Category: MAM

MUMBAI: Tata Sky, the joint venture company between the Tata Group and Star, has announced the launch of its latest television campaign with Aamir Khan playing the role of a ventriloquist infusing life into Actve – a mascot of Tata Sky‘s interactive services.
 
Directed by Prasoon Pandey, the campaign encompasses the comical squabbles of Aamir and Actve, as they showcase the benefits of Actve services of Tata Sky.
 
Said Aamir Khan, “When Tata Sky came to me with this concept; I thought it was unique and innovative. Honestly, I didn‘t realize how difficult it would be to portray the role of a ventriloquist. When I speak, our puppet whom we call Actve also speaks and expresses and when I‘m talking the puppet is speaking and expressing. Hence, both characters have to be brought to life at one time which is difficult. A ventriloquist takes years of training to be able to perfect this art.”

MUMBAI: San West, a company that manufactures, sells and repairs off-road vehicles, apparel and accessories, has announced the launch of its first marketing and advertising campaign with an aim to increase sales of the company‘s Buggy World product line and exposure of their full suite of products and services. 
 
The ad campaign includes 20 60-second ‘on-air‘ and 125 ‘online streaming‘ commercials per week and centers on the winning of a Buggy World Exclusive “Truggy!” 
 
A Truggy is a specialised off-road vehicle considered to be a cross between a truck and a buggy.
 
Said Buggy World GM and VP Brian Britton, “With the inclusion of CountyImports.com and San Diego Sport Cycles, we expect this campaign to add an additional $500,000 to Buggy World‘s top line revenue over the next two quarters.”
 

MUMBAI: Orange Advertising Network, an advertising sales house in Europe, has forayed into the US and Latin America markets to provide a complete portfolio of online marketing solutions.
 
The Orange Advertising Network offers advertisers in the Americas the ability to target audiences through a wide variety of tools such as site specific placements, run of network, category affinities, customised branded entertainment, direct response, and international solutions.
 
Said Orange VP Advertising Luc Tran Thang, “Both the US Hispanic and Latin American markets represent tremendous potential in terms of online advertising growth. We believe the distinct elements of our offering will make us a preferred communications partner of most for the majority of online advertisers in the region.”

MUMBAI: Mumbai-based Boiling Point Communications has bagged the creative account for Zodhita Health Solutions, a health and hygiene company, following a multi agency pitch.
 
Says Zodhita Health Solutions country head Shankar Shinde, “We had two large and two medium agencies pitching alongside Boiling Point Communications. The account size is pegged at Rs 100 million.”
 
Adds Boiling Point CEO & creative head Niket Karvir, “We will plan a 360 degree campaign and will concentrate on radio, outdoor media, print, television and a host of BTL activities.” 
 
Internet will also play a major role in the company‘s marketing activities. “We will be allocating approximately 25 per cent of our spends towards internet,” Shinde says.
 

MUMBAI: Percept OOH has appointed Ovez Khan as regional head for the South India region. Based out of Bangalore, he will report to Percept OOH president Sanjay Pareek.
 
Khan‘s new mandate will include managing existing and building new partnerships in the southern belt. He would be in charge of delivering customized products to key clients and chalking new businesses pan India.
 
Prior to this, he was Posterscope India business manager South.
 
Previously, Khan has handled clients including Air France, Tanishq, Kotak Insurance, Aircel.United Spirits, Levis and Future Group.
 

MUMBAI: Not all brands need to use social media in their communication strategy. However, those that do, should adopt a transparent strategy so that there is trust built among users. They should also open up to influence and forget about the myths of control.

These were some of the points made at a MasterClass session at the World Brand Congress on social media.

The session was chaired by BigAdda COO Shivanandan Pare. The speakers were Simplifying founder and CEO Shashank Nigam, Grapefruit chief creative officer Marius Ursache, AgencyNet VP consumer and brand strategies Alex Morrison and Digital Media CEO Ishwar Jha.

Ursache spoke about building social branding through engagement. He noted that not all brands need social media to build their communication strategy.

“However, many big companies waste time and resources on it without clearly defining the objectives that they are looking at achieving through their communication strategy. Also if a company’s core competence is in communicating through television commercials then it might be better to stick to it rather than doing a bad job on Twitter.”
 
He said that there are different strategies that companies use. One of the most effective involves opening up to influence. He gave the example of what Dell did with Ideastorm.

The company launched a site and asked consumers what they want to see changed in the company. The company got 12,000 ideas and implemented 400. “The outcome is high if you know how to internalise feedback.”

He also noted that ideally a company should become embodied when users become advocates for it. A good example is Apple and that is due to the strength of the product. 
 
He urged companies to have a dedicated team that focusses on social media. He also warned that a company’s official communication does not mean engagement. The company has to lose the illusion of control in communication.

Nigam also made a point on the importance of companies not obsessing over control in communications. “While there are PR guidelines, the companies should focus more on how they can influence people’s opinions. People would rather trust a blog than a corporate site as the blog has a face to it. A large corporation on the other hand is faceless. It is key that the face of the brand comes out during communication in social media.”
 
Morrison said that in a digital world, people explore what they are passionate about. Brands have to find a way to intersect in their lives. Companies need to understand the different things that happen in a digital world that leads to people interacting with brands. The good news is that many brands like Coca Cola already stand for something. The next step is to see how they can add value to consumer’s lives and start the engagement process. Brands could align with consumers passions including music, nightlife, social culture, environment. He says that Zappos, Redbull and Nike are among the companies that do this really well. 

MUMBAI: Mediaedge:cia (MEC) has roped in Rashna Pochkhanawala as MEC Interaction national director. She will report to MEC India MD, T Gangadhar and MEC Interaction Asia-Pacific head, Ben Poole.
 
Said Poole, “We are thrilled to have Pochkhanawala on board. As a regional head, in many ways you are only as good as the country leaders you have and in Pochkhanawala I believe, we have the right leader to deliver our interaction vision, develop the product offering and ensure that our digital services in India are fully integrated and executed within the wider MEC context.”

In her new role, Pochkhanawala will be responsible to drive business development and further strengthen MEC‘s body of work in the digital space.
 
Prior to this, she was Hungama Digital Media general manager (digital).
 
“Today is my first day and it‘s a great opportunity for me to be working with MEC. I‘m looking forward to using my digital experience to contribute in growing MEC‘s digital offering,” says Pochkhanawala

MUMBAI: While GroupM India bagged the agency of the year award at the World Brand Congress this year, it was Madison World chairman and managing director Sam Balsara who was named the CEO of the year. 
 
The lifetime achievement award was conferred to Eros International Media Group CEO AP Parigi while Bennett Coleman president Dr Bhaskar Das won the brand super achiever of the year.

Meantime, UTV Group CEO and founder chairman Ronnie (Rohinton) Screwvala bagged the media person of the year award. 
 
The winners in the other categories are:

Award For Brand Leadership In:

Service / Hospitality Industry

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd
Janashakti Insurance Company Limited
Durables

The Mobile Store Limited
Information Technology

ntel technology India Pvt. Ltd
Thompson Reuters
FMCG Industry

Tata Chemicals (Tata Salt)
Automobile

Honda Siel Cars India Ltd
Airlines

Kingfisher Airlines Ltd
Excellence in Brand Innovation

Roamware India Pvt. Ltd.
Internet Business

TimesOfMoney Ltd
Banking and Financial Services

Life Insurance Corporation of India
Religare Enterprises Ltd
 
Footwear

Metro Shoes
Media / Entertainment

Sab TV
Yahoo India
Radio

Synergy Media (My FM)
Construction

City Corporation Limited
Advergame of the year – Entertainment & Media

NDTV Imagine – ‘Rakhi ka Swayamvar‘
Advergame of the year – Telecom

Reliance Mobile
Advergame of the year – Lifestyle

Zodiac- ZOD
Advergame of the year – Auto

Tata Nano
Advergame of the year – Foods & Beverages

Cadbury
Advergame of the year – Kids space

Parle Products
Advergame of the year – Women

Johnson & Johnson

Most ‘played‘ Avdergame of the year

Gillette
Gaming Activation of the year

Kwalkity – Paddlepop
Best Marketing Campaigns

Zapak Digital Entertainment Limited (Zapak Cash League)

Aircel Ltd.

Yahoo India Pvt. Ltd.

Reliance Consumer Finance
Award for social marketing

Janashakthi Insurance Company Limited (Tharunyata Hettak)

TV Today Network Limited (Declare War on Terror Campaign)

Godfrey Phillips India Ltd. (Amodini)
Popular news channel of the year

English

Times Now (Times Global Broadcasting Company Limited)
Hindi

Aaj Tak (TV Today Network Limited)
Business

Bloomberg UTV

Award For Brand Leadership (Overall)

Life Insurance Corporation of India

Titan Industries

Aircel Ltd.

Ceylinco Insurance PLC

The Mobile Store Ltd

Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd.
Brand Leadership Award (Organization)

Steria (India) Limited

Blue Dart Express Limited

MUMBAI: As the economic downturn has picked significant holes into consumer pockets thereby forcing buyers to become exceedingly cautious is their spending habits, marketers need to engage prospective buyers through experimentation and reinvention to “split that purse lace open.”

Speaking at the World Brand Congress 2009 forum, Infosys head global branding and corp marketing Aditya Nath Jha said, “Marketers have to reshape their marketing strategies in a bid to get their brands into the consumer‘s pocket. And this can be done, by shifting focus from divulging information to creating direct consumer connect.”
 
Jha also believes that companies need to move away from building product brands to creating strong company brands.

“It‘s not just the products themselves, but the company behaviour that affects the brand identity of the products. Therefore, it is very essential to construct the corporate brand and live up to the brand proposition.” 
 
Meanwhile, Leo Burnett national creative director KV Sridhar noted that unlike earlier days, when marketers were busy chasing consumers, today marketers need to be found by the consumers.

“Today consumers are all over the information network and are always on the hunt. Thus, unlike yesteryears, now marketers have to alter their swing from chasing to being found; from shouting to listening,” Sridhar explained. 
 
For Shantanu Bhanja, Hindustan Times VP marketing, the most convenient route to reach consumer pockets, especially during downturn, is by creating two-way interaction using the digital path.

“Recession is the best time to build brand loyalty and to generate that, one has to co-create brands along with the consumers. This so-creation can be led through consumer interactions across various digital platforms including the internet and mobile,” Bhanja added.

MUMBAI: Mudra Max‘s media agency Mudra Connext has bagged the media duties of She Comfort, a female care brand, and V-Guard, the electrical appliance brand.

The account size for ‘She Comfort‘ is pegged at Rs 200 million. 
 
Says Royal Hygiene Care director Rakesh Kaul, “Given our aggressive growth plans, we felt the need to partner with an agency which shared our passion and vision. We look forward to Mudra Connext bringing in innovative thinking and a strategic direction to the brand.”

Meanwhile, the ad spends for ‘V-Guard‘ is in the region of Rs 300-400 million. 
 
Says V-Guard executive director Mithun Chittilappilly, “We always wanted a strong agency, which could understand our business and provide the best media solutions for our brands. I am confident Connext will be able to provide us with the right resources and also bring value to our brand with the passion and commitment they have shown.” 
 
Mudra Max CEO Pratap Bose says, “These are important wins for Connext and Mudra Max, and I am happy with the way we are moving ahead. Our integrated communication capabilities are helping build brands on a larger platform and this is our biggest differentiator in the market place.”