Multiplexes position themselves as party hot spots
The country's top multiplexes Inox, Adlabs, Cinemax and PVR are positioning themselves as party hotspots, where movie buffs can enjoy parties and also watch a movie.

They have obtained liquor licences to make the offer more attractive.

Delhi-based PVR Cinemas offers their 36-seater Gold class auditoriums for private parties.
At Anil Ambani's Adlabs Cinemas a person can pay about Rs500-Rs750 for a party-cum-movie ticket. The lounge has the liquor license to provide alcholic beverages.

Mumbai-based Cinemax too has separate clubs within their regular audis for a cozy and elevated experience away from the maddening crowd. Inox on the other hand is developing the concept of premium properties which are pure luxury multiplexes.

Analysts say the initiative is a way to bring in higher revenue and also diversifies the risk from depending purely on films as under regular circumstances, it is difficult for muliplexes to generate enough footfalls for luxury seats.

HBO to launch blockbuster films
HBO has lined a number of blockbusters to be premiered on television next year which it feels will maintain its growth story of 15 to 20 per cent in 2007.

Starting with one of the biggest movies of recent times King Kong premiering in January, HBO will follow it by releasing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Batman Begins and a host of others, including The Da Vinci Code and MI-3.

The channel will also increase the number of HBO Original Mini Series shown here and will also rerun its popular show Sex and the City, which was blacked out in Mumbai for allegedly showing adult content. HBO has also announced the Asia premier of its new original two-part mini series, Tsunami, The Aftermath, based on the tsunami of 2004, to be shown on the December 26.

Ashok Leyland to launch corporate ad campaign
Ashok Leyland plans to launch a corporate TV campaign next month to convey the customer-oriented side of its business. The print campaign is about the passionate engineer of Ashok Leyland, a quirky professional whose interest in his work borders on the obsessive.

Officials said the campaign it designed aims to showcase the "pioneering spirit of Ashok Leyland to the relentless pursuit of excellence for the future and lay the foundation for the new products the company is all set to roll out.

The print campaign has two product ads that talk about the company's products and achievements and three ads that celebrate its engineers passion.

ICI Paints launches new premium product
ICI Paints has launched new premium segment paint under the Dulux brand called the Light & Space paint which claims to reflect up to twice as much light back into a room because of which it will look brighter and more spacious.
The company said the new paint has been launched in Indian before being introduced in the UK. It says that the product was the result of consumer research which revealed that as home sizes in metros become smaller there was a need among consumers to make their homes look brighter and bigger.

The company plans a comprehensive campaign addressing consumers to painters to market this new product.

Subhiksha launches national campaign
Discount retail chain Subhiksha has launched its first-ever national TV campaign following its recent expansion across the country. Launched in Hindi, the campaign depicts various shoppers looking for lower prices and opting to shop at Subhiksha, declaring that saving hard-earned money is "bachat mera adhikaar hai" (savings are my right).

Later it will launch Telugu and Kannada versions of the campaign too. The target audience for the ads is adult men and women over 25 years of age, in SEC A, B and C, who do the shopping.

This year, till date Subhiksha has rolled out 350 stores in Delhi, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka from 140 outlets in Tamil Nadu. Now Subhiksha has 100 outlets in Delhi, 50 in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, and 38 in Bangalore.

The company is spending Rs15 crore on this campaign in the first 12 months. Other media it is using include print, outdoor and radio. The ad agency in charge of the campaign is Orchard, Bangalore.

Karnataka Soaps to launch new products
Maker of the Mysore Sandal soap, Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Ltd (KSDL), is currently diversifying its product range. It is planning to offer a few more personal healthcare products after introducing its branded ayurvedic toilet soap Herbal Care in Tamil Nadu.

The company proposes to introduce liquid soap variants and its own shampoo products and is developing the products, which may hit the market soon.

The company has decided on its product diversification strategy to meet the evolving business opportunity in the personal healthcare segment and also to take the pressure off from the high cost scarce pure sandalwood oil-based soap making.

Simultaneously, the company will also be launching the screening of its TV commercials featuring the south Indian actor Sneha as its brand ambassador for the Herbal Care soap.

Indian Terrain makes Spirit for Reliance Retail
Indian Terrain, Celebrity Fashions' Rs75-crore menswear brand, has tied up with Reliance Retail, to develop an exclusive brand of apparel called Spirit, which will sell only through Reliance's outlets.

Spirit will be initially priced in the price bracket of Rs600 to Rs800 and will have only shirts and trousers in the portfolio.

Celebrity will not undertake any marketing and branding costs, as this brand will be exclusive to Reliance. If plans pan out, in four years' time, Indian Terrain expects to be a Rs500-crore brand, of which Rs150 crore is expected to be Reliance alone.

Indian Terrain, as well as other brands, will operate in a shop-in-shop format, where the front end will be managed by Reliance and the brand will manage the merchandise and inventory.

Google launches 'Click-to-call' in India
Google has launched its online advertising product `Click-to-call' in India, which will allow users to call directly to an advertiser on Google search pages.

Ad words targets advertisements to Google's search engine users. Advertisements appear next to Google's objective search results and are matched by keyword to the users' query.

The ads thereby connect advertisers to potential customers at the precise moment they are looking for information related to the products and services the advertiser offers.

`Click-to-call' ads will allow users to speak directly to an advertiser they find on a Google search results page over the phone and for free.

Hacker to provide Perfect Kitchen Solutions
German home products company Häcker-Küchen GmbH & Co. has tied up with Kanu Kitchen Kulture in India to bring the best in kitchen solutions to Mumbai after two years of success in Delhi. The company has opened Asia's largest modular kitchens showroom, displaying 14 different functional kitchens.

The German company says it produces modular kitchens in Germany according to the most stringent quality standards and precision requirements using the best grade of materials in its production along-with high-quality craftsmanship and well-planned practical and useful functional features to last a long-way.

In recent years, Hacker has begun offering kitchens for every segment from low-end to mid-range and top-end kitchens, for every individual as per their kitchen size, taste and budget.

Hacker offers a wide range of models from the Classic to Trendy styles in a choice of material surfaces, textures and 163 different colours and finishes with options to mix & match them to suit individual preference.

The pricing depends on the size of kitchen area and the type of modules and surfaces selected, and as an example, the company says that it can provide a basic 8ftX10ft modular kitchen furniture with adequate storage, starting from Rs2 lakh upwards.