MxMIndia

Author: mxm_india

  • Josy Paul says it would be incorrect to restrict the traits of a creative person to a fixed number

    The Anchor: The Seven(?) Traits of Creative People

    We are all born creative. Remember the first months after birth. We make amazing sounds, don’t care how we look, are comfortable with our nudity, create a mess, scream like crazy and attract a lot of attention and emotion by saying words that make no sense.

    These are the traits of a creative person.

    Then something goes wrong. Somewhere along the way we grow up. We accept conformity as a sign of social success. We fool ourselves into believing that this is the real us – our unique voice drowned by the noise of the larger collective.

    But our creativity never gives up on us. It waits inside us, dormant and patient – hoping for someone or something to let it out. Till one day we realize that ‘being creative’ is a decision. All we have to do is repeat the personal mantra “Yes, I am creative. Yes I am, yes I am creative”. And we are born again. Kicking and screaming, we proclaim our new position to the world. “I am creative!”

    So this one goes out to you, the reclaimed individual, the re-arranger of dreams, the new you in the old bottle, the enlightened fool, the one who was lost and now is found. These are your habits… who am I to restrict it to seven. Why seven? You are more than a number. Who decides these numbers any way! Let’s just celebrate you: with all your limitless magical liberated traits of creativity:

    1. You are a child. You resigned from adulthood long ago.

    2. You are not afraid to ‘act’ like a creative person

    3. Your eyes light up at a question you can’t answer

    4. You are excited about unusual problems, as well as solutions

    5. You make new connections. You fuse two seemingly unconnected things and give it fresh meaning

    6. You generate as many answers as possible. You don’t look for the one “right answer”

    7. You don’t ask if something is “logical”

    8. You set aside all rules

    9. You don’t judge the quality of an idea by looking at its “practicality”

    10. You allow ambiguity

    11. You need people

    12. You are not afraid of silence. In solitude you are least alone

    13. You are an observer, a social voyeur, a curious eyewitness

    14. You worship nature

    15. You trust your own feelings

    16. You combine intuition with logic, and in conflict listen to your gut

    17. You believe in play, you kick the problem like a football

    18. You are emotional

    19. You discover hidden meaning in information

    20. You listen

    21. You don’t listen

    22. You’re not afraid to fail. You are willing to lose

    23. You refuse to grow up

    24. You take risks

    25. You express your thoughts and feelings openly and freely

    26. You have a crazy sense of humour

    27. You are motivated by the problem itself

    28. You recognize the “Ah-Ha!” experience

    29. You have a high capacity for visual imagery and fantasy

    30. You cry easily

    31. You hate articles like this that try to define people

    32. You march to your own drum beat

    33. You are freedom’s child

    34. You don’t take ‘no’ for an answer

    35. You win

     

    By Josy Paul, age 6 (Nov 14, 2011)

  • The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s restrictions on depiction of tobacco-related products in films and television will also extend to the print and out-of-home media

    Ouch! Tobacco depiction rules effective today, to extend to print and OOH

    By A Correspondent

    It’s November 14, 2011, and along with Children’s Day and the celebration of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s birth anniversary, it’s also the day when the health ministry restriction on depiction of tobacco in the media takes shape.

    While there’s been much awareness of how the new guidelines will impact the film and television trade, tucked away at the end of the amendment is something that the print media needs to also be careful about.

    The relevant ruling states:

    “Wherever brand names or logos of tobacco products form a part of the pictures to be printed in any form of print or outdoor media or footage to be aired through any form of electronic media, it shall be mandatory for the media to crop or mask the same to ensure that the brand names and logos of the tobacco products are not visible, except in case of live or deferred live telecast of sports, cultural and other events or activities held in other countries being aired on television in India.”

    As per the notificiation, all old movies and TV programmes, that is, produced before November 14 displaying tobacco products or its use shall have to mandatorily display:

    a. anti-tobacco health spots or messages of minimum thirty seconds duration each at the beginning and middle of the film or the television programme.

    b. anti-tobacco health warning as a prominent scroll at the bottom of the screen during the period of such display.

    And such programmes will be telecast at such timings that are likely to have least viewership of minors.

    For new films and TV programme, a strong editorial justification for display of tobacco products or their use shall be given to Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC)  along with UA certification, and it will be accompanied by the following:

    a. a disclaimer, of minimum twenty seconds duration, by the concerned actor regarding the ill effects of the use of such products, in the beginning and middle of the film or television programme;

    b. anti-tobacco health spots or messages, of minimum thirty-second duration each at the beginning and middle of the film or the television programme;

    c. anti-tobacco health warning as a prominent scroll at the bottom of the screen during the period of such display:

    There will be a representative of Ministry of Healthy and Family Welfare in the Censor Board (CBFC).

    In order to restrict display of tobacco brands in old films and TV programmes, these rules  make it mandatory to crop /mask display of brands of cigarettes or any other tobacco product or any forms of product placement, closeups  and for new films and TV programmes  such scenes shall be edited/blurred by the producer prior to screening. The ban on display of tobacco product or its usage also extends to promotional materials and posters as well.

     

    Ministry of Health and Family Welfare notification:

    http://pib.nic.in/archieve/others/2011/nov/d2011111102.pdf

  • As London-based EMM International launched in Mumbai last week, a look at whether media audits can work in India work, and how effectively?

    Can media audits improve efficiencies?

     

     

     

    By Rishi Vora

    India is in the midst of a media blitzkrieg, where advertisers are hounded by a plethora of media options. What this fragmentation has done is for advertisers and clients, is the need to be more accountable. The need to improve efficiencies. The need to be measured.

    Last week, a London-based global media auditing firm – EMM International announced its launch in India. The company will offer its services of measuring media effectiveness for national as well as international brands, operating out of India via a joint venture initiative with Indraksh Media and Management Services. Global CEO Stephen White will serve as the chairman while Yuvraj Agarwal of Indraksh Media will lead the India operations as CEO.

    Though media audit is not a completely new phenomenon in India, it’ll be apt to say that the market is at a very nascent stage. There is only one national player in Spatial Access that is playing a significant role in the market. Media reports suggest that Spatial Access audits more than 40 percent of TV spends in India and that the plans are on to expand business operations to countries within the APAC region. Broadly speaking of the Indian industry, it is only roughly about 5-10 percent of the total media spends that are audited vis-à-vis, a 30-35 percent in the UK and 60 percent in the US.

    However, the market for media audits in India is at a stage, from where it could grow rapidly in the next few years to come. Speaking to MxM India, Mr White said categorically, “India needs more than one player, surely. It needs a company that can take a different approach to challenges, bring in fresh perspectives and of course, the experience of a global company – the knowledge, the skillsets and the reputation it brings to the market.” Mr White further added, “Next three to four years is going to be a very interesting period. India will see growth in media auditing by a significant number. From currently where it stands at 5-10 percent, I see that increasing to at least 25 percent.”

    The preliminary research that was conducted by the company before official launch stated that more than 90 percent of the respondents in India feel the need of an international audit company with a local partner. The thought process that EMM is adopting is “constant improvements” and for media agencies – the need to be more open to individual assessment. The London-based company will use market insights and data to evaluate performances.

    A senior member from the media agency fraternity said that media audits do bring in value to the business, and only time will tell if EMM India is able to live up to its international reputation, whether it is successful in providing solutions that are more meaningful.

    On whether or not media audits are useful for clients, Ajay Kakar, CMO – Financial Services, Aditya Birla Group opined, “Like all audits which help to optimize, increase efficiencies and provide an external perspective; I feel that media audits are also gradually becoming more acceptable to marketers as they provide an objective assessment of the marketing investments. This is more relevant from a process and compliance point of view especially when we include marketing initiatives like BTL programmes/events/production etc and make it a 360 solutions audit rather than only a traditional media audit.” Kakar feels that the space is relatively unchartered in India with a very few players, but is likely to grow as the market is seeing more value in measuring efficacy of media spends.

    While it is clear that there is growth and opportunity for both existing players and a few more to come in the years to come. There might be a possibility where we could see big one of the MNCs enter India acquiring one of the existing businesses, if the industry sees unprecedented growth. It will be interesting to see how EMM shapes up, and of course, how the current market leader responds. It’s going to be interesting watching this small but rapidly growing niche.

  • Introducing a near-daily blog that will see Ranjona Banerji review the nightly news and the fare in the morningers.

    Of 25-year-old TV journos and their half-baked ideas

    Ranjona Banerji

     

    This week was a roller coaster as far as news was concerned. It started with the continuing aftermath of the Anna Hazare-led anti-corruption movement, with members of what has so trendily been named Team Anna felt they were being targeted by the government  for saying nasty things about MPs, for being exposed in a sting operation and for not paying their income tax.

    But soon Amar Singh, discredited and beleaguered, had his moment in the sun as he was hoisted off to join his political friends in Tihar jail for his role in the cash-for-votes scam where BJP MPs walked into Parliament waving bundles of money, claiming they had been bribed by the UPA. But one more horrific bomb blast on Wednesday morning, this time outside the Delhi High Court, meant that TV attention moved away from Singh. TV attention is a bit like the eye of Sauron in Lord of the Rings. While it is on you, you burn under its gaze but when it goes away, you can scurry into Mordor and do what you want. It may be advisable for Indian TV news channels to get eyes like a housefly instead which looks everywhere.

    Since the Delhi police and India’s one zillion other investigating agencies had no clue about who was behind the blasts, TV reporters have to be commended for coming up with their own theories within 10 minutes. Why waste time reporting on the events when you can hold forth like an expert, pretending that you know what you are talking about? After all, no one in your studio is going to stop you, question you or, shock, horror, cut you off.

    I realize that youth must be worshipped in India today but there is something disconcerting about inexperienced 25-year-olds running around with mikes and cameras, bombarding us with their half-baked ideas. (My advice for young journalists: spend the first five years with your mouth shut, learning! Radical, eh?)

    It would perhaps be more sensible if TV news channels in India tried to first report and then speculate. It seems incredible that that they go back to the same experts over and again in spite of no one having any clue about who has actually done what. One would have thought that the embarrassment of every expert blaming some Islamic group of the other for the Norway attacks would have been lesson enough, but clearly, no. The evening shows with the star anchors were full of former police commissioners and general celebrity experts holding forth. The amount of hot air released in TV studios could be used as a form of renewable energy once fossil fuels disappear.

    Most language news channels switched from their normal combination of astrology and Bollywood to cover the blasts but some like Sahara Mumbai were happy with their comedy corner. The ticker at the bottom kept us informed of events. Guess you have to keep laughing, no matter what.

    Business news channels are rarely if ever distracted from the stock markets and sometimes even major global monetary policy changes in which politics is involved, pass them by.

    International channels airing in India like Al Jazeera, BBC World and CNN are all gearing up to the 10th anniversary of the September 9 attacks on the USA. The rest of the while they keep us informed about what’s happening in Syria, Sudan and such like places that are too far away for Indian news channels to acknowledge.

    **

    The newspapers had it easier. Early in the week, they focused of course on Amar Singh’s arrest and his fall from grace. The Telegraph, Calcutta (it does not use Kolkata) also talked about him being a Calcutta boy. The prime minister’s trip to Bangladesh also got space, with fans and detractors of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her refusal to agree to the water-sharing agreements with Bangladesh having their say. The boxing bout between Mayawati and Julian Assange also front-paged, including with the Hindu which of course printed the Wikileaks revelations in India.

    The Reserve Bank of India asking banks to allow borrowers to pay back floating home loans without penalty got second billing in Mumbai, perhaps understandably. The Hindustan Times called the BJP to task over protection to the Reddy brothers in Karnataka in a hard-hitting editorial.

    The Times of India did an analysis of three versions of the Lokpal bill on its edit page and seemed to agree the most with Aruna Roy and the NCPRI’s version. This is a break surely from Times Now’s vociferous championing of Anna Hazare’s version and no other.

    Mid-Day launched its new look on Tuesday, with bolder lines, less clutter and better use of pictures. It also reintroduced its edit page.

    By Thursday, the bomb blasts were everywhere with legitimate rage over the fact that the authorities neither had improved intelligence nor security measures in place. It is easier to read these arguments than to decipher what several guests shouting at the same time are trying to say.

    By Friday, Praful Patel’s defence of a CAC report slamming the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines and the acquisition of several aircraft took the headlines. The probe into the Delhi blasts is veering between Harkat-e-Jihad-al Islami and Indian Mujahideen, both of whom have claimed they did it.

    The Times of India chose not to front-page LK Advani’s announcement of an anti-corruption yatra and his impassioned speech in Parliament, while Hindustan Times made it the second lead, focusing on the fact that Advani took his own party by surprise. The gist of the newspaper angle seems to be one more political drama, while TV milked what they could from it before moving on.

    The brewing revolt in the tennis world between the top players and the International Tennis Federation over rain problems at the US Open also got play.

    International media is mainly looking at the tenth anniversary of 9/11, stories of victims and heroes and some new chilling tapes of voices from one of the planes which crashed into the World Trade Centre. Irfan Husain in The Dawn has an excellent piece debunking all the 9/11 conspiracy theories. A threat to New York on the anniversary is being taken seriously, making ample effort not to spread panic.

    It seems likely that 9/11 will dominate over the weekend although it will be interesting to see if the BJP is taken seriously in this new effort to regain political centrestage.

  • Hoshiyaar, Khabardaar! Mediaah! cyberspace mein waapis aa gaya hai! No-holds-barred analyses. Mediaah-ishtyle.

    The spirit of Mediaah! lives on

    Hoshiyaar, Khabardaar! Mediaah! cyberspace mein waapis aa gaya hai!The blog is rechristened Mediaah! s3. s3 being short for Season 3, thisbeing the third coming for Mediaah!

     

    After six years of self-imposed exile, Mediaah! returns. In line with the current media order, it’s going to be called Mediaah! s3. s3 being short for Season 3… this being the third coming for the blog. Trittiya, as Amitabh Bachchan would call it.

    And, yes, Mediaah! has a new home @ the all-new homebase for mediapersons and marketers: MxMIndia.com

    Wish me luck. Its my third attempt at being brutal and honest. But like I read Sunil Gavaskar say somewhere that his words may have softened with time, I guess I too may have mellowed in these last few years.

    Plus this time around, Mediaah! is going to be part of a website that I run along with a committed team and friends.

     

    Fastforwarded Flashback

     

    But first some flashback to what really got me off cyberspace and what I’ve been doing all these years. One fine morning, in the middle of the night, on a fine, warm day in the year 2005, I was subject to legal missives from the most powerful newspaper group in the land. My sources in the group’s office told me that the orders were to nail me. There were several friends from India and elsewhere in the world who were willing to fight my case. I tried reviving Mediaah!, but the top legal eagles in the country advised me to be careful. So I depressed the Pause button, and continued with my full-time employment.

    Cut to 2008, where I chucked my job with a leading mainstream media player. I wanted to start an MxM-like site, but I switched to consulting with a college buddy turned journalist and entrepreneur who would run Indiantelevision.com. I was there for just a few months and hopped on to exchange4media.com. Upset with the switch, the buddy even sent my new employers a legal notice.

    I had a fun stint with e4m.com and impact. It’s run by an enthusiastic trio, and a team that’s pretty committed. Little wonder that it’s doing so well. But there were issues which got me to move on.

    It wasn’t easy quitting a cushy job. I felt awful that my family was paying for my principles. But then it’s a great feeling to be able to be able to sleep easy with a clear conscience.

     

    My concerns for Mediaah! s3

    I am not sure if it’s going to be smooth sailing for Season 3 of Mediaah! In fact, I am worried whether I would be able to be as no-holds-barred as I would in the previous seasons. This is because the very people I write about are the folks who will advertise on MxM India. It’ll be a tightrope walk, and I hope to be able to maintain the balance.

     

    The masala

    Okay, okay, I know what you want to know from Mediaah!. What do we feel about G Krishnan’s exit from TV Today. And where’s he going? Are the rumours of his joining ABP or Fox true? What’s the buzz at Bloomberg UTV? Is a former newspaper CEO taking the top job there? What’s our view on the new-look Mid-Day? Can the new look help the paper regain old glory?

    Read all this and more in Mediaah! as we go along. We’ll be back next week. Tab tak ke liye, alvidaah!


    Buzz me if you have a story to tell. Confidentiality assured. There are various ways you can reach me:

    pradyumanm[at]mxmindia.com, 23050B5D, pradyumanm@gmail.com, @pmahesh, 98338 76278.

     

     

  • Two new agencies, Euro RSCG Design & Mosaik Communication, join HAVAS DESIGN+ community

    Euro RSCG Design & Mosaik Communication join Havas Design+ community

    By Amit Bapna

     

    The global branding and design community HAVAS DESIGN+ is possibly the first of its kind that brings together a community of experts from different countries putting their competencies in common. It has recently announced addition of two new members to its portfolio – these include Euro RSCG Design, Brazil and Moroccan agency Mosaik Communication. These two new additions extend the Havas Design+ community’s reach into Africa for the first time and strengthen its position in South America.

     

    Design is increasingly becoming a strategic tool and is becoming the engine fuelling the creation of new businesses and changing the story of brands. Reiterating the importance of design in their region, Monique Elgrichi, General Director, Mosaik Communication says, “it has become fundamental for any brand willing to bring a homogeneous and consistent answer to its audiences, be it in its visual identity, its communication tools, online or on its sales locations. The context is thus very favourable in Morocco.

     

    “Companies are well aware of this and have started increasingly investing in the design discipline. Elaborating on their offerings, Mr Jose Melchert, Euro RSCG Design shares, “We will offer Branding & Design services – challenges ranging from the creation of new brands, repositioning and designing portfolios to introducing a brand at the point of sale – brochures, shelves, furniture.” With the globalization, international brands are making the choice in brand management to stay global or to develop local brands to adapt to their market, and therefore must rely on experts having the appropriate insights to do so, which is where such a group of experts under one umbrella can help the brands.

     

    For this international group of agencies that is dedicated to brands in the emergent countries and countries with quick economic growth, India is not too far in its expansion plans. Shares Mr Denis Gancel, co-founder and coordinator of Havas Design+, “Within this framework, India is one of our priorities. We are examining different opportunities that will add to our existing locations and the ones of the Havas group, already present in India.” The multicultural community now numbers 15 agencies across the world employing 500 branding and design experts.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2011, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

  • The investment will be for new infrastructure, partnerships, brand building and sustainability programmes.

    Coca-Cola to put $2 billion into India

    By A Correspondent

    Coca-Cola India has announced that Coca-Cola System will be investing US$2 billion in India in the next five years, beginning 2012. The investment is to further capture the opportunity in the Indian nonalcoholic ready-to-drink (NARTD) beverage market. India is a strategic growth country for the company ranking among its top 10 markets in volume globally and as the largest market in the Eurasia and Africa Group.

    Commenting on the development, Ahmet C Bozer, Coca-Cola’s President, Eurasia and Africa Group, said, “India is one of our most important growth markets as we work toward our 2020 Vision of doubling system revenues and servings this decade. The opportunity in the packaged beverage segment is immense, and our efforts in India are focused on being the beverage of choice all day, every day.  If we continue to do the right things each day and at all times, it would not surprise me if India becomes one of the top five markets for the Company globally by the end of this decade.”

    NARTD beverages have enormous growth potential in India.  The Coca-Cola Company and its bottling partners have robust plans to capture this opportunity with investments in innovation, consumer marketing and brand building, expansion of distribution and cold drink equipment placement as well as further development of manufacturing capacity to meet growing consumer demand.

    The Coca-Cola system has already invested over US$2 billion in India since it re-entered the country in 1993, and currently it directly employs more than 25,000 people. The system is estimated to have created indirect employment for more than 150,000 people in related industries through its vast procurement, supply chain and distribution system. The current investments announced by Coca-Cola will further catalyze economic growth and create new opportunities for the local community. The Coca-Cola system currently employs more than 700,000 people worldwide.

    Atul Singh, President  & CEO, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia, said, “This investment is a part of our long-term commitment to invest in innovation, partnerships and a portfolio of brands that will enable us to grow our business in a sustainable and responsible way. In addition to our infrastructure and capabilities, the new investment will also focus on enhancing the consumer experience, building brand loyalty and contributing to environmental sustainability and community development. Our India business has been growing at a robust rate over the last five years, and our goal is to continue this growth momentum. The country’s demographics, economic and social parameters are all huge drivers of growth and we have to ensure that we capitalize on the opportunity.”

    The Coca-Cola system has a long history of partnership with non-governmental organizations in India for community development and sustainability initiatives. As a system, Coca-Cola has now achieved a net zero balance with regard to groundwater usage in India.  It is well integrated with local Indian communities and is a valued contributor to economic and social growth. The Company and its bottling partners are strong supporters of education in India through programs like the ‘Coca-Cola NDTV Support My School’ campaign, which is aimed at creating more than 100 model schools in India. The Company also supports sports programs to encourage active, healthy living such as the Coca-Cola Under-16 Cup cricket tournament, the Coca-Cola Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy football tournament, Sprite Gully Cricket and Sprite NBA Jam.

    Worldwide, The Coca-Cola Company and its bottling partners are investing nearly $30 billion over the next five years to support anticipated growth across its system. These investments range from new manufacturing facilities to new distribution systems to new marketing investments in emerging economies.

  • For the 5th Grand Kerala Shopping Festival which opens on December 1, the State has planned unique and innovative events on a massive scale for shopping enthusiasts.

    Kerala Shopping Festival opens on Dec 1

    By A Correspondent

    The Grand Kerala Shopping Festival (GKSF), Asia’s biggest shopping festival and the signature show by Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala, is set to welcome shoppers and tourists from all over the world in its fifth edition. Turning the entire State of Kerala into the biggest shopping mall, this 5th mega shopping show in a row will open on December 01, 2011 and run through 45 days to end on January 15, 2012.

    The inaugural function will happen in Kochi on December 01, 2011. Opening the 38,863 kms of the State for the shopping jamboree, the GKSF – 5 will aim at raising the State’s profile as one of the most preferred and the biggest shopping destinations of not only India, but of the world. The Department of Tourism, Kerala has designed the festival to give a ‘Real Shopping Experience’ while awarding an opportunity to ‘Feel the Kerala’ where visitors can connect with the State and explore its rich art, crafts, culture, customs and architecture. Kerala has been the first state in India to promote such a shopping festival on a mammoth scale.

    Commenting on the festival, Dr Rathan Kelkar, Additional Director, Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala and Director, Grand Kerala Shopping Festival, said, “Our market share in the Indian tourism landscape has increased over time. With new innovative promotional properties like GKSF in place, we can raise the tourism profile of Kerala beyond boundaries to national and international markets. Through GKSF – 5, we want to ensure the best quality visitor experience and multiple community benefits and establish Kerala as a global brand.”

  • Maruti Suzuki has trained over 10 lakh people in safe driving in the last decade in its ‘National Road Safety Mission’ which attains the 500,000 mark, and the company targets to double Maruti Driving Schools in next three years.

    500,000 milestone for Maruti Suzuki’s safety mission

    By A Correspondent

    Car Market Leader Maruti Suzuki’s flagship road safety initiative on promoting safe driving, ’National Road Safety Mission’, has attained the milestone of 500,000 trainees.

    Under the programme launched in December 2008, the company has successfully trained over 500,000 people so far. Out of these 500,000 trainees, over, 147,000 are from economically challenged sections, who are beneficiaries of this special programme. They were sponsored by Maruti Suzuki and many of them are meaningfully engaged today.

    In addition, the Company has successfully expanded its training infrastructure in the form of 6 operational Institutes of Driving and Traffic Research and over 192 Maruti Driving Schools thriving across the country. With this special infrastructure in place, the Company has in a small way institutionalized driving training in the country and brought in international best practices to the Country.

    On the occasion, Mayank Pareek, Managing Executive Office, Marketing & Sales, said, “The milestone of training 500,000 people in safe driving, is only a humble beginning, compared to the scale of the issue. The scale can be gauged from the latest report compiled by International Road Federation, which states that India loses close to about Rs 100,000 Crore every year in road accidents. In terms of fatalities, around 160,000 lives are lost annually in road accidents. As the automobile sector continues to grow, there is a need to bring in high quality training institutes, which help institutionalize high `quality training’ on road safety. This requires a 360-degree approach and involvement of several bodies. We hope to be the catalyst for other organizations to join the road safety efforts.”

    Added Mr Pareek, “I take this opportunity to thank our dealer partners, who have partnered with us in setting up state-of-the art driving training infrastructure in the country. With their support, we are successfully running over 192 driving schools in the country. Various State governments have joined hands with us in setting up IDTRs and institutionalizing driving training in the country. Going forward, we look forward to support and guidance of several other state governments to strengthen this initiative of national importance.”

    Announcing the road map ahead, Mr Pareek added, “So far we have trained over 10 lakh people through our existing network of 6 IDTRs and 192 Maruti Driving Schools. We now target to double the network of Maruti Driving Schools to 400 in the next 2 to 3 years. This will help us train more people by spreading high quality structured driving training in the country.”

    To strengthen its road safety initiatives , the Company recently, added another interesting format in the form of `Road Safety Knowledge Centre’, in partnership with the Gurgaon police. This new platform targets to enhance traffic education and inculcate safe driving habits for commuters of Gurgaon. In addition to existing driving training modules, the centre has been equipped to offer specialized training to traffic violators.

  • Mudra India has announced the appointment of Sharmila Malekar as the Senior Vice-President at Mudra West.

    Sharmila Malekar is Sr VP, Mudra West

    By A Correspondent

    Mudra India has announced the appointment of Sharmila Malekar as the Senior Vice-President at Mudra West. Until recently, Ms Malekar was the Managing Partner at Mind Mirror, A Research & Strategic Consultancy. Based out of Mumbai, she will report to Arijit Ray, President, Mudra West and will help strengthen brands on businesses like ITC, Jyothy Laboratories, Electrolux, Kalpataru, Emami, HPCL and Godrej.

    A dynamic professional with rich experience in Brand building & Consumer Research, Ms Malekar has been in the industry for 18 years. She started her career with Lintas where she worked on brands like Liril and its brand extensions viz Shower Gel, Talc; Liril Icy soap & Liril skincare soap, J&J feminine hygiene for their Stayfree, Carefree range among others.

    She has also played a significant role in Ogilvy and Mather, having worked as business head on Dove, Aviance Beauty Solutions, Tata Sumo and Tata Safari among others. She worked with Mudra DDB Communications as Vice President on the Godrej Franchise, Big Bazaar (Future Group) and LIC.Subsequently, she moved to Publicis Ambience Advertising to head the P&G Vicks and Marico portfolios.

    Announcing the appointment, Arijit Ray, President, Mudra West, said, “Sharmila comes on board with a rich experience of overseeing a wide spread of brands in the FMCG, Automotive Entertainment and Beverages space, across few of the best agencies of the country like Ogilvy, Lowe and Publicis. We are looking forward to her experience in consolidating and building on some of our most important client relationships at Mudra West.”

    Commenting on her appointment, Sharmila Malekar said, “I am delighted to be back especially at Mudra India and look forward to doing some interesting work for our clients.”

    Ms Malekar takes a keen interest in alternative healing techniques and is also a practising therapist.

  • After quitting Grey, Bindu Sethi will be now working as the National Head Planning for JWT India.

    Bindu Sethi to be National Head Planning @ JWT

    By Shubhangi Mehta

     

    Post putting in her papers at Grey, Bindu Sethi is now joining JWT India as the National head planning. Industry sources close to the development have confirmed the news to MxM India. She will be based out of Delhi.

    It was reported yesterday that Ms Sethi has called it a day at Grey. Since then there have been a lot of speculations as to where will she be moving now.

    Ms Sethi has spent nearly more than two decades in the advertising and marketing industry. She joined Grey India in 2009 as the national planning director. In May 2010, she was promoted as the chief strategy planning officer for Asia Pacific. However, she continued to handle India responsibilities as well.

    Joining JWT can also be regarded as a homecoming for Ms Sethi, as she began her career at the Indian Market Research Bureau (IMRB). She then moved to JWT where she developed and headed the strategic planning department for eight years. She was instrumental in building JWT’s reputation for deep consumer sensitivity and brand building. At JWT she got the opportunity to work on brands such as Horlicks and Maggi.

    She was instrumental in creation of JWT’s social communications division Thompson Social, which redefined the role of communications in the adoption of new health practices amongst rural and suburban populations. Furthermore, her experience extends to the marketing side of the business, where she partnered Hindustan Lever Limited as General Marketing Manager – Personal & Hair Care. There, she formulated the brand vision, strategy and proposition for Unilever’s family health portfolio comprising three brands across seven South Asia and South East Asian markets.

    With experience as diverse and rich as hers, it comes as no surprise that she won WPP’s prestigious Atticus Award for original thinking for her piece entitled Understanding India through Advertising.

  • Tiger Balm has provided its creative mandates to Quadrant Communications.

    Quadrant appliesTiger Balm, bags creative biz

    By Shubhangi Mehta

    The creative mandates for Tiger Balm have been won by Quadrant Communications, industry sources close to the development have confirmed the news to MxM India.

    The account size is estimated to be Rs 10 crore. This is the first time that Tiger Balm has appointed an agency to handle their creative mandates.

    Tiger Balm competes with the likes of Zandu Balm and Amrutanjan. Jagdish Saxena, chairman, Elder Group introduced the balm over 20 years ago. It initially imported the product from Singapore. Later on, Elder manufactured Tiger Balm Red and White at their Ponta Sahib factory in Himachal Pradesh.

    It may be noted that in July this year,BSE-listed Elder Healthcare, which was the exclusive marketer of Tiger Balm in India, parted ways with its long-term partner, Singapore-based Haw Par Healthcare .

    Quadrant Communications Ltd is a full-service advertising agency, providing clients with 360-degree marketing communications solutions.