Category: Marketing

MUMBAI: TV Networks including NBC, ABC, Fox, Nickelodeon, ABC Family and other cable networks have banned a new television commercial (TVC) made by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in the USA.

The commercial revolves around a little girl who says grace before her family‘s thanksgiving dinner and earnestly describes in her prayer how turkeys suffer on filthy factory farms. 
 
The networks refused to allow PETA to buy airtime for the 30-second spot, even though they take advertising money from companies that carefully hide animals‘ true living conditions on factory farms and the cruelty of animal‘s deaths in slaughterhouses, says PETA in a statement.

The Learning Channel felt that the overall tone of the spot was very disturbing for our family viewers. NBC too said that this commercial did not meet its Universal standards.
 
On the other hand, the Discovery Kids channel commented, “Discovery, which as a whole, is very conservative and legal, feels that this spot would be too disturbing and traumatic for children to view.”

PETA had designed the ad to run during family programmes, including the Macy‘s Thanksgiving Day Parade, so that young viewers could decide for themselves whether or not to eat turkey this year. 
 
Commented PETA EVP Tracy Reiman, “Young people have a natural affinity for all animals, including the gentle turkey, whom Benjamin Franklin wanted to make our national bird. They deserve to know why birds raised for the Thanksgiving table have nothing to be thankful for. Rather than contributing to factory-farming cruelty, many kids are now asking their parents for vegan holiday meals.”
 

MUMBAI: Bates 141 Delhi has roped in Vaasu Gavarasana as executive vice president.

Gavarasana will assume his new role from 30 November, to replace Jayanto Banerjee. 
 
Says Gavarasana, “I could connect well with the fresh management team at Bates 141. My mandate will be to understand the Delhi market, its clients and challenges and then address them.” 
 
Prior to this, Gavarasana was in Singapore where he was a dotcom entrepreneur.

Meanwhile, Banerjee will move to the Middle East to meet some personal commitments. He joined Bates 141 as EVP in October, 2008.
 
“I have my family in the Middle East and I have some urgent personal commitments to be addressed. So, I would be returning to the Middle East,” says Banerjee.
 

MUMBAI: ZenithOptimedia (ZO) India, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary, has elevated Satyajit Sen MD North to CEO with immediate effect.

Meanwhile, Ambika Srivastava has been given additional role of chairman of the company. She will continue with her other responsibility as chairman of Vivaki Media Exchange.
 
ZO APAC CEO Philip Talbot said, “As we continue to grow and expand it is only right that we reward and promote those people who were instrumental in our success. Sen richly deserves this promotion and with Ambika‘s guidance I am sure we will continue to achieve success. His profound knowledge and understanding of the Indian media market as well as clients businesses and deep insight of the challenges facing our industry has earned him a reputation as a trusted and respected leader.”
 
ZO said that India is a strategic market both for businesses and brands worldwide and its client acquisitions are testimony to the media agency‘s hallmark – The ROI Blueprint. The company claims that with the latest addition of Usha international business to its client roster, it has reached “$100 million for new business acquisition in ZO India for 2009”.

“We are delighted that Satyajit will be leading ZenithOptimedia India into its next era of growth,” commented ZenithOptimedia Worldwide CEO Steve King. “I would like to thank Ambika Srivastava for her contribution towards the growth of ZenithOptimedia India. We are glad that she continues to be an invaluable resource for ZenithOptimedia and the Vivaki group.”
 
 
On his promotion Sen said, “Ambika has been a great leader who has created benchmarks for us at ZenithOptimedia India and I am looking forward to carrying that legacy and taking this team to newer heights through stronger client relationships -current and new, and re-affirming our commitment to ROI.”
 

MUMBAI: In a move to extend its ‘Jiyo Befikar‘ message, Bajaj Allianz has tied up with the upcoming Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan starrer Paa.

This tie-up further emphasises the importance of financially securing a child‘s future through Bajaj Allianz Child Plans. Continuing on the lines of the Child Plans campaign already on air, Bajaj Allianz has introduced an integrated advertisement on child plans which has been interspersed with the promo of the film. 
 
Commenting on this association, Bajaj Allianz head marketing, Akshay Mehrotra, said, “In a country where Bollywood is nothing short of a religion, here is a unique opportunity to combine the story of an emotional relationship between a father and son with our unique Child Plan campaign.

The integrated advertisement re-emphasises the need for parents to think about their child‘s future and plan for their finances. The real life, and now reel-life, father-son relationship between Amitabh and Abhishek epitomises how security can bring you happiness and comfort, which is a reflection of our ‘Jiyo Befikar‘ message. 
 
Talking about the tie-up, director R Balki said, “Financial planning for a child‘s future is an important element of the responsibilities that come with being a parent. It is a privilege to be associated with Bajaj Allianz and I feel this is a great initiative to spread awareness about child plans.”

Paa set to release on 4 December is a bright and cheerful family entertainer directed by R. Balakrishnan. The film also stars Vidya Balan and Paresh Rawal. 
 
One of the most awaited films of recent times Paa has generated huge interest amongst film-goers due to the rare and emotional subject, a unique role reversal between Amitabh-Abhishek Bachchan in the film and Amitabh Bachchan‘s look in the film.
 

MUMBAI: In the wake of a multi-agency pitch, MPG India has preserved the media account of Reckitt Benckiser.

As part of the new mandate, MPG will act as Reckitt Benckiser‘s media AoR for India and South Asia region. MPG India has been handling the media duties for Reckitt Benckiser since 2004.
 
Reckitt Benckiser has divided its media business between Havas Media Group and Publicis Group for 17 brands at the global level. The company claims that this consolidation will bring economies of scale, enhance media capabilities and ensure a fully integrated approach across all brands. 
 
Reckitt Benckiser EVP category Rakesh Kapoor said, “We have chosen two global media partners that will bring us new consumer insights, better capabilities in technology and systems and superior skills in ensuring that we build better consumer engagement strategies and executions.” 
 
Meanwhile, digital media make a significant component for all Reckitt brands.
 

BANGALORE: The digital signage market (DSM) in India, which is at a nascent stage with a size of about Rs.500 million annually, is expected to grow by about 300 to 400 per cent by the end of next year with the rebound of the global economy, according to a number of DSM players at the ‘Expert Tour‘ on Digital Signage organised by Emarson IT Solutions (EITS) in partnership with global DSM player Minicom Advanced Systems.

The road show was aimed to educate various industry participants such as co-vendors, partners, integrators and customers about what digital signage (DS) is and how it can be absorbed into various industries such as banking, transportation , hospitality, retail and OOH.
 
Organised retail is the biggest user of DS in India as well as globally. The market is catching up with static signage (bill boards, etc.) and will soon overtake it, say DSM pundits.

EITS co-founder and CEO Prateek Jaswant claims, “The out-of-home sector will be the only traditional advertising media to post real revenue growth during the next five years. The growth will be driven by the migration to digital and the incremental revenues generated from digital sites. Also, one of the major growth drivers of digital signage is the advancement in technology which has helped retailers, marketing and entertainment companies, and many other organisations to ‘narrowcast‘ dynamic video, graphical and editorial content on hundreds, or even thousands, of digital signage displays located virtually anywhere.”

Being a new industry in India and globally, a lot needs to done to help the industry grow even further. One of the challenges it faces is convincing the real estate owners to permit placing DS in their premises.

Another key factor is television content. While a viewer watches television for the sake of entertainment or news or knowledge, in the case of DS the message has to be short and loud to catch the attention of a viewer who could be a shopper in a store. Many advertisers and creative teams create content for in-store DS that is more suitable for television and include a lot of audio or just run television ads with or without audio. At present, DS is more of a visual than an audio-visual medium.
 
Most advertisers fear that DS calls for a lot of content to be created since in-store situations change over very short periods of time (even hourly) and hence could be expensive, says Scala Inc senior software developer Jahan T Kadhar. “You could run the same ad over and over in the background with just change in the text message, which is possible to render using current technology.”

Driving more than 300,000 screens worldwide, Scala is a global provider of digital signage and advertising management solutions that offers a platform for content creation, management and distribution in digital signage networks and for advertising management of both traditional and digital signage networks.

Selling DS by itself is another challenge, since it is not a part of most media planners who look at just Digital OOH. A number of media sellers also perceive DS as competition.
Capex and total cost of ownership (TCO) is not easily understood and there is no proven or standard return of investment (ROI) matrix for DS. The market lacks other indicators such as measure of reach. Neither the efficiency and efficacy measurement standards of DS are available. “We all know that it‘s working but have no way of proving it,” says Minicom Digital Signage CEO Ronni Guggenheim. 
 
Over 400,000 screens worldwide are using Minicom technology . “When measurability matrices were started for other mediums such as television and cinema, revenues of these mediums increased. We are at the same stage that television was in 1996 or cinema was in 2003,” adds Guggenheim.

The market is fragmented with a number of players with a small number of screens. “There have been times when we have had to send people to various places where we have deployed screens to check physically if they are working or not. Due to bad connectivity, I‘ve had to send the new ad clips on pen drives to various locations in my network,” says Tag Media Network President and CEO P R Sateesh.
 

MUMBAI: Maxus India has won the media duties of Akzonobel, formerly known as ICI Paints, following a multi-agency pitch. 
 
The other contenders in the pitch process included Mudra and Mediacom. 
 
Said ICI paints GM marketing Hemant Somani, “Maxus‘s understanding of the brand along with its coupled strong capabilities, translated into a new media approach for us that is powerful and compelling.” 
 
The other clients in its kitty include Vodafone, Nokia, TataSky, Hero Honda, Dabur, Perfetti, Titan, Bajaj Allianz, Fiat and Seagrams.

MUMBAI: Vizeum India, part of the Aegis Media Group, has bagged the media duties of Essar Corporate. Essar had several media agencies pitching for its multi-crore media business to effectively manage the company‘s communication investment. 
 
Says Essar head corporate brand Sandip Sen, “We chose Vizeum after a robust media pitch which saw participation of many players. Vizeum‘s strategic thinking and communication perspective, in addition to buying, planning and their commitment to our business, was the deciding factor.”
 
Avers Vizeum Media India MD Indian sub-continent S Yesudas, “We are extremely delighted with this important win. I thank Essar management for appointing us as their partners and we look forward to adding might and muscle to their communication investments. This has been one of the most detailed pitch processes, lasting for over two months and this win speaks volumes about the strength of our product and people.”
 
Aegis Media chairman India and CEO South East Asia Ashish Bhasin adds, “This win is another feather in Vizeum‘s cap. I welcome Essar into the Aegis family and it is gratifying to see how Yesudas has created a credible media agency from scratch within a very short span. I am sure more and more clients will soon gravitate to the Vizeum offering of connecting with consumers.”
This is the Vizeum‘s fourth new business win in five weeks. Over the last five weeks, the agency has also won the Luxor/Parker Group, Giovani and BSA Motors.

MUMBAI: For almost two years Sun TV Network had left its advertising rates untouched as the market stayed sluggish. But effective 1 January, the southern broadcasting major will up its rates as it forecasts a 20 per cent jump in advertising revenues for the full-fiscal.
 
For its Tamil channels, the ad rates will go up between 9-33 per cent. The increase in ad rates will be across Sun TV, KTV, Sun Music, Sun News, Chutti and Adhitya.

“We are looking at an ad revenue of Rs 6.9 billion for FY‘10, up 20 per cent from the previous year. The last time we had an ad hike was in February 2008. The downturn prevented us from going for a rate hike in FY‘09,” a source in the company tells Indiantelevision.com.
 
Sun is accordingly increasing the slot fees (broadcast fees) received from the content producers.

The changes in ad rates for other general entertainment channels of Sun TV Network – Gemini (Telugu), Udaya (Kannada) and Surya (Malayalam) – will be announced by the company within a fortnight. 
 
So how does Sun TV‘s rate hike impact the market? “The market was working at a discounted rate. Sun was not selling at their required premium. With the market leader upping rates, it will be good for everybody,” says Star India president (South) Jagdish Kumar.
Shares of Sun TV closed Tuesday at Rs 337, up 1.16 per cent.

MUMBAI: Mediamark Research & Intelligence (MRI) announced that WPP‘s GroupM has purchased MRI‘s AdMeasure, the ad ratings service for major consumer magazines.

AdMeasure, which was launched in June, sharpens focus of magazine accountability by going beyond measuring ‘opportunity to see‘ a print ad to measuring how many readers actually saw the ad, as well as how many took an action as a result of seeing it. 
 
Said GroupM director implementation research and marketplace analyst Lyle Schwartz, “AdMeasure provides an increased focus on print advertising accountability and that is of paramount importance to all GroupM agencies.

“We believe strongly in the power of print as an effective advertising vehicle, both now and in the future, and this service will help us achieve greater value for our clients.” 
 
Avered MRI president and CEO Kathi Love, “Historically, a magazine‘s total readership was accepted as a proxy for ad exposure but accountability-focused advertisers are demanding more direct measurement of the reach of their print ad campaigns.”
 
“GroupM joins two other companies–Time Inc and Starcom USA- in offering AdMeasure intelligence to their advertisers and clients.

“Moreover, we are in talks with several other major magazine and media buying companies, all of whom are very interested in the analytic power AdMeasure brings to our industry,” added Love.