Category: MAM

MUMBAI: One-fifth of South African consumers have shopped online in the past six months, according to a recent survey conducted by global market research company Synovate. The most popular choices for online purchasing are movies and music downloads, cited by 44 per cent of respondents as a regularly purchased item.

Synovate surveyed 500 Internet users in the metropolitan areas of Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria.
 
 
Said Synovate Information Technology and Telecommunications sector head Alicia Gaddin, “With the advent of cheaper and faster Internet access in South Africa, Synovate investigated attitudes and perceptions around banking and shopping online as these activities have become easier for our consumers. However, having Internet access does not necessarily mean that customers will shop online. Convenience, variety and saving money are big push factors when it comes to online shopping.”

Of the fifth that do shop online, the main advantages of doing so were mostly around convenience – 43 per cent stated that it was more convenient than offline shopping and 33 per cent stated that they shop online because it is “always open”. Further benefits of online shopping include not having to endure a busy shopping environment or having to deal with salespeople (mentioned by 25 per cent and 22 per cent of respondents respectively). Another plus is that one can browse many items at once (18 per cent) and that it‘s easy to compare prices and items (16 per cent).
 
 
Aside from movie and music downloads, the top online purchases were books, travel, CDs and DVDs and mobile content. “Movie and music downloads, as well as mobile content and games are easy to buy online and also provide instant gratification compared to some of the other online purchases,” commented Gaddin. “Buying books, CDs and DVDs and even groceries all come with a waiting period while the goods are delivered.”

The good news for South Africa is that the majority (68%) of these purchases are made on local sites. World Wide Worx recently released a study revealing that the online shopping amount in rand value in 2010 comes to R2-billion and that there is evidence that consumers are becoming more familiar and comfortable with the process and are therefore spending more online.
 
 
“This is good news for South African retailers and does not necessarily mean that money is being taken away from the traditional (offline) business,” states Gaddin. “It offers an extra channel for distribution, one which is growing rapidly. The challenge for retailers now is to build upon their offering so as to increase the amount of local spend further.”
The overall experience of shopping online was rated as “good” or “excellent” by 85 per cent of respondents. This was broken down into convenience, security (shopping and goods), the amount and variety of goods online, as well as the quality of customer services and of course the ever-important cost factor.

Mallrats?
Of those who indicated that they do not shop online, 40 per cent stated that the reason for this is they enjoy going to shopping centers. Related to the experience of offline shopping, 24 per cent state that they like to browse in other shops and 23 per cent say they like to be able to touch or try on the items that they buy.

“In South Africa, going to shopping centers is still seen as leisure activity, or a day out,” commented Gaddin. “This is because of the fact that there are many brands and outlets that are being introduced to our market. For example, a high-end outlet such as Mango being introduced to the relatively ‘sophisticated‘ shopping market in Sandton. On the flipside there are some areas in South Africa where shopping malls are a brand new phenomenon – take Maponya Mall in Soweto for instance. For most South Africans the experience of shopping in a mall is still very exciting and offers variety that we did not see before.”

Other barriers to online shopping:
A third of respondents indicated that security risks acted as a barrier to online shopping – 24 per cent stated that they were worried that their goods would not be delivered. 18 per cent believed that the process is too difficult and 19 per cent claimed that they simply do not have a credit card to do so. “This is a public knowledge issue,” says Gaddin. “For many online sites you can pay with a debit card or even do an electronic transfer and so this should not be perceived as a barrier.”

Alternative payment options: PayPal
With FNB introducing PayPal into the South African market, Synovate spoke to respondents about awareness and perceptions of the newly introduced service in South Africa. 22 per cent of those interviewed know what PayPal is and of those, only 29 per cent have used this for making an online payment. An even smaller proportion has used PayPal to receive money, having sold something online. The majority (63 per cent) of those who had knowledge of the service agree with the sentiment that it is a safer option compared to giving out card details online and 33 per cent believe that this will encourage further online spending in South Africa.

Putting your money where your mouse is
Respondents were asked to comment on online banking as an alternative to banking in a branch – 44 per cent of those interviewed indicated that they bank online. The majority (35 per cent) bank at least once a week and the most popular online banking activities include checking account balances (88 per cent), paying bills (73 per cent), transferring funds into other accounts (63 per cent) and managing debit orders (36 per cent).

28 per cent of those interviewed go so far as to say that they would actually change banks based on what the bank‘s online offering is like. “Online banking is becoming more important to consumers as they realise the benefits of this service,” states Gaddin. “Making sure it is an easy or intuitive process is vital for banks that regard it as a differentiating factor for their brand.”

Customers were asked to rate the experience of banking online against a number of factors. The convenience of online banking was rated highest at 92 per cent, followed by ease and user-friendliness of the service (82 per cent).

Of those who do not bank online, 44 per cent say that there is ‘no need‘ to bank online whereas 36 per cent site ‘security‘ as a reason not to. A quarter say that online banking is too difficult and 32 per cent agree that they would be encouraged to bank online if they received ‘training‘ on the service while 23 per cent stated that online banking might be an option for them if it involved ‘rewards and or bonuses‘. “The loyalty model is becoming a pull factor for a lot of businesses in financial services in their aim to attract new customers. This might easily and successfully be applied to the online business world too,” concludes Gaddin.

Cellphone banking is slightly more popular than Internet banking with 47 per cent of the full sample stating that they are users of cell phone banking. 42 per cent of those who do not use it say they would consider using it in the future.

MUMBAI: MTV Networks Africa will be organising the 2010 MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMA) in Lagos, Nigeria on 11 December.

Airtel has come as the title sponsor of the awards, following its purchase of Zain Africa’s business operations earlier this year. The sponsorship was announced by Airtel Africa CMO Andre Beyers and MTV Networks Africa SVP and MD Alex Okosi.

The 2010 MTV Africa Music Awards will feature performances from contemporary African and international music giants. Artists from around the continent will be awarded in 12 award categories including: best male, best female, best video, best group, artist of the year, best lusophone act, best anglophone act, best francophone act, song of the year, brand new act, best international act and MAMA Legend. 
 
MTV said that sponsorship of the MAMA will provide Airtel with unique brand exposure across multiple platforms including live event activations across the continent. A key component of the partnership will be the development of exclusive mobile and data content for the Airtel subscribers in sub-Saharan Africa including wallpapers and various downloads.

The campaign will also be fully activated in the digital space with a bespoke mobisite and a dynamic website. Multiple SMS voting and interactive mechanics will be integrated into the campaign, to provide Airtel customers with unique access to the MAMA initiative. 
 
Okosi said, “We are thrilled to be partnering with Airtel to bring the Awards to Lagos for the first time and look forward to delivering the most exciting MAMA yet on 11 December.”

Beyers added, “Airtel is proud to be at the forefront in nurturing talent in Africa and connecting the passions of millions of youth across the continent through music. Our support for the MAMA awards is founded on our commitment to empower the youth through initiatives that will help Africa to identify and celebrate talent.”

Conceived in 2008 as the ultimate celebration of African contemporary music talent, the MTV Africa Music Awards provides a promotional platform for the African music industry.

The awards celebrate contemporary African and international genres loved by the youth and young adults across sub-Saharan Africa including Hip Hop, Hip Life, R&B, Afro Pop, Afro House, Kwaito, Boomba, Bongo Flava, Coupé Décalé, Dancehall, Soul and Rock.
 
The inaugural MAMA was held at the Velodrome, Abuja in 2008, while October 2009 saw the awards move to Nairobi, Kenya, with performances from 2Face (Nigeria), Amani (Kenya), AY (Tanzania), Blu3 (Uganda), Brickz (South Africa), Da LES (South Africa), D’Banj (Nigeria), Fally Ipupa (DRC), HHP (South Africa), Lizha James (Mozambique), MI (Nigeria), Mo’ Hits Allstars (Nigeria), Nameless (Kenya), Pype (Nigeria), Samini (Ghana), STL (Kenya), Lira (South Africa), Wahu (Kenya) and Zebra & Giraffe (South Africa), alongside international stars Wyclef Jean and Akon.

Past winners included 2-FACE (Nigeria), Nameless (Kenya), Samini (Ghana), Wahu (Kenya), HHP (South Africa), D’Banj (Nigeria) and Patricke-Stevie Moungondo (Congo Brazzaville).

MUMBAI: Mudra South (Kochi) has released a new campaign for Jos Alukkas, titled ‘Ponnil Teertha Bandham‘ (Relationships as Good as Gold) as the key message to mark its new identity.
South superstar Vijay has been roped in as the brand ambassador to unveil the brand‘s new avatar and help spread the message. 
 
Said Jos Alukkas MD John Alukka, “With our expansion plans in the anvil it had become necessary for us to carve a unique niche in the minds of our customers. Our decision to rope in Vijay as our brand ambassador was part of this plan. And Mudra was our clear choice when it came to deciding on a partner who would help us carry out the same.”
 
Added Mudra South ECD Joono Simon, “Whether selling jewelry or a mobile service, emotion helps brands find place first in your heart and then in your head. The attempt was to give this spot a feature film quality in terms of story line and treatment. We wanted to give Vijay fans the joy of watching Vijay in a full scale movie. Manoj Pillai from thinkpot productions deserves credit for the flawless execution.”

Jos Alukkas is one of the largest organised players in jewellery retailing in the South region. They currently have 19 large retail stores across Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and the Middle East.

MUMBAI: Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has signed Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif as its new brand ambassador.

The airlines said that it will work with Kaif on a series of initiatives to promote the airline across India and around the world, including addressing Indian communities in Etihad Airways’ key markets such as the UAE, the United States and the United Kingdom.
 
Etihad recently filmed an internet video with Kaif dancing in the airline’s first class lounge in Abu Dhabi, under the direction of Farah Khan. The video, which has been distributed online across YouTube and various social networking sites, will be used to promote the partnership between the actress and Etihad Airways throughout the campaign. 
 
“Since they first started flying, Etihad Airways has succeeded in becoming one of the biggest names in the airline industry. I have always loved flying with Etihad and I am extremely honoured to work closely with the airline,” Kaif said.
 
Etihad Airways chief commercial officer Peter Baumgartner said, “Our partnership with Katrina Kaif will help build Etihad’s brand name globally and further introduce our world-class products and services across India and to Indian communities around the world.”
 

NEW DELHI: A total of 44 advertisements were issued to audio-visual media as compared to 5,404 issued to the print media by the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) in 2010-11 as on 12 August.
 
The DAVP now issues advertisements to 203 audio-visual media and 4648 print publications.
 
The number of advertisements issued to the electronic media during the last four years is: 94 in 2007-08, 184 in 2008-09, and 325 in 2009-10.
 
In comparison, the print media received 15,979 ads in 2007-08, 13,077 ads in 2008-09, and 13,829 ads in 2009-10.

The business of DAVP, which issues advertisements of various Ministries/Developments of the Central Government, has increased over 200 per cent in the last five years.

The amount spent by DAVP in 2006-07 on advertisements was Rs 2.46 billion, which rose to Rs 4.72 billion in 2008-09 and was Rs 3.69 billion as on 9 December last year.

MUMBAI: Interactiveblends, the recently launched advertising agency, is eyeing to generate revenue worth Rs 2.5 million by March 2011.

The six-month-old agency currently has accounts in the real estate and mobile category and is looking at expanding to FMCG and retail soon. 
 
Says Interactiveblends creative director Pooja Kar, “Presently, a major chunk of our revenue comes from our real estate clients including Artha Property. Now as we pitch for more clients, we are looking at expanding our portfolio to retail and FMCG.” 
 
Interactiveblends, promoted by client services director Amit Gandhi and creative director Pooja Kar, has also worked with MGM group of companies and icube mobiles.
 
Talking about the agency specialisation, Kar informs, “We are into events, advertisement releases and production. And we also do in film branding for various clients.”

MUMBAI: The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) is introducing a new set of advertising guidelines for the educational sector to curb the influence of misleading ads on parents and kids.

The new advertising content guidelines will apply to ads of all educational institutions, coaching classes and educational programmes.

The draft of the guidelines has been put up for review, feedback and suggestions on ASCI‘s official website, ascionline.org.

Educational institutes are emerging as one of the leading ad spenders in India and, in order to stand out, are boldly announcing that they ‘breed‘ the best students while some even go to the extent of guaranteeing fat salary packages post their degrees.

According to Tam AdEx, TV advertising of ‘education‘ sector is up 51 per cent during the six-month run through June compared to the year-ago period.

Within the category, educational institutions with 78 per cent share lead the advertising of ‘education‘ sector on TV, followed by computer education centre and coaching centre/competitive exams at second and third place with nine per cent and seven per cent share respectively.

Disturbed by the ‘bad‘ influence of these ads, the ASCI has called its members, educationists, institutions and the general public to send in their suggestions and feedback on the proposed guidelines by 6 September, 2010 to The Secretary General of ASCI.
 
 
Says IBS Pune director and ASCI chairman Prof Dhananjay Keskar, “ASCI recognises the role of educational institutions in building the country‘s intellectual capital and the value parents place in them for getting the right education for their children. Unlike other tangible products and services, the value of education and training programmes can only be judged by degrees and diplomas, which are advertised in a variety of ways. ASCI realises that a variety of these claims in advertisements need to be regulated through a set of guidelines tailor-made for the education sector.”
 
The proposed advertising guidelines for educational institutions prohibit institutions and programmes from claiming recognition, authorisation, accreditation, or affiliations without having proper evidence. The proposed guidelines also require that name and place of the affiliated institution which provides degrees and diplomas on behalf of the advertiser who may not be accredited by a mandatory authority, is also prominently displayed in the ad.

Under the proposed guidelines, educational institutions will not be able to promise jobs, admissions, job promotions and salary increase without substantiating such claims and also assuming full responsibility in the same advertisement.

Institutions will also be discouraged from claiming success in placements, student compensations, admission to renowned institutes, marks and rankings, and topper student testimonials unless every such claim is substantiated with evidence.
 
 
“Recently, ASCI has been receiving several intra-industry complaints against claims being made in ads of various educational institutions. Many students and parents too have complained to ASCI against claims made in advertisements by educational institutions,” adds Prof. Keskar.

After 6 September and based on the feedback received from the public and concerned stakeholders, the ASCI Committee will finalise the guidelines and put it up for ASCI board‘s approval. Once the board approves the final draft, the guidelines will become a part of the ASCI‘s Code for self regulation in advertising.

Notably, the subject of advertising in educational sector was discussed in the recently held ASCI‘s ‘Seminar on Marketing Responsibly‘. A panel of professionals and educationists had underlined the need for special guidelines for regulating advertising in the education sector in India along the lines of Self Regulatory Organisations (SRO) around the world such as in South Africa and Brazil.

In the recent past, ASCI had put out specific guidelines for advertisements in automobile and food & beverage sectors.

MUMBAI: The Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), the official sanctioning body of professional golf in India, has signed a strategic partnership with LG.

With this agreement, LG now comes on board the PGTI as the Official Technology Partner.
 
LG India CMO LK Gupta said, “We will work closely with the PGTI to create better and stronger playing opportunities for professional golf in the region and are confident our partnership will add value.” 
 
PGTI director Padamjit Sandhu said, “”For 2010, LG will take on the Title rights for the flagship rupee 10 million prize purse PGTI year ending Tour Championship “LG Masters of PGTI” and the inaugural rupee 5 million prize purse Race to Ireland PGTI Pro-Am “LG Race to Ireland.”
 
LG will also be the official technology partner for the 2011 tri-sanctioned Euro 1.5 million prize purse European Tour event Avantha Masters.

MUMBAI: After roping in Ashish Singru to head the Bharti business in Delhi, Madison Media has announced yet another senior level appointment in Delhi to beef up its digital business. 
 
Says Madison World MD Sam Balsara, “Digital has now become the focus area for most advertisers. Many agencies have set up independent digital agencies, but we at Madison believe that this expertise should reside within Madison media planners and buyers, given the importance of this medium in the coming years. Madison Media now has over 20 Digital practice experts.”
 
Madison Media‘s spend in digital accounts for about 10-15 per cent of total digital spends in the country, the agency claims. It does digital work for clients like Airtel, Cadbury, McDonald‘s, Levis, Britannia, Tata Tea, Bharti AXA, Spice Jet and Spice Mobile. 
 
Says Madison Media Group CEO Punitha Arumugam, “I am delighted to have Rajat as part of our team and I am sure he will add a lot of value to our clients‘ business through digital.”
 

MUMBAI: The second quarter results of the Indian Readership Survey for the year is out and quite like the first, this time too Dainik Jagran has topped the overall Hindi dailies as well as the Hindi daily list. 
 
While Dainik Bhaskar seconds Jagran in both the categories, The Times Of India is once again the number one English daily followed by Hindustan Times and the Hindu.
 
The report reveals that Dainik Jagran has earned an average issue readership (AIR) of 15,925,000 for the quarter in the top dailies list followed by Dainik Bhaskar (AIR of 13,303,000) and Hindustan (AIR of 10,143,000).
 
Thus while Dainik Jagran has seen a 2.37 per cent decline over Q1 2010, Dainik Bhaskar has seen a mere a 0.19 per cent fall.

Amongst the English dailies, TOI has garnered 7,088,000 AIR, up from the 7,035,000 AIR it had earned in the first quarter.

A peep into the detailed list:

Top 10 Dailies

(AIR numbers; All figures in ‘000)

Top 10 Hindi Dailies

(AIR numbers; All figures in ‘000)

Top 10 English Dailies
(AIR numbers; All figures in ‘000)

Top 10 Hindi Magazines

(AIR numbers; All figures in ‘000)

Top 10 English Magazines

(AIR numbers; All figures in ‘000)

Top 10 Language Magazines

(AIR numbers; All figures in ‘000)

Top 10 Publications

(AIR numbers; All figures in ‘000)

Top 10 language dailies

(AIR numbers; All figures in ‘000)

Top 10 Magazines

(AIR numbers; All figures in ‘000)