Tag: marketing news

  • How Sony sparked conversations on entrepreneurship with ‘Shark Tank India’

    How Sony sparked conversations on entrepreneurship with ‘Shark Tank India’

    Mumbai: Sony Entertainment Television (SET) in association with its digital partner White Rivers Media (WRM) was successfully able to make conversations around entrepreneurship more mainstream with the first season of “Shark Tank India.”

    “Shark Tank India” was able to sustain a consistent engagement with the audience throughout the season with live updates, decoding the business jargon, anecdotes from the Sharks, inspiring moments from the show, and highlighting each ‘deal’ thereby making the business reality show more inclusive and relatable to the audience.

    Starting with the registration phase, WRM played a pivotal role in reaching out to the incubator community, college alumni, and co-working spaces encouraging participation in the show. Furthermore, the digital agency created exclusive social media pages, on Twitter and Instagram, to engage with the audience. It gained 750K followers in no time and went on to become the one-stop destination for everything related to the show with its viral posts.

    WRM also executed a 100-hour countdown on social media leading to the launch of the show thereby building intrigue and urgency around the show through content that explained the format and gave a sneak peek of the ‘Sharks.’

    From building the sharks through live sessions to promoting the ‘pitchers’ and their unique ideas and explaining A-Z of ‘entrepreneurship’ through curated content, WRM ensured that the social media engagement on the show is sustained and heightened throughout the show.

    It was only a matter of time post the launch of the show that content creators, brands, and communities were found indulging themselves in viral contexts via episodic content. #SharkTankIndia was trending week after week and everything about it, from the Sharks to their responses, became a palpable part of the popular culture. The daily average of one million+ views on reel content and positive comments drove a massive increase in followers for SET and SonyLIV’s owned social media platforms.

    “It has been an incredible experience being a catalyst in disrupting India’s TV narrative with SET’s Shark Tank India,” said White Rivers Media chief executive officer and co-founder Shrenik Gandhi. “Commonly used business-related terms turned into a regular dinner-table conversation at any average Indian household. Entrepreneurs, who were noted for their achievements among professional circles, turned into celebrated faces. These have been the team’s top marketing wins for this season.”

  • Tata Sky rebrands to Tata Play to reflect its expanded business interests

    Tata Sky rebrands to Tata Play to reflect its expanded business interests

    Mumbai: DTH and pay TV platform Tata Sky has announced a new name and identity – Tata Play as it expands its business interests beyond direct-to-home services.

    The company’s services include a 100 per cent fiber network that has been renamed to Tata Play Fiber. Its aggregator app Tata Play Binge offers content from 13 OTT platforms through various bundled offerings. The company announced that it has also onboarded Netflix as one of the OTT platforms on the Tata Play Binge service.

    To enhance its customer experience, Tata Play said it will now offer free service visits for customers and de-active DTH customers can continue to recharge and get restarted on the platform with no reconnection charges.

    The new identity has been created by venturethree, London and the campaign has been designed by Ogilvy India. According to the statement, the new brand identity will be promoted heavily across all touchpoints starting 26 January and through the coming months. Kareena Kapoor Khan and Saif Ali Khan have been engaged to promote Tata Play in national markets and R Madhavan and Priyamani will be the face of the campaign for the South markets. Both ‘Tata’ and ‘Tata Play’ are trademarks of Tata Sons.

    “Tata Sky leveraged its market leadership in its core business to create an ecosystem of content delivery by foraying into OTT and broadband. We believe it is time for a brand identity that resonates beyond our DTH business,” said Tata Play MD and CEO Harit Nagpal. “I firmly believe that it’s one thing to own content, quite another to make it accessible. Distribution is what makes content easily discoverable for the masses, consumed, and talked about. Our DTH business has a sizeable market share and we’ll continue our endeavour to expand the TV viewing universe. The name Tata Play thus signifies our expanded range of product and services. The new identity is an outcome of our desire to be future-ready while making tomorrow better than today for homes and families.”

    Tata Play chief communications officer Anurag Kumar said, the Tata Play brand mark and play mark takes inspiration from the ‘Tata’ mark – borrowing and reinforcing the trust, quality and recognition of India’s most valuable brand. “The word ‘Play’ adds youthfulness, ease and simplicity to an already trusted brand. The brand colours pink and purple along with dark blue and white are vibrant, youthful and add distinctiveness to the overall identity. With Tata Play, we promise you Fun, personalisation, flexibility, freedom, quality, innovation and connection. With Tata Play, you play better. And entertainment becomes aur bhi Jingalala,” he added.

  • Tata Sky launches localised campaign for West Bengal

    Tata Sky launches localised campaign for West Bengal

    Mumbai: Tata Sky has launched a new campaign – ‘Ki Darun’ in the West Bengal market to promote its Rs 225 pack.

    The pack comprises both Bengali and Hindi channels including drama, films, music, kids, news, sports and edutainment channels along with the benefit of on-the-go viewing available through the Tata Sky mobile app.

    To bring out the campaign messaging, Ogilvy India’s concept plays on the typical cultural distinctions of West Bengal like music and alpona. The marketing campaign also plans to seep into different channels of sales through a strong network of BTL and ATL initiatives targeted at engaging potential customers to convey the benefits of a Tata Sky connection. The specialised communication plan spread across print, TV and OOH is designed to resonate with the local audiences across locations.

    “For our regional campaigns, we’ve always played with local flavour that adds a distinct touch to the narrative,” said Tata Sky chief communications officer Anurag Kumar. “To connect with the viewers in West Bengal, we picked up the catchphrase- ‘Ki Darun’ to talk about our carefully curated offering that has all popular genres of content. Regional audiences love to watch TV and we feel Tata Sky’s ‘Sonar Bangla’ pack will make entertainment even more affordable for the consumers.”

  • Viacom18 launches marketing blitz to build fandom for Abu Dhabi T10

    Viacom18 launches marketing blitz to build fandom for Abu Dhabi T10

    Mumbai: Viacom18 will begin airing the Abu Dhabi T10 league on 19 November starting at 7 p.m. The network has started a marketing blitz to build a fandom for the league amongst cricketing fans in India. The Abu Dhabi T10 league is co-presented by Dream11 and has onboarded Fairplay as a digital sponsor on Voot.

    “The Abu Dhabi T10 tournament has emerged as one of the most entertaining spectacle events in the sporting calendar since its launch,” Viacom18 head of marketing and digital – Hindi mass entertainment Sapangeet Rajwant. “Our aim will be to enhance the overall experience of viewers and reach out to the mass, cricket-crazy audience in India to increase the fan base and popularise the event in the country.”

    Abu Dhabi T10 league will premiere from 7 p.m on 19 November, live on Colors Cineplex, Rishtey Cineplex, and Voot. The six teams that will be a part of this series represent 20 nations and include cricketing legends like Yusuf Pathan, Eoin Morgan, David Wiese, Faf Du Plessis, Chris Gayle, Babar Azam, Wahab Riaz, Imran Tahir and many more.

    Viacom18 has initiated a 360-degree mix of marketing initiatives starting from 15 November to build up the excitement for the tournament. The network is driving communications on TV for the league across 50 channels in the movies, music, regional GECs, and news genre along with a promotional plan for cable across Maharashtra and Gujarat markets as well as collaboration with several DTH providers. Along with OOH hoardings across Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Chennai markets, there is also a robust print ad plan underway.

    Moreover, the network is driving instream inventory and interstitial ads across social media, gaming apps, and short video platforms and placing GDN banners on cricket-focussed websites. While on radio, RJ mentions, spots, and score updates have been planned with leading stations across Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Nashik, Ahmedabad, Baroda, Surat, Rajkot markets.

    Leveraging the digital outreach, carousel ads and push notifications will be driven across Jio platforms. On social media, push across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube are targeted towards reaching out to cricket and sports fans, as well as engagement, which will be driven through hashtag challenges. Digital impact amplification will also be done through channels/platforms with Google products and a host of cricket websites.

  • Colors set to bring ‘Bigg Boss 15’ on 2 October

    Colors set to bring ‘Bigg Boss 15’ on 2 October

    Mumbai: Colors, the Hindi general entertainment channel by Viacom18, has announced the return of  “Bigg Boss” for its 15th season starting on 2 October at 9:30 p.m.

    The show has introduced fresh elements and concepts to increase the excitement for the new season and will see the return of Salman Khan as its host. This includes a new jungle-themed “Bigg Boss” house and an animated mascot who will enthrall the digital audience. “Like the past successful seasons, the new season of the show will be even more exciting, as the contestants get ready for a wild ride in the jungle with VishwasunTREE accompanying them in their journey,” said Khan on the new season.

    “We, at Colors, always believe in delivering innovative, engaging, and diverse content to our viewers with our variety of fiction and non-fiction shows,” said Viacom18 head – Hindi mass entertainment and kids TV network Nina Elavia Jaipuria. “In the past few months, we have entertained our audiences with some of our biggest shows like Dance Deewane, Khatron Ke Khiladi and announced our first quiz show – The Big Picture. The momentum will continue in the festive season with the launch of our marquee show Bigg Boss, a show that the nation adores and eagerly looks forward to every year.”

    The channel has planned a robust marketing and digital plan to promote the season. As a part of the marketing campaign on TV, a high-octane promo plan will be carried out across network channels along with innovative print ads in top publications. The digital audience will experience some of the iconic moments from the previous season through memes and reels.

    “With each season of Bigg Boss, we introduce fresh elements and concepts to enhance the excitement and engagement around the show,” said Viacom18 chief content officer of Hindi mass entertainment Manisha Sharma. “This season, we have given a whole new spin to the theme of the show by putting the contestants in a jungle wherein they will be riddled with new challenges and intense moments right from the beginning.”

    “For the first time, the Bigg Boss house will be a jungle wherein the inmates must survive with bare minimum amenities,” said Endemol Shine India chief executive officer Abhishek Rege. “The entire season has been very creatively conceptualised including the design of the jungle that will add a lot of grandeur to the house.”

    Produced by Endemol Shine India, the show has roped in ‘presents’ sponsor TRESemme, ‘powered by’ sponsor Knorr and Dabur Dantrakshak and ‘beauty’ partner Lotus White Glow.

    “We are thrilled to be partnering with Bigg Boss yet again for season 15 as co-sponsors,” said Unilever vice president Harman Dhillon. “TRESemmé promotes the values of independence, self-reliance, and most importantly, the confidence you need to step up and meet the next challenge.”

  • Commitment to sustainability adds value to a brand : BBC News study

    Commitment to sustainability adds value to a brand : BBC News study

    Mumbai: Demonstrating a commitment to sustainability adds value to a brand, according to two waves of surveys conducted by BBC Global News to understand how consumers in APAC and across the globe feel about sustainability.

    The survey focused on three industries – automotive, technology, and finance.

    It found that 81 per cent of respondents thought that demonstrating a commitment to sustainability adds value to a brand. 79 per cent surveyed agreed that sustainable practices and commitments are an important consideration when making purchase decisions. 68 per cent were happy to pay for more brands with strong sustainability and eco-friendly practices. 57 per cent said they would stop buying a product they were previously loyal to, if they discovered it was not committed to sustainability.

    For the 27 brands surveyed across the three industries, on average, half of all the consumers said they are not aware of the brand’s sustainability practices. Finance brands ranked the highest with 63 per cent of consumers being unaware of their sustainability practices.

    Consumers believe that it is important for all brands’ sustainability practices to involve research and education, according to the survey. 83 per cent of consumers believe that brands should invest in education about the importance of sustainability and 79 per cent agree that brands should be financing research for sustainable practices.

    The research showed that, for consumers across the region, brand trust is seen as the most important brand association, indexing particularly high in the automotive and technology sectors at 87 and 83 per cent, respectively, with finance scoring at 63 per cent.

    66 per cent of respondents said that interviews with an international news partner are the most influential way for consumers to learn about a brand’s CSR, followed by branded content within a premium environment at 39 per cent.

    “These results demonstrate the importance that consumers place on a brand’s sustainability credentials and show that they are willing to use their wallets to make their feelings known,” said BBC Global News’ senior vice president, commercial development, Alistair McEwan. “For brands to retain loyalty from their customers, they need to be absolutely clear about their commitment to taking action.  Those that fail to do so open themselves to criticism, so it is vital that brands shape their narrative and communicate their message in a transparent and authentic way and working with trusted storytellers like the BBC will enable that.”

  • Play Games24x7 won’t compromise customer experience for ads

    Play Games24x7 won’t compromise customer experience for ads

    MUMBAI: Ahead of the cricket world cup and IPL season, Play Games24x7 has unveiled its new fantasy sports platform, My11Circle, offering a completely new way of experiencing fantasy cricket.

    The platform offers a simple and fun way to experience fantasy sports. Fans can pick and select players from both sides in a match and create a fantasy team of their own. Basis the performance of their selected 11 cricketers, a team owner can win exciting cash prizes. This doubles the fans' engagement and excitement for any cricket match now that every fan can create one’s own fantasy team.

    Talking about the marketing strategy behind the game, Play Games24X7 co-founder and CEO Bhavin Pandya shared with Indiantelevisio.com that with cricket season around the corner, it is planning to promote the game heavily. He revealed that the game will be available in an app that will also allow the users to access its previous game, The Rummy Circle. “RummyCircle has a massive user base with more than 200k monthly active players, for these players My11Circle will already be a part of their existing app, so our fantasy game gets a massive headstart because of Rummy,” he said.

    He further added, “For new users, we plan to leverage all digital platforms and also ATL mediums like TV, radio, and print.”

    However, he is not looking towards brand associations to monetise the platform. He said, “We generate huge traffic on our apps and can monetise that by driving ads revenue by showing ads from other brands, but we believe that it would act as a distraction to the players. Our company believes in providing awesome game playing experience to its customers and we would never do anything which may hamper that.”

    Talking about the USP of the game, Bhavin Pandya noted, “Our app boasts the fastest score updates. If you look at the competition, the match score updates on other platforms lag by a few minutes, for which a user needs to switch between multiple apps to view scores and to view the fantasy game standings. We have tried to make our score updates almost real-time, which will ensure the user gets everything on one app.”