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Tag: Mairu Gupta

  • Sony Music appoints Mairu Gupta as head of digital business in India

    Sony Music appoints Mairu Gupta as head of digital business in India

    KOLKATA: Sony Music India has announced the appointment of Mairu Gupta as digital business director. Gupta will lead the company’s digital business with its streaming partners in India and will collaborate with Sony Music’s global teams to drive and enhance digital revenue and market share.

    Gupta brings more than 15 years of business experience and thought leadership to Sony Music India and has won multiple awards for developing breakthrough digital content throughout his career. His most recent stint was at the NBA, where he led the content and media distribution business for the League for more than 3.5 years. He bolstered the NBA's considerable digital footprint through an expansive strategy that involved growing and engaging fan bases through localised and original content such as the musically-led, award-winning NBA Hoop nation series.  

    “We are excited to have Mairu join us as we grow our strategic partnerships in the digital business,” Sony Music India managing director Rajat Kakar said. “Mairu comes with proven leadership and entrepreneurial experience that will play a key role in building new partnerships that provide new opportunities to expand the reach of our artists.”  

    Prior to the NBA, Gupta served as Vice President and Business Head of Jack in the Box Worldwide for nearly two years. In addition to setting up and leading the organisation’s New Delhi office, Gupta created strategies that significantly grew their digital communications consultancy business, winning multiple awards for excellence in digital content.

    “There is significant opportunity for Sony Music to lead the digital future of the Indian music industry, especially when considering the added benefits of being part of the wider Sony family,” added Gupta. “It’s great to be joining such an innovative company and I look forward to working with the team and our partners to build even more creative opportunities for our artists.”

    Gupta is the latest hire as part of Sony Music India’s strategy to grow its market share across the various repertoires and genres of the Indian music industry. In June, Sony Music India announced the appointment of Jagjit Singh Bhogal as Head of A&R to grow the Company’s existing artist portfolio across languages, with a special focus on garnering worldwide exposure for Indian artists.

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  • NBA, Times Studio partner to promote basketball

    NBA, Times Studio partner to promote basketball

    MUMBAI: Times Studio, a digital video content company of Times Group and The National Basketball Association (NBA) today announced a partnership to deliver game highlights and produce original programming for fans in India through Times Internet Limited (TIL) platforms that reach more than 45 million unique visitors each month.

    As part of the deal, Times Studio will deliver short-form videos focusing on on-court storylines, player profiles, and the history of the NBA, and will also produce original localised content exploring basketball culture in India and teaching the game to new fans. Additionally, Times Studio will launch NBA-dedicated sections on MensXP.com and Indiatimes.com, featuring extensive coverage of the NBA by Times’ editorial team.

    “We are excited to partner with the Times Studio to bring original, localised NBA content to our growing fanbase in India,” said NBA India senior director of content and media distribution Mairu Gupta.“The Times Group has a proven track record of developing and producing engaging content that resonates with audiences, making them an ideal partner to help us further connect with our fans.”

    “We are thrilled to partner with the NBA to create and deliver impactful stories of the game for our young audiences across these two digital platforms,” said Times Studio CEO Rajesh Bahl. “This partnership will feed the fans’ growing demand for the game and expose our existing audience to the world of the NBA.”

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  • NBA India, Culture Machine partner for digital content

    NBA India, Culture Machine partner for digital content

    MUMBAI: The National Basketball Association (NBA) in India and digital media company Culture Machine have announced a content partnership to produce and deliver game highlights and original programming to fans in India through several NBA and Culture Machine platforms on 14 March 2018.  

    As part of the partnership, Culture Machine will produce daily short form videos covering the court NBA stories on and off, including daily highlights, player profiles, on-court rivalries, the history of the NBA, memorable fan moments, bloopers, and player celebrations. Additionally, Culture Machine will produce an original long form video series exploring basketball culture in India.

    NBA India senior director content and media distribution Mairu Gupta said, “We are excited to partner with Culture Machine to deliver compelling NBA content that will resonate with Indian youth. As the popularity of the NBA continues to grow in India, we look forward to engaging both existing and new NBA fans on all platforms and wherever they are.”

    “At Culture Machine, we have put together a deep bench of creative and engineering talent to create engaging stories powered by our cutting-edge technology,” said Culture Machine CEO and co-founder Sameer Pitalwalla. “The goal of this partnership is to deliver premium NBA content to the young audiences consuming digital content across India and build on the NBA’s growing popularity.”

    Fans can access the content for free through the NBA app and content creator pages like Being Indian, Put Chutney, Viva, and Blush.

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  • Mairu Gupta and the art of building the NBA in India

    Mairu Gupta and the art of building the NBA in India

    MUMBAI: For basketball fans worldwide, the US National Basketball Association (NBA) represents the mecca of the sport. But in India, the NBA has had its task cut out, what with cricket presenting a near impenetrable line of defence as far as Indian audiences are concerned. However, the NBA has been making steady breaks over the past five years and has forged partnerships with the likes of broadcast network Sony Pictures Network India, schools where it has set up basketball training centres, and introduced a fantasy game.

    It has set an ambitious goal to make it the number two sport in the country, a goal which even it knows is not going to be a cakewalk as the investment required is huge. “The NBA is more popular in India than ever before and basketball has become one of the fastest growing sports in India among both boys and girls. Last season (2016-17), we reached a record number of 125 million fans for NBA programming on TV across India,” says NBA India senior director global media distribution Mairu Gupta.

    The association has been upping the hours of programming it puts out on Sony Pictures Network India – its broadcast network partner. 14 live games a week with English commentary have been aired on Sony Six and Sony Six HD throughout this season, and more than 80 games with two games every weekend with Hindi in-game commentary have started getting airtime on Sony Ten 3 and Sony Ten 3 HD from this season.

    Then the sport has been getting a lot of traction on buzzing outlets such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. Says Gupta: “The digital footprint is an important part of the fan acquisition and engagement strategy in the market and we have clocked a billion impressions on social media platforms. Digital remains a priority as we understand that many of our fans are mobile-first and consuming the content through new media. . Our fan base has doubled across social media assets last season and we have had over 160 million video views through last season.”

    NBA live streamed a game via Facebook live for the first time on 8 January last season between the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors. The game reached two million unique fans on TV and attracted over 0.3 million views on Facebook as per the data provided by NBA.

    It is also apparently attracting north Indian viewers. The tournament was simulcast on Sony Ten 1 and Sony Six which drew 9 million all-India viewers and delivered a HSM (Hindi speaking market) contribution of close to 50 per cent.

    China is one of the NBA’s biggest markets outside the US. Its aim is to make India edge up to the former’s levels. The association has taken leaps in hooking Indians to this game. Right from setting up centres in schools to introducing a fantasy game, it has progressed since it launched here five years ago. NBA officially announced the opening of India’s first academy on the outskirts of Delhi on 9 May 2017.

    “Basketball is a niche sport in India, hence needs a lot of marketing and promotional muscle to be put behind it. Then there is the need to have as many courts as possible so that young people can join in and take a shot at basketball just like cricket can be played anywhere,” says a media observer.

    It is hoping to catch them young and make them learn about the sport, its stars and interact with it a lot more. For this purpose, it has partnered with
    Indian fantasy gaming company Dream11 to launch a free-to-play NBA fantasy game.

    Globally, basketball is the second most followed sport on Facebook, ranked by the number of people who follow at least one page connected to the sport, with cricket in fourth place. According to Meltwater, an online media intelligence company, football was the subject of 8.5 million new articles from 21 February 2016 to 21 February 2017, a third of the total number of all sports. Basketball was second, with 4.25 million, while cricket had 1.6 million – 6 per cent of the total, which was below baseball, tennis and rugby.

    Looking at the numbers on Facebook Live for the NBA in India, Mairu has rolled out a special NBA India mobile app. Says he: “Starting this season, we’ve launched an enhanced mobile app for fans in India providing lighter and faster access. The app provides fans in India with localised content, an enhanced user experience and reduced size. It supports low-bandwidth options to help users minimise their data consumption.”

    Amongst the customised shows figures the weekly highlight show – NBA Weekly, which focuses on the lifestyle and culture of basketball; NBA Hangout for which it has partnered with TVF and Sony Six. It airs the daily 30-minute game recaps which have been broadcast during prime time during the season.

    Says Gupta: “India is a priority market for the NBA and we are committed to growing the game and our fan base. We work with partners across programmes to ensure maximum amplification around our initiatives- be it with Reliance Foundation, India on Track, Jabong, Jack & Jones or Gatorade.”

    Diehard hoopsters would surely approve.

  • Abhishek Razdan promoted to EVP and national business head of Jack in the Box Worldwide

    Abhishek Razdan promoted to EVP and national business head of Jack in the Box Worldwide

    MUMBAI: Abhishek Razdan, who till recently was the senior vice president and Mumbai business head, has now been promoted to executive vice president and national business head of Jack in the Box Worldwide, the digital agency brand of The 120 Media Collective, with immediate effect.

     

    In his new role, Razdan will oversee both, Mumbai and Delhi operations, as well as client relationships in Bangalore.  He will have overall responsibility for driving business growth and profitability as well as for strategic evolution.  Vice president & business head – Delhi Mairu Gupta, will continue to run Delhi operations, reporting to Razdan.

     

    Razdan joined Jack in the Box Worldwide as head of business management in July 2012 and was promoted in 2013 to business head for Jack in the Box Mumbai after helping restructure and give focus and depth to the agency.  He went on to demonstrate deft account management skills and business acumen and was a crucial part of big account wins including Pond’s Men, Vaseline, BeBEAUTIFUL and Nivea, helping create effective and award winning work and building successful client relationships on a consistent basis. Razdan also championed the development of the Louis Philippe relationship, growing it into one of the agency’s most strategically robust, creatively exciting and award-yielding and financially rewarding clients.

     

    “Over the past 24 months, we have evolved into perhaps India’s most strategically rooted agency in the digital space.  The combination of skills and resources we offer our clients is truly unique and it allows us to deliver a longer-term approach that has real business impact.  Having won several large new businesses over the past year, and being well on our way along our strategic roadmap, it became imperative to have singular leadership for the Jack in the Box brand and in the case of Abhishek, it wasn’t an “if” but a “when”.  We have a fairly detailed roadmap outlined for the next 36 months and giving Abhishek more responsibility is a major measure to ensure we achieve our goals”, said The 120 Media Collective founder & chief executive officer Roopak Saluja.

     

    Commenting on the promotion, Razdan said, “I am very excited to take on the new role. The strategy has been to be true Business Partners to our clients by giving them solutions that make tangible differences to their businesses. We have never limited ourselves to just solving communication problems or doing the expected. With a multi-skilled and a highly motivated team behind me, I am pretty confident that our leadership position in Content and Digital Communications will get further cemented in times to come.”

     

     “Abhishek has helped take Jack in the Box Worldwide to new and exciting heights in the past couple of years. His promotion is well deserved and marks exciting times for the company in the immediate and long term future,” added The 120 Media Collective chief talent officer Heather Saville Gupta.

     

    Armed with a Masters in Communications Management from Symbiosis, Pune, Razdan has around 13 years of experience in the communication industry. Prior to joining Jack in the Box Worldwide, he was at BBH, Publicis Ambience, Contract, Ogilvy and Hanmer MS&L, having closely worked with leading brands like Vaseline, Citibank, Shoppers Stop, Diageo, Cadbury’s, to name a few.

     

    Founded in 2006, Jack in the Box Worldwide, in its sixth year, has grown not only in sheer employee strength across both Mumbai and Delhi offices, but has also evolved in terms of its core strategic and creative competency and a stable of leading global brands from across sectors.

    The agency is currently in the process of rolling out its new positioning and identity to reflect its evolution from creative social media and digital agency to a strategic, integrated digital communications brand.  This is reflected in its recently redesigned website and a new logo that is a crisp, minimalist rendition of its comical clown mascot named Jack.  The new identity echoes an evolved, more contemporary and strategic approach towards brand building through the lens of content across multiple platforms and geographies.