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Tag: Futurebrands India

  • The initiative will feature the finest minds in the world of marketing come together to discuss the future of marketing

    Second edition of ‘Star Flow’ to be held in New Delhi

    By A Correspondent

     

    We aren’t invited for it, but the line-up looks interesting and has been very heavily promoted by The Times of India group publications. The second edition of Flow – The Change Festival is scheduled to be held on February 19 and 20 in Gurgaon.

     

    Sanjeev Bhargava

    Said Sanjeev Bhargava, Director – The Times of India, TIMS and Mirror Brands and Co-Curator of Flow: “Flow – The Change Festival is a unique initiative that brings cutting edge marketing theories, practices, trends and technologies to marketing leaders and practitioners alike. The speakers and panellists have been carefully curated to deliver the highest value for the time the marketing fraternity chooses to spend at this festival. Last year, this event was extremely successful going by the feedback of the delegates. We hope to make this edition even bigger and better.”

     

    Santosh Desai

    Added Santosh Desai, MD and CEO FutureBrands India and also Co-Curator of the event: “The overall intent of The Flow Festival is to make sense of all the change that we see around us with both depth and freshness. In its second year Flow is focusing on bringing to the Indian marketing community perspectives that challenge long-held conventional beliefs. New concepts, provocative ideas, deep-dives into emerging themes- these are what the marketing practitioner can hope to hear at this year’s event.”

     

     

  • Beginning next year, Indian boxing champ Mary Kom will become the global brand ambassador for British multinational telecom company Vodafone

    Boxing champ Mary Kom is Vodafone’s global brand ambassador

    By John Sarkar

     

    Beginning next year, Indian boxing champ Mary Kom will become the global brand ambassador for British multinational telecom company Vodafone.

     

    The London Olympic bronze medallist from Manipur has not only knocked out other Asian contenders for the role, but she has also dealt a severe body blow to the widespread Indian prejudice that fails to look beyond cricket for multi-crore celebrity-endorsements.

     

    According to people familiar with the development, the diminutive Kom, a five-time World Boxing champion and mother of two, has been shortlisted from a group of at least 25 other Asian athletes for Vodafone’s new social media-led brand engagement strategy ‘Vodafone Firsts’ that will be activated across up to 30 countries. When asked about the details of the relationship, a Vodafone spokeswoman from London refused to comment. “We will share more information closer to the launch,” she said.

     

    In what may come across as a strange turn of fate, Vodafone will activate its first ‘First’ services in London early next year, the city where Kom won her first Olympic medal. “At the launch, Vodafone will help create the world’s first multi-sensory fireworks display, in partnership with the mayor of London and food scientists Bompas & Parr,” the telecom giant said in a statement. “Meanwhile, a free Vodafone augmented reality smartphone app will enable millions more to join in the experience, wherever they are.”

     

    According to Vodafone Group brand director Barbara Haase, the ‘Firsts’ concept is simple. “We know that our technology can enable and inspire people to do something amazing for the first time, from making their first call to sharing their first video. Firsts is designed to reflect that sense of empowerment by using our technology and connectivity to enable a diverse range of people to achieve their remarkable ambitions.”

     

    “Vodafone has made a good choice. Many people, even those who don’t follow boxing, will identify with the Mary Kom story,” says Santosh Desai, brand expert and CEO & MD of Futurebrands India. “In a sport with no money, she has shown a lot of grit. Despite being a mother of two and coming from a so-called backward part of the country, she has shown class at the highest level.”

     

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2013, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

    Licensed to republish

     

  • Advertisers like Maruti Suzuki, Honda bikes and Samsung turning to kids' channels

    Adult brands patronize kiddie channels

    By Shambhavi Anand

     

    When Lata Diwan went shopping for the household, her 5-year-old daughter Tanya suggested her to choose a certain brand on mosquito repellent. “It will drive the mosquitoes out as well as leave a fragrance around,” the young scholar told her mother.

     

    Tanya’s knowledge about mosquito repellents comes from an advertisement she watches in between her favourite programmes on cartoon channels, where it’s no longer just toymakers and children’s product brands that advertise. An increasing number of nontraditional advertisers including Maruti Suzuki, Honda bikes and Samsung is advertising on kids’ channels as more children participate in their parents’ purchase decisions and more parents watch television with their children.

     

    “While traditional advertisers such as GlaxoSmithKline, Hindustan Unilever, Cadbury, Mattel, Kellogg, Perfetti and ITC are amongst our top spenders, close to 50% of our revenues now come from non-traditional advertisers,” says Juhi Ravindranath, ad sales vice-president for South Asia at Turner International India, which owns Pogo and Cartoon Network channels. Most houses in India have one television set and it’s common that children and adults watch it together, and often the younger ones hold the sceptre – the remote control – and decide what to watch.

     

    Rahul Johri

    So advertisers targeting parents too are turning to kids’ channels. “Advertisers do not want to miss any opportunity of reaching out to their target audience, whether it is mothers, fathers or grandparents,” says Rahul Johri, senior vice president and general manager, South Asia, at Discovery Networks Asia Pacific, which owns Discovery Kids. The maximum growth in terms of adspend on these channels has been observed in fast-moving consumer goods.

     

    A spokesperson of Pogo channel says unconventional advertisers on the channel include Maruti Suzuki, Honda bikes, Hero Moto-Corp, Micromax, LG, Samsung and Hitachi. “We expect the number of new categories and advertisers to only grow,” the person adds. That’s because it’s seen as a win-win. While the kids’ channel gains from the increased advertiser base, the non-traditional advertiser benefits from the huge secondary target audience of parents and grandparents.

     

    Santosh Desai, advertising veteran and MD and CEO of Futurebrands India, says, “For marketers there are a couple of advantages of being on kids’ channels. First there will be some spillover adult viewer and children’s role in decision-making for the household has also increased. Secondly, these channels are relatively cheaper in the overall media mix.”

     

    A study by Cartoon Network, ‘Cartoon Network New Generations 2012′, shows a majority of parents watch television with their kids. After serials, cartoons are the most preferred genre for parents, ranking above news channels.

     

    About 75% parents spend time watching TV at least 5-6 times a week with their kids. This number is even higher, close to 80%, for parents of younger children. Channels say that in spite of the decent growth, the kids’ genre is extremely under-monetised, with 7% viewership and just 3% of revenue share.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2013, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

    Licensed to republish