Week at a glance: WPP, Spotify, Twitter Q3 results; Powerful Influencers of India

India’s Powerful Influencers – the most comprehensive list of Zen masters of M&E

Amid these tough times, Adgully is all geared to return with its inspirational and aspirational annual property – POWERFUL INFLUENCERS. These men and women are the captains of the industry who have a wealth of experience and success stories of leading businesses to greater heights. The 2020 edition of POWERFUL INFLUENCERS will also put the spotlight on the leaders who have shown remarkable courage, gumption, innovation and empathy during the COVID-19 times and have been leading the way in successfully navigating through the global crisis.

Also read: Week at a glance: Puja in the new normal; where are the film fans; turmoil in news biz

Homegrown Video Apps riding the Vocal for Local wave

Swadeshi was the movement during India’s fight for Independence that sought to create pride for indigenous products and boycott British goods and led to the development of Indian nationalism. Seventy-three years after India’s Independence, there is a move towards striving for an ‘AtmaNirbhar Bharat’. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call during the pandemic period, as led to a resurgence of homegrown brands.

TRP war: Competition will be there, but a code of conduct is needed - Industry leaders

No business dealings, no payment made to Republic TV, says Hansa Research

Hansa Research has categorically stated that it has had no business dealings with Republic TV and no payment has been made to the channel nor received from the channel. “In a statement reported in the Media, the Crime Branch spokesperson investigating the TRP scam has alleged that Hansa Research has made payment of Rs 32 lakh to Republic TV, which is incorrect,” maintained Hansa Research in a statement issued.

NBA disapproves of any vengeful reporting by media

The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) has expressed its deep concern over the turn of events in Mumbai, wherein it states that the clash between Republic TV and Mumbai Police is posing a threat to the credibility and respect of two great institutions, the media and the police. “We are deeply concerned that journalists working in the newsroom have become victims of this unfortunate conflict,” NBA said in a statement issued.

Ad Volumes on TV up by 56% in Jul-Sept; News Genre leads with 31%: TAM AdEx

Continuing with its quarterly advertising trends on television, TAM AdEx has reported that during Q3 of 2020 (July-September’20), Ad Volumes on TV rose by 56 per cent, compared to Q2’20 (April-June’20). According to the report, Ad Volumes increased by more than 2 times in September 2020, compared to April 2020, which is highest between April-September, 2020.The number of categories, advertisers and brands also rose by 1%, 19% and 21%, respectively, in Q3’20 over Q2’20.

WPP reports resilient performance in a challenging environment in Q3

WPP has reported continued good momentum in new business, with $1.6 billion won in Q3 2020, taking the year-to-date wins to $5.6 billion. WPP also reported strong liquidity and balance sheet, supported by tight working capital management, with year-to-date average net debt at £2.5 billion, down £2.0 billion year-on-year. This has put WPP on track to be towards upper end of the £700-800 million cost reduction target.

Spotify Q3 2020 results beat expectations; Total MAUs up 29% at 320 mn

Despite the challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, Spotify saw a 13% increase in new music releases compared with Q2 on the platform. This was led by Taylor Swift’s folklore album, which set a Spotify record for the most first day album streams by a female artist while making Taylor Swift the most streamed artist on Spotify on any day this year. BTS also released their first all-English-language single Dynamite in August and had the biggest first day globally on Spotify for a single in 2020.

How the pandemic has brought immunity booster brands to the forefront

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increased awareness and need for superior quality immunity boosting products. Consumers are proactively seeking solutions that can easily integrate into their daily routine. Emphasis on immunity boosting has led to a surge in demand for healthier foods and preventive products. According to an EY report, an ~80 per cent increase in demand for Chyawanprash was seen in March 2020; while demand for turmeric has gone up by ~40 per cent and demand for packaged health foods has increased by 35 per cent.

“Strong affinity from Millennials for Amway’s product range & biz opportunity”

With health, immunity, and nutrition-based searches registering a massive uptick in the last few months, brands have also realigned their marketing strategies to meet the evolving consumer needs. As leaders in the FMCG direct selling industry with dominance in health and wellness space, Amway India is leaving no stone unturned to swiftly respond to the fast-changing needs of its consumers, both when it comes to products and brand experience.

#TwitterChat: The ticking time bomb that PR professionals are facing

Continuing with Adgully’s much appreciated #TwitterChat initiative, we turned the focus to “Are PR professionals contributing to a ticking ‘mental health’ bomb?”, where industry stalwarts came together to discuss the topic of mental health from a PR perspective.

With the rise of fake news, PR is a much-needed check post: Tuhina Pandey

In conversation with Adgully, Tuhina Pandey, Communications Leader, IBM India & South Asia, highlights the role public relations in the evolving new paradigm, where the basic is the new luxury and the human touch will only be more premium going forward.

Decoding the era of IPOs and stock broking in the new normal

Angel Broking is one of the largest retail broking houses in India in terms of active clients on NSE, as of June 2020. It is a technology-led financial services company that offers broking and advisory services, margin funding, loans against shares (through one of the subsidiaries AFPL) and financial products distribution to clients.

Twitter launches new guidelines to reduce the Spread of Misinformation

Twitter launched prominent new reminders warning people to be wary of potential misinformation on the social media site — the company’s latest effort to try to tamp down swirling rumors and potential misinformation during the election.

TRP war: Competition will be there, but a code of conduct is needed - Industry leaders

Allegations by Mumbai Police naming three news channels for tampering TRPs has brought to question the integrity of Broadcast Audience Research Council’s (BARC) TV data collection practices. BARC has empaneled 44,000 sample homes with their BAR-O-meters to extrapolate the viewership of 197 million TV homes.Unsurprisingly, news channels representative body is not a stakeholder in BARC India, which was formed by the Indian Broadcasting Federation (IBF), the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA), who have been using it as an efficient currency of measurement for the last five years. IBF holds 60% stake in BARC, while AAAI and ISA hold 20% stake each.

Backed by Akshay Kumar, will FAU-G win over India’s khiladis?

Just a few days after the ban on PUBG and 118 other apps, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Government had announced the launch of FAU-G (Fauji), a homegrown battle royale game eyeing to fill in the huge gap left by the PUBG ban. Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar is backing and promoting FAU-G. A teaser for FAU-G was released a couple of days back that depicts the heroics of the Indian armed forces. FAU-G will be a third person shooting game very similar to PUBG.

“Domestic tourism to drive short- to mid-term recovery of travel & hospitality sector”

The travel and hospitality industry, which accounts for over 8 per cent of India’s total employment with over 4 crore jobs, is one of the most affected by the pandemic. On the occasion of World Tourism Day, Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), South Asia’s largest hospitality company, launched Travel For India – a campaign to inspire safe travel and help rebuild the tourism and hospitality industry that touches millions of lives. In line with the Government’s ‘Vocal for Local’ vision, Travel For India aims at driving awareness about the importance of domestic tourism and its impact on livelihoods.

What makes for a desirable streaming brand in India?

Kantar has just launched their CX+ study, which evaluates the performance of companies in the Telecom, Media and Technology sectors, using Kantar’s unique CX+ index. The CX+ index looks at brands in the context of their category and uses customer centricity as its core to evaluate CX performance of a company. According to the study, just 37 per cent of consumers believe that companies offer truly customer-centric experiences.

How dating apps are faring amid pandemic and social distancing situations

In times of the pandemic situation and social distancing, online dating apps are becoming even more popular in people’s search for friends and potential partners. With everything getting digitised, finding a partner and building a relationship has also moved to the online space, and various dating apps are facilitating such endeavours, besides providing numerous tips, all from the safety of one’s home.

Viacom18 appoints Rajesh Iyer into its leadership team

Viacom18, India’s fastest growing media and entertainment company, today announced the appointment of Rajesh Iyer to take on independent charge of Colors Bangla, Colors Odia, Colors Tamil and Colors Gujarati.

We are positioning ourselves as an affordable, accessible mass brand: Ajay Motwani

Adani Wilmar Ltd, one of the fastest-growing FMCG companies in India which markets a wide range of consumer essentials under the ‘Fortune’ brand, recently unveiled their new TVC for Alife Soap featuring Bhumi Pednekar. It tells the story of a small-town girl who runs her own beauty parlour and aspires to become big. It celebrates the “natural beauty” attained with the help of Alife beauty soap, which comprises 80 per cent natural ingredients and glycerine.

#TwitterChat: How Influencer Marketing is giving a boost to new age brands in India

Even as well-established brands continued their marketing and advertising activities through various routes, news age brands, too, have been seeing great traction during this period. It is an interesting study in successful use of influencer marketing by the new age brands. It is this aspect that will be highlighted in Adgully’s premier property, #TwitterChat, this week as part of the discussions on ‘How is Influencer Marketing helping new age brands grow in India?’

Mohit Joshi elevated to CEO, Havas Media Group

Havas Group India has announced the elevation of Mohit Joshi to Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect. This appointment comes as part of the acceleration of the group’s overall growth strategy. Prior to this, Joshi was Managing Director Havas Media Group. He will continue to report to Rana Barua, Group CEO, Havas Group India.