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Tag: podcast

  • Zee5 partners with Garnier and Wavemaker for ‘Garnier Men BroCast’

    Zee5 partners with Garnier and Wavemaker for ‘Garnier Men BroCast’

    Mumbai: Zee5 has entered a partnership with Garnier and Wavemaker to exclusively stream “Garnier Men BroCast,” a celebrity podcast on male grooming conceptualised in partnership with Schbang.

    The brand has roped John Abraham and Tiger Shroff for the first episode of the podcast to initiate conversations about normalising grooming for the modern Indian man. The first season of the podcast is a three-episode series with each episode lasting for six to eight minutes, accessible to both AVOD and SVOD audiences on the platform.

    “An average Indian man spends 42 mins every day grooming himself. With search around men’s skincare increasing by 400 per cent over last five years and 22 per cent male consumers (aged between 18-34) turning to social media influencers for grooming tips, Garnier along with Wavemaker wanted to dedicate its latest property, ‘Garnier Men BroCast’ to change the perception around the idea of male grooming and address the stigma associated with grooming being a focus area only for women,” said the company in a statement.

    “Leveraging tech in beauty in collaboration with Zee5’s reach, we are confident of reaching the right audience, to drive talkability and consumer love for Garnier Men,” said L’Oreal India general manager – marketing Zeenia Shroff.

    “Garnier Men has been a pioneer in driving grooming conversation with Indian men,” said L’Équipe L’Oréal Wavemaker head Avinash Pareek. “In partnership with Zee5, we have been able to create an entire campaign around it with promotional elements leading to reach and buzz, giving BroCast stellar scale.”

    “We are glad to partner with Wavemaker to exclusively host the show, created by Garnier Men to lead conversations around this subject, along with lifestyle problems with their solutions,” stated Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd chief revenue officer – digital and SMB Gaurav Kanwal. “John and Tiger being the epitome of charm, will be the best examples to immerse and inspire across this trend of men’s grooming.”

  • GUEST COLUMN: What marketers will need to learn about voice and audio

    GUEST COLUMN: What marketers will need to learn about voice and audio

    New Delhi: A renowned Content and Marketing Strategist, Lee Odden says “Content isn’t the king, it’s the Kingdom”.

    In a world of digitization and technological advancements, there are certainly no bounds to evolution in any industry. And, the content space is one such area that has seen a major evolution in the marketing landscape, especially in the audio space.

    Audio messaging has been around for a long time but the approach and outlook towards it has changed over the years. Consumer’s interests keep changing and their form of convenience too. Earlier, people were dependent on the radio for entertainment and news, and then TV took over the role. And now audio is back as the preferred medium of content consumption.

    With technological advancements and the demand for convenience, audio has become the forerunner in not only the marketing world but also in our regular lives.

    Audio – An old form of communication gaining popularity in modern times

    Audio holds great prominence in the world of social media and digital marketing. The audio-only feature has the power to eliminate all the distractions that are usually faced by a consumer consuming content on a visual medium, thus improving their attention span.

    With busy lifestyles and hectic schedules, people prefer consuming information or experiencing entertainment on the go. Tuning in to a podcast or live audio session on your topic of interest while driving, is a preferred option than being glued to TV and laptop screens or mobile screens for consuming the same information. Be it in a car, or at a gym, or in a public vehicle, access to an audio form of information and entertainment has become convenient. Audio mediums allow a consumer to consume content with ease while multitasking. It allows them to listen to their favourite audiobooks or podcasts while walking, cooking, doing laundry, or traveling.

    Voice-based technology – A better companion or convenient dependency?

    Audio mediums offer highly immersive experiences, and also make us perceive the depth of emotions. We all still have the voice of Vidya Balan’s ‘Good Morning, Mumbai’ from the Munnabhai MBBS movie playing fresh in our ears. It is this connection created by audio mediums with characters and hosts, which has led to the rise of the podcast wave and voice-based technology hardware.

    Consumer behaviour has evolved over the years, and there is an innate desire to adopt a relaxing and luxurious lifestyle. This explains why consumers opt for more enhanced sound systems at home for a theater-like experience to an increased dependency on virtual assistants. ‘Alexa, switch on the lights’ or ‘Hey Google, Play the latest music tracks’ has become a more convenient way of getting work done.

    Voice-controlled devices also provide a personalized experience, and marketers as well as brands and businesses use voice search interfaces to connect with consumers. Whether it is voice assistant applications or smart products like smart TV and speakers, voice search has great significance.

    Types of Voice Marketing tactics:

    ● Sonic Branding – Sound and music have a recall factor. Audio branding will be common and marketers will be seen creating audio logos to create a unique audio identity for audio-based content and to strengthen brand recognition, like the Nokia’s ringtone or Nirma’s iconic “washing powder Nirma”.

    ● Podcasts – The wave of podcasts has created a buzz. A few marketers have already created their market space with their branded podcasts, which have proven to be one of the highly engaging forms of audio marketing.

    ● Audiograms – Audiograms is the evolving fad and brands have started making the most of it by overlaying images with audio-based elements

    ● Voice Search Optimization (VSO) – The era of digital marketing saw brands market search engine optimization (SEO) based content for enhanced search results. With the evolution of search optimization, the voice-based search will be the next frontier, and voice traffic will soon be witnessed as an advantage for brands.

    Future of Audio and Voice-based technology

    The future of marketing will be based on voice recognition and audio formats. With more and more advancements in artificial intelligence and machine learning, we will soon see a revolution in the world of audio and voice-based technology. An increasing number of marketers and brands are using voice marketing tactics and using audio-based mediums to increase customer engagement.

    This is the sole reason why there have been new players in the market that offer only audio and voice features. Even existing social media platforms have realized the need for audio and are evolving their platforms accordingly. Clubhouse disrupted the live social audio market and it has been phenomenally adopted by the Indian audience. Twitter Spaces has also gained popularity and seen an increase in user base. Facebook has also launched live audio rooms and Spotify has come up with Spotify Greenroom.

    Voice and audio are certainly the future of social media and the digital world and can be leveraged by a country like India, where there are still limitations in context to writing. Audio content eliminates the barrier of writing appropriately and opens up a plethora of languages for a marketer to produce content for different audiences. Marketers now have an added advantage to reach a wider audience, which otherwise was restricted due to the limitations offered by visual mediums.

    Hence, voice-enabled search and audio-based technology open a whole new dimension for marketers to bank on. It will be interesting to see how marketers leverage audio content and voice marketing strategies for brands to create a buzz in the market.

    (Sowmya Iyer is the founder & CEO of DviO Digital. The views expressed in the column are personal and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them.)

  • Spotify offers a new talent platform for women podcast creators

    Mumbai: With a goal to spotlight and nurture India’s growing audio community, Spotify has launched ‘Sound Up’, a global program created to identify underrepresented communities. It enables participants to hone their podcast skills through training, mentoring, workshops, and full-program support provided by the audio streaming platform. In India, Spotify will focus on women as an underrepresented community, with the hope to bring more female talent into India’s thriving audio ecosystem.

    The facilitators for this free program include renowned radio presenter, journalist, podcast producer, and audio content & production consultant – Mae Mariyam Thomas and an eminent writer, producer, and original content creator – Riya Mukherjee. Ten finalists will be chosen to attend the program later this year.

    Spotify global lead-Sound Up, Natalie Tulloch said, “Since its launch in 2018, Sound Up has successfully supported the voices of underrepresented communities with an aim to tackle inequity. The program seeks to identify opportunities for new talent, and we are eager to find and represent unique female storytellers from India. Ultimately, we want to create a cascading effect where, as we support more women, they in turn act as role models and empower other women in their network to dial up the female voice in the audio industry.”

    “And to ensure everyone has equal access to resources and technology, Spotify will provide computers, internet access, and podcast recording equipment to the Sound Up participants,” she added.

    Earlier this year, Spotify launched AmplifiHer in India, a sustained initiative that includes women across music and podcasts, inspiring upcoming talent through their own career paths and stories of success and failure, and EQUAL, which caters to female artists and podcasters, by featuring them prominently on the platform.

    In the past, Sound Up has been offered to women and non-binary people of color in the US, UK, Ireland, and Sweden; young people of colour from the Periferias in Brazil; and members of the LGBTIQA+ community in Germany.

    Interested candidates above the age of 18 can now apply online until 26 July, with more details available at soundupindia2021.splashthat.com/.

  • SPN’s Go-Beyond podcast endeavours to inspire and entertain

    New Delhi: After becoming one of the first major broadcast companies to enter the audio streaming business, Sony Pictures Networks India continues to bring insightful stories of experienced minds from across different walks of life through its podcast service.

    Launched in SPN’s 25th anniversary month, the ‘Go-Beyond’ podcast has featured eleven eminent guests from different walks of life so far. These guests included renowned names such as chef Amrita Raichand, actor and comedian Ash Chandler, former Australian Cricketer Jason Gillespie, environmentalist Bittu Sahgal, author Samit Basu, and historian Vikram Sampath, amongst others.

    The guest line-up ahead is just as exciting and varied, said the company on Thursday. The podcast features well-known personalities with remarkable journeys and stories across sports, literature, business, entertainment, history, and the culinary arts. According to the company, the Go-Beyond podcast is not just a value add to SPN’s diverse content bouquet, but also enables the brand to foray into a segment that is surging in India with more people opting for digital audio streaming.

    Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN), managing director and chief executive officer, NP Singh said, “As the digital audio craze continues to explode, ‘The Go-Beyond Podcast’ creates deeper engagement with audiences by bringing to the fore real-life stories and insights of achievers who braved small or big limitations to resonate with success. SPN has a pioneering history of creating compelling content across formats and platforms, and the Go-Beyond Podcast is our endeavour to both inspire and entertain a global listener base.”

  • As podcasts take off in India, how can the medium win more consumers & brands?

    As podcasts take off in India, how can the medium win more consumers & brands?

    KOLKATA: There are stories to listen to, lessons to learn, advice to follow – podcasts have all sorts of content in store. The plethora of genres, the intrusive experience are among many reasons that have made the audio format fairly popular all across the world, especially with millennials. Though podcasts kicked off the block in the Indian market relatively later, they have nevertheless amassed a loyal following here. India has emerged as the third largest podcast listening market, after the US and China, according to reports.

    Podcasts might be relatively novel and known to a fewer number of people here, but the country has a long history of listening to content disseminated through the spoken word. Audio has been widely accepted by the Indian audience as well as brands at large. But are businesses showing interest in the podcast trend? Aawaz.com CEO Sreeraman Thiagarajan believes the medium offers an interesting avenue to reach consumers.

    “Every single person loves anything audio whether its podcast, whether its audio stories, audio shows, they are really committed to listening to those,” said Thiagarajan during a panel at Pixels 2021, hosted by IAMAI and moderated by Hubhopper CEO & founder Gautam Raj Anand.

    “It may not be as big as video. Podcast definitely appeals to an affectionate audience. It is longer in format and can be curated by the users as per their own choice. You need to think of telling an audio story, creating compelling audio experiences, living your brand into it and not just think of it as ad insertions, not equate it with a display campaign, performance campaign,” he added.

    Gaana podcasts & monetisation products VP Vipul Bathwal noted that when music streaming platforms introduce podcasts, there is some sort of captive audience available to leverage the medium. It may not be as large as the user base that turns up solely for music, but there is an overlap that can be leveraged. The role a platform like Gaana has to play, he said, is of taking this format to a larger audience.

    Although a small portion of music listeners engage through podcasts but those who do, they engage very deeply, shared Bathwal, basing this nugget off of the trends they have witnessed. Hence, the metric brands should look at advertising via podcast should be more related to a very strong brand recall from the audience which is highly engaged but may not have the same sort of volume as music. It is more about quality of the audience rather than the quantity, he explained.

    “If I am an advertiser, my goal is to reach the audience. Most of our targeted campaigns are across formats. Music is bigger than any format. But each format offers some sort of advantages in exposing the brand to a certain set of audience but does the brand care through which format I am reaching? Not till now,” he highlighted.

    Opportunity for creators has also increased as podcasts are easier to produce. Hungama senior vice president Soumini Sridhara Paul mentions that good storytelling and authenticity are extremely important for this format. It is also important to build a community and good content library for small podcasters to monetise their content. Moreover, they should look at collaborations as well.

    At the initial stage, podcasts are going to need some popular faces to get more attention from consumers as well as to give ideas about what can be created. From a business point of view, and platform point of view, there is a need to have content with popular faces whether that is from Bollywood or other fraternities. While creativity and uniqueness are mandatory, there is no harm in a novelty value, be it face or a name, opined Paul.

    While all other online content is gradually marching towards interactivity with the audience, interactive podcasts are still a tough nut to crack, mentioned Thiagarajan. Either there is synchronous communication like Clubhouse or asynchronous communication like podcasts. Anything that comes in between should look at features like polls, Q&A, comments for interactive experience, he suggested. Another way to do this is creating a podcast by getting people to offer ideas on what they want to hear. However, podcast as a content format is meant to be heard uninterruptedly, she emphasised.

  • Amazon all set to acquire podcast studio Wondery

    Amazon all set to acquire podcast studio Wondery

    MUMBAI: Amazon has inked a deal to acquire four-year-old podcast producer Wondery, in a bid to diversify its offerings on the Amazon Music app.

    However, terms of the deal have not been disclosed yet. Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal learned that Amazon was in talks to buy Wondery in a deal worth over $300 million.

    “We’re pleased to announce that Wondery — an innovative podcast publisher with a track record of creating and producing top-rated podcasts — has signed an agreement to join Amazon Music,” the e-commerce giant said. “With Amazon Music, Wondery will be able to provide even more high-quality, innovative content and continue their mission of bringing a world of entertainment and knowledge to their audiences, wherever they listen.”

    The deal has yet to close, pending usual closing conditions. According to Amazon, “When the deal closes, nothing will change for listeners, and they’ll continue to be able to access Wondery podcasts through a variety of providers.”

    After Amazon’s deal for Wondery closes, Henry Lopez will step down as CEO to focus on his recently announced Hernan Lopez Family Foundation, and Wondery COO Jen Sargent will take over the operations, Amazon said.

    The acquisition of Wondery is part of Amazon’s long term strategy to monetise the podcast gold rush — and keep pace with streaming giant Spotify’s push into podcasting.

    “This is a pivotal moment to expand the Amazon Music offering beyond music as listener habits evolve. Wondery is already delighting listeners with its collection of immersive podcasts, and the company is evolving this entertainment medium into a truly new and exciting experience,” Amazon said while announcing the Wondery pact.

    Wondery’s original shows include Dr. Death, Tides of History, Bad Batch, Joe Exotic: Tiger King, American History Tellers, The Shrink Next Door, Business Wars, The Daily Smile and Imagined Life.

  • Spotify’s premium subscribers go up 27% in Q2 reaching 138 mn

    Spotify’s premium subscribers go up 27% in Q2 reaching 138 mn

    KOLKATA: Spotify Technology (Spotify) has added eight million Spotify Premium subscribers globally in Q2 touching 138 million, up by 27 per cent over-year-over. The popular audio streaming service’s monthly active users rose to 299 million, up by 29 per cent. 

    “Family Plan continues to be a significant driver of our outperformance. This quarter we expanded the availability of both Family Plan and our new Duo offering to new geographies. Following our launch in Russia and 12 surrounding markets on 15 July (post Q2), these multi-user plans are now available in 90+ territories globally. We saw strong subscriber growth across all regions in the quarter and finished ahead of our expectations,” Spotify said in a letter to shareholders.

    Ad-supported revenue of $131 million was down both year-over-year and sequentially. Last quarter, Spotify noted a marked deceleration in sales brought on by the global health crisis where the last three weeks in March were down more than 20 per cent relative to the forecast. While the performance continued to lag the company’s expectations through April and May, it significantly outperformed expectations in the month of June. 

    “We mentioned coming out of Q1 that the last three weeks of Q1were pretty weak and saw some big decline and that continued into April and May. We were actually running behind on the ads business for April and May, probably down about 25 per cent on those two months and then we really had a nice pick up in June. June was only down about 10 per cent on the advertising side,” Spotify CFO Paul Vogel said.

    Its podcast segment engagement in general overall is increasing as now 21 per cent of its MAU is engaged with podcasts which is up from 19 per cent and consumption was up over 100 per cent in the quarter.

    On the other side, premium revenue grew 17 per cent year over year to $1,758 million. Within Premium, average revenue per user of $4.41 in Q2 was down 9 per cent year-over-year. 

  • Sony Music Kids launches “Munna Chachu – Chaturayi Ki Kahaniya”

    Sony Music Kids launches “Munna Chachu – Chaturayi Ki Kahaniya”

    MUMBAI: Sony Music Kids has found a way to keep kids occupied and educated through their jolly character Munna Chachu, who is here with his treasure box full of audio stories about wit and intelligence, called “Munna Chachu – Chaturayi Ki Kahaniya”.

    Listen to these stories with your kids and introduce them to popular historical figures that every Indian child should get to know. Each story for children is lovingly written and performed with attention to the whimsical senses of humour children often possess. Kids will love these stories as they would get to meet unconventional heroes who use the power of their intelligence to overcome adversities. Not only are these stories philosophical but are also filled with humorous elements.

    There are two albums in the series. The first album is “Munna Chachu – Chaturayi Ki Kahaniya ( Akbar Aur Birbal )”. It is a collection of stories about the iconic Akbar and Birbal, where the intelligent and witty hero Birbal always manages to come up with clever solutions to outsmart the challenges Emperor Akbar throws at him.

    The second album in the series "Munna Chachu – Chaturayi Ki Kahaniya (Mulla Nasiruddin)” is a collection of stories where the clever Mulla Nasiruddin proves time and time again that the pen is mightier than the sword. With his wit, intelligence and knowledge, the charming Mulla Nasiruddin provide effective solutions to all problems. In these stories, he unfolds his philosophies on life and his commentaries are lessons on various aspects of life.

    Stories with a heart, designed to encourage discussion, that are perfect for parents and teachers. These audio series are available on YouTube, Google Play Music, Wynk Music, Spotify, Amazon Prime Music, Apple Music, Hungama Music, Gaana.com as well as Jio Saavn.

    Munna Chachu YT Promo Link – https://bit.ly/MunnaChachu_Promo

    Playlists Links:

    Munna Chachu Chaturayi Ki Kahaniya – Mulla Nasiruddin – bit.ly/MullaNasiruddin_MunnaChachu

    Munna Chachu Chaturayi Ki Kahaniya – Akbar Birbal – bit.ly/AkbarBirbal_MunnaChachu

  • Gaana launches shows and podcasts in multiple languages

    Gaana launches shows and podcasts in multiple languages

    MUMBAI: India's largest music streaming app, Gaana has announced its first batch of the platform-exclusive line-up of podcasts and shows, including ‘Ummeed’ with Zakir Khan, ‘Confessions’ with Sunny Leone and ‘Life ki Ranneeti’ with Rannvijay Singha that will go live on Gaana in Nov-Dec’19. These are a part of the brand’s overarching vision to host the country’s widest and most diverse range of original audio content by the end of FY 2021. Unveils original shows with Zakir Khan, Sunny Leone & Rannvijay Singha among others. Set to produce and launch over 50 Shows & Podcast Originals  by the end of FY21

    Commissioned by Gaana, produced by the hosts & syndicated from networks, the shows & podcasts in multiple languages span categories like Comedy, Bollywood, Devotional, News, Kids, Motivational, Astrology, Business, Lifestyle &. Culture and Self Help among others. Gaana currently hosts over 3000 diverse shows & podcasts in multiple languages including ‘Cyrus Says’, ‘The Bhagavad Gita’, ‘Stories of Akbar Birbal’, KadhaiPodcast's PonniyinSelvan and ‘Paisa Vaisa’ among others.

    Gaana CEO Prashan Agarwal said, “Shows & Podcasts have the potential to be among the most popular mainstream non-music genres in our country owing to the diversity of our audience. At Gaana, we have been investing steadily in this space, and have now taken it up a notch with our Original Shows & Podcasts  that would engage our users with interesting content that will inform, entertain and enthral them in more ways than one.” 

  • Media Minds: Posterscope South Asia group MD Haresh Nayak talks about 11-year long journey on anniversary

    Media Minds: Posterscope South Asia group MD Haresh Nayak talks about 11-year long journey on anniversary

    MUMBAI: OOH advertising is probably the starting point of the advertising culture. From hand-drawn paintings to physical and digital installations, this mode of talking to the consumer has evolved in the past many decades. One of the top names functioning in this industry has been Posterscope, from the house of Dentsu Aegis Network, which for more than a decade has been innovating greatly to make OOH marketing more meaningful, relatable, and successful.

    On its 11th anniversary, ‘Media Minds’ interacted with Posterscope South Asia group MD Haresh Nayak to delve deeper into the great the company has been doing and also discuss the way ahead.

    Nayak shared that the industry has improved greatly in the past decade and the influx of technology has made the OOH players to constantly evolve and innovate. He highlighted that the future is going to be influenced by technology and the agencies will be bringing in some fine innovations in the physical spaces.

    He noted that in India there is a great scope for the OOH marketing to grow. He said, “Delhi and Mumbai collectively make up for 50-60 per cent of the OOH industry. But states like Bengaluru, Pune, and Tamil Nadu are going to catch up in the near future.”

    Listen to the complete interaction here: