Category: Marketing

MUMBAI: LG Electronics India has roped in John Abraham, Genelia D‘Souza and Abhay Deol as brand ambassadors for LG mobile phones in India.

LGEIL business group marketing head mobile communications Sudhin Mathur says, “
LG Mobiles will now deliver energised experiences in an unordinary way. As part of our overall strategy to reposition LG Mobiles as a youthful brand, the brand ambassadors‘ will help us relating with our consumers.” 
 
As brand ambassadors, John Abraham, Genelia D‘Souza and Abhay Deol will play a key role creating connect for the brand with the consumers.

Deol says, “I always stand for what I believe, be it professional or personal life. Brand LG has always been a personal favourite. These phones come with the perfect bundle of offerings that any youngster would want and is a perfect fit with me!”
 
“I love the networking concept in LG phones. The new range of LG phones makes it extremely convenient by offering whatever one needs and nothing which we don‘t,” says John Abraham.

“LG mobile phones are trendy, stylish, funky and chic; just the way I am. It is an honour to be associated with LG mobile phones. The mobile phones are so conveniently designed that it makes it user friendly and simple to operate,” avers Genelia D‘Souza
 
LG has planned an aggressive multi-media campaign covering television, radio, outdoor, cinema and internet which will be supplemented by print ads released during strategic periods.

The first campaign will break in the first quarter of 2010. LG Mobiles will be targeting to gain double digits among the young Indian consumers.
 

MUMBAI: Russell Barrett has put in his papers at Bates 141 as executive creative director to join BBH India. Officials at BBH India, however, refused to comment on the development.
 
As part of his new mandate, Barrett will working closely with BBH India managing partner Priti Nair.
 
Barrett was with Bates 141 for about one year and was associated with brands including Radio City, Virgin Mobile and Tata AIG.
 
Barrett has worked with agencies including Leo Burnett, O&M and Rediffusion DY&R.

MUMBAI: Manish Porwal, former Percept Talent Management (PTM) CEO, has bought a controlling stake in HR and talent solutions company Alchemist.

Having quit PTM in January, Porwal will move into a new role as managing director of Alchemist. He is also an advisor in communications, on the board of a large infrastructure company.
 
Says Porwal, “The huge role of people in our industry and the ironic lack of investment in them, always boggled me. Where my MNC jobs gave me respect for processes and roles in an organisation, Percept prepared me in relating with the power of individuals, the needs of top end celeb talent and for thinking like an entrepreneur. Bringing these learning together, I am determined to make Alchemist the leader in talent solutions, in the entertainment, media and communication industry.

We shall start with value adding in the verticals of MARS [Marketing, Advertising (Creative and media), Research and Ad-Sales]. I believe the relationships and skills I have developed over the last 15 years will allow me to set a world class company which shall finally be run by people who work in it and are not just employees but stake-holders. Alchemist will also allow me the width to look at other avenues that I have also wanted to be a part of.”
 
Adds Alchemist founder and COO Anujita Jain: “The team at Alchemist is glad that we now have a leader and strategic driver to give shape to our dreams. We are already excelling in the area of Executive search and vocational education & training, and given Manish’s ability to incubate and execute big plans, we would be talking bigger scale and scope. I am personally excited because Manish has been my mentor early in life and I look up to him for his integrity and passion and ability to give quality product to his clients.”

While Anujita will continue to be at the helm of affairs, Porwal will play the role of a mentor and chief strategist and also have time to pursue other consulting engagements in his individual capacity.
 
Alchemist is expanding its team and offices. The company announced appointments of Sweta Jhaveri as associate managing consultant and Nidhi Thakkar, Sumita Kevalramani and Jigna Upadhyay as senior consultants.

Outside Mumbai, Alchemist will have offices/affiliates in Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Singapore and London.

Porwal was earlier MD of Starcom India. After his MBA at NMIMS, he started his career at FCB Ulka and has also worked with BBC World, Everest and Vijay TV. At PTM, he briefly held an additional portfolio as CEO of Bollywood Corporation. He created CelebTrackTM, which measures celeb power across genres.
 

MUMBAI: With the hockey World Cup kicking off on 28 February, Ten Sports has sold 75 per cent of inventory.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) chief revenue officer Joy Chakraborty says that Nokia, Coca-Cola, Seagrams, Musli Power and TVS Srichakra Tyres have come on board as associate sponsors.
 
“We are holding back 25 per cent of inventory which we will sell at a higher rate. We will price it at Rs 50,000 per 10 seconds. For the India versus Pakistan match the rate is double,” adds Chakraborty.

As had been reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, Hero Honda is the title sponsor while MTS Mobile is a co-presenting sponsor. 
 
A media buyer notes that associating with this event is more about the values of a sport that is the country‘s national sport as opposed to watching TRPs. “Over the years many advertisers have stayed away from hockey. Now that the World Cup is in India, some brands look at this event as being a good association. It is about national pride.”

The viewership for the hockey World Cup is expected to come more from the mini metros and smaller cities like Pune and Ludhiana as opposed to the major ones.

“That is why ratings may not give you an accurate picture. Hero Honda sells more products in the smaller cities. They also talk of national pride in their campaigns. So this event is a perfect fit for them. Nokia and Coca-Cola address the youth. They want an event that is good, clean fun. The hockey World Cup fits the bill. I expect that males and youth will tune into this event the most,” says the media buyer.

MUMBAI: UltraTech Cement has renewed its sponsorship agreement with the Indian Premier league (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royals.   
Through this association, UltraTech will be the official team sponsor of the Jaipur-based IPL team.
 
UltraTech Cement business head OP Puranmalka said, “The coming together of the two brands, UltraTech Cement and Rajasthan Royals, is the bringing together of two champions. Both are champions in their respective domains. Both are leaders and victorious, and are a perfect match. UltraTech has had a long association with Indian Cricket and we are extremely proud to be associated with Rajasthan Royals.”
 

MUMBAI: The period for December 2009 saw a total of nine ads come under the scanner, reveals the latest report from The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). While one ad out of the nine was withdrawn, four underwent modification.

The ad that was withdrawn is that of Telemart Shopping Network for its Saptarishi Sri Panchmukhi Hanuman Kavach brand.
 
According to the report, the ad claims that the brand has supernatural qualities of providing energy and fending off all problems related to health, wealth and wisdom. As per CCC, the claims of the product were not substantiated, and thus the TVC has been withdrawn. Since the claims of the product were not corroborated, the commercial was withdrawn. 
 
Meanwhile, the ads that underwent modification are those of Novartis India Ltd for its Otrivin Nasal Spray TVC, The Unicharm India Pvt Ltd ad for Mamy Poko Pants diapers and the Airtel Digital TV ad.
 
The ads that were not upheld by CCC are Red Bull India, Orion Appliances for Spectrawide Water Purification System, Dabur Uveda Fairness Cream and Nutra Skyn Care for its Toppik Hair Building Fibers.

MUMBAI:Rediffusion-Y&R has been assigned with the creative duties of Rasna. 
 
Says Rediffusion Y&R Mumbai EVP Nisha Singhania, “We are glad to have won the Rasna account as it‘s an iconic brand. We have a deep understanding in the children and mother‘s segment in the Indian market. We shared our ideas with Rasna and they were happy with what we offered.”
 
The new campaign for Rasna will be launched during the summer of 2009.
 

MUMBAI: Grey India has won the creative duties of Dabur’s Fem and Oxybleach business.
 
Bagged after a multi-agency pitch, the accounts will be handled out of the agency’s Delhi office.
 
The Fem portfolio includes brands such as Stratum colour protecting hair conditioners, Botanica anti-aging cream, Oxybleach cream and Saka Men’s Bleach.
 
In December last year, Dabur had roped in Bates 141 and Law & Kenneth to handle the creative duties of Oxybleach ( for women) and Saka Men’s Bleach respectively, both of which are part of the Fem portfolio.

MUMBAI: Asian Paints has rolled out the Apex Ultima campaign. Conceptualized by Ogilvy Mumbai, the brand will be focusing on pushing Asian Paints‘ colour stay property.
 
Says Asian Paints VP sales & marketing Amit Syngle, “The new Apex Ultima film has been targeted at the high end consumer who has a taste of good living. The communication focuses on showcasing the ‘colour stay‘ property of the brand through an engaging film.” 
 
Adds Ogilvy Mumbai SVP Deepika Tiwari: “In this film we have communicated a simple promise ‘come what may Apex Ultima from Asian Paints is a paint that stays.”

MUMBAI: Kimberly-Clark has roped in Prakash Iyer as managing director of Kimberley Clark Lever, a 50:50 joint
venture between Kimberly-Clark Corporation, of USA and Hindustan Lever.

Iyer takes over from Rajeev Mohan who is retiring from the company after a stint of over 30 years stretched across USA and Indian in multiple functions and roles. 
 
Iyer says, “I am looking forward to my new innings with Kimberly-Clark. I hope to take our brands Huggies and Kotex to greater heights by tapping unexplored segments of the hygiene market and creating a stronger connect with Indian consumers.”

Based out of Pune, Iyer will be responsible for growing the business and the category in India. He will also be part of the regional leadership team of South Asian Developing & Emerging Countries comprising India, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines and Indonesia.
 
Incidentally, Iyer started his career with Hindustan Lever (now Hindustan Unilever) as a management trainee. Prior to this, Iyer was Future group CEO and was responsible for the company‘s loyalty business.