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<ul><li>Zirca launches a suite of smarter unified solutions <keyword id="11678272" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="zirca-iq">Zirca iQ</keyword>. </li><li>It includes three proprietary solutions: ConsumeriQ, CreativeiQ, ContentiQ. </li></ul>Zirca iQ, leading the brightest brands to smarter solutions, is a holistic suite of solutions that customise consumer conversations through insightful data-driven advertising and content. It has unified its media expertise, unique research in consumer psycho-analytics and immersive creativity to deliver campaigns for brands with standout results. This significant step in the realignment of our offer reflects our position as a knowledge-driven powerhouse staying ahead of the curve in a rapidly changing digital marketing industry. Zirca iQ proprietary solutions: ·ConsumeriQ: An archetype indicator tool that helps brands targets mindsets, not numbers, with a content strategy that connects with them ·CreativeiQ: A data-driven creative process that helps brands create eye-catching content that speaks to the consumer and scales across platforms ·ContentiQ: A propriety content management tool that evolves your campaign, amplifies reach and ROI through the best digital media mix. Supporting this launch Zirca has undertaken over the past 12 months an important organisational restructuring to realign its business goals and redefined its products and goals that supports Zirca iQ. Building partnerships with international entities like Fandom, and Singapore-based blockchain solutions provider Aqilliz give greater depth to our offer. Our knowledge hub is further enhanced with the launch of three trend reports that highlight how consumer archetypes evolve with time, how brands can restart trends during the pandemic, and Food and Beverage trends in the new normal as part of their “Ungeek” series, during the Pandemic. Showcasing Zirca iQ we are excited to announce the launch of a new website that demonstrates how Zirca has transcended beyond a regular digital agency into an insight-driven, creatively supercharged, consumer-focussed knowledge hub supported by a world-class, in-house tech team. <keyword id="3123098" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Neena-Dasgupta">Neena Dasgupta</keyword>, CEO and Director, <keyword id="3123096" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="ZIRCA-Digital-Solutions">Zirca Digital Solutions</keyword>, said: “Staying still is something that is not in our DNA. While nobody likes the ongoing pandemic, we tried our best to utilize this time to make a better version of us. Our new website is an effort that showcases who we truly are and what we are capable of doing. Zirca has evolved multi-fold from what we started as, and now is the opportune moment to display our true potential. Be it our proprietary tool Archetype indicator, our blockchain integrated products, or any other product and service in the Zirca arsenal, all are poised and ready to handle the next wave of digital. <keyword id="215932" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Karan-Gupta">Karan Gupta</keyword>, Managing Director, Zirca Digital Solutions, said: “Over the years, Zirca has diversified its offering even during this hard time when the world was slowing down. Zirca undertook some internal changes to realign its business goals signifying the diversification of its business. Our aim is to always stay ahead and give the best to our partners and marketers with our solutions.”

Zirca launches 360-degree digital solutions provider that customises consumer conversations through insightful data-driven advertising and content

<ul><li><keyword id="3123096" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="ZIRCA-Digital-Solutions">Zirca Digital Solutions</keyword> has announced an organisational restructuring to realign its business goals. </li><li>The new knowledge based structure is based on four pillars: Product, Purpose, Place, and People.</li></ul>Zirca Digital Solutions, a 360-degree digital solutions provider for brands, has unveiled a major organisational restructuring to realign its business goals. The new knowledge based structure is based on four pillars: Product, Purpose, Place, and People. Given the fast-changing marketing landscape, data is critical to decision making. With the consistent rise in internet-based technology and services, consumers’ decision making process will get more complex. These complexities will make consumer understanding more challenging than ever. Big data will play an important role to personalise and build newer consumer experiences. This will eventually enable brands to accurately study and engage with consumers. Zirca understands the need for innovation and deeper knowledge in this rapidly changing digital marketing industry. The new structure will elevate the company’s positioning to be ahead of the curve by delivering smarter solutions for the new era of digital advertising. The purpose of the structure is to shift to knowledge teams rather than hierarchical teams enabling each function and role to contribute to the growth of the organization. To enable deeper connections and engagement with the brand’s audiences, the company aims to customise conversations based on mindsets through its proprietary tools – ConsumeriQ, CreativeiQ, and ContentiQ – to facilitate meaningful conversations and create conversations where none exist. The company is backed by a pedigreed team of innovators and risk takers with over 200 years of collective experience in digital advertising. Under the new structure, a leaner organisation will be implemented and each team will focus on the knowledge set rather than hierarchy with a mission to achieve greater return on investment. As per the knowledge based structure, the executive management is now divided under knowledge verticals and their heads, and the key drivers are: · Hemali Dave will be managing a broader role as the Director of Revenue · <keyword id="10334257" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="vamsi-sanskarayogi">Vamsi Sanskarayogi</keyword> will lead the Technology and Solutions division at Zirca · Rupin Nanani will lead as the Head of ConsumeriQ, Research and Analytics · <keyword id="5802434" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Prateek-Sinha">Prateek Sinha</keyword> will lead as Head of Finance · <keyword id="10334256" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="indrajeit-borkakoty">Indrajeit Borkakoty</keyword> will lead the HR function and drive strategic people initiatives as a consultant to succeed as a knowledge based organisation · Anuj Katiyar, in an advisory role, will look after Marketing as a Consultant Zirca’s team of more than 100 experts and partners, across India, South-East Asia, and North Asia enables it to rapidly engage with partners. <keyword id="3123098" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Neena-Dasgupta">Neena Dasgupta</keyword>, CEO and Director, Zirca Digital Solutions, said: “In a digital marketing landscape that is ever evolving, we at Zirca have always thrived to provide the best digital solutions to our brands. We have been steadfast in our purpose to facilitate meaningful conversations and to enable that, we are constantly innovating to drive value for our brand and agency partners. Our new organisational structure has been designed in a manner so as to provide knowledge based expertise to our clients and partners and deliver faster, efficacious and impactful solutions and services. The structure allows a sharper focus on result oriented endeavours.” <keyword id="215932" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Karan-Gupta">Karan Gupta</keyword>, Managing Director, Zirca, said: “Our growth approach from day one has been to stay ahead of the curve rather than adapt to times. And this post COVID era is set to throw new challenges at us. We believe we are agile and while this restructuring is a huge step, it will only renew our focus on growth.”

Zirca restructures to stay ahead of the curve by delivering smarter solutions for the new era of digital advertising

<ul><li>The first half of 2020 was so unusual and unprecedented that the ad industry took a nosedive to as low as -60%.</li><li>Businesses of all kinds and sizes suffered and put their advertising activities on hold to give their consumers space to process the unprecedented times.</li><li>So, after a year and a half of lull, brands and advertisers went all out with their marketing activities during the festive season this year. Consumers were extra excited to step out, shop zealously and as most research studies reflected, Diwali exceeded expectations and broke previous records.</li><li>So, we speak to media experts and digital agencies to find out if the advertising industry has managed to bounce back this year, discuss the industry’s spending so far and their expectations from the last festival of the season, Christmas.</li></ul>After a year and a half of celebrating festivals virtually, Indian consumers were excited to have some sense of normalcy back this year during the festive season. Advertisers and brands also went all out to leverage on this uptick in consumer sentiment, starting from Raksha Bandhan to Diwali. Experts were also hopeful that the festive season will bring in cheer and serve as a respite from the pandemic-associated slumber. According to Redseer Consulting, 2021 saw India witness its biggest ever Festive Sales with brands clocking a Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) of $9.2 billion through online channels over this period. Online Festive Sales in India continued to grow at a blistering pace and saw a 23% YoY growth in GMV. On the other hand, the categories that witnessed subdued growth this year included the likes of home furnishings, home decor, furnishings and other electronics. Looking back at 2020, Eeshita Ghosh, General Manager and Office Head, Motivator Bangalore said, “The festival of 2021 is definitely better than 2020 and as high if not more than 2019. The ad volume started picking up from Q3 of 2021 and with more than 20% growth over 2019 Q3. The festival months saw multiple new advertisers getting active, approximately 2000+ new advertisers are active in media. The inventory was full, and the market sentiments were very positive. With festival and IPL, media was very active with multiple new categories.” A lot of hopes were banking on the festive season for the industry's overall revival, however, unlike Ghosh, Neena Dasgupta, CEO &amp; Director, Zirca Digital Solutions was a little disappointed; not with the numbers but with overall creativity. Explaining why, Dasgupta said, “Honestly, the performance fell short of expectations. Not only in terms of volume but also the kind of activities. I felt our methods possibly regressed a bit to remain cautious and conservative. Innovative ideas were few and yet each of them benefited. The consumer is now more aware and it’s time we took their psychometric into consideration. And at times where media dollars need to be more efficient and effective, we have to embrace tech that allows us to capture the consumer mindset and then deploy media buys across mediums.” Sharing how the festive season has panned out so far for the advertising industry, Dasgupta added, “It’s been an interesting festive season. There was exuberance in the consumer spirit and it reflected in some categories. And yet the exuberance didn’t necessarily translate into communication to the same scale. This was possibly a combination of inflation, economic imbalance at consumer levels and some category constraints that impacted sales. What was interesting g though was the growth in rural activities at the consumer end and advertising end too. Every medium had its share. And fintech growth made some aspirations real for this segment. We now have a fascinating growth story for Bharat.” With a steady monsoon and plump harvest so far, it was a cheerful year for rural India as well. They spent their harvest festivals with more enthusiasm and happiness to share with their loved ones. Brands also left no stone unturned to expand their marketing activities beyond metro and Tier I cities this year. In fact, this year, Tier II and III had the lion’s share in e-commerce spends. Will we return to 2019’s ad spends? After June, the advertising industry’s performance picked up by leaps and bounds. Raksha Bandhan, Ganesh Chaturthi and ace festival Diwali, improved consumer sentiment and helped the advertising industry to bounce back. But have we returned to 2019’s levels? “The ADEX numbers for October and November are yet to come, but as we observed from our billing, we are positive that it has bounced back to 2019 levels,” said Ghosh. Dasgupta told Advertising and Media Insider that regional and rural markets exceeded 2019’s performance but some markets are yet to reach there. Decoding media dispersion this festive season While there was buoyancy across the board, television got the most attention from advertisers yet again, followed by digital. Talking about medium dispersion, Monaz Todywalla, CEO at PHD Media India said, “In terms of mediums, television and digital continue to drive impact and lead from the front, with digital playing a vital role in ensuring last-mile connectivity and driving sales across multiple touchpoints. Raman Mittal, CMO and Co-Founder, TO THE NEW was delighted to see digital getting a bigger piece of pie than 2020. He said, "COVID revolutionized the way people shop. We saw businesses go all out on digital channels this Diwali season to communicate with potential clients. Companies have adjusted their attention on digital marketing to stay up with new shopping channels and get the biggest piece of the pie as a result of continual digital transformation." "Interaction and Influencers were the two themes that peaked this festive season," Raman continued. "Giveaways, contests, and online polls were used to promote interactive content. In addition, the top celebrities were enlisted to help brands stand out amid the crowd. These tendencies, we believe, will last well into Christmas and New Year." Within digital, video got the most attention and while traditional advertisers continued to spend heavily, they were matched and at times exceeded by online services/startups. Mihir Karkare, Cofounder and EVP of Mirum India said, "The videos ruled the roost this festive season. Online video platforms were in great demand – YouTube and OTT were the preferred choices for brands. Apart from Diwali, all the cricketing action also contributed heavily towards increased advertising spends. From a 'growth of share' standpoint, Influencer marketing as come of age." Hopes rest on Christmas Christmas is the last festival of the year. Will it give an additional impetus and help the advertising industry exceed 2019’s performance? “Christmas is a bit low, but we have seen many advertisers continuing with the momentum built during the Q3 period. I expect Q4 to be like Q2 and will be higher than Q4 of 2020 and close to 2019 Q4,” answered Ghosh. PHD Media’s Todywalla is optimistic that the momentum will continue and brands will keep up with their marketing blitzkrieg. “With consumers showing an increased propensity to spend, pent-up demand from brands translating into a bouquet of launches - complimented by high-decibel marketing campaigns, and an overall increase in consumption and sales from all corners of the media and entertainment ecosystem, the festivities have ushered in a season that's peppered with a healthy dose of optimism. We believe this wave of hope and optimism is expected to be carried forth into the coming year too," said Todywalla. With a huge push from key festivals such as Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi and Raksha Bandhan, cautious optimism continues to thrive in the advertising industry.

Has 2021’s festive season given India’s advertising industry a big enough push to recover from the 2020 after-effect?

<ul><li>In wake of players, support staff and team management executives tested positive for Covid-19, BCCI announced the suspension of <keyword id="7866747" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ipl-2021">IPL 2021</keyword>. </li><li>Considering how big the league has become over the years, every year there is a lot of money riding on IPL.</li><li>We spoke to experts to understand the kind of impact the suspension of the league will have on different stakeholders.</li></ul> The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has suspended the current season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in wake of players in different teams testing positive for Covid. While there had been talks of moving the tournament to a different city in the past few days, the new positive cases among the players led to BCCI announcing an indefinite suspension of the league. For a while now, IPL had been the topic of a raging debate - Whether there was a need to hold the tournament this year, at this time, when the country is facing a massive surge in Covid numbers. While there were many who had felt that IPL should not have been held this year, or could have been suspended much earlier than it was, there were others who said something like an IPL was important because it acted as a distraction from the grimness that otherwise surrounds us. In its official statement, IPL stated, “The BCCI does not want to compromise on the safety of the players, support staff and the other participants involved in organising the IPL. This decision was taken keeping the safety, health and wellbeing of all the stakeholders in mind. These are difficult times, especially in India and while we have tried to bring in some positivity and cheer, however, it is imperative that the tournament is now suspended and everyone goes back to their families and loved ones in these trying times. The BCCI will do everything in its powers to arrange for the secure and safe passage of all the participants in IPL 2021.” In its official statement, <keyword id="17943" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="star-india">Star India</keyword> said, “Star India supports BCCI’s decision to postpone IPL 2021. The health and safety of players, staff and everyone involved in the IPL are of paramount importance. We thank the BCCI, IPL Governing Council, players, franchisees and sponsors for their support. We are also indebted to our employees, on-air talent, production, and broadcast crews for trying their best to spread positivity by delivering the broadcast of IPL 2021 to millions of homes in the face of challenging circumstances.” However, the next big question everyone is pondering over is, how will IPL’s suspension impact different stakeholders considering there are massive investments involved in the league every year. This year, Star India had on-boarded 18 sponsors and over 100 advertisers across multiple brand categories including Edtech, Fantasy Sports, Beverages, Pay Wallets, Home Décor, Auto, Telecom, Consumer Durables, FMCG and Financial Services. For most brands, the IPL becomes that one property that garners impressive eyeballs. The leagues has helped a lot of brands build awareness and reach out to an engaged set of audience over the years. However, this year, perhaps due to the ongoing <keyword id="9323110" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Covid-surge">Covid surge</keyword>, IPL’s viewership witnessed a dip when compared to last year’s numbers, according to data from Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India. <div type="image" title="IPL 2021 viewership" msid="82390462" hostid="261"></div> Last year, BCCI had earned Rs 4,000 crore in revenue from hosting IPL, in addition to a 25% rise in TV viewership, according to BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal. The different franchisees make money through title sponsorships, media rights, merchandising, ticket sales and the prize money. When it comes to the broadcaster, Star Sports and Hotstar was expected to rake in advertising revenues of around Rs 3,600-3,800 crore, a substantial jump from last year’s estimated revenue of Rs 2,600 crore. While it might still be very early to understand the implications of the suspension, industry experts believe advertisers will approach Star Sports Network to rework the advertising deals. Many advertisers had to pay close to a 20% premium for ad slots this year and it is expected they would demand for extra airtime, to make up. What the exact implications are, and how different stakeholders work around the suspension, only time will tell. To understand what the industry felt about the league’s suspension, we reached out to experts from the industry, and here is what they had to say: <keyword id="248051" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ashish-Bhasin">Ashish Bhasin</keyword>, CEO APAC and Chairman India, dentsu supported the decision to postpone the IPL for now. “Given the prevailing pandemic situation, I think it is the right decision to postpone IPL for now. The health and safety of all the players and everyone involved I think is paramount and keeping in mind the situation in the country and the prevailing mood in the nation, in my view it is the right decision. IPL is the single largest property on television in India and something that appeals to a wide target audience, across the geographies. It has unparalleled reach and has always proven to be an excellent vehicle for brands and I think that will continue to be so and that will not change. Given the fact that several parts of the country are going into lockdown, there are emergency measures been taken in different cities and towns to curb the pandemic, the severe shortages and difficulties being experienced, lives being lost to the pandemic, I think it is more appropriate to focus on that then on commercial issues for now. I’m sure the commercial issues will get discussed and resolved in an appropriate manner.” While she said that the suspension will amount to substantial business impact for a lot of the stakeholders, <keyword id="3123098" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Neena-Dasgupta">Neena Dasgupta</keyword>, CEO and Director, Zirca Digital Solutions also stated that she would not be in favor of it resuming at a later date. “There is definitely going to be a substantial business impact on all associated with the annual spectacle. It's not just Star and BCCI that would be losing revenue but other people as well whose revenue is linked to IPL. Media agencies, digital agencies who were riding big on IPL would now have to look for ways to compensate for the lost revenue opportunity. While it is being said that the tournament would resume during better times, no one should place their bets on it. As a business I would not be in favour of the decision, but looking at the current scenario, saving human lives is top most priority. I would like to say to all my fellow colleagues across the industry, “Hang on and stay safe, this too shall pass,” she said. Pointing at how the first-time advertisers would perhaps be the least daunted by the development, <keyword id="1505615" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ashish-Khazanchi">Ashish Khazanchi</keyword>, Managing Partner, Enormous Brands said, “Suspension of IPL will certainly have near-term adverse impact - both in terms of business objectives of advertisers and even more importantly on the market sentiment. Heavy investments may be held back because there's going to be unpredictability on how the returns on investments may turn out to be. The first-time advertisers however are probably going to be the least daunted going by my extensive work with them. For a few important reasons. One, their businesses are heavily digital-enabled. That part of the world will roughly continue unfazed and may actually gain shares at the expense of the traditional business models. Two, they have a much higher risk appetite than traditional business. The older businesses are usually in a consolidate mode, while all start ups are in an aggressive growth and acquisition mode. They may actually take advantage of lesser media saturation to build share of voice. The cancellation is somewhat likely to cast a little shadow of uncertainty even on the World Cup. But only the next few months will tell us the way for sure." Chetan Asher, Founder &amp; CEO - Tonic Worldwide said, "IPL is a major vehicle for visibility for startups in India and brands associated with the event can become a household name, from a marketing perspective. While the suspension derails the opportunity for them, given the current context that's unavoidable and a step in the right direction. However, they can channelise their investments and energy in trying to make a difference by partnering with NGO’s providing relief during Covid-19." Earlier this year, a report from Duff &amp; Phelps had revealed that the value of the IPL ecosystem witnessed a 3.6% dip in 2020. So how will the suspension this year further impact its value? Varun Gupta, Managing Director and Head Valuation Advisory- APAC, Duff &amp; Phelps, A Kroll Business said, “If the tournament had merely been suspended and restarted within a week or two, it might not have much of a difference to the revenues of the IPL or that of the franchisees. However, it appears that that the tournament is postponed indefinitely, which would have the following impact – Firstly, IPL would suffer significant revenue losses for the current season. There will be loss of sponsorship and broadcasting revenues for BCCI. The league was already coping with loss of revenues from ticket sales and in-stadia F&amp;B, besides the loss of revenue last year due to <keyword id="215177" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vivo">VIVO</keyword> pulling out for the 2020 season. Secondly, the teams will also suffer revenue losses on account of reduced revenue from the central pool and loss of team sponsorship revenues. Having said that, one must also acknowledge that while it was ongoing over the last few weeks, the IPL provided 3-4 hours of much needed diversion and relief to the Indian masses who are reeling under a barrage of bad news on the Covid front. IPL’s ability to pull TV audiences continues unabated. Secondly, the value of any enterprise is based on its future cash earning capacity. To our mind, while there will be some revenue loss this year, the future revenue generation ability of the IPL is undiminished.” Sanjay Mehta, Joint CEO of Mirum India said that while the move will have an impact on brands, it also gives them time to rethink their communication strategies. “The suspension of the IPL, then, is going to hurt all those brands. Many (such as CRED, for example) would have invested significant sums in new creatives. Others would have planned campaign schedules and connected the same to product demand forecasts and inventory placement in stores. These plans will all get impacted, as finding alternate spots to run that kind of ad inventory will not be easy. On the other hand, many businesses and their customers are themselves impacted due to the second wave of Covid and might see this as a sigh of relief in a way, as they might save money for ad inventory that is not run. Also, at a time when the mood of a large number of citizens is very low, having "in-your-face" advertising urging you to purchase something as if life was normal, was a little jarring too. Maybe this break gives them time to rethink their creative strategies, for communication in the midst of the Covid challenges,” he said. Ambika Sharma, Founder &amp; MD, Pulp Strategy added, “The battle with Covid-19 which started a year ago has disrupted the operations across the globe. In India, with its huge populace it has become a daunting task to overcome despite safety and Covid-19 protocols. The IPL which is an extremely popular event that everyone looks forward to, should not have been allowed as the charm and excitement of watching and engaging on the ground cannot be matched with watching it at home without your friends and dear ones and right now you see only devastation in either your neighbourhood, family or anywhere. The high stakes of IPL should have been looked into, especially when we see players falling to Covid infections. The infection can have multiple manifestations on the health of the players which can lead to serious lifelong illness. While we stare at huge losses, be it for the Sponsors, Broadcasters and BCCI, the environment is least conducive to host these matches. A mutually agreeable formula by key stakeholders can be adopted transparently to arrive at a decision, especially when the medical experts are warning us about the Covid peak.” Speaking about the impact of the move on brands as well as agencies that have worked on campaigns for their clients, Shradha Agarwal, COO and Strategy Head- Grapes Digital said, "This is definitely going to affect the marketers. There are creative works, campaigns that are yet to be launched as brands were waiting for the IPL to enter its second phase. In May many brands would have come out with ads and campaigns because the IPL advertising inventory is sold through long term contracts that are signed before the tournament begins. This will also impact digital agencies that are ready to launch their campaigns with influencers based on IPL. There are few possibilities, firstly, the IPL is suspended and not dropped hence, advertisers will wait for the league to resume or some clients would cease the campaign and work on Plan B because the budget was allocated for a specific period, and if the quarter changes they will back out. Small advertisers might take the route of moving to regular inventory instead of investing for the remainder of the season in one go." What route the broadcaster takes in the next few days to rejig its advertising deals with brands and sponsors is something we will need to wait and watch.

As IPL gets suspended indefinitely, experts discuss the broad implications of the move on all stakeholders

<ul><li>India has banned 118 Chinese apps including Tencent's PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) as border tensions with China continue to flare up. </li><li>We speak to Indian gaming apps and digital experts to understand what it means for the industry. </li><li>They believe that it is time for Indian Gaming Companies to capitalise and use this opportunity to win the game. </li></ul>In the wake of mounting border tensions between China and India, the government of India ordered a ban on Battle Royale title game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) yesterday. According to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, PUBG has been banned along with the other apps under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, on grounds that they engage in activities which are prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, the security of the state and public order. As of May, Tencent’s PUBG had been downloaded 34.2 million times of which India accounted for 35.8% — 12.24 million installs, according to data provided by Sensor Tower. It has seen a global revenue gain of $1.3 billion, which is nearly Rs 22,457 crore with the highest number of downloads in India. The gaming industry in India is also at its peak right now. As per ‘The Power of Mobile Gaming in India,’a report released by the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) and Kantar IMRB in association with POKKT, the mobile gaming industry in India is projected to reach $934 million in 2022 and the number of gamers is expected to swell up to 368 million by 2022. While gamers took to social media to mourn the loss of the game, experts are rejoicing at the government’s decision. They said that there are plenty of fish in the sea to fill PUBG’s void and the move will only bring India-made games to the forefront. They also said that it may be a setback for gamers who made a living from that platform but they will eventually find another home like former TikTokers have. Here is what experts had to say about PUBG’s ban: Roland Landers, CEO, All India Gaming Federation: Any decision taken by the government in order to protect the safety, security and sovereignty of the Indian cyberspace is welcome. The move would safeguard the interests of Indian mobile and internet users while presenting a great opportunity for indigenous homegrown game development studios to showcase their talent and create exciting game formats as part of the #Vocalforlocal and #Aatmanirbhar initiatives. We are confident that games like Rogue Heist, a multi-player online shooter game, designed and developed entirely in India and many others similar to this will fill the gap. Anirudh Pandita, Founder, Pocket Aces (Owner of Loco): The Indian gaming industry has been seeing rapid growth with users from across the country taking to esports and mobile gaming in a big way. We are seeing talented gamers showcase their skills through games such as PUBG, Call of Duty, Freefire and more. We’re confident that the recent ban on PUBG has been made by Government after much deliberation and with good reason. That means streamers and gamers now have to develop their skills on other games. We are confident that our gaming community will rise to the challenge and that our great nation will produce even better and bigger talent. Loco is more determined than ever to serve the Indian gaming community. We stand by our streamers and are working hand in hand with them at this moment to chart out a new course for Indian gaming. Our platform empowers users to stream games and showcase their talent to India. 100% Made in India, Loco will amplify its efforts towards making India a gaming superpower. Yash Pariani, CEO, Indian Gaming League (IGL): This may seem like a loss to the Esports community, however, in the interest of national security, the country must take whatever precautions they deem necessary. There are plenty of other games to fill the void for PUBG and IGL have started capitalising on the recent surge of demand for these other games as soon as the ban was announced. Games such as Call of Duty (COD) Mobile, Free Fire and Fortnite may see a surge in users in India. While we may see some players move to other platforms such as PUBG PC, the majority who prefer the mobile version will be sticking to similar games on the same platform which would be COD Mobile. This will affect millions of gamers, it will have the same effect as it did when TikTok was banned for the influencers that had made a living from that platform, however, for the time being, we will see PUBG influencers and players switching to other games to make a living, it may be a set back for them but eventually, their audiences will also respond to the change. With this ban in effect, we may even see a version of the game that the audiences have grown to know and love, be developed here itself from India. Piyush, CEO &amp; Founder, Rooter: We welcome this move by our government to safeguard Indian users' data and protect the country against the potential threat these apps pose to our national security. This ban opens up tremendous opportunities for the Indian gaming ecosystem to align their businesses with the government’s Atmanirbhar Bharat strategy and also enable gaming and eSports platforms to grow faster." Stating that the company anticipated the ban and kept investing in other games, he said, "Most of the users and content creators on our platform engage in games other than PUBG. Rooter had less than 10% PUBG streamers and it was a conscious effort on our part to ensure that we focus more on other games like Free Fire and Call of Duty. Both the games have strong engagement on Rooter and most of their top streamers are part of our user base. That said, in the last two and a half months, Rooter has witnessed unprecedented growth by adding nearly 3 million users. This ban will further fuel the growth, which will help us become a dominant player in the market. Sowmya Iyer, Founder &amp; CEO, DViO Digital: Online gaming in India is at a very interesting threshold where it’s gaining a strong foothold as a subset of the Entertainment Industry. With a combination of deep mobile phone penetration, an increase in active internet users &amp; the youngest population at hand, we are seeing that the interest in gaming &amp; the number of gamers is on an exponential rise. Perhaps as a testament to this growing gaming fever in India, the digital ad spends of such games have also grown exponentially, sometimes even surpassing the actual cost of making the game. And as for marketing on these platforms, gaming has revolutionized the way we consume content &amp; has brought forth a whole new world of engaged &amp; engrossed users which is a gold mine for brands and marketers. Leading the computing &amp; online gaming movement in India, we had PUBG but with the ban, we can see the potential for the Indian Gaming Companies to fill in very well. Players like Games 24X7, Nazara Technologies are pushing the boundaries in terms of providing Indian gamers with fantastic gaming options and content. As we see a huge surge in people adopting games and engaging with games as an entertainment medium, the big shot OTT platforms like Disney, Flipkart, Amazon, etc are also taking gamification as a focus area. Statistics show India went from having just 25 gaming companies in 2010 to grow more than 250+ companies in a decade’s time which means we have the potential to create engaging content &amp; conquer the gaming industry. Now that PUBG successfully hooked a whole generation to the gaming scene in India, it’s time for the Indian Gaming Companies to capitalize &amp; use this opportunity to win the game! GD Prasad, Associate Vice President, Dentsu Webchutney: PUBG has permeated the digital media ecosystem in a way that no other game being played in India has. This is a game that has as many people watching gameplay footage on YouTube and Instagram as it does actual players. It has helped catapult a fresh set of influencers with millions of followers and subscribers and a streaming community with as many viewers. Money and politics aside, it will be interesting to see how this community adapts to the situation. I believe, we will see many changes to mobile gaming in India as a result of this move. PubJio in the making? Well, you never know! Shradha Agarwal Co-founder &amp; COO, Grapes Digital: The banning of more than 100 additional apps by the indian Government with any linkages to China, is certainly going to create unrest and affect the livelihoods of many. These apps, including PubG was not only a gaming platform but a subsistence. For PubG, India was its largest market with content creators in the universe of gaming. PUBG has helped the hardcore mobile gaming market in India to grow exponentially in all 3 metrics — users, usage and monetisation. For the first time in India, we were seeing sizable in-app purchase revenues from a single game and the ban of PUBG amongst all the other apps, will directly impact the business model for many, thereby affecting their livelihood. The ripple effect will also be felt by event organizers, marketing agencies and influencers who were using PUBG and game streaming to optimize and monetize their livelihood, surely had become a way of life and existence. With a quarter of lifetime PUBG installed in India and more than 40 million monthly active users in the month of July, according to one of the top mobile insight firms, will lead to immense uncertainty with the overnight ban of these apps. However, this move by the government was expected to come anytime soon, following the ban of TikTok. Karan Gupta, Managing Director, Zirca Digital Solutions: The Ministry's move to ban the 118 China-backed apps, while keeping in mind India's national security, will no doubt come as a shock to gamers, especially those on the PUBG platform. PUPG has been extremely successful in the country because of its mobile-first strategy, captivating the youth and attracting huge advertising revenue opportunities over the past year. The gaming market will undoubtedly see the rise of various alternative gaming apps (including some homegrown ones) which will fill the void that the ban has brought about. Though it may bring about further fragmentation in the mobile gaming industry in the short term, Indian gamers will definitely find alternate gaming apps and advertising money will follow them. MPL Spokesperson: Every such development can be an opportunity for our ecosystem. We have a very strong game developer ecosystem here in India. We have partnered with close to 30 already and the number is only growing. Rogue Heist, India's first home-made Battle Royale game, has already been called a "PUBG rival" and has been doing well on our platform for over three months now.

Can Indian games fill the void that PUBG will leave behind? Experts tell us their thoughts

<ul><li>While the ad industry has a lot of womentoday, many drop out by the time they reach mid-management levels, primarily due to the lack of flexible hours, or the flexibility to work from home.</li><li>The women leaders we spoke to believe organizations need to prioritize training more women, to prepare them for leadership roles, and this should be a part of the company’s culture.</li><li>There is also a need to relook at the way employee’s performances are evaluated, coming up with newer ways of assessing talent in a time where the way of doing business has seen a complete overhaul.</li></ul> In late 2019, a report by Credit Suisse stated that women’s representation in boardrooms in India increased only by 4.3% between 2014 and 2019. The report further stated that the current female representation on boards is only 15.2% which invariably led to dialogues around the conspicuous lack of women leaders in the upper rungs of the corporate world. Having said that, the world of advertising, marketing and media is one industry that has seen a lot of women in roles of leadership. While we are still far from an equal man-woman ratio in the industry, it is heartening to see more and more women take the top spots. Conversations with most women leaders from the industry led us to believe that this is an industry that welcomes women to be a part of the workforce. However, it is during their mid-career levels that a lot of women drop out of the workforce, leading to a dip in women who take up higher positions. We reached out to some of the most influential women in the industry currently, to gauge what are the reasons for these drop-outs, and what needs to be done, as an industry as well at individual organizational levels, to ensure that women are retained, and even if they drop-out, are encouraged to rejoin the workforce. We received an overwhelming response to our queries from across the sector from women who made some really compelling points. These women who feel passionately about the subject laid their hearts bare, telling us ways they think the industry can evolve, to become more inclusive. Here are some of the most prominent voices. Building a culture of inclusivity It is often noticed that while a lot of women are joining the workforce, many of them take the decision of quitting once they decide to get married or decide to have children. Many find it difficult to come back, due to the lack of flexible working hours at their workplaces, or even due to a certain amount of judgment where people look at them a little differently after they come back from a long break. Most of the women leaders we spoke to believe that the work culture needs to evolve a little, to make way for such women, giving them the flexibility that many of them need, once they start a family. <keyword id="4356726" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="srija-chatterjee">Srija Chatterjee</keyword>, Managing Director, Publicis Worldwide, India shared that while a few corporates have started giving some assistance to women, the ad industry hasn’t yet started doing that actively. “As an industry, we have woken up to women leaders and we are trying to make things happen for women, to make sure that they don't jump off from the workforce. However, there's still a long way to go. The biggest reason women stop working is when they get into that life stage of having children. A lot of corporates are today providing strong support, through office crèches or flexi-timing options. That has not yet happened in our industry. From a business perspective, the size of our agencies might not be that big, which makes implementing this a bit of a challenge. But the more and more we get into a group structure, and offices become more centralized, it will enable organizations to look at shared resources to help women pursue their passion. This is something that could be done, but has not been done yet.” A lot of times, there is also a lot of judgement involved when women come back to work after a long break. Delving deeper into the need for a change in attitude, Pallavi Chakravarti, Executive Creative Director, Taproot Dentsu said, “You’ve been out of the scene way too long - you can’t expect the salary that you do after the kind of leave you’ve taken - but won’t your attention be divided now?” These are just some of the things women hear when they are seeking to make their way back into the workforce, post a long gap. Of course, this is not a blanket statement - times are changing, mindsets are changing, as are corporate policies. But if companies truly want to be gender-neutral then statements and questions like the ones I’ve cited above would never be heard again. Additionally, flexible working hours, working from home, working on time-bound projects are all steps that more and more organisations can adopt to ensure equal opportunities. And when I say equal, I mean that these options should be made available to both men and women. Shedding some light on how OLX is working on retaining some of its women, Sapna Arora, Chief Marketing Officer, OLX India said, “Setting the right example of favourable work culture much suited to women, not just in terms of facilities and infrastructure, but also in terms of broadening our thinking within an organization across various levels, is the key to inspire women working population to join the workforce and perform better. OLX, as an organization, is working on taking baby steps in creating empowering workplace for women. A couple of years ago, we at OLX embarked on a journey to evaluate the gender diversity ratio and actively worked to encourage more women in roles such as data scientists, engineers, front line sales and more. This is a conscious choice we have made under our global diversity and inclusion programme which seeks to improve the gender ratio across STEM and leadership roles.” Talking about the need to prioritize diversity in leadership, Emrana Sheikh, Enterprise HR Head for India and South Asia – Johnson &amp; Johnson said, “Today, companies are increasingly equating their C-suite diversity to competitive advantage for their businesses – and rightly so, it leads to robust dialogue, richer decisions and the empathy to design good, and human-centered solutions. For organizations looking for a paradigm shift in their work cultures, C-suite diversity sets an example for the rest of the team. At the basic level, it can be a source of inspiration that resonates down to the front-line staff. This is only possible when diversity in the leadership is prioritized and its long-term implementation is ensured at all levels through intentionality and focused talent management. Internal platforms such as Diversity &amp; Inclusion Council and Employee Resource Groups further drive culture strategies from a variety of lenses, championing inclusivity as a collective goal across levels. An inclusive culture transcends barriers, bias and bureaucracy, and makes the employees truly feel that they belong. All around, women are a critical mass of consumers, influencers, stakeholders and communities. Hence, reflection of the same in organizations is a business imperative.” Sharing a similar sentiment, Neena Dasgupta, CEO and Director, Zirca Digital Solutions added, “Organizations need to ensure that women in the workplace are respected and recognized.For women to thrive in the workplace, organizations need to ensure an environment that is rooted in equal opportunity and a culture that is geared to assist women achieve their goals.” Sharing some tips on a few things that can be done at the organization level to help women continue to be a part of an organization, Ayesha Ghosh, General Manager, Taproot Dentsu added, “Younger women need to see older women in positions of influence. Flexible working hours and working from home might be a challenge in an industry that’s made a virtue of unreasonable working hours but we ought to be non-negotiable about starting early, cutting idle chatter, short lunch breaks and everything else that helps finish work early so that parents (and everyone else, really!) get to spend some time with their families. Ingraining fundamental values will go a much longer way than making token gestures. Enforcing paternity leave, for instance, so that the onus of child-rearing is not on the mother alone. When a parent, regardless of gender is expected to manage time such that they are responsible for their work as well as for their families, everyone will automatically spend less time on idle chatter and work a lot more efficiently.” An organization's culture also needs to have empathy at its foundation, shared Oindrila Roy, Head of Strategy, India, Essence, to make a difference. "As with any type of workforce integration, empathy should be the edifice on which workplaces are designed to integrate and retain both women and men more seamlessly. For women, it starts with stepping into her shoes, evaluating challenges from her point of view and arriving at solutions which are conducive. For example, an online survey conducted by JobsForHer found that 38% of women do not return to the workforce after giving birth, due to the lack of good day care for children. If that is the challenge, companies need to think of solving this problem innovatively - can the organisation collaborate with a nanny service provider to avail reliable childcare options to its employees? Reassured and empowered parents are likely to stay in the workforce longer." Modifying existing performance benchmarks Rubeena Singh, CEO, iProspect India believes that there is a need to relook at the performance benchmarks on which employees are evaluated. “In the middle years, I often see that we are trying to evaluate people on certain benchmarks. The criteria for these performance indicators have been put in place years ago when it was a largely male-dominated workforce. Things like 8 hours of work, or work in office, or if you want a senior position, you should have worked in different geographies etc. But sometimes, for women, it becomes very difficult to be mobile and move to different parts of the country, especially once they get married. As an industry, we really need to re-evaluate the criteria. We should look for quality now, if people are curious, if they are team-players, how innovative and out-of-the-box can they think. If these changes are brought about, a lot of women will find it easier to catch up from where they left, even if they are coming back after a long break.” Treating both men and women as equals at the workplace A lot of women leaders feel that there is an immediate need to start looking at both men and women as equals in the workspace and not differentiate on the basis of gender. Lara Balsara Wajifdar, Executive Director at Madison World said, “We need to look at women leaders as leaders first and not as women leaders. Don’t differentiate us on the basis of our gender, but differentiate us on the basis of our work! Our industry is always hungry for good talent and if the talent is good, the agency will always accommodate personal requests as long as the work is not affected.” Many also feel the starting point is to start a conversation, where both the genders are treated as equal participants. “<keyword id="6372584" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="gender-equality">Gender equality</keyword> is not just a women’s issue, it’s a human rights issue – that extends to all realms, including the workplace. To encourage equality across all lines of command in the workplace and have more women leaders, we need more men to be equal participants in the conversation around gender equality. Having the male workforce as partners can bring empowerment and equal respect among all genders. Global change-making initiatives like the UN’s ‘He for She’ Movement, of which I am a strong advocate, have been setting strong examples for people of all genders to take bold steps in solidarity and are working towards a gender-equal world,” said <keyword id="235731" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nadia-Chauhan">Nadia Chauhan</keyword>, JMD &amp; CMO, Parle Agro. Pointing out to some things that need to be done at an organizational level, Rishika Lulla Singh, CEO Eros Digital at Eros International said, “There needs to be a cultural shift and change at workplaces to eradicate gender inequality and retain women employees. It is about time that companies consider deserving women for higher level positions and evaluate their performance sans bias. If there are more women leaders out there at the top positions, it gives a sense of confidence to the global sisterhood with strong role models. It is essential that companies organize mentorship programs to break the stereotype of what a man and a woman can or should do. There are several ways to retain a woman employee at work, but we also need to encourage more women to join the workforce. Equal pay, ensuring all voices are heard and feeling valued, creating safe work environment, etc. are all the least we can do.” Pooja Jauhari, CEO, The Glitch put it rather succinctly in her three-point recommendation on how to retain women. She said, “Firstly, treat your entire talent base with gender blindness. Best person for the job. Without over-thinking their family, marital, ‘emotional’ status. Just get the right person for the job. Secondly, allow your talent to align personal and professional goals and build a support system for them to come back to the same position at work after a break (marriage| child birth) and lastly, stop saying a certain gender matters more, prove by example by showing gender balance across functions.” Training young employees to think of themselves as leaders There is also a need for seniors to build an environment of motivating young women while also making them aware of their potential as future managers, shared Sujata Dwibedy, Group Trading Director, Ampilifi India. She said, “This question is asked to mostly senior women but ideally, both senior men, women and the entire team should be equally responsible to motivate the young, efficient women. The entire organisation gains if they can train and then retain competent women leading up to a management role. It is critical to show them advancement opportunities and their growth path. Policies might have to be tweaked but if it benefits all, it should not matter. Building an inclusive workplace, an organisational environment that values diversity not just for the sake of appearances but for the competitive edge that comes with access to multiple perspectives would make a difference.” There are a lot of internal barriers that women have to cross and training them to believe in themselves could help in ensuring they make it to the top. <keyword id="346168" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Lulu-Raghavan">Lulu Raghavan</keyword>, Managing Director, Landor Associates said, “Even before thinking of getting more women leaders, we have to think of how we can create a better working place holistically. Secondly, you have to ensure that women at the top, doing good work get the visibility. It starts with the leadership, company philosophy and culture. You’ve got to find them and put them on the top because deserving women do exist. You can’t give us an excuse that there aren’t any women relevant for the top positions. A lot of training has to be done with women themselves; there are a few external barriers such as company policies, work environment, how other people behave towards you, and there are internal factors, which we women have set up through the years. It is the lack of self-confidence, self-doubt and imposter syndrome. We women have to be trained to be leaders. It should be different from the overall management chain because it is decades of social conditioning that companies have to break when women join them. “ Anita Kotwani, Senior Vice President, New Business, Mindshare added, “The industry needs to first acknowledge that Woman leaders can deliver as well as their male counterparts for senior-level roles. The grooming required should be done for the role and not the gender. If that happens you will see the necessary shift with more woman leaders leading the mantle.” Sharing her optimism about the future where she envisions more and more women to be on the top, Kranti Gada, COO Shemaroo Entertainment said, “A few years ago, I participated in a program called ‘Tanmatra’ organized by IIM Bangalore, to help develop and groom fellow women counterparts for about 9 months and the stories I heard about the differences in opportunities shocked me a little. I was happy to be at Shemaroo, where we have seen women in key roles leading from the front and managing the core business with ease and expertise. While the ratio of women is a little skewed in the industry, the gender gap is narrowing, and we will see more women taking charge in future in every field.”

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