Wrestlers endorsing brands on the mat after Olympic tackle

The new found fame of internationally acclaimed Indian wrestlers might be in commercial peril as talks signalling the demise of the ancient Greek game wrestling from the Olympics progress. According to marketing experts, the proposal to remove the sport from the world’s most celebrated athletic event may hold back companies from tying up or renewing endorsement deals with these wrestlers like Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt, who have emerged from small towns as national brand icons.

While Kumar has represented for brands like Mountain Dew, Eicher tractors and National Egg Coordination Committee, Yogeshwar Dutt has been the government’s face in public awareness campaigns.

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India Inc sees a spurt in Oct-Dec ad spends

CHENNAI: After a year's relief, advertising by FMCG companies is back, and with a bang.

The advertising spends of FMCG and retail companies have gone up significantly in the December 2012 quarter compared with the spends in December 2011 with some companies spending upto 80% more on advertising this fiscal. Godrej Consumer Products for instance, which spent about Rs 58 crore on advertising in the December 2011 quarter dished out roughly Rs 107 in December 2012 and Colgate-Palmolive (India) gave about Rs 99 crore for advertising in 2012 compared with Rs 68.94 it had set apart last year, data from CMIE showed.

"Companies went slow on advertising last year due to the lull in the economy and when they re-enter after a break, it has to be strong," said Harish Bijoor, an independent brand consultant. Globally, companies went slow on ad spends last year but Indian companies are now showing greater confidence in advertising," he said.

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So you want to be a Brand?

Can a person be a brand? Definitely Yes!


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Cyrus Mistry begins Tata group makeover

Cyrus Mistry begins Tata group makeover. Initiates fresh changes in senior management, appoints Mukund Rajan as the group’s brand custodian, spokesperson

Signalling a generational shift at the helm of the 145-year-old Tata group, chairman Cyrus Mistry has initiated fresh changes in the senior management as he goes about putting his stamp on the salt-to-steel conglomerate after taking over from Ratan Tata, who retired in December.

Mistry, 44, is not only hand-picking members of his A-team with a clear emphasis on youth, but is also creating new positions to ready the $100 billion (around Rs.5.3 trillion crore) group for the next level of growth.

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Young ads to sell luxury to old

Why Luxury Brands use youthful imagery to woo older customers.




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10 Brands that got marketing right in 2012

As the clouds of the return of the economic slowdown loomed large in 2012, the business sentiment remained dull throughout. That directly impacted the marketing initiatives of brands too. At the time of the year, when everyone is coming up with the ‘Best’ & ‘Worst’ of the year list, we at Pitch too tried to shortlist best of the marketing initiatives. The struggle to come up with our own ‘Top 10’ list began from thereon.

Reaching out to experts to know their favourites, resulted in comments like, “Despite all the talk and the hype when I sit back and think of the year gone by, there has been very little that has made me stand up and cheer.”

Kiran Khalap, Co-founder, Chlorophyll, could list only three – Flipkart, Satyamev Jayate and Gujarat Tourism.

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Year end Musings

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Thanks to all our clients, employees, ex-employees and well wishers

Thanks to all our clients, employees, ex-employees and well wishers.


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Forgotten Brands: What went wrong

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Watch out: Titan targets 400 EBOs by fiscal end

The nation’s time-keeper, Titan Industries, is hoping to add 40 more exclusive brand outlets (EBOs) by the end of this fiscal year, in the country, to add to its current number of 350. It also plans to open 75 smaller format EBOs in Tier-III and -IV towns in the coming year.

According to Rajan Amba, Global Marketing Head, Titan Industries, the company has allocated 20 per cent of its Advertising and Promotion Plan (A&P) budget to strengthen the company’s ‘World of Titan’ chain. “This includes our investments in BTL activities to generate footfalls, advertising for new stores and product launches, new fixtures, and visual merchandising,” he says.

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