MxMIndia

Category: NEWS

  • It's not just big brands which have been spending money on television, small online retailers are spending humongous marketing dollars on extremely expensive TV advertising

    Return of dotcom boom, small e-com cos spend big on TV advtg

    By Shambhavi Anand

     

    The dotcom boom seems to be back, at least for television advertising. And it is not only the big and known names spending money on the most popular and preferred mass medium but also the small online retailers are spending humongous marketing dollars on extremely expensive television advertising.

     

    Fabfurnish, an online furniture retailer, which is less than two years old, is about to kickstart its first television campaign in January 2014. Backed by German e-commerce incubator-cum-investor Rocket Internet, the company has put in half a million Euros into this campaign. However, the company did not disclose the size of the fund it has raised.

     

    “Online home decor market is in a nascent stage. We need to create awareness about the category as well as build brand for ourselves,” Vaibhav Aggarwal, CEO and co-founder, Fabfurnish.com said. The campaign is planned for four weeks in January and will be supported by simultaneous digital initiative also.

     

    TV advertising forms a significant part of media mix for Lenskart.com, the online portals which sells eyewear is backed by venture capitalists. “We spend approximately Rs 10 crore annually on mass media advertising which is mainly done for brand building and gaining trust of the consumers. TV allows us to educate and create much needed awareness for the brand resulting in traffic and building trust,” Peyush Bansal, CEO and founder, Lenskart.com said.

     

    While the prospects for e-commerce companies cannot be doubted, does advertising on television lead to increased sales? Most e-commerce companies claim that the traffic of their portal increases and so does awareness and trust but most of them do not have numbers to back their claims.

     

    GreenDust, an online portal, which sells branded factory seconds products (electronics) that are repaired and refurbished that comes with a warranty spends heavily on advertising in the mass media including radio and TV.

     

    Its founder and CEO, Hitendra Chaturvedi, said, “TV advertising has helped us in reaching to mass audience and building trust for the brand. This in turn has improved the brand recall and we witnessed 100% increase in number of prospective customer’s queries in the month we released our first advertisement itself.”

     

    He added, “TV ads have helped to break the clutter and to reach across all target audience which has been achieved by targeting different channels covering all the genres and different languages.”

     

    According to estimates of Madison Media, the advertising spend of online portals have gone up in the last two years. The ad spends of online portals in the April to July quarter of 2013 was 1.2% as compared to 0.8% in the same quarter of 2011.

     

    The Indian ecommerce market is going through a huge surge of growth. According to a 2012 CRISIL report, Indian online retail industry will grow from Rs 32 billion in 2012 to Rs 100 billion in 2015, a CAGR of 45%-48%. To add to the growth prospects of the industry, infrastructure such as internet connectivity is expected to grow exponentially in the country. Apart from laptops and desktops, mobile phones and tablets are becoming major growth drivers.

     

    The I-Cube 2013 report released by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB International said India has 200-million internet users as of October; the number will grow 40% year on year by December. The number of internet users in India is expected to rise 18.53% in the coming months to 243 million by June 2014.

     

    In spite of the huge potential, critics seem sceptical about the effectiveness of mass media advertising for e-commerce players, especially the beginners. They say there is hardly any data to establish the link between high traffic and increased sales conversion.

     

    “There has been a spurt in traditional advertisements by e-commerce sites and this is primarily because mass media such as television tends to bring more credibility. But the question is whether TV advertising brings in the expected return on investment (RoI),” said Gaurav Gupta, senior director, Deloitte in India.

     

    He, however, says mass media advertising might be done more for brand building and spreading awareness or for establishing credibility to get private equity rather than for increasing sales.

     

    Seema Gupta, faculty – marketing, IIM Bangalore, advises small ecommerce ventures to look towards marketing activities such as activation in malls or initiatives on the digital media, which can be done over a prolonged duration and, hence, prove to be more sustainable, rather than opt for expensive mass media advertising. “Below-the-line advertising can prove to be more sustainable as they can be done for a longer duration. It will also help in reaching out to the right target audience as compared to mass media advertising, which can burn money very quickly,” Ms Gupta said.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

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

    Licensed to republish

     

  • Star India's just-turned-two second GEC "takes a big leap" with the association with the 20th edition of the Screen Awards

    Life OK bags telecast and title rights for Screen awards

    By A Correspondent

     

    You’ve known it as the Star Screen Awards. More recently, it turned into Colors Screen Awards and starting 2014, Bollywood’s second-most prestigious film awards, the Screen Awards, now has a new home as a television event: Life OK.

     

    Rechristened the Life OK Screen Awards, the event will be held on January 14. Filmfare, we would say is the most sought after of the Bollywood awards with the government’s National Awards possibly as coveted but they are not just for the Hindi film industry alone. The Screen awards have been instituted by Screen, a weekly publication tracking the film business in the country. The 2014 edition will mark the completion of 20 years of celebrating excellence in films.

     

    Ajit Thakur

    Commenting on this development, Ajit Thakur, General Manager, Life OK, said: “We have turned two this month and have had a very good run in the last 12 months. It’s time for us to take the next big leap. The Screen Awards on Life OK is the first step in that direction.”

     

    George Varghese, CEO, the Indian Express Group, says, “The Screen Awards are known for their credible and unbiased approach towards celebrating excellence in Indian cinema, and are the most respected in the entertainment fraternity. For the 20th edition of the Screen Awards, we are proud to be associated with Life OK, and are committed to making it bigger and better than before.”

     

    The Life OK Screen awards will celebrate achievement and excellence in over 30 categories in Hindi and Marathi cinema.

     

  • Flipkart India retained the Pune-based strategic design firm to design it's private label fashion brand 'flippd'

    Flipkart gets Elephant Design to create identity for ‘flippd’

    By A Correspondent

     

    Flipkart India got strategic design company Elephant to design flippd, its recently launched lifestyle label.

     

    The designs aims to be vibrant and bold with a youthful attitude that is sure to appeal to the young, trendy online shopper.

     

    “Our lifestyle category, though fairly new, has been doing extremely well. We felt the time was right to extend our range of offerings in this space. The flippd brand is all about vivid colours and witty expressions on a wide choice of casual clothes and accessories. It’s aimed at the  young fashion conscious generation that thrives on trends.” said Ankit Nagori, VP – Retail, Flipkart India Pvt Ltd.

     

    Speaking about the visual identity, Ashwini Deshpande, Founder-Director Elephant said, “flippd visual identity is created with a doodle-happy hand to showcase a casual yet self-expressive language. Black is the basic colour of this visual language as it can stand out on any colour or surface. A young colour palette supports the identity with flexibility of applications. ”

     

  • Chef Shipra Khanna's Deliciously Christmas and a slew of other shows are highlights of the food-and-lifestyle channel's line-up for the yearend

    MasterChef 2 winner is new FoodFood host

    By A Correspondent

     

    Chef Shipra Khanna, the winner of Masterchef 2, India, has made rapid strides after her win. Other than opening a restaurant and authoring a cookery book, she is also food-and-lifestyle channel FoodFood’s chef and host. She has her debut this Christmas with from cookies to cakes and savories on the show Deliciously Christmas.

     

    There are other Christmassy highlights that the channel has on offer: Chef Shantanu, Madhu Sneha, Chef Saransh, Pooja Makhija and of course Master Chef Sanjeev Kapoor

     

    “The countdown to Christmas and New Year is well and truly on, and if you’re looking for inspiration, you’ll find it right here,” said SK Barua, who has recently joined to helm the channel.

     

  • With a roster that includes Fastrack, Axe and Red Bull, 22feet has been a target for acquisition for a while now

    22feet in talks with Omnicom Group for an acquisition deal

    By Shephali Bhatt

     

    22feet, a digital agency founded by Brijesh Jacob, Deepak Nair, Vineet Gupta and Vinod Moolacherry, is rumoured to be in talks with Omnicom Group (India) for an acquisition deal.

     

    Sources with knowledge of the discussions say TribalDDB, the digital unit of DDB Mudra Group, will be dismantled, and 22feet will become the Omnicom Group’s digital unit after the acquisition is complete. (Omnicom is the holding company that owns DDB Mudra.) Both Brijesh Jacob, founder of 22feet, and Madhukar Kamath, Group CEO & MD of DDB Mudra Communications, were unavailable for a comment at the time of filing this report.

     

    With a roster that includes Fastrack, Axe and Red Bull, 22feet has been a target for acquisition for a while now. This comes close on the heels of another similar development: the imminent acquisition of the Indian operations of Saatchi & Saatchi by independent agency Law & Kenneth.

     

    The common factor among both Tribal DDB and Saatchi & Saatchi is they are established global brands that have not been able to make too much of an impact in the Indian market.

     

    In a shift in trend, instead of acquiring key talent, holding companies like Publicis (which owns Saatchi & Saatchi) and Omnicom are considering handing the operations over to homegrown set-ups that have managed to make an impact. If both these deals come through, it is most likely to give a fillip to independent agencies across categories and specialisations.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

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

    Licensed to republish

     

  • After subdued sales over the last two months, buyers turn Santa for beleaguered retailers during Christmas 2013

    Santa Shoppers: Some retailers post higher sales than Diwali!

    By Writankar Mukherjee & Sagar Malviya

     

    Guess what Santa got retailers this Christmas? Double-digit sales growth and plenty of middle-class consumers in stores, making it the best-ever revenue season for several of them this calendar year. Sales are up from the Diwali period and even the year earlier, reflecting a newfound confidence among consumers.

     

    Retailers attributed this sudden surge in sales to several reasons – the return of middle-class consumers less worried about spending with vegetable prices cooling down, an improvement in consumer sentiment after assembly election results, a drop in temperatures in the north and east triggering sales of winter wear, and year-end festive spirits. Plus, banks have reduced interest rates on housing, consumer durables and personal loans in the last two months, adding to the seasonal bonhomie.

     

    This is reflected in footfalls at chains such as Spencer’s Retail, Woodland and The Mobile Store, which say sales in the past week have surpassed even the Diwali period in absolute revenue. Shoes and apparel maker Woodland said revenue in the week to Christmas was 30% up from what it was in Diwali, while it’s been 16% more at Spencer’s.

     

    Kishore Biyani

    “Consumer demand in most segments was crazy and shot up drastically in the last three days compared to subdued sales numbers during the last two months,” said Kishore Biyani, CEO of India’s largest retailer Future Group. “This year’s Christmas sales were high compared to last year, which were low due to the Nirbhaya impact. Yet, demand remains inconsistent.”

     

    Spencer’s Retail president and CEO Mohit Kampani said consumers are splurging on both fresh and processed food, staples, wine and beverages like never before.

     

    The high sales growth comes after a subdued festive season in October-November when most consumers shied away from heavy spending as rising food inflation and interest rates took a bite out of disposable income. Economic growth may be in the process of picking up, having risen 4.8% in the three months ended September compared with 4.4% in the quarter to June. Finance minister P Chidambaram last month pegged FY14 growth at 5% to 5.5%, which means a stronger second half may be under way. Growth last year hit a decade-low 5%.

     

    To be sure, it’s not clear if the year-end sales surge will translate into a sustained uptrend. “Sales fell into the negative territory post Diwali, but the last few days have been exceptional. The election results, too, seem to have boosted consumer sentiment,” said Mr Kampani. He said same-store sales at Spencer’s had jumped 20% nationally in the last 10 days compared to 7% to 8% during Diwali.

     

    At Future Group’s Food Bazaar chain, sales rose 30-40% in most categories on Christmas Day over last year. Sales of categories such as chocolates and biscuits grew 50% while soft drinks went up by 30%, more than double the usual growth. Devendra Chawla, chief executive at Food Bazaar, said while most retailers run offers and promotions only around Diwali and other festivals, it ran a special ‘best of the year’ offer during Christmas, which led to many consumers upsizing or upgrading, which, in turn, increased the ticket size.

     

    Middle-class consumers are back in the market, said Himanshu Chakrawarti, CEO of The Mobile Store, India’s largest cellphone retail chain. That has pushed up demand for mid-segment handsets in the Rs 6,000-15,000 range. “Be it Micromax or Samsung’s mid-range Galaxy series, the mid-segment handsets have triggered revenue, which is up by almost 30% over the same period last year. Without accounting for Dhanteras sales, revenue has been much higher now over the Diwali sales,” Mr Chakrawarti said.

     

    The colder weather in parts of India has also led to higher numbers. While seasonal demand kicked in a bit late this time, the last few days have seen strong growth for winter wear, said Shoppers Stop managing director Govind Shrikhande. Woodland MD Harkirat Singh said jacket sales usually pick up around Diwali, but this year, they didn’t due to the festival of lights coming early and the late onset of winter. “Hence, the full impact of winter wear sales is felt now and has pushed up average billing sizes over Diwali since jackets have higher ticket prices,” Mr Singh said.

     

    Even consumer durable and television sales have risen in the last few days. Sales have been buoyant in certain territories such as the south and the metros, which have boosted revenue in a year that the market was relatively weak, said Sanjeev Agarwal, sales head at India’s largest electronics company LG Electronics. “It’s like an unexpected, last-minute flip in sales for the industry,” he said.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

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

    Licensed to republish

     

  • Shailesh Kapoor on the gamechangers that stood out on the content side in Hindi general entertainment channels this year

    Top 5 Gamechangers on Hindi GECs in 2013

     

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    For the television industry, 2013 will be best remembered as the year of digitization. Similarly, we hope to remember 2014 as the year of a ratings system overhaul, with the industry shifting to the new system being developed by BARC. We are evidently in a period when technology and not content is emerging as the gamechanger.

     

    Yet, there were gamechangers that stood out on the content side in Hindi GECs too. Here’s a look at my list of Top 5 such shows. Established successful shows like Diya Aur Baati Hum, Saathiya and Balika Vadhu are not a part of this list, as their ongoing success is simply a continuation of what they promised in the last few years.

     

    5. 24

    The much-hyped 24 did not deliver high ratings. But it makes it to this gamechangers list for simply trying. As the Indian television market matures, we are bound to see fiction experiments beyond the regular family-based shows that currently rule the roost for the right reasons. When one such idea clicks, the floodgates will open. But 24 on Colors will always be remembered as the pioneer that brought this change. Here’s hoping for a more-Indianized second season.

     

    4. Qubool Hai

    Launched in late 2012, Qubool Hai scaled great heights of popularity in early and mid 2013, before losing some of the steam towards the end of the year. Driven by good casting that combined eye candy with solid performances, this Muslim social offered cultural variety, but with a contemporary and youthful treatment that had the college girls asking for more. Along with Sapne Suhaane Ladakpan Ke, it gave Zee TV a younger audience base that in turn helped the channel grow during the year, and sizably so.

     

    3. Mahabharat

    Star Plus challenged the status quo on production of daily fiction shows this year. After a rather half-baked attempt with Saraswatichandra, Mahabharat saw a real shift of scale. The show is easily the best-mounted fiction show ever in the history of Indian television. Its perspective on the epic tale is applause-worthy too, with considerable focus on the grey, than just the black and the white. Uneven pace and language comprehension issues may have limited its viewership in the early period, but the serial is now set for a creditable finish in 2014.

     

    2. Jodha Akbar

    Zee TV’s Jodha Akbar is a live case study on how to make a historical theme engaging by giving it a contemporary treatment. Story-wise, the programme uses the tried and tested elements of family and romantic dramas, exploited earlier to hilt in shows like Pratigya and Saathiya on Star Plus. It keeps the language simple, allowing for easy, fun viewing of what could have been an otherwise-overbearing show. Yet, the period look makes the show stand out in the crowd, offering the best of both worlds.

     

    1. Comedy Nights With Kapil

    This has to be a one-horse race if there ever was one. The success of Comedy Nights With Kapil on Colors cannot be measured by its ratings alone. Its consistently top-notch and flawless execution, combining fiction with live entertainment, has left me amazed episode after episode. How can you get something so right, I have often wondered. The show delivers two popular genres, which were beginning to look a bit jaded on television, in a refreshing avatar – Comedy and Bollywood.

     

    The comedy stays away from being crass or lowbrow at all times, yet manages to focus on popular culture and mass themes. The celebrity interaction is nothing we have seen before. It is audience-indulgent, not celebrity-indulgent. By now, it is common knowledge in the industry how celebrities aspire to be on the show and nervously prepare for it, so that they can match up to Kapil’s wit and timing.

     

    Comedy Nights With Kapil is the unifier show we have missed since KBC in 2000 – a show that various sections of the family and the society have an equal appeal towards. Thankfully, its success is not replicable, so we may not see too many clones coming out. Meanwhile, another 100+ delicious episodes await us in 2014.

     

  • The JWT-Ford and Leo Burnett-Tata Chemicals episodes or the indecision on participating in the Creative Abby may have caused a reduction in release of 'scam ads' so far

    Fewer scam ads this year: the Ford-Tata Chem effect or agencies moving away from Abby?

    By A Correspondent

     

    We don’t know the reason for this. But from the information that we get on the street, there have been fewer scam ads released thus far. So did the JWT-Ford and Leo Burnett-Tata Chemicals episodes cause a reduction in proactive work (better known as scam ads)

     

    Expectedly, no one from the agency or the newspaper circuit went on record on the issue. But a senior official at a publication where many such ads appear said the dip is more than 80 percent this year. “December-end is a Diwali-like situation for scam ads. There are creative ads pleading for releases, and even though the ads aren’t priced very high, it’s significant revenue for publications,” said an industryperson requesting anonymity.

     

    Typically, all entries for the Creative Abby 2014 need to be released in Calendar Year 2013, hence there is a rush for releasing ads by December 31. According to an observer,  the last two days of the year may well see an increase in such releases, because many agencies haven’t yet decided on their participation at the Creative Abby at Goafest 2014. “The creatives are ready for publication, but if they don’t participate at Goafest, then the releases will happen in Jan-Feb, in time for Cannes Lions and some international fests.”

     

    However, when this reporter spoke to an agency head, the Ford and Tata Chemicals episodes has scared large agencies as well as clients. “No one wants to lose a job or a client because of a scam ad,” he said. Scam ads are typically proactive work done by agencies as part of ideas generated for their clients which are not released commercially or ads created only for awards, often for clients who do not advertise at all (like a cobbler or a provisions store). These are generally in the print/outdoor/poster/digital/radio categories where the creation costs are low.

     

    Most agency heads we have spoken with say that it’s impossible to put a check on scam ads. There could be genuine cases where advertisers may insert special ads for occasions like Diwali or their anniversary. These are generally single insert ads in the papers or on billboards… so does one rule these out?

     

    So what’s the solution? “None, except a self-regulation. Agencies must not encourage the creation of ‘scam’ work for awards… the problem is that these directives often come from the top.” For a few years, there has been a discussion on creating a category for unpublished work at the Abby, but that hasn’t happened till day.

     

    Another agency head said that if the industry is serious about putting an end to this kind of advertising, the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) must issue an advisory on this and ask its members to not send any scam ads for awards.

     

    Watch this space for more.

     

  • In Week 51 of 2013, Star Plus is the No 1 Hindi GEC followed by Colors at No 2 and Zee TV at No 3

    Colors continues run as No 2 Hindi GEC in Week 51

    By our Research Associate

     

    It’s a status quo of sorts. Colors stays on as the No 2 Hindi GEC. Star Plus is still the numero uno Hindi GEC.

     

    As always, the TAM ratings have not been revealed to us by TAM which has regrettably been restrained by the powers to give the media a first-hand update on weekly ratings. Instead we have to get it from our friends who share the info. It’s reliable but, then, we haven’t got it from TAM.

     

    The following are the numbers:

    Star Plus              599 [579] {561} (548)

    Colors                  488 [449] {456} (479)

    Zee TV                 409 [439] {480} (449)

    Life OK                 326 [313] {325} (334)

    SAB                      309 [291] {260} (269)

    Sony                     255 [267] {241} (239)

     

    Figures in square brackets indicate viewership numbers for last week [Week 50], in brace brackets for the previous week {Week 49} and in regular brackets for the week before that (Week 48).

     

     

     

  • Lowe Lintas created a 25-second re-edited version of the original 45-second spot which was aired on news channels for five days

    What an Idea, Sirji! Cellco revives 2009 ad, after AAP ‘referendum’

    By Shephali Bhatt

     

    On December 23, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) decided to form a government in Delhi, with support from the Congress – after conducting an informal SMS referendum that asked the citizens of Delhi if it should take a shot at governance. Idea had used a similar theme in its 2009 television campaign, with a spot that depicted a poll via SMS on whether shopping malls should be made on agricultural fields. So it made sense to release a fresh edit of that ad.

     

    “We thought when it was happening for real, it’ll be good for the brand to remind people how Idea’s communication was ahead of its time,” says Sashi Shankar, CMO of Idea Cellular.

     

    The initial thought to do a tweaked version of their old ad came from Sanjeev Aga, a member of Idea’s board of directors.

     

    The agency, Lowe Lintas, created a 25-second re-edited version of the original 45-second spot within two days of being briefed. The ad, being a topical one, was aired only on news channels for five days.

     

    Good thinking on the feet, quick turnaround time and a good example of recycling communication to associate the brand with one of the most important political events in the history of the nation.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

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

    Licensed to republish

     

  • Mr Krishna will be responsible for conceptualizing, designing and marketing various intellectual properties of Radio Mirchi

    Rishikar Krishna steps into Radio Mirchi as Marketing Head, Mirchi Properties

    By A Correspondent

     

    Leading radio station network Radio Mirchi has announced the appointment of Rishikar Krishna as Head Marketing, Mirchi Properties at Entertainment Network India Limited (ENIL). Rishikar will be chiefly responsible for conceptualizing, designing and marketing various intellectual properties of Radio Mirchi.

     

    Prior to this, Mr Krishna was Associate Director, Marketing at Skechers. In this role he was in charge of creating awareness and preference for the brand in India.

     

  • The mandate came in to Maxus after a multi-agency pitch

    Maxus wins Kotak Mahindra business

    By A Correspondent

     

    Leading media agency Maxus has bagged the coveted mandate for the Kotak Mahindra Group in a multi-agency pitch.

     

    Speaking on the announcement, Kartik Sharma, MD, Maxus, South Asia, “We are excited about working with one of India’s most established brands, with a legacy of over 20 years.” Maxus is part of the WPP-owned GroupM media services conglomerate.

     

    The agency has been in the news for recent wins like Ruchi Soya, Tata Tea, Redbus and Musafir.com This year, it also retained the coveted L’Oreal account after an aggressive multi agency pitch.  “2013 has been a great year for Maxus and we are excited with yet another client in our roster,” added Mr Sharma.