This year Pitch BrandTalk Conference 2019 celebrates iconic brands of India with stalwarts of the advertising and marketing industry.
 

Pitch BrandTalk Conference 2019 is all set to get rolling on Friday, 19th July 2019. The event will be held at Leela Ambience, Gurugram and industry leaders have geared up for the event.

This year Pitch BrandTalk Conference 2019, celebrates iconic brands of India with stalwarts of the advertising and marketing industry. Eminent personalities will grace the conference table. The esteemed list of speakers includes Sushant Dash, President, India & Middle East, Tata Global Beverages, Arvind Chintamani, VP - Marketing, Colgate, Sashwat Sharma, CMO, Bharti Airtel Ltd, Nitin Passi, Joint Managing Director, Lotus Herbals Pvt Ltd, among various others.

Industry experts would be presenting their views on various areas related to their respective brands.

Ashok Venkatramani has resigned as Managing Director of Zee Media Corporation Limited (ZMCL), according to news reports. His resignation is effective from 9th July 2019. 

As per reports, a regulatory filing by Zee Media stated that "Ashok Venkatramani has decided to pursue interests outside the company and has accordingly resigned as Managing Director of the company with effect from close of business on July 9, 2019"

Venkatramani was appointed Managing Director of Zee Media Corporation Limited in July last year. Prior to that, he was part of the managing committee of the International Association of Advertisers (IAA-India Chapter). Venkatramani was appointed CEO of ABP News Network in 2008 and served a tenure of 8 years.

Before joining ABP News Network, he was Vice President and Business Head for Soaps and Skincare at Hindustan Unilever Limited and has also held various sales, marketing, and general management positions across the company's Foods and Personal Care business.

Buoyed by strong growth numbers, Hindi Entertainment Channel Sony SAB has unveiled its new campaign with the tagline "Khushiyon wali feeling" pushing its role of a 'happiness enabler' further. Sony SAB, Business Head, Neeraj Vyas believes that it is time for brands, irrespective of who they are in the entertainment world, to stand for something.

“Because if you simply promise entertainment, it may not be enough. If you need to be chosen by a family, or by a few in the family, then you need to be relevant. We have been inherently lucky that we've always enjoyed the perception of SAB being a family channel. But I think in today's context, this promise had to be made in a way that would be very credible. I think a happy brand is something that a lot of people connect with,” he says.

MUMBAI: It's a brand that much of Gen X, Gen Y and even Gen Z has grown up with. As one of the oldest and most popular stationery brands in India, Camlin has been a mass favourite. Since 2011, Camlin has been a part of Japan’s Kokuyo which enabled it to diversify its existing product range and delve into premium products too.

In the latest episode of Media Minds, Kokuyo Camlin CMO Saumitra Prasad talks about the brand journey after the ownership change and how technology is helping it stay relevant.

Speaking about its current digital-first marketing approach, Prasad says, “Initially, it was to check whether technology is a threat to us because we realise that children today are spending a lot of time on tablets and apps as compared to making paintings. We started by developing an app called Camlin Experience App, which would give children the experience of (using) the real colours and what we realised that, over time, children developed an interest in real colours.”

BENGALURU: Star India’s flagship Tamil GEC Star Vijay once again made an appearance in Broadcast Audience Research Council of India's (BARC) weekly list of top 10 channels across genres in week 26 of 2019 (Saturday, 22 June 2019 to Friday, 28 June 2019, week or period under review). As was the case in the previous week, Star Vijay was also ranked seventh in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Tamil channels in the Tamil Nadu/Puducherry market.

Four Star India channels, two channels each from Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) and one channel each from Enterr 10 TV and Sun TV Network made up BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels across genres in week 26 of 2019. From the genres' perspective, there were six Hindi GECs, two Tamil channels and one channel each from the sports and Telugu genres that comprised BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels across genres in week 26 of 2019. Channels 

MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) has filed a petition in Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) for recovery of dues worth Rs 20 crore from multi system operator (MSO) Manthan Broadband Service.

The principle prayer in Sony’s petition is for recovery of Rs. 20 crore approximately. However, the broadcaster has also prayed for an injunction to prohibit the MSO from using its signals through any other MSO directly or indirectly.

Learned counsel for Manthan appeared on advance notice and submits on instructions that admittedly there is no agreement between the parties. The counsel also stated that the MSO is committed not to distribute Sony’s channels/signals directly or indirectly.

In other words, the tribunal noted that the MSO has denied that it is distributing the signals of the petitioner itself or through other MSO.

In view of such a clear stand, the tribunal added that there is no further consideration is required of the interim prayer raised today. The aforesaid stand of the respondent is recorded as an undertaking, it stated.

MUMBAI: Hathway Cable & Datacom MD Rajan Gupta has outlined three key strategic pillars that will drive the company’s growth going forward and will help in creating value for the shareholders.

According to Gupta, the three key strategic pillars are exploding home broadband consumption, transforming cable television from B2B to B2C and enhancing customer service experience through digital intervention.

Gupta further stated that the company’s accomplishments in FY18-19 will help it to build momentum for the next three years. “In FY 2018-19, we accomplished a great deal, not only in terms of financials but also towards building momentum for the next three years, at the back of accelerated customer acquisition, revenue and financial growth,” he stated.

He noted that the Indian media and telecommunication industry continued to be shaped by a multitude of diverse factors in FY19.

This will be available over and above the current urban/rural cuts to facilitate more effective planning.

Measurement panel Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India has announced that it would start reporting viewership from ‘free and pay’ platforms separately starting week 27 (June 29-July 5).

BARC India’s measurement systems always evolve on feedback from the industry. In the past four years, BARC India has enabled granular reporting cuts on the basis of feedback from various stakeholders to better understand viewership habits.

The new pay and free platform variable will be offered over and above the current ‘urban and rural’ cuts reported by BARC India. It will be made available to all subscribers for planning and analysis through its proprietary BARC Media Workstation Software, and will also be published on the website for select genres.

A free connection is one where a household pays only a small one-time fee for installing the set-top box. A major player in this area is DD Free Dish. The household does not pay any monthly subscription fee. A pay connection is one where the subscriber invests an initial amount for installation and a monthly subscription fee.

The agency will partner with Home Credit in developing and executing a pan-India strategy on digital platforms and drive its brand narrative on digital and social channels.

Indigo Consulting, Publicis Communications’ specialised digital marketing and business transformation company, has signed Home Credit India, a local arm of the international consumer finance provider with operations spanning over Europe and Asia. Indigo Consulting’s Gurgaon office will handle the digital marketing duties for Home Credit in India. The business was won following a multi-agency pitch

As a part of its new mandate, Indigo Consulting will partner with Home Credit in developing and executing a pan-India strategy on digital platforms and drive its brand narrative on digital and social channels.

Marko Carevic, Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer, Home Credit India, said, “Home Credit India offers consumer lending solutions that serve the unique needs of people with little or no credit history. It is our constant endeavour to enable customers to realise their dreams and aspirations. Social platforms will enable us to give an enriching brand experience while fulfilling their dreams. Indigo Consulting comes on board as a digital marketing partner to connect with our customers innovatively and broaden financial inclusion for the unbanked population by providing a positive and safe borrowing experience.”

Leading private outsourcing firm, Fourth Dimension Media, has announced the launch of second edition of South India Media Summit (SIMS) at Chennai scheduled in August 2019.

The CEO of Fourth Dimension Media, Shankar and his team are aspiring to make this edition of SIMS much bigger and better in-terms of speakers, session topics and delegate participation. In an exclusive chat with MediaNews4U, Shanker briefed his plans and roadmap for SIMS in detail.

Excerpts:

What’s the objective of South India Media summit ?

The objective is to bring South India in the limelight, I have always evangelized for better representation for South Indian Media and I thought there couldn’t be a better way than launching our own property and we titled it ‘South India Media Summit’. Also the objective is for the media fraternity on the whole to understand much deeper about the 5 south Indian states. Soon, there are plans to take it to smaller towns like Coimbatore,Trichy, Vizag, Trivandrum, Puducherry etc.