MxMIndia

Category: NEWS

  • Dutch agency's design on Flipkart’s Private Label wins rave reviews

    Yellow Retail unveils Digiflip Pro for Flipkart

    By a correspondent

     

    Yellow Dress Retail, part of the Brand Dialogue group continues its winning streak in India and has launched flipkart’s latest Digiflip Pro. The tablet is the first from Flipkart’s private label stable and has received good reviews especially for its innovative brand and package design by Yellow Dress Retail.

     

    Yellow Dress Retail’s Marcel Gort said, “The package is ‘the silent salesman as packaging is the only real contact left with your customer apart from the site itself. Yellow Dress Retail provides branded packaging for all private labels under Flipkart and supports the brand in conceptualising and creating private labels in various key categories. This creative collaboration with Flipkart has begun with DigiFlip Pro and we are confident that this will support both the organizations in leaving a lost lasting impact.”

     

    Speaking about the combined project, Willem Woudenberg, Founder & CEO, Brand Dialogue, said, “Flipkart is a market leader in many ways, with Digiflip Pro Flipkart has made sure it beats the herd for now. The look and feel of Digiflip Pro is linked to the Digiflip design in a way, to show that it’s a family. The use of the color orange in both logo designs and the white background is simple yet premium, which is in line with the top A-brands but at the same time it does not lose its own charm.”

     

    Pradeep Dodle, Director – Retail (Tablets), Flipkart added, “We launched our private label brand DigiFlip in mid year 2012 and with DigiFlip pro, we are expanding our offerings. The tablet is in response to the growing demand for quality devices at great prices. To add to its appeal, we are working with the international design firm, Yellow Dress Retail to provide simple yet upmarket packaging for the product. ”

     

    Flipkart has priced the dual-SIM tablet, Digiflip Pro XT712, at an affordable rate of INR 9,999. Digiflip Pro comes backed with additional benefits, where buyers will get shopping benefits worth thousands by shopping from the Flipkart app on the tablet. With 1.3 GHz quad core Cortex A7 process and dual SIM 3G calling features, the tablet will be provided to the customers with an after-sales provision which will be handled through a network of more than 120 service centres across 13 cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad along with the usual Flipkart benefits such as cash-on-delivery and a 30-day replacement policy.

     

  • The TVC works in tandem with new Packaging, Print, Outdoor and Point-of-sale

    FCB creates new campaign for Sunfeast Marie Light

    By a correspondent

     

    A new commercial created by FCB Ulka marks the relaunch of ITC’s Sunfeast Marie Light Oats. The TVC works in tandem with new Packaging, Print, Outdoor and Point-of-sale.

     

    This animated film brings alive the key ingredients in the product as characters. Oats is portrayed as an energetic woman and wheat grains as a dynamic man, hence bringing alive the ‘lightness’ associated with Sunfeast Marie Light. The choreography captures the sheer emotion of feeling light.

     

    Product attributes like extra added Oats, wheat and extra fibre, crispiness and lightness is woven into the storyline. Music adds to the overall mood and underscores the brand baseline, ‘Eat Light. Live Light’.

     

    According to Dharmesh Shah, Creative Director, FCB Ulka, Bangalore, “The TVC interestingly showcases the coming together of oats, wheat and added fibre and thus adding lightness to the life.  The TVC also portrays the protagonist as being ‘light’ in attitude”

     

     

  • The Advertising Agencies Association of India will felicitate veteran adman Ramesh Narayan with the Lifetime Achievement Award on July 24 in Mumbai

    AAAI to felicitate Ramesh Narayan with Lifetime Achievement Award

    By A Correspondent

     

    Ramesh Narayan

    The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), the apex organisation of advertising agencies in the country, will felicitate veteran adman Ramesh Narayan with the Lifetime Achievement Award this year.

     

    The felicitation will happen on Thursday, July 24 in Mumbai.

     

    Mr Narayan, who runs Canco Advertising, has led various industry bodies like the AAAI, the Advertising Club, the International Advertising Association India Chapter and the Federation of Advertising Association.  As a thought leader in the fraternity, Mr Narayan would also write for various periodicals including a column on advertising in Mid-Day some years back.

     

  • Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd has bought over the European television giant RTL's stake in the joint venture that ran the channel Big RTL Thrill.

    RBNL acquires RTL stake in broadcast jv

    By A Correspondent

     

    Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd has bought over the European television giant RTL’s stake in the joint venture that ran the channel Big RTL Thrill.

     

    According to sources close to the development, the stake sale happened in June 2014 and an application has been made to the I&B ministry for a name change.

     

    It may be recalled that RBNL had inked a 50/50 jv with the RTL group in 2011 for the launch of thematic action-oriented channels in the country.

     

    The channel, the source told MxMIndia, will now see renewed vigour with loads of original Made-in-India content.

     

  • Amul has become the Official Sponsor of the Indian team in the category of Dairy products

    Amul to sponsor 2014 Commonwealth & Asian Games

    By A Correspondent

     

    Amul has announced its sponsorship of the Indian contingents to the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, Incheon, South Korea by signing a MoU with the Indian Olympic Association. The MoU was signed by Shri Rajeev Mehta, Secretary General, IOA and Shri R S Sodhi, Managing Director, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (Amul) in a function graced by Shri Rakesh Gupta, Joint Secretary and Anil Khanna, Treasurer, Indian Olympic Association.

     

    Amul has become the Official Sponsor of the Indian team in the category of Dairy products.

     

    R S Sodhi

    Announcing Amul’s support for the Indian contingent to both these prestigious sporting events, R S Sodhi, Managing Director GCMMF said “Amul is committed to strengthening the support to sports in various forms and encourage young generation from all corners of the country to take up sports. I take great pleasure and pride in announcing our sponsorship of the Indian contingent to the XX Commonwealth Games and the XVII Asian Games.”

     

    Explaining the rationale of this association, he said that milk is nature’s original energy drink and plays a pivotal role in building the physical and mental strength of the athletes. Amul has embarked upon an “Eat Milk with Every Meal” campaign to highlight the importance of milk and dairy products like cheese, yogurt, butter, ghee, paneer etc. in the daily diet. India is the largest producer of milk in the world and Amul is not only India’s but Asia’s largest milk brand. Further, he said that this association and activities around it will help in engaging the kids and youth so that they can enjoy a healthy life.

     

    Amul has associated with sports events like football, Cricket World Cup and Formula 1 to engage the youth. Sodhi mentioned that the Amul had sponsored the Indian contingent to the London Olympic Games in 2012 which was India’s most successful Olympics. With the kind of investments made by our country to select, nurture and train the best athletes, we are confident that Indian contingents  to the forthcoming Commonwealth and Asian Games will deliver their best ever performances and make our country proud.

     

    Lauding Amul’s support to the Indian Olympic contingent, Shri Rajeev Mehta, Secretary General, IOA said “This support to the Indian sports will go a long way and further strengthen the bond between Amul and IOA and leave a longer lasting impact on the sports lovers and sports persons”.

     

    Amul will launch a series of advertising campaigns for milk and various dairy products to promote this association in the coming months.

     

    The XX Commonwealth Games will be held at Glasgow, Scotland from July 23 to August 3 and the XVII Asian Games scheduled to be held at Incheon, South Korea from 19th Sept- 4th October, 2014.

     

  • Senior marketer and corporate analyst Sanjeev Kotnala lists the 11 takeaways from the FIFA extravaganza that ended this morning

    Sanjeev Kotnala: 11 Learnings from the World Cup

     

    By Sanjeev Kotnala

     

    The sudden vacuum post the final last night brings alive the whole World Cup alive in short burst of captured moments. And in the process filter with ease and least effort some learnings that are tough to miss out.

     

    1. YOU CAN’T CREATE A TEAM IN MIXER GRINDER. Brazil is the case in point. Other than 4-5 of its team members all play for different European clubs. Ingrained in them are a mix of different styles and tactic. Contrast this with Robben and Persy, the smooth comfort of dependency and confidence is visible to naked eyes

     

    2. INDIVIDUAL BRILLIANCE IS NOT ENOUGH. Football is a perfect example of teamwork in an organization. Success only comes when the team performs as one single unit. You cannot have 2-3 stars and expect to win. Even Messi’s brilliance is no answer to German teamwork. And Neymar alone can not be credited for Brazil reaching the semis.

     

    3. REJUENATE OR FAIL. Teams without differentiated strategy and approach have perished in the initial test. Teams investing to adapt to the new defined needs have flourished. The surprise factor will always (read most of the times) work. Luis Felipe Scolari’s commitment and confidence in an old style with hardly any innovation presented it as a known enemy to other teams. Easy to work out.

     

    4. SEX HAS GOT NOTHING TO WINNING THE MATCH. Throw away the old theories that blame sex with the loss of power and stamina. Now that the teams with sex-curfew or allowing non-acrobatic passion falling in the way. This means that others benefited from relaxed norms. QED

     

    5. TOUGH TO CHANGE THE NATURE. Don’t expect a player known for repeated violent offence to change his colours. Don’t expect people to perform duties that they have not been prepared for. But expect them to raise their level in their area of expertise. Luis Suarez is a classic example of frequent burst of this nature and Robben the rising in level of expertise.

     

    6. INERTIA – MOMENTUM MATTERS. What better example than the Netherland’s defeat of Spain or Spain’s defeat by Netherland. Look at it any way. The team’s future performance was coded that very day. The semifinal Brazil Vs Germany, the heartbreaker 11th minute goal by Thomas Muller which opened the gates for another 4 in 6 minutes.

     

    7. EMOTIONAL CHARGE A TWIN-SIDED SWORD. Over hype and expectation a pressure that the players are expected to carry at this stage. And I suppose that Brazil would have been okay if Neymar was out of the match due to red / yellow card. But the purely unintentional incident in quarterfinal, the injury and the relayed expectation charged the environment. It was too much and pushed them back- as everyone wanted to be the savior. They simply lost the objective.

     

    8. CONSUMERS DEMAND QUALITY. Much nearer home. The broadcaster lazy start of Café Rio with novice masquerading as experts was one such move, that the channel had to change later. And I think the outcry against Robben dives ensured that it was missing in the semis though there were possibly galore.

     

    9. RISK IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE GAME. Be it the formation- substitution or change in tactic. Until unless you are willing to take risk the rewards may not accrue. The last-minute substitution of the goalkeeper was termed a master stroke- but what if it had failed. You take conscious open-eyed risk and are willing to live with the results.

     

    10. LUCK IS IMPORTANT: No team better demonstrate this than the other finalist- Argentina. They have been scrappy and just about making through the stage. But sooner or later the luck will start siding with the talent.

     

    11. IT IS A YOUNG GAME : I guess that the average age of stars is coming down. The young talent is challenging the strong hold of tacticians. Neymar, James Rodriguez, Paul Poga, Memphis Depay are just a few of the names that have shown a different level of passion, commitment and hunger.

     

    DISCLAIMER: football is not my game. But this World Cup was my most watched cup. And that would take me to expert level-licence to comment. The above are the list of professional learning even an amateur like me could not miss out.

     

  • LinTeractive would be offering a host of solutions including creation of a new website, SEO, SEM, etc

    LinTeractive wins digital marketing responsibilities for Saint-Gobain Gyproc

    By a correspondent

     

    Saint-Gobain Gyproc India, which manufactures an extensive range of Gypsum boards and plasters systems and solutions for partitions, wall panels, ceilings and internal wall linings has announced the appointment of LinTeractive as its digital AoR.

     

    Gyproc has been working with Lowe Lintas as its creative agency for some time now and found it fitting to pass on the digital mandate to the agency’s digital arm, LinTeractive. LinTeractive would be offering the following suite of services to Saint-Gobain Gyproc India Ltd. including creation of a new website, SEO, SEM, Digital Media Planning & Buying, Social media marketing and Digital campaign creation.

     

    On choosing LinTeractive as its digital agency, NE Subramanian, Head of Marketing at Saint-Gobain Gyproc India Ltd. said, “The choice of LinTeractive was influenced by the fact that it is a partnership with Gyproc’s ATL agency (Lowe Lintas). This was seen as an important factor in ensuring the work across mediums was integrated and spoke the same language to the consumer.”

     

    Adding further on the partnership, Subramanian said that the teams handling Gyproc across both agencies, LinTeractive and Lowe Lintas, are working closely to ensure that the brand message is being delivered seamlessly. “This includes creating a 360 degree campaign for Gyproc where the mass media work creates awareness and leads consumers to the Gyproc website where they are given more specific information that helps them in their decision-making journey. The campaign has been developed with this on and offline interaction as the focal point, making the partnership with LinTeractive integral to its success,” noted Subramanian.

     

    Vikas Mehta

    Commenting on the association with Gyproc, Vikas Mehta, CMO – Lowe Lintas + Partners & Head of LinTeractive said, “Gyproc is another great opportunity for us to build a seamless brand story on and offline. It’s tempting to assume that a category like gypsum boards should be largely B2B and hence boring. We believe Gyproc has the potential to move the conversation from Gypsum boards to great-looking-ceilings. We are delighted to partner Gyproc in the journey and look forward to playing a role in creating business success for the brand.”

     

    Gyproc India is part of the Euro €43 billion Saint-Gobain Group, the world’s leading manufacturer of ceilings, drywalls and gypsum plasters. The company is a pioneer in introducing lightweight interior construction practices in the Indian market, and its products and systems are the preferred choice of companies, builders, interior decorators and end consumers.

     

  • Radio City Fusion is a station that combines ethnic roots with new-age urban sounds seamlessly synchronized with one another to enhance the listening experience

    Radio City launches Radio City Fusion

    By A Correspondent

     

    Radio City has announced the launch of Radio City Fusion.

     

    The folk music experienced in India boasts of a huge cultural diversity becoming an indispensable component of one’s lives. With renowned singers like Kailash Kher, Salim – Suleiman, Talvin Singh, Wadali Brothers, Papon, Sonu Kakkar, Shafqat Amanat Ali, Susheela Raman, Bickram Ghosh, Advaita, Rahul Sharma and many others Radio City Fusion presents a plethora of songs combining the magic of these creative geniuses.

     

    Popular tracks like Piya Bavari by Abhijit Pohankar, Tere Bina – Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Michael Brook; Kandisa – Indian Ocean; Kattey – Ram Sampath, Hard Kaur, Bhanvari Devi; Madari – Vishal Dadlani, Clinton Cerejo & Sonu Kakkar are all handpicked selections of urban folk music by the best artists across genres. Radio City Fusion is a station that combines ethnic roots with new-age urban sounds seamlessly synchronized with one another to enhance the listening experience.

     

    Rachna Kanwar

    Rachna Kanwar, Business Head, Digital Media & New Business, Radio City 91.1 FM said, “As we march ahead with newer genres in our bouquet of Web Radio stations, the expectations of our listeners are also growing. We are happy to fulfill one such expectation with Radio City Fusion that marks our entry into the space of folk fusion.  Radio City Fusion plays music that beautifully blends Indian sounds with western music forms. Fusion helps the reach of folk music and makes it more palatable to a wider audience. One of the reasons why many of us are familiar with a wide variety of Indian folk music today is because of the fusion songs on our playlists. With the launch of Radio City Fusion, the listeners now have a wider choice to listen to differentiated music available on all the stations of planetradiocity.”

     

    Radio City Fusion is the latest addition to the ever-growing music portal after Radio City Classics. Radio City Dance, Radio City International, Radio City Love, Radio City Malayalam, Radio City Tamil, Radio City Smaran, Radio City Freedom, Radio City Indipop, Radio City Hindi & Radio City Fun Ka Antenna.

     

  • McAfee LiveSafe service addresses security threat in the era of multi-device usage

    McAfee survey reveals interesting facets of Indian internet users

    McAfee has released its ‘Digital Assets Survey’ which reveals that Indian internet users place an indicative value of Rs 25 lakh on their owned digital assets stored across their digital devices. The survey also showed that almost half of the respondents use 3 to 4 connected devices on average; but do not adequately secure each of them.

     

    With multi-device usage becoming mainstream in India, the need for comprehensive and all-in-one security protection across devices becomes paramount. McAfee’ LiveSafe service addresses the need, as the industry’s first unlimited cross-device security service that uses cutting-edge facial and voice recognition technology that is poised to protect users’ digital lives.

     

    The relevance of this solution is further substantiated by the results of McAfee’s ‘Digital Assets Survey’ which was aimed at analyzing the perceived worth of digital assets of Indian respondents and evaluating awareness levels to protect such precious data. Some of the other interesting findings from the survey include-

     

    } India has the second highest perceived value of their total digital assets, with an average cited value of US$ 41,589 (Rs 25 lakh) preceded by North American (U.S. and Canada) having an average cited value of US$ 52,154 (Rs 31 lakh).

     

    } 60 per cent store digital assets on devices that would be impossible to re-create, re-download or re-purchase

     

    } 62 per cent of respondents claimed that they do not protect smartphones with comprehensive security

     

    } 85 per cent of respondents claimed that they do not protect tablets with comprehensive security

     

    “With the proliferation and adoption of multiple internet enabled devices in Indian households, there is a compelling need to store and secure personal data and identity across all the devices,” said Jagdish Mahapatra, MD, India and SAARC, McAfee, part of Intel Security. “McAfee and Intel are jointly dedicated towards plugging this need with cutting-edge solutions that deliver unprecedented data protection across multiple devices with simplified security management. With McAfee LiveSafe service, we are leading the way to deliver the most complete and deepest protection available with innovative features to protect all devices, identity and personal data of our customers so they can connect with confidence.”

     

  • His key mandate will be to drive growth for the group in the Western region

    Havas Media appoints Hans Mathews as ED

    By A Correspondent

     

    Hans Mathews

    Havas Media India has appointed Hans Mathews as Executive Director of its West India operations. He will be based out of Havas Media’s Mumbai office.

     

    While Hans will manage the agency’s Mumbai office, his key mandate will be to drive growth for the group in the Western region.

     

    Hans joins with seventeen years of experience in the industry, having worked with international agencies in India, MENA and Malaysia. Most recently he was the Chief Client Officer at Mindshare Malaysia where he led Ford’s regional APAC media team managing partnerships with digital and content partners. He was also responsible for managing brands like UL, Maxis, Kraft, Nestle and HSBC. Prior to this Hans has held leadership roles at Mindshare India, Zenith Optimedia and other leading agencies.

     

    Anita Nayyar

    Speaking on the appointment, Anita Nayyar, CEO, Havas Media Group India and South Asia said, “Hans has a rich industry experience working across multiple blue chip brands in different categories. He has been in many leadership positions and has managed critical client relationships. This along with his business development ability makes him ideal to head our Western operations. We are very happy to have him with us.”

     

    “Mumbai and the Western region are at the core of Havas Media India’s operations. Our business in the region has grown tremendously over the years and today we are handling very prestigious clients in that market like Parle, Quikr and many others. Hans, with his astute leadership, will propel our operations further. We warmly welcome him”, added Mohit Joshi, Managing Director, Havas Media India.

     

    Mohit Joshi

    On his new role, Hans Mathews, Executive Director, West said, “I am delighted to be a part of the dynamic Havas Media team which has witnessed great momentum in the last few years. I find the agency’s positioning around Meaningful Brands engaging and think the framework offers brands tremendous opportunities to communicate effectively. I am looking forward to contributing to Havas Media’s western operations and taking the business to the next level.”

     

  • A peek into the data thrown up by Facebook's data team from the conversations of the 2014 FIFA World Cup

    WCup on Facebook: 31 days, 3 billion interactions

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    The 2014 edition of the FIFA World Cup was special. While the social media existed in the 2010 edition, it played a huge rule in the build-up to the tournament and while it was on, and even after the final whistle was blown. Facebook’s data team looked at the overall conversation for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, along with the top social matches and moments, demos, countries, most-talked-about players, and the most-engaging content posted by World Cup athletes. The tournament was a unique moment for Facebook, which measured the highest level of conversation for any event in history.

     

    From June 12 – July 13, 350 million people joined the conversation on Facebook, generating 3 billion interactions (posts, comments and likes) related to the World Cup. About 88 million people generated 280 million interactions for Sunday’s final between Germany and Argentina, making the match the single most-talked-about sporting event in Facebook history.

     

    The stats include:

    Most Social World Cup Matches

    1. Germany vs. Argentina final (88 million people with 280 million Facebook interactions)
    2. Brazil vs. Germany semifinal (66 million people with 200 million Facebook interactions)
    3. Brazil vs. Croatia opening match (58 million people with 140 million Facebook interactions)
    4. Argentina vs. Netherlands semifinal (39 million people with 83 million Facebook interactions)
    5. Brazil vs. Chile round of 16 match (31 million people with 75 million Facebook interactions)

     

    Most Social World Cup Moments

    1. Brazil vs. Germany semifinal (29′): Sami Khedira scores Germany’s fourth goal in seven minutes, giving them an inconceivable 5-0 lead with a full hour remaining in the match.
    2. Germany vs. Argentina final (full time): The final whistle blows, crowning Germany as World Champions for the fourth time.
    3. Brazil vs. Germany semifinal (26′): Toni Kroos scores his second goal of the match, increasing Germany’s lead to 4-0 over a stunned Brazil team and home crowd.
    4. Germany vs. Argentina final (113′): Mario Götze scores from a beautiful Schürrle cross to give Germany a 1-0 lead over Argentina deep in extra time.
    5. Brazil vs. Croatia opening match (29′): Neymar scores his first World Cup goal, and Brazil’s first goal of the match, to level the score 1-1 with Croatia.

     

    Most Talked About Players

    1. Neymar (Brazil)
    2. Lionel Messi (Argentina)
    3. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
    4. Luis Suárez (Uruguay)
    5. David Luiz (Brazil)
    6. Júlio César (Brazil)
    7. Thomas Müller (Germany)
    8. Mesut Özil (Germany)
    9. Hulk (Brazil)
    10. Arjen Robben (Netherlands)

     

    Honorable Mention:  Mario Götze (Germany)

    Top 5 countries in terms of unique people:

    1. Brazil: 55 million people in Brazil joined the conversation about the World Cup from June 12 – July 13
    2. USA: 48 million people in the United States joined the conversation about the World Cup from June 12 – July 13
    3. Mexico: 19 million people in Mexico joined the conversation about the World Cup from June 12 – July 13
    4. Indonesia: 18 million people in Indonesia joined the conversation about the World Cup from June 12 – July 13
    5. India: 14 million people in India joined the conversation about the World Cup from June 12 – July 13

     

  • The Adclub database has names from the domains of Advertising, Media, Marketing, Research, PR/Communication and Digital

    Ad Club attains a new milestone

    Being backed by a host of leaders and members from the ad industry, The Advertising Club attained another milestone as it announced about 825 out of 1300 members being registered as Life Members.

     

    Bipin R Pandit

    Bipin R Pandit, COO, The Adclub shared, “The Adclub Secretariat has its sight set on maximizing the count of Life Members. It is focussed and religiously follows a system that helps us to identify potential members from the industry. Post that we send out an email to them communicating about Adclub, its activities and benefits of enrollment.”

     

    While most of them immediately send their forms, in a few cases the Club has to be relentless in its pursuit, he noted.

     

    Today, the Adclub database has names from the domains of Advertising, Media, Marketing, Research, PR/Communication and Digital.