Category: Marketing

MUMBAI: Bangalore-based Out-of-Home (OOH) company Serve & Volley‘s chief operating officer J Vishwanath has put in his papers.

Currently serving his notice period, Vishwanath will be with the company till the end of March.
 
Confirming the development, Vishwanath says, “I have spent three years with this company and am now looking out for better opportunities. He also cited personal reasons contributing to this decision.”
 
On his future, Vishwanath says, “It‘s still early to decide. I am evaluating the various options available.”

Serve & Volley has yet to decide on who will step into Vishwanath‘s position.
 
The OOH company was founded in 1998 and has been associated with projects including Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and Kolkata Metro Rail.

MUMBAI: Betting big on its upcoming reality cum game show National Bingo Night that will have Abhishek Bachchan making his debut on television as a host, Colors is carrying out a flurry of marketing activities – all surrounding the “Aaram” (relax) factor.

For starters, the promotional campaign has centred around the Aaram factor. Colors is claiming that viewers just need to sit and relax to enjoy the show that is to unveil on 23 January.
 
The campaign shows glimpses of Bachchan reclining on an easy lazy boy chair or dozing in a cozy bed in promos announcing the launch of his ‘Aaram Classes‘.
Says Colors programming head Ashvini Yardi, “Abhishek Bachchan embodies the charm, the grace and the persona of the young India. His energy, spirit and infectious charm is something that will be refreshing for Indian television. This was the exact mix of qualities we were looking for in the person who would host this new show.”

The format of the show is originally owned by 20th Century Fox Television Distribution. In India, it is being produced by Fox Television Studios India.
 
Says Colors marketing head Rameet Arora adds, “A unique show calls for unique ideas. When we decided to do this show, we knew that the promotion had to be unique. It did not involve any application of brains or IQ or answering tough questions or engaging in any strenuous physical activity. Yet everyone is involved. This is when we hit upon the concept of Abhishek‘s Aaram Classes.”

The campaign, which launched the ‘Abhishek‘s Aaram Classes,‘ was created by creative agency Orchard with the promos being shot by Morse Code Productions.

The idea behind the campaign focused on the simplicity of the show and how one does not need to do anything to win, enjoy or meet Abhishek Bachchan – the only skill required is the ability to chill, lay back and enjoy.

Adds Arora, “Aaram is the idea that will be the center point of the Bingo campaign all the way through. In ways that I promise will surprise you. So keep watching for the campaign as it unrolls.”
 
The campaign has become a rage on the internet in less then 10 days. Arora claims that the microsite has got close to a million page views and hundreds of thousands of viewers. The channel has also got over 50,000 user generated comments and tips on aaram. Thousands of people have taken the test to get the certificate of being an Aarami, over 6000 registered themselves as fans on the official face book page of I Am Aarami. Also, there are already close to 2000 followers on twitter.

The channel has taken a 360 degree approach that involved the use of all traditional forms of media and below the line promotion as well. Apart from short teaser films across channels and on Colors, the channel has put a sofa with a man chilling during the peak hour at contact points like railway stations and bus stops.

Colors has already roped in Idea Cellular as title sponsor for the show.

MUMBAI: Apple Rush, the producer of Organic 100 per cent juice sparkling beverages, has retained the services of Jumpstart Marketing for its 2010 marketing and advertising campaign.

Jumpstart specializes in assisting companies in gaining access to mass market retail establishments through its network of sales representatives, media contacts and celebrity endorsements.
 
Says Jumpstart Marketing president Rich Cotler, “We are happy to begin our marketing campaign with the organic Apple Rush beverages. With our extensive portfolio we know this will be a constructive relationship that will have a positive impact on their exposure and brand awareness.” 
 
Jumpstart claims to utilize its experience with mass-market retail channels and close tie-in with Hollywood celebrities and celebrity athletes to create brand awareness by achieving successful placement of a company‘s product(s) on celebrities where they can be seen on TV, in movies, and in magazines. This offers a significantly lower cost of promotion than traditional advertisements in the above-the-line media platforms as well as creating a product “endorsement”, the company says in a release.
 
Says Apple Rush Co president Robert Corr, “Jumpstart Marketing offers us the opportunity to gain a substantial amount of exposure, and they have the experience to professionally market our beverage line.”

MUMBAI: Bollywood and lifestyle channel Zoom is the latest beneficiary of the “roadblock” strategy that seems to have caught the fancy of advertisers in a downturn year.

Fastrack, the youth lifestyle brand that specialises in the manufacturing of watches, eye wear and accessories, will block for the entire day on 30 December the advertising space on Zoom.

“Fastrack will ocuppy roughly 12,000 seconds on the channel, including both advertising space as well as promos,” Zoom Entertainment Network CEO Suresh Bala tells Indiantelevision.com.
 
As part of the tie-up, Fastrack‘s new campaign myEXbox, which is built around the brand‘s theme ‘Move On,‘ will be exclusively aired on the channel along with six other creatives.

To complete its loop, the Fastrack myEXbox campaign will step beyond television to invite people to record or upload their confessions on www.fastrack.in/myEXbox to get a chance to be the next such Fastrack ad on TV. 
 
Says Zoom business head Bala Iyengar, “Fastrack has a very strong connect with the modern youth today, and we are extremely sure that their new “Move On” collection and ad campaign will be appreciated and liked by the Zoom viewers. This is yet another innovation from Zoom to rise above the marketing clutter and do something innovative and unique.”

Adds Fastrack marketing head Simeran Bhasin, “As a youth brand, we need to constantly innovate and experiment; with not only our communication but the way we use different media vehicles. The Roadblock on Zoom is another such attempt.”

The channel‘s media account is handled by Maxus.
 
Earlier in September, FMCG major Hindustan Unilever (HUL) blocked one complete day across all channels from the Star and Zee stables to consume the entire advertising airtime for that day.

Ads of 20 HUL brands ran across 10 channels of the Star network including Star Plus, Star One, Star Gold, Star Utsav, Star Movies, Star World, Channel [V], Star Jalsha, Star Pravah and Star Vijay on 17 September.

On 24 September, a similar exercise was repeated on the Zee network with HUL conducting a roadblock across 25 Zee channels.

HUL repeated the roadblock on the Star network channels on 29 October.

MUMBAI: Krimson Media Services has roped in Idea Telecom as the title sponsor for the upcoming cricket series in Bangladesh.

Idea will be shelling out Rs 50 million, a source says. Other clients include UTI Mutual Funds and Tata Motors.

The tour, which commences from 4 January, includes seven ODIs (involving India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) and two Tests between India and Bangladesh. 
 
The ODI series will take place between 4-13 January, followed by the Tests from 17 January onwards.

Says Krimson Media Services CEO Sunil Manocha, “The interest level in this series is very high and we have already closed out the title sponsor position for the one-day and the Test series. Idea Telecom is the title sponsor for both the series.”
 
Krimson Media is in negotiations to close out the associate sponsor position. “We will also be closing all rights very soon,” Manocha adds.

MUMBAI: ‘Maruti Wagon R‘ has been able to create the highest brand experience followed by ‘Maruti Alto‘, reveals the latest study by TNS.

At the same time, Tata Nano‘s brand experience is the lowest among the 18 brands studied. The success of Wagon R is evident from the fact that it has been able to displace ‘Hyundai Santro‘ from the top position and is able to garner a higher brand experience than the larger selling Maruti Alto.
 
 
The study findings also show that `word of mouth‘, `test drive‘ and `cars on the road‘ are among the five most influential contacts apart from TV and newspaper ads. The influence of the word of mouth has grown over last three years and that of newspaper ads has actually come down.

Still the car marketers spend a huge amount of money on full page ads in newspapers and very little is spent on buzz marketing. Predictably, the influence of manufacturer websites has grown over the years. The younger age group notices the websites more than the older age group. The influence of test drives has also shown a consistent rise. Once again the younger people seem to experience the test drives more than the older buyers. 
 
Majority of car companies use celebrities in their advertisements. Overall influence of celebrities is low in the category but has been increasing. The older age groups notice celebrities less than the younger age groups. The influence of car test reviews on TV has been going up and they are viewed more by the younger buyers. It is understandable because a moving car shown on TV with accompanying expert comments is more interesting and informative than a press article. However, the advantage of a press article is its easy irretrievability when required. But the younger generation constantly up on the learning curve can probably do the same on the YouTube and such other internet portals.

“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don‘t know which half” said John Wanamaker, a visionary businessman of America.

“Today, almost a hundred years later, his statement still sounds refreshingly true” says TNS Automotive SVP Pradeep Saxena. According to him, all brands build relationships with their stakeholders by creating a brand experience. If this brand experience can be quantified, then John Wanamaker could possibly get his answer.
 
The key challenge in measuring the brand experience is identifying a common unit to measure the effect of different media. As per Saxena, Integration – a company owned by ex-media and advertising professionals, has developed just such a unit. It is a measure called ‘Brand Experience Point‘ or BEP. It measures the quantity of brand experience created by a brand through individual contacts (media) used by it. This is a common unit, which can be used across all contacts and is amenable to all arithmetic operations.

The Contact Point Optimization (CPO for short) study of TNS uses this concept to compare the Brand Experience generated by various car brands. It is a study conducted across ten media markets amongst recent buyers and current owners of cars in addition to the intending car buyers.
 

MUMBAI: aMap has stitched a contract with Tata Sky, securing the company‘s DTH audience measurement business.
Under the agreement, aMap will provide DTH viewership and interactive service usage data through their syndicated DTH measurement panel, aMap Digital. 
 
Says Tata Sky CMO Vikram Mehra, “With a subscriber base of 4.5 million, Tata Sky has played a significant role in the growth and development of the DTH sector that is poised to touch the 40-50 million mark by 2015. At the stage that the industry is in, we think it‘s time that efforts are made to understand and measure the audience viewing habits of these viewers better and are excited to associate with, aMap.”

aMap Digital uses a proprietary – format independent content identification – technology which measures all types of interaction with the TV, be it digital broadcast, use of interactive service or time-shifted viewing. 
 
Adds aMap CEO Joseph Eapen, adds, “DTH measurement is vital for the industry as it will manifest the true choice of the viewers, as the DTH space is devoid of placement games, last mile chaos and related influence. It is a boon to niche channels as well.”
 
aMap is known for its overnight ratings system in the analogue space. aMap Digital now covers the Digital space.

MUMBAI: The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has pulled mobile service operators Reliance Communication and Idea Cellular for running misleading ad campaigns for the period from July to October 2009.
 
ASCI has said that Reliance Communications‘ television campaign (TVC) of ‘fastest mobile broadband service in India‘ has failed to substantiate its claim, after comparing data of other mobile services.
 
Another Telecom operator Idea Cellular has been pulled up for its TVC ‘Walk When you Talk.‘ According to ASCI, the TVC encouraged unsafe act of talking on the phone while walking on the road.
 

MUMBAI: Global Advertisers, the outdoor advertising agency headquartered in Mumbai, is pushing for a 45-50 per cent revenue growth in 2010.

Says Global Advertisers MD and chairman Sanjeev Gupta, “We are going to post a 15-20 per cent growth in our revenues this year and and as we see 2010 to behave fertile for the advertising industry once again, we expect to witness a 45-50 per cent revenue growth during the year.”
 
According to Gupta, the sectors that have contributed most towards the company’s revenue growth are retail and FMCG. “While retail contributed almost 40 per cent to the total revenue, FMCG added about 20-25 per cent,” he says.

Gupta further notes that though profit from the retail sector was not much, “its demand for outdoor advertising had increased and as a result, our vacancies were utilised.”
 
The other sectors that have added to the agency’s revenue pie are automobile, banking, construction, electronics, film industry, garment and jewellery.

With the advent of the New Year, Global Advertisers, which derives 70 per cent of its revenues from local clients, is expecting to increase its client base by 20-25 per cent.
 
“For 2010, our main focus will be to tap the local market further and increase the entertainment industry profile portfolio too. We are also coming up with new ideas and various innovative schemes to attract even very small clients.”

Meanwhile, with the total advertising market poised to grow by 10.5 per cent this year (ZenithOptimedia 2009 report), Gupta expects out-of-home to contribute 10-15 per cent to the total growth.
 

MUMBAI: Sony Entertainment Television (Set) has partnered with online matrimonial site Shaadi.com for its new show Rishta.com. Produced by YRF TV, Rishta.com is a one-hour fiction that debuts on the channel on 3 January.

Says Set marketing head Danish Khan, “To market the show, it was necessary to go online and Shaadi.com was a perfect fit. Both Shaadi.com and Rishta.com are targeted towards like-minded consumers. Thus a synergy made a lot of marketing sense.”
 
The tie up, symbiotic in nature, is a long-standing deal between the two properties. Says Set spokesperson, “Initially the deal will introduce three stages. However, going further, more innovations would be done.”

Firstly, a microsite of Rishta.com will feature on Shaadi.com, thus, helping market the show the online way.
 
Also, at a pre-designated time every month, the lead characters of the show will chat with prospective Shaadi.com members and help them find their partner.

Finally, the show will involve the lead characters going to ‘Shaadi Point‘, where they will meet up with prospective people and help them in choosing their partners.
 
Rishta.com is a show on how searching for the right partner has evolved from traditional means to using online matrimonial services because of the change in lifestyle.

The show that has Alpenliebe as the title sponsor will air every Sunday at 8 pm.