The king and queen of unconventional cinema i.e. Konkana Sen Sharma and Irrfan Khan will be seen together again as Brand Ambassadors for Kansai Nerolac Paints. The duo was earlier seen in Life in a Metro where they were appreciated for their appealing performances.

Koko and Irrfan will be promoting the new campaign ‘Apke Rang. Apki Pehchan’ for the premium brand Nerolac Impressions. They will soon appear in an ad where the couple seems to be angry with each other, but overcomes all their differences while recreating and painting their home. Thus, refreshing the magic in their relationship.

The company sources reveal that Konkona and Irrfan suit the role as their appeal cuts across all strata of the society. Not just that, they also come across as people next door and they share very good screen chemistry.

Arjun Rampal has surely made a impactful comeback for himself. Not only in Bollywood, but also in the world of endorsements. He has been signed by Thomas Scott for endorsing their new collection of formal and casual wear of clothing, which would be launched shortly in India.

Mr Brij Goplal Bang, Director of Bang Overseas Ltd, said, “We preferred Arjun Rampal because of his mass appeal among the young and middle age people, since our brand caters to this segment and after ‘Rock On’ and ‘Om Shanti Om’, Arjun has become very popular and he was the perfect choice for us”.

About his association with the brand, Arjun said that, “Now, I am coming as a brand ambassador and not as a model to endorse a brand, which I believe is good and we will have a good campaign.

The model turned actor had recently launched his restaurant in Delhi. Arjun seems to be playing safe and surely knows how to keep his hands full.

Dalda Ghee entered markets in late 1930’s. The brand is a household name and has been serving the nation for more than 75 years now.

The brand has recently been given a makeover by Shombit Sengupta. The brand once owned by HUL is currently owned by Bunge India Pvt Ltd. Videh Kr Jaipuriar, vice-president, foods business, Bunge India Pvt Ltd, said, “This is a big change in the history of the brand, which we internally studied for the last three years. Dalda has earned respect because of its quality and consistency apart from the nostalgic platform.”

New York’s agro- business giant Bunge, which bought the Dalda brand from Hindustan Unilever Ltd ( HUL) in 2003, will be investing Rs 22 crore in the next two years for promotions.

Currently, the Dalda brand comprises 60 per cent of vanaspati ghee and 40 per cent of edible oils.” Our target is to reverse the ratio in the next two years,” said Bunge India vice- president ( foods division) Videh Jaipuriar while announcing the launch of the new logo and package. He added the company has increased its focus on refined edible oil and plans to achieve a market share of up to four per cent in the next two years in the branded Indian edible oils market, from the current two per cent market share.

The company said all Dalda oil variants will be now fortified with vitamins A, D and E. Apart from vitamins, the oils also have higher level of anti-oxidants.

The product range has been launched in Kolkata and Delhi and will be rolled out nationally over the next few weeks.

Multi Screen Media Pvt Ltd (MSM), which was recently in news for its controversial sponsorship deal with the IPL, is again in limelight. The company has a new CEO on board. Multi Screen has announced Manjit Singh, chairman of the board of MSMPL, as the CEO of Multi Screen.

The decision was taken after the sudden resignation of Kunal Dasgupta. The former CEO has not stated any specific reasons for his exit, though many people believe it is due to the controversial IPL deal.

Singh is a graduate of the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA and the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He will be taking care of Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) Sony Entertainment Television, or SET, SET MAX, SAB and PIX. The company had been doing very well in the past few years; courtesy broadcast rights for the World Cup cricket for six years and IPL for three years. These accounts had been won by none other than the former CEO, Kunal Dasgupta. Cricket seemed to be some real business here…

According to a company press release, Manjit Singh has also served as the Interim CEO in the past and has provided leadership and stability to the company.

Let’s hope the pitch becomes smoother for the company…

Quasar Media, part of Smile Interactive Group is one of the leading digital media services companies in India. Quasar’s client list includes Microsoft, Monster.com, VISA, Kingfisher Airlines, Maruti Suzuki, GE, MakeMyTrip.com and Indiamart, which is the latest addition in the brand wagon.

Quasar Media has announced the appointment of Moneka Khurana as its Business Director- west. The move has been taken to strengthen the operations in Mumbai. Khurana has industry experience of more than a decade and is excited about this new role in her professional life. She has earlier worked with Intercept Consulting, a pioneer in online advertising network in the country and DraftFCB+Ulka, where she completed nearly eight years as an Account Director.

Sandeep Singh, Business Director, Quasar said “We are happy to have an experienced campaigner like Moneka on board. We have been looking to fill this position for quite some time now, but were always patient to get only the right person on board, and we got one in Moneka. We have a very strong team in Mumbai and having Moneka join them will make us stronger in this market. This move is also in line with our in-organic regional growth strategy. Earlier we had consolidated our team in Bangalore with Ajay Gupta joining as our regional head. We see lot of potential in these two markets.”

Excited about her role in Quasar, Khurana said, “I am excited about my association with Quasar, a leading digital agency in the country providing complete digital solutions. The marriage of Quasar’s lineage and my experience will surely help scale new heights.”

The American Internet Giant recently hired Leo Burnett USA to refresh the brand and provide it a new corporate identity.

According to the company officials, the company name will remain intact while the new AOL logo will be revealed by the end of the fourth quarter. The whole process aims to bring more energy and life to the brand, which is currently facing a dip in its usage, according to ComScore data.

The move comes after AOL in July quietly reached out to five agencies, a mix of large, traditional ad firms and small design shops, in what AOL Chief Operating Officer Kim Partoll calls “a much accelerated pitch process.” Agencies had two weeks to respond to AOL’s request for proposals, and the company spent about a week deliberating.

Leo Burnett was among multiple agencies that participated in a closed request for proposal process and was ultimately selected as the best strategic and creative fit for its track record in building world class brands, according to Partoll.
Marketing budget for the assignment was not disclosed, but Ms. Partoll said it’s “a small budget by any brand company’s marker.”

‘Neighbour’s envy, Owner’s pride’ – is a tag line that every Indian identifies Onida with. The brand had been associated with the ‘devil’ for more than two decades getting Onida the desired attention and making it a household name among the masses.

However, the brand feels that the devil no more applies to the target group and the TV is no more a subject of neighbour’s envy or a matter of pride for Indians.

“Onida is in the process of building a completely new brand mascot to appeal to India’s new consumerism. Noted ad veteran Prasoon Joshi and his team is helping the company in the brand re-birth process,” a senior company official said, while confirming that a decision has been taken to send the devil back to where it belongs.

Onida, established in 1982 under Mirc Electronics, today enjoys a strong equity among consumers making it one of the leading brands in India. It offers a wide range of household appliances, including air-conditioners, washing machines, DVDs, Plasma & LCD televisions and home theatre systems.

With the new campaign, the company aims to give stiff competition to international brands like LG and Samsung.

The new ad campaign would be launched by September-end. The brand would be revealed as the contours are being finalized by the team working on it, confirmed a source.

The Taipei Film Festival is a film festival promoted by the city of Taipei, Taiwan, the Republic of China. It is one of the most important and high-profile international cultural events in Taiwan.

The festival revolves around a theme and this year the festival’s theme is centered on the ”Culture – the future of advertising creativity,” discussing how different cultures influence and affect the presentation of advertising in different countries.

The festival also hosts lectures related to the theme where directors of various international advertising agencies are invited to share their thoughts and experiences. The seven gurus will share their knowledge perspectives on the future of advertising creativity, regional and global advertising synergy and creative strategy on the whole. The speakers will also present some select award winning advertising campaigns as a case study and will share their thoughts on creating many such successful campaigns.

The speakers featuring in the film festival are as follows:

• Digby Richards (CEO Asia Pacific, Bates 141)
• Mark Ingrouille (South East Asia regional director, McCann Erickson)
• Natalie Lam (Regional creative director Asia Pacific, Ogilvy & Mather)
• Sosuke Koyama (Shanghai planning director, Publicis Group)
• KV Sridhar (National creative director, Leo Burnett India)
• Kishi Yuki (Creative director, Dentsu)
• Dirk Eschenbacher (CEO, Creative director Asia Pacific, Doyle Dane Bernbach).

K V Sridhar from Leo Burnett India will represent the Indian fraternity in the prestigious film festival.