ITV

Tag: Airtel

  • Sugato Banerji moves from Airtel to What’s-On-India as COO

    Sugato Banerji moves from Airtel to What’s-On-India as COO

    MUMBAI: TV search and EPG (Electronic Program Guide) technology company What‘s-on-India on Wednesday appointed Sugato Banerji as its chief operating officer. Banerji comes in from Airtel DTH & Media where he held the position of CMO.

    At What‘s-on-India he will lead the company‘s growth strategy in the TV search, EPG and recommendations space and consolidate key partner and client relationships. Under him, What‘s-On will also look at expanding into newer international markets just as the company set up What‘s-On-Arabia in the Middle East in 2012.

    Sugato Banerji‘s move from a large corporate set-up to the new, racy, disruptive world of start-ups comes in as What‘s-On-India rapidly expands into international markets as well as launches new solutions in the domestic TV sector, in the wake of the ongoing government efforts to digitise cable.

    What‘s-on-India CEO and founder Atul Phadnis said, "What‘s-On-India is at an exciting crossroads of TV Search and new TV devices in an increasingly digitalising television sector. Sugato brings in tremendous experience in the TV and media business that would be extremely valuable as What‘s-On-India charts a new, growth and expansion agenda in the coming months."

    Banerji said, "I am excited to join What‘s-On-India at the cusp of a transformation of the TV industry into digital. Digital TV would mean more programs, more channels, increase in regional and local content, greater diversity of set-top-boxes, recorder devices, increased viewing of TV on wireless devices, leading to an explosion in the demand for sophisticated TV search, recommendations and personalisation. What‘s-On-India with its suite of new products is perfectly poised to ride this digital wave, from both ends — the broadcaster & distributor."

    What‘s-On-India raised funds in Series B funding round with Intel, Nexus VP and Sequoia Capital in September 2011 and later acquired TV STREET MAPS, a TV channel distribution monitoring company in December 2011. The company also launched a series of TV search and preview apps on Android, iPad, iPhones, Windows Mobile and other platforms. The most recent announcement was that of an expansion in the Middle East via an acquisition in Jordan.

  • Madison to handle CCD’s media account

    Mumbai: Café Coffee Day (CCD) has awarded its media mandate to Madison Media for its chain of coffee Cafés.

    The account size is estimated to be around Rs 400 million and will be handled by Madison Media Omega in Bangalore.

    Madison Media Group CEO Gautam Kiyawat said, “We are delighted to have India’s premier and leading café chain, Café Coffee Day, to our roster of clients and are confident of helping it grow and gain further market share in the country.”

    CCD president marketing K. Ramakrishnan said, “Café Coffee Day being a brand for the young and the young at heart, we needed a partner who would be passionate about the brand, to be able to understand the category in depth and the varying dynamics to enable us to move along at a fast pace. We are confident of Madison Media’s thought leadership and competence in executing the campaigns. We are delighted to have them on board”.

    Café Coffee Day as a brand has never advertised in mass media in the last 16 years of its existence. It has been built on different marketing initiatives, coffee category building activities, public relations and social media.

    The brand has just launched its first ever television commercial titled ‘Sit Down’ that has been created by Creativeland Asia.

    For the record, Madison Media Group handles media mandate for clients including Airtel, Godrej, Cadbury/Kraft, ITC, General Motors, Marico and McDonald’s.

  • AdNear raises Rs 350 mn from Sequoia and Canaan Partners

    MUMBAI: Location-based mobile advertising platform AdNear raised Rs 350 million ($6.3 million) from Sequoia Capital and Canaan Partners in the first round of early-stage venture funding. The company leverages real-time geo-location, combined with consumer behaviour, to target relevant users.

    The company intends to utilise the funds raised towards expanding its operations in the Asia Pacific region. AdNear is also looking at expanding its team. Currently, the company services clients across the Asia Pacific region including Australia apart from India and Singapore. AdNear has offices in Singapore and Bangalore.

    AdNear was set up in 2009 by Anil Mathews and has offices in Singapore and Bengaluru. It was earlier called Imere Technologies. AdNear‘s ad platform is built on proprietary hybrid geo-location platform, which helps provide location awareness on mobile phones without GPS or operator assistance. Its clients include brands like Titan, Ford, Toyota, Pizza Hut, Samsung, Airtel and Nokia.

    By leveraging real-time geo-location and combining it with consumer behaviour, the platform allows brands to target relevant users within a geo-fence. This allows them to reach out to a larger audience making the communication more geographically relevant for the advertiser and the consumer. The ad platform is available on smart phones and feature phones.

    Canaan‘s current technology investments in India include Naaptol, BharatMatrimony and UnitedLex and Sequoia has invested in companies like Café Coffee Day, Idea Cellular, Just Dial, Manappuram Finance, Paras, Quick Heal, Micromax, Mu Sigma and Vasan Health Care.

  • Zee eyes Rs 1 bn from Sa Re Ga Ma Pa 2012

    MUMBAI: After a gap of two years, Zee TV is all set to woo its audience with the new season of its oldest flagship property ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa 2012’.

    Produced by Esselvision, ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa 2012’ will start on 29 September and will be aired every Saturday and Sunday at 9 pm.

    The channel has roped in 9 sponsors for the show. Continuing to present the show is Hero while the channel is in talks with a couple of brands for the powered by sponsorship and is expected to close the deals soon. Zee TV has got seven associate sponsors on board which include Ferraro Rocher, Tata Motors (Consumer Vehicles), Lux undergarments, Kraft Kitchenware, Toshiba Color TV, Dell laptops and Microsoft. Intel has tied-up with the property as the technology partner.

    “We are looking for one or two more associate sponsors depending on the category. It will either be an FMCG brand or a car brand,” Zee Entertainment Enterprises (Zeel) chief sales officer Ashish Sehgal said.

    According to Sehgal, the property had made around Rs 650-700 million in its last season. “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa is expected to make around Rs 1 billion this year,” he added.

    The channel has sold out 70 per cent of the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa inventory, which is being consumed by the sponsors themselves. The rest of the inventory will be sold to spot buyers.

    Marketing Blitz:

    With plans to use the digital media the most, the channel has created applications like ‘Call & Sing App’. It is a Mobile + Facebook app which will enable the viewer to sing on their mobile phones, post the audio clip on the ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa 2012’ Facebook page as well as their own Timeline even when they are ‘on-the-go’.

    “This app successfully integrates the ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa’ TV and web experience, giving individuals the ability to customise and engage simply. This will help to grow video-based user-generated content,” Zeel marketing head-national channels Akash Chawla said.

    “The focus in ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa 2012’ is to connect better with the audiences, who watch the show and create a stronger relationship with them. Our view is that multiple touch-points can enhance a viewer’s experience. It’s been seen that rather than being a distraction, these interactive methods in the digital domain tend to be programme ‘companions’, enhancing the viewer’s brand experience. Our attempt is to make all ‘other screens’ an ally of the television instead of being its competitor,” Chawla added.

    Among other initiatives are the ‘Hot or Not’ app where people will be singing one after the other and audiences rating them. There will be ‘interactive banners’ with jumbled lyrics that test their knowledge of music. The ‘Sur Tab’ will have ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa’ as syllables on a tab that can be arranged by a viewer to produce different music. Once arranged, the sur can be heard and shared by the viewer immediately. There will be different instruments every week to keep the experience a “refreshing” one.

    The ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Mobile App’ will have a media gallery of videos and photos, singing and music tutorials by mentors, anchor and contestants. Here, the viewers will get an opportunity to chat regularly with the mentors, anchors and contestants. There will also be a ‘Did You Know’ option with trivia related to music. All these will also be available on the microsite, saregamapa.zeetv.com.

    The channel is creating a roadblock on YouTube masthead on 28 September. It will also take-over on the ‘Yahoo’ site, through which the channel aims to drive maximum traffic towards the premiere of the show.

    The premiere of ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa 2012’ is being promoted on DTH players like Dish TV, Airtel and Tata Sky. All Dish TV subscribers will directly tune into ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa 2012’ on Zee TV when they switch on their sets on 29 and 30 September from 9 to 9.30 pm to increase sampling.

    The on-air campaign is being played out across Zee Network and also across news, music, Bollywood entertainment, Hindi movie and kids’ entertainment channels.

    On radio, the show aims to “heighten interactivity” through contests, RJ links and creating characters based on the mentors.

    Content innovation:

    The new season of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa promises to give audience more involvement in the show. As part of content innovation, the viewers have been given the opportunity to evaluate the performances with the use of voting meters. They have played a major role in selecting contestants through online auditions as well where a contestant’s entry depended on the number of ‘likes’ or ‘hits’ their uploaded video generated.

    Zeel – content head (Hindi GECs) Ajay Bhalwankar said, “With ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa 2012’, our aim is to customise the viewing experience with increased levels of audience engagement. Viewers now prefer watching content that not only entertains but also involves them. So, we have taken the interactivity route by understanding their inherent interest in music. There is a special round in the show where we will change the style and the chords of a song and the contestants will have to improvise it to gauge their knowledge of music.”

    Sa Re Ga Ma Pa 2012 will compete with big properties like Sony Entertainment Television’s Kaun Banega Crorepati 6 and Colors’ Jhalak Dikhhla Ja, which is going to end soon, and then Bigg Boss 6 which starts on 7 October. Star Plus airs its fiction property ‘Teri Meri Love Story’ in this slot.

    Talking about how the channel plans to compete with the properties, Bhalwankar added, “It’s not about competition but primarily we felt the need to innovate. We wanted to give them a genuine reason for watching our show. The judges, band and kinds of songs have all been selected taking many things into consideration. Even the audience on the sets is real audience whose voting is considered.”

    Taking the property to a bigger level, the stage set-up is like that of a concert with the musicians on the stage playing live as the contestants sing. To test the contestants’ music quotient and increase the level of competition, many elements will be introduced including changing the code or ‘sur’ of the song or throwing a request for a ‘jugalbandi’. A musical quiz contest will come on screens before every break and the answer will be given just before the opening of the next segment.

    ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa 2012’ will be judged by music director duo, Sajid and Wajid, lead vocalist of the band Indian Ocean Rahul Ram and music composer and singer Shankar Mahadevan.

  • Cheil WW expands leadership team

    MUMBAI: Cheil Worldwide SW Asia has strengthened its leadership with appointments in leadership positions across three verticals.
    The agency has appointed Vikas Khanna to the post of head – activations, while Rajesh Bhatia joins as head interactive and Manish Shukla as head of retail.

    Bhatia comes in from Euro RSCG 4D where he was president while Khanna‘s last stint was with G2Rams, a WPP group company aligned with Grey Worldwide where he was VP and branch head. Shukla joins the agency from Retailscape.

    Bhatia is a digital evangelist with over 17 years of work experience and has been driving innovative digital and integrated marketing strategies for global brands including Nokia, IBM, Max Life Insurance, Airtel, Reckitt Bencksier (Dettol, Harpic, Vanish, Veet, Mortein) and Unilever.

    Bhatia joined the world of digital and data led consumer marketing almost a decade ago and has been a part of the evolution of new age communication in India and has been helping brands transition from traditional marketing communication to effective marketing in the digital world. He has been instrumental in the creation of one of virtual community ? igenius for Max Life Insurance.

    Prior to Euro RSCG 4D, Bhatia has held senior level positions with Solutions Digitas, IDC and Onida across various digital and consumer marketing domains.

    Khanna has over 13 years of experience in the field of events, BTL and activation and has a longstanding portfolio of client relationships. Over the years he has managed brands including BlackBerry (RIM), Cisco, Audi, BMW, M3M, Genpact, Hyundai, GE, Canara HSBC, ITDC and HTC. Prior to G2Rams Khanna has worked with George P Johnson, 360 Degrees, Magnum Nexus Private Limited, Showtime Events India Pvt. Ltd. etc.

    Shukla moves from Retailscape which he set up in 1996. Prior to this he has worked with Lintas, JWT, Gillette, Coca?Cola India. He is an honorary member of POPAI, an industry body and has chaired the organization in the past. He is also on the board of advisor to Point of Purchase Magazine and In?Store Asia.

    Shukla brings with him a wide range of business expertise, experience and relationships in the area of retail marketing and management. Over the years he has consulted to a wide range of clients such as HUL?Wall‘s Ice cream ? Danone International, Evian, PepsiCo, Coca?Cola, Bacardi ? Martini, Bharat Shell, Braun, Parker, Airtel, Shaw Wallace, Samsung, LG – CDMA Phones and Barista Coffee Bars.

    Cheil WW SW Asia COO Alok Agrawal said, “The story of our growth trajectory is already known. Nima‘s joining has tripled our creative strength. Now with Vikas, Rajesh and Manish on board, our leadership team has become even stronger. This enables us to further capitalise on the demands of the marketplace and take brand Cheil to even greater heights.”

  • TBWAIndia names Subho Sengupta as EVP & head – Delhi

    TBWAIndia names Subho Sengupta as EVP & head – Delhi

    MUMBAI: TBWAIndia has appointed Subho Sengupta as executive vice president and head of the New Delhi-Gurgaon operations.

    TBWAIndia‘s MD Nirmalya Sen said, “It is a pleasure to bring on board someone who has the great combination of a sharp advertising mind and the ability to be a strong leader. With Kunal Gill already on board as the executive creative director, TBWADelhi now has formidable leadership and I am confident this duo will soon make their presence felt in the market.”

    Sengupta added, “TBWA is an institution with a unique and differentiated philosophy (Disruption and Media Arts) that is proven to deliver outstanding strategies and breathtaking creative for clients in India and around the world. I look forward to working with a team that is young, talented and hungry.”

    Sengupta has over 16 years of experience in the advertising industry. He had joined TBWA from Law & Kenneth where he was the head of their Kolkata operation. He has spent a large part of his career working with JWT where he was responsible for the GSK business.

    Sengupta has also worked with Saatchi & Saatchi and Bates and with brands like Horlicks, Fair & Lovely, Airtel, Tata Steel, Close up, Vivel, Gold Flake, Carlsberg, Lafarge and Ananda Bazar Patrika.

  • Initiative India makes key level appointments

    Initiative India makes key level appointments

    MUMBAI: Initiative India has named R Venkatasubramanian and Vishnu Sharma as senior vice presidents. Both Venkatasubramanian and Sharma will be based in Delhi.

    Venkatasubramanian will oversee investments and sports while Sharma will be in charge of strategy and insights for all clients of the agency in Delhi.

    Initiative India president Manas Mishra said, “These key appointments will help take Initiative into a superior level of delivering business and media solutions for clients. I look forward to welcoming Venkat and Vishnu as part of my leadership team.”

    Venkatasubramanian is returning to Initiative after two shorts stints at Maxus and MPG. He earlier worked worked with Initiative for almost a decade.

    Sharma is presently national head of sales, strategy and business analytics at HT Media. He has experience of more than a decade working with national brands Airtel, Hero Honda, LG and others at Group M and Madison.

  • Airtel to sponsor Mercedes AMG Petronas in Indian GP

    Airtel to sponsor Mercedes AMG Petronas in Indian GP

    MUMBAI: Telecom major Bharti Airtel has extended its motorsport with Mercedes AMG Petronas partnership agreement for the 2012 Airtel Indian Grand Prix.

    The leading integrated telecommunications company was title sponsor of the inaugural race at the Buddh International Circuit in New Delhi in October 2011, and will continue the role this year.

    Airtel branding will feature on the airbox and headrest of the Mercedes AMG F1 W03 car, and on the racesuits and helmets of Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg, for the duration of the 2012 Airtel Indian Grand Prix weekend.

    Bharti Airtel will use the association with Mercedes AMG Petronas to further promote Formula One within India, with a host of innovative content and experiences planned both before and during the 2012 Airtel Indian Grand Prix. Michael and Nico will also feature in a television campaign in India to promote the race and Bharti Airtel’s involvement.

    Mercedes AMG Petronas Team Principal Ross Brawn commented, “The 2011 Airtel Indian Grand Prix was a very successful new adventure for Formula One and we are delighted to now be partnering with Bharti Airtel, who have supported the sport in India from the outset. Taking our sport to new audiences is vital for our future and we are very much looking forward to working with Bharti Airtel in the run-up to this year’s race, in order to bring our fantastic sport closer to the Indian fans.”

    Bharti Airtel Global Brand Director Bharat Bambawale said, “As title sponsors, we at Bharti Airtel are proud to have been an integral part of India’s first Formula One race last year. We are today delighted to enter a new lap of our brand’s Formula One journey with an exciting alliance with the Mercedes AMG Petronas One Team.

    “In 2011, Bharti Airtel took the lead in bringing India’s Formula One dreams alive and became ‘Title Sponsor’ of the sport’s debut in the country. Bharti Airtel and Mercedes AMG Petronas are associated with traits of speed, performance and fast-paced growth, thus making this partnership a perfect match between two like-minded brands. By building on the unique motorsport heritage and strong track record of Mercedes-Benz, we will strengthen Bharti Airtel’s youthful positioning and appeal to Formula One fans across India.”

  • WPP’s Possible Worldwide appoints Kamal Krishna as MD for India

    MUMBAI: WPP’s digital agency Possible Worldwide (PWW) India has appointed Kamal Krishna as managing director and Prashant Shivankutty as senior vice-president in a bid to strengthen its India team.

    Krishna comes in from e-commerce beStylish.com where he was head marketing and was part of the launch team and led marketing and tech initiatives through two funding series.

    Shivankutty’s previous stint was with mobile value added services provider Comviva as associate vice-president.

    While Krishna will be responsible for enhancing PWW‘s regional operations along with managing the overall business, Shivankutty has been roped in to manage and upgrade the agency’s technology and creative teams for domestic as well as international digital delivery.

    Krishna has more than 15 years of experience. He has in the past led WPP Digital‘s key business initiatives and accounts across Asia and Africa. Pritor to beStylish.com, he was part of the team that established WPP’s digital agency Squad Digital. He has also been involved with the launch of Publicis Groupe‘s Digitas India and has worked on brands such as Hewlett-Packard, General Motors, Unilever, Skoda, Microsoft and Airtel.

    Starting his career in 1996, Shivankutty’s first job was with Infovision Group where he spent eight years heading its software development lab and CRM practice. He then shifted to Sapient in early 2004 and five years later to Quasar in 2009. In his last assignment, Shivankutty led global delivery at Comviva, managing clients such as Airtel, Tigo, MTN, BanglaLink, Grameen Phone and Etisalat.

    WPP launched Possible Worldwide as a global interactive marketing outfit 2011 by combining its digital agencies Schematic, Bridge Worldwide (US), ZAAZ (US), Blue (Singapore), Quasar (India), Grape (Russia) and Carnation Group (Europe).

    Australia Tourism Board, Makemytrip and Cathay Pacific.

  • Zee Cinema bets big on Agneepath’s TV premiere

    MUMBAI: Zee Cinema is giving a big marketing push to Agneepath, the Hrithik Roshan-Sanjay Dutt Bollywood hit that it is premiering on its channel on 16 June.

    Zee Cinema has roped in Rin as the presenting sponsor and Good Knight Advanced is powering it.

    A part of 360 degree marketing campaign, the on-air campaign of Agneepath is being aired on the network channels including Zee Cinema, Zee TV, Zee Marathi and Zee Bangla. It will also use other channels from news, music, Bollywood entertainment, kids, regional and religious genres.

    The channel has rolled out an outdoor campaign across 12 cities in the Hindi speaking markets (HSM). There will be print tune-in full-page ads on the date of premiere.

    It is also being promoted on the DTH players like Dish TV, Airtel Digital TV and Tata Sky.

    Zee Cinema has launched an online campaign across 25 leading websites, including YouTube and Facebook. The channel has been doing interactive promotions with viewers on digital medium. On 16 June, an Agneepath masthead will appear on YouTube along with banner ads in Google and Facebook.

    Zee has created an ‘Agneepath’ game currently hosted on Facebook. The game was designed keeping in mind the central characters and plot of the film. Additionally, the premiere has been promoted across 322 theatres (multiplexes and single screens) across HSM during the screening of Rowdy Rathore.

    Also, under trade marketing activity, a group of women walked into the office premises of trade media agencies like GroupM, Mediacom and Madison and did an impromptu item number on Chikni Chameli. The flash mob was followed by a quiz where people were gifted Agneepath merchandise on the spot.