Category: MAM

MUMBAI: Jasper, the multi-channel direct marketing platforms company, has launched a $2 million corpus, ‘Jasper Marketing Innovation Fund’.

Jasper will be looking at making investments in other companies that are engaged in innovation in the marketing services and platforms space in India through this fund.
 
Jasper, which operates deal-a-day site SnapDeal.com, has extended its presence in 30 cities in India and 5 countries across the globe within last two years. It claims relationships with 30,000+ retailers across various sectors.

Jasper CEO Kunal Bahl said, “Given our extensive reach and relationship with retailers, we can serve as an enable to provide the reach, expertise and resources to scale a strong marketing concept very quickly.”

The fund will aim at enabling companies and entrepreneurs in the marketing services and technologies sector in India to scale their products rapidly. “We are looking for very sharp and committed entrepreneurs who are passionate about build great products to meet marketing needs of retail businesses,” says Bahl. 
 
The company would be looking at customer activation, loyalty, efficient brand promotions, social media, database marketing and mobile marketing sectors.
 
Jasper also owns MoneySaver and has recently acquired Bangalore-based Grabbon, a group buying company.

MUMBAI: Airtel has roped in Hero Honda as an associate sponsor on-ground for the upcoming three match ODI series between India and Australia.

Earlier in August, Airtel had won the on-ground sponsorship rights for three years till 31 March 2013 for Rs 33.3 million per game. Airtel will, thus, have to cough out Rs 1.7 billion as 51 matches have been firmed up during this period.

The other bidders were telecom majors Idea Cellular, Micromax and Karbonn Mobiles.

MUMBAI: Former Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist returned to India for his third ‘tour‘ as a brand ambassador for the University of Wollongong (UOW) and its Innovation Campus (iC), a research and commercial precinct that gives resident companies the opportunity to tap into the University’s research institutes and its highly regarded graduates.

Gilchrist visited several cities including Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai to promote iC as an investment destination for Indian IT firms.
 
In Bangalore, he along with UOW and New South Wales State Government representatives announced that it will open an IT development and delivery centre at the Innovation Campus.

The announcement is the result of contacts built up during two previous visits to India by Gilchrist and senior UOW managers.

Gilchrist says, “It is really exciting to be back in India, and to be announcing that a major Indian IT company is establishing an Australian presence in Wollongong at the Innovation Campus”.
 
UOW corporate affairs director Craig Peden said that the past two visits had generated considerable interest among Indian companies, who were impressed by the opportunities available at the Innovation Campus.

Peden adds that UOW and the Innovation Campus had a lot to offer Indian IT companies looking to establish a presence in Australia and the Pacific.
 
“To succeed in the Australian market, firms need local knowledge, expertise and contacts. UOW can provide that because it has one of the largest IT Faculties in Australia – with great strength in its research as well as quality graduates” he says.
 

MUMBAI: Synovate has announced key appointments. The global market research firm has appointed Jeff Stewart as executive director for Hong Kong.

Stewart will be part of the Hong Kong leadership team, with specific focus on business development and key account management. His addition supports the strong growth of the Hong Kong market.

Recently, the company had also promoted Peter Huijboom and Michael Spedding to two newly created roles of CEO of Geographies.

Huijboom is overseeing Synovate’s Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America business units, as well as Synovate’s global Healthcare vertical.

Spedding will now oversee Synovate’s business units of Middle East & North Africa, Sub Saharan Africa, South Asia, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

Stewart comes with over 17 years of experience. Prior to Synovate, he was the president of Hansa Marketing Services in the US. He also served as the Head of Global Account Development for Harris Interactive in New York, managing director for IPSOS Russia and Ukraine based in Moscow, and held senior-level positions with Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS), including SVP, strategic account development, and global key account manager for one of the largest consumer packaged goods companies worldwide.

Synovate Greater China CEO Eliza Wong said, “We are excited to have Jeff joining us as his international background is a perfect fit for our Hong Kong business. His strong knowledge of running research in both developed and developing countries makes him a great asset to Synovate.”

MUMBAI: Neo Cricket has roped in three more sponsors for the upcoming three match ODI series between India and Australia.

Havells joins Tata DoCoMo and Sony Bravia as a co-presenting sponsor, according to a company official.

Meanwhile, Royal Stag and Hero Honda join Future Bazaar, Lava Mobile and Tata Manza as associate sponsors.

“The viewer response to the Test series has been strong. Therefore, the advertiser interest has picked up for the ODI series,” says the official.

MUMBAI: Ignitee Digital Solutions has bagged the social media duties along with the website designing work for Whirlpool-Goonj CSR’s all India campaign, Ek Jodi Kapda.

In order to address the basic but ignored needs of clothing of children, Whirlpool has joined hands with GOONJ, a voluntary organisation to initiate the Ek Jodi Kapda campaign.

Speaking on the occasion Whirlpool vice president, corporate Affairs and strategy- South Asia Shantanu Das Gupta said, “ Whirlpool is keen to scale the existing campaign and introduce new initiative by spreading awareness in the online space. For this we have selected Ignitee Digital Solutions and are proud to have them as our trusted online media agency”.

Ignitee Digital Solutions is currently using the social media platform like Facebook, Youtube, Twitter etc to spread awareness about this campaign. In fact the Facebook and Twitter profiles are live. 

Ignitee Digital Solutions Pvt Ltd COO Shankar averred, ” With the talents back at Ignitee, we ensure that our clients are well-positioned in the online space, which in turn will add value to their business. I am excited about our association with our clients and our continuous efforts to provide more value to them.”

Veteran actress and social activist Shabana Aazmi happens to be the brand ambassador for the campaign and has lent her support to the Ek Jodi Kapda campaign by donating clothes.

MUMBAI: UTV Movies has launched the second phase of its brand campaign – Jeeyo Bollywood.

After engaging consumers in 41 cities in the Hindi speaking market (HSM) with Phase I in May, the channel is now taking Jeeyo Bollywood communication to the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra and metros like Delhi and Kolkata.

The two-month activity is planned keeping in mind the festive season that kick-started with Navratri and will see through Dussehera, Durga Puja and Diwali.

UTV Movies marketing head Kunal Mukherjee said, “During this festive season, we find a sudden upswing in consumption. And, thus, we have selected this time to create the proper buzz.”

The aim of the campaign is to position the brand UTV Movies as a channel which creates a connect between the channel and the viewers.

The channel is taking a 360 degree approach, using on-ground activations, radio, outdoor, print and cable channels.

In Gujarat, UTV Movies has tied up with the biggest of dandiya festivals in Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Surat and Baroda. The channel is giving out a car (Chevrolet Beat) as a big gratification in Ahmadabad and UTV Movies goodie bags across the other cities.

“We are extensively branding the venues with our banners, posters, passes etc and also have our own UTV Movies stall. Also, at the venue, the huge LCD screens will run the UTV Movies – Jeeyo Bollywood promos. At each of the venues, we expect to reach out to a captive audience of 300,000 people over the period of 10 days,” the channel said.

The association with dandiya is also being promoted heavily through radio (Red FM, Radio City, and Radio Mirchi in Ahmedabad; Radio City, Radio Mirchi in Surat and Baroda). Also the radio stations will be used to promote the brand heavily during Navratri and Diwali across the three major cities.

In its outdoor plan for Gujarat, the channel has bought spots in Ahmedabad during Navratri. Also, UTV Movies logo would be present across 10 glow signages on the SG Highway.

Meanwhile, the dandiya spots running across the local cable channels would have UTV Movies logo present across as a slide. In print, UTV Movies would be present across two ads on mainline newspapers in Gujarat – DNA and City Bhaskar.

For Maharashtra, the channel has chalked out a deeper penetration plan with on-ground activation across 75 towns in Maharashtra. The channel will have float/roadshows with UTV Movies branded truck which would travel from town to town and engage the residents of that town at various locations in various Bollywood related activities. This branded truck would also work as a mobile hoarding for UTV Movies across these 75 towns.

The channel will also use UTV Movies branded ‘Bhopu’ that would travel again to these 75 towns (3 -5 days per town) and play out the UTV Movies jingle.

UTV Movies has taken prominent 111 sites (1-3 per town) across 87 towns in Maharashtra for a period of two months.
In Kolkata during Durga Puja UTV Movies will be taking up the 30 prominent sites across the city for a period of 10 days, ensuring maximum visibility during the festive times.

The channel will be playing out a record 125 spots per day for a period of 10 days across Red FM, Amar FM, Radio Mirchi, Big FM and Friends FM.

UTV Movies will be pumping up the tempo during Diwali again by playing 125 spots per day for six days across these stations.

In Delhi and NCR region, UTV Movies has planned mall activation. The two weeks that lead up to Diwali would see UTV Movies doing its round of mall activation across 7-8 malls in Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida. The premise would remain the same – Bollywood setup and props engaging people and driving home the point of Jeeyo Bollywood through UTV Movies at 8 pm.

It will also do activation to promote ‘Jeeyo Bollywood‘ across all the local daily bazaars in and around Delhi.

MUMBAI: Max is completing 11 years of existence on 11 October. For celebrating its anniversary, the channel is launching a new brand film, reaffirming its tagline – “Deewana Bana De”.

The channel is also donning a new “Red” look coinciding with the festive season.

“Max as a brand is very vibrant, providing the best of Hindi Cinema and cricket (IPL). And we want to give our viewers the experience which makes them ‘Deewana’ of Max,” says Max VP and head –marketing Gaurav Seth.

The theme of the channel is being changed. “The colours, look, promos are changed to red to reflect the festive mood,” Seth explains. “We do not believe in changing our logo, it is our identity. But, as a part of our brand identity, we change the look and feel of the channel regularly. Like during IPL, we change the theme and colour of the channel to blue.”

The channel will also launch the new brand film, created by its agency JWT on 11 October. The film tells the story of a normal guy from a small town, who has only one passion – to gaze himself in the mirror.

In a humorous way, the 90-second film portrays the story of this guy, Sunder, who after introduced to Max, forgets his passion of looking at mirrors and becomes an ardent Max fan.

It is after a long gap that Max is launching a new brand film. Seth says, “This is after a gap of 2-3 years we are launching a new brand film. Unlike other media channels, we are investing in brand, and not just properties.”

On the reason of taking a dig at a small town guy, Seth adds, “Our consumers majorly reside in small towns and are mainly middle class Indians. They live simple life, and have simple passions. Off course, the film has a touch of humour and exaggeration but it simply states that the passion for Max overrides all other passions anyone has.” 

Initially, the brand film will run on the network channels of Multi Screen Media (previously Sony Entertainment). This includes Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) Sony Entertainment Television (Set), Sab and English movie channel Pix, apart from Max.

Later, the channel will partner with multiplex chains for theatrical release of the brand film during cinema. It will also launch on-ground activities, for which plans are being firmed up.
 

MUMBAI: Multi Screen Media (formerly Sony Entertainment Television India) is looking at mopping up an advertising revenue of Rs 10 billion from the Indian Premier League (IPL) as the match window widens.

MSM expects the revenue, up from Rs 7.50 billion posted in the last edition, to flood in amid an ad slump recovery despite the ICC World Cup.

MSM, which telecasts the IPL on Max channel, is already in the market to rope in advertisers and is starting with a 10-second spot at Rs 500000. The starting rate last time was 475,000.

“We have approached the market and are looking at two co-presenters and eight associate sponsors. We are looking at a healthy revenue growth as the number of IPL matches has gone up from 60 to 74. With the economy bouncing back, the mood in the market is positive, says Multi Screen Media president network sales, licensing and telephony Rohit Gupta, while refusing to reveal what revenue the company is expecting from the IPL.

Will the World Cup be a stumbling block? “While the cricket World Cup takes place before the IPL, I do not see it as being an issue in terms of us being able to reach or even exceed targets. The IPL has become a premium property for any serious buyer of cricket,” Gupta says.

Sponsors will absorb around 70 per cent of inventory while the balance will be through spot buys. Gupta expects to have sold out sponsorships by January, after which the spot buys will start. 

Extraa Innings, which is Max‘s wraparound show, will have six sponsors.

A media buyer notes that the World Cup will not affect IPL revenues. “The IPL has the advantage of sustained delivery, while the World Cup is a matter of prestige. Also, the World Cup happens in this fiscal while the IPL will take place in the next fiscal. A client can, in fact, pick up both and balance his fiscal budgets accordingly,” he says.
 

MUMBAI: After the innovative and widely appreciated ‘Talking Newspaper’ campaign for the new premium entry level sedan, Volkswagen has launched the 360 degree marketing campaign.

The German car maker company’s campaign for Vento effectively reflects its “Best in Class” positioning, through its communication route “tears of perfection”.

Volkswagen Group Sales India head marketing – Volkswagen Passenger Cars Lutz Kothe said, “At Volkswagen our aim has been to break away from the communication clutter by being innovative and refreshing in the way we narrate our story to the customer while ensuring the intended core message is intact. In this campaign, we have brought our engineers’ feelings towards the Vento to establish its Best in Class features.” 

The TVC, launched today, highlight the fact that the Vento has been crafted by engineers in the Volkswagen plant in Chakan, Pune, with “passion at every stage of manufacturing, culminating into a perfect car for the customers, that it is hard to let go.”

The campaign will be running across television channels, print, online, digital and out of home media to establish awareness about the Vento until mid-November 2010, the company said.