MxMIndia

Category: Digital

  • Social Access Communications released a special av version of the national anthem with Lt Cdr Abhilash Tomy's feat of hoisting the tricolour at the farthest point from the country

    Social Access offers I-Day treat with tricolour film

    By A Correspondent

     

    Lt Cdr Tomy

    Earlier this year, on Republic Day 2013 to be precise, Lt Cdr Abhilash Tomy rounded the Mount Everest of sailing, Cape Horn, at the southernmost tip of South America, and hoisted the Indian national flag at sea, the farthest spot away from India. His extraordinary voyage was India’s first solo, non-stop, unassisted circumnavigation of the world’s oceans in a sailboat. The hoisting of the tricolour was a world first, and Lt Cdr Tomy had only the ocean and its creatures to sing the national anthem along with him.

     

    Lt Cdr Tomy’s historic video footage on this occasion was edited by Guruvayur Films to a special version of the national anthem with music rendered by Audiosynkrasy. Social Access Communications produced the film for cinema and television broadcast.

     

    The medium of cinema was chosen for the reach it delivers among young men aged 18 to 35. UFO Moviez arranged for the film to be screened from August 9 to 15. PVR-Cinemax also replaced the national anthem usually screened in Maharashtra with this special film. Over sixty national and regional television channels were engaged to broadcast this anthem.

     

    Speaking on the release of this film, Lt Cdr Tomy said, “Hoisting the national flag on a tumultuous sea at Cape Horn on Republic Day was an extremely proud moment for me as an Indian and a naval officer.”

     

    Lynn de Souza

    Lynn de Souza, Founder, Social Access Communications added, “We want to inspire patriotism and courage in our youth and Abhilash is a role model and real icon of change to them.”

     

    Speaking on the occasion of the special screening of this film at its corporate office, UFO Moviez’ JMD Kapil Agarwal said, “UFO is extremely proud to be associated with this initiative and would like to congratulate Abhilash Tomy for his incredible achievements.”

     

    Said Santosh Menon, of Guruvayur films, “It’s a huge honour to be associated with our national anthem, and a complete pleasure to meet a real life hero, AbhilashTomy.” Biby Sam of Audiosynkrasy, who composed the music said, “Working on the Indian National Anthem was a first for me. As an Indian, I was thrilled to work on this project, and in keeping with the theme, I was moved to render the Anthem with an upbeat blend of Indian and western music styles, hopefully reflecting the pride of every one of us Indians.”

     

  • Jack in the Box opens office in Delhi and announces appointment of Delhi and Mumbai business heads

    Jack in the Box elevates Abhishek Gupta, appoints Mairu Gupta to head Delhi

    By A Correspondent

     

    Jack in the Box Worldwide, the integrated communications brand of The 120 Media Collective with clients including Pepsi, 7Up, Louis Philippe, Nivea, Epic TV and EkStop, has opened an office in Delhi and brought Mairu Gupta on board as Vice President & Business Head, Delhi. Abhishek Razdan has been promoted to Senior Vice President & Business Head, Mumbai.

     

    Both Mr Razdan and Mr Gupta will report directly into Roopak Saluja, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, The 120 Media Collective.

     

    Mr Razdan has headed client servicing at Jack in the Box for over a year. Mr Gupta was  most recently at SapientNitro as India Marketing Lead.

     

    Roopak Saluja

    On this new dual Business Head structure and the setting up of the Delhi office, Roopak Saluja, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, The 120 Media Collective said: “The value a Delhi-Gurgaon presence will bring to our PepsiCo mandate is unquestionable. While that’s the immediate driver of the decision, we’ll be pitching agressively and responding to long-time requests to establish a presence there, allowing us to ramp up to a mid-size office by the end of the year. This dual decentralized structure makes perfect sense in the evolution of JITB, lead by two very competent professionals who are not only extremely passionate about delivering strategic and creatively excellent work but have proven abilities in nurturing client relationships with a long-term strategic view.”

     

    Said Chief Talent Officer Heather Gupta: “Expanding into Delhi is a natural progression for us.

     

    We are delighted to be able to expand our footprint, geographically, and I am confident that under Mairu’s leadership, our Delhi office will soon become a force to be reckoned with.”

     

    MxMIndia View: Hmmm. Delhi-NCR is where the action, er, moolah is!

     

  • India takes fifth place in online motivation according to new ground-breaking research by global media agency network Mindshare

    India 5th best in online motivation as per Mindshare Digital Normalness Index

    By A Correspondent

     

    India leads the way with entertainment and information gathering online, but lags behind in the areas of motivation to transact and self-express. This was revealed as part of a report entitled, Are you Digitally Normal? by media agency Mindshare. China is #1 in the study and the US is a low #20.

     

    The 2013 Mindshare Digital Normalness Index (MDNI) research challenges some of the world’s widest held preconceptions about the motivations for the use of digital media by 33 nations across the globe, from Australia to the US and includes India – helping to reveal what really drives us to go online and in which ‘mode’ we are in when we are there.

     

    The methodology of the research saw the motivations behind online behaviour (self -expression / entertainment / information gathering / transacting) matched against a ‘normal’ benchmark created by looking at the quality of digital infrastructure ( penetration and quality of connection) available in the country, Mindshare also has revealed:

    • The US is among the least motivated (31st) for using digital media for self-expression, being beaten by neighbour Canada at 17th. Instead, things traditionally associated with self-expression (e.g. blogging) are driven by a desire to be entertained.
    • South Korea, one of the most advanced digital nations in the world, lays only 23rd globally when it comes to being motivated to search for information, whilst scoring highly on all other motivations.
    • The UK is below ‘normal’ in its motivation to use digital communications across the four areas (17th) when compared to the quality of its infrastructure, as are the USA (20th) and Japan (28th)
    • The BRIC countries are all above ‘normal’ in their use of digital communications across the four motivational areas when compared to the quality of their infrastructure (Brazil  14th, Russia 12th, India 5th, China 1st)
    • Chile is the most advanced (ahead of ‘normal’) Latin American country (11th) beating  Brazil (14th), Venezuela (18th), Colombia (19th), Mexico (21st), Peru (26th) and Argentina (29th)
    • Portugal is the most advanced European country (2nd), beating Sweden (6th), Spain (9th), Poland (10th), Germany (13th) and the UK (17th)

     

     

    Of the 33 countries, only 14 were above ‘normal’ in their use of digital communications across the four motivation areas when compared to the quality of their infrastructure – leaving the rest, which includes the UK, US, Australia and Japan lagging behind ‘normal’.

     

    Said Norm Johnston, Global Digital Leader at Mindshare: ‘This new research is a fresh way of looking at online national audiences and shows the importance of understanding that every group is motivated by different reasons when they go online – and when in these different ‘modes’ they need to be communicated with in bespoke ways, making the use of Adaptive Marketing techniques vital. The research also challenges our pre-conceptions; for example the USA is the world’s richest nation, but with people who are less motivated to go online for transaction (26th) than almost every other nation on the planet!-

     

    MxMIndia View: While the overall rank (#5) is good, but transaction and communication/expression ranks (#19) are too low! Cholbe naa!

     

    Country Communication /
    Self Expression
    Rank    		 Entertainment
    Rank    		 Information
    Rank    		 Transaction
    Rank    		 Overall Rank
    Argentina 15 32 27 14 29
    Australia 32 11 17 20 22
    Belgium 7 20 20 30 23
    Brazil 4 28 14 16 14
    Canada 17 15 18 17 16
    Chile 2 18 32 4 11
    China 1 16 8 1 1
    Colombia 21 24 19 9 19
    France 22 33 33 12 33
    Germany 12 27 9 10 13
    Hungary 33 25 15 31 32
    India 19 3 4 19 5
    Indonesia 14 21 29 13 25
    Italy 30 12 2 33 27
    Japan 26 31 11 29 28
    Malaysia 8 9 12 32 15
    Mexico 13 26 22 15 21
    Netherlands 18 29 30 23 31
    Peru 25 19 24 21 26
    Philippines 27 4 3 28 8
    Poland 20 13 16 8 10
    Portugal 3 17 1 7 2
    Russia 24 2 31 18 12
    Singapore 9 1 21 6 3
    SouthAfrica 29 22 28 25 30
    SouthKorea 6 8 23 3 7
    Spain 11 6 5 22 9
    Sweden 16 5 7 11 6
    Switzerland 10 30 10 27 24
    Thailand 5 14 25 2 4
    UK 28 7 26 5 17
    USA 31 10 13 26 20
    Venezuela 23 23 6 24 18

     

    MDNI Methodology:

    1. The research focuses on the motivation of online consumers falling into four areas (self -expression / entertainment / information gathering / transacting). A sample of 33,000 respondents were questioned about whether, and how often, they undertook a range of online behaviours, from blogging to online banking. Statistical analysis was then used to group these behaviours by country and by motivation.

    2. In parallel an ‘infrastructure score’ was created for each country by looking at internet availability and the average speed of connection.

    3. The two ‘scores’ were then cross-referenced, producing a trendline to map the relationship between the two. This line demonstrated what was typical at any given level of infrastructure, and showed whether a country’s motivation score was above or below ‘normal’ based on the available infrastructure.

     

  • The Mumbai-based, Philadelphia, USA-headquartered social media marketing firm plans to use the investment to launch products to make social advertising more effective and ease content creation

    SocioSquare raises $325,000 funding

    By A Correspondent

     

    Mumbai-based social media marketing company, SocioSquare, a division of AKG Technologies, has raised $325,000 investment from angel investors in US, UK and Turkey.  This by prevailing rupee conversion rates would mean around Rs 2 crore.

     

    The company plans to use the raised investments to launch Social Media Products which will make social advertising more effective and content creation easy. AKG has developed a product on top of Facebook’s Ads Api, which is currently submitted to Facebook for the Preferred Marketing Developer Badge (PMD). It plans to roll out this product in the coming month and take it global by end-2013.  SocioSquare is recognized by investors as a SaaS (Software as a Service) company.

     

    In business for two years, the Philadelphia, USA-headquartered SocioSquare currently handles social media for brands such as The Mobile Store, Zee Group (Zee Khana Khazana, Ditto TV), 99acres.com, Hokey Pokey Ice creams among others.

     

    Sharing his enthusiasm, Gaurav Mendiratta, Founder & CEO, SocioSquare said, “Our vision is to help brands and marketers leverage the power of Social media. Today everyone is facing common problems of ROI from social ads as well as their content reaching a few percent of current followers/fans. We have developed two cutting edge products to solve these problems and this investment will help us take them to market.”

     

    This round of investment led by Dr David Bell, who is a professor at the Wharton School and earlier advising and invested in firms like Diapers.com, which was acquired by Amazon and WarbyParker.com, which has revolutionized the internet market for prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses in US.

     

    Talking about his investment, Dr Bell shared “Effective and profitable use of social media is the ‘holy grail’ for small and large firms alike, but it’s not easy to get there. That requires the kinds of modeling and analytics that the team at SocioSquare have developed. I’m very excited by the opportunity to help our clients.”

     

  • The Mobile Value Added Service (MVAS) market is expected to reach Rs 29,300 crore by the end of 2013 registering a Y-o-Y growth of 15 percent, according to the latest IAMAI-IMRB report

    Mobile VAS Market To Reach Rs 29,300 cr by end-2013

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Mobile Value Added Service (MVAS) market is expected to reach Rs 29,300 crore by the end of 2013, from Rs 26,000 crore in 2012, registering a Y-o-Y growth of 15 percent, according to the latest IAMAI-IMRB report on MVAS in India, released on Tuesday (Aug 20). The impressive growth rate can be attributed to the rising adoption of mobile internet in India, notes an IAMAI communiqué.

     

     

    According to the report, MVAS for the enterprise market is estimated to grow by 25 percent to reach Rs 600 crore by the end of FY2013. Further, the report finds that the enterprise market is expected to grow by 30 percent in FY 2014 to reach Rs 780 crore.

     

     

    According to the report, falling prices of handset, device capabilities and cheaper data accessibility are the primary drivers for the growth of enterprise MVAS market.

     

    The major categories of the MVAS services in the Enterprise segment are CRM (Customer Relationship Management Solutions); Corporate Communications; Cloud based Services and Web Conferencing.

     

     

    The report further finds that a Special Category: BYOD (Bring your own Device) has emerged in the market in recent times. It is estimated that there will be an Rs 100-INR 150 per device per month opportunity for an enterprise that is moving towards BYOD. However, this solution will bring in the required synergies only when the scale of the enterprise is more than 1000 employees.

     

  • Viacom 18 ties up with Amagi for micro-targeting TVCs via DART, HUL to run different TV ads on Nickelodeon for various regions

    HUL to run region-specific ads on Nickelodeon as Viacom18 ties up with Amagi for micro-targeting

    By A Correspondent

     

    Viacom18 and Amagi Media have announced an alliance to increase advertising effectiveness on television using the latter’s technological prowess.

     

    Using Amagi’s DART technology platform, Viacom18 will enable Hindustan Unilever to simultaneously run different television advertisements in different regions on Nickelodeon. This innovation will allow HUL to micro-target its communication in each region. Amagi calls this “creative-versioning” where different television creative in terms of product variant or a different creative rendition of the same advertiser is played in different regions on the same channel simultaneously. Creative versioning addresses critical needs of both broadcasters and advertisers seeking to optimize their Return on Investment (ROI) from the television spot. Given the TRAI’s recent 12 minute ruling on advertising, broadcasters and advertisers have been seeking ways to optimize their Return on Investment and stretch the time within the limited inventory.

     

    Sudhanshu Vats
    Srinivasan K.A

    Said Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO, Viacom 18: “As a leading broadcaster, Viacom 18 has been pioneering several innovations and has been at the forefront of providing newer platforms for improved customer deliveries. This initiative further builds on our strategic thrust of sharper segmentation. We are pleased to partner with Amagi and Hindustan Unilever on this unique concept of micro-targeting.”

     

    Srinivasan K.A, Co-Founder, Amagi Media added: “We are happy that we have been chosen as the partner to enable this innovation. This is the first time worldwide in television advertising that a single spot bought nationally has been used to communicate different brand messages in different regions. Such micro-targeting is going to be the future of television advertising.”

     

  • Micromax, Karbonn, Apple occupy next 3 slots as handset revenue grows 14.7 percent to touch Rs 35,946 Cr in FY13

    Samsung replaces Nokia as #1 cellphone in India

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Indian mobile handset market posted revenues of Rs 35,946 crore in FY 13 compared to Rs 31,330 crore in FY12 showing a growth of 14.7%. This was mainly due to the increasing uptake in smartphones by the Indian consumers.

     

    The 18th annual survey ‘V&D 100’ by Voice&Data magazine covered over 30 mobile handset companies doing business in India across categories like feature phones, multimedia phones, enterprise phones and smartphones. Both multinational and Indian mobile phone firms were surveyed for this report.

     

    The biggest surprise of the year was Korean electronics maker Samsung dethroned Nokia from the top position. The Finnish handset maker had been holding the fort for over a decade.

     

    Samsung’s rise in the Indian market is attributed to its rich product portfolio that was able to cater to customers of all budget categories. Samsung handset prices range from Rs 1,500 to Rs 50,000. Samsung mobile handsets come in varied screen sizes. These two factors helped the company grabbing customer’s attention, besides the product quality and new features.

     

    Samsung ended the year with revenues of Rs 11,328 crore compared to Rs 7,891 crore in FY12 showing a growth of 43.6%. The company also became the market leader with 31.5% market share.

     

    The former leader of the Indian mobile phone market Nokia dropped a rank to be placed at No 2 in the Voice&Data survey with 27.2% market share with a significant 18% drop in revenue.

     

    In the 12 months ended March 2013, Nokia revenues from Indian operations were placed at Rs 9,780 crore compared to Rs 11,925 crore in FY12. The revenue loss at Nokia has been staring at Nokia worldwide in view of a few strategic missteps. Nokia’s drop in market share started when the company failed to sense the need of a dual-SIM phone for the Indian consumer, and the same was tapped by the Indian players years ahead of global players like Nokia.

     

    On a global ground, not embracing the most popular and most accepted operating system – android – for its Smartphones, gives its potential customers very little choice.

     

    Nokia’s Lumia series phones that witnessed huge growth globally in the initial phases could not draw much attention in India.

     

    “The rise of smaller local players like Micromax, Karbon, Lava, and Zen is a clear indication that consumers want cheaper feature rich phones. The next phase of mobile penetration in the bottom of the pyramid India will be driven by these companies,” says Ibrahim Ahmad, Group Editor of Voice&Data.

     

    Homegrown handset company Micromax captured #3 position among V&D100 Top10 mobile handset brands for the year 2013. Though it performed pretty badly in FY12 and the first quarter of FY13, through some smart thinking and innovative products, the Gurgaon-headquartered phone maker grew by 58.6%. By the end of the last fiscal, the company posted revenues of Rs 3,138 crore compared to Rs 1,978 crore in FY12. With this Micromax enjoys a market share of 8.7%.

     

    Closing in next is Karbonn Mobiles, the company among the Indian handset players that grew most consistently. In FY13, Karbonn grew by 73.1% to register revenues of Rs 2,297 crore compared to Rs 1,327 crore in FY12. IN FY 2013 Karbonn grew by 32%.

     

    With thism the Bengaluru-based UTL Group and Delhi based Jaina Group Joint-Venture Company, Karbonn captured a market share of 6.4% and is placed at #4 position in the table. Last year they were placed at #5.

     

    Also making an entry into the Voice&Data Top10 table in the handset space is Apple that grew a mammoth 417.2% to post revenues of Rs 1,293 crore in FY13 compared to Rs 250 crore a year back. Though India was never a focus market for the Cupertino-based smart device maker till Steve Jobs’ era, in the last two years Apple has started making inroads, though slowly.

     

    In the last fiscal, the company made some disruptive changes in its sales strategy which paid off. Appointing Ingram Micro and Redington as the national distributors for their entire sales, and offering EMI schemes to the consumers to buy the most coveted Apple product changed the game for them. The company now enjoys 3.6% market share in India with the smallest number of handset models in its portfolio.

     

  • The chocolate-maker's Bournville spends 60% of its annual spends on digital, with just 30% on TV. The rest is on OOH

    Cadbury’s sweet interlude with Digital

     

    By Shephali Bhatt

     

    Hamilton Holt was right after all – nothing worthwhile comes easily. Which is why if you wanted a Cadbury Bournville back in 2008, you couldn’t just buy it, you had to ‘earn it’.

     

    It was the campaign that spurred the first big relaunch for the brand which had spent years as a niche product. Some even attributed its continued existence to sentimental reasons: Bournville is named after the site of the first large Cadbury factory and model village. In its revamped avatar, it aimed to appeal to sophisticated adults craving a premium dark chocolate experience. Set in an idyllic European milieu, the launch spot had a quintessentially British journalist bragging about owning a bar of Bournville who gets abducted by a giant bird because he hadn’t “earned” it. With 85% of the marketing spend on TV and the rest on print and OOH, the launch campaign ran for 15-16 weeks a year for three years until it was time to focus on the ingredients that went into making a Bournville.

     

    The focus of the campaign turned to all those cocoa beans that never became a Bournville, because that was a prerogative of ‘Original Ghana Cocoa beans’ only. “The idea was to build awareness and generate trials for the brand. These campaigns helped establish Bournville as a premium chocolate with an international appeal and a distinct proposition,” says Anil Viswanathan, VP – chocolates category, Cadbury India.

     

    It was around 2011-12 that the brand started exploring the digital platform and allocated 30% of its marketing budget to the medium. This was followed by a tie-up with Warner Bros around the release of The Dark Knight Rises. “While movie promotions don’t last more than 10 days, conversations around a movie start a month in advance,” notes Shekhar Banerjee, Senior VP and head of Pinnacle at Madison (the media agency that handles Cadbury). Capitalizing on the conversation around the biggest release of last year, the agency created an augmented reality based motion sensing game – The Bean Hunt. The winner won a free trip for two to Warner Bros Movie World in Australia. This was coupled with activity on YouTube (videos with trivia around the Batman franchise) and Facebook. It led to an addition of 6.5 lakh users on the social networking site within a month and the interaction figures soared by 4000%. It was enough to convince the brand to take a huge punt on the medium.

     

    Starting 2013, Bournville has set digital as its lead, accounting for 60% of its annual budget. TV remains the second with close to 30% with the rest allocated to OOH. Viswanathan explains that Bournville’s current TG (SEC A, between the age group of 19-30) is an audience that uses social media as the primary vehicle to maintain and extend their networks. The shift will help the brand by being present where its target audience is, and will help the brand building exercise by riding on leading trends.

     

    In March this year, Bournville launched a Cranberry variant, only on digital, and reached out to 26 million unique users. The campaign involved multiple videos created by Ogilvy India, the creative agency on the brand, which were only run online. “Today, Cranberry has a recall of 23% which is higher than the other variants of Bournville that existed in the market for years,” asserts Banerjee.

     

    Bournville’s current campaign ‘not so sweet’ (NSS) is an attempt to retire ‘have you earned it’. It’s tongue-in-cheek, it’s cheeky and aspires to align the brand with young adults who like their not so sweet dark chocolate. The exclusive launch of this campaign on digital media has led to an increase in brand conversation by 800%. Along with the ad film that shuns the overtly sweet, there’s a Twitter campaign called ‘Tape a Tweet’ that allows users to throw overtly sweet situations at the brand on Twitter where they promptly get converted into one minute videos. The 9-person strong digital team at Pinnacle has built analytics that quantify the ROI of social media on its two brand metrics for digital-engagement levels and conversation association of NSS. They like to call them social GRP.

     

    In addition, they’ve classified their target audience into digital clusters to help draft a better content strategy for the brand. Experts say that 60% of the brand’s marketing budget would be close to Rs 12 crore. “With that kind of money and a significant reach, Bournville will stand out,” Harshil Karia, co-founder and online strategist at Foxymoron points out. Since no other brand in the category is that prevalent in the medium, it gives Bournville the maximum share of voice, he adds. Normally, it takes a period of three years for advertising on this medium to reflect on sales. It will be interesting to see how Bournville’s transition from traditional to digital pays off in the long run.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2013, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

    Licensed to republish

     

  • Vijay Mukhi reasons why screaming and shouting may work on News TV, but not on the social web

    Vijay Mukhi: Why the BJP is wrong in wanting to be aggressive on the Social Web

     

    PoliTech / By Vijay Mukhi

     

    Last week, the BJP had a major briefing of its media cells from all over the country which was addressed by the party top brass. The advice they were wrongly given was told to ‘swamp the social web’ and also be ‘aggressive’ . A extremely bad idea in my view. For some vague reason we believe in the myth that to spread your message on the social web, you have to be aggressive and like Rambo, go out all guns blazing. The social web is not like primetime TV where you are encouraged to shout and scream and interrupt others. Nothing could be further than the truth. The social web respects good behaviour and we normally highlight only a very small part of the social web which does not reflect on the majority behaviour. Let’s look at some real numbersto substantiate why the meek shall inherit the social web. Let’s start with Twitter and then move to Facebook.

     

    The only way to judge the popularity of a tweet and not that of its owner is to see how many people retweet it. There is no other objective way of determining the popularity of a tweet. An indirect metric about the popularity of your tweets would be that if people like your tweets they would follow you or tweet about you and may not always retweet your tweets. Let’s look at what types of tweets get retweeted from India and created by Indians only. We are not looking at tweets that you retweet, that is. those that start with RT @, which are obviously tweets written by others that you like.

     

    The No 1 and 2 position on this list is taken up by our silent cricket captain M S Dhoni with around 9900 retweets followed by Shah Rukh Khan at the next three places. The first politician on this list is Narendra Modi at No 9 with around 3000 retweets. Mr Modi bags a total of only six places in our list and the only other politician he has for company is Subramanian Swamy, that also only once. To be on the top 100 list, all that we need is our tweet to be retweeted 1278 times, not very difficult to get 1300 followers to retweet your tweet. But even that our politicians’ followers cannot manage. Bad showing for the political community on Twitter!

     

    The other big Twitter politician Shashi Tharoor simply does not figure on this list unlike the big film stars who make too much of an impression and dominate our list. Shah Rukh Khan is the real badshah of Twitter retweets. Thus we can be sure that being mentioned on Twitter a lot or having zillions  of followers do not get your tweets retweeted at all which means that not enough people are getting access to your tweets. The bigger story is what types of tweets get retweeted.

     

    First, none of these tweets contain any aggression in any form whatsoever. All these tweets said nothing controversial, used no sexual overtones, used the queen’s English and were something you could share with your family. If you were a [olitician who wanted his/her tweet to be retweeted, what is the first lesson you would have learned. Please do not cross the line of decency on Twitter, it is not a line drawn in sand but in concrete. The Twitter world would not like to be associated with heat, noise and thunder, so stay away from all forms of aggressiveness if you want your tweet to go viral. If you want to promote Mr Modi, please do so, but do not use any aggressive behaviour of any form, the tweet will not go viral it will only create a backlash against Mr Modi.

     

    Only if the Social Media cell of the BJP looked at the list of the top 100 retweets out of India, they would have not given their media cells advice that they gave.

     

    It is a big mistake on the part of the larger media that says that if you shout on Twitter and be loud, you will be heard and retweeted and you will go viral. An analysis of the retweets out of India  shows that decency and dignity go a long way on Twitter.

     

    What should bother the politician most about Twitter is that the tweets that get retweeted have very little political content. Those tweets of Mr Modi that do get retweeted and are political in nature simply have not fired the imagination of his supporters. The idea of a Politician to be on Twitter is to get the message out and the only way is to make your tweets go viral. A Modi tweet that gets retweeted 4000 times does not spread the message at all. It’s cold consolation that Mr Tharoor also does not fare any better. My belief is that Mr Modi and the others of his ilk may get someone else to write his speech, but he says it on stage. On Twitter I believe someone else writes his tweets and he does not know or seem to care why his political tweets do not get retweeted.

     

    The media in India has a fascination for Twitter but does not seem to realise that Facebook is by larger and dwarfs Twitter in size and influence. Facebook is a more visual image and words do not sell on Facebook but images do. For proof of this let’s look at the Top 100 hundred likes for Facebook posts out of India. A like is the most important concept in Facebook and is used a lot, you like a Facebook post, you like a Facebook page etc.

     

    We do three things on a Facebook status update, we add a picture a video or plain words. And guess what?! 99% of status updates that were liked were pictures and Videos and only 1% used words. This makes it very clear that Facebook is a visual medium for likes and all the writers have fled to Twitter. Pictures sell on Facebook not words. We do not use Facebook to have long discussions, as Facebook is simply not structured for engaging people in a debate on any issue. Politicians do not figure in the list of likes at all.

     

    On the other hand, if you want people to share with others what you have posted, then you do not have to change tack a lot. Here once again text does not rule but pictures do. Only 3% of the Top 100 in the category of sharing goes to text updates. Unfortunately, the only politician on this list is Mr Modi, he comes in at a lowly 49 and appears 3 times. The big question that needs to be asked is that if for Twitter, politician were sort of around, they are totally missing in action on Facebook.

     

    With text you can be aggressive, with pictures what sells are stuff that looks pleasing to eye, that appeal to the senses and this is why film stars win on Facebook. Salman Khan with 2 dogs is what people like but at the same time people like more than they share on Facebook. See the pictures that made the list and tell me one that you found aggressive or offensive. None of them were there to garner attention of make a point, low key also wins on Facebook.

     

    The world learnt just one big thing from the Obama e-cmapaign. The best way to win the social web elections is by getting people to share your message to others. On TV, all content is created so that I do not use my remote, TV content tries to make my remote disappear. On the other hand, on the social web, there is no remote, a mouse or a finger is always within reach. The core idea on the social web is can I get the user to share my email, my tweet, my post. If I can, then I have a winner. This means that please do not send me an email every month with your picture 10 times telling me what you do, content like this puts me off and I will never click on Forward. I will not participate in spreading your message out. Give me content that I can share with  my friends, my followers, my -mail contacts, etc and you have a viral effect.

     

    As a columnist, I love reading comments, tells me that someone is reading. What I do not understand is people calling me names without any reasoning. What the BJP should have told its media heads last week was to weed out these aggressive followers of theirs on the social web who do get loud, aggressive, abusive , etc , etc. Even expel them if need be. If the BJP wants to win the social web elections, these people must go or else the Congress comes out on top.

     

  • The Consumer Complaints Council of advertising self-regulator Advertising Standard Council of India upheld complaints against 144 out of 174 ads in June 2013

    ASCI upholds plaints against 3 online and 1 YouTube ad

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Consumer Complaints Council of advertising self-regulator Advertising Standard Council of India upheld complaints against 144 ads in June 2013. Most of the misleading ads were from the health and personal care category followed by education sector, informs a communiqué. For the first time ever, ASCI has also tracked and upheld complaints against 4 online advertisements,   out of which one is an advertisement of Hindustan Unilever on YouTube, it adds.

     

    ASCI, through the National Advertising Monitoring Service (NAMS), has already started post tracking of advertisements in print and TV against which complaints are upheld.   Initial tracking results show overall there is 90% compliance from advertisers on ASCI’s decisions.

     

    HEALTH AND PERSONAL CARE:

    The CCC found the following claims in 58 health and personal care product or service ads released in the press to be either misleading or false or not adequately/scientifically substantiated and hence violating Chapter I of the ASCI Code. Some of the health care products or services ads also contravened provisions of the Drug & Magic Remedies Act. Complaints against the following ads were upheld –

     

    1. Hindustan Unilever Ltd: The advertisement of Sun Silk Perfect Straight that appeared online on the YouTube channel shows that ‘a girl packing/selecting all her hair straightening equipment and her friend telling her about a shampoo that can keep the hair perfectly straight after attending a gym session, party or even in other situations’.

    2. Jalan Healthcare: The advertisement claims that one can ‘Lose upto 11 kgs in 3 weeks with a written money back guarantee’. They further claim that ‘No excuses, no condition, no asterix; our solution: no diet, no exercise, and no weight gain even after you stop the  treatment as they correct  your metabolism with homeopathy’.

    3. Keya Seth Aromatherapy: The advertisement of Keya Seth Alopex Penta claimed that ‘it can stop hair fall’, ‘it makes every hair strand stronger and longer, five times faster than any other solution’.

    4. Charak Aushdhalay: The advertisement claimed that Charak Aushadhalay ‘provides correct treatment of STD, piles, impotence, premature ejaculation, nightfall,  inseminal disorders, less sperms, childlessness, white or red water, etc & stubborn diseases’.

    5. Zee Laboratories: The advertisement of Virgin Again Gel claimed that the ‘Vagina tightening and rejuvenating gel improves muscle tone’.

    6. Prem Henna Pvt Ltd: The advertisement claimed that Nisha Natural Henna Colour is ‘India’s first Ayurvedic base natural hair colour which contains Henna, Amla, Shikakai, Hibiscus & Aloevera’

    7. Slim Care Herbal Products Pvt Ltd: The advertisement claimed that Slim fast capsule and powder is the ‘new ultra slim fast capsule and powder that makes you slim and smart with no exercise, no side effects, no dieting’.

    8. Om Sivasakthi Pachilai Vaidhyasalai: The advertisement claimed that it provides ‘permanent solutions for diseases like Aids, weakness in sex, ulcer, paralysis and cancer through their leaf herbal treatment’,  ‘stone in kidneys will be diluted within one day by taking medicine only once’, ‘diabetes will be controlled within 90 days’.

    9. Dabur India Ltd: The Fem Turmeric Herbal Bleach claimed that it is a ‘herbal, mild & ammonia free bleach’.

    10. Johnson & Johnson Ltd: The Johnson’s Baby Natural Massaging Oil claimed that the ‘oil helps in 47% more weight gain’.

    11. Reckitt Benckiser (India) Ltd: The Mortein Naturguard advertisement shows ‘a lady spraying an unbranded pest control spray covering her mouth and nose with family and the dogs staying out door. However when she sprays Mortein Naturguard she is not covering her mouth and the family is happily playing in the room. The ad makes it appear as if the product is very safe, does not have any chemicals and is of natural ingredients.

    12. Adinath Ayurvedic Research Centre: The advertisement of Adinath Capsule claimed that this capsule ‘removes unwanted fats and gives proper shape to your body, gets rid of swollen, loose fatty body and tones it up with no side effects.  By using this capsule you can see the reduction of unwanted fats in stomach, waist and hips by yourself. It is an ayurvedic herbal capsule which leaves you with no weakness, no wrinkles.’

    13. Medikom Healthcare: The advertisement of 18 Plus Slimming Capsules claims that it ‘reduces obesity in just one course. It has no side effects’.

    14. AjitAyurved: The advertisement of Ajit Range of Products claims that it is the ‘most effective ayurvedic medicine till now for high blood pressure’. ‘One can consume B.P. Cure churna and see the effect in 15 days’. ‘It reduces the threat of heart attack to a large extent, helps to get rid of body heat and thins the blood’. ‘This medicine is very effective in the early stage of high B.P. This medicine is completely ayurvedic and has no side effect’. ‘One course of Heart Win capsule not just provides strength to heart and body by removing all weakness but also successfully helps to avoid heart surgery.’

    15. Sanjivani Naturals: The advertisement of  Sanjivani Naturals claims that it ‘helps counter obesity by reducing 10-16 kgs within 3 months in a completely natural manner.’

    16. Bhagwan Mahavir Heart Centre: The advertisement claims that  ‘treats heart blockages and angina with American technique without any bypass and angioplasty at a lower cost.’

    17. Spanking Products Pvt Ltd: The advertisement claims that Hair Growth ‘stops hair fall in 10 days, dandruff in 5 days and increases hair growth in 30 days with 100% guarantee’.

    18. Shuklas Vesaj Suraksha: The advertiser claims that at Shukla’s Ayurvedic Treatment Centre ‘will heal different health problems in 7 days. Hair problems like alopecia, pigmentation, vitiligo, white patches and eczema will also be cured within 7 days.

    19. Oro Herbal & Food Products: The advertisement of Oro Sperm Count claims that ‘it increases the sperm count in just three days and it gives vital power that helps to maintain normal sexual performance. 6 bottles of Oro Sperm Count are enough for healthy sperm productivity.’

    20. Sneha IVF & Fertility Centre: The advertisement claims that it ‘provides complete treatment for infertility.  One can fulfil your desire to have children.’

    21. SX-Plus Gold Churna and Oil: The advertisement claims that SX – Plus Gold Churna And Oil has a miraculous power. It ends impotency from its roots.  It is a reasonably priced product of North America and Canada’s popular HICI Co. It also Increases length and thickness of penis.’

    22. Dr Aroras Clinic: As per the advertisement it claims that Dr Aroras Clinic was awarded India’s Best Doctor 2013 for outstanding work in the field of sexology. Indian Health Organization accredited.’

    23. Dhanvantari Ayurvedic Hospital: The advertisement claims that they can help ‘cure tumour, cancer, kidney stones, paralysis. Patients who have been unsuccessful with trying all types of medicines should contact once for ayurvedic treatment’.

    24. American Cosmetic Clinic: The advertiser claims that it is the ‘Sub Branch of American Institute of Aesthetics and Medical Sciences (USA).’

    25. The Himalaya Drug Company: In the advertisement of Himalaya Complete Care Toothpaste, the TVC opens with a message of importance of `anti-oxidant’ having health benefits.  The commercial further communicates that anti-oxidant not only kills the germs but also removes toxins and further strengthen the gums and teeth and then, ultimately, the commercial concludes with a message that it is much more than gum protection. The pack of the toothpaste claims that the ‘use of the product would lead to 0% dental problems.  This claim is linked with an apteryx which states ‘with regular brushing, Himalaya Herbals range of Herbal toothpastes help prevent common dental problems related to gum and teeth and helps to achieve 0% dental problems’.

    26. NalamVivek Clinic: The advertisement claims that it is ‘World’s No.1 ayurveda eye drop medicine for all types of eye problems’. Visual implies getting rid of spectacles. Kidney stone will get cured in 5 Days treatment without the need of operation. Hearing blocks will be cured without operation.

    27. Emami Limited : Zandu Sonachandi Chyawanprash in their TVC claimed that ‘Only Sonachandi Chyawanprash contains gold which provides immunity and silver keeps the mind sharp’

    28. Madhavbaug Sane Care: Sane Care Range Product in their print ad claimed ‘Sane care nano gel gets rid of fat’.

    29. Aura Health Care & Education in their print ad claimed ‘No need of medicines, tablets, no side effects, no unnecessary expenses’,   ‘Get rid of heart attack, diabetes, uterus problems through acupuncture treatment’.

    30. Lupin Ltd: Lupin Asli power Musli capsule in their print ad claimed it helps ‘improve vitality, stamina and energy’.

    31. S P Pharma: S P Pharma product range in their print ad claimed that ‘U – Like – Breast cream or oil and capsules. Size and shape of breasts’,  ‘Panji hair oil and capsule stops baldness’,  ‘Maharaja gold capsule and oil – for time, vigor and size. Weakness due to aging and diabetes’.

    32. Marico Ltd: Livon Hair Gain Tonic in their print ad claimed ‘Increase your hair growth with the Latest Hair Gain Formula- Livon Hair Gain Tonic’.

    33. Ag herbs (Singapore) Pvt Ltd: In their print advertisement they claimed that it helps control the bladder naturally.

    34. KeshPari Oil Capsule & Hair wash in their print ad claimed that it provides 2 times healthy, strong and dense hair forms the roots.

    35. SM Dawakhana in their print ad claimed that their medicine can cure leucoderma may it be old or recent and change it into the colour of your original skin.

    36. Zafar Shafakhana in their print ad claimed that it provides a sure cure for physical weakness, Dhat  and night fall.

    37. Ayurved Health Care in their print ad claimed ‘Lose weight 100% in just Rs.4999/- 3 to 10 inch in 1 month’,  ‘No crash dieting/ no exercise’, ‘Once you reduce weight, it will not increase’,  ‘No side effects’.

    38. Ayurnidanam Ayurvedic & Panchkarma Clinic in their print ad claimed that it cures Sexual problems in males like premature ejaculation, stop in sperm generation, no sperm count, swapna vicar, pre and post marital sexual problems with the help of Ayurveda and Panchkarma.

    39. Men’s Health Clinic in their print ad claimed that it provides treatment for all types of sex related problems like premature ejaculation, impotency, low erection, semen in urine, night fall, low sperm count, weakness due to agedness and sugar.

    40. Satyajit Ltd: Larkspur Hair Vitalise, in their print ad claimed that it stops hair fall in 10 days.

    41. Dr. Animeshs Homeopathy: In their print ad claimed that ‘it provides permanent treatment of leucoderma’.

    42. Raj Dawakhana: Their advertisement claimed that they ‘provide permanent solution for all types of sexual problems like semen in urine, night fall, premature ejaculation, small, thin and lose personal organ’.

    43. Hercules Healthcare: The advertisement of Long Looks Height Gain Capsule claimed that it ‘World’s first invention and helpful in physical development’.

    44. TV- Mall: The TVC of Fair Look Cream show the photographs of some faces which were absolutely black and then they are showing fair faces to claim that they became fair after using the product.

    45. Pavizham Healthier Diet Pvt Ltd: The TVC of Pavizham Refined Rice Bran Oil claimed that it ‘protects from cancer and cholesterol’.

    46. Ambic Ayurve: Hopeliv DS Tablets /Syrup advertisement claimed that it ‘makes liver strong and fit’, ‘License to drink’.

    47. Shanti Ano Rectal Hospital & Kshar Sutra Centre: In their print advertisement, they claimed that it ‘provides treatment of piles and fistula without operation with advanced machines and get discharged within one hour.’

    48. Green Remedies Ayur Med Divis: Gramd Patlu Syrup, in their advertisement claimed that one can ‘consume Patlu to reduce weight and fat. By consuming it daily one can lose 2-3 Kg weight and fat in one month’.

    49. Chennai Unani Hospital: Their print advertisement claimed that ’25 qualified graduate /post graduate got registered doctors all together found this medicine for sex weakness in Male and made by several foreign herbals after doing lot of research as per the ancient people’. ‘Persons who don’t have children’s this siddha medicine creates 100 million live sperms on them and help to have child’. ‘This medicine can be consumed by Diabetes, Asthma, heart diseases and any other disease’s patients without any side effects’.

    50. New Bombay Cancer Homeopathic Hospital: Their print advertisement claimed that ‘Cancer is curable now!! Successful treatment for all types and stages of cancer at Homeopathic system of Medicine’, ‘Adopt Cancer cure and get rid of Cancer’.

    51. Ap Solvex Ltd: Ricela Refined Rice Bran Oil print advertisement claimed that it is ‘Oryzanol rich that reduces cholesterol’, ‘In a recent international research it was found that oryzanol is a nutritious element. This health enhancing nutritious element is found in just Rice Bran Oil’,  ‘Qualities of Oryzanol: Reduces Cholesterol,  fights cancer and diabetes, quality of reducing high blood pressure, helps in reducing problems of menopause and bones,  helpful in preventing gas problems, helpful in body building & keeps body youthful’.

    52. Hair Grow: Their print advertisement claimed that they provide ‘successful treatment for baldness with the help of herbs and bhasma, grows hair in few days, get rid of grey hair and helps grow black hair with guarantee’.

    53. Lavanya Ayurvedic Hospital: In their online advertisement, they claimed that it cures Cancer and AIDS.

    54. SBS Biotech Unit-II: More Power Capsules in their print advertisement claimed that it is ‘No.1 herbal medicine helpful for growing height which has stopped’. ‘Grow two times faster’ ‘for boys and girls in age group 8 to 35’.

    55. Guardian Lifecare Pvt Ltd: GNC Live Well print advertisement claimed that it is ‘America’s Largest Selling Health & Nutrition Supplements’.

    56. Nivaqueen Skin Oil: In their print advertisement, they claimed that ‘Vitamin E skin oil prevents and cures stretch marks’, ‘No more ugly marks from pregnancy or obesity’. ‘It’s unique formulation helps erase stretch marks or any unwanted blemishes on your skin’.

    57. Step Up Height Growth Formula: In their print advertisement, they claimed that it is ‘Herbal height growth formula’, ‘By consuming the medicine for one month the height increases one to two inches’.

    58. Khokar Dispensary: Their advertisement claimed that ‘For successful treatment of impotency, premature ejaculation, night fall, semen in urine, no child and other STDs one come to Khokar Dispensary’.

     

    The CCC found the following 2 personal care product ads released on line are violating Chapter III 1(b) of the ASCI Code as it derides colour of the skin. Complaints against these two ads were UPHELD:

     

    1. Hindustan Unilever Ltd: In the advertisement Ponds BB Cream is titled ‘The Future of India’. The ad goes on to talk about various benefits of the product and how women yearn to have fair skin.

    2. Emami Limited: Emami Fair and Handsome cream in their online ad showed a flow chart that depicts the various problems such as inferiority complex, not good looking, etc. affecting dark skin colored people.

    The CCC found the following 2 health and personal care product or service ads released in the press are violating Chapter II of the ASCI Code. Complaints against both these ads were UPHELD:

    1. Amba Health Clinic: The advertisement depicts women in an indecent and vulgar manner.

    2. Pam Cosmetics & Glasses Pvt. Ltd: The advertisement of French Factor Lust is depicting women in an indecent and vulgar manner.

    EDUCATION

    The CCC found following claims in print ads by 57 different advertisers were not substantiated violating the ASCI Guidelines for Advertising of Educational Institutions and hence the complaints against the ads were UPHELD –

    1. Endeavor Careers Pvt Ltd: The advertisement claimed that ‘3 out of 4 students who got into IIM Ahmedabad in 2011 are Endeavor students’, ‘for the 1st time in India, course material to tackle the unpredictable nature of CAT, specially designed by IIM Alumni.’

    2. Rayat Bahra: The advertisement claimed that it is ‘ranked no.1 in placements in Northern India.’

    3. Eastern Institute of Management: In their advertisement they claim that the institute has ‘internationally accepted and recognized degrees & over 10 years legacy in assuring 100% placements’.

    4. S D A Medical Institute & Research Centre: The advertisement claimed that it ‘provides B.Sc (Emergency & Trauma Care management) + BIMS, placement assured.’

    5. DeshBhagat Group Of Institutions: The advertisement of DeshBhagat University claimed that it ‘has provided 3500+ Placements in India & Abroad’. It is ‘No. 1 in Punjab for placements CSR 2011 & provides 100% placement.’

    6. LalBahadur’s Institute of Management &Technology: Their advertisement claims that it has been providing 100% placements in top companies for the last 17 yrs’.

    7. New Image Beauty Academy:  The advertisement claims that the academy gives a ‘Golden opportunity to go abroad with 100% job placement & pay starts from Rs. 10,000/month’.

    8. American Kidz: The advertisement claims that American Kidz is ‘India’s No. 1 Montessori School Chain’.

    9. IAM Institute of Hotel Management: The advertisement claims that it provides ‘100% placement for the last 20 years & is ranked India’s No. 1 Hotel Management Institute of Excellence (2011, 2012)’.

    10. Internapa College: The advertisement claims that Internapa College provides a golden opportunity for 12th  pass students to study in Cyprus (Europe). It has a 100% success ratio.

    11. Sarvoday Competition Classes: The advertisement claims that their ‘batch begins with written guarantee of selection’.

    12. Swami Vivekanand Institute Of Technology: The advertisement claims that their 100% placements are complete and now they are moving towards 200% placement.

    13. Shoolini University:  The advertisement claims that it’is ranked 2nd among Top National Private Biotech Institutes’.

    14. Sip Academy India Pvt. Ltd: Sip Abacus & Brain gym, in their print ad claimed that ‘they have 45,000 children and now is 5 times better.’ ‘SIP’s unique ISO certified training methodology guarantees to make your child 5 times better in arithmetic calculations’.

    15. Epitome Educational Society: Epitome Institute for Vocational & Professional Studies in their print advertisement claimed that it provides 100% placement after 25 days of training.

    16. Perception: In their TVC, they claimed that it ‘provides 100 % money back guarantee on crash course’.

    17. Yashi Films Pvt Ltd: Their advertisement claimed that they can provide ‘direct entry to Bollywood’ & ‘100% Placement’.

    18. Satyam Computer Education: Their print advertisement claimed that they guarantee ‘100% pass’, ‘100% promotion assured’.

    19. Footwear Design & Development Institute (FDDI):  Their print advertisement claimed that ‘it provides 100% placement record with leading corporates in India & Abroad’

    20. Soldiers Academy: Their print advertisement claimed that they can assure ‘Selection Guaranteed’.

    21. Aptech Limited: Arena Animation Academy in their print ad claimed that ‘it is Asia’s No. 1 Animation Training Institute.’

    22. Pathfinder Tutorials: In their print advertisement claimed that many of their students were successful in JEE (Main) 2013; the authenticity of the results was doubtful.

    23. ISS Computer Education Their print advertisement claimed that it provides 80% Offer! 100% job.

    24. Spice CNC Centre: Their print ad claimed that they guarantee ‘Job within 31 days’, ‘100% job who are trained by us Rs. 8,000 – 40,000 in India. Rs. 75,000 – 1,50,000/- in foreign countries’.

    25. Bright Academy, St Josephs Institute of Management, Sri Narayana Trust’s Gurudev Institute of Management Studies, Institute of Fashion & Jewellery Design (IFJD), Kit & Kim Technical Campus, Esportaa Fitness Training Academy, Dr It Group Of Institute, RoyalfedCenter of Entrepreneurs, Apeejay Education Society, Rudraksh  Professional Education Trust, Nehru College of Engineering and Research Centre, Pacific Education Society  – Pacific Institute of Hotel Management, Indian Institute of Social Welfare & Bus Management (IISWBM), Noida Institute Of Engineering & Technology, Adani Institute of Infrastructure Management (AIIM), Erina Infotech, Gandhi Institute of Management Technology. Elitte Hotel School, Sradha Institute of Health & Science, Ashu Protech Academy, Focus ITI, Institute Of Technical Skills, DSM Institute, Institute of Industrial Management For Safety-Health And Environment Community College, Relian IAS Academy, Aastha Institute of Multimedia, The Personality School, Orissa Institute of Management & Technology, Multani Paramedical Institute, Pragna Hospital: Complaints against advertisements of All  above educational institutes were UPHELD because of  unsubstantiated claim made that they ‘provide 100% placement’.

     

    CONSUMER DURABLES:

     

    The CCC concluded that the claims mentioned in the following 8 advertisements and cited in the complaints below were not substantiated.  The advertisements contravened Chapter I of the Code.  The complaints were UPHELD.

     

    1. Microfine Atta Maker: Their advertisement claims that, ‘the grinding cost per kg is only 0.50 paisa’. It is observed that Microfine Atta Maker consumes 1.09 unit of electric power for grinding approximately 5.5 Kgs of fine flour and if the cost of investment is added to it, the actual cost per kg of grinding is more than twice the amount claimed. Also, the advertisement claims that Microfine Atta Maker ‘has low temperature grinding technology’, ‘double action auto cleaning system’, ‘air cooled stainless steel hygienic grinding chamber’  and  it is ‘India’s No. 1’.

    2. APC Water Solutions: The advertisement of Apc Aquasafe claims that ‘it is India’s no. 1 brand.’

    3. Olive Power Solution: Microtek Range in their print advertisement claimed that they are the ‘largest selling series’, ‘More than 6 times better’.

    4. Bajoria Appliances Pvt.Ltd: The print advertisement of Kutchina Chimneys claimed that it is ‘Asia’s No.1. Brand’, ‘India’s first auto clean chimneys.

    5. Sweet Home Appliances Pvt. Ltd: Planet Classic 60 Bf print advertisement claimed that it is ‘India’s No. 1 in Kitchen Chimneys’

    6. Godrej Consumer Products Ltd: Godrej Air Conditioners TVC claimed that ‘Godrej Ac’s consume less power than a hair dryer.’

    7. Karbonn Mobiles: Karbonn A21 online advertisement claimed that the battery of the mobile phone never drains out.

    8. Samsung India:  Samsung Galaxy 4’s TVC shows  a person telling his friend that he has bought a Samsung Galaxy 4, and questionsHIM, ‘Do you know what I paid – ZERO.’ There is a PAUSE, and then he says, ‘Zero Down Payment, Zero – charge, etc.’

    TELECOM:

    Tata Teleservices Ltd: The advertisement of Tata Docomo Network shows a husband quietly eating a pizza at night when the Tata Docomo signature sound starts playing in the background. A voice over that starts ‘When you are enjoying your pizza, think of us because leading pizza chains use our network. So, are you on the network that is everywhere?’ The CCC viewed the TVC and concluded that the claim, ‘leading pizza delivery chains  use Tata Docomo network’, was not substantiated as the support was provided only for one chain i.e. Pizza Hut.   The advertisement contravened Chapter I.1 of the Code.  The complaint was UPHELD.

     

    MEDIA:

    CNBC Awaaz: As per the complaint, the advertisement depicts 5 bar graphs.  The tallest bar graph signifies CNBC Awaaz with 0.26 figure indicated on top of it.  The second tallest graph with a figure of 0.16 representing the channel, Zee Business is reduced to half the size of CNBC Awaaz’s graph and, the trend of drastically reducing the length of bar graphs of other channels viz. ET Now (0.06), NDTV Profit (0.02) and Bloomberg UTV (0.01) is followed.  Basing its claim on Television Audience Measurement (TAM) data, CNBC Awaaz has not mentioned the metric (viewership reach, share, GRPs etc) on which they are claiming their No.1 position in comparison with other channels. The CCC concluded that the claim of CNBC Awaaz being ‘No.1’ was not substantiated with comparative data, and was misleading by omission.  The advertisement contravened Chapters I.1 and I.4 of the Code.  The complaint was UPHELD.

     

    Punjab Kesari: In their print advertisement, they claimed that the circulation leadership across the states of Punjab, Haryana Chandigarh, Himachal and J&K. In the absence of comments from the Advertiser, the CCC concluded that the claims mentioned in the advertisement were not substantiated.  Also, the advertisement was misleading by omission.  The advertisement contravened Chapters I.1 and I.4 of the Code.  The complaint was UPHELD.

     

    Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd: In the ‘I Lead India Campaign’ (Times of India) print advertisement. Complaint against stated that “the ad shows a disheveled face with the alarming words: ‘Dude, these Stray Dogs are a Menace.’ “The objective of the Ad is to encourage unbridled, illegal, criminal vigilantism which seeks to persecute innocent, defenceless and harmless stray dogs of India. It is in direct conflict with the Constitution of India.  Also, it is in violation of its laws from the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act”. The CCC concluded that the advertisement headline, “These stray dogs are a menace”, read in conjunction with the statements like “You rave about them.  You rant about them and remember if it makes your blood boil gives an impression that stray dogs are a real menace to society.”  This is likely to cause grave and widespread offence.   The advertisement contravened Chapter II of the Code.  The complaint was UPHELD.

     

    AUTO:

    Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd: The TVC of Mahindra Maximo shows a hero who is always in a hurry and everywhere he is saying ‘Jara Jaldi Mein Hoon’. He is so impatient on the road that he is shown overtaking a pick-up on a curve in the road. This amounts to dangerous driving. The CCC viewed the TVC and concluded the TVC showed dangerous driving. The advertisement contravened Clause (b) of the ASCI Guidelines on Advertisements for Automotive Vehicles.    The complaint was UPHELD.

     

    FOOD & BEVERAGE:

    The CCC concluded that the claims indicated in these 4 advertisements and cited in the complaints below were not substantiated.  The advertisements contravened Chapter I.1 or F&B ad guidelines of the Code.  The complaints were UPHELD.

     

    1. Parle Products P. Ltd: The advertisement of Hide n seek: shows the layer of the cream in the biscuit is quite thick and spreading till the edges. Even the wrapper shows the cream layer to be thick.

    2. GHCL Ltd: The advertisement of I-Flo Salt claims that I-Flo Salt is a Herbal Salt.

    3. Pizza Hut: The advertisement of Magic pan pizza shows the pizza at Rs. 44 only and shows two toppings on each pizza. It implies that two toppings are available on purchase of the magic pan pizza at the cost of Rs. 44.

    4. Cadbury (India) Ltd: The Tang TVC claimed that ‘Tang has fruits and it is good for health and a substitute for fruits as it provides various vitamins’.

     

     

    Nirma Ltd: The TVC of NirlifeEner-G drink shows ‘a child is late for school, denied entry by watchman, scales high walls, jumps over terraces, performs various stunts to gain entry via classroom window and proudly flips out ener-g drink and gains admiration of a girl in a class’. The CCC concluded that the TVC shows dangerous acts which are likely to encourage minors to emulate such acts in a manner which could cause harm or injury.  The advertisement contravened Chapter III.2 (b) of the Code.  The complaint was UPHELD.

     

    Radico Khaitan Ltd: Magic Moments Vodka in their print advertisement showed a model with actor Hrithik Roshan along with a bottle of vodka magic moments. The CCC concluded that the Ad was a surrogate Ad for a liquor product – Vodka.  The advertisement contravened Chapter III.6 of the Code.  The complaint was UPHELD.

     

    OTHERS: –

    Modi Builders & Realtors Pvt. Ltd: The advertisement of Splendour Apartments states that ‘150 families are staying happily and enjoying full amenities.’ As per the complaint, most of the facts are false. As for the amenities are concerned, only 40% of the promised amenities are complete. There is no maintenance, no security, no parking, no security cameras are switched on, clubhouse is half complete, no swimming pool, and lot of construction activity still in progress. Moreover, the only functional tennis court was closed after one of its border pillar fell due to high winds. CCC concluded that the claims were not adequately substantiated.  The advertisement contravened Chapter I.1 of the Code.  The complaint was UPHELD.

     

    Mash Audio Visuals Pvt. Ltd: In the Images Bazaar calendar, the title page says ‘the making of a BTB* calendar. The asterisk says Below the Belt. Working women in this calendar have been shown as sex objects. The calendar is extremely offensive to women and to working women in particular.  Particularly offensive are pages Oct 2012, Jan 2013, April 2013 and June 2013’. The CCC concluded that the pictures shown in the calendar for the months of January 2013, April 2013 and June 2013, were offensive to women and likely to cause grave or widespread offence.  The depictions in the calendar contravened Chapter II of the Code.  The complaint was UPHELD.

     

    Netafim Irrigation India Pvt Ltd: The advertisement of Netafim Drip Irrigation claims that it is ‘World’s No. 1 Drip Irrigation Company. This claim needs to be substantiated with necessary support data and market share data to prove that it is the world’s No. 1 Drip Irrigation Company.’ The CCC concluded that the claim, ‘World’s No. 1 Drip Irrigation Company’, was not substantiated with worldwide market share data.  The advertisement contravened Chapter I.1 of the Code.  The complaint was UPHELD.

     

    Apple Tree Chits India Pvt Ltd: The advertisement claims that they are ‘India’s No.1 Financial Company’ and is a Central and State Government recognised company. ‘It gives you money very quickly through proper channel without any risks’. In the absence of comments from the Advertiser, the CCC concluded that the claims mentioned in the advertisement and cited in the complaint were not substantiated.    The advertisement contravened Chapter I.1 of the Code.  The complaint was UPHELD.

     

    MahaDhan Lakshmi Yantram in their TVC claimed ‘brings wealth into one’s life. Keeping the yantra in one’s house pleases Goddess of wealth Laxmi and thus helps an individual to get ‘GuptDhanam’ (money through secret means) and RavalasinaDhanam (money that was supposed to be paid but has been held back for some reasons). Some actors posing as beneficiaries of this yantram tell how the product helped in improving their financial condition.’ In the absence of comments from the Advertiser, the CCC concluded that the claims mentioned in the TVC were not substantiated.  Also, the claims appeared to be gross exaggerations and likely to lead to grave or widespread disappointment to the consumers.  The advertisement contravened Chapters I.1 and I.5 of the Code.  The complaint was UPHELD.

     

    Yogapriya Marketing: Vent Air auto Gold in their print advertisement claimed that it is ‘World’s no.1’. In the absence of comments from the advertiser, the CCC concluded that the claim, ‘World’s No.1′, was not substantiated.   The advertisement contravened Chapter I.1 of the Code.  The complaint was UPHELD.

     

    During the month of April, the CCC also received complaints against 11 other advertisements. The complaints were received against the advertisements of Heinz India Ltd: New Complan with 8 Memory Chargers, Svaiza.com, Dabur India Ltd’Fem Hair Remover, Kellogg (India) P. Ltd’s Kellogg Special K, Daiki Brands Pvt. Ltd’s Biara Innerwear & PeriPeri Lingerie, Eternal Personal Care (I) Pvt Ltd’s Bad Boi, Nestle India Ltd’s Nescafe Cold Coffee, Clothing Culture Ltd’s Sin Casual wear, Hindustan Unilever Ltd’s Axe Apollo, TTK Healthcare Ltd’s Skore Condoms, Nestle India Ltd’s Maggi Hungrooo, Cadila Healthcare Ltd’s Sugar Free Gold & Sugar Free, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Ltd’ Paradontax Toothpaste, The Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp Ltd’s Education Plan, Everest Spices Cholle Masala, UniverCell, Myovatec Surgical Systems (P) Ltd’s Myovatec Obesity Program, Pepsico India Holdings P. Ltd’s Slice, Kasturi& Sons Ltd’s Sportstar Magazine, MIRC Electronics Ltd’s Onida Air Conditioners, State Bank of India’s Home loans, Vijaya Chemicals & Toilet  Works  Ashoka Sandalwood Talc, Sweet Heart Deodorant, Viacom 18 Media P. Ltd’s Comedy Central, Hardcastle Restaurants Pvt. Ltd’s McDonalds Pakka Indian, Shree Maruti Herbal’s Stay-On Dotted Condoms, United Spirits Ltd’s White Mischief Beach Wear &Accessories, Vintage India’s Vintage Sunglasses, Monet’s Pass Port, ITC Ltd’s Engage Deo Sprays. However, as these advertisements did not contravene ASCI’s codes or guidelines, the complaints were NOT UPHELD.

     

  • The main takeaway from the conference in less than 140 characters: Newspapers and Digital will co-exist. Concentrate on just one, and you’ll perish. Short video clips are the future and revenue-friendly.

    Newspapers, digital must co-exist for survival: INMA South Asia Confererence 2013.

    By A Correspondent

     

    Of the various newsmedia conferences organized in the country, the annual International News Media Association South Asia Conference is by far the most well-attended. Yes, there are newspaper groups which are conspicuous by their absence, and owners who have a fair say in decision-making aren’t all there, yet care is taken to not allow it to lose focus.

     

    Each conference is curated and this year saw longer panel discussions, shorter case studies (read: self-plugs) and a newer set of speakers with the theme being ‘Print: Thriving in the age of digital’ . There were more media agency honchos addressing delegates (CVL Srinivas, Anupriya Acharya and Lara Balsara) and a panel of editors saw some hard talk on newsroom integration*. There were frequent references to Amazon founder’s acquisition of Washington Post through the conference and how the new digital reality could not be ignored.

     

    Yes, there were a few sessions which saw more chatter than the others, and some of the captains gave Day 2 a miss, but that didn’t prevent some engaging talk over one-and-a-half days.

     

    Arunabh Das Sharma

    On Day 1, the registration started over lunch with an address by Jagran group CEO and President, INMA South Asia Division. Mukund Mohan, the scheduled conference moderator who is Managing Director, Microsoft Ventures in Asia, wasn’t present so Arunabh Das Sharma, President, BCCL and INMA South Asia Board of Directors was moderator.

     

    So what was the main takeaway from the conference? In keeping with the times, let’s put this in less than 140 characters: Newspapers and Digital will co-exist. Concentrate on just one, and you’ll perish. Short video clips are the future and revenue-friendly.

     

    Earl J Wilkinson

    This was very eloquently presented by Earl J Wilkinson, CEO and executive director, INMA, who ensures INMA is on top of engagement with the industry and in thought leadership. Storytelling is vital, he stressed in this co-existence of the digital and printed forms.

     

    Mr Wilkinson of course knows that the takeaways are important in meets like these where there are a fair number of people in attendance are company-sponsored and don’t really care much about the content.

     

    Lara Balsara

    But the quote of the conference came from Lara Balsara, Executive Director, Madison World. She said: “Print is like the Sun. It keeps rising in the East and declining in the West.”  The young Ms Balsara words are sure to be used in many sales presentations in the coming months.

     

    In fact one senior adsales honcho told us in private that he will use this the next time a Madison buyer tries to beat him on price, saying television is more effective than print.

     

    Ashish Pherwani

    While each session was critical to the theme, the CEOs’ panel moderated by Ashish Pherwani of Ernst & Young was the highlight. The topic was: ‘Why is Publishing Continuing to Thrive in South Asia?’ It also gave that vital glimpse of what the industry leaders — Ravi Dhariwal, CEO, BCCL; DD Purkayastha, MD & CEO, Ananda Bazar Patrika group; Jacob Mathew, executive editor, Malayala Manorama; Pawan Agarwal, non-executive director, Dainik Bhaskar Group and Mr Sanjay Gupta of Jagran — are thinking and the directions their respective organizations may be taking in the next few years:

     

    Ravi Dhariwal

    According to Mr Dhariwal, newspapers are an extraordinarily good value consumer product and there is much emphasis on habit-forming. There is a fair deal of innovation happening here and the sector sees stiff competition, the battles being tougher than what are waged by a Pepsi or Hindustan Unilever.

     

    Mr Purkayastha raised the issue of innovation and asserted that the digital media penetration is much lesser in South Asia than the West. Regional publications were customizing with relevant content and there was a strong growth in advertising. The ABP CEO and MD added that there is a lot more potential for growth. Newspapers are very adaptive of the times and have been diversifying into other segments like television, radio, OOH etc.

     

    Mr Mathew stressed on the quality of journalism and said the demand of news was being met by newspapers. The hyperlocal coverage had helped build communities and the form of the newspaper offered a range of ads that can’t be executed on digtal.

     

    Mr Agarwal threw some points not stated by the others. He said that in Tier 2 and 3 towns, the commuting time wasn’t very high and hence the window of opportunities for newspapers is high as people step out for work only at around 9-9.30am. Print are a fantastic platform for retail advertisers and a day’s paper is cheaper than a cup of tea,  he added.

     

    Sanjay Gupta

    Mr Gupta underscored the vital role of print in news media and its credibility since television news is just 20 years’ old. There is much headroom with newspapers and the editorial operations are managed at a low cost.

     

    The next edition of INMA South Asia Conference will also be held around this time next year in Delhi.

     

    *MxMIndia unofficially supported the INMA South Asia Conference 2013

     

  • The former Dabur and Hindustan Lever hand will be head of the consumer products business at Viacom 18

    Saugato Bhowmik is Head, Consumer Products at Viacom18

    By A Correspondent

     

    Saugato Bhowmik

    Viacome18 has announced the appointment of Saugato Bhowmik as Head of Consumer Products Business. The responsibility was held earlier by Sandeep Dahiya who has since joined The Times of India group.

     

    Mr Bhowmik brings to the table experience of 12 years across consumer brands in Dabur India and Hindustan Unilever.  He has led brands in home and personal care categories based in India and Singapore. In Singapore, he led the Unilever Business for toothbrushes for Asia within the Oral Care Category. In most recent role, he was leading the sales strategy development for general trade business of Unilever across all key markets.

     

    Sudhanshu Vats

    Said Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO, Viacom18, Media Networks: “Saugato brings with him business experience from FMCGs with a good understanding of brands, distribution landscape in India, dealing with large retailers and managing Business P&L.”

     

    Speaking about his appointment, Saugato Bhowmik said, “The dynamic nature of the broadcast industry presents multiple opportunities for marketers to leverage the power of our brands across multiple consumer touchpoints, and I hope to apply my experience and contribute to the rapid growth of consumer products business at Viacom18”.