Category: MAM

MUMBAI: Whirlpool has consolidated the creative duties of its microwave, hobs and hoods business with DraftFCB Ulka. The company awarded the mandate without calling for a pitch. 
 
Contract was the incumbent agency, which had won the business from DraftFCB Ulka four years ago.

Confirming the development to Indiantelevsion.com, DraftFCB Ulka COO Sanjeev Bhargava said, “The category is not so big and Whirlpool intends to make it stronger. The account size will evolve as we go along. “
 
“The work will be starting very soon with both above and below the line ensuing in the coming months,” he added.

MUMBAI: Percept Out of Home has executed the outdoor campaign for denim brand- Levis‘ newly launched ‘Curve Id‘ brand.

The campaign kick-started on earlier this month will continue till 15 January across the country.  
 
Said Percept Out of Home president Sanjay Pareek, “Percept‘s ‘planning approach‘ where the use of media assets across all the format, malls, multiplexes and cafes too as the dwell time for the target customer is higher in these media, is given more emphasis than just a large format conventional outdoor assets, to get better return on investment for the client through higher OTS and reach. The client was also very supportive of this planning approach.”

The Levis‘s Curve ID is designed specially for women and has a brand mantra, “We believe it‘s about shape not size”.

According to Percept OOH, it took a sniper approach to reach the target audience by engaging them with the brand. The outdoor activities were conducted in best and the busiest of malls, multiplexes and cafes.
 
Stated Percept Out of Home business head-outdoor Rajneesh Bahl, “The brief was very simple, loud and clear. The end target audiences are woman so let‘s create awareness of the benefits and what the 3 different fits are all about. The team developed a strategy and implemented the same. It was clear that it‘s just not about going loud across the streets this time, rather have a sniper approach and catch the TG where they are or would be.”
 
Bahl added, “It was more about the leisure and hangout areas such as malls, multiplexes and cafes where the TG spends their maximum time either shopping or catching up with their favourite stars on a movie or updating themselves about what‘s “IN”. Hence malls, multiplexes and cafes had a major role to play”.
 

MUMBAI: PepsiCo India has roped in Bollywood star Salman Khan as the brand ambassador for its soft drink brand Mountain Dew.

This is for the first time that Mountain Dew will have a brand ambassador.
 
Pepsi Co beverages MD Deepika Warrier said, “Mountain Dew is strongly anchored in the relevant consumer insight of ‘Darr Ke Aage Jeet Hai‘. Salman Khan embodies this philosophy and he has strong national appeal. We look forward to the partnership and are confident that it will be mutually rewarding.”
 
Mountain Dew has a tagline of ‘Darr Ke Aage Jeet Hai‘. It encourages consumers to overcome their inner fears and try something new, explore new boundaries.
 
“I love the high-action imagery of Mountain Dew and more importantly the fact that it‘s not mindless action but there is a message at its core Darr Ke Aage Jeet Hai. I have spent time with the Mountain Dew team and I eagerly look forward to working with them,” Khan said.

MUMBAI: With Star Plus and Colors having consolidated their top positions in 2010, the Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) space is seeing an interesting fight for number three position.

The top slot was the target last year for Star Plus, Colors and Zee TV, but now Zee TV and Sony Entertainment Television (Set) are fighting for the third spot.
 
With the support of Amitabh Bachchan-hosted Kaun Banega Crorepati, Set stepped above Zee TV at times and managed a lead, but the last week of the year 2010 saw Zee TV coming back with a bang to claim its position, according to the Tam data (Week 52, C&S 4+, HSM).

Zee TV is back after weeks on the strength of weekend events like Zee Rishtey Awards and the grand finale of song reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. The two properties gave the channel a boost of 32 GRPs (gross rating points) along with a TVR of 4.4 and 2.8 respectively for the week ended 25 December.
 
The Tam data shows Zee TV added 39 GRPs from its previous week‘s tally to pocket 231 GRPs. Set, on the other hand, shed 36 GRPs to end the week with a score of 179 GRPs.

Meanwhile, holding guard at the top spot is Star Plus, with 368 GRPS (last week 346 GRPs). The channel‘s rating went up by 22 GRPs. It aired the grand finale of MasterChef India, which clocked a 4.2 TVR for the channel.

Colors also strengthened its position by adding 25 GRPs over the last week to close the tally with 290 GRPs (from 265 GRPs).
 
For Set, the fall in GRPs can be attributed to fall in the average of ratings of its celebrity dance reality show – Jhalak Dikhla Ja. After initial week ratings of 5 TVR, the second week ratings of the show were at 3.4 TVR.

A quick look on the other GECs: Sab was steady at No 5 with 146 GRPs (145 GRPs in last week) followed by Imagine TV (83 GRPS), Star One (37 GRPs) and Sahara One (29 GRPs).
 

MUMBAI: Ignite Mudra has bagged the creative account of air-coolers brand Symphony.

Ignite Mudra, the erstwhile Mudra -Ahmedabad, won the account, which is pegged at around Rs 100 million.
 
Lowe Mumbai was the incumbent agency of the company.

Ignite Mudra president Chandan Nath said, “Symphony is an iconic brand. We are proud of our association and the fact that we have played a role in creating the brand. It is very heartening to see an entrepreneurial brand like Symphony roaring like this after a long time. I am sure we have an exciting journey ahead.”
 
Symphony was launched by Mudra-Ahmedabad more than two decades ago. The agency played a critical role in Symphony‘s success. Out of the 22 years of Symphony‘s brand journey, Ignite Mudra has partnered the brand for over 16 years.

Symphony CMD Achal Bakeri added, “We are happy to be back with Mudra. Symphony has seen some very good times together with Mudra and I am happy to see the same spark with the current team. We are very bullish about the future and are expanding our footprint aggressively within the country and abroad. I am confident of seeing some great work again.”
 
Symphony is one of the largest air cooler brands in the country with a wide range of residential, commercial and industrial air coolers. Over the last decade Symphony has expanded its footprint across the globe with production and marketing in the USA, Mexico, Europe, Middle East and African continents. Currently, Symphony is present in 54 countries.
 

MUMBAI: Electronics brand Fedders Lloyd has launched a new brand TVC conceptualised and created by its creative agency RK Swamy BBDO. 
 
The TVC depicts a situation where a guy is appreciating his friend‘s Lloyd 3D TV, which leads to a moustache growing on the owner‘s face. In this manner the TVC represents moustaches in a delightful manner by associating it with the brand‘s promise – ‘Pride comes standard with Lloyd‘. The campaign is currently running on television channels across the country.
 
States Fedders Lloyd president Nipun Singhal, “The single-minded objective for initiating this TVC was to deliver the core message in an interesting and memorable manner. Besides, we wanted to do something truly innovative and ‘unexpected‘ in the category.”
 
RK Swamy BBDO senior partner Delhi Sunil Kukreti said, “The brief from the client was clear – break the pattern and redefine an existing norm and do this for Lloyd. The TVC has already created a buzz in the market and delivered results for Lloyd through recall and image building.”

The TVC, directed by Pradeep Sarkar (Parineeta and Lafangey Parindey fame) has TV and Bollywood actors Mahesh Thakur and Suchitra Pillai.
 

MUMBAI: Media Research Users Council (MRUC) chief executive officer Joseph Eapen has quit after an eight-month stint with the company. MRUC had roped in Eapen in April this year.

Eapen confirmed the development to Indiantelevision.com. “Yes I have decided to move on, but cannot share anything now,” Eapen said.
 
MRUC board had got Eapen to expand the scope of research to areas beyond print and outdoor as well as to substantially scale the quality and quantity of research across different media.

Recently, MRUC joined hands with Australia‘s oldest independent market research company, Roy Morgan Research (RMR), to launch the country‘s first national ‘Single Source‘ survey.
 
Before joining MRUC, Eapen was CEO of overnight television ratings monitoring agency aMap.
 
Eapen has 18 years of experience in media research in India and abroad and has done extensive research in print, television, radio as well as other consumer research.

MUMBAI: Colors’ which is expanding its primetime band with launch of a new fiction show Maati Ki Banno at 6.30 pm starting today, may get above average ratings initially.

As per media research and consulting firm Ormax Media’s awareness tracking product Showbuzz, Banno is likely to average about 1.3 to 1.5 TVR in its first week.
 
Ormax Media says that the show, despite being in a weak slot of 6.30 pm has managed to garner good awareness scores on Showbuzz, touching 15 per cent Unaided Awareness and 68 per cent Total Awareness in the week before its launch amongst females.

“These scores should ensure that the slot, which is currently averaging about 0.9 TVR for the Uttaran repeat, will show about 50 per cent jump. While the impact of this increase on the channel GRPs will be minimal, good content can ensure increase in TVR over time, as is the case with all good fiction shows,” Ormax Media says.
 
Showbuzz tracks awareness of new programs across six markets. Data over the last 20 months has been used to create a predictive model for fiction shows. The model predicts the opening week reach of the launches, which can then be used to arrive at indicative TVR, assuming a certain level of content.
 
The model takes into account the marketing buzz created by the show, the performance of the slot, competitive scenario and overall channel performance. Ormax Media claims that the error margins have been less than 15 per cent in most predictions done using the model so far.

MUMBAI: Mudra North & East, a part of Mudra India, is strengthening its team.

The division has brought back Gaurav Dudeja as vice president, and has appointed three new associate creative directors.
 
Dudeja, for whom it will be second-inning at Mudra, was with McCann Erickson working as business director – Nescafe and Perfetti.

Meanwhile, joining on board as associate creative directors are – Joy Sen Gupta and Varun Goswami (from BBDO India) and Latheesh Lakshman (Wieden + Kennedy Delhi).
 
Based in New Delhi office, all the new appointees will report in to Mudra North & East EVP and head Calcutta and Delhi offices Ajay Naqvi.
 
 “Joining of this exceptional lot, is just a reaffirmation of our grand design and our belief and ratifies our vision of a place that‘s invigorating, honest, transparent and committed to long term future of each and every person who is a part of Mudra North and East. We are committed to not just ensuring brilliant professional growth but also passionately nurture personal growth. We believe only a happy place can lead to great ideas,” Naqvi said. “I wish Latheesh, Gaurav, Joy and Varun all my luck and dollops of happiness while they deliver some exceptional work on the respective challenges they have lined up in front of them.”

BANGALORE: Titan Industries‘ jewellery division Gold Plus today unveiled the winning design for Gold Plus Nano, in presence of South Indian actor Jenifer Kotwal in Bangalore.

The Gold Plus Nano car is a part of the campaign to present the world’s first ever pure gold jewellery car.

Titan’s Gold Plus outlets are present in tier II cities and towns, while its flagship brand Titan outlets are present in the major metros and cities. Goldplus had launched a month long campaign in November this year to present the Gold Plus Nano as a part of its initiative to celebrate 5000 years of Indian jewellery.
 
Titan Industries jewellery division COO CK Venkataraman expects to have the Gold Nano car cladded with real gold based on the design of the winning entry ready by April or May 2011. The car will then be taken to the cities and towns that have Gold Plus outlets for display, and maybe even joyrides for a select few. “We will use the local media to create public awareness about the presence of the car in a city,” said Venkataraman.
 
The brand uses local media including print, radio, cable television, and the internet for mass media communications. It also advertises on the Sun Network in Tamil Nadu.

It spends around Rs 60-70 million annually towards advertising. Publicis handles the creative duties, while Maxus is the media buying for Goldplus.
 
The Gold Plus brand will contribute around Rs 6 billion to the Titan jewellery division’s expected revenues of Rs 50 billion in the fiscal year 2010-11 reveal company sources.