Date-wise News

Sara Lee has consolidated its roughly $200 million media buying and planning account with Publicis Groupe's Starcom USA, a unit of Starcom MediaVest Group, Chicago, without a review, the marketer said. Starcom was one of seven agencies handling the company's various food, apparel, beverage and household products brands. Starcom previously handled Jimmy Dean, Sara Lee, Ball Park, Barely There and Playtex brands.

exchange4media Staff Jan 31, 2004 6:56 AM

It’s Swiss knife-maker Victorinox’ salute to the martial tradition of Sikhs. For the first time, in a product initiative aimed at any religious community, Victorinox is planning to have a world launch of a range of Khalsa merchandise, including kirpans, on the eve of Baisakhi on April 13. Victorinox has also jumped onto the bandwagon of India’s ‘feel good’ campaigners with the roll out of products bearing ‘India Shining’ logo.

exchange4media Staff Jan 31, 2004 6:54 AM

Maruti Udyog Ltd, India’s largest carmaker, has announced yet another round of price cut in the A3 segment (cars in the price range of Rs 5-7 lakh). The diesel versions of its mid-size car Esteem will now cost Rs 38,000 less at Rs 483,573 (ex-showroom, Delhi) while the car with power steering will carry sport a price tag of Rs 509,143.

exchange4media Staff Jan 31, 2004 6:54 AM

LG Electronics India Ltd is putting a major thrust on employee training during the current year. The Indian arm of the Korean chaebol will be setting up two training academies in Kolkata and Pune to pep up its offline training initiatives. At LG, offline training involves classroom coaching and the two new academies will be aimed at imparting hands-on training to the company’s own after-sales service engineers as well as to the engineers and marketing staff of service dealers and sub-dealers.

exchange4media Staff Jan 31, 2004 6:53 AM

India stands at 2 sq ft per capita of retail space. Dubai stands at 6 and the United States stands at 23. In the next 36 months, Dubai is projected to touch the US figure. In the same time frame, India will move to 3 sq ft. Going by the figures, the potential in India for organised retailing is enormous. And certainly there are players who expanding to establish a footprint in the unchartered territory.

exchange4media Staff Jan 31, 2004 6:52 AM

News channels now are not only airing events as they happen, but also talking about entertainment. In a bid to differentiate programmes and break out of the clutter, these channels are experimenting with the entertainment genre. Aaj Tak, for example, has launched a new show hosted by film star Jaaved Jaaferi called JBC (Javed Broadcasting Corporation). NDTV has a puppet show called Gustaki Maaf, which spoofs important events, while others such as Sahara and Star News have also introduced the entertainment element by taking viewers to birthday and wedding parties, discos and other social events. Besides, there are shows on health, cookery and home décor on various news channels.

exchange4media Staff Jan 31, 2004 6:51 AM

Reliance Infocomm will launch its code division multiple access (CDMA) prepaid card services under the Reliance India Mobile (RIM) brand name on February 4. During a webcast address to company employees on Friday, Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), said that RIM will target a 10 million subscriber base by the end of May. The RIM services were launched in May last year.

exchange4media Staff Jan 31, 2004 6:50 AM

To honour excellence in the Punjabi music industry, ETC Channel has announced Punjabi Music Awards 2004. The annual awards will cover 24 different categories of the music industry from singing, writing, composing to choreography and music video direction. The award categories range from Best Pop Vocalist to Pop Album, Folk-Pop Singer, Video, to Best Religious Album.

exchange4media Staff Jan 31, 2004 6:49 AM

Tata group chairman Ratan N Tata is Business Standard’s CEO of the Year. The award goes to him for scripting a turnaround at several group majors, including Tata Motors and Tata Steel. Three years ago, Tata Motors incurred a net loss of Rs 500 crore. Last year, it reported a net profit of Rs 300 crore. Today, the Indica is the highest selling car in the B segment.

exchange4media Staff Jan 31, 2004 6:48 AM

The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) in its soon-to-be released report has blamed the ministry of health and family welfare for acting in haste and causing panic amongst the public by issuing the draft notification for revision of pesticides limit in beverages. It has also questioned the ministry for not involving the Central Committee on Food Standards (CCFS), a statutory committee, for laying down the standards for food items.

exchange4media Staff Jan 31, 2004 6:47 AM

Hutch has unveiled its brand in Haryana with a promise of world class mobile telephony through improved network quality, customer care initiatives and a range of value added services. The company has reiterated its commitment of Rs 125 crore till the end of 2004 for these initiatives.

exchange4media Staff Jan 31, 2004 6:46 AM

The eagerly awaited results of the New York Festival are out — RMG David has bagged a Bronze for its ad film titled Missing Bar for One plus Gold Capsules. Though, it was already known that the agency would bag a medal – the announcement of the Bronze has added to the joy and excitement. Amit Nandwani, Senior Copywriter, RMG David wrote the script, while Prasad Raghvan, for whom it was a debut, directed the film. Josy Paul, Country Head & National Creative Director was the driving force behind the 45 second ad film.

exchange4media Staff Jan 31, 2004 6:46 AM

“BPL is most often associated with trust. We want to build on this trust and make it an innovative, hi-tech, fun filled brand in the consumer durables section. We have trust as our platform and want to grow beyond it, as trust in the consumer durables section is hygiene: good product, good distribution, good brand. But when a consumer goes out to buy, he has to see something new all the time.”

exchange4media Staff Jan 31, 2004 12:00 AM

"If you are a public monkey, you are bound to be spanked. No two ways about it."

exchange4media Staff Jan 31, 2004 12:00 AM