Week at a glance: Analysing COVID-19 impact; Making of Family; DDâ€™s supremacy

Mega stars, humanity, backyard shoot - Inside story of Prasoon Pandey’s Family on SPN

“There is nothing bigger than humanity,” says the man who just released a new film amid the COVID-19 crisis, with a multi-superstar cast that can rival any Manmohan Desai/ Rohit Shetty blockbuster. The much talked about short film, ‘Family’, premiered on Monday, April 6 across all channels of Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI). Conceptualised and virtually directed by veteran ad filmmaker Prasoon Pandey in collaboration with Amitabh Bachchan, ‘Family’ is supported by SPNI and Kalyan Jewellers.

Indepth Part 1: Cancelled – The burden of COVID-19 on live events

The alarming spread of COVID-19 globally as well as in India has led to the cancellation or postponement of all industry events across the world, scheduled at least for the first half of the year. This has put a spanner to the events calendar for 2020. With no cure or vaccination in sight to contain the pandemic currently, no one knows when normalcy will return.

Indepth Part 2: Rs 7-15 cr could be the cost of cancelling big-ticket industry events

In this two-part indepth report, Adgully takes a look at the major industry events that have had to be either cancelled or postponed in light of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

Boom time during COVID-19: Gaming sector eyes 50-100% growth in the next quarter

With people confined to their homes due to the nationwide lockdown, content consumption across mediums is growing. This also includes gaming. According to a report by POKKT, a 39 per cent increase was seen in global mobile game downloads in March 2020. Engagement, as measured by time spent on gaming sites or apps, increased by 21 per cent during the same time period.

Regional print players better poised for bounce back post COVID-19 crisis

Advertising budgets are the first to be slashed during an economic slump. It is no different during the COVID-19 crisis. In 2019, owning to fears of a weak economy, advertising fell by 10 per cent in English language publications and 3 per cent in regional language publications (E&Y Media and Entertainment Report).

Return of classics makes DD National the highest watched channel in India in Wk 13

BARC India data for Week 13 reveals that DD National registered viewership of 580 million in the 9-10.30 am time band, a huge jump of 39,006 per cent during the telecast of Ramanand Sagar’s mythological series ‘Ramayan’ over 1 million in Week 12 [HSM/ 2+/ growth in Wk 13 over Wk 12; Wk 2 to Wk 4]. For the 9-10.30 pm time band telecast of ‘Ramayan’, the numbers were even more dramatic – viewership of 835 million, a growth of 45,834 per cent over 2 million recorded in Week 12.

FCT on TV advertising grows by 9% due to social advertising: BARC-Nielsen report

This is the third part of the report on “Crisis Consumption on TV and Smartphones” released jointly by BARC and Nielsen Media.

BARC is the official currency on Television Measurement in India and Nielsen Media runs a 12000 strong smartphone panel in India passively capturing smartphone behaviour.

#FightBackCorona: Expect huge behavioral changes across the globe: Rohit Ohri

These are extraordinary times and we all are in uncharted territory. There is a lot of fear and negativity in all spheres due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. While the Corona Warriors are doing a tremendous job fighting from the frontlines, we at Adgully are embarking on an endeavour to highlight the positive developments during these challenging times.

#FightBackCorona: Patience is the key to winning this situation - Prasad Shejale

#FightBackCorona: Business is entering a new state of play: Dilip Cherian

#FightBackCorona: It is an ‘all hands on the deck’ situation - Atul Shinghal

#FightBackCorona: Vigilance & planning are critical in these times: Chaaya Baradhwaaj

Branding in times of COVID-19 – The Do’s & Don’ts

Numerous experts have opined on what marketers should do during the COVID-19 crisis. Everyday there is a webinar that promises to tell you more. So, what is it that I can add to the ongoing debate, asks Ambi Parameswaran, as he offers some strategies that brands need to adopt now to stay relevant in the difficult months ahead.

What COVID-19 has taught us about crisis & issues management: Ashwani Singla

Effective crisis handling is about building the necessary capability through, simulations, drills and rehearsals so that you can iron out the process glitches, clarify roles and responsibilities and remove any bottleneck or blind spots, writes Ashwani Singla, Founding Managing Partner, Astrum.

COVID-19 effect: After Cannes Lions, now Goafest Abbys 2020 deferred till 2021

The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and The Advertising Club who had recently announced the postponement of Goafest 2020, today announced that both Goafest and Abby Awards 2020 will be deferred for the year. This is inevitably necessary in the face of the prevailing global and national crisis.

Parle is optimising productivity across all functions: Krishnarao S Buddha

During these challenging times arising out of the global COVID-19 crisis, every brand is trying to help the society at large through various CSR measures. Parle Biscuits has started donating 1 crore packets of Parle G every week of the 21-day lockdown period. Parle G biscuits are being released through state depots for free over a period of three weeks and company officials are working closely with the government on the most effective distribution channels.

Aaj Tak further firms up supremacy in news genre in lockdown weeks

With the country under lockdown amid the COVID-19 crisis, total TV consumption continued to register growth, showing an increase of 43 per cent in Week 13, as per BARC-Nielsen. News and Movies genres clocked an all-time high growth across languages, with News registering a growth of 251 per cent.

Disney+ Hotstar garners 8 mn paid subscribers within 1 week of India launch

Disney+ Hotstar had a virtual red carpet launch in India on April 3, 2020 amid the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown. In the period of one week since its India launch, the OTT service has already a garnered approximately 8 million paid subscribers.

71% urban Indians feel COVID-19 must not be exploited to promote a brand

Kantar has sought to understand urban India’s sentiments, behaviours and expectations from brands during the COVID-19 pandemic in its new COVID-19 Barometer India.

Beyond COVID-19: Embracing the ‘New Normal’

KPMG’s thought leadership, ‘Potential impact of COVID-19 on the Indian Economy’, reveals the key sectoral impacts of COVID-19 on the Indian economy. The report also foresees several ways in which the business landscape is likely to evolve in the days to come.

#TwitterChat: Keeping communications relevant in a new normal forced by COVID-19

Transparent and concise communication is the need of the hour during the COVID-19 crisis times – be it for spreading awareness, in giving instructions, assuring people, and to avoid panic reactions. The alarming spread of fake news has made it all the more important for people to know what the true facts are.

Post Tablighi Jamaat incident, NBA slams fundamentalists for threatening reporters

News Broadcasters Association (NBA) has expressed grave concern over some people belonging to a certain section of the society abusing and threatening anchors and reporters working in news channels.