ITV

Category: MAM

  • TV Ad Indx offers 50 per cent discounts for new pitches

    MUMBAI: TV Ad Indx has launched New BIz Discounts, a service under which ad agencies can avail of upto 50 per cent discounts to acquire competitive TV commercials & press ads. These discounts would be offered to ad agencies pitching for new businesses. Typically, clients rarely pay ad agencies to make their presentations and agencies absorb all expenses for pitches.

    TV Ad Indx claims to be the country’s largest and most professional creative monitoring service and it covers the largest number of TV Indian channels & publications for every new ad released. It also monitors 52 countries across the globe and provides 11 types of services to over 600 clients and ad agencies.

    The discounts offered would be higher on larger orders for digitised ads (instead of the conventional hard copies). Agencies are encouraged to order CD ROMs with digitised copies of TVCs in the MPEG format (which can be played by Windows MediaPlayer). Press ads are digitised in the JPEG format (and can be viewed in Internet Explorer or any other web-browser software).

    The service and discounts cover Indian, Pan-Asian and international ads under 20 product groups including foods, beverages, durables, telecom.

    The digitised ads are delivered with software to archive the ads. This software dramatically improves in-house archiving systems and creates a central warehouse for all reference ad material. It facilitates easy and instant location of ads by brand, product, date, size, headline, language, agency, client. Users can instantly view digitised TVCs & press ads. The system also ensures ads once acquired are never misplaced.

  • The thin red line

    By VINAY KANCHAN

    Job-definition – people in the corporate world, especially those at relatively senior levels are never really certain where the scope of their job ends (the infamous ‘thin red line‘). This insecurity leads to bosses increasingly interfering with the work of their subordinates, leading to a complete duplication of effort, which if viewed with an opportunistic eye can give rise to some quite interesting consequences.(Case in point- I have been only able to complete this column, because my boss is still ticking off items on my joblist)


    “Man, she really gets on my nerves,” said Neha, the exasperated account executive as she collapsed on a chair next to Ram. Ram was right in the middle of pretending to be busy and so he found the intrusion pleasantly welcoming. Besides he had always wanted to speak to Neha but had never sighted an opening thus far.“Who does?” asked Ram, trying to sound casually nonchalant, while fervently hoping that Neha would be oblivious that his heart had just done a triple summersault and landed back in his chest cavity, albeit beating a touch faster. He needed tea badly.“The life of a person with an intrusive boss is unquestionably something that is an irrevocable loss,” the hushed Chinese accent, the express delivery of the teacup and Chai-La, the mystical canteen boy, had disintegrated into a series of regrets.


    Neha was so self-absorbed that she failed to notice how the teacup had magically appeared in Ram‘s hands; she felt a slight turbulence in the air but cursorily attributed it to her charged personality. She returned to Ram‘s previous question.“My boss Sunetra, she just has been on my case every day this week”“Why? Is she a lawyer?” questioned Ram, through sheer force of habit.“What?” asked Neha in a manner that seemed to cue the interaction would be short lived.“You know, case and all that,” replied Ram, tentatively, not knowing if the explanation was warranted.Neha burst into a slight giggle that instantly lifted Ram‘s spirits.“Oh, I needed that,” she said. “Why don‘t we go down for some coffee?”Ram hated coffee, especially at those ‘café‘s‘. But opportunity never knocks twice.In ten minutes they were sitting at the café across the street.


    “She questions me on every little thing, she wants to be involved in every small detail, and half the time she ends up doing the job herself. I think she even wants to control when I go to the rest room, this is driving me nuts?”“Oh! she has no concept of the ‘thin red line‘?”“What was that?”“Never mind, just something that divides what your boss should do from what you should; it probably is a fictional concept today. Anyway go on.”“What‘s there to go on, that‘s my sad story. How does your boss treat you?”In all this time, Ram had never felt any fondness for Vikas, but just then Vikas seemed a great boss to have. Before Ram could suppress it, his chest inflated with pride.



    “Well, he doesn‘t really care. He lets me do my own thing. So much so that sometimes I wish he interfered a little more. I have complete freedom and ownership for all my actions.” Ram answered, realizing even as he mouthed those words that he was endowing Vikas with a rare version of corporate divinity.”He sounds so cool, you work with Vikas right? He is such a rock star.”


    “Well I wouldn‘t go that far, even that style of working can lead to heartaches sometimes,” then wanting to get the topic off Vikas he asked,” so how do you handle Sunetra?”, reflecting on the spot of jealousy that had gone through his system when Neha‘s eyes sparkled as she had spoken of Vikas.“I really can‘t” said Neha touching Ram‘s arm, sending tiny freckles of electricity up his spine. “Can you advise me?”


    “Hmm,” began Ram, touching his chin tenderly, hoping his mannerisms were causing an escalation in his perceived intelligence levels. “Why don‘t you look at the situation optimistically? You are getting your jobs done anyway. Just flow with the tide and don‘t take any stress and every day at office can be like a paid holiday. She ends up doing all the work, doesn‘t she?”


    Neha looked at Ram in the manner that a stunned audience would have if Hitler had ever said during one of his effusive diatribes that the Jews were cool.“You have no idea what it is like to work under her. What are you saying?” she began as tears started to roll.
    Ram held her hand and said in his most confident tone, “Just try it Neha, what have you got to lose?”    The next day Ram kept his ears open as he heard what was happening in the adjacent cubicles, where Sunetra and Neha used to have their meetings.Even across the fortifications of his own cubicle he could sense that Sunetra was not one you could share a joke with. The words ‘seriously somber‘ sprang to mind.“Have you checked with the studio on the status of the artworks?”“No, I was doing other things.”“Ha, never mind I have done that already and they will be ready by seven.”“What about the quotes on the film?”“I went to the films department but they were away at a shoot.”“But I called them; they all have mobiles, don‘t they? And the quotes should be in tomorrow. What about the research boards for the focus groups?”Ram could almost picture Neha stretching out like a cat, suppressing a slight yawn, and languidly running her fingers through her hair.


    “I tried telling PP, but you know he has issues talking to juniors, he is so hierarchy conscious. I think it will be best if you brief him.”“Yes I will, I will ensure he delivers, how dare he delay work,” roared Sunetra and muttered some utterly unladylike things about PP.



    “And Sunetra since you will have all the deadlines clear in your mind, could you also please mail the daily status to client?”“Yes, once I‘m done with PP, the artworks plus the quotes, and I have made all the concerned peoples lives miserable, I will do that,” said Sunetra storming off accompanied by mayhem and a gloomy looking cloud that always seemed to lurk above her.Neha popped her head over the cubicle, her face radiating happiness.


    “This is great. I‘m glad we had that conversation yesterday. I have absolutely nothing to do; she is doing all my work. I‘m actually changing my ring tone to ‘Money for nothing‘”
    Ram‘s expression was a heroic effort to conceal his disappointment, as he was going to come up with that very same wisecrack. He felt robbed of his moment of glory.    “So what do you intend doing for the rest of the day?”


    “I don‘t know, I had the whole morning pretty much to myself and so I went and chatted with Vikas, asked him about the ‘thin red line‘ and all that. He replied that it was not lines but rather curves that held his interest. He is such a charmer; we are going out for lunch today. In fact we might even have plans for the evening.”Ram made a note in his mental black book of things that he despised about Vikas. The black book was getting to be a rather copious volume.


    The next three days seemed to fly by and he did not see much of Neha at all.On Friday Vikas called him to his room.“Chief,:” he started and then paused to adjust his tie in his reflection in Ram‘s glasses, “You will need to help out Neha on her accounts as well for a while, the poor girl is really buried in loads of work and her boss Sunetra tells me that she herself needs to do lots of operations, so they clearly need help. Obviously nothing suffers on our side, even if I am lending you to that group. I don‘t want to be attending any client calls about delays. I hate being bothered with such things.”


    Ram thought about defending his case but with the speed of the Indian batting lineup collapsing, he saw the irony of the whole thing and gave it up.


    “I‘m out for a long lunch now,” said Vikas and sauntered out. Ram briefly glimpsed Neha accost Vikas near the elevator and seamlessly attach herself to him.


    “Advice liberally dispensed has the trait, of coming back to haunt your own fate,” Ram heard Chai-La‘s words of wisdom, even felt the teacup nestle in his hands but for once was too dejected to observe what kind of an exit the mystical Chinese canteen boy made this time. For the record he simply drew a thin red line and then erupted into a spectrum of points that strove to seek fulfillment along it. And then she blew.Sunetra‘s voice was unkind on the ear even when heard in passing, but now it sounded as mellifluous as a ravenous hyena jumping on hot coals.


    “Ram, I want you in my cubicle now, and I mean right now. I want to do a job list meeting. Don‘t forget to get a pad, pen and calculator when you come, and I don‘t want to repeat that again.”Who ever said that June 21st was the longest day?


    The writer is Vice President, Rediffusion DY&R. He is also the patron saint of Juhu Beach United, a football club that celebrates the ‘unfit, out of breath media professional of today‘. You can write to him at (vinaykanchan@hotmail.com).


    (The views expressed here are those of the author and Indiantelevision.com need not necessarily subscribe to the same)

  • US ad spend up 4.6 per cent in 2006

    MUMBAI: Ad spending for 2006 in the US rose 4.6 per cent over the same period last year due to gains across major media.









    Nielsen Monitor-Plus, the ad intelligence service of Nielsen has released preliminary figures.




    Ad spending increased in most reported media. This was led by Internet (35 per cent), the top 100 Spot TV markets (9.1 per cent), Spanish-Language TV (8.1 per cent) and Outdoor (8.1 per cent).


    Growth in a number of media remained flat or slightly down over last including B2B magazines, Coupons, smaller Spot TV markets, Network Radio, and Local Newspaper.


    Nielsen Monitor-Plus senior VP client strategy and product development management Brian Lane says, “Total US ad spending continues to grow, with the Internet, Spanish-Language and Outdoor leading the way..Outdoor advertising, considered a traditional media is showing renewed strength due in part to advances in digital technology, such as digital billboards.”










    Ad spending for the top 10 companies of 2006 reached $17.9 billion, remaining essentially flat from 2005, with just one per cent growth. Six of the 10 advertisers experienced growth. AT&T and Verizon, both telephone services companies, showed the greatest per cent growth at 44.4 per cent and 16.2 per cent respectively. A portion of this increase is due to merger and acquisition activity, and both companies greatly increased their spending in their Internet Service/Web Access business units.


    Offsetting these increases, two of the three automotive advertisers reduced ad spending. Specifically, GM spending was down 16 per cent and DaimlerChrysler decreased its ad spending by 6.1 per cent. Both Ford and Toyota continue to increase spending, and in particular on brands like Toyota Camry and Rav4, Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan.


    Johnson & Johnson cut back overall spending on a number of brands including Orthoevra and Ditropan.




    Spending for the 10 largest categories reached $45 billion in 2006, three per cent more than the same period last year. Most product categories have increased spending, with the exception of Credit Card Services (-6.9 per cent), Auto Dealerships (-3.5 per cent), and Automotive, comprised of Factory and Dealer Associations (-1.5 per cent).


    The Pharmaceutical industry was the fastest growing in terms of per cent increase over last year (14.9 per cent) and in terms of actual dollar increase ($719 million). Pfizer increased spending 32% ($158 million), while Merck and Sepracor each increased their budgets 40 per cent, $118 million and $95 million, respectively.


    Product Placement: Nielsen’s product placement service shows a decrease in the overall number of placements for primetime network programming with a total of 79,701 occurrences for 2006 compared to 102,793 occurrences for 2005. While the total number of occurrences is down, placements that combine an audio and visual mention have increased by 10 per cent. In 2006 there were 4,912 audio/visual combination occurrences compared to 4,456 in 2005.


    The Top 10 shows that featured product placements for 2006 accounted for 23,344 occurrences. General dramas (22,825 occurrences) replaced sitcoms (19,161 occurrences) as the number one programme type to feature brand integrations, due to the airing of more episodes for this type of program in 2006.


    American Idol featured 4,086 product placements, with more occurrences than any other program, a 17% increase over 2005. The Biggest Loser, not on the top ten list last year, ranked 4th with (2,478) occurrences. The Top 10 brands totaled 10,323 occurrences in 2006, a 13 per cent increase. Coca-Cola was the top brand, with 3,355 occurrences, a 19 per cent increase over 2005. Chef Revival Apparel placed second with 1,592 occurrences.


    The total number of occurrences for product placements decreased in 2006, and can be largely attributed to shifts in programming such as the airing of more dramas, which tend to carry less product placements than other program genres. However, placements that feature a combination of audio and visuals are rising indicating an increase in planned placements.

  • CNN hits the streets for marketing ‘Eye on India’

    NEW DELHI: In a unique marketing road show activity called ‘Express Yourself’, CNN branded vehicles are travelling around three Indian cities – Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore – encouraging youth to express their views on issues relevant to them.

    Coinciding with CNN’s week-long Eye on India: Generation Next, the innovative travelling exhibit is also distributing flyers that soliciting opinion on topics ranging from what it is like to be young in India today, the importance of religion, caste, arranged marriages, what makes the youth proud to be Indian.

    Eye on India: Generation Next is being promoted extensively through an aggressive, 360 degree marketing campaign, a press note from the channel says.

    It explains that with the aim of generating awareness and drive appointment viewing, the campaign includes a comprehensive mix of trade and consumer advertising, both in print and online; promotional television spots on CNN’s Asia Pacific and Europe/Middle East / Africa feeds; online consumer contests, etc.

    CNN’s Eye on India focusses on India’s growing youth population. More than half a billion people under the age of 25 or one in 12 people in the world is a young Indian, and CNN’s week of special programming trains the spotlight on this demographic. This edition of Eye on India will include a series of special programmes on CNN, along with highlights of Indian youth in various segments of life, in business, sports, industry, etc.

    The programme kicked off on 18 March, and the channel hopes this will provide CNN’s global audiences a comprehensive look at the country’s youth.

  • Murder by numbers…

    The brand versus sales debate has raged ever since a not so famous Greek philosopher sub let the empty seats in his ‘platonic posturing’ classroom to tired travelers who promised to conceal their mirth as he conducted semi nude experiments on the rich and the infamous. Subsequently this laid the foundation for the guesthouse business (the resting of the travelers, not the semi nude stuff), what became of the philosopher is anyone’s guess.

    “And that’s our campaign, while I must say that we see great advertising coming out of it, I also think it will do wonders in term of increasing brand equity, we will occupy a unique position in the consumers mind.” Concluded PP (the creative director of the exaggerated moustache fame), clearly pleased with the way his presentation had gone.

    There was a hushed pause across the table. The marketing head Mr Bose had a rumor of a smile on his face. His subordinate Madhukar Lele (first name, courtesy parents, the second, general public) was typically non-committal, even expressionwise. All eyes rested on the Chairman of the company, Mr Digvijay Sharma (refer ‘Monday Morning Blues’ in the archive), the doyen of the itching cream industry and the man who had virtually started from scratch, literally, figuratively and metaphorically.

    The Chairman had a metallic ear and Ram Shankar always doubted how much of anything he actually heard. He turned a little to face the agency team, the ear clanking along the way.

    “In the debate of brand versus sale, it is the brand that must always pale,” the hushed Chinese accent, the express delivery of the tea cup and Chai-La (the mystical Chinese canteen boy) had as always invisibly delivered his early morning tea cup and free consultancy with the quickness of advertisers rushing back to Ganguly, post current events.

    “The campaign might be fine, but what will it do for my sales?” enquired the Chairman in his measured tone. Pausing to emphasize every word like he was proof checking them. The agency team did what they did best at such times. They shot bewildered, urgent and enquiring looks furtively at each other. There was PP (described in an earlier bracket), Vikas (the extremely flamboyant account head), Dharti (the extremely ravishing account planning head) and Ram (the extremely ordinary account executive) in the room and classically, this was the case of someone having to start the defense.

    “Well of course it will increase the sale, this campaign will help the brand make inroads into many more homes,” began Vikas, to the background of an inward groan from PP.

    “How many homes?” asked the Chairman, gaze fixed on Vikas in a manner that suggested he had some past in third degree interrogative practices.

    “Well we can’t exactly tell you that,” started Vikas

    “Its impossible to exactly establish how much of a sales increase can be directly attributed to advertising,” cooed Dharti euphoniously in support.

    “Advertising is not an exact science in that sense,” quipped in PP

    “It is an exacting one,” interrupted the chairman with a sardonic chuckle,” considering how much we spend every year. And yet my sales have never really taken off.”

    “Sir, we need to nurture this brand for a while,” said Mr Bose, for once, trying to help the agency, “New communication and new positioning always need time to register.”

    “And what is the time it needs? I am getting tired of the same argument, I need to see more sales,” interjected the Chairman, still looking at Dharti.

    “What we need is a promotional offer,” began Madhukar Lele, and as was usually the case whenever he troubled the airwaves, was swamped by a blitzkrieg of contrasting opinion.
    “Really? that makes no sense at all,” started Dharti.

    “Lele use your head, at least once a while,” boomed PP.

    “Where are your branding fundamentals man?” enquired Vikas.

    “Can’t you for once try and see the larger picture?” remarked an irritated Mr Bose, justifying the last name sobriquet so aptly bestowed on his subordinate. Ram was silent, his eyes fixed on the Chairman.

    “You know, I like that idea” started the Chairman.

    “But the brand image?” began Dharti.

    “Our beautiful campaign?” said PP.

    “The competitive framework?” added Mr Bose.

    “Tea anyone?” asked Vikas, doing his ‘servicing’ bit, and quickly getting an eyeful from his colleagues.

    “Yes, I will have tea,” replied Madhukar Lele, and once again bore the brunt of a ‘redirected frustration’ wave.

    “Can’t you stop thinking about yourself for even a minute?” began Mr Bose.

    “This is such a huge issue and that’s all you can think about?” reprimanded Dharti, as Lele’s face fell to the floor with a thud.

    “Spare the chap,” boomed the Chairman, “he has said the only thing that has made any kind of sense in this room.”

    There was silence all around and Madhukar Lele’s face was a sight for sore eyes (well actually he was grinning from ear to ear, but still).

    “We begin this year with a sales campaign unless anyone has an objection,” roared the Chairman in a manner that unequivocally elucidated the value of silence. PP, Vikas, Dharti and Mr Bose exchanged knowing ‘lets give it up’ glances, as yet beyond the comprehension of young Ram.

    “Sir, don’t you think that given the task for this year and the fact that what we were recommending is so unique and different from the competition, we should invest in a brand campaign? If you create the right associations in the mind, the results in the market are but a logical corollary. Getting into a promotional activity at this time will only send confusing signals to the consumer, it will erode our equity.” Ram paused for breath, scarcely believing what he had said, neither did the others.

    Mr Bose’s face was an agitated purple. Vikas’s expression was that of concealed panic. Dharti’s was of a grudging envy. PP’s was that of restrained amusement. Madhukar as always was expressionless.

    “No young man, I do not invest in equity,” began the Chairman to the bemusement of everyone, “don’t trust this stock market boom. I believe in making money the old fashioned way, and now lets be gone.”

    He galvanized Mr Bose and Madhukar Lele out of the conference room and into his car to do a market visit.

    “What happened there?” asked Ram, after they had left

    “Chief you were lucky you were sitting on his wrong ‘ear’ side, so he did not hear what you were saying, but you nearly screwed us there,” said an angry Vikas as he stormed out of the room, Dharti closely following him.

    “Don’t worry about your boss, he is anally retentive,” offered PP in a surprisingly gentle tone,” I thought you made sense.”

    “But why did he decide on the promotion?” asked Ram.

    PP helplessly shrugged his shoulders and walked out.

    “If sales numbers are the acid test, the brand will be murdered and laid to rest”, these wise words of wisdom were whispered in Ram’s ear as he felt the tea cup nestle in his fingers and looked up just in time to see Chai-La disappear into a discarded pack of the itching cream in question.

  • Murder by numbers…

    By VINAY KANCHAN

    The brand versus sales debate has raged ever since a not so famous Greek philosopher sub let the empty seats in his ‘platonic posturing‘ classroom to tired travelers who promised to conceal their mirth as he conducted semi nude experiments on the rich and the infamous. Subsequently this laid the foundation for the guesthouse business (the resting of the travelers, not the semi nude stuff), what became of the philosopher is anyone‘s guess.


    “And that‘s our campaign, while I must say that we see great advertising coming out of it, I also think it will do wonders in term of increasing brand equity, we will occupy a unique position in the consumers mind.” Concluded PP (the creative director of the exaggerated moustache fame), clearly pleased with the way his presentation had gone.


    There was a hushed pause across the table. The marketing head Mr Bose had a rumor of a smile on his face. His subordinate Madhukar Lele (first name, courtesy parents, the second, general public) was typically non-committal, even expressionwise. All eyes rested on the Chairman of the company, Mr Digvijay Sharma (refer ‘Monday Morning Blues‘ in the archive), the doyen of the itching cream industry and the man who had virtually started from scratch, literally, figuratively and metaphorically.


    The Chairman had a metallic ear and Ram Shankar always doubted how much of anything he actually heard. He turned a little to face the agency team, the ear clanking along the way.


    “In the debate of brand versus sale, it is the brand that must always pale,” the hushed Chinese accent, the express delivery of the tea cup and Chai-La (the mystical Chinese canteen boy) had as always invisibly delivered his early morning tea cup and free consultancy with the quickness of advertisers rushing back to Ganguly, post current events.


    “The campaign might be fine, but what will it do for my sales?” enquired the Chairman in his measured tone. Pausing to emphasize every word like he was proof checking them. The agency team did what they did best at such times. They shot bewildered, urgent and enquiring looks furtively at each other. There was PP (described in an earlier bracket), Vikas (the extremely flamboyant account head), Dharti (the extremely ravishing account planning head) and Ram (the extremely ordinary account executive) in the room and classically, this was the case of someone having to start the defense.


    “Well of course it will increase the sale, this campaign will help the brand make inroads into many more homes,” began Vikas, to the background of an inward groan from PP.


    “How many homes?” asked the Chairman, gaze fixed on Vikas in a manner that suggested he had some past in third degree interrogative practices.


    “Well we can‘t exactly tell you that,” started Vikas


    “Its impossible to exactly establish how much of a sales increase can be directly attributed to advertising,” cooed Dharti euphoniously in support.


    “Advertising is not an exact science in that sense,” quipped in PP

    “It is an exacting one,” interrupted the chairman with a sardonic chuckle,” considering how much we spend every year. And yet my sales have never really taken off.”


    “Sir, we need to nurture this brand for a while,” said Mr Bose, for once, trying to help the agency, “New communication and new positioning always need time to register.”

    “And what is the time it needs? I am getting tired of the same argument, I need to see more sales,” interjected the Chairman, still looking at Dharti.


    “What we need is a promotional offer,” began Madhukar Lele, and as was usually the case whenever he troubled the airwaves, was swamped by a blitzkrieg of contrasting opinion.
    “Really? that makes no sense at all,” started Dharti.


    “Lele use your head, at least once a while,” boomed PP.


    “Where are your branding fundamentals man?” enquired Vikas.


    “Can‘t you for once try and see the larger picture?” remarked an irritated Mr Bose, justifying the last name sobriquet so aptly bestowed on his subordinate. Ram was silent, his eyes fixed on the Chairman.


    “You know, I like that idea” started the Chairman.


    “But the brand image?” began Dharti.


    “Our beautiful campaign?” said PP.


    “The competitive framework?” added Mr Bose.


    “Tea anyone?” asked Vikas, doing his ‘servicing‘ bit, and quickly getting an eyeful from his colleagues.


    “Yes, I will have tea,” replied Madhukar Lele, and once again bore the brunt of a ‘redirected frustration‘ wave.


    “Can‘t you stop thinking about yourself for even a minute?” began Mr Bose.


    “This is such a huge issue and that‘s all you can think about?” reprimanded Dharti, as Lele‘s face fell to the floor with a thud.


    “Spare the chap,” boomed the Chairman, “he has said the only thing that has made any kind of sense in this room.”


    There was silence all around and Madhukar Lele‘s face was a sight for sore eyes (well actually he was grinning from ear to ear, but still).


    “We begin this year with a sales campaign unless anyone has an objection,” roared the Chairman in a manner that unequivocally elucidated the value of silence. PP, Vikas, Dharti and Mr Bose exchanged knowing ‘lets give it up‘ glances, as yet beyond the comprehension of young Ram.


    “Sir, don‘t you think that given the task for this year and the fact that what we were recommending is so unique and different from the competition, we should invest in a brand campaign? If you create the right associations in the mind, the results in the market are but a logical corollary. Getting into a promotional activity at this time will only send confusing signals to the consumer, it will erode our equity.” Ram paused for breath, scarcely believing what he had said, neither did the others.


    Mr Bose‘s face was an agitated purple. Vikas‘s expression was that of concealed panic. Dharti‘s was of a grudging envy. PP‘s was that of restrained amusement. Madhukar as always was expressionless.


    “No young man, I do not invest in equity,” began the Chairman to the bemusement of everyone, “don‘t trust this stock market boom. I believe in making money the old fashioned way, and now lets be gone.”


    He galvanized Mr Bose and Madhukar Lele out of the conference room and into his car to do a market visit.


    “What happened there?” asked Ram, after they had left


    “Chief you were lucky you were sitting on his wrong ‘ear‘ side, so he did not hear what you were saying, but you nearly screwed us there,” said an angry Vikas as he stormed out of the room, Dharti closely following him.


    “Don‘t worry about your boss, he is anally retentive,” offered PP in a surprisingly gentle tone,” I thought you made sense.”

    “But why did he decide on the promotion?” asked Ram.

    PP helplessly shrugged his shoulders and walked out.


    “If sales numbers are the acid test, the brand will be murdered and laid to rest”, these wise words of wisdom were whispered in Ram‘s ear as he felt the tea cup nestle in his fingers and looked up just in time to see Chai-La disappear into a discarded pack of the itching cream in question.


     


    The writer is Vice President, Rediffusion DY&R. He is also the patron saint of Juhu Beach United, a football club that celebrates the ‘unfit, out of breath media professional of today‘. You can write to him at (vinaykanchan@hotmail.com).


    (The views expressed here are those of the author and Indiantelevision.com need not necessarily subscribe to the same)

  • Maruti in $ 1 million sponsorship deal for cricket World Cup website

    Maruti in $ 1 million sponsorship deal for cricket World Cup website

    MUMBAI: ICC internet partner Indya.com kicked off its campaign for the globe’s biggest cricketing carnival with the official launch today of its World Cup dedicated website cricketworldcup.com.

    The launch coincided with the confirmation that car major Maruti had come on board the site as presenting sponsor for cricket’s headline event. In what is being termed as the biggest online advertising deal negotiated in India in recent times, Maruti has committed somewhere in the region of $ 1 million (Rs 450 million) for the privilege of owning “most of the real estate” on the site, sources close to the developments say.

    Ajay Vidyasagar, Star India executive vice-president content and communications, while refusing to offer any comment on the size of the deal, said: “Maruti has made a significant investment in partnering with us and this is the only engagement we are announcing for the present.”

    “Maruti has always been at the cutting edge of technology and have always been open to explore and experiment with new ideas,” NDTV Media CEO Raj Nayak, whose company has been given the mandate to sell advertising for Indya.com for the World Cup, said. “I think this is a testimony to the power of the worldwide web,” Nayak added.

    It may be recalled that earlier, the sponsorship packages on offer involved one presenting sponsor and four associate sponsors. This has all changed because the size of the deal Indya has negotiated with Maruti. There will now be far less inventory available for other potential sponsors than had been originally envisaged, Vidyasagar explained.

    Speaking about cricketworldcup.com, Vidyasagar said, “We are committed to provide the most comprehensive and definitive website of the game during the tournament and assure our users an online experience that they will find unparalleled.

  • Adidas launch Blue billion range for Indian cricket fans

    MUMBAI: Adidas launched its Authentic Fan Range collection for the upcoming World Cup Cricket.













    The Blue billion concept is for die hard cricket fans who live and breathe the sport and whose only desire is the Indian cricket team‘s victory, said the company. The range gives Indian cricket fans an opportunity to sport their solidarity for the Indian.




    The range includes tee- shirts, jerseys, scarves and a host of accessories for both men and women and is priced between Rs.449 to Rs.1049.


    The collection is available at over 200 multi brand and Adidas outlets across the country. The Blue Billion range is designed in shades of blue and white and features Adidas patented technologies like ClimaLite.The range is closely followed by a campaign called Blue Billion that adidas will launch soon.


















    Speaking on the launch adidas India managing director Andreas Gellner said, “Cricket is a religion in India and at adidas we share India‘s unbridled passion and fervour for the sport. The Blue Billion Authentic Fan Range is a reflection of our commitment to the Indian Cricket fan and further cements the bond that the Indian cricket fans share with adidas. We are confident the range will further strengthen our leadership in the category.”