MxMIndia

Category: NEWS

  • To meet the growing demand of Digital cable in the country with DAS being implemented from Nov 1, Hathway Cable and Datacom Ltd has decided to scale up its inventory and procure an additional 10 lakh Set Top Boxes

    Hathway scales up to meet demand for digitization

    By A Correspondent

     

    Hathway Cable and Datacom Ltd is set to scale up the availability of set top boxes (STBs) over the next four months. In addition to the previously planned deployment of 20 lakh STBs, Hathway has decided to procure another 10 lakh STBs to meet the growing demand.

     

    Hathway’s move is in line with the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting’s latest order on implementation of DAS (Digital Addressable System) from November 1 in the four metros-Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. By infusing additional STBs in the market, Hathway believes it is poised to meet the fresh deadline, as well as ensure a smoother transition from analogue to digital for consumers across the four metros.

     

    Commenting on the development, Mr K Jayaraman, MD & CEO, Hathway Cable and Datacom Ltd said: “Hathway has always been committed to providing consumers with the best digital cable experience and we have been preparing to bring consumers a seamless move from analogue to digital cable TV. The modified deadline presents us with a unique opportunity to reach out to and impact a greater segment of the market. Hathway plans to procure the additional 10 lakh STBs to gear up and leverage this opportunity. Therefore, in total, we plan to deploy 30 lakh digital set top boxes across the Mumbai and Delhi. The rush for digital services will peak around the last fortnight of October and we do not want to disappoint the consumers and drive them towards the costlier option of DTH services.”

     

    In the first phase of digitization of cable television, all four metros- Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai – will switch from analog to digital transmission from November 1. The rest of the country will move to digital cable by 2014 as per the regulations laid down by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in consultation with the MIB. Due to lack of preparedness of the industry, the Ministry had recently postponed the sunset date for Phase I from June 30 to October 31.

     

     

  • RadioCity also announced the launch of its new web radio station, 'Freedom Radio' on Planet Radiocity

    RadioCity celebrates eleventh anniversary

    By A Correspondent

     

    RadioCity started its operations in July 2001 in Bangalore. On July 3, the FM radio brand, promoted by Music Broadcast Private Limited (MBPL) celebrated its eleventh anniversary.

     

    At the same time RadioCity announced the launch of its new web radio station, ‘Freedom Radio’ on Planet RadioCity. Freedom Radio is said to be India’s first dedicated web radio for Indie music on Planet RadioCity.com.

     

    ‘Freedom Radio’ will showcase independent artists from across genres like dub-step, electronica, folk, rock, sufi who will express themselves in diverse languages like Assamese, Malayalam, Bengali , Punjabi apart from Hindi and English. It also attempts to be a platform that supports talent across the country.

     

    After the launch of IndiPop Radio and now Freedom Radio, Planet RadioCity aims to launch three or four more web radio stations this year. A devotional station will be one of the web radio stations in the pipeline.

     

    In addition to these developments, the Planet RadioCity.com website is also expected to undergo a revamp by next month or so. Speaking to MxMIndia, Ms Rachna Kanwar, SVP & Business Head- Digital Media and New Business said: “The revamp should happen by next month or so. The site will not only be more interactive but, will also have more web 2.0 features, for instance social media will be more integral to the website, more interesting apps will also be added and so on. There is a shift on how music is consumed today. We recognize this shift and are therefore making our online offering as robust as possible. There is a growing trend of people listening to music online in India as well and sooner than later it will become a primary source of listening.”

     

    Ms Apurva Purohit, CEO, Radio City said: “As thought leaders we had to give something really refreshing and new to the audience who have supported us for 11 years. India is blessed with diverse and rich repertoire of original music and sound. Lot of these brilliant musicians does not get the platform they deserve and therefore the music never reaches the connoisseurs. On the occasion of our 11th anniversary, we at RadioCity give these Indie artists a dedicated platform by launching ‘Freedom Radio’ on planet RadioCity .com. This web radio stream is a dedicated channel that offers original Indie music to Indians across the globe. We hope the young audiences who are on the lookout for fresh sound find our offering satiating their need.”

     

    ‘Freedom Radio’ was ushered in by celebrating the ‘Freedom Hour’ on July 3, 2012. Between 10am and 11am, RadioCity brought in ‘5 bands across 5 towns’ to perform simultaneously for the first time on Indian Radio to announce the launch of ‘Freedom Radio’.

     

    ‘Freedom hour’ had live performances by bands as diverse as Aks, Highway 61, Tatva Kundalini, Pratigya, Dedh Inch Upar and singers such as Kavita Seth, Akashdeep Gogoi, Sanjeev Thomas & Harsha Iyer. ‘Freedom Radio’ theme song ‘Hum Sab Hai Yahaan’, a collaborative composition of independent artists and bands set the perfect mood for the launch.

     

     

  • RK Swamy Hansa Group is being called upon to provide TAFE all ATL (Creative, Rural Marketing and Media), BTL (Promotions, Events and Activation) and CRM & Analytics services

    RK Swamy Hansa wins mandate for TAFE

    By A Correspondent

     

    The RK Swamy Hansa Group has won the mandate for Tractors and Farm Equipment Ltd. (TAFE Ltd). The pitch presentations spread across the last few months were from eight National and Regional agencies over several rounds of Credentials, Strategy, Creative, Media, Events, CRM and Analytics.

     

    The decision was initially narrowed down to RK Swamy Hansa Group, Lowe and JWT and then to a 2-way encounter between JWT and RK Swamy Hansa. This win is significant since the RK Swamy Hansa Group is being called upon to provide TAFE all ATL (Creative, Rural Marketing and Media), BTL (Promotions, Events and Activation) and CRM & Analytics services.

     

    VV Vijay Gopal, President (South & East), RK Swamy BBDO, said: “The collective expertise and deep insights that various entities of the RK Swamy Hansa bring is what enabled this win. Our task will be to enhance the equity the client has and deliver a unique customer experience.”

     

    As part of this mandate, RK Swamy BBDO Creative, Hansa Customer Equity (Hansa Cequity), RK Swamy Media Group, Social^Rural Direction and Hansa Events & Activation will come together to offer specific services. Hansa Cequity and Social^Rural Direction, the specialist division of RK Swamy BBDO were critical partners with the Creative Agency during the pitch stage. Social^Rural Direction, with its strong understanding of the rural market and strong network, will develop strategy as well as implement the rural marketing programs and events for TAFE across different states. Hansa Cequity with provide focused CRM & Analytics programs to enhance pre-sales and post-sales experience. It will also leverage the power of data, analytics & insight-driven campaigns to every customer interaction.

     

    RK Swamy BBDO will orchestrate the entire exercise of building the brand – Massey Ferguson. The agency will be the single point contact to the client.  While the Agency’s main focus will be on Strategy Planning and Creative execution for both ATL and BTL requirements, it would also ensure that all the divisions work in unison with the brand strategy to create the synergy for the brand.

     

    The RK Swamy Media Group is entrusted with all media planning and buying work.

     

  • Four leading media agency heads pick their top print ads of last year… in an extract from Dainik Bhaskar's Mosaic 2011

    The Best of Print Ads – 2011

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    You may have seen only a few of them and probably even forgotten the underlying message that the campaigns had to tell. But now you could make a dash to have a hard copy of MOSAIC, a compilation of the Best in Print (campaigns) to have hit India n shores in 2011. The compilation has been put together by 23 creative agencies who have submitted their best pieces of work for the category in 2011. Conceptualised by Sanjeev Kotnala and team from the Dainik Bhaskar Group, the initiative has been made special through the “insights” and “personal favourite” sections that have been provided by Media agency bosses. These include Lynn de Souza of Lintas Media Group, Mallikarjun CR, CEO, Starcom MediaVest Group, PM Balakrishna, Chief Operating Ofiicer, Allied Media and Punitha Arumugam, Director – Agency Business, Google India.

     

     

    Lynn de Souza, Chairman and CEO, Lintas Media Group, Chairman, Aaren Initiative and Director, Karishma Initiative

    “An excellent idea to recreate interest and remind all about the power and impact of the print medium. My only reservation is that there were too many submissions of ‘pretty pictures-pithy headlines’ work that may or may not have been published and did not appear to fully grasp how the medium must be used effectively.”

     

    TOP 5 Choices:

     

     

     

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    1) DNA – ISKCON (Scarecrow India)

    Reasons for choosing: The intelligent use of the cigarette-turned-food visual immediately targets the smoker and invites him/her to contribute in a very simple way to a cause that benefits both beneficiary and the giver – something not easy to achieve. I like the simple, clean look of the ad and the directness of the headline and copy.

     

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    2) Flying machine “What an Ass” (Lowe)

    Reasons for choosing: This is my idea of perfect ad! One that has used all the elements of the print medium – headline, visual, copy to present a bold, modern attitude through a perfectly harmonised contribution of all three. It’s an unmissable ad whether you are a guy or a gal.

     

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    3) Parker – Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards (Lowe)

    Reasons for choosing: A stark headline supported by the simple bottle of ink that says it all. An attention grabbing reminder of the power of the pen to influence the world. Perfect synergy for the subject – Journalism awards and the ‘always memorable’ image of a gold Parker fountain pen.

     

     

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    4) The Times of India – A day in the Life of India (Taproot India)

    Reasons for choosing: Fantastic art direction – great visual appeal that hooks you into reading the whole ad. The contemporary feel, using India n kitsch, with attention to detail, is riveting. (Check out the dog lifting his leg to pee on the bed of nails!) Bright, colourful, crowded yet not messy. I could read it again and again!

     

     

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    5) Vaseline ‘Dear Mr. Vaughan’ (BBH India)

    Reasons for choosing: The kind of ad that every Creative Director who woke up to it that morning would have said: “I wish I had written this”. There are some things you can do impactfully in a topical yet ‘permanent’ medium like print that you can’t do anywhere else, and this ad fits the bill. Nose-thumbingly outstanding!

     

     

    Mallikarjun CR, CEO, Starcom MediaVest Group

    “This is a fantastic initiative. As media agency professionals, our lenses to view the world are different. However, what comes across is that great creative work is universal. Really enjoyed it.”

     

     

     

    TOP 5 Choices:

     

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    1) Audi – World Cup (Creativeland Asia)

    Reasons for choosing: Great connect with the Champion’s Trophy ’85 win. Most of the target audience that can buy an Audi will connect immediately with that moment. For a lot of us India ns, that was the first moment of connect with Audi.

     

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    2) DNA ISKCON Food Relief Foundation (Scarecrow)

    Reasons for choosing: A nice calculus linking smoking to food relief. Very innovative, eye catching visuals.

     

     

     

     

     

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    3) Indigo Campaign (Weiden+Kennedy)

    Reasons for choosing: Stark, consistent visuals. The colours, space everything reflects the qualities of the airlines. Nice word play that grabs your attention and makes you read the copy. The reference to price is as value and not cheap.

     

     

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    4) Nissan Micra (TBWA\ India)

    Reasons for choosing: Simple stark visuals. Driving home the relevance of a small car without talking price, affordability etc. Great, understated use of a celebrity.

     

     

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    Reasons for choosing: Great expedient use of Michael Vaughan’s comment. Superb cut through and great visuals.

     

     

    PM Balakrishna, Chief Operating Ofiicer, Allied Media

    “I think this is a wonderful initiative and exposes the fantastic creativity. It is a very different platform as it is more an appreciation of great work rather than a competition as I believe each creative is great on its own.”

     

     

     

    TOP 5 Choices:

     

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    1) Bajaj Fans (Leo Burnett)

    Reasons for choosing: The best part of this creative is the way it has integrated everyday common issues and weaved them into the core communication of the product. The creative is also very well crafted visually using the very cause of the product making it very effective.

     

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    2) Birla Cellulose (Salt Brand Solutions)

    Reasons for choosing: The sheer aesthetic treatment to the communication draws you and I like the beautiful and colourful way the creative has used nature and the human body (woman). It brings out the environmental friendly nature of the product in a very soft and appealing manner.

     

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    3)Fuji(Grey)

    Reasons for choosing: Colour and background are intrinsic material for any great creative and nothing better than drawing inspiration from Mother Nature and wildlife. The beautiful use of the animals brings the message home effectively and creatively and connects with any photographer or photo enthusiast.

     

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    4)NipponPaints (JWT)

    Reasons for choosing: They say a great picture is worth a thousand words and the effect is breathtaking when it is beautifully woven into the message making the communication very compelling and effective. In this case the product USP, a central factor in the category has been brought home very beautifully for correct impact.

     

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    5) Zee 24 Taas (Draftfcb Ulka)

    Reasons for choosing: Ganpati Bappa has a significant connect with the India n diaspora and especially with Maharashtrians who revere the elephant God. I like the way the creative has beautifully engaged the viewers in an innovative and personal manner and makes it unique and different.

     

    Punitha Arumugam, Director – Agency Business, Google India

     

    “This initiative continues the long tradition of Dainik Bhaskar – breaking boundaries and setting new trends in the industry.”

     

     

     

     

     

    TOP 5 Choices:

     

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    1) DNA Mumbai Marathon (Scarecrow)

    Reasons for choosing: The power of long copy. It brings back memories of the old era, which was marked by a great headline and the power of long copy. It inspires and bonds with its audience.

     

     

     

     

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    2) Murphy Richards epilators (Contract)

    Reasons for choosing: The power of a picture. The visual intrigues, makes you pause, demonstrates the benefit and brings a smile – all this without a single word.

     

     

     

     

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    3) MTR Spicy Pickle (Ogilvy)

    Reasons for choosing: The power of insight. A true South India n like me will see this ad and can only say “How true!” Equating spicy with ‘tears’, the way the ad captures the cultural nuances – awesome!

     

     

     

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    4) Parker – Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards (Lowe)

    Reasons for choosing: The power of words. While most entries used the power of the picture, this ad stands out because it uses print for what it does best – leverage the power of words and intriguing headlines.

     

     

     

     

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    5) Saffola Healthy Heart (McCann)

    Reasons for choosing: The power of an innovation. A great collaboration between the creative agency, the brand team, the media agency and the publication to convey the brand message interestingly and inclusively so as to trigger an action from the reader.
    Best of Print in Dainik Bhaskar Group’s MOSAIC
     

    Some may see India’s performance of bagging just four Press Lions at Cannes out of the 30 that were shortlisted as a drab effort, but then there are some who would like to think of it as being otherwise. After all, Press Lions as a category managed to get India its largest tally of four metals versus any other category at the awards – a valiant effort considering that India finished 2012 with just 14 metals in its kitty.

     

    While the category may have received its fair share of fame at the pinnacle of creative awards, many would agree that Indian adland has failed to laud the finesse that stems out from Print creatives over the years. While such is not the case in some large international markets where creative works across categories gets noticed and rewarded that gesture seems to be missing when it comes to India. Luckily for the creative frat in India, an opportunity to showcase their best works – besides the awards shows – were given a fillip by the Dainik Bhaskar Group that released the first of its kind creative compilation of the finest works produced in Print in the form of MOSAIC 2011.

     

     

    Elaborating on the initiative, Sanjeev Kotnala, VP & National Head, Dainik Bhaskar Group said, “This has been a first year for MOSAIC, which is a rich collection of 150 creative units part of 77 campaigns that have been submitted by 23 agencies.” The creative showcase has been made special through some individual comments and insights that have been posted by creative leaders of individual agencies.

     

    Elaborating on the thought process behind the compilation, Mr Kotnala said: “As a group, we believe that the Indian creative across mediums and media is of international standards, in its thinking, relevance and in its execution. Unfortunately there has been no single reference point for the same. MOSAIC bridges this gap and we would want it to be referred by the creative, clients, media and trade.”

     

    As for the method that was adopted in getting the agencies to submit their campaigns, Mr Kotnala said that it began with Dainik Bhaskar requesting the creative heads at the agency to send their best Print work. “They know better than us – as by placing it in MOSAIC affirms it to be their best work. Though we did have constraints on the number of campaigns we could place in Mosaic from a single agency. This has all been a by-invitation. On the other side, there were few agencies that sent lesser number of creative units as they felt others were not up to the standard to feature in such a compilation. So it was created and evaluated by the creative teams themselves.”

     

    On how print has evolved over the years as a medium, Mr Kotnala said: “Today print ads are working on all fronts of communication. They are not just for the purpose of awareness building or as a source of providing tactical information; they engage and involve the readers and are very result-oriented in their approach. We always held that the idea is more important than the medium. And it will automatically find its right medium for better efficiencies and effectively delivery of the message.”

     

    In fact, the compilation has been made special with the involvement of four media agency heads who’ve provided their assessment of the campaigns. They include Lynn De Souza, Chairman and CEO, Lintas Media Group, Chairman, Aaaren Inititative and Director, Karshma Initiative; Mallikarjun CR, CEO, Starcom Mediavest Group; PM Balkrishna, Chief Operating Officer, Allied Media and Punitha Arumugam, Director- Agency Business, Google India.

     

    With the first edition already finding appreciation within the industry, the Dainik Bhaskar group have their task cut out for the next year too. On his plans for a sequel, Mr Kotnala said, “We would want to see more regional and language work in the collection – and they still should meet the standards set. We would and could try getting clients and media owners also picking their favourites and definitely may wish to incorporate a section on media innovations. Though we have taken the task and brought out the book, in our mind it is an industry level initiative and we would want to keep it that way.”

     

    Mosaic 2011 can be accessed and downloaded at http://i10.dainikbhaskar.com /dainikbhaskar2010/books/ Final_Book.PDF

     

  • Rajendra Gupta has joined Mogae Media as Chief Value Officer from Reliance Communications. He will be based at Mogae's Gurgaon headquarters

    Rajendra Gupta joins Mogae

    By A Correspondent

     

    Rajendra Gupta has joined Mogae Media as Chief Value Officer from Reliance Communications. Mr Gupta will be based at Mogae’s Gurgaon headquarters.

     

    Mr Gupta started his career at Dunlop where he worked across different geographies. He then spent a few years at Wipro in their Lighting Division. In 1994, he moved to Rediffusion DY&R as national head of Business Development. His first big win at Team Rediff was a small company that had won a license to launch cellular services in Delhi- Bharti. Brand Airtel was soon born

     

    “Those were the best days of my professional life. I got to work closely with the Mittal brothers and enjoyed every moment of launching a brand that one day would become a world beater”, he said.

     

    Mr Gupta moved to Reliance Communications and spent the last 10 years there in a broad variety of functions. “Moving to Mogae is like home-coming. I have worked with Sandeep Goyal for many years and his new venture really excited me. So here I am,” said Mr Gupta.

     

    “Guptaji (as he is popularly called) is a veteran of both mobile and of advertising. It is a rare combination. And that is what makes him a really valuable asset on any team,” said Tanya Goyal, Director of Mogae Media. “We look forward to Guptaji carving out a new business out of creating customer value and delight through options on hi-value brands”.

     

    Mogae Media is the exclusive partner of Airtel, for monetization of all its mAdvertising assets, including mCouponing and mCommerce.

     

    Mogae Media was launched by Sandeep Goyal, former JV partner of Dentsu India in October 2011.

     

  • It is building a crack team in Bangalore as shopping goes online and supply-chain efficiencies become more critical in keeping prices affordable

    Tesco expects Bengaluru to up competitive edge

    By N Shivapriya & Harsimran Julka

     

    The proposal to permit FDI in multi-brand retail may have come a cropper but as technology becomes the next big battleground for retailers, India may well be where these battles are fought.

     

    Tesco, the world’s third-largest retailer, is building a crack team in Bangalore as shopping goes online and supply-chain efficiencies become more critical in keeping prices affordable.

     

    From scheduling transportation in Thailand to floor planning for its stores in UK, there’s a bit of Bangalore in everything Tesco does, and its Chief Information Officer (CIO), Mike McNamara, only sees that growing in the days to come. “Digital and technology will be big battlegrounds within each of the markets,” McNamara told ET in an exclusive interview, and he sees the Bangalore office playing a central role in giving it that competitive edge.

     

    The centre started in 2004 and Tesco was one of the first retailers to set up a captive unit here. The world’s largest retailer, Walmart, also followed setting up Walmart Labs in Bangalore but only a few years ago. Both of them, as well as other global retailers, use Indian service providers for parts of their IT and analytics.

     

    Mr McNamara himself is averse to calling Tesco’s centre a captive because he finds it subservient. “We’ve watched it blossom from a fairly solid operations centre into something that’s doing this very sophisticated work,” he said.

     

    The centre employs over 6,000 people, who work on functions as varied as online advertising, mobile applications, store design and transport scheduling, in addition to IT and back-office functions.

     

    A team of mathematicians in Bangalore and UK work on algorithms for sophisticated supply chain systems that take into account everything from weather patterns to sporting events and seasonal variations. “If we don’t get the mathematics exactly right for the fresh foods, it goes waste. Getting it right is a tricky business – it’s a huge leverage on profitability,” said Mr McNamara.

     

    Mr McNamara, who is on Tesco’s executive committee, wants to centralise all the skills Tesco has learnt from its 100 years of retailing experience in UK at its facility in India and run the supply chain for its Asian markets from here. These markets are relatively newer for Tesco but they are already key markets from a revenue point. Korea, where it is the second-largest retailer, is also its second-largest market after UK.

     

    In US, where its business is struggling, the Bangalore office helped to launch a loyalty scheme, which is entirely digital. Most of the IT for US is done entirely from Bangalore. “The US team is very small,” said Mr McNamara. Overall, 70 per cent of the IT across the Tesco Group is from India and that’s likely to increase rather than decrease, he added.

     

    The centre currently services every single country in the Tesco Group, including new businesses such as banking, where it has built new systems and completed a massive programme to migrate over 2 million credit card customers. Over time, he expects the banking business, which is relatively younger, will do more work out of India.

     

    As CIO for Tesco, most of Mr McNamara’s time is now spent in marketing and commercial functions as compared to five years ago when it was mostly operations and productivity. “It’s not so much a digital strategy any more but a retailing strategy that is becoming digital. And that’s a very important distinction,” he says, “It’s not just about applications selling things on the internet but about helping people buy things in shops as well.”

     

    While many global companies are looking to cut down on IT spending, retailers such as Tesco are increasing it. “It’s a good time to be an IT guy in retail. In other industries, IT budgets are under more pressure. In retail, because we need to meet the consumer need for mobile apps, for social views, for all of these things, spending is on the rise.”

     

    Tesco has switched investments from property to technology, says Mr McNamara.

     

    “We would typically invest in the billions in property. You don’t have to shift too much of that into technology to make a difference. We have increased our technology spends quite significantly. And much of that increase is going into customer facing technology,” he added.

     

    Tesco is also unique because it is one of the companies, which has a former CIO, Philip Clarke, as its CEO. Mr McNamara describes Mr Clarke as a retailer by background who’s a technophile and himself as technologist who loves retail. “He (Clarke) has a very deep understanding of what technology can do for business. It’s a huge positive when there’s somebody else in the executive team who speaks the same language as you.”

     

    In retail, the tough part is to get economies of scale in operations, says Mr McNamara. “You can get them in buying, no doubt. But to leverage your operational skill across countries, that is difficult. Just because you manage supply chain well in UK, doesn’t mean you can do the same China,” he said.

     

    And this what Mr McNamara is trying to do through Tesco’s India centre – put the skills in one place where it can service Europe and China and leverage the operational skill across the entire group, rather than teach it in every country. The battle lines are being drawn.

     

    Source: The Economic Times

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

     

  • The first Legoland theme park in Asia is set to officially open in Johor's Iskandar development region on September 15

    Mindshare wins pitch for Legoland Malaysia

    By A Correspondent

     

    Legoland Malaysia has appointed Mindshare following a media planning and buying pitch involving four agencies. The first Legoland theme park in Asia is set to officially open in Johor’s Iskandar development region on September 15. The park will be operated by Merlin Entertainments Group, the world’s 2nd largest visitor attraction operator.

     

    The business will be run out of Singapore, and the S$296 million theme park will feature 7 themed areas over 76 acres with more than 40 family friendly interactive rides, shows and attractions.

     

    “Mindshare won the pitch by being able to bring to the table not just a comprehensive plan, but an understanding of our brand uniqueness. In today’s landscape it’s vital for agencies to stay on top of trends that help brands be effective and cost efficient,” said Thilakavathy Munusamy, Director of Sales & Marketing, Legoland Malaysia.

     

    Mr Munusamy added: “Our selection process was grueling and Mindshare demonstrated the best ability to serve a brand like Legoland.”

     

    Renee Tan will be the regional director for the business, and she and her Singapore-based team will work with Mindshare Malaysia. “We are very excited about handling this launch and adding the brand Legoland to our portfolio,” Mr Tan said.

     

    Speaking about the appointment, Mindshare Singapore, Managing Director Leela Nair said: “We are honoured and thrilled to be working with Legoland Malaysia. They are a unique business, and Lego itself celebrates original thinking. This is the perfect partnership for us, and we look forward to delivering break-through results for Legoland.”

     

  • Being the official sponsor of the Indian team at the London Olympics, Amul stands to gain much from the biggest sporting event in the world

    Taste of India backs Hope of India

     

    By Meghna Sharma

     

    Think of Olympics, and the one word that comes to mind is ‘glory’. With only a few weeks left for the mega event to begin, all eyes (and hearts) will be on the Indian contingent, which is the biggest by far that is being sent to the Games. While that increases India’s chances of bagging more medals, what it has also done is turn the attention of brands towards the aspirants with the obvious intention of improving awareness and possibly, even sales of products.

     

    One brand that is taking the lead in associating with the mega event is Amul. The Anand-based Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation’s (GCMMF) Amul has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) for sponsorship of the Indian contingent.

     

    With this, Amul has become the official sponsor of the Indian team. For Amul, this association would work in two ways: first, allowing it to push its multiple products that have been positioned for the purpose of building stamina and strength and, second, enabling it to encourage aspirants to go out and deliver their best performance at the event.

     

    RS Sodhi

    Speaking on the association, RS Sodhi, managing director, Amul, “Amul is committed to strengthening the Olympic movement in India and encourage young generation from all corners of the country to take up sports in a big way.”

     

    With milk being Amul’s core ingredient, the brand believes that milk is nature’s original energy drink and plays a pivotal role in building the physical and mental strength of the athletes.

     

    “India is the largest producer of milk in the world and Amul is not only India’s, but Asia’s, largest milk brand. This association, and activities around it, will help in engaging the youth so that they can enjoy a healthy life,” he added.

     

    In fact, this is not the first time that the milk major has stepped up to push for the cause of promoting sports. In 2011, Amul sponsored the Nether lands cricket team in the ICC Cricket World Cup and Switzerland-headquartered Sauber F1 team at the inaugural Indian Grand Prix. “We use the opportunities available on local and global scale to associate,” explained Mr Sodhi, on the brand’s recent decisions to associate itself with sporting events. “It is a good and positive association to connect with the youth.”

     

    Helping the brand in its mission is media agency Lodestar UM, which is the media agency on record for the company and has helped the brand associate with sporting events at a global level in the recent past.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”225″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Qafz4YDG1A[/youtube]

    According to Lodestar UM, such associations will help the brand as India is a young nation with over 60 per cent of the population being below the age of 35 years and sports is a high interest area for them. “Amul has always been involved in raising the bar. The Olympics association has helped place Amul on the global map of international sporting events. We saw a great fit…Amul’s dairy products stand for high energy and complete nourishment and Olympics stand for values like strength, determination, vigour and winning which every person aspires to, and wishes to imbibe and practice in his daily life. We also saw this as an excellent platform for Amul Milk to assert the positioning of ‘World’s original energy drink’,” said Dhruv Jha, business head, Lodestar UM Content & Experiences.

     

    Although the brand has come up with a special campaign on the event for the medium of television, it doesn’t plan to come up with any more. “We are continuing our advertising, but no special Olympics focus has been planned during the Games,” said Mr Jha.

     

    Another motivator, that has always done its bit in raising the awareness levels of Amul with its consumers, will be at it around Olympics too. The eye-catching hoardings that figure the polka-dotted Amul Girl will continue disseminating messages as they always do.

     

    Rahul da Cunha

    According to Rahul daCunha, MD and creative head of daCunha Comminucations which created the Amul Girl, one should keep a catch-out for interesting and tongue-in-cheek hoardings during the period. “We have already started the build-up and there is a scope for many more as the Games have so many aspects and characters to it.”

     

    Mr DaCunha is proud to be associated with the brand and now its association with the world-class games. He added: “What can be more Indian than to support the Indian contingent in the Olympics. It’s a very ‘cool’ and prestigious moment for the brand. In the last year and a half, the brand has been getting allied with activities and events which will help it globally too.”

     

    And the attempt doesn’t end with Olympics. Amul plans to keep associating itself with such major events in the future too. “We will like to associate with any good event/series. Our focus is on the domestic market. But yes, Olympics will help in better brand recognition around the world,” said Mr Sodhi.

     

    Mahesh Ranka

    Mahesh Ranka, founder & CEO, Indus Sports and Sponsorship, feels that since it’s a home-grown brand, such association will help it create a buzz. “During and after the Olympics, when people will read or see about the games, hopefully, Amul as the brand will be on people’s minds. It’s a very good move by the brand and hopefully other corporates will also learn from it.”

     

    Not just the brand recognition, Amul hopes that the Indian contingent will get the country recognized in the world with a good medal tally as well. “Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate. Participation in Olympics is the aspiration of every athlete and with the kind of investments made by our country in this arena to select, nurture and train the best athletes, we are confident that Indian contingent will deliver the best ever performance in the London games and make our country proud.”

     

    So, let’s hope the players take India to new heights at the games while the brand would manage to do its bit and bask in the success as well.

     

  • Vertebrand has announced its JV partnership with Equancy, an International brand, marketing and web analytics/CRM consultancy

    Vertebrand: bringing intellect to brand building

    By Tuhina Anand

     

    Vertebrand, a brand value management consultancy, has just upped the ante in the intellect and process-based approach to brand building as it announced its JV partnership with Equancy, an International brand, marketing and web analytics/CRM consultancy.

     

    Giving an understanding on how the latest development will help Vertebrand’s offering, Raghu Viswanath, Founder and Managing Director, Vertebrand, said: “From pure knowledge front, the partnership will help us, apart from CRM, Digital Marketing and Web Analytics. The online marketing being the next big wave to hit the country, the partnership will help us in looking at web in a much more powerful way to reach the customers.”

     

    He added: “The entire online marketing is a science in itself and what we see happening on this front is just tip of the iceberg. The partnership enables us to be well equipped to meet digital needs of brands and offer 360 degree digital media offering. We can learn a lot from them and also will help us with existing deals and create completely new opportunity ourselves.”

     

    They understand that online is not about banners or creating a website but is to marry a person’s online behaviour with offline and deliver solutions accordingly. This would mean analyzing data and that’s where Equancy will play a major role.

     

    The partnership would enable Vertebrand to handle marketing and branding projects for Equancy’s global clientele across India initially, extendable to Middle East and Asia Pacific over time, as Equancy’s exclusive licensee for Asian markets.

     

    Right now the JV is a strategic alliance, but in the long run it is understood that Equancy can take majority stake or completely acquire Vertebrand.

     

    Mr Viswanath is bullish on the India story and is of the opinion that despite the falling GDP, India is still better bet than many western countries. For a player looking for growth there is no option but to look at India and Asia and APAC thereafter. With this JV, Vertebrand will become partner of choice for many brands who look at partnering with Equancy this paving way for manifold growth for both the players.

     

    One has to understand that the offering of Vertebrand is unique as it’s a niche consultancy and will get further enhanced with the JV. Post the development, the agency also started hiring senior resources with global exposure to help them in further building the agency’s equity.

     

    Currently, they have offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. Mr Viswanath quips: “Our role is like that of a movie director where we don’t have any portfolio of work to show to our clients as we are not an advertising agency but like the movie director we shape the brands in the right direction.”

     

    “InIndia, paying money for intellect and strategy is not a habit and we are aware of this but we have seen attitude changing as marketers become more conscious of the monies being spent on brand building. Our offering should not be confused with advertising or designing. It could be best described that we come somewhere when between an advertising agency and brand management,” he added.

     

    Vertebrand is recognized as an accredited Brand Valuation specialist. The company works in diverse range of Industries from Retail, FMCG, Pharma, Automobiles, Engineering and Technology.

     

     

  • In many ways, in its current avatar IndiBlogger is a social network for Indian bloggers

    Blogging site IndiBlogger helps brands talk to customers

    By Preethi Chamikutty

     

    For most of us a blog is a destination to put up a view, an experience, a rant, videos and photos – some vivid, others vicarious – and then get back to a mundane life. But five hardcore bloggers from Chennai decided to be an exception when they founded IndiBlogger.in, a congregation of Indian bloggers who totalled some 27,000 at last count.

     

    With a tagline ‘Indians by birth, bloggers by choice,’ the IndiBlogger team fields more than 70 requests daily from wannabe Indibloggers. Vineet Rajan, 27, one of the directors who set up the site said: “We started off trying to just create a directory that allowed bloggers to submit their blogs.”

     

    Over the years, more features have been added based on what the community demanded on its discussion forums. For instance, the site now has IndiVine, a chat application, and Indi-Rank, a ranking algorithm for bloggers in India.

     

    In many ways, in its current avatar IndiBlogger is a social network for Indian bloggers.

     

    “It’s like LinkedIn for bloggers with an exclusive dashboard, and activity feeds that let them track other bloggers’ posts, and more,” Mr Rajan pointed out.

     

    It’s a unique concept and community, but at the end of the day it needs to make money. IndiBlogger’s revenue stream is, what Rajan calls, “earned media”, which he says is what brands are clamouring for. “With its blogs IndiBlogger can help brands build more trust and credibility than any other online media can,” he claimed.

     

    Mr Rajan cites Neilsen Global Trust in Advertising survey, 2011 that shows less than a third of netizens trust ads; in comparison 92 per cent who have faith in peer and word-of-mouth recommendations.

     

    IndiBlogger’s first brand engagement was with Microsoft through a blogger meet in 2007. Since then IndiBlogger has organized 50 such congregations; these have been coupled with over 50 contests with brands across sectors like consumer goods, travel & aviation and retailing among others. Samsung, Pepsi, Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), Castrol, Cleartrip and Tata Docomo are some brands that have engaged with consumers through IndiBlogger.

     

    Last November, HUL’s Surf Excel used IndiBlogger to engage with women bloggers on the site via a blogger contest called ‘Surf Excel Matic #GetSmart.’

     

    Targeted at urban women in the 25+ age group, Surf managed to reach a little over 25 lakh netizens using IndiBlogger and its tools like IndiRank and IndiVine, says an HUL spokesperson. Maximum readers were from the cities of Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi and Pune.

     

    “Bloggers are publishers and the popular ones have a good readership .They know the art of expressing their views and thoughts on a certain topic in an interesting way which also wins them dedicated following over time. The popular bloggers also have good networking skills which they use to publicise the content on their blogs on various social platforms,” said the HUL spokesperson.

     

    When popular bloggers write about a brand and its core message, it reaches their followers and readers of the blog. This also results in a lot of user-generated content for the brand, essentially making these bloggers the brand’s ambassadors, added the HUL spokesperson.

     

    In the Surf Excel Matic contest, although only 41per cent of the participants were women, they garnered more than 55per cent of the entire readership of the campaign, thereby, helping the campaign achieve its objective.

     

    For Castrol, which wanted to engage with passionate bikers, IndiBlogger was an extension of the lubricant brand’s presence in digital and social media. In the ‘Castrol Power1 Biker code of India’ contest, bloggers were encouraged to share what biking meant to them. The contest got 170 entries and the blogs attracted an audience of roughly 1 million viewers within the first 30 days of the campaign.

     

    “Besides creating a powerful platform to engage with bikers, the contest enabled us to gather rich insights about our target group, which is the passionate biker,” said Saugata Basuray, deputy head of marketing at Castrol India.

     

    Besides being an aggregator, IndiBlogger also provides assistance to people who approach the site with technical queries about how to make a blog, how to get a domain name and so on.

     

    A 14-member team spread across Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Delhi are responsible for maintaining the site, providing assistance and monitoring for offensive content. The blogger meets are mostly outsourced to event management companies who liaison with core members of the IndiBlogger team.

     

    Started with an investment of Rs10,000, the site turned profitable in June

    2010 and, according to Mr Rajan, their blogger database grew 37 per cent in 2011-12 over the previous fiscal year. He is wary talking about the company financials but says the website is on track to achieve $2 million revenues by 2015.

     

    Blogs are today gaining currency as a medium for engagement and Kanika Mathur, president, Digitas India, a digital marketing agency, says the influence that blogs can have on a brand is hard to dismiss. “People who go online today are looking for a point of view, so either they get this point of view from the brand or from a third person. Bloggers are a set of experienced people whose opinion has great credibility as they are not from the brand side,” she said.

     

    Source: The Economic Times

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

     

  • The new, enhanced version of True Value now allows broadcasters to forecast the viewership of new launches

    Ormax Media to forecast TV viewership using True Value

    By A Correspondent

     

    Ormax Media announced the launch of the new version of its television content testing tool – True Value. Since its launch in 2009, True Value has been the television industry’s certified tool for content pre-testing. The tool has been used to test 146 programs across 19 channels.

     

    The new, enhanced version of True Value now allows broadcasters to forecast the viewership of new launches. The tool is available in three versions – for GEC fiction (Hindi & Regional), for all types of non-fiction (GECs & niche channels) and for kids channel animation content.

     

    True Value has two statistical tests built into its design – Go Or No Go (GONG) Test and Success Test. The GONG Test can be used to decide whether a program should be put on-air at all, while the Success Test can be used to predict if the program will fit the definition of ‘success’, as defined in the context of the genre and the channel.

     

    Shailesh Kapoor, CEO – Ormax Media said: “The previous version of True Value was more directional in nature, while the revamped version is more action-oriented. Its ability to forecast the steady-state viewership of a program makes it extremely useful for taking business decisions in the area of content selection. The television industry has been very supportive of the product, and the new version has been designed to meet their needs even better.”

     

  • While the conventional MVAS services are still dominant, emerging MVAS services are also rapidly gaining popularity with mobile users

    IAMAI- IMRB report: MVAS grows at 28 per cent; surge in modern MVAS in India

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Indian mobile value-added services (MVAS) market is expected to become a Rs26,000 crore market by the end of 2012, growing at the rate of 32 per cent. MVAS is estimated to further grow to a whopping Rs33,280 crore market by 2013, a growth of 28 per cent. While the conventional MVAS services are still dominant, emerging MVAS services are also rapidly gaining popularity with mobile users. These are some of the findings from the latest IAMAI – IMRB report on Mobile VAS in India.

     

     

    According to the IAMAI-IMRB report, MVAS can be divided into two categories – conventional MVAS which has a market share of 63 per cent and the emerging or modern MVAS which contributes a market share of 37 per cent. While the conventional MVAS services consist mainly of CRBT and SMS-based applications, the emerging or modern MVAS mainly consist of mobile apps and games.

     

    Speaking to MxMIndia on the factors that would drive the MVAS revenues in the long run, Rajiv Hiranandani, Co-founder and Executive Director, Altruist- Mobile2win said: “I am a firm believer that the true growth of mobile VAS is going to come from the rural India. You will see more of services that will help the rural or the small town Indian utilizing the services. In that respect, I believe Interactive voice response (IVR) based services and SMS-based services are going to be big drivers of Mobile VAS. These services could range from basic things like finding the price of vegetables or some information over SMS or finding friends over IVR or IVR-based social networking. These are services that will catch on and will drive revenues in India over the years to come. So for VAS revenues to explode in the country, you need to appeal to the lowest common denominator which primarily resides in the rural India.”

     

     

    In the last three years, the average MVAS spent per month has risen by Rs9 to stand at Rs24 per month in 2012. The percentage share of per user spend on MVAS in Average revenue per user (ARPU) has been increasing gradually. Even though the ARPU has declined over the years, per user spend on MVAS has gone up by 28 per cent in the last one year. It is now 27 per cent of the ARPU pie. The dependency on voice services is reducing and to increase the ARPU, the emphasis must be put on data services such as MVAS.