Category: Marketing

MUMBAI: Mobile social network RockeTalk has launched Cricket World Cup contests – ‘Cricket Vidhata’ and ‘Funny Commentator Contest’.

In ‘Cricket Vidhata’ users can participate by answering four questions about the current day match. Winners are selected randomly from the pool of entries with all the correct answers.
 
Others can share funny updates by taking part in ‘Funny Commentator Contest’. There are prizes being won each day, each hour from every corner of the country. To participate one can type RTALK from the mobile phone and send it to 56070.
 
RockeTalk also has live cricket communities. There are active discussions about the game, players, match, winning teams, schedule, personal views and much more are gaining popularity. Many cricket enthusiasts are sharing live updates direct from the stadium through voice and video feeds with other RockeTalkers.
 
RockeTalk’s also offers voice and video enabled features which allow users to share latest happenings in and around Cricket World Cup for free with their friends on any mobile or email by using the Free MMS! This can be availed across India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Central Africa, South Africa, U.K, U.S.A, Canada, Bangladesh, Sweden, Germany, Kuwait- and many other countries. RockeTalk is broadcasting the feed covered by the very own users games to RockeTalkers all over the world.

MUMBAI: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and Kmart have announced that Kmart will be the exclusive presenting sponsor of all the WWE’s US live events throughout 2011.

The partnership encompasses promotional rights to WWE’s pop-culture extravaganza WrestleMania®, exposure at all WWE pay-per-view events and the more than 250 WWE live shows held in the U.S. throughout the year.

WrestleMania XXVII will be held on 3 April at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta and is expected to draw approximately 70,000 fans from all 50 states in the US and around the world.
 
As the exclusive presenting sponsor of WWE’s Live Tour, Kmart will be incorporated into all promotional elements of the live events including marketing materials, tickets and digital platforms.

The partnership will also include in-program exposure, as well as :30 commercial units during WWE’s “Monday Night Raw®” on USA Network and “Friday Night SmackDown®” on Syfy. WWE will support the partnership by creating a microsite on WWE.com which will host several sweepstakes and exclusive offers; featuring ads in WWE Magazine and WWE event programmes ; and providing in-store appearances by WWE Superstars and Divas.
 
Kmart CMO Mark Snyder said, “Kmart is excited to expand its relationship with WWE. This partnership will allow our customers to engage with an exciting entertainment brand and enjoy exclusive offers and promotions throughout the year.”
 
WWE executive VP, marketing and sales Michelle D. Wilson said, “The partnership between WWE and Kmart is the perfect fit. The expsure Kmart will have across all of our platforms including live events, TV, pay-per-views, digital assets and talent appearances is certain to drive measurable business results.”

MUMBAI: The first 10 World Cup matches have fetched an average TVR of 2.06 compared to a rating of 2.04 in 2007, demonstrating that the current edition is putting up a stronger performance as the game is played in the Indian subcontinent.

The nail-biting World Cup encounter between Pakistan and Sri Lanka stands as the second most-watched match, trailing behind the India-Bangladesh opener.
 
The keenly fought contest got a peak TVR of 9.19 and an average rating of 3.28. 51 million viewers tuned in to watch that match, according to data from Tam Sports (c&s4+ all India).

The India-Bangladesh one-sided contest, in contrast, got a peak TVR of 12.2 and an average rating of 7.47 across the country.

“The trend shows that the India matches get higher ratings, even if the match is imbalanced. But overall, this World Cup is doing better than the previous one,” a media analyst said.
 
In the current World Cup, just two matches have failed to reach a TVR of 1 compared to four in 2007. Surprisingly, one of them was the Australia versus New Zealand encounter which only got a rating of 0.68.

However, it must be bourne in mind that the match started in the morning. Timing, undoubtedly, is key as can be seen from the fact that Bangladesh versus Ireland encounter, two weak teams, got a rating of 1; the match, played the same day, started at 2 pm.
 
According to Tam data, 29 million people tuned in for this match compared to 17 million people for the Australia versus New Zealand match.

Star cricket continues to fare better than Star Sports. The Pakistan-Sri lanka match saw 39 million viewers tuning in to Star Cricket compared to 19 million on Star Sports.

MUMBAI: Reliance Brands, a part of Reliance Industries, today announced an exclusive long-term license agreement with designer Steven Madden to launch his fashion-forward range of footwear and accessories.

Through this association, Steve Madden products will be available through exclusive monobrand stores and premium department stores in all major cities across India.
 
Positioned as a bridge between hi-street and luxury, the brand aims to target women between 16-40 years and will offer a range of fashion forward, of-the-moment designs across footwear and a variety of accessories. The stores will also offer Madden Girl, a fashionable line for younger girls.

Says Steve Madden CEO Edward Rosenfeld, “India and its diverse consumer base is a very important and strategic market for us. Our association with Reliance Brands culminates a long cherished goal of entering this unique market and marks the beginning of a long term association with the trend conscious Indian consumers.”
 
Relaince said that through this association with Steve Madden it aims to translate the brand‘s unique fashion sense into the mindset of the Indian women consumers. 
 
Added Reliance Brands president and CEO Darshan Mehta, “Steve Madden has always been known for its expertise in trend forecasting and has a large and loyal following of fashion-forward women across the world. Currently there is a great demand for fashionable women‘s footwear and accessories in India; however it is one segment that is lacking in options.”
 

MUMBAI: FMCG company Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL) has relaunched FairGlow soap in a new pack and shape.

Godrej FairGlow has launched an activation programme – ‘No Samjhauta’ campaign – to encourage non-users into sampling the soap. Over the next few months, customers from across major cities in Maharashtra and Punjab will be encouraged to swap their ordinary beauty soap with FairGlow.
 
The company has roped in television actress Surveen Chawla and Marathi actress Tejaswini Pandit to promote the campaign. Pandit will be in Nashik to support the campaign on 4 March. 
 
According to the company, the soap has proteins formula which reduces melanin that causes skin darkening, giving a fairer look with every wash. 
 
The ‘No Samjhauta’ campaign aims to target over 18000 households across cities. Within two weeks of the campaign, approximately 20000 soaps have been swapped.

MUMBAI: Running into the ninth week of 2011, the Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) space is seeing interesting twists and turns.

Even as Star Plus continues to maintain its leadership position, the fight for the next three in the ladder is intensifying.

Zee TV has overtaken Colors to occupy the second spot while Sab has marched ahead of sibling channel Sony to grab the fourth position.
 
Zee TV, which has been strengthening its weekday primetime band for some time now, has ousted Colors with a score of 233 GRPs (gross rating points) for the week ended 26 February. It added 23 GRPs from its previous score.

Colors, which had come dangerously close to Star Plus in the previous week thanks to the premiere of Golmaal 3 and the rerun of other movies, has shed 58 GRPs in the week under review to aggregate 225 GRPs.

Star Plus has maintained its lead with 297 GRPs (previous week 299 GRPs), according to Tam data for the week ended 26 February (HSM, 4+, C&S households).
 
Interestingly, family comedy channel Sab has for the first time toppled Sony Entertainment Television (Set) to come into the top-four league.

Sab has added 19 GRPs in its tally to close the week with 153 GRPs, ahead of Set‘s tally of 136 GRPs (previous week 143 GRPs), Tam data showed.

The recent turmoil in the Hindi GEC space comes in the wake of the World Cup that is eating into the share of other genres. This is the second consecutive week that the GECs have lost share as a genre. Also, it is the second consecutive week for market leader Star Plus to remain below 300 GRPs.

On second spot after a long gap, and for the first time this year, Zee TV expects to retain its position for long. Zee TV has been ahead of Colors in weekday primetime for some time. However, weekend movies, special events and episodes were halting Zee TV‘s march forward.

Zee TV and Zee Cinema marketing head Akash Chawla believes that there is no reason for the flagship channel to slip. “If you look at the earlier IPL series as well, Zee TV is the one channel that has either grown during the event or fallen the least. We are ready to combat IPL this time too,” he says.

For Colors, the two weekend shows under the newly created Saturday block delivered average openings. Wanted High Alert opened with a 1 TVR, while Anhoniyon Ka Andhera earned a TVR of 1.7.
 
Meanwhile, Sab seems to have retained its loyal audience base with its light-comedy programming. The channel added 20 GRPs during the week on the back of its flagship show Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma and the newly launched properties.

Says Sab EVP and business head Anooj Kapoor, “We will keep building on our positioning of Asli Mazaa sab ke saath aata hai and keep providing innovative and refreshing content within the genre of light-hearted family entertainment. We also intend to increase the number of hours of programming as well as invest in increasing our reach.”

Sab claims to be best suited to fight against cricketing properties. Says Kapoor, “This year also during the cricket season we are seeing consistent growth as viewers have strong channel loyalty. We are going to promote our afternoon repeat shows aggressively to make sure that viewers, who are unable to tune into our evening shows because of the World Cup and the IPL, can watch them in the afternoon.”

Sab has also planned tracks that revolve around cricket fever for some of the popular shows like Papad Pol, and Mrs. Tendulkar.

A close look at the other channels: Imagine TV lost 4 GRPs to close the week with 71 GRPs despite airing the grand finale of the Shah Rukh Khan-hosted Zor Ka Jhataka – Total wipeout. The two-hour finale managed a 1.3 TVR.

Star One and Sahara One remained at their respective positions with 35 and 30 GRPs respectively.

MUMBAI: Base Batteries has roped in OmnicomMediaGroup (OMD) as its media agency.

The overall account stands at Rs 400 million.
 
The mandate was awarded following a multi agency pitch, which also involved Lintas, Maxus and Mudra Max.

The agency shall be responsible for planning, scheduling, buying and activating the media spread across TV, print and other initiatives. 
 
Base plans to have a 360 degree marketing plan addressing the mainline media as well as the BTL/ OOH and other initiatives. 
 
While Mudra continues to handle the creative part, Perfect Relations has been roped in for the PR purposes.
 

 
MUMBAI: With the cricket World Cup preceding the Indian Premier League (IPL), Max has decided to up its marketing spend by 30 per cent for the fourth edition of cricket‘s hottest property.

Max, the official broadcaster of the IPL, has also unveiled its marketing and communication campaign even as it targets a cumulative viewership of 150 million.

The new positioning this year is ‘IPL on, toh Bharat Bandh‘. Stretching across a period of six weeks till the launch of the tournament, the communication will be a complete 360 degree rollout across mass media.

“We have upped our marketing spend for promoting the IPL this year by 30 per cent. We expect the IPL to touch a cumulative viewership of 150 million, up from 142 million last year,” says Max senior executive VP, business head Sneha Rajani. 
 
Starting with TVCs, the communication will be seen across television, print, radio, Internet, billboards, mobile, BTL and Out of Home.
There are a series of seven TVCs which will be released over the next few weeks at weekly intervals. Each of these humorous films describes what happens in India when the DLF IPL is on.
 
Created and conceptualised by Max‘s creative agency JWT and directed & filmed by ad film and feature film director Shashank Ghosh, this series of films is being produced by director Rajkumar Hirani.

Backed by hilarious scripts, Raju‘s inputs and Shashank‘s comic sense, the films promise to entertain and build incredible momentum to the IPL 2011 campaign.

Says Rajani, “What we have seen over three years is that people change their routine to accomodate the IPL. This is what we have encapsulated. With the “Bharat Bandh” campaign this year, we have an immensely strong idea that the people of India will immediately identify with and relate to as well. We look forward to yet another record breaking edition of the IPL on Max this year.”
 
Canvas Films producer Rajkumar Hirani was actively involved in creating these campaigns. “When my partner Sanjiv Kishinchandani and I, first heard the idea of the Bharat Bandh, I realised that it had huge potential. If I had the time, I would have directed it myself. The next best way was to produce it, offer inputs and oversee it. Finally Shashank directed them. I feel he has done a brilliant job. I‘m sure these films will bring a definite smile to people‘s faces,” he says.

Shashank Ghosh has directed the TVCs. He says, “It‘s been great fun working on the “Bharat Bandh” films. I have tried to depict, with a humorous take, on how we all react to the IPL. It’s been a game changer in entertainment in India, and everybody at some level has altered their lifestyles and routines to accommodate it. I hope the people at large will like the series of commercials and wait with bated breath for the IPL to start.”

MUMBAI: Plan B has bagged the creative mandate for MTR‘s upcoming snacking business.

The mandate was awarded following a multi-agency pitch. The other agencies were JWT, FCB, Meridien and Euro RSCG. 
 
The pitch process was initiated around mid-January and had just one round of presentations.

The Bangalore-based agency will be responsible for building brands for MTR in this category, planning the launch campaign, and working on subsequent communication for the business. 
 
The creative duties of MTR‘s existing products are with Ogilvy India‘s Bengaluru branch and media duties are consolidated with Maxus.

MTR plans to launch the products in this new category around July this year.

Besides advertising services, Plan B‘s other practices lie in the areas of brand identity, brand design, private label identity, and internal branding. Plan B‘s sister concern, Restore Solutions, provides services in the area of retail design.
 
The brands Plan B currently handle include GE, Wipro, MegaMart, Paramount Cosmetics‘s Shilpa Bindis, and the Instinct range of men‘s grooming products, EMC, and YLG Salon & Spa.

MUMBAI: Windchimes has been handed the social media mandate for the Kochi Indian Premier league (IPL ) team Indi Commandos and will handle the team’s presence across social media platforms. 
 
The Mumbai-headquartered agency will play a key role in being the spokesperson for the brand online, creating buzz and building engagement for the team with its fans.

Windchimes will leverage social media to hold great cricketing conversations online for the team. The social media presence will also be used to give fans an opportunity to connect with the team, know their players, avail of the merchandise and be swept up in the magic of India’s biggest cricketing phenomena.
 
Kochi Cricket‘s Saket Mehta said, “Cricket is not a mere sport in this country; it is a religion. And the worshipping grounds, in the recent past, have moved to the hallowed portals of social networking sites. It made sense for us to be where the cricket crazy fans were – and that was online! For our first foray into cricket we are making sure we work with nothing but the best in all aspects. And in social media, we believe Windchimes will be the right partners for us.”
 
Windchimes Communications‘ Nimesh Shah commenting on the association with IPL Kochi said, “It is absolutely fantastic working with Kochi IPL team. The sheer euphoria around the game and particularly around this tournament is nothing short of addictive, and it is great to be a part of it. We will be leveraging social media not only to connect with fans but also met long term business objectives.”