The consumer is dead! This was one of the chief pronouncements by Craig Davis, Chief Creative Officer, JWT Worldwide, who addressed the advertising crowd on May 25 in a two hour long presentation crammed with case studies, advertisements, coloured score cards and some of the leading JWT top brass.
Aprais, a UK-based marketing communications consultancy, is entering the Indian market in partnership with Sting Communications to provide relationship audit tools to measure client-agency relationships. Sunil Gupta Sting Communications will head Aprais operations in India.
Gillette India has lined up plans to meet a steep target: A closer shave for 100 million users of its brand VectorPlus, to be attained over the next few years.
The office and press of Lokmat Newspapers, Pune edition, was attacked by a mob on Tuesday night. Stones were pelted at the newspaper's new building, which was to be inaugurated by second week of June, amounting to losses worth Rs 5 lakh to the organisation.
MakeMyTrip.com, India's leading online travel company, has secured an investment of $10 million from the SB Asia Infrastructure Fund (SAIF), a leading Asian private equity firm, in an effort to pursue an aggressive organic and acquisition based strategy.
Suzuki Motor Corporation, which owns 54.20 per cent in Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL), on Wednesday rolled out European-style compact hatchback Swift from its stable. The car is available in three variants, LX1, VX1 and ZX1, priced at Rs 3.87 lakh, Rs 4.05 lakh and Rs 4.85 lakh respectively (ex-showroom-Delhi).
Rajasthan Patrika has added a new city magazine called Metro 141 to its stable. With a trendy layout, features and design, the magazine is positioned as a lifestyle magazine. The four-page magazine is available free of cost in Jaipur along with the main newspaper.
After the overwhelming response that Next Gen Publishing Limited got by introducing Forbes Yellow Pages in Ahmedabad early this month, the group is now eyeing the Delhi market. The company launched the business directory in the Capital yesterday.
The advertisements of ICICI Prudential - beginning from the corporate 'Sindoor' commercial up to the recent 'Saat Phere' one - seek to bring out the trustworthiness value of the brand. Said Sujit Ganguly, Head (Marketing), ICICI Prudential, "Over the past year, ICICI Prudential has experimented with various activities to engage with its customers."
Foreign investors seem to be investing in Indian media and entertainment sector with a vengeance. In the first four months of 2005 alone, over Rs 150 crore has been pumped into various domestic media companies.
When STAR World launched 'India's Child Genius,' the expectations were high but the result wasn't. The original Indian English programming didn't appear to be a promising one. However, with the launch of 'Koffee with Karan' on STAR World on November 19, 2004, the scene changed for the better. The show signifies that there is space for original English content on television.
The reach of television has deepened over the 1990s, with the percentage of rural households with a TV set going up from 13 per cent in 1993 to 26 per cent in 2002, says a National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) survey.
At a seminar in Mumbai, Craig Davis, Chief Creative Officer, JWT Worldwide said, "We need ideas much more, than we have ever needed them before. Consumers have not had a higher measure of control, as they have in the current day."
In keeping with the awards season, New York Festivals is the next to attract the industry's attention. The 2005 competition has witnessed more than 4300 entries from 62 countries. JWT Bangalore, R K Swamy, 1pointsize and Niranjan Natarajan have made it to the finals of the New York Festivals Print Advertising.
The end of 2004 meant quite a lot of action for FCB-Ulka but this year, the agency has been comparatively quieter. However, the Executive Director of the agency, M G Parameswaran, said, "In 2005, our core focus is to grow more from the existing clients. The thought process is simple, we help our clients grow and there is more that comes from them."
Cheil Communications has taken a full claim on Hyundai Motors business. In addition to the business that the agency had won earlier in the year, it has now bagged the complete media business of Hyundai Motors. The account, which moves from Madison Media, is pegged at Rs 50 crore.
Tata Steel, the country's largest integrated private sector steelmaker, is set to make a foray into retailing with the launch of a chain of stores. While there is no word yet about the launch date or the brand name, O&M Kolkata has been entrusted with the responsibility of branding and communications for this initiative, following a multi-agency pitch last month.
