Category: MAM

MUMBAI: MTV has forayed into a partnership with Wildcraft India to launch a new range of co-branded travel and adventure gear.

This co-branded range will be launched in April this year and will include vibrant, funky and innovative travel and adventure bags, duffel bags, laptop bags and toad bags, amongst others.

The range will also comprise a ‘Roadies’ line that will include bags as well as adventure gear for riding, hiking and cycling as well as other outdoor equipment including a cool range of sleeping bags and tents.

The range will be priced from Rs 749 to Rs 3000 and will be available across retail – both conventional as well as modern trade outlets and Wildcraft outlets. 
 
Viacom18 VP consumer products and communications Sandeep Dahiya said, “We are planning to expand our catalogue in the top 10 youth categories by the end of this year. We are excited to partner with Wildcraft to enter into this important category in the youth space.”

“The MTV and Roadies range will be planned keeping in mind that bags today are not just utility items. They’re as much a fashion accessory,” he added. 
 
Wildcraft India director marketing Gaurav Dublish said, “MTV, known for their close connect to the youth are the obvious partners and choice for this initiative. We hope to reach out to our consumers as a dynamic new brand becoming the ultimate answer to their needs in our category.” 
 
Wildcraft is one of the largest outdoor gear brands in India. It is known for backpacks, rucksacks, and travel and survival gear with up to 25 year warranty across product categories.
 

MUMBAI: Lowe Lintas has restructured its senior creative team.

The agency has elevated Amer Jaleel and Arun Iyer to national creative directors, both of whom will jointly be responsible for the creative product of Lowe Lintas.

Prior to this, Jaleel was Lowe Lintas executive director while Iyer was executive creative director. 
 
Says Lowe Lintas chairman and chief creative officer R Balki, “Both Amer and Arun are phenomenal creative minds. Managing the creative product of the agency will be shared by them as part of their new role.” 
 
Meanwhile, Madhu Noorani has been named as the chief creative planner on key businesses of the agency. She will also continue with her creative responsibilities on Johnson & Johnson and other key regional brands of Unilever.
Jaleel, Iyer and Noorani will continue to report to Balki.
 
Additionally, new roles have been assigned to Ashwin Varkey, Deepa Krishnan, Rajesh Ramaswamy and Abhijit Ghosh.
Varkey has been elevated to group creative director and will work closely with Iyer.

Krishnan will move from Bangalore to Mumbai and will play an important role in the agency‘s regional business. She will also work closely with Jaleel on some brands in Mumbai and the South.

Ramaswamy and Ghosh will also be working closely with Jaleel and will be creative heads in the Bangalore division.
 

MUMBAI: Parle Agro has released the first TVC for its new snack brand ‘Hippo‘.

Conceptualised by Creativeland Asia, the film has been directed by Ram Madhavani. Equinox Films is the production house. The commercial, shot in Mumbai, has been released in seven languages.
 
Says Parle Agro joint managing director & CMO Nadia Chauhan, “With the new TVC for Hippo, we have attempted to move away from category norms. Hippo doesn‘t want to be a me-too brand in a category cluttered with frivolousness in its communication. In the TVC, we have tried to integrate a social message into the brand in order to add soul and purpose to Hippo. Hippo has taken snacking responsibly by positioning itself as a solution for hunger.” 
 
The TVC is based on the belief that hunger is the root cause of evil – therefore kill hunger, kill evil. The campaign highlights the evils of society being resolved by offering Hippo in situations of conflict, thereby restoring cheer, goodness and happiness amongst people.
 
 

MUMBAI: Expanding its portfolio in the Southern region, Ignitee Digital Solutions has bagged two new accounts namely Bangalore-based Purvankara Builders and Developers and the Thotta Tharani project from Chennai.

The other southern sphere portfolios that the agency handles include Club Mahindra and real estate company, Rebi. 
 
As part of its new mandate, Ignitee will formulate a social media marketing campaign for Purvankara Projects.

Says Purvankara AVP (communications) Kalyan Shankar Dutt, “India‘s real estate sector is northbound again. We needed someone who could formulate an effective campaign to consolidate our presence on the web and that is where we found Ignitee has all the elements of coming up with an appropriate strategy that will help us in achieving our desired objectives.”
 
Also, as part of its second win, Ignitee will be managing the website of Chennai-based art director Thotta Tharani. 
 
Comments Ignitee national business director, “We are certain that we will see these wins increasing further-more, continuing to imprint and strengthen various geographies across India and close the year with more clients added to our roster.”
 

MUMBAI: Voice Mobile has roped in Macaw, a group entity of India News Communications (INCL), to handle its advertising, creative and media mandate following a multi-agency pitch.
 
Says INCL Group director & CEO Prashant Kumar, “After getting adversely affected by the economic slowdown, the information technology industry is now on the recovery mode. There is a great scope to show our understanding of the market and creativity in this account. We are hopeful that we will be able to earn a brand status for Voice Mobile.”
 
Voice Mobile came into existence in January 2009. For the first three months, the company conducted extensive product sampling to know about the competitive mobile brands operating in the Indian market. This was later followed by six months of rigorous channel sales streamlining process.
 

MUMBAI: Crayon Communications has bagged the media duties of Shoexpress, part of the Landmark Group. The account will be handled out of the agency‘s Dubai office.
 
The retail store which includes footwear, accessories, handbags, socks and belts, targets the entire family and is looking at a new marketing strategy to attract wider audiences.
 
Shoexpress has retail outlets in Middle East countries like Oman, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar.

Crayon Communications Dubai handles clients including Babyshop, Fashionation.me, DEC and ES Bankers.

MUMBAI: Grey Group India has appointed C Vijai Ambalavanan as its Chennai branch head. He will be reporting to VP and head South Vijay Jacob.
 
Prior to this, Ambalavanan was with Leo Burnett CSD.

“Ambalavanan brings with him close to 11 years of experience in advertising and marketing and will be responsible for building Grey‘s presence in Chennai,” says Jacob.
 
Ambalavanan has worked with TBWA, Bates 141 and Leo Burnett, handling acounts such as Nyle, Chik and Meera shampoo and CavinKare brands.

In the south, the agency handles clients like RmkV Wedding Silks, Britannia, ITC Foods and United Spirits.
 

MUMBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC), which held its third annual sponsor forum in Dubai, discussed issues relating to the World Twenty20 2010 to be staged in the West Indies from 30 April to 16 May and the Cricket World Cup 2011 in Asia.
 
On the first day, Ten Sports COO Peter hutton dwelt on achieving return on investment in emerging markets, stressing the point that sponsors need to get involved with broadcast deals in key development areas in Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the US – rather than the current situation where there are minimal audiences paying premium pay per view pricing.
 
This was followed by a panel discussion on achieving return on investment from sports properties by Hutton, Sports Media MD Prem Bhatia and Mindspring commercial director Doug Thackrey.

On the second day, there was a discussion on the marketing and promotional activities for the ICC World Twenty20 West Indies 2010 and ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. Commercial support for teams from emerging cricket markets such as Ireland, Netherlands, Canada, Kenya and Afghanistan competing in major ICC events was also on the agenda.
 
ICC GM commercial Campbell Jamieson says, “International cricket is fortunate to have such dynamic and enthusiastic commercial partners and this forum is about cementing those strong relationships. The main outcome of this year’s forum was that with just one year to go until the first ball is bowled of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, all the partners must work together as they seek a reasonable return on their investment in our great sport.”

The annual gathering provided an opportunity for senior representatives of the ICC’s commercial partners to plan and discuss their involvement in ICC events. These included broadcast partner ESPN Star Sports; commercial partners Reliance Mobile, LG, Pepsi, Hero Honda, Emirates, Reebok and Yahoo!; official licensees Cricket Logistics, Licensing in Motion, Getty Images, Sportsbrand and IMG Sports Media.

The ICC plans to stage another such gathering of commercial partners after the completion of the World Twenty20 West Indies 2010, specifically in preparation for the Cricket World Cup 2011.
 

MUMBAI: Yahoo! funded global advertising network Tyroo will exclusively promote and sell designated ad space on Yatra.com.

Says Yatra.com head marketing & strategic relations Pratik Mazumder, “With this tie-up we expect many more prestigious advertisers to promote their brands on Yatra.com and reach out to one of the most filtered, targeted and premium audiences.”
 
Tyroo will be responsible for selling the designated ad space on Yatra.com to Indian and international companies. In return, the ad network will receive commission for the space sold.
 
“With our partnership with Yatra, we will offer innovative and engaging advertising opportunities to companies which help them build stronger online brand associations and engage the audience,” says Tyroo head product & business development Siddharth Puri.
 
Yatra.com opened its website for advertising last year. Nokia, Airtel, Citibank, HP, ICICI, Reliance Communications, Tata Indicom, Hyundai i20, Mahindra Xylo, Fiat Linea, Maruti Suzuki are some of the top advertisers to have advertised on the website during the year.

MUMBAI: The Badminton Association of India (BAI) has roped in Premier Brands as a three-year sponsor for Rs 75 million. The BAI said that the amount that it secured from the contract, brokered by Total Sports Asia (TSA), would all accrue to the badminton players.
 
Former players will administer the sponsorship amounts. BAI president VK Verma says, “The entire receivables from the sponsorship would go directly to the players and BAI will not use any of it for its administrative costs. Also, we are presenting a model of financial governance that will set the highest standard of transparency in sports administration.”
 
Premier Brands chairman Suresh Kumar emphasised that the engagement with BAI is not just a sponsorship deal. “It is our way of giving back to the society for development of sports in India and contributing to a sport with tremendous Indian heritage, history and a sense of national pride in which India has consistently proven its worth at a world stage. We looked at different sports federations in India and came to a conclusion that BAI is one of the most professionally managed sports bodies. We will soon be announcing several other international sports and lifestyle alliances on the global scale.”

The BAI says that this deal is not only a landmark in the history of Indian badminton but also heralds a new beginning for the sport in the country. The renaissance of Indian badminton is led by Saina Nehwal, who is scripting history with her exceptional talent and grit. Other players like Chetan Anand, Anup Sridhar, Arvind Bhat, V Diju and Jwala Gutta have also won laurels in some important tournaments across the world.
 
By becoming the official title sponsor of the National badminton team, Premier Brands gained the right to be featured prominently on the front of the team jerseys, to be named the presenting sponsor of the Yonex Sunrise Asian Badminton Championship to be held here from 12 – 18 April 2010 as a pre-cursor to the Commonwealth Games and the domestic circuit.