Future Brands Ltd, part of the Future Group, owner of retail formats like the Big Bazaar, The Central, Brand Factory and Pantaloons, has launched DJ&C, a unisex designer denim and casual wear apparel brand.
Winners of the FAB Awards 2008 have been announced, and leading the list is Turner Duckworth, London & San Francisco, which was declared ‘Agency of the Year’. The agency won two FAB Awards and a nomination. ‘Client of the Year’ was bagged by Arun Prabhu of Arla Foods. The other winners included Fallon London, Start Munich and Less Rain Tokyo.
The Ministry of Communication & IT is planning to set up 112,000 Community Service Centres in rural India to provide it with broadband connectivity in 2008-09. The Ministry is garnering an investment of $2 billion for this exercise.
Google has made some key senior management appointments for its India operations. Sridhar Seshadri has been appointed Business Head-Financial Services, Parminder Singh is Business Head-Technology, while Narasimha Jayakumar has been brought in as Business Head-Travel & Local for its advertising and monetisation business.
MetroMela, claimed to be India’s first multi-modal, multi-location Internet services provider, has launched its new city centric lifestyle, wellness, entertainment and family based monthly magazine, also called ‘MetroMela’, focused exclusively on Hyderabad city, its life and its people.
In this season of elections, this is a battle for votes of a different kind. Saif Ali Khan and MS Dhoni get down to some ‘netagiri’, seeking votes for their preferred flavour of Frito Lay chips. The voting forms part of Frito Lay’s campaign titled ‘Fight for your Flavour’, wherein consumers get to vote for the flavour of their choice, with the flavour garnering the maximum votes getting to continue in the market.
Triveni Media Ltd has appointed Vinay Varma as National Sales Head for its luxury and lifestyle channel ‘Millionaire’, which is slated for launch in July. Varma moves from MaXposure Media Group, where he was National Head, Sales and Marketing, for six months.
Jagran Prakashan Ltd has launched the eighth edition of I-next in Patna on May 27. The ninth edition of I-next is slated to hit Ranchi newsstands in the third week of June. The bilingual compact daily is already present in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
In a bid to steer the company’s aggressive plans in the magazines business, Infomedia India Ltd has appointed Lakshmi Narasimhan as CEO of the magazine publishing business. Prior to joining Infomedia, Narasimhan was with Network18, where he was leading Business Development for the Group and also holding specific responsibilities for maximising revenues.
UTV New Media, the digital media arm of UTV Software Communications Ltd, has announced its foray into the digital media space with the acquisition of 76 per cent stake in online technology company IT Nation for a consideration of Rs 15 crore. It envisages an investment of around Rs 120 crore over the next two years on Internet, digital music, online technology and online business space.
A long gestation period can often be counter-productive on the manpower front. Triveni Media has lost two key senior hands even before the launch of its channels. Alok Verma, Group Managing Editor, has put in his papers after a 10-month stint. Subramanian Iyer, Executive Vice-President, Sales, has also put in his papers after a four-month tenure.
Dinamalar, the third largest circulated Tamil daily, is all set to expand its footprint beyond its stronghold – print media. The Chennai-based print behemoth is firming up its plans to launch a 24-hour news channel. The Group is targeting a 2009 launch.
The current readership survey methodologies in India have raised several eyebrows, with many publishers questioning the authenticity of these surveys. Research is not a subject that everyone agrees on, especially people whose business prosperity depends on the results, but research methodology in India is the same that was around a couple of decades back. Now, that is a problem.
Zee News Ltd has expanded its business scope with the introduction of the News Consultancy Services Division (NCS) division. The division has already been engaged by Goel TMT Group-promoted SB Multimedia to launch a 24x7 regional news channel, ‘Zee 24 Ghante Chhattisgarh’, under a franchisee agreement.
The O&M Delhi duo of Rohit Dhamija and Ritu Sinha has won the Young Lions Creative Competition (formerly known as the Young Creatives Competition) and will be representing India at Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival 2008.