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Category: News Headline

  • C&G not to sponsor England Cricket Boards ODI competition

    MUMBAI: The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have said that Cheltenham & Gloucester will not be renewing their sponsorship of the 50-over domestic one day competition after the current season.
     
     
    ECB chairman David Morgan said, “We thank C&G for their support during the last five years. We are grateful for their input into a competition which is the breeding ground of future World Cup cricketers.”
     
     
    C&G have partnered with the ECB since 2001 but have decided to look at other avenues, which are more in-line with its current marketing objectives, after this season’s competition, which culminates in the traditional Lord’s final on 26 August 2006.
     
     
    C&G marketing head Ian Whittaker said, “We have had a fantastic relationship with the ECB over the years and the partnership has been a great success. We hope that the last C&G Trophy, which takes place in 2006, will be one to remember and we wish the ECB and any future partner all the best.”
     

     

  • Omnicom opens office in China

    MUMBAI: Advertising, media and communications firm Omnicom celebrated its 20th anniversary with the official opening of its office in China by Omnicom president and CEO John Wren.

    Wren says, “China is a key strategic market for Omnicom. The opening of this office is a clear illustration of our commitment to the region. We are delighted to be celebrating our 20th anniversary in China, and it is symbolic that our office is opening here in this milestone year for the group.”

    Omnicom vice chairman and chairman and CEO Asia Pacific Michael Birkin says, “For over 20 years, our agencies have led the way in terms of creativity and innovation, which is demonstrated through the strength and recognition of our brands as among the world’s best. We will continuously look to build on this success in China and across the region, by delivering innovative marketing and communications solutions to our clients”.
    Under the Omnicom umbrella, many of the Group’s agencies have already established strong networks in
    China. These include global advertising brands BBDO, DDB and TBWATequila; specialist media-buying company OMD; public relations brands Bentley Communications, Fleishman-Hillard and Ketchum Newscan; brand consultancy firm Interbrand; interactive agency Tribal DDB; and field marketing company Unisono Fieldmarketing.

    Last month Omnicom acquired a majority ownership interest in Unisono Fieldmarketing International Limited, a field marketing company based in Shanghai, China. Covering over 25 cities, it offers channel solutions to consumer, pharmaceutical and other service industries based on a powerful Point of Purchase (Pop) satellite mapping and field force management and reporting system.

    Omnicom says that the addition of Unisono Fieldmarketing demonstrates its determination to offer clients a comprehensive range of quality services across China, and we will continue to seek further opportunities to expand our portfolio and attract the best talent in the business

  • Orange crosses one million customer mark

    MUMBAI: Cellular service provider Orange has announced that it has crossed the one million customer mark in Mumbai. In continuation of its aggressive plans for the country’s fastest growing cellular market, the company has announced a further investment of Rs. three billion in Mumbai for next year.
     
     

    This will take the total investment in Mumbai to Rs 11.5 billion. The fresh dose of funds will go towards expanding the network infrastructure and improving the coverage footprint for both outdoor as well as deep in-doors all across Mumbai.

    This has been a good year for Hutchison Max Telecom. Besides Orange Hutch in Delhi also crossed the one million mark. The group crossed over four million customers across its ten circles this month. Hutchison Max Telecom MD Asim Ghosh was quoted in an official release saying, “Today, we serve over a million customers, who say ‘I speak Orange’. It has been a wonderful eight years and I thank the people of Mumbai for giving us their vote of confidence.”

    Currently Orange has the largest number of cell sites deployed in Mumbai amongst all operators (including GSM as well as non-GSM operators). Orange covers Mumbai with over 650 cell sites. Orange plans to retain capacity leadership in the city with an additional deployment of 170 more cell sites.

    To improve voice quality, Orange has successfully deployed the “Intelligent Optimisation Service”, a cutting edge technology software from Motorola. This provides optimal use of spectrum, leading to a superior voice quality. To enhance its data services and to allow a better throughput, Hutchison Essar will soon be launching Edge as a country wide initiative. The release adds that the investment in Mumbai alone will be around Rs. 200 million for the project.

    Hutchison Essar operates cellular services currently in ten circles. They cover 70 per cent of the country’s purchasing power – Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh (East).

     

  • OgilvyOne UK Wins at Campaign Direct Awards

    MUMBAI: OgilvyOne’s campaign for Cancer Research UK dominated the 2006 Campaign Direct Awards. The “still here” bench was given the Campaign Gold Award (the only gold awarded) as Best Overall Execution and also took silver for Best Use of Outdoor.
     
     
    Other elements of the “still here” campaign won category-winning silvers for Best Use of Press and Best Use of Broadcast.
     
     
    In addition to these four winners, OgilvyOne also had five additional finalists, two of them for yet more elements of Cancer Research UK, plus one apiece for BT, IBM and Cisco.
     
     
    This was the culmination of a terrific run of awards for Campaign Research UK, which took the only UK Gold at Cannes Direct in 2005 and a number of awards at the Direct Marketing Association show.
     

     

  • Fresh and Honest Café launches ‘Alive!’ filter coffee powder

    BANGALORE: From selling Coffee Vending machines to adding retail of branded packaged filter coffee- it’s taken Fresh & Honest (FHCL) a decade to make this particular increment to their portfolio. FHCL today announced the launch of Alive, a new filtered coffee brand in Karnataka.

    The brand was launched in Tamil Nadu (TN) earlier this year on 27 February. A Kerala launch is scheduled for the first week of May, with an Andhra (AP) launch planned for mid May. Nationally, the brand will be rolled out by June end.

    The launches are currently South India focused because 90.2 per cent of filter coffee consumption happens there, with West India following at a far second place with 5.2 per cent of the consumption pie, closely followed by the North of the country with a three per cent, the rest of the consumption happening in the Eastern Zone of India.

    The Indian Filtered Coffee market is estimated to be around 20,000 Tons and Rs 3 billion in value, with 53 per cent supply happening from the organised sector and 47 per cent from the unorganised sector comprising of small shops that provide a mix of chicory and coffee in varying proportions.

    Alive will be 70 per cent coffee and 30 per cent chicory. The top nationally branded player in the market is HLL’s Bru with a lion’s share of 68 per cent followed by Tata’s who command a meager eight per cent of the market share. A local player in TN, Narasu, contributes 13 per cent to the pie, with the rest being shared by smaller players. FHCL plan to have Alive capture 10 per cent of the market share (approximately 1000 Tons) in the first year itself and catapult to the second or third position, depending upon which players share they can eat into.

    FHCL will be spending Rs 20 million on its marketing/ad/promotion campaigns in the next two months.

    A print and media campaign is planned and has already commenced in TN. A TVC has been aired on Sun, Raj and Vijay channels along with DD’s rural channel in TN.

    FHCL CEO R Shivashankar claims that the TV ad campaign has been so successful in TN, that he has already received enquires for export since “Sun has an international audience.”

    Local TV cable channels are another avenue that FHCL may use. The creative work for the TVC has been done by Rediffusion; the TVC is produced by Chennai based VKP at a cost of Rs 4 million. Another TVC is being shot at present according to Ravishankar, who plans to spend Rs 20 million plus towards promotion (excluding the cost of the TVC’s). All creative ideas and media business is handled by Rediffusion.

    Aroma, colour, taste and the right bitterness are the factors that control the drinkers preference for a particular brand as per FHCL’s research. To attract customers, FHCL claim that their latest offering is a rich, roast and ground coffee. The product is priced at premium of 10 per cent vis-?-vis other players.

    FHCL claim that their technology is a first in India – the fresh coffee beans that go into the preparation of ‘Alive!’, are subject to both drum and air roasting processes and each grade of coffee bean is individually roasted to release its full flavor.

    Another industry first is packaging – Alive will be packed in high optical density metallised polyester material with nylon poly inner layer for better moisture barrier and aroma retention properties, is available in 50, 100, 200 and 500 gms retail packs in the market.

    Aggressive direct awareness creating initiatives in Karnataka are also on the anvil. FHCL plan to induce mall, department and large store customers to sample a cuppa and purchase a packet of Alive, as also visits to residences to sell the first packet. This has worked quite well in Chennai and the number of repeat customers has been far in excess of expectations according to Shivashankar.

    In the mean time FHCL claim that their imported Italian machines dispense six million cups of hot and cold java and other drinks every month from their 2300 coffee vending machines sold from their 15 branches and 22 cities in India.

    The vending machines are located in five start hotels, corporate offices, and in Barista, which happens to be a group company. FHCL plan to use the FMCG distribution route instead – 14,600 outlets in TN, 11,400 in Karnataka, 10,700 in AP and 4,100 in God’s Own Country.

    FHCL is a part of C Sivasankaran Sterling Infotech Group of companies along with Barista (which was acquired some time ago), Dishnet Wireless, Aircel and Aiwo (restaurants).

  • Ambience Publicis’ Shavon Barua to head Dentsu Q-Pro

    MUMBAI: Ambience Publicis’ Shavon Barua has quit the agency to join Dentsu Q-Pro as general manager. Dentsu Q-Pro is the recruitment advertising agency of Dentsu in India.

    Barua, who will be based in Delhi, was heading the Lakme business at Ambience Publicis.

    Dentsu Q-Pro was launched last month by Dentsu Marcom as a specialist division catering to HR related and employee branding communications. Dentsu Q-Pro pioneered the concept of recruitment advertising on television with the launch of naukri.com sponsored ‘The Job Show’ on CNBC where LG, Aviva and DNA amongst others have already recruited candidates live on the show. Amongst its clients, Dentsu Q-Pro is already doing work for Suzlon and HCC.
    Barua has been with Ambience Publicis for the last couple of years. Prior to this she was in-charge of Colgate-Palmolive at Rediffusion DYR. She has also had a stint with SSC&B Lintas.

    “Dentsu Q-Pro is a green-field and blue skies idea, which requires a leader as exuberant as Shavon. Employer branding and reputation management will become important areas of corporate communications in the days to come. Shavon has been charged with taking Dentsu Q-Pro to market leadership,” Dentsu India chairman Sandeep Goyal.

    “I have worked with Mr. Goyal and Gullu Sen in my Rediffusion days. They allow a lot of space for individual leadership, while always being there to help and support you. Dentsu Q-Pro will be an exciting challenge in a new area of communication. I am looking forward to the assignment,” added Barua.

  • Madras HC admits PIL against minister Dayanidhi Maran

    Madras HC admits PIL against minister Dayanidhi Maran

    MUMBAI: The Madras HC has admitted a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), which accuses the Union minister of communications and information technology Dayanidhi Maran for releasing advertisements worth Rs 100 million to the family-owned Sun TV Network.

    According to a Times of India report, justices M Karpagavinayagam and A R Ramalingam on 9 March admitted a writ petition on the case that would come up for hearing before the chief justice on 13 March. The PIL, filed by J Veparasu, accuses Maran of abusing the office of the Union minister.

    Veparasu, in the PIL, has sought an HC direction for a CBI investigation into all transactions since May 2004, when Maran assumed the office as Union minister. He has also sought an interim injunction restraining Maran’s ministry from releasing any advertisement to Sun TV Group channels and publications till his PIL is disposed.

    The Chennai-headquartered Sun TV group, which has 15 television channels, four print publications and two radio channels, is owned by Maran’s elder brother Kalanithi Maran.

    The crux of the petition is that, though there are many private producers who telecast their programmes on the Sun group channels, Maran has not released even a single advertisement to their programmes. The petitioner alleges that the advertisements went exclusively to programmes telecast and produced by Kalanithi Maran.

    Maran, now under fire for committing breach of oath under Schedule III of the Constitution, has also been accused of neglecting government-owned channels when it came to advertisement support.

  • SET targets the serious viewer with ‘ACHANAK’ and ‘PAR IS DIL KO KAISE SAMJAYE’

    SET targets the serious viewer with ‘ACHANAK’ and ‘PAR IS DIL KO KAISE SAMJAYE’

    Sony has set its sights on leading prime time ratings every Friday with innovative fare. To this effect it has announced the launch of two shows aimed at having a dramatic effect on the audience.

    The first one is a weekly supernatural show with a difference. Achanak the brainchild of writer Shridhar Raghavan will air every Friday at 10:30 pm starting from 22 March. It has the tagline 37 saal baad.

    Speaking on this Director On Air Programming SET Anupama Mandloi said, ” The name grabs your imagination. This is a psychological thriller. It is like reading a novel on television. The show is built on a solid foundation a great script. It is representative of the faith the channel and the producers have in taking this genre a step further. Most importantly it is created by a team which understands this genre and where its appeal lies for the viewer”.

    The producers of the show are Pradeep Uppoor and Neo Films. They together with Sridhar have worked on Aahat and CID for the channel. Like Achanak both of them had a lot of suspense. A serial from Pradeep Uppoor and Neo Films Srikant was shown on Doordarshan and Channel 4.

    Speaking about the project Shridhar Raghavan said, ” Achanak started off a few years ago as a slightly wild outrageous notion, a set of unlinked fragments of ideas. What if you went home and your parents did not know who you were? What if you were happily married and someone from your past told you that it was nothing more than a hallucination?

    Achanak is a battle royal between good and evil. But its a long fight, a tough fight mostly a losing fight for good. Good eventually wins over evil but it gets one hell of a bloody nose before it does. Or does it?”

    Shridhar also envisioned the setting which is the town of Gahota as a twisted version autHor R.K. Narayan’s Malgudi. He sees the project as something unlike anything seen on Indian television. It is weird, bizarre and outrageous with a complex undercurrent running through it.

    In the deceptively calm town of Gahota over the past couple of months something evil has been occuring. Murders, suicides and acts of madness have been taking place. An alchoholic journalist Dipankar travels to Gahota believing that he has the explanation for why crimes are committed in the town once every thirty seven years for a period of three months. Once the turbulent period has passed people cannot recollect what happened.

    The producers built a real town in Panvel not just a TV serial set. a town square, clock tower, residential areas etc were created.

    Regarding casting decisions Shridhar said that some important members do not appear until half the episodes are completed. Also some characters have a touch of eccentricity to them like a professor whose stance shifts with each encounter. There is a hint of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde waging a war within the characters. He also revealed that one of the central protagonists will appear only in the final act. Cast members include Raj Zutshi, Faraaz Khan and Shishir Sharma.

    He pointed out the differences between Achanak and Aahat. Aahat was episodic involving a single continous story. Aahat dealt with big issues concentrating more on pace as opposed to plot. Achanak on the other hand is about small things. It is about how decption can hide underneath a sea of normality. It also deals with the thin line that separates sanity and insanity, light and dark, good and evil.

    The second new weekly show on SET is called Par Is Dil Ko Kaise Samjaye. It premiers on 29 March at 8:30pm. It deals with how the relationship between two sisters gets affected by a series of accidents brought about through sheer fate.

    A woman loses her sister and husband. For companionship and to support her sisters offspring she marries her brother in law. However later on it turns out that her sister survived the accident. Now both of them are married ot the same man. The show is directed by Imtiyaz Punjabi and stars Raj S Verma, Shweta Salve and Pooja Ghai.

  • MTV Movie Awards to be held on 3 June

    MTV Movie Awards to be held on 3 June

    MUMBAI: US broadcaster MTV has announced that the 2006 MTV Movie Awards on 3 June at the Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California.

    The 15th edition of the show will have the infamous golden popcorn up for grabs in such unusual categories as Best Kiss, Best Villain, and Best Comedic Performance along with the debut of several new awards.

    The nominees will be announced later. The nominees are chosen through a poll in the US of MTV and MTV2 viewers.

    Last year the show was hosted by actor Jimmy Fallon. Sponsors of thios year’s event are Dr Pepper, Taco Bell, Dentyne, LOreal Paris, Neutrogena, Pontiac and Starburst.

  • Discovery Channel to air six part series ‘Ten Ways’

    Discovery Channel to air six part series ‘Ten Ways’

    MUMBAI: Starting from 10 March, Discovery Channel will showcase an entertaining look at the dark side of scientific research. The channel will present the six-part series– Ten Ways, which will look in to a strange twilight zone at the margins of scientific understanding.

    The show will air every night at 10 pm. Each episode of Ten Ways, will cover a particular area of scientific research, from parapsychology to alien abduction and genetic research to nanotechnology.

    Each episode will use a mix of B-movie style drama, comedy sketches, high-end graphics and factual programming. From the frighteningly plausible to the truly outlandish, Ten Ways tackles topics that have crossed everyone’s minds but, which are rarely approached from a scientific and technical standpoint.

    Whether it’s the existence of monsters or a global apocalypse, each episode focuses on one topic and presents potential explanations or theories about that topic.

    Featuring interviews with renowned scientists as well as believers, doubters and conspirators, the following episodes of Ten Ways includes, Ten Ways to be Abducted by an Alien, Ten Ways the World Will End, Ten Ways to Meet a Monster, Ten Ways to Lift a Curse, Ten Ways to See into the Future and Ten Ways to Exorcise a Ghost.