Draftfcb Ulka Advertising has brought on board KS Chakravarthy, popularly known as ‘Chax’, as its National Creative Director. As NCD, Chax would serve the primary purpose of building brands and client businesses. Prior to this, he was with Rediffusion DY&R as NCD.
Sujoy Roy has recently joined Rediffusion DYR Kolkata as Creative Partner. He had earlier worked with O&M in its Mumbai and Kolkata offices and was part of the team that had won O&M Kolkata a Cannes Bronze in the Media category this year for their work for the Calcutta School of Music. He was also adjudged Copywriter of the Year at the recently concluded Advertising Club Calcutta Awards for Creative Excellence. Giving the reason for joining Rediffusion DYR, Roy said, “My decision to join Rediffusion was based on the wider portfolio of brands that this move would give me access to. After all, Rediffusion in Kolkata handles several national clients like Eveready, Tata Steel, Spencer’s, Emami and Dey’s Medical to name just a few.”
Devika Prabhu has joined Disney Television as Associate Director and Head of Programming for Disney, Jetix and Hungama. She is reporting to Aparna Bhosle, Director of Programming and Production, Disney Television. Prior to joining Disney, Prabhu was with Sony Entertainment Television as Assistant Vice President. She was handling functions related to strategic planning, research, on-air presentation, commercials and operations. At Sony, she was reporting to Albert Almeida, Business Head. Prabhu has 10 years of industry experience. Prior to Sony, she was with Initiative Media as media planner and buyer.
MAX has bagged the highest number of metals – six – at the Promax | BDA North America Promotion & Marketing Awards 2008, which was held on June 16-19 in New York. NDTV Imagine and INX followed with four and three metals, respectively. The other winners included Neo Sports, Sahara Filmy, Multiscreen Media, Sahara One, SAB, MTV India, Channel [v] and Vh1 India.
In the 7th year of its existence, CNBC-TV18’s show ‘Storyboard’ now takes a step to engaging with India’s marketing and advertising community through StoryRoad. The on-ground event will explore in-depth the topics that are currently driving the industry and allow viewers and speakers to interact and provide valuable feedback.
Forging ahead with its plans for a theatrical business venture that would develop and produce theatrical releases for kids and their families, Turner has made two key appointments in the specialised division. Jiggy George has been given additional charge to set up the theatrical division. In addition, Chitra Subramaniam joins Turner India as Director, Features, for the theatrical division and will work closely with George.
Online DVD rental service is gaining popularity in the country, a fact seen from the encouraging growth registered by players like MovieMart, Seventymm, and Reliance ADAG’s BigFlicks. MovieMart has now expanded its service pan-India and is targeting revenues of Rs 400 crore and a customer base of one million in the next five years.
Retail chain Odyssey is bullish about its growth and has charted out aggressive expansion plans involving 50 large format stores and 200 small format stores across India in the next two years. The company has roped in Contract to handle its creative duties and partner in its growth plans.
Online technology solutions provider Cigma, announced the launch of its matrimonial website Shaadibiye.com, which is expected to be a complete wedding planner for Bengali marriages.
Following the huge success of ‘Airtel Super Singer’ junior and senior editions in 2006 and 2007, respectively, Vijay TV is all set to launch the second edition of ‘Airtel Super Singer Senior’. The show will take off on July 7 and will be aired Monday to Wednesday at 9 pm. This year’s show, like the earlier edition, will scout for best singing talent in Tamil Nadu.
Rediffusion DYR India has appointed Rahul Mathew as Creative Head, Mumbai. Mathew comes on board after a stint as Creative Director at Y&R, Kuala Lumpur. At Young & Rubicam, Mathew had worked on global accounts like OCBC Bank, LG, Yamaha, Campbell, Malaysian Milk and Kotra Pharma, among others.
Jupiter Entertainment Ventures, the parent company of Radio Indigo and The Bengaluru Pages magazine, has rejigged its senior management. K Sanjay Prabhu, COO, Radio Indigo, and Publisher, Bengaluru Pages, has been elevated to MD. Jayyant Bhokare has been appointed as COO of Media, Events and Contract Marketing.
Arun Anant has put in his papers as CEO of the recently launched news channel UTVi. Shantanu Aditya, Executive Director, UTV Global Broadcasting, and CEO, UTV Entertainment Television, has taken on the additional responsibilities of Anant.
Rejecting ESPN’s request to offer its bouquet of channels collectively in base package to DTH operators, TRAI has directed the media firm to offer DTH operators the same bouquet having three channels – Star Sports, ESPN and Star Cricket – as it does to MSOs and LCOs in non-CAS areas.
Shubha Menon, Executive Creative Director, Innocean Worldwide, has put in her papers. With no concrete plans yet, Menon said that she was waiting for the right offer to come her way. Giving the reason for her decision to quit, Menon said, “I was not comfortable with the agency’s attitude towards creative work and people.”
Maneesh Mathur has been promoted as Chief Operating Officer of P9 Integrated. He was Associate Vice President, Media Services, prior to this elevation. As COO, Mathur will be responsible for overseeing all the verticals of P9 Integrated and grow the company from the current Rs 1 billion to Rs 20 billion in the next three years.
The India Today Group and Axel Springer have come together under a joint venture, ITAS Media Pvt Ltd, to launch automobile magazine ‘AUTO BILD’ in India. The magazine will be hitting Delhi newsstands on June 29. The India Today Group will have 51 per cent stake in the JV, while Axel Springer will hold the remaining 49 per cent stake.
Star India has appointed JC Giri as Executive Vice-President and GM-Regional Channels. He will handle the portfolio of Star’s regional channels in Bengali, Gujarati and Marathi, and see through their launches in the near future.