Category: MAM

MUMBAI: Neo Cricket has sold 80 per cent of its inventory for the Asia Cup which kicks off tomorrow.
 
Neo Sports Broadcast executive VP ad revenue Raju Udupa says that five sponsors have come on-board. “We have HUL, Tata DoCoMo and Airtel DTH as co-presenters. Lemon Mobile and Tata Motors are associate sponsors. We have sold spots for Rs 225,000 per 10 seconds and are targetting revenues of Rs 1 billion.”

The target of Rs 1 billion looks highly ambitious and would be difficult to achieve, media analysts said. The soccer World Cup is currently going on and the TV viewership for the event in India is going to increase considerably from the previous World Cup.
 
Neo is holding back 10 per cent should India make it to the final. There are seven matches in total. “We also have spot buyers including Micromax, HCL, Perfetti, Nissan Auto, Godfrey Phillips, Piramal Healthcare and K Lakshmi Cement. This time a full strength Indian team is playing. So advertisers are confident on the event‘s delivery”.
 
Micromax is the ground title sponsor. The broadcaster has also roped in Tata Motors Manza, Seagrams Royal Stag and Yamaha as on-ground sponsors. The broadcaster is spending Rs 25 million on marketing activities, says Udupa.
 

MUMBAI: PromaxBDA, the global association for marketing, promotion and design professionals in the entertainment industry, has elevated two members of its board of directors to co-chairmen.

Warner Bros. Television group EVP and CMO Lisa Gregorian, and NBC Entertainment president of marketing Adam Stotsky have been elected to serve as PromaxBDA board of directors co-chairmen. 
 
PromaxBDA represents every major broadcast and cable television organization, many major radio, computer hardware and software corporations, internet and other emerging technology stakeholders, as well as top design, promotion and advertising agencies. Michael Benson, current PromaxBDA chairman of the board and ABC executive VP, marketing will be stepping down due to the completion of his term.

PromaxBDA president and CEO Jonathan Block-Verk says, “Lisa and Adam have both made significant contributions to PromaxBDA as board members, and as Co-Chairmen, they will bring a wealth of insight, expertise and energy that will help drive the organization to a dynamic future.

“The combined leadership of these two highly accomplished industry executives assures the positive growth and evolution of our organization.”
 
The board of directors oversees the annual budget, strategic planning of conferences, awards and year-round member services, and the development of long-term goals and organisational direction.

MUMBAI: eCommerce marketplace eBay India and apparel brand adidas are offering football fans a chance to own merchandise of Fifa World Cup teams.

eBay India will be the one stop destination for merchandise from teams like Germany, England, Argentina and Brazil. The official merchandise is available on eBay India on www.ebay.in.
 
eBay India director – marketing and product management Muralikrishnan B said, “With increasing viewership of International Football, the game has seen a tremendous growth in popularity amongst Indian youth. With the Fifa World Cup 2010, the game is extending its boundaries and is moving beyond the football ground and television, with the web becoming a new destination for live scores, team news and official merchandise.” 
 
This is a great opportunity for football enthusiasts to choose from a wide range of merchandise that include T-shirts, shorts, backpacks, water bottle sippers, footballs and caps belonging to some of the top teams participating in Fifa World Cup 2010.

The Fifa T-shirts and shorts range from between Rs 899 to Rs 2999. The Backpacks range from Rs 1999 to Rs 2099. The caps and water bottle sippers are between Rs 599 to Rs 699.
 

MUMBAI: Manappuram General Finance and Leasing Ltd has appointed Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar as brand ambassador.

Akshay will join other super stars of the South namely, Mohan Lal in Kerala, Puneet Rajkumar in Karnataka, Victor Venkatesh in Andhra Pradesh and “Chiyan” Vikram in Tamil Nadu.
 
Manappuram Finance is the first NBFC in Kerala to get a rating of A1+ from ICRA and a long term rating of LA+ from ICRA for its working capital limit of Rs 6 billion under BASEL II norms. Manappuram Finance has over 1100 branches across 15 states, a staff strength of over 8,000 people and customer base of over 6 lakhs.
 
According to Manappuram Finance V P Nandakumar chairman, Indian households own 20,000 tons of gold which amounts to two third of the country‘s GDP and the total size of mortgaged gold is 1500 tons. Manappuram Finance is managing over 26 tons of mortgaged gold assets. 
 
“A new regional approach to marketing of products will be made with more focus on regional communication strategy by having local dialogues to reach out the masses. These brand ambassadors will help us to connect and communicate Manappuram Brand values to its current and prospective users,” said Nandakumar.

MUMBAI: The Union of European Football Associations (Uefa) has announced the appointment of Warner Bros. Consumer Products (WBCP) as the exclusive licensing representative for all national competitions until 2013 including Uefa Euro 2012, which takes place in Poland and Ukraine. 
 
Uefa CEO David Taylor says, “Uefa is pleased to be able to continue its successful relationship with WBCP. As industry leaders creatively and at retail, they have proved an invaluable partner for previous events in 2004 and 2008 and we look forward to building on that momentum through 2013”.

Uefa and WBCP will work in tandem on creative programme developments, including mascot and art programmes. Additionally, they will jointly oversee the selection process to recruit new licensees and official retailers for all programs and national competitions. 
 
WBCP executive VP, GM Europe, Middle East and Africa Pilar Zulueta says, “WBCP is very proud of Uefa‘s choice and we are excited to be involved with such a prestigious project. It is our intention to bring football fans everywhere a collection of officially licensed products that is broad, creative, compelling and innovative in all aspects. We will also look to work with licensees and official retailers that align with this vision.”

MUMBAI: Nielsen and McKinsey have announced a global joint venture, NM Incite, to help leading companies harness the power of social media intelligence to drive superior business performance.

NM Incite gives companies the capabilities to better understand, value and take advantage of the rich insights made possible by social media.
 
M Incite looks to build upon social media and online brand metrics, consumer insights and real-time market intelligence of Nielsen BuzzMetrics to transform business operations including product development, marketing, communications and customer service. With the creation of this new venture, BuzzMetrics becomes wholly part of NM Incite.

Nielsen CEO David Calhoun says, “Our venture with McKinsey will extend our ability to help clients answer one of the central questions facing CEO’s, how to unleash the promise of social media,” said . “Our clients want to take full advantage of what is possible. NM Incite will fuse social media with the enterprise, creating new opportunities, efficiencies and competitive advantage.”

McKinsey is contributing client capability building and expertise in the areas of marketing and sales, organisation and service operations. McKinsey serves multiple clients and has developed proprietary knowledge and distinctive insights in areas such as digital marketing, marketing ROI, word-of-mouth marketing and consumer purchase behaviour.
 
NM Incite advises senior executives and delivers measurement, tools and new processes to drive organizational transformation. Working together with select pilot clients, NM Incite is developing its first three solution areas, expected to be available this fall. The initial areas of focus are measuring and improving marketing effectiveness, product launch optimization and customer service experience.

McKinsey global MD Dominic Barton says, “As our clients’ needs evolve, so our firm continuously innovates in the way we work.

“Social media is an increasingly critical issue for business leaders and an area of untapped opportunity for many of our clients. This joint venture will equip institutions with real-time insights to help their leaders drive better results.”
 
 
NM Incite will work with the expansive ecosystem of interactive, marketing and strategic communications firms and other technology and social media companies to implement client solutions, help shape future offerings and develop new metrics.
 

MUMBAI: Zen Mobile has roped in Amitabh Bachchan as its brand ambassador.

The company says that its brand stands for style, innovation, and performance, the qualities that Bachchan epitomises making him the most respected actor in the country. 
 
Zen Mobiles is geared up to launch QWERTY and multimedia feature-rich mobile handsets loaded with social networking experience at affordable price for the Indian market. The company plans to leverage its association with Bachchan through a media campaign and various interactive consumer related activities in the coming months.

Zen Mobile MD Deepesh Gupta said, “We are honoured to have Amitabh Bachchan on-board and are confident that our association with him will create a deep impact on the minds of our target audience and help our brand and products meet success.

“We are confident that signing on Bachachan as our brand face in India will help us create a closer connection with our audience. He is the best at what he does and that is also the Zen Mobiles philosophy.”
 
Bachchan said, “I like to connect with brands that I believe in, brands which show commitment to fulfilling the needs and aspirations of Indian people and I found exactly these qualities in Zen Mobiles. I hope my association with the brand will take it closer to people and they would be able to appreciate the brilliance and innovation of Zen‘s handsets.”

Gupta says, “India is a critical market and the competition in mobile handset technologies is growing fast. Bachchan will help render sheen to our brand with his grandeur. Nothing compares with the legendary Big B, a style icon, who is admired as an aspirational figure and Zen Mobiles is placing its bet exactly on that.”
 
Zen Mobiles have designed what it calls a seamless convergence device with functionalities for both personal and professional use in half the price of the high end mobiles with the same multimedia features. The company looks to cater to various segments within a reasonable price band. The current focus of the company is to provide high quality touch screen phones to consumers with high end multimedia features.

MUMBAI: Mudra Connext, a unit of Mudra Max (integrated communications planning & implementation) has bagged the media mandate for Apollo Hospitals. It will be handled out of the Delhi office.
 
On handing the media duties to Mudra Connext, Apollo Hospitals president corporate development Anil K Maini said, “Through Mudra Connext‘s extensive knowledge and experience in the media market, we look forward to a great working relation with the agency as they take on the mandate.”
 
Speaking on the account win, Mudra Connext EVP & country head Manas Mishra said, “Healthcare communication in urban centers has been an emerging challenge. We hope our experience in building awareness, empathy and a positive word of mouth will help us manage the brand well.”
 
Apollo Hospitals was started by its founder and present chairman Prathap C Reddy in 1983 with the establishment of the first corporate hospital in India.
 

MUMBAI: Ten years ago, Star Plus went all-Hindi to give rise to a new wave of ground-breaking shows that redefined the programming strategy for Hindi general entertainment channels. The flagship channel from the Star stable sketched out the Indian society, with almost universal acceptance, through the saans-bahu sagas and the most popular KBC.

However, a decade later, the society narrated a different story catapulting the need to bring in refreshed communication for the changing viewership preference.

And reading the notes right, Star Plus is now ready to hurl a refreshed and brand new identity to feed the audience needs for the next 10 years.

The channel will launch its new brand logo, dressed in the new-fangled tagline ‘Rishte Wahi, Soch Nayi (Old relationship, New thinking)’ on 13 June with the Star Parivaar Awards 2010.
 
When one is successful for so long a period, it becomes difficult to transform. And, Star Plus had been holding on to the fort for too long to think change.

Said Star India CEO Uday Shankar, “When we began, there were about 20-30 cable and satellite towns. But as next generation viewers stepped in and sensibilities changed, it became a 500-600 city phenomenon. The universe of viewership became heterogeneous and last year, when we lost our number one spot it was a wake up call.”

To begin experimenting and to understand the change in viewership patterns, Star Plus flagged off shows like Bidayi and Yeh Rishta, which went on to grab good eyeballs. “The impact was good but perhaps not as bold,” averred Shankar. And then came Aap Ki Kachehri followed by Sach Ka Saamna.
 
“With the success of such formats, we realised that viewers were ready for change and that led us to head for a comprehensive reinvention of Star Plus that would define our portfolio for the Indian family 2010 for the next ten years,” explained Shankar.

But to let viewers know about the renewed Star Plus and the coming change in the programming portfolio, the packaging also had to have a rejuvenated touch.

“And thus, we opted for the cosmetic change with the ruby star that represented the heart of India – feminine, strong, full of energy and life. The white hot swoosh, lit from within, represents inner strength and quest for fulfillment. A key component of the Star Plus identity is the colour red. Nothing epitomizes India better than the color red. Red is the color of prosperity, optimism, weddings, celebration, hope, desire, purity, passion, love and holiness. The Star Plus logo is the traditional and familiar star emblem infused with a very modern, fresh and energetic expression,” Shankar explained.

The new logo has been designed by UK-based Venture 3 while Ogilvy and Mather is the creative agency.
 
The new look with be followed by a line up of new shows like Tere Liye, Chand Chchupa Badal Mein and the Akshay-Kumar hosted cookery show, Masterchef India. The channel will also expand the line up with a variety of new-age movies like My Name Is Khan.

“Today, while the channel loyalties are fading, programme loyalties are rising high. So, we will be bringing in shows that have a definite lifetime and we will not be aggressive with the life of that show,” he said.

“This is because we don’t want to sustain on one or two shows and see hikes in viewership in bits and pieces. We want to build continuity in sustaining viewership,” he added.

The channel has spent approximately $4 million for the complete overhaul and will be marketing the new look aggressively across the Star Network. This will be apart from the other traditional platforms like print, radio and out-of-home.

Star had lost its leadership to Viacom18’s Colors last year and then the fight for the top slot was almost a weekly phenomenon. But this year, when IPL was almost a common cause for channels to witness fluctuations in their GRP grades, Star Plus took on to the numero uno spot and has been holding on to it till date.

“Our strategy was to take on IPL as a challenge and not duck it. Therefore, we build new story lines during the IPL period and got in new shows too. This helped,” Shankar said.
 

MUMBAI: The first five matches of the recently concluded Micromax Cup tri-series cricket ODI managed only an average TVR of 1.18 according to Tam data c&s4+.

The tourney was featured on Ten Sports in India, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.
 
By comparison, the Compaq Cup that was played last year between India, Sri Lanka and New Zealand on the same channel got an average TVR of 3 for its first four matches.
 
The cummulative reach for the Micromax Cup was down to 60.6 million viewers compared to 73.2 million viewers for the Compaq Cup last year. The highest rating for the event was a match between India and Sri Lanka on 30 May 2010 which was 1.87 TVR.
 
The lack of star power could be a reason for the lacklustre rating performance. Key players like Dhoni were rested keeping in mind India‘s hectic cricket schedule. With the run of one series after the other, fatigue could also be another factor.