Mumbai: Airtel Payments Bank roped in Shilpi Kapoor as its new chief marketing officer. She will oversee the marketing and corporate communication function for the bank.
Shilpi has over 19 years of progressive experience in brand management, sales and marketing, BFSI, telecom, auto and FMCG brands. In her last stint, she was with American Express as director of marketing, where she led the brand strategy and communications.
Shilpi would be responsible for planning, developing, implementing, and monitoring the overall business marketing strategy. She would also overlook market research, pricing, product marketing, marketing communications, advertising and public relations.
Shilpi will join as a member of the bank’s executive committee and will be working closely with the bank’s managing director and CEO Anubrata Biswas.
Biswas said, “I am very pleased to welcome Shilpi to Airtel Payments Bank’s leadership team. Shilpi’s vast experience across different industries combined with her deep understanding of consumer, digital and business-to-business marketing will play a vital role in further strengthening the bank’s differentiated position.”
Newly appointed CMO, Kapoor said, “Airtel Payments Bank has been registering strong growth over the last few years. With its unique business model, the bank is able to serve a diverse set of customers with simple, safe and rewarding digital financial solutions. I look forward to working with the team to develop the bank’s robust growth story.”
Shilpi is an alumnus of Amity University and has completed special programs in leadership excellence and digital marketing from Harvard Business School and Northwestern Kellogg University.
Mumbai: Nissan India has appointed Mohan Wilson as director marketing, product & customer experience, for business transformation for the India market. Mohan Wilson replaces Sriram Padmanabhan and has taken over the position effective 1 July 2022.
Sriram Padmanabhan, who has overseen the successful launch of the Nissan Magnite in India as director marketing, product & customer experience has been appointed director marketing, product & customer experience for Nissan Motor Australia, the company announced. In this newly created role, Padmanabhan will report to Adam Paterson, managing director Nissan Australia and will be based in Australia.
Wilson has worked across geographies in Japan, HongKong, Germany and India with cross functional experience of over 20 years in sales and marketing with expertise in areas of brand building, marcom, product marketing, customer experience, corporate strategy and data driven marketing. Prior to this, Wilson was head of global marketing planning at Nissan Motor Corporation’s premium car brand INFINITI at Global HQ in Japan and was a part of new model launch introductions for INFINITI globally with all-new QX60 & QX55.
Mohan Wilson in his role will report to Nissan Motor India managing director Rakesh Srivastava, and will be based in Chennai. He will focus on the transformation of the business on future product strategy for India, build a strong brand with a focus on customer experience and will leverage his experience gained at Nissan Motor Corporation’s Global HQ office in Yokohama, Japan.
On this announcement, Srivastava commented, “Sriram has been an asset for Nissan India with a strong contribution towards the successful launch of big, bold, beautiful Nissan Magnite under Nissan Next with Nissan Magnite generating a tremendous customer response with over one lakh bookings and receipt of the Global Nissan President’s Award. We welcome Mohan Wilson to Nissan Motor India, his global exposure on premium cars would be key to build the Nissan brand with focus on customer experience on Nissan NEXT transformation.“
Mumbai: The Indian audio and music landscape has undergone a paradigm shift in the past few years. On-demand audio content and podcasts are transforming people’s listening habits, just as on-demand video has changed how viewers watch television. Music streaming platforms have been gaining traction driven by the growing appetite for on-demand music and the rising popularity of podcasts, with a pandemic-prompted shift in the public’s content consumption patterns. The Indian music streaming market is projected to cross $870 million by the year 2025, according to the data from market research firm Statista.
On day two of the sixth edition of Indiantelevision.com’s The Content Hub Summit 2022 held on Thursday in Mumbai, executives of the music and audio content industry share their insights on ‘Decoding the business of audio, music and podcast’. The informative session chaired by Ideabrew Studios co-founder & CEO Aditya Kuber saw industry insiders comprising Hungama Digital chief executive officer Siddhartha Roy, Showbox vice president -Programming & Strategy Clyde Dsouza and Pocket FM senior vice president – content Ashu Behl discuss ways and means to drive the next wave of business growth in the digital audio space.
The summit was presented by Viacom18, and co-powered by Applause Entertainment and IN10 Media Network. Aaj Tak Connected Stream is the association partner. Industry partners are Fremantle India, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, One Take Media, Pratilipi, Pocket FM and The Viral Fever. The Indian Motion Pictures Producers’ Association (IMPPA) is our community partner.
With widespread internet penetration, and affordable smartphones becoming a common commodity even in the country’s tier three and four towns, the boundaries of the music streaming landscape have been pushed.
Showbox’s Clyde Dsouza, represents the more traditional media which some may say is on its way out. In his view, the more things change the more they remain the same. He said “While the platforms will keep evolving, the core piece- which’s the content- be it audio or visual- will always remain the same. So, the curation, the programming, the packaging- all of that remains the same. It’s just that the distribution models will keep changing.”
While the Indian market is now choc-a-bloc with digital music streaming platforms, OTTs that are purely ‘non-music’ and ‘audio-based’, such as Pocket FM, are also getting launched. These OTTs are evolving the audio-listening space into three broad categories, namely the traditional informative podcasts, audio books and lastly, the dominant category of audio series, explained Pocket FM’s Ashu Behl.
“The biggest barrier to user acquisition for us was there are not many audio user-acquisition channels, unless we go to competitors like Gaana or maybe, Hungama. So, we actually leveraged a video-led acquisition approach where we got consumers to sample audio content in some form of video, maybe a five-minute or three-minute clip,” continued Behl. “When the audience gets ‘stuck’ to the content or the story they then latch onto the content and download the app and continue to listen.”
How has the digital side of the business affected revenue on the traditional side, Ideabrew Studios’s Aditya Kuber asked Showbox’s Dsouza. From an advertising perspective one might have expected a downturn from digital platforms eating away at the advertising revenue, but there’s actually been an upturn, observed D’souza.
“I think traditional TV media is grounded within the ecosystem of the advertiser, the client, the audience and the measurability,” he added further. “Showbox has seen a huge uptick, not only in terms of viewership, but also in terms of advertising. So, music channels are still robust and it’s a while away for the traditional space to be upturned as such.”
The industry stakeholders discussed some of the newer payment methods in terms of micropayment models, and how smaller pieces of content can be converted into paid pieces of content.
“When we started monetising, we did so with an annual subscription model, but then we realised there’s an entry barrier for users to pay even nominal amounts,” said Behl. “So, we completely did away with it and started micro-payments, where the initial user can start spending, say as low as nine rupees, and listen to a number of episodes of a particular show.” This has lowered the entry barrier for the users, as well as, helped retention and stickiness of our long-form content.
When it comes to streaming platforms- more so music-driven- the entire category, each of us are aggressively continuing to grow our communities and each of us have different ways and forms in the way we are going about it, said Hungama Digital’s Siddhartha Roy. “From a payment perspective, it’s not the price. It’s all about the fact that if I’m getting the service free, why should I be paying? So, each of us are running different programs on how to move the consumer from a ‘free’ bucket into ‘paid’.”
What is the role that brands can play, in terms of advertising and effectively tapping into a platform’s community of users, asked Kuber, while going beyond the standard sponsorship or advertising route? The key for brands could be to step up by taking calculated risks and partnering more with the content, say the panellists.
Taking the same content, and packaging it and giving the brand proposition across music, OTT and broadcast, creating a 360-degree play with the brand’s passion was some of the other means spoken about. Another innovation is integrating the brand’s stories as a part of an audio series or content, where brands can actually monetise and see the outcome.
One of the major challenges brands face today is measuring the return on investment (RoI) on their investments in the digital audio space. How are the platforms aiding the brands on this, asked Kuber.
Digital as a medium is the most transparent measurement of what you would call ‘brand value’, says Roy. “It could be done through an impression, a view, or through the time spent. So, the amount of data that is being put out to brands, the effective RoI for the money that they deploy on advertising in digital – it can’t get more transparent than that.”
That context-setting and target-setting needs to be done at the time of engaging with the brand, he added.
The panellists also debated on having a standardised tool of data measurement for brands to measure their ROI, when it came to digital platforms.
On dealing with upcoming challenges and rising competition in the audio content space, experts were united about applying the standard tenets of staying ‘relevant’ and ‘committed’, while continuing to add something new and of value to the ecosystem.
Mumbai: There’s a lot of content available to consumers that is vying for their attention. Brands are finding it difficult to leave a deeper mark on the consumers’ minds with plain vanilla advertising. The mode of brand storytelling has evolved from 30 seconders and one-minute advertisements to creating owned media platforms and content to form an association with the consumer which lasts.
Brands cannot jump blindly into the content-making exercise. First, one has to identify the brand purpose and where the brand is standing with its content. Content is a powerful way to increase the mind share of the brand but if executed poorly it can also go wrong.
At the sixth edition of Viacom18 presents Indiantelevision.com’s The Content Hub Summit 2022 held on Wednesday leading marketers spoke about the role of content in their brand strategy. The session was joined by Dentu international The Story Lab country head Deepak, Godrej Industries and Associate Companies AVP corporate brand and communications Michelle Francis, GroupM India head – branded content and Wavemaker India chief content officer Karthik Nagarajan, Tata Consumer Products head shoppers and customer marketing Sagar Boke, PhonePe director and head of brand marketing Ramesh Srinivasan and OPPO India chief marketing officer Damyant Singh Khanoria. The session was moderated by Viacom18 head branded content Vivek Mohan Sharma.
The industry event is co-powered by Applause Entertainment and IN10 Media Network. Aaj Tak Connected Stream is the association partner. Industry partners are Fremantle India, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, One Take Media, Pratilipi, Pocket FM and The Viral Fever. The Indian Motion Pictures Producers’ Association (IMPPA) is our community partner.
“We have a smartphone launch every second week. When you need to make the consumer realise the unique features of each product there’s a lot of content creation that needs to happen,” remarked OPPO’s Damyant Singh Khanoria. “We solved this problem by enabling creation in the larger community of creators and influencers.”
Another aspect that OPPO realised was to stop looking at its brand ambassadors as celebrities who are endorsing a product but rather as actors to leverage in a storytelling narrative.
“I think it is important to have a healthy appetite for risk as a brand. We started commissioning projects that break the artificial boundaries of how we advertise,” said Khanoria.
OPPO had partnered with the infotainment channel National Geographic to create a series called OPPO Superfactories that turned out to be an excellent piece of branded content, he added. “We want content to be natural and authentic to our brand. An ad is no longer about showing a consumer visiting a store, asking about a product in a three-minute film.”
When Godrej wanted to change its perception to be associated with lifestyle, the challenge, observed Godrej’s Michelle Francis, was that it was perceived as a legacy brand that had been around for many decades. “We thought that we needed to build a community that would advocate for the lifestyle brands of the Godrej group. That’s how we came up with Godrej L’affaire.”
The platform launched a nine-episode web series with actor and comedian Jamie Lever with a seamless integration of Godrej brands. “The content was so authentic that it did not look at branded content in terms of integration,” said Francis.
Whether a brand decides to create its own content is not an either, or question, explained Tata Consumer Products Sagar Boke. He believes it depends on the object and life cycle of the brand. There are advantages to branded content which takes a bit more time to build but connects deeply with the audience. “If you want to build a community around your brand, there’s nothing better than building your own content,” he said. “If you use someone else’s content or a celebrity, it is not going to work.”
Boke further said that if data is part of a brand strategy, then building your own platforms makes a lot of sense to gather first party data on your consumer. This helps the brand create more targeted and sharper advertising communication.
PhonePe’s Ramesh Srinivasan concurred with Boke stating “As a brand we’re trying to cater to India at large. That means we need to be placed where India is in terms of culture. Branded content captures the consumers’ mind space when they want to consume communication. It creates the right context which is key.”
Its that time of the week again, when we take a peek into the mind of a corporate head through a fun lens with IndianTelevision.com’s ‘Weekend Unwind’ series- An attempt to get to know the person behind the title a little better, via their nuggets on life & mantras to deal with the curve balls that life throws.
This time we have Zee Studios head marketing Neeraj Joshi sharing with us his musings on the daily rigmarole that life & work has to offer. Having been in the field of media and entertainment for over 15 years, spanning the gamut of movies- from Hollywood to Bollywood and Regional- with motion picture marketing, Joshi still finds it all, in his own words, “fascinating”. Currently, heading the marketing function at Zee Studios (with three additional horizontal leadership profiles since 2018), he has worked with a clutch of the ‘buzziest brands’ in the industry earlier such as Viacom18, Fox Star Studios, Balaji Motion Pictures, Rajshri Films, PVR Pictures & RGV’s Factory.
A self-confessed adventure lover & true blue professional, he considers creativity, people, negotiations, conflict resolution, evangelising and brand communication, among others as his key strengths.
So without much ado here goes…
-Your mantra for Life
It won’t work if it’s not fun.
-A book you are currently reading/plan to read
Currently reading Franz Kafka’s short stories, also re-reading ‘Man Eater of Kumaon’ by Jim Corbett & Shoe Dog by Phil Knight.
-Your Fitness mantra, especially during the pandemic
10K steps and diet!
-Your comfort food
Curd Rice
-When the chips are down a quote/ philosophy that keeps you going
I hope to be as wise today, as I think I might be, tomorrow.
-When was the last time you tried something new?
Am a weekly experimenter – I will do something ridiculous once a week. Mostly never ends pleasantly.
-A life lesson you learnt the hard way
Money matters.
-What gets you excited about life?
So much of it isn’t known yet, so much to discover.
-What’s on top of your bucket list?
Scaling Everest
– If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?
Do not waste time
-An activity that keeps you motivated / charged during tough times
Music, long train journeys, solo trips, conversations with self – (I know it sounds silly but it really helps)
-What lifts your spirits when life gets you down?
Friends, cricket, cinema, music & books.
-Your go-to stress buster
Playing a cricket match helps me regain my focus and if that’s not possible its music.
– One thing you would most like to change about the world
Make caring for the environment a compulsory part of education and occupation. Also add a ton of ‘sense of humour’ in the society – we’ve forgotten how to laugh at ourselves.
Mumbai : Upstox extends its partnership with Tamil Nadu Premier League 2022 as associate partner
Sub: The aim of this year’s partnership is to further strengthen its position in the state.
Tags: Upstox, Tamil Nadu Premier League, Shrini Viswanath, K. Shivakumar, Associate partner, partnership, marketing, advertising
Mumbai: Investment platform Upstox (a.k.a. RKSV Securities) announces its continued association with Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) 2022 for the second year in a row as an Associate Sponsor.
This is the sixth edition of TNPL, which begins with the inaugural match between Chepauk Super Gillies and Nellai Royal Kings on 23 June at 7:15 pm. There are 32 matches (28 league matches and 4 play-off matches) that are going to take place in Tirunelveli, Natham (Dindigul), Coimbatore and Salem from 23 June to 31 July. This time around the league will have six double headers and all the evening matches will start at 7:15 pm.
Upstox added that it recently crossed the one crore customer milestone in India, and Tamil Nadu remains one of its most important markets. Partnering with TNPL it explains has previously helped it increase financial inclusion and awareness in the state of Tamil Nadu. The aim of this year’s partnership is to further strengthen its position in the state, while allowing it to expand its reach into other parts of southern India.
Upstox co-founder Shrini Viswanath said, “We are thrilled to associate with Tamil Nadu Premier League. We seek to strengthen our foothold in Tamil Nadu, foster long-term brand love and loyalty, while making a meaningful difference in the lives of cricket enthusiasts. We believe that our collaboration with TNPL will inspire and encourage the audience to participate in the culture of equity investing.”
Upstox was established in 2009 with the aim of making financial investing simple, equitable, and affordable for all Indian investors. It allows investors and traders to invest in equities, mutual funds, derivatives, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Majority of Upstox’s customers in Tamil Nadu hail from Chennai, Coimbatore, Kanchipuram, Tiruvallur and Vellore.
TNPL chairman K. Shivakumar said, “We are delighted to partner with Upstox for the second time as our Associate Partner. This partnership will further boost the financial aspirations of TNPL enthusiasts, as well as encourage them to set a firm foot towards their financial planning to ensure a secure future. We look forward to achieving milestones together.”
Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) secretary RS Ramasaamy commented on the partnership, “Our association with Upstox has been fruitful, and the TNPL has helped provide momentum for the brand within Tamil Nadu. We are happy to be continuing our collaboration with the brand for TNPL 2022.”
The matches will be played at two new venues: SNR College Ground, Coimbatore, and Salem Cricket Foundation Ground, Salem, along with the regular venues NPR College, Natham and ICL – Sankar Nagar Ground, Tirunelveli. All the matches will be streamed on Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 1 Tamil.
Mumbai: OMTV, which claims to be India’s first sanatan storytelling platform, has announced the appointment of Sahil Kiran Vaidya as head business & strategy. In this new role, Vaidya will take care of overall growth of the company via various associations and collaborations where increasing the subscription base & reaching out to wider audience via various creative ideas is his core competency. He will look after the distribution of content & revenue generation via syndication.
Vaidya holds 20 years of experience as a business professional with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing and digital industry. He previously worked with VSERV as DGM Operator Alliances. Sahil is a strong business development professional skilled in business strategy, business operations management, customer lifecycle management, mobile applications, B2B and D2C Account Management. An inspirational leader with a strong track record of business transformation, integration and turn-around, majorly across the telecom, media, BFSI and SME sector. He has delivered fantastic results across geographies, cultures, scales and environments as a business owner. Has had a significant role in onboarding investors, raising capital, and evaluating investment and M&A deals.
Vaidya said, ”Thrilled, excited to be a significant part of OMTV. It’s content with knowledge, pride and enlightenment. I have a firm belief that very soon OMTV is going to be competing with the top most OTT platforms in India. It shall soon spread its wide wings across the globe. When Nitin and I discussed this whole proposition for the first time I just remember saying one word on the opportunity “Enormous”. Going forward, there will be challenges but nothing can withstand the strength of OMTV.”
OMTV founder & managing director Nitin Jai Shukla commented, “I’m excited to have Sahil as a significant part of OMTV, he will add to the growth of the company with his enormous experience in the media industry. We have ambitious growth plans to expand and monetize the content as we are ready with our first original big ticket show. Right now, we are a free app and soon with OMTV originals and library of our acquired content we will be coming in the market in a big way. Sahil has huge experience in syndicating the content and with his expertise I’m sure OMTV is bound to grow leaps and bounds.”
Mumbai: GOZOOP Group has bagged the social media and online reputation management mandate for the premium men’s comfort wear and innerwear, XYXX.
With this association, XYXX aims to elevate its digital presence across markets.
Currently, XYXX is motivating people to be true to themselves and follow their own instincts through the #PlayYourWay campaign leveraged on digital media featuring Indian cricketer KL Rahul. GOZOOP Group with their expertise has amplified the communication to a larger audience through the brand’s social media platforms.
As part of the mandate, GOZOOP Group will be handling social media management duties as well as online reputation, customer support management for the brand. The team is responsible for building communities and recognition for the brand through social media with impactful creative assets.
Speaking of this partnership, XYXX Apparels chief marketing officer Sonal Rai said, “We believe that a brand’s communication strategy and digital initiatives need to share a common vision and voice across all platforms. Trusting GOZOOP Group’s expertise, approach and experience in the digital world, we are ecstatic to have them as our digital agency.”
Commenting on the win, GOZOOP Group India CEO Samrat Bedi, said “We are delighted to be partnering with a very collaborative and encouraging client on this fast growing comfort wear brand. XYXX’s brand ambitions are exciting and challenging — just the kind of mandate that we love taking up at GOZOOP.”
MUMBAI: Yes Bank announced the appointment of Nipun Kaushal as the chief marketing officer (CMO) for the bank. In this role, he will be responsible for the marketing and corporate communication (MCC) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) functions of the bank. He will be involved in developing comprehensive marketing and communication strategies that will support the overall strategic objectives of the bank.
He will also be involved in accelerating the CSR initiatives to position Yes Bank as a leading and socially responsible organisation. His appointment will further strengthen the overall brand awareness and positioning of Yes Bank in the domestic & international markets. He will be reporting into Global head – Retail Banking Rajan Pental.
In his last assignment, Kaushal was the CMO for PNB Metlife Insurance Co. Ltd (PMLI) and was responsible to develop and deliver business strategy and build a ‘Customer First’ culture. He is a seasoned marketing professional with over 22 years of rich experience in the financial services and automobile industry.
Commenting on the appointment, Yes Bank’s managing director & CEO Prashant Kumar said, “We are delighted to welcome Nipun to lead the Marketing function of the Bank. We are sure that with his expertise and domain knowledge, he will play an instrumental role in this transformational journey of the Bank. With Nipun’s appointment as the Chief Marketing Officer, the brand will rely on him to leverage his capability of storytelling and brand building to help the Bank usher in the next level of growth and increase customer delight.”
Speaking on the occasion, Nipun Kaushal said, “I am happy to be appointed as the CMO of Yes Bank and look forward to contributing my humble bit in this transformational journey. The Bank has always been a pioneer in launching creative brand campaigns over the years and I hope to draw inspiration from my prior experience to accelerate the marketing efforts and contribute to this growing, purpose-led organization.”
Kaushal has delivered across brand management, digital marketing, distributor management sales, product management, e-commerce and digital strategy. He was involved in the launch of rebranding activity for PMLI and re-crafted the brand strategy and was instrumental in building brand resonance across 11,000 plus partner bank branches.
Prior to PMLI, Kaushal has worked with Tata Asset Management, Star Union Dai-chi Life Insurance, ICICI Prudential Asset management and CitiFinancial Consumer Finance.
Mumbai: The global digital skill provider, Simplilearn, has appointed Will Lin as the new chief marketing officer. He brings to the company more than 20 years of international experience & proven track record in scaling data-driven ROI-focused marketing operations and taking them to the next level.
Recently, Simplilearn has also appointed Mohit Yadav & Sujoy Ghosh as vice presidents in the growth and tech verticals, respectively. They will be playing key roles in driving growth and transformation in the company. The addition of a new leader will act as a catalyst in the future ventures of the company.
He will be responsible for the overall global brand and digital marketing strategy of the company to further amplify Simplilearn’s brand awareness and to drive the transformation of marketing into a data and revenue driven function.
Will’s marketing leadership experience spans tenures at HP, Berggi, Microsoft, VRBO (formerly HomeAway), and RentPath. Prior to joining Simplilearn, he served as the chief marketing officer & chief digital officer at RentPath where he built a world-class consumer marketing program focused on renter acquisition & growth and was instrumental in its eventual $600 million acquisition by Redfin.
While at VRBO, Will managed a nine-figure marketing budget for 50+ websites across 20+ countries and contributed to the company’s growth which led to eventual $2 billion sale to Expedia.
Sharing his enthusiasm on joining the Simplilearn team, Will Lin said, “Being a part of Simplilearn is going to be an exciting journey for me. The edtech sector is booming with endless possibilities and potential. Simplilearn has been playing an excellent role in upskilling students and professionals, and while I am thrilled to bring all my expertise and experience to the table, I believe that this shall be a learning voyage for me too. I look forward to the road ahead with the company.”
Welcoming Will Lin to the Simplilearn team, Simplilearn CEO & founder Krishna Kumar said, “With our aim to grow locally and globally, and towards being the industry leader in digital skilling, we continue to strengthen our team paving the way to success. We are happy to have Will on board to lead the marketing vertical for Simplilearn and we look forward to his contributions and expertise on further growing the company, taking it to the next level.”
He added, “After close to a 6-year stint with Simplilearn, Mark Moran is moving on to start a new venture. I want to take this opportunity to thank Mark for all his contributions to make Simplilearn a better business and a better place to work. We wish him success with his new venture.”
