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Tag: Zapak

  • Zapak and Cartoon Network India partner to launch ‘Ben 10 – Alien Run’ mobile game

    Zapak and Cartoon Network India partner to launch ‘Ben 10 – Alien Run’ mobile game

    MUMBAI: Anil D. Ambani led Reliance Entertainment’s Zapak, India’s leading Gaming Destination, in association with Cartoon Network India, rings in the New Year with an epic launch for fans and gamers alike, with Ben 10 – Alien Run Mobile Game. It is the first game for this year to be released in partnership with kids’ favourite channel, with more in the pipeline for enthusiastic fans and gaming buffs.

    The game features Ben – a superhero kid on a pursuit to take on powerful villains with the help of his mysterious watch called Omnitrix. Drawing from what kids love i.e. Super Powers; Ben 10 – Alien Run promises to capture kids’ imagination through multiple characters, their super abilities and provide edge of the seat gameplay experience.

    “Conquering inter-galactic quests, transforming into powerful aliens and saving the earth from malicious forces, is the very DNA of the popular franchise. We are delighted to launch ‘Ben 10 – Alien Run’, which combines all of the show’s adventure and fun with Zapak’s capabilities to give fans a great immersive gaming experience,” said Amit Khanduja, Chief Executive Officer, Reliance Entertainment- Digital.

    Fans and gamers can explore exciting adventures, playing as their favourite superhero Ben! Transforming into aliens with extraordinary powers, here’s what players get to do –

    • Collect Coins on the run, which can be used to upgrade the duration of power-ups and transform into various aliens

    • Collect power-ups like Magnets Shield and Double Coins, and Mystery Boxes that have character Tokens to unlock all the Alien Transformations

    • Participate in daily challenges and complete various missions for extra rewards

    • Collect single-use items like Hoverboard and Rustbucket to boost sprint or even claim FREE Mystery Boxes every few hours, to win exciting prizes and giveaways

    Fans don’t just get to go on exciting adventures as Ben, but also challenge themselves to beat their highest scores as well – with every run.

    It’s Hero Time!

  • Sports Flashes ropes in Saregama’s / Network18’s Sinha as CTO

    MUMBAI: Keshaw Sinha has become the chief technology officer (CTO) of Sports Flashes, one of the top sports apps of the country. He was the chief technology officer of the music label Saregama in his last assignment and has earlier been the Head of Technology at Network 18 and Zapak. He is also the Co-founder of the app along with Raman Raheja who is the Chief Executive Officer of the firm as well.

    An IITian Mumbai Alumni, Sinha leverages over 20 years of experience in product and technology in various sections like Media & Entertainment, VAS, Online Gaming, Product Development, Financial Market & Analysis, Retail, Telecommunication, Pre-Press etc. His previous work stint included brands like pH Solutions (Mumbai-based product and service firm), Network18 where he launched and improvised on FirstPost.com & moneycontrol.com, Zapak (gaming portal of the Reliance ADAG), Patni Computers and Qwest Corporation.

    Sinha will be responsible for building and developing the product further for better user experience. “Keshaw has been a master of creating & mentoring landmark products in the digital space and it’s a pleasure to have him on board as the CTO. His skills would help us grow further by leaps and bounds,” said Raheja.

    Sinha’s future plans also include launching Sports Flashes in various global markets. “Sports is seeing a revolution of sorts in India and I would like to see Sports Flashes lead the Digital Revolution in the Sports Industry,” added Sinha.

    Available in five languages, Sports Flashes was launched in August 2016. It has already reached a mark of 200,000 users and 4.5 million screen views in just 150 days. Pegged as a One stop Sports App for ‘Everything about Sports’, it had started with 70-words trending stories and now carries the Sports Flashes TV that shows many domestic & International sports events live besides live match scores, ball by ball commentary, tips by champions like Sushil Kumar, gossips from the sports world and astro predictions.

  • Manveer Singh Malhi joins Digital Marketing and Technology Company iGenero as Partner

    Manveer Singh Malhi joins Digital Marketing and Technology Company iGenero as Partner

    NEW DELHI: Experienced brand strategist Manveer Singh Malhi has come on board Hyderabad-based digital interaction agency iGenero to focus on scaling up the business, expand the team and ensure the teams stays up to date on the latest digital and technological innovations and initiations. 

    Singh, trained in creating online strategies for businesses and entertainment houses, has in the recent past been  awarded as Top Social Media Professional of India by CMO Asia in 2015 and Digital Marketing Professional of the Year in 2016 by Global Youth Marketing Forum.

    In his career of more than eight years he has conceptualized and devised online media strategies and solutions for brands like Zapak, BigFlix, MTV, Reliance, Imagine TV, Iproperty.com, PIX Television, Fun Cinemas, Costa Cruises India, Everest Entertainment and many more. Manveer has efficiently helped more than 100+ brands adopt new media to derive strong and trackable business results. He was also the faculty for digital at SAE Institute and was invited to speak at various digital media workshops. 

    iGenero Co-Founder Karan S Kumar said, “We have been able to provide vital and measureable digital marketing plans and web development solutions to our clients. Manveer’s in depth knowledge and experience in digital marketing will enable us to enrich our delivery to existing clients and also serve exceptional plans to future clients.”

    “Manveer will be able to manoeuvre the team towards increasing their capacity to achieving robust business results for our clients. He has worked with us at SocialSamosa.com as business head in past where he helped to scale the business within a short span of one year”, added iGenero co-founder Aditya Gupta.

    Malhi said: “I’m delighted to join iGenero and am looking forward to sharing my expertise with the team. Digital has now become an integral part of all marketing and business initiatives for brands, it is no longer a secondary choice. At such a crucial stage of the digital industry’s growth, by using iGenero’s technological strength I hope to contribute in amplifying the output for all the clients. “

  • Manveer Singh Malhi joins Digital Marketing and Technology Company iGenero as Partner

    Manveer Singh Malhi joins Digital Marketing and Technology Company iGenero as Partner

    NEW DELHI: Experienced brand strategist Manveer Singh Malhi has come on board Hyderabad-based digital interaction agency iGenero to focus on scaling up the business, expand the team and ensure the teams stays up to date on the latest digital and technological innovations and initiations. 

    Singh, trained in creating online strategies for businesses and entertainment houses, has in the recent past been  awarded as Top Social Media Professional of India by CMO Asia in 2015 and Digital Marketing Professional of the Year in 2016 by Global Youth Marketing Forum.

    In his career of more than eight years he has conceptualized and devised online media strategies and solutions for brands like Zapak, BigFlix, MTV, Reliance, Imagine TV, Iproperty.com, PIX Television, Fun Cinemas, Costa Cruises India, Everest Entertainment and many more. Manveer has efficiently helped more than 100+ brands adopt new media to derive strong and trackable business results. He was also the faculty for digital at SAE Institute and was invited to speak at various digital media workshops. 

    iGenero Co-Founder Karan S Kumar said, “We have been able to provide vital and measureable digital marketing plans and web development solutions to our clients. Manveer’s in depth knowledge and experience in digital marketing will enable us to enrich our delivery to existing clients and also serve exceptional plans to future clients.”

    “Manveer will be able to manoeuvre the team towards increasing their capacity to achieving robust business results for our clients. He has worked with us at SocialSamosa.com as business head in past where he helped to scale the business within a short span of one year”, added iGenero co-founder Aditya Gupta.

    Malhi said: “I’m delighted to join iGenero and am looking forward to sharing my expertise with the team. Digital has now become an integral part of all marketing and business initiatives for brands, it is no longer a secondary choice. At such a crucial stage of the digital industry’s growth, by using iGenero’s technological strength I hope to contribute in amplifying the output for all the clients. “

  • Reliance Entertainment Digital partners with Personagraph to drive value for game developers, advertisers

    Reliance Entertainment Digital partners with Personagraph to drive value for game developers, advertisers

    MUMBAI: Reliance Entertainment Digital, comprising World Wide Open, Zapak, BigFlix and Reliance Games, has partnered with Personagraph to drive more value for advertisers by utilising mobile specific segments, both from the brand and brand performance perspective. The company’s three large publishers i.e. Reliance Games, Zapak, and BigFlix, will be utilising Personagraph’s Privacy Compliant SDK toolkit for monetisation, using its predictive audience segments product line.

     

    With Personagraph, which is transparent and privacy complaint, publishers can own their data. The partnership would mean greater opportunity in an ecosystem that is capable of leveraging user insights to drive higher relevance, context and personalisation in mobile, both at the publisher and advertiser end, while using a single data source.

     

    WWO and Personagraph are partnering to bring a Data/Audience driven Private Marketplace (PMP) specifically targeting Mobile Developers in India.  A private marketplace is an exchange derivative that is selective about how and what inventory is brought in to the platform, and similarly which marketers are being provided access to brands transparently with audience attached to every impression. The Private Marketplace will be open for Mobile Developers with clear instructions on ad viewability, sizing, brand transparency, etc. while marketers will be allowed buy in to the inventory via guaranteed and non-guaranteed means.

     

    This PMP will

     

      *   Allow to leapfrog the age old ad network model in India and bring transparency today by create a scaled marketplace model

     

      *   Bring audience at scale with the right reach and data embedded on every impression

     

      *   Bring clear value for Ad impressions to bear between marketers and game developers

     

      *   Allow game developers to have full transparency over how marketers value their impressions unlike ad network models

     

    By using the Personagraph technology and with WWO demand already built in to the marketplace, the Mobile Development community can access growing and consistent revenue for advertising monetization now and going forward as we bring more publisher side partners and marketers to the platform.

  • Allied Media appoints Saurabh Gupta in his new role as business head

    Allied Media appoints Saurabh Gupta in his new role as business head

    MUMBAI: In his new role as business head, digital media Saurabh will be responsible for providing holistic digital solutions for all clients of Percept Media and also only Digital direct clients. He would be taking care of India region, and integrate digital in the marcom solutions of all Percept Group clients.

    With his experience of almost 10 years in the industry, he has worked with renowned companies like Reliance Entertainment Digital and Wipro Technologies. He played a major role in Zapak Digital as national sales head and has serviced brands like PepsiCo (Change the Game Campaign and Pepsi T20 Football), Mountain Dew (Dew Extreme Tours, Hrithik launch and MTV Roadies Integration), Michelin Tires (Malaysia Pilot Experience, Lemans), Airtel (F1 Online Activity) and many more

    He is a professional with qualitative experience in brand building, business development, sales, process implementation, client servicing and team management.

    Allied Media CEO Shripad Kulkarni said, “It’s not about digital marketing but a fresh way of looking at marketing to digital savvy customers of our clients. So, we will have two digital teams – a digital strategy team which is a part of the core strategy team of Percept Media and a business team”.

    On the digital strategy, business head – digital Saurabh Gupta added, “Digital media behaves in a very different form factors according to businesses and categories. But, most businesses are shortsighted and consider digital media as only a marcom instrument. We are here to change the way brands perceive digital as a medium and transform the entire marketing making it a catalyst to achieve business objective and transform the brand life stage. Our digital strategy blueprint will be: digital led business re-engineering customised for brands.”

  • Reliance Entertainment Digital has its eye on English entertainment content

    Reliance Entertainment Digital has its eye on English entertainment content

    Reliance Entertainment Digital CEO Manish Agarwal is pretty excited about his company’s date with MipCom this year.  Says he:  “We want to understand the market and its offering and how relevant it is for the digital business. We are always in search of some interesting and innovative content.” 

    For Agarwal, who is into content publishing, participation in Mipcom is likely to become an integral part of doing business, though his company is participating in it for the first time.
    “It gives us an opportunity to explore the large variety of content which we need for the various platforms like BigFlix, Zapak etc. We will obviously focus on networking with more content providers and aggregators across the globe,” says he.

     Reliance Entertainment Digital which launched its over the top (OTT) service BigFlix last year is sorted in terms of Indian programming and now wants add on international content in more genres and languages.

     “We want to expand our offerings to the consumer. Participating in Mipcom will help us explore more opportunities,” he says.

    We want to expand our offerings to the consume and participating in Mipcom will help us explore more opportunities believes Manish Agarwal

     Agarwal says that an increasing group of young Indian consumers is gorging on digitised content on hand held devices and on their PCs. “It is essential for Indian service providers to experiment with new type of content across genres and content-types. And it is just not that Indians will consume only trailers or paparazzi content, they will also look at different content and so we want to explore with a variety of content,” he highlights.

     The focus this year at Mipcom he emphasises will be on acquiring entertainment content – especially that which originates from English speaking nations or with English subtitles.
    “This will be entertainment for English speaking audiences, entertainment for masses and for kids. This is the reason we are going not only for Mipcom, but also for Mip Junior,” he informs.

    For those visiting Mipcom to sell gaming content, expect the Reliance Entertainment 

    representative at your stall. “We will also look at gaming content or gaming IPs on which games can be created. So we are aiming at kids entertainment both in gaming and VOD content which caters to everyone or in niche segments in the country,” says he. “In terms of gaming IPs, since we are present across the globe, we will go for any IP which is popular. So we will be hunting for any IP across different markets in order to get a license to create mobile games

     The OTT service which delivers its content online to connected devices – a la NetFlix in the US – is looking at stacking up its video-on-demand (VOD) menu. “This can subsume movies-on-demand, TV-serials-on-demand and animations-on-demand. And for gaming again we are looking at the mobile platforms.”

    And the company is shopping cheque book in hand. So sellers will indeed be kept busy by this emerging digital giant from India.

  • Reliance Ent integrates home video and Zapak Games

    Reliance Ent integrates home video and Zapak Games

    MUMBAI: In order to maximise its group synergies, Reliance Entertainment has integrated the toys and games business under Zapak Games with Reliance Home Video.

    Reliance Entertainment has produced films like Bodyguard, Singham and Double Dhamaal.

    The new entity, known as Reliance Home Video and Games, will ensure growth of both home video and games business with enhanced funding, improved infrastructure and larger product offerings, the company said.

    Speaking on the merger Reliance Home Video and Games COO Sweta Agnihotri said, “The broad market dynamics for Home Video and Games are similar in terms of consumer demographics, marketing and distribution of products. The consumer demands a more gratifying experience. They want their entertainment to be participative, immersive and experiential. The addition of games and toys to our existing home video business adds one more dimension to this enhanced consumer fulfillment. 

    “With favourable sector dynamics, the Indian toy market is seeing a paradigm shift; there is a growing preference for international brands and the Indian market is being propelled by a larger kid‘s population, rising disposable incomes and aspirational lifestyles. Gaming is another rapidly growing segment which we are excited to be in. We will of course continue to dominate the home video business by bringing the finest films in home entertainment from across the world. We believe that Reliance Home Video and Games will be a long term player with incredible brand equity, experienced teams and investment capabilities which will be beneficial to all concerned.”

    Reliance Home Video distributes both Indian and Hollywood products. It is an exclusive licensee to Warner Bros, Paramount Studios, Universal Studios and Dreamworks for all their new and catalogue films and has released blockbusters such as 3Idiots, Bodyguard, Dabangg, Harry Potter series, Transformers series, Fast and Furious franchise among others on home video.

    Zapak Games, meanwhile, has grown in the toy and games segment over the past four years and distributes merchandise, games and toys from leading international toys and gaming companies like Moose, Spinmasters, Codemasters, Jakks Pacific and Crayola.

    Reliance said that the new entity would benefit all stake holders with presence in toys, games and home video all under one roof and make their network the most versatile and influential network in the personal leisure and entertainment space in India.

  • ‘Working on an umbrella brand strategy is a good way to build a presence in the entertainment space’ : Rajesh Sawhney – Reliance Entertainment President

    ‘Working on an umbrella brand strategy is a good way to build a presence in the entertainment space’ : Rajesh Sawhney – Reliance Entertainment President

    As 2007 comes to a close, Reliance Entertainment president Rajesh Sawhney is an apt choice for our year-ending interview, not necessarily in the context of what Anil Ambani’s company has done in the broadcast space this year, but because of the expectations from industry, going forward.

     

    On the television front, the journey of being a broadcaster starts next year with the launch of two movie channels (first Hindi and later English), a logical extension from Reliance ADAG’s existing film production and distribution business. The broadcast piece will add to a list that ranges from multiplexes to movies, home video, FM radio, direct-to-home (DTH) and IPTV.

     

    On radio, the aim is to consolidate its position. It will also be active in distribution with its DTH platform coming up. Thomas Abraham and Ashwin Pinto caught up with Sawhney to find out about the plans and the kind of impact that Reliance is looking to have on the entertainment space.

     

    Excerpts:

    Firstly, 2007 was the year when Reliance Entertainment sowed the seeds for what is to come. What were the landmarks for this year?
    We are a young player only two years old. Our journey into entertainment kicked off with the Adlabs acquisition. Then we moved into radio in 2006. We started rolling it out by the end of last year. Then we moved into other ventures like Zapak, our gaming portal. From my perspective, we are still in the incubation phase and the larger consideration is that the entertainment and media industry is where telecom was five years back. The media industry will be worth $25 billion in five years time. A lot of value creation will happen in the coming five years similar to what was seen in telecom.

     

    The second big thing will be the emergence of digital entertainment. Platforms are now set. This will be a large driver.

     

    The third thing is that with the economy growing at 10 per cent, the Indian consumer is spending more and more on entertainment. The first indication of this is the multiplex boom. Now even monies spent on entertainment at home like DVD rentals, pay per view are growing.

     

    The entertainment industry is worth $ 11-12 billion out of a trillion dollar economy, which means 1 per cent of the economy. Globally it is 3 per cent. In the US, it is 5 per cent. If we take the telecom parallel, revenue is 3-4 per cent. In India it is 2.5 per cent. India has a convergence deficit in this sense. This is where the real opportunity is going forward.

     

    I see Indian players having strengths in certain verticals. Some are strong in print, others in movies while others focus on radio. Nobody is building a comprehensive brand presence across media. This strategy would allow you to capture the three per cent deficit. This is what we are chasing.

    What is the kind of impact that Reliance is hoping to have on the entertainment space across the different verticals?
    Let us take the movie industry. It is on a huge cusp of change. If you go back 10 years there were no multiplexes, no DVD formats. Home entertainment will be the next value driver for the movie industry in the coming decade. DVD and home entertainment revenues are the biggest source of revenue for Hollywood. Here it is less than 10 per cent. We are going through the first phase which is theatrical revenues. Home entertainment will be the next phase.

     

    For this you need concepts like Big Flicks which will make organised retailing possible. It will make home entertainment delivery through broadband, DTH, IPTV possible. Pay per view revenues will be created for the Indian movie industry. Content in the long tail form across different platforms will offer more choice. The companies who are preparing for this will gain big time as far as the movie industry is concerned.

     

    The second revolution happening in the Indian movie industry is on the content side. So production values have risen. Talent is getting a huge amount of value which is getting aligned to global values. Content will get value from overseas markets, home entertainment, satellite markets. A $10 million movie has become the norm. I can see a situation where $100 million movie is viable but this will take time to happen. You will see Hollywood and Bollywood collaborating more.

    How will Reliance benefit from the synergy between Reliance Communication and Reliance Entertainment?
    Reliance Communication is building distribution capabilities on mobile, DTH, IPTV and broadband platform. Reliance Entertainment is building a presence and capabilities on the content side across different verticals – content, broadcasting, themed entertainment and new media.

    A large part of your plan involves targeting the youth across different verticals. How are you going about this?
    We are a youth focussed company. This has a commercial reason. We believe that youth drives entertainment. Youth is driving the movie consumption business. India has the best youth demographic platform in the world. We are the youngest country in the world. We keep youth in mind in whatever we do whether it is radio with Big FM or making movies or Zapak.
    ‘The government should allow news and current affairs. This is why you do not have talk radio‘

    You have taken the brand name Big for your businesses like Big FM, Big Flicks. Is the aim here to convey to the consumer an idea about the size and scale of the brand?
    Unlike many companies that work with a house of brands strategy we believe that working on an umbrella brand strategy is a good way to build a presence in the entertainment space. The choice of the name is predicated on three reasons. Firstly it is simple to understand. Everyone, regardless of language, understands Big. The second reason is it is simple to communicate. A mass brand needs to be understood by everyone. And third, the brand name must give people an understanding of the scale at which we want to bring entertainment to consumers.

    How important is the broadcasting space for Reliance?
    It is very important for us. Our first investment has been in radio with Big FM. We won 145 licenses in 2006. We will take part in the next round of bidding when the government goes ahead. We are the largest radio station in the country with 40 stations. With the execution of radio we have shown a clear commitment by executing the fastest. In Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai we have emerged as a top player. We have created a leadership position not just by the number of stations but also in the markets where they operate, including those that are entrenched. We want to consolidate our position next year.

    Radio needs to differentiate itself instead of just going after the widest lane with popular Hindi songs. Why isn’t this happening?
    I do not blame the private players for this. I blame government policy. The government should allow news and current affairs. This is why you do not have talk radio. Multiple stations should be allowed. At the moment only five to six stations are available in the Metros. The government should ensure that 30-40 stations are available. One company can run five channels in a state. The government should introduce policies to facilitate the next growth phase. Niche formats become viable if frequencies are made available at lower rates. Running a Gujarati channel at a license fee of Rs 30 crores (Rs 300 million) does not make sense in Mumbai.

    Are you also looking at online radio?
    Yes! In the West, radio is a mature industry. Online is a growth industry there. In India FM and online are coming at the same time. The biggest opportunity is in FM. It is hugely underserved India should have 10,000 FM stations. Now there are less than 300 stations. I can run stations in different languages in Mumbai with viability as long as I am allowed to do so. There is also an opportunity to serve the non resident markets.