Rising mercury levels is hardly a welcome change for anyone. Except for ice cream manufacturers that is. In that sense the timing of premium ice cream maker, London Dairy ice creams&rsquo; first ever media campaign in India is perfect.

London Dairy goes all out for bigger footprint

Business Standard

&lsquo;Dudh si safedi, Nirma se aaye, rangeen kapda bhi khil khil jaaye&rsquo;. Did you just read these words or find yourself humming them in your head? Most of you would surely be able to complete the rest of the jingle - &lsquo;sabki pasand Nirma, washing powder Nirma!&rsquo;.

Old but not ageing

&ldquo;Step aside, lady! The man, too, needs his time before the mirror.&rdquo; That&rsquo;s what, the makers of personal grooming products would like to believe, is a routine exchange across homes in urban India. For, they are betting big on bringing the country&rsquo;s male population in their fold with products designed specifically for men, across categories like hair care, skin care and deodorants &mdash; the last being a category that has seen quite a bit of action lately.

Deo-drama hots up for men

The centennial year of skincare brand Nivea is proving to be one of frenetic activity in India. After a slew of product launches in the deodorant and body lotion space, the brand has now deemed this summer fit to introduce its sun care sub-brand Nivea Sun in the country.

A day in the sun

An average television commercial lasts about 30 to 40 seconds, but takes days, often months, to create. Companies invest heavily in designing such communication all in the hope that the story will be sold to the consumer and another sale clinched. It&rsquo;s time perhaps to question conventional wisdom, if the findings of a recent Nielsen survey are anything to go by.

Winning and keeping customer trust

Men&rsquo;s apparel brand Peter England has decided to cast its proverbial net wider, setting sights on the Indian luggage market. The Aditya Birla group brand has been extended into work and travel bags like laptop cases, messenger bags, backpacks, duffle bags and so on, with the range christened Peter England Bags.

Peter England: Bagging it up

Perfetti Van Melle India, the maker of Alpenliebe, has given a new twist to the humble &eacute;clairs by making its offering a concoction of two chocolate flavours. The 2Choco Eclairs, the company says, will serve two purposes &mdash; it will differentiate the product from similar offerings from Cadbury, Nestle, ITC and Parle Products, and, at the same time, offer the consumer something she can relate to.

Alpenliebe: It's a double whammy

When myriad portals selling everything from personal items like apparel and shoes to financial products like insurance and mutual funds cropped up over the past couple of years, many said e-commerce was coming of age in India. But now, with the Tata Group owned electronic goods retail chain Croma foraying into online retail, one is tempted to say e-commerce has finally arrived.

Clicking on a new chapter

The 2G scam drama unfolds with an ever increasing list of villains and victims. The advertising and allied fraternity could be the latest to join the second list. Wondering how? Here&rsquo;s your explanation: After the Supreme Court directive issued in February on cancellation of 122 2G licenses, it is possible that several players may decide to shut shop permanently.

Telecom spends: Everyone's a loser in the 2G aftermath

Tata Salt is taking its positioning as &lsquo;desh ka namak&rsquo; a step forward, emphasising the role of mothers in nation-building by inculcating values of honesty in their children. In this season of scams and unmitigated cynicism, the theme is sure to find resonance with consumers. Ashvini Hiran, COO, consumer products business, Tata Chemicals, the manufacturer and marketer of Tata Salt, says, &ldquo;The campaign is timely when seen against what&rsquo;s happening in the society. The communication has a consumption as well social angle to it making it relevant for consumers.

Honesty is the best policy

When Hippocrates said, &ldquo;Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food,&rdquo; he couldn&rsquo;t have emphasised enough on the importance of eating right. And to aid you to this end, former cricketer-turned-businessman Dilip Doshi launched an all-organic products store, christened Organic Haus in Mumbai, earlier this month.

Housing nature's goodness

Here&rsquo;s an old war story with a new twist. Coca-Cola India has two brands, a cola and a clear drink, among the top three carbonated soft drinks in the country. PepsiCo&rsquo;s Pepsi is at No 3. But the top cola in Coca-Cola&rsquo;s arsenal is not Coke, like it is worldwide. It is Thums Up, the homegrown brand it acquired in 1994. When Coca-Cola and Pepsico entered India, they did not leave their legendary rivalry behind. It fell on Thums Up to battle it out with Pepsi on the ground as well as in its communication. Coca-Cola&rsquo;s Sprite took upon itself the onerous task of fighting PepsiCo&rsquo;s non-cola drinks.

The new frontier

Video-sharing website YouTube will now offer original content creators a chance to monetise their work uploaded on the website without any prerequisites. The programme is being rolled out in select countries like Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States at the moment. It will be expanded to countries like India over the next couple of months.

YouTube: The new mantra: create, share, earn

Adamsel in distress, an unlikely hero in a commoner and a fight sequence with the goons &mdash; a scene straight out of a Bollywood flick. The only exception to this cliche: the hero&rsquo;s choice of weapon or source of strength, if you will &mdash; a red backpack. And that my viewer is American Tourister&rsquo;s latest and also its first ever communication promoting its &lsquo;smart international backpack&rsquo; range.

Packing a punch

Ashampoo, is a shampoo, is a shampoo. Right? Wrong! Any woman who steps out from her salon after a hair treatment complete with a wash and blow-dry wishes for nothing more than her hair to stay that way &mdash; lustrous, smooth, soft to the touch. Or at least be able to afford salon treatments more often. Unfortunately, the latter is a luxury few can afford even though the former stays a life-long aspiration.

Segment and rule

When you think KFC, don&rsquo;t think just fried chicken and on the go food like burgers and wraps. Instead, think of it as a place to take a break from work and enjoy a &lsquo;time-out&rsquo;. Or at least that&rsquo;s what the KFC brass in India would like us to think.

KFC: One more place to hang out

If you try calling Sonal Dabral, you&rsquo;d be greeted by a caller tune which goes something like this - &ldquo;The person you are trying to urgently reach is having a tender coconut, standing on the beach. He is having a good time, just leave him alone.&rdquo; The reality must be quite the contrary though for Dabral, who prepares to take over his new role as the chairman and chief creative officer of the advertising and media group, DDB Mudra.

BS people: Sonal Dabral

If you watched the world television premieres of the movies Desi Boyz or Players aired recently on Hindi movie channel Zee Cinema, chances are you were privy to a media innovation dubbed by the channel as &lsquo;play and pause&rsquo;.

Masoom Gupte

Masoom Gupte

Page 7 - Masoom Gupte

London Dairy goes all out for bigger footprint

Old but not ageing

Deo-drama hots up for men

A day in the sun

Winning and keeping customer trust

Peter England: Bagging it up

Alpenliebe: It's a double whammy

Clicking on a new chapter

Telecom spends: Everyone's a loser in the 2G aftermath

Honesty is the best policy

Housing nature's goodness

London Dairy goes all out for bigger footprint

Old but not ageing

The new frontier

YouTube: The new mantra: create, share, earn

Packing a punch

Segment and rule

KFC: One more place to hang out

Deo-drama hots up for men

BS people: Sonal Dabral