MxMIndia

Blog

  • Zee News launches My Earth My Duty Campaign, Let’s Plant Hope

    Planting a tree to make a difference, Zee News style

    By A Correspondent

     

    After the successful revamp of the Zee News’ brand positioning from Zara Sochiye to Jazba Soch Ka, driving the thought leadership stance to action, Zee News has rolled out its award winning CSR campaign “My Earth My Duty”, with the objective of evoking people’s thoughts while motivating them to take concrete action towards mitigating the effects of climate change, by planting close to 1 crore saplings on September 12. The objective underlined the channel’s new brand philosophy of “Jazba Soch Ka” or The Power of Thought, resting their belief in the fact that when a thought awakens, it awakens the nation.

    On Monday, September 12, the Zee News tree plantation drive was flagged off from Leh in the presence of Mr Ajay Maken, Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, who also planted saplings symbolizing “Hope” for a better and a greener future, in the area left ravaged by a cloudburst last year. From Leh to Kanyakumari, the campaign involved more than 50 million young volunteers planting and nurturing saplings across the length and breadth of the country.

    A series of ground events such as rallies, seminars, camps, painting competition, street plays, etc have also been organized across the nation to spread the message and draw people’s attention to the subject. The message was extensively spread by utilizing various media vehicles comprising electronic media; promos, special news bulletins, discussions, and print, radio, mobile and new media including Facebook and Twitter.

    The campaign was launched in association with Ministry of Youth (NYKS & NSS) and was presented by Suzlon and their corporate initiative “Pure Air Lovers’ Society”. Zee News also joined hands with organizations such as UNDP, UNV, ETF, ITBP, NCC, CRPF, NSS and WWF to take the message forward.

    Mr Rohit Kumar, Head – Marketing, Zee News, said, “Our concern and objectives regarding the environment remain the same. Global warming and other environment hazards continue to pose serious threats. For the second year, we shall endeavour to spread awareness about these threats and not only awaken people’s thoughts but generate public response by inspiring them to act against climate change and plant the maximum number of trees on September 12. At Zee News, we always believe in the Power of Thought.”

    The campaign’s phenomenal success last year has already been registered with the Limca Book of Records for the planting of more than 73 lakh trees in a single day across 2.5 lakh villages and all the district headquarters.

  • Terrorists will get a setback if they don’t get the bhav they currently get from the media

    Hard Knocks: Ban terrorism coverage

    Knock, knock. Before you get into the blog, here’s an intro. It was meant to be a one-sentencer, but it’s turned to be a loooongish one. Anil Thakraney is an adman-turned-journalist living mostly in Mumbai, but sometimes in Bengaluru or Nashik. Or for a few days in a year or two: London. Many moons ago, he would edit The Brief:, an ad magazine that the adfrat loved to hate or hated to love. Well, they loved it and hated it. The Brief: was unceremoniously shut, but Thakraney had tasted the thunder. He went on to subject all and sundry to his interviews and stings (and stinging interviews) at Mid-Day and later with Mumbai Mirror. He was even editor of Mid-Day’s Bengaluru edition for a bit.

    When I joined the exchange4media group in 2008, I got Thakraney, a former colleague and friend, to write reviews and interviews. It was only natural that when I thought of launching MxMIndia, I asked him to be our Editor-at-Large. Do a blog, write reviews, interview the biggies. Etc, etc. Publishing Thakraney’s blog was like wearing a near-red shirt in a bull ring. But, heck, he’s one of the bestest writers on medialand. His views, most often contrarian, are interesting. I enjoyed reading his hat ke views today, and I am sure you too will. As for those who are at the receiving end of his commentary, I can only say: dil mein mat lena yaar! – Pradyuman Maheshwari

    Without much ado, Hard Knocks. By The Anil Thakraney:

    I am aware this is a heretical thing to say. And it goes against all tenets of good journalism. But drastic times call for drastic measures, as it’s said. I really think time has come for the owners of the mass media, in particular the TV channels and the newspapers, to come together and shun exhaustive coverage of bomb blasts and other terror attacks.

     

    And I propose this seemingly preposterous idea because the biggest source of motivation for terrorists is to sit back and watch (with beer and popcorn for company… the 76 virgins will have to wait) the hectic media blast of their actions. This 24×7 coverage not only provides oxygen to their deeds, it also encourages other terrorists to join the party. And their message of hatred quickly gets spread all over the world, free of cost. And sometimes, as it happened on 26/11, the TV coverage aids them directly in their planning and execution. In short, the media unwittingly ends up providing a huge bang for their buck.

     

    I wonder if their enthusiasm levels will remain the same if the oxygen supply is cut off. If they are ignored like petty pickpocketers. If they don’t get the bhav they currently get. I suspect it will be a setback for these buggers.

     

    So then what about the role of journalism, you ask? Isn’t it the duty of the media to inform the janata on what’s happening? How can the media ignore such a huge story? These are valid questions. But maybe for the greater good, these need to be compromised. I think a bomb blast should get a tiny slot in the coverage, as would a road rage incident. So people DO know it happened, but there’s no accompanying drama around it. The terrorists will deem this to be an insult to their work. And that’s a good thing, no?

     

    Yup, I know traditional journos and media barons will immediately scoff at this idea. Because it sounds crazy. But once the laughter dies down, they would do well to chew on it. Because often for difficult problems we need to search for lateral solutions. Especially when the horizontal and the vertical ones have failed. And especially when you are operating inside a soft state called India.

    PS: There’s this ad which the Pak government recently released in theUSpress. It would have won an award at Cannes for sure. But they screwed up a bit with a small typo. The headline should have read: ‘WHICH COUNTRY CAN DO MORE FOR YOUR PIECES?’

     

     

  • Anil Thakraney’s ad reviews now on MxMIndia.com. Every Tuesday and Thursday.

    Introducing: DeBrief: Anil Thakraney’s ad reviews

    Adman-turned-journalist Anil Thakraney reviews ad creatives for MxMIndia.com. You may love them or hate them, but you simply can’t ignore them… all written in an inimitable style.

    The reviews will appear 104 times a year. Every Tuesday and Thursday.

    If you’d like him to review your creatives, just email us at editor[at]mxmindia.com with the subject ‘Debrief’

    Meanwhile, please feel free to comment on the ads as well as the reviews… here’s your chance! 

     

    Volkswagen Jetta: India is shining. But reader… please buzz off!

    The Volkswagen guys were back recently with another kick arse print media innovation. Which basically meant buying out the front page of the daily newspapers, thus rodgering the readability. (Who cares for the reader, anyway?)

    This time it was for their brand new premium gaadi, Jetta. The newspaper arrived shining, quite literally. The front page was printed on a glossy, steely, mirror-like paper. The message: ‘Time for Volkswagen. Time for the all-new Jetta’. You will recall in the past Volkswagen has put out a ‘speaking’ newspaper. On another occasion they got proprietors to dig large holes inside their newspapers. (Who cares for the reader, anyway?)

    Yes, as in the past, the latest gimmick worked. Jetta got noticed and instantly became the talk of the town. Also, I suspect the high-gloss, snazzy, over-the-top page would have, in particular, appealed to the small and medium level businessmen. Who have all the bucks but are likely to be low on taste. In other words, the key target market for Jetta.

    And yes, the readability went for a toss because of the mirror work. (Who cares for the reader, anyway?)

    Rating: Since I am not a Jetta buyer (I am into Tata Nano): &%@% &^#!

     

  • Survey finds: Coverage, not tariff, wins over mobile customers

    By A Correspondent

    Good coverage above all other attractive schemes has been established as the unequivocal reason for subscriberspreference for a service provider of mobile telephony, according to a survey conducted by Opsbuds, the Bangalore-based provider of customer experience management and market research solutions for service providers.

    From its recent survey, which adopted a three layered assessment of the minds of the mobile phone service users, Opsbuds found that bundle offers such as packaging handsets with free connection and widespread retail outlets are not a deciding factor for selecting a service provider by mobile phone users. On the contrary, good coverage has been established as the single top consideration across the circles.

    Opsbuds  survey, coincidentally coming soon after the introduction of the Mobile Number Portability(MNP) system, however, revealed several other factors that worked to bond service providers with the subscribers.

    The top of mind reason for preferring a service provider is good network coverage for 80% of the respondents which is the basic expectation of the service. The unaided reason for as many as 37 percent is brand image. Interestingly only on being aided a reason as little as 23 percent indicated innovative tariff plans to choose a service provider. Even in the case of prepaid customers on being aided low denomination recharge (~15%) and full recharge (~13%) option featured as a reason. Therefore, there seems to be a consensus among subscribers that pricing is not a decision maker, wonder why the Telcos are at a price war hitting their ARPUs.

    Opsbuds detailed telecom report provides reasons for customers selecting a specific service provider. The quantitative research used the simple random sampling method over a statistically representative sample size of 2,408 mobile users.

    The survey was conducted across the major telecom circles and metros in India   Bombay, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata; Circle A (Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh , rest of Tamil Nadu, rest of Maharashtra, Goa), Circle B (Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Haryana, rest of West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh  West (UPW) Uttar Pradesh  East (UPE), Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim) and Circle C (Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Assam, North East, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh).

    The objective of the study was to enable the service providers to develop and implement market strategies in the current market scenario.

    Another phenomenon that is contrary to popular perception is the delta in usage between Airtel and Vodafone seems to be significantly higher than otherwise perceived with Airtel (67 percent) and Vodafone (18 percent). Given that Opsbuds adopted the simple random method without introducing any quota bias; this could well be the case. Opsbuds will investigate this phenomenon in their next report.

    The fact that good coverage is the major reason across age, gender and circles will be a wakeup call for most of the service providers, who tend to be under the impression that brand and good tariff plans alone will make them sail through the customers mindshare. Also, an interesting finding was that IDEA/RCOM was among the top three performers in terms of brand image ahead of Tata, MTS and Uninor.

    Speaking at the launch of the report, Mr K K Cariapa, Chief Buddy, Opsbuds said, We felt the need for bringing out a comprehensive report on what Indian consumers expect from telecom service providers, and some of the findings are very encouraging for the service providers. With the Indian customer evolving and becoming more tech savvy, telecom providers need to address the market very differently.

     

     

    HIGHLIGHTS OF THE TELECOM REPORT
    Nearly 82% of the respondent are in 21-40 year age group
    Market share of service providers in the study area
    64% of the respondents are utilizing pre paid connections 
    Respondents using AIRTEL are 67% followed by VODAFONE 18%
    Service provider wise location of the users share
    Users from Circle-A prefer AIRTEL, BSNL, UNINOR and users from Circle-B prefer AIRTEL, VODAFONE, RELIANCE , IDEA & TATA and the users from the Circle-C prefers AIRTEL connections.
    The preference in choosing service providers depends on the location of the users
    Service provider wise prepaid/postpaid users share
    The preference in choosing service providers depends on the type of connection required (postpaid/prepaid) by the users. 
    Post paid connection users prefer AIRTEL, VODAFONE & TATA; whereas prepaid connection users prefer other service providers. 
    The overall share of post paid users is 64% and 36% pre paid.
    Service providers wise users age group
    The preference in choosing service providers depends on the age group. 
    More than 50 % of the users across all service providers were in the age group of 21-30 years
    Users in the age group of <15 years prefer Idea, users in the age group of 16-20years prefer BSNL, TATA DOCOMO& UNINOR and the users in 20-30 years age group prefer Idea, UNINOR and AIRCEL connections. 
    Users in the age group of 30-40 years prefer AIRTEL, VODAFONE, users in the age group of 40-50years prefers AIRTEL and the users in 50+ years age group prefer AIRTEL, BSNL and Reliance connections. 
    Reasons for preferring a service provider
    Good Coverage is the major reason followed by Brand Image, & Innovative service plans. (Customized Packages, Closed User Groups, tailored service packages etc.) 
    Bundling handset with free connection and wider spared stores have little impact. 
    Circle wise reasons for preferring a service provider
    Good coverage is the top reason for preferring a service provider in all the circles 
    Brand image is the second top reason for preferring service provider in all the circles except in Circle-A , in Circle A the second top reason is customized services 
    Range of services and customized services are the 3rd & 4th top reasons in overall, Circle-B and Metro Circles. But in Circle-C the 3rd top reason is Low denomination recharge, Full recharge is the 5th reason and range of service is the 10th reason. 
    Type of connection wise reasons for preferring a service provider
    Irrespective of type of connection required, Good Coverage is the top reason for preferring a service provider. 
    Brand Image is the second top reason for preferring service provider when prepaid connection is required but if postpaid is required Innovative tariff plans is the 2nd top reason. 
    Innovative Tariff Plans is the third top reason for preferring service when prepaid connection is required and Brand Image is the third top reason for preferring service provider for postpaid connection.
    Range of services is the 4th top reasons in post paid connections and for the prepaid connections low denomination recharge is the 4th top reason. 
    Gender wise reasons for preferring a service provider
    Good coverage is the top reason for preferring a service provider for all the genders 
    Brand image is the second top reason for preferring service provider for females but the second top reason for males is customized services. 
    Range of service and low recharge are the 4th & 5th top reasons respectively for males as well as females.
    Age group wise reasons for preferring a service provider
    Good coverage is the top reason for preferring a service provider for all the age groups 
    Brand image is the second top reason for preferring service provider for >30 years of age group users and customized services is 2nd top reason for users in the age group of <30 years. 
    Range of service is the 4th top reason for all the age groups except <15 years of age group users. For <15 years of age group users the 4th top reason is value added services. For this age group users Brand image is the 5th top reason for preferring service provider. 
    Service provider wise Rating of reasons for preferring a service provider
    Good coverage is the top reason for preferring a service provider for all the users except those who use the Uninor. 
    Brand image is the second top reason for preferring service provider in AIRTEL and VODAFONE users , Customized services is the 2nd top reason in BSNL, RELIANCE, TATADOCOMO and AIRCEL users 
    Range of service is the 4th top reasons in VODAFONE users and LOW RECHARGE is the 4th top reason in AIRTEL, IDEA and TATADOCOMO users 
    Influence of dimensions in preferring the service
    Airtel, Vodafone and BSNL were the top 3 Performers in terms of coverage (49%), breadth of services (26%), and cost effectiveness (16%). The bottom three were Tata, MTS and Uninor
    Airtel, Vodafone and Idea/RCOM were the top 3 Performers in terms of Brand image (16%). The bottom three were Tata, MTS and Uninor

     

     

  • The anchor: Anita Nayyar on 8 reasons women are better bosses than men

    #1 Dedication: Women are found to be far more dedicated and hard-working in their professions, and tend to take work far more seriously. This gives them an edge since dedication is key for any professional to succeed.

     

    #2 Organised : Given their responsibilities viz professional, social and family, women are more organised and hence able to multi-task in their professional and social lives.

     

    #3 Task Management : The need to multi-task and play dual roles makes women better task managers which once again is extremely key for better deliveries and efficiencies in a professional world.

     

    #4 Passion : It is said that in similar situations and working cultures, it is the passion for what you do which differentiates you from others. Women work with a lot of passion. They are far more emotional about their work and this differentiates them. Being genetically emotional automatically makes them more caring, and they deal with situations and people with far more care and sensitivity.

     

    #5 Understanding: The ability to understand various situations works in favour of women. Having to deal with different day-to-day situations help the cause of better understanding and hence better approach to work.

     

    #6 Patience: Women are naturally more patient, and this fantastic ability helps them in all walks of life. A patient boss is preferred any day.

     

    #7 Mature: Dual roles, multi-tasking, passion, etc make women more mature. This helps them in a better understanding and approach at the workplace.

     

    #8 Different : Last but not the least, they are MADE differently!

     

     

    Anita Nayyar is CEO, India and South Asia, Havas Media

     

  • Salman Khan is guaranteed to give results, says a pilot celeb track study by Brandscapes

    Salman, Sachin star in celeb track

    By Ritu Midha

    However cynical one might get, celebrities do help a brand get noticed. Brands realise it and the proof is in the number of celebrities endorsing cold drinks, detergents, mutual funds, hair colour, personal care products and even a brand of battery. The scenario gets even more interesting in case of mens innerwear, where one can see almost every brand in the category promoting itself on the back of a celebrity. The belief perhaps is that consumer will wear the brand his favourite hero wears, or maybe it is the only way to create a differentiation in a category.

    Brands obviously do not spend crores on getting celebrity brand ambassadors and endorsers just to be noticed, the ambition is for the celebrities brand image to rub off on their brand. Current practice to select the celebrity are largely guided by judgment based on certain markers such as popularity with press, number of success stories (films/ matches/ achievements), net worth, fees they command, etc.

    Interestingly, a recent celeb track pilot study conducted by Brandscapes Worldwide throws up refreshing findings. The celeb track model measures celebrities on four parameters, namely popularity, image attributes, media presence, and affiliation with category/brand.

    Parvati Mahadev, Insights Consulting Partner, Brandscapes Worldwide explains, Celeb Track decodes the standing of different celebs on critical dimensions that underpin a brand – trust, appeal and relevance. By doing all this Celeb Track takes cognizance of the fact that there is more to selecting a Celeb than just his or her current popularity rating.

    She adds, Celeb Track works in two ways first, it allows the marketer to decode consumer opinion about celebs in a scientific and hence reliable manner. Secondly, it recognizes the fact that there are multiple facets to a marketing communication strategy, and celeb endorsements should help to highlight the desired facet.

    A few key insights from the pilot study:

     

    The study was conducted among 1,418 people, and the methodology was telephonic communication. It covers celebrities under four categories: actors, actresses, Cricketers and other sports person. Sixty-seven percent of the respondents were male and 33 percent female, and respondents were in the age groups and demographics both married (46 percent) and unmarried.

    Photographs: Fotocorp, Tables and images in them: Brandscapes Worldwide

     

  • Diamonds in the Tanishq classroom

    By Tuhina Anand

    There seems to be a strategic shift in communication of Tanishq jewellery, from the Tata Group, which has taken on the task of educating people on diamonds. They embarked on this journey in April this year when they roped in Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan in the True Diamonds campaign, which aimed at making consumers aware of the various aspects of the quality of diamonds.

    It is intriguing to understand why Tanishq took on this route of imparting lessons on getting to know your diamonds better, rather than just toe the line of communication of its earlier campaigns which focused on offers or a new collection.

    One of the reasons behind this shift would definitely be the amount of misguided information that comes the way of the average diamond buyer. There are many practices followed which definitely can’t be called fair, hence leading to even less clarity and leaving interested buyers with even lesser and confusing parameters to evaluate the quality of the diamonds.

    Mr Parvesh Debuka, Brand Manager, Tanishq told MxM India that education is among one of the core mantras to follow when it comes to communication, and features high on their priority list. He said, In the last three years we have seen phenomenal rise in sales for diamond jewellery but we realized that to tap the market to its best we need to provide few basics that will help consumers ask the right questions while purchasing diamonds.

    The campaign with the Bachchan couple was fantastic for Tanishq in terms of sales and customer queries, hence they decided to take it further with the curious case of the missing diamonds which is an online campaign. The purpose of this campaign is to engage consumers via the digital medium, also taking from its previous campaign which gave them visibility and addressed key issues. This online campaign rests on the microsite missingdiamonds.tanishq.co.in and will conclude by the end of September.

    The microsite enables users to help Amitabh Bachchan find the missing diamonds through an online game. This online game has a series of clues in the form of captivating videos of suspects who would have stolen the diamonds. Five lucky winners who complete the task in the shortest period of time get an opportunity to take part in the on-ground chase to hunt down the culprit in Mumbai. The winner who hunts the thief during the on-ground hunt gets the chance to gift the diamond necklace personally to Jaya Bachchan.

    According to Mr Sirish Chandrashekha, Marketing Manager, Tanishq, Getting the modern city dweller to learn about diamonds was a challenge. We embarked on this education campaign online through the missing diamonds idea. Interaction, engagement and education were the key words around which this idea is based.

    This campaign is conceived and executed by Tanishq and their agency partners Maxus, Lowe and Interactive Avenues.

    Mr Sairam Ranganathan, the digital head at Maxus South, said, We wanted to make diamond education more interesting and engaging for the urban upscale audiences and through Maxus creativitis we arrived at the missing diamonds idea. This is a social design enabled game, we worked with KRDS to create this experience.

    Ads and offers will, of course, continue, but educating people on diamonds is a task that Tanishq has taken up and will continue to carry out.

  • Sony aims for Rs 150 crore business from Diwali season

    By A Correspondent

    Sony India has announced its ambitious business plans for Diwali season in Karnataka. The company expects a whopping Rs 150 crore sales between August and October, targeting a growth rate of 44 percent over last year. Banking on its innovative technology and the new product line-up, retail network expansion and heavy marketing investment, the company is positive about consolidating its strong position in Karnataka.

    To add to the festivities of the season, Sony has introduced innovative consumer promotion offers across categories including Bravia, Cyber-shot, Handycam and Home Theatre System. Sony will also expand its distribution network to 650 outlets in FY11, up from 500 outlets in FY10 in Karnataka. Not only this, ATL and BTL activities during Diwali will be supported by a huge marketing investment of Rs 15 crore.

    Mr Sunil Nayyar, Senior General Manager, Sales, Sony India said,Diwali festive period is extremely important since Sony enjoys an excellent relationship with customers here who look forward to offers from our side. Every year almost 30 percent of our total sales in Karnataka are achieved during the festive period.

     

  • Nivea celebrates a century of caring for skin

    By A Correspondent

     

    Nivea in collaboration with Times Red Cell has conceptualized Nivea My Skin Lounge, a unique on-ground experiential programme celebrating Nivea’s 100 years of Skincare for Life in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. Nivea My Skin Lounge is a dedicated space where women can enjoy, celebrate their skin and experience the expert care of Nivea for three days.

    Nivea My Skin Lounge will provide comprehensive skin analysis, identify skin personality, and customers can also participate in the Nivea My Skin Moments contest and join Rihanna  The Voice of Nivea’s 100 years campaign in her concert in Germany. The celebration will be hosted at prominent malls in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

    This initiative will be unveiled in Delhi between September 16 and 18 at Ambience Mall, Gurgaon. The Nivea My Skin Lounge will then be displayed at Inorbit Mall at Mumbai from September 30 to October 2, and will culminate in Bangalore from October 14 to 16 at Garuda Mall.

    Nivea is also holding its My Skin Moments Contest for women who visit the Nivea My Skin Lounge. Guests can share their special skin moment along with a photograph in the Nivea My Skin Moments Contest. The three best stories win two tickets each to watch Rihanna, the voice of Nivea’s 100th year celebrations perform live in Hamburg, Germany. (Terms and conditions apply.)

    More details are available at www.facebook.com/nivea100years.

     

     

  • Reliance takes it to the heartland with career counselling

    By A Correspondent

     

    BIG Live, the rural Intellectual Property division of Reliance Broadcast Network, has launched its new rural IP, BIG Disha, across key markets in the Hindi heartland. Travelling across cities, the property will have each city witness two-day career guidance programmes which aim to provide an opportunity for youth to make informed decisions about their career choices. This programme reaches out to students across small towns located around Bhopal and Kanpur and will continue till Sept 30.

    The property has already partnered with Gillette for this activity.

     

    With limited opportunity, poor infrastructure and students often having to walk miles to get to school, the Indian education system comes padded in tough conditions. The bigger challenge lies after they finish their education, where limited options and lack of awareness with zero guidance leaves them with the career decision that is most often not the best. BIG Disha is an initiative with the endeavour to bridge the gap and ensure the youth are making appropriate career choices through appropriate career counselling, said a statement from the company.

     

    The programme has four key elements:

    • A self assessment session for youth through a specially designed personality assessment questionnaire so that they can understand their interest areas and career options which suits them
    • A motivational session which provides them the necessary impetus to help them believe in themselves
    • A career counselling session by career launcher experts to expose and guide them towards potential career options and
    • Personality development tips to help them improve on grooming and overall presentation

     

    Mr Vineet Mittal, Business Head  BIG LIVE, Rural, said, Through this initiative we want to offer students an opportunity to be able to take well informed career decisions which is their right. Working alongside were marketers who are increasingly reaching out to the rural audiences and BIG LIVE’s rural initiative comes as an answer to suit requirements of reach and depth. BIG Disha is further viralled through our radio network 92.7 BIG FM, which ensures excellent amplification and better reach and participation. Our strategy is to leverage our media network to establish meaningful dialogues with our consumers and while providing exclusive engagement opportunities for brands riding on it.

     

  • AdAsia 2011: The colour and the certainty

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    By Dhara Salla

    The logo for AdAsia is a colourful creation based on the different fabrics one can find all over Asia, and the theme of the marketing, media and advertising congress is Uncertainty is the New Certainty.

    AdAsia will be held in New Delhi from October 31 to November 3, 2011. This is its 27th edition and it will be presented by the Asian Federation of Advertising Associations. The chairman of the organizing committee is Mr Madhukar Kamath, group CEO and MD, Mudra group; the committee also consists of co-chairman Mr Ashish Bagga, CEO, Living Media India Ltd; co-chairman Dr Bhaskar Das, President, The Times of India group and Mr Uday Shankar, CEO, Star India.

    The congress is divided into 20 sessions with 50 speakers from the world over  ranging from creative spark Mr David Droga to Lever honcho Mr Harish Manwani  out of which 38 have been confirmed. The list of speakers also includes people like Mr Sanjay Kapoor – CEO, Bharti Airtel, Mr Salman Amin, EVP and Chief Marketing Officer, PepsiCo, and Mr Chris Thomas, Chairman and CEO of BBDO Asia, Middle East and Africa and Chairman of Proximity Worldwide, to name a few.They are awaiting the confirmation from Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan. The upper limit of the number for the delegates attending the event is 1,000-1,200. Around 300 registrations have been confirmed, said Mr Kamath.

     

    The event promises to be not just the biggest international gathering of industry stalwarts but also a cultural gala. On the schedule are Kathak performances, a Vietnamese evening, and theme lunches and dinners to look forward to. The streets of Delhi will be recreated and will display foods of Delhi and street performances, said Mr Kamath.

    AdAsia already has a few co-sponsors on board, and the scale of the event means it is bound to be big-budget. Mr Kamath did not reveal the budget but said the title sponsorship cost around Rs 4 crore and the co-sponsorship would start from Rs 50 lakh.

     

    The marketing strategy for AdAsia this year includes heavy use of social media such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

     

    Asked what the event promised, in a nutshell, Mr Kamath thought for a while and answered, Incredible learning and enthrallment from the congress sessions.

     

    More information can be had at www.adasia2011.com.

     

    Related Stories

    http://www.mxmindia.com/2011/09/adasia-2011-a-new-benchmark-in-the-making/

     

  • Hindustan Unilever appoints ombudsmen to resolve disputes and effecting out-of-court settlements

    Fair and Lovely: HUL ropes in ombudsmen

    By Sagar Malviya & Maulik Vyas

     

    Hindustan Unilever has roped in four retired high court judges as independent ombudsmen in different regions to resolve cases filed against the company by its suppliers, distributors, stockists and retailers.

     

    An ombudsman looks into complaints against an organisation and its officials and helps resolve them by mediating fair settlements out of court.

     

    “The idea is to have an alternate dispute resolution mechanism with the whole philosophy of customer centricity and the main reason is resolution of matters,” Hindustan Unilever Executive Director – Legal Dev Bajpai said. The country’s largest consumer products firm is faced with more than 100 complaints from business partners across the country, which can be referred to the ombudsman.

     

    Legal experts applauded the initiative, saying it’s unheard of in the country and would benefit the company in the long run.

     

    “The advantage for HUL is that it can figure out in advance whether its case is good and avoid an expensive and protracted legal process,” said Advaya Legal Partner Ramesh K Vaidyanathan. “The choice of an ombudsman of impeccable integrity and reputation for impartiality is critical for any counterpart to agree to this proposal,” he added.

     

    The maker of Dove soap and Rin detergent may have achieved it by appointing retired judges of different high courts-V Panshiker in Mumbai, SK Mahajan in Delhi, K Govindrajan in Chennai and Alok Chakraborty in Kolkata-to look into all disputes in the West, North, South and East, respectively.

     

    They will take up only those commercial disputes that have no legal breaches, company officials said. Typical cases would include distributors who have parted ways with the company and suppliers who made goods that fell short of quality standards.

     

    There is a rider, however. The decision arrived at dispute resolution meetings will be binding on the company, but not on its business partners who will have the option to continue with litigation. In 2008, Hindustan Unilever had roped in an ombudsman to deal with consumer complaints that could spill over into the courts, in a first of its kind initiative by an Indian company. It was restricted to end consumers of HUL products.

     

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright  2011, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved