MxMIndia

Category: NEWS

  • HT Media unveils new multiple media campaign to promote Mint

    Mint celebrates 7th anniv with new campaign

    By A Correspondent

     

     

    HT Media has unveiled a new advertising campaign to capture the story of its business daily Mint as it celebrates its seventh anniversary this month. Notes a communiqué: “Since inception, at the core of Mint, lies ‘innovation’. From the Berliner size format to the design of the paper; from the content and presentation style to the name ‘Mint’ – everything was new, energized and refreshing!

     

     

    Rajan Bhalla

    Said Rajan Bhalla, CMO, HT Media on the Mint story said, “Before the inception of Mint all our efforts were in the direction of putting together a differentiated business daily which was fresh, clear-minded and straightforward while being extremely credible and well-rounded in its analysis of the business world. That’s how the product was born, exemplifying the concept of ‘innovation’.  It is this line of thinking that provoked the name of the paper as well – ‘Mint’. Our readership numbers, and the loyalty of our readers over these past 7 years, validates that we have been successful in providing ‘Refreshing Clarity in Business’, which is what we aim to continue doing.”

     

    The campaign will run in print, digital and radio.

     

  • The Advertising Club, which completes 60 years of existence this year, has planned a series of new activities

    Josy & Aggie to present Ad Club Creative Review, event kicks off Club’s Diamond Jubilee

    By A Correspondent

     

    Josy Paul
    Agnello Dias

    The Advertising Club will revive its popular Creative Review with a  tweak in format. To be held at the Taj Vivanta in Gurgaon on February 28, it will be jointly presented by Josy Paul (Chairman and CCO, BBDO India) and Agnello Dias (CCO and co-founder, Taproot India).

     

     

    Colors is presenting sponsor of the Creative Review with Bharti Airtel and Pepsi being Associate Sponsors.

     

    Pratap Bose

    Meanwhile, a communique signed by President Pratap Bose notes that the Club which completes 60 years of existence has planned a series of new activities.

     

    For details: www.theadvertisingclub.net

  • Senior ad film director Prasoon Pandey will head the Film Craft jury at the Dubai Lynx International Festival of Creativity to be held in Dubai from March 9 to 11.

    Prasoon Pandey to head film craft jury at Dubai Lynx

    Prasoon Pandey

    Senior ad film director Prasoon Pandey will head the Film Craft jury at the Dubai Lynx International Festival of Creativity to be held in Dubai from March 9 to 11. “Honestly, I’ve always found it unbelievably difficult – this business of dissecting the joy of great storytelling into its basic elements (such as Film Craft) in order to recognise and honour the geniuses behind it. It’s the umpteenth time that one is going to attempt to do so, but the bloody thing never ceases to intimidate me,” said Mr Pandey, whose Corcoise Films has produced some awardwinning work including Fevicol, The Times of India, Perfetti and SBI Life Insurance.

     

    Commenting on the jury line-up, Terry Savage, Chairman of Lions Festivals, says, “We’re delighted to complete the Dubai Lynx jury line-up for 2014 with this global collection of industry experts. We can be sure that these well-respected individuals will use their specialist knowledge to award and showcase the best of the region’s creativity. It will be fascinating to see which entries are deemed noteworthy by the judges at this year’s awards.”

     

    As reported earlier, Preeti Vyas (VGC) and Paresh Chaudhury (Madison) have also been invited to the Design and Public Relations juries respectively.

     

  • The retail business veteran will take over from Rob Cissell as CEO of the Mukesh Ambani group's supermarket and hypermarket division

    Damodar Mall to helm Reliance’s supermarket biz

    By Rasul Bailay & Chaitali Chakravarty

     

    Damodar Mall

    Damodar Mall will take over from Rob Cissell as chief executive of Reliance Retail’s supermarket and hypermarket division as the former chief operating officer of Walmart China is leaving after three years running the business.

     

    Value retail, which includes supermarkets and hypermarkets, grocery and cash-and-carry, accounted for 53% or Rs`5,700 crore of the Mukesh Ambani-run Reliance Industries’ retail venture in the first nine months of the current fiscal year. Randall Guttery will continue to be in charge of the cash-and-carry business.

     

    “After a stint of three years leading our consumer grocery business, Rob has decided to relocate outside India to pursue other opportunities,” said an internal communication announcing the management change. “Rob will continue to work with us till March 31, 2014.”

     

    The latest announcement is part of other organisational changes at Reliance Retail. Mr Guttery, another Walmart executive who joined with Mr Cissell and who has been spearheading the cash-and-carry business Reliance Market, will now double up as a mentor for the grocery unit that includes the Reliance Fresh convenience chain, besides the Reliance Super and Reliance Mart supermarkets. “To be in line with our stated objective of simplification, we would be creating a common executive management structure for grocery business. This will allow us to leverage the complementary skill sets available within the business,” said the internal communiqué to staff.

     

    “However, to continue the focus on consumer and wholesale nature of the formats we will continue to operate with two separate executive councils providing leadership to these formats respectively.” A Reliance Retail spokesperson declined to comment on the developments.

     

    During Mr Cissell’s tenure, Reliance Retail has focused on larger supermarkets rather than the smaller convenience store format that competed directly with India’s formidable neighbourhood shops.

     

    Rob Cissell

    Mr Cissell took over in 2011 from Gwyn Sundhagul, another expatriate with global experience who’d worked at Tesco Lotus in Thailand. Apart from Mr Cissell and Mr Guttery, it hired another former Walmart executive Shawn Grey as chief operating officer of the value retailing business as part of a round of top management changes since starting up in 2006. Both Mr Cissell and Mr Gray were part of the top team at Walmart’s China arm that had around 333 outlets, generating $7.5 billion in revenue, or 1.8% of the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company’s total sales of $420 billion in 2010.

     

    Mr Mall, currently chief customer strategy officer for the value retail business is an industry veteran having previously worked at Future Group.

     

    Reliance Retail, which operates more than 1,500 stores in 141 cities, posted sales of .`10,857 crore in the nine months ended December 2013.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2014, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

    Licensed to republish

     

  • Service quality, product reliability, and re-sale value continue to be pertinent factors in determining brand choice

    Indian car buyer act very rationally: Deloitte report

    By A Correspondent

     

    Indian car buyers act very rationally while making their purchase decisions, noted a report by Deloitte titled “Driving through the consumer’s mind – Considerations for Car Purchase”. While the brand itself and the perceptions around it are important, the buyer today looks to buying a car for the family and subsequently looks at the quality of the dealership for service, vehicle reliability and re-sale value while shortlisting brands; thereby ensuring that several brands get into the consideration set of a buyer, says the report.

     

    According to Mr. Kumar Kandaswami, Senior Director – Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Private Limited, “Contrary to the popular notion that car buying is an emotional decision, rationality has come out as a strong aspect amongst Indian buyers. Once primary reasons to buy a car such as space, family requirements or need to upgrade are fulfilled, buyers look for quality of service, product reliability and re-sale value. Fuel efficiency is no longer a unique differentiator to attract consumers; presumably, it is a table-stake matter. Given these factors, it becomes extremely important for the OEMs to manage the expectations of the consumers appropriately through the life cycle of the product to be considered favourably for the next purchase”.

     

    Key findings of the report have been detailed under three broad areas impacting the decision making process towards any particular brand:

     

    Purchase Drivers –

    :: Necessity of having a car for the family needs drives the buying behavior of the first time buyers irrespective of their age and gender. Once the buying decision is made, factors such as reliability, dealer service and resale value determine the brand choice of the consumers.

     

    :: For repeat buyers, technology and larger space requirement stood out as ruling factors. Unlike the first–time buyer, a repeat buyer understandably aspires to upgrade. In their case, a more sophisticated product is the primary requirement. As in case of first time buyers, repeat buyers too use reliability, dealer services and resale value as filters to make brand choices.

     

    :: In respect of choices related to changing their cars, the average time between purchases of two cars is likely to be 6-7 years. While males typically drive a car for 55,000 km or more before making a new purchase, female consumers are likely to change cars after 45,000 km.

     

    :: Future usage trends indicate that the share of personal cars is expected to increase over the next five years at the cost of other mobility solutions. This increased usage will largely be driven by Gen Y and women drivers. Consequent to the increased usage, the time to own a car is also likely reduce from the current 6+ years to about 5.5 years.

     

    Brand Consideration –

    :: While considering which brand to buy, what has come out as a significant trend is that both first time and repeat buyers, consider 3-5 brands before making their final selection, thus giving most brands a chance to get into the consideration set. This trend has been true for Indian buyers for over seven years, covering both the high growth and difficult periods. Further, SUV and Mini-Van owners tend to look for more options before making their final decision on a particular brand as compared to consumers who look out for a hatchback and sedan.

     

    :: One key highlight remains that the number of brands considered remains similar for non-luxury as well as luxury cars, indicating importance of a car value proposition in both the consumer segments. Even in case of repeat purchases, buyers don’t behave very differently from the first time buyers, thus indicating that they do not identify themselves with a brand in terms of personality or performance.

     

    :: Rural buyers look out for limited number of brands in comparison to urban or semi-urban buyers, which may also be a function of the choices available and the price points they consider.

     

    :: There is a small but increasing trend amongst the urban population of going with a single brand which may be on account of familiarity of the brand, loyalty programs of OEMs, or the aspirational value offered by a brand at that point of time for a particular product.

     

    :: With the increase in the car price, consumers tend to evaluate greater number of brands, with Gen X considering more brands as compared to Gen Y consumers. Gen X consumers, who own a car between Rs 6-8 lakh, tend to evaluate more number of brands, with more than 40% evaluating six or more cars for their last purchase. However, less than 20% of Gen Y consumers evaluated six or more across the price range.

     

    :: Sedans are placed at the top of the consideration set for the current hatchback owners for their next vehicle purchase and SUVs for the current sedan owner. Similarly, respondents with cars in the price range of Rs 2-6 lakh are more likely to consider sedans for their next purchase. This highlights the aspiration of the consumers to purchase a larger car and move up to the next segment. However, SUV owners buck the trend with more than 50% of SUV owners expressing a desire to go for another SUV in their next purchase.

     

    Brand Perception of Car Owners –

    :: Interestingly, when respondents were asked to specifically mark the brands they considered before making their selection, they ended up with more number than their stated position of considering 3-5 brands, thus suggesting that they started with a long-list of several brands but seem to think of a smaller number as a serious set of possibilities.

     

    :: In case of brands considered by existing car owners, SUV owners considered more brands as compared with van/mini-van users. From the number of brands that are considered, it is apparent that product types other than what they eventually select are considered.

     

    :: While rating their own brand choice, owners seemed to be reasonably happy with what they have. Consumers are likely to once again consider several brands when they are in the market to buy their next car, thus making it imperative for the OEMs to convert their current satisfaction levels into brand loyalty and repeat purchase.

     

    For the Driving through the consumer’s mind – Considerations for Car Purchase Report 2014, please click here.

     

  • The annual adspend estimates digital to grow 35% in the overall 11.6% growth in adspends

    GroupM estimates: TV degrows, Digital, print grow

     

    By Rishi Vora

     

    At the launch of GroupM’s This Year Next Year (TYNY) Report  2014,  chief executive officer CVL Srinivas, while presenting the report to a media gathering in Mumbai, stressed on the media agency’s renewed focus on digital, and the need for a change in approach and mindset in order to be relevant with the changing business scenario.

     

    Mr Srinivas, of course, stated that in the context of GroupM’s advertising expenditure (AdEx) 2014 where digital is the fastest growing medium with a 35 per cent growth rate, followed by TV with an estimated growth rate of 12 per cent. It may be noted that TV’s growth has reduced from 13.6 per cent in 2013 to 12 per cent in 2014.

     

    Sector – wise growth
     

    Elections

    With general elections and 5 state elections on the anvil, government spending and political party election spending adding significantly to the AdEx of all media. It is estimated that the government spending will lead a 2.5 per cent growth in the industry.

     

    FMCG

    FMCG will continue to be an important sector for the industry as it accounts a 29 per cent share in total ad spends this year due to the following factors:

    [] Volume growth back for FMCG companies on the back of good monsoon and hence good rural income

     

    [] Raw material prices benign and hence more flexibility with advertisers

     

    [] Ad spends of most FMCG companies on the rise to ride on the back of higher disposable income due to election spending

     

    Retail

    The retail industry will experience growth from the entry of new players into the food and beverage segment, growth in E-commerce, and regional retailers  expanding their reach across markets in India.

     

    Auto

    Despite slowdown in the  four-wheeler segment, there is growth for entry level cars, sports and multi utility vehicles.  Two-wheelers to continue the focus on small town and rural India.

     

    Competition is likely to intensify  on the back of recent market developments leading to more launches by existing players, which subsequently mean higher ad spends.

     

    Telecom

    Smartphones penetration  is on the rise, however, stiff competition in the segment will continue. Phablets  and connected devices will gain popularity in 2014.

     

    Cellular phone service providers too will witness growth in revenue.  Service providers will bring down the price points for 3G, therefore completion is more likely to intensity.

     

    Banking, Financial Services & Insurance

    For the Banking and Financial Services and Insurance industry, year 2014 will see a revival happening with a likely reduction of interest rates. IPOs to pick up pre-election owning to better market sentiments.

     

    Recent RBI policies will result into a more favourable business environment and new bank licenses will push advertising expenditures of the category.

     

    The report estimates  that print will grow at  8.5 per cent in 2014 as against the 2013 estimate of 4.6 per cent, thanks to the growth in vernacular print publications across the country. The report also states that while newspapers  are to grow by 8.5 per cent, magazines will witness a negative growth of 5 per cent.  Outdoor will grow at 9 per cent, Cinema 12 per cent and Retail 8 per cent, states the report.

     

    If one looks at the sector-wise break up of spends, FMCG constitutes a majority share (29 per cent) followed by Consumer Durables (22 per cent)  and retail (12 per cent).

     

    CVL Srinivas

    Commenting on the growth prospects for the industry in 2014, Mr Srinivas said: “It’s going to be an okayish year for the media industry. I’m saying this because the 11.6 per cent growth estimate also accounts for the 2.5 per cent growth that will come from advertisements from political parties as the elections are around the corner. If you take elections out, which is a one-off event, the growth in 2014 is about 9 per cent.”

     

    He further noted that the growth of the industry will also depend on how things are panned out on the measurement front, on IPL’s success or failure and the outcome of the elections, which will have an impact on government policies.

     

    In his final remarks, Mr Srinivas said that the year 2014 will be remembered for two reasons — one being the fast growth of digital at 35 per cent as is estimated, and also the fact that the industry will cross the Rs 40,000 crore mark in 2014 from its current size of Rs 38,000 crore.

     

  • Mr Singh takes on the position left vacant after Arun Tadanki quit Yahoo last year

    Gurmit Singh quits Forbes India as CEO to join Yahoo as India MD

    By A Correspondent

     

    Gurmit Singh

    The announcement was made WPP’s Stream digital unconference being held in Jaipur. Former CEO of Forbes India Gurmit Singh will be the new Managing Director for Yahoo India. As MD, Mr Singh will oversee the internet giant’s business in the country and responsible for its growth. He will report to Yvonne Chang, VP & Head of India and South East Asia at Yahoo. The position of MD at Yahoo India was vacant since Arun Tadanki resigned last year.

     

    With over 20 years of experience, Mr Singh brings with him a deep understanding of the M&E sector in India..

     

    Commenting on the appointment, Yvonne Chang, VP & Head of India and South East Asia, Yahoo said, “Gurmit comes to Yahoo with a strong track record of delivering growth. His understanding of users and advertisers will be a great asset for Yahoo as we bring a number of product innovations to India. Yahoo is a loved brand in India, and we are very happy to have a leader of Gurmit’s caliber leading the team.”

     

    Mr Singh, who starts his assignment with Yahoo today, said “An Internet industry pioneer, Yahoo is now at a very exciting point in its journey. It truly reflects the energy and spirit of the world’s largest startup. Working together with an extraordinary team in India and colleagues across the world, I am looking forward to unlocking the full potential of Yahoo products and services in India.”

     

    During his career Gurmit has held leadership roles across Consumer Products, Music & Entertainment and Media sectors, working for companies such as Sony Music, Hindustan Times, India Today Group, Rajshri Media, Marico Industries and most recently at Network 18 where he worked until yesterday.

     

    Although there is no official statement from Network18 on who will replace Mr Singh, it is rumoured that Anil Unyal, COO – Network18 Media and Head TV18 Media Operations will hold additional charge of the magazine.

     

  • The veteran journalists will drive the channel's primetime programming

    Vinod Dua, Sanjay Pugalia to star in revamped IBN7 primetime

    By A Correspondent

     

    The pecking order amongst Hindi-language channels doesn’t place IBN7 in the Top 3, as per ratings at least. And even in terms of perception. But in a coup of sorts, the channel has announced two shows – Vinod Dua Ka Prashnkaal at 8pm – Monday through Thursday and India 9 Baje at 9pm Monday through Friday with Sanjay Pugalia as the host.

     

    Mr Dua’s show starts February 17 and Mr Pugalia will be on air from Feb 18.

     

    Speaking on IBN7’s new prime-time line up, Vinay Tewari, Managing Editor, CNN-IBN and IBN7, said, “Elections are a complex, engaging and diverse event. It needs solid professionals who understand the complexities, who can simplify it for our audience and who believe in clarity over noise and sensation. We have brought in two of India’s leading journalists to take our primetime programming to the next level and who symbolise our beliefs about news. Vinod Dua, with his experience and unique style, is back to give viewers his take on the elections and engage them in our daily discourse while Sanjay Pugalia, whose understanding of politics and political economy is unparalleled, will debate and encapsulate the day’s major news on India 9 Baje.”

     

    Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor-in-Chief, IBN Network, said, “We are looking at possibly the most crucial general elections in Indian history. And IBN7 is set to launch two new shows anchored by two of the most influential and experienced journalists in the industry.”

     

    Indeed.

     

  • Other top-ranked Indian agencies include Taproot India, JWT and Leo Burnett (tied at #3) and Ogilvy

    India #9 in Global Creative Ranking in Gunn Report, McCann top Indian agency

    By Sandeep Puraname

     

    The Gunn Report and Showreel of The Year 2013 is here. In its fifteenth year, The Gunn Report 2013 has some interesting news for India. As per the report, India ranks No 9 in the global creative ranking, up from last year’s No 13.

     

    India Population 2013 (million): 1220.8

    India World Rank by Population Size: 2

    India Ad Market Size 2013 (US $m.): 5863

    India World Rank by Ad Market Size: 14

    Gunn Report Creative Ranking 2008: 17

    Gunn Report Creative Ranking 2009: 17

    Gunn Report Creative Ranking 2010: 14

    Gunn Report Creative Ranking 2011: 14

    Gunn Report Creative Ranking 2012: 13

    Gunn Report Creative Ranking 2013: 9

     

    The top-ranked agencies for 2013 are as follows:

     

    INDIA

    # Agency

    Film

    Print

    Digital

    AGB

    Total
    1 McCann Worldgroup (Mumbai)

    2

    13

    0

    1

    16
    2 Taproot India (Mumbai)

    2

    4

    0

    5

    11
    3= JWT (Mumbai)

    3

    0

    0

    4

    7
    3= Leo Burnett (Mumbai & New Delhi)

    2

    2

    0

    3

    7
    5 Ogilvy & Mather (Mumbai)

    1

    3

    0

    1

    5

    JWT and Leo Burnett have tied for the third spot

     

    Other highlights from the 2013 Report include:

     

    The Most Awarded Commercials in The World in 2013

    Metro Trains :: Dumb Ways to Die (McCann Melbourne) triumphs in the Film table and also takes first place in Digital, second place in All Gunns Blazing and third equal place in Print. The most awarded campaign in the history of The Gunn Report.

    2. Southern Comfort :: Whatever’s Comfortable – Beach (Wieden+Kennedy, New York)

    3. Carlton Draught :: Beer Chase (Clemenger BBDO (Melbourne)

    4= Axe :: Susan Glenn (BBH, New York)

    4= Leica M Monochrom Camera :: Soul (F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi, São Paulo)

     

    The Most Awarded Print Ads & Campaigns in The World in 2013

    1. Expedia Travel :: Luggage Labels campaign (Ogilvy & Mather, London)

    2. Harvey Nichols Sale :: Pelicans (Y&R Dubai)

    3= Coca-Cola :: #Cokehands (Ogilvy & Mather, Shanghai)

    3= Metro Trains :: Dumb Ways to Die (McCann Melbourne)

    3= The Sunday Times Rich List :: Rich List 2013 pool (CHI & Partners, London)

     

    The Most Awarded Digital in The World in 2013

    1. Metro Trains :: Dumb Ways to Die (McCann Melbourne)

    2. Nike+ Fuelband :: Nike+ Fuelband (R/GA, New York)

    3. Adidas Neo :: Window Shopping (TBWA\Helsinki)

    4= Google / Lego :: Build With Chrome (M&C Saatchi/Mark, Sydney)

    4= The JFK Presidential Library & Museum :: Clouds Over Cuba (The Martin Agency, Richmond VA)

     

    The Most Awarded All Gunns Blazing in The World in 2013

    1. Hemoba/Vitoria FC :: My Blood Is Red & Black (Leo Burnett Tailor Made, Ṣo Paulo) Рthe most awarded campaign ever in All Gunns Blazing.

    2. Metro Trains :: Dumb Ways to Die (McCann Melbourne)

    3. Nike+ Fuelband :: Nike+ Fuelband (R/GA, New York)

    4. Sports Clube de Recife :: Immortal Fans (Ogilvy Brasil, São Paulo)

    5. Samsung Life Insurance :: The Bridge of Life (Cheil Worldwide, Seoul)

     

    The Most Awarded Campaigns Across Tables 1 – 4 in 2013

    1. Metro Trains :: Dumb Ways To Die

    2. Hemoba/Vitoria FC :: My Blood Is Red & Black

    3. Nike+ Fuelband :: Nike+ Fuelband

    4. Dove :: Real Beauty Sketches

    5. Australian Defence Force :: Mobile Medic

     

    The Most Awarded Countries in The World in 2013

    1. USA

    2. Australia break the 1 – 2 stranglehold that USA and UK have had for last 14 years.

    3. UK

    4. Brazil

    5. France

     

    The Most Awarded Advertisers in The World in 2013

    Either Nike or Volkswagen has topped the table every one of The Gunn Report’s 15 years. This year it was Nike’s turn.

    2. Volkswagen

    3. Axe / Lynx

    4. Coca-Cola

    5. Google

     

    The Most Awarded Production Companies in The World in 2013

    First time at the top of the Table for Biscuit Filmworks (London, New York, LA)

    2. Paranoid (Los Angeles, São Paulo)

    3. MJZ (London, LA, New York)

    4. Rattling Stick (London, Los Angeles)

    5. Henry de Czar (Paris)

     

    The Most Awarded Director in The World in 2013

    Southern Comfort “Beach” (amongst many others) Director, Tim Godsall, is a clear winner.

    2. Ringan Ledwidge (UK, USA)

    3= Julian Frost (Australia)

    3= Tom Kuntz (USA)

    5= Steve Ayson (Australia, NZ, Thailand)

    5= Marcos Kothar (Brazil)

     

    The Most Awarded Agency in The World in 2013

    A first time tie for first place – Wieden+Kennedy (Portland, New York) (who topped the table last year) and McCann (Melbourne) (first time in Top 50 table)

    3. AlmapBBDO (São Paulo)

    4. Ogilvy Brasil (São Paulo) (highest ever ranking)

    5= BBH (London)

    5= Clemenger BBDO (Melbourne & Sydney) (highest ever ranking)

     

    The Most Awarded Agency in Digital in The World in 2013

    Second time at top for R/GA (New York)

    2. Forsman & Bodenfors (Gothenburg)

    3. McCann (Melbourne)

    4= AlmapBBDO (São Paulo)

    4= Wieden+Kennedy (Portland, New York)

     

    The Most Awarded Agency Network in The World in 2013

    Rankings 1 to 4 are the same for the fourth year in a row but in a slightly different order. BBDO top the table for the eighth year straight.

    2. Ogilvy

    3. DDB

    4. Leo Burnett

    5. McCann (highest ever ranking)

     

  • The group will also soon unfurl a major corporate campaign to build awareness among investors, consumers and stakeholders on 'Brand Tata' in its major overseas markets.

    Tata group drafts new rules for royalty & ethics

    By Kala Vijayaraghavan & Satish John

     

    The $97-billion Tata Group has started work on an overhaul of its Brand Equity and Business Promotion (BEBP) agreement, an omnibus document that governs, among other things, which group companies use the Tata name and how, and also how much royalty they pay for it.

     

    The agreement, drafted in 1996 and never revisited since, is now being redrawn to reflect the ‘more universal’ nature of its business as 63% of revenues now accrue from overseas. This includes multibillion dollar businesses Jaguar Land Rover, Corus Group and soda ash maker General Chemicals.

     

    “A number of brands in the Tata fold don’t carry the Tata name and, therefore, it is critical that more investors, consumers and stakeholders in international markets are aware of the history and heritage of the group,” said Mukund Rajan, Tata Group’s brand custodian and chief ethics officer, confirming the revamp plan. Asked if this would entail global group companies such as JLR and Corus also paying royalty, Rajan declined comment saying such decisions are yet to be made.

     

    Group firms that use the Tata name directly pay a royalty of 0.25% of respective revenues. Companies such as Titan that don’t use the Tata name directly pay less.

     

    Streamline use of Tata brand

    “We have to streamline the way our companies use the Tata brand,” another official involved in the revamp of the BEBP said. “In the past, we have allowed Tata companies to use the Tata brand and other companies have not. Do we have sufficient clarity in our own minds on how we want to build the brand? It is still work in progress.”

     

    Sources say that top group officials feel the international visibility of the Tata brand is not up to the mark.

     

    The group will also soon unfurl a major corporate campaign to build awareness among investors, consumers and stakeholders on ‘Brand Tata’ in its major overseas markets.

     

    “In some markets, Tata is known as a software company while in some markets as an automobile maker. Our last big brand campaign was done in 2004 and therefore it is critical to ensure that key stakeholders and influencers are aware of our heritage and legacy,” Rajan added. He is also the chairman of the Tata Council for Community Initiatives.

     

    The Tata Code of Conduct, a part of the BEBP agreement, is also being reworked to make it more relevant in “certain jurisdictions” outside India. “We have to see whether it is potentially conflicting with local regulatory requirements.

     

    We want a code which resonates with regulations in different geographies,” the official added. Tata Sons, the holding company of the group, owns the Tata brand and the Tata trademark registered in India and several other countries. Individual companies have signed the BEBP with Tata Sons.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2014, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

    Licensed to republish

     

  • Electionsinindia.com has released a set of five books that analyse the election results of Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Rajasthan, where assembly elections were held recently

    Adfactors’ ElectionsinInIndia.com releases books on recent Assembly polls

    By A Correspondent

     

    If you thought Adfactors was just a PR agency representing corporate or into troubleshooting, read on. A part of the group is a company called Datanet India which has ElectionsinIndia.com as among the 720 information-rich websites it owns.

     

    Electionsinindia.com has released a set of five books that analyse the election results of Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Rajasthan, where Assembly elections were held recently. Summary results of all parliamentary and assembly constituencies in India are avaialle from independence onwards through the portal including a geospatial analysis of election results at town, village and booth level with the help of GIS maps.

     

    Speaking on the occasion, portal Director Dr R K Thukral stated, “Analysing election results is a science in itself. These books propel analysis of state assembly election results to a new level via GIS maps. Not only is this one of the best techniques to decipher wider information at a glance, it also contains maps of basic features of assembly constituencies, demographic profile as well as electoral maps, besides state-level time-series comparisons in graphs and top-ten ranking of assembly constituencies and candidates.”

     

    Dr Thukral revealed that maps of the last two assembly election results (2008 and 2013) were juxtaposed alongside to aid visual comparison.

     

    On the launch, Adfactors Managing Director Madan Bahal revealed, “ElectionsinIndia.com and 720 other websites disseminating data about India, its sectors, regions, states and districts are owned by Datanet India. For the past 13 years, Datanet has rendered yeoman service to the socio-economic research fraternity in India and abroad. Recently, Datanet India’s initiatives were recognized by Limca Book of Records 2013 for holding the largest cluster of websites providing socio-economic and political statistical data.”

     

  • Saurabh Parmar on Facebook's new trending feature and how marketers can use it to their advantage

    8 things Marketers ought to know about Facebook’s new Trending feature

    By Saurabh Parmar

     

    Facebook recently launched a trending section which is visible on the top right hand side of the homepage for its web visitors (not currently available on Mobile)

     

    Since this is a major change on the homepage and seems to compete with Twitter’s trending topics it has generated interest amongst marketers. So what does trending mean for us marketers and can we use it to our advantage?

     

    Here is my take:

    1. First, what is trending?

    It’s a personalized lists of the most mentioned words and phrases at the current time with short explanations of why each is blowing up. A click-through leads to a Page of mentions by friends, Pages, and public posts by anyone who lets people “Follow” them.

     

     

    2. What is this ‘Explanation’ feature which Facebook is talking about?

    Facebook's explanation features details why a particular topic is trending

    The challenge with Twitter trends is that a lot of times one is not clear why exactly something is trending on Twitter but the explanation bit on Facebook clarifies that thus stoking a user’s interest and hopefully for Facebook getting more clickthroughs.

     

    Compare the two trends on the same day.

     

     

    Facebook explanation makes it clear why a certain topic is trending.

     

    3. Is Facebook personalizing trends based on a user’s interests?

    Facebook claims “Topics are personalized based on things you’re interested in and what is trending across Facebook overall.” However I haven’t seen this till now.

     

    A quick analysis of trends basis what I have been seeing on my profile over the last two days:

    Day 1:

    I have hardly liked any sports page and am as uninterested in Microsoft as Justin Beiber (had to clarify the latter). Even on my friends list, there are hardly any people who are talking about Jai Ho the day the trend appeared . In fact more people on my list spoke about it the next day but its not trending then.

     

     

     

     

     

    Day 2

    No one on my list is talking about ‘Celebrity Cricket League’ or ‘Li Na’. On ‘Republic day’ there are definitely a bunch of posts by friends or pages I like but that is still on second place for me.

     

    So it appears that Facebook seems to take a more macroscopic view of trends, looking at the region (like Twitter-which shows trends on the city level) but nothing seemingly at an individual level.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    4. How are the algorithms different -Facebook vs Twitter trending?

    Facebook Trending aggregates the headlines of the day, while Twitter Trending Topics check the pulse of the moment.  With Trend on internet being something very’ in the moment’, I think in the current avatar more users are would go for the latter than the former.

     

    5. So can we as marketers use promoted trends?

    Twitter has this feature but Facebook is yet to announce anything like that.

     

    Even in the near future, I don’t think Facebook trends will directly be used as a revenue source at least not until Facebook gets the product right via various iterations.

     

    It’s something which seems to be done to:

    1. Build further engagement and clickthroughs via the users and get them to spend more time on the site

    2. Serve Facebook’s objective of being the ultimate news destination (remember Facebook is currently the largest medium in the world.Bigger than any newspaper or TV channel… ever!)

    3. By capturing current consumer interest Facebook could drive more real time marketing/advertising. Real Time is the goldmine which most advertisers are trying to target.This could probably help them in that direction.

     

    6. Can we as brands tap in at all?

     Apart from brands which are involved in the highly topical stuff like movies, cricket, politics or current events I see this having little benefit to marketers in its current avatar.

     

    So if you are promoting a new movie which will get mass traction on a specific day or a politician gets talked about a lot on a given day the trending features makes what’s popular more popular , but no it currently can’t make something which people would hardly be interested in trend.

     

    For example, Akshay Kumar’s new movie ‘Holiday’ probably reached out to a much larger audience since it was trending across the home page of millions of people who logged onto Facebook yesterday in India. On the other hand, over the last two weeks this was one of the few movies which was trending. Parineeta Chopra started trending post the release of her movie when her performance was appreciated and not like this case when the trailer/movie was released. (Since obviously an ‘Akshay Kumar’ release has more interest to begin with)

     

     

     

    7. Does that mean we should # everything and talk about current events?

     No,definitely not!

     

    The challenge for Facebook is that most users do not make their profile public or allow everyone to follow them. Thus typically brand pages and a few users  (usually celebrities) are the only ones which will be visible when we click on a trend. This would mean brands or celebrities which talk about current news will have more clicks.

     

    CCL has no conversations from my friends list or pages I like

     

    Brands can definitely talk more about current events and post news but hopefully most social media agencies won’t be dumb enough to do that.Since:

    1. They will end up alienating their current user base by appearing more of a news site rather than what the brand is about

    2. Even if they do that they will end up competing with news sites & may not even appear on the first page which completely defeats the purpose.

     

    8.Given Facebook’s popularity in India, will this launch pose a bigger challenge for Twitter in India?

    Not quite .The nature of the products (Their current definition of trends) is different. Facebook Trending aggregates the headlines of the day, while Twitter Trending Topics check the pulse of the moment.

     

    Also since most content on Twitter is public and therefore I see opinions from people I know or have heard of (thus more personalization) whereas Facebook because of its privacy settings will be more restrictive & thus less personalized.

     

    The trend for Facebook seems more in its goal of being a one stop news source rather than a brand medium. Brand messages will come up when Facebook as a news source is firmly established in the minds of the consumer.

     

    And frankly considering the fact that it’s the largest platform in history seems quite possible, but definitely not now. Not this quarter or in the next six months.  That’s all one can predict on the internet!

     

    Saurabh Parmar is Founder, Brandlogist Communications (www.facebook.com/Brandlogist) and is a visiting faculty at Indian Institute of Mass Communications