Following a general body meeting on Wednesday, October 17, 2007, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation has decided to honour all existing contracts that it has with advertisers. However, the cost input inflation surcharge of 25 per cent stays, which would be implemented on all the new deals. Also, the net rates would be implemented from April 1, 2008.
Discovery Builds Out Its Online Communities
Swapan Seth, CEO, Equus Red Cell, raises some pertinent issues that have a bearing on the client-agency relationship. He says that all clients are not unreasonable at all times -- agencies need to understand that. An agency must attempt to make a client feel that it doesn’t just want his business, but also wants his problems. In this opinion article, Seth calls them the 4 Es of Client Management.
The TNS Motorcycle Total Customer Satisfaction (MTCS) 2007 study has disclosed that the newly launched Hero Honda Splendor NXG, Hero Honda CBZ Extreme and Bajaj Discover 135 rank highest in their respective segments, while Hero Honda CD Deluxe continues to lead among the ‘standard’ bikes. Bullet 350 continues its supremacy in the niche ‘cruiser’ bike segment.
Mumbai-based Mediaware Infotech, which has a presence across India, has developed an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system for out-of-home media companies that covers the process of site acquisition right up to client billing.
V&S Broadcasting, an affiliate of UTV Broadcasting Ltd, has appointed Sanjay Bhasin as Vice President-Sales. Bhasin will now lead the ad sales division of V&S Broadcasting for its forthcoming set of three channels. Bhasin will be reporting into COO Dilshad Master. He comes in from Walt Disney Company where he was Associate Director-Sales.
Online TV channel nautanki.tv has launched its application on social networking platform Facebook. Nautanki.tv produces original video content that is primarily focussed on entertainment, social issues, humour and Indian cinema. With this new application, Nautanki.tv becomes the first Indian company to commercially exploit the Facebook.com platform.
Aircel, a Maxis Group company and one of the fastest growing telecom services players in the country, has appointed Publicis India as its brand and communications partner. Currently present across nine circles, with leadership positions in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, Assam and North East, Aircel has decided to entrust its significant marketing spends to Publicis India after a two-stage multi-agency pitch.
ISA continues to remain defiant in the case of the proposed input cost inflation surcharge by the IBF. Following a meeting in Mumbai, ISA announced that no advertiser would agree to the surcharge and added that the members had agreed to take legal action against this, if necessary. Another problem for the IBF is that some of its members have already had to back out from this proposal.
Media Research User’s Council (MRUC) has released the findings of the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2007 R-2. The top line continues to see the same names with Dainik Jagran again leading the charts. The Times of India finds a place among the top 10 again in this round, however, Lokmat has dropped out. Six of the top 10 dailies have also registered a drop.
Round 2 of the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2007 are out, and when the total readership numbers for the language wise players are seen, the story is not much different than what the previous rounds have been throwing. TOI leads among English publications, Dainik Jagran in Hindi, Ananda Bazaar Patrika in Bengali, and Gujarat Samachar in Gujarati.
FM radio stations in Kolkata have lined up a series of programmes and promotions to celebrate Durga Puja with their listeners. Most radio stations are making trips to housing complexes, either to judge the puja pandals there or to get the vibe of the festive spirit.
The Indian Newspaper Society (INS) has recently presented to Dr Shakeel Ahmed, Minister of State for Communication and Information Technology, the problems faced by the publications from the postal department. In the memorandum, INS has demanded the postal authorities to shun the commercial approach and be part of the Government’s social service department for spreading knowledge and information.
Nick is all set to build up some cricket fever with its ‘Nick Chak De Ninja’ contest, which kicks off from October 18. The channel has roped in cricketer Ajay Jadeja to promote the contest, along with one of its popular cartoon characters, Ninja Hattori. The contest will give a chance to 10 lucky winners to cheer for Team India during the Indo-Pak ODI match to be played at Gwalior on November 15.
Information TV’s yet-to-be-launched Hindi news channel Ab Tak has courted trouble over the similarity of its name with TV Today Network’s Aaj Tak. The Delhi High Court has granted ad interim ex parte injunction against Information TV, restraining it from using the name Ab Tak for its forthcoming channel. The Court has also restrained the use of any other name which is deceptively similar to Aaj Tak.