MxMIndia

Tag: ITC

  • ITC Ltd's fashion and lifestyle brand from ITC, has appointed iContract to handle its digital marketing and social media portfolio

    Wills Lifestyle appoints iContract for digital marketing

    By A Correspondent

     

    Wills Lifestyle, the fashion and lifestyle brand from ITC, has appointed iContract, a part of Contract Advertising, to handle its digital marketing and social media portfolio.

     

    After a rigorous selection process involving 12 top agencies, from which three agencies were shortlisted for the final round of consideration, iContract was selected for its creative strategy and execution plan to build the brand in the digital space.

     

    Karan Kumar

    Speaking on the selection process, Karan Kumar, General Manager, Lifestyle Retailing Business Division, ITC said, “The marketing paradigm has changed with the dawn of digital age. Consumer engagement and consumer dialogue has taken the forefront to drive brand salience. With online shopping going live it was inevitable for us to mandate an agency with the brand’s digital duties. With iContract on board we look forward to strengthen brand presence online including social media platforms.”

     

  • Consumer goods companies upped their media spends on the mobile platform in the past one year as smartphone penetration, coupled with a spurt in data usage, grew exponentially in the country.

    Higher smartphone use rings in FMCG mobile ad growth

    By Samidha Sharma

     

    Consumer goods companies upped their media spends on the mobile platform in the past one year as smartphone penetration, coupled with a spurt in data usage, grew exponentially in the country. InMobi, a mobile advertising network, said spends by FMCG companies, which are clubbed as traditional advertisers, grew 175 per cent on its network last year. Similarly, Vserv.mobi, another mobile ad network, registered a 300 per cent increase in ad dollars while Vuclip, a mobile-focused aggregator of video content, saw its FMCG clients double their ad spends in 2013.

     

    In India, FMCG saw a high uptake in the last two quarters of 2013, as five major advertisers including ITC, Reckitt Benckiser, HUL, Mondelez and Nestle ran more than 30 campaigns at a reasonably good scale as opposed to 2012 where only one consumer goods company utilized mobile effectively, said Dippak Khurana, CEO & co-founder of Vserv.mobi.

     

    Buoyed by a slew of mobile-only content, the Indian mobile advertising market is estimated to reach Rs 2,800 crore by 2016 from a mere Rs 180 crore according to estimates by Avendus Capital, a Mumbai-based financial advisory firm. The Indian advertising industry is pegged at around Rs 28,000 crore with FMCG as the biggest contributor on mediums such as television and print as well.

     

    “With the growth of mobile solutions companies, apps and other mobile technologies, we have seen FMCG advertisers tap the mobile in a big way over the past year. With over 800 million mobile subscribers, these advertisers targeting rural consumers find the medium extremely effective as mobile reaches even the remotest geographies,” said Basabdutta Chowdhury, CEO of Platinum Media, a division of Madison, which buys media for FMCG majors like P&G, Marico and Godrej.

     

    What is significant is that India could currently have as much as 50 per cent or more mobile-only internet users, much above the global number, making the medium an attractive one for even traditional advertisers.

     

    Consumer products companies are increasingly adopting a mobile-first strategy. Our growth has come from engagements with more than half of the top 25 FMCG brands, including a partnership with Unilever, said Atul Satija, VP & MD (Asia-Pacific and Japan) at InMobi.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2014, 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

     

  • Tarannum Alam has moved from Vivaki Exchange to join Platinum Media where she will handle the buying for the ITC business.

    Tarannum Alam joins Platinum for ITC business

    By A Correspondent

     

    Tarannum Alam, Associate Vice President with Vivaki Exchange, has joined Madison Media’s Platinum Media as Vice President and will handle the buying division for the ITC business.

     

    Ms Alam has around 14 years experience with media agencies having started out at Universal McCann in 1999. She later moved to ZenithOptimedia to work on HP and subsequently to Maxus Delhi. Her last responsibility at Vivaki Exchange was as Business Head with a dual responsibility for planning and buying for the Reckitt Benckiser account.

    Although Ms Alam and Ms Basabdatta Chowdhury, who heads Platinum, could not be reached for comment, industry sources informed MxMIndia that Ms Alam joined Platinum on July 8.

     

  • Taking into account the growing popularity of the digital medium, ITC's Vivel FaceWash, along with Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. and musician Shankar Mahadevan has launched 'India's first digital talent hunt' – MOBisur

    Hungama launches digital talent hunt MOBIsur

    By A Correspondent

     

    The mobile medium in the last many years have grown significantly, especially with 3G and now 4G coming in, there is great expectations from this medium. As wireless subscriptions continue to grow, billions of apps continue to be downloaded worldwide andIndiasaid to have the second largest mobile subscribers in the world.

     

    Taking into account the growing popularity of the digital medium, ITC’s Vivel FaceWash, along with Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. and musician Shankar Mahadevan has launched ‘India’s first digital talent hunt’ – MOBisur.

     

    Mr Neeraj Roy, MD and CEO, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. said: “The reach of Internet andMobiletechnology has grown tremendously in the past few years. The aim of MOBisur is to create a talent-scouting engine in spaces that haven’t been explored in the past, via an entry ticket that is their everyday communication device.”

     

    This unique mobile- and internet-based talent hunt promises to give every Indian an opportunity to prove their singing talent. The property was launched by Shankar Mahadevan, Nilanjan Mukherjee, Head of Marketing, Personal Care Products Business, ITC Ltd; Bhushan Kumar, MD, T-Series and Neeraj Roy, MD and CEO Hungama Digital Media Entertainment in Mumbai on July 13. T-Series is the official music partner for the property, which elevates the talent hunt to an even higher platform.

     

    Mr Bhushan Kumar, MD, T-Series, said: “It gives us immense pleasure to be able to bring new talent in to the industry. As a music label, we are always looking for fresh talent and with a truly digital talent hunt; we have access to talent across the country. We are looking forward to releasing an album composed by Shankar Mahadevan for the winner of the hunt”.

     

    The entries for the digital talent hunt, MOBIsur is said to continue for the next 45 days and the duration of the property will be for three months. The marketing budget is pegged at Rs3-4 crore.

     

    Mr Nilanjan Mukherjee, Head of Marketing, Personal Care Products Business, ITC, said: “Vivel FaceWashis delighted to present Mobisur, an exciting and innovative platform to discover hidden musical talent. Vivel Face Wash MOBisur, in line with this brand philosophy provides a unique opportunity to aspirants to live their musical dreams.”

     

    5,000 talented female participants selected from entries submitted on the Vivel Facebook page www.facebook.com/itcvivel will make it to the second round.

     

    The contestants who clear the first stage of the auditions will be given specific tasks by Shankar Mahadevan, who said: “When I conceptualised this property with Hungama, the thought was to give every Indian an opportunity to participate in a unique contest to try and reach the pinnacle of musical genius. Music is a powerful medium that can come from the most unexpected places.”

     

    Based on their performance in the tasks and the votes secured for each task, they will be chosen for the next round. There are three tasks in all and after clearing all three tasks the contestants make it to the final round, which is the On-Stage Performance. Ten finalists will be chosen to perform in front of Shankar Mahadevan and two other prominent personalities, where the final two winners will be announced.

     

  • For 24 FMCG companies, the selling expenses as a proportion of net sales stood at 12.1 per cent – the lowest in at least the last ten quarters

    FMCGs saved on advertising cost in the March quarter

    By A Correspondent

     

    FMCG companies managed to rationalize their costs this March quarter. And one of the areas where they have managed to cut corners is the area of advertisement and promotion expenses.

     

    For 24 FMCG companies, the selling expenses as a proportion of net sales stood at 12.1 per cent – the lowest in at least the last ten quarters. This proportion stood at 12.9 per cent in the December quarter, 12.6 per cent in the September quarter and 12.7 per cent in the June quarter. Lower spend on advertising has helped companies to fairly protect and in some cases boost their operating margins. Most companies focussed more on below-the-line marketing activities rather than above the line ones.

     

    HUL has managed to bring down its ad spends by 100 bps from the previous year to 12 per cent of its total domestic sales for the quarter ended March 2012. ITC’s other expenses (comprising its expenditure on advertisement and promotion) stood at 22.6 per cent of net sales – lower than 22.9 per cent in the preceding December quarter.

     

    Another MNC, Colgate spent 8.5 per cent of its revenues on advertising – the lowest in the last four quarters. It spent 16 per cent and above in the first three quarters of this fiscal on advertising and promotion. Marico was one of the few companies whose advertisement and promotion spend was exceptionally higher at 14.3 per cent of its net revenues.

     

    Source: The Economic Times
    Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

     

  • Many now prefer young, unknown faces in their campaigns

    Brands like Mountain Dew, Airtel, ITC and others bypass celebrities for their campaigns

    By Sagar Malviya & Ratna Bhushan

     

    PepsiCo ended its association with top Bollywood actor Salman Khan to promote its lemon drink Mountain Dew on Tuesday.

     

    Its decision to part ways with the hottest star of the moment may have surprised some observers, but the beverages maker is the latest in a growing club of marketers becoming selective about using celebrities in their campaigns.

     

    Top telecom services provider Bharti Airtel, mobile phone and durables maker Samsung, leading retailer Future Group, watch firm Titan and hotels-to-consumer goods firm ITC have all either ended associations with celebrities or are using them for lesser number of commercials. Many now prefer young, unknown faces in their campaigns.

     

    “In some categories, youth are taking the lead as celebrities are not an embodiment for segments, especially technology, etc,” said Santosh Desai, CEO at  Future Brands.

     

    Last week, Future Group launched a campaign for Big Bazaar’s apparel business without cricketer MS Dhoni or Bollywood actress Asin who have been the supermarket’s brand ambassadors till recently. “While Dhoni and Asin worked well for us in the last two years, we didn’t renew their contract as we thought having regular faces could connect with today’s generation,” said Parwan Sardah, chief marketing officer of Future Group.

     

    Youngsters of below 25 years account for more than 54 per cent of the consumer base in India. The retailer, which is negotiating several divestment and fund-raising deals to pare debt of almost Rs7,800 crore, said its high debt has nothing to do with ending celebrity associations and that the company has spent more than Rs30 crore on the new Big Bazaar campaign.

     

    Titan too has ended its deal with actress Genelia D’Souza for its Fastrack brand. “Genelia’s contract expired last month and we mutually decided not to renew it as after marriage, it would be difficult in relating to college going kids,” said Ronnie Talati, VP and business head of Fastrack & new brands at Titan.

     

    “Even in case of Virat Kohli, we are rethinking as he has been busy with his cricket schedules but still haven’t decided anything yet,” he said.

     

    Overall, however, celebrity endorsements are on the rise. But when it comes to attracting younger generation, many companies now prefer campaigns without their big-ticket ambassadors.

     

    A case in point is Samsung, which uses Aamir Khan in campaigns for its Hero series of mobile phones, but not for Galaxy series. “The usage of the celebrity depends on the key message and the creative route that is used for a particular product,” Samsung CMO Rahul Saighal said. “In the case of the youth-oriented Galaxy series, we are focusing on the use of smartphone and the need to get ‘smart’. So we are using young models.”

     

    ITC, which has Sachin Tendulkar as brand ambassador, uses the master batsman only for a few variants of Sunfeast biscuits, which has close to 20 sub-brands. “Naturally, different sub-brands require different types of advertising,” said VL Rajesh, ITC’s foods division GM (marketing). ITC is using Sachin for Dream Cream and Milky Magic brands.

     

    Source: The Economic Times

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