Week at a glance: Focus on NTO 2.0; Jeff Bezos’ big India push; Shemaroo’s TV foray

TRAI defends NTO 2.0, insists it provides freedom to stakeholders

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India addressed the press on Monday January 13^th 2019 to clarify how amendments to the regulatory framework (NTO 2.0) addressed the issue of freedom of choice of the consumer that could not be completely achieved in the first amendment order.

Freedom of business is not synonymous with confusing or exploiting the consumer: TRAI

At the TRAI press conference held on 13^th January, TRAI Chairman RS Sharma and TRAI Secretary SK Gupta addressed the media on the need for amendments to resolve the aberrations that arose after the implementation of the new tariff order (NTO).

NTO row: What is the fundamental need to change again, asks Sudhanshu Vats

The country’s lead broadcasters have collectively come out against the recent amendments made by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to the Tariff Order, Interconnections Regulations and Quality of Services Regulations of 2017 for the Broadcasting and Cable Services Sector. 

Amazon to invest $1 bn in India; big push for ‘Make in India’ products worldwide

Amazon has announced its plans to invest $1 billion to digitally enable micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and traders across India, including manufacturers, resellers, local offline shops, and brands.

EFFIE Awards India 2020 winners and the ‘Ingenious Indian Ideas’

The Advertising Club India hosted the latest edition of EFFIE Awards India 2020 presented by Colors. Announced at a celebratory event at Taj Lands’ End, Mumbai, the awards that have become a benchmark of effectiveness and breakthrough brand and media strategies saw the entire media and advertising fraternity be a part of the event. Hindustan Unilever and Star India were adjudged joint winners as EFFIE Client of the Year, while McCann Worldgroup India and Ogilvy Group were jointly named EFFIE India Agency of the Year. The coveted Grand EFFIE was won by the 82.5 Communications for the Bisleri Packaged Drinking Water campaign – “Samajhdar Jante hai”.

Dhoni dropped from BCCI annual contract list; where will his endorsements go?

On Thursday (January 16, 2020), BCCI came out with their central contract list of players for the period October 2019 to September 2020. A surprising omission from the list was that of former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Until last year, Dhoni was in the A category, which fetched him around Rs 5 crore.

Trends 2020: Increased use of UGC content in mainstream advertising

Prateek Bhardwaj, CCO, Lowe Lintas, writes about the creative trends that will dominate in 2020. He also lists his favourite ad campaigns of the year gone by. 

Trends 2020: What to expect in marketing this year - Rajesh Uttamchandani

Rajesh Uttamchandani, Director, SYSKA Group, highlights the key marketing trends in 2020 and how they will impact various sectors.

Trends 2020: Gaming to become a mainstream entertainment experience

Aditi Shrivastava, Co-Founder, Pocket Aces, takes stock of the key developments expected in the online content space in 2020, as well as the expansion and acquisition strategy of Pocket Aces in the year ahead.

There’s growing need for real-time intelligence on customers: Paolo Maraziti, Oracle

In an interaction with Adgully, Paolo Maraziti, Vice-President, Asia Pacific and Japan SaaS Business Development, Oracle, speaks about the developments in the data-led marketing space, the need for brands to create a more personalised engagement for consumers, data security, Cloud and much more.

VOOT will be the first AVOD platform in India to be a profitable business: Akash Banerji

Competition in the video streaming space in India has grown the category to 375 million AVOD users and 10-15 million paying subscribers at the beginning of 2020.

Shemaroo MarathiBana is a hardcore masala channel for the masses: Kranti Gada

Shemaroo Entertainment has ventured into the Marathi television space with the launch of their new Marathi movie channel – MarathiBana. The newly launched channel will showcase a wide array of Marathi movies along with famous Marathi plays, which is a rare offering from a TV channel for its viewers.

MTV Nishedh – Creating a content-led campaign for behaviour change

MTV Staying Alive Foundation and Viacom18 have launched a content-led campaign, called MTV Nishedh. At the core of the campaign is a 13-part series that narrates stories highlighting attitudes towards Tuberculosis, reproductive health, contraception, and nutrition.

Why corporate tax reduction will be good for the advertising & media industry

This move will not only enable current businesses to compete with global players, but also allow many multinational companies to launch their operations in India, says Sandeep Balani, Head of India at Outbrain.

How AAP is fortifying its political advertising strategy for upcoming Delhi Polls

The Aam Aadmi Party had spent about Rs78crore(Source:RTI) annually on advertising during the first four years of the tenure in Delhi.  Morever,the previous Sheila Dikshit government spent only Rs19 crore on advertising annually, according to the other media publications. According to the RTI sought by IANS, Kejriwal led AAP spent Rs 311.78 crore on advertisements between 2015 and 2019.

WARC Awards 2019: Key lessons from the Brand Purpose category

WARC, the global authority on advertising and media effectiveness, has released the ‘Effective Use of Brand Purpose Report 2019’, outlining successful key trends when using brand purpose in marketing strategies. The report has been guest-edited by jury chair, Fernando Machado, Global CMO, Burger King

Wunderman Thompson South Asia wins creative mandate for Sugarlite

Following a multi-agency pitch in 2019, Wunderman Thompson South Asia has won the creative mandate for Sugarlite. The agency will be providing strategic and creative services to shape the communication for the brand, which will cut across geographies, demographics and mind-sets and deliver differentiated content with incisive insights. 

Ex-Mindshare Digital head, Pallavi Vyas joins Brand Street India

BrandStreet India, a leading integrated marketing agency, today announced the appointment of Pallavi Vyas as the new Business Head (West). In her current role at BSI, she will be responsible for both operational and commercial development, focusing primarily on the Western region.

Weak ad-environment hits Network18 & TV18’s Q3 FY2020 revenues

Network18 Media & Investments and TV18 Broadcast have announced the results for the quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2019.Network18 has reported consolidated operating revenue of Rs 1,474 crore in Q3 FY2020, as against Rs 1,524 crore in Q3 FY2019, a decline of -3 per cent. On the other hand, consolidated operating EBIDTA jumped by 204 per cent to Rs 268 crore in Q3 FY2020, from Rs 88 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

9 questions smart marketers will ask themselves in 2020 about digital marketing

I know it is the fashionable thing to do lists of 20 things for 2020. But when it comes to digital marketing, I think these are the 9 key questions that businesses must ask themselves, writes Ashok Lalla, an independent Digital Business Advisor. 

Piyush Pandey part of NYF Advertising Awards 2020 Executive Jury

New York Festivals Advertising Awards has announced the first 20 members of the elite 2020 NYF Executive Jury. This is the 10th consecutive year that NYF will host some of the world’s most awarded creative leaders to judge entries submitted into New York Festivals Advertising Awards. 

ASCI to further strengthen the advertising ecosystem in 2020 with new guidelines

During the month of October 2019, ASCI investigated complaints against 344 advertisements, of which 80 advertisements were promptly withdrawn by the advertisers on receipt of communication from ASCI.

Gautam Reghunath to lead Dentsu Webchutney as its new CEO

Dentsu Webchutney, the creatively-led digital agency from the house of Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN), has named Gautam Reghunath as its new chief executive officer (CEO). The news comes soon after DAN India announced the elevation of Sidharth Rao as chairman, Happy mcgarrybowen (HMB) India and chairman, Dentsu Webchutney – last week.

upGrad onboards Tilt Brand Solutions as brand and creative partner

Recognizing the growing potential of the EdTech sector, online higher education company upGrad is in the process of charting out an ambitious branding and communication roadmap. upGrad has roped in Brand & Creative consultancy, Tilt Brand solutions, founded about 18 months back by Joseph (Joe) George, former Group Chairman & CEO, India and Regional President, South & Southeast Asia at MullenLowe Lintas Group. 

BARC Wk 1 ratings: Dangal continues strong into the new year

BARC India data for Week 1 (Saturday, 4th January to Friday, 10th January) of 2020 saw Dangal, Star Plus, Sony Entertainment Television, Star Bharat and Star Utsav registered an increase in their gross viewership in All Platform (HSM (U+R) : NCCS All : 2+ Individuals). Dangal continues firm into the new year.