Category: MAM

MUMBAI: Tata Teleservices has appointed Milestone Brandcom as the out-of-agency for its brand, Tata Indicom. 
 
As part of its new mandate, Milestone Brandcom will handle all the three brands under Tata Indicom – CDMA, Photon and Walky – across 22 circles. Meanwhile, MOMS Outdoor Media Solutions will handle the Docomo business.
 
According to industry sources, the account size of this two year contract stands between Rs 1.2-1.3 billion. 
 
Talking on the win, Milestone Brandcom founder & MD Nabendu Bhattacharyya said, “We are happy to win one of the largest mobile operators in our debut year of company incorporation. We are extremely thankful to the TTL team for entrusting faith in us and we would go the extra mile to contribute to Tata Indicom‘s brand and business growth and look forward to a long-lasting business association.”

MUMBAI: Saatchi & Saatchi X, a global shopper marketing agency, is all set to launch in India at the India Retail Forum (IRF), to be held on 28 and 29 September. This initiative is to service the dynamic and fast growing Indian market.

Saatchi & Saatchi X is part of the Publicis Group and has over 350 associates across offices in Argentina, China, Germany, Italy, Russia, UAE, UK and USA.

Saatchi & Saatchi X aims to improve shoppers‘ lives. 
 
Speaking on the occasion of the launch, regional CEO – Europe, Middle East, India & Africa Simon Hathaway said, “We see a tremendous growth opportunity in the Indian market. We look forward to leveraging our experience and expertise in the shopper marketing over the last 14 years to create conversations with Indian shoppers which will inspire trip traffic and ultimately, make the cash register ring.” 
 
Adding to this, Saatchi & Saatchi X India GM Amit Ajwani said, “We are starting off with a great advantage and aim to emerge as knowledge leaders within this field. Our international expertise combined with some of the best professional talent from India makes it a winning combination. The immense practical knowledge matched with in depth analysis makes it a great and relevant advantage for our clients.”
 
The global clients for Saatchi & Saatchi X include both brands and retailers. They have partnered with companies including Arla, Carrefour, General Mills, LG Pepsico, P&G and Walmart.
 

MUMBAI: Bringing the curtain down on an era that started in the UK in 1967, before spreading throughout Europe after a 1999 merger with Dutch Royal Hoogovens, the Tata’s have finally decided to replace the Corus name with the Tata brand and logo. 
 
This implies that the blue logo will take over the distinctive red sign of Corus. It is also said that the move to replace the Corus name with Tata Steel Europe also indicates that the synergy between the Indian parent and the UK steelmaker is almost complete.

“The Tata Steel name and logo will now appear on all of Corus’ transactional documents that also include product deliveries, locations and vehicles,” said a statement from Tata Steel on Monday. 
 
While the Tata Group acquired companies earlier also, not all acquisitions have led to a brand transition. Jaguar and Land Rover, the premium car brand acquired by Tata Motors, has not yet been renamed. The group’s retail business, Trent, also does not use the Tata name.
 
In a transaction that created one of the world’s largest steelmakers with presence in Europe and Asia, Corus joined the Tata Steel family in April 2007 in a deal size pegged at $12 billion.

MUMBAI: Timberland, whuich works in the area of designing, engineering and marketing of premium-quality footwear, apparel and accessories for consumers, is taking its first steps in India.

It has partnered with Reliance Brands through a license cum distribution agreement to set foot in India. The brand opened its first Timberland store at Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi.
 
The store features a product line that spans across footwear, apparel and accessories for men, women and children.

To mark their entry into the country, Timberland has launcheed an initiative ‘Unsung Heros – Not Starring John Abraham. The project shall identify and celebrate all those who contribute to nature, behind the scenes.

Abraham shall play the role of presenting these people to the world. He says, “They are the real heroes, but they are not actors”. Documentary film maker Mike Pandey is also closely associated with the project.”
 
Reliance Brands president and CEO Darshan Mehta says, “The Unsung Heroes project clearly reflects the partnership between two socially committed business giants, Timberland and Reliance. To us Unsung Heroes is not an event, it is a movement. And with John and Mike agreeing to partner with Timberland‘s first CSR initiate in the country, we couldn‘t have asked for more”.
 
“Being an actor and a nature lover, I felt a total connection the Unsung Heroes project. There are people who deserve appreciation and adulation for their efforts, who are never seen on camera. To me these are the true heroes. I feel honoured that Mike and I have been given this opportunity to work with Timberland in finding the Unsung Heroes across India” adds Abraham.

MUMBAI: Two-wheeler major Hero Honda Motors has launched Splendor Pro, the New Generation Splendor with new features, that will help fortify its position in the deluxe segment.
 
The launch of Splendor Pro comes close on the heels of the introduction of the all-new Super Splendor in the market earlier this month as the company hopes to capitalise on the festive season.

The product offers improvements in performance – design toughness and safety – which is certain to appeal to riders who value durability and performance.
 
Hero Honda Motors senior VP marketing and sales Anil Dua said, “With the all-new Splendor Pro, we have brought in a fresh round of excitement to our customers. This bike re-defines performance, safety, toughness and aesthetics in this segment. We are confident that Spendor Pro will further augment our growth in the deluxe segment.”
 

MUMBAI: Mudra Connext, a strategic business unit of Mudra Max, has been selected to handle the media mandate for Akai.

The size of the business is estimated to be around Rs 100-120 million.
 
Akai India MD Pranay Dhabhai said, “Partnering with Mudra is a vital and integral part of our overall business strategy and correctly fits with our goal to reinstate our position in India. We are sure Mudra Connext’s thorough and insightful approach will help Akai in redefining design, technology and adaptability.

“Their strategic thinking with an overall media perspective, an extremely passionate and enthusiastic team, made us choose them as our media partners. We are excited and hopeful that this association will further excel the growth for Akai as a global leader.”
 
Founded in 1929, Tokyo, Japan, Akai says that its value proposition is Japanese technology and design across verticals. It has also engaged in offering home entertainment products specialising in the audio and video arenas.

Akai recently announced the resurgence of the Akai brand in the Indian market with the launch of their electronics and mobile handset segments.
 
Mudra Connext executive VP, country head Manas Mishra says, “We are delighted to be working with a strong and reputed brand like Akai. We are looking forward to fostering a long and successful partnership with them. Akai has major new national initiatives planned and we will help them every step of the way.”
 

MUMBAI: Percept Talent Management has announced their alliance with wrestler Sushil Kumar as an exclusive talent.

The company will be solely responsible for strategising and managing Kumar‘s brand endorsements, media activities and media rights, brand and image management, digital rights and licensing and merchandising rights as well and all promotional activities in the arena of wrestling. 
 
As per the terms and conditions of the agreement, Percept Talent Management will draw out the strategic roadmap and exclusively manage Kumar‘s brand image and endorsements, media activities, media rights, and a range of popular promotional activities to promote the sport of wrestling in India.

Kumar recently won the Gold medal at Fila 2010 in Moscow, and has gone on to become the highest ranked wrestler on the international circuit. Apart from this colossal feat, Sushil has achieved many accolades, including winning the Bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics. In July 2009 he was awarded with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna – India‘s highest honour in Sports. 
 
Percept joint MD Shailendra Singh says, “We are delighted to have India‘s pride and honour, Sushil Kumar aboard Percept. At Percept we have always believed in identifying, nurturing and supporting talent across various genres, and Sushil‘s exceptional talent in the emerging sport of wrestling will help to pave the way to leverage many such unique talents in our country.

“Over the years Percept has witnessed many of its talents grow and carve a unique and prominent niche for themselves across the domestic and global arena, and we are confident that our exclusive association with Sushil Kumar will translate into many new opportunities and firsts in the sports talent management arena.”

Percept Talent Management CEO Rajnish Sahay says, “Sushil is a shining star in the world of wrestling, and we are extremely fortunate to have him on board Percept. We will adopt an aggressive, proactive, 360-degree strategy for an ace talent like Sushil, and ensure all avenues of reach and exposure are explored and capitalised upon.
 
“Percept Talent will seek out new opportunities and avenues in the rapidly changing sports, entertainment, media and digital landscape to ensure that Sushil receives unparalleled exposure across the global arena,” Sahay adds.

MUMBAI: Sangam (India) is planning to invest Rs 500 million in marketing and promotions over a five-year period. The company has entered into an endorsement agreement with Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty and youth-icon Virat Kohli as brand ambassadors to promote its ready to stitch suiting and shirting across the country under its brand, Sangam Suiting‘s.
 
Commenting on the development, Sangam (India) executive director V K Sodani said, “We are a 25 year old brand with a strong trust among our partners and end customers and we now aspire to build on to our image with renewed energy. It is now endeavouring for a pan-India presence and plans to launch 50 stores in major cities and we have drawn up a marketing spend of Rs 500 million spanned over a period of five years.”
 
Sangam (India) will be launching its new advertising campaign featuring its new brand ambassador Suniel Shetty and Virat Kohli from the first week of October, 2010. 
 
“We have retained TBWA for all brand related communication and our association with our brand ambassadors is well aligned with our objectives,” Sodani added.
 

MUMBAI: Ignitee Digital Solutions has launched ‘Ignitee Sports‘, a sports specialised division that will focus on niche premium sports properties with both offline and online manifestations.
 
The company has appointed Joy Bhattacharjya as Ignitee Sports chief creative officer.

The unit kicks off with Dubai Super Sixes as its first international corporate cricket format. That will play every weekend from October 1-15. 
 
Said Ignitee Digital Solutions Atul Hegde, “Ignitee Sports will focus on niche premium sports properties with both offline and online manifestations. Dubai Super Sixes, our first international corporate cricket format, is slated to launch in three more countries spanning the far east to the middle east. The global online version of the game launches in early 2011.”

Dubai Super Sixes is going to be staged at Dubai Sports City. This corporate cricket tournament will feature 48 teams. The event will be held under the auspices of the Dubai Cricket Council and will also feature some of the biggest names in international cricket from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and South Africa playing alongside 48 corporate cricket teams from the region. 
 
The brand ambassador for the innaugural Dubai Super Sixes 2010 tournament is former Pakistan captain and all rounder Wasim Akram.

MUMBAI: This year, 11 October shall not just be a day to celebrate the birthday of Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan but will also witness the legend himself taking charge as host of the fourth edition of Kaun Banega Crorepati.

Betting big on this new flagship property, Sony is pumping in Rs 120 million to market the game-based reality show as it eyes to earn revenues worth Rs 1 billion from the property.
 
The channel has already roped in seven sponsors and is looking at adding one more. Indiantelevision.com had earlier reported that Cadbury and Idea had been roped in as presenting sponsors of KBC 4.

Meanwhile, the rest of the five sponsors have come on board as associate partners and are namely Axis Bank, LG, Tata Motors, Sony Bravia and Videocon. “Almost 80-90 per cent of our ad inventory is already locked and we are now close to sealing a deal with the eighth sponsor,” informs Multi Screen Media president network sales, licensing and telephony Rohit Gupta. 
 
As far as the marketing of the show is concerned, the activity has been divided into four phases and remains high across the Hindi speaking markets (HSM).

While the first phase has been about establishing Sony‘s association with KBC and Amitabh Bachchan, the second deals with the “India Plays KBC” thought. This phase was aggressively promoted across print and witnessed approximately 5 million people registering for the show.

Says SET marketing head Danish Khan, “Playing on the insight ‘pursuit of knowledge is rewarding‘, the third phase took up 3000 spots across 39 TV channels and 7000 spots on cable across India. Also, we partnered with the film Dabangg wherein wherever the movie was played, two promos of KBC were tagged into it.”

And now, as KBC enters the launch phase, Sony has designed a 15-day countdown campaign for the show that will be carried out extensively across TV, print and out-of-home.
 
“We have booked 10,000 spots across 39 channels, of which 3500 spots are on Sony network. The other channels include the news, kids, youth, Bollywood, regional, movie and music genre channels,” Khan says.

The channel has also booked 20,000 spots across 35 cities on radio while the OOH campaign will see a 15 city plan (HSM and metros). Overall, there will be over 500 hoardings put up nationwide of which 100 plus hoardings will be placed in Mumbai.

“The launch day, that is 11 October, will also see a big print campaign in approximately 35 top newspapers including English, Hindi and regional,” says Khan.

Meanwhile, in order to ensure strong consumer connect, Sony will use digital to create muscular presence. “However, it‘s TV, print and out-of-home in the ratio of 20:25:25 that form the major chunk of our marketing mix. The rest will be digital and BTL. Also, BTL activities will show up only after the launch,” Khan explains.