Category: Marketing

MUMBAI: Big CBS Networks, the equal JV between Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd (RBNL) and CBS Studios International, has appointed McCann Erickson to handle its creative mandate, following a multi-agency pitch. The other agency that participated in the final round of the pitch was Rediffusion Y&R. 
 
Big CBS Networks will own and operate a portfolio of primary linear pre-programmed television channels in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Maldives and Pakistan.
 
The themed channels will be targeted at India‘s fast-growing, upwardly mobile population and will be branded Big CBS Prime (English general entertainment channel), Big CBS Spark (English youth channel) and Big CBS Love (English entertainment channel for women).
 

MUMBAI: Telecom service provider Idea Cellular has conceptualised a programme aimed at developing relevant skill sets among school children, which extend beyond academics.

The company has launched ‘Kaho What’s Your Idea’ – a National inter-school skills fest, aimed at all round personality development of Children by creating a platform of learning with fun and entertainment.
 
Idea says that it has become the first brand in the telecom category to focus on building brand awareness amongst this nascent and high potential segment.

The launch of the national school connect program, at an event in Mumbai, saw an entertaining and lively mock session conducted by the Quiz programmer and Host, Derek O’Brien, engaging school students, while concurrently explaining the programme. 
 
Having realised the change in the pattern of Education in India and across the globe, which has become more practical and application based, Idea through the ‘Kaho What’s Your Idea’ initiative aims at initiating a movement which is focussed at developing the school children’s all round personality, by engaging them in activities which promote Logical thinking; Weaving a story; Application of Memory skills and Real-Life skills; besides honing their General Knowledge and Current Affairs.

Idea’s ‘Kaho What’s Your Idea’ program will reach out to over 200,000 children in 3,000 schools across 100 Indian cities, with the support of Derek O’Brien and Associates, which is also the content partner for the initiative.

O’Brien said , “The potential impact on children has been a missing element from the debate about of the changing pattern of Education in India . It is very important to rapidly equip the children with greater understanding of the impact of the changing environment and its requirements. ‘Kaho What’s Your Idea’ will provide a platform to the students to come out and put forth their perspectives , thought processes and examine and explain situations logically and rationally”. 
 
The theme ‘Kaho What’s Your Idea’ itself explains the freedom of thought and expression that students will get to present, during the fest. This will not only help them look at situations rationally but would also boost their confidence in public and extempore speaking. The programme will be open for students of Standard eight to 12th; and the members of the jury, during the school and city level screening, would comprise principals, counselors, and teachers from across the country.

Idea Cellular senior VP marketing Anupama Ahluwalia says, “Brand Idea has always raised concerns of the society and offered a Champion solution to overcome them. Idea has recognized the need for skills beyond academics, among school children. ‘Kaho What’s Your Idea’ campaign will give them a platform to speak their mind and test themselves in a holistic manner during their formative age , for building a better future. This will take our brand to the fastest growing segment in the Indian demographic , and build brand awareness amongst them.”

Idea adds that it has realised the potential in the Indian youth and created an engagement program to target this segment, just before they step into the crucial decision making age of 15-18 years, with the new national inter-school skills fest.

‘Kaho What’s Your Idea’ school connect programme will be held in three stages, starting with a School Contact Programme where students will be given a 10-minute Test paper.

The second stage will be the City Finals, where the top six winners from Level 1 would be shortlisted. They would then have to clear a written semi-final round to determine the Top 10 all- India finalists.

The third Level is the National Final where the 10 winners, accompanied by one of their parents, will come to Mumbai (or the city decided for the national final) and contest for the Trophy in the final hosted by Derek O’Brien.

‘Kaho What’s Your Idea’ ground activities will take off this month and will continue till the end of the current academic session. Children interested in participating can contact their school authorities.

MUMBAI: Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd (RBNL) has elevated Ashwin Padmanabhan to the position of national head of Big Street, its out-of-home (OOH) division.

As national head of Big Street, Padmanabhan will report to Big Live and Big Street business head Rabe Iyer.

At Big Street, Padmanabhan‘s key role will be to build and grow the Big Street business, thus enabling a significant contribution to RBNL. He will focus on acquisition and creation of innovative OOH inventories across the country. Along the way he will drive research on the usage and consumption of Big Street‘s OOH offerings. 
 
Padmanabhan has been with the group since its inception, and prior to moving to Big Street, he was spearheading the Delhi Operations of Big FM as its station head. He was also instrumental in launching Big FM stations in Andhra Pradesh.

Iyer said, “Big Street aims to completely transform the way outdoor communication is being looked upon by marketers. I am extremely confident that Ashwin will add tremendous value to Big Street.” 
 
Padmanabhan has over 14 years of experience in varied sectors. He started his career with Reliance Industries Limited at their Hazira petrochemical complex, and subsequently got involved in starting his own venture Superseva.com, India‘s first online concierge services company. He was also instrumental in setting up and launching news channel TV-9. 
 
He has also worked with Visage Media Services an affiliate of Getty Images as Director.

Padmanabhan said, “I am excited about this new role. RBNL is an extremely dynamic and growth focused organisation with constantly evolving opportunities. Big Street has built superlative OOH assets in the North, and in the coming months we will be focusing on the West to evaluate opportunities and build assets. With this we will be able to offer our clients innovative OOH assets across key markets.”
 

MUMBAI: Mandeep Malhotra has been named president of Mudra Max – OOH services.

He will continue to report to Mudra Max chief strategy officer Anurag Gupta. Prior to the elevation, Malhotra was SVP Primesite, a unit of Mudra Max.
 
Malhotra said, “Change is a very pleasant constant. Mudra Max is a place where talent is appreciated and groomed for future leadership, not only within the group, but the entire industry. My new role will be to evolve Mudra Max’s OOH business to the next level.

“I am looking forward to bringing a better interactive edge to the outdoor space in the future.” 
 
Gupta says, “Mandeep is a rare professional who has the experience of a veteran and passion which can put a management trainee to shame. In his new role Mandeep is not only going to add value to all our OOH offerings but will also be a key resource in integrating various offering of Mudra Max on the whole. I wish him all the best for a long and fruitful journey with us.”
 
Mudra Max CEO Pratap Bose adds, “Mandeep has shown great panache in building the Mudra Group’s Out-Of-Home capabilities in the last two years, and has groomed a well knit team as we go forward. Under his leadership I am sure he would take the OOH industry by the scruff of its neck, and help us attain the industry leadership position that we strive for.”
 

MUMBAI: UK-based advertising and PR agency Beattie McGuinness Bungay, popularly known as BMB, is entering into the Indian market through an equal joint venture with Madison World.
 
Madison‘s ad agency MC2 will be merged into the joint venture entity that will offer creative services to advertisers.

Prabha Prabhu will take up the role of chief executive officer of the JV.

The company will set up an office in Mumbai and a chief creative officer from UK will be appointed soon.
 
“For a long time now, we have been exploring various options to beef up our creative offering…with this initiative, we have filled an important gap in Madison World offering across all communication functions,” Madison CMD Sam Balsara said in a statement.
 
BMB was founded in May 2005 by TBWA London former chairman and creative director Trevor Beattie, CEO chief executive Andrew McGuinness and deputy creative director Bil Bungay.

BMB has offices in the UK and US and employs about 100 people. It has a rich list of clients including Samsung, Diageo, Thompson, Cobra, MCCain Carling and Penguin.

MUMBAI: Times Audience network (TAN), the digital video arm of the Times Group, has entered into an online and mobile video advertising sales partnership with Monsoon Ads, a leading online video advertising network.

As part of the deal, the digital video arm of the Times Group will exclusively sell ads for internet portals and mobile apps in the Monsoon video advertising network for India.
 
TAN syndicates and monetises digital video content for online video publishers including Times Now, Zoom, ET Now, Star News, Aaj Tak, India TV and Headlines Today among others.

The new agreement will benefit both advertisers and publishers who are part of the combined network, offering advertisers reach and access to audiences across a network of Indian portals including Times Group sites and others such as Bollywood Hungama, Eros On Demand and Rajshri, the company said. 
 
Times Internet Limited CEO Rishi Khiani said, “Both publishers and advertisers in the space have been dealing with sub-standard monetization solutions, primarily because of limited options. This partnership brings to the fore the cream of India’s online video publishers with best of breed ad-formats, innovations and analytics to delight our advertisers.”

Added Monsoon Ads director Harsh Nagpal, “The partnership with the TAN allows us to capture and monetise the online/mobile video market in India unlike any other video advertising network has been able to. We intend to provide unprecedented monetisation to all our Internet and mobile partners and create the most effective video advertising network for India.”
 
Internet video advertising is highly targeted and measurable as compared to television, print and online display advertising. An advertiser is only billed for an ad seen by a viewer as opposed to being billed for ‘perceived reach‘ of a given TV channel.

Monsoon Ads also leverages user location and demographic data to provide brands an opportunity to make sure their ads target the right customer.

NEW DELHI: Dainik Jagran today claimed that it has emerged as the new market leader in Jharkhand as a result of its campaign, Jharkhand Jagran (re-awaken Jharkhand).

The flagship brand of Jagran Prakashan Ltd and India’s largest read daily for the past 15 consecutive rounds of the IRS survey, the newspaper has extended a special celebration offer to its advertisers.
 
As part of Jharkhand Jagran launched in April, a mass survey was conducted in Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand . The Jagran survey covered over 200,000 homes from April to mid-June. The survey went a bit beyond just capturing reading habits, and asked citizens to comment on the core issues concerning them.

The survey showed that people believed that empowerment though information was a key priority for them and newspapers played a critical role here. They believe that newspapers echo their voice and take their concerns to the decision makers and help in development of the state.

The core issues that emanated from the research were the problem of political instability, law and order, and education amongst a whole lot of other issues.
 
A Jagran Forum was conducted in Ranchi to address the issue of political instability and its impact on economic development. Political leaders from across the board came together on this platform and addressed this issue and sought to alleviate the concerns of the people as voiced in the survey.

Sometime during mid-June all the three leading papers of Jharkhand including Dainik Jagran reduced the cover price to Rs 2. This was followed up with a very aggressive circulation drive. As a result of this, circulation numbers increased for all the existing players.
 
Between 11th June to 18th August, the combined circulation of Dainik Jagran, Hindustan and Prabhat Khabar increased by over 50 per cent within a month – leaving very little potential for the new entrant to encash. All along, the trade has been with the existing players as their financial interests have not been compromised.

As a result of intense on ground campaigns, editorial initiatives, aggressive pricing and circulation along with a host of branding initiatives, Dainik Jagran + I Next have emerged as the new market leaders in Jharkhand.

MUMBAI: Lowe Lintas has won the creative duties for the Karvy Group after a multi- agency pitch.

The account will be headed by Lowe Lintas executive director Anaheeta Goenka.
 
Lowe Lintas CEO Charles Cadell commented, “We are proud to be associated with the Karvy Group. They are known to set benchmarks in the financial services category. Our philosophy of high value ideas promises a new take on driving visibility for the group. It is an exciting category and we are all charged up to make the most of it.”
 
Formed in 1983 in Hyderabad, Karvy group companies include – Karvy Computershare, Karvy Stock Broking and Karvy Comtrade. It also is among the top Mutual fund mobilizerS. Its new business initiatives include NBFC, Wealth Management and Data Management Services, while Karvyonline.com, the online personal finance portal of Karvy, provides retail investors the entire gamut of financial services under one platform.

Karvy Group – group head, corporate affairs J Ramaswamy said, “We are happy to partner with Lowe Lintas. They were a natural choice to implement our creative and strategic planning activities because of their understanding of the group and the energy that they bring to the table.”
 
Karvy has 575 offices over 375 locations across India and overseas representative offices at Dubai and New York with over 9000 employees.
 

MUMBAI: Global market research firm Synovate has appointed Sunil Saxena as director to head its field operations in India.

Saxena will oversee all 14 fieldwork centres in India and will report to Synovate India MD Mick Gordon. 
 
This will be Saxena’s third inningS at Synovate. He has previously worked with Blackstone Market Facts India (BMFI became Synovate in 2004) and then Synovate from 2001-2005.
 
Gordon said, “Saxena brings over 25 years of in-depth knowledge and rich experience in handling specialised fieldwork operations. Quality and consistency of data collection methods is the backbone of market research, and he will play a strategic role in ensuring we continue to set new benchmarks in data collection methodologies and standards.”
 
The company said that Synovate now is among the top four market research players in India and number six worldwide. And Saxena’s appointment is also important as Synovate India moves towards ISO 20252 market research certification.

Saxena moves from Lattice Bridge Infotech, where he spearheaded the voice enabled advertising and market research (VAMR) division. His earlier stints were with Gallup and IMRB.