News Broadcasting
Excel Home Videos strike gold in Synergy marketing
MUMBAI: Excel Home Videos, (India’s leading Home Entertainment Company and licensee for Walt Disney and 20th Century Fox) has set a precedent for the Home Entertainment segment with back to back DVD successes since the beginning of the year. The achievement has been attributed to innovative synergy marketing.
“”Re- Releasing DVDs coinciding with the theatrical release of the films’ sequels (Pirates of the Caribbean, X-men), summer releases for children movies (Narnia, Chicken Little), or releasing DVDs relevant to topical events (Goal during FIFA world cup), or the documentary titled Cracking the Da Vinci Code with the theatrical release has done wonders for these DVDsThough Synergy is not a new concept in India, Home Entertainment segment here has witnessed scarce activity on this front,” said Excel Home Videos MD MN Kapasi.
“Merely coinciding the release hasn’t achieved us the feat. The entire effort has been well coordinated with effective pricing, DVD visibility in stores, innovative advertising among other aspects,” added Kapasi.
The success has merited attention from International Studios, who are bullish about the steady growth of the home entertainment segment in India.
“We highly commend Excel’s ‘approach to market’ in this growing segment in India. This is a priority market for us and we continue to work closely with all our associates in growing the kids and family entertainment business. With presence in almost every entertainment media, Disney is best positioned to provide and support synergistic approach for our business relationships in India,” says Walt Disney Company (India) managing director Rajat Jain.
The ball started rolling after the DVD re-release of the Brad Pitt starrer Fight Club few weeks before its desi version hit the big screen. Advertisement spots were booked along side posters of the Indian version in leading publications. Though the Indian version was a non-starter at the box office, the English DVD did roaring business with the pre launch hype.
Then came the biggest success story of the year, The Chronicles of Narnia, whose DVD was released coinciding with the summer vacations. This along with some innovative marketing activities aimed at children created history by making it the highest selling Disney DVD in India. X-men DVDs released along side the Theatrical Release of X Men -3 further stamped the mantra.
Similarly synergy marketing saw the DVD of the documentary titled Cracking the Da Vinci Code flying off the shelves following its controversy. The DVD sold 4 times more than when it released a year ago.
Success strories repeated with the film Goal. FIFA saw the most unusual DVD success. Goal, a movie based on soccer which went relatively unnoticed during its theatrical release, gained tremendously from the soccer frenzy that had gripped the nation. The DVD did well across the country especially in Bengal, Goa and Kerala apart from the metros.
The theatrical hype and consequent success of the Pirates of the Caribbean charted another mega success saga. The DVD achieved the number one slot on the charts for over 8 weeks, a first time for any DVD re-release. The Trend continues with release of Pixar titles (Incredibles, Finding Nemo) coinciding with the pre release hype of Cars, the latest Pixar edition, the release of Manoj Shyamlan’s earlier collection alongside the latest Lady in Water.
The Trend continues with release of Pixar titles (Incredibles, Finding Nemo) coinciding with the pre release hype of Cars, the latest Pixar edition, the release of Manoj Shyamlan’s earlier collection alongside the latest Lady in Water.
News Broadcasting
Rajesh Sundaram joins NDTV Profit as senior editor, assignment
The 32-year newsroom veteran has launched channels on three continents and covered everything from 9/11 to South African television
MUMBAI: NDTV Profit has bolstered its newsroom with a hire who has done rather more than most. Rajesh Sundaram, a journalist with over three decades of editorial, managerial and consultative experience across India and international markets, joins as senior editor, assignment, tasked with sharpening the network’s newsgathering and real-time response.
Sundaram’s career reads like a tour of Indian media’s most formative moments. He began at Businessworld in 1994, moved to Zee News as bureau chief across Mumbai and Chennai, then joined NDTV in 2002 as part of its political bureau during a particularly febrile period in Indian politics. A stint as India correspondent for Al Jazeera International followed, where he covered key geopolitical developments and got his first serious taste of the global newsroom.
What sets Sundaram apart, however, is his serial channel-launching habit. At NewsX, he helped get the operation off the ground. At Headlines Today, part of the India Today Group, he served as editor. At News Nation, he helped launch the Hindi news channel and its digital ecosystem. He then crossed continents to lead the launch of ANN7 in South Africa as editor-in-chief, overseeing both television and digital. Back in India, he launched Tamil news channels News7 Tamil and Cauvery News, and later served as principal consultant for the launch of Marathi channel Lokshahi. Most recently, he helped build and lead the Press Trust of India’s video service and content studio, before stints consulting for Business Today and The Himalayan Times.
Rahul Kanwal, chief executive and editor-in-chief of NDTV, left little doubt about what Sundaram is expected to deliver. “The assignment desk is where a newsroom’s intent becomes action,” he said. “Rajesh brings a rare combination of field experience and leadership in building news operations at scale.”
Sundaram has reported from across India and the world, covering elections, civil conflicts, the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and the 2008 US presidential election.
At NDTV Profit, he will lead the assignment desk, driving editorial coordination and real-time response across markets and breaking developments. For a business news network sharpening its focus on speed and multi-platform delivery, it has hired a man who has built newsrooms from scratch on three continents. The assignment desk is in good hands.
