MARKETERS GO GAGA OVER ROYAL BIRTH
Marketers in Britain are cashing in on the excitement over the birth of the first kid of prince William and Kate Middleton. The occasion has generated a spending frenzy among Britons, who are expected to splurge £56million on commemorative memorabilia, £76million on books, DVDs and media and £24million on toys. High street chains have announced a range of royal-themed baby clothes, gifts and accessories. Retail chains are full of baby clothes bearing messages like “Born to Rule” and “Prince Charming”and stores are brimming with royal-baby tchotchkes. While the upscale Harrods is selling royal-baby bone china, department store John Lewis is hawking nursery-themed gingerbread boxes of cookies and royal-baby glass beads for charm bracelets. But the Committee for Advertising Practice has issued guidelines for marketers, reminding them that royal family members cannot be shown or mentioned in ads, and that “ads shouldn’t go as far as claiming or implying that a particular product is endorsed by the royal family or that a product is affiliated to royal events when it is not.”
TV channel mounts a marketing stunt to create buzz and capture eyeballs
It’s a marketing gimmick that only a TV drama channel could have conjured of. The UKTV channel Drama has constructed a large statue of actor Colin Firth and placed it in the Serpentine Lake in Hyde Park, London, in a bid to recreate his memorable wet shirt scene in the 1995 TV miniseries adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, when the white-shirted Firth as Mr. Darcy emerged from a lake to the delight of British women. The scene helped turn Firth into a sex symbol and is regularly voted among Britain’s most memorable TV moments. Firth’s fibreglass sculpture stretches 12ft out of the water and has been placed there as a publicity move by UKTV, which plans to rebroadcast the six-part “Pride and Prejudice” series on its newest channel later this month. The statue, which was later removed from Hyde Park, will tour other lakes in Britain before ending up at Lyme Park, where the mini-series was partly filmed. By erecting a peripatetic statue of Firth, the marketing guys at the Drama channel are hoping that the rebroadcast will attract its fair share of publicity and popularity as well.
Brands react to murray’s wimbledon win
Andy Murray’s Wimbledon win is expected to raise his global profile to even higher levels. The British athlete’s total career earnings, which are worth £24 million, according to the Sunday Times Rich List, could surpass the £100 million mark as more brands look to tap into his sporting achievements. Murray’s net worth as of this year is at $42 million of which $36 million comes from sponsorships and prize money while the rest come from alternative assets including the Cromlix House Hotel situated in Scotland. Currently, Murray has deals with Adidas, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Jaguar and watchmaker Rado, which signed a seven-figure deal with him last summer before he won the US Open, the Telegraph notes. Other unofficial sponsors, like British soft drink brand Robinsons are hanging on to Murray’s promotional coattails after the long-awaited victory.
Publicis acquires net@lk
Publicis Groupe, the world’s third largest advertising and PR company, has acquired Net@lk, one of China’s leading social media services providers. The acquisition, for an undisclosed sum, is part of Publicis’ £2.58 billion expansion drive over five years. Net@lk, founded in 2007, employs a team of 350 people and specialises in delivering tailor-made social influence marketing campaigns to clients and building brands in a social context. It has worked with more than 200 clients including Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart and Adidas. The company comprises four stand-alone business divisions: Net@lk and Simone, providing social media services; Lenx, producing social content; and Buzzreader, engaging in social intelligence including monitoring, research and analytics. According to Jean-Yves Naouri, COO, Publicis Groupe, “The Net@lk acquisition bolsters our existing team expertise providing both our local and multinational clients best-in-class services.”
New chanel venture
Iconic fashion house Chanel has selected WPP to create a team of specialists from several of the holding company’s agencies to create a new Chanel-dedicated shop called “Plus”. The decision came after a six-month assessment that started as a media review back in January. The scope of work for the new agency includes global media duties, along with some creative, digital and other marketing chores. Chanel spends an estimated $250 million on ads each year. The Chanel Plus team will be cherrypicked from WPP, including MEC, which has been media agency incumbent on the business, as well as staffers from Mindshare, Ogilvy & Mather, and digital shop AKQA. For WPP, Chanel Plus is the latest agency the holding company has agreed to create dedicated to a single client. Similar custom shops have been assembled for Ford, Lincoln, and BoA, among others.
“OUR CARD OFFERS THE RIGHT PRICE FOR HEALTH SERVICES”
Gopal Verma, Chairman, E-Meditek Global, speaks to 4ps b&m about how ITS MEDICASH PLUS CARD OFFERS UNIQUE BENEFITS TO CONSUMERS THAT NO OTHER health CARD OFFERS
What’s the concept behind the Medicash Plus card and how is it different from other healthcare cards?
The Medicash Plus card is the country’s first prepaid card that can be used by customers for medical payment and related services. No other card in the health care space offers similar benefits till now. We call our concept “your health saving account”. By using the Medicash Plus card one can make good savings on the purchase of medicines at pharmacies and get discounts on various medical services, which can add up to make good savings on one’s medical expenses. As per our estimates families in general incur approximately Rs.70-80K annually towards health care needs. The best thing about the Medicash Plus card is that the card holder does not even have to ask for a discount. All that one is required to do is to make payments using this card. The moment the card is swiped it will make two transactions at the same time – one for the payment and one for the discount received on the payment instantly. This system of offering an automatic discount for availing medical services is unique. If you compare the Medicash Plus card with the other cards in market you can easily see the advantages that the card offers. Other cards have a point system and only when you have scored a certain number of points that you get to encash them. On the other hand, the Medicash Plus card gives you the instant realization of a discount along with the actual cost of the medical service that you have availed of.
Why do you think there is a need for such cards in the market?
Health care is one area where you will find that consumers of medical services i.e. patients don’t ask for a discount out of regard for the services rendered by doctors. But it’s not that fees and charges cannot be relaxed. However, the reason that patients pay whatever they are asked for is because that there is no regulator in the health care space to monitor if patients are charged exorbitantly. For patients to be charged reasonably there has to be a standardization of prices for services rendered by the health care industry, which unfortunately does not exist in the market. So patients at times don’t know what should be the right price and what one is supposed to pay by way of consultation charges to a doctor or for the various tests that he or she may have been adminstered. At E-Meditek Global, we have tried to standardize everything with the medical service providers, be it a doctor, reference center, or a consultant’s or surgeon’s fee. This has been made possible because we have practically agreed on a pre defined rate, which is over and above the standardized rate offered by medical establishments. But at the same time, we have made arrangements for offering hefty discounts upto 40% for our customers.
Which are the health-care services where the card can be used?
Medicash Plus card can be used at various healthcare service providers such as private doctor’s clinic, specialists, diagnostics centers, chemists, dentists, hospitals, gyms, spas, beauty salons, restaurants and lifestyle centres. This has been made possible by tie-ups that Medicash has made with an network of 1,700 health care establishments across 23 cities in India. By using the Medicash Plus card users can avail of a hefty discount at all our network establishments. For example if one visits a doctor who charges Rs.500 as consultation fees, the cardholder will get a 40% discount and will have to pay only Rs.300 and not Rs.500, which she would have to pay without a Medicash Plus card. These are huge advantages and are big savings.
As told to Richa Chaudhary
Car makers spl. editions don’t excite
Car sales have fallen by as much as 12% in the first quarter of the fiscal but that hasn’t stopped manufacturers from offering an unprecedented 22 special editions of popular car models. On offer were special editions of Maruti Ertiga & Ritz, Skoda Rapid, Renault Scala, Ford Figo and the Nissan Sunny. Maruti introduced eight special editions in the past six months, followed by three from Ford and two from Volkswagen. Maruti launched the DZire Regal special edition to save its leadership position from Honda’s Amaze, while its Ertiga Feliz took the Chevrolet Enjoy heads on. However, the most significant is Swift, which has seen two special edition models. The Star Edition, launched on March 22 failed to generate excitement, and the company launched a sporty Swift RS on July 3. However, Swift’s monthly average sales, even with the special editions, are down to around 16,000 units per month, from an earlier high of 18,000. Similarly, Volkswagen’s Style special edition for the Vento failed to trigger any increase and average monthly sales dipped to 1,799 units since the launch on April 16 from the earlier sales of 2,329 units/month. Clearly, at times like this, even launching “special editions” doesn’t help.
P&G launches oral b toothpaste
India’s Rs.6,000 crore oral care market is set to witness an aggressive tug of marketing war. While Colgate has been the leader holding a whopping 55% market share, of late the market leader has been challenged by the likes of GSK, the maker of Sensodyne and Parodontax brands of toothpase. Competition is also heating up from the challenges thrown by other existing players like HUL and Dabur as well as P&G, which has now launched Oral B toothpaste, the brand it so far restricted to toothbrushes, with effect from July 1. This ends the decade-old speculation around P&G’s impending entry into oral care. P&G acquired Oral B when it bought out Gillette globally in 2005 and the brand is already familiar to Indian households through toothbrushes. To begin with P&G has launched three variants and 3-4 pack sizes. It has priced its SKU in Popular and Sensitive segment at a premium to Colgate while in the Gel segment pricing is at a discount. In the initial phase, the launch will be restricted to the metros and will be gradually extended to other geographies. This is similar to what P&G did in 2007, when it entered Skin Care through Olay. P&G’s entry into toothpaste can have a significant impact on Colgate, which gets nearly 75% of its revenue from toothpastes.
Smartphone sales growing
Nearly 10 million smartphones were shipped within India during the first three months of 2013, a 167% increase from last year, aided by new launches from Samsung Electronics and cheaper devices flooding the market, according to latest data from market research firm Cyber Media Research. South Korea based Samsung Electronics, which has most of its phones based on Google’s Android software, sold some 4 million smartphones during this period and retained market leadership with 40% market share. Homegrown companies Micromax and Karbonn, which operate within the Rs.7000 to Rs.16,000 price point, saw its smartphone shipments grow 19% and 8% respectively from a year ago. Cyber Media said the triple-digit growth rate is a sign that increasing number of mobile phone users are migrating from feature phones to smartphones that can browse internet and download content. With smartphones available in various price ranges, India’s mobile phone market has become increasingly competitive over the past few months. Smartphones makeup for12-13% of overall phone market, up from 5% a couple of years ago.
Ibibo group buys redbus.in
ibiboGroup, a joint venture between South Africa’s media power house Naspers and Chinese Internet company Tencent has acquired Bangalore-based online bus ticketing portal redBus.in. Neither party disclosed the value of the deal but according to industry sources it is estimated to be slightly over $100 million. redBus.in, the flagship product of Pilani Soft Labs Pvt. Ltd., a venture by three BITS Pilani students in 2006, claims that it is the biggest portal for online bus ticketing in terms of sales, transaction volumes and ticket inventories, issuing over 12 million tickets per annum, and has an employee base of around 600. According to ibiboGroup, the acquisition of redBus will help it to expand and diversify its existing travel assets such as Goibibo.com (a B2C Online travel aggregators) and TravelBoutiqueOnline (a B2B online travel platform for agents). The combined volumes of redBus.in and ibiboGroup’s existing travel assets will make the group one of the biggest online travel players in India. “This acquisition catapults us to become a stronger online travel player in India,” said Ashish Kashyap, CEO of ibiboGroup. He said post the acquisition, redBus will continue to run it as an independent operation led by its founding members and the management team.
Movements
(People + Accounts)
Juju Basu, former senior vice-president and executive creative director, Contract Advertising, Gurgaon, has joined STAR India as Creative Communication Head for its new business verticals, including its sports properties. Basu will be responsible for creating multi-platform campaigns for the assets led by him.
Shereen Bhan has been named CNBC-TV18 Managing Editor in place of Udayan Mukherjee, who has decided to step down from his post of managing editor at CNBC-TV18, after a stint of 15 years, citing personal reasons. Bhan will take charge from September 1.
Dip Sengupta, former vice-president and branch head of Grey Delhi, has joined McCann Worldgroup as General Manager, McCann Erickson. Based in Delhi, Sengupta will report to Alok Lall, executive director, McCann Worldgroup.
Vikas Ahuja has been appointed as chief marketing officer of E-commerce firm Myntra.com. In his new role, Ahuja will be responsible for the sales and marketing functions and driving the overall brand strategy at Myntra. Prior to Myntra, Ahuja was the country business manager for Nestle India.
Rajesh Sethi has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer with sports broadcaster Taj Television. Taj Television, that broadcasts five sports channels in India, is a fully-owned subsidiary of Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Sethi, in his new role, will manage the sports business and report to Punit Goenka, Managing Director and CEO, ZEEL.
Jasravee Kaur Chandra has joined JWT India as Vice-President, Planning. Earlier, Kaur was with Rediffusion-Y&R as head of planning for FMCG brands. She will continue to be based in Mumbai.
Umesh Shrikhande has joined the Dentsu India Group as the new chief executive officer of Taproot India. In his most recent agency role, he was CEO of Contract Advertising India, a position now occupied by Rana Barua, albeit as Chief Operating Officer.
Brandmovers India a full-service digital creative agency, has bagged the social media account of MTS India. The appointment is the result of a multi-stage pitch process that saw participation from 19 leading social media agencies of the country.
Creativeland Asia has bagged the media duty rights for MTS, the mobile network owned by Sistema Shyam Teleservices. Rediffusion-Y&R was the incumbent agency. Creativeland’s mandate is to develop strategy and communications for MTS and all its offerings in every circle. It will handle the brand’s mainline, below-the-line, and digital media requirements for the Indian market.
. Bates CHI & Partners has been signed on by telecom operator Uninor to handle its creative mandate. Leo Burnett India was the incumbent agency on the creative duties of Uninor till now.
abm Communication has been chosen to handle the creative duties of South Indian specialty restaurant chain Sagar Ratna. The agency will start off by creating a new logo, look and feel for the brand. The brand’s outlets will also undergo transformation to attract a younger crowd and will sport a modern, young look.
Madison Media has bagged Piramal Healthcare’s media duties after winning a multi-agency pitch that saw participation from other agencies like OMD and Havas Media. The size of the account is pegged at Rs 70 crore. The account will be handled by the Mumbai branch of the agency.
