MxMIndia

Author: mxm_india

  • Chitralekha’s 61st anniversary issue comes out later this week, themed on ‘India 2020’ and with contributions by industry stalwarts from various fields, from Shashi Tharoor and Uday Kotak to Chetan Bhagat and Dr Prakash Kothari, amongst others, sharing their perspective on the country in 2020.

    Chitralekha celebrates 61st anniversary

    By Akash Raha
    Chitralekha Group is all set to come out with Chitralekha’s 61st anniversary issue later this week. Themed on the topic “India 2020”, the issue has contributions by experts and stalwarts like Shashi Tharoor, Uday Kotak, Kalpana Morparia, Rashmi Bansal, Naveen Jindal, Chetan Bhagat, Farhan Akhtar, Gaurav Mashruwala, Nikhil Gandhi, Dr Tejas Patel, Dr Prakash Kothari amongst others who have shared their perspective on the country in 2020.

     

    Speaking on the 61st anniversary issue, Mr Mitrajit Bhattacharya, President and Publisher, Chitralekha Group, said, “We are very proud to bring out the 61st anniversary issue of Chitralekha. Last year, we were extremely pleased with the 60th anniversary issue of Chitralekha; even though the issue was priced at Rs 125, it sold out in four days. We realized that content is more important than price. This time too we have tried to give the same to our reader in terms of content. We have priced the issue at Rs 75, and I am sure this time it will be as big a success. Last year we asked eminent stalwarts to trace back India’s history over the past 6 decades. This time, we have asked them to look at the future in 2020. Apart from great content, this issue will also carry a special compilation of 61 gems by 9 musical legends as well as the first day cover on Chitralekha, which was released by the President of India in April 2011. I am sure a combination of all these will certainly appeal to our audiences.”

     

    The issue also houses the second edition of Chitralekha’s “Gujarati Power List” which comprises superstars from the fields of politics, business, corporate, music, fine arts, cinema, sports, media and social service, who have gone beyond their own areas of comfort and influenced the larger society.

    Moreover, the issue carries a special compilation by Saregama of 61 remarkable songs by nine musical legends namely, Asha Bhosle, Geeta Dutt, Hemant Kumar, Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey, Mohammed Rafi, Mukesh and Talat Mehmood. Each copy of the magazine will also carry a First Day Cover (postage stamp) on Chitralekha released by the Department of Post, Ministry of Telecom & IT in April 2011.

    Chitralekha Group had humble beginnings when its flagship Gujarati magazine, Chitralekha, was launched in 1950 by Vaju Kotak, with a print run of 10,101 copies. Today, the much revered news weekly boasts of over 240,000 copies and is almost a fixture in any given Gujarati household.

  • Not jst for mktg stuff; SMS msgs go a long way in giving u info abt products n services.

    The Anchor: 5 ways a marketer can use SMS to his/her advantage

    By Ravi Sundararajan

     

    #1 Acquisition of customers. SMS is a great tool to connect with new customers, and a marketer can leverage this medium to use it to target and acquire new customers.

    #2 Engaging customers. According to their area of interest, SMS can be used effectively to engage customers.

    #3 Retaining customers. It can also be a potent tool to retain customers by keeping them informed about promotions or information that might interest them.

    #4 Service Transaction. SMS also works well when one needs to give customers service-related information such as regarding bill payments or cash transactions.

    #5 Building infrastructure. There are many who don’t have infrastructure to set up communities or a mobile infrastructure service company. That’s where a company like ours can help marketers create such companies for others in the industry.

    Ravi Sundararajan is the Vice President Marketing at SMS GupShup.

  • Big Bazaar completes a decade of service to the aam janta

    Ten years of Big shopping

    By Johnson Napier

     

    The common man’s go-to bazaar where all the essential commodities and goods could be purchased at reasonably modest prices has crossed another milestone as it celebrates its tenth year of existence. To mark the occasion, Big Bazaar has undertaken a rebranding exercise that will see the retail chain don a new logo and unveil new promises towards their customers.

     

    As part of its rebranding plans, the retail chain unveiled a new tag line, ‘Naye India Ka Bazaar,’ replacing the earlier ‘Isse Sasta Aur Accha Kahin Nahin.’ A television, print and social media communication initiative is being launched to mark this event. The new logo design has been developed by Bangalore-based design house, Idiom and the media campaign has been developed by Mudra.

     

    Asserts Vibha Rishi, Director, Future Group Strategy and Customer, “The logo and tagline will become an integral part of all our communication. With the new change we are moving on to a more emotional level of positioning. The new logo and tagline are contemporary and reflect a changing India and the ethos of shoppers here.”

    As for the new changes to be expected from the retail chain, a senior source from Big Bazaar said, “The retail chain will now be focusing on providing valuable service to the customer – an introspection measure drive. The new campaign will illustrate such an austerity measure being undertaken by the retail chain, inspiration for which comes from an ancient Jain custom of Michchami Dukkadam, meaning ‘Please forgive me if I have offended you knowingly or inadvertently’.”

    This apart, Big Bazaar also plans to provide a platform for people to do good deeds and contribute to the welfare of the society. Says the source, “A tula will be set outside select Big Bazaar stores where we plan to weigh children (below age of 12 years) of all the employees and commodities like rice and flour equivalent to their weight, will be donated to NGOs. Customers too can participate in this ritual and donate any product of their choice.”

    Apart from a commitment to further improve services provided to customers, a key initiative being rolled progressively across all stores are priority counters for senior citizens, pregnant women and mothers with infants. Big Bazaar stores will also have more customer feedback sections. Stores across the country will also be rolling out signature community initiatives like Annasantharpane and Protsahan.

    First launched in 2001, Big Bazaar has grown to over 154 stores today spanning 90 cities. “The plan is to touch 175 stores by the end of this fiscal year,” added the source.

  • ASCI gets pat on the back, but ministers have also urged it to speed up review and compliance processes in advertising content.

    Speed up review process, ASCI told

    By A Correspondent

     

    At the conference organized by The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), Ambika Soni, I&B Minister and Prof K V Thomas, Minister of State, Ministry of Food, Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution recognized the commendable work done by ASCI in creating best practices through its self-regulatory mechanism and various codes of conduct in advertising content. However, the ministers have urged the ASCI to further improve the self-regulatory mechanism by speeding up the processes and compliance of its codes for advertising content.

    Prof K V Thomas, Minister of State, Ministry of Food, Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution, in his speech at the conference said, “We are reviewing consumer complaints on misleading advertisements & debating how to manage this issue. In this process, we are considering a legal requirement as well as an inter-ministerial committee to look into the issue of misleading and false advertisements. We are open to working with ASCI for a collaborative effort to take this entire matter forward.”

    Information and Broadcasting Minister Ms Ambika Soni urged ASCI to speed up its mechanism to review consumer complaints on misleading advertisements, thereby making the self-regulation machinery more effective. She also added, “Self-regulation is an evolving system in response to the growing aspirations of the consumer or the common man. Advertising is the principal motivator of growth in consumer demand, thus making the role of a creative person extremely significant. The current self-regulation mechanism has evolved as a result of the concern shown by the consumer. The key intention here is that all of us should sensitize ourselves to ensure that 1.2 billion people can enjoy the freedom entrusted to us.”

    Mr I Venkat, Chairman, Advertising Standards Council of India updated the assembly on the various initiatives undertaken by ASCI in recent times. He said, “As part of our evolving self-regulatory system, we have increased the frequency of our Consumer Complaints Council’s meetings to twice a month since November. The Fast Track service announced recently has already received positive response. The CCC has already reviewed eight advertisements until now under the Fast Track system. The support we expect from government will ensure that ASCI continue to create global standards and international benchmarks in self-regulation of advertising content.”

    The conference also included three technical sessions to discuss issues and solutions related to (i) Decency in advertising, (ii) Honesty & truthfulness in advertising and (iii) F&B Advertising. Each interactive session had speakers representing Industry, Regulators and Activists and was moderated by TV anchors with expertise in the field of advertising.

  • Elvis Sequeira, the NCD of Cheil Worldwide Southwest Asia, has left.

    Elvis Sequeira quits Cheil

    By A Correspondent

     

    It is learnt that Elvis Sequeira, the National Creative Director at Cheil Worldwide Southwest Asia has quit the agency. Mr Sequeira had joined the agency just few months ago in March this year. The agency is learnt to be currently hunting for a replacement.

    Mr Sequeira is an advertising veteran and had moved to Cheil from Good Morning Films. He has worked with JWT Delhi as well as Lowe Lintas besides working at Clea, Mudra and Interact Vision.

    Though he could not be reached, a call to the Cheil office confirmed that he has moved out of the agency.

  • If we really want to make a difference, we need to go after the big fish. Exposing the big daddies of corruption will make the real difference, as the 2G scandal has shown.

    Hard Knocks: Exposing the big daddies of corruption

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Mumbai Mirror’s cover story on 15/11/11 caught my attention for different reasons. The story involved conflict between a traffic cop and a celebrity nutritionist, and yes, it had to do with petty corruption. Here’s the link: http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/15/201111152011111
    5025305142b58e3baa/PautiWhat-for-Celeb-nutritionist%E2%80%99s-fine-fight-against-corrupt-cocky-cop.html

     

     

    The story reminded me of the one I had done years ago for a tabloid. Dressed as a rich cat, I drove around on the streets of Mumbai breaking every single traffic rule, while being filmed by a battery of photographers. And on every single occasion, I was let off after ‘tipping’ the havaldar. At the time it was a sensational story. I received thousands of happy and angry e-mails. And yes, I was pretty chuffed at having pulled off a ‘big’ story.

     

    However, down the line, I have had a change of heart. I am no longer proud of what I did that day. Sure, some lowly traffic cops got pulled up or were suspended for a bit, but what did the story achieve beyond that? Did anything change? The answer is obvious: No. I now realise there’s no greatness or value attached to exposing the small fry of society. They are sitting ducks, easy to be caught with their hands in the till, and putting them under pressure makes no difference anyway.

     

    Given that, I really think the Indian media as whole must move on from such worthless stories. If we really want to make a difference, we need to go after the big fish. Exposing the big daddies of corruption will make the real difference, as the 2G scandal has shown. There’s another thing, and this is more personal in nature: I am convinced it’s pointless even blaming the small operators in the food chain for being corrupt. When the entire system is so rotten, when corruption is so deeply embedded in this nation, with its tentacles going right to the top, does it really make any sense in punishing the chhota mota chors? Which is why I no longer quarrel with traffic cops, autorickshaw drivers, cabbies, ration card office clerks, municipal office clerks, etc, when they cheat me. I quietly pay them off. Because they are just tiny leaves of the huge corruption tree we have all collectively planted and nurtured.

     

    ***

     

    PS: Totally adore the new Benetton ‘Unhate’ campaign. Controversial, funny, irreverent and very Benetton. But a tad disappointed they ignored the subcontinent. Imagine SM Krishna and Bina Rabbani Khar together? Hmm. That would be heavy!

  • Earmarked for Development, Production, Co-Production and Acquisition of High Quality, Multimedia Health and Wellness Programming

    Zee pumps in $250mn for wellness content

    By A Correspondent

     

    Subhash Chandra, Chairman of Zee group, today announced the creation of a $250 million content development, production, co-production and acquisition fund in the United States that will benefit Veria Living, a network devoted to showcasing wellness programming and related content across multiple media platforms.

     

    The New York-headquartered Veria Living television network is available throughout the US to the Dish Network, Verizon FiOS and Frontier Communications subscribers. Veria Living offers the world’s largest line-up of first-run, original programming – connecting viewers in a contemporary and accessible manner to the benefits and joys of living a healthy lifestyle.

     

    The establishment of the $250 million fund is yet another step in Zee’s five-year plan to further expand Veria Living’s presence in the US and beyond as the go-to-source for all things health and wellness. Said Mr Chandra, “We are firmly committed to growing the Veria brand across the television, internet, mobile and OTT platforms. By focusing on original content development and production we’re not only looking to build a broad US audience for Veria Living, but also setting the table for the expansion of the brand globally over the next couple of years.”

  • Words, phrases, acronyms and scenarios that the creative department knows only too well. And probably wouldn’t want to do without.

    The Anchor: 7 pieces of jargon creative types love

    By Amod Dani

     

    #1 Film opens on…

    Three famous words which satisfy every copywriter’s dream of visiting Rio, Ibiza, Vegas… uh no? Ok let’s get real…Bangkok.

     

    #2 360

    The number that comes first to mind when the entire team is brainstorming to create ACTS, Road shows, Innovative hoardings and Radio Programming concepts to sell… yes, you read right, “Sabun ke saath chammach FREE, FREE, FREE!!!!”

     

    #3 Clutter Breaking

    Vishwaas hai, ismein kuch khaass… Oooh Yeah! That was clutter breaking wasn’t it. Come on, half the line and you instantly remember the ad.  Wah! Now if that’s not clutter breaking I don’t know what is. Yeh toh bada toing hai!!!!  😉

     

    #4  D&AD

    Sigh! Ok here’s an acronym that every creative person would know. And if you don’t, head straight to your workstation and type in Google and then “Advertising Creative Awards for dummies”. The Design & Art Direction Award’s pencil has often eluded Indian hands and is the one piece yet to fall into the tricolour kitty. Time to visit the temple, I say.

     

    #5 JSR

    Here’s a document that encapsulates all the inefficiencies of the agency. Made and remade frequently, only to be forgotten and ignored. It shows its ugly head again following stinkers and finger pointing, before threats with “We are calling for a pitch!”

     

    #6 G*** M***

    A phrase often hurled at colleagues expressing a sense of disagreement.

    For example:

    CS:                   There’s a new brief.

    Creative:         Ok…

    CS:                   Deadline’s in two hours.

    Creative:         G*** M***!!!!! (Flatly)

     

    #7 Night hai!

    When the pitch for a new client is the next day and your kickass idea has just been torn to pieces. The layout’s bombed and the script’s changed. There’s nothing like a campaign in sight. Result: call your boss an old F@#^&*, call your girl and tell her you are screwed, call Dominos, call for a quarter of… wait, make that a bottle of Old Monk and get set. Dark circles, here we come.

     

    Amod Dani is ECD, Leo Burnett.

  • Punit Singh joins Proximity as AVP, Digital Technology. He will report to Ranjeev Vij VP, Head – Proximity India.

    Proximity India hires Punit Singh to lead Digital Technology

    By A Correspondent

     

    BBDO/Proximity has hired Punit Singh as, AVP, Digital Technology.

    Prior to joining BBDO/Proximity, Punit handled digital strategy for Reliance MediaWorks for India and Malaysia . He has also headed Technology and User Experience at Tribal DDB India. He has worked on brands like Volkswagen, Idea, HDFC, Honda Cars, Standard Chartered, Asian Paints to name a few. Punit holds an engineering degree from REC Nagpur and MBA from IIM-Indore.

    On the appointment of Punit Singh, Ajai Jhala, CEO, BBDO/Proximity India said, “Punit lives at the junction of digital technology + creative + strategy. Punit is that rare talent in the digital space who can walk the talk. We hope to see the impact of his hire on both the work and attracting new talent.”

    Ranjeev Vij, VP & Head – Proximity India added, “An absolute digital junkie, Punit is passionate about everything digital and shares our vision to contribute towards strengthening of the platform in the Indian scenario with behavior-changing interactive ideas.”

    Commenting on his move Mr Singh said, “India is placed at an exciting point on the Digital front. With brands warming up to the potential of digital, the coming years would witness a paradigm shift in the way they reach out to their consumers. With thought leaders like Ajai, Josy and Ranjeev to steer and a great creative team to work with, Proximity India is set to become the next big hub of marketing rationale and radical advertising in the digital space.”

    Proximity India is the youngest agency of Proximity Worldwide, and is globally aligned to BBDO Worldwide. Proximity India offers talented communications experts with skills across the full range of relationship, digital and direct marketing services.

    Early next year, Proximity will launch their proprietary Digital Lab Initiative in India, which is a multi-faceted program, designed to drive digital thought leadership and to provide a significant added value service to its clients.

    BBDO/Proximity India, the youngest agency of BBDO Worldwide and the Omnicom Group, began operations over 36 months ago. With offices in Delhi and Mumbai and talent strength of over 90 people, BBDO India is helping shape brands like 7 Up, Nimbooz, Quaker Oats, Aviva life insurance, P&G Gillette, Godrej Protekt, Bayer Healthcare, Wrigley’s Doublemint, J&J Baby, J&J Nicorette and BlackBerry.

  • MxMIndia partners ‘Paid News’ event to be held on November 18 in Mumbai with a film screening followed by a panel discussion.

    MxMIndia-partnered ‘Paid News’ seminar today

    By A Correspondent

     

    MxMIndia has partnered the event ‘Paid News: Fooling People all the Time’ organised by Moneylife Foundation and Citizens Action Network with the support of industrialist Cyrus Guzder.

     

    To be held in Mumbai’s Madame Cama Hall (Opp Lion Gate, Kala Ghoda) on Friday, November 18, the evening will see the screening of the documentary ‘Brokering News’ followed by a panel discussion with senior journalists and the film-maker Umesh Aggarwal.

     

    About the film: The Delhi-based non-governmental, not-for-profit Public Service Broadcasting Trust (PSBT) recently released a documentary titled “Brokering News—the inside story of paid news”.

     

    The film by Umesh Aggarwal addresses a significant challenge facing Indian democracy today—which is the state of its media. The film looks at three aspects of paid news—how politicians are paying for positive coverage during elections, with the result that those who don’t pay are blanked out by the media; how the coverage and reviews of movies are orchestrated and paid for and of course, paid news about business and industry. It depicts in detail how journalists were forced to broker deals to offer editorial coverage to politicians.

     

    Details of the Event:

    Panelists: Umesh Aggarwal, Ayaz Memon, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Bhawana Somaaya, and Sucheta Dalal.

    Timings: 5.30-7.30pm (Registration and Tea starts at 5pm)

    Venue: Madame Cama Hall, KR Cama Hall Institute, Bombay Samachar Marg, Opp. Lion Gate, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai 400 023

    Admission: While admission is free, registration is required. Contact details: Call Judith/Seraphina on 022-24441058-60, or mail at mail@mlfoundation.in,or log on to www.mlfoundation.in

  • Network18’s Firstpost.com has launched an online chess championship for its readers. This fortnightly event will see Vishwanathan Anand share some of his real-life chessboard experiences with online participants as a part of ‘Firstpost Battleboard.’

    Firstpost.com gets its readers to play chess with the Grandmaster

    By A Correspondent

     

    Network18’s Firstpost.com, India’s first exclusive online news and views website has launched an online chess championship for its readers. This fortnightly event will see Vishwanathan Anand share some of his real-life chessboard experiences with online participants as a part of ‘Firstpost Battleboard.’

    In line with Firstpost.com’s inclusive agenda, Firstpost Battleboard (www.firstpost.com/battleboard) calls for audience participation. With a welcome video by Vishwanathan Anand readers are given an introduction to the game and are challenged to face actual challenges that the Grandmaster has faced in his career. Interactivity becomes the prime attraction of Firstpost Battleboard as the users figure out the best possible alternative to get ahead in the game and the Grandmaster elucidates the rationale behind every move by decoding the effectiveness of all the possible alternatives. Quintessentially a cerebral online offering, this game attempts to bring together chess enthusiasts from across the world.Firstpost Battleboard is sponsored by telecom major Idea Cellular.

    Commenting on his association with Firstpost Battleboard, Grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand said, “When Firstpost approached me for an online,interactive platform to take chess to a wider audience I was quite excited to do it. The aim is to take the reader through the emotion and calculation in each game. Some decisions on the board are made by intuition and some by cold calculation. It is the human element of a game that a player mostly remembers. I hope the readers enjoy the series and we look forward to a lot of interaction.”

    Speaking on the launch of Firstpost Battleboard, Durga Raghunath, VP-Products, Web18 said, “Battleboard with Vishwanathan Anand is a content innovation we are very proud of. As Firstpost continues to educate and entertain and interact, Vishwananthan Anand is a perfect partner. We hope to reach out to new audiences through efforts like these.”

  • Walkout in Press Council meet as Chairman Katju refuses to withdraw remarks.

    Obdurate Katju sparks walkout by INS members in Press Council meet

    By A Correspondent

    The four publisher members representing the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) in the newly constituted Press Council – Dr R Lakshmipathy (Dinamalar), Mr V K Chopra (Filmi Duniya), Mr Sanjay Gupta (Jagran) and Mr Vijay Kumar Chopra (Punjab Kesari) – strongly protested to the Chairman of the Press Council for his remarks that “he has a poor opinion of the media” and “majority media people are of very poor intellectual level with no idea of economic theory or political science, philosophy, literature”. The publisher members were attending the first ever meeting of the newly constituted Council of the Press Council of India.

    However, Justice Markandey Katju, the PCI chairman, was firm on his stand and refused to withdraw the remarks made by him. The publisher members walked out of the meeting in protest.

    Earlier in the day, the Executive Committee of the INS took strong objection to the remarks made by the Chairman of the Press Council of India in a television interview and in subsequent statements issued by him to the press. The Executive Committee of the INS noted with dismay that the Chairman’s remarks demonstrated a deep bias against members of the Fourth Estate and that such bias would adversely affect the functioning of the Council in its quasi-judicial role.

    The Executive Committee strongly felt that the Chairman had undermined his own position as Chairman of the Press Council of India and that of the Council, by categorizing a majority of media people as being of poor intellectual level. In a strongly worded letter addressed to the Chairman of the Press Council of India, the INS President urged him to withdraw his remarks.