Week at a glance: Sony Marathi; Star Sports’ Asia Cup bet; Yesudas’ new venture

IBF’s move on pitch discount rates gets agencies, publishers moving towards dialogue
The issue of discounted pitch rate is under the scanner once again with an email sent out by Punit Goenka, Director, Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), last week to all agency heads, wherein they were urged not to offer discounts to clients on behalf of broadcasters without first getting the IBF’s approval. 

Sony Marathi to grow the market with its differentiated positioning & content
The Marathi general entertainment space is set to see some refreshed action with the launch of Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) new GEC – Sony Marathi. The channel will hit the airwaves on August 19, 2018 with as many as 11 new shows. The Marathi GEC space is currently dominated by Zee Marathi, the genre leader, along with Star Pravah and Colors Marathi. 

Star Sports begins Asia Cup blitz; focus on regional feeds, interactivity
After the Indian Premier League, Star Sports is gearing up for another round of cricket with the Unimoni Asia Cup 2018, which will commence from September 15. Dubbed ‘The Tournament of Neighbours’, the cricket event will see Asian neighbours – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and the winner of Asia Cup 2018 qualifier battle it out to become the champions of Asia. 

Breaking the film marketing code
Existing media metrics such as ratings, impressions, readership, views, likes, click rates, etc., are often used as measures to evaluate a film’s media plan. However, these metrics do not measure the impact of the plan in influencing footfalls in theatres, and hence, the Box Office collections for the film. A research project was undertaken by Ormax Media to concretely establish the box office impact of various media used by film producers in their marketing mix. 

With Aladdin, we aim to set new standards of TV programming: Neeraj Vyas
Stepping out of its usual fare of comedy shows, SAB TV is all set to take viewers on an adventure with the launch of ‘Aladdin: Naam Toh Suna Hoga’. With a generous dose of magic and mystery, this show is based on the age-old fantasy of a 20-year old boy, Aladdin, and his trysts with love and fate. Produced by Nissar Parvez and Alind Shrivastava of Peninsula Pictures, the show premieres on August 21, and will air Monday to Friday at 9 pm. 

J Walter Thompson Group, South Asia bags over 130 new accounts in 2018
Leveraging collaboration within the group of 3 mainline agencies (JWT, Contract and ADK Fortune), 2 Digital agencies (Mirum and HDS), Design (Design Sutra) and Shopper marketing and Events agency (Geometry Global Encompass India), J Walter Thompson Group, South Asia bagged over 130 assignments and accounts in 2018. 

State Bank of India appoints DDB Mudramax as their media AoR
Following a rigorous multi-agency pitch, State Bank of India (SBI), India’s largest bank and a Fortune 500 company, has appointed DDB Mudramax as the sole media agency for their nationwide media duties. The account will be managed out of the agency’s Mumbai office and will be led by Navin Kathuria, EVP and Principal Partner, DDB Mudramax. 

Leo Burnett India wins Anchor by Panasonic’s creative mandate
Leo Burnett India has added another prestigious win to its portfolio. The agency has won creative duties of Anchor by Panasonic, one of India’s largest domestic manufacturers of electrical construction materials. The business was won post a multi-agency pitch and will be handled by Leo Burnett India’s Mumbai office. 

Anchor Electricals appoint Initiative as its media AOR
Initiative, the global full service media agency of IPG Mediabrands, has won the media mandate of Anchor by Panasonic, one of India’s largest domestic manufacturers of electrical construction materials. Initiative will be responsible for the media strategy, planning, buying and implementation for all brands under Anchor Electricals for both mass media and out-of-home. The account will be managed by the agency’s Mumbai office. 

Sejal Shah joins Publicis Media as Managing Partner
Publicis Media India appointed Sejal Shah as Managing Partner and Head of Publicis Media Exchange (PMX - Mainline), which is the central investment practice of PM. Shah comes with over 21 years of rich experience and has worked with Publicis, IPG and WPP across functions such as client management, planning, buying, research, operations and automation. She was part of the founding Publicis Trading team. Her last role was as Trading Head, South Asia for Unilever. 

After Triggerbridge, S Yesudas announces 2nd venture - Y&A Transformation
S Yesudas, who conceived and launched the first ever #UnAgency, Triggerbridge, in the country with the purpose of marketing “for” customers, today announced the launch of his second venture – Y&A Transformation Pvt Ltd. The company’s registered office at NarimanPoint, Mumbai was recently inaugurated in a function in the presence of key clients, friends and relatives. 

Vikram Sakhuja announced as Chairman of MRUC’s IRS Technical Committee
MRUC announced that Vikram Sakhuja, Group CEO, Madison Media and OOH, has been appointed as Chairman of the IRS Technical Committee (TechCom). Sakhuja takes over from NP Sathyamurthy, Executive Director, DDB Mudra, and President, OMD Max. 

Prasoon Joshi to Chair Spikes overall Integrated Jury for 2018
Spikes Asia one of the most respected advertising award globally and in Asia has announced Prasoon Joshi as the head of their integrated jury. Apart from this he will also chair the Film, Print and Publishing jury. 

Post organisational shift, Prasar Bharti pursues new avenues of growth
India’s largest public broadcasting agency, Prasar Bharti that includes the Doordarshan Television Network and All India Radio, is exploring new growth drivers that include expanding on to digital platforms. The broadcaster has 37 active YouTube channels across its network and more than 250 active Twitter handles. They also have the AIR News App that features all their news content seamlessly and offers the option to users to read them in foreign languages as well. This will rake in the growing mobile users that need a reliable and steady source of local as well as national news. 

Abhishek Upadhyay quits &TV; Khushnuma Daruwala comes on-board
&TV’s Marketing Head Abhishek Upadhyay has decided to move on. Sources close to the development have confirmed this news to Adgully that Khushnuma Daruwala has replaced him. 

BBDO India welcomes Edward Gunn as Head of Planning, Mumbai
BBDO India has appointed Edward Gunn as Head of Planning, Mumbai - a position that will see him working closely with CMOs, brand managers, HR and corporate communication chiefs of the agency’s leading multinational and national accounts like P&G, Visa, Mars, Idea Cellular, Crompton, Racold, Glenmark, and Vakrangee. 

On 72nd Independence Day, channels, brands, and digital engage consumers
As India celebrates her 72nd Independence Day, television channels, social media platforms, and brands of various hues are keeping consumers engaged with different initiatives. Whether it is movie premieres, back-to-back episodes of popular shows, sales and offers – the engagement is varied. 

BARC Wk 32: Zee Anmol reclaims top spot; big gains for Star Plus
BARC ratings for Week 31 (August 4-10) [HSM (U+R): NCCS All : 2+ Individuals] saw quite some upheaval among the top 10 Hindi GECs in Rural+Urban. Zee Anmol made its way back to the numero uno spot this week, while Star Plus chalked up an impressive performance to rise to the second spot. Its show, ‘Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai’, was among the top 5 shows. Dangal TV, meanwhile, muscled its way into the top 10 list. 

Offbeat: RAW agent, Bollywood star – The secret dreams of Prashant Puri
Prashant Puri is Co-founder & CEO of AdLift, a digital marketing solutions company headquartered in SF Bay Area with offices in Gurgaon. An alumnus from Columbia University, Puri is a digital marketing expert having an extensive 15 years of industry experience. With his ability of building websites into multi-million dollar enterprises, he played an instrumental role in setting up the company and taking it to a high growth trajectory. 

WittyFeed’s campaign for Kellogg’s Chocos Fills asks competition to cut down the drama
While Kellogg’s Chocos Fills have always been ‘Hungry For Chocolaty’, it gave a subtle suggestion to all the choco-lovers to not over-complicate things and simply enjoy their chocolaty treats in a series of quirky and fun ad films. The digital campaign was conceptualised by WittyFeed. 

The W Suite | Women leaders must know how to run a business: Tarunjeet Ratan
Tarunjeet Ratan, Managing Partner, Nucleus PR, started her career in Public Relations in Mumbai and has worked with some of the premier agencies in the country, where she spearheaded several national level projects and handled the public relations for various MNCs spread across sectors. In her over 15 years of experience in the profession, Ratan has worked largely across channels, consumer and FMCG brands, lifestyle projects, non-profit organisations and automobiles verticals. 

Ad land’s Young Guns: Akshita Bhalla, ARM Worldwide
A brand communications professional in ARM Worldwide for about 3 years, Akshita Bhalla is now Senior Manager with their Creative & Content team. She enjoys listening to music, is a self-proclaimed streamaholic, and finds stirring up random conversations with people quite thrilling and informative.