ITV

Tag: CAF

  • Liquor Ticker World’s first ad ticker on WhatsApp

    Liquor Ticker World’s first ad ticker on WhatsApp

    MUMBAI Cafe TC and  the digital agency from the Dentsu Aegis Network – Dentsu Webchutney have created Liquor Ticker, claiming it to be the world’s first ad ticker on the popular messenger WhatsApp.

    Cafe TC, earlier known as Turquoise Cottage, was on the lookout for a low-budget campaign to promote its makeover to target mainly its patrons. Executed by Dentsu Webchutney Innovation Lab, Liquor Ticker converted Cafe TC’s status into a running ticker and the profile pics into ever-changing Graphics Interchange Formats (GIFs) to show a vast variety of content – from its brand new logo to the new menu and a host of offers. Users could send a screenshot of an offer they liked to avail of it at the bar.

    “Our brief was clear to the agency. Promote our revamp in a way never done before, but of course, with a limited budget!” revealed Cafe TC founder Gaurab Soral. He added, “When the agency told me that they planned to use WhatsApp, I was a little sceptical since WhatsApp doesn’t offer any official ad space! And we’re not the kind of brand that would spam its users.”

    Dentsu Webchutney Innovation Lab CCT Gurbaksh Singh said, “We were toying with this idea for quite some time now, but were looking for that perfect match. With a little play of technology, read that as modifying WhatsApp’s API (Application Program Interface), we created an ad space on a medium that doesn’t have any! Liquor Ticker might just open the floodgates of advertising on WhatsApp.”

    Last year, Cafe TC along with Dentsu Webchutney came up with the award-winning Happy Hours Rewind where users could turn back time and extend the happy hours by tweeting more and more.

  • Café Coffee Day celebrates birthday with offers & deals for customers

    Café Coffee Day celebrates birthday with offers & deals for customers

    MUMBAI: As Café Coffee Day (CCD) marks a key milestone this month by completing 19 years, the brand is organising a unique activity to excite customers.

     

    As part of the celebration, CCD has organised a surprise for its patrons wherein consumers stand a chance to win freebies and discounts along with a mega bumper prize for one lucky winner.

     

    For a fortnight following the birthday which is 11 July, 2015, CCD will gift back an offer to each customer who bills at CCD, which will be redeemable with their next visit to CCD. Customers will receive their offer via SMS, the number which they will share with the café staff on request while placing their order. Once customers punch their bills they will receive a mCoupon of the offer. The offer will include exciting treats like ‘19  per cent off on a bill’, ‘a free Devils Own’, ‘a free Cappuccino’, ‘any beverage @ Rs 19’ and much more. One lucky customer also stands a chance to win the grand prize – an all expense paid vacation to Coffee Day’s luxury resort in Karnataka, The Serai!

     

    Coffee Day group president marketing Bidisha Nagaraj said, “This month CCD completes 19 years of providing consumers all over the country a preferred place to hangout over a range of food & beverage offerings and we are very excited about it. Over the years, CCD has become synonymous with the coffee drinking experience in India and today has a significant following amongst the youth in the country. We wish to celebrate this milestone with our CCD fans with a special offer where we will be giving away a range of exciting treats including a free stay at one of our resorts. A warm and heartfelt thanks to all our CCD patrons for their continuous love and support.”

     

    CCD’s special birthday celebration will run across 700 cafés in the top seven cities of India namely Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Chandigarh and Ahmedabad.

  • ‘Chef’ to premiere on Romedy Now

    ‘Chef’ to premiere on Romedy Now

    MUMBAI: One of the popular films of 2014, the multi-starrer feel-good comedy-drama Chef, will premiere on Romedy Now on 26 July.

     

    To involve and engage English movie loving audiences to the fullest, Romedy Now is organizing a multi-city contest, Romedy Trail, across Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, where teams consisting of three members each will set off for the most famous and iconic restaurants in their respective cities. 

     

    Participants can choose their own route for the trail. The winners stand a chance to win exciting prizes including an iPad. The Romedy Trail conversation can be followed on Twitter @Romedynow on 18 July.

     

    The channel will also be hosting Chef-viewing parties at the contest-hosting restaurants across the three metros where viewers can enjoy a special meal inspired from the movie while watching the film.

     

    Romedy Now also hosted a contest on Chef’s Week, where participants had to replace movie names with gourmet food (for e.g. Sarah Marshmallow). Three winners across Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore won a meal for two at a 5-star restaurant.

     

    Times Network English Entertainment Cluster VP marketing Anup Vishwanathan said, “For Chef, which is a great family-fun film set around the love for food, we have created a very special Romedy Trail contest that takes Chef and Romedy Now’s awareness into iconic food hotspots in three cities. Romedy Now is promoting the premiere across multiple platforms to ensure greater amplification.”

     

    Romedy Now has also partnered with The Lalit Food truck in Delhi & Bangalore, Eggjactly in Gurgaon & Cafe Coffee Day outlets across Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore for ‘Chef inspired meals’.

  • Payback inks strategic partnership with MobiKwik

    Payback inks strategic partnership with MobiKwik

    MUMBAI: India’s multi-brand loyalty program Payback has tied-up with mobile wallet MobiKwik to extend the strengths of the two platforms to more than 50 million consumers. This partnership will provide MobiKwik’s 15 million customers value from Payback-enabled loyalty benefits for their transactions at MobiKwik and all other Payback partners.

     

    The mobile industry in India is growing at an increasing rate and M-Wallets are the next big trend. The partnership between the two promises to reach out to the customers by offering them with loyalty points.

     

    Payback India CEO and MD Rahul Rana said, “Mobile wallets are a fast growing category as India embraces technology and witnesses strong growth of e-commerce. People prefer to store their cash digitally and use it seamlessly via mobile and online transactions. This partnership will allow MobiKwik customers to earn rewards when an online transaction is made. Further Payback customers also get access to a seamless payment experience with wide merchant coverage. Our endeavor is to continue to partner with newer categories in online and offline commerce such that Payback Customers can have greater choice in earning and redeeming their rewards at the click of a button.”

     

    MobiKwik provides a user friendly, app-based interface for recharges, bill payments, shopping, and money transfer to friends and family, through the MobiKwik wallet. MobiKwik’s wide merchant coverage ensures that existing Payback customers can redeem their points for MobiKwik wallet balance, and thus use MobiKwik at coffee shops, to make e-commerce purchases, buy bus, flight, and movie tickets, recharge mobile phones and DTH. MobiKwik is now enabled across more than 20,000 merchants including Café Coffee Day, Jabong, Snapdeal, BookMyShow, Domino’s Pizza, eBay, HomeShop18, Infibeam, Purplle, MakeMyTrip, Naaptol, Pepperfry, ShopClues, TastyKhana, and JustEat.

     

    MobiKwik CEO and founder Bipin Preet Singh added, “We are happy to be associated with Payback as it will benefit the MobiKwik users at large. The aim behind this partnership is to create loyalty for MobiKwik users and attract Payback users to adopt MobiKwik as their mobile wallet option. With this increase in our network strength we are confident of leveraging on economies of scale to deliver higher value to our customers.”

  • Airtel reboots ‘My Airtel’ mobile application

    Airtel reboots ‘My Airtel’ mobile application

    MUMBAI: Bharti Airtel has launched an all new avatar of its ‘My Airtel’ mobile application. The application has been redesigned on Android to follow an intuitive and easy to use interface, which allows customers to conveniently discover, access and self-manage Airtel services across mobile, fixed line and DTH platforms.

     

    The new version of the ‘My Airtel’ application also comes loaded with a wide range of fresh features and capabilities and fits within the company’s wider agenda of driving an enhanced digital experience for customers. The new ‘My Airtel’ application is now available for select users and will be rolled out for all customers over the next few days.

     

    “With design simplicity, intuitive commerce flows and high performance as our priorities, we at Airtel have been working towards re-energizing the experience our customers enjoy while interacting with us through our online properties. A first step in this very direction – the all new My Airtel app has a contemporary design interface that will simplify our customer journeys and allow them to do much more – efficiently and effectively. I would like to encourage all our customers to experience the bigger and better version of My Airtel and enjoy the Airtel Surprises that come along with recharges,” said Bharti Airtel director – consumer business Srini Gopalan.

     

    Customers can now use ‘My Airtel’ app to recharge any mobile number, and receive ‘Airtel Surprises’ coupons with exciting offers like coupons worth value of first, birthday week and many more in weeks to come.

     

    In partnership with mydala, a coupon and discount marketing platform present in 200 cities in India, ‘Airtel Surprises’ will leverage a series of exclusive tie-ups with merchants across categories like shopping, food, wellness, entertainment – and offer coupons for popular brands like PVR Cinemas, Café Coffee Day, Flipkart.com. amazon.in, Ebay.in, Myntra.com, Archies, VLCC, among others.

     

    Additionally, the newly added ‘I Want To’ feature will allow customers to make their frequent tasks (e.g. recharge of a specific prepaid mobile number) a quick action on their application’s home screen.

     

    The in-application payment experience and card store feature have now been upgraded and Airtel’s payment stack is now PCI-DSS certified to ensure a safe, secure and faster check out experience for customers across My Airtel and also the PC and mobile web experiences. Push notifications with alerts such as low balance, pack expiry and payment due date will also be available on the app. Additionally, customers on ‘My Airtel’ will not incur any data charges for using the application.

     

    Betting big on delivering an improved online experience for its customers – the company has already launched a new fast-loading homepage for its website www.airtel.in, a new 4G experience at www.airtel.in/4G and an omni-channel experience to order a brand new Xiaomi RedMi 4G atwww.airtel.in/mi. Airtel is currently focused at re-engineering its online experience to ensure improved interfaces, reduced load time, payment failures etc. 

  • Romedy Now lines up films with love and laughter for Valentine’s

    Romedy Now lines up films with love and laughter for Valentine’s

    MUMBAI: Romedy Now invites its viewers to celebrate love this Valentine’s Day and enjoy the whole weekend with hand-picked selection of the most passionate and lovable movies.

     

    The weekend’s features includes a dreamy line-up love stories like Valentine’s Day, The Break-Up, A Walk to Remember, The Lucky One, Two Weeks’ Notice and Message in a Bottle.

     

    Just like on a first date, Romedy Now’s Valentine’s Day programme will have you smiling from ear to ear with exciting flicks like Pride and the Prejudice, The Five-Year Engagement, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Notting Hill, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Perfect Man, Leap Year, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and other titles.

     

    Romedy Now also invites its loyal viewers to capture the perfect moment with their partner this Valentine’s Day, in a cheeky new online competition. Introducing ‘Romfie’, Romedy Now’s very own version of the ‘Selfie’. Fans of the channel are asked to upload a picture of them along with their significant other, in order to go in the running to win an iPad each. Couples who wish to participate and stand a chance to win an iPad, must tell Romedy Now in one sentence why you and your loved one make the ‘Perfect Couple’.

     

    Tweet your fun-loving ‘Romfie’ to @RomedyNow and include the hashtag #Romfie to go in the running to secure your very own iPad. Many other goodies are up for grabs such as vouchers from Café Coffee Day and exciting Romedy Now merchandise. Romedy Now’s race to find India’s ‘Perfect Couple’ starts now and will run up until 14 February, 2015.

     

    Adding to the excitement of Valentine’s Day, Romedy Now is offering its viewers in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore a deliciously delectable treat. Devoted fans of Romedy Now will be given an opportunity to indulge in a special combination of drinks exclusively created for the month of love. Two tantalising flavours called ‘Beloved Blend’ and ‘Couple Coolers’ will be available to taste at select Café Coffee Day outlets. As well as this, Romedy Now have additional prizes to give away to some lucky loved-up couples.

  • Taste of India available at Sony’s ‘Cafe Rio’

    Taste of India available at Sony’s ‘Cafe Rio’

    MUMBAI: It was almost 65 years ago that a revolution started from a small village in Gujarat, and since then Amul has been a part and parcel of our lives, everyday.

     

    The company, which saw Rs 18,150 crore turnover last year, has become a part of our lives like its products. From just sarcastic hoardings on topical issues, Amul has now ventured into the television screens through its limited advertisements, but what has caught more attention is its association with various sporting events.

     

    The year 2011 saw the Anand-based Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) sponsoring the cricket team of Netherlands in the ICC Cricket World Cup and Switzerland-headquartered Sauber F1 team at the inaugural Indian Grand Prix. It took a step further when it decided to sponsor the Indian contingent at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

     

    And now with the football fever gripping the entire world, the ‘Taste of India’ can be seen on our screens every day before the game begins. Amul is the main sponsors of the shows – Cafe Rio and Football Extraa – on Sony Six.

     

    “Our sponsorship of Cafe Rio and Football Extraa was a good option as it gave an opportunity to cover the entire event very comprehensively right from pre-match discussion to post-match wrap up during the breakfast show next day,” says the company’s MD RS Sodhi.

     

    When asked why this sudden interest in sports, he says, “Milk is nature’s original energy drink and plays a pivotal role in building the physical and mental strength of the sportsmen. Nutritious dairy diet comprising milk, cheese, yogurt etc. is an important part in the diets of athletes around the world. India is the largest producer of milk in the world and Amul is not only India’s but Asia’s largest milk brand.  This association with sports and activities around it will help us in engaging with the youth so that they can enjoy a healthy life and strive to become more competitive in their endeavours.”

     

    It also believes that sporting events are now getting increasingly popular amongst all age groups, both men and women and hence, live sporting events provide a good opportunity for the brand. So much so, that it has become an integral part of its media plans. “We do not treat this as an additional spend,” points out Sodhi.

     

    The cherry-picking begins well in advance since the schedule of most of the sporting events is available much in advance. So far, it has associated itself with events like F1, Olympics, IPL, EPL and now the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Many more such associations with other events is on cards.

     

    The brand’s marketing strategy has changed as well. The girl in the polka-dot frock is inseparable from the brand’s identity, but through its recently launched digital campaign ‘Har ghar Amul ghar’, because it wanted a longer format that went beyond 40 seconds followed by a humorous campaign featuring a person with a milk moustache who ‘Eats Milk with Every Meal’, it has (finally) moved on with time.

     

    The audience plays the key role when it comes to media selection. “If a large number of our youth are on social media, we cannot ignore it. We have a very high traction on social media – be it Facebook or Twitter. Our topicals are first released on social media, then on hoardings, TV and print. The topicals are published in 35 newspapers every Wednesday with a print run of over 35 million copies,” informs Sodhi.

     

    At the recently concluded World Dairy Innovation Awards 2014 during the eight Global Dairy Congress, Amul bagged the ‘Best Marketing Campaign’ award for the ‘Eat Milk with Every Meal’ campaign. The full-page format across leading dailies like the Times of India, Hindustan Times, The Hindu, The Telegraph, Deccan Chronicle etc. highlighted the importance of milk and dairy products in every one’s diet. “We are happy that our efforts have got recognised at the global level,” says Sodhi humbly.

     

    FY14 was extremely good for Amul and with its expansion plans the brand is optimistic about 2015 as well. “Amul has been growing at a CAGR of 22 per cent since last five years. Our last year’s growth was 32 per cent. And we plan to grow by 20-25 per cent this year too,” concludes Sodhi.

  • Reliance Media Works helps amplify 2014 FIFA World Cup fever

    Reliance Media Works helps amplify 2014 FIFA World Cup fever

    MUMBAI: As the excitement in the air builds, fans all across the world gear up for the biggest football tournament.  From social networking sites, advertisement commercials to sports bars the 2014 FIFA World Cup fever is everywhere. And this year for the first time Reliance MediaWorks is proud to be associated with Sony SIX for this mega event. The company has partnered with the official broadcasters – Multi Screen Media who are using the state of the art sound stages at Film City to shoot Café Rio, a prime time football wrap around show that is being aired on Sony SIX.

     

    Café Rio is a prime time show where experts from the football field and some football legends come together to offer in-depth analysis of player forms, group standings, strategies and the matches being played. With a combination of sports and entertainment this show promises to captivate both the football purists and enthusiastic viewers. The line-up is promising including Peter Crouch, Robbie Fowler, Peter Shilton, Mikael Silvestre, Ellyse Perry, Sunil Chhetri and John Abraham.

     

    For this one month long program, keeping in mind the stringent requirements that involved several elements including live stadium action and studio programming on a daily basis, the entire consolidation was done at the Reliance MediaWorks studio facilities so that the seamlessly integrated programme is available to delight millions of football fans on a daily basis.

     

    Availability of the best in class infrastructure, onsite technical support, high standards of quality & security; all within the reach at a convenient location like Filmcity was the key reason that made this the preferred choice.

     

    Known for their Hollywood benchmarked infrastructure, Reliance MediaWorks currently offer four sound stages for all production requirements for broadcast, film, TVCs & events. The new set of four stages which also have the same technical specifications, will be operational by September 2014.

     

    MSM executive vice president and business head Prasana Krishnan said, “2014 FIFA World Cup is without a doubt the most anticipated event of the year. In order to deliver the very best to our viewers, we had to ensure that everything that goes into the creation of the content is of the very finest quality. Thereby, our preferred choice of high technology studio facility was Reliance MediaWorks.”

     

    Reliance MediaWorks chief executive officer Venkatesh Roddam, added, “After our repeated successful collaboration for Pepsi IPL Extraaa Innings, we are partnering with Multi-Screen Media yet again for Café Rio this time. They constantly offer path breaking programming concepts to the discerning viewers and we at Reliance MediaWorks are happy and proud to be associated in this first of its kind programming initiatives for football in India.”

  • Get, set, goal…

    Get, set, goal…

    MUMBAI: A mysterious calm surrounds the sets of Café Rio and Football Extraaa, the two shows on Sony Six especially created for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The atmosphere is calm and dark, but then as a few spot boys enter, the eeriness begins to drift.

     

    As lights are lit, the crimson yellow, flame orange and sky blue colors of Brasil bring the set to life.

     

    Café Rio, a live primetime show at 8 pm leading up to the match kick-offs, entails interesting facts about victorious teams, historical venues and stalwart players along with in-depth analysis and discussion about squads, player forms, group standings and strategies.

     

    The adjacent set belongs to the live breakfast show Football Extraa, which is aired between 8 am to 9 am, relives the excitement and fun of the previous day matches.

     

    The two sets are designed with hand painted cutouts and buntings along with touch screen graphic screens. The innovatively created Café Rio set could have been created anywhere between the price range of 8 to 10 lakhs while the small scale Football Extraa set would be within the range of 5 to 6 lakhs.

     

    As several hands begin to spruce up the set, in walks the dapper Indian football team captain and panelist Sunil Chhetri who finds the set as an invigorating mix of colour and energy which helps him identify with the action in Brasil. Soon follows the make-up man to give him the right touchup over his clean shaven face.

     

    When questioned about the most surprising moment for him this World Cup, he raises his brow and matter-of-factly states, “It was definitely Chile beating Spain. Netherlands as a team too have done their homework.”

     

    He adds, “Thanks to Sony Six I am having a gala time. It’s been a combination of work and pleasure for me. I do my research well in advance and try to bring my knowledge to the table.”

     

    The shows need a tremendous amount of research and insight. The research team comprises of two people who are the ‘Wikipedia’ of football and act as statisticians too. The blueprint of the show is prepared in the morning while the information is computed three and a half hours before the show begins.

     

    A total of 120 people complete the production and post-production teams led by three senior producers and a senior executive producer which also includes camera persons and spot boys.

     

    The production and research teams work on the graphics together on the analysis software provided by wTVision. A total of five high definition (HD) cameras and a jib capture the various set angles.

     

    The anchor and the studio guests, who arrive just two hours earlier, are briefed about the day’s happenings. Their inputs too are taken into consideration, especially the narration style.

     

    Amidst the chaos, noiselessly walks in British sports presenter, Joe Morrison, who gobbles down two to three bananas hiding from other’s eyes.

     

    As we settle down to interview him, the slender presenter goes down memory lane and says that though the 1982 WC holds close to his heart, he isn’t complaining about the current one as well.

     

    When quizzed about the football scene in India, he quickly replies: “It has been steady. Pessimists say there is no talent. I think this thought is Bu**Sh**! Over the last eight to nine years, the appetite for football has grown in India. There is no shortage of talent here. The fundamental problem is that no one is searching for the right talent.”

     

    When asked which is the team he is supporting ardently? A crafty grin says it all. “England and it will always be England. But I do have a soft spot for Brasil,” he confesses.

     

    The set goes hush as it’s time to shoot before the big game. As the two guests, Robbie Fowler and Sunil Chhetri along with host Joe Morrison take their seats; loud voices turn into whispers as the floor manager commands everyone to put their mobile phones on silent mode. Everyone obeys.

     

    The final countdown to the show, produced at Reliance MediaWorks located in the heart of Filmcity, begins.

     

    As the producers’ voice nears 3,2,1… Morrison’s crystal clear voice rings in the air… “Someone is going home, tonight!”

  • DDB announces acquisition of 22feet in India

    DDB announces acquisition of 22feet in India

    In a move to lead the development of the digital marketing solutions space in India,DDB Group Asia Pacific and Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC),today announced it has acquired 22feet.

    One of the most dynamic and leading digital marketing firms in India, 22feet will merge with Tribal Worldwide India creating a new entity known as 22feet Tribal Worldwide, and part of theDDB Mudra Group.

    Effective immediately, 22feet Tribal Worldwide will be spearheaded by Vineet Gupta, Managing Director,Brijesh Jacob, Joint Managing Director, and Deepak Nair, Chief Operating Officer. All three, originally from 22feet, will report directly to MadhukarKamath, Group CEO & Managing Director, DDB Mudra Group. They will alsowork closely withPatrick Rona, President, Chief Digital Officer, DDB APAC & President, Tribal Worldwide APAC Tribal Worldwide,and the rest of the Tribal World Wide network across 42 countries to deliver relevant International learnings to the local market

    John Zeigler, Chairman & CEO, DDB Group Asia Pacific, India and Japan, said, “We see this as a strategic move to continue evolving our capabilities in the fast-moving Indian market. DDB Group has accelerated its capabilities to offer clients the best-in-class local digital expertise at 22feet, coupled with best-in-class global knowledge of the Tribal Worldwide network. I believe this is a game-changing event for DDB Mudra Group in India.”

    22feet has become India’s benchmark company working with iconic brands such as Café Coffee Day, Fastrack, Lenovo, Heineken, Kingfisher, Red Bull and Axe.

    22feet Tribal Worldwide will offer its clients end-to-end digital and mobile branding and marketing solutions including strategy and consulting, web designing, web development, media planning, search engine marketing, social media marketing, mobile marketing solutions, mobile application development, mobile couponing and mobile UI.

    MadhukarKamath, Group CEO & Managing Director, DDB Mudra Group, said, “With digital at the heart of DDB Mudra Group’s agenda, we are extremely happy about joining forces with 22feet. I have tremendous respect for Vineet, Brijesh and Deepak, who are focused and determined in what they do. This energy flows into the organization’stalent pool and their work. Under their leadership, in just five years, 22feet has grown leaps and bounds. With this energy and Tribal Worldwide’s global reputation and reach, I’m excited to see what this magic of mergers can create.”

    Vineet Gupta, Managing Director, 22feet Tribal Worldwide said,“We are extremely excited to be a part of the DDB Group family. At 22feet, we share DDB’s passion for innovation and technology and look forward to delivering best in class digital solutions to our clients across markets, as 22feet Tribal Worldwide.”

    Brijesh Jacob, Joint Managing Director, 22feet Tribal Worldwide said, “The agencies I have often been in awe of are generally not part of the network(s) I admire. In this case both the agency and the network get double thumbs up from me. Tribal, purely as a name along with its body of work, over the years and across the globe, is truly inspirational. The mix of technology and creativity, which they practice is in line with the thinking we have at 22feet and therefore I think exciting times are in store in terms of the work, the learning and the exposure.”

    Deepak Nair, COO, 22feet Tribal Worldwide said, “22feet with its immense talent pool and client base is today at an inflection point and strategically very well positioned to leverage the shift towards digital. We are extremely happy with this opportunity to operate on a global canvas, and we look forward to very exciting times ahead, as 22feet Tribal Worldwide.”