Date-wise News

WPP's global out-of-home (OOH) entity Kinetic, which took shape from the merger of Poster Publicity and Portland OOH agencies, is finally becoming operational in India. To head Kinetic’s operations, Pratap Bose, currently President of Ogilvy Activation, India, has been roped in to head Kinetic’s operations as Managing Director-South Asia, Kinetic.

e4m Desk Jan 2, 2006 3:06 PM

Last week, a couple of days before the 'Impact Person of the Year' bash, we were doing the phone rounds, calling up all our invitees to ask, confirm and cajole them into coming. One of those souls was the president of a Bombay-based agency.

e4m Desk Jan 2, 2006 11:07 AM

Rajdeep Sardesai walks into the building with a spring in his step. His colleagues stare at him in awe and wonderment as he runs to his office. He's a livewire, and one finds it difficult to imagine that he's left the office only at 4.00 am after he's covered the Indian Institue of Science, Bangalore, shoot out story and subsequently done an analysis of the CNN-IBN coverage vis-à-vis the competition.

e4m Desk Jan 2, 2006 11:06 AM

Advertising agencies were among the first services to be targeted when the service tax was introduced in 1994. After initial hiccups, such as questioning the constitutional validity of the levy, this service turned out to be a cash cow for the government.

e4m Desk Jan 2, 2006 7:30 AM

Peerless General Finance and Investment, the Kolkata-based financial services company which will be stepping into its 75th year of operations on October 25, 2006, has launched a special mnemonic to be used in the lead up to the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

exchange4media Kolkata Bureau Jan 2, 2006 7:29 AM

Reliance Infocomm has announced ambitious plans to break the circle barrier by launching its ‘One-Nation, One Tariff’ plan in which calls from Reliance IndiaMobile prepaid service from anywhere-to-anywhere across India will cost just Re 1 a minute.

e4m Desk Jan 2, 2006 7:28 AM

In the run-up to its foray into the Indian consumer PC market, Lenovo is planning to piggyback on Bollywood by sponsoring movies to create awareness about its brand and logo.

e4m Desk Jan 2, 2006 7:27 AM

‘Be positive 24’, formed by two former members of Chennai-based creative shop WOC Advertising Enterprize in mid-December, already has one account in its kitty – Chennai-based fitness chain Fitness One. The agency is on way to signing up another client in January 2006.

e4m Desk Jan 2, 2006 7:26 AM

Chennai-based agency Brand Portrait is looking to take the specialisation route to growth. Services and IT are two broad verticals the agency is seeking to address, and it has segmented the services vertical to include financial services. Heading it will be Bharati Shroff, whose last assignment was as Regional Director, Fortune Communications.

exchange4media Chennai Bureau Jan 2, 2006 7:25 AM

Till November 2005, there was a 44 per cent rise in print advertising by shopping malls. Shopping malls used newspapers as the primary medium for advertising. The biggest spender was Big Bazar.

e4m Desk Jan 2, 2006 7:24 AM

The entrance of new players in the kids’ segment has led existing players to think of unusual ways to increase brand salience among the kids’ TG. Even as segment leader Cartoon Network has innovated on ways in which it can speak to the kids, Disney Channel, too, is showing aggression on this front by partnering with various companies.

Noor Fathima Warsia Jan 2, 2006 7:22 AM

KBC2 in a dubbed version, and Kalakkapovadhu Yaaru, based on the format of The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, were among the most successful shows introduced on Vijay TV in 2005. And these were not the first such introductions.

e4m Desk Jan 2, 2006 7:22 AM

Within barely a week of release of the first list of companies qualifying for the bidding for FM radio Phase II, the Information & Broadcast Ministry has announced the second list as well. Senior officials from the Ministry further said that another such list would be announced within the next few days.

exchange4media Mumbai Bureau Jan 2, 2006 7:20 AM

The opening numbers of Rajdeep Sardesai’s “journalist’s channel” – CNN-IBN – are here and at least for the week in question, the numbers spell good news for the English news genre itself. Even though ratings might not be the final deciding factor, it has a role to play in indicating what the Indian viewer feels about the channel.

Noor Fathima Warsia Jan 2, 2006 7:19 AM

Zee TV’s big ticket game show, ‘Kam Ya Zyaada’, has opened to a slow start as far as TAM Media Research numbers are concerned. Coming in the 10.00 pm slot, three days a week, the property is facing some fierce competition and ratings are reflecting this.

Noor Fathima Warsia Jan 2, 2006 7:18 AM

Retail as a sector is seeing tremendous growth in India, and organisations like Pantaloons Retail India Ltd are playing a key role in leading this growth. Pantaloon’s move to re-launch as a fashion brand took place in the last quarter of 2005, but the action is coming across now with the brand actively associating with fashion properties.

Noor Fathima Warsia Jan 2, 2006 7:18 AM