Category: MAM

MUMBAI: Loyalty is about finding the right balance and is at the heart of management, said Ipsos product development & innovation director Gailynn Nicks at the I3 Seminar on Ipsos In Innovation.

Nicks said that there should be balance between customer centric policies such as good customer service, quality of products, offers discounts and business outcomes comprising customer retention, profitability and increased share of wallet.

Although the details of loyalty are different across sectors, the types of attitude and behaviour that demonstrate loyalty have much in common. Nicks divided loyalty into two categories – attitudes and behaviours. Emotions such as repurchase or intention to use and brand preference or consideration fall under attitude, while behaviours cover share of behaviour and trend in behaviour loyalty.
 
 
A good framework is critical to create value and deliver profitable loyalty. “Understanding desired business outcomes, measuring and leveraging the current and future relationship potential with customers, getting feedback from touchpoints that enables specific and immediate attention and measuring performance and compliance are critical”, Nicks elaborated.

Nicks went on to explain the relationship between brand and process delivery. She said that process delivery is part of the total effect of the brand on loyalty.

Features such as quality, relevance, affinity popularity, willing to pay, satisfaction, trust and differentiation are brand drivers. The process is driven by relationship management, communication, products and services, branch, ATM, commisions and rates, internet, phone banking and complaints.
 
 
“Though process (delivery) and brand drivers both affect loyalty, it is never true that brands are independent of how they are delivered. This is even truer for service brands”, Nicks stated. And one should look at the two together to see the how they intertwine and how much leverage the brand offers over and above delivery, he elaborated.

Citing the example of mobile service providers, Nicks affirmed that higher intensity of interaction leads to stronger relationships between brand and process.

Hence, in pre-pay, as the interaction with the customer is lower, brand leverage on loyalty rises.

“It is even possible for process to drive loyalty at a greater level than brand”, Nicks said.

To clarify this statement, Nicks gave the example of Ryanair. “Though they are known to provide cheap airline traveling, their delivery on process makes them profitable. One of Ryanair’s MDs once asked someone straight-away, ‘what else can you get, with that price-tag?’” she joked.

Nicks concluded her talk by saying that the key is delivering on promises and providing value for money.
 

MUMBAI: MediaCom has elevated its India MD Divya Gururaj to the position of head of South and Southeast Asia.

MediaCom India COO Debraj Tripathy will take over as MD, reporting to the Board.

Gururaj will report in to MediaCom Asia Pacific CEO Alex Crowther. Her mandate will be to help drive growth in these markets with business planning, new business, investment plans and day to day operations.

“South East Asia remains a major priority for us, bringing such a strong leader in to support me with this region is a sign of our commitment to the people and clients in these markets,” Crowther said.

Gururaj added, “I am looking forward to working with new countries in this region and the immense opportunities they present. MediaCom is on a roll and I am excited about being a part of this growth trajectory and working with the great teams that we have in these markets.”

Prior to MediaCom India, Gururaj had a long stint at MindShare where she was GM, Mumbai. Before that she was with JWT, having started her career on the client side with Blowplast.

MediaCom India is a joint venture between Sam Balsara and WPP Group. MediaCom has recently added MakeMyTrip.com account and the digital business of Dell and Volkswagen to its portfolio.
 

BANGALORE: Godrej Appliances, a division of Godrej & Boyce manufacturing Company Limited, announced the third phase of its launch of LED, LCD, LCD Game TV and CRT television set range in three states – Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.

Godrej Appliances spends around 5 per cent of its revenues towards ATL and BTL marketing. Last year the division had revenues of Rs 20 billion. It is targeting revenues of Rs 27 billion this fiscal and plans marketing and promotion spends of around Rs 1.35 billion, revealed by Godrej Appliances executive vice president Marketing & Sales Kamal Nandi to www.indiantelevision.com.

Godrej Appliances plans to double its sales from 150,000 units last fiscal to 300,000 this financial year. It is targeting a market share of 5 per cent of the estimated 800,000 television units market in Karnataka over the next 12 months. A comprehensive 360 degree communication plan has been charted to actively communicate with the TG in Chennai.
 
 
“We will be looking at the local media across the four southern states for promotion of our television range, popular channels such as those of the Sun Network, radio, promotions at malls for experiential marketing phase. Our new products such as the Game LCD TV require demonstration and are to experienced,” explained Nandi.

Today’s launch completes the roll out of television sets for Godrej Appliances in south and west India, except the Mumbai Metropolitan region. During the first two phases, the division had completed the roll out of its television sets in Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Rest of Maharashtra and Kerala.
 
 
The division plans to complete its pan-India roll for its television range over the next two years. “We have a strong service infrastructure in the states that we have launched. As we strengthen the service infrastructure in other places, we will roll out the television range there,” revealed Nandi.

The LCD/LED range will be available at the price of Rs 15,500 to Rs 62,000 and the Godrej CRT TVs will be available at a price range of Rs 5,100 to Rs. 8,600 across Karnataka.

JWT handles the creative duties for all other Godrej Appliances products except colour television, while Mindshare handles the media buying. Creative duties for the division for colour television are handled by Leo Burnet.

MUMBAI: Japanese luxury car manufacturer Infiniti has signed Formula One World Champion Sebastian Vettel as its first ever Global Brand Ambassador.

The collaboration with Sebastian Vettel comes two months after Infiniti announced a partnership with the Red Bull Racing team. The 23 year-old F1 star will be taking an active role in raising the profile of the Infiniti brand and its products during race weekends and at selected events linked to Infiniti‘s business and product programmes.
 
 
From the start of the 2011 Formula One season, Infiniti has joined as a partner of the Red Bull Racing team and features prominently on the race-winning RB7 driven by Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Like many in the Red Bull Racing team, Sebastian has been driving products from the Infiniti range, both as his personal car but also at the different races around the world.
 
 
Vettel said, “Since our first contact with Infiniti I liked their cars. A car can impress you in two ways: its looks and its handling. After I had the chance to test some cars in the range I became a big fan. They are comfortable as well as sporty. I am sure we as a team and myself can benefit a lot from the experience of Infiniti and I am very much looking forward to our partnership in the future.”
 

BANGALORE: Blazer Media said it has won digital duties for Honda Seil Cars.

The media agency bagged the account through a pitch that involved other agencies.

Blazar Media AVP-Marketing Communications Anita Sharma said “We aim to further strengthen Honda‘s digital presence in the market and were looking for an agency with 360 degree approach in this field..”
 
 
Blazar Associate Director Nitesh Kumar said, “We have shared a strategy which focuses on how Honda Siel Cars India should approach the Indian market and their TG taking the leverage of digital media. We believe that our strategic approach plus experience of handling digital clients has given an edge to win the relationship. We are confident that with our passion and innovative ideas, we will be able to take the brand to new heights.”
 
Blazar Business Head Deven Dharamdasani said, “With this win we have got more responsibilities on our shoulders, as Honda is an evolved brand in digital like us and this is the time when we both leverage our powers and build bigger share in the market. We are happy that Honda has valued our intelligence and we are going ahead as full digital media service company.”
 

MUMBAI: Viacom18 Media has emerged as the clear winner, with seven gold and seven silver, at the PromaxBDA Awards.

Nick got the maximum, winning four gold and two silver for the network, followed by MTV India that bagged three gold and four silver, while Vh1 took home one silver.

Multi Screen Media with 15 metals was ahead of Viacom18 in terms the total number of trophies won, though it could manage to win five gold.

Sony did the trick for its mother network with three gold and four silver, followed by Max with two gold and five silver, while Pix took away one silver.
 
Though Star India was behind MSM in terms of the total awards won, the network won equal number of gold: five.

For Star India, Channel [V] collected a total of three gold, while Hindi GEC Star Plus bagged two gold and Star World followed with two silver.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises won three gold and two silver.

Zeel won two gold for Peepli Live in the category of best comedy promo and best movie promo, while Zee Studio‘s Godfather saturdays – animation won a gold in the best print campaign.
 
Nick hit the jackpot with its intelligent positioning. The kid’s
channel won four gold for the campaigns of Lets Just Play – Bahar Nikal, (best children‘s programme promo); Celebrate Independence Day – Make A Difference (best public service announcement); Nick – Marriage, Vadapav and Space (best on air branding design) and Nick Vada Pav (best on air ident design (out of house)).

MTV India’s flagship show, Roadies delivered with Roadies 8.0 getting best promotional campaign award and Roadies 8 Journey Packaging winning best programme title sequence.

CNN IBN’s State Of The Nation made its mark by winning two gold in the categories of best news/current affairs promo and something for nothing.
 
The Promax/BDA Awards that recognise excellence in on-air promotion, branding and advertising, also awarded two gold to ESPN Star Sports, for their campaigns of Formula One 2010 (best sports campaign) and Cricket World Cup 2011 “Sachin Dil Se” (best holiday/seasonal/special event promo).

No awards were given in the category of best on air ident design (in-house), according to the PromaxBDA 2011 winner‘s list.