afr february 01-15-2016-lr

16

Looking to revamp FCB Ulka’s creative culture.

RAJASTHAN TOURISMAs you Like itMarketing the state all over again.

20

4

22

COLORSHissing SuccessOf snakes and urban and rural viewership.

ASCIMore Bans 8

PUBLICIS GROUPEStart-up Focus 8

GROUPMSky High 12

BIG BOSS Open to the Public 18

INTERVIEW

Ten Years LaTer...It is exactly a decade since Times Now was launched. What have the years taught Arnab Goswami?

ARNAB GOSWAMIPRESIDENT-NEWS & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, TIMES NOW AND ET NOW

Rohit Ohri

`100February 1-15, 2016 Volume 4, Issue 16

editorial

Volume 4, Issue 16This fortnight...EDITOR

Sreekant Khandekar

PUBLISHER Prasanna Singh

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Ashwini Gangal

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Over a year back, I was given a rather atypical assignment; I went to Yash Raj Studios to interview Ranveer Singh. The next day, I felt like a celebrity myself

– Everyone in office wanted to know how it went, what he was like, how he looks ‘in real life’, what he said...

Few days back, my colleague, and author of this Cover Story, went to the Mumbai office of Times Now to interview Arnab Goswami for this issue of our magazine. When she got back to office, the reception she got was at par with the one I did. “What was he like?”, “Did he get into a heated argument with you?”, “Did he raise his voice?”, “Did he let you complete your questions?” – The folks in office wanted to know everything.

Turns out, Arnab is surprisingly cool, calm and composed, off air. In fact, the Jekyll and Hyde contrast was even more striking because he was in the middle of reporting on a terror attack in a university in Pakistan, when our correspondent met him.

Recently, at the office of a professional acquaintance, I saw a slide show about the variables that drive the viewership of news channels. An entire slide in that presentation was about how drastically the viewership of Times Now fell when Arnab went on leave for a few weeks; there was a detailed bar graph on this, for crying out loud.

Speaking of loud, at Goafest last year, I attended a session in which Arnab spoke about why sensationalising news is not the worst thing in the world. While that’s all very well, I, personally, have a problem with the tacky ‘fire’ graphics that accompany the words ‘The Burning Issue’ during The Newshour.

Times Now just turned ten. On the occasion, we bring you an interview with the face of the channel about the decade gone by, and the one that lies ahead.

16

Looking to revamp FCB Ulka’s creative culture.

RAJASTHAN TOURISMAs you Like itMarketing the state all over again.

20

4

22

COLORSHissing SuccessOf snakes and urban and rural viewership.

ASCIMore Bans 8

PUBLICIS GROUPEStart-up Focus 8

GROUPMSky High 12

BIG BOSS Open to the Public 18

INTERVIEW

Ten Years LaTer...It is exactly a decade since Times Now was launched. What have the years taught Arnab Goswami?

ARNAB GOSWAMIPRESIDENT-NEWS & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, TIMES NOW AND ET NOW

Rohit Ohri

`100February 1-15, 2016 Volume 4, Issue 16

CONTENTS

Ashwini [email protected]

3afaqs! Reporter, February 1-15, 2 0 1 6

Why brand ambassadors get dumped.

POVTitan’s SmartwatchCan Titan succeed in a business dominated by tech-companies?

14

The insurance brand launches a social media campaign.

12

15

Now, a fully-integrated ‘Taste the Feeling’ campaign.

The digital media brand announces its first sitcom.

COCA-COLAIt’s Simple

ARRETo the New

EFFIES 2015

Mullen Comes up TrumpsThe agency sweeps the Effies with six gold medals, followed by Ogily which bagged four golds.

611BY INVITATIONPrabhakar Mundkur

24

EXIDE LIFE INSURANCENo Quick Fixes

The Government of Rajasthan has finally decided to market the state of Rajasthan after an interval of 25 years and has rolled

out a multi-year, multi-modal and multi-narrative domestic and international campaign on January 15. Titled ‘Jaane kya dikh jaaye’, the campaign consists of six films, of which five are named after the protagonists who feature as tourists in the videos. The sixth film is a stop-motion animation on sand which reveals the new logo of Rajasthan Tourism.

The campaign, which has been conceptualised by team Ogilvy and guided by Piyush Pandey, executive chairman and creative director, South Asia, Ogilvy & Mather, aims to change the way the state has always been perceived. The challenge was to attract the youth to a different Rajasthan, a destination for adventure seekers and explorers.

“The Rajasthan Tourism campaign is the campaign I have been waiting for the last one decade. Rajasthan is my home state and I think I owe it an impactful and effective campaign. I look forward to the exciting times ahead,” says Pandey.

The first film depicts how Jane finds her Rajasthan, when a diversion on NH-76 leads her to a view of Garadia Mahadev in Kota. The second video titled Aryasthan shows how Arya finds his

Rajasthan in the middle of the Thar desert.While the third film shows Binoy visit the

mysterious deserted village of Kuldhara at night, the fourth film features Meera, who finds her Rajasthan amidst colourful hot air balloons in the clear blue sky. The fifth film is set in Kumbalgarh Fort where Huan finds her Rajasthan.

The sixth and the last film introduces the revamped logo of Rajasthan Tourism. Created by Eeksaurus studios and directed by Suresh Eriyat, founder and creative director, Eeksaurus, the video is a stop-motion picture created on sand.

With regards to execution, after the entire 50-seconds animation on paper was ready, each

frame was translated digitally to laser cut stencils. These stencils were then worked over by clay to provide the three-dimensional depth that is seen in the film and then animated over frame by frame with sand - the most elementary component related to Rajasthan.

Commenting on the campaign, Eriyat, says, “The state of Rajasthan creates an immediate recall for sand, so we decided to capitalise on this factor. Sand animation calls for a great amount of attention to detail, and therefore, every movement and change in surroundings has been looked upon very delicately.”

The campaign, along with the TVCs, will also

be advertised extensively on print, outdoors, radio and digital platforms.

Vivek Verma, senior vice-president, Ogilvy & Mather, Mumbai, says, “We went beyond the general places to show the lesser-known sides of the state. To some, the state may be peaceful, and to others it may be adventurous. We decided to explore every nook and corner of the state. I would say, come to Rajasthan, “Jaane kya dikh jaaye (you never know what you might discover)!”

The music created by Amar Mangrulkar mainly consists of Rajasthani folk and is used as the background score. “We decided that there was nothing better than local folk music for this campaign through which the audience will connect better with the state. It gives a different feel to the videos,” he says.

The films capture some of the best images of Rajasthan, be it the authentic Rajasthani culture, places of historical importance, the camels that walk across the desert, or the music, stuff that any tourist would die for.

“To work on the Rajasthan Tourism campaign was a challenging experience. Changing perception isn’t an easy task. After several brainstorming rounds, we stumbled upon a very simple idea to make Rajasthan look different from the eyes of different travellers. It becomes Aryasthan through the eyes of Arya and Meerasthan through the eyes of Meera. The campaign has shaped up well and we are thrilled to be on the team that is bringing about this perception change,” say Azazul Haque and Mahesh Gharat, group creative directors, Ogilvy & Mather, Mumbai.

The state government is expected to spend over Rs 100 crore on this campaign over the next few years.

Despite some of the best tourist attractions, the state’s lack of tourism marketing over the last quarter of a century as compared to its neighbouring states, has resulted in a sharp dip in the number of international tourists (its share has fallen from 33 per cent of international travellers to 20 per cent), as well as domestic tourists (the state gets half of Madhya Pradesh’s 63 million

RAJASTHAN TOURISM

Ogilvy has created a new logo and a multimedia ad campaign titled ‘Jaane Kya Dikh Jaaye’ for Rajasthan Tourism,which marks the state’s return to tourism marketing after 25 years. By Snehojit Khan

advertising

As You Like It

continued on page 6 >>

afaqs! Reporter, February 1-15, 20164

“Rajasthan is my home state and I think I owe

it an impactful and effective campaign.”

PIYUSH PANDEY

“Rajasthan creates an immediate recall for sand,

so we decided to capitalise on this

factor.”SURESH ERIYAT

FOTO

CORP

FOTO

CORP

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domestic tourists). This is not only a missed opportunity in terms of attracting international tourists, but for economic growth as well.

According to Shobha Narayan (author and journalist and member of the steering committee created by the state government to monitor the campaign’s creation and implementation), the agency’s mandate was to come up with something fresh and digitally

native. “Tourism marketing has considerably changed with the internet and social media, and we look forward to presenting something from Rajasthan Tourism for this new world,” she says.

The campaign is part of an overall plan for Rajasthan Tourism’s Phase 3. Phase 1, which took off during Independence and carried on until the early 1980s, focussed on the

state’s landscape. The second phase began with the heritage hotels and forts. The current phase will combine assets from both phases along with an aggressive marketing campaign, a new logo, and an experience calendar that is being developed.

UNCONVENTIONAL, YET TRADITIONAL

Bhupal Ramnathkar, founder and managing

director, Umbrella Design, feels that this campaign is better than the previous one. “The new logo will last longer

in the minds of the audience,” he says.

Emmanuel Upputuru, founder, chief integration officer, ITSA Brand Innovations, says, “The campaign is not extraordinary. The concept of showing a place from the eyes of a third person through ads is neither new nor unique. With regards to execution, there are sparks, but in the bigger picture the message is lost in between.”

“The videos showcase how a person sees the state of Rajasthan. It does not speak on behalf of the state,” he explains. n

[email protected]

As You Like It<< continued from page 4

Coca-Cola has replaced its ‘Open Happiness’ tagline with the new ‘Taste the Feeling’. This marks a major strategic shift in the

global beverage brand’s marketing strategy as the company replaces its seven-year old brand proposition of ‘Open Happiness’. It will now adopt the ‘one brand’ approach which will extend the equity and appeal of the brand to Coca-Cola Light/Diet Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero and Coca-Cola Life.

The company stated that while Coke’s award-winning ‘Open Happiness’ campaign leaned heavily on what the brand stood for over the last seven years, ‘Taste the Feeling’ will feature universal story-telling with the product at the heart to reflect both the functional and emotional aspects of the Coca-Cola experience.

Speaking at the unveiling ceremony in Paris, Marcos de Quinto chief marketing officer, Coca-

Cola, says, “We are reinforcing the brand image that Coca-Cola is for everybody. Coca-Cola is one brand with different variants, all of which share the same values and visual iconography.”

According to de Quinto the ‘Taste the Feeling’ campaign will bring to life the idea that drinking a Coca-Cola is a simple pleasure that makes everyday moments more special. “We’ve found over time that the more we position Coca-Cola as an icon, the smaller we become. The bigness of Coca-Cola resides in the fact that it’s a simple pleasure,” he says.

The fully integrated ‘Taste the Feeling’ campaign -- which will roll out around the world throughout 2016 -- celebrates the experience of drinking an ice-cold Coca-Cola.

An international network of agencies is developing the ‘Taste the Feeling’ promotion. Four agencies, namely, Mercado-McCann, Santo, Sra Rushmore and Oglivy & Mather, produced an initial round of 10 TV commercials, digital, print, out-of-home and shopper materials. Six additional shops will work upon the creative as the campaign evolves.

Meanwhile, in India, Coca-Cola has used Bollywood celebrities such as Aamir Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Alia Bhatt, and Siddharth Malhotra to reach out to consumers.

Coca-Cola re-entered the Indian market in 1993, and expanded its portfolio with offerings including Diet Coke, Thums Up, Fanta, Limca, Sprite, Maaza, the Minute Maid range of juices, Georgia and Georgia Gold range of hot and cold tea and coffee options, Kinley and Bonaqua packaged drinking water, Kinley Club Soda and BURN. The company, along with its bottling partners, claims to have a network of over 2.2 million retail outlets. Its major competitor is Pepsi. n

[email protected]

It’s Simple COCA-COLA

advertising

The fully-integrated ‘Taste the Feeling’ campaign, which will roll out globally throughout 2016, celebrates the experience of drinking an ice-cold Coca-Cola. By News Bureau


Thanks to The Advertising Standards Council of India and pan masala, Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan, Sunny Leone, Ajay

Devgn, Govinda, Saif Ali Khan and Arbaaz Khan find themselves in the same boat. They all endorse pan masala brands across mass media channels.

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), a self-regulatory body that propagates responsible advertising, has announced in its official communique, that it will look into pan masala advertisements featuring celebrities as they have been found to be in violation of ASCI’s code of self-regulation in advertising content.

Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan, Sunny Leone, Ajay Devgn, Saif Ali Khan, Arbaaz Khan and Govinda have been issued letters by the health department of the Delhi Government requesting them to stop endorsing pan masala brands.

Devgn endorses Vimal Pan Masala, Shah Rukh Khan appears in ads for Pan Vilas Pan Masala, and Leone, Saif Ali Khan and Govinda endorse Mehak Kesar Shilajit pan masala, Pan Bahar Pan Masala and Pan-e-Shahi Pan Masala, respectively. Arbaaz Khan is the brand ambassador for Paras Pan Masala.

Pan masala may not be considered harmful

by itself, the areca nuts which are carcinogenic (cancer-causing) in nature and can be likened to caffeine, tobacco and alcohol for their addictive properties, render it harmful in the long run.

The letter requests all the above-mentioned celebrities to withdraw themselves from the endorsement of any pan masala brands since actors are often role models for youngsters, especially minors under the age of 18, who are easily influenced.

The letter has also asked the actors to support the government’s anti-tobacco campaign, and help prevent oral cancer.

Commenting on the announcement, Shweta Purandare, secretary general, ASCI, says, “At this juncture, we would like to educate the consumers and the advertisers that while products like pan masala and supari are not banned for sale or from

advertising by law, the ASCI code does not permit the use of celebrities in advertisements of products which by law require health warning on their packaging or those that cannot be purchased or used by minors.”

According to Purandare, complaints against such advertisements have been received by ASCI and are being looked into. “ASCI will approach the concerned advertisers to take necessary corrective action post the decision taken in this regard by our Consumer Complaints Council,” she says.

As per the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) rules, statutory warnings like ‘Chewing of pan masala is injurious to health’ and ‘Chewing of supari is injurious to health’ are mandatory to be printed on the product packaging, as well as on advertisements. n

[email protected]

ASCI

Another Ban?advertising


A look at why Bollywood celebs endorsing pan masala brands is a problem for The Advertising Standards Council of India. By News Bureau

“The ASCI code doesn’t permit

using celebrities for products which

by law require health warning.”

SHWETA PURANDARE

FOTO

CORP

As part of its 90th anniversary celebrations, the Publicis Groupe, which was founded

by Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet in 1926, has launched Publicis90, a platform which will mentor, support and fund 90 digital start-ups.

The aim behind launching such a platform is to offer the much-needed

support to entrepreneurs in order to help them set up their projects as well as guide them in their journey to the next level. Anyone who wishes to be an entrepreneur, whether it is a student, a start-up, or even an employee of the Publicis Groupe may avail the benefits of the platform.

Entries through the Publicis90

platform (www.publicis90.com) can be submitted up to February 28, 2016.

The Publicis90 platform will first select projects on a region-wise basis from countries which include the US, Asia-Pacific, Europe, West Asia and Africa, where the first round of votes will be open to all Publicis Groupe employees (all projects submitted remain anonymous). A regional jury will draw up a shortlist of the projects selected from the list of pre-selected projects prior to the final selection, which will be made by a global jury which will choose

Start-up FocusPUBLICIS GROUPE

The Group has taken a new approach to usher in its 90th anniversary. By News Bureau


Publicis90 will mentor and fund 90

digital start-ups.

Amar Ujala Grows

by 28%Source : 24.90 lac copies (JJ 2015) over 19.53 lac copies (JJ 2014)

Audit Bureau of Circulation

Give your brand the edge it deserves

New campaigns across television, print, out-of-home and digital media.

Got some great campaign that has been published recently? Upload it on afaqs! for the world to see.Visit: www.afaqs.com/advertising/creative_showcase

campaigntrailpresents

MAHINDRA FIRST CHOICE SERVICESIn its first TVC titled, ‘Free ke baad First Choice’, Mahindra First Choice Services, a chain of multi-brand car service workshops, talks about how the brand offers honest advice and service to car owners beyond the free ones.

Creative Agency: The Lonely Cloud Consulting Company

FLIPKART.COMWith four videos depicting people from all corners of India, Flipkart’s digital campaign #EveryoneOnFlipkart aims to motivate people to shop online through the e-commerce portal.

Creative Agency: Dentsu Webchutney

JEEVANSATHI.COM Jeevansathi.com, a matrimonial website, has rolled out a TVC, ‘Be Found by your soulmate’. Based on the premise – ‘The one you are perfect for, is waiting for you to log on’, it is in contrast to the idea of looking for a match on a matrimonial portal.

Creative Agency: J. Walter Thompson

MEDIMIX The ‘Nothing better than natural’ campaign from Medimix highlights the benefits of using the brand’s Natural Glycerine soap.

Creative Agency: Metal Communications

MICROMAX CANVAS 5 The print creative for the smartphone brand titled, ‘The All-Powerful Canvas 5’ showcases the smartphone from three different angles and lists out its various features such as Octacore processor and 3 GB DDR RAM.

FORTUNE BASMATI RICE Adani Wilmar has come up with a print ad, ‘Nurtured over three perfect seasons’ for its range of basmati rice featuring film actor Kajol. The ad tells about the different variants of the basmati rice available.

Creative Agency: Triton Communications

HIDESIGNHidesign’s print ad, ‘Slow is in the details’ highlights the brass buckles used in its products. The creative features a brown satchel set against the backdrop of a lazy beach.

VIDEOS

GODREJ NATURE’S BASKET Godrej Nature’s Basket, the retail venture from Godrej Group, has launched a TVC #WorldFoodApp, to promote its mobile application, which makes product shopping easier.

Creative Agency: Supari Studios

AMAZON.INThe global e-commerce giant has rolled out a video titled #RealAmazonStories which shows how the online marketplace helps a family set up a home in Guwahati where it faces the language barrier. The film informs customers about Amazon’s delivery service.

PRINT

1 0 afaqs! Reporter, February 1-15, 2 0 1 6

Arré, the digital media brand from UDigital, co-founded by Ronnie Screwvala, B Saikumar and Ajay Chacko, has announced

the launch of its first sitcom I Don’t Watch TV. The series is a wild comedy on the ever-evolving Indian TV Industry, its idiosyncrasies and its colourful inhabitants.

It’s also a tongue-in-cheek commentary on India’s decadent celebrity culture and its obsession with Bollywood. The show is produced by television personality Nakuul Mehta. Mehta will play himself in the series.

The series features actors Drashti Dhami, Karan Patel, Rithvik Dhanjani, Kritika Kamra and Karan Wahi. It will also have a humorous cameo by film critic Rajeev Masand. Mehta’s close friend Alekh Sanghal plays his best pal in this series which features Ram Menon, and is directed by Ajay Singh.

Saikumar, founder and MD, Arré says, “I Don’t Watch TV is perhaps the ideal sitcom with which to launch our video slate. We don’t believe in doing the straight and narrow and after Ho Ja Re-gender, a social experiment on gender issues, we now present IDWT which is a fictionalised, irreverant, yet realistic look at the idiosyncracies of the daily soap industry. ”

Speaking about the new series, Mehta says, “We found a great synergy with the folks at Arré and their backing of disruptive ideas makes them a perfect platform. n

[email protected]

To the NewARRÉ

media

The comedy series will be launched across Arré’s digital platforms and YouTube. By News Bureau

afaqs! Reporter, February 1-15, 2016 1 1

ADVT

.

GroupM has released its bi-annual advertising expenditure futures report

This Year Next Year (TYNY), forecasting India’s advertising investment to reach an estimated `57,486 crore in 2016. This represents a growth of 15.5 per cent for the calendar year 2016 over the corresponding period in 2015.

Categories expected to pump in money on media this year include FMCG (28 per cent), auto (8.2 per cent), e-commerce (8.1 per cent), retail (7.6 per cent) and telecom (6 per cent), in that order.

In 2015 the advertising expenditure (AdEx) in India stood at `49,758 crore, which was 14.2 per cent over the AdEx during 2014.

According to the latest report, India is the fastest growing ad market among all major markets of the world. In terms of growth in ad spends, 2015 was the best year for India, in the last five years.

Events like the T20 World Cup, IPL and state assembly elections will give a further impetus to ad spends in 2016, predicts the team. While digital will remain the fastest growing platform, India is one of the few large

markets where all traditional media platforms will show positive growth.

In 2016, the FMCG segment is expected to emerge as the most dominant sector, with a 28 per cent share of the total AdEx. Despite facing “volume pressure,” as the team puts it, the sector is expected to continue its investment in advertising, “aided by the softening of commodity prices.”

Another big contributor will be the auto sector on the back of multiple launches across both four-wheelers and two-wheelers segments.

Discussing the report, CVL Srinivas, CEO, GroupM, South Asia, says, “We are seeing high growth on digital versus last year; advertiser confidence is building up on mobile as a platform. TV continues to show healthy growth. Newspapers will have a better year compared to 2015 because there are quite a few categories which would be advertising heavily in newspapers.” n

[email protected]

Sky HighGROUPM

In 2016, India’s advertising investment will touch `57,486 crore, predicts GroupM, in its annual AdEx futures report. By Suraj Ramnath

Mullen Lowe Lintas reclaimed the top spot at the Effies by beating

O&M to become the Agency of the Year. The agency finished with 6 Gold awards. The Golds are for its ‘Brave N Beautiful’ campaign for Dabur Vatika and ‘Delay Marriage’ campaign for Fair & Lovely (Consumer Products - Cosmetics and toiletries, personal hygiene Category), ‘Drinks & Memories’ campaign for Paperboat (Consumer products - Beverages & drinks and David v/s Goliath category), ‘Go Solo’campaign for Hotstar (Services - Media & Entertainment category) and ‘From Packaged Good to Packaging Good’ campaign for Tata Tea (Best On-going campaign).

Ogilvy followed with 4 Gold awards. The award winning entries are ‘End Acid Sale’ campaign for Make Love Not Scars (Direct Marketing and Effie for Good category), ‘A for Anthem’ for The Akanksha Foundation (Effie for Good category) and “Winning Back Lost Love” for Titan Raga (Integrated Advertising Campaign

category).BBDO went on to win 2 Gold

awards for the ‘Ariel - Share The Load’ campaign for Ariel Matic (Consumer Products - Others & Integrated Advertising Campaign category).

McCann Erickson too won 2 Gold awards for the ‘U Quit Something I Quit Something’ campaign for Nicotex and ‘Making

Women’s Heart Visible’ campaign for Saffola (Experiential Marketing/Brand Experience).

Contract Advertising won a Gold award for its ‘Take The Right Call’ campaign for Truecaller (Services - Telecom and related products category)

This year, the Ad Club of Bombay received 603 entries from 57 agencies

The Grand Effie Award went to Mullen Lowe Lintas for its Drinks & Memories campaign for Hector Beverages’ Paperboat. Hindustan Unilever won the Client of the Year Award. n

[email protected]

Time to ShineEFFIES 2015

Mullen Lowe Lintas swept the Effies with 6 Gold awards. Ogilvy finished second with 4 Gold awards. By Suraj Ramnath

afaqs! Reporter, February 1-15, 20161 2

advertising

Joseph George, Fali Vakeel & Arun Iyer collect their Agency of the Year Award

HUL wins Client of the Year Award

“Advertiser confidence is building up on mobile as

a platform.” CVL SRINIVAS

SUSH

IL K

UMAR

pointsofview

Titan Launches A Smartwatch. Will It Fly?

THE TRACTION FOR THE SMART-WATCH SEGMENT IS COMING FROM THE YOUTH FOR WHOM IT IS MORE USEFUL AS A health monitor, and at the same time a notification device. Most tech-wearables are in the health space and are priced between Rs 2,000 and Rs 7,000. Titan is a traditional brand, hence, it may generate goodwill from older consumers. Its TG may be a father of an 18-year old who has been using the brand’s watches. From the technology perspective, other players in the smartwatch segment have made significant investment which will be difficult to match. I, therefore, feel that the Titan smartwatch will appeal to someone who falls in the age group of 35-45 years, and who has been a brand loyalist.

Sandeep BudkiManaging Editor, The Mobile Indian

EVERY ASPECT OF THE DIGITAL WORLD IS GOING TO IMPACT CONSUMERS IN A BIG WAY. TITAN HAS TO GRADUATE from analog to digital, and now to smart. The next move could be the IoT (Internet of Things) watch. To my mind, it is a good move. The best part is it doesn’t look like a typical smartwatch. Titan has managed a good combination between traditional cosmetics and modern connectivity. The product will appeal to an eclectic mix of consumers. In an era when a Fitbit costs Rs 6,000, and where an iPhone 6 costs Rs 60,000, to keep its price within that range is a fair gamble. Titan has played it properly in terms of pricing.

HariSH Bijoor Brand Expert and CEO,

Harish Bijooor Consults Inc

THE LAUNCH OF TITAN JUXT IS A WELCOME MOVE. IT SHOWS THAT FITBIT IS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION AND WE HAVE THE first mover advantage worldwide. We understand the psyche of the consumer well. India is a nation with high incidence of diabetes and heart problems. A typical Indian consumer doesn’t like to go to a gym and therefore a fitness band is an apt choice for him/her. After the Fitbit launch, we have seen several players entering the tech-wearable space in India. This just pushes the category to grow further. It leads to increased consumer awareness.

ManiSHa Sood Country General manager,

Fitbit Inc

TITAN IS A MARKET LEADER BY FAR AND THE ONLY PROFITABLE WATCH COMPANY, BUT TODAY, THE MARKET HASchanged immensely ever since its launch in 1987. Titan is no longer an aspirational watch for the young upwardly mobile consumer. Many young people today are not even wearing watches.This launch is an attempt by Titan to stay relevant and contemporary. It has refrained from launching a gadget-looking watch because that would mean less opportunity considering Titan is not a technology company. The primary TG for Juxt would be consumers between 25 to 35 years, and the secondary TG, 35 to 44. I think , Titan is positioning Juxt as a watch which has smart features, but is stylish.

raManujaM SridHar CEO,

Brand-Comm

I’M NOT SURE IF TITAN CAN SUCCEED IN THIS CATEGORY BECAUSE A SMARTWATCH IS A GEEK AND NOT A mainstream product. Owing to the fact that smartwatches have so far been associated with smartphones, the consumer tendency is to trust a brand that deals in such products. Hence, a Sony, Samsung or Motorola have an instant recall value when it comes to smartwatches. Titan’s foray in this segment has to be welcomed because with more players the pricing in the segment will become competitive and product, mainstream. But the going will be tough for Titan because currently, I do not see any killer advantage that it is offering vis-a-vis other players.

niMiSH duBey Contributing Editor,

TechPP

SUSH

IL K

UMAR

The legacy watchmaker enters a niche category of smartwatches with Juxt, priced at ̀ 15,995. Can a traditional watch marketer succeed in a business dominated by tech-companies? By Saumya Tewari


It is easy to take shortcuts and we are perhaps often tempted to take a few whether it is to beat the traffic, solve a problem or to simply get things

done faster. Taking a cue from this behavioural insight, Exide Life Insurance has launched a new campaign whose theme centres upon ‘jugaad’, a Hindi colloquial term for shortcut. The objective of the campaign is to educate consumers that not every problem in life can be solved through ‘jugaad’ and advocates the need for better financial planning.

Titled #NoMoreShortCuts, the video campaign features a male protagonist called Jugaadulal who uses numerous tricks and shortcuts to solve problems in his day-to-day life. The humourous tale takes the audience through Jugaadulal’s experience of

using shortcuts, the failures he encounters as a result of it and his final realisation that shortcuts aren’t the best solution and cannot win over long-term planning.

Exide plans to generate engagements and conversations

with its customers over a 30-day period through the campaign, which has been executed by Autumn Worldwide.

Speaking about the campaign, Mohit Goel, director, marketing, Exide Life Insurance, says, “Through this execution, we want our customers to know that while shortcuts work sometimes, they aren’t always the best solution. And, for a long and happy life, you need to have the foresight for long-term planning. This is truly specific for financial planning because there are no shortcuts to making money.”

Interestingly, this campaign follows another one recently executed by Ogilvy and Mather for Sulekha app and has the same theme of urging consumers to go #AntiJugaad.

Both campaigns not just have similar themes, but also feature two similar sequences - cooling two rooms simultaneously using a trouser, and putting an additional seat on a scooter to accommodate more people.

Head-quartered in Bengaluru, Exide Life Insurance commenced operations in 2001. The company claims to serve over 10 lakh customers across India. It distributes its products through various channels such as agency, alliances and direct channels. n

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No Quick FixesEXIDE LIFE INSURANCE

digital

The life insurance company has launched the #NoMoreShortCuts campaign across social media. By News Bureau

the 90 most promising start-ups.The selected projects will be

mentored by Publicis Groupe experts from the marketing, communications, management and technology divisions.

These projects will receive funding that will be an investment within the range of 10,000-5,00,000 Euros for projects which are about to be launched and for start-ups that are already scaling up, respectively. Moreover, the selected projects submitted by Publicis Groupe employees will stand to benefit from a special internal incubation scheme.

Besides this, those whose projects get selected will get a chance to be invited for participation to Viva Technology Paris which claims to be the first forum

in France to bring together people who matter most in digital.

The Viva Technology Paris event will be held at the Paris Expo Exhibition Centre at Porte de Versailles, during June 30-July 2, 2016. The 90 selected projects will be honoured at an awards ceremony held during the event.

Maurice Lévy, chairman and CEO, Publicis Groupe, says, “Publicis90 is in line with the philosophy of Publicis Groupe and its founder, Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet. The idea is to help young entrepreneurs achieve their goals, not just through investment, but also by putting Groupe’s resources at their disposal for a year. Rather than look back and pat ourselves on the back for 90 years of history, we have taken the forward-looking approach of extending a helping hand to young entrepreneurs.”n

[email protected]

afaqs! Reporter, February 1-15, 2016 1 5

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Start-up Focus<< continued from page 8

Projects will receive funding in the range of 10,000-5,00,000 Euros.

Most Indian households know him as ‘Arnab’. Guests are known to

return on Newshour, his prime-time show, even after being yelled at incessantly.

Aggressive on air, he is known to be calm and affable off it, especial-ly to journalists interviewing him. His ‘brand of journalism’ may have been questioned time and again, yet Newshour remains the most watched news show in the country. On the question of the channel being dependent on one man, he says his show is a consequence of what they do the entire day, and that it’s about an overall editorial phi-losophy guiding the channel, more than the person.

It’s been 10 years of Times Now, and we have Arnab Goswami, President-News & Editor-in-Chief, Times Now and ET Now, sharing insights, his learning and views on news. Edited Excerpts:

In your launch year (2006), the story of the little boy, Prince, falling into a borewell got you the ratings, and this perhaps influenced your programming vision. You said it needed the kind of sensationalist approach you took. How has your view changed for the news business and the success within it?

I was very raw when I started this channel. I hadn’t got the pro-gramming mix right and was more

involved in the logistics of setting up. But I was constantly search-ing for stories that would have an impact, and ‘Prince’ was one such.

Those were the pre-Twitter days and impact was felt in terms of how many people were calling you. In a newsroom, which felt it had low ratings, and a channel, which had collapsed when it was launched, this was validation for us. The viewer responds to impactful stories and there is no complicated science to it.

My peers in television and print criticised me then and called that story ‘sensationalist’. The big les-son for me was that it was all about conviction. You will see the same spirit in our stories today. There’s a common thread between Prince and

Rohith, the Andhra student who recently committed suicide.

We are putting the person, the citizen, on top. Just recently on the occasion of the 26th anniversary of the exodus of the Kashmiri pandits, we put out a video of Anupam Kher talking about what happened then - some people termed it extreme, but it was about speaking the truth.

Can the channel depend on one man? If Arnab goes on leave, rat-ings are said to dip - doesn’t that bother you?

It doesn’t. You can’t deliberately make fewer people watch you. We need to balance it out. Also, are any of the other channels stronger? They have single digit viewership

Arnab Goswami talks about the Times Now decade, its style of news and relevance. By Shweta Mulki


It’s all about convictionIt’s all about convictionIt’s all about convictionIt’s all about convictionIt’s all about conviction

INTE

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FOTOCORPARNAB GOSWAMIPRESIDENT-NEWS & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, TIMES NOW AND ET NOW

coverstory

1 7afaqs! Reporter, February 1-15, 2 0 1 6

between 9 and 11 pm. We have over 70 per cent of the viewership. Will our channel become stronger if we have only 10 or 20 per cent viewer-ship? Indian viewership cycles show that there is a predominance of walk-ins at prime time, heading into super prime time. It is also true of GECs where there is a spike post 7 pm. Indian viewers generally are tuned in more towards evening, while American viewers are tuned in, in the morning. Newshour has done well for 8 years in that slot - there’s no plan or strategy here.

The news business is reviled in social media and the concept of ‘breaking news’ is trivialised even in popular cinema. Does it upset you?

Right now as we are speak-ing there’s a siege in a Pakistan University. That’s breaking news. What happened in Pathankot, Rohith’s suicide and the political debate that followed it was breaking news. We do serious news as break-ing news. I am not driven by social media. It’s a useful tool sometimes, but you can’t take opinions passed on it with a sense of finality. In our business if you ask a tough question to a Congress person, you are on the rolls of the BJP and vice versa. We’ve questioned every political party.

So, trivialisation is also a stereo-type. I think there has been a return of news on all channels including Hindi. We haven’t got viewership by trivialising news, and others have also realised that you don’t need to spend 50 per cent of your time on crime and Bollywood to get ratings.

Today, I can confidently tell you that news is 10 times more rel-evant now than it was seven years back. People were beginning to lose faith in the sansani format of news then. What have we (Times Now) done since? We broke big scams, our election coverage competes with international channels, and we have a prime time show watched by mil-lions.

We are bringing back confi-dence in the news industry as a whole. Times Now trends nation-ally almost every night and globally, many times more than the BBC.

But is the respectability and credibility the same as, say, 15 years ago?

Yes, and those who say it isn’t, are cynics. In my business there are a lot of them. Why should we waste time on them? Do they have the ability to break a ‘Lalitgate’ today? One thing is to be cynical, the other is to be rational about what news

has done. In fact, print has followed televi-

sion in terms of what high impact news has done.

What about audience perception of news? Hasn’t that changed?

The viewership we have is because of trust and credibility. The day it goes away, you can do a show about it, rationalise about what you did wrong, but the viewer out there knows. Yes, there are channels that have lost that trust because of cer-tain events, or because of what hap-pened to individuals within them.

Channels whose credibility has been affected once, never get it back. Journalists whose ethics are questioned, never get their cred-ibility back. I’m positive about this industry. People believe in the news they watch, they like the formats in which it is presented, and this is a great time to be doing television news.

People are turning to news on phones. Won’t online do to tele-vision news what television news did to the newspaper business years ago - forced them to move from bare news to analysis? If online brings in the immedia-cy proposition, where does that leave television?

Digital will be dependent on tel-evision. Why? One, digital ventures that are based on news aggrega-tion alone cannot succeed. Two,

the amount of original content on digital news is negligible. Three, high impact coverage on digital news platforms has not happened. Four, people want to ‘watch’ on digital, not just read. The quality of audio-visual content on many new platforms here is amateurish, to say the least. Also, in India, people are not consuming as much news on digital as they should.

In the future, digital in India will be driven by audio-video. Right now, these enterprises pick news from everywhere, add a catchy headline and put it up on 10 different plat-forms. If Arnab does a show that gets talked about they do an article on it, thus cannibalising news. There is too much focus on the vehicle, and too little on the message. But I’m hopeful that in the next 5-6 years, the errors will be washed away, and a new vision will come in for digital, that will encompass and be built upon the power of television.

As the screen gets smaller, ad revenue per viewer plummets. As long as TV profits subsidise online expense, it is fine. But where do you see the TV news business five years from now, after 4G especially?

If you like watching something, you’ll find your way to watch it - cable or Netflix. The challenge is to create formats that will pull people towards it. 4G, 5G, 6G doesn’t mat-ter. I have to create a programme

that you want to watch. I’m watching OTT platforms with a lot of interest - it’s working for non-news channels, and it could work on news too, pro-vided you have compelling content. For sometime though, the revenue will be tilted towards television.

In a utopian world, if you did not have to be driven by ratings, what would you change?

Nothing at all. Am I doing any-thing on my channel for ratings? Even if there were no ratings I would not make our channel boring. I would not stop questioning politi-cians. I would not please interview-ees by asking them silly questions. I would not have a much older team sitting in Lutyens Delhi deliver-ing news in a 1990s format - right? (smiles) So, I wouldn’t change any-thing. Ratings are not about excel sheets, they follow conviction.

Times Now’s foray into the UK - what’s your programming strat-egy there?

The Indian channels which you receive there are the Doordarshans of private news channels. We have a more argumentative style of questioning different from UK or American formats, and our language sensibilities and nuances are also different. I want to take our kind of television outside of India.

Also, we are sometimes far quicker than international channels. During the Paris attacks, my guy at Brussels was there before CNN. My dream is to make the world watch global news through a neutral Indian lens. And we should be able to do this by 2020.

It’s been 10 years of your chan-nel. Where do you see the trends and challenges forming?

The first year was a tough time, but second year onwards we’ve been bullish about news, and people have been bullish about us. We are No 1. The gap earlier was 5-10 per cent, now it’s 25 per cent and there is no clear No 2.

We have a clear leadership - hard won, hard fought and hard defend-ed. The challenge is to keep defend-ing that. Another challenge for me is to marry the success of television with digital. I’ve also become obses-sive about smaller changes that I can keep making.

For the next decade, television will continue to climb, and digital will continue to grow. I would put my bets on digital-led television and television-led digital, but digital without TV will not work. Those who are trying to do the latter, good luck to them.

FOTOCORP

I’m positive about this industry. People believe in the news they watch, they like the formats in which it is presented, and this is a great time to be doing TV news.

FOTO

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How much do you focus on inno-vations to make the news process more effective and quick?

My focus is not on innovations and logistics. People think they can spend their way into news. Seven years ago, a channel launched say-ing they were the first HDTV-ready channel in India, thinking they could impress viewers. It made no difference and never got ratings. Those who understand news can, and without spending money, make it look like a million bucks.

Almost all of the technology that we used for our election cover-age - which broke records in 2014 - was either borrowed or hired. There were other channels with large rooms and offices, scalability, buses with transparent roofs and drones for coverage. I have a great team and I’m abreast with technol-ogy, but money can’t make you win the TV news game.

As a genre, analysts are still very sceptical about the news busi-ness being a lucrative one. When will that change?

Investors or advertisers look at

viewership. We have 12 advertisers on Newshour, and the number is only growing. We have rates over `35,000 and these are only the mast head sponsors I’m talking about. So we are grateful.

Rural ratings have shown sup-port to English news, but even so, are you doing anything spe-cific to make programming more rural-friendly?

The night before the BARC ratings came, I was very nerv-ous, and I had a sleepless night. I thought we were going to be gob-smacked. If you have 60-70 per cent share in urban and no share in rural - or some other chan-nel has more share in rural - that would be worrisome. However, we were delighted that our share in rural was more than the urban share. It’s crazy that more peo-

ple are watching you in outer Ghaziabad than in Delhi. So we’d keep doing the same, but yes, we do use a bit of Hindi and regional languages in our news. None of us expected rural to be a lift-off point.

The four-window format of discussion has been adopted by many other channels. What’s next?

I’m going to do something in the next one year, which will change the game in a much bigger way. 2016 will be the year of big change. I’m not here to participate in the game, I’m here to help my team become game changers.

You’ve said earlier that you’ve wanted to have a longer inter-view with Sonia Gandhi. Who else is on your wish list?

Mostly international, as I’ve interviewed all the Indian guys. Vladimir Putin comes to top of mind. He’s the terror of the West right now. I think he’s an emerging force and it would be interesting to read his mind.

There are viewers who can be put off by all the yelling, and high-volume debates can lose their way. Does your viewer come to you for information or entertainment?

Viewers always come back and watch. Our most heated debates were during ‘Lalitgate’. Do you expect four different political lead-ers to come together and say nice things - that would be fake!

Look at it this from a top-down approach. Netas today are scared to take the citizen for granted, that’s enough for me. There’s a sense of accountability that some-where on a television show you will be made answerable. If you were to lose this platform, would we be better off? n

[email protected]

coverstory


The Hindi entertainment channel Colors has announced that the 10th season of Bigg Boss, its reality show, will open

its gates to the public as contestants. For nine seasons in a row, Bigg Boss has housed a host of known faces - some popular ones, some lesser-known. While most contestants have been Indian, there have been some international ones as well. But now, for the first time, Colors will scout for Bigg Boss contestants among the general public for the show that involves participants to stay in confinement for over 100 days with a group of ‘housemates’.

Raj Nayak, CEO, Colors, says, “You could be a doctor, engineer, lawyer, teacher, preacher, banker, entrepreneur, home-maker, taxi-driver, coolie - from any domain, any socio-economic background, with any kind of calibre...if you think you are an entertainer, then this is the break that you have been looking for.” He adds, “Every year we receive thousands of emails, SMS-texts, enquiring about ways to enter the show. Finally, the day has arrived. I hope fans and avid viewers will make full use of this opening.”

As the channel gears up for casting, it has already called for interested participants to upload their three-minute videos on the channel website. Entries will be accepted until May 31, followed by the audition. The shortlisting process will start thereafter.

The channel also plans a big-scale promotion to induce the masses to participate in the show. The 360-degree campaign will include on-air promos, radio promotions and outdoor. n

[email protected]

BIGG BOSS

Open to the PublicColors’ reality show which had celebrity contestants for nine consecutive seasons, will now scout for contestants among the public. By News Bureau

“You could be a doctor, engineer, lawyer, teacher,

preacher, banker, home-maker,

coolie...”RAJ NAYAK

I’m abreast with technology. However, money can’t make you win the

television news game

MY FM RADIO A GAME CHANGER

MANISH BHATTFOUNDER DIRECTOR,SCARECROW COMMUNICATIONS LTD.

Tell us about your favourite campaign? What mediums were used to execute it?It has to be a campaign that we recently did for a not so regular brand called Varuna Pumps.They wanted to do an ATL campaign for the first time, to increase their brand awareness. Pumps are high utility but low involvement products & the decision makers install pumps without thinking too much about the brand. So, as this brand had a diversified audience and a moderate budget, we decided that we should do this campaign using Radio as it is a theatrical medium and it would offer us an opportunity to form an emotional connect with the listeners. In addition, radio spots can reach out to listeners from rural to tier one, two cities to metros & media-dark regions.

Though you are an art guy at heart, how do you analyse the success of a Radio Campaign?I think there are quiet a few ways in which one can utilise Radio, the conventional way though is using the medium to create a theatrical effect. For example, if the radio script opens in a Colosseum, you don’t have to go there and shoot, you can still create the same environment with the help of an audio. Whereas with TV, if the film opens in Colosseum, you will have to go there so that you are able to commit to the visuals. So this in my opinion is the beauty of Radio as a medium besides being a low investment production. In addition, every viewer/listener likes to believe that they have the acumen to choose wisely and make smart buying decisions. Radio as a medium helps advertisers to give the much needed ego-boost to their TG as it evokes people’s imagination.

According to you, how important is a good script in making a radio campaign successful?I think it’s the backbone of a campaign. Print and TV have visual support, which help the campaigns to create a rub off effect. For Radio, a good script plays the trick. Also, radio as a medium gives a lot of scope to the script as one does not have to commit to the visuals.

How can a marketer leverage radio as a medium to reach out to his target market?As I said earlier, that Radio as a platform can

be leveraged primarily in three different ways. One is using Radio as a theatrical medium where one can create the desired effect by using a dramatized, purely acoustic performances. Second would be, using radio as a narrative medium where someone like a ‘sutradhar’ recounts the events and narrates the brand ideology to the listeners. Thirdly, one can use Radio as a music medium, where you convert your brand campaign into a musical property. In my opinion, this is the most impactful way of all for optimising a brand’s ROI on

Radio as it works on the subconscious mind of the listeners. So a brand can actually get into the minds of the listeners without giving any logical argument. Further, if the brand wishes to connect locally, thanks to the FM format, marketers can reach out to the region specific TG and establish a local connect. Even national brands have to choose Radio over other mediums because it is interactive, engaging and even gives voice to their listener’s opinion.

Its effectiveness and ability to reach out to the masses in tier II and III cities have always attracted marketers towards it. Any other benefits that marketers targeting these areas can look at leveraging through radio advertising?The cost of producing a Radio campaign Vs a TVC is huge, Radio is a low cost production media. So for

anyone with a restricted budget, radio would be the obvious choice over other mediums as after TV it is the only medium through which a brand can form an emotional connect with their target audiences. Secondly, radio has a capability to create a musical property for a brand which is catching on again and reviving.

How does your approach change when creating advertisements for Radio in a particular campaign?We believe that Radio is a powerful medium, which can be utilised to create a high EQ (emotional quotient) but its potential is still untapped, not many brands have worked on it. So, when we create a radio campaign for a particular brand, we ensure that we take the best of the talent from theatre and music industry. If we are to produce a particular tune, we create it using live instruments, we pay a lot of attention to the details. Scope-wise a lot can be done with radio and we try and experiment with our campaigns by using new talent, mix medium productions etc. We try and extract the most out of it & I wish other agencies and brands should try and utilise this medium to its fullest.

How do you see the growth of Radio industry in India?In my opinion, Radio as platform has always been the nation’s local medium for entertainment, and it allows to grow nation’s local brands all the time. Also, once the brands are done with their macro level marketing, the next logical step is always to reach out and forge an emotional connect with your local consumer and Radio is the most viable medium, when it comes emotional communication. l

IntervIew

Radio as platform has always been the

nation’s local medium for entertainment,

and it allows to grow nation’s local brands

all the time.


The mere mention of the word Naagin conjures the image of actress Sridevi swaying to

the tune of the popular song ‘Main Naagin Tu Sapera’ from the 1980’s Hindi film Nagina. Two decades later, that ‘top-of-the-mind’ recall seems to have been replaced by an ‘Ichchhadhari naagin’ (a female snake who can change her form at will) from televsion - thanks to Naagin, Colors’ weekend fiction show.

‘Naagin’ has remained unshaken at the top of the Hindi GEC viewership charts for eight consecutive weeks. In a record climb to the No.1 slot in just the fourth week of its launch- as per BARC data, it has taken over the ‘saas-bahu’ dramas from Star Plus, Zee TV and Colors itself.

During its launch on November 2015, Manisha Sharma the channel’s programming head had called ‘Naagin’ a mystical thriller incorporating a dramatic twist at every corner to add an element of thrill. The show is led by television actress Mouni Roy (playing Shivanya) while actor Arjun Bijlani is the male lead. Roy is a popular small screen face having appeared in shows like Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Devon Ke Dev-Mahadev, and the celebrity talent show Jhalak Dikhkhla Jaa.

Commenting on the show’s popularity, Shailesh Kapoor, founder and CEO of Ormax Media, says, “Colors has managed to present this genre using GEC elements that work today, namely a strong female protagonist (Shivanya) and ample twists and turns in the plot.

A clean weekend slot with no strong competition has also helped.”

After the Anil Kapoor-led show ‘24’, ‘Naagin’ is Colors’ second offering in finite fiction (the show has only 34 episodes) airing on weekends - a relativity rare feature for content of this kind.

Raj Nayak, CEO of Colors, says, “We have to fill in a one-hour slot on weekends as per our FPC. It was our programming head’s idea to attempt a weekend fiction show. She had wanted to do Naagin for almost a year before its launch.”

Nayak adds that the concept has always been a winning formula. “Nagin movies have done well in the past. This compounded with the casting, story-telling, execution, graphics, production values, and the time slot put together, along with television czarina Ekta Kapoor’s magic touch captured the imagination of the viewers,” he says.

Talking about returning to Indian folklore with this show, Ekta Kapoor, head of Balaji Telefilms, and the show’s producer, says, “I believe

that a story-teller should be able to present his/her viewers with a convincing storyline which is not only substantial, but also creates a thrilling experience. Since childhood, I have always been fascinated with such stories. Tales like these turn out to be really interesting and entertaining.”

When asked about the limited number of episodes, she says, “This was my answer to those who keep complaining about the indefinite continuity of fiction shows .”

In October 2015, BARC India, for

the first time, released rural-inclusive viewership data, with the rural segments comprising 30 per cent of its total 22,000 metres. Recently, there’s been a slew of new shows with supernatural plots and ‘snake’ themes. Post Naagin’s success, are we looking at a trend that’s here to stay?

Nayak says, “The success of Naagin may spiral other shows in similar space. I think our programming team has broken that myth about weekend shows not working. Abroad, you have shows such as Vampire Diaries and Werewolf. Naagin is an Indian version of that in similar space.”

Zee Network’s &TV recently launched a snake-themed show ‘Adhuri Kahaani Hamari’, while Zee TV’s ‘Neeli Chatri Waale’ also had a ‘nagin’ track. Naaginn - Waadon Ki Agniparikshaa, a Zee TV soap in 2007, and Colors’ show Sasural

Simar Ka had snake women too. Experts feel that it was the popularity of this particular track in the latter that sowed the seed for Naagin.

Producer Sunjoy Waddhwa, CMD, Sphereorigins, says such shows work well on weekends. “Channels may be experimenting in this genre, with shows doing fairly well. I see more of these shows working as sub-plots, not mainstream daily shows,” he says.

NAAGIN’S VIEWERS -- URBAN OR RURAL?

Naagin seems to have countered certain assumptions in the

‘what rural would like’ context. Currently, statistics show it to be slightly more popular among urban audiences, but that could change.

Vikas Khanchandani, director at Aidem Ventures, says, “The show has seen mass appreciation and the data seems to be consistent across

What does the success of Colors’ reptilian saga tell us about urban and rural viewership tastes? By Shweta Mulki

mediaNAAGIN

Hissing Success

EPISODIC RATINGS OF NAAGIN IN URBAN AND RURAL SEGMENTSWEEK DATE HSM HSM URBAN HSM RURAL

51 20-Dec, 2015 19370 13441 5929

51 19-Dec, 2015 17722 12665 5057

52 27-Dec, 2015 20285 13358 6927

52 26-Dec, 2015 19420 12994 6426

Source: BARC. Period: Wk 51 - Wk 52’ 2015 (weekwise). Analysis: Impressions (000s)

PERFORMANCE OF NAAGIN IN THE PAST 9 WEEKSPERIOD IMPRESSIONS (000) RANKWeek 3, 2016- January 16-22 17199 1

Week 2, 2016- January 9-15 18125 1

Week 1, 2016: January 2-8 19824 1

Week 52: Dec 26, 2015 – Jan 1, 2016 19847 1

Week 51 2016: December 19-25 18549 1

Week 50 2016: December 12-18 18525 1

Week 49 2016: December 5 – 11 17819 1

Week 48, 2015: November 28 - December 4 19576 1Source: BARC Data {HSM : NCCS All : Individuals : BARC India base – All India (U+R)}

Nayak, Kapoor & Kapoor: a hiss in the buzz

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e-commerceroundtable

Marketers from eight e-commerce companies operating across categories

participated. The moderater was Soumya Mohanty, vice president, IMRB. Some of the key points included convergence of television and digital as key trends, measurement of ROI, the changing consumer behaviour and how to leverage the medium in a better way.

In a bid to disrupt TV as a medium for marketers for building brands, amagi has been trying to personalise television by giving them reach through geo-targetting capabilities. Edited excerpts of what the participants said:

ANKITA DABAS, Co-founder and Director - Strategy, Fab Furnish

It is easy to track metrics such as traffic and conversion on every rupee spent on a digital campaign. While television brings trust and scalability for the brand, my painpoint remains efficiency. I have to continously inspire my customer because furniture, as a category, is not an impulse buy. For that, I cannot rely on television.

I wish technology will solve problem of attribution and efficiency of television as a advertising medium.

PRABHAKAR TEWARI, CMO, PayU Money

My first brush with TV advertising happened in 2005 for Marico’s hair oil brand, Parachute. For that kind of brand, heavy weightage had to be put towards the beginning or end of the month because that is the buying cycle. When Danone entered India, it was launched in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh but we had to buy national TV spots to promote it. There is no option of geo-targetting.

For a wallet brand such as PayU, the requirements and challenges are different from those of FMCG. Each brand has to figure out what works

best for it and choose the mediums accordingly. Technology must solve the problem of convergence, attribution, ROI and measurement of TV advertising.

SAI NARAYAN, VP – Brand, PR and social media, PolicyBazaar

This is an exciting time for e-com players targetting consumers through TV when they have a mobile phone in their hand. If the communication is engaging they will search the brand instantly. Therefore, it is a merger of highest reach medium (TV) and fastest growing medium (digital). I think appointment viewing is dying. While a consumer is watching television alone, he/she is communicating to the world through the smartphone.

Awareness will come from highest reach medium (TV), but the fastest growing medium will be the convergence of both digital and television.

RAHUL SETHI, COO and Head – Marketing, Royzez

We spent crores on TV advertising in November last year and got mileage. But while evaluating the ROI, we realised that though we did invest in right places, the amount was not right.

Brands must highlight their objective while selecting a medium. If sales is the sole objective then they may leverage digital and for brand building there are other mediums. However, the main challenge with TV advertising continues to be the ability to calculate ROI.

MANAV SETHI, Group CMO and Head, Digital strategy, Askme

The size of the container really defines the kind of medium you should pay for. But if a startup is looking to target a regional market, it should not even consider TV advertising.

The radical difference is that today I do not have the luxury to rely on patterns and trends that a FMCG marketer has. There is sufficient learning while acquiring media for big brands because they know consumption behaviour and trends. E-commerce players do not have that luxury. I will still need television to build consumer trust but addressability as to who is watching the brand’s TV ads continues to be a major challenge.

GAURAV NABH, Marketing Director, Koovs

Investment made in TV advertising will translate into a spike in website traffic and consumer awareness. It leads to conversations around the brand. However, from an efficiency standpoint a stand-alone campaign will not take a brand anywhere.

The story is not about the medium but the consumer as well as the content. The power of great content is bigger than any medium. Brands and marketers are creating content for TV and then using it in other mediums without realising that consumption patterns and devices differ. There is no currency to measure video advertising except YouTube views along with GRP and additional data.

NITIN AGARWAL, AVP – Marketing, Shopclues

First brands build expectation through TV campaigns, then they have to meet them and that is how they get into the rut of TV being the performance marketing channel.

For most online brands, the landscape is constantly changing. We are reaching out to more regions, people are graduating to the consumer segment, buying new category products and their lifestyle choices are becoming better.

Today, the shelf life of our ads is shortlived. We have to find new ways to present the same thing otherwise it will cause consumer fatigue. The surround (radio, print and OOH) that used to accompany TV is moving to digital.

ABHIMANYU, AVP, Stayzilla

I believe earlier brands were selling products for life, Vicco Vajradanti is an example of that. In the last 18 months, the push that has come to television has been backed by venture capitalists. And that is reflected in the kind of campaigns we see today.

We too face a similar challenge because Stayzilla is selling an intangible experience and the purchase happens weeks or months after the campaign breaks. If you are building an experiential brand, you are constantly tugging on the emotional string. So a TV campaign may mean increased traffic but it may not result in spike in business. Stayzilla needs to build itself as a long standing brand just the way a Vicco Vajradanti is. n

[email protected]

Television Disruption


A roundtable organised by afaqs! in association with amagi witnessed leading e-commerce players discussing the opportunites and challenges of television as an advertising medium. By Saumya Tewari

PRESENTED BY

Photo-op: The speakers, sponsors and the moderator

For Rohit Ohri, group chairman and CEO of FCB Ulka, a revamp of the creative culture tops the list of plans for the agency. He’s also keen to make good on the equity he’s got in Delhi and build brand FCB Ulka in that market. Edited Excerpts.

What does occupying the CEO’s seat at FCB Ulka - one that has been vacant for over 18 months - mean to you?

This is the first time the agency will have one leader across the group, versus being run by a board. That’s the philosophy they had earlier - it was a board-managed company.

Now, it will, very clearly, be individual-managed. There will be one clear face for the agency, versus a group of people.

I would like to leave a legacy in this agency... I’m going to look at every single piece of this jigsaw puzzle and see what we can do to make it more competitive, more cutting-edge. The currency of the agency needs to be energised.

How do you plan to go about this?

First, I want to look at the organisational culture, the people, their beliefs and the way they work. While there are many good things about FCB Ulka, there are bits that need to change.

The fundamentals of this agency are very strong. It’s just a question of building on that and adding new energy.

Today, the biggest challenge for agencies is retaining talent and clients; Ulka has never had to struggle with this.

So, it’s more the perception of the agency that needs to be corrected. We could create three famous campaigns in 2016 that could completely change the perception around the agency. We’re just three campaigns away from...

... From becoming sexy?(laughs) Yes! FCB Ulka is

just three campaigns away from sexy.

What are the other ‘bits’ you want to change?

The big focus is around creative and the whole creative culture. While it’s a solid brand building agency, the work lacks fizz.

The agency has been built on famous campaigns, but in the last four to five years, we haven’t seen much. Given the current context of the changing market and consumer, I see new challenges ahead; I don’t think we’re very well equipped to take them on. We need to ask - What are the new skills the agency needs to pick up?

We need to bring back the entrepreneurial streak - that’s how Ulka started off in the first place. We’re not a boutique or a hotshop; that, we may never be. But, we’d like to have that mindset.

In a previous interview, we spoke to Ambi about how Ulka lacks ‘razzle dazzle’ at the pitch level. For you, how important is it to fix

this?I don’t want to rush into a mad flurry of pitching, right now. We need

to first answer a few questions, build a few capabilities and get our pieces organised.

And it’s not like the agency has not won pitches. It has. But yes, it hasn’t been as successful as we would all like it to be.

I want to create campaigns that are talked about and shared. You can’t chase razzle dazzle or fizz. You have to chase creativity.

Or, you could chase a chief creative officer! After all, a lot of your plans for FCB Ulka rest on the shoulders of a

yet-to-be-appointed creative head...Of course. It’s been a bit unfortunate that

Satbir (Singh) moved out.But it’s not so much about one individual

who will come and change the fortunes of the company, anymore.

I have no time-line in mind. While there is an urgency, I don’t want to rush into this and get someone who can’t deliver the goods.

When you switch jobs, you switch not just agencies, but networks - from WPP to Dentsu to now Interpublic Group. How different are all these systems?

Barring scale, IPG and WPP are not too different. They can be put in one basket, versus Dentsu.

Dentsu is very strong in Japan but has never managed to succeed outside of

Japan. The success doesn’t exist in the US, Europe... it’s an Asia-Pacific brand.

When I used to attend Dentsu’s global meetings, I noticed they struggled with things that other networks did 15 years back.

IPG is flatter and more empowering than WPP, which is like a large ocean... you could be

swimming in it forever and nobody notices who you are. IPG is about people, not companies. n

[email protected]

ROHIT OHRI> GROUP CHAIRMAN AND CEO, FCB ULKA

“FCB Ulka is three campaigns away from sexy!”

An interview with Rohit Ohri, group chairman and CEO, FCB Ulka. By Ashwini Gangal

interview


FCB Ulka in that market. Edited Excerpts.

What does occupying the CEO’s seat at FCB Ulka - one that has been vacant for over 18 months - mean to you?

This is the first time the agency will have one leader across the group, versus being run by a board. That’s the philosophy they had earlier - it was a board-managed company.

Now, it will, very clearly, be individual-managed. There will be one clear face for the agency, versus a

I would like to leave a legacy in this agency... I’m going to look at every single piece of this jigsaw puzzle and see what we can do to make it more competitive, more cutting-edge. The currency of the agency needs to be energised.

How do you plan to go about

First, I want to look at the organisational culture, the people, their beliefs and the way they work. While there are many good things about FCB Ulka, there are bits that

The fundamentals of this agency are very strong. It’s just a question of building on that and adding new

Today, the biggest challenge for agencies is retaining talent and clients; Ulka has never had to struggle with this.

So, it’s more the perception of the agency that needs to be corrected. We could create three famous campaigns in 2016 that could completely change the perception around the agency. We’re just three campaigns

... From becoming sexy?(laughs) Yes! FCB Ulka is

just three campaigns away from

What are the other ‘bits’ you want to change?

The big focus is around creative and the whole creative culture. While it’s a solid brand building agency, the work

be. But, we’d like to have that mindset.

In a previous interview, we spoke to Ambi about how Ulka lacks ‘razzle dazzle’ at the pitch level. For you, how important is it to fix

this?I don’t want to rush into a mad flurry of pitching, right now. We need

to first answer a few questions, build a few capabilities and get our pieces organised.

And it’s not like the agency has not won pitches. It has. But yes, it hasn’t been as successful as we would all like it to be.

I want to create campaigns that are talked about and shared. You can’t chase razzle dazzle or fizz. You have to chase creativity.

Or, you could chase a chief creative officer! After all, a lot of your plans for FCB Ulka rest on the shoulders of a

yet-to-be-appointed creative head...Of course. It’s been a bit unfortunate that

Satbir (Singh) moved out.But it’s not so much about one individual

who will come and change the fortunes of the company, anymore.

I have no time-line in mind. While there is an urgency, I don’t want to rush into this and get someone who can’t deliver the goods.

When you switch jobs, you switch not just agencies, but networks - from WPP to Dentsu to now Interpublic Group. How different are all these systems?

Barring scale, IPG and WPP are not too different. They can be put in one basket, versus Dentsu.

Dentsu is very strong in Japan but has never managed to succeed outside of

Japan. The success doesn’t exist in the US, Europe... it’s an Asia-Pacific brand.

When I used to attend Dentsu’s global meetings, I noticed they struggled with things that other networks did 15 years back.

IPG is flatter and more empowering than WPP, which is like a large ocean... you could be

swimming in it forever and nobody notices who you are. IPG is about people, not companies.

[email protected]


SUSH

IL K

UMAR

While it’s a solid brand building agency,

the work lacks fizz.

Amitabh Kant of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in

India justified why Bollywood actor Aamir Khan had to be sacked as the brand ambassador for Incredible India.

“A brand ambassador promotes a brand. People will come to India and the tourist flow will increase only if the brand ambassador of Incredible India promotes India as incredible India. But, if the brand ambassador of India says India is intolerant, he is surely not working as its brand ambassador,” Kant says.

In other words, Incredible India, according to him, had lost its incredibility!

I sometimes think that it is not so easy being a brand ambassador. Because when you sign up a brand you pledge allegiance to it. As the number of brands that you endorse keep growing, you pledge your allegiance to several brands.

Is the removal of Aamir Khan as brand ambassador a unique case? Not really.

RIHANNA AND NIVEA

Singer Rihanna, who is mostly known for making headlines for

wardrobe malfunctions, was caught leaving Ashton Kutcher’s house at 4 am, and throwing up outside night clubs. Following such incidents, Rihanna was sacked as the brand ambassador for Nivea.

“Rihanna is a no go... I do not

understand how to bring the core brand of Nivea in conjunction with her. Nivea is a company which stands for trust, family and reliability,” said Nivea’s CEO, Stefan Heidenreich.

Now, it would seem that he should have known that Rihanna does not exactly stand for trust, family and reliability even before she was hired as an ambassador for Nivea. In this case, it just seems like a bad fit of brand and ambassador that was justified only at the time of sacking.

SHARON STONE AND CHRISTIAN DIOR

Hollywood actress Sharon Stone, known for her (in)

famous interrogation scene in the film Basic Instinct, in which she uncrossed her legs under the suggestion that she was not wearing underwear, was sacked by Dior when she made an inappropriate comment about the earthquake in China. Dior felt that she had made insensitive remarks about the earthquake that killed 68,000 people.

“They’re not being nice to the Dalai Lama, who is a friend of

mine. And, then, this earthquake and all this happened and I thought, is that karma? When you’re not nice, do bad things happen to you?” Stone had commented on the tragedy.

ADELE REFUSES ENDORSEMENTS

Adele recently detailed all endorsement deals she had

refused. She said she didn’t want to be the face of anything because she doesn’t need anything but her music to contribute to ‘self-branding’.

LESSONS FOR CELEBRITIES• You can never be yourself. You

have to be watchful in the public eye, because you are always going to be under scrutiny.

• More the number of brands youendorse, the tougher life is going to be at a personal level. After all, the ramifications of every statement have to be examined. Who would have thought that Sharon Stone’s remark about karma could affect the whole Chinese market for Dior?

• Anythingyousay,eitherdirectorindirect, which has an implication on the brand, its market, its target consumer, or its reputation, could make you liable to getting dumped.

• Improper personal behaviour, asin the case of Rihanna, means that your public image as a brand ambassador is very important to the brand. If that image is not morally of the highest order, is indecent or vulgar, it could affect the image of the brand you endorse. Tiger Woods is a good example, where his personal behaviour jeopardised many an endorsement.And, of course, there is a high

price to pay in terms of personal behaviour for the atrociously large fees that celebrities are known to charge for brand endorsements.

If you are a spokesperson for a brand, you may just have given up the freedom of expressing your innermost feelings and being a spokesperson for yourself! n

PRABHAKAR MUNDKUR

Why Brand Ambassadors Get Dumped

byinvitation

Khan, Rihanna, Stone and Adele: Dumped

(The author is chief mentor, Percept H)

all HSM markets. The commercial dynamics on subscription defines unique audience/reach between free-to-air and paid channels. It’s difficult to capture the performance of a programme in rural and urban unless it’s available on both platforms simultaneously to gauge affinity index vis-a-vis what’s available to watch.”

Divya Radhakrishnan, managing director, Helios Media, agrees, “Rural appeal may not necessarily have

to do with the willingness of the rural consumer to pay to view the channel, but the sheer capability of the service provider (largely cable) to make the channels available. Increase in the rural sample size reflecting the true universe base (which is equivalent to urban) is when the real picture will emerge.”

Experts feel that the success of shows like Naagin could determine how FTA channels invest in fresh content in the next phase, and this will drive perception and better understanding of the difference in fresh and repeat content for the mainly rural FTA audience. n

[email protected]

Hissing Success<< continued from page 20


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Post: Business Development ManagerCompany: Adworth Media Pvt LtdProfile: Client Pitching, Giving Presentation to the clients, Thorough knowledge of Media.Exp: 3 to 4 yrsLocation: Rohini (Delhi)Email: marcom@adworthmedia.org.............................................................Post: Manager - OperationsCompany: Live EventsProfile: Must be well verse with vendor management, planning & execution of the event. Should know how to prepare costs and do event set up. Exp: 4 to 5 yrs.Location: New DelhiEmail: work@go-live.in.............................................................Post: Executive Assistant / Secretary to the Managing DirectorCompany: Triverse Advertising Pvt. Ltd. Profile: Maintain calendar, schedules and co-ordinate appointments & meetings, take and relay messages, respond to requests for informationMaintain records, data, systems & MISManage basic troubleshooting of computers and softwareManage routine correspondenceExp: 3 to 5 yrs Location: GurgaonEmail: triverse@triverseadvertising.com.............................................................Post: Digital ManagerCompany: Graffiti Collaborative Pvt LtdProfile: Thinking for the brand involves listening to customers, understanding their sentiments and creating 2 way communication channels. The best platform to interact with customers is through the various social channels, where people are able to share their thoughts freely. We are on the lookout for passionate social media managers/asst who can understand customers, state rise communication, develop content, manage communities, run analytic s and encompass all of these into effective reports.Exp: 3 to 5 yrs. Location: Bengaluru

Email: hr@graffitimedia.in.............................................................Post: Assistant Project ManagerCompany: Quotient Communications Pvt. Ltd.Profile: The candidate will be assisting the Project Manager for an initiative run by Coca-Cola (Global Division). The job will involve co-ordination with divisions across the world and adequately answering and solving their queries/ issues related to Graphic Content Management. Comprehensive training will be provided.Exp: 0 to 2 yrs.Location: MumbaiEmail: team@quotientcomm.com.............................................................Post: ReceptionistCompany: Live EventsProfile: Good communication skills Lady, preferably within 35 years of age. Should be able to handle day to day admin issues.Pleasing personality. Computer savvy.Exp: 3 to 4 yrs.Location: KolkataEmail: barnalisengupta@shreyansh.in.............................................................Post: 2D and 3D Animator / 3DArtistCompany: CHL WorldwideProfile: We are looking for 3D Artist having experience on creating 2D-3D Animation, Motion Graphics, Whiteboard Animation Character animation, Combining videos with Flash Animation and Video editing.Exp: 3 to 6 yrs.Location: NoidaEmail: thrdept@crystalhues.com.............................................................Post: ConceptualiserCompany: Entertainment Network (India) LtdProfile: Primary responsibility: To develop 360 degree ideas to clients. To have great understanding of brands across categories. To be able to think and write in hindi and build an idea into a large campaign. Other responsibilities: To constantly track all multi media advertising from big brands. To have a fair sense of advertising across platforms like digital, on ground and activation A good sense

of audio and music would help..Exp: 4 to 7 yrs.Location: MumbaiEmail: deepti.jani@timesgroup.com.............................................................Post: Events Production Co-OrdinatorCompany:Hotstuff Events & Repro Pvt. LtdProfile: Should have good knowledge of Costing, Production, execution and events related supplier contactsExp: 4 to 5 yrs.Location: MumbaiEmail: jobs@hotstuffbuzz.com.............................................................Post: Account ManagerCompany: Broad & Wide AdvertisingProfile: A witty mind + a jovial nature, added with good looks can win a lot of people. May be that is the primary qualification for the business development team here as we believe in relationships as the key mantra to win accounts or even to sustain them for long. The ideal candidates for the role would be either MBA with marketing or Mass Communication college with at least one year of working experience in an ad agency, in the role of a client servicing executive or media department, with an ambition to have a scope to make it big in life. The job would involve pitching for new business, exploring new business opportunities for the agency.Exp: 5 to 7 yrs.Location: MumbaiEmail: dhiraj.bnw@gmail.com.............................................................Post: Chief Content / Copy OfficerCompany: EvolutionCo Digital & Interactive Consultancy Pvt. LtdProfile: Lead / guide a team of writers and spearhead all content initiatives on clients’ digital assets Generate / execute editorial ideas/ plan for clients and in-house documentation for department Eye for grammar, clarity, accuracy and creative language Track and analyze content performance, and suggest solutions Excellent researching and conceptualization skills – Conceptualize and co-create content for scalable websites Review

and rewriting of contentExp: 5 to 8 yrs.Location: MumbaiEmail: careers@evolutionco.com.............................................................Post: Sr. VisualiserCompany: Melange Communications Pvt.LtdProfile: Ability to convert the creative brief into workable ideas & appealing layouts Exp: 3 to 4 yrs.Location: MumbaiEmail: t [email protected] / jobsatmelange@gmail.com.............................................................Post: Design LeadCompany: Nutcase-Nutcaseshop.ComProfile: Should be able to conceptualize & executive designs/thoughts, Should be able to lead a team Illustration & sketching skills will be added advantage Should be always looking at upping the ante. Understanding of printing techniques.Exp: 2 to 5 yrsLocation: MumbaiEmail: [email protected]

To adverTise, conTacT:

abhilash singh Ph: 09999989454

Email: [email protected]

aakash Bhatia Ph: 09650544122

Email: [email protected]

sumeet chandiramani (Mumbai)

Ph: 09820590172 Email: [email protected]

[email protected]

To view other jobs in Marketing,Media and advertising, log on to:

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Yatra.com, the online travel

agent, has appointed Vikrant Mudaliar as chief marketing officer. He joins the company from Lenskart where he was chief sales and marketing officer. In his new role, Mudaliar will be responsible for leading marketing activities across all Yatra.com business lines and group entities. While focussing on strengthening Yatra’s brand equity in the travel category, he will also be responsible for driving the marketing and communications strategy to support the company’s overall strategic objectives.

Subscription-based video entertainment app nexGTv has appointed Dushyant Kohli as head-growth. Kohli joins the organisation with over 13 years of experience in digital marketing across multiple businesses including the social discovery

network Wamba.com. His prior stints include associations with companies such as HT Mobile Solutions (a joint venture of Velti plc & HT Media), Zapak Digital Entertainment, and BCCL (Bennett, Coleman & Co).

ATL Digital Media Entertainment (ALT Digital), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Balaji Telefilms, has announced the appointment of Ekalavya Bhattacharya as chief strategy officer. An official statement says that Bhattacharya will work closely with the leadership team to

define the corporate strategy for ensuring wider acceptability and success of ALT’s digital initiatives.

Ola, the mobile app for personal transportation, has appointed Raghuvesh Sarup as its chief marketing officer. He will join the company in February to lead

marketing across the brand and P&L (profit and loss) for all categories. Sarup joins Ola

from Microsoft, where he worked as director, marketing, after relocating to India. Prior to that, he had worked at the Nokia headquarters in Finland.

Sarup has over 20 years of experience in marketing, sales and brand management across brands such as Microsoft,

Nokia, Yum! Brands (Pizza Hut), and Procter&Gamble(P&G).

Praveen Kumar, partner and exchange head, South and East, Mindshare, will move to Amazon India as senior media manager. He will be based in Bengaluru. Kumar will join the company in March this year. At Amazon, Kumar will replace Sudhan Deo, who recently moved to

people

FC B U l k a A d v e r t i s i n g ,

which is part of the FCB Ulka Group, has promoted Nitin Karkare to the position of chief executive officer. Prior to his new appointment, Karkare was chief operating officer, FCB Ulka, Mumbai and Bengaluru. Karkare has been a part of the agency since 1986.

LinEngage, the experiential marketing arm of Mullen Lowe Lintas Group has appointed Raman R S Minhas as group creative director. Minhas comes on board with a mandate to add new dimensions to the way consumer

engagement is defined and delivered for brands. He will report to Sriharsh Grandhe, executive vice-president, LinEngage.

Neo@Ogilvy, OgilvyOne’s global media agency and the performance marketing network,

has appointed Ankit Agarwal as vice-president and head of performance marketing, and Suraj Nagaappa as vice-president and head, North, as part of its growth plan for 2016.

Cheil India has announced the appointment of Farah Bashir and Shekhar Suri to bolster its digital and strategic planning capabilities. Bashir, who joins as general manager, planning, will report to Sonal Narain, chief strategy officer. Prior to this, she was vice-president, planning, at Lintas. Suri joins Cheil as general

manager, digital, from DigitasLBi where he headed the Delhi Branch. He will report to Sanjeev Jasani, head, digital.

Taproot has appointed Ninad Umargekar as head of strategic planning. Ayesha Ghosh joins the agency as the general manager. Based in Mumbai, they will report to Umesh Shrikhande, CEO- Taproot India. n

A round up of some major people movements in the last fortnight>> MOVEMENTS/APPOINTMENTS<<

DIGITAL

Avinash Pillai, m a n a g i n g

partner-Team P&G, MediaCom India, has been promoted to the role of regional director, IMEA (India and South Asia, the Middle-East, Africa), on the P&G business.

Rahul Kansal has resigned as executive president of Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd (BCCL), publisher of The Times of India. He had joined the company in 2007 as the chief marketing officer of the group. Kansal was executive president since April 2012, and had looked after the brand and business strategy for The Times of India, the Mirror publications, and the

company’s language brands.

Azim Lalani, the national sales head of Network18-led news portal Firstpost has been elevated as its business head. In his new role, he will drive overall strategy and revenue growth for Firstpost. n

ADVERTISING MEDIA


ANKIT AGARWAL

FARAH BASHIR

NITIN KARKARE

RAMAN R S MINHAS

AYESHA GHOSH

SRIHARSH GRANDHE

DUSHYANT KOHLI

EKALAVYA BHATTACHARYA

RAGHUVESH SARUP

AVINASH PILLAI

RAHUL KANSAL

AZIM LALANI

Photocopy of this form is acceptable,

afr february 01-15-2016-lr

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