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Tag: Manish Kalra

  • Zee5 unveils new brand campaign to promote Rs 499 subscription plan

    KOLKATA: As Zee5 keeps adding new content to its portfolio, it is also revising its annual subscription package to get more eyeballs. It has priced down its annual subscription to Rs 499 from Rs 999 for a limited period. To communicate the message of a stronger library, affordable pricing, it has unveiled a new brand campaign ‘Dekhtey Reh Jaogey’.

    Zee5 has brought on board Sara Ali Khan, Amol Parashar as brand ambassadors for the campaign. The ‘Dekhtey Reh Jaogey’ campaign is targeted towards younger audiences aged between 18-34 to increase the share of mind, strengthening Zee5’s position as India’s OTT platform of choice. Following a 360-degree approach to target Indian entertainment lovers, Zee5 has planned a high-frequency campaign across TV, social media, and digital, which is slated to go live on Thursday.

    “With the OTT upswing, today, millions of viewers are Binge-Watching content across smaller towns and cities, many of which are underserved in terms of content options and infrastructural set-up. With the ‘Dekhtey Reh Jaogey’ campaign, we want to make quality entertainment accessible to consumers, in the language of their choice, at the tap of a button, without price being a deterrent. Think of it as ‘Entertainment Inclusion’, our single biggest goal going forward,” Zee5 chief business officer Manish Kalra said.

    The new brand ambassadors are elated as well to be associated with the leading OTT platform. “Zee5 is our very own homegrown OTT platform. With ‘Dekhtey Reh Jaogey’, the aim is to entertain everyone, especially during these difficult times. Additionally, for me, Kedarnath and Simmba are my firsts and therefore extra special both of us are on Zee5!”, shared Sara Ali Khan.

    Amol Parashar chose this campaign because of the messaging it is giving out to people to stay home and be entertained without any interruption during this pandemic, he said.

    “Zee5, our homegrown OTT platform has consistently presented intriguing and amazing content across genres. I started my journey with TVF and recently, the two content creators have joined hands, which shows the trust everyone has in this platform”, Parashar added further.

  • Value of Rs 499 plan not limited to Radhe, says Zee5’s Manish Kalra

    Value of Rs 499 plan not limited to Radhe, says Zee5’s Manish Kalra

    KOLKATA: The Covid2019 pandemic has rewritten many rules of the media and entertainment sector. One of the most noticeable trends has been direct-to-digital releases throughout 2020 in India as well as globally. While Salman Khan’s upcoming blockbuster Radhe was supposed to release in theatres only, it has turned out to be the first film in India to take multi-format route. With the moving coming to be showcased on Zee5, the platform has rolled out a new yearly subscription pack at Rs 499, bundling Radhe to boost its subscriber base.

    The OTT has also scored 50+ theatrical releases across languages for the year. Moreover, it will launch 40-50 original shows throughout 2021. Hence, the entertainment value of the new plan is much higher than only one view of Radhe, Zee5 India chief business officer Manish Kalra said.  

    Inquired about the promotion plans for the new subscription plan, it is all about Salman Khan and his equity, Kalra commented. “Obviously Radhe is a big driver. Indian consumers have been starved of good quality content for last few months with such a big blockbuster coming and consumer getting access to it, we want to ensure that we are able to reach out to all the fan of the franchise and give them this high value package. That will happen 360 degrees – that is TV or digital or any medium where the consumers are. We want to ensure we send the message out that with Radhe, they also get access to the entire library,” he noted.

    “The assumption is if you are a fan and you want to buy a good value added package, you will buy the subscription and watch it. The objective remains to leverage the asset to create a win-win situation for all of us. Consumers get to watch content from the comfort of their home, we get to tie-up with new users and it kind of becomes a long-term relation for us,” said Kalra when asked if the plan will increase the subscriber base of the platform.

    Along with a wider library, Zee5 is looking at a deeper language library too. The platform is focusing highly on Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada market and will launch original series, movies, bring theatrical releases. Kalra is of the view that the next round of growth for Zee5 will come from these markets. While Hindi continues to lead, Telugu, Bengali, Tamil are the highest growing languages for the platform in terms of consumption, time spent, number of users coming in.

    To reach the hinterlands of India, the streamer is not only strengthening its content library but looking at financial inclusion. It entered a partnership with retail network Sahaj to get access to more than 76,000 gram panchayats, and over 96,000 tier-3 and tier-4 rural locations. Kalra said more such retail partnerships are in offing.

    “The objective is to reach out to people in a format they are comfortable with. The intent from our perspective is to enable the users, empower them with more and more access whether it is through their internet provider or telecom provider or they directly want to pay and subscribe. The objective remains how we reach more and more users across India,” he noted.

  • ‘Radhe’ rush: Zee5 rolls out new Rs 499 plan to reel in viewers

    ‘Radhe’ rush: Zee5 rolls out new Rs 499 plan to reel in viewers

    KOLKATA: OTT platform Zee5, along with ZeePlex, has rolled out a special Radhe Combo Offer to make Salman Khan’s upcoming Eid release, Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai, accessible to the masses. The special one-year offer, available at an attractive price of Rs 499 will give viewers the opportunity to watch the much-awaited film on Zee5 with ZeePlex starting 13 May, in addition to giving audience access to the streaming service’s extensive and diverse premium content library.

    The Rs 499 ‘Radhe Combo Offer’ will allow consumers to watch Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai on Zee5 with ZeePlex, along with access to Zee5 originals, movies, TV shows, live TV, ALTBalaji shows, ad-free catch-up TV, Zindagi TV shows, kids content, and much more for one year. This subscription plan will also give consumers access to the new 50+ theatricals across diverse languages and 40+ originals slated for the year.

    Zee5 India chief business officer Manish Kalra said, “Salman Khan’s films are thorough family entertainers which appeal to audiences across demographics. Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai is one of the biggest releases of the year and we are proud to launch this on Zee5 in a multi-format model. A Salman Khan film with its mass appeal becomes the perfect choice to launch our specially designed annual value proposition of Rs 499, to unify India and Bharat through our shared love for films.

    He went on to describe the Rs 499 plan as the most attractive value proposition for a user, and that it will also help the OTT platform cast a wider net into the country by tapping into newer audience segments.

    The first ever multi-platform release of its kind, Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai will be available on Zee5 with ZeePlex, theatres worldwide keeping the Covid protocols in mind, and across all leading DTH operators – Dish, D2H, Tata Sky and Airtel Digital TV. The film’s trailer has already amassed 65 million+ views across all platforms and the recently released song, Seeti Maar, is topping charts, having accumulated 49 million+ views and counting.

  • ZEE5 India appoints Manish Kalra as senior vice president and business head, AVOD

    ZEE5 India appoints Manish Kalra as senior vice president and business head, AVOD

    KOLKATA: ZEE5 has transformed the digital video entertainment ecosystem of India. As part of its strategy to drive the next stage of growth, the platform has recently made a series of senior-level appointments across verticals. In line with this, ZEE5 has hired Manish Kalra to lead their AVOD service as senior vice president and business head.

    Manish brings with him an experience of over 19 years in the online business and marketing space. He believes that successful businesses are built by teams with a solid understanding of customer behavior and has a customer-first approach.

    In his new role, he will be responsible for overall AVOD business, developing the platform and content marketing strategy including, strategy for user acquisition and retention campaigns, partnerships and alliances for distribution and consumption of the AVOD content on the platform and driving overall growth. Prior to this, over the last 10 years, he has taken up various leadership roles like CMO, CBO and CEO in various online organizations like Amazon, MakeMyTrip.com, Craftsvilla.com and Homeshop18.

    Manish holds a Master’s in Business Administration from XLRI, Jamshedpur and a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh.

  • Homeshop18 appoints Manish Kalra as CEO

    Homeshop18 appoints Manish Kalra as CEO

    MUMBAI: Homeshop18, part of TV18 Home Shopping Network has appointed Manish Kalra as CEO. Kalra joins Homeshop18 at a critical yet promising stage in the company’s journey when it has merged its business with Shop CJ, thereby becoming the largest television home shopping brand in India.

    He brings with him extensive experience in e-commerce and will report to the board of TV18 Home Shopping Network.

    Speaking on his appointment, Kalra said, “I am excited to join Homeshop18 and look forward to working with and learning from the talented team there. Retail industry in India is going through a transformation phase. The team at Homeshop18 has a unique opportunity to deliver innovative products and solutions to our customers that will bring greater value to them, our suppliers, employees, investors and other stakeholders in the process. I am grateful to the HS18 board for giving me this opportunity.”

    Prior to joining Homeshop18, he was the chief marketing and business officer at Craftsvilla where he was the overall business P&L owner. He is a young achiever and comes with over 16 years of experience in leading businesses across e-commerce, IT, FMCG and BFSI Industry.

    Over the years, he has gathered deep understanding of customer behavior and can convert a business vision into a customer relevant story, combined with exceptional execution skills. Prior to Craftsvilla, Kalra has worked for companies such as Amazon India, MakeMyTrip and Dell.

    Also Read:

    HomeShop18-Shop CJ merger begins to take effect

    Network18 forms India’s largest TV home shopping platform, acquires Shop CJ

  • Third Content Marketing Summit Asia announced list of speakers

    Third Content Marketing Summit Asia announced list of speakers

    MUMBAI: CMS Asia 2016 continues its tradition of delivering great content through a very unique set of experts & speakers year on year. As the event gets ready for its 3rdedition, the event organizers have released first list of speakers. This year experts from Facebook, Flipkart, Google, ScoopWhoop, ESPNCricinfo, Yashraj Films, Panasonic, Craftsvilla, Reliance, Autocar, GroupM, HCL, VML among others will be seen at the grand stage. The detailed first line up is as following

    Brands

    Senjam Raj Sekhar, Head of Corporate Communications, Flipkart
    Sandeep Bhushan, Business Head – India & South Asia, Facebook
    Amarjit Singh Batra, CEO, OLX
    Pankaj Khushani, Head – Media Technology Solutions: SEA, India & Korea, Google
    Naveen Malhotra, Head – Marketing & Product Planning, Mahindra Two Wheelers
    Sarthak Seth, Head – Brand & Marketing Communications, Panasonic
    Sandep Walunj, CMO, Reliance Nippon Life Insurance
    Bianca Ghose, Chief Content Officer, HCL
    Manish Kalra, Chief Business Officer, Craftsvilla

    Publishers 

    Ashish Patil, Vice President, Yashraj Films
    Sambit Bal, Editor-in-Chief, ESPNCricinfo
    Sattvik Mishra, CEO, ScoopWhoop
    Hormazd Sorabjee, Managing Director, Autocar India
    Pradyuman Maheshwari, CEO, MXM India
    Gautam Bhimani, Cricket Commentator

    Marketing Partners & Agencies

    Samir Bangara, Managing Director, Qyuki
    Roopak Saluja, CEO, The 120 Media Collective
    Mallikarjun Das, Group CEO, Starcom Mediavest Group
    Tushar Vyas, Chief Strategy Officer, GroupM South Asia
    Tripti Lochan, CEO, South East Asia & India, VML

    As always, the largest content marketing conference in APAC brings together many C-Level experts to share their experience with delegates. The speakers are a good mix of advertisers, publishers, agency partners, technology providers & celebrities from Cricket & Bollywood. CMS Asia 2016 plans to have 30+ speakers for the 3rdedition.

    The 3rd edition of annual Content Marketing Summit Asia plans to strike the right balance between Ground Reality & Virtual Reality which has always been the challenge for new age marketers but will be crucial as we step into the future of marketing. Content promises to be the bridge but is always looked at as a short-term tactic to win quickly. Scale & ROI have always been relatively unanswered questions when it comes to content marketing. While everyone tries to figure out wherein lies the future of marketing, CMS Asia 2016 provides a platform to explore it collectively. It also touches upon softer aspects like Quality of Content and Art of Storytelling for consumers today who are flirting with multiple platforms simultaneously. With content marketing practitioners in the house from leading brands & technology companies, the platform is all set this year to take Content Marketing discussion to its next level.

    According to RP Singh, Conference Producer & Chairperson, “We are thrilled to have a great set of speakers this year too and I am grateful to all the experts for taking out time from their busy schedules to help create & spread the ecosystem of content marketing in India. With a joint effort like this, I have no doubts that the discipline is only set to grow from here in this part of the world”

    He informs further that for this year, CMS Asia has started getting registrations quite well in advance as compared to previous editions, which signifies the importance, & expectations people have from this event.

    CMS Asia as an event caters to Marketing professionals, PR professionals, Content Creators, Agency Partners & Technology companies in this space.

  • Third Content Marketing Summit Asia announced list of speakers

    Third Content Marketing Summit Asia announced list of speakers

    MUMBAI: CMS Asia 2016 continues its tradition of delivering great content through a very unique set of experts & speakers year on year. As the event gets ready for its 3rdedition, the event organizers have released first list of speakers. This year experts from Facebook, Flipkart, Google, ScoopWhoop, ESPNCricinfo, Yashraj Films, Panasonic, Craftsvilla, Reliance, Autocar, GroupM, HCL, VML among others will be seen at the grand stage. The detailed first line up is as following

    Brands

    Senjam Raj Sekhar, Head of Corporate Communications, Flipkart
    Sandeep Bhushan, Business Head – India & South Asia, Facebook
    Amarjit Singh Batra, CEO, OLX
    Pankaj Khushani, Head – Media Technology Solutions: SEA, India & Korea, Google
    Naveen Malhotra, Head – Marketing & Product Planning, Mahindra Two Wheelers
    Sarthak Seth, Head – Brand & Marketing Communications, Panasonic
    Sandep Walunj, CMO, Reliance Nippon Life Insurance
    Bianca Ghose, Chief Content Officer, HCL
    Manish Kalra, Chief Business Officer, Craftsvilla

    Publishers 

    Ashish Patil, Vice President, Yashraj Films
    Sambit Bal, Editor-in-Chief, ESPNCricinfo
    Sattvik Mishra, CEO, ScoopWhoop
    Hormazd Sorabjee, Managing Director, Autocar India
    Pradyuman Maheshwari, CEO, MXM India
    Gautam Bhimani, Cricket Commentator

    Marketing Partners & Agencies

    Samir Bangara, Managing Director, Qyuki
    Roopak Saluja, CEO, The 120 Media Collective
    Mallikarjun Das, Group CEO, Starcom Mediavest Group
    Tushar Vyas, Chief Strategy Officer, GroupM South Asia
    Tripti Lochan, CEO, South East Asia & India, VML

    As always, the largest content marketing conference in APAC brings together many C-Level experts to share their experience with delegates. The speakers are a good mix of advertisers, publishers, agency partners, technology providers & celebrities from Cricket & Bollywood. CMS Asia 2016 plans to have 30+ speakers for the 3rdedition.

    The 3rd edition of annual Content Marketing Summit Asia plans to strike the right balance between Ground Reality & Virtual Reality which has always been the challenge for new age marketers but will be crucial as we step into the future of marketing. Content promises to be the bridge but is always looked at as a short-term tactic to win quickly. Scale & ROI have always been relatively unanswered questions when it comes to content marketing. While everyone tries to figure out wherein lies the future of marketing, CMS Asia 2016 provides a platform to explore it collectively. It also touches upon softer aspects like Quality of Content and Art of Storytelling for consumers today who are flirting with multiple platforms simultaneously. With content marketing practitioners in the house from leading brands & technology companies, the platform is all set this year to take Content Marketing discussion to its next level.

    According to RP Singh, Conference Producer & Chairperson, “We are thrilled to have a great set of speakers this year too and I am grateful to all the experts for taking out time from their busy schedules to help create & spread the ecosystem of content marketing in India. With a joint effort like this, I have no doubts that the discipline is only set to grow from here in this part of the world”

    He informs further that for this year, CMS Asia has started getting registrations quite well in advance as compared to previous editions, which signifies the importance, & expectations people have from this event.

    CMS Asia as an event caters to Marketing professionals, PR professionals, Content Creators, Agency Partners & Technology companies in this space.