Vkreate- Group B3- Source- Alltop.com

Headline: Apple's Wristwatch Rumour, Feb 13, 2013

·         Two people familiar with Apple’s plans told Bloomberg that Apple has a team of 100 designers working on the rumoured Apple watch.

·         “The iWatch will fill a gaping hole in the Apple ecosystem. Like other breakthrough Apple products, its value will be underestimated at launch, then grow to have a profound impact on our lives and Apple’s fortunes” according to Bloomberg.

Headline: Daily iPad App: Endless Alphabet is an enjoyable way for kids to learn their ABCs, Feb 13, 2013

·                  An app for kid- Endless alphabet from Callaway Digital Arts.

·                  It has bouncy, eye-catching graphics and fantastic sound effects that grab the child's attention and hold it long enough for them to learn their letters and some new words.

·                  The homescreen in the app is a large, smiling cartoon character whose mouth holds the words for each letter in the alphabet.

·                  Each letter has at least one word, and the words are challenging for the pre-K crowd that is targeted in this app.

·         After the child spells the word, the app speaks the word out loud and then explains what the word means on a level that a young child would understand. There's also a cute animation that accompanies this explanation. Just like everything else in Endless Alphabet, the vocabulary lesson is well-crafted.

·         It's entertaining and educational at the same time.

·                  Endless Alphabet launched with one word per letter, and the developer is regularly adding new words to the app.

Headline: Sprite continues its Bakwaas, Feb 9, 2013

· If ads are any indication of brand's strength, Sprite is in deep trouble. Ever since the brand discarded its "No Nonsense" positioning, the brand has been struggling with its message. In that process, Sprite has just become another soft drink brand which promises instant attraction of females.

· This summer of 2013, Sprite again went one notch down in the creative execution of the core brand mantra. The TVC is a huge disappointment and virtually kills all the equity that the brand gained through is previous campaign which talked about Sprite quenching thirst and nothing else.

· The new tagline " Chalo apni chaal " which virtually puts the protagonist as a schemer or a trickster which is just opposite to the earlier positioning of the brand as a no-nonsense drink.

·  These kind of campaigns and taglines are ultimately going to make the brand go down in terms of its uniqueness. Now these brands are advertising like deodorants and aphrodisiacs and the primary aim of the protagonist is to get the girl. 

Headline: Santoor extends to Baby Soaps? Feb 7, 2013

· The article speaks about Santoor trying to enter the Baby Soaps category. Santoor is now test marketing this brand extension in select markets. Since the ad features the South Indian actress Jyothika, Santoor is serious about the new launch.

· Indian baby care market is huge with a size of Rs 3000 crore expected to grow at a rate of 20% according to ASSOCHAM. The baby skin care market is valued at Rs 400 crore and toiletries valued at Rs 380 crore.

· Johnson and Johnson has a huge stronghold in this market with a share of over 70%. Many brands like Sparsh from Marico and Babysoft from Wipro tried unsuccessfully to dethrone J&J. It is in this context that Santoor's move becomes relevant and interesting.

· Santoor has been very consistent in its positioning. Santoor's core brand's positioning is “for a younger looking skin". The brand through all its campaign effectively reinforced this positioning and became India's second biggest soap brand.

· Santoor Baby soap will be trying to leverage this equity. The problem is that Santoor is perceived to be soap for adults. So when such a brand launches a baby soap, inevitably doubts arises with regard to the mildness of the soap.

· The ad shows not an infant but a 2-4 year old kid. So the brand will be trying to target the segment which is slowly growing out of the Johnson and Johnson's baby soap. More over since the child is growing; mothers will not be much bothered about trying out baby soap from Santoor's portfolio.

Headline: Odomos: Play it Safe

Summary:

·         Odomos is a 40 year old brand which has a generic status in the mosquito repellent cream market in India.

·         The household insecticide market in India is worth around Rs 1600 crore.

·         The smallest of the segment in this market is the mosquito repellent cream segment which is of size Rs 50 crore.

·          The largest segment of the insecticide market is that of mosquito coil which is worth Rs 900 crore. Odomos has a virtual monopoly in the cream market.

·         Odoms now has product forms of Cream, Lotin and Oil.

·         Odomos mosquito repellent oil was created to target rural market because oil product form has more acceptance in that market. More over oil applies better on the skin and is more effective in the job.

Problems this brand faces:

·         Increasing the market size of repellent cream

·         Efficacy and safety of the product which needs to be directly applied to the skin.

·         Targeting kids and convincing the parents

Review: 

·         Odomos is undertaking huge advertising investments.

·         The brand owners have invested consistently on the brand. The distribution reach is very good for this product.

·         They have introduced small packs with low prices.

·         The dilemma for the brand is that it cannot harp too much that it is safe because consumers then will think that it is mild and hence may not be effective.

·         Thus the brand still needs to be innovative to increase its customer base and provide wide range of cream repellents.

Headline: India's TV channels in crisis, Jan 22, 2013

·         India's TV channels are in the midst of a financial crisis which has serious implications for how report news, argues Sandeep Bhushan in a hard-hitting  article in the Hindu

·         That major industrial groups, such as Reliance, have acquired significant stakes in TV companies.

·         If you want to know what happened in the country on a given day, you would be hard put to find it on any of the private TV channels

·         Bhushan urges better protection of journalists, more professionalisation of management and anti-trust laws to counter the present trends.

·         A simpler way is to strengthen public broadcasting so that it emerges as a serious threat to popular channels

·         Doordarshan has improved in a big way and Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha TV have some very interesting programmes to offer. This trend must be strengthened so that private TV.