After watches, sunglass and jewellery, Titan's latest foray into eyewear business, under the name of Titan Eye+, finally made its entry into eastern region with the launch of its first exclusive Titan Eye+ showroom at Mani Square in Kolkata.
Mobile phone advertising in print dipped by 45 per cent during the first half of 2008, compared to the corresponding period last year. Nokia Corporation led among mobile phone brands advertising in print during H1 2008, while Spice S-585 topped the chart of new brands of mobile phones advertised in print during this period.
Mumbai-based OOH company Accord Advertising Pvt Ltd has bagged the exclusive rights to brand the rear glass panels of Star Buses in Mumbai for the next five years under the first find scheme that BEST has for media owners.
Within a month of its launch, Active, the OOH agency from Media Planning Group, has unveiled its bullish expansion plans. Active is looking at setting up a strong base in the country by opening 12 full service offices soon. The agency is also exploring lenticular displays, El films, etc., to provide newer and more varied OOH display platforms.
Bharat Petroleum Corporation has selected Lintas Media Group as the custodian of its media business. The size of the business is estimated at upwards of Rs 50 crore. The incumbent agency is Mediaedge:cia.
The Non Traditional Media Summit held in Mumbai on August 8 brought together professionals from the OOH as well as advertising industry. Organised by the International Advertising Association, the Summit saw Pradeep Guha, President IAA and founder of OOH media agency Street Culture unveiling IAA’s Light India Project.
There is excitement in the Bengali television scenario with quite a few new channels slated to go on air before the Puja season. The latest to join the fray is R Plus, a GEC promoted by Durgapur-based businessman RN Majumdar. R Plus is going on air from August 11, 2008 at 7.30 pm with its mega serial ‘Mahajuddha’.
A new, resurgent India has received considerable focus in various ad platforms. The latest TVC for Tata Indicom, too, talks about dreaming big and achieving those dreams. Conceptualised by Contract Advertising, the TVC broke on all major channels on August 10.
With properties like ‘Red Mike’ and ‘Bajaao for a Cause’, Red FM has managed to give a platform to its listeners to voice their opinion on various issues. This is in keeping with the FM station’s motto of ‘Bajaate Raho’ – be it superhit music or being a ‘Station of Expression’ for the common man.
The rapid growth of multiplexes in metros and even Tier II cities has see growing investment in brand activation in cinema. The latest Bollywood blockbuster ‘Singh is Kinng’ and the forthcoming ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’ are two movies that have witnessed a lot of brand activation, and there are many more in the pipeline.
PTC Network, which had launched its news channel PTC News in January 2007, has launched a Punjabi general entertainment channel, PTC Punjabi, which went on air August 6, 2008. PTC Punjabi would telecast Gurbani from the Golden Temple every morning, along with fiction and non-fiction-based serials, reality, beauty, talent shows.
The MRTP Commission passed an order on August 7 on two applications, one filed by a consumer organisation Sajag Upbhoghta and the other by Tata Sky, which had alleged that the ‘Free set-top box’ ad campaign of DishTV in print and electronic media was misleading as, according to Tata Sky, the set-top box was not being provided free by DishTV.
With the mergers in place, now Bates 141 is concentrating its energies on moving ahead. The agency has shifted to new premises in Bangalore and in keeping with its philosophy, which positions Bates 141 as an ‘agency that propagates change and ideas’, the new office exudes this philosophy in its design.
The launch of The Times of India in Chennai in April 2008 had shaken and stirred the market and jolted the existing players out of their comfort zones. Now, with the completion of 100 days in the Southern metropolis, TOI celebrated the occasion with a special 104-page pullout, ‘Chillax’, with its August 7 edition.
Mumbai recently played host to well-known media strategist Daniela Krautsack, who addressed a distinguished gathering comprising OOH practitioners and the advertising fraternity at the Non Traditional Media Summit. The Summit was organised by the International Advertising Association.