February 1-15, 2019 Volume 7, Issue 15 `100 AND THE WINNERS ARE... The 3rd edition of vdonxt awards saw a spurt in participation by ad agencies, marketers, online publishers and content creators. The Quint came up with a stirring performance. 12 Subs riber o not or resale
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This fortnight... Volume 7, Issue 15 hen it comes to online video, the first thing we, as business media journalists, EDITOR Sreekant Khandekar W think of is digital advertisements in video format – and the investments PUBLISHER February 1-15, 2019 Volume 7, Issue 15 `100 brands make to create and push them towards their target audience. But what the Sreekant Khandekar person next door, or her driver for that matter, thinks of is digital videos that she EXECUTIVE EDITOR AND THE can watch – argh, okay fine… consume! – for leisure, knowledge or work. That’s Ashwini Gangal why the focus of the recently concluded third edition of vdonxt asia, our annual ASSOCIATE EDITOR WINNERS Sunit Roy convention on the business of online video, was on content. ARE... PRODUCTION EXECUTIVE The 3rd edition of vdonxt Andrias Kisku awards saw a spurt in participation by ad agencies, marketers, online By the end of the event, two themes shone through this year: Firstly, when it publishers and ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES content creators. The Quint came up comes to online video content, we’re facing the problem of plenty; there’s just so Shubham Garg with a stirring performance. Presents much to watch, yet not all of it is watchable. Secondly, there seems to be a skew 81301 66777 (M) AWARDS 2019 12 towards dark content (both literally and metaphorically) that some experts dub Apoorv Kulshrestha Subs riber o not or resale 9873824700 (M)
Presenting Partner Silver Partners Bronze Partners Community Partner ‘cringe content’. Which makes one ponder – does edgy necessarily mean difficult Noida to watch? This question was first raised in the context of cinema, when Leonardo Nikhil Jhunjhunwala 9833371393 (M) DiCaprio won an Academy Award for his performance in The Revenant two years Mumbai back – “Why are Oscar winning performances typically hard to watch?” went the [email protected] line of inquiry. And the same can be applied to the world of digital content creation MARKETING OFFICE – can’t edgy have creativity, production or scriptwriting related connotations? B 3, Ground Floor, Sector 4, Noida -201301 Uttar Pradesh
The most exciting slice of vdonxt asia was the awards. Our cover story this issue MUMBAI 302, Makani Center, 3rd Floor, takes a look at all those who emerged victorious in the sphere of online video creation, Off Linking Road, Bandra (W), at a glance. Overall, 37 metals were awarded to entries across 14 categories. Among Mumbai - 400050 the Gold winners this year were The Quint (4), Motion Content Group (1), iDiva SUBSCRIPTION ENQUIRIES (1), ADK-Fortune (1) and BBH (1); the overall Gold tally, across firms, stood at [email protected] eight this time. We also interviewed Ritu Kapur, founder and CEO of The Quint, Owned by Banyan Netfaqs Pvt Ltd and who won maximum Golds. Printed and published by Sreekant Khandekar, at 7-A/13, Ch. Ratan Singh Complex, Jawala Heri Market, Paschim Vihar, New Delhi-110 063.
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Ashwini Gangal [email protected] CONTENTS 26 8 TIMES OF INDIA Riding the Election Wave Reminding Indians who live abroad to vote.
19 22 ORIENT ELECTRIC 4 Dhoni Teases Fans The former ‘Captain Cool’ continues to entertain audiences with his antics and this time it’s for Orient FIRSTPOST BRANDS UBER EATS Electric’s latest marketing A New Weekly Fix Finding their Voice Another Point of View campaign to promote the A Saturday newspaper for Brands are riding on voice Uber takes the battle away brand’s newest offering. Delhi and Mumbai. assistants to reach consumers. from the beaten path.
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BRANDS Finding their Voices Following Alexa and KFC to the party come other brands riding on voice assistants to reach consumers. How are they faring? By Deepashree Banerjee
oday, if you’re hankering for some fried chicken, all you Thave to do to place a KFC order is, enable the skill from the Alexa app. You just have to utter “Alexa, start KFC”, “Alexa Launch KFC”, “Alexa tell KFC I am hungry” and you’re in for a “finger-lickin’” surprise. Through Alexa, users can now place a hands-free Cash-on-Delivery order with a nearby KFC restaurant. The KFC feature can be experienced across all Amazon Echo smart speakers as well as a range of Alexa- “Becoming a ready devices. seamless part of Thanks to this happy marriage of food and technology, KFC India the consumer’s life becomes the first QSR (Quick Serve Restaurant) brand in the country is another way of to associate with Alexa for online offering a better ordering. customer experience” THE GLOBAL SCENARIO RAHUL VENGALIL Here are a few global examples. Dominos’ Siri-style ‘voice ordering’ system, developed by speech to do the same. well,” he points out. that every brand could be accessible recognition firm Nuance, features Here’s a sneak peek of some of the Many brands can leverage this in a through a voice assistant. Suresh software that sits alongside the other Indian brands that are digitally big way. The key is how they are able doesn’t consider these to be existing brand’s virtual assistant ‘Dru Assist’. keeping ahead of the pack across to trace a consumer’s life and where gaps, but simply opportunities for Spirits brand, Patron Tequila, categories: they see the best fit. both brands and customers to take partnered with Amazon’s Alexa to Music - Music streaming service Unlike other mediums, voice advantage of. bring its ‘Cocktail Lab’ recipe library Gaana has integrated its catalogue gives users the freedom to multi- Before apps came along, we were to consumers via voice activation. through an Amazon Alexa Skill task. “Other than ordering stuff, be ordering pizza from landlines. “Indian British online supermarket allowing listeners to say “Alexa, play it FMCG, restaurants or e-retailers, brands have already begun thinking brand, Ocado, released its app party music on Gaana” to get the party this can change ‘home cooking’ as digital; but how they keep pace with for Amazon’s Alexa to enable started. a category. Any number of brands emerging technologies, remains to be customers to add groceries to their Kids - India’s favourite hero, or categories can own the space,” seen,” he says. shopping list by voice command. Chhota Bheem has launched an says Vengalil. So, is it the need of “For instance, can we order from Whirlpool announced a collaboration immersive game that lets kids help the hour for Indian brands to start Amazon through Alexa? If that’s with Amazon’s Alexa that will see the character explore the caves of thinking about how they can become possible, then everything from home appliances operated by speech. Dholakpur and safely bring his part of the daily digital lives beyond buckets of chicken to plastic buckets In 2016, PayPal announced an friend Kalia back to the village. To the tactile interface? can be ordered via our friendly voice update on its app on the iPhone start playing one simply needs to Vengalil rewinds to the debut assistant,” he quips. and iPad to support a new payment say, “Alexa, open Chhota Bheem of smart-speakers when sceptics Will the tech-mobile instruction- transactions service via Siri, allowing Adventures”. weren’t convinced. ‘Weren’t online based service brands take this forward users to send and request money in 30 Entertainment - PVR has music stations and YouTube playlists in India? Suresh has this to say. “The countries around the world by voice. introduced its “PVR cinemas” Skill enough?’ they asked. “But the volume reason apps revolutionised the food Burger King capitalised on enabling consumers to book tickets of growth in the category drowned industry was because, with over Google Home devices through a TV and even have a conversation with the out these voices of dissent, proving 350 million smartphone users in ad prompting the phrase ‘OK Google, lovable ‘Bauua’ from the movie Zero, that there’s always a market for the country, the concept could be what is the Big Whopper burger. available as a Skill on Alexa. something that is tech-loaded and implemented on a large scale. India’s Whisky giant Johnnie Walker Rahul Vengalil, founder at What has the potential to make our lives growth in the smart-speaker category announced a collaboration in Clicks, a digital media audit and ‘easier’,” he says. is at its infancy. When products and 2017 with Amazon Alexa to create strategy firm, is of the opinion According to independent brand services can be ordered through the new ‘Johnnie Walker Skill’. that becoming a seamless part consultant Suresh L, KFC’s innovation a voice assistant from every smart Uber also allows users to book of the consumer’s life is another comes as the next milestone in the device across the country via voice, cabs via voice command to Alexa way of offering a better customer evolution of customer service - not the role of fingers will be restricted to and Google Home. On that note, in experience “Imagine the possibility entirely unexpected, but a revolution, a good licking after a KFC meal.” n India, both Ola and Uber allow you that brands have in rural India as nonetheless. Tomorrow, it’s possible [email protected]
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po o e Analysing the old wafer cream ‘format’... Why is Britannia entering an old category that all major players have steered clear of? By Abid Hussain Barlaskar
N CHANDRA ULI AGD KA R HARISH BI R IDUR AS Chief Executive Officer Chairman and Managing Director Brand Expert and Founder Trust Research Advisory Samsika Marketing Consultants Founder Harish Bijoor Consults Inc. NorthSide
CREAM WAFERS, AS A IT’S A GREAT IT IS A SORT OF THE CREAM WAFER PRODUCT, IS A GOOD OPPORTUNITY FOR RE-INVENTION OF THE FORMAT IS POPULAR INDEPENDENT SNACK, BRITANNIA AS THE CATEGORY. WHILE THE WITH YOUNG TEENS BUT NOT A GOOD CREAM WAFERS MARKET IS LARGELY AND A NATURAL ACCOMPANIMENT SEGMENT HAS NOT UNORGANISED, THERE EXTENSION FOR THE to tea or coffee. This is one been properly explored by national are a lot of players in the Britannia Treat range. In spite of reason that has held it back brands. Its market is growing since area. Britannia has to create a it being an old format with many from being part of the Indian there is a young population and differentiation for its products players, the popularity for this household. Britannia has to be there is exposure to travel. - cream of superior quality or snack remains because of the clear that the buyer of its large Since no major brand has maybe low in sugar content. light, crispy codes that the wafer biscuit base is not the buyer of been able to present the format This is going to be a major imparts to the product. the wafers. on a national level, in terms of defining point. The launch films leverage the It is important to understand communication and distribution, In India, the category is layered cream product equity well, the target consumer and the Britannia could make a major not seen as a very profitable play on school fun and will create keenness to buy. Cream wafers in-road and also be able to grow part of the market or really awareness. As the launch moves have been a semi-organised the category. large, in terms of volume. It along, to succeed, Britannia’s business for a while. There is The brand bringing alive an old is also inundated by imports. distribution strength will need to only one major name - Pickwick format and targeting it at teenagers Some of the best quality play an important role in stealing - and a few local brands. Also, also makes sense as a lot of older cream wafer offerings in share. It will also need to create a it is not an advertised category things are coming back as trends. the market are imported. product pipeline that plays ‘snack’ and consumers pick it up from Take Saregama’s Carvaan, for And an imported product is more aggressively and gives their experience. example. considered superior. product an edge over a lot of While I don’t see much Now that it is going to be Again, the product is also players that are in the market. competition, one of the exposed to the new generation easily replicable and can be primary challenges would be by a very credible major brand, I duplicated by a very small market creation. There isn’t a think there is a high probability of player like a cottage industry. huge market for the product success. There was a gap, a sweet However, it is less likely to and that’s why all the major spot in the Britannia portfolio that impact Britannia which, as a players have stayed away. is now filled. It is that one gap that brand, operates in the mid- This has its own challenges as many other brands have to fill. premium space and not the there is no proven strategy in With existing brands like Good Day, mass market. If it can take place. Typically, the marketer Bourbon and Jim Jam; coming up over that space, I think the would follow and utilise with cream wafers makes perfect brand will be quite happy. internal learning from the wide sense. experience of selling biscuits.
6 afaqs! Reporter, February 1-15, 2 0 1 9 CONGRATULATIONS #9IDA WINNERS! SPECIAL AWARDS
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For more Queries Contact - +91 8860302087, [email protected] | +91 9820408033 [email protected] | Find us at : www.iamai.in e THE TIMES OF INDIA Riding the ‘Election’ Wave Sanjeev Bhargava speaks about the multi-platform ‘Lost Votes’ campaign. By Abid Hussain Barlaskar lot of brands tend to ‘speak up’ around election season. AAnd English daily - The Times Of India - has also been doing the same for quite some time now. Ad campaigns launched around this time push citizens to step out, take some time off their usual routine and cast their vote. What’s intriguing about TOI’s latest election-related ad campaign is the fact that it speaks about Indian citizens who live in India, but are unable to cast their votes since they are away from home. In the campaign ‘Lost Votes’, “With the general TOI highlights the fact that of the estimated 814.5 million eligible voters involvement. Outdoor is selectively elections around in the country, 281 million did not being used to boost awareness in the corner, this was cast their vote in the 2014 general specific locations and digital media is elections. used to create interactivity, discussions the most pertinent “The BJP, which got the largest and the gateway for eliciting support number of votes, had just under 172 from the public at large. constructive issue we million (votes). So the single largest Sambit Mohanty, NCD, JWT, could raise to public party in the elections was really the explains that the brand’s brief revolved Non-Voters Party. What could be around the question - What is the consciousness and we a bigger tragedy in a democracy?” point of telling people to go vote if we hope to drive it to a reads the campaign page on the TOI can’t enable them to do so? “It’s this website. challenge that the brand team shared positive conclusion.” Voting, for Indians residing in the with us that led to the ‘Lost Votes’ SANJEEV BHARGAVA country (apart from a few exclusions campaign,” Mohanty says. like government officials), requires “Our biggest challenge was to get each person to be physically present at are the only medium that delivers the articulation right - being copy brands face a lot of criticism, a lot the polling booth to cast a vote. While news which is carefully curated and driven, the campaign had to be a of flak. So, it becomes even more almost all of the previous campaigns validated. Credibility is our biggest perfect balance of logic and emotion. important for them to lend themselves from TOI and other brands (TATA asset,” Bhargava says. The copy also needed to be simple to such social-led campaigns,” adds Tea’s Jaago Re campaign is an example) A TOI webpage dedicated to the enough to warrant translation into Mittal signing off. urged the lazy and negligent voter to “Lost Votes” campaign doubles up languages without losing its meaning Romit Nair, creative head, FCB step out and vote; this one actually as a signature-campaign space where or essence,” he adds. Ulka - Bangalore points out his puts the onus on the government visitors can digitally register their The creative team took time getting personal experience with the issue to implement a process so that the support for the campaign. the look for the campaign in place. TOI has raised in the campaign. “I migrant population (those who have “An issue of such high public interest “The pen and ink etching style is have a voter ID of a particular city and left home for work, marriage, etc.) can needs to be registered officially. Heavy something we zeroed in on after a I haven’t lived there since 2008 which cast their votes too. support to the campaign by the public lot of trials. The film too, will be out means, unfortunately, I haven’t voted soon,” states Mohanty. in 10 years. It did make me wonder as Crafted by JWT, the campaign is currently being to why this hasn’t happened yet. As an EXPERTS SPEAK initiative, it definitely works. I think run on both traditional and digital mediums. Vishal Mittal, group creative it’s a really powerful idea and only Census 2011 data suggests that at large will be a validation of the need director, Dentsu One, considers the a brand like TOI could pick up an a significant part of the migrant for reform in our electoral system. campaign a much-needed initiative issue of such a magnanimous scale,” population (454 million) in India With the general elections around the and involvement of a newspaper like he says. constitutes women who migrate corner, this was the most pertinent TOI creates a nationwide impact. “Only a percentage of people vote post marriage. This is followed by constructive issue we could raise to Mittal says, “These kinds of every year. This is something that we employment, education and business. public consciousness and we hope campaigns definitely create a always read in the news. What’s really Speaking about the campaign, to drive it to a positive conclusion,” favourable image for the brand. The beautiful is that a brand has suddenly Sanjeev Bhargava, director - Brand Bhargava adds. brand comes across as a responsible taken a piece of the bad news that they TOI, TIMS and Mirror brands Crafted by JWT, TOI’s agency on one... one which doesn’t hesitate to print every year and found a way to points out that consumers are driven record, the campaign is currently represent something; to stand up for solve a larger problem,” he adds. towards brands that make a real being run on both traditional and something which will help the nation. “People take notice of something difference to their world beyond just digital mediums. Print has been used “And in today’s age, it’s extremely good that someone is trying to do. I the functionality. to create the impact and awareness important for brands to come across think brands have learnt that going “This is even more true for of the detailed issue while other as responsible. People want to be the ‘social cause’ route could be a way newspapers. Newspapers carry a large media like TV and radio are being associated with brands which have of building themselves,” states Nair. n responsibility on their shoulders. They used to augment reach and create a point of view. Moreover, media [email protected]
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