After a stint of almost two years, Sandip Tarkas has called it a day at the Reliance ADA Group. He was looking at the media function for the whole group, as Head – Media. Tarkas is serving his notice period and would be with the organisation till early January 2008.
Analysts: Overall Outlays Will Be Flat or Down in '08 as Sales Slip Below 16 Million
A rise of 22 per cent in ad volumes was observed on vernacular publications in Jan-Oct 2007, compared to Jan-Oct 2004. While vernacular publications had 65 per cent share in overall advertising during Jan-Oct 2007. Hindi publications garnered the highest share of 37 per cent in vernacular publications during Jan-Oct 2007. Urdu publications grew the maximum, by 19 per cent in Jan-Oct 2007, compared to the same period of 2006.
Owing to the overwhelming following of Amrita TV’s reality shows in the Middle East, the channel has chalked out ‘Amrita TV Super Star Caravan’, a series of live events to be held in the region. The first leg of the Caravan starts in Dubai on December 28 at the Al Nasr Leisureland Ice Rink.
Nexia Technologies has introduced Cellmagix, a new distribution channel via mobile phones. The Cellmagix software enables consumers to receive desired content on their mobile devices via the Bluetooth technology. Cellmagix opens up new vistas of free, fast and user desired content delivery to mobile handsets.
Five FM radio stations were launched in the week just gone by. While Sun TV’s S FM started its stations in Indore and Kozhikode, Big FM was launched in Jamshedpur. Radio Mirchi and Radio Mango also went on air last week in Vijayawada and Thrissur, respectively.
Delhi Metro, the National Capital’s pride, offers some exciting opportunities to advertisers and marketers with the available space and a captive audience. C2E Technology Labs has come up with an innovative way of using static images in the Delhi Metro tunnels to give an illusion of ‘moving’ pictures.
Quasar Media’s focus on Mumbai has started to pay dividends with the addition of SAB TV’s digital business to their portfolio. SAB TV, now a part of Sony Entertainment Television, has been of late aggressively targetting youth audience groups.
Not allowed by law to advertise directly, Seagram has taken the music route to reiterate its ‘Make it large’ experience. And in their efforts they are lent a hand by Saif, Dhoni, Yuvi, Bhajji and Robin and a fast-paced chase. O&M is the creative agency behind this new TVC for Seagram Royal Stag Mega Music featuring this quintet.
CNN International, in association with CNN-IBN, Outlook and ITC WelcomGgroup, announced the winners of CNN Young Journalist Awards (YJA) 2007. In addition to the existing categories, two new awards have been instituted this year – ‘CNN Journalist Award’ and ‘CNN Photo Journalist Award’. The other categories of the awards this year were ‘CNN Young Journalist Award’, ‘CNN Aspiring Journalist Award’ and ‘CNN Citizen Journalist Award’.
After the success of The One Show exhibition in Mumbai on December 12, where it attracted the who’s who of Indian advertising, the exhibition at Delhi on December 15 and 16 was equally supported by the creative fraternity. The One Show exhibition was supported by Bindass, exchange4media and Futuristix Media Communication Centre (FMCC).
When India was going ga-ga over the next leap in the Internet domain with the advent of Web 2.0, several Net experts were skeptical about the viability of an Indian Web 2.0 business model. Now, with the entry of several Indian websites in the Web 2.0 space, exchange4media does a reality check on the country’s standing in the world, and finds that it hasn’t fared all that poorly.
Online and mobile games company Indiagames Ltd has formally become a part of UTV Software Communications Ltd. UTV will now own about 60 per cent stake in Indiagames.
LG Electronics has changed its brand strategy from being a mass brand to being a premium inspirational one. The company plans to increase the expenditure on mass media campaigns, even as overall marketing spends would be raised by about 10-15 per cent.
After a good run in 2007, Times Now looks to grow further in 2008. The channel plans to have an intensive coverage on the India-Australia cricket series, followed by the Union Budget in the first two months of the New Year.
Malayala Manorama Group’s ‘The Week’ completes its silver jubilee on December 25 this year. Changing its baseline from ‘Your weekly newsmaker’ to ‘Journalism with a human touch’, the magazine is set to expand its coverage beyond news and analysis.
All geared for a January 2008 launch, NDTV Imagine Ltd has kicked off a nationwide campaign for its forthcoming Hindi general entertainment channel NDTV Imagine. With a focus on the Hindi belt, the campaign has begun with the TV, radio and online mediums, which would later be extended to the print and outdoor mediums as well.
The trends in the Hindi movie genre in 2007 are much the same as was seen in 2006. Max’s cricket properties have kept it on a high, while Zee Cinema has continuous numbers coming in as well. The two channels have competed very closely all through year for the number one slot. Star Gold comes in next, followed by Filmy.
The Internet Age is ensuring a faster information flow. The managements are thus raising concerns about where the next issue will spring from. Digital technologies are fuelling a culture that values individual voices over institutional ones. The challenge is to find ways to connect with stakeholders that make an impact and are credible to build meaningful relationships.