Saturday, October 1

Synopsis of Print Advertising during Oct - Dec 2010 (Q4 2010) – Part 1

A hike of 44 per cent was seen in print advertising during Q4 2010 as compared to same period during 2009, whereas print ad volume during Q4 2009 was 6 per cent more than that of Q4 2008. Three out of top 10 advertisers were from the durables sector, while two were from the auto sector.




INS Elections ’11: Ashish Bagga is Prez; Tilak Kumar is Dy Prez & Ravindra Kumar is VP

India Today Group’s Ashish Bagga has been elected as the President of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) at its 72nd Annual General Meeting (AGM), held in Bangalore on September 30, 2011. He takes over the reins from outgoing President Kundan R Vyas of Vyapar-Janmabhoomi Group. KN Tilak Kumar (Prajavani) is the Deputy President, while Ravindra Kumar (The Statesman) has been elected as the Vice President.

Rakesh Sharma (Aaj Samaj) is the Honorary Treasurer of the Society for the year 2011-12. V Shankaran continues as the Secretary General of INS.

exchange4media caught up with Bagga soon after he took charge as the INS President. Speaking on the key points on his agenda, he said, “There are several ongoing challenges which we need to address. One is the Wage Board issue which is threatening our industry. I will continue the good work put in by the past President Kundan Vyas and will do everything in my capability to ensure that the publishers’ voice is heard and make sure that we don’t have any Draconian laws in our industry. Also, there has been a lot of discussion on the PRB Act and that is something on which we would engage with the Government and ensure how we could jointly take that forward. Thirdly, we have to be united during this economic slowdown in terms of advertising rates, cover prices, etc. The initiative would be to unite all publishers to see how we can collectively handle the economic situation that we are all going through. Last but not the least, is the merger of the two surveys – NRS and IRS – which actually happened at the behest of the INS and I was on the task force. But this is only the beginning. Now we have to ensure that going forward, we make the survey more credible. As President of the INS, I would like all our publisher members to contribute to the new survey and the modification stages as well as the improvements, along with other office bearers from the agencies and from the clients’ side, too, to make it a gold standard. This year, the first meeting will take place on October 14. So, that will be another very important area where I would be spending a lot of time on.”

The other members of the Executive Committee of the INS are: -
1 Dr BS Adityan (Vaarantari Rani)
2. L Adimoolam (Health & The Antiseptic)
3. Girish Agarwal (Dainik Bhaskar, Bhopal)
4. Samahit Bal (Pragativadi)
5. K Balaji (The Hindu Weekly)
6. PV Chandran (Grihalakshmi)
7. VK Chopra (Dainik Asam)
8. Devendra Darda (Lokmat Times)
9. Jagjit Singh Dardi (Charhdikala Daily)
10. Ravindra Dhariwal (Navbharat Times)
11. Mahendra Mohan Gupta (Dainik Jagran)
12. Pradeep Gupta (Dataquest)
13. Sanjay Gupta (Dainik Jagran, Varanasi)
14. Shailesh Gupta (Mid-Day)
15. Shekhar Gupta (Loksatta, Mumbai)
16. Sanjay Hazari (The Tribune)
17. Mohit Jain (Economic Times)
18. Dr R Lakshmipathy (Dinamalar)
19. Rajul Maheshwari (Amar Ujala)
20. Jayant Mammen Mathew (Malayala Manorama)
21. Vilas A. Marathe (Dainik Hindusthan, Amravati)
22. Naresh Mohan (Sunday Statesman)
23. Abhijit Pratap Pawar (Gomantak, Goa)
24. Maheshwer Peri (Outlook)
25. RMR Ramesh (Dinakaran)
26. K Raja Prasad Reddy (Sakshi, Vishakhapatnam)
27. Somesh Sharma (Rashtradoot Saptahik)
28. Manoj Kumar Sonthalia (The New Indian Express)
29. Akila Urankar (Business Standard)
30. Kiran B Vadodaria (Sambhaav Metro)
31. M Venkatesh (Hindustan Times)
32. Vijay Darda (Lokmat)
33. Vijay Kumar Chopra (Punjabi Kesari, Jalandhar)
34. Pratap G Pawar (Sakal)
35. Abhay Chhajlani (Nai Dunia)
36. MP Veerendrakumar (Mathrubhumi)
37. Jacob Mathew (Vanitha)
38. Bahubali S Shah (Gujarat Samachar)
39. Hormusji N Cama (Bombay Samachar Weekly)
40. T Venkttaram Reddy (Deccan Chronicle)
41. Kundan R Vyas (Vyapar, Mumbai)

Friday, September 16

Big B stars in Tanishq’s curious case of the missing diamonds

Tanishq, from the Tata Group, is taking its diamond education campaign to the next level with the launch of a new online campaign called ‘The Curious Case of the Missing Diamonds’. In April this year, Tanishq had launched the ‘True Diamonds’ campaign featuring Bollywood’s leading couple Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan. This campaign is aimed at making consumers aware of the various aspects of diamond quality.

Tanishq has been synonymous with excellent craftsmanship, exclusive designs, and guaranteed product quality. It has built for itself the reputation of being a brand that strives to understand the Indian woman and provide her with jewellery that meets her traditional as well as contemporary aspirations and desires.

Parvesh Debuka, Brand Manager, Tanishq, who spearheaded the entire project, said, “Our main aim was to educate buyers and enable them to take an informed decision when it comes to buying diamonds. We wanted them to understand as to how to determine how good or bad a diamond is, and ask the right questions when they walk into a diamond jewellery store.” Tanishq has embarked on the first ever educational campaign on such a large scale about diamonds in India. The campaign is similar to the gold purity campaign that the brand came up with years ago.

In most of its ads, the brand has featured ordinary women and their diamond stories. What prompted them to opt for Bollywood’s power couple this time? Parvesh explained, “When we started out, it took us nearly 13-14 years to educate people about gold purity. Today, we are a far stronger brand and a name to be reckoned with. However, if I speak as a brand, it will take a longer time to create an impact on the minds of consumers than if I employ a person who has a very high impact. Our target group is the 40-50+ group who have lived through the ‘Bachchan era’. When he talks, most people will listen. People look up to him and take his word. He has a dominating presence and shares the same values as we do.”

On the pairing of the real life couple in an everyday scenario, Parvesh pointed out, “Our earlier ads were mainly focussed on the woman where we concentrated on the design and emotion aspects. This time around, we wanted to talk to the lady as well as the man together since the man plays an equally important role in the buying process. While the woman decides on ‘what to buy’, the man decides on ‘where to buy from’. By getting Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, a real life couple rather than a staged couple, to portray this, the TVCs had the elements of reality as well as charm, establishing a connect with the viewers.”

While the TVC comprised the first phase and went off-air in June, the online platform is the second phase of the campaign. The main objective of this campaign is to take diamond education to the next level and at the same time, make the process more engaging. Online, being the most interactive of the mediums, was chosen as the lead medium for this educational campaign. Parvesh explained, “We chose the online medium as we wanted to educate the buyer and also allow interaction and engage with consumers. No one, as such, wants to be ‘educated’ these days. So, we decided on a game to provide infotainment – to entertain as well as educate. People can play the game and gather information about diamonds. The ‘Curious Case of the Missing Diamonds’ takes consumer engagement and education to a higher plane. This was critical for us while planning the second phase of the diamond education campaign.”

This project was brought to life by a close collaboration between Tanishq and their agency partners Maxus, Lowe, and Interactive Avenues.

The microsite that has been specially created for the online campaign is missingdiamonds.tanishq.co.in. The site enables users to help Amitabh find the missing diamonds through an online game. This game has a series of clues in the form of videos of suspects who would have stolen the diamonds. According to Sirish Chandrashekhar, Marketing Manager, Tanishq, “Getting the modern city dweller to learn about diamonds was a challenge. We embarked on this education campaign online through the ‘missing diamonds’ idea. Interaction, engagement, and education were the key words around which this idea is based on.”

Sairam Ranganathan, Digital Head, Maxus-South, said, “We wanted to make diamond education more interesting and engaging for the urban upscale audiences. Through ‘Maxus creativitis’, we arrived at the missing diamonds idea. This is a social design enabled game, and we worked with KRDS to create this experience.”

Parvesh added here, “Brand tracks showed highest associations for our brand after the TVC was aired. The ad garnered more than 1 lakh views on YouTube. We thought ‘How do we ride high on an already high wave?’ We came up with the idea of taking one element from the TVC and building on that. That is how the online campaign’s idea took shape. This will also ensure that people who have not seen the ad will watch it now.” The brand is promoting the online campaign on Tata Sky today onwards. He further said, “We are also targeting people in the 35+ category. Mostly, people are well-settled in their jobs and in life by this age. So, the idea is to start talking to them today itself when they can only influence decisions so that when they attain this age and move on to become decision-makers, they can take an educated decision. Also, most 35+ people are watching a lot of TV when they are offline. That is why we chose to promote it through this medium on the DTH platform.”

The online campaign will filter out offline into an on-ground event. Tanishq will fly five people who complete the task of finding the missing diamonds in the shortest period of time down to Mumbai to take part in the on-ground chase to hunt down the culprit. The winner of the hunt gets the chance to gift the diamond necklace personally to Jaya Bachchan. The game can be played online till September 23-24. The ‘Missing Diamonds’ campaign will be on till the last week of September or the first week of October.

Ad Review: Up, Up and Away – Veet’s new TVC shows the right way

Veet has launched a breezy new TVC featuring brand ambassador Katrina Kaif for Veet Wax Strip with EasyGrip tab. Euro RSCG has created the new commercial, showing Katrina pulling up Veet Wax Strip with EasyGrip tab to attain perfect smoothness easily, avoiding the usual mess during waxing. The commercial is currently on air and the brand plans to extensively use print advertising as well to generate trials among consumers going to parlours for waxing.

Commenting on the main idea behind the commercial, Chander Mohan Sethi, Chairman & Managing Director, Reckitt Benckiser (India), said, “We have focused on the brand tradition of celebrating beauty and confidence for Veet users all over, with youth icon Katrina Kaif embodying the confident style of the modern Indian woman and specially designed for no-fuss waxing. The USP of the new “EasyGrip tab” comes out effectively using the “pull-up” motion to showcase the ‘ease and convenience’ of use. The EasyGrip tab has been designed to make the waxing process more intuitive for the consumers and as a result save time and hassle of specially going to a parlour for waxing, which is shown through the visual medium with great effectiveness, as Katrina zips through her entire routine.”

Reckitt Benckiser introduced Veet wax strips in the market in 2009 in order to make the tedious process of waxing easier and faster. The market analysis, however, revealed that the users found the product difficult to use because of not knowing the correct way of using it. The company has thus launched the product with Easygrip tab to make the user use the product with the right technique. This formed the main brief for the new commercials, said Satbir Singh, National Creative Director, Euro RSCG, adding, “After a successful market test of Veet wax strips, when the national launch happened, the percentage of lapsers were higher when compared to the test results. The reason for this was the incorrect technique that the users followed while pulling the strips, giving less than satisfactory results. Veet introduced new strips with an Easygrip tab to make the usage of the strips more intuitive and correcting direction of pulling the strip. Right technique would lead to better results, thereby restoring their confidence in the product and the format. The brief was to introduce these new strips with the Easygrip tab, which give better results.”

The ad shows Katrina using Veet wax strips as part of her daily beauty routine, repeating the ‘Pull Up’ action in everything she does, from zipping up her boots, to pulling up her shades, all in one swift and smooth motion.

Explaining more on the strategy adopted to convey the idea, Singh added “The main strategy was to introduce these scripts as an easy and essential part of one’s beauty regime rather than just a need based product for the skin. Apart from introducing the grip and its benefit, we also indicated the right way to pull off the strip. The idea came from the actions a woman performs to look beautiful - beauty and confidence is all about holding yourself ‘UP’. Whether it’s the UPward stroke of her makeup brush or pulling her stockings UP or tying her UP or pulling the wax strip UP.”

The exposure for the product will include traditional media as well as on-ground activities. “Like any new product and its launch TVC, we would like to build up reach quickly and once we achieve a sufficient exposure level at 1+, we would move ahead and build the frequency. Also, focus would be more on the bigger centres as they are the ones where bulk of parlour waxing happens,” said Sethi, explaining the media strategy.

Credits:

Creative:
National Creative Director: Satbir Singh
Creative Director: Siddharth Dyalchand

Client Servicing:
Senior Vice President: Shruti Varma
Servicing Team: Yashaswi Bhatt
Planning: Narayan Devanathan, Rabia Sooch
Production House: Kiss Films
Director: Tracey Rowe

Tuesday, September 13

Ad Review: Bates141’s ‘Health Promise Movement’ for Max Bupa

Selling financial products has never been easy. Unlike consumer products that can be displayed through various shelves, financial products have fewer ways to reach out to the audience. Advertising insurances in India is all the more arduous as there are so many players offering the same thing.

Bates141, however, has taken a different approach for Max Bupa’s health insurance, playing on the idea of health insurance of people one loves the most.

The Max Bupa Health Promise Movement is a pan-India initiative coined by the Bates team. The campaign comprises a platform ‘www.yourhealthfirst.in’ that enables people to put their and their loved ones health first. It is the centre point combining communication on other mediums as well. The website is an interactive medium inviting people to share their health concerns, provide health information, actionable tips, and expert advice and also link them to specialist health care services.

Client: Max Bupa
Product: Max Bupa Health Insurance
Agency: Bates141
Medium: Television, Digital, Print

The Creatives:
Apart from the online platform, three commercials have been released as part of the campaign, along with jingles on radio, promoting the idea of taking health promise for the ones you love. The communication on these mediums also urges consumers to log on to the online platform to take the promise. Once the promise is made, there is a complete engagement package that engages with people who have made health promises and people for whom the health promises are made.

Speaking on the idea behind the campaign and how it differentiates from others, Shefali Chhachhi, Director - Marketing, Max Bupa, said, “We wanted to start a movement that nudges people into healthier living - a movement that helps people take a conscious step towards becoming healthy and encourage them to take out some time from their busy schedules to make a beginning towards healthy living. The Max Bupa Health Promise campaign attempts to do just that by asking people to take health promises for their loved ones and Max Bupa in turn will help the people keep their promises with expert advice, health information and much more. Most insurance companies have always sold insurance or for that matter health insurance through fear – fear of life or fear of losing wealth. We wanted to talk to people about their health and their worries related to health.”

“Health is low on priority for us Indians and we wanted to address that,” said Sambit Mohanty, Executive Creative Director, Bates141, adding, “We are more worried about disruption diseases (flu, etc.) rather than chronic and serious illnesses. Further, we keep swaying between the feeling of ‘Nothing’s going to happen to me’ to ‘what is inevitable is inevitable’. With that in mind, we wanted to start a movement that discusses benefits of healthier living. Our TVCs use slice-of-life situations with a humorous twist - we're sure most people would identify with them. And judging by the great response to the ads, each one of them has connected in a unique way.”


The Execution:

The commercials depict real life situations discussing common health issues like obesity, smoke addiction and diabetes. The voiceover in each commercial says “Apno ki good health ke liye health promise lijiye...log on to www.yourhealthfirst.in”, promoting the idea of health promise.

Expert Opinion:

Elvis Sequeira, National Creative Director, Cheil Worldwide, felt that while the message was clear, the brand was missing from it. He added, “I think the commercials are well intentioned, but miss the point, and that's because the idea isn't sharply thought through and needs several steps on the viewer's part to get to what the brand is trying to say. Do we understand it's about insurance? Yes. Do we get the insight that a family is more concerned about your health than you are? Yes. Do you want the head of the household to take a health promise? Sure. Now what's the brand doing in all this? Dunno.”

So, would the message through ads lead to actions? No – observed Sequeira, explaining, “I wouldn't expect a dramatic response from audiences, it's not like Facebook or YouTube will go buzzing with likes or comments. The idea doesn't break new ground, because the strategy is lazy. Don't blame the creative guys. It's fairly literal and in familiar territory, health drinks, supplements, they've all gone down the exact same path. So saying 'take a health promise' at the end isn't going to make it different.”

How many stars – ‘One, for cuteness, especially the lift episode,” said Sequeira.

Commenting on the ads, Nirmal Pulickal, Executive Creative Director, North & East, DDB Mudra, said, “I think the commercials are terribly trite, at every level, as the insights are dull. The script is boring and looks like people in client servicing wrote it. The performance of the old man in the smoking ad is so amateur it is shocking. I am not sure if the ad will register with the viewers as it is hardly innovative. If I am a viewer, I don’t know if it will make me think any better of Max Bupa.”



Our take:

The idea of taking a health promise for the ones you love appeals, but the commercials do not make a strong impression on one’s mind to stand up and act. There is no dearth of platforms that provide Information on health and measures to be taken for it, the ads do not give any reason further to the viewer to go and register on yourhealthfirst and be a part of the movement. The choice of instances like Gulab Jamun, Lift and Smoking is definitely smart as it would surely get the families talking.

Stars: 3 out of 5.

Credits:
Creative: Sambit Mohanty, Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar
Account Management: Sandeep Handa, Srijib Mallik
Production: Chrome Films
Director: Hemant Bhandari

Liberty goes youthful; launches Rs 6-cr ‘Express Yourself’ campaign

Liberty is going all out to catch the attention of young consumers in India. The company has roped in Hrithik Roshan as the brand ambassador and has launched a new campaign to present its Autumn-Winter collection. It is spending around Rs 6 crore for this campaign, which will run from September to November. The campaign was unleashed on September 9, with major news dailies flashing Hrithik Roshan endorsing the brand. The communication will unfold with large size ads across the mainline dailies and select magazines with a series of 8-9 advertisements running on these platforms throughout September, October and November.

Commenting on restricting the campaign to print, Anupam Bansal, Executive Director, Liberty Group, said, “The whole campaign is being limited to the print media. This has been done for impact and focus and also to avoid any wastage considering the availability of our products.”

Crowd sourcing as a formula has caught Indian brands well and the efforts seem to be in that direction to engage consumers at every step possible. Even in this case, Liberty asked its followers and consumers to choose the ambassador - they thought was perfect for the brand. Flocked with responses from everyone voting for Hrithik Roshan, given his great rapport amongst the youth today, the company decided to go with him.

Sharing his views on the response to the activity and plans forward, Bansal said, “We began the campaign by running a response based contest on the digital space where we invited our following to recommend a suitable ambassador for our brand. There was serious campaigning amongst the Facebook followers and Hrithik emerged as the winning choice. There is a digital campaign still on where the Hrithik style quotient and the Hrithik collection are being shared online. Some onsite games have also been developed to involve the audience to reinforce the Hrithik connect with the brand.”

The youth icon seems to be making just the right impressions for the brand.

Hrithik is seen sporting a completely different look in the campaign looking uber-comfortable wearing the brand. Expressing himself in different moods in the campaign was an easy task as an actor, he shared, adding, “As an actor emoting feelings is second nature to me, which is why the feelings route adopted in this campaign attracted me. The situations outlined in the campaign seemed very contemporary, very stimulating and very involving. I truly relished this opportunity to express an extensive repertoire of feelings.”

Montage Advertising, the creative AOR for Liberty, has worked on the latest campaign. The whole communication has been knit around the idea of ‘Liberty Footwear as a Feeling’ with the consumer having the freedom to choose and express themselves in their own style.

Speaking on the creative execution of the same and strategy behind it, Nidhi Arora, Group Head, Montage Advertising, said, “Liberty has been on the growth path for the past few years after the backend consolidation. The product range under the Liberty portfolio has undergone a big change and has become more stylish, more trendy and more with it. What was now required was a campaign that would entice the youthful, new target audience of Liberty to come and see for themselves the new range and also experience the brand by trying it out. In order to showcase the big change, we felt this would be an opportune time to rope in a youth icon that would connect with a large number of our audience as well as with the new set of youthful buyers who may not have any prior experience of our brand. To make the connect emphatic and very direct, a creative execution with Hrithik holding the brand logo was decided upon.”

Performics begins India innings with Microsoft account

ZenithOptimedia, the ROI agency, has launched the operations of its performance marketing specialist agency, Performics, in India with Microsoft as the first client in the kitty. While the business win comes in the wake of global search business mandate of Microsoft being lined with Performics after a multi-agency pitch, the Indian operations have been launched by the agency, with a substantial size of the business to be taken care of in India. The size of Microsoft’s Indian business is estimated to be in the vicinity of Rs 10-12 crore.

The agency has started with a team of 14 performance marketing specialists in Delhi and one in Mumbai. Being a part of the ZenithOptimedia family, the agency is also handling the search business for ZO’s existing clients like eBay, timesjobs.com and Air France.

Speaking on the launch of the agency in India, Andras Vigh, Global Managing Director, Performics, said, “We strongly believe India will be a key market for Performics and our ‘OneSearch’ proposition and performance skill set will deliver great value to our clients.”

“For Microsoft in India, as around the world, the demand for search and performance marketing solutions always shows an upward trend. I am delighted that we will now be able to leverage on Perfomics’ capabilities in India,” said Vineet Durani, CMO, Microsoft India, on the launch of Performics India.

While the global alignment of the business was announced in January this year, the official rollout of the campaign has happened on September 1, 2011. Though Quasar remains the digital AOR for Microsoft, taking care of its social media, digital display and mobile strategies, its entire search business will now be handled by Performics. Explaining more on the benefits of search, Anurag Gour, Digital Marketing Strategy Lead, Microsoft India, said, “Search is very crucial as while we are broadcasting our message through displays and social advertising, in search we are focusing on the customer who intends to buy the product. There is a dynamic and live interception to the intention of a customer who is interested, proving more beneficial.”

Speaking on the reason for handing over the business to Performics, Gour said, “Performics has the right set of technology, talent and tools to ensure ROI, targeting relevant audience.”

The mandate for Performics will be to boost Microsoft’s flagship solutions like Windows PC, Microsoft Office, X-Box and Windows Phone to begin with. The launch of Windows Phone by Nokia is highly anticipated and the company has also launched polls to invite users to name the first Windows Phone 7.

Performics has a strong partnership with Google around the world. Speaking on the launch of the agency in India, Rajan Anandan, Managing Director, Google India, said, “Search is the future. We are happy that one more agency from our global tie-ups now has operations in India.”

According to a report shared by Anandan during the launch of Performics, while the trend in India right now was of research online and purchase offline, by 2015, e-commerce would see transactions worth $40 billion in India alone.

The focus of Performics is to bring in the concept of One Search into India, offering One Search, that is, SEO and SEM in an integrated and embedded way. Performics’ core offering, “OneSearch,” drives integrated search efficiency for clients to ensure optimal marketing investment. The agnostic approach pairs third-party platforms with proprietary technology, including BenchTools, Global Analytics Tools and Socialtools, to deliver best in class solutions. India is critical to Performics’ global plans as it is one of the fastest growing markets and the clients in India are more focused on ROI, therefore, its range of services are more suitable for India.

For the record, Performics was acquired by Publicis Groupe in 2008 and has been part of ZenithOptimedia since 2010.

Eenadu’s I Venkat is new Chairman of ASCI

At its Board meeting held in Mumbai on September 8, 2011, I Venkat, Director, Eenadu, has been unanimously elected Chairman of the Board of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). As a member of the Board of Governors for five years, he has provided active support to Self-Regulation in the advertising movement.

Arvind Sharma, Chairman of India Sub-Continent, Leo Burnett, has been elected Vice-Chairman; and Vikram Sakhuja, CEO-South Asia, GroupM Media India, has been re-appointed as Honorary Treasurer.

The other members of the new Board of Governors are:
Advertisers:
Narendra Ambwani (Agro Tech Foods), Rajiv Dube (Aditya Birla Management Corporation), Shantanu Khosla (Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care), Gopal Vittal (Hindustan Unilever)

Media:
Rajan Anandan (Google India), Benoy Roychowdhury (HT Media)

Advertising Agencies:
Subhash Kamath (BBH Comms India), Srinivasan Swamy (R.K. Swamy BBDO).

Allied Professions:
Dilip Cherian (Perfect Relations), Dhananjay Keskar (IBS), Pranesh Misra (Brandscapes Consultancy P. Ltd.), Partha Rakshit (Partha Rakshit Associates).

During the year 2010-11, the Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) met 12 times and considered 777 complaints against 190 advertisements. Of these, complaints against 104 ads were upheld, while 80 were not upheld and 6 were considered non-issues. In 84 cases, the complaint upheld ads have been voluntarily withdrawn or modified as per the CCC’s decisions resulting in over 80% compliance rate.

Rajiv Dube, Director-Group Corporate Services, Aditya Birla Management Corporation Pvt Ltd, and the outgoing Chairman of ASCI, said, “It has been a privilege for me to have served as the Chairman of ASCI and I step down from the position with the satisfaction of a progressive year on self regulation in advertising behind me, for which I would like to thank all who supported strengthening the movement further.”

The incoming Chairman, I Venkat said, “It is my honour to be elected as the Chairman of a organization which has been providing remarkable service to the Indian masses and ad industry by effectively self regulating advertising content over past 26 years. With the support of the ASCI’s Board and the Consumer Complaint Council (CCC) I will endeavor to further improve the awareness and usage of ASCI. I urge the ad sector, the regulators, civil society activists and above all, the general public to actively seek ASCI’s services and also provide suggestions for its improvement.”

Tuesday, August 30

ASCI’s fast track complaints redressal process from Sept 1


The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), the apex industry body that self regulates the content of advertisements in the country, is introducing a new procedure to fast track redressal of complaints lodged by industry members. Effective September 1, 2011, the fast track procedure will seek to provide a speedy resolution to intra industry complaints.


Any Advertiser Category ASCI member company, which wishes to lodge a complaint against an ad of another ASCI Advertiser Category member company under the Fast Track procedure, will be required to notify ASCI accordingly. The Office of the Secretary General of ASCI will reach out to the advertiser complained against, within one working day of receiving the complaint, asking for a written response and to be present alongwith the complainant for appearance before the Fast Track Complaints Council (FTCC).


On the fourth working day from the date of sending the complaint communication to the advertiser, the FTCC, a 14-member panel, nominated from the existing 21 Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) members will be responsible for adjudicating the Fast Track Complaints. The whole process from receiving the complaint to the decision of the FTCC is expected to take no more than seven working days.


The Secretary General will communicate the decision of the FTCC to the parties concerned. If the complaint is upheld then the Advertiser will have to communicate the decision to withdraw the ad to the media concerned within two working days from notification of the FTCC’s decision.


In a prepared statement, Alan Collaco, Secretary General, ASCI, said, “With the introduction of the Fast Track procedure, ASCI aims to provide a platform for member advertisers to quickly resolve intra industry complaints against ads through industry self regulation process instead of seeking expensive court litigation. ASCI has a rigorous Advertising Code and effective complaint redressal process that has withstood the test of time as its Consumer Complaints Council (CCC), consisting of eminent persons from various walks of life, independently goes into the merits of every complaint.”


The fast track procedure will be reviewed by the ASCI board for a period of 4 to 6 months of its commencement. Basis the results and experience, the Secretary General and the FTCC will make recommendations to the ASCI Board for making appropriate amendments, if any, to the Fast Track Procedure.

Emvies ’11: Mindshare sweeps awards with 18 metals; declared Agency of the Year


Mindshare put up a strong show at the Emvies 2011. Not only did the agency bag 18 metals, it was also declared Media Agency of the Year. Mindshare also won the TAM Awards for Best TV Research Paper and Best Innovation TV, besides winning the People’s Choice Award for the Best Case Study Presented on August 18, 2011.


Mindshare’s metal tally included three Golds, eight Silvers and seven Bronzes. The agency bagged the three Golds for – the case study on ‘Be Beautiful – Your trusted beauty companion’ in the Best Media Innovation – Digital (Mobile) category; case study on ‘Nike – India Bleeds Blue’ in the Best Media Innovation – Digital (Web) category; and case study on ‘Pepsi – Changing the game… for Youth Cricket and Pepsi’ in the Best Integrated Campaign category.


Following Mindshare was Lodestar UM with 16 metals, which comprised two Golds, two Silvers and 11 Bronzes. Lodestar UM’s two Golds were for – the case study on ‘Amul – Amul takes the road less travelled’ in the Best Media Strategy – Consumer Products category; and another case study for Amul, titled ‘Amul Master Chef India – Tasty Dish Verna Game Finish’ in the Best Media Innovation – Branded/ Scripted Content category. The agency also bagged the People’ Choice Award for the Best Case Study Presented on August 16, 2011, for the case study on ‘Mahindra Samriddhi – Celebrating Indian Agriculture.


Maxus’ metals tally stood at 10, which included four Silvers and six Bronzes. The agency also won the RAM Award for Radio Innovation for its case study on ‘Tata Sky Ltd – Angrezi Ki Pathshala’.


Madison Media Infinity took home seven metals – two Golds, one Silver and four Bronzes. The agency bagged its two Golds for – the case study on ‘Cadbury Dairy Milk – Shubh Aarambh – In chase of a new beginning’ in the Best Media Strategy – Consumer Products category; and the case study on ‘Parashute Advansed Ayurvedic Hair Oil – Turning print into social media’ in the Best Media Innovation – Print category.


Mediacom Communications bagged the Grand Emvie for Volkswagen Vento (Talking Newspaper), the case study titled ‘People read newspapers. Till we made the newspaper talk’. The agency won six metals – two Golds, one Silver, and three Bronzes. The two Golds were won for – the case study on ‘Volkswagen Vento (Talking Newspaper) - People read newspapers. Till we made the newspaper talk’ in the Best Media Innovation – Print; and the case study on ‘Volkswagen 2010 – From challenger to champion in just 365 days’ in the Best Integrated Campaign category.


Mudra Max’s total metals tally stood at four, which comprised two Golds, one Silver and one Bronze. The agency won the two Golds for – the case study on ‘Big Cinemas – The silent revolution’ in the Best Media Strategy – 
Media/ Media Property category; and the case study on ‘Union Bank of India – UNI Bouncing Mails’ in the Best Media Innovation – Direct Marketing category.


GroupM – Dialogue Factory bagged a solitary Gold for the case study on ‘Mumbai District AIDS Control Society – Back Tagging’ in the Best Media Innovation – Out of Home category.


Madison Media Plus took home three Bronzes. JWT, ZenithOptimedia and MEC bagged a Bronze each. Interface Business Solutions took home a Silver.


Industry Speak 
Sunil Lulla, MD and CEO, TV Business, Times Global Broadcasting Co Ltd. and Chairperson of Emvies Committee “The quantum of entries has gone up very significantly. The quality of entries has gone up very significantly along with the diversity of categories. These entries are very often filled up by young people because they are the ones who are enthusiastic.”


Rahul Welde, Vice President of media for Unilever in Asia, Africa, Middle East and Turkey: “I think media and ads cannot be separated, hence we saw some great campaigns and they won awards. We should see that we are continuously raising the bar and we see more and more brilliant work.”


Govind Shrikhande, Customer Care Associate and Managing Director, Shoppers Stop: “I find an emerging trend in the industry wherein there appears a conflict of choice between product and message. There is an emerging trend across the industry where there is a dilemma in choosing between the medium and the message.”


Sam Balsara, Chairman and Managing Director, Madison World: “There was a considerable focus on the fact that we just don’t have to be good, but we have to be perceived to be good. The recognition of how good you are in the industry is the number of awards you win.”


Nandini Dias, COO, Lodestar UM and jury member: “There are some nice, world-class ideas that have emerged. So, one finds that a lot of these presentations have gone on to global platforms. They are simply world-class and I believe that it has nothing to with whether they are diversified or not.”


Vikram Sakhuja, CEO, GroupM, India and South Asia: “Increasingly, we are seeing power of ideas in building a brand and not just to use the media. Ability to use both medium and message will decide how to make an impact.”


Gowthaman Ragothaman, Leader, Mindshare South Asia: “The volumes of work have been going up significantly. The industry in booming, there is a lot of work, a number of campaigns are happening. I think it is not just about the quantity. people are taking interest and pride in their work.”


Shekhar Banerjee, Deputy General Manager, Madison World and part of the team that worked on Cadbury Dairy Milk Shubh Aarambh campaign: “A lot of hard work and research was put in all the campaigns. We had to target a larger audience this time, hence a campaign was designed around all the festivals and auspicious events of India so that people could connect with it. Our research suggested that Indians eat some sweets on any auspicious event - be it wedding, buying a car, refrigerator or receiving an appointment letter - and they don't consume a particular sweet. So, we pitched Dairy Milk as the Shubh Aarambh sweet, and I must say that it connected very well with almost every group of consumer.”


Jake Joss, Business Manager, Strategic Media Planning, Team P&G: “It is not just about being No. 1 or 2. I think the way and positive spirit in which the Awards are held is simply great. Our team has put a lot of creativity and hard work. I feel awards are the right platform to reward the people from our industry. We bagged several awards and it shows what our areas of strength are. I’m sure next year will be more tough and pose a challenge for better quality of work.”

Lowe Lintas’ PK Sahgal elected President of Ad Club Hyderabad



The Annual General Meeting of the Ad Club Hyderabad, held on August 26, 2011, saw a change of guard in the executive committee. PK Sahgal, Branch Manager, Lowe Lintas has been elected President of the Club for the year 2011-12. He takes over charge from incumbent President C Ratnakar Rao of Breeze Advertising. Sahgal was Treasurer in the previous executive committee.


Commenting on his appointment, Sahgal said, “My responsibility is to continue the momentum that our ex-president Ratnakar has unleashed. These are indeed big shoes that I am stepping into and I promise to fill them the best I can.”


Reflecting back on his term, outgoing President Ratnakar Rao said, “It was a worthy effort by the team with a lot of help and support from senior ad pros. We hope there will be no looking back.”


JWT Mindset’s Ramakrishna and The Hindu’s Ch Venkatarathnam are the outgoing Vice-President and Secretary, respectively.


The other office bearers include Ranga Reddy of The Hindu as Vice President, Gemini TV’s Sanjay Reddy as Secretary, and Nitin Mulay of OTS Advertising as Treasurer. The executive committee members are Kulwinder Singh, CEO, Postnoon; Lenny Emanuel, ace lensman of Premier Studios; Ramu Srinivasan, MD, Wide Reach Advertising; and K Ramana Kumar, DGM, Sakshi newspaper. The evening saw some of the finest minds in advertising and marketing witness the new committee members take office.


After taking charge, Secretary Sanjay Reddy said, “I stand here in front of three stalwarts from the media - Anil Kumar of The Times of India, Ratnakar Rao of Breeze Advertising, and I Venkat from the Eenadu Group, who’ve shaped my views on advertising. As I assume this role, I know the responsibility and hope to live up to it.” The Secretary’s report was also upbeat with a firm resolve to accelerate the Club’s activity starting with an aggressive membership drive.


The Hyderabad Ad Club was founded in the year 1963 with the Marketing Club merging with it a couple of years later. Although it was fairly dormant in the 70s, ad veteran R Neelamegham of FD Stewarts’ fame and SK Khanna, who founded the Marketing Club, revived it in 1980. Last year, the 31-year old Club saw a revival of sorts with more corporate entities joining the Club. The last count saw close to 50 corporate members by the year-end.

Thursday, August 25

Videocon slimmer tv


cadbury dairy milk


Anoos profile

PROFILE

Founded in the year 1982, Hyderabad based Anoo's is one of the country’s oldest name in Clinical and Salon Services. Initially developed as a family venture, the company has today grown into a full-fledged professional set up with presence in 7 Indian cities with 11 facilities and 1 office in the USA. Anoo’s has a current work force of more than 200 professionally trained estheticians and technician. 

A trendsetter in the beauty and clinical services industry, Anoo’s recently opened their services for Men as well. Services at Anoo’s are segmented into clinical and salon. 

The clinical services for both men and women comprises of weight management programmes with focus on slimming, spot reduction, body shaping.  The hair removal treatment which offers a combination of electrolysis & laser for unwanted hair reduction is a service provided only at Anoo’s. Also available is the skin care treatments, which includes advanced facials, micro-dermabration, acne cure, body polishing, wart and tags removal, scar and wrinkle reduction. Laser hair regrowth for people with stressed and damaged hair is another unique feature in the clinical section.

The salon service at Anoo’s adds to the overall experience by offering a wide array of International beauty treatments. Services include hair-cutting, colouring and styling, make up, make overs, facials, nail art amongst many others.

In addition, the Spa treatment at Anoo’s is designed at reaching out to specific individual needs like stress reliever, relaxation, fatigue etc. Supported and managed by a dedicated and experienced team of therapists every client is encouraged to meet with one of their therapy experts, which will assist in allowing them to create a personalized therapy programme for every individual. 

Anoo’s herbal products like henna, hair care and hair oil and face packs in the skin care segment are marketed in India and the USA currently. All Anoo's products have been tested and approved by Department of Ayurvedic Medicine, India. 

Anoo’s has presence in Hyderabad (4 facilities), one each in Vijaywada, Warangal, Rajahmundry, Vizag, Chennai and Bangalore.

On the occasion of its 25th year of existence, Anoo’s launched the “Anoo’s International Beauty School (IBS)” spread across an area of 10.000 sq.ft. The school offers 30 career-oriented courses at Graduate and Under Graduate level with hands on experience. Alongside, the school also offers a postgraduate course in Cosmetology (M.Sc) in collaboration with Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), which makes it India’s 1st and only beauty school with University collaboration.

The Master’s in Cosmetology covers entire beauty courses in the beauty industry along with clinical treatments like electrolysis, laser, spa therapies, skin and hair treatments.  The programs duration lasts for 2 years consisting of 4 semesters, which enables students to learn from A to Z in theory and practicals in the field of Beauty. 







Karbonn bullish on smartphone; earmarks over $5 mn for campaign


The mobile phone revolution hit Indian markets few years ago. Post that, multinationals lined up to sell their mobile phones or services to consumers. Data on phone is the next revolution and brands today are leaving no stone unturned to tap the opportunity. While Samsung, Nokia, Blackberry are all eyeing a larger share of this market, to challenge them all is the latest innovation from Karbonn Mobiles. Being called India’s first most affordable by Karbonn, A1 is a 3G enabled Android 2.2 smart phone that gives you all the features of a smart phone at a price which is one-third of other leading brands. Karbonn launched the campaign in the India-England test series and now plans to roll out a 360 degree campaign to market its smartphones. The brand apparently is spending more than $5 million on the advertising of the complete range of smartphones, due to release by this festive season.


Client: Karbonn Mobiles
Product: A1 
Agency: Brand David
Medium: Television


The Brief: 
Karbonn A1 is an initiative by Karbonn to take smart phone experience to millions of mobile consumers in India. The main idea behind the ad is to simply launch Karbonn’s 3G enabled Android phones as the most affordable Android phone in the country and attract the urban youth.


Speaking on the idea to be conveyed through the commercial, Shashin Devsare, Executive Director, Karbonn Mobiles, said, “We wanted to showcase our smart phone with features highlighted in full glory. We wanted to start from where iPhone left and the advertisement does the same. The idea is to communicate the availability of amazing features on our phone at a price point of Rs 6,999 only. Our intention is to massify smart phone category in the market. We are not looking at the top end of the pyramid of the consumer; but more than half a million users who would be looking for a replacement of their mobile very soon. We want to give them a reason for sticking to our phone and the commercial does exactly the same.”


The 20-second ad has been created by Brand David. The idea of commenting on iPhone4’s advertisement was mutually conceived by team Brand David and Karbonn, said Devsare.


Speaking on the strategy behind execution, the spokesperson from Brand David said, “For any ad the concept and its ability to communicate in the simplest manner to the TG is the key. In this ad our concept is the differentiating factor. We have kept it very simple and made the features and proposition of affordability come alive in a very direct yet charming way. What better way to showcase the phone and live up to the proposition than by doing a Demo? The films convey all the power-packed features that our phone has- which is the mainstay of our communication for Karbonn Android. The strategy is to position Karbonn Mobiles second to none as compared to other international and national smart phones brands in the market.”






Expert Opinion:


Elvis Sequeira, National Creative Director, Cheil Worldwide does not seem to be sold with the idea of bringing smart phones at this price. He commented “Ahem, the poor man's iPhone, in a poor imitation of the iPhone4 TVC. The original talked about all the cool stuff you could do and bundled it with an attitude, and this one just goes ...ahem, and lists out a bunch of copycat features. Just makes you want the iPhone4 even more. Whether it will create an impression, depends completely on how many people are aware that it's a takeoff on another brand. If you don't get that, well, you don't get it. I will give it half a star out of 5, for trying - to be blatant - at least.”





Kunal Gill, Executive Creative Director, TBWA\ Delhi lauded the brave attempt, but felt more could be done. He added, “Well, it’s a spoof on the recent ‘if you don’t have an iPhone’ series, but I’m not sure if everyone will get that immediately. I didn’t. That’s mainly because I don’t park those two brands in the same thought. Coke and Pepsi parodying each other is a battle between equals. This is not. Also, it’s a little silly to take on a multiple execution campaign that highlighted a host of features with a single spot that highlights just three or four. Creatively, they could have, and should have had much more fun with a spoof. This one is a really bland carbon copy (pun not intended). And that's just an opportunity lost. Having said that, I suppose credit is due for a brave attempt, even if it is a little misguided.”


Our take:
Though Karbonn is playing real smart by launching a smart phone at this price, the commercial does not promote the phone in full decibels. If the initial few seconds are missed, the audience would miss “If you don’t have an ....” phrase which is the beginning of the whole concept. The features highlighted are also basic in nature and do not give a strong competition to the established brand.


The idea which could however bring a world of difference to the communication could be the price of the phone, but that is not disclosed in the commercial. Though the voice over says the phone is available at a fraction of price, we strongly feel the figures would have made lot of consumers go and check out the phone. The onus of that would remain on the retailers now!

Real estate ads need to be believable: Jaideep Gandhi, Jaya Advertising


Set up in 1968, Jaya Advertising has been firming up its presence in the real estate advertising space. The company is today considered a real estate think tank and advisory.


Speaking to exchange4media, Jaideep Gandhi, Managing Director, Jaya Advertising, said, “Real estate is the most expensive product in any category. It is a once-in-a-lifetime purchase and hence high stakes are involved. Jaya Advertising has gone beyond mere advertising today. In fact, our range of services extends from the time a builder buys land to the time he delivers the homes.”


According to him, real estate was a right mix of science and art – where the strength of the construction was as important as aesthetics of the final product.


Speaking of the change in the real estate scenario in India over the years, Gandhi said that today the move was more towards lifestyle oriented homes and a self-contained infrastructure vis-à-vis the earlier preference for single unit homes. With rising income, today the profile of home buyers is younger than before. However, the basics remained the same – good infrastructure, connectivity and security.


Speaking about the changing scenario in real estate advertising, Gandhi said that it needed to be more believable and that the move would be towards building trust in ads. “Right now it is aspirational. But the communication should be authentic. This apart, more than promoting a structure, there needs to be destination promotion,” he added.


Speaking about the role of outdoor media in real estate advertising, Gandhi said that currently 60-70 per cent of real estate ads were on outdoor media. Print too had a role to play in real estate advertising, he added.

Mission

Our mission is to bringing awareness about advertising and issues related to advertising field.
We are also expecting to encourage and develop the scope and importance of advertisements and ads related campaign.

Ad Review: TBWA\India drives home the point for Nissan Micra



The biggest problem facing every working professional today is Traffic. Playing on the idea of giving a solution to this massive problem and providing a smooth ride to people even in heavy jams, TBWA\India has launched a new television campaign for Nissan’s B-segment offering, the Nissan Micra. The car is being positioned as the ‘urban driving simplifier’, packed with features that make driving on city roads less stressful, leaving the car owner happier at the end of the journey. The new campaign features Ranbir Kapoor, the brand’s ambassador for Nissan Micra, driving the car smoothly even on jammed roads, thanks to its shorter turning radius. The commercial makes a creative comparison between the past and present, while suggesting ideas for the future. The song “Chala Jaata Hoon Kisi Ki dhun mein” gives a vintage touch to the commercial and a cut to the present, helps in driving home the point immediately.

Talking about the unique approach in the campaign, Rahul Sengupta, National Creative Director, TBWA\India said, “We all reminisce about the good old days. Old songs, old movies - the way our lives used to be simple. Ranbir Kapoor takes the help of Kishore Kumar, RD Burman and Rafi to drive home a solid point.”

Nirmalya Sen, Managing Director, TBWA\India added – “If the previous campaign was about a car like no other, this one will establish why the Nissan Micra is a brand with a purpose - to help people drive around the crowded city with a smile on their faces and a song on their lips. The brief we worked with was simple – ‘We cannot change the city, but we can make driving in it a pleasure.’

Dinesh Jain, CEO, Hover Automotive Ltd, added here, “The communication is path breaking and has not been attempted before in this segment. It has great stand out appeal and will help achieve the objectives for the campaign.”

The new TVCs have been produced by Red Ice and directed by Ayan Mukerji, the maker of ‘Wake Up Sid’.

Expert Opinion:

Ratno Rudra, Creative Director, Brand Curry is impressed by the simplicity and creativity of the commercial. He added “It definitely stands out in the clutter. It's refreshing, the jingle is apt and the message is driven home very easily. It refrains from any technical claim. It leaves the viewer with a good feeling and encourages them to go and check out the car. I would give it 6.5 out of 10.”


Siddharth Prasad, Vice President – Creative, Metal Communication also appreciated the beautiful presentation of the days gone by in the ad while perfectly pointing the relevance of the product. He said “I like this ad. Simplicity is its greatest strength. Where car ads tend to be self-important, eye-dazzling displays of next generation computer graphics - this one is disarmingly unexpected and very well executed. While taking back to the bygone golden era, it arrogates to itself all the things we love most about black and white movies. But more than anything else, for me it captures the joy of driving in a very charming way. Yes all the product plugs are in place - supers with tech specs and all, but they come in quite naturally and do not detract from the single-mindedness of the communication. An orange car in a black and white world, driven by a well-loved celeb (who isn't being pompous) and accompanied by an unforgettable song - all the ingredients have come together very well in this commercial. I’d give it 4 stars out of 5.”

Credits:
Creative Agency: TBWA\India
Client: Nissan 
Executive Creative Director: Rahul Sengupta
Creative Director(s): Rahul Ghosh, Siddharth Deo
Head, Account Management: Anand Narayan
Account team: Priya Chandni, Siddharth Jalan

Film Director: Ayan Mukerji
Director of Photography: Vikas Sivaraman, Ayananka Bose, Anil Mehta
Editor: Harsh
Production Company: Red Ice
Production Company Head Producer: Gary
Associate Producer(s): Natasha

Friday, August 19

Red FM to keep on ‘bajaate raho’ Red Mike across 12 markets

Red Mike is back in a bigger, better avatar on Red FM, which is known throughout the country for its ‘Bajaate Raho!’ attitude. Red FM 93.5, the station for expression, launched the second season of Red Mike in the cities of Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Indore, Jaipur, Kanpur, Lucknow, Nagpur, Pune, Vadodara and Hyderabad from August 8, 2011 onwards.

Listeners in these cities will be encouraged to speak up and have their voices heard by a larger audience. This year apart from road shows, in certain markets, Red FM has engaged local street theatre troops who would convey the idea of the campaign in an interesting manner.

The campaign has also been extended on social media; each station has its own dedicated Facebook page and Twitter account to reach out to listeners even when they are not tuned in.

Hoardings at 10-15 prime locations each of the 12 markets apart from entertaining activities at malls and multiplexes will popularise the campaign. The on air campaign will run for about 4-5 weeks, while the promotional activities will be for about three weeks. Red FM has roped in Sakal, Amar Ujala, Dainik Navjyoti, Patrika, and Pratidin as its media partners, while mall partners are Inorbit in Pune, Fun Republic in Lucknow, Eternity Mall in Nagpur, 10 Acre in Ahmedabad Central and Himalaya in Ahmedabad.

Last year the campaign saw enthusiastic response from listeners who used the platform to express themselves and in the process highlight some important local issues. Citizens used Red Mike to not only request their favourite songs, but also discussed issues such as blatant demands for donation by colleges, increasing incidents of violence on women, erratic water and power supply amongst other.

Not only citizens, authorities and officials from local government bodies such as the Municipal Commission and Police Department used the Red Mike to contribute their views and address the concerns of the citizens. This year, besides radio the campaign will also rely on other media such as print and television, outdoor broadcasts, on ground activation in malls and on the street via street theatre groups, SMS and social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to provide citizens with multiple platforms to communicate and discuss.

Speaking on the launch of Red Mike, Nisha Narayanan, Senior VP- Projects and Programming, Red FM 93.5 Network, said, “At Red FM we swear by interactivity and Red Mike is both a tool and a symbol for expression. Red Mike is a brand building campaign which is designed with the aim of reaffirming Red FM’s positioning as 'the station for expression' amongst listeners in the 12 markets. It is not designed with the aim of attracting advertisers specifically, though we have seen traction from local advertisers in these markets already. More importantly, the response from listeners has been extremely positive. Last year, we were pleasantly surprised by the feedback we received from our listeners as well as government officials who used the airwaves to initiate conversations. This year, we have upped the ante. Red Mike will be fun, entertaining, bold and unlike anything else that any radio station is attempting. Through this campaign we intend to let listeners shape the radio station and its conversations. Red Mike will be everywhere, on air, on ground, in cyber space as well. People will have ample opportunities and avenues to contribute and engage. We will reach out to all, be it youngsters or senior citizens, by taking Red Mike to the places where they hang out, where they live, etc.”

Levi’s taps into social media for its ‘Go Forth’ campaign


Levi’s has rolled out its ‘Go Forth’ campaign with the premiere of Levi’s Legacy, its first-ever global ‘Go Forth’ advertising spot, and unveiled a digital engagement programme celebrating pioneers around the globe. Launched exclusively on Facebook, the 60-second film and digital programme taps into the power of the inter-connected global community to spark change and create positive action unrestricted by geographic barriers. Since the digital launch, Levi’s claims to have had nearly 10,500 global pledges on Facebook in a matter of a week. In India, the campaign broke on television, in print, in outdoor and in-store on August 15, 2011.

Through Facebook and Levi.com, Levi’s fans and viewers are encouraged to support the spirit and influence of today’s modern pioneers who are working to create a better world.

The ‘Go Forth’ digital engagement program and 60-second film are extensions of Levi’s ‘Go Forth’ global creative platform, which was unveiled in July. The integrated global ‘Go Forth’ campaign will appear in 24 countries and 19 languages and act as a rally cry to create positive change in the world today. The creative campaign was developed by Wieden+Kennedy and marks the first time the Levi’s brand has delivered a singular creative platform to a global audience. The digital engagement program was created in partnership with Dachis Group.

"Now, more than ever, the world needs inspiration. The world needs people with a pioneering spirit who still believe that anything is possible. Our 60-second ‘Go Forth’ film and digital engagement program recognize people around the globe who are stepping forward to transform the world," said Becca Van Dyck, global chief marketing officer of the Levi’s brand. "Through Facebook, we hope to inspire people to join us in supporting the important work of today’s pioneers.”

Initially the ‘Go Forth’ digital engagement program features an online social challenge that highlights Water.org, a non-profit organization committed to providing safe drinking water and sanitation to people in developing countries. Levi’s fans and Facebook users around the world are invited to join the Levi’s® brand in supporting the efforts of Water.org by making an online pledge that will help bring clean water to up to 8,000 people – for life.

To help ensure fans’ messages on Facebook are seen by their friends, Levi’s will use a mix of Facebook advertising and Sponsored Stories that will appear in 24 countries.

“We are thrilled that Levi's has chosen to harness the power that brands can have on Facebook by using our platform to premiere their first-ever global advertising campaign. Not only are they sharing this content on a global scale with people on Facebook first, but they are creating a place where fans can share stories with an ultimate goal of effecting positive change in the world," said Carolyn Everson, vice president of global marketing solutions at Facebook.

‘Go Forth’ Online Social Challenge
At launch, the Levi’s brand will enable people the world over to support pioneers by introducing the work of Water.org. Water.org, which was co-founded by Matt Damon and Gary White, has worked with local partner organizations for more than 20 years to deliver community-led, sustainable water and sanitation services to people living in poverty who are struggling to survive the global water crisis. Through Facebook, people can pledge their support for the cause and share their intentions with friends around the world. Levi’s goal is to reach 100,000 pledges on Facebook – and reaching this goal will help bring clean water to up to 8,000 people – for life.

Shining a global spotlight on the work of Water.org is a continuation of the long-standing commitment of the Levi’s brand to raise awareness for global water issues and reduce wasteful water usage. As part of this commitment, in several global markets the Levi’s brand recently introduced Water

Throughout the season, the Levi’s brand will provide a platform on Facebook for fans to show their support of additional inspiring pioneers and change agents around the world. By harnessing the power of its global fan base, the Levi’s brand hopes to raise awareness and support for a diverse range of pioneers around the globe who embody the ideals of the Levi’s brand.

“Levi’s Legacy”
Filmed by Berlin-based director Ralf Schmerberg, the 60-second film titled “Levi’s Legacy” is an emotional journey into the lives of young people expressing their hopes and dreams for a better world in meaningful ways. The film demonstrates how the next generation is seizing the day to create positive change through passionate scenes of pioneering youth captured throughout Germany – from Berlin to the Baltic Sea. Featuring the poem “The Laughing Heart,” by Charles Bukowski, the film delivers a message of hope and empowerment that underscores the theme “Now Is Our Time.” The film closes with the Levi’s brand’s ultimate call to action: ‘Go Forth.’

Hero MotoCorp salutes the Hero within every Indian with new campaign

Hero MotoCorp Ltd has unveiled its new brand campaign which breaks across channels on August 15, 2011. The objective of the brand campaign is to inspire, unite and celebrate the spirit of the hero within every Indian. It is this spirit that drives the nation despite the hundreds of challenges that we face. The baseline ‘Hum mein hai hero’ is the perfect encapsulation of the idea.

The new Brand Hero epitomizes continuity and change in equal measure. While its fundamental values and enduring beliefs ensure continuity, the new proposition and identity also signal change. The new logo stands for the new face of India – that youthful energy and ‘can do’ spirit. It is in true sense the "Indian Catapult" which signals that while it is deeply rooted in Indian values, it is also poised to go for global expansion - a Leap of Faith.

With the new campaign Hero MotoCorp hopes to be a brand that is loved and owned by every Indian. The big dream is to be the first Indian Nation Brand.

The TVC, conceptualised by Law & Kenneth and executed by Anurag Kashyap, tries to capture human stories of self belief , big and small. The TVC takes the format of an anthem for the new Indian composed by the maestro AR Rahman himself.Its a 2 minute song which has many stories within.

The campaign gets launched on 15th August and is scheduled for 100 days for the 1st phase. Its a huge multimedia campaign covering every medium and hopes become a truly interactive movement by the end of 100 days. The campaign will cover 9 Indian languages and will run simultaneously across the country.

Campaign credits:
Agency: Law & Kenneth India
Creative director: Rahul Nangia
Director: Anurag Kashyap & Robby Grewal
Producer: Gary Grewal & Darshan Gokani (RED ICE PRODUCTIONS)
DOP: Amithabha Singh, Rajeev Ravi & Arvind K
Editor: Shweta Venkat