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Tag: South Asia

  • Saurabh Varma gets promoted as Leo Burnett South Asia CEO

    Saurabh Varma gets promoted as Leo Burnett South Asia CEO

    MUMBAI: Leo Burnett Asia Pacific CEO and Chairman Jarek Ziebinski announced Saurabh Varma as CEO of South Asia operations for his agency. Varma currently heads Leo Burnett’s India operations as the CEO.

     

    The appointment, effective as of 17 November, will see Varma take responsibility of  Leo Burnett agencies across Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

     

    “South Asia is an important region for Leo Burnett from our global strategy perspective. With Saurabh’s appointment, we want to further enhance connectivity of our operations across these dynamic markets to drive business growth for our clients and the agency” said Ziebinski.

     

    Commenting on his new role, Varma added, “We have incredible operations across Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. I look forward to working with some talented leaders to build new age specialist functions across all markets and create larger futures for our clients.”

     

    Prior to his role current role as Leo Burnett India CEO, Varma was the Asia-Pacific Chief Strategy Officer, where he oversaw all heads of strategy and planning directors in the region.

  • Discovery Kids to roll out new series ‘Luv Kushh’

    Discovery Kids to roll out new series ‘Luv Kushh’

    MUMBAI: Discovery Kids will be premiering a new series titled Luv Kushh on 9 November, 2015 at 1 pm. The series revolves around the twin brothers Luv and Kushh and will narrate their notorious tales of fun and adventure.

     

    Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific executive vice president and general manager South Asia Rahul Johri said, “Discovery Kids continues to entertain kids with its variety of programmes and genres, endearing characters and exciting story lines. The new series, Luv Kushh will take kids back to the era of gurukuls and recreate the age-old traditions of the student-teacher relationship.”

     

    The stories will take place in and around Valmiki’s ashram, located by the river Tamasa. The series shows the journey of the twins from growing up under the watchful eye of the sage and their mother. Apart from fun and frolic, the brothers are also tutored in martial arts. With instances of naughtiness, sneaking around, disobeying the rules of the ashram, or keeping their powers and adventures a secret from their mother Sita, the overall portrayal of the brothers is close to that of regular kids rather than all-powerful heroes.

  • MIB asks FM Phase III bidders to pay full amount by 1 October

    MIB asks FM Phase III bidders to pay full amount by 1 October

    NEW DELHI: All successful bidders for the 91 FM Radio channels in 54 cities that were announced yesterday in the first stage have been asked to pay the bid deposit – 25 per cent of the bid amount – by 21 September. The balance will have to be paid by 1 October. 

    Both amounts have to be paid by demand draft in the name of the Pay and Accounts Officer, Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

     

    At the same time, the Ministry warned that if the bid deposit is not received by the due date, the earnest money deposit (EMD) will be forfeited, and if the balance is not received by 1 October, the bid deposit and EMD will be forfeited.

     

    The Ministry also made it clear that this was without prejudice to any other action that it may take against defaulters.  

     

    While placing the results of 91 channels in fifty-four cities on the website of the Ministry, the frequency allocated and the successful bid amount was also stated.

     

    The Ministry said the results do not include the results of the bids by Sun TV, South Asia FM and Kal Radio in compliance with the orders of the Madras High Court.

     

    It also said the Centre had decided to file a special leave to appeal in the Supreme Court against the order of 26 July of the Delhi High Court of Delhi in the petitions by Digital Radio (Mumbai) Broadcasting Ltd. & Digital Radio (Delhi) Broadcasting Ltd. respectively.

     

    Even as the government withheld six results because of legal cases, Entertainment Network India Ltd (ENIL) emerged the largest gainer with 17 channels in its kitty. 

     

    Rajasthan Patrika Pvt Ltd, Reliance Broadcast Network and DB Corp Ltd got 14 channels each. Meanwhile, Music Broadcast Pvt Ltd has got 11 channels and HT Media has 10 channels. Digital Radio (Delhi) Broadcasting Ltd and Abhijeet Realtors and Infraventures Pvt Ltd got two channels each.

     

    Others who have successful bid and got one channel each are Digital Radio (Mumbai) Broadcasting Pvt Ltd, Renderlive Films and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, Sarthak Films Pvt Ltd, Abir Buildcon Pvt Ltd, Mathrubhumi Printing and Publishing Co Pvt Ltd and Odisha Television Ltd.

     

    The auction was stopped on the 33rd day after just one round, with 97 channels in 56 cities became provisional winning channels with cumulative provisional winning price of about Rs 1156.9 crore against their aggregate reserve price of about Rs 459.8 crore.

  • Mindshare south Asia elevates Vinod Thadani

    Mindshare south Asia elevates Vinod Thadani

    MUMBAI: Mindshare, part of GroupM, has appointed Vinod Thadani as its chief digital officer – south Asia. In his new role, Thadani will be responsible for managing the agency’s full-service digital offerings for existing clients as well as bringing in new business to the agency.

     

    With over fifteen years of media experience, Thadani is responsible for setting up the largest mobile practice at GroupM in 2008 and winning media awards in the mobile category across all major award functions – IDMA, Emvies, DMA, IAMAI, Goa Fest, Campaign India, MMA, Yahoo Big Chair and Festival Of Media.

     

    Prior to moving to Mindshare south Asia, he was the chief executive officer of Madhouse India (a joint venture between WPP and Madhouse China) and played a crucial role in setting up India’s largest mobile advertising and marketing company. He worked closely with over 100 clients like Intel, Idea, VW, Panasonic, Titan, Britannia, Google, LIC, Siemens, ITC, Flipkart, Nestle, Make My Trip, Hungama.com and media conglomerates such as GroupM, OMG, Percept & Ignitee.

     

    Welcoming him to the team, Mindshare south Asia leader Ravi Rao said, “Vinod has always managed to stay ahead of the curve with his in-depth knowledge and continuous innovation. We are extremely glad to have him on board and are confident he will take Mindshare to greater avenues.”

     

    Thadani said, “With the eminent growth of over 40 per cent in digital advertising, the future of marketing lies in seamless integration of core traditional media with digital and mobile media. Mindshare boasts of an impressive client roster with some of the biggest brands in the world, and I look forward to working with each of them and the team on their digital mandates.”

     

    Thadani is also an empanelled member of the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) and plays a pivotal role in the MMA’s South Asian operations. He has been a regular speaker and conference chair at several domestic and international industry events, giving his point of view and expert opinions in the role of mobile in the marketing value chain.

  • “A holistic viewing experience with VAS will enlist consumer loyalty, moving forward”

    “A holistic viewing experience with VAS will enlist consumer loyalty, moving forward”

    MUMBAI: Having spent nearly 25 years in this industry, if there is one thing that has been constant over these years is the fact that there has never been a single dull moment! It’s a memorable journey which I live, learn and grow with every passing day.

     

    Whilst I have actively represented many genres in entertainment what comes naturally to me is movies, and so to be part of an iconic brand like HBO, is not only an honour but a dream come true! The path-breaking work HBO has done globally is truly a benchmark we aspire to match and go beyond in this part of the world as well.

     

    With growing fragmentation of this genre in India coupled with the tall challenge of not having much content differentiation between one channel and the other, it clearly calls out the need to bring something different to the consumer. In fact, the harsh reality of the day is that if one were to put their hand on the logo of a movie channel, one would never know which channel they were watching! Hence, I strongly believe that in the current context where lines of consumer loyalty are blurring, offering a holistic viewing experience with value added services would most certainly enlist consumer loyalty, moving forward. And this is exactly what we at HBO are currently doing and possibly paving a way for others to follow as well.

     

    Over the years, HBO has graduated from being a leading ‘Hollywood channel’ to one of the most celebrated ‘Premium Entertainment Experiences’. HBO has redefined television viewing in India through its latest offering of two 100% ad-free Premium Channels- HBO Defined and HBO Hits. Our vision is to create a cinema-like experience in the comfort of your home. In terms of content, we at HBO aim to strike a fine balance between blockbuster titles that rate year after year and our “differentiators” – critically acclaimed ‘HBO Original’ shows and movies.  Now with innovative services like ‘HBO on demand’, the subscription video on demand (SVOD) service offered for free exclusively to subscribers of the HBO Premium Channels- HBO Defined and HBO Hits- on Tata Sky, we are taking the premium experience a step further. ‘HBO on demand’ provides flexibility, choice, and convenience to subscribers, putting them in complete control of what they watch, when they watch, and how they watch. ‘HBO on demand’ will give HBO Premium Subscribers access to a wide selection of HBO original content with the convenience to watch what they like, when they like. Indian audiences no longer want to be limited to viewing content at specific times and want great flexibility and choice. The HBO Premium offering is aiming to fill that need.

     

    Having said that, we have to also admit that unfortunately, it’s not such a walk in the park and in hindsight, I guess it was never meant to be! Whilst digitisation has paved the way for players like us to come out with new revenue models, the on-ground reality with the cable fraternity leaves much to be desired. Until the marriage of MSOs and LCOs doesn’t get sorted in an amicable way, it would be testing our strengths for making these revenue models work. The need of the hour is for digital cable platforms to adopt learnings from DTH platforms and apply the same to fix some of the on-ground challenges. There definitely exists an opportunity for all platforms to address their growth against the backdrop of the ARPU challenge and I think, we all believe revenue-sharing models can be one of the ways forward. However, to make that happen, we need some tangible steps taken on the ground.

     

    Being an eternal optimist and seeing the glass always half full, I sincerely hope that these problems will fade away soon and I do see some baby steps being taken in that direction which will surely pave the way forward.

     

    If I had a genie asking me two wishes; firstly, I would ask for DTH platforms to have more bandwidth and secondly, I would ask for digital cable platforms to be more technology-ready and have a stronger customer value proposition.

     

    Some may argue that genies don’t exist so these wishes may not come true, but I believe the bottle has been opened and it’s just a matter of time before he comes out and grants me these wishes!

     

    (Monica Tata, managing director of HBO South Asia, was the Guest Editor Of the Day at Indiantelevision.com and the views expressed are her own.)

  • Leo Burnett’s Arvind Sharma grills Group M south Asia CEO CVL Srinivas

    Leo Burnett’s Arvind Sharma grills Group M south Asia CEO CVL Srinivas

    It was in early 2012 that CVL Srinivas (fondly called Srini) succeeded Vikram Sakhuja as GroupM South Asia CEO. At the time, GroupM AP CEO Mark Patterson and Srini’s boss had said that he was their first choice for the role, and that he had the skills, personality, relationships and attitude to build the business on strategy, and with his own style and ideas as well.

     

    For Srini, it was an opportunity to go back to an organization where he had learnt the ropes and mastered the rules of the game. Since Srinivas took charge, a lot of changes were made in the agency to up the ante in the competitive market scenario. Indiantelevision.com’s Guest Editor of the day, outgoing chairman of Leo Burnett, Arvind Sharma spoke to his old friend, Srini, to see how the agency has done so far…

     

    Srini, it has been just over a year since you took over as CEO of Group M in the country. What was the strategy and what were the priorities you set as the new CEO?

     

    Clearly, our agency brands are the real heroes in the market. GroupM is only the support structure that leverages the overall scale of the business. The first priority was to help our agency brands to leverage the knowledge and expertise of GroupM, support them with best practices, and help push their business further.

     

    The next priority was and still continues to be our focus on the New Core, that is,  Digital, Content, Trading, Analytics and Experiential Marketing, with a greater focus on Digital. Digital is no longer a ‘nice to have’ but is an integral part of a brand’s communication strategy, content and plans. We started our digital practice 12 years ago, and have the early mover advantage. However, in 2013, we really scaled it up to a much higher level with the ‘New Me’ initiative, beginning with a change in mindsets. We laid out a three-year plan, and we have made incredible progress in year one.  It is a continuous effort that integrates traditional core media practices with the new core like digital and social media, content, search, analytics, etc.

     

    Our third focus area has been our younger employees, who really are the future of the industry.  We introduced the YCO (Youth Committee) last year that works very closely with the EXCO (senior leadership) at GroupM. This project was in fact piloted in India. The YCO has made a significant contribution in the very first year. These bright young minds from our agencies and specialist practices are now part of the decision-making process. They are really our feet on the street, bringing in a slew of fresh ideas and insights.

     

    Did execution of this strategy involve structural changes at the agency? What were they?

     

    Keeping in mind our ‘New Me’ vision in 2013, there was greater organizational focus on the New Core- Digital, Content, Trading, Analytics and Experiential Marketing. We began embedding New Core talent within our agency brands and will continue the effort in 2014 as well.

     

    We also looked at a more simplified structure to ensure focus on new core areas. For example, as our business evolved, we realized that certain units need to be restructured to create a lean and agile team. We merged two of our units, Dialogue Factory and Dialect, to build a single activations powerhouse – Dialogue Factory. Today, Dialogue Factory has the expertise to plan and execute any and every aspect of experiential marketing, ranging from high-end luxury events to focussed rural outreach programs.

     

    Would you share the progress Group M has made in terms of the strategic priorities set by you?

     

    Our agencies and specialist units have had a significant year. We won over 80 new businesses in 2013 and managed to retain some key clients. We dominated the domestic and international industry awards last year, with our agencies and specialist units winning an award every other day.  All our agencies rank high as per the recent 2013 RECMA ratings. To cap this performance, last year, we were awarded the Porter Prize, making us the ‘only’ media and advertising agency to win the Award.

     

    Keeping in mind our focus on digital and the new core via ‘New Me’, our digital contribution grew by 50 per cent last year.

     

    We have rolled out several unique initiatives in the talent space. Over the years, GroupM Aspire has established itself as a best-in-class training and development programme. We have introduced several interesting programmes in Aspire and have linked it to our new vision.  Basis the inputs we got from our Y-Co, we brought in several new welfare measures. We were recently crowned the “Dream Company to Work for” in the Media & Entertainment sector at the World HRD Congress.

     

    One and a half years later, do you see the need for any tweaks in your strategy?

     

    In today’s market, GroupM’s agility, coupled with our deep understanding of the market is what is keeping us ahead. Having said that, evolution is the only constant, and as the media landscape changes, bringing us new opportunities and challenges, we will need to evolve ourselves and some of our practices.

     

    2013 was generally a tough year for the industry. How do you see 2014 panning out?

     

    While 2013 was a challenging year, it did bring in a lot of opportunities. The slowdown of the economy and uncertainties  surrounding policy put a lot of pressure on our clients and their media budgets, and we did take a lot of course corrective action in the middle of 2013. The year also gave us the opportunity to see some great innovation across planning and buying, developing new proprietary tools, diversifying our talent and building some interesting partnerships.

     

    We are cautiously optimistic about the media industry in 2014. The GroupM TYNY 2014 forecasts the AdEx to grow at 11.6 per cent with the highest growth percentage for Digital at 35 per cent followed by Television at 12 per cent. Sectors like FMCG, Auto and Retail will continue to be stable. We will see an increase in rural spending by several sectors like FMCG and Telecom, and with that, we also plan to expand GroupM’s offerings geographically. The first half of the year will continue to be uncertain, given the general economic and political environment, however, we foresee a stronger second half with an upsurge in ad spends across categories.

     

    We will continue to focus on our New Core offerings including Digital, Content, Trading, Analytics and Experiential Marketing. Our agencies have already done some ground-breaking work in the first quarter with branded content and digital media.

  • Turner Broadcasting system and Trans Media to launch CNN Indonesia

    Turner Broadcasting system and Trans Media to launch CNN Indonesia

    MUMBAI: Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific, Inc. and PT Trans Media Corpora have today announced a strategic partnership to launch CNN Indonesia, a 24-hour news channel and accompanying website in Bahasa Indonesia. This ground-breaking channel will be the first of its kind for CNN in Southeast Asia, delivering a localized version of CNN’s unique brand of high-quality news to the region’s most populous nation.

     

    Jeff Zucker, CNN Worldwide President, said: “This agreement with one of the country’s largest media corporations puts  CNN  in  a  unique position to  reach millions  of  Indonesians in  a  way that  we  have  not  been able  to previously. The  combination  of  the  strength  of  the  worldwide  newsgathering  power  of  CNN  with  the  local perspective and sensibility that Trans Media will bring to the partnership enables us to provide important news and information to this enormous, non-English speaking audience.”

     

    Chairul Tanjung, Founder and Chairman of Trans Media’s parent company, CT Corp, added: “I believe this partnership will help Indonesians to better understand the world and even more importantly, also help the world to better understand Indonesia. This is a partnership of two like-minded organisations who share common values of quality, integrity and transparency. CNN Indonesia will be the new destination for trustworthy and engaging content.”

     

    The TV channel will be accompanied by a strong digital presence, including CNNIndonesia.com. With more than 100 million Indonesians expected to be online by 2016, a multi-platform brand will be a vital and complementary component to the on-air offering.

     

    In addition to engaging leading local journalists to generate compelling coverage, the channel will also tap into CNN International’s vast pool of journalistic talent and share content from global affiliate partnerships. Trans Media will operate CNN Indonesia from its facilities in Jakarta. A launch date will be announced in due course.

  • 22nd Convergence India 2014 expo ends today

    22nd Convergence India 2014 expo ends today

    MUMBAI: Convergence India 2014 expo, South Asia’s largest ICT, media, entertainment and applications industry expo, was inaugurated by Hon’ble Member of Parliament and Former Union Minister, Shri Syed Shahnawaz Hussain at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Syed Shahnawaz Hussain had said, “I am pleased to be present at this important platform that recognizes the potential of the evolving telecommunications, media and entertainment industry and its contribution in boosting the economy, and overall growth of the nation”.
     

    Following this, Dr. Rahul Khullar, Chairman, TRAI set the agenda for the three day expo by opening the floor for dialogue on “Connecting India”, the theme for the 22nd edition of Convergence India 2014. The inaugural ceremony also saw industry leaders such as N Ravi Shankar (Special Secretary & Administrator, USOF, DoT), Anupam Shrivastava ( Director (CM) & CMD (Designate), BSNL), Umang Das, Chief Mentor, Viom Networks Ltd., Rajan S Mathews, ( Director General, Cellular Operators Association of India ), Pankaj Mohindroo (National President, Indian Cellular Association) and Rajiv Bawa (Country Head, Telenor).
     

    The 1stTelecom summit 2014 on “Home Grown Technologies and Skills’ was inaugurated on the day 2 of the 22nd Convergence India, 2014 expo. The summit was jointly organized by Telecom Centers of Excellence (TCOE), Telecom Sector Skill Council (TSSC)and Exhibitions India Group and was supported by Government of India (DoT &DeitY), service providers, manufacturers, training partners, industry associations and academia.
     

    The day 3 of 22nd Convergence India 2014 witnessed the first of its kind Afro-Asian Media Summit which was chaired by Mr. Phil Molefe, Vetran South African Broadcaster. In his address, he said, “Geographical boundaries have fallen away and we are now one big media community driven by the power of technology. We have to be committed, skilled and innovative to capitalize the abounding opportunities”.
     

    This dynamic initiative will create opportunities of partnerships, investments, support and many more collaborations. With this platform in place, there can be an exchange of ideas, expertise between the two nations.
     

    Mr. Albertus Aochamub, President SABA, said, “This is a partnership of equals. Both India and Africa have common history, struggles and challenges. India is a hub of skilled personnel and with the help of media, technology and other ICT tools, both the countries can learn from each other.”

    Mr. Rahul Nehra, Co-Founder Afro Asia-Media Summit, announced the launch of Afro-Asian Media Awards 2015. He said, “We are taking the first step in driving excellence through the awards. We need to felicitate people of our own continents for the work they do”.
     

    H.E. Dr. Perks Ligoya, High Commissioner of Malawi, said “I feel honored to be in the First Afro-Asian Media Summit. This event comes at a very good time”. He also commented on how through e-learning, e-health, e-money, e-commerce, Africa and India can benefit from each other.

     
    In addition, 22nd Convergence India 2014 also witnessed a seminar on FTTH Council Asia-Pacific, also strategic partner of Convergence India this year. The theme for the seminar was ‘Fiber for Convergence’ and offered great opportunities to the participants to network & collaborate while providing consistent information on FTTH from industry experts.

     
     Some of the prominent speakers were N Ravi Shankar, CMD, Special Secretary & Administrator, USOF, DoT, Anil Pande, Director, Dura-Line, Anuj Jain, PWC and Vipin Tyagi, C-DOT.

     
    Prem Behl, Chairman, Exhibitions India Group said, “With this 22nd Convergence India 2014, the roadmap for telecom, media and entertainment industry has been outlined and we will continue to contribute towards the changes and development of these sectors as the journey continues.”

  • New shows, movies and exciting contests all month long on Cartoon Network & POGO

    New shows, movies and exciting contests all month long on Cartoon Network & POGO

    MUMBAI: Turner International India is pulling out all the stops to continue its reign in 2014 in the kids’ genre with new content, magnanimous contests and ultimate entertainment on POGO and Cartoon Network! Kids are in for an unbridled dose of humour, adventure and excitement with new and popular characters!

     

    CARTOON NETWORK

     

    Defeat bad guys and win loads of prizes this Republic Day by tuning-in to special Roll No. 21 and Oggy and the Cockroaches episodes all day long! That’s not all! Every half an hour kids will get a chance to win exciting prizes on the Republic Day weekend. All they have to do is tune in to Cartoon Network from 12pm onwards on January 25 & 26, 2014 to win the treasured prizes.

    Be ready to enjoy Fridays like never before with Oggy’s Fun Friday. Get a chance to win a fun day out with your friends at the movies, shop till you drop, eat out with your friends and many more prizes including exclusive Cartoon Network merchandise. All kids have to do is tune-in to Cartoon Network every Friday throughout the month from 1pm onwards and answer the simple game based questions!

    Bringing kids more of their favourite shows, new episodes of Roll No. 21 continue to air at 1pm, Oggy and the Cockroaches wreck mayhem at 5pm and Cartoon Network Popcorn entertains with the best movies on weekends at 12pm. For more fun, keep tooning in to Cartoon Network and www.cartoonnetworkindia.com.

    POGO
     
    POGO has a new superhero this year who is cute, funny, naughty and haughty. Catch the adventures of Obochama Kun, a brand new series every Monday to Friday at 12pm on POGO.

    It’s double celebrations on POGO on January 26, 2014. In addition to celebrating Republic Day, POGO is also premiering a new movie called Chhota Bheem – Neeli Pahaadi at 12pm! Kids can also win exciting merchandise by participating in the Republic Day contest from January 20-26 every day from 10am onwards only on POGO.

    Everyone’s favourite laddoo-eating superhero Chhota Bheem has nonstop entertainment in store for his fans. Tune in to the Chhota Bheem Film Festival on POGO from January 15 to 25 every day at 5pm for back-to-back movies.

    Krishna Desai, Sr. Director & Network Head – Kids, South Asia, Turner International India Pvt. Ltd. said, “Every year we aim to bring shows and characters that captivate and entertain children. This year as well, we have an exciting blend of new and popular shows, movies and franchises coupled with engaging contests and online activations that is sure resonate with kids. We are thrilled to be the genre leader in 2013 and will make every stride to ensure the same in 2014.”   

    So buckle your seatbelt because it is going to be an exhilarating ride replete with new shows and movies, exciting contest with over the top prizes and more of your favourite cartoons!