Category: MAM

Rotomac appoints Ignite Mudra as branding and creative partner

MUMBAI: Rotomac Pens has appointed Ignite Mudra to handle branding and creative duties for its corporate and writing instruments brands.

The agency’s approach on how will they get a brand agnostic consumer show discernment towards brands has won them the business.

Ignite Mudra head Sudarshan Banerjee said that in this market most of the purchases are ‘brand agnostic’ since the consumer doesn’t really pay too much attention to the brand of pen he uses.

Sudarshan Banerjee said, “The brand is a leader in its business and has a strong residual image in the consumer’s mind. We’re sure that there’ll be some truly exciting work on Rotomac very soon.”

Rotomac president Rahul Kothari said, “The last decade has been truly exciting with the entry of many players and competition heating up in a big way. The market itself is undergoing a tectonic shift with increasing literacy and evolving tastes of the Indian consumer. Our interactions with Ignite Mudra have cemented our belief that they are the ideal partner to drive exponential growth for brand Rotomac in the coming years.”

Ignite Mudra, has built brands for entrepreneurial ventures in the past three decades, such as Reliance (Vimal), Rasna, Dhara, Paras Pharmaceuticals (Itchguard, Dermicool, Moov, Krack, Recova, Livon), Electrotherm (YObykes), and Zydus Cadila (Nutralite, Sugar Free, Everyuth).

September 20, 2011
Govt not to ban ads of fast food

NEW DELHI: The Government has no plans to ban advertisements of fast food products but is taking measures to promote healthy food habits through various measures.

Reacting to some remarks by members of Parliament and some media reports, Information and Broadcasting Ministry sources told indiantelevision.com that adequate measures are taken by the Government to deal with the problems that may arise from the ill-effects – particularly obesity among children and youth.

The sources also said all advertisements telecast on private television channels are to be strictly in accordance with the Advertising Code in Rule 7 of the Cable Television Networks Rules 1994.

As far as the print media is concerned, there are provisions in the Norms of Journalistic Conduct issued by the Press Council of India, which also hears any complaints of violations.

Among other steps, the Government has made it mandatory for all producers to give nutritional labeling on pre-packaged foods.

September 18, 2011
Posterscope celebrates 3 years in India

MUMBAI: Aegis Media’s OOH company, Posterscope, has completed three years in India.

To celebrate, Posterscope has planned India’s first celebration party on a billboard in Worli, below the Aegis Media office, to highlight the impact and largeness of the OOH medium. The event will be webcast live on Facebook.

To commemorate its third anniversary, Posterscope hired the 60ft high hoarding in the office complex and took the party there.

Aegis Media chairman India and CEO South East Asia Ashish Bhasin said, “Posterscope India is a jewel in the Aegis Media India’s crown and Haresh Nayak and his Team have proven that there is a great demand for a professional and knowledge led OOH operation in India.”

Posterscope is present across 25 cities in the country with a team of 92 people.

Posterscope MD Haresh Nayak said, “We have had 3 great years in India and we have successfully ensured diversity in business presence to attain stability and scale in India. Our presence across Traditional OOH, Retail, Digital OOH, Digital Retail, Airports and International campaigns have helped us in scalable and consistent growth. We would like to thank some of our key clients like Philips, P&G, U B Group, ABD, Renault, Blue Star, Essar, Intel, Bharati AXA, Ray Ban, India Bulls, for helping us reach this scale and position of strength.”

September 17, 2011
Misleading ads issue: Asci to meet govt soon

NEW DELHI: The Department of Consumer Affairs is studying the possibility of framing some guidelines to check misleading advertisements in the print and electronic media, following a directive from the Prime Minister’s office.

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) is expectedly irate, and a Delhi-based member said the Council would raise the issue with the Ministry.

An ASCI delegation is expected to meet senior officials in the government early next week, and it is also expected that this delegation will press for all matters relating to the media to be dealt with only through the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

Taking objection to advertisements that make promises for checking falling hair, obesity and skin conditions, the PMO has directed the Consumer Affairs Ministry to work on the existing Advertising Code and suggest changes.

The government may also consider setting up a regulator to enforce the guidelines, though I& B Ministry sources said they would press for this issue to come under self-regulation.

PMO sources said the matter was discussed at a recent review, particularly in view of the messaging on mobiles.

There are laws to deal with consumer issues and courts that specifically address complaints, but a guide will make it clear to the buyer and seller about a legitimate advertisement and a doubtful appeal seeking to exploit human fears, insecurity and suffering.

September 17, 2011
Rohit Gopakumar joins as Percept Intellectual Properties COO

MUMBAI: Rohit Gopakumar has joined as Percept Intellectual Properties chief operating officer.

In his new role, Gopakumar will be responsible for managing and leveraging the IPs currently owned by Percept Group. He will also be focused on conceptualising and developing new and innovative IPs for the group.

The Percept IP vertical includes all Intellectual Properties created and owned by the Percept Group, including IPs in the live entertainment, sports, celebrity management, digital and media space.

Gopakumar comes with an experience of over 17 years in the media industry spanning print, television, experiential and digital domains. He was previously with Aidem Ventures in the capacity of director and executive vice- president and spearheaded multiple projects, client businesses and partnership. He has also created Intellectual Properties like Business Leadership Awards and the Car & Bike Awards.

Percept Limited joint managing director Shailendra Singh said,”Percept is India’s only conglomerate that provides 360- egree services in the Entertainment, Media and Communications (EMC) Industry. We are now scaling up our strategic efforts to develop Intellectual Properties, thereby creating a remarkable and memorable legacy forever. With Rohit’s diverse exposure to the Media industry, we shall take Percept’s IPs into its next glorious phase.”

Gopakumar said, “Clients are now looking for that one differentiator to be spelt out, before partnering on any new ideas. Having been exposed to a multitude of client needs across various media, I feel it is a perfect platform to identify those need gaps and create offerings tailor-made for genres or specific client needs. I look forward to consolidating and leveraging our efforts in the area of IP creation and management, giving a new phase to the Percept IPs vertical.”

September 17, 2011
Rugby WC to drive $1.67 bn into global sports economy: MasterCard

MUMBAI: The on-going Rugby World Cup 2011 could generate $1.67 billion for the global sports economy with overseas visitors to New Zealand generating $654 million, according to new research commissioned by MasterCard Worldwide.

MasterCard‘s research – the Economic Impact on Global Rugby Part IV: Rugby World Cup 2011- finds that sport associated economic activity may be worth up to $11.7 billion to the New Zealand economy by the end of the decade.

The research is the fourth installment in a series commissioned by MasterCard Worldwide and undertaken by the Centre for the International Business of Sport (CIBS) at Coventry University, following economic impact reports on the 2010 Six Nations and Tri Nations Rugby Tournaments and a report on Rugby‘s Emerging Markets in April.

The latest installment examines the value of RWC 2011 by looking at the short-term commerce flow through international fans spending in bars, clubs, shops, hotels, bookmakers and inside host stadia, along with spending by sponsors and organisations on marketing in the cities around matches. It also examines the longer-term economic impacts on New Zealand‘s economy and the legacy of the Tournament as a whole.

CIBS researcher Dave Arthur said that the tournament would stand out from its predecessors. “This Tournament will be like no other: it will attract stronger than ever interest across the world, which will in turn boost commercial interest in and activity around the event,” he said.

The report finds that by the end of the decade, consumer expenditure in the New Zealand sports economy may be worth up to $1 billion. Increased tourism, civic sponsorship and business development resulting from the Tournament is estimated to be $1.21 billion, while the number of people working in sport-related occupations could rise to between 52,000 and 58,000 by the end of the decade, according to the report.

Other factors likely to enhance short-term and long-term economic activity include the later time scheduling for RWC 2011 matches and the ongoing development of Rugby in emerging market countries such as Romania, which has seen a 222 per cent increase of Rugby participation since Rugby World Cup 2003, and Russia, who will be competing in their first Rugby World Cup.

Rugby World Cup‘s enhanced brand value: The tournament will attract stronger than ever interest across the world due to the increased strength of the Rugby World Cup brand and the significance of it returning to its spiritual home-Rugby World Cup 2011 will be the first time the Tournament has returned to the same host nation and the same Final venue since 1987.

Based on advanced ticket sales more than 95,000 international fans will be visiting New Zealand for RWC 2011, which kicked off on Friday night (September 9th). Total ticket sales, which (including domestic sales) are expected to reach 1.35 million, will generate revenue of $224.5 million for tournament organisers.

CIBS director at Coventry University Professor Simon Chadwick said, “For the Tournament to be contested in the sport‘s spiritual home with the host nation ranked as number one in the world and among the strongest sport brands in the world, further enhances brand equity and the appeal of Rugby World Cup.

“Rugby World Cup is one of the top global sports events in the world behind the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup. Not only will New Zealand be benefiting from its impact and legacy for years to come, but the broader global sports economy will welcome the boost that this Tournament delivers.”

The report says the late scheduling will also offer a boost to broadcasters with a global audience of around 4 billion people expected to tune in to watch the tournament.

September 17, 2011
Shashi Sinha made prez of Bombay Ad Club

MUMBAI: Lodestar UM CEO Shashi Sinha has taken guard as the new Bombay Ad Club president for 2011-12, replacing Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd (BCCL) director Dr. Bhaskar Das who occupied the position for two consecutive terms.

Times Television Network‘s CEO Sunil Lulla has been elected vice president.

The other significant positions include Aditya Birla Group – Financial Services CMO Ajay Kakar as the new secretary, while BCCL director Sujoy Ghosh has been made the joint secretary. Mudra Max CEO Pratap Bose is the new treasurer.

Talking to Indiantelevision.com, Sinha said that the priority would be to engage advertisers from across the country.

“We are planning to hold some of our awards functions outside Mumbai. At least, take half the judging process to Delhi and then take it to Bangalore. Goafest was quite controversial, while Emvies doesn‘t really get the clients to participate. On the other hand, Effies gets active participation from clients. So, we will try to use this opportunity to engage more people from outside Mumbai,” an elated Sinha added.

Ad Club‘s new managing committee includes Percept‘s Ajay Chandwani, Brandscapes Worldwide‘s Pranesh Misra, BBH India‘s Subhash Kamath, Concept Advertising‘s Vivek Sushanti, Ogilvy India‘s Madhukar Sabnavis, Star India‘s Gayatri Yadav and JWT India‘s Tarun Chauhan.

Non-award properties such as creative workshops suffered in the face of economic crisis and a shift can be expected in the new tenure.

On the team appointment, Sinha said: “It‘s a good mix of old and new members. That will reflect in our work as well. We will continue with the old policies and implement some new ones as we go along.”

Moreover, Effies Apac will be a priority as it is going to be held in India this year.

September 16, 2011
Percept/H Delhi appoints Rajiv Agrawal as ECD

MUMBAI: Percept/H has appointed Rajiv Agrawal as executive creative director for its Delhi branch. He joined the agency on 13 September and will report to Percept/H chief creative officer Ryan Menezes.

Formerly, Agrawal was creative director at Lowe Lintas, Delhi and before that senior creative director at JWT. He has also worked with Ogilvy and Draftfcb Ulka.

Agrawal said the creative freedom he was to get as the ECD was one of the primary reasons he moved.

“Everyone’s take on creativity differs. In bigger agencies this problem seems to exacerbate, as too many people are involved in the creative process. In the field of advertising its very important to have the elbow room; and here as the ECD I will get that,” Agrawal added.

Besides managing the brands – agency’s Delhi branch handles – such as Hero Honda, Canon and Delhi Police, Agrawal’s mandate also includes getting new businesses and amplifying brand Percept/H’s creative portion.

“Percept/H is a strong creative agency with a sound business model. Besides getting new business, we are also working towards enhancing the creative side of our agency – strike balance between business and creativity. We will do that by getting new businesses,” Agrawal concluded.

In his over 17 years of experience Agrawal has worked for brands such as Pepsi, Mountain dew, SBI cards, Horlicks, Monster.com, GE Money, and Hero Honda.

September 16, 2011
Wieden+Kennedy bags creative duties of Invista’s two brands

MUMBAI: Wieden+Kennedy Delhi has won the creative duties of Invista Apparel’s Lycra and Coolmax brands.

A person close to the development also informed that the account was won following a multi-agency pitch.

Wieden+Kennedy’s Delhi branch has been on a roll; bagging its fourth account in a short period following the wins of Heineken India, Oberoi and Trident.

September 16, 2011
Singham powers Star Gold to 221 GRPs

MUMBAI: For Star India, the unconventional strategy of premiering a big-ticket film on its movie channel rather than on Star Plus seems to have worked.

Powered by the Ajay Devgn-starrer Singham, Star Gold has seen a 70- GRP (gross rating point) jump, aiding the channel to cross 200 points.

Star Gold closed the week ended 10 September with 221 GRPs, up from 151 GRPs in the trailing week.

Singham, which was premiered on 10 September, clocked 8.7 TVR, highest on any Hindi movie channel in the recent past and third highest after 3 Idiots (10.88 TVR on Sony Entertainment TV) and Dabangg (9.2 TVR on Colors).

“We are very happy with the viewers’ and advertisers’ response for the premiere of Singham. And we have many more movies in our bank to enhance viewing experience,” Star Gold senior vice-president Hemal Jhaveri said.

When compared to the screenings on Hindi movie channels, Singham’s roar is the loudest, followed by 3 idiots (6 TVR, second airing) and Robot (4.1 TVR), both on Max.

Star Gold had put all the marketing efforts behind creating a buzz around the world TV premiere of the movie.

The Hindi movie genre, fought at the top among Max, Zee Cinema and Star Gold, is marred with low stickiness.

“The ratings may help other channels to think of premiering films on movie channels, which ideally should be the case. The top four GECs alone show 20-25 movies collectively every week. This practice should stop,” the business head of a rival movie channel said.

Jhaveri believes that the players need to constantly change the game. “The rules are changing and there is no set formula. We are also experimenting. We were the first to air five movies a day and now have increased it to six. We have cut down on our advertising time and it is helping increasie the time spent on the channel,” he said.

September 15, 2011