. There is news, videos, behind the scene, interviews, discussions, special content, live streaming and much more; the effort is to feed an ardent Colors fan with as much information as possible," Srivastava elaborates.

    The question which hits our mind is whether the website delivers on the huge investment? Srivastava is very clear in his answer: "Yes, we are investing in it heavily. For a content heavy platform like Colors where we own most of the IP of our content, it‘s important to have own destinations and build traction for them from a long term perspective. YouTube, Facebook, twitter and other such platforms serve as media vehicles to best engage with our consumers and monetisation of our content, since most of these platforms have huge audience bases we put significant effort on them as well."

    Colors targets all social media platforms and also boasts of ‘web exclusive‘ content. All in all, it has done it all- from having an official Facebook page to an active twitter handle; from one of the largest YouTube portals to the very interactive colors.in.com

    Why so much of social networking? What was the driving force for this aggressive online strategy? The digital head reasons: "Viewers are viewing, sharing, blogging and tweeting TV content. Consumers are willing rather eager to engage with their favourite shows and characters outside the silver screen. We realise this need, these serve as great conversation starters and opinion builders. It's important that we are present wherever our consumers are seeking us, and wherever possible channelise conversations to positively impact the brands."

    An interesting aspect of GECs online is the apt usage of archived content. A lot of older episodes of popular properties as well as popular shows that have gone off air, get a considerable amount of traction. "Blockbuster content from any era gets traction, 1000 episodes down we still have viewers watching initial episode of Balika Vadhu and Uttaran. Obviously the shows on-air will get higher traction but there is always a market for classic content," adds Srivastava.

    Madhubala seems to set precedents for the rest of the fiction shows with more than 100 Facebook fan-driven pages

    In terms of genres, some non-fiction properties like Bigg Boss stand out because of the nature of the property and its ability to start conversations. But at an overall level both fiction and non-fiction gets equal traction.

    The virtual world of Colors is not restricted to your laptop and desktop, the channel has very impressively targeted mobile as well. It all began with the launch of the Bigg Boss app which allowed viewers to watch all that is happening inside the house at any given time. The 24/7 live streaming app became an instant success and got the Bigg Boss fanatics hooked to their cell phones.

    Today, Colors is taking the app world very seriously with the launch of the Jhalak app. This has a play along feature allowing the viewers to play real time along with the original telecast of the show. Apart from this, one can participate in quizzes about the show, vote for their contestants, watch videos, express your views on social platform etc all through one app.

    Srivastava further explains: "People today are using multiple screens – laptops, smart phones, tablets etc and multiple platforms – the video sites, the social networks, Apps, Games etc to access content. Although, the numbers are small especially when compared to the reach TV as a medium provides, however the growth and engagement the medium provides is phenomenal."

    Does he see then a profound shift from desktops to tablets very soon? "Tablets and mobiles are becoming important as the second screen, however the consumption is varied, most of video consumption is catch-up in case you have missed an episode or a highpoint," he further adds: "The bigger hook is exclusive content, viewers want to interact with their favourite stars, know more about their off screen personalities, behind the scenes, news, views, interactions, sometimes even spoilers. We ensure both these are present in equal proportion on our digital platforms."

    Episode videos are uploaded within 2 hours of the telecast. Popular shows get more than 80000 average video views per episode

    On that note, one has to but, wonder about this new-found lucrative source of revenue for the channel. How does the channel use this space in order to monetise? Srivastava reveals: "For a broadcaster, advertising and subscription revenues still contribute the maximum. However, revenues from digital platform have been exhibiting significant growth. Majority chunk of the revenue still comes from Linear and VOD content, then there is WAP, Voice, Gaming etc all of which exhibit positive numbers if you have the right offering."

    In that case, is it time that GECs start taking the digital platform seriously from the revenue generation point of view? "Without commenting on the numbers the digital revenues have been showcasing a healthy growth YOY and as penetration of internet and accessibility to smart devices increases over the next few years we anticipate a bullish trend."

    Television broadcasting is going through a metamorphosing phase, what with the TAM rating fiasco and the impending AD cap regulation. Talks about reducing dependence on advertising revenues is becoming the part of every discussion. In such a scenario, is there a possibility of subscription revenues from this rapidly growing online medium? "The Subscription market on both Internet and mobile is evolving. As models become stronger and penetration increases subscription revenues will start contributing more," states Srivastava.

    All in all, Colors has definitely created an everlasting place for itself on the digital platform. Who are these who have created this dynamic virtual reality? On prodding Srivastava answers: "We have full fledged team looking after content creation, SEO, SEM for all platforms – social media, Colors website, Internet and mobile."

    Whoever you knight in shining armours are, you have surely left an imprint in this ever evolving online space. Way to go!