MxMIndia

Category: NEWS

  • TSM has plans to reach a scale of 3000 head-ends by the year end spanning more than 2000 towns including key less-than-class-1 towns (LC1 markets)

    Television Street Maps (TSM) expands coverage

    By A Correspondent

     

    TV Street Maps (TSM), What’s-On-India’s newly launched television channel distribution & connectivity monitoring vertical has just announced its aggressive plans to expand its National coverage. TSM recently increased its footprint from 750 head-ends to more than 1000 head-ends spread across 450 towns, up from 220 towns.

     

    “Our goal is to create the widest & largest TV channel distribution monitoring system in the market, and with this latest expansion we have achieved that!” said Joydip Kapadia, Executive Vice President, What’s-On-India.

     

    The move to go aggressive on ‘TV Street Maps by What’s-On-India is considered strategic, especially in the context of dramatic changes expected in the distribution side of the TV business over the next couple of years due to the digitalization regime being introduced by the government.

     

    Given this ground reality, TSM has plans to reach a scale of 3000 head-ends by the year end spanning more than 2000 towns including key less-than-class-1 towns (LC1 markets).

     

    TSM covers day-to-day TV channel monitoring for availability, frequency & changes by head-ends & towns. Its current coverage is 1000+ analogue & digital head-ends across 450+ towns and cities. Mapping includes DTH, Analogue Cable and Digital Cable. Other services include vicinity connectivity, Flash Street News, dispute resolution.

     

  • Analysts expect all leading FMCG companies to post strong results in the fourth quarter ended March and maintain their margins in the current fiscal

    FMCG players upbeat after Q4 sales boom

    By Ratna Bhushan & Sagar Malviya

     

    Consumer goods companies and retailers expect a spurt in demand this fiscal, buoyed by indications of better-than-expected earnings in the January-March quarter backed by a revival in consumer sentiment.

     

    Analysts expect all leading FMCG companies to post strong results in the fourth quarter ended March and maintain their margins in the current fiscal, even as gung-ho investors have pushed shares of most companies to their 52-week high on the Bombay Stock Exchange this month.

     

    “The last two quarters seem to have stabilised in terms of consumption though there have been price hikes,” said A Mahendran, MD, Godrej Consumer Products. The maker of Cinthol soap and Good Knight mosquito repellant expects its fourth quarter earnings to be better than analyst forecasts of 16-22 per cent increase in revenues.

     

    Growth in FMCG product sales signals revival of consumer sentiment over 2011 when market growth slipped to 8 per cent from 12 per cent the previous year.

     

    Companies now look to ride on high-margin products, rural demand and innovations to maintain the growth momentum without taking a hit on their margins.

     

    NO DOWN TRADING

    They are buoyed by the fact that there is no significant indication of down trading, or the trend of switching to a cheaper brand due to price increase, by consumers despite 5-10 per cent increase in prices of daily use items like soap, toothpaste and hair oil. “We have not seen downtrading,” Anand Burman, chairman of Dabur India, which makes Vatika shampoo and Amla hair oils, said. He added that a combination of rural consumption and growth from mass-priced products in urban markets were triggering demand for Dabur’s hair care and oral care products.

     

    But Harsh Mariwala, chairman and MD of Marico Ltd, which makes Parachute hair oil and Saffola edible oils, warned that margins may remain under pressure. “We expect healthy top line in continuation of the previous quarter…in terms of bottom line though, margin pressures will remain because of fluctuating raw material costs and complex global cycles,” he said.

     

    Prices of menthol have shot up 40 per cent over the past two months, while palm oil prices have surged 10 per cent in the last one month. But analysts expect margin pressure to ease with innovation gaining centrestage. Then companies will gradually increase their advertising and marketing expenditure, Edelweiss Financial Services research analyst Abneesh Roy said. “We expect margins to begin slow northward trajectory in the coming months as raw material prices cool off and rupee depreciation reverses,” Roy wrote in a report early this month.

     

    APRIL BOOM

    The country’s top retailer says that retail sales have picked up speed in the past two weeks and expects healthy demand to continue in the next two quarters. “While the January-March quarter was good and grew better than the same period last year with most retail segments growing by high single digits, we are seeing an upsurge in sales in the last two weeks across all formats,” Kishore Biyani, chairman of the country’s largest organised retailer Future Group, said.

     

    He said there is an upsurge in sales of even consumer durables April onwards, adding that Pantaloon, Big Bazaar and Home Town have witnessed high double-digit growth. Apparel, toys and footwear retailer Lifestyle International’s MD Kabir Lumba said its sales grew the most in the fourth quarter. “We have seen a lift from the lower trading conditions of September to November. While we grew 22 per cent overall last year, the fourth quarter grew faster,” he said.

     

    DURABLES STRUGGLE

    Makers of home appliances such as fridges and ACs are, meanwhile, reeling under the double whammy of late summer as well as price hikes. AC sales were down by 30-35 per cent year-on-year during the quarter, while there has been a marginal 3-5 per cent growth for refrigerators. “The overall market is down due to sluggish sales of cooling products. Temperatures are yet to rise to induce AC purchases, while the price increase for input cost and excise too have been a big dampener,” Kamal Nandi, VP (sales and marketing) at Godrej Appliances, said.

     

    Prices of products have gone up by 10-15 per cent due to input cost hikes, upgradation in star ratings for energy labelling and increase in excise duties in the Budget.

     

    While consumer sentiments had improved during the Republic Day period in January due to aggressive discounts and promotions by retailers, sales were muted in February and March. Whirlpool VP (corporate affairs and strategy) Shantanu DasGupta, however, said the new fiscal year has started in positive note. “April has started off okay, but it is early days yet,” he said.

     

    “Individual companies may be growing, but that’s not due to demand. Instead, it’s led by innovation in new launches and distribution gains,” Mr DasGupta added. Electronic firms are now betting more on LCD and LED televisions, washing machines and microwave ovens for growth.

     

    “Flat panel televisions continue growth momentum since this category did not see any significant price changes this year,” Samsung VP (audio-visual business) Raj Kumar Rishi said. Samsung expects sales of summer products like AC and refrigerators to gather momentum in the second quarter.

     

    (With inputs from Writankar Mukherjee and Sarah Jacob)
    Source: The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

     

  • As youngsters go digital, there is need for marketers to not only engage but also offer a unique experience

    Digital is the way to go, but…

     

     

    By Robin Thomas

     

    Consumers in India are evolving rapidly from print and radio to television and now digital. Just when you thought that digital was all about display advertising, bulk SMS, search, email advertising and online classifieds, in came the social media, video advertising, smart phones, tablets, apps, mobile advertising and so on.

     

    According to industry estimates there are 120 million internet users in India today, of which almost 30 per cent are from small towns. While India’s broadband internet penetration is still low, it is believed that the next phase of growth in internet will come from mobile users which are estimated to be over 800 million.

     

    As more and more youngsters gain access to various digital platforms, there is a greater need for marketers to not only engage the young consumers, but they must also be able to give them a unique experience across the digital platforms. The IAMAI (Internet And Mobile Association of India), which held its 8th Marketing Conclave, 2012 – ‘Digital Marketing 3.0’ on April 13 in Mumbai, extensively discussed the role of social media, video advertising and mobile advertising in the near future.

     

     

    Using Social Media:

    Today most companies have multiple social networking sites – Facebook, Twiter, LinkedIn and others. There are separate teams handling social media marketing for the company, but, are brands listening to their consumers? Do they interact and respond to queries and complaints? Do marketers understand the social media and know how to monetize it? Or are brands simply satisfied with the number of ‘Likes’ and views they generate on their social networking sites?

     

    Karthik Nagarajan, National Director, Social and Insights, Group M was of the view that unless one is not ready and mature enough as an organisation for the medium, the organization must stay away from social media.

     

    According to Usha Sangwan, Executive Director, LIC India, what brands lack today is the courage to be transparent, they don’t respond to negative feedback and fail to turn the customer as an advocate of their product. “Brands must not see social media as a mere marketing tool and limit to generating numbers alone, but social media must be used mainly for connecting with the TG and co-creating the product. Brands must try and understand their TG and become a part of their customer’s day to day life.”

     

    Virginia Sharma, Chief Marketing Officer, IBM India hit the nail on the head by stating that brands must have the ability to admit their mistake and apologise to the customer. She admitted that while there is a certain amount of fear among brands to apologise for a mistake committed because it may lead to negative public opinion, but felt it is always better to apologise and rectify the mistake which could lead customers to becoming an advocate of the brand.

     

    Vinay Bhatia, Customer Care Associate and Vice President Marketing and Loyalty, Shoppers Stop added that it a company’s reputation is harmed only when it fails to act responsibly to a complaint made, and not when it apologises for a mistake and tries to rectify it. “The problem with the companies today is that they make policies as if the consumer is a criminal. Accepting a feedback and acting upon it will not harm the brand but, if one chooses to remain silent about a complaint, that’s the worst one can do to his brand.”

     

    Leveraging Mobile Advertising:

    Besides the social media, mobile advertising is another challenge faced by marketers who have more or less failed to leverage the small screen. Sadly, mobile advertising is largely limited to only SMSes. Marketers are said to often mistake mobile as an extension of broadband internet and as a result they fail to give their consumers a unique experience on mobile.

     

    Speaking from a marketer’s point of view, Ajay Kakar, CMO, Financial Services, Aditya Birla Group stated that although the potential for mobile advertising is high, there is still a section of people who have not seen the mobile as an opportunity. He added that mobile industry must follow the ‘Jo dikhta hain, wahi bikhta hain’ policy and evangalise the benefits of mobile advertising. “Content is very important, don’t tells me about your brand, but tell me what’s in it for me? Give me the case study of successful mobile advertising. What I want to know is how much money mobile advertising is making for my brand and for my business? What you must do is to stop saying ‘buy me, buy me’ but, instead tell me ‘why me, why me’?”

     

    With the introduction of 3G and now 4G services, mobile internet is expected to be faster and with high quality content, better mobile applications, much better video and much more. In addition to these, smart phones and tablets are also said to play important roles in the growth of mobile internet in India.

     

    Mahesh Narayanan, Country Head-Mobile, GoogleIndiasaid that there is not only lack of understanding about mobile advertising, but also lack of discussion about mobile as a medium in board room meetings. “The consumer shift is already happening from traditional media to mobile; however, great amount of content for mobile is yet to be created. People are looking for your brand on their mobile phones but, ironically brands are absent on mobile.”

     

    While mobile subscribers will continue to grow and more people will access internet through their mobile phones, the challenge lies in monetizing the medium and to find newer ways to reach out to consumers besides SMS advertising.

     

    Paul Griswold, Director Product Management, Mobile Marketing, Velti was of the view that mobile is not treated as an integrated part of marketing strategy, but is seen as an extension to online. “There has been a failure to take the advantage of the one on one interactivity mobile offers and just sending SMS is definitely not the way.”

     

    The participants outlined not only the problems but also possible solutions. According to Srinivas Mothey, Head Mobile Marketing and Advertising, One97, the first step is to educate advertisers and agencies about the benefits of mobile advertising. Although every advertiser may have a different view about the medium, nevertheless they need to be encouraged to invest in mobile. “We are also encouraging advertisers to create mobile assets and not just mobile apps. We are beginning to see the positive results but, in order to see more results, it may take some more, but the first step needs to be taken.”

     

    Video Marketing:

    Video advertising/ marketing is not a new phenomenon for marketers. Traditionally, marketers are said to be comfortable with video and we have been seeing that on television, and will probably see the same, and in a much bigger way, online and on mobile in the near future.

     

    According to Debadutta Upadhyaya, Vice President, Vdopia Media, there has been over 50 per cent growth in video consumption in the last one year alone, the fourth largest globally. “Unlike other countries,Indiahas made the leap from web to email to social media and now video. There is still a long way to go on the creative aspect because the primary advertising medium of a creative agency has always been television, so creativity in video advertising is bound to take some time.”

     

    As India’s broadband penetration and mobile internet accessibility increases, it would be just a matter of time when video marketing would explode inIndia. Besides online, with 3G and 4G services, video consumption on mobile should be an altogether different experience for users and marketers.

     

    But Shubhranshu Singh, Marketing Director-IndiaandSouth Asia, Visa cautioned: “There is a difference between video on web and video on mobile, and the difference between the two is galloping ahead in terms of content. Perhaps the youngest audience in our country today will watch television online for the first time which could be an opportunity or a threat if we are not ready for it.”

     

    Digital marketing in itself has become 360 degree for marketers. It has gone beyond display and banner advertising, to becoming more interactive and innovative to reach out to consumers. Digital marketing, as the industry players pointed out, is in a transition phase from web, to email and now brands are trying to reach out to their customers through social media, mobile and video.

     

    Marketers must stop considering mobile internet as an extension to online and, therefore, give mobile users unique experience of mobile advertising. Social media must not be seen as a mere marketing but, a medium to interact with their consumers, know their behavior and be a part of their day to day life.

     

    Brands must be receptive to both positive and negative feedback of customers, admit to their mistakes, apologise to the customer and rectify the fault. Digital marketing will undoubtedly grow but, marketers must first be evangalised not only about the benefits of the medium but, also ways and means to leverage it.

    Imaging: Rafiq

     

  • The theme of YCC 2012 was 'Role of Youth: Transforming Dialogue to Action.'

    Young changemakers talk about Change

    By Insiyah Rangwala

     

    The Young Changemakers Conclave (YCC) 2012 was held on April 14 at the US Consulate, Mumbai. Organized by Samyak Chakrabarty, Managing Director, Youth Media Group and team for the United Nations Information Centre forIndia and Bhutan (UNIC), in collaboration with the US Consulate General, and presented by UTV Bindaas, the Conclave which is in its second year, was being hosted in Mumbai for the first time. The key focus point of the Conclave was ‘Role of Youth: Transforming Dialogue To Action’.

     

    The Conclave was attended by 200 young individuals between the ages of 18 to 35 who were selected from diverse backgrounds of the 5000 who applied, to attend this near-day-long event to discuss, deliberate and confer on a wide array of topics while engaging with current day leaders and started off with an address by Mr Peter Haas, US Consul General, who talked about how change wasn’t meant to be easy.

     

    Thereafter a diverse and interesting list of dignitaries addressed the gathering:

    > Mr Suhel Sheth, Managing Partner, Counselage who talked about change being internal and about understanding yourself and changing yourself before the world.

    > Mr Arnab Goswami, Editor-in-chief, Times Now, spoke about how the fear of exposure is what leads to making people want to control the media and how that is a change that should be stopped

    > Mr Agnello Dias, Founder, Taproot spoke about creativity in finance and business.

     

    Other speakers included Mr Sanjay Nirupam and Mr Anurag Singh Thakur, both Members of Parliament who spoke about the importance of educating the youth about politics, and a mix of celebrities from the arts and cinema, sports, advocacy and hospitality. Masaba Gupta, Leander Paes, Rahul Akerkar, Rajeev Samant, Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, Asin Thottumkal, and Awista Ayub, Director, South Asia Program for Seeds of Peace, all of who spoke about their respective journeys to make a change in their own way. Musicians like Vishal Dadlani spoke about using music as an instrument for social change and how it is easier to sneak in a message through music. The event ended with a vote of thanks by Mr Keith Alphonso, Business Head, UTV Bindaas.

     

     

    Keith Alphonso, Business Head – UTV Bindass, talks to MxMIndia about what he defines as a changemaker, the channel’s new look and plans for Bindass

    The word change maker is used a lot nowadays. What do you, and the company, think is a change maker?

    Well, Bindass has always been about change. If you look at the brand, it has changed. This country is on the threshold of an immense amount of change across a variety of levels. I really think that for young people, success is a religion and achievers are their gods. Those who have taken the plunge beyond what society told them, they are the heroes for the kids today. Their achievement is what has identified them as a hero.

     

    Who do you believe are the three top Indian changemakers?

    A: I think it would be a gross injustice to name just three. The only thing that comes to my mind isIndiaitself, and the fact that there is a majority of young people today who are heroes. These are the kids who are going to drive the change, so there maybe 3,000 heroes in small towns who actually go out and do something to make a significant difference to the big guys you see on stage. I think it is the spirit of change that exists among the kids today that will be the changemaker.

     

    Bindass has changed their logo, so any comments about the new look.

    This is the third change we are going through because the audience changes at a supersonic level, there is no such thing as a steady state, especially when dealing with young people. The new look is about the change, so the new tag line- Restless – is about change. It’s about the fact that there is so much opportunity out there, that if you get up and do it now you will succeed and that is the message we want to take across.

     

    Future plans for Bindass…

    To start with the idea behind the new logo is that we celebrate the fact that ‘If you rest less rather than sitting ideal you will be successful and you will achieve’. We want to empower that transformation. We have several platforms through which we want to do it – we have two blockbuster shows coming up: Live Out Loud and Fearless. The brand is all about helping you change, helping you make that move to the better life. On ground we have got a whole string of activities- there is Campus, we’ve got something called the Bindass Buddies, a contact program which helps people get admission to college because that’s a huge problem for a lot of people. We’ve got a 5 city music tour that we are doing. So, the idea is not to do a couple of shows and just be happy. We are looking at the Young India and where we can make a difference.

     

     

  • This initiative will also reward the fans with discounts and freebies at more than 100 partner stores, which have partnered with Deccan Chargers

    Now fans can own Deccan Chargers Team

    By A Correspondent

     

    Deccan Chargers, a popular IPL franchise on Monday announced a unique social media marketing initiative using Mojostreet (www.mojostreet.com) – a popular location based mobile game.

     

    The marketing initiative will allow fans to virtually own the Deccan Chargers team and watch the IPL matches from the Owners Lounge at the Hyderabad Stadium. This initiative will also reward the fans with discounts and freebies at more than 100 partner stores, which have partnered with Deccan Chargers.

     

    Making the announcement, Kalyan Manyam, CEO of Mojostreet said: “We are excited with the way Mojostreet is being used by brands acrossIndia. This unique initiative by Deccan Chargers will take the DC brand closer to its fans and increase engagement. I am sure Mojostreet users will be very excited to grab this opportunity to own the DC team.”

     

    E. Venkat Reddy, COO ofDeccanChargers said: “This is a first of its kind initiative in the world wherein a sports team is connecting with its fans virtually through a mobile game and rewarding them in the real world. We are confident this initiative will greatly contribute to the strong presence of the DC Brand in the digital world.”

     

    To virtually own the Deccan Chargers, a user needs to download Mojostreet on their smartphones (freely available on all major app stores) and then check-in at any of the partner outlets of Deccan Chargers listed on Mojostreet. Once a user completes a check-in, a special offer is delivered right on the users mobile screen.

     

    The same can be redeemed at the outlet in real-time. Users who check-in maximum at partner locations will get to virtually own the DC team and will get a chance to watch the matches from the Owners lounge at the Hyderabad stadium.

     

    Mojostreet (www.mojostreet.com) is a location based game, friend finder, city guide and loyalty rewards all rolled into one app for your smartphone. The app also helps one discover amazing places of their interest based on friend’s recommendations. Mojostreet has an online and mobile version. The mobile app is available for Blackberry, Nokia, iPhone and Android users. One can sign in with their Facebook or Twitter account to access Mojostreet.

     

    Deccan Chargers is an IPL franchise that represents the city ofHyderabadin the Indian Premier League. The Deccan Chargers franchise is owned by the Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited. Deccan Chronicle is the largest circulated daily in South India.

     

    Deccan Chargers turned the tide in their favour by winning the second season of IPL -2009 inSouth Africaand making it to the semi-finals in the IPL-2010.

     

    The Deccan Chargers mascot represents a raging bull signifying strength, power and aggression while the red and gold bands on the flag stand for dominance and victory.

     

  • Riding on the last year's success, ToppsIndiahas once again come out with Cricket Attax 2 to coincide with the IPL 5

    Will Cricket Attax be a hit once again?

    By Tuhina Anand

     

    In its first outing, Cricket Attax, the trading cards on Season 4 of IPL had become a rage among the kids. In fact, its success exceeded the expectation of Topps India Sports & Entertainment Company, the company that brought out the Cricket Attax playing cards.

     

    However, the cards became somewhat a religion especially among the 6-13-years-old, who were busy stocking and trading a Sachin Tendulkar or Shane Warne. It is learnt that last year, the company made millions and that too in double digits. Riding on the last year’s success, ToppsIndiahas once again come out with Cricket Attax 2 to coincide with the IPL 5.

     

    Talking about the product, Sanjeev Katyal, Country Head – Topps India Sports & Entertainment Company, said: “This is a seasonal product and cashes on the popularity of IPL. Last year was our first year with Cricket Attax and, encouraged by the success, we are hoping that this year we will do anything between 3 to 5 times more in terms of numbers. Keeping this as the target, we have tripled our distribution and the cards are available in modern trade, stationery and even in mom n pop stores.”

     

    A pack of 5 cards is priced at Rs15 and as Mr Katyal points that pricing is the key here as affordability is something they kept in mind, considering the TG they are targeting. However, the cards have been given a fresh look as the children will be looking at new stats, thus giving a new look and feel to Cricket Attax 2.

     

    The company has also come out with a new campaign to reach out to its TG, primarily television-led and Mr Katyal points that they have been among the largest spenders on TV in the gaming and toys category on the kids channels last year and will continue with it even this year.

     

    Though refusing to put a number on their marketing spends, he divulged that they take around 800-900 GRPs.  He said, “For the TG that we want to connect with, TV gives us the maximum reach hence that’s the medium we ride on heavily.”

     

    The communication for the TVC states “Hum IPL dekhte hi Nahin Khelte bhi hai boss”, thus conveying that these trading cards give an opportunity to the kids to not just watch the game of cricket but play with their favourite players  and be part of the game. Interestingly, Topps has planned an on-ground championship for Cricket Attax, thus creating a parallel tournament with IPL. The tournament began on April 21 in 9 IPL playing cities and will go to semi-finals and finals. The company has planned new product launches too this year.

     

  • Recent media reports had suggested an equity infusion by Cinepolis, the world's fifth largest multiplex operator with more than 2,500 screens, into Big Cinemas

    Cinepolis in talks to pick stake in Big Cinemas

    By A Correspondent

     

    Mexican multiplex operator Cinepolis is in talks to pick up a significant stake in Reliance ADA Group’s Big Cinemas and later combine its Indian operations with that of Anil Ambani’s multiplex chain, a person involved in the negotiations said

     

    “Cinepolis wants to buy a meaningful stake in Big Cinemas,” the person told ET. The companies will consider merger of operations if the equity deal goes through, the person added on condition of anonymity.

     

    Recent media reports had suggested an equity infusion by Cinepolis, the world’s fifth largest multiplex operator with more than 2,500 screens, into Big Cinemas and a strategic alliance to acquire some of the latter’s cinema halls.

     

    Cinepolis India Joint Managing Director Deepak Marda denied any agreement to merge operations. “We continue to explore synergies with various multiplex operators, including the Reliance ADA group. But we have no such agreement in place,” he said in an email reply to a query. Mr Marda added Cinepolis is exploring good investment opportunities in the cinema exhibition space, including acquisition of companies.

     

    Reliance ADA Group officials refused to comment.

     

    Cinepolis entered India in 2009 and has so far launched 32 screens. Mr Marda said the company has signed contracts to set up more than 400 screens across various cities. An industry source, who did not want to be named, said Cinepolis is talking to other screen operators besides Big Cinemas and that some other acquisitions are likely to fructify faster.

     

    Cinepolis is getting aggressive in India because valuations in the business are dropping to more realistic levels from three years ago when deals happened at very high prices, the person said. “This is the perfect time to make acquisitions.”

     

    Such transactions take a long time to get finalised because the companies need to sort out contractual obligations with builders who lease cinema halls to the screen operators, the person said.

     

    Big Cinemas, the exhibition arm of Reliance MediaWorks, is the biggest movie hall operator in the country with more than 250 screens. It has over 500 screens worldwide.

     

    Other big players in the multiplex space include PVR Ltd, Inox Leisure and Fame, in which Inox has taken a majority stake.

     

    Source: The Economic Times
    Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

  • The key objective of the survey was to factor in all the relevant components so that results reflect all the ideal key considerations of today's MBA aspirant

    Free Press releases annual B-school rankings

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Free Press group of newspapers has released its annual cluster rankings of Mumbai B-schools. The report is ranked in clusters and by specialisation in one of the most detailed surveys conducted.

     

    The specialisations covered are Marketing, Finance, Human Resources, Operations, IT/Systems/Technology. The ranking survey uses proprietary ranking methodology that includes expert inputs from important stakeholders like the corporate sector, faculty, alumni, analysis of some publicly available information, and detailed feedback from academic experts, making this a powerful tool for students.

     

    The survey covers B-Schools based out of Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane, offering a two-year, full-time postgraduate degree or diploma program in management studies. The key objective of the survey was to factor in all the relevant components in the research methodology deployed so that research results reflect all the ideal key considerations of today’s MBA aspirant.

     

    The 23-page report also has articles by senior educationists and counsellors. The full copy of the report can be downloaded at www.freepressjournal.in.

     

     

  • MEC India, Maxus Bangalore and Gemini TV win top honours at the prestigious Festival of Media 2012 awards held in Montreux, Switzerland on Tuesday

    Group M shines as MEC, Maxus, Gemini TV win laurels @ Festival of Media

    By A Correspondent

     

    Three Indian entries won top honours at the Festival of Media 2012 which concluded in Montreux, Switzerland. The awards were presented on Tuesday evening at a gala dinner. While the number of awards won may be only three, it’s noteworthy that these are all the main winners in their respective categories (see box). While two winners were from Group M agencies directly, the third was entered by Gemini TV, but went with a mention of Mindshare in ‘Other Credits’.

     

    Also, the categories themselves indicate the wealth of talent and expertise. MEC India’s ‘Night Hammer’ for Colgate was adjudged winner in ‘Creative Use of Media’.

     

     

     

    CREATIVE USE OF MEDIA AWARD

     

    WINNER

    Title: Night hammer

    Entering Company: MEC India

    Brand: Colgate

    Country: India

    Other credits: Bates India

     

    BEST CONTRIBUTION TO A CAMPAIGN BY A MEDIA OWNER

     

    WINNER

    Title: Making of a Superstar

    Entering Company: Gemini TV

    Brand: Lux

    Country: India

    Other credits: Mindshare

     

    BEST USE OF EMERGING TECHNOLOGY

     

    WINNER

    Title: Light powered media for light powered watch

    Entering Company: Maxus Bangalore

    Brand: Titan HTSE

    Country: India

    Other credits: Titan, KRDS, Kinetic

     

    In ‘Best Contribution to a Campaign by a Media Owner’, a trait that every media agency and advertiser yearns for in a media owner, Gemini TV won the award for ‘Making of a Superstar’ for Lux.

     

    The third award for India was won by Maxus (Maxus Bangalore, to be precise) for ‘Best Use of Emerging Technology’.  Maxus enterted ‘Light powered media for light powered watch’ for Titan HTSE to bag the honours.

     

    The Festival of Media awards are all about rewarding creativity and innovation that is at the heart of effective media communications. The jury, chaired by Mr Michael Donnelly, worldwide interactive marketing director, The Coca-Cola Company, spent two days reviewing the entries and coming to their decisions. “The work was truly inspiring across the board,” Mr Donnelly said in a statement on the Festival of Media website. “The category of Public Service Award was particularly poignant, as was the entries in the Experiential category. These and others, such as Best Use of Content and Creative Use of Media demonstrated outstanding use of strategic thinking and goal setting up front, and then tremendous collaboration amongst clients, agencies, publishers and in many cases technology partners to yield astounding results that will provide learning for all interested parties for many years to come.”

     

    See earlier report and shortlist at: 9 Indian entries in Festival of Media Montreux shortlist

    Link: http://www.mxmindia.com/2012/03/9-indian-entries-in-festival-of-media-montreux-shortlist

     

  • Mr. Kilambi has over 13 years of Marketing and Operations experience in the Media and FMCG industries

    Sriram Kilambi joins BloombergUTV as President

    By A Correspondent

     

    BloombergUTV, India’s premier business news channel announced the appointment of Mr Sriram Kilambi as the President of the channel with effect from April 16. Mr. Kilambi, an IIM-Bangalore alumnus, in his last assignment was Senior Vice-President and National Marketing Head for Radio Mirchi, the FM station of Entertainment Network India Ltd (ENIL). Mr. Kilambi has over 13 years of Marketing and Operations experience in the Media and FMCG industries.

     

    Mr. Harsha Subramaniam, Executive Producer, Bloomberg Television, welcoming Mr. Sriram Kilambi on-board, said: “Sriram is a terrific professional with a strong background in building brands across various platforms. We are excited to have him on board as BloombergUTV gears up to the next level of growth.”

     

    Mr. Kilambi, speaking about his new assignment as President BloombergUTV said: “I am quite excited to be on-board. The channel has made its mark in business news reporting and has seen excellent growth. It is a privilege to be able to work with the amazing team here and I am looking forward to being a part of a wonderful future.”

     

    Mr. Kilambi has earlier worked with Coca Cola India for seven years in various capacities and was instrumental in initiating and implementing key strategic plans for brands like ‘Coca-Cola’, ‘Kinley’ & ‘Georgia’. He also won two awards at the ‘2004 Coca-Cola Worldwide Marketing Awards’ for ‘Best Integrated Marketing Communications Program’ and ‘Consumer Insight with Greatest Business Impact’.

     

    Mr. Kilambi, 35, did his Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Economics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University before joining IIM-Bangalore for his post-graduation.

     

    BloombergUTV, India’s premier Business news channel is a strategic partnership between Bloomberg L.P., the global leader in business information, and the promoters (founders) of UTV,India’s leading integrated media and entertainment enterprise. With an enviable squad of Indian journalists, power of over 2500 professionals across the globe and a network of 145 bureaus, BloombergUTV is a product of local news gathering, production and distribution expertise combined with world class financial news capabilities and global reach. The channel is positioned as an enabler that cuts out the terminology and presents the honest truth.

     

  • This joint bid will combine Hansa's extensive experience of readership measurement in the Indian context with Ipsos' global expertise of conducting readership surveys in 60 countries

    Hansa, Ipsos to jointly bid for IRS in ’13, sign MoU

    By a Correspondent

     

    Hansa Research and Ipsos have entered into an MOU to jointly bid for the new Indian Readership Survey (IRS) contract that starts with IRS 2013. Hansa Research has been conducting the IRS, the world’s largest continuous readership survey for the last nine years i.e. since IRS 2003. This joint bid will combine Hansa’s extensive experience of readership measurement in the Indian context with Ipsos’ global expertise of conducting readership surveys in 60 countries. Through the joint participation, the two companies expect to make a very strong and forward looking pitch for the new IRS contract.

     

    Mr Ashok Das, Managing Director, Hansa Research Group said: “We are happy and excited to work with Ipsos on this prestigious project, and hope to bring in a number of new ideas into the IRS.”

     

    Mr Mick Gordon, CEO of Ipsos inIndiasaid: “We are delighted to be working with Hansa on this very exciting project and we hope we can persuade RSCI that our combination will be a very big plus for the industry. Ipsos measures readership in more than 60 countries around the world and has made a name for itself in introducing many innovations into this specialist area of market research – we were the first to use CAPI and DS-CAPI in readership measurement, for example. We believe we can add significant value to Hansa’s proven expertise and experience on the ground in India.”

     

    Speaking to MxMIndia, Mr. Suresh Nimbalkar, Senior Vice President, Hansa Research Group Pvt. Ltd said that the reason Hansa decided to join hands with Ipsos was to offerIndiathe best possible IRS. “We want to deliver the best possible product and we are working forward to it. We started people meter, IOS, we have continuously innovated and besides we have had a long standing relation with Ipsos. There is synergy between the two and so we decided to collaborate, rethink all aspects of IRS and offer an even better product (IRS) whether in technology, talent, and so on.”

     

    Hansa Research is a global full service market research agency headquartered in India, conducting market research in 77 countries with offices in India and US. Over the last few years, Hansa has developed sound mechanisms to reduce fieldwork related issues that has been widely acclaimed by research users for its ability to minimize some long standing industry weaknesses.

     

  • B2B Connect 2012 was the first such attempt by the network as they bought together marketing enthusiasts

    For LinkedIn, it’s abt being relevant & contextual

    By A correspondent

     

    While social media in India is largely about congregating on two of the busiest portals in the space, mostly for the sake of networking and fun, there is another experience – led largely by B2B marketers – that is setting the business community abuzz for a while now.

     

    Having arrived in India only in 2009, LinkedIn has emerged as one of the fastest growing professional networks in India, being valued by its members as professional, trusted, and creating a remarkably different social environment. Having managed to outperform expectations by clocking over 14 millions+ users in a span of just two years and further generating business leads in the range of 149 million, it was an opportune time for the network in India to get together the community responsible for driving such a change.

     

    B2B Connect 2012 was the first such attempt by the network as they bought together marketing enthusiasts – led largely by blue chip clients, evangelists and practitioners to look into the scope that the medium offered for professionals to liaise, interact, get business leads and even look out for talent – new and experienced. Not wanting anyone from the network to miss out on the excitement, the Indian contingent were even successful in getting the otherwise hesitant global CEO Jeff Weiner to be a part of the event as they got him to kick-start the proceedings with a keynote address.

     

    Mr Weiner began by admiring the efforts and innovations bought in by late Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, who he described as a talent to reckon with. “The reason Apple is what it is, because it managed to find the right talent for the right opportunity. Obviously, it helped in having a team that was as instrumental in achieving the desired objective.” Likewise for LinkedIn, the focus was on making sure that the right talent matched with right opportunity in making the association with professionals more productive and successful. Emphasising on the three key attributes that would drive the network in the future, Mr Weiner said that it would be about creating an Identity, Insight and being Everywhere.

     

    Throwing up impressive numbers put up by the three divisions at LinkedIn, Mr Weiner said that Hiring Solutions contributed about $261 million, Marketing Solutions contributed about $156 million while Premium Subscriptions contributed about $106 million to the overall growth. Overall, the network witnessed a growth in excess of 100 per cent YoY.

     

    Dhiman Mukherji

    According to Mr Weiner, India was at top of the the markets that were putting up an exciting show, as it grew by more than 300 per cent in terms of user base. Drawing from what Mr Weiner had expressed at the event regarding India being a force to reckon with, Dhiman Mukherji, Director, Marketing Solutions said that the focus is on how the network is positioning B2B in the forefront of everything it does.

     

    In an interaction with MxM India, he said: “What has really worked is that we have been able to create a B2B marketplace and this event is a celebration of that. In two years’ time we have been able to leverage with some of the leading brands in India and that is what has helped us take our business to new levels. When I joined the company in 2010, we were at 3 million-odd user base and today we are at 14 million users. So it’s all a result of not only good trade marketing that has happened but a lot of PR communication drive that has taken place. The fact that increasingly people are finding value in the LinkedIn proposition is what is making this medium click.”

     

    Having already created a strong user base in the realm of IT, according to Mr Mukherji, the focus, going forward, would be to break into each and every vertical, including energy, construction, real estate, and so on. In fact, they are already seeing some amount of traction in these verticals as well. “Going forward we would be increasing our focus towards financial, travel & tourism, auto, and others,” he said.

     

    Providing an APAC perspective, Olivier Legrand, Senior Director – Marketing Solutions, APAC said that India’s current hold is such that “some of the most sophisticated campaigns that have been running in Asia Pacific have been coming out of India. The Indian market has proven to be successful from the users’ perspective. Even in terms of the marketers, as they are really leveraging what’s really available on the platform. We have been consistently working with marketers on what are they trying to achieve and how we could help them in their journey,” he said.

     

    On how India stacks up to other Asia Pacific countries for LinkedIn, Mr Legrand said, “APAC and India are very critical for us in achieving our objective of connecting professionals. Of the 150 million professionals that we have connected thus far, about 25 million are from APAC. We are anticipating a big part of the growth in users to come from this part of the world. Other markets that have been delivering good growth include Australia, Malaysia, Korea, Japan.” He further stated that the key markets going forward would be Indonesia and Malaysia.

     

    On comparisons being drawn to other popular social media platforms of today, Mr Mukherji said: “The two pillars that separate us from the rest is relevance and context because at LinkedIn, it is all about being relevant and contextual. It’s about a network of people who are bonding to share insights, to get feedback from each other and really benefit from each other. Our solutions are such that they give marketers an ability to position their brand in a way that it turns out to be productive and in a manner which is in context to whatever is happening around them.”

     

    Mr Legrand has another version to offer. For him, it all boils down to the mission set by the network: “To connect the professionals in a way so as to make them productive and successful. So what we bring is focus, what we bring is professional identity online, what we bring is opportunities for users to connect with businesses.”

     

    According to him, other social media firms deliver different values. “For example, if we look at Facebook, it deals with fun, entertainment, pictures, and so on and is an environment that has an interest for certain categories for users but we are a place for professionals and are very attractive for B2B marketers. So that’s how we are positioned and that’s what’s going to be our focus going forward. We are about providing identity, providing insights and being everywhere.”

     

    When asked on the growth put in by the Marketing Solutions division, Mr Mukherji said: “Where Marketing Solutions is concerned, we have grown by leaps and bounds. Not only has the user base grown but the sheer number of marketers who want to experiment with LinkedIn – that in itself is growing. So we have been growing substantially from where we started off in 2010.” Even the Hiring Solutions and Premium subscriptions too, contribute significantly to its business, he revealed.

     

    As for the goalpost of increasing the user base in India by a large sum this year, Mr Mukherji said: “We are not in a hurry to add more users as its basic philosophy is putting the user first. Have we improved the experience for the existing user – that is the core of our philosophy. If I can make his current experience on LinkedIn better by giving him access on the mobile, i-Pad, smartphones and others that’s what we would ideally like to concentrate on. So yes, we are not in a tearing hurry to get in more users; that will come when the experience in itself sees an improvisation over a period of time and when it starts benefiting our online community at large.”

     

    The event saw an impressive line-up of guests present interesting case-studies and examples of leveraging LinkedIn for deriving success for their brands. Dell, Philips, Citi India, Microsoft, HCL Technologies, Siemens were some blue chip clients who came in good numbers to imbibe meaningful solutions from the meet.