Davp, Doordarshan In A Spot

Corn Products new recipe

Corn Products Co (CPC), the Rs 33-crore foods company is all set to unroll its Skippy brand of products. Dipping into the parent company CPC Internationals product portfolio, it is test-marketing Skippy a jelly sweet in Chennai. Available in 15 gm cups, the ready-to-eat jelly is priced at Rs 2 and is targeted at children. Although this product is a new category, industry sources claim that Skippy could be clubbed in the highly competitive Rs 350 crore confectionery market. For CPC at least, the jelly is one way of testing the waters before it introduces a range of products under the Skippy umbrella. The most famous Skippy brand is the peanut butter. Even as industry sources are sceptical about the distribution of childrens products, CPC is confident of leveraging its trade clout to sell Skippy and buoyed by the success of its Knorr range of soups. For the moment, new products are likely to be the mainstay of CPC. Once the product portfolio stabilises, it will launch a campaign to announce a change in the corporate name. Globally, CPC has been rechristened Bestfoods International.

Cadbury for Carat

One of the most high-profile accounts in the business, the Rs 20-odd crore Cadbury media account will finally move to media independent Carat International. Cadburys creatives are currently handled by Ogilvy & Mather (O&M). Until a few months ago, while both O&M and Lintas shared the creative, Lintas media arm Initiative Media was the Agency of Record.. With international realignments, the entire creative moved to O&M. Carat International is also believed to have picked up Bacardi Martini Indias account for Bacardi white rum.

A sitting opportunity

Utility furniture giant Godrej & Boyce is now increasingly aiming for the top end of the Rs 15-crore office furniture market. With the organised sector accounting for 30 per cent of the market, Godrej has introduced a range of general purpose chairs. Entering the segment only last year, the new range is particularly targeted at senior executives who put in long hours of stressful work.

Corrigendum

A Small Talk item on April 7 said Rediffusion DY&R brand communications handled the Tata Safari account and was possibly pitching for the Tatas small car account. The agency has clarified that it already handles the Maruti Udyog account so ethical norms prevent it from handling competing accounts. Also, the Tata Safari account is, in fact, handled by SSC&B Lintas. Our apologies.