MxMIndia

Category: NEWS

  • Money transfer brand Xpress Money has appointed digital marketing agency Gozoop Online to augment its social media presence

    Xpress Money appoints Gozoop as its digital media agency

    By A Correspondent

     

    Money transfer brand Xpress Money has appointed digital marketing agency Gozoop Online to augment its social media presence. The agency is set to lead the social media strategy and communication for Xpress Money to ensure synchronization between online and offline activities.

     

    The objective of Xpress Money to appoint an agency is to leverage its digital presence to increase consumer connect, said a release. Gozoop will make use of consumer-centric platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare and YouTube to reach existing and potential Xpress Money users and engage with them.

     

    Commenting on the development, Vinesh Nair, VP, Global Marketing and Communications, Xpress Money said, “Xpress Money as an organization believes that digital media is an extremely important channel to engage with and have meaningful conversations with consumers. It makes perfect sense for a brand like Xpress Money to have an active and a continually interactive digital media presence. We have executed some of our biggest initiatives in the past that were purely seeded through Facebook. With Gozoop’s in-depth understanding of the medium and strategic inputs, we now have a robust social media presence and we are confident about their levels of execution.”

     

    Gozoop MD Dushyant Bhatia said, “We are excited to work with Xpress Money on enhancing its digital media presence. We are happy to have a client that believes in digital media and considers it as a core part of their overall marketing strategy. We look forward to adding substantial value and help Xpress Money achieve its objectives.”

     

    Xpress Money is a global money transfer brand with a presence in more than 150 countries. More information is available at www.xpressmoney.com.

     

  • IBF has called for withdrawal of the notification and re-initiation of a participatory dialogue that helps make self-regulation of advertising minuteage in line with global standards a reality

    IBF asks for withdrawl of TRAI notification on ad duration

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) is deeply concerned about the Telecom Regulatory Authority’s notification which will force television broadcasters to a maximum of twelve minutes of advertising in every hour of broadcast.

     

    Like several industries that continue to reel from the after-effects of the global economic recession, India’s television broadcasting industry has been suffering too. The industry is largely dependent on advertising revenues for its economic sustenance. IBF has been working with TRAI over the last several months to arrive at a way forward on the quantum of advertising duration. Its fundamental stance has always been to self-regulate, aligned with globally practiced standards.

     

    According to the official statement issued by IBF, the trickle back effect from the first stage of digitization is yet to begin. Carriage fees introduced in 2008 remain a burden, especially for the more than 500 smaller channel operators. Cable TV tariffs remain frozen at 2005 rates. HD TV and pay channel revenues are just about beginning to happen and will take time to start providing economic value. These factors need concomitant addressing. Regulation on just advertising minuteage will have a severe impact on the survival of the broadcasting industry from amputation of a critical arm of the fourth estate.

     

    IBF has called for withdrawal of the notification and re-initiation of a participatory dialogue that helps make self-regulation of advertising minuteage in line with global standards a reality. None of the industry players are in disagreement with the overall objective of the notification. The staging of doing this has to be in line with economic sustenance of the broadcasting business and is best aligned to the full value of digiti zation becoming a reality.

     

  • Moving away from product-specific brand ambassadors, Godrej has roped in Aamir Khan for its overall brand image.How well will this work?

    Master marketer AK is Godrej’s new mascot

     

    By Johnson Napier

     

    If you thought actor Hrithik Roshan was the only superstar or that current favourite Virat Kohli was the sportsperson of choice to drive growth for the products that they endorse under the Godrej portfolio, you may be mistaken. While their immense contribution in driving sales and popularity cannot be doubted, Godrej has turned to master-marketer Aamir Khan to clinch the deal for them.

     

    ‘A perfect opportunity to get width and scale for brand Godrej’
     

    The next few days will be aspirational for Shireesh Mukund Joshi, Head – Strategic Marketing, Godrej Group, as his organisation engages in an eight-part brand promotion exercise in the Indian marketplace. With Aamir Khan as its celeb-of-choice, the integrated campaign of ‘Ideas that makes life brighter‘ will focus on enhancing brand Godrej’s emotive appeal by showcasing the breadth of fresh ideas from within the group to its consumers.

     

    Excerpts from an interview with Mr Joshi on the occasion of the launch…

     

    In challenging times such as these, brands would usually go in for an all-out promotional exercise if they are engaging in repositioning or if they want to give falling numbers a fillip. What made you opt for an overall brand-Godrej promotional exercise at this juncture?

    It’s been some time since we last came out with a communication around all of our brands. If you observe, during this period we’ve achieved and done quite a lot in terms of new product launches, promotional campaigns etc. Also if you see each of the brands talk to a specific set of audiences but no one has managed to see all of them in a single piece of communication. This will be a perfect opportunity for us to get width and scale for brand Godrej. Since we have managed to accumulate a lot of products under our portfolio to showcase to the consumers, we felt the time was right to come up with a communication campaign of this scale.

     

    The emphasis for most brands in recent times has been around marketing and reaching out to the youth in a big way. How is the story same or different for brand Godrej?

    Where Godrej is concerned, it is a youth-also brand rather than just youth-only. We have products that are built for homes and diverse set of audiences. The products of today have to be designed keeping the various needs of the overall audiences in mind whether it is the youth or other audience categories. As the needs of consumers keep evolving so do our products that need to undergo a shift in terms of adjusting to the needs of the audiences.

     

    Why didn’t you stick with current favourite Virat Kohli or the dependable Hrithik Roshan to espouse the larger cause for brand Godrej? Why rope in a new celebrity?

    Both Virat Kohli and Hrithik Roshan have been used for pushing further the cause of Cinthol in the Indian marketplace. Where Aamir Khan is concerned, he will be seen endorsing brand Godrej in its entirety. So wherever there is a connect with brand Godrej we’ve set up a communication that will feature Aamir Khan as the ambassador. It is not about a particular product but is rather about endorsing common set of values across our entire product portfolio. Aamir, we thought, was the perfect fit to drive our objective in the current brand communication context.

     

    You’ve stuck with JWT to drive the creative thought process for this large exercise too…

    The entire communication has been handled effectively by JWT and we are happy with the way the range of commercials have been drafted for presentation in the coming few days.

     

    Were you looking at IPL as the platform to share the core brand objective exclusively with? Will you be pledging maximum revenues on IPL 6?

    I cannot reveal what the estimated spend is for the IPL this year but it will suffice to say that it is well balanced.

     

    What is the spike you’re expecting in volume sales or the bottomline revenue for the group from this activity?

    This is not a product or specific campaign launch. It’s a campaign that celebrates brand Godrej in India. Over a period of time as more people become aware of more products from Godrej then we will rise in consideration set. It’s a much more longer term infusion of values of the brand rather than concentrating in immediate spike in sales or revenue. We will be able to gauge the impact on sales and revenue only later.

     

    And it’s not just a division or two – the ace actor has been roped in by Godrej to endorse the overall group in India. The move follows the company’s strategy over the last five years, where the group has built on its promise towards a brighter living by creating a slew of innovative ideas. Continuing with its next phase of journey, the new integrated campaign - Ideas that make life brighter – will be focused on enhancing the brand’s emotive appeal by showcasing the breadth of fresh ideas from within the group to its consumers.

     

    While company spokespersons preferred to withhold information on the cost of getting Aamir to endorse for the group, the overall cost for the eight-part television promotional activity is being pegged in upwards of Rs 50 crore. Creative hotshop JWT has been the force behind the new commercials featuring Aamir Khan.

     

    The categories to be featured as part of the promotional activities include Appliances, Interiors, GCPL, GPL & Security Solutions.

     

    Tanya Dubash, Executive Director and Chief Brand Officer, Godrej Group, explained the AK rationale: “Over the last five years we have walked on the exciting journey of managing the Godrej brand as an invaluable strategic asset. This journey has been marked by the creation of a more contemporary entity that has created an even stronger connect with the 500 million Indians who use a Godrej product or service every day.”

     

    The new integrated campaign, ‘Ideas that make life brighter’, aims to communicate the ethos of brand Godrej to the consumers, she added. “It is our belief that this campaign will harness the strength of the masterbrand through leveraging the diverse innovations across the group and presenting them in a very engaging manner.”

     

    While such activities are a result of some repositioning exercise that brands use to boost falling sales numbers, for Godrej it is about showcasing all its products under the Godrej umbrella to enable it to attain width and scale. Shireesh Mukund Joshi, Head – Strategic Marketing, Godrej Group said, “It’s been some time since we last came out with a communication around all of our brands. If you observe, during the recent past we’ve achieved and done quite a lot in terms of new product launches, promotional campaigns etc. Also, each of the brands talk to a specific set of audiences but no one has managed to see all of them in a single piece of communication. This will be a perfect opportunity for us to get width and scale for brand Godrej.”

     

    Since the group has a lot of products under its portfolio to showcase to consumers, the time was right to come up with a communication campaign of this scale, Mr Joshi said. On the decision to get Aamir Khan over the other bunch of superstars including current ambassadors Hrithik Roshan or Virat Kohli, he said, “It is not about a particular product but is rather about endorsing a common set of values across our entire product portfolio. Aamir, we thought, was the perfect fit to drive our objective in the current brand communication context.”

     

    On the impact that such an activity will have on the overall revenue growth for the group, Mr Joshi said, “We have to realise that this is a campaign that celebrates brand Godrej in India. Over a period of time as more people become aware of more products from Godrej then we will rise in consideration set. It’s a longer-term infusion of values of the brand rather than focusing on immediate spike in sales or revenue. We will be able to gauge the impact on sales and revenue only later.”

     

    Given the timing of its launch, it is obvious that the group will look at the IPL as the platform to go big with their promotional activities. Without getting into specifics, Joshi said that it would suffice to state that the spend for the IPL has been “well-balanced”.

     

    For now, it is time for the action to move to the small screen as consumers will take a call on whether Aamir Khan does justice to the brand.

     

  • According to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, complete digitization has been achieved in four cities, 8 cities have achieved more than 75% and 28 cities achieve more than 50%

    Digitization reaches 67% in Phase II cities: MIB

    By A Correspondent

     

    Fresh data from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting states that 67 percent of the digitization target has been achieved in the 38 cities which are set for digitization by March 31. According to DTH operators and MSOs, a total of 108 lakh Set Top Boxes (STBs) have already been installed in Phase-II cities against the target of 1.60 crore, registering overall achievement of over 67 percent digitization.

     

    Hyderabad, Amritsar, Chandigarh and Allahabad have achieved nearly 100 percent digitization, according to the MIB, and 75 percent digitization has been achieved in eight cities – Jodhpur, Thane, Aurangabad, Jaipur, Pune, Faridabad, Nashik, and Ghaziabad.

     

    Analysis of the data further reveals that out of 38 cities to be digitized in Phase II, 28 cities have achieved more than 50 percent digitization individually.

     

    The ministry has also stepped up the public awareness campaign to sensitize consumers on the benefits of digitization, through print and electronic media. Both All India Radio and private FM broadcasters are airing radio jingles, the ministry has brought out a print advertisement in all 38 cities in the respective regional languages, SMS campaign is under way, and television channels have been frequently running video spots, blackout advertisements and scrolls.

     

    Meanwhile, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) has reiterated its commitment to television broadcasting digitization. As mandated by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting under the Cable Television Network Amendment Ordinance 2011, for the 38 cities notified in the Phase II sequence of the digitization roll out, television broadcasters will comprehensively switch off all analogue signals from midnight Sunday, March 31.

     

    The IBF board has stressed that such a move is necessary to smoothen the transition from analogue to digital cable TV. IBF members have been running regular awareness campaigns to educate consumers on the various benefits of digitization. Some of these benefits include better picture and sound quality, enhanced services such as high definition, video on demand content and eventually, higher quality content. In addition, digitization will also enable viewers to choose and pay for only those channels they want, rather than pick from packages with fixed prices. Digitization will also bring about greater transparency between broadcasters, cable operators and consumers.

     

    Man Jit Singh

    IBF President Man Jit Singh said, “IBF and its members are committed to the successful implementation of digitization in India. Our awareness campaign has received very good response. We are confident that the successful implementation of DAS-II will tremendously improve the quality of television content and consequent viewership in the country.”

     

  • The International Festival of Creativity, Cannes Lions, has announced the launch of a young media academy which will complete a line-up of six academies at this year's festival

    Cannes Lions Young Media Academy to launch at 2013 festival

    By A Correspondent

     

    The International Festival of Creativity, Cannes Lions, has announced the launch of a young media academy which will complete a line-up of six academies at this year’s festival.

     

    Aimed at young media professionals working within media agencies and media companies, the Cannes Lions Young Media Academy is a week-long structured programme focusing on creativity in media. The objective is to inspire, focusing on demonstrating the value and execution of creativity in media channels, while providing a greater understanding of the global media and advertising community. During the programme delegates will develop a deeper understanding of the impact of creativity, how to manage relationships between the idea, the media channel and consumer behaviour and gain insight into the major issues and challenges that lie ahead.

     

    The class will follow a bespoke week of exclusive academy presentations and will include:

    – Understanding and providing effectiveness – case studies and presentations from previous Creative Effectiveness Lions winners

    – How do clients judge creativity? The breakdown of a Lion winning campaign presented by the client and agency

    – Understanding the ways clients think and act – insights from global brands

    – Deconstructing analytics and metrics in a creative advertising world

    – Understanding the challenges of social media and measuring ROI

    – The technological evolution of media, channels and consumers’ behaviour – presentations from technologists and developers

     

    Leading the Academy will be Maria Luisa Francoli, founder of global digital agency Media Contacts and former Global CEO for the global media network MPG. She said, “I am thrilled with this initiative and feel very honoured to have been invited to lead the academy. The fact that Cannes is allocating so much attention and resources to promote creativity among young media professionals is great news for the industry and a wonderful privilege for the first 35 members of the academy. I will do my best to ensure that we all take maximum advantage of the opportunity.”

     

    Commenting on the addition of the new academy, Steve Latham, Head of Talent & Training, Cannes Lions said, “Understanding how creativity can be used within media strategy is essential if the industry wants to innovate. This academy will provide inspiration and tailored training in a focused and distilled environment. We’re delighted that Maria Luisa, with her wealth of experience and knowledge, will be leading the academy.”

     

    The academy will run throughout the festival week from June 16 to 22, and is open to young media professionals aged 28 and under. The cost of the academy is €1,945 and details of how to take part can be found online at www.canneslions.com or by emailing academies@canneslions.com.

     

     

  • HUL's Domex ran a campaign on Big FM, with characters Jaggu Jaundice, Tatya Typhoid and Danny Diarrhea spreading the message of toilet hygiene and sanitization

    Germs personified on radio for HUL’s Domex

    By A Correspondent

     

    While most toilet cleaner campaigns focus on TVCs and print, HUL’s Domex has taken to the radio waves in an innovative bid to target the markets of Maharashtra and South India.

     

    Big FM has carried out an innovative and engaging campaign on the pegs of toilet hygiene and sanitization, called ‘Germs Ka The End’, with characters Jaggu Jaundice, Tatya Typhoid and Danny Diarrhea spreading the message of toilet hygiene and sanitization.

     

    Led by National Solutions Head Dheeraj Kumar along with his team comprising Zara Zaki, Sreejith Vijayan and Usha Malasi, the campaign also saw a song rendition by music director and singer Bappi Lahiri, titled The End.

     

    Created against the backdrop of ‘shaayri’, the characterized germs poetically profess the ill-effects of unhygienic and unsanitized toilets through an imaginative exchange of dialogues.

     

    Ashwin Padmanabhan

    Ashwin Padmanabhan, Business Head – 92.7 Big FM said, “We are happy with the success of the campaign. To be able to tailor solutions to meet client requirements, while also keeping listener sensibilities in mind has been our strength which has been showcased once again with this campaign with Domex. The team has done an excellent job and we look forward to continuing to serve audiences and marketers alike, with innovative and highly engaging offerings.”

     

    George Koshy, Category Head (Household Care), Hindustan Unilever Ltd said, “Toilet cleaners category cues are such that consumers cringe on seeing any form of advertising. Our germ world campaign is our attempt at making this category easier on the eye. In order to make the germ world and its characters popular, we decided to use music as the medium. Mindshare created a unique tie-up with 92.7 Big FM and Bappi Lahiri to create a fun jingle around Domex’s characters – Jaggu Jaundice, Tatya Typhoid and Danny Diarrhea. Radio is a key medium with our audience residing in our key markets. The song enabled us to enter the realm of radio content and away from the by now done-to-death RJ integrations and station roadblocks.”

     

  • TV channel Zoom has rolled out a 30 percent hike in its advertising rates with immediate effect, stating that this is in line with the true value of its offering

    Zoom hikes ad rates by 30%

    By A Correspondent

     

    TV channel Zoom has rolled out a 30 percent hike in its advertising rates with immediate effect, stating that this is in line with the true value of its offering.

     

    In a release, the channel said that it has consistently enjoyed a loyal and ever-growing audience base. Zoom dominates the Bollywood category with over 45 percent channel share and delivers to a significantly higher premium audience when compared with other music, entertainment and lifestyle channels.

     

    Avinash Kaul

    Avinash Kaul, CEO of ET Now, Times Now and Zoom, said, “Zoom’s strong and consistent viewership figures capture just one dimension of the brand’s popularity among its audience. Over the last few years we have seen a staggering response from Zoom’s fans in the real world engaging with the brand on Social Media platforms from across the globe. Zoom generates over 1.3 crore impressions and sparks over 1 lakh interactions every day in the social media space – it is the biggest TV brand on social media in Asia. Our esteemed clients believe in the power of Zoom as a platform to reach out to their urban, upscale consumers and the fact that Zoom has the largest client base in the category is reflective of that trust.”

     

  • Ogilvy & Mather has incorporated the spirit of Holi in the fourth of its series of ads for Madhya Pradesh Tourism, with its TVC 'Colours'

    Ogilvy uses colourful language for MP Tourism TVC

    By A Correspondent

     

    Abhijit Avasthi

    Ogilvy & Mather Mumbai has incorporated the spirit of Holi in the fourth of its series of ads for Madhya Pradesh Tourism.

     

    In the TVC, colours are creatively used to depict the key tourist attractions of Madhya Pradesh – Kanha’s tigers, Khajuraho’s sculptures, Mandu’s Jahaz Mahal, the Sanchi Stupa and Ujjain’s Mahakal Aarti.

     

     

    On the campaign, National Creative Director Abhijit Avasthi said, “MP Tourism ads have enjoyed a tremendous popular appeal in the past. From its artistic execution to touching the pulse of millions of Indians, we had to come up with another stunning ad in the series of unique MP Tourism ads and that’s what we did.”

     

    Elaborating, Group Creative Director Pradyumna Chauhan said, “This ad is a labour of love. From conceptualization to the final execution, every step of the way one could tell a story or two. If I were to say it differently, this ad was easier imagined than done. But hats off to all our collaborators led by Varma, finally we did pull it off. A special mention for Pankaj Awasthi – he brought so much soul and feel to this ad with the music. Writing the song to the visuals was some task but it worked out great in the end.”

     

    “The moment we started brainstorming on this campaign, the idea to present the State of Madhya Pradesh through beautiful, vivid colours sort of leapt out at us. After the first sketches were done, we gave a shout to Varma to check how feasible our vision was. Or not? Fortunately, he was as excited to execute this riot of colours as we were. From there on, one thing led to the other. It has been months in the making but now when you sit back and have a look at this ad, all the hard work and detailing seems worth it,” added Mahesh Gharat, Group Creative Director.

     

    The campaign includes a TVC supported by Press and Outdoor.

     

    Client: MP Tourism

    Agency: Ogilvy & Mather Mumbai

    National Creative Director: Abhijit Avasthi

    Group Creative Directors: Pradyumna Chauhan, Mahesh Gharat

    Account Management: Ajay Menon, Rohit Sharma

    Production House: Nirvana Films

    Director: Prakash Varma

    Lyrics: Pradyumna Chauhan

    Music: Pankaj Awasthi

     

     

  • The global headline GMI measure registered a value of 56.9 points in March, an increase of 0.7 points from February. It takes into account marketers' expectations for trading conditions and staffing levels as well as marketing budgets

    European marketing budgets rise for the first time in 11 months

    By A Correspondent

     

    Marketing budgets are set to rise in all global regions in March according to the latest data from Warc’s Global Marketing Index. For only the second time since the index began in October 2011, European marketers reported net growth in budgets this month, with an index value of 50.5. This represents a 1.7 point increase from February.

     

    Marketing budgets also rose in the Americas (55.4) and Asia Pacific (51.2). Globally, the index of marketing budgets improved from 51.7 in February to 52.4 in March, which is the index’s highest reading in eleven months. The GMI provides a unique monthly indicator of the state of the global marketing industry, by tracking current conditions among marketers. A GMI reading of 50 indicates no change, and a reading of over 60 indicates rapid growth.

     

    The global headline GMI measure – which takes into account marketers’ expectations for trading conditions and staffing levels as well as marketing budgets – registered a value of 56.9 points in March, an increase of 0.7 points from February. This is the second highest headline GMI reading since data collection started, bettered only by the 58.1 recorded in April 2012.

     

    All three components of the headline GMI performed strongly this month. The index for global trading conditions continued to signify rapid improvement, standing at 60.0 (up 0.6 points from February). Region by region, the Americas remains the most positive for trading conditions (62.3), followed by Asia Pacific (59.5) and Europe (57.9). The index of staffing levels rose by 0.6 points globally to register a value of 58.2 in March. Regional index values stood at 59.4 for the Americas, 58.0 for Asia Pacific and 56.6 for Europe.

     

    Suzy Young, Data and Journals Director at Warc, said, “The latest GMI data are encouraging for marketers worldwide. Confidence also appears to be returning in Europe, which is reassuring in light of fresh concerns regarding economic stability in the Eurozone.”

     

    Warc has produced independent data on advertising expenditure and media costs for more than 25 years, and has partnerships with leading advertising organizations in more than 80 countries.

     

  • Heineken is looking to recruit a lucky football fan, who is digitally and socially savvy, creative, witty, passionate and eager, to report on the UEFA Champions League Final weekend for Heineken's social media channels in India

    Heineken upbeat about social for UCL

    By Johnson Napier

     

    With the rollout of the Social Reporter contest, Heineken is looking to recruit a ‘Man of The World’ from India, to live the Heineken Experience and report on it. The attempt is to recruit a lucky football fan, who is digitally and socially savvy, creative, witty, passionate and eager, to report on the UEFA Champions League Final weekend for Heineken’s social media channels in India.

     

    Samar Singh Sheikhawat, Senior Vice President (Marketing), United Breweries Ltd. tells MxMIndia on what makes this contest a unique experience for football fans in India and also what are Heineken’s growth plans for India.

     

    This is Heineken’s first association with UEFA Champions League in India. Given the huge popularity that UCL enjoys around the world, what are your expectations from the association in India?

    Heineken globally has been a sponsor of the UEFA Champions League, the world’s most prestigious club football tournament, since 1994. This makes it a perfect match for Heineken, the world’s most international premium beer brand.

     

    The Heineken Social reporter initiative is an extension of the brand’s global campaign The Candidate, and one of the initiatives as part of Heineken’s activation of the UEFA Champions League sponsorship in India.

     

    We expect this initiative and our overall Champions League activation plans to give Heineken a salience boost, and connect with young urban consumers in the key consumption months of the upcoming warm Indian summer. The winner of our search will not only experience the time of his life, but will also play an extremely important role in his assignment as Heineken’s Social Reporter. We are looking for someone not just with advanced degrees or skills, but for someone who is smart, spontaneous, witty and creative; and someone who has the ability to think out of the bottle.

     

    Could you elaborate on the Social Reporter contest that you’ve announced in India? How is it unique?

    With the Heineken Social Reporter, the brand is looking to recruit a ‘Man of The World’ from India, to live the Heineken Experience and report on it. The attempt is to recruit a lucky football fan, who is digitally and socially savvy, creative, witty, passionate and eager, to report on the UEFA Champions League Final weekend for Heineken’s Social Media channels in India.

     

    The search will begin with the profiles that interested fans create on our Facebook app: https://apps.facebook.com/heinekencandidate/. From here we will create a shortlist and then engage with the candidates on a one-to-one basis over two or three more rounds, before we arrive at our Heineken Social Reporter.

     

    Will you be looking at extending the contract of the winner beyond the UCL tournament?

    The Heineken Social Reporter is ideally a onetime opportunity for one successful consumer to report Live from the upcoming UEFA Champions League Final from Wembley Stadium, London.

     

    What are Heineken’s plans around other sporting properties (including football) in India?

    Across the world, Heineken connects with consumers through marketing activation campaigns based on its global Sport, Music and Film platforms. These include the UEFA Champions League Football and the Rugby World Cup. In India, we will be continuing on the same lines. At this moment we are concentrating on Heineken’s activation of the UEFA Champions League sponsorship in India. We do not have any other sporting associations at the moment.

     

    Growth-wise, what are your expectations from India for the year 2012-13?

    Heineken is our fastest growing brand. It has grown at close to 100%. We have almost doubled volumes from what they were last year.

     

    For the upcoming year, we are looking at increasing distribution of the brand to reach out to our target consumers.

     

  • Our offices are closed tomorrow Wednesday, March 27 on account of Holi so there will be no newsletter and site update. However, we’ll be back on Thursday, March 28.

    Holiday tomorrow. See you Monday

    Our editorial offices are closed tomorrow, Friday, March 28 on account of Good Friday. However, our business offices will be open.

    As always, on both days, we will receive your news alerts and requests for ads and business. Email these to: editor@mxmindia.com  (editorial) and alokk@mxmindia.com (business).

    Greetings in advance for Easter!

    See you on Monday, April 1.

     

  • Jagran, Vanitha lead in the fourth quarter of the Indian Readership Survey 2012. The Times of India and India Today are top English paper and magazine

    Jagran, Vanitha lead in IRS 2012Q4. TOI & India Today are top Eng paper & mag

    By A Correspondent

     

    There are no major surprises in the numbers for the Indian Readership Survey’s findings for the fourth quarter of 2012 have just been released by the Media Research Users Council (MRUC).

     

    Jagran leads amongst all publications and dailies. Vanitha leads amongst magazines. The Times of India leads in English dailies and Malayala Manorama amongst regional-language dailies. Pratiyogita Darpan and India Today are the largest read Hindi and English magazines respectively.

     

    (AIR numbers; All figures in '000)