A trip on the New York subway soon reminds you that we live in a mobile-first culture. Out of the ten people in the same carriage as me most were using their phones: listening to music, reading the news or streaming video. This is the environment in which today’s advertising needs to exist and thrive.

The intriguing thing about watching the people using their phones is just how much attention is devoted to the screen. It is not just that people are insulated from outside noise by their ear buds, their eyes are locked on the screen to the exception of all else. In a subway carriage these digital zombies are pretty innocuous; it is just a problem when they get out on the street and start bumping into things.

Research commissioned by Facebook IQ with Kantar Media agrees with my observations. Apparently Millennials in the UK are more likely than all respondents to say it’s easier to focus when watching on mobile (vs on a computer). So how best to take advantage of this heightened attention? Interruptive advertising is not the answer because heightened attention brings with it heightened annoyance of interruption.

Until recently I had assumed that younger people, the mobile natives if you like, would be more accepting of advertising on their mobile devices. Not true. The 16 to 19 year olds, the people most likely to spend more than an hour a day on their mobile phones, are also the least accepting of ads seen on mobile devices, particularly pop-ups and pre-roll ads over which they have no control. In North America over 70 percent of Gen Z stated that ads interrupt them when they want to do something else, higher than Millennials.

So what do they want to instead? It should come as no surprise that they are watching snack-sized bites of video, either free or clips from their social feeds. A lot of this content is not professionally produced. Kantar TNS Connected Life study finds that 39 percent of 16 to 24 year olds agree that “Most of the content I watch is produced by other users or celebrities”. This sounds like another problem for advertisers, however, I do not think we should get too fixated on it because younger people watch lots of video both professionally-produced and not.

I believe the real challenges for advertisers continue to be 1) how to create mobile videos that resonate with the target audience, particularly one that is increasingly fragmented in its views and values, and 2) how to reach a sizeable audience with those videos (at a reasonable cost). Yes, we can reach people more easily than ever but the accuracy and safety of the placement remains in question. For me I think the answer to the second challenge lies with the first. Create great content that does not feel like a sales pitch and people will watch it. Make that content remarkable, inspirational or useful and people will be likely to share it with others.

Written by Nigel Hollis,Executive Vice President and Chief Global Analyst at Kantar Millward Brown

Law & Kenneth Saatchi & Saatchi has been appointed as the creative agency on record for Sterling Holidays Resorts Limited, a leading experiential holiday company in India.

The account which was won following a multi-agency pitch / discussions, will be handled by the agency's Mumbai office. The agency will be responsible for the integrated communications mandate of the brand.

With experience spanning over 30 years and expertise that successfully manages over 30 resorts across India, Sterling Holidays now plans to redefine the holiday and leisure hospitality space.

Commenting on the win, Anil S Nair - CEO and Managing Partner, Law & Kenneth Saatchi & Saatchi India says, "Sterling Holidays is a leading holiday company in India with diverse vacation options for the avid traveller. They are at a stage where they are infusing a fresh perspective to holiday experiences in the country. We are very excited to partner them to chart out the next chapter of exciting holiday experiences for the Indian customer.”

Peshwa Acharya - Chief Marketing Officer, Sterling Holiday Resorts Limited adds, "We are in the business of creating Experiential Holidays for our guests. Consumers today want holiday experiences that go beyond great rooms, outstanding locations and wonderful food, and that is what we would provide. In line with this, we found L&K Saatchi & Saatchi’s strategy and approach in sync with our brand ethos and believe that their innovative ideas will enable us in creating impactful brand communication. We are excited to have L&K Saatchi & Saatchi as our creative partner."

“Sawaal Kijiye Apne Namak Se” urges people to question the quality of salt

Tata Salt today releases its new campaign conceptualized and created by Ogilvy Mumbai.

Tata Salt, a pioneer in the Indian branded salt market, today launched its new campaign, ‘Sawaal Kijiye Apne Namak se’ to educate consumers about the quality of their salt and help them make well-informed decisions. The thought behind the 360-degree campaign is derived from the fact that, though salt is a universal and one of the oldest food seasonings, there is limited knowledge around the quality of salt and its impact on health.

The campaign’s TVC, conceptualized by Ogilvy and Mather, stars Konkana Sen Sharma and Tilottama Sharma as the lead protagonists. The TVCs are meant to astonish consumers and give them a reality check about their salt. Designed as a series, each TVCs have been shot to communicate specific product characteristics and quality markers with strong legs in digital, radio, experiential. The phases will highlight quality and purity as the key factors that consumers should consider whilst purchasing salt.

Namrata Keswani, Head of Digital Domain, Ogilvy Mumbai: The thinking behind this campaign was simple, sharp and clear. It was to make a hardworking product message like 'purity test' reach the consumer in an engaging way and make them try it themselves at home.
Featuring talent like Konkana and Tilottama will ensure this message has high recall and will drive overall awareness about Tata Salt's purity test.

Sukesh Nayak, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy West: The campaign had to urge consumers to question the purity of their salt. We took clinical tests and demonstrated them in a memorable way, so that people can easily replicate them at home.

Tata Salt, over the years, has created a strong emotional connect with its property, ‘Desh Ka Namak’ and is now moving towards building a stronger narrative on health. Taking inspiration from the brand’s genesis, the positioning is expressed as ‘Desh ki Sehat, Desh Ka Namak’ reinstating Tata Salt’s commitment towards societal health and well-being. The new campaign aims to bring forth the evaluation criteria for better-quality salt and establish the superiority of Tata Salt through simple-to-understand demonstrations. The campaign ‘Sawal Kijiye Apne Namak Se’ talks about the functional attributes of salt, namely purity and aims to reinforce brand loyalty amongst its core consumers.

Richa Arora, Chief Operating Officer (CPB), Tata Chemicals Ltd: Salt is an irreplaceable ingredient in cooking and hence it’s important to ensure that the salt you use is not impure. Through this campaign, we aim to encourage people to test the purity of their salt as consumption of adulterated salt may lead to serious health implications. There is an urgent need to generate awareness among the masses about the various methods to identify adulterated salt. We at Tata Salt, are committed towards delivering health-aware products and are constantly working towards societal health and development.

Anirban Roy, Senior Vice President - Planning, Ogilvy Mumbai: Salt is a low involvement category. Much as we would like to think, the consumer doesn’t want to have a ‘relationship’ with a pack of branded salt. Most advertising does not work because it fails to create an impact and tries to be clever.
We’ve kept it simple – tell her why we are superior to others (in an entertaining way) and nudge her to question her current brand of salt. Tata Salt, as a brand, already enjoys phenomenal equity – the intent of this integrated campaign is to convert equity into action.

Tata Salt has been consistently ranked as the Most Trusted Food Brand in the country. With ‘Sawaal Kijiye Apne Namak Se,’ the brand puts a step forward towards educating the consumers and help them make a better choice.

Hollywood biggies Jim Parsons, Lucy Liu, Christine Baranski, Lucas Till, Alan Cumming come together as voice talent for the exciting new feature

Halloween is just around the corner and Zee Café is all set to make it spookier with an animated special featuring none other than the King of Pop, Michael Jackson! Michael Jackson’s Halloween, the hour long special will include the legendary popstar’s extensive discography as its soundtrack. In line with the channel’s promise of ‘All Eyes On New’, the Halloween special will make its Indian television premiere within 15 hours of its US telecast on Sunday, 29th October at 1pm and 9pm on Zee Café and also a simulcast on Zee Studio at 1pm.

The special boasts of a star-studded cast of voice talents with Lucas Till and Kiersey Clemons voicing the lead characters Vincent and Victoria respectively. They are joined by Hollywood stars like The Big Bang Theory's Jim Parsons, Kung Fu Panda film franchise’s Lucy Liu, The Good Wife's Christine Baranski and Alan Cumming, Emmy Award Winner Brad Garret and CSI's George Eads amongst others.

Produced by The Michael Jackson Estate, ‘Michael Jackson’s Halloween’ follows millennials Vincent and Victoria who ‘accidentally’ meet on Halloween night and find themselves, along with Ichabod the dog, at a mysterious hotel located at 777 Jackson Street called This Place Hotel. Once inside, Vincent and Victoria go on an unexpected, magical adventure of personal discovery which culminates in a spectacular Thriller dance finale starring the iconic popstar himself.

So, this Halloween as you get ready to unleash your alter ego, we’ve got you covered with the perfect special to bring out those killer moves.

Groove-in to Michael Jackson’s Halloween on Sunday, 29th October at 1pm and 9pm on Zee Café and also a simulcast on Zee Studio at 1pm.

New series ‘Angry Birds Blues’ starting 23rd October

Discovery Kids, India’s favourite kids channel, presents a brand new series featuring kids’ beloved birds in the Indian television premiere of Angry Birds Blues .

The series starts on 23rd October and will air from Monday – Friday at 6 pm with a repeat at 12 noon as part of continued festivities for kids.

The new series Angry Birds Blues features new birds and their hilarious escapades. Meet the Blues Jake, Jay and Jim - rambunctious bluebird triplets with big ideas that wildly succeed or hilariously fail. But no matter what happens, this fun feathered trio ALWAYS bounces back... except when the Hatchlings show up. Cute, clueless and gullible, the lovable flock of baby birds unwittingly makes things worse for the Blues in the most adorable way. Unfazed, the brothers simply shake their smouldering tail feathers and try, try again. Whether it’s building a clubhouse ordered from the Mighty Eagle Express, or getting a kite to fly, the Blues’ crazy antics become unbelievable comic disasters you can’t resist. Every day on Bird Island is an adventure for these unstoppable brothers.

Mr. Uttam Pal Singh, Head – Discovery Kids, Discovery Communications India, said, ‘’This festive season, we bring kids favourite series to Discovery Kids – Angry Birds Blues. It is our endeavour to bring to our young audience best-in-class entertainment and engagement with their favourite characters. We are sure the antics of the Blues and Hatchlings will bring a smile to every kid’s face.”

Anurag Sachdeva, Director (India & South East Asia), Rovio Entertainment, said, “We are delighted to present another Angry Birds series on Discovery Kids – this time with the adventures of the Blue birds and hatchlings. The Blues series offers a great potential to support our licensing programme among kids both girls and boys. This marks the continuance of a budding partnership with one of India’s premier kids networks. This is an important milestone in our journey towards becoming an entertainment powerhouse in India.”