The Hindu is launching its Hubli edition on July 16, 2010. This edition is The Hindu’s 14th edition and the third in Karnataka. The new edition covers the districts of Hubli-Dharward, Belgaum, Uttara Kannada, Haveri, Davangere, Chitradurga, Bellary, Koppal, Gadag, Bijapur, Bagalkot, Goa state and other centres such as Kolhapur, Pune, Solapur.
In the wake of a multi-agency pitch, TME Mumbai has been assigned the mandate of managing media requirements of Allied Blenders & Distilleries Pvt. Ltd. (ABD), the third largest spirits company in India, promoted by Kishore Chhabria. Company sources have informed that the business is pegged in the vicinity of Rs 35 crore.
Facebook has announced two key appointments to launch its operations office in India, marking the company’s progress towards establishing a local team amid rapid growth in India and around the world. The company has named Kirthiga Reddy as Director of Online Operations, Manoj Varghese as Director of User Operations.
German luxury car manufacturer Audi has appointed Creativeland Asia as its creative agency for India. The win comes on the back of a multi-agency pitch, wherein Creativeland Asia has won the mandate for Audi India, including the Audi A8 launch. In addition to this, Creativeland Asia has also been awarded the digital business for Audi. The account size is pegged at Rs 20 crore.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has invited bids from national, multinational agencies and corporates for licensing out advertising rights inside 12 stations of MRTS Phase-II (Lajpat Nagar to Badarpur). The contract shall be awarded for a period of five years and an EMD of Rs 10 lakh is required.
McCann Momentum, together with McCann Healthcare and Weber Shandwick, has recently completed ‘Saathi Bachpan Ke’, a USAID diarrhoea management programme carried out in three districts of Uttar Pradesh. The three agencies were involved in advertising, activation and PR of the social cause.
Anindya Banerjee has joined Law & Kenneth as Executive Creative Director of its Delhi branch, with additional responsibility of Kolkata office. His last stint was as Senior Creative Director with Publicis India for two and a half years.
Deepesh Jha, who has been with Rediffusion Y&R as Executive Creative Director and Branch Creative Head at their Delhi office, has decided to bid adieu to the agency, according to senior sources in the industry. Jha has been successfully leading their largest client Airtel for two years.
It is heartening to see the industry moving slowly but surely towards a more integrated approach to planning media. This is because more and more clients are demanding a media-neutral, brand-focused approach to their communication plans. It’s time to get each planner in every media agency to start thinking and planning digital. Only in integration lies the true victory for the online industry and its time for a movement, an uprising, a revolution, asserts Arpita Menon.
The recent news that Doordarshan is planning to revive one of its most popular shows, ‘Hum Log’ has generated a lot of curiosity. The show, which will now be called ‘Hum’, will have a new cast and will be set in a new location. One wonders whether the show, which was immensely popular in the 80’s would work in today’s scenario. Media professionals have mixed feelings about this move.
Metaphor, the second agency from Triton Communications, has won the creative duties for German vodka brand Wodka Gorbatschow in India. The brand is part of Allied Blenders & Distillers’ (ABD India) portfolio. According to Roopak Chaturvedi, Director – Sales and Marketing, ABD India, the account size was pegged at Rs 15 crore for a year.
<p align=justify>I think mobile, if you look at the distribution of availability and consumer usage, is all about being mass. It is not a new medium. It is an incredibly personal and highly relevant medium. It may be the number one medium, but as an advertising medium, it is still very much in its budding stage… In India, mobile phone penetration is very high, however, the number of smart phones is still very low. It is up to the industry to take note and say, sure there are smart phones, but the majority doesn’t use them, so what do we do about that?