MUMBAI: Network18 Digital, the digital arm of Network18 has announced the elevation of Azim Lalani to business head of English general news cluster. In addition to Firstpost, he will now oversee the business of News18.com English and in.com.

Having all three brands under one head is a strategy to strengthen the group’s position in the English news landscape of the country. 

Speaking about his additional roles, Lalani said, “It has been a fruitful journey till now. The last five years have seen Firstpost grow ten folds. It is a pleasure to be entrusted with the esteemed position of heading  News18.com English and in.com along with Firstpost, especially as we gear up for the general elections – a crucial news event in a demi-decade. My focus will be to continue empowering our audience with genuine, original and engaging news and content. I look forward to driving a robust growth for the network with my abilities and successfully manage the large scale business operations.”

Lalani joined Firstpost as VP revenue and strategy, news cluster (Network18 Digital). He was later elevated to business head at Firstpost, and since then has been credited with the brand’s steady growth. Additionally, he has prior experience of heading revenue for all of Network18’s news, sports and entertainment properties during 2014-15 which was also the year of general elections.

Commenting on the announcement, Network18 Digital CEO Manish Maheshwari said, “Network18 Digital news properties have garnered high visitor numbers in a short period of time. While Firstpost has been among the top five leading Indian media digital publications, News18.com achieved a milestone of 100 million in fewer than two years. in.com attracts one million unique users and four million page views every month adding to Network18’s strong foothold in the digital space.” 

“Azim Lalani has been with us for more than five years and has played a key role in our digital growth story. His excellent business acumen has helped build and grow properties like Firstpost from scratch; we are confident that he will successfully deliver as business head to all three platforms - News18.com English, Firstpost and in.com”, he added.

In light of the upcoming elections, Network18 Digital intends to reach its audience with relevant, insightful and hard-hitting news.

MUMBAI: The news genre saw a tremendous growth in the viewership after the Kerala floods according to All India BARC data week 33. Republic TV continued to lead the genre.

News18 India dropped to fifth position in two Hindi news genres, Aaj Tak continued to rule Hindi news genre. Zee News jumped up to second position this week in Hindi news (U+R).

English News

Republic TV continued to dominate the English news genre with 1499 impressions (000s) sum as compared to 936 impressions (000s) sum last week. Times Now is at the second position with 1296 impressions (000s) sum. Meanwhile, CNN News 18 found itself at third position with 943 impressions (000s) sum as compared to 485 impressions (000s) sum last week, followed by India Today Television at fourth position with 523 impressions (000s) sum. NDTV maintained its fifth position with 247 impressions (000s) sum. 

English Business News

CNBC TV 18 continued to rule in the English business news genre with 589 impressions (000s) sum. ET Now and BTVI maintained their second and third positions with 192 impressions (000s) sum and 115 impressions (000s) sum. CNBC TV 18 Prime HD found itself at fourth position with 33 impressions (000s) sum as compared to 18 impressions (000s) sum last week.

Hindi News (U+R)     

Aaj Tak continued to lead in Hindi news genre with 214534 impressions (000s) sum as compared to 132715 impressions (000s) sum last week. Zee News climbed two slot to the second position with 149055 impressions (000s) sum followed by ABP News at the third position with 148073 impressions (000s) sum compared to 101215 impressions (000s) sum last week. India TV found itself at fourth position with 122864 impressions (000s) sum. News18 India dropped three slots to fifth position despite increase in the viewership from 101841 impressions (000s) sum to 113025 impressions (000s) sum.  

Hindi News Rural  

Aaj Tak also continued to dominate in Hindi news (R) with 102312 impressions impressions (000s) sum as compared to 62162 impressions (000s) sum last week. ABP News maintained its second position this week with 75166 impressions (000s) sum, followed by Zee News with 61765 impressions (000s) sum. News18 India dropped a slot to the fourth position with 51622 impressions (000s) sum as compared to 41798 impressions (000s) sum last week. India TV was at the fifth position with 46413 impressions (000s) sum as compared to 39731 impressions (000s) sum last week. 

Hindi News Urban

Aaj Tak maintained its top position in Hindi news genre (U) with 112222 impressions (000s) sum as compared to 70553 impressions (000s) sum last week. Zee News climbed a spot to the second position with 87291 impressions (000s) sum. Both India TV and ABP News climbed a slot to the third and fourth positions with 76452 impressions (000s) sum and 72907 impressions (000s) sum respectively. News18 India dropped three slots to the fifth position with 61402 impressions (000s) sum.

MUMBAI: Uday Shankar, the man on Urmi Estate’s 37th floor, has made his next move. Star India is set to launch a multi-lingual channel Star Sports 3 in place of Channel V on 15 September 2018, the broadcaster has confirmed. 

“India's appetite for sports beyond cricket is growing and viewers are expecting good quality broadcast of a wide range of sports. To cater to this need, we are launching a new channel Star Sports 3, and to begin with we will broadcast the Hero ISL Season 5 in Hindi,” Star Sports CEO Gautam Thakar told Indiantelevision.com, highlighting the rationale behind the network’s decision to add a channel to it sports bouquet.

Thakar, who took over as Star Sports CEO on 15 January, also added that Star India is likely to pump in more cash into its sports business.

“In line with our commitment of fostering a multi-sports culture in the country, we have grown our sports portfolio and its offerings and we will continue to actively invest in,” he said.

Star Sports 3 along with three other channels that went off air on 29 May 2017 were replaced by Star Sports Tamil, Star Sports Hindi 1, Star Sports Select 1 SD and Star Sports Select 2 SD. 

Towards the end of last year, Star India contemplated taking Channel V off air, with Star Sports 1Kannada as its substitute. 16 November 2017 had been fixed as the launch date.

However, the broadcaster was unable to get the necessary approvals from Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB). 

Star India even launched a promo campaign to support Star Sports 1 Kannada. However, their plans to secure an exclusive sports channel for its Kannada viewers didn’t see the light of day during the Indian Premier League 2018. The Kannada feed was aired on Star Suvarna Plus and the channel launch was put on hold due to regulatory hurdles.

In a public notice dated 26 October 2017, Star India informed viewers that Channel V would continue to remain available in its current form across all addressable platforms (DAS, DTH, IPTV, HITS).

At an event in Delhi in January this year, Star India MD Sanjay Gupta declined to comment on the status of Star Sports 1 Kannada, adding that the launch was still in its planning stage.

Star India’s sports bouquet will now boast of 13 channels - Star Sports 1, 2 and their HD versions, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 Hindi HD, Star Sports 1 Tamil, Star Sports Select 1, 2 and their HD versions, Star Sports First, the only FTA channel and soon to be re-launched Star Sports 3.  

MUMBAI: When it comes to British dramas, you know you are in for a compelling story that keeps you on the edge! Here are two such gripping British sagas that stay true to it’s promise. Zee Café, one of the leading English general entertainment channels in India, in association with BBC Worldwide is set to bring two of the latest award-winning dramas Unforgotten Season 1 and Doctor Foster Season 2 as a part of the second edition of its successful property BBC First. Filled with fury, deceit and some teardrops, the shows will enthral viewers and keep them hooked as they air on weekdays at 10 PM.

Unforgotten, the crime drama series is a masterpiece featuring two sharp police detectives in an exhilarating hunt as they dig out cold cases that involve historical disappearances and murders. DCI Cassie Stuart (Nicola Walker) and DI Sunny Khan (Sanjeev Bhaskar) break any stereotypes for detectives as they are both brilliant and compassionate. Together, they embark on a mission to unravel the secrets buried for years together! Speaking about the success of the show, the Indian-origin actor Sanjeev Bhaskar says, “I was incredibly pleased and proud at having been involved in the first series. It’s rare to get such a consensus of critics and audience as well. I’m over the moon that people embraced it in the way they did.” Starting 28th August, 2018, Unforgotten will air every Tuesday at 10PM exclusively on Zee Café!  

A case of infidelity and a woman’s rage that brings the whole world down – Doctor Foster Season 1 was nothing short of dramatic explosions showcasing the award-winning actress Suranne Jones who won a BAFTA for her role as the protagonist in the series. Speaking about her character in Doctor Foster she says, “She’s not particularly likeable. It’s not a case of, “Let’s all root for Gemma because her horrible husband is having an affair.” I think the great thing about Doctor Foster is that they are ambiguous characters.”

Taking a two-year leap, Doctor Foster Season 2 kickstarts with the city’s top doctor Gemma Foster (Suranne Jones) and her teenage son Tom leading a happy life. However, things turn topsy-turvy as Gemma’s ex-husband Simon (Bertie Carvel) along with his partner Kate come back into the picture. With hatred and anger brewing between these ex-lovers, the series follows the new dimension to this estranged relationship as they happen to reunite for a night of passion. What’s more? The season culminates in the most appalling climax that further adds to the! Come 30th August, 2018, Doctor Foster S2 will air every Thursday at 10PM exclusively on Zee Café!

MUMBAI: Zee Telugu’s Sravana Lakshmi, a special programme by the channel for the occasion of celebrating the auspicious month of Sravana, is being telecasted on 26th August 2018, between 10.00 AM and 2.00 PM. Tune-in to watch some of Zee Telugu Kutumbam’s most celebrated artists participate in a variety of activities and games; the participants will be split into two teams - ‘Pedda Kodalu’ Parvathy from Mudda Mandaram and ‘Chinna Kodalu’ Siri from Na Kodalu Bangaram form two teams with their common mother-in -law in both the shows Haritha, who plays the roles of Akhilandeswari and Bhanumathi respectively.

Don’t miss out on the sizzling performance by Tridha Choudhury and the fun antiques by actor and anchor Navdeep! Not to forget the special appearance to a popular Telugu number by actors Ravi Krishna and Pranavya from Zee Telugu’s yet-to-be-launched fiction show, Bava Maradallu!

MUMBAI: The World Television Premiere of India’s superpower moment ‘Parmanu - The Story of Pokhran’ on 15th August, 2018 on Zee Cinema - Home of Blockbusters has established a new milestone. The movie garnered 5,368 TVTs’ 000 as per BARC data for Week 33 for 2+ audience in HSM Urban markets.

The television premiere of Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran superseded Salman Khan’s latest blockbuster Tiger Zinda Hai on Sony MAX which rated at 3,374 TVTs’ 000 and the World Television Premiere of Bhavesh Joshi Superhero on Star Gold which garnered 1,302 TVTs’ 000 in the same slot.

Over the years, the channel has premiered some of the biggest titles on Independence Day and managed to garner the desired outcome. During the World Television Premieres of Dangal in 2017 and Baaghi in 2016, the channel has always managed to grab the highest eyeballs.

With the evolving demand of the viewer to consume chartbuster movies on television, Zee Cinema marks the yearly celebrations of Independence Day with entertaining blockbuster premieres making each year bigger and better than the previous

MUMBAI: Brand Factory, a fashion discount chain by Future Group, wants to make this Raksha Bandhan a unique experience for siblings. While the world focuses on highlighting just the sibling bond, Brand Factory took a different route to showcase not just the bond but how a brother plays a larger role in a sister’s life. The brand believes that there are unimaginable ways a brother supports a sister no matter how challenging and sometimes unachievable her dreams may seem.

Hence, this Raksha Bandhan, Brand Factory has introduced the #BrotherLikeNoOther campaign. This campaign is its attempt to celebrate those brothers who help their sisters chase and achieve their dreams. Dreams that are often shunned by society, but how a brother will only encourage and coax his sister to chase her dreams.

The campaign began during this week across the brand’s social media handles, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The concept of #BrotherLikeNoOther has been brought to life through a series of posts, contests and more that urge participants to share their experiences of how their brother has been a solid support system. The content connected well with audience which was proved by heart-touching sibling stories received on each post. The campaign was further amplified through FB posts which promoted Brand Factory gift cards. Through website integration purchasing gift cards became easy. At the very beginning of the launch, the campaign has received an exhilarating response of more than 6.5 million reach across its various social media platforms. 

Simultaneously, mega influencers like Smriti Mandhana, Rajvee Gandhi to name a few and community pages like Awesome Things in India, Scrawled Stories will be joining the #BrotherLikeNoOther campaign soon.

To break the monotony of the generic brother-sister rakhi commercials, here’s a fun and quirky one-minute video conceptualised by Publicis Ambience. The video explains, no matter how crazy, how many demands; a brother can fulfill his sister’s wishes because Brand Factory has a deal for every demand. The video is live on its social media platform and has crossed over 1.5 million views already. 

Brand Factory chief marketing officer Roch D’Souza says, “During festivals and occasions Brand Factory would like to be more relevant through its offerings and fabulous discounts, to its customers. We had a holistic 360-degree communication approach for the campaign and have been getting immense responses via personal stories and visuals, through our campaign thought of #BrotherLikeNoOther. This campaign was extended to all our stores through the gifting options for a sister be it shoes, handbags, womenswear and has helped drive women walk-ins to our stores.”

IdeateLabs business head Ashish Rana adds, “Our idea was to pay tribute to this great festival of Raksha Bandhan by highlighting the bigger role of brothers. And digital exploded the #BrotherLikeNoOther campaign by weaving a story around brothers who pushed their sisters to achieve their dreams. The content did work wonders as our social media handles were flooded with sibling stories. Now, we will take this campaign to the next level with digital influencers and community pages.”

Commenting on the campaign, Publicis MD and chief creative officer for South Asia Bobby Pawar mentions, “Brand Factory is a brand that disrupts the category, so we came to the obvious conclusion, how can its advertising be otherwise? When convention dictates that you show good-looking people who ooze an ‘effortless’ ‘aspirational’ ‘youthy’ attitude, we went in the opposite direction.”

Brand Factory is a chain of fashion discount stores with 72 outlets across 30 cities in India. It offers 200+ Indian and international fashion brands at 20-70 per cent discount, 365 days a year. It also offers a diverse range of merchandise at absolutely great prices in a refreshingly enjoyable ambience. Brand Factory stores include men’s formals, casuals, youth wear, women’s wear, sportswear, kids wear, footwear, accessories and more.

MUMBAI: Mondelez India, the creators of the Chocolate Gifting market in India have recently rolled out a new campaign for Raksha Bandhan, in line with Cadbury Dairy Milk’s new positioning of ‘Kuch Achha Ho Jaaye, Kuch Meetha Ho Jaaye’. The new exciting packs of Cadbury Celebrations and Cadbury Gifting Portfolio, are making the festive season even sweeter and memorable, along with a heart-warming TVC highlighting the brother-sister bond.

Commenting on the exciting festive offering, Anil Viswanathan, Director - Marketing (Chocolates), Mondelez India said, “Over the years, Mondelez India has been an intrinsic part of festivals with Cadbury Celebrations becoming India’s favorite gifting option. Cadbury Celebrations brings alive the joy of gifting by getting people together and strengthening relationships especially during festivals like Raksha Bandhan. We aim to bank on the Cadbury Celebrations Premium Selection chocolates with revamped and premium packaging to help us connect with our consumers this festive season. Our Raksha Bandhan TVC, in a heart-warming set up, highlights the innocent brother-sister relation and how a pack of Cadbury Celebrations brings them closer to each other, than ever. Linking in with the recently launched Cadbury Dairy Milk Generosity Campaign, this Rakhi commercial also brings alive the acts of generosity that makes our festivals full or warmth and renewed good feelings amongst relationships far and close”

The new TVC features the story of a younger brother going the extra mile, by sacrificing the money he saved for his cricket bat, to buy his sister a ‘rakhi’ gift – a box of Cadbury Celebrations. Of a simple sacrifice, that enhances the love between them. The new campaign is led by a TVC and further amplified through digital and social activations along with innovative OOH.

5The company has been making strides in e-commerce, creating new shopping opportunities through personalization and gifting platforms. This festive season, the company has also designed an ecommerce innovation using personalization to take the gifting experience a notch up. Consumers will be able to customize their Cadbury Celebrations and other eCommerce exclusive Cadbury Gift boxes with heartfelt messages to create a truly special personalized gift for their siblings.

Abhishek Ahluwalia, e-Commerce Lead, Mondelez India said “Last year, Mondelez India announced the launch of its first direct-to-consumer website “Cadbury Joy Deliveries” – www.cadburygifting.in. This Raksha Bandhan we are taking it a step further with adding a personal touch to the packaging of the Cadbury Celebrations and other eCommerce exclusive Cadbury Gift boxes. The website allows you to customize a heartfelt message and add photographs for your beloved sibling at attractive prices. So this festive season not only is the joy delivered to your doorstep but, it is personalized, too.”

MUMBAI: Artist Aloud, a platform by Hungama that supports and promotes independent music, today announced its partnership with ATKT.in–adigital platform that seeks to promote original content created by college students. Through this strategic partnership, Artist Aloud will encourage young talent and enable them to reach a larger audience, further strengthening its position as the leading platform forindependent content. 

As a part of the association, ATKT.in will provide Artist Aloud access to a curated list of original content across an assortment of categories like music, comedy, dance, performance poetry etc. Artist Aloud will, in turn, leverage its reach and help the content get discovered by a wider audience, providing collegian talent a platform that gets them noticed and appreciated. Artist Aloud will also work with ATKT.in to give an impetus to fresh talent at college festivals across campuses in India. 

Talking about the new partnership with ATKT.in, SouminiSridhara Paul, Vice President, Artist Aloud, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. said, “As the leading platform for independent talent, we intend to offer artistes across categories an opportunity to reach a larger audience. The association will allow us to accumulate independent and original content at a collegian level and provide the content creators with opportunities and recognition they deserve. At the same time, we will also be able to offer our audience a wide variety of original content that they are unlikely to discover on any other platform.”

Saurabh Kanwar, Co-founder, ATKT.in said, "ATKT is kicked to bring our legion of campus creators even more opportunities to grow and thrive through Hungama’s platforms. Artist Aloud's plans to reach out to colleges through ATKT is a validation of the quality and extent of the campus community we have built, and its growing importance in building rich, entertaining original content. With the college festival season getting underway, we are gearing up to a whole new crop of budding artists to showcase to the world, and this partnership will definitely provide another great outlet for these singers, dancers, writers, poets and artists."

Content sourced from ATKT.in, will be available on all digital properties of Artist Aloud, including web, app, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and blog. 

MUMBAI: GMR Group led DIAL announces its Platinum win at the Hermes Creative Awards 2018 under the Social Media campaign category for the campaign titled #CreatingTomorrowTogether. With the core objective to showcase the 25-year long journey of GMR Varalakshmi Foundation (GMRVF), the CSR wing of the GMR Group, the campaign was envisioned as an on-ground activity to garner attention towards the success of GMRVF with over 100 crore impressions across social media handles. 

Hermes Creative Awards is an international competition for creative professionals involved in the concept, writing and design of traditional and emerging media. Hermes Creative Awards recognizes outstanding work in the industry while promoting the philanthropic nature of marketing and communication professionals. The Hermes awards are running over 20 years, with a total of 200 thousand entries coming from 100 plus countries. Hermes Creative Awards is administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP), one of the largest, oldest and most respected evaluators of creative work in the marketing and communication industry.There were a total of 6,500 entries from the United States and 21 other countries for the Hermes Creative Awards 2018 competition.

The campaign #CreatingTomorrowTogether was conceptualized by Delhi based agency, Digiqom where they showcased the initiatives of the Foundation by engaging online communities, especially the blogging universe in the CSR space. The online success of the campaign can be attributed to intelligent use of live video streaming, highlighting the success stories of the individuals who have directly benefitted from the GMRVF initiatives.

 

MUMBAI: Shemaroo Entertainment Limited, a leading content powerhouse releases a digital film on Raksha Bandhan – ‘Khushiyon Wali Rakhi’. Shemaroo released the film on their social media handles which plays on the brand idea of “India Khush Hua”. The film brings back the joy which is still alive somewhere in people’s hearts and at the same time assures a future filled with joy.

Raksha Bandhan, a festival that celebrates the bond of love between brother and sister who vow to protect each other’s happiness and promise to share support through thick and thin moments and to discover the essence of these sentiments Shemaroo has got out a 2 minute 50 seconds - digital film. The film takes the audience through a journey of how a son surprises his mother by inviting her brother on Raksha Bandhan. It highlights the emotional bond shared between the siblings who meet after a long time.

Viewers can now view the movie across all the official social media platforms of Shemaroo Entertainment.

MUMBAI: Continuing with its promise of making each occasion even more special and memorable, Mochi, one of India’s largest fashion footwear brand created a humorous ad film, Escape Bro-zone, for Raksha Bandhan.

Conceptualised and created by Makani creatives, the film questions the stereotype emotional appeal in a fun way and takes the audience back to college days. The objective behind this ad film was to break the clutter in the market and strengthen the relationship between the brand and young target audience by reflecting their personalities.

The ad film which will be launched across social platforms- Instagram and Facebook and 400 + cinemas screens across India. The content led strategy was conceptualised after deep diving into consumer insights and hence the script, take and distribution strategy.

Mochi vice president for marketing Alisha Malik says, “Mochi Shoes and Accessories has always been synonymous with fashion, chic style and in sync with their young target audience. This film reflects how Mochi is integrated in the lives of our customers in a fun & engaging way. Wherein other brands are busy playing up emotions on rakhi, we wanted to take a different route to break the clutter. As a brand we share a very strong bond with our customers and will continue to provide stylish, fashionable and quality products to help the consumers to be in vogue.”

MUMBAI: The kids channels have finally woken up to the importance of animation in regional languages.  

Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and Malayalam are the existing languages that are working quite well in the overall industry as well as in the kids segment. Keeping in mind the parents’ concerns for their kids to learn and grow, the broadcasters thought of launching English feeds as well. Recently, Sony Yay made its footprint in the English space and now, Discovery Kids has also added this feed in its bouquet.

Discovery Kids was launched in 2012 and has already Tamil, Telugu and Hindi audio feeds that helped the channel to leap-frog to fourth rank in the existing cluttered market from ninth rank in the beginning of the year riding on 426 per cent growth in TV ratings. Discovery Kids head Uttam Pal Singh said, “Our channel’s reach has doubled from 9 million in week 1 to 18 million in this week (33) as per the BARC data.    

He said that since the regional languages are important in the industry, Discovery launched those before entering the English segment. “For Discovery Kids it’s almost like a clean slate when we started it out with the launch of Bandhbukaur Budbak and Little Singham. So first was definitely getting Tamil on board and as and when we added these regional languages, we got good response,” he said.

The next step is to get maximum reach in the SAARC countries. “The addition of Telugu feed in April earlier this year helped increase our reach by over 50 per cent in the state of Andhra Pradesh/Telangana. We expect that the English feed will help us penetrate deeper in select pockets in India as well as SAARC countries,” he added.

The mobile game of Little Singham hit the No. 1 spot in the Arcade section by garnering 3 million downloads within the first two weeks of its launch.

The network claims to have a daily time spent of 82 minutes on the channel and has observed a significant hike in the ratings due to its programming on the occasions of Friendship Day and 15 August. “We released special content on Desh ka Sipahi Little Singham and focused on Bandhbuk and Budbak on Friendship Day. We gained 9 GRPs in the last week and now as far as the channel’s reach is concerned, we want to reach about 30-35 per cent.”

As per the BARC data’s week 33, Nickelodeon stands at the first position with 135622 impressions (000s) sum. Disney Channel, Hungama, Discovery Kids and Pogo TV stood at second, third, fourth and fifth positions respectively with 125920 impressions (000s) sum, 110826 impressions (000s) sum, 81728 impressions (000s) sum and 78145 impressions (000s) sum.  

BENGALURU: Four channels from Star India and three channels from Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) were among Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly list of top 10 channels across genres for week 33 of 2018 (Saturday, 11 August 2018 to Friday, 17 August 2018). The three other channels in the list were from two networks – two channels from Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) and one channel from the Sun TV Network Limited.

BARC’s across genres list for week 33 comprised of six Hindi GEC channels, two Hindi Movies channels and one channel each from the Tamil and the Telugu GEC genres.

As is the norm, Sun TV led the across the genres list at first place in week 33 with ,1027.548 million weekly impressions as compared to 1,133.028 million weekly impressions in week 32 of 2018. Sun TV also led BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Tamil channels in the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry market and four of the 5 programmes in BARC’s list of top 5 Tamil programmes during primetime in these markets based on average rating across all airings (original and repeat) in the week under review were aired on Sun TV.

Retaining its previous week’s second rank was Zeel’s free to air or FTA Hindi GEC Zee Anmol in week 33 of 2018 with 762.485 million weekly impressions as compared to 749.977 million weekly impressions in week 32. Zee Anmol was also ranked first in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs in the combined urban and rural Hindi speaking market - HSM (U+R) and HSM (R). The Balaji Telefilms produced soap Kumkum Bhagya aired on Zee Anmol was ranked  fifth in BARC’s list of top 5 Hindi GEC programmes during primetime based on average rating across all airings (original and repeat) in the week in HSM (U+R) and was ranked first in HSM (R). Another soap from the channel, Mahek, was ranked fourth in HSM (R).

SPN’s Hindi Movies channel Sony Max returned to BARC’s across genres list in week 33 of 2018 with 718.388 million weekly impressions.  Sony Max was also ranked first in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi Movies channels in the HSM (U+R) and HSM (U) and was ranked fifth in HSM (R).  S S Rajamouli’s sequel Bahubali -2 or Bahubali the Conclusion was ranked first in BARC’s list of the top 5 Hindi Movies programmes during primetime based on average rating across all airings (original and repeat) in the week in HSM (U+R) and HSM (U).  Three other Hindi feature films – Sooryavansham, Tiger Zinda Hai and Paisa Vasool were also among BARC’s list of top 5 Hindi Movies programmes during primetime list in HSM (U).

Star India’s FTA Hindi GEC Star Utsav also retained its fourth rank in week 33 of 2018 with 717.238 million weekly impressions as compared and 675.211 million weekly impressions in week 32. Star Utsav was ranked second in BARC’s list of top 10 Hindi GECs’ in HSM (U+R), second in HSM (R) and was ranked seventh in HSM (U). The soap Rabba Ve aired on Star Utsav was ranked third in BARC’s weekly in BARC’s list of top 5 Hindi GEC programmes during primetime  based on average rating across all airings (original and repeat) in the week in HSM (R).

Dropping down two ranks from the previous week to fifth place in week 33 of 2018 was Star India’s flagship Hindi GEC Star Plus with 698.754 million impressions as compared to 726.112 million weekly impressions in the previous week. Star Plus was ranked third in BARC’s weekly lists of top 10 Hindi GECs’ in HSM (U+R) and was ranked first in HSM (U). Director’s Kut Productions produced Hindi soap Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai aired on Star Plus was ranked fourth in BARC’s list of top 5 Hindi GEC programmes during primetime  based on average rating across all airings (original and repeat) in the week in HSM (U+R) and was ranked second in HSM (U).

Star India’s flagship Telugu GEC Star Maa was ranked sixth in BARC’s across genres list for week 33 of 2018 with 683.334 million weekly impressions as compared to fifth rank and 659.642 million weekly impressions in week 32. Star Maa was ranked first in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Telugu channels in the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana market. All the five top programmes that were aired on Star Maa were present in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Telugu programmes during primetime based on average rating across all airings (original and repeat) in the week.

At seventh rank was SPN’s Hindi Movies channel Sony Wah with 681.055 million weekly impressions in week 33 of 2018 as compared to 628.865 million weekly impressions in week 31. Sony Wah was ranked second in BARC’s list of top 5 Hindi Movies channels in HSM (U+R), first in HSM (R) and fifth in HSM (U). Hindi feature films (HFF) that featured on Sony Wah – Sultan and Shivaji the Boss were among the top 5 most watched Hindi Movies programmes during primetime based on average rating across all airings (original and repeat) for the week in BARC’s list in HSM (U+R) and HSM (R). A third HFF- Koi Mil Gaya on Sony Wah was also on BARC’s list of top 5 Hindi Movies programmes during primetime in HSM (R).

At eighth rank was SPN’s FTA women focused Hindi GEC Sony Pal rank in week 33 of 2018 with 621.147 million weekly impressions as compared to tenth rank and 618.547 million weekly impressions in week 32. Sony Pal was ranked fourth in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi channels in HSM (U+R), was ranked third in HSM (R) and was ranked eighth in HSM (U). The sitcom Tarak Mehta ka Ooltah Chashmah aired on Sony Pal was ranked second in BARC’s list of top 5 Hindi GEC programmes during primetime based on average rating across all airings (original and repeat) in the week in HSM (R).

At ninth rank was Star India’s Hindi GEC Star Bharat in week 33 of 2018 with 619.664 million weekly impressions compared to seventh rank and 619.402 million weekly impressions in week 32. Star Bharat was ranked fifth in BARC’s list of top 10 Hindi channels in HSM (U+R), sixth in HSM (R) and HSM (U) in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GEC channels during the week under review.

At tenth rank was Zeel’s flagship Hindi GEC Zee TV with 619.458 million weekly impressions in week 33 of 2018 as compared to sixth rank and 657.079 million weekly impressions in week 32. Zee TV was ranked sixth in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs’ in HSM (U+R), third in HSM (U) and seventh in HSM (R) during the week. One programme that was aired on Zee TV- Kumkum Bhagya, was ranked second in HSM (U+R)  and was ranked fifth in HSM (U) in BARC’s list of top 5 Hindi GEC programmes during primetime based on average rating across all airings (original and repeat) in the week. Kumkum Bhagya on Zee TV was also ranked fourth in HSM (U) in BARC’s lists of top 5 Hindi GEC programmes during primetime based on average rating across all airings (original and repeat) in the week.

MUMBAI: The Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India has released its data for last week’s top advertisers and brands between 11 August to 17 August 2018.

The data is a reflection of top 10 advertiser and brands across genre on Indian television (U+R) : 2+ Individuals.

The data demonstrates ads that were inserted the most in week 33 of 2018.

Top Advertisers:

Nothing really changed this week in the advertising domain on television as most advertisers retained their last week’s position.

For week 32, Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) retained its position as the top advertiser and led with 141492 ad insertions on television. HUL's products include foods, beverages, cleaning agents, personal care products and water purifiers.

Reckitt Benckiser Ltd, maker of Dettol, Veet, Durex condoms, Strepsils, Air Wick, Harpic retained its last week’s second position with 89404 ad insertions.

Kolkata based ITC Ltd was at third position this week with 59253 ad insertions. This was followed by Dairy Milk manufacturer Cadbury India, that moved up a step and stood at fourth position this week with 32407 ad insertions.

Procter & Gamble moved down from its last week’s number four position and became the fifth most advertised brand with 30007 ads. ITC has a diversified business that includes Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), hotels, paperboards and packaging, agri business and information technology.

Top Brands:

Cleaning and disinfecting product Lizol that topped the charts last week and was the most advertised brand, didn't make it in the top 10 most advertised brand this week.

Santoor sandal and turmeric soap jumped from its week 31’s second position, was advertised the most in week 32 with a startling 13587 ad insertions.

The Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare that been in the top two list for last few weeks, regained its position and became the second most advertised brand this week with 10699 ad insertions.

Hotel searching website, Trivago that was missing in week 31 for most advertised brand, attained third position in week 33 with 10486 ad insertions. Trivago that seemed to be loosing its momentum on television screens dipping ad insertions, is getting back on screen with increased ad insertions.

Reckitt Benckiser’s Dettol Liquid soap retained its last week fourth position with 9487 ad insertions followed by Colgate Dental Cream, a product by Hindustan Unilever Limited with 9271 ad insertions.

MUMBAI: Eros International Plc (NYSE: EROS) (“Eros”), a leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry, today announced that the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has issued a Summary Order affirming the U.S. District Court’s earlier dismissal, with prejudice, of the putative securities class action that was originally filed in November 2015 against Eros and certain of its officers and directors.

Eros previously disclosed that, on October 23, 2017, lead plaintiffs filed a Notice of Appeal, individually and on behalf of the putative class, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. On August 21, 2018, the Court of Appeals issued a Summary Order affirming the District Court’s dismissal with prejudice.

MUMBAI: Aparna Bhosle will lead Zee Entertainment’s flagship channel ZEE TV as its business head. Bhosle will continue to lead the FTA GECs and will report to ZEEL domestic broadcast business CEO Punit Misra.

The Premium Cluster will now be led by Shaurya Mehta, in addition to his current role as the chief operating officer, Living Entertainment. He too will also to Misra.

Bhosle has been with ZEEL for more than six years. She joined the company in 2012 as the business head of ZeeQ and Zee Anmol. In 2017, she was elevated as business cluster head of premium & FTA GECs.

Before joining ZEEL, Bhosle worked with Astro Malaysia as Food Food head – programming, production and broadcast operations for more than two years.

She also had a stint with The Walt Disney Company as director – programming, production and broadcast operations of Hungama TV/Disney Channel/Disney XD. Bhosle has also worked with companies like UTV, Wisden India, Diageo and Reckitt & Colman.

Shaurya Mehta started his career in 2003 as systems associate at GE healthcare. After serving the company for about two years, he joined Deloitte Consulting as the senior consultant. In 2012, he was the co-founder and COO of Ekstop.com and after three years, in 2015, he was the head of Ecommerce at Godrej. Last year, Mehta was appointed as the Essel Group’s lifestyle channel-Living Foodz COO and now, in addition to his current role, he will also look after the premium cluster that Bhosle used to head.

MUMBAI: Groove and move seems to be the flavour of the season for PROWL, an active lifestyle brand co-created by Tiger Shroff and Mojostar, which has recently released its anthem! 

The PROWL Anthem revolves around the brand’s brand promise of #ReadyToMove and caters to India’s young and active generation. It promotes a high-activity lifestyle through its unique, no-holds-barred celebration of physical movement and agility, urging young India to do the same in their quest towards peak fitness.

With music composed by music director Amaal Mallik, sung by Armaan Malik, the brand video is presented by India’s foremost music label T-Series. The PROWL anthem features Tiger Shroff demonstrating his physical prowess in the activewear through gravity-defying stunts and mesmerising viewers with stunning dance moves tailored to the catchy music. With lyrics resonating with the challenge-oriented mind-sets of today’s youth, the brand video subtly urges style and fitness-conscious consumers across India to constantly test their boundaries and keep working towards pushing them forward.

Mojostar managing director Jiggy George adds, “Ever since we made the brand reveal for PROWL, the interest that the brand has garnered for its differentiated value proposition has been simply amazing. The launch of the PROWL anthem before its upcoming market release will definitely add to the buzz around the brand’s range of stylish active-wear offerings.”

T-Series chairman and managing director Bhushan Kumar mentions, “Energy, excitement, intensity, movement, flexibility – as a brand, PROWL encapsulates all these elements. We wanted to create a music video that reflected this proposition. We are very happy with how the PROWL anthem has turned out and are confident that it will be very popular amongst the young and trendy Indians of today.”

The launch of the PROWL anthem has definitely added to the buzz around the brand, which is gearing up for its upcoming market launch in the first week of September. The active wear products of PROWL will be available for purchase post-launch on the brand website and Amazon Fashion.

MUMBAI: Asset management company, Axis Mutual Fund has launched a new brand campaign - The Responsible Mutual Fund.

The key insight gathered was that investors know that mutual funds over longer term tend to give superior returns, compared to traditional instruments. Though investors are ready to experiment and invest in mutual funds, they are a little fearful. Investors in general are risk averse when it comes to money while being adventurous with many other things in life. In such instances, people need assurances not of high returns, but that of care and concern for the hard-earned money that is invested.

With this insight, the repositioning of Axis Mutual Fund to ‘The Responsible Mutual Fund’ is thus an important milestone in the journey of the brand. The new campaign marks the evolution of Axis Mutual Fund brand by playing the role of a credible and responsible asset management company which understands that the investors need comfort and confidence from the fund house that their hard earned money is in safe hands and would managed with utmost care and concern.

Conceptualised by The Womb, the film portrays how Bijoy da, an experienced jungle tourist guide accompanying a family entering the wild which is fraught with risks all around owing to the possible presence of man eater tigers around who have a tendency to attack from the behind, is aware of inherent pitfalls and perils while having joyful ride in the forests. Bijoy da knows how this risk is to be managed as we see each family member donning human masks at the backside (given by Bijoy da), as he knows the tigers don’t attack looking into the eyes and hence the possibility of tigers attacking is nullified. An experienced fund house in Axis Mutual Fund too, like Bijoy da, is fully equipped to understand the risks and manage them.

The brand broke the campaign with a massive internal program, extends through TV and outdoor, and will culminate with a sustained distributor campaign.

Explaining the rationale for the brand campaign, Axis Mutual Fund MD and CEO Chandresh Nigam says, “The campaign features our brand philosophy, to provide quality financial and investment solutions which help customers feel financially secure and feel confident of a brighter and prosperous future. With retail money pouring in the last few years, and expectations of high returns running wild, it was important to communicate our differentiated brand positioning of being The Responsible Fund House. Suffice to say, we have always followed an investment philosophy that puts a strong emphasis on risk management over fancy promises of unreal returns.”

Leading the campaign, Axis Mutual Fund marketing and VP Rohan Padhye adds, “The mutual fund industry is growing at a rapid pace, and as a business we are seeing healthy growth. While AMFI (Association of Mutual Funds in India) is doing a stellar job in creating awareness and relevance for our category, our task at Axis MF is to build preference and consideration for the brand. Responsibility plank is competitively distinctive, relevant to the consumer and true to us given the way we have been managing money.”

The Womb Founder Navin Talreja mentions, “This was one of the more complex ones to pull off. When you have a large organisation with many valid points of view, and more than one right way to go forward, you need skill, patience and integrity to get alignment. We are proud that the entire top management team rallied behind this thought. And while it looks simple, everyone’s aware that this thought will put every Axis Mutual professional under the spotlight. It is an attitudinal and behavioural commitment that that brand is now making to the wider world. It puts pressure, but a good kind of pressure.”

The Responsible Fund House brand campaign has precisely captured the key message of how Axis Mutual Fund with its demonstrated expertise, is equipped to manage investments with responsibility.

MUMBAI: Glassware company, Borosil, has recently joined hands with Indian Olympic Association (IOA) as the official hydration partner for national athletes representing India at all upcoming Olympic events. In sports, things don't just begin and end on the field, they go beyond that because athletes inspire us with their passion and bring pride to their nation, binding people together. And when it comes to sweating it out to fulfil their dreams, our sportsmen leave no stone unturned.

It is this relentless dedication that made Borosil want to walk beside them on their journey and collaborate with the Indian Olympic Association.

The campaign #ThirstForGold will run across all upcoming big-ticket events starting with the Asian Games 2018.

The intent is to create a public awareness campaign championing the athletes and for their victory to be shared by all proud Indians. To mark the beginning of this journey, an anthem was written set to the background of a heartwarming story. The video features a child playing the lead who offers Bajrang Punia the tri-colour flag exhorting him with a passionate plea saying,  “#JhandaGaadKeAana" at the Asian Games. Also, seen in the video are star Indian wrestlers Hardeep Singh and Pawan Kumar.

The Borosil team didn't have to wait too long for our athletes' hard work to show results. Bajrang Punia struck gold on the second day of the Asian Games in wrestling. And it so happened that he also featured in our anthem video. This got the team to working harder, to release the video immediately to convey congratulations and share the pride with this spectacular victory. The team got together and within two hours of getting the news managed to launch the video on social media, way ahead of its scheduled release date. 

A song about following your passion, working hard and sweating it out to quench your thirst for victory, the anthem urges us all to never stop or tire and give up. It inspires not just team India but also all of us to push harder and chase our dreams. And since the anthem struck a chord with every Indian's heart, it has already received overwhelming love and support.

The larger campaign #ThirstForGold will further add more television, print and online content basis this theme shot with top national athletes from across disciplines.

Borosil managing director and chief executive officer Shreevar Kheruka says, “This is a very proud moment for us, to be associated with the Indian Olympic Association as their hydration partner. We are glad to be able to support the Indian athletes in their endeavours and look forward to a long-term association. With the launch of our new media campaign #ThirstForGold, we celebrate the victory of medals won by India, and the many more that are yet to come. We want the nation to join us in celebrating these athletes and their efforts to make our country proud.”

As part of the partnership, Borosil Glass Works Ltd will provide the Indian athletes and officials with their hydra range of bottles  to ensure that the athletes use the best available products to stay well hydrated during their training and competitions. It is a long-term collaboration that extends till 2024 which covers two Asian Games (2018, 2022), two Youth Olympic Games (2018, 2022), Commonwealth Games (2022) and two Olympics (2020, 2024)

Borosil has expanded its consumer offering from its core glassware range to include opalware dinner sets (sold under the brand Larah), kitchen appliances, storage products, glass lunch boxes and stainless steel vacuum insulated flasks and bottles. With increasing concerns around the health and environmental implications of plastic, Borosil is rapidly growing its range to provide consumers with convenient, safe and healthy alternatives, such as its revolutionary glass lunch box.