MxMIndia

Category: NEWS

  • Kartikeya Sharma, MD of ITV network, recently inked a deal with Cent Percent to buy a majority stake in the company set up by former Zee News honchos Barun Das and Amit Tripathi

    Kartikeya Sharma acquires majority in Barun Das’ Cent Percent

    By A Correspondent

     

    Kartikeya Sharma, MD of ITV network, has inked a deal with Cent Percent to buy a majority stake in the company. Set up by Barun Das, until recently CEO of Zee News, and Amit Tripathi, formely sales head at Zee News., Cent Percent Media Solutions is on outsourcing adverting sales organization with its core focus on regional and niche TV brands.

     

    Mr Sharma has embarked on an aggressive journey to make ITV a robust and successfuly news network. Last year, he acquired English news channel News X which he plans to relaunch soon. The ITV network has another six channels including India News. Leading news anchor Deepak Chaurasia is the new face of India News, having joined the channel from ABP News.

     

    Commenting on this acquisition Mr Sharma said, “Barun and his team have tremendous track record in managing news television business in the highly competitive genre. Given the proliferation of niche and regional channels that I foresee, riding the digitization of Cable distribution, Cent Percent is an extremely exciting proposition.”

     

    Said R K Arora, CEO of ITV network, “We have the largest number of news channels for any network in the HSM markets. Our thrust is on content and marketing strategy, which has already started showing results.”

     

    Said Barun Das, “Kartikeya has a great vision for his media business. The fact that he found value in what we have set out to do, augments my confidence many folds. Regionalisation and digitization are the primary growth drivers of TV media, where so far the profitability has been the prerogative of only a select few. With capacity growing exponentially due to digitization, Indian TV industry is poised for the next big leap. In a country of 1.24 billion people with 22 official languages, niche and regional language channels would realize their true potential, now. I expect more 200 new channels, mostly regional and niche, would be launched in next 3-5 years. Cent Percent would be a one-stop shop to meet the advertising revenue challenge of all niche and regional channels who may not find it viable to build a strong national sales team”

     

    Highlighting the plans for the company, Amit Tripathi added, “We will have a strong national team with about 70 leading sales professionals. Our initial plan is to build a bouquet of regional news channels which would be the biggest and most effective one from the point of view of national advertisers. Within the first fortnight of its operations, Cent Percent has signed up with seven high potential regional news channels. We are confident that before the new financial year, we will be setting up a bouquet of 10 regional news channels. Our primary bouquet will have a channel each from leading regional TV markets of India. We will carefully handpick those channels.”

     

  • Media biggies congregate in Bhubaneswar for a Media Conclave organized by Odiya daily Sambad

    Media captains in Bhubaneswar for Sambad Conclave

    By A Correspondent

     

    Odisha’s first ever Media and Entertainment National Conclave 2013 was organized by the Sambad Group in Bhubaneswar last Friday (February 22) with much success. The conference was inaugurated by state Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik with Minister Arun Kumar Sahu as guest of honour. Eastern Media chairman Soumya Ranjan Patnaik (also Editor, Sambad) and Joint Managing Director Monica Nayyar Patnaik played hosts.

     

    Most of the panellists were of the view that the state offers ample potential for expansion of various segments of the media.

     

    The panels were:

    Print: Aritra Sarkar, Vice-President, Strategy, Anandbazar Patrika Group; K. Z Magdoom Mohamed, Managing Director, WAN- IFRA, South Asia (WAN); K. K. Goenka, Managing Director, Prabhat Khabar and Srimoy Kar, Editor. Odisha, The New Indian Express (moderator).

     

    Radio: Prashant Panday, Chief Executive Officer, Radio Mirchi; Nisha Narayanan, Senior Vice President, Programming and Projects, Red FM; Susmit Chandra, Cluster Head, East, Reliance Broadcast Network Limited; B. Surender, Senior Vice President, National Sales Head, Red FM and Tanaya Patnaik, Director, Radio Choklate (Moderator).

     

    Television: Rajiv Mishra, Chief Executive, Lok Sabha TV; Paritosh Joshi, India TV Strategist; Jajati Karan, Chief of Bureau, CNN-IBN; Sampad Mahapatra, Journalist, NDTV and Satya Prakash Nayak, News Head, Kanak TV (Moderator).

     

    Media: Srinivasan K. Swamy, Chairman and MD, R. K. Swamy, BBDO; Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Media Brands India; Ravi Kiran, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Friends of Ambition and Professor (Dr) Mukti M. Mishra, President, Centurion University of Technology and Management (Moderator).

     

    Brands: Ameve Sharma, President, Shri Baidyanath Ayurved Bhawan P. Ltd; Nalin Sood, EVP, Indian Snack Category, Pepsico India; Madan M. Mahapatra, Head, Media and Marketing, Future Group and Srikumar Misra, Founder MD and CEO, Milk Mantra (Moderator).

     

  • The objective was to popularize Red FM Delhi's evening show host RJ Raunac's character Bauaa through an OOH medium

    Red FM & DDB MudraMax brings ‘Bauaa Hawa Mein’ on ground

    By A Correspondent

     

    Take an RJ, his on-air prankster alter-ego Bauaa, a wish to connect the RJ directly with his audience, DDB Mudra Max – and you have Bauaa Hawa Mein, a series of live radio shows by 93.5 Red FM from studios fabricated on billboards.

     

    The objective was to popularize Red FM Delhi’s evening show host RJ Raunac’s character Bauaa through an OOH medium that allowed for live performance and face-to-face interaction with the audience and fans. The idea was to have Bauaa seen, and not just heard. With the DDB MudraMax innovation, the execution was literally from up in the air.

     

    To connect to the listener, live studios were set up at three different locations of the NCR. RJ Raunac along with the Bhagra Pop Singer Daler Mehendi did the entire show live from a radio booth mounted on a billboard at Rajouri Garden on January 29. Similar shows were conducted from unipoles in Noida on February 1 and Gurgaon on February 6.

     

    Nisha Narayanan
    Mandeep Malhotra

    Commenting on the campaign, Nisha Narayanan, Senior VP – Projects and Programming, 93.5 Red FM, said, “We always strive to think different and innovate to connect with our listeners. Thus, it is our constant endeavour to set higher standards of radio programming. Initiatives like Bauaa Hawa Mein help in bringing the brand and our jocks closer to the listeners.”

     

    Commenting on the campaign, Mandeep Malhotra President, DDB MudraMax, said, “It’s always a wonderful feeling to take up challenging assignments and deliver clutter-breaking work for any media brand.”

     

  • Franklin Templeton becomes India's first mutual fund brand to be featured on Facebook Studio

    Franklin Templeton features on Facebook Studio

    By A Correspondent

     

    Headquartered in USA, Franklin Templeton is one of the leading investment management organisations in India and on Social Media, having managed to secure leadership in the social media space through their presence on various platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIN. Their Franklin Templeton’s Children’s Day campaign has now been featured in Facebook Studio. Facebook Studio is known to feature campaigns from leading global brands like Pentacle, Nissan, Ogilvy, etc. Franklin Templeton’s CSR initiative with the Children’s Day campaign ran through the month of November in 2012 and focused on highlighting the work Akanksha Foundation is doing towards the development of under privileged children.

     

    Social Wavelength drove the entire campaign on Facebook and a call to action ‘Is there a Teacher in you’ was pitched. Akanksha received an overwhelming and encouraging response through the special app that was development on their Facebook page. In the duration of the campaign, Franklin Templeton’s Facebook page fan base increased to 20,446 and the likes hiked to 28,086 through 23 customized posts, images and stories.

     

    Speaking on behalf of Social Wavelength, Mihir Karkare, Co-founder and VP, Social Wavelength said, “Children’s Day was a brilliant initiative by Franklin Templeton and we were pleased and honoured to take it to the next level. We are thrilled that the campaign has now been featured in Facebook Studio. The fact that the campaign has received such accolades in the social media space proves that a brilliantly executed innovative idea can create a social media success story.”

     

  • The inaugural edition of the awards is scheduled to be held on Saturday, March 2, in Noida

    NDTV Good Times Lifestyle Awards announced

    By A Correspondent

     

    Lifestyle channel NDTV Good Times has announced its first Lifestyle Awards. The awards are scheduled to be held on Saturday, March 2, at Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort in Greater Noida.

     

    The NDTV Good Times Lifestyle Awards aims to celebrate icons who have left a lasting impression on Indian lifestyle, and will recognize people from the fields of food, travel, technology, fashion and luxury.

     

    The awards have an extensive short-listing process and a high-powered jury including Alex Kuruvilla, Gautam Singhania, Raseel Gujral, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Sanjay Kapoor, Suhel Seth, Vir Sanghvi and Smeeta Chakrabarti (CEO, NDTV Lifestyle).

     

    The award categories:

    :: Lifestyle Destination of the Year (International & India)

    :: Hotel/Resort of the Year

    :: Home and Accessories Brand of the Year

    :: Best Designer of the Year (Indian)

    :: Lifestyle Label of the Year (International)

    :: Restaurant of the Year

    :: Spa of the year

    :: Fitness Icon of the year

    :: Luxury brand of the year

    :: Lifetime Achievement Award in Luxury

    :: Jaypee Greens Lifestyle Icon of the Year (Viewers’ Choice)

     

  • Reckitt Benckiser can continue to compare Dettol Healthy Kitchen with Vim Liquid and assert that the germ kill capability of Dettol Healthy Kitchen is 100 times more than Vim Liquid

    No stay, only tweak in Dettol Healthy Kitchen TVC

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Calcutta HIgh Court has not granted any stay on the TVC asserting that Dettol Healthy Kitchen is 100 times better at germ killing capability than Vim Liquid, according to a communique As an interim measure the court recorded that Reckitt Benckiser would remove from its TVC only the portion showing the visual of quantum of germs killed by use of the two competing products. As a result it can continue to compare Dettol Healthy Kitchen with Vim Liquid and assert that the germ kill capability of Dettol Healthy Kitchen is 100 times more than Vim Liquid. It is learnt, that the Calcutta HC has ordered the suit to be listed on March 18, 2013, for further proceedings.

     

    Dettol, one of the most trusted power brands from the portfolio of Reckitt Benckiser has launched Dettol Kitchen, the new range of disinfectant kitchen gel. Dettol Kitchen marks Dettol’s entry into a new segment after Liquid Hand Wash in 1992. Dettol Kitchen with 100X better germ kill ‘cleans for real’.

     

    Chander Mohan Sethi, Senior Vice President- South East Asia, Reckitt Benckiser said, “Dettol’s brand vision is to be the trusted champion of health, every day. To achieve this, Dettol provides mothers with solutions to help create a healthy home. The kitchen is one of the germ hotspots in the house with invisible germs present on dishes and other food contact surfaces. In fact kitchen sponges too are a harbour for all types of germs. It made complete sense to extend this promise of Dettol’s germ protection to the Kitchen by providing a single solution for a truly Healthy Kitchen.”

     

  • With over 28 years of experience in a variety of industries, Mr Shah will augment the foundation's efforts in building a robust and profitable broadcasting industry in India

    IBF appoints Shailesh Shah as secretary general

    By A Correspondent

     

    Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) has announced the appointment of Shailesh Shah as its secretary general. With over 28 years of experience in a variety of industries, Mr Shah will augment IBF’s efforts in building a robust and profitable broadcasting industry in India.

     

    In a career spanning three decades, Mr Shah has worked with The Hay Group, PriceWaterHouse Coopers, Watson Wyatt, Satyam Computers and the JSW Group.

     

    He was also involved with organizations such as The World Economic Forum, The Economic Development Board of Singapore and NASSCOM. He is a mechanical engineer, has a master in Operations Research and an MBA in Finance and has read at Bangalore University, Syracuse University, Drexel University and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

     

    Man Jit Sigh

    IBF President Man Jit Singh said, “His wide experience in delving into industry fundamentals to drive value creation will be of immense value to the foundation. I, along with the rest of the members, welcome Shailesh to IBF.”

     

  • The fifth edition of HDFC Life Spell Bee – India Spells 2013 ended on a high note recently with Vaswati Das of Gurukul Grammar Sr Second School, Guwahati being proclaimed the winner

    A spell(ing) well laid

    By A Correspondent

     

    The fifth edition of HDFC Life Spell Bee – India Spells 2013 ended on a high note recently with Vaswati Das of Gurukul Grammar Sr Second School, Guwahati being proclaimed the winner. With a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh at stake, doubled from last year’s Rs 1 lakh, the organizers hyped the excitement this year by allowing the winner to take the principal or teacher from his school to witness the Scripps Spell Bee in Washington DC.

     

    Seen as India’s adaption of the Scripps National Spelling Bee held in Washington DC, this year’s contest garnered robust participation from 35 cities reiterating the popularity of India’s biggest school spelling contest. Close to 3 lakh students from class 5-9 across 1000 different schools went through grueling initial rounds of spelling tests that challenged them on various parameters of their vocabulary.

     

    A property of ENIL, Spell Bee has also evolved over the last five years and today is one of the most awaited properties every year. Sharing his experience on the contest, Hitesh Sharma, Chief Operating Officer, ENIL said: “This year Spell Bee has taken a quantum leap in delivering a wholesome experience to one and all within the space of edutainment. An additional level of screening in the form of the ‘Semi Finals’ has helped us focus on bringing out the best spellers at the National level. Spell Bee revised its format of tests completely and the manner in which they were conducted in 2013. The robust participation that we received online stands as testimony to the manner in which Spell Bee 2013 grew to being a competition that young students across India look forward to.”

     

    Being the principal sponsors for the competition for the fifth year in a row, Sanjay Tripathy, Executive Vice President and Head, Marketing and Direct Channels, HDFC Life said, “It has been a constant endeavour to take the property to the next higher level year on year and this year has been a significant jump over the previous years. We really upped the scale this year not only in terms of the size and spread but also drastically changed the format to make it purely a spelling based contest closer to its US cousin the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Also, we have ensured that the winners are genuine spelling wizards who had to perform well consistently at every level of the competition.”

     

    Asserting the importance that is levied on making the contest truly big in terms of scale, Mr Sharma said that amongst other engagements that have been crafted by Radio Mirchi, Spell Bee is a unique as it has constantly focused in helping Indian students spell right and thereby communicate better. “The objective of the property has been to make a difference or contribute to the overall development of Indian students across the country.  The biggest benefit that accrues to us is to have the ability to recognise Indian talent and give it an opportunity to shine.”

     

    Mr Tripathy, who had a similar experience to share, said that the association with such an event has helped HDFC Life to reach out to and increase brand salience of HDFC Life amongst the core TG. “Through this property, we have been able to engage and interact with over 3 lakh students in over 1000 schools across 35 cities in India. We also believe that as a leader in the child segment that we should be responsible and provide a learning platform for today’s children and with Spell Bee, we have successfully managed to create one.”

     

    With the contest being sought eagerly by school children every year, the organizers are looking at 2014 throwing up even more surprises. Affirmed Mr. Sharma, “The format that we introduced this year has been exciting and has worked brilliantly for us. Having said that Spell Bee is an ever-evolving property and I am confident that interesting things will keep happening in and around it taking the changing needs of the Indian student into consideration.”

     

    Admitting that he wanted HDFC Life Spell Bee to become synonymous with Spelling-based contests in India, Mr Tripathy said, “With HDFC Life Spell Bee, change has been the only constant. We are continuously evaluating and evolving the property to take it to the next level – a few notches higher – year on year, every year. Therefore going forward there will definitely be some more interesting changes and it’s all a part of continuous evolution.”

     

  • Winning cricket rights may just propel Neo Sports into stellar orbit. But COO Prasana Krishnan is far from complacent, and has his eye open for more opportunities, as he tells MxMIndia

    The 18-month horizon looks visibly good: Krishnan

    By A Correspondent

     

    It was a proud day for all at Neo Sports Broadcast yesterday as the network announced winning the rights to showcase all domestic and international cricket matches played in New Zealand until 2020. The seven-year deal includes 261 days of live cricket including 18 T20s, 63 ODIs and 36 Tests and also includes rights for all of Asia excluding Middle-East.

     

    The win means a lot to the network that’s been devoid of cricketing action, especially India-based, for some time now. Prasana Krishnan, COO, Neo Sports, tells MxMIndia on what the deal augurs for the network and also what is the growth being anticipated over an 18-month window.

     

    You outbid quite a few players on your way to acquiring the rights for New Zealand cricket matches until 2020. What does this acquisition signal for your network?

    For the Indian market, some volume of cricket is required for a sports broadcaster. While cricket prices have been going crazy and getting more aggressive in recent times, we’ve been taking a more cautious approach in terms of how and where we want make our combat and where we want to buy. So this acquisition was one of those where we felt the value was coming at a good price for us to consider and also for the fact that it is a long-term deal. More importantly, it has got 19 matches involving India and also a huge amount of cricket involving other nations.

     

    So on a consistent basis it provides us a couple of cricketing series every year and also provides a good volume of Indian cricket. What it also does for us is in 2014, we have India touring New Zealand followed by the Asia Cup. So we have got two Series involving India which I feel will make us a strong player in the market from a medium-term perspective. If you see the content line-up that we have, I think it is as good as any other properties that you’ll have. That again helps us in capitalizing and gaining revenues in a phase where digitization is quite active. So over the next 18 months when the digitization drive takes off, having two India Series in addition to the other events in our portfolio helps us in aggressively pushing and capitalizing on those properties.

     

    As a Board, New Zealand hasn’t been a hot property that’s been vied widely by many. Or is it?

    From an overall ratings and a value perspective of the deal, the key important aspect to see is how many India matches would be played. With India playing 19 matches obviously brings in a lot of value because where the Indian market is concerned, it is about where the national team is playing. Also, even the non-India cricket series also produce decent ratings so there again well-produced high-quality production that happens enables a significant recovery of revenues for the sportscaster. Not that the ratings will be on fore but one gets a decent traction from non-India matches too.

     

    Also, one must not forget that we have also got Asia rights that include countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, etc who will be touring New Zealand and therefore there will be a significant buzz in those countries as well. So there are multiple benefits that will accrue from these associated opportunities as well.

     

    This win will be perceived as a way of bouncing back afresh given that your network was asked to give up rights of India matches a few months ago…

    I won’t want to call it a bounce-back as we were very much present in the market. We had the Asia Cup and also Euro Cup last year…which was a strong line-up for us. But yes, the volume of India matches on our network had become lesser but with the two important events lined up until 2014, it will give us an opportunity to capitalize and grow. So in a sense I am content with how things are shaping up.

     

    With a strong start to the year, are you contemplating bidding for the rights of other Boards in the near future?

    Whenever there is an interesting property we keep our eyes open and evaluate opportunities. Finally it all boils down to what will be the economics of scale and whether it makes commercial sense to do it. Also it is about what will be available in the market. So if you ask me: will we be looking for more, I’d say yes. But I cannot say more on what or which properties we would be going after.

     

    How have the other non-cricket properties delivered for your network in the recent past?

    Where our channels are concerned, viewership and growth has been quite positive on the numbers front. But it is still early stages as we expect things to leapfrog once phase 2 digitization kicks off across 38 cities. We will have a clear view of what the trends are post the roll-out of phase 2 of digitization.

     

    Will you be going after more properties in the coming months?

    As said earlier, we keep our eyes open for opportunities. For example, next month we are showing the Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament that will be followed by the French Open in May-June…so we do have a good mix of cricket and non-cricket properties as of now.

     

    From a growth perspective, where do you see your network in a year’s time from now?

    Rather than a year, if we look from an 18-month perspective that coupled with digitization and two Series taking place, I see a good level of growth coming from our channels. Also, we are expecting a decent support from the advertisers as well. We must understand that the spends on other sports other than cricket is also on a rise especially Tennis, Football etc that have been getting increased support from advertisers compared to the past. And anyways, we expect ad spends on cricket to be consistent, to say the least. So there’s a lot to look forward to in the coming months for us.

     

  • Network18 divests stake in Infomedia Yellow Pages and AskMe biz to Getit

    Network18 sells yellow pages and AskMe biz to Getit

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Network18 group’s divestment of stakes in non-core assets has taken another leap with the announcement of stake sale in its yellow pages and AskMe businesses to leading yellow pages company Getit Infoservices.

     

    The divestment is subject to shareholders’ approval.  Earlier during the current  financial year, Network18 had  divested its entire stake in Newsire18 and partially diluted its stake in Bookmyshow.com.

     

    Earlier today, the Network18 Group informed stockmarkets that it has entered into an agreement to profitably divest its premier local search businesses – Infomedia Yellow Pages and AskMe.  The combined operations of Getit will be referred to as ‘Getit Infomedia’ and  will be wholly owned by shareholders of Getit. Getit investors include Malaysia-based Astro group and Helion Venture Partners, a leading VC fund.

     

    Announcing the transaction, Raghav Bahl, Managing Director, Network18, said, “The divestiture of  Infomedia Yellow Pages and Askme, India’s leading local search businesses is a reflection of our  commitment to profitably monetize non-core assets for the  benefit of our shareholders and to also facilitate  the growth of these businesses to the next level. We would like to convey our best wishes to the team as they embark on the next phase of their journey.”

     

    Commenting on the deal, B. Sai Kumar, Group CEO, said, “We take pride and pleasure in having been a part of the Infomedia Yellow Pages and Askme businesses. We are delighted with this development and believe that the new operations will be a powerful solution provider for the SME space in India. We would like to wish  the team the very best as they continue to excel in their endeavours.”

     

  • Coca-Cola is presenting sponsor and Samsung co-presenter of the third PTC Punjabi Film Awards to be held in Mohali on March 1

    PTC Film Awards to see much fan fare, many sponsors

    By A Correspondent

     

    Rajiee M Shinde

    Friday, March 1, will see the PTC Punjabi Film Awards happening in front of packed crowds at the Multipurpose Sports Stadium at Sector 78 in Mohali, near capital Chandigarh.

     

    The contribution of Punjab and Punjabis to the film industry is well-known, but until a few years back, the number of Punjabi films reduced was less than a dozen a year, rues Rajiee M Shinde, Director & CEO of leading Punjabi entertainment and news broadcaster, PTC.  “That number grew to 24 in 2012,” she says hinting at the contribution of the awards to evangelize Punjabi-language films.

     

    The event, with Coca-Cola as lead sponsor, Samsung as co-presenter and a slew of around a dozen national and regional brands, will be deferred live. But the deferment, Ms Shinde, informs will be of just 30 minutes.

     

    The 2013 Awards show will see feature some top names from Hindi and Punjabi cinema.  Said Rabindra Narayan, President, PTC Punjabi, PTC News and PTC Chak De, said, “The PTC Network, with the largest reach in Punjab, will not only take the awards across India, but also across the world to USA, Canada and Australia. In UK, the awards will be recorded and telecast. Viewers will be able to watch the show, making this the single largest Punjabi commercial movies’ extravaganza worldwide.” And will PTC take these awards abroad, Ms Shinde said: “We would ultimately take this abroad, but I wouldn’t like to miss out on the ground connect that we have here.”

  • Unilever's soap brand Lifebuoy spreads hygiene message with healthy handwashing habits

    The soap that saves lives, and other marketing stories

     

    By Meghna Sharma

     

    The latest campaign by Lifebuoy shows a man walking on his hands from his house to the village temple as people follow him because his son turned five. ‘What’s so special about it?’ is the first thought which comes to mind, and this is echoed by the tourist who witnesses it at the end of the advertisement. The answer is the fact that two million children the world over still die before the age of five due to preventable infections like diarrhoea and pneumonia.

     

    The advertisement is nothing but taking forward the commitment of Unilever’s health soap, Lifebuoy, of teaching children healthy hand washing habits. The three-minute film seeks to inspire action from viewers to pledge support for Lifebuoy’s handwashing programmes on the ground.

     

    Saving Lives

    Samir Singh, Global Brand VP, Lifebuoy says, “Our goal is to change the handwashing behaviours of a billion people by 2015. We wanted to tell the world the Lifebuoy story in a deeply emotional way. Our brief was to translate the statistics into something real, personal and powerful. And through this film, that’s just what’s been done.”

     

    The campaign is created by Lowe Lintas. On the film, R Balki, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of Lowe Lintas, comments, “A small act like washing hands with Lifebuoy can save a child’s life. This message needs to reach far and wide. So, we created this campaign that can open one’s mind to this amazing message. A campaign that moves people to the extent that they care to share it with others”.

     

    The campaign aims to share the brand’s purpose. And since, social media and technology play an important role in connecting like-minded people who are eager to do something to make this world a better place. The brand wants to tap into this new community of people to inspire them to spread this message of saving lives.

     

    “This is not just about an ad, but about creating an act. It’s an act that will make a real difference. An act that allows individuals, professionals and organizations to come together and collaborate around the common goal of eliminating child deaths due to diarrhoea and pneumonia. This film is the beginning of that journey and a clarion call to all to join this purpose,” adds HUL’s spokesperson.

     

    Roti Alert!

    At the beginning of this year, the brand launched another unique campaign – Roti Reminder.

     

    The Maha Kumbh Mela which sees almost 100 million people descending upon the city of Allahabad turns into a temporary city in itself. And since the infrastructure available is often unable to service the sanitation and health needs of all attendees, infections tend to occur and spread far more easily through transmission of germs, which happens most commonly through infected hands. Hence, Lifebuoy hoped to aid the patrons and attendees by reminding them about the importance of washing hands and protecting oneself from germs. Lifebuoy not only spread the message at key junctures throughout the city through street hoardings and banners. But reminded people to wash their hands before having food through the food itself!

     

    Lifebuoy created a special heat stamp with the message, ‘Did you wash your hands with Lifebuoy?’ and then hired 100 promoters to stand in 100 kitchens spread across the Maha Kumbh Mela and imprint fresh rotis with the Lifebuoy message.

     

    Speaking about the genesis of the idea, Sudhir Sitapati, General Manager – Skin Cleansing, HUL says,” The idea came from the insight that hand washing with soap before eating can prevent transmission of many disease causing germs, but people often ignore or forget to do this simple act. A reminder at the right time can go a long way to ensure this habit is followed. This was the starting thought from which we developed a unique intervention – the Roti Reminder.”

     

    The activation was for a period of one month and started from February 1, 2013. Lifebuoy also provided free soap to attendees at the Kumbh Mela.

     

    The idea helped Lifebuoy reach out to a massive audience, at a fraction of the cost.

     

    The on-going commitment

    Over the years Hindustan Unilever has targeted its memorable campaigns towards achieving its aim, and Lifebuoy’s social mission has been to bring safety, security and health to people through the active promotion of hand washing with soap.

     

    In 2002, Lifebuoy started a campaign known as Lifebuoy Swasthya Chetna, to promote good health practices by actively encouraging people to inculcate good hygiene practices, such as washing hands with soap at least five times a day. From 2002 to 2010, the project touched more than 120 million Indians.

     

    Lifebuoy reached out to nearly 30 million people in rural India over 2010 and 2011 through a multi-brand rural outreach programme called Khushiyon Ki Doli (KKD) or “Caravan of happiness”.

     

    Over the past 10 years, Lifebuoy has taken its hand washing behaviour change programmes to millions of people across the world, and now through its latest campaign it is aiming to change the hand washing behaviour of a whole village in central India – Thesgora, a village with one of the highest rates of diarrhoea. The initiative supports Unilever’s goal to deliver on one of its commitment under its Sustainable Living Plan – to help more than one billion people take action to improve their health and well-being.

     

    By 2015, Lifebuoy aims to change the hygiene behaviour of 1 billion people across Asia, Africa and Latin America by promoting the benefits of hand washing with soap at key times.