Why every business needs a digital marketing agenda

Gone are the days when branding was about wooing consumers on TV or Out Of Home media, with one-way communication, and then deploying demand generation tactics at points of purchase to drive sales. Both business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) buyers today want to actively learn about product categories and evaluate choices; they expect brands to engage with them and help them make informed decisions. (Representational image via Unsplash)

In an exclusive year-end article for Storyboard18, Infosys’s global CMO Sumit Virmani spotlights the necessity of future-proofing brands with holistic digital strategies.

IPL becomes Decacorn, valuation jumps 75 percent to $10.9 billion in 2022: Report

With two new teams (Gujarat Titans and Lucknow SuperGiants) getting bought last year at a combined staggering value of $1.6 billion, the average price tag of a team has seen a 16-fold jump from its inception. These two factors were instrumental in boosting the valuation of IPL to become a Decacorn and the second largest sporting league (on a per match basis from broadcasting fees) globally. (Representative Image via Unsplash)

At $6.2 billion, IPL has recorded a three-fold jump in its broadcasting deal since 2017, contributing to the rise in the overall valuation.

India will see 33 percent rise in paid gamers by 2026: Report

According to Dua, while initial concerns remain regarding the regulations, cautious optimism is emerging. Data is being analyzed by officials to understand the impact on businesses and consumers. This, along with the Finance Minister's commitment to review, fuels hope for a potential revision that fosters continued industry growth.(Representative image via Unsplash)

According to a recent report by Redseer Strategy Consultants, every second internet user is a gamer in India, and every third transacting user in India is a paid gamer.

What’s next for JioCinema once the FIFA World Cup ends and football fever cools?

"We promised to give consumers easy access to the world-class presentation of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, and on the back of that, the tournament became the most-watched global sports event on digital where India has not participated" - Viacom18 Sports CEO, Anil Jayaraj (Image source via Twitter - @Sports18)

As per industry reports, JioCinema is estimated to cross 500 million downloads by the 2022 FIFA World Cup final match.

FIFA World Cup 2022: How many Indians watched the football matches so far?

In a statement issued on 1 December, FIFA officially shares that World Cup Qatar 2022 is continuing to engage TV audiences around the world. In Japan, the group game between Japan and Costa Rica on 27 November drew an average audience of 36.37 million viewers. This surpassed the audience of their comeback against Germany in their tournament opener by over 10 million and was 74 percent higher than the average domestic group stage audience during the FIFA World Cup in 2018. (Image courtesy: JioCinema, Twitter, Network18)

The cumulative reach for the first 48 matches of the tournament has touched 42.2 million, as per BARC data for Cable & Satellite (CS) 2+ audience.

Digital Advertising in the age of Insta Reels and YouTube Shorts: Make short-form video a strategic tool in marketing arsenals in 2023

Considering the fast-paced lives that people live these days and their declining attention span, they prefer swift, fun content that takes the thought out of choosing what to watch. Short-form video apps in India are looking to capitalise on revenue prospects between $12–19 billion by 2030. (Representative image via Unsplash)

Short-form video sector is expected to reach an MAU of 550-600 million, about 67 percent of all smartphone users, by 2025.

Google Year In Search 2022: IPL, Brahmastra and KGF 2, Droupadi Murmu, Rishi Sunak, NFT, Metaverse among top searches in India

India dominated sports trends worldwide, securing all top 5 slots in the global trending matches list. Football saw similar excitement, with searches for the ongoing FIFA World Cup peaking this year and making it to the trending searches of the year, along with the Indian Super League.

Women’s sports moments also found a place in the top search trends.

The rise of South Indian Cinema: How Southern movies are going national

An important factor contributing to the rise in its viewership is the way films are being marketed. For instance, KGF’s lead actor Yash travelled to different parts of India to promote the film. To further build the hype, he also engaged with bloggers and YouTubers. This was something the northern belt saw only happening for Bollywood films. Similarly, item numbers from these films also reached out to a much wider audience than ever before. Oo Antava Mawa from Pushpa, for instance enjoyed equal popularity among fans who loved and praised Arijit Singh’s Kesariya number from Brahmastra.

South Indian films now contribute more to overall box office collections than Bollywood offerings.

Gaming studios focus on Indian characters in games as brands eye growth through collaborations

The backdrops to the game’s environment are drawn in the Pahari art style and combine hand-painted textures rendered in 3D.Some are keeping it more realistic. Inspired by films like Satya, Gangs of Wasseypur and KGF, Bengaluru-based gaming studio Hypernova Interactive is coming up with a game called Mayanagari. (Image source: Hypernova Interactive)

Both national and international gaming studios are adding Indian themes and characters to their games to tap the country’s huge gaming population in the country.