Category: Marketing

MUMBAI: Mediaedge:cia (MEC) has roped in Rashna Pochkhanawala as MEC Interaction national director. She will report to MEC India MD, T Gangadhar and MEC Interaction Asia-Pacific head, Ben Poole.
 
Said Poole, “We are thrilled to have Pochkhanawala on board. As a regional head, in many ways you are only as good as the country leaders you have and in Pochkhanawala I believe, we have the right leader to deliver our interaction vision, develop the product offering and ensure that our digital services in India are fully integrated and executed within the wider MEC context.”

In her new role, Pochkhanawala will be responsible to drive business development and further strengthen MEC‘s body of work in the digital space.
 
Prior to this, she was Hungama Digital Media general manager (digital).
 
“Today is my first day and it‘s a great opportunity for me to be working with MEC. I‘m looking forward to using my digital experience to contribute in growing MEC‘s digital offering,” says Pochkhanawala

MUMBAI: While GroupM India bagged the agency of the year award at the World Brand Congress this year, it was Madison World chairman and managing director Sam Balsara who was named the CEO of the year. 
 
The lifetime achievement award was conferred to Eros International Media Group CEO AP Parigi while Bennett Coleman president Dr Bhaskar Das won the brand super achiever of the year.

Meantime, UTV Group CEO and founder chairman Ronnie (Rohinton) Screwvala bagged the media person of the year award. 
 
The winners in the other categories are:

Award For Brand Leadership In:

Service / Hospitality Industry

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd
Janashakti Insurance Company Limited
Durables

The Mobile Store Limited
Information Technology

ntel technology India Pvt. Ltd
Thompson Reuters
FMCG Industry

Tata Chemicals (Tata Salt)
Automobile

Honda Siel Cars India Ltd
Airlines

Kingfisher Airlines Ltd
Excellence in Brand Innovation

Roamware India Pvt. Ltd.
Internet Business

TimesOfMoney Ltd
Banking and Financial Services

Life Insurance Corporation of India
Religare Enterprises Ltd
 
Footwear

Metro Shoes
Media / Entertainment

Sab TV
Yahoo India
Radio

Synergy Media (My FM)
Construction

City Corporation Limited
Advergame of the year – Entertainment & Media

NDTV Imagine – ‘Rakhi ka Swayamvar‘
Advergame of the year – Telecom

Reliance Mobile
Advergame of the year – Lifestyle

Zodiac- ZOD
Advergame of the year – Auto

Tata Nano
Advergame of the year – Foods & Beverages

Cadbury
Advergame of the year – Kids space

Parle Products
Advergame of the year – Women

Johnson & Johnson

Most ‘played‘ Avdergame of the year

Gillette
Gaming Activation of the year

Kwalkity – Paddlepop
Best Marketing Campaigns

Zapak Digital Entertainment Limited (Zapak Cash League)

Aircel Ltd.

Yahoo India Pvt. Ltd.

Reliance Consumer Finance
Award for social marketing

Janashakthi Insurance Company Limited (Tharunyata Hettak)

TV Today Network Limited (Declare War on Terror Campaign)

Godfrey Phillips India Ltd. (Amodini)
Popular news channel of the year

English

Times Now (Times Global Broadcasting Company Limited)
Hindi

Aaj Tak (TV Today Network Limited)
Business

Bloomberg UTV

Award For Brand Leadership (Overall)

Life Insurance Corporation of India

Titan Industries

Aircel Ltd.

Ceylinco Insurance PLC

The Mobile Store Ltd

Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd.
Brand Leadership Award (Organization)

Steria (India) Limited

Blue Dart Express Limited

MUMBAI: As the economic downturn has picked significant holes into consumer pockets thereby forcing buyers to become exceedingly cautious is their spending habits, marketers need to engage prospective buyers through experimentation and reinvention to “split that purse lace open.”

Speaking at the World Brand Congress 2009 forum, Infosys head global branding and corp marketing Aditya Nath Jha said, “Marketers have to reshape their marketing strategies in a bid to get their brands into the consumer‘s pocket. And this can be done, by shifting focus from divulging information to creating direct consumer connect.”
 
Jha also believes that companies need to move away from building product brands to creating strong company brands.

“It‘s not just the products themselves, but the company behaviour that affects the brand identity of the products. Therefore, it is very essential to construct the corporate brand and live up to the brand proposition.” 
 
Meanwhile, Leo Burnett national creative director KV Sridhar noted that unlike earlier days, when marketers were busy chasing consumers, today marketers need to be found by the consumers.

“Today consumers are all over the information network and are always on the hunt. Thus, unlike yesteryears, now marketers have to alter their swing from chasing to being found; from shouting to listening,” Sridhar explained. 
 
For Shantanu Bhanja, Hindustan Times VP marketing, the most convenient route to reach consumer pockets, especially during downturn, is by creating two-way interaction using the digital path.

“Recession is the best time to build brand loyalty and to generate that, one has to co-create brands along with the consumers. This so-creation can be led through consumer interactions across various digital platforms including the internet and mobile,” Bhanja added.

MUMBAI: Mudra Max‘s media agency Mudra Connext has bagged the media duties of She Comfort, a female care brand, and V-Guard, the electrical appliance brand.

The account size for ‘She Comfort‘ is pegged at Rs 200 million. 
 
Says Royal Hygiene Care director Rakesh Kaul, “Given our aggressive growth plans, we felt the need to partner with an agency which shared our passion and vision. We look forward to Mudra Connext bringing in innovative thinking and a strategic direction to the brand.”

Meanwhile, the ad spends for ‘V-Guard‘ is in the region of Rs 300-400 million. 
 
Says V-Guard executive director Mithun Chittilappilly, “We always wanted a strong agency, which could understand our business and provide the best media solutions for our brands. I am confident Connext will be able to provide us with the right resources and also bring value to our brand with the passion and commitment they have shown.” 
 
Mudra Max CEO Pratap Bose says, “These are important wins for Connext and Mudra Max, and I am happy with the way we are moving ahead. Our integrated communication capabilities are helping build brands on a larger platform and this is our biggest differentiator in the market place.”
 

MUMBAI: Primesite, the Mudra Max-owned out-of-home (OOH) agency, has roped in Shermann Colaco as general manager.

Prior to this, Colaco was with Ogilvy & Mather as management supervisor – account management.
 
Said Primesite senior VP Mandeep Malhotra, “Colaco’s varied experience across categories and professional capability will help our teams deliver better. I am quite confident that he will add a lot of value in enhancing our outdoor business.”

Colaco has over 13 years of experience in the advertising industry. He has worked with clients such as Barclays Bank, Axis Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Tata Indicom, AXN, Airtel, HBO, Hindustan Lever and Star Plus. 
 
Colaco said, “The Mudra vision is outstanding in the marketplace and the exploration with Primesite will be fun and most interesting time of my professional journey.” 
 
Colaco began his career with Primesite Outdoor Advertising in 1999 and subsequently moved to The Media Network in 2001. He worked with Madison Outdoor Media Services and later, in 2002 moved to Portland India Outdoor advertising as group account director.

MUMBAI: Multi Screen Media (earlier Sony Entertainment Television India) has roped in seven sponsors for the third season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Vodafone has come in as a co-presenting sponsor and the associate sponsors are Pepsi and LG. 
 
Indiantelevision.com had earlier reported that MSM had got Videocon as a co-presenting sponsor and Samsung and Hyundai as associate sponsors.

“We have done another deal in the associate sponsorship category but I can’t reveal further details at this stage. Sponsors are shelling out Rs 475,000 per 10-second spot,” MSM president network sales, licensing and telephony Rohit Gupta tells Indiantelevision.com.
 
MSM is looking at getting in three more associate sponsors. “There are several categories open like DTH and insurance. We are in talks with several companies including the likes of Havells, Godrej and Hero Honda. We have also closed three sponsorship deals for Extraa Innings. We are looking for three more in this segment,” avers Gupta.

Gupta says that sponsors will take around 60-70 per cent of the inventory. “We will look later at spot buys which will start from Rs 500,000,” he adds.

NEW DELHI: Taking advantage of her slim figure, Sony has taken petite actress Kareena Kapoor as their brand ambassador to promote the sales of the latest version of the ultra-slim Sony Vaio X notebook series.

Speaking at a press meet where she presented the new Viao X notebook, Kareena said, “I only lend my name to a brand that is suitable to my personality. Vaio X is slim, stylish and sexy; something that I easily relate with. Even though most people know me as an actor, I have so many passions beyond the movies like fashion, music, technology and design. I am internet savvy and also travel a lot and the new Vaio X will be very useful to me.”
 
An investment of Rs 150 million is going into the promotion of the new products of Sony this year with a continued focus to strengthen brand image towards ATL and BTL activities that involves print and electronic media, online, outdoor and shop-front.

A television commercial, print advertising and fashion shows are the methods through which Kareena and Sony hope to promote the product.
 
Sony India announced its plans to capture 20 per cent of the consumer notebook market with the combination of excellent product design, channel expansion and exciting communication strategy.

Its outlets would be increased to 1000 sales counters by 2010, according to Sony India managing director Masaru Tamagawa.
 
He said, “Sony as a brand has evolved significantly and securing a global brand ambassador is a natural progression to take our brand to the next level in an increasingly competitive market place. Kareena’s blend of spirit and style, iconic status, success and charm match strongly with the Sony brand, which prides itself on innovative and cool design with substance. Also Kareena’s dynamism combined with our brand expertise and innovative thinking aims to provide something new and something different to our customers around the world.”

MUMBAI: Creativeland Asia has won the creative duties for JM Financial following an account review. The size of the business however remains undisclosed.

Earlier, Grey Worldwide was the incumbent agency. 
 
Creativeland chairperson and chief creative officer Sajan Raj Kurup said, “The two long sessions we had with JM on the brand and its way forward, gave us a fantastic overview in each others approach, working style, thought process and beliefs. The Chemistry worked well and we decided to join hands.”
 
Both sides declined to comment on the thought process and way-forward for the brand citing reasons of confidentiality.
 
JM Financial is an integrated financial services group, offering a range of services to a significant clientele that includes corporations, financial institutions, high net-worth individuals and retail investors.

MUMBAI: Uninor, the brand name taken on by Unitech Wireless and Norwegian telecom operator Telenor for the Indian market, has appointed Navia Asia as its out-of-home partner.
 
According to industry sources, the size of the account is estimated to be in the region of Rs 700-800 million.

The agency won the account following a multi-agency pitch that also included Primesite and OAP. 
 
While ZenithOptimedia is the media partner for Uninor, Leo Burnett handles the creative duties.
 
Uninor is a joint venture between India‘s real estate major Unitech Ltd and Norway-based mobile services provider Telenor Group.
 

MUMBAI: In an attempt to woo more youngsters through Pepsi‘s ‘What‘s your way‘ campaign, JWT has developed a new television commercial (TVC) for the soft drink major.
 
As part of Pepsi‘s online campaign, the TVC has been designed primarily for the online audience.
 
The TVC, aimed at creating an awareness about the competition, as well as enhancing the brand image, features Deepika Padukone, Ranbir Kapoor and John Abraham.
 
As per the campaign format, participants are being asked to give the solution for the tricky situation to get themselves featured on Pepsi My Can.

The film produced by Cell 18 has been directed by Zubin Driver.