Fortune, the second agency from JWT, has secured four new businesses in 2006, the latest being Casio Digital Watches. At the same time, it has roped in Group Heads for the creative function – Shamik Sengupta and Ferzad Vairyava.
Mark Blair, President of O&M Japan, will return to Hong Kong, where he will be President, Global Brand Community, Asia Pacific. Taking over from Blair in Japan will be John Goodman, currently CEO of O&M India/South Asia.
Asia-Pacific, with India taking the lead, has begun setting the pace for growth globally for confectionery and beverages major Cadbury Schweppes. Consequently, it has identified India as a `battleground and must-win market' and substantially scaled up capital and revenue investments in the Indian subsidiary.
The way Big Bazaar is designed reflects a sense of Indianness. The focus is on providing very high value for money to customers by providing exciting offers throughout the year, explains Sanjeev Agrawal, President-Marketing, Pantaloon Retail India.
Olaf Van Cleef, counselor on high range from the Cartier group, is in Chennai currently, for an art exhibition. In a chat with exchange4media, he expressed his desire to reach out to as many people as possible through his art, and conveyed his willingness to enter the commercial, mass-produced-art space, in order to bring the magic of art within the reach of more people.
Smash, the innerwear brand from the Rs 220-crore Tirupur-based Royal Classic Group, has shifted its creative duties to Chennai-based shop, be positive 24. The makers of Classic Polo introduced Smash innerwear in the market in April 2005 and are targeting Rs 60-70 crore for the brand in the next two years.
Zee Network has taken the initiative to present the Union Budget in an interesting and entertaining way. For this purpose the Network has roped in comedian Johnny Lever. ‘Johnnynomics’, as the programme is titled, will be aired on Zee News and Zee Business between 7:00 pm and 11:00 pm on February 28.
You cannot miss this bus shelter if you are crossing VT Station in Mumbai. The brainchild of the out of home (OOH) division of the Times Group, the innovation involves putting up a huge inflatable chameleon on top of the bus shelter with the message ‘Size does not matter but visibility does’.
In a major expansion overdrive, WorldSpace satellite radio is going to launch its services in 10 more cities in India in March. At present, the service is available in 10 cities, including Kolkata, where it launched its operations last week.
Rediffusion DYR Kolkata has bagged the branding programme for metaljunction Services, one of India’s leading e-commerce platforms, following a multi-agency pitch in December 2005. The company is a 50:50 joint venture of Tata Steel and SAIL, who together account for nearly 50 per cent of saleable steel in the country annually.
What seemed ‘surprising’ at first glance, when both Adlabs and Sun Group surrendered one extra station each than permitted, at hindsight seems to be a mutually beneficial decision on the part of the two groups.
He did it for The Hindu, Hindustan, Hindu Business Line, and now Dr Marcio Garcia has worked his charm on Mumbai’s daily Mid Day, too. The new look Mid Day hits the stands on February 27. As part of the new look, the paper has gone all colour and has added a new section ‘Your Guide’.
Filmy, the movie channel from the SaharaOne stable, has planned back-to-back action for its viewers. With one key premier in February and three world premiers lined up in March, Shantonu Aditya, CEO, Sahara One Entertainment is confident that Filmy is all set to create its loyalists in the Hindi movie genre.
In a surprising development, Nimbus Communications Ltd on February 25 signed a deal with Sahara One Television for the broadcast rights of the India-England cricket series starting March 1, 2006, consisting of three Tests and seven ODIs. Nimbus is the global media rights partner for Indian cricket till March 2010.
Dr Marcio Garcia’s work on The Hindu group of publications continues. The financial daily from the group, The Hindu Business Line, has been re-launched with a new look from February 24. Soon to follow is the fortnightly magazine from the group, Frontline, which will be re-launched with a new design on March 2.
<p align=justify>"We believe that the so-called classic advertising can only grow to a certain extent. Real growth has to come from the marketing services area, where the client spending is also increasing. While clients have been relying heavily on classic advertising, they also realize that their reserves are going to come from events and CRM and other issues that seem to have been taken for granted. To us, both these business groups are very important, to provide holistic solutions to advertisers."
<p align=justify>Unless you have more money than the sun, you can't possibly reach everybody. You never get to the point of a marketing machine where you stick a certain amount of money on one end and you get customers on the other end. Human beings are rational, emotional and intuitive and this means that marketing will always be part art, part science. You have to target and that isn't enough, as I can target you but if I can’t touch you, I can’t motivate you. So is it enough to just do a great ad today? No. Is a great idea, message still central to communication? Yes.
PR can always play a concrete role in communications solutions for brands whether it is 360 degree or as a part of integrated communications. That’s a matter of description, but PR can provide a very tangible, a very credible, and a very useful input into the overall communications solution for any brand/company.