Viacom co-president and CBS chairman Leslie Moonves has announced the creation of a new marketing group and named CBS marketing chief George Schweitzer its president. The new unit will serve CBS, UPN, King World, Paramount Television, Infinity Broadcasting and Viacom Outdoor.
Liquor baron Vijay Mallya's United Breweries Ltd (UBL) today announced it had entered into a strategic equity alliance with Scottish & Newcastle (S&N). Britain's top brewer will invest Rs 940 crore for a 37.5 per cent stake in UBL, with Mallya and his group also holding a similar stake.
A combination of watch technology and craftsmanship in jewellery is all about the latest Crown Collection of watches by Titan Industries. In an effort to reinforce its image as the premium lifestyle brand, the Indian watch major unveiled its finest and the most spectacular collection so far. The collection has price tags varying between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 27 lakh.
‘Hello Tune’ services by Airtel, internationally known as ‘Ring Back Tone’ service has crossed the one million-customer mark within five months of its launch in India in July 2004. The cellular services major has crossed yet another milestone – Airtel Live – the multi-access entertainment portal on the mobile has crossed the five-million-GPRS download within same span of time.
After having spent seven successful years as Managing Director of LG Electronics India, Mr K.R. Kim has been elevated to the position of President, South West Asia, LG Electronics.
The Rs 48,000 crore domestic FMCG industry which remained in low growth captivity of 1.5% during the last four years consecutively is all set to achieve a growth of 3-4% in 2005-06, according to a survey undertaken by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham).
Though the luggage category witnessed a 48 per cent dip for most of this calendar year, there was peak growth during the months of October and November. VIP has been the largest advertiser among luggage manufacturers this year till November.
From being restricted within a mere communication device, mobile phones have gone steps ahead into being entertainment gadgets. Multimedia mobile phone penetration touches 49 per cent, globally. In India, it is estimated to become a $ 1-billion industry by 2009. Worldwide, this area is estimated to grow to $ 11 billion in less than three years.
Disney Channel will roll out as many as 400 episodes of locally produced content in its first year. The launch month’s schedule will feature approximately 25 half hours of local original production.
For Shashi Sinha, President, Lodestar Media, the year 2005 is already looking good. With accumulation of substantial new businesses, he is now given the responsibilities of the FCB, Asia Pacific as the Regional Media Director. The change is in effect since December 17, 2004.
PR agencies in India are the agents of change in this profession as the ownership of PR agencies have also gone through a transition. PR agencies have had a lot of foreign participation in the last couple of years. They brought in global international practices into India. It is a move in the right direction.