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Tag: Sashi Shankar

  • Vodafone Idea and ShemarooME announce an exclusive content partnership

    Vodafone Idea and ShemarooME announce an exclusive content partnership

    MUMBAI: Vodafone Idea, India’s leading telecom operator, today announced a strategic partnership with Shemaroo Entertainment’s newly launched video streaming service – ShemarooMe. As a part of this exclusive partnership, subscribers of Vodafone Play and Idea Movies & TV apps will have full access to Shermaroo’s content library across Bollywood, Devotion, Kids and other such genres and languages.

    ShemarooMe has a wide array of content offerings spanning various genres like Movies, shows, music, plays, devotional, kids and similar in Gujarati and many more languages.  This partnership will give all the fans of Gujarati content access to over 400+ latest Gujarati nataks, blockbuster movies and much more through ShemarooMe. The ShemarooMe Gujarati content offering includes movies like Chhello Divas, Gujjubhai the Great, Sharto lagu, Natsamrat, Thai Jashe, and plays like Gujjubhai Banya Dabang, Mari wife Mary Kom, Gujjubhai ni Golmaal and many more. All these titles are likely to reach new viewers through this association.

    Talking about the partnership, Sashi Shankar, Chief Marketing officer, Vodafone Idea Limited said, “We are excited to partner with Shemaroo Entertainment to provide rich curated content across genres to our customers. Through this partnership our customers will get access to the best quality Gujarati content on the Vodafone Play and Idea Movies and TV apps exclusively. Our endeavor is to provide our customers with authentic entertainment keeping in mind their consumption pattern, culture and language preferences. We believe that video and regional content will be the key differentiator and its consumption will grow rapidly in the coming years, more so in the Gujarat market because of its affinity for watching Gujarati plays. We have been working towards strengthening our content offering and this partnership is a step further towards enriching our content portfolio.”

    Commenting on the partnership, Hiren Gada, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment Limited., said, “We are delighted to partner with Vodafone Idea. ShemarooMe has a huge plethora of content across genres and an unmatched offering of Gujarati content catering to the Asli fan of Indian content. Through partnerships like these, we wish to bring our content to the end-customers, and we are sure that the subscribers of Vodafone Play and Idea Movies & TV apps will thoroughly enjoy our offerings.”

    Vodafone Idea customers will get exclusive access on Vodafone Play and Idea Movies and TV apps for a period of one month.

  • Vodafone launches #StrongerEveryHour campaign

    Vodafone launches #StrongerEveryHour campaign

    MUMBAI: Vodafone Idea, the largest telecom network in the country, welcomes the New Year with the launch of #StrongerEveryHour campaign that aims to highlight the improved network of ‘Vodafone SuperNet 4G – India’s Data Strong Network’ especially in crowded zones, where a tower is being added every hour.

    Created by Ogilvy and Mather, the #StrongerEveryHour campaign is based on the insight that customers think of the service provider especially when they have a poor network experience. Vodafone has launched this campaign with reassured promise that customers will receive the strongest data connectivity on their phones even in crowded places.

    Ogilvy and Mather Advertising Pvt Ltd executive creative director Kiran Antony said, “When a network works perfectly fine, no one ever remembers the people who work behind the scenes to make it run seamlessly. This insight is what helped us humanise the network improvement efforts of Vodafone while staying focused on delivering the message – seamless network experience even in crowded places because we are adding a tower every hour. The campaign revolves around conversations between two network engineers while they are busy adding new towers.”

    Vodafone Idea Limited chief marketing officer Sashi Shankar said, “We are making significant investments in improving the network as the data uptake in India creates some global benchmarks. Vodafone SuperNet 4G – The Data Strong Network will be strengthened as towers get added every hour, especially at crowded places. For any telecom service provider, network engineers are the backbone for providing uninterrupted connectivity. Through this campaign, we are saluting these heroes for helping us deliver superior customer experience. Driven by digital, the #StrongerEveryHour campaign finely captures the essence of providing a seamless network experience across other mediums like TV, OOH, print, and radio.”

    The 360-degree high decibel campaign is going live on 15 January 2019. Presenting a wholesome marketing mix, the campaign will connect with customers across diverse mediums like OOH, radio, print and digital.

  • Idea urges people to use social media responsibly in new ad

    Idea urges people to use social media responsibly in new ad

    MUMBAI: Addressing the growing phenomenon of the need for validation on social media, Idea has launched a campaign titled #MeriRealLife, encouraging people to drop the pressure of chasing and sharing perfection on social media, and instead, share real, unfiltered stories using Idea 4G.

    The campaign went live yesterday with the first two TVCs breaking on the live matches of Asia Cup Cricket Tournament.

    There are over 400 million internet users in India and over 50 per cent are active social media users. Rapid proliferation of 4G has enabled better internet speeds, resulting into Indians now spending almost 28 hours a week on mobile phones. This mammoth increase in consumption of 4G data has been fuelled largely by people sharing and consuming videos and photos on social media.

    On an average, people spend anywhere between 2-4 hours/day on social media platforms. With such high engagement, social media is bound to have a huge impact on the lives of people. The new Brand Idea campaign is designed to propagate ‘Responsible Use of Social Media’ with the tagline ‘Perfect ka pressure hatao, Idea 4G ke saath apni real life dikhao’.

    Vodafone Idea chief marketing officer Sashi Shankar says, “People are constantly, looking for validation on social media for their behaviour – be it what they are eating or wearing or places they are visiting. The growing phenomenon of living to share on social media and not the other way around, is driving people towards a dual life –a social life and their real life.”

    The campaign is developed basis research inputs from mental health professionals from MPOWER, an organisation that aims to end stigma and encourage dialogue around mental health. Insights from research by MPOWER suggest that the constant need for validation leads to a loss of self-worth, a feeling of being ‘not good enough’ resulting in anxiety and related issues, especially amongst the youth actively engaged on social media.

    Staying with Brand Idea’s belief in purpose led advertising, this campaign elevates the role of Idea 4G beyond the category conversation to something that reflects its transformative role in people’s lives and society.

    The high decibel campaign will lead with a series of three TVCs of 40 and 35 secs duration, capturing the concept through the lens of three people from different walks of life, sharing how their social media lives are different from their real lives.

    The Idea ads show people talking about a fancy new car, the perfect look and relationship goals on their social media, while in their real lives they are questioning their own shallow behaviour. The videos end with the characters having their moment of reckoning, where they encourage the world to share their real photos and videos with #MeriRealLife.

    The TVCs have been directed by Shimit Amin, the director of critically acclaimed blockbusters such as Chak De, Rocket Singh – Salesman of the year, Ab Tak Chappan.

    The new campaign has been developed by BBDO India.

    The campaign will be promoted on TV, Radio and Digital through high decibel visibility across 100+ TV Channels and strategic integrations in shows/programs such as Film Companion by Anupama Chopra on Digital, and popular radio shows ‘Heart to Heart with Meera’ and ‘Calling Karan’ on Ishq/Love 104.8 among others.

  • Idea Cellular shows how it can transform lives

    Idea Cellular shows how it can transform lives

    MUMBAI: Idea cellular has rolled out its new campaign ‘A video can change your life’, which focuses on the transformative role of Idea 4G via the medium of videos.

    The campaign aims at elevating the role of Idea 4G beyond the category conversation around speed, coverage, content and apps.

    Idea Cellular chief marketing officer Sashi Shankar says, “Videos are a universal language that transcends literacy, and hence hold immense power to transform. The new Idea campaign is inspired by the many transformational stories that have been enabled by videos. Videos do not just entertain us, they influence us, stir emotions, inspire, move and lead us to positive actions. Videos on our mobile phones are a transformative force of good. Backed by the power of Idea 4G, it has the power to spread and transform our society for the better.”

    The TVC captures the chain of change that is triggered through videos and the cascading effect that they have in transforming people’s lives. It shows how a video of kids waiting to be adopted makes a young professional pause and think and then decide to educate many such kids in his office, post working hours. A homemaker sees a video of an evening school and is infuriated on learning that unsafe streets are not allowing girls to benefit from education. Uploading a video teaching self-defence, the woman’s action thus inspires the next person in the chain.

    Having established a pan-India wireless broadband network and on the back of rapid 4G proliferation, Idea has been building 4G credentials and brand stature through its advertising campaigns.

    With 4G enabling better internet experience, Indians are now spending more than 28 hours a week on mobile phones. This mammoth increase in consumption of 4G data has been fuelled largely by video. The average time spent watching videos in India has doubled in the last couple of years. With affordable 4G pricing, approx 65 per cent of the audience is now watching videos with mobile internet and nearly 8.5 hours of video content every month.

    “While bringing this idea to life, we knew the power of a video had to be felt through the emotion it evokes and the action it inspires. And our campaign needed to reflect that,” adds Shankar.

    The TVC has been directed by filmmaker Shimit Amin and developed by BBDO India.

    The new ad campaign went on-air on digital and television on New Year’s Eve, with the marquee shows Star Screen Awards and Ted Talks India Nayi Soch. It is on-air across 100+ TV channels and will also be seen during the India-South Africa matches as Idea is a co-sponsor for the series. The TVC has already garnered 2.3 million views on YouTube and will be amplified on digital and via other integrations.

  • Idea launches ‘Internet For All’ initiative

    Idea launches ‘Internet For All’ initiative

    MUMBAI: Aiming to connect millions of internet non-users and bring them online, Idea Cellular; the fastest growing telecom operator, has announced an “Internet For All” program. This program empowers all the Idea prepaid consumers and retailers to give one month of free Internet access to Internet non-users just by logging on to http://i4all.ideacellular.com from their smartphones. They can gift free 100 MB data for a month by entering the Idea mobile number of non-internet users.

    Idea further personalizes this service by sending periodic information on how to use free data to the non-data user and providing various ways to latch onto the internet. The notifications are also sent to the initiator on the progress of internet usage made by the person nominated by them. As a small token of gratitude, Idea credits 100MB of data to the initiator’s account.

    Talking about the new initiative, Mr. Sashi Shankar, Chief Marketing Officer, Idea Cellular said, “Internet adoption today is being shaped predominantly through the use of mobile telephony. However, currently only 25% of India’s population are connected to the internet. Accelerating mobile internet adoption is huge task and requires larger participation. Our ‘Internet for All’ initiative will encourage the uninitiated to learn more about the internet as a tool for education, banking, shopping, and entertainment, while gaining access to a world of opportunity that the internet opens for us all. We believe that internet adoption can be accelerated at the grassroot level if existing internet users introduce their un-connected friends and family to adopt the service, thereby transforming their lives.”

    Idea users can log on to http://i4all.ideacellular.com from their prepaid connection or retailer VTOP to gift data to a non-internet user. Alternatively, customers can also avail the service by dialing *756# or sending SMS IFA to 56756.

    With pan India 2G operations and 3G and 4G services in 17 telecom circles, Idea has the capability to provide mobile broadband to nearly 880 million Indians. Demonstrating its commitment to connect the unconnected a reality, Idea will continue to work towards connecting the next billion and making them a part of the digital world.

  • Idea launches ‘Internet For All’ initiative

    Idea launches ‘Internet For All’ initiative

    MUMBAI: Aiming to connect millions of internet non-users and bring them online, Idea Cellular; the fastest growing telecom operator, has announced an “Internet For All” program. This program empowers all the Idea prepaid consumers and retailers to give one month of free Internet access to Internet non-users just by logging on to http://i4all.ideacellular.com from their smartphones. They can gift free 100 MB data for a month by entering the Idea mobile number of non-internet users.

    Idea further personalizes this service by sending periodic information on how to use free data to the non-data user and providing various ways to latch onto the internet. The notifications are also sent to the initiator on the progress of internet usage made by the person nominated by them. As a small token of gratitude, Idea credits 100MB of data to the initiator’s account.

    Talking about the new initiative, Mr. Sashi Shankar, Chief Marketing Officer, Idea Cellular said, “Internet adoption today is being shaped predominantly through the use of mobile telephony. However, currently only 25% of India’s population are connected to the internet. Accelerating mobile internet adoption is huge task and requires larger participation. Our ‘Internet for All’ initiative will encourage the uninitiated to learn more about the internet as a tool for education, banking, shopping, and entertainment, while gaining access to a world of opportunity that the internet opens for us all. We believe that internet adoption can be accelerated at the grassroot level if existing internet users introduce their un-connected friends and family to adopt the service, thereby transforming their lives.”

    Idea users can log on to http://i4all.ideacellular.com from their prepaid connection or retailer VTOP to gift data to a non-internet user. Alternatively, customers can also avail the service by dialing *756# or sending SMS IFA to 56756.

    With pan India 2G operations and 3G and 4G services in 17 telecom circles, Idea has the capability to provide mobile broadband to nearly 880 million Indians. Demonstrating its commitment to connect the unconnected a reality, Idea will continue to work towards connecting the next billion and making them a part of the digital world.

  • ErosNow ties up with Idea to provide Bollywood content on 4G

    ErosNow ties up with Idea to provide Bollywood content on 4G

    NEW DELHI: Eros International’s OTT (over-the-top) platform ErosNow has entered into a content deal with telecom company Idea Cellular to provide a platform for its 4G users.

     

    The partnership offers Idea 4G subscribers access to ErosNow’s premium bundled services including movies, music, TV content and ErosNow originals.

     

    Eros Digital CEO Rishika Lulla Singh said, “With the growing penetration of data services across India, content consumption is surging across consumers. ErosNow’s association with a leading telecom player like Idea provides us the ideal platform to reach a larger subscriber base and offer a very compelling array of Bollywood and regional content. This strategic association with Idea is the beginning of a long term relationship we intend to build in the future.”

     

    Idea Cellular CMO Sashi Shankar added, “With Idea’s foray into 4G services, we are strengthening our 4G portfolio and digital presence through an assortment of digital content in partnership with leading content aggregators, handset manufacturers, and e-commerce retailers. ‘Movies and Videos’ is the highest consumed service category by data consumers on the Idea network, and I’m confident that our association with ErosNow will provide an enriching experience to our 4G customers.”

     

    Idea had recently announced the launch of 4G services across five southern states of India, and plans to expand to 750 towns in 10 service areas by June 2016.

     

    The association with ErosNow will enable Idea 4G customers in these markets to enjoy the content at a monthly subscription price of Rs 49. Idea is also offering a special subscription price of Rs 29 per month for its new 4G customers till 31 March, 2016.

  • India’s Mobile Internet Users now sing the Idea Anthem – ‘Hum Nahi Banege Ullu Aaj Se’

    India’s Mobile Internet Users now sing the Idea Anthem – ‘Hum Nahi Banege Ullu Aaj Se’

    MUMBAI: Continuing with its effort to drive Mobile Internet penetration in India, Idea Cellular, one of the largest mobile operators in India, has come up with a new advertisement with a catchy jingle based Anthem, and an unconventional creative.

     

    Breaking the clutter of similar looking ads on Television, Idea’s new TVC shows a choir with people from across the country, singing the anthem – “Hum Nahi Banege Ullu Aaj Se…” – and thanking Idea Mobile Internet! The song is based on humorous lyrics and a hummable tune, and is sung in a celebratory manner for the freedom begotten from mobile internet. The ad shows people getting the light of knowledge from their mobile screens and caution those who try to con unassuming people lacking knowledge.

     

    The ad is based on Idea’s successful ‘No Ullu Banaoing’ campaign which helped the mobile operator build relevance of mobile internet in India and increase trials amongst its users in non-metro locations, leading to data revenue and subscriber growth.

     

    Speaking about the new TVC, Mr. Sashi Shankar, Chief Marketing Officer, Idea Cellular said, “The new Idea ad is in line with our advertising strategy of being simple, creative, and using Music, to deliver the message in an emotionally appealing manner. I am hopeful, that our new ad will stimulate audiences and get them to sing along, and spread the message that Mobile Internet empowers users with knowledge and information.”

     

    The theme is in line with the sentiment of Independence Day, and has been released on Television on Sunday, 10th, August. The campaign will be amplified across various media outlets including TV, Radio, Digital and Social media over the next few weeks.

     

    The ad created by Lowe can be viewed on: Link

  • Idea creates mobile website ‘Idea Delhi Daredevils Fan Page’ for subscribers

    Idea creates mobile website ‘Idea Delhi Daredevils Fan Page’ for subscribers

    MUMBAI: Adding to the joyous frenzy of the ongoing Indian Premiere League, Idea Cellular has launched the ‘Idea Delhi Daredevils Fan Page’, a mobile destination for Delhi Daredevils fans to access exclusive content related to their favourite T-20 cricket team.

     

    Idea Cellular, in its fourth year of association with GMR Sports owned team Delhi Daredevils, has developed exclusive mobile based content such as wallpaper, ringtones, videos, team anthem, news updates etc. which will be made available for its subscribers, exclusively, through the Idea WAP portal. The service will be available to over 137 million Idea subscribers across the country.

     

     The launch of ‘Idea Delhi Daredevils Fan Page’ took place in the home town of the T-20 team, in the presence of team coach Gary Kirsten, team captain Kevin Peterson, batsman and wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik, all-rounder JP Duminy, along with GMR Sports CEO Hemant Dua, Idea CMO Sashi Shankar, Idea CCAO Rajat Mukarji,and Idea Cellular COO-Delhi and Haryana Sanjeev Govil.

     

    “India is a cricket crazy nation and Idea has always offered the best in cricket entertainment for the fans and followers of the sport, using the mobile platform. Our long and ongoing association with team Delhi Daredevils has helped us create a unique ‘Idea Delhi Daredevils Fan Page’ with an objective of bringing fans closer to the team. This initiative has been designed to further boost the uptake of VAS and data offerings from Idea during the ongoing T-20 cricket season,” informed Shankar.  

     

    Added Dua, “We are happy to take our association with Idea into the fourth year. The telecom service provider has given us the platform to connect with team Delhi Daredevils fans on-ground, off-ground and now online. We hope Delhi Daredevils fans will enjoy the content being made available to them on the ‘Idea Delhi Daredevils Fan Page’ during the ongoing IPL season.”

     

     Idea subscribers can access the ‘Idea Delhi Daredevils Fan Page’ and download the content on pay per use model. To access the fan page, subscribers can dial a toll free short code 530301 to receive the WAP link. Videos can be downloaded for Rs 5 and wallpapers, photos and ringtones for Rs 2 each. Idea will also make available some content for free download for its subscribers. Regular data charges would apply for these downloads.

     

    “Idea’s long association with Delhi Daredevils is a reflection of our commitment to offer the best infotainment to mobile consumers in Delhi. This year again, Idea is taking the fans closer to their cricket heroes from team Delhi Daredevils by giving them an opportunity to watch the matches being played on the ground, meet and greet with players, and help them connect through the fan page on their mobile devices,” concluded Govil.

  • Music on the go for Idea Cellular subscribers

    Music on the go for Idea Cellular subscribers

    MUMBAI: Idea Cellular subscribers can now boast about unlimited access to music. The telecom service provider has launched Idea musicHUB, an offering that will add on the entertainment quotient of the subscribers.

     

    Idea musicHUB is an application which allows subscribers to download unlimited music to their devices, stream songs as per their preference and also create their own personalised playlists in their preferred language. The application will allow users to download unlimited music through fixed data packages.

     

    musicHUB will be advertisement free and will allow users to share songs via SMS, email and across all social networking platforms. The application is available to all Idea subscribers at nominal fee of Rs 29 for a week, Rs 49 for 15 days and Rs 99 for a month.

     

    “Mobile phones are increasingly becoming the first screen of many users across India. Idea Cellular caters to nearly 33 million data users across the length and breadth of the country and many of these users access the internet for entertainment purposes. Keeping this in mind, it has been our consistent effort to meet our users’ requirements through innovative entertainment offerings and services.  Idea musicHUB is another offering which is aimed at providing our subscribers the best in class entertainment experience at their fingertips. As consumption of entertainment on mobile phones increase we are hopeful that Idea musicHub will strike a chord with our customers,” said Idea Cellular chief marketing officer Sashi Shankar.