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  • 76 percent endorsements are still done by film stars despite a 10 percent dip over the previous year.

    [LOOKBACK 2011] Filmwallahs dominate endorsements

    By Ritu Midha

     

    Debate on the extent to which celebrities contribute to enhancement of a brand’s image continues. The scale, however, seems to be tilted in the favour of celebrities with a number of big brands and organizations continuing to use them – to the extent that on occasion the same brand, at the same time is using multiple celebrities: Katrina Kaif, Shilpa Shetty, Sonakshi Sinha and Bipasha Basu in one Pantene ad is the first example that comes to mind.

     

    The percentage of film stars endorsing brands has gone down this year, and that of sports personalities has increased. However, in the top 10 brands using celebrities for endorsement, Pepsi is the only brand that uses sports celebrities extensively.  A look at the top 10 advertisers using celebrities also tells a similar story:

     

    The absence of sports personalities from these brands’ ads might be due to the category they belong to. However, as compared to same period last year, Jan- Sept 2011 has seen a 7 per cent jump in endorsements by sports personalities. TV actors and actresses endorsing brands has also increased by 1 per cent each – though it does not amount to much, considering the miniscule number of television actors that really do endorsements. Interestingly, 76 per cent endorsements are still done by film stars despite a 10 per cent dip over the previous year.

     

    The table below lists the share of the pie endorsed by film, sports and TV personalities.

     

    Moving now to individual celebrities, Shahrukh Khan’s movies may have not really broken box office records of late – but it has by no means undermined his position as the leading celebrity endorser/brand ambassador (as can be seen in the table below). He is closely followed by Katrina Kaif and Kareena Kapoor. The only two non-film personalities in the top 10 are (yes, guessed it right) MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar.

     

    Data source:

    TAM AdEx

    Media: TV

    Period: Jan- Sept 2011

    *Figures based on ad volumes (secs)

    *Advertising during commercial time (Promos are excluded)

    *Base: Celebrities(Actor/Actress) from Hindi – Movies & TV Industry and Sports personality considered.

  • The tough fight between the channels has definitely benefited the viewer, who gets to see differentiated content now. It is appointment viewing all the way – with viewers happily surfing.

    [LOOKBACK 2011] The Year for GECs

    By Ritu Midha

     

    One-upmanship among the General Entertainment Channels (GECs) continues. While the top slot, for now, seems to be reserved for Star Plus, number 2 slot is now occupied by Sony. The tough fight between the channels has definitely benefited the viewer, who gets to see differentiated content now.  It is appointment viewing all the way – with viewers happily surfing from channel to channel, depending on the shows being shown at a specific time slot.  With a number of new shows hitting television at the same time – multiple show viewing at the same time (sampling) too is quite common – which is likely to reduce once the programme loyalty sets in.

     

    The top 10 shows in GECs include three reality shows (including the top slot). And the 10th slot is occupied by Cricket (Doordarshan). This effectively indicates that only six of the top ten shows for 2011 (first 11 months) were fiction shows.

    Source: TAM Media Research
    TG: CS 4+yrs
    Market: HSM
    Channels : Hindi GEC
    Period : Wk 1 to 50,2011

     

    Perhaps, the picture would be bit different if one looked at the entire year, with quite a few new shows like Kuch to Log Kahenge,  Diya Aur Baati Hum, Hitler didi and Bade Acche Lagte Haen settling down.  Interestingly – none of the four is a classic saas bahu drama.

    As for the reality shows, only KBC and Big Boss (Finale) could find a place in top 10 – however others too brought in reasonable numbers for the channel. A quick look at them is here:

    Source: TAM Media Research
    TG: CS 4+yrs
    Market: HSM
    Channels : Hindi GEC
    Period : Wk 1 to 50,2011

     

    Now a look at the average TVR of the channels -If one looks at GEC viewership for the first 11 months, Star Plus rules as numero uno, with Colors at number two and ZEE and Sony rubbing shoulders at number 3:

    Source : TAM Media Research

    Period : Jan – Nov 2011

    TG : CS4+
    Market : HSM
    Period : Wk 1 to 50,2011


    However, if one breaks the data by month, it becomes the story of Sony’s steady climb through the year. The channel got it right post KBC. Its numbers did not dip as was being anticipated – but the new shows it brought in have, in fact, consolidated its positions as the number two GEC.  Multi Screen Media with two channels in top 5 GEC, and MAX too going strong is doing well for itself. It would be interesting to watch if Star One in it its new avatar – Life OK proves to be a threat.

  • The slowdown may be a dampner, but there's some reason for cheer as 2011 comes to an end. All our yearerenders linked here.

    The MxMIndia LookBacks for 2011

     

    LookBack 2011 coordinated by Ritu Midha

     

    By Ritu Midha

    The year 2011 has been full of ups and downs for the global economy. While it started on an optimistic note, the projections have been revised downwards several times since.

     

    LOOKBACK 2011
    The Year in News Media (Ranjona Banerji)
    Middle India on overdrive (Nielsen report)
    Top TV & Print Spenders
    The Year for GECs
    The Year for News TV
    What creative & media agencies won
    People Movements
    The winnings
    Filmwallahs dominate endorsements
    11 Noteworthy Happenings (Tuhina Anand)

    India was no exception – though it was largely due to the global slowdown – the government’s foot-dragger approach to many a policy, and high inflation rate did not help the matters any.

     

    The slowdown has led to tightened purse strings, however as per a Nielsen report, ‘Global Online Consumer Confidence, Concerns and Spending Intentions – 3rd Quarter, 2011’:  consumer sentiment in India is the most optimistic in the world, for the seventh quarter in a row. (Data Source: Nielsen global consumer online confidence survey, Q3, 2011)

     

     

    Click here to download the report from Nielsen website

     

    As for the economy, in January, World Bank predicted that in the year 2012, India would grow at a pace of 8.7 per cent (and the oft-compared economy, China would grow at a slower pace of 8.4 per cent).

     

    There is too much water under the bridge since then, and current fiscal is now expected to show growth figures of around 7%, as per Fitch, the credit rating agency.

     

    However, hope is back for 2012, with credit rating agencies reaffirming India’s ratings in the fag end of 2011.

     

    Moody’s, in a recently released report, reaffirmed India’s sovereign rating at BAA3. Though it has added that growth downturn is likely to persist for two more quarters.

     

    As per data released by Fitch in December 2011, the economy is likely to grow by 7.5 per cent in 2012-13. Though, in the current fiscal it is likely to be around 7 per cent.

     

    Interestingly, the government’s forecast is 7.5 per cent growth in the current fiscal. In its mid-year review released in mid-December, the government revised the growth projection to 7.5 per cent from 9 per cent forecasted in the pre-Budget survey.

     

    Another good news coming at the end of the year is easing out of food inflation. The index stood at 1.81 per cent in the period up to December10, 2011, while in the previous week it was at 4.35 per cent. The reason behind the improved numbers is the fall in the prices of cereals and vegetables.

     

    Inflation, till now, has led to a sharp increase in raw material prices, hurting the FMCG companies. As a result, leading FMCG companies like Hindustan Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, Godrej Consumer Products, Marico and Dabur were compelled to increase their product prices.

     

    However, according to a report by FICCI, the Indian FMCG market is now expected to grow at rate of 10 per cent (current estimates: Rs 2,600 crore) over the next 10 years and reach a size of Rs 4,13,000 crore by 2015, which would further increase to Rs 6,65,000 crore by 2020. It is good news for media fraternity, as FMCG is their main stay.

     

    In this back drop, let us check growth expectations of the media industry. In the beginning of the year, KPMG had predicted that the industry size would grow to Rs 341 billion – an approximate growth of 16 per cent.

     

     

    Meanwhile, as per PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates, the entertainment and media (E&M) industry in 2010 stood at Rs 646 billion as compared to Rs 580.8 billion in 2009.  This was lower than the projected growth rate of 15.1 per cent for last year. The reason for lower growth rate was the decline witnessed in the film segment. The other two key industry segments: television (15.4 per cent growth as compared to 15.6 per cent projected) and print (10.7 per cent as compared to 8.5 per cent projected), showed good growth. As per the estimates, the E&M industry size would have been Rs 735 billion for 2011, but this does not look achievable now.

     

    In December, both Zenith Optimedia and group M indicated a sluggish growth for 2012 globally.

     

     

    As per Zenith Optimedia, global ad spending in major media will grow to $486 billion (4.7 per cent growth). It had earlier predicted a 5.3 per cent growth in 2012. However, Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) is expected to grow by an average 10.4 per cent a year and 33 per cent of the global growth is expected to come from the four Bric markets (Brazil, Russia, India, China).

     

    Group M, meanwhile expects a 6.4 per cent increase in global ad spending in 2012, As for 2011, it expected to show a 5 per cent increase in ad spends over 2010, to $490 billion.

     

    As for India, the experts believe that growth rate in 2011 would be in single digits, while Zenith Optimedia prediction of around 11% growth might hold true of 2012.

     

    Look out for the second part of our yearenders tomorrow

  • Cricket was upstaged by Team Anna when it came to news channels.

    [LOOKBACK 2011] The Year for News TV

    By Ritu Midha

     

    Anna Hazare got the largest percentage share as far as the news channels go. The other top stories of the year 2011 were Cricket World Cup 2011, 2GScam. Interestingly post these comes Zodiac Forecast, which is two rungs above IPL coverage. Here is a list of top 10 new stories by percentage share:

    Source: Source: News Content Track – A service of TAM Media Research Pvt. Ltd

    Channels: Aaj Tak, CNN IBN, Headlines Today, IBN 7, India TV, NDTV 24/7, NDTV India, Star News, Times Now, News 24 & Zee News
    Period: Jan – Nov, 2011

    Note : Analysis is based on the Telecast duration

     

    If one looks at data from 2001, the Lokpal Bill at its peak was the second most watched news in 11 years – second only to the Mumbai Terror Attacks:

     

    News, interestingly is the fastest expanding genre with eight new news channels being launched (excluding regional languages) till week 50, 2011: 7 in Hindi and 1 in English.

    Even if on e looks at year on year growth – news is one of the fastest growing genres:

    With the first quarter of 2012 seeing assembly elections including heavyweights like Uttar Pradesh and Punjab – and Lokpal Bill still in the eye of the storm – the share of news channels is expected to grow.

  • Indians are rarely seen as part of the script in most sitcoms, romcoms, detective serials, and courtroom or medical dramas, grumbles Gouri Dange.

    Gouri Dange: Where’s the Indian guy?

    By Gouri Dange

     

    I have a question. The Indian diaspora in the US amounts to some… wait, let me Wiki it… ok, here it is: “According to the 2010 US Census, the Asian Indian population in the United States was 1,678,765 in 2000 and grew to 2,843,391 in 2010, a growth rate of 69.37 percent, the highest for any Asian American community, and among the fastest growing ethnic groups in the United States.” (Now ‘fastest growing’ meaning the existing ones are having babies all over the place, or more of our compatriots are joining the hordes there? My statistics-challenged mind is not able to figure that one out. But I digress.)

    The point that is noteworthy is that in spite of this sizable presence, Indians are rarely seen as part of the script in most sitcoms, romcoms, detective serials, and courtroom or hospital dramas. Now why is that?

    Before Indian readers instantly start getting all grumpy about this fact and talk about poor representation and discrimination and all of that, I think we Indians have a hand in this invisibility too. It’s because of the way most Indians are seen to live in the US. Indians by and large (and getting larger) stick to their own kind, work hard, and are not seen as people who hang around coffee shops named Central Perk or shoot baskets with colleagues or sit at the bar after a long day in the courtroom.

    The overall impression (partly right, partly wrong) is that they work long hours (take a look at ‘Asok’ from the Dilbert comic strip), scurry home or to an Indian restaurant or to a theatre showing a Bollywood movie or to an Indian wedding (synonymous with a Bollywood movie most times). This is why Indians perhaps simply do not form part of the script or landscape of American TV shows. And I rarely or never see an Indian name in the crew credits either.

    The only famous Indian who appeared once on Oprah pouted and neighed her way through the whole show in a hilariously wannabe accent, in a forgettable appearance some years ago. And of course she showed Oprah how to wear a sari. Now if that isn’t typecasting ourselves…

    As for fiction characters, there is Apu on The Simpsons. He is predictably the owner of a grocery store and has eight children. (Again, I’m not COMPLAINING here, I am just pointing out how we are perceived.) Hilariously, one scene particularly sticks in my mind: When everyone is making sand castles or other fun stuff on the beach, Apu is industriously making a replica of – what else – The Taj Mahal. And when someone knocks it down inadvertently, he takes great umbrage and cries out in bitter outrage: “You have desecrated our National Monument, you fat American!”

    Only recently has an Indian girl called Priya been worked into the Big Bang Theory (Z Café). But already we know that her mother would kill her if she knew she was seeing this boy.

    In the hospital comedy Scrubs (FX, Star World, Z Café) too, very few Indians are visible, though we know for sure that in real life, US hospitals are stacked high with Indian doctors. All you see in Scrubs, at the most, is a frightened looking sort of Indian-sub-continent intern as part of the backdrop. I also recently spotted what was supposed to be a Sikh doctor sitting with senior doctors Kelso and Perry on an episode of Scrubs, but he was wearing something like a maroon lacquer box with a thin border of tinsel on his head, which they were trying to pass off as a turban. Strange.

    The series Becker had the Ted Danson character in New York refer to an Indian only once – when he returns home and hears – what else – a blaring radio with a Hindi song, and shouts out down the stairwell: “hey Asian guy, turn it down, or I’ll call Immigration.”

    Friends has never had an Indian in it (someone correct me if I am wrong) in spite of the fact that it is set in New York, and none of the six friends could possibly live in that city without tripping over one of us Indians.

    Knowing the American propensity to be oh-so-fair-and-inclusive (the latest is the so very PC thing of saying Happy Holidays and not Merry Christmas, because in a racially mixed society someone may burst into tears for being included in a Christian greeting, apparently), I’m surprised that there aren’t more Indians on American TV and films, even as incidental characters. However, perhaps they steer clear of it all, given that they don’t really know the Indian in their midst at all.

    Naming no Names is the mid-week column where novelist, columnist and counsellor Gouri Dange presents her tongue-in-cheek view of our world.

  • HomeShop18.com users can now browse the website faster through a one-click access system, using Windows 7 and Internet Explorer 9.

    Homeshop18.com and Microsoft join hands

    By A Correspondent

     

    This holiday season, HomeShop18.com, Network18 group’s online and television retail marketing and distribution venture, is teaming up with Microsoft to bring its best selling offers closer to its customers. HomeShop18.com users can now browse the website faster through a one-click access system, using Windows 7 and Internet Explorer 9.

    All customers who upgrade to Internet Explorer 9 and pin HomeShop18.com to their IE9 browser will get a free gift voucher and easy access to the shopping portal from their desktop taskbar. Windows Internet Explorer 9 can be downloaded free from www.homeshop18.com or from www.beautyoftheweb.in.

    Commenting on the association, Sundeep Malhotra, Founder and CEO, HomeShop18 said, “We feel proud to partner with Microsoft to offer easy access to our e-commerce portal, HomeShop18.com. With this association, we wish to introduce unique technological benefits in order to strengthen our customer interface. Keeping all the consumer needs in mind, we have announced the association with Microsoft.”

    “We are very excited about our partnership with HomeShop18.com, one of India’s fastest growing web destinations. Through this association, we have made it simple and fun for Homeshop18.com subscribers to get one-click access with Internet Explorer 9. We are confident that Indians will love this all new immersive browsing experience”, said Senthilkumar Sundaram, Director – Product Marketing, MicrosoftIndia.

    This association will help Homeshop18.com users to easily ‘pin’ the website to their Windows 7 taskbar and get one-click access to the shopping site. Additionally, users can simply right click the taskbar icon for quick access lists, also called jumplists.

     

  • Deepak Mehrotra joins as the new CEO; Khaja Muzaffarullah joins as the Feature phone division head;. Ajay Sharma to lead the smartphone division.

    Micromax strengthens its core team in India

    By A Correspondent

     

    Micromax, the leading Indian mobile brand, in its endeavour to further firm up its leadership position in the market, on Tuesday announced the appointment of key positions in its management team in India.

    Deepak Mehrotra, joining as the new Micromax CEO, will now be at the helm of affairs. His last assignment was in Bharti Airtel as the operations directors- mobility business.

    The brand is already a key player in the feature phone segment and is now looking to capture the smartphone market share as well. The focus will now be on two separate divisions: the ‘feature phone division’ to be led by Khaja Muzaffarullah and the ‘smartphone division’ to be headed by Ajay Sharma.

    Commenting on the development, Rahul Sharma, Executive Director, Micromax said: “We are a brand that’s admired for challenging the conventional. The new team brings with them a wealth of experience by virtue of their long-standing association and in-depth understanding of the overall mobility market globally.”

    Considering the leap Micromax has taken in the mobile ecosystem in India and globally, the appointments are a testimony to a great future in coming times as well. Deepak Mehrotra, CEO, Micromax Informatics Ltd said, “These are exciting times, not only for the brand, but for the industry as a whole. We are witnessing technology advancements every day and that further excites us at Micromax. The Indian mobile industry is growing at a rate of 12 percent and we would like to capture this opportunity and drive the next phase of growth for the brand. We would further leverage brand’s success in this high potential Indian market and build new capabilities.”

    In the next two years, as India gears up become the largest mobile market, Micromax aims to double its reach as well and strengthen its distribution network. Leading this vision will be Khaja Muzaffarullah as the Head of sales for feature phone division. Mr Muzaffarullah, was earlier with Sony Ericsson.

    Commenting on his new role, Mr Muzaffarullah said, “The channels partners are a key to our business model and form the backbone of our strong presence in the country. We would be strengthening our distribution across the country and work towards creating a robust network that brings us closer to the customer.

    Micromax, having already established its leadership in the feature phone market in India, now aims to build a strong portfolio of smartphones for the discerning Indian consumers.

     

    Commenting about the potential of smartphones, Ajay Sharma, who will be leading the smartphones division, said, “Micromax would aspire to a 10 percent of the market share at the earliest.”

    Micromax, is the largest Indian mobile handset company, in terms of units shipped during the quarter ended March 31, 2010 and the third largest mobile handset seller as at March 31, 2010 (according to IDC’s India Quarterly Mobile Handsets Tracker, 1Q 2010, June 2010 release).

     

  • Is pulling off misleading ads enough?

    Anil Thakraney: Rap on the knuckles that leaves no mark

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    According to a report published on this website, the ASCI has very recently upheld complaints against as many as 17 ads. Here’s the link to the full story:

    http://www.mxmindia.com/2011/12/ascis-consumer-complaints-council-upholds-complaints-against-17-out-of-25-ads/

    Considering this figure pertains to ads that ran during just a two month period (July and August 2011), one has to say it is a rather large number. This indicates that Indian ads are on overdrive when it comes to either making tall claims or offending the consumers. Now, while I can understand brands being pulled up for ‘offensive’ material and their ads being knocked out, we must question if that punishment is enough for misleading ads.

     

    Of the 17 culprits, the majority are ads that carry exaggerated/false claims, thus misleading the buyer. Car ads that boast of incredible mileage. Companies that offer ‘freebies’ to consumers. Ads that diss rival brands by putting out unscientific research studies. Tutorial classes that make dodgy claims of ‘best faculty’ and ‘most successful’ students. Detergent brands that claim to remove all sorts of stains without an authentic study to support them.

     

    Here’s the problem: Substantial damage is done by these misleading ads by the time they get yanked off the media. A number of students would have enrolled in such dubious coaching classes. Many car buyers would have bought the brand, suckered by false mileage figures. And a number of housewives would have purchased the detergent powder, only to discover that the stains never disappeared. Which is why some advertisers will continue with this wrong practice as there’s no deterrent or punishment beyond the ad being killed.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-_rf2jVxxY[/youtube]

    My own belief is this, purely on grounds of ethics: Industry leaders must come together and impose monetary penalties on adverts making false claims. So that there is some fear put into the minds of mischievous brand managers. And funds collected from these punishments can be donated to charitable causes.

     

    I know this is an industry portal, and we must speak for the industry. Still, efforts need to be made so that under no circumstances does the end consumer get taken for a ride. Because we must never forget that we all exist because of her and him.

     

    ***

    PS: What do you do when match day falls on Valentine’s Day? How can football fans pass on messages of love to their partners? Well, Puma shows the way.

     

  • Why is desi advertising talent so popular? The argumentativeness of the Indian tops Prashant Kumar’s list.

    5 reasons why Indian ad talent is doing so well in Asia

    By Prashant Kumar

     

    #1 We can talk: It’s only when you work outside India, especially in the East, that the benefits of having been born in a by and large free democracy stands out more starkly. The culture of debate, rooted in our ancient dialectical tradition and honed by our democratic upbringing, means we communicate well, and have the analytical ability to deconstruct complex problem scenarios into rational components, solve and put them back together into one cohesive, integrated whole and strike a good balance between macro and the micro.

     

    #2 We are hungry: Coming from a nation of a billion-plus people, and having fought hard every step of the way to belong to the privileged few millions, Indians have an innate drive to stand out and stay at the top of the line. This results in relentless passion, a craving for new learning, hardworking attitude and the courage to persevere, which for many a comfortable people of relatively affluent countries is less common. In the backdrop of a rising India, increasingly confident of its place in the larger world, there is a manifest destiny many subconsciously believe in.

     

    #3 We can count: Even our qualitative researchers can do a few good numbers, thanks to our indomitable dads and their fanatic fascination with mathematics. This faculty inculcates in us a more objective view of life, problem scenarios and decision making. To an average Indian talent, getting under the skin of the data to reveal the underlying story and seek the conceptual bridge with the intuitive insight into reality is the crux of good management. That doesn’t come so naturally to others.

     

    #4 We plug into the big picture: While Indians are not well known for operational efficiency and reliability, their diligence and attention to details, and a perfect alignment between the promise and the delivery, they sure get the big picture much better. Their ability to think beyond their narrow job briefs and their strong urge to figure out how the world around them works helps them develop a more holistic perspective earlier, helping them transition to leadership roles easier.

     

    #5 We can survive: The versatile challenges of growing up in India, encountering personalities and assumptions from a dozen parallel worlds in a regular day, and holding our faith into the perfect despite living with deep imperfections all around us, makes us highly adaptive, at least in our work set-up, if not in terms of food habits. At some level, our ability to go back to zero base and reframe our approach is probably better, sometimes out of need and necessity, but often out of sheer instinct.

     

    Prashant Kumar is the CEO at IPG Mediabrands in Malaysia.

  • The challenge is to build unique brand loyalty for Delhi Daredevils and make it a powerful fan motivator, says Alok Agrawal, COO Cheil WW SW Asia

    Cheil WW SW Asia pockets Delhi Daredevils

    By A Correspondent

     

    Following a multi-agency pitch, Cheil WW SW Asia has won the creative mandate for the GMR Sports-owned IPL team Delhi Daredevils. The pitch was for both creative and digital communication.

     

    Confirming the development, Alok Agrawal, COO Cheil WW SW Asia, said, “This is extremely exciting and passions are running high. Taking into account the rigorous pitch process and the competition, we are truly delighted. This win is also testimony to Cheil’s integrated expertise and its global sports marketing capabilities. The challenge is to build unique brand loyalty for Delhi Daredevils and make it a powerful fan motivator. Our approach centered around engaging the fan online and on ground. We truly understand that a brand like Delhi Daredevils is built with engagement and not advertising.”

     

    Speaking on the appointment of Cheil WW SW Asia as Delhi Daredevils’ creative communication partner, Amrit Mathur, Vice President – Head Operations, GMR Sports said: “Cheil’s understanding, strategy, ideas and passion for Delhi Daredevils clearly resonated the next-level thinking required for brand engagement and fan loyalty. We are looking forward to our partnership with Cheil and building our engagement with our fans in keeping with our overall strategy.”

  • The idea rides the public anger on the streets of Mumbai, and the script does not shy away from taking up provocative issues

    Debrief: Mumbai Mirror TVC connects with Mumbaikars

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Mumbai Mirror has positioned itself as the voice of the city. And the new TVC uses a simple but powerful creative device to communicate the positioning: a hand held microphone.

     

    In the ad, angry Mumbaikars express their respective grievances on the streets using this device. An author protests about his books being burnt. A mom complains about adulterated milk. Another dude stops a neta motorcade to vent his anger against the ugly political hoardings and banners that keep sprouting up. Quite obviously, the microphone represents the newspaper.

     

    I like this approach, and in particular, the use of a microphone. The device can become a powerful visual metaphor for the brand in the long term. The idea rides the public anger on the streets of Mumbai, and the script does not shy away from taking up provocative issues. Also, the stories are real, these have been published in the newspaper, so empathy and credibility would be strong. The people featured are aam aadmis and aurats of the city, and that’s the way it should be for a mass brand.

     

    All in all, a commendable effort. Should strike a chord with frustrated Mumbaikars.

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 4. Powerful and very relevant advertising.

  • iBall, known for its innovative and latest digital life-style products, announces its iball slide TVC and has roped in Hrithik Roshan as brand ambassador

    iBall comes up with its new TVC

    By A Correspondent

     

    Tablet PCs provide platter of possibilities to do different things related with work, play, information and entertainment. The iBall Slide TVC highlights the same wherein, Hrithik Roshan, the brand ambassador, talks about things he can do on iBall Slide and the performance of the product.

     

    The ad is already seen across all leading television channels. In the time to come one can witness an array of initiatives which will span television, radio, outdoor, below the line and digital media.

     

    Commenting on his association with iball slide, Mr Roshan said: “I was very impressed to know the growth of iBall in a span of less than 10 years and passion of its team which has brought it to this level. It feels nice to be associated with iBall Slide. This is an exciting product category and hopes to see India Go Slide on iBall Slide.”

     

    Launched in 2001 with a single product category, iBall today has a gigantic range of over 300 products in its 24 product categories. It has also launched over 35 products with new technologies for the first time in India. iBall’s last major category launch was iBall Mobile Phones.  iBall has already sold over 21 million products. The company has a strong pan-India presence with 24 branch offices across the country, with its products available in over 400 cities and towns.

     

    iBall products are serviced at its over 125 service centres across India. iBall is a well-accepted brand in the corporate world and is fast becoming a household name throughout the country.