MxMIndia

Category: MARKETING

  • Fever 104 FM and Reliance Commercial Finance has launched Fever iDream, which will give budding entrepreneurs an opportunity to earn Rs 25 lakh

    Fever 104 FM & Reliance Commercial Finance launch iDream

    By A Correspondent

     

    Fever 104 FM and Reliance Commercial Finance has launched Fever iDream, which will give budding entrepreneurs an opportunity to earn Rs 25 lakh. Fever 104 FM, which is said to reach over 15 million listeners across key metros, aims to provide a platform that will enable people to realise their business aspirations.

     

    Launched on September 3, 2012, Fever iDream is a campaign that gives listeners a chance to present a great business idea. The best idea will earn Rs 25 lakh as seed capital to pursue their own venture. Reliance Commercial Finance will sponsor the funding and will give an opportunity to listeners to make their dreams of starting their own SME business come true.

     

    All the listeners have to do is log onto www.fever.fm/idream, fill in basic details and submit their business idea. The jury members will evaluate the submitted ideas and shortlist the ten best ideas from each of the four cities – Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore. From these 40 contestants, four finalists will further get shortlisted and awarded Rs 2 lakh each. The final round will be broadcast on TV (Bloomberg TV India) where the best deserving candidate will earn Rs 25 lakh.

     

    The jury includes Vivek Khanna, Business Head – Mint, K V Srinivasan – CEO, Reliance commercial finance and Harshad Jain – Business Head, Fever 104 FM. They bring with them years of operational and strategic experience and will be involved in identifying the brightest business idea.

     

    Mr Jain said, “Fever iDream is the first such radio innovation where common people can fulfil their business aspirations and become their own boss. The concept is aimed towards helping budding entrepreneurs who have the capability but lack funds. Reliance Commercial Finance and Fever iDream can change lives and I am sure it will be a huge success”.

     

    Mr Srinivasan said, “There is an entrepreneur in all of us. However there are only a few who dare to dream big, who want to start their own venture, and who have the ability to make it. Radio is a mobile medium and offers cost-effective reach. Moreover we have UTV Bloomberg as the broadcast partner. Together, we want to reach out to a large number of entrepreneurial people and enable the most deserving to live his/her ambition.”

     

  • Allied Media has appointed Shilpa Dhanu as Head – M3 Project & Strategy Team. In her new role, Ms Dhanu will be responsible for the Centralised Data Analytics Cell and will be based in Mumbai

    Allied Media ropes in Shilpa Dhanu

    Shilpa Dhanu

    By A Correspondent

     

    Allied Media has appointed Shilpa Dhanu as Head – M3 Project & Strategy Team. In her new role, Ms Dhanu will be responsible for the Centralised Data Analytics Cell and will be based in Mumbai. She will be reporting to Shripad Kulkarni, CEO, Allied Media and with a core team of senior and junior analysts will take care of research & analytical needs for clients across India. Shilpa will have a mandate of assisting and steering the strategy team of the company to newer heights. She also will be responsible in creating newer avenues and strategising various offerings of the company for the clients.

     

    Allied Media last year had launched “Centralised Data Analytical Cell” that specialises in leveraging various strategic initiatives across all media companies of the Percept Group for the clients. It will be conducting research and collating data on key sectors and industries on a round-the-clock basis. This data will help in giving a tailor-made report to the client and will help in effectively measuring all their communication campaigns including ATL, BTL, social media, word of mouth and other vehicles optimally.

     

    Shilpa Dhanu has more than a decade’s experience and has worked as Senior Manager-Consumer Insights – Star Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. She has also had a successful stint in UTV, Carat Media Services Ogilvy & Mather, MTV India, Zenith Optimedia, Initiative Media, and CSRIdentity.com where she has been instrumental in handling Research & Strategy for them.

     

  • Havas Media has announced the launch of mobile marketing brand Mobext in Singapore and Malaysia with Michael de Souza being appointed General Manager of the newly launched agency

    Havas Media launches Mobext in S’pore, M’sia

    By A Correspondent

     

    Havas Media has announced the launch of mobile marketing brand Mobext in Singapore and Malaysia with Michael de Souza being appointed General Manager of the newly launched agency.

     

    Mobext Singapore and Malaysia will leverage the strengths of sister agency MPG and Havas Digital siblings Media Contacts and Ecselis and their strong portfolio of clients like Resorts World Sentosa, DBS Bank, NTUC Fairprice, Abbott, to expand its business in the market.

     

    Currently present in 19 markets globally, Mobext offers an end-to-end mobile marketing agency service to clients. The agency’s offering in Singapore will include messaging services like sms and download; mobile internet services like WAP consulting and development, mobile display, mobile search; proximity based services including LBS and mapping. It will also offer integration through reporting and analytics by Havas Digital’s campaign management platform.

     

    Mr de Souza is a digital strategist with broad agency, ad network, media planning and content development experience. He joins the agency from global advertising network Buzzcity Pte Ltd, where he served as a VP for Media. During his 12-year career, he has managed cross-channel campaigns and developed content for brands including Coca-Cola, Nestle, EAGames, Disney, Nike and MTN.

     

    Commenting on the launch, Vishnu Mohan, CEO of Havas Media Asia Pacific said, “Singapore and Malaysia are strategically important markets for Havas Media and very advanced when it comes to mobile penetration and usage. We think that the time is just right for the launch of Mobext in the two markets. Our vision is to be the only pure-play mobile marketing agency network with truly regional scale across the entire Asia-Pacific, with strong mobile leaders in every major Asian market. This will allow us to work with the largest advertisers across the region for region-wide mobile marketing agency campaigns.”

     

    The launch of Mobext in Singapore follows the launch of the agency brand in Asia Pacific starting from India in the second quarter of 2011. This year in February, the media group acquired a majority stake in Snapworx Mobile Inc in the Philippines, following which the agency was rebranded as Mobext.

     

  • Cheil has taken on new team heads for Activations, Interactive and Retail

    Cheil Worldwide SW Asia adds to leadership strength

    Vikas Khanna
    Rajesh Bhatia
    Manish Shukla

    Cheil Worldwide SW Asia has announced the appointments of Vikas Khanna as Head - Activations, Rajesh Bhatia as Head – Interactive and Manish Shukla as Head of Retail.

     

    Mr Bhatia joins from Euro RSCG 4D where he was President; Mr Khanna from G2Rams- a WPP group company aligned with Grey Worldwide where he was VP & Branch Head, and Mr Shukla from Retailscape.

     

    Confirming the appointments, Alok Agrawal, COO, Cheil WW, SW Asia said, “The story of our growth trajectory is already known. Nima’s joining has tripled our creative strength. Now with Vikas, Rajesh and Manish on board, our leadership team has become even stronger. This enables us to further capitalise on the demands of the marketplace and take brand Cheil to even greater heights.”

     

    A digital evangelist with over 17 years of work experience, Rajesh Bhatia has been driving innovative digital and integrated marketing strategies for some of the leading global brands including Nokia, IBM, Max Life Insurance, Airtel, Reckitt Bencksier (Dettol, Harpic, Vanish, Veet, Mortein) and Unilever, among others.

     

    Having taken to digital and data led consumer marketing almost a decade ago, Mr Bhatia has been a part of the evolution of new age communication in India and has been helping brands transition from traditional marketing communication to effective marketing in the digital world. Leveraging his rich experience and core competency of ‘creating ideas and concepts’, he has been the chief architect and creator of one of India’s largest virtual communities – igenius (www.igenious.org) for Max Life Insurance.

     

    An experienced professional in events, BTL and activation, Vikas Khanna comes with over 13 years of work experience. His extensive understanding of the business has earned him a longstanding portfolio of client relationships.

     

    Over the years he has managed brands including BlackBerry (RIM), Cisco, Audi, BMW, M3M, Genpact, Hyundai, GE, Canara HSBC, ITDC, HTC, among others.

     

    Manish Shukla brings with him a wide range of business expertise, experience and relationships in the area of Retail Marketing & Management. Over the years he has consulted to a wide range of clients such as HUL-Wall’s Ice cream – Danone International, Evian, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Bacardi – Martini, Bharat Shell, Braun, Parker, Airtel, Shaw Wallace, Samsung, LG – CDMA Phones and Barista Coffee Bars. He moves from Retailscape which he set up in 1996.

     

  • Mother Dairy milk has changed its milk pack with a new exciting look. The new look of village graphics highlights how milk from the farm reaches the consumer's home

    Mother Dairy milk revamps packaging

    By A Correspondent

     

    Mother Dairy milk has changed its milk pack with a new exciting look. The new look of village graphics highlights how milk from the farm reaches the consumer’s home.

     

    The official spokesperson for Mother Dairy said, “Mother Dairy is a brand synonymous with quality, trust, and purity. We wanted to communicate the same approach in our packaging as well. Our new brand packaging is both impactful and informative in communicating our brand value to end users. Setting a new standard in the dairy industry with this packaging change, we are confident that these products will be enthusiastically received by our consumers. Consumer research shows that villages are synonymous to purity. We have taken this insight and brought it alive in our packaging.”

     

    Mother Dairy milk is available in six variants which are differentiated on the basis of color. In order to avoid any confusion among consumers, the new packs will be available in the same color for all the variants but with new design. This packaging change is prevalent across all regions where the Mother Dairy milk is available viz. Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai.

     

    The new pack has been designed by South Asia’s leading brand consulting and design company named Ray and Keshavan, The Brand Union. Speaking on behalf of Ray and Keshavan, Meeta Malhotra, Director, says ‘Mother Dairy is an amazing brand that is loved and trusted by consumers across all demographics. The new milk pack interprets the core promise of purity and trust in an entirely contemporary way. It is always a privilege to work with Mother Dairy because the brand has an Indian heart and soul while meeting the highest global standards of quality.’

     

  • Decoding Communication is a book that helps in deciphering this complex subject through its fluid and anecdotal writing

    Decoding Communication launched by TRA Publishing

    By A Correspondent

     

    Communication is a universal remedy. It helps bridge relationships, sustain knowledge and also makes chance more predictable. Communication builds a nourishing environment for organisations, brands and individuals to grow. In today’s environment of information overload, it is imperative that anyone interested in understanding, influencing and managing communication, has full knowledge of the subject and Decoding Communication is a book that helps in deciphering this complex subject through its fluid and anecdotal writing.

     

    Sam Balsara, Chairman and Managing Director of the Madison Group, says about the book, “Decoding Communications is an excellent read for both students and practitioners of communication. It helps provide a conceptual framework to better understand what we do intuitively and why it works and sometimes doesn’t. Chandramouli needs to be complimented on coming up with this alongside running two successful companies. The purpose of all business is to create ‘Trust’ and if it succeeds in doing that, business succeeds.”

     

    Author N Chandramouli is the CEO of the Comniscient Group which has interests in several communication businesses. He has been a communication consultant to several global companies that include brands like DHL, Henkel, Botox, D&B and J&J. He lectures in several communication colleges and is also the author of The Brand Trust Report, India Study (2011 and 2012), and Decoding Communication. More information is available at www.nchandramouli.com.

     

  • Adperson Anil Kapoor, Bharat Dabholkar and Rahul da Cunha on the man who created superbrand Amul

    Verghese Kurien: Great vision, Dream client

     

    By Bharat Dabholkar

     

    No better client, no better professional
    By Anil KapoorChairman Emeritus, DraftFCB+Ulka

     

    Dr Kurien was one of the greatest human beings I’ve worked with. You couldn’t find a better client, a better professional. When we were being briefed for what became Amul: The Taste of India, he said “Amul is an iconic Indian brand. Rather than doing advertising on the products, let’s do this and the rest will follow.”

     

    Based on the brief, we took the script and music to him and it was approved immediately. He was a proud Indian who always wanted original Indian advertising. After that, even as they launched a number of other products they never had to do separate advertising.

     

    It was always Amul: The Taste of India. Dr Kurien used to say, “If I have a good product and good advertising, it will sell by itself.”

     

    That’s why Amul is such an iconic brand. In the food industry where brands are constantly coming up with schemes, it has never relied on any schemes to dealers or consumers.

     

    Everything moved; they’ve never dumped. He gave the agency a total free hand and never changed so much as a comma or full stop in the copy.

     

    Once when we were presenting a campaign, a gentleman turned around and started to make suggestions. This was not Dr Kurien’s style at all. ‘

     

    He turned around and told the man, “If you call an architect and then make changes, if the roof falls, would you blame the architect or yourself?”

     

    (As told to Ravi Balakrishnan)

     
    He gave each man his own space
    By Rahul daCunhaCEO, daCunha Communications

     

    My father Sylvester daCunha created the Amul butter campaign in the 1960s. He took it to Dr Kurien and explained its unique qualities: the creation of the girl, the need to run it on outdoor hoardings, the topical nature of the campaign. It needed a certain frequency to be created and therefore the trust that they could go ahead without the client approval.

     

    These were the incredible trust guidelines that Dr Kurien set down — a great example of a client saying ‘You are good at what you do so just go ahead.’ He backed the campaign in spite of it not having any of the clichés of food product advertising since what he created at Amul was off the beaten track.

     

    My interactions with him were more as a child and not so much as a client. By the time I came on board, he’d pretty much delegated the campaign to his team. But the core team has not changed and in many ways, that’s what makes the Amul model so unique. The current marketing team and managing director have worked with Dr Kurien and so it’s just a question of carrying the campaign on. In their favour, many clients change campaigns only when they don’t get good feedback or the sales have been dropping; neither of which has happened with Amul.

     

    Dr Kurien did support us though: there was one hoarding, where the person it was about got quite upset; I won’t get into who the person is. I was quite stressed. This person thought it would be clever to sue Dr Kurien. Which was the worst thing to do since he had dealt with a lot more than one man suing him.

     

    He was quite happy with our work; happy that a campaign he’d given a green signal to back in the 1960s could continue. I interviewed him for the book Amul’s India and he says a very interesting thing: “I realise how wise a decision it was to give complete freedom to the ad agency to do their job in a professional way. I never interfered with their work and the result is before you. They have done an exemplary job.”

     

    When you see a man like this and then see the levels of corruption that exist today you wonder, where are our leaders? Where are the visionaries of today? Here was a man who built a brand and a movement that’s been reproduced in so many unions. We use words like ‘a great man’ very loosely these days; he actually was one.

     

    (As told to Ravi Balakrishnan)

     

    Source:The Economic Times

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

     

    I have worked for almost 15 years on Amul and I have interacted professionally with Verghese Kurien. He was a dream client to work with and simply an amazing person. At the outset, he had set the premise of our working relationship, where he clearly said he didn’t want to see what we were doing as he didn’t want to interfere in our work. He said he didn’t know advertising and that is the reason he had got us, so he didn’t want to change or rewrite anything that we wrote. This was such a change from clients who would always want to give their inputs even if they didn’t know anything about the way advertising works.

     

    I have always maintained that the success of Amul advertising lies in the hand of Mr Kurien and his approach. His immense trust in the agency and their creative potential is so gratifying, and that was what made us push to do good work. If the onus lies fully on you to create something and you get total freedom to create that brand I think it only leads to more responsibility and makes one conscious of the efforts one is making, because it had better be brilliant and match the confidence that the client has shown.

     

    I have visited him a few times in Anand and what he has created is a dream out of nowhere. His vision is unmatched, whether it is about creating a world class campus at Anand or in his vision of creating milk powder from buffalo milk instead of cow which was the norm. He rewrote rules and was an innovative thinker. He had a fabulous lot of lieutenants who supported him and whom he supported in these innovations. Like when we launched Nutramul he tasted it and said make chocolate out of it too, so he was inspirational too.

     

    For his advertising agencies, he knew that he had chosen the right people and trusted them immensely. The confidence he showed in a copywriter tells much about his personality.

     

    Another thing I shall always remember about him was that he was always very punctual and never late for meetings. If he had given a time to his agency he would never make them wait unlike many who deliberately would make an agency wait. He respected the agency and not just see them as supplier of creative product. This was a rare personality.

     

    He was an honest entrepreneur. I remember once we were to launch Amul milk shake and we came up with our research that said chocolate and strawberry were the most popular flavours. He immediately said that chocolate milk shake was possible because of the chocolate powder Nutramul but strawberry he said was a seasonal product and he refused to put essence as it would be cheating consumers. He put his foot down on the strawberry flavor instead opted for elaichi which was more readily available.

     

    Also I remember when Amul launched its tetra pack he hated the design. Once when we went to meet him, he asked, are you still using the horrible pack? But he never interfered and asked us to redesign having known that even if he didn’t like it the pack worked in the market.

    I feel fortunate to have met someone like Mr Kurien and to have had a client like him.

     

    – As told to Tuhina Anand
    Image credit: amul.com

     

  • BoxTV's content includes blockbuster movies, TV shows, short films and much more that can be accessed via web browser, smartphones, tablets or any other internet-enabled device

    Online video entertainment service Box TV launched

    By Ananya Saha

     

    After a lot of buzz around its premium online video content service, Times Internet Limited has finally unveiled BoxTV.com in India, the US and UK. BoxTV’s content includes blockbuster movies, TV shows, short films and much more that can be accessed via web browser, smartphones, tablets or any other internet-enabled device.

     

    The website, which can initially be accessed only by invitation, will work on the ‘freemium’ model. Content will be available on an ad-supported free-to-user basis and the rest of the content will be available on a monthly subscription basis. The subscription in India is Rs 199 per month, in US $4.99 per month and in the UK, £4.99 per month. With 12 content partners currently, the content currently is available in English, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada. Box TV plans to add more regional content and more content partners. The site boasts of having accrued more than 50,000 invite requests following its invite-only alpha preview in August this year.

     

    Satyan Gajwani

    Making an impact with a paid model can be a tough strategy. Satyan Gajwani, CEO of Times Internet Ltd agreed, and said, “This is the first-of-its-kind model that we are trying in India. We are positioning ourselves as premium. We will not be offering user-generated content like YouTube. And we are sure that people who want to see the content we offer, will be ready to pay.”

     

    Mr Gajwani added, “In the US and the UK, it is easier to be a pay-model. It will definitely be difficult in India. In the first year, we will obviously be getting more subscriptions from outside India. However, we are hopeful that this ratio will change in the next 2-3 years.”

     

    Pandurang Nayak, GM-Digital Video Initiatives, Times Audience Network/Box TV, said, “With the premium content, we are targeting SEC A in urban markets in India. And we will be adding more premium content as we go along.” For India, thanks to the broadband issues, Box TV has an in-built auto-bandwidth optimizer for working well on low or inconsistent bandwidths.

     

    The premium video destination, though has no advertiser on-board yet, will be selling the space at price 3-4 times higher than the current internet sites in India, according to Mr Gajwani. Before opening the site for advertisers, Box TV is aiming at having a sizeable number of registered users. The marketing and promotional activities will also begin 2-3 months down the line. “We are aiming at finding early adopters, and make our service better on the feedback. Then, we will aim at viral growth. We will start marketing as the business model makes its case to spend,” said Mr Gajwani.

     

     

  • Online fashion and lifestyle shopping portal Jabong.com has appointed Avian Media as its public relations agency.

    Avian Media wins PR mandate for Jabong.com

    By A Correspondent

     

    Online fashion and lifestyle shopping portal Jabong.com has appointed Avian Media as its public relations agency.

     

    The development comes on the back of a multi-agency pitch process held in New Delhi in July 2012. Avian Media’s PR mandate is to position Jabong.com as the leading online fashion and lifestyle portal in India. Through its PR campaign, Avian Media will highlight the USPs of the company such as the wide selection of products, on-time delivery and quick resolution of any concerns along with a highly experienced buying team, agile warehouse systems and state of the art customer care center.

     

    Commenting on the appointment of Avian Media, Manu Kumar Jain, Managing Director, Jabong.com said, “Of the agencies that presented to us during the pitch, Avian Media showed the best understanding of our brand, our PR requirements and came up with a customized PR strategy to enhance our brand image and visibility among our stakeholders. Given our business model, we need to deliver innovative and sustained communication to become the single ‘go-to’ destination in our customers mind when it comes to fashion and lifestyle. Avian Media with its capabilities and experience of managing PR campaigns for leading lifestyle and fashion brands, promises to deliver results that suit our business needs.”

     

    “As an agency we have always focused on enhancing our capabilities and offerings, providing our clients superior, result-oriented services. As part of this commitment, we are thrilled to be working together with a fast growing fashion and lifestyle brand like Jabong.com, which is surely an added asset to our growing consumer client portfolio.  We look forward to augmenting value to their business through our specialized communication approach that delivers superior quality results for the brand,” commented, Nitin Mantri, CEO, Avian Media.

     

  • 9XO, the international music channel from the 9X Media Group, has launched a comprehensive international music store online called www.9xo.56060.in

    9XO launches online music store and WAP Portal

    By A Correspondent

     

    9XO, the international music channel from the 9X Media Group, has launched a comprehensive international music store online called www.9xo.56060.in. This is the second online store by 9X Media Group which has earlier successfully launched a Bollywood music store for 9XM. Besides www.9xo.56060.in, 9XO has also created a WAP Portal to download Videos, Wallpapers, Ringtones and Audio Packs.

     

    9XO in association with Techzone — aggregators, developers, publishers and distributors of entertainment content, boasts of an enviable collection of the best of international music. This online music destination will allow music lovers to stream as well as download the audio content of their favourite international music.

     

    Speaking on the initiative, Vibha Gosher, Sr. VP, Digital, 9X Media Group, said, “We are extremely pleased to partner with Techzone for this initiative. In India, International music is seldom promoted in comparison to other genres of music content. Despite of this, the consumption of international music on mobile is almost five to seven per cent of the overall music content in the country. In the age of smart phones and tablets, great content, at an affordable pricepoint powered by robust technology is a sure formula to make a significant footprint in the Music industry. The availability of a large repertoire of international songs on the store will definitely make it the preferred destination for international music enthusiasts.”

     

    Thrilled about the tie-up with 9XO, Naveen Bhandari, Director of TechZone says, “We are glad to be associated with 9XO in creating this online web store. Techzone is the only player in India that has presence in the international music market and captures majority for mobile. Our users are mobile and internet savvy and the online store is a part of our efforts to make the entire gamut of international music available to consumers legally and at a very affordable price. We are sure to delight our users with the large library of songs and video titles available through our online store.”

     

  • Myntra aims to further strengthen leadership position through new segments; to launch private labels soon.

    Myntra, clicking faster

    By A Correspondent

     

    Myntra.com, an online retailer of fashion and lifestyle brands, has expanded its range of apparel to sarees this month. The online retailer of fashion offers 12 brands of sarees namely, FabIndia, Satya Paul, Satyavee Designs, Ambica Bridal Sarees to name a few. Myntra which is said to be witnessing consumer interest and traction in this category also expects to register daily sales average close to 1000 units within the next 30-45 days. In addition to these brands more brands and designs are expected to be added soon. While 65 per cent of its shoppers are males and 35 per cent are females, Myntra eyes an increase in female shoppers with its introduction to apparels like cosmetics and sarees.

     

    Myntra will be promoting these new categories across online platforms including Google ads, affiliates and social media platforms. On basis of its research findings, Myntra found that there is a huge demand for categories like sarees and cosmetics especially from tier 2 and 3 markets because of lack of choice and availability. Myntra aims to further strengthen is leadership position through its strong connect and high reach.

     

    Ashutosh Lawania

    In an email interaction with MxMIndia, Ashutosh Lawania, Co-Founder and Head – Sales and Marketing, Myntra.com said that Myntra is working on launching private labels in a few months time. These private labels will be Myntra’s own brand of clothing line. More details were however not available at the time of filing the report. “We are working towards launching our private labels which would go live in a couple of months,” said Mr Lawania.

     

    Footwear continues to be the most popular category on Myntra which is said to contribute approximately 45 to 50 per cent of its daily sales. Footwear is then closely followed by clothing for men, women and children, along with accessories such as jewelry, watches, glares, handbags, and so on.

     

    In addition to these developments, Mr Lawania also spoke about his mobile plans in the coming few months. “We believe that mobile will be the next big thing and that today it is only at a tipping point. We are working towards enabling our interface to make it ready to deliver the full Myntra experience across a plethora of handheld devices.”

     

    Speaking about the scope of e-commerce business in India and whether online buyers would increase their trust in online transactions, Mr Lawania said, “With the internet penetration currently at 120 million and expected to touch 300 million by 2015, we believe that ecommerce has a huge potential to grow over the years. We believe that CoD will play a huge role in the success of ecommerce in India. CoD is here to stay as we (India) are a huge cash economy and people are comfortable transacting in cash. Online retailers need to make this process of handling cash more efficient and cost effective.”

     

  • Tintin – Sony Pix has planned a 360-degree – marketing and advertising – campaign around The Secret of the Unicorn on the 16th of this month

    PIX goes all out for Tintin premiere

    By Meghna Sharma

     

    With numerous English movie channels trying their best to catch as many eyeballs as possible, merely showing the best and the latest movies won’t fulfil the agenda.

     

    Sony Pix which will showcase Tintin – The Secret of the Unicorn on the 16th of this month is going all out to make sure the audiences don’t miss out on the opportunity. The channel has planned a 360 degree – marketing and advertising – campaign around it.

     

    Speaking about the importance of a 360 degree campaign, Himmat Butalia, marketing head of the channel says, “In today’s day and age message ‘muddling’ can often prove to be a challenge for marketers. There are many similarities between rival brands and even channels, which can often lead to confusion in the minds of consumers. Our endeavour has always been to create a clear distinction between us and competition through interesting and unique touch points. A 360 degree campaign aids in escalating a campaign’s scale and spreading one message through many mediums such as print, television, radio, outdoor, BTL, on ground activation or digital.”

     

    The channel is using a number of mediums to create the right balance for the campaign around the film. It will focus not only on quantity but also quality of messages through the mediums like print, digital, television, radio, BTL or OOH. The outdoor creatives have been kept simple with key messages such as adventure, courage & mystery to connect with the audiences. Apart from hoardings, bus panels & bus shelters in key markets and Metro Station branding in Delhi. In terms of Below The Line activations, the channel has tied up with major malls as well as upped their presence in retail stores such as Spencers and Crossword across the country.

     

    In addition to this, Pix has also initiated two unique on ground activities for this film – Comic Con 2012 in Bangalore & an inter-college treasure hunt in tune with the theme of the film. “Comic Con has been a great success in directly creating touch points with fans of TINTIN as well as young movie buffs. The inter college treasure hunt held in Mumbai with over a dozen colleges participating. This initiative is a first of its kind in not just connecting with younger audiences but also in creating an extension of the premise of The Adventures of Tintin – The Secret of the Unicorn,” explains Mr Butalia.

     

    The digital space is also being utilized by the channel – through various social media engagements like Tintin games and advertising on sites like Yahoo, Google, YouTube. The channel believes that the new media is clearly the most potent weapon in every marketer’s arsenal today. “We recognized the scope of the digital space a couple of years back. And since then our digital presence and social media groups have grown by leaps and bounds. India has witnessed a significant traction towards social networking in the past to start conversations but today it has also become as significant tool for people to run their businesses. Unlike other mediums the digital space requires minimal investment. The number of connections and viewers reached through the online medium is the highest compared to all mediums since you can reach millions of people through one single post or advertisement. Another important attribute of using this medium is its quick turnover time. Websites and social media has minimized time lapse between a brand’s communication and its consumer’s response. At the moment, I would place digital mediums right on top of the marketing pecking order,” adds Mr Butalia.

     

    According to Mr Butalia, in his career so far, he has learnt one major lesson through various marketing activities – power of simplicity. “It’s something I learnt, that a simple yet effective touch point can do wonders for a brand.”