ITV

Category: MAM

  • Rohit heads BBC advertising for South Asia

    Rohit heads BBC advertising for South Asia

    MUMBAI: BBC Worldwide has appointed Rohit Gopakumar as VP, South Asia for BBC Advertising.

    Based in Mumbai, Gopakumar will be responsible for generating local and International sales revenues for BBC’s TV and online products including BBC World News, BBC.com, mobile, LonelyPlanet.com, Worldwide Channels and Global Brands.

    While primarily responsible for India, his geographic responsibility also includes Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

    BBC Worldwide regional director ad sales, South Asia Seema Mohapatra had left the organisation in mid-December, after spending 12 and a half years in the organisation. She was handling ad sales for BBC World News, BBC Entertainment and bbc.com.

    As the business head for all advertising revenue in South Asia, Gopakumar will lead a team of 25 news and entertainment sales staff in three offices across India, and manage the existing portfolio of products as well as advice on strategic new business opportunities in the news and entertainment category in the region.

    Additionally, he will develop strategic alliances with clients, agencies and partners to grow revenues and establish BBC World News and BBC.com as a preferred media partner for Indian corporations and government agencies targeting global audiences in key International markets.

    BBC Advertising, Asia senior VP Sunita Rajan said: “We are very excited to have Rohit join BBC Advertising in India. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that will enable us to shift into the next stage of growth for BBC Worldwide’s businesses in South Asia.”

    Gopakumar has over 17 years in the media industry including at Times of India, Star TV, NDTV Media and most recently Aidem Ventures, an independent media sales aggregation company.

  • Nandini Dias deciphers youth psychology for marketers

    Nandini Dias deciphers youth psychology for marketers

    MUMBAI: Youth believes in being fluid, different, and in a way is ‘Never Still’. India has the largest number of youth. 80 per cent of India’s youth are now literate, many of them are affluent and almost all of them are chronically experimental. Indian youth was earlier fighting for literacy but now he is fighting for competition. Also, earlier he was fighting for survival but now he is fighting for identity, for a better life. These were the thoughts of Lodestar UM COO Nandini Dias who spoke at the Youth Marketing Forum here.

    Dias pointed out five key aspects of youth that every marketer/brand should understand. They are:

    1. The youth needs a cause to champion- Youths need to find their own identity. Brands which give them a sense of purpose find followers. From consumerism to movement, the aim is to drive mass consumer. Good examples are Garnier (go-green campaign with TOI), Whirlpool, Anna Hazare and Jago Re. Because branding is not a fad, its here to stay.

    It’s important for brands to find something in which youth can participate. Sheer participation in any social cause makes the youth feel good.

    2. Constant change has become a symptom of being young- Change is constant. Youth of today wants different things and therefore loyalty is at an all time low. This reflects in faster switches, whether its job or product usage, youth can’t stay with one for a long time. So, brands depicting fluidity are seen as youthful. Google has over 50 per cent young users. It keeps changing its logo (Google doodle). In 2012, in 40 days, Google has changed its logo 27 times. Youth expects to see change. Brands doing that are attracting youth. They are not making deep changes; surface brushes are done to depict ‘change’.

    3. Being focused will get you to your destination but being multi- faceted can take you to places- Youth today believes in doing multiple things. Since childhood they want to learn different things, get involved in different activities; they are multi-faceted. They are more optimistic and the fearless optimism comes from the factors that they believe in – failure can’t kill you, there are many chances to bounce back, nothing is make or break and there is a correction possible.

    Brands are more than products. They are expected to be multi-faceted and provide more than product for consumption. Coke Studio is a great example. They know that youth of today are driven by passion. They are more interested if the brand engages and interacts with them rather than simply being advertised.

    4. ‘And Also’ is better than ‘instead of’- Youth today believes in ‘The more I do today, the more times and space I have tomorrow’. The good life is about feeling happy, but a richer life is about feeling a whole range of emotions as well. Doing more doesn’t mean living less. Information overload is a myth today. Youth is consuming multimedia in a big way. He is surfing net, texting, playing video games, talking on phone, reading. Depending on the need, brands can easily move across touch points. Brands now have more occasions, places, contents through which they can talk to a consumer than just mass media.

    5. Brand now engages as friend rather than products- There is a need of external friend while modern lifestyles make room for more of media. The real world of young is shrinking. Social networks, the digital interface, are making a large number of passive relationships possible. Youth today is open to imperfection. Permitting negative feedback in social media makes a brand more honest and more human.

  • China’s Madhouse comes to India

    China’s Madhouse comes to India

    MUMBAI: China’s mobile marketing company, Madhouse, announced the launch of its India operations on 14 February to capitalise on the demand for customised mobile marketing solutions.

    Madhouse currently works closely with over 120 clients like HP, Intel, Coke, KFC, Unilever, VW and agency groups such as GroupM, Aegis, OMG, Vivaki and their associated agencies in China.

    Madhouse India aims to leverage the opportunity of using mobile as a mass media device given that there are more than 850 million mobile connections in the country. Current barriers to mobile marketing are dearth of scaled solutions in data, voice and text, harmonizing the different operating systems with multiple stakeholders across mobile inventory and lack of established tools and systems which makes it difficult to answer the question of how this medium can be leveraged by advertisers to reach out to their consumers.

    Madhouse India hopes to address this through unique and innovative services. Clients can look forward to mobile solutions across the spectrum of paid, owned and earned media on feature phones, smart phones and tablets.

    Madhouse provides service across all operating systems with precise targeting by geography, user demographics and psychographics to ensure minimal media wastage.

    Madhouse India chief operating officer Vinod Thadani said at the launch, “Mobile advertising is beginning to transform the way brands communicate with their consumers. Madhouse will offer mobile marketing solutions created and carried out for advertisers by a team of experienced media professionals that understand this medium. On a technical level, mobile advertising can now achieve accurate intelligent targeting and can provide real-time reporting – a very convincing proposition for advertisers. The need of the hour is to unlock the potential and we are determined to change the face of the Indian Digital Media Landscape and grow the mobile media market from 125 to 1000 crores within the next three years.”

    Madhouse sees tremendous growth potential in India. Said Madhouse founder and CEO Joshua Maa, “We are fully committed to investing in this market. With the right local partners, we believe that our technology and operational expertise can be leveraged to serve the unique mobile marketing needs of clients. In China, we have been working with partners such as Rovio, EA, China Unicom’s app store, and ad agencies to grow our leadership position. Similarly in India we value our association with WPP to help develop and take leadership in this market as well.”

    WPP country manager Ranjan Kapur explained, “Digital Media is evolving and innovating at a very fast pace in India where especially Mobile and handheld devices are poised to play a larger role in marketing communications. Madhouse India will help us build a unique value for our clients where in-depth domain and brand understanding is coupled with the strength of Madhouse technologies. A synergy is also established as our local market expertise and talent pool is well equipped in the Indian marketplace which is similar in complexity to China.”

    One of the companies in business with Madhouse is Rovio Entertainment, the makers of the game Angry Birds.

  • Wipro Consumer Care relaunches Santoor Soap

    Wipro Consumer Care relaunches Santoor Soap

    MUMBAI: Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting has relaunched its soap brand, Santoor, which includes introduction of new fragrance, shape, packaging and formulation.

    Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting senior vice president Anil Chugh said, “We have retained the original goodness of Santoor and enhanced the offering by introducing new fragrance and formulation. With the new Santoor we seek to strengthen our leadership in our core markets and grow by appealing to new consumers in other markets.”

    According to Chugh, “Santoor has been growing faster than the industry and gaining share. One of the reasons for this is the consistency in communicating our core proposition of younger looking skin while keeping the message contemporary over the years. Also, our focus on providing the right value to the customer has contributed significantly to the brands success.”

    In an official communiqué, the company stated that Santoor is the third largest soap brand in India and the largest selling brand in rural Maharashtra (value MS- 25.6%). Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan will continue as the brand ambassador.

    Chugh said, “Over the years Santoor has carefully chosen celebrities to endorse the brand and it has worked well for us. Saif Ali Khan is a very well known and successful actor in India and has worked well for the brand in the past. He fits the brand personality and is best suited for the role.”

    Khan said, “I believe brand endorsements are partnerships which go beyond what one sees on TV and Print. Santoor enters a new era with some exciting strategies and dynamic plans. Santoor is a leading brand in India and I look forward to making our association a mutually excellent one”.

    Santoor ads featuring Khan will break out on television by mid-March and the proposition of “younger looking skin” is interestingly weaved in with the celebrity Saif Ali Khan.

  • PepsiCo appoints Homi Battiwalla to head marketing of Colas

    PepsiCo appoints Homi Battiwalla to head marketing of Colas

    MUMBAI: PepsiCo India has appointed Homi Battiwalla as EVP- Colas, Hydration and Mango Based Beverages.

    Battiwala takes over from Sandeep Singh Arora who is not working with the company anymore. He takes charge of the marketing role for the Cola category (Pepsi, Diet Pepsi) along with his current responsibilities. He is director juice and juice drinks at PepsiCo India.

    PepsiCo beverages executive director – marketing Deepika Warrier said, “Homi’s rich experience and in-depth understanding of the beverage industry, positions him well to lead the marketing responsibilities for brand Pepsi as we look forward to continue the brand’s winning performance. Homi has been singularly responsible for some iconic brand building and marketing on brand Slice and consistently positioning Tropicana in the breakfast nutrition space. He has proven his leadership skills in successfully growing the juice and juice based drinks category for PepsiCo.”

    Battiwala joined PepsiCo in 1997 as management trainee. He has handled the company’s sales, distribution and marketing team. He has worked across various beverage brands including Mountain Dew, 7UP, Tropicana, Aquafina and Mango Slice.

  • Rediffusion Y&R appoints Nilesh Vaidya as ECD

    Rediffusion Y&R appoints Nilesh Vaidya as ECD

    MUMBAI: Nilesh Vaidya has moved on from Network Advertising where he was working as ECD to join Rediffusion Y&R as executive creative director.

    Based in Mumbai, Vaidya will report to Rediffusion Y&R NCD N Padmakumar

    Padmakumar has confirmed the development to Indiantelevision.com.

    Vaidya had joined Network Advertising in March 2011.

    He began his career in 1995 with Spear Advertising. He joined Euro RSCG as creative director and then moved up to become executive creative director and was also promoted to head the creative function in Mumbai in 2009.

    Prior to this, he has also worked with agencies like Lowe Lintas and Triton Communications.

  • O&M launches Social@Ogilvy

    O&M launches Social@Ogilvy

    MUMBAI: Global advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather announced the launch of Social@Ogilvy ,a worldwide practice connecting all of the agency’s social media experts to deliver solutions across all areas of business.

    From being a specialty offering within Ogilvy Public Relations, the service has been expanded across all marketing disciplines into a global network of social media experts from the complete Ogilvy family.

    Social@Ogilvy connects marketing, communications, CRM, sales enablement, shopper marketing experts among other things to deliver seven big social solutions. In addition to social media marketing and communications ,it will also provide socialCRM, social care, social business solutions, listening and analytics, and Ogilvy’s measurement model Conversation Impact.

    In the Asia Pacific region Social@Ogilvy extends to 23 cities in 15 territories.

    Social@Ogilvy has over 550 dedicated social media experts around the world and 4,000 digital experts delivering global and local solutions. Headquartered in New York, the team is led by global managing director John Bell, chief operating officer Tom DeLuca and Director of Social@Ogilvy in Asia-Pacific Thomas Crampton.

    Bell said, “Now, no matter which door clients walk through at Ogilvy they will connect with the Social@Ogilvy team to deliver agile and measurable solutions. That’s access to social experts deep in every marketing and communications discipline. The real power of social media for business in 2012 and beyond lies in fully integrated solutions not stand-alone social programs.”

    Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific chief executive officer Paul Heath said, “The demand for world-class digital and social media solutions across Asia Pacific is growing rapidly. Social media has been the fastest growing discipline over the last two years. Social@Ogilvy brings our social media specialists from all disciplines into an integrated team that supports clients at every stage of the game.”

    Thomas Crampton commented, “Our social media offering is the clear market leader with Ogilvy winning more awards in social media than any other agency in Asia. The launch of Social@Ogilvy enables our global network of social media strategists to bring best-in-class social media expertise to all clients across Ogilvy Group.”

  • 54th Grammys attracts record viewership

    54th Grammys attracts record viewership

    MUMBAI: The 54th edition of Grammy Awards became the second most watched show in the history of the popular music awards event with a total of 39 million viewers tuning in, according to Nielsen.

    The show, which was telecast on CBS last Sunday, delivered a rating of 14.1 in the 18-49 age group, a key demographic for many advertisers.

    The 53rd edition had a viewership of 26.7 million viewers.

    The 1984 Grammys has been the most watched show in the events history attracting a record 43.8 million viewers. It was also the year when late Michael Jackson received eight Grammys.

    The Recording Academy had last year reached a new deal with CBS to keep the awards show on the network for another 10 years.

  • Citra to tingle taste buds again

    Citra to tingle taste buds again

    MUMBAI: Coca-Cola India is in process to revive the clear-lime drink brand Citra in India and has already deployed it in its pilot run. The brand was among those, which were bought from Ramesh Chauhan by the company two decades ago.

    Confirming the development to Indiantelevision.com Coca-Cola general manager – public affairs Kamal Sharma said, “We have launched the pilot of the drink in around 2000 outlets in Gujarat and depending on the feedback, we will launch the drink at other places.”

    The pricing and brand identity of the relaunched Citra will also be decided after the feedback from the Gujarat pilot run. There are estimates that the drink may be priced around 20 per cent cheaper than existing lime-lemon drinks such as its own brands Sprite and Limca as well as PepsiCo‘s Mountain Dew and 7 Up.

    Today, the fizzy drinks industry in the country stands at an estimated Rs 130 billion. When Coca-Cola re-entered India in 1993 it bought out all Parle brands except Bisleri from Chauhan.

    While Citra and Gold Spot were discontinued in order to make room for Coca-Cola‘s global brands Sprite and Fanta, brands like Thums Up, Limca and Maaza were retained. In fact Thums Up was considered sidelined for a while, till Coca-Cola woke up to the potential of the Indian brand.

    Reports suggest that India‘s per capita consumption of carbonated drinks is 11 litres a year as compared to 34 litres in China and 675 litres in Mexico. The lime-lemon category in India has been growing 16-17 per cent a year while colas are growing at about 11-12 per cent and orange drinks at 8-9 per cent.

    Both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have been promoting their brands aggressively in this segment. While PepsiCo has Salman Khan as endorser for Mountain Dew and Sharman Joshi for 7 Up, Coca-Cola pushes clear-lime drink Sprite and cloudy lemon drink Limca on the irreverent and freshness platforms respectively.

  • Pavan Chandra calls it a day at Vivaki

    Pavan Chandra calls it a day at Vivaki

    MUMBAI: Vivaki Nerve Centre head Pavan Chandra has moved on from the research and development section to join Mogae Media as chief intelligence officer.

    Mogae Media is the mobile monetisation venture launched by Sandeep Goyal, former JV partner of Dentsu India.

    Mogae Media chief business officer Gaurav Luthra said, “Pavan is a dreamer and a doer. As an evangelist for a new medium, he has just the right mindset and experience.”

    Chandra added, “2012 will be the Year of the mobile. The versatility of the medium, the customer knowledge and the pinpointed targeting makes mobile a medium that will create its own space in clients‘ marketing plans. We are here to make it happen.”

    Chandra brings in over 21 years of experience. He specialises in gaining insights on media behavior of consumers. His experience lies in deploying tools and technologies for tracking and measuring media habits.

    Prior to Vivaki, he has worked with JWT as media planner and ZenithOptimedia as chief strategy officer.