Bhaskar Group is all set to launch its Hindi business daily with Yatish Rajawat, formerly of Businessworld, as Editor. Rajiv Jaitly, President, Ad Sales, Dainik Bhaskar, has confirmed that the Group is in the process of launching a Hindi business daily, but refused to divulge further details. According to industry sources, the paper would be launched soon with an initial print run of 2 lakh copies.

Rishi Vora May 1, 2008 8:14 AM

HPCL has empanelled Leo Burnett, Mudra and JWT to handle its entire communication mix. Earlier this year, HPCL had called for a pitch for which 10 agencies were contacted. Following the pitch, JWT and Mudra were retained, while Leo Burnett replaced O&M among the empanelled agencies.

Rishi Vora Apr 29, 2008 8:06 AM

Wire & Wireless, the a cable television company of Zee Network Enterprise, which currently has its services in Mumbai, Delhi, Lucknow and Ludhiana, has strengthened its presence by recently rolling out their services in Bangalore. Given the expansion plans, Wire & Wireless has felt the need to present its SITI brand in different manner and has embarked on a re-branding exercise.

Rishi Vora Apr 24, 2008 8:06 AM

Sanjay Sipahimalani, popularly known as Sanjay ‘Sippy’ in the industry, has put in his papers at Vyas Giannetti Creative as Executive Creative Director. Confirming the news, Sippy has said that he is joining Bates David Enterprise in a similar capacity.

Rishi Vora Apr 23, 2008 7:46 AM

The inaugural DLF IPL Tournament got off to a spectacular start. Given the huge stakes involved, the League is being keenly observed by advertising and media professionals. In order to better understand the Twenty20 format and IPL, TAM Media Research has come up with some data reflecting the latest trends in viewership pattern of cricket in India.

Rishi Vora Apr 21, 2008 8:05 AM

The One Show 2008 shortlist has been announced. The shortlist is a semi-finalist list. India’s prospects look better this year with 38 entries across 18 categories making it to this semi-finalist list. In all, 11 Indian agencies have made it to the shortlist. Last year at the One Show, though India’s Contract Advertising had won a Pencil, on an overall basis there wasn’t much to cheer about.

Rishi Vora Apr 16, 2008 8:35 AM

Ranjit Rajshekhar, Head of Marketing, Neo Sports, has put in his papers. He had joined Neo Sports in September 2006 and was instrumental in launching the brand. At Neo Sports, he was reporting to Shashi Kalathil, but after Kalathil left the company, Rajshekhar was reporting to Harish Thawani, Chairman of the company.

Rishi Vora Apr 16, 2008 8:16 AM

The Gunn Report for Media has been released and India is placed at a high 5th position after the US, the UK, Germany and Spain. Indian media agencies have fared much better than the creative agencies as per the Gunn Report 2007, which places India at the 14th position.

Rishi Vora Apr 11, 2008 8:10 AM

‘BBC Good Homes’, a UK-based magazine, has been launched in India by Worldwide Media. The Indian edition will target the urban homemaker and would be high on décor and style, with a pulse on home interiors and lifestyle.

Rishi Vora Apr 9, 2008 8:04 AM

Creative ideas have no boundaries, they can strike anytime, and to anybody and at any place. A great idea can give brands the required impetus to explore new heights. This was what Steven Gatfield, CEO, Lowe Worldwide, had to share in his session at GoaFest 2008.

Rishi Vora Apr 7, 2008 8:07 AM

Day three at GoaFest 2008 saw some more international advertising experts share their gyan and gumption. And amid all the fun and frolic, they managed to capture the audience’s attention. On such expert was Shiela Byfield, Global Director-Insights, Mindshare Worldwide, who talked about the ‘Bluring Effect’ of the media landscape as a trend happening across the world.

Rishi Vora Apr 7, 2008 8:05 AM

The first day of GoaFest 2008 saw some fun, frolic along with some insightful thoughts from well-known names from the world of international advertising. One speaker that enthralled who gathering was Kevin Swanepoel, President, One Club, who took the audience through one of the best pieces of work produced for the Internet in both viral and banner advertising.

Rishi Vora Apr 5, 2008 8:45 AM

It’s a common phenomenon in the Indian advertising and media industry that value options are delivered differently at the same time on the same media. Well-known industry names such as Paritosh Joshi of Star India, R Gowthaman of Mindshare, Tarun Katial of Big FM, Pearl Uppal of Yahoo!, and Hemant Malik of ITC constituted the panel that discussed issues regarding costs and measurement metrics.

Rishi Vora Apr 4, 2008 7:58 AM

Brand and the value proposition; quantifying the worth of an idea; and market prioritisation were some of the issues addressed at the Advertising Conclave at GoaFest 2008. Eminent names like Saugata Gupta of Marico, Lowe’s Balki, Sameer Nair of NDTV Imagine, Vikram Sakhuja of GroupM and Madhukar Kamath, President, AAAI deliberated on these issues and more during the session.

Rishi Vora Apr 4, 2008 7:57 AM

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has recently announced new guidelines on advertisement for automotive vehicles. The decision to bring these guidelines has come following the numerous complaints received by the advertising body about ads featuring dangerous and unsafe driving.

Rishi Vora Mar 31, 2008 7:58 AM

Abby Awards at GoaFest 2008 has seen an upsurge in the quality of all entries except for ‘Radio and Radio Craft’ category. Though the exact number of entries in the respective categories could not be ascertained, it is known that out of a total of 3,800 entries, over 1,200 are for ‘Print and Print Category’, and around 1,300 for OOH. There are around 185 entries for ‘Films’ and 380 entries for the Radio category.

Rishi Vora Mar 31, 2008 7:57 AM

IPL. ICL, cricket and some more cricket dominated the session on ‘Sports: The big entertainment options’. First came Kerry Packer’s so-called ‘Pyjama Cricket’, then day and night matches, and now the Twenty20 format. From a serious game, cricket is increasingly assuming an entertainment format. The sparring by Ajay Jadeja and Lalit Modi further enlivened a lively discussion.

Rishi Vora Mar 28, 2008 11:50 AM

IPL. ICL, cricket and some more cricket dominated the session on ‘Sports: The big entertainment options’. First came Kerry Packer’s so-called ‘Pyjama Cricket’, then day and night matches, and now the Twenty20 format. From a serious game, cricket is increasingly assuming an entertainment format. The sparring by Ajay Jadeja and Lalit Modi further enlivened a lively discussion.

Rishi Vora Mar 27, 2008 5:08 PM

What’s holding back the domestic film and entertainment industry from competing with the best in the word when it comes to post-production aspects like visual effects, 3D content, animation, etc? Is it the lack of talent pool or is it the lack of saleable content? Whatever be the reasons, the fact is that post-production is an area that the domestic industry needs some catching up, if it is compete with the West.

Rishi Vora Mar 27, 2008 5:07 PM

When successful Indian filmmakers took the dais at Day 2 of FICCI Frames 2008, several questions were raised on what works the best in filmmaking. The only answer that came up from the overly-heated discussion was that the business of filmmaking is intricate, and that nobody knows what works the best at the Box Office.

Rishi Vora Mar 26, 2008 7:31 PM