Brand Bazaar speaks to CMO, financial services, Aditya Birla Group Mr Ajay Kakkar on Yuvraj, Slowdown and challenges

s the Industry face today. Talked about controversy related to yuvraj ? Ajay Kakar, chief marketing officer (financial services) of Aditya Birla Group, is busy fielding questions regarding Birla Sun Life Insurance's new TV commercial featuring ailing Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh who is undergoing treatment for cancer in the US. The commercial shows the cricketer recounting how after the glory of being the man of the tournament of last year's Cricket World Cup that India won after 28 years, his health deteriorated and he went out of the team. New film shot with Yuvraj, with the key lines Baath tho phir wahi aa gayi keJab tak balla chaltha he, thaat hen. Warna

There is a controversy because people have formed an opinion-which I think is not correct-without knowing the facts. So this opinion is neither informed, nor the controversy warranted. We have been with Yuvraj through his highs and lows, and would continue to do so. The advertisement was shot last September in Mumbai, and that time nobody was aware of the cricketer's sickness, including Yuvi himself. And we always wanted this campaign to roll out during January-February, the peak period for financial services sector, including insurance. We first aired the advertisement on January 30, and nobody was even aware of Yuvi's illness then.

In fact, Yuvi came to Mumbai in mid-January and wanted to change a few lines in the commercial. We had the original commercial with the line 'injury.' But Yuvi insisted on having the word 'health problem' as by January people were talking about his illness, but nobody knew about it.

Brand bazaar talked about the story of Amul the leading brand in market today. Every day Amul collects 447,000 litres of milk from 2.12 million farmers (many illiterate), converts the milk into branded, packaged products, and delivers goods worth Rs 6 crore (Rs 60 million) to over 500,000 retail outlets across the country. 50 years after it was first launched, Amul's sale figures have jumped from 1000 tonnes a year in 1966 to over 25,000 tonnes a year in 1997. No other brand comes even close to it. All because a thumb-sized girl climbed on to the hoardings and put a spell on the masses.

 Started

in 1945

Selected brand name in 1955 and came into existence .

The word Amul is derived from the Sanskrit word Amulya, meaning invaluable.
They linked the brand with local people the taste of india.

Amul came with advertisement and tried to extend it to the Olympics as well and launched a series of fun posts at the onset of the games:

Manthan (The Churning) is a 1976 Hindi film made by Shyam Benegal, based on a story written jointly by Dr. Verghese Kurien (the Father of the White Revolution in India) and director Shyam Benegl. It is set amidst the backdrop of the White Revolution of India(Operation Flood) which started in 1970, ushering an era of plenty, from a measly amount of milk production and distribution. This is the story of Amul. A folk song plays to clips from the movie Manthan that talks about the economic hardships rural women in india faced after independence, a new co-operative called amul (anand milk union ltd) was formed to help them. Today, Amul has grown to become Asia's biggest dairy company, which is still owned by these farmers. "mare ghar jhanjar laxmi ke baje"(in my house, the bells of wealth ring) was a line that was added replacing the original line, as a symbol of the success of amul.

Volkswagen is an innovative and technically superior car manufacturer from Germany. For a brand like Volkswagen, the advertising should also be innovative. The ad in todays Times of India (11 Sept., 2012) is an example of that. The headline reads, Feel the shiver of excitement? This Times of India print ad goes on to deliver an actual shiver to the reader using a pulsating device connected physically to it.

FMCG firm Dabur India said it has roped in Bollywood actor KARISMA KAPOOR as brand ambassador for its air freshener brand 'Odonil'. With this, Karisma has become the first celebrity to endorse the leading air freshener brand, Dabur India said in a statement.

Dabur India has launched Dabur Amla Hair Oil in a 'new and young avatar' to make the 60-year-old brand appear more relevant and contemporary to the Indian youth. The brand has now roped in Priyanka Chopra, moving from an earlier association with Rani Mukherjee. A campaign featuring Chopra was launched in midSeptember across print, television and cinema.

Priyanka Chopra is making a comeback as brand ambassador for Pepsi after four years, riding on her new, yet to be released avatar as a singer and her recent success at the box office, which the beveragemaker believes will help connect it with young consumers again. The deal is estimated at over Rs 4 crore a year, one of the biggest deals for the actress, an official aware of the details. "It is likely that Pepsi will extend their association to Priyanka's debut music venture as well, A PepsiCo spokesman confirmed the association with Chopra as the brand ambassador for Pepsi. She will be the only woman ambassador currently for brand Pepsi, also endorsed by Indian cricket team captain MS Dhoni and actor Ranbir Kapoor.

Grey Group is a global communications company and its total offering includes Grey (advertising) and G2(brand activation). Its parent company is WPP Group. Grey Group serves a blue chip client roster of many of the worlds best known companies including Procter & Gamble, GlaxoSmithKline, Diageo, Allianz, Pfizer and Qatar Airways. Grey Group is represented in 96 countries, with 432 offices operating in 154 cities. In the Asia Pacific region, Grey Group covers 16 countries and is present in 28 cities, and has a combined staff strength of over 2,000.

Type of agency: Advertising Company ownership: WPP Key personnel: Nirvik Singh, chairman and CEO, Grey Group Asia Pacific, Shalini Dam, national creative director, Grey Group, Jishnu Sen, head, Mumbai branch Accounts won: Haier, Fairever, Jindal ,SAW, Meridian Mobile, Millennium Spire, National Insurance Company Accounts lost: Gujarat Tourism, Raj TV, SREI, Suzuki Motorcycle, My FM

PLANNING- to ensure that famously& effective ideas are used for clients. DIGITAL- to use a combination strategic thinking and advanced digital tool to develop and employ powerful web-based communication. ACTIVATION- it conceptualizes marketing & activation solutions to connect brands with consumers. ADVERTISING- to launch & build strong & long reputation for many of the leading countrys brands that is rooted in their blue chip client roster.