Jayanarayan K has joined Happy, a Bangalore-based Idea Shop, as Associate Creative Director. He moves from JWT Bangalore. JK, as he is popularly known, has worked on campaigns like Nike (Gutsy Cricket), Van Heusen – V. (V Dot), and Levis (Stuck on you). He was also part of the team that created the Nike integrated campaign, which won at GoaFest 2008.
Carl Avari has been appointed as AVP – Sales, West and South region, for E24, the 24- hour Bollywood entertainment channel owned and operated by BAG Glamour Pvt Ltd. His profile will include identifying and tapping sales opportunities and converting them into business for the company. As part of the sales team, he will also be strategising to achieve additional business opportunities in the West and South regions for the company. Avari brings with him 18 years of experience in space selling and marketing with associations with Radio 91.1 FM, the India Today Group and Radio 92.5 FM. He has also worked as a consultant at Tata Infotech Ltd, Pansoft Technologies Ltd, and Olive Cyber Tech Pvt Ltd, among others.
Times Global Broadcasting has appointed Lowe Lintas India to handle the creative mandate for its forthcoming business news channel. The win follows a multi-agency pitch that saw the participation of agencies like McCann Erickson and Rediffusion Y&R. The media part of the new channel is believed to be handled by Lodestar Universal.
Mobile value-added service (VAS) in India, current trends and future directions as well as mobile advertisement and marketing came under the scanner at the VAS India 2009 International Conference, held in Mumbai on January 15.
Product of the Year, an independent survey on product innovation, has forayed into India and will announce the country’s Product of the Year on January 17, 2009, at an event to be held in Mumbai. Product of the Year is a global consumer recognition standard that celebrates and rewards the best innovations in retail products done through an independent consumer survey of consumers across the country.
Consumers have always been considered a powerful communication channel. It is not a new phenomenon. They formed interest groups and discussed various topics of interest. What is new is the speed and ease of getting connected to millions of similar-minded individuals by just the click of a few buttons, observes Atrayee Chakraborty, Business Director, Lintas Media Group.
Continuing with the lobbying with political leaders against the amendments proposed in the Cable Television Network Rules, a delegation of the News Broadcasters Association (NBA), led by President G Krishnan, called on UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on January 15, 2008. Gandhi assured the delegation that she firmly believed that the media should be free and there should be no restrictions imposed on it.
Mindshare India may just be the quickest Mindshare office to have embarked on, and completed, the new structure that the agency had decided on at a global level in early 2008. The restructuring process that had begun in April 2008 in India had opened up many key positions at the agency; all of which are now filled. R Gowthaman, Leader, Mindshare South Asia, believes that this places the agency on a position that takes it “beyond standard transactions”.
Maruti Udyog Ltd has called for a creative pitch for its spare parts business. Taking part in the pitch are agencies like Crayons Advertising, Bates, and TBWA, among others. The budget for the agencies per quarter is Rs 50 lakh, while the total budget for the year is Rs 2 crore annually. This is the first time that Maruti has called for a pitch for its spare parts pitch. The auto major has plans to brand its spare parts.
Unlike 2007, when the ratings of most of the shows had dropped from what was seen in the previous panel, in 2008, the ratings of most shows have gone up. Consequently, the GRPs of many channels have shot up from what they were in the previous TAM panel.
There would be four buzzwords for the print industry in 2009. These are – you have to deliver impeccable edit quality, you’ve got to be a cost efficient organisation, you have to ensure critical mass circulation, and you have to try and recover the cost of circulation. With so many newspapers now available, the quality of edit could be the key driver for readers to pick up your paper. And at this point of time, even the mightiest organisation cannot think that it would be able to build the extra cost and carry on with the business, you have to be the most cost effective business.