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Tag: Basabdatta Chowdhuri

  • The account will be handled out of the agency's Delhi office

    Madison Media wins Viber India media biz

    By A Correspondent

     

    Madison Media Plus has announced the media win of instant messaging and calling app Viber in India. The account was won in a multi agency pitch. The account will be handled out of the agency’s Delhi office.

     

    Viber is a pioneering mobile messaging, voice and video service that lets everyone in the world connect. Users can send free text messages, fun stickers, photos, videos and doodles, share locations anywhere in the world, make free HD-quality calls and communicate with Push-To-Talk. With Viber Out, users can make low-cost calls to any phone number around the world. Currently Viber has more than 35 million users in India.

     

    Commenting on this development, Anubhav Nayyar, Country Head Viber Media India, said, “We partnered with Madison as we were impressed with their overall approach and business strategy for Viber. In addition, they demonstrated a very sound understanding of the internet and social networking space.”

     

    Basabdatta Chowdhuri, CEO, Madison Media Plus said, “We are delighted with this new win and are confident that we can add strategic value in making the Viber brand, a household name across the country.”

     

  • While some big brands such as PepsiCo and Videocon may put their money on both the events, most marketers will have to choose one over the other because they cannot afford both

    Advertisers in dilemma on World Cup v/s IPL, Pepsi & Videocon may back both

    By Ratna Bhushan & Ravi Teja Sharma

     

    With India’s two most popular sporting events the cricket World Cup and the Indian Premier League (IPL) coming barely a week apart, advertisers in the country are caught in a dilemma over where to invest their money. While some big brands such as PepsiCo and Videocon may put their money on both the events, most marketers will have to choose one over the other because they cannot afford both.

     

    “Outlays on both properties are huge and any brand wanting to be noticed will have to spend a minimum threshold of money. This will naturally stretch annual budgets. Most of us will have to choose between one of the two properties,” said Mayank Shah, deputy marketing manager at the country’s largest biscuits maker Parle Products.

     

    Mr Shah said Parle hasn’t yet taken a call on whether to invest on the World Cup which is high stakes because it involves national pride and India is defending champion, or IPL which will see the biggest names in international cricket competing for the trophy. The maker of Hide & Seek and Monaco biscuits has been a top sponsor of the IPL in the past. The two big sporting properties are expected to see combined ad spends of Rs2,200-2,500 crore in the four months from February to May, according to leading media buying firms. While the IPL, which kicks off in April, is expected to rake in close to Rs1,000 crore, the World Cup that starts next month in Australia may fetch the ICC close to Rs1,200-1,500 crore, estimate media buyers. The companies say deciding where to invest is a tough call for brands.

     

    “The spends are entirely going to be a function of returns on investments,” said Basabdatta Chowdhuri, CEO at Platinum Media, part of the Madison Media Group, which represents telecom services provider Bharti Airtel, chocolate maker Mondelez and cigarettes and consumer goods firm ITC. “While IPL is an assured bet and is like a fixed deposit, investing on the World Cup is like punting — if India does make it to the final league, brands will naturally want to associate with the tournament even though rates will go up dramatically,” Ms Chowdhuri said.

     

    The concern about World Cup is that if India gets knocked out early, like it happened in 2007, interest levels and ratings will fall drastically. But then, India is more or less assured to be a qualifier in the quarter finals. Also, four of the six India matches in the league stage are on the weekends, which have been structured by the ICC to attract maximum TRPs.

     

    “World Cup for impact, IPL for consistency – that’s the split,” said Navin Khemka, managing partner (north and east region) at Group M-owned media buying agency Maxus, which represents personal care firms L’Oreal and Dabur. While IPL, coming on the offset of summer, is a big bet for products such as soft drinks, ACs and refrigerators, media buyers say the usual IPL buzz is missing this year due to the World Cup.

     

    “By January usually a lot of brands start to talk about IPL. This year though it has been relatively quiet so far,” said Indranil Das Blah, COO of entertainment management firm Kwan. “This could be a function of people still evaluating which of the two properties to go with. The uncertainty around IPL hasn’t helped,” he added.

     

    IPL has been mired in controversy, with spot-fixing allegations and a probe by authorities is underway. And the successful launch of new leagues in other sports may have given alternative avenues for brands to reach Indian sports lovers. Yet, cricket remains a must for most large brands as its popularity is unmatched. One reason why many brands are not talking about IPL yet could be that many advertisers believe booking at the last minute can get them a better deal as it happened last season.

     

    PepsiCo — title sponsor of the IPL and global sponsor of the World Cup — plans to activate its Lay’s potato chips during the World Cup and its soft drink brands during IPL. Its rival Coca-Cola will have to limit itself to largely leveraging the online space.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

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  • Lenskart.com, India's largest online retailer of fashionable and stylish eyewear has appointed Platinum Media, a part of Madison Media Group as its media agency

    Platinum Media wins Lenskart Media AOR

    By A Correspondent

     

    Lenskart.com, India’s largest online retailer of fashionable and stylish eyewear has appointed Platinum Media, a part of Madison Media Group as its media agency.

     

    Commenting on this development, Peyush Bansal, CEO and Founder, Lenskart.com, said “Lenskart has firmly established its brand identity in the mindscape of Indian consumers. As we go along we keep introducing newer conveniences for our patrons such as the home eye check-up programme, try-before-you-buy, virtual studio etc. Through our association with the Madison Media Group, we wish to create a consistent and effective engagement with our new and existing customers and attain new heights of brand loyalty and salience.”

     

    Said Basabdatta Chowdhuri, CEO, Platinum Media: “We are delighted with our partnership with Lenskart and are confident that we can add strategic value to this online brand and make it a household name across the country.”

     

  • These videos are shared on the Wills Lifestyle Vine page and Wills Lifestyle Facebook and Twitter pages

    Wills Lifestyle and Madison unveil ‘Rock the Ramp’

    By A Correspondent

     

    Wills Lifestyle and Madison Media has devised the concept of “Wills Rock the Ramp” a 360 degree Vine booth – a twist to the traditional twirl people do to show off what they’re wearing. Instead of doing the twirl, the cameras and modern technology does the twirling and the same could be shared on social networks.

     

    Users simply had to step into the booth and the revolving camera shoots a 4-6 second video, showing a 360 view of what they’re wearing to the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week. These videos are shared on the Wills Lifestyle Vine page and Wills Lifestyle Facebook and Twitter pages.

     

    Atul Chand, Divisional Chief Executive, ITC Lifestyle Retailing said, “Wills Lifestyle has always been at the forefront of innovation and driven the business of fashion in India with style. Being at the helm of creativity and novelty, we have integrated modern technology with fashion yet again this season, thereby creating 360 degree brand conversations. In this edition, Wills Lifestyle takes another leap with many firsts on the Indian fashion runway by introducing a 360-degree selfie booth.”

     

    Basabdatta Chowdhuri, CEO Platinum Media, says, “Our endeavour is to provide the best solutions to our clients irrespective of the platform. We want our brands to leverage new platforms and create high level engagements for consumers.”

     

  • The account, which will be handled by Platinum Media in Delhi, was serviced by Mindshare and the estimated media spend is in the range of Rs 30 crore.

    Madison Media wins HomeShop18 Media AOR

    By  A Correspondent

     

    Madison Media Group has been appointed as the media Agency on Record for leading shopping channel  Homeshop18. The account will be handled by Platinum Media in Delhi. The account was previously handled by Mindshare and the estimated media spend is in the range of Rs 30 crore.

     

    Vikrant Khanna

    Commenting on this, Vikrant Khanna, Chief Marketing Officer, HomeShop18 said, “Homeshop18 is proud to be associated with Madison, which is the leading media planning agency in the country. I am confident they will be a strong partner in our journey to become India’s leading virtual commerce player. Having worked with Madison in the past I know that Madison is best equipped to help us  reach our intended audience in the most economical and integrated way.”

     

    Says Basabdatta Chowdhuri, CEO, Platinum Media, “We are delighted with this new win and are confident that we can add strategic value in building the HomeShop18 brand in the country.”

     

    According to a communique, Madison Media has been on an account winning spree, having recently won a host of new businesses including Raymond Apparel, Piramal Healthcare, Epic Channel, McCain Foods, Ruchi Soya, Max India’s corporate account, Café Coffee Day, Radikal Rice and Crompton Greaves.