BEST (Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking) has appointed Bright Outdoor as its official advertiser. Bright will take care of advertising rights on single and double-decker buses. Earlier, Pioneer Publicity owned the rights for the same.

The announcement was made after a rigorous month long process of tenders and bidding. The other contenders bidding for the same were Pioneer Publicity, Jagran Engage, Gold Mine Advertising, Sambhaav Media and Rajdeep Buildcon. The move will give access to Bright Outdoor to advertise on more than 4000 single-decker and more than 50 double-decker buses travelling the length and breadth of the city. Also, the agency hopes to market it to more than 600 clients.

Sudesh Paul, manager, business development, Bright Outdoor, confirmed the news saying, “The Company has won the tender with a total bid amount of Rs 123.10 crore.”
Bright Outdoor Advertising is an outdoor media company provides an array of outdoor services including railway boards, railway panels, transfer stickers, cinema slides, promos, full train, bus panels, full bus painting, mobile sign truck, kiosks, traffic booth, toll naka, gantry and vinyl screens spread across the length and breadth of Mumbai.

It is spread across 4 metros and holds rights for 700 hoardings at all prominent locations in Mumbai alone.

The Zoozoos are back with a bang. The O&M creation, which were exclusively designed for the IPL, have made a comeback. Vodafone Essar has launched its latest Zoozoo campaign along with an online contest. The contest is called ‘Complete the Zoozoo Story’ and aims at capitalizing on the brand through social media.

The contest is valid from November 24, 2009 till January 1, 2010. Individuals can participate in the contest by logging on to Facebook or Vodafone’s official site. Participants can win a BlackBerry Storm every week along with Zoozoo franchisee products.

According to the contest, participants will watch snippets of the upcoming Zoozoo commercials and they will have to complete the ads according to their vision, thereby creating their very own Zoozoo story.

Complete the Zoozoo story your style. Click here to participate.

After a multi-agency pitch called by Reckitt Benckiser a few months back, the company has decided to appoint MPG India as its media agency for Indian and South Asian markets. Earlier also, the account was handled by MPG. MPG India is the media arm of Havas Media.

Internationally, Havas Media and Publicis Group are the agencies handling the 17 brands owned by Reckitt Benckiser. The FMCG Company spends approx 12% of its revenue every year on media buying.

Confirming the news, Rakesh Kapoor, executive vice-president, category development, Reckitt Benckiser, said “Two global media partners will bring new consumer insights, better capabilities in technology and systems and superior skills in ensuring for better consumer engagement, strategies and executions.”

TVS Motors recently announced its new range of products in the 100 CC segment. It has launched TVS Jive, a 110 cc auto-clutch motorcycle and TVS Wego, an automatic scooter. The company has roped in Bates 141 and BBH to handle the creatives of the new launches.

HS Goindi, President – Marketing, TVS Motor Co, said that Bates 141 would handle the creative duties of Jive, while BBH India had been entrusted with the creative responsibilities of Wega. Madison Media will handle the media planning and buying for both the brands. The television campaign for both the brands was slated to break in January, 2010, he added.

The television campaigns will be released in January, 2010. Goindi added, “We are already a strong player in the scooter segment. Our marketing campaigns for these two brands would speak about the technology superiority.”

Team India has got all the reasons to celebrate, their 100th test match victory, defeating Sri Lanka and Sachin’s decade long career in the sport, but BCCI is surely not enjoying the game. The reason being sponsorship issues for Team India. BCCI tender for the jersey logo did not receive a single bid from the advertisers. The tenders were floated from November 2- 24, 2009.

Advertisers believe IPL is more profitable for advertisers. Where BCCI has failed to receive any bids, IPL is more than booked where sponsorships are concerned. Brands like Havells India, LG Electronics have already placed their bids for IPL.

Industry sources believe that long term decisions cannot be taken at this point of time, where market conditions are unpredictable. The flexibility aspect makes IPL an obvious choice. Sahara’s sponsorship deal with Indian cricket team ends this calendar year, the renewal of the same is doubtful, inspite of BCCI’s continuous efforts.

Some also believe that BCCI’s rigidity over revaluation of team sponsorship could lead to further issues. BCCI has demanded Rs 3 crore for each Test, ODI and T20 match, and was hoping to raise Rs 550-600 crore from the deal.

Bates 141 has appointed Shubhabrata Sarkar as the CEO for its Indonesian Agency. He was earlier working as General Manager, JWT (at its Indonesian Agency). At Bates, Sarkar will be responsible for HSBC, Ford, Unilever, Shell, Mazda, Nokia, Hero Honda and Extra Joss.

Sarkar started his career from Ogilvy India as a trainee copywriter. He later worked with McCann-Erickson, TBWA India and JWT.

Confirming the news, Sarkar said, “An innovative strategy to create change for our clients’ brands and businesses can be expected of me. I am looking forth to work alongside ECD, Hendra Lesmono and the remaining team to extend Bates’ successful journey in the industry.”

Digby Richards, CEO, Bates 141 Asia Pacific, added, “Sarkar is apt for the position he has acquired, because of his experience at leading agencies contributing in the creative department, strategic planning, activation and management. He is a good multi-tasker and can lead our agency to deliver integrated solutions, which will help our clients succeed.”

Vijay Jacob is all geared up for his second innings at Grey India. This time as vice-president and head, South. Jacob will take care of Grey’s southern brands, including Britannia, ITC, UB, Wockhardt Hospital, Kirtilal Jewellers, 3M and Deccan Express Logistics. Jacob will report to Jishnu Sen, COO, Grey India.

Jacob started his career in 1995 as marketing and sales personnel for Eveready Industries. Then he moved on to Bazee.com (now eBay). In his decade long career he has worked with Fountainhead, Mudra Communications, Bates 141 and Grey WorldWide.

Confirming the news, Jacob said, “I am getting back in Grey and hope to explore innovative markets and challenges. I want to continue building brands as there’s plenty of talent in the South. My focus is to develop a higher level of sensitivity to clients’ business needs.”

Jishnu Sen, COO, Grey India added, “I am keen to have Vijay as part of my team, and look forward to his extensive tenure ahead. His expertise will provide a thrust to Grey’s plans of offering integrated communication solutions, which would help building and expanding our presence in the Southern market.”

After a rigorous multi-agency pitch, Palasa Creative House was announced as the creative partner for Zee School and Kidzee. Zee School and Kidzee are part of Zee Interactive Learning Systems (ZILS), owned by the Essel Group. The account is estimated worth Rs 11 crore. Earlier the account was handled by Ingnitee India.

Palasa will be responsible for Zee School as well as Kidzee. Confirming the development, Sandeep Bomble, Founder & Creative Director, Palasa Creative House, stated, “The brief given to us was to understand the anxiety of parents choosing a pre-school. The communication will be based on two parameters — Kidzee and Zee School. Our target groups for the businesses are the franchises and customers targeting through the characteristic of uniqueness and development of a child.”

Palasa Creative House was set up in 2004 and has worked for brands like Medispa, Star Pravah, Circle, Sykz gym in the past.