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Tag: HP

  • DDB MudraMax Media appoints Amita Karwal

    DDB MudraMax Media appoints Amita Karwal

    MUMBAI: DDB MudraMax Media has roped in Amita Karwal as executive vice president to head its North & East Operations.

     

    With over two decades of diverse experience across media marketing functions and allied areas, Karwal has worked with blue chip organisations including Reckitt Benckiser where she not only led the media marketing division but also represented South West Asia at Global media forums. On the agency side, she has worked with Lintas, Zenith Optimedia (ZO) and Ogilvy on brands such as HP, Gillette, Wrigley’s (Joyco), Modi Xerox to name a few.

     

    In an allied area, she’s also had a couple of  years of experience in media auditing with SpatialAccess and the global agency R3 where she set up the first-of-its-kind auditing practice in Delhi, and also launched the first agency image study in India.

     

    She is strong believer in creating brand value through innovation and this has resulted in several national and international awards for key brand launches

     

    Karwal said, “I am very happy to be part of an agency network that offers truly integrated marketing communication solutions.  As a part of DDB MudraMax Media I look forward to leveraging and integrating our assets holistically

     

    Adding to this, DDB MudraMax Media president Sathyamurthy Namakkal said, “In an era when the media profession requires well rounded talent, Amita fits the role perfectly. Both our clients and our teams will immensely benefit from her induction into the DDB team”.

  • Summit: Dscoop Latex Summit, Shanghai

    Summit: Dscoop Latex Summit, Shanghai

    MUMBAI: Dscoop Latex Summit was hosted in Shanghai as a part of the Annual Shanghai International Ad & Sign Expo which specifically focused on the Sign and Display segment.

    The platform was an opportunity for Regional Print Service Providers (PSP's) to learn about- Brands, Emerging Trends in Consumer and Shoppers Space, Trends of World Wide Print and Decoration market, Perspective and Strategies on Employing Powerful Sign & Display and also how to support this eco- system better in Asia Pacific.

    Mohit Sharma, Associate Vice President, TracyLocke made a presentation and spoke on 'Emerging Shopper Trends which Re-Define the Retail Landscapes'. To summarise his presentation:-
    – How On-Line is impacting the Brick and Mortar Space and new era of Consumerism and Shopper phenomenon are pushing the brands and retailers to the edge. 

    -How Retail is in the middle of flux and living in defining moments.
    – The emergence of new economies and how this new global power equation is shaping the shopper mind space in South West Asia.

    – The challenges Brands, Retailers and Marketers are facing to make the experience and brand more relevant and how the strategic alliances and partnerships are effecting the position of the brand.
    – Co-Creation, Content and Collaboration are the 3 pillars of Retail Engagement and powerful enough to craft new brand stories. 
    – Shoppers and Consumers due to digital transparency are getting more sensitive to Eco Sensitive and thus Eco Friendly solutions are becoming imperative for stakeholders ay every point.
    – Optimization is not only required for business survivals and competitive edge but accountability taken by shoppers and consumers from the brands. The new generation of Brands and Shopper experience will be laid on the cool quotient which is not style but being green and optimal.

    He also showcased a few case studies which brought out the aspect on how to create relevance of brands through using technologies, substrates and products at the Retail Landscapes and creating impactful and powerful experiences

    Commenting on Mohit's session at Summit Martin Carballo, Director & GM, Sign & Display, Asia Pacific & Japan, HP, said, "Influencers like you are indeed needed to drive this industry transformation for the sake of the print service providers' business".

    Commenting on the experience Mohit Sharma, AVP TracyLocke said, "It was an eye opening and fantastic exposure. A must for the Retail Consultants. HP as a market leader has created a platform on which Print Service Providers, HP and other service providers come together on regional level and discuss the "Emerging Trends" in the Industry and in the flux of events "How Maximize on Opportunities.

    Such events provide exposure to various facets of the Industry and gives immense in-depth knowledge of various domains and appraise on the importance of Collaboration. In my various discussions I have made a point that three emerging consumer trends which are impacting and re-defining the retail landscapes and thus creating a flux for the Brands, Marketers and Intermediaries and thus giving rise to new set of opportunities and challenges are – Happiness, Health and Humanity.

    Dscoop Seminars
    These Dscoop seminars which HP supports are part of an ongoing series of educational efforts on the power and impact of innovative digital print.

    (Dscoop (Digital Solutions Cooperative) (global community of graphic arts business owners and technical professionals who use HP Indigo and Scitex equipment) is focused on educating and connecting its members with each other and with HP to improve members' business growth, efficiency and profitability.)

  • India emerges as important growth market for Publicis Groupe in 2012

    MUMBAI: India is emerging as an important growth market for Publicis Groupe. In a slowdown ad economy, the France-based global media communications network is banking on the emerging markets to accelerate its revenues.

    And India is ranking fifth among the BRIC+MISSAT (Brazil, Russia, India and China and Mexico, Indonesia, Singapore, South Africa and Turkey) countries, which combined posted a robust growth of 26.3 per cent in the fiscal ended 31 December 2012.

    Publicis Groupe‘s India operations grew at eight per cent for the fiscal even as revenues from the BRIC+MISSAT region climbed to 892 million euro in the fiscal from 706 million euro a year ago. China topped the list with a growth of 14.7 per cent.

    Sr. No

    Country

    		 % growth (2012/2011)
    1 North America 15.6
    2 China 14.7
    3 Mexico 11.6
    4 South Africa 10.8
    5 Brazil

    10.3
    6

    India

    		 8
    7 Switzerland

    5.4

    *North America is a seperate region; Switzerland is part of Europe

    The agency‘s aggressive intent played out in 2012 as it made four acquisitions in India, three of which were digital entities – Indigo Consulting, Resultrix and iStrat. The other one marketing consultancy firm Marketgate.

    In 2012, Publicis‘ major account wins in India included Nestle, Airtel, Axis Bank, Bharti Walmart, Dabur and HP.

    Publicis does not disclose its revenue figures in India. According to RECMA report, the Groupe’s billings in 2011, through its media agencies in the country ZenithOptimedia and Starcom MediaVest, grew by 32.56 per cent to touch $570 million.

    On a global level, Publicis‘ growth from Europe has slowed to 5.6 per cent. North America has seen stronger growth at 15.6 per cent.

    The company saw its total revenue rise by 13.7 per cent to 6.61 billion euro from 5.82 billion euro in 2011. Net income grew 22.8 per cent to 737 million euro.

    Digital activities accounted for 32.9 per cent of total revenue, up from 30.6 per cent during the previous year. The high-growth economies generated 25.5 per cent of total revenue, up from 24.3 per cent in 2011.

    Strictly digital activities accounted for the largest portion of consolidated revenue (33 per cent, up from 31 per cent in 2011), followed by “analog” creative advertising (30 per cent, down from 31 per cent the previous year), the SAMS (unchanged at 19 per cent) and media 18 per cent (after 19 per cent in 2011).

    For the fourth quarter ended 31 December 2012, the Groupe’s revenue was 1.9 billion euro, up 11.9 per cent from Q4 FY 12’s 1.7 billion euro. Europe grew at 9.4 per cent, North America at 9.2 per cent, BRIC+MISSAT at 29.3 per cent and the Rest of the World at 9.6 per cent.

    Says Publicis Groupe chairman and CEO Maurice Lévy, “2012 was to be the year of recovery, but turned out to be difficult, uncertain and disappointing as regards growth and employment, especially in Europe. Yet it was a record year for Publicis Groupe in terms of revenue, margin, income and the strength of its balance sheet. The global advertising market had been expected to grow by 4.7 per cent, but actual growth will fell below the 3 per cent mark with advertising income from Euro 2012 and the London Olympics well below expectations. We owe our good performance to the trust our clients have in us, but also to the talent, passion and outstanding professionalism of our people whose agility and speed of response enabled us to bring our clients original, innovative and creative solutions.”

    Levy believes the touch conditions would continue to prevail in 2013, with the American market, the high-growth economies and the digital services sector being the possible silver linings.

    “2013 is shaping up to be a difficult year, a year of uncertainty, with a number of bridges to be crossed. Even though the euro crisis now appears to be behind us, the situation in Europe is still highly contrasted and advertising investment forecasts are down on 2012. The latest market growth forecasts from ZenithOptimedia are quite high (4.1 per cent in December after 4.6 per cent in October) but also fragile. Growth is chiefly expected from the USA, the high-growth economies and the digital services sector… Publicis Groupe therefore intends to continue to pursue its strategy of expanding its digital business and its presence in high-growth economies, through priority investments targeting segments that will ensure its future growth while bolstering its profitability over time,” says Levy.

  • LG buys out HP’s mobile operating system WebOS

    LG buys out HP’s mobile operating system WebOS

    MUMBAI: Global consumer durables and electronics maker and marketer LG has acquired Hewlett-Packard‘s mobile operating system WebOS.

    As part of the acquisition, LG gets source code for WebOS, related documentation, engineering talent, related WebOS Web sites and HP licenses for use with its WebOS products along with the patents HP obtained from Palm.

    The financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

    LG said that it intends to use the operating system in its smart televisions and not mobile phones. LG is focused on Android as its mobile operating system of choice.

    WebOS is an operating system that showed promise but many feel that it was mismanaged by HP. It was supposed to be the feature that would save Palm who then sold it to HP. The operating system‘s luck seemed to flounder further when HP decided to pull the plug on its mobile initiatives in 2012.

    The deal isn‘t a complete surprise, with LG already reportedly looking at the platform for use in its products. In fact, the company had been eyeing WebOS for a while.

    A media report quoted LG Electronics, president and chief technology officer Skott Ahn saying that the deal “creates a new path for LG to offer an intuitive user experience and Internet services across a range of consumer electronics devices.”

    The report further said, “WebOS team will make up the heart and soul of the new LG Silicon Valley Lab, with its Sunnyvale, Calif., and San Francisco sites joining LG‘s global R&D locations in the Valley, alongside WebOS offices in San Jose and Chicago.”

  • Rana Barua joins Contract Advertising as COO

    MUMBAI: Rana Barua, the former Chief operating officer (COO) of Law and Kenneth, has joined Contract Advertising India in the same position.

    Barua succeeds Umesh Shrikhande, who recently left to pursue other opportunities. He will partner the senior leadership team at Contract to ensure the best value proposition for clients.

    JWT South Asia CEO Colvyn Harris said, “Rana has diverse management experience with a proven track record that makes him an ideal choice for Contract, one of India‘s leading independent integrated advertising agencies. I am confident that Rana with his experience across advertising and integrated brand solutions will ensure that Contract continues to be a very successful agency.”

    Barua said, “I am excited with the opportunity of being a part of the Contract story. It is a wonderful time for our industry as it continues to evolve so rapidly. Contract is uniquely positioned to take advantage of this and I am confident I will be able to facilitate this process by partnering with the senior management team.”

    In his 19 years of experience Barua has served varied roles like COO of RED FM and the head of marketing for Radio City where he successfully repositioned the radio station to make it amongst the top two stations in the country.

    He started his career in advertising having worked at HTA (JWT), Ogilvy, McCann and Y&R. His category experience includes working with brands like Renault, eBay, ING Life, Godrej, Reckitt Benckiser, J&J, Gillette Parker, Microsoft, HP, Tata Tea, Zydus Cadila, Levers, Tata AIG & AIA, Marico, Virgin Atlantic, and ITC.

  • HP teams up with Universal Music & Hungama.com to launch music service

    HP teams up with Universal Music & Hungama.com to launch music service

    MUMBAI: HP has joined forces with entertainment giants Universal Music and Hungama.com to launch subscription-based music service in India called HP Connected Music.

    The service provides unlimited rental downloadable music free of charge for one year. This brand new service is available on selected HP notebooks with the imbedded Windows 8 launcher.

    With the new range of HP consumer notebooks featuring Windows 8, consumers can now enjoy music on the move – with acess to their favourite music anywhere, anytime. HP Connected Music is available in India on selected consumer notebooks.

    HP Connected Music has been introduced in India to provide HP customers exclusive content and access to Hungama.com’s and Universal Music‘s diverse catalogue which includes over 1 million songs from more than 20,000 artists from different genres inlcuding Bollywood, Devotional, Rock, Classic, Hip Hop, Jazz, Regional, R&B, Country and others.

    Consumers will have access to unique content such as previews, behind the scenes, VIP events and many more, to connect with their favourite artists, including the likes of A. R. Rehman, Sonu Nigam, Priyanka Chopra, Anoushka Shankar, Euphoria and international artists like Justin Bieber, Lady GaGa, Aerosmith, Akon among others.

    Speaking about the service, HP PPS India Head, Marketing Ranjivjit Singh said, “Our consumers have told us they want a seamless music experience, while using their device and this is exactly what HP Connected Music provides. Through its subscription service, it allows people the chance to explore a whole new world of music and exclusive content, while using their HP device.”

  • JWT makes two senior level appointments in digital

    MUMBAI: JWT has announced two senior level appointments in digital.

    Strengthening its digital team, the agency has brought on board Sushobhan Chowdhury as VP- digital strategy, while Rahul Kaul has joined as VP- digital technology.

    Chowdhury was earlier VP and general manager- strategy with Leo Burnett. He has handled array of clients like Orange, Samsung, P&G, HP, Unicef, Emirates, Consolidated Bank, Brookside and National Oil in Kenya. He has also worked with TBWAINDIA as associate vice president.

    Meanwhile, Kaul moves in from Sulekha.com, where he was serving as director – user experience.

    Prior to Sulekha.com, he has also worked with PayPal, Assigncorpa and Infoedge Ltd (Naukri.com).

  • JWT to acquire stake in Pakistan-based digital agency

    JWT to acquire stake in Pakistan-based digital agency

    MUMBAI: JWT has agreed to acquire a minority stake in Pakistan-based digital agency, Converge Technologies, as part of its strategy to add depth and breadth to its Asian digital offerings.

    The global agency has not announced how much stake it will hold and at what price. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals.

    Founded in 2007, Converge Technologies is based in Karachi and handles clients like Unilever, PTCL, Mobilink, HP, Bank Alfalah, Nokia and Pakistan State Oil.

    JWT Pakistan CEO Mansoor Karim Shaikh said, “This partnership will put both Converge and JWT Pakistan in a position to leverage each other’s strengths and scale up our integrated offering for our clients.”

    Converge offers services including digital media strategy, social media planning and management, platform, content, technology enablement, game and app development, mobility campaign planning and execution.

    JWT Asia Pacific has moved aggressively into the digital space over the last year, expanding both organically and through acquisitions.

    JWT signed an agreement in 2011 to acquire A4A, a digital and social media marketing company in China. On 12 March XM Asia, a JWT company, acquired Indonesia-based digital agency Magnivate.

    “As one of the ‘Next 11‘ growth economies, Pakistan is a very strategic market for JWT. This deal adds yet more momentum to our regional digital growth strategy. We will continue to add depth and breadth to our Asian digital offerings over the coming month,” JWT Asia Pacific President Michael Maedel said.

  • HP launches entertainment notebook PC

    HP launches entertainment notebook PC

    MUMBAI: Hewlett-Packard (HP) India has introduced the HP Pavilion tx1000 Entertainment Notebook PC.

    It has what the company calls a ‘twist and touch’ screen. the aim is to enhance the world of digital entertainment and the mobile lifestyle

    The lightweight Pavilion tx1000 seriesthe firms says is targetted at young professionals, entrepreneurs, who have frequent meetings and presentations with clients.

    They may like to take notes or mark comments and would like to carry a lightweight yet fully functional notebook. The notebook PC also allows one to enjoy the freedom of wireless mobility, movies and music on the go.

    The PC is also handy for students to jot down class notes, carry easily within the campus and stay connected to email and the Internet almost anywhere using the latest wireless technology. The Pavilion tx1000 is HP’s premium offering, which combines superior technology with affordability, at an exciting price point.

    Offering the technology to help the user “the way he works” rather than adapting his work to the technology available, the Pavilion tx1000 is a must-buy for people seeking convenience with technology. With a touchscreen that does not require a stylus; the Pavilion tx1000 with its twist feature enables easy sharing of presentations across the worktable. With an integrated fingertip reader that allows multiple assigning of individual fingerprints for user accounts and private files, the Pavilion tx1000 is as secure as a safety vault.

    The launch of the tx1000 series is targeted to further strengthen the position of the HP Pavilion brand in the ‘Personalised Digital Entertainment’ space. HP India country category manager – consumer portables Rajiev Grover says, “As the leaders in the notebook segment with a market share of 40.5 per cent in unit shipment terms, we are targeting a 20 per cent rise in the sales contribution of the Pavilion brand with our slew of next generation models. This will be supported by an aggressive Go-To-Market”.

    The product enables users to launch music, photo and video files at the push of a button without booting the notebook. It has a high definition display with HP BrightView technology.

    A mini remote control allows users to easily control and navigate multimedia features and adjust volume levels. there is also an integrated webcam and dual, omni-directional microphones for easy video-conferencing.