TheOneAlliance distribution joint venture of SET India and Discovery Communications, has brought into its fold popular international music channel VH1, which is a sibling of MTV. VH1's agreement with Zee-Turner's distribution ended in August 2007, following which it has decided to move in with its siblings MTV and Nick, which are already part of TheOneAlliance. The joint venture, SET Discovery Private Ltd, has SET India and Discovery Communications as partners since April 2002.
The company presently distributes 15 channels under TheOneAlliance brand to over 61 million homes across 4,000 cities and towns in India. VH1 has a viewership of approximately 20 million households in the country. Other channels that are part of TheOneAlliance include Sony Entertainment Television, SET Max, SAB, SET Pix, AXN, Animax, Discovery, Discovery Travel Living, MTV, Animal Planet, NDTV 24X7, NDTV India, NDTV Profit, Nick and Ten Sports.
Big 92.7FM plans to syndicate its content to Asian FM in the US Seeking to address the 'home' radio station need for the PIO (People of Indian Origin) community in the US, Big 92.7FM is looking at syndicating content to a US based radio station, Asian FM, which has a listener base catering to the South Asian community out there.
This could also prove to be an interesting alternative source of revenue for the station. Asian FM claims to be the only provider of 24 hour programming of Asian music, and wants to include the large Indian community into its listener base, for which it finds content from Big92.7 FM ideally suited.
As part of the agreement, Big FM would provide mainly non-music content to Asian FM, which would include but not be limited to humour, romance, and health, which reflects the contemporary flavour of India. Big92.7 FM expects this to be a huge hit with the large Indian and Pakistani communities of the US, anticipating that people of these communities in the US want to hear a lot more of India, be it humour, devotion, television or Bollywood-related trivia.
With this initiative, Big92.7 FM is seeking seeks to replicate the international non-traditional revenue model, which contributes between 30 to 40 per cent of a station's revenue. Typically, content syndication, events and other on-ground activities for part of these revenue sources.
With this one of a kind deal almost in place, Big92.7 FM is reportedly seeking similar associations in other markets as West Asia, Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia. Launched in 2003, Asian FM is a 24-hour radio station, broadcasting different kinds of Indian music that ranges from Bollywood chart toppers to devotional songs, in addition to local, national and international news, and also covers cricket.
Asian FM now plans to adopt a language specific programming format, with programming in Urdu, Gujarati, Punjabi and Bengali. It reaches the South Asian/PIO population across 5 regions: Long Island (NY), Atlanta (GA), Houston (TX), Detroit (MI), and Chicago (IL). After its February 2007 launch of Asian FM USA, a subscriber-based radio channel on Dish Network (Echostar), Asian FM is available across all of the United States via the satellite service.
These two radio networks are the first Indian-owned networks in the U.S. Kingfisher F1: Marketing, The Vijay Mallya way Since UB Group's acquisition Scottish distiller Whyte Mackay, a move which elevated the group to second place in the global spirits market, chairman Vijay Mallya has most definitely been looking to overtake something and ensure that he is the first to cross the line with the chequered flag.
Spyker Ferrari is most likely what it is. Mallya has decided to get himself a Formula One team, happily investing a cool 90 million over a weekend, and in the process, exponentially expanding marketing opportunities for his flagship brand, Kingfisher. Given his love for fast cars, racehorses, parties, and his trademark flamboyance, a personal F1 team fits like a glove with the rest of Mallya's portfolio.
Mallya estimates that Spyker could pull in 25 million in television revenues next year, and plans to cut costs for the loss making endeavour by relocating some of the research capabilities to India. An Indian team, ideally with an Indian driver - is an almost sureshot route to unlocking untapped marketing potential in a country where half the 1.1 billion population is under the age of 25, a substantial chunk of which keenly follows F1.
TV ratings are set to skyrocket, with potentially every Indian kid tuning into F1, given their ownership in it as a country. If even half of the cricket mania is replicable here, Kingfisher is most definitely home and dry. However, as Kingsher presently adorns Toyota's team as part of a $5-million deal ending next year, it could be some time before Spyker wears the Kingfisher shade of red.
In the interim, other UB group brands could possibly find themselves on the team. As any flyer on Kingfisher airlines would testify, having viewed Vijay Mallya's personal 'welcome aboard' address on the aircraft's in-flight entertainment system, Mallya is all about building brands. The F1 acquisition presented a value-creation opportunity that he possibly couldn't pass up.
Undoubtedly, Indians can expect some style, flamboyance, and pizzazz from Mallya's latest personal endeavour, and of course, can also be sure that he will most definitely make some money off it as well. Italian fashion sportswear brand Kappa launched in Bangalore The Italian fashion sportswear brand Kappa, opened its first store in India in Bangalore earlier this week, accompanied by a theme launch branded, Do the Kappa , which attracted several personalities from the mini metro. Leading Bangalore-based personalities including badminton icon, Prakash Padukone, photographer Waseem Khan and model, designer and entrepreneur Mariam Handa, radio jockeys Chaitanya Hegde and Sheetal Iyer, marathoner Gul Mohammed, Asian Championship medalist and Arjuna Awardee Reeth Abraham, fitness evangelists Shardul and Satya Sinha, and consultant Harish Bijoor with wife Nina.
The brand roped-in Bangalore's who's-who to recreate the unique 40-year old logo, which is showcased as a 'Do the Kappa' wall at the Kappa store, created with pictures of these celebrities, and unveiled by Fazle A Naqvi, executive director, LMG Brands India (P) Ltd. Kappa is recognised across the world thanks to its unmistakable 'Omini' logo. Forty years ago, a photographer during a shoot realised that he had more than just a pretty picture - a shot of a young man and woman sitting back-to-back, which formed the genesis of Kappa's Omini logo.
Commenting on this occasion, Naqvi said, The idea of recreating the Omini logo, 40 years after its birth, was an idea that excited all of us at the Kappa team. The underlying thought was to create a unique 'connect' with our patrons and engage them with the brand in an innovative manner. We are delighted at the support extended by Bangalore's leading personalities and are confident that our youthful consumers will be eager to 'Do the Kappa.
' Internationally, Kappa sponsors various sports disciplines of national football and golf teams, several top-level club sides in rugby, cycling, yachting and motor sports. Most recently, Kappa has become the official apparel partner of the Indian Rugby team. Paramount Airways plans on going west Paramount Airways is considering expanding into the western region through an acquisition, if the right opportunity presents itself.
According to M Thiagarajan, managing director, Paramount Airways, discussions with other airlines to evaluate a possible acquisition are in progress. He also said that in addition to inorganic expansion opportunities, Paramount Airways is also growing organically, and currently claims to control a 26-per cent market share in South India. It plans to expand to the Western region by next year and into the northern region by 2009, with a pan-India presence by 2011.
The company has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with aircraft manufacturer Embraer for procuring around 40 aircraft. Embraer is a leading player in the regional jets category. Infiniti Retail Ltd's Croma gears up for festive-sesaon sales Croma, the Tata Group's chain of electronic and consumer durables outlets, is experimenting with mailing product catalogues containing information on 'deals' and best buys to potential customers.
Infiniti Retail Ltd, the owner of the Croma brand, is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Tata Sons. It has partnered with Australian retail major Woolsworths Ltd to source all the products. Starting September, the new initiative, obviously directed at the festive-buying wave that gathers momentum as a run-up to the Diwali season, will be rolled out in Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad, according to CEO and managing director of Infiniti Retail Ltd.
, Ajit Joshi. Croma's first store in Pune was inaugurated at Ishanya mall, off the Airport road. Joshi said around 70,000 such catalogues are being mailed out across Pune alone, and a second store in Pune is to be launched later at the Krome mall on Solapar Road.
This will take the tally of Croma stores in India to eight. The company plans to roll out 40 stores, which typically cover an area ranging from 10,000 to 20,000 sq ft each, by the end of March 2008, and plans to have 100 stores in Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Baroda, Chennai, Surat, Mumbai, New Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Nashik and Pune with locations at high streets or malls, by March 2010. Croma outlets stock 6,000 products comprising 180 national and international brands under eight categories, viz.
home entertainment, small appliances, white goods, computers and peripherals, communication, music, imaging and gaming. TVS forays into three-wheeler segment; rolls out 7 vehicles TVS Motor Company has launched seven vehicles. Marking its foray into the three-wheeler segment, the new launches include three variants of its new three-wheeler.
The products are expected to be available across the Indian market in a phased manner between October and November this year. Prices will be announced prior to the launch. The launch function was branded Dhoom 7, and was held in its Rs125-crore new three-wheeler plant at Hosur.
Company chairman and managing director Venu Srinivasan announced that the fourth quarter of this fiscal would see a changed TVS with many more aggressive and focused products, and will be marked by a change in the company's fortunes. Rising marketing and input costs had impacted the company's bottom-line last fiscal. The company estimates the automobile industry's continued growth at 12 per cent per annum, given the economy's growth at about 9 per cent.
Srinivasan said that the company has been spending about 3 per cent of sales on R D efforts, and results would be evident in the new vehicles that would sport new technology features developed in-house. The company's three variants of its new three-wheeler include petrol, CNG and LPG versions, sporting two-stroke engines that comply with the emission and noise norms. TVS is working on a four-stroke engine platform, to be launched in about a year.
90 per cent of the market for passenger three-wheelers is polarised in four southern states plus Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Delhi. TVS also rolled out a new 125cc bike christened 'Flame', which is a variant of the StaR City. It also launched an electric variant of Scooty Teenz and the Apache RTR 160 FI in the performance bikes category with electronic fuel injection.
The Flame and the new Apache EFI 160 will serve as technology showcases for TVS. The Flame reportedly sports the country's first three-valve CC VTi (controlled combustion variable timing intelligent) engine, developed in collaboration with AVL of Austria. TVS expects to manufacture about 35,000 units a year.
For the new variant, the Apache RTR 160 has been upgraded to include electronic fuel injection. The EFI technology has enabled TVS to boost peak power of this recently launched bike. The company did not disclose the price differential between the existing and new version, but market sources estimate the differential to be around Rs5,000.
The Scooty Teenz electric vehicle has been built on the same platform as its earlier two-stroke version. The EV sports an imported electric motor, and is expected to be capable of a top speed of 40 kph, with a maximum range of 50 km on a single charge. LG eyes 10 per cent share of the GSM market by 2008 Aimed at cornering a 10-per cent share of the GSM market by 2008, LG Electronics India, the Indian arm of the South Korean electronics giant LG, has unveiled future plans for its mobile business in India, saying that it would target GSM rather than CDMA, as the latter had seen an erosion of its market share due a market inundated with Chinese products.
Additionally, the company plans to use India as an export hub for Middle East and Africa in GSM category. According to managing director and president, South West Asia, Moon B Shin, the company does not think that CDMA is a profitable option in India. In recent months, the company has witnessed shrinking profitability due to low-cost Chinese models.
The company sees GSM as the future growth engine for India, and is looking at being one of the top three players in domestic market. It has put in place a strategy to take on number one Nokia. LG wants to increase its GSM market share from the current 1.
4 per cent to 8-10 per cent by 2008, driven by product leadership, an enhanced distribution network and after-sales support, and a range of new models in the premium segment. On Thursday, LG launched two new premium GSM handsets, which are part of its 'black label' series. The models are called LG Shine, a sliding handset priced at Rs15,999, and the LG Shine bar phone priced at Rs8,999.
Expansion of its Pune-based production unit is also on the anvil, with plans to make it serve India as well as Middle East and African markets by producing locally. Till now, the company has invested $60 million in the Pune factory, with more coming in future years to add a minimum of two production lines every year. The company envisions it to be a strategic facility three or four years down the line, with a 1-million handset capacity per annum.
Elaborating on the decreasing profitability of its CDMA offerings, Moon said LG India's turnover for CDMA phones in 2005 was at $300 million, which declined to $250 million last year. This year, it is expected slide further to about $150 million. In volume terms, LG sold 9 million CDMA handsets and 1.
2 million GSM handsets in India last year. CDMA sales are foreseen to decline further to 6-7 million, while GSM handsets would grow to over two million handsets this year. List of Marketing Review TheOneAlliance distribution joint venture of SET India and Discovery Communications, has brought into its fold popular international music channel VH1, which is a sibling of MTV.
News RSS