Week at a glance: GAMEXX 2021 coverage; Buzz around Onam; Disney+ Hotstar growth

GAMEXX 2021 – Setting the future roadmap for India’s gaming industry

According to a KPMG report, the gaming industry in India is expected to grow by a whopping 113% to reach Rs 290 billion by 2025, while the formidable gaming community is pegged to grow 52% – from 433 million currently to 657 million. Adgully turned the spotlight on this burgeoning industry with its latest property – GAMEXX. The inaugural edition of GAMEXX 2021 was held on Thursday, August 12, 2021, and saw the participation of leading gaming industry stalwarts. 

GAMEXX 2021 Awards winners announced

Winners of the maiden GAMEXX Awards 2021 were announced at a virtual event held on August 12. GAMEXX Awards seek to felicitate the leading creative strategists, manufacturers, designers, gamers, and brands associated with the fast-growing gaming industry. Baazi Games has been adjudged Game Developer Of The Year. The company also won the award in the Product Launch & Innovation Category. 

Gaming industry in India has been positively impacted by the pandemic: Anmol Puri, Deloitte

“These are exciting times for the gaming industry in India, and the industry has turned into a classical snowball, wherein in the next 3-5 years we are going to see some stupendous growth, something that has been coming for the last 5-7 years but has accelerated now,” remarked Anmol Puri, Partner, Deloitte. Puri said this while delivering his keynote address during the inaugural edition of GAMEXX 2021, hosted by Adgully on August 12, 2021. 

Screen time engagement has spiked for mobile gaming industry: Naman Jhawar, MPL

Bijoya Ghosh, Founder, Adgully, engaged Naman Jhawar, SVP, Strategies and Operations, MPL, in an interesting fireside discussion on ‘India: A Mobile-first Gaming Market’. Sharing his views on the growth potential of mobile gaming in India and factors that define India’s dominance at the gaming market, Naman Jhawar said, “The overall market has a lot of potential that has been driven by 4-5 key factors. The year 2016 is a kind of year to remember as the inflection point for the gaming industry when it really came into action.” 

Analysing the rise of women gamers in India

In an engaging fireside chat during the maiden GAMEXX 2021 Summit & Awards, Rajesh Pantina, Director - Marketing, Asia-Pacific, InMobi, and Manoj Dawane, Founder and CEO, VTION Digital Analysis, sought to decode the ‘Rise of Women Gamers in India’. According an Inmobi report, gaming has become increasingly popular among women of all ages and marital status, defying old-school conventions. Nearly 52% of India’s women gamers live in the metros, while 29% live in small towns. 

43% of smartphone gamers in India are women: InMobi report

Mobile gaming witnessed a 70% growth in unique users from July 2020 to April 2021, as per InMobi’s 2021 ‘Women Mobile Gaming Report’. The report finds that 49% women started playing mobile games due to the pandemic, based on a survey run on InMobi Pulse. 

MPL’s #FanBannJaaoge Olympics campaign gains huge traction on digital media

In a bid to whip up frenzy around the Tokyo Olympics 2020, MPL rolled out the #FanBannJaaoge campaign, a first-of-its-kind initiative to create and cultivate fans for the Indian Olympians. In an exclusive interview with Adgully, Senjam Raj Sekhar, Head of Global Communications, MPL, speaks about the various initiatives taken by MPL for the Tokyo Olympics 2020, the objective behind the #FanBannJaaoge campaign, gaming sector to boost the brand presence amid the pandemic, media & marketing strategies to engage with the users on their platform and a lot more. 

87% of India's gamers are now GenZs: Rajan Navani, JetSynthesys

In an exclusive interview with Adgully, Rajan Navani, Vice Chairman & Managing Director of JetSynthesys and President of the Indian Digital Gaming Society, speaks about the emerging trends in India’s gaming industry, the growing dominance of GenZ in this industry, Sachin Tendulkar’s recent $2 million equity investment in the company, and much more. 

JetSynthesys acquires Skyesports to build esports at the grassroot level

The new entity, christened Jet Skyesports Gaming, has been created with a vision to build esports at the grassroot level ahead of the Asian Games 2022, and will see JetSynthesys own 65% stake and the founders holding 35%. 

Disney+ Hotstar contributes to 40% of global paid subscribers of Disney+

Christine McCarthy, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Disney, stated during an earnings call that Disney+ Hotstar constituted around 40% of the total subscriber base of Disney+ as of the end of the third quarter, and accounted for the majority of the net subscriber additions on Disney+ between Q2 and Q3. She informed that globally Disney+ had garnered 116 million paid subscribers at the end of Q3, as compared to 104 million net subscribers in Q2. 

Bata’s sales through digital channels reached 15% of overall sales in 2020: Anand Narang

In conversation with Adgully, Anand Narang, VP - Marketing and Consumer Experience, Bata India, speaks at length about the company’s strategy during the pandemic, how they quickly adapted to digital-first operations and took a number of new digital initiatives on the social media front. 

How BSA Ladybird has been crafting a robust women-centric narrative for 25 years

BSA Ladybird recently rolled out a campaign, conceptualised by Ogilvy Bangalore, to mark 25 years of the brand, which is a celebration of the fun and freedom girls have enjoyed alongside their cycles. In an exclusive conversation with Adgully, KK Paul, President, TI Cycles of India, speaks at length about BSA Ladybird’s benchmark journey of 25 years, how the brand is working on repositioning their brand communication for the ever-evolving Gen-Z girls and their outlook to life and much more. 

NBA discusses roadmap for recovery of broadcasting sector with I&B Minister

The Board members of the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) met with Anurag Thakur, the newly appointed Minister for Information and Broadcasting, last week, where they discussed the impact of COVID-19 on the broadcast industry with Thakur and apprised him about their concerns. The Association also suggested that a strong policy roadmap be drawn up for the recovery of the broadcasting sector. 

SonyLIV witnesses 3X increase in viewership with its recent sporting events

Riding high on the success of Euro 2020, SonyLIV once again recorded landmark numbers with the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and India’s tour of Sri Lanka. Since the beginning of sporting events like India’s tour of Sri Lanka in mid-July and the ongoing Olympics, SonyLIV registered a remarkable increase of 3X in viewership. 

Axis My India Pradeep Gupta’s decodes measuring consumer insights in pandemic times

In an exclusive video interview with Adgully, Pradeep Gupta, Chairman & Managing Director of Axis My India, speaks about how Consumer Trust Index has helped brands rework their strategies amid the pandemic, the process and method for sampling, steps taken to ensure the authentic findings and more. 

Marketers upbeat about Onam this year, will usher in a bumper festive season

The fear of a COVID-19 third wave notwithstanding, marketers are upbeat about a bumper festive season this year. The partial and phased opening of the markets and a drop in new COVID-19 cases have driven positive sales in July, especially in the FMCG, consumer durables and auto sectors. The biggest festival of Kerala, Onam is being keenly observed by brands and marketers as it is seen as setting the precedent for the major festive season ahead. 

Rajan Bhalla moves from HT Print to Digital as Group CCO

Rajan Bhalla, HT Media’s Chief Business Officer and Group CMO, takes up the new role of Group Chief Commercial Officer as HT prepares to now peg itself as an integrated solution provider to advertisers. As per his LinkedIn update, Bhalla moved on from a print-led role to head all three verticals of print, radio and digital in April 2021. 

55.7% influencers witness significant dip in engagement post ASCI guidelines

IPLIX Media’s pan India survey that included metros and Tier 1, 2, and 3 cities across 200+ influencers revealed that ~89.5% of influencers witnessed a dip in engagement on their content since ASCI guidelines went live. However, over 56.7% of respondents (influencers) said that they found the ASCI guidelines to be helpful and 35.3% admitted that it needs more structure and transparency. 

Adfactors PR launches Social Impact Consulting Practice

Adfactors PR, India’s largest public relations consulting firm, today announced the launch of Social Impact Practice, a specialist offering aimed at the evolving sustainable development ecosystem, encompassing businesses, charitable trusts and foundations, along with NGOs and Governments. 

FCB announces the acquisition of equity stake in Kinnect

Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG) and FCB have announced the acquisition of equity stake in Kinnect, India’s largest independent digital marketing agency. While the agency will partner FCB Group India, it will continue to operate under the management of its current leadership. 

NBA is now News Broadcasters & Digital Association

With the media landscape having changed drastically due to technology, enormous choices have now become available to viewers to access content on various mediums and digital seems to be the future, News Broadcasters Association (NBA) Board has decided to change the name of NBA to News Broadcasters & Digital Association (NBDA) in order to reflect the addition of digital media news broadcasters as its members. 

No restoration of empanelment of publications till Annual Return filed: BOC

The Bureau of Outreach and Communication (BOC – formerly DAVP) has stated that many publications that have not filed their Annual Returns to the Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI) by July 31, 2021, have been automatically suspended/ de-empanelled from the BOC panel. In an advisory issued, BOC has urged all publications that have not filed their Annual Return to the RNI for the year 2020-21 to expeditiously file their Annual Return as per the PRB Act, 1867 and RNI policy, post which BOC will restore their empanelment. 

Economic recovery gives DB Corp a boost, Q1 FY2022 revenue up at Rs 3,080 mn

DB Corp has reported total revenue of Rs 3,080 million for Q1 FY2022, as against Rs 2,157 million in Q1 FY2021. Advertising revenue stood at Rs 1,713 million in Q1 FY2022, as against Rs 1,070 million in Q1 of last fiscal, while circulation revenue for the quarter stood at Rs 1,106 million, as against Rs 928 million. Net loss for the quarter stood at Rs 223 million as against Rs 480 million in the corresponding quarter of FY2021. 

NDTV’s television company reports best-ever Q1 with profit of Rs 13.9 cr

The NDTV Group has declared its best first quarter (Q1) in over a decade with a profit of Rs 16 crore. The Group’s television company – NDTV Limited – has recorded the best Q1 in its history with a profit of Rs 13.9 crore. The Group’s total liabilities have been reduced by Rs 23 crore in this quarter; bank borrowings are down by Rs 8.7 crore. 

Times Now Navbharat impresses country’s top influencers and viewers alike

Just 10 days old, Times Now Navbharat HD, the maiden Hindi news channel from Times Network, has been garnering praise and excitement from the country’s top influencers and viewers alike. Over 30 eminent leaders from across political parties have expressed their optimistic views and encouragement for the channel.