MUMBAI: Mudra Max (Integrated Engagement & Experience), a part of the Mudra Group recently executed a mega campaign to promote ‘Mumbai Marathon‘, the most awaited event of Mumbai organized by The Standard Chartered Bank. Though the marathon was scheduled for January 16, 2011, Mudra Max prepared for this enormous event much in advance. The early morning joggers, the brisk walkers, and all those who take this routine seriously were invited to be a part of the Mumbai Marathon.

The main aim of this campaign was to create visibility and awareness about the Annual Mumbai Marathon, and encourage people to participate in it. Mudra Max effectively created visibility for the event by using large format media, activation platforms and innovative messaging thus aiming to ensure everyone in the city turns up either to run, or to cheer the participants on race day.

The 2011 Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon campaign captured two of the main pillars on which this event rests - fitness & health and charity. The headline captured the health and fitness angle, while the charity angle was captured through the copy that communicated the 5 causes Standard Chartered Bank is closely associated with. The use of evocative images on the five causes created an emotional connects with the people of Mumbai. Another interesting aspect is the use of a visual mnemonic to ensure that there is an easier and quicker connect with our TG. The visual mnemonic in this case is the whistle - the whistle helped extend the brand to ambient media and create interesting conversations with the consumer. This campaign has been shot across various locations in Mumbai with models who are not professional - it was important to capture the moment and preserve it through this campaign.

To create intrigue, there was a precursor to the launch of the thematic campaign - a teaser campaign.

Taking the visual mnemonic of the whistle, strategic outdoor locations have been taken with visuals of large whistles and the line "On your marks. Get set." To create excitement and a sense of inquisitiveness, large whistles were placed in strategic locations across the city. The OOH execution is visible in the form of Billboards, Bus shelters, AC Bus Wraps and Meru Cabs.

Once the campaign broke in OOH across the marathon route, the Execution also witnessed mall activation & installations. Excitement at the ground level was implemented through ‘jar installations‘! Large acrylic jars, filled with whistles, were placed at high traffic locations across the city. The Patrons who walked into malls, took a stroll on Marine Drive or sat at a coffee bar were given whistles to cheer for the cause they hold closest to their heart that day! To amplify this campaign further, the event was tied up with a leading radio station, where they changed their signature tune to bring in the shrill sound of the marathon whistle. Radio spots on the SCMM were being played throughout the day, during primetime, to build awareness for this fantastic property.

Debal Dutt, Head - Brand, Sponsorships & Internal Communication at Standard Chartered Bank says "The Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon epitomizes Mumbai. It is a mirror image of what the city stands for - entrepreneurship, resilience, passion, commitment and large heartedness. Any event of this stature, across the world, lives on because intrinsically it captures what the city stands for. The Marathon is alive and in the hearts of Mumbaikars because it has captured this ethos perfectly. Standard Chartered are honoured to connect with the city and its people through the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon and it is an apt way to say that we are ‘here for good‘.

According to Vikas Nowal, GM, Clear Channel Mudra, the agency who handled the entire OOH and engagement activity for the event, "The Standard Chartered marathon is a much loved and much awaited event in the city‘s calendar, and each year the property grows bigger and better. We have been the agency for Standard Chartered for a long time, and have constantly tried to ensure we can do bigger, better things to make the run-up to the event as visible and as engagement driven as possible. This year, we aimed to make the whistle as synonymous and integral to the race, as the "vuvuzela" became for the soccer world cup last year, and we believe the integrated activities around the marathon have managed to achieve that."

Rahul Karwa,Head West - Kidstuff Promos & Events,Mudra Max said,"SCB has been synonymous with the Mumbai Marathon since its inception, hence we threw a gauntlet to ourselves to stamp the title sponsor‘s authority in the space of innovation. That challenge got answered by taking a disruptive stance to deliver a surprising and delightful consumer experience touching the masses of the city.

An experience that was ‘static‘ in traditional communication parlance but was highly interactive in creating conversations amongst the target audience. The TG footprint was thoroughly mapped to arrive at the right engagement points ranging from the popular jogging tracks to the youth hangout joints! The whole intent was to build curiosity & anticipation in the consumer mind space by making the campaign mnemonic ‘whistle‘ interact with the consumers regularly over a period of 2 weeks before the mega event."
 

MUMBAI: (Business Wire India) -- Jagran Solutions - India‘s leading new age marketing agency that provides solutions for Brand Activation via Consumer Connect Strategies, conducted an extensive on-ground activation program for new show on AXN - ‘India‘s Minute to Win it‘. Through this campaign AXN wanted to give a sneak preview of what the show is going to be like to their target audience. The whole operation was executed through extensive mall activation program across 9 top rated malls in 3 cities (Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore) on Sunday 9th January 2011.

Rohit Bhandari, Senior Vice President of AXN and Animax comments, "The international version of the show is hugely popular. The responses received at the call for entry stage was simply overwhelming. So it was quite anticipated that once we go out in the public, giving them an opportunity to play and experience the games, they will greatly enjoy them. In terms of set up, event planning and choice of man power, Jagran team‘s execution was great. They ensured that the participants and the crowds gathered had a great time."

The activity involved a sum total of 13 different interactive modules that engaged the audience with activities like Face the Cookie, Moving on Up, Elephant March, Junk in the Trunk, Contagious, Nose Dive, Suck it up, Stack Attack, Separation Anxiety, Johnny Apple Stack, Hangover, Keep it up and This Blows. All these acts were designed in synergy with the game show but here in a relatively smaller set-up. The LCD panel running the timer of 60 seconds was a highlight.

With the series of mall activities AXN has successfully managed to gather over 2.5 lakh eye-balls on a single day. In addition to this approximately 2000 people participated in the interactive games and were instantly gratified.

Ms. Ambika Sharma, COO, Jagran Solutions comments, "The show itself is so well paced with content which keeps viewers at the edge of their chairs that to mirror the ground activation in synergy with high engagement has been fun. The consumer response is excellent with enthusiastic participation on ground"

The malls activity was conducted in Oberoi, Nirmal Lifestyle, Inorbit and Phoenix Mill in Mumbai, Great Indian Palace and Ambience Mall in Delhi and Garuda and Forum Mall in Bangalore.

MUMBAI: STAR One, the young, urban channel from the Star Network, is proud to announce the live telecast of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2011 on January 16, 7:30 am onwards. The channel is honoured to partner with Mumbai?s biggest unifying, fitness-cum-cultural event that brings the city of Mumbai together. Star One, recognized for continuously and constantly entertaining its audience with great content is proud to be associated with the most iconic event that that truly symbolizes ?Amchi Mumbai?.

With the theme ? ?RUN AS ONE?, the channel asks all Mumbaikars to come out and Run as One, for physical fitness and emotional solidarity. Everybody who runs is a winner. People from all walks of life, from a world-ranked athlete to your next door neighbour participate in the biggest race of the earth. For those not being able to make it to the event, can feel the experience Live on Star ONE on 16th Jan, 7:30 onwards

Speaking on the occasion, Nikhil Mirchandani, GM, Star One, said, ?The Mumbai Marathon truly symbolizes the youthful exuberance of the city, irrespective of the age of its participants. It epitomizes achievement, solidarity and above all, support for greater causes. Star One connects with the young at heart, wishes for their physical and emotional fitness and believes in making a difference to Young India. Run One, Run All, For us at Star ONE, everybody who runs with this spirit is a winner. ?

Not just on air but also on ground, STAR One will show its support to the enthusiastic participants with the attendance of their artistes like Karan Tacker aka Shantanu, Vivian D?sena aka Abhay, Yashashree Masurkar aka Khanak and Priyanka Bassi aka Sam cheering them on. They will cheer all participants because for Star One each individual runner is a winner.

STAR One is happy to present the Marathon to the ones sitting at home and empower them to witness different aspects of this challenging, yet fun, run. From the channel?s perspective, the idea is to live up to the expectations of its viewers. The magnitude of the run in itself is enough for it to be the most sought after show on television.

DON?T MISS STANDARD CHARTERED MUMBAI MARATHON LIVE ON 16th JANUARY, 2011 FROM 7: 30 am, EXCLUSIVELY ON STAR ONE.

MUMBAI: JMD is a BSE listed, Regional & entertainment content production company.

As per latest research reports, the Mobile VAS industry is expected to touch Rs 100,000 crores by 2020 from Rs 15,000 crore now - With the launch of 3G, Mobile Broadband Services & Rural VAS fuelling this growth, Content developers are burning the midnight oil to come up with better and newer concepts & services.

Looking at this opportunity and having tested some success as a regional content provider, JMD has forayed into the MVAS industry now as MVAS providers.

MVAS in India is primarily restricted to the ABCD. A being Astrology B being Bollywood C being Cricket & D being Devotional content. JMD will add few more letters to the ABCD of the MVAS business and is excited about some of the new offerings, services & its partnerships with other VAS producers & providers.

Mr Rajesh Joshi, CEO said "JMD has crossed over 1 decade of being in the industry. We are now inducting new team, new ideas and new ways of growing JMD in the new decade. This MVAS business is the start of new things at JMD. Definitely our regional content is doing well across all operators and we keep on getting requests to add and supply more content. At the same time, lot of small content & service producers are looking for ways to exploit and monetise. With our deep relations with operators, we aim to bridge the gap between relevant MVAS providers and operators and thus bring the right and desirable content in the hands of the customers. We are working on other innovative business models to increase our revenues and improve our bottom line."

MUMBAI: As the biggest clash in cricket is all set to grip cricket enthusiasts in India, CNN-IBN, IBN7 & IBN-Lokmat, for the first time on Indian Television brings a special series on the World Cup winning champions since 1975. Watch these champions as they relive their journeys to winning cricket‘s biggest prize on ‘Idea Champions of the World‘. This special series is starting from 15th January on CNN-IBN at 8:00PM, on IBN7 at 6:30PM and from 16th January on IBN-Lokmat at 1:30PM every weekend.

The ‘Idea Champions of the World‘ series features some of the greatest cricketing icons:

Episode 1 - Sir Vivian Richards (Winning Player of 1975 & 1979)

Episode 2 - Kapil Dev (Winning Captain of 1983),

Episode 3 - Allan Border (Winning Captain of 1987),

Episode 4 - Imran Khan (Winning Captain of 1992),

Episode 5 - Arjuna Ranatunga (Winning Captain of 1996),

Episode 6 - Steve Waugh (Captain of 1999),

Episode 7 - Ricky Ponting (Winning Captain of 2003 & 2007)

Talking about the programming, Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor-In-Chief, CNN-IBN, IBN7 & IBN-Lokmat said, "It is great to have the World Cup return to the sub continent after 15 years and we would like to make it an unforgettable experience for all our viewers.With this special series we take our viewers down memory lane with the greatest World Cup winning legends reliving their World Cup glory moments."

MUMBAI: Amrita TV?s new serial ?Chila Nerangalil Chila Manushyar?(Certain people in Certain Circumstances) is the miniscreen version of Jnanpith Award winner Jayakanthan?s masterpiece of a novel ?Sila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal? that was bestowed the Sahitya Academy Award in 1972.

Based as it is on Jayakanthan?s immortal classic, the serial follows the broad contours of the original plot but refashions the storyline to be in tune with modern times and thoughts.

Starring Praveena in the pivotal role of Ganga, the main protagonist and supported by a cast consisting of the moghuls of the TV serial scenario-Vijay Menon, Shobha Mohan, Jayan, Balachnadran Chullikkadu etc- it will be launched on January 17th at 9.00pm and will subsequently be aired every weekday at the same time.

Written in the late 1960?s Jayakanthan?s timeless work of art has at its centre Ganga, a sweet na?ve teenager. One rainy night, she has a physical encounter with a total stranger who offers her a lift in his car , an experience that shifts the course of her life in unforeseen directions. In a sequence that she finds incomprehensible even to herself, Ganga surrenders

her honour to the stranger whose face is blurred in the darkness as well as in her memory.

Unable to explain why she didn?t put up a struggle to her hysterical mother, her ?compliance? so enrages her brother that he throws her out of the house. She seeks asylum in the house of her maternal uncle, who puts her through college, after which she attains a top managerial position in a reputed firm. The intervening years had transformed her into a cold, reticent, frigid individual who never went anywhere, had no friends and kept herself aloof from everyone, even her own mother.

Ganga who had ruled out marriage for herself is determined to remain a spinster all her life. Her lewd bachelor uncle who is not above making lecherous advances to his tainted niece, advices her to find out the identity of the stranger and if possible to marry him. Ganga finally tracks down the villain who is responsible for her miserable state of life ? a reprobate, alcoholic multimillionaire named Prabhakaran, who is married and a father of three.

There are no recriminations or violent eruptions when at last she stands face to face with him after 12 years, for Ganga realizes that she was equally responsible for what happened that night. Ganga and Prabhakaran are drawn close to each other in a relationship that matures into love?.

Ganga, the compelling central figure is strong yet pathetic; thrown on the eddies of time, she floats, sinks, drifts, swims against the current and finally goes under. Against the vividly drawn canvas of this dominant character, the novelist portrays situations unfathomable to the conservative society of those times- of a well brought up orthodox girl willingly acquiescing to a stranger?s advances ; of the heroine pursuing the stranger not to avenge herself but to become his concubine; a platonic friendship developing between the seducer and his victim which does not wind back to its physical beginning. In the depiction of their relationship that begins in carnal pleasure and later ascends up the refined planes of understanding, friendship, and finally to love he turns the notion of love on its head and hurls questions at society?s very concepts of right and wrong.

Through the well chiseled character of Ganga, the iconoclastic writer jerks the orthodox society from its well-ensconced beliefs and demonstrates that life cannot always be steered along proper, comfortable, well set attitudes and that sometimes it scripts itself along unpredictable lines when, in certain circumstances certain people behave in singular ways.