Category: Marketing

MUMBAI: Mudra MAX, part of the Mudra Group, has been awarded the media mandate of Shakti Pumps (India).
 
The size of the account is pegged at Rs 100 to 120 million.

Said Shakti Pumps (India) deputy general manager- marketing Ankit Patidar, “Considering our ambitious growth plans and vision to become the most valuable company amongst stainless steel submersible pump manufacturers, we felt the need to have a professional, informed approach towards media strategy and planning. We are pleased to have Mudra MAX as our media partner as we feel it is in sync with our approach as well as vision.”
 
“With the Commonwealth Games a couple of years away, the need to build a good transport system in Delhi was really important and Meru answers that call. Our taxis will be fitted with a GPS/GPRS device that will allow us to locate taxis and deploy it efficiently,” RoonAverred Mudra MAX media president LS Krishnan, “We are delighted to have the opportunity to partner Shakti Pumps as its media agency. It‘s a significant win for us. We will work together for all future launches and intend to help build the brand on a larger platform in the coming months.”
 

MUMBAI: HCL Technologies, a global IT services provider, has engaged Wieden+Kennedy (W+K) Delhi to work on a global brand strategy project. The first phase of the assignment starts immediately. 
 
Says HCL Technologies VP Krishnan Chatterjee, “Their fresh thinking, engaging operating style and cutting edge creativity are real assets to a partner like us. We believe we will receive a lot of value from this team yet again”.
 
Wieden+Kennedy Delhi was recently appointed by the Park Hotels for overall brand development and the launch of several new properties.
 

MUMBAI: Shantonu Aditya has joined Manhattan Communications, a total marketing solutions company, as co-promoter and executive director.

Besides Adris Chakraborty, other investors in Manhattan Communications and its affiliates include Bennett, Coleman & Co India, and original VC investors of PayPod Inc., USA. 
 
PayPod, a technology company developed by tech start-up guru Sashi Chimala, was acquired by MediaMorphosis in 2009. PayPod‘s proprietary AD network software currently powers the company‘s Ethniconline portal.

Manhattan Communications provides advertising, branding, public relations, marketing (media, interactive, ATL, BTL) and events management, in India and abroad. The company and its affiliates have offices in India, US and UK.

The company‘s New York headquartered US affiliate MediaMorphosis Inc. and the online portal Ethnic-online (EON) provide full suite of offline and online marketing agency services and solutions, specialising in targeting ethnic market spaces – specifically the rapidly expanding affluent South Asian diaspora in North America and globally. 
 
Manhattan Communications provides strategies and solutions to meet the marketing and branding objectives of clients, including aggressive customer acquisition strategies, guerrilla marketing and shaping of new market spaces.

Says Manhattan Communications chairman and founder Adris Chakraborty, “We are extremely excited to get Shantonu as our partner. His vast experience, expertise and relationships in the media and advertising space will help us chalk our aggressive growth plans, in India and globally. I am confident, that Manhattan Communications will scale new highs under Shantonu‘s leadership”.
 
Adds Aditya, “After working nearly 10 years in the television space with Sony Entertainment Television, Sahara One and UTV Broadcasting, and prior to that in the consumer durable and FMCG business, I am excited to become a full time entrepreneur partnering with Adris. Manhattan and its affiliate companies have a robust and scalable business model, and we have clear head start with focus on the global ethnic market with a complete suite of off line and online solutions”.

Aditya had quit UTV Global Broadcasting Ltd as executive director in late 2009.

MUMBAI: The rising popularity of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has forced the two arch rivals, Star Plus and Zee TV, to join hands.
 
In a common ad released on the front page of The Economic Times, the two channels jointly screamed that the “top Hindi serials outperform IPL.”
 
Using cricketing terms, the ad said the IPL was caught and bowled by Bidaai, Star Plus‘ top-rated show. Protecting Zee TV‘s turf, the ad also announced Pavitra Rishta (most-watched show for the channel) to have got IPL LBW (leg before wicket).

Quoting Tam data from week 11-14, the front page ad claimed the top four Hindi GEC shows – Bidaai, Yeh Rishta (Star Plus), Balika Vadhu (Colors) and Pavitra Rishta (Zee TV) – to have garnered more eyeballs than the IPL. 
 
“IPL match average remains lower than that of top four Hindi general entertainment shows (30-minute average ratings),” the ad said. The ad sources Tam data for C&S 4+, Hindi-speaking market.

While IPL scores a TVR of 5 for week 11-14, Bidaai is ahead at 5.9 TVR, Yeh Rishta at 5.8 TVR, Balika Vadhu at 5.4 TVR and Pavitra Rishta at 5.3 TVR.

“When India‘s favourite cricketers were battling it out on the field, more Indians were following Sadhana in Bidaai or one of their favourite characters on Hindi general entertainment channels. Clearly, it‘s not just cricketers who have millions of fans following them,” the ad communicated.

The third edition of the IPL, running for 45 days on primetime television in India, is likely to net an advertising revenue of Rs 7.5 billion.

Clearly, Hindi GECs don‘t want ad monies to migrate from them to Max, the official broadcaster of the IPL from the Multi Screen Media (formerly Sony Entertainment Television India) stable.

MUMBAI: Global market research firm Synovate has elevated Scott Miller to North America CEO. In his new capacity, Miller will be responsible for managing Synovate’s US and Canada business units.

Miller will replace Robert Skolnick, who will remain with Synovate as president of Industry Sectors North America, based in New York. Skolnick will also take on the additional role of assessing acquisition opportunities for Synovate across the globe.
 
Prior to the elevation, Miller was serving as managing director of global client relationships for Synovate. Earlier, he also has served as CEO of Synovate Motoresearch, the global automotive division of Synovate.
 
Synovate Global CEO Robert Philpott said, “Miller has been responsible for driving our business with many of our top clients in North America and across the globe, and has played a key role in getting our business on track over the last several months.”
 
Miller, who has over 22 years of market research experience, has conducted and overseen research projects in more than 40 countries during his career, spending several years in project management, methodological design, focus group moderation and strategic consulting. He began his career in market surveys at Saturn Corporation and also spent 12 years with Motoresearch, an automotive market research firm, where he was vice president and partner until Motoresearch was acquired by Synovate (then Aegis Research) in 2000.

MUMBAI: Bates141 Delhi has appointed Sambit Mohanty as executive creative director.

Prior to this, he was heading the creative function department at advertising and design firm, Brand Planet Elephant. 
 
Says Bates 141 CEO Sandeep Pathak, “He will work closely with Bates 141 Delhi EVP Vaasu Gavarsana to make the agency a destination for brands looking for real change in the North India market.”

Adds Bates 141 CEO Sandeep Pathak, “He will work closely with Bates 141 Delhi EVP Vaasu Gavarsana to make the agency a destination for brands looking for real change in the North India market.”
 
Mohanty has around ten years of experience in advertising and has worked with agencies like Euro RSCG, Lowe, Publicis, Vyas Giannetti Creative (VGC) and Leo Burnett.

Mohanty said, “It‘s a very exciting time to be at Bates and I‘m looking forward to be part of the action. The team here is young and keen to create great work and I‘m coming on board to partner them in this process.” 
 
Mohanty has worked on brands including Reckitt-Benckiser, Perfetti, Intel, MSN, Tanishq, Britannia, Nestle (Maggi), HP, ABN Amro, Indian Express, BBC World, Park Hotels and Religare.

MUMBAI: Hindustan Times has appointed Equus Red Cell as the creative partner for its tutorial center brand, ‘Studymate‘.
 
While Equus Red Cell CEO Swapan Seth confirmed on the win, he refused to comment on the business account size. 
 
Hindustan Times has partnered with MT Educare for the ‘Studymate‘ initiative. To begin with, Hindustan Times has rolled out four ‘Studymate‘ centers in the NCR region.

MUMBAI: Bates141 has roped in Kaizad Pardiwalla as executive vice president for its Mumbai office.

In his new capacity, Pardiwalla will be responsible for handling the agency‘s key accounts including Virgin Mobile, TVS, Fiat, Tata AIG, Pfizer, Hindustan Lever and ICICI Bank Credit Cards. 
 
Said Bates 141 chairman and regional executive creative director Sonal Dabral, “In Pardiwalla we found a perfect amalgamation of a good sensitive leader as well as someone who was passionate about putting good work out.”
 
Said Pardiwalla, “Bates141 has a clear vision for the future and I look forward to being an integral part of the team to fulfill that vision.”
 
Pardiwalla has 15 years of experience in the field of advertising and has worked with agencies like Lowe Lintas and Ogilvy and Mather (O&M).
 

MUMBAI: ITC‘s education and stationery products brand Classmate has launched its new television campaign, featuring cricketer Yuvraj Singh and actor Soha Ali Khan. 
 
Conceptualised by Rediffusion Y&R (Chennai), the TVC talks about a young person‘s imagination that goes beyond just academics and has the power to come up with new thoughts that could change the world.
 
The TVC, which will also be executed across cinema and online, has been directed by Shujaat Saudagar of Ramesh Deo Productions.
 

MUMBAI: Big Live, Reliance Media World‘s experiential marketing arm, has roped in Sameet Sharma as regional head-West. 
 
In his new role, Sharma will head Big Events, a part of Big Live, and report to Reliance Media World national head BTL Navneeth Mohan.

Sharma will be responsible for augmenting the business in the western region through growing the corporate clientele base, by building a strong backend team and increasing the assortment of services provided under the events and below-the-line (BTL) space. 
 
Says Mohan, “I am confident that Sharma will bring great value to the organisation. As we offer the experiential marketing experience to clients, we are happy to have someone with the experience and passion of Sameet lead the team and the business to the next level.” 
 
Prior to this, Sharma has been associated with Aditya Birla Group-Cement Division, Idea Cellular, Piramal Healthcare, ICICI Prudential, HSBC, UTI Mutual Funds and was involved in handling their national and international events.