Notion No 1: Small, non-cast film - no star power won't be able to draw in audiences. Notion No 2: Small Film - muted overseas response. Same old story as people will watch it only on DVDs and the internet. Peepli Live, the small-budget (Rs 10 crore) movie with a first-time director and a satirical comedy about farmer suicides blew ...

It's a judgement that was long awaited. Radio stations are heaving a big sigh of relief as the Copyright Board has passed a judgement which states that radio broadcasters and music companies will follow a revenue sharing model - as done internationally. The new rule entails that radio stations will pay 2 per cent of their net revenues as music ...

Once again, speaking to both mothers and children, Britannia has launched a new commercial for its popular brand of glucose biscuits, Tiger. The commercial suggests that young India would make progress by eating what's 'right'. The TVC opens in a school playground, where chief guest is speaking about the fact that the future of the country lies in the hands ...

Gerson da Cunha has been a journalist, advertising and marketing man, film and theatre person. Over cups of tea at his home in Churchgate, Mumbai, he picks out moments that transformed his professional life. It was 1954 and I was a journalist in PTI-Reuters, my first job, where I had worked for five years. Waiting for a friend in the ...

With a slew of new shows being launched on various GECs, each one wants to stand out from the clutter when it comes to promotions. A new ambient campaign by Zee is noteworthy in this respect. For its new show, Sanjog Se Bani Sangini, Zee TV has branded seats in 100 BEST buses in Mumbai. The innovation involves installing an ...

Rameet Arora, Sr. Director, Marketing, McDonald's India - (South & West) I must confess I'm a fiction junkie but something about Chetan Bhagat's books had simply put me off any attempt to read them. That's not entirely true any more. I just finished reading 2 States and surprisingly enjoyed it. I'm told the story is inspired by the author's own ...

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) will soon introduce a new set of advertising guidelines for the educational sector. The new advertising content guidelines will apply to ads of all educational institutions, coaching classes and educational programmes. The draft of the guidelines has been put up for review, feedback and suggestions on ASCI's official website. Based on the feedback ...

While Pepsi continues to add nuances to its Youngistaan positioning, keeping in line with the global communication, the first commercial for Pepsi Max - the beverage giant's latest offering for the Indian market - takes the madness quotient to the next level. An adaptation of one of the Pepsi Max commercials launched in the US last year by CLM BBDO, ...

Domino's is back on the advertising circuit - this time for conveying the launch of two new products - Mexican Wrap and Italian Pasta. The brand continues with its Khushiyon ki home delivery positioning, which it established two years ago. However, according to Dev Amritesh, senior vice-president, marketing, Domino's Pizza India, the task this time round was slightly different. Usually, ...

For Deepesh Jha who recently took over the reins as the creative head at Lowe Lintas Delhi, getting into advertising was totally unplanned. Hailing from an army background, it was no surprise when, close to the end of schooling, his father said, "You'd better give National Defence Academy (NDA) a shot." Jha, who graduated in Science, cleared the Sashastra Seema ...

The general entertainment channel (GEC) Sony and kids channel Pogo are set to extend their favourite properties CID and Chhota Bheem beyond television. Sony has plans of coming out with comics based on its most popular show CID. Ajit Thakur, business head, Sony Entertainment Television (SET), shares that the channel is in talks with various parties for the launch of ...

There is a popular proverb in Gujarati. "Jya na phoche ravi (Sun), tya phoche kavi (Poet) ane jya na phoche kavi tya phoche Gujarati." It means that a poet will reach where the sun will not, a Gujarati will reach where even the poet will not. Gujaratis are well known for their successful exploits in far away lands since centuries. ...

Who doesn't love flipping through a photo album? Going through old pictures and memorabilia always brings up warm memories. Lifestyle store Shoppers Stop gave its customers a chance to walk down memory lane recently at the re-launch of its first ever store that was set up in Andheri, Mumbai in 1991. Shoppers Stop is, as the brand calls itself, 'the ...

Andhra Pradesh (AP) is witness to a new form of advertising these days, as PepsiCo tries out 'augmented reality (AR) advertising' or 'ARvertising' for its 7Up brand. Augmented reality involves the addition of virtual elements to the real environment. Virtual elements could include computer-generated images, video clips or textual information pulled from the internet while the real environment includes elements ...

The second round table conference by afaqs! Events discussed the challenges faced in marketing telecom. The conference was moderated by Anirban Chaudhuri, V-P, strategic planning, Dentsu Communications and saw panellists such as Ritesh Ghoshal, head, marketing communication, Tata Docomo-- Neeraj Sanan, marketing head, MCCS-- Arun Sharma, DGM, marketing and head, media, Airtel-- and Mohit Joshi, executive director, North, MPG. Hitting ...

Reliance Broadcast Network and CBS Studios have entered into a JV which will launch three English entertainment channels in India to begin with. Reliance Broadcast Network (part of the ADA Group) and CBS Studios International (part of CBS Corporation) shook hands officially at a press announcement recentlyto form a new entity which will be called Big-CBS Network. The nature of ...

In order to strengthen brand Volkswagen's core value, 'innovation', the brand makes a loud corporate statement through a country-wide campaign titled 'Innovations for Everyone'. Innovation happens to be one of the three main assets that the brand stands for-- the other two are 'responsibility' and 'value'. The target group (TG) of this campaign is essentially the young and progressive urbanite, ...

Furthering its brand philosophy of taking a break from daily chores by consuming the product, Nestle's Kit Kat has launched a new ad campaign to extend the brand thought. The new campaign for the brand urges youngsters to celebrate the present and notice the fun events in their surroundings. Nestle Kit Kat was launched in India in 1995 and was ...

Months after buying over DBS Cholamandalam Asset Management (DCAM), Larsen & Toubro (L&T), in February 2010, launched its asset management company (AMC) and took the plunge into the mutual fund business. Now, taking a step forward on the creative front, the company has launched a new ad campaign. The objective of the communication is to establish the mutual fund arm ...

First, heads burst into chocolate and now, Eclairs makes you explode into your fantastic world of 'psychedelia'. The latest TV commercial of Cadbury Dairy Milk Eclairs, called the Psychedelia commercial, talks of getting further lost in the experience of eating the candy. Created by Contract Advertising, the film takes forward the Meetha Bomb campaign, which showed people getting completely lost ...

Learning in an environment specially tailored to suit your needs sure must be fun, especially in a classroom where you call the shots. Tata Sky is promoting its interactive educational services with a similar thought in its Badalte India ke badalte classrooms campaign. Popularising interactive services on television, Tata Sky has covered a gamut of areas, with special focus on ...

The next time a friend asks for a 'treat', the word should not be all that dreaded, says fast food giant, McDonald's. Continuing with its communication around the value for money, the latest commercial takes forward the Happy Price Menu concept. Best food at value prices has been the brand's chosen promise for some time now. While last year's communication ...

Ask a mobile marketer and the answer to that question will invariably be a resounding 'Yes'. The advantage with mobile advertising is that advertisers and service providers just need to use their customer information database rationally. That's a goldmine - provided the customer wants to receive the ads. Mobile ads can reach over 400 million people in India. With its ...

In a bid to aim for the larger pie-- Pix has decided to change its focus from being a premium English movie channel known for airing classic Hollywood movies-- to one that airs current blockbusters. In fact-- the shift began last year-- when the channel aired Slumdog Millionaire. Talking about the new strategy-- Pix business head-- Sunder Aaron says-- "It's ...

Marcel Fenez-- the global entertainment and media leader-- PWC provides strategic business advice to media companies-- specifically on market entry into developing economies such as India and China. He is also the current elected chairman of the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA). At Cannes-- where he was a speaker-- he took out time to talk to afaqs!Reporter ...