ITV

Category: MAM

  • Hakuhodo Percept bags Sony India creative biz worth Rs 1 bn

    Hakuhodo Percept bags Sony India creative biz worth Rs 1 bn

    MUMBAI: The consumer electronics and IT giant Sony India has appointed Hakuhodo Percept as the creative agency following a multi-agency pitch. The account size is pegged at Rs 1 billion.

    The pitch process that began in November 2011 saw agencies such as JWT, Lowe Lintas, Contract, Dentsu, Law & Kenneth, BBDO and Hakuhodo Percept participating.

    The incumbent agency on the account was JWT.

    Sony India deputy general manager- marketing communication Ryusuke Fukushima said, “At Sony we don’t simply create products; we create real experiences and emotions. Imagination is at the core of our brand, and with each and every communication of Sony, we aim to inspire and unlock the power of imagination of our audiences. We wanted to revisit our creative mandate and partner with a firm which demonstrates the immersive Sony experience and showcases its DNA compromising of essence, promise and purpose.”

  • New technologies impacting TV viewership in Australia: Nielsen

    New technologies impacting TV viewership in Australia: Nielsen

    MUMBAI: New technologies such as personal video recorders (PVRs), Internet-delivered video, tablets and smartphones, coupled with burgeoning up-take of digital terrestrial television (DTT), are increasingly impacting Australians’ television viewing habits, according to a new report released.

    The first Australian Multi-Screen Report – compiled collaboratively by Nielsen, OzTam and Regional Tam – shows the extent to which new technologies are stimulating and enhancing viewing of broadcast content (‘video’)
    beyond conventional television sets.

    The report reveals that viewing of broadcast content via traditional TV sets remains strong and is growing. Meanwhile, smaller, more mobile and Internet-enabled devices – along with improved Internet connectivity – are creating new
    opportunities to view video content; although viewing via such devices remains low in comparison to conventional TV viewing, strong growth has been observed in the past year.

    Key findings as of Q4 (October-December) 2011
    – Overall TV viewing is strong and rising
    – Households have greater choice and access to DTT:
    – 95 per cent of all homes have at least one DTT-enabled TV set (up from 90% in Q1 2011)
    – 70 per cent of homes can receive DTT on every working TV set in the home (up from 55% in Q1)
    – 44 per cent of households have access to time-shifting devices, such as PVRs (up from 37 per cent inQ1)

    Combined, these factors give viewers greater choice and access to television content and are stimulating viewing via traditional means:

    -Average monthly time spent viewing television broadcast content in the home via conventional TV sets increased by 6.1% between Q4 2010 and Q4 2011 (by 6 hours and 31 minutes) to 113 hours and 38 minutes (All People figures).

    [NB:
    TV viewing behaviour of course fluctuates seasonally, with viewing increasing in winter time]

    – Average monthly time spent viewing playback (recorded) television content has increased by 4 hours and 31 minutes (60%) since Q4 2010, now at 12 hours per month in Q4 2011

    – Approximately 99 per cent of Australian households have at least one working TV set. Overall TV monthly reach (that is, where people watch at least some television during the
    period) has increased from 97 per cent in Q4 2010 to 98 per cent of Australians nationally in Q4 2011.

    There is a strong and positive relationship between screen size and propensity to view, with people demonstrating a preference to watch content on the largest screen available.

    Online video viewing is rising but remains small in comparison to conventional TV

    – 77 per cent of households are connected to the Internet (77% in Q1), providing potential access to online television video content:

    – Australians spent an average of 43 hours and 54 minutes per month using the Internet on a PC in Q4 2011 (up slightly from 43 hours and 33 minutes in Q1)

    – Australians spent an average of 3 hours and 27 minutes per month watching any online video (not just television broadcast content) in Q4 2011, up from two hours and seven minutes in Q1 2011

    Smartphone take-up is increasing but video viewing on such devices remains small

    – An estimated 49 per cent of Australians aged 14+ years own a smartphone (35% in Q1)

    – Video usage on smartphones has seen strong increases but still trails traditional TV viewing by a long way:

    – Video usage on mobile phones is largely dictated by available services and associated service costs. Current estimates suggest this usage is relatively light but growing rapidly

    – Users spend an average one hour and 20 minutes per month watching any video (not just television broadcast content) on a mobile phone (35 minutes in Q1),
    suggesting usage of such devices to view TV video content remains small

    Take-up of tablets is increasing
    – An estimated 10 per cent of metro households own at least one tablet device
    – Watching any video content on tablets grew from just two per cent of the total online population at the end of 2010 to five per cent by the end of 2011

    People aged 18-34 are the heaviest consumers of online video and video on mobile phones The combination of the extended screens (PC and mobile phone usage) for any video content still accounts for just 4% of the video consumption on traditional TV sets
    – Three hours 27 minutes per month on PCs (All People)
    – One hour 20 minutes per month on mobiles (people aged 14+)
    – 113 hours 38 minutes per month on a traditional TV (All People)

    Nielsen’s media industry practice group in Australia head Matt Bruce said, “The introduction of DTT and time-shifted viewing, and the speed with which Australians are adopting new technology which delivers broadcast content anywhere, anytime has impacted the way in which traditional television content is accessed. The Australian Multi-Screen Report confirms that new technology and devices are adding to, rather than replacing, Australians’ TV viewing, and for media owners, agencies and advertisers, these findings provide much-anticipated insights into the way media is consumed, thereby helping to understand viewing habits and more successfully reach and engage with audiences across multiple screens.”

  • Sulekha.com dons new brand identity

    Sulekha.com dons new brand identity

    MUMBAI: Sulekha.com, a digital marketplace for local needs, has unveiled a new corporate brand identity.

    The change reflects Sulekha.com’s new avatar as an e-commerce company focused on local needs.

    The new tagline of the company is ‘Delightful discoveries. Everyday’. It captures Sulekha.com’s renewed promise to its visitors to satisfy all their local information needs across multiple domains and delight them with new possibilities.

    According to an official statement, the new logo sports metallic sheen and vibrant colours. The fonts used have a contemporary feel and are centered on simplicity and usability.

    Sulekha.com is currently running a multi-city campaign to launch the new identity with a host of ATL and BTL marketing activities. It will be spending Rs 50 million during the first month of the launch.

    The campaign uses ‘fingertips’ as a motif and features the tagline, “Everything you need in your city. At your Fingertips.”

    The campaign amplifies the message that the numerous offerings of Sulekha.com can be accessed instantly and effortlessly through multiple devices like PCs, laptops, tablets, mobile phones, smartphones and landlines, the company said.

    Sulekha.com chairman Param Parameswaran said, “Sulekha.com is at an inflection point, having just metamorphosed into an e-commerce company. We have aggressive growth targets for FY13 and are investing heavily in enriching our database and expanding our offerings across multiple platforms. The new brand identity is designed to highlight our customer-centric approach. We want to become synonymous with local information needs in every city”.

  • Sorento Healthcare brings on board Saatchi & Saatchi’s Sourabh Mishra

    Sorento Healthcare brings on board Saatchi & Saatchi’s Sourabh Mishra

    MUMBAI: Saatchi & Saatchi chief strategy officer Sourabh Mishra has been taken on board as Sorento Healthcare Communications’ business strategy consultant.

    Sorento Healthcare Communications specialises in healthcare integrated communications.

    Mishra will continue to be with Saatchi & Saatchi India. Joining Sorento Healthcare Communications is an addition to his portfolio.

    Mishra said, “The opportunity to enhance the value of Sorento‘s communications solutions in healthcare by better integrating the strategic planning process is exciting. Sorento has already moved much beyond conventional mass media based communications. In that context, the task is also to see how we can better integrate the various offerings it has, in order to provide more holistic solutions to clients.

    We live in interesting times to put it mildly, and I am glad that a new model of working allows me to explore different facets of the rapidly evolving communications business. Along with Saatchi& Saatchi and Sorento Healthcare, I am currently also consulting with Social Wavelength, a social media agency. The diverse learnings are synergistic and add value to all the stakeholders”, he added.

    Sorento Healthcare Communications managing partner Susan Josi added, “Understanding and communicating with various audiences from healthcare professionals to end consumers is critical for us to offer holistic solutions. Sourabh’s rich and varied experience across categories will help us define more robust systems and processes within Sorento to deliver this value to our clients.”

    “The medical marketing environment in our country has changed drastically in the last few years. The challenge for us today is to define the future in this sector. A diverse talent pool drawn from different sectors is critical to enable this. By getting professionals like Sourabh on board, we are getting our organisation future-ready,” Sorento Healthcare Communications managing partner Sangeeta Barde added.

    Mishra has over 20 years of experience in advertising. Staring his career with Contract Advertising, he also had stints at Ogilvy and McCann Erickson. He joined Everest Brand Solutions as national planning director in 2004, and then took over as the national head of planning at TBWA in May 2007. He joined Saatchi & Saatchi India as Chief Strategy Officer in May 2009. He has also worked in brand management at BPL Telecom and Reliance Capital.

  • Euro launches new campaign created by Scarecrow

    Euro launches new campaign created by Scarecrow

    MUMBAI: Fashion innerwear brand Euro, from the house of Rupa & Co, has launched a campaign with a view to reinvigorate its brand presence in partnership with creative agency Scarecrow Communications.

    Euro was launched with ‘Prepare to get assaulted‘ campaign. The campaign was successful, but having ran it for years, the brand team felt it was about time Euro took a fresh stance and reconnected with the target audience.
    The new campaign breaks the category codes and introduces a new brand of humour in the segment. It stems from the insight that ‘size‘ is a big thing for men. It boosts their ego and even self-esteem.

    The campaign through a series of press ads and hoardings asks men the million dollar question – what‘s your size? The print campaign is shot exclusively in Prague by photographer Colston Julian. The TVC are conceptualised by Scarecrow and produced by Salt Management.

    Rupa & Co president brand promotion Rajnish Agarwal said, “Euro is another success story from the house of Rupa. The earlier positioning ‘prepared to get assaulted‘ had created a distinct space for Euro. Now we need to take it to the next level and cement our bond with the youth of India. The current campaign ‘What‘s your size?‘ is a step in that direction.”

    Scarecrow founder director Manish Bhatt said, “‘Mine is bigger than yours‘ is the most fundamental male insight. The campaign is single-mindedly based on this insight. Hence, we think the campaign will touch a chord with the audience.”

    Scarecrow senior creative director Kapil Tammal added, “We are in a process of revamping the entire Rupa portfolio in phases. Euro kicks off this transformational journey in style. For the idea to realise its full potential, we needed the casting and the production to be spot on. Models were flown in from all parts of Europe. We are happy the production teams in India and Prague didn‘t let us down.”

  • Mudra Max conjures snowfall in Chennai for Apollo Munich

    Mudra Max conjures snowfall in Chennai for Apollo Munich

    MUMBAI: Standalone health insurance company Apollo Munich in partnership with Mudra Max executed an event to promote the company‘s health insurance project by creating artificial snowfall at the Express Avenue Mall in Chennai.

    The health insurance project named Optima Restore was launched with the proposition of ‘unbelievable‘ and snowfall in Chennai was part of the launch campaign. The pre-event hype promotion saw promoters distributing Apollo Munich branded balloons with ‘Snowfall in Chennai‘ written on it as an invite. Radio also acted as an invite medium to drive people in hordes to the event.

    On the day of the event, the team created a maze structure through which people could explore their way to the main event to experience snowfall. A snow machine threw imitation snow around an igloo through the day attracting crowds. To complete the experience a motion sensing game played on the large screen was also installed.

    Mudra Max (OOH, Experiential, Retail) president and head Mandeep Malhotra said, “For a mall event to reach out to more than 100,000 people over the weekend is rare. Needless to say, the brand delivered on its promise of offering the ‘Impossible‘ to the people of Chennai and am indeed happy that I was present here personally to experience the same.”

    Apollo Munich Health Insurance CEO Antony Jacob said, “Optima Restore has two benefits. Restore benefit automatically reinstates the basic sum insured in case the insured exhausts their sum insured in a policy year. Another is the Multiplier benefit, where in case a customer have acclaim free year, the insurance cover increases by 50 per cent the next year and double it the year after at no extra change guaranteed. Optima Restore has been designed to offer complete comfort to health insurance consumers, since their coverage will increase whether they use up the plan, or don‘t use it at all. Guaranteed, and with no extra charge.”

  • Bridgestone takes World Series Hockey title sponsorship

    Bridgestone takes World Series Hockey title sponsorship

    MUMBAI: World Series Hockey co-promoter Nimbus Sport has roped in Bridgestone as the title sponsor of the franchise-based hockey league for the first season of the tournament.

    This is the second major sponsorship of Bridgestone in sports in India; the company is the associate sponsor of IPL team Mumbai Indians till 2014. Globally, the tyre brand is also associated with National Football League, National Hockey League and the World Golf Championship.

    The Bridgestone World Series Hockey will be held from 29 February to 2 April and will involve 200 leading players — Indian and international — who will showcase their talent in 59 matches.

    The eight WSH teams are Bhopal Badshahs, Chandigarh Comets, Chennai Cheetahs, Delhi Wizards, Karnataka Lions, Mumbai Marines, Pune Strykers and Sher-e-Punjab.

    The league carries a total prize purse of Rs 100 million.

    The eight venues for the inaugural edition of the league are Bangalore, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Jalandhar, Mumbai and Pune. Chandigarh Comets will face-off against Bhopal Badshahs in the first tie of the tournament on their home ground.

    The organisers had earlier roped in Suniel Shetty as the brand ambassador for the tournament.

  • Vodafone brings back the ‘pug’

    Vodafone brings back the ‘pug’

    MUMBAI: Mobile service provider Vodafone has once more unleashed its canine mascot on its audiences in a series of TVCs that focus on the quality of its network.

    The campaign has been conceptualised by its creative agency Ogilvy and Mather.

    The campaign will be rolled out in a phased manner over the next six weeks. Vodafone will use multiple media platforms like print, outdoor, digital and innovations apart from television commercials.

    Speaking about the new campaign, Vodafone India SVP brand communication and insights Anuradha Aggarwal said, “The pug has been a very well-liked Vodafone advertising icon for network and services. The brand proposition of the current campaign is about our superior network and who better to helm it than the pug. The current network quality campaign on propositions of instant connections, voice quality and uninterrupted conversations have been captured across three stages of friendship for the girl and the boy.”

    The first commercial in the campaign tells the story of a young boy and girl who see each across the playground. The cellular company‘s mascot helps the two connect by running off with the girl‘s scarf and drops it off at the boy‘s feet giving them a chance to meet. The film is 55 seconds long.

    So where do the Zoozoos go from here? Clarifying on the point Aggarwal explained, “Zoo Zoo is a Vodafone advertising mascot that is used whenever we introduce new products and services. As the current campaign is to reinforce network quality perceptions we have used the pug which is synonymous with our network and customer service. The Zoo Zoo‘s return will be dictated by our need to advertise new products.”

  • Ricoh India appoints Vizeum India as media AoR

    Ricoh India appoints Vizeum India as media AoR

    MUMBAI: Imaging solutions provider Ricoh India has awarded its media duties to Aegis Media‘s Vizeum India.

    The account will be handled out of agency‘s Delhi office under the leadership of Harit Pant.

    Ricoh India VP- national marketing V Balakrishnan said, “In the past, we have had very productive engagement with people currently associated with Vizeum. Vizeum‘s philosophy of working with clients to address their business issues rather than passive media spends is also very much what we were looking for. With this combination and a good team on ground to take this thinking forward, Vizeum was our obvious choice.”

    Vizeum India MD India sub-continent S Yesudas added, “We are delighted with this win. We sincerely thank Ricoh management for their faith in us. This opens up a range of original communication possibilities as the category is largely focused on passive advertising. As with every win of ours, we are humbled and stay acutely aware of our responsibilities.”

    The company has growth plans with focus in the areas of multi functional products, laser printers and managed document services.

  • Goafest 2012 launches ‘marketing wizards’

    Goafest 2012 launches ‘marketing wizards’

    MUMBAI: Goafest 2012‘s organising committee announced the launch of the programme named ‘marketing wizards‘ for delegates under 30 years belonging to the member companies of the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA).

    Marketing Wizards is an initiative wherein each ISA member can nominate up to two rising stars from their marketing teams under the age of 30 years to experience the highs and thrills of Goafest 2012.

    Goafest 2012 chairman Arvind Sharma said, “This year we are focusing on getting clients to Goafest 2012. We hope to see many more senior marketers and a large contingent of young advertisers at the festival. Marketing Wizards has been created as an initiative to drive young advertisers‘ participation and ensure that everyone is aware of what is in store for them at Goafest 2012. Marketing Wizards will be an ideal platform for marketers to reward their rising stars. Goafest 2012 will not only help them widen their advertising horizons they will also have a great time at the event.”

    ISA chairman Bharat Patel said, “We welcome this initiative from AAAI & Goafest to increase participation of our members and specifically their rising stars. Successful partnerships between advertisers and their advertising agencies are fundamental to success of brands. In many ways, Goafest and the Abbies are a celebration of this success. Equally they are opportunities for our bright young marketers to imbibe and learn. I believe our rising stars will benefit immensely by actively participating in this opportunity. The ‘Marketing Wizards‘ initiative is indeed very attractive and I am sure our members will make the most of it.”

    Goafest 2012 is being organised by AAAI and Ad Club Bombay in partnership for the fifth year and will be held on 20 and 21 April at the Zuri White Sands in South Goa. It will be preceded by an advertising conclave on 19 April. The festival is themed the ‘Magic of ideas.‘