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  • Saevus Wildlife, along with their anchor sponsor, travel products brand Samsonite, has launched Saevus, a premium wildlife and natural history magazine.

    Saevus packs a bag for ecology

    By A Correspondent

     

    Saevus Wildlife, along with their anchor sponsor, travel products brand Samsonite, has launched Saevus, a premium wildlife and natural history magazine.

     

    A two-day launch event at the Little Rann of Kutch saw sessions by eminent guests – Dr Satya Kumar –Professor, Wildlife Institute of India, Sandesh Kadur- Eminent Wildlife Photographer, and Subrata Dutta – Managing Director, Samsonite, South Asia. The focus on the sessions was wildlife photography tips, filming wildlife, mountaineering, wildlife conservation and the association of Samsonite with Saevus. Samsonite’s connection highlights corporate involvement in promoting wildlife and natural history along with a morning safari at the Little Rann of Kutch.

     

    The Little Rann of Kutch is rich in biodiversity and is an ecologically important area for wildlife. Many local and migratory water birds like cranes, ducks, pelicans, flamingoes and land birds like sand grouse, frankolins and the Indian bustard find home at this place.

     

    It has been nominated as a bio-sphere and World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

    Saevus magazine aims at popularizing the beauty and diversity of Indian nature and Wildlife through stunning visuals, and aims at uncompromising quality to capture the imagination of every Indian who loves nature, wildlife and the outdoors.The magazine will be available on stands and specialty bookstores from March 2012. The editorial team includes Sree Nandy-Editor-in-chief, Sandeep Mall-Managing Partner, Santanu Nandy-Publisher and Dhrotiman Mukherjee-Head of Photography.

     

    At the launch of the magazine, Mr Mall said, “Saevus aims at offering its readers a side of wildlife and nature they have never been exposed to.  We couldn’t have thought of a better place than the Little Rann of Kutch to unveil our magazine because here is where the idea of coming out with the magazine was born.”

     

    Subrata Dutta, Managing Director, Samsonite, South Asia said, ”At Samsonite we have believed in stepping out and travelling the world. When this proposal came to us we thought it to be a great platform to showcase ourselves as partners to not just travellers but the various medium that makes one travel. I am hopeful of the great response Saevus will receive and I wish the entire team great success on behalf of Samsonite.”

     

  • Across India Inc, Twitter has fast transformed from an individual tool into a key platform to create and sustain brand buzz

    Nokia, Reckitt etc outsource @Twitter to woo consumers

    By Shelley Singh

     

    Abhishek Roy, a 25-year-old commerce graduate from Delhi University and a diehard believer in social media, has more than 100 followers to his Twitter account. But that’s not the only account the heavy-metal addict operates on the social networking and micro-blogging service. Mr Roy also tweets for a living.

     

    As an employee of Bloggers Mind, a social media-focused start-up that promises to ‘multiply your brand buzz’, Mr Roy spends his working day putting out tweets that typically promote products and services of companies. One of the companies that keeps Mr Roy busy is Nokia, which has outsourced its Twitter handle to Bloggers Mind.

     

    “A great app to become an amazing cook! bit.ly/zo6bvd. Here’s a review of the app from @mynokiablog,” is just one of Mr Roy’s tweets that go out to some 15,000 followers of Nokia India.

     

    In Mumbai, 26-year-old Upasana Sanyal’s typical day is no different. Ms Sanyal, who joined technology services provider Mahindra Satyam six months ago, sends out 300-400 tweets a month. A recent one was on the company’s quarterly results.

     

    Q3, Re dip gains mixed; volatility high,” was the cryptic but crisp message to the twitterati following the company. “Tweets spike around results time or key announcements. It’s a good deviation from the mundane,” said Ms Sanyal, a consultant with Mahindra Satyam.

     

    At Dell India, Suyesh Shankar, 39, a marketing manager for consumer and small- and mid-sized businesses, spearheads the US firm’s social media agenda, which comprises a Twitter team that sits out of the company’s Bangalore-based Social Media Command Centre.

     

    Roy, Sanyal and Shankar are the communicators with the mandate to capture consumer attention in 140 characters. While Mr Roy is with a specialist social media services provider, the latter two are key members of in-house Twitter teams.

     

    Across India Inc, Twitter has fast transformed from an individual tool into a key platform to create and sustain brand buzz. The communications range from customer feedback and new jobs announcements to customer grievances and no-holds barred promotional blitzes.

     

    While companies such as Nokia India, Kotak Securities, Reliance Digital, Reckitt Benckiser and TripAdvisor outsource their Twitter handles, others such as ICICI Bank, Dell, IBM and Flipkart manage it in-house. Other agencies, such as Bloggers Mind, that provide third-party tweets include Convonix, Interactive Avenues and OgilvyOne.

     

    Twitter for most corporates is one link in an integrated marketing chain. “Our Twitter team is an extension of our ‘khayaal aapka’ effort and brings to life our commitment to be where our customers are,” said Anita Pai, senior general manager, ICICI Bank. In a typical month, ICICI Bank monitors 200,000 social media mentions, out of which 70,000 are tweets.

     

    Handset major Nokia India manages between 400 and 700 tweets a month via Bloggers Mind. “We use Twitter to engage with consumers on a real-time basis, share tips, information and address feedback or queries,” said Viral Oza, director (marketing), Nokia India. Bloggers Mind has a nine-member team for Nokia and four for Reckitt Benckiser.

     

    Aditya Vaidyanathan, account director for Nokia at Bloggers Mind, said: “We have a weekly planner with clients as to what messages to send out and how to address queries.” This includes promotional trivia such as: “Did you know that 360,500 text messages are sent out from Nokia phones every second”; or answering queries like: “How do I add new dictionary words to Nokia Lumia?”

     

  • Most big advertisers are shifting their focus beyond metros, particularly towards the rural markets, where radio is seen as delivering better ROIs.

    FM players expect boom in small-town India

     

    By Robin Thomas

     

    Radio has come a long way since the transistor era. Today, listeners have multiple access to FM radio through mobile phones, in-car listenership, particularly during drive time, restaurants, coffee shops and public transport to name a few, an FM radio phenomenon that’s peculiar to urban India.

     

    In addition to this, FM stations are said to earn huge chunk of their advertising revenues from the metros. But all this could change with the soon-to-be-launched Phase 3 that will witness the addition of 839 FM stations in nearly 300 new cities having a population of one lakh and above. This is expected to further increase the reach of private FM stations across the country, which, in turn, will lead to a spike in the advertising share of the medium.

     

    While the metros are saturated with radio players and with advertisers looking for options to widen their nets, industry observers are of the view that the next phase of growth in FM radio will come from the tier 2 and tier 3 cities. This phenomenon, they say, will explode in a big way once Phase 3 becomes a reality.

     

    But before one proceeds to identify how lucrative these markets could turn out to be, it would be ideal to verify the effectiveness that radio stations at these small cities and towns display and whether they carry a certain edge over the other sought-after mediums, television and print, in these markets?

     

    MxMIndia spoke to various industry players, including media agencies, to find out their views on the effectiveness of FM radio in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

     

    Most industry players are of the view that time spent on radio in small towns and cities is much more than in metros like Mumbai and Delhi. Besides, most of the non-metros are said to face a lot of power cuts, hence more time is spent on listening to radio, which becomes an alternative source of entertainment and information.

     

    “Radio is extremely effective in Tier 2 and 3 cities. In the smaller towns, the share of radio is higher than what it is in the bigger towns. In some markets, the share of radio is as high as 20 per cent of the print market. This is a reflection of the effectiveness of radio” said Prashant Panday, CEO, Radio Mirchi.

     

    With such effectiveness in the smaller towns and cities, most big advertisers these days are shifting their focus beyond metros, particularly towards the rural markets. Radio is believed to play an effective and constructive role in delivering better ROIs (Return on Investment) for brands in these markets, particularly as other mediums are either too expensive or do not provide good reach.

     

    “Since the level of activity in these markets is lower than in metros, people have more time to spend with themselves. This is where radio fills the gap. An increase in number of FM-enabled handsets has further increased the consumption of radio,” pointed out Harrish M Bhatia, CEO, MY FM.

     

    “Radio measurement surveys conducted by RAM have proved that the average time spent listening to radio per day is 244 minutes in Nagpur and 206 minutes in Jaipur as compared to 127 minutes in Mumbai and 124 minutes in Delhi (Source: RAM Sweeps 1.0),” he added.

     

    According to Narendra Kumar Alambara, Vice President, Starcom Mediavest Group, Chennai, both retail and national brands will gain by using radio in the smaller markets. While retail will be able to gauge the efficacy of the medium in the market, national brands will be able to tap into these markets with more focus. “Radio is as good as any medium in smaller towns. Given the smaller geographies and the relative newness of FM in these markets, it has that edge, but ultimately the medium has to transcend from being just an entertainment/information media into being a medium that can deliver results for the brand.”

     

    While national advertisers are increasingly flocking to the tier 2 and tier 3 markets, local advertisers such as retail outlets, education institutes, real estate, auto outlets and others are also said to be increasingly advertising on radio. While metros may bring a significant chunk of revenues for larger FM stations, it is learnt that the advertising revenues from tier 2 and tier 3 markets are growing significantly year on year.

     

    The challenges, too, are many for FM radio in these growth markets. The challenges relate to filling up the entire available inventory. Local businesses are not strong enough to fill it up. So radio stations have to rely heavily on business from national clients. Apart from this, for some stations there is the constant battle to keep profitability intact.

     

    R Venkata Subramanian, Senior Director-Investments, MPG India noted: “The is no strong local media in many of these tier 2 and 3 cities, and this is where radio has the potential to be a highly effective and reach building medium. The challenges, however, include the emotional connect with the RJs and how effective the FM station actually is. There is a need for better radio commercials. One other challenge for the radio industry in these markets is the lack of a good credible measurement system, which will measure the effectiveness of radio commercials and listenership.”

     

    But a Big FM spokesperson countered: “The radio, as a medium, enjoys much higher visibility and it is the only medium that people can relate to as it is customized to those markets and hence it will have a much better appeal.”

     

    Nowadays, a lot of advertisers use television and print as a lead reach medium whereas radio is used as an amplifying medium. Industry observers are of the view that after Phase III expansion, radio is likely to be seen by advertisers and marketers as a reach medium, especially for the national advertisers. As a result more advertisers are likely to use radio-led advertisements instead of using it just a complementary advertisement medium.

     

    But Mr Alambara is of the opinion that most FM station in the markets have not been able to create and sustain a distinct local identity while maintaining their overall brand persona. “Media brands work best when they can relate to, and bond with, the local populace seamlessly,” he said.

     

    But the real magic of FM radio, its reach, effectiveness in metros, mini metros and rural markets is likely to be seen only after the launch of FM Phase III. As of now, the cities which do not have private FM radio are eagerly waiting to experience the medium.

     

    Big story image from Clipart, Microsoft Word

     

  • NDTV has a lot to offer in terms of knowledge and ideas to new entrants in the market, says Shyatto Raha, and the subsidiary firm is aiming to successfully leverage upon this.

    Our core belief is innovation: Shyatto Raha, NDTV Worldwide

    By Akash Raha

     

    Shyatto Raha, CEO, NDTV Worldwide and NDTV Emerging Markets, has been with NDTV for over 13 years and is an integral part of NDTV’s strategic team which has helped develop new growth areas.

     

    He spearheaded the successful launches of NDTV Arabia in the Middle East and Astro Awani channels in Indonesia and Malaysia.

     

    In his role as CEO of NDTV Worldwide and Emerging Markets, group subsidiaries, Mr Raha heads its business and operations and is responsible for the setting up of local news, current affairs and business channels targeting the local population, in emerging markets across the world.

     

    In a chat with MxMIndia, Mr Raha speaks about NDTV Worldwide, its focus and growth.

     

    Q: NDTV Worldwide has created a footprint in the media consultancy business and spread the banner of the NDTV group to newer areas. What are the other key focuses?

    Over the years NDTV has become one of the most trusted brands in the broadcast industry. Also, we have been a very successful brand. As far a media consultancy is concerned we have only shared the knowledge from the talent that is their within NDTV. Many of us have been at NDTV for over 15 years and it’s all about taking that knowledge base and creating media consultancy and media services which is due to bring about a change in the industry. It is definitely a change for the better. Here, we are making sure that the people who are coming into the market, the new entrants, are at least buying into technology, buying into programming ideas, buying into a way of working which will help them sustain and survive in the environment. Otherwise, what happens is that we find that a lot of broadcasters who enter the industry and then after a about a year or two they wither away because they were never set up properly. So considering that this (broadcast business) has been better and better and we have run it for over 23 years now, it gives us a very good foothold to advise broadcasters who are new to the market as to how to set up channels, on best practices, and tried and tested workflow. We don’t impart bookish knowledge but rather a very practical approach to things. We have been very small to start off with and we have been a very small consultancy in the market compared to many others in the market. But we like to take baby steps because we believe in getting it right. The aim is not just to take on 78 clients and get it all wrong. The aim is to take baby steps, manage fewer clients, get it right and then expand.

     

    Q: What are some of the major developments that you have seen in NDTV Worldwide since its inception?

    Over the years, the kind of services that we are offering in the market has expanded. Earlier we used to do only channel set ups. But today we do channel set ups, broadcast consultancy, training, channel management services… We have also added digital consultancy, where we have set up web mobile and apps platforms based on the success of NDTV convergence. So it’s a wide array of services that we have added since we started. In terms of client base, our prime focus in the first two years was on international clients and in the last two years it has been the Indian market. And I think we have done fairly well in the Indian markets with the clients that we have and we have got it right. I think they have all seen the result and the benefit that has come out of it

     

    Q: What are some of the new clients you have bagged?

    We can’t talk about recent signings due to confidentiality. Last year, the big launch was the Beximco Group, which is one of the biggest television channels in Bangladesh. That was a feather in our cap because, of all the TV stations launched in that market, I think independent television has set a new benchmark in the industry.

    And that’s the NDTV value that we bring to the table. Our core belief is innovation and it has been Prannoy-Radhika’s belief since the day I worked with NDTV. It’s been innovation at every level. When we set up NDTV – the news business – we innovated, not just in terms of technology platforms that we brought into the country but also innovation in terms of content. The kind of shows, the programming, the business practices, the kind of work flow and management style were all innovative. We don’t like following people. It’s not arrogant; it’s just trying to set a new standard and do something different.

     

    Q: NDTV group started off with a news channel. How did the idea of this subsidiary business emerge?

    It all started with one project, where we launched Astro Awani in Malaysia. We completely revamped it and created a differentiated channel for the audiences. This was NDTV’s first launch outside India and a very successful one too. We saw a business model in this that could be worked and built upon. We thought that NDTV had a lot to offer in terms of knowledge and ideas to new entrants in the market, and we could successfully leverage upon it.

     

    Q: What has the growth of NDTV Worldwide been like?

    Over the last year we grew by 70 percent. Our target for the current year is 100 percent and we are well on course to achieve it. In terms of expansion, our pre-eminent focus in the past few years has been India and the international market in South East Asia. However, in the upcoming years you can definitely see us entering newer countries and perhaps continent.

  • From romance-tinted stories to scary thrillers, virtual relationships to the nuances of multicoloured Mumbai, there’s something for every listener!

    Team Mirchi takes off, leaving behind a giant storybook for listeners!

    By A Correspondent

     

    In a unique concept, Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM’s listeners will get an exclusive chance to enjoy some thrilling stories left behind by the Mirchi team as they go on a chutti. From romance-tinted stories to scary thrillers, virtual relationships to the nuances of multicoloured Mumbai, there’s something for every listener!

     

    The Mirchi team is off on a holiday to the land of sun and sand…Goa! And in their absence, the station is going to take on a whole new avatar as different ‘kahaanis’ with different flavours will be played out on various shows, complete with songs, recaps and sound effects.

     

    Celebrities like Vidya Balan, Bipasha and R Madhavan will be on-air as well to add to the thrill! Mirchi’s unique programming initiative promises to hold the listeners spellbound with its innovative content.

     

    On Dheemi Local, tune in to ‘Samir aur Khushi ki Kahaani’, where the protagonists realize the many differences between them once they fall in love. Will Samir and Khushi be able to overcome the many obstacles to achieve happiness?

     

    Get a scoop of classic chill and goose bumps on the Mirchi airwaves as Sunset Samosa will play ‘Sushant ki Kahaani’, where Sushant will find out if ghosts exist or not.

     

    On Mumbai’s popular morning show, Hi Mumbai, Mirchi listeners will witness the extraordinary story of Pankaj and Aarti caught in a loveless arranged marriage. Their story takes an unexpected turn as Pankaj is attracted to an enigmatic girl sitting in a rickshaw and follows it.

     

    Purani Jeans will take on a romantic yet mysterious trip with its story of Shreya and Ankit. The enigma will be palpable on the Mirchi airwaves as the story unfolds through the eyes of a man who starts weaving stories in his imagination around the couple.

     

    Love, drama, tension, thrill and many such emotions will unfold on Mirchi, as the various kahaanis from the Mirchi Storybook will be played on air till February 20.

     

  • In Freaking News, Ranjona Banerji reviews the fare on primetime news and in the papers

    Freaking News: It’s a dull year for TV

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    The wonder that is TV news inIndiabecomes a total damp squib if there is nothing exciting happening. And this year has been particularly lacking news-wise. Or that is, news that suits TV land. Especially after the excitement of last year – not the least created by the anti-corruption movement – 2012 seems dull. The UP elections have not provided enough fodder and the best we have managed is the hullabaloo over Salman Rushdie and the Jaipur Literary Fest. The Supreme Court came down firmly on the age crisis faced by the army chief and that is now the end of that potential drama.

     

    It’s another matter that we have had sufficient news to keep us occupied. But when you run on a permanent cycle of “breaking news” which can be turned into hysterical studio debates, ordinary news does not suffice. Right now, the crisis within Kingfisher Airlines has the most potential.

     

    * * *

     

    Now that so many states have objected to the National Counter-Terrorism Centre, because it hurts our “federal structure”, it is perhaps time for newspapers to find commentators who can explain our “federal structure” in Constitutional terms. Are we really federal? Or is this just one more political ploy? In terms of law and order, the odd thing is that whenever something goes wrong in any state, people within and without the state clamour for a “CBI” probe. This, in spite of the fact that the CBI goes against our “federal structure” and at other times, is seen as a handmaiden of the ruling party at the Centre. It’s an odd but fascinating dichotomy of thought.

     

    * * *

     

    Yesterday’s newspapers told us that Anna Hazare is fit and raring to go. Today’s newspapers tell us that he and his team are due to meet. It would be interesting to see if television is still as accommodating to Hazare and his merry followers or whether they have fallen out of the news cycle. Newspapers, it must be admitted, have dismissed Hazare news to little single columns.

     

    * * *

     

    Having declared their “Aman Ki Asha” campaign for peace with Pakistan, the Times of India now looks east and introduces a “Bonding with Bangladesh” exercise. Since many Indians are even unaware that Bengal was partitioned (the general feeling appears to be that the only people affected were in north India), it will be interesting to see what kind of response they get. For now, it is sharing stories with the Bangladeshi paper Pratham Alo, to “deepen people-to-people” ties.

     

  • Bharat Kapadia's Bru Gold innovation for HUL showed how creative ideas in print can be a hit, and underscored the need for more.

    Y’day’s Big Story: Print wins with ‘hat ke’ ideas

     

     

    Bharat Kapadia

    By Akash Raha

     

    The readers of The Sunday Times of India of February 19 woke up to a special surprise as they were served coffee with their newspapers. Well, not literally. The Mumbai, New Delhi and Bengaluru editions had a unique dimension – they broke the olfactory barrier. Each copy filled the air with the rich aroma of coffee, spreading the message for Hindustan Unilever’s flagship coffee product, Bru Gold. Veteran mediaperson Bharat Kapadia’s firm, ideas@bharatkapadia.com, unveiled its first big idea for its clients Hindustan Unilever and The Times of India group.

     

    “The objective was to drive home the richness of fine coffee and I knew that we could conquer this final frontier in a newspaper,” Mr Kapadia said. “The aroma of food products can create a sense of craving and can be very effective way to lead the reader to consume it.”

     

    In a world where it’s critical to stand out in a crowd, an idea when executed effectively can be a winner and this can be a unique consumer experience with every new fragrance. Mr Kapadia should know. Having spearheaded several ideas with the publications he has led over the years, ideas@bharatkapadia.com is a specialized ideas consulting firm in media and marketing. The fragrant newspaper concept has been tried out earlier editorially by Dainik Bhaskar and possibly some others too, but it’s the first time by a national advertiser across multiple editions.

     

    What experts feel on innovation

    The Times of India has been in the forefront with innovations. It’s been said and discussed in various forums that the only way the print industry can maintain its vitality is by constantly innovating and thereby evolving. That innovation is a driving factor for success is a no-brainer, yet is our print industry doing enough to innovate and create more value for the advertisers? Earlier, MxM India got in touch with leading advertising practitioners to know more about current trends and innovations that are happening in the industry.

     

    Pratap Bose

    When asked if the print industry is innovating enough of late, Pratap Bose, COO, Mudra Group said, “When it comes to print, there is very little innovation that you see. Whatever innovation you see, once it is done it is repeated time and time over again. Various forms of jackets – half, straight, up, down … Nothing fresh is coming out in print these days. The one category that continues to be beaten down is print. Barring one or two innovations from The Times of India group, which are of course very good, there is not much in terms of innovations that is happening.”

     

    When asked to compare print with other media, Mr Bose said, “Well, I consider all media as media, whether it is above the line or below the line. But essentially what you are seeing in the innovation space is largely happening in digital, out of home and promotions. To an extent video as well, if you want to include mainline media. Cinema is again, very few… So really, good innovation is not happening on either print or TV.”

     

    An issue of deliberation also is that whatever little innovation that we see in the market, is it happening in all print forms, across all linguistic barriers alike? Are print innovations happening in both English and language publications alike, or is the innovation limited to top English publications… only those who get top-end advertising moolah?

     

    Answering the question, Nandini Dias, COO, Lodestar UM said, “Print innovations often needs the publishing house to be able to carry out the difference. The leading publishing houses like the Bennett Coleman or HT Media manage to pull off innovations easily. For example the Cannes Gold that we won for Garnier this year was aided by The Times of India. The Times of India managed to print the day’s issue on recycled paper; for people who understand printing, they will appreciate the sheer thickness of the paper, the kind of paper needed the production team to alter their normal process , experiment and get it right before the 100% recycled paper issue got printed. So innovation happens with publications with a modern sophisticated printing and production unit. It has nothing to do with the language of the publication.”

     

    Divya Radhakrishnan

    Divya Radhakrishnan, Manging director – Helios Media Pvt Ltd, said, “There are lots of innovations happening in vernacular press as well. In fact groups like Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhaskar have pioneered many an innovative concepts. The extent of innovation blends into ground activation and other media owned by the same group. A good example of that is Jagran activations.

     

    But while we talk about all the advertising riches innovation can drive, we cannot help but talk about the content aspect too. Often, innovations in print are condoned because they hamper its readability. Some innovations distracts an diverts the attention of a reader, thereby hampering with the content. However, Ms Dias said that it is not always so. Such a case only happens when an innovation makes reading content difficult. “For example the half gate fold is often disliked by a lot of readers as it makes holding the paper difficult or sometimes fonts in a colour, which make reading tough. Other than that innovations are done to enhance the product values and to bring it alive to the readers.”

     

    Yet, innovation remains a key factor for the print players for sustenance in the long run. Moreover, the ability to carry off good and meaningful innovation certainly brings more to the table and helps grab the advertisers’ attention.”

     

    Ms Radhakrishnan said, “Innovations for the sake of innovation is a no-go. The key objective for the innovation is to stand out of clutter and deliver the message appropriately. Given the time-spent on print media being on the decline, it’s very important that the message is delivered in a single-shot and therefore needs to be placed innovatively to grab reader attention. Another often repeated mistake is repeating the same idea often which by definition kills the concept of innovation. For example, jackets.”

     

    Nandini Dias

    Speaking on how important it is for print publications to innovate to be successful, Ms Dias said “It’s important to be able to carry out innovative options. As advertisers often come up with solutions which do not conform, publications which can help communicate their ‘hat ke’ thoughts will benefit.”

     

    As Steve Jobs once said, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” For print players, it is imperative to constantly dream up winning ideas. So, we are likely to see more ‘hat ke’ and out-of-the-box innovations like the one created for Hindustan Unilever.

     

  • Several marketers are now waking up to the potential of small screen stars as brand endorsers

    Big brands use TV stars to connect with masses

    By Rajiv Singh

     

    Now, Malhotras can raise a toast. After gulping down countless cups of tea during umpteen meetings over the last few months, this middle class family in North West Delhi has finally found a ‘perfect’ match for their son. Rashmi, their prospective daughter-in-law, is not only beautiful but also has a pet name ‘Toasty’ – something that instantly clicked with the Malhotras.

     

    Reason: The other Toasty they know is a lovable daughter-in-law, played by Aishwarya Sakhuja in Sony’s TV fiction Saas Bina Sasural, who keeps her family together. “I am sure Rashmi has similar qualities like Toasty,” said an elated Mrs Malhotra.

     

    Malhotras are not alone in getting influenced by serial characters. There are thousands of such people across the country. And several marketers are now waking up to the potential of small screen stars as brand endorsers.

     

    Over the last six months, a slew of brands including Cadbury, Emami, Hyundai, Maruti, Dulux, Red Label and Lux has roped in popular TV celebrities such as Sakhuja and Hussain Kuwajerwala who can connect well with people at a fraction of cost of hiring a popular Bollywood actor.

     

    “It’s a great strategic move by brands. The TV characters have a strong resonance with the viewers, especially the middle class that relates to the values shown in the serials,” said Prathap Suthan, an advertising industry veteran who created the government’s ‘India Shining’ and ‘Incredible India’ campaigns and is now the chief creative officer of iYogi, an online technical support services provider.

     

    Saurabh Uboweja, director of brand consulting firm Brands of Desire, said that by casting TV stars with successful running soaps, advertisers can have the dual advantage of both role and star endorsement for a sensible signing amount: “They get two candies for the price of one.”

     

    MONEY MATTERS

    While TV celebrities do have their own large fan following, their relatively lower endorsement fee is a huge plus for several companies in the present tough business environment where subdued consumer sentiments and rising costs have hit sales of several products.

     

    One such company is Maruti Suzuki, the country’s largest carmaker that has had a tough last year and expects its sales to fall 11 per cent in the year ending March.

    “In the current cost-cutting environment, it makes more sense to hire TV stars,” said Shashank Srivastava, Maruti Suzuki Chief General Manager (Marketing). The carmaker roped in TV celebrity Anita Hassanandini this month to feature in its Swift Dzire commercial. Last December, it signed Kavita Kaushik and Rajesh Kumar from SAB TV to endorse its multi-purpose vehicle, Eeco.

     

    “Selling a car is not like selling a Bournvita,” said Mr Srivastava. “So, there’s no point in shelling out fortune in having big Bollywood celebrities.” Big celebrities have not really worked for Maruti. Father-son duo of Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan could not boost its Versa sales in 2000-2001. Maruti has also had actor-director Farhan Akhtar and actor R Madhavan to endorse A-Star and Wagon R, respectively, but with limited success.

     

    CLOSER TO LIFE

    Marketers also say it’s easier for people to relate to TV celebrities than big screen stars. “While a Bollywood celebrity projects an image which is aspirational and larger than life, TV celebrities relate closer to the real life of the viewers and are hence becoming extremely popular,” said Krishna Mohan, CEO of FMCG firm Emami, which signed Suhana of Star Plus’ serial Sasuraal Genda Phool aka Ragini Khanna in November last to endorse its moisturiser Vasocare.

     

    Unlike film stars, small screen celebrities are identified with the characters they portray in popular long-run serials. So people relate them to the values their characters hold, like a committed housewife, an ideal husband, a perfect daughter… ¦ It helps brands project a distinct identity by endorsing them.

     

    Late last year, paints brand Dulux rolled out a media innovation by tying up with three popular television serials to create vignettes that resonate with their thematic campaign, ‘Apne Rang Chalakne Do’. AkzoNobel’s brand showed the lead pairs from Star TV soaps Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai and Iss Pyar Ko Kya Naam Doon, and Sony’s Saas Bina Sasural in its commercial.

     

    “Since daily soaps are a big draw in India and the consumer follows their journey closely, the protagonists of the daily shows had the appeal that was needed to propel the idea,” said Pushkar Jain, marketing manager for Dulux at AkzoNobel India.

     

    However, there’s a flip side of using TV celebrities as well, said Mr Uboweja: “Brands want to capture these stars and their soaps when they are running hot. But the shelf life for both is fairly short”. “This ad strategy is a bit like instant noodles, good enough to fill the stomach but not enough to satiate the appetite,” he added.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

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

     

  • The power of outdoor is best unleashed by the digital advances in technology, says Noomi Mehta.

    5 reasons why Digital makes OOH even more relevant

    By Noomi Mehta

     

    #1 Digital helps provide instant displays on giant LED screens without any time loss for printing.

     

    #2 Digital offers an incredible array of colours to give brands a considerable boost in image, making them widely recognised as using cutting edge technology and helping to build the brand in the minds of the younger generation.

     

    #3 Digital gives huge options for interaction with viewers, through technology such as Bluetooth, WiFi etc. For example a display could lead you to a website merely by clicking on it and give news, views, offers, free downloads etc.

     

    #4 Digital LED screens when used in large sizes can create a sensation. It’s like having a combination of flexible neon signs and giant outdoor TV screens.

     

    #5 It provides instant messaging with the added advantage of full colour imagery. It’s great for giving important local news in case of emergencies. It’s great for making special offers to local markets.

     

    Noomi Mehta is the Chairman and Managing Director of Selvel One Group.

     

  • Apollo Munich Health Insurance launched 'Optima Restore', an 'Unbelievable' health insurance product in this unique way

    Apollo makes it ‘snow’ in Chennai

    By A Correspondent

     

    Apollo Munich Health Insurance launched ‘Optima Restore’, an ‘Unbelievable’ health insurance product in a unique way. To bring this offering closer to the people of Chennai, Apollo Munich conceptualized an unbelievable event where the people of Chennai experienced “snowfall in Chennai” at the Express Avenue Mall on February 19.

     

    Mudramax, the agency partnering Apollo Munich in their ‘Unbelievable’ concepts, came up with an execution whereby it snowed in Chennai, a city which has never seen snowfall! An innovative pre-event hype promotion saw promoters distributing Apollo Munich branded balloons with ‘Snowfall in Chennai’ written on it, as invites. Radio also acted as an invite medium to drive people in hordes to the event!

     

    On the day of the event, the team created a maze-like structure through which people could explore their way to the main event, to experience snowfall – for most of them, this was the first time in their lives that they experienced something like this. A snow machine threw imitation snow around an igloo throughout the day, attracting crowds who not just experienced it, but took home the experience, through their mobiles and cameras, to share with others.

     

    To round off the snowfall effect, the team also got them to play a game of skiing on the large screen, using a motion sensing game. Speaking on the event, Mandeep Malhotra, President and Head Mudra Max (OOH, Experiential, Retail) said: “That the event was a huge success can be seen by the number of people who participated. For a mall event to reach out to more than 100,000 people over the weekend is rare. Needless to say, the brand delivered on its promise of offering the ‘Impossible’ to the people of Chennai and I am indeed happy that I was present here personally to experience the same”

     

    Speaking about Optima Restore and unbelievable ‘Snow in Chennai’, Antony Jacob, CEO, Apollo Munich Health Insurance, said: “For the past four years, Apollo Munich has brought to the marketplace, unique and innovative products. Optima Restore is the latest and most exciting with the presence of two unbelievable benefits.”

     

  • Behind every great commercial is super strategy. Every week, MxMIndia brings you the brief and the strat as given by the client and whatever else that went into creating a winning ad

    AdStrat: Best Rice, The Perfect Match

    Ajay Gahlaut, ECD, Ogilvy Delhi

     

    Name of the campaign/ad

    Best Rice: The Perfect Match

     

    Brief

    Reposition rice from an uninvolved product for the consumer to a desirable brand. Best rice needs to be in everyone’s mouth and the brand name on everyone’s lips.

     

    Research insights

    India is a country that believes in forgiving and forgetting. They are all the more hasty when it comes to advertising of products they hardly want to waste time thinking about. And even more when it’s about everyday consumption happening within the confines of their homes. Nobody walks in to ask what brand of flour one is using. Or, what mustard oil brand you love. The same has been the case with rice, even when India is known to be a country of rice eaters.

     

    With the advent of brands into flour and mustard oil, how could rice companies be left behind? Many of them braved this uncertain market about 10 years ago. They introduced packaged rice, of course with a premium. Thus began a flurry of advertising campaigns trying to sell the white grain. They cited a better product than the unbranded, open rice that one gets at the friendly neighbourhood grocer. The claim worked and the packaged rice market started to grow at a rate of 35 percent every year. But it came with a problem. The consumer would pick any rice brand, with the thinking that any brand is better than unbranded rice. The result, in the long run, was a total absence of brand loyalty.

     

    The thought process behind the creative

    Rice is never the main dish in the menu. We cook rajma, dal, fish curry, chicken curry, sambar and take rice for granted. But if rice is not cooked well, even the perfect rajma will not taste good. Thus, we arrived at a very simple insight – that rice is never eaten in isolation. Voila! The idea: Best – The Perfect Match. In brief, rice complements the food it’s eaten with in the same way that a perfect couple complements each other.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TMkAjn4Z3c[/youtube]

    Media vehicles chosen

    While it was principally led by television, print has been used interestingly as a reminder medium.

     

    Key issues kept in mind while executing the ad

    While all three ads were in three different languages, they were to be universally understood and enjoyed. To personify rice and the accompanying dish that belongs to a particular region, the ads had to look authentic.

     

    Does the treatment do justice to the brief?

    There are various ways of bringing the thought of “The Perfect Match” alive and several were tried. But experience shows that consumers always warm up to human stories. Specially love stories, which is where we hit upon the idea of using different couples to make our idea talk.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifEWu_4EnVg[/youtube]

    What is the differentiating factor about the ad?

    These couples in the commercials, and the chemistry they shared with their partners, brought charm to the commercials while effortlessly communicating the brand benefit. They were definitely clutter-breaking, and the stories made people smile.

     

    Market and client feedback

    In the last few weeks, these little white grains have become the talk of the town. There was a 30 percent hike in sales in Delhi/NCR within the first week. All in all the campaign managed to fulfil its quintessence, by helping the brand capture the consumer’s eye in an age of utmost competition. We might well say that men, too, are now interested in knowing the brand of rice used in the house.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkEJzotfgM4[/youtube]

    Credits

    Company: Best Foods Ltd

    Product: Best Rice

    Agency: Ogilvy, Gurgaon

    Creative Director: Ajay Gahlaut, Nitin Srivastava

    Writer: Umesh Grover

    Art: Jonathan George

    Client servicing team: Sharmista Dev, Vineet Kindra, Shivani Sharma, Lagun Sehgal

    Production House: Chrome Pictures

    Director: Amit Sharma

     

  • Wolfe gave insight into marketing effectiveness and talked about Marketing Optimization Modeling, focusing on retail marketing applications

    Michael Wolfe on getting more from your marketing $$$s

    By A Correspondent

     

    In today’s time there is an added pressure on justifying each and every paisa spent on marketing, thus making the return on investment (ROI) all the more critical. That’s where Rainman Consulting steps in. Their core expertise lies in making ‘profit from marketing effectiveness’.

     

    Rainman recently hosted Michael Wolfe, CEO, Bottom-Line Analytics LLC who gave insight into marketing effectiveness and talked about Marketing Optimization Modeling, focusing on retail marketing applications.

     

    Wolfe gave a peek into what they do, which includes measuring the impact of the marketing investments of each program and campaign at a time, besides giving the big picture. They also determine the ROI from the marketing spends and, most importantly, providing a plan that ensures a marketer get the most out of his or her marketing budget.

     

    Wolfe explained how they do this: “The plan helps in determining what works and what doesn’t and thus showing one how to move budget from less to more productive activities. This exercise usually nets a plan which will get you 4 to 8 per cent more sales revenue, all without spending an additional dime on marketing.”

     

    “We do this with a mathematical modelling, sometimes called econometrics. We call this Marketing Optimization Modelling,” added Wolfe, who later went on to show how they achieve this.

     

    As he explained, this is basically the application of advanced econometrics towards measuring marketing effectiveness and ROI and is done through collection of media, marketing plans and POS sales data. “We assemble and validate a predictive model which casually links each of your marketing activities to retail sales. From this exercise we are able to specifically quantify the impact of media and marketing on the retail sales and provide you with direct guidance on what is working well and what is not.”

     

    The session then explained in detail the models for marketing optimization and a case study where application of this model helped in turning around the business. The simulation exercise actually helps in moving funds from less to more productive activities leading even to achieve 5-10 per cent greater revenue with the existing marketing spends. This also helps in more effective deployments by media, message, promotional event and by market.

     

    Wolfe emphasized on modelling and marketing measurement that must break out and go beyond the silos. During the discussion, he also touched upon the topic of social media ROI and steps to navigate through it.

     

    The session concluded with few keys to success that included doing what no others can do, focusing on being strategic, understanding the client’s business, never ceasing to innovate, customizing, having passion and evangelise and most importantly loving what you are doing.