Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav dons the hat of an anchor, interviews 15 Superheroes featured on ‘Mann Ki Baat’.

Synopsis: TV9 Bharatvarsh invited ordinary individuals who have made extraordinary contributions and showcased on ‘Mann Ki Baat’ to its studios for a free-flowing chat with Railway Minister Shri Ashwini Vaishnav. TV9 Bharatvarsh celebrated them as ‘Modi’s Superheroes’ featuring them as part of a special show to commemorate the 100th episode of PM’s ‘Mann Ki Baat’.

TV9 Bharatvarsh made history with its exceptional coverage of the 100th episode of PM Modi's 'Mann Ki Baat.' The channel's ground-breaking program, anchored by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, featured interviews with 15 superheroes handpicked by the Prime Minister, providing an unprecedented glimpse into their incredible stories.

The superheroes selected by the Prime Minister are an inspiration to all, and TV9 Bharatvarsh's program provided a platform for their stories to be heard and celebrated. The program was a testament to TV9 Bharatvarsh's 'India First' agenda, bringing together individuals from various segments of society to share their thoughts and opinions on the milestone episode.

TV9 Bharatvarsh’s special coverage of the 100th episode of Mann Ki Baat had several firsts to its credit. The episode witnessed the superheroes share their stories like never before.

Over the years, Prime Minister Modi has used the Mann Ki Baat platform to introduce individuals who have made significant contributions to society. TV9 Bharatvarsh invited these individuals ‘Modi's superheroes’ and invited 15 of them to their studio for this special program.

The program was a testament to TV9 Bharatvarsh's commitment to highlighting the remarkable achievements of everyday heroes and shining a spotlight on their selfless contributions to society. While anchoring the show, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, conducted heartfelt interviews with these superheroes, providing viewers with an in-depth look at their inspiring stories.

Rather than a typical broadcast, the channel invited a diverse group of individuals to their studio to listen and share their thoughts. These included doctors, lawyers, defence experts, farmers, and youth, among others, with around 100 people representing different sections of society in attendance. The idea was to celebrate the unique social connect offered by ‘Mann Ki Baat’.

TV9 Bharatvarsh's special program was a ground-breaking initiative that exemplified the channel's commitment to excellence and dedication to showcasing meaningful content. By inviting Modi's superheroes to its studio and providing a platform to share their stories, TV9 Bharatvarsh further bolstered its citizen connect.

Public-private partnerships, alliances & accessibility and disruptive collaborations in storytelling will power the growth of India’s creative economy

Delivering a keynote address on ‘OTT: Powering India’s Storytelling and Creative Ecosystem’ at the FICCI Frames 2023 convention, Sushant Sreeram, country director, Prime Video, India, said, “The coming decade belongs to Indian stories, with streaming enabling expansion of linguistic palette and content diversity.” With this statement, he was referring to the fact that Indian content is being loved by critics and gaining fans worldwide, even as it continues to break new grounds within the country. He also emphasized the impact of streaming services on the Indian media and entertainment industry, noting their role in taking Indian stories to a global audience. By offering convenient and easy access to the finest Indian content, OTT players have made Indian entertainment accessible to viewers worldwide.

During the session, Sushant highlighted that 25% audience of Indian titles on Prime Video comes from outside India. Citing the recently released Amazon Original Series Farzi as an example, he stated that the show was released in 37 languages globally and streamed by viewers in 170 countries and territories over the launch weekend itself, in addition to entering the top 10 trending lists on Prime Video in multiple countries. He iterated that entertainment is now becoming borderless with streaming services like Prime Video expanding the linguistic palette of viewers. “Today, over 60% of the customers on Prime Video stream content in 4 or more languages while 50% viewership of local language content comes from outside the home states,” he said.

Sushant also spoke about democratization of Indian entertainment. He said, “The entertainment industry in India has become a unifying force, bringing together different regions and cultures through the power of storytelling. It has also given storytellers the broadest reach to audiences within and outside the country. It has revolutionized the way content is created, accessed, and consumed, providing viewers with a diverse range of pan-Indian and global content. This democratization of storytelling has been gratifying to both witness and support.”

He identified three areas that will give further impetus to the growth of the Indian creative economy, with streaming acting as a #forceforgood for India. First, public-private partnerships will play a more pivotal role. Groundbreaking collaborations such as the recently announced collaboration between Amazon India and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) to provide holistic support to Indian creators and talent, by way of exposure, skills and capabilities trainings, masterclasses, internships, and scholarships, are all critical steps in this journey. Second, alliances and accessibility are great accelerants to the creative ecosystem – be it through preferred devices, subscriptions, payment instruments, interface languages and such, or via deep alliances and collaborations among studios, creators and streaming services. Prime Video through Prime Video Channels and Prime Video Mobile Edition, in addition to the widest device coverage, ensures that customers can easily access their favorite content at their fingertips. Third, the rise in disruptive collaborations between storytellers across geos and cultures will further push the creative boundaries. The international Amazon Original spy-action thriller Citadel is a perfect example of this. It’s a global spy franchise with interconnected stories that traverse the world.

Summing up, Sushant said, “The next 10 years will be the decade for Indian stories, Indian storytellers. Borders and languages are no longer a constraint. Great stories will find their moment under the sun. We are at the cusp of a breakthrough. We have already seen early signs of it with our run at the Academy Awards earlier this year. That’s just a precursor for us.” He further added, “At Prime Video, we have had a journey that has placed us as one of the contributors to the acceleration we have seen. Today, I call upon everybody across the industry to take big bets, grow this category responsibly, provide a platform to stories that are all around us and of course think customer backwards. Always believe that it’s still Day 1!”

McCann Health New Jersey Earns Best of Show for “House Rules” for Phexxi

Grand Awards go to “House Rules” McCann Health New Jersey and “The Bridge” Klick Health

New York Festivals Health Awards has officially announced the 2023 Health Awards winners.

NYF Health Awards jury panels of globally respected healthcare and wellness innovators judged the 2023 award-winning entries from healthcare, wellness and pharma campaigns submitted from 29 countries worldwide.

The 2023 Executive Jury, led by Adam Hessel, CCO at Ogilvy Health, judged the shortlist determined by the Grand Jury and through thoughtful discussion and consideration honored outstanding entries submitted into this year’s Health & Wellness and Pharma categories. Juries judged submissions from each exclusive designation providing the opportunity to focus on what’s best in each respective category.

The 2023 NYF Health Executive Jury honored global agencies with the prestigious Best of Show Award, 2 Grand Awards, 32 Gold Towers, 28 Silver, 30 Bronze and 182 Finalist Awards.

2023 BEST of SHOW

“House Rules” created by McCann Health New Jersey for Phexxi (PHARMA: Products & Services Direct-to-Consumer - Branded: Social Influencers) was in the spotlight earning the prestigious Best of Show Award.

The bold and disruptive campaign delivered an empowering message while generating awareness of Phexxi to millions of women seeking pregnancy prevention that is hormone free. "House Rules," featuring Schitt’s Creek star Annie Murphy, encourages women to live by their own rules when it comes to contraception. The campaign netted two billion media impressions and outstanding impressions and engagement on shared, earned, owned, and paid social, and the campaign increased Phexxi new prescriptions by 94%.

In addition to Best of Show, “House Rules” earned a Grand Award, and 3 NYF Health Awards Gold Towers.

"McCann Health New Jersey's Best of Show win at the New York Festivals is a truly exceptional achievement, and we couldn't be prouder. The fact that a Pharma case was crowned the winner is a testament for such a highly regulated industry. Congratulations to all the winners, your exceptional work is a constant source of inspiration"—Bruno Abner, Chief Creative Officer, McCann Health New Jersey

2023 GRAND AWARDS

Grand Award – Health & Wellness: “The Bridge” created by KIick Health for PAWS NY was honored with the 2023 Grand Award for their heartwarming animated short film that explores mental and animal health. The winning entry, inspired by a real life-saving friendship about an unbreakable human-animal bond, features music by GRAMMY® Award-winning musician Lou Reed and dramatically utilizes color as metaphor to depict the inner mental states of both characters.

“The Bridge” earned 2 additional NYF Health Gold Towers, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze Tower, and 1 Finalist Award.

"We're thrilled and humbled to be recognized by the New York Festivals Health jury for our work on 'The Bridge.' It reaffirms our belief that important stories that are told in a compelling way can gain awareness, move people to action, and ultimately save lives. Thank you from our entire team at Klick Health." –Rich Levy, Chief Creative Officer, Klick Health

In addition, Klick Health’s “Thirst” for podHER earned an NYF Health Awards Gold Tower, 1 Silver Tower, and 2 Finalist Awards.

Grand Award – PHARMA: “House Rules” McCann Health New Jersey earned the 2023 Grand Award for their campaign for Phexxi, the hormone free birth control prescription gel. The campaign successfully motivated millions of women dissatisfied with their current method, suffering from hormonal side effects, or using no method at all to learn more about Phexxi.

Additional accolades for McCann Health New Jersey include the Bronze Tower winning campaign “Unveiled” for N/A and their entry “Very Rare to Very Real” for Acquired Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura was recognized with 2 Finalist Awards.

Multiple top-tier agencies were honored with Gold Towers for their award-winning campaigns that positioned prominent brands, engaged consumers and health care professionals, and achieved market success. Inspired Health & Wellness campaigns saluted creative campaigns that focused on personal well-being. Cutting-edge Pharma campaigns showcased work created on behalf of Pharmaceutical brands specializing in scientific innovation to improve the quality of life.

Area 23, an IPG Health Company, was in the lead with 13 NYF Health Gold Towers for cutting-edge work. Multiple campaigns including Health & Wellness entries earned awards including 3 Gold Towers for “Lil Sugar — Master of Disguise” for Hip-Hop Public Health, and a single Gold for “SICK BEATS” for Woojer. Area 23 also earned an additional 9 Gold Towers in Pharma categories, earning 3 Gold Towers for each of the following campaigns “The Unwearable Collection” for Boehringer Ingelheim, “Unbreakable” and “Trapped” for NTM Facts. In addition, the agency was recognized with 8 Silver Towers, 1 Bronze Tower, and 42 Finalist Awards.

Ogilvy Health North America was honored with 5 NYF Health Gold Towers for their innovative campaigns. In Health & Wellness categories the agency earned 3 Gold Towers for “NYF Health Awards,” for New York Festivals, and Gold Towers for both “Cycle Kids” Cycle Kids, and “Pets of War” for Four Paws NGO. Ogilvy NA also scored 10 Silver Towers, 12 Bronze Towers, and 8 Finalist Awards.

Global Ogilvy agencies were recognized with Gold Towers for their impressive entries. Entries earning Gold include Ogilvy London scoring 3 Golds in Health & Wellness categories for “Toxic Influence,” Courage is Beautiful,” and “Reverse Selfie,” for client Dove. Additional Health & Wellness Gold winners include Ogilvy Honduras “Morning after Island” for Grupo Estratégico and Ogilvy Thailand for “Love Your Gut” for Dutch Mill Company Limited.

The following agencies each earned a Gold Tower for their impressive campaigns: FCB Health New York was honored with the Gold Tower for their Health & Wellness entry “The Trial for #ClinicalEquality” for The Trial for #ClinicalEquality. Eversana Intouch “Erase The Line” for The Chrysalis Initiative and VMLY&R New York “I Will Always Be Me” for Dell Technologies & Intel were each awarded a Gold Tower for their entries in NYF’s Pharma categories.

The international New York Festivals Health Awards honors the world’s best healthcare advertising and celebrates creative achievement within the healthcare advertising, marketing, and communication space beyond the barriers of language and culture.

To view the entire gallery of trailblazing Healthcare & Wellness/Pharma campaigns earning Gold, Silver, Bronze Towers, and Finalist Awards in the 2023 NYF Health Awards, click HERE.

The second edition of BW Marketing World’s 40 under 40 is looking for the strongest, most innovative marketing leaders under the age of 40

Marketing is ever-evolving in its nature. With new technologies revolutionising the landscape of business, new challenges and solutions have also come to the fore. To celebrate a new generation of leaders who are navigating this space, BW Marketing World is all geared up with the second edition of BW Marketing 40 under 40.

BW Marketing 40 under 40 will honour 40 marketing leaders under the age of 40 years, who understand consumer insights and strategies, bringing the finest growth for their brands and businesses.

The elite list will be announced in a gala ceremony in June 2023 and is open to nominations for all marketers in India. Post the closing of the nomination, an experienced jury will evaluate these nominations and arrive at the final top 40.

"Marketers are the real growth creators and enablers. BW Marketing World is looking to identify these brand builders, brand custodians and growth creators through the second edition of BW Marketing 40 Under 40. We are looking at thoughtful leaders, builders, innovators and value creators through an honest and robust jury-led process," said Dr Annurag Batra, Chairman & Editor-in-chief of BW Businessworld and exchange4media Group.

To know more, register and nominate now at https://bit.ly/3l0Wwkm

The Jury Panel 2023

The 2023 jurors list includes names such as Deepali Naair, Group CMO, CK Birla Group; Charu Kishnani, Executive Vice President Marketing, CarDekho Group; Rahul Singh, VP and Head of Marketing, SAP India; Gaurav Mehta, CMO, Noise; Shubhranshu Singh, Vice President, Marketing, Domestic and IB, Tata Motors; Arvind R.P, CMO, McDonald’s India; Amit Doshi, CMO, Britannia; Sai Narayan, CMO, Policybazaar; Manish Sinha, CMO, Sterlite Technologies; Ajay Kakar, Brand & Marketing Strategist; Rajat Abbi, VP - Global Marketing India, Chief Marketing Officer - Greater India, Schneider Electric; Arvind Saxena, Sr. GM & Head - Marketing & Corporate Communications, NEC Corporation India and Jyoti Kumar Bansal, Chief Branding Communication, CSR, Sustainability, Tata Power.

A Look At Past Winners

In the BW Marketing 40 under 40 inaugural edition, the jury chaired by Naveen Soni, President, Lexus India included names such as Atit Mehta, Marketing Head, Byju’s; Asha Kharga, Chief Customer & Brand Officer, Mahindra Group; Anjali Malhotra, Founder C-Xcel, Director Founder Institute Accelerator; Anisha Motwani, Founder, StormTheNorm Venture and Shefali Chhachhi, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Hearth Ventures. Also in the jury were the likes of Girish Kalra, CMO, Tata AIA Life Insurance; Karthik Nagarajan, CCO, Wavemaker India; Sachin Chhabra, Head of Brand Marketing, ACC; Nitin Sethi, Chief Digital Officer, Adani Group; Mehraj Dube, DGM Marketing, ABP Network and Sumeet Pahwa, Head Brand Marketing, TATA Tele Business Services.

The inaugural edition witnessed women marketing leaders from a plethora of sectors like FMCG, BFSI, technology, entertainment and digital media and communications and were well recognised namely Antara Kundu, General Manager-Marketing, The BodyShop India; Taniya Biswas, Co-founder, Suta; Arushi Awasthi, Brand Communications – Hero Vired; Bhawna Sikka, Category Head – Oral Care, GSK Consumer Healthcare; Manisha Dokania, Brand Head, Edelweiss Mutual Fund; Chandni Davda, Senior Manager - Digital Strategy, South Asia, WWE; Khushboo Solanki Sharma, Founder & Director, Zero Gravity Communications LLP; Isha Sharma, Head of Brand & Marketing, Wholsum Foods; Medhavi Nain, Head of Marketing – Anastasia Beverly Hills, India, House of Beauty; Neha Dk, Chief Marketing Officer, Pizza Hut India; Sowmya Iyer, Founder & CEO, DViO Digital; Neha Kulwal, Managing Director, APAC, Admitad India, Sonam Bikram Vij, Associate Director & Brand Lead – Quaker, Pepsico India and Saumya Rathore, Category Lead – PepsiCola, Pepsico.

Tech, Auto & BFSI Sectors High Among Winners

Post the pandemic, it came as no surprise for technology upgradation. The marketers covered the tech space with their bright marketing insights and hence, joined the elite club under 40 such as Aayush Puri, Founder & Business Head, Anacity; Abhinav Chetan, Founder & CEO, Digital for Non – Profits & Digicated; Aditya Babbar, Senior Director – Head Product & Marketing, Samsung India Electronics; Ankit Khirwal, Head of Marketing, UpGrad; Burhanuddin Pithawala, Head of Growth Marketing, HealthPlix; Kedar Kulkarni, Vice President – Digital, Puretech Digital; Nikunj Kewalramani, Communications Lead, Posist Technologies and Vishwas Anand, Content Marketing Strategy & operations Excellence Leader – Global Marketing, Schneider Electric.

An increasing demand and safety financial knit, Auto and BFSI sector witnessed an expansion in its industry. Marketers uplifting their respective brands and business made it to the BW Marketing 40 under 40 club. The names include of Aabhinna Suresh Khare, Chief Digital & Marketing Officer & Head of Strategy, Bajaj Capital; Ameya Padmakar Velankar, Head of Marketing, India & South Asia, Uber Systems India; Ayaaz Khan, Vice President – Marketing, Max Life Insurance; Chirag Chheda, Head Retail Marketing – Activation & Events, IDFC First Bank; Jaspreet Singh, Head of Marketing & Public Relations, Financepeer; Puneeth Bekal, Director – Area Marketing, Mastercard; Sameer Nanjangud, Chief Manager – Digital Marketing & CRM, Skoda Auto Volkswagen India; Shivam Ranjan, Marketing Head – Motorola India and SAARC, Motorola Mobility India; Subhamoy Das, National Director, GroupM Media India (ESP); Taran Kankani, Vice President & Head – Brand & Communication, DMI Finance and Vignesh Murali, VP – Head of Marketing, Brand & Corporate Communications, Equitas Small Finance Bank.

Multifarious Sectors of Rise

An abundance of marketers, making a mark in diverse sectors is what keeps them united as well. The BW Marketing 40 under 40 witnessed young talents becoming the future of marketers in sectors such as FMCG, F&B, infrastructure as well as media & digital Communications. The talents comprised Abhishank Babbar, Lead, Channel Communications, Bira91; Ahmad Aftab Naqvi, Co-founder & Global CEO, GOZOOP Group; Aman Arora, Co-founder, Director & CMO, Keventers; Muralidharan Kannan, Chief Manager – Marketing, ACC Limited; Pranay Swarup, Founder & CEO, Chtrbox.com; Prateek Malpani, General Manager & Head of Brand, Wakefit Innovations and Vikas Chawla, Co-founder, Social Beat.

To register and know more, click HERE

BW Marketing 40 under 40 is an annual initiative to celebrate the future of marketers and leadership spirit in the marketing sector of India.

Abhay joined Zee Media Corporation Limited as a Chief Business Officer in 2022

Zee Media had initiated the process of appointing Abhay Ojha as its CEO in February 2023

ZEE Media Corporation Limited - one of India's leading media companies, announced the promotion of Mr. Abhay Ojha as its Chief Executive Officer on 2nd May 2023. He had joined ZMCL as the Chief Business Officer and P&L Head for all linear channels excluding WION and ZEE BUSINESS, thus ensuring the business growth graph moved upward steadily since 2022.

Abhay brings with him over two decades of experience and is known for his strong leadership acumen, analytic skills for impactful business partnerships for Indian markets. He has been a proactive leader and planner with an exemplary work track record in strategized thinking, planning, projection, impactful marketing, key account management, pre-sales effort, and in-depth market analysis.

Prior to ZMCL, Abhay also worked with companies like Star TV, Shop CJ, ZEEL, IndusInd Media, Turner, and HUL. Taking into consideration the vast entrepreneurial exposure, in-depth knowledge about broadcast, digital transformation, short video application, social commerce and digital distribution, FMCG and Home Shopping, and the business success of ZMCL, the Board considered Ojha’s candidature for the post of CEO.

Speaking about his vision for ZMCL, Mr. Abhay Ojha, ZEE Media said, “It’s been a great learning experience at ZEE Media for over a year now. This also calls for a bigger responsibility for discovering new growth opportunities and avenues for the company. As a team, we look forward to drive the overall 360-degree network growth in terms of content, revenue, innovation, new partnerships, multiple workforce, etc, and continuing the legacy of making it a pioneer in the domain.”