MxMIndia

Category: ADVERTISING

  • Aircel is one of India's largest and fastest growing GSM mobile service provider with a subscriber base of 65.1 million

    Aircel picks DDB Mudra Group as its creative agency

    By A Correspondent

     

    Following a multi-agency pitch, Aircel has handed its creative mandate to DDB Mudra Group. The account will be handled by DDB Mudra North.

     

    The incumbent agency on the account is McCann World group.

     

    Madhukar Kamath

    Aircel is one of India’s largest and fastest growing GSM mobile service provider with a subscriber base of 65.1 million. Aircel is a pan India operator with a presence across 23 circles. The company offers voice & data services ranging from postpaid and prepaid plans, 2G and 3G services, Broadband Wireless Access (BWA), Long Term Evolution (LTE) to Value-Added-Services (VAS).

     

    On winning the account, Group CEO & Managing Director, Madhukar Kamath said: “This is a prestigious win for DDB Mudra Group. The whole team at DDB Mudra North and our pool of resources nationwide can’t wait to start working on the brand and add value. It helps that we have an unmatched experience in the telecom sector, in many international markets.”

     

    Sonal Dabral
    Sambit Mohanty

    Sonal Dabral, Chairman & CCO, DDB Mudra Group, “Being chosen by Aircel, one of India’s fastest growing telecom brands, as their communication partner is both an honour and a big responsibility. This win is a testament to the superb talent that we have across the DDB Mudra Group and we look forward to creating a host of breakthrough ideas for this innovative and exciting brand.”

     

    On working on Aircel again, Sambit Mohanty, Creative Head, DDB Mudra North, said, “It feels great to be back on Aircel! This is one of our biggest wins and we will leave no stone unturned to ensure some truly memorable work emerges out of it.”

     

  • The agency's Mumbai office will manage the mainline creative services for the high-end home appliances company

    L & K Saatchi & Saatchi bags mandate of Siemens home appliances

    By A Correspondent

     

    BSH Home Appliances has assigned its Siemens Home Appliances brand mandate to L&K Saatchi & Saatchi India, following a multi-agency pitch. The agency’s Mumbai office will manage the mainline creative services for the high-end home appliances company, who’ve been retailing aspirational kitchens appliances in India since 1997.

     

    Anil S. Nair, CEO & Managing Partner, L&K Saatchi & Saatchi said, “Siemens is a very respected brand in the home appliances category and we are honored that they have chosen us to be their creative partner. We hope to work closely with the marketing team to strengthen their leadership in the premium segment in the coming years.”

     

    On appointing L & K Saatchi and Saatchi, Bhavya Shah, Head of Brand Marketing, BSH Home Appliances said, “We are glad to welcome onboard L&K Saatchi & Saatchi to manage the mainline creative services of Siemens appliances in India. We as a company are driven by innovation and cutting edge technology, and Saatchi & Saatchi matched our expectations on scale, experience and the same drive to redefine the market. We are positive that this partnership will help us strengthen our position in India and go on to redefine Indian Homes.”

     

  • The logo refresh comes after 'Sesa Sterlite Limited' was renamed to 'Vedanta Limited'

    Vedanta unveils new logo

    By A Correspondent

     

    Vedanta, a global diversified natural resources group of companies, unveiled its new logo. The new logo will strategically position Vedanta’s consistent commitment towards the growth of its low cost operations, leverage technology to deliver innovation and superior value to its shareholders.

     

    The logo refresh comes after Sesa Sterlite Limited was renamed to Vedanta Limited, a significant milestone that promises a united and aligned identity and reflects Vedanta’s journey to strengthen the linkage between our global business, communities and stakeholders. The logo is an outcome of a co-creation exercise with internal stakeholders across geographies and group companies.

     

    “In continuation of having a unified brand proposition, this logo refresh symbolizes Vedanta’s un-waivered commitment towards creating greater value for our domestic and global stakeholders, as a diversified natural resources group of companies,” said Tom Albanese, CEO, Vedanta.

     

    The logo will be adapted by all the divisions/group companies along with their respective logos and this move will help align with the company’s goal of being a unifying brand across its Indian and global operations.

     

  • Tushar Vyas is Chief Strategy Officer and Lakshmi Narasimhan is back in the fold as Chief Growth Officer

    GroupM restructures top deck, CFO Sridhar Ramasubramanian is COO

     

    A Correspondent

     

    Media agency network GroupM has announced a slew of top-level appointments to steer ahead in the race as the media agency space gets competitive with the appointment of Vikram Sakhuja as Madison World Group CEO.

     

    Chief Financial Officer Sridhar Ramasubramanian has been elevated as Chief Operating Officer of GroupM South Asia. In his new role, the GroupM veteran will also manage the Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan markets.  The CEOs of these markets will report in to him.

     

    Lakshmi Narasimhan has been appointed as Chief Growth Officer for South Asia. Mr Narasimhan will take charge of the media partnerships and digital teams. With this appointment, GroupM has merged the erstwhile Central Trading Group  (CTG) with the GroupM digital platforms. Mr Narasimhan has prior experience with the group with stints at Mindshare Fulcrum and GroupM as Head of CTG. He was the CEO of Web18 till April 2014, the digital unit of the Network18 group. All the present CTG and digital teams will report into him..

     

    The third announcement concerns Tushar Vyas who has been promoted to the role of Chief Strategy Officer, GroupM South Asia.  Mr Vyas has been heading GroupM Interaction, the digital media arm of the network.

     

    Messrs Ramasubramanian, Vyas and Narasimhan will report into CVL Srinivas, CEO, GroupM South Asia. The current agency and specialist unit heads will continue reporting to Mr Srinivas.  While Ramasubramanian and Vyas assumed their new roles from May 1, Narasimhan was on board on May 4.

     

    Speaking on these developments, CVL Srinivas, CEO, GroupM South Asia said, “We are fortunate to have a very strong leadership team across GroupM backed by solid support from our regional and global offices. Sridhar, Tushar and Lakshmi are outstanding professionals all of whom have played major roles in developing our network.”

     

  • The music rights management and talent development company was co-founded by Farhan Akhtar, Anurag Rao and Excel Entertainment

    Tie-ups with movie producers and ad agencies can promote Indie talent: Farout Media

    By Dyanne Coelho

     

    They stole the limelight recently with a song ‘Mutant Macha’ licensed to Star Movies for the television premiere of the the film X-Men: Days of the Future Past. We are talking of Faroutmedia , a music rights management and talent development company, co-founded by Farhan Akhtar, Anurag Rao and Excel Entertainment. The song is a collaboration between Chennai-based indie band Skrat, Akhtar and Vishal Dadlani.

     

    “Mutant Macha is a classic example of integrating, licensing and monetizing a song with a massive marketing push at the time of song creation itself,” says Anurag Rao, co-founder of Farout Media. The company has provided for 100,000 free downloads of the song on their website after which downloads will be monetised. Farout Media is a talent solutions company that is focused on digging out indie talent in the music sphere and bringing it out onto mainstream platforms. The company essentially plays middleman between event management firms, television channels, radio networks and music talent, to bring offer the best experience to both. Farout organises talent for events like the FilmFare awards, Channel V Indiafest and even college fests.

     

    Rao believes that collaboration with movie producers and advertising agencies can push indie talent to levels like never before. “Farout is trying to build this artist-centric indie ecosystem, getting collaborative artists together, and take independent music into mainstream broadcast television, advertising, film, etc,” Rao said. Farout strives to take indie bands and put them into collaboration with mainstream brands, which they feel is the best way today to take independent music and place it on a higher pedestal. “Fans are never going to buy your music any more. How are you going to take your music out? You have to think of various distribution partnerships and avenues to take independent music out,” he adds.

     

    The advent of the digital media has in a way disrupted traditional methods of distribution of music like CD, Rao believes. “CDs are as good as obsolete now,” he said. “ITunes has now come in and become an inescapable infrastructure and we have to embrace technology and find different ways to take music out, and only technology can help.”

     

    “Skrat is the first indie band we’ve got on board, but we are working on more collaborative efforts with bands like Sparsh, Shaa’ir n Func, Sarah Jane and others. We are also working with a lot of Hindi non-film music, and we’re trying to take it onto a mainstream platform,” he concludes.

     

  • The truth is, Western Classical music is enjoyable at every age

    O&M unveils campaign for NCPA & SOI

    By A Correspondent

     

    O&M has unveiled a campaign for The National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) and the Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI) that highlights the importance of classical music to the audiences.

     

    For decades, this genre has been dressed up in tailcoats, serious expressions and a preconceived notion that it is meant for a generation ‘much before mine’.But the truth is, Western Classical music is enjoyable at every age.That’s the truth the NCPA and SOI wanted Ogilvy & Mather to illuminate, through this film created especially for the online world.

     

    Zenobia Pithawalla – Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy and Mather said, “The best thing about this idea is that to address the client’s concern, we borrowed from their pool of talent. These young students of the NCPA and SOI dived right into the heart of preconceived notions about Western Classical music, to change them, one note at a time. Thanks to the patience and dedication of our young director Afshan Shaikh we were able to bring the idea to life.”

     

    Navin Talreja of Ogilvy& Mather said, “As an agency we are passionate about the performing arts and hence this campaign for the NCPA and SOI. Western Classical is seen as music for older people and so the brief was to get younger audiences in. We felt what better way than to showcase the wonderful talent of the kids who are part of the SOI’s training programmes to inspire the younger generation to come and experience the wonderful Western Classical concerts that are performed at the NCPA.”

     

  • The IAA Inspire Awards were created to celebrate IAA members who have achieved leadership excellence and contributed their vision, ideas, efforts and services

    Srinivasan Swamy & Ramesh Narayan declared IAA Champions

    By A Correspondent

     

    The International Advertising Association has announced its 2015 IAA Inspire Awards winners and will be making presentations at the inaugural 2015 IAA Awards Gala Dinner, following the Leadership Forum on May 18th at the InterContinental Hotel, Park Lane, London.

     

    The IAA Inspire Awards were created to celebrate IAA members who have achieved leadership excellence and contributed their vision, ideas, efforts and services to the advancement of the International Advertising Association; contributed their professional expertise and inspired the marketing communications industry locally, regionally and globally; and pays tribute to the lifetime achievements and services of leaders in the IAA and their contributions to the global marketing communications industry.

     

    The two champions who have been recognized from India and will be honored in London are Srinivasan Swamy, Chairman, R K SWAMY BBDO and President, India Chapter IAA, and Ramesh Narayan, an industry veteran and Hall of Fame awardee at the IAA Leadership Award in 2014.

     

    Heather Leembruggen, Chairman of the IAA Inspire Awards commented: “This year the IAA is proud to initiate the IAA Inspire Awards to salute the leadership and vision of our members and their achievements on the world stage. Our global footprint in over 40 countries worldwide gives IAA members the scope and scale to make a significant contribution towards stimulating, enhancing and building the marketing communications industry worldwide.”

     

    Srinivasan K Swamy

    Srinivasan Swamy said, “These awards are a validation of the active and meaningful role the India Chapter of the IAA has been playing as the leading industry association of its kind in the country. Ramesh and I will accept these awards on behalf of the entire team at the India Chapter”.

     

  • MxMIndia has had a simple, one-line view on this: The government must have no role in audience measurement

    So who did the ‘keeda’ on BARC with the MIB?

     

    By Your Editor [updated]

    The issues with the information and broadcasting ministry have been resolved. According to a tweet by BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta, the data will be released at 3pm today.

    Some of those very people who would flock to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting against TAM are now seeing their prized project BARC (short for Broadcast Audience Research Council) getting outwitted by the MIB.

    MxMIndia has had a simple, one-line view on this: The government must have no role in audience measurement.

    Not many moons ago, some of the private channels – the news channels specifically – would go to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting asking for it to intervene on a variety of issues.

    At that time, many in the world were against TAM. NDTV took TAM and its parent to court. The allegation was that TAM’s measurement was flawed and there was corruption in the system. Or so it appeared because that’s precisely why some of the channels which the intelligentsia thought were superb didn’t score well on the ratings roster. The story is not dramatically different for some of the elite channels in the BARC regime.

    But this is not about the ratings of the English and assorted news channels. It’s about the role of the government in ratings and the tendency of channel-owners to go to Shastri Bhavan for all and sundry requests.

    Indulging the government is like playing with fire. Our government has enough dirt to clean as part of its Swachh Bharat campaign. Leave the dirt of the industry to the stakeholders themselves and to market forces.

    The government must step in only if players go out of hand or there is a cartel leading to unfair trade practices where the public suffers.

    In the case of print, where the players are benefactors of DAVP-issued advertising largesse, it looks away from readership survey imbroglios.

    For now, the industry must find who got someone in the ministry to point out a minor procedural flaw in the way things work. Frankly, with all the contacts that some of the BARC top deck has, this could’ve been taken care of.

    Perhaps they didn’t think much about it, and rightly so. The government has no business to get involved. And not even issue any advisories. There are enough checks and balances, and in a sense until TAM exists, there is no clear monopoly for BARC.

    Meanwhile, TAM has issued a statement: “For TAM Media Research, weekly TV Viewership  data release to the Industry will continue as normal. Pursuant to the interim order issued by the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi on Feb 12, 2014, 1.7(a), 1.7(d), 16.1 & 16.2 of impugned guidelines have been stayed till the disposal of the Writ Petition 494/2014 (Kantar Matter).”

    At the time of writing (10.15am), one learns that the Minister of State has been spoken with and he has promised to intervene. So BARC data will get released by the afternoon.

    So all those souls in media agencies and TV channel offices who came in early to the offices to do the analysis, our commiserations.

    Meanwhile, the BARC folks would do well to find out who did the ‘keeda’ to unearth the licence bogey. And ask its constituents not to flock to the mantrijis for all and sundry. Keep them at bay!

     

  • The account will be handled out of ZO's Mumbai office

    Faaso’s hands over media biz mandate to ZenithOptimedia

    By A Correspondent

     

    ZenithOptimedia Mumbai has won the media mandate for Faasos after a selection process that involved a multi-agency pitch. This mandate covers all aspects of the company’s media planning & buying, and will include digital and OOH duties as well. The account will be handled out of ZO’s Mumbai office.

     

    Faasos is a food technology business which delivers more than 75,000 orders through its mobile app every month across eight major cities. The company which recently raised US$ 20 mn from Lightbox Ventures, Sequoia Capital and Innoven Capital, is planning to build brand awareness across the Country while it expands to 15+ cities by the end of the year.

     

    Anupriya Acharya

    Revant Bhate, Co-founder and CMO, Faasos, said, “We needed a partner in Mumbai who has a deep understanding of the Consumer Internet space and it’s complex ever-evolving relationship with media touch points. ZenithOptimedia impressed us with their strategic framework and ability to execute with speed and accuracy.”

     

    Commenting on the win, Anupriya Acharya, Group CEO, ZenithOptimedia Group, said “This is a significant win for ZO in a sector that is fast growing and future facing. It is indeed a matter of pride for us to be partnering with Faasos.”

     

  • The Turkish cover of "Why this Kolaveri Di" for Coca Cola ad goes viral with over 326,000 views in two days

    ‘Kolaveri di…’ gets a Turkish makeover in new Coca Cola ad

    By A Correspondent

     

    With almost 100 million hits on YouTube, Sony Music has licensed one of the biggest viral rages of 2011 to Coca Cola Turkey. Going beyond geographies, ‘Why this Kolaveri Di’ is one of the biggest hits worldwide, to put it simply.

     

    What started as a simple activity, of posting a video online, progressed to becoming viral nearly four years ago. Coca Cola picked up the tune for their Turkish advertisement and posted the video on May 4, 2015 on YouTube, in which the Kolaveri tune is taken to the beach and given a different twist with the Turkish lyrics.

     

    The video has been picked up well and has garnered over 326,000 views and still counting on YouTube in just two days.

     

  • The agency won the account of the automobile brand following a multi-agency pitch

    Isobar wins digital mandate of JK Tyres

    By A Correspondent

     

    JK Tyres has appointed Isobar, the full service digital agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, as their digital agency of record. The agency won the account of the automobile brand following a multi-agency pitch.

     

    Sharing his thoughts on the association, Amitabh Prasad, General Manager – Marketing, JK Tyre & Industries said, “We are glad to see the enthusiasm that the people at Isobar have for the JK Tyre brand. While digital campaign planning and implementation comes naturally to a reputed agency like Isobar, what we are really looking forward to is the passion that these digital pioneers will bring to the table.”

     

    Shamsuddin Jasani

    Commenting on the win, Shamsuddin Jasani, Managing Director, Isobar India said, “We are privileged to work with JK Tyres. This win is a testament to the fact that we strive to provide innovative solutions and ideas without limits to our clients. It enhances our credentials as the leading full service digital marketing agency in India.”

     

  • Amit Akali and brother Praful Akali, along with founder-members Huzefa Roowala and Hammad Khan have announced their full-service digital agency, or rather their 'agency for the digital world'

    Amit Akali launches full-service digital agency. So, What’s Your Problem!

    By A Correspondent

     

    There’s hope for public relations practitioners. ‘Cause the creative and assorted ad agency folk can’t write a copy-pasteable press release. They are after all creative, think with both ends of their brains, and think out-of-the-box.

     

    So we meet Amit Akali at the Kyoorius after-party last Saturday and he said he’s gonna make the big announcement on Wednesday. Which he did, and wetransferred us the entire docket. Pictures, logo, a note… all that you need.

     

    Except that the press release wasn’t a typical release. It had everything in it, but we had to put all it in the right place.

     

    But, then, that’s our problem. The boss pays us for figuring the method in the madness.

     

    Okay, so here goes. Amit Akali, we know him. He doesn’t belong to the ruling party in Punjab. He doesn’t even belong to the cricket team that the pre(i)tty dimpled star co-owns.

     

    Akali, Managing Partner and Creative Head of WYP, has over 18 years of experience in advertising, including as National Creative Head of Grey India (with Malvika Mehra) and member of the Grey Global Creative Council. Other than which he’s worked in various agencies: Enterprise Nexus, O&M (Creative Head, Ogilvy Bangalore). Praful Akali, Managing Partner and Strategy Head, is an IIM Lucknow, marketing graduate, and has worked with leading consumer healthcare multinationals (Pfizer, Ranbaxy, Boots Piramal) for seven years before setting up his own healthcare communications agency, Medulla Communications, almost seven years ago.

     

    The other co-founders are Huzefa Roowala (Hozi) who will be Director – Content & Creative and Hammad Khan, Director – Servicing and Technology. Then there’s Ajay Takalkar, Director – Art & Design, and Hensila Kava, Social Media Lead – founder member of social media agency FYA.

     

    ‘What’s Your Problem’ is part of an agency network, which includes partner agency, Medulla. It starts off in over 3000 square feet of office space at Santacruz, in Suburban Mumbai, and a 60-member team with industry leading in-house capabilities in strategy, social media, SEO, SEM, digital media planning, analytics, YouTube marketing, web-development, art and design, UI/ UX, copy and content, video production, animation, etc.

     

    There are some clients on board already. Some work for Flipkart along with Chapter Five and other clients, being Nilgai Foods, Brinc and Indigo Music,

     

    Now was this a creatively written news report? Akalijis, do we get a job?