MAM
Castrol in 5-year deal with ICC as performance partner
MUMBAI: Lubcricant manufacturer Castrol has done a five-year deal with the International Cricket Council (ICC) that makes it the official performance partner of cricket‘s governing body.
The agreement awards Castrol a worldwide rights package from 2010 until 2015 and will include the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, which will take place in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, as well as all other ICC tournaments up to and including the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 in Australia and New Zealand.
Castrol was involved with the recently concluded 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa, the Uefa Euro 2012 and the 2014 Fifa World Cup in Brazil.
Castrol says that its success in business over the past 100 years is its ability to use analysis to improve performance in the most extreme conditions in sport on land, sea and air. Castrol, with the help of cricket experts like Harsha Bhogle, has applied this same skill to analysing performance in cricket to devise the Castrol Index.
As the official performance partner of the ICC, Castrol will bring this system to the stadium audience of ICC events like the ICC Cricket World Cup and ICC World Twenty20 as an index on the match day.
By appearing on the stadium replay screens at crucial points of the game, the Castrol Index for match days will fuel the audience’s passion and excitement in the game by updating them real-time on which team is leading and which players are the top performers at that point in the game.
ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat said, “For us to attract a commercial partner of Castrol’s calibre is another indication of the excellent reputation and healthy state of international cricket. It reconfirms how top brands want to be associated with cricket and its great spirit. Even in these challenging times cricket’s popularity among spectators, broadcasters and sponsors is as strong as ever.”
Castrol regional VP, Asia and Pacific Region – Naveen Kshatriya said, “Cricket is a sport that is passionately followed across many parts of the world. While no other game touches the hearts and minds in the Asian sub-continent as cricket does, the game is also very popular in many other important Castrol markets like Australasia, South Africa and the UK.”
Brands
Hemlata Sharma joins ONEOTT Broadband as chief business officer
Former Zee Media distribution head to steer growth, partnerships and strategy
MUMBAI:Â Hemlata Sharma has joined ONEOTT Broadband as chief business officer, bringing with her more than three decades of experience across television, telecom and media distribution.
Sharma most recently served as head distribution, research & CRM at Zee Media Corporation Limited, where she worked closely with editorial and senior management while overseeing distribution, consumer research and customer relationships for 14 news channels including Zee News, WION, Zee Hindustan and Zee Business, along with ten regional state channels.
In that role, she led nationwide distribution across platforms such as DTH, Hits, IPTV, cable networks and DD Free Dish. She also drove consumer research and strategic insights on a pan India scale, analysing content performance, anchor impact, programme slots and audience behaviour to guide editorial decisions and programming strategy.
Her portfolio also included managing one of the largest alliances with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited and overseeing the global distribution monitoring of Wion across North America, Mena, Europe, Africa, APAC and Australia.
Earlier, Sharma briefly served as head sales and distribution at Triplecom Media Pvt Ltd, an engagement driven OTT platform bringing together content, gaming, music and advertising for the entertainment distribution ecosystem.
Her earlier career includes a senior vice president stint at Ten Sports Network, where she played a key role in relaunching the sports broadcaster as an independent bouquet comprising Ten Sports, Ten Cricket, Ten Action and Ten Golf following the Zee takeover. During this period, she moved from vp west to head strategy for cable and dth and later national head retail distribution, helping build the network’s retail distribution vertical across India and launching dedicated golf and football channels.
Before that, Sharma spent over six years at Bharti Airtel as general manager operations for Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. She initially led marketing and corporate communications before moving into sales leadership, where voice sales grew by 86 per cent and revenues by 96 per cent. She later headed business operations, expanding annual business volumes to Rs 100 crore while significantly reducing operational costs.
Sharma began her long association with the media distribution ecosystem at Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited as regional head sales and distribution for central India. During that period, she played a role in the early rollout of pay television channels including Zee Cinema, HBO, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, while also contributing to the launch of Siti Cable in key central Indian cities.
With her new role at ONEOTT Broadband, Sharma is expected to focus on strengthening business strategy, expanding partnerships and driving growth across the company’s broadband and digital distribution ecosystem.
