Gitanjali Group has announced the appointment of C Subramaniam as Group President, Human Resources. Subramaniam comes with 18 years of experience in the HR function. Prior to this appointment he had worked with Siyaram Silk Mills, Asahi Glass, Videocon International Ltd, and Mirc Electronics Ltd (Onida), among others.
SK Jain, Managing Director, LMJ International Ltd, and an industrialist from Kolkata, has been elected as President of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) for the year 2008-09. He was elected at the 39th Annual General Meeting of IACC, held in Mumbai recently. Jain is taking over as President of the 40-year old organisation headquartered at Mumbai and having 14 offices across the country at a critical time when the Indo-US Economic partnership is entering an interesting trajectory. He has been associated with a number of business associations. At present, he is Chairman of Federation of Indian Exporters (FIEO), Eastern Region.
Hanumant Talwar has joined Convergys Corporation as Vice-President and Head of India Operations for Convergys’ Customer Management Business. In this position, Talwar will be responsible for overseeing the operations of Convergys Corporation’s eight contact centres and approximately 10,000 customer management employees in India. He wil be reporting to Sukant Srivastava, Managing Director and Country Manager. Prior to joining Convergys, Talwar, who has 21 years of multi-industry work experience, had held leadership positions with GE Capital International Services, ExlService.com, and American Express. He had also worked with International Data Management Ltd, DCM Data Products, and Eureka Forbes Ltd.
Dainik Bhaskar has appointed Prem Kumar as Vice President - Circulation and Market Development (National). In his new role, Kumar will look after all Bhaskar publications. Prior to joining Dainik Bhaskar, he was with Agrotech Foods Ltd as Head of Food Services for a brief period, before which, he was with Glaxo Smithkline as Sales Director, Sri Lanka and Maldives, for 14 years.
Ashish Bajaj has been appointed as Head of Citi’s Commercial Banking and Global Subsidiaries Business for South Asia. In this role, he will lead unified client coverage across small and mid-market enterprises and subsidiaries of global corporates in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Bajaj will closely work with relevant product teams to oversee the coordination and delivery of all of Citi’s relevant financial products and services into Citi’s corporate and consumer bank client base. Bajaj will report to Sanjay Nayar, CEO-South Asia. Additionally, he will report to Farhan Faruqui, Asia Pacific Head of Corporate and Commercial Banking.
Bharat Patel, Chairman, Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care Ltd., has been re-elected Chairman of the Indian Society of Advertisers at the ISA’s Annual General Meeting held on September 26, 2008 in Mumbai.
Media E2E has appointed Myleeta Aga as Head of Content and Co-founder. As Head of Content, Aga will enrich existing product features for MediaE2E as well as develop new programming outlets and creative strategies for expansion.
Venturian Media Ltd, a Hyderabad-based global online publishing and marketing company has announced the launch of a consumer finance news and comparison site Money-india.com. This site will offer free and comprehensive tools to help consumers to make their choices when searching for the right product to suit their needs.
Thums Up is continuing with brand ambassador Akshay Kumar in ‘Fear Factor’ mode, performing breathtaking feats in the latest TVC aimed at tapping the festival fervour. The TVC, sporting the ‘Taste the Thunder’ peg, is breaking on all news and entertainment channels on October 4.
How many times have you said “No thank you” when an insurance agent called on you? To address the “I don’t need insurance” stance of most people, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance has launched a new campaign that instead of pushing a particular scheme simply states that whenever one needs an insurance, Bajaj Allianz is just a call away.
Marketing Services provider Evolve Brands has bagged won the mandate for managing an architect CRM programme for infrastructure company Greenply Industries Ltd following a multi-agency pitch. Christened ‘The Architect Leadership Council’, the programme would focus on building communities and a customised relationship model for Greenply with the top 1,000 architects in the country.
Jagdish Khattar, Former MD of Maruti Suzuki, has announced his next venture – Carnation Auto – which aims to develop India’s independent multi-brand automobile sales and service network. Khattar also announced the company’s first round of funding of over Rs 100 crore from marquee names in the industry.
The Advertising Club Bangalore’s annual awards night, The Big Bang Awards 2008, is scheduled to be held on November 7 November. The Ad Club has sent out mailers to agencies across India inviting entries. The last date for receiving entries is October 6.
NDTV MetroNation, which recently celebrated its first anniversary, is very upbeat after experiencing a 27 per cent growth in market share over the last one year. NDTV is now looking at launching similar hyper-focused channels in Chennai and other such metros during the year.
NaiDunia has increased its India footprint with the launch of its national edition from Delhi on October 1. NaiDunia has also launched a Sunday weekly magazine to reach out to the global reader base, along with an e-paper edition.
Gone are the days when freebies and lucky draws were the norm during festival shopping. Instead, what consumer durables companies are offering this festive season is ‘real value’. This includes new product ranges, better customer service, and high quality. Of course, there still are discounts, combo offers and some free gifts too. But chances of getting that umpteenth wall clock are far less.
With the Government allowing 26 per cent FDI in general interest publications and 74 per cent FDI in special interest publications, the market was thrown open for the launch of ‘niche’ magazines. The Government’s latest move, allowing Indian editions of foreign news and current affairs magazines, will further open up the market. But can the Indian market sustain so many magazines? Are there so many readers?
The word ‘inspiration’ is much flogged in the film industry. With several Bollywood films having been ‘inspired’ by Hollywood movies, the word has become akin to plagiarism. But what does inspiration mean in advertising? While an inspirational campaign like ‘Lead India’ campaign has won accolades, experts caution against overuse.
Latest TAM Media Research data show that both Colors and Zee TV have scored 236 GRPs. In comparison, Star Plus is at 298 GRPs. It is an unusual stage for the Hindi GEC genre, where three players occupy the top two slots. While some say that Colors is the next significant milestone for the genre after KBC, others are still waiting to see whether the channel can sustain the dream run that it has had so far.
News Broadcasters Association’s (NBA) ‘News Broadcasting Standards (Disputes Redressal) Authority’ to enforce NBA’s Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards has come into effect from October 2. NBA had announced the constitution and establishment of the Authority in August this year.
Forget about it (measurement tool)! Don’t waste your time arguing over it. Either come up with an independent research tool or stop talking about it. Or go by whatever you have. I am not a big fan of research to begin with; I have never done research when I launched my magazines. When magazines don’t work in the market, people tend to blame the research and point fingers at its accuracy.