After initially putting on hold its plan to relaunch Channel 7 as IBN 7, Global Broadcast News (GBN) is going ahead with its original plan and renaming its Hindi news channel as IBN 7 from this Independence Day, August 15.
GM and McDonald's have a deal to give away 42 milliion toy Hummers in Happy Meals and Mighty Kids Meals. It's licensees and retailers who take much of that, but as cash-strapped auto marketers scour for ways to make profit numbers, revenue from key rings, T-shirts and other licensed goods is regarded as a golden goose that can extend brands and bring in hundreds of millions of dollars at little cost.
Wal-Mart is becoming more serious about its India game plans. The retail behemoth, which has decided to pull out of German and South Korea markets to concentrate on core markets, has identified China and India as its future growth drivers.
If you thought bicycles, once a lifeline of rural India, are passé in the new world of swanky mass rapid transport systems, sleek electric trains and fancy motorbikes, think again. They have in fact made a strong comeback riding the growth in fancy cycles segment.
Atul Gupta, AVP, Sales & Marketing, Yamaha Motor India, says Gladiator was the first product in a series of exciting new launches for the youth. The bike major aims to create a new biking lifestyle that will make Yamaha a cool brand among youngsters in India.
Print contributed 35% to overall advertising volume in the first half of 2006. Print ad volume grew by 18% in Jan-Jun 2006 over Jan-Jun 2005. South Zone publications had the highest (39%) share of ad space in Print while ‘Education’ was the Top super category.
Hotelier Vikram Chatwal’s wedding to model Priya Sachdev is slated to overshadow perhaps even the much talked about Mittal wedding. The duo will get married in style with Discovery Travel & Living featuring it in an hour-long show as part of its first local production – ‘The Great Indian Wedding’ – to be aired from August 20 at 8 pm.
HLL is out to hit two birds with a stone. The FMCG major in a bid to promote its new sun protection cream for men, Fair & Lovely Menz Active, and extend its association with cricket, is supporting the truncated version of cricket – Twenty20 – as title sponsor.
The two channels from the BCCL stable – Zoom and Times Now – will now be additionally available on Dish TV.
In a major reshuffle at Rediffusion DY&R, Santosh Sood, COO-Regions, and head of Delhi, is being appointed Chief Strategy Officer of the agency. Ramesh Srivats, EVP-South, is being brought in as EVP-Delhi. Kaushik Tiwari, VP-Chennai, is being made VP-South.
OgilvyOne India, Ogilvy & Mather’s direct marketing division has won two awards for its clients, DHL and Walt Disney India, at the recently concluded Direct Marketing Association (DMA) Awards 2006 held in New York.
Makkal TV, a Tamil satellite channel, is slated for launch in September. It has roped in Chennai-based creative shop, WOC, as its creative agency and hopes to stand out with ‘alternative content’ as its USP.
Everest Brand Solutions was adjudged Agency of the Year nationally at the seventh Sangbad Pratidin ‘Srijon Samman’ Awards for excellence in Bengali advertising. Bates Kolkata and Grey Bangladesh retained their last year’s position as ‘Agency of the Year’ from Kolkata and Bangladesh, respectively.
Promotion Marketing is gaining ground in India, and with Indian agencies bagging 12 awards at the Promotion Marketing Awards of Asia 2006, there is much to cheer about.
Tri-colours, old patriotic songs dusted out of their jackets, sepia tinted clips of Pandit Jawarhar Lal Nehru giving his famous ‘Tryst with destiny’ speech in Parliament – India is gearing up for another Independence Day, albeit amid the shadow of unprecedented security arrangements. TV channels on their part, too, are ready with a plethora of programmes around the occasion.
In order to strictly regulate advertisements on television, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has issued orders to all channels to air an apology for showing objectionable ads either on the count of obscenity or those considered as a surrogate. The apology scroll has to be aired from August 18-21, 2006.