MUMBAI: Lodestar UM has been appointed as the media agency for Amar Remedies, a manufacturer and exporter of premier personal hygiene products.
Lodestar UM COO Nandini Dias confirmed the development.
MediaVest Worlwide is the incumbent agency.
Beginning with a foray into the oral care market in India, today, Amar‘s products are exported to over 20 countries across the globe, engaging the developed markets of USA, Canada, Italy, France, UK among others.
MUMBAI: Rediffusion-Y&R has won the digital account for telecom service brand MTS following a multi-agency pitch.
The team will manage all digital brand communication: creative, online media and social media duties for the telecom company.
Rediffusion-Y&R business head (digital), Rachana Dharia said, “Telecom provides immense opportunity to leverage the digital platform due to its direct engagement with customers and their relationship with communication. With MTS being a youth brand, we are excited about leveraging the digital medium and taking the brand further into the youth mind space.”
“As a next generation digital brand, MTS is in the process of rolling out a series of digital initiatives and innovations designed to empower and engage our customers”, MTS India director brand and media Amitesh Rao said. “Reaching out to our customers in the digital arena is an essential part of our data centric strategy, and in Rediffusion Y&R – Digital we have the right partner to effectively and efficiently expand brand MTS‘ digital footprint.”
Rediffusion – Y & R president D Rajappa added, “We are delighted to deepen our engagement with MTS and to partner with them in their focused quest for growth by leading the data space and building franchise among the fast growing youth market. Rediffusion will endeavour to provide seamless marketing support to MTS through effective collaboration across all media to create engaging and impactful creative content”.
MUMBAI: Educomp Schools has selected Aegis Media‘s Vizeum India as its media AoR.
Vizeum India will handle Educomp schools media mandate in India to identify the appropriate communication programmes and deliver the same most cost optimally.
Vizeum MD Indian Subcontinent S Yesudas said, “We have pleasure in welcoming Educomp into the Vizeum family. It is a challenging assignment and we are fully geared up with the right delivery solutions. We look forward to addressing the business issues of the client as their extended brand team. We are thankful to the Educomp management for considering us worthy to partner them. This business will be handled out of our Delhi Office.”
Educomp Schools president Partho Dasgupta added, “We are happy to confirm the appointment of Vizeum as our strategic media partners. Their overall result oriented approach is quite unique and interesting. They are mandated to help us overcome some of our business challenges.”
MUMBAI: The current affairs magzine The Economist has appointed Aidem Ventures as the media representative of their online business in India.
The Economist Group (Asia/Pacific) digital sales director Inez Albert said, “We look forward to strengthen our business presence in India by appointing Aidem Ventures as our representative in India. This partnership will ensure that our commitment of sharing world views and unbiased news reaches out to all stakeholders in the Indian market. We look forward to partnering with some of the best companies in India.”
“We are excited with this mandate to enhance the advertising potential of The Economist in India,” said Aidem Ventures head- digital and International business Neena Dasgupta. “Aidem, with its extensive experience and track record in the news and digital space, is best equipped to partner with The Economist Online to strengthen their presence in the Indian market.”
The site provides daily diet of news, analysis, columns, blogs, and multimedia, while contributing to the ongoing debates and discussions themselves. It also features a suite of research tools and data for subscribers, including free full access to a searchable archive, as well as The Economist audio edition.
The Economist Group India MD Suprio Guha Thakurta added,, “We have appointed a strategic sales partner in Aidem and going by their domain expertise (news and digital), we are certain that we can take our online business to new heights in India.”
MUMBAI: MediaVest Worldwide has bagged the media duties of SuperMax following a multi-agency pitch.
MediaVest will handle the media planning and buying across all media for SuperMax from their Mumbai office with immediate effect, the agency said in a statement.
MediaVest VP in Mumbai Dinesh Rathore said, “We are delighted to have won the SuperMax business and are looking forward to partnering them. This has been a good year for our agency. We are looking forward to building on this momentum in the coming year.”
Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) has picked up over 14 new businesses in the past few months from their Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore offices including most recently the Aircel TV and Digital business.
MUMBAI: Since the launch of International brands in the Indian market, there have been few successful stories and few unsuccessful stories too. But there has always been learning for all, and that is- “don‘t treat Indian customers like those of other parts of the world”.
Culture and people here are different and the market need to be targeted differently. It‘s same for the other markets of the world. Strategy of one market can not successfully work in the other; says IIPM dean (centre for graduate studies) and Planman Consulting director Rajita Chaudhuri, while speaking at the World Brand Congress 2011 that concluded here today.
She said, “Culture is the new tool for branding. As marketers, one should remember that standardising doesn‘t work. Cultural influences remain strong. The way a consumer decides to pick a brand is culture specific. In the west there are pragmatic consumers, in east there are critical consumers, in north there are consumers who can be influenced by entertaining campaigns while for the south the campaign has to be informative.”
Further explaining with examples, she mentioned, “When Coca Cola launched in India, they came up with the same western campaign and it failed drastically. Even Dove‘s ‘Real Beauty‘ campaign in China was unsuccessful because ‘Chinese don‘t believe in real beauty concept‘. KFC when launched in India served chicken wings but it didn‘t work very well and it eventually started serving vegetarian to Indians too. So, those brands who change survive. Coca-Cola changed its campaign theme to ‘thanda matlab Coca Cola‘ and it succeeded.”
“MTV offered only English music but then it changed to Hindi and survived. Pillsbury has come up with Punjabi flour. Samsung, Nike‘s, Pepsi who have associated with cricket have managed to break the clutter. Britannia came up with biscuits that can be dipped in tea and consumed. It became a hit as we Indians love to do that.”
Talking about homogeneity, she added, “India is not homogeneous, the markets are no longer homogenous. Culture should be used for market segmentation and not geographies. Customisation is essential. For Bengali market LG has attachments in microwave for cooking fish, for south they have attachment that can help them make Idli. Cavinkare (Fairever) has promoted that the cream is made with saffron and milk so it will not only keep the skin fair but also healthy. This is very impactful for target market like India.”
According to her packaging should also be influenced by culture. She said, “Shampoo sachets and combo packs for Punjabis are example of it. Those who understand the local market will rule.”
MUMBAI: Today, brand positioning and brand marketing for a corporate is so critical that one has to be on his foot all the times. Essar Group president- corporate branding and strategic initiatives Shivnath Thukral said at World Brand Congress (WBC).
He said, “One should know everything in Business to Business (B2B) brands. Informed citizens are partners in the evolution and transition of a corporate. Today, everyone who hears about me is my stakeholder. So, the whole world is my stakeholder and I have a responsibility towards them.”
“For B2B, one has to embrace technology in marketing the brand and surround customers in 360 degree communication. Also use technology and show that with the use of technology we can reach out to the customers wherever they want us to be. Technology enables us to be ahead of time and break the clutter both internally and externally,” Thukral added.
Talking about brand new corporate, Thukral said, “If you look at the new age informational architecture, that is how your corporate brand has to be. There is no margin for error. You are being watched and heard all the time. Your reputation is what matters a lot as if something goes wrong nobody is spared here.”
“B2B brands should be associated with an attributes like nation building, pride, fairness, transparency, responsibility, credibility and humility. If they achieve these using technologies, they are on the right path,” Thukral added.
Thukral feels that brands should marry every form of media because the outcome is intangible and very important for B2B companies.
MUMBAI: The best ideas in the digital arena are simple and straightforward. Simplicity can be a very big idea. It is not necessary to have a fancy site and spend millions to get a big marketing campaign done in the digital arena. At the same time it is important to use technology while conceiving a digital campaign. Also there are no best practices. What has worked for one company may not work for another.
These points were made by Star TV VP, head – digital (Internet and Mobile) Lalit Bhagia during a session at the Mobile Digital Marketing Summit held during World Brand Congress 2011. He called them the habits of success for digital. He spoke about ‘Creativity in Digital‘. Another habit that will work is grooming young people as the best digital ideas come from youngsters. That is because they spend a lot of time on new media. This has been learning for him.
Another important thing to remember is that an idea should not be limited to one medium. It should be able to travel across digital, television, print etc. He said that now messaging is for the consumer and not at the consumer. “You need to get consumers to participate. The good news is that the definition of creativity has not changed. You still need insight and a big idea.”
He gave two examples. One was a campaign done to promote the ‘Forever Bond Festival on Star Movies. The idea for the campaign was that people want to be like Bond. The campaign allowed them to do that. Users could drive Bonds car on a web page. The aim was to allow fans of Bond to feel like him. People could use their mobile. Another example was the Fox Crime campaign. The idea for the campaign was that there is a detective in each of us. It was a 360 degree campaign and people had to catch a killer. It wasn‘t easy for users. Among other things they had to go through footage from a transit camera. It gave users the experience of being a detective. It is important in the digital world to do marketing that earns attention. It is doing a campaign on Twitter for Love2hateU a new local show on Star World.
He noted earlier it was just about trying to get a share of the consumers‘ wallet. The difference in digital though is that the consumer is in control. The experience has to be meaningful. Otherwise if he finds an ad annoying he will simply close the web page. One can no longer just throw message at consumers.
Meanwhile Philips Electronics India GM, country head media Amit Tiwari spoke about ‘Role of Creativity and Innovation in Digital and Social Media Marketing‘ at the same session. He noted that while creativity is always part of a campaign brief it is not enough. Innovation is also important. “Innovative creativity is the most powerful creativity that exists. Creativity is important but being different always wins.”
He notes that there is a lot of copying of creative templates when companies should be trying to create their own templates. A Facebook presence cannot be the beginning and end of a brands involvement in digital. Companies need to look at whether campaigns are being done for consumers. There must be a correlation what the consumer wants and what a brand is offering. Campaigns in the digital world have to entertaining and response based. This way one can learn what a consumer wants. Campaigns have to memorable and active. Creativity and innovation leads to sales and brand building. He gave the example of the Philips Valentine‘s Day campaign. Intel‘s Museum of Me initiative also worked well.
The last speaker at the session was MobME Wireless Solutions CEO Sanjay Vijayakumar. He dwelt on ‘The Evolution of Kerala Tourism Brand Mobile Strategy – From WAP site to the worlds largest Iphone/Ipad campaign for Tourism‘. The company has worked with the board for three and a half years. There were mistakes made at first. In 2007 a SMS based initiative was done called dream Season campaign which failed. They then decide to use GPRS. A cross branded campaign with Vodafone was done. The phone becomes an audio guide for people wanting to know about Kerala. In 2010 a welcome R9oamer campaign was done with Idea. It has also done a cross branding experiment with the railways. This year ‘Your Moment is waiting‘ campaign is being done with Google for the US and European markets.
MUMBAI: English movie channel Star Movies has announced a new marketing initiative ‘Star Movies Chillout Nites‘.
The property aims to promote the channel‘s Movie of the Month offering in a disruptive and engaging manner. This will provide a fully sponsored house party with soft drinks, food and exclusive Star Movies Chill Out Nites Party Kits for true Hollywood fans in India, to celebrate and watch the premiers of their favorite Hollywood blockbusters on the channel, from the comfort of their homes and in the company of their friends.
Star Movies Chillout Nites will kick start on 26 November with an exhaustive number of home parties for the Movie of the Month, “The A-Team”, at 200 homes with over 3,000 people across four cities.
Destined to redefine the way viewers watch favorite Hollywood titles with friends on television, Star Movies will host this mass Hollywood bash, once every quarter, starting this November, the channel said.
To be a part of this experience viewers have to participate in a simple contest and answer question that is broadcasted on Star Movies. Viewers can also participate in this contest via the Star Movies India Facebook Fan page. Lucky viewers get the opportunity to host a Star Movies Chillout Nites party at their homes for their friends.
Star India GM, senior VP, English channels Saurabh Yagnik said, “Star Movies is a Hollywood expert and a leading destination for the biggest Hollywood blockbusters in India. We bring premieres of the biggest Hollywood movies to viewer homes every month. Our endeavour is to engage our audiences not just on television but beyond. Through this initiative we will enrich our viewers‘ experience of our flagship property “Movie of the Month” by hosting parties at their homes for the winners of the contest and their friends.
“We are very excited with this innovative on ground property that we have created that it will it will be a path breaking engagement program for the channel.”
To cement its position as the Hollywood expert and a pioneering leader in the category, Star Movies has also recently introduced a property ‘Hollywood Premieres‘, that hosts exclusive screenings of the awaited Hollywood blockbusters at leading theatres for fans in India, even before their theatrical release in the country. Through this initiative, the broadcaster says that it has already received a good response from fans for the screenings of Hollywood blockbusters such as ‘The Three Musketeers‘ and ‘In Time‘.
MUMBAI: Marketers should look at the new opportunities to grow themselves and should stay ahead of time, these were the thoughts of LG Electronics CMO Laxmikant Gupta, who was speaking at the World Brand Congress (WBC) that is being held in Mumbai.
He said, “The moment we start thinking that new opportunity is threatening our existing practices, we start forcing ourselves to think of new ideas. When change happens, when new things start happening in the market, our reaction is ‘can I use this technology?‘, ‘how will it help me?‘ When there is an opportunity we go from clutter to the opportunity which ends up becoming a clutter.”
“Almost all brands are present on Facebook today. Once the consumer clicks on the like button he starts getting brand messages, about products, innovations, services, developments. Everything does have a use by day and expiry date. One has to reinvent ideas. A better way to differentiate when every company has same opportunity, the questions should be how this new opportunity threatens my present practices, my existence,” Gupta added.
Gupta explained this with an example. He said, “When in early 2000s Apple invented i-pods, it changed the music industry model. I-pod alone contributed to 45 per cent revenue of Apple in first year. Later, in mobile industry, camera handset started struggling. Apple thought that will it be a threat if mobiles with camera start producing music features too. If that happens it will kill i-pod. Then i-phone was launched. Today it makes more than 50 per cent global profit of the mobile industry. With each changing scenario, see how it can affect you today or tomorrow.”
“No one thought of the demise of Orkut or My space but the launch of Facebook, its applications attracted so many that it eventually killed Orkut and MySpace.com. Spot problems before things get worst. Don‘t wait for the crisis,” he added.
“Youtube as a video channel is bigger than many of the TV channels we used to watch. Also, giving consumer a search is as important as giving her a store, to experience your product. Banner advertising can assure you visibility but does not assure that consumer will walk out with a positive perspective. You need to talk to bloggers or people who can write reviews because that can help consumers have a viewpoint about your product,” he emphasised.
On the usage of social media Gupta said, “Brands like MTV and LG, are on FB for not just talking about product. The main purpose is to engage consumer in a way that they want to come back to your page, interact with you. You should create general interaction through Facebook instead of creating impression. When we know that people are talking about the brand online one should see whether they are positive or negatives that is being talked about. The positives should be reinforced and negatives should be checked and corrected.”