MxMIndia

Tag: Vodafone

  • Not the same old – there is always something new to look forward to, and Rajneesh Chaturvedi tells us what that is, in this edition of the IPL.

    The Anchor: The top 5 things we can expect from IPL 5

    By Rajneesh Chaturvedi

     

    #1 Watch out for new sponsors:

    Look out for and identify new brands that will be using IPL in their marketing communication, all for the first time.

     

    #2 New campaigns and Innovations:

    Watch out for new and innovative campaigns in IPL this year. Traditionally Vodafone has always launched new campaigns around IPL year on year, and every year we see some or the other innovative advertisements on the ground and on air. This year too we can expect new and innovative campaigns during IPL.

     

    #3 What’s new from Max this year:

    It would be interesting to see what Max has to offer, considering that the advertising and media fraternity is slightly apprehensive of the ratings this year.

     

    #4 New on-ground experience for viewers:

    What are the new things viewers can expect – the entertainment, the opening ceremony, all this is related to the experience a person gets in the stadium across the 12 venues.

     

    #5 New IPL winner?

    Last but not the least – are we looking for a new IPL winner this year? Last two IPL seasons, we had the same winner – Chennai Super Kings. Will we have a new winner in season 5?

     

    Rajneesh Chaturvedi is the National Director, MEC Access.

     

  • Mumbai Indians, Pune Warriors Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils are doing good business according to bookmyshow, the online agent for five IPL teams

    IPL 5: Online ticket sales picking up pace

    By Ameya Chumbhale

     

    If ticket sales of the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League are anything to go by, India is certainly not cricket fatigued.

     

    Mumbai Indians, which began its online sales on March 1, claims to have sold close to a third of its tickets already. Some of these tickets are priced as high as Rs40,000 – the most expensive among all teams.

     

    Pune Warriors (PWI) and IPL winners Chennai Super Kings (CSK), as well as Delhi Daredevils are also doing good business, said bookmyshow’s chief executive officer Ashish Hemrajani. Bookmyshow is the online agent for five IPL teams, including Mumbai Indians (MI).

     

    Online sales are critical to the success of the IPL as stadium sales usually commence only a few days before the match. “Last year, we sold close to 60per cent of our ticket inventory online through thermal printing which enables us not to have restriction on quota for online sales. This means the system allows us to print tickets similar to international practices and also allows the Mumbai Indians fans to choose their own seats,” said an MI spokesperson.

     

    Hemrajani says bookmyshow has already sold 50,000 tickets this year. “Mumbai and Pune are doing really well, while ticket sales of Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab have picked up over the last two days,” he added.

     

    The inaugural match on April 4, between the CSK and MI in Chennai, is sold out. Chandrabhan, general manager, marketing at Chennai SuperKings said online tickets for the second and third matches are also sold out. CSK has kept 60 per cent tickets for on-ground sales as “Chennai is known for fans queuing up to buy (movie and cricket match) tickets,” he added.

     

    Since the first IPL season, on-ground ticket sales and television viewership have moved in tandem, say media planners. “Both went up for the first three years of IPL, and both came down last year. The link is very strong between the two,” said Ajit Varghese, managing director (South Asia), media agency Maxus and Motivator.

     

    Multi Screen Media, the company that operates Sony Max, which broadcasts IPL matches, has signed six sponsors till date. Among them are Vodafone, Pepsi, Hyundai, Idea and Tata Photon. It had nine sponsors last year. MSM, according to sources who did not want to be named, has sold only about 50-60 per cent of the ad inventory until now as against 75-80 per cent around the same time in 2011.

     

    According to industry sources, MSM is charging around Rs5 lakh per 10 seconds and they expect it to rise if television viewership goes up in the first seven to eight matches.

    MSM president Rohit Gupta confirmed that the company had signed six to seven sponsors and some of them have come on board for deals valued at over Rs40 crore.

    “We have sold nearly 70 per cent of the ad inventory and expect it to reach 80 per cent before going into the tournament,” said Mr Gupta who is confident of filling up the ad spots, as it will take only a sponsor or two more to do so.

    Generally, associate sponsors get a certain percentage of the ad inventory as a part of the deal.

     

    Source: The Economic Times

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

     

  • Everyone seems to be using the BB for all sorts of stuff. Dating, BBMing, uploading pics, chatting, etc. As a result, the uncle suits have gone into absolute mourning, and this makes the TVC very unappetizing to watch.

    Debrief: Vodafone BlackBerry: Self-indulgent tripe

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    The Vodafone ‘BlackBerry Boys’ are back. Those singing and jiving suits. If I recall correctly, these buggers were complaining in a commercial a couple of years ago, that their BlackBerry had been stolen by dudes and dudettes. That it was no longer a corporate toy. Well, they are still cribbing about that, but the new ad is immensely irritating.

     

    Vodafone wants to increase the BB penetration further amongst the masses. And now the suits appear to have totally lost their ‘USP’. Everyone seems to be using the BB for all sorts of stuff. Dating, BBMing, uploading pics, chatting, etc. As a result, the uncle suits have gone into absolute mourning, and this makes the TVC very unappetizing to watch. Trust me, it’s no fun watching suits whine and sob, we see enough of that in the corporate world anyway. So while the original version was peppy and novel, the sequel is jaded and boring. I think it was a big mistake rehashing the ‘BlackBerry Boys’. They should have come up with a fresh idea.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz1Tsh4MW0o[/youtube]

    More importantly, in what appears to be an exercise in self-indulgence, the marketer and their ad agency overlooked one very important factor: There is zero entertainment in the commercial. After the first exposure you want to shoot the mourning suits. The least they should have done was to make them more interesting, if that is indeed possible. And what’s with the running supers that spell out the tired jingle? ‘BlackBerry Boys’ don’t understand simple angrezi? Now that’s reason to mourn.

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 1. RIP, Messrs BlackBerry Boys

  • In the Ormax Media study, Vodafone, Pepsi, Coca-Cola & Hero Honda were the most recalled brands in IPL 4. Which brands will lead in IPL 5?

    Brand race as Ormax study reveals Day After Cricket recall

    By A Correspondent

     

    According to Ormax Media’s Cricket Advertising Recall & Effectiveness research – Day After Cricket (DAC), the top recalled brands during IPL 4 were Vodafone, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, & Hero Honda.

     

    Ormax Media released topline findings of Day After Cricket for IPL 4, while announcing the launch of the research for IPL 5. The table below lists the top brands recalled by the viewers in the day-after recall research conducted during the fourth edition of the IPL.

     

     

    Top 10 Brands Recalled (IPL 4)
    Rank Brand
    1 Vodafone
    2 Pepsi
    3 Coca Cola
    4 Hero Honda
    5 Airtel
    6 Tata Docomo
    7 Kingfisher
    8 Idea
    9 Volkswagen
    10 Nokia

     

     

    The top 10 most liked campaigns or promotions in IPL 4 are listed in the table below.

     

     

    Top 10 Most Liked Campaigns (IPL 4)
    Rank Brand
    1 Vodafone
    2 Cadbury Dairy Milk
    3 Coca Cola
    4 Tata Docomo
    5 Volkswagen
    6 Thums Up
    7 Glucon D
    8 Hyundai
    9 Hero Honda
    10 Kingfisher

     

    Top 5 innovations with the highest brand recall for the sponsor were Karbonn Kamaal Katch, Maxx Mobile Strategic Time Out and Kingfisher Third Umpire Decision, Kingfisher Fair Play Award and DLF Maximum respectively Day After Cricket for IPL 5 will be conducted in two phases. The first phase involves daily day-after tracking of Ad Recall, Ad Likeability & Innovation Sponsor Recall. The second phase is the post-event association effectiveness measurement phase, customized for a brand.

     

  • The main challenge for the industry is to seamlessly blend and enable technology to become user-friendly, finds session on Converged Future.

    @FF12: Time to experiment with technology

    By A Correspondent

     

    Now that digitisation is set to come into effect from July 1, the convergence of media assumes greater significance. This was the topic of discussion in the second session on Thursday at FICCI Frames 2012.

     

    In a session moderated by Neeraj Roy, MD & CEO, Hungama, Sanket Akerkar, MD, MicrosoftIndiatalked about “The Converged future – Multiple platforms, technologies &transforming applications for media and entertainment”. The theme of his keynote address was significance and emergence of digitisation.

     

    To illustrate how connected we are today, he cited an example of how a teenaged son of a friend uses Xbox to connect with friends he was with at school and play games. Though this may common enough, he added that the group of friends used the very same environment to connect and do their homework. This can also be taken as learning life lessons of surviving in the digital world.

     

    Mr Akerkar said that the consumer lifestyles are controlling the conversation, citing the example the “Occupy Wall Street” movement. The industry has to takes its cues from what the consumers want. According to him, even ads will now be consumed as per the consumers’ choice and the advertisers can’t dictate the place and time for the consumption. Now the people are going to become the content creator and content consumer. The main challenge for the industry is now to seamlessly blend and enable technology to become user friendly.

     

    Jonathan Bill, SVP Internet and Data Services, Vodafone joined the conversation to discuss how the telco-eco system can offer better opportunity to the media and entertainment industry to monetise the services.

     

    Mr Bill said thatIndia’s telco-eco system is a hyper competitive market which the lowest price points in the global market. It generates the lion share of revenue in the entertainment stream for Vodafone.

     

    Mr Roy said that technological progress has enabled applications that recognise the customer preferences, be it the Internet or the phone.

     

    Mr Akerkar agreed and added thatIndiawill have 25 million smartphones by the next year and this connectivity gives the opportunity to the industry to experiment in creating applications for the users. He said that the technology is moving ahead at such speed that one only needs to use their imagination to think ‘what next innovation’.

     

    All the speakers were in agreement that once the digitisation bill comes into effect, the choice of content available to the user will be limitless. As Mr Akerkar said, “the challenge will be to separate content, be it mainstream or user generated into what is relevant or not.”

     

    They also discussed the feasibility of creating video content for mobile devices. Mr Bill was of the opinion thatIndiahas huge possibilities as it is the largest internet video consumption market. Mr Roy said thatIndiais poised to become the largest internet market in the next 3-4 years, surpassing evenChina.

     

    The speakers discussed how even gaming had huge possibilities if one was to look at co-developing games along with films. Mr Akerkar said that there was a business model waiting to happen if one figured how to reduce the initial cost of investment and figure out how to connect a known brand (film) and gaming.

     

    But the biggest challenge is the transition to the digital eco system. It is not enough to rely only on advertising revenues. Mr Bill said that the way forward is moving from free Internet content to paid content.

     

     

  • Inspired by the success of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in cricket, almost every sport with some following in India is launching a city-based, professional league

    Life beyond cricket: 5 new leagues in 1.5yrs

    By Bhanu Pande

     

    If Pepsi’s latest commercial, ‘change the game’, prods people to switch from cricket to football, it hints at a fundamental shift in the way the cola major plans to use sports as a brand-building platform. It feeds off – and feeds into – a fundamental change happening in the Indian sporting landscape.

     

    Inspired by the success of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in cricket, almost every sport with some following in India is launching a city-based, professional league. Five new professional leagues have been announced in the last 18 months and, word is, two others are being revived. “The Indian sports consumer is looking for entertainment, diversion, passion and emotion,” said Shailendra Singh, joint managing director, Percept India, which is behind the Indian Boxing League (IBL). “League sport will ensure that.”

     

    But for leagues to become a permanent fixture, something only the IPL has managed so far, paramount is drawing sponsors and advertisers. If the initial response is any indication, sponsors of many hues are warming to them. Hero Motocorp is making big investments in hockey, the Mahindra Group in basketball, and the ongoing World Series Hockey (WSH) has Bridgestone and Vodafone among its sponsors.

     

    “Those chasing cricket will have to move to a life beyond it,” said Sanjay Sharma, head of JK Motorsport. “The canvas has to enlarge for brand marketers as cricket won’t continue to enjoy the status it does.” Besides cricket fatigue and the gathering momentum of other sports, there are three reasons why marketers and sponsors are gravitating towards these new leagues.

     

    Low-risk investment

    The new leagues offer a low-cost proposition. Unlike cricket, they don’t have to put a lot at stake. CVL Srinivas, chairman of Starcom MediaVest India, a global communication & media services group, said while sports is a good medium for brands to connect to the youth, the most popular of them, cricket, poses an entry barrier for many advertisers. “Many advertisers today see cricket as overpriced,” he said. “Emerging new leagues could give them an opportunity to enter sports in some way at a much lower cost.”

     

    Four years ago, when Bridgestone considered IPL as a medium for brand communication, it was put off by the price tags for premium rights. For example, DLF pays 40 crore per year to be the title sponsor of IPL. So, Bridgestone made a modest entry into cricket as a co-sponsor of IPL team Mumbai Indians. The decision to become the title sponsor for the ongoing World Series Hockey (WSH) came easy.

     

    The investment was low: Bridgestone is paying 2 crore per year in a three-year deal. And it gives the tyre company an opportunity to target North India, a market where hockey is popular and where Bridgestone was weak. “South India has always been our strong market and our association with Mumbai Indians is good enough to deliver there,” explained Vaibhav Saraf, GM (sales & marketing), Bridgestone India.

     

    Similarly, a 10-second spot on IPL cost 4-5 lakh, but just one-tenth on WSH. “Returns in non-cricket sports would be much lower,” Mr Srinivas qualified. Even then, the cost value equation works just fine for Bridgestone. “Even if our return on investment (RoI) from WSH is 10 crore worth of media mileage, we are happy,” said Mr Saraf.

     

    Besides Bridgestone, the other principal sponsors of WSH are Vodafone and Imperial Blue (Pernod Ricard India). “We evaluate all sponsorship proposals on a cost per reach and level of consumer engagement possible,” said Anuradha Aggarwal, senior vice-president-consumer insights & communications, Vodafone. “The WSH was efficient on both.” The early days of WSH have seen modest to half-filled stadiums.

     

    “Hockey is still not a proven sport, we are building it,” said Yannick Colaco, chief operating officer of Nimbus Sports, the promoter of WSH. “Some leagues in the past haven’t delivered, which is likely to make sponsors and advertiser sceptical for any new league.” Mr Colaco claimed the league has booked 15 brands on-air in the first week.

     

    He expects this number to increase to 40-50 by the time the tournament ends on April 2, yielding 50-60 crore from sponsorship and advertising revenues. “WSH is not here to topple cricket, but we hope to make it a strong number two property before we enter the second season,” he said, adding that marketers will have to have “realistic expectations” during early days and come in with a “long-term vision.”

     

    Proof of Concept

    One factor that gives the new leagues a greater chance is how they are structured. They follow the IPL model, which is city-based and essentially pays for itself by riding on a big TV rights sale. “IPL has proven that city loyalties exist, which has prepared the ground for other professional sporting leagues to take off,” said Darshan M, CEO of Machdar Motorsports, promoters of i1Super Car Race Series.

     

    In Premier League Soccer, Uro Infra Realty, a Kolkata-based real estate company, was the highest bidder for a franchise – 25 crore for Team Barasat over 10 years, or a franchisee fee of 2.5 crore per year. Each team can spend up to Rs 12.5 crore on players, which means Barasat (Uno Infra) will spend a total of 15 crore a year.

     

    Now, 50 per cent of the central revenues – essentially, the sale of TV rights and central sponsorships – would be equally divided among the six franchisees. In return, each team gets 2.5 crore as match rights fee for its five home matches. Then, each team can have eight sponsors, apart from ticketing and hospitality rights in home matches. “Considering the league will be broadcast in 50 countries other than India, it won’t be a problem for franchisees to recover their investment,” predicted Bhaswar Goswami, executive director, CMG, the promoter of PLS.

     

    The new leagues have learnt from the failure of the past. For example, the Indian Cricket League (ICL), promoted by Zee, died because it did not have a buy in from the Indian board that runs cricket in India and so could not draw the best of the current players. The new leagues are either taking the boards of their respective sports along (soccer, boxing and basketball) or are working towards it (hockey).

     

    Another learning is spreading it out. Premier Hockey League (PHL) – India’s first sporting league event launched in 2005 and WSH’s predecessor – was discontinued in 2008. “Any successful league the world over has had two fundamental elements: multiple ownership and multiple match locations,” said Mr Colaco of Nimbus. “PHL ignored both.” PHL teams were all owned by ESPN and all matches were held in Chandigarh. By comparison, WSH has eight franchisee teams playing in eight cities.

     

    When Fragmentation Works

    Sports promoters and marketers say sports like soccer and wrestling have a significant regional following, and brands can tap that. “For instance, a brand that wants to target audience in soccer-crazy West Bengal may want to ride the PLS,” said Indranil Das Blah, chief operating officer, Kwan Entertainment & Sport Solutions.

     

    Mr Aggarwal of Vodafone sees a fragmented market as more of an opportunity rather than a threat. “Marketing investments are fixed and need to deliver maximum RoI,” she said. “If local fragmentation delivers a higher RoI, marketers like us will not have any problem going regional.”

     

    Similarly, Mr Colaco points to how motor sports can target auto brands, be it cars, tyres, lubes or accessories. However, eventually, feels Mr Srinivas, leagues will have to make a national impact. “To sustain, they’ll have to become pan-India properties,” he said.

     

    Source: The Economic Times

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

     

  • There are a few advertisers who have raised concerns over low returns against large investments on IPL

    Has IPL become too expensive for advertisers?

    By Rishi Vora

     

    After Rahul Dravid announced his retirement from international cricket on March 9, senior journalists, fellow cricketers and fans pondered over the future ofIndiaas far as test cricket was concerned. While that’s an issue selectors for the Indian cricket team have to sort out soon, officials from IPL and Multi Screen Pvt Ltd have to come up with real quick ideas to woo key advertisers, so that they remain invested in the property, especially after the 10 per cent hike in the ad rates for Season 5.

     

    The 10 per cent hike in ad rates means that advertisers will have to pay upwards of Rs5 lakh per 10 second spot. Last year, afterIndia’s fabulous performance in the World Cup, MSM hiked ad rates by about 25 per cent.  The season delivered an average rating of 3.91, lowest ever in four seasons.

     

    So season 5 was always going to be a challenge considering the slowdown andIndia’s continued poor run inAustralia. However, despite these challenges, MSM has managed to rope in a few sponsors already. Pepsi, Vodafone, Tata Photon and Idea have been signed on as sponsors and, furthermore, the broadcast partner is in process of finalising a few more deals.

     

    But, as a matter of fact, there are a few advertisers who have raised concerns over low returns against large investments on IPL and two amongst those – LG Electronics India and Godrej that have been sponsors from the start of the tournament have decided to pull out this year. They don’t think it’s worth the money anymore.

     

    LG Electronics India’s Chief Marketing Officer, L K Gupta told MxMIndia: “It is true that we’ve opted out of IPL this year. While it is the single largest property on TV, the fact of the matter is that there is only a certain level to commit marketing funds and the return we get in terms of TRPs does not really justify the high level of spending. Last year we felt the pinch, so we decided to stay out this year.”

     

    Godrej too is said to have opted out on similar grounds.

     

    Maruti Suzuki, which as a policy spends about 23 per cent on sports every year, of which cricket commands a reasonable share, has always restrained from being associated with IPL. Shashank Srivastava, Chief Marketing Officer explained his stance: “We invested in the World Cup last year. We don’t invest in IPL because for a company like ours, one needs to put in a lot of spike. IPL gives you good reach. In terms of viewership, it gives you good returns for 5-6 weeks which is something ideal for new launches or new product offering. So the money which goes in on buying IPL, and in return what you get for a brand like Maruti is not much.”

     

    A senior media professional who requested anonymity said that India’s richest league commands nothing less than Rs65 crore for presenting rights and Rs45 crore for being an associate sponsor. He said: “This is serious money you’re talking about. They (MSM) have increased by 10 per cent on ad rates, and they are under tremendous pressure to cut down further.”

     

    Nitin Jain, Co-Founder, DoMor Communications said the broadcast partner will eventually have to come down to last year’s price which was around Rs4.5 to 4.75 lakh per 10-second spot. “I’m sure the broadcaster is in talks with many clients, but from what I understand, it is going to be a game of who blinks first.”

     

    Buying his point is Nimbus sports COO Yannick Colaco who said: “I think advertisers are just waiting to see if the rates can be brought down. It’s pretty usual for advertisers to do this as a practice to get better deals out of the broadcaster.  IPL is a big tournament and advertisers will eventually look to advertise on a property of that scale, so I think it’s just a matter of time before they (MSM) sell out and a formal announcement is made.”

     

    It is learnt that MSM has initiated talks with Cadbury, but it is not entirely clear if the chocolate brand has signed the deal officially. On-ground sponsors for season 5 are DLF, Hero Motocorp, Karbonn Mobiles and Volkswagen.

     

    Set Max officials could not be reached but it is said that this year the attempt is also to sell smaller packages of 20-25 matches to cash in on advertisers with limited budgets. Also, it is not leaving any stone unturned in promoting the mega event. It is believed that a whopping Rs45 crore is being spent to bring the IPL fever back among viewers.

     

    It will be interesting to see how things turn out to be for all stakeholders of the mega property.

     

  • The ad works as nicely as all of the previous Vodafone pug commercials. The animal brings in a great deal of freshness and simplicity into the communication.

    Debrief: Vodafone’s pug returns. And shines.

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Ah, the cute pug makes a comeback for Vodafone. This time it’s being used to communicate instant connectivity. I had been wondering where the animal had disappeared to; there’s little doubt it makes Vodafone commercials that much more charming to watch.

     

    In the new TVC, a young lad (is he old enough to be flirting?) eyes a young gal in a park, and she seems to be giving him the glad eye as well (is she old enough to be flirting?). But because the gal is very shy and the guy a phattu, his puggie plays Cupid and brings them together. Instant connectivity achieved. Cool!

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRO8mV3BdGE[/youtube]

    Yup, the ad works as nicely as all of the previous Vodafone pug commercials. The animal brings in a great deal of freshness and simplicity into the communication. The only thing one wonders about is this: Is the pug losing just a little bit of its appeal?

     

    Has it been overdone? I suppose the advertiser must have commissioned a survey to suss that, and perhaps their findings were encouraging.

     

    However, it’s critical that the dog be used very, very sparingly. Else, just like it happened to Uncle SRK, excessive exposure will kill its appeal. Then the doggie will have to dress in drag to draw attention to itself.

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 3.5. The pug works its magic. Once again.

  • Media planners say official broadcaster ESPN Star Sports hopes to earn Rs95-100 crore by selling advertisement spots during the 17-day event in July-August as well as related programmes

    Olympics countdown: Hero, Airtel etc flock to hockey on rising public interest

    By Ratna Bhushan & Meenakshi Verma Ambwani

     

    Indian marketers are joining the ‘Chak De India’ brigade going to London Olympics. A day after the Indian hockey team qualified for the Olympics in spectacular style, advertisers such as Hero MotoCorp, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone plan to associate with the team and the event while Coca-Cola and Samsung may look to cash in on their official partnerships for the event, say people involved in their media buying plans.

     

    Media planners say official broadcaster ESPN Star Sports hopes to earn Rs95-100 crore by selling advertisement spots during the 17-day event in July-August as well as related programmes that will be spread over five months starting March.

     

    This amount is several times more than Rs5-7 crore that Doordarshan had raked in during the Beijing Olympics in 2008, but experts say three factors will help ESPN Star Sports reach its revenue target.

     

    These are, Indian cricket team’s disastrous performance in recent times that has pushed the sport’s television viewership to new lows; the fact that the Olympics is being shown on a private channel for the first time, leading to aggressive marketing of the event; and, a strong revival in interest in hockey and other sports.

     

    “The hockey team qualifier has changed things. Many companies are now seeing the Olympics as an opportunity to cash in on their global partnerships,” said Navin Khemka, senior vice-president at media buying firm Zenith Optimedia, which buys media for Reckitt Benckiser.

     

    Advertisers game for London

    ESPN Software Executive VP Sanjay Kailash said there is significant interest among Indian brands to advertise on the Olympics. “With the Indian team qualifying for hockey, the interest and buzz around the Olympics among Indian viewers and advertisers will only increase,” he said.

     

    ESPN Star Sports plans to rope in eight partners for the event. Consumer electronics giant Samsung is the official partner of the Indian delegation to the London Olympics while dairy products brand Amul on Monday announced a deal to sponsor the Indian contingent.

     

    “The hockey team’s performance has added muscle to our sponsorship plans,” said RS Sodhi, managing director of Amul brand owner Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, which will provide Rs1 crore for athletes who have qualified for the London Olympics.

     

    A Samsung spokeswoman said the company is yet to work out the specifics of its Olympics campaign. The firm is supporting training expenses of six players. Two-wheeler manufacturer Hero MotoCorp, the title sponsor for the Olympics qualifying tournament concluded in New Delhi on Sunday, is also expected to pick up broadcasting spots.

     

    Others such as telecom services providers Bharti Airtel and Vodafone too have evinced interest in associating with the Indian team, either on ground or on television, say media planners. Sahara Group, which renewed its five year sponsorship deal with Hockey India earlier this month, too may pitch in.

     

    Cricket’s loss helps

    In a strange turn of the wheel of fortune, the Indian hockey team, by merely qualifying for an event it had missed only once since the country’s Independence, has stolen the limelight from the national cricket team that won the World Cup less than a year ago.

     

    Television rating points for India’s ongoing series in Australia have plunged to less than 2, now that India has lost all the Test matches and is almost certain to finish last in the three-nation one-day international tournament.

     

    The downturn started in England last year, when the Indian team lost all its matches and meekly surrendered its top ranking in Tests to the host country. Yet, ESPN Star is expected to have earned about Rs300 crore in advertising revenues from the three-month Indian tour to Australia.

     

    “Family viewership for cricket has dropped and rates are now out of reach of certain brands,” says Shripad Kulkarni, chief executive officer of Allied Media, part of sports entertainment company Percept.

     

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

  • The mobile game app is among the top 10 paid apps on iOS

    Real Steel boxes its way into Top 10 iTunes Chart

    By A Correspondent

     

    Jump Games, a company owned by Reliance Entertainment’s Digital Arm, has set new records on the Apple iTunes with Real Steel, the official mobile game for the movie, Real Steel.

     

    Real Steel has received a staggering response, it is the first game made by an Indian Studio to touch such impressive figures on the iTunes Chart. The figures say it all: Best Top Sports Paid Apps Rank - 1; Best Top Action Paid Apps Rank – 5; Real Steel climbs to No. 6 in Top Paid Apps (Courtesy iOS)

     

    Real Steel has been in the top 50 list on the App store in countries like theUS, Australia,Canada,Germany and many others.

     

    This Underworld fighting game, which is an actual replica of the Real Steel movie, is set in the near future where 2,000-pound robots fight each other with no rules or regulations.

     

    To keep the player engaged, Jump keeps coming up with constant timely updates for the game ,current one being addition of two new ruthless robots - Twincites and Blacjac.

     

    The game provides high adrenaline rush to the player and he/she can use a mix of standard boxing moves, jabs, crosses, hooks, uppercuts, and some specific Underworld moves, such as low blows, knees to stomach, and so on in the fight. The game is available at just 0.99 cents on Apps store.

     

    Jump Games is a leading International developer and publisher of mobile games, apps and content. It is an integral part of Reliance Entertainment (Digital Business). Jump’s foray and expertise lies into the media and entertainment space.

     

    Jump partners with leading content owners, publishers, mobile operators, handset manufacturers and technology providers. Jump’s experience and expertise in creating innovative and cutting-edge gaming  content reflects in its client roster, which lists some of the best brands from across the world - Codemasters, GLU, Playboy  Hands-on, Dreamworks, Cartoon Network, and Konami to name a few.

     

    Fueling concepts for these ground-breaking games is the domain expertise of Jump’s strong, multi-disciplinary, and cross-skilled team spanning across the US, UK and India.

     

    Distributed across theUS, Europe, South Africa, Australia, the Middle East, and Asia, Jump’s content can be accessed through 80 leading networks across 40 countries as well as global AppStores. The content is available on leading networks like Vodafone, BSNL, TATA Docomo, M1, MTNL, Dialog Telekom, Reliance Mobile World, Telstra, Tele2, TIM, O2, Virgin Mobile, KPN, Telia, 3,Telefonica, Optimus, and Telenor.

     

  • Behind every great commercial is super strategy. Every week, MxMIndia will bring you the brief and the strat as given by the client and whatever else that went into creating a winning ad. AdStrat is compiled by Shubhangi Mehta.

    Ad Strat: Vodafone ‘Zoozoos’

    Rajiv Rao NCD,Ogilvy&Mather

     

    Name of the Campaign/Ad: Vodafone ‘Zoozoos’

     

    The Brief: Talk about the various VAS (Value Added Services) that Vodafone has to offer in a way that’s clutter breaking and also keeping in mind the chaos of advertising on IPL, India’s most watched show on TV

     

    Research: Previous IPL experience showed us that the same people were watching the matches every day. Hence there was a high level of impatience when it came to watching the same communication over and over again. We took that learning on board and decided to treat even communication like content – something new to look forward every day.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te5kc5PFZFY[/youtube]

    Key issues: The ads were to be universally understood and enjoyed. Another challenge, because we were working with a large number of scripts, was to keep the freshness going. Third issue was purely operational – actually pulling off such a large number of films in one go was in itself a huge challenge.

     

    Media vehicles: While it was principally led by television, this was a truly 360 degree campaign involving digital, outdoor, retail, radio and experiential media.

     

    Market and client feedback: Two words: HUGE HIT. The campaign resulted in a spike in VAS uptake. On brand health measures, the campaign helped the brand overtake the market leader. It was awarded for creativity and effectiveness at the Abbys, AME, Spikes, Effies and the Vodafone global awards, amongst others. An exclusive line of zoozoo merchandise is a regular feature at Shoppers Stop outlets. The campaign was the most viewed viral in the world for a whole month. It helped the brand garner 2.5 million fans. The success of the Zoozoos is not in that India fell in love with them, but in that the love affair is still as fresh and going strong after 3 years.

     

  • Vodafone must realize that simple need not be boring.

    Debrief: Zzzzrfan Khan

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Vodafone has decided that people with, let’s just say ‘limited means’, but with a mobile phone in hand must do more on their phones than just talk.

     

    This makes sense. A whole lot of Indians at the bottom of the telephony pyramid use basic handsets and are averse to experimenting with features. They are happy to use it purely as a speech device. If some of them convert and do more voice-based things, it expands the market. So no issues with the strategy.

     

    In order to communicate this to the lower end of the consumer spectrum, Vodafone has gone back to the ‘aam aadmi’ actor: Irrfan Khan. A series of TV commercials have been unleashed. I watched two. In one, the actor cribs that people invite him to parties just to get an update on the latest Bollywood gossip. And he says they should use their Vodafone connection for their gossip needs. In the other one he complains that his missus cooks cauliflower all the time. When all she has to do is use Vodafone to learn new recipes.

     

    Now while I understand that the intent is to keep the communication simple given the target audience, that does not mean the ads have to be dull and witless. The problem is the scripts aren’t funny, and the continuous stand up drone of Khan can get really irritating after a point. And even if you are the sort who smiles at such stuff, you will not do so on the second exposure. Also, for some strange reason, Irrfanji mumbles his way through the ads, as if they woke him from deep slumber. I had to watch the ads many times to even comprehend what the man is saying.

    Bring the Zoozoos back, I say!

     

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 1. Only good for putting you to sleep.  Â