According to a recent survey based on Digital Brand Index, Google topped the list of most discussed technology brands in India. The study was compiled by Edelman in collaboration with Brandtology. Google accounted for 20%, followed by Microsoft and Yahoo!

Edelman officials explained the credentials and that the DBI monitored 74,452 online conversations relating to 96 large technology brands, contained within 423 communication channels, between July and September, which saw one brand being mentioned every two minutes on an average.

Kelly Choo, Brandtology co-founder and business development director, further added, “The DBI shows which brand names are more active than others, but the real opportunity for brand owners is to identify and engage influential channels and voices through compelling social media content.”

The survey also declared Twitter as the most “buzziest” communication channel witnessing 60% of conversations online.

Top 10 “most discussed technology brands” in India
1. Google
2. Microsoft
3. Yahoo!
4. Intel
5. Sony
6. Dell
7. Samsung India Electronics
8. Nokia
9. LG
10. Blackberry

What happens when the world’s oldest soft drink brand decides to go for social media? Nothing more than the most innovative and largest social media campaign in recent times. Coca-Cola Co. is launching a social media campaign called “Expedition 206”, in which a team of three bloggers will be sent to 206 countries in a year to uncover what makes people happy, as part of the soft drink maker’s “Open Happiness” campaign.

The campaign will include all the social media efforts which include blogging, posting updates on Twitter and adding videos to YouTube. Consumers apart from interacting with the team can also suggest them various things to do during their journey.

The team of three people is yet to be shortlisted and will be done via voting through online. The three travelers will spend the entire year travelling around the 206 countries, where Coke is sold. The team will meet the locals, tell stories on the trip’s Web site and take part in events like the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The entire cost will be borne by the company apart from their salary which will not be disclosed.

“It’s not about having the Coca-Cola brand first and foremost, centre of the screen,” said Adam Brown, director of Coca-Cola’s Office of Digital Communications and Social Media. “It’s about telling the story that involves Coca-Cola that involves the attributes of what Coca-Cola is about, optimism and joy.”

The trip begins Jan. 1 in Madrid. In the first month, they’ll go to 17 countries, including Venezuela, Brazil, Bolivia and Panama. It ends Dec. 31 at Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta. The travelers will mostly be on their own but will connect with local Coca-Cola representatives and be escorted in certain countries, Brown said.

Nine finalists have been shortlisted and votes can be cast at www.expedition206.com till November 6, 2009. The winning team will be announced by end of November.

Hope the trio as well as Coke enjoy the journey and reach their desired destinations..

India seems to be racing ahead of other countries economically as well as on the creative front. India has been ranked as the ninth most successful country at Cannes Lions 2009. The fact was revealed by the Cannes Report 2009, which made its debut this year. The report compares the performance of Asian Agencies vis-à-vis agencies around the world.

India bagged 25 lions this year at Cannes. According to the report Japan led the way in Asia creativity with 31 lions and ranking sixth just behind Brazil.

The Report shows BBDO topping other Asian networks, ahead of Ogilvy & Mather. Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, Colenso BBDO Auckland and BBDO Proximity Singapore place in the top 20 ranking in Asia-Pacific. BBDO and Ogilvy & Mather are the only two networks with three office ranked in the top 20.

Dentsu Tokyo and JWT Singapore leading the way, just ahead of Ogilvy & Mather, Mumbai and JWT India, Mumbai, are hot entries in The Cannes Report.

The Top Ten Agencies in Asia:

1. CumminsNitro, Brisbane
2. Dentsu, Tokyo
3. Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney
4. Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne
5. Leo Burnett Sydney
6. Saatchi & Saatchi Auckland
7. JWT Singapore
8. Colenso BBDO, Auckland
9. Ogilvy & Mather, Mumbai
10. BMF, Sydney

American public relations company Fleisham-Hillard International Communications and local agency 20:20 have been appointed to manage all domestic and international PR for the Commonwealth Games to be held at Delhi in 2010. The Commonwealth games happens to be one of the biggest events to be organized by India since the 1982 Asian Games.

The decision has been taken after Fleishmam-Hillard made a proposal to do it for only $250,000 (£153,000) – a quarter of what other companies were proposing. The company is based in St. Louis, Missouri and have offices spread across the world. It claims to be “a leader in international marketing and communications, and one of the premier public relations agencies in the world”.

20:20 Media founded in 1989 and is one of India’s largest independent PR companies, employing 150 staff in seven offices across the country, including New Delhi. The PR firm has worked with brands like Canon, Volkswagen and Samsung.

The step has been taken to do some damage control caused due to lot of controversies surrounding the games, the management and the rift between the local organizers and the Common Wealth Federation.

Fleishmam-Hillard and 20:20 will handle the entire local and international PR for the event between now and when the Games, which are due to open on October 3, and also act as liaison with the Queen’s Baton Relay team.

Source: www.insidethegames.biz

After Paul Newman and Shah Rukh Khan, Abhishek Bachchan is set to become the third male endorser for the brand. Lux has roped in the celeb couple for its latest campaign. For the first time Lux has signed a couple for its campaign. Incidentally, it will also be the first time the couple will be seen together in an advertisement.

Tista Sen, executive creative director and senior vice-president at JWT India, the agency handling the account for the soap from Hindustan Unilever Ltd said, ““We could have put them both in a bathtub and said, lets go for the eyeballs, but we really wanted to show them in a way that they had never been seen before.”She further added, “It’s a side of the couple that has never been seen before; it’s young, fun and in keeping with their real characters.”

The agency behind the campaign is JWT, Mumbai and the ad is shot by director Stephen Meads of the London-based ad film production house Short Films. The concept is very fresh and is an attempt by Lux to do something different, but at the same time relevant. The ad starts with Ash blindfolding hubby Abhishek, he then tries to catch her but can’t get hold of her due to her soft skin and lands up grabbing the maid.

Ash-Abhishek have now officially joined the couple endorsement bandwagon which includes Kareena-Saif (recently seen in the Airtel Digital TV ad), John-Bipasha (Clinic All Clear), Kajol-Ajay Devgan (Whirlpool and Tata Indicom ads) and the latest Ranbir-Deepika (Pepsi).

The couple seems to have charged anything between 7-9 crore approx for the campaign.

Hoonur.com is the latest venture by Balaji Telefilms, owned by Ekta Kapoor. Hoonur.com is a talent showcase portal aimed at targeting aspirants hoping to work in the entertainment industry.Hoonur.com will showcase profiles of various aspirants online and act as a platform between employers and struggling talent. Hoonur will allow studios to screen talent for auditions from the site making the process transparent as well as reliable.

Earlier the work was done through studios and work was given on mere recommendations. Uday Sodhi, CEO of New Media for Balaji Telefilms, feels that job portals like Naukri, Monster, TimesJobs and ClickJobs are mass oriented and are not effetive for the niches. He also added that there is a significant amount of talent that needs to be hired – actors, actresses, script writers etc, and much of this industry is fragmented, making it a complicated task to hire new talent.

The site will also be a sigh of relief for the struggling talent who have to approach various agents as well as agencies for work. All they need to do is upload their profile and make sure it’s impressive.

Currently he site is focusing on the profiles and database. Sodhi sees revenues from Hoonur by the end of this year, with advertising as the main revenue stream. The company is looking at (online) display as well as event driven advertising. “For example, somebody wants to do an event around a certain product or around or an FMCG company wants to do and event around a product of theirs”, concluded Sodhi.

Be it the advertising, the content or marketing strategies, ITC surely knows how to attract eyeballs for its snack brand Bingo. The company has decided to add 50 percent more chips at the same price. At a time, where companies are cutting costs and coping with the recession, Bingo’s move seems to be stunning marketeers.Though the ITC officials believe that the strategy aims at “maximizing revenues by driving high sales volumes in the high potential western India market”.

Chitranjan Dar, Chief Executive, Foods Division, ITC, says schemes and promotions are a part of the marketing mix that are deployed at various times through the year. The objective obviously is to build a greater brand franchise through enhanced consumer experience and encourage repeat use and trials.

Bingo currently enjoys a 13 percent market share, while Lays has a market share of around 48 per cent, Parle’s Musst Chips and Musst Stix have a combined 5-7 per cent market share.

Similar offers are there across different regions of the country, though the exact quantum varies from region to region. Dar says the move has paid off as Bingo has attracted a sizeable number of new consumers.

Bingo has been in news for its “crowd sourcing” strategy that it applies in the various television commercials. Bingo has also managed to have an online presence with a website www.bingeonbingo.com which educates users about the current offers, online games, downloads and even mobile games.
ITC officials added that the company has several other surprises up its sleeve, which are at various stages of development and completion.

This is one brand which seems to be hitting sales right at the target. Now, this is what we call, Bingo!

Yum! the world’s largest restaurant company which includes brands like KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell recently utilized the social media to reach out to people to support the company towards its World Hunger Relief efforts. Isobar’s digital marketing agency Mindblossom recently created a facebook application for the company.

The application is named “The Food for Food” and allows users around the world to send gifts in the shape of iconic KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell menu items. Every virtual gift costs $1 CDN and 100% of all proceeds generated go directly to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in support of Yum!’s World Hunger Relief campaign.

Yum! contributes to the hunger relief campaign every year since 2007.As of now, donations worth $36 million USD have been made along with 9 million man hours devoted by company’s employees, franchisees and their families. The initiative has helped with its enormous donations and also by reaching out and providing life-saving meals to 4 million people in remote corners of the world.