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Tag: Innovation

  • ZEE unveils its Technology and Innovation Centre in Bengaluru

    ZEE unveils its Technology and Innovation Centre in Bengaluru

    Mumbai: Zee Entertainment Enterprises has announced the launch of its Technology and Innovation Centre in India’s tech capital – Bengaluru. The state-of-the-art facility was inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Karnataka Basavaraj Bommai on Friday.

    The sprawling 80,000 feet centre will be the Company’s epicentre to build a strong cohort of tech, data and talent.

    Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, the Chief Minister of Karnataka, Bommai said, “For decades, the state of Karnataka has maintained its position as the technology capital of the country and Bengaluru, its capital city, has now become the Silicon Valley of the nation. The ecosystem that Bengaluru has created, is difficult to replicate and has been created by none other than the citizens of the city. The government of Karnataka is extremely delighted to be a part of Zee’s initiative and I am confident that the Technology & Innovation Centre set up by Zee will help to accelerate the growth prospects of the state. Public-private partnership is essential for the growth and long term success of any state and we will ensure that we walk shoulder to shoulder with Zee in this journey.”

    The governor of Karnataka, Thawar Chand Gehlot said, “The coming years promise fast paced growth & development for the state of Karnataka, mainly due to the evolution of the IT and start-up ecosystem in Bengaluru. The capital city has been consistently ranked among the Top 30 Global Start-up Ecosystems and we are glad that Corporates like ZEE are focusing their investments on India’s Silicon Valley. I congratulate ZEE on launching the tech centre and firmly believe that it will assist in propelling the state to a global stage and uplift the lives of professionals in the tech industry.”

    Zee’s president -technology Nitin Mittal said “At the Tech & Innovation Centre, we are building the ability for ZEE to leverage digital technologies to improve our reach and engage our customers anytime, anywhere across all devices. We have been a frontrunner in creating engaging content for more than 1.3 billion viewers and are currently focused on building Web 3.0 entertainment platforms. This Centre will build the metaverse future of ZEE including AR, VR, NFTs and relevant data models to our digital platforms.”

    Zee’s president-HR and Transformation Animesh Kumar said, “Our newly inaugurated Technology & Innovation Centre is an amalgam of a cross-functional talent pool of like-minded individuals ready to challenge the status quo and create innovative solutions in the digital ecosystem. The vibrant workspace is designed with a unique employee value proposition focused on culture, collaboration & innovation is bound to spark ideas and disrupt the ConTech space. We have onboarded some of the brightest tech talent in India that will create the next level of frictionless, highly personalised delivery platforms for content consumption, thereby setting new standards in the country. This is the Centre that will drive our ambition to dominate content consumption in India and for South Asians globally”.

  • ALTBalaji & MX Player’s show ‘Lock Upp’ reaches 100 mn views since its release

    ALTBalaji & MX Player’s show ‘Lock Upp’ reaches 100 mn views since its release

    Mumbai: The unique captive reality show ‘Lock Upp’ by ALTBalaji & MX Player has successfully managed to garner 100 million views within 19 days of its release.

    The show is currently streaming on ALTBalaji and is hosted by actress Kangana Ranaut. To create an exclusive user experience, MX Player & ALTBalaji has introduced two new features: Super Voting/for Loyal and Super Fans and Khabris on the apps. 

    Other features that will soon be introduced on the app are the audience suggestion poll and contestant chat. Additionally, MX Player & ALTBalaji will unveil the highly engaging ‘appeal box’ for a wholesome interactive experience.

    ALTBalaji & MX Games are innovating and providing audiences with a chance to predict and win. Speaking on the new features, MX Media’s CEO Karan Bedi said, “At MX, we are always attempting to entertain our audiences with exciting and unique concepts. Our user-first approach in offering such content has made MX Player India’s largest entertainment platform. Our latest hit reality series, Lock Upp has something for every user.” 

    “We have introduced dynamic interactivity so that they get a chance to get involved with the contestants and increases the likelihood of building a long-term connection with them. To ensure our proposition succeeds, we believe in giving people more of what they love to build compelling connections,” Bedi added.

    “A user who predicts elimination before it starts builds an emotional investment in the outcome and creates their unique personal journey with their favourite contestants on the show. We have lots more in store to create an entertaining real-time engagement for our users,” he said.

    “AT ALTBalaji, the focus is always on introducing content that appeals to the mass audiences. With Lock Upp, an ALTBalaji Production, we have created multiple milestones with massive audience engagement topping the lists across all platforms. Extra-ordinary audience interactivity is a USP that ALTBalaji is looking to innovate even further. On the same lines, we are happy to introduce the concept of super fans where the ‘aam aadmi of India’ will have super-power to decide the fate of the contestant in the show and we will also give a super fan a chance to become a Khabri and intermingle with the contestants. To connect the audiences directly to the show, there is much more in store for everyone to stay engaged,” Czarina Ekta R Kapoor shares. 

    For example, the accurate winning prediction, team captain prediction or an elimination prediction will help users regularly earn points and prizes. This interactivity feature increases the chances of audience involvement in the show and helps them stay connected to their favourite contestants. The results will be announced on the show. 

  • GUEST COLUMN: Can D2C beauty brands of today be the market leaders of tomorrow?

    GUEST COLUMN: Can D2C beauty brands of today be the market leaders of tomorrow?

    Mumbai: A lot is being written and said about direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands in general, and D2C beauty brands in particular. Low entry barriers, relative ease of consumer targeting through online channels, and a burgeoning beauty market overall have led to a veritable explosion of beauty brands that have followed an online-only (or online-first) approach to product marketing. Can these brands eventually replace some of the incumbents today as the market leaders of tomorrow? The answer (the easy one, as always) – it depends. On what? Three key factors:

    Product strength and innovation capabilities

    Marketing gets the customer; the product keeps her. Any amount of smart & shiny marketing (made all the easier through creator apps) will not substitute for the moment of truth when the consumer applies the product on face, lips, hair or body. And for the compliments, she gets from friends or family or colleagues, which is a key factor in driving overall delight with the product.

    Being able to consistently deliver on interesting promises, while keeping up with rapidly evolving tastes and trends, is the top critical success factor for new-age brands looking to become market leaders. This takes a motley combination of agility, patience, long-term commitment, and the right innovation approach to get the marketing mix right – again and again.

    Omnichannel expansion

    Despite explosive growth, the online channel still accounts for 10 per cent or less of the overall beauty market in India. It is believed that the online share in China and the US is closer to 50 per cent, even with the post-Covid acceleration. It’s clear, therefore, that in the medium term, any brand with scale ambitions has to be able to succeed in both online as well as brick-and-mortar distribution environment. The two could not be more different from each other and need diverse sets of skills and capabilities to be developed. The arrival and maturing of distribution aggregator apps might make this a little easier for newer brands, though.

    Scalable systems and processes

    Most of the (well-funded) emerging brands today are solving for speed and agility (defined as flexibility and speed of response). Sustainability of the approach, margin stability and resilience in the face of extreme market swings (on both supply- or demand-side) are yet being developed. Several brands are expected to reach a somewhat mature stage over the next 2-5 years, and those that are able to put in place scalable systems and processes across functions (marketing, distribution, supply chain etc) would be the ones poised to make the leap into the big league.

    The landscape in 2026

    The inherent strength of the incumbent brands in terms of brand, distribution and product capabilities notwithstanding, it can be safely said that the dynamics of the industry have changed forever. Consumers are open to (and in fact, hungry for) fresh ideas and delightful new experiences, and a lesser-known brand is no longer a barrier. The market is likely to be no longer dominated by a handful of brands but would indeed have a ‘fat middle’ of similar-sized brands, best known for a few categories each. To get there, and stay there, new-age brands have their work cut out along the above three dimensions.

    (About Author: Shankar Prasad is the founder and CEO of Plum)

  • Asus’ new campaign untangles people from traditional TV screens

    Asus’ new campaign untangles people from traditional TV screens

    Mumbai: Taiwanese tech giant Asus India has released a new brand campaign called #WhoWatchesTV to showcase its latest innovation of portable TV viewing experience. The brand campaign is aimed at untangling people from their traditional TV screens without breaking that bond. 

    “Television holds a strong relationship with Indian households, being synonymous with ‘family time.’ All 90’s or 2000s kids can easily recollect some of their favourite TV shows, and how they reacted when someone interrupted their TV time. #WhoWatchesTV campaign urges consumers to resolve these interruptions by upgrading to Asus’ innovative product #YourOLEDTV that would offer an uninterrupted experience while allowing them to carry their TV wherever they go,” said the brand in a statement.

    As part of a social experiment, the campaign brings together content creators Funcho, Anam Darbar, Abhishek Nigam, and TV actor Arifsha Khan to capture people’s emotions when their TV time is interrupted, thereby emphasising the importance of a more portable way of watching television which is also aligned with the new normal. The campaign will be live across Asus’ digital as well as social media channels.

    “TV has always been the core source of entertainment for all of us. We at Asus believe in constantly revamping consumers’ experience through our innovation and allowing consumers to do what they love, more innovatively,” said Asus India business head of consumer and gaming PC, system business group Arnold Su. “Our latest campaign #WhoWatchesTV celebrates the emotional relationship we hold with television; it’s more of a companion and we want it to resonate with all age groups. Through this campaign, we urge everyone to reconnect with their inner child who would never compromise on its screen time by continuing to watch the favourite show on #YourOLEDTV.”

  • MullenLowe Lintas elevates Naveen Gaur as Group COO, growth & innovation

    MullenLowe Lintas elevates Naveen Gaur as Group COO, growth & innovation

    Mumbai: In view of the ever-changing marketing landscape, MullenLowe Lintas Group plans to further consolidate its offering beyond strategy and creative. To this end, Naveen Gaur has been elevated as Group COO – growth and innovation, MullenLowe Lintas Group.

    Gaur’s mandate will be to strengthen the areas of marketing services that agencies within the Group offer – such as PR, digital, content creation and production, experiential, design, analytics, and MarTech. In addition to this, Gaur will also lead the marketing, reputation, and strategic growth initiatives for the Group.

    In his previous role as the deputy CEO of Lowe Lintas, he was overseeing the existing key business relationships and founding new ones. Gaur’s association with Lintas goes back to 2010 when he was branch head of Lowe Lintas Delhi where he encouraged an entrepreneurial culture of growth and business excellence. Under his leadership, the agency added large mandates that are a healthy mix of start-ups and established brands. He is also credited with deepening the agency’s relationship with Google, Pernod Ricard, Nestle, and Cargill foods.

    MullenLowe Lintas Group – Group CCO and chairman, Amer Jaleel, who has worked closely with Gaur on marquee brands of the Group like Havells, Google and OLX amongst others, said: “I’ve worked with Naveen as a partner for over 10 eventful years. He stands firmly proud of owning the intersection on brand and business. And would be fearless in pointing out the lack of either in a piece of work he would be judging. And that shows his innate understanding of both. Naveen remains oddly unserious despite having seen through hundreds of crises. He switches seamlessly and this quality is what Lintas wants to capitalise on to ride into its most transformative phase ever. Naveen will help broaden the scope of what it means to be a brand in the new age.”

    After leading Lowe Lintas into its next phase of growth as its deputy CEO, he will now be tasked with replicating the success for marketing services of the Group – Lintas Live, dCell, LinEngage, Lintas C:EX, and LinConsult. Naveen will aggressively grow these already strong suite of specialist services as well as develop new ones through an effective combination of build, acquire and collaborate.

    Commenting on the elevation, MullenLowe Lintas Group- Group CEO, Virat Tandon said, “We are living in very exciting times as we see shifts in the entire marketing landscape. This presents us with a great opportunity to extend our services across the spectrum of creative solutions eco-system. Naveen is a stalwart in the advertising business and is an entrepreneur at heart. There can be no one better to lead the agencies in developing and growing this ecosystem. We will be looking at serving our existing clients better by using our ‘Hyperbundled’ creative solutions process to bring all the specialist services around the client goals. At the same time, this eco-system will also develop their own independent clients and growth agenda. I am very excited to see Naveen take up this role.”

    Talking about the elevation, Naveen Gaur said, “Growth and value creation drive me. I am honored that the Group has entrusted me with this role and responsibility to make some bold moves and create future leading offerings and take the Group to the next level. I am looking forward to doing new things that will make me sleepless again.”

    Gaur assumes the new role from 1 September and he will be handing over his current responsibilities over the next few months to the new leadership at Lowe Lintas which will be announced soon. This transition will be completed by the end of 2021, the organisation said.

  • Mediabrands launches Mediabrands Content Studio in India

    Mediabrands launches Mediabrands Content Studio in India

    Mumbai: Mediabrands on Monday announced the launch of Mediabrands Content Studio (MBCS) to focus on creating content strategies for its clients in India. MBCS is a data-driven content practice which is built on the intelligence and insight that media provides, about which content can connects brands with people in the most compelling and personalized way.

    It will focus on three emerging categories: branded content opportunities with media partners, digital content that drives performance and engagement, and brand-fuelled long and short-form original content. Globally, MBCS was launched in November 2020.

    Over the years, Mediabrands India has built a strong presence in the content space, backed by creativity, data, and innovation. Its content division has been integrated with MBCS India, which will soon announce its leadership and structure.

    “The launch of MBCS in India reinforces Mediabrands India’s commitment to offering cutting-edge, new, and innovative content models for its clients. MBCS will bring together our content tools and capabilities from around the world and add the power of data and media expertise to create content experiences to grow brands”, said Mediabrands India CEO Shashi Sinha. “I am confident, the team will build MBCS through data-fuelled creative and media expertise and set a gold standard in this space.”

    Recently, MBCS had announced an exclusive production partnership with VICE Media, which will gain further momentum in India, with the official launch of the division.

  • How OTT platforms stay innovative in a cluttered market

    How OTT platforms stay innovative in a cluttered market

    KOLKATA: As OTT platforms are making all the necessary moves to keep the users hooked, these players are realising that innovation is the key mantra to achieve this objective. To keep up with the pace with which users are adapting to streaming services, most of the players in the ecosystem are scaling up their offerings. However, innovation is more of a continuous process rather than a revolutionary change.

    In a webinar hosted by Indiantelevision.com in association with Accedo and moderated by Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari, experts from the industry shared strategies and experiences around innovations.

    Hoichoi technology lead Aloke Majumder stated innovation is what should drive the OTT platforms. Innovation not only shapes the product but also strengthens the relationship with users. According to him, the platforms need to stay inspired by the users, other brands, all the current happenings in product offerings for the breakthrough. The largest Bengali platform has been adding new features in recent times including parental control. It is currently working around encoding to have seamless delivery of the videos even with low latency.

    Balaji Telefilm’s digital venture is also looking at a robust product offering. ALTBalaji chief technology officer Shahabuddin Sheikh said that the platform is highly focusing on metadata. “It’s a mix of both the worlds in terms of using technology and manual interventions where we can have more enriched metadata in terms of characters, keyframes, emotions which can be tagged and which is fed into the system. While the user is watching or viewing content, it can be liked back to his experiences and accordingly help to plan or program the content for him,” he added. Using experiences, the platform is also bringing other small changes like adding markers where users can identify content genres.

    "Epic On has done a couple of upgradations which are paying the platform good dividend now, " said Epic On chief operating officer Sourjya Mohanty. The platform has attempted to bring a multi-format experience by accumulating video, e-books, games, podcasts which has resulted into a good surge in mobile engagement. It is also factoring in the current situation while bringing new experiences. As more people are inclining towards smart TVs to enjoy in-home cinema experiences, the platform has brought few changes on that front which have yielded positive feedback yet, Mohanty said.

    However, innovations always don’t turn out to be fantastic if user need is not understood properly. Arre GM technology Rohit Bapat spoke of such an experience. While they ran a web series with an option to allow users to click on a specific character to provide information on that individual, they did not see any traction. Down the line, they had to take off the feature. Bapat acknowledged that it would have been more effective for events like sports tournaments where users would be keen to get match statistics.

    Like other players, fitness app Simple Soulful is also innovating user experience but more often as it has to deal with real-time issues. screen SSK Osmosis product head Soumik Solanki shared some examples. According to a users’ need, it is customising rest time feature during exercises. For users who don’t are already accustomed with various workouts and don’t want to watch the entire video, the app has come up with a complete programme list for that segment. It is also using a 360-degree camera view to help users exercise with correct postures.

    Accedo innovation director Niklas Bjorken agreed to the other panelists that innovation is key to a brand’s relevancy in the moving world. According to him, knowing users properly, adapting to new user behaviours, embracing technology, learnings from other services should drive the changes. 

  • Pay TV execs feel need to innovate to remain relevant, finds study

    Pay TV execs feel need to innovate to remain relevant, finds study

    MUMBAI: With the advent of digital content platforms, pay TV industry across the world is facing stiff competition. The pay TV Innovation Forum report produced by Nagra in association with research firm MTM, found that 90 per cent of executives believe that pay TV providers will have to innovate strongly to remain competitive and relevant.

    The research has also found that 84 per cent of pay-TV executives expect competition for paid-for video services to increase dramatically over the next five years. The number of 90 per cent of executives who believe that pay TV providers will have to innovate strongly is 5 per cent up from last year. However, participants are optimistic they can continue to appeal to paying consumer.

    Findings of the report are based on extensive regional research conducted in Europe, North America, with a special focus on the United States, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.

    It has also highlighted that the pay TV (http://www.indiantelevision.com/television/tv-channels/viewership/india-china-to-provide-50-of-global-pay-tv-subs-by-2023-180411) industry is converging towards a platform-agnostic model and is transitioning into a paid-for-video market spanning a variety of offerings including standalone OTT and direct-to-consumer services. Moreover, 77 per cent of pay-TV executives consider innovation to be one of the top three strategic priorities for the industry.

    “Change is the one constant in the global pay-TV industry, driven by numerous pressures from competitors, pirates and subscribers, making it challenging for service providers and content owners to maintain revenue growth,” said NAGRA product marketing senior director Simon Trudelle.

    Executives have agreed that piracy remains a major problem. In addition to that, 47 per cent of respondents believe that piracy will lead to greater pressures on the industry over the next five years.

    “It is exciting to see a growing number of service providers embarking on the next stage of innovation, encompassing product and service portfolio improvements, alongside advanced technology platforms and new commercial and operating models,” said MTM managing partner Jon Watts said. “By keeping innovation at the core of their strategies and recognising the need to diversify, service providers can continue to compete effectively and grow revenue,” he added.

  • Unbxd raises $ 12.5 mn to fuel innovation

    Unbxd raises $ 12.5 mn to fuel innovation

    MUMBAI: Unbxd, the cloud-based product discovery platform for e-commerce, has raised $12.5 million in Series C funding led by Eight Roads Ventures, the proprietary investment arm of Fidelity International Limited, and from existing investors IDG Ventures, Inventus Capital Partners and Nirvana Ventures. Unbxd will further invest in its artificial intelligence (AI) powered platform that enables online retailers to capture the 15%-40% in revenue that is lost due to a poor product discovery experience.

    Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan also invested in the round. Avendus Capital was the exclusive financial advisor to Unbxd’s Series C round.

    Retail’s success in e-commerce has become more critical now than ever and heavily hinges on customer experience. The Unbxd AI powered personalized product discovery platform uniquely understands users’ intent to significantly enhance their online shopping experiences, increasing conversions and revenue.

    “Traditional rules-based e-commerce technology is hard for retailers to manage while also delivering a poor experience for their shoppers. With a better AI solution in place, retailers are more competitive because shoppers can more easily buy what they seek,” said Unbxd CEO Pavan Sondur.

    “Unbxd has a great product/market fit, and now is the right time to accelerate its go-to-market strategy. E-commerce product discovery tools represent a multi-billion-dollar opportunity globally and Unbxd is well positioned to emerge as a leader in the space,” said Eight Roads Ventures managing partner Raj Dugar.

    The funds raised will be invested in enhancing Unbxd’s proprietary Intelligence Engine. The Unbxd Intelligence Engine today captures and processes more than 50 shopper data signals, to power personalized search, navigation and product recommendations on e-commerce sites. Unbxd will also open new offices, to be closer to its customers in Chicago and New York.

    Unbxd revenue grew 400% in the past year and it strengthened its Internet Retailer 500 customer base by adding leading retailers including Ashley HomeStore, Express and FreshDirect.

  • Any agency can think of an idea, but very few can execute that idea.

    Any agency can think of an idea, but very few can execute that idea.

    GOA: “This is the time for renaissance in advertising because of the availability of technology”, asserted Isobar global CEO Jean Lin, while shedding light on how the backbone of ideas without limits is the importance of innovation.

    Quoting Alibaba’s success story, she mentioned that creativity is the key to make everything successful. “In the digital age it’s about delivering ideas without limit. The key point behind innovation is that the idea actually exists, we have to just innovate.”

    She further outlined that according to a PWC research in 2013, companies that look to innovate grew faster by 60 per cent, compared to the 20 per cent growth of companies that were taking on each other. The rate of change of society is a function of the age at which youth were introduced to the dominant technology of the time.

    Lin explained how Alibaba.com had launched a singles day sale in 2015 which got it sales worth $ 14.3 billion on that day. With 69 per cent of the sale from mobile devices, shoppers from 200 countries participated and 16,000 international brands were bought. “People from all over the globe can buy online. India is one of the highest border-less buyers worldwide. Now clients don’t have to look at other brands within their geography, they need to compete with prices even in other countries.”

    She also presented the example of Disneyland’s investment in the magical wrist band which worked well for the company as well as helped the travellers to track ticket, hotel room key and for getting reservations in hotels.

    The next thing that she spoke about was programmatic videos. She cited the example of how Unilever used this in technology where it showed 100,000 different videos for different people for a deodorant brand. “Even for programmatic video, content is required. It will take different thinking though. It gives viewers higher satisfaction. Technology helps, but it takes a creative to think of creativity in a different way”.

    The case studies of how Pinterest came up with its predictive shopping and how Youtube provides 100 per cent shoppable videos were also briefly discussed by Lin. “Ideas without limits is when YouTube and Pinterest take e-commerce seriously and MasterCard introduces the concept of Pay by selfies,” she added.

    Going further, she divided ideas into two types:

    Ideas that reimagine the last mile

    With an array of examples like UMood, Coca-Cola, etc, Lin pointed out that an idea should be limited only be for an ad campaign.

    Ideas that invent and reinvent

    “Innovation comes from an idea that already exists”, voiced Lin. She used examples of Sky Tip, GM Co-driver, Fiat, etc.

    She emphasized on the new role of agencies which is not only about creatively solving problems. “Any agency can think of an idea, but very few can execute that idea. That’s a key to win. We need to grow with clients. This will come when tangible results are seen. When you think of ideas without limit, it can happen.”