Category: Media and Advertising

Carat bags IndiaFirst Life Insurance’s media account; winning spree continues

MUMBAI: After adding some of the largest accounts of 2014 including General Motors, Microsoft, Nokia, British Airways, Mastercard, Ayurwin and Meiji to its client kitty, Carat seems to be in no mood to slow down. The agency has started the year with a big bang adding IndiaFirst Life Insurance to its kitty in the west.

IndiaFirst Life Insurance, a joint venture between two of India’s public sector banks – Bank of Baroda (44 per cent) and Andhra Bank (30 per cent), and UK’s financial and investment company Legal and General (26 per cent), has confirmed the appointment of Carat Media Services as its media agency.

The account was won in a multi- agency pitch with eight major agencies participating in the battle including the likes of Lodestar, OMD and BPN. DDB MudraMax-Media was the incumbent on the account. The mandate is for all media such as TV, print, out-of-home, radio, activation and cinema.

Carat Media MD India Kartik Iyer said, “We are absolutely delighted to have been chosen by India First for this mandate. Our team looks forward to working with India First to create strong consumer centric digitally ahead solutions that will enable India First to become the preferred choice of consumer. We are especially pleased that the team of India First saw value in our offerings which are Redefining Media in the market and we look forward to a long partnership which enhances the brand of IndaiFirst in India.”

As part of its new mandate, Carat Media will handle the traditional media mandate for IndiaFirst Life Insurance including television, print, out-of-home, radio, cinema, activation and ambient. It will, thus, create an integrated media communication ecosystem for its latest client.

Carat Media SVP – west Himanka Das added, “We are happy to partner with IndiaFirst Life Insurance. It gives us a market advantage to win such a competitive pitch, as it demonstrates that Carat India is riding on proprietary consumer data analytics and tools to design unique engaging communication plans across touch points, beyond traditional media planning. We are looking forward to exciting times ahead.”

January 14, 2015
Spin TV mandates Helios Media with revenue monetisation

MUMBAI: Spin TV, the specialty TV channel focusing on real estate sector, has assigned the mandate of revenue monetisation to Helios Media.

The real estate sector in India has been growing rapidly at the rate of 11.2 per cent CAGR (FY2008-2020) and the sector’s needs are being currently addressed by print supplements, internet and outdoor largely. It is for the first time in the history of Indian broadcast business that a TV channel dedicated to the real estate sector has been launched.

Spin TV, will offer consumers the ease of surfing from the comfort of their homes for a complete view of the property that they so desire to short-list. Along with such show-cases the channel will also have shows on tourist destination, vaastu and interiors, new concepts in living styles and dream homes.

The channel will target the affluent, educated audiences primarily in the metros. The channel is being distributed across large MSO platforms in the western region of India.

Helios Media, which has handled specialty TV channels such as MTunes HD, FoodFood, Music Express, FTV, FataFati and Epic, will now take on the mandate of positioning a niche product such as Spin to provide true value for the brand.

OMNIL CEO Manish Rachh said, “In Helios Media we saw their ability to position channels in the advertiser market in a way that works both in the favour of the advertiser and the channel. Since SPIN TV is in a very segmented space, it was important for us to assign the monetisation to a team that truly comprehends the value of such an offering.”

Helios Media COO Bala Iyengar added, “The core of Helios Media is to look “Beyond Obvious” and we have been successfully achieving huge wins purely on the basis of providing the missing link between content and communication who are both addressing the same consumer base. Identifying of this space and appropriate positioning will therefore lead to true value of the channel.”

January 14, 2015
PepsiCo spins the chip this Cricket World Cup 2015

MUMBAI: In a country where cricket is a religion, the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 is the most awaited event. However, the timings are likely to play spoilsport.

With the tournament taking place in Australia and New Zealand, the matches will be aired anywhere between 3:30 am and 12 noon, IST. This means that most fans will be stuck at offices, day jobs and their daily schedules during match time.

To keep the excitement level high and to entice, enthrall and entertain all of India, Lay’s has introduced its new campaign ‘Yeh Game Hi Hai…Taste Ka.’ The campaign captures the frenzy, which grips India when the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 is on and how mismatched timings of the matches this year will create a dilemma for viewers.

PepsiCo India marketing VP Vipul Prakash said, “Cricket has been a great unifying factor and the fever that grips India is unmatched. As the official snack partner of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, Lay’s gets the perfect opportunity to start the year through a scale marketing campaign, ‘Yeh Game Hi Hai…Taste Ka’. This campaign offers a Lay’s spin on the powerful insight of mismatched timings to appeal to consumers. We are enabling consumers to enjoy the game of cricket using the great taste of Lay’s.”

As the official snack of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, the brand is coming to the rescue of bewildered cricket fans across the country.

Conceptualised by JWT and directed by Ravi Udyawar from RU Films, the new ad features Ranbir Kapoor, Pankaj Kapur and Lisa Hayden. The ad is a light hearted and fun take on the distance a cricket fan is willing to go to catch every World Cup match, inspite of the hurdles, the timings, or any difficulties. The track is penned by Amitabh Bhattacharya and composed by Dhruv Ghanekar of Wah Wah Music.

JWT Delhi VP and SCD Sumati Singh said, “The morning telecast timings for the ICC Cricket World Cup this year led us to the idea behind the Lay’s campaign. When a cricket loving nation looks for ways to catch the matches on television, Lay’s, with its irresistible taste, is the answer.”

The campaign will unfold with a 360-degree outreach and engagement plan. In the last few years, consumption of media has changed and on the go viewership has gone up. Hence, the campaign will cut across multiple media vehicles. Taking the insight of mismatched timings Lay’s will have significant presence across digital, retail, radio, print and TV. Innovative consumer activations and engagement activities will enable consumers to win tickets to matches in Australia and LED TVs.

Speaking about the campaign, PepsiCo India snacks category marketing head and director Rajiv Mathrani said, “The campaign will engage consumers across multiple touch points bringing the match closer to consumers.”

Mindshare principal partner Ruchi Mathur added, “As the media consumption is increasingly fragmenting, this campaign will reach consumers across multiple touch points. With seamless integrations and activations across traditional and emerging media, Lay’s will create multiple viewing opportunities and bring the World Cup closer to its consumers.”

January 13, 2015
Havas Media Group launches LuxHub

MUMBAI: Havas Media Group has launched LuxHub, a global consulting specialist label that will deliver media communications and marketing support for both luxury brands and luxury audiences.

Headquartered in Milan, the network also launches with established centers of excellence in London, Paris, New York and Dubai, with further expansion plans in key markets such as Shanghai, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Moscow in 2015.

The global lead for the project, fashion and luxury expert Isabelle Harvie-Watt, will oversee the strategic expansion and consulting offer for LuxHub using knowledge gained from her 14 years at Giorgio Armani, five years at Versace and lastly at Tods Group, running global marketing and communications. Working with the senior management team at Havas Group, Watt has led plans for investment in a specialist luxury division since her arrival as Havas Media Group Italy CEO in 2011.

Havas Media Group global managing director Dominique Delport said, “Offering our clients the ability to connect to the luxury sector in a meaningful way has always been part of our strategy and I am delighted that we are now able to deliver this specialist consulting service to our clients on a global basis. The credibility we already have in this area, coupled with strong leadership from Isabelle to drive specialist teams in all the key markets, means we can provide new insights and innovative strategies both for luxury brands and brands who want to interact with the luxury audience.”

Watt added, “Luxury brands realise that they need to change the way they communicate and start building stronger relationships with their consumers. Digital transformation is no longer an option. Growing online distribution and strong content strategies are the new norm. LuxHub is a great step forward to further closing the gap in language between agencies and luxury clients and the way luxury audiences are evolving. In our recent global survey, in-store shopping is still the favoured purchasing method for half of luxury shoppers, while 24 per cent shop mainly online. However, statistics show that this move by a quarter of the respondents to shop online is not being matched by the brands with over half (54 per cent) stating that luxury brands should engage more with their consumers in the online experience.”

Watt and the LuxHub UK team, headed by Tammy Smulders, who will also join the team as global executive director, will deliver their first study on luxury and brands later this month. The project uses data from 1,000 people representing the top 10 per cent of income earners in China, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain, US, UAE and UK. The findings look at luxury trends across retail, travel, home furnishings, auto, jewellery and art.

During 2015 the LuxHub consulting unit will also work alongside luxury expert teams from the Havas Creative division to incorporate creative and experiential talents with projects in association with BETC Luxe (Paris) and Havas Luxe (New York).

January 13, 2015
There is tremendous liquidity on our platform, says OLX’s Amarjit Singh Batra

MUMBAI: The reasons to buy used goods are countless – some practical, some unimaginable, some quirky, and many deeply entrenched in our daily lives. These buyers are flocking to OLX, persistently looking for products, and waiting for sellers to upload ads for them. This and more is revealed by the two latest ads released by OLX.

Borrowing humorous snippets from everyday life scenarios, the two new OLX ads, #SushilBachcha and #PatiParmeshwarNOT give persuasive yet intriguing reasons to people for selling more actively, highlighting that there are a plethora of buyers out there for everything. The TVCs end with a closing line that says, “Aise bahot se log intezar kar rahe hain aapki cheezon ka…Ab toh OLX pe Bech De.”

Said OLX India CEO Amarjit Singh Batra, “OLX has seen a substantial surge in online buying and selling of used goods between individuals. Our users have been excited about being able to sell their items in a day, sometimes even minutes. This has proved to us that there is tremendous liquidity on our platform with buyers for all kinds of regular as well as unique items browsing OLX. But on the other hand we also found through our research on the used goods market – Consumer Research on Used Goods and Selling Trends (CRUST) – that Indians have a habit of stocking goods they are not using. We combined these two insights to come up with this campaign, and reinstate that it’s preferable to sell an item than to stock it because there is always a buyer for your item on OLX. To communicate our message, we chose scenarios that are a part of every family, and hence easily relatable.”

The new ads depict buyers urging sellers to post their items on OLX, emphasising their own urgent need for specific used products. The campaign comes on the back of the highly successful and appreciated OLX TVCs that had comedian Kapil Sharma play products talking to their owners, pushing them to sell what is not of use to them.

“OLX has built the market for consumer-to-consumer (C2C) classifieds in India, and it continues to expand the market for it every day by bringing people together for win-win exchanges. We are among the top 10 apps on Google Play Store India, and the only classifieds player to be among the top 10 searched terms in India for 2013 and 2014 consecutively according to Google Zeitgeist. We have emerged as the undisputed market leaders in India possessing 80 per cent market share of the C2C classifieds trade in the country,” added Batra.

Conceived by Lowe Lintas, the campaign depicts light-hearted scenarios of potential buyers urging the audience to sell their unwanted and unused goods.

Lowe Lintas group creative director Shayondeep Pal said, “People have been selling on OLX. But what about people who are buying? They have specific needs and they are looking desperately. Those are the people we portrayed in the campaign. The sense of urgency adds to the humour. The idea was to make it as real as possible and visually approach it with an observant camera. Overall, make it look as if we are peeping into their lives, their stories.”

January 12, 2015
ZenithOptimedia gets on board Saswati Sinha as HR head

MUMBAI: ZenithOptimedia Group has appointed Saswati Sinha as head of talent and human resources, India. Based out of Gurgaon, she will be taking charge of ZenithOptimedia Group’s pan India operations including ZenithOptimedia, Performics, Resultirx, Newcast and Ninah.

ZenithOptimedia India group CEO Anupriya Acharya said “Given our growth journey, diverse offerings that need both specialists and integrators and the fast evolving media market with shortage of skilled talent, we needed to accelerate our talent and training agenda. Saswati’s experience in different industries and geographies spanning Media, Advertising and ITeS and a strong understanding of managing growth and training requirements in the new world made her the perfect choice for this role. Am glad she has chosen to join us.”

Sinha on her appointment commented, “I am very excited to join ZenithOptimedia as I believe talent intensive industries are places where Human Resource function has a critical role to play. ZenithOptimedia believes in people and building a strong culture of values, performance and realize the importance of nurturing talent. I am looking forward to a positive journey.”

Sinha joins ZenithOptimedia Group with more than 16 years of experience in the field of human resource development and has worked with companies like JWT, Evalueserve and Cyber Media. Her last assignment was at Cheil Worldwide SW Asia where she was the HR head for the region and as part of the major growth journey she on-boarded teams of diverse skills spanning from retail, digital, media, activation, mainline and developed talent programs across the region.

January 12, 2015
Kamal Basu appointed marketing head at Volkswagen

MUMBAI: Volkswagen Group Sales India has appointed Kamal Basu as marketing and PR head for Volkswagen Passenger Cars.

Basu, who joined Skoda Auto India as marketing head in 2012, oversaw product marketing, lead management, communication and media, and also worked closely with sales, after-sales and dealer network teams. In addition to his work in automobile marketing, Basu has a very strong background in advertising, having spent close to two decades working with top-level agencies like RK Swamy BBDO, Rediffusion Y&R and with Saatchi & Saatchi as CEO.

“I’m happy to have contributed to Skoda’s performance in India over the last three years, and am happy to take up the new challenge of bringing fresh thought and new ideas to Volkswagen India’s marketing effort. Volkswagen is an iconic automotive brand with great history and a strong legacy, and I hope to make a contribution towards the growth of this brand in the Indian car market,” said Basu.

Commenting on the appointment, Volkswagen Passenger Cars director Michael Mayer said, “We are pleased to welcome Kamal on board here at Volkswagen India. Kamal is a seasoned marketing professional and I’m sure he will be a strong and valuable addition to our team. Kamal will play a key role in further developing the strengths of the Volkswagen brand in India.”

Basu’s appointment is effective from 1 January 2015.

January 12, 2015
Parle Products partners with ‘Celebrity Cricket League’

MUMBAI: Parle Products has announced its association with CCL- ‘Celebrity Cricket League’ which brings together India’s most popular hobbies- Cricket and Films.

The fifth edition of this popular celebrity sporting series will see the participation of eight teams; Mumbai Heroes, Telugu Warriors, Bhojpuri Dabanggs, Kerala Strikers, Bengal Tigers, Veer Marathi, Karnataka Bulldozers, and Chennai Rhinos competing on the field of Cricket.

The Celebrity Cricket League is a non-professional league that brings together celebrities from the Entertainment Industry and has evolved into a huge rage amongst viewers. Parle Products will present consumers an enhanced experience at the celebrated event which includes a specially minted coin which will be used for all coin-toss for each match. In addition to this, Parle will also have branding across all the stadiums including branded score cards.

Speaking about the association, Parle Products deputy manager marketing Mayank Shah said, “In India, cricket and films are religion, CCL is fusion of both. This makes it a perfect platform for us to connect with our audience. The T20 format of CCL gels perfectly with our brand Parle 20-20 cookies and will establish an instant connect with our target audience”

In keeping with the exciting spirit of the league, Parle Products aims to engage the young audiences and create unforgettable moments with them at the Celebrity Cricket League 5′ that will commence on Saturday 10 January 2015.

January 12, 2015
Grey India appoints Shilpa Chitre as HR head

MUMBAI: Grey group India has announced a senior level appointment for its department of Human Resources. Shilpa Chitre, whose mandate is to grow the agency’s talent strength and accelerate its human processes to deliver ‘Famous and Effective’ work for its clients, is the new Human Resources head. Chitre will report to Grey group India chairman and managing director Sunil Lulla.

With over 18 years of work experience across key HR areas including competency systems, talent acquisition and retention, performance management, strategic organisational policies and training, she has worked in several advertising agencies and corporate houses, actively partnering senior management. Until recently she was with Reliance Industries as HR vice president.

On welcoming Chitre, Lulla stated, “I am deeply delighted to have Shilpa on board. She will partner me in driving new age processes to enhance our professional services and capabilities, across all our services, of advertising, activation, retail design and digital. I find Shilpa to be a very skilled, competent and articulate HR Professional, up to date with new HR trends including digital. She joins GREY group as it accelerates its growth in creating an integrated offering for its clients, poised to make brands of its clients brands truly Famous and Effective”.

“I am delighted to return to the communications business at a time, when Grey group India is transforming itself. With all the growth ahead of us, I will leverage all my experiences, to help create an agency with a huge, competitive difference; via talent, skilling, processes, leadership and enormous passion,” she said on her new role at the agency.

January 8, 2015
Orchard Advertising strengthens its creative team

MUMBAI: Orchard Advertising, a part of the Leo Burnett Group, has strengthened its creative team with the appointment of Vinod Eshwer and Neel Roy Cruz as executive creative directors based at its Bengaluru office.

The duo joins from McCann Bangalore and will report to Leo Burnett India CCO RajDeepak Das.

Speaking on the appointment, Das said, “Our extensive 5-month hunt for a creative leadership team at Orchard Bangalore ended with Vinod and Neel, who are extremely talented individuals having a strong desire to produce new-age integrated work by thinking beyond traditional media and delivering conversations, acts, and experiences to help brands achieve their goals in the marketplace.”

Orchard Advertising CCO Kaizad Pardiwalla added, “Vinod and Neel coming on board to lead Orchard Bangalore’s creative team is a decisive step in making Orchard one of the best integrated communications company in India. Both are a highly talented and celebrated team and their creative ideology is in sync with that of Orchard India’s i.e. to create acts based on strong ideas and insights which help bring alive the purpose of the brands and create a positive impact on our clients’ businesses.”

The duo said, “When Raj revealed the agency’s plans and the journey it is embarking upon by handpicking talent and encouraging them to think beyond traditional media, and to communicate in new ways using digital and technology made us pack our bags and hop on board. We are truly living in exciting times where commerce and communication are being shaped and reshaped with every click and swipe. We have got e-butterflies in our bellies.”

Both Eshwer and Cruz have more than 15 years of advertising experience. Some of the brands that they have worked on together include TVS, Tata Beverages, Britannia and ITC.

January 8, 2015