Capgemini has announced the launch of its new brand campaign, ‘Be the YOU want to be’, showcasing employees as part of real-life stories/challenges. The campaign aims at promoting Capgemini as a preferred career destination, by highlighting real stories of Capgemini team members – their experiences, challenges and other key elements that have helped them develop as a person and as a successful technology professional.
Commenting on the launch of campaign, Rajesh Chandiramani, Senior Vice President, Marketing & Sales, Capgemini India says, “The new campaign brings out real life stories of our employees, who have overcome personal and professional challenges, which are typically faced by technology practitioners. Through this initiative, we want to communicate to aspiring audiences on how Capgemini is offering the desired environment for professional growth.”
The organization is developing nine key objectives, which will be used in a series of advertisements. These directions work in harmony with a Capgemini story or challenge. In this way, the company is providing prospective employees with an aspirational and real picture of what their professional life could be if they pursue a career at Capgemini.
External audiences will be connected through emerging and existing available platforms such as mobile, print, online advertising and outdoor billboards. Social media will be at the heart of the campaign and used to engage prospective employees. Outdoor advertising will be seen in key metros and cities such as Mumbai, Kolkata, Trichy, Salem and Thiruvananthapuram.
HT Media, publishers of news dailies Hindustan Times, Hindustan and Mint, has entered into a joint venture with the Apollo Global of the United States. The jv is called the India Education Services Private Limited and will run the Bridge School of Management.
On Saturday, the jv is hosting a half-day seminar with Professors Dipak Jain (former Dean, INSEAD and Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University) and Henry S Binen (former President of the Northwestern University) along with Adam Gutstein (Vice-Chairman, PwC US) and Rajiv Verma, CEO, HT Media speaking on the occasion.
Mr Rajesh Puri, formerly President-operations and COO at Tata Teleservices and COO, Bharti Airtel is CEO of India Education Services.
Most flights headed towards the sunny state of Goa in the morning of April 4 are sure to be filled with execs and honchos from the ad and media world. Camaraderie, bonhomie and banter are travelling companions, as conversations surrounding Goafest take precedence.
The eighth edition of Goafest 2013 will kick off with an Advertising Conclave at the Zuri White Sands post noon on April 4. This year the theme of the Goafest Advertising Conclave is ‘Time to Listen’. The Conclave will highlight the shortcomings of media and creative agencies, as perceived by major advertisers. Much like the last few years, the Conclave, sponsored by Discovery Channel, will see over 200 industry leaders drawn from Marketing, Advertising and Media.
The Conclave will have some of India’s biggest marketers identify the areas that both creative and media agencies need to focus on, and make suggestions to get served better.
Srinivasan Swamy
Srinivasan Swamy, Chairman of the Goafest Advertising Conclave, who has chaired it in the past few years as well, said, “Our Conclaves always focus on issues of relevance to us. In the past we have talked about how to grow the advertising industry, or on the changing agency structure or how advertising is more than creative and media etc. In the same vein, this year we will get advertisers to tell us how we can be more relevant to their needs. The theme ‘Time to Listen’ captures this essence.”
Nitin Paranjpe, MD and CEO Hindustan Unilever, will deliver the keynote address, and other industry stalwarts will share experiences and insights. Other big names include Harit Nagpal, MD and CEO Tata Sky, Arundhati Bhattacharya, MD SBI Capital Marketers and Arunabh Das Sharma, President, Bennett Coleman & Co. Sunil Alagh, Founder and Chairman of SKA Advisors and former MD of Britannia, will moderate a lively panel discussion.
Nitin Paranjpe
The real deal of the festival will kick off from April 5, with seminars and keynote addresses that begin at 2pm in the afternoon. Roger Mulchandani of WARC is to kick off the afternoon session with an address on ‘Seriously Social’. He will be followed by Ray Velez of Razorfish who will talk on ‘Transfroming Business at the intersection of Marketing & Technology’. Graham Fink of O&M is to speak next, followed by David Alberts of Mo Films. The Media Abbys followed by the awards gala will conclude the evening.
Day 2 of the creative festival will see a rather unconventional start to proceedings as Swami Sukhabodhananda, Founder Chairman of Prasanna Trust will speak on ‘Uncertainty is also a part of life.’ This will be followed by a keynote by Mark Tutssel and Tom Bernardin of Leo Burnett. Following next is Shiv Singh of Pepsi who will talk on ‘No one cares about marketing. Do what matters’, and Nick Vale of Maxus Worldwide speaking about ‘What does great work look like in our changing world’. Director Abhishek Kapoor is expected to add a dash of Bollywood as he will speak on ‘Do what your heart says’. Amir Kassaei of DDB Worldwide will follow next with the topic ‘New creative revolution.’ The Creative Abby awards will bring the day to a close.
MG Parameswaran
Goafest 2013 Knowledge Seminars Chairman M G Parameswaran said, “We have lined up a great list of speakers this year. We have Graham coming from China, the hottest consumer market in the world today. We also have two speakers from very different domain, and you can’t get any more different than this. Swamiji was the only speaker at AdAsia 2011 to get a standing ovation. I am sure he will bring a lot of new thought to the seminars. And who said ad awards cannot get a bit of stardust. Abhishek who delivered a super hit last month is sure to deliver a super hit talk in Goa!”
Also, last year Goafest saw the introduction of Marketing Wizards, an initiative whereby young client delegates could not only avail of the special under 30 delegate fees, but were also provided free accommodation – over 70 delegates from client organizations availed of this offer. This year Goafest is targeting a base of 150. In addition, Goafest will continue to have strong participation from senior clients in the Knowledge seminars as was the case in 2012. “Clients are our equal partners in creating ideas – we naturally strive to have their equal participation in Goafest both as speakers and delegates. This year we aim to attract participation from over 75 client organizations and hopefully over 250 people,” said Nakul Chopra.
Nakul Chopra
One of the biggest things to have happened or rather not happened is the participation of Ogilvy. This has paved the way for other creative agencies to prove their mettle at the grand stage. Despite the absence of Ogilvy, the organisers are claiming to have received a participation of over 4,200 entries. This will definitely prove to be a good year for some unknown stars who could prove their strengths here.
Says KS Chakravarthy, NCD, Draftfcb Ulka, “It’s an open field this year as there is no frontrunner or contender this year. All of the campaigns so far are good and deserve an equal chance of winning. There has been a good amount of work done by various agencies and it would be great to see it together. Also, to hear what the speakers have to share with others is always an interesting part of the event.”
Naresh Gupta
According to Naresh Gupta, managing partner, Bang In The Middle, “This year hasn’t seen one landmark campaign that is the favourite. I would like to see a lot of challenger brands’ work to win. I would like to see more real work. Work that is mainstream. Work that the brands did to solve a marketing problem. I would also like to see greater integration of real and digital world.”
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Vivek Srivastava
Adding his perspective, Vivek Srivastava, Jt MD, Innocean Worldwide said, “It’s a platform to interact and observe. There should be some interesting seminars. The Goafest committee has worked rather hard to get an interesting line up of speakers. And the Industry Conclave is being done in a manner which makes the business leaders deliberate and argue about issues that are affecting our businesses in the immediate term. I am surely looking forward to these. Our agency Innocean has had some shortlists. I would be happy to see those win for sure. In my view campaigns that genuinely impact consumer behaviour, make an impact on the brands’ future and ensure their relevance in this dynamic are the ones that deserve to win.”
The Goafest 2013 committee has confirmed the participation of three more personalities as speakers: Swami Sukhabodhananda, Founder Chairman of Prasanna Trust; Graham Fink, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy & Mather China; and Abhishek Kapoor, Indian film writer and director.
MG Parameswaran
Goafest 2013 Knowledge Seminars Chairman M G Parameswaran said, “We have lined up a great list of speakers this year and this third set is possibly a bit different from the other names announced. We have Graham coming from China, the hottest consumer market in the world today. We also have two speakers from very different domain, and you can’t get any more different than this. Swamiji was the only speaker at AdAsia 2011 to get a standing ovation. I am sure he will bring a lot of new thought to the seminars. And who said ad awards cannot get a bit of stardust. Abhishek who delivered a super hit last month is sure to deliver a super hit talk in Goa!”
Nakul Chopra
Goafest 2013 Chairman Nakul Chopra said, “This stellar line up of speakers is among the very best that Goafest has ever had. The added diversity that speakers like Swamiji and Abhishek bring will be a unique and welcome addition to this year’s Knowledge Seminars. We look forward to great sessions with each one of these reputed speakers.”
NDTV Profit is getting ready to confer business czars with the Business Leadership Awards on April 8, 2013, presented by Supertech.
Instituted in 2006, the NDTV Profit Business Leadership Awards have successfully established themselves as the premier platform to recognise individuals and establishments who have achieved notable entrepreneurial success in the country. The 7th edition will salute business pioneers whose inexorable pursuit of excellence has fuelled India’s journey to the forefront of the world economy. The Award ceremony will be attended by the creme de la creme of the corporate world with the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, as Chief Guest.
Vikram Chandra
Announcing the 7th edition of the awards, Vikram Chandra, Group CEO, NDTV said, “In the past couple of years, India has emerged as one of the fastest growing economies in the world. One of the backbones of this achievement is Corporate India and with these awards we aim to recognize their contribution to the country and honour the most resilient and the strongest business leaders of this year.”
Leading names from industry and the business world comprised the jury for this year’s NDTV Profit Business Leadership Awards 2012 Â including Ms. Shanti Ekambaram, President, Corporate & Investment Banking, Kotak Mahindra Bank; Mr. T N Ninan, Editor & Publisher, Business Standard; Mr. Dorab R Sopariwal, Editorial Advisor, NDTV; Ms Naina Lal Kidwai, Group General Manager & Country Head, HSBC India; Ms Kalpana Morparia, CEO, J P Morgan India; Dr Tarun Das, Former Chief Mentor, CII, Dr. Prannoy Roy, Executive Co-Chairperson, New Delhi Television Ltd; and Mr Aunindyo Chakravarty, Senior Managing Editor, NDTV Profit.
The categories to receive awards are Automobile (Four Wheelers and Two Wheelers), Aviation, Banking (Public and Private), Consumer Durables, Consumer Product Goods, Engineering, Hospitality, Infrastructure and Insurance Life, Corporate Social Responsibility and Inclusion and Diversity.
Some earlier recipients of the NDTV Profit ‘Business Leadership Awards’ who have been honoured for their entrepreneurial excellence include Mukesh Ambani, Uday Kotak, Anand Mahindra, Sunil Bharti Mittal, AM Naik, Kumar Mangalam Birla, N Chandrasekaran, Pawan Munjal, Vikram Pandit, NR Narayana Murthy and Deepak Parekh.
At Goafest 2013, Discovery Kids announced the launch of major animated series Transformers Prime, which will air on Discovery Kids every day at 3pm and 6pm, starting May 6.
Transformers Prime will feature arch rivals Autobots and Decepticons as they face-off in their epic rivalry for the control of Earth. Autobots transform themselves into any form of machinery, team up with their human friends and embark on an adventure to save the Earth from the evil Decepticons, who are hell bent on robbing the planet of its resources. Transformers Prime will present iconic characters that include Autobots Optimus Prime and Bumblebee, and the ominous Decepticon Megatron, as well as introducing new human characters.
Rahul Johri
Rahul Johri, Senior Vice President & General Manager – South Asia, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, said, “Transformers Prime is a globally popular franchise that has garnered millions of fans in India. The series with its cutting-edge animation will deliver an exciting and engaging experience for our young viewers.”
Times Internet (TIL), the digital arm of the Times of India Group, has entered into a strategic partnership with America’s business news site to launch Business Insider India. The partnership will combine Business Insider’s news with editorial expertise of TIL and deliver global and localized content for the Indian audience.
Times Internet will be Business Insider’s exclusive partner in India for content development, events, monetization, and syndication. The unique alliance will help TIL give Indian users an access to international news covering a wide range of subjects ranging from business trends & strategy, career skills, digital trends, industry reports, white papers, advertising and much more. TIL intends to use The Times Group’s multimedia resources to help develop and evangelize the brand locally.
Satyan Gajwani, CEO, Times Internet, said, “Business Insider is one of the most successful digital-first news organizations in the world, with a pioneering combination of original reporting, aggregation, and dynamic social engagement tools. Their bold and direct editorial perspective grips readers, and already today attracts a strong loyal following within India. We can’t wait to expose them to a larger audience and increase their relevance and prominence in India.”
Henry Blodget, Founder & Editor-in-Chief of Business Insider, said, “We have many loyal readers in India, so making it the site of the latest international version of Business Insider makes a lot of sense for us. We’re thrilled to be partnering with Times Internet – which has such a storied history, and breadth of editorial resources and acumen – and we look forward to working with them to engage readers in India with a Business Insider that’s more tailored to them.”
Times Local Partners (TLP) is a recent initiative by Times Internet to partner with global digital companies to launch, build and grow in India. Two months ago, TLP announced a partnership with Gawker Media to bring Gizmodo and Lifehacker to India. TLP intends to launch local versions of these sites in April 2013, with a similar hybrid model of local and global content, curated and tailored for the Indian market, which will leverage Times Internet’s position.
After its successful foray with an Australian version earlier this month, the Indian version will further help Business Insider expand its presence in the Asian sub continent. The site already has a wide user base and fetches a good traction in the country.
Coca-Cola continues to urge people to spread happiness through its latest summer campaign, ‘Bewajah Khushiyan Lutao, Coca-Cola Pilao’.
To ensure that the message percolates down to the target audience, Coca-Cola has roped in the sweethearts of the nation and popular youth icons from ‘Student of The Year’, Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan and Siddharth Malhotra.
The TVC highlights everyday situations where one can spread happinessjust by undertaking simple gestures. Moments of happiness experienced by the giver and receiver are the highlight of the ad.
Commenting on the campaign, Prasoon Joshi, CEO and Chief Creative Officer, McCann World Group India says, “Take one of the world’s most loved brands and team it with the young and vibrant stars of Bollywood, along with some peppy, foot-tapping music. That’s how we made the latest Coca-Cola campaign. The whole idea of the campaign was to take the “Crazy for Happiness” theme to the individual level, with a call to action. The emotions of togetherness and celebration, energized by a bottle of Coca-Cola, are very real and identifiable, and we are sure that everyone will connect to this.”
What’s more a Coca-Cola 200 ml glass bottle will be available at an invitational price of Rs 8 for 200 ml, allowing everyone to share a Coca-Cola.
Speaking about the campaign, Anupama Ahluwalia, Vice President, Marketing, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia, says, “Brand Coca-Cola has been at the forefront in making a cultural point of view that encourages optimism and positivity in our everyday lives. This summer, the ‘Bewajah KhushiyanLutao, Coca-Cola Pilao’ campaign inspires everyone to spread and share happiness without any reason, through little gestures like sharing an ice cold bottle of Coca-Cola. We hope that the new Coca-Cola Campaign serves as the thought starter, the trigger which encourages people to undertake simple acts of kindness towards others.”
The campaign has been scripted by Prasoon Joshi and his creative team at McCann Erickson. The film has been directed by Sainath of Purple Vishnu Films with music by Amit Trivedi. In addition to leveraging mass media advertising, the integrated communication plan includes roll-out of an array of touch points including out-of-home (OOH) media, digital, point of sale merchandise and on-ground initiatives across all key markets.
ETV Kannada’s Bigg Boss that has Kiccha Sudeep as host has opened with a 6.3 TVR on the eviction day over the weekend. It has maintained an average TVR of 4.4 for the week. With Bigg Boss, ETV Kannada has strengthened its position this week by witnessing a 46% growth and touched 279 GRPs, the highest the channel has touched in the last three years.
Talking about this development, ETV Kannada Programming Head – Parameshwar Gundkal said, “Pitching a show such as Bigg Boss in the competitive 8pm prime time slot against other big format shows was a risk, but we are very happy that the risk has paid off very well. Bigg Boss as a format encapsulates entertainment as it is the perfect blend of emotions, drama and unscripted reality. Sudeep has a strong fan following and has brought in a lot of mass appeal and energy to the show keeping the audience enthralled. With a spectacular opening for the show, we hope to keep the graph growing as the season unfolds.”
Commenting on the TRPs, the host of the show, Southern superstar Sudeep said, “I do not give much importance to the TRPs but I am thrilled by the response that the show has garnered. Most important and encouraging is the fact that we have been able to connect with our audience and keep them captivated”
Deepak Dhar
Deepak Dhar, Managing Director, Endemol India further elaborated saying, “Bigg Boss is one of our most successful shows that has been appreciated globally. The response we have received from the Kannada audiences with our first foray into the regional space is very encouraging. We hope to continue having our audience hooked for the rest of the season as well”.
Produced by Endemol India Private Limited, Bigg Boss Kannada has 14 celebs like Arun Sharma, Narendra Babu Sharma, Chandrika etc who will be locked in a house… just like Bigg Boss in Hindi on Colors.
The 6th edition of the Mint Luxury Conference brought together the stalwarts of the international luxury market to deliberate on the future of luxury in India. In view of the growing importance of the country in the global luxury industry, Mint, the business daily from the house of HT Media, initiated the conference to bring together stakeholders on a common platform to discuss the business of luxury. The theme of the conference was ‘Luxury in India: The Next Decade’.
The two-day conference took a hard look at the new world order of all things luxurious. The panelists debated, ideated and proffered solutions for the fast growing luxury market in Asia.
Fulvia Visconti Ferragamo, Vice President, Salvatore Ferragamo, shared her definitions of luxury. She said, “Luxury helps us feel special in every moment of our lives and helps us dream. High quality is the essential element of luxury products. High quality is the result of creativity, colours, shapes, craftsmanship and attention to detail.”
All luxury brands have made their way to India and luxury is finding a new home in Tier II cities. According to a recent AT Kearney Luxury in India Report, luxury products have grown the fastest at 29% to reach a size of $2.05 billion, well above expectations of 23%. Jewelry, electronics, cars and fine dining have grown exponentially, while apparel, accessories, wines and spirits have continued their strong growth.
Joydeep Bhattacharya, head of consumer products and retail practice for India at Bain and Co. spoke about the luxury retail environment in India – “At a minimum, there’s got to be a more favourable regulatory environment than one that is there right now. Secondly, there has to be far more availability of the right kind of infrastructure, but that’s more like a necessary and not a sufficient condition. What’s going to help realize the potential of the market is making sure the right luxury brands make the appropriate investments in retail, in awareness, in brand-building in order to generate demand.”
Sanjay Kapoor, CEO, Genesis Luxury, part of a panel debating the topic ‘The Luxury Market in India is Set to Explode’, expressed his views on FDI in multi-brand retail recently approved by Parliament. He said, “It is a positive development. It doesn’t really worry us whether a brand of ours will go single. It is good for the economy and the market. It is important for brands to do well in India. There has been so much negative PR around India and that needs to change.”
After much success for the first leg for Ambuja BIG Panja League, Reliance Broadcast Network’s 92.7 BIG FM has teamed up with Ambuja Cements to extend the successful arm-wrestling championship to the entire Punjab region. The property is an extension of the radio station’s involvement in regional sports entertainment properties across Tier II and Tier III towns in the country.
Kicking off this month, Ambuja BIG Panja League will witness on-ground activities and auditions being conducted across 30 towns across the Malwa and Doaba regions of Punjab including larger cities like Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala and Bhatinda. The end of this two-month initiative will witness the crowning of the ‘Panja Champion’ of Punjab. The finale on-ground event will be aired on Spark Punjabi.
According to Rajneesh Verma of Ambuja Cement, “strength and Punjab are inseparable”. “Passion and spirit make Punjab very special. For Ambuja too, strength is second nature – strong cement builds strong homes. Strong people build strong organizations. Ambuja is built on these beliefs. Ambuja, thus, identifies with the spirit of Punjab – its faith in its own abilities and its faith in its own traditions. Ambuja BIG Panja League is an opportunity for people of Punjab to participate, show their panja power and celebrate this festival of strength,” he said.
Said Vineet Mittal, Business Head – BIG Rural, “We are looking forward to creating and sustaining the sports entertainment genre while presenting offerings that appeal to audiences across Tier II and Tier III towns.”
Operation Smile India has teamed up with Ogilvy India and the Rajasthan Royals, to launch a very simple, yet revolutionary online campaign, using the power of social media to drive social change. Â The campaign is – Tweet : #CleftToSmile, and it aims to create awareness around cleft deformity and available medical solutions, propel cognizance of the issue and generate funds for surgery and treatment of cleft patients across India.
Through the logo and the campaign that Ogilvy has developed, people will now have an easy way to express support for the cause, a logo for the cause and symbol of what Operation Smile does every day. The goal is to reach 1 million tweets by April 30 in the weeks around World Health Day, a time when corporations, foundations and policy-makers are listening hard.
Piyush Pandey
Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman and Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather South Asia said, “A smile is the most beautiful thing on a human being’s face. It is unfortunate at times that some children are deprived of it for no fault of theirs. It is our endeavour to make as many smiles come back to make the world a beautiful place. At O&M we are committed to do everything that we can to help Operation Smile India make a difference. Keep smiling!”
To support this cause and help the NGO achieve the target of 1 million tweets, one simply tweets {to:} #CleftoSmile. A live counter at www.CleftToSmile.com will be keeping track and give updates on the progress of the campaign. Besides Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other platforms will also be utilized by sharing the campaign video.
Ranjit Barthakur, Chairman, Operation Smile India said, “One in 700 children in India is born with cleft deformity every day. While the world is battling with ailments such as AIDS and cancer, cleft deformity is among the most serious birth defects in the world. Lack of awareness has resulted in many children being deprived of a dignified life. Operation Smile India has achieved significant success in states like Karnataka, Gujarat, Assam and is launching a new Comprehensive Cleft Care Center in Jaipur in partnership with the Shri Santokba Durlabhji Memorial Hospital and the Rajasthan Royals by the end of this month…. but with over 1 million still untreated due to lack of resources, we need all the support we can get. We are looking forward to receiving significant support for this campaign and hoping to move a step closer to our goal of ‘Cleft-free’ India.”
Raghu Iyer, CEO of Rajasthan Royals, said, “We are truly honoured and humbled to be associated with Operation Smile and the #CleftToSmile initiative . As part of this association with Operation Smile and Shri Santokba Durlabhji Memorial Hospital, we are setting up a cleft-care center for surgery and post-operative care.”
Shilpa Shetty, co-owner of Rajasthan Royals, said, “The work being done by Operation Smile is truly path-breaking. As a mother I can say that there is nothing more priceless than your child’s smile. We, at Rajasthan Royals, are indeed privileged to have joined hands with Operation Smile to help bring smiles to millions of children. #CleftToSmile is a wonderful initiative and truly demonstrates the power of the digital medium.”
Globally, celebrities like Mariah Carey, Jessica Simpson, Eric Winter and Victoria Jackson are brand ambassadors of Operation Smile.
Coca-Cola continues to urge people to spread happiness through its latest summer campaign, ‘Bewajah Khushiyan Lutao, Coca-Cola Pilao’.
