MxMIndia

Category: MARKETING

  • Coca-Cola, Apple and IBM lead Interbrand's 13th annual Best Global Brands report, which analyzes the many ways a brand touches and benefits an organization, from driving bottom-line business results to delivering on customer expectations

    Interbrand Releases 13th Annual Best Global Brands Report

    By A Correspondent

     

    Coca-Cola, Apple and IBM lead Interbrand’s 13th annual Best Global Brands report. While Coca-Cola retained its #1 position, Apple jumped to #2 with stellar sales in both developed and emerging markets over the last year. Social media giant, Facebook (#69), enters the report after making headlines as the third largest IPO in US history, and Google (#4) experienced a 26% increase in brand value over the last year, exceeding rival Microsoft’s (#5) brand value for the first time in the history of Interbrand’s report.

     

    Interbrand, the world’s leading brand consultancy, publishes its Best Global Brands report of the world’s 100 most valuable brands on an annual basis. Interbrand’s methodology – the first of its kind to be ISO certified – analyzes the many ways a brand touches and benefits an organization, from driving bottom-line business results to delivering on customer expectations.

     

    To develop its report, Interbrand examines the three key aspects that contribute to a brand’s value:

    – The financial performance of the branded products or service.

    – The role the brand plays in influencing consumer choice.

    – The strength the brand has to command a premium price, or secure earnings for the company.

     

    2012 Overview: delivering meaningful brand experiences across all touchpoints

    Against the backdrop of continued global economic uncertainty, this year’s top 100 brands excelled in securing their market position and delivering more personal and enriching experiences to consumers — across geographies and platforms. “As global competition increases and many competitive advantages, like technology, become more short-lived, a brand’s contribution to shareholder value will only increase,” noted Jez Frampton, Interbrand’s Global Chief Executive Officer. “The world’s 100 most valuable brands are leading the way by listening to consumers, employees, and investors alike and delivering a seamless and holistic brand experience across an ever-evolving range of touchpoints.” In a fast-moving world where consumers’ offline and online brand experiences constantly intertwine, the leading brands are staying actively engaged, tapping into the inexorable rise of data and information in order to drive innovation across all industries. They are spending the time and money required to understand the role their brand plays in consumers’ lives – and they are strategically weaving their brand proposition into every interaction.

     

    2012 new entrants: Pampers, Facebook, Prada, Kia, Ralph Lauren, MasterCard

    Pampers (#34): Pampers, the top-selling diaper brand in the US and P&G’s number one selling brand in the world, earned the highest ranking position among this year’s new entrants. Pampers has effectively used social media platforms and loyalty programs to connect to its consumer base. Such efforts (and increased financial transparency on P&G’s part) have earned Pampers a high-ranking spot in this year’s Best Global Brands report.

     

    Facebook (#69): Facebook’s IPO in May enabled Interbrand to examine the social media behemoth’s financials for the first time. Despite its rocky start as a publicly listed stock and lingering uncertainty about its business model, Facebook’s growth as a brand, especially in developing markets, earns it a position in this year’s report. Prada (#84): Prada returns to the Best Global Brands report this year. The brand’s continued growth in revenue is fueled largely by 250+ DOS (Directly Operated Stores) worldwide – a network that has expanded by keeping a careful eye on increasingly sophisticated customers in developing markets.

     

    Kia (#87): For the past few years, Kia has been one of the fastest-growing global automotive brands. In the US, Kia’s market share has grown for 17 consecutive years and its sales numbers continue to rise, even in the troubled European marketplace. Ralph Lauren (#91): Making its first appearance in the top 100 since 2009, Ralph Lauren’s notable brand growth in the past year can be attributed to highly innovative communication patterns and consistency across all touchpoints and formats.

     

    MasterCard (#94): MasterCard makes its debut in the 2012 Best Global Brands report after an impressive year. The company’s launch of its “Priceless Cities” campaign and a growing suite of solutions for business owners are steadily increasing consumer satisfaction – and contributing to its rise in brand value.

     

    2012 Top rising brands: Apple, Amazon, Samsung, Nissan, Oracle

    Apple (+129%): Despite Steve Jobs’ passing, consumers’ emotional connection to the Apple brand remains stronger than ever – this was made clear just recently with the launch of iPhone 5. Even in the face of increasing competition from rivals Google and Samsung, the company continues to demonstrate its commitment to protecting the Apple brand and its intellectual property. Such commitment enabled Apple to post quarterly revenue of USD $35 billion and quarterly net profit of $8.8 billion in July. Amazon (+46%): Amazon has introduced the Kindle Touch and Kindle Fire in 175 countries, stretching the Kindle beyond its e-reader origins and turning it into a serious rival to the iPad. The Kindle Fire now enjoys the world’s second-largest tablet market share.

     

    Samsung (+40%): Samsung became the global leader for smartphone shipments in 2011 ahead of Apple and Nokia. Samsung also generated a great deal of online buzz by integrating its Galaxy SIII and Note into the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics. Despite its legal battle with Apple, Samsung’s global market share is 32.6% and its brand value increased by a meteoric 40% in the past year. Nissan (+30%): Nissan recovered quickly from last year’s natural disasters in Japan and grew its market share by pushing the envelope on innovation and by creating bold vehicle designs like that of the Nissan Juke. Nissan’s ability to overcome challenges and continually innovate caught the attention of consumers and helped increase its brand value by 30%. Oracle (+28%): Oracle has been branching out beyond database solutions in order to stay ahead of competitors. The company continues to make strategic acquisitions and grow its capabilities and offerings, especially in cloud computing. Oracle’s 28% increase in brand value this year proves that such strategies have impressed customers and investors alike.

     

    Technology brands continue to dominate

    Technology brands continued their strong push of recent years, with four of the five top risers hailing from the sector (Apple, Amazon, Samsung, and Oracle). In addition, five of this year’s Top 10 brands come from within the technology sector (Apple, Google, Microsoft, Intel, and Samsung). Apple, in particular, experienced record growth in brand value. While there is no question that products like the iPad and iPhone 5 are attractive to consumers around the world, Apple’s values and unmistakable human touch are what set it apart from competitors in the end.

     

    Automotive brands move beyond recovery

    Automotive brands are becoming more attuned to the emotional connection consumers have with their cars. This has caused many automakers to develop more effective, technologically savvy ways to reach target markets and help prospective buyers better relate to car brands. Audi’s (#55) digital showroom, Audi City, is revolutionizing the future of retailing by combining digital product presentations and personal contact with dealers. Similarly, Ford (#45) is working hard to improve MyTouch, its in-car communications and entertainment system. Brands like BMW (#12) and Hyundai (#53) are investing in global brand campaigns and are becoming more digitally connected and tailored to narrower target groups. For the most part, the entire industry appears to be focused on engaging customers and prospects in a more relevant and personalized manner throughout the entire purchase cycle.

     

    Luxury Brands Prove Resilient

    Despite the current economic landscape, all of the luxury brands in this year’s report increased their brand value. As the meaning of luxury shifts, this year’s top luxury brands reflect a changing global consciousness – with success dependent not only upon a portfolio of superior products and superb quality of service, but also a strong cohesive brand, a formidable digital presence, and reputation that is timeless, elevated, and refined. The 2012 Best Global Brand report includes seven luxury brands: Louis Vuitton (#17), Gucci (#38), Hermès (#63), Cartier (#68), Tiffany & Co. (#70), Burberry (#82), and Prada (#84).

     

    Fmcg/Cpg (Fast Moving Consumer Goods/Consumer Packaged Goods)Brands Increase In Brand Value And Expand Product Offerings

    The rise in value of several FMCG/CPG brands — Kellogg’s (#29), L’Oreal (#42), Heinz (#46), Colgate (#47), Danone (#52), Nestlé (#57), and Johnson & Johnson (#79) — reflect successful growth, especially in the developing markets. Another growing trend observed this year was the increasing number of FMCG brands expanding into the healthcare space. Avon (#71) and Kleenex (#80) were the only two brands to lose brand value (-4% and -7% respectively).

     

    Financial Services

    Financial services brands are continuing to feel the impact of 2008’s global economic downturn. Recent events, such as the notorious Libor scandal, have tarnished the reputation of leading brands like Credit Suisse – it declined 5% in brand value and ranked #95. There is reason to be optimistic about the future of this sector, however: Five of the 12 financial services brands in this year’s report increased in brand value, including American Express (#24), Morgan Stanley (#54), AXA (#58), Allianz (#62), and Visa (#74). MasterCard (#94) was a new entrant to this year’s report, an indication that its “Priceless” campaign continues to succeed in building a stronger connection between the brand and its growing customer base.

     

    Interbrand’s 2012 Best Global Brands report, including detailed sector analyses, is available in full on interbrand.com and bestglobalbrands.com. The Best Global Brands website also includes in-depth CMO interviews and interactive charts & graphs.

     

  • Deepti Jalota has joined Mogae Media as Vice President – sales. She will be based at the Mogae HQ in Gurgaon

    Deepti Jalota joins Mogae Media from Microsoft

    Deepti Jalota has joined Mogae Media as Vice President – sales. She will be based at the Mogae HQ in Gurgaon.

     

    Ms Jalota joins Mogae from Microsoft Advertising India where she was the National Category Manager and was responsible for the digital media sales for their assets like MSN and Windows Live. Mogae Executive Director , Tanya Goyal said, “Deepti brings good quality digital knowledge, and a deep understanding of emerging trends to her new assignment at Mogae.”

     

    Prior to Microsoft, Ms Jalota held a senior leadership role as AVP at Carwale.com for their online business and has also spent three years with Yahoo India where she led online advertising sales and brand efforts for a large portfolio of their clients. She has also been a part of the international sales team at Mediascope Publicitas and was attached to their travel and business category for print and magazines. Her career in advertising started in 2000 when she joined as a trainee at FCB Ulka.

     

    About the new appointment she said, “In these exciting times when mobile advertising is all set to take the leap ahead, I am really excited and delighted to work with the Mogae Group and totally relate to the enormous vision the company has for the mobile advertising space. My role here would be to assist company in scaling up sales and revenue and form a robust sales team across regions and take Mogae Media to the next level.”

     

  • Brands are logging onto social media in a big way, interacting with and updating their consumers about new products or other initiatives, and e-commerce sites are not far behind. Does it help the bottomline?

    Does social media boost ROIs for e-commerce sites?

    By Robin Thomas

     

    Merely setting up shop is not enough today, and brands are not limiting themselves to advertisements on television, print, radio or even the internet alone. They are logging onto social media in a big way, interacting with and updating their consumers about new products or other initiatives, and e-commerce sites are not far behind. Myntra, for instance is already said to have registered over 7 lakh Facebook fans. Myntra also has a fashion blog, ‘Style Mynt’, wherein it shares information about the latest celebrity fashion trends, new product offerings on Myntra.com and so on. Another e-commerce site, Indiatimes Shopping, started its Facebook page early this year and is said to currently have more than 2 lakh fans on Facebook.

     

    eBay on the other hand claims to answer over 1,200 queries every month across social media platforms. It is said to resolve over 120 post-transaction complaints every month and is ranked sixth in Social Bakers’ ‘Top 100 Global Brands on Facebook’ index and is also said to be the third most engaging FB Brand Page in India. In addition to these, eBay also conducts online contests enabling the e-commerce site to engage with its consumers. For instance, it conducted a contest called ‘Battle of the Fans’ around the IPL last year. It also launched a Facebook application called ‘Battle of the Fans FB App’ for the contest. As a result, the ‘Battle of the Fans’ app is said to have become the most popular Facebook IPL app two years in a row. Simultaneously, over 15,000 streams were said to have been published from within the app and is also said to have witnessed nearly 27 percent click-through from app-to-merchandise on the site. Besides Facebook, e-commerce sites like Indiatimes Shopping, Myntra, eBay India, Olx etc. are also active on other social networking sites like Twitter, Google Plus and so on.

     

    Social media vs sales targets

    Ashutosh Lawania

    According to industry estimates, nearly 25 percent of the time spent online is on social media platforms. Out of this, 50 million are said to be on Facebook, and 13 million on Twitter. The question however is, do social media activations lead to better ROI’s (Return on Investments)? Do the ‘likes’ and interactions or engagements with consumers translate into sales? According to Mr Ashutosh Lawania, Co-Founder and Head – Sales & Marketing, Myntra.com, “Though engagement is our focus on social platforms, the activities there do contribute to traffic and sales on Myntra, and we keep track of it. Contributions from these platforms are in the lower single digit figures (percentages) when compared to other channels but they do add up. Besides, Twitter and Google Plus, we also use Facebook for advertising along with generating organic traffic. About 80 percent of all Facebook traffic on Myntra is paid with the remaining 20 percent driven via organic.”

     

    Subhanker Sarker

    Myntra uses tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google Plus to make announcements about new products, trends and to give out regular fashion updates which Mr Lanwania observed results in increased awareness and in turn influences purchase decisions.

     

    Having a slightly different take on the impact of social media activities on the sales, Subhanker Sarker, COO,Indiatimes Shopping was of the opinion that social media activities at times do result in better ROI’s. “Experimentation is the key. There is a certain tonality of communication, a very precise targeting of the message and a very strong follow through that can work magic. Social media is an excellent tool to keep expanding the circle of trust. The offer ads introduced recently drive a lot of sales for us now. The revenue percentage would still be in low single digits, but it all depends how you define it. Measured over a longer time period and favourable attribution logic, it touches double digit percentages.”

     

    Kashyap Vadapalli

    Kashyap Vadapalli, Chief Marketing Officer, eBay India observed, “Social media channels get us over 12% of our daily traffic which translate into deeper reach and higher conversions. In terms of ROI, they are one of the cheapest tools for generation of daily visits and excellent mediums for acquisition & retention marketing.”

     

     

     

    Anurag Gupta

    Anurag Gupta, MD, DGM India was also of the opinion that social media activities surely do reflect on the sales and revenues of e-commerce business. “Most of the e-commerce companies are using advertising on social media to drive transactions in addition to engagement activities. This is on an increase especially since platforms like Facebook have begun providing re-targeting capabilities. Sub-optimal use of social media platform by brands happened earlier, now brands have graduated and are using social media beyond likes and onto engagement and transactions.”

     

    The road ahead

    Social media is said to play a significant role in driving rapid growth for e-commerce brands. Only recently Myntra is said to have used social media platforms to launch its latest TVC before launching it on other media platforms. “It is an important platform to engage the audience, increase awareness and drive top of mind recall. It also plays a significant role in collecting feedback and giving customers a platform to voice their opinion and share their views on what they like or dislike” explained Mr Lanwania.

     

    According to Mr Gupta, social media activities for brands are increasing significantly. Most brands today have their presence on social media, including e-commerce brands. The brands are now using social media for engaging with users and a lot of e-commerce brands are increasingly using social media for commerce as well.

     

    However Mr Sarker was of the opinion that although social media has become a very significant platform today, brands must not be seen intruding their consumer’s privacy. “Social media can give you immense insights into your customers psyche. How you leverage that is up to you. Hence it is definitely significant for everybody. But one must respect the privacy of the audience. They are on social media mainly to socialize. If they were in the mood of buying something they would be on an e-commerce website. Intrusion is not taken kindly. We see social media as a customer insights opportunity rather than a sales one.”

     

    Taking social media onto a different level altogether, e-commerce sites are beginning to effectively use advertising on social media to drive their transactions. Although the revenue generated or the revenue percentage from social media activities are still said to be in single digits, it is believed to grow depending on the innovations and the engagement that e-commerce sites have to offer to their consumers.

     

    “Offline shopping tends to be a social phenomenon, and this will catch up with online shopping as well. We foresee online shopping getting integrated with social media as more and more enthusiasts will start seeking opinions before they indulge and seek compliments post indulgence. This could take the form of deeper and richer integration of social tools in the online shopping experience. One would also e-commerce players leveraging the social graph to add engaging ways to enable users to talk & share about shopping on various social media channels” concluded Mr Vadapalli of eBay.

     

  • Taproot has created series of TVCs for Karbonn Smart Mobile which is the official sponsor of the Champions League Twenty20 currently being played in South Africa

    Taproot India creates its first campaign for Karbonn Mobile

    By A Correspondent

     

    Karbonn Smart Mobile is the official sponsor of the Champions League Twenty20 currently being played in South Africa.

     

    Taproot has created series of TVCs which is currently on air, and there will be some digital and onground activities as well in the coming days, which are around the same idea, “Can you do two things at a time?”

     

    Shashin Devsare, Executive Director, Karbonn Mobiles explained, “Our superior quality ‘Duple series’ phone A21 is dedicated for dual core processors and is launched under the highly successful umbrella ‘Karbonn Smart’. We asked the agency to come up with a unique campaign so as to communicate the multitasking capabilities of dual core processors being used in Karbonn Smartphones. The creative message in the campaign is centric to Karbonn Smart’s new advertising positioning of connecting with Indian youth with offbeat, humorous & engaging messaging. We are confident that this new campaign will help us engage better with our consumers, enhancing the brand imagery for the smartphone segment in the market.”

     

    Santosh Padhi, Chief Creative Officer & Co-Founder, Taproot India said, “The challenge was to bring upfront the single-minded benefit (Dual Core Processor in the Duple Series Smart phones) basically what it does is, it allows you to do more than one thing at the same time. We took a interesting insight that’s relevant to youth, though youth is known for multitasking, but physical one cannot do two things at a time, hence the whole idea is you may fail to do two things at the same time but the new Karbonn Smart A21 won’t.”

     

    Manan Mehta, Managing Partner, Taproot India said, “This is our first campaign for Karbonn Smart. We were handed over an interesting brief where the target audience were teenagers. The truth about today’s young India is that they are comfortable living parallel lives at multiple levels. Their impatience combined with high ambitions have allowed the unlocking of potential markets, by creating opportunities to launch products that address their needs. The intent of this campaign was to reflect this very mindset of our impatient, multi-tasking audience and demonstrate the product benefit upfront in a rather amusing manner.”

     

  • When looking at a young audience, marketers can afford to make no assumptions. Samyak Chakrabarty explains why

    Young Track by Samyak Chakrabarty | 5 key things to consider when marketing to youth

    Samyak Chakrabarty

    What’s a 23-year-old writing a column on a site where the average age of columnists is… ? Ok, ok, we won’t reveal that number, but like it or not the youth constitute a majority of India’s population. Since the last few years, young Samyak Chakrabarty has been in and around media events and offices with his vision of how the youth can be targeted.

     

    In this period, he has organized a few conferences, participated in several of them in India and abroad, and works as Chief Youth Marketer with the DDB Mudra group. He’s organized a TedX youth conference in Mumbai, was invited to meet Hillary Clinton when she visited India and has co-authored a book ‘Generation Einstein 3.0 – India version’.

     

    Samyak’s column will appear on Wednesdays and as the title suggests, it will track the young – specifically keeping in mind the advertising, media and marketing fraternity – Ed

     

    This week, I would like to share five learnings I’ve had in my time so far as a youth marketer. While these are not scientifically proven facts, they are derived from my numerous interactions with college students at a very candid level (not survey sheets!).

     

    1 Youngsters don’t wake up thinking about brands:

    Large consumer brands often take it for granted that students already know about them and enjoy an automatic recall within that community. Often such arrogance is seen in the campaigns they conduct. But the truth is, brands are the least on the priority of the college-going crowd who have many more crucial things to worry about. The solution is not to therefore surround them with your brand and its aura at all touch-points all the time. In my opinion it would be prudent to ensure that the communication’s core message is so evocative and compelling that they are bound to not only remember it, but generate WOM even after the campaign expires.

     

    2 Youth is not a singular set:

    It is not sufficient to just aim at ‘targeting youth’ (this statement always irritates me in meetings!). Do bear in mind that youth behaviour is not uniform and hence a brand’s first goal should be to identify the ‘sub-set’ within the 15-35 age group which you want to target. As the next steps one has to develop a critical understanding of how those kind of youngsters think, breathe, talk, buy and dream. Often brands commit hara-kiri by assuming that being ‘cool’, ‘colourful’ and ‘celebrity-endorsed’ will appeal to all kinds of youngsters. It all depends on the product, price, persona and utility value.

     

    3 Product first, then packaging:

    Those born after 1990 have become more critical and conscious about what they buy. Therefore, the key factor which influences purchase is the product and not the brand’s communication. Hence, it is important that the brand manager as well as the product team work in sync and no silos to ensure that the two parallel functions deliver what each other promise to the young consumer, who will not think twice about shifting loyalty should he/she feel cheated. A classic example could be of a telecom brand – many students that I work with often complain that they are happy to move away from their existing provider just purely based on service issues, even though it means a more expensive plan or a less cool brand.

     

    4 Price does not always hit the G-Spot:

    One would often assume that for pocket money-dependent students, price would always work as a primary factor in deciding what to buy (applies for FMCG, Mobile Service Providers, daily utility gadgets and hangout places). In fact even I assumed so – but if one closely studies students from a metro city, price sometimes actually becomes a discouraging factor to buy if the aura around the product is more about its cheap price than about the qualities / aspiration value. I have noticed that many a time they tend to save up just to buy something more expensive because it is assumed to be better (nothing to do with reality!).

     

    5 The way your brand manager thinks, makes a huge difference:

    Often I see that some of the greatest brands often go through a period of disappointing communication only because their newly appointed manager (who may be extremely qualified and experienced) does not share the same thought process as the values embedded in the brand. This is more of a human resource function, but an extremely critical one – it amazes me how quickly a guy working for a sanitary pad brand can start to think for a cola! Many may hate me for saying this, but I believe that youth marketing too is not a uniform skill – one has to specialize and remain in that category to be able to successfully steer the brand in the right direction.

     

    Lastly, I think one should also start looking at adolescents today to be able to plan in advance as to how when they transform into young adults – your brand can already enjoy an automatic connect. In many ways, we have already lost those born after 1990 since preferences for essential products are already formed at a very young age.

     

  • Indian mobile users state they plan to shop on their phones this festive season to avoid crowds, according to the eBay India Mobile Commerce Survey

    Mobile commerce, the answer to festival shopping crowds

    By A Correspondent

     

    eBay India (www.ebay.in), India’s leading eCommerce marketplace, shared key shopping habits of Mobile Commerce Users in India, based on the eBay India Festive Mobile Commerce Survey conducted with over 2,500 eBay India users in October 2012. 92% of all Mobile Commerce survey respondents were Male. 42% of consumers were in the age group of 18-25 years & 30% of consumers were in the age group of 26-30 years. 52% of Mobile Shoppers were from the Metros.

     

    Key Highlights of the eBay India Festive Mobile Commerce Survey included:

     

    59% of Mobile Shoppers stated they would consider shopping on their Mobile phone during the festive season to avoid crowded market areas

     

    86% of Mobile Shoppers prefer to use their Mobile to shop for themselves, while 52% of consumers use their Mobile to shop for Gifts for Family & only 29% of shoppers use their Mobile to shop for Gifts for Friends

     

    Phones (62%) were the most popular category of purchase by Mobile Commerce shoppers followed by Home Appliances (44%) & Clothes & Footwear (41%)

     

    Comparing product prices (68%) is the top activity for Mobile Shoppers

     

    Home (69%) was the favourite point of access for mobile shoppers

     

    Over 43% of shoppers accessed shopping sites at Night

     

    57% of Mobile Shoppers always checked prices on their phone before they shopped in a store or a mall

     

    83% of all respondents stated that they accessed shopping sites or shopping apps on their mobile phone; with 56% of all respondents stating that they had bought a product online on their mobile device

     

    Over 27% of Mobile Shoppers preferred to shop via their mobile device for products in the price point of Rs. 3,000-Rs. 10,000

     

    Mobile continues to be the favourite Mobile Internet device for Mobile Shoppers at 52%; with 19% using both their Mobile & Tablet equally

     

    Mobile Shoppers prefer to access shopping sites via Browsers (45%). Over 20% of Shoppers use both the Apps & Browsers equally on their Mobile Phone

     

    72% of Consumers are using 3G services

     

    Samsung is the most popular Mobile Device (39%), followed by Nokia (20%) & Sony (11%)

     

    Mobile Shoppers have Android (62%) as their favourite operating system followed by Symbian (18%) & iOS (11%)

     

    Muralikrishnan B, Country Manager, eBay India stated, “Mobile commerce is very popular with many smart online shoppers as they always have their phone with them as an anytime, anywhere device. As 3G penetration increases, many online shoppers will prefer mobile commerce over digital commerce. eBay India is an active evangelist of mobile commerce and have introduced a suite of apps to cater to the mobile shopper.”

     

    eBay India users were surveyed online in October 2012. Over 2,500 users filled up the mobile commerce survey about their mobile shopping habits.

     

  • Harry Winston Opus 12 has won the coveted Watch World watch of the year 2012, while Titan's MD Bhaskar Bhat has been awarded for special contribution to the watch industry

    Harry Winston Opus 12 awarded at Watch World Awards 2012

    By A Correspondent

     

    Watch World, from the Chitralekha Group, hosted the third edition of Watch World Awards recently.

     

    The marquee event was moderated by Chitralekha’s President and Publisher, Mitrajit Bhattacharya, while the jury which comprised of Master watchmaker with five decades of experience in watchmaking – Antoine Simonin; Leading image consultant Chhaya Momaya; Noted designer Priyadarshini Rao; Cricket Commentator Ravi Shastri along with established marketing consultants from Market Gate – Shripad Nadkarni and Sharda Agarwal; awarded leading watches across eleven categories in the Product Awards section and five categories in the Marketing & Merchandising Awards category.

     

    The event which saw attendance by eclectic timekeeping brands like Cartier, Harry Winston, Zenith, Hublot, Bulgari, TAG Heuer, Dior, Greubel & Forsey, Breitling, Corum, Parmigiani, Romain Jerome, Seiko, Citizen, Titan, Timex, HYT, Rotary, and many others; saw stiff competition amongst the brands with Harry Winston coming out the winners and bagging the ‘Watch of the Year’ commendation.

     

    Commenting on the occasion, Mitrajit Bhattacharya said, “The success of this third edition of Watch World Awards reiterates the success of the franchise and creates a pertinent connect within the horology industry. By bringing together marquee brands, our endeavour is to create a common platform to laud the technical innovativeness and bespoke workmanship that these finesse masters create. This opportunity is also a time to celebrate the greatest leveller of life – Time and honour its significance in our lives.”

     

    The winners in the Product category were GREUBEL FORSEY GMT which won the award for the ‘Complicated Watch of the Year’. While the HUBLOT Oceanographic 4000 won the ‘Sports Watch of the Year’ award, ROMAIN JEROME Steampunk RED Chronograph was adjudged the ‘Watch with Best Design’, HARRY WINSTON Opus 12 and HYT H1 both won the ‘Best Concept Watch of the Year’ award and CARTIER Pocket Watch Grande Complication Skeleton which was adjudged the ‘Best Limited Edition Watch of the Year’.

     

    Gurinder Sahni, CEO Jot Impex said, “Watch World Awards is a very special platform as far as the Indian market is concerned. We thank the Watch World team’s initiative year on year, and on behalf of our team back in Geneva at Romain Jerome, we are proud to win the prestigious Design category this year”.

     

    The jury also presented the ‘Jewellery Watch of the Year’ award to BULGARI Serpenti and the ‘Fashion Watch of the Year’ award to HARRY WINSTON Ladies Midnight Moon Phase. While ‘The Watch with Most Innovative Material’ was awarded to HUBLOT Big Bang Ferrari Magic Gold, the ‘Watch with Highest Utility’ award was presented to SEIKO Astron GPS, the ‘Watch with Artistic Excellence’ award to CARTIER Promenade d’une Panthere and TAG HEUER Formula 1 Lady Steel & Ceramic Diamond Dial bagging the ‘Value for Money Watch of the Year’ award.

     

    Jury member Antoine Simonin, commented “I am honoured to be a part of the jury this year as well. There has been a greater increase in the brands and quality of nominations this year which augurs well for the horology eco-sphere. Seeing the response of global brands in this third year, I am happy to watch the Watch World Awards making a mark for itself in a very short span. I wish that these awards go strength to strength and create an unforgettable franchise for itself.”

     

    While the Product category saw stiff competition; the Marketing category saw TIMEX Helix bagging the ‘Best Marketing Campaign in Print’ award with TITAN HTSE picking up the award for ‘Best Marketing Campaign on Television’. While ‘Best In-Store Merchandise’ was won by HUBLOT, BREITLING Rue de la Paix, Paris picked the ‘Best Boutique’ award and PARMIGIANI Château-d’Oex International Balloon Festival 2012 was adjudicated as the ‘Best Organised Event’.

     

    Bhaskar Bhat, MD of Titan Industries ,was honoured with a special award for his contribution to the watch industry.

     

    Commenting on the event, Ashok Goel of Beanstalk Brand Consulting said, “Watch World Awards is a well thought out independent project from the Chitralekha Group. Apart from honouring the best work of the year, it helps expanding the luxury watch market in India by reaching out to newer potential customers. Almost all the brands we represent in India like Hublot, Parmigiani Fleurier, HYT, Breitling etc are proud winners in this year’s edition of the awards”.

     

  • PrecisionMatch promises effective audience data for display advertising, offering data targeted advertising that tracks how users interact with content

    Smile Vun Group launches of PrecisionMatch

    By A Correspondent


    Nitin Chowdhary

    Display advertising is losing the ROI race to search and social media due to lack of targeting options. Smile Vun Group, the digital media conglomerate, has announced the launch of PrecisionMatch that promises effective audience data for display advertising. What it offers is data targeted advertising that tracks how users interact with content.


    “PrecisionMatch will utilize advanced data mining and analytics to identify prospective consumer segments for advertisers, generate actionable insights from aggregated data and develop consumers online behaviour models,” said Nitin Chowdhary, Business Head, PrecisionMatch


    PrecisionMatch has launched its operations simultaneously in three markets: India, SEA and UAE with 50 million unique users and around 60% of internet users across India, Singapore and UAE across a variety of consumer segments.


    Manish Vij

    “Over 50% of the web inventory globally is already on exchanges and this trend is accelerating.  In APAC, it is estimated to be 5-10% and is rising rapidly. Additionally, in APAC, that has about $700 MM of display advertising spend, the supply of inventory outstrips the demand by at least 5 times. In such a scenario, buying the right impression is critical to drive ROI for which advertisers will need quality audience data. recisionMatch is our resolution to make display advertising more effective in APAC and UAE by means of targeting data without destroying the ROI,” said Manish Vij, Founder, Smile Vun Group.


    PrecisionMatch works via partners. Marketers will be able to use PrecisionMatch data through their media partners i.e. DSPs, Agency Trading Desks and Ad Networks. PrecisionMatch has added advertisers such as: Samsung, General Motors, Tata Motors, Ford, Snapdeal.com, Expedia.com etc. to its portfolio and is rapidly expanding its services across different categories of advertisers in India, Singapore and UAE.

    Post the launch in India, Singapore and Dubai, PrecisionMatch will be expanding to other countries in the region in 2013. “Data targeted display can improve click through rate by 300% and post click engagement by 200%. In addition, the relevance of the audience improves significantly.” added Nitin Chowdhary


    With an investment of $2 million, PrecisionMatch plans to break even in next two years.

  • The brand ambassador signifies the strong focus of the tractor major towards the Andhra Pradesh market and its steady progress towards creating a young and vibrant brand image among the next generation of farmers

    Southern superstar Mahesh Babu is Mahindra Tractors brand ambassador

    By A Correspondent

     

    Prominent tractor manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra has announced its new brand association with Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu in Andhra Pradesh. The brand ambassador signifies the strong focus of the tractor major towards the Andhra Pradesh market and its steady progress towards creating a young and vibrant brand image among the next generation of farmers.

     

    Sanjeev Goyle, Sr Vice President, Marketing & AppliTrac, Farm Equipment Sector, M&M Ltd, said, “Andhra Pradesh is a critical market for Mahindra and our products are especially designed to suit the needs of this market. The Bhoomiputra 475 and 575 tractors have the largest user base in Andhra Pradesh. Mahindra has been a dominant tractor brand in the state and has been the market leader for over three decades.”

     

    Commenting on the brand association with the southern superstar Mahesh Babu, Mr Goyle further said, “We now want to connect with the next generation of farmers who are keen to use tractors equipped with technology that offer better fuel efficiency. Hence we felt the need to associate brand Mahindra with Mahesh Babu, a superstar and the youth icon in Andhra Pradesh. Both brand Mahindra and Mahesh Babu are super stars in their own industry and the celebrity fit compliments the brand value.”

     

    Commenting on the association, Mahesh Babu said “I’m very excited to be the brand ambassador for Mahindra Tractors. The company drives positive change in the lives of farmers and I would love to connect with the young farmers in Andhra Pradesh.”

     

  • Indian music service Dhingana has announced that Ashish Joshi, Head of Digital and Business Development (India and SAARC) at Universal Music India, has joined them as Vice President, Business Development

    Ashish Joshi moves to Dhingana from Universal Music

    By A Correspondent

     

    Indian music service Dhingana has announced that Ashish Joshi, Head of Digital and Business Development (India and SAARC) at Universal Music India, has joined them as Vice President, Business Development.

     

    Prior to his stint with Universal, Mr Joshi served as the General Manager at Hungama Digital Media Entertainment for almost three years. He holds a Master’s Degree in Computer Software Applications from KJ Somaiya Institute of MGMT Studies & Research in India.

     

    Snehal Shinde, Co-founder and CEO, Dhingana, said, “We are very happy that Ashish has decided to work with us. We are expanding rapidly and are focused on providing a much wider music collection to our customers. Ashish’s deep knowledge and expertise of how music industry functions will play a big role in taking Dhingana to the next level of growth.”

     

    Mr Joshi said, “With my extensive prior experience of over a decade in content acquisition and distribution on various digital platforms in a B2B environment, it was only a logical step to join a B2C player which is a leader in its space. At Dhingana, I will get a chance to explore my entrepreneurial streak and help build a very strong consumer facing brand in the rapidly growing streaming business. I believe that Dhingana is fast becoming the most compelling destination for music labels and content owners to monetize their assets while, for consumers, it provides the ultimate listening experience.”

     

    Dhingana (www.dhingana.com) is a social music streaming service for Bollywood and Indian music, and is accessed by users across 220+ countries/territories. The company today has a collection of over 5,00,000 songs across 35 different genres, which are available, legally and for free. By using Dhingana, consumers also become device-independent and can access their favorite music across different devices and platforms like iPhone / iPad / iPod, Android, BlackBerry and Nokia based devices, as well as their PCs and laptops. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, Dhingana also has their offices in Pune, India.

     

  • New categories, sharper definitions, expanded judging and paperless judging are among the highlights of the annual awards for effectiveness in advertising this year

    Entries open for Effies 2012

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Advertising Club has let the cat out of the bag as it sets the stage open, inviting entries for the most coveted event of the Advertising Industry in India. The EFFIE Awards are back and with a bang. This year the showcase for effective marketing and creative strategies throws open new categories.

     

    While the International EFFIE Awards are hosted every year in New York, since 2001 The Advertising Club Bombay has been organizing the EFFIEs in India. Says Ajay Kakar, Chairperson = EFFIE Committee and the Vice President of The Advertising Club, “For over a decade, the EFFIEs has become the gold standard in measuring marketing and communication effectiveness in India. This is reflected both in the quality and the number of entries which the awards have been attracting every year – a startling increase from 53 in 2001 to 300 in 2011! In fact EFFIEs is the only award that is bestowed on both the client and agency, to jointly celebrate the in-market effectiveness of their campaigns,”

     

    A practice introduced last year, this year too, thought leaders of the industry were invited to share their views and suggestions on how to further enhance the stature of the EFFIE. Basis the discussions and feedback, EFFIE 2012 will:

     

    · Introduce 2 new categories i.e. Direct, in recognition of the Specialist discipline’s ability to give measurable results and Best ongoing campaign, to recognise brands that have made effectiveness a way of life, across years

    · Host the Round 1 and 2 judging in Mumbai and Delhi, while inviting coveted jury members from across the country

    · See a sharpened definition of categories like Integrated and David vs. Goliath

    · Attract specialist Jury members for specialist categories like Direct, Digital and Rural

    · Introduce paper-less judging

    · Sharply qualify the material that can be submitted in support of the entries

    · Marico uncommon Sense Award is an essential part of EFFIES.

    · Lenovo has introduced a new Award  – Lenovo Tech-Doers Award.

     

    The Advertising Club has not increased the entry fee, only the service tax component gets added as a statutory requirement.

     

    The Effies are open to all clients and agencies, be they creative, media, digital, DM and PR, to enter their work and demonstrate the effectiveness of their campaigns.

     

    “I am also happy to share with you a strengthened team at our end, committed to taking EFFIES 2012 to even greater highs. Sameer Sathpathy from Marico has come on board as the Co-Chairman and N Rajaram from Airtel as our Anchor, from Delhi. And as always, we enjoy the active guidance of our President, Shashi Sinha and the active support of the Secretariat, led by Bipin Pandit,” Mr Kakar added

     

    The last day for entries to be submitted is Monday, November 5, 2012. The award ceremony event is scheduled to be held in Mumbai, on Wednesday, December 4, 2012.

     

    In-depth details about the EFFIES 2012 are available in the Entry form, which is now up and available on The Advertising Club’s website. The advertising, media and marketing industries can visit www.adclubbombay.com or email adclub@vsnl.com, for more details.

     

  • Noting the transformation in the way youngsters look at life, Samyak Chakrabarty highlights some examples of mindset shifts shaping youth behaviour since 2011

    Young Track by Samyak Chakrabarty | Mindset shifts impact youth behaviour

    What’s a 23-year-old writing a column on a site where the average age of columnists is… ? Ok, ok, we won’t reveal that number, but like it or not the youth constitute a majority of India’s population. Since the last few years, young Samyak Chakrabarty has been in and around media events and offices with his vision of how the youth can be targeted.

     

    In this period, he has organized a few conferences, participated in several of them in India and abroad, and works as Chief Youth Marketer with the DDB Mudra group. He’s organized a TedX youth conference in Mumbai, was invited to meet Hillary Clinton when she visited India and has co-authored a book ‘Generation Einstein 3.0 – India version’.

     

    Samyak’s column appears on Wednesdays and as the title suggests, it tracks the young – specifically keeping in mind the advertising, media and marketing fraternity – Ed

     

    I have been noticing a slow but sustained transformation in the way youngsters are looking at life, career, decision-making etc. There is a huge difference in the perspective between those born before and after 1990. I am highlighting some interesting examples of mindset shifts which have been shaping youth behaviour since 2011.

     

    1 Entrepreneurship: The thirst for quick success and an unconventional lifestyle has encouraged college students to explore the possibilities of starting something of their own immediately after passing out. Around 67 percent of students from urban campuses want to be entrepreneurial while setting out on their career paths rather than lead a typical 9-to-5 life.

     

    Insight

    “We’ve seen our parents slog day and night to profit for another company in return for a meagre salary. I think if we put the same effort into building something of our own, it would reap more gains!” – Tahir Shaikh, 21, Mumbai

     

    2 Ethical Citizenship: With an increase in natural calamities and fears of climate disasters, young people have been seen to work diligently towards conserving natural resources while also protecting civic amenities. The ‘brash’ and ‘carefree’ youth species will soon be extinct.

     

    Insight

    “We don’t want our work to end anytime soon. There is so much to see, lots to achieve and experience. This creates the need for us to conserve whatever is left and oppose any lobby which is working against the interests of our society.” – Sneha Kapoor, 17, New Delhi

     

    3 Offline Networking: Students have begun to realize the importance of being physically connected to their peers rather than using the web as a medium alone since it lacks that personal touch. This feeling has created a rise in social events, gatherings, visit to hang outs. Social networks will soon just become a medium for dissemination rather than a meeting place for this segment.

     

    Insight

    “There was a time when we looked forward to meeting up with friends but now Facebook has transformed our relationships in a manner where have begun to take it for granted that post 9pm everyone will be online anyway so there’s no point in initiating a ‘meet up’. But then slowly we’ve started to miss the ‘real’ conversations.” – Arun Kuwalekar, 27, Pune

     

    4 Individuality: 8/10 students from campuses want to build their own independent image and make purchases based on their own individual judgement rather than follow trendsetters. Each wants to have his/her own unique style and be known by the choices they make. So this could mean the end of using ‘herd mentality’ as a basis for formulating a brand’s communication strategy.

     

    Insight

    “I want to build my real self and make that as my identity rather than camouflaging myself into becoming someone else just to be in the crowd. This reflects in my clothes, habits and way of life in general” – Tanya Singh, 23, Chandigarh

     

    5 Rebirth of Indian Values: 6/10 students from urban campuses have slowly started discovering the immense wealth of knowledge/experience which our culture has to provide and have began to rely on it more than ever before. A significant streak of patriotism and secularism is also evident because of this mindset shirt. What will be interesting to see is how they imbibe lessons from the past and embed them into their way of life and decision making.

     

    Insight

    “After seeing a lot of our seniors go on to the wrong path because of peer pressure. I think a lot of us want to lead more secure and stable lives.” – Sanskriti Chatterjee, 18, Kolkata

     

    The most interesting one to watch out for is in fact the last one. While there is so much of westernization on the one hand, youngsters are also wanting to do things “the Indian way” which could potentially affect a number of purchase decisions and factors that influence consumer behaviour.