Subject: Monthly Media Dossier · Monthly Media Dossier June2011 Page 3 of 111 PERCEPT LIMITED ADVANTAGE ALL THE WAY Source: Tribuneindia.com, Date: June 5, 2011 The fact that M

Monthly Media Dossier June2011 Page 1 of 111

MEDIA DOSSIER

Period Covered: June, 2011

Subject: Monthly Media Dossier

Medium Appeared in: Print & Online

For internal circulation only


PERCEPT AND INDUSTRY NEWS

Percept Limited Pg 03

ENTERTAINMENT

Percept Sports and Entertainment

PDM Pg 08

- Percept Activ Pg 10

- Percept ICE Pg 14

- Percept Sports _____

- Percept Entertainment _____

P9 INTEGRATED Pg 16

PERCEPT TALENT _____

Content

Percept Pictures Pg 17

Asset

Percept IP _____

MEDIA

ALLIED MEDIA Pg 20

PERCEPT OUT OF HOME Pg 37

PERCEPT KNORIGIN Pg 43

COMMUNICATIONS

Advertising

PERCEPT/H Pg 50

MASH _____

IBD INDIA Pg 53

Percept Gulf _____

Hakuhodo Percept Pg 57

Public Relations

PERCEPT PROFILE INDIA Pg 58

IMC

PERSPECTRUM _____

INDUSTRY & COMPETITOR NEWS Pg 61


PERCEPT LIMITED

ADVANTAGE ALL THE WAY

Source: Tribuneindia.com, Date: June 5, 2011

The fact that M. S. Dhoni has been rated among the world’s 10 most marketable sports stars is a reflection of the

growing clout the Men in Blue command in the brand space that has a huge presence of B-town biggiesThere was a

time when looks did not matter much in sports. You had to be a talented player and everything else was considered

secondary and unimportant. Not any longer. These days, apart from being a gifted player, you also got to have the

looks. If you want to rake in all the money on offer, that is. So, working solely on your game isn’t enough. You have to

work on your looks as well.Keeping that in mind, it really isn’t all that surprising that a British magazine (SportsPro)

recently rated M. S. Dhoni among the 10 most marketable sportspersons in the world. Dhoni, of course, is the captain of

the team that has just won the World Cup after 28 years. He is a terrific captain, an explosive batsman, a safe wicket-

keeper and all the other things that you can think of in cricketing jargon. But he also has a rugged, macho image. Dhoni

has the kind of visage and personality that goes well in the advertising world. ardly surprising, therefore, that Dhoni is

currently the face of around 25 brands and charges over Rs 6 crore per endorsement, according to industry estimates.

"M. S. Dhoni's marketability has reached a new high in India in the aftermath of the Cricket World Cup. Although he will

never attain quite the messianic status that Sachin Tendulkar has among the Indian population, Dhoni has undeniably

become the number one choice for those looking to boost their brand in the south-eastern Asian country," SportsPro

editor David Cushnan said while announcing the list of the Top 100 most marketable sportspersons of the world.Post-

WC, Dhoni charges Rs 2 crore a day to endorse a brand, which uses him for three days a year for Rs 6 crore. One

factor that boosts Dhoni’s brand value is the strategy to restrict his exposure. We have been receiving endless queries

from different brands in new spaces who are interested in hiring Dhoni. But representing too many brands will dilute his

brand image. His price tag will be the differentiator here," says Pratik Sen, Director of Mindscape Maestros, the agency

that handles Dhoni’s endorsements.

"A few deals signed previously, which are just getting over, will not be renewed as a policy. In their place, we will be

looking at new categories and brands," says Sen. honi is likely to endorse an automobile and a financial services brand

in the coming days. "So far, he was not representing any four-wheeler brand, which he will be doing from now on and

the financial services brand that he was representing is going this year, and we may get a new brand in the same space

for him," adds Sen. From now on, along with charging astronomical amounts, Dhoni will look at revenue sharing or be a

partner in the brands he promotes. here are several sports personalities in Europe and America who are partners of the

brands they endorse, but the trend has not caught on in India yet. However, Dhoni may be setting a precedent when he

signs on the dotted line in the coming months. hile Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar have always taken the top slots when it

comes to endorsements, after the World Cup win the likes of Gautam Ghambhir and Virat Kohli are quite sought after,

too. Winning the World Cup after 28 years and that, too, being the first host nation to do so, was an exceptional effort by

the team and it is but natural that their popularity and demand with fans and brands alike will increase," says Mustafa

Ghouse, Sports Head at celebrity and sports marketing company GloboSport. Dhoni and Sachin will continue to be the

main attractions but the performance and success of Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Gautam Gambhir and

Zaheer Khan will also increase their demand. They appeal to a different audience and I think that will be an important

factor for brands," Ghouse explains.While brands that had secured players for their commercials before the World Cup

are in a good position and are reaping the benefits, the ones that want the Men in Blue in their ads now are in a bit of a

spot.

"After the World Cup, I have been trying to work with a couple of cricketers for some ads but none of them is available.

All their dates are chock a block. It’s almost like a dog fight is happening among clients, trying to get even a couple of

hours from each one of them," says Joshua Upputuru, Producer with Nomad Films, a production house that makes ad

films.According to another advertising expert, cricketers will be raking in anywhere between Rs 7-10 crore per annum


for one brand, which is an increase from what they were being paid before the World Cup."The reported figures are in

the range of Rs 7-10 crore. But it's impossible to put a figure, or quantify in general for each player," he specifies. And

what are the factors on which the fee is determined?"The fee depends upon many factors category, brand which is

seeking association, level of association, number of days of association, number of years of association, how does the

brand help the celebrity in terms of personality association, market dynamics and demand-supply," he

explains."Contract fee escalation is notional. A cricketer’s contract fee will not escalate overnight. Brands simply re-

negotiate the contract with a cricketer and, depending upon the demand and supply needs or other requirements, go for

a new contract binding. Cricket is topical and if a brand wishes to retain a cricketer, it ends up paying more. Even then,

there will be no major change in endorsement fees post the World Cup win," says Latika Khaneja, Owner and Founder

of Collage Sports Management, which handles Sehwag’s endorsements.

However, even now the safer bet seems to be Bollywood stars. "Practically, Bollywood stars are a safer bet for the

brands when compared to cricketers. The Indian team has managed to build its brand equity in the market but the

cricketers still lag behind when it comes to the reliability factor," says Shailendra Singh, JMD of Percept. "The

advertising industry prefers filmstars over cricketers because their stardom surpasses one hit or a flop, unlike players,

whose brand value changes with each tournament."It is believed that Aamir Khan tops the endorsement chart with a Rs

14-crore annual fee, followed by Shah Rukh Khan, who commands Rs 8-10 crore yearly. The general perception is that

advertisers go for Bollywood stars when it comes to family brands." Barring the odd exception, the cricketers come into

the picture in case of masculine, macho or individual products.According to TAM Media Research, calendar 2010 saw

Bollywood celebrities dominating a whopping 85.3 per cent share of the endorsements’ pie. Sports persons endorsing

brands had a far more humble 12.3 per cent share (dominated by cricketers). The rest was made up by TV actors.

"The World Cup has kind of greased the wheels for many cricketers and opened up the market for endorsements. So,

while earlier Bollywood ruled 80 per cent of the market, after the World Cup win, cricket’s overall contribution to the

endorsement circuit has gone up by around 30 per cent," says Bunty Sajdeh, CEO, Cornerstone Sports and

Entertainment, the agency handling Kohli’s celebrity endorsements.There is, of course, this view that cricket is

seasonal, while Bollywood celebrities are able to represent much more on an ongoing basis in endorsements and,

therefore, the win may not really expand the cricketers’ share of the pie significantly."While Bollywood provides

continuity, cricket is tournament-dependent. Though India is playing almost continuous cricket this year, Test series do

not bring as much excitement as One-Dayers or T20 matches. The next exciting thing will now be the Championship

Trophy towards the year-end. So I don’t see a major endorsement shift from Bollywood to cricket," says another

advertising expert.For cricketers, to feature in too many ads can be detrimental to their playing graph. Whenever these

players flop on the field (and that’s bound to happen at times) the notion that ads are taking up most of their time gains

strength. So, they have to balance it out. Nothing of that sort for the actors though. They cannot be accused of acting

too much.Be that as it may, this trend of Bollywood and cricket hogging the endorsement limelight is going to continue.

New deals and renewals will be signed and we will get a better idea of how much more clout India’s cricketers will

command in the advertising endorsement space. As the pie itself expands, there is bound to be a lot more for India’s

cricketers to sign on.

****************************

The billion dollar question!

Source: The Times of India – Times Life, Date: June 12, 2011 issue

Billionaire business tycoon Mukesh Ambani's 27-storey residence Antilla has come in for much flak and censure. But

when someone like fellow industrialist and Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata says that the Ambani residence is an

example of rich Indians' lack of empathy for the poor, the debate spills over into the public domain. The big questions

are: Are the wealthy obliged to share their wealth with the underprivileged? Should such blatant and unabashed

displays of wealth be avoided? Do the moneyed folk have to be bleeding heart do-gooders to avoid being caught in the

guilt trap once their lifestyles come under scrutiny?


Noblesse Oblige?

Rohini Nilekani, Chairperson of Arghyam, says, "There can be nothing mandatory about this; but people should share to

ensure a stable and prosperous society, which benefits even the rich!" Philanthropy, believes Adi Godrej, Chairman of

the Godrej Group, comes from the heart of the people and their desire to give back to society. "I don't think it's

something that should be expected by others, but it's always welcome." Elaborates Harsh Goenka, Chairman of RPG

Enterprises, " Philanthropy, at one level, is a personal thing. Businessmen and CEOs often promote causes that are

close to their heart, and many have become closely identified with those causes and are doing very good work." The

definition of wealth, argues, Shailendra Singh, Joint Managing Director of Percept Limited, has to extend beyond

money. "We need to bring into its ambit knowledge and experience too. We've all benefitted from the wealth of

experiences that has been passed down to us through generations. That's the legacy we need to create and share."

"Doing charity, contends image consultant and life coach Chhaya Momaya, who's close to Mukesh Ambani and his

family, "is a matter of one's personal choice." However, Anu Aga, Director of Thermax Limited, believes otherwise. "I

don't think I've the right to use wealth only for my personal enjoyment. I'm a trustee of that wealth and a part of it has to

be shared with the community from which I've derived it," she says.

Wealth shouldn't be seen

Would Mukesh Ambani have been at the receiving end had his mansion not been so magnificent? Probably not. Is

there, then, a case to be made for toning down? No, says Rohini. "It is no use playing down your wealth if all it means

is that you stash it away in your safes and lockers. If it's not going to be given away to build a more just society anyway,

you might as well spend it openly and let it become part of the national economy at least." Social commentator Pritsh

Nandy, while conceding that it's nobody's case that the rich shouldn't live luxuriously, believes they should curb their

urge to be ostentatious, lest it attract bad vibes from those not so privileged. Echoing the same thought is Aga, who

says, "I don't feel comfortable with opulent lifestyles because in the midst of poverty it's not in good taste." Begging to

disagree, Momaya, pipes in, "Why can't one be allowed to enjoy the wealth one has created through hard work and

enterprise? What's so outrageous about wanting to lead a lavish life if it's your own wealth that's being used to fund it?"

Concurs Singh, "We've earned the right to live the lives we want to. Look at Richard Branson. He's made his billions

and he lives it up in great style. And he continues to be an inspiration. Our lifestyles can motivate the youth. Why be

contrite?" Wealth creation, explains Godrej, includes economic activity and employment, which are very valuable to

society.

Whither our Warren Buffetts, Bill Gates and Paul Allens?

Though there's much work happening on the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) front, when it comes to personal

philanthropy, there aren't that many Azim Premjis around in our corporate world. Why? Nandy has an answer. " In the

western world since the state seizes most of your assets in death and inheritance taxes, many people prefer to write off

their wealth to charities, and , not so uncommonly now, even to their dogs! Our compulsions are more moral." What is

needed, says Aga, is a change in mindset. "The wealthy in India have come out of a crippling tax structure quite

recently and there's a mindset that we have given enough to the Government. Today, our taxes are most reasonable

and yet, it's possible the rich are operating with the old mindset." The new wealthy are just learning to give away their

wealth, says Rohini. She continues, "Let's not forget, many Indians do not like to talk of their philanthropy." Agrees

Goenka, "In a country like India where inclusive growth is an imperative, industrialists are increasingly becoming

conscious of their social responsibilities." Both Aga and Godrej point to the Tatas as a shining example of personal

philanthropy. "We've our Tatas who've been philanthropists par excellence for long," says Godrej. Giving her take on

this concern, Momaya says, "Warren Buffett and Bill Gates come from a land of plenty. They've never known hunger,

illiteracy, power and water shortage, so it's easy for them to propagate the virtues of giving. But for us it's different. Only

when we're sure that our stomachs are full for a few generations can we start thinking about others. You'll see greater

personal philanthropy from the third generation Ambanis. I already see this giving nature in Akash, Mukesh's son.

Mukesh does a lot of philanthropy at his individual level, but he's not one to crow about it." While lauding Buffett and

Gates, Goenka avers, "I think Indian industrialists and corporate houses have their own home-grown, successful and


time-tested models of both philanthropy and CSR." Singh, however, strikes a note of caution. "If we're looking for Bill

Gates and Warren Buffett from amongst us, we'll first have to get rid of the corruption that besets all our systems and

polity."

Bottom Line!

When Momaya says Mukesh is a modern king and he's entitled to his palace, you can't but tut-tut in agreement. But we

need to remember that the king has his subjects too. Corporate philanthropy has pushed ahead with gusto. Personal

philanthropy could well do with a leg up, and move beyond temples and religious institutions to causes that are more

urgent and pressing. "Whatever the reasons, it is time for a change in outlook and for the rich in India to practise true

generosity of spirit," Aga concludes.

*******************************

Make 'em groove

Source: The Times of India – Bombay Times, Cinehour.com , Date: June 20, 2011

Asurprise party was held at a suburban nightclub for Shailendra Singhs son DJ Shaan recently.The boy,who turned

16,was thrown a party hosted by his father.Spotted at the do were friends of the youngster.His dads pals and

acquaintances Shabbir Ahluwalia,Yash and Avanti Birla,Mugdha Godse also applauded as the birthday boy took to the

turntable to spin out to the tunes of deep progessive house.On an otherwise slow night,around 40 of the revellers took

to the dancefloor.Good for them!

*******************************

Food on mind

Source: Mid-Day, Date: June 17, 2011


Many celebrities showed up at the launch of a suburban restaurant. Rahul Bose, who was leaving for the

States, made a quick exit. Shailendra Singh hopped in with good friend Shama Sikander and was spotted

haging out in the bar area with buddies.

******************

Actors earn more from endorsements than films

Source: Keral.com, The Times of India (All Edition), The Economic Times, Date: June 27, 2011

If you see more of Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone or Genelia D'Souza on TV and in glossy magazines than on the big

screen, there is a reason. The same reason prompts the Khan quartet of Aamir, Shah Rukh, Salman and Saif to hop

from one advertising frame to another. Endorsements, frankly, earn all these artistes more money than films. The trend

of brand endorsements by Bollywood actors has reached a new peak. Most of the top actors are raking in more money

from ads than from films. Consider Aamir Khan's business plan: at Rs 14 crore per brand, trade pundits say he pockets

around Rs 60 crore a year in endorsements. `Ìt is clearly much more than what he earns by acting in one film,'' said a

trade analyst. ``Katrina Kaif earns in six days of shooting for a product as much as she does in three months of shooting

for a film,'' said another source. Insiders insist that 60% of Deepika's and Katrina's annual earnings, and 90% of Genelia

D'Souzas, come from endorsements. Branding is as serious a business as acting. Maybe even more serious. Every

major star shoots to promote a brand for at least 30 days a year. In some cases, the time spent can go up to 90 days.

Kareena Kapoor said, `Àt present, I am endorsing about 14 brands and am getting paid what I deserve. Besides, each

of my endorsements goes with my personality.'' Not surprisingly then, celebrity management firms are emerging as

integral parts of the stars lives. Atul Kasbekar, CMD of Bling, a celebrity management company, said, ``We make all-out

efforts to keep our celebrity clients perennially interesting. We build up their persona in a way that will appeal to the

public and advertisers alike, and work independently of whether their movies are successes or failures.'' Shailendra

Singh, Joint Managing Director of Percept said, `Ìt’s only recently that stars started earning more out of their

endorsements than films. But this trend is limited to a few top actors. By default or by design, these stars have managed

to make brands out of themselves.'' Singh cited the example of Shah Rukh Khan, who has managed to create two

separate identities one as Shah Rukh the actor and the other as SRK the brand. ``Brand managers are always trying to

match the brand versus celebrity strength. Unlike Hollywood, we have few film stars who are consistently on top in

terms of brand image,'' he added. Aamir Khan Rs 14 cr, Shah Rukh Khan Rs 10 cr, Amitabh Bachchan Rs 8 cr, Salman

Khan & Ranbir Kapoor Rs 8 cr, Hrithik Roshan & Akshay Kumar Rs 6 cr, Aishwarya Rai Rs 4 cr, Katrina Kaif, Priyanka

Chopra & Deepika Padukone Rs 3 cr, Kareena Kapoor Rs 3 cr, Sonam Kapoor Rs 1.25 cr to 1.5 cr, Anushka Sharma

Rs 75 L to 1 cr, Genelia DSouza, Sonakshi Rs 75 L to 1 cr


ENTERTAINMENT PERCEPT SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT PDM Sunburn Festival

Source: Jet Wings, Date: June, 2011 Issue

***************************

One year on, IISM opens gates for students again

Source: Apnnews.com, Date: June 23, 2011

After successfully completing its one year, the International Institute of Sports Management (IISM) has now opened

admissions for its second academic year from June 2011. The Indian sports industry is fast growing in three main

segments – Broadcast and Media rights, Sponsorship (licensing and merchandising) and ticketing along with hospitality

(entertainment and catering in sports venues). In India, corporate sponsorship in sports is annually growing at the rate

of 12 per cent, faster than any other field and is expected to grow at 15 per cent in the coming years. With increasing

number of global sport events coming to India, the need of a structured sports marketing and management program is

often felt by the industry bigwigs. Keeping this in mind, IISM is offering Post Graduate Diploma in Sports Management

in association with Mumbai’s Jai Hind College. It is the only comprehensive program in India to train future sports

marketing and management professionals. The key to IISM’s success is the integration the experience of the core

faculty and industry professionals to give the best to its students. It’s advisory board consists of the experts like Ravi

Shastri – Former Indian Team Captain and Commentator, Mahesh Bhupati, Managing Director, Globosport and Tennis

player, Malav Shroff, Managing Director, Ocean Blue, Prof Ratnakar Shetty, Chief Administrative Officer, BCCI, Ameya

Hete, Executive Director, Valuable group, Vivek Singh, Joint Managing Director, Procam International and Shailendra

Singh, Managing Director, Percept D’Mark, to name a few. The hugely successful first year has given its students


maximum exposure in the field of sports marketing and handling of top sports events. The first batch of 80 students

received hands on experience in major events like Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2011, Airtel Delhi Half

Marathon 2011 and PMG Golf Events amongst others. Amit Krishnan, IISM 2010-’11 batch student feels that IISM is the

most ideal place to begin a career in the sports industry. Along with the opportunities provided to work on events, the

fruitful internship period saw the IISM student’s intern with a wide range of sports management companies in different

field such as Marketing, Athlete Management and Sports Media and as Administrators of clubs. Some of the companies

the students interned with are Globosports, Total Sports Asia, Cricket India Academy, MIG Cricket Club, Sport power,

Percept D’Mark and Procam International. IISM has carefully designed its second year curriculum to allow a logical

progression in learning. Along with the complete support of its top-class faculty, there is strong focus on academic as

well as on-field training for the students to excel in their careers.

********************

Percept Sports CEO Devraj Sanyal quits to join Universal Music

Source: Sportspower.com, June 27, 2011

Percept Sports & Entertainment Group CEO Devraj Sanyal has quit to join Universal Music India as its managing

director, effective immediately. Sanyal, 36, who has been with Percept for the last seven years in various capacities,

will assume responsibility for all operational aspects of Universal Music India, which is headquartered in Mumbai,

including its interests in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Percept Sports & Entertainment includes music, events,

television & intellectual properties, branded content & entertainment and talent management divisions. Sanyal is not

completely delinking from Percept though. he now also moves to the board of Percept Limited as director – sports and

entertainment, an offical release states. This is second high-profile exit from Percept Sports & Entertainment in the

recent past. It follows the departure of COO Rukin Kizilbash who left the company to join WWE as its India head.

*******************************

Beyond genres

Source: The Hindu, Date: June 30, 2011

John Fleming is one of the few artistes who have kept pure trance alive without adulterating it for commercial success.

In a career spanning 20 years, he has had releases with record labels such as Ministry of Sound, Deconstruction

Records, Logic Records and 3 Beat Music. A passionate advocate of original music, he has set up his own record label

‘Joof recordings'. Submerge brought him to Delhi for the first time as a part of the ‘Joof Editions India Tour'. “If I could

change one thing about the current EDM scene I would split it in two — the underground and the commercial

electronic,” says John. He is very disappointed with the current hullabaloo of commercialization that has significantly

changed people's perception of trance. “Trance is something that totally isolates you from the outside world and

teleports you to a different sense of being where you have no idea how time flies by. But what most of the DJs play

today isn't trance. They should call it something else. Underground is the place to go for good music and we will soon

witness a resurrection,” he speculates. Having started his musical journey with Goa trance before moving to progressive

and psychedelic, he has attended ‘Sunburn' (India's famed electronic music festival held in Goa) every single

year since its inception in 2007. He calls upon upcoming artistes to play what they love and not be afraid of the

consequences. “If you make original music without being influenced, people will pay attention and remember you for

your music.” Fleming travels extensively to give people a taste of true trance. He is looking forward to the release of his

debut album as a solo artiste on August 16 this year. “I love it, I really do! I am not just saying this because I am sitting

here. I have been coming here for five years and now I come as often as four times a year. I really love the excitement

and energy in the people. They appreciate underground music,” exclaims John on being asked about his India

experience.. Fleming loves Indian food and swears by dal makhani. “I have to have it whenever I am here,” he says with

a twinkling smile.

********************************************


PERCEPT ACTIV

Foot Notes | Destination Bihar

Source: HT Mint, Date: June 4, 2011

As a tourist destination, Bihar has plenty going for it. There’s history—the world’s most sacred Buddhist sites cover its

northern edge, and a thread of vast empires and local kingdoms runs back thousands of years. There’s also no scarcity

of fiercely vibrant local culture, from Madhubani paintings to Bhojpuri cinema.On 21 May, the state government

announced that marketing firm Percept Activ had been chosen to “promote” Bihar tourism, and draw attention to the

state as a possible “major tourist destination”. As part of the mandate, Percept organized a two-day road show in

Thimphu, Bhutan. Sanjay Shukla, the Chief Operating Officer of Percept Activ, spoke to Lounge about unconventional

advertising, Bihar’s culture and reviving the Buddhist circuit. Edited excerpts from the interview

How has tourism in Bihar performed in the last few years? Why the decision to promote it heavily now?

Pilgrimage: The Buddha at Bodh Gaya, part of Bihar’s tourist circuit. he Bihar government noticed a fair bit of growth in

tourist figures in the last two years. The number of domestic tourists went up to 15,787,256 in 2010 from 15,784,679 in

2009, which is only a growth of 1%. But the number of foreign tourists went up 16%, from 423,042 in 2009 to 492,913 in

2010.Most of that growth come from places like Gaya, Rajgir, Bodh Gaya and Vaishali which constitute what’s known

as the Buddhist circuit. We have plans to revive that.

How will you do this?

We’re trying to make it more active. The route exists in this informal manner and pulls in many foreign tourists, but we

hope to formalize it. Introduce packages, for instance. During our Bhutan road show, (chief minister) Nitish Kumar

announced his intention to allocate land in Rajgir for guest houses. We hope more tourism infrastructure like that comes

up.

Most of your mandate is marketing and promotion re you planning to organize more road shows?

In the first phase, we’ll have more road shows across Indian state capitals to increase domestic tourism. We hope to

draw attention to parts of Bihar that people don’t know too well. We’ll have exhibits of Madhubani paintings, samples of

Bihari and Bhojpuri cuisine and information on the state’s famous melas (fairs). These include the Sonepur fair, which is

one of the largest cattle fairs in Asia, and the Sorath Mela in the north of Bihar. In the second phase, we go

international. I can’t reveal too much right now since it’s still being planned, but we have a lot of ideas.

***************


Percept Activ bags BTL mandate for Bihar Government!

Source: Adgully.com, Date: May 20, 2011

Percept Activ won the BTL mandate for Bihar Government to develop the tourism in the state of Bihar. Along with the

Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation, Percept Activ organised a two day road show on May 5 – 6, 2011 in

Thimpu to promote the Art, Culture, Cuisine and the Tourism of Bihar. The road show and the exhibitions were

inaugurated by Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister, Bihar. This was further followed by a traditional dance performance from

Bihar. During the road show different art forms including the renowned Madhubani paintings and other types of

handicrafts were exhibited along with the cuisines of Bihar. While the road show was held at the Tarayana Centre, the

unique Bihari cuisine was put on the show at the luxurious Taj Tashi Resort. Similar activities will be carried out shortly

in other parts of the world to promote Bihar Tourism. Commenting, Sanjay Shukla, COO, Percept Activ said, “We are

happy to be associated with Bihar Government. In the last few years the Bihar Government has taken lots of steps to

encourage tourism in Bihar specially to Bhodh Gaya. We are working on some more plans to promote the same in the

coming months and are in talks with the tourism board on the same. The idea is to create Buddhist Circuit.” With its

extensive reach and expertise, Percept Activ will aid the Bihar Government to develop and promote Bihar as a major

‘Tourist Destination’ across India and inthe various parts of the world.

***************************

Percept Activ bags Bihar Government’s BTL mandate

Source: Thisisindian.com, Date: May 20, 2011

To promote Bihar Tourism across India and in the various parts of the world.Percept Activ won the BTL mandate for

Bihar Government to develop the tourism in the state of Bihar. Along with the Bihar State Tourism Development

Corporation, Percept Activ organised a two day road show on May 5 – 6, 2011 in Thimpu to promote the Art, Culture,

Cuisine and the Tourism of Bihar.The road show and the exhibitions were inaugurated by Mr. Nitish Kumar, Chief

Minister, Bihar. This was further followed by a traditional dance performance from Bihar. During the road show different

art forms including the renowned Madhubani paintings and other types of handicrafts were exhibited along with the

cuisines of Bihar. While the road show was held at the Tarayana Centre, the unique Bihari cuisine was put on the show

at the luxurious Taj Tashi Resort. Similar activities will be carried out shortly in other parts of the world to promote Bihar

Tourism


Commenting, Sanjay Shukla, COO, Percept Activ said, “We are happy to be associated with Bihar Government. In the

last few years the Bihar Government has taken lots of steps to encourage tourism in Bihar specially to Bhodh Gaya. We

are working on some more plans to promote the same in the coming months and are in talks with the tourism board on

the same. The idea is to create Buddhist Circuit.”With its extensive reach and expertise, Percept Activ will aid the Bihar

Government to develop and promote Bihar as a major ‘Tourist Destination’ across India and in the various parts of the

world.

******************************

Percept Activ Bags Bihar's BTL Mandate To Promote Tourism

Source: Mygoatrip.com, Date: May 20, 2011

The mandate to carry out BTL activities for the Bihar Government in order to promote tourism in the state has been won

by Percept Activ. Percept Active was chosen for the mandate from a total of 6 agencies which responded to the floated

tenders, according to a report by exchange4media.com.<br><br>Percept Activ organised a two day road show on May

5 ─ 6, 2011 in Thimpu to promote Bihar tourism. The road show and the exhibitions were inaugurated by Nitish Kumar,

Chief Minister, Govt of Bihar. During the road show different art forms including the renowned Madhubani paintings and

other types of handicrafts were exhibited along with the cuisines of Bihar. While the road show was held at the

Tarayana Centre, the unique Bihari cuisine was put on the show at the luxurious Taj Tashi Resort.

******************************

Percept Activ bags Bihar's BTL mandate to promote tourism

Source: Silobreaker.com, Date: May 20, 2011

The mandate to carry out BTL activities for the Bihar Government in order to promote tourism in the state has been won

by Percept Activ. Percept Active was chosen for the mandate from a total of 6 agencies which responded to the floated

tenders, according to a report by exchange4media.com. Percept Activ organised a two day road show on May 5 - 6,

2011 in Thimpu to promote Bihar tourism. The road show and the exhibitions were inaugurated by Nitish Kumar, Chief

Minister, Govt of Bihar. During the road show different art forms including the renowned Madhubani paintings and other

types of handicrafts were exhibited along with the cuisines of Bihar. While the road show was held at the Tarayana

Centre, the unique Bihari cuisine was put on the show at the luxurious Taj Tashi Resort. Similar activities will be carried

out shortly in other parts of the world to promote Bihar Tourism. Sanjay Shukla, COO, Percept Activ, said, “We were

waiting for the results and recieved the confirmation about a week ago. As per the letter of confirmation we have

received, Precept Activ, along and Sphere Travel Media, have been appointed as the agencies to handle the activities.”

Most of the states in India are now spending hugely on promotion of their state tourism through ATL and BTL activities.

The Bihar Government intends to develop the state as a major tourist destination, and the activities to be executed

under the same are planned to be pan India and reach out to the masses. “We won the mandate owing to our expertise

in activations and event management. Moreover, we have experience in projects like these as we have worked with

State Tourism Boards like the Rajasthan Tourism Board earlier. Our reach and network is huge both in India and

overseas. All these factors put us ahead of the others and made us the best fit for the project," Shukla added.

*****************************

Percept Activ wins the esteemed Nerolac account

Source: App.contify.com; Date: May 27, 2011

Nerolac Paints Limited roped in Percept Activ to handle the ‘Nerolac Preferred Painter’ meet across 50 cities pan India.

The umbrella branding program held annually commenced mid – April 2011 and will continue till June 2011. Percept

Active won this multi agency pitch, based on its merit of concept, coupled with its strengths of trained manpower and

network. With an objective to build an authenticated and customised data base of around 10,000 new painters enlisted

with Nerolac, Percept Activ successfully created a platform that met the end objective. Each meet was conducted in


conjunction with the marketing team, local sales team and the agency. The painters invited were taken through the

company vision, product portfolio and the benefits of the association. Commenting Sanjay Shukla, Chief Operating

Officer, Percept Activ said, “We are thrilled to have bagged this prestigious account, and look forward to a fruitful

association with Nerolac. The program is just the kind of campaign which we thrive on to showcase our strengths and

partnering in these campaigns gives us insights into the working of a client and his internal and external customers. We

hope to take this program to the next level with the client”

Elaborated Yatnesh Pandey, Senior Manager Marketing, Nerolac,”Launching ‘Nerolac Premium Painters’ Club (NPP)

loyalty program is part of our strategic move to connect with our influencers. Under this program we are going to enroll

10,000 Painters in phase-I. We had selected PDM for this activation because of their wide reach network and strength

in grass root activations.”

***************************


Source: Yourjokecenter.com, Date: May 27, 2011







company vision, product portfolio and the benefits of the association. Commenting Sanjay Shukla, Chief Operating

Officer, Percept Activ said, “We are thrilled to have bagged this prestigious account, and look forward to a fruitful

association with Nerolac. The program is just the kind of campaign which we thrive on to showcase our strengths and

partnering in these campaigns gives us insights into the working of a client and his internal and external customers. We

hope to take this program to the next level with the client”

Elaborated Yatnesh Pandey, Senior Manager Marketing, Nerolac,”Launching ‘Nerolac Premium Painters’ Club (NPP)

loyalty program is part of our strategic move to connect with our influencers. Under this program we are going to enroll

10,000 Painters in phase-I. We had selected PDM for this activation because of their wide reach network and strength

in grass root activations.”

***************************


Source: Bestmediainfo.com, Date: May 27, 2011

Conducts ‘Nerolac Preferred Painter’ meet across 50 cities pan India.







company vision, product portfolio and the benefits of the association. Sanjay Shukla, Chief Operating Officer, Percept

Activ said, “We are thrilled to have bagged this prestigious account, and look forward to a fruitful association with

Nerolac. The program is just the kind of campaign which we thrive on to showcase our strengths and partnering in these

campaigns gives us insights into the working of a client and his internal and external customers. We hope to take this


program to the next level with the client” Elaborated Yatnesh Pandey, Senior Manager Marketing, Nerolac, ”Launching

‘Nerolac Premium Painters’ Club (NPP) loyalty program is part of our strategic move to connect with our influencers.

Under this program we are going to enroll 10,000 Painters in phase-I. We had selected PDM for this activation because

of their wide reach network and strength in grass root activations.”

***************************

Percept Activ manages workshops for Canon

Source: Eventfaqs.com, Date: June 22, 2011

Percept Activ is managing workshops for Canon DSLR. This was a multi-agency pitch after which Percept Activ won the

Canon DSLR Workshop project. The workshops are structured to offer a broad preview of the Canon DSLR range of

cameras, their USP and professional photography tips by industry experts. The workshops were held in 20 cities across

India and included Salem, Coimbatore, Kannur, Cochin and Vijayawada from the South; Patna, Ranchi, Siliguri,

Shillong and Bhubaneswar from the East; Nadiad, Bhuj, Mount Abu, Pune and Satara from the West; and Bareilly,

Rudhrapur, Gurgoan, Ludhiana and Gorakhpur from the North. These photography workshops are aimed at

professional photographers, mainly from the wedding and fashion industry. Speaking about their association with

Canon, Sanjay Shukla, COO, Percept Activ said: "We have been associated with Canon for the past three years and

have done numerous rural projects for them. Through this activity, we wanted to create awareness for the SLR category

in tier two cities. We plan to cover 80 odd metro cities by the end of the year. " Commenting on the initiative, Jay Pillai,

Marketing Head, Canon said: "This activity was held in 20 locations across India, through which we showcased the

technology of Canon and the DSLR range. Through this activity, we plan to highlight the best options that

photographers have in high technology from Canon. This was a multi-agency pitch after which, Percept Activ was

chosen to manage and execute the workshops across all the locations."

***********************

Percept Activ manages workshops for Canon’s range of DSLR cameras

Source: Network2media.com, Date: June 28, 2011

Please refer to the link below to read through the entire coverage. The coverage is the result of the Press release

dissemination and carries photograph of Mr. Sanjay Shukla

Link:http://www.network2media.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5437:percept-activ-manages-

workshops-for-canons-range-of-dslr-cameras&catid=9:corporate-briefs&Itemid=10

************************

PERCEPT ICE

Percept ICE organizes dealers conference for Havells in London

Source: Bestmediainfo.com, Allaboutoutdoor.com, Date: June 7, 2011

The conference was followed by the Award night called Havells Power Awards.


Percept ICE managed the Annual Dealers meet of Havells India, one of the largest and fastest-growing manufacturers

of electrical components and systems. The lavish gathering of leading Indian and international dealers took place at the

Grosvenor House Marriott Hotel in London. Percept ICE executed the event in three elements; TV Personalities Mona

Singh & Vishal Malhotra hosted Bollywood Dreams an entertainment filled section of the event where all guests were

requested to prepare a skit/dance and perform on their favourite Bollywood songs or Movies. The Conference theme

was ‘Power of One-Together we make it happen’, along with a motivational speech by renowned Indian cricket

commentator and journalist Harsha Bhogale who made the conference interactive with audio Visuals of dealers PAN

India talking about their experiences with the brand. The conference was followed by the Award night called Havells

Power Awards where guests walked the red carpet feeling like true superstars. There were live performances including

Can-Can, Moulin Rouge, Salsa and Bollywood dance by international artists. The main attraction was Magical Jerome

Statue Act and the Quick Costume change act which depicted INDIA as a strong brand. “We are honored that Havells

have chosen and recognized Percept ICE for creating and executing their event. With Havells we have launched,

acquired and created a whole new range of events internationally and expanded our reach into the electronics industry.

We congratulate Havells on their successes.” said Riddhi Merchant, Manager, Brand Activation, Percept ICE. Havells

Dealers meet attracted more than 550 guests, including celebrities and business leaders to rejoice their association with

Havells

***********************

Percept Ice executes dealers conference for Havells in London’


Please find below the link to the coverage for your perusal

Link:http://www.network2media.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5261:percept-ice-executes-

dealers-conference-for-havells-in-london&catid=9:corporate-briefs&Itemid=10

*****************************

Percept ICE gives electrical experience to Havells dealers


Percept ICE managed the annual dealer's meet of Havells India, manufacturers of electrical components and systems.

This gathering of leading Indian and international dealers took place at the Grosvenor House Marriott Hotel in London.

The Havells dealers' meet attracted more than 550 guests, including celebrities and business leaders, to rejoice over

their association with Havells. The theme of the conference was ‘Power of One - Together we make it happen', along


with a motivational speech by Indian cricket commentator and journalist, Harsha Bhogle, who contributed in making the

conference interactive with the audio visuals of dealers sharing their experiences with the brand. This was followed by

Havells Power Awards where guests walked the red carpet feeling like true superstars. In addition, there were live

performances including Can-Can, Moulin Rouge, Salsa and Bollywood dance performances by international artists.

Commenting on the initiative, Riddhi Merchant, Manager, Brand Activation, Percept ICE said: "We are honoured that

Havells has chosen and recognized Percept ICE for creating and executing its event. With Havells, we have launched,

acquired and created a whole new range of events internationally and expanded our reach into the electronics industry.

We congratulate Havells on its successes." As part of executing the event, T.V. personalities Mona Singh and Vishal

Malhotra hosted Bollywood Dreams, an entertainment section of the event where all guests were requested to prepare

a skit or a dance and perform on their favourite Bollywood songs or movies. The main attraction of the meet was the

magical Jerome statue act and the quick costume change act which depicted India as a strong brand.

*****************************

P9 INTEGRATED

Increasing usage of the New Media for marketing films!

Source: Audiencematters, Date: June 27, 2011

With the large population of India shifting to the online medium, Bollywood too seems to incline towards the ‘new media’

for film marketing. Social media websites are considered to be an addiction amongst the majority of internet users in

India and hence they have a great potential to drag people to the theatres. Indian film marketers have noted that young,

tech-oriented professionals with disposable income are highly likely to use the web to discover movies to see in

theaters. Social media matters even before the movie is released to create a successful buzz, reviews and discussions

about movies. There is now a trend of having movie websites and like pages of the movies in the leading social

networking websites. The actors of the film have also found an easy way to keep in touch with their fans through social

networking sites and they interact with them as and when possible. For movie promotions, many a times actors are

made available to the fans through live chats. For 3 Idiots a twitter account was created by the name ‘Pucca Idiot’. The

initiative contributed to a large extent in creating a buzz for the movie. Movie trailers have now made their way to movie

teasers that give little info about the movie and create a huge amount of buzz amongst the audience about the movie.

Mahesh Barve, AVP, P9 Integrated states, “Internet marketing has become an integral part of any film marketing

strategy as it is very cost-effective and interactive medium for creating awareness for the movie. The reason being that

for individuals/cine goers – Online Social activity has become dominant, more than two-thirds of the world's population

now visits a social-network or blog site weekly. As a result these forums, websites and messaging services have

become our own individual windows to the world for us to gather information, seek out entertainment and share with

like-minded individuals. A newspaper or television ad may only till the release of the movie, but a web site will continue

to generate awareness. In the area of theatrical releases, movie web sites are not only building awareness for a movie

before and during the theatrical release, but they continue to promote once the mass media advertisements have

stopped running”.

*******************************


CONTENT PERCEPT PICTURES Production houses find new audiences for old Indian films

Source: HT Mint, Date: June 1. 2011

At the recently concluded Cannes Film Festival, UTV Motion Pictures, a unit of UTV Software Communications Ltd,

struck syndication deals worth Rs.4 crore in markets such as South Korea and West Asia for some of its older titles.The

films included Jodhaa Akbar, Life in a… Metro, Delhi-6, Wake Up Sid and Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na, the kind of movies

that would have been adjudged as having exhausted their commercial possibilities. But similar films from the back

catalogue of production houses are getting a second wind as they find fresh audiences overseas and not just among

the Indian diaspora.“There’s head room for growth in territories like Japan, South America, Turkey and Taiwan,” said

Amrita Pandey, senior vice-president, international distribution and syndication, UTV Motion Pictures. “Films no longer

have a limited shelf life.”For instance, Kismat Konnection, which flopped in India when it released in 2008, will now be

shown on Al Rai TV, the Kuwait-based television station.Vikram Mahotra, chief operating officer of Viacom18 Motion

Pictures, a division of Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd, said that for production companies finding new markets and platforms

for existing titles was a continuous process.Apart from overseas territories, companies are also exploiting new media

platforms to ensure a growing business on their older slate of films.“Our films are getting dubbed in Russian, Arabic and

German and reaching overseas territories,” said Rafiq Gangjee, vice-president (marketing and communications), Yash

Raj Films Pvt. Ltd, which is exploring territories such as Brazil, Turkey, Egypt and Italy, Gangjee said.Older titles are

finding a market beyond the traditional home video segment, said Kamal Jain, chief financial officer of Eros International

Plc.“The monetization avenues are growing,” said Jain. Eros has a library of more than 2,000 titles. The older titles,

according to Jain, are getting a fresh airing because there’s a tremendous demand-supply crunch.“India continues to

make 800-900 films every year. While that number hasn’t changed, the demandwhat with the competition among

broadcasters, DTH (direct-to-home) players, emergence of new mediahas increased,” he said. “As an increasing

number of platforms emerge, production companies make revenues from the older titles.”Eros has digitized its entire

catalogue in order to leverage the content across various platforms, including YouTube and mobile. For the US market,

the company has an existing deal with Comcast Network Inc., Jain said.The 70:30 revenue deal ensures that a large

part of the US market broadcasts a majority of the Eros catalogue of films. Jain said that syndication deals on the older

catalogue contributed to one-third of the company’s overall revenue.

Sanjeev Lamba, Chief Executive of the Motion Pictures business in Anil Ambani-led Reliance Entertainment, said sales

through the firm’s library titles will contribute as much as new releases to revenue in the international markets in another

two-three years, rising to 50% from 25% now.According to Lamba, platforms such as Internet-based video-on-demand,

pay per view, cable and satellite and home video have ensured a longer shelf life for films.“Films have a long tail

because of the growing international markets,” said Lamba, who added that producer Vikram Bhatt’s Haunted will now

release in selected Latin American territories.So, while 3 Idiots was a massive hit in 2009 in India, it released theatrically

in Taiwan this year and grossed Rs.2.5 crore. Similarly, Black, the critically acclaimed film directed by Sanjay Leela

Bhansali that was released in India in 2005, was recently shown on cable and satellite in South Korea.“The Indian

diaspora populates almost 125 countries and each country offers revenue opportunity that’s not time bound,” he said.

But it’s not just people of Indian origin who are watching. That could explain why Percept Picture continues to make

profits on older films such as Makdee, Hanuman and Page 3.“Hanuman was a huge success in Japan because like

India, it has a strong mythological culture. The film played on terrestrial cable and satellite channels in Japan much after

its release in India,” said Yusuf M. Shaikh, Head - Distribution & IPR, Percept Pictures.The company had sold

Kanchivaram (2008), a Tamil film, to Channel 4 in 2009 for £8,000 (Rs.7 lakh). Similarly, Makdee released with five

prints in the Netherlands in 2009 after a deal with Vlaams Centrum voor Kinderfilm Network for €15,000 (Rs.9.65 lakh).


Others too are catching on that there’s money to be made overseas. With demand for older Indian films growing in

overseas territories, broadcasters such as Star India Pvt. Ltd and other third-party companies are stepping in to

purchase overseas distribution rights, Shaikh said.

*********************************

ENTERTAINMENT – BOLLYWOOD - Feature Film by TV Veteran on Honor Killings

Source: Indiawest.com, I4infomania.co.cc, Date: June 10, 2011 issue

Produced by Sangita Sinha and Siddhant Sinha of Ananda Film & Telecommunications Pvt. Ltd., and directed by

television veteran Ajai Sinha, best known for his shows “Hasratein,” “Astitva,” “Justujoo” and “Ghar Ek Sapna,” “Khap” is

a story about the Khap Panchayat and the much talked-about issue of honor killings. Set to release July 29, the film

stars Om Puri, Govind Namdeo, Manoj Pahwa, Anooradha Patel and Mohnish Bahl with Uvika Choudhary, and

introduces Sarrtaj. The film is being distributed by Percept Pictures. “Khap” is a tale of two different worlds colliding

over a love story. If someone defies the “Khap” diktat, an unofficial illegal death sentence is passed and executed in the

most gruesome manner. But when the guardians of the old faith do it to lovers from Delhi, they challenge their

supremacy in a way no one ever dared to do. The music is by Annujj Kappoo and the songs have been sung by a ce

singers like Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Shaan, Shreya Ghoshal, Jagjit Singh and Rekha Bhardwaj. Ananda Film &

Telecommunications Pvt. Ltd., the producer of “Khap,” has produced many television shows over the years. Copyright

2011 India-West Publications Inc. This article may not be reproduced in any form without written permission of the

publisher.

*******************************

Give us our Money back

Source: Mumbai Mirror, Date: June 16, 2011

Percept Pictures send a legal notice to Anees Bazmee for not returning the signing amount of 51 lakh for a film

which didn’t take off

(Clip Attached for your perusal)

********************************


Cross connection

Source: Time Out Delhi, Date: June 17, 2011

Pakistan’s already strained relationship with India is under further stress after the series of bomb blasts in Delhi,

Bengaluru and cities in Gujarat. The alleged hand of the Pakistani spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, in the

attacks may make it difficult for Indian audiences to care for a movie about a Pakistani father and son who accidentally

cross over into India and are jailed for several years. Yet, Mehreen Jabbar’s Ramchand Pakistani is better suited to our

intolerant times than you might think. The film underscores how ordinary folk pay for government policies, and, in the

words of its director Mehreen Jabbar, tries to show how “structures of the state overwhelm normal people”. The curiosity

of local viewers may be piqued by the fact that the movie is about a Pakistani Hindu family and stars Nandita Das.

Ramchand Pakistani is television professional Jabbar’s debut feature, and was screened at the Osian’s-Cinefan

Festival in July. It’s being distributed in India by Percept Picture Company, which had previously released the

Pakistani movie Khuda Ke Liye. Das is the only Indian in an all-Pakistani cast, and Kolkata-based musician Debajyoti

Mishra has composed the score. The movie is set in June 2002, when New Delhi was on the brink of war with

Islamabad following terrorist attacks on Parliament. Eight-year-old Ramchand and his father, Shankar, accidentally step

across Pakistan’s porous border with India and are mistaken for spies. They’re shoved into a prison in Gujarat and

forgotten. The narrative alternates between their experiences and the mother, Champa’s lonely wait back in the village.

Except for the jail sequences, the film has been shot on location in Tharparkar in Sindh , which is home to vast numbers

of Dalit Hindus. Apart from exploring the despair brought on by forced separation, Ramchand Pakistani also touches

upon the discrimination faced by Champa’s community. Abdullah, a trinket seller, woos Champa during her husband’s

absence, but he loses heart when he’s reminded of her Dalit status. The story largely draws from the real-life case of a

teacher and his son, but Jabbar took some liberties with the mother’s character. Champa tries to move on and

contemplates responding to Abdullah’s entreaties. “In reality, the wife [of the teacher] waited and worked and waited

and worked,” Jabbar said.The personal clout of the filmmaker’s father, Javed Jabbar, came in handy for securing

permission to shoot in border areas. A former Cabinet minister, Javed Jabbar put in a word with various ministries.

Mehreen Jabbar’s mother was also drawn into the project. “She made the first investment in the film,” the director said.

In the absence of studios or financing companies, Pakistani filmmakers must rely on generous individuals or television

channels to kickstart their projects. (That’s one reason only a handful of films get made every year in Lollywood, as

Pakistan’s film industry is called. Another reason is the scarcity of cinema halls. The restraint carries over to the prison

sequences. The relatively benign treatment of Ramchand and his father in prison belies reports by the media and

human rights groups of torture and harassment in custody. “The characters the movie is based on didn’t undergo any

harsh treatment,” Jabbar said. “But there have been many other instances where people have lost their minds in prisons

on both sides. Also, it would have been too much. I didn’t want to confuse audiences with too many issues.” Ramchand

Pakistani

********************************


MEDIA ALLIED MEDIA

Ministry of Tourism makes fresh pitch for Global Print and Television Campaigns

Source: Travelbizmonitor.com, Date: May 31. 2011

The Union Ministry of Tourism held a pre-bid meeting with representatives of 13 agencies on May 26, 2011 to clarify

certain points as part of the bid process for Incredible India’s global television and print campaigns. The agencies that

attended the pre-bid meeting included GroupM, OMD, Ogilvy India, MPG, Mindshare, Maxus Global, ZenithOptimedia,

Onmicom Group, Crayons Advertising, Prabhatam Advertising, Integrid Media, Allied Media (Percept), Span

Communications, Purnima Advertising, Carat Media, Sterling Advertising, ITDC and TDI International India Ltd. The call

for a fresh pitch was made on May 19, 2011, following which the pre-bid meeting was held between the officials and

interested agencies. The last date for submission of proposals is June 10, 2011. The global television campaign targets

major broadcasters like CNN, BBC, Sky News, National Geographic, Fox, CBS, Discovery and more across America,

South East Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia, Japan, China and a host of other countries. Meanwhile, the print campaign

comprises prominent global publications, including Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal, The Economist,

Financial Times Worldwide special reports, How to spend it, and Global Traveller, among others. The global campaign

will be undertaken in phases during the period August/ September 2011 till March 2012. The objective of the Incredible

India campaign is to generate awareness about the tourism products and destinations of the country and to promote

India as a preferred tourist destination in the source markets overseas.

*********************************

MPG retains MTS biz worth Rs 1.5 bn

Source: App.contify.com, Date: June 1. 2011

Havas Medias flagship brand, MPG India, has retained telecom service provider MTSs media account.The account size

is estimated to be Rs 1.5 billion.The mandate was awarded following a multi agency pitch that also involved Mediacom,

Motivator, Mudra and LMG.MTS has chosen Portland and OAP as their outdoor agencies.The two agencies were

appointed following a multi agency pitch that was attended by Laqshya, Posterscope, Percept and Aaren.While the

North and East regions will be looked after by Portland, OAP will manage the West and South.

*******************

Percept Media to launch Integrated Intelligence Services for marketers; Partners with Pointlogic

Source: Adgully.com, Date: June 6, 2011

Source: Medianewsline.com, Date: June 3, 2011

Percept Media, the media planning, buying and evaluation arm of Percept Limited, entered into a strategic alliance with

Pointlogic, a world renowned player providing integrated marketing communications and marketing ROI solutions.

Through this alliance Percept will customize and localize the world class suite of offerings from Pointlogic and apply

them to Indian advertisers and marketers using consumer insights & expertise. As media channels evolve it has

become increasingly difficult to compare the performance of each media channel. Percept & Pointlogic will offer

consulting, modeling and easy-to-use customizable software solutions for communication planning, ROI modeling,

targeting and segmentation to Indian companies. Percept will apply Pointlogic methods and tools leading to services to

gain a competitive advantage in the media and communications domain. It’s the first true consumer centric and holistic

approach adopted by an Indian agency assessing all the different ways consumers interact with brands leading to an

integrated management of marketing communication. Pointlogic specializes in business analytics for the marketing

industry. Its mission is to help clients increase their influence on customers. Pointlogic has a true global perspective with


clients’ covering a total of 60 international markets. As the Indian market is seeing lot of global players entering the

Indian market and keeping in mind India’s current economic growth, Pointlogic plans to make India as one of their

operational servicing hub for their global clients. The state of the art tools of Pointlogic entails easy to use software

solutions like Compose, Chorus, M3, Modelling etc which will measure all communication campaigns including ATL,

BTL, Social Media, Word of Mouth and other vehicles of communications optimally. The tools will help as a guide for

advertisers of different sectors to effectively bifurcate their communication spends in various vehicles as per media

efficacy. The flexible & the lucid application of the software provides cutting edge research & advanced mathematical

modeling to enable clients to make smart decisions in different industries. This seamless usage of application is

currently used by various sectors in over 60 international markets. These tools will be a boon for the Indian market

considering the sector diversity.

Percept with 62 offices spread across India and Middle East and capitalized billings of INR 26 billion (FY’11) works with

over 600 Brands across a wide spectrum of categories at any given point of time. Combined with almost three decades

of in-depth knowledge of Indian advertisers and brands, this partnership with Pointlogic will translate into applying fresh

analytical thinking to their clients’ communication needs and further bridging the gap between brands offerings and

consumers needs. The software will be tailor-made to the Indian sensibilities of the business by applying powerful

mathematical modeling techniques and tools to generate a deeper insight into clients’ choices and offer concrete,

software-based solutions. The objectives and strategies of the client’s communication campaign will be carefully

considered before the application of various tools. Percept Media will processes these diverse variables and translate

these insights into creating communication plans that influence the stimulators for the brand in a positive manner for the

identified target audience. A wide range of applications will be offered to the Indian advertisers and brands. These tools

will not only provide a greater insight into the performance of past messaging, but also focus on how insights can be

gained to optimize and forecast the effect of future campaigns. Commenting on this strategic alliance, Shripad Kulkarni,

CEO, Percept Media quoted, “We are extremely happy to partner with Pointlogic for this unique venture. Pointlogic is

globally recognized as a pioneer in analytics and creating specialized software tools and applications that are easy to

use, customize and apply to domestic markets. This alliance will translate into a great boon for the Indian corporations

and brands who will not only be able to review the effectiveness of their past campaigns but also efficiently optimize

their future communications. The beauty of the application is that it covers the entire spectrum of integrated marketing

communications. We are extremely confident that we will be able to add tremendous value to our clients’

communication process and herald a new chapter in brand messaging.”

Peter Kloprogge, Founder & CEO, Pointlogic said “India provides a huge opportunity for brands and as such also for

agencies and consultancy firms helping clients introduce and optimize the brand value. On the other hand, it would be

naïve to think that practices from around the world would be immediately applicable in India where we’re dealing with a

fast growing market, complex demographic profiles, huge differences per region, etc. We have no doubt that Percept

Media is the right partner as they add an enormous amount of local knowledge & expertise and the ability to operate

full-service within the Percept Group. We are extremely happy with this partnership and truly believe the combination

will prove pivotal in moving the marketing industry in to the next level.”

****************************

Percept Media, Pointlogic tie-up for marketing venture

Source: Indiavision, Date: June 6, 2011

Source: Netindia123.com, Indiainteracts.in, Mynews.in,Thaindian.com,News.webindia123.com, Prokerala.com,

Sify.com,

Twocircles.net, Date: 0June 3, 2011

Percept Media, the media planning, buying and evaluation arm of Percept Limited, Friday entered into a strategic

alliance with Pointlogic, a company headquartered in The Netherlands, for providing integrated marketing

communications and marketing return on investment (ROI) solutions. Through this alliance, Percept will customise and


localise offerings from Pointlogic, which has a presence in several countries, and apply them to Indian advertisers and

marketers. "This alliance will translate into a great boon for the Indian corporations and brands who will not only be able

to review the effectiveness of their past campaigns but also efficiently optimiSe their future communications," said

Shripad Kulkarni, CEO, Percept Media. "The beauty of the application is that it covers the entire spectrum of integrated

marketing communications," he added. Percept and Pointlogic will offer consulting, modelling and easy-to-use

customisable software solutions for communication planning, ROI modelling, targeting and segmentation to Indian

companies. Percept will apply Pointlogic methods and tools leading to services to gain a competitive advantage in the

media and communications domain. "Percept Media is the right partner as they add an enormous amount of local

knowledge, expertise and the ability to operate full-service within the Percept Group. We are extremely happy with this

partnership and truly believe the combination will prove pivotal in moving the marketing industry to the next level," said

Peter Kloprogge, founder of Pointlogic.

************************

Percept Media & Pointlogic enter into a strategic alliance

Source: Bestmediainfo.com, Exchange4media.com, Audiencematters.com, Network2media.com, Business-

standard.com, Date: June 6, 2011

Source: Newkerala.com, The Economic Times, Date: June 3, 2011

To offer Pointlogic services to Indian advertisers and marketers using consumer insights & expertise. Percept Media,

the media planning, buying and evaluation arm of Percept Limited, entered into a strategic alliance with Pointlogic, a

world renowned player providing integrated marketing communications and marketing ROI solutions. Through this

alliance Percept will customize and localize the world class suite of offerings from Pointlogic and apply them to Indian

advertisers and marketers using consumer insights & expertise. As media channels evolve it has become increasingly

difficult to compare the performance of each media channel. Percept & Pointlogic will offer consulting, modeling and

easy-to-use customizable software solutions for communication planning, ROI modeling, targeting and segmentation to

Indian companies. Percept will apply Pointlogic methods and tools leading to services to gain a competitive advantage

in the media and communications domain. It’s the first true consumer centric and holistic approach adopted by an

Indian agency assessing all the different ways consumers interact with brands leading to an integrated management of

marketing communication. Pointlogic specializes in business analytics for the marketing industry. Its mission is to help

clients increase their influence on customers. Pointlogic has a true global perspective with clients’ covering a total of 60

international markets. As the Indian market is seeing lot of global players entering the Indian market and keeping in

mind India’s current economic growth, Pointlogic plans to make India as one of their operational servicing hub for their

global clients.

The state of the art tools of Pointlogic entails easy to use software solutions like Compose, Chorus, M3, Modelling etc

which will measure all communication campaigns including ATL, BTL, Social Media, Word of Mouth and other vehicles

of communications optimally. The tools will help as a guide for advertisers of different sectors to effectively bifurcate

their communication spends in various vehicles as per media efficacy. The flexible & the lucid application of the

software provides cutting edge research & advanced mathematical modeling to enable clients to make smart decisions

in different industries. This seamless usage of application is currently used by various sectors in over 60 international

markets. These tools will be a boon for the Indian market considering the sector diversity. Percept with 62 offices

spread across India and Middle East and capitalized billings of INR 26 billion (FY’11) works with over 600 Brands

across a wide spectrum of categories at any given point of time. Combined with almost three decades of in-depth

knowledge of Indian advertisers and brands, this partnership with Pointlogic will translate into applying fresh analytical

thinking to their clients’ communication needs and further bridging the gap between brands offerings and consumers

needs. The software will be tailor-made to the Indian sensibilities of the business by applying powerful mathematical

modeling techniques and tools to generate a deeper insight into clients’ choices and offer concrete, software-based

solutions. The objectives and strategies of the client’s communication campaign will be carefully considered before the

application of various tools. Percept Media will processes these diverse variables and translate these insights into


creating communication plans that influence the stimulators for the brand in a positive manner for the identified target

audience. wide range of applications will be offered to the Indian advertisers and brands. These tools will not only

provide a greater insight into the performance of past messaging, but also focus on how insights can be gained to

optimize and forecast the effect of future campaigns. The tools utilized will aid to garner:

Ø Insight into the ROI of media spends

Ø Determine the media budget and the allocation among communication channels

Ø Optimal design of promotion policy

Ø Optimal anticipation of competitors actions

Ø Insights into effects of other marketing decisions (price & distribution)

Ø Insights into effects of factors that cannot be influenced (weather, holidays etc)

Commenting on this strategic alliance, Shripad Kulkarni, CEO, Percept Media quoted, “We are extremely happy to

partner with Pointlogic for this unique venture. Pointlogic is globally recognized as a pioneer in analytics and creating

specialized software tools and applications that are easy to use, customize and apply to domestic markets. This alliance

will translate into a great boon for the Indian corporations and brands who will not only be able to review the

effectiveness of their past campaigns but also efficiently optimize their future communications. The beauty of the

application is that it covers the entire spectrum of integrated marketing communications. We are extremely confident

that we will be able to add tremendous value to our clients’ communication process and herald a new chapter in brand

messaging.” eter Kloprogge, Founder & CEO, Pointlogic said “India provides a huge opportunity for brands and as such

also for agencies and consultancy firms helping clients introduce and optimize the brand value. On the other hand, it

would be naïve to think that practices from around the world would be immediately applicable in India where we’re

dealing with a fast growing market, complex demographic profiles, huge differences per region, etc. We have no doubt

that Percept Media is the right partner as they add an enormous amount of local knowledge & expertise and the ability

to operate full-service within the Percept Group. We are extremely happy with this partnership and truly believe the

combination will prove pivotal in moving the marketing industry in to the next level.”

****************************

Percept Media-Pointlogic JV to Offer Consultancy Service

Source: The Times of India Date: June 4, 2011

Percept Media, the media planning and buying arm of Percept,has entered into a strategic alliance with Pointlogic to

launch integrated intelligence services that will offer research,analytics,expertise,media data and customised software

to deliver better returns on investments to advertisers and marketers.Headquartered in Rotterdam,Pointlogic specialises

in business analytics for the marketing industry.Peter Kloprogge,founder & CEO,Pointlogic,said,India provides a huge

opportunity for brands and also for agencies and consultancy firms helping clients introduce and optimise the brand

value. He added that the Pointlogics alliance with Percept Media would prove to be pivotal in moving the marketing

industry in to the next level.The two companies would offer tools to advertisers to help gain insights into returns on

investments of media spends,determining media budget and allocation on various channels among other

services.Pointlogic also wants to make India as one of their operational servicing hub for its global clients.

********************

Percept Media partners with Rotterdam-based Pointlogic

Source: Indiantelevision.com Date: June 3, 2011

Percept Media, the media planning, buying and evaluation arm of Percept Limited, has entered into an alliance with

Pointlogic, which is an integrated marketing communications and marketing ROI solutions.Under this alliance, Percept

and Pointlogic aim to launch Integrated Intelligence Services encompassing custom research, analytics, expertise,

media data and customised software to deliver better ROI for marketers. Pointlogic founder and CEO Peter Kloprogge

said, “India provides a huge opportunity for brands and as such also for agencies and consultancy firms helping clients


introduce and optimize the brand value. On the other hand, it would be naïve to think that practices from around the

world would be immediately applicable in India where we’re dealing with a fast growing market, complex demographic

profiles, huge differences per region, etc.”Pointlogic has offices in New York, London, Frankfurt, Singapore, Amsterdam,

and is head quartered in Rotterdam.A wide range of applications will be offered to the Indian advertisers and brands.

These tools are intended to provide a greater insight into the performance of past messaging, but also focus on how

insights can be gained to optimise and forecast the effect of future campaigns. he tools aid to garner insight into the ROI

of media spends; etermine the media budget and the allocation among communication channels; optimal design of

promotion policy; optimal anticipation of competitors actions; insights into effects of other marketing decisions (price and

distribution); and insights into effects of factors that cannot be influenced. ercept with its consumer insights and

branding expertise will utilise these tools to measure the complete 360 degree communication campaign of the Indian

advertisers including ATL, BTL, Social Media, Word Of Mouth and all other communication tools optimally.“These tools

will also strategise the communications planning, ROI modeling, targeting and segmentation for the Indian marketers.

Thus increasing the efficiency in media buying and planning, media effectiveness and rating forecasting of their

campaigns and guiding them to effectively bifurcate their communication spends in various media vehicles as per its

efficacy”, the company said. Prcept Media CEO Shripad Kulkarni added, “The beauty of the application is that it covers

the entire spectrum of integrated marketing communications. We are extremely confident that we will be able to add

tremendous value to our clients’ communication process and herald a new chapter in brand messaging.”

******************************

Percept Media announces alliance with Pointlogic

Source: Ibef.org, Mediamughals.com , Date: June 6, 2011

Percept Media, the media planning and buying arm of entertainment marketing firm Percept Ltd on Friday said it has

inked a strategic alliance with Pointlogic - an integrated marketing communications firm. Under the alliance, Percept and

Pointlogic will launch integrated services to deliver better returns-on-investments for marketers across traditional

advertising and social media, Percept said in a statement. The services will include mapping returns-on-investment of

media spends, determining budgets, insights into effects of marketing decisions like price and distribution, and so on.

Percept Media CEO Shripad Kulkarni said in a statement: "This alliance will help brands to review effectiveness of their

past campaigns and optimize future communications." Mr. Peter Kloprogge, Founder & CEO, Pointlogic added the

alliance would leverage Percept's local experience and tailor solutions to brands. "It would be naive to think that

practices from around the world would be applicable in India where we're dealing with a fast growing market, complex

demographic profile of consumers," he said.

***********************

Percept and Pointlogic enter into a strategic alliance

Source: Campaignindia.in, Date: June 6, 2011

Together, they will offer consulting, modeling and software solutions for communication planning, ROI modeling,

targeting and segmentation to Indian companies Percept Media, the media planning, buying and evaluation arm of

Percept Limited has entered into a strategic alliance with Pointlogic. Pointlogic provides integrated marketing

communications and marketing ROI solutions. Through this alliance Percept will customise and localise offerings from

Pointlogic and apply them to Indian advertisers and marketers using consumer insights and expertise. Together,

Percept and Pointlogic will offer consulting, modeling and easy-to-use customisable software solutions for

communication planning, ROI modeling, targeting and segmentation to Indian companies. Percept will apply Pointlogic

methods and tools leading to services to gain a competitive advantage in the media and communications

domain.Commenting on this strategic alliance, Shripad Kulkarni, Chief Executive Officer, Percept Media said, “We are

extremely happy to partner with Pointlogic for this unique venture. Pointlogic is globally recognized as a pioneer in

analytics and creating specialized software tools and applications that are easy to use, customize and apply to domestic

markets. This alliance will translate into a great boon for the Indian corporations and brands who will not only be able to


review the effectiveness of their past campaigns but also efficiently optimize their future communications. The beauty of

the application is that it covers the entire spectrum of integrated marketing communications. We are extremely confident


messaging.”

Peter Kloprogge, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Pointlogic said, “India provides a huge opportunity for brands

and as such also for agencies and consultancy firms helping clients introduce and optimise the brand value. On the

other hand, it would be naïve to think that practices from around the world would be immediately applicable in India

where we’re dealing with a fast growing market, complex demographic profiles, huge differences per region, etc. We

have no doubt that Percept Media is the right partner as they add an enormous amount of local knowledge & expertise

and the ability to operate full-service within the Percept Group. We are extremely happy with this partnership and truly

believe the combination will prove pivotal in moving the marketing industry in to the next level.”

***********************

Percept Media, Pointlogic enter into strategic alliance to offer marketing communications solutions

Source: News.indiamart.com, Date: June4, 2011

Source: In.news.yahoo.com, Inewsone.com, Date: June 3, 2011

The media planning, buying and evaluation arm of Percept Limited, Percept Media has entered into strategic

partnership with Netherlands-headquartered Pointlogic to provide integrated marketing communications and marketing

return on investment (ROI) solutions. Under the deal, Percept Media is entitled to customise and localise Pointlogic's

offerings and will apply them to India-based advertisers and marketers. Mr Shripad Kulkarni, CEO, Percept Media, said,

“This alliance will translate into a great boon for the Indian corporations and brands who will not only be able to review

the effectiveness of their past campaigns but also efficiently optimiSe their future communications. The beauty of the

application is that it covers the entire spectrum of integrated marketing communications.” Both companies will offer

modelling, consulting and easy-to-use customisable software solutions to Indian companies for communication

planning, ROI modelling, targeting and segmentation.

***********************

Percept Media enters into a strategic alliance with Pointlogic

Source: Indiainfoline.com, Date: June 7, 2011


them to Indian advertisers and marketers using consumer insights & expertise. Percept Media, the media planning,

buying and evaluation arm of Percept Limited, entered into a strategic alliance with Pointlogic, a world renowned player

providing integrated marketing communications and marketing ROI solutions. Through this alliance Percept will

customize and localize the world class suite of offerings from Pointlogic and apply them to Indian advertisers and

marketers using consumer insights & expertise. As media channels evolve it has become increasingly difficult to

compare the performance of each media channel. Percept & Pointlogic will offer consulting, modeling and easy-to-use

customizable software solutions for communication planning, ROI modeling, targeting and segmentation to Indian

companies. Percept will apply Pointlogic methods and tools leading to services to gain a competitive advantage in the

media and communications domain. It’s the first true consumer centric and holistic approach adopted by an Indian

agency assessing all the different ways consumers interact with brands leading to an integrated management of

marketing communication. Pointlogic specializes in business analytics for the marketing industry. Its mission is to help

clients increase their influence on customers. Pointlogic has a true global perspective with clients’ covering a total of 60

international markets. As the Indian market is seeing lot of global players entering the Indian market and keeping in

mind India’s current economic growth, Pointlogic plans to make India as one of their operational servicing hub for their

global clients. The state of the art tools of Pointlogic entails easy to use software solutions like Compose, Chorus, M3,

Modelling etc which will measure all communication campaigns including ATL, BTL, Social Media, Word of Mouth and


other vehicles of communications optimally. The tools will help as a guide for advertisers of different sectors to

effectively bifurcate their communication spends in various vehicles as per media efficacy. The flexible & the lucid

application of the software provides cutting edge research & advanced mathematical modeling to enable clients to make

smart decisions in different industries. This seamless usage of application is currently used by various sectors in over

60 international markets. These tools will be a boon for the Indian market considering the sector diversity.


over 600 Brands across a wide spectrum of categories at any given point of time. Combined with almost three decades

of in-depth knowledge of Indian advertisers and brands, this partnership with Pointlogic will translate into applying fresh

analytical thinking to their clients’ communication needs and further bridging the gap between brands offerings and

consumers needs. The software will be tailor-made to the Indian sensibilities of the business by applying powerful

mathematical modeling techniques and tools to generate a deeper insight into clients’ choices and offer concrete,

software-based solutions. The objectives and strategies of the client’s communication campaign will be carefully

considered before the application of various tools. Percept Media will processes these diverse variables and translate

these insights into creating communication plans that influence the stimulators for the brand in a positive manner for the

identified target audience. A wide range of applications will be offered to the Indian advertisers and brands. These tools

will not only provide a greater insight into the performance of past messaging, but also focus on how insights can be

gained to optimize and forecast the effect of future campaigns. The tools utilized will aid to garner:

� Insight into the ROI of media spends

� Determine the media budget and the allocation among communication channels

� Optimal design of promotion policy

� Optimal anticipation of competitors actions

� Insights into effects of other marketing decisions (price & distribution)

� Insights into effects of factors that cannot be influenced (weather, holidays etc)

Commenting on this strategic alliance, Mr. Shripad Kulkarni, CEO, Percept Media quoted, “We are extremely happy to

partner with Pointlogic for this unique venture. Pointlogic is globally recognized as a pioneer in analytics and creating

specialized software tools and applications that are easy to use, customize and apply to domestic markets. This alliance

will translate into a great boon for the Indian corporations and brands who will not only be able to review the

effectiveness of their past campaigns but also efficiently optimize their future communications. The beauty of the

application is that it covers the entire spectrum of integrated marketing communications. We are extremely confident


messaging.” Peter Kloprogge, Founder & CEO, Pointlogic said “India provides a huge opportunity for brands and as

such also for agencies and consultancy firms helping clients introduce and optimize the brand value. On the other hand,

it would be naïve to think that practices from around the world would be immediately applicable in India where we’re

dealing with a fast growing market, complex demographic profiles, huge differences per region, etc. We have no doubt

that Percept Media is the right partner as they add an enormous amount of local knowledge & expertise and the ability

to operate full-service within the Percept Group. We are extremely happy with this partnership and truly believe the

combination will prove pivotal in moving the marketing industry in to the next level.”

*****************************

Percept Media Enters Into A Strategic Alliance With Pointlogic

Source: Mediaworldbuzz.com, Date: June 7, 2011

Percept Media has entered into a strategic alliance with Pointlogic, a world renowned player providing integrated

marketing communications and marketing ROI solutions. Through this alliance Percept will customize and localize the

world class suite of offerings from Pointlogic and apply them to Indian advertisers and marketers using consumer

insights & expertise. As media channels evolve it has become increasingly difficult to compare the performance of each

media channel. Percept & Pointlogic will offer consulting, modeling and easy-to-use customizable software solutions for


communication planning, ROI modeling, targeting and segmentation to Indian companies. Percept will apply Pointlogic

methods and tools leading to services to gain a competitive advantage in the media and communications domain. It’s

the first true consumer centric and holistic approach adopted by an Indian agency assessing all the different ways

consumers interact with brands leading to an integrated management of marketing communication

*************************************

Integrated Intelligence Services For Marketers

Source: Afternoondc.in, Date: June 8, 2011

Percept Media, the media planning, buying and evaluation arm of Percept Limited has entered into a strategic alliance

with Pointlogic, a world renowned player providing integrated marketing communications and marketing ROI solutions.


them to Indian advertisers and marketers using consumer insights & expertise. As media channels evolve it has

become increasingly difficult to compare the performance of each media channel. Percept and Pointlogic will offer

consulting, modelling and easy-to-use customizable software solutions for communication planning, ROI modelling,

targeting and segmentation to Indian companies. Percept will apply Pointlogic methods and tools leading to services to

gain a competitive advantage in the media and communications domain. It’s the first consumer centric approach

adopted by an Indian agency assessing all the different ways consumers interact with brands leading to an integrated

management of marketing communication. Incidentally, Pointlogic specializes in business analytics for the marketing

industry. Its mission is to help clients increase their influence on customers. It has a global perspective with clients’

covering a total of 60 international markets. As the Indian market is seeing lot of global players entering the Indian

market and keeping in mind India’s current economic growth, Pointlogic plans to make India as one of their operational

servicing hub for their global clients. Pointlogic offers applications that entails easy to use software solutions and will

help as a guide for advertisers of different sectors to effectively bifurcate their communication spends in various vehicles

as per media efficacy. This seamless usage of application is currently used by various sectors in over 60 international

markets. These tools will be a boon for the Indian market considering the sector diversity.


over 600 Brands across a wide spectrum of categories at any given point of time. Says Peter Kloprogge, Founder &

CEO of Pointlogic “India provides a huge opportunity for brands and as such also for agencies and consultancy firms

helping clients introduce and optimize the brand value. On the other hand, it would be naïve to think that practices from

around the world would be immediately applicable in India where we’re dealing with a fast growing market, complex

demographic profiles, huge differences per region, etc. We have no doubt that Percept Media is the right partner and

truly believe the combination will prove pivotal in moving the marketing industry in to the next level.”


“Pointlogic is globally recognized as a pioneer in analytics and creating specialized software tools and applications that

are easy to use, customize and apply to domestic markets. This alliance will translate into a great boon for Indian

corporations and brands who will not only be able to review the effectiveness of their past campaigns but also efficiently

optimize their future communications. The beauty of the application is that it covers the entire spectrum of integrated

marketing communications.”

— Shripad Kulkarni, CEO, Percept Media

****************************

Percept Media, Pointlogic tie-up for marketing venture

Source: Aajkikhabar.com, Date: June 3, 2011

Percept Media, the media planning, buying and evaluation arm of Percept Limited, Friday entered into a strategic

alliance with Pointlogic, a company headquartered in The Netherlands, for providing integrated marketing

communications and marketing return on investment (ROI) solutions.Through this alliance, Percept will customise and

localise offerings from Pointlogic, which has a presence in several countries, and apply them to Indian advertisers and

marketers."This alliance will translate into a great boon for the Indian corporations and brands who will not only be able

to review the effectiveness of their past campaigns but also efficiently optimiSe their future communications," said

Shripad Kulkarni, CEO, Percept Media."The beauty of the application is that it covers the entire spectrum of integrated

marketing communications," he added.Percept and Pointlogic will offer consulting, modelling and easy-to-use

customisable software solutions for communication planning, ROI modelling, targeting and segmentation to Indian

companies.Percept will apply Pointlogic methods and tools leading to services to gain a competitive advantage in the

media and communications domain."Percept Media is the right partner as they add an enormous amount of local

knowledge, expertise and the ability to operate full-service within the Percept Group. We are extremely happy with this

partnership and truly believe the combination will prove pivotal in moving the marketing industry to the next level," said

Peter Kloprogge, founder of Pointlogic.

****************************

ZenithOptimedia wins the media duties of Toshiba

Source: Afaqs.com, Date: June 9, 2011

The agency won the business through a multi-agency pitch that also involved Madison Media, ADK Fortune, Dentsu

Media and Hakuhudo Percept's media arm Allied Media. The size of the account is estimated at Rs 50 crore.

ZenithOptimedia has bagged the media duties of the electronic goods manufacturing firm Toshiba. Earlier, in May,

Toshiba had called for a media pitch that involved media agencies such as Madison Media, ADK Fortune (the joint

venture between JWT and the Japanese advertising agency ADK), Dentsu Media, and Percept's media arm, Allied

Media, apart from ZenithOptimedia.The size of the account is estimated at Rs 50 crore.The development has been

confirmed by sources close to the development on conditions of anonymity.Allied Media was the incumbent agency on

the business, while the creative function is being handled by Hakuhodo Percept, with Dentsu handling a few creatives

on a project basis.In an effort to give the brand a push, Toshiba had brought on board Bollywood star Vidya Balan in

2008, and launched a series of campaigns featuring her. In 2010, the company roped in cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.

This year, Toshiba launched the 'Bowl to Sachin' campaign during the fourth season of the Indian Premier League

(IPL).For the record, Toshiba India started off as the Indian liaison office of Toshiba Corporation, Japan, in 1985. In

2002, it became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the parent company. Toshiba Corporation is a multinational conglomerate

involved in various businesses such as infrastructure, consumer products, electronic devices and components,

including televisions and laptops.

****************************

Is the IPL no longer posing a threat to GEC programming?

Source: Impact, Date: June, 2011 issue


************************

ZenithOptimedia Bags Toshiba's Media Biz

Source: Marketing-interactive.com, Indiantelevision.com, App.contify.com,Date: June 10, 2011

India - ZenithOptimedia has bagged the media duties of the electronic goods manufacturing firm Toshiba, sources close

to the development told Afaqs!. Earlier, in May, Toshiba called for a media pitch that involved media agencies such as

Madison Media, ADK Fortune (the joint venture between JWT and the Japanese advertising agency ADK), Dentsu

Media, and Percept's media arm, Allied Media, apart from ZenithOptimedia.Allied Media was the incumbent

agency on the business, while the creative function is being handled by Hakuhodo Percept, with Dentsu handling

a few creatives on a project basis.In an effort to give the brand a push, Toshiba had brought on board Bollywood star

Vidya Balan in 2008, and launched a series of campaigns featuring her. In 2010, the company roped in cricketer Sachin

Tendulkar. This year, Toshiba launched the 'Bowl to Sachin' campaign during the fourth season of the Indian Premier

League (IPL).

************************


Percept-Pointlogic tie-up

Source: Hindustan Times, Date: June 13, 2011 issue

Percept Media, the media planning, buying and evaluation arm of Percept Ltd, has inked an alliance with Pointlogic, a

global entity providing integrated marketing communications and marketing ROI solutions to marketers and advertisers

via a range of tools that measure all communication campaigns including above-the-line, below-the-line, social media

and word-of-mouth. Percept will customise and localise Pointlogic offerings and apply them to Indian advertisers and

marketers. The alliance will offer consulting, modelling and software solutions for communication planning, targeting

and segmentation to guide advertisers to bifurcate their communication spends as per media efficacy.

*******************************

Despite Crunch, Realty Sector Splurges on Ads

Source: Timesofindia.com, Gurgaonscoop.com, Content.magicbricks.com, Date: June 10, 2011 issue

Ad spends of real estate industry is growing at 30% year-on-year. Home sales are down, cash flows are drying up but

builders just can’t cut on advertising. Instead, advertising spends of the real estate industry is growing at 30% year-on-

year, say admen, with top builders such as Hindustan Construction Company, Omaxe, Amrapali, Jaypee, Indiabulls,

Lodha, ATS and DLF continuing to advertise extensively. “We are spending about . 50-70 crore on advertising every

year. We have 40 projects and we need to spend on advertising to create brand visibility,” said Shiv Priya Executive

Director Amrapali Group. The company has roped in MS Dhoni as the brand ambassador and also associated itself with

Chennai Super Kings as a sponsor in the fourth season of Indian Premier League. Advertising budgets of the industry

have also grown a third this year. Last year, builders and property firms, including brokerages, spent about . 1,400-

1,500 crore on publicity, which was roughly 5% of the total advertising revenue of all industries put together, a back of

the envelope analysis by one adman who did not want to be named said. Data collated by AdEx India — a division of

TAM Media Research, which tracks advertising expenditure, indicate that print and TV advertising by real estate

companies grew by 64% and 21% respectively in 2010 compared to 2009, Ad industry professionals say that the realty

segment may emerge as one of the top ten categories in spending in 2011. Anita Nayyar, Chief Executive of media

buying firm MPG, said that ad spends of real estate players picked up from mid-2010 primarily because the players

managed to clinch attractive deals. “Realty companies were compelled to increase ad spend as they had large

inventories to sell after the slowdown,” she added. In the top metros like Mumbai, NCR-New Delhi, Bangalore,

Chennai, Kolkata, Pune about 12-25% of the residential units built were unsold in the first quarter of this year as per

estimates by Jones Lang LaSalle India. Real estate was among the top ten spenders during the boom days of 2007

and 2008, but slipped during the slowdown with the companies cutting their ad spends to control costs.

“Though real estate ads have picked up compared to last year, they are yet to reach the peak level. This is especially

true of newspaper advertising, which slumped when real estate players tightened their ad budgets,” said Rohit Ohri ,

Managing Partner JWT India Outdoor advertising, popularly known as billboard, has followed the trend of overall real

estate advertising. “While billboard bookings have picked up, we have not managed 100% bookings. Due to the existing

vacancy levels, the ad rates are now available at 20% discount from a discount of 40% offered during the slowdown,”

said Noomi Mehta, Managing Director, Selvel Vantage. The company has around 12,000 billboards across India and

has seen revenues from the category dropping to 10% compared to 20% in 2007-2008. Agencies like JWT have

adopted a wait and watch approach before entering into the real estate advertising business again. “We are cautious

about taking on any real estate clients as it affects the financials negatively,” said Ohri. The company had earlier worked

with Unitech for five years, but has disassociated itself with it post the slowdown. Though the strategy behind

increasing advertising spends may differ from realtor to realtor, all have a common end building brands and catalysing

bookings for upcoming projects. Realty circles also attribute the surge in ads and promos to a need to differentiate

projects from that of their competitor. “Brand positioning is the need of the hour in an increasingly cluttered but booming

real estate sector,” said Harshavardhan Neotia, Chairman of the Kolkatabased Ambuja Realty group. Prasoon Joshi,

Chairman at McCann Worldgroup India too seconds Neotia’s view adding real estate companies have started treating


projects as products. “Real estate companies have, however, never been a consistent client for us as the sector is very

unorganised,” said Joshi. McCann is currently associated with IREO for some real estate projects in Delhi. Little

wonder, promotions are moving beyond print media, TV, billboards and radio. Unconventional media tools like the

Internet and transit media (such as plastering a bus with an advertisement) are being used to communicate to

prospective clients. Realtors are also betting big on events and sponsorships as alternate platforms of brand building.

Shripad Kulkarni CEO Allied Media Network said,“ The growth in media spends by real estate players is across the

country though skewed to the metro centres .The category spends heavily on print–as the projects are local in nature

and advertising is necessarily response based. But all the players have increased their spends on internet.”

************************

Percept-Pointlogic tie-up

Source: 6.lexisnexis.com, Date: June 13, 2011 issue

Percept Media, the media planning, buying and evaluation arm of Percept Ltd, has inked an alliance with Pointlogic, a

global entity providing integrated marketing communications and marketing ROI solutions to marketers and advertisers

via a range of tools that measure all communication campaigns including above-the-line, below-the-line, social media

and word-of-mouth. Percept will customise and localise Pointlogic offerings and apply them to Indian advertisers and

marketers. The alliance will offer consulting, modelling and software solutions for communication planning, targeting

and segmentation to guide advertisers to bifurcate their communication spends as per media efficacy.

****************

Percept Media in strategic allaince with Pointlogic

Source: The Financial Express – Brand Wagon, Date: June 14, 2011 issue

Percept Media, the media planning , buying and evaluation arm of Percept Limited , has entered into a strategic alliance

with Pointlogic , which provides integrated marketing communications and marketing ROI solutions. Through this

alliance Percept will customize the world class suite of offering from Pointlogic and apply them to Indian advertisers and

marketers using consumer insights and expertise. The two partners will offer consulting , modeling and easy-to-use

customizable software solutions for communication planning, ROImodeling, targeting and segmentation to Indian

companies.

****************

OAC 2011 to start on 17th June in Mumbai; 500 stake holders to participate!

Source: Adgully.com, Date: June 15, 2011

Sometimes the only thing standing between us and achieving potential of tomorrow are the doubts we have

accumulated till today. And that may well be true for OOH industry in India. Thus, this June it’s time for the Outdoorians

to ‘Think Tomorrow. Today’. As the seventh edition of Outdoor Advertising Convention (OAC 2011) happening on 17th

and 18th June’ 2011, at Renaissance – Mumbai, is conceptualized around the theme ‘Think Tomorrow. Today.’ OAC

2011 this year will be channelized to understand and assimilate the opinions of all interest groups of the industry and

reach a consensus with regards to the best possible direction ahead. Vintage in its ways, OAC 2011 has its three

popular modules, a premium expo, a knowledge abundant convention and a celebration filled awards. This year Pioneer

Publicity joins in as the title sponsor for OAC 2011, Prakash Arts Corporation & Times OOH comes on board as the

partners and Big Street is the Media Partner. This year OAC 2011 will have participation of approximately 500 stake

holders from the industry . The crowd will be a mixture of Brand marketers, Outdoor specialist agencies, media

concessionaires, media buying agency, digital printers, suppliers to outdoor industry, and others ancillaries. This makes

OAC 2011, a yielding networking platform. While networking will help meet business, the Expo at OAC then opens the

door for business to meet solutions. The Expo at OAC has never been about size but about delivering sheer


effectiveness. That theme will continue this year with a centrally located expo space we are expecting around 25

exhibitors who will capture the space with their cutting-edge solutions. Talking of the celebratory face of OAC 2011,

Outdoor Advertising Awards 2011 which is slated to happen on the evening of 18th June’ 2011, we had a truly

engaging, intensive and exemplary judging session. This year had the largest jury, in the history of OAC; 16 jury

members of which 80% were brand marketers. We also constituted a special jury that had participation from the

Outdoor specialist agencies who judged the Media categories from 3D to 3L, which include Zonal Media Owner of the

year, Media owner of the year National, Printer of the year. The reasons to have this special jury for these categories

were to ensure the people of know the nuances of OOH industry adjudge these technical awards.

Coming to the wisdom and ideas filled arena of OAC 2011; the Convention this year will be a blend of speakers hailing

from varied background, representing the varied stakeholders of the industry, we will have regulators, media

concessionaires, brand marketers, specialists, research houses, and the likes will put forth some engrossing sessions.

Commenting on the topics this year Sachin Jante, Marketing Strategiest & Chief Content Officer, VJ Media works Said,

“The topics this time broadly represent two aspects; first the topics which define, support, entail our theme ‘Think

Tomorrow. Today’ and second we have topics, which are directed to helping OOH as a medium grow stronger, and gain

more share in the media mix of brands.” Lynn de Souza, Chairman & CEO, Lintas Media Group will speak on the topic

‘Stuck@Six to 'The road to Ten’ a subject that clearly indicates how Outdoor on a scale of ten is yet stuck 6, what is it

that will help the medium achieve a perfect 10. Thus she would pave a road to a perfect future. Pawan Bansal,

Business Head, Jagran Engage and Sunder Hemrajani, Managing Director, Times OOH both leading media

concessionaire will share ‘Signs of tomorrow’. Noomi D. Mehta, Managing Director, Selvel Advertising (President IOAA)

will highlight the agenda of IOAA, which will help think, define and realize the industry of tomorrow. It’s an established

fact that technology is going to be a significant element of tomorrow, thus talking about ‘Integrating tech-countability into

Indian OOH advertising’ would be G S Sridhar, President & CEO, Outdu with his session ‘Thousand Words’ and

Harjaap Singh Mann, Managing Director, Proof of Performance Data services Pvt. Ltd. through his session ‘Proof of

Performance’ With the talks of tomorrow, we also have brand marketers, the advertisers dishing out thoughts and

suggestions which will help OOH as a medium command more share in their media mix. Ronita Mitra, Head –

Corporate Brand Group, ICICI Bank share her insights on ‘Opportunities for OOH in the second largest spending

category – The ICICI perspective.’ Then we have Anuradha Agarwal, VP Marketing, Vodafone talking about ‘Innovation

and the world’s oldest Media vehicle’.

While brand marketers put forth their perspective, we also have people belonging to the industry talking about ways to

loop holes, pit falls and the highway to improvement. We have Alok Agrawal, COO, Cheil India/SW Asia Regional HQ

urging the audiences on ‘Re-thinking OOH’. Rajul Kulshreshtha, Managing Director, Kinetic India will be throwing light

on ‘How specialists can help increase the salience of OOH in media plans & as a percentage of spends.’ Taking the

measurement and common currency stand we have Shripad Kulkarni, Chief Executive Officer, Allied Media

sharing his insights on ‘IOS – Learning from Phase I & Phase II’. Illuminating the dark shades of OOH will be Abhijit

Sengupta, CEO, OAP Touchpoint, he will make the audience traverse the ‘Road to Hell’. We also have an experienced

OOH professional from our neighboring country Sajid Naeem Bari, Chief Executive Officer, Adservice brining in

Pakistan’s OOH scenario. He is talking on ‘Regulation, Industry Association & Growth: The OOH scenario in Pakistan’.

Representing the authorities side Dr. Sanjay Pattiwar, Asst. Commissioner Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation will

shed light on ‘Emergence of Satellite towns and its relevance to Outdoor media opportunities.’ Further on bringing an

consultants perspective, which is fresh and different Ashish Pherwani, Associate Director – Advisory Services, Ernst &

Young’ will talk on ‘Best practices that could make OOH advertising business more transparent’.

***************************

Stage set for Outdoor Advertising Convention 2011

Source: bestmediainfo, Date: June 16, 2011


Sometimes the only thing standing between us and achieving potential of tomorrow are the doubts we have

accumulated till today. And that may well be true for OOH industry in India. Thus, this June it’s time for the Outdoorians

to ‘Think Tomorrow. Today’. As the seventh edition of Outdoor Advertising Convention (OAC 2011) happening on 17th

and 18th June’ 2011, at Renaissance – Mumbai, is conceptualized around the theme ‘Think Tomorrow. Today.’ OAC

2011 this year will be channelized to understand and assimilate the opinions of all interest groups of the industry and

reach a consensus with regards to the best possible direction ahead.

While brand marketers put forth their perspective, we also have people belonging to the industry talking about ways to

loop holes, pit falls and the highway to improvement. We have Alok Agrawal, COO, Cheil India/SW Asia Regional HQ

urging the audiences on ‘Re-thinking OOH’. Rajul Kulshreshtha, Managing Director, Kinetic India will be throwing light

on ‘How specialists can help increase the salience of OOH in media plans & as a percentage of spends.’ Taking the

measurement and common currency stand we have Shripad Kulkarni, Chief Executive Officer, Allied Media sharing his

insights on ‘IOS – Learning from Phase I & Phase II’. Illuminating the dark shades of OOH will be Abhijit Sengupta,

CEO, OAP Touchpoint, he will make the audience traverse the ‘Road to Hell’. We also have an experienced OOH

professional from our neighboring country Sajid Naeem Bari, Chief Executive Officer, Adservice brining in Pakistan’s

OOH scenario. He is talking on ‘Regulation, Industry Association & Growth: The OOH scenario in Pakistan’.

Representing the authorities side Dr. Sanjay Pattiwar, Asst. Commissioner Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation will

shed light on ‘Emergence of Satellite towns and its relevance to Outdoor media opportunities.’ Further on bringing an

consultants perspective, which is fresh and different Ashish Pherwani, Associate Director – Advisory Services, Ernst &

Young’ will talk on ‘Best practices that could make OOH advertising business more transparent’.

****************************

OAC 2011 gets underway tomorrow

Source: Network2Media, Date: June 17, 2011

Sometimes, the only thing standing between us and achieving potential of tomorrow are the doubts we have

accumulated till today. And that may well be true for OOH industry in India. Thus, it's time for the 'Outdoorians' to 'Think

Tomorrow. Today', the theme of the seventh edition of Outdoor Advertising Convention (OAC 2011) happening on June

17 and 18, 2011, at Renaissance – Mumbai. OAC 2011 will be channelised to understand and assimilate the opinions

of all interest groups of the industry and reach a consensus with regards to the best possible direction ahead. Vintage in

its ways, OAC 2011 has three popular modules, a premium expo, a knowledge abundant convention and a celebration

filled awards. This year, Pioneer Publicity joins in as the title sponsor, Prakash Arts Corporation and Times OOH comes

on board as the partners and BIG Street is the Media Partner. OAC 2011 will have participation of approximately 500

stake holders from the industry. The crowd will be a mixture of brand marketers, outdoor specialist agencies, media

concessionaires, media buying agencies, digital printers, suppliers to the outdoor industry, and other ancillaries. While

networking will help meet business, the Expo at OAC opens the door for business to meet solutions. The Expo at OAC

has never been about size, but about delivering sheer effectiveness. That theme will continue this year with a centrally

located expo space for around 25 exhibitors, who will capture the space with their cutting-edge solutions. Talking of the

celebratory face of OAC 2011, the Outdoor Advertising Awards 2011 which is slated to be held on the evening of June

18, 2011, the judging sessions were truly engaging, intensive and exemplary. This year had the largest jury, in the

history of OAC; 16 jury members of which 80 percent were brand marketers. A special jury was also constituted, that

had participation from the outdoor specialist agencies who judged the Media categories which include, 'Zonal Media

Owner of the year', 'Media owner of the year National', 'Printer of the year'. The reasons to have this special jury for

these categories were to ensure that the people who know the nuances of the OOH industry adjudge these technical

awards. Coming to the wisdom and ideas filled arena of OAC 2011; the convention this year will be a blend of speakers

hailing from varied backgrounds, representing the stakeholders of the industry, regulators, media concessionaires,

brand marketers, specialists, research houses, and the likes will put forth some engrossing sessions. Commenting on

the topics this year, Sachin Jante, marketing strategiest and chief content officer, VJ Media works, said, "The topics this


time broadly represent two aspects; first the topics which define, support, entail our theme 'Think Tomorrow. Today' and

second which are directed to helping OOH as a medium grow stronger, and gain more share in the media mix of

brands." Lynn de Souza, chairman and CEO, Lintas Media Group will speak on the topic 'Stuck@Six to – The road to

Ten' a subject that clearly indicates how outdoor on a scale of ten is yet stuck 6, what is it that will help the medium

achieve a perfect 10. Thus she would pave the road to a perfect future. Pawan Bansal, business head, Jagran Engage

and Sunder Hemrajani, managing director, Times OOH, both leading media concessionaire will share 'Signs of

tomorrow'. Noomi D. Mehta, managing director, Selvel Advertising (President IOAA) will highlight the agenda of IOAA,

which will help think, define and realise the industry of tomorrow. It's an established fact that technology is going to be a

significant element of tomorrow, thus talking about 'Integrating tech-countability into Indian OOH advertising' would be G

S Sridhar, president and CEO, Outdu with his session 'Thousand Words' and Harjaap Singh Mann, managing director,

Proof of Performance Data services Pvt. Ltd. through his session 'Proof of Performance' With the talks of tomorrow,

OAC 2011 also has brand marketers, the advertisers dishing out thoughts and suggestions which will help OOH as a

medium command more share in their media mix. Ronita Mitra, head – corporate brand group, ICICI Bank shares her

insights on 'Opportunities for OOH in the second largest spending category – The ICICI perspective.' Then, Anuradha

Agarwal, VP marketing, Vodafone will talk about 'Innovation and the world's oldest Media vehicle'. While brand

marketers put forth their perspective, OAC 2011 will have people belonging to the industry talking about loop holes, pit

falls and define the highway to improvement. Alok Agrawal, COO, Cheil India/SW Asia Regional HQ will urge the

audiences on 'Re-thinking OOH'. Rajul Kulshreshtha, managing director, Kinetic India will be throwing light on 'How

specialists can help increase the salience of OOH in media plans'. Taking the measurement and common currency

stand will be Shripad Kulkarni, chief executive officer, Allied Media sharing his insights on 'IOS – Learning from

Phase I and Phase II'. Illuminating the dark shades of OOH will be Abhijit Sengupta, CEO, OAP Touchpoint, he will

make the audience traverse the 'Road to Hell'. An experienced OOH professional from our neighboring country,

Pakistan, Sajid Naeem Bari, chief executive officer, Adservice will be talking on 'Regulation, Industry Association &

Growth: The OOH scenario in Pakistan'. Representing the authorities, Dr. Sanjay Pattiwar, Asst. commissioner, Navi

Mumbai Municipal Corporation will shed light on 'Emergence of Satellite towns and its relevance to Outdoor media

opportunities.' Bringing on the consultant's perspective, which is fresh and different, Ashish Pherwani, associate director

– advisory services, Ernst & Young' will talk on 'Best practices that could make OOH advertising business more

transparent'. All in all, OAC 2011 is set to provide the professionals in the OOH domain, an informative, value driven

and exciting two days ahead.

********************************

Zee shows off its 'desire to succeed'

Source: Smartinvestor.in, Business-standard.com, Date: June 20, 2011

Apart from a new logo and tagline, India’s third-largest channel is going in for a massive content overhaul.Punit Goenka

loves a super-busy schedule. Even by his standards, life has been extraordinarily busy in the past couple of months for

the 37-year-old MD & CEO of Zee Entertainment. In May, Zee and Star India merged their distribution business.

Though the coming together of the media giants after 12 long years could redefine the television distribution landscape,

Goenka plays it down in his characteristic style.No such self-restraint is visible when he talks about the second

rebranding of Zee which was unveiled on Saturday. “It’s not a brand launch, it’s a brand reinvention," says Goenka .The

new aqua blue logo, portraying the outline of a swan, features a stylish ‘Z’ font, developed by Zee’s in-house team.

Goenka explains that the abstract form of the ‘Z’ and vibrancy of aqua blue bring in modernity and freshness to the

brand. “The unshackling of the ‘Z’ from the box symbolises today’s woman’s zest for life. The overall design reflects the

idea of looking into the future with hope," he adds. K S Chakravarthy, National Creative Director of Draftfcb Ulka, who

oversaw the makeover, says the ‘desire to succeed’ theme will be the focus of the new TV commercials. The TVCs

show a girl-child being bullied by her classmates when she tries to show them her paintings. After a while, she ties her

paintings to a kite, signifying that the sky is her canvas.The brand recast, however, goes beyond just a new logo and

tagline. It’s being accompanied by a content overhaul as well. The flagship channel will increase its original

programming to 35 hours from 30 hours per week. So expect a series of new shows and blockbuster movie offerings


which, Goenka hopes, will live up to the hype that the brand relaunch will create.The focus will be on making the

common man the real superstar through programmes such as Shobha Somnath Ki, a period drama , Mrs Kausik Ki

Paanch Bahuein and a home-grown reality show India Ke Jaanbaaz. “Zee does not believe in star power. Most of the

programmes will be about everyday struggle and hope," Chakravarthy says.Zee executives say that the overhaul was

overdue (market leader Star Plus changed from blue to ruby last year) as the last major makeover for Zee was five

years ago. There was only a repackaging exercise in 2008 with a new tagline.“The audience has evolved; so has the

industry. You will see the transformation in the content as well. Even the reality shows have changed from a traditional

Sa Re Ga Ma Pa to far more modern and young shows," says Goenka.

The focus on the common man made Zee avoid the beaten path of asking Bollywood stars to endorse the new logo.

The network conducted a mammoth exercise for over eight months when 1.4 million viewers were involved. The

company took inputs from its viewers before flying in around 1,000 people to Mumbai for finalising the brand revamp.

These 1,000 viewers from all across India will be the brand ambassadors of the network.Though Goenka says the

network’s dependence on Zee TV for its revenues and profits has reduced “substantially" from over 50 per cent earlier,

the GEC space remains critical for all channels. According to TV audience monitoring agency TAM, more than 50 per

cent of the viewership share in Hindi speaking market is dominated by Hindi GECs and movies combined.The other big

initiative will be in the regional channel space. This year, Zee will be consolidating its presence in the Marathi space.

The network is also looking at increased subscription from its niche channels. In August, Zee will launch a 24-hour golf

channel called Ten Golf.The network will also follow Star in launching a high definition feed of four key channels - Zee

TV, Zee Cinema, Zee Studio and Ten Sports – from August 15.The makeover, observers say, is timely as it comes at a

time when the gap between the top three channels is narrowing slowly. In the week ended June 11, Star Plus remained

number one with 247 gross rating points (GRPs), followed by Colors and Zee TV with 239 and 208 points respectively.

Shripad Kulkarni , CEO, Allied Media, the media buying arm of Percept, says rebranding rejuvenates and provides a

fresh perspective. “It’s not really about television ratings, though that could be an added benefit," he adds. “This is about

reassuring stakeholders, advertisers and joint venture partners that you’re bringing more energy into the brand."

At a time when 75 new channels are coming up, that’s precisely what India’s third largest channel is trying to do.

*******************************

IOAA unveils Standard Operating Procedure at OAC 2011

Source: Printweek.com, Date: June 20, 2011

Noomi Mehta, chairman of Indian Outdoor Advertising Association (IOAA) unveiled the Standard Operating Procedure

(SOP) to meet new rules for service tax in outdoor business.Mehta in a stirring address which concluded the OAC

conference stated that the SOP includes "a minimum contract period, execution of contract and release orders prior to

starting a campaign, a strict 60 days credit period, steps to provide proof of display in a practical manner, involvement of

independent monitoring agencies, accreditation process of new agencies, time-frame for raising invoices and also issue

of credit notes."The procedure will be implemented from 1 July 2011. IOAA had appointed KPMG, one of India’s leading

business advisory, to study the change, explain the challenges and to suggest a plan of action. The second day at

OAC 2011 continued with brand marketers putting forth their perspective while people belonging to the industry spoke

about ways to loopholes, pit falls and the highway to improvement. Alok Agrawal, COO, Cheil India/SW Asia Regional

HQ urged the audiences about Re-thinking OOH. Rajul Kulshreshtha, managing director, Kinetic India threw light on

how specialists can help increase the salience of OOH in media plans as a percentage of spends.

Taking the measurement and common currency stand the convention had Shripad Kulkarni, CEO, Allied Media

sharing his insights on IOS – Learning from Phase I & Phase II. Illuminating the entire concept of city space and

urban development, Abhijit Sengupta, CEO, OAP Touchpoint, made the audience traverse ‘The Road to Hell’.

Representing the authorities side Dr Sanjay Pattiwar, assistant commissioner Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation shed


light on Emergence of Satellite towns and its relevance to outdoor media opportunities. The OAC Awards 2011 followed

the convention. Amongst the print winners in the categories related to the outdoor business, Autostriping Digital,

Macromedia Digital, and Printech Digital Imaging won the awards trophy.Bengaluru-based Printech won a silver for

Best Innovation in Print whereas the gold was won by Autostriping Digital, also popularly known as Autographics Digital.

For the Best Printer of the Year category, there were two winers. Macromedia, the wide-format printer based in

Hyderabad and winner of PrintWeek India Awards 2010 for Point-Of-Purchase Printer of the Year, bagged the first gold

whereas Autostriping bagged the second gold trophy.

******************

Percept Media in strategic alliance with Pointlogic

Source: Impact, Date: June 19, 2011 (Issue)

*****************


PERCEPT OUT OF HOME

Mahindra Duro rides into 24 cities with its outdoor campaign


The two wheeler automotive company has rolled out an extensive campaign to communicate the 'durability and power'

offerings of the Duro.Mahindra Two Wheelers has launched a campaign for its scooter Mahindra Duro. The Duro comes

with a 125cc engine and has the longest wheel base among scooters. It has adopted the tagline, 'Sab sahe phir bhi

chalta rahe', and is being promoted extensively for its durability.The company has launched an outdoor campaign in 24

cities across its key markets in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Punjab. The outdoor campaign consists of hoardings, bus

shelters and street furniture (road medians). Devendra Shinde, Vice-President, Marketing, Mahindra Two Wheelers,

says that each outdoor format plays a different role in the campaign, where large hoardings are aimed at brand building,

while bus shelters are more localized, giving out nearby dealer information and encouraging walk-ins. While the outdoor

was launched in mid-May and will continue through June, Shinde states that a TV commercial for the Duro also hit the

air in April and will be seen till the end of June. "The visual linkage has been carried through from our TVC to the

outdoor. The scenes from the TVC are captured well in our outdoor creatives, where one sees a man riding the scooter

while descending a flight of stairs," explains Shinde. The company has also worked on creating some interesting

innovations on the hoardings, where some of these have a moving light across the stairs. Thus, on the hoarding, one

stair is lit each moment, moving to the next, giving the impression that the scooter is passing these and thus descending

the stairs. Shinde shares that an experiential activity is also underway in certain markets. In this, a mobile van has been

designed with similar steps, with the scooter placed at the same angle as seen in the ads. The van has also been

covered with Mahindra Duro branding. Here, people can take a unique test drive with speed bumps and a steep road to

test the durability and power of the vehicle. Besides extensive outdoor and television, print is also being used as part of

this campaign. Interface Communications is the creative agency that has worked on this campaign. Percept has

handled the outdoors and Lodestar Universal has handled other media. The target audience that the brand aims to

reach out to is males aged 35+, married with one-two kids, maybe running a small business or are shop owners, or a

part of junior management.

*****************************

Percept OOH unveils Future Group’s Central Mall in Bangalore

Source: Medianewsline, Date: June16, 2011

Future Group has roped in Percept Out-of-Home to execute the outdoor campaign of their newly launched 3rd Central

Mall, the leading lifestyle retail format from the group. The campaign kick-started on April 28, 2011 in Sarajpur,

Bangalore, and targeted the youth. With an objective to highlight the new launch of the mall and expose the brand

‘Central’ to new customers in new locations, Percept OOH used conventional media messages on billboards, pole

kiosks and mobile vans. The application of neon on the 3rd Central portion was the creative strategy behind the

campaign that created an unforgettable impact on the audience. Commenting on the activity Mr. Rajneesh Bahl,

Business Head-Outdoor, Percept Out of Home said, ”The task was to create the desired awareness within the specific

catchment with the help of OOH media. The plan went according to the brief and the client was comfortable with the

tasks executed. The client rated the overall response of the target group and the success of the campaign as ‘Good’.”

Elaborated Deepansh Bhargava, Brand Activation Manager, Central, “Marketing has emerged into a new stream called

Brand Activation. Due to excessive brands entering the market and too many ads cluttering television screens, the

challenge was to make the brand more visible. This is a challenge for all Brand-Managers now. Commercial ads on

television have created discomfort among consumers. I believe that consistent brand activation creates a permanent

image in the consumer’s mind. Out Of Home Media, Catchment initiatives and in-mall activities play a very important

role in making our campaign successful.” He further added, ”Understand the target audience & catchment thoroughly,

then activate your brand… it’s really important. And show them to the consumers by directly interacting with them in


events and locations such as concerts, malls, societies, clubs, colleges, schools and other suitable venues. Take one

best thing about your brand and use that concept to activate that brand. Brand Activation helps in supporting your

advertising strategy, improves your positioning and helps you to keep up to the consumer’s expectation.”

He continued, “The above was the Mantra behind launching 3rd Central in Bangalore, as Bangaloreans knew our brand

very well and all of Bangalore has been patronizing our brand since more than 7 years. Thus we had to take the above

written route to impact our current market scenario and we did it as every customer has a right to choose their favorite

shopping destination and Central has always been favorite for Bangaloreans.” Having a mall presence pan India,

Central is owned by the Future Group and is spread across cities like Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune,

Mumbai, Vadodra, Gurgaon, Indore and Jaipur. The mall positions itself as one of the ‘seamless malls’ in India,

comprising some of the best known brands and offering the ultimate shopping experience to Indian customers. The

effective strategies and flawless execution by Percept OOH led to the success of the campaign, accomplishing the

client’s objective of attaining maximum visibility for brand ‘Central’.

****************************

Percept Out of Home builds outdoor buzz for the launch of Future Group’s 3rd

central mall in Benguluru


Please find below the link to the media coverage for your perusal

Link:http://www.network2media.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5341:percept-ooh-builds-

outdoor-buzz-for-the-launch-of-future-groups-3rd-central-mall-in-bengaluru&catid=5:news&Itemid=3

*******************************

Percept Out-of-Home unveils Future Group’s 3rd Central Mall


Future Group roped in Percept Out-of-Home to execute the outdoor campaign of their newly launched 3rd Central Mall,

the leading lifestyle retail format from the group. The campaign kick-started on April 28, 2011 in Sarajpur, Bangalore,

and targeted the youth. With an objective to highlight the new launch of the mall and expose the brand ‘Central’ to new

customers in new locations, Percept OOH used conventional media messages on billboards, pole kiosks and mobile

vans. The application of neon on the 3rd Central portion was the creative strategy behind the campaign that created an

unforgettable impact on the audience. Commenting on the activity Mr. Rajneesh Bahl, Business Head-Outdoor,

Percept Out of Home said, ”The task was to create the desired awareness within the specific catchment with the help of

OOH media. The plan went according to the brief and the client was comfortable with the tasks executed. The client

rated the overall response of the target group and the success of the campaign as ‘Good’.” Elaborated Deepansh

Bhargava, Brand Activation Manager, Central, “Marketing has emerged into a new stream called Brand Activation. Due

to excessive brands entering the market and too many ads cluttering television screens, the challenge was to make the

brand more visible. This is a challenge for all Brand-Managers now. Commercial ads on television have created

discomfort among consumers. I believe that consistent brand activation creates a permanent image in the consumer’s

mind. Out Of Home Media, Catchment initiatives and in-mall activities play a very important role in making our

campaign successful.” He further added, ”Understand the target audience & catchment thoroughly, then activate your

brand… it’s really important. And show them to the consumers by directly interacting with them in events and locations

such as concerts, malls, societies, clubs, colleges, schools and other suitable venues. Take one best thing about your

brand and use that concept to activate that brand. Brand Activation helps in supporting your advertising strategy,

improves your positioning and helps you to keep up to the consumer’s expectation.”

He continued, “The above was the Mantra behind launching 3rd Central in Bangalore, as Bangaloreans knew our brand

very well and all of Bangalore has been patronizing our brand since more than 7 years. Thus we had to take the above


written route to impact our current market scenario and we did it as every customer has a right to choose their favorite

shopping destination and Central has always been favorite for Bangaloreans.” Having a mall presence pan India,

Central is owned by the Future Group and is spread across cities like Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune,

Mumbai, Vadodra, Gurgaon, Indore and Jaipur. The mall positions itself as one of the ‘seamless malls’ in India,

comprising some of the best known brands and offering the ultimate shopping experience to Indian customers. The

effective strategies and flawless execution by Percept OOH led to the success of the campaign, accomplishing the

client’s objective of attaining maximum visibility for brand ‘Central’.

*******************************

POOH unveils Future Group’s newly launched 3rd Central Mall in Bangalore

Source: Allaboutoutdoor.com, Date: June 20, 2011

Source: Exchange4media.com,Indiainfoline.com Date: June 16, 2011

After Ahmedabad and Vadodara, Kishore Biyani-led Future Group has recently launched a 3.25 lakh sq.ft Central Mall -

the leading lifestyle retail format from the group - in Sarjapur, Bangalore. This is the group's 18th Central in the country

and third in Bangalore. With over 1000 national and international brands, Bangalore Central has outlets of Crossword,

Café Coffee Day, Archies, Body Shop, Titan Eye+, Madhuloka wine shop and many more. The store will also have food

court, fine dining restaurants, McDonald’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, Bowling Alley, entertainment zone and others. To announce

the launch, the company has launched an outdoor campaign that has generated a buzz in the city. The campaign is

cracked by Percept Out-of-Home. With an objective to highlight the new launch of the mall and expose the brand

‘Central’ to new customers in new locations, Percept OOH used conventional media messages on billboards, pole

kiosks and mobile vans. The application of neon on the 3rd Central portion was the creative strategy behind the

campaign that created an unforgettable impact on the audience.

Commenting on the activity Rajneesh Bahl, Business Head-Outdoor, Percept Out of Home said, ”The task was to

create the desired awareness within the specific catchment with the help of OOH media. The plan went according to the

brief and the client was comfortable with the tasks executed. The client rated the overall response of the target group

and the success of the campaign as ‘Good’.” Elaborated Deepansh Bhargava, Brand Activation Manager, Central,

“Marketing has emerged into a new stream called Brand Activation. Due to excessive brands entering the market and

too many ads cluttering television creens, the challenge was to make the brand more visible. This is a challenge for all

Brand-Managers now. Commercial ads on television have created discomfort among consumers. I believe that

consistent brand activation creates a permanent image in the consumer’s mind. Out Of Home Media, Catchment

initiatives and in-mall activities play a very important role in making our campaign successful.” He further

added,”Understand the target audience & catchment thoroughly, then activate your brand… it’s really important. And

show them to the consumers by directly interacting with them in events and locations such as concerts, malls, societies,

clubs, colleges, schools and other suitable venues. Take one best thing about your brand and use that concept to

activate that brand. Brand Activation helps in supporting your advertising strategy, improves your positioning and helps

you to keep up to the consumer’s expectation.”

“The above was the Mantra behind launching 3rd Central in Bangalore, as Bangaloreans knew our brand very well and

all of Bangalore has been patronizing our brand since more than 7 years. Thus we had to take the above written route

to impact our current market scenario and we did it as every customer has a right to choose their favorite shopping

destination and Central has always been favorite for Bangaloreans,” concluded Bhargava. The effective strategies and

flawless execution by POOH led to the success of the campaign, accomplishing the client’s objective of attaining

maximum visibility for brand ‘Central’.

*******************************

Percept OOH comes aboard to execute on-ground activation for Pioneer Hybrid Seeds

Source: Medianewsline.com, Congoo.com, Date: June 21, 2011


Pioneer Hybrid Seeds, a Du-Pont Company and market leaders in hybrid seeds, assigned duties to Percept Out of

Home to promote their range of corn seeds in the corn farming belts across 6 states viz. Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh,

Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa and Chhattisgarh. The campaign launched on April 26, 2011 with an objective to

reach out to farmers across 2,230 villages during the season and communicate the brand attributes to them by

engaging a team of promoters, supported by counseling sessions on the yield benefits versus the price.Percept Out of

Home used specially designed Tata Ace vans, deployed with inbuilt LCD screen and acoustics to showcase the product

promotion film and involved the audiences with interactive brand games such as puzzles, hooplas and ‘pin the corn’

followed by playing memorable audio jingles and distributing exciting freebies. Vital feedback was then collected and

handed over to the marketing team of PHI for further execution.Commenting on the activity Sanjay Pareek, President,

Percept Out-of-Home said,” One of Percept Out of Home - Rural vertical‘s focus industry is Agriculture and Farm

Products, as they are truly the only Rural products and there is no overlap with the urban TG. Therefore the Rural

communication task is more focused as there is no overlap with the mass media.” Elaborated Pradeep Pattnaik,

Manager Marketing Services, PHI Seeds, “Percept OOH’s presence has given us an edge in the campaign as well as

against the competitor. We are thankful to the Rural Vertical of Percept Out of Home for their untiring implementation of

the campaign in the difficult Terrance of our markets and during the peak of the season.” Percept Out-of-Home

concluded the campaign successfully, spreading the message across effectively to the set target audience and building

a strong brand recall.

***********************

Percept Out of Home comes aboard to execute on-ground activation for Pioneer Hybrid Seeds

Source: Allaboutoutdoor.com, Date: June 22, 2011

Pioneer Hybrid Seeds (PHI seeds), A Du-Pont Company and market leaders in hybrid seeds, assigned duties to

Percept Out of Home to promote their range of corn seeds in the corn farming belts across 6 states viz. Karnataka,

Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa and Chhattisgarh. The campaign launched on April 26, 2011 with

an objective to reach out to farmers across 2,230 villages during the season and communicate the brand attributes to

them by engaging a team of promoters, supported by counseling sessions on the yield benefits versus the price.

Percept Out of Home used specially designed Tata Ace vans, deployed with inbuilt LCD screen and acoustics to

showcase the product promotion film and involved the audiences with interactive brand games such as puzzles,

hooplas and ‘pin the corn’ followed by playing memorable audio jingles and distributing exciting freebies. Vital feedback

was then collected and handed over to the marketing team of PHI for further execution.


Commenting on the activity Sanjay Pareek, President, Percept Out-of-Home said,” One of Percept Out of Home - Rural

vertical‘s focus industry is Agriculture and Farm Products, as they are truly the only Rural products and there is no

overlap with the urban TG. Therefore the Rural communication task is more focused as there is no overlap with the

mass media.” Elaborated Pradeep Pattnaik, Manager Marketing Services, PHI Seeds, “Percept OOH’s presence has

given us an edge in the campaign as well as against the competitor. We are thankful to the Rural Vertical of Percept

Out of Home for their untiring implementation of the campaign in the difficult Terrance of our markets and during the

peak of the season.” Percept Out-of-Home concluded the campaign successfully, spreading the message across

effectively to the set target audience and building a strong brand recall

***********************

Percept OOH executes on-ground activation for Pioneer Hybrid Seeds

Source: Network2media, Date: June 23, 2011

Pioneer Hybrid Seeds (PHI seeds), A Du-Pont company and market leaders in hybrid seeds, assigned duties to Percept

Out-of-Home to promote their special range of corn seeds in the corn farming belts across 6 states viz. Karnataka,

Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa and Chhattisgarh. The campaign was launched in end April,

2011 with an objective to reach out to farmers across 2,230 villages during the season and communicate the brand

attributes to them by engaging a team of promoters, supported by counseling sessions on the yield benefits versus the

price. Percept Out-of-Home used specially designed Tata Ace vans, deployed with inbuilt LCD screens and acoustics to


hooplas and 'pin the corn' followed by playing memorable audio jingles and distributing exciting freebies. Vital feedback

was then collected and handed over to the marketing team of PHI for further execution. Commenting on the activity,

Sanjay Pareek, president, Percept OOH, said," One of Percept-Out-of- Home - Rural vertical's focus industry is

agriculture and farm products, as they are truly the only rural products and there is no overlap with the urban TG.

Therefore, the rural communication task is more focussed as there is no overlap with the mass media." Elaborated

Pradeep Pattnaik, manager marketing services, PHI Seeds, "Percept OOH's presence has given us an edge in the

campaign as well as against the competitor. We are thankful to the rural vertical of Percept Out-of-Home for their

untiring implementation of the campaign in the difficult terrains of our markets and during the peak season." Percept

Out-of-Home concluded the campaign successfully, spreading the message across effectively to the set target audience

and building a strong brand recall.

********************

Campaign Preview- ‘3rd

Central Now open ’


Please find below the link to the media coverage

Link:http://www.network2media.com/index.php?option=com_campaign&task=showCampaignDetail&id=716&Itemid=28

******************************


Percept OOH sows promotional campaign for Pioneer Hybrid Seeds


Percept Out-of-Home managed the promotion of corn seeds for Pioneer Hybrid Seeds (PHI Seeds), a company of Du-

Pont, in corn farming belts across six states - Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa and

Chhattisgarh. The campaign was launched on April 26 and concluded in the first week of June. The campaign's

objective was to reach out to farmers across 2,230 villages during the season and communicate the brand attributes to

them by engaging a team of promoters, supported by counseling sessions on the yield benefits versus the price.

Speaking about their association with PHI Seeds, Sanjay Pareek, President, Percept Out-of-Home said, "PHI Seeds

was looking for a professional agency to handle their account and Percept OOH was a perfect fit for their requirement."

On the objective of the activity, Pareek said: "The objective of the activity was to create top of the mind awareness of

the brand and its attributes, to communicate the yield benefits vis-à-vis the cost, and to drive demand through word of

mouth publicity including testimony from loyal consumers. The campaign reached out to six states, 2,439 villages and

2.8 lakh farmers were contacted."

Percept Out-of-Home used specially designed Tata Ace vans, deployed with inbuilt LCD screen and acoustics to


hooplas and ‘pin the corn', followed by playing audio jingles and distributing freebies. Feedback was then collected and

handed over to the marketing team of PHI Seeds for further execution.

Commenting on the campaign, Pradeep Pattnaik, Manager Marketing Services, PHI Seeds said: "PHI Seeds has

always been on the forefront when it comes to technology and innovation.We are expanding our market by reaching out

to the farming fraternity with our range of product offerings and we engaged Percept OOH as a communication partner

to support our initiatives in terms of new ideas, concepts, strategies and operational deliveries. The recently concluded

campaign for corn products in the corn belt of India was a successful one, meeting all communication objectives. The

objective was to reach out to prospective farmers who would be sowing corn seeds in the coming pre-monsoon season

and influence their buying decision towards the brand. The campaign was designed using various communication tools

to create awareness of the brand and its attributes and to emotionally connect with the farming fraternity."

***************************


PERCEPT KNORIGIN

Amit Khemchandani, BIZense, on their latest product Adatrix, an advertising platform using optimization

algorithms & adaptive trend based analytics.

Source: Yourstory.in, Date: June 1. 2011

Tell us about BIZense.

BIZense is a product startup company that has two key driving factors, innovation and excellence. Our team at BIZense

is focused on building a next gen advertising platform for multiple digital touch points and enabling the players in the

advertising landscape gain deeper insights into the advertising data streams via our patent pending adaptive real-time

trend based optimization technology.

How are you different from other players in this space?

In a single word, we are an “innovation” in the advertising domain via technology. Our flagship product is Adatrix, an

advertising platform for multiple digital touch points with the USP of proprietary patent pending optimization algorithms

and adaptive trend based analytics.

How did the idea for BIZense Software Technologies come about?

Akhil , who is the other founder of BIZense worked with me in Qwest Telecom prior to our starting BIZense. Priyabrata

is the other key member of our company who also worked with us in Qwest. What we initially set out to do, based on

our past telecom knowledge and experience was, to build a product in the telecom domain leveraging business rules.

Tell us about your background.

I did my B Tech from IIT Kanpur and graduated in 1999. Started my career with Interra and in 2001 tried to venture out

on my own which didn’t work out. Then, went back and joined the corporate world. Finally joined a company TS2 which

was a startup in May 2004 to learn the finer aspects of a startup before venturing out on my own. Akhil shares the

same entrepreneurial passion and was working on a part-time venture before we started BIZense. He is a B Tech

graduate from IIT Guwahati, and is the CTO driving R&D at BIZense. Priyabrata is an IIT Kanpur alumni and has a

strong background in statistical analysis and data mining. He heads the analytics at BIZense.

Let us know about the tie-ups that you have.

We have been in talks with Jivox, a video ad network for a partnership wherein our platform would be Jivox certified to

serve rich media ads from their network. We are also in talks with a Mobile local advertising / couponing company,

Adnomics in Germany for a partnership wherein our Ad server would be used by them in Europe for hyper local ads and

coupon targeting. Besides these, PerceptKnorigin which is an existing client of our earlier product version, is

interested in migrating to Adatrix. Infact, we have the commercial beta release this weekend and meeting both

Percept and Jivox next week. Apart from these, there is a startup Moontara with whom we are in the process of

working out a feasible partnership model to integrate their set top box (STB) solution which customizes the TV

screens(in retail stores, malls, waiting areas) with in store promotions and ads with our dynamic Ad serving technology.

Where do you see BIZense Software Technologies five years from now?

We see BIZense to carve out a niche for itself in the advertising landscape and become an innovative technology leader

in the digital advertising domain.

What is BIZense Software Technologies’ revenue model? Have you been funded?

No, we are not externally funded. We have been generating revenues from consulting to sustain our product

development costs. Our revenue model includes:

Subscription model for premium platform analytics and lead management features (on a hosted SaaS model)


CPM(Cost per thousand impressions ) for the Ad Server

Revenue share in licensing model in partnerships

What are the challenges that you faced while developing your solutions? How did you overcome those

challenges?

The challenges have been many. Most crucial for us were building the right team, boot-strapping and maintaining cash-

flows, trying to maintain a balance between generating revenues via consulting and product research & development.

We’ve been able to overcome these by maintaining an open and positive attitude and learning along the way;

sometimes the hard way.

How big is the team behind BIZense Software Technologies? Are you looking at hiring?

We are a team of 10 comprising mostly of graduates from different IITs. We completed one round of campus interviews

in IIT Madras earlier this year and made 2 offers. We are looking to hiring but after we have generated more traction on

our product.

Let us know about your expansion plans.

We would be expanding based on our decision to acquire funding this year.

Anything else you want to share with us?

On the previous version of our product which is in production around 150 campaigns, ran with 120K leads generated

and tracked from 600K clicks and 60 Million impressions. Overall we see the digital advertising landscape becoming

more mainstream with the consumption patterns of consumers shifting from traditional legacy vehicles the likes of

postal mail, magazines, television, newspapers etc. to a suite of interactive digital mediums like mobile, web, digital TV,

digital sign-ages, e-books etc. And this trend is likely to continue. Digital advertising allows measurable ROI metrics

which advertisers feel comfortable about. So marketers, who need to measure their campaign effectiveness and are

aware of consumer patterns are allocating higher budgets to interactive digital mediums and adapting to shift towards

the touch points which their target audiences are engaging with. So this industry might see a shift of more advertising

budget allocated to the new and emerging digital devices in the future. Keeping all this in mind, we are building Adatrix

with a futuristic vision - a digital advertising platform which could adapt in real-time to prevailing consumer trend

patterns, optimize costs and provide insightful Analytics.

**************************

Percept Knorigin inks deal with Alcatel Lucent to provide digital content

Source:Netindia123.com,Thaindian.com,Mynews.in,News.webindia123.com,Prokerala.com,Sify.com,Newkerala.

com,Mangalorean.com,

Story.Indiagazette.com, Bombaynews.net, Date: June 1. 2011

Indian digital media company Percept Knorigin (PK) said Wednesday it had signed an agreement with French telecom

firm Alcatel Lucent to expand the distribution of digital entertainment content to its subscribers across India."PK will use

Alcatel-Lucent’s digital media store (DMS) to enhance its web and mobile entertainment service, which is offered to

consumers through partnerships with telecom service providers such as Bharat Sachar Nigam Limited, Mahanager

Telephone Nigam Limited and Bharti Airtel," the company said in a statement.Digital media store simplifies the

distribution of applications and multimedia content across any network to any connected device including PCs, mobile

phones and TVs.The company's services like Adchakra, Cinecurry, HelloTV and 51010 dial-a-video has experienced

rapid growth of nearly 300 percent last year. Therefore, to meet the increasing demands the company needs a robust

digital media platform that could fulfill the requirements of mobile and web service providers.With more than 1.2 billion

people, India provides an enormous potential audience for the company's entertainment content."We were looking at a

scalable service which can keep pace with the great growth we experienced last year, one that can provide us with the

capability to create services across mobile phones, tablets and laptops," said Viraj Malik, Managing Director and Chief


Executive Officer, Percept Knorigin."Our deployment of Alcatel-Lucent’s digital media store will provide an all-in-one

solution to the challenges service providers face in terms of content, platforms and business operations," he

added.Digital media store will enable service providers offering PK services to establish personalised portals supported

by merchandising tools.

***************************

Percept Knorigin to deliver multimedia content on Alcatel-Lucent products

Source: Medianewsline.com, Indiantelevision.com, Efytimes.com, Businessofcinema.com, Date: June 1. 2011

Percept Knorigin (PK), a digital media company incubated by Percept Limited, and Alcatel Lucent has signed a

collaboration agreement to expand the distribution of digital entertainment content to subscribers across India. PK will

use Alcatel-Lucent’s Digital Media Store (DMS) to enhance its web and mobile entertainment service, which is offered

to consumers through partnerships with telecom service providers such as BSNL, MTNL and Airtel. With more than 1.2

billion people, India provides an enormous potential audience for PK’s entertainment content - everything from Hindi

Movies to Regional language spectacles and live TV on mobile. PK’s services like Adchakra, Cinecurry, HelloTV and

51010 dial-a-video has experienced rapid growth nearly 300 percent last year, and to meet this increased demand they

needed a robust digital media platform that could meet the demanding requirements of Mobile and Web service

providers. Alcatel-Lucent’s Digital Media Store simplifies the distribution of applications and multimedia content across

any network to any connected device – PC, Mobile Phone or TV. With DMS, PK now has a cost-effective and secure

solution that is easy to expand, and gives service providers the flexibility to offer video, audio and games to their

subscribers over wireless or wireline networks, easily and profitably. As importantly, DMS will enable the service

providers offering PK services to establish customized and personalized storefronts and portals, supported by

merchandizing tools that include the ability to cross-recommend and cross-sell content based on subscriber interests

and buying behaviour. While DMS will provide both PK and service providers increased earning potential, it will also aid

bottom lines by reducing content pilfering through the use of a digital-rights-management mechanisms.Commenting on

the deal, Viraj Malik, MD & CEO, Percept Knorigin said, “Content will be key to building internet penetration in India. We

were looking at a scalable service which can keep pace with the great growth we experienced last year; one that can

provide us with the capability to create services across mobile phones, tablets and laptops. Our deployment of Alcatel-

Lucent’s Digital Media Store will provide an all-in-one solution to the challenges service providers face in terms of

content, platform and business operations.” Munish Seth, President and Managing Director, Alcatel-Lucent India noted,

“Our Digital Media Store will enable Percept Knorigin to introduce very attractive services, and enable them to keep

pace with changing market demands driven by the need for an ‘it’s-all-about-me’ user experience. Building on this

cooperation, Indian consumers will soon be able to move from place to place and device to device freely, getting their

multimedia content whenever and wherever they want it.”

***************************

Alcatel-Lucent & Percept Knorigin ink pact on digital entertainment for India subscribers

Source: Telecomtiger.com, Date: June 1. 2011

Percept Knorigin (PK), a digital media company incubated by Percept Limited, and Alcatel Lucent has signed a

collaboration agreement to expand the distribution of digital entertainment content to subscribers across India. PK will

use Alcatel-Lucent’s Digital Media Store (DMS) to enhance its web and mobile entertainment service, which is offered

to consumers through partnerships with telecom service providers such as BSNL, MTNL and Airtel.With more than 1.2

billion people,. PK’s services like Adchakra, Cinecurry, HelloTV and 51010 dial-a-video has experienced rapid growth

nearly 300 percent last year, and to meet this increased demand they needed a robust digital media platform that could

meet the demanding requirements of Mobile and Web service providers.Alcatel-Lucent’s Digital Media Store simplifies

the distribution of applications and multimedia content across any network to any connected device – PC, Mobile Phone

or TV. With DMS, PK now has a cost-effective and secure solution that is easy to expand, and gives service providers

the flexibility to offervideo, audio and games to their subscribers over wireless or wireline networks, easily and profitably


.As importantly, DMS will enable the service providers offering PK services to establish customized and personalized

storefronts and portals, supported by merchandizing tools that include the ability to cross-recommend and cross-sell

content based on subscriber interests and buying behaviour. While DMS will provide both PK and service providers

increased earning potential, it will also aid bottom lines by reducing content pilfering through the use of a digital-rights-

management mechanisms.Commenting on the deal, Mr. Viraj Malik, MD & CEO, Percept Knorigin said, “Content will be

key to building internet penetration in India. We were looking at a scalable service which can keep pace with the great

growth we experienced last year; one that can provide us with the capability to create services across mobile phones,

tablets and laptops . Our deployment of Alcatel-Lucent’s Digital Media Store will provide an all-in-one solution to the

challenges service providers face in terms of content, platform and business operations.” Mr. Munish Seth, President

and Managing Director, Alcate l-Lucent India noted, “Our Digital Media Store will enable Percept Knorigin to introduce

very attractive services, and enable them to keep pace with changing market demands – driven by the need for an ‘it’s-

all-about-me’ user experience. Building on this cooperation, Indian consumers will soon be able to move from place to

place and device to device freely, getting their multimedia content whenever and wherever they want it.”

***************************

Alcatel Lucent, PK in pact for promoting digital content

Source: Indiareport.com, Date: June 1. 2011

Digital media content provider Percept Knorigin (PK) today entered into a pact with telecom infrastructure provider

Alcatel Lucent to expand distribution of digital entertainment content to subscribers across India.PK will use Alcatel-

Lucents digital media store (DMS) platform to provide its web and mobile entertainment service."Building on this

cooperation, Indian consumers will soon be able to move from place to place and device to device freely, getting their

multimedia content whenever and wherever they want it,"Munish Seth, President and Managing Director, Alcatel-Lucent

India said in a statement.he content of PK will be offered to consumers through partnerships with telecom service

providers such as BSNL, MTNL and airtel.Alcatel-Lucent's DMS will simplify distribution of applications and multimedia

content across any network to any connected device PC, Mobile Phone or TV, the statement said.

***************************

Percept inks deal with Alcatel

Source: Omantribune.com, Date: June 1. 2011

Indian digital media company Percept Knorigin (PK) said on Wednesday it signed an agreement with French telecom

firm Alcatel Lucent to expand the distribution of digital entertainment content to its subscribers across India.“PK will use

Alcatel-Lucent’s digital media store (DMS) to enhance its web and mobile entertainment service, which is offered to

consumers through partnerships with telecom service providers such as Bharat Sachar Nigam Limited, Mahanager

Telephone Nigam Limited and Bharti Airtel,” the company said in a statement.Digital media store simplifies the

distribution of applications and multimedia content across any network to any connected device including PCs, mobile

phones and TVs.The company’s services like Adchakra, Cinecurry, HelloTV and 51010 dial-a-video has experienced

rapid growth of nearly 300 per cent last year. Therefore, to meet the increasing demands the company needs a robust

digital media platform that could fulfil the requirements of mobile and Web service providers.“We were looking at a

scalable service which can keep pace with the growth we experienced last year,” said Viraj Malik, managing director

and chief executive officer, Percept Knorigin.

***************************

Percept Knorigin ties up with Alcatel Lucent

Source: Ciol.com, Date: June 2, 2011

Source: App.contify.com, Inewsone.com, Date: June 1. 2011


The deal focuses to expand the distribution of digital entertainment content to its subscribers across India.Indian digital

media company Percept Knorigin (PK) said Wednesday it had signed an agreement with French telecom firm Alcatel

Lucent to expand the distribution of digital entertainment content to its subscribers across India."PK will use Alcatel-

Lucent's digital media store (DMS) to enhance its web and mobile entertainment service, which is offered to consumers

through partnerships with telecom service providers such as Bharat Sachar Nigam Limited, Mahanager Telephone

Nigam Limited and Bharti Airtel," the company said in a statement.Digital media store simplifies the distribution of

applications and multimedia content across any network to any connected device including PCs, mobile phones and

TVs.The company's services like Adchakra, Cinecurry, HelloTV and 51010 dial-a-video has experienced rapid growth of

nearly 300 per cent last year. Therefore, to meet the increasing demands the company needs a robust digital media

platform that could fulfill the requirements of mobile and web service providers.With more than 1.2 billion people, India

provides an enormous potential audience for the company's entertainment content."We were looking at a scalable

service which can keep pace with the great growth we experienced last year, one that can provide us with the capability

to create services across mobile phones, tablets and laptops," said Viraj Malik, managing director and chief executive

officer, Percept Knorigin. "Our deployment of Alcatel-Lucent's digital media store will provide an all-in-one solution to the

challenges service providers face in terms of content, platforms and business operations," he added.Digital media store

will enable service providers offering PK services to establish personalised portals supported by merchandising tools.

********************

Alcatel-Lucent teams up with PK for rich content delivery in India

Source: Rapidtvnews.com, Teletechwire.com, Date: June 6, 2011

Digital media company Percept Knorigin (PK) has teamed up with Alcatel-Lucent to provide a multimedia platform for

users of the rich content provided by state telcos BSNL and MTNL, as well as that offered by private operator Bharti

Airtel. Consumers will be better able to access services such as live TV and video-on-demand via their mobile phones,

tablets, PCs and TVs - thanks to PK’s adoption of Alcatel-Lucent’s Digital Media Store technology, according to the

latter company. “Our Digital Media Store will enable Percept Knorigin to introduce very attractive services, and enable

them to keep pace with changing market demands driven by the need for an ‘it’s-all-about-me’ user experience,” said

Munish Seth, President and Managing Director, Alcatel-Lucent India.“Building on this cooperation, Indian consumers

will soon be able to move from place to place and device to device freely, getting their multimedia content whenever

and wherever they want it,” he added. Demand for PK’s services - such as Adchakra, Cinecurry, HelloTV, and 51010

dial-a-video - have experienced rapid growth experienced almost 300% growth last year, and with increasing clamour

for video, audio and gaming content in India, the company hopes the new digital media platform will meet the

requirements of the mobile and internet service providers it supports. Viraj Malik, Managing Director and Chief

Executive Officer, Percept Knorigin said: “Content will be key to building internet penetration in India. We were looking

at a scalable service which can keep pace with the great growth we experienced last year; one that can provide us with

the capability to create services across mobile phones, tablets and laptops. “Our deployment of Alcatel-Lucent’s Digital

Media Store will provide an all-in-one solution to the challenges service providers face in terms of content, platform and

business operations,” he explained. India, digital media, Percept Knorigin, PK, Alcatel-Lucent, BSNL, MTNL, Bharti

Airtel, telcos, live TV, video on demand, Digital Media Store, Munish Seth, Viraj Malik, Adchakra, Cinecurry, HelloTV,

51010 dial-a-video video

***********************

Alcatel digital store to offer Percept's content in India

Source: Telecompaper.com, Date: June7, 2011

Alcatel-Lucent's Digital Media Store will allow digital media company Percept Knorigin to deliver its multimedia content

to consumers across India on their mobile phones, tablets, PCs and TVs. Percept Knorigin's entertainment content

include everything from Hindi movies to regional-language spectacles and live-TV on mobile devices. Percept's services

have experienced rapid growth, nearly 300 percent last year and to meet this demand, they needed a digital media


platform that could meet the requirements of mobile and web service providers. Alcatel-Lucent's Digital Media Store

enables the distribution of applications and multimedia content across any network to any connected device, including

PC, mobile phone or TV. With Digital Media Store, Percept has a secure system to expand, and enable service

providers to offer video, audio and games to their subscribers over mobile or wireline networks. Percept will use Alcatel-

Lucent's Digital Media Store to enhance its web and mobile entertainment service, which is offered to consumers

through partnerships with telecommunications service providers such as BSNL, MTNL and Airtel.

***********************

Alcatel-Lucent and Percept Knorigin to Bring Digital Entertainment in India

Source: Telecomlead.com, Date: June 1, 2011

Percept Knorigin (PK) and Alcatel Lucent signed an agreement to expand the distribution of digital entertainment

content to subscribers across India. PK will use Alcatel-Lucent's Digital Media Store (DMS) to enhance its web and

mobile entertainment service, which is offered to consumers through partnerships with telecom service providers such

as BSNL, MTNL and Airtel. With more than 1.2 billion people, India provides an enormous potential audience for PK's

entertainment content - everything from Hindi movies to regional language spectacles and live TV on mobile. PK's

services like Adchakra, Cinecurry, HelloTV and 51010 dial-a-video has experienced rapid growth nearly 300 percent

last year, and to meet this increased demand they needed a robust digital media platform that could meet the

demanding requirements of Mobile and Web service providers.Alcatel-Lucent's Digital Media Store simplifies the

distribution of applications and multimedia content across any network to any connected device - PC, Mobile Phone or

TV. With DMS, PK now has a cost-effective and secure solution that is easy to expand, and gives service providers the

flexibility to offer video, audio and games to their subscribers - over wireless or wireline networks, easily and

profitably.DMS will enable the service providers offering PK services to establish customized and personalized

storefronts and portals, supported by merchandizing tools that include the ability to cross-recommend and cross-sell

content based on subscriber interests and buying behaviour. While DMS will provide both PK and service providers

increased earning potential, it will also aid bottom lines by reducing content pilfering through the use of a digital-rights-

management mechanisms."Content will be key to building internet penetration in India. We were looking at a scalable

service which can keep pace with the great growth we experienced last year; one that can provide us with the capability

to create services across mobile phones, tablets and laptops. Our deployment of Alcatel-Lucent's Digital Media Store

will provide an all-in-one solution to the challenges service providers face in terms of content, platform and business

operations," said Viraj Malik, MD & CEO, Percept Knorigin."Our Digital Media Store will enable Percept Knorigin to

introduce very attractive services, and enable them to keep pace with changing market demands - driven by the need

for an "˜it's-all-about-me' user experience. Building on this cooperation, Indian consumers will soon be able to move

from place to place and device to device freely, getting their multimedia content whenever and wherever they want it,"

said Munish Seth, president and managing director, Alcatel-Lucent India.

***********************

India's Percept Knorigin selects Alca-Lu digital media store

Source: Iptv-news.com, Date: June 7, 2011

Percept Knorigin (PK) has selected Alcatel-Lucent's Digital Media Store to enhance its delivery of digital media services

to consumers in partnership with fixed-line operators such as BSNL and MTNL.Alcatel-Lucent's Digital Media Store is

expected to simplify the distribution of applications and multimedia content across any network to any connected

device, including TVs, PCs and mobile phones.Percept Knorigin provides digital media services around India, such as

Akchakra, Cinecurry, HelloTV and 51010 dial-a-video, and reports that it has experienced rapid growth of nearly 300%

last year, compelling the company to select a more robust digital media platform.

*****************************

Alcatel-Lucent enabling multi-screen growth for Percept Knorigin


Source: V-net.tv, Date: June 10, 2011 issue

Alcatel-Lucent’s Digital Media Store is being used by digital media company Percept Knorigin (PK) to deliver its

multimedia content to consumers across India on their mobile phones, tablets, PCs and TVs. PK provides everything

from Hindi movies to regional language spectacles and live TV on mobile devices and its services are seeing 300%

growth. Alcatel-Lucent says its Digital Media Store simplifies the distribution of applications and multimedia content

across any network to any connected device including PC, mobile phone or TV. “With Digital Media Store, PK now has

a cost-effective and secure solution that is easy to expand and gives service providers the flexibility to offer video, audio

and games to their subscribers – over wireless or wireline networks, easily and profitably,” the company declares. PK

will use the solution to enhance its web and mobile entertainment service, which is offered to consumers through

partnerships with telcos like BSNL, MTNL and Airtel. Munish Seth, President and Managing Director at Alcatel-Lucent

India says: “Our Digital Media Store will enable Percept Knorigin to introduce very attractive services and enable them

to keep pace with changing market demands, driven by the need for an ‘it’s-all-about-me’ user experience. Building on

this cooperation, Indian consumers will soon be able to move from place to place and device to device freely, getting

their multimedia content whenever and wherever they want it.”

*******************************

Alcatel-Lucent helps Percept Knorigin deliver digital entertainment in India

Source: Asia.tmcnet.com, Broadcastengineering.com, Date: June 13, 2011 issue

Indian digital media company Percept Knorigin(PK) is extending its existing web and mobile entertainment service with

the help of Alcatel-Lucent’s Digital Media Store, which it makes it easier to distribute applications and multimedia

content across any network to any connected device, PC, mobile phone or TV. PK will use Alcatel-Lucent's Digital

Media Store to enhance its Web and mobile entertainment service, which is offered to consumers through partnerships

with telecom service providers such as BSNL, MTNL and Airtel. PK hopes the move will help it tap the full potential of

India's mobile TV market, since it already has content to suit the country's different cultural groups, ranging from Hindi

movies to regional-language spectacles and live TV. PK's services are already expanding rapidly, with three fold growth

last year, but this has exposed the need for a robust digital media platform that can meet the demanding requirements

of mobile and Web service providers. The move will also enable the mobile operators offering PK services to establish

customized and personalized storefronts and portals, supported by merchandizing tools that include the ability to cross-

recommend and cross-sell content based on subscriber interests and buying behaviour. A further important aim given

India's high level of piracy is to reduce content pilfering through the use of DRMs included in the Alcatel-Lucent

platform.

****************

Alcatel-Lucent helps Percept Knorigin deliver digital entertainment in India

Source: Monitor-radiotv.com, Date: June 15, 2011

Indian digital media company Percept Knorigin(PK) is extending its existing web and mobile entertainment service with

the help of Alcatel-Lucent’s Digital Media Store, which it makes it easier to distribute applications and multimedia

content across any network to any connected device, PC, mobile phone or TV. PK will use Alcatel-Lucent's Digital

Media Store to enhance its Web and mobile entertainment service, which is offered to consumers through partnerships

with telecom service providers such as BSNL, MTNL and Airtel. PK hopes the move will help it tap the full potential of

India's mobile TV market, since it already has content to suit the country's different cultural groups, ranging from Hindi

movies to regional-language spectacles and live TV. PK's services are already expanding rapidly, with three fold growth

last year, but this has exposed the need for a robust digital media platform that can meet the demanding requirements

of mobile and Web service providers. The move will also enable the mobile operators offering PK services to establish

customized and personalized storefronts and portals, supported by merchandizing tools that include the ability to cross-

recommend and cross-sell content based on subscriber interests and buying behaviour. A further important aim given

India's high level of piracy is to reduce content pilfering through the use of DRMs included in the Alcatel-Lucent platform


COMMUNICATIONS ADVERTISING PERCEPT/H Sunanda Chadha joins Publicis Ambience as vice-president


Chadha comes in from Percept/H, where she was Vice-President. She will work chiefly on the Citibank

account.Sunanda Chadha has joined Publicis Ambience, Mumbai, as Vice-President on Citibank. In her last

assignment, she was working with Percept/H as Vice-president, across several of the agency's flagship accounts such

as Force India Formula One Team, the Sahara group, Edelweiss, DLF and Hero Honda, amongst others.Nakul Chopra,

Chief Executive officer, South Asia, Publicis, remarks, "Chadha makes an immediate impression with her 'can do'

attitude, and with her rich background in diversified communications for brands, she brings together an ideal mix of

talent and experience to lead the Citibank account." He adds that he looks forward to Chadha leading Publicis

Ambience to an 'even stronger relationship with the client'.On her appointment at Publicis, Chadha comments, "Citibank

is a global brand that has been present in India for more than 100 years, and one that is poised to take the banking

experience to the next level in India. I'm looking forward to working with the strong team at Publicis, with the likes of

AshishKhazanchi and (Nakul) Chopra, and contributing to some great work."Chadha brings with her over 13 years of

experience, having started off at Triton Delhi as a management trainee. Shortly thereafter, she moved to Media &

Marketing Services (M&M), an ad agency where she spent a significant number of years. Subsequently, she decided to

launch her own 360 degree agency venture, titled Better Relations, which was later renamed Nonya& Roy

Communications.After six-and-a-half years of entrepreneurship, Chadha wound up the company and joined Percept/H

in 2003 and has been there ever since. Chadha relocated from Delhi to Mumbai for this assignment. She has worked

on several financial brands at Percept, which should benefit her while handling Citibank, she says. These brands

include Bank of Baroda, Edelweiss, India First Life Insurance, the Sahara Group's set of financial brands, and Future

Money.During her career, some of the other brands she has worked on include Aamby Valley City, United Breweries,

Whyte & Mackay, AT&T, RadicoKhaitan, the Future Group, Filmy, and Force Motors.

******************

Percept/H bags Gitanjali Group’s D’damas account

Source: Adgully.com, Medianewsline.com, Network2media.com, Date: June 24, 2011


Percept /H conceptualized the newly launched campaign for D’damas – India’s leading diamond jewellery brand,

personifying bollywood diva ‘Sonakshi Sinha’. Taking forward the current positioning of the brand ‘Making everyday a

celebration’ with a fresh and more relevant execution and imagery, Percpt/H designed 3 TVCs – a Brand film of 30

seconds, a Wedding film of 20 seconds and a Diwali film of 20 seconds. Directed by Kitu Ghosh, the brand TVCs were

launched in the month of May 2011, and is currently on air. Targeting women, essentially individualistic, who believe in

rejoicing and celebrating even the smallest of joys and occasions in their life, the campaign proposed a change in the

buying behaviour of the consumers to excite them to buy jewellery more frequently and revolves around the memorable

moments of one’s life. It also captures the essence and Sonakshi’s expression of joy as she celebrates the small

moments in life that bring her happiness and amplifies her beauty and appeal, making her more real and relatable.

Commenting on this activity Joydeep Dasgupta, Chief Operating Officer- West, Percept/H said, “It is very exciting to

work on a luxury brand like D’damas. The team was inspired both by the brand and the star representing the brand. The

films expressively capture the essence of the brand proposition – celebrating every moment.” Excited about her

association with D’Damas Sonakshi Sinha said, “It feels great to be the brand ambassador of D’damas! I connect with

D’damas because I personally live each moment to the fullest and believe in celebrating life. D’damas adds celebration

to both ordinary and even the everyday special occasions. When I want to celebrate any happiness in life I turn to

D’damas.”

Elaborated Shardah Uniyal – GM Marketing, Gitanjali Groups, “D’damas stands out in the jewellery sector as a brand

unique for its ability to make life’s every moment special. Life with D’damas thus becomes a journey of ‘Celebrating

Always’.”

********************************

D’damas launches new campaign featuring Sonakshi Sinha

Source: Bestmediainfo.com, Date: June 27, 2011

Conceptualized by Percept/H, the new campaign takes the brand positioning ahead; watch the TVC here.

Percept /H conceptualized the newly launched campaign for D’damas – India’s leading diamond jewellery

brand, personifying bollywood diva ‘Sonakshi Sinha’. Taking forward the current positioning of the brand ‘Making

everyday a celebration’ with a fresh and more relevant execution and imagery, Percpt/H designed 3 TVCs – a Brand

film of 30 seconds, a Wedding film of 20 seconds and a Diwali film of 20 seconds. Directed by Kitu Ghosh, the brand

TVCs were launched in the month of May 2011, and is currently on air. Targeting women, essentially individualistic, who

believe in rejoicing and celebrating even the smallest of joys and occasions in their life, the campaign proposed a

change in the buying behaviour of the consumers to excite them to buy jewellery more frequently and revolves around

the memorable moments of one’s life. It also captures the essence and Sonakshi’s expression of joy as she celebrates

the small moments in life that bring her happiness and amplifies her beauty and appeal, making her more real and

relatable. Commenting on the campaign, Joydeep Dasgupta, Chief Operating Officer- West, Percept/H said, “It is very

exciting to work on a luxury brand like D’damas. The team was inspired both by the brand and the star representing the

brand. The films expressively capture the essence of the brand proposition – celebrating every moment.” Excited about

her association with D’Damas Sonakshi Sinha said, “It feels great to be the brand ambassador of D’damas! I connect

with D’damas because I personally live each moment to the fullest and believe in celebrating life. D’damas adds

celebration to both ordinary and even the everyday special occasions. When I want to celebrate any happiness in life I

turn to D’damas.” Elaborated Shardah Uniyal – GM Marketing, Gitanjali Groups, “D’damas stands out in the jewellery

sector as a brand unique for its ability to make life’s every moment special. Life with D’damas thus becomes a journey

of ‘Celebrating Always’.”

******************


Percept/H wins Gitanjali Group's D'damas account


Percept /H conceptualised the newly launched campaign for D'damas – India's leading diamond jewellery brand,

personifying 'Bollywood' diva 'Sonakshi Sinha'. Taking forward the current positioning of the brand 'Making everyday a

celebration' with a fresh and more relevant execution and imagery, Percpt/H designed 3 TVCs – a brand film of 30

seconds, a wedding film of 20 seconds and a Diwali film of 20 seconds. Directed by Kitu Ghosh, the brand TVCs were

launched in the month of May 2011, and is currently on air. Targeting women, essentially individualistic, who believe in

rejoicing and celebrating even the smallest of joys and occasions in their life, the campaign proposed a change in the

buying behaviour of the consumers to excite them to buy jewellery more frequently and revolve around the memorable

moments of one's life. It also captures the essence and Sonakshi's expression of joy as she celebrates the small

moments in life that bring her happiness and amplifies her beauty and appeal, making her more real and relatable.

Commenting on this activity Joydeep Dasgupta, chief operating officer - West, Percept/H, said, "It is very exciting to

work on a luxury brand like D'damas. The team was inspired both by the brand and the star representing the brand. The

films expressively capture the essence of the brand proposition - celebrating every moment." Excited about her

association with D'Damas Sonakshi Sinha said, "It feels great to be the brand ambassador of D'damas! I connect with

D'damas because I personally live each moment to the fullest and elieve in celebrating life. D'damas adds celebration to

both ordinary and even the everyday special ccasions. When I want to celebrate any happiness in life, I turn to

'damas." Elaborated Shardah Uniyal, GM Marketing, Gitanjali Groups, "D'damas stands out in the jewellery sector as a

brand unique for its ability to make life's every moment special. Life with D'damas thus becomes a journey of

'Celebrating Always'."

******************


IBD INDIA Ignite Mudra bags creative duties for Trichup Hair Care

Source: Afaqs.com, App.contify.com, Date: June 6, 2011

The agency plans to reposition and rebuild the brand, as parent company Vasu Healthcare plans to further the cause of

Ayurveda in the country. Continuing with its series of new business wins in the recent past, brand building specialists,

Ignite Mudra, has added yet another account to its kitty by bagging the creative duties for Trichup hair care

products.The brand belongs to the Baroda-based Ayurvedic healthcare company Vasu Healthcare. IBD Percept is the

incumbent agency on the account.Commenting on the development, Sudarshan Banerjee, head, Ignite Mudra, says,

"It is yet another developmental brand we are creating. Vasu Healthcare plans to further the cause of Ayurveda in the

country, and we plan to reposition and rebuild the brand from an overall perspective."Ignite Mudra will work on the

strategy and creative deliverables of Trichup, and a few other Vasu Healthcare brands with need-based budgets. D K

Mehta, Vice-President, Marketing, Vasu Healthcare, points at the strong credentials of Ignite Mudra in creating

numerous brands from scratch as the reason that helped the agency bag the account. "Ignite Mudra has built a number

of brands such as DermiCool, Itch Guard, Krack and Livon among others, which are categories in themselves. The

agency has the right talent base to take Vasu Healthcare to the next level. The team inspired enough confidence in us,

and the appointment was made without going through the entire pitch process," says Mehta. The 31-year old Vasu

Healthcare present in the ethical market, is a significant player in the orthopaedic and urology segments. Through

Trichup, Vasu Healthcare has begun focussing on the OTC market in the last 2-3 years, with its OTC division known as

Vasu Wellness. Going forward, the communication for the brand would emphasise a lot on ATL activities, says

Banerjee.

****************************

Ex-IBD’sAnil Kakar floats creative outfit ‘Gasoline’

Source: Exchange4media.com, Date: June 6, 2011

In the last two years post the slowdown, the Indian advertising industry has witnessed quite a few senior creative

directors moving out from an MNC structure and floating their own ventures. Joining this list is Anil Kakar, former

Executive Creative Director with IBD India. Kakar has floated his own venture, named ‘Gasoline’.Speaking to

exchange4media, Kakar said that Gasoline aimed to a complete creative communications partner. He elaborated,

“Gasoline will offer everything you would expect from an advertising agency. And a few things you wouldn’t. Like

creating mobile and web-based applications, editorial design, viral marketing, designing retail environments, the works.

In essence, Gasoline will be about advertising and much, much more. The idea behind Gasoline is to create a platform

for like-minded creative people, who can seamlessly extend and synergise communication across traditional and non-

traditional media, which in turn, will ensure greater consistency in the creative output.”In June 2010, Kakar had decided

to move on from IBD India. During the last one year, he has been involved with some freelance projects. On his

decision to float his own agency, Kakar explained, “Essentially, I think there has always been this lurking need to break

out and do something different and naturally, this seemed like the logical next step.”The agency will be located in South

Mumbai and, as Kakar divulged, the last few months were spent getting the backend in place. “We are one of the few

agencies to have acquired our own office space in Tardeo. Our infrastructure is already set up, we have a few

consultants on board and we’re ready for business from day one,” he added.

Kakar, however, refused to divulge the names of the clients, saying the process was still in the nascent stages. He was,

however, clear that the agency was open to both project based and retained based models, depending on the nature

and scale of the project.Kakar has a career in advertising spanning over 17 years. In 2005, following in Ajay

Chandwani’s footsteps who had quit SSC&B, Kakar joined PerceptH as Creative Director. He was soon elevated to

Executive Creative Director and given the role of Mumbai Head, where he spearheaded the team to win over 40 local


and international awards in just two years. He had played a vital role in leading the creative team on the Canon pitch

and ended up winning the business. At PerceptH, he had worked on brands such as FedEx, Siyaram’s, J Hampstead,

Times Ascent, Economic Times, and Firangi, among others.In 2008, he moved within the Percept Group to IBD as

Executive Creative Director, where he played a key role in working on the brand image of Panasonic. His recent

works on Panasonic include campaigns featuring Ranbir Kapoor, starting from the ‘Neighbour’ commercial to

‘Bollywood Dreams’ to the one currently on air, titled ‘One moment’, which features Kapoor along with Virender Sehwag

and Baichung Bhutia and highlights the importance of a single moment in time.

***************

Wonder Cement scouts for creative partner


The R K Marble-promoted cement brand has called for a pitch that includes six creative agencies, including three local

agencies based in Rajasthan, as well as Mudra, Cheil and the Percept-promoted IBD. The Rajasthan-based R K

Marble-promoted cement brand Wonder Cement, is on the lookout for a creative partner. The company has called for a

pitch that includes six creative agencies of which, three are local agencies based in Rajasthan, besides Mudra, Cheil

Worldwide and the Percept Hakuhodo-promoted IBD.The size of the account is estimated at Rs 6-10 crore.The

development has been confirmed by reliable sources in the industry, who say that the company is looking for an

appropriate look as it plans to launch the cement brand on a national scale.This is the first time that the company has

called for a creative pitch.According to recent media reports, R K Marbles was in talks with the Swiss cement

manufacturing giant Holcim AG to sell off its stake. However, the plan has been put on hold for the time being; rather,

the company plans to start a new cement factory in the Chittorgarh region of Rajasthan.For the record, the R K Marble

Group was established in 1989 by the Patni group, to meet the increasing national and international demand for Indian

marble. The company, Wonder Cement, set up its cement plant at Nimbahera in Rajasthan, with a capacity of 2.5-3

million tonne per annum, and limestone reserves.

**********************

IBD India appoints Akash Sharma as the new Creative Director, Delhi

Source: Afaqs.com, Indiantelevision.com, Campaignindia.in, Date: June 23, 2011

IBD India, the integrated brand development wing of Hakuhodo Percept company, has roped in Akash Sharma as

Creative Director for the Delhi office. The agency is buoyant with recent business acquisitions and is set for an exciting

growth phase. The mandate for Akash Sharma would be to strengthen creatives, both product and people. With Akash

Sharma coming aboard IBD India will only fortify its creative output and assure some more out-of-the box solutions to

their clients. In this role Akash will be responsible for driving creative brand building and delivering big ideas for clients.

Akash Sharma has more than a decade’s experience in both ATL and BTL spaces. Prior to this, he was in Rediffusion

Y&R and Lowe Lintas. He has worked on brands like LG (Home Appliance & Home Entertainment, FPDs), Greenply,

Havells, Crabtree, Polo, BILT, Hajmola, etc. Speaking about his new venture Akash Sharma says, “I am really excited

to join IBD India and work on internationally recognised brands like Panasonic and a host of others. I am looking

forward to doing work that is relevant to my target audiences and win recognition of award juries as well. We are an

ambitious bunch here hungry to do good work.”

Talking on the appointment of Akash, Rahul Gupta, MD, IBD India says “Akash is skilled and talented whose

experience will add value to the clients that IBD handles. As his experience spans 360 degrees, he will be able to use

his knowledge to provide holistic communication solution to clients.” Akash is an avid reader and likes to watch movies

and listen to music in his leisure time. His expertise in various areas of brand building campaigns will definitely help IBD

India reach to greater heights.

********************************


IBD India rolls out new campaign for Tupperware's dry storage solutions


The days when a train of ants feasted on your sugar jars; when moisture spoiled the crispness of your cookies; and the

times when fungus and bugs made merry on your kitchen shelves will soon become history. That's the fresh makeover

that Tupperware has in store for your kitchen this summer, as it breaks its third campaign of the year - this time leading

with its dry storage solutions known as Modular Mates. The campaign has been created and strategized by IBD India, a

wing of Percept Hakuhodu. The central theme of the campaign is based on 'freshness.' The integrated marketing

campaign draws inspiration from the everyday kitchen story of delicious food gone stale because of a loose container.

In the process, the campaign, like in the previous ones, adopts freshness and hygiene as an experience that one gets

with Tupperware products. Elaborating on the point, Anshu Bagai, Marketing Director, Tupperware India says, "By its

design itself, these products are unique. In that, they have been designed according to the kitchens of the Indian homes

- making it stackable and organized. But we had a long discussion with the team at IBD on whether the talking point

should be about the shape or the inherent Tupperware virtue of freshness. We realized that with the air-tight lids, leak-

proof locks and most of all the virgin plastics, gave us an opportunity to own the domain of freshness on a health and

hygiene platform like no one else."

"The strategy at its heart is insightful, simple and appealing", says Jyotsna Chauhan, COO, IBD India. "How many times

has it happened that you open a jar of biscuits only to find that it's gotten soggy, or for that matter that your favourite

pickle has fungus or more commonly sugar cubes being savoured by ants. All these 'anti-freshness elements' devour us

of the freshness of food. And that's what the communication is all about."

Jai Singh, Senior Creative Director, IBD India says, "Tupperware is synonymous with freshness. The campaign

dramatizes this fact using a simple idea of a post-it note being used as an eviction notice to all anti-freshness agents, by

a housewife. This was also followed up with a digital campaign on Facebook which got housewives to write their version

of the good bye note/eviction notice. Both have had an overwhelming response. We received 7000+ letters and still

counting."

The campaign is being run extensively across India in print, radio and TV on non-FCT spots along with ground level

activation.

***************************

IBD India rolls out new campaign for Tupperware

Source: Bestmediainfo.com, Date: June 29, 2011

Tupperware’s third campaign of the year titled ‘Goodbye stale food’ launched on multi-media platforms.

The days when a train of ants feasted on your sugar jars; when moisture spoiled the crispness of your cookies; and the

times when fungus and bugs made merry on your kitchen shelves will soon become history. That’s the fresh makeover

that Tupperware has in store for your kitchen this summer, as it breaks its third campaign of the year this time leading

with its dry storage solutions known as Modular Mates. The campaign has been created and strategized by IBD India, a

wing of Percept Hakuhodu. The central theme of the campaign is based on ‘freshness.’ The integrated marketing

campaign draws inspiration from the everyday kitchen story of delicious food gone stale because of a loose container.In

the process, the campaign, like in the previous ones, adopts freshness and hygiene as an experience that one gets with

Tupperware products. Elaborating on the point, Anshu Bagai, Marketing Director, Tupperware India says, “By its design

itself, these products are unique. In that, they have been designed according to the kitchens of the Indian homes –

making it stackable and organized. But we had a long discussion with the team at IBD on whether the talking point

should be about the shape or the inherent Tupperware virtue of freshness. We realized that with the air-tight lids, leak-


proof locks and most of all the virgin plastics, gave us an opportunity to own the domain of freshness on a health and

hygiene platform like no one else.”“The strategy at its heart is insightful, simple and appealing”, says Jyotsna Chauhan,

COO, IBD India. “How many times has it happened that you open a jar of biscuits only to find that it’s gotten soggy, or

for that matter that your favourite pickle has fungus or more commonly sugar cubes being savoured by ants. All these

‘anti-freshness elements’ devour us of the freshness of food. And that’s what the communication is all about.”Jai Singh,

Senior Creative Director, IBD India says, “Tupperware is synonymous with freshness. The campaign dramatizes this

fact using a simple idea of a post-it note being used as an eviction notice to all anti-freshness agents, by a housewife.

This was also followed up with a digital campaign on Facebook which got housewives to write their version of the good

bye note/eviction notice. Both have had an overwhelming response. We received 7000+ letters and still counting.” The

campaign is being run extensively across India in print, radio and TV on non-FCT spots along with ground level

activation.

*****************

IBD India appoints Akash Sharma as Creative Director

Source: Bestmediainfo.com, Medianewsline.com, Adgully.com, Network2media.com, Contifym.com, Date:

June 27, 2011

IBD India, the integrated brand development wing of Hakuhodo Percept company, has roped in Akash

Sharmaas Creative Director for the Delhi office. The agency is buoyant with recent business acquisitions and is set for

an exciting growth phase. The mandate for Akash Sharma would be to strengthen creatives, both product and people.

With Akash Sharma coming aboard IBD India will only fortify its creative output and assure some more out-of-the box

solutions to their clients. In this role Akash will be responsible for driving creative brand building and delivering big

ideas for clients. Akash Sharma has more than a decade’s experience in both ATL and BTL spaces. Prior to this, he

was in Rediffusion Y&R and Lowe Lintas. He has worked on brands like LG (Home Appliance & Home Entertainment,

FPDs), Greenply, Havells, Crabtree, Polo, BILT, Hajmola, etc. Speaking about his new venture Akash Sharma says, “I

am really excited to join IBD India and work on internationally recognised brands like Panasonic and a host of others. I

am looking forward to doing work that is relevant to my target audiences and win recognition of award juries as well. We

are an ambitious bunch here hungry to do good work.” Talking on the appointment of Akash, Rahul Gupta, MD,

IBD India says “Akash is skilled and talented whose experience will add value to the clients that IBD handles. As his

experience spans 360 degrees, he will be able to use his knowledge to provide holistic communication solution to

clients.” Akash is an avid reader and likes to watch movies and listen to music in his leisure time. His expertise in

various areas of brand building campaigns will definitely help IBD India reach to greater heights.

*******************************


HPPL Unicharm brings on board Percept Hakuhodo, ZO for new brand Sofysidewall

Source: Exchange4media.com, Date: June 30, 2011

Unicharm, a Japanese manufacturer of feminine hygiene and adult incontinence products, which had entered the Indian

market in 2009 with Mamy Poco Pants, is set to launch its new product, called Sofysidewall, in the sanitary napkins

category. Unicharm India has roped in Percept Hakuhodo to take care of the entire communication activities for

Sofysidewall, including ATL, BTL and PR. There was no pitch involved in the process and the alignment with Percept

Hakuhodo comes from the company’s association with the agency in Japan. ZenithOptimedia has been roped in as the

media partner following a multi-agency pitch that also saw the participation of Allied Media. Confirming the association

with Unicharm for Sofysidewall, Saptarshi Sengupta, Vice President, Percept Hakuhodo, said, “We tied up with the

company last year when the research for the product started. Percept Hakuhodo made presentations to the

management in Japan since the company works with agencies like JWT, Dentsu and others on a global front and got

the business aligned. We have developed the entire communication campaign for the product, which is set to release

on July 7. We have roped in Prachi Desai as the brand ambassador for Sofysidewall and this is the first time a celebrity

is endorsing a sanitary napkin brand.”

The feminine hygiene category in India is already a cluttered space with the presence of various established brands like

Carefree, Stayfree, Whisper, Kotex and recent entrants like She and Shapers. But the company was entering the

market after a thorough market research, said Prerna Agarwal, Brand Executive, Unicharm. She added, “We have done

an exhaustive research before launching this product in the market. We found that side leakage is a serious issue that

every woman faces and we wanted to address that issue. Sofysidewall provides complete freedom from side leakage

and this will be our USP. Our communications will also be focused in this USP of the product.” The product has already

been introduced in the traditional trade markets on June 6 and will enter the modern trade in the next one month. The

product has been introduced in the premium price category segment with three SKUs (stock keeping unit), Regular

priced at Rs 49, Large priced at Rs 55 and Extra Large priced at Rs 65. The product will have a pan Indian presence.

Meanwhile, an integrated campaign is slated to be launched on July 7 to promote the brand on mediums like television,

print, online and on-ground. While Sofysidewall has Percept Hakuhodo as its creative partner, Dentsu will continue to

work on the Mamy Poco Pants account.

**************************************


PUBLIC RELATIONS PERCEPT PROFILE INDIA Percept Profile on a winning spree

Source: Afaqs.com, Date: May 19, 2011

Percept Profile is on a winning spree this May. It has added two more prestigious accounts in its kitty namely Karbonn

Mobiles (a JV between Jaina Group and UTL Technologies) along with the corporate mandate of Jaina Group and the

real estate major Mahagun India from its Delhi Branch.After showcasing its excellence and commitment in providing

outstanding services to other mobile brands in the past, making Karbonn mobiles the next big thing is the motto of

Percept Profile. Percept Profile plans to help Karbonn mobiles establish a strong brand identity and promote the Jaina

Group at every decibel level.Mahagun India is an organization of zealous engineers and space planers, rich in

experience and high on commitment, which has helped them sustain professional excellence for more than four

decades. Percept Profile is committed to sustain the image of Mahagun as the real estate major which is known to set

examples in personal & professional conduct all while delivering products and services that exceed customer's

expectations.On bagging the PR mandates for two more prestigious accounts, Rahat Beri, COO, Percept Profile, said,

"It's a pleasure to be associated with Karbonn Mobiles and Mahagun India . With our utmost dedication and research

based services we plan to make these brands the talk of the town. We intend to provide strategic solutions to our new

clients along with 360-degree communication across spectrum to help it reach the pinnacle."

On being associated with Percept Profile, Pradeep Jain, MD, Karbonn Mobiles, said," It's a pleasure to be associated

with Percept Profile considering the milestones they have achieved in the past. They have demonstrated deep

understanding of consumer insights and their client requirements leading the path towards symbiotic growth."Mr. Dhiraj

Jain, Director, Mahagun India, adds "We are extremely happy to be associated with Percept Profile. Percept Profile has

played an excellent and dynamic role in understanding and building up of various real estate brands in the past."

******************************

Percept Profile on a winning spree adds Karbonn Mobiles and Mahagun India

Source: Audiencematters; Date: May 21, 2011



real estate major Mahagun India from its Delhi Branch. After showcasing its excellence and commitment in providing

outstanding services to other mobile brands in the past, making Karbonn mobiles the next big thing is the motto of

Percept Profile. Percept Profile plans to help Karbonn mobiles establish a strong brand identity and promote the Jaina

Group at every decibel level. Mahagun India is an organization of zealous engineers and space planers, rich in

experience and high on commitment, which has helped them, sustain professional excellence for more than four

decades. Percept Profile is committed to sustain the image of Mahagun as the real estate major which is known to set

examples in personal & professional conduct all while delivering products and services that exceed customer's

expectations. On bagging the PR mandates for two more prestigious accounts, Rahat Beri, COO, Percept Profile, said,

“It’s a pleasure to be associated with Karbonn Mobiles and Mahagun India . With our utmost dedication and research

based services we plan to make these brands the talk of the town. We intend to provide strategic solutions to our new

clients along with 360-degree communication across spectrum to help it reach the pinnacle.” On being associated with

Percept Profile, Pradeep Jain, MD, Karbonn Mobiles, said,” It’s a pleasure to be associated with Percept Profile

considering the milestones they have achieved in the past. They have demonstrated deep understanding of consumer

insights and their client requirements leading the path towards symbiotic growth.” Mr. Dhiraj Jain, Director, Mahagun


India, adds “We are extremely happy to be associated with Percept Profile. Percept Profile has played an excellent and

dynamic role in understanding and building up of various real estate brands in the past.”

*******************************

Percept Profile adds Karbonn Mobiles & Mahagun to it’s kitty

Source: Adgully.com, Date: May 25, 2011



real estate major Mahagun India.After showcasing its excellence and commitment in providing outstanding services to

other mobile brands in the past, making Karbonn mobiles the next big thing is the motto of Percept Profile. Percept

Profile plans to help Karbonn mobiles establish a strong brand identity and promote the Jaina Group at every decibel

level.Mahagun India is an organization of zealous engineers and space planers, rich in experience and high on

commitment, which has helped sustain professional excellence for more than four decades. Percept Profile is

committed to sustain the image of Mahagun as the real estate major which is known to set examples in personal &

professional conduct all while delivering products and services that exceed customer’s expectations.

On bagging the PR mandates for two more prestigious accounts, Rahat Beri, COO, Percept Profile, said, “It’s a

pleasure to be associated with Karbonn Mobiles and Mahagun India . With our utmost dedication and research based

services we plan to make these brands the talk of the town. We intend to provide strategic solutions to our new clients

along with 360-degree communication across spectrum to help it reach the pinnacle.”On being associated with Percept

Profile, Pradeep Jain, MD, Karbonn Mobiles, said,” It’s a pleasure to be associated with Percept Profile considering the

milestones they have achieved in the past. They have demonstrated deep understanding of consumer insights and their

client requirements leading the path towards symbiotic growth.”Dhiraj Jain, Director, Mahagun India, adds “We are

extremely happy to be associated with Percept Profile. Percept Profile has played an excellent and dynamic role in

understanding and building up of various real estate brands in the past.”

*********************************

Percept Profile wins 2 businesses

Source: Bestmediainfo.com, Date: May 24, 2011

Gets the PR mandate for Karbonn Mobiles & Mahagun India.Percept Profile is on a winning spree this May. It has

added two more prestigious accounts in its kitty namely Karbonn Mobiles (a JV between Jaina Group and UTL

Technologies) along with the corporate mandate of Jaina Group and the real estate major Mahagun India from its Delhi

Branch. After showcasing its excellence and commitment in providing outstanding services to other mobile brands in the

past, making Karbonn mobiles the next big thing is the motto of Percept Profile. Percept Profile plans to help Karbonn

mobiles establish a strong brand identity and promote the Jaina Group at every decibel level.Mahagun India is an

organization of zealous engineers and space planers, rich in experience and high on commitment, which has helped

them sustain professional excellence for more than four decades. Percept Profile is committed to sustain the image of

Mahagun as the real estate major which is known to set examples in personal & professional conduct all while

delivering products and services that exceed customer’s expectations. On bagging the PR mandates for two more

prestigious accounts, Rahat Beri, COO, Percept Profile, said, “It’s a pleasure to be associated with Karbonn Mobiles

and Mahagun India . With our utmost dedication and research based services we plan to make these brands the talk of

the town. We intend to provide strategic solutions to our new clients along with 360-degree communication across

spectrum to help it reach the pinnacle.”

“On being associated with Percept Profile, Shashin Devsare, Executive Director, Karbonn Mobiles, said,” It’s a pleasure

to be associated with Percept Profile considering the milestones they have achieved in the past. They have

demonstrated deep understanding of consumer insights and their client requirements leading the path towards


symbiotic growth.” Dhiraj Jain, Director, Mahagun India, adds “We are extremely happy to be associated with Percept

Profile. Percept Profile has played an excellent and dynamic role in understanding and building up of various real estate

brands in the past.”

*********************************

Percept Profile adds Karbonn Mobiles and Mahagun India to its kitty

Source: Network2media.com, Date: May 25, 2011

Percept Profile is on a winning spree this May. It has added two more prestigious accounts in its kitty, namely, Karbonn


real estate major, Mahagun India.After showcasing its excellence and commitment in providing outstanding services to

other mobile brands in the past, making Karbonn mobiles the next big thing is the motto of Percept Profile. Percept

Profile plans to help Karbonn mobiles establish a strong brand identity and promote the Jaina Group at every decibel

level.Mahagun India is an organisation of zealous engineers and space planers, rich in experience and high on

commitment, which has helped sustain professional excellence for more than four decades. Percept Profile is

committed to sustain the image of Mahagun as the real estate major which is known to set examples in personal and

professional conduct while delivering products and services that exceed customer's expectations.On bagging the PR

mandates for two more prestigious accounts, Rahat Beri, COO, Percept Profile, said, "It's a pleasure to be associated

with Karbonn Mobiles and Mahagun India . With our utmost dedication and research based services, we plan to make

these brands the talk of the town. We intend to provide strategic solutions to our new clients along with 360-degree

communication across spectrum to help it reach the pinnacle."

On being associated with Percept Profile, Pradeep Jain, MD, Karbonn Mobiles, said, "It's a pleasure to be associated

with Percept Profile considering the milestones they have achieved in the past. They have demonstrated deep

understanding of consumer insights and their client requirements leading the path towards symbiotic growth."

Dhiraj Jain, director, Mahagun India, added, "We are extremely happy to be associated with Percept Profile. Percept

Profile has played an excellent and dynamic role in understanding and building up of various real estate brands in the

past.”.

(The coverage carried photograph of Ms. Rahat Beri)

*********************************


INDUSTRY NEWS

WWE takes on India

Source: Greenwichtime.com, Date: June 1. 2011

Crown jewel of Asia unveiled: Media company sees potential in India with new Mumbai office. Though it's been more

than 10 years since WWE toured a live show in India, their new office in Mumbai, which opened Tuesday, is poised to

become the crown jewel of the company's holdings in Asia. The integrated media company has appointed Rukn

Kizilbash as general manager of the Mumbai office, which hopes to expand the business in the burgeoning Indian

market. WWE has had significant television presence in the country for the past 20 years and hopes to use this as a

springboard for the expansion of everything from merchandise sales to live wrestling events. "On a general economic

basis, India is one of the fastest growing and emerging countries on earth," said Andrew Whitaker, executive vice

president of WWE International. "The view was that it was strategically critical to make all the WWE products available

in the Indian marketplace." WWE wrestling is available in 145 countries and has been translated into 35 languages.

WWE has offices in London, Singapore, Tokyo and Shanghai. The office in India is part of a renewed international

expansion. WWE recently signed television deals in Russia and Brazil. "We're great believers in solid, strong, organic

growth internationally," Whitaker said. Kizilbash, who has previously worked at Percept, Ten Sports, IMG and ESPN

Star Sports, is "very experienced," he said. "Naturally, the view is taken that we want feet on the street, local expertise

to build the business out," Whitaker said. The existing agreement with the cable provider in India is WWE's second-

largest international television deal, a fact that speaks to the demand for wrestling entertainment in the country. But the

economic gap in India may be a factor. "I was a little surprised by the news because India is not a place that they've

toured in years and years," said Dave Meltzer, editor of Wrestling Observer magazine. "There's a lot of fans in India, but

they don't have any money. If there's inexpensive merchandise, there's money to be made there, but there's markets in

the UK, Australia and Mexico that are much, much bigger. India does have a very rich history for professional wrestling,

but it's just the economy that doesn't seem to support it." But Whitaker is confident that the success of WWE's telecasts

will boost the company's other divisions in India. "India is a particularly important part of the world for any business, but

for WWE, it's one or largest markets on television alone," he said. "If the TV market can be of that scale, we believe the

other businesses can be built up to their full potential as well."

*********************************

NBA ANNOUNCES DIGITAL PARTNERSHIP WITH TIMES INTERNET LIMITED

Source: Audiencematters.com, Date: June 1. 2011

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Times Internet Limited (TIL), a subsidiary of Times Group, today

announced a digital partnership to launch the first-ever dedicated NBA section on the Times of India webssite. TheNBA

becomes the second sports league after the IPL (Indian Premier League) to partner with the Times Group in India,

highlighting the growing popularity of basketball and the NBA in India. A new dedicated NBA section will feature on the

Times of India website, with a reach of over 12 million users per month (comScore, April 2011). The NBA section will

provide fans with comprehensive daily updates on the latest NBA news, scores and original columns from Times Group

journalists. Daily video highlights, photo galleries and articles from NBA analysts will also be offered, as well as in-depth

features on the league and its players. Furthermore, journalists from the Times Group will travel to the 2011 NBA Finals

to provide on-site and behind-the-scenes coverage for fans in India. “We are proud to be associated with one of the

most recognized sporting leagues in the World .” said Rishi Khiani, CEO, Times Internet Limited.”The NBA is the

premier men's professional basketball league in North America. With the growing popularity of Basketball globally and

more recently in India we plan to leverage our audience to help popularize the sport further and drive newer audiences

to the game. “The Times Group has unrivaled reach in India and they are an ideal partner to help showcase our game

and engage more NBA fans throughout the country,” said Heidi Ueberroth, President, NBA International. “We are in the

midst of one of our most exciting playoffs in recent memory and the innovative, in-depth sports coverage provided by


the Times Group allows us to bring fans in India closer to the game.” The NBA is committed to growing popularity of

basketball in India and is currently in the second season of the Mahindra NBA Challenge the largest multi-city,

community-based basketball league in India. The NBA has marketing partnerships in India with adidas, Coca-Cola, EA

SPORTS, HP, Mahindra, Nike, Reebok, and Spalding; has record television coverage this season on Ten Sports and

Sony Pix; and recently launched the widest assortment of jerseys and merchandise ever in India in 200 adidas stores.

Additionally, in partnership with the Basketball Federation of India (BFI), the NBA is promoting the sport on all levels.

NBA Cares, the league’s global social responsibility program, has hosted numerous youth and coaching clinics over the

past year. Basketball courts are being refurbished to facilitate access to the game and promote participation among

youth. Around 15 NBA or WNBA players have traveled to India to conduct clinics and raise awareness of the game. The

NBA is also working closely with the BFI to identify coaches for India’s National Team.

***************************

ET NOW emerges as a clear market leader in the English Business Genre across the 6 Metro Market


ET NOW, 24-hr English business news has demonstrated high competency once again by achieving the highest

viewership amongst the core audience from CS AB Males 25+ Yrs in the 6 Metro Market. ET NOW with a formidable

team of anchors & analysts, breaking news, expert reviews on investment strategies, stock tips, and interviews with

national & global market leaders, has retained the top spot this week.As per the latest Television Audience

Measurement data, ET NOW is once again the #1 English Business News Channel with 40% market share in the

current week and 38% as an average over the last 8 weeks, in the 6 Metros amongst the core audience from CS AB

Males 25+ Yrs. And in the commercial capital of the country (Mumbai), ET NOW continues its domination with a market

share of 60% in the current week & a consistent performance over the last 3 months with a market share of 48%.Hot

stock tips from India’s leading technical analysts, Opinions & Advice from the biggest market experts, breaking news

delivered first & fastest ticker in business news just some of the reasons why ET NOW continues to outgrow all other

Business News Channel consistently. So stay tuned to ET NOW for more stock tips, trading strategies, sectorial calls,

stock market trends and exclusive interviews.

***************************

Mudra Max helps Union Bank of India launch five new services


The Union Finance Minister, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee and Mr. Shashi Kant Sharma, the Secretary, Department of

Financial Services launched five union inclusions services for the Union Bank of India at the NCPA (Mumbai) on 21

May, 2011.The launch event created and executed by Mudra Max epitomized the spirit of novel initiatives that UBI

intended to launch.Since technology is a key constituent of UBI’s DNA, Mudra designed an event that was

technologically edgy. With only ten days in hand from the brief to execution, Mudra Max created a memorable one hour

experience which successfully bundled the launches in a unifying theme despite being distinct in nature (comic books to

bio-metric cards to mobile van banking to solar powering of Union Adarsh Gram to financial inclusion branches). To

demonstrate the uniqueness of each of the five initiatives, they were thematically unveiled on the stage. To illustrate,

the FM impressed his fingerprint on a touch screen to launch the bio-metric cards. The mid-air suspended lamps

actually got lit on the drop of a Re. 1 coin by the FM in an earthen pot. Similarly, the FM steered a dummy steering

wheel to symbolically launch the Mobile Van Banking. These acts were synchronized with flash based animated films

(custom-made for the event) that were projected on a 30 feet wide watch-out screen in the centre of the stage

backdrop. The high point of event was the 3D sequence showing the grand opening of a safety vault which contained a

branded animated cube that embraced all the animated films. The invited media as well as an audience of over 1200

was enthralled to witness the five launches.


Rahul Karwa, Head West, Celsius said, “There are no retakes for the acts performed in such events and relentless

rehearsals and detailing are the only saviors. And that’s what makes events such a special as well as a challenging part

of marketing communication. The magnitude of this event and the fact that it had to be turned around in a period of just

10 days (conceptualization to execution made it a daunting task! This was the fifth event that Mudra Max has executed

for UBI in the last couple of years and we are happy that with this event we managed to live up to the ever increasing

expectations of our prestigious client.” Sony Parikh, Group Account Director, Celsius, “Someone has rightly said "You

Are as Good as Your Last Event". Mudra Max represented world class creativity and organizational skills in putting up

this grand show for Union Bank of India. It’s interesting to see the clients desire to create something unique and

worthwhile, and help us set higher benchmarks of creativity and achievements for us.”

***************************

There is a partnership between retail and modern trade!


Today, in India, the consumer behavior, their buying pattern and even the buying destinations have changed quite a lot.

Earlier people used to stand in long queue for buying the household goods. But with the advent and proliferation of

malls and huge retail chains things have become easier for the consumers and the consumer market for mom and pop

stores has reduced. But at the same time many of these locally owned businesses continue to operate and even to

thrive in today’s economy.These small retailers generally maintain smaller consignments and have lower individual

contracts but many are still as likely to attract handsome, steady bottom line unit profits when compared to large-scale

retailers, according to some analysts. As organized retail is evolving, mom and pop stores continue to remain relevant

across both large and small towns in India. Of the current 204 million households in India, it is estimated that only about

13 million households are comfortable and have the income to patronize organized retail. This relevant consumer

segment, however, will grow fivefold from 13 million to 65 million households in the next 8 years. Talking about how

organized retail is affecting mom and pop stores, Thomas Varghese, CEO, More says, “I don’t think organized retail has

affected mom and pop stores much in this country. There is a documentary proof that there is no negative effect. There

might be positive impact for sure. Many of the unorganized retails have become more modern in their progression, in

terms of how they keep their merchandize, how they stack their shelves, many of them have moved to billing, so these

are the positive impacts that modern retail has had on them. Large companies like HUL are working to modernize the

general trade so it all impacts the progress”. Varghese adds, “Mom and pop stores are becoming more modern and with

the cash and carry format becoming a major supply, the general trade definitely can benefit considerably from the

strengthening of the cash and carry format , they are not only depending on the FMCG companies. There is always a

partnership between retail and modern trade and it will grow with time”.

MNCs like Unilever’s Indian subsidiary are lauded for their reach and distribution as they serve over a million small

shops in urban and rural India. Their century long presence has definitely helped in gaining access to all these mom

and pop stores, also called ‘Kirana stores’. Such players would prefer to make massive profits from the small retailers

rather than have to take on retailers their size or larger who would obviously squeeze them for better prices. Retail

industry, employs almost 40 million people, while providing survival to another 120 million of their dependents. Retail is

thus the nation’s second largest employer after agriculture. The overall size of the retail pie is said to be approximately

$300 billion, contributing approximately 9-10 percent of India’s GDP. Some 12 million retail shops are the channels that

garner these numbers but the scenario is changing with the advent of modern retail. Talking about why organized retail

is not affecting mom and pop stores, Shakuntala Sarkar, Sr. Manager - Regional Marketing (West Bengal), Spencer's

Retail Limited, “Firstly, organized retail is just 4 percent of the total retail pie in India. The rest of it is the traditional retail

which comprises the mom-and-pop store. Secondly, not everyone of the entire retail customer segment would be an

organized retail customer. There would be a huge segment who would continue to visit the mom and pop stores.

Thirdly, the shopping instances for organized retail and traditional retail are sometimes different. For example, retail

stores can be destination stores where one shops for the month and also spends time with his or her family”. Sarkar

continues, “Mom and pop stores are more of top-up stores, a need that would always be there. Fourthly, there is a


certain comfort level that these stores provide owing to their personal services and credit facilities. So, their importance

will always be there. So, it is a peaceful coexistence and this realization is there with all modern retailers. They are

partnering for inclusive and cognitive growth like placing of PL in ‘kirana stores’”.

****************************

Vritti i-Medias unique media delivery solution helps Lokmat reach out to the heart of Maharashtra


Vritti i-Media’s innovative out door advertising network has helped Lokmat, one of Maharashtra’s leading Marathi dailies

to increase its readership and brand recall in the semi urban and rural areas of Maharashtra. Vritti’s expertise and

understanding of the rural market was leveraged by Lokmat through an engaging campaign across Vritti’s audio

network in 4 different locations across Maharashtra at MSRTC bus stands for a period of 3 months starting January

2011.Daily headlines from the newspaper were recorded and aired everyday along with a simple, catchy message

reminding the people to pick up a copy of Lokmat being sold at the venue while waiting for their buses. The campaign

was a success across Maharashtra directly resulting in increased counter sales for Lokmat at the advertising locations.

Speaking about the Lokmat campaign, Mr. Rajesh Radhakrishnan, Director, Marketing and HR, Vritti i-Media said, “The

uniqueness of Vritti’s OOH solution lies in the fact that it is the only medium that can be effectively leveraged to highlight

the benefits of another type of medium. With Lokmat, we adopted an interesting marketing mix of information sharing

and brand advertising which helped the audience engagement and connect with the brand” Mr. Nischad Salam,

Manager, HR at Lokmat Media Pvt Limited said, “We appreciate the efforts put in by Vritti’s team to use innovative

technology to create some excitement among our audience. The advertising campaign we have run with Vritti’s network

has helped us increase our readership base for Lokmat Newspaper. We have witnessed an increased volume of sales

at campaign locations along with good brand penetration and recall. We look forward to a sustained association with

Vritti i-Media going forward.” Vritti i-Media, an arm of Vritti Solutions, has introduced innovative media vehicles whose

impact, reach and aptness allows companies to break the clutter and effectively market and advertise their products and

services to Tier-2, Tier-3 cities and ‘media dark’ places in rural Maharashtra.

********************

Microsoft Advertising, MEC and Mindshare unveil global study Living with the Internet - What is Driving Web

Behaviour


Microsoft Advertising, MEC and Mindshare yesterday released a study entitled ‘Living with the Internet – What is Driving

Web behavior’, designed to better understand the nature of time spent online across the world. Intended to gain better

insights on consumer’s web behavior and aid marketers and brands to tap into these insights, the study was undertaken

across 11 countries - Brazil, Canada, China, France, India, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Spain, United Kingdom and the US

and focused on 7,000 participants aged between 16 and 54 years old. The study finds that in India, spontaneous activity

on the internet has halved in the last two years as consumers, conscious of the addictive nature of the web, try to stay

focused and make better use of time spent online. This trend is consistent globally, as worldwide more than 79 per cent

of respondents said that they had planned their activity on the internet in advance so that they could stay more focused

and do more in less time. Across Asia, as well, this figure is fairly consistent, with Japan topping the list in the proportion

of planned visits at 89 per cent; China at 76 per cent and India at 72 per cent. On the emerging patterns in internet

usage, the study finds that majority of time spent online is habitual, with only 16% prompted by an event, conversation

or offline media. It revealed that almost all online sessions start with more personal or intimate destinations such as

social networks, emails and blogs; go to the more public forums such as news, entertainment and search; finally going

back to the personal destinations.

More than half of the people on the internet, irrespective of what their motivation for being there are, are multi-tasking.

In an increasingly connected and multi-tasking world this means, that brands need to create strong somatic markers for


themselves. Building on this, Shubha George, Chief Operating Officer, MEC South Asia said “MEC introduced the

concept of Paid, Owned and Earned media last year and the interplay amongst the 3 types of media is most significant

in the digital world. The digital world today is an amalgamation of multiple digital touch points, often simultaneously. For

holistic campaigns, brands need to activate all aspects of digital to engage the multitasking consumer” The study also

captures insights on usage patterns across devices and finds that while smartphones usage at 34 per cent is primarily

for seeking information and content sharing, notebooks at 33 per cent is high for transactions and entertainment. The

findings of the Living with the Internet study provide a number of compelling insights about how consumers are

behaving on the internet and what this means for advertisers. With such dynamics in place, marketers need to take a

smarter approach to online media by making a brand’s presence fit more naturally into a user’s experience. But the

insights gleaned from this survey suggest that by understanding how, when and where the potential consumers spend

their time, advertisers can then better engage with their target audience. It is no doubt that advertisers definitely have to

work harder to get people’s attention with better targeting and creative strategies. Commenting on the study from the

launch in Mumbai, Neville Taraporewalla, Director - Microsoft Advertising, Microsoft India said: “The rapidly changing

dynamics of internet usage in India, offer a fresh set of opportunities and challenges for advertisers. ‘Living with the

internet’ clearly underscores that as the internet grows to a scale and size, consumers are adopting a time-efficient,

planned and deliberate approach towards internet usage, which in turn implies that marketers will have to work harder

to reach the consumer on the go. With our proven expertise, we at Microsoft Advertising are geared to not just help

advertisers understand audiences and their evolving usage patterns better, but also deliver engaging and creative

platforms and content to help create long lasting engagements with these audiences.”

Internet as an entertainment hub is on the rise. - nternet is emerging as an ‘entertainment hub’ to watch and to

download video clips, TV shows online (both short and long form), to listen to music online and to download music and

online gaming. It is the 16-24 year olds who make most use of the internet as an entertainment source making it a

significant chunk of their daily activity.

Powering Engagement - Matching moods with modes - The study essentially identifies certain moods associated with

the different motivations for using the internet, pointing to agencies and brands, the kind of content or communication

that might engage better in that particular mode of access. For instance, in an open state of mind, they are more

attuned to communication and seeking information, listening to music while in a good mood, more prone to a

transactional mode in a serious frame of mind and so on.

Smartphones and notebook both have a different role to play in online usage- Besides understanding usage behavior,

the study also sought to identify which portable devices consumers are using, allowing brands to modify their content by

device. It also unearths evidence to demonstrate the growing importance of mobile usage in communication and

creation as smartphone ownership continues to explode. The study shows that in India, the use of smartphones at 34

per cent are surpassing notebooks which stands at 33 per cent as the main method for accessing information. Except

for information seeking and content creation, however, notebooks remain the main device used for transactions and

entertainment.

India in comparison to the rest of the world -‘Living with the Internet’ also reveals a contrast in receptiveness to online

advertising between the more mature markets – UK, France, Spain, Canada, Japan and US - and emerging markets

like Brazil, China, Mexico, Russia and India. For advertisers, the findings show it is essential to interact with a target

audience in a way that compliments a consumer’s online activity, rather than negatively interrupting it. In addition, a

blend of paid, owned and earned media feature in the list of the most popular brand communication formats,

demonstrating that each has a place in the digital media mix. "This is our honest and humble attempt to bring some

method to the madness. Internet is now one of the basic utilities like electricity, gas etc., and it needs to be looked on

the back of popular culture we are getting into" said R Gowthaman, Leader, Mindshare, South Asia. In short, the study

has been successful in throwing light on some important consumer trends and its implications on how marketers will


shape their communication campaigns in a relevant and engaging manner. The key is to adopt a smarter approach to

online media by making a brand’s presence fit more naturally into a user’s experience.

**************************

Night that awarded the DIGITAL!

Source: Audiencematters.com Date: June 6, 2011

Indian Digital Media Awards 2011 were held on 3rd June in Mumbai. This was the second edition of awards which were

presented by India Bulls Home Loans and co-sponsored by Disney Interactive Media and Vdopia.This year there were

around 550 entries as compared to 250 last year. The jury comprised of distinguished people from the industry. Some

of the jury members were Abhijit Saxena, CEO- Netcore, Alok Mittal, Managing Director at Canaan Partners, India,

Anand Singh, Director Marketing, Coca-Cola India, Arun Tadanki, Managing Director at Yahoo, Lakshmikant Gupta,

Chief Marketing Officer at LG Electronics India and Rajeev Kapoor, Pat Burns from Madison, Sanjay Tripathy,

Executive Vice President - Head Marketing and Direct Channels at HDFC Life and President and CEO at Fiat India

Automobile P Ltd. ccording to Ashwani Joshi, Marketing Digital TV services, Airtel, “India is a market where an average

age of an Indian is 25-26. Most people are young and they are ready for change. The growing middle class and high

disposable income will surely gear up the change. Today, in India, there are 35 million household using DTH with 6.5

million using Airtel. It will be a big thing in future and more with the convergence of DTH”. n the occasion, Ravi

Deshpande said, “Our day would start with digital and end with digital. We will have to follow some principles, like we

follow in advertising to make digital strong!”

******************************

Challenges that DIGITAL ADVERTISING can foresee

Source: Audiencematters.com Date: June 6, 2011

Digital Advertising in India is in its nascent stage and is believed to grow in future. With the increasing penetration of

Internet in India, digital advertising has the potential of growth and online advertising is set to explode in coming years.

According to an IAMAI study, the 38.5 million Indian Internet users have become the prime target for numerous

advertisers on the web.In today’s world, online advertising is very popular. Not only it is a far more measurable medium

than traditional advertising, it also helps track which methods work well and that assists in making changes in the

campaign. But there are few challenges that digital advertising can foresee in future and coping up with the challenges

is very essential for its growth. According to Pratap Bose, COO - Mudra Group, CEO - Mudra Max, “I think the digital

advertising business, in terms of the paid advertising that you see on digital media needs to evolve. It’s still at a very

nascent stage and I say this because there is a size of TV advertisement, 30sec or 40 sec but in digital advertising,

there is no size. For example if you take banner advertising, there is no mandated size of the banner online. There is no

rate card but you can actually calculate what your ROI is on the campaign, whether it’s on clicks, or call to action or

whether it results in a SMS or phone call, everything can be tracked far better on digital”. Bose continues, “I think the big

problem for digital is that you can never predict what’s going to happen in next 2 -3 years. So, it’s very difficult to say

that vehicles, on social media, like Twitter Facebook, which are so popular today and it seems they are all of the

conversation are going to be the same in future. When you say ‘social media’, it’s dominated by Twitter and Facebook

and everything else comes later because the base is so huge. But who is to say that Twitter may not exist in 2years or

who is to say that there are no new forms on digital media on which people can communicate, co-create and share. So,

the future of Digital and the way it’s perceived and conducted today could see a change than what we are seeing today.

It’s very difficult to say that this is the root”. “Everyone else 3 years ago was saying search engine optimization is the

biggest thing that is going to happen on digital, people are not talking much about that now, it’s completely dominated

by social media. While SEO is important but social media seems to have overtaken. I think the difficulty to predict

change when at such a rapid pace it is growing in, is one of the inherent problem and the fact that it is not very

organized. If we buy space on digital, it’s probably limited to top 15; Yahoo, Google, etc are the standard stuffs that you

buy. Today, people’s life and interest are changing so variedly that it is very difficult to track them online”, adds Bose.


Sanjeev Gupta, MD, Global Advertisers says, “We are working towards finding effective solutions to absorb data online

and help advertisers and publishers target audience based on gender, interest, demographic, behavior. And there are

innovations galore. I believe web is beyond finding the audience and selling. It allows you to track a user anywhere. The

challenge is to get the bigger chunk of TV advertisement spend on digital advertising & marketing. Attracting diverse

industries and unconventional businesses and moving their ad budgets and confidence to digital advertising. And that’s

possible by making online technologies simple, user-friendly and easy for masses. Interestingly, over 36 hours of video

is uploaded on YouTube every minute. Online video viewing destinations and smart phones are the most promising

areas to reach out to generation next. The Indian online advertising market soared by around 26 per cent (total Rs 993

crore) in 2010-2011 compared to the previous year. Total online display advertising market grew 28 per cent (total Rs

534 crore)”. Soumen Ghosh Choudhury, National Business Head, Big FM, states “I think one thing that comes with

online medium is that it is result oriented that’s why it has an advantage. I don’t say there are much challenges, but the

biggest challenge that online medium in India is seeing today and it will continue to see for some time is that the

Broadband penetration in India is very limited, people working on online medium are limited, and so you do not get a

good amount of reach. Until and unless that changes, it will be very limited in terms of its use. Having said that I think

mobile 3G and next technology will help people to leave that and get into more broadband and online advertising”.

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Retail push: Aditya Birla group lines up Rs 300-cr investment

Source: Hindustan Times Date: June 6, 2011

Aditya Birla Retail Ltd (ABRL), the retail arm of the $29.2-billion diversified Aditya Birla Group, recently announced their

plan to open 150 new supermarkets and 12 new hypermarkets in the current fiscal year for a planned investment of Rs

300 crore. The company currently operates 560 supermarkets a d 10 hypermarkets under the “more” brand. ith such

aggressive expansion plans, ABRL expects to spin thousands of job opportunities. We may hire over 4,500 staff on

direct payroll under the expansion plans,” said Thomas Varghese, CEO, Aditya Birla Retail, while inaugurating the

second hypermarket in Kirti Nagar. ccording to estimates, each hypermarket requires the direct involvement of more

than 220 people and with 12 hypermarkets on the way, ABRL will hire over 2,600 employees. “Here, we are not

counting the creation of indirect jobs (transportation, storage, construction etc, which are 5 times more than the direct

jobs,” Varghese said. “Only the retail sector has the huge power of job creation, no other sector spells job opportunities

like this.” o solve the unemployment menace, leading retail firms are pushing the government to open up FDI in multi

brand retail. “We are in talks with the government. The opening of retail FDI will create over 8 million additional jobs in

the Indian economy by 2020.”

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Disney eyes higher stake in UTV software, may delist company

Source: Business Standard, Date: June 7, 2011

Mickey Mouse wants to consolidate his grip over his Indian joint venture partner UTV Software

Communication.According to three independent sources in the know, Walt Disney Company – the US headquartered

entertainment giant and creator of iconic toons like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck – is looking at raising its stake in

the company. Sources said the move is likely to trigger the eventual delisting of the stock from the Indian exchanges as

well. Disney currently owns 50.4 per cent in the media firm through its subsidiary Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia.

The Indian promoters, led by Rohinton (Ronnie) Screwvala have a 19.8 per cent stake, which is held by different entities

like Unliazer Exports and Management Consultants Ltd, Unilazer Hong Kong Ltd and by Screwvala in his personal

capacity. Sources said Disney has already appointed Ernst & Young to carry on a detailed tax diligence exercise while

Deloitte has been roped in for the due diligence. The investment banking mandate is still being contested among

Morgan Stanley, Bank of America-Merill Lynch and Goldman Sachs. It is, however, still not clear how the entire

exercise will finally pan out. Disney can increase its stake either by buying out the existing Indian promoters or by

issuing fresh equity into the company. Both can end up leading to an open offer, which in turn will be the trigger to delist


the stock going forward.A company in India can get delisted pursuant to a delisting offer provided the promoter group

owns more than 90 per cent stake.According to unconfirmed market sources, Disney, too, will gradually up its stake

towards the 75 per cent level.However, this could not be independently verified. But sources following the negotiations

said, even the issuance of fresh equity will dilute the existing Indian promoters substantially.Sources said, the current

negotiations between the two partners are being focused on the open offer price, which is likely to be at a 26 per cent

premium to the current market price. The market may have factored in the expected events to this effect in the next few

days. On Monday, shares of UTV Software Communications rose more than 12 per cent to a 52-week high of Rs 748

per share and ended the day up 10 per cent at Rs 731 per share. Its current market cap is Rs 2,970 crore.

Both UTV and Disney did not respond to Business Standard’s queries. Mails sent to the spokesperson for both these

companies did not get a response. UTV’s Managing Director and founder-CEO Ronnie Screwvala and his CFO Rajiv

Wagle did not respond to calls and text messages either.Disney and UTV’s relationship goes back five years when in

2006, Disney first acquired the kids’ channel Hungama TV (United Home Entertainment Ltd) which was then owned by

UTV Software Communications for a reported value of Rs 142.7 crore.In August 2006, Disney had first acquired 14.9

per cent stake in UTV Software for Rs 65 crore and 15 per cent stake in UTV Global Broadcasting Ltd (UGBL). UTV

Software owns 75 per cent in UGBL.Subsequently, in 2008, Disney increased its stake to 32.1 per cent in UTV

Software. Though this stake had triggered an open offer from Walt Disney, UTV had an option to buy back 20 per cent

from Disney within a four year period ending November 2012.The approximate valuation of the entire deal is in the

tunes of Rs 667 crore.But industry sources indicate that Screwvala may not be willing to exercise this option.

***********************

Music festivals rock India as middle-class grows

Source: Financial Chronicle, Date: June 6, 2011

For much of the year, the central Himalayan town of Naukuchiatal sees a steady trickle of tourists who come for its

majestic nine-cornered lake and lush, green landscape.But for three days each May, the trickle becomes a flood as

hundreds pour into this northern Indian town for "Escape," one of the nation's emergent music festivals buoyed by

young, middle-class Indians who now have money to spare for live music.Around 30 established and emerging Indian

artists, ranging from the heavy-metal band Phobia to the New Delhi-based Reggae Rajahs performed against the

sweeping mountain backdrop this year, the festival's third."This is my first time at a music festival and I love it," said one

man, who called in sick at work to attend.For hundreds of years, Indians have come together to sing, dance and play

music often as part of spiritual and religious gatherings, and music is a huge part of the Kumbh Mela, a triennial mass

Hindu pilgrimage that has been described as the world's largest gathering.But now India is witnessing a rise in

contemporary music festivals similar to those rampant in the U.S. and Europe."The scene is getting better in India.

Initially, five, six years back, there were no festivals. It's just starting to pick up," says Randeep Singh from

Menwhopause, India's only rock band to have played at South By Southwest in Austin, Texas.The country's music

scene, dominated by music from Bollywood films, is growing, bucking a global downtrend caused by piracy.In 2010,

India, the world's 14th largest music market, saw a year-on-year increase of 16.5 percent in trade value, according to

the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which represents the global recording industry.This

contrasts with the U.S. and Japan, the world's two largest music markets, and most of Europe, which saw further

declines in recorded music sales, prompting musicians to use live music events to make up for the lost

revenue.According to IFPI, performance rights revenue last year grew by 4.6 percent globally. India saw some of the

biggest growth, jumping to $40.1 million in 2010 from $26.2 million in 2009.

"I can afford it now. Before I wanted to go and see Deep Purple and I couldn't even afford a 1000-rupee ticket. But now I

can," said festival-goer Akash Vora.At the Bacardi NH7 Weekender in the southern city of Pune, some of India's biggest

bands played alongside UK acts, such as Asian Dub Foundation and The Magic Numbers.The presence of international

performers helped sell thousands of tickets and cemented the festival as one of the country's biggest despite only

debuting last December."Every band I've met in Delhi, Chennai, wherever, they've said they really want to be at


Weekender and fans who also want to be at Weekender. Luckily for us, the first year went off great and the word will

spread," said Anuj Gupta from OML Entertainment, the festival's promoter."I don't see a hundred thousand people filling

up a festival with local bands in India. But with international artists or Bollywood artists, then absolutely."India's festivals

are also gaining attention abroad, with the Rajasthan International Folk Festival (RIFF), a multi-genre event launched

only four years ago and held in a 500-year-old fort overlooking the blue city of Jodhpur, seeing the number of foreign

attendees rise each year.Some travel companies have begun catering to this, seeking to lure British music festival fans

tired of dealing with poor weather and high ticket prices."Of course, long distance festivals are going to attract fewer

people, but we have noticed an increase of British travelers at RIFF over the years," said Miranda Boord, with U.K.-

based firm Original Travels that offers tours to the festival."Escape" founder L. Tochhawng, looking to the future, said he

has the luxury of being able to perfect his event each year and to build a reputation."Every year has been a learning

experience and every year we're trying to tighten up the whole thing and take it a little step further. So you keep on

changing the entire equation to see how it works and hopefully you'll come to an equation that finally works completely,"

he said."Festivals are beginning to catch up here. I don't think India is late. I think India is in the right time."

***********************

Coca-Cola uses solar cooler to push rural sales

Source: The Times of India, Date: June 6, 2011

Sales of soft drinks have long been stymied by erratic power supply, but an environment-friendly innovation developed

by Coca-Cola India now promises to change all that. Armed with the new product, Coca-Cola India plans to offer an

entire range of its chilled soft drink products to markets deep in the hinterland, even where there is no

electricity.'eKOCool', a chest cooler, developed internally by the Indian arm of the Atlanta-based multinational, operates

exclusively through solar energy, with no other electricity source required to operate it. It has a capacity to store two

crates, which contains 48 glass bottles of 300ml each. That's not all. It can even charge your mobile phone and light up

your home.The innovation gives Coca-Cola a competitive edge to tap new rural markets and ramp up sales of a product

which is always best served chilled. Introduced in select rural markets earlier this summer, it has already improved

sales dramatically and company officials expect orders of the product from other countries in the system as well. Says

Asim Parekh, VP technical, Coca Cola India: "The eKOCool is an outcome of our technical team's persistence to use

renewable energy for operating cooling equipment. The rural markets pose challenges in expansion as a huge swathe

of the rural belt is not yet covered by the power grid hence remains without electricity or has low power. This challenge

has been overcome by Coca-Cola's innovation, which will give us a competitive edge as well as a first mover

advantage."The product loaded into the cooler early morning or previous night is ready to be served chilled in the

morning. The cooling equipment brings benefits to the retailer too in terms of saving on the electricity bill and cost of

ice.A pilot project under which 20 such coolers were placed in rural areas near Agra (UP) has been successfully

completed this summer. Sales from these outlets have jumped nearly five times, a company official said.Sakhidevi, who

operates a general store in Sarvatpur, Agra, says: "We don't have electricity in the village for hours. Since I installed the

solar cooler, my sales have gone up."

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Five Mistakes Brands Make on Facebook

Source: Audiencematters.com, Date: June 8, 2011

Facebook today is considered to be one of best innovations in Social Networking space. Launched in 2004, facebook

has seen an exponential growth and currently boasts of over 600 million active users. Every brand today has a social

media strategy in place and Facebook is at the core. Some understand the importance very well, while others just want

to go with the flow. Facebook has many things to offer when it comes to marketing your product or company. Right from

creating applications to playing games & participating in communities, Facebook has a plethora of opportunities. So

how do companies leverage on this? How do they devise a strategy or plan? While some have succeeded in managing

it, others are trying to learn from their mistakes. In the recent times, there have been some mind boggling campaigns


executed on Facebook. Adidas Cricket, Mumbai Indians, Dominos & Make A Wish are some of the brands who have

done well. Mumbai Indians became the world’s first IPL brand to have a million fans following them on facebook.

Accordingly to a study by AC Nielsen and McKinsey it garnered the maximum support on social media during the IPL

when compared to any other team. Similarly, Adidas Cricket was the most spoken about sports brands on social media

during the first three weeks of the Cricket World Cup, more than official sponsors, Nike, according to the study. While

Facebook marketing is on the rise in India, many are yet to master the basics. It all boils down to how brands or

organizations set up their business as a profile page instead of a business page.

I) Randomly buying fans: Random buying of fans results in a lot of frivolous users who don't quite connect with

the brand but are simply happy clicking "like" on everything they see. We have seen this trend being very prominent in

the age group of 13-18. This reduces the interaction rate on a page in spite of a huge number of fans. However, the

same might not be true with brands, which connect better with audiences due to a common factor such as Cricket or

Sachin Tendulkar in the case of Adidas Cricket and Mumbai Indians.

II) Lack of objective behind being on social media: Brands needs to identify and define their objectives of being on

social media. Brands need to analyze what is their final objective of being on social media. Yes, competition forces

brands to be on social media but those with an objective or an end goal will survive and do much better in the long run.

For eg. Monginis for whom we are enabling ecommerce on Facebook, Mumbai Indians is building fans to support its

sponsors and help in ticket sales, Godrej is activating its customer loyalty management program on social media while

Adidas is looking to engage its fans to build foot falls in its stores and increase sales.

III) Emulating print marketing ideas for ‘New Media’: Brands make the mistake of coping print ideas directly on

digital media without understanding the likes and interests of the facebook audience. The marketing concepts and ideas

need to be innovative to engage the online audience.

IV) Abandoning fans: The “Set it & Forget it” mentality which is very common. Brands make the mistake of creating

a facebook page and leaving it unattended. This will not only waste a brands time & money invested in online

campaigns but also ruin potential long term relationship with their loyal fans and customers.

V) Hard selling your product/service: Considering facebook as a marketplace is the biggest & most common

mistake that brands do on facebook. Brands need to understand that Social networks like facebook and twitter are

communities to form relationships and maintain them with your existing and potential target audience than doing a hard

sell. Brands need to be careful and creative in their communication with fans to make sure that they remain engaged

and not feel intruded.

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Zzebra Public Relations launches Zzebra Sports


In a strategic move to capture a significant share of the growing sports market, Zzebra Public Relations Ltd has

launched Zzebra Sports, India’s first Integrated Sports Communication firm.Senior communication professional

Sangeeta Kuriakos has come on board as the Managing Partner and will be responsible for driving the growth of Zzebra

Sports in her new role. Sangeeta Kuriakos, who has extensive experience and a wide network in the sports industry is

the Managing Director of The Specialists and former Chief Executive Officer of Clea Public Relations. Zebra Sports will

concentrate on delivering high quality strategic, content management, online reputation management, media advocacy,

event management, branding and design frameworks and IP platform creation. Zebra has a robust and unmatched

sports portfolio of work across multiple sports disciplines, managing communication activities for India’s leading sports

management and marketing companies, sports celebrities, international and national associations and federations, and

global tournaments. The sports disciplines Zzebra has been involved in include tennis, rugby, badminton, football,


hockey, distance running, motorsports, mountain biking, golf, polo, yachting, apart from cricket, and has won industry

accolades for their stellar work. C.P.Thomas, Managing Director, Zzebra Public Relations Ltd. said: “We are pleased to

announce Zzebra Sports, India’s first integrated sports communication firm, which will leverage Zzebra’s existing

strengths in the sports industry and combine it with Sangeeta Kuriakos’ immense understanding of the sector to create

a winning entity. The sports marketing and communication space in India is still at a nascent stage and Zzebra Sports

aims to take a leadership position and pioneer new benchmarks in sports communication." Sangeeta Kuriakos,

Managing Partner, Zzebra Sports added: “The entry of global sporting brands and organisations into India is indicative

of sports being a sunrise industry. With supremacy in cricket, and soccer, tennis and motorsports already occupying a

large share of the mind space it is only a matter of time before we are a multi-sport nation catering to the entertainment

needs of a large target audience, especially in the urban centres. I am pleased to join hands with Zzebra to lead and

grow sports communication in the country and take advantage of the impending growth.” Zebra Sports will be

headquartered in Delhi with offices in the other metros – Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru – and the top tier cities.

Zzebra Public Relations is a leading communication consultancy headquartered in Mumbai, and is part of the Concept

Group, India’s largest independent communication group.

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Indian firms using social media to win biz: survey


Indian companies have increased their usage of social networks like Facebook, besides blogs, microblogs like Twitter

and other on-line fora to win new business in 2011, a survey said.An increasing number of Indian companies are using

social media as an effective business tool with 83% firms in India agreeing that without social media activity, marketing

strategies cannot hope to be successful, while globally, 74% companies endorse the view, according to the survey by

Regus, a leading office-space solutions provider."Around 52% of businesses globally and 64% in India use sites like

Twitter and Weibo to engage, connect with and inform existing customers.In India 67% of firms encourage their

employees to join social networks such as LinkedIn, Xing and Video, compared to 53% globally.Two-fifths, or 39%, of

companies globally and 49% of Indian companies devote up to 20% of their marketing budgets to business social

networking activity," the survey said.The global Regus survey findings are based on the responses of over 17,000

managers and business owners across 80 countries. In 2010, Regus found that 52% of Indian firms were successfully

winning new customers through business social networking activity.

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Gag order on filmmakers?

Source: Mid-Day, Date: June 8, 2011

Censor Board to raise the issue of producers talking ill about the cuts made by the panel. According to the grapevine,

the Censor Board might present a proposal for a gag order on filmmakers at Samvad 2011, an interactive session on

cinema and certification to be held on June 14. Apparently, the panel is of the opinion that filmmakers often divulge as

to why certain cuts were made in their films, to the media.Samvad is being held by the Central Board of Film

Certification along with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and will be attended by several eminent personalities from

the industry.A source from the Censor Board says, "The board is concerned with the fact that whatever happens in the

Examining Committee (EC) is later leaked out by the filmmakers either for publicity or other reasons.Ideally, the reasons

given for cutting certain scenes or songs should stay between the board and the producers. But the board has noticed

that these things are loosely talked about to the media and it creates a lot of problems."The source adds, "According to

rules that exist for the panel members and the examining officers of the board, we cannot talk about the film to anyone.

Unfortunately, that rule doesn't apply to the producers. A gag order for the producers might not be the most practical

thing, but the issue will be raised for sure."

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chauhan will be the chief guest at Samvad 2011. Raghu Menon, secretary,

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will give a special address at the meet.The seminar will also have keynote


addresses by Amit Khanna, chairman, CII, Leela Samson, chairperson, Censor Board, Yash Chopra and Shabana

Azmi.The heavy-duty panelists include filmmakers like Ramesh Sippy, Rituparno Ghosh, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra,

Mahesh Bhatt and Anurag Kashyap apart from actress Khushboo.

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Tapping into Y-generation

Source: The Financial Express, Date: June 8, 2011

Please refer to the link below for your perusal

Link:http://www.financialexpress.com/news/tapping-into-ygeneration/800594/6

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Ogilvy India bags the Rs 100 crore National Skill Development Corporation account

Source: afaqs.com, Date: May 30, 2011

NSDC, a public-private partnership entity, was set up as a part of the national skill development mission to fulfil the

growing need for skilled manpower, across unorganised sectors. National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), the

public-private partnership, has decided to go with Ogilvy India as per the recommendation made by a judging panel

headed by Suhel Seth, managing partner, Counselage India, and which included other key personalities such as Ranjit

Barthakur, chairperson, Globally Managed Services, Jayant Pendharkar, global head, marketing, TCS, Dilip Chenoy,

chief executive officer and managing director, NSDC, Surojit Roy, head, marketing, Gras Academy, and Bhairavi Jani,

national chairperson, CII's Young Indians (Yi) and director, SCA Group of Companies.The annual spends on the

account will be more than Rs 100 crore.Confirming the development to afaqs!, an NSDC spokesperson says, "The

board has recommended Ogilvy as the right choice to handle the creative mandate. Both parties will sign the papers

officially in July, when the next meeting will take place."On May 27, four agencies including JWT, McCann Erickson, Leo

Burnett and Ogilvy India had made the final presentations.According to the NSDC official, Piyush Pandey, executive

chairperson and creative director, O&M South Asia, had come for the final round of presentations and that helped the

agency to bag the business.For the record, NSDC was set up in August 2009 as a public-private partnership to fulfil the

need for skilled manpower across unorganised sectors. The objective of the organisation is to upgrade skills to

international standards through significant industry involvement, and developing necessary frameworks for standards,

curriculum and quality assurance.

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Aegis plans to raise $250 mn to refinance debt, acquisitions


Aegis, the business process outsourcing and information technology (IT) arm of Essar Group, plans to raise $250

million (Rs 1,125 crore) from abroad for refinancing some of its earlier debts and future acquisitions, said banking

sources.The company, which is taking the debt route, will raise the funds by issuing bonds and is in talks with a couple

of multinational banks. The company, in the past, had raised debt worth $200 million.“This will allow the company to

retire its short-term debts it has raised for some of its acquisition. The company will use this to refinance some of its

earlier debt and could use some of it for further acquisition,” said a banker close to the development.When contacted, a

spokesperson of the company said, “We won’t be able to offer any comments.”Aegis, with a turnover of $800 million (Rs

3,600 crore), has acquired close to 18 companies over the past six years. It has funded its inorganic expansion partly

through equity investment from the group and through debt. Acquisition has been one of the routes for Aegis to achieve

its target to be a $1 billion company.However, earlier this year the company’s CEO and Global Managing Director

Aparup Dasgupta had told Business Standard that while acquisition would continue to be a focus area, growing the

business organically will be a key strategy."We have always said that our inorganic strategy is validated only if we can


grow that business organically. I think, we are in that phase now. We will looking at growing our business organically by

25 per cent and inorganically by 25 per cent," he said.He added that at any given point the company keeps evaluating

seven assets. “We are currently looking to expand our footprint in applications services. With this rationale, we are

currently evaluating five companies across Latin America and Africa that primarily specialise in applications services.

These companies range between $100 million and $300 million,” said he.As a part of this inorganic play, the firm earlier

this year entered into a joint venture with Saudi Telecom to offer BPO service. The deal, worth $2 billion, for a period of

eight years is one of the largest so far in the segment.

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Destination Bangalore

Source: The Indian Express, Date: June 8, 2011

You can’t go wrong if you combine great music and art with great food. That seems to be the hope for the organisers of

the Big Junction Jam festival, which will take place in Bangalore’s Nalpad Pavilion Palace Grounds on June 18 and 19.

The event will feature performances in 10 genres of music such as folk rock, blues, jazz, rock, metal, funk and Carnatic.

The headlining acts include Swarathma, Kryptos, Blakc and Evergreen.The culinary part of the festival will feature chefs

and bakers from various hotel management institutes who will demonstrate new cooking styles, recipes and food

presentation techniques. The highlight here will be Sahil Makhija of Demonic Resurrection, who will set up his popular

Headbanger’s Kitchen at the festival.The arts segment of the festival will include live art, galleries, workshops, tattoo

parlours and face painting sessions, apart from a flea market where craftsmen will sell their wares. The festival

organisers’ ambition is certainly impressive: hopefully, it will match, or even surpass, the success of last year’s Bacardi

NH7 in Pune. Then India will really have more than one cultural festival to boast of.

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Jagran Solutions Explores Urban Slums for Dabur Odomos


Jagran Solutions- India’s leading new age marketing agency that provides solutions for Brand Activation via Consumer

Connect Strategies, recently launched a campaign which aimed at spreading awareness amongst the people of slum

areas about the various harmful diseases caused due to the unhealthy conditions around their surroundings. The

campaign “Aao Payen Chaen Ki Neend aur Khushal Zindagi” served as a platform to promote Dabur Odomos Lotion.

The campaign is conceptualized and designed by Jagran Solutions. The focus of the campaign is to reach out to the

urban slums and to inform people about the harmful diseases caused by mosquitoes. The campaign started with an

announcement by putting up posters and banners about the activity. The audiences were educated by Nukkad Natak

which highlighted the product USP & the importance of having a silent & a calm sleep. Besides this a series of other

activities were also performed like Flip Chart presentations and product sampling to spread the awareness about the

product.Mr. Arvind Katariya, Brand Head- Odomos, Dabur India Ltd says "We undertook this activation to improve the

awareness of the people living in these slum areas about Dengue, Malaria & Chikengunya. These areas are most prone

to such vector borne diseases due to the unhygienic conditions, and higher incidence of people sleeping outdoors.While

promoting Odomos as a means of protection, the main message was centered around creating awareness about ways

to prevent breeding of mosquitoes as well to control the dengue menance.”

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StreetSmart helps Star Movies HD grab eyeballs


StreetSmart (Ambient Out –of- Home Solutions), a strategic business unit of Mudra Max carried out an incredible

outdoor activity for Star India Pvt. Ltd, the channel partner for the World 10k Bangalore Marathon event, on 5 June

2011. StreetSmart was given the mandate to create a clutter breaking and unique visibility for Star Movies HD and


thereby build a strong brand connect and perception for Star Movies using the marathon platform. StreetSmart used a

mix of giant Cutouts, Standees and Hoarding to convey the creative message - "Hollywood Heroes in Asli HD. Cheer

the Marathon Heroes". Streetsmart identified a few major movies to be aired on Star Movies in June and created an

innovation theme by deploying a series of innovative displays along the marathon route. Multiple larger than life displays

were created to highlight the movies and build the brand connect and drive perceptions. These innovations were the

only clutter breaking branding elements which stood out at the Bangalore Marathon.

Innovation #1: For the movie Godzilla, a gigantic 25 ft tall Godzilla display was created at the main Queen's statue

junction. The Godzilla image was meticulously selected to show that he is stepping on to the road. The idea was to

utilize the huge crowd of participants and create a visual illusion to portray that they are in fact scared and running away

from the Godzilla.

Innovation # 2: For the movie Spiderman 3, an 8 ft big double sided 3D Spiderman display was suspended from a tree

in the middle of the road facing the marathon participants.

Innovation #3: A display was created for X-men Wolverine on a hoarding. It featured the famous "Wolverine" tear mark

on the flex creating an impression that Wolverine has actually done it.

Innovation #4: A series of displays were placed on the marathon route featuring 'Neytiri', the female Na'vi' from the

movie Avatar. These were 6 ft tall units placed in succession at eye level just next to the marathon route generating the

desired impact. All the innovations prominently carried the Star Movies HD branding and message.

Commenting on the same, Anirudha Pawar, Group Account Director, StreetSmart, said "The Bangalore Marathon

project for Star Movies HD was a great experience for us. The brief from Star Movies was to drive visibility and

perception for the brand at the event, using the innovation route. We conceptualized a theme for the marathon wherein

multiple innovation units were used in sync across the marathon route to achieve the desired connect and break the

brand clutter. I am sure we succeeded in creating the buzz and registration for the brand. This was evident from the

large number of participants posing for a photo-op in front of the innovations. We are proud to have partnered Star for

this event.”

Says Saurabh Yagnik, General Manager & Sr. VP, English Channels, STAR India, “STAR Movies is a leading English

movie channel and home to some of the greatest Hollywood heroes. Watching your favourite Hollywood heroes in Asli

HD (Dolby sound, 1080p) will enhance the overall movie experience of our viewer. The Bangalore Marathon was a

great platform for us to showcase our strength of Asli HD and cheer the real life heroes of the city through the message

- Hollywood heroes in Asli HD, Cheer the Marathon Heroes. At STAR Movies, we have always been committed to

engaging audiences across the country innovatively and the marathon gave us the perfect opportunity.” StreetSmart

has successfully partnered Star yet again, creating innovative presence for their most important events. The first being

for Star One during the Mumbai Marathon held in January 2011 crafting Jumbo Alphabets forming the sentence "RUN

AS ONE" followed by a huge Star One Logo.

****************************

Political Parties take OOH route to be in the media


For years, posters and hoardings have been an important tool for local politicians to connect with their voters and make

their presence felt. In tune with globalization and changing times, a majority of National Parties restructuring into a

corporate management. Therefore, for creating awareness about their social initiatives, political campaigns, displaying

hoardings of their leaders on birthdays, festivals or to announce public meetings, they have appointed specialized

media agencies. Recently, Global Advertisers gave US President Mr. Barack Obama huge political mileage by


welcoming him in India with a giant-sized billboard. at Marine Drive. The hoarding was extensively covered by the

international print and online media as well as news channels. It was a one-of-its-kind iconic outdoor display that has

made history in the world of outdoor media. In Mumbai and around at least 500 political hoardings fill the skyline on a

regular day. Global Advertisers, Managing Director, Sanjeev Gupta believes that “Reaching to masses has never been

so easy for any political leader. We are regularly approached by many political parties in the peak season of Ganesh

festival, Dr B.R. Ambedkar's birthday or on a frequent basis to communicate their social agenda through our hoardings

across Mumbai and India.”Changing marketing trends in social arena has also pushed the demands of political parties.

Rallies, posters, banners are now passé. Fresh social networking ideas, innovative and interactive hoardings, mobile

marketing are in vogue and at times PR agencies are handling the accounts of many a National Party.

Out-of-Home has always been popular among political parties. For hoardings are strategically located and communicate

any message 24 x 7 without any breaks – forcing attention as well as desired action. Global Advertisers has

successfully designed, planned, and executed massive campaigns for national parties during several Lok Sabha &

Rajya sabah elections. Political hoardings are the primary tools of communication and no wonder parties such as:

Congress, BJP, NCP, MNS, Shiv Sena allot enough budget to outdoor advertising .Recently, Global has executed

public awareness campaign for National Congress Party, engaging highly visible hoarding at Sion – creating more than

expected impact. Similarly, welcome hoardings for Sonia Gandhi, congratulatory hoardings for leaders, and best wishes

message from political head honchos are a common sight in Mumbai’s skyline.

********************

Despite crunch, realty sector splurges on advertising

Source: Economictimes.indiatimes.com, Date: June 10, 2011

Home sales are down, cash flows are drying up but builders just can't cut on advertising. Instead, advertising spends of

the real estate industry is growing at 30% year-on-year, say admen, with top builders such as Hindustan Construction

Company , Omaxe , Amrapali, Jaypee , Indiabulls , Lodha , ATS and DLF continuing to advertise extensively."We are

spending about Rs 50-70 crore on advertising every year. We have 40 projects and we need to spend on advertising to

create brand visibility," said Shiv Priya executive director Amrapali Group. The company has roped in MS Dhoni as the

brand ambassador and also associated itself with Chennai Super Kings as a sponsor in the fourth season of Indian

Premier League. Advertising budgets of the industry have also grown a third this year. Last year, builders and property

firms , including brokerages, spent about Rs 1,400-1,500 crore on publicity, which was roughly 5% of the total

advertising revenue of all industries put together, a back of the envelope analysis by one adman who did not want to be

named said. Data collated by AdEx India- a division of TAM Media Research, which tracks advertising expenditure,

indicate that print and TV advertising by real estate companies grew by 64% and 21% respectively in 2010 compared to

2009, Ad industry professionals say that the realty segment may emerge as one of the top ten categories in spending in

2011. Anita Nayyar, chief executive of media buying firm MPG, said that ad spends of real estate players picked up

from mid-2010 primarily because the players managed to clinch attractive deals. "Realty companies were compelled to

increase ad spend as they had large inventories to sell after the slowdown," she added. In the top metros like Mumbai,

NCR-New Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune about 12-25% of the residential units built were unsold in the first

quarter of this year as per estimates by Jones Lang LaSalle India. Real estate was among the top ten spenders during

the boom days of 2007 and 2008, but slipped during the slowdown with the companies cutting their ad spends to control

costs.

"Though real estate ads have picked up compared to last year, they are yet to reach the peak level. This is especially

true of newspaper advertising, which slumped when real estate players tightened their ad budgets," said Rohit Ohri

managing partner JWT India Outdoor advertising, popularly known as billboard, has followed the trend of overall real

estate advertising. "While billboard bookings have picked up, we have not managed 100% bookings. Due to the existing

vacancy levels, the ad rates are now available at 20% discount from a discount of 40% offered during the slowdown,"

said Noomi Mehta, managing director, Selvel Vantage. The company has around 12,000 billboards across India and


has seen revenues from the category dropping to 10% compared to 20% in 2007-2008. Agencies like JWT have

adopted a wait and watch approach before entering into the real estate advertising business again. "We are cautious

about taking on any real estate clients as it affects the financials negatively," said Ohri. The company had earlier worked

with Unitech for five years, but has disassociated itself with it post the slowdown.

************************

Scarecrow Communications Delhi wins MVL Mobiles


Scarecrow will handle all upcoming products of the MVL Mobiles brand.MVL Mobiles has appointed Scarecrow

Communications as its communication consultant for its upcoming products across India. A pitch process preceded the

development, and according to industry sources, Law & Kenneth also took part in the pitch process. Contract

Advertising clarifies that it opted to stay away from the pitch process after a brief meeting. Ad spends on the brand are

estimated to be around Rs 18-20 crore annually, as per industry estimates. Dentsu Marcom was the incumbent creative

agency on the account.Commenting on the appointment of Scarecrow, Arjun Rishi, director, MVL Mobiles, says in an

official communiqué, "We aim to further strengthen MVL Mobiles' presence in the market, and feel Scarecrow, with its

effective creative thoughts and ideas, will further consolidate our brand positioning."According to sources, MVL Mobiles'

foray into the mobile handset market is based on the objective of credible quality, cutting-edge technology and

dependable after-sales service, and therefore the brand will require an inclusive creative strategy.Raghu Bhat, founder

director, Scarecrow Communications, comments, "In our interactions with the MVL Mobiles management, we have seen

zero-tolerance for run-of-the-mill thinking, and a determination to create genuine differentiation, at every level. This is

very energising for any creative person and we look forward to working on the business."Arunava Sengupta, founder

director, Scarecrow Communications, adds, "The mobile handset business is one of the most exciting and rapidly

growing categories in India, today. A brand in this category needs to be relevant to a wide audience set and that gives

us tremendous opportunity to do some exciting consumer work, leading to some path-breaking communication. "Giving

insights into the creative aspects of handling MVL Mobiles, Anindya Banerjee, executive creative director, Scarecrow

Communications Delhi, says that both Scarecrow and MVL share a common DNA, as both are challenger brands. "Both

are hungry. And, both have no option, but to think out-of-the-box," he muses. "In the process, the line between an

agency and a client becomes blurred. That's a fantastic situation to be in," says Banerjee.For the record, the MVL

Group was established in 1986. Over the last 25 years, it has diversified into consumer electronics, telecom and real

estate. Group company MVL Telecom launched mobile handsets under the brand name 'MVL Mobiles' in June 2010.

***********************

STAR Pravah is the No.1 choice for Maharashtrian viewers

Source: Audiencematters.com, Date: June 11, 2011 issue

STAR Pravah, the Marathi General Entertainment Channel from STAR Entertainment Media PVT Ltd has been

declared the undisputed leader in the Marathi entertainment genre with 141 serial GRPs in Wk 23’11. The channel

raced past its competitors to become Maharashtra’s number one choice with the highest ever serial GRPs in the past

125 weeks in the Marathi genre.STAR Pravah has also been successful in engaging more Maharashtrian viewers than

its competitors this week. According to TAM*, audiences spend at least 45 minutes per day on an average on STAR

Pravah, a notch higher in comparison to any other channel. The channel credits its success to some of its most popular

shows like Mann Udhan Varyache, Bhanda Saukhya Bhare, Pudcha Paul and Tujh Vin Sakhya Re. Commenting on this

achievement, STAR Pravah’s Programming Head, Shrabani Deodhar says, “The ratings are a reflection of the faith our

viewers have in us. In the coming months, we will showcase exciting nonfiction shows and innovative storytelling that

will keep our viewers asking for even more.” Yogesh Manwani, Vice President- Marketing says, “The response has

been overwhelming. Our marketing initiatives coupled with the thrust of innovative on- ground consumer engagement

activities have helped us strengthen the brands relationship with our viewers”


*******************

Ad agencies may get service tax breather

Source: The Financial Express, Date: June 14, 2011 issue

In what will come as a big relief to over 1,000 advertising agencies in the country, which are staring at severe financial

losses and possible closure due to the new Point of Taxation Rules, 2011 (PoT Rules), the finance ministry may extend

the mandatory 14-day time period for payment of service tax on TV commercials released by the advertising agencies

by another 20-25 days. According to official sources, the finance ministry’s department concerned will be examining the

concerns of the advertising agencies with regard to PoT Rules. Once the move is cleared, all advertising agencies will

have to pay the service tax on TV ads within 35-40 days (including the earlier rebate of 14 days) after the invoices are

raised. Sources have told FE that the finance ministry has told the AAAI to submit a detailed paper on the procedural

and technical hindrances that makes it impossible for them to pay the service tax on the released TV commercials

within 14 days of raising the invoices. “The government can not amend, withdraw or change the PoT Rules, and that is

very clearly been told to the service industry. Prima facie, there could be a case for extending the time-frame (of

payment of taxes) for the advertising agencies,” a senior government official said. However, no final decision has been

taken on it yet, the official added. The PoT Rules come into effect from July 1. As per the PoT Rules, all service

providers have to pay the service tax within 14 days of completion of service and it does not distinguish between any

service providers be it the airlines or an advertising agency. In the case of ad agencies the completion of service

pertains to releasing of ads on television. Earlier, the payment of service tax was linked to actual collection of service

tax for the services provided. Now the agencies are expected to pay the service tax even before receiving the

payments. And this is the reason the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) had urged the government to

look at their case with sympathy else it could lead to the closure of 80-90% of the small and medium ad agencies as

they do not have the cash to pay the 10.3% service tax (in 14-days) until the advertisers pay them. AAAI is the apex

body of all advertising agencies in the country. Speaking to FE, AAAI President Nagesh Alai said they were hopeful for

a genuine extension as merely releasing of TV ads does not generate the revenues. “After a TV ad is released it takes

around 10-15 days to obtain an independent broadcast certificate that says the said ad was indeed broadcasted on so

and so channels. Post that advertiser sends in the payments. By which time it’s almost 20-25 days. We will submit the

necessary details to the government shortly,” Alai said. The introduction of PoT Rules is one of the steps taken by the

central government towards consistent regime for taxation of services which will set the stage for the implementation of

Goods and Services Tax (GST), which is intended to be rolled out from April 2012

****************

Dentsu looking at adding FMCG brands to its client list

Source: The Hindu Business Line, Date: June 14, 2011 issue

After the recent appointment of Mr Rohit Ohri as Executive Chairman of the Dentsu Group, the Japanese agency is

expected to add FMCG as a new category to its client roster.Currently a slew of high profile auto and consumer durable

brands dominate the client list of the eight-year old Dentsu Group in India, while FMCG brands have been missing.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr Ohri said , “I intend developing a FMCG base for Dentsu and include FMCG as industry

within the agency. Top FMCG companies are expanding with the promise of the rural markets and this gives us huge

scope and opportunity to leverage the enormous potential of this industry. We expect to add FMCG clients in the next 3-

4 months.''Mr Ohri's long experience in JWT, where he handled big multinational accounts such as Pepsi, is expected to

come in handy when he goes about adding FMCG accounts for the Dentsu Group. Mr Ohri handled the Pepsi account

out of JWT in Delhi for almost seven years among the 21 years he spent with the WPP agency.Besides there is also

likelihood of more Japanese companies and brands being added to the Dentsu roster especially with India recently

signing a free trade agreement with Japan.As Mr Ohri said, “We are likely to become the preferred partners for those

Japanese companies which are planning to enter India and would like to peek into the Indian market. Dentsu would

have the first mover advantage as the agency in Japan would help such companies.''Currently Dentsu has a 50:50 ratio

between the Japanese and non-Japanese clients in India. The big Japanese accounts comprise auto majors such as


Toyota, Suzuki and Honda followed by durable majors Panasonic and Sony.In fact to avoid client conflict among the top

three auto clients, Dentsu has floated three creative agencies: Dentsu Communications, Dentsu Marcom and Dentsu

Creative Impact apart from more agencies for media, digital, design and sports marketing.Dentsu would also be

improving the quality of manpower at its agency. “My first job would be to get the best talent on board. There is need to

build a new culture and improve the quality of work at the agency,” added Mr Ohri.

********************

ADDING VALUE - New media drives growth for boutique content creators

Source: HT Mint, Date: June 14, 2011 issue

Those who missed last season's episode of Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) could soon be catching up through up-

dates on their phones or other devices. While third-generation (3G) mobile services are being rolled out across the

country to an accompanying chorus of complaints about patchy coverage, some intermediaries couldn't be happier.

The prospect of the high- speed connections proliferating and the expectation that consumers will want to extend the

utility of their phones and tablets, means more business for those companies that can repur- pose existing content

that's currently restricted to television screens. Gulmohar Media Pvt. Ltd is one of these companies. Sumeet Pathak,

28, set up the company in Mumbai a year ago with an investment of `20 lakh to create content for the mobile and on-

line platforms, providing music, humour (jokes) and various forms of infotainment to telecom operators on a revenue-

share basis. Last month it landed a deal with Star Plus, the flagship Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) of the

Star India group, to turn 20-minute TV serial episodes into four-five minute audio capsules for mobile users. The

companies didn't say how much the deal was worth, but the channel plans to invest `30 crore this year on online media

activities, including applications for iPads and iPhones that are to be announced in the next 10 days. As the media and

entertainment industry prepares to exploit its content on new media platforms--3G mobiles, iPad apps and the

Internet, the market for companies such as Gul- mohar is set to grow. The next two years will see a rise in companies

not just aggre- gating, but also creating fresh content for new media platforms, said Kesavan Kandadai, chief

operating officer of Tange- rine Digital Entertainment Pvt.Ltd. “Brands will exploit the medium further,“ he said.

Tangerine is currently digitizing the programmes on Sony, the entertainment channel of Multi Screen Media Pvt. Ltd,

for viewing on YouTube.At Glamour Struck Produc- tions Pvt. Ltd, a new media production house based in Mumbai,

director Rohit Khaitan is trying to complete 150 hours of original content by the end of the year for online and mobile

users. “I'm investing now, confident of the returns,“ he said.While Glamour Struck will focus on fiction shows (`1-2.5

lakh for 20-minute capsules), Sugar Mediaz Pvt. Ltd, another Mum- bai-based company, is making audio dramas in 16

regional languages for the mobile platform.

“Most entertainment channels are exploiting content beyond the primary medium,“ said Darr- pan Mehta, founder and

director, Sugar Mediaz.

However, Albert Almeida, chief operating officer, Hungama Mobile, a part of Hungama Digi- tal Media Entertainment

Pvt.Ltd, feels the real test will begin in the next 6-12 months when the 3G roll becomes wider. Given the potential for

business, new content creators and aggregator are cropping up even as the ex isting ones are adding resources

According to a January repor by the Telecom Regulatory Au thority of India (Trai), there are roughly 550 million active

mo bile users.The size of the mobile value added services market is roughl `5,600 crore and growing at 26% per

annum, according to a Fed eration of Indian Chambers o Commerce and Industry-KPMG Indian media and

entertainmen industry 2011 report.Thanks to such projections Tangerine's Kandadai is confi dent of growth. He says the

com pany will scale up from 110 em ployees at the beginning of 2011 to 250 professionals by the yearend.“Thirty per

cent of our revenue comes from creating content fo mobile and online platforms, said Kandadai, adding that the

company's revenue has doubled in the last five months. Tange rine Digital created 25,000 videos for the Indian

Premiere League Twenty20 cricket tournament this year.Even five-year-old, Hydera- bad-based Apalya Technologies s

is upbeat. In the last two years, - the volume of work has risen . 250%, said Vamshi Reddy, presi- t dent of the content

aggregation - company.“The 3G roll-out, advent of - smartphone devices are prompting telecom operators and media -

players to create content for au- y diences active on these platforms,“ he said.The company, which has deals f with 15


telecom operators, raised $7.5 million (`33.5 crore) earlier t this year to expand its services and technology in the mobile

TV , domain. The company has tied - up with UTV Software Commu- - nications Ltd and Multi Screen - Media's flagship

channel Sony to convert their content for mobile users.UTV Software also plans to introduce dedicated products for r

the 3G/data-enabled market by “ the next quarter. It is partnering telecom operators to make live television available to

consum- - ers.

****************

Big-budget Marathi film all set to create history

Source: Financial Chronicle, Date: June 14 2011 issue

The Marathi film Jai Jai Maharashtra Maaza will create history as the biggest budget film in the language, which always

stayed away from glitzy Bollywood in spite of its proximity. The Rs 3.5 crore film is slated to release simultaneously in

more than 200 single and multiplex theatres across Maharashtra on October 15. The shooting of the film is underway in

various grand locations and it will be ready for commercial release on October 15,” said Guatam Jogalekar, director and

co-producer of the two-hour long film. City Corporation, a Pune-based realty firm, is the co-producer. Jogalekar, who

produced Pak Pak Pakaak film in 2005, with a budget of Rs 1.1 crore, is expecting to gross over Rs 15 crore for his new

film. ecent Marathi films like Me Shivaji Raje Bhosle Boltoy were a great commercial success, grossing Rs 25 crore in

revenues. Natarang collected Rs 12 crore, while De Dhakka earned Rs 15 crore. Jogalekar said the Marathi films are

made on low budget. “But with a big budget in hand, we have raised the standard of Marathi cinema and are making an

attempt to match up to the Hindi cinema industry,” he said. He is also planning to dub the new film in other Indian

languages. "ith about 100 films made and released annually in Maharashtra for the past three-four years, they have

grossed Rs 60-70 crore,” Mahesh Manjarekar, renowned film actor and Eecutive Poducer of Jai Jai Maharashtra Maaza

said. The Maharashtra government provided a subsidy of Rs 5-30 lakh to promote films made in the Marathi language,

he said. At present, the average budget of Marathi films is pegged between Rs 1 crore and Rs 1.5 crore, compared to

Rs 30 lakh and Rs 40 lakh a few years ago.

****************

GroupM adopts anti-piracy policy for digital media buys

Source: Indiantelevision.com, Date: June 11, 2011 issue

Global media investment management operation GroupM has developed and adopted a pioneering new digital media

buying policy designed to prevent its clients’ ads from appearing on websites that distribute illegally obtained

content.The policy is designed to actively oppose online piracy in all its forms and to protect the copyright-protected,

intellectual property of all content-producing companies.The new policy includes anti-piracy language for insertion

orders that prohibits vendors from placing GroupM clients’ advertising on sites that support piracy or contain any

illegally distributed content. Effective immediately, the language will be built into all future contract terms and conditions

with publishers and ad networks.In conjunction with the new policy, GroupM has created a list of more than 2000 sites

throughout the U.S. that have been identified as containing or supporting pirated content. The list will be updated on a

continuing basis and a link to the list will be included in all contracts and insertion orders. GroupM Interaction Global

CEO Rob Norman said, “We’re serious about combating piracy and protecting our clients’ intellectual property as

forcefully as we possibly can. This policy extends to digital media buyers at all GroupM agencies, as well as other WPP

companies like Team Detroit, which manages Ford’s media business.”GroupM serves as the parent company to WPP

media agencies including Maxus, MEC, MediaCom, and Mindshare. GroupM’s content-producing clients have been

asked to share their own lists of offending sites with GroupM in order to help keep the list current and all have agreed to

do so. Pirate sites are known to ‘domain hop,’ so we need to keep on top of the latest list of identified offenders as best

as we possibly can in order to enforce this new policy to its fullest effect,” explained Norman, who also is GroupM US

CEO.

********************


BBC Producer looking for Indian partners

Source: Economictimes.indiatimes.com, Date: June 11, 2011 issue

Ted Oakes is series producer at BBC's Natural History Unit, in Bristol, and has produced programmes such as Blue

Planet, Planet Earth and lately, Life. He has also produced or directed several important and award-winning films like

Iguanas: Living Like Dinosaurs, Amazon Abyss Life: Mammals, Bearman of the Northwoods and most recently The

Bear Family and Me. Oakes, who hails from Canada, did his PhD in evolutionary biology at Oxford and then moved

over to the BBC twelve years back. Oakes was invited to India in sync with the Wildscreen movie festival . Wildscreen is

a UKbased outfit which brings together the world's most famous natural history and environmental film fest. "If you win

an award at Wildscreen, it is called 'Green Oscar' . After opening in Bristol every two years, the festival travels across

the world.... I think this is the third time it has come to India," says Oakes. Oakes says that ever since the Wildscreen

has unfolded, the maximum number of winners of the award, the Green Panda, have been from the UK, followed by the

US. Interestingly, the third country happens to be India . "India , after all, has a long tradition in film making," says Ted.

"But , the one thing that I have perceived, after interacting with Indian film makers here for a short while, is that the

domestic market for documentary makers is weak." Ted has just finished a series called the Bear Family and Me and is

looking at follow-up programmes around that. He's looking at Indian film makers to work on programmes with the BBC.

"We would like to partner with individual Indian film makers or companies. The aim is to train them and help them

expand in the sphere of natural history film making in India . There are very few who have succeeded in establishing

themselves as natural history or wildlife film makers in India," says Ted. "That's what's great about being in India and

connecting with film makers here who want to tell these stories. And, climate and environmental changes will hit warmer

places in the southern parts of the world, including India, before cooler spots like England and Canada. For instance , it

will be disastrous if the tiger population is lost in India. Most of the tigers in India live in the forests near the river

streams," says Ted. Oakes says that the perspective he developed from studying millions of years of evolution till recent

history, made him extremely fearful about the future of humanity and nature. "Actually , they are wrapped into one. You

won't protect nature if you don't love it. And, you won't love it till you know more about these things. Thus, I thought of

telling stories about these larger facets of life," drives home Ted.

***********************

Is advertising discriminating against women?


Portrayal of women in advertising has always been a topic of debate. Whether in serials or in advertisements, woman is

the one that's exploited or waiting to be. Advertising seeks to influence behavior as a sales ploy. It must persuade us

insidiously, without making us feel that we are being manipulated. It has, in other words, to seduce us by playing on,

and activating, unconscious desires - and what better means to this end than images of women?Portrayal of women in

media has a bearing on ‘shaping the social approaches and attitudes towards women’. Advertisements of fairness

creams which discriminates against the skin tone of women, insurance advertisement which linked women’s protection

to her marital status alone, advertisement which talks about education for sons and marriage for daughters as if

daughters don’t need education, etc were cited as warped portrayal of women. A few years back, a huge hoarding of

Jewellery advertisement in Patna beamed - ‘Buy 24 carat gold and let your daughter stay in peace at her "Sasuraal."

The emphasis was on dowry system. Various Women’s Organisations in Bihar at once took this into notice and the

hoarding was ultimately removed. One shocking advertisement on the hoarding beamed: "Spend a few rupees today

(ultrasound and abortion), save lakhs of rupees in dowry for the future;" thus projecting the female child as a burden.

Even advertisements of beauty products make women feel inadequate. Women with disabilities are extremely critical of

the way the ads are exploiting their vulnerabilities and limitations. The scantily dressed model becomes the ideal dream

woman for many young middle class girls. The beauty pageants mushrooming all over India create expectations from

thousands of young women as to what should be the size and weight of an ultimate woman. Where issues like this have

been subject of controversy, we should also not forget the change advertising has brought to the stereotype image of


women in India. Women have been encouraged to study, fight against injustice and also stand for themselves. They are

lot more confident and independent than they were before.

According to Pratap Bose, COO-Mudra Group, CEO-Mudra Max, “The fundamental dynamics of our country in terms of

our religion, beliefs, mythology, is such that you can’t distill and erase these things. Though the sons education today as

important as a daughters’, but please understand that you are also talking to consumers in the villages of India. So, it’s

not about Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, you are also communicating to people under 1 lac, in small towns and villages.

They still believe that a boy needs to get educated and a girl needs to get married before she is 25, any advertising

agency can never change that view. So there will always be opinionated groups that will say that there is discrimination,

they are right but it’s easy to criticize someone from the sideline, I think it’s important to understand that advertising also

plays a great role, for example we do lots of work for UNICEF that talk about TB, right to education etc. So, for whatever

grouse anybody has, there are three more people who are doing good things”. Sanjeev Gupta, MD & CEO, Global

advertisers says, “I think discrimination of women in advertising is on its way to becoming history. Even in the ad films,

women has been portrayed for various brands where glamor, elegance, perfection are the basic attributes of the

product. Now flexibility is the in-thing today especially for women as their traits are easily molded with the objective of

brand communication. Marketer wants flexibility in everything - flexible attitudes, flexible choice and most importantly

flexible ideas. More and more women are being envisaged on screen for various products and service. So it’s women’s

world when it comes to advertising. Women are confident about their position in the new economy. The opportunities

are greater now than ever before”.

**********************

Highlights Kaun Banega Crorepatis latest campaign


Sony Entertainment Television launched the much anticipated advertising campaign for the most popular game show

on Indian television Kaun Banega Crorepati 2011. The anticipation primarily is based out of huge expectations from this

year’s campaign after the unprecedented success of last year’s KBC campaign – sweeping all national and international

awards, proved to be the most successful advertising campaign by walking away with 6 ABBY’s and 4 at Promaxbda,

making SET the highest awarded media brand. Speaking on the campaign, Danish Khan, Senior Vice President &

Marketing Head, SET said, “This year the challenge was to take the campaign and the thinking forward and build upon

the hugely successful KBC campaign of 2010 - ‘Koi Bhi Sawaal Chota Nahin Hota’. This year also the campaign retains

that distinct KBC flavor, while we take the thought forward. The thought “Koi Bhi Insaan Chota nahin Hota” – is rooted in

yet another popular belief of our society that ‘everybody inherently has capability to achieve something extra ordinary’.

Hence don’t underestimate anybody – a right platform and a good knowledge can transform life - KBC is that platform.”

Anup Vishwanathan, Business Head SET account, Leo Burnett said “Last year’s campaign celebrated ‘knowledge’ and

since the thought that ‘koi bhi gyaan vyaarth nahin hota” (no Knowledge ever goes waste) and truly ‘knowledge is the

passport to a better life’ is rooted deep in our collective psyche – hence ‘Koi Bhi Sawaal Chota Nahin Hota’ was

relatable to people across and received a lot of appreciation, awards, popularity and ratings. The campaign created a

unique grammar for brand KBC insightful message delivered in a punchy popular entertainment format to be consumed

by people from across social spectrum.”

Like last year, this year too Mr. Amitabh Bachchan will anchor the philosophy of KBC in all the films. Delivered in its

characteristic style, this year’s KBC campaign will have five films each with a distinct story and a distinct character, that

will engage, entertain and bring alive the core thought of this season – Koi Bhi Insaan Chota Nahin Hota. The

Campaign is conceptualized by Leo Burnett (Creative Agency) and executed by Chrome Pictures (Production House).

“In what will be first for any television campaign, it will have a worldwide premiere on Youtube on 15th June, before

being circulated elsewhere. “Youtube is SET’s partner for KBC and with its unmatched ability to reach out to millions in

matter of minute, it is a perfect platform for first look of KBC’s much anticipated Campaign” says Danish Khan, Senior


Vice President & Marketing Head, SET. This present campaign consists of a series of five extraordinary films each with

different story, character, set-up and theme but with same thought – koi insaan chota nahin hota

********************

Channel [V]'s cafenomics

Source: Business Standard. Date: June 15th 2011

A cool cafe-cum-bar, designed in bright cheerful colours of orange, yellow and pink. Walls are adorned with witty

quotations. For the gizmo freaks, the cafe has innovative themes like quirky I pad menu, video walls and touch screen

gaming television.Welcome to Channel [V]’s new cafe in Delhi [V] Spot cafe. “We want to make our café business

profitable,” says the channel’s general manager (marketing) Prem Kamath. He lists Café Coffee Day, Mocha and Big

Chill Café as the main competitors.Is the channel serious about the claim? Kamath is realistic enough to put things in

perspective. “We have no intention of entering this business seriously. So it is neither a diversification move nor a

publicity gimmick,” he clarifies.The cafes are the route Channel [V] has taken to take the brand to the ground level.

According to a research the channel conducted, a vast majority of today’s youth does not spend time in front of

television sets and prefer to hang out in cafes, malls or theatres. “Cafes are actually a big area for involvement of the

youth,” Kamath adds. So the café is a reflection of the channel’s image. A lot of activities have been kept in synergy

with TV. The café gives a chance to amateur singers, rock bands and comedians. The performances are recorded and

then aired on the channel’s show, [V] Spot. Apart from this, the cafe has a video wall which allows people to record

video messages for anyone, to be shown later on the Channel.”Kamath thinks the cafes the channel has plans to open

several of them shortly – would be able to showcase the transition Channel [V] has made from just music. For example,

just 20 per cent of the content is music-related while 80 per cent are reality-based shows. Ashish Pherwani, Associate

Director, (Media & Entertainment) Ernst & Young, says it’s a good way of connecting with the youth.Others, however,

argue it is quite an expensive way to promote a channel. But Channel [V] perhaps had no other option but to try

something unique to recover lost ground. According to TAM Data, from April, 2011 till June (week 15-22), the channel

was in the seventh spot among music channels with 9.3 per cent market share. While MTV, its direct competitor, had

the second largest market share with 13.2 per cent t, Hindi music channels like 9XM, Masti, B4U music and Zoom are

among the top five.Will competitor MTV follow the Channel [V] route? Sandeep Dahiya, SVP, (Consumer Products &

Communications), Viacom 18, replies in the negative. “We will feel threatened with something like Facebook where the

youth is more active. But we already have a huge fan following on Facebook with 2,597,233 members”.

The channel is already an established player in the merchandising division. MTV consumer products today extends into

more than 10 categories with eyewear, bags, stationery & paper, debit cards, mobile phones, bed linen and helmets,

among others. Its key licensees include Citibank, Aureole-Inspecs, BILT, Portico, Micromax, Steelbird, Wildcraft and

Mochi.MTV in fact had a headstart in merchandising and launched a full-fledged division in 2001 with the launch of MTV

Citibank credit card. It also had a successful stint in the apparel biz by tying up with Bangalore-based Jay Gee and

launched its new MTV Style series. Before the launch of MTV Roadies-Season 8, this year, MTV partnered with Mochi

— ‘The Shoe Stoppe’ — to launch an entire new range of stylish Roadies footwear. The channel has already made its

mark in the print industry at the start of this year. It launched its first ever publication, ‘Noise Factory’ in India. The

magazine is available through subscriptions and also in select locations and bookstores like Odyssey and

Landmark.Dahiya says the consumer product division helps in two ways, first, it’s a revenue generating model and

second, it’s a great way to connect with the viewers and also ensures consistent fan following. “We are also planning to

go below the belt, by launching inner wears too.”MTV doesn’t distribute the products but helps in creating brands and

content. Once the brand is strongly placed, it conceptually co-creates and monetizes the model by tying up with

partners in the value chain.

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PVR takes Hollywood to small-town India

Source: Business Line, Date: June 15, 2011


Hollywood fans in small towns may no longer have to travel to nearby cities to watch the latest English flick. Cashing in

on the big market for English films in B- and C-towns, PVR Ltd plans to dub the latest English releases in Hindi and

other languages. Currently, these towns depend on pirated copies or TV channels to catch their favourite Hollywood

stars in action.“The English distribution business is improving as has been proved by the success of Fast and Furious.

We are also pumping up our English distribution business, and one way to do that is to cater to the huge potential

audience for English films outside Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore,” Mr Sanjeev Bijli, Joint Managing Director, PVR Ltd,

told Business Line.Tamil and Telugu are the other languages in which the company may dub the movies, he said.

TALKIES

The company has Talkies, a low-cost model of film distribution, in Latur and Aurangabad, where tickets are priced at Rs

65. This year, it plans to set up Talkies in Nanded, Ujjain and Bilaspur. The dubbed films will be screened in these tier-3

towns and some tier-2 towns, such as Lucknow, where both English and dubbed films have a following. The company is

present in Raipur, Allahabad, Baroda, Ghaziabad and Faridabad, and plans to set up screens in Surat, Udaipur, Bhopal,

Mysore, and Pune this year. Dubbed films for smaller towns are a small part of its business at present, but Mr Bijli

believes they have potential for growth in the future.With rising demand for English films, the company plans to release

one Hollywood film every month starting this year. With the Three Musketeers(3D), Breaking Down from the Twilight

Series, Bellamy (French), Daniel Radcliffe-starrer Woman in Black (a horror film in 3D) and an Ann-Hathaway film, PVR

hopes to keep the audiences glued.While Khele Hum Jee Jaan se, produced by the company, resulted in big losses last

year, Aisha did fairly well, said Mr Bijli. This year, the company is producing Shanghai, directed by Dibakar Banerjee.

Riding on the 3D bandwagon, PVR plans to ensure that each property has at least two to three 3D screens. At present,

it has 33 properties and plans to add 10 more this year, which will take up the number of screens by 50 this year.

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Corporate branding enters Marathi cinemas


Corporate branding, an exercise that is commonplace in Hindi films, has made its foray into Marathi cinema with a film

due for an October release getting funding from a real estate developer, in addition to support from some other

industrial houses.

In-film branding

Judging by the current benchmark, Jai Jai Maharashtra Majha (JJMM), the film that's pegged to cost Rs 3.5 crore, is a

big budget film. Sponsored by City Corporation Ltd, who is co-producer in the enterprise, auto major Volkswagen is set

to showcase its high-end cars, while a host of others such as Shamrao Vitthal Co-op Bank, Season's Apparels and Fair

and Lovely are paying for in-film branding.Since part of the film is being shot in Amanora, City Corp's upcoming

township at Pune, it will give the project visibility and the association will appeal to the upwardly mobile urban

population, said the Managing Director, Mr Aniruddha Deshpande.Co-produced and directed by Mr Gautam Jogalekar,

the movie caste includes Mahesh Manjrekar, Mrunal Kulkarni and Anusha Dandekar.“The funding will help a regional

language film raise the bar and match up to Hindi films which are technologically better because of bigger budgets,” Mr

Jogalekar says.

Focus

The film is based on the incidences and experiences of an American girl of Indian origin (who was adopted from an

orphanage in Maharashtra), when she returns after more than two decades. It will portray the state and its cultural

values with a focus on Pune, Mumbai and Kolhapur

**********************

Publicis splits Solutions Digitas into 2 firms in India



Global advertising and communication firm Publicis today said it has decided to split its group firm in India Solutions

Digitas into two separate companies Digitas India and Solutions India."The market in India is approaching a technology

tipping point and digital services will increasingly become an in-demand expertise," Digitas International President

Stephan Beringer said in a statement.While Digitas India will focus on core areas strategy and planning, content and

creative, technology, media analytics and customer relationship management, Solutions India will focus on digital and

technology enabled marketing services.Digitas is a global integrated brand agency, which builds active brands for

companies globally. Kanika Mathur has been named the President of Digitas India and she reports to Vincent Digonnet,

President of Network Operations, APAC, Digitas."We expect a 30-40% year-on-year digital spending growth in India. It's

an exciting time for our industry," Mathur said.

***********************

MU study to ascertain how ads influence buying behaviour

Source: Indian Express, Date: June 16, 2011

Do we change our buying preferences after watching a commercial? The Center for Computational Social Sciences at

Mumbai University has initiated a study to ascertain if the whether media actually affects the buying behaviour of

people. Based on behavioral economics, the study will determine whether media and advertisements have the ability to

influence people’s decision-making. It will examine aspects like whether people buy first and justify their decision later

or if it is a well-though, rational buying behaviour. The centre is one of the projects approved under the University with

Potential for Excellence (UPE) scheme of the University Grants Commission (UGC). “We don’t know how people

choose and in what way media influences their buying behaviour. Currently, there exists very ad hoc studies on this

aspect based on perceptions. There exists no hard evidence based on actual experimental work and our study is an

attempt at this,” said professor Neeraj Hatekar, coordinator of the centre.

The study is being conducted in collaboration with the industry. The first experiment will involve around 40 postgraduate

students of the university, who are presently staying in hostels. “We will conduct a detailed survey on the kind of

FMCGs (fast moving consumer goods like toiletries and grocery items) students buy each month. We will create a

database detailing the products used by them, characteristic of each product and relevant information on them.

Subsequently, next month, we will ask them not to buy anything. Instead, each student will be given Rs 500 and they

will be asked to do their shopping with it. Details of their purchase plans will be noted,” he said.

However, while one half of the group will be asked to shop, another will be first shown a film which will have various

commercials inserted at regular intervals. Subsequently, after the film is screened, the second group will be asked to

shop. The study will see if the two groups deviate from their purchase plans. The idea is to find out if the deviance

between what the students said in their plan and what they ultimately buy, is more pronounced within the group which

were shown the advertisements. The study will also look at aspects like what kind of commercials influence people

more, which are the ones that lead to large deviations and the frequency among others.

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Global expenditure on entertainment and media (E&M) to jump to $1.9 tr by 2015: Study

Source: Economic Times, Date: June 16, 2011

Signalling a continued surge in people's interest in entertainment and media (E&M), the worldwide spending for these

services is poised to grow to USD 1.9 trillion by 2015, with Asia-Pacific region emerging as the second fastest growing

region, says a report. "Over the next five years we forecast that aggregate entertainment and media (E&M) global

spending will rise from USD 1.4 trillion in 2010 to USD 1.9 trillion in 2015, a 5.7 per cent compound annual (growth)

driven by economic growth," according to PwC' Global E&M outlook for 2011-2015. However, a bulk of people spending

would shift from traditional media to digital platforms. Currently digital segment accounts for 26 per cent of all spending


and the share would grow to 33.9 per cent by 2015. In terms of region, Asia Pacific would be the second fastest-

growing region after Latin America in terms of E&M spending during the next five years, with a projected 6.5 per cent

compound annual increase to USD 541 billion from USD 395 billion in 2010. The report did not mention any specific

figure for India. Latin America would grow by 10.5 per cent annually to USD 109 billion, EMEA (Europe, Middle East

and Africa) will expand at an annual rate of 5.2 per cent to USD 614 billion in 2015 and North America will increase by

4.7 per cent annually to USD 607 billion. Consumers in today's high-tech world feel more empowered, and the E&M

industry is being forced to create multi-purpose /multi-platform experiences. The report predicts that the biggest

challenge for entertainment and media companies over the next five-year is to turn these "five key consumer attributes--

convenience, experience, quality, participation and privilege -- into a sustainable business model by offering advantages

that outweigh the attractiveness of free or pirated content".

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Tata DOCOMO adjudged as the Best Social and Digital Media Advertiser of the Year


A testimony to the brand for leveraging digital media for driving connect and creating a strong and unique position in the

digital world. Tata DOCOMO won seven prestigious metals under the various categories such as Best Website

(Corporate and Micro site), Best Use of Blogs, Best Integrated Campaign and the Best Use of Online Advertising.

Interface Business Solutions, Tata DOCOMO’s digital media agency too won Best Social and Digital Media Agency of

the year award. Doing the new, doing it in style and changing the game – yet again. Tata DOCOMO, the GSM arm of

Tata Teleservices Limited, has been awarded with the most coveted Best Social and Digital Media Advertiser of the

year award 2011 at the prestigious Indian Digital Media Awards 2011 (IDMA). Tata DOCOMO was awarded the

prestigious Digital and social media advertiser of the year for path-breaking marketing across digital and social media

platforms. The brand successfully leveraged digital medium to create strong consumer affinity and connect through

innovative creative and media strategies and rode on the viral power of Internet to drive engagement and cut-through

the clutter. In addition to the top honors, Tata DOCOMO bagged four Golds across various categories including - the

Best Website / Micro site (service) for it’s innovative and educative 3G Life website, Best Use of Blogs (for the

innovative integration of Online chat with top Telecom Blogs in India, as a new way of leveraging blogs for driving

customer satisfaction), Best Video Creative (digital media) and Best Website (corporate) categories. Tata DOCOMO

also won one silver and one bronze metal under the category of Online Advertising for Rich Media and Best Integrated

Online Campaign respectively. As a cherry on the cake, Interface Business Solutions (Tata DOCOMO’s Digital Media

Agency) triumphed with the Best Social and Digital Media Agency of the year award. Tata DOCOMO’s work often took

a very simple but effective approach to digital media – for example, for the Best Video category, the brand ran a video

pre-roll ad of 15 seconds showing the buffering image, before the main copy telling the audience that this ‘buffering wait’

dispels if they use Tata DOCOMO 3G.

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Will the lion roar for India?


It’s that time of the year when the global advertising industry descends on the French Rivera for the week-long Cannes

Advertising Festival. If the crowds are indeed flocking to the mecca of the ad world for the festival that begins this

Sunday, there are many reasons for it. Cannes sees an eclectic mix of speakers from the advertising, media and

marketing worlds. In between, the prestigious Cannes Lions will be given out across categories such as print, television,

media and outdoor. Most make the trip for that. This year, the festival has received close to 29,000 entries - a jump of

19 per cent over last year. Of this, Indian entries are 1,173, which is a nine per cent increase over the previous year. In

the 16 years of India’s journey at Cannes, say industry experts, the growth in entries so far has been almost 12-fold.

Though heartening, India has had only one occasion to take home a Grand Prix. That was in 2008 when ad agency

JWT was feted for its Lead India campaign for the Times of India in the direct marketing category. India is expected to


walk away with a metals tally of about 20 to 30 out of a shortlist of 60 to 70 - something which it has been doing for the

last few years, according to Emmanuel Upputuru, national creative director, Publicis India. Agency sources say that

McCann’s print and outdoor work for advertisers such as Videocon could bag metals this year, while Ogilvy could walk

away with trophies in the TV category. The TV Lions, say industry sources, remain the most coveted amongst

advertising folk at Cannes, while categories such as media are growing steadily.In all, there are a total of 12 categories

at Cannes this year, with the festival introducing a creative effectiveness award too in this edition. The idea, say industry

experts, is to help establish a correlation between creativity and effectiveness through the award. Entries will be judged

on the parameters of strategy, creativity and effectiveness in the marketplace. But Cannes, according to Manish Bhatt,

co-founder of ad agency Scarecrow, remains incomplete without the camaraderie and festival spirit it fosters. This year,

the speaker line-up includes Oliveir Altmann, worldwide chief creative officer of Publicis, Nigel Bogle, group chairman,

Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) and Jeff Bewkes, the chairman & chief executive officer (CEO) of Time Warner among

others. A much sought-after event at Cannes is the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors' Showcase - a competition aimed

at finding new talent in the field of filmmaking.This year, Saatchi & Saatchi has teamed up with international artiste

Moby (who is a composer and photographer) and video-sharing site Vimeo for the competition. Aspiring film-makers

have been asked to submit entries on the theme ‘Hello, Future’ using Moby’s tracks from his new album Destroyed. The

winning entries will be showcased at the festival on June 23. Among the celebrations also is a 100th birthday party for

advertising legend David Ogilvy on June 23. The agency he founded, WPP’s Ogilvy & Mather, is rolling out a red carpet

—evoking Ogilvy's trademark red suspenders — along the length of the Promenade de la Croisette, the main stretch in

the city.

********************************

Coke Studio strikes India note

Source: HBL, Date: June 17, 2011

In a bid to create a unique connect with customers in the highly competitive market for beverages, Coca-Cola Inc has

brought its popular music show Coke Studio to India. It helps that the show already has a huge fan following in the

country through the Internet. To be produced by MTV India in partnership with Red Chillies Entertainment, the show will

invite artists from all over the country to jam and create new sounds, said a Coca-Cola spokesperson. Leslie Lewis of

Colonial Cousins fame is the music director of the show and will hand-pick 45 artists for the first season. Artists

including Shankar Mahadevan, Kailash Kher, Papon, Richa Sharma and Shruti Pathak shared the dais at the premier of

the show in the city earlier this week. After a much-applauded performance, Shankar Mahadevan announced to a

packed audience that a non-Bollywood sound had arrived and was here to stay. No auditions - The show will have no

auditions, no judges, no voting and promises to be a pure musical experience that can be enjoyed by people of all age

groups, said Mr Wasim Basir, Integrated Marketing Communications, Coca-Cola India. It promises to be experimental

and every episode will feature one established musician, one up-and-coming artist and one folk legend. So Baul singer

Saurav Mandal will jam with Bollywood playback singer Shaan. A glimpse of it was offered on Monday when multilingual

singer Mathangi sang a soulful Thyagaraja composition in Telugu in sync with Tochi Raina's powerful rendition of a

Punjabi folk song. But artists and audiences alike have expressed their reservations. “Coke Studio Lahore is my

favourite and today's evening proves that it would remain so,” said a musician on the sidelines of the event. Another

pointed to the trousers that the Baul singer was wearing, emphasising the manipulation of the artist's individuality. It was

felt the sound of the Indian Coke Studio on Monday night lacked the Lahori punch and that it will be a big challenge for

the show in India to match up to it. Coke has tied up with Hard Rock Café to organise mini concerts of live

performances by Coke studio artists in eight cities including Pune, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Delhi over the

next 45 days. From humble beginnings in Brazil in 2007, the show has gone on to become a rage in Pakistan as an

adapted format in 2008 where it is currently in its fourth season. On Facebook, the official page has 6,82,485 fans and

more than 7,000 followers on Twitter. Artists including Shafaqat Amanat Ali, the Sabri Bros, Sanjeev T, Raghu Dixit,

Advaita, Wadali Bros, and KK will perform on MTV starting Friday 7 pm.

********************************


Cellphone/tablet ad sales to hit $3.3bn this year

Source: in.reuters.com, Date: June 17, 2011

(Reuters) - Brands around the world are set to spend $3.3 billion on advertising placed on mobile phones in 2011, with

maps and ads shown in response to searches securing the highest revenue, research group Gartner predicted. The

research group said the $3.3 billion forecast would be more than double that generated in 2010 as brands and

advertisers seek to reach consumers who are constantly using their mobile phones. The explosion in popularity of

smartphones and media tablets such as Apple's iPad has also boosted the market for mobile advertising, with North

America and Western Europe leading the way. "Mobile advertising is now recognised as an opportunity for brands,

advertisers and publishers to engage consumers in a targeted and contextual manner, improving returns," said

Stephanie Baghdassarian, research director at Gartner. "For that reason, mobile advertising budgets are set to increase

tremendously across the various categories and regions, growing from 0.5 per cent of the total advertising budget in

2010 to over 4 per cent in 2015." Baghdassarian said mobile search, which would include paid positioning on maps

informed by the user’s location would drive the spending on Mobile

World's Biggest Live Bollywood Musical reaches a significant milestone

Source: Radioandmusic.com, Date: June 15, 2011

ZANGOORA, The Gypsy Prince - world’s biggest Indian cinematic themed, theatrical musical presented by Kingdom of

Dreams marked its successful run of 300 shows on 11th June 2011 at the magnificent Nautanki Mahal, making it the

longest running Bollywood musical stage show in the country. A truly unforgettable experience ZANGOORA started its

journey nine months back at India’s first live entertainment destination Kingdom of Dreams in Gurgaon. Featuring the

talented Hussain Kuwajarewala, Gauahar Khan and Kashmira Irani the entire cast and crew have continued to

mesmerize audiences each evening with their breathtaking acts and the stellar performances setting the stage on

fire.Speaking on the occasion, Viraf Sarkari, Director, Wizcraft International Entertainment said, “We are excited to

announce that our efforts have paid off and by completing 300 shows we continue to build a landmark. This would not

have been possible without the great support of the entire team of Zangoora and Kingdom of Dreams. This is certainly a

very proud moment for us.” He further added, “There is no other stage show like Zangoora in the country and nothing

compares with the sheer scale and technical brilliance with which the production has been mounted” Following the

immense popularity of the musical extravaganza with expats and to further enhance the international guest experience

for the overseas audiences; Zangoora has now introduced Spanish narrations using the Multi Language Translation

System. Besides this, the show will be available in various other languages catering to larger audiences from all over

the world including English, French, Japanese, Russian, Chinese, Korean and German. ZANGOORA, The Gypsy

Prince has been designed, scripted, composed and produced with the best of Indian and International talent. The live

stage show integrates state-of-the-art modern technology with perfect Indian cinematic entertainment and India’s rich

cultural heritage. The entire presentation of ZANGOORA, The Gypsy Prince, promises to give the audience an

experience of watching a movie live in 4D format. The magnum opus production which brings alive the splendour of

India in a mesmerising on-stage drama is written by Javed Akhtar, music is by India’s leading music composers

Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy, choreography is by Shiamak Davar, the entire production and art design is by Omung

Kumar, while renowned fashion designer Neeta Lulla has designed the costumes.ZANGOORA, The Gypsy Prince has

been watched and enjoyed by numerous film stars, politicos and world business leaders, since its launch. The majestic

*******************************

Mindshare appointed as Media AOR for NourishCo


Mindshare, the flagship media agency of GroupM has won the media AOR duties for NourishCo, a joint venture by

PepsiCo and Tata Global Beverages. Dialogue Factory will lead this client relationship with Mindshare. Dialogue


Factory specialises in the unconventional and the effective. With strategy and planning they provide highly targeted

alternative marketing solutions. NourishCo, a joint venture between PepsiCo and Tata Global Beverages provides

healthier hydration solutions across Urban and Rural consumers. NourishCo caters to the non-carbonated ready-to-

drink beverages segment and focuses on health and enhanced wellness. Ashok Namboodiri, Chief, Sales & Marketing,

NourishCo, said, “We are tremendously pleased with the iconic work that Mindshare has done in the past. With their

width and depth of knowledge, we look forward to working with the new experiential marketing offering by Mindshare.”

Commenting on the win, R Gowthaman, Leader, South Asia, Mindshare said, “The win follows Mindshare’s close

partnership with PepsiCo and we are very delighted with the opportunity to serve NourishCo with some of our continual

path breaking work. Through Dialogue Factory, Mindshare is investing in providing wholesome communication

programmes that specialises in customised consumer contact and to provide such a service for NourishCo is indeed a

proud moment for us” Dalveer Singh, Leader, Dialogue Factory added, “We could not be more excited about this win

as it gives us an opportunity to build brands across both Urban & Rural markets. We are more excited about

NourishCo’s commitment & belief in building brands through Experiential Marketing and Community participation. This

partnership will bring alive the concept of marketing with them instead of marketing to them.”

*******************************

Outdoor Advertising is a powerful medium reveals OAC


Outdoor Advertising Convention 2011 kickstarted in Mumbai on 17th June 2011. The occasion that had hundreds of

people turn up as attendees saw eminent personalities taking the centre stage and talking about the outdoor

advertising. The first speaker of the event was Lynn de Souza, Chairman & CEO, Lintas Media Group. The topic on

which Lynn chose to talk was, ‘Stuck@Six to- The road to Ten’. Lynn de Souza says, “As a business Outdoor is 6% of

advertising pie. That’s really small and this has been the same since a long time. Outdoor is much more than 6% of my

ad agency revenue. There is a lot of money going in this industry. Outdoor needs to work hard to increase share we

predict that outdoor will have, 15-17% pa growth between now and 2015. Radio as an industry though is smaller than

outdoor but is more respectable. There are no entries in this business. Buyers in this outdoor business make money

and run away. There are many people but where are the young people who are thought leaders who can tell us that

where can we take this, Outdoor should also have a self regulatory system like other industries have. I am not sure

whether this is the industry to start with. The service delivery standards, the kind of systems and measurement we use

to plan and evaluate is still at its infancy. In outdoor, credit is linked to performance. Credit is the centre of whole circle

of performance and professionalism”.

“In the last 5 years India has doubled their presence outside their home. More than 50% people have been outside both

males and females and that means how powerful this outdoor medium is! There are three C’s. Consolidation-There are

so many vendors, stakeholders. At any point if you plan to consolidate, it will only do good. Second C is Collaboration-

The more is collaboration, the better you are able to build the company and the last C is Corruption.” adds Lynn. Lynn

signs off with, “Digital outdoor is a future and lots of investment in its research is going. There are few digital outdoors

that are very successful if not all. Outdoor advertising people should get respect by going green. We want to look at

outdoor advertising as an industry, self-regulated, where outdoor plays fairly. We want to see the best practice, would

like to see good amount of research done. If it’s all done then this is not about 6% to 10% but about 2% share of respect

to 20%. This is what is industry waiting for”. The second session was conducted by the duo Sonal Dabral, Regional

Executive Creative Director & India Chairman, Bates 141 and Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar, Chief Creative Officer, Bates

141. Though Sonal was not physically present at the convention, but the video recorded and sent by him enlightened

the audience about the strength of the outdoor advertising medium. Dabral says, ‘There are so many things happening

in outdoor advertising today, Advertising is not just about print or TVC, there is much more on outdoor medium. It is the

future. Outdoor is anything that happens out of home like roadshows, events, big projections on the face of building etc.

Timesquare has become a tourist spot today”. Dabral questions that why don’t we truly understand the power of

outdoor medium? He states, “Unless we start doing outdoor advertising like events and all consciously, it won’t grow


and it will continue to be looked upon by people as they are looking at it today. Some outdoor advertisements are mind

boggling; they have so many conventional ideas. There is just no limit to touch the consumer. The events that

happened during the world cup, it is outdoor advertising and a very clever campaign not to increase sales but to build

affinity with the consumers. Outdoor medium is just not a piece of metal. Technology is going to play a huge part, bigger

and bigger role than what we see outdoor today”.

“There is so much happening today that everything has to be entertaining and engaging otherwise there is no hope.

Advertising now or any communication we do today has to be two-way. It has to bring people to interact, converse. Ever

since I started working in the profession, I used to feel so blessed that everyday there are so many problems,

challenges to work on, so many ideas to work upon. Path breaking ideas are required in India. In India, over last 4

years, as an industry outdoor is static. It is something we need to reflect upon. Except India, outdoor advertising is

growing everywhere and this is shameful. We must not look at outdoor advertising as a secondary or reminder medium.

If you tell yourself that outdoor is a much bigger name, I am sure things are going to change. Ultimately, it’s not only

about engaging with consumer’s mind, it’s very important to engage with consumer’s heart”, says Dabral.

*********************

‘Hindustan’, ‘Dainik Bhaskar’ add readers

Source: HT Mint, Date: June 18, 2011

The quarterly study of the readership of newspapers and magazines the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) R1 (Round

One) 2011 shows that the top order of India’s most-read publications has remained unchanged since the last survey

(Q4, 2010). The survey for the January-March quarter, released by Media Users Research Council (MRUC), a not-for-

profit body, and conducted by Hansa Research Group Pvt. Ltd, shows that most magazines continue to lose readership

while business newspapers are acquiring more readers. IRS gives the readership for 450 publications. Although the

widest read newspaper Dainik Jagran continues to lead the pack among the top 10 publications, the Hindi daily from the

Jagran Prakashan group has lost readership marginally from 16.07 million readers to 15.91 million. Hindustan from

Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd (HMVL), a part of HT Media Ltd, which publishes Hindustan Times (HT) and Mint,

and Dainik Bhaskar have added readers. Among English dailies the top two newspapers, The Times of India from

Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd and HT have improved readership. HT has retained the No. 1 position in region. the

Delhi-NCR. The financial newspapers have had a mixed quarter. The leader in the business news category The

Economic Times has seen a fall in readership. The average issue readership of the Hindu Business Line has also

declined. MRUC has not released the numbers for Financial Express (FE). In the last round, the FE average issue

readership was 34,000. Mint, meawhile, has registered growthfrom 199,000 readers in the previous round to 222,000

now. Business Standard has also seen an increase in readership from 147,000 to 151,000 readers. The top two Hindi

magazines, Pratiyogita Darpan and Saras Salil, have both improved readership, while most other magazines have seen

a decline. Commenting on the marginal increase for Malayala Manorama, Varghese Chandy, senior general manager

(marketing), said that over the last six months, it has added around 100,000 copies and the increased circulation is yet

to reflect in the numbers. Delhi Press is the publisher of magazines such as Saras Salil and Champak.

*****************************

Indian media to reap ad bonanza during 2011-15


Advertising is set for explosive growth in India in the next five years, with print, TV, internet and radio benefiting

significantly, says the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) global entertainment and media outlook. Newspaper

advertising will lead the charge with a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12% from 2011 to 2015, second only

to Indonesia. India’s annual newspaper advertising will grow from today’s R10,000 crore to nearly R18,000 crore by

2015. This, at a time advertising is expected to stagnate or shrink in Australia and Japan, the market leaders in Asia-

Pacific. However, at a relatively muted CAGR of 4.5%, circulation revenues in India won’t match the frenetic pace of


advertising growth, in contrast with China, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Malaysia, said PwC. The country’s 2010

newspaper circulation revenue stood at R5,825 crore, which will touch R7,272 crore by 2015. Combining advertising

and subscription revenue, the Indian newspaper industry is projected to grow at 9.4% to reach R25,000 crore in next

five years from R15,894 crore in 2010. PwC adds that in line with the global trend, India’s television advertising revenue

will overtake newspapers, generating over R9,000 crore in five years to cross R19,200 crore. While worldwide TV

advertising is expected to grow at 6.5% over the next five years reaching R10.6 lakh crore, newspaper advertising

would grow only at 1.9% in the same period reaching R8.06 lakh crore, PwC said. Indian TV advertising will grow at a

CAGR of 14%, the fourth highest in the world. Overall, the Indian media and entertainment industry will grow at more

than twice the global rate of a little under 6% until 2015 so as to reach R1.45 lakh crore from around R79,133 crore in

2010. Worldwide spending on entertainment and media is estimated to grow from $1.4 trillion in 2010 to $1.9 trillion by

2015, a CAGR of 5.7%. Also, digital platforms will drive the future operating models globally, showing the highest

growth among all categories, the global entertainment and media outlook report from PwC says. Internet-led advertising

in India will clock the fastest growth until 2015 and is expected to more than double to reach R1,800 crore against the

around R702 crore in 2010, a CAGR of 20.9%. Even the radio industry, which solely depends on advertising revenue, is

expected to touch R1,800 crore by 2015 from R1,000 crore last year. Even the Indian film industry is projected to grow

at nearly 11% over the next five years.

*******************************

Zee embarks on corporate re-branding exercise


Media conglomerate Zee Enterprises Entertainment has embarked on a corporate re-branding exercise, unveiling the

network’s new logo. An investment of R10 crore has gone into the entire exercise. Zee’s brand revamp comes six years

after it carried out a similar initiative in 2005 under the then head Pradeep Guha. More recently, Star Plus underwent a

similar repositioning in June 2010, which enabled it to regain leadership position in the Hindi GEC (general

entertainment channel) space. At present, Zee Enterprises’ flagship channel Zee TV occupies the third spot after

Viacom 18’s Colors, in the GEC ladder. Announcing Zee Network’s new slogan — “Ummeed Se Saje Zindagi” — and a

new positioning targeting the emerging Indian woman, Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, Zee Enterprises, said, “This is an

initiative to connect afresh with consumers of Zee’s content. We have infused new identity into the brand. The new

positioning is about the celebration of a woman’s emerging beliefs and a reflection of her changing hopes, dreams and

optimism.” Goenka further said, “In a cluttered television landscape, it is imperative to keep reinventing oneself in order

to connect with evolving viewer interests. But, our central target consumer is the woman and this re-branding is

indicative of that.” While Zee TV’s new aqua blue logo has been designed by its in-house team, the company has

collaborated with creative agency Draft FCB Ulka to develop the new corporate brand TVC (television commercial),

which has been produced by ad filmmaking house Equinox. The new logo was unveiled and the TVC was simulcast

(simultaneously telecast) across 25 channels of Zee Network on Sunday. The company also undertook a countrywide

marketing and advertising campaign, leveraging all forms of media, to make consumers aware of the new Zee identity.

Goenka added, “We mobilized millions of Zee viewers across 75 cities in this re-branding exercise. Data obtained from

market research, conducted on our international audiences, was incorporated as well.”

*******************************

FMCG firms cut ad spend to offset high input costs


FMCG companies are tightening their purse strings by controlling advertising spends and other marketing expenses to

maintain their margins, as high raw material prices continue to pose serious challenge, according to analysts. Experts

said these companies were likely to be cautious on their advertising expenses if they had to remain profitable despite

high input costs. “Most of the FMCG companies are focusing on volume growth without hurting their operating margins.

While they are resorting to price increases, they also have to reduce their operating cost, including their ad spend, staff


cost and other expenses, to maintain their margins,” India Infoline Research Analyst Vanmala Nagwekar said.

According to a report by Standard Chartered Equity Research on the Indian consumer sector, the FMCG segment

maintained margins at 15.8 per cent last financial year, despite rising raw material costs, by controlling ad spends and

cutting operating costs during the period. “Inflation in input costs led to a slight decline in gross margin, but operating

margin was steady on the back of cut in ad spend and better operating leverage,” the report said, adding that ad spend

by several companies was down by 200 basis points in the previous financial year. Two of the biggest spenders on

advertising, Hindustan Uniliver (HUL) and Procter & Gamble (P&G) marginally reduced their advertising and

promotional expenses in the fourth quarter last financial year. In the last quarter of 2010-11, HUL’s advertising and

promotional expenses were down marginally to Rs 623.29 crore, from Rs 626.52 crore in the period a year

ago.Similarly, P&G reduced its ad spend to Rs 37.96 crore, from Rs 44.13 crore in the corresponding period last

financial year.In an investor conference recently, Dabur Ltd Chief Executive Officer Sunil Duggal had said the company

would not obviously go overboard in terms of advertising and promotion as long as inflation remained the way it

was.“However there is no concerted effort to cut back on ad spends to protect margins. The ad spend was lower in the

fourth quarter of 2010-11, as we had postponed some new product launches to this financial year,” Duggal had said.In

the last two quarters of 2010-11, Dabur saw its ad spend coming down from 16.4 per cent of sales in the first quarter to

around 11.5 per cent of sales in the last quarter. Duggal added: “Our total ad spend will continue to be in the region of

13 per cent in the current financial year.”Analysts pointed out that FMCG companies would have to strike a balance

between maintaining margins and ad spends, as demand could soften further due to high inflation.

*************************

Advertisers yet to warm up to digital media


Digital advertising is considered a game changer threatening traditional advertising media including print, TV, radio and

outdoors. However, despite all the advantages such as lower costs and relatively efficient response tracking,

advertisers are still not fully ready to accept online platforms, say industry experts. Unless marketing initiatives are

innovative and devised specifically for digital media, the effectiveness will remain questionable, they add.“The audience

has adopted so much more quickly to digital platforms compared with advertisers. There’s still an inertia in brand

managers to pursue active digital advertising,” said Raj Narain, MD of Chennai-based Optima Advertising. The

company handles brands such as ITC’s Vivel, Kaya Skin Clinic and Star Health Insurance.From being fully search-

based, advertising has grown to engage and interact with users. Earlier ads would appear on search engine pages

when specific keywords were typed. A technique called search engine optimisation is deployed to strategically place

text and marquee ads on search pages. Now advertisers are co-creating products, getting instant feedback and

improving their offerings using online platforms especially social media, Narain said.Despite the advantages, a large

number of success stories haven’t emerged from the online medium primarily for lack of innovation, according to

Preetham Venkky, business head at KRDS. The French firm develops applications for Facebook and works with brands

like Samsung, Reebok and Renault.“Traditionally, content developed for print and TV is ‘copy-pasted’ on the digital

medium. Otherwise, there is just spamming. Don’t do anything online that you won’t do offline. Would any brand collect

a group of people in the middle of the road and shout out its promotional messages? If that’s not the case, then please

don’t spam online,” he stressed.However, the scope of advertising online has expanded fairly in the last two years, he

added. Online advertising was allocated about 1.5 per cent of ad budgets till last year. Now it has grown to about four

per cent and a few brands that have most of their target base online, such as e-commerce sites, spend close to 10 per

cent. Firms now spend about 0.5 per cent of their budget on Facebook, Venkky added.

******************

It's time to talk advertising once again

Source: The Hindu Business Line, Date: June 21, 2011


Cotton Candy Clouds. Sun kissed hilltops. Topaz waters. As we land in Nice, my heart soars. I feel a little like the

Gorilla that took Cannes by storm the last time I was here. That year, a man in a primate suit gave a whole new

meaning to ‘a glass-and-a-half-full of joy'. It was a celebration of art in advertising, feted in what must be one of the most

beautiful places in the world. St. Pauls' magnificent cobbled streets, glorious colours, stunning street fashion, pretty

cafes - they take beauty very seriously here. But it's more than just the scenery that's drawing brand owners to Cannes

each year. There's a lot to be said for the commercial value that creativity delivers, and I'm willing to bet that the work

we will see here over the next week will prove, yet again, that creativity is the most powerful force in business. I

welcome the decision to introduce the Cannes Effectiveness Lions to this year's programme. Creativity and

effectiveness are soul mates after all, and ought to be lauded as one. Who're going to be the big winners this year? My

guess is that we will see the world's largest marketer take Cannes by storm again. Last year's film Grand Prix winning

shirtless hunk of a man should take the cyber lions by the scruff of the neck and give it a good shake. We will doff our

hats to Wieden and Kennedy for making Old Spice cool again. No amount of attention's enough for this campaign. This

isn't some small time shack's lame attempt at social media, we're talking P&G. More importantly, this is a campaign that

sits outside of media silos and was spawned on good old fashioned network TV. Hopefully, it will knock some sense

into the digital hype junkies who forget that it's always going to be about brilliant thinking and skillful execution - and not

about the technology. I don't know of one person in the world who wouldn't want to see Deutsch's heart achingly

beautiful Darth Vader spot for VW win big. It's such a charming story, so endearingly told. It'd be a crime for juries to

ignore it. We're also interested in what the judges think of Droga 5's latest sleight of hand with Jay Z's autobiography.

And, of course, we're keeping a close eye on the entries from India. Tracking the fate of the favourites and the familiar is

always fun. But the most thrilling thing about Cannes is the discovery of lesser known ideas. Last time I was here, we

were blown away by X Box's terrific staging of the Halo 3 launch – which tied with the Cadbury Gorilla for the film Grand

Prix. By the end of the week, we will have been surprised by (yet) unheralded pieces of work that change the way we

think about advertising. As always, we're going to be treated to an incredible array of speakers. Besides the best and

brightest advertising minds, we've got pop culture icons like Patti Smith, will-i-am and Piers Morgan; giants from the

movie business like the team from the Social Network; stalwarts from technology and media like Eric Schmidt, Tim

Armstong and Arianna Huffington. Besides the usual issues that advertising folk like to spend time talking about, the

billing suggests three overarching themes technology, ‘doing good', and ‘advertising as entertainment'. These should

make for gripping discussion and debate. So much to do, so little time. As our ape friend on the drums would say –

Bring It On!

********************************

O&M celebrates 100 years of Ogilvy


To celebrate the centenary of legendary ad man, David Ogilvy, who founded the global advertising agency, O&M, the

agency in Mumbai is literally painting the town red Ogilvy's colours on June 23. Bright red hoardings are already on the

streets of Mumbai featuring Mr Ogilvy's famous quotes which hold true even today and the agency is hoping “they will

be a source of inspiration” for anyone driving by and reading them. A statement from the agency says, “For years now,

David Ogilvy has been the beacon of creativity for us at Ogilvy and for the industry. “His advertising, principles and

business acumen has inspired us all. So it's only right to pay him a fitting tribute on the centennial of his birth.” In his

honour, O&M is celebrating with his favourite colour, red. “Right from the décor and costumes to the refreshments and

cake, it's going to be red all the way,” says the agency. That apart, at O&M's Mumbai office, there will be a quiz based

on Mr Ogilvy's quotes, a treasure hunt and an exclusive corner which will showcase his path-breaking work and present

some glimpses of his life. David Ogilvy passed away on July 21, 1999, at the age of 88.

*****************************

Reliance Entertainment picks Accenture for systems integration



Reliance Entertainment Ltd has selected Accenture to integrate a revenue-generating digital rights management system

for two of its businesses - Reliance Entertainment and Reliance Home Video. Reliance Entertainment produces and

distributes motion pictures and Reliance Home Video distributes home entertainment products. The financial terms of

the contract were not disclosed. Under the contract, Accenture is integrating a third-party’s digital rights management

software with Reliance’s pre-existing rights management system and enterprise resource planning tool. “This will enable

Reliance to collect digital rights revenues globally from delivering content on multiple platforms, including cinema,

mobile handsets and tablet computers,” according to an Accenture statement here. This integration initiative allows

Reliance to automate many functions to generate more revenues by streamlining its business processes to handle

larger transaction volumes, thus leading to a more effective calculation and collection of digital rights and royalties, it

said. “There is immense scope for the monetization of content in the media and entertainment industry today,” said Mr

Ashish Khanna, the managing director of Accenture’s Communications & High-Tech group in India.

**********************

New opportunities for youngster in outdoor advertising


The media industry is one of the fastest growing industries today. Given the plethora of marketing, branding, media-

planning and other profiles of advertising, opportunities in the media industry are endless. Young aspirants of the media

industry are eager to learn the techniques and acquire expertise in various disciplines of media and the media industry

in turn is demanding more trained professionals in the field. The Global Advertisers has taken an initiative to reduce this

gap by creating on job training, part-time and freelancing working options for media enthusiast. The vision is to train

aspiring media professionals and hone their skills to make skilled, dynamic and confident media personalities of

tomorrow. With training ranging from Field Knowledge to Communication skill and the understanding of market trend.

Global Advertisers, Managing Director, Sanjeev Gupta believes that student will get great exposure, learning

environment to earn and acquire expertise in the media industry. I many a times encountered youngsters learning or

training in various media companies- Youngsters who aspired to be make it big in the fascinating media industry,

youngsters who yearned to learn techniques and acquire skills to make a name for themselves. I sensed the sincere

enthusiasm and ambition in them to excel in the field. I believed at this time that imparting knowledge and skill in the

field would hone their skills and stand them in excellent stead in their endeavors in the field- knowledge and training that

our generation was bereft of. The attrition rate in the media and entertainment sector is currently at 25 per cent, there is

an increase in people leaving the organizations and the sector itself. The sector is facing a dearth of the required skills,

especially at the junior and the middle level management.

***********************

Zuska creates waves with OAP as their outdoor agency


The outdoor experts, OAP, have bagged the account of the international brand Zuska. They are now the agency on

record (AOR) for the brand. Zuska which has come up with a range of new products for personal care belongs to the

house of Zodhita Healthcare Solutions Pvt Ltd.The new Zuska range of antiperspirant stick was launched in the Indian

market in November 2010 did not create much of a spark through its communication plan. OAP, the outdoor advertising

experts have recently taken up Zuska and have devised a fool-proof outdoor campaign which will primarily be launched

to help establish the brand as a premium and effective antiperspirant stick in the market. The campaign is already in

motion and it is making its presence all over India in all the zones across the country. The medium used for this

particular campaign ranges from billboards to uni-poles, bus branding, signage’s, bus shelters and many more. Special

efforts have been taken to devise this campaign as each outdoor format plays a different role in the campaign. Large

hoardings are aimed at brand building while bus shelters are more localized, giving out nearby dealer information and

encouraging walk-ins. The company has also worked on creating some interesting innovations for Zuska by using

mediums like signage's, bridge panels, metro signage's, wall-mounts, gantry, double sided flag pole, translite,


escalators and mobile vans. OAP at present is meticulously planning for the launch of the second phase of the

campaign. This campaign is set to be out in the second half of the year to pave its way into the market successfully in

the future.

***********************

HANMER MSL and Saatchi and Saatchi Focus Launch Indias First BRAND and TALENT Practice


HANMER MSL, part of MSLGROUP, Publicis Groupe’s flagship speciality communications, PR and events network, in

collaboration with Saatchi & Saatchi Focus, also part of Publicis Groupe, the third largest Communications Group

worldwide, today launched the Brand and Talent Practice™ in India. An already established global employee

communications offer, this suite of services has expanded to help Indian companies get the most from their investment

in people by attracting, motivating and retaining the right talent to help grow their business.The Brand and Talent™

speciality practice covers the entire range of employee communications. The service offering spans three broad areas

including Employer Branding, Recruitment Communications and Employee/Internal Communications. Recent studies by

Gallup Consulting have established a strong and irrefutable co-relation between Employee Engagement and the

Financial Performance, confirming that companies with engaged employees outperform their rivals by up to

300%!Brand and Talent™ will help companies build employee engagement strategies linked to the achievement of

corporate goals, giving them a distinct edge in the marketplace. This new practice will look to connect media and

audiences both internally and externally, across functional lines within the enterprise and across markets where cultural

values and work-life balance often vary drastically. This will help companies attract and engage the right talent more

effectively and efficiently, making their businesses more productive, whilst retaining employees longer as ambassadors

both during and after their employment. MSLGROUP’s Brand and Talent™ Practice was launched globally last year

bringing together expertise from various backgrounds such as Public Relations, Advertising, Branding, Corporate

Communications, Sustainability, Media buying, Research and Evaluation. As multi-national clients increasingly demand

local market and audience insight, Brand and Talent™ provides market intelligence, audience insight, media buying,

production and implementation in 104 countries via Publicis Groupe’s fully-owned agencies. The practice offers a ‘hubs

+ satellites’ network of employee communications specialists in 20 countries, across five continents. In India, HANMER

MSL and Saatchi & Saatchi Focus will partner to deliver this unique set of services to clients across a wide range of

industries such as IT, ITes, Manufacturing, Entertainment, FMCG, Automobile, Oil and Gas, Healthcare and BFSI, to

name a few.

Commenting on the launch of the Hanmer MSL Brand and Talent™ practice, Jaideep Shergill, CEO, HANMER MSL

said, “We are excited to bring in a wave of innovative thinking and a new suite of services for talent management to the

Indian market. Traditional approaches to employee communications aren’t keeping up with the times – today’s

successful companies see huge strategic value inherent in a more joined-up approach and are looking for partners like

us to guide them.” “MSLGROUP’s Brand and Talent™ Practice will change the way employers view their Talent,” said

Malavika Harita, CEO of Saatchi and Saatchi Focus in India. “We are excited to partner with HANMER MSL and offer

these services to our clients. It is an apt time as organizations are beginning to recognize that having the right employer

brand has a direct impact on the talent that becomes a part of them, and engaging and retaining that talent leads to

financial outperformance of the organization.” Globally, Brand & Talent™ already counts among its clients the likes of

AXA, Barclays Capital, BP, Coca-Cola, EADS, Ernst & Young, GDF Suez, GlaxoSmithKline, KPMG, Renault and

Sainsbury’s.

***********************

Conde Nast launches its first corporate campaign



In a span of four years Condé Nast India has built the No 1 multimedia platform to reach a million affluent consumers

across different platforms – print, websites, iPad and smartphone applications. The newly launched corporate campaign

reinforces the group’s leadership position and communicates the role played by Condé Nast India in driving and building

the luxury business in India.Luxury in India was perceived as a privilege of an elite few, but today there is a larger

audience that is engaging and buying luxury, an affluent generation that is hungry for refined lifestyle experiences.

Condé Nast India has designed this campaign to celebrate the growth and potential of the luxury market in India and

showcase the role played by Condé Nast in driving that growth. Conceptualized by ad firm Taproot India, The

campaign’s central message is derived from an elementary human desire and aspiration for the finer things in life.

Articulated perfectly with the tagline ‘The Necessity of Luxury’, the campaign underlines the growing aspirations of

affluent Indians and showcases how Condé Nast has internalized luxury in all its operations. The campaign is targeted

at all the media planners and buyers as well as marketers targeting the affluent in India. Speaking on the campaign,

Alex Kuruvilla, MD, Condé Nast India, said, “Our corporate campaign is a celebration of Condé Nast India achieving a

series of path-breaking milestones in the four years of our existence. Not only have each of our brands established

dominant leadership in their respective categories: (Vogue in women’s fashion, GQ in men’s lifestyle, CN Traveller in

premium travel), they have done so across platforms – print, websites, tablets, cell phones, social media. Condé Nast is

the only media group in India with the ability to connect to over 1 million affluent Indians, a proposition that no premium

brand can afford to ignore.” Agnello Dias, Creative Director, Taproot India, says, “The luxury category is often denied its

place in social evolution, being sometimes dismissed as superficial or indulgent. But the fact is, what are necessities

today were luxuries once. Starting with the earliest human inventions like fire and the wheel. The idea behind ‘The

Necessity of Luxury’ is to underline the truth that luxury is human desire, it is the fulcrum of civilization.” Santosh Padhi,

Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Taproot India, says, “With Condé Nast India coming on board, it allowed us to

speak to a very different elite audience, which in a way completed the jigsaw for Taproot India to widen our clientele

range."

***********************

Bollywood gets a new dimension


Will Shah Rukh Khan’s ambitious superhero sci-fi thriller Ra.One have a 3D version? The buzz is that though the film

has been shot in 2D, it is likely to be converted to 3D post-release. After James Cameron raised the bar with his 3D

version of Avatar, there’s been a tremendous surge in 3D technology in Hollywood. Most of the summer releases this

year, from Kung Fu Panda 2 to Cars 2 to Warners’ Green Lantern, have been in 3D, and Bollywood is slowly following

suit, especially in live format 3D and not animation.With Vikram Bhatt’s Haunted in 3D grossing R24.60 crore in three

weeks, Bollywood is mulling over the possibilities of using the technology for genres like horror, thrillers, science fiction

and so forth. Fox Star Studios recently announced that it was tying up with Vishesh Films for Raaz 3 in 3D. This will be

the first time a Hollywood studio would be co-producing an Indian 3D horror film. Though details are sketchy, Raaz 3 in

3D will be directed by Vikram Bhatt. Says Fox Star Studios India CEO Vijay Singh, “Vikram Bhatt’s success record in

horror genre is well known. For us co-producing with Vishesh Films is a very important decision.” “3D is the new trend,”

says Naresh Malik, COO, creative services, Reliance MediaWorks, adding, “Indian films have taken time to adopt VFX.

The large scale consumption of 3D will depend on whether producers are recovering the investment or not. Eventually,

for a method of story telling to succeed, it has to make financial sense too.”Ram Mirchandani, chief creative office, Eros

Entertainment, which is co-producing Ra.One, says the exhibition sector is investing in 3D in a big way and so 3D

content is bound to follow. “Three years from now, at least 15-20 films made in India will be in 3D,” he points out. As of

now, there are at least 150 screens in 3D in India. The exhibition players ramped up 3D screens post-Avatar, which was

a great success, but by the time Ra.One releases, says Mirchandani, “there should be at least 280 3D screens. The

sector has done the research and is certain that the audience will pay more for the 3D experience.” Alok Tandon, CEO,

INOX Leisure, says there has been a steady flow of 3D movies in the past one year and this year looks as promising as

the last. “Indian consumers have embraced the new technology of 3D very positively. With the increase in the number

of 3D movies, we are looking forward to their good run at the box office,” he adds. Inox has 19 3D screens currently and


is planning quite a few more in the coming six months. Tandon says the release of Avatar in December 2009 changed

the perspective of 3D films. “It will not be fair to compare Hollywood vis-à-vis Indian film industry on 3D. However,

Haunted did pretty well and we are optimistic about these movies getting in more footfalls to our multiplexes,” he adds.

“We are hearing Ra.One is coming in 3D... it’s an appealing format and people are paying for the experience,” says

Rahul Singh, senior VP, PVR Cinemas. PVR, which has 20 screens in 3D now, will soon have 33.

Ashesh Jani, partner, Deloitte Haskins & Sells, says India and other Asian countries have caught up on the 3D rage

after Hollywood. “In India, the rate at which 3D screens are coming up is one of the highest in the world from about 40-

50 screens at the time of release of Avatar to about 150 screens today. Multiplex owners and distributors have

expressed interest in the new format and have announced plans that could result in 500 3D screens in a couple of

years. Hence, Bollywood is not far behind Hollywood in embracing the new 3D technology,” he says.“There’s a lot of

interest in 3D in India,” agrees Merzin Tavaria, Prime Focus. “Conversion of 2D to 3D is getting a lot of attention, with a

number of international directors keen on this approach.” One of the first movies Prime Focus will be working on in India

in 3D is Shirish Kunder’s Joker. Ask the players if costs is a concern and most point out that “what a 3D film generates

at the box office should justify the costs.” As Mirchandani puts it: “To shoot a film in 3D costs 20-35% more, but it’s

worth it.” But there are challenges, as Jani articulates: “High investment (additional cost for equipment and lighting,

special rigs, stereographers and requisite technology, post-production and special effects) and the extra time needed to

shoot in 3D, a more expensive shooting format than converting a film from 2D to 3D and lack of adequate experienced

technicians/professionals for this format.” What Bollywood also hasn’t acquired yet is the Hollywood mode of doing film

business. For instance, as Warner Brothers brought one of the most popular DC Comic superheroes onto the big

screen, Green Lantern in 3D last week, it embarked on a 360-degree marketing and promotion strategy to promote the

film. Toys, T-shirts, video games and even kiosks at PVR Cinemas across the country were set up to sell the

merchandise. There’s another more serious front where Bollywood is yet to catch up with Hollywood—animation 3D.

“We have to learn to make animation films that are not targeted at children alone,” says Mirchandani. Reliance’s Malik

goes a step further to say that “we can only do that much with mythological stories” The bottomline is that though

Bollywood is abuzz with live format 3D, there’s no excitement around creating animation 3D. Not yet. Mirchandani

hopes animation 3D will also work out soon.Says Malik: “There will be a lot of 3D content because we will soon have to

get used to watching our televisions in 3D too.” As Jani puts it: “3D is the new buzzword in India and is here to stay and

also go a long way. There is a big line up of Bollywood 3D movies that are under production/finalisation. 3D screens are

‘multiplying’ as the multiplexes themselves. Alliances, acquisitions and joint ventures by/of production houses will be the

order of the day and will give a boost to the 3D business. 3D screens will naturally follow the trend and keep pace with

the release of movies in 3D.” In the West, there’s already a section crying out that there’s a surfeit of 3D with concerns

around quality, which is leading to a slide in ticket sales, but that’s another story

***********************

Facebook to take no.1 spot in US display ad mkt

Source: The Economic Times, Date: June 22, 2011

Facebook's US advertising revenue will total roughly $2.2 billion in 2011, displacing Yahoo to collect the biggest slice of

online display advertising dollars, according to a new study. Facebook's US advertising revenue will give it a 17.7%

share of the market for graphical display ads that appear on websites, according to a report released on Monday by

research firm eMarketer. Last year Facebook had 12.2% share of the US market. The figures underscore the growing

clout of Facebook, the world's No 1 Internet social network. It has seen its valuation soar to roughly $80 billion in recent

transactions for its shares on the private markets and some investors anticipate it could have an initial public offering

next year. While Facebook has grabbed the top ranking, eMarketer analyst David Hallerman said the overall market for

display ads, which include banner ads, video ads and web page sponsorships, is growing robustly enough that it is

benefiting numerous companies. "It's not a zero sum game," said Mr Hallerman, noting that the display advertising

market is experiencing rapid growth as both big international brands and small,local businesses increasingly turn to the

web to reach consumers. Internet companies such as Yahoo, Google and Microsoft are competing for those advertising


budgets, while new players such as online coupon company Groupon are offering marketers alternatives to traditional

online display ads. Web portal Yahoo will grow its online display business in the US by 13.6% this year, eMarketer said.

But that will lag the overall US display market's growth rate of 24.5%. Google's revenue from US display ads will total

$1.15 billion in 2011, up 34.4% year-over-year. eMarketer's report looks at companies' net revenue, which does not

include money the companies share with web publisher partners. Google, which generates the vast majority of its

revenue from small, often text-only ads that appear alongside its search results, is stepping up efforts to grow its display

advertising business. Last week the company announced the acquisition of AdMeld, which makes it easier for Web

publishers to sell display ads on their sites. In 2012, eMarketer projected that Yahoo and Google will be neckand-neck

as the No 2 and No 3 players in the US display market, with the companies having 12.5% share and 12.3%,

respectively.

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EdServ eyes 2 billion rupees from mobile apps foray

Source: DNA, Date: June 22, 2011

Education services company EdServ said on Tuesday it has forayed into the mobile application space and expects to

clock 2 billion rupees in revenue over the next three years from this venture. Chennai-based EdServ is targeting a user

base of 10 million in the next 18 to 24 months and will provide content such as tuition, academics, skill development and

test preparation services, the company said in a statement to the exchange.

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BigFlix to wind up 24 standalone retail outlets


Reliance ADA Group-promoted online movie streaming and DVD rental service BigFlix is planning to shut 24 of its

standalone retail outlets to reduce operational cost. Currently, BigFlix has 33 retail outlets across Mumbai, Pune, Delhi,

Bangalore, Chandigarh, Faridabad and Kolkata. Of these, nine are franchise outlets which will continue to be

operational. The movie-rental company will now focus on setting up call centres with relationship managers where

customers can call for DVDs. The company receives nearly 60 per cent of its revenues through online-platforms and the

remaining through offline. The company recently tied up with Bharti Airtel to launch online on-demand digital video

service Airtel Movies, which would allow customers to access 500 movies along with 100 TV shows, 100 trailers and

100 music videos for Rs 229 per month on their computer, laptop or tablet. According to entertainment industry officials,

rolling out new standalone outlets and paying out huge rents can be expensive. “ These businesses are generally

plagued by several issues such as escalating realty costs, ever increasing fee for content acquisition and lack of

logistical support. This will help them reduce the cost of operation substantially,” said an industry official. When Reliance

Entertainment had ventured into movie rental business in 2007, it was rolled out with a combination of retail store, home

delivery and online streaming. Typically, customer had two choices, opting either for a subscription model or paying as

they walk in a store. The price points for the second choice range between Rs 40 and Rs 80 per DVD/VCD, depending

on the language. The group had planned to invest around Rs 400 crore to open 500 across outlets 35-40 cities. The

subscription model had various membership plans depending on number of DVDs, which could be rented at a particular

point. The model was similar to the US video rental distribution network Blockbuster Inc. Incidentally, last year,

Blockbuster had filed for bankruptcy as it failed to adapt its storefront model to online technology pioneered by rivals

such as Netflix and Redbox. The organised movie rental market in India is estimated to be around Rs 40 crore with

Bigflix and angalore-based Seventymm having a national presence. But the industry faces several challenges due to

online piracy and other emerging platforms like DTH. “Even though, we try to offer better deals and discounts to

customers through our platform, the availability of pirated movie content and new releases being premiered on

television and DTH platforms within two months is making the scenario challenging,” said a senior official from

Seventymm. According to this year's KPMG-Ficci Entertainment report, Dabangg had over 4.32 lakh downloads across

five DTH players (Tata Sky, Reliance, Videocon, Tata Sky, Airtel and Dish). Some of the latest films like Tanu Weds


Manu, Saat Khoon Maaf and Patiala House, which have been shown on the DTH platform, have at least had 100,000

pay-per-view basis. These generally cost around Rs 50-75 per view depending on the movie. Sometimes in order to

drive up volumes, the DTH providers even reduce the price to Rs 25 per view.

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New Brand Director of Reebok India


Sportswear brand Reebok India has appointed Mr Sajid Shamim, Executive Director (Sales and Marketing), Reebok

India, as the Brand Director of Reebok at adidas Group. adidas Group owns Reebok and adidas globally. He will be

responsible for the marketing and business strategies of Reebok India. This development has come in the wake of a

joint operating model effective from May 2011 by adidas group in India. Mr Sajid Shamim has been with the company

for the past ten years. CROSS-FUNCTIONAL EXPOSURE At Reebok Sajid has had cross-functional exposure in the

sales, retail, marketing and product division.

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Devraj Sanyal appointed as Managing Director, Universal Music India

Source: Afaqs.com, Radioandmusic.com, Newkerala.com, Date: June 23, 2011

Devraj Sanyal has been named as Managing Director of Universal Music India, with effect from tomorrow. The

appointment was announced by Vico Antippas, Regional President, Universal Music Group International. Sanyal, 36,

will assume responsibility for all operational aspects of Universal Music India, which is headquartered in Mumbai,

including its interests in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Among the company’s leading artists like U2, Lady Gaga,

Bryan Adams, Metallica, Bon Jovi, Abba, Queen, Rolling Stones to name a few & top sellers like Hard Kaur, Mohit

Chauhan, Raghav, Bombay Rockers, Punjabi MC & Josh from its domestic roster. Sanyal succeeds Rajat Kakar, who is

leaving Universal Music to pursue other interests. Kakar has been Managing Director of the company’s Indian

operations for the past eight years, during which it has maintained its market prominence. Sanyal comes to Universal

Music after two decades of being in the media & entertainment business, the last seven years being at Percept, one of

India’s leading entertainment, media and communications groups. Most recently, he was Group CEO of Percept Sports

& Entertainment, which includes Music, Events, Television & Intellectual properties, Branded content & entertainment

and talent management divisions. He now also moves to the board of Percept Limited as Director – Sports and

Entertainment. He also co-founded the prominent Asian electronic music festival, Sunburn with Percept Limited which is

rated in the top 10 festivals of the world.Vico Antippas said: “India’s growth and evolution as an entertainment market

and source of creativity is tremendously exciting, especially for innovative thinkers and bold entrepreneurs. Devraj is

just such a person, and we’re looking forward to a new era for the company under his leadership.” Devraj Sanyal

commented, “For the past two decades, I have run successful organisations and businesses, and also been a serious

musician. I now intend to use this combined knowledge and understanding to take Universal Music India to its next

level. I am here to “Change the Game”.

********************************

Buzzing social media before advertising


"BUYERS now don't shy from talking online about products, creating a huge opportunity for brands" Susan McPartlin

Retail & Consumer Industry Leader at PwCA BRAND that has been present online since the days this newspaper still

included “http://“ in Web addresses is expanding its digital marketing tactics by embracing social media.Perfetti Van

Melle has hired the Martin Agency, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies, as the social media agency in the US for

its Mentos line of mints and gums. As Perfetti Van Melle gears up to introduce Mentos UP2U, its first stick gum sold in

this country, the initial advertising efforts will be focused in social media like Facebook.For instance, the new gum


already has a Facebook fan page, at facebook.com/up2u, which more than 95,900 people have indicated they

“like.“The first 1,000 visitors who clicked on the “like“ button got free gum in a promotion that began on June 13 and

ended on Wednesday.Plans call for an invitation to be made next month on the fan page, asking those who “like“ the

new product to provide the name of friends they would want to receive samples.Perfetti Van Melle has long made digital

media part of its pitch for Mentos. In 2003, during the California recall election for governor, Mentos introduced a

microsite, or special Web site, that sought to declare a new product, Mentos boxed mints, as the “official chewy mint” of

the election.And in 2006, when performance artists uploaded to a Web site called eepybird.com, a video clip that

demonstrated how mixing Diet Coke with Mentosmints can produce cool explosions, Perfetti Van Melle embraced them

and posted the clip on mentos.com. The strategy to introduce Mentos UP2U “is very much 360-degree marketing,

starting with very compelling and unique social media content,“ said Mehmet Yuksek, executive vice-president for North

America at Perfetti Van Melle. “We'd like to build a buzz,“ he added, and then move on to advertising in traditional

media like TV. To help generate such word of mouth, Perfetti Van Melle is also using Lizzie Grubman Public Relations

in New York, which will distribute samples of Mentos UP2U at events in locations like Las Vegas and Miami.The

interactive aspects of the marketing plans are indicative of the increasing importance of digital initiatives at companies

that peddle consumer packaged goods.

“Consumers now aren’t shy about posting their feelings online about products, where they literally are handing over

reams of potential insights that can create a tremendous opportunity for packaged goods companies that can find

patterns in the noise,“ said Susan McPartlin, retail and consumer industry leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers.That is

demonstrated repeatedly on the UP2U Facebook fan page. For instance, about an hour after the brand posted a

question on the page on Wednesday afternoon -“A theme song plays whenever you enter a room. It's UP2U, what song

do you choose?“ -there were already more than 120 comments, which included I Will Survive, the theme from Jaws,

Like a Virgin and My sons would say the music from The Wizard of Oz.“ In this realm, “consumers are out in front,“ said

Marc Kempter, senior VP at Martin, particularly the target audience for the gum, which is teenagers and young adults.

“TV is still necessary to create broad awareness“ for a new product, he added, but the propensities of the “digital

extroverts“ in the core market for UP2U led to a decision “to launch it digitally first, build up a following and then take it

mass.“

********************************

MiD Day turns 32!


From a family-owned, one-paper company, MiD DAY has grown into a full-fledged, multiple-media conglomerate listed

on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange that includes Radio One, Inquilab (Urdu), Quam, as

well as Gujarati Mid Day along with its flagship publication - MiD DAY. It is one of the few Indian media groups to go

public. This light-hearted, easy-read, entertaining and mischievous paper turns 32 today. As MiD DAY turns 32, the

newspaper celebrates this anniversary with over 200 pages of infotainment in Mumbai and 64 pages in Delhi,

Bangalore and Pune each. It’s a look at how the transport and infrastructure, education, entertainment, sports, food and

lifestyle will change more than three decades from now. From zany futuristic concepts to present-day reality, the issue

has a humorous take on our tomorrow and a serious look at how we would move ahead. Plus: a look at the topics

through comic strips from some of the best in the business today. The price of the Issue will be Rs. 10 whereas the

price on any other day is Rs. 3. The 200 pager will cover Sports, Food & Lifestyle, Transport, Bollywood, Entertainment,

Shopping with a futuristic vision.

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ZEEL to be sector outperformer

Source: Financial Express, Date: June 24, 2011


Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) has undertaken its biggest below the line (BTL) activity in recent times by

unveiling a new logo and slogan based on the theme ‘Desire to Succeed’. With new shows lined up and the return of

seasoned player Ajay Bhalwankar as head of programming, the company is all set to reinforce its position. The entire

branding exercise is in line with the company’s aggressive stance, which is also evident in the fact that the channel has

gone ahead and inked a distribution deal with its arch rival channel Star Plus. Zee TV is quite close to becoming the

number two GEC (Zee TV is just 2 GRPS behind Colors) and has seen its viewership jump by 33% in the past 11

weeks. Zee TV has increased its lead over Sony to 67 GRPs compared to 2 GRPs just 2 weeks back. This week, Zee

TV recorded 228 GRPs (past one month average of 185) compared to 208 in the previous week, an increase of 20

points. Zee TV’s Pavitra Rishta is the strong number one show. ZEEL has unveiled a new bright aqua blue logo with a

new tag line Umeed se saje zindagi. The overall design has a progressive feel and depicts a dynamic and spirited

outlook. This has been adapted by all 25 Zee channels globally. Also, Zee TV is launching three new shows. On the

cards are also four HD channels and a new portal India.com. The rebranding exercise, undertaken over the past 11

months, entailed extensive market research involving 1.4 million people. Star Plus had gone for a revamp in June 2010,

which boosted its viewership and made it numero uno. In our view, a relaunch does create a buzz and if the new

content clicks, it can indeed boost viewership. ZEEL remains our top pick in the TV broadcasting space. Currently, the

stock is trading at 20x and 17x FY12E and FY13E EPS, respectively. We recommend buy with a target price at R170.

On relative return basis, we rate it as sector outperformer

******************

Disnet Studios Launches two 3D films on Blu-yay


Walt Disney Studios today launched two 3D movies on Blu-ray disc in 14 cities across India and will launch over 35 new

titles by the end of this year. Unlike normal DVDs, a Blu-ray disc can store content ranging from 25 GB to 500 GB. "We

are focused on making the experience more real and engaging. With the launch of Blu-ray 3D, we hope to offer

consumers a true 3-dimensional experience in the comforts of their homes,"The Walt Disney Studio Executive Director

(Marketing and Distribution) India K Seshasaye said in a statement. Disney is the first Studio to launch the Blu-ray 3D

content in the Indian market, the statement said. In September, Disney will release 16 more titles in 3D on Blu-ray disc

in India. The titles will include animated classics like Alice in Wonderland, A Christmas Carol, Bolt and many more. In

addition to this, Disney will release over 35 3D titles on Blu-ray disc in 2012. Two movies that were launched today

include Tron and Tangled and would be available on retail outlets such as Planet M, Crossword, Landmark, Reliance

Time Out, among others for Rs 1299.

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Ad agencies woo tech firms at Cannes


Technology and advertising executives have been talking up the potential of ads on mobile handsets since before Apple

Inc introduced the iPhone in 2007. Now, they may finally be ready to use them. At the Cannes Lions media conference,

sports goods company Nike is featuring an application that uses the global positioning system to track a user’s run on

iPhones and Facebook Inc.’s website. Friends send audible “cheers” by commenting on the runner’s page. Brewer

Heineken NV is showing its ‘StarPlayer’ app that lets soccer fans interact in real time while watching the European

Champions League matches. Functions to track consumers’ locations, social coupons such as those provided by

Groupon Inc., and the spread of large- screened smartphones may finally make mobile advertising a ubiquitous reality

as early as this year. Wireless ad revenue worldwide will more than double in 2011 and increase by more than fivefold

to $20.6 billion by 2015, according to a report by Gartner Inc. “One of the things that’s driving it is sheer growth in the

penetration of smartphones,” said John Delaney, research director of consumer mobile at IDC in London. “There’s only

one way of sending somebody a coupon if they walk past a store. Once those types of inventory start to become widely

available, they have significant potential to put steam under mobile advertising.”


Patch Sites Web companies are helping fuel the growth. AOL, for example, is working on improving its mobile

offerings using geo- location, and through its Patch local-news sites to attract advertisers for specific markets, CEO Tim

Armstrong said. The company is running about five different tests of such technologies, he said. The increase in mobile

advertising revenue will be fastest in western Europe, where it’s set to exceed 800 per cent in the next four years,

according to Gartner. Asia, which includes the fast-growing wireless markets in China and India, will maintain its top

spot, accounting for a third of global spending, the researcher estimates. “Mobile is just coming at us like a hurricane,”

said Dave Senay, CEO of PR agency Fleishman Hillard. “Look at all the emerging countries. What have they skipped

over? Hard-wired infrastructure.”

200 Million Minutes The adoption of smartphones and tablet computers will drive the expansion by potentially giving

advertisers the location of a customer, through GPS functions, and the ability to communicate via the devices’ Internet

capabilities. Search and map functions will deliver the highest revenue, while more traditional video and audio

marketing will grow the fastest, Gartner says. Game developers, too, are closely watching that space. “Angry Birds,” the

hit mobile-phone game with more than 200 million minutes played per day, would make the perfect platform for

advertisers, according to its developer Rovio Mobile Oy. “When a person is playing the game they are much more

involved with the content,” Rovio CEO Mikael Hed said in an interview. “When you display an ad it’s much more likely to

be taken notice of than something on TV which is a passive experience. Plus you’re much closer to the point of

purchase.”

Payment Venture Google Inc’s Android operating system, which has become the most popular software for

smartphones worldwide, has joined with Mastercard and Sprint Nextel in the U.S. The venture will let customers pay by

tapping their phones on a special reader and the software will also deliver advertisements and coupons. In the UK,

Vodafone Group and Europe’s former state phone monopolies will form a venture by the end of the year to create a

common platform for mobile payments. The group, which includes Telefonica SA and Everything Everywhere, a

partnership between France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom, will also function as a single contact for advertisers, the

companies said this month.

Staying Relevant M&C Saatchi Plc, the U.K. marketing agency, is partnering with a company in China to offer

customers free access to their e-mails in return for opting into ads. M&C Saatchi is expanding its mobile marketing arm

into cities including New York, Shanghai and Sao Paulo, CEO Moray MacLennan said in an interview. Still, to make

them pay off for marketers, mobile ads will have to be better-targeted and less intrusive than any format that’s come

before. “What’s exciting is that we can finally really do interesting, integrated things on mobile platforms,” said Johnny

Hornby, founder of ad agency CHI & Partners. “The bigger challenge is, you can do that, but it doesn’t mean people are

going to thank yo.These messages have to be relevant, targeted.” Finding a way to gauge how effective ads are has

also presented a problem for companies that want to know whether their marketing budget is well spent, Delaney said.

Measuring customers who click on ads becomes difficult when they move from a mobile network to Wi-Fi, forcing

tracking companies like Media Metrics to reach agreements with different providers.

Mobile Conversations 2011: Examining the 3G effect and decoding mobile advertising

Source: Afaqs, Date: June 27, 2011

The panel discussed the effect of 3G technology on advertisers, handset makers, service providers and consumers and

also differentiated between mobile and online advertising. The second session of Mobile Conversations 2011, held in

New Delhi on Friday, June 24, 2011 focussed on aligning the mobile ecosystem to enable scaling and better utilisation

of 3G technology. Moderator Shailesh Vickram Singh, director, Seedfund, laid the agenda for the session, highlighting

the five components of mobile marketing: telecom operators, media companies, advertisers, service providers and

consumers. The panel comprised Srinivas Mothey, associate vice-president, sales, One97 Communications, Arshit

Pathak, managing director, Kingtech Electronics India, Sameer Pitalwalla, senior vice-president, UTV Interactive and


business head, Video Products, and Amitesh Rao, director, brands and media, MTS India. 3G offers a lot of promise for

video content. Pitalwalla reiterated the fact by saying that video is a subset of data. YouTube India is among the top five

in the global markets of the company. This year, once the network stabilizes, nine million more content requirements

are going to erupt, he added. Connectivity was also a well-debated issue. According to Pathak, telecom service

providers failed to give the consumers the kind of experience they deserve, not because of handset limitations, but due

to connectivity. Spelling out the way forward, Srinivas said that service providers should experiment more with 3G

because that would pressurize the operators to be more proactive with the technology.

Mobile versus online advertising – The third and last session of the day focussed on the importance of differentiating

mobile advertising from online advertising. Moderator Alok Kejriwal started the session with the comment that the

mobile phone helped many startups earn their first tranche of revenue. The panel comprised Sandeep Amar, head,

marketing, audience and sales strategy, Times Internet; P R Satheesh, president, TELiBrahma, Sankalp Mehrotra,

regional director (South Asia), business development, Affle, and Dinker Charak, vice-president, partnerships and

operations, Jivox India. Kejriwal started off by asking the panel what mobile marketing was. According to Mehrotra of

Affle, mobile is a different device with entirely different and unique capabilities. Satheesh of TELiBrahma said that

mobile advertising is about building applications, is contextual and has interactivity as its USP. Amar of Times Internet

said that the mobile story was pretty well sold, though he somewhat disagreed on the fact that differentiation was

required between mobile and online advertising. To justify his apprehension on mobile advertising being big, Amar cited

a recent ComScore study showing that in Japan, around 93 per cent of news was consumed through PCs and not

mobile phones. Mobile Conversations 2011 was supported by Navteq Media Solutions, One97 Communications and

Jivox India as associate sponsors, ValueFirst as the mobility partner, TNS Global as the knowledge partner and

Business Wire India as the official news distribution partner. The telecom portal of afaqs! The Mobile Indian, was the

online media partner for the conference.

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Film producers meet CM, want entertainment duty scrapped


A delegation of the Film Television Producers Guild of India met Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Friday and urged

him to cancel the entertainment duty levied on tickets so that the ticket costs could be brought down. It said the move

could bring the audiences back to theatres.Film director Mahesh Bhatt, producer Yash Chopra and Cineworkers

Federation secretary Dinesh Chaturvedi met Chavan at Mantralaya on Friday afternoon. They asked Chavan to appoint

two members from the film industry on the Maharashtra Film, Stage & Cultural Development Corporation Ltd that

manages the Film City and other operations.“It is a great beginning for the film industry. We have spoken to the CM

about taxation and other issues. We hope they will be resolved,” Bhatt said.Officials said the delegation had pointed that

Punjab and Delhi did not have such duties levied on tickets, besides seeking the development of the film city to attract

tourists. They said Chavan was likely to visit the film city in Goregaon in a few days to review the progress made in the

plan to build a museum there.The government had, in the last budget, proposed the museum on film industry. The

corporation had issued an expression of interest for pre-qualification last year, but the government has now sought a

comprehensive masterplan.

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Producers see revenue stream in YouTube BO


YouTube Box Office (BO), YouTube’s online Bollywood channel where users in India can watch non-pirated films for

free is tipped to emerge as an attractive source of revenue for production houses, besides legitimising online content for

viewers.YouTube BO runs on title sponsorship and embedded ads and showcases one blockbuster film a month.

According to industry sources, 60-70% of the advertising revenues on the channel will be pocketed by producers, thus


opening up a new window for them to monetise their content on the digital platform.Yash Raj Films (YRF), which has

partnered with YouTube in the opening month that sees the streaming of the 2010 blockbuster Band Baaja Baarat,

believes that YouTube BO is an innovative platform that attempts to curb online piracy, besides offering an additional

touch point to content-owners to reach out to consumers.Anand Gurnani, general manager digital and new media, YRF,

said, “This channel allows us to monetise our digital assets in a legitimate manner. The producer’s objective is to reach

out to end-users in the touch points where they are comfortable transacting. Band Baja Baaratwas a pilot film and it

received an encouraging 2.5 million hits in 2 weeks.” Meanwhile, YouTube has taken serious measures to arrest online

piracy. If any video is uploaded illegally on the channel, a digital video-finger printing process is underway that flags off

the content-owner who can pull down the video immediately.Gautam Anand, director content partnerships, YouTube

Japan-APAC, said, “We’ve created an advanced set of copyright policies and content management tools to give

rightholders control of their content.”While YouTube’s current library of 1,500 titles primarily consists of catalog films and

older releases, YRF believes, much like the theatrical-to-TV window, a theatrical-to-digital window will also come into

practice. Gurnani said, “New films can be released on YouTube BO in conjunction with its DVD launch. The window has

shortened to 2-3 months of the film’s theatrical release.” However, these ancillary modes of entertainment are unlikely

to impact theatrical footfalls. “True connoisseurs of films will always prefer the big screen experience,” he said.

While YRF is upbeat about YouTube BO, film studios like UTV Motion Pictures and Eros International are cautious in

taking the plunge. Amrita Pandey, SVP international distribution & syndication, Motion Pictures, UTV said, “We’e in talks

with YouTube but nothing is final. We’re cautious on offering our content free of cost to viewers. We can fix a price point

but market trends suggest that Indian consumers are reluctant to pay for online content. Hence, this is a great platform

for an advertiser as it provides him an increased reach, but as a producer, we’ll wait and watch.” 2,000 titles, is looking

to launch its own digital live-streaming platform. It is also in talks with YouTube.

Meanwhile, YouTube, which has 10,000 content partners worldwide, is collaborating with leading Indian film and TV

content owners on a revenue-sharing basis. Anand added, “We’re working with all major content partners like Rajshri,

YRF, Eros, Shemaroo. We’ve partnerships with GECs like Zee, Colors, Imagine, Sony and offer catch-up episodes for

most of their popular shows.”

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Global Advertisers kicked off Rain Campaigns


The monsoon season of India brings new advertisers for outdoor industry, vast variety of packages are being offered at

cutting edge price for active brands in sectors such as Automobile, Real-Estate, Telecomm, Electronic Products,

FMCG, Accessories, Films and Entertainment industry.Global Advertisers the prime owner of strategic Hoardings in

Mumbai has designed special offers for each sector as this is the time when a Mumbaikar faces heavy traffic jams on

roads and likes to spend time out-of-home. Innovative approach with excellent media mix plans to reach target group of

consumer becomes usual in monsoon season. The agency has already spread arms in Mumbai Suburb from Bandra to

Dahisar by means of adding new sites in its portfolio to serve clients extensively in Western Suburbs. Hrithik Roshan

starring show of Star Plus “Just Dance”, Reality shows of Zee Networks, Fictions of Sony or movie promotions of Sony

Pix, Star Movies and HBO or MTV Coke Studio the entertainment industry is a big spender on outdoor advertising this

monsoon. After thorough research and analysis on the strength and weakness of campaigns done in rainy season, the

agency has made distinguish factor and took special efforts to focus on the attention grabbing technique of the

campaigns. Pole kiosk, Bus shelters are excessively used by consumer products where the traditional hoardings are

still favorite to all brandsGlobal Advertisers, MD, Sanjeev Gupta says “Mumbai Rains are very challenging period of our

business therefore we provide competitive solution to brands by offering customized, rotational and annual plane to

them for rain campaigns.” The team of professionals at Global Advertisers understands the trend of the market, brands

and their TG. Therefore, we have special offerings of Hoardings, Bus Media, Airport media and BTL activities for

advertisers in this monsoon.


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Increasing usage of the New Media for marketing films!


With the large population of India shifting to the online medium, Bollywood too seems to incline towards the ‘new media’

for film marketing. Social media websites are considered to be an addiction amongst the majority of internet users in

India and hence they have a great potential to drag people to the theatres. Indian film marketers have noted that young,

tech-oriented professionals with disposable income are highly likely to use the web to discover movies to see in

theaters. Social media matters even before the movie is released to create a successful buzz, reviews and discussions

about movies.There is now a trend of having movie websites and like pages of the movies in the leading social

networking websites. The actors of the film have also found an easy way to keep in touch with their fans through social

networking sites and they interact with them as and when possible. For movie promotions, many a times actors are

made available to the fans through live chats. For 3 Idiots a twitter account was created by the name ‘Pucca Idiot’. The

initiative contributed to a large extent in creating a buzz for the movie. Movie trailers have now made their way to movie

teasers that give little info about the movie and create a huge amount of buzz amongst the audience about the movie.

According to Shikha Kapur, Sr. VP and Head Marketing, Motion Pictures, UTV says, “Today online is important for

every film. Lots of time the target audience you cater to is used to social media, internet and that’s the best place to

reach out to them. Digital media is deployed by different movies n different basis. Many a times it provides an interactive

base for films too”. Pratap Bose, CEO-Mudra Max, COO-Mudra Group states, “Online film marketing is very small and

nascent but it depends on films. If it is youth centric then obviously online marketing is a great strategy to do that like in

case of any young product or brand and it will grow. Probably, people see more English film releases on internet than

Hindi films. I think you are just checking the story line of Hindi films and you can also buy tickets online. So, to me the

whole online issue has become significantly important but it’s still very small. Social media helps enormously in the

growth of film marketing. Today, if I go to watch a movie, I will immediately post my comments on Facebook, whether

the film is good or not, 40 friends will see that. If it’s a bad review they won’t go to watch it, it’s about getting a review

from someone who understands films. So, social media whether its on FB, Twitter, Orkut, online bloggers , people are

curious about reading such posts and people’s views are mostly valued so Social media is very important”.

Mahesh Barve, AVP, P9 Integrated states, “Internet marketing has become an integral part of any film marketing

strategy as it is very cost-effective and interactive medium for creating awareness for the movie. The reason being that

for individuals/cine goers – Online Social activity has become dominant, more than two-thirds of the world's population

now visits a social-network or blog site weekly. As a result these forums, websites and messaging services have

become our own individual windows to the world for us to gather information, seek out entertainment and share with

like-minded individuals. A newspaper or television ad may only till the release of the movie, but a web site will continue

to generate awareness. In the area of theatrical releases, movie web sites are not only building awareness for a movie

before and during the theatrical release, but they continue to promote once the mass media advertisements have

stopped running”. Dr. K. F. Lai, CEO, BuzzCity says, “When translated into action or adventure games, movie themes

can extend brand recall among mobile gamers. This can help to stretch marketing budgets to cover the various release

windows’. C. R Vinay, Founder & Managing Director, Customer Centria mentions, “With India’s increasingly young

demographics, online media has become a vital part of the marketing mix for movie companies. Bollywood is a passion

amongst youth and they are spending a hefty chunk of their time on the digital medium and expressing themselves.

Without a doubt, mass advertising is needed to create awareness amongst the target audience however, these days

creating awareness in not good enough. Engaging every prospect audience is the key and digital medium is an

important channel to facilitate personalised communication. Being active on digital and social media also helps movie

marketers to listen to the target audience and build on positives and reduce negativities. Last but not the least, online

presence makes you travel across geographies, ensuring that every Bollywood fan who wants to know about your

movie can do so with a click of a button and it doesn’t even costs high to do so”.


Vinay signs off with, “Like most marketers, film marketers have also woken to the importance of creating

transformational experiences, to keep their customer continually engaged, thus increasing the length of their interaction

with their product, in this case the film. Being able to tap into ongoing conversations about a movies, creating a buzz

around impending releases or songs, provides movie marketers with the opportunity of sustained, relevant and

meaningful dialogue. A number of films are even looking at fully immersive experiences and the metaverse, to create

brand interactions. With GoJiyo we continually engage users and have successfully created a strong user connect with

Bollywood by having a 3D virtual Anjaana Anjaani launch party and an exclusive quest in the 3D virtual world where

Tees Maar Khan had kidnapped Santa and the user needs to rescue Santa and get a chance to meet Akshay & Katrina!

These virtual world activities witnessed massive participations and delightful user experience. We believe Box office

success can only come by thinking out of the box.”

Loop Mobiles Network campaign wins at Outdoor Advertising Convention 2011 Award for Best Local Media

Plan category


Loop Mobile, Mumbai’s No. 1 network, was awarded with the Bronze Medal at the recently concluded prestigious

Outdoor Advertising Convention 2011. Loop Mobile’s popular Purple brand changeover Campaign was presented with

the award in the Best Local Media Plan category for its presence in Mumbai. The campaign was designed by TBWA

and put together by outdoor partner Poster Publicity. The previous year, Loop Mobile changed its brand identity and

turned purple from a multi-palette logo. This was a manifestation of the Going for Great brand thought of offering more

than the best to customers. This kick started with a Network Communication around Purple Tower, followed by launch

of pre-MNP campaign under Going for Great Challenge with 1st of its kind Service Guarantee & Network Challenge. As

part of the Network campaign, Loop Mobile was announced as the No. 1 GSM network in Mumbai by an independent

survey. Loop Mobile Privileges marked launch of Loop Mobile loyalty programme followed by customer endorsement

campaign called - ‘I chose wisely’ showcasing popular names like Peter Mukherjee, media pioneer and Raell

Padamsee, theatre personality. Loop Mobile uses an innovative approach to communicate to the masses through their

OOH media across Mumbai. The campaigns saw innovations like purple tower, purple carpet and purple blinking lights

to reinforce the new look and vision of the brand.

On winning the OAC 2011, Arif Ali, Head – Brand & Communications, Loop Mobile (India) Limited, said, “This award is

a reflection of our strategic use of OOH media to communicate our Purple Changeover campaigns with innovative

customer offerings connecting with our customers in the city. I am thankful to the eminent jury who selected our

campaign as a winner among other worthy competitors. Through Loop Mobile outdoor campaigns, we ensure that

consumers are aware that we provide beyond the best as a part of our new commitment of Going for Great.” Loop

Mobile is the fastest emerging and most engaging outdoor brand to reach out to the city of Mumbai through their catchy

and innovative outdoor communication.

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There is a need to understand Internet as a potential medium!


Social media is a fruitful method of interacting and engaging consumers but still lots of advertisers are hesitant about

investing much in the medium. They still shell out large amount of their advertising budget on the traditional mediums

and then the short amount left goes for social media. Social media and social networking sites have got popularity

amongst the Indian Internet users. Gradually, it became a craze for the users. It has various utilities, right from catching

up with friends to business networking: social media has been explored in many ways. The medium is being used by

different sectors to create a buzz about their company or brand. Social media Optimization and Social media Marketing

are the hot trends in the market. Most companies hire a social media strategist for getting what they still fail to figure


out. Boosting up a brand identity is what most businesses want, but there still needs to be a formal method of doing it

known to the social marketing gurus.

According to Sam Balsara, Chairman, Madison World, “I think, in traditional societies, change is always slow and I think

we have seen that like everything else, change is slow. Why did so many Indians use Colgate toothpaste for so many

years without questioning? I think as the bucks in advertising become bigger and bigger, we advertisers are also

unfortunately becoming risk covers. So, any idea takes a bit of time to sort of catch on and I think I have no doubt that

time for internet has come. The surest indication of that to my mind is not when automobile and financial companies

start using the internet but it’s when FMCG companies who are the backbones of the advertising market, when they

start adopting the internet and I think in a way they have. That to my mind is a very strong indication that internet is now

going to grow”. Talking about how advertisers can be convinced to invest in the medium, Balsara adds, “I think more

and more people should understand the net. Also they should understand that exposure alone is not enough,

engagement is not enough, and it is advocacy. I want to measure the result of my advertising by saying a million people

saw my advertisement but, I want to know that how many people got involved, how many people I talked. Did I talk to

you about the advertisement I saw, that’s what people want because then in some way, it’s kind of ultimate test so I

think the parameters or measurement metrics also are rapidly changing and I think the net and social media are doing a

good role when you change your metrics from exposure to these more evolved metrics”.

Suman Srivastava, Founder & Innovation Artist at Marketing Unplugged says, “Social media is a growing medium, it

doesn’t mean that it’s the largest medium. The numbers are going up. There are 100 million people who are on internet

but it’s not about a 100 million people, we are about 1.2 billion people so there is still a large gap that needs to be filled.

I think the point is that social media has a multiplier effect. Because people who influence other people are more likely

to be on the social media so on and so forth. Therefore, in any case it probably doesn’t reflect the actual influence. The

other point is that I think we really don’t know how to use it. I think the industry doesn’t know how to use it and I just

don’t mean India, I am talking about the world. People are still learning, that do people really want marketing messages

when they are on Facebook or Twitter or is it too private and stay away Mr. Marketer kind of thing. It’s not surprising. It’s

still tentative, it’s still experimental, the internet is no longer experimental but social media is. It will take a while and

after it becomes mainstream like internet is mainstream but then it’s still not an expensive medium. If you take even few

spots in television your investment will be a lot more than investment in internet. Even though you are very active on it!”

People say that with the advent of new media, old media will die like its being said that Internet will kill print. On the

same Srivastava explains, “No media has ever died and every time a new medium has come up, everybody has spoken

about the death of the old medium. People thought Television will kill radio, internet will kill television, Social media will

kill it, but every media just evolves to get its own space. The nature of that will change but it’s not that it will die out”.

Srivastava continues, “Print will not die out. It will evolve and change its role. 15 years ago the most instantaneous way

of getting information, news, it was through the newspapers. Magazines came later and there was no TV and radio etc.

So then it had a different role to play. Most people started getting the instant news from TV so newspapers went to a

deeper view of life and so on. It will become more feature oriented. Instant stuff will come from internet or even mobile.

So, the role of media will change, profitability will change but no media dies out. Other thing about internet is that we

talk about consumer created content but there is no such thing. Consumers basically relay content, created by

professionals. Journalists are extremely important because people read what somebody else has written and then they

re-tweet it or they make that their own opinion and write about it. You still need the professionals, content creators,

whether journalists or advertisers or Hollywood or Bollywood etc”. With time to come, we are sure that the advertising

share for online media, social media will surely grow. But of course the people who like to innovate will make the first

move towards what is called, ‘Revolution of Social media advertising’.

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The Festival Rush



The audience for alternative music festivals is growing in India; but despite the availability of organisers and funds,

many of them fail to get past their launch announcements. Many things could have gone wrong for the Escape Festival,

held at Naukuchiatal in Himachal Pradesh between May 20 and 22 this year. There were unexpected showers, which

destroyed two of the three stages, and things seemed poised to plunge into chaos. This was the third edition of the

Escape Festival and going by the current on-again, off-again status of most music festivals which are announced in

India that makes it quite a success. For the past couple of years, many festivals have been publicised, which either

don’t make it past their maiden year or do not take off at all. An infamous case in point would be the Ladakh

Confluence, which had to be called off last year after local protests, much to the chagrin of many who had already

booked their transport to Ladakh and bought the tickets for the festival. Other festivals which failed to take off include

the Ujaan Festival in the Sunderbans and the Tamara Confluence in Coorg. Sahil Makhija, lead vocalist of Mumbai-

based band Demonic Resurrection, is of the opinion that alternative music festivals don’t work in India for the simple

reason that Indians don’t like to pay for such music. Even sponsors are difficult to come by. “Take the case of

Independence Rock, which was once the premiere rock festival in the country. Now, it is having a hard time staying

afloat. According to Bobby Talwar, co-founder of music management company Only Much Louder, the problem is more

complex. In fact, Talwar says that getting the licences and permissions isn’t a problem, as long as one follows the

procedures. However, it’s the planning that makes or breaks the festival. In fact, it’s important to get local support for a

proposed festival, right from the planning stages, all the way to execution. Nayan seconds Talwar and cites the active

involvement of the local population as one of the reasons that the Escape Festival went off well. The musician is unsure

about how soon such a concept can really catch on in India. Unlike in Europe or the US, where camping for the

weekend at a music festival is a legitimate recreation, the idea is new to India, especially when combined with a green

agenda.

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WPP sets up digital media advertising unit


WPP, the world’s largest marketing group by sales, has created a unit for buying digital media; a one-stop shop for

targeted, mobile and social network advertising that will directly compete with products from Google and Microsoft.

Xaxis, the subsidiary, combines several technologies and acquisitions from across WPP to allow advertisers to target

specific demographics and build up anonymised profiles of would-be consumers. Big ad groups are striving to grab a

larger share of the fast-growing online advertising market by making a fragmented market simpler, compared with

traditional media such as television. Many of the world’s biggest advertisers are also looking at consolidating their

marketing duties in fewer, larger agencies. The creation of Xaxis follows digital media initiatives from Publicis and

Omnicom, WPP’s rivals. Publicis formed Vivaki in 2008, while Omnicom has announced partnerships with technology

companies such as Google, AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo - all of WPP claims it can differentiate its products by using in-

house technology, such as 24/7 Real Media, the digital ad group that it bought for $650m in 2007. Ad agencies are

grappling with how best to work with internet companies, as they balance the opportunity of sharing in their more rapid

growth with the risk of being removed from the business chain through disintermediation. Sir Martin Sorrell, WPP chief

executive, likes to call Google a “frenemy”, reflecting its dual role as a competitor and customer. Google’s in-house

Creative Lab won awards at last week’s Cannes Lions advertising festival, where technology companies including

Microsoft, AOL and Facebook were more prominent than in previous years. This allows the group to be much more

objective in where it buys media and how it provides insights and analysis to its advertisers, he added. Mr Lesser said

Xaxis would be working with hundreds of GroupM’s large and small clients, and use data created by WPP’s Kantar

market research unit to determine which audiences to target online. WPP shares closed 1½p lower at 742p in London.

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Television ads for junk food really do make children hungry for those treats, especially if they watch a lot of

television, according to a study

Source: Reuters, Date: June 29, 2011

The findings, published in Pediatrics, come amid growing calls to ban junk food advertisements aimed at children in

order to combat obesity -- most recently from the American Academy of Pediatrics, which issued a policy statement on

junk food ads on Monday. In tests with 6- to 13-year olds, researchers led by Emma Boyland of the University of

Liverpool in the UK found that a DVD featuring commercials for fast food and junk food seemed to whet children's

appetites for sweet and high-fat fare. The children involved in the research reported a greater desire for sweet and fatty

foods after viewing the junk-food ads compared to days when they watched commercials for toys.This was especially

true for children who usually watched a lot of TV in their everyday lives, with "a lot" defined by the researchers as over

21 hours a week.On average, kids wanted more high-carb, high-fat foods after watching food commercials.But

researchers said the effects of the food ads were modest, making only a small difference in the average number of food

items the children said they wanted "right now."In real life, as well, a lot of other factors would be at work, including

parents' willingness to buy those foods. On the other hand, a number of studies have no shown that children tend to

want more, and eat more, tasty treats after seeing ads for them. With older children, who often make their own food

choices, that could translate into more french fries and chocolate bars. Even young children have "pester power," with

studies suggesting they are more likely to use that power if they see a lot of food commercials. "This study confirms the

cumulative, sustained effect of food marketing on TV: the more children watch TV, the more susceptible they are to

advertising," said Lori Dorfman, who directs the Berkeley Media Studies Group in California and has studied food

marketing to children. "This might not be so bad if food marketers put their best foods forward, but they don't," Dorfman,

who did not take part in the study, told Reuters Health by email. Dorfman noted that children now watch TV on their

computers and mobile gadgets as well as at home on TV, which can add up to a lot of hours. Dorfman said that parents

should limit TV time, but added that they need help.

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Software firms bring concierge services to mid-tier hotels now


Some hotels have begun to expand the definition of concierge to mean more than just a knowledgeable employee. It

now can also mean smart digital devices. Software companies are creating programs that offer information like

restaurant tips, flight arrivals and departures and driving directions via these devices to guests at mid-tier hotels that do

not provide traditional concierge services. Even more upscale brands that employ human concierges are joining in, by

offering location-specific information, accessible via the internet, iPhone apps and even live chats. And all Hyatt hotels

let guests send requests, via Twitter, to customer service agents who are on call 24 hours a day. Tourism and Sports

Management at New York University. Still, the question remains whether digital concierges can ever equal their human

counterparts. Henry Harteveldt, travel analyst for Forrester Research, said he did not think they would. But hotel chains

are moving ahead with the digital version nonetheless. For example, InterContinental Hotels in 2007 began creating

videos starring individual hotel concierges offering destination-specific advice. Today, 150 of the brand’s 171 hotels

have created the videos, which are available on each hotel’s Web site and on YouTube and iTunes. InterContinental is

testing use by concierges of iPads with information for guests, as well as live chats between them through Skype or

Apple’s FaceTime. It has also developed an iPad app with destination information for guests. And guests receive an e-

mail from the chief concierge five days before arrival offering suggestions and maps. Last year, Marriott International’s

Renaissance hotels introduced a program called Navigator that offers suggestions for dining, drinks, shopping and

sightseeing. This information, generated by Wcities, an online destination content provider, and by hotel employees,

can be found on each hotel’s Web page and on an iPhone app. The hotels also employ traditional concierges. Hyatt’s

high-tech concierge service, at all of its hotels, is Twitter-based. Introduced two years ago, it lets guests send requests

to HyattConcierge. Customer service agents must respond.


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Bike Icon Triumph heads for India

Source: Hindustan Times, Date: June 29, 2011

After Harley Davidson, Ducati, BMW and Hyosung, it is the turn of iconic British motorcycle maker Triumph to foray into

the burgeoning Indian two-wheeler market, which is the world’s second-largest in terms of size. Triumph said on

Tuesday that it will enter India in 2012 with a line-up of about eight superbikes. Initially the bikes, which would compete

directly with Harley Davidson and domestic icon Enfield, would be imported from UK, but the company is not averse to

setting up an assembly plant here. “India is a very important motorcycle market and Triumph has assessed it carefully

before deciding to step in,” said Nick Bloor, CEO, Triumph Motorcycles UK. “We see it as the next step in our global

business model.” Triumph’s full range has 20 models including the award winning Daytona 675, Tiger 800 and the 2.3-

litre Rocket III, the world’s largest production bike. Initiallty it is likely to launch bikes in the 800cc-plus class as they do

not need to go through the complex omologation process. Its prices range between R4.77 lakh and R9 lakh, but the

import duty is likely to double the price tag.. The company is currently investigating the viability of which bikes to launch

in the country as also whether assembling them here makes sense. It declined to give out any investment information

though it promised it would be substantial. The company has appointed Ashish Joshi as its managing director in India.

Joshi earlier headed the European operations of Royal Enfield, and had established the company’s business there.

High on Music


With less than a month left for the big event, guitarist Rigzin Nurboo and company makes sure everything is perfect. So,

they all don’t mind jamming all over again, even though it has been five hours since the session began. July 25 is a big

day for him and his band mates from Checkmates. It’s a day when they open a show for Delhi-based classic rock band

like Parikrama, during the three-day Ladakh Art and Music Festival starting from July 24. The festival is an initiative to

collect funds for people of Ladakh, who were badly hit by cloudbursts at the Sindhu Ghat in Leh, in August last year.

Rockers and metalheads from across the country are still waiting for the second-coming of Ladakh Confluence, which

was cancelled following the allegations of drug and alcohol abuse last year. But they all have a reason to be happy

again with this first time festival, which will have live music from around the world and some interesting acts from India

and is all set to promise a musical treat. The festival will take place at the highest plateau against th e picturesque

backdrop of Himalayas.

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Professional Management Group signs Abhinav Bindra

Source: The Times of India, Date: June 30, 2011

Sports management company Professional Management Group has signed Abhinav Bindra, India's only individual

Olympic gold medallist, under which it will be exclusively looking after the rifleman's brand endorsements and other

commercial commitments. Chaired by cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar and co-owned by Adman Sam Balsara and

outdoor specialist Noomi Mehta, the company will focus on Bindra's image building and reputation management, a

media release said. "With the London Olympics coming up next year, we believe that Abhinav is the right role model for

medal aspirants in various disciplines. The hopes are high for the country and Abhinav has given every Indian the

confidence that we can compete with the best in the world. We believe that Abhinav's leadership and his unflappable

attitude are in sync with what we stand for as a company," said Gavaskar.

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Star Plus adds 8 GRPs; Colors adds 33



At No. 3, Zee TV is stable at 228 points. Its relative share saw a very minor gain. It went up from 17.9 per cent in Week

25, to 18 per cent in Week 26. Leader of the Hindi GEC flock Star Plus, has added eight extra GRPs as compared to

the previous week, to earn 292 points in Week 26. Its relative share has, however, dipped to 23 per cent from the 23.3

per cent that it had registered in Week 25. Second-in-command Colors has added 33 points to its kitty to end the week

with 263 GRPs, while its channel share has moved up from 18.1 per cent, to 20.7 per cent. At No. 3, Zee TV is stable at

228 points. Its relative share saw a very minor gain. It went up from 17.9 per cent in Week 25, to 18 per cent in Week

26. Meanwhile, the No. 4 GEC, Sony, has witnessed an eleven-point fall from 161 GRPs to 150 GRPs. Its relative share

has also decreased from 12.7 per cent, to 11.8 per cent in Week 26. Sibling channel SAB, at the fifth position, has

scored 137 GRPs in Week 26. Its relative channel share is 10.8 per cent for the week, down from 11.9 per cent during

the same period. At No. 6, Imagine TV lost 8 GRPs during the week to score 81 GRPs. Its relative share has also

dropped from 7 per cent to 6.4 per cent. STAR One, with 35 GRPs and a channel share of 3 per cent, follows it. STAR

Utsav is at No. 8. The channel's relative share remains stable at 2.4 per cent, while its GRPs have moved up from 30 in

Week 25 to 31 in Week 26. Sahara One and DD1 have garnered relative shares of 2.3 per cent and 1.5 per cent,

respectively. Pavitra Rishta (Zee TV) leads the list of the 10 most-watched programmes, clocking a TVR of 5.42,

followed by Balika Vadhu (Colors) and Saathiya Saath Nibhana (Colors) with TVRs of 4.8 and 4.43, respectively. The

fourth most-watched programme is Ram Milaayi Jodi, with 4.4 TVR. Pratigya (4.35 TVR) and Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata

Hai (4.14 TVR) follow next. Uttaran, Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, Na Aana Is Des Laado and Jhansi Ki Rani are

also a part of the Top 10 list.

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Vritti i-Media strikes Gold and Silver at the Outdoor Advertising Awards 2011


Wins Gold in the ‘creative award’ and ‘media award’ categories for single execution in Transit Media and zonal media

owner of the year – west (India) along with along with 1 silver award for Best format innovation in New Media Vritti i-

Media, an established and innovative audio and video outdoor advertising solution for brands across rural Maharashtra,

was felicitated with 3 awards at the prestigious Outdoor Advertising Awards 2011 held at the 7th Annual Outdoor

Advertising Convention (OAC) 2011 on 18th June 2011 in Mumbai. Vritti won the gold award in 2 categories, creative

award for single execution in Transit Media and zonal media owner of the year for West region along with a Silver

award for best format innovation for new media. Gold - Transit media – Awarded to any single execution on any transit

format including airports, bus stations, railway stations and all types of vehicles including those created specifically for

the purpose of advertising. Vritti won it for its iconic ’Lokmat Campaign’ which was conceptualized by the team for the

Lokmat media group. Every morning at 6AM a jingle was released on Vritti’s audio network on MSRTC bus stands

saying “Aajacha Lokmat Vachalat Ka?” (“Have you read today’s Lokmat?”) followed by three to four headlines from the

newspaper. Vritti i-media’s unique features of being on-line, dynamic content change, mandatory audibility and

presence in the market place were fully utilized in this campaign to derive maximum mileage for the brand. Gold - Zonal

Media Owner of the Year – West - Awarded to concessionaires who have media presence in the West zone. Since

2005, The Outdoor Advertising Awards (OAA) have been celebrating the achievements of media planners,

concessionaries, printers, creative agencies and brands who have added a new dimension to the Indian OOH industry.

The OAA honor those who have contributed to contemporizing, energizing and leveraging the possibilities in OOH for

best effect. In its seventh edition, OAC 2011 was conceptualized around the theme, ‘Think Tomorrow’. The event

brought together industry stalwarts to discuss the opportunities ahead and the best course of action to move the

outdoor advertising industry forward as a whole. Headed by Mr. Shashi Sinha - CEO - Lodestar Universal India, the

eminent jury at OAC 2011 consisted of leading media planners and brand managers from corporate like Mcdonalds

India, Madison Media, Milestone Brandcom and ICICI to name a few. Vritti i-media uses a very innovative approach to

help brands market their products to the rural audiences of Maharashtra. They have tied up with MSRTC to set up their

‘audio advertising network’ also called ‘Digitalworld’ across 85 locations in Maharashtra on prominent MSRTC owned

ST bus stands. The USP of advertising through this medium is that the entire network is managed by Vritti’s backend

system via a control room which ensures 100% uptime guarantee and dynamic messaging ie. The message can be


changed at any time, easily. This medium is fast emerging as the most engaging and cost effective medium to reach out

to the rural audience as compared to hoardings or other traditional media like newspapers and television.

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Documents

Subject: Monthly Media Dossier · Monthly Media Dossier June2011 Page 3 of 111 PERCEPT LIMITED ADVANTAGE ALL THE WAY Source: Tribuneindia.com, Date: June 5, 2011 The fact that M