Facebook may be a popular hangout for youth, but it has now caught some undue attention from an anti tobacco activist has served a notice to the website, accusing it of “promotion of smoking culture” through its web pages.

Even though Facebook restricts advertisements of tobacco products through paid advertisement on its website, it promotes the same through its Fan Pages and groups, claims Hemant Goswami.

“Contrary to the claims, Facebook allows promotion of smoking culture through advertisements. We have sent a copy of links of such examples which are considered an offence under the Indian law to M/s Facebook,” he added.

Goswami said India’s law on tobacco control has a provision for imprisonment of up to five years for violations relating to prohibition of promotion or advertisement of tobacco products and brands.
Hemant Goswami is a member of the union health ministry’s National Steering Committee on Tobacco Control. He has been working for the cause for several years now and is very serious in his pursuit to end this kind of promotion of tobacco brands and tobacco products on social networking sites like Facebook.

Facebook may face ban in India, if they are not able to defend themselves.

Let’s hope the Social Networking site has enough networks to save itself…..

Various Advertising Agencies speak out about the official recognition from Advertising Agencies Association of India and about changing client requirements and increase in marketing spends…

Read the whole article on http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Brand-Equity/Changing-story-of-Indian-media-agencies/articleshow/4961808.cms

Ten Sports, the highest rated sports channel in the Indian sub continent has decided to venture into digital media with the launch of www.tensports.com. It has partnered with NBC Universal Digital Solutions (NBCUDS), a wholly owned digital subsidiary of NBC Universal to develop the Cricket portal.

The site will serve as a free, cricket-focused multiplatform for the region’s fast growing digital audience. The video experience will be complimented by commentary and statistics, and will allow viewers to simultaneously chat with friends & family and other passionate fans during live Webcasts.

Apart from live coverage of all the major cricket matches, the site also has options of viewing on demand highlights during live matches. Thus cricket fans can login and watch all the crucial twists in a match without any interruption.

The site will also video archive all the record breaking matches for the viewers to cherish the memorable moments of the game.
India is particularly known for its craze for the game and the site just intends to take it a step further…

Salman seems to be nurturing his sportsman spirit these days. Weeks after he showed interest in owning an IPL team, preferably Kochi, he has now made his way to the football ground.

Salman Khan was present at the Ambedkar Stadium yesterday to cheer for the Indian team. The actor showed his desire of becoming the brand Ambassador of the Indian Football Team.All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Praful Patel confirmed the news.

After India’s third successive Nehru Cup win on Monday, the team seemed to be more than flattered by the star’s gesture.
Salman wants to take his interest in sports to the next level and he seems to be moving in the right direction, as viewers may now take interest in the game as the star has a huge fan following. AIFF seems to be more than happy as football may now get its deserved share of fame.

Recession seems to be fading as Toyota launches its sophisticated luxury car in Indian markets. The New Camry will be available at all Toyota dealerships from today.

So what’s in store for you? Let’s have a quick look at what the car offers.

The New Camry offers global motoring experience through its distinctive features and the ultimate combination of style, power and driving comfort.

You can opt for a Dark Green Mica Metallic Camry or a Beige Mica Metallic Camry, as these are your only choices. The eye-catching design of the New Camry, its sleek aerodynamic curves and bold flowing lines inspire a sense of superiority and strength. Some of the advanced features in the New Camry include:

Luxurious interiors with excellent leg and head room. High end Psychoacoustics CD/MP3/WMA/Aux-in music system for heightened listening experience. Superior luxury features include Plasmacluster A/C with Minus Ion Generator, intelligent rain sensing wipers, Moonroof, Audio, AC and MID control on steering wheel and 8-Way Power Driver Seat.Independent temperature controls for the driver and co-passenger, thus maximizing individual comfort levels.

The high end luxury car will be promoted extensively through an integrated marketing campaign which will cover web, print, direct marketing and mobile marketing.

Owning this car would make your bank balance lighter by approx 21 – 24 lakhs…

As someone rightly said, every luxury must be paid for.

According to The Pitch-Madison report, the industry would witness a fall of 5% in 2009 against a growth of 2% it had forecasted in January.

According to the mid-term report, the advertising and media industry saw just Rs7,452 crore in ad spends in the first half of 2009, a staggering Rs1,414 crore less than ad spends in the same period last year. “The industry is expected to close calendar year 2009 with Rs19,777 crore against Rs20,717 crore in 2008,” said exchange4media Group co-founder and Pitch editor Amit Agnihotri. As the growth rate of the industry dips to an average of 17 – 18%, the Rs 21,000 crore industry witnesses a major setback.

Zenith Optimedia group predicted in its report released 14 April 2009 that ad spending in India will grow by 6.4% in 2009, half the 13% growth it had predicted in December 2008. WPP Group Plc’s global media specialist GroupM recently said ad spends in 2009 in India would grow 6%, down from the 8.9% it had previously predicted.

According to the Madison-Pitch study, advertising revenue has been hit across media. Print media has seen a 32% drop in the first half of the year compared with the previous year; and television, 19%. Only the Internet saw an increase in ad revenue, by 16%.
The industry however feels that the worst is over and growth seems to be on the cards in the future.

As part of a global consolidation of its marketing and media accounts, Vodafone-the telecom major company has handed over its media rights to Optimum Media Direction (OMD). Earlier the rights were with Group M’s Maxus.

The account highlights global media-buying across 19 regions, including the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Spain — all regions where they previously held the business — as well as regions in which they weren’t managing the business, such as the U.K., Australia, India, Greece, Ireland and South Africa.
Thus taking care of European, Middle East and Asia-Pacific markets.

The pitch, which was called for three months ago, and the account has been won by Team Vodafone of WPP (for Europe, West Asia and Africa) and Carat (in the UK). Carat won the business in January this year from OMD.

The account transition from Maxus to OMD will happen over the next few months, as per a Vodafone spokesperson. In India, the advertising spends for the brand is pegged at approx Rs 300 crore.

Digital is the way to go, and logging online are none other than FMCG brands catering to masses. Interaction between the brand and the consumers seems to be the objective of all the brands. According to the Web Chutney Digital Media Outlook Report 2009, the current online spends of the FMCG category, which stands at around Rs 16 crore, is expected to increase to almost Rs 72 crore in 2009-10, a whopping 353 per cent jump.

Coca-Cola India in August 2009 launched its campaign for Sprite first on the Internet. Pepsi, ITC Group, Nestlé’s Maggie and Colgate Palmolive are some other FMCG brands that have begun using online advertising in a big way.

The FMCG market in India is estimated to be worth about Rs 1 lakh crore and is dominated by large players such as Unilever, P&G, ITC and Dabur. With the growing number of Internet users, people have started using the Internet as a reach building medium, and thus more advertisers are waking up to the fact that the Internet is fast becoming an integral part of their media plan.
Brands have evolved over the years, and so have the mediums to reach the ultimate consumers. Thus, being online may not ensure sales but will definitely make your presence felt and help you connect with your target group.

A lot of brands have also taken up Social Media Networking to interact and build a rapport with their consumers.

From traditional to digital, it’s still a long way to go….