MxMIndia

Tag: Bharti Airtel

  • Senior marketer and until recently head of the media vertical at all business units of Bharti Airtel, Arun Sharma has moved to IPG Mediabrands as Vice President

    Arun Sharma returns to IPG Mediabrands after 10yrs at Airtel

     

    Arun Sharma
    Arun Sharma

    By A Correspondent

    Senior marketer and until recently head of the media vertical at all business units of Bharti Airtel, Arun Sharma has moved to IPG Mediabrands as Vice President.

    Confirming that Mr Sharma had joined the leading media agency conglomerate on Monday in New Delhi. Shashi Sinha, CEO of IPG Mediabrands, said that he will be working on a group role. “Arun has been at senior positions in the industry and we are glad to have him on board,”  Mr Sinha said.

    A member of various industry bodies, Mr Sharma has a career spanning across 17 years, the last decade of which was spent with Airtel and before that with the IPG Mediabrands group for six-and-a-half years. “It’s a homecoming of sorts for me,”  Mr Sharma said while adding that he is looking forward to the new responsibilities at IPG.

  • Airtel mobile customers will be able to access popular Google services on their mobile phones at zero data cost.

    Bharti Airtel & Google join hands to launch Free Zone in India

    By A Correspondent

     

    Bharti Airtel and Google have announced the launch of Free Zone powered by Google, which will give Airtel mobile customers access to mobile web search and feature-phone-friendly versions of Gmail and Google+ in India. The first page of a website linked from search results is provided at no data cost.

     

    Airtel mobile customers can access the service by visiting www.airtel.in/freezone and start using the internet without having to sign in to the service. Any user can create a Gmail account instantly on the Free Zone homepage and enjoy a multitude of connectivity and social media services from Google.

     

    Rajan Anandan

    Rajan Anandan, VP and Managing Director, Google India said, “The mobile internet user base is growing really fast in India. Working with Airtel on this exciting trial means that we can offer internet services at no cost to anyone with a phone. This gives people easier access to information in a way that benefits everyone, whether it’s an individual or a small business that wants to reach more people on the web. We hope this initiative will encourage more Indians to experience the value of the internet and gain from it. Students can easily look up facts to work on their assignments, housewives will be able to easily check on recipes and connect with their friends and family from their mobile phones.”

     

    “In this market, where feature phones predominate, our association with Google to bring Free Zone to India will encourage millions of users to discover the power of mobile internet for the very first time and leverage the amazing world of information search, email and social collaboration – at no incremental cost,” said N Rajaram, Chief Marketing Officer, Consumer Business, Bharti Airtel.

     

    Free Zone aims to make the web accessible and affordable to all mobile users. The set of powerful internet services available via Airtel includes Google Search, which will take Free Zone users to websites matching their search query, Gmail, and Google+ which enables users to share photos and messages with social groupings of family, friends and business or work associates. While Airtel subscribers will not incur any data charges to access these services on Free Zone powered by Google, access to more advanced services such as Attachment Download or browse through to web sites from the ones accessed in the Free Zone would be enabled through the subscription to a standard data package.

     

    Airtel mobile customers will be able to access the following services from mobile phone browsers through Free Zone powered by Google:

    – Gmail: Users have unlimited access to Gmail from their mobile browser. If users click on a link or attachment within the email they are directed to a page where they can purchase a data package.

    – Google+: Users can share online photos and messages with circles of family, selected friends or the public; follow updates on the things they are passionate about – from cricket to photography, music to news; and follow people they’re interested in.

    – Google Search: Users can search the entire internet and access the first page of websites from the results for free. If they click further into a website after that, they are directed to a page where they can purchase a data package.

     

    When users leave the Free Zone to navigate deeper into a website or download an attachment they are informed about the data charges and given the option to purchase an appropriate data package.

     

  • The moderator for the session Mr Ashish Pherwani opened the discussion on the ad growth challenge

    INMA 2012: ‘Print must engage audiences effectively’

    By Shruti Pushkarna

     

    Day 1 of the sixth annual South Asia INMA conference opened with a host of promising sessions which addressed key issues facing the industry.

     

    Ashish Pherwani
    [youtube width=”400″ height=”225″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfREkdmTRuc[/youtube]

    The session ‘Winning the Ad Growth Challenge: Is it a Plausible Model’ was moderated by Ashish Pherwani, Partner- Advisory Services, Ernst & Young India and the other panelists included Bharat Bambawale, Director, Global Brand Bharti Airtel Ltd; Mayank Pareek, COO (Marketing & Sales), Maruti Suzuki India Ltd; and Shashi Sinha, CEO, LodestarMedia.

     

    The moderator, Mr Pherwani opened the discussion on the ad growth challenge by listing out four factors that he felt were impacting ad growth: inherent competition, technology change, slow economic growth and growth of television. Citing a recent research, Mr Pherwani said that there were clear indications that consumers are spending more time on digital media at the expense of traditional media.

     

    He also listed out some questions for the print industry to address, the broad one being, how to stay relevant and grow revenues. Among the other questions he raised were: New ways advertisers can use print, how to enhance effectiveness of print for advertisers, what makes advertisers continue on print when times are tough and finally how can print companies explore new media.

     

    Mayank Pareek
    [youtube width=”400″ height=”225″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYJJnTGb12U[/youtube]

    Mr Pareek said that the demography is changing because the way people seek news is changing. He said that Maruti had redefined their strategy to invest in print, looking at the changing trends in consumption: “We’ve gone from 67 per cent to 23 per cent in our spends on advertising in print in the last five years.” He said that it is important that companies continuously adopt to the changing demographic needs. He added that even though digital spends are low today, digital is growing and changing rapidly. So for print to remain relevant, there is need to develop engaging content as the other media are offering. However, Mr Pareek agreed that print will continue to play a role in the future as well.

     

    While the other panelists agreed with Mr Pareek that print will continue to be the part of a media plan for an agency or an advertiser, they also shared his concern on the need for print to adapt to changing consumption patterns.

     

    Mr Bambawale of Airtel said: “We are using much less print. There is one strong global trend which holds true forIndiaas well, young eyeballs are moving away from the printed word to the video. So for print medium to engage this audience is a great challenge. The conversation should change from ‘how can we put an ad out there’ to ‘how can we engage’. In a newspaper, content is all about facts and events but in engagement, content is about making things interesting. The answer lies in creating content that has high degree of engagement even around topics of news or current issues.”

     

    Mr Sinha said that the strength of print lies in the fact that it brings a lot of credibility: “Print still stands for credibility, I am not so sure if digital has that. We’ve embraced digital because of the youth. For certain brands which go through an erosion of trust, print is the best place to be in.”

     

    He added that not growing fast enough is the problem of measurement: “The current measurement metrics are limited to cost and reach. There is no way to measure engagement or performance. Unless we start showing these to the advertiser, things won’t change. There is a need to introduce new metrics of measurement.”

     

    Mr Bambawale echoed Mr Sinha’s view on measurement being limited to cost and reach as far as newspapers are concerned: “If you change the matrices by which you present the title to an advertiser, it’d be a more fruitful conversation perhaps.”

     

    The discussion concluded with two key takeaways, Print needs to find new ways of engaging its audience to stay relevant in a changing era. And second, there is a need perhaps to look at other matrices of measurement for print, a way of measuring effectiveness of an innovation.

     

  • MTunes Trending20 brings to its viewers a comprehensive analysis of audience preferences across 5 platforms

    MTunes HD launches ‘MTunes Trending20’

    By A Correspondent

     

    MTunes HD – the HD Bollywood music channel has announced the launch of a countdown show called ‘MTunes Trending20’, presented by Bharti Airtel. This is in keeping with the channel’s premise of delivering “music like never seen before”.

     

    Historically, countdown charts have been based on record sales. However, given the fact that music consumption is spread across multiple platforms these days, MTunes Trending20 brings to its viewers a comprehensive analysis of audience preferences across 5 platforms. The final chart will be compiled by leading media research firm Ormax Media.

     

    The five platforms will be Radio popularity compiled by Radio City, Digital downloads provided by Hungama, YouTube views & Heartbeats (weekly music research) by Ormax Media and audience preferences as recorded by MTunes HD. A normalized measurement formula based on TV Ratings Data, Radio Aircheck, SMS requests, downloads/usage tracking across mobile service providers and views count on popular internet video sites will be collated to generate the weekly chart.

     

    Presented by Bharti Airtel, the weekly show – scheduled to launch from August 04 every Saturday – will play the top 20 songs of the week. Through the week the top songs on MTunes Trending20 will also be highlighted on the daily play list.

     

    Speaking on the occasion, Saravanan P, CEO of MTunes HD said: “MTunes Trending20 is a reaffirmation of our promise to deliver ‘Music Like Never Seen Before’ and strengthens a long line-up of path-breaking formats like Kal Ka Superhits, Handmade and MBox already on the channel. We have pioneered the industry by launching the World’s first HD Bollywood Music Channel and are committed to consistently drive growth for our stakeholders. This show will deliver the gold standard of Bollywood music rankings to the industry and is among several initiatives in the pipeline that will make the MTunes HD viewers feel the music!” The channel is reportedly pricing the property at a premium and is confident of changing the game for the genre with its unique concept and distinct proposition.

     

    Shailesh Kapoor, CEO-Ormax Media added: “Today, music is consumed across media – television, radio, internet, mobile phones and other digital devices. MTunes Trending20 is a unique property that captures the combined effect of all these media.”

     

  • This does away with the practice of advertisers having to pay on the basis of projected box office collections of a movie

    PVR explores charging ads less for flops

    By Ratna Bhushan

     

    Multiplex operator PVR plans to link its advertising rates to ticket sales to make its cinemas more attractive to advertisers.

     

    PVR has approached advertisers such as Hindustan Unilever, Bharti Airtel and Hero Group with a first-time concept of charging for advertising at the start and during the interval on the basis of the number of tickets sold, a top PVR executive said.

     

    This does away with the practice of advertisers having to pay on the basis of projected box office collections of a movie.

     

    “There’s a captive audience, no remote control and least amount of spill over. Most of all, it’s completely validated because we can’t over-state ticket sales,” said PVR COO Gautam Dutta.

     

    The concept means advertisers can fix the reach and duration for which they pay to advertise. So, for example, if Agent Vinod flopped, advertisers would have the option of pulling out midway, and instead put their money on another flick-say, Kahaani.

     

    The bulk deal they would have committed to PVR gets carried forward to the next movie.

     

    Media-buying houses, which have been rooting for higher accountability on television ad spends, are keen on the new concept.

     

    “This could be a significant step towards making cinema advertising more accountable. Though small compared to television, it at least guarantees returns on investment,” said Basabdutta Chowdhury, CEO of Platinum Media, a division of media buying group Madison World, which buys media for Bharti Airtel.

     

    Ajit Varghese, MD, South Asia of Group M-promoted media buying firm Maxus, which buys on behalf of Hero Group, says: “Cost per audience is always a better measure in cinema advertising. It’s an ideal way of moving ahead, as long as it is implemented well.”

     

    The cost of in-theatre advertising works out about eight times cheaper than mass media, say media buyers. Theatre operators are allowed 18 minutes of advertising per movie screening.

     

    The buys can be segmented for consumers in tier II cities – at PVR Talkies, or at the high-end PVR Premiere, or at the luxury cinema Director’s Cut.

     

    Mr Dutta says the rates are flexible and would vary: “If Hero wants to advertise in our theatre in Baroda, rates will obviously be lower. If they want to buy screen time on theatres in Juhu in Mumbai, we will charge more.”

     

    PVR operates 179 screens across 24 cities. The move targets 28 m viewers in a year across PVR screens.

     

    Below-the-line advertising and promotions are common for most cinema and multiplex players. India’s largest carmaker Maruti, for example, had used sound technology to promote the launch of its new Zen model, while toothpaste brand Close Up had run a promotion where seats were sold only for couples.

     

    In 2011-12, cinema advertising contributed 13.5 per cent, or Rs61 crore, to PVR’s revenue of Rs492 crore. The company is projecting Rs85 crore in advertising revenue this fiscal. The concept could catch up among rival multiplex players as well.

     

    Source: The Economic Times

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

     

  • The much awaited Airtel Super Singer 7 will be aired every Wednesday from June 27 onwards.

    Bharti Airtel gears up to present Super Singer 7

    By A Correspondent

     

    Bharti Airtel, a leading global telecommunications company, has launched Airtel Super Singer 7, aimed to entertain music lovers of Andhra Pradesh. The launch took place in the presence of Sharlin Thayil, CEO – Bharti Airtel, Andhra Pradesh along with the jury members of the show, singers Sunitha and Kouslaya along with lyricist Chandra Bose.

     

    Airtel Super Singer 7 – The Spicy Series brings famous singers to a common platform. There will be 2 teams in this series – Warriors and Chargers and the show will have the singers showcasing a variety of music genres.

     

    Speaking on the occasion, Mr Thayli said: “Airtel has always taken the lead in associating with events, shows and initiatives that showcases the talent of today’s youth. It gives us immense pleasure to be associated with this youthful and entertaining show. We would like to wish the participants all the very best for a fantastic show.”

     

    Airtel Super Singer 7 – The Spicy Series will be aired every Wednesday on Maa TV.

     

  • They say that TRPs should decide the ad rates of reality shows instead of the channels charging advertisers fixed rates even before the show goes live

    Advertisers crib as TRPs fall for Satyamev Jayate

    By Ratna Bhushan

     

    The truth isn’t quite triumphing – not at least in the way some advertisers on Aamir Khan’s hyped debut television reality show Satyamev Jayate thought it would. Television rating points (TRPs) have fallen short of expectations, say at least two marketing heads of associate sponsors, although publicly most advertisers are making the right noises. That, however, hasn’t stopped media buying firms, on behalf of advertisers, from pushing for result and performance-based ad rates on reality shows. They say that TRPs should decide the ad rates of reality shows instead of the channels charging advertisers fixed rates even before the show goes live.

     

    As per rating agency TAM’s data released by Star on June 13, Satyamev Jayate – which is being aired on Sunday mornings across nine channels of the Star Network (as well as on the state-owned Doordarshan) delivered a national TVR of 3.9. That’s lower than the ratings of blockbuster shows of the past like Kaun Banega Crorepati (Sony Entertainment) and Bigg Boss’ debut show (Colors).

     

    Navin Khemka, managing partner of media buying firm ZenithOptimedia, which represents consumer goods major Reckitt Benckiser, one of the associate sponsors of Satyamev Jayate said: “All the risk cannot be passed on to the advertiser. With high entry-level costs on reality shows, it is critical that channels take more accountability on the returns on investment.”

     

    Increasingly, agencies and clients will ask for certain minimum guarantees on programme performance and viewership, he added: “It has to be a win-win for both the brand and the show.”

     

    While Bharti Airtel coughed up a chunky Rs17-20 crore for the presenting sponsor slot, associate sponsors like Axis Bank, Reckitt Benckiser, Skoda, Coca-Cola and Johnson & Johnson paid Rs6-7 crore each for the 13-week show.

     

    Star has charged Rs8-10 lakh per 10 seconds for spot rates for Satyamev Jayate while spot rates for KBC were Rs 3.5-4 lakh per 10 seconds.

     

    According to the marketing head of an associate sponsor who did not wish to be quoted, returns on investment on the show could have been higher. “The way the show was sold to us, we expected higher ratings. It’s disappointing and we hope the ratings increase as the show progresses.”

     

    However, Bharat Bambawale, global brand director at Bharti Airtel, defended the investment: “To view the success of a show based only on television ratings would limit its overall value. The success of a show has to be looked at collectively and in a holistic way… the content of a show will impact ratings.” On whether broadcasters should rationalise ad rates on reality shows, Bambawale said: “It’s a matter of individual judgement for every sponsor.”

     

    Basabdutta Chowdhury, CEO of Platinum Media, a division of media buying firm Madison World, which buys media for Bharti Airtel, said: “Advertisers do want accountability and minimum guarantees factored in for reality shows in general, although Satyamev Jayate was not meant to be a mass ratings show.”

     

    On reality shows, deals are structured in a way that they cannot be re-negotiated through the entire program. This is unlike cricket where broadcasters keep at least some ad inventory – like the semi-finals and finals – open to negotiations based on the ratings.

     

    Ajit Varghese, MD, South Asia of Maxus, which is owned by the country’s largest media buying house Group M, said: “While there’s no standardised way of looking at a deal, we all are pushing for deals with a minimum guarantee. Of course, the arrangement should factor in an upside too, but overall ad deals should be linked to a programme’s performance.”

     

    Veteran ad man Santosh Desai is of the view that Satyamev Jayate needs to be evaluated not just by viewership but also for the impact it has. “It’s a difficult show to watch…. Some subjects don’t have a mass audience at all so to be watched week after week by masses will be a challenge.” KBC’s most recent season had opened to a rating of 5.24, and Bigg Boss Season 5 had opened to a TRP of 4.25. The Amitabh Bachchan-hosted KBC had managed ratings of over 4 all through its run.

     

    A Star India spokesperson says the show has delivered a reach of Rs40 crore over the first five episodes (including repeats). The launch episode delivered a TVR of 4.9 in Hindi-speaking markets and a 4.1 TVR all-India. Subsequently, all episodes have consistently delivered a 4+ rating in HSM and 3.5+ ratings at the all-India level.

     

    Kevin Vaz, Star India president, ad sales said: “Satyamev has ranked amongst the top few every week on an all-India level.”

     

     

    Source: The Economic Times

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

     

  • With this, Airtel mobile customers acrossIndiacan enjoy exclusive access to mobile and video content of soccer matches during UEFA Euro 2012

    Airtel bags exclusive video rights on mobile platform for UEFA Euro 2012

    By A Correspondent

     

    Bharti Airtel recently announced that it has bagged exclusive video rights on the mobile platform for the biggest soccer extravaganza of the year, UEFA Euro 2012. With this, 183 million plus Airtel mobile customers acrossIndiawill have exclusive access to mobile and video content from UEFA Euro 2012 and choose from a wide range of services such as Go! Go! Go! Contest, live feeds, SMS or MMS score updates, games, mobile magazine and so on.

     

    The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship or UEFA Euro 2012 will be held from June 8 to July 1, 2012. Europe’s top 16 soccer teams (including Germany, England and Portugal) will be fighting for the Euro 2012 winner’s title during 19 power-packed matches that will span across 21 days.

     

    The exclusive video rights for UEFA Euro 2012 continues to reinforce Airtel’s long term commitment to soccer and other sports that appeal to discerning urban youth audience.

     

  • With Airtel’s entry, mobile advertising will get the much-needed fillip and advertisers a better medium for targeted selling

    Dial ‘M’ for Mobile & Money!

     

    By Tuhina Anand

     

    Bharti Airtel’s foray into mobile advertising or m-advertising opens up immense possibility in this space for a country likeIndiawhere mobile penetration is much higher than internet. Also the hand held device is something personal which many have the habit of checking frequently, hence the assurance that if a message is sent, the chances of it getting noticed is much higher.

     

    There are players who have been trying to explore this territory for a while but the limitation has been that they are all third party players and would need support of a telco. With Airtel’s entry, this space will get the much needed fillip and advertisers a better medium of targeted advertising.

     

    Airtel, being a leading telecom player, has the advantage of huge database and they can facilitate a targeted and customized communication for potential consumers. Mohit Beotra, Head, Emerging Business, Bharti Airtel Ltd, said: “Our perspective on mobile advertising is straight forward. We can help in targeting the right kind of customers based on the analytics. We have access to data that can help in increasing the effectiveness of a campaign. There is an opportunity for the marketers and our customers and we can help in facilitating that dialogue to reach to the right kind of people.”

     

    He added: “While we would like to open eyes to the kind of opportunity that m-advertising has for the marketers, we would also like to help them in constructing effective campaigns for them on this platform.”

     

    Airtel has a three-year deal with Mogae Digital, a company owned co-owned by Sandeep and Tanya Goyal, to be its sole and exclusive monetization partner. They will sell advertising solutions on behalf of Airtel and also drive marketing reach for the telecom giant. While it is estimated that mobile advertising will grow by more than 40 per cent in the next few years inIndia, Mr Beotra stated that these are merely figures floating around and one can’t surely put a number to it. However, he is sure that Airtel’s revenue from this venture would be significant in the coming years.

     

    A recent example of m-advertising is the launch of Life OK channel by Star which allowed the channel to target the viewers just hours before the launch as the message flashed on their screens when one finished their call thus helping in targeting the right consumers in the right place.

     

    Giving his take on Airtel’s move, V Balasubramanium, Chief Knowledge Officer & Director, Rainman Consulting, said: “It will be a catalyst for growth rather than re-defining m-advertising. It will help the m-advertising category to grow as telco companies can use the rich consumer behaviour insights they possess for an effective connect. As the effectiveness grow through their ablility to target the right consumer with the right message, then naturally more brands would flock in to this medium. This, I see, is a good start and I am sure the same will be explored by more companies. But the secret of success is how well you use your consumer intelligence from the existing data. Innovative analytics will thus play a big role for its success and that will be heart to success! As companies latch on to that then success is near the corner.”

     

    Sharon Aneja, Director, Earned Innovation & Business Head West, SMG Digital pointed out that for any one who is into the business of brand building, the real handicap is lack of information. If one has data, then half the battle is already won. She said: “Today, there is a need to get people interested at various points of purchase funnel and the communication should not stop once he or she reaches the shop floor. M-advertising can help in getting people more interested in the product even before the purchase decision is made. By taking a lead, Airtel has taken the industry leader position and set a precedent for others to follow in quality messaging and point advertising.”

     

    Ms Aneja feels that the move will open new doors, however the challenge is how one finds interesting ways to use that data. Having worked in theUKusing mobile advertising, she pointed that while the data protection rules are stringent there, the brands have used m-advertising to explore personalized messaging and targeted reach. She added: “I think in India, since it’s still the beginning of mobile advertising, one has seen a limitation in terms of offering which usually revolves around the WAP service. This however will change as technology comes into play. Also as the purchase funnel has changed, brands need to have several touch points to let the consumer experience and know more on the product. Something like location advertising would help on the mobile platform.”

     

    “The real opportunity also lies with the untapped reach which m-advertising can open up. This will give brands and marketers unprecedented reach to communicate to rural consumers which hitherto has been a challenge,” concluded Ms Aneja.

     

    Airtel’s m-advertising will be in compliance with TRAI regulation and would not reach those who have opted for DND. As Mr Beotra pointed that their customer base is huge and those on DND is not such a big number, hence in no way would those numbers affect the reach of Airtel’s m-advertising. However, the move has definitely opened up a new channel for advertisers who are pressed in today’s time to grab the attention of their consumers, both existing and potential in the cluttered market.

    Imaging: Rafiq (images: Microsoft Clipart)

     

  • Introduces a unique mobile platform for advertisers to reach out to the right audience.. expects m-advertising to grow 40 percent

    Airtel forays into m-advtg, expects 40% growth

    By A Correspondent

     

    Bharti Airtel recently announced its strategic foray into the mobile advertising (m-advertising) segment in India. With this, Airtel will equip advertisers to connect with their potential customers in a targeted and personalized fashion via their mobile phones. The platform is designed to meet all the essential demands of advertisers such as inventory management, campaign management, reporting and analytics. As has been reported by MxMIndia in the past, Airtel has mandated Mogae Digital, a company owned co-owned by Sandeep & Tanya Goyal, former JV partners of Dentsu in India & the Middle East, to be its sole and exclusive monetization partner.

     

    Commenting on the development, K Srinivas, President – Consumer Business, Bharti Airtel, said: “We are excited to launch our mobile advertising platform. Personalization, sharp segmentation and contextualization are increasingly making this platform an exciting proposition for brands. With the mobile advertising market poised to grow by more than 40 per cent over the next few years, Airtel with its technology, scale and customer intelligence is placed uniquely to leverage this growing medium. Airtel’s m-advertising platform will enable advertisers to land their message in a simple, effective manner in an increasingly complex media environment.”

     

    Through Airtel’s m-Advertising platform, advertisers will be able to leverage multiple communications outlets and tools such as mobile internet (WAP), Messaging services and Airtel digital TV to engage their audiences. With this platform, companies can also extend their access to the rural audience with voice solutions.

     

  • Airtel joins ICICI in Millward Brown's BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study Brown

    ICICI Bank ahead of Pepsi, Airtel beats Siemens, Sony in Top 100 Global Brands rankings

    By A Correspondent

     

    Bharti Airtel has joined an elite club of global brands by making it to this year’s BrandZTop 100 Most Valuable Global Brands list by WPP firm Millward Brown. ICICI is the only other Indian brand in this group.

     

    With an overall ranking of 63 (brand value: $ 12.7 billion) and 71 (brand value: $11.5 billion) respectively, ICICI and Airtel have been ranked ahead of top global brands such as Citi (82), Sony (86), MTN (88), China Telecom (90) and Volkswagen (96).  ICICI is in fact ahead of even Pepsi which ranks at #67.

     

    The BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study is conducted annually by leading global research firm Millward Brown. It is the only brand valuation that takes into account what people think about the brands they buy along with rigorous analysis of financial data, market valuations, analyst reports and risk profiles. The ranking is arrived through a continuous in-depth quantitative research on a category-by-category and a country-by-country basis. The research covers some 2 million consumers and more than 50,000 brands in over 30 countries.

     

  • The soundtrack becomes the first in India to premiere on the mobile platform before the album's physical music release – thus tapping into the fast expanding base of mobile music listeners

    Airtel & Hungama announce mobile music premiere of Gangs of Wasseypur

    By A Correspondent

     

    Music from Anurag Kashyap’s most-awaited movie ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ became the first soundtrack in India to premiere on the mobile platform, prior to the album’s physical music release thanks to a tie-up between Airtel  and Hungama Mobile. The music is now available exclusively for Airtel mobile customers till May 26 via Hello Tunes and Airtel Radio.

     

    Commenting on this, N Rajaram, CMO – Consumer Business, Bharti Airtel said: “The music premier of ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ on the mobile platform speaks volumes of the changing consumption pattern among customers today. Be it music, movies, gaming, social networking or emailing – the discerning Indian customer is increasingly relying on the mobile phone for accessing content. As more and more customers prefer listening to music on their mobile phones, we expect to see mobile music launches as a fast emerging trend towards catering to the preferences of India’s expanding base of mobile music listeners. We are delighted to join hands with Hungama to announce this industry first and exclusive for Airtel mobile customers”.

     

    Albert Almeida, COO, Hungama Mobile, said: “The mobile ecosystem is evolving and with a staggering number of consumers wanting to consume music and movies directly on their phones, we are happy to satiate their appetite. Airtel has been at the forefront of marketing and distributing entertainment and music content via mobile devices and through this initiative together we will make a compelling offer to music lovers yet again.”

     

    What makes this tie-up special is that ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ has been selected for the prestigious “Directors’ Fortnight” at the 65th Festival De Cannes and has already garnered unprecedented buzz from international media and critics.