Raja Awasthi, a journalist with The Economics Times, has been appointed as Media Advisor to Union Minister of Steel Vir Bhadra Singh. Awasthi has 16 years’ experience in the media industry of which 12 years have been with The Economic Times. He has also worked with some news agencies.
Radio Mantra, Jagran Group’s FM venture, has roped in Narendra Tripathi as Chief Operating Officer. Tripathi has taken charge from October 9, 2009. He will be reporting to Rahul Gupta, Director, Radio Mantra. Prior to this Tripathi was with NDTV Media as Senior Vice President.
Mudra Group has partnered with Clear Channel Outdoor to launch an OOH specialist venture, Clear Channel Mudra LLP. The venture will offer clients complete OOH solutions – strategy, creative solutions, planning, buying and reporting – while utilising Clear Channel’s global knowledge with Mudra’s experience in the Indian market.
India Nite will be celebrated at AdAsia 2009 in Kuala Lumpur on October 24. The highlight of the celebrations would be the showcase of India’s capabilities in the field of advertising, Indian traditions and entertainment programmes from different regions of India, including Bollywood. Raj Nayak, CEO, NDTV Media will be the head of the Indian delegation.
Client focus, freedom, accountability and fun are the guiding principles of Jignesh Ghelani, Trading Services Director, Mindshare. Over the years he has built up considerable expertise on the national and international front, especially working on the Hindustan Unilever account. The GenNext Media Magnate is chosen by a committee comprising the exchange4media editorial team in consultation with Raj Nayak.
Religare is on the lookout for a new PR partner. Hanmer MS&L Communications is the incumbent PR agency that has been looking after the business for the last two years. Confirming the news, Varun Soni, VP, Corp Comm, Religare, said, “We need to look at re-visiting our brand strategies for which we require novel ideas and inputs.”
Ferrero Group is on the lookout for a creative partner for its mint brand, Tic-Tac. Currently, Orchard Advertising is handling the creative business. It is believed that a few agencies are pitching in for the business.
Following a multi-agency pitch, HLL Lifecare Ltd (formerly Hindustan Latex Ltd) has awarded the creative duties of condom brand Moods to RK Swamy BBDO, while Publicis Ambience will handle oral contraceptive pill brand Saheli. The total ad spend for Moods is in the region of Rs 3.5-4 crore, while the company has set aside an advertising budget of Rs 2-2.5 crore for Saheli.