Week at a glance: DIGIXX winners; Digi Media Summit; IPL viewership

DIGIXX 2019 winners: Top honours for Prasad Shejale, Rubeena Singh
Winners of the third edition of DIGIXX 2019 were feted and applauded by the industry this evening. A prime property of Adgully, DIGIXX 2019 saw a total of 140 awards being given across four broad categories:

Industry Sector Awards
Discipline Awards for Campaigns
Outstanding Awards
Special Awards

BARC to launch integrated TV + out of home measurement service
Starting this year, BARC India will be integrating TV and Out of Home TV viewership in its BARC India Media Workstation (BMW) software. This first of its kind integration of in-home and OOH TV viewing, will allow BARC India subscribers to understand the overall viewership garnered on TV and the combined impact of the two mediums.

TV audience can switch to another service provider without changing STB
According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Chairman R S Sharma, TV viewers may be able to switch their DTH or cable providers without changing the Set-top box (STB) by the end of this year. He added that interoperability in a product should not come as an "after thought" but should be in place at the product planning stage itself.

IPL 2019 opening weekend garners 219 mn viewers, records 31% growth
The opening weekend of the 12th season of Vivo IPL 2019 broke all existing viewership records. 219 million viewers (All India 2+ U+ R) tuned in on the opening weekend, which was 31 per cent higher than last year. Specifically on the opening day, reach in HSM grew by 30 per cent, while in South the reach grew by 20 per cent, driven by a strong regionalisation strategy. Apart from the robust growth in reach, viewership (as measured by Impressions) also grew by 29 per cent (Source: BARC Preview Report).

Hotstar’s reach increases by 2.2 times for first three days of Vivo IPL 2019
The cash-rich Indian Premier League, in its first week-end of the 12th season, has witnessed a spike in the reach and viewership on Star India’s TV channels and OTT platform. The League had a reach of 135 million in the first three days according to the broadcaster. Both the watch time and reach has seen a growth by 2.2 times, compared to previous season.

Radio sees 14% growth in political ad insertions till Mar 16; TV sees 83% drop
Contrary to various projections, Radio has witnessed a significant growth in ad insertions by political parties in the lead-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. This was revealed by Adex India, a division of TAM Media Research, in its cumulative weekly tracker for the General Elections 2019 for the period January 1 to March 16, 2019. As per the findings, ad insertion for political parties grew 14 per cent on Radio, whereas it is 9 per cent less in Print and 83 per cent less on TV till March 16, 2019, compared to the same period of the previous Lok Sabha Elections, that is, 2014.

Lowe Lintas bags creative mandate for Thums Up
In a recent development, the iconic Indian cola brand – Thums Up – appointed Lowe Lintas to handle their creative duties. The mandate comes after an intense multi-agency pitch involving leading agencies in India. The scope of the account includes creative services for Thums Up and its brand extensions. The business will be handled out of Lowe Lintas Delhi.

Mayoori Kango of Publicis Joins Google India as Head of Industry - Agency Business
Mayoori Kango, who was previously the Managing Director of Performix.Resultrix, part of the Publicis Groupe, has joined Google India as their Head of Industry - Agency Business. Sources have confirmed the news to Adgully. Her appointment is effective immediately.

Enterr10 Media gets a new CEO in Joy Chakraborthy
Joy Chakraborthy has joined Enterr10 Media as CEO. This Indian media & entertainment group since 2004, comprises Enterr10 TV in the Hindi movie space, Dangal TV - a Hindi GEC, Bhojpuri Cinema offering movies in Bhojpuri language, Fakt Marathi with content mix such as programs, movies, etc. in Marathi language, and Enterr10 Bangla offering a mix of content in Bengali language.

Deciphering the baffling Kia Motors ad
‘Huh?! What was that?’ – that has been the general reaction to the launch campaign of Kia Motors India, which went live earlier this month on TV and Digital. Based on “Magical inspirations” behind Kia’s stunning car designs the campaign seeks to bring alive the brand philosophy via the 360-degree multi-media campaign. The India campaign – ‘Magical Inspirations, Stunning Designs’ – has been made on the deepest insight that there is an inspiration behind every great design and there are unique inspirations behind the design of every Kia car.

Tata Motors on overdrive with new campaigns and launches
Tata Motors has been tapping into key occasions to release campaigns that not just promote its cars but also highlight various issues. Adgully spoke to Vivek Srivatsa, Head - Marketing, Passenger Vehicles Business Unit, Tata Motors, to know more about the auto major’s campaign strategy.

Print is to real estate what TV is to FMCG: Viral Oza
A major investor in print has been Lodha Group, India’s premier real estate developer with a wide range of commercial and residential properties in Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Hyderabad, and more. According to the company’s website, Lodha Group achieved net sales (in India) of over Rs 8,100 crore in FY2017-18. In an interaction with Adgully, Viral Oza, Chief Marketing Officer, Lodha Group, spoke about the importance of Print for the real estate major.

Tips and tricks to maximise Facebook for an e-commerce business
Facebook has become one of the most effective channels through which companies can market their products and services to customers. Using it effectively for ecommerce requires a thorough understanding of the medium and the opportunities it provides. Anurag Avula, Co-founder and CEO, Shopmatic, shares some tips to use the Facebook platform for gaining edge for e-commerce businesses.

GroupM builds bespoke client solution team for Havells
GroupM India has announced that it will consolidate the media agency of record duties for Havells India under a bespoke client solution team, Team Havells. Team Havells will be a dedicated team based out of Gurgaon and the agency’s scope will include both offline and digital media strategy, planning and buying mandates for the entire portfolio of brands under the Havells marquee.

OLX rebrands with its biggest ever global product upgrade in India
OLX has undertaken its first rebranding exercise after its launch in India 11 years ago. The brand refresh is part of a global rollout. The rebranding is followed by a new brand tagline – ‘Set Hai’ – in line with its new brand proposition to empower people to make smart choices. The marketing campaign reinforces the power to upgrade with six ads being released across TV, Digital, Print and Outdoor.

Ad land’s Young Guns: Deepankar Grover, Essence
Deepankar Grover is Associate Planning Director, India at Essence, a global data and measurement-driven media agency and part of GroupM. Grover was a core part of the team that laid Essence’s foundation in India in 2016 and since then has been instrumental in strengthening the media planning practice for the agency’s Google business.

For 84% respondents, mobile ad spends on the rise in India: MoMagic Tech
With growing focus on digital marketing and AdTech sector, the budget allocation reflects exponential growth for Mobile Marketing. In a report released by MoMagic Technologies, titled ‘Disrupting Mobile Ad Tech in India: Delivering User Experience’, 84 per cent of the respondents stated a jump in their budgets for Mobile Ad spends within the spectrum of digital marketing.

How e-pharma companies use technology to acquire and retain customers
Technology is the force that drives the e-pharma and health-tech industry. The burgeoning Indian pharma sector with an annual growth rate of 18% is at the helm of technology-driven solutions. Cutting edge tech solutions like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning have not only helped the e-pharma companies understand their consumers, they have also helped predict trends and build a preventive healthcare ecosystem, writes Advait Suhas Pandit, Director & CTO, Netmeds.com.