I Venkat, Director, Eenadu Group, has decided to move on. Venkat, who has played an active role in the print and broadcast initiatives of the group
G. Rajaraman, Senior Special Correspondent, Outlook, has joined Rashtryia Sahara Samay as Sports Editor. The channel has recently gone for a revamp with a new logo, positioning and content change. Rajaraman has 23 years’ experience as a journalist, commentator and columnist. He is among India's top writers not only on cricket but also on other sports. A regular on the television and radio chat shows on cricket, he has worked as Sports Editor of Hindustan Times and Pioneer before doing stints with a couple of top websites. At the height of match-fixing scandal, he authored a bestseller, ‘Match fixing: The enemy within’.
Sanjay Dhawan is been appointed President & COO, Aricent. He will steer Aricent’s multiple business units, sales organization, strategic business initiatives and numerous corporate functions. He has over 23 years’ experience in the communications technology industry. Prior to Aricent, Dhawan was Chairman, CEO & Co-founder of Inkra Networks. Before starting Inkra, he was VP-Business Development at Netopia.
Nortel has appointed Sanjay Singh as Director-Small & Medium Business (SMB). Prior to Nortel, Singh was Head of Teleconferencing and SME Business Units with Avaya Global Connect. He has over 17 years of experience in the telecom industry, including the creation of strong, multiple product & solution portfolios for the SMB segment.
Sangeeta Singh has been appointed Executive Director, Human Resources, at KPMG India. She will be based in Mumbai. Singh has 25 years’ experience in HR, Corporate Communications and Operations. In her last assignment, she was ED Director & Head of Human Capital with Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC). Prior to PwC, she has worked with Ambit RSM, JWT India, Grey Advertising, among others.
At the concluding day of the International Newspaper Marketing Association (INMA) conference, strong marketing personalities and media planners discussed on lessons that newspapers should learn about brand building, and what was expected from the print industry by media agencies.
Ashish Bhasin, Director, Lintas IMAG, has been elevated to EVP and Asia Regional Director-Integrated Marketing, Lowe Worldwide. Bhasin is now an integral member of the Lowe Worldwide management team, and would report to Steve Gatfield, CEO, Lowe Worldwide. His new position would be effective from January 2008.
The ninth annual edition of the Gunn Report has been announced. TBWAChiatDay New York/ TBWA Media Arts Los Angeles has won the first place as the most awarded agency category in the Gunn Report with a total of 33 points. Nike, Volkswagen and Sony took the top three spots as the most awarded advertisers.
Tata Sky has launched its first branded contest on television that can be played on an interactive application called Actve Games. The month-long contest has been aligned with Whirlpool’s ‘Home Makeover’ campaign.
Spice Mobiles aims to be among the top three players by 2010, and capture 10 per cent share in the cellular market by the same time. Currently, the company has eight per cent market share in tier II and III towns, whereas it has just two per cent market share in certain metros.
Dentsu India has appointed Madonna Advertising to be its affiliate in Bangladesh to provide its clients access to Bangladesh for communication for their brands. The relationship will purely be a referral arrangement with no equity involvement. Ruchira Raina, Executive Director, Dentsu Communications, will oversee the Madonna relationship.
INX Media is exploring various ways of building relationships with advertisers. Some of the initial steps involve creation of Club INX that has Platinum, Gold and Silver levels; a transparent rate card and tying up with international organisations to bring more science in managing and monitoring channel inventory. INX has already roped in The Future Group, Vodafone and Reliance Industries as its Platinum club members.
Reliance Retail Ltd has forayed into the jewellery retail space with the launch of its first jewellery specialty store, Reliance Jewels, in Bangalore. Bijou Kurien, President & CEO-Lifestyle, Reliance Retail, revealed that 300 such Reliance Jewels stores would be rolled out across the country in the next three years.
ETV Network has launched a portal, ETVNetmart.com, for online bidding and buying of commercial time on its 12 channels. ETVNetmart.com brings with it convenience for airtime buyers, saving their time spent in negotiations. Now advertisers can just log on to the portal from anywhere in the world, round the clock and bid and buy commercial time.
Music has been a major driver in radio programming, but with the growing need for differentiation in the medium, non-music programming has started to play an important role. exchange4media spoke with some of the major radio players to get their views on such informative shows.
Percept Profile, the public relations arm of Percept Holdings Pvt. Ltd, has recently bagged an array of accounts, across various categories like hospitality, lifestyle, corporate and media. This gain of 13 new businesses has resulted in a 30 per cent growth in the last quarter of 2007 for the agency.
At the second day of INMA, speakers were of the opinion that although the scenario in the newspaper industry was not rosy worldwide, there was still scope for a bright future. Marketing brings consumers to newspapers once, but the onus of circulation later lies on the editorial.
BAG Films & Media Ltd has roped in Roger Wong as Regional Head Sales-North and East, for its soon-to-be-launched news venture ‘News 24’. Prior to this appointment, Wong was with Zoom channel.
Ad Club Panel: Tailor Messages to a Niche Channel's Audience
Push Comes Amid Drop in Store Traffic
One thing that is a common denominator between what Sony has been doing over the years is about having a marketing-based approach. It is about listening to your customers, getting the right look and the feel for the channel. We are glad that we have been doing this throughout, and have been successful in taking the same philosophy into its overseas markets.