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Laxman's
'Common Man' to endorse Air Deccan
Air Deccan
had announced that cartoonist RK Laxman's 'common man' will endorse the
low cost airline targeted at the man on the street. At the same the airline
announced it would sell some of its tickets at Re1. Laxman
is said to have lent his most famous creation, the common man, who features
in each of his cartoons, free-of-cost to the airline. According
to Capt Gopinath, managing director, Air Deccan, the decision to offer tickets
at Re1 was based on Laxman's view that common men in the country cannot
even afford ticket worth Rs500 and hence wanted the airline to sell tickets
at Re1. He said the process of offering tickets at Re1 will be carried out
through a transparent manner so that no one individual can block these tickets.
The airline
has ordered for 32 Airbus A320s and 30 ATRs which will be delivered over
a period of five years. Audi
launches luxury car A6 in India
Volkswagen
group company and luxury carmaker Audi has launched its new A6 sedan in
India. Priced at Rs42.5 lakh, the A6 sedan is imported from Germany, and
the company hopes to sell at least 100 cars in the first year. Audi
has appointed a dealer in Mumbai and New Delhi each and plans to add one
shortly in Bangalore. Audi
will have exclusive dealerships exclusive to its product line and not shared
with Skoda, the other car from the Volkswagen available in India. Citibank,
MTV launch co-branded debit card
Citibank
and MTV have launched a co-branded debit card. According to a press release
from Citibank the card offers benefits to customers at select outlets, branded
as the MTV-Citibank Club. Earlier
Citibank and MTV had launched a co-branded credit card in 2001 and all MTV-Citibank
debit and credit card holders automatically become members of the MTV-Citibank
Club. Club members can avail benefits on products and services at select
establishments across the country. These include nightclubs, pubs, restaurants,
bookstores, apparel stores, health clubs, mobile phones and accessories
stores including Lush & Red Light in Mumbai, Storm, RPM in Delhi, Incognito
in Kolkata and I-Bar in Bangalore. These
lounge bars offer benefits to MTV-Citibank cardholders such as free entry
and discount on food and beverage. Dravid
is Max New York Life's brand ambassador
Cricketer
Rahul Dravid will henceforth endorse Max New York Life. According to the
company it will use qualities like solidity, integrity and humanity associated
with Dravid for communicating its own brand values. According
Sunil Sharma, the company's chief operating officer, "Rahul is a role
model for most young Indians and being among India's most admired sports
persons, he is the right brand ambassador. You can expect to see him representing
the Max New York Life brand in a number of fun and surprising ways."
Dravid
will feature in Max New York Life's advertising campaigns and will also
participate in special promotional events. Levi's
to introduce mid priced brand Signature
The US-based,
$4.1-billion Levis Strauss & Co has placed India among its three top
focus markets alongside China and Russia in Asia as an important growth
market for its branded apparel business.
The company is thus revving up its retail plans in India, and is also foraying
into the mid-priced domestic jeans market with Levi's sub-brand Signature,
positioned in the price band of Rs599-Rs 999. Signature branded products
will begin appearing on market shelves from September this year onwards.
For its
retail plans the company plans to set up 300 exclusive stores — roughly
150 each between Levi's premium products and Signature — by 2008. Hutch
launches `mobile' shops in Hyderabad
Hutch, the cellular service provider, has inaugurated the first in the series
of three `Mobile Hutch Shops' in Hyderabad. These 'mobile shops' as they
are called, function through vans. According to the company customers would
get access to all the Hutch services are available at the regular shops,
at the mobile units. The
vans would be based in Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam, and will
reach 150 towns covering a between of 100km and 200km and two towns a day.
Customers in the respective areas would get an SMS, giving details of the
scheduled arrival and stay of the van. The company feels that the service
provides the customers with flexibility to access Hutch services. The
vans are equipped with 'global packet radio service' to provide online connectivity
to facilitate billing services. Turtle
enters the European market
After entering
into an arrangement with a London-based shirt manufacturer, Indian branded
shirt manufacturer, Turtle, has entered the European market. To
start with, the Indian company will manufacture shirts to be sold under
the UK company's brand. Later, Turtle hopes to roll out shirts in the UK
market under its own brand. The
arrangement would help Turtle generate export revenue of more than of Rs1
crore in the current fiscal. Turtle
plans to begin exporting to other European countries later as well. Pepsi
replaces Sony as most recalled brand
Pepsi is
now "the most recalled brand in India" edging past Sony, which
earlier held the coveted position in the last quarter, according to market
research, firm Indicus Analytics. The
survey found that the Pepsi brand and its advertisements were the most recalled
by consumers while Coke ads came second. Sony came in at third position
in top-of-the-mind recall by consumers. In
terms of brand recall Coke stood at 12th spot (from 15th the last quarter)
while Tata continued to hold the No 2 slot in top of the mind recall. Cadbury
moved several notches up in terms of recall, from 17th in January to eighth
in April, according to Indicus. Other
brands that figured among the top ten were Maruti and Raymonds. Interestingly,
men named Pepsi as the most-recalled brand while women voted for Lakme.
The survey conducted by Indicus Analytics in the second half of March covered
over 34,000 urban Indian consumers. Whirlpool
introduces 'Genius'
Whirlpool
of India has launched Genius, a direct cool range of 180-litre refrigerators
as well as a premium range of window air-conditioners in Tamil Nadu, Andhra
Pradesh, Mumbai and Delhi.
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