MxMIndia

Category: MARKETING

  • The company has also started the 'Adopt a School' program to increase awareness about the importance of maintaining good oral habits

    Colgate’s ‘Oral Health Month’ focuses zero cavities

    By A Correspondent

     

    Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited (Colgate), the market leader in oral care and the Indian Dental Association (IDA), rolled out its annual national awareness program – ‘Oral Health Month’ (OHM), earlier this week.

     

    Spread over two months – December 2011 and January 2012, Colgate and IDA will focus on creating awareness to fight cavities and instill the importance of good oral hygiene through dental check-ups, across the country. This year, a unique ‘Adopt a School’ initiative has been kicked off, where school children, as ‘Little Dentists’, will spread the message of good oral care habits in community schools.

     

    Actor Raveena Tandon visited one such program atSacredHeartHigh School, Andheri, to extend her support and urge mothers to play an important role in the dental care of their children. Raveena Tandon said: “Colgate needs to be commended for an initiative of this scale. Given the dramatic changes in lifestyle and food, cavities are a growing concern for today’s generation. All mothers should insist on their children brushing twice a day to maintain a healthy mouth.”

     

    The ‘Adopt a School’ program is a new initiative by Colgate to increase awareness about the importance of maintaining good oral habits. As part of this ongoing school program, ‘Little Dentists’ will reach out to children in community primary schools, spreading the message of good oral care hygiene and pledge for ‘Zero Cavities’.

     

    During the ‘Adopt a School’ program, 10 Little Dentists fromMKESHigh School, Malad, visited over 250 children ofSacredHeartPrimary School. They spoke about their own oral care regime and the importance of good oral habits to prevent cavities. They introduced five important care tips for dental care recommended by Colgate. The ‘Little Dentists’ encouraged the students of Sacred Heart High School to avail of the free cavity check-ups organized at their premise as part of Colgate’s ‘Oral Health Month’. Furthermore, all participating school children pledged to invite their friends and family members to sign up for a free cavity check-up and practice good oral hygiene.

    Rekha Rao, Vice President Marketing, ColgateIndiasaid: “At, Colgate, it is our continuous effort to spread awareness around good oral care. Focused initiatives like the ‘Adopt a School’ during our ‘Oral Health Month’ are an important way to reach children and mothers. This year, in association with IDA, we will create oral care awareness in approximately 10,000 schools reaching out to 20 lakh school children acrossIndia.”

     

    Dr. Ashok Dhoble, Hon Secretary General, Indian Dental Association said: “We are delighted to partner with Colgate in this national awareness program that has grown phenomenally in the past seven years. This year we are looking at over 25,000 dentists to support and spread basic oral health education and awareness among the masses, especially in the interior rural areas.”

     

     

  • The online platform will help like-minded PC users to share and discuss ideas, and form project teams to develop these ideas into workable plans.

    Lenovo launches online network for idea sharing

    By A Correspondent

     

    Computer maker Lenovo has announced the launch of the Do Network (donetwork.lenovo.com), an online platform designed to inspire people to turn their big ideas into positive outcomes.

     

    The Do Network, building on Lenovo’s “For Those Who Do” brand campaign, extends Lenovo’s promise to empower the communities the doers operate in with the best tools, technology and resources.

     

    The focal point of the Do Network is an online space where like-minded Indians can unite to share and discuss ideas that they are passionate about, and to form project teams to develop these ideas into workable and concrete plans.

     

    The Do Network will also serve as a platform to connect these project teams to other people in the community who will act as mentors and lend their skills and expertise.

     

    “Through the Do Network, we want to create not just a platform but a movement that brings Doers together to push the limits on collaboration and creation, and inspire them to turn their great ideas into something meaningful and tangible,” said Shailendra Katyal, Director, marketing, Lenovo India.

     

    Lenovo will set up a Do Lab in India where the top 10 finalist teams will work with the mentors to discuss and refine their projects.

     

    The Do Network will comprise a series of four 90-day contest cycles, with different themes and thematic challenges introduced for each cycle.

     

    The first cycle will be based on the theme of ‘Innovation through Technology’ where teams have to come up with new ways of using technology to create solutions that address the tough problems that exist in their communities. The cycle will run till March 7, 2012. Interested participants can submit their project ideas at donetwork.lenovo.com

     

    Project teams will be required to work on one of the four challenges issued – portable education, traffic jam or products progress. The fourth, a wildcard challenge, will also be provided to allow Doers to pursue their individual ideas that may not fall under the specific challenge categories, but still fit with the theme.

     

    Rajiv Makhni, Managing Editor for Technology, NDTV, New-Delhi; Rajan Anandan MD Google India, India; Mahesh Murthy, Managing Partner, Seedfund; Kishore AK, CEO & Co-Founder at Althea system will act as mentors for the participating teams.

     

    The mentors will guide the project teams throughout the contest and will be part of the selection process for the top 10 finalists.

    The winners will receive the prize money of $25,000 as seed funds to put their projects to practical use.

  • The sponsorship is significant for India as Ricoh is also an Official Partner of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals and also sponsors a host of other ATP Tour events.

    Ricoh joins as official sponsor for Aircel Chennai Open 2012

    By A Correspondent

     

    Ricoh, which specializes in the office and production printing markets, has announced its association with the Aircel Chennai Open 2012 as an Official Sponsor. The $450,000 Aircel Chennai Open, operated and organised by IMG Reliance, isIndia’s only andSouth Asia’s premier ATP World Tour Open 250 event.

     

    The tournament will be held from January 2 to 8, 2012 and will see in action an impressive line-up of Indian and International players including world number 9 Janko Tipsarevic and world number 10 Nicolas Almagro, Somdev Devvarman, Rohan Bopanna and Mahesh Bhupathi, among others.

     

    Ricoh is also an Official Partner of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals and also sponsors a host of other ATP Tour events, hence the association with India’s only premier ATP World Tour tennis event is a testament to the stature of the tournament.

     

    “The ATP is the region’s elite tennis arena and this partnership reflects our continued commitment and dedication to going beyond simply streamlining the document processes at the events we sponsor,” said Majima Nobuaki, Ricoh Asia Pacific’s Managing Director.

     

    Fernando Soler, the Tournament Director and Head of Tennis, IMG Worldwide, said: “It is a pleasure to have Ricoh on board as a sponsor for the Aircel Chennai Open. The support from global corporations such as Ricoh is a testimonial for it and for the growing popularity of the game inIndia.”

  • The lifestyle channel will honour veterans and achievers from the food industry.

    NDTV Good Times Food Awards on Dec 17

    By A Correspondent

     

    Premium lifestyle channel NDTV Good Times is presenting the second edition of the NDTV Good Times Food Awards, honouring veterans and achievers from the food industry, at a gala night at The Westin, Gurgaon on December 17.

     

    NDTV Good Times is India’s top-ranked English-language lifestyle television channel and the KAFF NDTV Good Times Food Awards are considered to be the definitive guide to the best in the industry. The awards are selected by an expert jury of renowned names such as Vinod Dua, Ritu Dalmia, Marut Sikka, Aditya Bal, Vicky Ratnani, and Rocky and Mayur. The awards will be hosted once again by the witty and charming Rocky and Mayur.

     

    This year the awards consist of two categories – the jury’s choice and the viewer’s choice award which is a single award category where the viewers will decide ‘The Best Foodie City’ through their votes. The city that gets the maximum votes gets crowned The Foodie City of India.

     

    Announcing the second NDTV Good Times Food Awards, Smeeta Chakrabarti, Chief Executive Officer, NDTV Lifestyle, said: “After the overwhelming response we received last year, we are really looking forward to present the second NDTV Good Times Food Awards. This year we’re pulling out all stops to make the awards bigger. With the introduction of the viewers’ choice award category, we hope to involve our loyal viewers in the process of choosing their favourite foodie city.”

     

    There, winners are chosen by on-ground, SMS and online voting on goodtimes.ndtv.com. For selection through on-ground voting, 10 cities have been short-listed, where 100 ballot boxes have been kept in popular restaurants for a period of 3-4 weeks from November 10 onwards.

     

    Votes from these ballot boxes are tabulated by Ernst & Young and, along with the SMS and online figures, will decide the winning city. One lucky person and the restaurant that gets the maximum number of votes from the winning city gets the chance to attend the gala night in Delhi.

     

    The jury has already shortlisted the top five restaurants on the basis of the research conducted by Ernst & Young. Final scoring will be reviewed one more time closer to the awards for a final seal of approval from the jury and winners will be announced on the night of the awards.

     

    All awards are based on achievements during the preceding 12 months.

  • Lifetime Achievement Award for Kiran Karnik; IT return electronic filing project wins the Pathbreaker of the Year award.

    TCS CEO N Chandrasekaran wins the Dataquest IT Person of the Year award 2011

    By A Correspondent

     

    Natarajan Chandrasekaran, CEO of India’s largest IT Services company, Tata Consultancy Services, has been conferred the Dataquest IT Person of the Year award for 2011-one of the most coveted honours in Indian IT.

     

    The award is given by IT magazine Dataquest every year to an individual for making extraordinary contribution to Indian IT. The jury led by Mr Pramod Bhasin of Genpact (and 2010 Dataquest IT person of the year) unanimously decided on Mr Chandrasekaran who is regarded as the face of next generation leadership in the Indian IT. In the context of most of the first generation leaders stepping down, there was apprehension about a leadership vacuum being created. The jury felt that Mr Chandrasekaran, through his able leadership has proved that any such fear is unfounded.

     

    A TCS insider, Mr Chandrasekaran also stands as a role model for millions of programmers and engineers as he started as a trainee in TCS and rose to become its top leader.

     

    “Chandra’s able leadership is a testimony to the fact that Indian IT companies have it in them to grow extraordinary leadership internally,” noted Pradeep Gupta, Chairman of CyberMedia, the publishers of Dataquest. “The success of Indian IT is not a one-time achievement of only a few individuals,” he added.

     

    Kiran Karnik was awarded for his Lifetime Contribution to Indian IT. Mr Karnik, who led NASSCOM as president for seven years also headed the government appointed board of Satyam that moved fast and in a transparent manner and was instrumental in establishing the credibility of India in the wake of the Satyam crisis. He is also associated with many educational institutions.

     

    The online IT return filing system of the Income Tax Department, Government of India was awarded the Dataquest Pathbreaker Award for 2011 making the lives of millions of taxpayers smoother, while reducing refund time drastically and enhancing overall efficiency. Between 2004 to 2011, there are five government projects/companies/persons who have won this coveted award.

     

    The 2010 Dataquest IT Person of the year Award had gone to Pramod Bhasin, Vice Chairman (then CEO) of BPO company Genpact. And as the winner of the last year Mr Bhasin headed the jury this year that included Pradeep Gupta, CMD of CyberMedia India (as Vice Chairman); Vijay Thadani, CEO, NIIT; Shankar Aggarwall, Addl Secretary, Department of IT; Ganesh Lakshminarayanan, MD, Dell India; Col H S Bedi, CEO, Tulip; Amrita Gangotra, CIO, Airtel; Professor Pankaj Jalote, Director, IIIT Delhi, and Shyam Malhotra, Director, CyberMedia India.

     

    The awards, now in the 19th year, were conferred at a glittering ceremony in the presence of industry leaders and leading CIOs. The awards night this year also included the PC Quest Best IT Implementaation awards, given by PC Quest, another CyberMedia publication.

     

    Dataquest also honoured top manufacturers, service providers and institutions based on their Dataquest Top 20 rankings for FY 2010-11 and their performance in various surveys conducted by the magazine throughout the year.

     

    Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) retained its top position as the No 1 IT company and No 1 IT exporter. It also bagged the newly instituted Top Engineering Services company award.

     

    The Dataquest Top Personal Systems company award went to Dell India for recording the highest combined revenue in sales of desktops and laptops.

     

    Hewlett Packard (HP) India won the Top Server Company award while the newly instituted Top Storage Company award went to EMC India. With dominant market share, HP also won the Top Imaging and Printing Company for 2010 making it a total of two awards.

     

    Cisco India won the Top Networking Company award for recording the highest sales in networking equipment during 2010-11. The IT training pioneer NIIT won the award for Top Training Company for yet another year.

     

    IBM India remained ahead of others and won the top IT Services Company (India Market) award. The pioneering BPO Company Genpact with revenues of over one billion dollars bagged the Top BPO company award. Ingram Micro India bagged the Top Distribution Company award for 2011. SAP India topped the software products sales to bag the Top Software Company award for 2011.

     

    Despite tough competition from new pure play smart phone makers and Indian companies, Nokia continued to lead the smart phone market and bagged the Top Smartphone Company award for 2011.

     

    HCL Infosystems won the Best Employer (IT) award based on its No 1 rank in DQ-CMR Best Employer Survey (IT) 2011. BPO firm, vCustomer won the Best Employer BPO award for the fifth time in a row.IITBombay won the Top T School award based on its No 1 rank in DQ-CMR Top T School Survey 2011. It was the winner last year too.

     

    The winners are selected by a jury of eminent individuals from IT industry, IT user organizations and academicians among others. Some of the past IT persons of the year include Infosys’ NR Narayana Murthy, HCL’s Shiv Nadar, Wipro’s Azim Premji, NIIT’s Rajendra S Pawar, Bharti’s Sunil B Mittal, Genpact’s Pramod Bhasin, Cognizant’s Lakshmi Narayanan and former IT Secretary N Vittal.

  • Holii, a partnership between Future Ventures and Hidesign has announced the appointment of Gilles Moutounet as its Chief Executive Officer. Holii offers a unique range of bags and accessories that combines a distinct Indian design aesthetic with the high production standards of Hidesign.

    Gilles Moutounet joins Future Group’s Holii as CEO

    By A Correspondent

     

    Holii, a partnership between Future Ventures and Hidesign has announced the appointment of Gilles Moutounet as its Chief Executive Officer. Holii offers a unique range of bags and accessories that combines a distinct Indian design aesthetic with the high production standards of Hidesign.

     

    Mr Moutounet brings with him more than 15 years of global leadership experience in Luxury retail and Consulting. A French national, Mr Moutounet has also held senior executive positions with LVMH Group, Aubade, Altios Consulting and Gitanjali group among others.

     

    Ashni Biyani, Director, Holii said, “We are delighted to have Gilles on board and are sure his know-how of brand development and luxury retailing will prove invaluable in delivering on our objective of celebrating the beauty of the Indian woman and bringing luxury into her everyday life.”

     

    Commenting on his new role, Mr Moutounet said, “Holii brings alive beauty, crafted in contemporary designs and an Indian outlook that you can wear anywhere in the world. The brand has tremendous potential in India and overseas as well. The brand has been growing rapidly since its inception and I am now happy to be part of it to take it to the next level.”

     

    The unique ideology of Holii – creating everyday luxury accessories with Indian emotions has been well received since its inception in 2009. Holii’s product offering includes handbags and wallets, laptop bags, iPad and cell phone cases, small accessories and handbag jewellery. It is this Indo-chic appeal which wins the brand its large fan following.

  • Real estate developer from Chennai, X S Real has appointed Aegis Media's Vizeum India as its media AOR.

    Vizeum bags media duties of X S Real

    By A Correspondent

     

    Real estate developer from Chennai, X S Real has appointed Aegis Media’s Vizeum India as its media AOR. Vizeum India will handle X S Real’s media mandate to help them talk to their consumers in as captive a manner as possible.

     

    Having carved a niche for themselves with refreshing home ideas, the three brands of X S Real – xqsit, Vibe and Fairsquare – aim to meet unique requirements of home seekers. The flagship brand xqsit offers luxury thematic bungalow apartments while Vibe focuses on designing mid sized dwellings that are elegant yet vibrant. Fairsquare delivers compact little dreams for the first time home buyers.

     

    S Suresh, Chief Marketing Officer, X S Real said, “This is not one of the best times for our industry and we needed a partner who will understand our business and think on our behalf. With Vizeum, we found their thinking contemporary and their team passionate.”

     

    Commenting on the win, S Yesudas, Managing Director – Indian Subcontinent, Vizeum said, “We are thankful to the X S Real management for considering us worthy to partner them in realising their ambition.” This business, according to Mr Yesudas, will be handled out of Vizeum’s Chennai office.

  • The new moneycontrol.com iPad app will provide enhanced real-time access to financial markets.

    Moneycontrol.com launches first app for iPad

    By A Correspondent

     

    Moneycontrol.com has announced the launch of its new app exclusively for iPad users. Already the no 1 financial app on iPhone and other smart phone platforms, the new moneycontrol.com iPad app will provide enhanced real-time access to financial markets.

     

    Users can get real time stock quotes, commodity prices, currency rates, Indian and global market indices as well as enjoy in-depth coverage and analysis of financial markets, economy, business and much more. Besides this, users can also access their portfolio and watchlist and watch live streaming of CNBC-TV18 and CNBC Awaaz. Users can also access moneycontrol’s large investor community through moneycontrol’s message board service. The app also includes a whole host of other features like alerts, in-depth information and data on all listed companies, video-on-demand etc.

     

    Commenting on the offering, Joyson Thomas, COO, Web18 said, “As increasing number of users are now consuming content and services through tablets and smartphones, it made sense to tap into this fast growing segment of savvy users, and carve out a dominant position in this space. Launching the moneycontrol app for iPad is part of our endeavor to stay in tune with changing user preferences. Looking at the overwhelming response to the moneycontrol app across all other platforms and the feedback that iPad has received from the market, we are positive that the combination of both will take this product to a new level.”

  • CNBC-TV18 Prime HD reaches out to premium consumers of the electronic store Croma through streaming of the HD channel across multiple LCD panels displayed in the store.

    CNBC TV18 Prime HD goes experiential

    By a Correspondent

     

    Targeted towards affluent male consumers across age groups, Aurora Comms is running its latest campaign on the new CNBC-TV18 Prime HD channel across electronics stores. Currently running in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Ahmedabad, the duration of this campaign is three weeks.

     

    Aurora Comms uses multiple television panels displayed in electronic stores to create an experiential zone for brands. While some of the brands use the medium as pure-play display medium, for some it also works as experiential or sampling. The business news channel is being broadcast live at various Croma Stores across multiple cities. The channel has also taken some facades for branding as a part of their out of home campaign.

     

    CNBC-TV18 Prime HD reaches out to premium consumers of the electronic store Croma through streaming of the HD channel across multiple LCD panels displayed in the store, creating an ambience of High Definition broadcast.

     

    Mr Samir Vithlani, Director – Key Accounts, Aurora Comms said, “It is our endeavour to deliver to targeted consumers in a contextual manner. Croma attracts intellectual consumers and therefore we worked on offering branding and showcasing the channel across these stores.”

  • Neha Dhupia is the face of Gitanjali’s new campaign for the GDivas line.

    Neha is Gitanjali’s ‘Diva’

    By A Correspondent

    The integrated branded diamond jewellery manufacturer Gitanjali Group has launched GDivas, a fashion forward brand offering a collection of jewellery studded with diamonds, pearls and coloured stones. These lightweight jewellery pieces are intended to offer a perfect ‘everyday’ complement that defines a fresh, youthful and chic look with a blend of fusion and western designs.

    With the ‘G’ in the brand name standing for Gitanjali, ‘Divas’ is more to do with the attitude of the confident and stylish women of today who is a diva in her own right. Thus, the brand ambassador was chosen to be Neha Dhupia, who is known for her versatility, modern urban chic personality and self-confidence – values that embody the young working women of today.

    Commenting on her association with Gdivas, Neha Dhupia said, “It’s wonderful to be associated with a fashion forward brand like Gdivas, offering young professional women like me jewellery which we can flaunt for every occasion, an extensive yet affordable collection to choose from, which adds flair to any outfit and all occasions, truly making one feel like a diva.”

    Talking about the inception of the new brand and the campaign, Shardah Uniyal, GM Marketing – Gitanjali Group said, “Gdivas, the latest offing from the Gitanjali Group aims to bejewel a young woman with adulation everyday for every occasion. The collection boasts of lightweight trendy and chic pieces that complete every ensemble no matter what the occasion. Neha Dhupia truly personifies the young free spirited, social and independent woman who is a diva in her own right, thus being an apt choice as a brand ambassador for Gdivas.”

     

  • VF Corporation’s subsidiary VF Mauritius , has acquired full ownership of VF Arvind Brands Private Limited

    VF Corporation’s joint venture in India

    By A Correspondent

     

    VF Corporation, a global leader in branded lifestyle apparel, has announced that its subsidiary, VF Mauritius, has acquired full ownership of VF Arvind Brands Private Limited, a majority-owned joint venture between VF Mauritius and Arvind Limited formed in 2006 to market VF brands in India.

    “Our business in India is strong, and now is the time to assume full ownership,” said Eric C. Wiseman, Chairman, President and CEO of VF Corporation.

    Aidan O’Meara, President, VF Asia, noted: “VF is grateful for the contribution Arvind made to the development of a fast-growing and profitable business for our brands in India. VF and Arvind will continue to have a strong working relationship, now and in the future.”

    Mr O’Meara added that he does not expect any impact to jobs or changes in the day-to-day operations of the business in India. The new name of the wholly owned business in India has not yet been announced.

  • Ace Cricketer Yuvraj Singh is now Puma’s Brand Ambassador

    From bat to cat: Yuvraj is Puma ambassador

    By A Correspondent

     

    Puma, the global sport lifestyle brand, has announced the dashing all rounder of the Indian cricket team Yuvraj Singh as their brand ambassador. The flamboyant yet fashionable blue eyed boy of Indian cricket will now be the face of Puma’s new #Love 12 campaign launched especially for Puma and Yuvi fans.

    At the press conference held in Mumbai, Yuvraj interacted with the media present. The unique digital press conference was in a chat show format, where the media had an interactive Q&A session with Yuvraj Singh and Rajiv Mehta, MD, Puma, India while Mandira Bedi played the perfect host. As Yuvi bowled over the media with his charm and wit, he also connected with his fans and media from other cities through Twitter. This digital platform helped Yuvraj reach out to his fans and the media in a never-been-done before manner. Yuvraj broke the news about his new association with Puma and what #love12 stands for to his fans on twitter at noon today through a video announcement.

    Speaking on the occasion, Rajiv Mehta, MD, Puma, India said, “Yuvraj Singh is the quintessential athlete for Puma. He epitomizes the youth of today with his forthright personality, which exuberates confidence. He is an all rounder and his versatility allows the youth to connect to him instantly. With his talent and charisma, Yuvraj is an aspirational personality and an ideal choice to represent Puma.”

    Talking about the association, Yuvraj Singh said, “(Smiles) A strong brand like Puma needs no introduction; it gives me immense pleasure and satisfaction to be associated with a leading sports lifestyle brand like Puma which embodies style, fun and passion. For me, joy and passion are the most important elements of cricket and this drives me to continually improve myself as a cricketer and as a person. Puma shares these same values and I am looking forward to this alliance.”

    #love12 is an eco-system for Puma, Yuvi and fans to come up with ideas that make a difference, small or big. 2012 is the year of #love12. Every month, starting next year, #love12 will crowd-source one idea and bring it to fruition on the 12th of every month.

    Those who want to know more about Yuvraj and Puma can join #LOVE12 on twitter.