MxMIndia

Tag: Aircel

  • This is Unlockd’s eighth market launch and its first in India

    Aircel partners with Unlockd for mobile loyalty programme

    By A Correspondent

     

    Global value exchange mobile platform Unlockd has announced a partnership with mobile service provider Aircel as also launched  ‘Aircel Open2Earn’ app, powered by Unlockd. This is Unlockd’s eighth market launch and its first in India. The app provides a value-based proposition for Aircel users, rewarding them with Rs. 10 credit every week for simply unlocking their phone and viewing personalised ads, deals and offers, effectively converting their attention into rewards.

     

    Said Unlockd Co-Founder and CEO Matt Berriman: “Giving back to mobile users for the time they already spend on their devices has always been my vision of our company, something people are habitually doing every day, and I believe this is why our business has seen such strong success globally in many markets. We’re truly excited to bring our platform to one of the world’s most progressive, fastest growing and dynamic markets, one in which a billion Indians spend hours a day on mobile devices. I’ve always had the vision to provide people a valuable reward for the time they spend on their mobile devices and we can provide Aircel customers up to Rs 40 per month in top up credit, making a significant difference to their monthly mobile expense, whilst also providing personalised offers, deals and coupons from some of the country’s best-known and loved brands.”

     

    Added Anupam Vasudev, Chief Marketing Officer of Aircel: “In a highly fragmented market, a proposition like Unlockd’s provides Aircel with a unique opportunity to build stronger relationships with our customers by rewarding them for something they are doing every day – spending time on their mobile devices. A model like this we believe will go a long way built customer stickiness on our platform and reduce churn.”

     

  • The film has been released in seven languages including Hindi all across India

    DDB Mudra North creates campaign to promote Aircel’s latest offering

    By A Correspondent

     

    DDB Mudra North and Aircel have created a clutter- breaking, catchy ad campaign to promote Aircel’s latest offering- Free Basic Internet.

     

    With the new campaign, Aircel intends to share more internet accessibility with users, enabling them to access their favourite applications such as WhatsApp and Facebook besides other daily use applications.

     

    With an intent to inform the users this offering, DDB Mudra North crafted ‘See You Online Ba!’, a fun-toned ad campaign which portrays a world where people no longer need to meet physically or ‘offline’ since everyone is ‘online’. A complete 360 degree pan-India campaign led by television, digital media and on-ground visibility, ‘See You Online Ba!’ captures a montage of people from all walks of life using internet.

     

    The film has been released in seven languages including Hindi all across India.

     

    Anupam Vasudev, Chief Marketing Officer, Aircel, said, “Even though we see a burgeoning population of mobile internet users in India, there’s still a large number of Indians who haven’t yet experienced the world of internet on mobile. With the boom in online avenues today that make lives easier for millions of people, we, at Aircel, saw a clear need for pushing the envelope on making the internet available for all, thereby fueling mobile internet adoption. Aircel’s initiative of offering free basic internet is a natural extension of this intent, and we’re truly delighted to have the creative powerhouse DDB Mudra translate our message into a simplistic and meaningful ad campaign. We’re sure that the sticky ad campaign will appeal to many Indians and help us say louder, ‘See you online Ba!’ ”.

     

    Quoting on the campaign, Sonal Dabral, Chairman and CCO, DDB Mudra Group said, “Free basic Internet by Aircel is a game changing offer. In its truest sense, it’s the democratization of the internet making the power of the net available to all. An incredible service like this needed an idea that did justice to its scale and importance. I’m really happy and excited that working closely with the marketing team at Aircel we were able to crack just that idea with “See you online Ba!”. The film is highly engaging and the slogan not just catchy and easy on the tongue but is sharply strategic too.”

     

    Quoting on the campaign, Sambit Mohanty, Creative Head, DDB Mudra North said, “Free Basic Internet from Aircel is a first-of-its-kind offering that makes the power of the net available to every citizen and empowers the common man. Our creative idea ‘See you online-ba’ imagines a world where people no longer need to meet physically or ‘offline’ since everyone is ‘online’. With its fun jingle and tongue-in-cheek moments, I’m sure this campaign will be a memorable one.”

     

  • NDTV and Aircel announced the third season of Aircel NDTV 'Save Our Tigers' – the largest and the most comprehensive media campaign

    3rd edition of Save Our Tigers to highlight key issues

    By a correspondent

     

    Carrying forward the mission to ‘Save Our Tigers’ – the largest and the most comprehensive media campaign on tiger conservation till date, NDTV and Aircel announced the third season of Aircel NDTV Save Our Tigers. Launched in 2010, the campaign was successful in setting the tiger agenda for the Nation.

     

    The launch of the third season of Aircel NDTV Save Our Tigers initiative witnessed the coming together of well known personalities from different walks of life to participate in a panel discussion and set key focus areas for the season. Present on the occasion were Belinda Wright, Executive Director, WPSI, Anupam Vasudev, Chief Marketing Officer, Aircel; Dr. K. Ramesh from Wildlife Institute of India; S P Yadav, ADIG, NTCA; Dr. Anish Andheria, Director, Wildlife Conservation Trust; Bittu Sahgal, Editor of Sanctuary Asia; and was anchored by Vikram Chandra, Group CEO, NDTV Group.

     

    Anupam Vasudev, Chief Marketing Officer, Aircel said, “Aircel has been passionately working towards its initiative ‘Save Our Tigers’ with noted conservationists and organizations with an aim to create mass awareness on the plight of the magnificent tiger and rally efforts to save it. There is no denying the fact that ‘Tigers are Irreplaceable’ and are extremely crucial for securing the environment for our future generations. We are confident that like the past two editions, this year’s edition of Aircel-NDTV ‘Save Our Tigers’ campaign will further increase the level of participation and support for the cause.”

     

    Vikram Chandra

    Speaking on the occasion, Vikram Chandra, Group CEO, NDTV Group said, “NDTV is overwhelmed by the nationwide response received for the first 2 editions of the campaign. We are now coming up with the Tiger Agenda for the 3rd edition and will be looking at key factors such as reducing man-animal conflict, protecting tiger habitats, strengthening the forest department and more.”

     

    The current edition will focus on and highlight key factors – existing buffer zones and corridors to be clearly identified and control to be ensured by forest department; local community involvement; strengthening of forest department; human-animal conflict management solutions; bio-diverse forest areas to remain inviolate and push for political will.

     

  • Chori? Perhaps. Still, you have to admit the director of the Aircel ad has done a good job, one can't take that away from him/her.

    Debrief: Aircel: Charming. But is it original?

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Sweet Aircel commercial. Very endearingly directed. For the first time I have liked Dhoni in a commercial, he looks happy being in it. The Indian cricket captain usually looks maha bored in the ads, as bored as he looks at the pressers these days, as he turns into a mannequin when asked questions on the IPL mess.

     

    But the most important reason I like the ad is the performance by the little autograph hunter. Very cute, very real, and his expressions and body language are stunningly perfect. This situation feels like it’s happening in real time. Full marks to the director, this commercial looks simple but it mustn’t have been easy to shoot. So, good show.

     

    However, a veteran ad man points out that the commercial is a copy of Coke’s classic ‘Mean Joe Green’ commercial from 1979. I am linking both the commercials below, you can decide if the Aircel creative team got inspired or not. Yes, the ads do have the similar plot, the treatment is similar too. Chori? Perhaps. Still, you have to admit the director of the Aircel ad has done a good job, one can’t take that away from him/her.

     

    Aircel
    		 Coke

    Rating: (On a scale of 1-5): 3.5 – If the ad is original. 1 – If it’s ‘inspired’.

     

    Anil Thakraney is a senior journalist and commentator. He is also Editor-at-Large, MxMIndia. The views of the writer are his own.

     

  • Starcom continues its accounts winning spree with Radio Mirchi in its portfolio

    Radio Mirchi appoints Starcom as media partner

    By A Correspondent

     

    Starcom Worldwide has bagged the media mandate of leading radio network Radio Mirchi. The account will be handled from Starcom’s Mumbai office. It was previously with Madison. The agency is reported to started work on the new business.

     

    The win adds to a series of new business wins at Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) since the middle of last year, among which are Aircel, Dabur, Axis Bank, Zee Learning, Supermax, Sterling Holidays etc. SMG has also been aggressively strengthening their media product in India. The agency recently launched its proprietary Web+TV optimiser, billed as the first of its kind in the market.

     

    Confirming the news, G G Jayanta, National Head of Marketing, Radio Mirchi said: “we are pleased to appoint Starcom since we needed a partner who is future focussed and can help us navigate the new media landscape. Their in-house research and tools are very impressive and their media product and philosophy are pretty solid. We look forward to a long and rewarding association with Team Starcom”.

     

    Commenting on the win, Malli CR, CEO of SMG India said: “We are thrilled to win the Radio Mirchi account. Given the developments in this sector, we look forward to exciting times. We have planned some specific research and insights projects using our proprietary tools and optimisers”.

     

  • This has not only opened up the market but also pushed up rates

    Jaya TV stirs up rights market for Tamil films

    By Sangeetha Kandavel

     

    Jaya TV and a few other rivals of Tamil television leader Sun TV are making a hitherto-unseen charge toward bagging the TV rights for big-ticket Tamil movies, for long the preserve of the Kalanithi Maran-owned Sun TV. This has not only opened up the market but also pushed up rates.

     

    Jaya TV, the mouthpiece of the ruling AIADMK party and a distant rival to Sun TV, has virtually stirred up the market in the past few days by bagging two top titles. Last week, it acquired the rights for the upcoming Rajnikanth-starrer ‘Kochadaiyaan.’ On Monday, it bought another big-ticket  movie – the upcoming Suriya-starrer ‘Maatraan.’

     

    The previous Rajnikanth movie, ‘Endhiran,’ was produced by Sun TV, which had then called it the costliest Indian movie ever made. Jaya TV was never known to indulge in the buying of TV rights, something that’s a key part of Sun TV’s content strategy. But KP Sunil, vice president of Jaya TV, said that after a lull of six years the channel has started looking at Tamil movies aggressively. “We are looking are acquiring more such movies and it will be a mixture of big and small ones,” he added.

     

    The onslaught by Jaya TV and others comes after what has been a challenging year for Sun TV. Once she came to power last May, chief minister J Jayalalithaa floated a government-run cable service called Arasu to counter the ground distribution support that Sun TV enjoyed through another Maran-owned company. Cases were also filed against the then Sun TV COO Hansraj Saxena on charges of defrauding producers while purchasing movies for television.

     

    Maran and his brother, former Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran, have been under the lens of the Central Bureau of Investigation on allegations that Aircel’s former owner C Sivasankaran was arm-twisted to sell his company to Maxis founder T Anandakrishnan, who in turn invested in Kalanithi Maran’s Sun DTH.

     

    For those reasons, a challenge in the market for TV rights of movies has been expected for more than a year now. It’s only now that Jaya TV is in “full swing,” as a top official of a rival Tamil channel, wishing anonymity, put it. Executives at Sun TV and Star Vijay could not be reached for comment.

     

    The challenge isn’t confined to Jaya TV. Star Vijay has since last year has picked and chosen key titles it wants to buy. It has ended up with movies such as ‘Avan Ivan’ (directed by National Award winner Bala) and even ‘Nanban’ (the remake of ‘3 Idiots’), for which it is said to have paid record sums.

     

    Even Zee Tamil, a relatively late entrant in the Tamil entertainment market, has got onto the movie buying bandwagon. It has acquired the rights for the Simbu-starrer ‘Vettai Mannan.’ A Ficci-Deloitte report pegged the South Indian media and entertainment market in 2011 at Rs18,740 crore, 70 per cent of it coming from the Tamil and Telugu markets. TV accounted for Rs10,630 crore and films Rs2,110 crore.

     

    Political commentator Gnani Sankaran puts the trend down to clout. “Whichever party has political clout, they tend to bag satellite rights. When the DMK were in power, Sun Pictures was doing it,” he said. It isn’t as if Sun TV is struggling to buy anything. Being the TV network with the deepest pockets, it is still lapping up movies, being by far the biggest acquirer of movie rights. It recently got the rights for ‘Naan Ee’ as also the much-awaited Ajith-starrer ‘Billa 2.’ Sun TV has announced it will spend Rs200 crore on its movie library this year (this includes all languages in which it has a presence). This is a steep in crease from Rs80 crore last year. One reason for the significantly higher allocation, two industry executives said, could be because it anticipated competition to push up prices.

     

    Source: The Economic Times

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

     

     

  • What does Aircel have to do with Dhoni's self-belief saga? This ad is valid for any brand and any product category

    Debrief: Aircel: Misplaced belief

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    ‘Let’s keep believing’, says Aircel. Okay man, will do. But believe in what? In myself or in the Aircel call center executive who will hopefully have solutions to my billing problems? That minor detail doesn’t get explained in the new Aircel advert.

     

    So, I suppose ‘Belief’ is Aircel’s brand new corporate philosophy. That’s fine, but this platform has been sucked out dry in advertising. I wonder if people, er, believe in it anymore. Also, the treatment of the ad film, which features brand ambassador Dhoni explaining to a young friend (and to himself) the importance of not losing hope in bad times, is too close to one of those booze commercials the cricket captain does. I almost expected Maahi to sign off the ad by asking the kid to ‘Make it large’.

     

    Blasphemous thought.

     

    But more than the positioning and the treatment, I have a serious problem with brand linkage. What does Aircel have to do with Dhoni’s self-belief saga? This ad is valid for any brand and any product category… self-belief is a universal concept.

     

    Also, because the brand arrives abruptly in the end, its recall is gonna be a dicey issue. I would be rather surprised if Aircel gain’s much from this effort.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJbpzQSO3U8[/youtube]

    Yep, I believe in Maahi. Nope, I don’t believe in this ad. I think I’ll just go and make it large.

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 1. Weak idea and execution.

     

  • Snack bar manufacturer Nature Valley has announced that it has come on board as the official "Healthy Snack Partner" for the Aircel Chennai Open 2012. The 17th edition of India's only and south Asia's leading ATP World Tour event will be held from January 2 to 8, 2012.

    Nature Valley ties up with Aircel Chennai Open

    By A Correspondent

     

    Snack bar manufacturer Nature Valley has announced that it has come on board as the official “Healthy Snack Partner” for the Aircel Chennai Open 2012. The 17th edition of India’s only and south Asia’s leading ATP World Tour event will be held from January 2 to 8, 2012, and will see in action an impressive line-up of Indian and International players including world number 9 Janko Tipsarevic and world number 10 Nicolas Almagro.

     

    Further to associating with Aircel Chennai Open for the first time, Nature Valley has taken a key initiative in giving scholarships to highly ranked young tennis players who will be selected by Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA).

     

    Commenting on Nature Valley’s association with 2012 Aircel Chennai Open, Arindam Haldar, Director – Premium Foods for General Mills India, said, “Aircel Chennai Open has emerged as one of the most prestigious sporting events in India. Nature Valley is delighted to be associated with Aircel Chennai Open 2012 as the official ‘Healthy Snack Partner’ of the event. To become a part of such global sport/event is a natural fit for a successful global brand like Nature Valley. Nature Valley Granola Bars are all about wholesome, healthy and tasty snacking which suits the requirements of tennis – a health and fitness sport.”

     

    Elaborating further about the association with tennis, he said, “Our granola bars are convenient, wholesome snacking options for players during tough training sessions and hectic travel schedules. We look forward to a successful partnership with a fast-emerging and leading sport like tennis in India starting with Aircel Chennai Open 2012, and we see a long-term synergy through this association.”

     

    Ashu Jindal, COO, IMG Reliance said, “The growing support from global corporations such as Nature Valley is yet another testament that the Aircel Chennai Open has built the reputation of being the definitive ATP World Tour event in South Asia. I am certain sure this is the beginning of a long and mutually beneficial relationship between Nature Valley and Aircel Chennai Open.”