WPP Digital has announced its acquisition of 75 per cent stake in Quasar Media, a subsidiary of Smile Interactive Technology Group specialising in digital marketing and web solutions. Quasar will continue to be managed by its founding team, led by Harish Bahl and Manish Vij.
The finalists for the Red Herring 100 Global Awards 2007, which would be held in December, have been announced. Eleven Indian companies feature in the list this year. Of the 200 finalists from across the globe, 100 companies will make it to the esteemed Red Herring 100 Global list.
Leo Burnett has launched a TVC for Reliance Mobile that depicts the mindset of kids who dream and aspire to become future cricket stars. The commercial, titled ‘India Ka Cricket’, is the agency’s attempt to continue the good work after the launch of its T20 commercial and create awareness for Reliance Mobile’s cricket package.
The third annual Mobile Attitude and Usage Study by MMA provides insights into overall consumer mobile usage by demographic group, awareness and usage of mobile phone features and services, and interest in and concerns about specific applications.
At the IPRA Golden World Awards for Excellence that took place in London recently, the Grand Prix Award went to Corporate Voice Weber Shandwick with PSP-One Project for USAID (India) for ‘Condoms: Changing the Perception of the Contraception’. The campaign also scooped up awards in two more categories.
Canon India is reinforcing its focus on Delhi with the launch of a Delhi-specific marketing initiative, ‘Hamaari Delhi’ campaign. The two-month long campaign, done by Percept, is in line with the launch of Canon’s first black printer and will commence from November 19.
The Congress party has finally joined the channel war in Tamil Nadu with the official launch of its 24-hour news and general entertainment channel called ‘Mega TV’ on November 19, the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Four radio players have commenced new stations in Ranchi, Sholapur and Coimbatore during the week gone by. Ranchi listeners can now tune in to Radio Mantra and Radio Dhamaal. Big FM has begun its FM operations in Sholapur, while Radio City has strengthened its presence in the South with a new station in Coimbatore.
The I&B Ministry had on November 14 directed two news channels – Zee News and IBN7 – to apologise for violation of code of conduct by showing programmes considered not in good taste for viewers by the Ministry. A letter was sent to the channels on November 15, which directed them to run a scroll round the clock apologising for violating the code, failing which, the channels might be taken off air.
Business Standard has alleged Mint, the business newspaper from Hindustan Times Media Ltd, of portraying ‘misleading’ figures in their recent print ads. Business Standard has written a letter to the Advertising Standards Council of India and requested it to cease and desist HT from releasing further ads in any medium till it was cleared by the Council.
Loans contributed 7 per cent share in banking/finance/investment sector, with 25 per cent dip in advertising volumes on print in Jan-Sep 2007 over Jan-Sep 2006. Share of private players increased from 75 per cent in Jan-Sep 2006 to 80 per cent in Jan-Sep 2007. Q1 and Q3 of 2007 saw maximum advertising by private players and PSUs, respectively – private players offered maximum of housing/construction loans, whereas PSUs preferred advertising with multiple loans. Forty five per cent of advertising was observed on regional language publications, followed by English and Hindi publications with 30 per cent and 25 per cent share, respectively.
After establishing itself in Maharashtra and Gujarat, Tata’s Infiniti Retail has chalked out an aggressive expansion plan for its electronic store chain, Croma, in south India.
Talk at Annual Conference Highlights Medium's Struggle to Be Understood
“In order to have a loyal customer base we have to make our brands relevant to our consumers in their lives. Where, when, how, with whom they drink – all of these aspects matter. We communicate our brands in the right way and make our products available at an arm’s reach. We aim at creating desire in the consumer’s mind.”