ITV

Tag: Diwali

  • Dish TV leverages sports channels to push HD packs

    Dish TV leverages sports channels to push HD packs

    MUMBAI: With festive fervor just around the corner, India’s oldest DTH operator Dish TV has decided to make the most of the season. New packs have been introduced for north India with special variants for south India.

     

    A recent study done by Dish TV showed that HD was a big necessity and an increasing number of people were keen to take sports channels. “Even if multi screen viewing is on the rise, HD is going to be big. So we tweaked and introduced flexible packs. Sports is picking not just due to cricket but also events such as Asian Games, Olympics, Kabaddi and Football,” says Dish TV COO Salil Kapoor speaking to indiantelevision.com. Consumers have the choice to opt for HD packs with channels that may not be in the base SD pack.

     

    The operator has laid stress on sports in every level for SD packs. It has a total of 36 HD channels with several additions coming in after it got its additional transponder space early this year. Dish TV claims that it provides more sports content at every price point. The HD boost is also being backed by the uptake of HD TV sets during Diwali. The new packs have been introduced a month ago and Kapoor says that the growth has been ‘multifold’.

     

    While regional channels that are available in HD will be on Dish TV, its second brand Zing does not have an HD side to it. Kapoor says it would like to keep its HD audience to stay with Dish TV. The HD focus will be primarily in the metros. However, a plus point is that it provides the feature of inbuilt recorder in every HD STB, without any additional cost.

     

    The packs available are:

     

    Game on HD at Rs 125 (sports and Hindi entertainment)

    Life on HD at Rs 175 (English entertainment with sports and Hindi entertainment)

    Full on HD at Rs 200 (entertainment)

    Sports packs include:

     

    Maxi pack at Rs 275 (six sports channels)

    All sports at Rs 320 (maximum 11 sports channels)

    Platinum Sports at Rs 440 (English, Hindi, Sports, Lifestyle and Infotainment

     

    The HD channels include Ten HD, Six HD, Star Sports HD 1, Star Sports HD 2, Baby TV HD, AXN, Movies Now HD, Star Movies HD, Star World HD, WB HD, Zee Studio HD, Fox Crime, FX, Zee Café, Sony Pix HD, Life OK HD, Star Gold HD, Star Plus HD, Zee Cinema HD, Zee TV HD, Sony HD, &Pictures HD, Dish Box Office, Animal Planet HD World, Discovery HD World, NGC Wild HD, Nat Geo HD, Discovery Science, Nat Geo People HD, TLC HD World, Fox Life HD, NGC Music, M Tunes HD, Travel XP HD and ET Now.

  • This Diwali should I gift Chocolates or Mithai?

    This Diwali should I gift Chocolates or Mithai?

    All of us know that as Diwali is nearing there is always a debate; should I gift Chocolates or mithai at home, to my friends and my business partners. It’s been a tradition that every part of India celebrates this great festival of lights by sharing joy and happiness with sweets. But over a period of time as the new generation has entered this world there has also been a marginal deviation in the thinking when it comes to gifting and sharing sweets during diwali. This is partially because of the strategy adopted by many chocolate brands (which include homemade chocolate brands and products from the big MNC’s) who have entered this market to capture some share of the mithai market during this great festival across India. Let’s look at some key differentiators between the two.

     

    1.      Traditional & Emotional: Diwali is a festival which has lot of history and tradition which date backs to many years.  Most of them love to preserve the values of traditions connected with sweets made and prepared at home. These traditionally prepared sweets bring in plenty of love and emotional expressions when they are exchanged with your relatives, family members and friends. While the promotional campaigns of many chocolate brands try to bring the emotions through their advertising but they are not able to capture the real essence that a mithai is able to deliver. Every ingredient that goes into a mithai has that warmth and emotional connection with the audience which touches his or her heart.

     

    2.      Wider Choice: There is no limit when you think of preparing mithai. Since mithai is very meticulously prepared by hand the touch of authenticity further enhances its taste, which is missing in chocolates though some brands try to use some special ingredients to come closer to the mithai. The good old parents and grandparents always relish the wider choice that one has when it comes to mithai. The natural ingredients have more positive impression as compared to the artificial flavors.

     

    3.      Pricing v/s Presentation: Mithai’s are still easily affordable as the prices are not so steep. You have a larger choice to pick from. You can taste it at the sweet shop before you decide to buy your preferred mithai.  And when you prepare it at home you can use genuine ingredient to make it healthier, tasty and less expensive. This is not true with Chocolates but when it comes to Corporate gifting due to its attractive packaging and presentation Chocolates scores over the mithai.

     

    4.      Innovative & Delicious: One can experiment lot of innovation while preparing a Mithai and that has been the hallmark of traditional sweets. One of the most popular items that have caught over the years has been the mithai for health conscious audience. This is prepared from quality dry fruits which are preferred over the chocolates by many diabetics as chocolates are perceived to be more rich and sweet. But chocolates have a larger shelf life compared to mithai and therefore it has an added advantage as compared to mithai when gifting to the corporate and sending it out of station through couriers, to far off friends.

     

    Both chocolates and mithais have their merits and demerits when it comes to sharing and gifting during diwali. But with the change in the audience pattern there is a different point of view between the two. While mithai has still stuck to the core values of maintaining the traditional image but the chocolates has wooed the new generation audience with their product and packaging to explore chocolates instead of mithai every diwali and every other festive season.

     

    Let us wait and watch the various marketers in this category are planning and what would be their strategy to woo the mithai audience.

     

    (These are purely personal views of Ganapathy Viswanathan, who is an independent communication consultant with over two decades of experience in branding, communication and public relations, and indiantelevision.com does not subscribe to these views.)

     

     

     

  • ‘Super Nani’ release date postponed to 31 October

    ‘Super Nani’ release date postponed to 31 October

    MUMBAI: After Hollywood flick Fury starring Brad Pitt changed its India release date, Rekha’s next film Super Nani is next in line.

     

    Previously scheduled to release on Diwali, the film has postponed its release date by a week to avoid getting eclipsed by Shah Rukh Khan starrer Happy New Year. The movie which was slated to release on 24 October will now be in theatres on 31 October.

     

    The biggest highlight of the film is that it marks the comeback of veteran actress Rekha to the silver screen after a long gap. Directed by Indra Kumar, the small budget movie also stars Sharman Joshi, Anupam Kher, Indra Kumar’s daughter Shweta Kumar in lead.

     

    “We have postponed our film and there are several reason behind this. One of the major reasons to push the film was that we want to avoid the clash with Shah Rukh Khan,” Kumar told IANS.

     

    The promo of Super Nani was recently released along with Sonam Kapoor starrer Khoobsurat, which was the remake of Rekha’s 80s hit film by the same name.

     

    Director Farah Khan’s big-budget multi-starrer Happy New Year will hit the screens during the Diwali week.

  • DD Bharati commences cultural and religious season

    DD Bharati commences cultural and religious season

    NEW DELHI: The public broadcaster Doordarshan’s channel DD Bharati has slated several programmes to establish its identity as the television channel reflecting the art and culture of the country.

     

    Jewels of Hindustani Classical Music, a programme specially curated from the archives of stalwarts of Hindustani vocal and instrumental musicians who are alive and are virtually legends is commencing this evening.

     

    The first telecast at 9.00 pm with repeat telecast at 5.00 am and 1.00 pm features Begum Parveen Sultana of the Patiala Gharana followed by Vidushi Kishori Amonkar of the Jaipur- Atrauli Gharana. The legendary Pt Jasraj will be featured tomorrow at the same time.

     

    The programme, especially curated by Kumud Diwan and Yatindra Mishra, delves into their gharana, their musical genius, and their musical journey etc.   

     

    Coinciding with Dussehra and Diwali next month, DD Bharati will commence telecast of Ramayana from 27 September at 10.30 pm with repeat the next day at 6.30 am and 2.30 pm. It will be a series of presentation of ballets and documentary on the Ramkatha traditions prevalent in India.

     

    The Ramayana or Ramkatha tradition is pervasive not only in India but throughout South East Asia. Stories revolving around Ram, Sita and Lakshman penetrate through rural and urban, mundane and religious, sacred and secular domains. They defy categorization of art as folk or classical, rural or urban, textual or oral. Literary, oral, kinetic and pictorial aspects intermingle to generate multiple renditions of the text in different locales and contexts; each rendition with unique local flavour and linguistic distinction. The performative aspect of the text makes it fluid, accessible and adaptable. It accounts for its preservation, survival, transmission and mobility, cutting across boundaries of time and space. Every region has its own particular form and style of singing and reciting the story.

     

    Earlier this week with the start of Mahalaya, DD Bharati in association with the Girnar Kendra of Doordarshan presented ‘Maa Ni Chundari Lehrai’ from its rich collection of archives. A series of Garba presentation especially done and performed during the Navratra Festival was telecast with repeats the next day.

     

    DD Bharati also presented Devi Darshan from 24 September at 10.30 pm through a series of dance ballets and documentary celebrating the festivities of Durgaostav. Durga Puja festival is a 10-day long festival that starts off on Mahalaya (the day of the new moon) – the first day when Goddess Durga is believed to come into the world to destroy the evil.  The festival ends up in Dashumi- the last day when the Goddess Durga is believed to go back to her heavenly home, leaving behind the trails of happiness, goodness and purity. This is the day of the Lord’s victory over evil and is celebrated as Vijay Dashami or Dussehra. The salient ritual of Durga Puja spans a five days period Maha Sashti, Maha Saptami, Maha Ashtami, Maha Nabami and Vijaya Dashami.

  • Launching Pickapic.in, a platform for truly desi vectors and pictures

    Launching Pickapic.in, a platform for truly desi vectors and pictures

    MUMBAI: Increased graphic and visual content in this age of digital and social media communications leaves you engaged, entertained and sometimes even frustrated. This is true for most graphic and visual designers who cater primarily to the Indian audiences – their designs aimed at an average Indian. While there are several websites that stock images and illustrations, there are hardly any out there which stock India specific vectors.

     

    International images – with international models and depictions reduces the efficacy of a piece of communication, thereby making a fraction of the desired impact on the audience it was intended for.

     

    www. pickapic.in, launched in January 2014, addresses this inherent need. Spread over 30 categories, the platform has over a million vectors and growing, to address the ever increasing need of an Indian designer. Along with creative visuals there are some very niche categories which resonate with being Indian like Truck Art, Warli Paintings, Holi, Diwali, the Indian flag among others.

     

    Designs are available in editable formats and can be easily edited using Adobe Illustrator.

     

    Speaking about the concept of pickapic.in, the founder Sameer Shinde says, “ Working as Director and Creative Head with Nucleus Integrated Communications, I regularly encountered a lack of quality images, vectors and illustrations with Indian Designs, Indian Reference and relevant to the Indian Audience. That is where the idea of providing a platform with relevant Indian Illustrations and design cropped up”

     

    “We are looking at being the ‘go-to’ platform for all visual content for the Indian context.”

     

    Pickapic has started out by creating their own stock of vectors. This began with deploying a team in-house to create the initial stock of about 50,000 vectors. Speaking on the way forward, Sameer says, “We are looking at inviting contributions from graphic artists, designers and illustrators and host them as Rights Managed Vectors and Illustrations, as we move further”

     

    Usage of images have shown a steady growth of 5-7% worldwide, vector usage has grown by more than 60% but at the same time there is no dedicated platform that addresses the need of styled vectors and illustrations that are suited for Indian designs.

     

    “The market in India for India specific vectors and images is quite unorganised and amounts to more than 1200 cr. We are looking at creating an organised space in this niche and garner about 5-7% Market share in the next 3 years.”

     

    The pricing model of Pickapic.in is flexible. A customer doesn’t need to buy a package when he is interested in buying one single image. www.pickapic.in was officially launched on 1st Jan, 2014. In the first month of operations we have about 350 registrations. The company has plans to diversify into further visual content like Still Images, Animated Characters as well as Video Stocks in some point in time, but they intend to remain an India Specific Platform.

     

  • Colors sister channel Rishtey hikes ad rates

    Colors sister channel Rishtey hikes ad rates

    MUMBAI: Just over a year old and Rishtey – Viacom18’s free-to-air (FTA) channel in the UK – has taken the bold step of hiking its ad rates. Since Diwali, the channel that airs re-runs of Colors’ shows, a Pakistani series called Humsafar and some amount of original programming, has upped ad rates to double what they were at the beginning of the year, courtesy high demand and increased ratings.

     

    According to BARB ratings, Rishtey, which turned one this September, stood fifth in the Asian channels’ chart with 696000 while Colors came a close sixth with 624000.

     

    Indiacast business head (UK and Europe) Govind Shahi, says, “In the last 12 months, Rishtey has been constantly growing in term of eyeballs and is currently in demand by all brands that want to be seen by an ethnic audience. We are facing a situation where the demand is far outpacing the supply. Given the performance of the channel, which has more than doubled in terms of ratings and the demand supply chain, we thought it was the right time to go for a price hike.”

     

    While this is Rishtey’s first ad rate hike, the new rates will be applicable only to new customers with existing contracts remaining unaffected.

     

    Shahi is confident of the channel remaining on the upper side of the highest ad revenues for the year and says: “We are by far the number one South Asian FTA channel in the UK. Even at an overall level (FTA +Pay), we will end the year among the top two in terms of ad revenues. In fact, just in the last week, it has challenged the market leader in prime time slots a couple of times, which is a testimony of the success.”

     

    When it comes to the shows, Rishtey claims Parichay and Laagi Tujhse Lagan have been high performers in the past two weeks.

     

    According to industry sources, a prime time 30 second slot on Rishtey could go up to ?600 (Rs 61,105) for a mainstream advertiser depending on the ratings, while it could go up to ?100 (Rs 10,165) for an ethnic advertiser. As it is, a 30 second slot on the Bigg Boss finale is seeing heights of ?250 (Rs 25,460) from ethnic advertisers.

     

    With mainstream advertisers including Diagio, Cadbury, BT, Boots and Asda and ethnic ones such as Tilda Rice, Southall Travel, East End foods, Lycamobile, DBS Law and Westmill foods, Shahi exults: “We have the entire gamut- from FMCG to supermarkets to finance/banks to charities.”

  • Havmor joins forces with Krrish 3

    Havmor joins forces with Krrish 3

    NEW DELHI: With the Superhero franchise Krrish 3 set to release this Diwali, Havmor Ice Creams have associated with the film.

    Havmor Ice Creams MD Ankit Chona feels the association is apt, as the target audience of the brand and Krrish 3 form a perfect synergy.

     

    This partnership adds another element of ‘Funn’ to the brand while providing additional value to the consumers with the release of custom-packaged Krrish 3 Range of Ice Creams: Choco Block In Cone, Blockbuster Choco Strawberry Stick and Red Velvett ice cream cake.

     

     He adds: “Our consumers and franchisees are sure to be swept up in the excitement the blockbuster franchise is generating. We intend to amplify this association across more than 20,000 touch points. It will be an instant connect to the kids and youth, and be a part of their world. This unique association will present to our consumers a range of exciting products, which is customised and inspired by their superhero.”

     

    In anticipation of the blockbuster release, the brand is launching a 360 degree campaign to celebrate the association of Havmor and Krrish 3.

     

    Producer and director Rakesh Roshan said: “It is a pleasure to be associated with Havmor, as it reflects the same philosophy of the Krrish character, which connects so well with kids and family. And since it connects so well, both have derived value from this association.”

     

    Hrithik Roshan adds, “We are pleased to be associated with Havmor Ice creams, as it shares a great synergy with our core audience. Also, now all my fans can enjoy the special Krrish 3 range of ice creams introduced by Havmor.”

     

    Go Fish which holds its connotation and carries a forte for getting various brands a recognition and a build up in a spectacular manner by allying products with the films has been instrumental in getting Havmor Ice Cream to associate with Krrish 3.

    Go Fish Entertainment director Sajay Moolankandan said: “Krrish 3 is Bollywood’s most iconic superhero and connects with kids and families instantly. With such a brilliant film, fantastic integration which is a part of the narrative and similar core audience, it was just the perfect opportunity that we were looking out for Havmor. We have planned a 360 degree campaign to amplify this association as well as a special range of Krrish 3 ice creams.”

  • Krrish 3 continues its strong run at the BO

    Krrish 3 continues its strong run at the BO

    MUMBAI: Ram Gopal Varma’s attempt at cashing in on the title of his earlier film – Satya – with Satya 2, fails badly. The film is a nonstarter. A poor fare sans face value, the film has been generally ignored by the moviegoer. The film barely managed to cross the one crore mark for its opening weekend.

     

    Krrish 3 makes the most of its one time watch appeal and solo festival week release despite reports not being in its favour. The film’s collections peaked to a high of Rs 31 crore on Monday once the dull period of pre-Diwali and Diwali were over. The film has gone on to collect Rs 120 crore. The open second week is expected to give the film a good follow up looking at the second weekend which has crossed the Rs 30 crore mark.

     

    Micky Virus has added just Rs 50 lakh in its second week to take its two week total to Rs 7.9 crore.
    Boss has collected Rs 40 lakh in its third week to take its three week tally to Rs 52.1 crore.

  • Krrish 3 rakes in Rs 77 crore in four days

    Krrish 3 rakes in Rs 77 crore in four days

    MUMBAI: The third instalment to the Hrithik Roshan starrer superhero movie Krrish 3, the much awaited solo Diwali release, took a scary start as the film did not enjoy positive reports and the collections did not meet expectations in its opening weekend as it fell during the dull pre-Diwali period and Diwali day. The film was expected to break the shackles on Monday being the Vikram Samvat (New Year) and a national holiday which the film did. The film took a massive jump in collections on Monday by adding a huge Rs 31 crore thus taking its four day total to Rs 77 crore. The film is reported to be steady today – Tuesday being a holiday in many parts – will benefit the film’s collection.

     

    Micky Virus, which marked the debut of Manish Paul on the big screen, remains below par in its first week with figures of Rs 7.4 crore and little more expected to be added in the coming days.

     

    Boss remains a poor fare as the collections drop to about 10 per cent of its first week figure; the film has collected Rs 4.5 crore in its second week. Thus taking its two week total to Rs 51.7 crore.

     

    Shahid collects Rs 50 lakh in its second week thus taking its two week total to Rs 3.6 crore.

  • Dell launches campaign to inspire youth

    Dell launches campaign to inspire youth

    MUMBAI: Dell India has kicked off a new ‘Celebrate Dell Se’ campaign for the festive season with the ‘Hint a Gift’ television commercial for its Inspiron series of Notebooks.

     

    It aims to inspire youth to do kuch bhi to get a Dell Inspiron. The New Dell Inspiron TVC promotes its latest range of touchscreen laptops as the ultimate machine to fulfill the creative aspirations of the youth.

     

    Dell India marketing director Ritu Gupta says: “Inspiring customers by providing them with technology that gives them “the power to do more” has always been one of Dell’s biggest goals. Building an emotional connection between our customers and technology is integral to Dell’s branding strategy. In line with our on-going Achievement “I can do kuch bhi” Campaign, we decided this festive season to inspire the youth with the idea that they have the power to get what they want by hinting to their loved ones on their preferred gift for Diwali, which in this case is the Dell Inspiron range of touch laptops.”

     

    Grey Worldwide has conceptulaised the campaign and the creative team has tried to connect with the consumer on a much deeper and emotive level.

     

     “When we looked at Dell’s core TG – the youth, and their changing dynamics, we had our task cut out. Today’s youth does not humbly accept whatever gift they get. They are willing to ask for a gift of their own choice, one that they believe will help them further their dreams and ambitions and achieve all they set out to do. Openly dropping hints to their loved ones about gifts they would prefer has become a common practice. It is this insight that inspired our communication idea. The result is our latest campaign – This Festive season, do kuch bhi to get a Dell Inspiron,” said Grey Bangalore group creative director Ram Jayaraman.