ITV

Category: MAM

  • Bajaj Allianz spends Rs 800 million on marketing

    Bajaj Allianz spends Rs 800 million on marketing

    NEW DELHI: Bajaj Allianz is one of the few major advertisers on television which has refrained from using a brand ambassador, because it feels the basic agent should be given importance.

    For this reason, it has been using an animated character as an agent for its advertisements instead of a film, TV or sports personality as others have done.

    Bajaj Allianz head of marketing and corporate communications Akshay Mehrotra said Bajaj Allianz had 250,000 agents and this ad was to give them importance and make them more friendly and noticeable. He also said using a brand ambassador may deflect attention from the real agents.

    Mehrotra told indiantelevision.com that it spends approximately Rs 800 million on its marketing and advertising, which works out to around 0.2 per cent of its total revenue. He said most of this was spent on TV advertising. The online advertising was through online aggregators and Google, he added.

    Mehrotra was speaking on the sidelines of a press meet to announce a tie-up with Rubberband Infotainment Ventures and Anupam Kher Company for a quiz programme, ‘Discover India with Anupam Kher’ to be telecast on Star Plus at noon on Sundays from 13 February in eight episodes, starting with quarter finals.

    Mehrotra said that there was no plan even at present to take on a brand ambassador, and the tie-up with Kher was only for this programme.

    He said that Bajaj Allianz preferred to enter into partnerships rather than sponsorships, and it had earlier produced a 10-episode programme ‘Super Idols’ on IBN 7 on the disabled with Salman Khan.

  • Hyundai to spend Rs 2 bn over 5 years on cricket ads

    Hyundai to spend Rs 2 bn over 5 years on cricket ads

    NEW DELHI: Hyundai expects to spend around Rs 2 billion over the next five years on promoting cricket, which works out to around 25 to 30 per cent of its total ad spend.

    Hyundai Motor India general manager for advertising G Sanjay told indiantelevision.com that around 70 per cent of this would go into television and rest into print, online and other advertising. He also said his company promoted only cricket among sports as Indians were passionate about this game.

    Sanjay said Hyundai had worked out several ways to market the ICC Cricket World Cup including merchandising and free offers. People taking test drives on the Hyundai i10 would be eligible to two tickets, and those buying a car will get the tickets and other merchandise including a cricket set and T-shirts. There will also be lucky draw for those purchasing tickets.

    Speaking on the sidelines of a meet where Hyundai announced its tie-up with ICC Cricket World Cup as the official car partner for five years till 2015, he said one decked-up car in the three metros of Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai will go around the city from 10 to 16 February with two white cricket balls on top to promote the Cup. These balls will then be flown to Dhaka prior to the opening match. Each car has been specially painted with all the National colours of the participating teams and emblem of the Cup.

    He said the special Hyundai ICC Cricket anthem rendered by Shaan on the theme ‘We’re Game’ and released today will be part of the television advertising.

    He said in reply to a question that ten brands were involved in the ground advertising. These included Hyundai, LG, Hero Honda, Reliance, Pepsi, Castrol, Reebok, Yahoo and Moneygram. The two on air sponsors were Nokia and Sony with six associate sponsors that included LG and Hero Honda.

    He said Hyundai had still not decided its programme with regard to the Indian Premier League. The ICC was an India-led phenomenon while IPL was more domestic.

    He said Hyundai preferred to promote its products through business and news channels rather than general entertainment channels.

    Addressing the press meet earlier, Marketing and Sales Director Arvind Saksena said the amount to be spent on cricket year to year could vary and would be decided at the time of the event.

    This also depended on the format – one-dayers, T-20 etc. Women’s World Cup, and the number of teams playing each year.

    Hyundai will also set up Hyundai Fan Parks with large TV sets where customers could gather to see the matches, enjoy refreshments and win tickets.

    The press meet was also addressed by Hyundai MD and CEO H W Park, and International Cricket Council chief executive Haroon Lorgat.

  • Sun TV to up ad rates from 1 April

    Sun TV to up ad rates from 1 April

    MUMBAI: Catching the signals of a strong rebound in the Indian economy, Sun TV Network has decided to increase its advertising rates just five quarters after its earlier revision.

    The Kalanithi Maran-owned South Indian media conglomerate, which had increased it advertising rates starting 1 January last year (after a gap of almost two years), has announced a further 8-32 per cent hike across its Tamil channels.

    Effective 1 April, flagship channel Sun TV and the other Tamil channels – KTV, Sun Music, Sun News, Chutti and Adhitya – will hike their ad rates.

    “The effective ad rate hike will be 15 per cent across the Tamil market. Tamil Nadu contributes 45 per cent of Sun Network’s total ad revenues. Sun will continue to maintain a healthy ad growth in the next fiscal, both from volumes and from the rate hike,” says a market source.

    The rate hike will be effective across the slot fees (broadcast fees) received from content producers.

    Sun TV Network will also announce soon ad rate hike across the other three south markets. Sun has 14 channels in these three language markets including Gemini (Telugu), Udaya (Kannada) and Surya (Malayalam).

    The overall effective ad rate hike across the four markets would be in the region of 13-15 per cent, according to market estimates.

    Sun had last revised its ad rates across its channels between 10-33 per cent from January 2010. This resulted in an effective hike of 13 per cent, according to market estimates.

    For the first nine-month period ended December, Sun reported a total income of Rs 14.93 billion, up 43.93 per cent from the year-ago period.

    Shares of Sun TV closed Tuesday at Rs 409.65, down marginally by 0.24 per cent in a bearish market, as it recovered after Monday‘s 11 per cent tumble due to rumours of CBI investigation on alleged links with Kalaignar TV, which was reported to have received Rs 2.14 billion as loan from DB Realty. The stock touched an intraday high of Rs 433.15 and a low of Rs 402.05 on the BSE.

  • Indian agencies under foreign invasion

    Indian agencies under foreign invasion

    MUMBAI: Indian agencies will continue to be gobbled by their multinational counterparts, senior executives in the industry said.

    “The acquisition of Sandeep Goyal‘s stake by Dentsu was inevitable,” said Triton Communications director Munawar Syed, “When foreign agencies form a joint venture, it eventually concludes with the complete takeover of the Indian partner.”

    A wave of acquisitions over the years has only meant that a few Indian agencies like Madison, Mudra and Triton have survived the onslaught of international groups like WPP and Interpublic as they vie to augment their clout over the Indian market.

    According to Aegis Media India chairman and CEO Ashish Bhasin, nearly 75 to 80 per cent of the global ad market is controlled by WPP, IPG, Omnicom, Publicis and Aegis.

    “Dentsu buying out its partner‘s share is just a part of this trend. India is a growing market with immense opportunities and everyone wants to take advantage of this,” Bhasin said.

    According to a recent forecast by ZenithOptimedia, India‘s advertising market, which grew slightly in 2009 to $4,463 million, is expected to grow 13 per cent in 2010 and 13-15 per cent in 2011-2013, year on year. The total projected market size of $7,548 million in 2013, an increase of 69 per cent when compared to the 2009 figure, will make India one of the world‘s leading advertising markets.

    The world‘s largest advertising agency, WPP, is recognising India‘s rapid emergence as a growth powerhouse. In his visit to India in 2010, WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell had said that ‘the delta is very much driven by India and China”. Incidentally in the WPP universe, India is the fourth largest.

    The global downturn has made foreign agencies search for growth markets such as India. While Indian companies have nurtured global ambitions, in the advertising world it is the foreign agencies who are either increasing their shares or buying out the local joint venture partners in India.

    Bhasin explained this anti-clock process. “The advertising sector is in a different stage of evolution as compared to other sectors in the country. Many foreign advertising companies were present in India even before liberalisation. Hence, it is no surprise to see almost the whole industry being controlled by foreign players.”

    Havas Media India and South Asia CEO Anita Nayyar termed this a “two-way process” as India is on the radar of all big business houses.

    “Foreign companies want to have a share in the booming Indian market, and Indian companies want to exploit international expertise and experience. This trend is to be seen across the World and not just in India,” Nayyar said.

    Talking about the local agencies, she added: “According to INS, there are at least 500 small agencies in the country who don‘t have any foreign affiliation. So the changes are happening mostly amongst the top-rung players.”

    Nayyar said that the Rs 22 billion industry is mainly dominated by foreign players. “In India, GroupM is number one, followed by Madison, Lodestar Universal, Lintas, ZenithOptimedia and Havas Media in that pecking order,” she elaborated.

    Among the big-sized Indian agencies who have maintained control are Reliance ADAG-controlled Mudra Group, Triton Advertising and Madison.

    Asserted Syed, “Not aligning with the foreign group has a disadvantage as well. When we want an international business, they want to know whether we have an alignment with a foreign group or not. Triton is completely focused on the Indian market and wants to explore every possible opportunity. However, one should always be open to positive change.”

    Displaying its local strength, Madison launched an equal joint venture with Trevor Beattie‘s BMB in 2010 to launch BMB in India. Earlier in 2008, Madison acquired a majority stake in WPP‘s Mediacom operations in India.

    Percept has also held its ground while striking partnerships with foreign agencies. It parted ways with Aegis in 2006. The company continues with a 50:50 joint venture with Japanese major Hakuhodo.

    “The merger and acquisition activities in the agency world is interestingly poised as there is a move towards consolidation of businesses and clients,” said the head of a mid-sized agency who did not want his name to be revealed.

  • Gelato Italiano, 9XM join hands to launch Bheegi Billi ice-cream variant

    Gelato Italiano, 9XM join hands to launch Bheegi Billi ice-cream variant

    MUMBAI: Ice-cream brand Gelato Italiano has joined hands with music channel 9XM and launched Bheegi Billi Strawberry Splash as the flavour of the month to celebrate February as the month of love and romance.

    Bheegi Billi is one of the popular animated characters on 9XM, who is known for strumming his guitar and singing songs.

    The new strawberry splash is available to the patrons across 55 outlets of Gelato Italiano.

    9X Media EVP Sales Pawan Jailkhani said, “We are delighted to partner with Gelato Italiano in this unique initiative. 9XM’s Bheegi Billi is very popular among youth and so is the range of Gelatos. The popularity of the character and the association for the flavor of the month will definitely receive an overwhelming response from the young patrons of 9XM and Gelato across the nation.”

    In addition to the special flavour of the month, 9XM and Gelato Italiano are also giving their patrons an opportunity to help Bheegi Billi win a date by launching a SMS-based contest called the “Bheegi Billi Love Contest”.

    The contest will go on till 20 February and the winners of the contest will get a chance to win gift vouchers from Gelato Italiano and 9XM goodies.

    Pan India Food Solutions Head-Marketing Vinay Gopinath said, “We are excited about our association with 9XM, one of the leading music channels in the country and have thereby co-branded this month’s flavour of the month ‘Bheegi Billi Strawberry Splash’. Gelato Italiano has specially created this fun and romantic ‘Flavour of the Month’ keeping in mind the fun-loving traits of the popular 9XM character ‘Bheegi Billi’ and Gelato Italiano’s scrumptious flavours.”

  • Nagessh Pannaswami and Priti Nair to jointly lead Curry-Nation

    MUMBAI: The recently launched Curry-Nation will now have two leaders.


    Nagessh Pannaswami has joined the agency to lead the business side of the agency, while Priti Nair will continue to head the creative part.
     
    Says Nair, “We both will be partners in the agency. He will join the agency on 10 February.”


    Pannaswami is currently serving his notice period in BBDO Mumbai, which is slated to end this week. He has been working at BBDO for eight months as VP of the agency and is its Mumbai head. 
     
    He started his career with Lowe, Mumbai, where he worked for six years as brand services director and then joined McCann Erickson as business director, before joining BBDO.
     
    In his career spanning over 12 years, Pannaswami has worked with clients such as P&G Gillette regional, P&G Gillette India, Godrej, Bayer and Johnson & Johnson.


    Nair‘s recently launched Curry-Nation has already won the creative mandates of Emami‘s Fast Relief, Hairlife and Lalima brands.
     

  • Gillette appoints actor Arjun Rampal as its brand ambassador

    Gillette appoints actor Arjun Rampal as its brand ambassador

    MUMBAI: FMCG Company Gillette India has roped in actor Arjun Rampal as its brand ambassador.

    Gillette that owns brands like Gillette Mach 3 Turbo, Oral-B and Duracell says that Rampal would soon be seen in all the new March3 Turbo sensitive advertisements.

    Says Gillette brand manager Sharat Verma, “Gillette is a market leader in the category and firmly believes in innovation and excellence in performance. The brand is committed to continuously provide the highest quality products to its consumers to make men look and feel their best. Admired, loved and respected globally, we are indeed very proud to associate with Arjun Rampal as our brand ambassador.”

    Adds Rampal, “Gillette is the best brand when it comes to male grooming products. Since grooming has always been essential for me and Gillette being a brand I love and use everyday, the decision to endorse this brand was not difficult to make. It‘s indeed a great honor to be associated with Gillette.”

  • Rediffusion-Y&R wins digital mandate of Kingfisher

    Rediffusion-Y&R wins digital mandate of Kingfisher

    MUMBAI: Rediffusion Y&R has won the digital mandate of Kingfisher Airlines.

    The agency will now handle all digital brand communications for Kingfisher businesses – Kingfisher Airlines, Kingfisher Express, Kingfisher Cargo and Kingfisher Elite.

    Force India and Club Force will also be included in the mandate. 
     
    The scope of work will include all digital marketing services such as online promotions and social media management, besides maintaining their respective websites.

    Says Mumbai branch head and EVP Nisha Singhania, “It has always been our endeavour to provide complete marketing solutions to all our clients, and hence it is always heartening when an existing client awards us with more business.”
     
    Rediffusion is already handling the creative duties of Simplifly Deccan, an entity created following the merger of Kingfisher Airlines and Deccan Airlines.

    “I think this win is a testimony of our understanding of the category and the work we‘ve done so far. We look forward to more synergies between online and offline communication, that will help us deliver superior and seamless creative solutions for the client”, adds Singhania. 
     
    Both client and agency were discreet about the size of the business. The agency claims that work has already begun.
     

  • Ogilvy Africa ropes in Sandeep Madan as MD

    Ogilvy Africa ropes in Sandeep Madan as MD

    MUMBAI: Sandeep Madan, who had quit recently as Rediffuson Y&R EVP, is joining Ogilvy Africa as managing director.

    Madan was with the Delhi branch of Rediffuson Y&R since over three years.

    Madan confirmed that he will be joining Ogilvy Africa in the last week of February or early March.

    In his career spanning over 15 years, Madan has worked with agencies such as Publicis India, Enterprise Nexus (now Bates David Enterprise), iB&W Communnications and McCann-Erickson.

    Madan has worked for brands such as Metlife India, Skoda, General Motors India, Hewlett-Packard India, Aviva Life Insurance and Perfetti India.

  • Planman launches research-driven power book

    Planman launches research-driven power book

    MUMBAI: Marketing company, Planman Marcom, has launched Powerbrands 2010-11, a research-driven power book that consists of India‘s most powerful brands. The book, launched in two formats – a coffee table edition and a corporate edition, is named ‘Evolution to Revolution‘.

    The company said that the book that was evolved after rigorous research and brain- storming will act as a strategic tool in reinforcing the supremacy, legacy, sustainability and credibility of brands.

    Says IIPM Prof. honorary director Arindam Chaudhuri, “One cannot deny the fact that so many Indian businessmen and entrepreneurs find a place in the list of the billionaires worldwide, showcasing the success story of Indian Inc and its ever-expanding consumer base.

    “But, on the flip side, not a single India-born brand could find a place in such lists. We are such a huge market with innumerable opportunities and business prospects and hence branding of a product is as important as the product itself.” He also said that a right kind of knowledge about a brand is what consumers are looking for nowadays.

    Concepts like ‘Power-Factor‘ analysis and ‘Power Success Factor‘ (PSF) have been included in the book. This first brand study encompassed nine different parameters essential for the survival, revival, growth and revolution of brands- to establish a brand‘s credibility.

    Adds PowerBrands Planman Marcom CEO and co-author Abhimanyu Ghosh, “It is a power book to reflect the soul of each brand so as to bridge the gap between the perceptions of the consumer and the brands.

    “Without a well-crafted brand profile, a brand may not seem attractive enough to suit their best markets and fortify their presence amongst the consumers; hence it is adequate to carve a suitable brand perception in order to attract the respective target audience.”