MxMIndia

Category: ADVERTISING

  • Trashing and making fun of religion leads to no change at all, it's simply a mischievous trick to get instant attention. Exactly as a naughty pupil would chuck a piece of chalk at the teacher to get her attention.

    Anil Thakraney: Freedom of expression – conditions apply

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    I write this piece on Republic Day. And, in the fitness of things, would like to discuss that much used and abused phrase, ‘Freedom of speech’. The only sad thing is that on this occasion the debate has been fired by that rabble-rouser called Salman Rushdie. Wish the trigger had been a nobler soul.

     

    Anyway, let’s first understand Sir Rushdie’s latest antics: I can assure you the colourful author is extremely thrilled with all the free attention he just got at the Jaipur Litfest. And he must be celebrating the drama over some hard stuff. In fact, Vinod Mehta was being quite accurate when he said, during a TV debate, that Rushdie himself ‘inspired’ all the madness involving him.

     

    I have been writing quite edgy columns and stories in the mass press and the trade press for some years now, and I have had my share of dissing and abuse from readers. Not only do I treat negative feedback as par for the course, I encourage it because it helps further dissect an issue. It provokes thought, and in my world view, that’s the whole objective of writing. Sugary puff pieces do not lead to any change (apart from inflicting diabetes) and are therefore a waste of time. Given that ideology, I obviously support and cherish the freedom of speech we enjoy in this country. And yet, I have no time or respect for people like Salman Rushdie and MF Husain. No, they certainly did not deserve violent threats, but it’s equally true that they abused the freedom of speech.

     

    So here’s my own stand on the matter. No, the freedom to express isn’t conditions-less, it carries with it a great deal of responsibility. As writers and artists, while we must provoke thought, we must never hurt people by trashing objects/issues close to their hearts. Trashing and making fun of religion leads to no change at all, it’s simply a mischievous trick to get instant attention. Exactly as a naughty pupil would chuck a piece of chalk at the teacher to get her attention. In all these years of writing, I have taken utmost care not to mock people’s religious beliefs or scoff at their faith. Sure, we can and must discuss religious practices, even debate them, but we must NEVER take ‘creative liberties’ with holy figures. I did not go to a communication school (in fact, I studied microbiology!) but this is like common sense stuff for me.

     

    So let’s get this right: Rushdie had no business making fun of the prophet. And Husain had no business sketching goddesses in the nude. Both gentlemen, both very intelligent beings, knew perfectly well there would be a backlash. They courted trouble, got it, and then paid a price for it. Therefore I have no sympathy for them. Since Husain saab is gone, all we can say is may his soul rest in peace. As for Rushdie, his continued belligerence and irrational support from his fans is quite worrying. This means quite a few literate people still haven’t understood the idea of freedom of expression.

     

    No, it isn’t absolute. In fact, nothing in this world is absolute except for the vodka brand.

     

    ***

     

    PS: Was recently reminded of David Ogilvy’s hottest tip for writing great copy. This is for the benefit of those who may not have read his books: “If all else fails, I drink half a bottle of rum and play a Handel oratorio on the gramophone. This generally produces an uncontrollable gush of copy.” Have fun. But drink responsibly. And more importantly, create responsibly.

     

  • The exits of bossmen Sonal Dabral & Sandeep Pathak have led to questions about the stability at Bates. A case of just too many changes?

    Is all well at Bates?

    By Tuhina Anand

     

    It doesn’t require any insider to tell you this. Bates, ‘the changengage people’, has been going through too many changes and appears to have failed to engage its own people. Amidst the numerous rechristening from Bates Clarion, Bates Enterprise, Bates David Enterprise, Bates 141 to Bates Asia, the agency has seen losing many of its top talent especially in the last three years when the entire transition happened from Bates Enterprise to Bates David Enterprise and then to Bates 141.

     

    Bates Asia a,s it is known today, is part of the WPP network. The reason behind so many mergers that the agency has gone through was to create a large or mid-sized agency rather than having too many boutique-sized in the bouquet. However, among all these mergers, the agency has lost its focus says an insider who has been closely associated with the agency. He says that there are so many changes not just of top management but also of methods and philosophies hence leading to a lack of focus in the agency. He said, “The agency is not sticking to one story but has been moving ahead without any plan thus lacking any consistency.”

     

    Sometime in 2005, Bates India and Enterprise Nexus merged with Subhash Kamath was appointed as the CEO while Mohammed Khan, the founder of Enterprise Nexus took charge as the Executive Chairman. While the agency was still trying to adapt to these changes, another merger was announced. This was in 2007, when David, Ogilvy’s second agency that was headed by Josy Paul was merged with Bates Enterprise. Paul decided not to get into this new entity especially as David was his own baby probably not wanting to see his agency being sandwiched between Bates and Enterprise.

     

    However, Bates David Enterprise didn’t last long and in between one saw Bates acquiring Sercon which was essentially a BTL agency and the agency took on the new avatar of Bates 141. In all this, Subhash Kamath, the CEO moved out to BBH. During the period, there were many exits from the agency, including that of Alok Agrawal who was heading the Delhi branch, Ashok Vidyasagar, the Bangalore Branch head among others. Russell Barrett quit Bates where he was the ECD to join BBH. Not to forget, in the APAC region too there were movements, like in 2010, Edward Pank the MD of Bates 141 had quit. Jeffrey Yu, the Chairman of Bates141 quit and so did Digby Richards, the CEO of Bates 141 Asia Pacific. The reason for quitting of Yu was over ‘disagreement of the future direction of the agency network’. That’s when Tim Isaac, the current Chairman of Bates took over.

     

    There was management rejig in 2008 post Kamath’s exit with Sandeep Pathak being appointed the CEO, Manosh Mukherjee as the COO, Dheeraj Sinha, Chief Strategy Officer and amongst others significant being Sonal Dabral being appointed India Chairman and Regional Creative Director. Also Sagar Mahableshwarkar joined as the National Creative Director for Bates141 in 2010. So for a bit it seemed Bates141 had finally settled it at least with its top management in place. However, there was no buzz around the agency. The news of Colgate-Palmolive business being parked at Bates brought some cheer.

     

    It was only in October 2011, it was announced that Bates Asia will take its current avatar sans the 141 tag. However, with the recent development of Dabral moving out who had just started to be a visible representative of Bates Asia and then soon after news of Sandeep Pathak too quitting has led one to question if all is well at the agency? Senior people within the agency vouch that there is nothing wrong at the agency and its mere coincidence that two senior resources are moving out at the same time. But it is learnt that many at the agency also the senior management are already circulating their CVs and looking for greener pastures.

     

    But one does wonder whether all these mergers really did any good to the agency of paved way for this kind of instability. It definitely is a herculean task to merge two agencies what with staff, designation, accounts, office and different methodologies. And to think that Bates has been on this path since 2005 definitely gives a shaky image to the agency. Let’s just hope that Bates Asia has reached its final avatar and the agency will only grow from now as the worst has happened. However, as an aside, there is always the possibility of merging with big daddy Ogilvy!

     

  • Mr Gotlieb will focus on the overall strategic direction of GroupM; Mr Proctor will oversee management of GroupM’s agencies worldwide

    Change time @ Group M. Irwin Gotlieb is chairman, Dominic Proctor is prez. Nick Emery is new Mindshare CEO

    By A Correspondent

     

    Media agency major GroupM has announced that Mr Dominic Proctor, long-time CEO of Mindshare Worldwide, will be President of GroupM. The position is newly created.

     

    The announcement was made by GroupM Global CEO Mr Irwin Gotlieb, who said the move is designed to strengthen the company’s senior management team in order to successfully meet today’s marketplace challenges and opportunities.

     

    In his new role, Mr Proctor will continue to report to Mr Gotlieb, who officially becomes GroupM Chairman as part of the reorganization. Mr Proctor will be succeeded as Mindshare Worldwide CEO by Mr Nick Emery, currently the London-based Chief Strategy Officer for Mindshare.

     

    “These changes represent a logical and important progression for us, and we’re confident that our clients and staff will prosper as a consequence,” Mr Gotlieb said, making the announcement. “Our rate of growth and the complexity of our business require that we constantly evolve. Media investment management sits at the crossroads of media, data and technology and we must be positioned to capture the significant opportunities that are on the horizon.”

     

    Under the new structure, Mr Gotlieb will focus on the overall strategic direction of GroupM and ensure that the company deploys data and technology to drive change for the benefit of GroupM clients and stakeholders. Mr Proctor will oversee management of GroupM’s agencies worldwide, which in addition to Mindshare include Maxus, MEC, and MediaCom. GroupM’s regional heads, as well as the CEOs of the company’s four major media agencies, will report to him.

     

    “I’m especially pleased that Dominic, who has been so instrumental in the long-term success of Mindshare, has agreed to move into this new and important role in GroupM and concentrate on the global management of our company,” Mr Gotlieb said.

     

    Mr Proctor has deep experience in managing media agencies. He launched Mindshare Worldwide in September 1997 as WPP’s first media investment management agency and led the company over the ensuing years to its current position as one of the leading media shops in the world. He started his career in 1979 and worked in various advertising agencies before joining JWT in London, where he became Media Director in 1989, Managing Director in 1991, and Chief Executive in December 1992. He held this position for five years, during which time he also had a seat on the board of JWT Worldwide.

     

    “GroupM has become a large and complicated company requiring more hands on the wheel than in previous years,” Mr Proctor said. “We have many more moving parts and we need more operational management to maximize the opportunities across our agencies. I’m delighted to step into this role, and equally pleased that Nick has accepted the CEO role at Mindshare. He has been a great partner since the start, and Mindshare will go from strength to strength under his leadership.”

     

    Mr Emery, a Mindshare veteran who joined the company when it was founded in 1997 and has worked closely with Mr Proctor ever since, said: “Mindshare is a great global network with fantastic, market leading talent and clients. I’m honoured and privileged to be able to take over from Dominic.”

     

  • The Awards also dedicated a special segment to the legends of Indian cinema marking the beginning of '100 years of Indian Cinema' celebrations.

    A night filled with stars and entertainment at the7th Apsara awards

    By A Correspondent

     

    The 7th Chevrolet Apsara Awards 2012 powered by Venus Soap saw a glittering, star-studded event held at Mumbai’s plush Yashraj Studios. The Film & Television Producers Guild of India and Wizcraft International Entertainment announced the much awaited winners for the finest talents in film and television for 2011. The 7th Chevrolet Apsara Awards 2012 ceremony saw the who’s who of the industry.

     

    Ranbir Kapoor, on winning the Best Actor Award for Rockstar, said: “This is my 3rd Apsara Award and actually, I don’t feel humbled because I worked really hard for this role, so I’m very happy that I got the award for it. I express my deepest gratitude to the Guild for giving me this honour; it is very special to me.”

     

    Commenting on the ceremony, Mr. Sumit Sawhney, VP Marketing, Sales & Service, General Motors India said: “Chevrolet Apsara Awards is an endeavour to honour excellence in cinema and television by the stalwarts of the industry itself. This is our third straight year of association with the Chevrolet Apsara awards, a partnership that has really given us a wide reach acrossIndia. It is one of many initiatives that has served to increase the awareness and purchase consideration of Chevrolet vehicles inIndia.”

     

    Mr. Rahul Gyanchandani, Director, RSPL Ltd said: “We take pride in associating with Apsara Award which is the official award event of Television and Film Producer’s Guild and is an important event for the industry. We are proud to be associated with this award and feel that our brand, Venus Coconut Soap, would definitely reap rich dividends out of this association. We hope this partnership to continue for many years to come.”

     

    Speaking on the list of celebrity performers, Sabbas Joseph, Director, Wizcraft Entertainment International Ltd. said: “We have always been pleased to partner with the Guild for the Chevrolet Apsara Awards and strive every year to recognize talent in the Indian entertainment industry. The 7th edition of the Awards was a grand success and the night was one of winners.”

     

    Speaking about Colors’ association with Apsara Film and Television Producers Guild Awards TM, Mr. Raj Nayak, CEO – Colors, said: “Colors has been associated with the Apsara Awards for two years now. It is a perfect platform for Bollywood and Television stars to come together and celebrate the excellence that they have put forth through their efforts during the course of the past year.”

     

    On stage, the director duo Farah Khan and Karan Johar were the masters of ceremony. They entertained the audience with their wit and humor and camaraderie.

     

    Highlights of the evening were the enthralling performances by the stars themselves. The most exciting act was the soon-to-be-wed Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia D’Souza enacting their love story. Along with many other spell-binding performances and other stars joining in the baarat, this was truly a prelude to their wedding celebrations.

     

    King of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan set the stage ablaze as he grooved to the tunes of his latest movie Don 2. Svelte Kareena Kapoor put up a sizzling performance as she danced to some of the most popular South Indian hit songs like Nakka Mukka, Ringa Ringa and the recently popularized Kolaveri Di.

     

    The 7th Chevrolet Apsara Awards also dedicated a special segment to the legends of Indian cinema and their glorious years in Bollywood. This act marked the beginning of ‘100 years of Indian Cinema’ celebrations.

     

    A special act designed by Shiamak Davar and his troupe paid tribute to iconic stars like Dilip Kumar, Saira Banu, Shashi Kapoor, Dr. Vyjanthimala Bali, Waheeda Rehman, Asha Parekh, Manoj Kumar, Jaya Bachchan, Shabana Azmi, Vinod Khanna, Zeenat Aman, Rajesh Khanna, Hema Malini to name a few. Shahrukh Khan hosted the segment and spoke to the legends about the centenary celebrations.

     

    Amisha Patel mesmerized the audiences with a scintillating performance on hit item numbers ‘Chikni Chameli’, ‘Ooh La La’ and ‘Madhubala’. ‘Band Baaja Baarat’ star Anushka Sharma shook a leg with popular TV stars – Nandish Sandhu of Uttran, Sushant Singh of Pavitra Rishta and Shabbir Ahluwalia, winner of ‘Khatron ke Khiladi 3’ to three different styles of dance including Lezim, Hip-Hop and Bollywood.

     

    Of course, in the midst of all this entertainment, the envelopes were opened to reveal the winners for 2012 who accepted their Award amidst excitement and fervour, as the air was filled with thunderous applause and cheers.

     

    Watch the magic of the 7th Chevrolet Apsara Awards 2012 exclusively on Colors.

     

  • Ogilvy Delhi has created a new 'talkative' TVC for Best Rice

    Simply talking rice with Ogilvy Delhi

    By A Correspondent

     

    How often does one talk about rice? Mostly during lunch, one would guess. In the last few weeks, though, the little white grains have become the talk of the town. Thanks to the “talkative” commercials that are currently on air for Best Foods International. In consumer-speak, they are a treat to watch. But what has gone behind cooking up these tasteful advertisements is another story.

     

    It all started when Dinesh Gupta, Managing Director, Best Foods Ltd decided to rope in Ogilvy & Mather, New Delhi to design its corporate brand identity. Complete, from stationery to new packaging design. The new pack was an instant rage in the market because of its fresh and ethnic Indian look. It was a sweet start to a new relationship and somewhere in this was hidden a big idea for the commercials.

     

    Best wanted their rice to be in everyone’s mouth and their brand name on everyone’s lips. In came the requirement to create TV commercials. Dr Aayushman Gupta, Business Director, Best Foods Ltd says, “We had an interesting challenge to reposition rice from an uninvolved product for the consumer to a desirable brand. The positioning and communication had to be out-of-the-box, clear, uncluttered and keeping with the times through its cues and presentation. The entire team at Ogilvy Delhi thought wonderfully to help us plan and execute the same.”

     

    Ajay Gahlaut, Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy, New Delhi elaborates on the idea, “There are various ways of bringing the thought of “The Perfect Match” alive and several were tried. But experience shows that consumers always warm up to human stories. Specially love stories, which is where we hit upon the idea of using different couples to make our idea talk. The chemistry between the couples brings charm to the commercials while effortlessly communicating the brand benefit.”

     

    Three scripts were devised for three strategic markets. Each commercial weaved a story about a perfect couple. Nitin Srivastava, Senior Creative Director, Ogilvy New Delhi recalls, “Cracking the idea was the hard part but fleshing it out was immense fun. We enjoyed writing stories after stories before we finally rested at three. Here, I would like to specially mention the efforts of Umesh Grover and Jonathan George who behaved like the perfect match on this project.”

     

    Amit Sharma of Chrome was a wise choice to shoot these scripts. His adept handling of emotions and dialogues comes out in full glory in the series. The films showed how couples from different age groups, mindsets and geographies have something in common – the flavour. Chrome Films did thorough planning and research for two months before finalising the casting. All films were shot in a single take to bring out natural reactions from the couples.

     

    Best Foods Ltd have already begun their plans for the coming year. Ogilvy, New Delhi is gearing up to lay out a brand new, sumptuous experience of films. The consumers too, are waiting eagerly for a fresh serving.

     

    Credits:

    Company: Best Foods Ltd.

    Product: Best Rice

    Production House- Chrome Pictures

    Director- Amit Sharma

    Creative team: Ajay Gahlaut, Nitin Srivastava, Umesh Grover & Jonathan George

    Client servicing team: Sharmista Dev, Vineet Kindra, Shivani Sharma & Lagun Sehgal

     

  • Ogilvy Delhi has been awarded the Ministry of Tourism (Incredible India) creative business.

    Incredible India back with Ogilvy

    Ogilvy Delhi has been awarded the Ministry of Tourism (Incredible India) creative business. The business win is an outcome of a  multi-agency pitch from among agencies across India. Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman & Creative Director, Ogilvy South Asia, said, “I am absolutely delighted that the Incredible India campaign that we had launched in 2003 is now back with us. We look forward to doing some incredible work for India Tourism.”

     

    With this win again, Ogilvy’s mandate over the next three years is to provide a strategy and creative vision. This should align with and take Incredible India to the next level in both, the domestic and international markets.

     

    Sanjay Thapar, Group President – North & East, Management, Ogilvy & Mather, New Delhi, said, “Building a Brand for the country is probably one of the highest honours that any agency can be given and I am so happy that we have received this opportunity once again for India. We launched Incredible India when the journey first began and will now partner the Ministry of Tourism to take it to greater heights again. This is probably one of the best things that could happen to us at the start of 2012.”

     

    Ogilvy India has established its capabilities in the tourism sector having created very laudable campaigns for MP Tourism, MTDC (Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation), Gujarat Tourism among others. Ogilvy Delhi is currently handling J&K Tourism and has been empanelled with HP and Rajasthan Tourism in the past.

     

    Tourism is the second largest foreign exchange earner in India. Besides being an economic driver for growth. Tourism promotes national integration and international brotherhood. India’s thousands of years of history, its length, diversity and the variety of geographic features make its tourism offering interesting, large and varied.

     

  • Without intending to be preachy, here's a word of advice for Gen X: While it's great to have an attitude, it must be channelized into your work and NOT into your interpersonal interactions.

    Anil Thakraney: Save the attitude, kids

    ‘By Anil Thakraney

     

    As part of my journalistic job that covers all beats including movies, sports, politics, crime, etc, I have to often deal with young people. I also conduct guest lectures at various colleges and institutions, which gives me an opportunity to interact with youngsters. And I really enjoy these meets, it gives me a chance to discover first hand what Young India thinks and feels. And while I admire the ambition, the adrenalin and the energy, I also get alarmed when I notice young people with what we often disparagingly call an ‘attitude problem’. The belligerent, arrogant, ‘I know it all’ outlook on the world. The attitude that reflects scant respect for seniority and experience. For just about anything, for that matter.

     

    Usually, this attitude appears pretty cute and cool. After all, who wants our young people to be subservient, low self-esteemed and unconfident? That’s so damn boring! We want our guys to be bubbling with passion and the ‘can do’ spirit. However when the ‘attitude problem’ is taken to an extreme level, it can get very infuriating and off-putting.

     

    Without intending to be preachy, here’s a word of advice for Gen X: While it’s great to have an attitude, it must be channelized into your work and NOT into your interpersonal interactions. Also, while attitude should reflect confidence in one’s abilities, it becomes self-defeating when it extends to closing one’s mind to other people and other ideas.

     

    Let me illustrate this with some examples. Both Sachin Tendulkar and S Sreesanth have an ‘attitude problem’. While Sachin employs that attitude into his batting skills, Sreesanth uses it to provoke and offend his rivals and teammates. Whom do you respect more? Who of the two will achieve more in life? Who do you want to be like? Only you can answer these questions.

     

    Here’s another one: If Hrithik Roshan throws attitude at you, how will you react? And if Harman Baweja does ditto, how will you react? Chances are, quite differently. Perhaps it’s a good idea to prove your worth, do something substantial in life, before baring your fangs? Bad attitude display from a nobody, a non-achiever, is even more difficult to deal with. And if you are wondering who Harman Baweja is, then that only proves my point.

     

    Finally, I am quite aware a few of you, after reading this piece, will react with: “Oh, come on man, who the hell is this old fart to tell me what I should do and think? I know my shit and don’t want an uncle to lecture me.”

     

    Well, okay, it’s your life after all. Good luck!

     

    ***

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEsnb3kUDAw[/youtube]

    PS: Crew members of Finnair celebrated India’s Republic Day with a bit of dance and masti. And the video has gone seriously viral. I am quite certain the top bosses at the airline wanted exactly this to happen. I’m not sure how kicked they were about January 26th, but they must be really happy with all the free publicity. Think about how many more people know of Finnair now. Good work.

     

  • Behind every great commercial is super strategy. Every week, MxMIndia will bring you the brief and the strat as given by the client and whatever else that went into creating a winning ad. AdStrat is compiled by Shubhangi Mehta.

    Ad Strat: No kidding with Flipkart

    Kartik Iyer, CEO, Happy Creative Services

     

    Name of the Campaign/Ad:

    No Kidding. No Worries. – Flipkart.com

     

    The Brief :

    To convince people that it was safe and hassle-free to shop at flipkart.com. In short, build trust for the brand.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ47GDgTWGg[/youtube]

    Research insights

     

    We found that there were two categories of people we needed to speak to:

    a) Those who were already transacting online for tickets on sites like IRCTC and travel sites, but were not shopping for physical goods.

    b) Offline shoppers – people who were sceptical about transacting online itself.

     

    We found the common thread between them to be lack of trust, and both groups had common fears:

    a) Fear of losing their money by having to pay upfront.

    b) Unsure about quality of products and their warranties.

    c) Fear of not having a place to replace / exchange a product in the event of a problem, if any.

     

    Flipkart already had the solutions to the above problems in place, ie multiple payment options (including cash on delivery), easy replacement policy, and the fact that they only dealt in original products that came with original warranties. All we had to do was go out and tell the world that there’s nothing to worry about.

     

    Being the first mover, we were clear that Flipkart needed to battle the demons of e-commerce itself. Basically, grow the category.

     

    The thought process behind the creative:

    We knew we were pretty much talking to everybody. In some way we had to voice the concerns in the minds of the consumers. So we chose a classic question / answer format that allowed people to recognize their own fears in every piece of communication. Since we were there to build trust, the choice to go ahead with children was almost unanimous, as they are the only ones who trust unconditionally. So we had a format and we had kids, all we needed was a little touch to make it clutter-breaking. So we decided to get the kids to behave like adults and gave them adult voices, which took the experience of watching the commercials to another level. After all, we wanted to tell everyone after every piece of communication that there was no need to have any fear when it comes to shopping on Flipkart.com. No kidding. No worries.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNrjHvGerLY[/youtube]

    Media vehicles chosen

    TV, Print, Outdoor, Digital.

     

    Key issues kept in mind while executing the ad:

    Getting the performance right was key. We didn’t want it ending up like a spoof or have the kids ‘trying’ to act like adults. The kids came through like magic. Their performances are there to be seen and appreciated. Full marks to Aiyappa the director and Footcandles the production house for their commitment and efforts. Special mention to Shaun who trained the kids with workshops prior to the shoot, and kept them in great spirits through the entire schedule.

     

    Does the treatment do justice to the brief?

    The campaign definitely did justice to the brief. I am not sure if a treatment is expected to do justice to a brief. If i understand your question right, yes it definitely helped people to watch the communication repeatedly, to the point that they not only recalled everything that Flipkart was trying to communicate but also the dialogues from everyone in the films.

     

    What according to you is the differentiating factor about the ad?

    The kids acting like adults and speaking in adult voices definitely made the campaign stand out. The little touches of subtle humour only added to repeat value in viewership.

     

    Market and client feedback:

    The campaign was appreciated without prejudice by consumers, marketers and industry peers alike.

    The commercials went on to become a viral success, and crossed a million views on YouTube alone within two weeks, streaming on channels that were not owned by Flipkart or the agency.

    People actually started recalling the dialogues from the commercials in normal conversation. “Thats a classic,” has found its way back into common parlance and comments on Facebook.

    The campaign featured among the five most recalled campaigns of the festive season.

    It also featured in the most recalled campaigns of 2011 in polls conducted by Financial Express, Business Line, Afaqs, Campaign India and FHM, among others.

     

    Results:

    1. The website traffic, orders and revenue all doubled post the campaign. In August Flipkart was clocking Rs 30 cr/month. By the end of the campaign they clocked in excess of Rs 60 cr each month.

    2. Website traffic jumped to 100 lakh visits per month and 1000 lakh page views.

    3. Flipkart is now among top 30 sites in the country ahead of eBay (Alexa rankings) and the largest e-commerce (physical goods) player in the country.

    4. Today Flipkart ships close to 30,000 items every day ie 17 items every minute.

    5. The campaign was skewed towards the new electronics categories whose contribution went up from 40 percent to 60 percent in the two months of the campaign.

     

    Campaign Credits:

    Client – flipkart.com

    CEO – Sachin Bansal

    VP Marketing – Ravi Vora

    Agency – Happy Creative Services

    Creative Directors – Kartik Iyer / Praveen Das

    Copywriter – Naren Kaushik

    Art Director – Anuja Singhal

    Acct Management – Ruchika Chaudry / Neelima Kariappa

    Strategy – Ravi Bhat

    Production House – Footcandles

    Director – Aiyappa

    Exec Producer – Anand Menon

    Producer – Amaerjeet Phukan

     

  • Mr Premjeet Sodhi, has taken charge as COO of LMG, Mr Mahesh Motwani has been promoted to Executive Vice President of the Kolkata office and Mr Patrick Gomes has been elevated to head of the agency's Mumbai business

    LMG announces key elevations in Mumbai, Kolkata & Kochi

    Mahesh Motwani

    By A Correspondent

     

    The process of restructuring at Lintas Media Group (LMG) continues. Mr Suresh Balakrishna, CEO of the proposed agency under the LMG fold, has announced a few elevations in a communiqué released to the media.

     

    While, Mr Premjeet Sodhi, has taken charge as COO of LMG (as reported first by MxMIndia), on the back of strong new business wins and a healthy growth in Kolkata, Mr Mahesh Motwani has been promoted to Executive Vice President of the Kolkata office and will develop new markets as well. Mr Patrick Gomes has been elevated to head of the agency’s Mumbai business. With fourteen years experience, Mr Gomes has been with LMG for 1.5 years, heading prestigious financial accounts and the Bajaj Group. He was previously with Starcom, Mediacom,TME and Madison.

     

    Patrick Gomes

    Meanwhile, eight-year LMG veteran, Dhirendra Singh has been promoted to Head of Planning for the Mumbai Office. He has been overseeing planning for accounts like UBI, Jyothy Laboratories, Bombay Dyeing etc and now takes on a larger responsibility for the entire office.

     

    Vidya Nandakumar

    Ms Vidya Nandakumar has returned to the agency earlier this month as Head of the Kochi office and has taken charge of the Manappuram and other businesses. She has come in from Madison, Bengaluru and has more than 12 years of experience in the industry, handling businesses like Britannia Industries Ltd, ITC Ltd, Hewlett Packard and Muthoot Finance.

  • Starbucks in equal jv joint venture with Tata Global; to open cafe in India soon

    Soon you’ll be able to get your favourite Starbucks Espresso in India

    Starbucks Corp, the world’s largest coffee shop company, will open its first cafe in India in August through an equal joint venture with Tata Global Beverages, the two partners said on Monday.

     

    The venture, Tata Starbucks Ltd, will spend 400 crore initially and open 50 Starbucks cafe across the country by the end of the calendar year. The initial stores planned in Delhi and Mumbai in August. The move is part of the $10-billion-plus US firm’s strategy to focus on emerging markets such as India and China to drive future growth rates.

     

    “India is a unique market and we have gone through big transformation since the last four years,” said Mr John Culver, president at Starbucks China and Asia Pacific.

     

    While the core deal would be between Starbucks and Tata Global Beverages, it will work with other Tata Group firms such as Tata Coffee and Taj Catering. For instance, Tata plans to sell its mineral water brand Himalayan at Starbucks outlets in markets outside India. And the venture will leverage group firms’ properties for setting up Starbucks outlets.

    The deal comes a year after the Seattle-based firm signed an deal to buy green coffee beans from Tata Coffee’s Coorg facility and explore opening retail shops in the country. Starbucks manages over 17,000 stores in more than 57 countries and sells a wide variety of coffee and tea products along with food items, primarily through retail stores.

    The coffee cafe industry is on an expansion spree, led by market leader Cafe Coffee Day, to cash in on their increasing popularity among young consumers who have more disposable income than their previous generations.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

  • 'We are thrilled to welcome a truly exceptional talent, an excellent creative leader and a wonderful person like Sonal to the DDB Mudra Group,' said Group CEO and MD Madhukar Kamath.

    DDB Mudra confirms Sonal Dabral entry as Chairman & CCO; will also be on global & regional creative councils

    By A Correspondent

     

    Madhukar Kamath, the Group CEO and MD of the DDB Mudra Group, has announced the appointment of Sonal Dabral as the Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of the DDB Mudra Group. On Mr Dabral’s appointment, Mr Kamath said, “Coming on the back of an excellent 2011, both in terms of business and recognition, the DDB Mudra Group is poised for explosive growth. As the most awarded Indian agency at Cannes, Spikes, Abbys etc, to name a few, we are thrilled to welcome a truly exceptional talent, an excellent creative leader and a wonderful person like Sonal to the DDB Mudra Group. His mandate will encompass the entire spectrum of agencies that work across what is certainly the most integrated marketing and communications services network in the country. Agencies like DDB Mudra, Mudra, DDB Mudra Max (OOH, Media, Experiential and Retail), Rapp, Tribal DDB, DDB Health & Lifestyle, Water, Maatra etc. which constitute the DDB Mudra Group will now have their creative teams reporting in to Sonal.”

     

    He added, “I am personally thrilled to welcome Sonal Dabral. I have known him for two decades now. We worked together in Delhi years ago, on the iconic ‘Humko Binnies Mangta’ campaign. He will partner me on the exciting agenda that we have ahead of us for the DDB Mudra Group. The legendary Bernbach legacy, the much admired creative business solutions of the DDB Worldwide network, the Social Creativity agenda, the entrepreneurial zeal and track record of building several successful national brands that Mudra brings to the table, the extensive and certainly unique multi-faceted offerings in the DDB Mudra Group will all form an excellent platform for Sonal.”

     

    Mr Dabral has over two exciting decades of experience on brands like Audi, Fiat, Tata Safari, Dove, Le Sancy, Unilever Foods, Ponds, Lakme, Panadol, Cadburys, Asian Paints, Fevicol, Virgin Mobile, Tata AIG, Prudential, GE, Nestle’s Maggi and Milo, DBS, Remy Martin, Colgate, Pizza Hut, Sony, Coca Cola and DHL.

     

    A graduate of the National School of Design (NID), Mr Dabral began his career in Lintas, Delhi. After a brief stint in Mudra Delhi, he went on to have an extremely successful stint at  Ogilvy Mumbai before moving to Kuala Lumpur to head Ogilvy in Malaysia and make it one of the top creative offices in the region. Next, as the Chairman and ECD of Ogilvy Singapore, he led the agency to become not just the hottest agency in the region and the No 1 creative office in the whole of Ogilvy Worldwide but also in the entire WPP global network. His last assignment was in a dual role, as the Regional Creative Head and Chairman-India of Bates operating out of Singapore and Mumbai.

    Apart from being a prolific winner in most of the Regional and International Award shows like Cannes, Clio, D & AD, One Show, LIA, Andy Awards, AdFest, Spikes etc., Sonal has served on most of the juries globally.

    Said Mr Kamath, “Apart from partnering me in India, Sonal Dabral has also been invited by Amir Kassei, the Global Chief Creative Officer of DDB WW, to serve on the Global Creative Council of DDB. In the Asia-Pacific region, he will Co-Chair the Regional Creative Council with Amir Kassei. With the vast array of clients, brands, services and offerings in the DDB Mudra Group, an exciting ‘Growth Agenda’, an unparalleled creative manifesto in the Bernbach legacy, I eagerly await Sonal’s arrival.”

  • I think The Hindu is on the right track. And the ads have quickly gone viral because the content is super fun. Great work.

    Debrief: Repositioning The Times

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    The action’s really hotting up in Chennai. Great stuff from The Hindu. Rival Times of India had run a hard-hitting campaign which showed people dozing off while reading their regular newspaper (read The Hindu). And The Hindu has hit back even harder, and in their campaign they reposition the challenger (read The Times) as a newspaper for the dimwits. For people who lack general knowledge but are totally clued in on Bollywood masala.

     

    ‘Stay ahead of the times’ is the tongue-in-cheek slogan. The commercials feature youngsters being asked questions on current affairs/general knowledge, and they fail miserably. But the moment a question is put to them on filmi issues, they get excited and answer correctly.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXLsi_Vmtw4[/youtube]
    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ckzsh9SpUAQ[/youtube]

    I think The Hindu is on the right track. For three reasons: One, they have played to their own core strength, which is the brand’s serious, no-nonsense image. This would make their current readers very happy. Two, the campaign attempts to reposition The Times as a newspaper for the floozies. And this hits the Times where it hurts, because the latter is renowned for its filmi coverage. Truth is that The Times also does serious journalism, but in an all-out ad war, these considerations don’t count. And three, The Hindu has been able to pull off a power campaign that must have cost peanuts to produce. And the ads have quickly gone viral because the content is super fun. Great work.

     

    The ball is now in The Times’s court. All eyes on Chennai!

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 4. Powerful, funny and happening!