Week at a glance: Q&A with Kalli Purie; new IPL ad; Videocon-Dish TV merger...

India Today is a mega brand present across print, TV and digital platforms. The India Today brand has broken records with the IRS 2017 and BARC ratings. As per BARC, India Today Television has toppled Times Now to take the No.2 slot. As per IRS 2017 data, ITTV has emerged as India’s No.1 English news channel. India Today Group Vice Chairperson Kalli Purie speaks exclusively to Adgully about the Group’s accomplishments and challenges. 

The Advertising Agencies Association of India and Association of Radio Operators for India have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that envisages a close working relationship between the Radio and Advertising Agencies Associations through joint committees and standard procedures. The objective is to make joint efforts for promoting advertising business on radio. 

Radio players have hailed the move and see it as giving a greater growth impetus to radio advertising in the country. According to Anurradha Prasad Shukla, Chairperson & MD, B.A.G. Network and President, AROI, “AAAI members will get the best terms from radio, while AROI members will get timely payments.” She further added, “It is important and prudent to set up credit terms and even more important to ensure that terms are followed and payments are on time. A joint mechanism is the best way to ensure this.” 

Dish TV India this week announced the completion of the merger of Videocon D2h into and with Dish TV India. The merger paves way for the creation of the largest listed media company in India taking into consideration the last reported full-year revenue and EBITDA numbers of the two DTH players on a pro-forma basis. 

Reliance Industries Limited has executed definitive agreements for combination of music OTT platform Saavn with its digital music service, JioMusic. The combined entity is valued at over $1 billion, with JioMusic’s implied valuation at $670 million. The integrated business will be developed into a media platform of the future with global reach, cross-border original content, an independent artist marketplace, consolidated data and one of the largest mobile advertising mediums. 

Creativeland Asia has today brought on board legendary ad film director Prahlad Kakkar as Creative Mentor for the Group. Kakkar’s mandate includes creating training modules for creative teams across all levels and develop stronger storytelling, script-writing and film making capabilities internally. He will be involved on strategic marketing communications projects as well. 

Sony India has announced the appointment of Sunil Nayyar as its new Managing Director with effect from April 1, 2018. The change of guard marks a historic milestone, with Nayyar being the first Indian to be appointed as Managing Director for Sony India. In this new role, Sunil will be responsible for spearheading the overall growth and profitability of the company within the region. 

According to industry sources Nandini Singh has been elevated to Head Star Bharat as Sagnik Ghosh moves to Star Jalsa. Singh has been with Star for over a decade. She had joined Star in 2005 as Manager - Research and Consumer insights and then moved on to various senior positions in the company. Since 2016, she had been Business Head – Star English, before being elevated to the present position. 

Mindshare has fortified its strategy for its Growth Markets region with two key elevations. Amrita Randhawa has been promoted to Asia Pacific CEO, while Prasanth Kumar has been promoted to CEO for MENA and Africa. This will be in addition to his current role as CEO for South Asia. Randhawa and Kumar in their new roles will continue to work with Ashutosh Srivastava, Executive Chairperson & CEO for Growth Markets, comprising APAC, MENA, Africa & Russia/CIS. Both roles are effective immediately. 

Sony Entertainment Television is all set to bring back its game show, ‘Dus Ka Dum’ after a gap of nine years. In a move to make the show more interactive to the digital generation as well as increase audience connect, Sony has launched an app for ‘Dus Ka Dum Season 3’ which will let viewers participate directly in the show from their homes. Danish Khan, Executive Vice President and Business Head, SET, and Amogh Dusad, SVP & Head Insights and Programming Strategy, Sony Pictures Networks, India, speaks to Adgully about what’s in store in this new edition of ‘Dus Ka Dum’ and on returning to air after a hiatus of nine years. 

Brand Raymond, which has been associated with class and finesse and has been creating new benchmarks for ‘The Complete Man’, has now come out with a new campaign that’s high on the emotional quotient. Adgully explores the concept behind the ad, the strategy behind the media planning, and much more with Madhu S Dutta, Marketing Head, Raymond Ltd. Datta explains that in the latest ad, the only underlining theme is celebrating the shades of black as a colour of simplicity, grace and a must-have essential in every Indian man’s wardrobe. 

Triumph Motorcycles India, a subsidiary of the iconic British motorcycle manufacturer Triumph Motorcycles, has fortified its presence in the country with the launch of the brand-new Tiger 800 XCX and XR line-up. Speaking at the launch, Vimal Sumbly, Managing Director, Triumph Motorcycles India, opened up more on Triumph’s growth strategy for India and why the brand has stayed away from advertising in a tete-a-tete with Adgully. 

Comio, the flagship mobile devices brand of Topwise Communications, is one of the latest Chinese smartphone brands to foray into India around six months ago. Comio has set itself the ambitious vision of becoming one of the top 3 smartphone brands by 2022. For this, the brand has dedicated Rs 250 crore for marketing alone and has charted out a clear strategy to engage with the youth. In conversation with Adgully, Sumit Sehgal, CMO, Comio India, chalks out the smartphone brand’s strategy for India. 

Even as Star India gears up for Indian Premiere League (IPL) Season 11, which commences from April 7, there are disputes emerging over Star’s decision to hike its channel rates, which as per media reports are in the range of around 40 per cent. DTH operators Airtel Digital TV and Dish TV have opposed this rate revision and have called it unjustified. Both DTH players are not ready to hike their subscription rates for consumers due to Star revising its channel rates. 

Star India has rolled out the second phase of the national campaign for Vivo IPL 2018 with a series of films in six languages ahead of the cricketing spectacle. The campaign attempts to answer the question on everybody’s mind – from Bundelkhand to Madurai – ‘who would win when a tiger takes on another?’ 

Ascential Plc, the parent company of Cannes Lions, has announced that Philip Thomas, CEO of Ascential Events, will take on the additional role of Chairman of Cannes Lions when Terry Savage leaves that position after this year’s Festival in June. Previous to his current role running Ascential’s Events division, Thomas was CEO of Cannes Lions and its associated festivals for ten years. 

BARC ratings for Week 11 of 2018 (March 10-16) [HSM (U+R) : NCCS All : 2+ Individuals] saw the see-saw battle for the top spot continue, with Zee Anmol moving ahead of the rest to claim the No.1 spot. It was yet another strong show put up by the FTA channels this week. Zee’s ‘Kumkum Bhagya’ and ‘Kundali Bhagya’ continued to lead among the top shows. 

Ad land’s Young Guns: Janhavi Iyer, Gozoop – A quintessential bibliophile, Janhavi Iyer, Associate Director, Content Strategy, Gozoop, is usually found brainstorming in all corners of the office when not actually working. She is a poet at heart and part time food-blogger, who sometimes moonlights as a content strategist.

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