Rishi Vora

rishi@exchange4media.com @Rishi Vora

The face of the Indian financial sector is changing, which is well reflected in the offerings of banks in the country today. The sector is not only offering core-banking solutions to customers, but is also offering services that act as ‘wealth managers’. Experts believe that it is the cutting-edge technology solutions that are helping bankers and fund managers in making optimum use of available opportunities and resources.

Rishi Vora Jan 10, 2008 6:35 AM

The ongoing India-Australia cricket series has infuriated Indian cricket fans, with Steve Bucknor’s umpiring and the ban (pending an appeal) on Harbhajan Singh drawing much flak. However, media planners feel that the controversy augurs for ESPN-STAR Sports, with more viewers now following the series. It also means good news for advertisers who have already booked their airtime spaces for the series.

Rishi Vora Jan 9, 2008 6:31 AM

With the recent release of the Kurkure Xtreme and Kinetic Flyte commercials, it seems that the trend of spoofs in advertising has taken off again. Several ads in the past have had reasonable success in quickly grabbing consumers’ attention. The industry consensus is that such spoofing strategies usually failed in building brands of quality, and that such commercials communicated the lack of creative ideas.

Rishi Vora Jan 8, 2008 6:40 AM

In a recently held interactive session between the Advertising Standards Council of India, Government officials and Jean Pierre Teyssier, President, European Advertising Standards Alliance, many areas regarding self- and co-regulation in advertising were discussed. The session stressed on the need to have credible juries and comprehensive national codes to ensure no violation of set standards within the advertising industry.

Rishi Vora Jan 7, 2008 6:53 AM

The Advertising Standards Council of India recently organised an interactive session with Jean Pierre Teyssier, President, European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA), along with officials from the I&B Ministry. The panel discussed the importance of self- and co-regulation as a tool for responsible commercial communication.

Rishi Vora Jan 5, 2008 6:42 AM

Thought Blurb, an agency that began its operations in March 2007, has put up a good show during the year. The Mumbai-based agency won a Gold at the Montreal Awards and a Silver for its Baskin Robbins campaign at the International Advertising Awards.

Rishi Vora Dec 29, 2007 6:32 AM

Everest Brand Solutions has bagged the creative duties for the ACC Cement account in a multi-agency pitch. Industry sources close to the development inform that the account size is in the range of Rs 10-12 crore. The incumbent agency is Lowe. OMS remains the media agency for the brand.

Rishi Vora Dec 28, 2007 6:42 AM

After two years of rivalry, AAAI and the Ad Club of Bombay have joined hands for a single award for the advertising industry under Abbys. Following this development, the Abbys would be given away at GoaFest 2008. This time there would Media Abbys on April 4, 2008 and Creative Abbys on April 5, 2008.

Rishi Vora Dec 24, 2007 5:56 AM

Sonal Dabral is back in India to take charge of Bates David Enterprise’s India operations. He will have a dual role as Regional Executive Creative Director Asia Pacific and India Chairman, Bates David Enterprise. Dabral shares with exchange4media his plans to take Bates to the world stage.

Rishi Vora Dec 22, 2007 6:47 AM

The 7th M.AD Quiz, organised by the Advertising Club of Bombay on December 18, saw a dramatic end with Sun Microsystems emerging victorious. It is for the first time since the quiz show was initiated that a client participant won against media and advertising agencies. Sun Microsystems won with 17 points, followed by Leo Burnett, Bates, JWT and IMRB at second, third, fourth and fifth places, respectively.

Rishi Vora Dec 19, 2007 6:06 AM

The Association of Indian Magazines (AIM) recently met in Mumbai to discuss various issues pertaining to the magazine business in India. It is for the first time that AIM organised such an industry meet in Mumbai. AIM members decided to form a committee for readership issues, and have also unveiled plans to appoint a senior level bureaucrat for co-coordinating ministerial activities for non-Delhi based publications.

Rishi Vora Dec 19, 2007 6:03 AM

Throughout the year they have been busy coming up with the best advertising and media solutions for their clients, now Bombay Ad club has another challenge lined up for the advertising and media fraternity with its M.AD Quiz, scheduled to commence on December 18, 2007.

Rishi Vora Dec 18, 2007 6:21 AM

Nexia Technologies has introduced Cellmagix, a new distribution channel via mobile phones. The Cellmagix software enables consumers to receive desired content on their mobile devices via the Bluetooth technology. Cellmagix opens up new vistas of free, fast and user desired content delivery to mobile handsets.

Rishi Vora Dec 17, 2007 6:52 AM

When India was going ga-ga over the next leap in the Internet domain with the advent of Web 2.0, several Net experts were skeptical about the viability of an Indian Web 2.0 business model. Now, with the entry of several Indian websites in the Web 2.0 space, exchange4media does a reality check on the country’s standing in the world, and finds that it hasn’t fared all that poorly.

Rishi Vora Dec 17, 2007 6:40 AM

After a good run in 2007, Times Now looks to grow further in 2008. The channel plans to have an intensive coverage on the India-Australia cricket series, followed by the Union Budget in the first two months of the New Year.

Rishi Vora Dec 17, 2007 6:33 AM

NextGen Publishing will be launching ‘Mother and Baby’, a UK-based parenting magazine from the EMAP Group, by the end of March 2008. The magazine would be priced at Rs 50.

Rishi Vora Dec 15, 2007 6:03 AM

The One Show Exhibition has come to India for the first time and has attracted the who’s who of Indian advertising. Organised by Bindass, exchange4media and advertising, media and communication institute FMCC, the Exhibition that celebrates some of the best works in advertising across the world, got underway in Mumbai on December 11.

Rishi Vora Dec 12, 2007 6:06 AM

Mobile is proving to be a promising device for social networking. With the trend catching up internationally, India is, however, lagging behind due to higher cost of Internet browsing applications, poor network and inadequate bandwidth on mobile phones.

Rishi Vora Dec 11, 2007 6:59 AM

Makaan.com, the online real estate portal from People Group, has launched a Clickpay service, particularly designed keeping in mind the requirements of property brokers in the country.

Rishi Vora Dec 10, 2007 6:25 AM

‘People’ magazine, a Time Inc. product, which is being brought to India by Outlook Group, has roped in Saira Menezes as Editor. Menezes, who has an experience of 17 years in journalism, would be joining in the early part of 2008. Prior to this move, she was Editor of ‘The Emirates Evening Post’, a daily in the UAE.

Rishi Vora Dec 10, 2007 6:14 AM

‘People’ magazine, a Time Inc. product, which is being brought to India by Outlook Group, has roped in Saira Menezes as Editor. Meneze

Rishi Vora Dec 7, 2007 5:10 PM

The India Business Leader Awards 2007, organised by CNBC TV, which will be held in Mumbai later this week, will feature a debate titled ‘SWOT’ that would discuss and draw a complete diagnosis of India as a nation today. K V Kamath, Gurucharan Das, R Seshasayee and Ram Chandra Guha are some of the well-known names that would take part in this debate.

Rishi Vora Dec 6, 2007 6:59 AM

BEI Confluence has roped in Santosh Menon as COO for its Mumbai and Bangalore operations, following the resignation of Kiran Vernekar, who held the same position. Menon will be based in Mumbai and would report to Managing Director Tapas Gupta.

Rishi Vora Dec 5, 2007 6:38 AM

Social networking has been gaining tremendous popularity in India with social networking site Orkut even being declared the Pepsi-MTV youth icon for 2007. However, despite growing number of users, advertising spends on social networking sites in India remain low. But experts see this scenario changing in time.

Rishi Vora Dec 3, 2007 6:31 AM

The first ever India Gaming Summit on November 28 in Mumbai brought together Indian and international stalwarts to discuss the dynamics of booming gaming industry in India. The Summit was organised by Zapak Digital Entertainment Ltd, and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI).

Rishi Vora Nov 29, 2007 6:21 AM

‘The Economist’ has roped in O&M as its creative agency for its upcoming campaign to be launched by March 2008. The account size is estimated to be around Rs 3-5 crore. The magazine’s move to roll out a campaign in India has come with its plan to increase its circulation from 17,000 to 50,000 over a period of two years.

Rishi Vora Nov 29, 2007 6:19 AM

Peter Eustace, TV Editor-Economics and Business Centre, BBC World, and Karishma Vaswani, Presenter, ‘India Business Report’, and Mumbai Business Correspondent for BBC World, shared their views on India as an emerging nation and its impact on global economy, in a round table conference with media representatives in Mumbai. The conference was conducted in reference to BBC World’s India-specific programme ‘India Business Report’ that was launched in August this year.

Rishi Vora Nov 28, 2007 6:15 AM

Piracy, lower distribution in smaller cities and towns, decreasing business revenues in home entertainment and films were some of the issues that dominated the concluding day of the two-day Big Picture Conference 2007, held at Goa.

Rishi Vora Nov 24, 2007 6:13 AM

At the Big Picture Conference 2007, the journey of the entertainment business in India to the era of digitalisation, where interactivity in cinema has gained significant importance, was discussed at length. The two-day conference in Goa, which commenced on November 22, has been organised by the Confederation of India Industries (CII).

Rishi Vora Nov 23, 2007 6:37 AM

Digital Signage Asia 2007, the first expo and convention for the digitalised media industry, kicked off in Mumbai on November 21, with eminent professionals from India and abroad sharing their views on the future of the medium.

Rishi Vora Nov 22, 2007 6:18 AM