Marketing review

BBC World intensifies focus on Indian market
As news television hots up, BBC World has increased its focus on India. The channel is now planning to separate the feed to India and increase regional focus.

The channel is also undertaking a month-long promotion that will include advertising in cinema halls, interactive contests and on-ground events. The channel has managed to get a number of Indian advertisers including local brands to buy spots on BBC.

BBC has no plans to become a pay channel in the Indian market in the near future. Internationally, the channel charges a subscription fee, but the increasing competition has prompted it to remain free-to-air.

Nestle launches 'wholewheat' variant of Maggi noodles Nestle India has launched Maggi Vegetable Atta Noodles, containing "whole wheat and vegetables".

According to the company, the new Maggi variant is targeted at consumers who want to include health and wellness in their food in a convenient manner. The company says the product has been developed to address the concern that children as well as adults lack sufficient fibre in their diet.

According to Nestle each 100 gm pack of Maggi Vegetable Atta Noodles provides nutrition (energy, fiber, protein and calcium) equivalent to three rotis.

Ten Sports is now part of OneAlliance bouquet
Ten Sports is now part of the OneAlliance distribution bouquet of Sony Entertainment Television and Discovery.

Ten Sports said that given the strength of OneAlliance distribution team on the ground, this is a step in the right direction for the channel.

The Channel broadcasts cricket from Sharjah, the West Indies, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Morocco throughout the Indian sub-continent and Asia (except Pakistan), as well as in Europe and the Middle East.

Taj Leisure Hotels to tie-up with domestic airlines
Taj Leisure Hotels is tying up with Indian Airlines, Jet Airways and Air Sahara for holiday packages for domestic tourists at key Taj destinations comprising 24 hotels.

Apart from a luxurious stay, guests can participate in a variety of activities. The company has just launched its new advertising campaign, `Finding Heaven'.

The Taj Group has also upgraded and modernised a number of its properties. The Taj Green Cove Resort Kovalam now has 18 deluxe floating cottages.

Pepsi plans music video for new campaign
Pepsi will soon launch a new advertising campaign for Pepsi, with a new tagline 'Oey Bubbly'.

Articulating the philosophy behind the tagline, Yeh Pyaas Hai Badi the ad features Shah Rukh Khan and animation characters created by Studio Glassworks, London and music provided by musical team Ehsaan, Loy and Shankar.

According to the company, the new ad campaign reiterates Pepsi's youthful positioning, and conveys the thirst consumers have for Pepsi. The theme Oey Bubbly has a number of activities around it from all possible platforms - music, radio, TV, Internet and eateries.

As part of the new campaign, Pepsi is bringing out a music video titled Oey Bubbly! - the Bubbly Grind, featuring Amitabh Bachchan, Preity Zinta, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Irfan Pathan, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan and Mohammad Kaif and has tied up with Universal Music to cut music cassettes and CDs of this video.

ONGC enters retail market; offers discounts
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has entered the petroleum retailing business with its brand OVaL ONGC has also opened its first retail outlet for petrol and diesel.

ONGC entry is likely to flag off a discount war as it is offering petrol and diesel at a discount hidden as loyalty discounts, with maximum savings for those who buy the most from ONGC's outlets.

According to the scheme offered by ONGC, car owners driving into an OVaL outlet will get a one-time discount of Re1 per litre of petrol and 50paise per litre of diesel. On repeat visits buyers will get a discount of 50paise for every litre of petrol purchased till they reach the 250-litre mark.

The discount increases progressively thereafter with a maximum of Re1 for every litre once the 551-litre mark is crossed. The best part of this is that they will be eligible for the discount even if they enrol in a particular OVaL outlet but shift thereafter to another OVaL outlet anywhere in the country.

OvaL outlets have been designed by the National Institute of Design. Every outlet will feature a convenience store and other utilities such as tyres, lubricants and ATMs.

O&M tops in awards at Asian Adfest
Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency received seven gold, 12 silver and 24 bronzes medals at the Asian Adfest awards held last week, according to a press release.

O&M Hong Kong received an award for the Best Young Creative Team of the Year while OgilvyOne, Mumbai won two silvers and a bronze for work on the Cancer Patients Aid Association campaign. OgilvyOne and O&M Bangalore won bronzes for IBM Drop Box's campaign for Active Protection System and for the outdoor advertisement for IBM Think Pad Notebooks.

O&M wins Bombay Ad Club award 6th time running
For the sixth year in a row Ogilvy & Mather (O&M) received the award for the Most Creative Agency by the Advertising Club of Bombay at its 38th Abby Awards held here.

O&M bagged 26 awards, including 7 gold, 16 silver, two special gold and one special silver, a total of 41 points. Rediffusion DYR followed with seven awards and Everest Integrated Communications with five awards. Both shared eight points each.

The advertiser of the year award was shared by telecom major Hutchison Max and Pidilite Industries followed by Bombay Chemicals. Perfetti Van Melle India came third in the race for this category.

Hutch-Network 2004 campaign created by O&M bagged the golden Abby for the campaign of the year, while the Tortoise Mosquito Coil campaign from Everest Integrated Campaign received a silver award.

In outdoor advertising category, McCann Erickson received the gold for the Big Babool billboard and Ambience Publicis won the silver for Sanctuary Asia Lonely tree ad.

O&M also bagged both silver and gold for best continuing campaigns. While the Fevicol campaign was honoured with a golden Abby, Amaron Batteries claymation campaign was given the silver.

Airtel readies 'Showdown' between Shah Rukh and Sachin
Airtel will soon begin airing `Showdown', a new TV campaign featureing Shah Rukh Khan and Sachin Tendulkar, conceptualised on the lines of Hollywood blockbuster, Gangs of New York.

The campaign features Shah Rukh and Tendulkar leading their respective gangs for a showdown. The ad ends with both of them inviting subscribers to join their respective teams.

Both pre-paid and post paid subscribers can participate in the contest and the participants will be selected based on the usage of their mobile phone.

According to the company the promotion would enable 300 AirTel subscribers to participate in a one-day series of action sports with Tendulkar and Khan.

Sania Mirza to endorse Tata Indicom brand
Tata Indicom has signed up tennis icon Sania Mirza as its brand ambassador and plans to launch limited edition Signature Series handsets called Sania Fone, with attractive features.

According to the company, Tata Indicom is a youthful and energetic brand and Sania reflects these qualities and her association with Tata Indicom personifies brand identity. The company sees young people as a big market and the launch of Signature Fones is one such effort to connect with this segment.

The company has also signed up Saurav Ganguly as its brand ambassador for the Signature Series, and launched the Saurav Fone in the both post-paid as well as pre-paid segments across 20 circles.

The Sania Fone is priced at Rs4,999 while the Saurav Fone is available for Rs2,999. The signature handsets are supported by cricket and tennis contests and have other features such as wallpapers, favourite ringtones, live cricket scores and interactive cricket services.

Spicy Butter Milk' launched
The Bangalore-based packaged food company, Balan Natural Food (B natural), has launched `Spicy Butter Milk' under the brand name `B Natural'.

The butter-milk is available in Tetra Paks priced at Rs8 for a 200-ml pack of B natural low-fat buttermilk.

Earlier the company had launched Miruna Yo, a low-fat yoghurt drink, which is said to be performing well. The company plans to launch 12 flavours in yoghurt category by the end of the year.

— Compiled by Mohini Bhatnagar