Week at a glance: Change of guard at BARC; Festive frenzy grips India; Ad volumes growth

BARC India appoints Nakul Chopra as its Chief Executive Officer

Broadcast Audience Research Council India (BARC), the industry’s Television Audience measurement body, has announced Nakul Chopra as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective August 25, 2021. He will take charge from Sunil Lulla, who has resigned his remit to pursue his ambition as an entrepreneur.

The many storms that Sunil Lulla weathered

In a surprising development this week came the news of Sunil Lulla quitting BARC India as its CEO. While speculations are rife about Lulla’s reasons for quitting the organisation, a senior communications industry leader told Adgully that Lulla has “some better options outside BARC, which far outweigh his current prospects at BARC”.

Adgully4m: How to demonstrate thought leadership in brands?

In the third edition of Adgully4m’s Thought Leadership series, Vipul Sabharwal, Managing Director, Luminous Power Technologies, shares his perspective and valuable insights. Engaging Sabharwal in the conversation is R Sridhar, a leadership & Innovation Coach and partner of Ideas RS and a former Director at Ogilvy & Mather.

Print ad volumes up 37% in July 2021, compared to July 2020: TAM AdEx

Ad Space in Print rose by 37% in Jul’21 compared to Jul’20, according to TAM AdEx’s comparative analysis of print advertising in July 2021 vis-a-vis July 2020. Over 70 new categories, 15.9K+ new advertisers and 19.1K+ new brands were seen in Print during Jul’21 over Jul’20.

How marketers are allocating ad budgets for IPL, ICC World Cup & festive season

The next few months will see a series of cricketing events happening in the UK and the UAE. After the short tour of Sri Lanka, Indian cricketers will be back in action in Test cricket, IPL and T-20 world cup. All this mega cricketing events are coinciding with big festivals across the country starting from Rakshak Bandhan, Onam, Ganesh festival, Dussehra and Diwali. This gives some great and unique opportunity for brands to decide and plan their spending to leverage every festival when purchases happen high across categories.

Azaad will offer all the digital virtues that TV does not: Bharat Kumar Ranga

Beginnen Media, spearheaded by Bharat Kumar Ranga, recently launched its new channel, Azaad, touted as India’s first rural entertainment channel. In an exclusive video interview with Adgully, Bharat Kumar Ranga, Managing Director, Beginnen Media, speaks about advertisers’ response to the new channel, sponsors onboard for Azaad, thought behind putting the leadership team and a lot more.

ASCI has changed gears to become a more responsive self-regulator: Manisha Kapoor

Fresh from a series of new initiatives such as the Influencer Guidelines, asci.social, the Guidelines for Online Real Money Gaming, ASCI has unveiled a new brand identity to reflect the agenda of becoming future-facing and more inclusive. In an exclusive interview with Adgully, Manisha Kapoor, Secretary General, ASCI, speaks about the purpose behind the orgainsation’s revamp, impact of its influencer guidelines on brands and social media influencers, future vision and mission of ASCI with its new brand identity and a lot more.

Vinod Thadani to manage additional responsibilities of iProspect along with DentsuX

Dentsu International, strengthening its leadership roster, has added Vinod Thadani as Chief Digital Growth Officer for India. Thadani will also be taking on the additional role of Chief Executive Officer, iProspect India. He will report to Divya Karani, CEO Media South Asia.

HUL & Reckitt garner 40% share of FMCG Ad Volumes on TV in H1’21: TAM AdEx

Digital Ad Insertions for the FMCG sector registered a sharp rise of more than 2 times in Jan-Jun’21 (H1). A sharp rise of 60% was also seen in the sector’s ad volumes on Radio. Meanwhile, FMCG print advertising grew sharply by 57%, while Ad Volumes on Television registered a rise of 53%.

“In the times of rising fake news, media has put its trust on data-driven stories”

In an exclusive conversation with Adgully for our special column on PR Conversations, Sujit Patil, Vice President and Head Corporate Brand and Communications, Godrej Industries Ltd and Associate Companies, shared sights from this research and how they plan to leverage the same for their PR and communication campaigns.

Will Onam herald a bumper festive season this year?

The initial muted market sentiments have disappeared as Onam, Kerala’s biggest festival, commences. Adgully’s premier #GullyChat takes an indepth look at brand and consumer sentiments this Onam – titled ‘Onam – Bringing the sentiment back to the market’. Whether it will meet the expectations of marketers, where the festival will spur a buying frenzy and lead to a more resurgent festival season ahead.

Ashish Golwalkar on 12-hour marathon season finale of India Idol Season 12

‘Indian Idol Season 12’ was given a grand send-off with 12 hours of non-stop entertainment comprising over 40 acts and a befitting celebration of music with over 200 songs. Speaking on the thought behind the biggest finale ever for ‘Indian Idol’, Ashish Golwalkar, Content Head, Digital Business and SET, Sony Pictures Networks India, explains that it was all about breaking the clutter and creating a disruption.

Dentsu India rejigs its CXM biz; Anubhav Sonthalia gets additional role as CEO

Following the restructure of its creative and media businesses in India, dentsu has now announced the launch of a unified Merkle-led CXM proposition in the market. The announcement brings together Data Transformation, Digital Transformation, and CX Consulting into one unit to create the most specialised CX practice in India under brand Merkle.

Viacom18 bags exclusive TV & digital rights for Abu Dhabi T10 series

Viacom18 has bagged the exclusive TV and digital rights for the Abu Dhabi T10 series. The exciting cricket series will premiere from 19th November 2021 live on Colors Cineplex SD (Hindi), Colors Cineplex HD (English), Rishtey Cineplex (Hindi), Voot and Jio. Eight teams will be part of this series representing 20 nations.

Notes from GAMEXX 2021

This decade of gaming in India is full of advantages & opportunities: Nitish Mittersain

With 252 million unique visitors to games-related sites in March 2021 (as per ComScore), India is among the top five mobile gaming markets in the world. GAMEXX 2021 turned the spotlight on Investment and Investors for the gaming industry in India in a special fireside chat that saw Akshay Chachra, Co-Founder, Business Head & CFO, Hashtag Poker and Mind Sports League, in a freewheeling conversation with Nitish Mittersain, Founder & MD, Nazara Technologies.

80% of Indians play a mobile game on their phones daily: Vinit Karnik

The pandemic has fast-tracked the entire gaming movement and we are seeing people within our household, within our friends circle and colleagues who are playing games actively. The panel discussion on ‘Gaming: An emerging medium for marketers’ at the recently held GAMEXX 2021 Summit & Awards focuses on how marketers can leverage the gaming medium to increase reach and engagement. The panel discussion was moderated by Vinit Karnik, Head - Sports, Esports and Entertainment, GroupM, South Asia.

Gamers are getting more opportunities to monetise, turning professional

Over the previous decade, the global gaming sector has experienced remarkable expansion. According to a report by the Confederation of Indian Industry and TechSci Research firm, the Indian Gaming Industry is slated to reach $801 million by 2022, growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 6.61%. The gaming industry is growing exponentially around the globe; even in India, it crossed $506 million in 2016. But can gaming be a serious career option?

Online gaming has become new social media now, say experts

The spectacular growth of the gaming industry, especially over the last few years has generated a lot of interest and investment. ‘Current reality of Gaming Industry in India: Size, Challenges & Opportunities’ was discussed at length in a panel discussion at the first ever GAMEXX 2021 Summit & Awards, held last week.

“The connection between India & Bharat is going to be built through gaming”

“We are at the cusp of a revolution of thoughts, where it’s not just about saying that ‘Hey, these are the statistics and therefore listen to us’, it is about changing lives and impacting people who are not just a part of the metros, but connect with us from every single city,” said Dr Subi Chaturvedi, Chief Corporate and Public Affairs Officer, Zupee.