Category: MAM

MUMBAI: With the sixth season of Desperate Housewives kicking off on Friday at 10 pm, English GEC Star World is doing marketing activities around it.
 
Promo spots have been purchased on music channels, lifestyle channels and English news channels apart from the regular on-air promotion across a few channels on the Star network. The theme of the campaign is ‘Never underestimate a housewife‘.

In the sixth season, rivalry between the characters grows as each seeks to fulfill her agenda. The spots see the characters wearing battle gear to convey the message that this time around there will be more dramatic tension. 
 
On the print side there will be an ad in next month‘s edition of Vogue. The broadcaster will also be running a contest in association with Garnier. Garnier Gift Hampers will be given away. The broadcaster has also tied up with Anita Dongre‘s Fashion Store. Shopping bags have been branded with the logo of the channel and the show.
 
On the online front, the broadcaster is using Orkut, Twitter and Facebook to connect with fans of the show. Updates of the show will be provided. Star World also has a microsite for the show where wallpapers among other things will be available.

Star is also gearing up for the Oscar Awards. It has done a tie up with PVR. Standees have been put up to educate movie buffs about the nominees and why they have ben nominated.

The Oscar Awards will air live on 8 March at 6:30 am on Star Movies.

MUMBAI: IndusInd Bank is set to unveil its new advertising campaign, a series of three ads, to communicate its services to consumers such as mobile alerts, online payments and ready2use savings account kit.

Media Direction is the media agency for this ad campaign. The ad campaign is in Hinglish and will be released in regional languages on all regional channels. The estimated media spends for the TV campaign is Rs 50 million.

The ad campaign, which will go on air on 26 February 2010, features Omi Vaidya (Chatur of 3 Idiots fame) and Shruti Seth (TV actress of Comedy Circus & Ristey.com fame). 
 
RK Swamy BBDO, New Delhi, is the creative agency for the campaign. The campaign has been conceptualised by RK Swamy creative director PS Mann and the script has been put to light by Ankur Suman, creative group head of the agency.

Directed by Imtiaz Ali, the ad campaign targets customers from across age groups and genders. The thought behind the campaign is to use subtle humour to highlight IndusInd Bank‘s services, designed to make banking a hassle-free and pleasurable experience.

Says IndusInd Bank MD & CEO Romesh Sobti, “This ad campaign takes ahead our initiative to reposition IndusInd Bank as a young, energetic and responsive brand. This year is going to be the year of brand building for IndusInd Bank and we will witness consistent campaigns and other branding initiatives talking about product and service innovations. IndusInd Bank aims to transform into a bank for the rising Indian, imbibing values of confidence, progression and dynamism.”
 
The three TV commercials show how Omi Vaidya and Shruti Seth, who play a young married couple (Mr & Mrs Chowgle), respond to each other during their day to day conversations. Each conversation between the two is humorous and ends with a focused message about one of the services which is offered by the bank. Each situation is a metaphor to communicate the service proposition.

Says IndusInd Bank head-consumer banking Sumant Kathpalia, “The new advertising campaign focuses on our customer friendly services like mobile alerts, online payments and ready2use savings account kit. All ads, in addition to the humour, are giving the core message of IndusInd Bank‘s commitment to provide a world- class banking experience.”
 
IndusInd Bank has been aggressive in its brand building programme since last year. As a part of the brand building exercise, the bank has taken many initiatives for connecting up with customers and enhancing the visibility quotient.

Says IndusInd Bank head – marketing Mohit Ganju, “This ad campaign is built on strong consumer insights and each of the situations depicted in the ads are a slice of life and extremely relatable. The choice of casting and humour will definitely help us break the clutter and create some disruptive communication. We had chosen Imtiaz Ali to direct the ad films and he has done full justice to the endeavour. Omi and Shruti really got into the characters and did a great job. IndusInd Bank as a brand will get more recall and mileage from this ad campaign.”
 

MUMBAI: Mercedes-Benz India has appointed Mediaedge:cia (MEC) as its new agency of record. 
 
Earlier, the incumbent agency for the account was Media Direction, the media services arm of RK Swamy BBDO. 
 
It was Mercedes-Benz that introduced the luxury car segment in India and currently is engaged in local production of Mercedes-Benz cars, making available imported Mercedes-Benz cars, commercial vehicle operations, global sourcing of auto components, and captive automotive technology research and development.

MUMBAI: Lowe Lintas Delhi executive director Mohit Beotra has called it a day.

According to industry sources, he is all set to join Airtel as head North circle, his second innings in the telecom company where he was working as VP marketing.
 
Beotra was with Lowe Lintas since February 2004. 
 
He also was Lintas India general manager for more than a decade before joining Airtel.

MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) is rejigging its ad sales structure to take care of its wide network of channels as it presses for sustainable growth amid a modest economic rebound.

As part of the restructuring exercise, Zeel will have a sales structure that will divide along ‘network‘ and ‘non-network‘ handling of its pool of advertisers. The changes will be effective 2 March.
 
“The two heads will be competing for the inventory and properties. This restructuring will be in sync with our corporate focus of reigning over single-channel networks. We want preferred treatment for our basket of channels and it will be a win-win situation for us as well as our advertisers,” Zeel chief revenue officer Joy Chakraborthy tells Indiantelevision.com.

The ‘network‘ approach will spread across Zeel‘s 40 clients that account for 40 per cent of the broadcasting company‘s revenues. The roster excludes some of the top advertisers like Hindustan Unilever LTd (HUL) and is selected not as per value.
 
The team of 30, nursing the 40 clients, will be headed by Jitesh Rajdeo. “The 40 clients are randomly picked and are not necessarily our top 40 advertisers. The hybrid structure will enable Zeel to not only ensure channel focus but also facilitate key account management as well as provide the flexibility to leverage the network strength,” says Chakraborthy.

The ‘non-network‘ ad sales activity will reach out to over 300 clients and be handled by a frontline battery of 200 people. “The restructuring will promote competition, push higher ad rates and help us control markets,” avers Chakraborthy.

Zeel‘s sports business will fall under Rahul Shaw. He will also have to manage the ad sales of Zee Café and Zee Studio. Zee Sports will be kept out of the network selling.
 
“All the big properties will be handled by Rajdeo and Shaw to ensure maximum revenue exploitation,” says Chakraborthy.

For non-network selling, Priyanka Datta will have under her belt Zee TV, Zee Bangla, Akash Bangla, Zee Smile and ETC Punjabi. Ashish Sehgal gets Zee Cinema, Zee Premiere, Zee Action, Zee Classic, Zee Talkies, Zee Marathi, Zee Telugu, Zee Kannada, Zee Jagran and Zee Salaam. ETC, Zing and Trendz will be with Anurag Bedi.

“The new hybrid structure will also create specialised competencies; facilitate knowledge-based solution selling leading to better positioning of the sales team; provide better service to clients; synergise inter-channel sales efforts; and will help the company to get under the skin of the client‘s business thereby enhancing our UFP (unique feeling proposition) and in turn result in inorganic growth,” Chakraborthy says.
 

BANGALORE: Auto giant General Motors (GM) is planning to spend close to Rs 1 billion towards media promotions for the Indian subcontinent.

The company aims to earmark 10 per cent of this towards online digital medium and mobile promotions, says GM India director of marketing Gaurav Gupta.
 
GM India will spend around Rs 65 million over a four-week television campaign for its D segment Chevrolet Cruze Automatic (Cruze AT), which GM India launched in Bangalore today. The company has booked around 300-400 spots per day on news and business channels and some general entertainment channels, inform company sources.

General Motors is targeting the young Indian male for Cruze AT and has also planned a viral online campaign with two audio visuals. It is also looking at working with portals and verticals such as gaadi.com, redfiff.com, carwale.com and yahoo as part of its marketing initiative.
 
“We want our print ads to focus on our products, that’s why unlike others, our print ads are clean and crisp and carry a picture of the product and very little text or other decorations,” said Gupta while informing that print ads for the Cruze AT will be released shortly.

All the three audio visuals, one TVC and the online viral audio visuals have been created by W+K. Media buying is done by Madison.
 
Over the past two years, the company has ramped up the number of its dealerships from 100 to 203. Now, it plans to up this number to 300 by the end of this year. The company also plans to close this calendar year with more than double the number of its pre-owned car outlets under the brand name Chevrolet-OK to 70 from the current 33.

MUMBAI: TBWAIndia has stitched a partnership with Ignitee Digital Solutions to offer a full range of digital services to their clients. The agencies have already commenced work on some of their clients.
 
Says TBWAIndia Group CEO Shiv Sethuraman, “Unlike other companies that bolt on a ‘digital specialist‘, we are using the partnership to create digital capabilities at the core of TBWAIndia and TequilaIndia. We see this partnership as the means to create a digitally fluent communication group. We have already started working alongside Ignitee on some of our clients and look forward to a long and successful partnership.”
 
Adds TBWAInternational president Keith Smith, “Digital is at the heart of everything that we do, be it advertising, events or retail activation. As such, it is essential that we have the strongest possible digital operation available in the market. This partnership should enable us to do that throughout our India group.” 
 
Ignitee Digital Solutions, founded in 2000, provides a comprehensive range of services which include online media planning and buying, search marketing, social media marketing, online reputation management, website development, creative, CRM solutions, site traffic analysis, ad serving, mobile marketing, research and consulting. It has six offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Dubai.

MUMBAI: Percept/H, the advertising arm of Percept Limited, has launched the latest commercial for SBI MF‘s tax saving fund, ‘Magnum Taxgain scheme‘.

The commercial is being supported with print, radio, outdoor and digital campaigns and will continue till mid March 2010.
 
Says Percept/H CEO Prabhakar Mundkur, “We have tried to promote this scheme in our TVC by showcasing that it is a tool which can be used not only to save tax but also to get the benefit of investment. Investments today, are a serious business and we have attempted to support this with a series of real life situations in order to build a better connect. We had to work on the insight that tax cuts in income have an impact on the lifestyle and sacrifices have to be made.”

Adds SBI MF CMO Srinivas Jain, “With certain restrictions, the message sometimes gets difficult to deliver. The message on television is just about the product. It just gives visibility. We do not expect one medium to say it all and hence have to depend on other media to support the campaign.” 
 
The commercial showcases a series of situations that harp on the phrase ‘Cut Rahi Hai‘. A couple of friends converse in office about how finances are tight with tax cuts, a housewife works in a kitchen complaining about less shopping and entertainment due to tax cuts, a young boy cribs about lesser pocket money and in a humorous turn to the ad, a man accidentally cuts off his moustache while shaving when his son throws a ball at him. A voiceover follows, explaining how investing in SBI Mutual Fund will save taxes, with the benefit of returns on investment. The ad ends with the person who earlier complained about his finances to his friend saying that life is better now – ‘Life achhi kat rahi hai!‘

MUMBAI: Lowe Lintas has won the creative duties of the Cochin-based herbal medicine (OTC and ethical) player, Mayden Pharma India.

As part of its new mandate, the agency will develop Mayden Pharma‘s brand communication. These will also include strategic planning and brand launches. 
 
Says Lowe Lintas GM Sujit Nair, “The category is exciting and Mayden Pharma‘s plans are ambitious; it‘s a massive opportunity for the brand. We are all charged up to make the most of it.” 
 
The Lintas team that will work on the account will include Arun Raman as the strategic planner, creative head Subramani Ramachandran and client servicing head Rajeev Hajare. 
 
Says Mayden Pharma executive director Navin Nair, “With the brand insights from Lowe Lintas team, we intend to introduce a number of significant innovations in Mayden‘s vedic range of products. Lowe Lintas with their strategic approach towards the brief, creative solutions to building the brand and 360 degree capabilities has shown us their commitment to assist our business targets going forward, and have therefore appointed them to help us develop our brand further.”
 

MUMBAI: AB-Inbev India has roped in Wieden+Kennedy (W+K) Delhi as the creative partner for its Budweiser brand, following a multi-agency pitch. 
 
As part of its new mandate, W+K will also be involved in strategizing for Stella Artois and Tennents brands from the AB-Inbev stable.
 
Says W+K managing director Mohit Jayal, “While we will be working on Stella Artois and the Tennents brands too, our primaly focus will be on Budweiser.”

The first phase of the assignment is due to start immediately.