MxMIndia

Category: NEWS

  • The tie-up will enable Box TV to offer premium titles on its video streaming service

    BoxTV inks deals with Sony Pictures Television and Disney UTV

    By A Correspondent

     

    BoxTV has announced content agreement with Sony Pictures Television and Disney UTV to offer premium titles on its video streaming service. Launched by Times Internet, BoxTV is a premium video service that offers movies, TV shows, short films, documentaries and much more, which users can watch on a regular web browser or through the device of their choice.

     

    To this end, BoxTV has also partnered with UTV Motion Pictures, Shemaroo Entertainment Rajshri Entertainment and Everymedia Technologies for Bollywood and Regional content in addition to their agreements with major International studios; Sony Pictures Television, Disney UTV and Celestial Entertainment for premium Hollywood content.

     

    Angel Orengo, Executive Vice President, Distribution, Asia Pacific from Sony pictures Television said, “We are happy to offer some of our premium titles on BoxTV’s on demand service. The Indian digital media industry has grown rapidly in the last few years and we support their efforts to launch this service and another exciting medium for content consumption in this evolving digital landscape.”

     

    “We are excited to offer some of our best content from ABC Studios, Disney UTV Pixar, Disney UTV and Disney UTV Studios to the consumer at one destination. We believe that Box TV will be a great platform for us to showcase our wide breadth of entertaining and world class content,” said Amrita Pandey, Executive Director – Syndication, International Distribution & Disney UTV Media Distribution, Studios, Disney UTV. Satyan Gajwani, CEO of Times Internet Ltd, said, “We are very excited about the agreements we have forged with premium International studios. BoxTV is a one-stop source for all video entertainment and we strive to consistently deliver greater value to our customers by bringing the best anytime, anywhere entertainment on multiple platforms. With these partnerships, we provide our users access to a vast content library of popular choices to watch.”

     

    The service will be available across iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets; Kindle Fire, EvoTV, Woxi Pod and Roku. Apps for Windows 8, J2ME and Blackberry platforms are currently in the pipeline.

     

  • The former COO of Nimbus Sport is to manage the NBA office in India and lead business and basketball development

    Yannick Colaco is managing director, NBA India

    By A Correspondent

     

    The National Basketball Association (NBA) has announced that Yannick Colaco, the former chief operating officer of Nimbus Sport, has been named Managing Director, NBA India. Mr Colaco will manage the NBA’s India office, based in Mumbai, and oversee the league’s business and basketball development in the country. He will report to NBA President, International, Heidi Ueberroth.

     

    “Yannick Colaco has the ideal combination of experience and knowledge of the sports landscape in India necessary to lead our expanding operations in the country,” said Ms Ueberroth. “Basketball is on the rise in India and we are thrilled to have Yannick lead our extremely talented staff as we build towards the future.”

     

    Mr Colaco will be responsible for leading the growth of the NBA in India. He will continue to build on the league’s efforts to grow participation in basketball in partnership with the Basketball Federation of India (BFI). Mr Colaco, who played basketball at the national university level in India, will work with the league’s media, marketing and merchandising partners to make the NBA more accessible to fans in India.

     

    “The sports market in India is poised for significant growth and as basketball participation increases further there is a tremendous opportunity for the NBA,” said Mr Colaco. “The league has a strong staff in Mumbai and I look forward to joining their efforts to carry out the NBA’s mission to grow basketball in India.”

     

  • Arun Tadanki quits Yahoo! India to play a "very different role within the Internet ecosystem, beyond our region"

    Yahoo! India and Southeast Asia MD, Arun Tadanki resigns

    By Devina Sengupta

     

    Arun Tadanki, Managing Director, India & Southeast Asia for Yahoo! resigned on Saturday. However, he will remain with the company till June to oversee the transition said the company. Mr Tadanki has been with the internet giant for the last three years and has been credited for driving a six-fold growth of Yahoo! mobile-users in India.

     

    “I truly enjoyed my stay at Yahoo! and I wish Yahoo! the very best in future. It was an enriching experience and I will really miss the wonderful team of talented professionals at Yahoo!,” stated Mr Tadanki in a release.

     

    “Having worked for 11 years in CEO roles for APAC/ Emerging Markets regions at multinational Internet companies, I am looking forward to playing a very different role within the Internet ecosystem, beyond our region,” said Mr Tadanki.

     

    Globally the company has been going under drastic restructuring after it brought in Google’s top brass Marissa Mayer as its CEO to revitalise the firm Often named as one of the top young leader in corporate India, Mr Tadanki played a pivotal role in starting the editorial operation of the search engine in India and managed to deliver a 15-fold jump in its traffic.

     

    “Under Arun’s leadership, Yahoo! India has seen impressive growth both in terms of users and advertising, outpacing the market,” stated a company spokesperson. Prior to Yahoo!, he worked with recruitment portal, Monster.com as President, Asia Pacific and Middle East.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

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

     

  • As Sanjay Leela Bhansali's ambitious soap takes off on Monday, the scale of the show's art direction as well as thematic scope have heightened viewer and industry expectations

    High expectations from Bhansali’s Saraswatichandra on Star Plus

    By A Correspondent

     

    Nikhil Madhok

    “Expectations are high from this show as it would be from any other show that we launch. Saraswatichandra is being mounted on a very large scale,” says Nikhil Madhok, vice president, Marketing, STAR Plus when asked about Saraswatichandra.

     

    The serial marks the debut of filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali on the small screen. The filmmaker, credited for creating memorable characters in his epic love stories, will replicate his magic through a modern-day portrayal of Saraswatichandra and Kumud. The show will feature Gautam Rode as the multi-layered Saraswatichandra while Jennifer Winget plays the role of Kumud. Actors Monica Bedi and Chetan Pandit will also play pivotal parts in the show. While Sanjay Leela Bhansali is also the creative director, Arvind Babbal will be the series director for the show.

     

    The show premieres on Star Plus on February 25, and will run Monday to Friday at 7.30 pm.

     

    Sanjayleela Bansali along with the entire cast of SaraswatiChandra

    “Mr Bhansali has got into every detail of every character. He is amazing in making us understand our role. I have been amazed and have been able to understand the character of Saraswatichandra better as he explained it to me brilliantly,” said lead actor Gautam Rode, on how different it was to work with the filmmaker on a daily soap.

     

    “The show is being promoted through beautifully crafted and mounted TVCs, building up the enigmatic hero Saraswatichandra and the quintessential heroine Kumud. We also did a exclusive web premiere of the show on Valentine Day and a spectacular light and sound show on the elaborate sets to formally announce the show launch. The visual splendour of the show will be further built on outdoor and print closer to launch,” added Mr Madhok.

     

     

  • Competition is as fierce as the matches on our TV screens, and it is an exciting time, Nimbus Sports' COO Sunil Manocha tells MxMIndia

    Jaldi 5 with Sunil Manocha: Aggressive expansion is the motto

    By Johnson Napier

     

    Sunil Manocha, who has been responsible for Sales, Business Development, Television Production, Rights Distribution and Sponsor Servicing at Nimbus Sports for over two decades, has taken charge as Chief Operating Officer. Mr Manocha replaces Yannick Colaco who has moved on to join NBA India as its MD.

     

    Post his elevation, Mr Manocha speaks to MxMIndia on what would be his priorities in his new position at the company and what viewers can look forward to from the network in 2013-14.

     

    01) What would the new role entail for you at Nimbus Sport?

    Nimbus Sport is looking at aggressive expansion across all key verticals including Event Management, Rights Distribution, Sponsorship Services and TV Production. The immediate focus of the role would include working closely with the team to drive this growth.

     

    02) The past few months have seen the emergence of competitive players in the space who are jostling to provide equally competitive services such as yours. What are your plans to resist competition?

    We are entering a new, exciting era in the sports business. Clients want turnkey solutions from partners who have proven international expertise, yet have an intimate understanding of the local market. Nimbus Sport has built these capabilities with a track record of success, and is a truly integrated sports management firm.

     

    03) What are some of the hot and emerging properties that you would be looking at in 2013?

    At this point in time, marquee events in our kitty are spread across sports, including cricket, golf and hockey. We have Asia Cup, the star-studded multi-nation ODI tournament for Asian cricket teams, lined up in early 2014. In addition, there is the Hero Indian Open, the premier golf championship on the Asian Tour, and World Series Hockey, the world’s first franchise-based hockey league. We have relationships with multiple stakeholders including global sports federations, rights holders, sponsors and broadcasters and are constantly exploring opportunities with them. Watch this space for more.

     

    04) Any immediate changes one could expect at Nimbus Sport – in terms of talent, strategy, etc?

    We will continue to build a strong pool of professional talent as we move ahead with our aggressive expansion plans across verticals. Golf Event Management will be a key focus area and we will soon be making announcements about our new acquisitions in this space.

     

    05) What is the growth you expect your division to throw up for 2013?

    We are looking at robust growth with all the planned activities over the next financial year.

     

  • Consumer goods giants Hindustan Unilever, GlaxosmithKline, Colgate-Palmolive wage big-bang advertisement war

    Bang, Bang! FMCG majors slug it out via ads

    By Ratna Bhushan, Sagar Malviya & Writankar Mukherjee

     

    On February 18, when British PM David Cameron visited the headquarters of Hindustan Unilever, the firm’s legal cell was busy finalising the documents for dragging the Indian unit of the UK’s Reckitt Benckiser to court over disparaging comparative advertising. Not that this came as a shock to the maker of Dettol and Harpic. The company’s top management had instructed its team to ‘go for the kill’ with its Dettol Kitchen dish-washing liquid ad campaign, despite knowing its ads could land in court.

     

    Less than 10 days ago, GlaxosmithKline Consumer Healthcare announced the launch of Parodontax toothpaste, its global brand, targetted at customers with bleeding gums. The response of Colgate-Palmolive, the oralcare market leader was swift and emphatic. Two days ago, it began advertising its own variant through full-page ads, claiming its product was the best.

     

    Welcome back to the world of marketing wars and aggressive competitive advertising in the consumer goods market. After a lull of almost two years, high-decibel ad campaigns have made a comeback across categories ranging from toothpastes and biscuits to dishwashers and mobile phones. Consumer demand may still be subdued, but companies are hiking ad spends in the hope of stepping up consumption, garnering market share, and creating a buzz around their products.

     

    Sam Balsara, chairman and MD of Madison, which buys media for tobacco-to-biscuits major ITC and telecom services provider Bharti Airtel, said there is increasing realisation among companies that they can’t take growth for granted in a cautious economic environment and with more brands entering the market. “We see an escalation of ad spends, especially among consumer companies, this year,” he said.

     

    But do high-voltage ad campaigns work? “The cola wars of the 1990s did not help either Coca-Cola or Pepsi. What they did was create excitement in the category,” said Santosh Desai, CEO of Future Brands. “While different brands would have different reasons to come up with competitive advertising, what it does is create either new categories as in the case of specialist oralcare or smartphones, or create excitement in existing ones as in the case of biscuits.”

     

    Newer categories like smartphones are being particularly aggressive. Last month, Apple kicked off an ad blitzkrieg on EMI schemes for the iPhone 5. Samsung, the smartphone category leader, responded by launching a big-bang print ad campaign that announced the revival of its EMI schemes for six premium Galaxy phones. Sony has roped in Katrina Kaif for two years to promote its Xperia smartphones and decided to triple its marketing budget for smartphones to Rs 300 crore for next fiscal.

     

    “The smartphone war will further heat up. Z10 will give a tough fight to competitors and will help us gain consumer franchisee and share that may have been lost to Apple or Samsung,” says BlackBerry India MD Sunil Dutt. Blackberry launched the Z10 smartphone in India on Monday.

     

    Comparative Advertising

    India is an underpenetrated and underserved market where advertising has traditionally been directed at consumers and not competition. But this is gradually changing. Reckitt Benckiser’s Dettol Kitchen dish-washing liquid ad showed Vim up front and disparaged the HUL product. HUL has hit back with full-page ads saying ‘antiseptic is for cleaning floors and wounds, not utensils’, a thinly disguised attack on Dettol.

     

    HUL dragged Reckitt Benckiser to the Calcutta High Court, which has ruled that the latter needs to modify its ads and remove the visual of quantum of germs killed by use of the two competing products, though the ads can continue to compare Dettol Kitchen with Vim.

     

    Earlier this month, for the first time since it came to India, UK biscuits maker McVities began airing ads claiming it is the ‘only biscuit without maida’ – indirectly taking potshots at established biscuit makers. “The commercial elevates the digestive category compared to regular biscuits by honing onto a relevant category truth. The objective is to tell consumers why McVitie’s is better,” said Jayant Kapre, president, United Biscuits. “In the heat and dust of the marketplace, you do have skirmishes now and then,” said Sameer Satpathy, marketing head of Marico.

     

    Arvind Sharma, chairman and chief executive officer of ad agency Leo Burnett, said the best way for a new entrant to gain market share from the leader is to claim superiority.

     

    “When there is a new entrant, the best way to gain market share from the leader is to claim superiority. If your claim is based on facts, then it is legitimate because consumers would like to know more about the products they are using,” said Mr Sharma, who is also the chairman of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), the advertising watchdog. In the quarter ended December 2012, 18 out of top 20 consumer companies hiked the absolute ad spend to support new launches and counter slowdown and competitive pressures. Even as a percentage of sales, 12 out of 20 companies increased their ad spending. According to estimates by Madison World, the share of FMCG companies in the total TV and print ad market went up from 52.8% to 54.4% and from 8.9% to 10.3%, respectively.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

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

     

     

     

  • Cricket accounts for 45% of the entire sports endorsement market followed by football at 17%, according to a study by sports training and consulting firm, Tenvic

    Kohli ousts Sehwag in Top 3 sports endorsers in 2012

    By Samidha Sharma

     

    The number of brands which associated with sports came down last year compared to 2011. However, international sports celebrities made a significant impact in this period, indicating the growing relevance of football and other global sports in India.

     

    Only 128 unique brands placed their bets on sportspersons last year compared to 140 in 2011 even as more non-Indian sports celebrities were visible across different media platforms, according to findings of a study shared exclusively. Despite fewer individual brands piggybacking on sports, more sports celebrities were seen in advertisements throughout last year, said a study conducted by Tenvic, a sports training and consulting firm co-founded by former Indian Test cricket captain Anil Kumble.

     

    “There could be seasonality attached to these numbers as 2011 was the year of the cricket world cup. But what is clearly a trend is the growing relevance of international sports celebrities in India. This is a result of the huge exposure to various football leagues and popularity of Formula One and golf. Today, global brands don’t need to customize their campaigns for Indians as these sportspersons are familiar names now here as well,” said Nitya Guruvayurappan, marketing head, Tenvic. In the brand endorsement space, football and Formula One will definitely get greater recognition, she said.

     

    The influx of non-Indian sportspersons increased from being around 25% of the total volume in 2009 to up to 40-45% of sportspersons used as endorsers in 2010 and 2011. With the 2012 Olympics, the proportion of Indian sportspersons has once again gone up as a percentage of the total, since sportspersons from several Olympic sports were signed up by brands.

     

    Still, cricket accounts for 45% of the entire sports endorsement market, followed by football at 17%, which is largely international in nature. What is interesting is that the cricketing endorser pool as a percentage of the total endorsers declined in 2011 as against 2009, despite it being the year of the cricket world cup. But most brands such as cola major PepsiCo which has been riding on sports largely cricket still bet on the sport. Homi Battiwalla, senior director, marketing, colas, juices and hydration, PepsiCo India, said, “Sports is a key communication platform for brands in our portfolio; whether it’s cricket for Pepsi and Lay’s or action sports for Mountain Dew. Specifically with cricket, the sheer popularity of the sport in India makes it an exciting property to reach out to our target audience, especially youth.”

     

    The Top 15 sports brand ambassadors in the 2009-2012 period make up for 50% of the total number of endorsement associations in this period, on a base of 140 sportspersons. This top 15 does not have any non-Indians. The top three endorsers, Dhoni, Sachin and Sehwag, have been consistent in the period 2009 to 2011, but last year Virat Kohli ousted Sehwag from the third position.

     

    Badminton star Sania Nehwal is the biggest non-cricket star having endorsed 10 brands followed by retired footballer Baiching Bhutia, who associated with nine brands in this period, said the Tenvic study which tracked the Indian sports celebrity market over the last four years.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

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

     

  • As travel companies initiate aggressive marketing campaigns for the summer holidays, advertising benefits too

    Travel, good for people and business

    By A Correspondent

     

    Growing inspiration and increasing disposable income have given rise to outbound tourism of India. An estimated 50 million Indians are set to travel overseas by 2020. The widespread market of discerning Indian travellers has caught the attention of several international tourism boards, cruises, airlines and allied services. Therefore, to grab the interest of Indian travellers this summer, tourism companies are aggressively promoting their destination and services in India via outdoor advertising.

     

    Global Advertisers recently provided hoardings across Mumbai for the OOH campaigns of Australia.com, Star Cruises and Maldives Airlines. With the aim of creating awareness about their destinations, activities and itinerary, the team at Global Advertisers have pinned down large size billboards at specific locations in Mumbai. Heavy traffic junctions, corporate areas, western express highway (Mumbai), populated residential areas are some of the hot spots for these campaigns.

     

    Sanjeev Gupta, MD, Global Advertisers, said, “We are delighted to see the response from these campaigns for our clients. Promoting international destination in Indian requires deep understanding of Indian travellers and their mindset. Therefore, we painstakingly researched on the locations, size of the hoardings, angles and their positioning for our clients.”

     

  • Madison Media will handle the media planning and buying for MagicBricks.com from their Delhi offices

    Madison Media wins Magicbricks account

    By A Correspondent

     

    Madison Media has just announced the win of the MagicBricks.com account in a multi agency pitch. Madison Media will handle the media planning and buying for MagicBricks.com from their Delhi offices.

     

    MagicBricks.com provides a platform for property buyers and sellers to locate properties of interest and source information on the real estate space in a clear and transparent process. With in-depth analysis and revolutionary next-gen services customized specifically to address the needs of property seekers and the real estate industry, MagicBricks.com is the leader in online real estate in India.

     

    MagicBricks.com was launched by Times Business Solutions Limited, part of The Times of India Group, in August 2006. With over 8,000,000 listings from across the country, MagicBricks is the biggest online property marketplace in the country.

     

    Madison Media has recently won a host of new businesses including Ruchi Soya, Max India’s corporate account, Cafe Coffee Day, Radikal Rice and Crompton Greaves.

     

    Basabdutta Chowdhury, CEO, Platinum Media, said, “We are delighted with this new win and confident about taking MagicBricks.com to great heights and are looking forward to a long and mutually beneficial partnership.”

     

    Sudhir Pai, Business Head, MagicBricks.com, said, “We sought a partner who could match our speed and could scale operations with the agility that the internet space demand – a partner who shares our values and can understand our business and brands, providing turnkey differentiated media solutions. Madison was an obvious choice for the same.”

     

  • With the new campaign "Fashion Nikla Mann Fisla", Jabong.com hopes to capture the attention of the fashion-conscious shopper

    Draftfcb Ulka creates new temptation for Jabong

    By A Correspondent

     

    Jabong.com, the fashion and lifestyle portal has unveiled their new multi-media campaign on 22nd February. Draftfcb Ulka, the communication and strategy partner conceptualized and executed the campaign. With the new campaign “Fashion Nikla Mann Fisla”, Jabong.com hopes to capture the attention of the fashion conscious shopper looking for a one-stop shop and an unparalleled shopping experience. The behavioral insight behind the campaign is that the shopaholic youth of today prioritize their shopping needs over all else.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”220″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7y00QXefFs[/youtube]

    Research indicates that consumers generally shop on a whim and do not plan out their purchases. While in the act, they happily submit to the enchanting world of shopping, not letting after-effects play spoil sport. This insightful take on human behaviour will resonate with consumers and help in transforming Jabong.com from a cold and functional area of fashion into a human area.

     

    The campaign created by Draftfcb Ulka, shows situations where the protagonists prioritize their shopping needs over other important situations. This brilliantly elucidates the allegory of Jabong.com being a ‘temptation island’ of latest trends and styles, where the consumer will be selfish for his shopping needs and prioritize them over all else.

     

    Sanjay Sharma, Group Creative Director, Draftfcb Ulka, said, “The main objective of the new campaign is to differentiate Jabong.com in the crowded online shopping business while at the same time establishing its supremacy in the space of trends, styles and all things fashion. When it comes to the youth, there is a certain selfishness associated with shopping and we wanted to bring out this prioritization of shopping over all else in our campaign in a tongue-in-cheek manner which will resonate with our target audience.”

     

    Explaining how the campaign will differentiate Jabong.com from its competitors, Sridhar Iyer, Senior Vice President, Draftfcb Ulka, said, “I believe that this campaign will help develop a definitive identity to the brand. Jabong.com has taken a different path than its competition by focusing on the shopper and his shopaholic attitude towards shopping; while the competition communication remains around making the online shopping process easier.”

     

    Ranging from popular television channels, to print, outdoor and online, the 360-degree campaign endeavors to maximize this objective at various touch points.

     

    Credits:

    Client: Jabong.com

    Agency: Draftfcb Ulka

    National Creative Director: KS Chakravarthy (Chax)

    Group Creative Director: Sanjay Sharma

    Creative Team: Abhijeet Ray, Thupten Londhen, Indrani Vohra, Somil Bhatia

    Client Servicing: Sanjay Tandon, Sridhar Iyer, Akshatha Bhat, Varun Tanwar, Vidushi Goyal

    Planning: Sidharth Grover

    Films: Alpa Jobalia, Mazhar Khan

    Production house: Storytellers

    Director: Arun Gopalan

     

  • Delhi-based Grasshoppers India has been appointed as the creative agency for Supertech's Golf Country Project

    Grasshoppers tees off with Supertech project

    By A Correspondent

     

    Real estate developer Supertech Limited has appointed Delhi-based Grasshoppers India as the creative agency for its Golf Country Project. The agency bagged the account following a multi-agency pitch.

     

    Supertech Golf Country is an integrated township located along the Yamuna Expressway. Grasshoppers will be initially promoting Golf Village which comprises of the 1/2/3 BHK apartments of Golf Country.

     

    Supertech’s Brand Manager, Arun Tewari, said, “In partnership with Grasshoppers, we will be developing a strategic ATL & BTL route focusing heavily on print and outdoor with quality support from online promotions.” Grasshoppers’ Director Arjun Banerjee said, “This is an important account for us on two fronts. Firstly, we have partnered with a real estate brand like Supertech. Secondly, this account has come to us merely a couple of days after our Agency got the Pvt. Ltd. status, making it an extra special moment.”

     

  • After receiving an overwhelming response, it has collected 870 litres of paint for this activity

    Kansai Nerolac extends its ‘Paint the Change’ initiative to Delhi University

    By A Correspondent

     

    Kansai Nerolac Paints has received an overwhelming response for its recent initiative ‘Paint the Change’ from the consumers across India. The group had undertaken its first activity of painting a one-km long stretch outside the Delhi University wall on 24th February 2013, Sunday. Here by, encouraging the donation of unused paint that would touch the lives of millions by spreading happiness and cheer.

     

    The group had zeroed in on this site only after carefully analyzing the many entries along with the reasoning received on the Facebook application. T

     

    The Delhi Wallbook at the Delhi University (North) was painted by approximately five hundred graphic artists/ painters who put up their expressions on the more than 1 km long stretch outside the Delhi University wall where Nerolac donated eight hundred and seventy liters of unused paints which was collected from the consumers at their collection centers. The same was mobilized to the University by Nerolac.

     

    “At Nerolac transformation is considered as the core value. We strongly believe that paint is a tool that one can use to express themselves. Taking this thought forward, the Delhi University exercise further enabled us empower and educate consumers to invest in a sustainable tomorrow thereby brining a transformation. This activity was an extension of our ‘Paint the Change’ initiative that has beautified the external walls thus adding to the charm of university and has also provided the emerging artists with a prospect to create & showcase their work in the open,” said Sukhpreet Singh, Vice President, Marketing & Sales (Decorative), Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd.