Week at a glance: Lionsgate Play launch; Netflix’s StreamFest; Star & Disney’s ad solutions

TV News genre advertising volumes grew 28% during festive period: TAM AdEx

During Aug-Nov’20, highest growth in advertising was recorded in the News genre (28%), followed by Movies genre (24%), compared to Aug-Nov’19. Top 5 channel genres added 95% and 93% share of overall TV Ad Volumes during Aug-Nov’19 and Aug-Nov’20, respectively. All Top 5 genres witnessed rise in Ad Volumes during Aug-Nov’20* compared to Aug-Nov’19.

‘Mutual Funds Sahi Hai’ – The anatomy of a campaign that fortified a category

The Mutual Fund industry has grown by leaps and bounds over the last few years, becoming one of the most preferred investment options today. As per industry reports, assets managed by the Indian mutual fund industry have increased from Rs 25.60 trillion in September 2019 to Rs 27.74 trillion in September 2020, a growth of 8.35%. To build the Mutual Funds category, Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI), a nodal association of mutual funds across India, launched an investor awareness campaign – ‘Mutual Funds Sahi Hai’, which has met with quite a bit of success.

How OTT players can stay relevant & attractive for subscribers amid growing competition

The COVID-19 crisis has boosted consumer reliance on OTT, particularly during the first wave of the virus and the initial world lockdown. Netflix more than doubled its global subscriber base in Q1 of 2020. Comcast reported that streaming hours went up by 40% during lockdown versus only +8% for linear TV6.

Why Netflix’s StreamFest strategy will push fence-sitters ‘over the fence’

In their Q3 2020 earnings call, global streaming behemoth Netflix reported 195.2 million subscriptions worldwide. Netflix added 2.2 million paid subscribers in this quarter, its slowest growth in the year compared to Q1 growth of 10.1 million and Q2 growth of 15.7 million subscriptions. The highest contribution to the video streaming service’s paid subscription growth came from international markets, with the APAC region contributing to 46% of the total growth.

Lionsgate Play OTT app launches in India at a price point of Rs 99 per month

Starz, one of the leading premium global streaming platforms, has launched its independent direct to consumer OTT app ‘Lionsgate Play’ in India. The premium video streaming service will offer bespoke Hollywood content for Indian consumers in multiple Indian languages. The service has launched with a new price point in India, making the app available as part of two subscription models Rs 699 for a year and Rs 99 per month.

COVID wipes off $63 bn from global ad market; recovery 2 years away: WARC

Global advertising spend is on course to fall by 10.2% - $63.4bn - to $557.3bn this year, led by sharp cuts in investment among the automotive, retail and travel & tourism sectors as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak finds WARC, the global marketing intelligence service.

Ban on online gaming: Will it stifle this sunrise sector?

The online gaming space in India has been witnessing a surge in the last few years. According to Statista, India recorded about 365 million online gamers in FY2020, and this number is estimated to reach 510 million by FY2022. Overall, India ranked the highest in terms of the growth in online game downloads on app stores, with a growth rate of 165 per cent between 2016 and 2018, Statista said.

Uday Shankar is President-Elect, FICCI (2020-21)

Mr Uday Shankar is the President-Elect, FICCI for the year 2020-21. Mr Shankar will be succeeding Dr Sangita Reddy, President, FICCI, and Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group during FICCI’s 93rd AGM on 11,12& 14 December 2020.

BARC will maintain its strong market position over the medium term: CRISIL

Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) reported revenues of Rs 317 crore in FY 2020, an increase from Rs 294 crore in FY 2019. This has resulted in an improvement in the TV ratings industry body’s net loss position – from Rs 17 crore in FY 2019 to Rs 5 crore in FY 2020.

HERO ISL 2020 viewership grows by 16% over last year

Hero ISL 2020-21, the first major live sporting league played in the country during these unprecedented times, continues its growth trajectory registering a viewership increase of 16%* in the opening week (First 8 matches) as compared to the previous season. The growth is universally seen across markets – HSM 18%, South 14%.

Nabendu Bhattacharyya moves on from Milestone Brandcom

Nabendu Bhattacharyya, an industry veteran with more than two decades of experience in the Indian out-of-home (OOH) space, has decided to move on from his current role as CEO and MD of Milestone Brandcom, the India-based OOH specialist agency from the house of dentsu International. He will leave the business on December 31, ending his more than 6-year-long-stint with the network, to explore and pursue his personal interests.

Sales of health insurance products up 60% since lockdown began: Sharat Dhall

Policybzaar.com is India’s largest insurance marketplace and a leading insur-tech brand globally. It is the flagship brand of Policybazaar.com Group of companies that owns fintech brand Paisabazaar.com, b2b venture, ZPhin.com, and lending & insurance marketplace in the UAE region, Policybazaar.ae. Policybazaar.com started with the purpose to educate people on insurance products and has had a significant influence on how insurance is bought in India.

COVID has acted more like a catalyst for ed-tech: Phalgun Kompalli, Upgrad

The Ed-Tech sector is one of the sectors that has seen tremendous growth during the COVID times. As students transitioned to online education, ed-tech companies have had a busy time. Besides academic classes, skill upgradation has also been taking place online.

We were the first agency to use technology as a disruptor: Atul Sharma, Ruder Finn India

As part of our latest series on ‘PR Conversation’, we at Adgully are speaking to some of the industry leaders from both PR agencies and the corporate communications world about how PR as a business and communication tool has evolved and grown over the years. In conversation with Adgully, Atul Sharma, Managing Director Ruder Finn India, speaks about how PR has become more holistic today, the strong focus on technology, cutting through the clutter with a good story and 3C’s – Curiosity, Creativity and Communication.

Star & Disney India Unveil A Unique Suite Of Advanced Advertising Solutions

Star & Disney India today announced the launch of Sirius, a powerful end-to-end suite of advanced advertising solutions for marketers, media planners, and creative agencies. Built on standard measurement paradigms while bringing in proprietary technology capabilities through multiple associations, Sirius covers a comprehensive gamut of advertising solutions, reimagining how brands plan, communicate and measure with Indian audiences, hence providing a fresh perspective.

BARC India releases ratings data in AMA ’000s from Dec 1

BARC India, which has been releasing the television ratings data in Weekly Impressions ’000, has now renamed as AMA ’000 (Average Minute Audience in '000s).

WPP submits proposal to acquire remaining shares in WPP AUNZ

WPP has submitted a proposal to the Board of WPP AUNZ Limited (“WPP AUNZ”) to pursue an acquisition of the remaining shares in WPP AUNZ. WPP currently holds a stake of approximately 61.5% of the share capital of WPP AUNZ, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX:WPP). The proposed acquisition is in line with WPP’s global strategy of simplifying its structure and will move WPP to 100% ownership and control of its Australian and New Zealand operations. 

With our E-boutique, Kiehl’s aims to grow at 2x basis every year: Shikhee Agrawal

Kiehl’s journey – from humble beginnings in 1851 as an old apothecary in New York’s East Village neighbourhood to 250 stores around the world today – is interesting and inspiring. Its unique, extensive background represents a blend of cosmetic, pharmaceutical, herbal, and medicinal knowledge developed and advanced through the generations. The driving force of Kiehl’s vision is the ‘try before you buy’ initiative. Allowing clients to try products before they purchase, this 92-year old initiative has won hearts and has led to loyal patronage over the years.

The next 12 months truly belong to Sony Sports channels: Rajesh Kaul

Sony Pictures Sports Network has a formidable line-up of the best international sporting action, including 200+ days of cricket, 700+ live football matches, WWE, UEFA Champions League, UFC, ATP World Tour and the biggest showpiece events of 2020 like the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020, India Tour of Australia and UEFA EURO 2020.

Verizon Media Launches Unified ID Solution

Verizon Media today announced the launch of its new unified identity solution, Verizon Media ConnectID. Built on the foundation of Verizon Media’s consumer-first values and market-leading advertising technologies, the new unified ID solution is designed to support advertisers, publishers and consumers as the digital landscape evolves away from cookies as a way to manage and reach audiences online.

#TwitterChat: How to personalise brand message amid growing data privacy concerns?

The accelerated transition to digital has also created challenges regarding keeping consumer data safe. Even as consumers seek a seamless experience on digital, brands are increasingly looking at ways to create personalised experiences for consumers, based on their online behaviour, preferences and searches.

#TwitterChat: What a Cookie-less future implies for advertising?

The Digital Marketing ecosystem is slowly phasing out Third Party Cookies. The first to sound the death knell was Apple in 2018, when they released their ITP 2.0 (Internet Tracking Prevention) with its Safari browser that started blocking third party cookies in browsers. When the world’s most popular browser Google Chrome announced its plan in January 2020 to phase out third party cookies over the next two-year period, marketers began contemplating or, let’s say, speculating on its impact on the future of advertising.