From the desk of Strategic Resources
For any query, discussion or feedback, please contact Pavan Chandra, Head of Strategic Resources at pchandra@zenithoptimediaindia.com, +91-124-4195100. Office Address: 10th Floor, Vatika Tower, Block-B, Sector 54 Gurgaon -122002, Haryana, India.

Volume: XXII

April, 2009

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In these hyper charged times where news comes in as fast as it becomes outdated, we need a source that can keep track of what matters to us. At ZenithOptimedia we have created Wavelength to apprise all of us of the happenings in three areas i.e. 1. Trends in Digital, Retail, OOH, Consumers and the International Advertising 2. Media & Advertising Research 3. Environment

Also included here are innovations and news that ZenithOptimedia is making across its network globally, under three sections 1. ZO Zone 2. Fast Forward 3. Touchpoints.

Simply click on any of the sections on our snazzy control panel and you will have the latest updates at your fingertips. Wavelength will reach you in the first week of every month so that you have information that leads to insights.

Drop in a mail at pchandra@zenithoptimediaindia.com with your suggestions and comments.

Emerging Trends: Digital

1. Zenga gets IPL mobile rights till 2013 – Apr 17

Source: AgencyFaqs

2. UTV launches a music video channel on mobile TV – Apr 14

Source AgencyFaqs

3. 54 lakh netizens drive towards TataNano.com in just 24 hours – Apr 13

Source AgencyFaqs

4. STAR India launches a video website, startv.in – Apr 06

Source AgencyFaqs

5. SeaChange to offer advanced IPTV services to MTNL, BSNL – Apr 08

Source AgencyFaqs

6. RMG Connect to revamp AXA websites in six APAC markets – Mar 30

Source AgencyFaqs

7. Yahoo! India eyes growth through verticals – Mar 23

Source AgencyFaqs

Emerging Trends: OOH

8. Reliance Trends' T-shirt festival with super sized tee – Apr 15

Source: Agencyfaqs

9. Tata Indicom’s Photon+ conveys the need for speed – Apr 09

Source: Agencyfaqs

10. Grab eyeballs through shoe shine machines – Apr 08

Source: Agencyfaqs

11. EyeClick’s futuristic interactive displays launched in India – Mar 17

Source: Agencyfaqs

12. Serve & Volley bags media rights to Bandra HP petrol pump's facade– Apr 06

Source: Agencyfaqs

Emerging Trends: International

13. Luxury brands choose India as face of global advertising campaign – Apr 05

India is on their mind. Completely! First they loved every bit of the India inspired themes in their collections, but now global luxury brands want more to satiate their appetite. Leading international luxury names such as Zegna, Hermes and Canali have chosen India as the face of their global advertising campaigns. Italian menswear luxury brand Zegna shot its Spring Summer 2009 ad campaign in Jaipur last year. The royal palaces, hustle-bustle of the main road and ancient havelis were some of the locations where the various images were shot. The pink city was perfect to showcase a mix of heritage, style and colour, says Anna Zegna, image director for the brand.

Source: Economic Times

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Media & Advertising Research Watch

AdEx Findings

14. 'Virgin Mobile', 'Lux Strawberry Cream' and 'Vodafone Customer Care' were the top three new brands advertised on television during 2008.

Source: Indiantelevision

15. 'UBI (Union Bank of India)' was the most advertised brand of 'financial sector' on TV during FY 2008-09.

Source: Indiantelevision

16. 'Airtel cellular phone service' was the top brand with highest share of celebrity endorsement TV ad volumes during 2008.

Source: Indiantelevision

17. 'Food & beverages', 'personal care/personal hygiene' and 'household products' have maintained their respective 1st, 2nd and 10th rank on television during 1999 and 2008.

Source: Indiantelevision

18. 'LIC' was the number one advertiser in TV advertising of 'financial sector' during FY 2008-09.

Source: Indiantelevision

Television and Media

19. Sahara Samay Network appoints MediaSys Solutions as ad sales partner – Mar 31

Sahara India Television Network (SITVN), the news channel business of Sahara India, has appointed MediaSys Solutions as its exclusive advertising sales partner in India. As part of the agreement, MediaSys Solutions will be responsible for selling airtime for the bouquet of six Sahara Samay News Channels’ Network bouquet. MediaSys will also provide services in the area of packaging, events, brand development. The arrangement will be functional immediately, with elections coverage being the tent pole event for this quarter with an array of unique opportunities and innovations through this platform.

Source: Exchage4media

20. IPL 2 may see average 7 pc drop in TV ratings: MEC estimates– Apr 09

Source: Exchange4media

21. Sun Direct launches high definition services in India – Apr 09

Sun Direct Pvt Ltd, the direct-to-home (DTH) service provider has launched the High Definition (HD) broadcast on DTH platform in India. Speaking on the occasion Tony D’Silva, COO of Sun Direct said “We believe that in the constantly changing viewership dynamics and taste, to keep the viewer continuously happy and engaged we need to offer them new and exciting options and HD is another first from the Sun Direct stable. HD is a visual delight and we are extremely happy to launch the world class services for our audience in India.”

Source: Agencyfaqs

22. Ormax Media launches Showbuzz, India’s first-ever programme awareness tracking tool – Apr 06

Source: Exchange4media

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Environment Watch: Advertising & Media

Regulation

23. ASUS Launches its Eco-Friendly Bamboo Series Notebook in India – Apr 08

Source: IT News Online

Retail

24. Koutons plans foray into innerwear – Apr 18

Source: Hindu Business Line

25. DIAL retail plan may skirt pledge to govt – Apr 12

Source: Live Mint

Radio

26. Radio Mirchi and Red FM have a busy weekend with their award shows – Mar 30

Source: Exchange4Media

27. Smaller FM stations extend client base through like-minded larger FM players – Apr 02

Source: Exchange4Media

28. Satellite radio policy opens playing field – Apr 12

Source: Exchange4Media

Others

29. Advertisers zoom in on new avenues in hoardings-less Chennai – Apr 14

Chennai’s Metropolitan Transport Corporation last month announced it would set up 500 bus shelters, to be constructed and maintained by a consortium of companies called Metro Multimedia. The consortium’s Managing Director, Mr. D. Muralidharan, says the lack of hoardings has benefited this business even as ad budgets shrink due to the slowdown. Mr Muralidharan says he has already sold 200 bus shelters to various clients from the telecom and FMCG industry. A 100 more are being negotiated.

Source: Hindu Business Line

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Touch Points

Touchpoints is a unique tool for ZenithOptimedia clients that provide clear actionable metrics for all contact points used in marketing products and services.

For a detailed presentation on Touchpoints contact Mr. Pavan Chandra at pchandra@zenithoptimediaindia.com or call at +91-9899-3767-68

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ZO Zone

English Movie Genre – Channel Performance 8 Metros Market

Star movies shows high ratings in genre on both weekends & weekdays.

TG - AA 15+ cs
Period: 15 Mar 09 - 11 Apr 09

Program Rating by channel and time band w.r.t TG in 8 metros

By TAG - Max TVR Weekday

Source: TAM

Program Rating by channel and time band w.r.t TG in 8 metros

By TAG - Max TVR Weekday

Source: TAM

Advertising Spend Analysis for the Year 2007 & 2008
Deo Category

Spends high in summer & during festive season

Source: MAP
Down weighted fig

Top Spenders in Deo category

Axe & Set Wet the major brands in category with high Media spends

Source: MAP
Down weighted fig.

Medium Breakup

Genre Breakup

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Fast Forward

73% of micro, small and medium enterprises in India have their own websites

According to a survey jointly conducted by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and eStatsIndia, 73 per cent of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in India have their own websites, while 99 per cent of MSMEs use online B2B (business to business) marketplaces to generate business.

The findings are based on a survey, titled ‘ICT Adoption Among MSMEs in India: A survey with special focus on Online B2B Marketplaces’, which was conducted among 1000 MSMEs in eight Indian cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, Pune, Moradabad, Surat and Meerut.

The survey further pointed out that the preference for B2B e-marketplaces by MSMEs was based on a clear return on investment. In the domestic market last year, the surveyed companies generated 4,842 orders and business worth Rs 50.9 crore through B2B e-marketplaces, while in the international market the companies recorded business worth Rs 15.9 crore generated from 1,428 orders through e-marketplaces.

It was also found that the maximum marketing spends of the surveyed companies are made on internet. According to the survey report, 45 per cent of the total annual marketing budget of the micro, small and medium companies in India is spent online. Print media accounts for 32 per cent of the total annual marketing budget of the surveyed companies.

The survey also revealed that IndiaMart.com was the most preferred choice among the B2B e-marketplaces with over 85 per cent of the MSMEs preferring it as their first choice, while 35 per cent of the survey respondents preferred TradeIndia.com. Among the global marketplaces operating in India, Alibaba.com was the most preferred B2B e-marketplace. Alibaba had the support of 18 per cent of the Indian MSMEs.

“This study is very timely because Indian B2B market trends and growth trajectory has made a mark worldwide. In fact, the top global online B2B marketplace worldwide list has some prominent Indian players and soon the e-economy will contribute a formidable share to the country’s economy,” P Dey, general manager, NSIC (National Small Industries Corporation), said.

While releasing the survey report on April 23, 2009 in New Delhi, Dinesh Rai, secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India, said that MSMEs would be the largest job creators in the current economic scenario. “It is therefore, in the interest of all the stakeholders including ICT service providers to reach out to these enterprises and make them ICT enabled. Our ministry, as a part of the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Programme, has earmarked Rs 160 crore to promote ICT use among Indian MSMEs,” said Rai.

Dinesh Rai further informed that the ministry is also taking steps to educate small rural enterprises on how to get connected to their consumers via internet. “Generally MSME people are sensitive about sharing their confidential information on the internet. So we need to educate them and show them that they can actually generate business through online. Moreover, ICT adoption can actually help them to reduce the delivery time and reach more buyers internationally,” he said.

Sanjeev Bikhchandani, CEO, Info Edge India (Naukri.com), said, “It is heartening to note that 99 per cent of B2B suppliers on the internet are making use of online B2B marketplaces already. This is perceptibly helping reduce marketing cost for smaller establishments and increasing efficiency. B2B marketplaces like IndiaMart.com are not only boosting the export climate, but also helping push domestic trade.”

Sridhar Seshadri, head of online sales, Google India, stressed on the importance of the SME sector in the Indian context. “The plethora of a few thousand small companies can make an impact which is far greater than larger enterprises. This study will really help in galvanizing the SME and MSME sector to become online-savvy and more focused on online marketing as their growth path.”

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This tracker has been compiled from external sources and does not necessarily reflect the views of the company.
Links provided will take you to the full articles appended at the end of the file.

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Full Articles

1. Zenga gets IPL mobile rights till 2013

TMT Investment Pte Ltd, the company which owns the Internet and mobile license for the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL), has entered into a deal with Delhi based Zenga Entertainment for the mobile rights of the tournament up to 2013. TMT retains the development of the official IPL website, www.iplt20.com.

Through its technology platform, Zenga will broadcast the IPL games live on mobile. Matrix, a WPP company, is handling the ad sales for the mobile broadcast in India.

Speaking to afaqs!, Hiren Pandit, managing partner, ESP (entertainment, sports and partnerships), Group M (also a part of WPP), says, “Matrix will monetise the broadcast through streaming ads – similar to television. Once the technology becomes more comfortable, we may introduce interactivity.” ESP provides consultancy to the Deccan Chronicle, which owns the Deccan Chargers team.

Zenga has tied up with all the mobile operators in India, except Virgin Mobile, which does not have a GPRS service. As part of the package, operators will send interested subscribers a link to download an application though which they can watch the games live.

There are three price points for the service. For a flat fee of Rs 150, subscribers can watch all 159 matches, or they can watch each match for Rs 10, or they can choose to follow all the matches of a single team for Rs 50. There will be no extra GPRS charges.

Shabir Momin, partner, Zenga, informs afaqs! that the company will be streaming IPL 2009 across the world except in some parts of the UK, Ireland and Africa.

“This is our own streaming technology which can be viewed even on a 2G network, so you don’t need 3G connectivity,” he says.

The company is also offering another application, called CrickZenga, through which users can get a live scorecard. They have also tied up with EA Games for an official IPL mobile game.

Zenga is also developing ringtones and wallpapers for IPL as part of the deal.

2. UTV launches a music video channel on mobile TV

UTV is trying to create its space in the mobile TV market, which has more than one lakh active users in India and is estimated to reach one million users by the end of 2009.

The media company has launched a music video channel, called UTVatPlay on mobile TV, which is an extension of its online music portal, UTVatPlay.com.

UTV claims that it is the first music content related channel on mobile TV in India. It already offers its channel, Bindaas on the platform and plans to make available its business news channel, UTVi as well.

For the uninitiated, mobile TV is a technology that enables consumers to watch live television content on their mobile phones or other mobile devices. A consumer needs a GPRS-enabled device to access mobile TV. There are five to six million active GPRS users in India.

To access mobile TV for the first time, a user has to send an SMS to the mobile operator, to get a WAP link. The consumer has to then click on the link and access a downloadable application, which will sit on the mobile device and will be available as an icon on the handset’s menu.

Clicking this icon will open a window, which will provide icons of the TV channels available on the platform. The user can then select a channel to access the video content.

The music video channel from UTV will be available to Idea Cellular, BSNL, MTNL and Vodafone subscribers. In the first phase, it will offer more than 5,000 music videos, in Hindi, English, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bhojpuri and Marathi. Later, music videos in Malayalam, Bengali and Gujarati will also be added.

On the business model, T N Prabhu, chief executive officer, UTV New Media Ventures, UTV, tells afaqs!, “We are eyeing to earn revenue through a subscription-based model, instead of an ad-supported one.”

Viewers can opt for pay per day or monthly subscription offers. To access UTVatPlay for a day, users have to pay Rs 10 - Rs 15 to view an unlimited number of music videos, unlimited times, for 24 hours. The monthly subscription fee for this access is Rs 30 - Rs 99.

UTV New Media Ventures expects more than 10,000 users to access the music channel in the coming months. It estimates to earn around 10 per cent of its total annual revenue from Mobile TV.

Usually, content providers on mobile TV have to share 75% of their subscription-based revenue with telecom operators.

3. 54 lakh netizens drive towards TataNano.com in just 24 hours

The world’s cheapest car, Nano, was launched on March 23. And within 24 hours of its launch, some 54 lakh visitors landed up on the car’s official website – tatanano.com as claimed by Interactive Avenues – the agency which handles the online media planning and buying for Tata Nano.

This is an unusually high number for any company website as even the lead horizontal portal gets around 30-60 lakh visitors on a working day.

The car has been creating buzz ever since it was announced by Ratan Tata, chairman, Tata Group on Jan, 2008.

The traffic to the Tata Nano website was diverted through online banner and contextual ads, print ads and natural search results on Google and Yahoo!. Although, it couldn’t be ascertained as in exactly how much traffic was generated by each of these activities, Interactive Avenues claim that around six lakh visitors were through the online advertising which are online banners and contextual ads. Besides, there were around 20 lakh searches related to Tata Nano on Google and Yahoo within 24 hours of the launch of the car. A certain portion of these searches could have generated lead for the website. The remaining traffic on the website came through print ads and PR articles which carried the URL of the website.

Shantanu Sirohi, vice-president, strategy and planning, Interactive Avenues, tells afaqs!, “Interactive Avenues was briefed to reach 1.6 crore or 60 per cent of the Internet users above 25 years of age, in the first phase of online advertising campaign, which started on March 19 and ended on March 30.” There are about 2.7 crore Internet users who are in this age bracket.

To achieve the reach, non-clickable banner ads showing the countdown to the launch of Nano was placed on the homepage of Yahoo.co.in and Rediff.com, four days before the launch of the car.

Post-launch, an online banner ad campaign, which redirects users to TataNano.com, went live on March 23. About 2.2 crore banner ad impressions were served across eight major portals – Yahoo.co.in, Rediff.com, In.com, MSN.co.in, Indiatimes.com, EconomicTimes.com, TimesofIndia.com and Sify.com in 24 hours.

A search engine marketing campaign using Google contextual advertising was also carried out during the launch phase.

“The campaign reached 60 lakh Internet users within the first 24 hours and a total of two crore users, which is 75 per cent of its target audience above 25 years in the first phase,” claims Sirohi.

The campaign received an average click-through rate (CTR) of three per cent. Usually, a banner ad campaign receives an average CTR of 0.5 per cent.

The website is created by digital agency, Webchutney, while the creative part of the campaign is executed by Rediffusion Y&R.

Interestingly, Tata Nano is also present on social networking websites. A branded page called Tata Nano on Facebook.com has 5,634 members, while the Tata Nano community on Orkut.com has 10,090 members. The links of these communities are available on the Tata Nano website as well.

4 . STAR India launches a video website, startv.in

News Corp is trying to replicate its success with the US based video website, called Hulu.com, in the APAC markets as well. It plans to host video content from its various channels through an online property to engage audiences in several countries.

Its Indian subsidiary, STAR India, has already launched a video site, STAR Player, available at startv.in. Very soon, the group will unveil video websites under the STAR Player brand in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

To begin with, full episodes, divided into short duration video clips of various programmes from STAR Plus, STAR One, STAR World, STAR Pravah (Marathi general entertainment channel), Channel V and its Bengali channel, STAR Jalsha, will be uploaded on STAR Player on a regular basis.

Later on, the group has plans to upload its video archives on the website. “We will upload all the video content owned and available to us, which implies that apart from uploading the episodes broadcast on a daily basis, we will also put up our video archives on the website,” Gurtej Sandhu, senior vice-president, new media and IT, tells afaqs!.

Surprisingly, STAR India also plans to offer the platform to other broadcasters to upload their video content on STAR Player. Sandhu reveals, “We are currently talking to three TV channels, including a news channel and a regional language TV channel.”

Although the video content on the website will be offered to the users for free, it is obvious that STAR India will be eyeing additional revenue by making its video content available online.

Sandhu is not ready to disclose the percentage of revenue the company is targeting to make through the website. He reveals that the content will be monetised through video advertising.

Advertisers will be offered to choose from pre-roll, post-roll, overlay and in-banner video advertising. He claims that advertisers will be enabled to serve ads based on the context of videos. For instance, if the user watches a video which has the presence of Shah Rukh Khan, or shows a conversation related to the actor, then a brand that uses Khan as its brand ambassador can showcase its ad in the video.

It is important to note that other media groups such as NDTV and Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. (BCCL) are also using the online medium to earn additional revenue from video content.

In February 2009, NDTV Convergence, the digital arm of the NDTV Group, launched Tubaah.com to host the video content sourced from various NDTV owned TV channels. The company claims that it earns 8-10 per cent of its revenue from video advertising.

Similarly, BCCL set up an online video arm, called Times Audience Network, in March 2009 to distribute and monetise its video clips from Zoom TV, Times Now and Times Music.

STAR India is also using the services of Nautanki.tv to make its video content available online. Nautanki.tv is an online platform which enables video content producers to upload and host their content in short duration formats, and distribute these through 10,000 video widgets owned by the portal. STAR India offers video clips from Channel V, STAR Plus and STAR One on Nautanki.tv.

5. SeaChange to offer advanced IPTV services to MTNL, BSNL

SeaChange, the USA based company which provides software and services to MTNL and BSNL for their IPTV services, will soon launch advanced services on the platforms.

SeaChange began offering its services on the Smart Digivision based MyWay IPTV of the state telecom operators in late 2008. This includes TV Navigator, electronic programme guide (EPG) and video on demand (VOD).

The services that the company plans to launch are pause live TV, integrated e-mail, live e-mail chat, news ticker and railway information. It will also create an on-demand library of DVDs, music and games.

SeaChange is already testing these services and will launch them soon. It expects that the real pace in IPTV will pick up when subscribers reach a tipping point of three million.

In an e-mail interview, Lincoln Owens, director, broadband sales, Asia Pacific, SeaChange International, says, “Market data indicates that we are at least two or more years away from that number. However, our customers (MTNL and BSNL) are planning ways to be able to aggressively roll out their services and quickly achieve their goals. As has been witnessed before in the mobile market in India, growth is hard to predict and can be explosive.”

Elaborating on the potential of these value added services, Owens says, “We realised early in the game that the way to increase penetration and increase revenue streams would be through the VAS services. Our customers have tried to address those services that will provide an immediate benefit to the common man. Today, with India's PC penetration being less than 5 per cent, the only way to effectively provide these services is through the television.

“Added to the existing TV services, the value added broadband-centric services offer more than the other competitors from DTH and Cable can provide. The potential is massive and most dependant on the extensive rollout of broadband IP infrastructure throughout India,” he says.

Owens is particularly optimistic about a tie up with Indian Railways, through which a subscriber can check his PNR status and get information on train schedules and routes. “MTNL and BSNL are also working with ICICI Bank as their payment gateway and in the next phase, one can complete transactions online,” he adds.

SeaChange also has a range of advertising solutions on IPTV and VOD for its customers. These include linear ad insertion and ad insertion in VOD and games. Currently, the company inserts five million ads in more than 50,000 channels on digital cable and IPTV.

6. RMG Connect to revamp AXA websites in six APAC markets

AXA General Insurance, which plans to revamp its websites in India, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and China, has assigned the duty to RMG Connect India. RMG Connect handles the digital business of Bharti AXA – which is a JV between Bharti Enterprises and AXA of France.

The websites will target prospective consumers of general insurance in the respective countries and will educate and inform them about general insurance and AXA insurance products.

RMG Connect’s mandate will be to prepare the the final layout, but the execution will be done by a local player in each market.

Speaking to afaqs!, Rajeev Sharma, vice-president and head, digital, RMG Connect, says, “We will develop a common template of websites, which will be handed over to the regional headquarters in the six countries. The regional offices will then use the common template as a guide and create a customised or final version of the website for the respective country.”

For the uninitiated, building a website is a stepwise and tedious process. It usually starts with studying the requirements of consumers and fixing the functionality or the features which the site will offer. After that, the wireframe of the site is worked upon, which involves allocation of space to each feature on a webpage. A navigation flowchart is also prepared, depicting the linkages between the web pages.

A template of the website thus produced defines the look, layout, features and navigation to be followed on each page of the website.

The agency has already conducted a study on the general insurance category in the six APAC markets and gained useful insights about consumers and competitors as well. Based on the study, the agency has also developed a wireframe and designed the template of the site.

Sharma says, “The purpose of a common template is to ensure that websites of AXA will have a similar look in structure, layout and navigation across regions.” He adds, “Each country office will submit the final version of its website to RMG Connect India for the final verification.”

RMG Connect India will charge separate fees for the assignments from various country offices of AXA.

7. Yahoo! India eyes growth through verticals

In the last three months, Yahoo! India has launched three new verticals on lifestyle, travel and elections. The idea is to increase the affinity among the audience through the specialised content.

In fact, Yahoo! India is focusing on several similar verticals. In the last three months, the company has also revamped three of its existing verticals on finance, movies and cricket.

In an exclusive chat with afaqs!, Nitin Mathur, director, marketing, Yahoo! India, says, “We are looking at some serious money through these verticals.”

“Some huge monies is flowing into the media, be it TV, print or other traditional media formats. We also hope to get a share of it through our special elections vertical,” he adds. The vertical on elections has been conceptualised keeping in mind the upcoming general elections. It hopes to extensively cover the general elections this year.

Similarly, the horizontal portal has also started a new microsite on the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week, which has exclusive content from the event. The company has already got Wills Lifestyle on board as the main sponsor and hopes to bring in a few other lifestyle brands as advertisers.

In the recently launched Lifestyle vertical, Yahoo! has packaged and clustered the scattered content from different sections onto one platform.

Mathur believes that these niche verticals will pull in advertisers from the specialised segment – the same way as it happens in the print media.

However, Mathur agrees that the biggest challenge is to draw the FMCG advertisers. He thinks it’s more of a perception issue among brand owners that they stay away from the digital media.

The other factor that keeps the advertisers away from the digital media is the absence of tools to measure the return on investment, as it happens in the traditional media such as print or television. He adds that once these tools are in place, advertising money on the online media could see a jump.

Mathur further adds that Yahoo! India is ready to invest in this area and educate the advertisers.

8. Reliance Trends' T-shirt festival with super sized tee

Reliance Trends, the apparel, luggage and accessories division of Reliance Retail, has unveiled India’s largest T-Shirt. The T-shirt, with dimensions of 40 feet in height and 30 feet in width, weighs 50 kgs. It was unveiled at the Ambience Mall, Gurgaon on April 3 and will be on display at the mall atrium till April 19.

The largest T-shirt celebrates the month long ‘T-Shirt Mania!’ at Reliance Trends. It also makes a green statement in association with ‘Swechha’, an NGO dedicated to environment and education. The initiative urges people to take their green pledge and commit to the cause of climate change.
Interestingly, the T-Shirt gets a chance to enter in the prestigious Limca Book of Records. This feat is currently in the process of certification from the Limca team.

The T-Shirt, made of 180 gsm single jersey, was constructed with five panels of fabric. All the panel seams, shoulder seams and critical points were identified and woven; twill tapes were used as reinforcement for equal distribution of stress on the seams. The month long ‘T Shirt Mania!’ commenced on March 20 and will end on April 19.

The initiative offers customers a variety of 20,000 T-Shirts to choose from, in varied colours and themes. The unique ‘Theme tees’ on offer include the Angelic Music tees, the perfect choice for the youth; the Cocktail tees, which one can flaunt to make a style statement; Humour tees; Superhero tees; Zodiac tees; Go Green tees; all game tees; Reggae music tees; cycling tees; Attitude tees and College tees. The festival also invites customers to design their own tees.

Swechha’s eco friendly products will also be showcased at the Reliance Trends outlet in the mall. Consumers can choose from a wide variety of earth-friendly products to bring about a change in their lifestyles and become more ‘green’. The products include jute and scrap cloth products, recycled paper products such as frames and slam books, T Shirts and posters with thought provoking environment messages and beautiful stoles made by tribal women.

On the green association, Arun Sirdeshmukh, chief executive officer, Reliance Trends, says, “With the growing threat to the environment, there is an urgent need to campaign for a better, cleaner and healthier society. We as a responsible corporate are aware of our responsibilities towards the environment.

In today’s depleting environment scenario, we endorse going green as cool and fashionable. We urge each of our consumers to commit themselves to the green cause, today. The largest T-shirt makes a green statement and I am proud that India’s largest T-Shirt is a product of Reliance Trends and has marked a beginning of a green initiative. Our association with Swechha is a small but important step in spreading the message of saving the environment and being conscious to preserve nature.”

Sirdeshmukh adds that the response to the large tee has been phenomenal. “Customers who have walked into the mall, the public at large who have seen the T-shirt and others who have read about it are both amazed and curious. We have received positive feedback and appreciation for this initiative, both in terms of creating something new and also the Green cause associated with the initiative,” he says.

Vimlendu Jha, founder and executive director, Swechha, We for Change Foundation, says, “Our association with Reliance Trends gives us an opportunity to reach out to more people and spread our message of a greener and healthier environment. For us, ‘change’ means a transformation in the attitude of the masses, in their perceptions and simultaneously, in the environment – both social and human. As an action group, we are involved in various activities to create a better, cleaner and healthier society.”

For the record, Reliance Retail, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, opened its first retail store in November 2006 and currently operates more than 900 stores in 77 cities, spanning 14 states with more than 4.2 million sq. ft of trading space.

Reliance Retail is a multi-format retailer that operates Reliance Fresh, Reliance Digital, Reliance Mart, Reliance Trends, Reliance Wellness, iStore by Reliance Digital, Reliance Footprint, Reliance Jewels, Reliance Time-Out, Reliance Super, Reliance Living Homeware, Reliance Living Furnishings, Reliance Living Furniture, Reliance Home Kitchen, Reliance AutoZone and Vision Express. Reliance Industries reported a turnover of Rs 1,39,269 crore as of March 31, 2008.

9. Tata Indicom’s Photon+ conveys the need for speed

Tata Indicom has launched its express wireless broadband service, Photon+, a portable, plug-and -play device that offers high-speed downloading capabilities. The service is available in Mumbai and in select cities across the country, on the Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) network.

To promote the service, the company has launched an innovative outdoor campaign, backed by other media as well.

Traffic pedestals in select locations in Mumbai have been mounted with 3D backlit models of the USB plug-in device. Conventional outdoor media, such as high visibility hoardings across the city, have been coupled with unconventional media, such as the traffic pedestals, variable message signs (VMS), designer bus shelters and a cantilever. Other mass media collaterals including press ads and radio jingles have also been utilized.

About the interesting use of outdoor, Shashank Pore, general manager, marketing, TTML, adds, “Mumbai is a city where people spend a lot of time travelling, and traffic kiosks are prime focal points in the city. What better media than the traffic kiosks for people constantly on the move and all the while looking for better speeds -- on the roads and otherwise?”

The backlit traffic pedestals have been put up at Marine Drive, Prabhadevi Siddhivinayak Junction., Bandra Kala Nagar Junction, Juhu JVPD Junction, and Andheri Shoppers Stop Junction -- areas that witness very high volumes of traffic throughout the day.

Retail POP in the form of posters, banners, leaflets, danglers, retail bags and wobblers have also been rolled out. Another innovative ambient media used is the Photon+ branded retail sensors at all the Croma outlets in Mumbai. These are the usual metal detectors and sensors present at entrances, which have been designed to look like the Photon+ plug-in.

Pore says, “All in all, we worked with various media and innovated to tap the target audience of office-goers and corporate whiz-kids, at spots where they would stop and register the message. We have managed to create a pull in the market with our advertising and a steady recall for the product, which is evident from the demand for the product today.”

Internet access on Photon+ devices is also available across the country on the Tata Indicom CDMA 1x network. The Photon+ service is accessible via both USB modems and routers, catering to consumer and business segments. It was launched in Mumbai on March 18.

Discussing the launch, Ramesh Iyer, head, enterprise business, Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (TTML) says, “With the rise of Internet penetration in India, the awareness of and demand for wireless Internet connectivity is increasing rapidly. Also, with computer and laptop sales showing exponential growth, there is a huge demand for wireless high-speed Internet access. Photon+ is ideally suited to meet these requirements. We are confident of satisfying the challenging data communication requirements of our customers.”

The company claims that Photon+ is 20 times faster than existing mobile wireless technology, and is offered on the congestion-free Tata Indicom network.

For the record, TTML has over seven million customers in Maharashtra and Goa. These include reputed corporates, SMEs and residential customers. The company was recently rated the No. 1 wireless operator in terms of overall customer satisfaction across Maharashtra (including Mumbai) and Goa, in surveys commissioned by the TRAI.

10. Grab eyeballs through shoe shine machines

Getting the attention of the preoccupied working professional in a business complex is not an easy task for an advertiser. A number of business complexes have seen innovative uses of lift and stair stickers, building façades and also digital screens for advertising. Now, Premier Office Media, an allaboutoutdoor.com venture, is offering advertisers a chance to grab eyeballs while actually ‘holding’ people down by their feet!

Premier Office Media is a new office media owner offering advertising opportunities in business complexes. It has been set up by allaboutoutdoor.com, a web portal on outdoor advertising that is designed to support the business objectives of media owners, planners, buyers and users in the out of home (OOH) industry.

The company has installed 25 shoe shine machines at 15 premium DLF commercial buildings in Gurgaon, including DLF Cyber Greens, DLF Infinity Towers and DLF Plaza. These machines will offer free shoe shine facility to the visitors, while advertisers can use the static back lit ad displays of 36 inches X 18 inches for branding. The machines are installed at the ground floor atrium near the elevator lobby of the buildings.

Ankur Rastogi, founder and chief strategist, allaboutoutdoor, says, “In current times of ad clutter, advertising space has to have a utility to attract eyeballs. Usually, any media present inside the office premise is not taken seriously unless it is engaging. We decided to become a media owner mainly because ambient media is tactical by nature.”

Sharing the insight for using shoe shine machines, he says, “Basic infrastructure facilities like well-made roads are lacking in some areas in Gurgaon. Thus, as people commute from one place to the other, it is impossible to avoid the dust present everywhere because of the ongoing construction projects.

“These machines will allow people to polish their shoes free of cost. Simultaneously, for advertisers, this represents an opportunity of reaching thousands of potential customers at a significantly lower cost than traditional outdoor advertising.”

The stainless steel shoe-shine machine lets a person insert his/her foot with the shoe into it, while a soft brush rotates – removing dust from the shoe. The shoe stays in for 30 seconds before coming out polished and shiny, during which time a brand can effectively communicate with the user, up close and personal.

The machines, acting as functional media, will be leased for a minimum duration of 30 days at a price of Rs 1500 per machine per day. Premier Office Media has made an investment of Rs 1 crore for 25 machines. The company will also pay a monthly rental to DLF for use of space in its buildings.

Platinum Outdoor is the first outdoor specialist agency that has come forward to explore this media for its client, MetLife Insurance. It has taken up seven shoe shiner machines for branding.

Rahul Kakar, business director, Platinum Outdoor, tells afaqs!, “This format is new and something that taps the corporate clientele of MetLife well. A ready customer base is already present in these buildings and so our client chose to use the shoe shine machines.”

The DLF commercial buildings house about 550 corporate offices of various MNCs that receive approximately 3,50,000 walk-ins of working professionals in a day. Thus, advertisers including lifestyle, telecom and automobile brands targeting men and women from SEC A+ in the age group 24-50 years can employ this medium effectively.

11. EyeClick’s futuristic interactive displays launched in India

Israel-based EyeClick – renowned for its interactive media display solutions, which are used for myriad applications including retail spaces, exhibitions, corporate events and museums – has tied up with Bengaluru-based retail display products specialist, Mahendra Associates, for the launch and distribution of their product range in India.

Mahendra Associates is a multi-market product supplier, representing products of 3M, DuPont and Powerdesk, whose Dynamic Display Environments team within the company focuses on marketing innovative display solutions. The company also offers transit media options under the banner of Mast e-Media.

A number of well-known brands and organizations globally have used EyeClick, an interactive technology, to transform floors, walls and windows into interactive displays, which capture the attention of the target audience, resulting in effective promotions and greater brand recall.

EyeClick displays comprise EyeStep, EyeTouch and EyeWall. EyeStep is the interactive display that people can walk on, and it will react to the person’s movement. EyeTouch can convert a shop window, counter or table into an interactive display, which will react to touch with as much precision as a mouse click on a computer screen. EyeWall is a large display that can be created on a wall, much like EyeStep on the floor.

Coca Cola, Microsoft, Volvo, Sony, Burger King, Puma, Bacardi and GE are a few brands who have tried this technology. The Beijing Olympic Games also effectively used EyeClick.

Mahendra Patwari, CEO, Mahendra Associates, says, “With a few installations in India, the response to EyeClick displays has been very encouraging. To make this more popular, we have decided to support our customers by creating a demo studio and providing content management services through our associate design company – Anomishere.”

This demo studio will enable customers to try, test and customize their solutions, before installing them at the target location. The first demo studio is in Bengaluru and three more are planned, one each in Mumbai, New Delhi and Chennai.

Yariv Bar Yam, executive vice-president, global business, EyeClick, who inaugurated the new facility in Bengaluru, says, “EyeClick puts customer satisfaction at the forefront of its business strategy. Utilising our ‘magical’ solutions, retailers report increased sales and in-store footfall, as well as stronger brand awareness.”

He adds, “To enable our customers to capture this value, we are building a global network of quality distributors that share a common strategy – providing the highest quality solutions and outstanding customer care. We are proud to associate with Mahendra Associates to promote our solutions.”

A few displays will also be installed at the Duty Free stores at Bengaluru International Airport during the week.

Setting up EyeClick depends on the size of the display and environment conditions; however, setting up the basic system in ideal conditions takes an hour or two. Due to the availability of a range of templates that a brand can utilize, the need for a full-blown creative campaign, or services of a creative agency, are not necessary to use this medium.

The sale of system is not restricted to promotions. Mahendra Associates is looking at integrating this system into retail store design, exhibition design, interior decoration and events. They will actively market it through the AV display and rental channel too.

According to the company, the medium is most effective in indoor ambiences, such as malls, hotels and restaurants, and retail store windows. It is dynamic, large format and completely interactive. The response is measurable, since it records every interaction.

Regarding costs of using EyeClick, Patwari informs that many media companies would like to price this differently. Some agencies are considering charging on spots per hour, while others may charge on parameters such as creative impact or location. The media resellers can decide on how they would want to position their property.

Discussing the response to the technology, Patwari says, “We have seen unanimous acceptance of the concept across all age groups and demographic segments. It brings out a natural response in the individual. Many times, the kid in every person comes to the fore and the interaction with the technology is honest and genuine. This makes the experience unique, and therefore, a positive influence towards the brand.”

12. Serve & Volley bags media rights to Bandra HP petrol pump's facade

An outdoor media opportunity that was up for grabs last week -- Bandra’s HP Petrol Pump façade, which is situated in a high-traffic zone -- has been won by Serve & Volley, the Bengaluru-based out-of-home media company set up by Nitesh Shetty.

The company won the bid in a competitive tender closely contested amongst four bidders, the other three being Pioneer, Creation and Peacock Media.

While the winning bid amount remains undisclosed, Raza Syed, regional manager, Serve & Volley is quite confident of this property. He shares that prior to Serve & Volley, no OOH company had the rights to this site. Instead, it was given out randomly, as and when approached by agencies or advertisers.

Serve & Volley will now focus on marketing this high-visibility pump façade -- a hard-to-miss 60 ft x 20 ft glass glazing -- which is located at the crossroads of the main junction of Bandra station, SV Road, Turner Road and Linking Road and sees thousands of motorists pass each day.

Discussing the cost for advertising, Syed says, “This media space has been rented by brands for up to Rs 15 lakh for a month; but Serve & Volley will look at just about half this amount -- around Rs 7 lakh per month.”

Advertisers such as ICICI Bank, Reebok, Sony Entertainment Television, BBC World, Fiama Di Wills and Tata Indicom have advertised at this location. The company feels that this site will add premium value to the advertiser due to its mega-size and volume of vehicular traffic.

For the record, Serve & Volley already has significant presence across the main line of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, Kolkata Metro Rail and exclusive rights for advertising on SpiceJet. Now, this pump façade is their only property in Mumbai on ownership basis, besides other leased media properties.

13. Luxury brands choose India as face of global advertising campaign

India is on their mind. Completely. First they were loving every bit of the India inspired themes in their collections. But now global luxury brands

want more to satiate their appetite. Leading international luxury names such as Zegna, Hermes and Canali have chosen India as the face of their global advertising campaigns.

Italian menswear luxury brand Zegna shot its Spring Summer 2009 ad campaign in Jaipur last year. The royal palaces, hustle-bustle of the main road and ancient havelis were some of the locations where the various images were shot. The pink city was perfect to showcase a mix of heritage, style and colour, says Anna Zegna, image director for the brand.

“We wanted to show to the international customer that we had a global approach. It is seen as a tribute to the country without losing its identity or heritage. Jaipur was ideal due to its eclectic mix of tradition as well as modernity,” she told SundayET. The brand already has its Guru jackets, the quintessential Bandhgala, which is a rage in international markets.

Infact Zegna is not the only one which thought of this novel idea. Last year Italian luxury brand Canali’s Autumn Winter 2008-09 collection was shot in India. The journey was the principal theme of the shoot as a tribute to a world rich in tradition and culture.

“It reflected a journey on a train to the famous one—Orient Express —with its elegance for a very sophisticated, elegant and luxurious taste,” says Sanjay Kapoor, MD, Genesis Luxury, distributors and marketers of brands such as Canali, Aigner, Paul Smith and Kenzo in India.

So what is the fascination all about? Why are all global brands desiring a touch of Indian presence? “There is a lot of buzz around India. As a market it is very important. We have received a great response,” adds a beaming Ms Zegna.
Parisian luxury brand Hermes which, infact, has always had a visible India influence on its scarves also had an Indian theme last year.

The brand also employs a few Indian craftsman based out of Paris. Indian Fantasies was Hermes theme last year as another example of foreign brands flaunting their India connection. The campaign featured model Lakshmi Menon and was received well by luxury loyalists.

What also resulted was a host of all things Indian, such as a perfume called Garden of the Monsoon, reminiscent of Kerala’s freshness after rain, the use of Kantha and paintings on scarves as well as bangles showing off Indian motifs.

And if it’s not a full-fledged campaign, specific collections are designed for an Indian touch. Cartier’s recent Inde Mysterieuse collection, for instance, has been dubbed the ‘Indian’ collection. The inspiration draws from the drape of a sari, palm motifs, arm bracelets and bib-necklaces. In an earlier interaction with ET, Patrick Normand, MD of Cartier Middle East and South Asia had said, “We are very keen on our relationship with India which has always been unique.

This collection is a modern blend of Cartier and Indian styles, crafts and colours that reveal the historical link between the Maison and the India of Maharajahs, their stones and jewellery and the extraordinary abundance of the Tutti Frutti style,” he says.

The vibrancy, heritage and hospitality is difficult to ignore. Luxury’s love saga with India is getting stronger day by day.

19. Sahara Samay appoints MediaSys Solutions for Ad Sales, Brand Dev

Sahara India Television Network (SITVN), the news channel business of Sahara, has appointed MediaSys Solutions as its exclusive advertising sales partner in India, channel sources said.
As part of the agreement, MediaSys Solutions will be responsible for selling airtime for the bouquet of six Sahara Samay News Channels’ Network bouquet.

MediaSys will also provide services in the area of packaging, events, brand development. The arrangement will be functional immediately, with elections coverage being the tent pole event for this quarter with an array of unique opportunities and innovations through this platform.

SITVN, under its Sahara Samay Network, covers the country through 'Samay' National and with 5 focussed channels for the nine states of Uttar Pradesh & Uttaranchal, Bihar and Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Delhi NCR and Haryana and Maharashtra.

Commenting on the partnership, Sahara India Media Head, Sumit Roy said,'' As part of our strategic initiatives to further strengthen Sahara Samay’s position in the industry, we have appointed MediaSys as an exclusive advertising partner for our channel. We believe that this arrangement will enable us to deploy our sales resources more effectively and we are sure that this partnership would augment our branding efforts too.'' MediaSys Solutions is an evolved outsourcing model which is being hailed by the entire media and entertainment industry.

Commenting on the appointment, partner, MediaSys Solutions, Kaacon Sethi said,''We are extremely glad to partner SITVN one of the leading companies in television News channels. We believe that Sahara Samay are strategically poised to take a big leap forward in the genre and there are huge opportunities that are still untapped.'' On MediaSys, she said,''Our vision is to make MediaSys the best resources company. Early acceptance from media owners across broadcasting and publishing for our business model has vindicated our instinct.''

20. IPL 2 may see average 7 pc drop in TV ratings: MEC estimates

While the second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is on track in a new country and heavy investments, questions are being raised about whether the event will garner as much consumer interest and TV ratings as last year. This year, IPL is also clashing with the general elections. How much will it impact the tournament?

Communications planning and implementation agency Mediaedge:cia (MEC), in its first ‘Food for Thought’ session held in Mumbai on April 8, presented an insight on consumer expectations and television ratings of IPL 2. From the methodology front, it was a face-to-face interview, spoken to 1,500 people in 10 cities conducted between March 23 and 25, 2009 post the announcement of South Africa as the new venue for the IPL 2 tournament.

The speakers included Jon Wright, Regional Director, MediaLab - Asia Pacific MEC, and Shubha George, Managing Director, MEC India.

Commencing the presentation, Wright spoke on the methodology of the whole survey conducted, the challenges and the approach taken at the time of conducting the study on topics that were relevant to the brands and consumers.

Wright explained, “IPL last year had a fantastic launch with a one-of-a-kind launch, which became very successful. In 2009, however, there are many challenges, new foreign players, new locations and schedules, the upcoming national elections and the economic slowdown. Our challenge nevertheless was to predict what was going to happen with reasonable predictions on television ratings. The approach taken at that time was based partly about consumer involvement in Season Two and the overall interest in few teams and players.”

As per MEC estimates, IPL 2 could see an average of 7 percent drop in ratings on an average of 59 league matches. However, not all the matches played would see less than 7 percent drop in ratings, in fact, the distribution of ratings this year is said to be more uneven than last year. The MEC poll study also shows that Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals, and Mumbai Indians are likely to get better ratings than last year. In fact, the estimates further show that the opening match played between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings on April 18, might get 9.4 ratings, followed by Chennai Super Kings versus Mumbai Indians on May 16, which might get 9.3 ratings, whereas Mumbai Indians Versus Rajasthan Royals match, which would be played on May 14, might see 9.2 ratings.

George pointed out that it was the identifying factors that influenced the overall growth ratings and individual match ratings. She classified the factors that influenced the overall ratings into macro factors and individual factors, wherein macro factors included the change in venue and the impact of the general elections. The individual factors included popularity of the team, the players and the schedule of the matches.

George further noted, “Had there been no elections and if all else were equal, then the ratings would have undoubtedly been far higher than Season One.”

Wright concluded by saying that if the IPL success story had to be continued, then innovation was the key as it brought in big success.

21. Sun Direct launches High Definition services in India

Sun Direct, the DTH (Direct to Home) service that was launched in the end of December 2007, is the first player to launch high definition (HD) services in India. HD TV is considered to be one of the world’s best digital broadcast platforms, which offers higher resolutions than the traditional television system.

Tony D’Silva, chief operating officer, Sun Direct says that the company has always believed in offering new technology to its consumers. A case in point is that Sun Direct was the first DTH player to offer its consumers MPEG 4 technology, which provides enhanced audio and sound quality. He says, “We believe that in the constantly changing viewership dynamics and taste, to keep the viewer continuously happy and engaged, we need to offer them new options. HD is another first from the Sun Direct stable.”

Along with various low-priced packages, Sun Direct currently offers five international channels for free, along with their base pack. These are: Fox TV (FX), Fox Crime, Baby TV, Warner Brothers and Real. The channels will remain free up to March 31, 2010.

D’Silva claims that Sun Direct has 3.1 million active users and aims to add another three million by 2010. It currently has a market share of 30 per cent and wants to increase this to 40-45 per cent by the end of 2010. The company plans to spend around Rs 150 crore on marketing activities this year to help them achieve their target.

HD services can only be available on HD TV sets, which are manufactured by companies such as Samsung and LG. D’Silva says that an estimated 1.5 million HD TV sets are sold in the Indian market as of now; Sun Direct wants to tap 20 per cent of those consumers by the year end.

Sun Direct’s HD set top box will be available to consumers for Rs 10,000. Consumers, who are already using the existing Sun Direct set top box, can exchange it for the HD counterpart. Since the availability of HD content is limited, Sun Direct has launched two movie services in this format. The first one is the Tamil and Telugu movie services, where consumers can order HD movies for a fee. A similar Hindi movie service will also be introduced soon.

The Commonwealth Games, to be held in 2010, will be a major event, which will be telecast in HD.

D’Silva says, “We want to operate on a national level, but our focus will always be on the regional markets.”

Sun Direct wants to target consumers in big cities and towns. Since it is a niche segment, instead of a multimedia campaign, the company will employ on-ground activation, consumer touch points in stores and direct mailers to promote the service.

22. Ormax Media launches Showbuzz, India’s first-ever programme awareness tracking tool

Consumer knowledge firm Ormax Media has announced the launch of their new product – Showbuzz – touted as India’s weekly tool to measure programme awareness of new television shows. It intends to plug a huge information gap in the Indian television industry by introducing the concept of awareness scores for programmes.

This weekly tool will track unaided (top-of-mind) and total recall for up to 20 new programmes, that are scheduled for launch or have recently launched, across channels. The tracks will be conducted in five markets (Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Indore) to begin with. New markets will be added in due course. The weekly findings will be released to the subscribers every Monday.

Speaking about Showbuzz, Vispy Doctor, Director, Ormax Media, explained, “Across all consumer products, brand and ad recall is a key marketing variable that is tracked periodically. Showbuzz will enable the television industry to take corrective action during the course of its campaigns by arming them with information hitherto not available. For example, which markets or audience segments are not responding to the campaign. Or, where does my show stand vis-à-vis another competitive launch slated for the same day.”

Underlining the need for a product like Showbuzz in the television industry, Shailesh Kapoor, Director, Ormax Media, said, “Across our television work, we have observed that till the first TAM ratings come, the channels have very little indication of what’s the buzz around their new programme. Hence, the first ratings are often a rude shock, or sometimes, a welcome surprise. Even advertisers invest in new shows purely on instinct. All because so far, there was no information available that could predict the fate of a show before its launch.”

Showbuzz is the second proprietary product launched by Ormax Media. Earlier this year, they had announced the launch of True Value, a new programme testing and benchmarking tool.

23. ASUS Launches its Eco-Friendly Bamboo Series Notebook in India

ASUS Technology (India) has launched its eco-friendly Bamboo Series Notebook in India. The Bamboo series notebooks are designed with real bamboo to give a personalized and exclusive feel to each notebook.

The company said the end-to-end eco-friendly Bamboo notebook is a revolutionary innovation in Green Computing. It is 'green' throughout its life cycle - from its conception, production to its recycling and disposal. It totally complies with RoHS and WEEE Standard and in fact it exceeds the benchmarks of these standards.

ASUS is the first company to use bamboo casing for notebooks. The company said the Bamboo Series notebooks are ultimate celebration of the versatility of bamboo combined with the most advanced computing technology. It is an extremely fashionable notebook with exquisite craftsmanship design that exudes unique and personalized user experience.

Stanley Wu, Country Manager for Notebook business, ASUS India, said, "The launch of Bamboo Series Notebook will usher in a new era of green computing. It will mark a paradigm shift in the way computers are used and manufactured. With the ever increasing concern over global warming and the ecological imbalance, we find it necessary to innovate products that are not only eco-friendly but also commercially viable."

The ASUS Bamboo Series Notebook uses Super Hybrid Engine that reduces the yearly CO2 emission by 12.3 kg per notebook. Given that ASUS ships around 6 million notebooks per year, this works out to 73.8 million kg of CO2 emission reduced per year, which equates to saving 36 million trees annually.

The ASUS Bamboo Series notebook: A Seamless Marriage of Art and Engineering
The first thing about the ASUS Bamboo Series notebook that commands immediate and unfailing attention is its artisan-grade Moso bamboo paneling, which is crafted with the precision and care typically associated with bamboo instruments and arts and crafts. The organic tactility, refreshing scent and minimalist aesthetics of bamboo lend the ASUS Bamboo Series notebook an arresting aura of spirituality, warmth and old world charm that synthetic material and cold, impersonal metals will struggle to replicate.

With every touch, users will be able to feel the difference - the bamboo gives an instant sense of familiarity, just like the sensation one would get from running one's fingertips across furniture. The sensation of being close to nature is even conveyed when users use the touch pad. The genuine bamboo fiber patterns on the touch pad create the sensation of touching live bamboo. Furthermore, like any piece of original art, every ASUS Bamboo Series notebook is unique, each with its own natural patterning. The air of individuality of each piece can be further enhanced by several treatments that yield different colors, or by laser etching distinctive designs onto the ASUS Bamboo Series notebook’s bamboo-clad cover.

ASUS Super Hybrid Engine: A Next Generation Breakthrough in Power Efficiency
All of the ASUS Bamboo Series notebook's power does not come at the expense of the environment. The ASUS Bamboo Series notebook, as with the new generation of ASUS notebooks released to market from the second half of 2008, is energy-efficient, thanks to the implementation of ASUS' Super Hybrid Engine technology, which is the product of a comprehensive redesigning of the hardware, software and BIOS on the part of ASUS' engineers.

The Super Hybrid Engine accords users the control they need to obtain their desired level of performance - either improving power efficiency or boosting performance by the same technology core. In terms of power efficiency improvement, it can extend battery life between 35% and 70% as compared to notebooks with the same specifications but without the technology, and yet enable users to boost their systems' performance by up to 23%. It achieves this by intelligently monitoring the power requirements of the notebook's components and automatically adjusting the power levels in real-time to match the current consumption needs, thus optimizing both system performance and power efficiency. Users are also given the option of selecting from a number of presets manually to ensure that the notebook conforms to the owner's usage demands.

Bamboo as an Alternative Material: The Natural Choice
Through the use of bamboo, which has an immense tensile strength that rivals that of many metal alloys, the ASUS Bamboo Series notebook is highly resilient. It is the first notebook to have survived the unforgiving conditions of snow-capped Qomolangma Peak, which stands at a height of 8,848 meters (29,028 feet). Bamboo also has a renewal rate that no other plant can match. It has been known to grow 60 cm in just 24 hours, reaching its maximum height in several years. Bamboo is also capable of regenerating itself upon harvesting without necessitating replanting, making it possibly the perfect renewable resource.

Bamboo Notebook Specifications:
CPU + NB: Intel Core2 Duo Processor P8600, Mobile Intel PM45 express chipset, Intel Wi-Fi Link 5100
OS - Windows Vista Home Premium
Graphics - Nvidia GeForce 9300M GS with TAG RAM up to 1536 MB (depends on system memory)

Memory - DDR2 800 MHz, 2 x SODIMM up to 4 GB (depends on Vista 64bits readiness)
Drives - SATA HDD up to 320 GB, 5400 rpm, UltraSlim ODD, built in 8-in-1 Card Reader, Fingerprint, TPM module
Camera - Built-in 1.3 MP camera with ASUS SmartLogon and LED light
Battery - 300 x 220 x 25.3 - 31.6 mm (W x D x H), 6 cell + 3 cell
Net Weight - 1.57 kg
Warranty - 2 years global warranty/ 1 year warranty on battery.

24. Koutons plans foray into innerwear, expand leather accessories

Apparel and fashion wear chain Koutons India Retail is planning to foray into inner-wear segment and to expand its leather accessories portfolio as it eyes a growth of 30-35 per cent in 2009-10.
The retail chain, which has currently 1,400 outlets across the country, is also continuing with its expansion despite the current economic downturn, and plans to open 100 more stores this fiscal.
"The key driver for Koutons in this fiscal would be our new launches in the leather accessories and the inner-wear segment, besides a new range of premium segment shirt 'Feel Me'. We plan to launch our range in the next few months," Koutons Retail India Ltd President Balvinder Singh Ahluwalia told PTI.
He said the company has already undertaken a soft launch of its K2One shoe range, which is for both the genders in all age groups. The company had last year announced its plan to foray into the footwear segment.
"We expect 30-35 per cent (overall) growth in the coming year," Mr. Ahluwalia said.
Koutons had reported an annual turnover of Rs 793 crore in 2007-08, while its financial results for the year 2008-09 are yet to be announced.

25. DIAL retail plan may skirt pledge to govt

In a departure from the practice of leasing out duty-free shopping space to a third party, Delhi International Airport Ltd, or DIAL, plans to award retail concessions based on a revenue-sharing model, with the winning bidder required to form a joint venture with the airport operator, three people close to the development said.
The plan by DIAL, which runs the airport in the national capital, would dilute the revenue it has pledged to the exchequer as part of a May 2006 privatization agreement, an aviation equity analyst insisted, although it is not clear that the proposal violates the 2006 pact.
A senior official of the Airports Authority of India, or AAI, India’s airports regulator, said the government will investigate the plan if it is seen as a way of skirting DIAL’s obligations under the agreement.
The analyst and the AAI official, as also four other people interviewed for this story, didn’t want to be identified.
A senior DIAL executive said the duty-free operator will be chosen on the basis of the highest revenue-share percentage it is willing to offer, and will hold a 51% stake in the joint venture. DIAL will own the rest. The partnership will be formed for 10 years and may be extended for five more years after that.
This executive did not want to be identified because he is not authorized to speak officially for DIAL. A spokesman for the airport operator declined to comment on the proposal.
Two senior executives of a global duty-free operator, one of whom attended a meeting on 2 April to discuss the proposal, confirmed the plan.
“In this model, some of the risks are shared,” the DIAL executive said. “If things are good, we all benefit, and if things are bad, we all take a bit of pain.”
A previous attempt by DIAL to set up a hotel and a cargo venture on similar lines had elicited protests from AAI
DIAL’s proposal to form a duty-free joint venture, first reported in March in Moodiereport.com, a London-based industry website, comes in the face of a decline in air passenger traffic, with global economies battling recession and Indian weathering a slowdown.
DIAL won 30-year rights in 2006 to run New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) by pledging around 46% of its revenue from the airport to the government.
DIAL is a consortium led by GMR Infrastructure Ltd, which holds a 50.1% stake in the venture. The other partners are Frankfurt airport operator Fraport AG, a unit of Malaysian Airports Holding Bhd, private equity firm India Development Fund (IDF), and AAI. While Fraport and Malaysian Airports’ unit hold 10% each, IDF owns 3.9%, and the rest is controlled by AAI.
DIAL’s proposal could raise concern in the government. A previous attempt by the firm to set up a hotel and a cargo venture on similar lines had provoked protests from AAI.
In 2007, DIAL decided to form subsidiaries for the commercial development of 45 acres of land around the New Delhi airport. The company had then floated two units— DIAL Cargo Pvt. Ltd to tap the cargo potential and Delhi Aerotropolis Pvt. Ltd for developing a hotel—and had initiated plans to form a third subsidiary for the duty-free business.
Senior officials of the civil aviation ministry had then worried that such a structure could potentially dilute the share of revenues DIAL had pledged to AAI.
Opposition from parts of the government led to a delay of about two years before the land parcels were given out to hotel developers last month under a revised financial formula.
The senior AAI official termed the latest move a “financial gimmick”. When asked if the airports regulator would investigate this arrangement, he said, “We will.” He did not want to be named because he was not certain if DIAL’s plan would indeed affect the government’s share of revenues from the airport.
The official said that while DIAL has been permitted to form units, it has to meet certain criteria before getting into such arrangements. “Where there is funnelling out of revenue, that (forming a subsidiary) is not (permitted).”
The equity analyst said the plan by DIAL to own 49% of the proposed duty-free venture at the New Delhi airport would certainly have an impact on the revenue percentage a bidder would want to share with DIAL. “If DIAL owns half (49%) of the venture, the retail operator will get just half in returns (from the venture) and so will bid the revenue-sharing percentage much lower,” he said.
An aviation expert from New Delhi said DIAL’s new move could also lead to lower fiduciary control over the duty-free shopping business.
“In OMDA (operations management development agreement), there is a defined formula of revenue share. If you create subsidiaries, they start working independently and AAI will not have supervisory role over them,” he said, asking not to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter. “This is what was examined by the attorney general last year and we will have to see how this pans out (this time).”
Duty-free shopping businesses elsewhere at international airports in Mumbai and Bangalore have also been mired in controversies involving the bidding process and business potential. The two airports awarded retail concessions on a straight lease, based on a formula that hinged on highest rentals offered.
In 2007, Mumbai International Airport Ltd, or Mial, scrapped the contract given to a joint venture of Spain’s Aldeasa and state-owned India Tourism Development Corp., or ITDC, after the winner asked for a renegotiation of the contract fee. Mial later awarded the contract to Hong Kong-based DFS Group.
Late last year, the Karnataka high court quashed the award of a concession by Bangalore International Airport Ltd to a joint venture between Zurich-based Nuance Group and India’s Shoppers Stop Ltd after Dubai-based duty-free operator Flemingo alleged that it had been wrongly excluded from the bidding process.
The Supreme Court has temporarily stayed the Karnataka high court ruling, allowing Nuance-Shoppers Stop to continue even as the case is being heard in the country’s top court.
“The Indian (airport retailing) market is in a bit of mess… and things have not worked as we had expected,” said the senior DIAL executive cited earlier. DIAL’s new move, he added, is designed to “encourage the better players to come on board”. “...you are basically reducing the risk for them in a volatile market,” he said.
Terminal 3, or T3, at the IGIA is designed to have around 20,000 sq. m of retailing space, equivalent to the size of around three football fields. It is expected to be completed before New Delhi hosts the Commonwealth Games in October 2010.
DIAL has sought bids from global duty-free operators and the final date of submitting the bids is 5 May, the DIAL executive said.
The T3 terminal is seen by analysts as a test case for the duty-free shopping business in India. About a quarter of the international travellers out of India use the Capital’s airport and the T3 terminal is designed to handle 34 million passengers a year.

26. Radio Mirchi and Red FM have a busy weekend with their award shows

Radio Mirchi and Red FM had a busy weekend organising the Tata Indicom Mirchi Music Awards and the Bajaate Raho Awards 2008, respectively. Both these Awards served different purposes.
Radio Mirchi chose to honour the unsung heroes in the Indian film industry in the first edition of its Tata Indicom Mirchi Music Awards.
The jury members for the Tata Indicom Mirchi Music Awards included Prasoon Joshi, Anu Malik, Kailash Kher, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Kunal Kohli, Lalit Pandit, Louiz Banks, Ramesh Sippy, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Shankar Mahadevan, Sadhana Sargam, Suresh Wadkar and Sonu Niigaam. The jury was led by chairman Javed Akhtar.
Film ‘Jodhaa Akbar’ bagged the highest number of awards, with the song ‘Jashn-e-Bahara’ taking home the ‘Song of the Year’, ‘Lyricist of the Year’ (Javed Akhtar), ‘Male Vocalist of the Year’ (Javed Ali). The other awards for ‘Jodhaa Akbar’ included ‘Female Vocalist of the Year’ (Bela Shende for ‘Manmohana’), ‘Technical Award for Song Mixing’ (Late H Shridhar), and ‘Technical Award for Film Background Score’ (AR Rahman).
‘Album of the Year’ went to ‘Jaane Tu ya Jaane Na’.
On Friday, March 27, 2009, Red FM held the fourth edition of Bajaate Raho Awards, which is in keeping with its theme ‘Bajaate Raho’. The aim was to celebrate ‘mediocrity’ and felicitate the worst of the lot across all fields – Bollywood, Music, Cricket, Television and City Special Awards.
The winners were decided after public voting in three metros – Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata.
The winner in the Bollywood category included ‘Drona’ for the ‘Super pit Film Award’ and Harman Baweja for the ‘Baap ka naam doobo diya Award’. In the cricket category, the ‘On-field Dramebaaz Award’ went to Harbhajan Singh for hitting Sreesanth, while the ‘Cricket Gaya Tel Lene Award’ was presented to Vijay Mallya for giving more importance to cheerleaders than cricketers. The television winners included MTV Roadies’ Raghu Ram and Payal Rohatgi for judging Sambhavna Seth’s character in ‘Bigg Boss’.
The ‘City Special Awards’ were given to Mumbai’s Bandra-Worli Sea Link and Delhi’s Blue Line buses and ‘Kolkata ki shaan Award’ went to the Eastern metro’s bus drivers.
In a prepared statement, Red FM, COO, Abraham Thomas, said, “The Awards and the nominations are supposed to be taken lightly, and clearly the audiences today have a sense of humour to take it in the right spirit.”

27. Smaller FM stations extend client base through like-minded larger FM players

Smaller FM stations are finding allies in like-minded larger FM players to expand their base, especially through consolidation of sales forces, which give the former an opportunity to reach out to national clients.
Such inter-brand relations are not new in FM radio, which most probably began with Sun TV Network taking a 48.9 per cent stake in Red FM, which would provide a common advertising sales platform for the radio stations. While in this case both are large players, local or smaller FM players are also partnering with larger FM players, which as of now are purely sales alliances and on a long term basis among like-minded FM stations, especially in those markets where they are not present.
Such alliances help the smaller FM stations not only reach out to national clients, but also understand more about the national market. For instance, Radio Misty, which operates in Siliguri and Gangtok, has partnered with Radio One, which is present in seven metros – Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Pune and Kolkata. The partnership came into existence beginning January 2009 and is purely a sales alliance.
Friends FM, which operates in Kolkata, has also partnered with Radio City, which is present in 20 cities, excluding Kolkata. This is also a sales alliance and serves the interests of both the FM players.
ENIL, too, has partnered with Radio Mantra, though no official comments from either FM player was forthcoming. SFM officials were unavailable for comments.
It’s a win-win situation
Ashit Kukian, Executive Vice President & National Head – Sales, Radio City, pointed out, “Kolkata being a big market and the fact that we were not present there, created the need for the tie-up. Whenever we align with the radio stations, we ensure a TG fitment. Both Friends FM and Radio City share the same TG, which helps in expanding the network. This has increased the advertising flow for both the stations.”
“There are no stakes involved. We work on a certain revenue structure and yes, such partnerships do work for both the stations as we get more opportunities in terms of selling stations. For smaller players, it’s a win-win situation where they can look after the local markets, while bigger stations can look at the national advertisers. In addition to our alliances with Friends FM and Suno Lemon in Gwalior, we are working on a few more consolidations,” he added.
Dilip Dugar, Vice President, Radio Misty, said, “Radio Misty has stations in Siliguri and Sikkim. We have entered into a sales alliance with Radio One, which has footprints in all metros. This alliance will give us a unique opportunity to tap national clients. Radio One has started with their Kolkata station recently. In fact, Kolkata, Siliguri and Sikkim make a full ‘East pack’ and that will attract advertisers. It’s a purely sales alliance. We have also been learning trends in the national market. This type of alliance helps a lot and makes small stations know more about the national market.”
He further said, “I don’t see a large-scale consolidation happening, except for informal marketing efforts. The radio industry needs to grow outwards and reach out to a greater variety of audiences in the coming years.”
While such sales integrations are not new, industry players believe that more and more FM stations in the near future would take this route to attract more advertisers and learn the trends in national market and even expand their base in places where they have been non-existent.

28. Satellite radio policy opens playing field

The floodgates are set to open for satellite radio services in the country with the government finalising a fresh set of policy guidelines. With satellite services, you can catch subscription-based broadcasts on everything from sports and weather to niche music channels, even on a cross-country drive, aided by compatible receiver sets.
Ten-year licences will be offered through a bidding process on a revenue-share basis, with commercial advertisements banned to protect local FM broadcasters.
Religious organizations and political parties will be barred from setting up the channels.
Private news channels are not allowed, but talk and current affairs are. News broadcasts or audio feeds of state-run All India Radio and Doordarshan will be allowed.
Uplinking of signals will be from India through locally registered firms. “No commercial advertisements would be allowed,” the guidelines, a copy of which is with Hindustan Times, noted.
“This provision should be put to rest the apprehensions of the private FM broadcasters to the extent that these services will not be competing for the limited advertisement pie.”
The move opens up the field for others to compete with WorldSpace, which beams programmes from Singapore and hosts a variety of programmes, including in regional Indian languages. WorldSpace India broadcasts on the basis of a one-off approval given in 1998.
The operators would be allowed a maximum of two minutes per hour of promotional material about the channels. Broadcast of public interest announcements for a maximum of one hour per day might be made mandatory.
Former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman Pradip Baijal, the proposed service will give a wide choice to consumers, at competitive prices.
“The beauty of a liberalised market is that the cost settles down at a level that can be afforded,” Baijal said. “It (satellite radio) will give the subscriber more choice and I would go a step further to say that even terrestrial television should be opened up and not be limited only to Doordarshan.”
In line with direct-to-home (DTH) television services, foreign investment including portfolio and direct investment will be capped at 74 per cent.
Successful bidders will pay an annual licence fee equal to 4 per cent of their gross revenue and provide a bank guarantee of Rs. 10 crore or the annual fee, whichever is higher.
A senior official involved in the drafting of the guidelines said research has shown there is a large market for the service.
“There is a large market for this. It is for the consumers to decide whether to subscribe to the service or not,” the official said, requesting anonymity.

29. Advertisers zoom in on new avenues in a hoardings-less Chennai

It’s been a year since hoardings came down in Chennai and of all other out-of-home (OOH) media, buses seem to have benefited in their absence.
Bus backs, seat backs, hand grabs, not to mention bus shelters – there is much demand for these as advertisers look for ways to be noticed.
Bus shelters
Chennai’s Metropolitan Transport Corporation last month announced it would set up 500 bus shelters, to be constructed and maintained by a consortium of companies called Metro Multimedia.
The consortium’s Managing Director, Mr D. Muralidharan, says the lack of hoardings has benefited this business even as ad budgets shrink due to the slowdown.
Mr Muralidharan says he has already sold 200 bus shelters to various clients from the telecom and FMCG industry. A 100 more are being negotiated.
Six mobile operators are launching services in Chennai by September.
They will need to advertise and so will the competition, he says.
The rent for these shelters ranges from Rs 1.35 lakh-1.50 lakh per shelter per month.
Mr Muralidharan, who also has a business in railway advertising, says there has been a 15 per cent drop there.
When hoardings were around, says a marketing manager who earlier used to work in the retail sector, lit bus shelters were charging Rs 18,000 per month to advertise, then Rs 70,000 and now they aren’t any available.
He added that vendors themselves sometimes tend to kill the industry.
Mr Sravan Raghunathan, who heads marketing at a service retail chain based in Chennai, says it should be that the advertiser is being charged a higher price because the medium also looks good.
“Despite the recession, a lot of new businesses are being launched and they need to be advertised.
“Local businesses with branches spread over a city could use media such as street signs meaningfully, but this medium hasn’t been promoted much.”
Other venues
An observer associated with the alternative OOH advertising sector says advertisers have been “flocking to anything to do with buses – except the driver’s screen, every surface is being leased out”.
Shopping malls, theatre premises, lampposts, road medians and Internet advertising are other venues that are being explored but nothing is as good as hoardings, seems to be the feeling.
Bully vendors
It’s not a cakewalk for suppliers of alternative media, though.
The slowdown is coming in as a handy excuse for marketers to bully vendors into reducing their prices.
“I’m not even given a day to decide, the deal is done by the afternoon. We’re not in a position to refuse,” he says.
However, Mr Santosh Desai, Managing Director and CEO, Future Brands, notes that no one seems to be lamenting the lack of hoardings (at least in Delhi), as their restriction vastly improves the aesthetics of a city.
The absence of hoardings has given a fillip to other media such as digital OOH advertising.
Doohm, a Chennai-based media company started a year ago, is planning to expand its business.
Mr K.R. Ilanghovan, Chairman, Doohm Network Pvt Ltd, says clients include brands with national footprints, besides a host of regional brands.
Says Mr Satbir Singh, National Creative Officer, Euro RSCG India, “Consider, for example, how many hoardings you can remember. If you look at the number of illegal hoardings they are a highly misused medium.”
For placement consultancy goodpeopleindia.com, the agency worked with exterior lifts that are used to clean high-rise windows.
As the platform rose from floor to floor, a big finger with a ‘jobs available’ sign pointed to the different company boards on each floor.

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