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MediaVest wins media mandate for Axis Bank
 The size of the business is estimated at Rs 70 crore. Axis Bank has shifted its media business to MediaVest Worldwide, an agency belonging to the Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG). MediaVest will handle the business from its Mumbai office. The account was earlier with Madison Media. The size of the business is estimated at Rs 70 crore. The business moved to MediaVest Worldwide without a pitch. The mandate covers media planning and buying for all Axis Bank campaigns and is effective August 1. Confirming the development, Manisha Lath Gupta, chief marketing officer, Axis Bank, says, "While evaluating, we realised SMG has robust planning tools which will help us integrate across different media. With its human experience strategy and approach, we believe that it is well poised to handle the media challenges lying in front of Axis Bank for the future." Malli C R, chief executive officer, SMG India, says, "Axis Bank is a blue chip client and we are honoured and delighted to have it on board. It has an exciting brand vision and we look forward to delivering its goals with SMG's future-focused media product that is predicated on insights and analytics, digital and content." Axis Bank has also appointed digital marketing agency Digitas as its digital AOR (agency of record). The win for the agency comes on the back of a multi-agency pitch held in Mumbai a couple of months ago. This is the first time that the brand has formally brought on board a specialist agency to handle digital and social media duties. Digitas will conceptualise, design and manage Axis Bank's online presence across the bank's verticals and practices. The agency's mandate includes creating a strategic digital roadmap for the brand. The brand is reportedly spending close to Rs 8-10 crore on digital media, including digital media buying. Axis Bank offers the entire spectrum of services to customer segments covering large and mid-corporates, SME, agriculture and retail businesses. With its 1,622 branches (including extension counters) and over 10,000 ATMs across the country, the network of Axis Bank spreads across 1,050 cities and towns, enabling it to reach out to a large cross-section of customers with an array of products and services. The bank also has overseas offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Colombo, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. |
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LIC to review creative roster shortly
 The process is yet to be kick-started and the authorities will do so soon. Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the oldest player in the insurance sector, is all set to initiate a creative pitch. The team is yet to officially announce the pitch but afaqs! has learnt the news from highly placed industry sources. LIC is known to review its creative roster every two years. In 2010, LIC empanelled R K Swamy BBDO, Mudra, JWT and Draftfcb Ulka for its creative as well as media duties. Prior to this, R K Swamy BBDO, Mudra and Draftfcb Ulka were on the company's roster. Earlier, JWT, Everest Brand Solutions, Mudra and Draftfcb Ulka comprised LIC's creative roster. Most of these agencies have a long standing relationship with LIC. For instance, R K Swamy BBDO has been associated with the brand for over two decades. A couple of years ago, LIC launched a corporate campaign that marked the brand's strategic shift from focusing on the survivor to bringing the policyholder to the forefront. Created by JWT Mumbai, the campaign was targeted at individuals aged 25 years and above, who need risk cover but haven't insured themselves yet. LIC's brief to the agency at the time was to make the brand recognise the changed context and changed consumers, while re-interpreting the role of life insurance in their lives. |
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Time Out launches Time Out Explorer
 The quarterly title is a travel magazine available across 20 cities of the country. The publishers of Time Out India, Paprika Media, has launched its first travel magazine, Time Out Explorer. The magazine is targeted at evolved travellers, who are comfortable with world lingo, cuisine and culture. It caters to the consummate seeker who is well versed with different cultures and traditions across the globe. The new title has a cover price of Rs 100 and is a quarterly magazine. Time Out Explorer will be distributed in 20 major cities in India across airports, tourism hotspots, five star hotels and bookstores.Talking about the new title, Rajnish Rawat, COO, Paprika Media, says, "It covers the most exciting destinations across the world and unearths the best of culture, nightlife, food, shopping, entertainment and adventure that each has to offer. I trust this magazine will serve as a valuable companion to people in their travels, and that the launch issue will inspire many more voyages into the world for them. It's time to go exploring." He adds that the magazine aims to address the need for a magazine dedicated solely to intrepid travellers in India. Timeout Explorer is created in collaboration with Time Out teams across the globe. For the inaugural issue, local writers from the international network of Time Out have compiled a list of the world's 20 best cities to shop in. Paprika Media is a publishing house under the aegis of the Essar Group, a business conglomerate with an enterprise value of approximately Rs 67,000 crore. It was founded and launched by Smiti Ruia in 2004. The company publishes three editions of Time Out magazine - Time Out Mumbai, Time Out Delhi and Time Out Bengaluru. The group has also launched Time Out Kids Guide, a guide for parents. |
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Fever Entertainment brings Noddy in Toyland to Delhi
 Fever Entertainment, a part of the Hindustan Times Group, is bringing the live production show, ‘Noddy in Toyland', to India for the first time. The show will take place at Siri Fort Auditorium in Delhi from July 18 to 22. The international cast comes in from UK and will be performing 12 shows in 5 days in Delhi. Fever Entertainment had a whole host of events already lined up, but these were essentially youth or adult-focused events. There was nothing with a kid-focus or a young family-focus. So the groups decided to bring an international production show down to India, starting with Delhi. A spokesperson told EVENTFAQS that it seemed like the right thing to do because of the positive vibe surrounding Noddy. In bringing the production show to India, Fever Entertainment has taken the cue from the ever rising popularity of Noddy books, merchandise and DVDs across India. The one and a half hour long international show is in English with real life characters of Noddy and his friends performing live for kids and adults alike, and includes a great deal of interactivity for the audience. Commenting on how this initiative came about, Harshad Jain, Business Head - Radio and Entertainment, HT Media Ltd., said: "We at Fever Entertainment have always presented the finest entertainment options to our audiences, be it the consumer or our partners. We have always believed in doing things differently and ‘Noddy in Toyland' is a complete innovation in its genre. The popularity Noddy as a character owns, he is loved by old and young alike. He has been a part of growing up for most of us. Also, I would like to add that India at present has limited options when it comes to family entertainment and bringing the concept like this to Delhi we are aiming to provide a platform where families can be a part of a world class experience." There are a lot of logistical considerations in the execution of this event since the whole cast as well as the sets and equipment will be brought down from the UK.. Although the production is primarily being marketed as a Hindustan Times Group initiative, there are few partners and sponsors on board. The title sponsor is still being negotiated with different parties. Washington Apples has come on board, as has Delhi Tourism. Fever Entertainment is also holding talks with an educational institution, while various kids' channels are also supporting the show. The entire industry is being very supportive, a spokesperson told EVENTFAQS. Fever Entertainment has been in talks to bring Noddy to India for a while now. There are plans to take the show to Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai later in the year, though the dates haven't been finalized yet. |
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R K Swamy BBDO wins TAFE Tractors account
R K Swamy BBDO has recently bagged the creative mandate for TAFE Tractors. The agency's Chennai branch will handle this account. The win is the result of a multi-agency pitch held in Chennai recently. In the past, the brand has utilised media vehicles such as television, print, radio and outdoor for its communication. TAFE is a tractor major that is a part of the Amalgamations Group of Chennai. The company has four plants in India involved in tractor manufacturing, located at Mandideep (Bhopal), Kalladipatti (Madurai), Doddaballapur (Bengaluru) and Chennai. It also has a new overseas plant in Turkey. TAFE was incorporated in 1960 in Chennai, in collaboration with Massey Ferguson that is now owned by AGCO Corporation, USA. In 2005, TAFE acquired Eicher Tractors, its engine plant at Alwar and its transmissions plant at Parwanoo, through a wholly owned subsidiary called TAFE Motors and Tractors Limited. Besides manufacture of tractors, TAFE is also involved in making diesel engines, gears, panel instruments, engineering plastics and hydraulic pumps, amongst other products, through its other divisions and subsidiaries. TAFE's new 'core values logo' symbolises the company's main principles, including progress, energy and integrity. The outer wheel of the 'chakra' stands for enduring progress, while the inner part stands for energy. The inner white space is symbolic of justice and fairness. The colourful rainbow flower is a symbol of the company's seven core values, namely, ethics, trust, quality, customer, people, change and environment. |
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Facebook can't advertise on Olympics page
Social network giant Facebook has been forced to drop all advertising around its official Olympic pages, due to strict marketing restrictions surrounding the London Games 2012. Facebook, during the launch of the official Olympic Facebook page today at an event in London, attended by 1992 gold medalist Boris Becker and representatives from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), revealed that it would carry no advertising around its any of its Games-themed pages. Christian Hernandez, Head of International Business Development at Facebook, he explained that just like the stadium itself will be a ‘clean venue’ with no adverts visible inside the stadium, all of Facebook’s Olympic pages, which feature both the official Olympic Games and London 2012 logos, will carry no adverts. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) has been incredibly protective over any website using its logo as the cost of companies being officially associated with the games is very high, the paper said. All companies who have been officially allowed to sport the Olympic Games logo in any capacity have paid millions for the privilege. However, Mark Adams from the IOC confirmed today that Facebook’s arrangement with the Olympics is a “non commercial one”. |
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Karbonn Mobiles seeks creative partner
 The process is underway in Bengaluru. Mobile handset brand Karbonn Mobiles, a joint venture between Delhi-based Jaina Group and Bengaluru-based UTL Group, is looking for a creative agency. The process that began less than a week ago is still in its nascent stages. The pitch is underway in Bengaluru. Until recently, Ogilvy India's third agency Brand David was in charge of the creative duties for Karbonn Mobiles. The agency had been working on this account for almost two years now. Recently, Brand David created a memorable piece of communication for the brand. The cheeky TVC rolled out late last year for the Android A1 phone took an overt dig at the price of the Apple iPhone. The ad followed exactly the same format and execution of the then-recent Apple ad and a voiceover artist mocked Apple in a tongue-in-cheek manner. The film served to position Karbonn Mobiles' Android A1 phone as one that is no less than any other brand in the smartphone category. Through this effort, Karbonn Mobiles, a brand that calls itself the 'gate-crasher Indian brand in the highly competitive mobile handset market', played the affordability card and targeted the urban youth. It remains to be seen how the brand's communication and positioning are affected by the new creative agency. |
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Union Bank seeks creative agencies
 The empanelment will be for the next two-three years. Leading public sector banking organisation Union Bank of India (UBI) has initiated a creative pitch process. The process is based in Mumbai. The empanelment will be for the next two years, with the option of extending it for yet another year. The selected agencies will be required to work on the development of marketing and advertising strategies and campaigns, designing of annual reports, bulletins, newsletters, product-related brochures and leaflets, and creation of other material for UBI's corporate publicity. Participating agencies will primarily be evaluated on the basis of their strategic prowess, creative ideas and BTL (below the line)/activation ideas, amongst other aspects. Last year, Mudra had created an ad campaign for UBI in order to re-address the brand's promise, 'Your dreams are not yours alone'. The ad campaign highlighted the individuals responsible for the success of Indian greats. The campaign featured Sachin Tendulkar's brother Ajit Tendulkar, Viswanathan Anand's wife Aruna Anand and Vijender Singh's brother Manoj Singh. The media mix for this campaign included TV, outdoor, digital and print. In 2008, UBI underwent a re-branding exercise and put forth the philosophy of how collective power plays a role in individual ambition through some memorable ad films that explored relationships between family members. |
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BBC Knowledge launches its first brand campaign
 The campaign speaks directly to parents, instead of the youngsters, at whom the magazine is targeted.Worldwide Media's (WWM) magazine for youngsters, BBC Knowledge, has launched a new brand campaign titled 'There's no telling what knowledge can do'. Interestingly, the campaign is not directed at the core target audience of the magazine, young inquisitive minds, but a more mature audience -- their parents. Talking about the new campaign, Soela Joshi, brand publisher, BBC Knowledge says that since parents as the central role models have the responsibility to bring knowledge into their children's life, targeting the parents made sense. "Since our core TG is formed by an age group where parents are the decision makers, it was time for the brand to address parents directly. The campaign reminds them that knowledge is the only edge they can give their kids. And, that it's not an option but a prerequisite today." The brand campaign hinges on the fact that the magazine gives the child a head start in today's competitive world.Apart from reaching out to readers through newsstand sales and subscriptions, BBC Knowledge also reaches out to the students of more than 2,000 schools in nine cities across India.The campaign will run across mainstream dailies, magazines, outdoor and digital media for the next few weeks in major metros. It has been designed by DDB Mudra.The campaign is spread across all major metros of the country including Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Apart from in house publications of WWM, main editions of The Times of India across metros, and supplements like Education Times are also being used in the above mentioned cities. Times Crest and The Economic Times also form a part of this plan.Among magazines, the WWM slew of magazines including Femina, Filmfare, GoodHomes, Lonely Planet, Grazia and Hello have been included.As far as the out of home medium is concerned, the magazine will focus on POS (point of sale) and has taken select windows at Crosswords outlets in the metros.For digital presence, the title banks largely on Facebook as the primary medium to spread the message. "Since Facebook ads allow for a very focused targeting, we have used this advantage to target parents and draw them to our page. The BBC Knowledge Facebook page will be dedicated to promote this campaign for the next couple of weeks," adds Joshi.The magazine also plans to initiate parent-child contests as a part of this campaign. Each week, the activation will encourage parents to spend time with their children, teach them new skills, and share their activities on the page. Through its Facebook and banner ads, the magazine aims to reach more than 1 million people by the end of the campaign period. "The campaign reminds the parents that knowledge is the only edge they can give their kids. And that it's not an option, but a prerequisite today, when it has become as important to outdo the competition as it has to outdo yourself," says Ayesha Bedi, creative group head, DDB Mudra Group. For the record, the magazine was launched in October, 2010 in India as a bi-monthly. It covers content from the fields of nature, science and history that appeals to the young adults aged 12-19 years.The magazine was first introduced in the United States in August, 2008. It is also available in the UK, Brazil, Singapore and Bulgaria. In India, it was launched in 2011. |
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