Tag: Raj Nayak

Colors opens ‘Bigg Boss’ Season 10 doors for viewers to participate

MUMBAI: Even as the ninth season of one of the most controversial reality shows on Indian television – Bigg Boss – is waiting to crown its winner this weekend, the next season of the show has opened its doors to the public as contestants in the house for the first time ever.

For nine seasons in a row, Bigg Boss has housed celebrities of all sorts – from the hugely popular ones to the lesser known ones. Now for the first time, in the tenth season, Colors will fulfil aspirations of a few people, who will get an opportunity to taste the life of a Bigg Boss contestant, staying in confinement for over 100 days along with other popular celebrities and have a go at walking away with name, fame and prize money!

Commenting on this game changing proposition, Colors CEO Raj Nayak said, “Bigg Boss as a show is like a study in human psychology. One can learn so much about human behaviour through the actions of the housemates in a given situation. As we take on this interesting content innovation, we look forward to receiving some interesting entries from our increasing viewer base. We will be scouting for some great contestants in the months to come. You could be a doctor, engineer, lawyer, teacher, preacher, banker, entrepreneur, home-maker, taxi-driver, coolie, from any domain, any socio-economic background, have any caliber, if you think you are an entertainer, then this is the break that you have been looking for.”

He further elaborated, “Every year we receive thousands of emails, SMS-texts, enquiring about ways to enter the show. Finally, the day has arrived. Hope the fans and avid viewers make full use of this opening.”

As the channel gears up for the casting, the call for entries will start now for all enthusiasts. Interested participants can upload their videos at – www.colorstv.com/biggbossentry.

The three-minute video should showcase a trait of the participant that will make them eligible for Bigg Boss. The entries will open on 23 January and will be accepted until 31 May, 2016. The audition and the shortlisting process will start thereafter.

The channel is also planning a promotional blitzkrieg to excite the masses to partake in this. The campaign will include on-air promos, radio promotions and outdoor. The Colors team will go to the length and breadth of the country in search of the most eligible contenders for the show.

Viewers will be able to see the on-air integration of this announcement in Bigg Boss Season 9’s grand finale at 9 pm on Colors.

January 22, 2016
Colors to air new fiction series ‘Krishndasi’ from 25 January

MUMBAI: They are women of strength; brave carriers of culture, rich tradition and all-embracing devotion to one divine force – Lord Krishna. Kick-starting the year, Colors presents an untold tale of the Devadasi community shrouded in secrecy and mystique with its newest offering Krishndasi. The show will trace the story of three generations belonging to the Devadasi lineage with Kumudini (Indira Krishnan) being at the helm of it. She holds pride in her legacy and strongly upholds the Devadasi tradition passing it on to her daughter Tulsi (Chhavi Mittal), who, to protect her daughter Aradhya (Sana Amin Sheikh) from this legacy hides the truth. But in pursuit of her real identity, Aradhya ends up uncovering the truth about her lineage and reopens pages of history that her mother worked hard to keep hidden.

Produced by Optimystix Entertainment India Pvt. Ltd with Vaishnavae Media Works Ltd stepping in as Creative Producers, Krishndasi, an hour-long proposition, will go on-air starting 25th January 2016, with subsequent episodes to be telecast every Monday to Friday from 10:30 PM to 11:30 PM.

Commenting on the launch of the show, Colors CEO Raj Nayak, said, “With every new show launch, we strive to meet the audience expectations by presenting something unique and diverse. Exploring different ideas and genres has always been the channel’s priority and we are taking a massive leap by presenting a show that is based on the ancient Devadasi system that was outlawed many years ago but is still rampant in some parts of the country. We have consistently strived to showcase socially relevant content and with Krishndasi, we are looking forward to taking our contribution towards societal awareness one step further. The show has been a runaway hit down South and we’re certain that the newer version, now on COLORS, will appeal to viewers in the rest of the country as well.”

Speaking about the content to be showcased on the show, Colors programming head Manisha Sharma said, “Our programming mantra has focused on creative storytelling bringing stories that are buried in folklore to mainstream. While traditions might have changed, the way they impact women remains the same. Over the years, women have been depicted as mothers, caregivers, and relationship-drivers. This is passé, and with Krishndasi, we are delving deeper into the untold story of women of God with Aradhya’s life story. Krishndasi is a story of today’s time and era where Aradhya belongs and how she discovers her own identity as she moves ahead in life. Backed by a strong concept and riveting storyline making for a gripping hour-long watch, the show will be high on drama and intrigue factor built around the elements of love, mystery, struggle and self-discovery.”

Set against the backdrop of present-day Pune, Krishndasi will showcase the story of three generations whose heritage holds secrets that shape their contrasting personalities. Kumudini, the authoritative matriarch of the family is a devotee of Lord Krishna and takes immense pride in being a part of the age old Devadasi custom. On the other hand, Tulsi is a gentle and compassionate woman who is forced to embrace the Devadasi culture and follow her mother’s footsteps. Having experienced a gruesome life as a Devadasi, Tulsi protects her daughter from getting caught in the web of exploitation and humiliation. Though she is born into an over-protective environment, Aradhya grows up to become an independent girl with a modern outlook but struggles to find her identity and the truth about her father. Her struggles escalate her personal insecurities and relationships but her life takes a turn for the better when she meets Aryan (Shravan Reddy) and finds herself falling in love with him. But her ancestry strains their love story under the pressure of conflicts and traditional differences between their families.

Optimystix Entertainment producer Vipul Shah said, “The production value builds on the grandeur of the tradition while showcasing Aradhya’s dilemmas about her roots and pedigree. Kutty Padmini and Vaishnavae Media Works Ltd. have tremendous experience when dealing with the Devadasi concept; with help of dynamic creative team at Optimystix we have touch upon a fresh perspective to this property. With this show, we are extending our partnership with COLORS and look forward to combining our energies to make this show a national success.”

Speaking about the concept of the show, Vaishnavae Media Works Ltd creative producer Kutty Padmini said, “Krishndasi explores an age-old practice; a concept that has been lost in the pages of history but continues to exist in the bylanes. We have made an effort of maintaining a contemporary backdrop to build present-day relevance engaging viewers across the country. After tasting success with the Tamil version of the show, we are excited to recreate the drama for the Hindi viewing audience and replicate the success once again with Krishndasi. ”

January 20, 2016
Colors to launch second season of ‘Mission Sapne’ on 17 January

MUMBAI: After the successful first season of Mission Sapne, Colors is all set to launch the second season starting from 17 January at 11 am every Sunday.

Produced by Sobo Films, Mission Sapne Season 2 will feature 10 celebrated entertainers who will showcase their talent as they work their magic to learn the professional ongoings and tricks of the trade to raise funds in support of a deserving commoner.

Speaking to Indiantelevision.com about the second edition of Mission Sapne, Sobo Films director Smruti Shinde said, “I think television is a very strong medium to highlight causes which are read about in the newspapers or seen on news channels. The reason I want to do this show on a GEC was because of the show’s strong entertainment quotient. It doesn’t drag or get boring when you talk about social causes and through entertainment you are able to help that one person or highlight good causes, which needed that kind of attention.”

Mission Sapne provides dramatic entertainment with a strong social message as entertainers from different industries willingly live the common man’s professional life for a day. Talking about the research done for the show, Shinde informed, “We did three months of research before going on air. We have a research team, which systematically goes through a lot of cases. We interview people from different walks of life. India is a place where you have many such cases and we cannot help each one of them but with our small initiative we can at least highlight such cases.”

The first season of Mission Sapne was launched on 27 April, 2014 on Colors. The show was aired at 8 pm every Sunday. This time round, the 10 episodes series will see some changes as the production house will focus more on creating awareness than raising funds for the people.

“After the first season, we realised that there are many people that we need to help through the show. We decided that we should also talk about the different causes besides helping the individuals. We need to highlight social issues as well. Therefore, this season will have a few important causes, which need to be talked about. We are creating awareness and sending messages through celebrities on issues like farmer suicides, HIV and molestation. We are trying to highlight social causes this season rather than helping individuals. Also, this season we will have lot of women star power on the show,” she informed.

The second season will also see some important issues like women empowerment. Talking about the selection process, Shinde said, “We picked up the cases, which are relevant in today’s time. There was no particular criteria as such for selecting people. We come across some people that really need help, so we help them.”

Sharing her experience of working with Colors CEO Raj Nayak, Shinde shared, “A couple of years back we launched this show Bole Toh Malamaal in Marathi on Mi Marathi. Raj Nayak had wanted us to bring it on Hindi GEC so that we can create more awareness through the show. It’s been superb working with him. He has been a big support throughout the journey of Mission Sapne. Viacom, Colors and Raj Nayak supported it to a great extent and I think it’s their own CSR initiative to come on the show and not taking any money.”

January 12, 2016
Colors snaps ‘Box Cricket League’ rights; slots it on Sundays at 4.30 pm

MUMBAI: Colors has joined hands with Balaji Telefilms and Marinating Films to bring together television and cricket in a power packed season 2 of Box Cricket League (BCL). The first season of the property was aired on Sony Entertainment Television.

Season 2 of Box Cricket league will be a long six month reality show, which will be aired every Sunday. The channel will start shooting for the show in the second week of February.

With a stellar line up of 200 celebrities in 10 teams, the one and a half hour show BCL will be aired on Colors and Colors HD from 28 February, 2016 every Sunday at 4.30 pm with a repeat telecast on Rishtey.

It may be recalled that on Sony, BCL season 1 had 150 celebrities and eight teams. The weekly show was aired at 7:30 pm.



Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Colors CEO Raj Nayak said, “We had a talk with Ekta (Ekta Kapoor) one day and we were discussing on how we can do better with BCL and she felt that the show can be better on Colors. We genuinely believe in the format and felt that if it’s strategically positioned well, packaged and marketed with a creative tweak to the format, then it has the potential to make it big this time.”

Talking about the late afternoon time slot for the show, he says, “About 99 per cent of people are at home from 4:30 – 6 pm on a Sunday. This is also the time when women who watch different shows on television want to see a different side to their celebs. Cricket is just a backdrop, it has drama, emotions and passion. BCL can be a great reality show. We air movies in the 4:30 evening slot and we garnered the maximum ratings. I think if the content is good then people will follow it.”

This star-studded cricket league will have 10 teams named after 10 cities namely Ahmedabad Express, Kolkata Babu Moshayes, Chandigarh Cubs, Delhi Dragons, Jaipur Raj Joshiley, Chennai Swaggers, Mumbai Tigers, Pune Anmol Ratan, Rowdy Bangalore and Lucknow Nawabs led by celebrities like Sunny Leone, Nandish Sandhu, Ajay Chaudhry, Mrunal Jain, Anita Hassandani, Kamya Punjabi and others.

The high point of the game is the mix of men and women in every team. The inclusion of males and females across all teams, makes it a battle of equals where the celebrities will be fully charged to kick the dust up.

Commenting on the time slot, Balaji Telefilms joint managing director Ekta Kapoor said, “The slot has seen ratings earlier. It’s a movie slot and also and Sunday evening is family time when the entire family can watch cricket together specially the ladies of the house. Therefore we think it’s the perfect time band for BCL.”

With a huge number of television stars vying to play this season of BCL, the league owners have had to set new guidelines for player qualifications.

The strict diktat ensures only top lead actors (who’ve starred as main leads for a minimum of 250 episodes) and second lead actors (who’ve had at least 500 episodes to their credit) can partake in this season. Besides popular fiction faces, GEC reality show winners and top contestants are also qualified to play.

Marinating Films managing director Sunny Arora asserted, “I used to organise cricket tournaments since my childhood. So one night this idea crossed my mind to have a cricket league and I discussed it with my partner Anand that we should have men and women playing together. We announced on Whatsapp that we were coming up with this league and since sending that message, the next three days were the most busiest days of my life. So that’s how the idea came about.”

Arora also added, “Colors is one of the leading channel in India and no one can compete with them when it comes to non-fiction series. Also Colors has a very strong team including Raj Nayak, Manisha and Sheetal, they are so clear in their thought and every show on Colors works and we believe that BCL will also work.”

With 200 celebrities in one show, BCL is no doubt an expensive proposition. Talking about the same, Arora informed, “This year the production cost of BCL has increased three times compared to last year. This time we are using a bigger venue, larger crew and more technicians. We have also incorporated more software to make the show as good as international matches. So yes, it’s an expensive show and we have invested much more than last year. And we are confident that the cost will be recovered because we are on Colors.”

December 17, 2015
Colors to pull all stops to make Stardust Awards bigger & better

MUMBAI: Colors is gearing up to pull all stops to make the 13th edition of the Sansui Colors Stardust Awards bigger and better this year.

The awards, which will be held on 21 December in Mumbai at the Reliance Jio Gardens in BKC, will see more investment being pumped in for a larger stage and bigger performing acts.

A source close to the development informed Indiantelevision.com, “The production cost of last year’s Stardust Awards was approximately Rs 12 crore, which has gone up by 30 per cent this year to approximately Rs 15.6 crore.”

Commenting on this year’s awards, Colors CEO Raj Nayak said, “Last year we partnered with the biggest names in the consumer electronics and publishing business namely Sansui and Stardust to launch The Sansui Colors Stardust Awards. This partnership of three leaders went on to make the Sansui Colors Awards the No. 1 Awards show on Indian television. This year, based on feedback from all stakeholders in the industry, we have re-looked at the categories to make it more credible and robust. Our aim is to make the event exceedingly significant, entertaining and colossal this year.”

Talking about the association with Stardust, Sansui COO Amitabh Tiwari said, “At Sansui, it is our goal to make entertainment synonymous to the brand, and through our continued association with Stardust and Colors, we feel more connected to this vision. Last year, Stardust Awards was rated as the best award show and this year we are all geared up to raise the bar of entertainment to the next level. We aim to bestow upon our audience the best of entertainment and are all set to enthral them. We have had a wonderful kick start with Stardust and are confident that the relationship will strengthen with each passing year.”

Magna Publishing chairman Nari Hira added, “If last year’s scale and grandeur was top-notch, we are all set to surpass all benchmarks and make this new edition an even bigger entertainment extravaganza. 2015 has been an outstanding year for Indian cinema and we are looking forward to paying homage to the stalwarts whose showmanship has added to the industry’s success not only in India but also internationally.”

The evening will be hosted by Abhishek Bachchan and Riteish Deshmukh along with co-host Farah Khan.

Given their expertise in putting together large scale shows, Cineyug has been roped in as the events partner for the affair. The sets have been designed by Omung Kumar.

“The award show is planned on a very grand scale this year. Last year we brought Stardust Award from Sony Max to Colors. This year we have a grand star cast with some amazing performances. We also have we have the Dilwale team performing on the award night. Apart from that we have a great line up of actors performing including Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Shahid Kapoor and Jacqueline Fernandez. This year, we are performing acts on the new grand ground Jio Garden,” said Cineyug Entertainment director Mohammad Morani.

Magna Publishing marketing head Shivendra Parihar added, “This year the focus will be making award night bigger and better than last year. Last year, we were the number one rated award show on Indian television. This year the focus will be taking it a notch higher and having great viewership across the world for which we have made award content and performances engaging.”

December 15, 2015
‘Goafest 2016 to be more inclusive:’ Raj Nayak

MUMBAI: “Bigger, better and far more inclusive,” is what The Advertising Club president Raj Nayak envisions Goafest 2016 to be.

To meet this goal for the upcoming 11th edition of the advertising festival, it is essential that Goafest 2016 gets complete participation from all stakeholders, clients and agencies. But with how things stand at present, will the “people’s person” Raj Nayak be able to pull it off?

It’s no secret that industry heavyweights have deliberately refrained from attending the Creative Abby for the last few consecutive years. Whether their reasons — varying from Abby not being aspirational enough to disagreements on the shortlisting process — are valid or not, the continued absence of some of the top creative agencies such as Ogilvy & Mather, McCann Erickson, Leo Burnett and Lowe Lintas has dampened the spirit of the festival to a great extent. The festival has also lost the title of being a wholesome representation of the industry.

All eyes are now on the new Ad Club president and current Goafest Organising Committee to successfully unite the industry and present an ad festival that truly reflects the industry as one unit.

“A few members of the organising committee and I will be personally reaching out to the respective heads of the concerned advertising agencies and ask them to participate. We will implore them to share their reasons for keeping away from Goafest for the last few years. We are open to discuss their grievances. If it’s in our power to address such grievances to ensure their participation this year, we will be the happiest,” reassures Nayak.

Having said that, The Ad Club prez adds that the committee will be powerless if the condition of getting the aforementioned agencies is to ensure their dominating presence in the winners list. That being said, the current Goafest Organising Committee led by chairman – Publicis South Asia CEO Nakul Chopra, is making an active effort to ensure that Goafest 2016 is more inclusive.

Agency participation is also driven to a great extent by participation of their clients in the festival. However, in the last few editions, Goafest has seen a dearth of representation from the advertisers, with the previous year witnessing an all time low. “We have a strategy in place and have taken new initiatives to get more representation from the advertisers. Although we don’t guarantee anything, but one can expect a steady rise in the number of chief marketing officers of top brands in the country attending the festival this year,” Chopra points out.

While Goafest remains at its core a way to educate and inspire young advertising enthusiasts, the growing number of youngsters feel that the Abby is losing its aspirational value. Many from the industry blame the increased number of award ceremonies as being the reason behind it.

Addressing the issue, Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) president Ambi M G Parameshwaran says, “With advertisement becoming more segmented and specialised and more streams coming into it, it is the need of the hour to recognise excellence in the various categories, such as digital. And I think the young blood in the industry understands this more than us, and appreciates us considering all the avenues of advertising instead of restricting us to core media. We have been taking several initiatives to make the festival more engaging for the younger generation. Have we achieved something? Yes. Can we do more? Absolutely.”

When it comes to the content of the sessions and line up of speakers, the last few editions of Goafest haven’t been up to industry standards. Acknowledging the need to strengthen the festival’s speaker line up, Nayak adds, “For an organiser, it is a matter of pride that an event is lauded for its content. We thrive for it. If previous few years have disappointed the industry in its choice of speakers for the sessions at Goafest, this year our effort is to deliver higher standard of content. Keeping that in mind, we have put together a separate team, which is working to present a powerful line of speakers this year. We are also looking to invite speakers from a variety of industry. Whether it’s the tech startups, entrepreneurs or the torch bearers of the digital sphere — we are open to suggestions from the industry on who they want to listen to, or who the current generation finds engaging.”

December 15, 2015
Ad Club modifies Effie 2015 Awards format

MUMBAI: The Advertising Club, which will be holding the Effie 2015 Awards on 27 January, 2016, has drawn up a slew of changes to the same keeping in tune with the changing times.

For the first time, entries can now be submitted online. As an acknowledgement to the increasing importance of the startup ecosystem in India, a new category called ‘New Product or Service – Best Campaign for a Start-up’ has been introduced.

The Digital Campaign category too has been redefined into the Integrated Marketing Category – a tacit nod to the evolution of the digital platform as an inclusion rather than extension of an ad campaign.

The growing economic influence of small town India came to the fore as the erstwhile Rural Marketing category has been rechristened as Small Town and Rural Marketing Category. Though not renamed, the Healthcare Category also underwent a redefining exercise, to account for the increasing diversity of the segment. Barring the Best Ongoing Campaign, all other categories will now be eligible to compete for the Grand Effie.

Commenting on these improvements, The Advertising Club president Raj Nayak said, “The Effies is the award that recognizes advertising effectiveness. To be able to do justice to its purpose, it is imperative that we recognize and integrate the changing landscape of advertising in India with the rules of the award. I am confident that the modifications that we’ve introduced this year will further streamline the purpose of Effies with the ground realities of advertising in India.”

2015 Awards chairman Ajay Kakar added, “The advertising industry has grown from strength to strength since its inception in India. Not only has our industry grown in volume but also in terms of geographical spread. It is in recognition of this reality that, for the first time, Effie India will be organizing the first round of judging at Bangalore besides Mumbai & Delhi.”

2015 Awards co-chairman Vikram Sakhuja opined, “What’s new in Effies is your work. Celebrate the fact that you did something creative, analytical, but always accountable. We love madness but love the method underlying even more. If you’ve done something that made you proud chances are we would love to see it. Let it rip.”

The Effie 2015 Awards will be held at the Seaside Lawns, Hotel Taj Lands End in Mumbai. Campaigns that ran in India from 1 October, 2014 to 30 September, 2015 (12 months) are eligible for entry.

December 1, 2015
Publicis’s Nakul Chopra is chairman of Goafest 2016 Organizing Committee

MUMBAI The Advertising Club and Advertising Agencies Association of India have announced Goafest 2016 with Publicis South Asia, CEO Nakul Chopra as the chairman of Goafest Organizing Committee.

Commenting on his appointment, Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAA’s of I) president Ambi M G Parameshwaran said “Nakul has been in this industry for over 30 years now. He has been leading Publicis in India through this last decade. I am very excited to see what plans he has in store for us this year.”

The Advertising Club president Raj Nayak too welcomed the appointment saying, “This is wonderful news. Nakul has been instrumental in driving Goafest to success in the recent past. With his proven track record in managing high performing agencies, he is truly the best man for the job! I look forward to work with him to make Goafest 2016 a roaring success.”

To have been given the opportunity to Chair the Goafest Organizing Committee is an honor. There’s still a lot of work to do in strengthening Goafest and together, I hope we can build upon the good work of the past years,” added Chopra on his new role.

The other members on the committee are:

President, Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAA’s of I) & Advisor, FCB Ulka Advertising | Ambi M G Parameshwaran

Founder, Chairman and MD at Madison World | Sam Balsara

Chief Executive Officer at Contract Advertising | Rana Barua

Chairman and CEO at Dentsu Aegis Network | Ashish Bhasin

Managing Director at Jaya Advertising | Jaideep Gandhi

CEO at Group M, South Asia | CVL Srinivas

CEO at LHAMPL | Shashi Sinha

CEO at JWT | Tarun Rai

Group CEO at Madison Media | Vikram Sakhuja

Group CEO at Zee Media Corporation | Bhaskar Das

Chief Corporate Sales and Marketing Officer at Dainik Bhaskar Group | Pradeep Dwivedi

November 17, 2015
Burger King launches a limited edition The Bigg Boss Whopper

MUMBAI: Burger King in association with leading Hindi General Entertainment Channel, Colors, launches a limited edition Whopper to commemorate the successful completion of its first year of operations in India. The Bigg Boss Whopper, named after the hugely popular Bigg Boss Double Trouble, promises to double up the experience for all Whopper (R) lovers. The limited edition BIGG BOSS WHOPPER was unveiled by the glamorous Neha Dhupia at the BURGER KING outlet at Andheri today.

Speaking on the anniversary, Burger King India CEO Rajeev Varman commented “We are absolutely overwhelmed by the response we’ve received in India. We are delighted to see the growth our brand has achieved in just one year of operations here and look forward to continued success here. India is a strategic market for us and is well poised to be one of our largest markets globally” On the launch of The Whopper ®, he added “We have sold more than 2 million Whoppers (R) in India and The BIGG BOSS WHOPPER ® is a perfect treat for all the Whopper lovers out there. With Its juicy, saucy, fiery and crunchy favour, The BIGG BOSS WHOPPER doubles up in taste, size and experience” On the association with COLORS, Mr Varman added “We wanted to add some more excitement to the Whopper and BIGG BOSS NAU was the perfect choice. Just like the show, The BIGG BOSS WHOPPER is BIG and DOUBLES up in taste and experience with its juicy, saucy, fiery and crunchy flavour. We are confident that the association will bring us closer to our consumers and build-in a stronger brand recall”

The BIGG BOSS WHOPPER will be available in three variants – Veg, Chicken and Mutton at all the BURGER KING outlets in India till January 2016.

Commenting on the association, Colors CEO Raj Nayak said, “Food and entertainment are two elements which always go hand-in-hand. Bigg Boss has always presented parivarik entertainment avenues to viewers, much like how Burger King is about creating a family experience with its delectable menu options. As Double Troubles brews in the Bigg Boss house this year, the fieriness of the contestants and their journey has been perfectly captured in the limited edition BIGG BOSS Whopper. Having said that, we would like to congratulate Burger King on completing the one-year milestone in India, and look forward to building a strong relationship with the brand.”

Speaking on the launch the very excited Neha Dhupia commented “I am glad to be a part of this association, I am a huge fan of the Whopper and I am glad that now I can have it in India as well. My personal favourite is the Mutton Whopper; however I have now added the BIGG BOSS WHOPPER to that list. The BIGG BOSS WHOPPER is full of flavour and crunch and every bite makes you crave for more. The BIGG BOSS association has further added to the excitement quotient of the WHOPPER®. I am sure like me with each bite you will wonder which of the BIGG BOSS contestants does each flavour resonates with”

Burger King opened its first outlet in India on 9^th November 2014 at Select City-walk mall in Delhi; now operates 32 restaurants across Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Pune, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Punjab and Hyderabad and is all set to launch its first outlet in Chennai this month.

Prior to the launch in India, BURGER KING conducted an extensive research across cities to understand the taste preferences of consumers in India. The product development process was started from scratch, with the entire menu developed in India to suit the Indian taste palates. The India menu was tested through consumer research with 3000 consumers prior to the launch. Apart from the flagship Whopper (R), which is available for Indian consumers in Veg, Chicken and Mutton variants, the brand also has on offer a very unique and tasty Chicken Tandoor Grill burger which is one of the bestselling product and a favourite across markets. In its endeavour to offer innovative and great tasting products to customers, the brand has recently introduced Hi-Fries in three variants – cheesy, Italian and Chicken and Chicken Keema Crunch burger.

BURGER KING has also introduced a very easy upgrade to combo pricing that helps customers enhance their dining experience. You can upgrade any burger to a combo including fries and a fountain drink at just INR 50 across the menu.

The unique appeal for Burger King lies in the quality where the brand is conscious of its standards and uses 100 percent protein like chicken and mutton to form the patties and uses pulp of real fruit in its shakes. The quality is reflected clearly in the superior taste and helps the brand live up to its promise of ‘Taste is King’.

In a constant endeavour to improve guest experience, BURGER KING has recently launched its delivery services in India. Capitalizing on online apps which are finding a huge appetite among urban customer, BURGER KING® has developed a single user-friendly tech enabled platform, to provide current and potential customers faster access to the much loved burgers at the click of a button. This speed of delivery has been centred around ensuring no compromise on product quality and is focused on enhancing overall customer experience.

November 16, 2015
Ad Club names Ajay Kakar & Vikram Sakhuja to head Effies 2015

MUMBAI: The Advertising Club has named Aditya Birla Group chief marketing officer – financial services Ajay Kakar as the chairperson and Madison Media & OOH group CEO Vikram Sakhuja as the co-chair for this year’s Effies. The awards ceremony will be held at the sea-side lawns Hotel Taj Land’s End, Mumbai on 15 January, 2016.

The Effies are marketing communications awards given yearly by Effie Worldwide Inc. Effies provides recognition to campaigns for their direct impact on return on investments for a brand at the market place with special attention given to effectiveness and results. In its 15th year, Effies will celebrate not only the advertising agency behind the campaign, but also the client.

Commenting on their appointment, The Advertising Club president and Colors CEORaj Nayak said, “The Effies is an institution by itself giving due recognition to campaigns that engage consumers thereby furthering a brand’s promise and proposition. I would like to congratulate Ajay Kakar and Vikram Sakhuja for this new project that they will be leading. The entire advertising community looks forward to the Effies and I am certain that they will strengthen its credibility within the industry.”

Kakar said, ”Over the past four years that I have chaired the Effies, I have seen growing support and participation. Every year has broken the record entries and numbers of participating agencies, from the previous year.I believe this demonstrates the underlying need and demand for marketing campaigns that are not only creative, but more importantly, work for the brand and business. And I am confident that this year’s Effies will again beat last year’s record. And be even bigger and better.”

Added Sakhuja, “For me it is imperative for advertising to drive demand and strengthen brand value. It is therefore an honour to be part of the Effies, which is the undisputed champion of effectiveness in India and worldwide.”

Earlier this year, Kakar and Sakhuja were also inducted as the new office bearers of The Advertising Club. While Sakhuja was elected as the secretary, Kakar was elected as the joint secretary.

October 27, 2015