Monday Morning Briefs: 25 July 2016

Club FM in UAE

 

Club FM, the FM radio station brand from the Mathrubhumi Group, announced the launch of its launched its fifth radio station, and the first overseas, in UAE. The channel which started airing on 11 July 2016 offers news, entertainment and music programmes to the Malayali diaspora. The tagline for the channel is 'Ton kannakkinu fun' which translates as 'tonnes of fun’. 

 

Suvarna is now Star Suvarna

 

The nine-year- old Kannada GEC Suvarna has been re-branded as Star Suvarna, effective 25 July 2016. The channel was part of Asianet, which Star India took full ownership of in 2014. It will now sport a new brand philosophy ‘Sambandagal Hosa Spandana’ (The new rhythm of relationships). The rebranding is accompanied by a host of new shows, including what the network bills as 'the biggest show in regional television': Hara Hara Mahadeva, on Lord Shiva and his avatars. Alongside, Suvarna Plus, the Kannada channel which airs movies and sports content, will now be called Star Suvarna Plus. 

 

Resultrix co-founder launches PivotRoots

 

Shibu Shivanandan, one of the co-founders of Resultrix, now part of the Publicis Groupe, has announced the launch of independent digital marketing firm PivotRoots. 

 

Shivanandan quit Resultrix in February 2016. Joining him at the new outfit are Hetal Khalsa and Dhruvi Joshi, co-founders. An official statement announced that in three months of launch, the agency is working with Pidilite, ICICIBank, Fourseven.com, MeruCabs, HoneyTwigs and Loylty Rewardz.

 

Patrika Group's mega revamp 

 

Patrika Group has revamped its dailies Rajasthan Patrika and Patrika. Through this, the group wants to change the look and feel of the newspaper. The re-engineering exercise was conducted after a survey of over 1.5 lakh readers across India. Based on the survey, changes have been brought about including the introduction of new sections, colour themes, design and layout, pictorial representations and so on. A new font type has also been developed. The revamp was effective 6 July 2016.

 

'Sachin Saga' game in the works

 

Sachin Tendulkar is making a foray into the world of digital gaming through an official game ‘Sachin Saga’. JetSynthesys’ gaming arm, PlayIzzOn Technologies is developing the game The partnership has been initiated in association with Fluence, a celebrity digital network.‘Sachin Saga’ would made be available on smart phones on Android, iOS, Windows and will also be released on consoles. The final version of the game is expected to come in the 'next 5 to 6 months'. 

 

Appasamy heads to Social Beat

 

Social Beat Chennai has announced the appointment of David Appasamy as head of brand and strategy. The IIM Ahmedabad pass out has over 35 years of experience in companies including ITC, DDB Mudra and Sify Technologies, in roles ranging from business strategy, brand and marketing management, digital marketing and audience engagement. 

 

Chennai-based Social Beat is four years old and has a stated vision of being among the top 10 digital agencies in India by 2018. 

 

Sony bags International Champions Cup

 

Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) will telecast the 2016 edition of the International Champions Cup in India. The friendly tournament featuring teams including Real Madrid CF, FC Barcelona, Manchester United, Liverpool FC, Bayern Munich, and AC Milan is being held across North America, Europe, Australia, and China. The tournament from 22 July to 13 August will also be available live on SonyLIV.

 

(Send in your briefs/releases to [email protected] or [email protected].)