MxMIndia

Category: NEWS

  • Paritosh will continue to report to Nakul Chopra, CEO South Asia

    Paritosh Srivastava promoted to COO Publicis Ambience

    Paritosh Srivastava
    Nakul Chopra

    By A Correspondent

     

    Publicis has announced the promotion of Paritosh Srivastava to Chief Operating Officer for Publicis Ambience. Paritosh will continue to report to Nakul Chopra, CEO South Asia and will join the Management Board for Publicis Worldwide in India.

     

    Making this announcement Nakul Chopra commented, “This is a well-deserved promotion. For over three years now Paritosh has led Publicis Ambience admirably. The improvement in talent and quality has been remarkable – the growth has been outstanding. With further empowerment in his new role – I have no doubt he will take Publicis Ambience to new heights.”

     

    Bobby Pawar
    Partha Sinha

    Bobby Pawar and Partha Sinha in a joint statement said, “In Paritosh, we have a champion of great work. He is ready to push boundaries and rally around great work both internally and externally. This, coupled with his energy and charm makes him a great leader. We are delighted that he is getting bigger responsibilities and being entrusted with furthering the Publicis agenda in India.”

     

  • Uniquely integrates social video strategy, production, distribution, marketing and technology to help brands engage with consumers using social video

    To the New launches Video+

    By A Correspondent

     

    Digital solutions provider TO THE NEW has launched their innovative VIDEO+ offering at the MIPCOM 2014 in Cannes, France. The new solution innovatively integrates brand solutions, content creation, operations, cloud-based platform development and proprietary tools for marketing and analytics. The solution is designed to offer brands end-to-end digital video capabilities, enabling them to leverage the power of video to help drive consumer awareness, engagement, and conversion.

     

    Digital video sharing is growing at a fundamental rate. Fast Track Asia, especially, is expected to grow to twice the size of the US market over the next 3 years, which is a USD $10 billion market currently. Over half of 18-54 year olds share video online as per eMarketer. A recent report from comScore reveals that online buyers are 64 per cent more likely to buy a product after watching a video. Also, Nielsen claims that over 60 per cent marketers believe that videos will dominate their communication strategy moving forward. With the rise of video sharing, brands in the Asian market are looking for one-stop partners who can help them tap this opportunity.

     

    ‘TO THE NEW VIDEO+’ solution offers brands end-to-end video capabilities ranging from conceptualizing brand campaigns to creating and crowdsourcing original video content, building and managing video-on-demand platforms, live streaming, digital video operations management, monetization and distribution of video content. The solution is underpinned by proprietary technology and also offers in-depth viewership and audience analytics for video platforms,” said Puneet Johar, CEO, TO THE NEW.

     

  • Star Sports acquires rights to telecast IPTL

    Star Sports acquires rights to telecast IPTL

    By A Correspondent

     

    Moving ahead with the philosophy of fostering a multi-sport culture in India, STAR Sports has acquired the rights to telecast the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL). The acquisition of IPTL rights is in line with the STAR Sports objective of fulfilling India’s growing appetite for non-cricketing sports such as Tennis, Hockey, Badminton and Kabaddi.

     

    The IPTL is slated to kick start from November 28, 2014. It is a key marquee event that will bring together current champions, tennis legends and upcoming talent in a format that’s never been seen before. The league is being organized by the 12-time doubles and mixed doubles Grand Slam Champion and winner of 52 ATP doubles titles – Mahesh Bhupathi with an intention to fulfill the increasing demand for top-level tennis in Asia.

     

    IPTL will be played in typically indoor stadiums across four Asian countries – Philippines, Singapore, India and UAE from November 28, 2014 to December 13, 2014. The India leg of the IPTL that is scheduled to be held in Delhi would be witness to Tennis greats like Roger Federer, who would be playing in India for the first time, besides Novak Djokovic, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Tomas Berdych, Goran Ivanisevic and Pete Sampras.

     

    “The International Premier Tennis League is an unprecedented opportunity for sports fans across India to experience the game played by its legends. This is the first time India will play host to some of the biggest names in tennis, and we at Star Sports are extremely proud to be associated with this league. We’re confident that the league will take the game of tennis to much greater heights and further accelerate its development and adoption,” said Nitin Kukreja, President – Sports, Star India.

     

  • The business is estimated at about Rs 15 crore and will be handled out of the Havas Media Bengaluru office

    Havas Media India wins integrated media duties of Assetz

    Ben Salmon

    By A Correspondent

     

     

    Havas Media India has been awarded the integrated media duties of Assetz Property Group in Bengaluru. The business is estimated at about Rs 15 crore and will be handled out of the Havas Media Bengaluru office.

     

     

    Mallanna Sasalu

    Commenting on the association, Ben Salmon, CEO of Assetz Property Group, said, “Havas Media had a deep understanding of the real estate market. Their global credentials, thought leadership and cross media experience with digital focus impressed us. Their passion and clear understanding of our brand needs made them our prefered choice.”

     

    “Havas Media has a passionate team and their experience in the real estate domain is quite rich. We are confident we will do great work together”, added Mallanna Sasalu, COO Assetz Property Group

     

    Anita Nayyar

    Speaking on the appointment Anita Nayyar, CEO, Havas Media Group, India and South Asia said, “This is another important integrated media win for Havas Media on the back of our MTS India and World Kabaddi League win. We are delighted to partner with Assetz and contribute to their growth.”

     

    “Assetz has a unique business proposition – it is an interesting brand to work with. Havas Media’s digital at core approach and meaningful brands framework will add a lot of strategic value to the brand”, explained Mohit Joshi, Managing Director, Havas Media India.

     

    Mohit Joshi

    Assetz Property Group is in the business of real estate development and business portfolio management developing projects across residential, commercial and mixed-used asset classes in India.

     

    Havas Media India recently won the integrated media mandate of MTS India, Yepme.com, World Kabaddi League, Borosil India and the digital duties of XOLO mobile and Businessworld magazine.

     

  • Through this alliance, Culture Machine will work closely with What's Trending to create content, featuring talents and brands across the Indian sub-continent

    Culture Machine gets What’s Trending to India

    By A Correspondent

     

    Culture Machine has announced a strategic tie-up with US-based network What’s Trending. Culture Machine will launch the India channel/network for What’s Trending and create exclusive programming under the brand for the region. This strategic alliance will not only strengthen Culture Machine’s leadership in the space but also provide digital consumers with a wide array of international quality content.

     

    Through this alliance, Culture Machine will work closely with What’s Trending to create content, featuring talents and brands across the Indian sub-continent and syndicate What’s Trending India and International content in the region. Culture Machine will use its network strength of over 500 YouTube creators, brands, state-of-the-art production facilities and proprietary technology capabilities to grow the What’s Trending brand in the country.

     

    “Culture Machine and What’s Trending both work with the core objective of creating entertaining, trending and shareable digital video content that reaches out to audiences at scale through powerful, creative and path-breaking digital programming. This alliance is a perfect match. We are delighted to partner with What’s Trending and spearhead the first international digital format partnership in the space,” said Sameer Pitalwalla, CEO, Culture Machine.

     

    Venkat Prasad, COO, Culture Machine added, “Culture Machine’s has a unique unmatched understanding of the India’s digital market and through our proprietary technology we not only understand what the audience sitting online want but have capability deliver it and at scale, consistently, time and again. We are confident of our capabilities of providing the best platform to What’s Trending in India and make the brand grow in the region.”

     

  • The council provides Facebook with invaluable perspectives and ideas to better engage and educate the global creative community

    Ad Club invites Facebook’s Mark D’Arcy to speak

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Advertising Club is organizing an evening meet with Mark D’Arcy, Chief Creative Officer, Facebook Creative Shop on Tuesday, 28th October, 2014 at 6.30 pm.

     

    Mark D’Arcy is the VP, Chief Creative Officer of the Facebook Creative Shop. In this role, he leads a team of creative strategists tasked with creating and building ideas that transform how the world’s largest and most innovative marketers use Facebook to drive business growth.

     

    After two decades working as a writer and Chief Creative Officer in advertising and media, Mark joined Facebook in 2011 to better explore the creative potential of the Facebook platform.

     

    As part of this effort, last year he founded the Facebook Creative Council. Comprised of some of the most highly regarded and influential creative voices in the world. The council provides Facebook with invaluable perspectives and ideas to better engage and educate the global creative community, identify and celebrate breakthrough work and influence how Facebook develops to be an even richer and more engaging place to connect brands with the people they serve.

     

    Prior to joining Facebook Mark spent seven years at Time Warner in New York, as Chief Creative Officer of its Global Media Group. Here he co-developed the first truly creative media arts practice within a global media company designed to better leverage the company’s extensive television, film, print and digital assets for its key marketing partners.

     

    Mark has been widely recognized for his creativity and leadership in the creative industries and regularly speaks all around the world on the subject of creativity in social media, the transformation of marketing, the communication arts and the role and purpose of brands in society. Mark has served as a juror on numerous international awards shows including the CLIO Awards, LIA Awards, The International ANDY Awards and in 2013 served on the inaugural Innovations Lions jury at the Cannes Lions Awards.

     

  • Shoppers log out and step into local stores ahead of Diwali over the last weekend

    Despite e-frenzy, crowds throng malls, markets

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    Malls and markets in and around Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata were teeming with shoppers scouring for Diwali gifts and grabbing the latest electronic items last weekend, bringing relief to traditional retailers facing an unprecedented heavy discounting onslaught from online retailers.

     

    Supermarkets and consumer durable companies said it is a much better Diwali shopping season — when traditionally the biggest chunk of their annual sales takes place — than last year, thanks to improved consumer sentiments, although some smaller retailers have been impacted by big online sales.

     

    “There is a good number of serious shoppers out there,” said William Bissell, managing director at Fabindia. The retail chain of ethnic garments and furnishings has seen a 31 per cent year-on-year jump in its sales so far this Diwali season.

     

    Vineet Jain, vice president for Big Bazaar in the Delhi region at Future Group, said, “Probably, Sunday is going to be the best single-day sale for us in NCR (national capital region).” Even electronics retailers reported sales jump despite huge discounting offered by e-commerce companies such as Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal, thanks to the decision of top brands such as Sony, Samsung and LG to control supply of their top models to online stores.

     

    “This weekend there has been huge rush in malls and parking spaces too are full after a long time, which is a good sign,” said Ajit Joshi, CEO and MD at Tata Group’s Infiniti Retail that owns Croma electronics retail chain.

     

    “Sales have been extremely good, especially for large appliances like frost-free refrigerators and entertainment products like televisions and home theatres,” he said. This festive season all top companies such as Apple, Sony, Samsung, LG and Lenovo have launched their flagship models, and mostly they were kept away from online stores.

     

    “Some consumers were waiting in the wings for good offers during the ecommerce discount period but since they failed to get their desired product, they are back in the malls,” a senior executive at a top electronics chain said on condition of anonymity. Consumer electronics firms have been banking heavily on this Diwali after poor performance last year when consumers shied away from making costly purchases due to the economic scenario and inflation, and marketers did not launch any big model then. Amar Babu, managing director at Lenovo India, said consumer sentiments have improved and the company expects a good season.

     

    “After last year’s Diwali, the market had become really tough but we are witnessing good demand since last 7-8 days,” he said. Sony India said demand for its flat-screen televisions have soared by 40-50 per cent over the period before Diwali last year, helped by a sudden pickup in the last one week.

     

    Sunil Nayyar, head of sales for Sony India, said the company targets 60-70 per cent sales growth this Diwali, led by heavy demand for flat-screen large televisions of 42-56 inches, which segment is expected to contribute 55 per cent of total sales. Garment retailers such as Pantaloons Fashion and Arvind Lifestyle Brands, too, said Diwali sales had a delayed start.

     

    Offline retailers feel it’s is no longer a month-long festive buying phenomenon as Diwali sales period has been shrinking each year. Less number of shopping days doesn’t necessarily mean lower sales.

     

    “While we saw delayed start to Diwali shopping this year, like-to-like sales growth has increased 10 per cent which we had aimed for,” said Shital Mehta, chief executive officer at Pantaloons Fashion. “The growth was much higher at over 30 per cent on Saturday, which indicates that the next few crucial days leading to Diwali will also be good.”

     

    In fact, while people rushed to the malls in the weekend, they have had a near-deserted look during weekdays. J Suresh, managing director at Arvind Lifestyle Brands, said, “This Diwali, there has been a contrast of sorts with low sales during weekdays and better than expected demand on weekends.” Meanwhile, some apparel and electronic retailers that had built up inventory for Diwali have been caught off-guard by the heavy discounting by e-commerce companies.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

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

    Licensed to republish

     

  • The fifth edition of TEDxGateway in Mumbai will happen in Mumbai on November 2

    TEDxGateway conf in Mumbai on November 2

    By A Correspondent

     

    TEDxGateway, an independently organized TED Conference, will take place at the National Centre Performing Arts (N.C.P.A) in Mumbai on November 2, 2014.

     

    Expanding on the spirit of TED’s mission, ‘Ideas Worth Spreading’, the TEDxGateway 2014 conference will focus on ‘Ideas Worth Doing’ by bringing together 25+ speakers from across India as well as around the world. The speaker panel comprises explorers, storytellers, photographers, scientific pioneers, a roboticist, social activist, artist, visionaries and provocateurs from across the globe. All speakers will present their world-changing innovative ideas during their brief 15-minute talks.

     

    Participants and speakers at this one-day event include prominent luminaries and industry leaders such as Arsh Shah Dilbagi, a 16-year-old Google Science Fair finalist; Ramesh Raskar who is an Associate Professor and head of the MIT Media Lab’s Camera Culture; Ramanan Laxminarayan, a Drug Resistance Economist; Ram Subramanian, Film Maker, Founder, Handloom Pictures; Graham Hill, Journalist & Founder of TreeHugger.com and LifeEdited; Naresh Narsimhan and Adam Magyar amongst many others.

     

    The fifth edition of TEDxGateway is expected to draw more than 1500 curated and selected attendees across India.  Attendees of TEDxGateway will include philanthropists, policymakers, industrialists, CxOs, entrepreneurs, creative heads, students, scientists, artists, corporates and bureaucrats from across the nation.

     

    The conference will be held at Jamshed Bhabha Theatre and Lawns, N.C.P.A, Nariman Point Mumbai on Sunday 2nd of November, 2014 from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM and will be simulcast live to 20 locations. Along with this conference, TEDxGateway 2014 is also holding a simulcast for 1000 students and young entrepreneurs at Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) where the students can benefit on no cost basis. After the session, the students will have the opportunity to interact with speakers.

     

    Speaker profiles and more information on TEDxGateway can be found at http://www.tedxgateway.com/

     

  • Lowe Lintas's sequel campaign for Hit Anti Roach Gel urges consumers to 'Just count to 20'

    This Diwali, Godrej crafts a plan to hit cockroaches

    By A Correspondent

     

    With the initial campaign delivering good results for the brand, Lowe Lintas India has unveiled a sequel to Hit Anti Roach Gel that informs consumers to not kill cockroaches, but just count to 20.

     

    While the elements and packaging of the launch campaign in 2012 were clear on how to use the product, , a post-launch evaluation brought to light a fact that some users were not singing praises of the brand as desired. After analysing consumer attitude towards the brand, the team at Lowe Lintas were able to conclude that the unhappiness and doubt on product efficacy stemmed from incorrect product usage.

     

    Sharing his thoughts on the new campaign, Ajay Dang, VP – Marketing, Godrej Consumer Products Limited said, “We have a great product in Hit Anti Roach Gel. We need to ensure that our consumers get best results by using it in the right way. The first film concentrated on creating awareness about a disruptive innovation in the category. This second film is sure to get the message clear, on how to use the product and get a roach-free house in just 20 dots. The film is successful in communicating this message in the typical Hit style.”

     

    Arun Iyer

    Elaborating on the creative approach that was followed for the campaign, Arun Iyer, National Creative Director – Lowe Lintas + Partners said, “While the brief was very functional and product focused; it was important to ensure two key things, we maintained the kind of Hit humour that audiences have come to expect from us and also that every person who saw the film even once was left with the clear message of – minimum 20 dots in each room for best results.”

     

    The campaign will be played across all major television channels and will also take the traditional media routes including outdoor, digital, etc.

     

  • The campaign aims to take forward the legacy of purity & honesty

    Honesty is the best policy, asserts Kinley

    By A Correspondent

     

    Kinley, one of the country’s most trusted packaged drinking water brands, has rolled out its new communication campaign Boond Boond Mein Sachchai. Centred on the theme of honesty and highlighting the importance of trust and transparency in relationships, the campaign reiterates the adage ‘Honesty is the best policy’.

     

    Over the years, Kinley has stood for purity, a trait that has led the brand to become a trusted household name in India. Launched on the heels of Kinley packaging getting a new visual identity in India, the campaign aims to take forward the legacy of purity & honesty. The campaign, by focusing on a few usual everyday events, aims to awaken the realization that you can truly be at peace by being honest.

     

    Talking about the new campaign, Wasim Basir, Director – Integrated Marketing Communications, Coca-Cola India, said, “Water as a category stands on a key pillar of Trust. Kinley has epitomized this through its legacy in India. Moving forward, we wanted to take the conversation around purity to the next level – which is truth – which is what led us to the communication idea of Boond boond mein sacchai.”

     

    He further added, “When we looked inside our society, we found that people did have a tendency to lie a little to avoid an unpleasant situation in everyday life, this gave us a great meeting point of our intent and consumers life-Kitna chain hota hai na sachchai main, Kinley: Boond boond mein sachchai.”

     

    The TVC is created by team O&M led by Ajay Gahlaut with guidance from Piyush Pandey, and directed by Vivek Kakkad of Curious Films.

     

    In-addition to mass media advertising, the integrated communication program will be extensively leveraged through social media and radio.

     

  • The global program recognises financial services firms for the most innovative projects and initiatives in distribution and marketing

    Kotak Mahindra wins Efma Award in Spain

    By A Correspondent

     

    Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB) has become India’s first BFSI company to receive worldwide recognition at the prestigious Global Distribution & Marketing Innovation Awards by Efma and Accenture, in Barcelona, Spain. KMB’s Jifi digital account won ‘Best New Product’ and was awarded runner up in ‘Most Disruptive Innovator’ category amongst over 600 case studies from 250 financial institutions across 69 countries.

     

    The global program recognises financial services firms for the most innovative projects and initiatives in distribution and marketing.

     

    Winners were selected by a combination of votes from a panel of judges composed exclusively of senior retail bankers from around the world and online votes from Efma members, which include 3,300 retail financial services companies in more than 130 countries.

     

    Speaking on the occasion, Deepak Sharma, Executive Vice President and Head – Digital Initiatives, Kotak Mahindra Bank said, “We are excited to be India’s first BFSI company to receive this global recognition. With Jifi, we have truly revolutionised conventional banking in India by seamlessly integrating it with popular social networking platforms. We will continue innovating in the digital banking space to delight our customers and the community with better banking solutions.”

     

  • The consultancy’s mandate will be to conceptualize and implement the best strategic communication routes

    Reliance Games appoints LinOpinion|GH as its PR partner

     

     

    LinOpinion|GH announced that it has won the Reliance Games business in India, in a hotly contested multi-agency pitch. The consultancy’s mandate will be to conceptualize and implement the best strategic communication routes to maximize visibility for Reliance Games and its offerings in the mobile gaming space in India.

     

    Reliance Games, the mobile gaming division of Reliance Entertainment Digital with its presence in over 70 countries is India’s leading mobile game developer.  Some of its block buster hit games include Real Steel, Real Steel World Robot Boxing, Hunger Games, Pacific Rim, Total Recall among others with over 200mn downloads world over. Globally distributed, Reliance Games’ content can be accessed through iTunes, Google Play, Amazon and Windows as well as 80 leading networks across 100 countries worldwide.

     

    Speaking on the association, Roopak Nair, Head of Marketing, Reliance Entertainment Digital said, “LinOpinion|GH brings an eclectic mix of creativity and passion for gaming and we are excited about embarking on this new journey. Mobile gaming is growing at an astounding rate and we would like to partake in the excitement with exciting games that enthrall millions of consumers and foster growth of the gaming ecosystem in India.”

     

    Kavita Lakhani, President, LinOpinion|GH, commenting on the new win said, “We are honored to partner with Reliance Games, India’s leading mobile game development company.  India has a booming mobile gaming industry and majority of its population is below 25 years.  Reliance Games’ key objective is to discover the best young Indian talent from metros and mini metros, to provide them a global platform to showcase their game creativity and development prowess. The PR campaign will focus on helping build brand salience and connect with young Indian game developers and consumers through unconventional and innovative PR ideas.”