MVP - THE MASTERS' VOICE PODCAST - MEDIABRIEF: Recent Episodes

Pavan R Chawla

MVP, The Master's Voice Podcast features expert conversations with the Most Valuable Players / Professionals / People from media, marketing and other areas of industry, in conversation with Pavan R Chawla, Founder Editor of MediaBrief.com. These are MVP conversations with actionable insights and learnings.

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Achint Setia, CEO, Snapdeal, features on this episode of MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast, in an expansive, rewarding and insights-filled conversation with Pavan R Chawla, Founder-Editor of MediaBrief.com.

Drawing on nearly two decades across technology, consulting, media, marketing and e-commerce, Achint shares sharp perspectives on Bharat consumers, value commerce, changing aspirations and the next phase of Indian e-commerce.

He speaks about Snapdeal’s focused Bharat opportunity; why value-conscious consumers are very different from merely price-conscious shoppers; what builds trust in e-commerce; and what Snapdeal is learning by engaging directly with consumers and sellers across India.

The episode brings together 10 important learnings from Achint Setia, with excellent insights into consumer behaviour, aspiration, Cash on Delivery, creators and social commerce, digital-first marketing, trust and seller quality, and the possibilities AI could unlock for Indian e-commerce.

And that is only a tasting bite of a conversation rich with perspective, experience and practical learning.

Listen to the complete episode of MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast from MediaBrief.com.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

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On MVP The Master's Voice Podcast from Mediabrief, Navtez Bal, VP & GM India & South Asia, Red Hat, discusses open source, AI, hybrid cloud, enterprise resilience and India’s technology opportunity and leadership amid disruption, with Pavan R Chawla.

Navtez discusses open source, AI, hybrid cloud, enterprise resilience, vendor lock-in, governance, data privacy, India’s digital infrastructure, and leadership amid disruption.

The conversation looks at how Red Hat’s journey in India has moved from enterprise Linux to application modernisation, automation, hybrid cloud and AI infrastructure. Navtez also explains why open-source thinking gives enterprises more control, flexibility and long-term strategic freedom.

A sharp and timely conversation on why open source — and an open mind — remain the quiet but powerful foundation of enterprise resilience, AI readiness and India’s technomic future.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

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In this episode of MVP - The Master’s Voice Podcast, guest Thimmaiah Napanda, Managing Director and CEO of Alternicq Limited, speaks with Pavan R Chawla - show host and Founder-Editor of Mediabrief.com.

The conversation begins with the Manjushree Technopack rebrand to Alternicq and opens into a wider discussion on innovation at scale, rigid plastic packaging, circularity, supply resilience, leadership and India’s manufacturing opportunity.

Thimmaiah Napanda explains why this shift is far more than a rebrand, what the new name and logo are meant to signal, why packaging should not be treated as a commodity business, and how Alternicq is thinking about customer partnership, sustainability and future growth.

Read the complete post on Mediabrief.com and watch this video on YouTube, or listen to it on top audio podcast directories like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, JioSaavn, Gaana and many others.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

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Join Amir Durrani of NTT DATA on MVP for a strategic playbook on Agentic AI and Full Stack leadership. Discover how India is driving global innovation and digital transformation in the enterprise AI era.

Delighted to bring you the 134th episode of MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast, featuring a deep-dive conversation with Amir Durrani, Global Head of Applications and Business Process Services at NTT DATA. He speaks with Pavan R Chawla, show host and Founder-Editor of Mediabrief.com.

Recorded in Mumbai, this dialogue explores how a $30B+ global powerhouse is redefining work and leadership. With billions invested in India, Amir frames the region as the primary engine for global innovation. This masterclass on Digital Transformation and Agentic AI explores why NTT DATA India leads in Enterprise AI Strategy and Full Stack technology. Amir Durrani shares why India Tech Innovation drives their Business Process Services, and how AI Upskilling and Leadership Skills anchor Responsible Innovation.

Inside the Episode: A Strategic Playbook for Leaders

The True Meaning of Full Stack: NTT DATA’s depth spans from undersea cables to boardroom consulting. This sea-to-suite model allows them to share risk and commit to business outcomes.

The Shift to Agentic AI: Moving from bots to autonomous decision-making. Amir explains the future lies in agent orchestration and training to minimize hallucinations.

Native AI Transformation: Under CEO and Global AI Officer Abhijit Dubey, the company reimagines processes from scratch, asking: "How would this look if created for the first time today?"

Key Discussion Highlights

India as the Innovation Core: The transition from a cost-hub to a global innovation engine, anchored by Bengaluru centers. The Evolution of AI: The shift from RPA to Agentic AI, supported by partners like OpenAI and Mistral AI. The Human Element: Why employees with intrinsic client knowledge are the best candidates to train AI agents—their trust and expertise are irreplaceable. Leadership in the AI Era: In a world of rapid shifts, failing fast and decisive speed are vital. Yet, human relationships remain the bedrock of success.

Why This Episode Matters: This story of leveraging Indian talent bridges high-tech strategy with human-centric values. Technical problems are solvable, but the true value lies in relationships and business nuance.

Experience how technological might merges with human excellence—all driven by empathy. Subscribe to The Master’s Voice Podcast for more masterclasses on leadership and transformation.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

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Amit Syngle, MD and CEO of Asian Paints, is my distinguished guest on this episode of MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast from Mediabrief.com. Over an extraordinary growth journey from Management Trainee to MD & CEO, Syngle has helped shape Asian Paints into Asia’s second-largest and India’s largest paint and home décor powerhouse, and one of the World’s Top 5 in Architectural coatings.

In this episode, Syngle speaks about Asian Paints’ 80-year legacy, its scale, turnover and the thinking behind its ‘Har Ghar’ festive campaign that celebrates India’s emotional bond with home. He explains how the company has moved from paint manufacturing to becoming a complete home décor solutions provider rooted in strong consumer understanding, design leadership and cultural relevance.

We discuss the expanding paints and coatings market, Asian Paints’ décor strategy, and how its training academies equip lakhs of painters and tradespeople with future-ready skills. Syngle also highlights how collaborations in public art and murals bring design, colour and cultural storytelling to communities across India.

The conversation dives deep into company culture, values, inclusiveness, contribution, belonging and the ability to embrace multiple generations at the workplace. Syngle also reflects on his own journey and the leadership lessons of passion, perseverance and people engagement.

We close with a discussion on reputation management and why safeguarding brand trust is a shared responsibility across the organisation.

A powerful and insightful conversation for anyone interested in branding, décor, leadership or the future of consumer-centric businesses. (Pavan R Chawla, Founder-Editor, MEDIABRIEF.COM)

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

Send us Fan Mail

Abhay Singhal, visionary co-founder of InMobi and CEO of InMobi Advertising, joins Pavan R Chawla, Founder-Editor of Mediabrief.com and host of MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast to share his masterclass perspective on the global future of mobile adtech.

InMobi, celebrated as India’s first startup unicorn in 2011, delivers a key differentiator in the industry: Return on Investment (ROI) at scale with convenience.

Unmatched Scale and Reach

InMobi Advertising provides monumental global reach. The platform connects with 80% to 90% of all mobile users worldwide and serves approximately 50 to 80 billion ads a day. For advertisers running video campaigns, InMobi consistently delivers a video completion rate of over 80%.

The AI Imperative

Singhal details how AI is rewriting the rules of the game across three dimensions: Creative, Agentic Platforms, and Insights. AI is fundamentally transforming creative development by democratizing access, drastically lowering the cost of generating custom creatives, and finally making the aspiration of the "right creative for right person at the right time" a reality. In fact, AI is expected to win major awards in advertising festivals like Cannes.

Innovation and Control: Buyer Hub

Discover the Buyer Hub, InMobi’s new self-service programmatic platform. Designed to empower mid-sized advertisers, Buyer Hub provides the precision, transparency, and control needed to plan, optimize, and purchase programmatic deals independently. Singhal argues that if you are a mid-sized advertiser, you may no longer need an external agency to run your campaigns.

Addressing Ad Fraud and Leadership

Singhal tackles the persistent challenge of ad fraud, describing the constant vigilance required as a "cat-and-mouse game". InMobi deploys sophisticated, homegrown systems that analyze hundreds of signals to block invalid traffic.

Finally, the conversation offers a critical leadership lesson: leaders must avoid "analysis paralysis" and act boldly because the future of adtech is being written now.

Listen to the full episode for deep insights into innovation, effective targeting, and how InMobi is shaping a transparent, impactful, and brand-safe digital ecosystem.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

Send us Fan Mail

This episode of MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast, features Kartik Sharma, CEO - India at Omnicom Media Group, one of the most respected leaders in the media and marketing industry. He is in conversation with Pavan R Chawla, series host and Founder-Editor of Mediabrief.com.

Kartik reflects on steering OMG India to consistent double-digit growth, nearly twice the industry adex, while building a culture of innovation and resilience. He discusses the shift in client expectations towards integrated, business-focused solutions, the role of AI in shaping future strategies, and why creativity and measurement remain vital to brand success.

This episode also carries his guidance for aspiring professionals on thriving in a career he describes as a “mega test match.”

Listen to the full conversation for a strategic overview of leadership, culture, and future-ready marketing.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode of MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast, host Pavan R Chawla speaks with Industry captain Arun Nanda – Managing Trustee of Adhata Trust; Former Executive Director & President – Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd; Former Chairman – Mahindra Holidays & Resorts (I) Ltd and Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd.

Arun shares invaluable leadership learnings from his journey at Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, the influence of Keshub Mahindra and Anand Mahindra, and his transition into social impact through the NGO he founded and leads, Adhata Trust — a pioneering responsible initiative focused on Positive Aging, dignity, and ending elder isolation in India.

Key discussion themes include:

Leadership through trust and empowerment
Purpose beyond profit
Building inclusive communities for the elderly
Tackling social inequality and the AI era
The joy of giving and mentoring future generations

Listen now for a rare blend of corporate wisdom and grassroots action.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

Send us Fan Mail

Mumbai Mirror is back. In this episode of MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast, host Pavan R Chawla is joined by Surinder Chawla, President – Response at Bennett Coleman & Company Ltd. (BCCL), to discuss the revival of Mumbai Mirror as a daily newspaper.

From editorial direction to ad sales strategies, Surinder shares how the newspaper plans to rebuild a loyal readership and serve Mumbai with a strong hyper-local lens.

In this episode:
– What led to the decision to relaunch Mumbai Mirror as a daily
– Editorial vision: “Bolder, better, badder”
– New editor Krishna Kumar Padmanaman’s leadership
– Localised content, civic coverage, reader-first journalism
– Ad sales and pricing strategy for MSMEs and neighbourhood advertisers
– Trust, credibility, and countering misinformation
– Why Surinder believes in the lasting value of print
– His leadership lessons from over three decades in BFSI and media

Mumbai Mirror returns to reconnect with its readers — not just through nostalgia, but with purpose, voice, and clear relevance in 2024 and beyond.

Listen now to this episode of MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

Send us Fan Mail

Ajay Kakar of Adani Group joins Pavan R Chawla for a deep, honest masterclass on brand integrity, storytelling, creativity, and marketing’s future.

In this powerful episode of MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast from MediaBrief.com, host Pavan R Chawla sits down with Ajay Kakar, Head of Corporate Branding at the Adani Group, for an honest, nuanced conversation on branding, marketing, and the future of the industry.

Ajay brings decades of experience from his impactful stints at Ogilvy, Reliance, and the Aditya Birla Group, and now leads branding at one of India’s most prominent corporate groups. He reflects on his journey from the world of finance into advertising and marketing, offering invaluable insights into how brand custodians must think beyond just campaigns and focus on sustained storytelling and brand purpose.

The episode explores the evolution of corporate branding, especially in the context of legacy and infrastructure sectors. Ajay highlights how true brand connect is built not through showmanship, but through relevance, empathy, and integrity — all brought to life through compelling stories like Adani’s Pehle Pankha Phir Bijli campaign.

Ajay speaks passionately about GoaFest, describing it as India’s answer to Cannes and a melting pot of creative exchange, collaboration, and recognition. He offers a clear-eyed view on the state of measurement in marketing, calling for a unified, outcome-focused approach that helps marketers prove real business impact.

The conversation also delves into the impact of AI in creativity, where Ajay warns against using AI as a substitute for human insight. Instead, he urges professionals to use AI responsibly — as a tool, not a crutch — while keeping human emotion and judgment at the core.

Ajay also addresses the fragmentation of the marketing and advertising ecosystem, noting how silos have diluted brand coherence. He underscores the need for unified thinking across media, creative, and digital disciplines to drive true brand impact.

For young professionals, Ajay offers sincere advice: enter the industry only if you’re driven by passion, not just paychecks. The industry is demanding but deeply rewarding for those who want to create meaningful change.

This episode is a must-listen for brand leaders, creative professionals, marketers, and students alike — a compelling masterclass in brand strategy, creative integrity, and purposeful communication from one of the most respected voices in Indian marketing.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

Send us Fan Mail

This, episode 126 of the award-winning MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast from Mediabrief.com, has host Pavan R Chawla speakingwith Prasanth Kumar (PK), CEO of GroupM South Asia. Their chat (shot at GroupM in Mumbai on 7th March) charts PK’s remarkable journey from a spirited young student to becoming one of India’s most influential media leaders. PK also speaks about the key trends shaping India’s dynamic media and advertising ecosystem, and much more.

Reflecting on his childhood, PK says he was affectionately dubbed ‘Ashant’ for his mischief in school, yet credits those early years—shaped by his mother (a teacher), his older brother, and close-knit friends—with instilling in him the values of curiosity, effort, discipline, and gratitude. He traces his professional path through early roles at Pepsi, The Hindu, Rediff, and McCann before joining GroupM in 2004, where he’s spent more than two decades contributing to the evolution of India’s media and advertising ecosystem.

PK reflects upon values that shaped his life -- from curiosity to gratitude, and how he brought them into his leadership at GroupM.

We dive into the latest This Year, Next Year (TYNY) 2025 report from GroupM, which forecasts a 7% growth in India's advertising market, with digital contributing nearly 60% of the ₹1.67 lakh crore ad-ex. PK speaks about digital’s rising dominance and how traditional media—including TV, print, and emerging CTV formats—still play a vital role in India's multi-market structure.

On the role of technology, PK shares how AI and Gen AI are transforming marketing through hyper-personalization and data-led decision-making. We also talk about ad fraud and waste, and how GroupM prioritizes integrity and client trust. He explains GroupM's use of AI tools, education, and ongoing monitoring to combat waste.

Other key themes include the evolution of retail media and commerce-led strategies, GroupM’s commitment to collaborative growth and learning, the importance of values in building resilient leadership.

PK also reflects on his long-standing pride in being part of GroupM: “Definitely, I walk tall... it's been a fantastic journey and it's (been) a collective effort - whatever we were able to do.”

This is a deep dive into the philosophies, frameworks, and future-forward thinking of India’s respect advertising leader, Prasanth Kumar, CEO, GroupM, South Asia. And the values and vision that continue to power GroupM’s legacy and relevance. This is Prasanth Kumar - Unplugged! So, a must-listen for marketers, media professionals and brand custodians invested in the future of advertising.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

Send us Fan Mail

In this, the 127th episode of the award-winning MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast, host Pavan R Chawla speaks with Dr. Ram Kumar Kakani, Director of the prestigious Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Raipur.

A globally respected academic and institutional leader, Dr. Ram shares how IIM Raipur is shaping purpose-driven leaders through a future-ready, values-based approach to management education. He reflects on his leadership philosophy — rooted in the long view — with a powerful metaphor:

“Treat the decision-making of a higher education institution like nurturing a tree that lives for 300 years.”

The conversation explores IIM Raipur’s remarkable evolution — from a new institution in 2010 to a top-ranked IIM today — driven by academic excellence, innovation, and inclusivity.

Dr. Ram outlines how the institute integrates AI and analytics into the curriculum while championing human judgment, empathy, and cross-cultural understanding, preparing students for leadership in a technology-driven world.

He discusses IIM Raipur’s focus on entrepreneurship, building “business owners, not just job seekers,” and highlights how democratic governance, diversity, and ethical reputation management are central to the institute’s DNA.

This candid, insightful conversation also reflects Dr. Ram’s humility, as he credits his teams, mentors, and collaborators for IIM Raipur’s progress and promise.

A must-listen for anyone passionate about leadership, higher education, and the role of management institutions in shaping society.

Thanks for your time.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode of MVP – The Master's Voice Podcast, Vinay Kumar Swamy, Country Head, Pearson India, is in conversation with show host Pavan R Chawla, who is also Founder-Editor of Mediabrief.com. Vinay shares how the global education leader Pearson is reshaping learning in India through digital transformation, skilling, and purpose-led innovation.

At Pearson India’s expansive, future-ready Bangalore office, Vinay had a wide-ranging conversation with Pavan. Vinay, who joined Pearson in 2016 as Finance Head, now leads the company’s India business and reflects a culture rooted in integrity, empathy, and teamwork.

Pearson, founded in 1844, has evolved from manufacturing and media into one of the most digitally forward education companies. In India, it operates across three key verticals — higher education, English language learning, and enterprise skilling — reaching over 1.3 million learners annually.

Vinay discusses the impact of India's National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which is boosting demand for vocational skilling and employability. With more than 2,000 skilling courses and partnerships with top companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, Pearson is shaping India’s workforce of the future.

AI integration is a core focus, with tools that summarise content, personalise learning, and offer chapter-wise self-assessment. Vinay also shares insights from Pearson’s Reclaim the Clock report, which estimates AI could save Indian professionals 51 million hours per week.

On the marketing front, Pearson India's Hoga Kaise Nahi' campaign featuring Vicky Kaushal struck an emotional chord with students preparing for exams. Vinay explains that Kaushal’s story — from engineer to actor — mirrors the learner’s journey and makes him the perfect brand ambassador.

Vinay also touches on CSR efforts, including free or low-cost content for underserved learners and partnerships with skilling bodies. With its legacy and innovation-led approach, Pearson India continues to be a learning partner for life.

Listen to the episode on MediaBrief.com and all major podcast platforms. You can also watch it on YouTube.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

Send us Fan Mail

Episode 123 of MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast features Vikas Chawla, MD of Compass Group India. With over two decades of experience, Vikas discusses how the company serves 900,000 meals daily across 45 cities with a 38,000-strong team. In conversation with Pavan R Chawla, Founder-Editor, Mediabrief.com, Vikas speaks of several things, including his journey through leadership roles at Coca-Cola and his entrepreneurial ventures. He highlights key lessons that shaped his approach to management. He emphasizes a caring work culture and empathy, which he believes are essential for boosting employee engagement and retention.

Vikas envisions leveraging tech innovations to enhance food safety and improve overall service delivery at Compass Group.

Vikas discusses the food services industry in India, currently valued at 70,000 crores and growing at 15% annually. He shares that Compass Group aims for a 45% revenue increase over three years, focusing on sector expansions and client acquisitions. Also, that it collaborates with initiatives like the Robin Hood Army to combat food wastage and aid underprivileged communities.

Vikas highlights solar-powered kitchens and rainwater harvesting as part of Compass Group’s environmental commitments. Technologies like the AI-powered sorting mechanism and the Foodbook app are enhancing Compass Group’s operations.

Vikas underscores the role of ongoing employee training in fostering a strong safety culture. He credits his leadership values to the support from his family, emphasizing open communication both at home and work.

This insightful episode of MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast offers valuable lessons on leadership, culture, and growth in India’s food service industry. I hope you enjoy the conversation and find it beneficial. We hope you enjoy the conversation!

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode of MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, Angela Scaffidi, Founding Partner & Global Chair of SenateSHJ and Global Chair at PROI Worldwide, discusses strategic communications, leadership, and the evolving PR landscape. She is in conversation with show host Pavan R Chawla.

Through SenateSHJ, Angela and her team tackle complex challenges in reputation management, change, and engagement. As PROI Worldwide’s Global Chair, she focuses on uniting entrepreneurial communication agencies to share best practices, ensuring their campaigns remain impactful and market-leading.

Angela elaborates on the changing roles of PR professionals, emphasizing the need to address modern challenges like misinformation, cybersecurity, and geopolitical issues. She stresses the importance of fostering strong internal cultures and proactive stakeholder engagement. On the role of AI, Angela advocates for its use in enhancing efficiency while highlighting the ongoing need for human insight and ethical considerations.

Collaboration between agencies, especially through PROI, is another key theme. Angela discusses how PROI fosters global partnerships, helping agencies lead in the communications field. She also shares her leadership philosophy, emphasizing humility, curiosity, and collaboration in building resilient agency cultures. Angela names three PR leaders she admires: Madan Bahal, Claire Parsons, and Noel Turnbull, all of whom continue to give back to the profession.

Her deep commitment to community service, including supporting children with cancer and missing persons, informs her purpose-driven leadership approach. Angela’s insights on building strong client relationships, resilient cultures, and navigating the fast-paced PR landscape offer valuable guidance for professionals.

Tune in for practical advice and inspiration from one of the leading voices in global communications.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

Send us Fan Mail

From Pavan R Chawla:On this episode of our award-winning series MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, I host dear friend and popular Advertising and Marketing industry stalwart Bipin R Pandit, COO of The Advertising Club, Mumbai. As a well-respected figure in the advertising and marketing space, Bipin is widely known for his exceptional contributions to the industry through his great work for the Ad Club Mumbai. Equally, he is known and respected for his passion for music.

Our conversation centers around the much-awaited 19th edition of his popular live musical show, Khumaar, which will be held on 21st September at St. Andrew’s Auditorium, Bandra, Mumbai, and is an event no music lover can afford to miss.

This time round, Khumaar takes on a special significance as Bipin dedicates the show to the memory of one of India’s greatest singers, the late Mohammad Rafi. The tribute comes in anticipation of Rafi Sahab's 100th birth anniversary, which will be celebrated on 24th December 2024. With deep admiration for Rafi Sahab, Bipin shares the emotional and artistic vision behind this tribute in the podcast episode.

Khumaar: A musical extravaganza honoring Rafi sahab

Khumaar has always been a favorite among advertising, media, and entertainment professionals, offering an evening of nostalgia, joy, and musical splendor. This year’s edition promises to be even more special, as it pays homage to the timeless melodies of Mohammad Rafi, a legend whose voice transcended generations. Bipin explains how Khumaar seeks to evoke the same magic that Rafi Sahab’s songs did, transporting the audience to an era of pure, soulful music.

The show will feature a host of talented singers who will bring Rafi Sahab’s songs to life, adding their unique touch while preserving the essence of his legendary voice. Bipin's goal is to create an unforgettable experience for music lovers, giving them a break from their daily routines to immerse themselves in the magic of Rafi’s classics. We also discuss how the audience can expect to be treated to a variety of Rafi Sahab’s greatest hits, each performed with great reverence and skill.

Mohammad Rafi: The Man, The Legend

In our conversation, Bipin reflects on the unparalleled greatness of Mohammad Rafi, not just as a singer but as a human being. Rafi Sahab's humility and generosity have left an indelible mark on the hearts of millions, and his voice remains a source of inspiration for artists and fans alike.

Bipin shares personal anecdotes and insights into what made Rafi Sahab so extraordinary — his ability to connect with listeners through his voice, his versatility across different genres, and his incredible impact on the Indian film industry.

As we discuss the preparations for this special edition of Khumaar, Bipin emphasizes that this event is more than just a tribute. It’s an opportunity to introduce younger generations to the timeless appeal of Rafi Sahab’s music while giving long-time fans a chance to relive the golden era of Hindi film music.

A must-attend event for music lovers

Towards the end of the podcast, Bipin encourages music enthusiasts to make sure they don’t miss this event. The 19th edition of Khumaar promises to be a night filled with exceptional performances, heartfelt tributes, and an atmosphere of celebration for one of India’s greatest musical legends. For those who haven't secured tickets yet, Bipin provides details on how they can be obtained through the show’s website or contact numbers.

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In this special Independence Day episode of MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, we are honored to have kiran khalap, co-founder and MD of chlorophyll, as our esteemed guest. In conversation with series host and creator and Founjder-Editor of Mediabrief.com - Pavan R Chawla. This conversation celebrates 25 glorious years since chlorophyll's inception on 14th August 1999, and how the agency has emerged as an independent powerhouse, empowering over 400 Indian and global brands through its unique approach to branding.

kiran khalap, a visionary leader known for his gentle wisdom and deep-rooted values, reflects on the journey that has defined chlorophyll's success. From his early days as a teacher inspired by J. Krishnamurti’s philosophies to becoming a leading figure in the advertising world, kiran's story is a testament to the power of staying true to one’s principles while continuously evolving.

This episode delves into the core values that have shaped chlorophyll—equality, humility, and a relentless pursuit of creativity and innovation. kiran shares how these values are embedded in chlorophyll’s DNA and are reflected in the company’s culture, where even the most junior employees are given leadership opportunities to foster responsibility and ownership.

Listeners will also gain insights into the pivotal moments that led to the creation of chlorophyll, including kiran’s decision to leave a successful career at Bates Clarion to co-found an independent agency with Madan Bahal. The episode highlights the collaborative spirit that has driven chlorophyll's growth, with kiran recounting key partnerships and the genius of his co-founders, anand halve and nilesh patil.

The episode explores chlorophyll's innovative approaches through its five unmatched IPs: anthorp, a model that redefines branding beyond product categories; wholon, which emphasizes brand behavior over communication; ideantity, a unique approach to brand identity; litmosi, India’s first corporate brand alignment tool; and the chlorophyll innovation lab, a hub for solving complex business challenges through innovative thinking.

As kiran reflects on the future of branding, he discusses the importance of sustainability and the evolving role of artificial intelligence, hinting at a new era where AI will play a crucial role in shaping brand identities.

This episode is a must-listen for professionals across business levels and sectors, offering valuable insights into the intersection of creativity, business, and human values. Tune in to understand how kiran khalap’s beliefs, actions, and career have defined the essence of the chlorophyll DNA and set a new standard for building and sustaining brands in the 21st century.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

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Join us for Episode 119 of the award-winning MVP - The Master's Voice podcast, featuring an enlightening conversation with the peerless PR and Comms leader, Madan Bahal, co-founder and Managing Director of India's largest independent PR and Marketing firm Adfactors PR. This is a rare media appearance by Madan; to our knowledge, his first in the past three years. In this insightful episode, Madan speaks of building a National Asset like Adfactors PR with Corporate Spirituality. And we at Mediabrief believe that the same qualities and culture can certainly empower the beleagured Public Relations industry in India.

We speak of Adfactors PR's remarkable journey, recent awards, and the keys to its sustained success. Discover how the firm adapted during the COVID-19 pandemic, transitioning swiftly and without a minute of downtime from a desktop- to a laptop agency. Also learn about the integral role of the team in fostering continuous growth.

In conversation with MVP host Pavan R Chawla, who is also founder-editor of Mediabrief.com, Madan highlights the importance of integrity, continuous learning, and being a good generalist in public relations. He shares his vision for the future of Adfactors PR, the firm's approach to succession planning, and shares the secret and significance of building strong client relationships through effective communication.

This episode offers a deep dive into the values, culture, and corporate spirituality that underpin Adfactors PR’s philosophy of sustainable growth.

The conversation is packed with insights, inspiration, and the wisdom of Madan Bahal, the peerless and highly respected PR and communications professional, and a profoundly empathetic, sensitive, and humble human being who remains driven by a deep sense of Purpose for the eventual profit of the Nation. Watch, listen, and reap the benefits of this invaluable discussion with sagacious Madan Bahal in his first media interaction in more than perhaps three years now. (Thank you Chaitalee Shete, for having made this interaction possible.)

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

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Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

This, our 118th episode of MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast with advertising genius Piyush Pandey of Ogilvy, just landed into our lap from what was to have been a very short telephonic chat about Ogilvy’s latest ad film entitled Jugalbandi for Pidilite’s powerful brand Fevicol. But transcribing this chat into text to try to capture the wonderful, stirring cadences of his passion for great creatives that could only be reproduced through audio, left us with no option but to convert the conversation into a podcast with Pavan R Chawla, Founder-Editor of Mediabrief.com.

Piyush’s ads for Fevicol have always been industry defining, and Ogilvy’s creative output for Fevicol has actually defined Indian Advertising. Their previous big film, Sharmain Ka Sofa for Fevicol, was a global eye catcher, and if there could be another film worthty of the Sharmain Ka Sofa linaege, it has to be this, their latest, Jugalbandi, created by Prasoon, with Piyush guiding and encouraging all along.

Listen to this episode, and watch the two films too, on Mediabrief.com. I hope you enjoy the chat. This, after all, is Piyush Pandey – unassuming, down-to-earth, like not just his favourite brand Fevicol, but also its leadership teams and his own family and himself too, all of whom he describes as 'Zameen se jude huay'.

Listen. Reap. Revel.

And yes, I promise you – in fact, Piyush and I do – to bring you a longer and even more rewarding video podcast – Vodcasts, as they are called now – soon.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

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Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

This, the latest episode (#117) our award-winning series MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, features Eeshan Lokhande and Veer Patel, the innovative co-founders of the CEAT Indian Supercross Racing League (ISRL), in conversation with show host and Founder-Editor of MEDIABRIEF.COM, Pavan R Chawla. The discussion dives into the world of Supercross racing and the ambitious journey of CEAT ISRL, highlighting its unique contributions to Indian sports.
Genesis of CEAT Indian Supercross Racing League: Eeshan and Veer introduce listeners to Supercross racing, known for its high-flying jumps and intense competition. Inspired by motocross, Supercross is held on specially constructed dirt tracks. Eeshan and Veer aim to replicate this excitement in India through the CEAT ISRL, driven by their passion for the sport.

Building the league: teams, riders, and innovation: CEAT ISRL stands out for its innovative team structure, including different skill categories and the inclusion of women riders. This inclusive approach promotes gender diversity and broader participation. The duo explains the meticulous process of creating challenging yet safe tracks, emphasizing responsible racing behavior and stringent safety protocols.

Strategic partnerships and marketing: Eeshan and Veer highlight their collaboration with major broadcasting partners like Viacom18 and GeoCinema, which has significantly boosted the league’s visibility. Their multi-faceted marketing strategy targets Supercross enthusiasts, general sports fans, and potential sponsors through social media, promotional events, and collaborations with influential personalities.

Expansion plans and future vision: Looking ahead, Eeshan and Veer plan to expand the CEAT ISRL to more cities across India and explore international markets. They discuss their expectations for the league’s second season, focusing on enhancing the overall experience for participants and viewers and maintaining their position at the forefront of motorsport innovation in India.

Impact on the industry and job creation: Beyond racing excitement, Eeshan and Veer reflect on the broader impact of the CEAT ISRL on the Indian motorsport industry, including job creation in event management, broadcasting, and marketing. By building a robust ecosystem around Supercross racing, they aim to create sustainable growth opportunities within the industry.

Closing thoughts and future prospects: As the episode concludes, Eeshan and Veer express their enthusiasm for the future of Supercross racing in India. They see the CEAT ISRL as more than just a racing league; it’s a platform to nurture talent, inspire future riders, and foster a vibrant motorsport community.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
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Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

Ujaya Shakya, Founder of Outreach in Nepal and author of Brandsutra, and the first vice president of the Advertising Association of Nepal, is my very special guest on this, the 116th episode of our award-winning MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast. We caught up with Ujaya for this Vodcast and Podcast which is available on both – YouTube, and a set of the top global podcast directories including Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts and Spotify, among others.

Ujaya speaks of the size of the advertising market in Nepal, highlighting the growth of digital media and the impact of television content. He also speaks about the evolution of advertising in Nepal over the years, especially with the rise of digital media and changing consumer behaviors.

Our conversation explores the role of advertising in Nepal and how Indian advertising has influenced the industry there. Ujaya says talent – the finding and retaining of it – is a major challenge most advertising companies and heads grapple with. He also mentions reputation management in the advertising sector as a critical area for business heads, and emphasizes the importance of creativity, passion and teamwork for young professionals entering the field.

He also touches upon the regulation of advertising in Nepal, including the clean feed policy that restricts foreign advertising on Nepalese channels. Ujaya reflects on the impact of social media platforms, internet penetration, and the evolving technology in the advertising space in Nepal.

Ujaya speaks about the qualities required for success in advertising, and shares his admiration for, and the inspiration he draws from, industry stalwarts like Sam Balsara, Ramesh Menon, and Piyush Pandey, and the importance of collaboration between Indian and Nepali advertising industries for mutual growth.

So, thanks to my distinguished guest Ujaya Shakya, Founder of Outreach in Nepal and author of Brandsutra, and the first vice president of the Advertising Association of Nepal, this, the 116th episode of our award-winning MVP The Master’s Voice Podcast -- and, of late, Vodcast too, on YouTube -- provides a comprehensive view of the advertising landscape in Nepal and the efforts being made to empower the industry through regulatory measures, talent development, and innovative strategies. And more. I hope you find it a rewarding listen. Thank you for your time!

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

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Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

Our guest on the 115th episode of MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast is Deepika Bhan, President of Packaged Foods at Tata Consumer Products Limited. She shares insights with series host Pavan R Chawla, who is also Founder-Editor of Mediabrief.com.

(READ THE COMPLETE POST ON MEDIABRIEF.COM. YOU CAN ALSO WATCH THE VODCAST ON YOUTUBE. VISIT MEDIABRIEF.COM FOR THE VIDEO AND LINKS)
Deepika walks us across her experience at Unilever and TCPL, focusing on leadership, marketing initiatives like Tata Salt's recent campaign during IPL24, and growth strategies for TCPL.

The conversation highlights trust-building with consumers, technology in marketing, and the importance of continuous learning. Deepika emphasizes values-driven leadership, community-centric practices, and the impact of culture on professional growth. Watch the Vodcast on YouTube or listen on top podcast platforms for more.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

India’s Top ranked Media & Entertainment Analyst (as per Asia Money Brokers Poll 2021-22-23), Karan Taurani, SVP Elara Capital, speaks with Pavan R Chawla, host of MVP The Master’s Voice Podcast, in this, the 112th episode of the award-winning series.

They speak of the Media & entertainment Industry in India, with a focus on Live Sports, IPL24, OTT challenges, the growth of digital and Linear TV with particular reference to the ongoing IPL24.

Karan also speaks of the implications of welcome consolidations like the Reliance-Disney merger and its impact on the digital landscape.

He speaks of the challenges of measurement in the Indian Media industry, and the pressing need for accurate media measurement.

Karan also speaks of the opportunities for Digital Revenue growth, and explores at length the Theatrical sector which is still trying to recover from the crushing mix of the COVID-OTT onslaught.

This is a useful masterclass on the Indian Media & Entertainment industry that we hope you will find useful.

Check out the post on Mediabrief.com here: add link after it is published. You can also find links to all the top podcast directories that the series is listed and available on, in the same post.

Thanks for your time.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

This, the 111th episode of our award-winning series MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast, features Pankaj Krishna, Founder & CEO of Chrome DM, whose company and its verticals are helping keep the Media & Marketing space empowered with credible measurements across the spectrum of distribution, OTT, News consumption and more, including the critical role of data-driven insights and ethical content creation practices for sustainable growth and success. Pankaj speaks with Pavan R Chawla, series host and Founder-Editor of Mediabrief.com.

Pankaj recounts the journey of Chrome DM from its origins as a distribution analytics firm to its current position as a key player in the media and entertainment sector. With a workforce now totaling 600 employees, Chrome DM has undergone a significant transformation, pivoting from distribution audits to the development and launch of COTT, the digital platform designed to capture consumer data about OTT platforms for content consumption insights.

Pankaj touches upon importance of measuring digital consumption in the media industry was underscored, with digital platforms expected to take the lead as primary revenue contributors. The conversation also addressed the rise of connected TVs and the consequent shift in advertising revenue from traditional television to digital platforms.

Pankaj speaks of the importance of tailored communication in digital marketing and compares the strengths of linear TV to digital platforms. We explore challenges and opportunities in the industry, including the rise of smart (connected) TVs and the profitability concerns of OTT platforms. Looking to the future, Pankaj speaks of key trends in media and entertainment, content creation influences, and entrepreneurship insights, and emphasizes the role of data-driven research and quality journalism in shaping the industry's trajectory.

We discuss content consumption habits and the ongoing transformation of linear broadcasting in comparison to the dominance of digital platforms. Pankaj looks at challenges like the saturation of content platforms in India and examines the societal impacts of content, emphasizing the necessity of ethical considerations in content creation.

Pankaj shares Chrome DM’s hunger for success and its unwavering focus on maintaining credibility and integrity of its entire data gathering and reporting process. He also highlights the vast potential of the Indian market for data and research in the broadcasting sector, which positions Chrome DM as a key provider of essential insights.

On the personal side, Pankaj speaks of the value of mentorship in personal and professional growth.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

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Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

Brajesh Singh, President – Arthur D Little India, on powering enterprise with strategy and innovation

This, the 110th episode of the award-winning series MVP – The Master's Voice Podcast, features Brajesh Singh, President of Arthur D. Little India, in a dialogue that sheds light on the cutting-edge strategies and digital transformations leading India's growth, the evolution of consulting and Arthur D Little’s unique approach, Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and India's Leap Towards Inclusivity, The Role of AI in Shaping the Future, and Leadership Insights from, and the personal passion that propel, Brajesh Singh. And more.

Arthur D. Little's Approach: With a 140-year legacy, Arthur D. Little stands out for its global team, thought leadership, and open consulting approach. Singh explains how the firm's collaborative ethos and innovative practices make it a leading consulting entity. Their commitment to working closely with clients ensures they not only get strategic insights but also learn to implement changes independently.

India's Digital Inclusivity: We discuss Arthur D. Little's and NASSCOM's report on Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), showing how India's digital efforts are boosting social and financial inclusion. From Aadhaar to UPI, India's digital initiatives are global case studies, highlighting DPI's potential to transform lives and enhance efficiency.

AI's Role in the Future: Singh talks about Artificial Intelligence's (AI) crucial role in shaping business and society. He emphasizes its integration across sectors, posing both challenges and opportunities for job creation, data management, and innovation.

Brajesh Singh's Passions: Singh shares his love for wildlife photography and poetry, explaining how they provide perspective and purpose. He believes personal passions are vital for leadership and creativity, encouraging listeners to nurture their interests.

Leadership Wisdom
: Singh shares leadership insights from his career, emphasizing trust, perseverance, and embracing change. His stories of resilience, from nature to the boardroom, highlight the journey to success.

This conversation with Brajesh Singh, President of Arthur D. Little India, offers insights into consulting's future, India's digital transformation, and the essence of leadership. It's a must-listen for entrepreneurs, digital enthusiasts, and those interested in human stories behind corporations. Thanks for listening!

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

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Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

This, the 109th episode of our award-winning series Master's Voice Podcast (MVP) on MediaBrief.com features Saumya Rathor, Category Lead for the Potato Chips (Lays) division at PepsiCo India, in conversation with series host and Mediabrief.com Founder-Editor Pavan R Chawla. Saumya sheds light on the intricacies of brand management and marketing strategies and the overall ethos of the vertical she leads at one of the world's leading snack food brands.

A journey of empowerment and innovation: Saumya, with extensive experience in companies like ITC Limited, Amazon India, and Marico Limited, and with academic credentials from IIM and Harvard Business School, brings a unique blend of experience and vision to PepsiCo, where she plays a crucial role in steering the brand's narrative, focusing on consumer-centric campaigns that resonate with youth and cultural insights.

Isse Kehte Hain Pyaar campaign: On their latest campaign featuring Bollywood celebrities Ranbir Kapoor and Neetu Singh, Saymya says that the aim was to showcase generational love for Lay's, leveraging the emotional connection people have with the brand. The campaign, titled Isse Kehte Hain Pyaar, aimed to portray the snack as a symbol of boundless love, but never sharing you favorite chips!

The role of effective communication and consumer insight: Saumya shares how PepsiCo navigates consumer engagement in a digitally dominated world. She emphasizes social listening and responsiveness, outlining PepsiCo's approach to maintaining brand reputation through active engagement and prompt addressing of consumer feedback.

Creating comprehensive brand experiences: Further discussing broadcast and narrowcast marketing, Rathor highlights the synergy of traditional media and digital platforms in creating wide-reaching and personalized brand experiences.

Sustainability and Social Responsibility: A significant aspect of the discussion revolves around PepsiCo's commitment to social responsibility and sustainable practices. Saumya proudly speaks about empowering the agricultural community, including initiatives to help over 27,000 farmers, emphasizing PepsiCo's belief in giving back more to the world than it takes.

As the conversation concludes, it's evident that Soumya Rathor's vision for PepsiCo India's Potato Chips division transcends marketing metrics, aiming to create lasting connections with consumers, foster innovation, and drive the brand towards a more sustainable and socially responsible future.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

Srinivasan K Swamy (popularly known as Sundar), Chairman of R K Swamy Ltd, joins tMVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast series host Pavan R Chawla for a conversation on the cusp of the company's historic milestone: becoming the first Indian integrated marketing conglomerate to go public and list on the Indian Stock Exchange.

The IPO, scheduled from March 4th to 6th, comprises a fresh issue of equity shares worth ₹1,730 million and an offer for sale of up to 87 lakh Equity Shares, priced between INR 270 to INR 288 per share. Notably, the company raised Rs 187 crore from anchor investors on March 1st.

In the podcast, Sundar discusses R K Swamy's journey, its unique business model encompassing three distinct segments, and its impressive roster of clients. He emphasizes the company's commitment to long-term partnerships and high client retention rates. Sundar also sheds light on the company's growth trajectory over the past three years, its revenue trends, digital operations, geographical expansion, and research endeavors.

Additionally, Sundar reflects on the transformative shifts in marketing services and content, navigating through the emergence of digital advertising, OTT platforms, and video-centric mediums. He highlights the company's strategy to increase contributions from new clients across different business segments, including digital revenue growth, and the establishment of a digital video content production studio.

Sundar underscores the importance of staying close to customers and adapting to the evolving media landscape. He believes that the podcast episode provides a comprehensive understanding of R K Swamy's strategic evolution and its positioning in the industry. While expressing optimism about the IPO's potential as a good investment, Sundar advises listeners to seek professional investment advice before making any investment decisions.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

This, the 107th episode of our award-winning MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, features respected professional Lakshmi Narayanan B, Chief Marketing Officer at CEAT Ltd as our distinguished guest, in conversation with series host Pavan R Chawla. Lakshmi leads marketing for India and globally at CEAT, which is a household name since it was established in 1958. CEAT stands as one of India's leading tyre brands, serving customers across more than 110 countries globally.

In this insightful episode, Lakshmi shares his insights and experiences, shedding light on CEAT’s marketing philosophy and strategies. He emphasizes the importance of storytelling and customer-centric approaches, shares his pride at being a part of CEAT, and speaks of its commitment to product excellence and customer satisfaction.

Lakshmi speaks of CEAT's role as a driving force in the industry. CEAT, he tells me, has earned a reputation as a driver's secret among loyal customers. Lakshmi discusses CEAT's mandate to journey alongside customers, adapting to evolving consumer needs and infrastructural developments in India.

We explore CEAT's initiatives to enhance mobility safety and cater to the aspirations of younger generations, such as the Enduro track program.

Lakshmi speaks of Reputation Management, some important Digital Marketing trends and CEAT's media mix and marketing channels including their strategies for IPL and digital advertising; the last, with reference to last year’s IPL, and the next edition coming up soon. Lakshmi speaks of CEAT's corporate social responsibility initiatives and their partnership with the Maharashtra government to promote tyre safety awareness.

Lakshmi also speaks of a couple of CEAT marketing campaigns, and shares why he swears by CEAT tyres for India, plus some valuable advice with marketing professionals seeking to up their work game at all times.

We also discuss CEAT's approach to leveraging celebrities and influencers in marketing campaigns.

Reputation Management is never-ending (it’s like a mountain you must keep climbing) – an Everest that’s a never-rest. He says. Creativity brings growth, says the man who uses left brain, right brain, and heart.

So, join my conversation with the remarkable Lakshmi Narayanan B (aka Lakshmi), CMO of CEAT Ltd, who speaks with a powerful mix of knowledge and strong, proven experience to give us several valuable insights, on our award-winning series, MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast. Tune in now for the insider’s view to the space of marketing and reputation management, with special and inspiring reference to CEAT's own marketing strategies and its excellent corporate ethos. Thanks for your time.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

In the 106th episode of the award-winning series MVP – The Master's Voice Podcast from MediaBrief.com, Samir K Modi, the dynamic Managing Director of Modi Enterprises and the visionary behind Colorbar Cosmetics, takes center stage with series host Pavan R Chawla, Founder-Editor of MediaBrief.com. Having celebrated Colorbar's 19th successful year, Modi reflects on his entrepreneurial journey, drawing lessons from experiences that shaped him.

From his early days as a restaurant steward in Australia, Modi learned the value of earning his own money. As a manager with a major tobacco player, he advocated for inclusivity and equality by uniting managers and factory floor workers in a common dining room. Modi's marketing skills flourished at Philip Morris, and he eventually embraced the challenge of overseeing multiple companies entrusted to him by his father.

Emphasizing continuous learning and collaboration, Modi credits his father's influence, stressing the importance of being a lifelong trainee. Sharing personal experiences, he advocates embracing mistakes for growth and advises young entrepreneurs to focus on the future, learn from the best, and maintain self-belief.

Modi highlights women empowerment as a core value at Modi Enterprises, with 50% of the corporate team being women. Discussing Colorbar's journey, he narrates early struggles and the brand's rise as the largest consumer of Italian makeup in India. Looking ahead, Modi reveals plans to enter the Russian market and open multiple stores.

Prioritizing growth without compromises, Modi believes in giving back to the earth, focusing on people, purpose, and the planet over profit. The podcast captures a profound conversation with Samir K Modi, offering insights and advice to empower professionals and entrepreneurs at all stages.

A testament to Modi's success, this episode inspires with thoughts on continuous growth and the importance of giving back to the earth. Listen in for a compelling dialogue with Samir K Modi, the remarkable MD of Modi Enterprises, a man who has navigated the entrepreneurial landscape with phenomenal success, always remaining driven by the pursuit of success, growth, and an unwavering commitment to, as we said earlier, giving back to the earth.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

This, the 105th episode of our award-winning series MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast, brings you a deep-dive, inspiring, often chuckle-inducing conversation with the remarkable Jo Jackson, CEO of the globally respected D&AD.

As the first female CEO of D&AD, Jo passionately emphasizes the organization's commitment to diversity and equal opportunities. She sheds light on the D&AD Shift program, dedicated to empowering underrepresented emerging talents in the industry.

The discussion delves into the evolution of D&AD awards, exploring trends in award-winning campaigns and the influence of AI on the creative industry. Jo addresses the ownership of intellectual property for AI-generated campaigns.

The conversation takes a turn towards the creative industry in India, highlighting powerful campaigns addressing societal issues. Jo emphasizes the role of awards in encouraging innovation and learning experiences, advocating for greater exposure of Indian creativity globally.

An insightful point emerges as Jo shares a CEO's perspective on remote work versus in-office, providing valuable insights for leaders across sectors. The podcast concludes with a glimpse into D&AD's exciting future plans, including a website revamp and an anticipated in-person festival in London.

Jo unveils D&AD's commitment to a more accessible website, offering masterclasses for professionals at all levels, aligning with the organization's mission as a creative educational charity. The CEO introduces initiatives like Win One Teach One, reflecting D&AD's dedication to fostering a barrier-free community of creative excellence.

Well, then, the 105th Episode of the award-winning series MVP The Master’s Voice Podcast promises valuable knowledge and insights, and multiple surges of inspiration from a peerlessly passionate, knowledgeable, accomplished and inspired creativity and design professional, and now the first female CEO of the remarkable D&AD – Jo Jackson, who is here at her fluent, inspiring best. Listen, chuckle, reap, revel. Thanks very much.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

This, the 104th episode of our award-winning series MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast, features highly respected and accomplished Industry captain, thought leader and expert Vikram Sakhuja, Equity Partner and Group CEO of Madison Media & OOH, India's largest independent Media Agency. Vikram is in conversation with Pavan R Chawla, series host and Founder-Editor of MediaBrief.com.

This, our first episode of the year 2024, is a very special Year-ender in which Vikram offers valuable insights and guidance for all professionals across Media, Marketing, Advertising and more; insights we are confident will empower them as they square up to exploit and face the opportunities and challenges respectively in their quest for profit and growth with purpose.

Vikram speaks of 5 important themes in this special year-ender:

(i) AdEx Movement in 2024: Advertising spending in 2024 is influenced by changing consumer behavior. Digital media growth slows, while traditional media like TV, print, and radio is expected to grow by about 10%. Digital media seems saturated, and traditional media still holds a sizable and loyal audience base.

(ii) Industry Consolidation in 2023: 2023 saw significant consolidation in broadcasting and advertising sectors, driven by the pursuit of scale, efficiency, and profitability. Consolidation's impact on media distribution and pricing is discussed, with no immediate effect on the bargaining power of media agencies and advertisers due to a highly fragmented market.

(iii) Viability of Media Plays (Sports Rights and OTT): Vikram explores challenges and opportunities in sports rights and OTT. Topics include high acquisition costs, monetization potential, innovation challenges, and the role of media agencies in adding value. The conversation praises OTT platforms for diverse, high-quality content, offering a suggestion on facing challenges from YouTube.

(iv) Evolving Role of Media Agencies: The changing media landscape emphasizes the crucial role of media agencies in providing expertise and solutions. Challenges in delivering value while controlling costs are discussed, with suggestions on overcoming them through new technologies, processes, and mindsets.

(v) Importance of Safeguards in the Digital Space: Vikram stresses the need for a safe and transparent digital ecosystem, protecting the interests of all stakeholders. The role of third-party measurement is highlighted, suggesting tech giants lead by example to address issues like ad fraud, waste, and antitrust, ensuring accountability and trust in digital media.

So do tune in, and I hope you find the episode rewarding. Do email us with your feedback. Thanks, and have a lovely 2024!

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

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Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

Welcome to episode 103 of our award-winning series MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast, in which I am delighted to bring you a conversation with cricket, business and sustainability luminary Phil Oliver, CEO of Desert Vipers from the DP International T20 League, where Phil and his excellent franchise are using the passion of Cricket to drive awareness about, and the impact of, sustainability for the greater good. Join us as we explore the fascinating journey of Desert Vipers, the cricket franchise that not only aims for excellence on the field but also stands as a beacon for sustainability in the sports industry. Phil is on conversation with me, Pavan R Chawla, Founder-Editor of MediaBrief.com, and host of MVP The Master's Voice Podcast.

Phil boasts over 15 years of experience in the cricketing world which includes having steered Desert Vipers to prominence as runner-up in the inaugural season of the DP International T20 League in the UAE. What sets the CEO and his franchise apart is not just cricketing prowess but an unwavering commitment to sustainability. As Phil takes center-stage in this episode, he shares valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities faced by new entrants in cricket, all while emphasizing the pivotal importance sustainability has, and the crucial role it plays, in shaping their brand mission, strategy and growth.

Phil tells me Desert Vipers now stands committed to reducing its footprint with a clear vision of achieving net-zero status by 2040. He passionately discusses the urgent need for action against climate change and how the franchise is actively participating in the UN Sport for Climate Action Framework.

MediaBrief recommends: We urge our listeners to go, get their hands on Desert Vipers’ excellent report entitled Corporate Sustainability Strategy Framework 2023/24,here.

Desert Vipers - Driving Purposeful Profit: Beyond the cricket field, Phil sheds light on Desert Vipers' initiatives to engage the younger generation through sustainable practices. The franchise is actively involved in spreading awareness through player engagement, social media campaigns, and interactive sessions with schools and colleges, plus indoor cricket games with corporates. Desert Vipers’ Sustainability in Schools Training Program aims to reach 8,000 kids in Dubai and India, creating a network of individuals and businesses committed to sustainability.

Desert Vipers, and Diversity, Marketing, and Data Analytics: As the conversation pivots to the cricketing aspect, Phil explores the diversity of the

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

In this, the 102nd episode of MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast, Shashi Kumar, Founder and CEO of Akshayakalpa Organic, discusses with host and MediaBrief Founder-Editor Pavan R Chawla , his mission to prepare farmers for economic empowerment and society with healthy food habits through the consumption of organic dairy and other products. Pavan had visited the excellent Akshayakalpa Organi farm in Tiptur 150 km from Bengaluru to record this episode.

Akshayakalpa Organic works closely with and helps over 1200 farmers across three states in India, producing around 90,000 liters of milk daily from 1,200 farmers. The company aims to change the way farming is done in the country by getting youngsters into farming and proving that there is money to be made in farming.

Akshayakalpa Organic Dairy Unit focuses on two key aspects: enabling regular cash flow to farmers and creating a sustainable farming ecosystem. They have been teaching farmers how to make quality manure at a scale for the last 13 years, which has enabled them to intervene at the farm side and improve their cash flow.

The company operates in three states, producing 90,000 liters of milk daily and employing 1,200+ farmers. They are the Number One organic dairy products house in India in the small sub-sector, with a solid INR300 crore share of the pie. However, challenges remain, such as the need to transition from conventional farms to organic ones and the high carbon footprint of the farming ecosystem.

In this episode of the Master's Voice podcast, Shashi Kumar, founder and CEO of Akshaya Kalpa Organic, discusses his marketing strategies and the importance of using digital platforms like WhatsApp for communication with target groups. He emphasizes the importance of maintaining strong relationships with farmers and fostering a positive work environment. The company focuses on attracting consumers to visit farmers and ensuring responsible recycling of milk packets. They also spend money on educating customers through small videos created in-house by an in-house team. The speaker wishes the government would head a committee or advisory group to help India transition to organic milk production. The company is open to learning from other organizations and consumers, and they will continue to share their experiences and knowledge.

Shashi Kumar also discusses the marketing gimmick of A1 and A2 milk products in India, arguing that there is no scientific difference in nutritional value between milk produced with A1 protein and milk produced with A2 protein. He also discusses the role of dairy in the Indian ecosystem, particularly in farming. He also discusses the importance of lactose intolerance and the need for doctors to be consulted for advice.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

My distinguished guest on this episode of our award-winning series MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast features Sheena Kapoor, Head Of Marketing, Corporate Communications and CSR at ICICI Lombard, the leading private general insurer in India.

Sheena's journey through the finance industry, coupled with her marketing prowess across all kinds of media platforms and her strong focus on CSR, has not only made her a valuable asset to ICICI Lombard but also source of inspiration for professionals, both within and outside ICICI Lombard.

The role Sheena and her team have been playing along with the other committed professionals at ICICI Lombard has been instrumental in steering the company towards success and social impact and the respect these bring.

Sheena joined ICICI Lombard in January 2022, from Edelweiss Financial Services, Edelweiss Wealth Management, and after 11 years at the Times of India Group.

Sheena, who has always pursued continuous learning and sought fresh challenges, ventured into heading innovations for the Times of India, where she acquitted herself with distinction across an 11-year period. Her thirst for deeper insights into the business and a desire to work with a market leader in the BFSI space led her to ICICI Lombard. Apart from the fact that it is a great, purpose-driven brand, what helped Sheena come to ICICI was the allure of the additional CSR mandate, which is something close to her heart.

Sheena emphasizes the importance of proactivity, self-initiation of ideas, and a relentless pursuit of opportunities—principles that have propelled her career forward.

Sheena speaks at length about the important CSR initiatives and campaigns that ICICI Lombard has rolled out, and her eyes light up when she speaks of some memorable initiatives like the employee volunteering program Caring Hands, and ICICI Lombard's involvement with the ICSF Foundation. Notable programs such as Ride to Safety and Niranjali showcase the company's commitment to making a positive impact on society. Sheena also sheds important light on what helps create and drive the kind of great agency-client relationship that can help deliver such memorable campaigns.

Sheena Kapoor's journey should also inspire aspiring professionals and exerpienced veterans alike. So tune in to this episode of MVP The Master’s Voice Podcast , to Sheena Kapoor, Head Of Marketing, Corporate Communications and Csr at ICICI Lombard. This is an insightful conversation with a young leader who embodies the spirit of transformative leadership, great business-building marketing, and responsible social responsibility to help her company drive both – profit and purpose.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

Delighted that in this, our landmark 100th episode of our award-winning series MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, our distinguished guest is Leigh Dey , SVP and Global Chief Marketing Officer of global tech giant Red Hat, which is also the world's largest open-source software company. In this very special episode, Leigh discusses open development, impact, diversity, authenticity in marketing, and much more. She speaks with the show host Pavan R Chawla, Founder-Editor of MEDIABRIEF.COM.

Open source software solutions enable collaboration, innovation, and value creation for the customers, partners, and communities of Red Hat, the pioneer in the space, and Leigh speaks of her experience of leading the global marketing team and driving brand awareness and demand generation for the company.

Leigh shares insights on how Red Hat leverages open development, which is a way of working that involves collaboration, feedback, and iteration among diverse stakeholders. She explains how open development enables Red Hat to deliver solutions that are more secure, reliable, and scalable, about fostering creativity and problem-solving.

Besides delivering value to customers, Red Hat also strives to make a positive difference in the world through its diversity and CSR initiatives. Leigh emphasizes the importance of diversity and inclusion in Red Hat's culture and values, and how the company promotes a sense of belonging and respect for everyone.

She also highlights some of the programs and activities that Red Hat supports to foster diversity and inclusion, and to empower women pursuing a career in tech.

We discuss Leigh's impact on the Red Hat Summit, and marketing success, and she gives us a peep into her daily routine and the delicate balance between work and wellness.

We explore Leadership skills and the empowerment of team members, before delving into the introduction of Red Hat and its role in powering infrastructure for leading industries.

Leigh highlights Red Hat's purpose-driven approach and corporate social responsibility initiatives, along with the marketing philosophy, emphasizing authenticity and customer value.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

This, the 99th episode of the award-winning series MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, features Josy Paul, the acclaimed advertising and marketing leader, Chairman, and Chief Creative Officer at BBDO India. Josy's remarkable insights and unique perspective shine through his heart-to-heart conversation with show host Pavan R Chawla, Founder-Editor of MediaBrief.com. Josy embodies rare humility, values learning from failure, and champions free creative spirits.

Josy's belief in the significance of context, emphasizing that "context is your pulse on the world," is truly enlightening. He likens a great agency-client relationship to love, where giving is paramount. Josy shares how his years of trail, experience, failure and success have stood him in great stead as he keep moving forward in true seeker fashion. Little wonder, then, that he is a global advertising and creative icon.

Josy's preference for a circular approach over a pyramidal one, and his focus on the authority of the idea, not the other way around, reveal his innovative mindset. He candidly recalls a favorite car-back-seat creation and rediscovers a lost mission statement from his youth; a statement that reflects his enduring positivity.

Josy passionately speaks about empathy and imagination, addressing the yearning of young creatives for self-expression over approval. He acknowledges his own journey marked by failures, rejections, and embarrassment, which ultimately led to his resounding success.

Josy underscores the importance of generosity and its reciprocal rewards. His leadership at BBDO India revolves around making soul-stirring connections for client brands in a simple and self-effacing manner.

Josy's succinct response to 'Why BBDO India for brands?' encapsulates the mission and promise of the creative powerhouse he leads.

In a world where few listen, Josy values sensitivity and empowers his teams to think freely, avoiding clichés while nourishing their core energy center. His words are a source of wisdom and actionable insights for professionals, experts, promoters, and students alike. Josy Paul, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer at BBDO India, is the inspiring guest on the 99th episode of MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast. Thank you for your time.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

In our 98th episode of the award-winning MVP - The Master’s Voice Podcast, Anuj Singhal - Managing Editor of CNBC-AWAAZ is in conversation with MediaBrief Founder-Editor Pavan R Chawla. Anuj is a highly regarded stock market anchor known for his wealth of experience and expertise in the world of stock markets and investments.

Anuj's journey at CNBC-TV18 and Network 18 began in 2003 when he joined as a research analyst. Over the past 21 years, he has achieved significant milestones, culminating in his role as the Managing Editor of CNBC-Awaaz in September 2022. He played a pivotal role in establishing CNBC Awaaz's leadership position in both linear television and digital media.

Under Anuj's leadership, CNBC Awaaz has become a trusted and brand-safe platform for responsible businesses. He is also a prominent figure in the finance sector on social media, with over 250,000 followers. Anuj's accurate market predictions have earned him the nickname 'Nifty Magician.'

In this episode, Anuj shares his recommendations for 10 stocks suitable for medium to long-term investments, emphasizing the importance of seeking advice from SEBI-registered investment advisors. He also addresses the issue of 'finfluencer' misinformation, discussing how individuals can protect themselves from false financial information disseminated by influencers who may inadvertently share misinformation due to ignorance or, in some cases, disinformation driven by vested interests.

Anuj sheds light on how CNBC Awaaz upholds its editorial credibility through rigorous fact-checking processes to ensure a brand-safe environment for advertisers focused on brand safety. He provides an overview of CNBC Awaaz's journey, highlighting its growth in viewership, ratings, and strong credibility.

Anuj delves into the channel's content policy, emphasizing the values and strategies that drive their approach to informing, educating, inspiring, and engaging viewers in the business world. He also discusses significant content initiatives and their impact, including positive policy changes they've triggered.

Shifting focus to the media industry, Anuj shares his insights on its growth across various platforms and identifies opportunities for the nation and economy. He underscores the continuous learning and development efforts in place for CNBC Awaaz's employees and teams.

Anuj's beliefs are deeply influenced by the wisdom of the late Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, a renowned investor. To discover the impactful words Jhunjhunwala shared with Anuj, tune in to this episode to benefit from Anuj's insightful views and guidance. We hope you enjoy the conversation and find it usefuland insightful.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

Krishnarao Buddha - Senior Category Head at Parle Products Pvt Ltd, needs no introduction as a fine marketing leader who empowers Marketing and, indeed, the entire professional ecosystem, with autonomy, empathy, and partnership with a sense of purpose. We are delighted that he is our distinguished guest on this, the 97th episode of MVP – The Master's Voice Podcast.

Krishna, as he is fondly called, has more than 30 years of rich experience across different FMCG brands, as varied as Maxwell Apparels, Uncle Chips, and a brief stint with the Dabur-Nestle company, Excelsia Foods (all in his pre-Parle days). Thereafter, he has spent his last 22 years with the respected legacy group, Parle.

We dive into Krishna's extensive experience in FMCG industry and his role in driving category growth, marketing strategies, and new product launches at Parle. We discuss his early years, including his education and marketing experience with Maxwell Apparels and Uncle Chips. He also shares his learnings from each company he has worked with so far.

Krishna shares his insights and experiences from his time at Uncle Chips, where he learned the art of negotiation and executing sales promotions. He shares why it is important to value the role of strategic business-growth consultants, including strategic business-growth and comms partner-vendors, and shares how, thanks to the culture and thinking at Parle, his pre-Parle days' learning of 'nichord lo' (squeeze as much as you can out of your vendor or supplier) has shifted towards an empathy-driven, active willingness to negotiate on costs with vendors in a way that would help build mutually beneficial relationships. Because a happy vendor is a solidly committed partner, and that kind of support is crucial to success.

Krishna shares the lessons he learned from each company, including, among other things, how the approach of prioritizing the top line while still considering the bottom line creates a win-win situation for the company and its trade partners.

Krishna explains Parle's strategy of utilizing a mix of traditional and digital media to reach their target audience. He discusses their partnership with sports events like the IPL and the ICC Cricket World Cup, which is currently ongoing.

He also discusses the Television vs. Digital space and the potential of Connected TV (CTV) in India and the opportunities it presents for marketers. We also delve into the values that drive Parle's marketing strategies. Krishna also speaks of the importance of empathy, a shared vision, and the significance of the correct 'attitude' in potential candidates.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

This, the 96th episode of our award-winning and popular podcast series MVP – The Master’s Voice, is an audio and video podcast, and features another distinguished master of his very significant and strategic crafts of marketing, sales, brand building and business leadership - Shyam Motwani, Business Head of Godrej Locks and Architectural Fittings & Systems. In conversation with Pavan R Chawla.

The Godrej Locks brand has been growing and building the category of locks and locking systems and architectural fittings and solutions for more than a century now. Godrej Locks has been safeguarding millions of homes and offices, and the premises of prestigious institutions like the Reserve Bank of India, the Taj Mahal and other important organizations, with industry-leading products and services that began with the timeless Navtal lock, and have consistently evolved to high-end holistic safety solutions.

Shyam shares his professional background and highlights Godrej Locks' commitment to innovation and safety by remaining consistently and completely invested in the adoption of innovation and digitization.

Shyam discusses the introduction of the iconic Navtal padlock and the company's continued focus on padlocks with evolving technologies. We also explore their expansion into architectural fittings and their vision of investing in digital technology for integrated solutions.

We discuss the design-led innovation behind Godrej Locks and premium handles. Shyam highlights their success in smaller markets to provide security to people, and emphasizes the importance of continuous innovation and empowerment of the teams at Godrej Locks, and more.

Shyam speaks of Godrej Locks’ marketing strategies, of targeting architects, interior designers, contractors, and carpenters, and shares information on the Godrej Value Co-Creators Club and the Godrej Vishesh Labh Club.

We discuss Godrej Locks’ initiatives to promote home safety and awareness, including campaigns and the launch of digital locks, and address the issue of crimes against elderly people, and the comprehensive safety solutions offered by Godrej Locks, and also, the free home safety check-up campaign to assess the adequacy of locks and suggest any upgrades that might be required.

So, an insightful conversation, as an audio and a video podcast, with Shyam Motwani, Business Head of Godrej Locks and Architectural Fittings & Systems. Leadership lessons from one of India’s most experiences and accomplished leaders of the foremost company in the locks and ‘allied systems’ space in India – Godrej Locks from the most respected, legacy Godrej Group.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

Delighted to share that the 95th episode of our award-winning MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast features visionary tech thought- and industry leader Rajiv Shah, President and CEO of Digital Business Services at Happiest Minds Technologies. In conversation with series host Pavan R Chawla.

Rajiv, who has shepherded and and grown several businesses, delves into multiple things including the realms of technology, innovation, and cultivating a positive work culture. This episode presents a dual-format episode that will be available in audio format on leading podcast platforms like Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts, and on YouTube in the video format. I had to bridge time zones between Mumbai and Boston for this conversation.

Discover Rajiv’s impressive three-decade-long career journey across diverse industries, from Electronic Data Systems to Wipro Technologies, IBS Software Services, and MU Sigma. His role as the CEO of IBS Software Services stands out as a testament to his transformative leadership.

Rajiv unravels the journey of Happiest Minds Technologies, the IT organization that prioritizes happiness and mindfulness at its core. Their focus on fostering a culture of happiness has resulted in satisfied employees, delighted customers, and fulfilled shareholders.

Specializing in digital services, Happiest Minds Technologies empowers global enterprises in their digital transformation. Rajiv emphasizes the importance of driving outcomes for clients, enabling revenue growth, profitability, and market expansion.

Rajiv underscores the pivotal role of change management and organizational culture in adapting to new technologies and processes, as well as the need for mutual learning, transparency, and the significance of taking ‘baby steps’ to drive transformation effectively.

Rajiv's leadership style revolves around creating the right environment for the success of his teams, which number 5000-plus across the world. He champions asking the right questions over being prescriptive, and also nurturing an environment built on trust and collaboration.

So here’s Rajiv Shah, offering an engaging account of the journey of Happiest Minds Technologies, emphasizing happiness, mindfulness, and the crucial role that leadership must always play in achieving success. Here’s profound inspiration for professionals and thought leaders across industries – Rajiv Shah, President and CEO of Digital Business Services at Happiest Minds Technologies, championing adaptability, innovation, and a culture of happiness.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:

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Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.

Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

Our award-winning series, MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast, features respected industry experts especially invited to share their knowledge, insights and learnings from their experience and achievements, and I am delighted that our 94th episode features Ramesh Narayan, the singularly exceptional and respected Advertising and Marketing leader and enabler, and the most awarded professional across the A&M space in India, Ramesh Narayan.

The warm and self-effacing thought leader discusses his early career as a journalist, starting an agency, building great, long-lasting and rewarding professional relationships that turn into mutually respectful friendships and also shares other personal gems.

Ramesh also speaks discusses the importance of, and his love for, sustainability, equality and inclusiveness, the great impact of advertising and its ability to not just hep position the best brands as what they demonstrably are, today, but also to help empower society by weeding out terrible diseases like polio and evil social practices.

Ramesh also shares his views about the latest feature in his feathers-studded cap – the Honorary Lifetime Membership AAFA very recently conferred upon the doyen for his wonderful service.

He lauds the several A&M industry initiatives for measurement, like BARC, and also speaks of the need and room for improvement in measurement for other areas like FM Radio, and for the yet-unmeasured OTT space in India.

And much more.

This is Ramesh Narayan, the diminutive yet towering thought leader in straight-speak avatar, which is the only one I’ve ever seen him in. And this time round, there’s a bucket load of insights and inspiration for the younger professionals. Doubtless, his peers and everyone else across the spectrum will benefit too.

So go ahead. Listen. Reap. Revel. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Ramesh Narayan on this, the 94th episode of MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast from MediaBrief.com. Thank you for your time

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

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Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

My distinguished guest on this, the 93rd episode of our award-winning podcast series, MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, is Arwa Husain, Director of Financial Services at AdFactors PR, which is not just India’s biggest and most awarded and respected strategic comms consultancy by far, but amongst its several industry- and sector-leading practices across diverse sectors, boasts of its remarkable BFSI practice, which is not just India’s but Asia’s biggest practice in the space. A practice that Arwa has helped grow to its current size, stature and industry respect.

Arwa, who has been a part of the leadership team that has grown Adfactors PR over the years, speaks about several important things, including company growth, diversification, the response to COVID-19, the ever-ongoing focus at Adfactors PR on global and India trends and learning, her mentors and inspiration, and her brief assessment of the DNA of Adfactors PR which has always kept it growing over the years to the extent that it has not only remaind a consistent industry leader.

The disarmingly easy-spoken but ever incisive and strategic Arwa favours us with some very inspiring insights from her personal life too. She expresses her gratitude to several mentors over her work journey across multiple work spaces. She raises a grateful toast to India’s top PR leaders Madan Bahal and Rajesh Chaturvedi, and to Adfactors PR CEO Nijay Nair and to that peerless BFSI and Strategic Communications druid Dr Pradeep Raje. As, also, to two other professional luminaries, Anjali Patil (‘amazing lady, who was my boss in my previous job, and is now my client’, as she tells me), and Ajay Kakar, who also became her client and is someone who has inspired her, and who, we know, does some amazing work for the entire Advertising and Marketing fraternity. Of course, it’s an endless list, Arwa says graciously.

So here’s Arwa, sharing insights from the phenomenal consistent growth and resonance of Adfactors PR -- in the growth of which she has been a strong and trusted ally and partner with the rest of the leadership team.

Listen in, and I hope and am sure every business owner, promoter, marketer, brand builder and custodian, along with the younger professionals across functions, vertical and companies, will benefit from this conversation with Arwa Husain, Director - Adfactors PR, on MVP The Master's Voice Podcast series. Thank you for your time.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:
First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

My distinguished guest on this, the 92nd episode of our award-winning MVP, the Master's Voice podcast, is Mehernosh Pithawalla, Senior Vice President and Head of Brand and Strategic Insights at Godrej & Boyce. In this episode, which is available as a video on YouTube and also as an audio podcast across the top podcast directories in India and across the world, Mehernosh shares his journey from starting as a salesperson in Godrej locks to his current position and highlights the challenges and growth he has experienced along the way.

Mehernosh discusses his role at Godrej, overseeing brand and marketing, consumer insights, and corporate communications and PR. Despite the complexity of his role, Mehernosh encourages independent thinking and originality within his team. He emphasizes the importance of trust, loyalty, and freedom, allowing room for mistakes.

We discuss the culture at Godrej, which values openness, inclusivity, mutual respect, and equality. Leadership plays a crucial role in creating this culture and developing future leaders. Godrej's purpose is to pioneer progress for generations, focusing on sustainability, business performance, and innovation. The core Godrej values are integrity, trust, respect, and consumer-centricity, environment-stewardship, and entrepreneurship.

Mehernosh speaks at length about the marketing strategies employed by Godrej, and the importance of digital marketing including digital platforms, using AR, VR, programmatic advertising, and virtual tours to enhance the customer experience. He highlight the need for a balanced approach, incorporating physical interactions with customers. Also, addressing challenges such as ad fraud and brand-unsafe environments in programmatic advertising.

Mehernosh shares that they conduct test marketing and analyse audience profiles to determine the best audience for programmatic advertising. They work with both in-house digital experts and an agency for programmatic advertising. They emphasize the importance of micro-segmentation, ethnographic studies, and understanding the consumer journey.

Sustainability is a core value for Godrej, and they have initiatives focused on protecting people, the planet, and creating shareholder-value.

They drive initiatives for greener operations, developing green products, and imparting digital skills to youth.

COVID has led to changes in consumer habits, with increased adoption of digital. Customization and personalization are essential aspects of their strategy.

So, my conversation with the charming, gracious and generous Mehernosh, who is equally richly experienced and incredibly wise in his professional approach to all that he does, including leading a smart and capable young

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:
First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

Partha Sinha, President - Times of India Group, speaks with Pavan R Chawla on Print, Digital, measurements, the A&M industry, knowledge, passion, impact, empowerment, and more.

In the 91st episode of the highly acclaimed MVP – The Master's Voice Podcast, the distinguished guest is none other than Partha Sinha, the President of the Times of India Group. Partha's vibrant energy, relentless ideas, and unwavering enthusiasm make him the Pied Piper of Print, Passion, Knowledge, Empowerment, and Impact, leaving an indelible mark on the entire advertising and media (A&M) industry.

Hailing from esteemed institutions such as IIT Kharagpur and IIM Ahmedabad, Partha's illustrious career spans over three decades, encompassing roles as diverse as a nuclear design engineer, banker, strategy and marketing head, and advertising strategist. His journey into the world of advertising was ignited by the late Ranjan Kapoor, who recognized Partha's potential and urged him to pursue it. Curiosity led Partha to ask Kapoor, "What do you (people) do in advertising?"

Partha always ardently advocates for the power of print and the empowerment of young professionals in the A&M space.

Known for his candid and forthright demeanor, Partha's straight-speak resonates with industry professionals and friends alike. His logical arguments, devoid of pretense, make a lasting impact. Apologetic but unbothered by the absence of PR-consciousness, Partha's words emanate from the depths of his heart. As he states in the episode, "I say whatever I do because I mean it; it comes straight from the heart."

Beyond his expertise in the industry, Partha's dedication to knowledge dissemination and empowering younger professionals shines through. Troubled by the lack of depth and quality in industry conversations, he strives to provide young professionals with insights from formal programs of professional education.

Partha's love for music, especially Hindustani Classical and Karnatak music, permeates the conversation. He speaks passionately about his deep friendship with fellow musical soulmate Prasoon Joshi and the enduring purity found in classical compositions. Moreover, Partha fondly reminisces about his time at IIT, where he discovered new music genres, delved into literature, and shaped his holistic growth.

The 91st episode of MVP – The Master's Voice Podcast with Partha Sinha, President of Times of India Group, encapsulates delightful insights and thought-provoking ideas. As a testament to its significance, this episode, says presenter Pavan R Chawla, "undoubtedly ranks among my top three favorites from the 91 episodes published thus far."

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:
First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

My distinguished guest on this, the 90th episode of our award-winning series MVP – The Master's Voice Podcast, is the iconic Radio RJ and creative content professional, Hrishikesh Kannan, popularly known as HrishiKay, Producer and Presenter on Radio One India's flagship daily morning show Good Morning Mumbai, on 94.3 Radio One.

Hrishi brings distinguished radio presentation skills and strategic content-creation abilities to the table from decades of experience. To my knowledge, Hrishi is one of the very few radio presenters to have worked with distinction on all formats of radio broadcast, including linear, satellite, and digital. And in my book, HrishiKay is one of the most accomplished -- and perhaps the single most experienced -- RJ when it comes to all the platforms he has worked with.

Add to his phenomenal talent the crucial quality of toil - Hrishi ideates on and helps define the personality and content of every episode of his wonderful marathon 5-hour, Good Morning Mumbai show every day.

Hrishi is also National Brand Head for Radio One India and manages and oversees content creation and execution, both on-air and digitally, for the entire network.

A brilliant radio presenter and content creator at heart, Hrishi is an equally incisive sales-conscious professional who has helped enable company sales by creating and introducing the most useful and relevant content after overcoming external narrow misconceptions, and over the years, has pioneered the introduction and growth of several genres of content on FM Radio that are as popular with listeners as they are with marketers.

Hrishi has also been National Training Director – Radio Hosts and Producers at Radio One, and is one of the best mentors to the RJ community and other young professionals.

That’s a long enough intro to one of the best creative professionals and RJs across FM radio in India, so we'll let you get into this episode with HrishiKay.

It's a free-flowing conversation which showcases Hrishi's passion, great talent, and proven deliveries for FM radio, and moves from the personal to the professional aspects of life, career, industry, and more, with great ease.

Suffice it to say that HrishiKay towers above most on the first fold of my own mental homepage of the top radio and audio presenters. Hrishi is strapping tall, of course, but a physical minnow when you compare his physical height with that of his work and its quality, class, and impact. Now those? Another level, entirely. Peerless.

So go ahead, listen in to the man with the superb voice that hits you in the solar as much as his words, thinking, warmth and delivery leave you in a happy, thoughtful, sunny state of mind.

Here's Hrishikesh Kannan. HrishiKay!

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:
First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

This, the 89th episode of our award-winning series, MVP - The Master's Voice podcast, is very special, because it marks the publication of our audio podcast with a separate video version too (on YouTube). My distinguished guest on this episode is young Keshav Maheshwari, Managing Director of Allen Overseas. We had a captivating conversation about Allen Overseas' strong growth through international expansion, and the remarkable potential of digital technology in the education industry.

Disarmingly self-effacing and passionate, Keshav spoke of his dedication to innovation and the invaluable guidance he receives from his family and the LinkedIn community.

Keshav, who loves to sing and strums the guitar too, revealed that his family's musical talent runs deep, with an interest in music and singing being a cherished tradition. (We got him to sing a favourite Arijit Singh song too.

Allen Overseas' unwavering commitment to providing quality
education. Allen Overseas has become a powerhouse in its space by assembling
top-notch faculty, creating effective academic pedagogies, and developing
comprehensive study materials. And, of course, Keshav is driving their current growth-focus
by establishing a stronger presence in the Middle East, empowering students to
excel and build successful careers. They have 7 centres already in the GCC,
with another 3 planned.

While he is excited about the potential of AI and ChatGPT to revolutionize the learning experience, Keshav also emphasises the importance of human intervention to maintain the quality of education, and cautions against over-reliance on AI-generated content

All this, and much more, in my chat with Keshav Maheshwari, MD of Allen Overseas. For me, it was an enriching peep into a young leader’s mind, and I hope you too find this an engaging and rewarding conversation. Thank you for your time.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:
First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

Nachiket Deole, the Head of Sales for India at DoubleVerify, a digital media measurement company that offers transparency and security in the advertising industry, speaks with series host Pavan R Chawla, who is Founder-Editor of MediaBrief.com.

DoubleVerify is known for powering performance for the world’s largest brands, marketplaces and publishers and brands to make advertising better and effective by ensuring ads are seen by real people in the intended geographies in brand-safe environments helping protect brand-reputations online and authenticating media quality on every screen.

Nachiket shares how his company stands out from others by providing effective solutions and more industry accreditations. He discusses DoubleVerify's offerings and highlights the importance of uniformity and apples-to-apples comparisons across platforms and matrices, especially in a fragmented digital ecosystem.

Nachiket also talks about four fundamental shifts in the advertising industry and suggests potential solutions to privacy-friendly technologies and solutions. The conversation also touches on privacy compliance, challenges during the pandemic, educating customers, and the importance of measuring campaigns to gain customers' trust.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:
First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

My distinguished guest in this episode of our award-winning series, MVP – The Master's Voice Podcast, is the young veteran, Puneet Das, President - Packaged Beverages, (India & South Asia), Tata Consumer Products Limited. Puneet is a passionate driver of profit, purpose, delight, and value for the business.

Puneet, who joined Tata Consumer Products Ltd in November 2017, was appointed President – Packaged Beverages (India & South Asia) in April 2021. Prior to that, he held the position of Senior Vice President – Packaged Beverages, India, and played an important role in strengthening the core Tata Tea brand and its sub-brands.

Recently, on Mother's Day, TCPL (Tata Consumer Products Ltd) introduced pioneering packaging innovations and ran a category-first, personalized campaign. They deployed a mix of emotionally connecting packaging with hyper-personalization across an unprecedented range of customized tea packs, each uniquely adorned with personalized messages and photos dedicated to mothers. This innovative packaging reflects the brand's core values of "care" and "personalization," which have consistently been showcased throughout their past campaigns.

Some excellent takeaways from Puneet Das on this episode:

· It’s all about continuous innovation, and having a mindset that keeps apace with the world that is changing every day.

· It is about the willingness and hunger to learn. And crucially, to listen and learn, and absorb.

· Have great curiosity. Don’t just be aware of what happened. Ask the ‘Why’ question. People often stop at facts and don’t proceed to the Why

· At all times, a brand must be and sound authentic, and not just clamber aboard a bandwagon because others are doing the same

· Also, marketers must be aware of the need to target consumers wherever they are in their digital journey

Puneet is a strong believer in the power of communities and considers community-building an important duty of every marketer. He emphasizes the need to engage in community-building for participation, conversations, and engagements. This includes occasional influencer networks, but more importantly, building organic influencer networks.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:
First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

The 86th episode of our award-winning MVP – The Master's Voice Podcast from MediaBrief.com features two eminent advertising-world leaders, Srinivasan K Swamy and Ramesh Narayan, speaking with passion about the promise of the upcoming Goafest 2023. They speak with Pavan R Chawla.

GoaFest 23 will celebrate creativity, campaigns, and cocktails as India's biggest advertising festival from the 24th of May to the 26th of May this year, in Goa, of course. It's hosted by the Advertising Agency's Association of India, the 3As of I, and the Advertising Club of course, TAC.

Why Goafest?
It's much better than even Cannes... the opportunities that the industry gets in India, to my mind, are significantly more than what you get in any other part of the world... There is nothing as grand as this (Goafest); nothing as well-executed as this. And I think it's something that we as Indians can be very proud of: Srinivasan K SwamyI

t is the largest industry-wide event of its kind in the whole of India, in the whole of Asia perhaps. It's also a place where you get amazing content throughout the day; it's where you can meet the Who's Who of the industry, interact, network with them, have a great time. And, of course, salute excellence in advertising creativity. What more do you need?: Ramesh Narayan

Mr. Swamy reminisces about how Goafest really began to take shape when three gentlemen took off on a recce-tour to Goa, and the backstory behind the creation of the first event, how two distinguished bodies – the AAAI and The Advertising Club (TAC) – came together to harness their expertise across, respectively, raising money for the event and organizing it, and managing the entire process of the awards entries, judging, and running the awards nights at the Goafest.

They are excited about the response to Goafest 2023, which will see a larger number of agencies participating and provide sharp and precise answers to the question: Why Goafest? Mr. Swamy is all praise for the CM of Goa, who was open and generous in helping the advertising industry hold its biggest fiesta in Goa. Over the years, close to 50,000 professionals have attended the fests across all its editions, thereby giving an impetus to Goa tourism.

Regarding the future of Goafest, Ramesh is confident that it will continue to grow each year. "My one hope is that one day I will see the ABBY Awards as an Indian award that is aspirational across the world," he says.

Amen to that.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:
First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

This, the 85th episode of our award-winning MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast from features the feisty Media & Entertainment leader who is as much of a content-expert as he is business leadership-adept -- Ajit Thakur, Co-Founder, Director, and CEO of aha, in conversation with Pavan R Chawla.

Sixteen of the most recent years from Ajit’s 26 years’ work experience have been in the media industry, working with companies like UTV (where he started in 2007) Sony Entertainment Television, Star India, and Eros. Ajit was instrumental in taking Sony Entertainment Television to new heights without relying on soap operas. He also launched Life OK.

Ajit founded aha and has been serving as its CEO. Within a year of its launch, Aha became a leading platform in the country, thanks to its sharp targeting and positioning. Very recently, Ajit was elevated to the Board of Directors. Under his leadership, Aha has captured the hearts of the Telugu-speaking audience and extended its presence into the Tamil market.

In this episode, Ajit shares his excitement about the ongoing transformation of the entertainment industry because of his belief that the traditional ways of doing things will be challenged and eventually become irrelevant.

Ajit and Arha Media, best known for its Aha brand, hope to play a role in shaping the future of the industry over and above their focus on entertainment, as a responsible global citizen contributing to making a positive impact on people and the planet.

Ajit narrates the Aha story from concept to exploration to the final strategic pivot he saw as the biggest opportunity for the future of their OTT business after having traveled across AP/Telangana to feel the pulse of content consumers. Aha's success is underlined by the power of the local language, why and how it raced to become Number One in its language-market and medium, why it has always remained fixed on no bundling despite great offers, and more. Throughout, the power of local content, and the value of the big initial pivot from opening with four to focusing on only one regional language paid off well, shine through.

Ajit also shares how, within and due to the wars that have just started out, consolidation is inevitable. He focuses on the importance of technology and data and believes that the sum of locals can be bigger than national, given the phenomenon that is the south.

Ajit also thinks back on his professional journey, from Coke to Unilever to UTV, to Star and Sony and Balaji, and harks back on the leaders -- including and from Sanjeev Gupta and Vikram Sakhuja at Coke to Sanjeev Mehta at Unilever to Ronnie Screwvala at UTV to Uday Shankar and Sanjay Gupta at Star to Ekta Kapoor,and now A

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:
First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

Our distinguished guest on this, the 84th published episode of our award-winning MVP The Master's Voice Podcast from MediaBrief.com, is the peerless Leena Jaisani, Assistant Secretary General and Head of FICCI Entertainment Division, FMCG, Retail, and E-Commerce. Leena is is at the helm of organizing and rolling out the Maha Kumbh for Indian and global M&E professionals and industry - FICCI Frames, and right now, she and her team all set for this year's edition of Frames, the FICCI Frames 2023, which will once again roll out the red carpet for knowledge, networking, and the collective empowerment of the M&E Industry in India as the Nation strives to bounce back from COVID. On this episode, Leena speaks about FICCI Frames 23, the industry, some favorite milestones of FICCI Frames' achievements for the M&E industry over the years, how FICCI and its M&E wing have empowered the industry, MSMEs, content producers, and the overall creative content economy of India. She also talks about the economic growth of the country through the awareness-driven consumption that only M&E can spur, which is a particularly strong and urgent need as India seeks to build infra for overall growth and prosperity. Leena shares why students must attend FICCI Frames 2023 and the kind of concessions it has embedded into the registration costs for students. She also speaks of how FICCI has been extremely focused on the skilling of youngsters for the M&E industry. She also speaks of her own journey with FICCI and particularly FICCI Frames over the years, right from the day Dr. Mitra decided to infuse new, young blood into his team and handpicked her to be part of his team. It was her first job, which she is still in, has made her own, and through which she has been truly empowering the M&E industry for more than two rewarding, results-driven decades now. Leena speaks gratefully of the leaders who have inspired her, recalling including Dr Amit Mitra, and the role and support to FICCI of other stalwarts like Amit Khanna and the late Yash Chopra. She pays tribute to Uday Shankar who she says has been a mentor to her, as he has been to much of the industry, and expresses her gratitude for all the support that Jyoti Deshpande, current Chair at FICCI Media & Entertainment Committee (and CEO at Viacom 18 India and President Media & Content Business, Reliance Industries Ltd) has provided to FICCI, Leena, and her team. Leena also thanks the government, the MIB, and all allied leaders across govt bodies and the overall dispensation to the multiple causes of the M&E industry. Do listen in. Thanks - Pavan R Chawla**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:
First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

On the 83rd episode of our award-winning MVP, the Master's Voice Podcast, Yash Sheel Srivastava, Managing Director Asia-Pacific at Coda Payments, joins Pavan R Chawla for an in-depth discussion.

Yash is an IIM Operations and Entrepreneurship graduate with experience in India, China, the United States, South East Asia, and the Middle East in industries such as fintech, logistics, ride-sharing, and electric mobility. He discusses Coda Payments, its offerings for gaming publishers and players, and how it empowers the crucial transaction chain and development.

Yash describes how Coda competes with legacy app platforms that permit in-app purchases and has become a key participant in the 'diversification of channels beyond legacy channels' that publishers require for survival and growth today. He also discusses the services on the payments side, where Coda Pay offers a publisher a single API with more than 500 payment methods in more than 60 countries, encompassing all forms of payment. Coda not only collects funds in all of these countries via licenced payment gateways, but also files taxes on the publisher's behalf and remits the funds to a single global account.

Yash explains that Coda's success over the past three years can be attributed to the current industry opportunity, which is enabled by three key market macros working in India's favour: the digital payment infrastructure, excellent smartphone penetration, and exceptionally low data costs. As a purpose-driven organization, Coda has avoided activities involving real-money wagering and fantasy sports. They tend to perform best in mid-core and hard-core games and share their views on games that are solely entertainment-based and not played for monetary rewards.

Yash provides a bird's-eye view of the gaming landscape in India, which is worth approximately USD 200 billion. He discusses Coda's robust, wholly-owned, and self-developed technology platform, which provides secure transactions governed by user-centric policies to prevent any form of abuse. Coda Payments, according to Yash, is poised for geometric development in India and the APAC region, with the most payment options, the best digital content titles, and a seamless vending machine-style checkout experience.

Yash makes it abundantly obvious that Coda Payments is a responsible stakeholder, and that the rights and safety of the users are of utmost importance. It allows them to establish a trustworthy, long-lasting enterprise in the country.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:
First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:
First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

Episode 81 of our award-winning MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, features the visionary Bikky Khosla, Founder of India's largest online B2B marketplace, TradeIndia.com, in conversation with me, Pavan R Chawla, Founder-Editor of MediaBrief.com.

TradeIndia.com is the complete solution for SMEs. Bikky has been empowering almost every SME and MSME across the length and breadth of India for more than a quarter century -- 27 years now, to be exact, actually.

I flew up to Delhi to record with Bikky, and the experience of recording across the table with the peerless industry veteran, venture capitalist and mentor of entrepreneurs was truly memorable. Bikky was grace personified as he shared insights and wisdom in a truly engaging, forthcoming manner.

In this episode, Bikky walks down memory, reminiscing about how and where he first thought, way back in the mid-Eighties as he walked down LA streets, of a solution for the small and medium entrepreneurs of India.

We traverse TradeIndia's journey from the very early days of the internet, when Bikky was using traditional media to spread the word about his internet offering that has been created to empower SMEs. Over the years, today, TradeIndia has more than 10 million registered MSMEs who, through its web and mobile app platforms, continue to remain in business and are empowered to grow and thrive and contribute to the amazing Make in India mission and story.

Bikky speaks of the challenges he faced in the early stage of getting the portal up and running. Initial challenges? Well, he has a disarmingly simple reply: "Challenges will be there and facing them is a lot of fun. And today I feel happy that I've been able to create 2,500 jobs."

But Bikky does also speak of the hard work entailed by the creation of a huge category of an internet-based business marketplace. Bikky tells me that when the portals, the internet arrived, "the only way you could educate people was through one-to-one meetings... So we spent a lot of money on people, feet on the street -- an executive would go and meet a person and explain to him, because 30 years ago, you couldn't just put out an ad to explain what the internet was. So it had to be one-to-one education of the SMEs about TradeIndia.com and what it could do for them."

Bikky, along with his large team helmed by Sandip Chhettri, CEO, continuously works to further strengthen the three pillars TradeIndia.com rests on - Marketing, Finance, and Software As A Service.

And Bikky has always remained committed to nurturing and mentoring good start-ups - he has made more than 100 investments. When asked what he looks for**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:
First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

This, the 80th episode of our award-winning series MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast from MediaBrief.com, features an accomplished marketing leader with a global powerhouse in hospitality – Khushnooma Kapadia, Senior Area Director of Marketing, South Asia – Marriott International Inc.

Khushnooma drives marketing across 144 operating Marriott International Inc hotels across South Asia and India, and is a leader who joined Marriott way back in 2003 when the group had just 3 hotels in India, with the JW Marriott in Mumbai’s Juhu launched just about then. Today, Khushnooma heads marketing for more than 124 hotels in India alone (at last count when we recorded this episode some time back).

So, Khushnooma is a professional who, across her 19 years with Marriott International, has lived by the belief that it is important to learn, not jump jobs for a hike, to help grow — and to grow with – your organization. That really is also Khushnooma’s simple but very valuable advice for every young professional seeking a career in marketing – balance your needs, and more than other things, keep two: job satisfaction and learning and development, front and center.

We speak of the legacy of the Marriott brand and how it has deployed its best global practices to carve its own space amongst Indian patrons.

Speaking of a key group strength, Khushnooma quotes from Bill Marriott's vision, which, she says, also describes how the entire ecosystem at Marriott International Inc operates. ‘He said: Take care of your associates, and your associates will take care of your guests.’

Khushnooma tells me also of what helped Marriott become the number one global hospitality brand in India and speaks of the important pillars of any hotel operations, including the crucial ‘hygiene’ pillar of the room division, and Food & Beverage – that great aggregator of positive perception and an excellent reputation from all the restaurant outlets and banquet facilities, and other top priorities going ahead.

The hospitality industry that was flat-lined by the near-death blow it received during COVID, is now up and running, and Khushnooma and her team are working to spread the good word about Marriott International Inc’s responsible, experiential, benefits- and satisfaction-filled hospitality and holiday services that, she says, are today considered an essential, and not viewed as a burdensome cost by individuals and corporates alike.

Khushnooma tells me about the marketing strategies and beliefs of Marriott International and emphasizes the importance and responsibility of every professional across the spectrum to continuously learn and upgrade their knowledge of new trends and their application.

Khushnooma also tells me how important influencer

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:
First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

Delighted to welcome, to the 79th episode of our award-winning MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast series, a respected leader from global advertising, marketing and more - Sean Donovan, President Asia of Tbwa, which, as ‘the Disruption company’, prides itself on developing disruptive brand ideas that change culture and drive impact.

Sean brings a rich and powerful combination of experience, knowledge, strategy, delivery and thought-leadership to TBWA.

He is charged with further advancing TBWA's position across the Asia region, with the continued ambition to deepen the company's specialist units in analytics, data consultancy and e-commerce, and continuing to drive creative excellence across the entire brand-experience journey and approach that has paid off with 2021 and 2022 being the best years of revenue growth for the Region.

One word spread across five tenets of leadership: From the get go, Sean’s off with a clincher of a reply to my first question of what he brings to the TBWA table from a rich, rewarding and proven career: Culture, he says, which he believes is something that's underestimated quite a lot.

Sean swears by the power of 'purposefully building culture in organizations'. Culture, across five primary facets, which are: a culture of community, a culture of product, a culture of talent, a culture of performance, and a culture of change.

Sean believes in agility, versatility, and not only embracing change, but embracing it quickly.

TBWA – The Disruption Company: Sean speaks about how 'disruption thinking' and delivery is a 30-year-old commitment for TBWA. He tells me how disruption fits into a landscape where the industry seems increasingly commoditized.

And while disruption is a process in which data is a very important input as are other aspects like analytics and the mind that works on disruption, he also revels on being asked how important and strong the TBWA culture allows the gut to remain in that disruption mix.

Sean also speaks of the TBWA pillars, brands and more, and how TBWA’s India operation fits into the collective’s global strategy. He is excited about the infusion of senior talent at TBWA India, with K Russel having joined TBWA Delhi as Chief Creative Experience Officer, or CCEO rather than CCO, as also Ranjeev Vij having joined them as COO to lead operations in Delhi.

Sean also speaks about how brands seem to be moving to scale back on ad spends in tough times. He shares his views on awards shows and their relevance, and speaks about his favourite ads from very recent times. And much more.

Do listen in. Thank you, s always, for your time.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:
First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

My distinguished guest on this, the 78th episode of our award-winning MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast, is the soft-spoken knowledge-driven media captain and expert across the entire News spectrum in India, Avinash Pandey - Chief Executive Officer, ABP Network, and President of the NBDA (News Broadcasters And Digital Association), and the India Chapter of the IAA (International Advertising Association). Truly a thought-leader-statesman for the News space in India, Avinash has kept Purpose front and centre as he drives the modern-day network from a great, century-old legacy news leader parent for the greater good.

Avinash is a young veteran who has more than a quarter of a century of experience, and along with being the thought-leader he is, a wonderful thing about him is his desire to -- and advocacy of the need to -- empower the younger professionals in Indian Media & Entertainment so that the industry, the various sub-sectors and sectors and the Nation, all can grow together. That, I can safely say, is something always on a front burner for him, like a veritable mission of his life, and I know that from my multiple offline conversations with him.

And not just wanting to blood young professionals in the multiple, organizational, ‘body’ eco-systems all around, the commitment to, and support of, the ABP Network to all important industry associations by partnering with and supporting the better events that are knowledge-driven and industry enhancing, is a set of the best spaces the ABP Network is regularly seen in, and supporting.

I think the last time I met him was at the Subhash Ghoshal memorial lecture where the ABP network supported the major annual address by the original amazing news industry captain, Arun Poorie.

So here, on MVP, The Master’s Voice Podcast, is Avinash Pandey, CEO – ABP Network, speaking about everything important, no questions ducked, speaking like a stalwart and custodian of the news space, and proud of his network and the wonderful team that has helped him keep it to its stated true North of commitment for the people and the enterprises that power news networks to deploy the might of media for the greater good.

We begin our conversation with the wonderful, second edition of the Ideas of India Summit from ABP Network. The Ideas of India Summit 2023 edition begins just two days from today, ie on the 24th of March, and will see a constellation of around 60 speaks across two days till the 25th of March.

I describe this IP from ABP as one with EP – Emotional Purpose, because, as Avinash tells me, the entire summit will steer clear of ('inflammatory' – our word) political noise, and will remain true to ideas that are likely to help build India. Because, as Avinash tells me, “India has ach

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:
First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

In this, the 77th episode of our award-winning MVP -The Master’s Voice Podcast, we bring you a chat with a young pioneer from News broadcasting and now, of course, digital too - Zakka Jacob, Managing Editor of one of India’s best English News channels, CNN-News18. Zakka speaks with Pavan R Chawla, show host and Founder-Editor of Mediabrief. Com.
This well known, respected television news journalist with close to 20 years experience in anchoring and covering some defining news stories during the last decade, speaks of his sense of duty and total commitment to upholding the great legacy of two respected brands, CNN and the News18 network, and what shines through is the combination of humility and confidence with which he approaches his privilege as Managing Editor of CNN-News18.

Zakka -- responsible for the editorial strategy of the channel and is geared up to redefine the genre with new ideas, formats and programs -- shares how he views the two main parts of news broadcasting and presentation across the opinions/debates time from 6 pm to end of prime time, and the remaining 13 to 14 hours of hard-core news, presented per the best global standards of proper, professional news presentation.

Zakka leads by example, and the best practices of news presentation percolate the debates-and-opinion slots too; little wonder, then, that this young man with a baby face and a razor-sharp mind enriched with wide and deep news experience across India and Mainland China and laced with restraint and an apparent quest to bring out the grain from the chaff, has earned the moniker of ‘Thinking Man’s anchor – something he is obviously devoted to as a mission of his News life.

He is circumspect, and not given or partial to splitting eardrums in debates, letting his thoughts and approach drive conversations towards the truth.

This important quality has helped Zakka ensure every kind of view or opinion is given full space, and he tells me there isn’t a single political party that has ever boycotted or refused to appear on CNN-News18 on grounds of the channel being being parochial or partisan.

Zakka tells me how CNN-News18 continues to foster its reputed editorial quality and the grooming of young journalists.

Zakka also shares his views on industry issues like the BARC Ratings, Landing Pages – inckuding a simple guide to Landing pages, why they come at a premium, and why these perfectly legitimate tools of channel discovery and sampling are a great way to boost greater awareness.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:
First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

My very special guest on this, the 76th episode of our award-winning series MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast, is Achille Forler, Founder & Executive Director - SyncMama, and a distinguished expert and thought leader who brings enormous experience and learnings wide and deep from across the spectrum of radio, audio, music and more.

Achille is like an audio guru -- one of the wisest, and a most experienced, deeply knowledgeable and sagacious professional who has worked for the best interests of audio in India across creative, technology, broadcast, digital, industry bodies and associations and more, and is now championing the bringing together of creators and licensors of great audio tracks through his amazing new offering SyncMama.com that's completely blown me away.

Achille has 35 years of experience in the creative industries, 10 years of experience in cultural management followed by 5 years as a public servant reporting to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs on film, broadcasting and music industries. In 1994, he left the foreign service to create Silk Road Communications, a strategy consultancy company.

Achille, who founded Deep Emotions Publishing, India's first music publishing company in 1996 (which was later acquired by Universal Music Publishing in 2012), founded Music Rights India in 2017, which became a permanent advisor to the Indian Performing and Mechanical Rights Society.

Achille speaks about ‘Royalty Pirates’ like Epidemic Sound, and is working on advocacy to protect the rights and interests of the smaller composers and their ilk.

Achille tells me why he believes the music industry is weighted against artists, with even successful music artists seeing pitiful returns from streaming.

And that is where SyncMama comes in. It's a subscription-led library and music licensing platform for user-generated content creators, and has identified music to have huge potential.

Achille tells me about SyncMama, his perspective about the video industry in brief, and a slightly larger perspective on the audio industry in India, and the woes of audio composers who are struggling against the royalty-free platforms.

What does Syncmama offer the content creator?

Syncmama provides music at, as it says, the power of AI. It allows content creators to ‘add that Hollywood sound to your videos’.

Syncmama’s content bouquet includes copyright-cleared music created by award-winning composers, premium sound effects, with new music every week – powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) that helps creators find the right track. It provides new music every week, and the user of its music can even edit Syncmama tracks, use their stems and mix them with other musical elements.

Through its Voicegen service, Syncmama

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:
First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

In this, our 75th and very special Platinum episode of our award-winning MVP The Master’s Voice Podcast from MediaBrief.com, I am delighted to bring you an insightful conversation with the amazing Tania Yuki Comscore’s Global Chief Marketing Officer, and EVP of Digital at the company that stands apart from and above all other measurement providers when it comes to the Web metrics, Video metrics, and to measuring Social Media engagement.

Tania, who graced this milestone episode all the way from New York, brings a wealth of experience and true excellence to the Comscore- and digital measurement table across geographies!

Comscore, as every digital marketer must know, is a trusted partner for planning, transacting and evaluation media across platforms, and Tania, who is also a tech founder and entrepreneur with a strong commercial and marketplace focus, a massive love of data, and experience driving innovation in insights-focused businesses, tells me about the importance, strengths and benefits of all the different measurement services comScore provides to truly empower marketers in India and across the world.

Tania is one of the most respected experts in the space, and began her career as a media- and internet attorney, specializing in digital rights management, IP and film financing. After she moved to the US from Australia, Tania has run an online video content network as Head of Acquisitions and Branding, led product management for comScore's Video Metrix and has become an active member of the World Economic Forum's Media and Entertainment Council.

She also founded Shareablee, which Comscore acquired, earlier, had also led product management for Comscore's Web and Video Metrix, the world's leading online video and CTV ratings service, and was also VP Advertiser Solutions at Visible World, which was acquired by Comcast.

Tania tells me about the platforms Comscore measures along with the USPs and strengths that make it, as I firmly believe, such a trusted currency for media planners, buyers, marketers across platforms to guide media investments at scale, and with profit and purpose.

She tells me about comscore’s VMX or Video Metrics, which, she says, “I nursed from spreadsheet to syndicated product”.

Tanya speaks about how Comscore has been receiving YouTube data from Google for measurement of YouTube channels, and how it has been for the company to work closely together with Google to help empower marketers with better measurement.

Very recently, India Today group, which is India’s top general news video publisher, did India proud when its brand Aaj Tak became the world's first to cros

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:
First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

This, the 74th episode of our award-winning MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast, features Midhula Devabhaktuni, Chief Marketing Officer and Co-Founder, Mivi, in conversation with host Pavan R Chawla, who is also Founder-Editor of MediaBrief.com.

Midhula leads leads and manages the marketing and sales part at Mivi.

Conceptualized in 2015 and several years in the planning, design, creation and rollout, Mivi today is a growing, significant player in the consumer wearables electronics industry, powering the category by creating great customer delight thanks to its world-class products designed and created for India, delivering top quality at appreciably lower prices and, very significantly, making in India every single product of the more than 140 it sells across the country. Thereby adding far more value than those just importing and reselling similar products.

Midhula tells me about how, her husband Viswanadh and she, well settled in well paying careers in the US, decided to return to India and created Mivi in 2015.

Today Mivi is making a strong impact in the consumer wearable electronics segment is a solid #3 in the category, and growing with speed tanks to its products, all of which are made in India (the top 2, to our belief, are only importing and reselling and do not manufacture in India). Midhula says, ‘the Mivi products are better than any International brand, and people are Vocal for Local’.

She also shares her belief that Mivi’s Made in India products are poised to change the face of consumer electronics across wearables and more categories in India, over the next few years.

Because… well, Midhula’s one mantra for Mivi is: No one can promote your product better than a happy customer. And Mivi, as Midhula says and I definitely agree, is thriving on that count.

This, and much more in the latest episode of MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast. Listen to the conversation with Midhula Devabhaktuni, Chief Marketing Officer and Co-Founder at Mivi.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:
First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

My guest on this, the 73rd episode of our award-winning MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast Series, is Harsh Pokharna, Co-Founder and CEO of OkCredit, which is empowering the underdogs of India’s retail story through solutions that solve various pain points for small store owners

Harsh had envisioned a career as an entrepreneur ever since he graduated from IIT Kanpur in 2014, and his vision was ‘to create a business that can transform at least a billion lives with the power of technology solutions’, and along with his co-founders Gaurav Kunwar and Aditya Prasad, Harsh created OkCredit, a digital Bahi Khata app for small vendors in 2017.

Together, the three built OkCredit to bring small and medium businesses online, and they have turned the feet-on-the-street model of distribution on its head -- jockeying on digital and the power of the network to grow the reach of the company, which is continuing to cure various pain points for small-store owners.

In fact, ever since it graduated to its lending business around 15 months back, OkCredit has disbursed around INR 120 CR, with most loans of Rs 50000 or Rs 100000, at an average ticket size of Rs 75000, for six to 12 months’ term, and with a very low delinquency rate of 1.5% on 90DPD (Days Past Due) on its out-standings; that is lower than the industry average. This, as one can imagine, has helped the small and modest members of the OkCredit community from India’s retail sector no end.

What’s more, NBFCs are now trusting more and more the OKCredit score on creditworthiness of every candidate even as they do their own stringent due diligence for each.

So tune in to what OkCredit does for and brings to its member-community, which today is 3 million-strong and steadily growing community of registered merchants spread across 95% pin codes all over the country, as Harsh said to me before we started recording. When you consider the total number of such small businesses – around 70 million, per a recent government estimate – that would also need funding for their expansion plans, which they can definitely replay without delinquency, but unfortunately are unable to get such funding from banks, one can see the terrific potential of OkCredit and the vision of Harsh and his two co-founders to empower the underdogs of India’s Retail Story.

Harsh is also a young professional leader who has been featured in the Forbes 30 under 30 list and the Asia 2020, and is a true true believer of the OK philosophy - End of the day, it's all OK.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:
First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

Moneka Khurana, Country Head and Board Member of the India chapter of MMA Global, is my special guest on this, the 72nd episode of our award-winning podcast series, MVP - The Masters Voice Podcast. Moneka, an important enabler for the entire fraternity of marketing professionals in India, speaks with me, Pavan R Chawla, about helping MMA India empower the entire marketing fraternity in the country for better business salience and results. And more.

I caught up Moneka for the recording in person on the morning of the major MMA India event -- MMA India Data Unplugged in Mumbai, where Moneka shut out all the surround ‘noise’ of the frenetic event-setup and early-dry-runs. Truly, Moneka’s commitment to her work, and her drive and energy bring to mind the lyrics of a lovely song that are also the inspiration of another dear friend of mine – Moneka reminds me of ‘a Porsche with no brakes’.

With more than 22 years of experience in the digital marketing sector, Moneka is amongst the top 100 pioneering digital professionals and has been a member of the MMA India board for around four years now.

This episode with Moneka Khurana: In our conversation, Moneka harks back to when she first realized digital does it for her, and shares her journey with and leadership of the India chapter of MMA global. Moneka also shares what both, MMA India and MMA global do in their spaces, what their membership benefits and numbers are, and why every marketing professional and Business custodian and owner in India must join the India Chapter of MMA Global – which is something I too am convinced they must do. (We are a member too)

Moneka tells mehow MMA as a body brings the ecosystem together to deliver best-in-class knowledge and global best practices from across its chapters operating in 15 countries. MMA India and Moneka believe that the mission to enable and empower marketers can happen only on the back of bringing the ecosystem together, and speaks at length on how the India chapter helps its members.

Moneka also shares that MMA India has some of the best companies on its board; some of them are the likes of Google, Meta, McDonald's, the Aditya Birla Group, Perfetti, HDFC Bank and Nielsen Kantar.

She speaks of the events and special knowledge-deep-dive research reports and findings MMA publishes and makes available to all its members and other marketers, empowering them with actionable insights for future planning, and also speaks of the data council MMA has built in India with local players. (The MMA India Local Council strives to stimulate the growth of modern marketing and its associated technologies in India, and is headed by MMA India Board c-Chairs Amit Jain – MD, L'Oréal India, and Prasanth Kumar, CEO – South Asia, GroupM, with Priya Nair, ED – B

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:
First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

This, the 71st episode of the award-winning MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast series, features the visionary, spirited, straight-talking, wonderful leader, Sigal Atzmon, Founder and CEO of Medix Global, which provides multiple services and tools to streamline and optimize quality healthcare, globally and in India.

Sigal speaks with Pavan R Chawla, Founder-Editor of MediaBrief.com.

To borrow from Goscinny and Uderzo, and in a lighter vein, of course, Sigal, to our mind, is like the Getafix of Medix!

Sigal is passionate about and committed to ensuring Medix offers people around the world innovative and advanced medical management solutions that really make a difference in their lives. She is in India to execute the next phase of growth, which begins with the launch of the Medix app “a few weeks from now”.

Medix helps Sigal in her mission to flatten the healthcare-inequality curve through a combination of Personal Medical Case Management offering fast track solutions to the right diagnosis and treatment; Disease Prevention Management Services to help customers avoid the development of major diseases, and Medical Governance Services to prevent misuse and overuse of medical procedures – significantly, Sigal tells me that the Medix services prevent misuse and overuse of medical procedures across 20% of all cases.

Medix also provides Digital Health- and AI-based tools to streamline and optimize quality healthcare.

Before she founded Medix, Sigal held diverse management roles in the finance and investment sector including, as Head of the Global Institutional Investments Division at Ofek Securities & Investments; as Head of the International Trading & Investments Division at FIBI, a Safra Bank. She also headed the Private Banking Division at UMB, managing a portfolio of upwards of USD4bn.

So here’s Sigal Atzmon, Founder and CEO, Medix Global, as my distinguished guest on this episode of MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast. Listen to her insights and passion, and feel the deep and abiding love she has for India (incidentally, she always makes it a point to pad her work visits to India with a trip to a new destination here. She’s probably reading this or listening to this episode somewhere in Hampi.)

We speak about what Medix offers to Indians, its pan-India and not 6-major-metros focus, the USPs of Medix vis a vis other global telehealth providers, the business model of Medix, her assessment of the Healthcare space in India and why, even during a pandemic-enforced lockdown, she championed and enabled the opening of the Medix office in India. Medix was launched in 2020 in India, during the pandemic, and Sigal tells me what Day One of the India office told her about the quali

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:
First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

This, the 70th episode of our award-winning MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast series, is a deep dive with my distinguished guest, Siddhartha Roy, Chief Executive Officer, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Private Limited, about Hungama and its offerings, growth, relevance, connects and promise for the future.

Hungama – for 20 years a formidable digital entertainment company in South Asia, a pioneer in music and video streaming with 87 million monthly users who, in 190 countries, consume content in more than 20 Indian and International languages – is undoubtedly a very significant player in the fast growing digital entertainment space. And so Hungama takes centre-stage in my conversation with Siddhartha.

We speak about his role-redefinition since stepping up to CEO at Hungama Digital Media, the pillars of Hungama’s growth, how Hungama adapted to the wave of COVID-enforced change including in consumption trends, the vision and plans for Hungama’s future, competing with international players, the marketing strategy and plans for Hungama Digital and its verticals, and more.

Siddhartha leads Hungama Digital Media’s consumer and business initiatives across its multiple verticals including Hungama Music – one of the most popular music streaming services in India, Hungama Play – Hungama’s video streaming service, Artist Aloud – a platform for independent artistes, and Hungama Games – a publisher, distributor and marketer of mobile games.

Siddhartha was the erstwhile COO & co-‐founder of BigAdda, India’s largest youth network, a part of the Reliance ADA Group. Prior to Bigadda.com, Siddhartha worked with MTV Networks and Star TV India.

He has championed several innovations in digital entertainment, including the launch of Hungama Music, Hungama Play and Artist Aloud. Siddhartha has also been instrumental in crafting unique consumer experiences like Hungama Drive, linear channels – ad-‐free and pre-‐programmed OTT channels and exceptional gaming experiences for Hungama Games with the launch of multiple movie and cricket IP games.

So tune in for what I hope you will agree is a rewarding chat with Siddhartha Roy, CEO – Hungama Digital Media Private Limited. Thank you for your time.

**Want to pitch someone to be featured?

We have two podcast series: MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, and MediaCast. Both are published by MediaBrief.com**.

So, if you want to pitch someone to be considered for our podcasts, here's how you can do it:
First, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.
Then, write to us at pavan [at] mediabrief dot com and alliances [at] mediabrief dot com, and also share links to your profiles that are following us.Connecting socially is something we believe in and advocate. So go ahead. Reach out. We're happy, social souls.

My distinguished guest on this, the 69th episode of MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast, is respected brand strategy expert and author Ulli Appelbaum, well known as founder of the brand strategy firm First The Trousers Then The Shoes Inc, andnow author of the brilliant, simply written and empowering new book, The Brand Positioning Workbook: A Simple How-to Guide To More Compelling Brand Positionings, Faster.

Ulli has been working on developing brand positionings for brands across the world for more than 20 years now, and his The Brand Positioning Workbook is a clear and concise methodology that challenges preconceived notions of strategic development, introducing a more effective and efficient process for branding. In fact, Ulli identifies 26 sources of brand associations in this guide to creating and crafting relevant and impactful brand positioning.

What Ulli’s hoping is this book will help empower strategic thinking for better brand positioning. Little wonder, then, that it’s hijacked most of the conversation in this episode.

It is born out of Ulli’s previous work, entitled Positioning Method Cards: The Indispensable Brand Positioning Development Toolkit, which was about creating the Method Card Deck Positioning-Roulette

Ulli tells me there were some 260 books on brand positioning alone listed on Amazon, and he asked himself why there was room for the 261st book, which he wrote. He tells me whom he has written the book for, and how he hopes it will help every brand custodian across levels and sectors.

The Brand Positioning Workbook by Ulli Appelbaum draws from Ulli’s extensive career as a senior brand strategist and planner at some of the top advertising agencies in the world today, and amplifies the role of a strategist as the primary guide on the branding journey.

The book introduces the reader to easily implemented problem-solving tools, proven territories for productive brainstorming, ideas for breaking down biases and group think, tips for more productive virtual brainstorming sessions and much more.

This, the 68th episode of our award-winning MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcastfrom MediaBrief.com, features Karan Abhishek Singh, CEO - Hindi News, at Network18. Karan is a leader who brings to the TV News industry wide, rich, deep and diverse work experience across verticals at torchlight brands in their sectors.

Karan joined Network18, one of India’s leading television broadcast networks, in Jan 2019, and is responsible for the overall P&L of the Hindi Languages channel cluster in the organisation. Karan brings to his current role a great deal of learnings and strategic insights from a strong professional career that he built largely across the FMCG and Media industries.

Before joining Network18, Karan spent five years at Star India Pvt Ltd. In his last role, he was Executive Vice President – Ad Sales, managing the agency partnerships. Karan had joined Star as Brand Head for North, and then led the setting up of the Enterprise accounts business before managing other sales leadership roles across the entertainment business.

Prior to Star, Karan had robust stints across consumer product organisations like Pepsico, Nokia, Godrej and Hindustan Unilever Limited, in various roles across the sales, business development and marketing functions.

In this episode, Karan speaks about his company and the cluster of channels he leads there, and about the category and sub-sector, including industry issues and more.

He shares how Network18's Hindi news channel, News 18 India, has grown consistently from #4 to reach the top spot in the Hindi TV News channels marketplace over the past four months or so ever since BARC India resumed the News Genre’s TV viewership ratings. And how the other Hindi news channels of his cluster too claimed top spot across the HSMs.

He shares what’s unique about Network18’s DNA and its work culture, and what it was like for him to transition from leading the sales function at a leader in the mass, general entertainment category, to the News category which has a much smaller market size. He shares the how the network’s approach to empowering talent across the organization, and to serving news in India, and assesses how the TV news space, especially Hindi TV news space, is shaping up in the country.

The conversation on Network18 also covers how the organization tackled the pandemic, and the investments that have been made over the past couple of years on technology.

Karan tells me about how News18 India and the other Hindi channels across the cluster he leads have risen to the top positions, and how the number of advertisers on the cluster has grown. And more.

Karan also shares his views on industry topics including what he thinks of the BARC ratings that resumed for news, the recent row on the use of landing pages, and what he feels about a news network and its news channels recently pulling out of the BARC India ratings in protest against the use of landing pages.

And more

So tune in for an insightful conversation with Karan Abhishek Singh, CEO – Hindi News at Network18, on MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast. Thank you for your time.

This, the 68th episode of our award-winning MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcastfrom MediaBrief.com, features Karan Abhishek Singh, CEO - Hindi News, at Network18. Karan is a leader who brings to the TV News industry wide, rich, deep and diverse work experience across verticals at torchlight brands in their sectors.

Karan joined Network18, one of India’s leading television broadcast networks, in Jan 2019, and is responsible for the overall P&L of the Hindi Languages channel cluster in the organisation. Karan brings to his current role a great deal of learnings and strategic insights from a strong professional career that he built largely across the FMCG and Media industries.

Before joining Network18, Karan spent five years at Star India Pvt Ltd. In his last role, he was Executive Vice President – Ad Sales, managing the agency partnerships. Karan had joined Star as Brand Head for North, and then led the setting up of the Enterprise accounts business before managing other sales leadership roles across the entertainment business.

Prior to Star, Karan had robust stints across consumer product organisations like Pepsico, Nokia, Godrej and Hindustan Unilever Limited, in various roles across the sales, business development and marketing functions.

In this episode, Karan speaks about his company and the cluster of channels he leads there, and about the category and sub-sector, including industry issues and more.

He shares how Network18's Hindi news channel, News 18 India, has grown consistently from #4 to reach the top spot in the Hindi TV News channels marketplace over the past four months or so ever since BARC India resumed the News Genre’s TV viewership ratings. And how the other Hindi news channels of his cluster too claimed top spot across the HSMs.

He shares what’s unique about Network18’s DNA and its work culture, and what it was like for him to transition from leading the sales function at a leader in the mass, general entertainment category, to the News category which has a much smaller market size. He shares the how the network’s approach to empowering talent across the organization, and to serving news in India, and assesses how the TV news space, especially Hindi TV news space, is shaping up in the country.

The conversation on Network18 also covers how the organization tackled the pandemic, and the investments that have been made over the past couple of years on technology.

Karan tells me about how News18 India and the other Hindi channels across the cluster he leads have risen to the top positions, and how the number of advertisers on the cluster has grown. And more.

Karan also shares his views on industry topics including what he thinks of the BARC ratings that resumed for news, the recent row on the use of landing pages, and what he feels about a news network and its news channels recently pulling out of the BARC India ratings in protest against the use of landing pages.

And more

So tune in for an insightful conversation with Karan Abhishek Singh, CEO – Hindi News at Network18, on MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast. Thank you for your time.

Rajesh Sinha, Founder and Chairman, Fulcrum Digital, a leading business platform and digital engineering company, is my distinguished guest on this episode of our award-winning series, MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast from MediaBrief.com.
Rajesh brings more than three decades of rich experience and a solid understanding of the technology industry in both – India and the world.

Rajesh’s brainchild Fulcrum Digital empowers hundreds of companies – ranging from the smallest at USD 10mn to the biggest, a USD20bn conglomerate – with business transformation through exponential growth through digital engineering.

An active thought leader for helping senior executives navigate their company’s digital evolution across Insurance, Finance, Education, Foodservice and other industries, Rajesh Sinha swears by his commitment to the 3Cs with a liquid mind-set.
Listen in to this episode to know more about this highly respected, strategic business transformation consultant who believes that every company has one of two choices -- aim for exponential growth by disrupting the ecosystem. Or be resigned to a pre-set linear growth percentage of 2 to 4 percent and brace itself for being disrupted out of the ecosystem which, he warns, the lack of aggressive and smart growth ambitions will inevitably bring in it wake

We also speak about Rajesh’s recently published book, Digital Operating Model: The Future of Business, which he’s written to help entrepreneurs and business custodians build their company’s next-generation growth strategy by using emerging technologies to disrupt their field and energize their business.

Rajesh's book delivers a robust and practical operating blueprint for digital transformation, and through it, Rajesh is passing on learnings from the principles that have guided the success of hundreds of organizations he has worked with, through Fulcrum Digital.

Rajesh’s passion for what he and Fulcrum Digital do best, and for sharing his thoughts and guidance with every young professional, shine through our conversation, and I hope you will like and benefit from this conversation with Rajesh Sinha - Founder and Chairman, Fulcrum Digital, my distinguished guest on MVP - The Master’s Voice Podcast on MediaBrief.com.

This, remember, is a leader who, along with his team at Fulcrum Digital, is now also dedicated to understanding and drawing the fundamental parallels between companies able to thrive through unprecedented change like the pandemic that shook the world in 2020.

Thank you for your time.

In this episode of our award-winning, MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast series from MediaBrief.com, I bring you a deep-dive conversation with a very special, distinguished guest -- Ameer Ismail, President, Lintas Live.

Ameer is someone I’ve known for a couple of decades now, and anyone who’s been in the strategic comms space would know Ameer and of him as an expert thought-leader, business-leader, impact-leader in the PR and strategic communications industry and more -- acknowledged and respected amongst comms and marketing professionals everywhere.

In this episode, we begin with the very simple, open-ended question on the new opportunities Ameer’s seeing in PR.

Ameer also speaks of the restructuring of Lintas Live in October 2020, which Ameer summarizes as Re-Strat, Re-Start, Re-Imagine. He speaks about the fifth P that Lintas Live has been using in the telling of brand stories, the USP and power of tis Digital-first and Creative-led approach, the impact of the agency restructuring, the two years of the pandemic, and how Lintas Live fared and performed during lockdown and as a result of the restructuring.

Ameer also discusses the talent and opportunities to empower human capital in the comms space. The agency-client relationship and the need and means to make a case for the PR and Strategic Comms category so brand promoters and image and marketing custodians can truly appreciate the immense and irreplaceable value of PR today.

And more.

Ameer, who is President of Lintas Live, which is part of the MullenLowe Lintas Group, has had an excellent career that spans more than two decades, and ever since he joined Lintas in 1996, he was entrusted with the responsibility of building the PR business for GolinOpinion, which was earlier known as LinOpinion. Ameer has now been appointed President – Lintas Live, the rebranded creative-led, digital-first PR and communications agency.

Ameer works very closely with the group’s global leadership to further build and enhance the network offering. Recognized, way back in 2013, the transformation of the PR industry, Ameer was instrumental in structuring the JV with Golin in 2013, and was appointed a member of Golin’s Global Leadership Group in 2016.

GolinOpinion (now Lintas Live) has been recognized as an important player and a respected brand in the PR industry, and has grown successfully to include a portfolio of reputed clients such as Seiko, Etihad Airways, Starbucks, Marriott Hotels, Porsche, and Sony Pictures Networks, to name a few. And in recognition of his overall contribution, Ameer was promoted in 2016 to President.

Ameer not only leads the PR business, he’s also been a part of the senior management of the group and has essayed several leadership roles in the group during his tenure. Ameer was Chief Growth Officer for PointNine Lintas, and head of other group businesses including DCell, Lintertainment and Advent.

So tune in, and listen to the conversation with my distinguished guest Ameer Ismail, President – Lintas Live, on this, the latest episode of MVP - The Master’s Voice Podcast on MediaBrief.com. I hope you find it as rewarding and insightful as I did. Thanks for your time and support. For any comments, advice, guidance, feel free to reach me at pavan at mediabrief.com.

Thanks and stay safe, stay healthy, stay productive and progressive.

In this episode of our award-winning, MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast series from MediaBrief.com, I bring you a deep-dive conversation with a very special, distinguished guest -- Ameer Ismail, President, Lintas Live.

Ameer is someone I’ve known for a couple of decades now, and anyone who’s been in the strategic comms space would know Ameer and of him as an expert thought-leader, business-leader, impact-leader in the PR and strategic communications industry and more -- acknowledged and respected amongst comms and marketing professionals everywhere.

In this episode, we begin with the very simple, open-ended question on the new opportunities Ameer’s seeing in PR.

Ameer also speaks of the restructuring of Lintas Live in October 2020, which Ameer summarizes as Re-Strat, Re-Start, Re-Imagine. He speaks about the fifth P that Lintas Live has been using in the telling of brand stories, the USP and power of tis Digital-first and Creative-led approach, the impact of the agency restructuring, the two years of the pandemic, and how Lintas Live fared and performed during lockdown and as a result of the restructuring.

Ameer also discusses the talent and opportunities to empower human capital in the comms space. The agency-client relationship and the need and means to make a case for the PR and Strategic Comms category so brand promoters and image and marketing custodians can truly appreciate the immense and irreplaceable value of PR today.

And more.

Ameer, who is President of Lintas Live, which is part of the MullenLowe Lintas Group, has had an excellent career that spans more than two decades, and ever since he joined Lintas in 1996, he was entrusted with the responsibility of building the PR business for GolinOpinion, which was earlier known as LinOpinion. Ameer has now been appointed President – Lintas Live, the rebranded creative-led, digital-first PR and communications agency.

Ameer works very closely with the group’s global leadership to further build and enhance the network offering. Recognized, way back in 2013, the transformation of the PR industry, Ameer was instrumental in structuring the JV with Golin in 2013, and was appointed a member of Golin’s Global Leadership Group in 2016.

GolinOpinion (now Lintas Live) has been recognized as an important player and a respected brand in the PR industry, and has grown successfully to include a portfolio of reputed clients such as Seiko, Etihad Airways, Starbucks, Marriott Hotels, Porsche, and Sony Pictures Networks, to name a few. And in recognition of his overall contribution, Ameer was promoted in 2016 to President.

Ameer not only leads the PR business, he’s also been a part of the senior management of the group and has essayed several leadership roles in the group during his tenure. Ameer was Chief Growth Officer for PointNine Lintas, and head of other group businesses including DCell, Lintertainment and Advent.

So tune in, and listen to the conversation with my distinguished guest Ameer Ismail, President – Lintas Live, on this, the latest episode of MVP - The Master’s Voice Podcast on MediaBrief.com. I hope you find it as rewarding and insightful as I did. Thanks for your time and support. For any comments, advice, guidance, feel free to reach me at pavan at mediabrief.com.

Thanks and stay safe, stay healthy, stay productive and progressive.

The distinguished guest in this, the 64th episode of our award-winning series MVP – the Master’s Voice Podcast, is the 'Genome Man of India', Sam Santhosh, Founder & Chairman, SciGenom. Sam speaks with Pavan R Chawla, Founder-Editor of MediaBrief.com.

On this episode of MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast, in a wide-ranging conversation, Sam Santhosh tells me about his journey from being a very successful millionaire IT Entrepreneur in Silicon Valley to becoming the ‘Genome Man of India’.

He speaks of how Genomics will change the way medical treatments are provided today, the Research and Development initiatives in India, and whether he believes India will be able to rise in its scientific stature to compete with the developed countries. And the current gaps in the R&D sector

Sam also shares how he sees the diagnostics sector developing in India, the Bio Economy, and the future of genomics and its contribution to Healthcare in India.

Sam also speaks about the AMDP (Advances in Molecular Diagnostic and Precision Medicine) conference that rolls out today, the 15th of September 2022, for 3 days till the 17th of September inclusive, in Chennai.

The AMDP conference is the first of its kind in India, and will focus on molecular diagnostics and the developments in the space, as also in precision medicine. The conference will bring as much of the possible global advancements into India for healthcare professionals here.

SciGenom’s AMDP conference in Chennai will also give some 15 to 20 startups the opportunity to present what they are building, and apart from healthcare and AMDP professionals, will also see venture capitalists attending. Highlights of this strongly knowledge- and networking-driven event to help unlock strong value for Healthcare in India will be several top experts from the AMDP space.

And much more.

..........................................
Sam founded SciGenom in 2009 to leverage the science of the Genome. The company believes that understanding the structure of the DNA and deciphering (or sequencing) the genetic code is the most significant achievement of our species to date.

With this vision in mind, SciGenom set out to become the first Genomics incubator in India with DNA Sequencing and Bioinformatics as a ‘Horizontal Technology’ which could solve problems in different verticals like Healthcare, Agriculture and Drug Discovery.

Having set up their first research lab in Kerala, and attracting talent from scientists from the USA, EU and Canada, SciGenom quickly trained local scientists to perform research activities as per global standards.

Sam is a science-savvy entrepreneur with close to three decades of experience in launching and running successful businesses. Passionate about Science and Technology, Sam believes that just as Information technology was the key driver for growth in the latter half of the 20th century, so will Genomics prove to be in the 21st century.

Sam also holds the unique honour of transforming the medical genomics and diagnostics space in India through MedGenome and showing the path for others to emulate.

This, the 63rd episode of MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, features pre-eminent thought leader and industry enabler and evangelist Biren Ghose - Chairman CII National AVGC Committee, and Country Head - Technicolor India. Biren is leading the CII team on the major upcoming 3rd Global AVGC & Immersive Media Summit covering Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics, that will roll out across two days on the 29th and 30th of August 2022 at the Hotel Lalit in New Delhi.

Biren is has been empowering the Media & Entertainment industry for the past more than 20 years. Biren has been doing that not just through the remarkable leadership and growth he has provided to Technicolor India as country head, but also as Chairman for the CII National Committee for AVGC and the Vice Chair for CII’s Media & Entertainment Committee.

The Consortium for Indian Industry, the CII, has always been a very significant enabler of enterprise across sectors in India, and is now set to roll out perhaps the first, single most important in-person (and not virtual) event – the 3rd Global AVGC & Immersive Media Summit covering Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics, that will roll out across two days on the 29th and 30th of August 2022 at the Hotel Lalit in New Delhi.

Considering the significant contribution of Animation, Video, Gaming and Comics in the digital space, and the quality of immersive-ness they empower digital media with for consumers, I believe the CII Immersive Media Summit is the single largest and most significant on-ground event post-Covid, that every professional, promoter and associate connected with the AVGC space in India and elsewhere, must make it a point to attend.

My conversation with Biren, the druid of M&E, covers the amazing past delivery and the potential of the AVGC industry as a trailblazer within the overall M&E landscape, and how he, as an enabler and industry statesman, sees the AVGC sector playing out over the next few years trajectory and growth. Biren speaks of the drivers of the AVGC industry, including what it is doing to content creation and consumption, and whether and how it is expanding audiences, or perhaps taking share from other existing forms of entertainment.

Biren also shares why AVGC has become a strong government priority, and offers advice and guidance on how India can realize the enormous potential of AVGC. And that future growth in the space will likely be driven by the ABC of AVGC.

Biren offers a deep dive into the upcoming 3rd Global AVGC & Immersive Media Summit, why it deservedly is a standalone event, what it will showcase including some of the important sessions, and what every participant can expect to take away from the event.

This, for me, has been a truly insightful chat, but then, one didn’t expect anything less from Biren, one of India’s most knowledgeable media captains, and globally respected for having taken the India Studio of Technicolor India -- as its Country Head for than 13 years now -- to a staggering strength of 7000 artists and technicians. Who, I may add, are together taking the mother brand’s remarkable verticals -- Technicolor Creative Studios sports marquee brands MPC &The Mill in Visual Effects, Mikros in Animation and Technicolor Games, to ever higher levels. Technicolor India is today the world’s largest production studio and the only global producer across animation, vfx and games – called AVGC in India!

So here’s thought leader Biren Ghose, who is passionate about the AVGC space in particular and the Media & Entertainment industry in general. Biren brings the rare mix of the stillness of a knowledgeable druid and the Frenchman-like passion and expression of the past-master of leadership, execution and delivery. That little Frenchman reference was to give myself the cue to tell you this

This special episode of MVP The Master's Voice celebrates India's Independence Day and features Ravi Kumar, Founder and CEO of udChalo in conversation with Pavan R Chawla, Founder-Editor of MediaBrief.com .

As our Nation celebrates the 75th year of our Independence with Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, we are honoured and delighted to bring you a very special episode to record which, we were honoured to welcome the young, visionary, inspirational leader – Ravi Kumar, Fonder & CEO of udChalo -- a company that is “dedicated to serve our Soldiers, the Heroes whose courage, gallantry, and commitment to protect our Nation's honour is incomparable.”

In fact, udChalo is purpose-driven by the mission to provide the best services for the Services – the entire armed fraternity, its officers, soldiers, their families, dependents and survivors.

Now in its 10th year, udChalo has done remarkable work for the Services, and I recorded this episode only on Friday the 12th of August 2022 with Ravi who travelled to Mumbai for the recording.

We had promised ourselves we would edit, package and master the episode as our own small but heartfelt tribute to that most amazing community of Indians, the best of the best – our Armed Forces and their entire fraternity. This episode is MediaBrief.com’s salute to the Services, and also an expression of gratitude to udChalo, which has been serving India’s Armed fraternity with pride and gratitude.

Thank you, Ravi Kumar, and the entire team at udChalo. More strength to you.

udChalo, founded and led by Ravi Kumar, an engineering graduate from Pune with an LLB degree and an alumnus of the 1-year Stanford Seed program, is powered by its primary rocket-fuel of purpose-driven service to the Armed Services of India.

And Ravi, my guest on this very special episode, has always been a strong, focused and of course very capable leader who has seen the company achieve a solid 495% CAGR from FY 2014-15 to FY2020-21.

udChalo has been recognized by the ‘Fastest Growing MSME’ award twice, and when Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented Ravi Kumar with the award in January 2022 for udChalo’s performance over the previous year, the citation recognized the company’s ‘innovation and service to society’.

And Ravi himself has won several prestigious awards including 40 Most Influential Asians Under 40, 2019; 50 Best Leaders Of 2020; Young Entreprenuer of Year 2020; National Startup Award 2021; and First Generation Entrepreneur 2021 By MCCIA, among others.

Trade can be learnt; trait cannot be taught, says Ravi. And, of course, the passion and commitment with which he work through udChalo for the Services, bespeaks the rarity of the cloth this business leader is cut from.

Listen in Ravi Kumar, Founder and CEO of udChalo on this, the 62th episode of MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast on MediaBrief.com. It was an inspiring, rewarding conversation for me, and I hope you too will find it inspirational. On this very special day, today, when India celebrates Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to usher in the 76th Year of our independence, we couldn’t have thought of a better, more inspiring youth icon who prioritizes his business with purpose and profit in that order, and bases all that his team and he do at udChalo, on service.

My distinguished guest on this, the 61st episode of the award-winning MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast series from MediaBrief, is Nitish Jain, President - SP Jain Global School of Management, a top professional Management education Institute that's respected for creating globally intelligent, culturally agile graduates and post-graduates, with increasingly relevant and specialist MBA and other programs.

Nitish combines a striking and unique statesman-like calm, poise and wisdom with the unmistakable passion and drive that has seen the pioneer educationist, philanthropist, entrepreneur, technology enthusiast and President of S P Jain School of Global Management has powered the institution into one of Asia Pacific’s top-ranked global business schools with state-of-the-art campuses in Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore and Sydney, S P Jain has established a strong foothold for itself in the Asia Pacific.

Across more than 15 years now, as President of the School, Nitish has spearheaded SP Jain School’s innovative and disruptive style of education through several pioneering benchmarks in global business education that include a multi-city learning model that has seen its students travel to no less than 3 countries as part of their undergraduate / postgraduate education. The result of this is the transformation of business managers into global leaders who are adaptable, multicultural and globally relevant to companies of the 21st century.

Nitish’s story begins from his early days when his passion and vision were nurtured by his illustrious grandfather -- now the late educationist, philanthropist, Padma Bhushan award winner the Late S P Jain – who is the one person he has most admired, and with the help of whose tutelage Nitish went on to take SP Jain School of Global Management across several milestones of success and impact over close to the two decades it is set to complete.

Nitish, who holds an MBA degree from USA’s Cornell University, speaks of what makes the institution unique, and also shares how the concept of global education has evolved in the past two decades, and how SP Jain adapted to the changing winds of education.

Nitish, believes ‘education is ripe for disruption and technology will lead this’. A keen tech enthusiast, Nitish is always looking for imaginative ways to integrate his passion for technology with traditional teaching methods. He has led the introduction of cutting-edge tools for engaged online learning, and new classroom technologies including a one-of-its-kind Learning Analytics App, which, along with other transformative technologies are expected to take student learning outcomes at SP Jain to a new level.Nitish tells me about the unique, patented and empowering ELO tech platform of virtual education and engagement with large groups online. ELO is a highly effective and proprietary platform at SP Jain. He also speaks of the larger role he sees technology playing in the future of the institute.

Nitish also shares the empowering benefits that the SP Jain multi-country model offers its students, and tells me how the school surged to assist and support its students during the pandemic-enforced lockdowns and travel restrictions that were imposed by governments worldwide in early 2020.

Nitish speaks of the practices SP Jain has put in place to ensure its graduates stay relevant to employers, considering how difficult it is to fully prepare a student for the future of work in light of the fast evolution of the world. And a crucial piece of guidance for aspirants of admission to top management schools, is Nitish’s view on who makes the ideal kind of student SP Jain would like to welcome to its hallways – the kind of student the institute values.

So professional education statesman and visionary, Nitish Jain, President - SP Jain Global School of Management, is my distinguishe

My distinguished guest in this episode of the award-winning MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast, is Pushkar Gokhale, Business Head at Godrej Security Solutions, a business of Godrej & Boyce, the flagship company of the Godrej Group (Pavan R Chawla) .

Pushkar has valuable and wide exposure to highly diverse business practices in a multicultural environment, and leads a motivated team offering peace of mind to a broad spectrum of stakeholders.

My chat with Pushkar, who brings 29 years of rich and varied experience, begins with his journey with Godrej and his overview of the security sector – in terms of its growth and potential.

He gives us the expert’s birds eye view of the space of security solutions, and the biggest ‘threat areas’ for security today across property, life, and security against the elements and in the cyber space and more, that Godrej Security Solutions helps overcome.

Pushkar speaks of GSS' specialization areas, and the USPs that give his brand the edge over others.

Pushkar also shares about the retail strategy for Godrej Security Solutions, and the markets in which he sees maximum demand for security solutions. Plus his marketing strategy and tactics to reach potential client, stakeholders and TGs important for GSS.

Pushkar speaks of GSS' offerings for enterprise and individual entities, and the new strategies GSS has implemented with changing time, especially after Covid, and of the specific trends he anticipates in security sector in the years to come. Plus new opportunities for GSS and his technology- and business roadmap for the company.

Pushkar also shares what being a part of the wonderful Godrej Family means to him, and how it has helped his business and him, and what he likes cherishes and respects from the 125 years' journey of the Godrej group and its core values.

So GSS is an offering that focuses on People, Profit and Planet, all driven by the Godrej Group's big, common underlying motivation of Purpose.

Listen in to my conversation with Pushkar Gokhale, Business Head at Godrej Security Solutions, and a passionate and positive leader who revels in the values, integrity and purpose of the Godrej Group even as he drives Godrej Solutions to greater heights.

The Master’s Voice Podcast (MVP) is on top global podcast directories
Here are some great watering holes for podcast lovers across India and the world, that list us: Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Spotify, JioSaavn Podcasts, Gaana, Amazon Prime Music, Tune In Alexa, Stitcher iHeart Radio Overcast PocketCast PodcastAddict Castro and Castbox. Just click on any of the directories, and you will be taken to MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast there for expert conversations with MVPs.

My distinguished guest on this episode of our award-winning podcast series MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast, is Anish Bafna Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director of Healthium Medtech Limited.Healthium Medtech Limited is a company I have enormous respect for – it has redefined the Aatmanirbhar Bharat mission, and walks the talk miles ahead of its other respected contemporaries in the space of Medtech, as the largest independent Medtech entity in India.

Listen to Anish Bafna’s inspiring story of vision, purpose and commitment, which should inspire not only startup leaders but even the senior-most, successful entrepreneurs, including, I’m confident, all his peers and competitors alike
Today, Healthium Medtech Limited is the largest direct sales force in medical devices and has created access to more than 18000 hospitals and 40000 surgeons covering 90% of districts in India with secondary healthcare facilities. They focused from Day One on the Operation Theatre and on contributing to enabling for every surgeon through their surgery products, the smoothest, most precise and effective procedure to help every patient transition to quick, full recovery. Healthium, with eight manufacturing plants in India and with all the top global certifications including from the USFDA, today exports to 80 countries – in fact, one in five surgeries globally uses a Healthium product.

Anish and I speak about the growth and impact of Healthium and its four pillars of product and innovation focus and growth, the healthcare industry and segments with special emphasis on the Medtech segment in India. Anish tells me how he thought about creating Healthium Medtech and the opportunity he saw when he began doing so in 2018, in a market that was fragmented and where the medical devices industry was strongly dominated by MNCs, and Indian players had remained small.

Anish also shares how he is working with the government and industry bodies on the side of policy development, and also speaks of the CSR activities that Healthium is engaged in.

A Continuum of Care: And while Anish tells me about the recognition and awards his company and he have received, Anish also shares vision for Healthium for the remainder of 2022 and beyond, in the spirit of ‘Making in India, for the World’. Anish envisions Healthium will remain focused on continuing to provide what he calls A Continuum of Care. In line with that, among other initiatives, Anish and his team will soon set up a standalone innovation centre in Noida housed in a building of its own.

From Anish’s narrative about Healthium’s remarkable growth, it is laudable how Healthium has been driving the Athmanirbharta (self-sufficiency) initiative for medical devices for India. Today, it enables accessibility and affordability for quality medtech products to 90% of India, and with exports of international-quality products to more than 80 countries, Healthium, as India’s single largest independent Medtech company, has achieved what many other medical devices companies in the world aspire to do.

From Anish’s narrative about Healthium’s remarkable growth, it is laudable how Healthium has been driving the Athmanirbharta (self-sufficiency) initiative for medical devices for India. Today, it enables accessibility and affordability for quality medtech products to 90% of India, and with exports of international quality products to more than 80 countries, Healthium, as India’s single largest independent Medtech companies, has achieved what many other medical devices companies in the world aspire to do.

So tune in to my conversation with the visionary creator and custodian of India’s single largest independent Medtech company, Anish Bafna, CEO & MD of Healthium Medtech Limited.

This is the man who brought into the medical devices sector more than 30 years of Operational and Gener

My guest on this, the 58th episode of our award-winning podcast series MVP – The Master’s Voice, is Communicator and Coach Nikhil Dey - Executive Director, Adfactors PR. Nikhil brings a strong and significant mix of 20 years of distinguished experience in both, the agency and corporate sides of communications. He is also a big believer in the power of coaching to catalyse positive change, and particularly over the past few years, has been mainlining on what he describes as ‘Building teams in times of trouble; unlocking ideas and creating impact.’ This aspect hijacked our conversation, as did the significant new Social Impact and ESG practice that Nikhil has partnered in creating for his agency -- India’s biggest, most awarded and highly respected, Adfactors PR.

We speak about the Why, the What, the USPs and the strengths of the Social Impact and ESG practice, and about how Nikhil has been helping create a work culture where the teams can do their best work at Adfactors PR.

How does what Nikhil does as a coach intersect with the communications world? What's proven a crossroads between the two for him, Nikhil tells me, is his obsession with ‘Finding fantastic. Finding the alignment between the human being and the human doing’.

The agency is sharply focused on employee well-being, engagement and L&D, and in continuously growing an environment that allows high performing teams to deliver excellent work to hundreds of clients. In that part of our conversation, Nikhil provides what is certainly a strategic deep dive that would benefit every consultant and service provider, team leader and member across agencies seeking insightful guidance to provide professional excellence of the highest standards.

Nikhil, who has also been training corporate leaders on multiple aspects of strategic communications and public relations for several years now, recently got certified as a coach.

We speak of the areas Nikhil provides coaching in, and how what he does as a coach intersects with the communications world. And what's proven a crossroads between the two for him, Nikhil tells me, is his obsession with ‘Finding fantastic. Finding the alignment between the human being and the human doing’.

Nikhil shares what’s been his biggest learning over the last few years when it comes to leading a team, and how his primary focus is on bringing together the parts crucial to the whole of a solid work environment. These parts are Work Culture, Client Centricity, Collaboration and Innovation, and Nikhil believes that what stitches them best together is team safety at various levels.

All this and more, in this, the 58th episode of MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast that won a Gold at the 11th ACEF Global Customer Engagement Awards for the category of Most Admired Podcast; Sub-Category: Best Podcast in the Media, Marketing and Business category, and also won a special award at India Voice Fest 2021, which is the world’s biggest fest for professionals in the Voice Industry, and was held across 7 days with more than 5000 professionals attending it virtually.

So tune in to an insights-filled, rewarding episode featuring Nikhil Dey, Executive Director, Adfactors PR, in conversation with me in this, the 58th episode of MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast.

Thank you for your time.

This, the 57th episode of the award-winning MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast, features industry veteran Paritosh Joshi- Principal at Provocateur Advisory, in conversation with Pavan R Chawla, Founder-Editor of MediaBrief.com. and we disuss TRAI's 'regulation of the broadcast sector in general and its most recent consultaion paper on the travesty called NTO 2.0 in particular.

The TRAI report card, says Paritosh, has been a litany of failure right from the first mandate it received, till today. Across its 25 years so far, Paritosh says what TRAI has -- unlike the OfComs and other bodies of the world -- is authority without responsibility.

We discuss TRAI’s ‘regulation’ of the broadcast sector in general, and its most recent consultation paper seeking inputs and guidance on the travesty called NTO 2.0. The straight-talking, richly experienced ‘Provocateur’ Paritosh, who has been helping empower industry bodies like ASCI and the Media Research Users Council MRUC, and has been President and Head of Sales and Distribution at India’s top network, the Star Network, brings to our discussion knowledge and insights from a rich and proven professional career.

At this point in time, after a quarter century of its deleterious misadventure with broadcast regulation, the industry too would likely want to repeat Paritosh’s words as a message to TRAI: 'You are now doing a public disservice, and it is about time you cut our losses. Please don’t do any more disservice… Ab to jaan chhordo yaar! (at least now, spare us, please!)'. That, says Paritosh, is basically what nobody has been able to tell TRAI in as many words so far

We discuss TRAI’s performance as a broadcast regulator, and Paritosh responds to some of the questions in the consultation paper. And shares several thoughts about TRAI’s ‘capability’ and multiple failures across 25 years of intrusive ineptitude as a regulator of the broadcast sector.

TRAI, Paritosh says, has failed the broadcast sector because it is a regulator that was designed for working on a commodity style of product, telecom, and not a highly differentiated style of product which is what Broadcasting is all about. And which is utterly alien to TRAI’s vocabulary. TRAI tried to force-fit the telecom regulatory style to the broadcast sector, and they failed it.

In fact, even the very first job TRAI was tasked with by a judicial body – that of implementing CAS in India, TRAI failed in, in spectacular fashion: CAS never happened. It is instructive, Paritosh says, that after more than two decades of being the accidental broadcast regulator, one has to look closely for the term ‘broadcast’ in the official TRAI presence and will find it only if one digs deep into their website.

Paritosh recalls that around 10-odd years ago, TRAI had asked for interoperability of set top boxes. But like everything they have ever asked for, that too never happened. Because, Paritosh believes, “…What (TRAI) asks for, at the time when they ask for it, is so preposterous, it can’t happen! So theirs has been a litany of failures! Enough already! How many Ds can a guy get in his CGPI solo that he’s not allowed to be in a class?”

At this point in time, after a quarter century of its deleterious misadventure with broadcast regulation, the industry too would likely want to repeat Paritosh’s words as a message to TRAI: You are now doing a public disservice, and it is about time you cut our losses. Please don’t do any more disservice… Ab to jaan chhordo yaar! (at least now, spare us, please!)

Paritosh hopes that at some point, wide heads would prevail (in TRAI) and come out and say, ‘Look, we’re not cut out for this. Somebody shoved it down our throats once upon a time. We tried manfully to do as&

The 56th episode of MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast series, features Ronnie Screwvala - Chairperson & Co-Founder of upGrad, and the wonderful first-generation Indian entrepreneur, philanthropist, opinion leader and author and a truly remarkable and inspiring, visionary enterprise leader who exemplifies the MVP acronym of Most Valuable Player in our podcast series title.

Along with upGrad, which zeroes in on the massive Online Education market and the fact that Learning for every working professional is now a lifelong commitment, Ronnie also co-founded The Swades Foundation (along with his wife Zarina), which is committed to empowering one million lives in rural India every 5-7 years through a 360 degree model spanning Water, Sanitation, Health, Education and Livelihood, to help lift them out of poverty permanently.

These initiatives stemmed from Ronnie’s desire to deepen his commitment to making India a better place through a focus on two of the largest sunrise sectors - Online Education & the not-for-profit rural / social space.

In this episode, which will benefit startups and investors alike, Ronnie shares rich insights on a gamut of areas, from a beautiful mid point between investor and startup owner, but that’s just the point he speaks from. Ronnie’s words, as anyone who knows him, are pure, direct, plain-speak, sans any mincing.

From the perspective of someone who has built and is scaling a global enterprise like the remarkable UpGrad, Ronnie speaks about the macro picture in the EdTech space, and shares his views on whether he believes money talks during the phase of building a business when investors and capital seem to be the most important thing.

On his clear vision and plan for upGrad over the next 3 to 5 years, and whether he will merge, sell or list, Ronnie says he is absolutely fixated on Building upGrad to not just last, but to outlast. That is a total and complete commitment, and while listing might be an option, he says selling never was, and never will be.

On the fact that India has crossed 100 unicorns, Ronnie speaks of the need to be balanced between the champagne of celebration and the deep thought of introspection. He believes it is incorrect to assume that for K12, which has been the darling of everyone from investors to media to consumers, the honeymoon is over because the K12 model built by companies so far is under stress -- purely because there is a massive opportunity for K12 in India.

Ronnie shares how, despite having raised the least amount of cash, UpGrad has scaled very well with only a little capital. He shares his vision and approach, and his view on if, with more capital, UpGrad would have been at a different scale than it is at present.

His answer to a pointed question about the rumors about Byju’s - there was a hard hitting BBC prog on their model - and how many feel their valuations are not sustainable and so will the poster boy of indian EdTech have a wakening? – is truly statesman-like and insightful.

He agrees that overall, EdTech has been getting a poor name of late - first with aggressive sales from K12 players, then layoffs and even some talk on governance issues and accuracy of numbers with some. Does Ronnie see this impacting the sector as a whole? Listen in to find out.

Ronnie’s reply to why upGrad has been very choosy in the investors it has taken on Board, even though Mayank and he still own more than 60% of the Company, and how come he does not have the Tigers Sequoia and Softbanks of the world on his cap table, contains some of the best and most useful guidance for one and all, from the mastermind.

On his clear vision and plan for upGrad over the next 3 to 5 years, and whether he will merge, sell or list, Ronnie says he is absolutely fixated on Building upGrad to not just last, but to outlast. That is

Dr Mukund Rajan, Chairman at ECube Investment Advisors Private Limited, is in conversation with MediaBrief.com Founder-Editor Pavan R Chawla in this, the 55th Episode of the award-winning MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast series.

Mukund's firm ECube Investment Advisors Private Limited focusses on Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) issues in India. Mukund also enjoys the distinction of having been the First Brand Custodian of the Tata Group. Till 2019, he was Chief Ethics Officer and Chairman, Tata Global Sustainability Council. In 2007, the World Economic Forum honoured Dr Rajan as a Young Global Leader.

The conversation with Dr Mukund Rajan

In this episode, Mukund, who has been doing stellar work through ECube (scroll down for a bit of a deeper dive on ECube), speaks about his varied, rich and enabling experiences from years of working with the Tata group, and most notably, directly with the great Rata Tata himself, right from Day One. (Mukund got picked even though he said to Mr Tata he was an IIT engineering graduate with a PhD from Harvard, but had no MBA, and Mr Tata's reply is extremely interesting). We go through the excellent story of Mukund's experiences, learnings and growth from management trainee to Managing Director, and the group's first Brand Custodian.

Mukund also speaks of how values and purpose were inextricably, naturally, hardwired into the Tata Group's DNA, with Mr Rata Tata himself leading and inspiring his entire mammoth team on that count. "I don't recall any public address by Mr Tata that began with anything else," Mukund says.

We speak about his first book, Global Environmental Politics - India and the North-South Politics of Global Environmental Issues, published by Oxford University Press in 1996. This, I believe, was possibly the first book on India’s policy on the issue of global warming and climate change and environmental challenges that, clearly, are now very relevant.

We also discuss Mukund’s second book, The Brand Custodian, about his work as the first brand custodian at the Tata Group. Those years, Mukund says, were amongst the most enjoyable of his working career.

Mukund also speaks about his transition from telecoms to the world of private equity, to set up the Tata Opportunities Fund, the largest debut private equity fund out of India at that time.

And we speak of his move from Tatas in 2018 to start his own firm, ECube, in the ESG space.

We round up the chat with his recently authored book, OUTLAST – How ESG Can Benefit Your Business, and Mukund shares why he wrote the book and shares some important lessons from the book.

So tune in to this, the 54th Episode of MVP- The Master’s Voice Podcast, for my chat with Dr Mukund Rajan, Chairman at ECube Investment Advisors Private Limited, and one of India’s finest strategists and advisors to enterprise on profit with purpose, underlined by the core values of trust and integrity

My guest in this, the 54th episode of the award-winning MVP - Master's Voice Podcast series, is Anuj Kumar, Co-Founder and Chief Revenue & Operating Officer at Affle, which is counted amongst the top 300 public-listed companies in India.

Affle is a global technology company with a proprietary consumer intelligence platform that delivers consumer engagement, acquisitions and transactions through relevant Mobile Advertising. Affle aims to enhance returns on marketing investment through contextual mobile ads and also by reducing digital ad fraud.

Anuj has played a pivotal role in building and growing Affle, leading it to achieve a highly credible customer base, with his team working with several top marketers globally to help deliver end-to-end mobile advertising, technology and data analytics-driven solutions.

Affle transforms Ads into Recommendations with Consumer Insights-Led Solutions. It deploys its deep-learning, AI-powered algorithms to transform ads into consumer recommendations to deliver enhanced ROI and engagement. So brands can discover and identify their most valuable potential users and then acquire and re-engage them through Affle's platforms.

Affle aspires to create greater impact through Vernacular and Verticalization, through unique and integrated consumer journeys for marketers to help them get more out of their advertising. Affle’s solutions aim to reach >10Bn connected devices including Smartphones, Connected TV, personal wearables, and smart household appliances. So Vernacular helps create hyper-personalised actionable advertising and delivers integrated on-device experiences to consumers in their own languages, and Verticalization helps achieve higher conversions with targeted contextual advertising to drive exceptional ROI through deeper vertical-specific insights.

Anuj brings more than 20 years of relevant media and advertising industry experience. Prior to Affle, he worked with large global media companies like ESPN STAR Sports, GroupM Mindshare and JWT. Anuj holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from St. Stephen's College and a Master’s in Advertising & Communication from MICA in India.

In this episode, Anuj speaks about the vision that led to the inception of Affle – from how he thought of founding a mobile martech company in 2005 when iOS / Android plans were yet to be announced, to the recent past when the company put in a remarkable Q2 & Q3 performance. What drove the performance, and some major achievements of Affle in the last year.

Anuj also looks forward, and shares the Affle2.0 Strategy and how Affle is delivering on the end-to-end needs of the marketer? We speak of the importance of cross-screen advertising and how it helps a brand stand out in a crowded app world, especially in a market like India.

While Affle, providing an in-app service and experience, is not worried about the looming demise of 3rd party cookies, Anuj shares his take on the important aspect of Consumers data privacy. Remember, one important aspect Affle’s business practices of consumer outreach and connect is its Consumer Acceptable Advertising -- the first patent for which Affle filed in 2005 in the US. That continues to drive the company’s consumer-led ad innovations, and one is aware that Affle's platforms have passed the most stringent industry accreditations and uphold the highest standards in ethical advertising.

Anuj also speaks of Ad fraud in digital or programmatic advertising, and discusses the trends in the digital marketing space that have come in the last 2 years and are here to stay. He touches upon virtual and augmented reality, the Metaverse, and its implications for the AdTech sector. And much more.

So tune in for a deep-dive chat with Anuj Kumar, Co-Founder and Chief Revenue & Operating Officer at Affle Limited, one of India’s top 300 public-listed companies.

In this, the 53rd episode of MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast series, which is based on conversations with MVPs (Most Valued Players / Professionals) across important sectors of the Industry – we bring you a titan of the Indian Advertising and Marketing industry; someone who, needs no introduction to any practitioner in the space, because he goes by the name of Sam Balsara. Founder, Chairman & MD of Madison World.

More than half a decade of creating avenues for remarkable growth, guidance and mentoring for the entire advertising industry in India. And for the past 34 years, Sam has been an entrepreneur, first launching his feisty, innovative, creative and remarkably effective agency Madison, which he helped evolve and grow beautifully into Madison World.

On this, the 53rd episode of MVP - The Master’s Voice Podcast, Sam is a very happy man. Especially today, the 5th of May 2022, when this episode goes live to coincide with the return of the sorely missed and eagerly awaited Goa Fest, which Sam and, indeed, the entire A&M industry has been waiting for to resume.

So while Sam’s been looking forward to the return of GoaFest, here’s a message he wants to send out through this episode. “What I would request all the participants to do,” Sam tells me, “is to try and attend all the seminars… which provide the opportunity of broadening and widening your mind and horizons by listening to different points of view, which I think is very important in ultimately shaping your career.”

Sam speaks of several things, including the big highs from his career. Sam counts starting Madison on his own as a big high; also, winning the Media AOR mandate for P&G is another big high for him, because it signaled the arrival of the Media AOR in India, where there was no concept of a Media AOR prior to that win. In fact, Sam focused the Media AORs in those days, Coca Cola, Airtel, ITC and other very large prestigious AORs of TVS, who is still with Madison. When AORs first started, they were only buying AORs; but over the years, Sam and his team managed to convert the Buying AORs into buying and media planning APRs.

Once Lara entered the business, Sam says they pursued an aggressive diversification strategy, inspired by the success with the AORs to focus on unbundling, on specialization. Because by then they had a cadre of specialists who took pride in their work and business, and who became super experts, and the Media AOR specialists delighted clients with high value services to clients without concomitant costs. Soon, they had specializations and specialists for Outdoor, PR, rural and more. The formula was to hire super specialists. That design worked rather well, Sam says.

Sam also admits to a major pitfall, “of my own doing. In India," he says, "I took the view that my traditional media people should also handle digital and become digital experts. It’s not that I underestimated digital; I thought if the traditional media person is not going to handle digital like he does not handle outdoor, then what is he going to do?! And I persisted with that for five years!” Of course, he corrected things when the penny well and truly dropped. "

On his outlook for advertising, Sam says India has led in the growth rate of advertising in four of the past five years, and the country is in a reasonably sweet spot -- whether it is on demographic dividend, potential of the economy as we’ve become a reasonably large economy, countries are recognizing our importance, and that both these factors bode very well for the future of advertising in India.

And, Sam says, the same attractiveness of India will create challenges for the indigenous advertising sector, and probably end up giving Indian marketers greater power to leverage, and to negotiate harder, with the agencies. How? Listen in. And there's much more.

Delighted to share that this, the 52nd episode of MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast from MediaBrief.com, features not one but two distinguished guests - Durgesh Kaushik, Managing Director of India & South Asia Market Development at Snap, and Gaurav Jain, Head - Asia Pacific Business expansion.

Durgesh has led strategic partnerships, community development and overall ecosystem initiatives to support the growth of Snap in South Asia. Prior to joining Snap, Durgesh worked in leadership roles at Dunzo, Edureka as CMO, and most recently as CEO and co-founder of Wishfie. He also spent over three years at Facebook in marketing roles in APAC and EMEA.

Gaurav, who looks after APAC Business expansion at Snap, is ex-Facebook, ex-Google and ex-Nvidia – a true-blue tech-platforms leader.

In this episode, they speak about five of the most important Digital Marketing trends today; share what’s unique about Snapchat, its USP, its core user groups and the kind of marketers and genres they are relevant to.

You will also learn about Snapchat’s India journey, and how today, Snapchat is leveraging its position by structuring itself as a culturally and locally relevant platform.

Durgesh and Gaurav also share what it Snap is doing to help Snapchat get ensconsced on the mental home pages of digital marketers who generally seem to focus largely on one or all of the top four, ie FB, Insta, Twitter and LinkedIn.

We also speak about how not only tech in Digital Marketing has evolved, but also how Snapchat has leveraged its AR tech innovation among its Indian users, and how it keeps its innovation game up to date and consistent. And more.

Equally interesting things discussed include the work culture at Snap, and how the entire company focuses on business development. Also some important advice for youngsters seeking a career in digital media. And more.

So, welcome to the 52nd episode of MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast on MediaBrief.com, which features Durgesh Kaushik, Managing Director of India & South Asia Market Development at Snap, and Gaurav Jain, head - Asia Pacific Business expansion, in conversation with me.

(Note: The episode was recorded before the recent announcement of leadership realignments at Snap, which you can read about here)

Neeraj Vyas, Business Head - Sony sab and max cluster of channels at Sony Pictures Network India (SPNI) is a business leader driven solidly by a focus on viewer delight for sales, brand salience and industry-wide growth. Over more than two decades at SPNI, Neeraj has been a strong achiever in Sales and, for the last 12 years or so, as custodian of multiple channels that he has been steadily growing.

Neeraj began his journey with a sales mandate at Sony Entertainment Television (SET) in the mid-nineties, rising to the position of National Sales Head for the channel in 2005. Within a span of five years, Neeraj was appointed Executive Vice President for Sony MIX, the network’s Hindi music channel.

Thereafter, he was given responsibility for MAX in 2011, and SAB and PAL in 2017.

What makes Neeraj a remarkable Business Head is his extensive experience in GEC and other-genre sales, and the manner in which he also deploys his fine content sensibilities for greater delight for viewers, brands, associates and teams.

In fact, when he took over channels from genres most of the industry had given up as having been ‘done and dusted’ Neeraj infused new value into the channels through a strong and incisive understanding of content which helped him re position retro films and their stars for a movies channel, and also re-look at the content scheduling on Music channels that mapped the varying moods across each day part, to breathe great viewer acceptance and therethrough business salience in his early Movies and Music channel mandates.

And the same confluence of astute sales experience and content sensibilities helped Neeraj realise that his initial persistence with comedy for India’s most family-friendly, purely comedy-focused channel Sony SAB, was not going anywhere. And he decided to do an about turn on Comedy, “the most difficult genre to sustain”, and went on to broaden the spectrum and offerings of Sony SAB with content that would only be about Hope, Fun and Happiness.

With shows like Alladin and Tenali Raman, and now the futuristic-tech-narrated mytho of the great love and devotion of a dutiful, doting son for his mother, Garud, the most significant example of the enrichment and growth of the content genres Sony SAB is offering. And it wasn’t just an everything-but-comedy decision. Neeraj says Sony SAB will remain devoted to Hope, Fun and Happiness, by never doing shows about crime, violence and soapy dramas ‘about two girls chasing a boy with a stubble.’ And that helped Neeraj successfully reposition SAB as a premium entertainment brand and propel its growth with a new programming line-up and content strategy.

Over the years, Neeraj, who started as a young Sales person, has grown into an accomplished Business Head veteran driven by strong sales, brand salience, and a status-quo challenging vision that is strategic and not just short-term tactical. And has delivered extremely well on all his mandates.

So, join me on this, the 51st episode of MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast from MediaBrief.com, and listen to the usually self-effacing Neeraj open up and speak his mind in the soft-spoken manner he has made his own.

The remarkable Nisha Narayanan, Radio leader and evangelist and COO & Director of Red FM & Magic FM, is our Golden Jubilee as she shines forth in Ep 50 of MVP - The Master's Voice Podcast.

MVP, the Master’s Voice Podcast, our series based on conversations with MVPs (Most Valued Players / Professionals) across important sectors of the Industry, and we are delighted that Nisha, who ranks right up there with the best, has graced the Golden Jubilee episode of our award-winning MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast, from MediaBrief.com.

Nisha has been one of the most prominent names in the radio industry, and has been instrumental in launching ‘Red Indies’ which featured non-film music as a part of Red on-air content, and has focussed on creating brands out of raw talent.

Nisha’s vision to make RED FM accessible to its audiences across various touch points gave birth to multiple IPRs under the aegis of RED FM … IPRs like the successful RED LIVE, RED DIGITAL and RED INDIES, amongst others.

During her tenure as Senior Vice President for Programming and Marketing, Nisha had spearheaded the setting up of radio stations with her teams in markets across India, making RED FM one of the largest radio networks with 68 stations.

Some prestigious awards Nisha’s won, include the Business Leader of the Year (Entertainment) at Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival; the Don Rowland’s Prize for Excellence; Most Enterprising Leaders of Asia - WCRC, and India's Greatest COO at India’s Greatest Brands & Leaders, among several others.

Here, Nisha tells me how she entered Radio and why she has stayed in the medium for so long. She also offers a deep dive into her long and very fruitful association with and leadership of Red FM. She speaks of the newer content initiatives, and about the elements and performance of the strong Non-Traditional Revenue piece that the network has added to augment its revenues. She

Nisha speaks of some good, memorable campaigns, and all the reasons due to which the Radio industry and sub sector are still struggling to survive with just a 4-odd percent of the Adex pie, which is deplorably low for FM Radio by any comparison with most countries.

Nisha makes a case for news and current affairs to be permitted on FM Radio, lower licence fees, and other initiatives that will not only ensure that the depressing ‘sameness’ of stations across networks and markets reduces, but niche-content driven stations and networks can also flourish.

She shares her views on the streaming services and the fact that most mid to high-end smartphones do not have the radio app that was an OEM embed in the early days, saying it is not an either or but a coexistence of streaming apps and FM Radio, and that nothing comes anywhere close to the magical immediacy and great connect that RJs have with their listeners across stations and networks.

Nisha also speaks of how Radio can increase TSL, and how talent is empowered across Red FM. And more.

So Nisha Narayanan, COO & Director – Red FM & Magic FM, is our Golden Jubilee on the 50th episode of the award winning MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast on MediaBrief.com.

The series has grown in stature and impact thanks to the remarkable leaders and visionaries it has featured ever since the first episode, which had Jim Egan, Global CEO of BBC World News. I’ve enjoyed creating each episode we’ve brought you, including the one I was invited to record with the peerless Sangeet Martand and now unfortunately the late Pandit Jasraj ji, just a month before his 90th birthday.

So we’ve come a long way, and we thank our listeners and users for their wonderful support - Pavan R Chawla

My guest in this episode of MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast series Master’s Voice Podcast, which is based on conversations with MVPs (Most Valued Players / Professionals) across important sectors of the Industry – features Beerud Sheth - Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the phenomenal unicorn GupShup. (And remember, Beerud is the man who also created and launched Elance, which today, is the remarkable billion-dollar Upwork.)

The brand philosophy of GupShup stems from Beerud’s vision of ‘A future where it's as easy for a customer to chat with a business as it is with a friend’, and that philosophy and DNA has well and truly unlocked the power of conversational messaging – to the remarkable extent that today, GupShup powers around 80 of the top 100 unicorns of India through it crucial and empowering services.

Brands like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Infosys, Truecaller, Flipkart, Ola, Zomato and HDFC bank are using Gupshup’s messaging services to engage with their customers.

I learn that the primary ingredients in GupShup’s magic potion are ‘personalization, at scale, offered in a human way’. With personalization enabling businesses to develop and nurture one-on-one relationships with their customers; scale providing businesses the ability to create and manage dynamic connections with their customers, employees and partners at scale, and the human way personifying businesses by humanizing the product, technology and interactions with their stakeholders.

Gupshup became Indian 6th unicorn raising $100 Mn from Tiger Global, valued at $1.4Bn.

It has entered the food and beverage sector with the launch of Restaurant Solution that has digitized hundreds of restaurant outlets online across India and the UAE.

GupShup launched its Messenger API for Instagram to help businesses engage. It has also rolled out conversational OOH ads across Mumbai, plus a WhatsApp-based commerce solution.

It recently acquited New Jersey-based Dotgo to strengthen the platform and enter new markets, and also acquired cloud telephony platform Knowlarity to strengthens conversational engagement portfolio.

Beerud speaks of the launch and growth of GupShup, and offers interesting insights into the ‘SPACE’ acronym, with which he powers the work culture across the organization.

He also speaks of what’s changed after Gupshup became a unicorn, and where he sees AI/ML/NLP in general and Conversational AI in particular, headed over the next couple of years. And, of course, his larger Conversational AI vision.

So for all this and more, listen to brilliant, innovative creator of enterprises of lasting value, Beerud Sheth, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the phenomenal unicorn GupShup, on MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast from MediaBrief.com.

Thank you for your time.

MVP, the Master’s Voice Podcast – our series based on conversations with MVPs (Most Valued Players / Professionals) across important sectors of the Industry, features Manisha Kapoor, Secretary- General of ASCI, or The Advertising Standards Council of India. Manisha is in conversation with Pavan R Chawla - host of the award-winning MVP - The Master's Voice, and Founder-Editor of Mediabrief.com.

The conversation explores ASCI’s major report, What India Takes Offense To, which is a study of complaints received at ASCI. Manisha tells us about the main reasons India gets offended with certain ads, and speaks of the types of ads that have drawn the greatest ire from people of India.

In a significant download to young marketing professionals, the conversation also covers the process and resolution of complaints that ASCI receives from its member organizations against other members or non-members for different types of alleged transgressions, like plagiarizing ads, etcetera.

For guidance to marketers, Manisha outlines the process and timelines taken for ASCI to help resolve complaints about ads by its members and others – ranging from timelines for normal resolution to fast-tracked complaints. And much more.

This is a deep dive that will help every marketer – from the young student to the most practiced professional – with information and professional guidance that will empower them to be ever mindful of truthful and unambiguously accurate advertising, and the responsibility in this area that every marketer must fulfil for their constituents, consumers and the people of India.

Listen in.

MVP, the Master’s Voice Podcast – our series based on conversations with MVPs (Most Valued Players / Professionals) across important sectors of the Industry, features global advertising great and The Caples Awards Guy, Patrick Collister in conversation with Pavan R Chawla - host of the award-winning MVP - The Master's Voice, and Founder-Editor of Mediabrief.com.

The peerless Patrick shares some amazing thoughts and insights about advertising, creativity, the entire calendar of the upcoming Caples Awards 2022 -- his fifth edition as custodian of the most celebrated, un-mercenary awards that can perhaps accurately be described as the most aspirational for the Creative fraternity all over the world. Not crowded with categories and sub-categories, unlike some leading international awards the entry fees for which perhaps demand that every agency worth its creativity salt must put aside a million USD a year for its awards entries budget!

Listen in!

My wonderful guest in this episode of MVP, the Master’s Voice Podcast – our series based on conversations with MVPs (Most Valued Players / Professionals) across important sectors of the Industry, is the peerless Kaushik Roy, AKA Roy Phoenix, one of the most admired leaders whose brilliant campaigns have become part of creative and strategic folklore in advertising and brand building.

The man who’s been a remarkable creative leader, is an equally gifted writer. Just read, and revel in, the most satisfying confluence of thought, expression and inspiration that shine in his brilliant debut novel, Alphabetica. A dear friend and brilliant broadcasting industry leader had virtually rapped me on the head to tell me I needed to read Kaushik's amazing book, and that had got me scurrying to the affable and generous Kaushik, who gave me enough time and more to record a long and leisurely episode in a post-prandial Saturday afternoon slot. Thank you Kaushik.

So, more on Alphabetica in a bit. It is, of course, the kind of engrossing writing one would have expected from Kaushik, whose prodigious creative talent was mentored from the early days by his stalwart father, and who grew and honed it across decades in an illustrious career.

When one considers the diversity and brilliance of some of his campaigns that have become beacons in Indian advertising, once can see how beautifully a different calibration between head and heart would have played in the creation of every different campaign – each a milestone in legendary Indian advertising.

Let’s see. Great campaigns like Tata Steel “We Also Make Steel”, Max Touch (Vodafone), “Citizen of the World“, Reliance Infocomm “Karlo Duniya Mutthi Mein”, Philips “Let’s Make Things Better”, Reliance Industries Limited’s “Mumbai Indians”, “Jio” and “Indian Super League”, and HMV’s “Nazia Hassan – Disco Deewane”, to name a few.

Kaushik comes from a family of artists and filmmakers and, as a youngster, displayed great talent as a painter and a photographer. While doing his graduation at the Saint Xavier's College, Kolkata, his flair for art got him breaks as a freelance artist and designer, and finally, a visualizer’s job with JWT, Kolkata.

After his initial stint in the Creative Department at JWT, Kaushik moved over to the management side of the business. He has held important positions as Executive Director & Chief Creative Officer – DDB Mudra, Head Brand Strategy, South Asia – Philips, Head Branding and Marcom – Reliance Infocomm, and President, Brand Strategy and Marketing Communication – Reliance Industries Limited.

Kaushik has also held important industry positions such as the President of the Advertising Club, Executive Committee Member of the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), Steering Committee Member – Ad Asia 2003, President of the International Advertising Association – India Chapter (IAA-IC). While in his role as the IAA Area Director – Asia Pacific, he served as Vice Chairman, IAA World Congress 2019 Steering Committee. The IAA inducted him into its “Hall of Fame” in the same year.

Despite his busy day job, he has continued to work on several independent documentaries and short films. He has exhibited his paintings in group shows like "Harmony" and independent ones at the Nehru Centre Art Gallery and the Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai.

Branching out from his regular day job, Roy has had several successful art exhibitions, written and directed a clutch of films, including the feature film “Apna Asmaan”, starring Irrfan Khan and Shobana, which went on to win the best feature film award at the Stuttgart Film Festival 2007.

And then there’s his excellent debut novel I just mentioned, Alphabetica, that he launched recently. This satire on majoritarianism. Listen and enjoy. Kaushik is a remarkable creator and raconteur.

This, the 44th episode of MVP- The Master’s Voice Podcast – our series based on conversations with MVPs (Most Valued Players / Professionals) across important sectors of the Industry – features K E Ranganathan, Managing Director - Roca Bathroom Products Pvt Ltd, the 100% subsidiary of the Spain-based Roca Group which is a world leader in the definition of the bathroom space. Ranganathan speaks with Pavan R Chawla, Founder-Editor of MediaBrief.com.

Ranga – as he is fondly called – heads the global Roca brand’s India operations and tells me how he has helped the India team lead in revenue growth across the massive 175-plus global markets Roca footprint.

Ranga holds in paramount importance the legendary Akira Mori’s 5H values-attitudes-focus string of Humility, Humanity, Humour, Hope, and Health. And also believes that that there are no dull markets. Only dull managers.

Ranga is a graduate in commerce from Madras University, an Associate of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and an Associate member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI). He is also a Fulbright Scholar, and comes with more than 33 years of experience in finance, accounting, business planning, strategy, marketing & sales.

Ranga has held senior positions in various companies in Murugappa Group and TVS Group.

Not new to Roca Bathroom Products Pvt. Ltd, Ranganathan joined Murugappa Group in 1994 where he was Head of Finance for Parryware division and later took charge of the Sales & Distribution division. During his stint with Parryware, Ranga brought a whole new perspective by refurbishing the key processes and focusing on result orientation, leading to sales growth at a CAGR of 25%.

In 2005, Ranganathan headed Parryware business as the CEO and played a key role in transforming the business into a Joint Venture company with Roca Spain.

Ranga works closely on creating new strategies and opportunities to drive growth and further consolidate the company’s leadership position, and does that surrounded by toilets and bathroom fittings most of his working day.

In this episode, he speaks about the journey and growth of Roca and Parryware in India, how they tackled the pandemic, the USPs of the brands and the most popular products, his marketing beliefs and strategies and some interesting campaigns, plus his outlook for the subsectors he operates in, and also offers an extended piece of advice for youngsters that I believe everyone professional will find very useful. And more.

So join me in my chat with K E Ranganathan, MD – Roca Bathroom Products Pvt Ltd for an insights-filled conversation. With Ranga. Thank you for your time.

My guest in this, the latest episode of MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast, is someone who brings solid Sales and Marketing experience from some great brands he’s worked with, and today leads the crucial marketing function at a Unicorn -- Anupam Gurani, Chief Marketing Officer of the Unicorn, School EdTech major LEAD.

Anupam, who has more than 18 years of experience, working in various roles across Marketing, Digital Marketing, P&L management, Brand building, Sales, Key Account Management and Channel marketing, oversees the overall Marketing strategy and vertical at School EdTech major LEAD, where he also plays a significant role in accelerating business growth in existing as well as new markets.

LEAD serves more than 3,000 budget private schools in more than 400 cities. LEAD has been playing a major role in transforming school education in India and more important, narrowing learning gaps for more than 1.2 million students. LEAD is the first School EdTech player to enter the Unicorn club with a series E funding $100 million US Dollars, standing at a valuation of $1.1 billion.

The conversation, pegged on LEAD’s high-decibel, multi-media campaign to boost admissions for budget private schools, is a deep-dive chat on the campaign, and moves on to broader insights for marketing professionals on the insights and learnings a professional of Anupam’s excellent experience brings to the table.

And speaking of experience, well, before joining LEAD, Anupam was Senior Vice President & Head Sales at Disney+Hotstar, where he built the Digital Ad Sales Business and played a key role in strategic business decisions for the company. He has also worked with Vodafone India, where he led the Sales & Marketing team. And before that, Anupam spent over a decade, working in India & South East Asia with Reckitt Benckiser & Google, where he drove adoption of digital platforms for top FMCG clients. At Reckitt Benckiser (for Dettol), Anupam was involved in various roles across the Sales & Marketing functions.

This alumnus of IIM Bangalore and Delhi College of Engineering is a voracious reader and fitness enthusiast who loves cooking, and in this episode.

Come, join our conversation, as Anupam shares the nuances and finer points of the LEAD campaign, his experience of leading Marketing at LEAD, and some of the learnings, particularly during the lockdown, which he shares for the befit of both – younger marketing professionals and his peers. And more.

So join Anupam Gurani, CMO of the Unicorn School EdTech Major LEAD, and me, Pavan R Chawla, Founder-Editor of MEDIABRIEF.COM, on the latest episode of the MVP series. Thank you for your time.

Our very special guest on this episode of MVP, the Master’s Voice Podcast -- our series based on conversations with MVPs (Most Valued Players) across important sectors of the Industry -- is Priya Chakravarty, Senior Director – HR at Essar Capital Limited!Essar Capital is at the threshold of another big growth spurt, and of course, its biggest strength has always been its People, and as Senior Director – HR, Priya plays a crucial role in strengthening the People practices across Essar Capital.

Priya is responsible for managing HR for International businesses and Corporate Functions, and also handles Learning & Development there. So, championing and empowering the diverse talent required at Essar Capital Limited across multiple sectors and sub sectors and levels is a large and truly complex mandate that Priya has been excelling at delivering on.

A post-graduate in Organisational Dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania, Priya deploys rich learnings from more than 20 years of experience in Human Resources, bringing in to bear her work experience from across industries like Manufacturing, Pharma, IT and Retail. In her previous assignment as Chief People Officer – Hometown & Ezone, Priya was responsible for driving a transformational HR agenda that focused on organisational culture, building a talent pipeline, and initiating and aligning all people practices to business achievement.

In this, the 42nd episode the Master’s Voice Podcast, our MVP conversation ranges across how Priya and her team rose to meet the first shock and challenge of the lockdown and how they kept all Essarites reassured, protected, connected and productive. Priya speaks of how her HR team at Essar Capital Ltd worked to get the individual and collective mindsets to a place of comfort with change, which, she says, became the bedrock for engagement, productivity, reassurance and protection.

Priya speaks of important deployments such as real-time communication, the in-house Radio Essar, empowering of employees with the tech and training to continue working from home comfortably and effectively, also providing them with ppen communication channels with doctors, counsellors, leaders and management, plus substantial work on renewing learning methodology by building digital training programs and creating an ecosystem of learning partners to produce and deliver content rapidly to a broad base of employees.

So here's a fascinating account of how Priya Chakravarty, Senior Director - Human Resources at Essar Capital Ltd, and her team kept employees informed, engaged reassured and productive. I hope you find it as insightful and beneficial as I did.

Thank you for your time.

My very special guest in this episode of The Master’s Voice Podcast, is Mona Shetty - President, Sound & Vision India, which is India’s biggest and most respected entity for providing globally acclaimed content localization services. Mona herself is the Queen and High Priestess of content localization in India, and a highly respected Voice Actor, Voice Coach and Dubbing Director.

Mona, who initially wanted to remain with her piece of the pie comprising of her own freelance voice work for multiple producers and wanted to eventually add the organized training of voice industry professionals to her work areas, had to clench the important baton of taking further ahead, Sound & Vision India (SVI), the company her mother had founded in 1993. Stepping into the shoes of her illustrious late mother and the then best voice industry professional in India, Mrs Leela Ghosh, wasn't an easy task.

But Mona, who took over the Sound & Vision India mantle in 2012, has taken forward Leelaji’s peerless qualities -- her knowledge of multiple languages, her talent for adaptation, creativity, attention to detail and extreme professionalism -- to an even higher level. From translation to adaptation to casting and direction, Mona has been championing it all for delighted global and Indian clients, and in the process, has developed these services into an art form.

Recently, Mona put India on the global content localization map when she became the only sector-leader to be listed by EGA, the Entertainment Globalization Association, on its list of the best global leaders in the content localization space.

Under Mona's leadership, SVI has grown from under 20 to almost 100 employees across 4 offices in India and has established itself as a premium localization company by virtue of its capacity, infrastructure, technical and creative excellence and professional project management.

In its 28 years so far, Sound and Vision has developed into one of the finest localization companies in the country. Having localized hundreds of hours of content for Theatrical release,TV and OTT platforms for content owners and broadcasters all over the world, SVI is at the forefront of the localization industry with it’s ever evolving Dubbing, Subtitling, Descriptive Audio and Access Services.

Their work spans Theatricals, Marvel Films, Franchises, Web series, and more, in all Indian languages including Bengali, English, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu, amongst others.

In this episode, Mona shares not only the major SVI milestones, but also what SVI brings to the creative and technical table that has helped it remain ahead of the pack as an industry leader for 28 years now.

She puts forth insightful guidance for anyone aspiring to join the Voice industry in India as a voice artiste, and speaks about the very special, super-intensive, 2-day workshop SVI conducts once a month for those interested in exploring their innate desire to try out to explore if they are suitable for a voice-artiste career.

She also advises voice talent on how to pitch their talent and availability to the producers etc, and also shares inspiration with her own values and beliefs that help her shine every single day.

All this and more in this wonderful chat from the heart. With the wonderful Mona Shetty. I hope you find the knowledge and insights and natural candour of the effervescent Mona as delightfully engaging and professional rewarding as I did.

So listen in to the Queen and High Priestess of content localization in India – Mona Shetty.

In this, the 40th episode of The Master’s Voice, I bring you a conversation with someone I’ve always admired -- in equal measure for her career and professional achievements in the Media & Entertainment space, and for the kind of wonderful person she is - Simran Hoon, Chief Executive Officer at The Q India. She is one of the youngest women in a senior C-level leadership role in M&E in India.

Before joining The Q, Simran was Executive Vice President and Head of Ad Sales at Viacom18, where the team successfully established COLORS channel as the leader in revenue amongst all Hindi general entertainment channels. Simran, who brings 25 years of stellar workex to TheQ, has worked in various leadership positions at leading media and entertainment conglomerates such as Zee Entertainment Enterprises, Star India and Sony Entertainment Television, where, incidentally, both of us were colleagues as part of the team that launched Sony Entertainment Television in India.

The Q, as we know, is a truly unique offering that aims to cut the clutter in linear television, and for which Simran, after she took over, has helped build a strong and robust entertainment ecosystem. Under her custodianship, the Hindi general entertainment channel has witnessed exponential growth in the industry with several milestones.

The Q takes the best of curated content from social and digital to the family television set. And this exciting offering primarily targets the Tier 2 and 3 cities and towns, and, of course, by virtue of its content, is relevant and interesting to the Tier 1 markets too.

Simran speaks about The Q, its biggest USPs, the kind of audiences it appeals to and its growth curve since launch in India on the back of the power of special, angular, different-from-run-of-the-mill-Hindi-GEC content.

She recalls launching a GEC during the pandemic without much marketing at all, and how the channel has grown since its launch on DD FreeDish.

Simran speaks of the The Q’s content strategy across curation, creation and acquisition, and the opportunities and challenges of formatting an FPC for a channel that doesn’t dish out only the usual 3-breaks-4-segments kind of 23-minute episodes dished out in half-hour slots. She also shares how advertisers have responded to The Q, and gives us a little whiff of some exciting future plans across digital and regional

As CEO at The Q, Simran leverages her experience and insights to provide strategic direction to create new opportunities for the company and to drive organizational growth.

With a Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing Management (PGDMM) from The Times School of Marketing, New Delhi, Simran worked as a Senior Officer with The Times of India Group, thus beginning her journey in the media and entertainment industry.

So tune in for some excellent insights from one of the most positive industry professionals who leads her handpicked team by example and inspiration - Simran Hoon, CEO - TheQ.

In this, the 39th episode of The Master’s Voice podcast series, passionate entrepreneurial leader, Mukesh Kalra – CEO of ETMONEY, speaks with Pavan R Chawla about India’s largest app for financial services that is simplifying the financial journey of new-age Indians. Consumers use ETMONEY to invest in zero-commission Direct mutual funds for Free, protect their families with unique Insurance solutions & use ETMONEY Credit Card to take instant loans at low-cost.

Mukesh, a passionate entrepreneurial leader who brings more than 15 years of experience in building businesses and products from scratch in the Fintech, consumer, internet and mobile advertising spaces, has helped grow ETMONEY at 350% yearly on the back of multiple innovative solutions to reach more than 10 million users from more than 1400 Indian cities and towns, driving more than INR 20,000 crores of non-payment annual transaction volume on its platform.

Before heading ETMONEY, Mukesh was one of the core members at InMobi and helped build it from concept into the world’s largest independent mobile ad network. He then launched his own fintech firm, Moneysights, which was later acquired by Times Internet, Times Group. And over the last 5 years, of course, Mukesh has led ETMONEY to be one of the largest and fastest growing investments and wealth management firms in the country.

In this episode, Mukesh speaks of his own Fintech journey and that of ETMONEY – from concept to launch to its current growth. He speaks, also, of the current investment trends and Fintech landscape in India and the future outlook. Mukesh speaks of the investing habits and behaviours of the new generation of investors joining the investment bandwagon, and shares very interesting information about ETMONEY users, along with the excellent category-defining USPs of the service.

In this, the 38th episode of The Master’s Voice podcast, Pavan R Chawla brings you a conversation with one of FM Radio’s finest professionals, B Surendar - Chief Operating Officer & Director, Red FM network. One of the thought leaders in the FM radio industry in India, Surendar, over the past 16 years, has been playing an important role in helping shape the success of the Red FM radio network, which has grown in India from 7 stations in 2005 to nearly 70 stations now across the country, reaching around 52 million listeners.

In this episode, Surendar shares his views and provides multiple insights that would not only help inform and educate young professionals but also inspire peers who, like he himself, are working to evangelize the FM Radio industry in India.

Surendar outlines his interesting education and early career graph, and shares how he transitioned from working with reputable, research-oriented pharma companies, and how he eventually found himself at the Indian Express, which marked the beginning of his beloved and successful media career. He speaks of the impact of the pandemic on the FM Radio industry.

He also busts some myths about the Radio industry, and discusses the need to evangelize the medium. Surendar is upbeat about the great power and relevance, and potential of Radio, which he says, is poised for strong growth in India

Surendar is active in industry forums and has been a part of many award-winning initiatives for the network. He is also known for his penchant for building teams, mentoring revenues, and maintaining high standards of business ethics and integrity. He has an MBA in Marketing, and had a stint with pharma MNCs Organon & Hoffmann-La Roche before moving to the media industry in 1996. His personal interests include world affairs , sports , movies , music and travelling.

During his more than 25 years of senior-management experience in the media industry, Surendar has earned peer respect as a turnaround specialist by handling tough assignments with aplomb and consistently achieving top- and bottom-line objectives of the companies he has worked with.

This, the 37th episode of The Master’s Voice on MediaBrief.com features someone who’s in an area of advertising wherein consumer attitudes, opinions and reactions are carefully collected, analyzed, tallied, and held up to the light – Dr Duane Varan, Ph.D., CEO and Founder of MediaScience; former director of Disney’s Media & Advertising Lab; professor at the Audience Lab at Australia’s Murdoch University, and has is a pioneer in the field of market research. Dr Duane is in conversation with Pavan R Chawla on MediaBrief.com

A graduate of UT Austin, Dr. Varan’s privately-held companies are on the cutting-edge of tracking persuasion: MediaScience, a global pioneer in lab-based research integrating neurometrics, facial coding, eye tracking, reaction latency testing and other advanced methods including AI and machine learning, and HARK Connect,its QualTech™ qualitative research streaming and AI platform.

Overall Duane leads a team of more than 50 researchers, project managers, developers, strategists and planners -- many holding advanced degrees – and working out of offices in New York, Chicago and their headquarters in Austin.

Simply put, Duane and his team are experts when it comes to better understanding the emotional dimensions of how people react to media, advertising and consumer brands.

In the process, Dr Varan’s companies have moved to the forefront of transforming market research into something that goes beyond the stereotype of the boring online survey. “We’re trailblazers at MediaScience,” Duane says. “We think of ourselves as part of a movement to elevate the very atmosphere in which media and marketing research is conducted.”

Duane understands intrinsically that when it comes to measuring consumer reaction, people need objectivity. “We all lack direct access to our own emotional encounters,” he observes. “So we have to measure human emotion directly – which you can do, drawing on things like skin conductivity, heart rate, facial expression analysis, eye tracking, even EEGs.”

Anyone in the business of marketing, and in the quest for inputs to help the most effective marketing, must reach out to Duane and his team. And on this episode of The Master’s Voice, Duane, as both -- a business- and thought-leader -- has a compelling story to tell, and a roadmap for achievement that I’m convinced the professionals who listen to The Master’s Voice would find informative and inspirational.

Duane is the incisive professional who’s provided detailed and insightful guidance on questions as varied as Is my ad campaign more effective on OTT or linear TV?; What methods of sponsorship produce brand-lift?; Which entertainer is making the biggest impact on our program?; Which content produces the strongest brand memory?; Do interactive ads increase purchase intent?, and numerous others.

And hey, they’re the kind of team that loves listening to the problems of marketers. Because Duane his team team mainline on actually illuminating the media journey through science, innovation, and integrity.

My guest on this, the 36th episode of The Master’s Voice podcast series from MediaBrief.com is a distinguished expert, Abbas Akhtar, Chief General Manager Brand & PR at Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), where he has held and shone in the position for the past two years. However, Abbas brings a total of 34 years’ experience to his complex, demanding, and what he describes as ‘very fulfilling responsibility’ of leading Corporate Communications at BPCL – one of India’s biggest Maharatna giants.

In his current role, Abbas is responsible for building the communication strategy and planning and executing it across platforms while maintaining integrity across all marketing and communication initiatives of the company.

Apart from handling Corporate Public Relations & Brand, Abbas has also had experience in heading marketing activities of Highway retailing and leading brand initiatives in the Retail Business Unit encompassing retail fuel stations pan India.

Abbas Akhtar has also worked extensively in the Aviation Fuel Industry, representing Bharat Petroleum, and has developed command over almost all the facets pertaining to Jet Fuel Marketing and Operations.

In this episode of The Master’s Voice, Abbas speaks of the size and scale of BPCL and the purpose that it drives, and which drives it, in the service of India.

He speaks of how the BPCL brand promise of ‘Innovation, Care & Reliability’ is ingrained in the company’s DNA, and how the team has been gearing up to take it to new levels.

Abbas shares BPCL‘s Comms philosophy and beliefs during COVID, and the company’s campaigns and initiatives to communicate its mission, commitment and purpose – all of which have helped BPCL keep literally fuelled and powered, the nation’s ‘wheels’ to keep it growing.

Abbas also shares insights from the company’s purpose-driven campaigns. He also speaks of the kind of media and marketing mix BPCL uses to reach out to both — its massive consumer base across India, as also to its associates and the businesses that partner it across the length and breadth of the country.

Abbas, who handles a mandate that is as complex as it is crucial, also shares how he organizes and manages teams working across a large number of complex verticals, and how BPCL is well served by its Umbrella Branding Strategy. Young marketers seeking to arm themselves for the fast evolving digital marketing space, will find helpful insights on what Abbas believes they need to brush up on to remain relevant and grow.

All this, and more, from the soft-spoken, passionate and accomplished Abbas Akhtar, Chief General Manager – Brand & PR at BPCL. What you will hear in the episode is a truly inspiring Aatmanirbhar Bharat story that BPCL has been scripting across multiple fronts, after having stepped up phenomenally to serve the nation and its people during the pandemic and lockdown, and more. As India’s ‘best performing’ Maharatna Public Sector Undertaking that today is a Fortune 500 oil refining, exploration and marketing conglomerate.

In this, the 35th episode of The Master’s Voice on MediaBrief.com, I bring you a conversation with Phil Hardman, Senior Vice President and General Manager of BBC Studios Asia. BBC Studios, as we know it, is the global content company with British creativity at its heart, and in India too, has been amongst the most respected creators of content production and sales empowerment for television, and now the OTT space too.

Phil – who took over as GM for BBC Studios Asia after his roles leading the BBC’s commercial strategy across Asia and Greater China, and the BBC’s China business for the first half of 2020 – shares interesting insights about the Studio’s recent re-launch of its popular children’s channel CBeebies in India after 8 years, the characteristics of the overall Asia market and the uniqueness of the India market within it and BBC Studios India the content and associations it has created and driven so far, his outlook for India and the region; a bird’s-eye-view of the OTT transformation and growth during the pandemic; how the formats business adapted to the pandemic, and current and upcoming format trends. He also speaks about supporting platform partners and the associations and partnerships BBC Studios India has in the India market, including with Sony BBC Earth, and others.

So, for insights from Phil Hardman based upon his extensive knowledge of, and experience in, the South- and South-East Asia, South Korea and Japan markets, tune in to this episode of The Master’s Voice. We give you Phil Hardman, Senior Vice President and General Manager of BBC Studios Asia.

My distinguished guest on The Master’s Voice podcast series is Alok Tandon, Chief Executive Officer, Inox Leisure Ltd -- an industry leader and statesman for the massive theatrical exhibition of Entertainment industry in India, We caught up in anticipation of cinema halls reopening across the entire state of Maharashtra on Friday, the 22nd of October. Thank God It's Friday, again. At long last.

In this episode, Alok speaks of INOX’s readiness for the reopening of cinema halls across Maharashtra on 22nd October. He speaks of the SOPs, INOX’s plans, and how the strong combination of cinema halls reopening in the festive season with a stellar lineup of movie releases for movie lovers vaccinated and waiting to watch films on the big screens will help the flat-lined business find its feet and recover very quickly.

Alok also reflects on the terrible lock-down period, and how it impacted the greatest, most loved form of passion entertainment for families across India - ie, cinema-hall movie watching. He also shares his views on industry matters such as exclusive (release) windows and areas where the cinema/theatrical business needs government- and industry support for.

And more.

In this, the 34th episode of The Master’s Voice podcast series, featuring Alok Tandon, CEO – INOX Leisure Ltd, in conversation with me.

Tune in for Alok’s excellent insights into the theatrical exhibition business that is the mega brick-and-mortar behemoth that delivers the heart and soul of that great passion format of entertainment – movies. Which are best enjoyed only on the big screen in cinema halls, which alone can bring alive the spectacular, incomparable experience of the great passion genre that is cinema in India.

Alok has more than three decades of experience across the Entertainment, Hospitality and Pharmaceutical industries, and instrumental as he has been in setting up and growing businesses across genres, brings great insights from his vast experience in strategy, growth and innovation. And has been instrumental in growing INOX to one of the largest and most significant multiplex chains of India.

Ever since he joined INOX Leisure Ltd in 2001 as Vice President-Technical, when the company was in start-up mode, till this day more than two decades after, Alok, as a member of the start-up team of INOX, spearheaded the organization for two decades from scratch to a footprint of more than 650 screens across India. Alok has helped INOX Leisure achieve strong market share with continued business growth. Throughout, Alok has steered the growth momentum, building on the ethos of INOX around the three pillars of ‘Luxury’, ‘Technology’ and ‘Service’, and strengthening its motto of ‘LIVE the MOVIE’.

Shorts TV CEO Carter Pilcher, the visionary who pioneered the world’s leading short movie entertainment company, is my distinguished guest on this, the 33rd episode of The Master’s Voice Podcast series on MediaBrief.com, Today, Shorts TV is the only 24/7, linear and OTT HD TV channel dedicated to short-form video entertainment, including movies and series.

Carter brought ShortsTV to India in 2018, and it now reaches 60 million Indian households with its strategic content partnerships with all leading DTH players -- on Tata Sky as Tata Sky ShortsTV (channel no 113), Dish TV as ShortsTV Active (channel 135) and on Airtel Digital TV as ‘Airtel ShortsTV’ (channel 259). Most recently, ShortsTV has become available also on Amazon Prime Video Channels. ShortsTV also recently announced its first telecom partnership with Airtel, foraying into OTT with launch on Airtel Xstream App.

And globally, Shorts TV is available in 100 million homes across the US, India, Latin America, the Netherlands, Belgium and Eastern Europe.

In this episode, Carter speaks of the early years, the pain and delight of struggling to keep the big ShortsTV dream alive, afloat and growing in the early years, when his team and he ploughed on only on the back of savings and gritty determination. And of course, the never-say-die Carter and his team emerged triumphant through the initial years, to make Shorts International the world's leading short movie Entertainment Company, functioning as distributor, broadcaster and producer.

The ShortsTV India film catalogue features Academy Award winners and nominees, International festival winners & nominees (Cannes, BAFTA, etc.), high quality CGI animation as well as cinematic gems from international independent filmmakers & local Indian filmmakers. The catalogue includes 1000+ hours of content across English, foreign, and local Indian languages including Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam.

Both Indian and International short films have been well received in the Indian market owing to the viewer’s search for unique and engaging content and the genre is currently being explored by some Bollywood biggies as well. ShortsTV’s indigenous film festival – Best of India Short Film Festival is India’s first Oscar accredited short film festival that enables Indian short film makers to stand a chance for Oscar consideration. Vidya Balan’s directorial debut short film Natkhat was the winner of its 2020 edition.

It owns and operates ShortsTV, which brings audiences around the world the best short movies on TV, online and in theatres, as well as Shorts Factory, which produces original short film content for broadcasters and brands. The channel also brings short stories to life in stunning high definition and covers the latest events in the short film industry. It offers hundreds of the world’s best independent shorts for download from stores in over 90 countries, including iTunes, Google Play and Amazon Instant Video.

Since 2006, ShortsTV has produced the annual theatrical release of The Oscar Nominated Short Films, distributing it to movie theatres around the world and digital sell-through platforms such as iTunes, Amazon and Google Play. The theatrical release of the Oscar Nominated Shorts is now a firm fixture in US & Canadian theatres and in 2019 grossed over $3.5 million at the US box office.

So, tune in for insights from Carter Pilcher, a remarkable visionary who created the phenomenon that is ShortsTV. Incidentally, Carter is also voting member of both BAFTA and the Short Film and Feature Animation Branch of the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).

I hope you enjoy this episode.

My guest in this, the latest episode of The Master’s Voice podcast series from MediaBrief.com, is Vishnu Mohta, Co-Founder – Hoichoi, and Executive Director SVF . And there couldn’t have been a better date than the 23rd of September 2021 to publish this episode because that’s when Hoichoi, the remarkable OTT platform Vishnu co-founded, has completed four successful years and stepped into its fifth.

With a professional background in Corporate Finance and Strategy, Vishnu joined SVF in 2007 as the head of the Digital Cinema Business, and after making it the largest player in West Bengal and the fourth largest network in India within a year of operations, Vishnu now heads the New Media division of SVF Entertainment. Hoichoi, which Vishnu launched in 2017 and successfully grew it into the leading Bengali entertainment platform, was its first venture.

Hoichoi grew on the back of a war chest of Originals (in the form of web series, films and shorts), Movies and free Music Streaming, targeting Bengalis in India and the Bengali diaspora.

And now, on Day One of its 5th year, Hoichoi has announced a whole lot of new content and partnerships. Clearly, Vishnu, who all through has deployed his strong strategic, analytical and interpersonal abilities and skills -- complementing them with a deep understanding of the Media and Entertainment industry -- is poised to take Hoichoi to the next level through major content investments in original shows, mega world premieres of digital films, making stronger international moves for greater presence amongst users and the diaspora, and even content creation associations.

Here, he shares his vision and plans, and it’s seems like a truly well thought out strategic route map. Powered by that one word that, if one were to over-simplify it, could well define what Media & Entertainment is all about: Content.

And more.

The descriptor ‘young veteran’ sits well on my expert guest in the latest episode of The Master’s Voice -- Kailash Adhikari, Managing Director – SAB Events and Governance Now Media Limited. We caught up for the recording quite some time back – happy to share, through this episode, Kailash’s views about governance and the media & entertainment industry in general, and how Kailash, blessed to have been born into an extraordinary family of M&E visionaries, is taking his wonderful lineage to higher levels with a sharp vision.

More about Kailash Adhikar: At age 23, this accounting graduate from the London School of Economics became a govt officer working with the erstwhile Planning Commission of India in the rank of a deputy secretary to Government of India. Kailash was in the office of Member Dr Narendra Jadhav and was handling affairs of Ministry of HRD, Labour& Employment, Social Justice & Empowerment and also states of Tamil Nadu, Goa & Bihar. He has also been featured by The Economic Times as one of the young guns working in the Erstwhile Planning Commission of India

So it was natural that he warmed up to, owned and grew Governance Now, the excellent magazine that has been a beloved initiative of his visionary father Markand Adhikari, and which he now leads as MD. As MD of Governance Now Media Limited, Kailash is responsible for the magazine and its digital ventures and capacity-building seminars. Kailash also actively looks after the day-to-day business operations of the Group’s broadcasting & content business.

Governance Now, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, enjoys high credibility amongst its readers and other stakeholders in the governance space.

Under the brand Governance Now, Kailash pioneered numerous initiatives which have been recognised by the entire community. Of these, the ‘Governance Now PSU IT Casebook’, which was unveiled by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi Ji, is one he cherishes the most.

Kailash’s recent venture Visionary Talks, which has him interviewing reputed personalities, is gaining a respect and appreciation. Another initiative aimed at providing Masterclasses to individuals free of cost, Masterminds, is gaining traction too.

The young champion of Purpose and Social Good and Governance is also a voracious poet and writer, having written several pieces of literature.

Our guest in the latest episode of our podcast series The Master's Voice is young Brand visionary, Soumyadip Chatterjee, National Brand Head at Snapdeal, one of India’s Big-4 ecommerce platforms -- where he deploys the wisdom from more than a decade of solid experience across multiple brands from diverse sectors – to drive brand awareness and communication on the pillars of empathy and purpose to deliver value to every stakeholder.

SnapDeal, Soumyadip tells me, helps and support every 'third-party partner' who fulfils Snapdeal offerings, as also each end-customer who shops on Snapdeal, and Soumyadip ensures the entire value chain is well served and supported by the Brand team so that customers receive 'Brand Wali Quality, Bazaar Wali Deal' -- which is how the company's recent brand campaign described its promise to them.

I learn of how Snapdeal has been championing the small, local sellers, and has been emerging as their preferred platform over the past few years. This, because, as Soumyadip says, “Snapdeal remains a neutral, value-focused platform whose business processes are aligned to the needs of its sellers – no inventory lock-up, no inventory-led operations that compete with them, and so on. Consequently, 100% of our sellers are third-party, independent ones. The growth in volumes is being serviced by them directly, and there is no conflict of interest for the Company.”

“So whatever growth we say that Snapdeal has had,” says, Soumyadip, “is essentially, directly passed on to the sellers, who are fulfilling those companies. There is no conflict of interest. We are all in the same team.”

Soumyadip speaks of how consumer behaviour has been shifting, changing. Consumers are are no longer enamoured by the fame of the brand, but are moving towards functional, more utility-oriented products. They are looking at great quality and not necessarily which brand is tagged with it.”

He also shares insights on how the changed times enforced by the pandemic have made most good brands – that have an ear to the ground – to shift to empathy-driven marketing. “Brands are really listening to the customer and then building their communication.”

An excellent insight Soumyadip offers is that it is often easy to get carried away when we are in the echo chamber of similar thoughts. So it is important to be able to step back and listen to the customer. And to help with that, Soumyadip's team has a customer-emotions session every week, when they gauge how customers are feeling and how they think about the brand; the objective is to understand the customers' pulse across geographies.

Soumyadip says it is important for marketers to speak with with normal, real people every day to see how the customers really think. Otherwise, of course, as he says, "if you torture data long enough it will eventually tell you whatever you want to hear."

It really is about team work. leadership driven by empathy -- for colleagues and, of course, for the customer. As Soumyadip says, "There's a lot more a team of average individuals can achieve when they are working together, than a very talented set of people working individually."

Why he loves working at Snapdeal? Well, the young man who says he has had an insight into more than 40 companies across his career, says Snapdeal is not only a wonderful place, it has an exceptionally collaborative work culture which is output-driven and not really input-driven. What particularly appeals to him is the exceptional balance between inspiration and insights. And because even as Snapdeal is delivering great value, equally significantly, it is acting as a great democratizer of quality products.

There's a lot more, of course, in this deep dive. So dive in. We're also on Apple Podcasts

Our expert guest in this episode of The Master’s Voice podcast series on MediaBrief is G B Srithar - Regional Director, India, Middle East & South Asia at Singapore Tourism Board, and a respected, expert custodian and evangelist of tourism in South Asia. As affable a person as he is a knowledgeable, strategic and highly effective professional, Srithar has helped make this a spontaneous, insightful and engaging conversation.

We speak of what Singapore Tourism Board has been doing ever since the lockdowns kicked in, to keep itself in the news and the aspirational consideration-sets of its regular and potential tourist target audiences. Srithar shares how, over the past year and a half, his team and he have been trying to keep STB relevant, connected, and engaged with both -- the travel trade, and consumers.

Srithar speaks of multiple special campaigns powered by their ‘agile, bold and creative’ approach, which has helped them roll out deep, empathetic and friendly messages of emotional solidarity across various geographies and in several languages. These have included the United We Stand initiative for Travel Trade partners.

And amongst its several campaigns for consumers, STB’s most memorable initiative has also been its most recently launched, targeting “a very important audience - kids” through the popular animation series featuring the powerful hero, Chhota Bheem, through a seven-episode tieup with STB partners Green Gold Animation and popular OTT Platform Voot Kids from Viacom 18 network.

Srithar also shares insights on STB’s marketing and comms philosophy during the pandemic. He also speaks at length on how STB has been taking the 'physical / personal' experience critical to travel marketing, totally virtual. He shares insights on the digital marketing mix and the importance of performance-based marketing.

He also speaks of the flat-lined travel industry, how the government has helped tourism-related businesses in Singapore, and more.

Joining the illustrious list of industry experts who have graced The Master’s Voice is someone I am extremely fond of and respect for his knowledge, experience, insights and expertise – Shailesh Kapoor, Founder & CEO, Ormax Media. Shailesh lights up a marketer’s quest with the illumination of insightful, strategic direction based on fact, research and several other factors that add up to an incomparable understanding of both -- consumer behaviour and industry needs.

Our conversation has insights for media users and owners that should help about evaluating the past and setting the rails for future growth. We spoke about the rise and growth of Ormax Media and its useful offerings for media owners. Ormax Media works in the areas of Content, Brand and Marketing, and Strategy -- all connected with strong consumer insights.

Our conversation also touches upon the OTT space, fake news, Print, Television News channels, FM Radio and the multiple problems it faces – not the least of which is that it is progressively becoming a medium for much older audiences; the conviction that the theatrical movies business will rebound and how, and more. Also that Regional content and markets are the cornerstone of M&E growth in India, as also the focus areas for Ormax Media.

Shailesh also touches upon Ormax's powerful forecast model. In fact, over the years, the company has pioneered the usage of various testing, tracking and forecasting-based tools, designed to achieve higher profitability in films, television, streaming, print, radio and other categories in the Indian media industry. More than 85 brands use Ormax Media services to take critical business decisions related to investment, strategy, content, branding, marketing and distribution.

More about Shailesh Kapoor: After earning an engineering degree from IIT Delhi and an MBA from IIM Calcutta, Shailesh began his career in an industry he was, and continues to be, deeply passionate about -- the Media & Entertainment in India. I’ve known Shailesh since his early days in M&E when he joined Sony Entertainment Television in its early years; we were colleagues there. And after nine years in Media & Entertainment in various marketing-, content-, business- and strategy roles, Shailesh turned entrepreneur in 2008 when he founded Ormax Media, a company that has pioneered the use of insights to help Indian media companies take financially-sound and consumer-centric business decisions.

Over 22 years, Shailesh has built a deep understanding of the industry, which he channelises into building compelling business solutions at Ormax Media. Shailesh’s expertise lies in Brand Strategy, Forecast Science, Consumer Behaviour, Trendspotting and Psephology. And his skills include Product Development, Business Analytics, Pattern Recognition and Organizational Culture.

Shailesh has been an avid writer, having written more than 500 articles and columns on the Indian media landscape over the years. He also enjoys quizzing, following sports, and keeping himself updated on various topics of public interest, ranging from politics to technology.

This, the 27th episode of our podcast series The Master’s Voice, features Malind Kapur, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Channel Development, Piaggio Vehicles Pvt. Ltd, in conversation with Pavan R Chawla, about literally driving business on the wheels of purpose.

Malind speaks of how the three-wheeler arm of the Piaggio business stepped up to the challenges of the pandemic-enforced lockdown, and of its innovative initiatives including selling, through the mobile and web platforms, auto rickshaws to people who had lost their jobs and livelihoods during the pandemic.

In the process, the company helped thousands of drivers and their families stay on their feet and even helped them ward off extreme deprivation including possible starvation, by not only helping them make a living, but in the initial days, even helping them with food supplies, and also providing their children scholarships to continue their education after standard X.

A lesson in driving business with purpose.

Malind brings more than three decades of professional experience -- both national and international -- with an outstanding track record in varied industries and diverse cultures.

Today, as an experienced and wise expert, Malind is one of the acknowledged leaders in marketing and brand- and business building in the mobility space. Malind has worked with many reputed companies such as Force Motors, Escorts, Sintex Industries, Eternit Everest and Pennzoil India Ltd.

A strategic business leader with an ever-practical approach, at Piaggio, Malind is responsible for business strategy and profit planning, EVA growth, P&L contribution, brand architecture, marketing, product profiling, market research, product strategy, channel & business development and sales & customer care. Malind is also a strong believer in the future of electric mobility and specializes in Electric Business & Profit Planning. He has earned industry-wide respect for building teams that excel in performance and have grown the business manifold, enhancing profitability.

My expert guest in this episode of The Master’s Voice Podcast is Zarif Tapia – Head of Adfactors Virtual Events, and a young veteran with 25 years of experience, with more than half those in the events space. Since, sadly, the pandemic has decimated the live and experiential events space, I caught up with Zarif on how he and his team have been ‘reimagining exerpiences’, as he puts it, in the experiential desert Brand custodians have found themselves in throughout the lockdown.

So here’s a conversation with a stellar virtual events professional who brings formidable experience of creating and deploying the best of live and virtual events to deliver on brand requirements across a range of sectors, event types and scale, while using the best of creativity, digital and tech.

Zarif speaks of how, over the past year and more, the pandemic has changed brand priorities and opportunities to engage with target audiences, and how, even as the pandemic crippled live events, “it also democratized experiences and provided a multitude of opportunities for marketers and brand custodians to engage fruitfully with their customers and society. A big pre-requisite? That brands create innovative ways to help people to connect with their passions online.

Zarif speaks of how his virtual events division helped empower numerous brands across sectors. He also reflects on the entire virtual events landscape and the new priorities, including, as he memorably puts it, ‘that brands view the pandemic as an opportunity to respond with humanity’.

He says he believes that the future of live events is hybrid, ‘because hybrid events offer the most sustainable solution - combining the best of both virtual and live events but, crucially giving people the choice’.

More about Zarif: Zarif has spent the greater half of his career growing as an events professional with Wizcraft, and today is Vice President and Head of Virtual Events at Adfactors PR, where his is a national, agency-wide role designed to deliver virtual experiences either as stand-alone events or as a complement to existing influencer campaigns. Zarif brings to the table strategic thinking, experiential innovation and the ability to drive business growth with a proven record in delivering experiential excellence across sectors.

Through his career, Zarif has counselled renowned companies and brands across sectors including Automobile, Technology, Telecom, Infrastructure, Energy & Petroleum, Financial Services, the development sector, Consumer & Retail, Travel & Tourism, Media, Sports and Trade Associations.

So join Zarif Tapia, Head of Adfactors Virtual Events and me on The Master’s Voice Podcast series as we speak about virtually every important aspect of Virtual Events, and the magic they can wield for marketers and brand custodians.

Thanks.

And stay safe!

Best,

Pavan R Chawla
Founder-Editor of MediaBrief.com
Ps: We are at newsdesk AT MediaBrief.com, in case you want to reach out.

My distinguished guest in this episode of the The Master’s Voice is Mohit Nirula, CEO of Columbia Pacific Communities (CPC), India's largest senior-living community operators. CPC entered India realizing that an estimated 98 million of its citizens are approaching the golden age, and unlike the generations before them, these independent, financially stable, well-travelled, and socially connected individuals approach life in their own way, defying the conventional notions of senior living. They demand a fuller life.

So when CPC approached Mohit Nirula, one of India’s most respected professionals from the hospitality industry, to join them to launch Columbia Pacific Communities in India some three years ago, Mohit took up, and reveled in, the opportunity.

Mohit’s profile begins with a Chinese proverb that says, "The best time to plant a tree was 30 years ago. The second best time is now." Why it begins that way, is that when Mohit entered his second innings with Columbia Pacific Communities, it was only the second company he was working with after 30 years with the hotel industry! And Columbia Pacific Communities has allowed Mohit to bring to the fore all the considerable skills he has gained over the past three decades.

In this episode, Mohit speaks about how, driven by the mandate and mission to offer senior citizens exactly the kind of life they wish to live, his team and he have always kept CPC’s known commitment to offering unconditional love, respect and care in complete focus.

Of how CPC in India has been communicating its offerings and commitment to potential community members, and consistently demonstrating them, by going against the usual, ‘safe’ belief that one must under-promise and over-deliver. Instead, says Mohit, “We over-promised, and stretched ourselves day and night to deliver.”

Mohit brings to bear his enormous strong hospitality leadership experience. He trained at the mecca of great hotel management training at the Oberoi School when it was in its prime as The Oberoi School of Hotel Management, and subsequently worked across the The Oberoi Group starting 1986, and since 1996, was in leadership roles, heading hotels across brands like Novotel, Trident, Oberoi, and in geographies like India, Mauritius and Egypt, with a diverse range of responsibilities across Operations, Openings, Renovations, and Restorations.

And today, Mohit lives to deliver on the promise of “providing our elders with a safe, secure and engaging lifestyle in an environment of genuine warmth and care”. That the Columbia Pacific Communities offerings have been extremely well received in India is visible from the fact that it's been just over 3 years for them in India, and already, they are working on their 12th community and have launched their Virtuoso Project in Bangalore. And the Columbia Pacific Communities have more than 3000 satisfied residents who, to borrow from one of my favourite lines from a poem, ‘drink life to the lees’. Thanks to Mohit and his team at CPC.

Our special, expert guest in this episode of The Master’s Voice podcast series from MediaBrief is Ashish Bhasin, CEO APAC and Chairman India – Dentsu International and member of the Dentsu International Global Executive Team. Ashish has been one of the finest business and thought leaders in the Advertising & Media industry across India and the Asia Pacific for the past 32 years, and in this special episode, Pavan R Chawla caught up with him for some inspirational insights for businesses in the Media, Marketing, Advertising and Comms spaces to survive and grow during and after the Pandemic.

Ashish speaks at length on the need to combine ambition with contentment, and why he believes Digital, which has always been his first and topmost agenda to grow Dentsu, has yielded phenomenal growth rewards for the group over the darkest period of human history, the pandemic. He also shares his views about multiple industry issues, plus insights on how best to hand-hold clients with effective empathy, care and impact, and much more.

Ashish is the astute business and thought leader who built the Dentsu Aegis Network in India from a 50-member team to a 3000-member powerhouse -- now the 2nd largest Advertising and Marketing Communications Group in India; in the process, overturning for the first time the existing ranking which was historically in place for more than 80 years.

Prior to this Ashish set up several of Lintas India’s (IPG) businesses and successfully led Lintas India for 20 years. He also had the global role of Executive Vice President, Lowe Worldwide and Asia Regional Director for Integrated Marketing.

Ashish has won numerous awards, including a record four coveted South Asia Agency Head of the Year Award at Campaign Asia-Pacific's Agency of the Year Awards 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019. He was named Network Head of the Year - Media Ace Awards 2019, a distinction he also was conferred with in 2018. He was awarded the 2015 IAA Leadership Award for Media Agency Head of the Year and was the Dentsu Aegis Network Star Performer of the Year 2017.

Ashish was recently appointed as 2021 Effie’s Awards Chairman. He has also served as Head of Jury for the Asia Pacific Effie Awards 2017 and has served on several global juries including Cannes Lion 2016, Cannes Lion 2007, Dubai Lynx 2008, Festival of Media Global 2013 at Montreux and Asia’s Most Promising Brands and Leaders 2013 in Dubai.

Ashish serves or has served on most industry bodies in India, including as Immediate Past President AAAI, Immediate Past Chairman MRUC, Chairman Goafest 2017 & 2018, Co-Chairman AAAI – IBF committee 2010 - 2018, Board Member-Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), Board Member – Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC), Chairman Media Abbys 2012 & 2013, Chairman - Readership Studies Council of India and Founding Chairman of the Sydenham Institute of Management’s Alumni Association.

Ashish has recently been conferred a PhD (Honoris Causa) for outstanding contribution to the Advertising & Media Industry.

This episode of The Master’s Voice, the podcast series on MediaBrief features globally respected thinker, advisor, author and guide on transformative, movement-oriented philosophy and strategy - Scott Goodson, founder and CEO of StrawberryFrog, the celebrated Cultural Movement firm, in expert conversation with Pavan R Chawla.

Scott has worked with leaders of many top global companies such as Mahindra, Google, Emirates, PepsiCo, SunTrust Bank, Walmart, and more, and I caught up with him for a deep dive on his excellent new book, Activate Brand Purpose, which Scott has co-authored with another reputed expert, Chip Walker, who leads the strategy and research divisions at StrawberryFrog, and specializes in Movement Marketing.

StrawberryFrog creates ‘Movements that change companies and grow brands’, and Scott’s latest book, Activate Brand Purpose, comes when it is time, after the past year, for business leaders to move from intent and toothless purpose to action. Activate Brand Purpose is a pragmatic framework for business leaders to transform and grow companies while driving positive change.

Because, as StrawberryFrog has said, ‘it’s one thing for brands to say they care about an issue, it’s another thing to back it up with real action. And consumers can tell the difference’. And that’s where Activate Brand Purpose can really help.

Scott speaks at length about the book will help all business leaders who want to change employee habits, transform their company, and grow their business.

Scott also reflects on some purpose-driven movements that have been the bedrock of his beliefs and counsel, and his experiences with top global brands. This includes the purpose model for SunTrust Bank and the Make History model for Jim Beam, among others.

Scott also speaks at length about writing the movement strategy and motto RISE for the Mahindra Group, which has been a torchbearer for purpose-driven thinking in India and is a global calling card for progressive, modern India. He also speaks of why he believes he connected extremely well with the Mahindra Group. And why he believes the groups ever-on commitment to purpose-driven approach has helped embed the kind of thinking and philosophy which work like an engine of society-first initiatives and growth.

Scott also shares what he believes are some of the qualities great leaders share, and also discusses his first book Uprising: How to Build a Brand and Change the World by Sparking Cultural Movements. He shares the vision Uprising… rolled out for brands and brand building when it was first published by McGraw Hill in 2012 and had raced to become an instant bestseller then.

OK, then. This is, after all, a podcast, and you will want to get to the conversation, so go ahead, click on Play, and be inspired by Scott’s thoughts and beliefs, and how, reading Activate Brand Purpose can provide excellent actionable inspiration for business leaders across levels and functions and their teams as well, to, as we said earlier, ‘change employee habits, transform their company and grow their business’.

We give you an insightful and rewarding chat with respected thinker, advisor, author and guide on transformative, movement-oriented philosophy and strategy, Scott Goodson, Founder and Chairman - StrawberryFrog, the celebrated Cultural Movement firm. In expert conversation with Pavan R Chawla

Ashish Pherwani, Leader – Media & Entertainment at EY India, speaks with MediaBrief Founder-Editor Pavan R Chawla on EY India’s much-awaited report on the business of Media & Entertainment in India, which it released along with FICCI, for 2020. Although the pandemic and lockdown pushed the M&E industry in India back three years in 2020, Ashish is extremely positive about the growth prospects, and shares his Top 5 take-outs – like the Top 5 headlines from the report, as it were. The conversation also looks at the OTT space and its massive growth potential, what with, as Ashish tells us, an estimated 500 original series waiting to follow last year’s act of 200 – which saw the sub-sector grow 46%, helping Digital lead the growth charge when India was in lockdown, and there were no feet on the ground.

Listen in to the insights, views and guidance of Ashish Pherwani, who brings more than 20 years of experience having served companies and clients in virtually all the M&E sub-sectors through Consulting Strategy for the Media and Entertainment space. Ashish has been associated with more than 50 media companies across TV broadcasting, TV distribution, radio, content production, out of home, mobile, events, print and gaming, and believes: “With a billion Indian screens to serve, the opportunity to create global content and support creators with India’s talent, production, animation and VFX (Visual effects) capabilities, is enormous."

So, here’re some key points from the FICCI-EY report on the business of M&E in India, through a conversation between Ashish Pherwani and Pavan R Chawla, on this episode of MediaBrief.com's popular podcast series, The Masters' Voice. Listen in.

Our very special guest on the latest episode of The Master’s Voice Podcast series is trusted authority and leader in APAC's digital advertising industry, Sunny Nagpal, co-founder and Managing Director – APAC, Httpool, which is one of the largest international partners for major media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok and LinkedIn.

For this special episode, Pavan R Chawla caught up with Sunny, who is also a serial entrepreneur, angel investor, and an accomplished and acknowledged digital advertising and marketing expert, to speak about many things digital, programmatic, ad tech, and several related elements like combating ad fraud, great Httpool initiatives like empowering thousands of young digital marketers with free training programs; remarkable campaigns from Httpool like the one that delivered a 3000x ROI, how the company is empowering the B2B space with an infusion of technology, and how keeping its greatest asset, its talent, emotionally secure and happy helped the company rise above all business challenges during COVID to grow in a sustained manner. And much more.

Insights from a great career, right from his early days in Czechoslovkia, to the founding of Httpool and then bringing it to India, and more. From Sunny Nagpal, under whose aegis Httpool has completed thousands of campaigns across various channels of digital media for hundreds of global brands across all industries, supporting all top agencies and the ecosystem at large in Asia Pacific. And whose strategic leadership of Httpool helped it win mandates to become the authorized sales partner for some of the largest global media platforms.

Sunny Nagpal, co-founder and MD –APAC, Httpool, is my special guest on this episode of The Master’s Voice, our popular podpcast series that reaches more than 95% of podcast listeners through the top directories all over the world.

Listen in.

This episode of The Master's Voice is a very special one, for multiple reasons - it features top Media thought leader Raj Nayak, Founder & MD - House of Cheer, and who is as highly respected as a remarkable professional as he is loved by those who know and have interacted with him, for being a wonderful human being. In this episode which we've published on the second day of the New Year, Raj, in conversation with Pavan R Chawla, speaks about the H Factor -- Happiness, which, he says, 'begins with You' -- and the plans for his very promising offering to corporates and businesses, the significant services of his House Of Cheer, which came into existence before the pandemic-enforced lockdown shut most things down. The role and importance of the H Factor of Happiness cannot be over-stated, particularly in the wake of the pandemic, and as we being the new year, this very special episode about Happiness and more with a very special master, Raj Nayak, is our way of wishing our readers and everyone else in the industry, a Happy New Year.

And to Raj Nayak, from all of us, here's a very special wish: Happy Birthday, Raj! Yes, it's today, the 2nd of January 2021, which is why we decided to publish this episode today.
We did say this episode's very special for multiple reasons.

We hope you enjoy the episode and find it relevant and useful. Remember, for corporates and businesses, the future will boil down to the happiness of those who man and run, and emotionally own, them.

So bring out your headphones and sit back and listen to Raj speak in the endearing and engaging manner only he can. Extempore, and straight from the heart.

On this episode ofThe Master’s Voice, our guest is MVS Murthy, Head – Marketing & Digital, Tata Asset Management, who is a true digital maven with an illustrious two-decade career with India’s top Banking, Insurance and Broking companies in their Marketing and Digital spaces, and is now the go-to person for Tata Asset Management’s Marketing and Communication strategies. Pavan R Chawla caught up with MVS – which is how his friends address him – for a deep dive with this inspiring Digital Marketing leader who is highly experienced and adept at handling Brand, Communication, Digital Marketing and Digitization of Customer Experience.

We hope you will find this a truly rewarding chat filled with excellent insights from the passion, knowledge and experience of this passionate visionary of data-driven marketing who focuses on three crucial growth areas — revenue, customers and value. And doesn’t set too much store by the rear-view mirror as he drives Tata Asset Management forward during these extremely challenging times, to ever greater salience and growth.

The conversation with MVS touches upon The Tata Mutual Fund story, and how it has been reaching out to its customers and channel partners during the lockdown with very few feet on the ground; the evolution of the industry -- whether it is the client-agency model or other aspects that empower businesses -- and the role of technology as a catalyst in the rise of marketing. Including the place, role and scale of performance-based digital marketing in the TMF marketing plans, and the new uses of tech that marketing has found.

So, a deep dive with MVS.

Dive in.

Respected Indian News Media conglomerate, the ABP Network, has unveiled new logos across its broadcast and digital presence – ABP News, ABP Ananda, ABP Majha, ABP Ganga, ABP Asmita, and ABP Sanjha, along with ABP Live -- as part of an ongoing evolution of the network, and for this episode of the Master’s Voice, we caught up with one of the titans of brand architecture, Jacob Benbunan, co-founder and digital CEO of the reputed Saffron Brand Consultants.

Jacob had flown in all the way from Madrid to be by ABP Network CEO Avinash Pandey’s side as the network shared news of this latest tentpole in the milestones of the network that, Benbunan tells Pavan R Chawla, is ‘married to the truth’.

The new identity is designed to better represent the fearlessness, dynamism, and thought-leadership of the channels in the industry, and also to demonstrate the brand’s connection to the Nation and its people.

Benbunan speaks of how his team and he, in close tandem with the ABP Network Marketing team, went about capturing and representing the mix of the intrinsic idea of powering India to its limitless potential, and the central network mission to help create an open and informed society, because it believes that only an open and informed society can make a limitless India possible.

So, in this episode of The Master’s Voice, Jacob Benbunan of Saffron Brand Consultants is in conversation with Pavan R Chawla, speaking about Truth Beyond Limits, and the long and deeply satisfying journey to create a sparkling, standout, whole new brand identity for India's respected news media conglomerate, the ABP Network, across broadcast and digital.

This episode of The Master's Voice features two young leaders, Suveer Bajaj and Pratik Gupta, who, 13 years ago, along with two other like-minded partners, had set about putting together an advertising agency that was equally digitally driven, with a quirky name - Foxymoron. A tiny little offering that the youngsters -- Suveer was only 19 years old then, and Pratik, 20 -- built brick by brick, teaching themselves perhaps one or more new things each day before putting their heads down to deliver brilliantly well on every new ask.

Suveer and Pratik learnt and grew in knowledge and effectiveness of offerings and equally, in the scale of their business at such a remarkable rate that they were the talk of the marketer town with much positive sentiment in the marketplace. So much so, that by the time the febrile-with-M&A second-decade of 2000s came around, 2014 had them in talks with WPP, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Today, Foxymoron has only two of the original co-founders in Suveer and Pratik, but has grown ten-fold and more.

Pavan R Chawla caught up with the brilliant, smartly focused and extremely knowledgeable duo in a freewheeling chat on how Foxymoron came about from a 64000-Rupee corpus originally earmarked by four youngsters for a Goa holiday, and how they cobbled the agency together into a brilliant spit-and-polish offering that Suvir and Pratik have not only eyeballing all competition, but also setting the standards in the Digital Marketplace.

Through the conversation, what stands out are their insistence upon working with 'good people', learning new things -- often in a self-taught way, and pushing the comfort zone from what the client wants to what the client needs, and, as an advertising and digital marketing partner, wanting to deliver much more than 'just how many social media posts we can do or accounts we can manage', to insisting upon wanting to see how they can actually make an impact upon the business of the client rather then just giving what the client asks for. And in the process, handholding each new client across a journey of forgetting what they have been used to, and getting a fresh perspective steeped into the opportunities, demands, challenges and threats of the changing, newer realities of an ever-evolving digital marketplace.

Welcome to Suveer's hurtling but precisely measured bariton delivery and Pratik's effervescently enthusiastic conversation. Two young mutually complementing partners who also share insights on what has helped sustain, grow and flower their partnership with such remarkable results. Both, in conversation with Pavan R Chawla.

Suveer Bajaj and Pratik Gupta, Co-Founders of Foxymoron.

Abraham Thomas - CEO Reliance Broadcast, also a Media Brand Specialist, Digital Media Entrepreneur, Audio Evangelist and Print-TV-Digital Business Leader, is our expert guest in this episode of The Master’s Voice, Mediabrief.com’s podcast series that features expert conversations with Pavan R Chawla.

Thomas is a Youth Media and Brand Specialist with more than two decades of experience in building and scaling youth media platforms in India, China and South Asia is an experienced leader and entrepreneur with a proven track record of building and running large media businesses.

Abe – as his friends call him -- brings deep knowledge of multi-media platforms of print, broadcasting (TV & Radio), online and mobile backed with over 15 years of hands-on leadership experience, demonstrating the ability to build and scale businesses within a competitive environment.

He says these restrictive and highly challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic have actually brought Radio its finest hour. He says that although the Radio sub sector suffered a 70% loss of revenues during COVID-19, the medium has proven its mettle as a truly resilient and the most trusted amongst all for accurate and timely information, and during the lockdown, has been listened to by every age group in large numbers, with a 28% increase in TSL. And on their part, he says AROI and member FM networks have taken these happy tidings to all their stakeholders through a consistent communication campaign.

He also speaks about how BIG FM was the first FM Radio network to swing into Work From Home from the 13th of March 2020, and that thanks to its tech and creative teams, has been airing engaging content that has inspired and sustained it listeners across the country. Not a single station was off the air, and in the short time they have had, the network actively evolved into a truly Digitally-driven entity, with an online and complete ad-buying with creative services support for advertisers.

This, and much more, from the man who built a robust organization and manages high performance teams as an area of specialization. Across more than 20 years of leadership roles across media, TV- Mass, Niche and Speciality genres and Radio, Abe has built a Leader Brand, grown three Radio networks to Market leadership, and before entering the world of television and then radio broadcast, he worked for eight years in Print across Distribution, Brand and Ad Sales for Regional and National Publications.

And now, here he is – Abe, Aby, Abraham Thomas, the genial, accomplished CEO of 92.7 BIG FM. The man who of his own admission isn’t a creative sort, but can sniff out the smallest opportunity to monetize every creative output. And who says Radio has evolved, grown and expanded into the ubiquitous Voice, because now, ‘Radio and Digital is the new norm’.

Pavan R Chawla writes: My guest expert on this, the latest episode of our podcast series The Master’s Voice, is someone who, with more than 28 years of experience, brings invaluable expertise in managing television networks operations in the Media and Entertainment industry: Megha Tata, Managing Director South Asia – Discovery.

A media & entertainment industry veteran, Megha has held leadership roles at organisations such as BTVI, HBO, Turner International and Star TV.

She has also served as Vice President of the International Advertising Association IAA’s India Chapter from 2016 to 2018, and is currently in the MANCOM of IAA. She was recently co-opted as Director on the board of Indian Broadcasting Foundation, and is also on the board of the National Media & Entertainment Committee of FICCI.

In this episode of The Master’s Voice, Megha speaks of life at Discovery, the impact of COVID-19 on the business of broadcasters, on the business at Discovery, the original content flow at Discovery INC, on launching Discovery+; comments on the perception that Indians are notoriously reluctant to pay for content, on how Discovery+ is marketed, the impact of TRAI’s meddlesome (our word) regulation of Television Broadcasting in India, life after COVID for the streaming platforms, and much more. Plus what she does in whatever time she can spare from a busy work schedule.

The Master’s Voice reaches >95% of podcast listeners across the world

The Master’s Voice reaches more than 95% of people who search for and listen to podcasts across the world. You can listen to this podcast on the player embedded in this post, or on any other favourite podcast app including but not limited to Apple podcasts Google PodcastsSpotifySticheriHeart RadioOvercastPocket CastPodcastAddictCastroorCastbox.

Just click on any one of the directories, and you will be taken to The Master’s Voice there. Happy listening.And please, do share your views. You could write in to pavan at mediabrief.com. Many thanks. stay safe, inspired, and positive. The best is yet to come. God bless.

Very recently, Koan Advisory Group, headed by Vivan Sharan, brought out an extremely relevant and important document that chronicles the impact of regulation on the televisoin broadcast sector in India. The report, entitled INDIAN TV BROADCASTING AT A CROSSROADS - An Assessment of Regulatory Outcomes and the Way Forward, which you can download here, is an extremely insightful and telling look at the impact of (our words, not Koan's) the heavy-handed, sans-logic and authoritarian treatment that Television broadcasters seem to have received at the hands of regulator TRAI.

Pavan R Chawla caught up with two young masters, experts in the domains of Media & Entertainment and Broadcast, Vivan Sharan, Founder of the Koan Advisory Group, and Farah Bookwala, formerly a journalist with leading English Business News Channel CNBV TV18 and now a freelance writer for several business publications, and also an expert in the Media & Entertainment space.

Listen to these two young masters' expert conversation with Pavan R Chawla to feel the extent of damage that unbridled, uncalled for regulation has caused the Indian Broadcast eco system, which is the lifeline of one of the world's largest creative, content economies and thanks to the regressive NTO and NTO 2.0, is facing crippling losses and ruin, with the biggest sufferer being the end consumer, the viewer of television entertainment.

For its latest episode of The Master’s Voice, MediaBrief.com caught up with Rohit Paranjpe - Co-Founder and CEO of SugarBox Networks - India, who spoke with Pavan R Chawla about the platform which is a first-of-its-kind worldwide, and enables internet services to work even in areas of bad or no network and empowers users to access them without an active data connection. This episode was recorded over a telephone call since Rohit was also speaking especially about how locked-down-by COVID-19 people can help fight the pandemic from their homes by cutting down on internet data consumption to help make maximum cellular data available for the frontline warriors. So for this episode, please pardon the occasional, slightly awry audio levels and glitches.

Rohit also speaks at length about SugarBox, which creates a hyper-local data distribution ecosystem by installing CDN Edge servers at key places of interest (POIs), which users can connect to over a local Wi-Fi network. SugarBox POIs include public transport, public places, rural areas, hotels and co-living spaces, malls, etc. where a critical mass of users access a host of digital services.

Rohit is one of the youngest CEOs in India, and under his leadership, SugarBox Networks is consistently scaling impressive heights with first-of-its-kind ventures across the digital content and media ecosystem in India.

SugarBox was recently awarded the RailTel contract, and is set to transform the commute experience for more than 25 mn travelers and 300 mn monthly unique users by mid-2022, unlocking an aggregate of 2.5 bn hours of monthly consumption in a near- captive environment, where access to internet services is otherwise limited due to uneven connectivity.

SugarBox has also received a patent grant for Network Control and Optimization by the US Patent Office.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEEL) has agreed to invest a sum of Rs. 5,220mn in Margo Networks Private Ltd (SugarBox).

With the investment from ZEEL, SugarBox will commence commercial operations across exclusive long-term contracts like L&T Metro, Chennai Metro, NMMT, Kolkata Metro and Indian Railways, and forge new partnerships to scale up its network.

As Rohit has said, “SugarBox is at the forefront of revolutionizing availability, affordability and reliability of digital services for the next billion users globally – something that even Big Tech has struggled to achieve sustainably. This investment will provide a giant leap towards us achieving that goal.”

Listen to visionary titan of industry and enterprise, and of Social care, Vallabh Bhanshali, Founder & Chief Mentor of not-for-profit entity, Desh Apnayen Sahayog Foundation, Bhanshali is also a leading investment banker, investor, venture capitalist and capital markets expert of the country. He co-founded Enam Holdings, a privately managed principal investment group with a 30-year heritage of investing in the Indian capital markets.

Bhanshali has a deep and abiding interest in many fields such as religion, behavioural sciences and economic development. And has been mentoring in a hands-on manner, the highly respected Desh Apnayen Sahayog Foundation, which has been inspiring students across hundred of schools to become alert and responsible citizens through its Citizenship Education drive.

In this episode, Bhanshali expresses his deep and abiding belief in the school-going children of India as possibly the best harbingers of positive change that would jumpstart that highly desirable and critically important move from Swaraj to Su-raj (self-rule to good rule - or governance and citizenship).

Bhanshali also speaks at length about what we believe has been one of the most relevant and necessary school initiatives ever seen in India - the ACTIZEN contest that his Desh Apnayen Sahayog Foundation rolled out in November of 2019, and the 2020 edition of which it is now gearing up to roll out again. You can also read about the story from the launch event of November 2019 on www.mediabrief.com.

Tune in to this episode of The Master's Voice to benefit from a visionary's insightful, eminently actionable wisdom - I invite you to listen to Vallabh Bhanshali's conversation with me on this episode on MediaBrief.com. Don't forget to share this episode, and to subscribe to the newsletters of MediaBrief.com. Our pillars are news and knowledge, and the strategic insights that these, combined with experience, can and most often will yield to transform businesses and lives.

Stay home, stay safe. Work hard. And, as the name of Bhanshali's reputed foundation says, adopt your nation (and care for it). Desh Apnayen.

The Master's Voice podcast series from MediaBrief.com is delighted to bring you a deep dive with Sandra Stahl - a thought leader, practitioner, author, speaker and trainer in strategic communication, in conversation with Pavan R Chawla, Founder-Editor of MediaBrief.com

Sandra is a distinguished thought leader on PR and Marketing communications, co-founder of full-service global communications agency jacobstahl marketing communications New York and a highly respected PR professional for three decades now. Sandra is also on faculty in the Brand & Integrated Communications master’s degree program at City College of New York and has been a workshop instructor in the Strategic Communications program at Columbia University.

Sandra has shaped communications strategies and campaigns for companies of all sizes, from leading multinationals to start-ups, as well as non-profit organizations and academic institutions.

Her first book, The Art and Craft of PR, which she wrote after three decades of illustrious service in strategic PR and Marketing communications, has been extremely well received and is a must-read for anyone working in Public Relations and Marketing communications.

You can read more about -- and also an extract from -- the book on MediaBrief.com

This episode of MediaBrief.com’s popular podcast series, The Master’s Voice, features one of the most respected marketers in Indian Media & Entertainment – Prathyusha Agarwal, Chief Consumer Officer – Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, or ZEE, in conversation with Pavan R Chawla – Founder of MediaBrfief.com.

This is Prathyusha’s first in-depth interaction with anyone from Indian media after she was made CCO at ZEE. What makes this episode, published to also commemorate Women’s Day, is Prathyusha’s presence in it. Listen to it for the insights of this passionate marketer who is driven by the ZEE group’s obsessive focus on Consumer and Culture and getting it into the craft of storytelling to empower business associates. Apart from extremely helpful business insights, also get to know the person behind the accomplished professional.

This episode of MediaBrief.com’s very special podcast series, The Master’s Voice, features Akash Banerji, Business Head of AVOD at VOOT, and one of the top professionals in the OTT space, with Pavan R Chawla, an expert in Media, Marketing, Advertising and Digital, and Founder-Editor of MediaBrief.com.

Akash is a launch specialist and turnaround expert who launched VOOT in May 2016 as the premium digital video on demand platform clocking spectacular platform engagement numbers and driving high acquisition numbers.

Prior to VOOT, Akash also led the impactful marketing launch of the Hotstar app, leading to the fastest adoption of a digital service anywhere in the world, and helping truly create the category of OTT for the mass viewers in India. Prior to that, Akash, also a very successful broadcast marketer, drove the impactful marketing of the launch of the new Star Sports network in November 2013.

Here are some nuggets from Akash Banerji in The Master’s Voice:

Regional for us is now mainstream. Regional is the new national.My monetization on the back of regional content is 22-23%, which mirrors the consumption contribution as well.
We've realized that if you try doing all the heavy lifting yourself, you'll be left alone. This age is about closely collaborating with varied, multiple partners.
We live in a world of clutter. If it's not seen, if it's not pushed, if it's note promoted, it's not going to be consumed.
Everyone in media is in the business of driving habit. Everything else is riff-raff
We’re moving away from the metric of mesurement from being MAU or DAU or even Watch time, to CLTV - Consumer Lifetime Value
30... 35... 40 OTT platforms for a diverse market like India, is a very small number.
Instead of adopting smart segmentation, the OTT category generally has been trying to do everything for all. I think this madness about VC funds being brought down, and a lot of consolidation stories that we hear, are a good sign for the industry.It tells them that if you're not going to segment your target audiences any more, you're not going to be in this business at all.
You cannot be in this (OTT) business if you're in it only for the optics of it. A lot of platforms are in the business to drive the valuation game -- the billboards on the western express Highway (in Mumbai are examples of this)
The accessibility of conversion, from the offline world to the online world (in India) will happen via the AVOD route. There is no abatement of growth that we see on the AVOD side.

This episode of The Master's Voice features one of the select group of digital evangelists in Indian advertising and marketing, Anand Bhadkamkar, CEO - Dentsu Aegis Network India.

He speaks with MediaBrief.com Founder-Editor Pavan R Chawla about the DNA of DAN, its growth course over its illustrious past, priorities for the new decade that's just begun, and industry issues, challenges and opportunities like the upcoming demise of Cookies-based marketing, about Programmatic advertising and providing brands a brand-safe environment, the great quality of digital talent in India, growth by acquisition and much more.

Anand also reminisces about two mentors who have inspired him over the past several years.

This episode of The Master's Voice, the podcast series from www.Mediabrief.com, features stellar professional Tarun Katial, CEO -ZEE5 India.

Tarun truly redefines the term 'young veteran', with strong experience across advertising and marketing, and with some of the biggest brands in mass public broadcasting in Televison and FM Radio, and now a strong OTT video streaming platform, ZEE5, from India's oldest and largest, and its first truly Indian broadcasting conglomerate, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL).

Even though it was virtually the last entrant in the Indian OTT ecosystem, ZEE5, under Tarun's leadership, has raced to speedy growth in India, driven by a great content policy, strong industry partnerships and alliances, smart, special solutions and thereby value for advertisers and marketers, and many other strategic initiatives that have also also delivered enormous value to the mother brand, ZEEL.

In conversation with MediaBrief.com Founder Pavan R Chawla, Tarun Katiyal speaks of a war-chest of Original content, alliances, partnerships, and of using the three Vs to empower the great-Content-to-Technology-to-Data value chain that has seen Zee5 on a solid, steady growth course.

Listen in, and tell us what you think. Write in to newsdesk [at] mediabrief.com. To reach Tarun Katiyal, message him on LinkedIN.

In the latest episode of our podcast series The Master’s Voice, we have the Maestro, legendary Hindustani Classical Vocal singer par excellence, Sangeet Martand and Padma Vibhushan Pandit Jasraj ji. It is also his 90th birthday today, the 28th of January 2020, and he has added a remarkable accolade to the innumerable awards and accolades he has won throughout his glorious life – a minor planet has been named after him.

The planet – originally named 2006 VP32 (number -300128), was discovered on 11 November 2006. It has now been named Panditjasraj to honour the legendary singer’s great accomplishments. The honour was bestowed upon him by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) which made it official on the 23rd of September 2101, followed by a citation. The honour is the first for an Indian, and Pandit Jasraj is now in the august company of Beethoven, Mozart and Luciano Pavarotti.

Pandit Jasraj ji spoke at length with Pavan R Chawla at his home in Mumbai, and the conversation ranged across a spectrum of topics including his favourite singers from Hindi film music, his early musical lessons learnt from his father (including a short rendition of the very lesson he learnt as a 4-year-old), his memories of Atalji who gave him the title Rasraj, the great series of concerts like Aath Pahar and Panchatatva that have become the tentpoles of Indian classical music concerts for many years now, and much more.

MediaBrief.com is both, humbled and proud, to present the wonderful Pandit Jasraj ji in THE MASTER’S VOICE.

We hope you like what we loved putting together.

Remember, you can listen to this episode on the top international global podcast directories, starting with Spotify, Google, Apple podcasts, and more.

Sumukhi Suresh – brilliant young stand-up comedian, actor, writer and director too -- is one of the heartwarming success stories from a combination of spontaneous comic talent, great spoken ability and acting talent, hard work and pure belief. She is perhaps the youngest of the masters we’ve featured on MediaBrief.com’spodcast series, THE MASTER’S VOICE in its brief history so far. We caught up with her to discuss her latest achievement with a fourth creative and performance presence on Amazon Prime Video – and this, her latest, is a one-hour stand-alone stand-up special called Don’t Tell Amma, which became available and has gained popularity since the 20th of December 2019 on Amazon Prime Video.

In conversation with Pavan R Chawla, Sumukhi speaks of the episode, how she works on her scripts, routines, her managers OML (Only Much Louder), and her other series. She speaks of her gratitude to believers and supporters like OML’s Ajay Nair, the Amazon Prime Video platform, her experiences with international audiences of Stand Up Comedy across multiple international cities including Oslo and Copenhagen, one of India’s best comedy writers, Navin Richards, and her remarkable relationship with her mother. And much more.

We’re still breathless after this remarkable conversation the irrepressible, phenomenally talented and creative Sumukhi, the motto of whose life seems to be the order she barked to herself a few years ago when she left her corporate job: Stand Up and Be Laughed With!

Corporate’s loss is Comedy’s wonderful gain.

Vibha Chopra, Head - Global Syndication & International Film Distribution, ZEE Studios International, is the newbie who, in the 13 years since she joined ZEE Studios armed with just three things -- her experiences of having lived amongst Indians across the world, an international MBA, and her gut -- has rewritten the rulebook on global syndication and international film distribution for Indian professionals. She speaks with Pavan R Chawla, Founder-Editor of MEDIABRIEF.COM about her success and achievements, and how she went about scripting the ZSI success story in international markets.

This episode is in a mix of English and Hindi, and is the Yoga Special on The Master's Voice podcast series on MediaBrief.com.

It features the pre-eminent Yoga Guru and in fact the First Lady of Yoga not just in India but across the world, Ma Hansa Jayadeva Yogendra, Director of The Yoga Institute in Santacruz East, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. This is the world's first, the oldest organized centre of learning of Yoga, and completed 100 illustrious years in December 2018.

Pavan R Chawla of MediaBrief.com speaks with Ma Hansa and also her dynamic son Hrishi Jayadeva Yogendra -- also a Director at The Yoga Institute.

The discussion is about stress and combating it, and also the excellent programs that the Yoga Institute conducts to help thousands upon thousands of people all over the world. Know more about The Yoga Institute.

And do visit MediaBrief for podcasts and stories about the space of media, marketing and advertising, especially for professionals in the space in India and across the world. Write to us at newsdesk [ a t] mediabrief.com

In The Master's Voice podcast from mediabrief.com, Rajesh Kerjiwal, the design evangelist globally renowned for his brilliant Design Yatra series, speaks with Pavan R Chawla, Founder-Editor of www.mediabrief.com about Design Yatra 2019, his favourite designers from India, the advantages and challenges for a designer in India, the space of professional design education in India, the need for an inclusive approach to media events around design and some very special initiatives to help young designers through his new initiative Switch, plus another remarkable idea from Kyoorius, Shortlist, with which Kejriwal aims to empower the creative industry in India by bringing the equivalent of the best creative juries to evaluate creative agencies' proposed entries to Cannes.

And much more.

This episode is a deep dive into Kejriwal's views on the space of professional design in India, and his remarkable initiative, Design Yatra -- a highly respected global coming together of the world's best designers and other professionals from great-design-driven world of marketing -- which has been an annual labour of love, dedication and great emotional investment for Kejriwal.

Come, listen to The Master's Voice, the MediaBrief.com podcast series featuring Rajesh Kejriwal of Kyoorius in Mumbai.

Jim Egan, CEO – BBC Global News Ltd, was in Mumbai to address FICCI Frames 2019, and Pavan R Chawla of MediaBrief.comcaught up with him for The Master’s Voice, MediaBrief.com’s new Podcast series. Egan spoke about his mandate at the BBC, the enduring values of the news organization, how it is constantly on high alert to sustain accurate, impartial and balanced journalism. Egan also spoke of the news space in India, and on how TRAI’s New Tariff Order has been impacting the BBC so far.

So, here’s Jim Egan in conversation with Pavan R Chawla of MediaBrief.com. Listen in.

For a transcript of the conversation, visit www.mediabrief.com