Week at a glance: OTT self-regulation; Story of MamaEarth; Retail advertising

IAMAI readies ‘toolkit’ for self-regulation of OTT content

The over-the-top (OTT) sector, which has been facing a lot of flak in recent times over its content, has taken steps in the direction of bringing about self-regulation. As per media reports, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has finalised as set of guidelines under its ‘implementation toolkit’.

Start-up Stars: The story of MamaEarth – born out of young parents’ concerns

In the first of this series, Adgully spoke with Varun Alagh, Co-Founder and CEO, Honasa Consumer, the parent company of MamaEarth, to know how he achieved his start-up dreams, the challenges and the opportunities, building up the core brand proposition, the government clearances & approvals required, his success mantra and more. 

Brands investing heavily as international cricket comes to India with Ind-Eng series

The first Test between India and England was a disappointing affair for Indian cricket fans as England won by a resounding 227 runs. But cricket fever is only heating up as India and England are going to play 3 more Test matches, 5 T-20 matches and 3 One Day Internationals. Both India and England are highly motivated and pumped up after their respective wins recently.

Will it be a summer of content for AC and refrigerator brands in 2021?

The cooling market, comprising refrigerators, air-conditioners, room coolers, is expecting a strong revival in the year 2021 after a year of slow sales in 2020. Though the pandemic and the lockdown impacted this market, post July there was some kind of recovery seen even though the market remained sluggish.

How Dell has been empowering teachers to make learning more effective for students

In an exclusive interview with Adgully, Ritu Gupta, Director – Marketing, Dell Technologies, shared some of the highlights from the research and also spoke about how Dell as a company is strongly focusing on computer literacy across India and trying to bridge the gap in digital literacy across teachers, students and parents. 

Purpose marketing will become a noteworthy part of brand strategy: Abhishek Gupta

Abhishek Gupta, Chief Marketing Officer, Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance, sees a significant recuperation in sentiment, especially in the aftermath of Budget FY22. Purpose marketing, consumer activism, and TV returning to the fore in terms of ad spends are some of the key trends that Gupta sees in 2021.

Pandemic has made social media engagement real time, reactive, sensitive, say experts

It has become difficult to imagine a life without social media today. From the moment we wake up to the time we wrap up the day, we are constantly checking our screens, commenting, posting, connecting, debating and perhaps even trolling in the digital space. Moreover, the global pandemic and lockdown exacerbated the transition to digital. According to Digital 2020 October Global Statshot Report, there were 4.14 billion social media users as of October 2020.

Retail advertising sees 1.6 times Ad Volume growth in Q4 of 2020: TAM AdEx

However, Ad Volumes of Retail sector on Television plunged by 35% in 2020 over 2018. Due to COVID-19, lowest Ad Volumes were observed in the second quarter, which includes the lockdown period. It took 4 months post the Lockdown period for Retail Sector’s ad volumes to recover and reach more than Pre-Lockdown level on TV. During the festive period, Ad Volumes on Television witnessed double digit growth.

“Pandemic has taken women’s fight for equal representation back by nearly 50 years”

In conversation with Adgully, Chandana Agarwal, President, 82.5 Communications, North, The Ogilvy Group, recounts her experience of leading her team at 82.5 during the COVID-19 crisis, offering a supportive environment, maintaining work-life balance and also how the pandemic has been the coming of age of the millennials. 

New measurement of success will be across media formats, not media: Ashish Pherwani

Ashish Pherwani, Partner, Media & Entertainment Advisory Services, ‎Ernst & Young, sees the emergence of Mediagnostic measurement, ‘Super’scription, Community Real Estate and Regional royalty in M&E in 2021.

The future is more about being media neutral: Navin Khemka

Navin Khemka, CEO, MediaCom South Asia, sees digital growing at a faster pace than any other media. He further states that the industry needs to start planning for a connected world across all media.

Multi-device strategy is crucial for OTT platforms: Brightcove report

2020 has been the year for OTT streaming and will be remembered as the year streaming wars intensified to a new high. Brightcove’s report on ‘The Future of OTT in South Asia’ seeks to dive into consumer preferences towards OTT services – from subscriptions to payments to OTT advertising to user experiences.

Making digital accountable in the journey of brand building

Isn’t it ironic that the most measurable and transparent medium at times, continues to be treated as second fiddle to TV advertising – when in fact, building a brand purely on digital media is indeed possible. Today, almost half the nation is plugged in and accessible digitally. The penetration of digital amongst cohorts like the urban India, millennials, Gen X, Gen Z, Indian Middle class etc is even higher.

A Hybrid world will shape new business models & rules of engagement: Tuhina Pandey

Tuhina Pandey, Communications Leader, IBM India & South Asia, crystal gazes into the key trends that will dominate in 2021, which include a Hybrid world, era of cooperative competition, paradigm shift in media landscape and engaging employees.

#TwitterChat: The blurring lines of communication on digital media

Fledgling social platforms were a kind of utopia for Internet users as a vehicle for freedom of speech and expression. That’s why you see some of the worst examples of hate speech, sensitive material and incendiary dialogue happening in the early days of adoption of these platforms.

Women need to put themselves out there a lot more: Prachi Bali

In conversation with Adgully, Prachi Bali, National Head Client Partnerships and Business Head - North, FoxyMoron, sheds light on the women leaders of today, why women need to find strong mentors for themselves, how gender pay gap remains a serious challenge, and much more. 

Hindi feed for Australian Open is helping grow viewership in HSM: Rajesh Kaul

Day four of the Australian Open is underway, airing on Sony SIX, Sony TEN 2, and 3. Last year, Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPSN) began Hindi commentary on the Grand Slam tournament for the first time on its Sony TEN 3 channel. The network has roped in premium sponsors – Rolex, Mondelez, Lenovo and Pernod Ricard and more – this year despite it being the first tennis tournament broadcast in India post the pandemic.

Moj has an 80-mn strong monthly active user community: Shashank Shekhar

In conversation with Adgully, Shashank Shekhar, Director, Content Strategy and Operations, ShareChat, speaks about the fascinating growth journey of the app and its secret sauce for content, technology and marketing that have driven the youth audience to adopt its product offering.

Women tend to value solution rather than process in times of crisis: Ashwini Deshpande

In conversation with Adgully, Ashwini Deshpande, Co-founder, Director, Elephant Design, speaks about the changing face of women leadership in pandemic times, working remotely with our clients for all 31 years of Elephant’s existence, achieving work-life balance in times of crisis, and much more.

With bigger role of tech, future of work could be a game changer: Amit Adarkar

Shrugging off the disruptions of the year gone by, businesses and agencies are looking for a strong revival in 2021. Over the next few weeks, Adgully – as part of our annual TRENDING NOW endeavour – will be presenting the strategies and views of a cross-section of industry leaders as they go about reclaiming lost time and market opportunities and build for a stronger future, armed with the lessons of 2020.

ALTBalaji crosses 2.1 mn active subscribers, monthly billing crosses Rs 10 cr

ALTBalaji, the online video streaming service from Balaji Telefilms, has reported its highest ever subscriptions sold during the third quarter ending December 31, 2020. ALTBalaji sold 1.6 million subscriptions in Q3 FY2021 on the back of very strong content line up and strategic increase in marketing spends.

Beauty & personal luxury ad spend in India to be 15.2% higher in 2022: Zenith

Decreased consumer demand for cosmetics and fragrances amid continued social distancing will restrain the recovery in beauty and personal luxury advertising to 1.7% in 2021, according to Zenith’s Business Intelligence – Beauty and Personal Luxury report. This is below the 4.4% growth rate for total ad spend in the 11 key markets, included in the report. Beauty ad spend will total $7.5 billion across these markets in 2021, and then rise to $7.7 billion in 2022, growing by 2.6%.