Marketing review

Naukri.com-CNBC TV18 to launch jobs show
Job portal Naukri.com and TV18 will present the first Job Show to be aired on TV starting February. Aviva Life Insurance, Flextronics Software System, Impetus Technologies, DNA, Yes Bank, Denstu are some of the companies that have come on board to offer jobs on the show.

The show has been launched to offer job-hunters a chance to win their dream placements while being watched by millions across the country. The show will comprise 26 episodes and will be beamed every Saturday with a repeat on Sunday afternoon.

Samsung to focus on premium end
Samsung Electronics has decided to focus more on flat and high-end television categories and high-end white goods and wants to establish its market leadership in the flat and high-end television categories in 2006 because of consumers' preference for larger TV sets.

In the home appliances category, Samsung wants to focus on the high-end top loading and front-loading fully automatic washing machine segment and on convection microwave ovens.

Contribution from flat TVs is projected to grow from less than 1 per cent in 2005 to around 4 per cent in 2006 and double thereafter. Globally, Samsung expects LCD sales to grow in contribution to around 19 per cent of worldwide sales by 2007 from around 5 per cent in 2004.

In India, while flat televisions have grown by 74 per cent, the high-end categories such as LCD, plasma, PJTV and Slim Fit have grown by 200 per cent in 2005.

Flat TV and high-end TV sales' contribution to total TV sales for this year stand at over 80 per cent compared with 50 per cent level last year. The contribution of frost-free models to the refrigerator category has increased by one per cent to 39 per cent. The fully automatic segment in the washing machine category has grown to 25 per cent from 18 per cent.

Cellular base grows by 3.2 million in December
The cellular base in the country grew by an unprecedented 3.2 million in December 2005, taking the total to 58.5 million subscribers, compared to 37.3 million users in December 2004.

This is the highest monthly addition that GSM-based operators have reported ever since mobile services were launched.

State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam was the leader adding close to one million new users followed by Bharti Cellular with nearly 9 lakh new users during the month. The industry added just over 21 million new cellular users over the last year.

The monthly subscriber additions in December 2005 was 225 per cent higher than the monthly subscriber growth recorded in December 2004 (1.42 million) and is double the average subscriber growth recorded in the previous 11 months of the calendar year (January-November 2005 — average subscriber additions were 1.6 million a month).

The CDMA-based operators including Reliance Infocomm and Tata Teleservices have not yet reported their numbers for December.

Shringar Cinemas to open 'no-frills' theatres
Shringar Cinema, after focusing on multiplexes that offer facilities like restaurants, shopping, video gaming along with films, is now introducing a new brand of theatres. The exhibition division of the company plans to launch a new brand of 'no-frills' theatres with tickets priced at nearly half that of its Fame brand of multiplexes.

According to the company the chain of no-frills theatres would not be as jazzy as its existing multiplexes. These theatres would be launched either with new properties or we could even look at existing theatres. The new brand of theatres would cater to audiences who cannot afford multiplex prices.

Shringar Cinemas would also ensure that the location of its new brand of theatres is not in the vicinity of its existing multiplexes.
The company would also consider a separate brand name for its chain of no-frills theatres.

Priyagold gets into juices
Delhi NCR-based Surya Foods and Agro, manufacturers of Priyagold biscuits, has entered the the juices segment and has set up a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Greater Noida with an investment of Rs25 crore. The plant has a capacity of producing 1.5-lakh litres of juice per day.

Branded `Freshgold', the one-litre juice in cartons is available in supermarkets and malls in and around Delhi for Rs60. The juices are currently available only in the northern markets, and will be in the south by the next month.

The company has earmarked around Rs3 crore for promoting the juices. While tele-commercials have already begun on IndiaTV, the company is hopeful of running them on all other channels by the next fortnight.

WorldSpace music ties up with Café Coffee Day
Worldspace Satellite Radio has tied up with Café Coffee Day the largest domestic coffee chain, to play its satellite radio content across the country. Café Coffee Day has 100 outlets across the country.

As per the year-long alliance, Coffee Day outlets will play music from WorldSpace's 40 stations ranging from Indian classical to Hindi film songs and western rock. Its outlets will also host exclusive consumer entertainment and promotional activities organised by WorldSpace, initially at Kochi, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Allianz bags title sponsorship for Pak-India Test series
Allianz Capital is the title sponsor of the 2006 Pakistan-India Test Series. Now called the Allianz Cup, it will mark the financial group's first foray into cricket sponsorship in Asia.

Under this sponsorship, Allianz will collaborate with the Pakistan Cricket Board and Nimbus Sport, the official marketing agency for the tournament.

According to the company the decision to sponsor the 2006 Pakistan-India Test Series was driven by its intention to expand and further leverage the Allianz brand in the Asian region with particular focus on India, one of Allianz's core growth markets, as well as Pakistan.

The Allianz Cup Test Series will take place between January 13 and 29.

Marico acquires soap brand Manjal
Marico has acquired the herbal bath soap brand Manjal from Oriental Extractions for an undisclosed amount. The brand has a significant presence in the Kerala market with an annualised turnover of about Rs9 crore with a growing market share.

Manjal's brand equity owes its strength to its unique turmeric based formulation, which gives the consumer a superior bathing experience, the company said.

The soap has been until now marketed under the banner of S D Pharmacy, a sister concern of Oriental, with over 65 years of expertise in Ayurvedic proprietary medicines and OTC products in Kerala.

Eveready Ind to offer mosquito repellents
Eveready Industries India has entered mosquito repellent coil market through its newly launched `Eveready Poweron' brand.

The company has plans to introduce a whole range of mosquito repellent products starting with coils. Later it would launch the mosquito repelling vapouriser and also the aerosol cans. It also plans to utilise its existing distributor network to reach out to the rural masses.

Leading players such as Reckitt Benckiser, Godrej and Jyothy Laboratories are already present in the mosquito coils market with their brands such as Mortein, Good Night and Maxo in that order.

Mortein is a market leader with a share of 42 per cent.

The Eveready product would be priced on a par with the other major brands.

This is the first time that the brand Eveready has been extended to another product of the company other than battery. Even the packet teas of the company do not use the Eveready brand directly.

Pears soap extended to kids segment
HLL has decided to float a new variant of its glycerine-based soap - Pears to the kids segment mainly because it is less crowded than the baby soap segment.

According to the company Pears Junior is not meant to be a baby soap but is instead targeted at kids. It is meant for those who want to grow out of Johnson & Johnson's baby soaps and right now the market is still not big in this segment. The timing is right and Pears has a better equity in the kids segment.' In fact, apart from Doy's brand - Princess, the kid's segment has been largely untapped and J&J, in spite of having introduced a kids soap in the past, has withdrawn from the segment.

Pears Junior sports a transparent window with a toy to lure its young usersand is positioned as Strawberry Fun and includes olive oil as an active ingredient. In fact, most of Pears existing variants such as Germ Shield and Oil Control have active ingredients such as mint and lemon.

Air Sahara cuts prices on Delhi-London sector
Air Sahara is offering a cutthroat price of Rs10,000 on its inaugural New Delhi--London flight. The airline is offering 2006 return air tickets between Delhi and London at Rs10,000 each. The airline is to launch a four-times-a-week flight between Delhi and London from January 6.

The promotional fare ticket will be valid for one year from the date of purchase. However, no refund will be available to the passenger in case he cancels the ticket.

Reliance mobile offers Re1 charge all India
Reliance Infocomm has announced 'New Joy 499' plan according to which calls from Reliance India Mobile prepaid accounts would cost only Re1 a minute from anywhere to anywhere in the country.
The company terms it as a New Year gift to its subscribers.

According to an official statement, the One-Nation Tariff would be applicable on e-Recharge of Rs1,100 inclusive of service tax. This e-Recharge comes bundled with 1,100 free SMS.

A similar plan is available for post-paid subscribers.

Lenovo takes to movie route to create brand awareness
PC maker Lenovo is planning to sponsor Bollywood films to create awareness about its brand and logo.

Lenovo expects to tap the consumer segment soon with its PCs and notebooks and is taking the mass marketing route to sell its brand of PCs.

The company has tied up with director Madhur Bhandarkar to sponsor his forthcoming movie Corporate, where actress Bipasha Basu will be seen endorsing Lenovo's product portfolio. The film is likely to hit the screen next quarter.

The company has already hit the small screen by being part of the popular KBC-2 (Kaun Banega Crorepati) quiz show on StarPlus, where Amitabh Bachchan's `Computer Ji' is a Lenovo product displaying the logo prominently.

— Compiled by Mohini Bhatnagar