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Gandhi, Cherian of Bindass promoted

UTV plans to promote Bindass aggressively as a 360 degree brand for the youth

Nikhil Gandhi and Ashok A Cherian of Brand Bindass have been promoted as national head for sales and vice-president for marketing, respectively. Earlier, Gandhi was regional director, advertising, sponsorship and sales, and Cherian was associate director, marketing, Bindass and Bindass Movies.

Gandhi and Cherian each have a decade’s experience in media and sales. Commenting on the new promotions, Zarina Mehta, creative executive officer, Bindass, says, “Gandhi and Cherian have put in a lot of hard work in building and establishing the brand Bindass. They bring to the position an in-depth knowledge of the current business trends in entertainment and, with them in charge, Bindass will go from strength to strength.”

Gandhi, Cherian of Bindass promoted
Nikhil Gandhi
Gandhi, Cherian of Bindass promoted
Ashok A Cherian
Gandhi, Cherian of Bindass promoted
Zarina Mehta
Gandhi says, “Earlier, I was looking after advertising and sales for the West and South regions and now I am in charge of North as well. Last year was good for us as we established three properties of our own. The Bingo Bindass Space Contest, Airtel Bindass Shah Rukh Khan Musical Concert and Idea Hass Ley India helped us win the advertisers’ confidence. In the coming year, our focus and thrust will be to build more such properties and pull in a larger number of advertisers.”

With entertainment media becoming increasingly competitive with already existing and new entrants in TV, Internet and web, how tough is the going for Brand Bindass? Gandhi says, “I joined the organisation in 2007 – this was when the channel was being launched. From day one, a lot of patience and persistence has gone into building the channel. The fragmented market makes it all the more difficult to attract the right kind of advertisers and ensure that they continue with you. Secondly, identifying and retaining the right talent to push and sustain the growth is a major task.”

Gandhi is confident and hopeful of leveraging his vast media experience when it comes to sustaining growth for the brand. He started his career almost 10 years ago with Hutchison Max Telecom. Next, he was part of the core team at Zoom’s launch in 2004; in between, he did a brief stint with MTV.

Cherian, an engineering graduate, started his career with Miyakawa Corp., a Japanese firm, and then turned to journalism and joined JAM magazine. Cherian came to Bindass in 2007; prior to that, he was with MTV for seven years, working in marketing, online, on-air promotions and production.

Brand Bindass comprises two TV channels, Bindass and Bindass Movies. Its website is Bindass.com and it also owns the short code, 59995. Cherian says, “As a brand, Bindass has connected positively with a lot of young people. In our qualitative research in Hindi speaking markets, we are overwhelmed by young Indians across SECs who just totally love the brand, the name Bindass, the nuances, the characters and the overall offering. Our efforts are to further celebrate this ‘Bindassiyat’.”

For Cherian, talk of tough competition holds no relevance because he is convinced that at present, there are few Indian media/ consumer youth brands. He says, “We Indians are masters of the localisation universe and that’s great, but it’s time for an iconic home grown youth brand. Thus, we see a clear opportunity and logic in positioning Bindass as a 360 degree brand for the youth. It’s not going to be easy, but that’s where the fun is. “

Elaborating on future plans and strategies for the brand Bindass, Cherian adds, “Our digital offering – web, mobile and IVRS – gets us into a whole new trajectory of product offerings and especially the growth of Bindass.com will see radical yet very relevant action. Bindass Movies is a new avatar with a library of 200 of the biggest Hollywood titles with fantastic dubbing quality and style. 2008 is the year to be ‘bindass’ and we’re very bullish about our plans.”

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