MxMIndia

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  • The solutions, a global first, will give more recruiters in India access to high potential candidates and drive the growth of the local talent economy

    LinkedIn announces localized solutions 4 Indian recruiters

    By A Correspondent

     

    LinkedIn, world’s largest professional network, with over 135 million members worldwide and over 13 million in India, on Tuesday announced localized hiring solutions used by recruitment professionals in India.

     

    This move, a global first for LinkedIn, will give more recruiters in India access to high potential candidates and drive the growth of the local talent economy.

     

    LinkedIn India is rolling out, specifically for India, localized versions with India pricing for offerings like LinkedIn Recruiter, which will allow Indian recruiters to search and target profiles in India. Other offerings with differentiated India pricing include Jobs Network, Work with us Ads, Targeted Recruitment Ads and Talent Direct.

     

    “The growth currently being experienced by the Indian economy needs to be complimented with the right talent. Our member base, which consists of educated and engaged professionals, is much sought after by recruiters from corporations and executive search firms. By creating localized products for recruiters in India, we hope to build on our philosophy of connecting talent with opportunity,” said Irfan Abdulla, Head of Hiring Solutions at LinkedIn India.

     

    “LinkedIn’s localized pricing is in line with its commitment towards introducing efficiency enhancing tools for professionals and an acknowledgement of the growing demand for customized solutions in the Indian market,” he added.

     

    Since managing talent is core to making recruiters productive and successful, tools like LinkedIn Talent Pipeline enable recruiters to easily manage all their talent leads in one place; LinkedIn Career Pages, is a one stop virtual destination which helps companies build a brand amongst prospective candidates; and Targeted Recruiting Advertising is a strategic tool which enables recruiters to reach a specific population of candidates as per skill, location or experience. These tools empower hiring managers to make effective and strategic hiring decisions.

     

    In India, LinkedIn Hiring Solutions are used by a number of companies including ING Vysya, Genpact, Biocon, Wal-Mart, HCL Technologies, L&T Infotech among others.

     

  • The campaign talks about activating "your personal blockbuster theatre" featuring BigFlixs+, equipping subscribers to download blockbuster titles in addition to merely streaming

    Reliance Entertainment’s BigFlixs unveils its latest ad campaign

    By A Correspondent

     

    BigFlixs, a part of Reliance Group’s digital entertainment business on Tuesday announces the launch of a new ad campaign to increase awareness and promote its movies on demand service – BigFlix+ which lets the user ‘Click-Download-Play’ over 500 Blockbusters at a subscription fee of Rs249/ a month across PC, Tablets and Mobiles.

     

    Today’s metro generation is not able to see all films in theatres; they don’t want to watch the same on TV because of lack of variety and time limitations. There was a clear need of a service that can offer users the best in class movie experience on the devices that they are comfortable using – laptop, mobile or/and tablets.

     

    Hence the brief to agency was to establish BigFlix+ as a premium movie on demand service, where users of the service can also download blockbuster movies in addition to merely streaming them online.

     

    Commenting on the new campaign, Shreyash Sigtia, Business Head, BigFlicks Pv Ltd said: “The basic idea behind the campaign is to let the viewer know that they can now finally select a movie of their choice and view it wherever and whenever they want to see it. With BigFlix+, they can rest assured about the picture quality and enjoy a complete movie experience without the annoying ad breaks, on the device of their choice. This makes BigFlix+ service a Personal Blockbuster Theatre of the viewer. We deliberately kept the creative simple and focused the communication on the core offering and its benefit in order to build the category in the country.”

     

    On the completion of this campaign, Joy Ghoshal, Marching Ants, said: “Film content is not exclusive and viewing it comes with its irritants, so we decided to challenge the biggest provider; television. Big Flix+ is about to change the role of the laptop and other mobile devices to that of a ‘blockbuster theatre’, supported by huge choice of quality content and uninterrupted viewing.”

  • The DNA's journalistic bible called the Code of ethics unfurled recently is about DNA's journalistic values and guiding principles

    Leadership makes us tough, with ourselves first: DNA

    By A Correspondent

     

    Given Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s recent statement that the “media should come together to exercise a degree of self-regulation and to combat perversions like paid news”, broadsheet Daily News and Analysis (DNA) announced its Code of Ethics on its front page.

     

    According to the paper’s leadership team and CEO Mr. KU Rao, the “road of integrity and honesty is always difficult but in the long run, we will come through as an organization that has greater value which will one day bear fruits for us as well as for our partners who work with us.”

     

  • Ignite! Is being held from February 6 to 11 between 10am to 4pm at the Centre for Management campus in Bandra.

    Industry bigwigs share insights with students at Ignite!

    By A Correspondent

     

    “You won’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate!” said Vijay Mansukhani, Co-Founder & Managing Director of consumer electronics giant, Onida Ltd.

     

    Mr. Mansukhani shared this and other insights with students of Centre For Management at the inauguration of Ignite!, CFM’s Industry Week on February 6.

     

    Sharing vignettes of his entrepreneurial journey, Mr Mansukhani spoke about how in the 1980s, the nascent Onida signed a joint venture withJapan’s JVC, beating larger Indian manufacturers, by understanding how the Japanese mindset worked.

     

    Additionally, the highly successful (and radical) TV campaign where the Devil said that Onida TVs were ‘Neighbours Envy, Owners Pride’ was due to the fact that they picked a young low cost ad agency and couldn’t pay for the larger conservative ones.

     

    Students later said that it was refreshing to hear from a successful entrepreneur who was willing to share both the positive and negative aspects of his life.

     

    Also giving his valuable inputs was Mr. Chandrakant Salunkhe, President of the SME Chamber of Indian who adviced the students about the government schemes available for micro and small entrepreneurs. “Rs1 Crore collateral-free loan is available to micro and small entrepreneurs under the Government’s Credit Guarantee Trust,” he said.

     

    What was interesting about the above fact was that the vast majority of people are not aware of this facility. So many budding entrepreneurs never start their own business due to lack of funds. If this was widely known, there would be many more companies starting up.

     

    The SME Chamber focuses helping entrepreneurs through education and networking on ways they can grow their businesses faster.

     

    When he asked the assembled management students how many of them wanted to start their own business, a majority raised their hands. This was a huge shift from the older mindset where students just wanted a good corporate job after graduation.

     

    Mr. Salunkhe and Mr. Akhil Shahani (Managing Director of Centre For Management), spoke about the need for jointly creating an MBA especially for the SME segment.

     

    It was a great eye opener for CFM’s students on the ways they can start their own business.

     

    Ignite! Is being held from February 6 to 11 between 10am to 4pm at the Centre for Management campus in Bandra. Every day, well known achievers from Indian and international industries as diverse as electronics, pharmaceuticals, media, transportation and retail will come to share ideas with the students to inspire them to greater heights in their own post graduate careers.

     

    Centre for Management is part of a global network of 75 Universities and 500 colleges that bring internationally recognized MBAs toIndia. It is an initiative of the Thadomal Shahani Trust, whose trustees sit on the managing board of 24 colleges in Mumbai includingThadomalShahaniEngineeringCollege, HR College,JaiHindCollege, KC College,MMKCollege,NationalCollegeand others.

  • The mandate involves handling the media strategy as well as planning and buying across all mediums.

    Mindshare Chennai bags media duties for SPR&RG Constructions

    By A Correspondent

     

    After recently bagging the media duties of The Hindu,Mindshare,India’s leading media agency has added another new business to its client portfolio – Tamil Nadu based real estate developer SPR&RG Constructions Private Limited. The mandate involves handling the media strategy as well as planning and buying across all mediums. The account will be handled out of the Chennai office.

     

    Commenting on the win, Ravi Rao, Leader,South Asia, Mindshare, said: “This win is great news following Mindshare’s recent growing focus on strengthening our South operations. We are really excited to have the opportunity to serve SPR&RG Constructions Private Limited. They have a great vision for the category and we believe we can do some game-changing work for the brand and look forward to doing it well.”

     

    SPR&RG Constructions Private Limited is engaged in the acquisition and development of residential and commercial properties, besides executing turnkey infrastructure projects in Tamil Nadu. The company is coming up with their second large scale project in Chennai – Osian Chlorophyll where they bring on board the social conscience that ensures they contribute to the societies they are operating in.

     

    This is a unique property with 42 gardens and sky bridges that connects all the 10 blocks which have gardens lining it and thereby enhancing healthy living within the city limits.

     

    “With two upcoming projects in Chennai at Porur and Vepery, we were in consideration to partner with an agency that has expertise in local media and has ability to put to use global knowledge at local level for all our forthcoming projects,” says Sandeep Pantvaidya, VP – Marketing and Sales, SPR&RG.

     

    “We are glad to have Mindshare, one of the finest media buying agencies in the country today, on board to handle brand SPRRG and Chlorophyll. We look forward to a lengthy and profitable partnership with Mindshare in the years to come,” he added.

     

    Mindshare is a global media and marketing services network with billings in excess of $27.8 billion (source: RECMA). The network consists of 114 offices in 82 countries throughout the North America, Latin America, Europe,Middle East, and Asia Pacific, each dedicated to forging competitive marketing advantage for businesses and their brands.  Mindshare is a member of WPP, the world’s leading communications service group with $84.2bn in billings (source: RECMA), and is part of GroupM, the world’s leading full service media investment management operation, which was created by WPP Group to oversee its assets in this sector.

     

  • The awards marked the success of the 'Marks for Sports' campaign

    NDTV honours excellence in sports with ‘Spirit of Sport’ awards

    By A Correspondent

     

    In a grand finale, NDTV celebrated the success of ‘Marks for Sports’ campaign with the ‘Spirit of Sport’ awards held at the ITC Maurya Sheraton on Sunday. As part of the celebration, NDTV acknowledged excellence in sports by honouring renowned sports personalities across 14 categories. Union HRD minister, Mr. Kapil Sibal graced the occasion as the Guest of Honour.

     

    Highlighting the successful completion of the Marks for Sports campaign, Dr. Prannoy Roy, Chairman, NDTV, said: “I am delighted with the overwhelming response we received for the campaign. I would like to thank Ranbir Kapoor for his association with the initiative. I truly believe that we require youngsters like him to make this campaign a huge success.”

     

    Supporting the cause, the Guest of Honour, Mr. Kapil Sibal, said, “I believe it’s a wonderful initiative by NDTV.  We have to change the mindset of people and the change should begin from home; it can then be taken to the next level to change the mindset of teachers. I am very happy that Ranbir is associated with the campaign, because with support of youngsters like him it will reach the masses. ”

    Celebrating the spirit of Marks for Sports, campaign ambassador and co-host for the awards along with NDTV’s anchor Sonali Chander, Ranbir Kapoor said: “The campaign needs the support of men and women to make it a success. The role of the mother is extremely important as I strongly believe that women are the true achievers as they excel in everything they take up.”

     

    The awards were presented by Mr. Sibal,  the Minister of State for Information and Technology Sachin Pilot and Leander Paes, ace Tennis player.

     

    The awards function was attended by Leander Paes, Rahul Bose, Milind Soman, Vijender Singh, Sunil Chhetri, Pankaj Advani, Jwala Gutta, Karun Chandok, Milkha Singh, Mary Kom, Vineet Joshi, Chairman, CBSE, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Chief Minister, Haryana and Dharmesh Jain, Chairman and Managing Director, Nirmal Lifestyle among other noted personalities.

     

    The highlights of the evening were music performance by Salim-Suleiman and stand up comedy by Papa CJ.

     

    Categories and Winners are as follows:

    1.    Legend Of Sport Award: Leander Paes

    2.    Lifetime Achievement Award: Late Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and Baichung Bhutia

    3.    India’s Outstanding Achievers (6 winners): Vijender Singh, Sunil Chhetri, Karun Chandok, Pankaj Advani, Saina Nehwal and Mary Kom

    4.    Fit For Life Award: Fauja Singh

    5.    Best Fitness Activist Award: Rahul Bose and Milind Soman

    6.    Generation Next of Cricket: Virat Kohli

    7.    Rockstar Performer in 2011 (outside of cricket) (7 winners): Dipika Pallikal, Ronjan Sodhi, Shiva Keshavan, Deepika Kumari, Vikas Krishnan, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa

    8.    Best Sports Advertisement: TATA Group

    9.    Against the Odds (Young Achievers): Shubham  Jaglan, Kokila, Arjun Vajpayee and Sagar Dhahiya

    10. Against the Odds (Lifetime Achievement):  Mahantesh andShiraz

    11. Best Corporate involvement in sports: TATA and Mahindra Groups

    12. BestStatefor Sports Promotion: Haryana

    13. Best Promotion of Sports in Education: Magic Bus, Olympic Gold Quest, YUWA and EduSports

    14. Fittest Bollywood Celebrity: Bipasha Basu

     

    Launched as an initiative in 2011, the ‘NDTV-Nirmal Lifestyle Fit India’ campaign has become a movement. The NDTV-Nirmal Lifestyle Fit India Movement is the first to create a nationwide fitness movement and in the first year of this campaign, it has created awareness about the importance of fitness in life.

    The year-long Marks for Sports campaign reached out to policy and decision makers across the country with a series of activities that included special televised debates and discussion programmes with the Campaign Ambassador, televised interactive ground activities with sportspersons and children and a signature drive asking for policy changes with pledges for donations and equipment.

  • BIG Regional Music Awards is a platform which seeks to recognize the excellence in regional music

    Reliance Broadcast Network returns with second edition of BIG Regional Music Awards

    Reliance Broadcast Network Limited’s intellectual property vertical, BIG Live and radio arm 92.7 BIG FM on Monday announced its second edition of ‘BIG Regional Music Awards’- the biggest celebration of regional music in the country. The awards, having an imprint across 5 major states – Maharashtra, Punjab, Andra Pradesh, Karnataka and West Bengal- will have their own unique, regional flavour which will appeal to regional and local tastes. BIG Regional Music Awards is a platform which seeks to recognize the excellence in regional music.

     

    BIG Regional Music Awards is the only regional awards platform which not only has a wide national reach but also empowers people to recognize regional musical excellence and is a true people’s choice award.

     

    There will be a jury and popular choice segment of awards, which will see talent being judged by the audience, ensuring transparency and fair play as the power to vote rests with the audiences.  The complete show will feature around honouring the biggest entertainers across the strongest emotions of the viewers and listeners.

     

    The awards will be promoted through a high-decibel marketing plan ranging from on-ground, television, radio, outdoor and digital. These awards will reach out to 4.2 crore consumers who tune into 92.7 BIG FM. The property will enjoy 360 degree promotions for 45 days offering unique integration opportunities for brands.

     

    Commenting on this occasion, a company spokesperson said: “Music is the true celebration of life in our country. BIG Regional Music Awards is this celebration of unity in diversity where our culturally rich country’s musical offerings are acknowledged. This platform is sure to excite not only the respective regional consumer but also the regional talent which has long sought its due recognition.”

     

    Reliance Broadcast Network Limited is a multi-media entertainment conglomerate with play across radio, television, intellectual properties and out of home. It is part of the Reliance Group and specializes in creating and executing integrated media solutions for brands.

     

  • The channel will now be available on top DTH platforms like Reliance Digitial TV, Tata Sky, Videocon, Airtel, Dish TV

    Reliance Broadcast Network to distribute Bloomberg UTV

    By A Correspondent

     

    Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd. on Monday announced the coming on board of Bloomberg UTV, India’s premier business news channel, as part of its distribution portfolio. This move further strengthens the well-crafted television strategy of RBNL which includes the 3 BIG CBS Channels – BIG CBS Prime, Love and Spark, and the regional Channels BIG MAGIC and Spark Punjabi. Add to this, the channel which is scheduled to launch through the JV with Germany’s RTL Group, and Reliance Broadcast Network will boast of an unmatchable seven channel bouquet.

     

    The partnership points at excellent synergies between the businesses and will allow for seamless integration of Bloomberg UTV into the existing bouquet. While Reliance Broadcast will benefit from having a premier news channel empowered by the global authority in business news – Bloomberg. Bloomberg UTV gains through becoming part of a commanding bouquet of channels backed with an excellent brand lineage. This consolidation establishes a bouquet to be reckoned with and one that will meet requirements of both audiences and marketers alike.

     

    With digitization in the anvil, reduced bandwidth issues and a boost in demand for premium quality content, the channel portfolio stands to have an edge in the market. The reach and varied profile of consumers and customers brings with it opportunities for bundling and cross selling, ensuring the bouquet is able to garner optimal subscription rates.

     

    With each channel having its distinct audience base, the entire bouquet will cover a wide spectrum of the Indian cable and satellite television viewing audiences. With its ability to offer advertisers the opportunity to reach out to audiences ranging from 4 year olds to 25+ year olds, from heartland India to the key metros, it ensures an unparalleled marketing platform.

     

    The 7 Channel mix now offers the following:

    1. BIG CBS Prime, a male skewed premium entertainment Channel (male 15+, SECA,7 metros)

    2. BIG CBS Love, the first ever international women’s entertainment channel (female 15+, SECA,5 metros)

    3. BIG CBS Spark, the first ever International youth Channel (4-24, SECA,7 metros)

    4. BIG MAGIC, a variety entertainment Channel for the Hindi heartland (CS 4+ MP,UP, Bihar)

    5. Spark Punjabi, the country’s first International Punjabi Channel (CS 4+, Punjab, 1mn+)

    6. BIG RTL Channel in the action space

    7. Bloomberg UTV, India’s premiere Business news channel (male 25+, SEC A, 7 metros)

     

    With a prolific mix of channels cutting across genres ranging premium English, credible news and well-tailored regional channels, the bouquet of Reliance Broadcast Network stands to make a significant impact in the market.

     

    Speaking on the occasion Tarun Katial, CEO, Reliance Broadcast Network said: “With the addition of Bloomberg UTV to the RBNL network, we now present one of the strongest television portfolios in the country. This consolidation of the network delivery platform allows us to enable marketers with a single consolidated outreach platform, while offering audiences the best possible television content.”

     

  • These mobility solutions have specially been designed to bring the power of internet job search on mobile

    Naukri.com launches job search apps for iPhone, Blackberry and Android devices and HTML5 site

    By A Correspondent

     

    Naukri.com, India’s no 1 job site introduces free job search apps on mobile for all smart phone users. This includes special apps for Iphone, Blackberry and android devices and an exclusive HTML5 site. In today’s world, where everyone is competing to be ahead of time, these applications will provide jobseekers an efficient and customized way to search and apply for jobs even on the move. These mobility solutions have specially been designed to bring the power of internet job search on mobile, thus ensuring that their users never miss out on any opportunity.

     

    Both the mobile app and the site are enriched with features which allow jobseekers to filter job openings by location, keywords, functional area, experience bracket and minimum expected salary. Also, users can create up to 5 custom job alerts on the basis of the search criterion defined by them. These job alerts are directly sent to the users’ inbox 3 times a week. To make job search further convenient and mobile friendly, as soon as the user logs into the site it will automatically recommend jobs on the basis of the information provided during the profile creation process. Jobseekers can view the detailed job descriptions and apply in a secure and confidential environment – directly from their mobile devices.

     

    It will be an added boon for employers as well because it acts as an additional platform to reach to their target audience. With the introduction of this mobile site, the response time for jobs posted will be reduced considerably and thus recruiters will be able to cater to a larger audience within a short span of time. This site has specially been designed keeping in mind the need and convenience of a mobile user.

     

    Commenting on the same, Vibhore Sharma, EVP, Technology, Naukri.com said: “Mobile devices are bringing about a revolution in the way people use internet and consume content from the web and smartphones are the new basic phones that would eventually engage users more than a PC. With the launch of our apps and (re-purposed) website for mobile devices, we aim to offer our users the ability to continue their job search on the go and never miss out on a career opportunity.”

     

    This HTML5 site has been optimized to work with all popular smart phones. Further, through this platform jobseekers can also manage and update their Naukri profile effortlessly and conveniently. Users can keep a track on how many times their CV has been viewed by an employer and also which companies have they applied for jobs earlier. Thus, this bouquet of mobile solutions will make job search simpler, productive and much more efficient.

     

    Naukri.com, India’s No. 1 job site and the flagship brand of Info Edge revolutionized the concept of recruitment in India. The site enjoys a traffic share of around 61% as per the Aug Comscore data.

     

    Naukri.com is a recruitment platform that provides hiring-related services to corporates/recruiters, placement agencies and to job seekers in India and overseas.

     

  • He will be incharge of the data and international businesses

    Gopal Vittal back @ Airtel

    By A Correspondent

     

    Having resigned from Hindustan Unilever just last month as Executive Director – Home & Personal Care, Mr Gopal Vittal is set to return to Bharti Airtel Gopal Vittal as Group Director for Special Projects from April 3. He will be incharge of the data and international businesses.

     

    Mr Vittal was with Airtel from 2006 to 2008. Said Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal, Bharti Airtel CMD, in a statement: “We are delighted to have Gopal back at Airtel. Given our global aspirations and a fast evolving mobile telephony landscape led by explosive growth of data services, we are preparing a strong platform for the next phase of our growth.”

     

  • To communicate the message of 'TV Off, Mumbai On', Mudra Max-OOH planned and executed an effective OOH media campaign for No TV Day, beginning January 13.

    Mudra Max OOH drives home HT’s No TV Day message

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    Hindustan Times returned with its popular and inclusive initiative on January 28 this year, following its success on January 29, 2011.

     

    What started as an HT initiative became a people’s movement in Mumbai, making it the only city in the world to have its own special day. Hindustan Times called upon Mumbai to switch off TV and be open to the immense possibilities that their relationships and the city had to offer.

     

    To drive home the message – TV Off, Mumbai On, Mudra Max-OOH planned and executed an effective OOH media campaign for No TV Day, beginning January 13.

     

    The agency deployed a wide mix of OOH media, namely billboards, gantries, BQS, DBQS, pole kiosks, in-train branding, bus back/side panels, station branding & domestic airport branding.

     

    Considering the growing population which prefers air travel these days, a few interesting media vehicles such as cutouts on conveyer belts & standees were deployed at strategic locations inside domestic terminals.

     

    To break through the clutter, Mudra Max-OOH executed a couple of innovations at marquee sites in Mumbai (Juhu Koliwada & Mahim Causeway).

     

    Innovation 1: At Mahim Causeway (one of the important congregation points for vehicular traffic in Mumbai), the idea was to create the NTD Facebook homepage on a billboard. There was a daily change in the status, just the way one updates their statuses and the number of growing Facebook fans on the billboard. The status updated continued was for 5 days as a build up towards No TV Day.

     

    Innovation 2: This was executed at Juhu Koliwada / Juhu Tara Road (one of main arterial roads of Mumbai), since the core essence of NTD is TV Off, Mumbai On, this execution tried to bring that alive on a billboard by showing a father-son having fun on the swings in a park and the copy read ‘TV Off, Fun On’. The swinging movement on the billboard caught a lot of attention and was really talked about.

     

    Like last year, Hindustan Times organized a plethora of activities on January 28, encouraging Mumbaiites to step out of their homes and explore the city with their family and friends.

     

    The activities ranged from school painting competition attended by around 34,000 children with their parents, helicopter rides, and exclusive discount deals at more than 400 outlets in the city, heritage rides, dance workshops and many others.

     

    Across the city, around 250 housing societies registered for the No TV Day Best Society contest. A city specific treasure hunt was organized across three zones in Mumbai (western suburbs, Navi Mumbai andSouth Mumbai). While 1,300 participants raced against time to reach the finishing point, 3 winners were selected in each zone.

     

    The engagement with Mumbai was sustained in the social media space as well with the HT Mumbai No TV Day Facebook page and a special microsite. In just 3 weeks, 1.5 lakh new fans were added to the No TV Day Facebook community, taking the total strength to 2.5 lakh fans. The Facebook page also generated 6.5 million unique impressions and was the among the top branded Facebook pages inIndiain terms of engagement. On January 28, the strong buzz about the initiative resulted in No TV Day featuring among the top trending topics nationally on Twitter.

     

    There were various partners, such as Railways, Prince of Wales museum and MTDC, and brands like Surf Excel,Toyota, Lays, Micro Technologies and Scrabble who joined in this initiative.

     

    Ajay Dang

    Mandeep Malhotra, President, Mudra Max (OOH, Retail, Experiential) said: “NO TV DAY is an annual property built by HT and we were required to create a history connecting the brand with Mumbaikars. Our aim was to establish a property better and louder than the last year’s campaign. In a city dominated by competitors, it was an indispensable task to keep Mumbai ‘On’ for a quality life. We, along with HT, delivered the message effectively and took OOH from the position of a reminder medium to a call for action platform.”

     

    Ajay Dang, Marketing Head (West and South),HindustanTimes said: “Very few times does an initiative by a brand/ newspaper becomes a people’s movement. Hindustan Times has added an important day in the calendar of Mumbai when the city takes time to reconnect to important relationships be it family and friends or the city that we call home.”

     

  • Creativeland's fresh approach for Godrej Expert puts the colour back into hair.

    New twist to hair colour campaign

    By A Correspondent

     

    There is just one type of hair colour advertising that we normally see on television, one with celebrities explaining the science behind hair colouring as they sit in swanky labs and settings. Creativeland Asia’s film for Godrej Expert portrays hair colouring as a fun social activity, and in sync with the times, discards the embarrassment attached with it.

     

    Depicting hair colouring as no more a chore that is secretly performed in the confines of the bathroom, the TVC, set to a youthful rendition of the Bollywood hit number, ‘Jawan-e-jaaneman’, shows people from diverse social statuses and different parts of the country, unabashedly colouring their hair. From young daughters surprising their mother on her birthday with a hair colouring session for her, to a husband playfully applying hair colour on his wife’s hair as she frantically oversees a wedding decoration, to a man colouring his hair using the mirror of his scooter while a game of street cricket is being played in the background, to a computer astrologer colouring his ‘ponytail’ on the banks of a river, to a bunch of ‘ghoonghat’-wearing middle-class women overcoming their shyness to pick up a pack of Godrej Expert at the supermarket, to three brothers in a typical Gujarati home while their family member applies hair colour for them one by one, to a Parsi woman who colours her hair in the balcony of her home while talking to her neighbour who is getting her son ready for school, to a rockband member in his fifties colouring his hair; the situations offer a peek into the lives of various Godrej Expert users.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZIEMHXfzCc[/youtube]After the voiceover which says, “Jab baat aati hai ek safe, simple aur long lasting colour ki, toh chaar crore se bhi jyada Indians bharosa kartein hai sirf ek hi naam par – Godrej expert’, we see the protagonists post their hair colouring sessions. While the mother of the three daughters does a small catwalk to flaunt her hair, the woman overseeing the wedding decorations now breaks into a dance with her husband admiring her beautifully coloured hair. We see the man checking his coloured hair in the mirror of his scooter, and the Parsi woman being appreciated by the little boy in the neighbourhood with a flying kiss.

     

    Tarun Arora
    Sajan RaJ Kurup

    Tarun Arora, EVP Marketing, Godrej Consumer Products Limited says, “Despite increased competition, Godrej Expert continues to be the largest selling hair colour brand in India. As the market leaders, we sensed a need to deliver beyond just hair colouring, hence we decided to adopt a benefit-based strategy. This brought about the genesis of the Godrej Expert range – available in Original, Care & Advanced variants. The challenge then was how to communicate the functional benefits of these variants and also to make the brand more likeable.”

     

    “Working on Godrej Expert has been an interesting challenge. I am glad we have been able spike something as mass as the powder hair colour category with a lot of freshness, and live up to what Creativeland is known to bring to a brand. The TVCs are extremely sweet and enjoyable. This is obviously only the very first step. And watching the response from our client partners, I look forward to more exciting work on this brand.” commented Sajan RaJ Kurup, Founder and Creative Chairman, Creativeland Asia, on working on Godrej.

     

    “The challenge with the campaign was to make functional hair coloring less boring, less inhibited and more acceptable. What makes me happy is that we have managed do it relevantly in the most interesting way possible.” he added.

     

    The film is directed by Ram Madhvani of Equinox Films.