Week at a glance: VG Siddhartha’s demise; Spying by Voice tech; Byju’s & cricket

Google Home and Amazon Echo spy on you, ALL THE TIME!
Consumers engage with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri, the popular voice assistants, on a daily basis, without realising that their conversations are actually getting recorded.

Late CCD Founder VG Siddhartha’s letter sends ripples through corp world
The corporate world was rocked by the suicide of Café Coffee Day Founder, VG Siddhartha this week. In a letter to CCD’s Board of Directors, Siddhartha expressed regret about failing to create “the right profitable business model despite my best efforts” and also mentioned about being pressurised by one of the private equity partners to buy back shares and harassment faced at the hands of “the previous DG – Income Tax”.

How Zomato and Deepinder Goyal turned the tide on Twitter in their favour
On July 31, Zomato was trending at #1 on social media platform, Twitter. Why? Because of their swift, dignified and smart response to a consumer complaint.

What will happen to Instagram without the ‘Likes’ button?
The move was carried out following the concerns about the ill effects of social media on the mental health and self-esteem of the youth. The test is currently running in seven countries.

How New Consumer Protection Bill, 2019 will take on false & misleading ads
With the Lok Sabha passing the Consumer Protection Bill, 2019, the entire process of redressal of consumer grievances is expected to be simplified and consumers will be able to get speedy justice.

Why sports marketing has worked so well for BYJU’s & new age digital brands
Edutech player, BYJU’s has bailed out OPPO as associate sponsor for Team India and has acquired the sponsorship rights until March 2022. BYJU’S will now be seen on the Indian Team jerseys from the September 2019 South Africa Home series onwards.

#AdgullyImpact: Magicbricks retracts ads that faked Bots as loyal customers
Three days after Adgully had carried a report about bots being used in the ads by Times Group-owned Magicbricks, the portal removed the creatives from all its social media handles. Today, we searched all their handles and the campaign could not be found. All the tweets and Facebook posts were removed, which clearly indicate that veracity of Adgully’s report.

Getting to know The Real Side of Rohit Ohri, Rajiv Dingra, Sumanto Chattopadhyay
By talking to some of the head honchos in the country, we at Adgully, bring to you a series of The Real Side – stories and experiences that have driven these leaders to their successes and become the people they are today.

Digital will always be the favoured medium for OTT marketing: Abhishek Joshi
The conversation ranged from the ground realities in the OTT ecosystem in India to the preferred choice of OTT platforms to reach audiences at Adgully’s #TwitterChat with Abhishek Joshi, Head of Marketing and Business Partnerships at MX Player. The #TwitterChat took place yesterday (July 31, 2019).

Will Advertisers Gain from PM Modi’s Stint on Discovery in ‘Man vs Wild’?
The announcement for the show was accompanied by a campaign with the hashtag #PMModionDiscovery where you can see a promo of the Prime Minister and Bear Grylls camping out in the wild. Will it get new audiences and eyeballs?

BARC India scales up drive against panel tampering; 18 cases reported in 28 months
In March 2017, BARC India had set up an independent Disciplinary Committee (DisComm) to probe complaints of viewership malpractice.

ALTBalaji & Zee5 to co-create Original content
The content sharing arrangement,  includes co-creation of 60+ Original content series (in Hindi) which will be available exclusively to SVOD subscribers of both platforms.

How DB Corp’s Homeonline transitioned into a Techno-Human company
At the helm of the business is Vijay Garg, Business Head, Homeonline.com, who was CFO of DB Corp’s FM venture My FM for 12 long years before this assignment.

Mia is looking to partner with OTT platforms for branded content: Bhavishya Kelappan
The Indian jewellery market has responded well to Mia since its inception eight years ago, when it introduced a separate category for working women – smaller, delicate, classy and more western looking jewellery that could be worn with all kinds of apparel.

Now, doubts being raised over efficacy of newly-formed News Broadcasters Federation
The industry was abuzz last week with the formation of largest-ever federation of news channels, christened News Broadcasters Federation (NBF). As the industry takes stock post the formation, several news media veterans are now questioning how effective the Federation will really be.

NBF ready to liaise with industry, opens doors for new members
The newly-formed News Broadcasters Federation (NBF), comprising more than 45 founder channels, is now ready to liaise with industry and statutory bodies in the news broadcasting industry. The group of channels is likely to grow further as more broadcasters are mulling over joining the NBF.

We’re in the world of Fast Moving Consumer Video: Vinit Mehta
In continuation with this conversation, Adgully engaged with Vinit Mehta, Sales Director - Asia, Brightcove, in a #TwitterChat on the future growth of OTT platforms. The #TwitterChat took place on Friday (July 26, 2019) between 3 pm and 4 pm.

INS urges Govt to roll back 10% duty on newsprint
Faced with declining revenues, the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) has urged the Government to withdraw the 10 per cent customs duty imposed on newsprint, which was an “unbearable burden”.

BARC Wk 30: No major upheavals as Star Plus, Dangal TV continue to lead
BARC India data for Week 30 (Saturday, July 20 to Friday, July 26) of 2019, doesn’t show much upheaval in Pay and Free platform viewership for Hindi GECs in Rural+Urban [HSM (U+R) : NCCS All : 2+ Individuals].