Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

<ul><li>With a 72.5% increase in the number of unique brands from last year, 85 new brands came on board </li><li><keyword id="7091983" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="jiosaavn">JioSaavn</keyword> records 17.8% YOY increase in ad revenue for April to August </li><li>Compared to 2019, ad revenue in July 2020 spiked by 45% and in August, it was up by 48.5%</li></ul>JioSaavn highlighted the growth of <keyword id="4835462" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="digital-audio-advertising">digital audio advertising</keyword> on its platform this summer sharing data for brand led revenue and increased advertiser count (for April to August 2020 against the same period in 2019). The data revealed that over 120 brands chose to amplify their marketing narrative by adding JioSaavn to their media mix. The streaming platform further identified a 72.5% increase in the number of unique brands that have come on board since 2019, with as many as 85 new brands choosing to engage with the platform in various ways - including pandemic-related advertising. Several verticals, including FMCG, Media &amp; Entertainment, Health &amp; Fitness, Alcohol-Beverages, Gaming and BFSI, doubled down on their digital audio presence - using JioSaavn’s massive reach to connect with millions of users. Numerous categories amplified their advertising spends on JioSaavn with revenue increases up from the previous year for Media &amp; Entertainment (265.8%), E-commerce (97.1%), Alcohol-Beverages (69.3%), and Real Estate (79.8%). Gaming, one of the lower spending verticals in 2019, emerged as one of the top 5 spenders in 2020 with a 235.6% increase. As outdoor spends moved indoors during the on-going pandemic, FMCG brands including Nestle and Reckitt Benckiser are turning to JioSaavn to boost sales of essential products for products like Dettol and Kit Kat. The advertiser growth of the category rose to 600% during the lockdown in India as compared to 2019. OTT brands like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ Hotstar continue engaging with JioSaavn, showcasing consistent YoY revenue growth, while Mobile App leaders like Amazon, Bumble and Swiggy continue to leverage the national reach of JioSaavn building on their stay-home strategies. The segment saw a revenue uptake of 97% in 2020. Health &amp; Fitness brands, including the Fitelo App, My Protein and Pharmeasy, are also choosing the platform to help users stay fit indoors. With hyper targeting and customization, category brands were at an all-time high, with a 500% growth spurt. Speaking on advertising growth, <keyword id="6199498" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="virginia-sharma">Virginia Sharma</keyword> - Vice President of Brand Solutions at JioSaavn, said, “We regularly engage with advertisers to understand their needs and challenges as they look for high reach and brand-safe environments. The surge in our advertising numbers has in large part been because of our growing user base, the increased adoption of digital audio and the bespoke brand-marketing experiences our fantastic in-house teams craft. We make it super easy for first-time audio advertisers to choose us. She added, “The promising momentum we’ve built is indicative of our next quarter as we move into the festival season, with JioSaavn continuing to build earbud moments for our brand partners during ultra-mobile moments.” The most recent brand to choose JioSaavn for advertising innovation is Ford India, adopting a unique approach to market its new Ford Freestyle Flair Edition by partnering with the platform to curate exclusive playlists for millions of consumers through a JioSaavn Brand Channel.

JioSaavn records 17.8% YOY increase in ad revenue

<ul><li>Previously a top sales director at <keyword id="28120" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Linkedin">LinkedIn</keyword>, Virginia joins <keyword id="7091983" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="jiosaavn">JioSaavn</keyword> to lead global brands partnerships and the company’s growing audio ad platform. </li><li>She will be responsible for driving adoption of JioSaavn’s innovative advertising solutions for brands, while overseeing agency and client relationships.</li></ul>JioSaavn has on-boarded <keyword id="6199498" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="virginia-sharma">Virginia Sharma</keyword> as Vice President of Brand Solutions. Based out of JioSaavn’s Gurgaon office, Sharma will lead the company’s global digital ad monetization efforts across platforms. She will be responsible for driving adoption of JioSaavn’s innovative advertising solutions for brands, while overseeing agency and client relationships. With more than 20 years of experience leading marketing and sales teams, Sharma joins JioSaavn from LinkedIn, where she excelled in the top 10% of sales leaders. Virginia also worked with IBM for more than 15 years in various global and regional roles, including India Vice President of Marketing and Communications before joining LinkedIn Asia Pacific in 2014. In addition to an impressive track record at some of the world’s largest technology companies, Sharma is an industry leader in her own right. She was recognized on the 2018 Economic Times Women Ahead list, as well as Impact Top 50 Women in Marketing Media and Advertising in both 2018 (#38) and 2019 (#35). Sharma was also the first chairperson for the Marketing Society India Chapter and a member of the Global Advisory Board for UVA’s McIntire School of Commerce. She was the first Indian leader to become a Marketing Academy Fellow delivered by McKinsey and Co. Sharma is currently pursuing her doctorate in Business Administration from Indian School of Business in Business Model Innovation. “I am excited to join the passionate and like-minded leadership team at JioSaavn, where music and people take center stage every day. Music is a lifelong companion; it evokes moments and memories, it’s a conduit for emotional expression; and it connects people of all ages and backgrounds. As a seasoned marketer and early JioSaavn user, I already recognize many opportunities for brands to find their voice on the JioSaavn platform, allowing them to engage and build loyalty with millions of consumers. Let’s play!” Sharma said about her new role. Having worked in the U.S., Singapore, Japan and India, Sharma brings a truly global perspective to JioSaavn’s Brand Solutions team. Part of her new role will be finding innovative solutions that balance a great user experience, advertisers’ needs and respect for content creators. As a former marketer for many years, she is in a unique position to identify with brands looking to achieve a variety of different objectives to grow their businesses. Vinodh Bhat, Co-founder, President and Chief Strategy Officer, JioSaavn said about Sharma: “As the JioSaavn user base continues to grow, the company was ready for a strong, seasoned and passionate executive in our core market to scale our advertising business. Virginia is recognized as one of the top digital leaders in the country and set records at LinkedIn for monetization in India. She is an accomplished Marketer turned Sales Leader with the proven capability to understand marketer needs and create durable long-term solutions for them, applying a mix of business creativity and strong ad technology. In addition to her wealth of expertise and strategic understanding of the industry, she is also a great culture fit at JioSaavn. We are pleased to welcome her to the team and very excited to work together on this road ahead.” The on-boarding of Sharma is the latest in a few valuable additions to JioSaavn’s management team. Mihir Shah, VP of Consumer Revenue, joined the company last year from Hotstar, where he led product and marketing growth teams through the stellar growth in just 2 years. At JioSaavn, he leads the global consumer premium business and is already demonstrating similar traction. Under Shah’s leadership, a new version of JioSaavn Pro led to an organic 4x growth for JioSaavn’s paid subscriber base in 2019.

LinkedIn’s Virginia Sharma joins JioSaavn as Vice President, Brand Solutions

<ul><li>Spotify just launched its app in India that will going up against JioSaavn, <keyword id="1527458" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon-Music">Amazon Music</keyword>, Gaana and other <keyword id="6354530" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="music">music</keyword> streaming services that are already available in the country. </li><li>Spotify is confident that their pricing strategy is customised for the Indian market but a comparison shows that Gaana and JioSaavn are still cheaper. </li><li>Other than their pricing strategy, Spotify has also tried to localise the app for the Indian market and its users and we’ve compared them to the features available on others apps.</li></ul>Spotify just <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/spotify-launches-in-india/articleshow/68173763.cms">launched its music streaming app in India</a>, featuring a wide catalogue of playlists with regional as well as international content. Amarjit Singh Batra, the Managing Director at Spotify India asserts that the has a long-terms vision for India and they’re here to stay. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="ExtQuote" text="“India is a market which is big and we have a long term point of view. We wanted to build a local team and make local people available here in India.”" auname="Amarjit Singh Batra, Managing Director, Spotify India"></div>


















 Considering that Spotify has over 207 million active users worldwide, one has to wonder whether its competitors in the Indian market — JioSaavn, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=amazon+music&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Amazon Music</a>, Gaana, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/youtube-is-killing-one-of-the-best-parts-of-googles-music-streaming-service/articleshow/64209903.cms">Google Music</a>, and Apple Music — have anything to worry about. Akshat Harbola, head of Business Operations and Strategy at Spotify, is confident that Spotify’s <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/spotify-launches-in-india/articleshow/68173763.cms">pricing strategy</a> is on the mark in the Indian market since it represents a matrix that centers around different customer segments and the different way that customers prefer to pay. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype=""><cdata><![CDATA[
<div class="flourish-embed" data-src="visualisation/235634"></div>
]]></cdata></div>

















 Aside from <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/it-looked-like-apple-music-was-coming-to-google-home-speakers-but-google-says-it-was-only-a-glitch/articleshow/68176820.cms">Apple Music</a> and Amazon Music which only offer free memberships for an introductory period of time, the other music streaming services offer a free version of their app but also paid models that users can subscribe to. The subscriptions plans across the different apps offering vary not only in the terms of price, but also in terms of duration. The add-ons that you get within the subscription varies as well. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype=""><cdata><![CDATA[
<div class="flourish-embed" data-src="visualisation/235606"></div>
]]></cdata></div>

















 Noting that Spotify’s subscription is a little more customised and varied with one-time payment options unlike Amazon and Apple Music, the disparity in subscription prices still grows as the subscription duration increases. That being said, Spotify has a few integrations that are unique to the platform. For the example, its the only app that can be played in-app with Google Maps. It's also the only app that's available on both, XBox and PlayStation, making a safe refuge for gamers who like to have their choice in music. So, which one is better? Spotify claims that the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/We-compared-Spotify-and-Apple-Music-subscriptions-and-the-winner-is-clear/Spotifys-recommendations-dwarf-Apple-Musics-/slideshow/64982332.cms">big differentiator</a> for them — since they were the ones who pioneered the music free model and have over 200 million users across the world — is that it has lots of data around understanding music tastes and behaviours. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="ExtQuote" text="&quot;We believe that the recommendation tools algorithms and machine learning have been built up around the understanding of customers around the world. We bring that to the table.&quot;" auname="Amarjit Singh Batra, Managing Director, Spotify India"></div>


















 But, the tricky thing about <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/slideshows/miscellaneous/we-compared-spotify-and-apple-music-subscriptions-and-the-winner-is-clear/So-which-music-app-is-the-winner/slideshow/64982314.cms">choosing a music service</a> is figuring out which one works the way that you ‘need’ it to work. If you’re looking for video-on-demand along with a music subscription then Amazon is your sole option. Instead, if you’re looking for a music app that lets you voice search instead of having to type in song names then Gaana is only app to have that kind of feature. Discerning between the platforms in terms of music choice or exclusives is no longer a very big differentiator. All have international as well as regional options available — but what matters is the size of the library. Not only should the library large, but it should also be updated regularly. Apple leads the pack with 45 million tracks catalogued in its library as Spotify, Amazon Music and Google Music come in second with an estimated 40 million tracks in their library. JioSaavn has around 30 million tracks and Gaana trails with around 10 million songs. The Spotify app adds approximately 30,000 new tracks on average each day and has over 3 billion playlists available which can justify the service being more expensive that its counterparts. While there’s is a lot of clamor around about Spotify’s ‘Daily Mix’, JioSaavn also has ‘Daily Mixes’ on its platform and Gaana has ‘Made For You Mixes’. In localising the app for India, Spotify is giving users eight language options as well as local artists to choose from in order to customise their music playlists. But Gaana and JioSaavn let users choose from 16 different regional languages. But Spotify has put in its efforts to localise the app with 'Starring in...' playlists that are centered around actors and actresses in the film industry in India as well as 'Sound of' playlists, which are basically city playlists that tracks whats trending in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai. Nonetheless, Spotify’s plan is to learn fast in India and the team is currently looking at developing more innovative features like the ‘Sound of’ playlists that are city-specific. Spotify also says its ‘dynamic’ home page — that changes over time depending on what you listen to — has been a hit with Indians. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="ExtQuote" text="&quot;This (dynamic home page) is something that people in India felt was very different to the experiences that they have been using over the past couple of years. So, this kind of dynamic, ‘made for you’ experience is something that we feel is unique to us.&quot;" auname="Owen Smith, Director of Product Growth at Spotify"></div>


















 Spotify is already available across 79 markets across the globe. Out of its 207 million active users, 96 million of these users pay for a Spotify subscription. One Plus, Anheuser-Busch InBev and GoUSA will exclusive advertising launch partners with Spotify in India. Users deciding between which app to pay for can try the free trials ahead of committing to a subscription plan. Spotify and Amazon Music offer a 30-day free trial while Apple Music gives a whole three months of streaming music without any restrictions. Gaana and JioSaavn’s free ‘premium’ subscriptions, on the other hand, are limited to 14 days. Either way, if you’re looking for tracks in high quality — you’ll have to end up paying for a subscription, regardless of which platform you choose. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/spotify-launches-in-india/articleshow/68173763.cms">Spotify silently launches in India with premium membership options starting at ₹13</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/spotify-india-launch-delayed-by-warner-music/articleshow/68165261.cms">Another thorn in Spotify’s side ahead of its India launch</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/spotify-confirms-several-mysterious-non-existent-artists-racked-up-thousands-of-listens-on-hijacked-playlists/articleshow/67689004.cms">Spotify confirms several mysterious, non-existent artists racked up thousands of listens on hijacked playlists</a>

Comparing Spotify, JioSaavn, Gaana and Amazon Music — which one makes sense for you

<ul><li>The market for <keyword id="8544022" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="podcast-advertising">podcast advertising</keyword> is growing as Indians continue to rediscover their love for storytelling and long-form content, but in an audio form.</li><li>Year 2020 gave a huge boost to podcasts. The medium has found a loyal listener base, proving its immense growth potential.</li><li>We caught up with Gaana, Spotify and Aawaz.com to understand how marketers have been responding to podcast advertising, what are some of the new trends that we can expect to see this year and their plan to woo advertisers.</li></ul>The pandemic’s disruptive forces have accelerated digital marketing’s growth in India. Due to the lockdown, many big and small brands shifted their budgets to digital completely and started exploring new options within this virtual realm. And podcasts, a relatively new medium, has gained a lot of popularity in the last two years. Millennials and GenZ tune in to podcasts to learn more about self-love, discover something new, cope with anxiety or simply to entertain themselves. Podcasts take you through an enriching journey and transport you to a fictional world through your own imagination. It has a higher rate of effectiveness as users give all their attention while listening to their favourite choice of hosts. There is no other media interruption that can sway away a listener's attention, which brings in a huge opportunity for advertisers to jump on. According to KPMG, India is the third-largest podcast-listening market globally and is expected to be valued at INR 17.62 Cr by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 34.5%. Audio was also one of the most preferred mediums last year. As per eMarketer’s report from April 2020, 49% of users prefer using audio platforms like Gaana, Spotify and JioSaavn regularly. <div type="image" title="image (13)" msid="81655620" hostid="261"></div> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="While users have accepted podcasts with open arms and more creators are exploring the new medium, are advertisers following?" text="While users have accepted podcasts with open arms and more creators are exploring the new medium, are advertisers following?">While users have accepted podcasts with open arms and more creators are exploring the new medium, are advertisers following?</cmsannotation> Amarjit Singh Batra, Managing Director – India, Spotify told us how 2020 was a foundational year for Spotify’s podcast business in India. The Swedish platform launched 30 Original podcasts, in multiple languages - English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu and brought on additional partners like Big FM, Radio City, and Aawaz.com, which indicates the increasing consumption and growth of the medium. Recently, it also launched a new campaign to increase awareness about its podcast offerings. Telling us about the platform's content partnerships, Batra said, “While podcasts have been around for more than a decade now, the recent innovation in monetization is presenting a whole new opportunity for both creators and advertisers. A variety of genres are streamed on Spotify locally, with listeners increasingly turning to podcasts for reflection, education and entertainment. And so, there’s a growing opportunity for brands to leverage these podcasts to reach their audience in a more meaningful and targeted way. While we don’t have advertisements for Spotify podcasts in India, we have seen brands use the medium meaningfully. For instance, Bumble India created and promoted its podcast, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/2lt3oGhO4VxDJ77WmE2LpQ?si=TPw91gAlQHmeFEo2m_zUAA">Is Romance Dead?</a> on Spotify, leading to obvious relatability with the brand and connecting with their users beyond traditional marketing campaigns.” Unlike video content, podcasts allow consumers to blend content into their daily schedule in a way that doesn’t demand full attention and smoothly blends into the background, becoming a part of their daily schedule especially during commutes, post-working hours or mid-day breaks. Times Internet’s Gaana, in the last year alone, has witnessed 4x growth in user base and podcasts listening duration. After seeing this steady growth, Gautam Sinha, CEO, Times Internet is optimistic that advertisers will now follow the audience. He said, “Advertising spends tend to follow users and their journey. With users turning to newer ways of entertainment, gaining knowledge and engaging with their favorite genres via podcasts, the industry is slated for a boom in terms of advertising revenues. The need to make truly valuable and listen-worthy content is higher than it’s ever been, and so is the competition in the space. Podcasts are the perfect storytelling medium, and our streaming numbers clearly point at its rising popularity. Since marketers look for ways to reach and engage people where they are, it's a matter of time before branded podcasts become a rage." Aawaz.com started two years ago with 100 hours of programming, which was available only in Hindi. Today, it offers four languages and over 1000 hours of podcast programming. It has increased its presence by being available on 14 different devices including Ola cabs, Alexa, smartphone, smart television. It has also partnered with various B2B companies and has recently seen more interest from B2C clients as well. On the list of the clients the platform has worked with, Sreeraman Thiagarajan, CEO, Aawaz.com said, “We have Google Assistant, IBM Cloud, Agoda.com. We have also worked with Tata mutual fund as a client. We did Hind fictional content for them as they wanted to reach the Hindi speaking market. So there's a mixed bag of interest. For our news podcasts, we are talking to auto companies and they seem to be interested in fictional podcasts. For non-fiction, we are talking to lifestyle brands, because most of this non-fiction podcast appeals to youth. So far, it's a mixed bag of advertisers. And it (podcast) is coming across now.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Bringing in the next phase of growth" text="Bringing in the next phase of growth">Bringing in the next phase of growth</cmsannotation> According to Spotify’s survey, 41% of podcast listeners have reported trusting ads more if heard in a podcast and 81% of podcast listeners say they have taken action after listening to a podcast ad. Now that consumers are becoming more loyal to podcasts and sticking to their favourite shows for a long time, Batra said that Spotify will invest in helping content creators to bring in the next phase of growth for its platform. “Industry and Spotify insights show that podcasts will only grow from here, and led not by a company, but the booming creator community in India. We’re invested in nurturing this talent, enabling them to create and share their podcasts not just on Spotify, but other audio streaming platforms. In fact, there’s been an 80x increase in the number of podcasts created on Anchor in India in the span of just a year, making India one of the fastest growing markets for the platform. Going forward, we’ll see an inflow of talented creators across the country take center stage in growing their podcasting journey, contributing to the overall growth to the <keyword id="8518670" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="podcast-industry">podcast industry</keyword> in India,” said Batra. Varun Duggirala, Co-Founder &amp; Content Chief, The Glitch hosts a very popular podcast series called ‘Advertising in Dead’ on IVM, where he discusses the changes and developments in the business of advertising and content marketing. On factors that can drive industry’s growth, Duggirala said, “The podcast industry has created a new category of creators who are helping build an ecosystem of long-form content with deep retention rates with audiences. The next wave will come from podcasters evolving their audio expertise to newer formats (Twitter spaces/clubhouse, shorter format podcasts) while also building a content ecosystem around their podcasts (video podcasts, video clips, newsletters, etc). This will also showcase scale for brands to look at investing in podcasts a lot more than they are right now.” The pandemic-induced lockdown drove Indians to tune into devotional, spiritual and motivational content. It brought in a diverse audience onto audio platforms. Ergo, Sinha expects to see more regional podcasts this year. “Second wave of growth is likely to come from regional languages. As more and more regional creators get aware of the growing popularity of the medium, we'll start seeing quality content in these languages which will boost consumption,” said Sinha. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="New technologies audio platforms are investing on to woo advertisers" text="New technologies audio platforms are investing on to woo advertisers">New technologies audio platforms are investing on to woo advertisers</cmsannotation> With multiple companies like Google and Amazon investing in Artificial Intelligence and machine learning capabilities, contextual targeting is the hot area of innovation in the podcast industry. Gaana is also focusing on using its first-party right to provide an enhanced experience to its users and offer contextual advertising to bring in more clients. Sinha said, “Gaana will leverage its existing contextual targeting capabilities developed over the past few years while scaling music to make the consumer experience smoother and give advertisers data-driven targeting capabilities. As we scale podcasts, we will use the data we gather to enhance consumer experience &amp; advertiser-yields on podcasts.” According to Duggirala, a few technological advancements in the following fields will help audio platforms reach out to the next level: Dynamic ad insertion, live podcast sessions with ticketed audio events, ASMR content will scale especially in the wellness category and scaling up of transcription technology will bring in a lot of education-based content on a backbone of podcasts. Spotify’s Streaming Intelligence currently allows its advertisers to hyper-contextualize their communication, reaching the right audience, with the right message, and at the right moment. It also offers more clarity in ROI measurement to its clients with global partners like Nielsen, MOAT, IAS. Sharing the next focus areas for Spotify, Batra said, “As the awareness and consumption of podcasts grow globally and in India, Spotify is investing in technology that addresses the fragmentation and measurability in a more advanced way for this medium. Our Streaming Ad Insertion (SAI) provides brands and podcast creators data on actual ad impression, frequency (number of times a listener heard the ad), reach and anonymized audience insights (age, gender, device type). In fact, Spotify research shows that a staggering 81% of listeners have taken an action after hearing audio ads during a podcast. And with listeners in India increasingly turning to podcasts too, we hope to bring SAI here, soon.” Aawaz.com is also going to focus on offering contextual advertising and help advertisers reduce spillover. Thiagarajan said, “We are a first-party data company, so we know our audience and their behavior. We can tailor campaigns that target only a particular kind of audience for example, Hindi-speakers or Telugu speakers. It can be done across different filters: age, language, time of day. We have different targeting parameters, a rich amount of data about our consumer behavior. So all that tells advertisers to reduce spillover and reach the right audience.” While podcasts have been around for a while, the lockdown accelerated its growth in India and more advertisers are warming up to the medium now.

Podcasts see an uptick in listenership but are advertising following the listeners?

<ul><li>As <keyword id="2421543" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon-Prime-Music">Amazon Prime Music</keyword> announces the launch of its podcasts in India, we speak to Sahas Malhotra, Country Director, Amazon Prime Music, India.</li><li>He shares his game plan with us to beat the competitors, trends he expects to see in the podcast industry and monetization opportunities for creators.</li></ul>Amazon Prime Music is the latest platform to enter the podcast market in India. The streaming service announced this morning that it will be rolling out podcasts for free and will also offer its own original programming. The first set will include locally popular shows by creators including Jay Shetty, Cyrus Broacha, Neil Bhatt, Robin Sharma, Sadhguru, Anupam Gupta amongst others as well as international Amazon Originals such as The First One with DJ Khaled, Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums, Disgraceland for its users in multiple languages across motivation, business, technology, comedy, music, fitness and more. Podcasts will be available on the Amazon Prime Music app on Android and iOS, Web player and Amazon Echo devices. In an exclusive interaction with us, Sahas Malhotra, Country Director, Amazon Prime Music, India said, “We are officially launching Podcasts on Amazon Prime Music in India. This launch signals a further investment in entertainment, and a continued evolution of our service as a premiere destination for music and culture. We’re offering over 9 million podcast episodes at launch and will continue to grow the catalog post launch. With this launch, we are bringing locally popular shows along with global originals and exclusives for Prime customers at no additional cost. Today’s announcement is just the start. We’ll continue to add popular shows, announce new and exclusive podcasts examining music, entertainment, culture, history and much more.” Worldwide, Amazon Prime Music launched podcasts in the U.S., UK, Germany, Japan, Mexico and Brazil in 2020 and in Canada in Feb 2021. On whether COVID interrupted streaming services’ planning and delayed the launching process in India, Malhotra said they were able to stick to their plan. “The launch in India is as planned. In addition, in 2021 we launched several music features like Playlist Import, Car Mode and launched music programming in Assamese and Oriya; and we will continue to enhance the music as well as podcast listening experience for our customers,” said he. While podcasts have been around for a while India, it has seen an exponential growth in the last two years. According to KPMG, India is the third-largest podcast-listening market globally and is expected to be valued at INR 17.62 Cr by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 34.5%. Audio was also one of the most preferred mediums last year. As per eMarketer’s report from April 2020, 49% of users prefer using audio platforms like <keyword id="-77" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gaana">Gaana</keyword>, <keyword id="685487" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Spotify">Spotify</keyword> and JioSaavn regularly. Spotify and Gaana launched their podcasts in 2019. Last month, Spotify also launched its first B2C campaign for podcasts and is working on increasing brand awareness for its new offerings. So, will <keyword id="11094361" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="amazon-prime-music-podcast">Amazon Prime Music Podcast</keyword> beat already established competitors like Spotify Podcasts, Gaana and JioSaavn? Malhotra is confident about the platform's timing. With the rising COVID cases, people are stuck at home and this uncertainty is making India anxious again. So, the audience is looking for content to learn more about self-love, discover something new, cope with anxiety or simply to entertain themselves. People are open to entertainment and even willing to pay extra for quality content. He said, “We think now is a perfect time to launch! We have the opportunity to accelerate the growth of podcasts, bringing them to even more customers and growing the overall pie – just as we did with the launch of music. It’s still early days for us, but as we continue to listen to customers and evolve, we are confident that over time, Amazon Prime Music will become the preferred service for podcast listening for Prime customers.” Prime members will have unrestricted access to over 9 million podcast episodes across popular genres. They will use direct communication channels to drive awareness for podcasts amongst their customers. For now, the platform did not share a B2C marketing plan with us. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Monetization opportunities" text="Monetization opportunities">Monetization opportunities</cmsannotation> Amazon Prime Music’s Podcasts will have pre-embedded ads added by either the creator or publisher, which cannot be changed at this point. Malhotra said, “We will offer new audiences for podcast creators, which means more listeners and more monetization opportunities. Amazon Prime Music offers creators the ability to grow their listening audience, which is one of the primary drivers of their ability to monetize. We pass through all their ads to listeners, enabling them to sell ads against a larger customer base.” Many other audio streaming platforms have started investing in Artificial Intelligence already to improve their machine learning capabilities, offer context targeting with dynamic ad insertions to their advertisers. Malhotra said that Amazon Prime Music spent more on listening to their users and getting the services they asked for first. “In building our podcast features, we worked backwards from what customers wanted and prioritized a better voice experience, including the ability to seamlessly switch listening from the phone to an Echo device with no device linking steps, and hands-free listening experience with Alexa for our mobile apps, as well as the ability to ask for specific show seasons and episodes by number or name. Whether listening on mobile, web, or on Echo devices with Alexa, Amazon Prime Music makes it easy for customers to find, start, and continue listening to podcasts throughout the day. Only with Amazon Prime Music can customers ask for the latest episode of their favorite show on Echo during their morning routine, resume playback on their phone while working out, and seamlessly move to their Echo device - just by asking Alexa,” shared Malhotra. In the first year of its launch, Amazon Music Prime will be focusing on increasing its adoption rate. “In 2021, our primary focus will be on driving podcast awareness and adoption amongst Prime customers. Also, increasing podcast selection, both local and global, and learning about podcast consumption behavior of our listeners in guiding us to better refine the experience will be our priority,” said Malhotra.

Amazon Prime Music launches podcasts in India 2 years after Gaana and Spotify; here's why it is still confident about its timing

<ul><li>With an aim to make digital learning accessible to millions of children from underserved communities, EdTech giant <keyword id="2900267" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="byju" source="Orion">BYJU</keyword>’S launched its social initiative ‘Education For All’ last year.</li><li>So far, BYJU’s has reached 3.4 million students and has now revised its vision to empower 10 million students by 2025.</li><li>To celebrate its social outreach program's one-year anniversary, BYJU’s has launched a digital film to remind us of the catastrophic education emergency that the pandemic has created in our country.</li><li>We speak to <keyword id="309498" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vineet-singh" source="Orion">Vineet Singh</keyword>, VP- Brand and Creative Strategy, BYJU’S and Mansi Kasliwal, VP - Social Initiatives, BYJU'S to find out more about the initiative, the brand’s new CSR campaign and discuss how school closures have impacted the country.</li></ul>“If you get 2 candies from Mummy and 2 from Papa, how many candies would you have?” a little girl, as she walks through the sand dunes with her brother, asks him. He replies, “Too many.” BYJU’s latest film aims to throw a spotlight on how the pandemic has created a catastrophic education emergency in our country, putting our children’s future on an indefinite hiatus. <div type="Youtube" id="gsqnvTUmkt0" title="BYJU'S Education For All" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gsqnvTUmkt0/mqdefault.jpg"></div> The film shows how children in remote areas travel miles to go to school. With the ongoing pandemic, many of them have been deprived of their right to education as schools have shut down or have moved online. Across India, 1.5 million school closings have affected 247 million children in elementary and secondary schools, according to a UNICEF study. As the pandemic drags on, more and more students have dropped out of school and the most marginalized communities are paying the biggest price. Many young kids have been forced into child labour or child marriage and are cut off from the early development stages of childhood. With an aim to bridge this gap, BYJU’s launched its CSR initiative called ‘Education for All’ last year. So far, the EdTech giant has reached 3.4 million students and has now revised its vision to empower 10 million children, up from 5 million, by 2025. Under the initiative, BYJU’s has partnered with over 110 NGO partners and launched its program in 26 states, whereby its educational content is loaded onto the devices with free access for the students and the teachers. “Even pre-pandemic, there were about 13 million children out of school and 67% of these kids out of school are girls in the grade category of six to eight. Experts predict that the pandemic is likely to double this number. Now, in terms of the quality of education, the SSO report says that there are about 110 million children in India who do not receive good quality education, even though they're part of some base-level education or primary education level system. Education is a fundamental right of every child in India, as per the Constitution, but it's about the quality of education. It's also about the availability of teachers. So if you just look at the education sector in general, I think the problems are just plenty and the scale of them is something that I don't think a single organization like ours can actually address which is why we've taken the ecosystem approach. It is a mix of NGOs, the government, other corporates, everybody is going to contribute,” Mansi Kasliwal, VP - Social Initiatives, BYJU'S told Advertising and Media Insider citing various studies. As per UNICEF, only 24% of households in India had access to the internet pre-COVID and there is a large rural-urban and gender divide. With its EFA initiative, BYJU’s has been providing at-home school through a personal digital device. However, every child has different needs. Kasliwal told us how BYJU’s devices are supporting them in catching up on the learning they have missed. She said, “The needs are different in terms of the grade, their state board and language; these are the three basic things that we need to know about before giving out a course. This information comes to us from the NGO, and we are able to customize the program for each child. So each child gets a course that is aligned to their learning needs. Also, we understand that great competency is a real challenge on-ground. So a fifth-grader in one of these areas may actually not know addition and subtraction. Whereas for a regular child of fifth grade, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and everything has to be known. So before we begin a program, we find out where the learning gaps are built through bridge learning programs and then give them content. So there are multiple efforts that are being taken through aptitude tests, bridge learning programs, gap identification, assessment tests and then there’s teacher training.” BYJU’s film, which has been released to raise more awareness around the digital divide and its CSR initiative, was conceptualised and created by BYJU’S internal brand team. Panning and tilting across the scenic views of Uri in Kashmir to the panoramic white deserts of Kutch to the hinterlands of Sundarbans, the film is shot across Sonmarg, Jaisalmer, Alupuzzah etc for over 120 hours along with 1000+ beneficiary students. Talking about the film, Vineet Singh, VP- Brand and Creative Strategy, BYJU’S said, “An impactful story needs an impactful, even more, or a little bigger impactful way of communicating the story out and that's what we tried to do with this. The objective is simple - get the story out to more and more people. The objective is not to piggyback on this to build a brand narrative The objective is to just reach out to more and more people. And the more and more people see this film, the more people join in. That's our end objective. We’ve started with a digital-first narrative. The music is available on all leading music platforms as well including Spotify, JioSaavn, Apple Music, and we have some specific digital strategy pushing towards the music as well. So you will see a lot of content around that and we partnered with a few influencers.” The film’s music follows along with the unique rhythm of the mathematical ‘table of 2,’ and is rendered artfully by actor-singer Raghubir Yadav. The music, composed by Sneha Khanwalkar, aims to capture the innocence and hope of young children for a better tomorrow.

How BYJU’s aims to provide customised education to 10 million children in India by 2025

<ul><li>This year, Indian Premier League will be held in closed stadiums and in UAE. However, that hasn't led in any decrease in excitement for both the audiences and brands.</li><li>With many brands coming on board as sponsors for this edition of the sporting extravaganza, we will talk to some of the prominent sponsors to understand how they want to use the platform to strengthen their presence.</li><li>In today's interview, <keyword id="9937067" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="trupthi-shetty">Trupthi Shetty</keyword>, Lead- Growth and Engagement, <keyword id="1763236" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="CRED">CRED</keyword> tells us all that the Credit Card payment company is planning for its first stint as the official partner this year.</li></ul> As we come closer to this year’s edition of the Indian Premier League, things are slowly getting heated up. More and more excitement is building with each passing day and new sponsors are coming on board to make the most out of one of the most-watched sporting events in the country. It is obvious that things will be different in the league this year. With no audiences in the stadiums, the entire experience will be different. However, this hasn’t led to any decrease in the advertiser’s excitement around the tournament. So we thought of reaching out to some of the prominent sponsors this year and understand how they are going to use this platform to strengthen their relationships with their consumers. In the first interview in this series, we bring to you a conversation with Trupthi Shetty, Lead- Growth and Engagement at CRED. Board of Control for Cricket in India (<keyword id="6354756" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="bcci">BCCI</keyword>) has roped in CRED as the official partner for <keyword id="7463791" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ipl-2020">IPL 2020</keyword>. The brand, that has struck a three-year deal is a first-time sponsor and has quite a few innovative plans in place to make the most out of this association. Excerpts: Q) This is your first year as a sponsor for IPL. What do your marketing plans look like? We are excited to partner with one of the country’s most popular sporting events. This year, unlike others before, the pandemic has led to more of a focus on digital with events and activations being moved to virtual. This is exciting for us since CRED has focused on creating rewarding digital experiences for the community for quite a few months. Our community of affluent, high-trust members has a fan base in cricket and we want to use marketing to reach out to them and establish the narrative that credit cards are better with CRED. There are two focus areas that all our marketing plans would be centered around. The first is to use IPL’s reach to drive messages surrounding financial and credit literacy- an integral part of our mission at CRED. The second is to leverage our position as a brand discovery platform amongst the mass affluent to partner with brands and create rewarding experiences centered around matches that are high on engagement. The digital experiences we are creating for members include exciting cashbacks, partnerships with brands and even the opportunity for members to contribute to a relevant cause. There are plenty more activations planned and we will be able to share details about these once they are finalized. Some of the experiences planned include: • Members who pay their credit card bills on CRED during CRED Power Play - the Most Rewarding Overs will win assured cash-back with individuals standing a chance to get 100% of their credit card bill paid by CRED. • We have partnered with GiveIndia to have CRED members raise funds for an NGO- Sports Coaching Foundation. Through CRED Causes, members will be able to use their CRED coins to sponsor cricket training of the underprivileged youth across the country. • We have also partnered with leading premium brands such as OnePlus, Myntra, Ajio, Puma, Lalit Hotels, CROSS, Tata Cliq, JioSaavn, Audible, CureFit, Dineout, Syska, Samsung, Motorola, RBL (Reliance Brands), Hugo Boss, JioSaavn and WROGN to create and offer rewarding products, services and experiences to members. Q) The format is different this year. So how do you think things will be different for you as a sponsor? While the format of the IPL is slightly different this year, we don’t believe that things will be drastically different. It’s important to remember that in-stadium audiences and on-ground activations are just one part of what the IPL has to offer brands. What’s more important are the millions of Indians who tune in to watch the IPL at home from their screens. The IPL is a celebration that isn’t limited to stadiums but happens in everyone's homes. We are focused on creating rewarding experiences intertwined with each game that viewing audiences can enjoy from the comfort of their homes. Considering the fact that we have been creating these types of digital experiences for our members long before the IPL, we believe that the newfound focus on digital is an advantage that we can stand to gain from. Q) As a sponsor, what are your expectations from IPL 2020? With millions of Indians slated to watch the IPL this season, our partnership goes beyond the need to create awareness for the brand. Part of our mission at CRED is to educate the masses about managing their finances, more specifically, managing credit better. The association with the IPL will bring us closer to this goal, helping create widespread awareness about the importance of paying your credit card bills on time. Our target audience is primarily the first-generation wealthy, those who might be the first in their families to use products such as credit cards. Through the unique constructs and rewarding experiences we create for members, we will be able to build excitement and awareness about a product that helps people use their credit cards better. We are also looking forward to leveraging the sporting event’s reach to educate people about the plethora of products, services, and experiences they can avail as rewards on CRED for doing something as simple as paying their bills on time. Q) How do you plan to engage more closely with consumers, considering activations won’t be allowed this year and there won't be a live audience? Will Digital and TV be your biggest bets? At CRED, we specialize in creating unique and rewarding digital experiences for our members. During the IPL season, we will continue our focus on digital, creating engagements that audiences can access while watching the matches on their screens. These will be unique and rewarding experiences centered around the game, creating memorable experiences for members for each match that they watch. The experiences and constructs planned do not take away from the game and are rewards that members can avail while they are watching the game from their homes.

IPL 2020: How first-time sponsor CRED plans to make the most of its IPL association

<ul><li>Often Valentine’s Day is associated with the young, and love is marketed and celebrated as a young person’s thing. </li><li>We have developed an ageist perspective towards love, believing that one loses the ability to express and celebrate love as one grows older. </li><li>Breaking these stereotypes, OYO’s Valentine’s Day campaign stood out in the clutter of puppy love this year. </li><li>We caught up with Mayur Hola, Head of Global Brand - OYO Hotels &amp; Homes to understand what encouraged the brand to feature a mid-age couple, the process of its casting, and discussed why Indian brands have been neglecting people in their mid-age while celebrating love. </li></ul>Imagine a cafe and a young couple on a date. You see a bunch of roses in the background, chocolate heart-shaped boxes on the table and the guy proposes. You don’t need to try too hard because that’s basically the template Indian advertisements have been following for their Valentine’s Day ads for years. We are seeing more representation of LGBTQ couples, intercaste marriages, live-in couples, young women taking charge but rarely do we see women in their late 40s or older, falling in love all over again or sharing a romantic moment with their partner in public. Often Valentine’s Day is associated with young people, and the idea of love is marketed and celebrated as something that’s mushy, young and sweet. We don’t often get to see mid-age couples on dates or in any romantic settings. Even in mainstream cinema and pop-culture, it is only now that we have movies like Once Again and Badhaai Ho with mid-age actors as their protagonist and ads like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/advertising/brands/article/colgates-endearing-campaign-encourages-people-to-stop-worrying-about-whatll-people-think-and-just-follow-their-hearts/articleshow/77782264.cms">Colgate's</a> Remarriage. These movies and ads have nudged us to reconsider our attitude towards love. However, an old couple still in love or mid-age people falling in love is still treated as a different conversation - just as talking about LGBTQ+ is only remembered during pride month, it doesn't fit into the larger umbrella of love yet. With this, we have developed an ageist and limited perspective towards love, believing that one loses the ability to express and celebrate love as one grows older. So, we were pleasantly surprised when we saw a young hospitality brand, OYO, take a different route this Valentine’s. Its Valentine’s Day campaign is about a mid-age couple who is loyal to OYO and has a rather mature idea of love. Featuring a brilliant cast comprising <keyword id="1813" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="neena-gupta">Neena Gupta</keyword> and <keyword id="21050" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Swanand-Kirkire">Swanand Kirkire</keyword>, the campaign celebrates the spark that keeps long-term relationships alive. Titled ‘Long-term relationship with OYO,’ it is a 4-film digital campaign. In the first film, the protagonists engage in playful bickering. Kirkire asks Gupta why she sticks to choosing the same hotel and room every time they travel. Gupta replies with another question ‘I am not bored, are you?’ subtly hinting at their long-lasting relationship. It is those adorable glances at the end between Gupta and Kirkire that stole our hearts and the sound of a playful tune of ‘Yeh Rishta Hai Thoda Khiska’ acts as a cherry on top. <div type="twitter" handle="oyorooms" handlename="OYO" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1336945719781945344/WyBChLdY_normal.jpg" favoritecount="25" retweetcount="5" status="Relationships are in a long term relationship with #OYO. Just like these two cuties.#YeRishtaHaiKhiska… https://t.co/xWLBtbH6qT" createdat="1612536531000" id="1357702732744806400"></div> The campaign is supported with social media posts and emailers. Each post brings in a pragmatic perspective and reminds the audience that love is not all mush, it is a little complicated. For example, OYO dropped a truth bomb on Teddy Bear Day saying that women don’t play with teddy bears anymore. The copy read, “Dear adarsh balak, sasta ho ya mehenga, she stopped playing with teddy bears when she was 10. This is un-bear-able. Love, Neena.” <div type="twitter" handle="oyorooms" handlename="OYO" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1336945719781945344/WyBChLdY_normal.jpg" favoritecount="11" retweetcount="0" status="Agli baar emoji se bhi kaam chal jayega 🧸🐻 Teddy was my chuddy buddy, buddy. #TeddyDay #YeRishtaHaiKhiska… https://t.co/UWOFyqMxGt" createdat="1612935766000" id="1359377248172732416"></div> Another realistic comment was on Chocolate Day, advising people to avoid cliches and not give heart-shaped Chocolate boxes to your loved ones because it is less chocolates, more air and lacks utility purpose. <div type="twitter" handle="oyorooms" handlename="OYO" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1336945719781945344/WyBChLdY_normal.jpg" favoritecount="24" retweetcount="1" status="Avoid cliches, swaad anusar 🍫@Neenagupta001 #ChocolateDay #YeRishtaHaiKhiska #Valentinesweek https://t.co/jTD19oGZ22" createdat="1612847985000" id="1359009068547903489"></div> On a day when brands neglect mid-age people, OYO has broken many stereotypes but it did not intend to make a statement by onboarding a mid-age protagonist, it all happened organically. Moreover, Gupta and Kirkire were the brand's first choice. Mayur Hola, Head of Global Brand - OYO Hotels &amp; Homes said, “The best movies, the ones that leave a lasting impression on you, come from stories and faces that are lined with age and character. That's really where great cinema emerges from. Advertising sometimes tends to feature bright shiny objects. I'm not just talking about human beings, even food. So the food you see in ads, you don't necessarily see in real life. We have sculpted bodies, perfect faces, etc. OYO might feature young faces from time to time as well, but we just felt these stories were better told by a couple who are ageless. Time has no relevance to the stories we are telling. It could be anyone, anywhere. We know that we are talking to such a varied audience as ours. We know that the lead protagonist needs to have a certain amount of chutzpah as well as stature. So yeah, we decided let's go get an actor not lower in age because sure, puppy love is awesome but I think we have a winner here in Neena.” While we still continue to fight with a global pandemic, OYO aims to remind you with this campaign that some familiarity is comforting and gain its consumers' trust. After conducting a consumer research and chatting with a few of them one-on-one, OYO found that that in eight out of 10 cases, women drive the conversation and take the final decision around travel. It also highlighted consumers who visit OYO once, they tend to go back to the same hotel. And this insight fueled the idea and gave birth to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/yerishtahaikhiska">#YeRishtaHaiKhiska</a>. The first ad currently boasts 2,322,307 views. Telling how the brand stumbled upon this idea of celebrating long-lasting relationships, Hola said, “The starting point of any campaign for us is inclusivity. We’re a mass brand that is adopted by so many diverse sets of people; SMEs / corporate travellers, leisure travellers, couples, among others. This is an inclusive campaign that speaks to all, rather than an old vs young one. Secondly, over time our core customers see a very high repeat rate. To the same location and the same property. Our guests are literally in a long term relationship with OYO. Additionally when we spoke 1:1, woman to woman with a lot of our women guests we came across the fact that women were the key decision-makers when it came to booking a getaway, holiday, or vacation. So join the dots and the campaign comes together. Inclusion, relationships, consideration amongst women in particular.” Both, the concept of the campaign and script of the films were written by OYO’s in-house global brand team, with support from Oink Films on production. Hola said the brand aims to woo female audiences with its Valentine’s campaign. “We’re expecting greater consideration overall. And in general, likeability because this is just such a charming campaign. I think we don't necessarily need to feature your audience in your communication for them to like it. So in terms of interests and mindset, couples will relate with it, no matter what age group they are. I do think one of the intentions is to have greater likeability and affiliation with a female group. And I feel sure we’ll see that happen,” shared Hola. OYO will roll out a unified view across 45+ OTTs and apps programmatically. This includes platforms such as Inshorts, Sharechat, OTT platforms (Hotstar, MX Player, Sony Liv, Voot), music streaming apps (Gaana, Spotify, JioSaavn,) and dating apps (Tinder, Bumble, OkCupid). It will further amplify the films through an influencer campaign based on the theme #RishtaThodaKhiskaHai via a mix of celebrity and lifestyle influencers such as Smriti Khanna, Meeth Miri, Natasha Singh, and Siddhi MahaJankati, among others. As a brand that caters to a large audience, OYO is also making a conscious effort to be more inclusive in their advertising and marketing campaigns. On whether we will see more sections and communities of our societies in OYO’s campaign, Hola said, “Absolutely, We’re a brand that is adopted by the world’s middle class. And we will look to do work that appeals to a large mass.”

You Searched For "advertising on jiosaavn" and got 8 results

JioSaavn records 17.8% YOY increase in ad revenue

BI India Partner

LinkedIn’s Virginia Sharma joins JioSaavn as Vice President, Brand Solutions

BI India Partner

Comparing Spotify, JioSaavn, Gaana and Amazon Music — which one makes sense for you

Prabhjote Gill

Podcasts see an uptick in listenership but are advertising following the listeners?

Karuna Sharma

Amazon Prime Music launches podcasts in India 2 years after Gaana and Spotify; here's why it is still confident about its timing

Karuna Sharma

How BYJU’s aims to provide customised education to 10 million children in India by 2025

Karuna Sharma

IPL 2020: How first-time sponsor CRED plans to make the most of its IPL association

Samarpita Banerjee

OYO’s Valentine’s Day campaign with Neena Gupta and Swanand Kirkire stands out in the clutter of mushy, young love

Karuna Sharma

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides