MxMIndia

Category: NEWS

  • Awards were also presented in the marketing and merchandising category at the premier awards in horology in India

    Chitralekha group’s Watch World awards timekeeping excellence

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Chitralekha group’s Watch World magazine hosted the fourth edition of the Watch World Awards at the Westin Hotel in Gurgaon last week.

     

    The marquee event of the horology echelon brought niche’ watch brands and watch-makers together amidst celebrities. Moderated by Chitralekha’s President and Publisher Mitrajit Bhattacharya, now an expert horologist himself, the jury comprised master watchmaker Antoine Simonin; along with Priyadarshini Rao, Ravi Shastri, Neeraj Pandey, Shripad Nadkarni and Sharda Agarwal. The jury awarded leading watches across eleven categories in the Product Awards section and six categories in the Marketing & Merchandising Awards category.

     

    The event saw attendance by well-known timekeeping brands like Cartier, Bulgari, Zenith, Hublot, Graham, Ulysee Nardin, Breitling, Corum, Parmigiani, Seiko, Swarovski, Titan, Antonio Bernini, and Rotary amongothers.

     

    Commenting on the occasion, Mr Bhattacharya said, “We are elated at the success of the fourth edition and this success reiterates the growing popularity and acceptance of the property. By bringing together iconic brands from the world of horology we endeavour to celebrate the institution of technological innovativeness and bespoke workmanship of our master creators”.

     

    Late Rolf W Schnyder, CEO of Ulysse Nardin, was posthumously honoured with a special award for his contribution to the watch industry. His wife and President of the Board of Ulysse Nardin, Chai Schnyder accepted the award on his behalf.

     

    Jury member Antoine Simonin commented “Watch World Awards is steadily becoming one amongst the most respected and followed awards in the field of horology across the world. Being associated with the awards for the fourth time in a row is a great honour for me and I am privileged to be one amongst the esteemed jury panel. I have seen a greater awareness being generated amongst the audience through the awards and looking at the quality of nominations this year, I am quite sure that this will augur well for the horology eco-sphere of the country.”

     

    While the Product category saw stiff competition; the Marketing category saw Seiko and Kolkata Knight Riders bagging the ‘Best Marketing Campaign in Print’ award with Tagged by TITAN picking up the award for ‘Best Marketing Campaign on Television’. While ‘The Best Marketing Campaign in Outdoor’ was won by Ulysee Nardin for its initiative at Hyderabad Airport, Hublot Avenues-Prestige, Kuwait picked the ‘Best Boutique’ award, Seiko and Kolkata Knight Riders were awarded the ‘Best Organised Event” award and Tagged by TITAN was adjudicated as the ‘Best Integrated Marketing Campaign’.

     

  • The Free Press Journal group conducted a 'Spell Bee' championship for school students in Indore

    Free Press Journal conducts Spell Champ in Indore

    By A Correspondent

     

    Spell Bee champions elsewhere in the world, watch out! Kartikeya Dhakad, a student of Sri Satya Sai Vidya Vihar in Indore, showed the same grit and determination that international winners showed when he became the “Spell Champ” at a competition organized by The Free Press Journal to search for students with outstanding spelling skills in schools across the city on Thursday, October 3.

     

    The competition held at the Dhirubhai Ambani Auditorium of Daly College was tough as Kartikeya lifted the winner’s trophy and took home a laptop after wowing everyone with his splendid ability to spell out words quicker than his fellow contestants. Dev Seth of Emerald Heights International School and Isha Bhorkar of Choithram School were first runners-up while Amogh Kawathekar of Daly College won the third place.

     

    Abhishek Karnani

    As many as 61 contestants from 20 schools participated in the event that was sponsored by Amul Pro. The grand finale began with lighting of the traditional lamp by Abhishek Karnani, director, Free Press Group of Newspapers, director incharge Pravin Nagar, Group Brand Consultant Debu Mishra and General Manager (marketing) Shailesh Tiwari.

     

  • Live Viacom18 will produce the popular kids' choice awards to India

    Nickelodeon brings Kids’ Choice Awards to India

    By A Correspondent

     

    Live Viacom 18 is bringing the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards to India next month. Billed as the only live awards show of the kids, by the kids and for the kids where kids get to vote across categories for their favourites who will get declared the winners!

     

    The Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards has been in existence for over 25 years and is aired in over 33 countries.

     

    Nina Elavia Jaipuria

    Said Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Executive Vice President & Business Head, Kids’ Cluster, Viacom 18 Media, “At Nickelodeon, we put kids at the core of all that we do. We believe in empowering kids and giving them the opportunity to make their own choices. With Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards now in India, we are giving them a platform where they can voice their choices. We will be their true mouthpiece in every sense of the word!”

     

    Jaideep Singh, Senior Vice President and Business Head – INS, Viacom18 added: “There is an impressive line-up of celebrity performances and anchors for Nickelodeon’s first ever Kids’ Choice Awards.

     

    Live Viacom18 is a sub-division of Viacom18’s Integrated Network Solutions and is mandated to create live properties in music and entertainment space for all the brands of network.

     

  • Leading brands like Samsung, Peter England, Woodland register a 30 percent jump in festive season sales

    Slowdown? Top brands report 30% jump in festive sales

    By Writankar Mukherjee & Sagar Malviya

     

    The festive season sales have started off well in most of the country with marketers reporting up to 30% jump in year-on-year sales as consumers swarmed malls and markets in the first weekend after the Shraadh fortnight.

     

    Top retailers and brands such as Samsung, Peter England, Woodland, Van Heusen, Indigo Nation, Biba and Scullers attributed the positive start to festive sales to pent-up demand, 10% hike in dearness allowance for more than 80 lakh central government employees and pensioners, and the payout of festival bonus. “The festive season has started off in good spirit,” Harkirat Singh, managing director at shoes and apparel retailer Woodland, said. “There has been a modest 30% jump in sales, with consumers buying for themselves and gifting,” he said.

     

    Consumer electronics and durable-makers like Samsung and LG said that while sales in the east has picked up in the weekend before Durga Puja, in places such as Delhi and Mumbai, consumer enquiries, sales bookings and purchases of large-screen televisions and large home appliances such as side-by-side refrigerators and fully automatic washing machines have increased. Atul Jain, senior vice-president for consumer electronics at Samsung India, said the demand increased by up to 30% last weekend over the previous four days. “This gives us huge confidence as we enter the festival season,” he said. Samsung is targeting a 50% jump in sales in east and 40% rise in national festive sales to around Rs 3,500 crore.

     

    The festive spirit was most palpable in Kolkata where malls were choc-a-bloc this weekend and there were long queues in front of popular stores such as Sreeleathers and Baazar Kolkata on Sunday evening.

     

    Some like Sreeleathers kept their store open from 6 am till 10 pm. SB Dey, partner at the leather products retailer, said that despite extending operational hours, huge rush created long queues outside all his stores. At Great Eastern, the largest durable retailer in the east, sales started picking up from the last week despite heavy rains, its director Pulkit Baid said, adding that sales are up 15-20% over last year. The pick-up in consumer demand has come as a relief for retailers after lukewarm sales during Onam, Kerala’s biggest festival, last month.

     

    Future Group-owned apparel maker Indus League, which owns and sells brands like Indigo Nation, Scullers and Jealous Jeans, said it had to rush in fresh stocks to several outlets across several cities including New Delhi and Mumbai.

     

    “We did not anticipate such a huge demand since Onam sales were comparatively dull this year,” Indus League CEO Rachna Aggarwal said.

     

    Women’s ethnic fashion brand Biba said its sales have grown 35-40% so far this season, almost double the pace of its expectation. “During this season, we usually see a lot of traction in heavy clothing sets which cost around Rs 8,000. But this year, consumers are not shying away from buying garments priced up to Rs 20,000,” Siddharth Bindra, managing director at Biba, said.

     

    Men’s apparel brands Van Heusen and Peter England said their sales are growing 40% and up to 25%, respectively, in the east. “However, sales growth is yet to touch what it was in 2011,” Kedar Apshankar, chief operating officer at Peter England, said.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

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

    Licensed to republish

     

  • NewsX has partnered with Aidem to recalibrate pricing with improved performance

    NewsX appoints Aidem for adsales

    By A Correspondent

     

    English news channel NewsX has awarded its advertising sales duties to Aidem Ventures. It may be recalled that one of the early mandates of Aidem was to look at adsales for NDTV’s news and lifestyle channels.

     

    Part of ITV Network, NewsX now claims leadership on the basis of 21-week combined GVTs

     

    “Post digitization in 38 cities, NewsX has augmented its viewership by 260%. This performance has been consistently growing since the markets have gone digital. NewsX didn’t want to tread up any existing pathways in terms of style and news delivery and wanted a completely independent identity. This strategy has paid off” said Vikas Khanchandani, Director, Aidem Ventures while discussing the new business win.

     

    “This association reflects our vision to pursue NewsX’s successful positioning as a strong, robust media platform among Indian advertisers and agencies. Aidem has been managing adsales for some of the biggest news brands from India and abroad. We are very optimistic about their sales infrastructure and their professional management team working in favor of our plan for NewsX,” added RK Arora, CEO, ITV Network on the appointment.

     

  • The tyre major recently set-up a Global Marketing Office in London, which is responsible for global product strategy, marketing communications and product mix management

    Apollo Tyres appoints Brooklyn Brothers as global creative agency

    By A Correspondent

     

    Apollo Tyres, a leading tyre major, has announced the appointment of The Brooklyn Brothers as its global creative agency. The agency’s London office will service the account, which it won after a multi-agency pitch process. The new creative partners would be tasked to help build the global Apollo brand using the print, electronic and digital mediums. Publicis Capital continues to be Apollo Tyres’ creative agency in India currently, Rohit Sharan, who heads Corporate Brand and Relations clarified.

     

    The Brooklyn Brothers will also work on the recently announced three-year partnership deal with Manchester United Football Club (MUFC). Commenting on this association with The Brooklyn Brothers, Marco Paracciani, Chief Marketing Officer, Apollo Tyres Ltd said “At Apollo, we were looking at having an agency on board who not only understands the automotive business, but is also in a position to work closely with us on this new phase of growth for Apollo Tyres. Their unique methodology — ‘Invite, Activate, Amplify’ — along with their community-focused approach on our association with Manchester United Football Club, led to their selection over others.”

     

    Apollo Tyres has recently set-up a Global Marketing Office in London, which is responsible for global product strategy, marketing communications and product mix management.

     

    On winning the Apollo Tyres account, George Bryant, Planning Partner, The Brooklyn Brothers commented, “Apollo Tyres is a highly ambitious company which continues to set new benchmarks in this dynamic global industry. Together, we share a great passion for football and the value of ‘people power’ and we’re really looking forward to working with Apollo Tyres and help them reach out to Manchester United’s 46 million followers in the UK and India. ”

     

  • After parting ways with Percept's Sunburn, Nikhil Chinapa has allied with Live Viacom 18 to bring to Goa in December a five-day electronic dance music festival

    Nikhil Chinapa to now burn sun with Live Viacom18, fest in Goa to outwit Percept offering

    By A Correspondent

     

    It promises to be a real-life Mahabharat. After parting ways Percept’s Sunburn IP, DJ-VJ-music impresario Nikhil Chinapa has teamed with Live Viacom18, the Viacom18 division for live events, to produce a five-day music festival. And no guesses for when and where it will happen? Goa, in December 2013!

     

    Note: Viacom 18 has MTV and Vh1, two music properties which the fest will leverage much. A communique from Live Viacom 18 doesn’t leave anything to one’s imagination on the relationship between Mr Chinapa and Percept. “The aim of the festival is to restore the spirit of community and passion for music that’s been missing from some electronic music festivals held in India recently….This will be a festival for the true dance music fan, for whom music is a way of life… and life itself unthinkable without the music they love. Putting it simply, this will be quality over quantity.”

     

    EDM festival regulars and people in the industry tell us that while the venture will help grow this industry segment, the going will be challenging initially for the venture given that Sunburn has already got a reasonable equity and work on its Goa fest has started already. In fact, the second phase of ticket sales has just begun.

     

    Clearly, the war of the music fests will now be waged in Goa in December. EDM-lovers aren’t really complaining.

     

  • Times Internet Limited inks partnership with Ziff Davis to launch IGN and Askmen in India

    Times Internet partners Ziff Davis to bring IGN & Askmen to India

    By A Correspondent

     

    When it’s not hiring whizkids to its fold, it’s striking deals with media hotties to bring them to India.

     

    Times Internet Limited (TIL) has now entered into a strategic partnership with Ziff Davis, Inc. – the leading all-digital media company specializing in the technology, games and men’s lifestyle markets with over 120 million in-market buyers every month. Thanks to this alliance, Times Internet will manage and drive local Indian destinations for IGN (IGN.com) and AskMen (AskMen.com), the premium gaming and men’s lifestyle sites.

     

    As part of the collaboration, Times Internet will have exclusive rights to the IGN and AskMen brands and their content in India.

     

    While IGN is dedicated to video games and pop culture – including comics, film and TV, AskMen carries men’s lifestyle content on the web since launching in 1999.

     

    The partnership grows the list of brands under the Times Local Partners (TLP) group – which is an initiative by Times Internet to partner with global digital companies. IGN and Askmen join the fledgling TLP portfolio, which has already rolled out the Indian editions of Gizmodo, Lifehacker and Business Insider.

     

    Satyan Gajwani

    Said Satyan Gajwani, CEO, Times Internet: “We are really excited about this partnership and the arrival of Ziff Davis’ respected brands coming to India. The IGN name is incredibly respected, and this brings us the opportunity to create premium editorial and video content for the Indian gaming community. AskMen will augment our leadership in men’s lifestyle content offering and deliver the best to our users and advertisers in the coveted male 18-34 demographic.”

     

    Vivek Shah, CEO, Ziff Davis, added: “We’re delighted to be partnering with India’s leading media group to bring localized editions of our brands to this vibrant market for the first-time. The media landscape is evolving rapidly, and millions of Indian males 18-40 will benefit from AskMen and IGN’s globally respected advice.”

     

  • Superstar Shah Rukh Khan, others to write column in 'After Hrs'

    dna kicks off campaign to promote celeb columns

    By A Correspondent

     

    To coincide with a power list of celebrity columnists that the After Hrs section of dna will carry from Monday, October 14, a 360-degree marketing campaign with the theme – “Meet Our New Joinees” has been initiated print, television, digital and out of home media.

     

    Other than Shah Rukh Khan, the list of columnists include: Twinkle Khanna, Suhel Seth, Sandeep Khosla, Superna Motwane, Ashiesh Shah, Kinita Kadakia Patel and satirist Khamba.

     

  • And this is how the front pages of some leading dailies tracked the Sachin story…

    You know it, don’t you. MxMIndia enjoys doing this on all the Big Occasions… tracking the front pages of the major dailies for their coverage of the Big, Big Story. And this is how they did it for Sachin today. The question is: if this is how they covered it today, how will they do it on November 19, the day after the fifth day of the 200th Test match that he is scheduled to play? Keep thinking, and we’ll bring you a scan yet again then… – Editor

     

     

     

    The Times Of India
    Hindustan Times

    The Hindu
    The Economic Times
    Dainik Jagran
    Dainik Bhaskar
    DNA
    Mid-Day
    Mumbai Mirror
    Lokmat
    Inquilab
    Mathrubhumi
    Saamana
    Navbharat Times
    The Free Press
    Mail Today
    Afternoon
    The Indian Express

     

  • Amar Ujala founder Rajul Maheshwari has reportedly bought Ashok Agarwal and family's 14 per cent stake for Rs 150 crore

    Sold! Ashok Agarwal & fly’s 14% stake in Amar Ujala to founder Rajul Maheshwari for Rs 150cr

    By Arun Kumar

     

    Amar Ujala Publications founder Rajul Maheshwari along with his family will purchase the 14 per cent stake of the Ashok Agarwal and family for Rs 150 crore, two persons familiar with the development said, a move that will consolidate ownership in one family.

     

    The company publishes Hindi daily Amar Ujala in northern India.

     

    The deal, for which an agreement was signed recently, will be funded through internal accruals and personal debt by the promoters, one of the two persons said. Mr Maheshwari may sell shares back to the company in a buyback offer later to repay debt.

     

    The agreement is part of the settlement with the Ashok Agarwal and family, which had filed a complaint against its partner at the Company Law Board (CLB), alleging operational mismanagement. Rajul Maheshwari declined to comment.

     

    After purchasing the stake, the Maheshwaris are planning to reduce the company’s capital. “To reduce the paid up capital, the company will buy back its shares from its shareholders, which may either be extinguished or kept as treasury stocks that can be issued to the new set of investors in future,” said one of the persons cited above.

     

    In the open offer these group companies will have the option of selling the shares and generating cash. “All the parties with respect to the memorandum of understanding are present in court and they confirm that they have voluntarily entered into the settlement and the terms of the same are binding on them. The parties shall abide by the term of the MoU,” the October 8 CLB order said. “The company (Amar Ujala) shall have the liberty to approach the CLB in term of the prayer of the present application for seeking appropriate orders under Section 402 of the Act for consequent reduction in the share capital, in the event the company buys back the shares of the petitioners (Ashok Agarwal and family) under the MoU,” said the order.

     

    Last year, the Maheshwari group acquired American PE fund DE Shaw’s 18 per cent stake for about Rs 140 crore. DE Shaw was locked in a bitter battle with the promoters when it decided to divest its stake as part of its ‘exit right’ after the publisher failed to list within four years of its investment under an agreement. It asked the Indian promoters for a 25 per cent return on its investment, which was contested in the court.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

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

    Licensed to republish

     

     

  • TBWA\India pull in Xavi Bech de Careda from DDB Mudra as Chief Strategy Officer

    TBWA\India names Xavi Bech de Careda Chief Strategy Officer

    By A Correspondent

     

    TBWA\ India has announced the appointment of Xavi Bech de Careda as Chief Strategy Officer. In his new position, Mr Bech de Careda will work alongside the management team at TBWA overseeing the entire strategic planning function of the agency.

     

    Mr Bech de Careda, a Catalan national from Barcelona, Spain, previously worked with DDB Mudra, Delhi where he was Head of Planning.

     

    Shiv Sethuraman

    Commenting on his appointment, Shiv Sethuraman, Chief Executive Officer of TBWA\India said, “Xavi is passionate, articulate, ambitious and multi-talented. We wanted to step out of the box with this hire and find someone who wasn’t necessarily schooled in the Indian planning system. He has been, among other things, an Assistant Film Director and a Food Technology Researcher. He has also worked across many markets internationally. I am hopeful he will bring this wide and wonderful ‘education’ and his Indian experience to help create a beautiful story for TBWA.”

     

    Mr Bech de Careda began his career in the UK as a Food Technology Researcher at Unilever and since worked across Europe in various capacities, most notably with Rapp Collins and DDB on brands such as Audi, Fujitsu and Volkswagen. He has also taught extensively at business and design schools in his native Barcelona.

     

    “It’s a great opportunity for me to join this dynamic team,” Mr Bech de Careda added. “TBWA\India is very well positioned for a new chapter in its story; it has the right talent, passion and human approach to make a difference in India and I’m really looking forward to collaborating with the team and disrupting conventions in this complex market. I’m absolutely thrilled to be a part of it.”