ITV

Tag: Micromax

  • Sania Mirza gets set to ‘bond’ on Sony Pix

    Sania Mirza gets set to ‘bond’ on Sony Pix

    MUMBAI:  ‘The name is Bond, James Bond’ is one of Hollywood’s most iconic dialogues, and so has been the Bond franchise. Not surprisingly, it has collected $ 4.1 billion at the box office and still counting. And while the property has been showcased time and again on English movie channels, Sony Pix has taken a step ahead and roped in tennis player Sania Mirza, who launched the franchise as a trainer for the channel’s Pix School of BONDing.

     

    Explaining the initiative to showcase the 50 year old property, Sony Pix and AXN EVP and business head Saurabh Yagnik says that in order to sustain Bond’s relevance the channel wanted to create a disruptive and differentiated viewer proposition. “While Bond is synonymous with gadgets, gizmos and girls, these three are transient and keep changing throughout the movies. But the most consistent part is the evergreen Bond attitude. We, therefore, decided to come up with a campaign that would be able to grab attention,” he adds. The campaign is primarily targeted towards the younger audiences.

     

    The channel deliberated for three months before conceptualising the campaign and roped in Mirza for her iconic personality, her resonance with young audiences and the fact that she is a self confessed die-hard James Bond fan.

     

    It wanted to portray Bond’s attitude and desirability through the eyes of a woman. As a trainer at the Pix School, Mirza will be seen giving tips on how men should woo their way to a woman’s heart. Starting on 22 November, the 23 Bond titles will be shown for the next 12 weeks (three months) every Saturday at 7 pm and 9 pm. The tennis ace will be providing nine to 12 lessons, each of one to two minute duration. These capsules will be showcased during the telecast of the movies.

     

    To promote the campaign, three TV promos have been shot at the Filmistan Studio by an in-house team. These are being promoted on all channels of the MSM network. Short snippets like The 23 Bond Villains of All Time and 23 Best Bond Cars of all Time have also been created. Bond memes are being circulated on WhatsApp. A six-city print campaign has been launched where publications are running contests wherein winners will be able to meet Mirza in person. 

     

    Pix marketing vice president Neville Bastawalla talking about the marketing campaign says, “This is the biggest ever campaign done in the English category. We currently have a 12 per cent engagement rate on social media versus our nearest rival which has a five per cent engagement rate. We, therefore, through digital contests and the live chats wanted to leverage our fans with that of Mirza’s.”

     

    Pix has 47.9k followers on Twitter while Mirza has 2.13 million. On Facebook Mirza’s official page currently has 7,698,051 likes while Pix has 2,155,451.

     

    Micromax has come on board as the presenting sponsor. Maruti Suzuki Alto K10 is the powered by sponsor while the associate sponsors are Quikr, Titan Skinn, 99acres.com, Nutrilite by Amway and Crizal by Essilor.

     

    Yagnik says that with the campaign he expects a jump of 20 to 30 per cent in viewership for the channel, which has seen a growth of 25 per cent in the category for this year, so far.

     

    The 23 Bond films that will be showcased are Dr No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Diamonds are Forever, Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun,The Spy who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, AView To A Kill, The Living Daylights, License to Kill, Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall.

  • 42nd Annual American Music Awards 2014 Live on Vh1 presented by Micromax

    42nd Annual American Music Awards 2014 Live on Vh1 presented by Micromax

    MUMBAI: Vh1, the pioneer in international music and entertainment will be airing the much-awaited 42nd Annual American Music Awards Live on 24th of November.

     

    One of the biggest music awards, the 42nd Annual American Music Awards 2014 will be aired LIVE from Los Angeles, USA. Music artists will be honored in the genres of Pop/Rock, Country, Rap/Hip-Hop, Soul/R&B, Alternative Rock, Adult Contemporary, Latin, Contemporary Inspirational, Electronic Dance Music, as well as categories for Top Soundtrack, New Artist of the Year, Artist of the Year and Single of the Year.

     

    “Vh1 has grown to be synonymous with the best in international music & lifestyle entertainment. The AMA’s are one of the most prestigious platforms recognized the world over as the gold standard  in music & entertainment & we are excited to present the 42nd edition of this blockbuster award show on Vh1” – Ferzad Palia, EVP & Head – English Entertainment, Viacom18

     

    Iggy Azalea leads the nominations race this year with a total of six nominations. John Legend, Katy Perry and Pharrell Williams follow with five nominations each, while Lorde earns four nominations. Additionally, Beyoncé, Eminem, Imagine Dragons, One Republic and One Direction are nominated for three awards. The ‘Dark Horse’ singer Katy Perry has been nominated under Artist of the Year once again, thus giving her a total of 23 nominations under the same category through her music career.

     

    After an energetic and vivacious performance last year, renowned international rapper Pitbull returns to host this year’s American Music Awards. The AMAs 2014 will also witness electrifying performances by Katy Perry, One Direction, Ariana Grande, Imagine Dragons, Justin Timberlake, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and many more.

     

    The American Music Awards is part of an illustrious award show line up aired Live on Vh1 like The Golden Globe Awards, Grammy Awards, Billboard Music Awards, Video Music Awards & Europe Music Awards.

  • Europe Music Awards 2014 live on Vh1 presented by Micromax

    Europe Music Awards 2014 live on Vh1 presented by Micromax

    MUMBAI: International music and entertainment channel Vh1 will be airing for the Europe Music Awards Live on 10th of November.

    Known to be one of the loudest music awards, the Europe Music Awards 2014 will be aired live from Glasgow, Scotland. Katy Perry leads the nominations this year with seven, followed by Ariana Grande with six nominations. This year’s EMAs will be hosted by pop sensation Nicki Minaj and feature not-to-miss performances from Enrique Iglesias, Ed Sheeran, Ariana Grande, Boom Clap’s Charli XCX, rock duo Royal Blood and singer-songwriter Kiesza. Ozzy Osbourne will be presented with the Global Icon Award of the night.

    Viacom18 EVP and head English entertainment Ferzad Palia said “Vh1 has been synonymous with the best in international music & the Europe Music Awards represent the gold standard in international music entertainment. Vh1 is excited to present the 20th anniversary of this blockbuster award show on Vh1”

    The Europe Music Awards is part of an award show line up aired live on Vh1 like The Golden Globe Awards, Grammy Awards, Billboard Music Awards, Video Music Awards and American Music Awards to name a few.

     The Europe Music Awards 2014 Live on Vh1 will presented by Micromax.

     

  • Micromax crowned owners of IPTL India franchise, Indian Aces

    Micromax crowned owners of IPTL India franchise, Indian Aces

    NEW DELHI:  Micromax has been named as the owner of the Indian franchise of the first Indian Premier Tennis League (IPTL). Named ‘Indian Aces’, the team will be lead by legendary player Roger Federer. Around 80 broadcasters have been confirmed around the world for reportage of the league.

     

    While a source informed indiantelevision.com that Star India was all set to cover the event in India, IPTL COO Eric M Gottschalk said that he had permission to name just one of the broadcasters which is the Abu Dhabi Sports Channel.

     

    Marquee player Roger Federer, 14-time Grand Slam Champion Pete Sampras and teammates Gael Monfils, Ana Ivanovic, Sania Mirza, Rohan Bopanna and Fabrice Santoro will make up the formidable Indian squad which will commence in Delhi on 6 December and conclude on 8 December. 

     

    World number two, Rafael Nadal who was representing the team, has been forced to withdraw from the League due to injury and the need for rehab time during the off season.

     

    In a televised message, Swiss ace Roger Federer said, “Namaste India! I’m really looking forward to making my first trip to New Delhi and playing for the Micromax Indian Aces. My team tells me that there are a lot of tennis fans and my supporters in the region, so I hope you can come out and support me in December. See you there!”

     

    Meanwhile IPTL founder Mahesh Bhupathi commented, “I take this opportunity to welcome Micromax to the IPTL family as owners of the India franchise. I believe the time for innovation in tennis has come. This December, New Delhi will witness tennis action like never before – one that will change the way people enjoy the sport.” 

     

    “As a tennis fan, I am excited to see Roger and Pete play for the same team, it’s unprecedented! I think Indian sports fans are in for a real treat,” Mahesh added.

     

    Talking about the association Micromax co-founder Rahul Sharma said, “I would like to congratulate Mahesh on this great initiative, and we are very excited to own the India franchise in IPTL. We are delighted to have the best names from the world of tennis with Roger Federer spearheading the challenge of Indian Aces. This partnership is part of our vision to bring India to the forefront of world class sporting events. Our long term intent is to bring a transformation for sports in India by developing world-class sports infrastructure in the country to encourage more youth to take up professional sport.”

     

    Later speaking on the sidelines to indiantelevision.com, he said that Micromax would go the full 360 degrees in promoting the event, adding that with the likes of Federer and Bhupathi there was little need for any build-up.

     

    Asked about the budget, he said that would not be a problem and Micromax will go to any level for successfully managing the team and its marketing.

     

    “The IPTL is a challenging initiative taken by Bhupathi in bringing the highest level of tennis to Asia in a competitive format and it was a privilege to partner with the organizers and team owners to make this event a great success for sports fans in India,” said  Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) president Anil Khanna.

     

    In his message, Nadal said, “I am very disappointed to announce that I will not be part of the first edition of the IPTL. I was looking forward to representing Indian Aces and playing in front of fans in New Delhi in the exciting new League. I wish the team the very best and hope to be back next year.”

      

    Bhupathi said the venue had been chosen over Mumbai because it was two and half times more than the size of the tennis court available in Mumbai.

     

    The IPTL matches will feature live entertainment, a running shot clock and many more features to ’Break the Code’ of the traditional etiquette of tennis to attract a new audience to the sport across the world.

     

    The League will feature four teams in the inaugural season before adding additional franchises to the calendar with the Indian “Aces” competing against the UAE “Royals”, Manila “Mavericks” and Singapore “Slammers” for a total prize money of USD 1 million.

     

     The IPTL format has been designed in a manner that will be very attractive to broadcasters and fans. The traditional scoring format has been changed to single-set no-add scoring which will speed up the games and allow the fans to up to 24 different players in one evening while the broadcasters for the first time, will be able to schedule predictable start and finish times of each match. Each match will consist of five sets played by different players (men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles and former Champions singles) and each game won counts as one point for the team points total – the team that wins the most games overall across the five sets wins the match.

  • ‘Dare 2 Dance’: A step further to dance

    ‘Dare 2 Dance’: A step further to dance

    MUMBAI: Ever imagined grooving to music, with no dance floor? Giving the audience a break from the usual dance based reality shows, Life OK is all set to give the format a twist.

    Moving away from all the common theories of a huge stage where contestants showcase their talents, the show will have no dance floor to perform. Christened Dare 2 Dance, the contestants will be challenged to perform in the most difficult situations on land, water or air.

    Produced by SOL Productions, it is all about taking risks and re-inventing oneself. The Khiladi Akshay Kumar will take the mantle of a host, while he would also be seen playing a mentor to the contestants as he challenges contestants to dance on a narrow wall or even under water. Kumar will first demonstrate the format to each contestant with a commitment of a ‘first of its kind’ show.

    The channel has got Micromax on-board as its presenting sponsor and Honda as the powered by sponsor along with eight associate sponsors. According to a media planner, the title sponsorship is pretty high and would be around Rs 15 crore and powered by sponsor will be 15 per cent less.

    Life OK EVP and general manager Ajit Thakur states that getting Kumar on-board was the perfect choice. The channel wanted somebody who has been both seen as a dancer and a stunt hero. He adds, “Kumar has successfully managed to challenge the status quo with his constant need to push the envelope and move beyond the common. It was this need to challenge the norms and do something different that brought us together.”

    Thakur says that for a very long time the channel wanted to tap into the dance space, but couldn’t come up with an idea which could act as a differentiator. “But then we found Dare 2 Dance which went one step further with no stage or a set, but in open air on different locations.”

    Sharing his sentiments on coming on board for Dare 2 Dance, Kumar says, “What I like the most about the show, is the fact that it puts the contestants out of their comfort zone and challenges them. I’ve been so excited about it, right from the word go, and it’s been an amazing experience.”

    It has got 10 challenge takers on-board. Out of the 10, only two are actors, while the others are choreographers who have made a name in the fraternity by winning several dance reality shows. There are three international contestants as well, namely Emille Callion, a professional dancer from Paris, Scarlett Wilson, a British model and dancer and Karan Pangali a trained Kathak dancer originally from U.K. Among the actors are Ritwik Dhanjani who also got to fame as a winner of Nach Baliye, Sayantani Ghosh and Kunwar Amar, who shot to fame after Zee TV’s dance reality show Dance India Dance. The choreographers include Sanam Johar, Prince, Alisha Singh and Mayuresh Wadkar.

    “We needed people to dance at heights and inside water. So where you can’t even stand, they have to dance. We needed only accomplished dancers and that is why roped in dancers who had won many reality shows and became choreographers,” reasons Thakur.

    The highlight of the show is that it will see no eliminations for the first four weeks. “Contestants have rehearsed and worked very hard for it and so we thought it wasn’t fair from our part to eliminate them in the first week itself. So the eliminations will happen only after the fourth week,” informs Thakur.

    Moreover contestants will be given green or red card every week and the ones who will accumulate more number of green cards will have the chance of winning the show. The contestants will be challenged to prove their mettle as ‘Extreme Dance Ke Heroes’ in a hope to rise above all odds. Thakur reveals that many have walked out of the show after being told of the challenges. The lucky winner of the show along with a cash prize will get a Honda CBR 250R motorcycle.

    Except for the finale, all the other episodes have already been canned in Cape Town in South Africa. The show will spread for 16 episodes. While it has been choreographed by Sanjay Shetty and his team of professionals, the stunts have been designed by stunt co-ordinator and performer Francois Grobbelaar, who has earlier worked on a number of Hollywood and Bollywood projects.

    It has also left no stone unturned to ensure that contestants are left unhurt, and have taken a lot of safety measures into consideration. For every round, every platform has a safety auditor who would make his team of professionals go through the entire round and give an ok to it. Moreover, an ambulance was always kept on a standby.

    It took six months for the channel to plan and get things into place. Deciding the location was a tough task for the GEC. “You can’t shoot this anywhere in the world. You need to have that level of safety and different geographical elements which allows you to use different things,” opines Thakur.

    Thakur informs that around 30 per cent of the budget of the series will be spent on marketing. Since there are several foreign participants, apart from advertising on channels, newspaper, hoardings and radio announcements, social media will be used heavily to reach to the viewers overseas.

    Though Thakur refused to divulge any financial details regarding production cost of the show, sources close to the development reveal that the production cost per episode is anywhere between Rs 2-3 crore, this includes Kumar’s fee. The show will be aired from 6 September, every weekend at 8.30pm.

     

  • Micromax wins Title Sponsorship Rights for 2014-15 cricket series

    Micromax wins Title Sponsorship Rights for 2014-15 cricket series

    MUMBAI: The marketing committee of the BCCI met earlier at the Cricket Centre, Mumbai, to receive the bids made for title sponsorship of international series and domestic tournaments to be played in India in the 2014-15 season. 

     

    The winning bid for the title sponsorship rights was made by Micromax Informatics, for a fee of Rs18,01,80,000.

     

    BCCI  honourary secretary Sanjay Patel said, “The BCCI welcomes Micromax Informatics as a partner for the 2014-15 season. The forthcoming series between India and the West Indies will feature some exciting cricket. There will be plenty of action in the domestic competitions as well. We have no doubt that it will be a fruitful association.” 

  • Micromax brings on board Sanjay Kapoor as chairman

    Micromax brings on board Sanjay Kapoor as chairman

    MUMBAI: Micromax brings on abroad Sanjay Kapoor, former CEO of Bharti Airtel, to the Micromax promoter group and chairman of the board with immediate effect.

     

    This development reflects Micromax’s vision of stepping up to the next phase of growth of the company.  

     

    Commenting on the development Micromax co-founder Rahul Sharma said, “We are glad to have Sanjay to be a part of Micromax’s promoter group and on our board as the new Chairman. Sanjay is one of the most respected professionals in the Indian corporate world and has been instrumental in building some of the most successful technology brands in the country over the past three decades. I am confident that he will be able to provide required strategic direction to take our billion dollar business to the next level of growth and expansion.”

     

    “Sanjay’s strategic and inspirational leadership skills will certainly provide strong impetus to Micromax as we pursue our aim to be the first Indian hardware brand driving success globally. He will be instrumental in building synergies for our existing international businesses and spearhead our foray into other international markets in the near future,” added Sharma.

     

    On his appointment, Kapoor said, “I am excited as an entrepreneur to be a part of the promoter group and as a professional to lead the Micromax board & management. I look forward to adding value to all stakeholders leveraging my strengths in building scale, developing brands and understanding consumers. There is a tremendous potential for Micromax, a vibrant youth brand that has led the democratization of technology for masses, offering affordable innovations to the consumers.”

     

    “Micromax is truly the new age brand that has made an indelible mark on the industry within a short time by changing the dynamics of the mobile eco-system. Proliferation in data services and cutting edge devices that make technology affordable for masses will be critical for next phase of growth and I am confident that Micromax will lead this transition,” mentioned Kapoor.

  • Vineet Taneja is now the CEO of Micromax

    Vineet Taneja is now the CEO of Micromax

    MUMBAI: Micromax, one of the leading smartphone player and consumer electronics brand, has roped in Vineet Taneja as its new chief executive officer. He was earlier the country head for IT & mobile businesses of Samsung India.

     
    This move is a testimony to the vision and commitment of Micromax co-founders to bring in the best talent from the industry at the helm to build a strong organisation and steer Micromax through the next phase of growth by capitalising the immense opportunities in this environment of data devices explosion. Taneja will focus on consolidating Micromax’s strong presence in the market, driving global partnerships and strategic alliances while strengthening the organisational capabilities within Micromax.

    Micromax co-founder Rahul Sharma said, “Vineet will be an asset in our next phase of growth, his diverse experience will be a great addition to the Micromax leadership in India both from organisational set-up and business growth perspective. Vineet is one of the most respected corporate leaders in the industry and has a great track record of successfully leading diverse brands across sectors.”

     
    “I firmly believe that he will be a strong partner in our vision to be India’s first technology brand to leave an imprint at the global level. We look forward to working closely with Vineet and support him in this new journey,” added Sharma. 

     
    With an end-to-end P&L responsibility, Sharma is excited and ready to take upon his new work profile. Apart from leading company’s growth and profitability he will spearhead the transformational agenda of Micromax given the burgeoning opportunity in the devices space globally.

     
    On his appointment Taneja said, “Micromax has been one of the great success stories in India’s mobile eco-system, and has pioneered the democratisation of technology for masses by addressing specific consumer needs with constant innovations. We are witnessing an inflection point in the smart devices globally. Therefore, it is a great opportunity for me to lead Micromax into its next phase of growth by consolidating and further strengthening its position in India, and looking at global markets to complete its transition of becoming a global force to reckon with.”

     

      
    With over 25 years of experience, Taneja has worked with leading consumer brands like Hindustan Lever, Nokia and Bharti Airtel, prior to Samsung. From performing sales and marketing roles at HLL & Nokia to general management responsibilities at Bharti Airtel and Samsung, Taneja has evolved as a respected leader of the telecom industry.

     

    Over the last decade Taneja has had the distinction of working for the service provider as well as the device companies giving him a comprehensive understanding of the telecom ecosystem including the OTT play. Taneja holds a degree in engineering from IIT-Roorkee and is also an alumnus of IIM-Kolkata.

  • NDTV Prime to fully operate on sponsored programmes

    NDTV Prime to fully operate on sponsored programmes

    MUMBAI: New Delhi Television (NDTV) is carrying forward its de-risking strategy of reducing dependence on advertising revenues. Higher revenues from programme sponsorship had helped the news broadcaster report a small net profit of Rs 2 crore in 2012-13 despite weak advertising revenues, after two years of losses.

    NDTV has now brought on board a channel sponsor and a channel partner for its split channels NDTV Profit and NDTV Prime. NDTV has from tonight converted its business news channel NDTV Profit into a dual channel – NDTV Profit will be a business news channel from 9:00 am till 5:00 pm on weekdays and will thereafter convert into a lifestyle and entertainment channel NDTV Prime. Over the weekends, the channel will be entirely NDTV Prime.

    The 2-in-1 channel will provide NDTV with two primetime segments, one during the market hours and the second in the evening.

    Mobile phone maker Micromax will be NDTV Prime’s channel partner for a three-year period, under a deal, according to sources, that’s valued at a shade above Rs 30 crore. Micromax will gain huge mileage as its emblem ‘M’ will be replacing the character ‘m’ in NDTV Prime.

    NDTV has a channel partner for NDTV Profit in the country’s largest exchange the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The channel will carry a line ‘Partnered by NSE’ under the NDTV Profit logo.

     

    A promotional campaign featuring Shah Rukh Khan has already begun through print and TV with the tagline ‘Work Hard Play Hard’ embodying the dual nature of NDTV Profit and NDTV Prime.

    NSE MD and CEO Chitra Ramakrishnan said the goals of NSE and NDTV Profit were similar in terms of investor outreach.

    Says Micromax co-founder Rahul Sharma, “NDTV Prime provides an ideal opportunity for Micromax to reach out to evolved viewers through new programming on lifestyle, reality, automobiles, sports, music, property, gadgets and gizmos and comedy. With digitisation and advancement of technology, we are seeing a trend for greater consumption of high quality
    content among the viewers.”

    In addition to the channel sponsor for NDTV Prime, the channel will also have sponsor or sponsors for every programme. This is expected to help NDTV Prime break-even within a year.

     

    As reported earlier by indiantelevision.com, NDTV Prime’s big-ticket show will be ‘Ticket to Bollywood’ sponsored by Videocon d2h along with VLCC and Fortis. Prime has been divided into various bands that are sponsored as well.

    Education band ‘Mindspace’ at 6:30 pm is sponsored by LIC, IMS, Vidyalankar and Rau’s IAS study circle, Property at 7:00pm is powered by Supertech and indiaproperty.com, Tech band at 8:00 pm is sponsored by Croma, Nokia and Toshiba, Auto band at 8:30 pm is with MRF, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Volvo, VistaTech, Mobil1 and Polaris as main sponsors.

    The Comedy band at 10:00 pm and Strip movies at 10:30 pm are currently the only ones without sponsors. “How often do you see a channel which even before launch is pre-sold? People know this channel will work and I was sure we won’t launch it without having the money in the bank,” says NDTV group CEO Vikram Chandra.

    Each band will have a different show each day of the week. Along with TV, NDTV Prime will also have exclusive shows on its website www.ndtvprime.com. One of the first is two technology pieces of five to seven minutes that will be exclusively on its website every day.

    Does the genre have enough of such content to put out on a daily basis? Tech anchor Rajiv Makhni says, “In technology, something or the other is happening every day. If a mobile is launched say on a Monday why would you wait till Saturday to see a feature on it? So on Prime you will see news, analysis as well as suggestions. Not only will we zoom in on a few best in every category but we will also tell you exactly which product should you buy.”

    He also goes on to explain that just because Micromax and Nokia are sponsors, there will be no bias in favour of these brands. “If a product has flaws then it has flaws. You will see it on our shows,” says Makhni.

    Men will drive the viewership for NDTV Prime. “A lot of our evening content is aimed for people with interests besides stock market. In fact, now our morning viewership will be a subset of our evening one and the evening will see 10 times more viewership,” says NDTV co-chairperson Prannoy Roy.

     

    With the facelift that NDTV has given to NDTV Profit with a split channel in NDTV Prime, it is also looking at beefing up its distribution with a lot of pull effect coming from people who want to watch Prime, especially Ticket to Bollywood.

    “Entertainment and comedy usually has a pull distribution effect. So in this case we don’t have to pay carriage fee as well,” admitted Roy.

    Roy, who was speaking on the sidelines of the launch of NDTV Prime, also spoke about the future prospects of NDTV. “Our future has got more to do with the digital platform ndtv.com,” says Roy.

     

    Chandra had earlier said a large part of NDTV’s losses were due to NDTV Profit and now with Prime in place, the company is confident that its profits will get a boost.