MxMIndia

Category: ADVERTISING

  • The digital marketing responsibilities will include Social media management,online reputation management and digital creative servicesfor Pizza Hut’s Indian business

    Team Pumpkin bags digital marketing mandate of Pizza Hut

    By A Correspondent

     

    Team Pumpkin has bagged the digital marketing mandate of the leading QSR chain Pizza Hut. The digital marketing responsibilities will include Social media management,online reputation management and digital creative servicesfor Pizza Hut’s Indian business.

     

    Said Team Pumpkin’s Co-Founder, Ranjeet Kumar: “We are delighted to partner with Pizza Hut and our strategy for the mandate revolves around capturing micro-moments for the youth and expressing them through our digital assets. It’s a great feeling to be working on a renowned brand like Pizza Hut and we are all set to deliver our best for the brand.”

     

  • The film is loosely based around folklore, making Viki Gómez appear to be an urban legend of sorts for young BMX riders in Shillong

    Red Bull gets Supari Studios to film BMX champ in Shillong

    By A Correspondent

     

    When it’s energy drink Red Bull, one can be sure that the promotional effort will be out-of-the-box. A new film, conceptualised, written and produced by Supari Studios and called ‘The Land Glider’, covers six-time world champion BMX Rider, Viki Gómez visit to scenic Shillong, in Meghalaya.

     

    The film is loosely based around folklore, making Viki Gómez appear to be an urban legend of sorts for young BMX riders in Shillong.  The film contrasts upcoming BMX riders in the North East with many of the traditional aspects of the region such as the Khasi language. The narration is highlighted by music, along with high speed and drone shots.

     

  • The ads starring the Airtel ads girl Sasha Chhetri emphasise on the protection against the increasing Ransomware attacks

    Quick Heal’s new campaign on risks of free antiviruses

    By A Correspondent

     

    Pune-based Quick Heal Technologies has released an ad campaign to draw the attention of consumers towards the risks associated with free antivirus solutions. Targeting the youth and working professionals in its TVCs, Quick Heal aims to create awareness on the security threats which a free antivirus product is not capable to mitigate as against the protection guaranteed by a antivirus solution which is purchased, such as; safe banking, privacy protection, anti-ransomware, anti-phishing, enhanced firewall and web security.

     

    Speaking about the conceptualisation of the ad, Sanjay Katkar, MD and CTO, Quick Heal Technologies Limited, said, “Our observation has been that there is lack of awareness on the risks of using free antivirus software. Secondly, there are numerous users who are using a free antivirus solution assuming that there data, devices, communications and transactions are safe. ” He further added; “Our objective of creating these ads was to create awareness on the need for multi-layered protection on devices in the ever evolving security threat landscape; which is not assured by free antivirus solutions.”

     

    Additionally, owing to the current scenario of demonetization which has given a boost to the adoption of online banking and high use of mobile phones for banking transactions and digital payments; it is all the more important to have robust multi-layered protection installed on the devices.

     

    “IT security threats are evolving rapidly and are growing in complexity. This is the major reason why antivirus solutions providers like us are constantly innovating to offer solutions that counter these threats and are able to protect our consumers’ valuable data and hardware.” adds Katkar.

     

    “With these ads, we are reinforcing Quick Heal’s expertise to combat the most prevalent IT and network security threats. We identified Sasha Chettri to drive this campaign for us because we wanted someone who can connect better with our target audience and has a mass appeal. We found her relevant considering our objective was to reach out to the youth and professionals and explain our technology to them”, added Katkar.

     

    Created by Thoughtshop, a Mumbai based advertising agency which Quick Heal has partnered since July 2014, the ad was conceptualised based on the insight that youngsters prefer easily available free solutions while working professionals require flexibility with their devices which in turn compromises the security of their data and hardware. It is a perquisite for youngsters and working professionals to secure their systems and devices with a robust antivirus solution.

     

  • Our annual fun awards for the most outstanding, albeit, dubious achievements of the year

    The 2016 MxMIndia Dubious Achievement Awards

     

     

    Here we are at it again: our awards for the most outstanding, albeit dubious, achievements in the year. Please do remember this is a fun feature that MxMIndia carries annually and the objective is to enjoy at the expense of others and ourselves.

     

    The Sound and Light Has Gone From Our Lives Even If It Is Temporary Award

    to Arnab Goswami

    formerly of Times Now and not to be seen nor heard since November 15, 2016. The Nation Wants to Know when its favourite Shouter Outer will be back on air. The Nation definitely knows that we can Never Ever Never Ever Ever Never manage without him. The additional tragedy of the Silence of Arnab is the collapse of industries for ear plugs, anti-anxiety and hypertensive medicines

     

    The Kate Moss Model of the Year

    to Narendra Modi

    Prime Minister of India, for being the face of Reliance Jio and PayTM, a first in Indian history from the time of the Ramayana at least! However, he has also been the face of Clean India, Clean Ganga, Get an LPG Cylinder, Pay Your Taxes and every other government scheme so we are used to it but also not used to a Prime Minister being used by corporate India… O wait, right. Okay.

     

    Is Less Really More Award

    to Rahul Gandhi

    for unleashing Prashant Bhushan and Arvind Kejriwal’s earthquake on Narendra Modi and having to settle for an aftershock

     

    We Shall Still Pretend We Are Not Journalists Award

    to all journalists

    who ignored the evidence presented by Prashant Bhushan, Arvind Kejriwal and Rahul Gandhi on bribes taken by the PM when he was CM and other politicians as well.

     

    Are we a News Channel or a PM PR Agency Award

    to both India Today and NewsX

    for being unable to decide between one prime time host and the next what to do with journalistic ethics and taking on the establishment.

     

    Best (&Worst) Copycat Award

    to NewsX

    for trying so hard to be Times Now and not matching by either decibels or bombast.

     

    Most Loyalty Points in the PM’s Reward Programme

    to Swarajya magazine

    for giving up the freedom inherent in its name to try and be as pro the BJP and the prime minister as it can, even more than the BJP’s own IT Cell.

     

    How To Confuse Conspiracy Theorists Award

    to CNN-News18 and the whole News18 group

    for sometimes being pro-government and sometimes anti-government, even before demonetisation.

     

    The King Midas Award

    to Raj Nayak

    He proved wrong all those those who thought he was inviting trouble upon himself by taking charge as President of the Advertising Club. Not only was Goafest 2016 a huge success, but one could well we see some old warhorses return to the platform in 2017.

     

    The Republic of GroupM Award

    to CVL Srinivas

    Even as individual agencies rise and shine, in the last year-odd the holding entity, GroupM has gained much prominence in India with Srini at the helm.

     

    The ‘Main Bhi Arnab Goswami’ Award

    to Navika Kumar

    The new lead anchor on Times Now’s nightlies believes she can be another Arnab Goswami. Shout out loud, flared nostrils, but without even a quarter of the charisma her former bossman had.

     

    The CM-turns-PM Award

    to Saurabh Varma

    The bosses in Paris believe only he could shore up the group’s creative fortunes in the country, so what if he’s the youngest of the CEOs. Varma was made CEO of Publicis Communications, the holding company of group agencies Leo Burnett, Publicis Worldwide & L&K Saatchi & Saatchi

     

    Flipkart Best Shopper Award

    to Ashish Bhasin

    For picking up agencies left, right and centre and growing Dentsu Aegis Network to be the #2 media services network in the country. From what we hear, a few more agencies will get gobbled up soon.

     

    The Lokesh Rahul Best Debut Award

    to Rahul Joshi

    for a fantastic performance interviewing the Prime Minister on CNN-News18. The interview helped change the fortunes of the channel in terms of ratings, and for someone who we don’t (ever) see on telly, this was a super start.

     

    The Adhuna Akhtar/Bhabani Award

    to DNA

    The newspaper has undertaken the maximum number of image makeovers in its 11 years of existence

     

    Let’s Prove We Are Patriots by Attacking Journalists Award

    to the lawyers of Patiala House Court

    for forgetting about that Constitutional stuff they had apparently never heard of.

     

    More Power to Plagiarists Award

    to firstpost.com and to other media houses

    for deciding that our thieves are our thieves and yar boo sucks to journalism, integrity and such frivolous stuff.

     

    Head in the Sand Award

    to all those who still insist that Opindia.com is not a PR exercise run by the BJP.

     

    And, finally, Lifetime Achievement of the Year Award

    to Demonetisation

    for reminding some journalists that they are journalists, unleashing more misery on India than any other scheme in recent times, creating more Modi jokes in 50 days than we have seen in two-and-a-half years and making everyone equally unhappy except terrorists, the corrupt, counterfeiters and digital payment companies.

     

    And, just one more:

    The Narendra Modi More Out of the Country Than In Your Own

    to MxMIndia

    There have been charges that we are concentrating more on our custom content business than our own. We’re correcting it. But will ensure this award goes off the shelf soon.

     

    Contributed by Ranjona Banerji, Pradyuman Maheshwari and a few readers who have requested anonymity

  • The joint study will attempt to raise tourist footfalls in the state

    Odisha tourism mandates MRSS to conduct joint study with FICCI

    By A Correspondent

     

    In a bid to increase the tourist inflow into the state, Odisha Tourism has commissioned a joint study by FICCI and BSE-SME listed Majestic Research Services and Solutions (MRSS India).

     

    The study titled Odisha Tourism: The Emerging Destination of India, both for inbound and domestic tourism – A road map will be released on the eve of the state travel mart proposed to be held early this year.The mandate includes a white paper on new emerging and existing destinations of Odisha and the commensurate potential countries from where the state could expect foreign tourist inflow.

     

    Raj Sharma

    Expressing pleasure at being associated with FICCI as part of the joint study, MRSS India, chairman, Raj Sharma said: “This is one more feather in our cap after being associated with Great Indian Travel Bazar, India Inbound MICE Tourism 2016, Uttar Pradesh Tourism Mart and very recently with MP Tourism. We are extremely optimistic that the inputs from the proposed report will aid Odisha Tourism to attract more foreign tourists and increase their pie in the domestic circuit too.”

     

  • Discussions to be conducted around the theme of 'Analysing Consumer Insights in Changing Social Conditions'

    Jagdish Sheth, V Kumar & others at WeSchoolconf on consumer insights

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Principal L. N. Welingkar Institute of Management Development in Mumbai (better known as WeSchool) is organising a conference on Consumer Insights & Foresights in Changing Markets in association with the Academy of Indian Marketing (AIM) to be held on January 9 at its Mumbai campus.

     

    The conference will be divided into six tracks: CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods); BFSI (Banking, Financial Services and Insurance); Research and Analytics; Media and Entertainment; E-Commerce and Telecommunications.

     

    Some of the speakers include: Prakash Nedungadi, Head Consumer Insights & Brand Development, Aditya Birla Group, Rohan Mirchandani, Co-Founder& CEO, Drums Food International, Deepak Sood, CEO, Avantha Ergo Life Insurance, Devendra Chawla, Group President, Food, FMCG Group and Abhishant Pant, Founder of Cashless Journey.  The inaugural session will be co-chaired by Dr Jagdish Sheth, Emory University USA, Dr V Kumar, Georgia State University USA and Dr Uday Salunkhe, Group Director, WeSchool.  Details at: http://marcon2017.welingkar.org/.

     

  • The campaign comprises a TVC which focuses on printing solutions for businesses, entrepreneurs and individuals

    Madison BMB creates new TVC for Vistaprint

    By A Correspondent

     

    Madison BMB has unveiled a new TVC for its client Vistaprint, a leading printing solutions expert. The campaign comprises a TVC which focuses on printing solutions for businesses, entrepreneurs and individuals.

     

    The objective of the TVC was to showcase how easy and convenient it is for small and medium-sized businesses to print their visiting cards, apparels, stationery, merchandise and thus satiate all business needs. Says NileshParwani, CEO Vistaprint India: “Vistaprint.in facilitates translating business owners’ tremendous sense of pride and passion into an identity for their venture through a wide range of beautiful, high quality printed products. In the otherwise unorganised print industry, the TV spot aims at creating awareness for Vistaprint.in as an alternative one-stop-shop platform for all printing needs leveraging the ‘convenience of online’ and ‘quality assurance of a global trusted brand’.

     

    Added Raj Nair, CEO and Chief Creative Officer, Madison BMB: “If you’re an entrepreneur or a small business looking to make an impression with a distinctive identity and you want elegant designs printed to your liking without a premium attached to it and you want it delivered at your doorstep then look no further than Vistaprint. The tag line: “What’s your print?” specifically asks the viewer in a friendly yet memorable way (In Mani’s voice) to go ahead and make their choice depending on their specific printing requirement.”

     

  • Dentsu One captains Harjot Singh Narang will lead the office as General Manager, Anand Murty will be Head of Strategy as Titus Upputuruwill be Head of Creative

    Taproot sets up office in Gurgaon with Dentsu One as a division

    By A Correspondent

     

    Taproot Dentsu may have always had prized clients in New Delhi NCR ever since it was set up in 2009, but now it has formally commenced operations in Gurgaon.It’s the new year, and a big year for the Dentsu Aegis Network in the country. So Dentsu One (earlier Dentsu Marcom) has now been turned into the Delhi office of Taproot, though officially it will be a division of Taproot Dentsu.

     

    Harjot Singh Narang will lead the office as General Manager, Anand Murty is Head of Strategy and Titus Upputuru will be Head of Creative. Talking about this development, Agnello Dias, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, Taproot Dentsu said: “We are excited with this development. Delhi NCR is a high growth market and we are looking forward to working with a host of interesting new clients and brands. Almost since inception, we have been working with some very important and iconic brands in this market like Airtel, Times of India, Marico and more recently with Dulux and Coca Cola India.  So we have been more than familiar with this geography. By opening up a strong new front here, we are building further on that experience and strength.”

     

    Added Santosh Padhi, Chief Creative Officer, Taproot Dentsu: “Working with a new bunch of energetic and talented people will only add strength and lustre to our capabilities and bandwidth. Beyond television, Taproot has strengths in design and digital too. We are looking to build on those fronts too. This is an important market and we are most happy to be here,” said Umesh Shrikhande, Chief Executive Officer, Taproot Dentsu: “In the ideas business, it takes a lot of doing to replicate a creative culture. So to build on our collaborative work ethic, the Gurgaon office will work closely with the Mumbai office. Aggi, Paddy and I will remain involved in a hands-on manner. We will do what it takes to add sparkle to the brands entrusted to us.”

     

    And this is what Narang had to say in a communique: “We are all set to roll with a talented team of more than 50 people and a clutch of strong clients like Airtel B2B, AkzoNobel and Coca Cola India among others. We are looking forward to building on this foundation.”

     

    According to information we have received, Messrs Narang, Murty and Upputuru will continue to hold their old charge at Dentsu One. It is not a merger, we were told, though if all goes well,  the two entities could well be one.

     

  • GST is going to be here… soon. Ads are pushing for its acceptance. Here's an EY (Ernst & Young) report on how it will impact the M&E sector

    How will GST impact advertising?

     

    GST is going to be here… soon. Ads are pushing for its acceptance. Here’s an EY (Ernst & Young) report on how it will impact the M&E sector (some parts have been modified given that it’s appearing in this form):

    Introduction: The levy of GST will have different impacts across sectors, and this could impact their ability to spend on advertising The objective of this report is to list down the possible impacts across different sectors. It can be used to update sales teams, and prepare them from questions from advertisers

     

    Disclaimer: Do note, that the law is yet to be finalized, and this document is based on the current reading of the law, and is subject to change. This has been prepared on a best effort basis. Please use discretion and take professional advice prior to taking decisions based on the points of view mentioned in this document.

     

  • The account was won following a multi-agency pitch

    Shop CJ appoints MSLGroup for PR

     

     

    Homes hopping major Shop CJ has on boarded PR agency MSLGroup for its public relations and media communications mandate activity. The account was won following a multi-agency pitch.

     

    Confirming the news, Dhruva Chandrie, COO, Shop CJ said “This marks an alliance between two companies that are extremely creative and have a passion for excellence. Essentially, we were looking for an agency well equipped to accentuate the brand voice and narrative. While MSLGroup understands the pulse of Indian consumers, the team’s focus on innovation, strong play in PR and media insights, makes it the right partner for us. Not to mention, the appointment of MSLGroup brings to us global best practices in engaging with various stakeholders across a host of platforms.”

     

    Commenting on the win, Amit Misra, MD, MSLGroup said: “We are delighted to have been chosen by Shop CJ as their communications consultants. Shop CJ has managed to carve a niche for itself in the T-commerce space. Additionally, with our expertise in brand communication and use of other non-traditional tools of communication, I am confident that we would be able to enhance the brand imagery.”

     

  • The very first phase included time checks sponsored by Sonata; as time-checks have a synergistic fit with the 8‘o’clock button awareness generation

    Maxus co-creates innovative radio campaign for Sonata’s safety watch ‘ACT’

    By A Correspondent

     

    Maxus has partnered with Big FM to co-create and conceptualize a powerful radio campaign for Sonata’s newly launched safety watch ACT– App-Enabled Coordinates Tracker, designed exclusively for women. The watch has a button placed at the 8’clock position which when double clicked sends distress alarms to 10 designated guardians. Keeping in line the safety features and uniqueness of the watch, an innovative three-tiered campaign using radio as a medium was executed in 21 cities.

     

    The very first phase included time checks sponsored by Sonata; as time-checks have a synergistic fit with the 8‘o’clock button awareness generation. The second phase comprised of conversations with some of the great Indian women achievers like Sakshi Malik, Saundarya Rajesh, Sujitha Bora, Tashi & Nungshi, Deepa Malik, Sneha Mohandass and many more with RJ Richa Anirudh on a show titled as ‘ManzilPeNazar’, bringing alive their stories of courage and achievement. In the third phase, Big FM will be shifting their studios at various on-ground public locations and bringing in 12 hours live programming from 8 pm – 8 am with an all-female crew. This first of its kind activity will take place across five metros – Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai, from January 4th till January 7th, 2017.

     

    Elaborating on the campaign, Sanchayeeta Verma - Managing Partner, Maxus South Asia, South India said, “Sonata ACT is a smart watch with a purpose, enabling women to courageously follow their dreams. Safety is a need for every woman and concerns not only her, but her family and colleagues as well. However, we also noticed a low adoption of current safety options and realized that we needed de-mystification of the technology, create a wave of collective participation from women to corporates, and build a habit of mindfulness and usage. To do this we needed a platform with relatable real-life people & generate momentum. Our effectiveness studies have shown high ROI for radio. The medium not only helps participation and engagement, but also offers significant digital platforms and multimedia amplification. We therefore worked at creating this unique and mega-scale initiative with Big FM that we believe will show great results.”

     

    Talking about the initiative Suparna Mitra- Chief Marketing Officer – watches and accessories, Titan Company Ltd. said, “In India, safety is a huge concern for women and their families. As Indian women are evolving and progressing to take on more challenges, we realized there is a huge market for a safety watch which will help women pursue their dreams.  With Sonata ACT, we want to bring alive an element of courage and passion. Uniquely priced between Rs. 2,749/- to Rs. 2,999/-, Sonata ACT cuts across all demographics. It is a break-through product from Sonata and our aim is to reach out to every woman and benefit as many consumers through our communication activities”.

     

    Commenting on the partnership, Tarun Katial, CEO, BIG Network said, “We at 92.7 BIG FM, are thrilled about the initiative that Sonata has implemented on a large scale as part of the brand launching a line of safety watches called ‘ACT-App-Enabled Coordinates Tracker’. There are plenty of inspiring stories about women that deserve to be told, and with Sonata ACT we are promoting their unstoppable spirit.”

     

  • Swati Ratnakabegan her career working as a journalist with India Today Group

    Dentsu Impact strengthens its digital leadership

     

     

    Dentsu Impact has strengthened its team by roping in Swati Ratnakar to lead content and strategy on its digital mandate for Maruti Suzuki. She joins as VP – Planning on the account and will be reporting directly to Kartikeya Srivastava. Ratnakar began her career working as a journalist with India Today Group. With a total of 12 years of experience she has worked in India, Singapore and Paris on brands like VW, Spotify, Samsung, Airtel, Maruti Suzuki, L’Oreal, Bacardi, PepsiCo and others. Some of the organisations she has worked with are DDB, Weber Shandwick and Contract.

     

    On her appointment Kartikeya Srivastava, Senior VP & Head – Strategy, Digital and CRM commented, “Holding both India and an international experience I believe Swati can add tremendous value to the approach we are wanting to take on digital as an agency. At DentsuImpact we are looking at this medium not so much as technology or process led, but rather as brand and experience led. We want to focus strongly on creating connected brand experiences. In Swati we have found somebody who can join the dots seamlessly between offline and online, creative and content, design and experience.”

     

    Echoing a similar sentiment Amit Wadhwa, President, Dentsu Impact said, “We at Dentsu Impact are looking towards seamless digital integration in creativity and hence are looking to invest in talent that will help us do that. Swati does that beautifully for us.”

     

    On her appointment, Ratnakar commented, “My current role at Dentsu involves understanding the commercial and brand challenges of clients businesses, and ensuring that creative solutions support their business objectives. I am excited about the role as it’s a challenging and dynamic role. Having a 360 experience in online and offline will allow me to see brands from multiple lens and add value.”