MAM
Animax claims success with school contact programme
MUMBAI: The anime channel Animax’s school contact programme Get Irfan to School contest has received nearly one lakh entries from 500 schools across the country.
The brand ambassador for Animax Irfan Pathan visited six schools across three metros. According to a company release, the response rate for the contact programme was nearly 25 per cent, which is way ahead of the average industry response rate (12 to 15 per cent ) in this category.
Through the contact programme, the channel reached out to approximately 4,00,000 children. “Irfan was a great draw for the contest and the students were really excited at the prospect of meeting him. Both the schools and kids are very eager to meet this India’s greatest cricket sensation,” said AXN & Animax assistant vice president sales and marketing Rohit Bhandari.
The winning schools were selected based on the highest number of entries generated from each school. Nearly, 7,664 entries were received from New Cambridge High School, Bangalore, which is also the school with highest responses in the country.
While, the other schools that would get to meet with Irfan Pathan are Sacred Heart Boys School from Bangalore, St. Joseph High School (Colaba) and Holy Name High (Fort) from Mumbai and Kalka Public School and Cambridge Foundation School from New Delhi.
Through Get Irfan to School contest the students had to answer a simple question that was featured on Animax and also name their favourite character on the channel.
Through the contest, the Animax character Astro Boy, the robot emerged as the most popular character amongst school kids. While, Daigunder, Hungry Heart and Cyborg Kurochan also emerged as the other popular characters.
In a bid to promote the animation industry, the media release says that Animax has also invited all the 500 participating schools to nominate two of their most deserving students to participate in an animation workshop conducted by a leading animator. Each of the winning school will also get a personalised cricket bat from Irfan.
Brands
Hiili names Sanjay Hemady as country manager India
Media veteran to drive digital decarbonisation push
MUMBAI: Climate tech firm Hiili has announced its entry into India, appointing industry veteran Sanjay Hemady as India country manager to steer its growth in one of the world’s fastest-expanding digital markets.
Hemady, a familiar name across India’s media and consulting circles, will lead Hiili’s India operations from Mumbai. His mandate is clear: help Indian companies measure, manage and reduce the carbon emissions generated by their digital services.
Hiili offers a scientifically validated platform, certified by the UC3M-Santander Big Data Institute, that enables businesses to improve the efficiency of their digital infrastructure while cutting emissions. As organisations race to meet ESG targets, the company positions itself as a practical bridge between climate pledges and measurable action.
“I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as country manager, India at Hiili,” Hemady said in a LinkedIn post, adding that the company aims to move beyond broad sustainability promises towards precise, science-based decarbonisation.
Hemady brings more than three decades of experience spanning print, television, radio and digital media. He has previously served as chief executive officer at HIT 95 FM, assistant general manager at CNBC TV18, and held leadership roles at MTV India and The Indian Express, among others. Most recently, he worked as an independent business consultant advising firms across media and technology.
With India’s digital economy expanding at pace, the environmental cost of data, streaming and online services is climbing quietly in the background. Hiili’s bet is that carbon efficiency will soon sit alongside cost efficiency in boardroom conversations.
For Hemady, the move marks a shift from selling airtime and ad inventory to championing climate accountability. If successful, Hiili’s India play could make digital growth not just faster, but cleaner too.
