As the digital age fuels a massive change across our country, CNN-IBN is all set to take the leap with its flagship initiative, The Citizen Journalist Show that will now be seen as CJ+, the common man’s fight against injustice in an all-new, digital and social media powered format.

Starting 1st August, 2015, CJ+ will hit the screens in an all new-avatar, set to connect with its viewers digitally. With this new format, CNN-IBN will expand its platform for the common man to voice his thoughts and concerns, through easily accessible digital tools.

Although, the story ideas and storytelling that builds on the CJ Show’s rich legacy and authenticity in the reportage world remain intact, this time the show will push boundaries, and will use discrete social media platforms like video blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Hangouts and Skype to enhance its story telling techniques. To complement the show, a refreshed website will also be launched, further enriching audience experience.

Speaking about the show, Mr. Radhakrishnan Nair, Managing Editor, CNN-IBN, said, “The whole objective behind CJ+ is to empower the audience and give them a bigger stage to participate in the whole news gathering system and fight for their rights. We are grateful to work on such an innovative program and hope that we continue receiving an overwhelming response from the audience.”

Don’t miss CJ+ starting from 1st Aug, 2015, every Saturday at 1:30 PM & 9:30 PM and on Sunday at 5:30 PM & 10:30 PM, exclusively on CNN-IBN.

Discovery Turbo presents a new series that charts the history and origin of underground racing in IDRIS ELBA: KING OF SPEED. In the series, Idris Elba, award-winning British actor will examine how the quest for high speed has affected modern motorsport and the cars of today.

IDRIS ELBA: KING OF SPEED will premiere on August 3 and will air Monday-Saturday at 9 pm on Discovery Turbo.

Charting the colourful origins and secret history of how speed changed the cars we drive, Idris will examine the racing scene around the world. The series will take him from his door step in Hackney, East London to the racetracks of America via the Scottish Highlands and the Arctic plains of Finland. As he travels around the world, he will reveal the unexplored political, social and historical circumstances connecting the early stories of speed from the American prohibition era, through to our modern day driving culture.

Idris will also examine the history of the rallying Mini and get to grips with the combination of technology and skill involved in driving at a professional level. He will discover the underground driving craze of drifting, which began in Japan and has become the fastest growing motorsport in Europe, and changed the way Europeans race.

Under the guidance of Britain’s ‘girl racer’ Louise Cook, Idris will improve his rally driving skills, and rally a Metro 6R4 – an off roader so powerful it was banned for being too dangerous.

Idris then fulfils a personal ambition as he gets behind the wheel of a full-spec rally car and takes on a genuine Finnish rally course, with help from champion Finnish rally driver, Ari Vatanen.

IDRIS ELBA: KING OF SPEED promises to be an incredible series packed with thrills and unexpected history. It’s time to buckle up as Idris Elba gets behind the wheel only on Discovery Turbo.

The way we view the economy and what’s in our wallets can have a direct impact on our willingness to spend and save. As such, it’s no surprise that changes in consumer confidence can influence the actions consumers say they take to save on household expenses. In the second quarter, as global consumer confidence declined one index point to a score of 96, saving strategies continued to permeate the mindset of consumers around the world.

“Even as sentiment about consumers’ own personal situations has risen in recent years, there is still a widespread concern among consumers about recession,” said Louise Keely, senior vice president, Nielsen, and president, The Demand Institute. “In fact, six years after the official end of the Great Recession, more than half (54%) of global respondents still believe their country is in recession. So while global consumer confidence has been rising slowly to reach near optimistic levels in the past year, there is still evidence that consumers feel uncertain about their countries’ futures. Retail sales activity has been slower to respond, reflecting that lingering uncertainty.”

Anemic consumer spending levels are reflective of the fact that nearly two-thirds (65%) of consumers around the world are in a saving—rather than a spending—mindset. This cautionary outlook is most prevalent in Latin America (79%), followed by Middle East/Africa (69%), Asia-Pacific (66%), North America (59%) and Europe (58%), as more than half of respondents in these regions say they are actively taking action to save on household expenses compared with a year ago.

While saving strategies differ across regions, there are some common practices globally. Among those who say they are taking actions to save, spending on clothing and out-of-home entertainment costs are the top two areas earmarked for reduced spending. Cutting back on gas and electricity costs, along with spending less on take-out meals and switching to cheaper grocery brands, are other top saving priorities. Expenses that affect transportation, annual holidays/vacations, at-home entertainment and the replacement of major household appliances are somewhat more protected.

In-market brand tracking has evolved beyond the lumbering survey omnibuses of old – but the environment in which they operate is changing even faster. It's clear there's a need to be more radical in our transformation of the approach. Only on-demand access to exactly the right information needed to answer specific business questions will boost the bottom line.

The tracking of consumer perceptions – and the overall equity built from these perceptions – is a vital part of understanding and building a consistent, compelling 360° brand experience. Getting a fast read of what people believe and feel about a brand, and how this is impacted by the communications they see, enables marketers to quickly course-correct – flexing and changing messaging and creative to better deliver on brand goals.

But across the wider research industry, brand tracking hasn’t quite been keeping up with the pace of change.

The proliferation of freely available data from numerous sources is exciting, but also overwhelming. Marketers can get lots of information easily, and at little or no cost, but the challenge is how to handle and structure it meaningfully to make it useful for brand-building decisions.

The days of the traditional large-scale, all-encompassing study are most definitely over. Not only are these expensive to run and slow to deliver answers, but they can’t shine a light into the right places to address the diverse questions brands need to ask today, and they don’t deliver actionable information.

Marketers are not getting the meaningful insight they need to make fast decisions that deliver brand growth. Tracking needs a shake-up.

Beyond surveys to integrated data intelligence

To guide marketing decisions and actions most effectively, brand tracking needs to bring in – and bring together – the best data from all available sources to answer each individual question. Collecting all the available data isn’t enough; this disparate data must be treated intelligently, and then delivered in a timely, accessible way.

This means integrating focused, efficient surveys with the most relevant non-survey “big data” you can get your hands on, including all types of social and behavioral data as appropriate. It’s about gathering exactly the right information that’s required to make a decision – and only that information. This ensures that the brand spends its money exactly where it’s needed, and gets answers as rapidly as possible.

Questions about brand communications, for example – such as “is our advertising delivering?” – could quickly be answered using search and social data to measure the impact in-market. “Which channels generate the best ROI?” could be determined by the passive identification of people actually exposed to different media activities.

The integration of sales and behavioral data alongside surveys will allow questions like “am I translating equity into purchase?” to be answered rapidly. When marketers want to know, “how strong is my brand?” social media data alone can provide an indicator of the underlying equity of most brands.

Meaningful and future-focused

Tracking data gleaned from different sources has to be connected and intelligently treated and analysed in order to explain brand performance – to ensure that it indicates the brand’s future potential and informs early decisions about the actions to take to course-correct where necessary.

Marketers can turn hindsight into foresight by using measures that have already been proven to predict the future, or by applying predictive analytics and simulations. These link multiple data sources together and use models to detect the likely impact of marketing activity on sales performance, market share and price paid.

At the speed of business

To be really actionable, insights need to be delivered as soon as they’re required to allow for early decision-making and course-correction, and presented in a way that’s visually clear and impactful.

Better tech platforms and modular research methods will be key to the future of data delivery. Surveys will need to be delivered on any device. They should be short and focused so they work on smartphones and can be turned around fast. Results, too, will need to be accessible and shareable on any device – from real-time indicators of short-term activity (for instance online conversation that indicates the ad is being noticed), to deeper evaluations of whether the campaign is building the brand, and on to predictive insights that will improve the campaign’s performance – such as which channels and ads are giving the best ROI.

The technical capability already exists to automate the real-time delivery of data to client management systems, and present it via intuitive, user-friendly dashboards.

Bring that capability together with exactly the right data, integrated from the best available sources, using intelligent metrics and analytics, and marketers have the power to access a quality of information about the current and potential strength of their brands that has never before been possible.

The cost-effectiveness and speed of this approach allows marketers to ask as many questions as they like, as often as they need to – building up a deep, nuanced 360° picture of the brand. Not only do they understand how it’s being perceived and experienced by consumers today; they know what this means for its long-term equity.

They also have the information they need to make both fast, iterative decisions that have a positive short-term effect on in-market activity, and long-term decisions that shape the brand’s future strategy.

Key Takeaways

Marketers need fast, focused delivery of precisely the right data, from the best of all available sources.

A "data-agnostic" philosophy is not enough – data must be treated intelligently to provide real meaning.

Modular research and predictive insights mean money is spent exactly – and only – where it's needed.

Authored by Claire Spaargaren, Global Brand Director Tracking Millward Brown

Source:Millward Brown

Carter Murray, worldwide CEO of FCB, announced today that Rohit Ohri is joining FCB Ulka as group chairman and CEO, effective January 2016. Ohri is the successor to current CEO and group chairman Nagesh Alai who, after 25 years with FCB, is moving into a global role. Ohri joins FCB from Dentsu, where he was CEO of Dentsu Asia Pacific and, previously, executive chairman of Dentsu India Group. Alai will assume the role of global vice-chairman at FCB, working on special initiatives for Carter Murray.

“I want to thank Nagesh for dedicating his career to our FCB operations in India and for helping FCB Ulka become one of the strongest agencies in the country. I look forward to working with him on special global initiatives,” said Murray.

Ohri joins FCB Ulka with 26 years of experience in the industry. Under Rohit’s leadership, Dentsu India became the fastest-growing operation in the world. Prior to Dentsu, Rohit headed the Delhi office of JWT India. The office grew rapidly and became one of the most profitable offices of JWT globally. Furthermore, he was named one of the Top 10 Advertising Gurus in India by The Indian Express’s “100 Most Powerful People in India Survey” for three consecutive years (2012-2014) and Campaign India’s A- Lister for five consecutive years (2010-2014).

“When Nagesh and the Board introduced me to Rohit as someone they felt fitted the culture of the company, I was struck by his passion for what we do, his focus on great work and strong client relationships, and his natural gravitas,” said Murray. “If you add his track record in the industry, Rohit is someone whom I think will lead FCB Ulka forward with vision and energy, and keep the flame strong.”

With FCB’s newly restructured global company, Ohri will serve as a member of the global operating committee and report directly to Murray in New York. He will be one of the CEOs helping to guide the global company.

“FCB has gone back to its roots and is reigniting its brand essence under Carter’s leadership. The opportunity to partner with him, in what could be the most defining time in the history of FCB convinced me to quit my regional assignment and come back to India,” said Ohri. “FCB Ulka has a rich legacy of creating solid brand-building work. It’s a company that values partnerships, people and culture. The opportunity to build on this legacy and to take a great agency to greater heights is truly exciting. I’m delighted to be at the right place at the right time and with the right people.”

Ohri will be supported by FCB Ulka’s management board, which includes Shashi Sinha, executive director, Lodestar Media and CEO – Mediabrands; Niteen Bhagwat, executive director, Interface Communications and Asterii Analytics; MG Parameswaran, executive director of FCB Ulka Mumbai and Bengaluru, FCBi, Cogito; and Arvind Wable, executive director, FCB Ulka Delhi.

Ohri’s hire comes at a time when FCB is bringing in world-class talent to the agency - most recently with the hiring of Susan Credle as global chief creative officer. This signifies FCB’s continued focus on hiring top talent.