Category: Media and Advertising

Reliance Industries names Karthik Lakshminarayan as VP of Vibrant Media

MUMBAI: Reliance Industries’ in-house agency Vibrant Media has appointed Madison Media COO Karthik Lakshminarayan as vice president.

According to information available with Indiantelevision.com, Lakshminarayan’s role will encompass developing media strategy for Reliance Jio to begin with.

He will report to Vibrant Media senior vice president Nikhil Dave and is likely to join the company in November.

Currently serving his notice period at Madison, Lakshminarayan joined the agency in November 2011 from FoodFood where he was COO.

At the time of filing this report, Lakhminarayan was not available for comment.

October 5, 2015
Viacom Asia ropes in WPP’s Added Value finance director Lee Shin Yng as CFO

MUMBAI: Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) Asia has appointed Lee Shin Yng as chief financial officer (CFO).

In this position, Yng will be based in Singapore, and reports directly to VIMN Asia COO Tan Chee Kiat.

With 16 years of accounting and finance experience, Yng was mostly recently the finance director for Greater China at Added Value Limited, a part of the WPP Group.

She will drive Asia’s financial strategies and performance and will be responsible for the company’s financial reporting and planning. Yng will also serve as a business partner to VIMN Asia EVP and MD Mark Whitehead and Kiat, providing financial guidance and counsel on the company’s strategic direction.

“Shin Yng’s extensive regional experience and acute financial acumen provide her with a deep understanding of the Asian markets we operate in, making her well prepared to take up this important leadership of Asia’s financial operations,” said Kiat. “I am confident she will help build upon the strong progress we have made over the past year, to help make many contributions to further VIMN Asia’s success in the future.”

Prior to Added Value Limited, she spent seven years with the Reed Elsevier Group where she last served as the finance director for Greater China in the LexisNexis division of the Group. Her previous assignments included holding office as the financial controller for China within the same division and as the business controller for Asia Pacific and Japan in the Elsevier division.

She previously held roles in public listed companies such as Neptune Orient Line Ltd and United Overseas Bank.

October 4, 2015
Srinivasan Swamy re-elected as IAA president for the fourth time

MUMBAI: RK Swamy Hansa group chairman Srinivasan Swamy has been re-elected as International Advertising Association (IAA) India chapter president for the fourth consecutive term.

Swamy, who also holds the post of IAA Asia Pacific vice president development, was elected at the body’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 30 September.

Speaking to Indiantelevision.com Swamy says, “IAA in India is already seen as the most active industry body. We will build further on our strength and bring more programs and initiatives that will be embraced by the industry.”

“I am humbled by the confidence shown by the members in choosing me to head this international body in India. The last three years have been exciting in that we demonstrated to the marketing and advertising community through the initiatives and events we held that IAA is a thought leader in many respects. Further the awards that we have instituted were both relevant and meaningful,” he further added.

Hungama.com managing director & CEO Neeraj Roy was re-elected as the vice president for the third term. HBO India former MD Monica Tata was re-elected as secretary and Deshdoot Publications joint MD Janakl Sarda was elected as the treasurer.

In addition, Abhishek Karnani, Vishakha Singh, Jaideep Gandhi, Anand Sankeshwar and Manish Advani were the five members elected as members of the managing committee. Kaushik Roy continues on the committee as the immediate past president.

IAA Asia Pacific area director Pradeep Guha said, “The last few years have seen considerable momentum in terms of the activities IAA has been involved in. This has been reflected in the World Board recognising the India Chapter as the Best Chapter twice consecutively. I am delighted that Srinivasan Swamy will be steering the India Chapter of the IAA this year as well. It could be a period of continued growth as well as consolidation. The presence of young leaders on the managing committee augurs well for the future of the IAA.”

At the first managing committee meeting immediately after the AGM, five additional members were co-opted as per IAA Constitution including M V Shreyams Kumar, Dr Bhaskar Das, Ashok Venkatramani, CVL Srinivas and Pradeep Dwivedi.

Pradeep Guha, Ramesh Narayan, Sam Balsara, MG Parameswaran, Raj Nayak, Atit Mehta, Vikram Sakhuja and Kunal Lalani are the following senior professionals that were invited to be part of the Committee.

October 1, 2015
Brands’ website traffic has direct correlation with TV advertising: study

NEW DELHI: A study shows that website traffic rises and falls in direct correlation with TV advertising for majority of call-to-action brands, which depend on immediate results from marketing efforts.

The Video Advertising Bureau’s (VAB) study Ignition Point: The TV-Traffic Correlation for Call-to-Action Brands came to this finding after studying 125 brands in six categories (restaurants, retail, travel, telecommunications & location-based mobile apps, financial and insurance) representing more than $30 billion in TV advertising in 2014.

The brands studied were a cross-section – large, midsized, smaller, national, regional and local – with more than 100,000 unique visitors per month as measured by comScore. All results are from the February 2014 to March 2015 period.

A total of 82 per cent of these brands showed a direct correlation between TV advertising and website traffic. Of the 85 brands with unique visitor increases, 87 per cent had increased TV spending – an average of 22 per cent increase in spending and 24 per cent increase in visitors. Of the 40 brands with unique visitor decreases, 70 per cent had lowered TV spending – an average of 10 per cent less TV spending and nine per cent decrease in visitors.

VAB CEO Sean Cunningham said, “TV is the great activator in Internet commerce. A majority of brands with the most on the line for big sales now see their website traffic follow the curve of their investment in TV advertising. TV advertising does more than generate awareness; it triggers the most important action at a time when the Internet functions as a brand’s storefront to the world.”

While the specific ratios of advertising to traffic vary, the pattern is predominant and consistent. On a category level, 72 per cent of travel brands showed a direct correlation between TV advertising and website traffic, versus 76 per cent of restaurants, 82 per cent of retail, 85 per cent of insurance, 86 per cent of financial, and 100 per cent of telco/apps.

This is the second report in the VAB’s commitment to illustrate critical effects of TV advertising that are hidden by the silo nature of syndicated data. Last year, it looked at the correlation between TV advertising and website traffic for 75 pure-play Internet companies, and found 85 per cent showed a direct correlation between TV spending and website traffic.

October 1, 2015
Prasoon Joshi pens new anthem song for Swachh Bharat mission

NEW DELHI: An anthem has been written for the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ by ad man and lyricist Prasoon Joshi.

The song was written in response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for a ‘jan andolan’ to make the mission successful.

The celebrities have come together to enthuse and inspire citizens to join hands in realising the collective dream of a ‘clean India.’

The anthem penned by Joshi is set to tune by musical trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. It is sung by Shankar Mahadevan and other playback singers, who will also feature a video being produced by Mukesh Bhatt for the same.

Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar has contributed to this endeavour by reciting a few lines that will specially feature in the anthem, as well as providing various musical suggestions for the recording.

The audio of the song is expected to be released on the eve of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary on 2 October.

September 30, 2015
Winners of Nach Baliye season 7 take home Honda Jazz

MUMBAI: Honda Cars India presented the keys of the All-new Honda Jazz to the Grand-Finale winners of the popular dance reality show Nach Baliye season 7 which was aired on Star Plus. The car was handed over to the winners Amruta Khanvilkar & Himmanshoo Ashok Malhotra at a glittering ceremony at Solitaire Honda in Andheri. The handing over ceremony was attended by Ashish Kaul, Zonal Head West, Honda Cars India and Krishna Kachalia of Solitaire Honda.

Speaking on the occasion, Honda Cars India sales & marketing senior vice president Janneswar Sen said, “We would like to congratulate the winners of Nach Baliye season 7 and thank Star Plus for associating with Honda Cars India. The show has been extremely popular among the younger audience who is also our primary target audience for the all new Jazz. The new generation Jazz is packed with futuristic and aspirational styling which resonates well with the viewers of the programme and hence it was great to be associated with one of India’s most popular dance reality show.”

The All-New Jazz is developed as the World’s Best Functional Compact Hatchback which offers Dynamic styling, Outstanding Package, Class-leading Fuel Economy, Advanced Technology & Equipment and Versatile Utility. The Jazz appeals to customer from diverse profiles who are young, dynamic, early achievers and want everything in life. They seek comfort, driving pleasure, features and a hassle-free drive. The Honda Jazz is like nothing else and fulfils all these needs.

September 30, 2015
Makani Creatives bags advertising mandate for Onida’s Smart LED TV

MUMBAI: Makani Creatives has bagged the advertising mandate for Onida’s Smart LED TVs from Mirc Electronics. The ad campaign for the brand will be unleashed soon.

“Onida is a strong player in the consumer electronics market. We have always leveraged consumer insights by incorporating it as a technological feature into our products. This has been the mainstay of our success over the years. Our range of Smart LED TVs is in line with the same thought process. We have loaded the television with lots of new age features like Android operating system, built in Wi-Fi, quad core processor, screen mirroring, video calling, etc. just to name a few. One can also download millions of apps. Our key focus now, is to aggressively market the product and in order to meet this objective, we are thrilled to partner with Makani Creatives as our brand agency. Makani Creative shares our vision and developed a communication plan to do justice to the product and we are confident of creating yet another milestone,” said Mirc Electronics vice president sales and marketing N S Satish.

Makani Creatives MD Sameer Makani added, “We have all grown up watching Onida and it is an iconic brand. When the opportunity to partner with them arose, we were very excited. The challenge was to strike a delicate balance between strong strategy and evocative creative to achieve the desired results. I think we managed to impress them with our thought process as well as the execution which tipped the scales in our favour. Needless to add, Makani is known for its work in the lifestyle category. The first set of work for Onida Smart LED TV will be out shortly and I am sure that this will be one of the first steps towards a mutually successful journey.”

September 30, 2015
Tonic Media Wins 2015 Social Media Agency of the Year

MUMBAI: Tonic Media, India’s leading independent digital agency, has been named 2015 Social Media Agency of the Year at the Big Bang Awards organised by the Ad Club, Bangalore on Friday, the 25th of September.The agency was nominated across 10 categories with 14 shortlisted entries and bagged 12 awards including five golds, five silvers and one Bronze.

Over 987 entries were submitted across 58 categories by 72 agencies. Honorees were selected by a jury comprising of 46 Senior Advertising, Marketing, Media, PR and digital professionals from all over India, based on the nominations filed by the respective agencies. The awards re-emphasized the strengths of Tonic Media across social and creative platforms with the agency winning Best Use of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn as well as Community Development under separate campaigns.

“We are excited that Tonic has had such a successful year in terms of performance and receiving appreciation for the same.” said Chetan Asher, CEO, Tonic Media. “The awards are a testament to the pace and commitment of the Tonic team. We aim to build the best-in-class services and focus on producing better creativity year on year.”

Tonic received the following titles at The Big Bang Awards:

Winner

·     Social Media Agency of the Year

Gold

·     Best Use of Twitter for Aditya Birla Group

·     Best Use of LinkedIn for Sony Entertainment Television

·     Best Community Development for Sony Mix

·     Best Corporate Communications Campaign for Aditya Birla Group

·     Best CSR Campaign for Aditya Birla Group

Silver

·     Best Corporate Website of the Year for Little Millennium

·     Best Use of Facebook for Sony Entertainment Television

·     Best Use of Twitter for Sony Max2

·     Best Community Development for Sony PIX

·     Best Social Game/App/Contest for Aditya Birla Group

Bronze

·     Best Use of Facebook for Sony PIX

September 30, 2015
Saffolalife creates awareness drive to #ProtectHerHeart

MUMBAI: On World Heart Day, Saffolalife urged several couples along with Shilpa Shetty Kundra and Raj Kundra to participate in a morning walk together. This first-of-its-kind event was to create awareness of women’s heart health in India. A study has shown that two out of four Indian women are at risk of heart problems due to increasing weight. The morning walk on Carter Road set the tone for a new movement as the couples then pledged to walk together daily for 30 minutes as a simple yet valuable step to #ProtectHerHeart.

The organisers also devised a unique weight-heart test, that helps assess the impact of fitness levels on your heart health. Accessible on www.saffolalife.com, the test helps understand the impact of your weight on your heart.

Shilpa Shetty Kundra said, “As women, we tend to overlook our health while caring for our families. I was surprised to learn that two out of four Indian women are at risk of heart problems due to increasing weight. We are concerned about putting on weight, but don’t realise how it’s taking a toll on our hearts. This World Heart Day, I am grateful that Saffolalife is encouraging all of us to start going for a daily 30-minute walk as a beginning towards protecting our hearts.”

Best Deal TV CEO and co-founder Raj Kundra added, “It’s the small things that make a difference. If we make time to walk together daily for 30 minutes, it’ll go a long way in protecting our hearts. Moreover, it’s a great way to get some much-needed we-time into our busy lives! Just like Shilpa and I, we hope you also take the pledge to walk together and care for your heart health.”

September 29, 2015
Posterscope partners Project Everyone to deliver digital OOH campaign

MUMBAI: Posterscope will be participating in Project Everyone – the brainchild of filmmaker and Comic Relief founder Richard Curtis, with an aim to share the UN sustainable development goals with seven billion people over seven days using powerful imagery and copy across an extensive range of platforms.

Project Everyone founder Richard Curtis said, “The best chance of the UN’s global goals being met is if everyone is aware of them, and that’s where Project Everyone comes in, along with the support of its many partners. I have been overwhelmed by the response of brands, consumers and institutions alike to this initiative. Posterscope has been instrumental with getting out of home media owners on board to help us get our messages across, to really raise public awareness of the issue at hand. With their help, we have secured sites in the busiest areas of key cities around the world to visualise the global goals and what Project Everyone stands for.”

Posterscope is joining forces with their media partners across the globe to supply advertising space to display the adverts, which have been designed by Curtis and raise awareness of the initiative.

They have engaged with 125 partners to date for the ad to be shown in 450 cities, around 28 different countries, in busy central locations with high footfall including CST station in India, Piccadilly Circus in London, Swanston Street in Melbourne, Bukit Bintang in Kuala Lumpur and Times Square in New York.

Posterscope global CEO Annie Rickard added, “It is a great opportunity to be involved in an initiative like Project Everyone. We are delighted to be able to capitalise on our media network and connections to help raise awareness around the issues at hand and hopefully, slowly but surely, change the way we live and the world we live in.”

Posterscope group India Asia Pacific & managing director regional director Haresh Nayak said, “We are delighted to be part of this global social initiative, which highlights our global capabilities in the out of home domain, our ambient media offerings in India and our vision of reaching out to the connected consumer in a socially responsible and effective manner.”

September 29, 2015