Category: MAM

MUMBAI: Infrastructure company Atlanta Limited has appointed Wavelength Communications as its creative and media partner.

While the size of the account remains unknown, industry sources peg it at being substantial.

As part of its new mandate, Wavelength will devise a 360 degree campaign with a primary thrust on print, outdoor and direct marketing.
 
On winning the new account, Wavelength Communications CEO Abhijit Banerji said, “With its presence already felt in the infrastructure sector, Atlanta is now ready to create a mark in the realty sector. And this is the challenge that we will be meeting in our communication strategy – to establish Altanta is the same breath as it exists in the infrastructure sector.”
 
Added Atlanta MD Rajhoo Bbarot, “We wanted an agency with a strong experience in real estate branding and Wavelength met with that expectation perfectly well. Thus, we went in for this partnership.”
 
Altanta has a diversified portfolio in engineering, procurement, construction and realty. Its projects include toll based infrastructure development of roads, highways, bridges, runways, docks, ports, canals, water courses, irrigation, embankment, reservoirs and several EPC projects.
 

MUMBAI: ESPN Star Sports (ESS) could land up with an advertising revenue in the region of Rs 3.5 billion to Rs 4 billion, according to preliminary estimates made by Indiantelevision.com.

Media buyers spoken to say that ESS, which has gone to the market for the cricket World Cup, is asking for around Rs 600 million for a co-presenter and Rs 480 -500 million for an associate sponsorship.

“They are testing the waters at this point. We are talking to them. The rate they are quoting comes to around Rs 350,000 per 10 seconds. For us this might be worth it for the India games. For the non India games, though it doesn‘t make sense,” says a buyer.

An ESS spokesperson declined to offer any comment.

An ICC partner who is negotiating with ESS says that he expects the rate to settle at around Rs. 200,000 with sponsorships going for between Rs. 300-350 million. “With ESS, we have a performance based slab agreement. There certainly will be a lot of noise and activity around the event,” he elaborated.

The World Cup tournament will be crucial for ESS in terms of how they fare vis-a-vis their investment in ICC cricket. In 2007, ESS had paid $1.1 billion for the rights for eight years. Interestingly this time around, India is also with Bangladesh in the group stage. The other teams in India‘s group include South Africa, England and West Indies.

Some advertisers might look for performance related deals.

Who are the clients that will be interested? Finance and insurance companies will latch on to this opportunity as the World Cup takes place at the end of the fiscal. “They will want visibility to push their tax saving schemes. Telecom will be active. Two-wheelers will also look to come on board,” says an industry observer.

It will be interesting to see how Pepsi, an International Cricket Council (ICC) partner, uses this event. A buyer says that ICC partners will likely come on board on-air as well since the event is taking place in India. For Pepsi, though, the event is taking place during the non season period.

“Certainly there will be a lot of noise on the ground. I expect a 35 per cent viewership growth compared to the 2007 edition when it was in the West Indies. The question is the price,” says the buyer.

MUMBAI: The first two weeks of October have already seen the launch of two mega shows with big celebrities – Bigg Boss on Colors with Salman Khan as anchor and the Amitabh Bachchan-hosted Kaun Banega Crorepati on Sony Entertainment Television.

The third show to hit the airwaves from Saturday is Star Plus’ MasterChef – the cookery-based reality show hosted by Akshay Kumar.
 
Both  Colors and Sony didn’t leave any stone unturned to create hype on their mega shows. Now it is time for Star Plus to see that the launch on 16 October gets maximum attention as a result of an elaborate 360 degree marketing plan with on-air, print, radio, outdoor and internet activations.

The channel first launched its music video with host Akshay Kumar, which had innovative use of kitchen sounds and visuals to recreate the show as a musical. Later, it used all its network strength to promote the show with concept explanation promos, use of graphics for channel indents and transition bumpers shot with Akshay Kumar and with Star Plus leads.

Later, countdown promos, footage promos, on-air secondary elements, 24 hour countdown clock across networks channels and in-show integrations across all key shows on Star Plus were used.

Star Plus is also doing a two-minute roadblock on the show concept across network channels as well as on external channels – CNN IBN, IBN7, NDTV 24×7. NDTV India, News 24, Live India, Times Now, Aaj Tak, Headlines Today, Tej, IBN Lokmat, E24, Star News and Star Majha.

Also, the music video is playing as part of content on Channel [V].

Meanwhile, on the radio platforms, Star Plus has launched a one-week campaign with high frequency spots across stations including Radio Mirchi, Radio City, Big FM, Red FM, Fever FM, Radio One and My FM. More than 40 spots a day are played. This includes listener interactivity, hourly countdowns, interview with Akshay Kumar on day of launch, RJ mentions and sponsorships.

For print, the channel booked covers, adverts and editorials across Grihashobha, Mukta, Sarita, India Today and multiple trade magazines. It also did a deal with Media Net for promotion in launch week.

Star Plus has used innovative strategies for outdoor activations. Glowing microwave and mobile vans with life size mixer and Akshay cutouts were used in Mumbai.

The channel also took 400 plus units across Mumbai, Delhi, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Lucknow to promote the show. It is also using transit media through bus wraps, railway station branding and bus backs and kiosks.

The most innovative promotion that the channel did for MasterChef was its online premiere even before the launch of the show on 14 October.

MasterChef will air every Saturday-Sunday at 9 pm.
 

MUMBAI: Leo Burnett has created a new television commercial for Bajaj Electricals’ latest Miniz range of CFLs.

The Miniz range has been created to solve the consumer’s problem that normal CFLs are too big and often do not add to the decor of a home or a fancy light fitting. The mandate before the Leo Burnett team was to bring alive the proposition of ‘small but powerful’ CFL.

The 30-second commercial starts with a boy waking up by an alarm to find out that a huge ship has barged into their locality. The film moves eight hours back, where a ship can be seen stuck mid-sea in a storm. The crew mistook the ‘powerful’ light coming from a small CFL for a strong and powerful lighthouse. The film signs off with “Chota CFL. Zabardast Roshni”. It has been shot with John Doe films.

“We always draw inspiration and insights from real life and real consumers. When Bajaj Electricals asked us to create the film, we conducted several researches to understand consumers, till we stumbled upon the observation that a lot of times in life, what you see is not what you really get,” Leo Burnett national creative director KV Sridhar said.

Bajaj Electricals executive director R Ramakrishnan added, “In a category where both the product and communication is at complete parity (every CFL claims to be saving 80per cent electricity and money) we at Bajaj have created disruption by offering the same brightness in a much smaller CFL under our Miniz range. By introducing this new range of CFLs, Bajaj Electricals has taken a step forward to guide Indian market towards international trends where already bigger CFLs are getting replaced by smaller CFLs. Bajaj Miniz CFLs are more technologically advanced and more environment friendly. The glass used in these is Led-free and with limited mercury levels. We are using Pill dozing technology for mercury filling, hence while disposing the CFLs the mercury remains in the pill and do not spread in environment. Over and above, these CFLs are more compact and add to décor of any room. Our communication partners, Leo Burnett have helped us take it to consumers in a compelling ans impactful yet simple manner.”

Leo Burnett has won metals at Cannes, Spikes, Mirchi Kaan and Abbys Awards this year.

MUMBAI: Anandi, the child protagonist of Colors’ flagship fiction show Balika Vadhu, is still the most favourite character of audiences among the Hindi general entertainment channels across the last one year.

The findings have come from the recently released fifth track of ‘Characters India Loves’ study by Ormax Media.

The study was conducted during August-September this year. Interviews were conducted among 2500 respondents in Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Indore & Jalandhar, in the 15-44 age groups.

As per the report, Anandi’s share among the fiction audiences has, however, dropped by 12 per cent in the last three months. Jethalal (Tarak Mehta) maintains his second rank.

Archana (Pavitra Rishta) has increased her share by 34 per cent and is on third rank among the fiction characters.

Topping the list of most favourite non-fiction characters this time are Anu Malik (Indian Idol), Rannvijay (MTV Roadies) and Sriram (Indian Idol).

Characters India Loves is a quarterly study to measure the popularity of characters on Indian television. The study has been created and conducted by Ormax Media, the research and consulting firm specialising in the media and entertainment industry.

This edition reports the ranking of over 200 characters on various channels. The report also lists the top fiction and non-fiction characters across gender, age, SEC and market segments. Further, a section of the report illustrates reasons for likeability of the top characters.
 

MUMBAI: The debut episode of Kaun Banega Crorepati on Sony Entertainment Television (Set) has clocked a TVR of 5.3 in the three metros of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.

The launch episode witnessed a peak TVR of 8.2. The Amitabh Bachchan-hosted game show has attracted both female and male audiences. The reach for the initial episode stood at 15.9 per cent, while time spent on the show was 32 minutes.

The launch date of the game show, in its fourth season, coincided with host Amitabh Bachchan‘s birthday.

KBC4, however, got lower opening ratings in the three metros than the previous three seasons on Star Plus. As per Tam data for three HSM Metros, the first season of KBC in 2000, which redefined the Indian television viewing and gave Star Plus its leadership position, had clocked a TVR of 11.1. 

The second season saw an even bumper opening with a whopping TVR of 18.5 in 2005. The last season on Star Plus, when Shah Rukh Khan replaced Bachchan as the host, managed an opening TVR of 11.3.

The TV viewing universe, however, has expanded. In 2000, the universe size was 17,216, which expanded to 22,456 in 2005, 36,066 in 2007 and currently stands at 45,388.

MUMBAI: Zoom, the Bollywood entertainment channel, is doing a special roadblock with Bollywood actor John Abraham on 16 October, as it will showcase the club wear line from Van Heusen called V Dot all day long on Zoom this Saturday.

The entire day’s programming on Zoom will revolve around Abraham with Star Dum, Superstar Superlives, Planet Bollywood, Encounters with Omar, songs, vignettes, the evening movie and much more.

Mindshare principal partner, client leadership Chirantan Chandran said, “There have been road blocks done by other clients with their TVC. But this time we are trying to give a new meaning to the term roadblock. Whole day we will own the content as well as the advertising on the channel. The content will be all based on the brand ambassador and also have synergy with the brand campaign theme. Zoom also gives us the opportunity for focused targeting of the relevant audience.”

For V Dot, this roadblock brings alive the essence of the brand: bold sophistication, fashion and individuality targeting the young irrepressible trailblazer who lives life on his own terms.

Zoom business head Bala Iyengar said, “This ‘SuperStar SuperBrand‘ initiative with Van Heusen’s V Dot and Zoom is unique where a brand and its ambassador come together in a relevant medium to create an impactful association.”

Van Heusen COO Shital Mehta said, “We were looking at doing something disruptive since it was the first campaign with John and a roadblock on Zoom was an obvious choice specially when the connect between the medium, the brand and the celeb is seamless.”

MUMBAI: Sports footwear maker Reebok has launched new television commercials featuring cricketers MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh.

The new commercials, aimed at pushing the ZigTech Shoes, combine animation with live action to bring athletes’ training regimens and personalities to life in a fun and unexpected manner.

ZigTech ads are created under the brand’s “Ree” marketing platform by DDB Berlin and produced by Logan.

Ree is a fresh voice for the brand that the company says remains true to its DNA and puts it at the center of the conversation and the creative.

Designed to transform each step into a wave of energy while giving athletes a soft and springy ride, ZigTech features a bottom unit constructed from innovative lightweight foam and engineered into a dramatic zig-zag shape. The energy transfer mechanism helps to reduce wear and tear by up to 20 per cent on key leg muscles especially shins and hamstrings. The advertising campaign draws inspiration from this zig-zag shaped outsole to reinforce the benefits of ZigTech technology.

In the Dhoni spot, the cricketer runs from the rooftops of Mumbai and through street traffic, then jumps on a motorcycle and heads to the beach, where he fields and hits coconuts thrown by palm trees. In his spot, Singh jumps on a rope swing, dodges punching bags, and climbs up walls and through tunnels, all in a day of training – before driving off in a convertible.

Reebok India director sales and marketing Sajid Shamim said, “The ZigTech commercials help to highlight the training regimes and personalities of Dhoni and Yuvraj in a fun and innovative manner. We give consumers what they need to rediscover their love of sports. We want our consumers to be inspired and to remember that in the end it’s about the journey – about enjoying what you do.”

Reebok India MD Subhinder Singh Prem says, “With the ZigTech advertisements, we’ve leveraged the zig-zag – the iconic visual element from the product – and have created a whole animated world of fun and sport that is energized by this technology. ZigTech is intended to help today’s athletes train harder and longer, so both spots naturally focus on MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh’s training regimens – but they also include aspects of the athletes’ off-pitch likes and personalities that provide an element of fun and discovery.”

In addition to running ads on TV, the ZigTech campaign features print, digital, out-of-home, cinemas, below the line activation and in-store elements.
The shoe will be available in 10 colours across Reebok stores and is priced at Rs 6999 and Rs 7999.

MUMBAI: MEC Access, the market-leading entertainment, sports and partnership division of MEC, has been awarded the IP business of ABSIL, a Times Group company.

The mandate to MEC Access is to advise ABS on the best platforms for their IP assets – both existing and forthcoming. MEC Access will also buy these platforms on behalf of ABSIL.

“This is a greenfield area and we are delighted to partner with ABSIL in this exciting venture. The partnership will begin with immediate effect”, said MEC Access national director Rajneesh Chaturvedi.

ABSIL business head Amit Sharma said, “We are pleased to sign on MEC Access as our partner. We look forward to some great communication solutions emerging out of our partnership”.

MEC Access was launched as a specialist division of MEC in 2008 keeping in mind the rapidly evolving communications landscape. Since then, MEC Access has managed some of the most visible engagement initiatives in the recent past – Citi-IPL sponsorship, NIVEA-Femina Miss India partnership, HDFC Standard Life Spell Bee activation, Honda Stunner activation, LG Mallika-E-Kitchen AFP (advertiser funded programme), Nivea For Men – Chennai Super Kings association, Hi5 – King XI Punjab association amongst others.

MUMBAI: 92.5 million viewers tuned into the Commonwealth Games from 3-9 October on DD 1 and DD Sports, according to Tam data.
 
The event got a TVR of 0.5. On DD1, the TVR was 1.02 while on DD Sports it got a rating of 0.24.

In terms of individual sports, three sports crossed a TVR of 1 on a day – badminton courtesy Saina Nehwal, table tennis and weightlifting.
 
On the advertising front, 15 hours worth of ads aired during this period. There were 51 advertisers and 56 brands.

The top ad categories were corporate/brand image, social ads, travel and tourism, banking-services and products and two-wheelers. 
 
PSUs dominate the list of top advertisers. The top five advertisers were Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp, Bank Of India, Hero Honda Motors, National Thermal Power and Air India.