MxMIndia

Category: ADVERTISING

  • US-based Walt Disney will launch an offer for delisting shares of media and entertainment firm, UTV Software Communications, from Indian bourses on January 16, 2012.

    Disney to launch delisting offer for UTV Software on Jan 16

    By A Correspondent

     

    US-based Walt Disney will launch an offer for delisting shares of media and entertainment firm, UTV Software Communications, from Indian bourses on January 16, 2012.

     

    Walt Disney plans to delist about 1.22 crore shares, representing 29.96 per cent of UTV Software’s equity, and the offer price for the shareholders has been fixed between Rs835.03-1,000 a share, Walt Disney stated in an advertisement published on Wednesday.

     

    The offer opens on January 16 and will close on January 20. Walt Disney currently holds an over 50 per cent stake in UTV Software.

     

    In July this year, Walt Disney Co. had offered to buy out stakes held by public shareholders and other promoters of the company. The proposal, expected to result in FDI inflows of about Rs8,250 crore, has also been approved by the government.

     

    Post-delisting, Walt Disney is likely to hold an 80.25 per cent stake in the company, if it successfully acquires the shares of all public stakeholders, while the remaining equity would be held by RS Group.

     

    However, assuming that Disney acquires the shares of UTV Software’s other promoter as well, pursuant to a share-purchase agreement, Disney will secure a 100 per cent stake in the company.

     

  • The agency will handle all aspects of Pentair's communication including creative, strategy, design, activation and media

    Scarecrow Communications bags Pentair water solutions account

    By A Correspondent

     

    Pentair Water solutions has appointed Scarecrow Communications, Delhi as its advertising agency. The agency will handle all aspects of Pentair’s communication including creative, strategy, design, activation and media.

     

    Pentair Inc, based inMinnesota, USA, is one of the global leader in water solutions and purification in the world. It is known for cutting edge technology and unmatched range of products that are used in industrial applications, commercial installations, municipal requirements and residential water solutions.

     

    The company has a pan-India presence and employs over 600 people. Some of its projects include providing filtration solutions at IGI Airport, New Delhi, Taj Presidency, Mumbai, Pump packages at Gautam Buddh International circuit (F1 track), GMR Aerospace project in Hyderabad, Michelin Factory, Pepsico, and pool equipment installations at ITC Maurya, Delhi and Taj Hotel, Bangalore.

     

    “We look forward to work with Scarecrow not only to build our brand in the Indian Market, but also increase overall awareness for water-related issues,” said Mukund Vasudevan, Managing Director & Country Head, Pentair.

     

    “Pentair is a global brand. Yet inIndia, as far as branding goes, it is almost starting from scratch. So there is no baggage and we can roll out the brand experience in India with maximum freedom,” said Manish Bhatt, Founder Director, Scarecrow Communications.

     

    “Most of us have used Pentair products and yet, may not be aware of it. This association Pentair gives us an opportunity to do some great work in the B2B as well as B2C space,” said Raghu Bhat, Founder Director, Scarecrow Communications.

     

    Scarecrow Communications is one ofIndia’s fastest growing full-fledged advertising agencies providing every solution under one roof, including creative, media, PR, digital as well as design. Scarecrow, headquartered in Mumbai, already handles many Delhi-based brands such as DLF, Nestle, MVL Mobiles, Religare and BPCL.

  • Users can now access local information on the go with the app on Nokia smartphones

    timesPoynt now preloaded on Nokia Lumia 710 and Nokia 800

    By A Correspondent

     

    Nokia smartphone users inIndiacan now enjoy a world of convenience and information at their fingertips with the launch of Nokia’s latest smartphones, the Nokia Lumia 710 and Nokia Lumia 800, which come preloaded with the timesPoynt application.

     

    The new app, timesPoynt, has been developed in partnership with Times Internet Limited (TIL) -India’s leading mobile and internet venture, and Poynt Corporation, a leading provider of mobile local search and advertising services.

     

    The free application powered by data from Timescity.com, allows users to click-to-call businesses, get directions, browse listing websites, send details to a friend or add listings to their device calendar or address book. The Nokia smart phones preloaded with the timesPoynt app enter the market just two months after the application was launched earlier this year.

     

    The Nokia preload marks timesPoynt’s second distribution agreement with a handset manufacturer inIndia. The app is already available in India on iPhone and Android devices, along with BlackBerry smartphones.

     

    “Preburning timesPoynt on Nokia Smartphones augments our reach in the savvy-mobile audiences. With this, we hope to see significant uptakes in our search queries and consequently more contextual and location-based advertising”, says Rishi Khiani, CEO, Times Internet Limited (TIL).

     

    “We have seen tremendous uptake and retention with each preload we have launched and we anticipate that the Indian market will be no different,” said Marco Hunstad, SVP, Business Development & Global Distribution, Poynt Corporation.

     

    As part of its initial plans, the partnership between TIL and Poynt Corp will leverage TIL’s relationships in Indiawith advertisers, agencies and merchants in order to monetize the app. It plans to market and promote timesPoynt through all its media vehicles such as radio, television, magazines and newsprint.

     

    OEM or original equipment manufacturers’ preloads are key to targeting more than 858 million mobile subscribers inIndia(TRAI estimates). They allow users of specific devices, such as the Nokia Lumia 710 and Nokia Lumia 800, to discover the best apps for their device, with the least time spent searching.

  • Smartphones shipments touch 7.9 million units in first nine months, growing from 2.3 million in 1Q 2011 to over 3 million in 3Q 2011

    Nokia leads at 30% of cellphone sales, Samsung at #2

    By A Correspondent

     

    The overall Indian  mobile handsets market recorded aggregated shipments of 47 million units during the second quarter in 2011, registering a 12.5% sequential growth on account of large number of new launches and higher than usual shipments by vendors, as reported in the  India  Monthly Mobile Handsets Market Review. The review was released on Wednesday by CyberMedia Research.

     

    The total mobile handset shipments during the first nine months of 2011 touched 135 million units, as the market first dipped during the first quarter and then recovered in the second.

     

    (%) by Device Type: July-August-September 2011*

    Monthly mobile handset shipments (millions of units) and Growth Trends (%) by Device Type

     

    August-September 2011*

    Number of New Models Launched in July-August-September 2011

     

    In the overall Indian mobile market, Nokia retained leadership position with 30% share in terms of sales, followed by Samsung at second position with 11.6%, during September 2011.

     

    On average the proportion of dual-SIM and multi-SIM handsets were 55.8% of total mobile handset shipments in the second quarter. Nokia, a late entrant to the multi-SIM device category, made up by having as many as five models on offer by September 2011.

     

    Smartphone shipments touched 7.9 million units in first nine months. During the month of September, smartphones sales crossed 1 million units.

     

    “Smartphones are witnessing an increased adoption in the Indian market; not only amongst business executives but also among the youth as such devices offer superior usability, entertainment and functional capabilities”, said Naveen Mishra, lead analyst, CyberMedia Research Telecoms Practice.

     

    “In the coming months the India smartphones market is expected to become even more crowded as more vendors, particularly those from India  and China, look to add these devices to their portfolio”, added Tarun Pathak, analyst, CyberMedia Research Telecoms Practice.

     

  • This Christmas get ready to witness an action packed line up of films from 25th December to 1st January at 8.45pm everyday

    UTV Action showcases mighty action heroes in ‘Christmas Brave Hearts’

    By A Correspondent

     

    Ushering in the festive season, the all new UTV Action is set to give viewers a power-packed experience. In line with its new tagline – Home of the Warriors, UTV Action presents a special line up of blockbusters featuring iconic action heroes in Christmas Brave Hearts starting from December 25 till January 1 at 8.45 pm every night.

     

    The high octane line up of films starts with the 2010 thriller The Tourist and includes gripping films like The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Terminator Salvation, Legion and many more. Christmas Brave Hearts will also feature new titles like Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Twilight which will be showcased for the very first time on the channel.

     

    Christmas Brave Hearts will be supported by an on air and outdoor campaign comprising of hoardings and ambient branding in multiplexes. Commenting on the festival, Sameer Ganapathy, Business Head, UTV Action said: “The refreshed UTV Action takes pride in giving viewers access to the best of Hollywood action. Christmas Brave Hearts is specially designed to bring the biggest action heroes to the viewers and will showcase several new titles for the first time on the channel.”

     

    UTV Action was launched in January, 2010 and showcases the best of Hollywood in Hindi and provides viewers the one stop destination to enjoy the best of action content starring the world’s biggest heroes.

     

     

     

  • The crowds waiting for a chance to audition proved the show's popularity

    Dance India Dance 3 premieres on December 24 at 8.30 pm

    By A Correspondent

     

    The serpentine queue that had gathered outside the audition venue was evidence enough to prove how eagerly the youth ofDelhiand entire Northern regions ofIndiawere waiting forIndia’s No 1 dance reality show, Dance India Dance to return.

     

    The masters, Geeta Kapoor, Terence Lewis and Remo D Souza,  recognized every contestant’s dedication and passion to win the ‘Taqdeer ka Topi’. What touched the masters was not how they performed, but their sincerity towards dance as an art form.

     

    A nondescript Furkhan hailing from a family of autorickshawallahs mesmerised the judges with his excellent robotics act. Physically-challenged Sunny Kumar brought tears to the eyes of the Masters. Remo DSouza’s duplicates – Vinod Kumar and Afsar Ansari – kept everyone in splits.

     

    Another NRI contestant, Anastasia, born and brought up inBelarus, a landlocked country inEastern Europegot hooked on to the show by watching Dance India Dance episodes on the internet. The turning point in her life came when she met her Indian parents who adopted her and she decided to settle inIndia. She also changed her name to Mansi and started taking lessons from a renowned Kathak exponent inDelhi. She was already adept at contemporary dance style and picked up the traditional Indian dance form quickly.

     

    On getting an opportunity to audition inDelhi, she was overwhelmed with emotions after performing in front of Remo, Geeta and Terence.

     

    The highlight of the auditions was Raghav Juyal who takes pride in calling himself ‘Crockroach’, explaining “I like the power of a crocodile and the creepiness of a coackroach!” His popping act was one that has never been seen on television before!

     

    To watch their journey, tune into Dance India Dance Season 3, premiering this Saturday, December 24,  at 8:30pm on Zee TV.

     

  • Bachchan won the Best Actor in Social role for Aarakshan, a first of its kind and another award for being a complete performer

    Big B tweets about his BIG Star wins

    By A Correspondent

     

    Sunday night saw the entire entertainment industry heading to Bhavan’s College grounds in Mumbai to usher the first awards of the New Year with the 2nd Big Star Entertainment Awards.

     

    A constellation of stars stepped out in their finery to cheer, applaud and appreciate some of the most memorable and remarkable performers of the year.

     

    The biggest and brightest of them all, Amitabh Bachchan came, saw and won two awards.

     

    After he left the venue….he tweeted about the newest singer from south, Dhanush, who sang live from the audience, a Kolaveri Di number but words to suit the occasion: T 594 -‘And … when complete Entertainer announced, Dhanush sings live

     

    from audience, a Kolaveri Di number but words to suit the occasion !!’

     

    Big B was also praise for the actor’s impromptu lyrics: T 594 -Dhanush words were ‘Why this Kolaveri, Kolaveri, Kolaveri ..B, .. big B … TRP .. brilliant absolutely ..!! So lovable and so good !’

     

    Bachchan won the Best Actor in Social role for Aarakshan in a new category, first of its kind, in any awards so far and another award for being a complete performer.

    He humbly and graciously accepted the award as can be seen when he tweeted: T 594 ‘…. 2 awards .. best Actor in social role for ‘Aarakshan’ and the second for the Complete Entertainer of year .. I am blessed ..!!’

     

    But this is not all, Big B has also promised his fans: ‘…some rather glorious pictures of the 2 events tonight – the BigStar Awards and the Sunday fans .. but will take a while to post.’

  • Will now handle the media sales function for KBS World, the international TV channel from South Korea

    Aidem Ventures to handle advertising sales for KBS World (South Korea)

    By A Correspondent

     

    Aidem Ventures,India’s leading independent media consulting, marketing and advertising sales company, will now handle the media sales function for KBS World, the international TV channel fromSouth Korea.  The channel is being distributed and broadcast via pay TV operators around the world, including Reliance Big TV inIndia.

     

    Announcing the appointment, Tae-Ho Sung, Senior Manager, Channel & Content Business – KBS said: “KBS is very happy to sign a deal with Aidem Ventures for media sales of the KBS World channel inIndia. In the years to come, we will be steadily developing the local advertising business into a significant revenue source by jointly teaming up with Aidem Ventures and Coast Road Media.”

     

    KBS World was represented in this transaction by Stuart Tenzer of Coast Road Media LLC. Neena Dasgupta, Head – International and Digital Businesses, Aidem Ventures said in a statement: “We are pleased to include KBS World in our steadily increasing bouquet of international offerings. The presence of KBS World shall further enhance our sales bouquet to advertisers and agencies. Besides, the association will also help KBS effectively leverage our robust media sales revenue management, broad base of relationships and our extensive domain knowledge and expertise, thus making it a mutually beneficial arrangement.”

     

    The India-South Korea relationship has grown in almost all dimensions – political, cultural and economic. With the establishment of the Free Trade Agreement between the two counties, Korean companies such as LG, Hyundai and Samsung have established manufacturing and service facilities inIndia, and several Korean construction companies are involved in the many infrastructural building plans inIndia, such as the National Highways Development Project. This has resulted in the development of a small but significant community of Korean professionals and their families’ who now work and live inIndia.

     

    As both countries have identified a convergence of interests, the seeping in of South Korean media into our country is bound to strengthen the foundation for deeper cultural ties.

     

    KBS World forms a part ofSouth Korea’s broadcasting major Korean Broadcasting System (KBS). KBS World’s programming mix comprises of the best of dramas, documentaries and entertainment programs. The channel enjoys a leader’s position in terms of prime time news with an average 20% rating or higher while the total network achieves around 60% rating. Annually, the company produces 19,000 hours of content, including mainly drama, but also documentaries, music programs, animation for kids, reality and entertainment formats, which distributes worldwide.

  • He has been brought in to identify and build strategic relationships in the marketing and recruitment ecosystems

    LinkedIn India appoints Hetal Sonpal as Director, Strategic Sales

    By A Correspondent

     

    LinkedIn, http://www.linkedin.com, the world’s largest professional network with more than 135 million members worldwide and over 12 million members in India, on Tuesday announced the appointment of Hetal Sonpal, http://in.linkedin.com/in/hetalsonpal, as Director, Strategic Sales for India.

     

    With over 13 years of experience scaling world-class sales organizations, Mr Sonpal will work closely with LinkedIn Marketing Solutions and LinkedIn Hiring Solutions. He will be focused on building and strengthening relationships with key clients and oversee the execution of strategic deals to help accelerate the growth of LinkedIn in India.

     

    “Having had operations in Indiafor over two years now, LinkedIn has emerged as a platform of choice for recruiters and brands seeking to engage with an influential and highly educated audience. We have built a strong business across India with high quality sales and marketing professionals and Hetal’s addition to the leadership team will add value to our operations. It reinforces our commitment to our customers in Indiaas we seek to build strong long-term relationships with our partners across the country,” said Hari V Krishnan, http://in.linkedin.com/in/harivk, Country Manager, LinkedIn India.

     

    Based in New Delhi, Mr Sonpal joins LinkedIn from Microsoft Corporation where he served as Lead, Telecom Alliances. Prior to that he worked with Wipro for more than 11 years and rose to leadership positions including Regional Sales Head for North India. During his tenure with Wipro, he also led Wipro’s Sales team in Japanfor over seven years and was instrumental in growing Wipro’s business with some of the largest technology and consumer electronics customers in Japan, including Toshiba, Cannon, Ricoh and Clarion.

     

    LinkedIn India is headquartered in Mumbai with offices in New Delhi and Bangalore.

  • She will be responsible for ensuring product launches, channel strategy, marketing strategy, technical training and development

    Anku Sharma joins Milagrow TabTops as Product Marketing Manager

    By A Correspondent

     

    Ms Anku Sharma has been appointed as the Product Marketing Manager for Milagrow TabTops. As the Product Marketing Manager she will be responsible for ensuring product launches, channel strategy, marketing strategy, technical training and development.

     

    Milagrow offers support as a venture catalyst to fill the ‘management capital’ need gaps of growth seeking – micro, small and medium businesses. Under industry specific consulting practice, Milagrow has special focus on retail and consumer electronics.

     

    Ms Sharma joined Milagrow Business & Knowledge Solutions as a venture catalyst in the consulting division in 2009. She has successfully worked on clients across segments like white goods, electronics, tractors, kitchen & small appliances and lifestyle and modern retail.

     

    Some of the clients that she has managed include Arcelik (Turkey), Havells, Sonalika, Eurostar (Dubai), Jindal Arc, Biglife, Chhabra 555 and Electrospark.

     

    Talking about her new role at Milagrow, Ms Sharma said: “I am delighted to be a part of the Milagrow family. With our strong customer base, wide range of offerings, and strategic alliances, I believe that we are optimally positioned to take advantage of the emerging opportunities in the Indian market. My immediate goal would be to position all our divisions equally and help them realize their fullest potential as the company moves to the next level.”

     

    Ms Sharma has graduated with B.Com & Economic Honours from Punjab Universityand is a post graduate from the Birla Institute of Management Technology in retail management.

  • Convergence of traditional broadcasting platforms with digital platforms is perhaps inevitable as digital media has become significant, not only for radio but for all media

    Digital is the future, not competition to radio

    By Robin Thomas

     

    While digital was and probably is still seen as a threat to the growth of print and television, for radio, on the other hand, the digital medium is said to be a complement and not competition.

     

    Some examples of digital successfully complementing radio to provide good content are Radio Mirchi’s VAS application – ‘Mirchi Mobile’, which allows mobile users to listen to any Radio Mirchi station from any city by just dialling a particular number across any telecom operator. Radio City’s music portal, PlanetRadiocity, in addition to its extensive music content, offers web radio, said to be India’s first and only multi-genre, live and interactive ‘Web Radio’ station that plays a variety of content 24×7. Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW), the Dutch international public broadcaster recently launched a website on sex education. Radio Maska is another internet radio portal available inIndia.

     

    Rachna Kanwar

    The one common factor among FM radio stations is that they want to stay connected with their listeners even when they are not tuned in. Hence most of them are finding new and innovative ways to engage their listeners online.

     

    Radio jockeys are going online by putting up blogs, videos and audio clips of their programmes on their FM station websites. Almost all FM stations today have made their presence felt on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

     

    MxMIndia spoke to couple of FM stations to find out the significance of digital media to FM radio today.

     

    Rachna Kanwar, Vice President and Business Head, Digital Media and New Business, Radio City feels that digital medium has helped them connect with their audiences not only in India but even those settled abroad. “With the astounding rate at which the medium is growing, it is obvious that nobody can ignore digital media today.RadioCityhas used the medium effectively to reach out to our listeners. Digital media has also enhanced our engagement with listeners and has helped us in promoting our offerings to a larger audience base,” she said.

     

    Rahul Balyan
    Amitabh Srivastava

    In order to engage the listeners and ensure that they tune in to the radio station, the traditional FM stations will have to continue re-inventing themselves a lot more around what the listeners want and how they want, especially since the choice for a listener will be infinite on digital platforms.

     

    Rahul Balyan, Senior Vice President and Head of Digital Initiatives, Radio Mirchi said, “We have realised that at least 20 per cent of Radio Mirchi listeners are online, and have a lot to say; the digital platforms allow us to connect them on a one-on-one basis. We have got a tremendous response on Facebook, Youtube, Mobile VAS and our website. All of it is driven by the equity that Radio Mirchi has created with the listeners.”

     

    Convergence of traditional broadcasting platforms with digital platforms is perhaps inevitable as digital media has become significant, not only for radio but for all media.

     

    Amitabh Srivastava, Country Manager – South Asia, Radio Netherlands Worldwide pointed out: “Digital is the future and not competition to radio and I see a lot of potential for internet or digital radio inIndia.Mobilehas also become very important today as most people listen to radio on their mobile phones and as technology will progress and internet usage grows inIndia, internet radio will also see growth.”

  • India’s most prestigious food platform honours the finest in the culinary world, Delhi NCR voted as the 'Best Foodie City' of the country

    NDTV Good Times Food Awards celebrate the best in the food industry

    By A Correspondent

     

    NDTV Good Times,India’s first premium lifestyle channel, hosted the second edition of the NDTV Good Times Food Awards at The Westin, Gurgaon on Saturday. The channel honoured top restaurants, restaurateurs and chefs from across the nation in a gala awards ceremony. The venue resonated with the presence of celebrated faces, food enthusiasts, restaurant owners, chefs and other noted guests.

     

    Within a year the NDTV Good Times Food Awards have become the definitive standard to the best in the industry. With an unmatched expert panel that is unbiased and uncompromising when it comes to food, the awards have become the last word in the food and beverage space.

     

    Among the many highlights of the event, was a Sufi jugalbandi by The Mekaal Hasan Band and Harshdeep Kaur. The Highway on My Plate duo, Rocky & Mayur kept the audience in splits with their humour and charm.

     

    An addition to this year’s award categories was the Viewer’s Choice Award. This was a single award category where the viewers got an opportunity to decide theBestFoodieCitythrough their votes and Delhi NCR was unanimously selected by the viewers.

     

    The winners were selected by a highly qualified jury comprising of NDTV award winning anchor Vinod Dua, celebrity chef Ritu Dalmia, food critic Marut Sikka, popular anchor and chef Aditya Bal, restaurateur and chef Vicky Ratnani and Highway Stars Rocky & Mayur.

     

    Speaking on the occasion, Smeeta Chakrabarti, CEO, NDTV Lifestyle said: “We are delighted with the overwhelming response to the second edition of NDTV Good Times Food Awards. We are happy to see not only the industry, but also viewers from across the country voted for their favourite nominees. I would like to congratulate all the winners on behalf of the entire team of NDTV Good Times.”

     

    The list of NDTV Good Times Food Awards winners:

    Best North Indian Restaurant: Karim’s Hotel, Old Delhi

    Best Coastal Indian Restaurant: Gajalee, Mumbai

    Best Regional Restaurant: Ponuswamy, Chennai

    Best Asian Restaurant: Bomra’s,Goa

    Best Dessert & Coffee Menu: L’Opera,New Delhi

    Best Bar: The Blue Fog, Mumbai

    Best European Restaurant: Indigo, Mumbai

    Most Sensational Debut: Smoke House Room,New Delhi

    All time favourite Restaurant: Flury’s, Kolkata

    Best Dhaba: Fadtare Misal Pao,Kolhapur

    BestFoodieCity:DelhiNCR